Once a Day Marketing: August 2012

Friday, August 31, 2012

Mobile Devices Can Do Practically Anything (Digital Friday/Product)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Digital Friday. I was reading an article recently in the Wall Street Journal about mobile devices. It was fascinating, their use is growing rapidly and I am going to share some of that data with you now.

Let’s take a look at a few statistics related to usage of mobile applications. It is estimated that there will be 36 billion apps downloaded worldwide this year, growing to 136 billion downloads annually worldwide by 2017, which is a 278% increase over the next few years.

The average number of downloads per smart phone is 37. There are currently 650,000 apps available at the Apple App Store and 600,000 on Google Play. Another very interesting data point is that people are now spending and average of 94 minutes per day using apps on their mobile devices and only 72 minutes using the Internet.

Here is an example of ten different types of activities people are using mobile applications for:

- Finding a home

- Teaching kids math

- Watching movies and television

- Managing their money

- Finding shopping deals

- Planning a trip

- Meeting up with friends

- Finding a date if they are single

- Reading newspapers, books and magazines

- Advice for a new parents

Those are all applications designed for mobile devices to help individuals.

As I mentioned previously, mobile devices and mobile apps are here to stay and will be a huge part of products and services in the future. Ask yourself:

1. Is there a product or service you can create using a mobile app that will enhance your customers’ experience?

2. Are you able to use an existing app to make your business and brand better?

That concludes Digital Friday. Join us next week for Smart Monday. To discuss an online or face to face service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com. I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Advertisers Are Watching You (Recon Thursday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Recon Thursday and we’re going to take a look at whether or not Big Brother, and I’m referring to advertisers, is really watching us.

As advertisers, the more we know about our customers or potential customers the better we are able to tailor advertisements to really get them interested in our product and service. Google is starting to do that more and more. They are able to align the interest of their customer with potential products. But just how far do we want to take this? I am going to talk about new technology that enables very specific identification of customers.

Imagine you are driving along the highway and looking at a billboard when the ad suddenly changes. It is now a product or service directed at you in particular. That billboard may be looking back at you and, using facial recognition technology, has determined if you are male or female, young or old, even if you are happy or sad.

Microsoft is using a similar concept with their motion sensing console. Televisions are also using this technology to determine the age of people watching in the room. Perhaps if only younger viewers are detected in the room, an ad may run targeted at that younger person which would not have been run with an adult in the room.

It’s funny to think that after all these years of wondering whether or not Big Brother is watching us that Big Brother turns out to be the advertising industry, or you and me. On one side it’s a great idea, being able to pin point exactly who a customer is and deliver relevant ads to them. On the other side, do we really want to be watched in our homes and on the street or highway for the purpose of determining ads to better suit us as customers?

That’s a lot to think about. It is a double edged sword and I’m sure there will be lots of conversations about this in the future.

That concludes Recon Thursday. Be sure to stop by tomorrow for Digital Friday. To discuss an online or face-to-face service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com. I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Test Your Staff's Marketing IQ (Action Wednesday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Action Wednesday. We’ve been spending a lot of time working together to learn about branding and marketing. The topic we are going to talk about today is how well your staff understands these concepts.

For your business to be competitive, it’s imperative that your team members understand all things branding and marketing, whether they are working directly or indirectly with customers. Do they understand who your target customers are? Do they know your brand positioning? Is your team familiar with your marketing message? Do they understand the focus of your marketing campaign?

A good way to assess this is to ask your staff some simple branding and marketing questions such as; what is our brand all about and why is this so important? What makes us number one in the minds of our customers? Who are our target customers and how do we market to them? Have some fun and see what kind of responses you receive.

There are no right or wrong answers. Your objective is to obtain a baseline of your staff’s knowledge of your branding and marketing. Evaluate the information, if everyone on your team is on the same page, great, move on. If not, perhaps it’s time to consider introducing more branding and marketing concepts to your team and in particular the specific things you are doing within your organization.

The benefit to your business is very straightforward. If everyone has a better understanding of branding and marketing you are going to create a brand in the minds of your customers that exceeds their expectations, you’re going to win over more hearts and you’re going to drive more business

That concludes Action Wednesday. Join us tomorrow for Recon Thursday. To discuss an online or face to face service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com. I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Marketing Ecosystem: Print Promotion (Strategic Tuesday/Promotion)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Strategic Tuesday and we are starting a new series focusing on the marketing ecosystems. Over the next few weeks we will look at each of the nine nodes and how you can leverage them to better promote your product or service.

The node I’m going to discuss today is print. I am still a big fan of print advertising. Print ads can be very creative and I believe people still read them. Most importantly, you are able to target your print ads better than ever before with the wide variety of publications available today.

