Normal Doesn't Live Here Anymore: Essential Survival Skills for the Way We Live Now!

What once was normal for marketers isn't anymore. Once you could write a press release and get your information out there the way you wanted. Now, everyone has a podium to discuss your products and your business and you have very little or no control over what they say. Once you could on seeing a lift from a running a flight on a particular broadcast channel, now your well-crafted and creative commercial gets DVR'd or Tivo'd.

Back when things were normal you could always count on the holiday season to make your year. Now you don't even try to make a year, just the quarter. Things have changed forever. People's buying habits. The way they communicate. How brands interact with their end users. And the economy.

Everything isn't normal, and it's never going to be again. So what's a marketer to-do? Well, if you can adapt, think quickly on your feet, and not be afraid of trying new things, then you will do fine.

But if you're hunkered down in survival mode, waiting for things to simmer down, or the other shoe to drop, you'll be missing out on a lot of markets hare and dollars. Sure there are too few spendable dollars floating around out there, that only means that it will be the smart marketer who can chase them will get them.

Here's how to survive the upcoming years of not normal.

1. Realize that Normal Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Normal has moved out of the house, and he's not coming back. Ever. So don't enshrine his things in his old room and be pining away on the couch for him. Don't leave the porch light on, and don't be jumping up looking out the window every time a car drives by. He's left you and is not coming back. Face it.

2. Get abnormal! Now that you have accepted the fact that things aren't normal, and never will be again, you can start thinking abnormally. Yes. You are now free to think differently, act differently, spend differently and be different. Liberating isn't it? Nothing else is normal, so why should you do the same things you've always done? That's nuts. Getting abnormal is the most rational thing you can do as a marketer right now.

3. Advertise and market your buns off! When the economy tanks, marketers and CFO's get jangled. They cut marketing and advertising budgets in some sort of pre-emptive strike against the bad indicators. But in reality, all they are really doing is setting the stage for a self-fulfilling prophecy that portends poor sales and declining numbers. Well duh. You've just pulled back on your ad spends, people aren't hearing about you any more making you out of sight, out of mind, and out of luck. What a marketer needs to do in a down turn is advertise, advertise, and advertise some more. That way your brand becomes the loudest in the marketplace, you gain heaps of exposure, and then leap frog over stronger competitors because they, like the rest of the marketing lemmings, have bailed on advertising. The only cost that actually pays. Don't be like them. Don't be normal.

4. Hire Smart. Hiring smart means hiring people who are versatile, quick and eager to get on with things. There's no shortage of qualified, good talent to be had in just about every discipline. Now is the time to conduct a few search and rescue missions to secure the talent that you couldn't afford to hire a few years ago. They need the work, you get a good person. And when your sales begin to improve because you've advertised your buns off, you'll be glad they're on your team and can reward them for their dedication appropriately.

5. Stay on top of all the new tech and social media trends yourself. You. Yes you. Get a Twitter account. Follow a few people. Join Linked-IN and Facebook. Do all those new fangled things that your audience does. You personally need to learn them. Not a subordinate. You.

We hope that helps you understand the new normal! Watch for more tips on our next post. Stay abnormal!

Written by: Timo Matero, CEO - Primary Founder Accelerator Advertising, Inc. 

The Accelerator Companies

www.resultsdriven.info

Marketing and Advertising for the Way We Live Now™ *

Way back in January of this year, I was predicting a basically flat economy, stinky housing outlooks and $4.50 a gallon gas by summer. Summer's almost here and the indicators are right on track with my predictions.

It's not too hard to figure out by now, that THINGS ARE NEVER GOING TO GET BACK TO "NORMAL". Our current economy, our personal situations, and consumer behaviors are the way they are going to be for a very long time. There will be some incremental improvements to be sure. But these last few years have fundamentally changed industry, people, politics, investments, and our thinking forever.

Marketers will have to adjust their messages, offerings and mediums for the way their consumers live now. CFO's will have to adjust budgets, settle for less top line and more trim bottom lines. Retailers will have to raise prices; consumers will continue to be squeezed for their last few dollars. Even the retailer giant Walmart announced not too long ago that their customers were "running out of money".

