Archive for Signage

You are what you wear

June 1, 2017 / mrmarketing / No comments

wine-dress-LUX-LD3449-aAt 15 mom convinced me you can’t get into trouble dressing conservatively.

She also said I should wear clean underwear in case I’m in an accident. I now know if I’m in an accident my underwear won’t be clean for very long.

But I digress. It’s prom night at Old Poway Park.

Everyone’s dolled up, taking pictures and awaiting the big moment.

One attractive girl whose dress is cut down to Venezuela catches attention while cavorting with her friends.

Her primary competition’s got a gown slit up to her navel.

I shake my head, wondering where were girls like this when I was in high school.

SIGH!

Assuming their goal’s to titillate their dates, these young exhibitionists are achieving their objective. Obviously, fancy parties require exciting clothes.

Other environments demand more sober clothing to achieve success. Miss Cleavage obviously wouldn’t wear that gown for a job interview.

A recent consulting gig found me surrounded by coworkers in jeans. I blended in on a high level with jeans, jacket and tie.

People noticed, calling me the classiest person in the organization.

Other clients won’t talk to me seriously unless I’m suited up.

My ideas are obviously the same without the suit, but that’s their culture. I live by their guidelines to buy myself a seat at the table.

Clothing sends a clear message who you are. Jeans at a job interview says “I’m not serious,” while jacket and tie at a rock concert screams “DORK!”

Reading the room and your place in it is critical for marketing yourself properly.

Speaking at a conference? Wear a jacket and tie. The audience shows up wearing jeans? Remove the tie.

My point is simple: Despite changing norms in many workplaces, most people still judge you by your wardrobe. Therefore, it’s key to pay attention to the message you’re sending.

Still, regardless of the packaging you can continue standing out of the crowd. Suits can be dressed up with a colorful tie or kerchief.

Hawaiian Shirt Day at work is an invitation to wear something bold.

With prom night past these kids have an opportunity to market themselves to new audiences at college and beyond. Their choice of fashion could easily make the difference to their personal and professional futures.

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.

———————
Dress your marketing for success at www.marketbuilding.com

Category: branding, consumer marketing, corporate messaging, direct marketing, job hunting, market research, Marketing trivia, product marketing, Public relations, Sales, sales promotion, Signage, speaking, Strategic planning / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Best Sneetch on the Beach?

May 30, 2017 / mrmarketing / No comments

18582547_1537480859609087_60390326429017806_nLast night at Alesmith Brewery my friend Dave noticed all the pretty girls. I couldn’t get past them all having tattoos.

As I don’t sport ink, I admit my ignorance to the fascination with this form of self-expression.

It’s a throwback to my youth, when my father instilled in me three things to never do: sleep with a hooker, spend a night in jail, or get a tattoo.

So I basically just don’t get it.

Dave tried helping me out; “Military, truck drivers, and gang members have all traditionally worn body art. It goes with the territory.”

Which is all well and good. But the 58-year old accountant rebelling against a lifetime of middle class existence by imprinting a red scorpion on her neck may need therapy more than ink and needle.

That 25-year old tattooing her boyfriend’s name onto her hand fits in with her crowd but forgets he’s probably gone next year.

And will anyone really take you for a badass when you’re 90 and still sporting that grinning skull?

Next I re-read my Dr. Seuss.

In The Sneetches, Seuss spoke of the superiority complex of those with stars on their bellies. As everyone got them to feel special, eventually nobody was special. The tattoo artist won.

Regular readers know I’m all about finding ways to stand out of the crowd. Yet if the entire crowd expresses their individuality together, I go with Seuss’ observation “The best kind of Sneetches are Sneetches without!”

My bride says it’s a matter of self-identification. Does that translate to marketing yourself?

If so, before you make that commitment, ask if you’re more likely to stand out without a tattoo?

Because that body art makes a statement about you that might negatively impact your ability to market yourself and/or your company.

After all, if your customers are turned off by tats, you might not get or keep the job.

During my career I’ve observed the most successful sales people have certain things in common, including dressing well, neutral accents, good grooming, lack of facial hair, and no tattoos.

Despite this, you may feel a tattoo’s key to your identity. If you must pursue it, place it somewhere unobtrusive. You and your close friends can appreciate what’s nobody else’s business.

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.

———————-

Add color to your marketing at www.askmrmarketing.com

Category: branding, job hunting, Marketing trivia, Public relations, Sales, Signage, Strategic planning / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Event marketing on a budget

April 29, 2017 / mrmarketing / No comments

It seems every week there’s a fundraising event aimed at generating support event marketingfor a local non-profit.

Golf tournaments, soccer games, bazaars … spring is the busy fundraising season. You name it, you’ll find it.

All seek to maximize turnout and dollars raised. Most face similar challenges, including:

• Competition from other events

• Miniscule budgets

• Volunteers doing the bulk of the work

Sadly, many volunteers lack basic marketing knowledge. This inhibits effectively spreading the word about their event, helping to conspire against success.

So, as a public service, I’d like to analyze the May 7 Jewish Food Festival at Poway’s Temple Adat Shalom.

This event offers everything you’d expect: food, music, dancing, educational materials, crafts … the works.

Since December, a team of eight volunteers (including me) has implemented a marketing plan aimed at delivering solid results without many resources.

Hey, it’s a non-profit fundraiser. Of course, the marketing budget’s skimpy. Despite that they’ve worked wonders, developing:

• A snappy tagline

• A revitalized web site

• Online event calendar postings

• A twice-weekly campaign encouraging Facebook connections to share news and invite their friends

• Printed signs for placement in area store windows

• Print ads targeting specific local communities

• Publicity appearing throughout San Diego County

• Promotional postcards mailing to homes within two miles of Temple Adad Shalom.

