MarketingBytesMan.com

What's In Your Head

I had lunch today with a friend who introduced me to a like-minded friend of his.  The discussion came around to marketing.  Go figure.  What was instructive is that my new friend talked about what he was doing to drum up business and when I asked where his marketing plan was, he said he didn't have one written, only a schedule of tactics.  So it goes for many businesses and I'm not throwing stones at my new friend.

What's in your head needs to go down on paper otherwise how will you know where you're going and what you're offering the world?  How will you stay on message?  How will you differentiate yourself?  How will you stay focused on the end game?  What will people know about choosing you over the next guy?  How will you know when you've reached a milestone?  And so on.

As General Dwight D. Eisenhower---one of the greatest military planners in history---once said, " The plan is nothing.  Planning is everything."  It's all about using your creative talents to see beyond what you think you know and discovering what you and everyone else knows so you can succeed.  But selling planning is pretty much like asking someone to give up their favorite vice, but it's so important to a successful enterprise.

So write it down!  As Monk says on TV, "You'll thank me for it."

Dr. Cohen's Leadership Messages Are Always Great

For several years I have been subscribing to Dr. William Cohen's leadership newsletter---The Stuff of Heroes---  and found his take on leadership and the examples he brings to the fore to be extremely valuable.  Dr. Cohen is a retired Air Force general and was Peter Drucker's first executive Ph.D. student.  This is well worth subscribing to and it's FREE! 

Two Things Not About Marketing

As one who has seen the horrors of war in Vietnam---and as a student of history---I often ponder the abyss wars take us to.  Two things that bring this to mind today:

1. The arrest of Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnia Serb who is accused of war crimes, was finally arrested after 10+ years on the lam.  It reminded me of my mother who has told me stories about the Nazi occupation in our home country of France and the suffering and cruelty and fear.  What the Bosnia War brought to the world is the sad understanding that the same level of unbelievable and  genocidal hatred could still be with us.  Just name  the place on the globe and there you go:  Darfur, Myanmar, Zimbabwe, etc. 
2. And Karadzic's arrest led me to this poem I found in a book on the air war during WWII I bought today.  It's not titled and is by Ursula Vaughan Williams.  It really struck a chord with me:

         

                                                Man, have pity on man.
                                                Rain from the outraged sky
                                                drowned the innocent earth
                                                yet the seed did not die.
                                                Flowering from that rebirth,
                                                man, have pity on man
                                                as you hold the fire in your hand
                                                that can destroy mankind
                                                and desolate every land.
                                                If the power and the glory is this,
                                                a flame that burns to the bone,
                                                what shall be left to grow
                                                when you and your fires have gone?
                                                What maimed and desolate few
                                                shall recover life's full span
                                                from among the ashes of time?
                                                Man, have pity on man.

Let me add some context to this.  It was probably written during the war and the powerful images of burning cities on all sides brought the airplane to full fruition as an incredible invention for good that can also be a nightmare machine.  Thanks for letting me share this.

Stretching the Brain Cells

Yes, it's been a while since I was blogging....life got in the way, a start-up that didn't, family trials and tribulations, etc.  But in the process I've found good things as well, which I will discuss on these pages.

Thanks for stopping by.  And be sure to look at my relaunch of marketingdriven.com in the next day or so!

Vive la France!

On July 14, 1789 the French Revolution began in earnest so today is a grand celebration in my home country. I am lucky in that I get to celebrate two national holidays in July! And as a French-American I can honestly say that regardless of what some think, we are not all "surrender monkeys"; there may be white in the French flag, just like the American flag, but it doesn't mean surrender. Au contraire; in fact, one former employer---who felt I was too much of a change agent even said about me, "Now I know the meaning of French resistance." Merci beaucoup. Vive la France!

Brands Topsy Turvy & Back Again

Four years ago, there was a death knell in the business media for Twinkies, the American icon born in 1933. The culprit was a fast rising new star, Krispy Kreme, born in 1937. Krsipy Kreme quite basically was taking the world by storm at this point, opening stores right and left. The opening of a new Krispy Kreme was an event with people waiting in line to buy the hot, freshly baked donuts that are incredibly good and blessedly sinful. As one who has who has lived in the South, KK was always a treat...and I must admit stopping by on my way from work to bring some home from work for the neighborhood.

