Creating focused expectations

I’ve been thinking about brand personalities lately, especially ones for b-to-b companies. It’s really the essence of branding, because personalities lead to expectations and expectations lead to preference (or, in the case of a negative expectation, lack of preference). We have the opportunity to build a focused expectation with every ad we place, every web page we design and every tradeshow display we erect.

Unfortunately, many b-to-b companies have yet to pick up on this.

With most b-to-b advertisers, creative responsibility is pushed as far down in the company as possible, although marketing and sales managers still enjoy dabbling in the process. It’s like an exciting hobby, except they get paid to do it. The result is that advertising for Division A rarely conveys the same look and feel as ads for Division B or C. Because of this, customers fail to receive a focused impression of the company’s image. And that’s a serious mistake.

Caterpillar’s “One Voice” program is a great example of how to overcome this problem. You won’t find any dainty Caterpillar ads because daintiness doesn’t fit the Caterpillar voice. You won’t find any funny ones either, nor will you see eye-popping computer effects.

It’s not that Caterpillar doesn’t have a sense of humor or that their graphic designers don’t like special computer effects, but that they make conscious decisions not to use these techniques because they feel building a consistent personality for their brand is more important. Each ad reminds customers and prospective customers what they can expect from Caterpillar: strong, reliable products backed by serious, competent people.

IBM used to stand for business machines – boxes with complex computer stuff inside. But just about the time that personal computers started looking pretty much alike to computer buyers, IBM changed its image to that of a company that could help us do more with our boxes — like hook them up in huge networks, integrate enterprise software solutions and mine data for better decision-making. Our expectations of IBM have changed as a result.

I’m old enough to remember drilling for oil with truck-mounted drilling rigs that were essentially designed for shallow-depth water wells. You can’t do that anymore. Now you go down more than a mile just to get to the ocean floor and you drill several more miles before you reach pay dirt, assuming your geophysical information is correct.

That’s why Schlumberger, a leader in seismic and geophysical data services based in Houston, makes each and every one of its ads in oil-industry publications convey a serious, technologically advanced image. Its body copy is full of high-tech phrases like “microresistivity imaging” and “deep-water cementing for zonal isolation.” Layouts are always similar with the Schlumberger logo in white on a reflex blue background (which gives magazine production managers the heebie-jeebies, I’m told).

Schlumberger’s customers risk hundreds of millions of dollars on these subsea projects and the asset managers they’re trying to reach are not likely to settle for second-best. So in their world, either you look like the one-and-only right choice, or you’re no choice at all.

Having a deadly serious brand personality isn’t always the way to go, of course. New Pig Corp. based in Tipton, PA has built a $100 million business in spill-containment products by taking just the opposite approach. When you call the toll-free number (800-HOT-HOGS) or get ready to select something from their “Pigalog” of more than 5,000 leak and spill control products, you’re probably already smiling. New Pig has happily built a loyal, predictable customer base that shares a messy, disgusting problem: industrial seepage. And they’re smiling all the way to the bank.

So you see there are many ways to skin this cat, and there’s not any one right way to do it. .

If you’re going to spend the time and money to develop a brand image program, make sure you consider the personality aspects of it. Because your brand personality tells people what they can expect from you, and if they expect something good, you’re on the way to making a sale.

From Brand Hate to Brand Love

I just finished reading an article in FAST COMPANY about Ticketmaster, the World’s Most Hated Brand (July/August, 2011). And while that distinction is debatable, CEO Nathan Hubbard didn’t disagree with it very much. It seems that years of slow service and inflexible systems have generated strong consumer dislike for Ticketmaster.

“If Ticketmaster were a person,” one person tweeted, “I’d kick it in the f**king face.” And other stuff like that.

When you think about it, there are many hated brands out there. Who doesn’t have a horror story about the cable company or your wireless provider?

Banks are a popular subject of hatred these days, thanks to our multi-trillion dollar stimulus program that made them healthy and able to pay themselves huge bonuses again – while they turn their backs on small business owners who desperately need investment funds to expand and create jobs. I’m amused by Ally Bank’s ad campaign parodying abusive bank practices while they pretend to be different. Efforts like that usually only remind viewers how all banks are abhorrent.

Some brand hatred scenarios are temporary or limited to small segments of the population. I was recently surprised how many well-educated, financially successful people in my inner-city neighborhood rose as one to register their hatred for Wal-Mart when the retailing giant announced plans to locate a store not too far away.