Let’s look at a few of the possible components for print campaigns. First are the numerous magazines available on newsstand or via subscription. One might argue that magazine readership is on the decline, however, they have become very tailored to specific interests; making them a good choice for specialized products. Everything from fashion to outdoor equipment will find a publication for their target audience.

Potential customers are still reading newspapers. People love to peruse the Sunday paper making this advertising channel a powerful tool in your campaign.

Then there are trade publications. If you product is B2B you can run print ads that will appeal to customers, perhaps in your industry, seeking out your product.

There are also alternative print delivery methods. Inserts are one mechanism added into newspapers and magazines. Catalogues can be inserts as well, allowing you to direct market to potential customers. Items such as shopping bags may also be used to print your message. Print can be accomplished via many creative methods.

Lastly we’ll look at custom publishing. I’m a big fan of this as well. You are able to generate newsletters or print brochures and distribute them anywhere you have a channel for a print component.

It’s very traditional, but print ads still work. They compliment your existing portfolio of the other nodes such as online marketing and place-based marketing. Investigate what is available and try new approaches. You can drop a print ad if you have the metrics in place to tell you whether or not it driving the desired results. Print may be a great vehicle for you to use in the future.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Sales Follow-Up: Stop by Often (Action Wednesday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Action Wednesday. We usually talk a great deal about branding and marketing and don’t often mention sales. We will discuss more around Sales now.

As I have mentioned many times, branding is creating the right image of your product or service in the mind of your customers. Marketing is the process of communicating that message to your customers. Sales is being in the right place at the right time when that customer finally wants to buy a product or service and they chose yours.

I am going to share a story with you that relates to how important it is to be in the right place at the right time to close the sale.

When I was doing a lot of production work, I received a call from a grip, someone that moves heavy equipment around on a shoot, asking if I had jobs available. I didn’t have anything at that time; however, I told him I would call him when I did. Five minutes later I received a call from a client who hired me to produce a national television commercial. Five minutes after that another grip called asking me for a job and you know what, I said perfect timing, I need a grip for this production. Grip #1 was already out of mind.

I’ve developed a few sales rules of my own over time. The first it’s ok to be persistent with a potential customer within reason. Next, it’s ok to be even more persistent if you feel they really do want your product or service. I believe sometimes customers just forget like I did with the grip, so you need to remind them. Lastly, secure a yes or no because a maybe will not move you any closer to closing the deal.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Wireless Technology: Capturing On-the-Go Customers (Digital Friday/Product)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Digital Friday and we are continuing our topic from yesterday; looking at trends and identifying opportunities with new specialty products for your company.

This week’s Time Magazine is called “The Wireless Issue”. They looked at ten world-wide trends surrounding smart phones. Consider you can leverage these trends and enhance your products and services accordingly.

The following is a quick summary of the ten trends:

Democracy - there is a trend right now for organizations to use smart phones for voter registration and accepting contributions.

Giving - Donations to charities may be made via smart phone and support for social change as well.

Spending - People are using their smart phone to spend money differently than credit cards and cash.

Secrets – The ability exists to determine where you are or what you do with your smart phone.

Attitude - .How are individuals perceiving the ability to leverage smart phones to gain a view into their activity?

Talking - Smart phones in remote areas of the world allow people to communicate better than ever before.

Seeing - Smart phones have the capability to capture photos and videos.

Play - Smart phones enable playing online games without being tied to a box

Learning – Perhaps the most exciting of the trends; smart phone are enabling learning in new ways.

Health - In remote areas of the world people are able to send their symptoms to a doctor somewhere else in the world to make a diagnosis.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Got Milk? Differentiating With Specialty Products (Recon Thursday/Product)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Recon Thursday and we’re going to have a serious conversation about milk.

It won’t be that serious of a conversation but milk is milk, right? I mean it comes from cows and it’s all the same. Don’t we typically just go out seeking the cheapest gallon of milk that we can find?

For many years milk was a commodity and typically competed only on price. But today consumers are willing to pay more for healthy products. There is a growing trend in the area of organic milk. Consumers feel it tastes better and is more natural, as a result they are willing to pay a premium. The same is true of soy milk and other products such as almond milk.

The point is - specialized products can command a higher price. Frequently they are the fastest growing category. Like organic milk in the health food industry, are you able to identify any trends that relate to your business. Can you find new products or improve existing product to meet those needs? If you are able to achieve that it will dramatically differentiate your company and your product from your competition.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Promotional Contests: And the Winner Is…(Strategic Tuesday/Promotion)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Strategic Tuesday and we are going to talk about a classic promotion that has been around a very long time and that is the contest.