Consumers are going to act differently moving forward. Hard times have a way of altering behaviors permanently. Folks who lived through the great depression were literally stuffing money in mattresses and burying coffee cans filled with coins in the back yard for the rest of their lives. They scrimped, saved, never wasted, re-used, did without, and lived well within their means. Just like most of us commoners now have to do today and probably will for decades to come.

So, my advice to you as a marketer is this: Don't wait for things to go back to normal. Don't settle for normal. Don't think, act, communicate, assume, promote, budget, and plan like you normally would have in the past. Normal doesn't live here anymore.

Be sure to read my upcoming blog, "These Guys Aren't Normal... Thank Goodness!" for the bright side of all this.

Author: Timo Matero, CEO, The Accelerator Companies

www.resultsdriven.info

*Not only is this headline a descriptive introduction to my latest TruthSerum post, it is Accelerator's new slogan!

Don't Just Engage Your Fans, Motivate Them!

You've done what everyone's told you to do. You've gotten your Facebook fan page up and running. You've got your Twitter, tweeting. And you've even got followers and likes-a-plenty. Now what?

If you're like other socially savvy marketing folks, you're putting up timely information about your products, causes, and promotions. You're listening for customer complaints and helping to turn grumblers into ambassadors. Basically you're keeping busy but haven't yet found a way turn social media into something that will contribute to your revenue stream.

Revenue is something most social media efforts are missing. Why? I can tell you what it may be...motivation.

Getting your followers and likes to actually DO something that will build your business. Testing the personal relationship you've made with them and motivating them to take the next step to buy or try your products and services.

It's a lesson every small business owner from a dry cleaner to a pizza shop learns about motivating customers early on, something they don't teach at the Snootington College of Business, and that is , " WE APPRECIATE YOUR BUSINESS and PLEASE TRY OUR OTHER OFFERINGS". Marketers get so caught up in devising ways to "go viral" from sweepstakes, to group deals, to hash tag contests, they forget the simple, pure power of simply asking people politely to "Buy something from us..."

I know. Social media conventional wisdom says you're not supposed to be pushy. You're not supposed to sell in social media or you'll turn your base off. But I say, if you have a true relationship with your social followers, they will appreciate and respond to a sales invitation, provided you don't do over repeat it or it isn't relevant to their lifestyle.

Ask your followers to buy or try something in a polite, friendly way. You will be amazed at the results! Oh, and if you appreciate sound advice like you're reading today, Please call or email us for a consultation. We would love to work for you. Thanks!

Author: Timo Matero, CEO, The Accelerator Companies

www.resultsdriven.info

Mr. Matero's Crystal Ball 2011

Way back in 2008 before there was an "official" recession, our agency noted a significant pull back from our clients in terms of media spends and initiatives.

Then along came the paralyzing slump of 2009 that killed off many independent ad shops, printers, and media agencies despite the so-called "stimulus".

2010 however saw everyone climbing into and clinging onto the "social media lifeboat" for all they we worth. And thankfully we survived.

So what will happen in 2011?

Prognostication, unless you're a ground hog can be a tricky past time, but I'm willing to stick my neck out. From what I'm foreseeing now, here's how it looks:

• Unemployment will continue to hover around 10%

• Housing starts will continue to wallow in the pits

• Oil will continue to climb and yes, this will put at gas at around $4.50 this summer, as it always magically does between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Go figure.

• Retail sales will remain flat

So there you have it. Another bleak outlook for yet another challenging year. But now for the good news. (There always is a silver lining you know!)

• As people get adjusted their new "Normal" personal economies, new services and products based upon value and making a connection with the consumer will skyrocket. You're already seeing this happen. Just yesterday I saw a commercial where H & R Block is offering free simple tax return preparing in an attempt to lure a new base of customers based on value. Of course, there will be an up sell once they get they in the door, but hey... they're there!

• More social media applications will flood the market making it even easier for brands to monetize their social media efforts, and for fans to "like" them.

• People who have been putting off larger purchases such as cars, computers and appliances will buy this year. Not because they want to, but because they can't put it off any longer. Heck. It's been almost 3 years since last they've had a technology upgrade, and that family wagon is going on 7 years or more.

