Why Your Business Shouldn’t Advertise Like McDonald’s

See, with a multi- million – or even billion – dollar marketing budget you can buy the “know, like and trust” needed to make your business work. Human psychology is a funny thing… the more we hear or see something, the more we begin to trust in it (as long as what we hear and see isn’t negative); regardless of what our common sense tells us.

Why Infomercials Work

Think about how you’ve responded or reacted to certain product / brand messages over time. Those annoying   infomercials are a great example of how constant bombardment of messaging can work.  The first time you see one you think “what a crock, who would buy such a thing?”, or “that could never work”. Then, the 15^th  or 16^th  time you catch a glimpse of the extra fancy schmancy all-in-one fried chicken, quiche, and Bundt cake maker you’re intrigued.. “Hmmm. What does this do, really? Maybe I’ve been a little too hard on this extra fancy schmancy all-in-one fried chicken, quiche, and Bundt cake maker”.

Before you know it, you doubt your original impression of the product.  Then, by the 50^th or 60^th time you see it, your brain starts telling you you might actually need one! (Come on, admit it, I know that’s happened to you too!).You may even have half a bottle of that “amazing, scientifically proven weight loss formula” in your medicine cabinet.  Or that super-duper, extra cool tomato slicer stuffed away in a drawer somewhere. Or how many times have you been going about your day, minding your own business when you see an ad or a billboard for a Big Mac? And then suddenly, maybe without even realizing it, you’re craving McDonalds…???

Ok- so, yes, this type of advertising can “work”… depending on how you define “work”. But can you spend millions of dollars to be in front of everyone 24/7? Of course not!  So then why are you trying to? Wouldn’t it make sense to find a marketing strategy that works for a company like yours; not like the McDonalds’ and Toyotas of the world?

Things you need to consider before trying to advertise like McDonald’s: 

1. Can you afford to invest in “awareness” advertising? There are a couple of different ways to advertise: there is direct response advertising (an offer) and “awareness” advertising (some people call it “top of mind”). Awareness advertising is about putting your name out there to raise awareness. If you aren’t’ doing this constantly and consistently it’s a waste of time and money.
2.  Do you have the budget to advertise consistently over time? A person will need to see an ad at least 3 times before remembering seeing it- and another 10 or so times before she starts to believe in the legitimacy of the company, product or service. If you don’t have the money to invest in a long-term consistent advertising campaign, you are throwing money out the window. One ad here and there isn’t going to do anything for you.
3. Do you have realistic expectations about what the ad can do for you? Ok, so you have a few hundred bucks burning a hole in your pocket and want to place an ad. So you put a coupon in the paper for 10% off your product or service, turn on the “Open” sign and wait for the crowds to line up around the block….  And you wait… and wait… Nothing happens.  As stated in #1 and #2, advertising is a process and must be done consistently and repetitively. Don’t expect to place one ad and have the products fly off the shelf and the phone to ring off the hook.  Unless you are using the 2 Step advertising approach you probably won’t get the response you expect.

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One thing I realized during my 9-5 career is that the things you don’t say can oftentimes be way more powerful than the things you do say. I remember telling my boss, the VP of Sales, a story about a how another VP of Sales in a past job took a huge account that I had landed away from me and transferred it to a senior rep because he felt I couldn’t handle it. I told this story as a way to prove that I was capable of bringing in big accounts.  But as I told it, I realized that what I was really doing by telling the story was instilling doubt in his mind of my abilities to effectively manage a large account. If another person in his position had made that call, then maybe there was some validity to it.  

I vividly remember sitting there after having spilled the beans, immediately regretting it;   realizing that although I was trying to make myself look capable it really did quite the opposite…  It was a valuable lesson and I learned to be a lot more mindful about what I say – and don’t say!  And that is a skill that is definitely useful in developing marketing communications….

Now cut to yesterday…. I stole a couple of lazy hours on a Saturday afternoon to watch some mindless TV. And on comes a Nutella commercial. I rarely watch commercials these days, but as a marketer when I do, I pay attention. In this particular Nutella commercialI noticed how they positioned the product as a fun, easy, and healthy choice.  I didn’t quite buy the “healthy” claim so I went to my laptop to look up their ingredients. Guess what???  No so healthy…! But it got me thinking again about Marketing and Advertising and clever big corporations are with their messaging – like politicians, they are great at focussing on the good and ignoring the “bad”. So I thought I’d point out what Nutella did in their commercials to help small business owners know what to say – and NOT say!

Here are some lines from their commercial that I thought were interesting uses of marketing messaging. I also included lessons that all small businesses can learn from them.

“Serve it on whole wheat toast or even whole wheat waffles.”  - I love this line.   Without saying the product is healthy, it leads you to believe it’s healthy simply by associating it with something that is healthy!  Using this strategy, you can slap 20 tablespoons of sugar on whole wheat bread and voila! It’s healthy!  Lesson:  In your business, what can you associate your product or service with to make it more appealing to consumers?

