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Chip Martin is the award-winning editor of the Brown & Martin newsletter. As such, Chip has been interviewed by many 'famous' journalists.
Chip also interviews many of B&M clients about important marketing issues for the Brown & Martin newsletter. Frankly, we are always a little surprised that our clients remain clients, even after the interview. If you'd like to be added to the Brown & Martin mailing list, send an e-mail to dale.l.brown@bmpr.com and ask to be added to the list. Be sure to include a snail mail address, as the newsletter is not available via e-mail, yet.
Chip also contributes tidbits of information for the newsletter, called ChipShots. Feel free to share these with your friends and co-workers.
- Marketing Icons Can Become Profit Centers
- Read Fast. These Marketing Trends May Already Be Out of Date … But I Doubt It
- Don't Tell All You Know
Following are some of Chip's most popular columns.
- Spammers Ruin Email
- Chip's Editorial - Bean Counters put Short-term Gain
Ahead of Long-term Survival - Chip's Editorial - Marketing Opportunities Abound as Long as
Taste, Results Don't Matter - Chip's Editorial - Risque´ Business
To read more of Chip's brilliant columns, visit the B&M Newsletter Archive.
Marketing Icons Can Become Profit Centers
Puppets (specifically those of the ventriloquial-type) are making a big come back.
David Letterman’s full week of “ventriloquists” featuring a different ventriloquist each night, turned out to be one of the show’s highest rated weeks, ever.
In 2006 Jay Johnson (the ventriloquist from Soap) had a successful Broadway show about “Ventriloquism.”
Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham’s Comedy Central DVD just went triple platinum and he’s playing to sold out shows across the country. He’s also making an appearance in an up-coming Blue Collar movie and will be taping a second DVD in Washington D.C. this spring.
Sales of ventriloquist puppets (or as I call it, “puppet slavery”) are on a major up swing.
Meanwhile, I’m stuck here in the frozen tundra writing a marketing-related column for this pathetic newsletter. Believe me when I say that it’s been a long, tough struggle to the middle.
But the rising popularity of “puppets” being recognized as entities in their own right is not surprising. We’re “icons.” And icons are “in.”
If you don’t believe me, take a look at Staples’ “Easy Button.” The novelty item born out of the company’s ad campaign and available at its stores for $5, is popping up like mushrooms in a forest … 1.5 million of them. That’s right. Staples has earned an additional $7.5 million in revenue from sales of its “Easy Button.”
The icon has become an effective means of customer interaction with the company … plus an additional profit center.
At the same time Travelocity has sold more than 20,000 of its 8-inch gnome statues at $19.99 each. In addition the gnome has become a cultural icon. People have sent Travelocity photos of him in airplanes, scuba diving, sky diving, at sporting events and at famous landmarks around the world.
It was the same for Taco Bell’s Chilhuahua, (killed by political correctness), Pets.com’s sock puppet (killed by mismanagement) and more recently, Burger King’s creepy King … yet to be killed.
Icons, especially “puppet” icons can be effective marketing tools, effective communications tools and effective entertainers. So give a puppet a home. It may give you the ultimate ROI.
Read Fast.
These Marketing Trends May Already Be Out of Date … But I Doubt It
With interactive media escalating our marketing options, the only guarantee I make is that you can comfortably throw this article in the trash within a week because it will be out of date. In the meantime, here are five esoteric marketing observations I gathered during the past year.
1. Sexual images in marketing continue to push limits. In fact it’s an era of “sex without apologies.” If you don’t believe me, take note of the 2005 TV ad that garnered more media impressions than any other ad that ran the same number of times. It was Paris Hilton’s soft-core soaping of a Bentley automobile for the Carl’s Jr. restaurant chain. The ad denigrated women; it insulted our intelligence; it threatened our children; and oh, by the way, it worked.
2. Although a size 10 female appearing in an ad can be called “fat” without controversy, I give a tip of my hat to Unilever for its ground breaking, risky and very successful “Real Beauty” campaign that features women of all sizes, shapes and color. Marketing geniuses who predicted that the campaign would flop are predictably quiet now.
3. Probably the biggest over-hype of an internet marketing trend is blogs. They provide almost no new information. They’re frequently inaccurate. They contribute to the polarization of people. They’re often written by people who can’t “write.” Yet some marketers rush to get their companies and products name-dropped in this unreliable, unaccountable media environment. Go figure.
4. Thankfully most B 2 B companies now realize that web site content rules over glitzy design … something B&M has been preaching for a long time and most of our clients follow. Next time you’re surfing the web, check out some of the Fortune 100 web sites, including www.johnsoncontrols.com, one of our clients. You’ll find very simple web pages that feature content. These web sites aren’t necessarily “pretty” … but they are very functional. Artists who used to design web sites at their kitchen tables have lost out to PR, marketing and IT professionals who understand the value and effectiveness of simplicity and usefulness. (I can’t tell you how many potential web site clients B&M has politely turned down because they were overly focused on expensive “flaming logos” versus practical content. You know who you are.)