And it’s easy for an otherwise respected company to become the subject of passionate, vitriolic loud and ugly protest when it makes an environmental false step. You don’t want to get the tree-huggers riled up.

So what should you do when you find your brand love turning into brand hate? Here are a few suggestions to help steer the ship back into safe harbor.

1. Quantify the problem

Do some basic research to find out how widespread the problems are, and hopefully identify the key issues. Don’t assume from anecdotal information that you know how deeply rooted the consumer issues are. Look for underlying causes and segment your study so you can determine if the problems are widespread or limited to certain groups.

If there are multiple problems, prioritize them and determine which ones need attention first.

2. Develop solutions

In some cases the solutions are obvious. You make a slow process faster. You give the buyer more options before they buy. You provide “insurance” if the buyer decides to back out.

For bigger issues, like those related to the environment, you provide facts that help people understand the whole picture. You make sure they know about things you are doing to minimize the impact or improve the quality of life for those affected.

Wal-Mart is dealing with their urban penetration problem with some creative new strategies involving smaller footprint stores with more attractive facades. From the 195,000 square foot Super Center behemoth, to the 42,000 SF Neighborhood Markets and the newer 15,000 SF “Marketside” concept stores emphasizing fresh foods, Wal-Mart is attempting to serve inner-city customers with smaller stores that stand out less obtrusively.

In other cases where the issues are more complex and solutions less obvious, you invite interested parties to participate in the discussion. You establish forums for open debate and sharing of ideas. You become transparent.

3. Spread the word

Once you’ve identified the problems and started the process of developing solutions, you get the word out that changes are underway. Everyone knew that’s what BP was doing after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, but there’s no denying their television commercials helped soften the blow of negative opinion along the Gulf coast.

Social media has given millions of Twitter and Facebook users a platform to vent their unhappiness, but it also offers the opportunity to spread the news about service and facility improvements.

The worst thing a brand owner can do when faced with mounting negative attitudes is ignore the complaints. The old saying, “Their perception is your reality” applies more now than ever. If customers think you have a problem, you do. And the sooner you start fixing it, the better.

Pacesetter or passenger?

I was attending a luncheon the other day with several hundred oil and gas industry marketing folks, enjoying the food and experience of dining at one of Houston’s finest country clubs. At my table were four bright-eyed, intelligent young ladies, all employed in marketing communications by a leading oil equipment and services company. It’s hard to guess ages, but they were easily shy of the thirty-year mark.

It took me back to 1992, the year I spent as chairman of the Business Marketing Association. I made an honest effort that year to visit all of the association’s 30 or so chapters and share some of my chairman-like wisdom with BMA members. The title of my talk was, “Pacesetter or passenger?”

The reason I chose that subject was, even 20 years ago, the average age of marcom practitioners was dropping rapidly, along with the relative influence of our members. No longer was it common for marketing communication managers to have titles like senior vice president and report directly to the chief executive officer (who in those days was referred to simply as president). With every reorganization the marcom function was being forced further down the corporate ladder.

As I sat there listening to my luncheon companions laugh and talk amongst themselves, I wondered how much influence they were having on their company’s strategic direction. Were they helping chart the course and steer the ship, or were they just along for the ride?

It seems like an impossible question for people with limited experience in large organizations. Not only are you left out of the sessions where strategy is determined, often you have to make a Herculean effort just to find out what strategies have been adopted. As I advised my BMA colleagues 20 years ago, however, there are several things you can do to insert yourself in the decision-making loop.

1. Understand corporate priorities

It’s hard to master anything if you’re out of step with what top management wants for the company. Understanding the “corporate vision” is not that easy, but by scrutinizing annual reports, long range plans, mission statements and other vision-setting documents blessed by top management, you should be able to pick up clues about issues and initiatives that are critically important.

The most direct way to determine top management priorities is to ask someone. But make sure it’s someone who really knows. A lot of people act like they are “plugged in” to C-level thinking, but they’re not.

And it’s important knowing what questions to ask. You’ve got to do a little homework before you can even approach the wavelength that top managers operate on. It’s best if you prepare questions from your perusal of “vision” documents, ones that will help you understand how things fit in the grand scheme.

2. Prepare a formal marketing communications plan

Most large companies have marcom plans that spell out what they hope to accomplish, how they intend to go about it, and who will have to be reached to accomplish their goals.

And yet it’s always surprising to discover how many companies never bother to link business-level marcom plans with strategic vision issues.

