Easter isn't just about the eggs anymore

By Kellie J. Lala

I love Easter.  I appreciate the religious meaning as a person of faith.  I enjoy that spring brings new life and to see the grass turning from brown to a vibrant green and the flowers and plants popping their heads thru the dirt.  But what I really love….Cadbury crème filled eggs and making Easter baskets for family and friends!  According to the National Retail Federation’s (3/20/12) Easter spending survey, Americans will shell out a hopping $145.28 (on average) on everything from apparel, candy, food, cards and décor.  That is up over 10% from 2011 and total spending could reach $16.8 billion (yes that is a “B”).  The article goes on to say that even though the price at the pump is on everyone’s mind, Easter is still a holiday that people will stretch their budgets for.  Kids look forward to treats and new outfits on Easter morning, even big kids like me!  Even Easter meals average $44.34 per person.  Two out of five consumers will shop on line and over 25% will shop in specialty stores.  A now common shopping tool is the tablet and over 52% will use this device to research products and purchase gifts. 

So-what are you planning for Easter?  How many chocolate eggs will you eat before finishing your kid’s baskets? 

Hop to it now so Easter doesn’t sneak up on you on April 8^th.    

Spring Forward......

By Kellie J. Lala

This weekend we spring forward for yet another time.  I thought I’d share a bit of history about this tradition with you. It has been around since World War One and became more widely adopted in 1916.  It is the practice of turning the clock ahead as warmer weather approaches and back as it becomes colder again.  It is to give people one more hour of daylight in the evening during the warmer season of the year.  Some say it should be called “daylight shifting time” because no daylight is actually saved.  Countries in tropical climates do not observe DST and the actual months when the clock is set ahead and back differ between the northern and southern hemispheres.  The US Energy Policy Act of 2005 mandated changes to DST by extending it 3 weeks earlier in the spring and one week later in the fall. One big assumption behind this change was that it would decrease the need for artificial light sources and thus save energy.  Now…I am sure that you are now asking yourself what does mean for me?  You lose an hour of sleep.  You will find it staying lighter after you get off work at the end of the day. Perhaps your mood will improve.  Maybe you will find yourself with more energy with more daylight. I think this is a good thing. Anyway, I choose to look at my glass of ice cold lemonade as half full.  How about you?

Facebook is not a sales tool.

By Kellie J. Lala

Think social media is a cool way to make sales?  Think again.  According to a February 17, 2012 Bloomberg report, GAP, Inc., J.C. Penney Co. and Nordstrom Inc. have all opened and then closed down their storefronts on Facebook Inc.’s social networking site. There was hope that Facebook would turn into a new on-line destination, a place where people would spend their money.  But it was really trying to sell stuff to people hanging out with their friends at bars.  Facebook also fully intended to profit from retailers buying ads to drive traffic to their on-site stores.  Those numbers have yet to be seen.  Gamestop’s Ashley Sheetz VP of marketing said “we just didn’t get the return on investment we needed.  For us, it’s been a way we communicate with customers on deals, not a place to sell.”   GAP, Inc. and their sister companies Banana Republic and Old Navy have all opened and closed their Facebook sites.  They found that their customers preferred to shop their own websites.  They also saw that Facebook was just another place to shop for all the stuff that was already available on their websites.  Why manage two of the exact same thing?  How are you using Facebook and other social media tools?  Does it make sense to repeat the deals or offers from your website?  Good question!  Happy selling!

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.