And then, poof, Krispy Kreme was in shambles and had to retreat from the marketplace, while Twinkies picked up the pace and still sells a half billion per year. So what happened? Expanding too fast, cooking the books, diet changes, etc. And yet those Twinkies in the lunchbox just kept on trucking.

The lesson here is that brands are a lot like life with its ups and downs. Was it greed that knocked down KK? Was it hubris? Was it the American public's fickleness with cults brands? All of these and probably more than we really know. What is your brand doing? Are you making sure you're a steward or a squanderer? Only time will tell.

One Foot in Front of the Other

Sifting through more research boxes and I came upon an interview with Jim Collins, the author of Built to Last and Good to Great. This quote I find fairly well outlines what I've seen in business, mainly that the zealots who place all their bets on one great idea may not actually transform a company to greatness. Not that a great idea is a hindrance to transforming a business---and there are lots of examples of great ideas that have succeeded---it's just that there is no panacea for making it happen other than putting one foot in front of another. It's attention to detail after detail after detail. It's paying attention to the little things that help define the culture more than the energy it takes to pursue some grandiose notion.

As Jim Collins said in the June 2006 issue of Point: "Always looking for the one big thing, the one big breakthrough, the one big idea, is contrary to what we found: To build a truly great company, it's decision upon decision, action upon action, day upon day, month upon month...It's cumulative momentum and no one decision defines a great company."

Think about it.

Doug Marlette & Kudzu Die

If you've lived in the South as I have you know all about kudzu, an insatiable plant that will take over just about anything in its path. And yu also know about the humor of Doug Marlette and his Kudzu comic strip that captured the South in a most unique way. Today's news brings the death of Doug Marlette in a pick up truck accident in Mississippi. He was only 57. To say that Doug brought much joy to many of us fans and Southerners is an understatement. He will be very muich missed.

More on Workplace Bullying

Digging through files tonight and found this website that I think can be of help to those in traumatic work environments: Workplace Bullying Institute. It's full of valid and valuable research as well as self help resources that could make a difference in your life if you're in a bad situation. It's been an important reference for me as I am writing a piece on leadership and bullying is one aspect of it.

What It Means To Be A Marketer

Marketers have to be many things including armadillos with thick skin to repel the stupidity of egomaniacs and still survive. The question I often get in my marketing classes and from junior marketers is, "How do we make sure we do the right thing for our companies and clients when the system, process, persons, et al. won't give you the control over things you truly need to have in order to make sure the goals are met?"

My answer is always, "It depends." It depends on you, on how strong you are, on how bad you need the job, on how well you can keep your own ego in check in order to fight another day. It also depends on whether you've salted your marketing with a give away---like a logo or a creative approach---so that you sacrfice something you are less invested in in order to make sure the more important facet is saved for the best results. I call this the asshole token. Every smart marketers does this.

What's always been amazing to me---even after these many years---is how many people in charge really identify themselves as marketers when their focus is limited and limiting. I'm not being elitist here, and I certainly don't believe you need a frigging MBA in order to be a marketer. What you need is a sense of wonder, a sense of understanding about the human condition and what motivates and inspires folks, among many attributes and skills. And keep in mind just because someone is in charge doesn't mean they know shit, even if they claim to be marketers. It simply means they're in charge.

Marketers need an open mind, but not let their brains fall out in the process. This rant was brought to you with the object of making you think. I actually started this post to alert you to a great post on the Marketing Profs blog by the same title as this one. So here goes: MarketingProfs Post.

Creativity vs. Corporate Life

My friend Jim sent me this link to a blog post by David St. Lawrence, Creativity vs. Corporate Life, that spells out what many of us experience in our work life: the going along to get along quandary which kills creativity and ultimately your soul. It's well said and worth a read.

The Science of Spin

The science of spin is a bit of alchemy mixed with tried and true strategies and tactics along with a wallop of luck and timing. That being said, PR is an important component of any business strategy and is finally getting its just kudos. That's why an article in the July 9 & 16 BusinessWeek on image is an important read. In "What Price Reputation?" , Peter Engardio and Michael Arndt delve into reputation and image management and the impact on stock price. It's an interesting thesis based on researching data of messaging and reputation in corellation to stock price for certain companies over time.