Preparing a formal plan forces managers to share their game plan with you, and it gives you the opportunity to add value by recommending complimentary strategies to support the corporate vision. Make sure your plan addresses all the issues.

3. Take initiative to get things started

Assuming you know what the corporate priorities are and have taken the time and effort to prepare a formal plan, now you can start using time to your advantage.

Stephen Covey, in his classic book, “The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People,” points out there is a huge difference in effectiveness between people who exercise initiative and those who don’t — up to 5,000%, he says. Anticipate needs by putting key dates on your calendar and developing timetables so you aren’t caught off-guard.

Using another Covey tip, be sure to block time on your weekly schedule for the important activities that aren’t critical yet, but will be if you delay getting started. If one of your marcom strategies supports a corporate issue that’s beyond the scope of your usual topics, give yourself plenty of time to get the messaging developed.

4. Be an advertising scientist

In research-oriented companies, failure is encouraged because it promotes learning and leads to breakthrough successes later. Scientists develop the “ultimate” solutions by analyzing results and making each experiment a little better than the last. That’s what we should be doing with our advertising and marketing programs.

Many of our advertising forefathers were obsessed with measuring results so they might do better the next time. People like Claude Hopkins, Rosser Reeves, Marion Harper, John Caples and David Ogilvy all made research a key part of their rise to fame and fortune.

I’m convinced that if we, as marketing communications practitioners, are ever going to play a Pacesetting role for our clients, we’ve got to start doing a better job of measuring results and learning from our mistakes.

5. Be a strategist

Marketing communications people spend too much of our time doing tactical things. We worry too much about how to do something better, and not nearly enough about what should be done or why we should do it.

When the discussion turns to pricing, packaging or product distribution, we tune out — because that’s not our job. We’re oblivious to gaps in our product or service offering that put us at a competitive disadvantage. We pay attention to competitive advertising, but only to make sure our ads are more clever than theirs.

And we surely don’t ask field sales people for their opinions on our work because we’re afraid of what they might say. We don’t want them involved at the creative level, because they’ll get things all twisted around. Or so we think.

That’s the mark of a tactician, for sure. Marketing communications people who wish to play key roles in helping their companies achieve marketing success should stop being so concerned about “ownership” of tactical issues, and start looking for opportunities to participate in strategic activities that will make even bigger contributions.

So what’s it going to be — pacesetter or passenger? You can help chart the course and steer the ship or you can just go along for the ride. It’s one of the biggest choices a marketing communications practitioner can make.

The evils of borrowed interest

Borrowed interest is the lazy adman’s crutch. It’s the ultimate creative shortcut – a way to appear creative without actually having to come up with a genuine creative idea. I hate borrowed interest.

BTW, I’m always challenging people who use the word “hate” casually, but in this case, the term fits. If you’re ever summoned before the High Court of Advertising Appropriateness, I hope your file is devoid of borrowed interest examples. (There is a statute of limitations on borrowed interest, so if you accidentally did some of these ads early in your career, after ten years those don’t count against your record any more.)

Because business-to-business advertising is the toughest area of our industry, it has more than it’s share of borrowed interest ads. I’ve been calling attention to these atrocities and ridiculing them for more than thirty years to no avail. They just keep popping up everywhere you look. The same lame concepts over and over again.

In the oil and gas industry where I spend most of my time, you can currently spot race car pit crews (teamwork), track runners clearing hurdles (performance), magnifying glasses (seeing things differently) and mountain climbers (pushing the limits). Transocean, recently famous for its Deepwater Horizon debacle, is using a chess board analogy to ensure that you “make the right move.” I’m pretty sure that means not working with BP anytime soon.

But borrowed interest is not limited to oil and gas by any means. In every issue of every business and trade magazine you can find worthy examples of creative corner cutting. One recent issue of FORTUNE magazine featured a leading consulting firm with an inflated sheep to connote getting more out of existing resources, and a stack of light bulbs for another firm wishing to convince you they have better ideas.

Borrowed interest afflicts advertisers of all shapes and sizes. We have dart boards for hitting the target, jigsaw puzzles for putting all the pieces together, and no list of borrowed interest topics would be complete without globes to show globalness.

The sad thing is that in almost every case, if you study these ads carefully, you can find something worthy of a benefit-driven headline and visual. It’s usually buried about halfway down in the body copy.

For example, in a packaging industry magazine I once spotted a Hitachi printer ad with a photo of a huge diamond followed by the headline, “The quality gem you’ve been searching for.” Several inches down, however, is the revelation that Hitachi PXR Series printers offer the lowest operating costs of any inkjet printer. Isn’t that more significant than searching for gems?

