By Dr. Burt Smith October 6th, 2008
If we had to pick a category and “label” this campaign, indeed, there is an overwhelming amount of evidence to support the conclusion that the Ford Edsel was a failure. But I am not that crazy about putting things into boxes or assigning definite labels. I think there’s more profit to be derived from looking at everything as a learning opportunity.
The Edsel was a bust from the start as far as how the public turned up its nose at it, so yes, from a marketing standpoint it was a complete and utter flop. The customer IS the answer, and if the customer says “No,” then you can’t get much more straightforward than that.
On the other hand, the Edsel featured several innovations in terms of driver safety, which would be used to improve the designs of later models. From that standpoint, Ford was able to derive significant value from the investment in the Edsel and reinvest that value in future offerings for the marketplace.
Marketers call this “relative product failure.” Relative to the original goal of starting a profitable new product line, it fell short. However, It was not an absolute failure because the investment in its development paid dividends later on for the company. It’s not a bad idea for us to constantly inventory all of our “failures” and see how we can, in, fact, cash in on them. My bet is that you and I could swap quite a few stories about things that we’ve been through either in business or in our personal lives that at first seemed like disasters, and in retrospect became things that we’re grateful for today because they’ve paid off in the long run. And we’re all in it for the long run!
Success is a journey, not a
destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome. –
Arthur Ashe
By Dr. Burt Smith September 27th, 2008
S
everal years ago, Cessna decided they wanted to enter the lear jet market. They had a good solid brand in the single-engine, light aircraft category, and just knew they could leverage their core competencies into success in this premium market segment. But they had concerns that the market might not agree. They feared that even though customers had confidence in their single-engine products, they might have a tough time justifying a higher price for this kind of product and might see it as just a small propeller-driven plane inside a lear jet shell.
So what they did was develop a new product with a new story. The Citation was born! They came up with a campaign that addressed every benefit sought by their target market. They answered the possible objection of the unknown, new brand name by having the fact that the Citation was a division of the established Cessna corporation as part of the signature of the messages about the product. The Cessna logo was at first presented only discreetly but has become much more prominent in recent years as the Citation brand has established itself. In fact, the Citation has become a real flagship brand for Cessna.
Sometimes when we want to enter a new market, we will find ourselves answering way too many “yeah, but’s” if we’re trying to convince or change the attitude of the market. This can lengthen an already very long and expensive process. Often, we’re better off developing a new story to tell the market in the form of a new brand.
By Dr. Burt Smith September 21st, 2008
This is worth a look! MSN ran an article recently of products readers said they’d like to see resurrected. See for yourself!
Just fun and games, mostly, but there may also be a couple of marketing/business/strategy-type lessons here that may ignite a creativity fire for you. Or at least be some good water-cooler trivia.
By Dr. Burt Smith September 3rd, 2008
A colleague of mine relayed a story of a luncheon she was attending a while back. She and her group wound up seated at a table near the kitchen door, which usually wouldn’t have been significant, except that the door had a horrible squeak to it. Actually, she said it squeaked when it was opened, and squealed when it was closed. Someone at the table commented how distracting that was going to be once the meeting started!
To the great credit of the hosting facility, without having to be asked by an audience member, they immediately dispatched a staff member with a can of WD-40 to lubricate the hinges. No more squeak, no more squeal. Problem solved, and a table full of customers wound up being more than a little impressed with the prompt handling of the whole episode.
No wonder there’s a WD-40 fan club!
Things can, and do, go wrong in the process of serving our customers. Whether the problem is large or small, exactly how, and how promptly, we solve the problem, can make all the difference in customer satisfaction. In fact, what looks like a problem may be a great brand-building opportunity!
By Dr. Burt Smith August 27th, 2008
By letting someone else do the heavy lifting!
One of the things I admire about the Rolling Stones is how they have managed to keep on rockin’ after all these years! They’re a worthy study for that reason and for how they have managed to maintain a brand over 4 decades. A strategy they employ is to delegate all the promotional activities to the promoters. The promoters get a whopping 60% of the gross in some cases. This at first probably sounds HUGE, and it is, but it’s actually of great benefit to the Stones because essentially, all they have to do is show up. The promoter works hard because his or her success is tied directly to the success of the show.
As Mick Jagger might ask, “How cool is that, baby?”
As I discuss in my book, these kinds of relationships can be a little tricky, so you have to be careful, but the benefits far outweigh the downsides in most cases. I encourage you to give serious thought to not only how can you get business from your network, but how to turn those in your network into brand evangelists for you.
