Once a Day Marketing

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

5 Factors of a Great Marketing Team (Action Wednesday/People)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Action Wednesday and we are going to discuss how to start building a great marketing team.

In a book called The Five Dysfunctions of a Team Patrick Lencioni describes the factors that hinder outstanding team performance. I thought it would be fun to flip that around and discuss the five characteristics are that make a great marketing team.

Let’s take a look at each one of the elements in Lencioni’s model. The first is trust. An environment that promotes trust is one in which team members will be able to take risks, ask for help and be given the benefit of the doubt. Second is conflict. Teams need some amount of conflict to generate engaging conversations around the table when brain storming new ideas and discussing critical topics.

Next is commitment. All team members should be on the same page, align with the goals and move forward without hesitation. Fourth is accountability. This factor is a very important to success. Ensure team members are accountable for their tasks. Apply pressure on them to follow through to completion if necessary.

Lastly is attention to results. All team members should be goal driven and able to deliver on their assigned tasks.

Trust, conflict, commitment, accountability and attention to results. Those are the five factors of a great team. Focus on pulling individuals with these skills together. Start by selecting one characteristic that you think is the most important to begin working on to improve your team. If you spend time working hard to build your team, you are going to have great marketing results in the coming years.

That concludes Action Wednesday. Join us tomorrow for Recon Thursday. To discuss an online or onsite 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, December 4, 2012

Strategy: Developing Private-Label Brands (Strategic Tuesday/Product)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Strategic Tuesday and we are going to discuss private-label brands.

You've probably heard of popular name brands like Pam, Reddi-Whip and Healthy Choice. These are all products that are produced by ConAgra, one of the largest food packing companies in the world. ConAgra recently agreed to purchase Ralcorp Holdings, a leading manufacturer of private-label brands for other companies.

A private-label brand is something that is manufactured by one company then branded and marketed by the store that is distributing it or selling it as their own. These private-label brands typically provide the merchant with 10 to 15% greater profit margins than national brands due to the fact they are not paying for all the overhead associated with manufacturing and advertising of the national brands.

A retailer like Target with their brand Archer Farms and stores like Wal-Mart, Safeway and Trader Joes all use private-label brands.

The strategic question for you is whether or not you can create your own private-label product. This is especially meaningful if you are delivering products directly to you own clientele, perhaps in a retail environment. For example, a card shop selling Hallmark cards could create their own line of cards or, a garden center may decide to package a soil amendment using their own name.

You may want to consider developing a private-label that makes sense for your company. You will be able to market it yourself and it will be branded as your company’s instead of the national brand. There will also be an opportunity to generate more margins. I'm sure there is a partner out there that will work with you to develop your private-label brand.

That concludes Strategic Tuesday. Join us tomorrow for Action Wednesday. If you need any branding or marketing support, please contact me to discuss an online or onsite service engagement. You can always find that information at the end of this video. I'm Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™ and we will see you next time.

Monday, December 3, 2012

The Early History of Marketing (Smart Monday/Promotion)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Smart Monday and I thought it would be fun to take a look at the history of marketing.

You've been working hard to become a branding and marketing expert but where did marketing originate and what were the early days of marketing like?

Peter Drucker, marketing guru, cites that in 1650 the Matsui Company created the first department store in Japan; perhaps it was similar to a Sears and Roebuck of today. The company developed a source for their products and brought together a large assortment of items. They offered a money-back guarantee with no questions asked, and that was 250 years before the origination of Sears.

In the West, marketing really didn't begin until the mid-19th century. The International Harvester Company started doing things that we take for granted today. They introduced market research and analysis, pricing policies, the availability of parts and supplies and installment credit.

A few more marketing facts for you; the very first marketing class taught in college was at the University of Pennsylvania in 1905 and the class was called The Marketing of Products. Curtis Publication Company formed the first marketing research team at a corporation in 1911.

It's fascinating to delve into the history of marketing; from the 1650's in Japan to the mid-1800s in the United States and what marketers have been doing for the last 100 years. The practices and approaches that we are taking in marketing today are truly remarkable.

That concludes Smart Monday. Please join us tomorrow for Strategic Tuesday. To discuss an online or onsite 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, November 30, 2012

Future Trend: Mobile Visual Search-MVS (Digital Friday/Physical Evidence)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Digital Friday when I often like to introduce you to trends on the digital horizon. The trend we will be discussing now is called Mobile Visual Search or MVS.

I am sure you are already familiar with Quick Response (QR) codes. Those are the two dimensional, square black and white bar codes that you may see on an advertisement in a magazine or perhaps in a store window. When scanned with a smart phone they will provide information or take you to the advertiser website.

QR codes are not a solution for all needs and there have been concerns with them. It has been reported that unexpected items embedded in a QR code can forward users to the wrong place and/or result in security issues.

The new trend emerging in the market right now is something called MVS – Mobile Visual Search. Using new technology, it allows a user to take a photo with their smart phone camera of practically anything and recognition software and other intelligence is utilized to send back interesting content related to item photographed.

There is also an image recognition application called Google Goggles that allows a smart phone user to snap a photo of a landmark or a book to obtain additional information.

