I scream, you scream...

The cops show up and it gets really awkward...

Marketing is a form of sales. Marketing is shared information generating awareness.

There's a problem with marketing. Most of us don't care about the millions of messages directed at us.

And here's why.

Our brains are split into three levels. The first level is what Seth Godin calls "the lizard brain". It is the part of the brain responsible for humanity's ability to survive. It generates "fight and flight". It's been with humans throughout our existence so we continue to use it without our knowledge. Call it instinct.

Here's how the lizard brain processes outside stimuli. 

If these things are not dangerous, ignore it.
If this is not new and exciting, ignore it.
If it is new, summarize it as quickly as possible and forget about the details.
Do not send information to the problem solving part of the brain (neocortex) unless you have a situation really unexpected or totally out of the ordinary.

The neocortex evolved for humanity to understand mathematics, physics, medicine.

The lizard brain makes all initial decisions. It filters all messages before we interpret them in the higher evolved section of our brains.

Knowing this makes it easier to be a good marketer.

The message must be either dangerous, new, and exciting or the lizard brain will ignore it.
Not only must the message be new and exciting, it be unexpected and totally out of the ordinary or the lizard brain will not send the information to the neocortex. The lizard brain is the gatekeeper. The neocortex is the president. The lizard brain is the office secretary who won't let anyone visit the president without a pre-scheduled meeting. And she may not allow the meeting to ever take place if she doesn't see value for her boss.

That's her job as the lizard brain.

When you think of marketing, you have to be willing to take chances. There will be those who will criticize your decisions. But they were never going to buy anyways. Their lizard brains were looking for a reason to ignore you and you gave them an easy reason.

I saw the "I scream, you scream" message on a Dairy Queen readerboard sign. It was intriguing because it was out of the ordinary. I expected "... we all scream for ice cream". But they didn't go to the expected. That would have been easy. That would've been unremarkable. That would've been boring.

It reminded me of two other readerboard signs.

One was from 11 years ago, promoting a liquor store in Alberta. The sign read, "My boss told me to change the sign so I did". The playful act got my attention. The sign changed every week and they were all cute and unexpected.

Thanks to Seth Godin, we've learned in a pasture filled with cows, the purple one will get the attention.

The other readerboard sign never existed but I wish it would. There is a Chinese restaurant in my town with the same message for the past 10 years. It reads, "Experience the difference quality makes". Not only is the message now part of the landscape, it's boring. It's un-unique. It's a cow and could represent any cow-like business or industry.

Quality is nothing. Every one says they have quality. I wish someone would have the balls to put a new message on that board. Something like, "No cat or dog will be harmed in the cooking of your meal here". Deep down we know that restaurants don't use cats or dogs to cook meals. It's become a stereotype. It's a bad joke that lies beneath the covers. If you own a chinese restaurant, use it to your advantage. Laugh about it and others will laugh with you. Some will be upset, only because you said something they were already thinking.

Real marketing happens when someone has enough courage to stand up, be noticed and says something unexpected.

Don't scream to get attention. Say something remarkable. Slip past the lizard gatekeeper and speak directly to the president. She holds the money and decides where it gets spent. Nothing good ever came from screaming, unless you're in the bedroom...

Now I'm just off topic. Sorry...

Business and friendships

If you could own an audience, to the point where they would listen to every word you said, and then acted on your words, what would that be worth?

Is it better to talk to more people screaming from the mountaintops hoping that someone will give a shit enough to listen? Or is it better to have a few friends who like you, respect you enough to listen, and honest enough to not talk behind your back?

Business has lost its way.

Despite what you think, a business does not have to be all things to all people.  It has to be all things to the "right" people.

It is the job of your marketing team to find the "right" people.

Jesus Christ wasn't able to convince all the people.
Why would business people think they can?

Let's paint a picture.

You own a jewelry store and you want to sell 1 more diamond engagement ring each week.

Typically, a smart marketing person would ask questions like,
"Who's the target audience"
"What's your budget"
"Where does the target audience hang-out"

Then, they would market to the target audience screaming from the mountain top hoping someone will listen in their busy lives.