5. This time last year all you could do with your iPod was listen to music. You couldn’t consume a vlog, a podcast or watch a video. Now you can do all of those things and more … and the iPod is smaller. By the end of this year your iPod may be your best friend and you’ll never need to interact with real people again. (There’s a vibrator joke in there somewhere, but I passed it by.)
The point is interactive communication is constantly being reinvented. Much of it is over-hyped; some of it will be advantageous to particular groups; some new fads will quickly fade away; and some new inventions may revolutionize marketing and public relations.
Don’t worry about it. I’m keeping tabs on things for you.
The Way I See It, If You Want To Persuade, Don’t Tell All You Know
Here’s something most people who write sales brochures never learn. The more you try to detail, declare and deduce, the more your audience doubts, distrusts, and discredits your message. In short, the more you tell them, the more reasons they have to become cynical. If you want to persuade your audience, tell them less. Let them sell themselves. You can explain a “benefit” without including all of the excruciating details about what it takes to deliver that benefit.
Buyers don’t care about all the work you’ve done. All they care about is what’s in it for them. Sometimes, it’s best to let your audience “deduce” entirely for themselves. Here’s a great example of the non-sell, sell…and it’s an accident. We’ll assume for this example that you’re a male. You’re lounging on your couch watching TV. A commercial appears showing a man and a woman relaxing in separate tubs, overlooking a seascape. It’s a dim attempt to get your attention for an erectile dysfunction ad. (If the product’s so great, why are they in separate tubs?)
Anyway, you’ve already tuned out and your finger is on the remote as the music fades and a monotone voice begins to drone on about potential complications and side effects. Headache, upset stomach, nausea, blurred vision, dizziness, blah, blah, blah. Then, just as you’re about to start channel surfing, you hear, “Men who experience an erection for more than four hours should seek immediate medical attention. ”Four hours? !Leaping off the couch in search of a pen, you knock the coffeet able over. Beer and nachos fly everywhere. You don’t care.
You find an eyebrow pencil and hastily etch“ CIALIS” on the back of your hand. If you’re going to need medical attention, this is the best reason you’ve ever heard. Be honest. You remember those words. But I bet you can’t remember any other dialog from the commercial. What you remember is part of the FDA required disclaimer that usually undoes whatever positive impact an ad may have had. But this time it’s responsible for multiplying the sales of Cialis by untold numbers. The disclaimer allows consumers to draw their own conclusions. In this case, for some it’s, “You can become the human version of the Washington Monument.”
The point is, sales verbiage needn’t spell everything out. Give your audience some credit for having brains. Let them come to their own conclusions, sans the usual coercion of agonizing details and painful hard sells. Create marketing tools that empower your audience to figure things out for themselves. People like an idea better when they think it's their own.
Sally has the "hots" for me and Suzy wants to meet me. What Sheryl wants to do is not suitable for publication; but she clearly didn't go to a reputable finishing school. In all, 137 women, six barnyard animals and a guy in Nevada have offered to meet, defrock and please me in ways I don't think I have the strength to imagine. And mind you, these emails are being sent to a puppet!
I can't imagine what the rest of you are getting. I think it's scary that in less than a week, a puppet has been approved for more than $50,000 in new credit. And if I really want to meet Christian singles, I think I'd start by going to church.
All of this demonstrates that Spammers have made it very difficult to market or sometimes just communicate, via email. Why do you think B&M still mails hard copies of this newsletter to you? It's because we know you're much more likely to read it in this format than if we emailed an electronic version to you. (And see … you're reading it!) How do we know that? We tested it. What a concept. Which brings me to my point. Yes, it's possible to market via email. We help some clients use very effective, opt-in newsletters to market and communicate to targeted groups. But, it's not an easy task. Nor is it an effective marketing option for everyone.
It takes experience to know what works, where it's likely to work and what probably is a waste of money. Guess who has that experience? Here's a hint. One of them has his hand in my back as I type this. Your internal staff members who are given the responsibility for making marketing decisions have your company's best interests at heart. But in many cases they aren't exposed to the plethora of information on marketing options, changes in response levels and knowledge about the effectiveness of marketing tools used in other industries.
It's easy to offer up white-bread ways to spend marketing dollars, or simply recommend doing the same things over and over … optimistically expecting different or better results. It sometimes takes an outsider to offer a refreshing look at how you could get more from a downsized budget. Again, the guy behind me would be an example.
There are more trade publications than ever before, yet many of them are getting thinner each month from lack of advertising and readership. So how do you decide where to spend your marketing/advertising/public relations dollars? If you haven't figured it out yet, you do that by calling B&M and asking us for advice and assistance. Now back to my email. No, I don't want to increase my breast size. But wait … maybe I'll forward that one to a friend of mine. She'll probably thank me. No, I don't want to purchase ink cartridges from the Middle East.
Wait …. A personal letter from the Easter Bunny! How cool is that!