By Dr. Burt Smith August 26th, 2008
Ted Turner’s media empire started with his acquisition of a run-down cable station in the days before cable was cool. He put on programming that was older (and cheaper!) like Gilligan’s Island and The Andy Griffith Show. He sold advertising based on the simple fact that since most of the programming was in black-and-white, advertisers’ color commercials would leap off the screen. And it worked!
Great entrepreneurs often share a trait that makes all the difference: The ability to see an opportunity disguised as a threat.
Next time you’re faced with what looks like “bad news,” say to yourself, “That’s good!” Then get busy looking for what exactly is good about it and how you can profit.
By Dr. Burt Smith August 19th, 2008
Simple Answer: Efficiency!
By improving your operations, you get more efficient, which means you better utilize your existing investments and assets. Because there is no additional investment, and because you’re getting higher performance out of what you’ve already got, you automatically widen your profit margins. You can do this without raising prices.
How do you get started? Simply start by looking at anything and everything that deals with how you deliver what you deliver to your customer. Then, look for any and every way to make it better, little by little. Or as we say in ECHO Marketingtm, Optimize, Optimize, Optimize!
You’ll find this little approach is applicable whether you are in manufacturing or service, selling a tangible or intangible, whether you’re a for-profit or not-for-profit, whether you are a large organization or a small business, and whether you own the business or manage a territory, a department, or a single project.
Make little improvements and the big picture results will surprise you.
By Dr. Burt Smith August 5th, 2008
Constantly.
I said earlier that you should CHANGE a strategy or campaign only when it STOPS performing. That is, when it stops performing at an optimal level on a consistent basis.
Exactly how you measure “optimal” is up to you. You may find that even if the strategy isn’t working at as high a level as it once was, it’s still generating revenue and since you’re not having to throw additional capital at it, the returns you’re getting are really, really good. Like maybe several hundred percent good, because the strategy paid for itself some time ago and now you’re experiencing what our accounting friends call ROA or Return on Assets. I strongly advocate NOT getting sucked into changing strategies unless you have a very compelling reason just so you can maximize the returns on your assets.
On the other hand, because the world is, quite literally, changing right out from under us, we need to be THINKING about new strategies all the time. We need to constantly be asking “What if?”
What if a new market opens up that we could capitalize on? What if we want to add a product line, division, or acquire another business? What if some new legislation gets passed and drains the profit right out of our current business? What if new technology makes what we’re currently doing obsolete or will require a ton of new investment so we can stay in the business? What if a lower-priced competitor enters the market? What if an unethical competitor does something that taints the brand of our whole industry?
What if? What would we do?
By training ourselves to think in terms of the next threat or opportunity, we’ll be more proactive and won’t be caught scrambling. We can then create the future rather than try to cope with it.
So milk the cash cow that is your current strategy as long as you can, but be thinking about how to replenish the herd, too!
When you’re green you grow…when you’re ripe, you rot!
- Ray Kroc, McDonald’s
By Dr. Burt Smith July 31st, 2008
When it stops working.
Not when YOU get tired of it, not when you think the market wants something new, not when some expert tells you it’s time for a change, and not just because you’ve had it a long time.
You change a campaign or strategy when the results you sought stop appearing on a regular basis.
You change it when it stops working. Period.
By Dr. Burt Smith July 25th, 2008
“Word of mouth has become word of keyboard,” stated an article in Futurist magazine last spring. Instead of seeking so-called “experts”, consumers today let their fingers do their talking and interact with other consumers to decide what, when, how and why to buy. You probably shop this way, too. So welcome to the revolution!
Not since the dissemination of the printing press have so many had access to so much in terms of information! We today live in the ultimate democracy, the ultimate testament to the free market economy and to freedom itself! You’re only a few keystrokes away from knowing, and, potentially, even having anything you want!
Think about how you buy just about anything today, from a movie ticket to a big-screen TV, and see how these statistics grab you: Over 50% of all consumers who purchased electronics online said they read the reviews written by other consumers. Of those, 30% said their purchases were based on consumer reviews they found at various places on the web. It’s a safe bet those numbers will go way up in a short time because, according to the article, 90% of people say they trust suggestions of the word-of-mouth, or “word of keyboard” variety.
Can anybody argue that the customer is NOT in charge these days? Does a business that even tries to debate that really deserve YOUR business?
EMI Research Solutions, LLC.