The bottom line is that good b-to-b advertising requires you to get far below the surface barriers of jargon and technology. You can’t have a truly creative idea until you understand the message, and that takes some work.

One problem is that technical experts, when given the opportunity to help produce an ad tend to become amateur creative directors. Instead of helping you search for that salient point of difference, they leap frog into creative concepts that are usually just clichés. Amazingly, these individuals sometimes get upset if you don’t feed back to them their half-baked ideas.

The trick is to thank them generously for giving you a running head start on developing some distinctive concepts that will emphasize and support the primary advantages of your product or service – but not lead them to believe their starter ideas will necessarily be part of the final presentation.

I tell clients that we go through hundreds of raw ideas and idea fragments just to get to a half dozen or so worthy of presentation. Usually the final concepts are blended from several starter ideas, so if you need to stroke your over-eager client, point out how their embryonic idea led to the one you’re about to present.

They will love it. Guaranteed.

Branding is not design

If you’re old enough to remember the Mary Tyler Moore Show, the news anchor played by Ted Knight was handsome and impeccably attired with a booming, authoritative voice. He also happened to be dumb as a rock. If you went by exterior appearances, Ted Baxter was someone you could really put your trust in, until you saw him in action that is.

To base your impression of Ted Baxter on his carefully staged reading of the news would be wrong. His actual personality was something else entirely. In his case, the “book” was significantly different from the “cover.”

That’s why branding people shouldn’t put too much emphasis on design. Yes, design is part of it, but only a part. The key word to me is “expectation.” When you see or hear about a brand, what do you expect?

In many ways, brands are like personalities, and it’s instructive to use real people as examples of the way we react to brands. If you barely know someone, you probably don’t have much of an expectation about how they will behave. The more you’re exposed to them, however, whether it’s in person or through the media, the more you develop highly focused expectations about what you should expect from them.

When people fail to live up to our expectations, like Tiger Woods, for example, we react with surprise, shock or disappointment. If it’s only a small deviation from our standard expectation, we tend to give them the benefit of the doubt. If the deviation is significant, or if we witness a steady series of inconsistent behaviors, our expectations change.

That’s what brands do. If we have a positive impression of a brand, we expect something good when we interact with that brand. Likewise, if our expectations are negative, we expect to be abused, gouged or annoyed. It has little to do with design.

For my money, branding is more about words and actions. You tell people what they should expect and then you proceed to deliver on that promise. In molding and shaping this desired expectation, messaging is a lot more important than graphic design.

And as long as we’re talking about molding and shaping expectations, let me put in an appeal to keep your aspirations simple and focused. You cannot be the Mission Statement. Most strong brands are clearly identified with a single attribute.

Rolex is quality. Wal-Mart is everyday low prices. FedEx is reliability. Apple is innovative design. Volvo is safety. The list goes on and on.

Marketers that try to do too much with their brand expectation run the risk of making it too complicated for customers to grasp and retain. The Holy Grail of branding, to me, is when one customer turns to a colleague and says, “I like XYZ because ______” and the “because” is the brand expectation you have been striving to establish.

I will readily concede that expectations can be impacted by design. You walk into Tiffany’s or Neiman Marcus expecting high quality because of the way the store is designed and the merchandise displayed.

But in my B2B world, customers rarely find themselves in a retail environment, and even if they do, their expectations are most likely already shaped by other considerations. Construction equipment buyers, for example, know that Caterpillar products are rugged and reliable before they set foot in a dealer’s showroom.

It’s far more important in branding to get the messaging right. If you do that properly, design will almost take care of itself.

(And for all the graphic design people who might be reading this, you guys are the best!)

Dealing with negative brand images

The scenario: You’re attending a major trade show, riding in an elevator with several people you don’t know, when one of them starts talking about your company, Yurco.

First guy: I ran into Bill Johnson with Yurco this afternoon.

Second guy: Yurco? Bill Johnson is with Yurco? When did that happen?

First guy: He just joined them several months ago. I’m not sure how long it’s going to last, though.

Second guy: How come?

First guy: Well, Yurco is always low-balling contracts. Then they stick it to you with special fees and add-ons. That’s really not Bill’s style.

Second guy: You got that right. I’ve also heard their quality’s not the best.

First guy: Yeah, it’s too bad a classy guy like Bill would get caught up in all that.