Promotional contests are a great marketing strategy to increase awareness, interaction, and keep your brand top of mind. They appeal to people’s competitive nature and love of a challenge. Their greatest draw is perhaps appealing to the desire to win since every contest provides an opportunity for someone to win.

The following four promotional contests have always impressed me. The first is run by a radio station. They have listeners call in and list three songs they would like to be stranded on a deserted island with. The station plays those songs on the radio and callers have a chance to win a trip.

Next, a travel magazine posts a beautiful image of an obscure destination and contestants enter to see if they are able to name the place where the photo was taken.

The third, which I think is brilliant, is a car filled with gifts located in a mall. Contestants are required to go to the mall, look at the car and try to list all of the gifts in the car and if they do, they win the gifts and the car.

Lastly is HGTV’s Dream Home. HGTV sponsors a contest where first prize is a beautiful home. Contestants go to their website and enter. This contest drives 35 million entries generating increased viewership of their television programming.

Consider strategically how your company could run a contest. You can drive great interest and awareness of customers and potential customers. As you increase excitement around your product or service customers may refer you to friends. At the very end you announce who wins and also create the goodwill associated with that.

That concludes Strategic Tuesday. Join us tomorrow for Action Wednesday. To discuss an online or face to face service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com. I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Santa Fe Indian Market: Branding with Distinction (Smart Monday/Positioning)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Smart Monday and we’re going to talk about an event here in Santa Fe, New Mexico branded with distinction.

Santa Fe is host to the famous Santa Fe Indian Market, the largest annual Native America Indian art market in the United States. Now in its 91^st year, the gathering covers 14 square blocks of downtown Santa Fe and features 1,025 Native America Artists from over 160 tribes.

Let’s take a look at what makes the Santa Fe Indian Market brand so distinctive. It features the top Native American artists from across the country, the quality of the art is unsurpassed; customers are able to meet and interact with each one of the artists; the setting is beautiful, historic Santa Fe, the 2^nd oldest city in the USA and, it aligns with the many cultures of New Mexico, especially the Native American culture.

Indian Market draws people to New Mexico who would like to experience the state, Santa Fe, and the Native American culture as well.

The Santa Fe Indian Market brand is as real and authentic as a brand can get. It delivers on its promise to bring you the best Native America art in the United States. As you are looking to distinguish your brand, consider how to make it real and authentic. Then deliver on that brand promise.

That concludes Smart Monday. Join us tomorrow for Strategic Tuesday. To discuss an online or face to face service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com. I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Building Online Customer Interaction (Digital Friday/Promotion)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Digital Friday and we are focusing on building online interactions with customers and potential customers. My inspiration to talk about this topic is the fact that three different companies have provided opportunities for me to interact with them online in the past week.

We’ve talked a lot about the migration to digital media and how the world is shrinking as a result. When you are interacting with your customers, it’s important that you create an experience to engage them further in the online environment. Next I will review a few examples of large companies doing just that.

The first is Jiffy Lube oil change stores. After having my car serviced the attendant said if I went online and shared my opinion of how my service was handled I would received a $10.00 discount on my next visit. I thought that was pretty cool. Next, I purchased a ream of paper at Staples office supply store and they directed me to go online to obtain a rebate on my purchase.

Finally, I received an email from MasterCuts haircut salon indicating that if I went to their Facebook site and “Like” them I would receive a coupon for a discounted haircut in the future. I encountered three well known brands with three different campaigns in the same week. This is an indicator of the increasing importance of developing online interactions.

Social media provides a great avenue for creating an opportunity for continued interaction. For Once a Day Marketing I’m able to post a thought and followers will comment via Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. That’s a great way to interact. Consider what you can do strategically to ensure that you are interacting with your customers online.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

You Can Influence Your Brand (Recon Thursday/Positioning)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Recon Thursday and we’re going to discuss how you can influence your brand.

There is a branding rule that says you can’t control a brand, you can only influence it. You can’t control the brand because it resides in the minds of your customers and is the compilation of all their individual experiences with your company and product. Each customer has a different perception of the brand and what it means to them. However, you can exert influence on the brand. Your actions shape what people think about your company.

Create positive influence for your brand by making ever customer encounter rewarding and memorable. Ensure that your personnel and products are exceeding expectations throughout the purchase/service process.

Review the 7Ps of marketing and verify that you are focusing appropriate attention on every one of the Ps. This will definitely go a long way to generating positive influence for your brand. If you continue to follow that strategy your brand will be perceived more favorably in the minds of your customers.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

All Staff Are Brand Ambassadors (Action Wednesday/People)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Action Wednesday and we’re going to talk about creating good brand ambassadors for your company.

