Does Your Message Deliver?

By Glen Gardner/ Marketing and Branding Consultant

As I was watching the Super Bowl the other day I couldn’t help but think about all the money that was being wasted right before my eyes. At $3.5 million for a commercial, I would have thought those who produce these messages might be more concerned about results than winning creative awards.

Many of the commercials during the game were very entertaining, but probably didn’t do much to sell anything. As a matter of fact, I had a hard time remembering any product specifically. I could remember the story line of some of the commercials, but I had a hard time connecting those story lines with any products or services.

When you design a campaign you have to be careful that you don’t get “lost” in the creative process. The commercial message still needs to sell something at some level or why bother? It can be the most entertaining 30 seconds in the universe, but that doesn’t mean it will motivate anyone to do anything.

Some of the most effective campaigns I’ve been associated with weren’t very Earth-shattering when it came to entertainment value, but they did get huge results. Because the product or service was so good and the benefit of action so evident, it didn’t require a three-ring circus. We just had to put it out there with proper frequency and the public responded.

Sometimes you just need to let your product or service be the star and leave the baby in a slingshot for someone who has a lot more money to waste than you do.

Coupon Fatigue?

By Glen Gardner, Branding and Marketing Consultant

The challenging economy has helped give birth to numerous coupon opportunities as many shoppers have been trained to always look for a “deal” before they buy. From Groupon to Living Social, people view these outlets as the latest “new” marketing tool. In reality, there’s nothing new about it at all.

The mode of delivery might be different, but it’s just a coupon and those have been around for a long time. I’ve talked with countless businesses that have been sucked into the fray and have regretted it greatly.

If you think carefully about how coupons work, over time it’s an unsustainable business model for most companies. You can’t deeply discount your product to the point where you are making next to nothing (or losing money) and hope to make it up on volume. Some businesses hope they can take a loss to attract a new, loyal customer. The only problem with that train of thought is most coupon shoppers are loyal to the lowest price, not any particular business. In many others cases you are discounting a product or service that a loyal customer may have paid full price for.

It is one of the narcotics of advertising. Once you do it you have to do more of it and at a deeper discount to keep traffic moving through the door. And much like any narcotic, it will clean you out over time.

There are times when coupons do make sense. If you need a quick traffic fix and your margins are great enough to offer a substantial short-term discount, than it can work by bringing a shot of increased traffic. For most businesses the math just doesn’t work over time.

Because the market has been so flooded with coupon offers it’s even harder to cut through with an offer of even 50% off. Coupon fatigue is a real problem with the proliferation of the practice through the economically challenged period.

Whether it’s cutting it out of a newspaper or delivered in an email, it’s still a coupon. For many businesses a more practical approach is developing a consistent “value” proposition. When you factor in the cost of the coupon and the mode of delivery a branding message that adds value to your product is cheaper and a much more sustainable business model.

One More Accolade for the Corridor

Keep on rockin'!  Cedar Rapids ranks 7th!  Click the title above to go to Kiplinger's article about the coolness of CR.

A Goal Without a Plan Is Only a Resolution

By Chris Law
Every year around the time the calendar changes millions of people make New Year’s Resolutions.  Personally I don’t make resolutions.   I prefer to make “goals”.  Resolutions seem so… spineless.  What happens if you don’t follow through on your resolutions?  Nothing really, we just wait until next January and make them again, hopefully with a bit more resolve this time.  My father has made the same New Year’s Resolution for at least the last 13 years.  Every year he resolves to finally clean the attic of all the boxes of kids' crap that accumulated while their four children grew up, and every year those boxes gather a bit more dust.

Goals are different.  With a goal you have only two options: success or failure.  There is really no other way to look at it.  This won’t come as much of a surprise, but I like success much more than failure, and therefore I’m forced to invest more into meeting a goal than I ever would a resolution.

My goal next year is to make more money.  That sounds simple enough, and it’s a very good goal, one that anyone in business for themselves should share.  Now that I have a goal the next step is to make a plan.  The late French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery once said “A goal without a plan is simply a wish”, or to fit with our theme, a resolution.  To help you with that planning part here is an article from USA Today with 12 ideas geared toward helping you make more money in 2012 than you did in 2011. 

Head to Iowa City Says Yahoo! Finance

By Miranda Manigold, Advertising Specialist & Sales Trainer

You know we love ALL  of our Corridor but a new addition to our family…an FM translator at ESPN1600!  So we now have 106.3 – the South Gym on the FM dial.  That way those of you listening to us in Johnson County (like the Iowa City area) can get your sports fix on 106.3FM!

Well this article from “The Street” on Yahoo! Finance backs us up on our reasons to grow in Iowa City and boasts IC as THE NUMBER ONE place to start over in 2012.  Luckily for most of us reading this blog we already live in the area!  We already know it is a great place to go to school, live, and work.  The last few weeks I have heard more reports of the business climate taking a turn for the “positive” in 2012 and this report confirms that for our area.  You can read the full article from “The Street” here.

Are you still looking for ideas on how to improve your business or recruitment efforts?  We can listen to what your goals are for 2012 and beyond and strategize concepts to get you there.  We are here to answer questions at any time.  Just ask!

Cars going bye bye!

By Kellie J. Lala

I think it is always a bit sad when something comes to an end.  A favorite body lotion, restaurant, gift shop (some on my missed list of late)  and now some models of cars.  According to a USA Today article on 12/20/11, there are many models that have rolled off the assembly line for the last time and will fade into automobile history after 2012.  These are just a few of the models taking their final bows and that will not be replaced by newer versions:

• BMW Active Hybrid  (many BMW’s are going electric)
• Buick Lucerne
• Cadillac DTS and STS  (new XTS will fill in here)
• Dodge Dakota  (no enough demand for small trucks)
• Ford Crown Victoria  (this made me laugh-“it’s the last, great, rear-wheel drive American really-full-size car”)
• Honda Element
• Mazda RX-8*
• Nissan Altima Hybrid
• Mitsubishi Eclipse and Endeavor

There could be more to come.  It appears that the whole line of Saab will soon be gone as well. 

Now think…..what do you miss that is no longer around?



Auto Sales on the Rise

By

Kellie J. Lala 

The “Cash for Clunkers” program in 2009 helped the auto industry crawl out from a slump.  However, it really hurt the sales months that followed as consumers had spent their dough $.  But November 2011 looks to be their best month since 2009!  GM is using the jolly old man himself-Santa Claus in its “Chevy’s Giving More” campaign, while Honda is wishing buyers “Happy Honda Days”.  I don’t know about you, but I must not be in the right family as I have never gotten a car for Christmas.  You? 

According to the New York based research group, The Consumer Board, consumer confidence surged in November by its biggest margin in 8 years.  That is good news for the struggling car industry.  Toyota and Honda had both been reporting year-to-year declines in every month this year since April.  The big domestic winner so far this year appears to be Chrysler with a 37% surge in sales over 2010. I think they have done a fab job with their Detroit commercials using popular music from Eminem.  Ford has a 10% climb and is launching a new Escape SUV in the first half of 2012.  According to VP of U.S. sales for GM, Don Johnson,  GM is looking at a 7% increase and will be poised to replace Toyota as the world’s largest automaker by vehicle sales.  When you think about where the U.S. Automakers were a while back, this is a great comeback story. 

What will be your next vehicle purchase and when?