As a new product manager for Yurco, your first inclination is to set these guys straight, but unfortunately the problem runs much deeper than that. In this case, Bill Johnson’s brand image is a lot better than the company he now represents.

Your perception is that Yurco pursues an aggressive pricing strategy. Theirs is low-balling.

Your perception is fit-for-purpose product quality. Theirs is shoddy workmanship.

Your perception is that Bill Johnson is proud to work for Yurco. Theirs is that Bill has fallen on hard times.

Brand images create customer expectations and, as we see in this example, expectations are not always positive. Yurco may have a catalog full of useful products, a customer service department second to none and a content-rich Web site with lots of e-business features that make it easy for customers to do business with the company.

Unfortunately, these customers are stuck on a brand image that gives them entirely different expectations. They expect your company to play fast and loose with contract proposals. They expect marginal product quality. They also expect that Bill Johnson won’t stay long with Yurco.

Yurco can launch the most creative and expensive brand-image advertising program in the history of business, and it won’t have much effect in this situation unless the company addresses its pricing and product quality issues. Yurco can boast of the innovative features of its latest products. Executives can talk about services and solutions and problem-solving until they’re blue in the face. None of these appeals will be properly received until they face the harsh reality of the existing negative image.

Many marketing managers live in denial when it comes to brand images. They’ve recited their 25-word “what we do” features and benefits pitch so many times, they believe it must be true. It never occurs to them that customers are totally unable or unwilling to recite a similar pitch when playing back a description of the company.

This is the reason I dislike mission or vision statements so much: The vast majority are totally unrealistic. Not only is it impossible for companies to actually be all the things they claim to be, but more importantly, customers will never give you credit for anything remotely close to that.

And when was the last time you saw a mission statement that addressed a weakness or negative issue? This obviously goes against the code of United Mission Statement Writers International.

In the case of Yurco, customer concerns about deceptive pricing policies and subpar product quality must be placed at the top of their to-do list before the company can move on to more esoteric branding goals.

Several years ago, I was working with a large oil field equipment company that had hired a leading research firm to do a customer satisfaction survey. We were sitting in the spacious, wood-paneled main conference room with all its elegant furnishings and satellite conferencing equipment, listening to the head of the research firm go through the survey findings when he got to a customer concern about how hard the company was to deal with.

“Arrogant” was a word that kept coming up. “Bureaucratic” was another one. “Inaccessible top management” was a third descriptor. Even though customers acknowledged that the company’s products were the highest quality in the industry and its reputation for innovative technology was unsurpassed, the company was losing market share. Several multimillion-dollar orders had recently been lost to competitors.

And here was a respected oil-industry researcher, a man to whom this company had paid many tens of thousands of dollars, telling them about a serious problem and they were dismissing it as insignificant. Their general reaction was, “We’ve heard this before. This is the typical thing people say about market leaders.”

Maybe it’s what they say about ex-market leaders. If you’re aware of negative image issues and your branding program fails to put those concerns at the top of the list of things to worry about, you can expect the situation to only get worse.

When crafting your next brand personality statement, maybe you should consider a “personality makeover” statement instead. It could be the first step to a totally new Yurco.

Understanding the problem

All the recent controversy over healthcare reform has me a bit mystified. Without taking sides or wishing to step on any political toes, I think the problem is that we’ve never actually defined the problem. With healthcare, that is.

I’m conducting a series of brainstorming sessions for a multinational oil and gas logistics company, the purpose of which is to equip and empower employees to step forward with ideas to improve the company’s operating efficiency. We spend a lot of time in the seminar defining the problems they wish to talk about.

The problems we examine in these day-long seminars are real-life situations attendees see in their everyday jobs. They think they know what the problems are without having to actually state them. But when I force them to stand at an easel and write the problem in simple, straight-forward language, they spit and sputter. And disagreements emerge quickly.

You can see the same thing with healthcare reform. It almost looks like someone decided the problem was insurance – either the cost is too high or not enough people have it. And I’m sure there’s some truth to both of those points. But when you look at insurance company financial reports, it doesn’t seem their profits are out of line. I’ve yet to read an article comparing U.S. insurance costs with those in other countries. Are we paying too much? If so, why is that?

You could just as easily make the argument that the healthcare problem is our antiquated record-keeping system. I love the GE Medical Systems TV spot where a doctor is sitting in an exam room with a patient and asks if the patient has ever been tested for something. When the patient struggles to remember, the camera pulls back to reveal an amphitheater full of other medical professionals who begin to call out the patients complete record.