Everyone inside your company that represents your brand to customers is a Brand Ambassador. Frequently it’s thought that only the external sales force or people working directly with customers are the brand ambassadors. The reality is that everyone in your company is a brand ambassador. Next we’ll discuss ensuring that your whole team understands that point.

Your action item is to train everyone in your organization so they understand they are brand ambassadors whether they deal with customers directly or indirectly. It’s not only about what they say, but how they say it and includes what they do and how they do it as well. Everything that your staff does influences the brand and they are brand ambassadors at all times.

Training may be substantially informal; however, it should have a balance between informal and formal. You want to ensure your team understands what a brand ambassador is and that they are brand ambassadors for your company 24/7. As you continue to work with your staff regarding brand ambassadorship, over time you will enhance the brand and the valuation of your company.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Encouraging Customer Referrals (Strategic Tuesday/Promotion)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Strategic Tuesday and we’re going to focus on generating customer referrals.

If you’ve been in business for awhile there is a good chance that you have happy customers who understand what your product is all about, you exceed their expectations and they are loyal to you. I think it’s appropriate for you to leverage them as a source for generating new referrals to your company.

If these customers are pleased with your products and services, they shouldn’t mind sharing that information with their friends and acquaintances. Your job is to make sure they know you are seeking referrals.

Nobody knows your customers better than you so it’s up to you to determine the best way to let them know you are seeking referrals. Then identify how to provide an incentive to them so that they feel good about the referral. That incentive may potentiallyl increase their usage of your products as well.

That concludes Strategic Tuesday. Join us tomorrow for Action Wednesday. To discuss an online or face to face service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com. I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.

Valuing Your Brand (Smart Monday/Positioning)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Smart Monday and we’re going to take a look at what your brand is worth.

Before we focus on your brand, we’ll look at the valuation of a few of the world’s largest brands. Many people would guess that Apple is valued #1 in the world. Data from various sources put the range anywhere from $34 to $184 billion dollars.

You may believe that Coca-Cola is the top brand. Their valuation comes in between $72 and $74 billion. McDonald’s worldwide brand is valued between $36 to $95 billion, Toyota $22 to $28 billion and Nike between $15 and $16 billion.

There may be great disparity in the estimated value of an individual brand. The valuation process is both an art and a science. In valuing a brand, one factor experts consider is how much a consumer would be willing to pay for the product when measured against a similar product. Take Coca-Cola for example, it’s just a syrupy brown liquid but people pay far more for Coke than they would a generic brand. Financial performance is another factor along with forecasts and public opinion.

Determining the value of your brand can be a very expensive process especially if you engage a company that is known for its statistical research and analysis and brand valuation. If that is out of reach you can always use a gut estimate.

As you apply advice from Once a Day Marketing to your business, you are increasing the valuation of your brand and potentially creating goodwill which we have also discussed recently. Continue to stay the course and maintain your marketing and branding efforts. Over time your company will be worth more no matter how you determine the valuation.

Friday, August 10, 2012

More Buzz: Social Media at the Movies (Digital Friday/Promotion)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Digital Friday and we are going to continue the series I started on Monday around creating buzz and customer anticipation.

Generating buzz prior to a product release is a very good strategy because it gets your customers excited about a product that they will soon be able to purchase. Social media is a powerful tool to use in creating this buzz and today I’m going to talk about how Hollywood, the king of kings when it comes to creating buzz, is using social media to do just that.

There is a movie that came out recently called “Ted”. It’s an R-rated comedy and it has become the highest grossing R-rated comedy in a very long time. The studio that released the picture leveraged an aggressive social media campaign to launch the movie. They started with Twitter and created @WhatTedSaid where followers could get tweets or read tweets in which Ted was making rude comments.

They also had Ted blogging with his personal thoughts. Actor Mark Walberg added a birthday greeting from Ted to his Facebook page that was a bit unconventional, and could be seen by all of his 600,000 fans.

This advance buzz created great success at the box office. The studio was targeting $30 to $40 million for the first week at the box office and took in $54 million, which they attribute to the social media campaign.

As I mentioned before, social media certainly is a two-edged sword. Just as it can promote a movie it can also kill a movie. A recent study found that 8% of people attending movies are actually tweeting while in the movie and are able to tweet how good or bad a movie is right from their seats. Again, it can create positive buzz but it also can cast a product in a negative light if it isn’t well received by customers.

Analyze your product or service and determine if there is a way to create buzz to increase sales of your business.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

The Evolving Marketng Ecosystem (Recon Thursday/Promotion)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Recon Thursday and I’m going to talk about the every evolving marketing ecosystem.