“My kids love it and I feel good about serving it.”  - Translation: I don’t have to force my kids to eat healthy stuff they hate- yet, it’s healthy enough that I don’t have to feel guilty about feeding them junk.  Lesson: What emotional affect  does your product or service have on consumers and how can you make them feel good about using it?

“Nutella is made with Simple, Quality ingredients; like hazelnuts, skim milk and a hint of cocoa” –How can you go wrong with nuts and skim milk and just a ‘hint’ of cocoa??? Sounds so nutritious and wholesome and good, doesn’t it? What they don’t say is that the first ingredient is sugar and the second is palm oil (which is proven to increase bad cholesterol).  Lesson: How are you showcasing your best qualities (and down-playing your not-so-great qualities)?

“No artificial colors or preservatives” – What they don’t tell you is there are artificial flavors, but because they say “no artificial colors or preservatives” you forget to ask about artificial “anything” and assume it’s “artificial”/junk free!  Lesson: As small business owners we sometimes feel the need to apologize for the little things we don’t do-  or the services we don’t provide… but instead of apologizing for what you don’t offer, focus on what you DO – and more often than not, people won’t even notice what you don’t do!

I’m not writing this to pick on Nutella or to tell you shouldn’t smother it all over your whole wheat toast for breakfast.  I wrote it to use a real world example of how an effective marketing strategy and careful marketing messaging can transform your product or service. Happy Marketing !

(And one more thing, can you really call it a Hazelnut spread if hazelnuts are only the THIRD ingredient? Wouldn’t it be a sugar spread?” – I guess it’s all about packaging!)

 What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!! Leave your comments here.

By the way, if you liked this post, I’d really appreciate your Retweet!!! Thank you.

 Here is a paraphrased summary of three different conversations I had with business owners this week:

Me: “Hmmm.. A ‘bunch’ you say? How many is a bunch?”

Business Success is a Journey

Nothing in life is easy. You’ve heard that right? Everything worth having requires a lot of hard work, a ton of persistence and loads of patience: Everything, from our education, to our relationships, and our careers. Did you expect to just go to a single class to earn your degree? Of course you didn’t- it took years of going to classes and studying! Did you expect to just show up at work for one day and earn a paycheck for the rest of your life? Sure, that would be nice, but no.  Did you woo your spouse with pomp and circumstance while you were dating and then completely ignore him or her afterwards?  Ummm, I certainly hope not! 

 So then why would you expect marketing your business to be any different?  Why do so many small business owners expect marketing to be quick-and-easy one-time event?  Place an ad and get rich! Yay!!!!  Send out a postcard and make the phones ring off the hook!  Wahoo! One ad, one postcard, one networking group and I’m set for life!!! 

It Doesn’t Work That Way!  

I’m sorry, it just doesn’t. No matter how hard you try. 

I guess f you haven’t been doing sales and marketing as long as I have, mailing out 250 cards with a “10% OFF” offer and not getting a single bite may seem like an earth shattering failure… but trust me, it isn’t. If you sent out 250 post cards to your target market with an extremely amazing,  compelling, and timelyoffer, on a consistent basis  and didn’t get a single response, then I might be a bit more surprised. 

Statistically, the chances of getting any measurable response from a single ad, postcard, email, etc. are going to be pretty slim – for many reasons…. Factor in the quality of your content/message (was it compelling, relevant, and timely?), your audience (did you target?… Know, I mean really target?) and your tracking methods and it can be nearly nonexistent.  

 But, Don’t You Know Who I Am?

Think about it: you are presumptuously putting your company/brand/message in front of the faces of Anyone-Who might at some point in their lives buy your products or services, assuming they 1)  are your  target market, 2) have made the decision to buy, 3) have allocated the resources to buy, 4) have  no obstacles in the way of actually making the buy, and 5) they know like and trust YOU enough to want to buy from you.Holy cow with all of those variables it’s amazing we ever sell anything at all, isn’t it?  

That is why a consistent and repetitive approach is key to effective marketing. For one thing,  studies show that consumers don’t even “see” an ad until they’ve been exposed to it like seven times or something.

You are never going to build a successful business by sending one postcard or email or placing one ad serendipitously here and there. That just isn’t how it works- it isn’t how we as humans work. It takes time to build trust; it takes time for us to make decisions to move forward. It takes time for us to pay attention to all the “stuff” that’s bombarded at us each day – but that’s another blog topic…

But besides the whole “does advertising work or not” argument: Do you even know who your best prospect is? What their buying cycle is? What their triggers are? If you don’t know the answers to these questions, don’t even waste your time and your money on another direct mail piece, advertisement, networking event, or any other marketing tactic…. Really.

But if you really want to gamble your hard earned money, the next time you’re tempted to throw money away on an ad or direct mail piece without knowing the 3 things I outlined above, visit the nearest casino instead- you have a better chance of getting a return on your investment. Or better yet, hire Fortune Marketing Companyand invest in the long-term success of your business!

What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!! Leave your comments here.

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