The Buzz Forge

jeff February 14th, 2010

My wife and I were having dinner with friends last night when our of the corner of my ear I heard one say “That is the best advertising!”

When I hear a statement like that I generally like to join the conversation. And I’m never disappointed in hearing some inane reason why that particular advertising is the best. Last night I chose to restrain myself and not join the conversation. After all, friends and I’d heard this particular friend’s “best” advertising many times, each time a different best. So why at 5:15 a.m. after a night of Valentine revelry did my mind decide to bring back the topic?

I don’t know but I wanted to sleep in.

I’ve hard all types of “the best advertising is” statements and mostly they are based on an isolated incident that brought notoriety to a business (read that as people saying “I saw/heard you on/in…..”) but never generated a measurable and sustained increase in revenue. And most of these expert opinions on the best advertising have come not from marketing and advertising experts but from people in other fields. In my youth I would immediately grab my sledge hammer and start bashing their argument deftly making my point as to why they were incorrect. And when asked what was the best advertising I would, depending on my level of maturity in my career either let them know that there is no best that advertising success depended on too many variables and was different for various businesses and industries, blah, blah, blah.

Yea, I was onel of those guys. I can be pretty goo d at spouting all of the marketing mumbo-jumbo and often catch myself reverting back.

This morning my mind gave me what I believe is the definitive answer to “What’s the best form of advertising?”

An elated customer.

Not just a happy customer or a satisfied customer or a long time customer because for the most part these will rarely praise you to their friends and strangers in the checkout line at the grocery store.

An elated customer can not control themselves and will look for an opportunity to tell someone, friend and stranger alike, how great your business is. An elated customer will spread the gospel of your product with such fervor that others will come to you in droves. The elated customer will not allow them to do anything but come to you.

The Elated Customer, that’s your answer. That’s the best form of advertising. Now that you know it go start your campaign.

Thanks for your time,
Jeff

• Advertising in General
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bigbuzz November 19th, 2009

We have a large number of clients who advertise online. Most do some form of online advertising. Those who do not, yet, ask how, where and with what. My advise always starts the same. Be careful.

Online advertising has been the hottest thing for a decade, why not it’s new. Mobile is quickly replacing online ad the new glamor ad outlet but that’s another discussion. Online has seen huge surges in ad revenue, it’s new so why not, but for the most part those dollars have been flushed. We can chalk them up to research. Now it’s time to look at the data we have from 10 years of online ads and see where and how to best utilize our resources.

Let’s assume a web site is already in you arsenal and that you are properly utilizing data gathering, stickiness, frequent visits, all the things that make a web site “great”. Now you want to advertise and drive traffic to your site. “Let’s put up some banners.” you say to your crew. The question is what type, size, format, where…

Please make sure your choice is representative of your product and company. Viewer perception will mean the difference between success and failure. Consider how you feel when you see different size and style banners. If you are designing your ads in house look at your competitors banners, look at the big boys ads, notice what banners cause you to click. If you are hiring an agency to work on your interactive campaign ask them why they are doing things the way they are. If they don’t give an answer you are comfortable with find someone else.

The new mantra for online advertising is bigger is better. Pushdowns, XXL Boxes, Fixed Panels are seeing greater clicks. Interactive ads that engage the user having them click on flip art and play videos are more popular and show increased user favor. Of course these are more expensive to produce than a 728 x 90 leaderboard.

Interactive advertising can be a valuable and integral part of your media mix, just be careful, it could also be the commode you send your dollars and time down if you are not careful.

• Interactive Advertising
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bigbuzz November 19th, 2009

The new study by Dynamic Logic showing that Magazine advertising is more effective than online or TV confirms something we are aware of. Only we forget.

Why do we forget? First advertisers like the idea and glamor of Broadcast TV. It’s a puff-out-your-chest moment when you can say I’m on TV or when someone says they saw you on TV.  Second, things we know often get pushed back in our mind. New information, more immediate information is laid upon foundational knowledge and we focus on the new.

It’s great to see research restating the known from time to time because we all need to re reminded.