Most won't hear the message.
Some will hear it and not care.
Some will hear it, and consider your product while they shop the best deal, which may not be with you.
Almost no one will buy from you without price shopping first. You haven't earned their respect.

All you got was their attention.

Sustainable business is based on small friendships.

We don't find friends by yelling at them.
We don't find friends by talking to as many people as possible.

Friendship isn't a numbers game. And neither is good marketing.

There are fundamental rules for a friendship to work.
1. We have to want to be around each other.
2. We need to trust each other. (Credible)
3. We want to help the other person without asking anything in return.
4. I need another friend. (Relevant)

Businesses have forgotten the rules of friendship.
Most businesses want only one thing - money from its customers. And in exchange they offer a product or service.

We call that a transaction.
Not a friendship or relationship.

The first time a "target customer" hears a commercial, there has to be a connection in the message. No likeable message, no potential friendship.  As the target continues to hear the ad,  increases in likeability leans toward respect.

Respect is what trust sees in the mirror.

Trust builds confidence and pushes action. When the "target customer" decides to interact with the brand and gets the same experience the ad made him feel, he will buy.

The purchase decision was already made through the emotions the ad created. The experience at the business reinforces the emotion.

Business isn't a numbers game. Let your message hang out with potential customers. Some will hate what you have to say. Some will love it. Let the ones who love it enter your friendship circle. Tell stories. Listen.

Don't yell or brag. In other words, don't be an asshole. Being an asshole attracts other assholes. Assholes aren't good for business unless you sell toilet paper.

With time, there will be new, cool, people hanging out in your business, wanting to buy from you.

Marketing is easy.
Good marketing is hard.

How many friends has your business made recently?

Expertise (or lack of)

Listening in a noisy world is difficult. The internet has made everything loud.

Finding an expert today is like having a conversation in a nightclub with a pretty girl, while the base booms through your arteries.

It seems as though everyone selling themselves on the internet is an expert. The law of averages says that ain't so, Joe.

Choosing the wrong "expert" is wasteful and dangerous.

Remember when there was only one expert in every category? The expert was busy. They didn't have to advertise. Customers rewarded them with oodles of money and multitudes of referrals. 

And then one day, something changed. Choices grew. Businesses became warring factions trying to win over the customer territory.

The experts couldn't do any more commerce.
All the others brawled for the scraps.
The scrappers were plenty.
They quarrelled on price, service, and time.
Always trying to outdo the other.
Everyone claimed to be the best.

Experts said nothing.
They didn't need to.
Customers knew who was the best.
Experts didn't look for extra work.

Experts never bragged. 

I was thinking about this scenario recently as it applied to softball. When a newcomer moves to town and wants to play softball, he puts his name on a "spare" list to get picked up by an existing team. There are about 50 new names every year added to the list. When a player brags about his skill, he's often a dud. 

I watched a guy who bragged about his expertise, strike out four times in his first game. In softball, strikeouts are rare and reserved for awful players. 

I've observed other guys, with complete humility say they had played a bit and would like to come out and have some fun with new friends.  Those guys more often play above their marketed level.

In a noisy world, when a company brags, I believe they are overcompensating for something they are not. Just like in softball, the braggarts are the wrong choice. The humble ones are the winners.

Beware of the "expert" who brags. He's probably just another scrapper looking for crumbs left by the real expert.

If you're looking for marketing help. I may be able to help you. But let's get to know each other first. You can reach me at ricknicholson@wizardofads.com. I am choosey who I work with.

Precision Decision

Making a decision is hard.

Not making one is painful.

The world rewards those who make decisions and eats up those who don't.

I had a boss who didn't like making decisions. He wanted to do the right things all the time. He analyzed a problem for months before making a decision. He preferred to take the big decisions to focus groups for their approval. He was in a position of leadership but he wasn't one.

He used focus groups as a crutch. He blamed the focus group for poor results and thus protected his job.

He was smarter than the average person. Very well read, he explained and taught the latest business principles to his disciples. I learned a lot from him.