This scenario certainly rings true in my case. I can’t remember what medical treatments I had last year, much less five or ten years ago. So it’s very likely that money has been wasted unsuccessfully treating me for the same thing or ignoring something that probably does need attention. If my current doctor had access to the whole record, I’m sure things would be better.

And don’t get me started about malpractice suits. How much extra cost is built into our healthcare system to cover legal fees, insurance and unnecessary, play-it-safe prescriptions and testing recommended by doctors who are just trying to cover their backsides?

I think if someone had forced our congressional representatives to write out the healthcare problem before they started developing a solution, the results would have been substantially different. Certainly it wouldn’t be necessary for our president to crisscross the nation, “selling” the results of that legislation to a very unhappy and skeptical American public.

If you’re clear about the problem, the right solution is easy to embrace. That’s what I tell my brainstorming seminar students anyway.

Five resolutions for 2010

As we near the end of 2009 and The Decade From Hell, it seems appropriate to summon up all our resolve and wish something better for the coming year. Much better. Here are my top five resolutions for 2010.

1. Do something bold

Many people consider themselves fortunate to have survived 2009 with a job and regular income, even if raises and bonuses were out of the question. Okay, it’s hard to argue with that. But if 2009 was the Year Of Hanging On, then 2010 should be the Year Of Doing Something Bold. Your management showed faith in you by keeping you on the team. Now it’s time to reward that faith by doing something spectacular.

Playing it safe is no longer good enough. Anybody can pull in the horns and hunker down. It takes no special skills or talent to do that. If you want to show them they made the right decision, you need to add one very bold and unexpected initiative to your 2010 agenda.

I’m tired of hearing people talk as if “new initiatives” are verboten. That mindset has got pink slip written all over it. If you continue to hunker down and lay low, don’t be surprised if someone up the ladder comes to the conclusion that you’re expendable, too.

2. Consider what your customers need to know.

Too many people in advertising have gotten carried away with the need to entertain. I’m sorry, but that’s not what we’re in business to do. One of the serendipitous results of the auto industry crash is that automobile advertising is now much better. They quit trying to entertain, and started giving us reasons why we should consider buying their car. I think that’s a change for the better (and may the best car win!).

In business-to-business advertising, we need to think about the questions our customers are struggling with and create ad programs to address those issues. Too many b-to-b ads use borrowed interest or tired clichés to make half-hearted attempts at cleverness. It just falls flat.

3. Give prospects a reason to contact you.

In my b-to-b world, I’m constantly amazed that ads fail to include any call to action, much less a good one. Direct marketing people wouldn’t dream of doing that. They start with “The Offer” and build a promotion around that. Retail marketers know quickly when the cash register rings and when it doesn’t. They don’t waste money on advertising appeals that fail to stimulate a response.

So why are B2B marketers so content to run one-way ads that deliver pompous messages without any regard for stimulating responses? My experience says it’s because the people in charge of creating the ad are so deeply immersed in product technology and features, they think customers are, too. All they think they have to do is describe the technical features and the prospect can take it from there. That’s what we used to call a “killer assumption.” Now we just call it sad.

4. Be more accountable

If you give customers a reason to contact you, you can count the number of contacts. You can even follow up with them and add quality measures to the base contact numbers. One reason managers have such a hard time with advertising is we fail to show them what happens when they decide to do it.

So let’s all agree in 2010 to pick a few metrics worth tracking and feed that data back to our top-line managers. You might be surprised to see their reluctance melt away to approving future ad budgets.

5. Focus your brand image.

Everyone is a branding expert these days, and managers are pretty sick of hearing about branding. So we have a dilemma – do you ignore the branding issues or just avoid talking about them too much?

As a branding consultant, I’ve been told more than once lately to not mention the word branding around certain managers. That’s a sad commentary on our business, because branding is just as important today as it ever has been in the past. If you have a focused brand, that is. An unfocused brand doesn’t pull its weight, even if you’ve invested serious dollars promoting it.

The question I ask people to consider is, “When people see or hear your name, what do they EXPECT?” Awareness is not enough. You need to associate your brand with something specific that leads to a focused expectation, a reason for customers to pick you.

If you have that, everything else is easier. And 2010 may turn out to be even better for you than other companies that are still struggling with the branding issue.

It’s time we quit whining about downturns and recessions, and started thinking about ways to kick the roof off in 2010. That would be a positive use of our creative energies, don’t you think?