Why is Magazine advertising more effective than online and TV? Think about the media. TV is a mass market outlet, expensive in nature with high production costs. Commercial are viewed by the user as interruptions, time to get a drink, go to the bathroom, change channels, skip with DVR, etc. Sure TV can be target by purchasing time in specific shows but you are still not pinpoint targeting and have to deal with the audience you purchased leaving while your ad is on. And, once your ad is done it’s gone.

Online is touted as the next great thing yet few have found profit in it. Ads are more annoying than Gary Trudeau infomercials and online trust is a major issue. I just battled a virus that infected my computer. The IT Security Specialist I hired to fix me up said I probably got the virus from a very well known site. It was not their doings that infected me by hackers, a common practice.

So all of those flashing noisy banners and things that float across my screen are a pain in my rear and I ignore them all I can. And I virtually never click on them.

Magazine ads are a bit different. Magazine ads are part of the content of the publication.  Products advertised are strongly associated with the subject matter found in the mag. Motorcycle parts are found in motorcycle mags not home decor pubs. The reader purchased the magazine knowing there are ads, they are not interruptions but overwhelmingly viewed as part of the information in the publication. And, each time a reader uses the mag they are exposed to the ads, that’s frequency.

I need to make something clear…Online and TV advertising are valuable and when done correctly can drive business. We just need to remember what we know, Magazines can target and generate sales, build brand awareness and give the most effective cost per person and dollar spent.

Thanks for your time,
Jeff

• Advertising in General , Traditional Media
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bigbuzz September 24th, 2009

A recent AdAge article featured the headline “Luxury Marketers Move Online but Most Lack Digital Cunning”.

No Shit!

Most companies still lack digital cunning or basic knowledge as to how to best utilize the internet to drive their business. One reason is the varying views as to what success looks like online. Another is that few success models are available and even fewer people want to look at what brought that success.

I was faced with multiple examples of this recently as I met with various clients. Invariably they told me how much of their budgets were going to interactive advertising and how well it was doing but when asked to qualify their success the answer was “We get a lot of hits.“

OK, I am learning to overlook the inaccurate use of hits understanding they are meaning click throughs and site traffic. However, non could go beyond the hits and convert that to conversions, actual sales. Why? If all your efforts are going to driving traffic fine but if you are selling books or games or shoes you want to know how those hits converted to dollars.

Why spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on hits that bring in no sales? Why wouldn’t tracking be in place to give the conversion info so that you could see if your efforts were actually profitable?

Too often we see good ideas, especially in the digital realm, taken half way to a point where success and failure can not be determined. In these cases the definition of success and failure is changed to meet the outcome. “Hey, that banner got us a 30% increase in traffic! The campaign was a success.” Too bad the time spent on your site plummeted and your bounce rate skyrocketed. And it’s really too bad that your sales didn’t increase a a bit.

• Advertising in General
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bigbuzz September 14th, 2009

I sometimes have to chuckle when I read about the changing of marketing. I sometimes rant. This morning I can’t help but shake my head and wonder where people have been for the bast few decades. Social Media has been around for ever and yet it seems to be a new thing to most.

Those who has worked in local advertising understands Social Media. They understand the importance of customer contact contact on a personal level and the importance of telling a story. They understand shaking hands and networking whether it’s at Chamber events or from a booth at a local expo or fair.

The ingredients that have gone into successful Social Marketing for generations are the ingredients that are being espoused as new tactics on Twitter, FaceBook, Linkedin and other social sites. Perhaps giant companies and agencies are so detached from the streets that they have forgotten. Or maybe they are so wrapped up in winning awards with their creativity that they lost sight that the 4Cs were always the important aspect of marketing.

“Long gone are the 4Ps of marketing, these are the days of the 4Cs, a customer centric approach that includes the customer’s wants and needs; the cost to satisfy the customer; the convenience; and communication.” Read the rest

If we haven’t been focusing on the customer all of these years what have we been? It comes down to your marketing If you want to win a street fight higher a Street Fighter. Look at who’s in your corner do they mind getting dirty, even bloody, for you? If not find someone who will tell your story ’till they drop.

• Advertising in General , Social Media
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