When Roy H. Williams wrote his ground-breaking Wizard Of Ads trilogy, he included what he called the Advertising Performance Equation.  It has been at the root of myriad marketing successes that the Wizard and his partners (and disciples) have achieved  through the years.

I am going to boil it down stupid simple so a third-grader could understand it, but it you want to drill deeper you can always go here and there...and elsewhere.  And when in doubt, go buy the freakin' book for chrissakes.  The A.P.E. is chapter 47 in Secret Formulas Of The Wizard Of Ads. Failing that, you can just download the Wizard's whitepaper here.

It breaks down like this:  four variables will determine the success of your marketing (notice that I am not saying "advertising" anymore, and we'll come back to that later).

1) Impact Quotient: Does your message possess salience?
2) Share Of Voice: Is the word getting out relative to your competition?  What percentage of the discussion do you own in your category?
3) Personal Experience Factor: Not merely customer service (though the cornerstone of this), this exists in the mind of consumers, it is the degree to which you meet, exceed, or fall short of their expectations.  In a word: reputation.
4) Market Potential: how big is the pie from which you cut your slice?

Now that's about as much as you can distill each of these.  We did a full two-day seminar with some of the most electric minds in the Wizard of Ads Group--two. full. days.--and we still could've covered more territory.  So I can't solve all the world's problems, or give you absolute clarity about all this in a single blog post.  But I do want to plant two seeds today in my monthly column (and by the way I apologize for its tardiness;  I have found in this last week that with my wife resuming her career in health care, running a business and a household is one helluva juggling act, and I applaud all the men and women who make it work).

So anyway, before I plant the two seeds, I want to encourage you to drill deeper on this, because upon grasping its fundamentals, I guarantee you that you will sleep better at night.  Then again I am a chronic insomniac, and am writing this at 4:22am...on a Saturday morning no less.

So let's take market potential out of the equation and just focus on the first three.  It's pretty simple really:  say something that resonates (IQ), budget to get the word out and get your fair share of voice (or greater than if possible) and then back it up with what Seth Godin (almost called him Rogen) would call remarkable as in "remark-able," not just good but so good that people will remark about it to their friends...not to help you, but their friends.

Now that's all cut and dried in a premillenial world, simple algebra boiled down to handy pocket-sized algorithm (which, come to find out, doesn't have a "y" in it).  Nice and nifty in the '99.

But what about facebook and twitter and all the other social media out there?  In tweaking your A.P.E., do these fall under Share Of Voice or Personal Experience Factor?

I believe the answer is, drumroll please:  "yes."

For the record, I've never claimed to have all the answers, but I'm better than the average bear at identifying the questions. This explains why I ask an either/or question and then answer it in yes/no fashion.

Here's my take, and I offer this up just as an encapsulation of what I learned from the other partners in Denver and having pondered the question since.

I was always taught that Share of Voice was something you budgeted for.  In the old school, with a one way pipeline of info, even average businesses with mediocre advertising could be successful if they bought enough advertising.  I believe those days are long gone.  At the very least, a more enlightened definition of Share Of Voice has to include the millions of discussion occuring on blogs and Twitter, et al.

But PEF was always something that required budget and architecture as well.  And the point was always this: advertising won't fix a broken business.  The crummy restaurant with good ads won't like build repeat customers much less evangelists.  If anything, I believe Personal Experience Factor (which was always the hardest to measure objectively) is now the lynchpin, the single most important part of the equation.

Here's how I explained it in Denver when we did the two-day seminar.  PEF creates this intimidating feedback loop back into your Share Of Voice.  PEF always qualified Share Of Voice (it's a fundamental component of the equation), but it used to be that this occured one-to-one.  Now with the ability post things on facebook walls and convey thoughts to thousands of followers...not to mention the staggering SEO power of the blog...now more than ever it is imperative that you exceed expectations. If that feels like a leap, start by just doing what you say.

For what it's worth, I think all this is really good. As a consultant whose job it is to bring my clients into step with this microwave world, life's pretty good right about now, and at the risk of sounding immodest (not my intention) this recession has been good for my line of work. But the thing I'm really excited about is that the conmen and hucksters are going to find it harder to stick with the ways of old (many of them are already going belly up) and honesty and transparency will be rewarded.

For a change, these fevered egos, run amok, will get what's coming to them.  And good honest folk, empowered by this crazy technology, get more equity just for doing the right thing.  Now that's a breath of fresh air, don't you agree.

Read About Ray Seggern

There are three ways, or techniques, to buy word-of-mouth:

1. Architectural
2. Kinetic
3. Generous

Tool maker Makita bought word-of-mouth using the architectural technique and did it well. Watch the video and you'll instinctively understand:

Many people who watch the video will think "cool" and leave it at that. The rest will want to share it with their friends and either post the video to their own web or blog site, send a link to a friend, or post it to their Facebook or similar social media account.

Instant word-of-mouth.