• People are going to stop waiting for the government to pull them out of the malaise because they can see the stimulus plans have done nothing but stimulate the government.

• The unemployed are going to look for ANY work, not just work they want.

• Businesses are going to find ways to survive despite all the new mandates and regulations, and that means forcing innovation and supplying products people want versus cutting back (which they can't do anyway).

2011 will be a year for people and business to adjust to the downsize, and come to the realization that America has a far way to go to get back to the heady days before the bubbles burst.

2011 is the Year of Acceptance. Let's move forward in confidence knowing that we've woken up, we're going back to basics, and we're up for restructuring and rebuilding our lives, our businesses and our country, one positive step after another. It's going to take patience, work, and determination. I'm up for the challenge. Are you?

Author: Timo Matero, CEO, The Accelerator Companies

www.resultsdriven.info

Spuds and Buds: The Story of Spuds McKenzie and The Bud Bowl

Anyone growing up in the 80s remembers Anheuser-Busch’s Original Party Animal, Spuds McKenzie. Originally appearing in a 1987 Super Bowl commercial for Bud Light, he’s always accompanied by three beautiful “Spudettes” and is always the center of attention.

Calm, cool, collected, and never short on girls or beer, Spuds was completely likable and memorable and beer sales reflected it. The commercials were wildly successful showing Spuds dancing, high-diving, playing drums, pole vaulting, and even ski jumping. By 1988, he helped Bud Light, which was introduced in 1982, soar to the number 3 spot of all beer sold in the U.S. Most memorable (at least for me) was at the end of each commercial, one of the supermodels always had a suggestive compliment for Spuds, which he always took in stride. Good Boy!

Robin Leech (of the popular show ‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous’) provided the voice over’s, which contributed to the image of “living the good life”, not to mention the “coolness factor”.
The commercials with Spuds, who was actually a female Bull Terrier named Honey Tree Evil Eye, continued their popularity with millions of bottles of beer sold in American grocery stores along with countless t-shirts, glasses, mugs, key chains, and beach towels.

His extreme adoration, however, led to his demise. Mothers Against Drunk Driving began a nationwide protest against Anheuser-Busch claiming that Spuds popularity with children lead to an increase in under age drinking. Complaints were filed with the FCC and an investigation was launched. Although the FCC found no proof of Spuds delinquency of minors, the public relations damage had been done.

Anheuser-Busch began to fear that Spuds popularity and new notoriety may be overpowering the Bud Light brand. That, along with the MADD complaints, led to the decision to retire Spuds from commercials in 1989.



Looking for a replacement and a character that wouldn’t overshadow the product, Anheuser-Busch turned to the product itself and unveiled Bud Bowl I during the 1989 Super Bowl. These unique ads featured bottles of Bud Light and Budweiser playing each other in a football championship. The spots were created using expensive and time-consuming stop-motion photography. (This was before computers were technically advanced enough to handle this type of animation.) Each game provided lots of drama, last-second heroics, comedy, and, to the delight of Anheuser-Busch, hundreds of shots of the product.

Despite the intense labor and cost involved, the commercials were a huge hit and the consumer response from Bud Bowl I was an unprecedented 17% spike in Budweiser sales that month. The following year Bud Bowl II continued on the popularity and brought a spike of 19%. In 1992, Bud Bowl IV brought in an unbelievable 46% increase in grocery store sales.

Kitschy and cool, each year brought more game-within-the-game Bud Bowl commercials, characters, celebrities, and highlights. It was Anheuser-Busch’s most successful campaign ever. However, by 1999, consumers had become weary of the annual contest and Anheuser-Busch ended the campaign.

Later Super Bowls featured the Bud-weis-er Frogs and the “Whassup?!” guys. Each was extremely popular, instantly recognizable by a majority of Americans, and spawned numerous commercial sequels. But they failed where it mattered most, as neither managed to increase sales quite as well as Spuds and Bud Bowl did a few decades ago. Shortly after, the campaigns were ended.

So the search continues for Anheuser-Busch for the next great spokesperson, or frog, dog, or bottle, which will propel sales during the Super Bowl once again. Tune in next year!