Regardless of what you think about PR, there is a valid point here, mainly that well-honed messaging is the crux of sound image and reputation management. Research can certainly help companies better understand their stakeholders and their needs and concerns. I've always felt that telling a better story---and backing it up with action---is one of the most important aspects of marketing and PR. While some may scoff that image doesn't influence Wall Street and investors, as attributed in this article, no one can really deny that image doesn't influence how they think and act. And effective PR is about enhancing the brand image in support of marketing.

I can recall in another life in a company in a galarxie far, far away, how finding out that my CEO was not well viewed in the industry negatively affected our ability to make inroads in markets we were attempting to enter. If the leader of the company's reputation sucks, then unfortunately every one gets painted by the same brush...after all we're all judged by the folks we associate and work with. Same holds true for companies. This article is a good read...let me know your thoughts.

Doh!

7-Eleven is cashing in on the new Simpsons movie due out by changing some of its stores into Kwik E Marts from the television show. I don't think they'll have any Apu manning the counter, but it's an interesting tie-in to the movie's launch July 27. From the article:

"We thought if you really want to do something different, the idea of actually changing stores into Kwik-E-Marts was over the top but a natural," said Bobbi Merkel, an executive for of 7-Eleven's advertising agency, FreshWorks, a unit of Omnicom Group Inc. "It shows they get the joke."

The monthlong promotion has been rumored a long time -- it's hard to keep a secret known by so many suppliers and franchisees -- but 7-Eleven managed to keep the locations of the stores quiet until early Sunday morning. That's when the exteriors of 11 U.S. stores and one in Canada were flocked in industrial foam and given new signs to replicate the animated look of Kwik-E-Marts.

The U.S. locations where a 7-Eleven store was transformed into a "Simpsons" Kwik-E-Mart are New York City; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Burbank, California; Los Angeles; Henderson, Nevada; Orlando, Florida; Mountain View, California; Seattle; and Bladensburg, Maryland.

If you can't beat them, join them....Smart move by 7-Eleven.

Tesco Thinks Through Their Entry Into U.S.

Great interview in today's Wall Street Journal with Terry Leahy, the Tesco CEO, about the company moving into the retail food business, starting with California, Arizona and Nevada. While there is a lot of competition for the American food budget, consider how well Trader Joe's does in its niche. And that's what Tesco is going to do, according to Leahy. What struck me is the research the company did, even to the point of constructing a store inside a warehouse and then had food shoppers in to see how they shopped in their format. Not only that, "Our team went over to live in the U.S. We stayed in people's homes. We went through their fridges. We did all our research, and we're good at research." Imagine that.

Leahy is a down-in-the trenches type of guy, which all CEOs should be in my opinion. He makes unannounced visits to his stores, sits on customer panels and generally digs deep to understand his customers. The further from the customer the less reality and less understanding on how your customers use your products/services. In this fast paced world, trying to get people to strategically look at business is a difficult prospect at times, but seems like Tesco is doing it right. I'm looking forward to going to checking them out. In the meantime, read the interview. It's enlightening.

Great Talent

Great talents are the most lovely and often the most dangerous fruits on the tree of humanity. They hang upon the most slender twigs that are easily snapped off."
----Carl Jung

I sent this quote to friends this morning and it made me thing about change agents, which I have been proudly accused of being. As a change agent I am always aware that the ax can fall at any time because when you challenge sclerotic thinking you challenge egos. We all know stories of CEOs and leaders with strong egos who are where they are because of those egos. But we also know how difficult it is to work with people like that because great talents need room to breathe, to expand the universe, to feel invested in what they're doing, to be creative and able to find the natural path. That's why when you're on the outside of a company and you're lured into coming inside, the lovely fruit becomes dangerous and the slender twig that made you attractive in the first place snaps off, and you're looking for another job or going back to what you were doing in the first place that made you attractive.

My creative friends understand that all too well. Rigid thinking births rigid results. It may work, but it doesn't mean that the opportunities are fully exploited. So it goes. Those of you on slender twigs, well, you know you couldn't do anything else could you?

June 28, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)