Focus groups are not a good validation for any concept. 

There are two simple reasons: 

1. Perspective

2. Physiology

Let me explain.

1. Perspective

A person's expression of interest can be quite different than what they actually will do. They don't know they are lying. They think they know what they want, until it comes time to actually buy.

As a funny example, I owned two restaurants. When asked why customers chose our place, they talked about the healthy options. The top sold menu item had greasy bacon, greasy sausages, greasy potatoes, greasy ham, two pieces of toast greased with butter, with a couple of fruits as garnish. 

A buyer doesn't generally know what they would do until they have to do it. 

This is called Perspective. Without real conditions, perspective is biased, and probably wrong.

2. Physiology

Humans have two brains. The left brain is responsible for analysis and logic. The right brain takes care of intuition and creativity.

Great ideas are born and nurtured in the right brain. The left brain executes them in a methodical, engineered approach. When a great idea is shared in a group for analysis, the left brain goes to work trying to assess and predict its validity. It's not the left brain's job to assess creativity.

Similar to Perspective, Intuition cannot be challenged until you're in the middle of an important problem. That gut instinct cannot be summoned until it's time for immediate action.
Do you know what you would do or do you think you know what you would do?

Most of us think we know what we would do. Therefore, feedback on a hypothetical situation or product is purely speculation. Speculation boils on past experiences combined with future problems.

It's not wrong to get someone else's opinion, if you are unsure of yourself.
Don't blame them when things go bad. You are responsible not only for your opinions but the opinions of others that you decide to consult with.

Focus group consultation is dangerous.
Great businesses are not managed by committee.
Focus groups give feedback like a committee.
Tasks are handled by committees.
Not leadership.

Leadership is reserved for the bold!

We like working with the bold! If you are one of those leaders who are able to make decisions without the use of committees and you want help with your marketing, you can reach me at ricknicholson@wizardofads.com.

Cocaine of Marketing

Imagine going to the doctor with no real ailments. You want to feel better. So he advises to eat healthier and get some exercise. You want to feel better now. So you ask for a prescription of cocaine.

Ridiculous right?

Cocaine solves a short term need but its long term negative effects far outweigh its benefits. Cocaine is not the answer. The doctor is right: proper diet and exercise is the key.

Price discounting works the same way as cocaine. It's never the real answer.

It works wonderfully well.
Put something on sale and customers buy it.
Sales spike.

Business thrives...or so it seems.

Effectiveness of discounting goes down each and every time you snort it. The initial high is never as good as that first time. With proper training, customers won't even enter your store unless there's a discount.

Business erodes.
Profits sink.
Sickness prevails.

The retail industry has become heavily addicted to discounting.

In the battlefield of retail, businesses look for reasonable excuses to put another sale on the window. The traditional reasons to buy for Valentines Day, Easter, Summer break, Back to School, and Christmas are too far apart. Retail looks for other reasons to keep customers coming within the two months of each occasion.

Those reasons feed the addiction. The addiction to looking for a sale.

Retail started advertising "Black Friday" deals about four years ago in Canada.

It doesn't make sense to me.  Traditionally, Black Friday is the unofficial start to the Christmas shopping season in the United States. It follows American Thanksgiving, as the last Friday of November.

Canadian Thanksgiving is in October. Black Friday is just another Friday. The unofficial start of Christmas shopping in Canada follows Remembrance Day.

Black Friday doesn't mean anything to Canadians except deep discounts at retailers.

It is normal for consumers to look for a deal.

Until someone gives us a better deal.

When consumers look for deals, there is no loyalty to brands, products or businesses. The sale becomes transactional.

No wonder retail stores close so frequently.
Their competitive advantage is based on price.
And price is always the easiest and fastest thing to copy.

In the words of Roy Williams, "Most retailers are twitchy little weasels".

My advice to retailers:
Don't be a twitchy little weasel.
Don't be lured in by the powder.
It won't make you feel better long term.
It will kill you.

Come up with a better messaging. Give your customers a reason to love you and only choose you when it's time to buy. Look for and engage the relational customer.