The team also coordinated a food drive with Interfaith Community Services.

Then sales promotions were used judiciously to increase awareness, attendance and participation, with fliers placed in hotels to attract regional visitors.

A mailing campaign was also done to potential sponsors, and in-house publications maintained a steady drumbeat to the most obvious audiences.

Every marketing tool used consistent designs and language. Combining good organization, a desirable destination and comprehensive marketing, current projections show double the turnout from the last Jewish Food Festival.

Has it been perfect? Hardly. Business cards should have been made for those selling program ads and a budget for radio, billboards and TV would have tied it all together nicely.

Then again, they’d probably have had so many visitors that they’d run out of food.

The only disappointment: Someone being reluctant to co-sponsor light pole banners out of fear of associating his company’s name with the word “Jewish” due to rising societal anti-Semitism.

Despite such setbacks, food festival organizers anticipate great results, setting an excellent example for other non-profit fundraisers.

Get more information about this great event at http://www.sdjewishfoodfest.com

Category: B2C, b2c marketing, branding, budgets, charitable giving, consumer marketing, corporate messaging, non-profit marketing, political marketing, Public relations, Sales, sales promotion, Signage, social networking, Strategic planning, Web site marketing / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

You’re calling it WHAT?

March 10, 2017 / mrmarketing / No comments

Driving through CoPerformanceUtilitySupply_Underground-Utilities-Home1rona I spotted a roadside sign reading PUS.

Having a twisted sense of humor, I wondered who would want to buy the stuff.

The sign was attached to a company named Performance Utility Supply. They sell hardware to the power and lighting industries.

I’m guessing most of their customers are “manly” men in construction. Their website photo of an unshaven guy wearing his PUS gear reinforces my suspicion.

The company also has a sexually suggestive line emblazoned on their trucks. And if this strategy works for them, who am I to argue?

Still, one has to wonder about the long-term wisdom of this type of gender-based marketing. While today women only make up 9% of construction workers, change is inevitable.

Over the past 50 years, women have achieved parity in one industry after another. In the current political climate, their numbers can only be expected to increase.

All suggesting the eventuality of more women buyers in one of the last bastions of male domination: construction.

It’s no surprise that women oftentimes view the world differently than men. Historically, professional women are less likely to engage in sophomoric hijinks than their male counterparts.

Which all points to women buyers in construction and related trades who will want to be taken seriously and/or be offended by the PUS name and marketing strategy.

Naming a business can be tricky, easily going down the wrong path. Things to consider when you’re naming your business include:

  • How will your audience receive it?
  • How will your acronym read?
  • Is the name exciting, or a compromise reached to satisfy a committee?
  • Does the name say something, or is it just feeding someone’s ego?
  • Are you just mashing words together in hopes of being clever?
  • Do you stand out of the crowd in a good way?
  • Are you merely naming the business after the town you live in?
  • Are you using clichés or obscure words?
  • Is your spelling funky?
  • Can you get a domain to match your company name?
  • Are you budgeting enough to brand your name to customers?
  • Can you admit if the company name is just wrong?

Company names should bring value to the table. The last thing you want is for customers to be offended when they see your business’ name.

Category: B2B, B2B Marketing, branding, corporate messaging, linguistics, Marketing trivia, product marketing, Public relations, Signage, Strategic planning / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Right this way, Mr. Squinty

January 27, 2017 / mrmarketing / No comments

In September I found myself at a branch of my bank awaiting a receipt. My sd-sdreyer-1485458125-snap-phototime was spent perusing brochures, people-watching, and staring into space. Then the monitor behind the counter caught my eye.

As a marketing professional I’m naturally curious about every company’s messaging. So I watched their video presentation. Twice.

Finally I realized the problem. “The picture’s fuzzy,” I told the teller, who smiled noncommittally.

Last week I visited another branch of the same bank and determined the problem wasn’t my eyes, but the presentation itself.

This time the teller acknowledged the issue. “We said something to headquarters weeks ago and they promised they’d fix it,” she said.

Yet here we are, months later, and the problem persists.

When I started in business, my father advised me to be sensitive to customers’ needs. “People’s eyes start playing tricks on them around age 40,” he warned.

Truer words were never spoken! Shortly after I hit 40 my eyes started acting up, and they’ve only gotten worse with age.

So here I was observing a marketing presentation that was unfocused and giving me a headache.

And the bank’s marketing department apparently wasn’t very concerned about it.

Meaning the message meant to reinforce my warm fuzzy feelings for this bank instead irritated me.

Counter-productive? You bet!

Even if the bank eventually gets its act together, it’ll be quite a while before I’m watching that video again.

Translation: beyond the annoyance factor, they’ve lost a very visible, very cost-effective tool for communicating with me.

And a measure of good will has also been lost because they didn’t pay attention to my needs.

Now let’s consider your business. Do you:

• Know your customer’s profile and their preferred ways of being communicated with?

• Understand their needs to ensure they receive your message?

• Listen to your staff when they tell you there’s a marketing issue requiring attention?

Admittedly I’m not so annoyed that I’m moving my business elsewhere…yet.

Still, I’m now wondering which other concerns of mine they’re ignoring.

And should the competition hit me with the right offer, benefits, and messaging on the right day, I might be persuaded to switch.

All because some faceless person didn’t take the time to ensure quality control at the point of sale.

Category: Audio/Visual, B2C, b2c marketing, consumer marketing, corporate messaging, Customer relations, customer service, product marketing, Public relations, Sales, sales promotion, Signage / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,