Don’t be afraid to experiment

When Claude Hopkins wrote his classic book, Scientific Advertising, in 1923, he was of the opinion that advertising was no longer a gamble. Because he had studied the cause and effect relationships of variables like copy, headlines, illustrations and typefaces, he felt the risk of advertising had been reduced so that it was “one of the safest of business ventures.”

Wouldn’t it be great if we felt that way today? Most businessmen these days are scared to death of advertising: it costs a lot of money and they’re not sure what they get in return.

Certainly there are infinitely more variables to worry about now than when Claude Hopkins plied his trade. Still, the primary point of his book is lost on today’s practitioner: learn from every effort so your next one is better.

Claude Hopkins was an incessant tinkerer, an advertising scientist of the first order. He wasn’t afraid to treat words, visual elements and even delivery vehicles as a chemist would treat variables in a lab. He played with them until he was convinced he knew the best combination for maximum results.

That’s exactly what we advertising and marketing communications professionals should be doing today. Several years ago, I wrote a column for Marketing News entitled, “Accountability is the name of the game.” It’s truer now than the day I wrote it.

Advertisers are demanding accountability. They want to know what they get for their money, and why they should be expected to budget large sums for future advertising programs. It’s up to us to tell them and, in general, we’re doing a lousy job.

It’s not entirely our fault, however. The advertiser has to help the agency in its quest for knowledge.

A few years ago, I had a client who was having a difficult time achieving breakeven for a product that should have been selling like pancakes. We couldn’t put our finger on the problem. Perhaps it was price point. We initially priced it at $15.00, but had reduced it below $10.00 without much improvement.

We wondered if the product, a disposable bacteria test kit, should be packaged individually, several to a package, or in bulk with all like components bagged together in an economy pack.

We had tried several introductory offers, like discounts, limited time offers, even one promising a free gift with every trial purchase. Nothing worked too well. The client’s top management was getting ready to pull the plug and we knew it. Patience was wearing thin, and we had to come up with the winning combination or all was lost.

We recommended a direct mail program to a data base of several thousand interested prospects that had been compiled from previous promotional efforts. We would vary the offer, even the way the product was packaged, in each “cell” and determine which one pulled best. Then we would use the winning combination to follow up with the other prospects to see if we could produce a steady, upward sales trend.

Unfortunately, the product manager wasn’t as concerned with finding the winning combination as we were. Despite the fact that our direct mail test would be very inexpensive (personalized letters and 2-color product flyers with business reply mail response cards), he had become infatuated with Swiss Army Knives, and wanted to offer one to all of his prospects.

We groaned, and proceeded to carry out the product’s death sentence. Six months later, the product manager was working in a fast food restaurant in Montana and we were minus one very promising account.

It doesn’t have to be like that, though. Direct response people know about experimentation. I’ve always admired and respected their discipline. Many years ago, I agreed to lead a workshop on creativity at the Direct Marketing Association’s annual conference thinking that direct marketers wouldn’t be all that interested in the subject. Imagine my surprise at the standing room only crowd. They soaked it up.

I came away from that experience convinced that direct marketers are looking at “creative” as the final ingredient in their recipe for success. They already know how to maximize the other variables.

But what about other media? Is it possible to experiment with trade publication advertising, for example?

Absolutely! And since trade publication advertising generally involves large chunks of an advertiser’s budget, it’s precisely the area in which you should concentrate first.

I spoke with John Emery and Gordon Hughes, past presidents of the American Business Press, in gathering information for this essay. Both pointed to the day when magazine publishing will collide with the information superhighway, creating all sorts of advertising experimentation possibilities. That day has now arrived.

For many years, publishers have been willing to work with large advertisers to run separate, “split run” ads in different geographic or demographic editions of their books. Computerization makes this much easier now, and for much finer circulation splits. Why emphasize “processing speed” to financial managers when “reducing costs” is what they’re interested in? Tell that to the engineers or plant managers.

What if you’re considering the appeal of several possible calls to action? Use split runs to test the pulling power of a product sample versus a packet of case histories versus a specialty item with your logo on it. One suggestion Emery made was to test various ad appeals with a sampling of a publication’s total audience by producing color laser prints of your ad with the three different appeals, then mailing them along with a cover letter asking readers to help you decide.

Tinker. Why be happy with one approach when you can test several? This is the chance you’ve been waiting for to test that stupid idea your boss keeps bringing up against your brilliant one.