Author: Marc Obregon, President, Accelerator Advertising, Inc.

www.resultsdriven.info

Can Quality Creative Really be Crowdsourced?

Crowdsourcing creative is fast becoming a part of the design marketplace.

For those unfamiliar with crowdsourcing creative, it's a way of throwing out a project to a worldwide pool of persons who practice a particular discipline, say graphic design, and in return you get creative submissions from artists with a wide range of experience levels and talent. You choose which concepts to pay for and negotiate a price. The turnaround is fast, and you wind up with lots of submissions to choose from.

While at first glance, it may seem like a foolproof and cost-saving way to get your creative done, but there are a few pitfalls you will want to avoid.

Get genuine original creative. When you crowdsource, you never know from where the artist or writer drew his/her "inspiration". Be sure to have the artists certify in writing that the materials they provide to you are original to them. When in doubt, make sure your legal team earns their keep.

Not all submissions can be treated as equal. You may receive submissions from a hack, to an art school drop out, to an art director with twenty years of experience. Crowdsourcing is like Forest Gump's big box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get.

You will need to do a comprehensive and fully explanative creative brief. The old saying, "Garbage in, Garbage out," certainly applies to crowdsourcing. This is where agency experience and expertise alleviates this pain point.

Don't expect wonderful work. Unless the submitting artist has intimate knowledge of your brand, marketing challenges, and assesses your needs in professional consultation, you will most likely wind up getting results based on guesswork and whimsy. This is why so many professionals shy away from spec work. You simply can't produce on-target creative without full development and consultation.

Some marketers report that crowdsourcing creative has worked well for some projects. And there are plenty of successful websites offering this concept to substantiate the results. Artists that I know who have participated in the process report that it is like doing spec work on steroids, where the number of submissions for a single logo project may number into the hundreds, and the artist gets paid less than minimum wage for the amount of time they put in on the job, that is if the submission is even picked.

Crowdsourcing is here to stay. It will be up to each marketers ability and conscience to determine if / when crowdsourcing creative should be employed.

What do you think about crowdsourcing? Comment below.

Author: Mr. Timo Matero, CEO and Director, Accelerator Advertising, Inc.

General Motors Rally Cap Commercial is out of touch with America

Has anyone seen the latest commercial from General Motors? It’s difficult to see but they use the “rally cap” as their metaphor for the ad. If you’re not familiar with the rally cap, it’s a baseball superstition that started, I’m guessing, back in the 80’s. If your team was behind in the last inning, the fans would turn their baseball caps inside out and wear them that way. It showed solidarity among the fans to hopefully give their team a little extra luck to rally back and win the game.

The commercial shows the usual All-American lifestyle vignettes of people out and about but wearing their caps inside-out. The voice over talks about making a big comeback. It talks of new payment protection plans, financing, and warranties. The thing that I wonder when I watch this is who are they trying to rally: the consumer or themselves? Are they saying that we are about to lose the game (and declare bankruptcy) unless America rallies and buys their cars? Or, are they trying to tell themselves that they can make this comeback? And do most consumers even know what a rally cap is? Do the offers resonate with the consumer? To me, it sounds more like a threat than a sales pitch.

In this economy, and especially after the bailout, consumers don’t want to see a shiny, high-budget commercial made by out-of-touch executives and a clueless ad agency telling them to “rally”. Do consumers losing jobs and homes really want to see slick pricey cars, surfers on the beach, valet drivers, and Michigan Ave shoppers with their caps on inside out? I think consumers want to see something of substance and change. Not the same old, same old. How about an ad that simply says, “We’re cutting the cost of all our cars by 30%”, or, “Hey, we’re listening and we’re changing the way we do business”, or even, “ Let’s do this together, America.” I think a little honesty and less pandering would go miles in the hearts of consumers.

In 1984, Lee Iacocca stood in front of the camera in a factory, looked you in the eye, and used straight-talk to explain the products, explain the company goals, and tell consumers what they wanted to hear. It was done low budget and to the point, which resonated well with the audience and was a very successful campaign.

Which do you think works better?




Author: Marc Obregon, President, Accelerator Advertising, Inc.

www.resultsdriven.info