A Rhyme4You

Sorry. I’m not going to produce this month’s B2Seed in poetry.

Like many of you, I grew up hearing nursery rhymes and, while I may not know why the itsy-bitsy spider crawled up the water spout, I can tell you one thing: Most anything that is universally familiar can become fodder for successful advertising.

Three or four years ago I had a client tell me they wanted something different than the normal, usual advertising so we tossed around a wide range of ideas and creative concepts as a team. One of the possibilities we liked a lot was involving stories familiar to most of us – tales like Goldilocks (“this _____ was just right”) or even Peter Piper. You get the idea. It seemed promising, but as we pulled it together it became obvious the concept was too far outside of that client’s comfort zone.

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Oh well.

We moved along to the next round of creative concepts and only rarely thought of how much fun that campaign would have been to produce. Until, that is, I saw Geico Insurance using a similar approach in one of their far-out television commercials. They caught the attention of their audience with the first lines of childhood favorites, like Humpty Dumpty and Little Miss Muppet, and then changed the endings to convey the importance of having homeowners and renters insurance. Brilliant.

The Connection2You

People love to toss around the “out of the box” terminology, but frequently don’t want the discomfort that comes with implementing or executing that way-out-thereconcept. And that doesn’t just apply to advertising or marketing. It is a common challenge with all kinds of business solutions. People think they want something new or different – until they are exposed to the new or different idea and see the risk associated with it.

To go forward you may just have to embrace something as crazy as a fable or a nursery rhyme. Just ask Geico.

B2C Enterprises is an award-winning advertising, marketing, and business development firm. If you’d like to talk about how we can help you with your marketing, or see some examples of our work, just call 540.904.1229.

Driven2Distraction

There’s nothing like a county fair to distract the average teenager. Besides the bright colors, neon lights, rides, games, and girls (or boys), there is the food and drink. So much to capture one’s attention and, when you’re 15, it’s obvious you have limited amounts of attention to pay.

Earlier this month I picked up my son and his friend from the nearby event. Almost immediately I heard one of them say, “I’m hungry.” Naturally, I wondered why since I had sent them off with some money earlier in the evening. My young friend quickly shared his tale. “I was distracted by the Strawberry-Lemonade.” If you haven’t been to a fair lately, that’s $5 right there. The refill was shortly after and it was another $4 bucks or so. Later on he was tempted by the Watermelon-Lemonade and maybe one game and there you have it. No money left for dinner.

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As I was practicing my short-order cooking skills at midnight – I reflected.

A Marketing Reminder4Us

Have you determined the core drivers in your marketing plan? Most of you have or, if pressed, could likely list them. Yet, I’m guessing that newest gadget, social media channel, or fad is distracting you from improving your core strengths. Facebook is a prime example.

For some businesses it is critical, for others I see an awful lot of energy put into a platform that tamps down your ability to communicate with your fans and followers. It’s a fun place and certainly business is done there (especially for some categories), but it’s a time suck for many humans and equally so for a lot of businesses.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t spend time there, I’m suggesting you make sure your marketing pillars are steady and in place first. Then give some attention to those neon lights and order your Strawberry-Lemonade refreshment.

Engagement2Break

While waiting for my son’s video game console to be fixed at our local GameStop, I overheard a conversation nearby. The sales clerk was speaking with the next person in his line and, instead of asking the all too familiar question “Did you find everything okay today?”, he had a different approach.

“Is there a game you’re looking forward to getting?” he asked.

Great question.

My son’s PS4 was in bad shape, so I was able to listen as he asked three different customers the same question. Interestingly enough, two of the three gave him very specific answers. One ended up taking action by signing up to pre-order their highly-anticipated game. All three seemed to appreciate the thought behind the employee’s question and replied in some sort of significant way.

Success – he had broken the retail pattern.

Interruptions4Good

There are patterns in every part of commerce. It’s easier to be robotically repetitive and as businesspeople, shoppers, or office workers, we tend to continue doing what we’re most comfortable with. If you’re going to do the same thing every time, though, you may as well see if your pattern makes sense and is helpful to your goals.

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This GameStop sales clerk’s pattern worked. Sales increased, sure. But, more than that, he was also having much more interesting conversations with his prospects and creating a positive energy. That’s powerful stuff.

I was still hanging around (told you that PS4 was in bad shape) when there was a break in his line. I mentioned what a good approach he had and how effective it seemed to be. The clerk quickly pointed to his manager and said “It’s all him.” The whole staff had trained and practiced engaging with customers using these open-ended questions. The clerk told me he was still learning, but it was clear he had figured out a few things already.