And if the stupid one wins, look at it this way: at least the boss will be highly motivated to expand the program next year.

Ad management tips for the newly annointed

More and more companies these days are putting managers in charge of the advertising function who have little or no experience in that area. If you are one of these people, here are several important tips to guide your efforts.

1. You can’t save your way to success.

Because advertising is an expensive and sometimes frightening prospect for the uninitiated, many managers react by cutting back the level of activity. If times are really hard (like now, for example), they cut the program out altogether.

This is a simple fix, but not a proper one. Chances are, your competitors are experiencing difficulty, too. If everyone cuts back on promotional activities, it’s much easier for you to gain market share and maximize bottom-line results if you maintain an aggressive program.

And if competitors are not cutting back, you’ll get left in a cloud of dust. The goal is to use the marcom funds your company has allocated to best advantage. They’re of no help to people in the trenches if the funds are still a line item on your operating budget sheet.

2. Planning is good.

If you’re concerned about doing the wrong thing, an in-depth planning session can be just what the doctor ordered. Too many managers these days are inclined to look at planning as an unnecessary expense. They want to skip the planning step and get started right away on specific projects.

Spending a few dollars on planning makes all the other dollars go further. And it will alleviate your anxiety about investing large sums in things you don’t fully understand. The understanding will come with each program you undertake, but it does make it considerably more enjoyable if the first ones are targeted at the right market opportunities.

3. The agency is your partner.

Some first-time managers take a vendor/buyer or (even worse) adversarial posture with the advertising agency. I guess the thinking is you’ll get more out of them if they’re scared or reacting in a defensive manner.

Think about how you react to people who keep you at arm’s length, doling out limited information while making you think if this project falls short of their vaguely defined objectives, there probably won’t be another one.

Most agency people I know would work harder for someone who treats them like a partner, someone who shares confidential information, sets high expectations and gives them lots of encouragement along the way.

And it really is okay to tell the agency people they’re doing a good job, too. They’re not going to raise their rates.

4. The best price is generally not the low price.

Anytime I encounter a client who has received a very enticing low bid from another agency or supplier, I tell them I can do the job for less. Because I can. It’s easy in this business to cut corners and trim costs out of projects.

We can work with less expensive people, spend less time in each phase, rule out more expensive creative options, even skip steps altogether. You may not be totally thrilled with the results, but that’s what happens when we’re constrained by the prospects of losing money on a job.

You may be thinking, “but what about competitors who have different cost structures and are willing to put in more effort for the reduced budget?” And in some isolated cases, there are talented people who charge less for their time than the market will bear.

Eventually, however, most people who are good know it, and want to be paid accordingly. In no other occupation is the saying, “you get what you pay for” more true.

5. Remember the T.M.D. Rule.

There are three primary things that impact an agency’s ability to do good work in advertising and marketing communications: Time, Money and Direction. Lack of effort or attention in any of these three areas can doom a program before it begins.

Instead of demanding that a project be completed in an unreasonable timeframe, ask for a range from most expedient to normal to relaxed. If you really need the shortest time schedule, help them understand why, because they’ll have to justify pushing aside other projects in order to accommodate your deadline request.

Setting budgets is particularly difficult for managers who have no experience in this area. The agency probably has historical records of project costs, and can furnish these on request for projects similar to the ones you have in mind.

The way to get more for your money is to set a reasonable budget, and then demand that the agency “knock your socks off” with creative concepts that will make your program stand out.

And don’t forget to provide proper direction. The closer your agency partners are to the nitty-gritty of “how” and “why” your product or service is good, the better their efforts are going to be. They’re visual people, so it really does pay dividends to paint them pictures: provide diagrams, photos, take them on lab or plant tours, even let them ride with salespeople or attend marketing sessions where selling strategy is being discussed.

You never know where or when a truly breakthrough idea is going to pop up. And the agency’s different perspective can find one that’s hiding amidst a forest of mundane points, invisible to those of you who wander through the trees every day.

6. Continuity is important.

Many new managers think they have to throw out everything that’s been done in the past, and put their stamp on a totally new program. And this may be the right decision in some cases.

In many others, however, it’s better to fine-tune the ongoing programs because their messages are only just beginning to sink in with customers and prospects. You can add value by re-focusing the program objectives and pressing for better execution in most cases.

These suggestions are not a panacea, but they will help you get your feet on the ground quicker and off to a better start with less anxiety. Advertising is the single most powerful tool at your disposal if you learn to use it properly.