Bean Counters put Short-term Gain Ahead of Long-term Survival
Words move people. Words move nations. The power of words to educate, inform and inspire is boundless. When companies move boldly forward, it's usually words driving them. Numbers, on the other hand, are cold in comparison. (Sort of like Dale's hand on my stick.)
You'll find few numbers in the Declaration of Independence or the Gettysburg Address. Men like Jefferson, Paine and Adams believed in the power of values, brought to life by words. Lincoln had a thing for honesty, compassion and respect. He used words to convey those values and his life to illustrate them. Words bring me to life … literally … almost. If it weren't for words, I'd be just a "doll" instead of an "editor." But, I digress.
Recently, we've witnessed how the pursuit of numbers can destroy brands. When brands become things to be merged, purged, resold or sold off rather than things to be built, numbers are in charge. When reducing overhead becomes more important than creating demand, numbers are in charge. When processing demand at minimal cost is more important than superior customer service, numbers are in charge. When things are running smoothly … I'm in charge. But again, I digress.
Number madness is like a slow spreading disease that puts short-term gain ahead of long-term survival. Words create images and experiences that resonate with people. Words create product demand and loyalty. These things create numbers … not the reverse. So use marketing goals to establish your marketing budgets … not the reverse. Remember, if numbers were more important than words, I'd be a wooden calculator instead of a witty wooden marketing expert.
For many companies, the economy still sucks. After we circle the wagons, bite the bullet, tighten our belts and walk a mile in our customers' shoes, do we wait for the chickens (customers) to come home to roost? (Assuming of coarse, that we have our ducks in a row and previously picked all the low hanging fruit.)
Let's be honest. Many marketing plans are already walking with a limp, getting cataracts and may soon have to be put down because of deeper budget cuts. Forget that a library full of research shows that companies which develop and maintain organized marketing plans during down economic times come back several times stronger than competitors who let their marketing slide. I have a better idea. Simply find un-exploited places to communicate corporate and commercial messages. For instance, the latest virgin ad space is on shiny police cars. One company offers to pay for new police cars in exchange for ad space. Some cash-strapped cities in Florida are taking the deal.
What better way to transfer the respect we have for the police, onto Ronald McDonald or Captain Crunch? I say, "Why stop there?" There's lots of space on uniforms. How about the yellow jackets worn by heroic firefighters? Those who are saved by firefighters would have the ultimate positive association with the first thing they see following the event … say Colonel Sanders or maybe Aunt Jemima. You could even buy time during the reading of Miranda rights. "You have the right to remain silent," followed by, "You have the right to a Whopper, fries and medium drink for just $2.99." During trials, instead of using the Bible to swear people in, courts could use the latest John Grisham novel. And, what about jails? Prisoners have nothing to do all day but stare at walls. Let's dress those walls up with some ads. I'm sure the space is cheap. Ineffective maybe … but cheap.
For marketers and corporate communicators who don't have objectives or a plan, the opportunities are limitless.
OK, I'm going to say what most marketing professionals are thinking, but are too afraid to do anything about it. "This overly sensitive, political correctness has gotten out of hand." You're all shaking your head in agreement, aren't you? Everyone has a right to have his or her voice heard. That's what this country is about. But, that doesn't mean a carefully crafted and effective public relations program or marketing tool should be abandoned the second a few dissenters pop up.
No small minority should be given the power to act as censors for the majority. Let the majority think and act for themselves. A number of years ago we did a direct mail program for Master Lock Company. A photo in the mailer showed a would-be thief trying to violate a padlock. We received a letter from some group that said the photo "stereotyped people of Greek heritage as thieves." I don't think I could pick a person of Greek heritage out of a line up. But, if they all look as handsome and as well built as the model in our photo, they should be proud.
Ironically, political correctness is stifling public relations and marketing at a time when TV content is becoming ever more accepting of extreme language violence and offensive behavior. A recent Subaru ad showed a mom and daughter trying to do a good deed: releasing a bunny into the wild. A pro-rabbit group protested, saying a domesticated pet wouldn't survive. The ad was pulled, the money was wasted and consumers will eventually pay the bill. Thank you bunny lovers. Pass the hasenpfeffer.
The good news is that people are starting to dare to be un-PC. A Carl's Jr. ad shows a gloved scientist giving a live chicken a cavity search to find "the nuggets." Trust me, it's funny. However, United Poultry Concerns (Can you believe there is such a group?) complained. Carl's Jr. kept the ad on the air. If you don't like it, don't buy their product. Now the marketing industry as a whole has weighed in by awarding an international grand prize to a print ad that is juvenile, sophomoric and crude. I don't think it's necessarily a good ad … certainly not the best of the year.
What's encouraging is that the judges, who are among the top marketers in the world, made a statement. "It's OK to play again. Let the marketplace, not a few dissenters, determine the quality and success of your promotion or your ad." Hypersensitivity over whom might take offense to something results in boring, unexciting, non-entertaining and non-stimulating vanilla. (I know I'm going to get a letter from some pro-vanilla group.) There is a difference between "offensive" and "not liked by a few." I should know. I've been both.