Don’t Say That!!! How to Improve Your Image by Keeping Your Mouth Closed!
July 10, 2011
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 w
ay 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 ki
ds 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. 
4 Ways to Avoid Marketing Like a Weiner
June 13, 2011
(Note: Did you really think I’d let this opportunity to pass me by? I mean I’ll never get another opportunity to write a title like that…)
If you live in the US, you’ve heard of the big Congressman Anthony Weiner Twitter scandal. It’s everywhere. Another politician caught with his pants down – or to be more accurate, caught tweeting pics with his pants down…
Some say there is no such thing as bad publicity. As a marketer, I have to disagree, especially if you’re Representative Weiner and living up to your last name by acting like one. O
vernight, Rep. Weiner has become a joke – and not just to snot-nosed 11 year old boys who still giggle when they hear ‘peacock’ but to those of us who are older and mature enough to understand that sometimes a peacock is just a peacock. So, yes, there is such a thing as bad publicity – and these days publicity, especially bad publicity is all too easy to come by. Just one little slip of the keyboard or a too-fast flick of the “send” button, and you could be ruined.
Social media is a wonderful resource for promoting and managing a small business reputation. But as the Rep Weiner debacle has shown us, it can also be a reputation/small business killer.
Here are four ways you can avoid marketing your small business like a Weiner.
- If you make a mistake, own up to it. Man up, admit your mistakes and do everything in your power to improve and prevent it from happening again. Whatever you do, don’t lie! Businesses are made up of human beings and human beings make mistakes. We are never going to be perfect. The key to managing your reputation is to admit your mistakes, deal with them, and find ways to improve. Lying or pretending that everything is perfect when it isn’t alienates everyone. You will never build a successful business this way.
- Nothing you put out on Social Media is private – especially your privates. Marketing is all about managing your image. If there are things about your business, your processes, your finances, your procedures, your management, etc that you don’t want the general public to know about, keep it to yourself. Social media is not the place to complain about employees, customers, or vendors – and you never want to air your dirty laundry.
- Don’t get too comfortable with your Facebook or Twitter “friends”. Rep Weiner wrongly assumed that all of his little Twitter girlfriends were his real friends and the information and pictures he shared with them would be kept private. But as a high-profile government figure, that was just plain stupidity. As business owners, we need to be just as mindful of what we’re putting out there. Many years ago a well-meaning co-worker gave me some much needed advice that I think applies here. He said to me, “going out for drinks with co-workers, and especially bosses, is still work – and you must treat it like work. Don’t drink too much and keep it appropriate.” I think that same rule should apply for social networking.
- Don’t wait until your flaws are embarrassingly exposed to get help. Rep Weiner has issues… whether he’s a sex addict, or just plain stupid is for him to decide. But clearly, he has issues. Who is without flaws? I’d be lying if I said my business (or my life for that matter) is perfect. My point here for small business owners is this: recognize your weaknesses, own your weaknesses and then commit to doing something to address them. Too many small business owners wait until they’re a job away from closing their doors, or a week away from missing payroll to get help with their businesses. Don’t wait until it’s too late – get help now.
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.
Why Small Businesses Need a Marketing Strategy
May 2, 2011
You decide to throw a dinner party. You want it to be the type of dinner party that people remember fondly and talk about for years. Imagine that you will serve an amazing meal and that your guests will rant about the delicious food, the great atmosphere, and the wonderful conversation. Now imagine throwing it all together without a plan. You won’t plan the menu. You
won’t plan the decorations. You won’t even plan the guest list.
Instead, you just go to the grocery store and pick up whatever is on sale that day, hoping that you can somehow throw it all together and make it work. You end up with a box of Fruit Loops, 3 lbs. of chicken fryers, 10 boxes of mac and cheese, Velveeta, and 2 litres of Hawaiian Punch.
For the guest list, you figure you can just tell one or two people and count on them inviting everyone they know – you’re sure a crowd of the most fun, excellent conversationalist dinner-party-guest-types will come.
Given this scenario, I want you to imagine the type of dinner party it will be now! Do you think you’ll be serving a delicious meal? Do you think you’ll have the best guests – and lots of them? Or do you think your menu will consist of some crazy meal made of Fruit Loops and Velveeta with a few mismatched guests including the boisterous lady from your spin class who ends up drinking too much and insulting everyone in the room and the neighbor down the street who hasn’t showered in weeks, shows up just for the free meal, and stands in the corner mumbling to himself all night?
Would you really rely on 1 or 2 of people to get a bunch of the most fun, outgoing, and best dinner party guests to your house? Would you plan a meal without a menu, a recipe or two, and a shopping list? Of course you wouldn’t! So then, why would you run a business this way?
Yet, that is exactly what small business owners do every day. They have a vision for a business: offering the very best product or service, standing out from the competition, and serving lots of happy satisfied customers who talk about their business for years! But instead of mapping out a plan for achieving all of this they go to work every day, work IN their business, deliver the best they can handle, buy whatever advertising is cheap or on sale, attend events because they think they should – all the while hoping to attract the right kind of customers who appreciate their work and are willing to pay a decent price for their product or service. And then they expect those customers to tell anyone and everyone about them, without teaching them how to refer the right kind of customer! (Think dinner party guests!)
Just like a dinner party, you can’t build a successful business without a plan. You need to outline a strategy: Who would make the best customers? Who do you want to invite to do business with you? What will you offer? How will you package it? How will you deliver it? How will you promote it? Buying whatever is easy and cheap and counting on a few people to spread the word might get you some results, but are they the results you want???
What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!! Leave your comments here.
By the way – if you like this post, I would REALLY appreciate your ReTweet! Thank you!!!!
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+Carolyn Higgins, President of Fortune Marketing Company
- Carolyn Higgins, President of Fortune Marketing Company specializes in helping small to medium sized businesses get the customers they need to sell more, increase profits and achieve all of their business and personal goals. We do this by implementing and managing marketing systems based on data and strategy - there is no guess work. For more information visit us at: FortuneMarketingCompany.com. We'd be glad to help!
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