What is a marketing ecosystem? It’s all the places where you can market your product or services. In this dynamic, growing world there are new channels opening all the time. As a marketer, the question you have to ask yourself is where should you be within the ecosystem?

There are at least nine different channels available to you in the marketplace today. At the center are your customers. You have to choose which spaces to distribute your marketing and advertising content that will provide the greatest reach to your target audience.

Print – we are all very familiar with print media

Audio & video – that avenue is growing so fast today. It used to be only television but now you have YouTube and other video sites.

Public Relations – still a great option for you. Magazines, TV shows, radio shows, newspaper are still always looking for a good story.

Direct marketing – if you can find the right list you can push content to potential customers

Online – it’s huge, it’s growing all the time and we talk a lot about the power of inbound marketing, something for you to consider.

Mobile devices – they are growing by leaps and bounds. Applications for mobile devices are going to be able to market your product and services.

Play space marketing – where people gather, like work, to a school or a store. They will have the opportunity to see your marketing content.

Then you have what I call “out and about” that is everywhere else that people are going in their daily lives, their travels, whether it be down a freeway, down a street or anywhere in between.

Lastly, there is experiential marketing. This is where you provide the opportunity to allow your customers to experience your marketing message, experience your product. As baby boomers age they are seeking out that experience more than any other group. I think you will see this channel growing far faster than many of the others.

Investigate the different channels available. Keep using the ones that are working for you but be sure to test the waters using some of the new channels that perhaps you haven’t tried before.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Asking Customers: How Can I Help You? (Action Wednesday/Positioning

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Action Wednesday and I’ve got a simple task for you today.

Before I get to the action item I am going to ask you a question. Why are you in business? Now you may think it’s for the profit and that is a great by-product, however, I think you are really in business because you believe your product or service adds value to your customers’ lives.

Today’s action item is: Consider when you last asked your customers how you can help them. Or, even better, when was the last time you asked them how you could help them today.

Asking that question really means a lot to your customers and I don’t think we ask it enough. It shows that you are interested in the needs of your clients and customers. When you deliver after asking them how you can help them, then you and your brand are really going to shine. I can’t think of anything better to enhance your brand.

The action item is easy; delivering on it is a little more complicated. Reach out today and ask your customers how you can help them. It may be via phone, e-mail or something you add to your website. If you are working on a new marketing piece determine how to integrate that into the content.

I’ll finish today by asking, how can Once a Day Marketing help you? Let me know in a comment, in e-mail, or however you can.

Thank you joining us for Action Wednesday. Be sure to tune in tomorrow for Recon Thursday. To discuss an online or face-to-face service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com. I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Tell Your Customers How Good Your Product Makes Them (Strategic Tuesday/Promotion)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Strategic Tuesday and I’m going to talk about how to avoid a common market mistake that many companies make.

In yesterday’s blog I talked about creating buzz and anticipation by your customers for a new product you are about to release. The mistake often made is telling them how good the product is, rather than how good the product is going to make them.

Let me use my own Once a Day Marketing video advice to hone in on this point. In the daily video I provide you with knowledge, strategy and inspiration. Those are the features, the benefit of watching my videos is that you become better at marketing and branding and your business is more successful. That is how Once a Day Marketing makes your business better.

Look at your product or service and make a list of how they make your customers feel, how it makes them better. In your future promotions ensure you are emphasizing those points. Now it’s also ok to talk about how good your product is, but only after you’ve shared with customers how good your product makes them.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Buzz: Creating Customer Anticipation (Smart Monday/Promotion)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Smart Monday, and we are talking about creating buzz and interest in your product before you actually release it.

What is buzz? It is creating excitement for your product before it ever hits the streets, before your customers have a chance to buy it. Buzz is a powerful tool because it creates a strong desire/demand for your product in advance of its being available. When you finally do release it people are already standing in line.

Let’s look at some good examples of buzz. Right now the Olympics are going on and we’ve been anticipating the Olympics in London for a very long time. You also have the masters of buzz, Apple. Apple has been able to create such great buzz for products such as the iPad and iPhones before they are released that customers are literally camped out to be among the first to have one. Recently we had the Facebook initial public offering. We do know that the anticipation was there for people to want to buy the stock. Whether it is going to be a good buy or not is another question.

Many companies wait until they have the produce before they market it. Consider marketing your product before you actually have it ready to release to customers.

From my examples you can see that buzz really works. Determine how you can create buzz for the introduction of your next product. A very important strategic element to remember is not to allow a long lag between when you make the announcement that the product will be coming out and its availability. If you create anticipation and then wait too long before you actually deliver the product you may be doing yourself more harm than good.