They will pay you happily for your product and won't need a discount to encourage them to buy.
Engaged customers, higher sales, stronger profit margins.

Let your coke laced neighbours die. Don't be one of them.

If you want don't want to be a business addicted to discounting, you can reach me at ricknicholson@wizardofads.com to discuss how we can help you.

Flaws are your Strength

Characters are built on four points of a character diamond. The NorthStar, the Counterstar, the Flaw, and the Core.

The Flaw is the most interesting of the four. It is the one that most marketers like to hide.

Our greatest weakness as perceived by others can also be our greatest strengths in the right circumstances.

Let me explain by sharing a quick story. 20 years ago I was sitting in a Montreal alley, letting a complete stranger draw my caricature. Aline and I were vacationing in the city and decided to check out the artists. It took about 20 minutes to sit for him.  When he was finished, he showed it to me. Aline said it looked exactly like me. I didn't agree.

The artist took a flaw from my face and accentuated it. He made it the focal point of my profile. There was one thing I wish I could change. And he turned it around and made it the hero of my face. 

Most of us hide our flaws behind a mask in order to protect ourselves. Flaws make us self conscious. They remind us we are not perfect.

Every good character has to have a flaw. It's what makes them real, memorable and remarkable.

Luke Skyywalker is a whiny turd.

Michael Corleone is in the mafia.

Sheldon Cooper is socially awkward.

The flaw rounds out the character and makes them interesting.  Without it, the character would be flat and boring. 

Most marketers don't display the flaw. They hide the character behind a mask, trying to convince customers to believe in the message. Yet, it is the flaw where ALL the magic lies.

Just like with the caricature artist, the flaw brings out our uniqueness. Marketing is about getting in a potential customer's head. To be memorable.

If everyone says the same thing, looks alike and acts the same way, then there is no differentiation in the market. 

I want to know the flaw or the vulnerability of my clients. It makes it easier for their narrative arc to be believable.

If you're marketing yourself or your business, remember that flaws are equally important to your perceived strengths.

In essence, it is your flaw that makes you stronger...

If you want to develop the character arc for your brand, you can contact me at ricknicholson@wizardofads.com.

Advertising is like Baseball

You need to hit a home run on your next swing or the business is bust.

As a marketer, I don't like home runs.

In baseball, a home run is a high risk, big reward swing.
Three little singles can yield the same result.
Hits are easier to get.
It takes longer to get a run, but once the bases are occupied, more runs come much easier.
In baseball terms, this is called "Small Ball".

"Small Ball" is the best way to make the biggest difference in your marketing efforts. Search for little hits that continue to encourage a customer to buy from your business. Three little hits and you have a run (or a sale).

There are four bases in baseball, so why is three the magic number? In baseball, a player on second base is considered in scoring position. If the third batter gets a hit, there's a good possibility the runner can score from second base.

In advertising, three is also the magic number. A frequency of 3 per week is the objective. Frequency is defined as the number of times a person hears or sees your ad in a week. 3 times per week over a 52 week buy is 156 times. That's lots of potential runs from the customer.

Small ball.

Hitting a homerun is fun and exciting.
You're a star when you hit one.
It clears the bases.
Most home run hitters are also the strike out leaders in baseball.
The best home run hitter in Major League Baseball in 2016 was Mark Trumbo. He hit 47 home runs in 613 at bats. That's a 7% chance of success. He struck out 170 times or 27.7% of the time.

He struck out almost 4 times more often than he hit a home run...

Despite what some advertisers will tell you, home runs are hard.
Hits are not.
Hits come from the crafting the right message and delivering it to the right people at the right time.

The problem with hits is it takes time to be rewarded for the efforts.

Most businesses can't afford to wait. They need results now. They need a home run. Yet they swing with a weak bunt.

Most advertising campaigns fail because the message is weak.

No one can hit a home run with a bunt.

When customers come to me looking for a home run, I send them to someone else. I don't hit home runs.  It's too risky.

I'm evaluated on results. Striking out is not an option. So I don't try.

My goal is to hit singles... a lot of them... It gets better results, in the long run.