Perhaps we could learn a little by taking a closer look at our patterns.

Is there anything you’re looking forward to learning about these days?

Lots of Ways2Learn

I haven’t always been a marketing expert.

No, I haven’t. It’s taken years of observing, stumbling (at times), succeeding, building and developing to become one. It’s been decades of engagement in the advertising, communications, and marketing industry.

Nothing against the communications and marketing programs at colleges and universities…I’ve had the opportunity to address many students and have met with many interesting professors and teachers. Marketing theory is important and the studies released by those types of experts lead a lot of activity and drive many behaviors. It’s interesting stuff.

It’s just that I’ve found, as helpful as that information is, the axiom about rubber meeting the road really drives much more of our plans and the efforts we put in place to build our client’s brands, traffic, and sales. Theories are good, but practical seems to work even better for the medium and small sized organizations we typically work so closely with.

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How are we going to sell more of this, bring more people to that, or tell our patients, customers, or clients we are now doing this new thing?  Those are the practical questions most businesses are really asking.  And those are the types of questions we work hard to solve with marketing (and advertising and communications).

The Lesson4Business

Unlike so many types of industries, it’s not the acquisition of knowledge that helps clients win the battle for top of mind awareness. It’s what you do with that information and how strong your resolve is to stick with it when times get tough or challenges arrive.

Anyone can read books or listen to Podcasts. But does that really make them a marketing expert?

A marketing expert knows the foundational principals that drive business, can communicate them, can create a plan to reach them, and can execute the plan. The marketing expert knows challenges will come and temptations to cut or change the plan (before it may be time to cut or change) the plan will come. They’ll prepare for that and even plan for it, too. Knowledge does help. Experience is even more important.

Like I said, I wasn’t always a marketing expert.

On the Way2the Top (or Back)

About a year ago I worked with some other community leaders in Roanoke to restart a small non-profit music venue (visit TheSpotonKirk.org) and over that chunk of time I’ve observed some interesting things.

One pattern has surfaced pretty consistently.

We get some extremely talented musicians to play in the 120-seat listening room two doors down from our advertising agency. Generally, they are performers who are routing through town and on their way to building their music careers. Some appear talented enough to have very, very successful careers. We’ve also had our share of performers who’ve likely lived some of their lives in the spotlight of some pretty big stages. Let’s just say they’ve had their play on the radio and now they play for the love of music (and to answer the call when audiences ask for that one special song).

Either way, our mostly-volunteer team works really hard to give all of the performers and traveling musicians a welcoming, high-quality experience.

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The Lesson4Business

Profound lessons are often found in simple observations.

I will often judge how much we’ll enjoy an act at The Spot based on one natural interaction: I watch how the artist treats our magical, kind, and helpful sound engineer, Travis. If they care for him and treat him well, their performances are almost always extra enjoyable. If they come off as short or unappreciative, it's not as good.

Guess what? People are watching how you interact with others, too: The receptionist, the assistant, the nurse, the salesperson, and everyone else with whom you cross paths. It’s a good reminder.

In business, just like in life these days, we can use a little more kindness and care.

Everyone Loves2Laugh

Like so many of you on February 4th, I sat watching the Super Bowl waiting to laugh. I wanted to laugh and I wanted to see advertising that entertained me.

Most of the night, I passed through the :30 second commercials tossed in front of me waiting and hoping for the next one to be a little funnier or more interesting. Usually, I was disappointed.

As a general rule at B2C Enterprises, we like to use our client’s airtime and space to interrupt and get attention. After we’ve caught your eye, we’ll try to educate, promote, sell, or create an action. But first, we have to make sure you’re engaged.

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Humor4An Interruption

Humor is a wonderful way to break into someone’s space or to capture their interest.

When it’s appropriate, we use humor in our client’s marketing. It’s a fun way to communicate with clients and customers. Ultimately, people want to do business with someone they know or trust. They also want to continue doing business with those same people. Comical advertising that’s also successful can often create a more in-tune and deeper relationship with both your prospects and your current clients.

So, if you want to break things up a little bit or freshen up your outreach – try something new.

Laugh a little. Better yet, make others laugh – out loud if you’re good enough.

(As I wrote this, I couldn't help but also think about the below piece from our Tennessee office at the end of last year. Though it’s officially springtime and not the Christmas Season, I thought I’d wrap things up by passing it along to you.)

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