In the future you will be able to leverage this technology to obtain information about practically anything. It might be the face of a friend, the store front of a shop you are going into or a product that you like. The applications will be sophisticated enough to take that input, whatever it may be, and provide remarkable content linked to whatever it is that you photographed.

As a marketing and branding guy I find this absolutely fascinating. I think we are going to see huge amounts of MVS in the future. I want you to begin thinking about it. Is there an application that you can deploy to enable your customers to photograph your product to obtain all sorts of wonderful content about it? It’s on the horizon, if you begin developing your strategy now you may get a jump on your competition.

That concludes Digital Friday. Do your best to join us next week. If you need any branding or marketing support, please contact us to discuss an online or onsite service engagement. You can always find that information at the end of this video. I'm Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™ and we will see you next time.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Selecting an Advertising Agency (Recon Thursday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Recon Thursday and we are continuing our series looking at outsourcing marketing support for your company and today we are focusing on Advertising Agencies.

Not everyone has had personal experience with an advertising agency so let me talk a little bit about what advertising agencies do for your company. They will begin by creating your branding and marketing and may act as your media buyer. Through branding they are creating your brand positioning and developing target audiences. Under the marketing umbrella the agency will develop your message, design ads and may even produce the TV commercial or radio spot.

The agency will also implement the marketing campaign for you. That means that they will place your ad on television or on the radio (that is the media buying) and in the current environment expect that they will suggest adding social media marketing as well.

Once you have made the decision to seek out an advertising agency there are numerous aspects to consider in selecting one that is a good fit for your company. Some agencies are large and some small. Look at their experience; review their portfolio to ensure you like their work. Meet the individuals that are part of the organization. Find out how connected they are to the community and to the media outlets such as local papers, television stations and radio stations.

Other elements to review are the approach they will take to mount your advertising campaign and the associated costs. The agency should let you know the metrics they will provide to measure the success of the advertising campaign.

Then you want to discuss fees. Every agency will be different; they may be project based, hourly or retainer. Lastly, make sure agency you chose has media buying clout. If they are going to represent you to place your ads on television, in print or on the radio you want to know that they have the ability to obtain the most favorable pricing.

Another important consideration of utilizing an advertising agency is that you are going to be committing financial resources to them sufficient to design and implement an effective marketing campaign on your behalf.

Additionally, once you begin using an advertising agency to push your content and message out into the market place you are now branding. The ad campaign is creating an image of your brand in the mind of potential customers. It’s up to you to make sure that what the agency does on your behalf meets your goals and expectations.

That concludes Recon Thursday. Join us tomorrow for Digital Friday. To discuss an online or onsite 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, November 28, 2012

Taking Action: Getting That One Thing Done (Action Wednesday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Action Wednesday and we are going to have you review your marketing action plan and finally tackle that one item you know you should finish that isn’t completed yet.

If you are a regular follower of Once a Day Marketing™ you know I am a big fan of creating marketing action plans and prioritizing tasks to execute that will improve your marketing and branding. I also know as we get closer to the end of the year there are a few items on that list that aren’t completed. There are a few items on my list as well.

Take a moment to congratulate yourself for the marketing plan milestones you have accomplished. Then determine which one of the outstanding items is the one you should follow through on to really improve your business. Perhaps you want to revamp your website or create a demonstration video to show off your product. Were you planning to enhance customer service or revise your pricing strategy?

Your task for Action Wednesday is to identify that one item and then ensure it is completed.

Start on the task you want to finish right now and target the end of the year to have it completed. It is going to put your business in a good position for next year and will give you a sense of accomplishment. Then you will be ready to create a whole new list of tasks for next year.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Is Your Brand a Cash Cow? (Strategic Tuesday/Positioning)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™ and today is Strategic Tuesday. Have you ever heard the term Cash Cow? We are going to discuss the Boston Consulting Group model where that term originated and how you can use it as a strategic tool.

The Boston Consulting Group created this model quite a while ago but it’s still an effective tool. The vertical axis depicts market growth. That will range from 0% to however fast your business unit (or brand) is growing. The horizontal axis represents your market share relative to your competition. You may be 10 times greater than your competition in the market or you might be one tenth the size of your competition. This tool will enable you to map where a business unit stands with respect to growth and relative market share.

There are four quadrants on the matrix and one of these is where the term Cash Cow comes from. Cash Cow is a business unit that isn’t growing rapidly at the moment but it does have good market share compared to the competition. Another category is called Stars. That is a business unit where there is quite a bit of growth and also a good position in market share compared to the competition.

The third section is labeled Question Mark (?). A business unit falls into this quadrant when there is growth but relative market share is not very large compared to the competition. The last category is Dogs. A business unit will fall into this section when there is little growth and little relative market share.

Determine whether you have a Cash Cow or a Star or a Question Mark or possible a Dog. Then evaluate the strategic options to move forward. You can build it up, maintain it as it is, harvest resources or divest.

Building up a business unit requires input of additional resources to grow and increase market share. On the other end of the continuum is divestiture where you would move resources out of one unit to put into your Stars and Question Marks. Leverage the growth share matrix to make a strategic decision as to how you are going to respond to your businesses placement.