Deconstructing the process, they thought about how it'd work:

• Place the message in a high traffic location
• Use hi-contrasting colors from surrounding areas
• Record the entire process (this was pre-planned)
• Edit the video for online use
• Put the video into the wilds of the web
• Enjoy the natural creep of the video across the world

Makita bought word-of-mouth using architecture and took it one step further and posted the video online to create further word-of-mouth.

What can you do that'll buy word-of-mouth? Have you budgeted for it? Think about how much exposure Makita is getting for a fraction of the cost.

Read About Paul Boomer

Dr Pepper Snapple Bucking Trend, Ups Advertising

Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. is risking a different approach to the recession than other major advertisers: the soft drink maker is boosting its marketing budget, saying that's what worked best in the last big downturn.

Spending this year will rise by up to 5 percent, the company's head of marketing, Jim Trebilcock, said in an interview. The company says its total marketing budget is about $300 million to $400 million.

The decision to spend more makes Dr Pepper Snapple an exception in a year when forecasters see overall U.S. advertising spending dropping by 8 to 10 percent.

Company executives said they decided on the strategy after research firm Nielsen produced a study for them that detailed ad spending patterns during the early 1980s, the last prolonged advertising downturn.

The upshot is "dollars this year from a marketing standpoint are actually increasing," he said. "We believe that if we invest now, then when we come out of this thing in a year or two we'll be in a much stronger position."

This year, Dr Pepper Snapple will divide its creative advertising duties chiefly among three agencies. Interpublic Group's Deutsch L.A. will handle Dr Pepper, Diet Dr Pepper and Snapple; WPP Group's Y&R San Francisco is responsible for 7UP, Sunkist and A&W; and Laird & Partners will work on the Mott's brand.

As part of the marketing push, Dr Pepper Snapple is running new advertising for A&W, Canada Dry and Mott's -- brands that were long excluded from fresh ad campaigns.

In addition, Dr Pepper Snapple, the third-largest soft-drink maker in the United States behind Coca-Cola Co and PepsiCo Inc., is investing more in the ongoing make-over of its Snapple brand.

Following its spinoff from Cadbury Plc nearly a year ago, Dr Pepper Snapple has set its sights on reversing slumping sales of Snapple.

As for the marketing mix, Trebilcock said it varies by brand but generally about 70 percent of ad spending occurs on TV, Radio, and billboards, with another 20 percent spent online and the remaining 10 percent used for a variety of other promotions.

(Source: Reuters, 04/16/09)

Read About Jane Fraser

Basic Needs and Green Are Hot

The recession and concern over global warming are definitely having an impact on the causes companies choose to build new campaigns around.

Many domestic basic need charities are experiencing an upsurge in new partnerships. For example:
-- Mott's is giving a dollar to Feeding America when consumers arrange for actress Marcia Cross to give someone a wake-up call.
-- Kentucky Fried Chicken is fixing potholes in five cities in need of road repairs.
-- Walgreens is teaming up with AARP to provide free health screenings in 3,000 communities over the next two years.

On the environmental front, a recent study by Cone found that nearly 80 percent of consumers were as or more likely to buy environmentally responsible products now than before the recession.

Marketers are "hip" to that as evidenced by the deluge of program announcements I've received in time for Earth Day such as:
-- Tropicana and Cool Earth are empowering consumers who upload product codes to rescue 100 square feet of rain forest.
-- Payless Shoe Source is giving a dollar to The Nature Conservancy to plant trees in Brazil with the purchase of reusable shopping bags and a "green" line of shoes.
-- NBA Green was launched as part of an intergrated campaign between the basketball league and the National Resources Defense Council.

Cotton Inc. and the National Geographic Society are recycling jeans into insulation; Organic Valley is sponsoring Earth Dinners across the country; Campbell Soup is giving away tomato seeds so consumers can grow their own; the proliferation of programs this year is truly stunning.

(Source: David Hessekiel, Cause Marketing Forum, 04/15/09)

Read About Jane Fraser

Many of my long-time readers know that my roots in broadcasting run deep.  I started knocking around radio stations before I could vote or buy alcohol (legally anyway). And while I haven't done radio full-time since 2003, I continue to host a specialty music program called Chillville, which airs Sunday mornings on Austin's alternative rock station 101X.

Back in 2007, April Fool's Day fell on a Sunday, so my sidekick/producer Jason "Full Monty" Montemayor and I decided to play the a prank on our listeners.  In retrospect it was a horrible idea.  And when you understand why, you should be able to take away a couple of valuable lessons that will serve your marketing campaigns well (on April 1 and the rest of the year).

At the time, April 1, 2007, we had been doing the show for over a year, and we had cultivated a rabid following that manifested itself in calls and emails to the Program Director and General Manager.  It was unlike anything I've ever been associated with, and I started doing radio in 1986.  Chillville was a consistent top three Arbitron performer in our target demo (we've since strung together 7 straight ratings periods at #1 among 18-34 year old listeners).  Two weeks earlier, at Austin's annual South-By-Southwest music/film/interactive conference, we had placed second in the Austin Music Awards in the "Radio Music Program" category (which we won the following year).

I'm still not sure why I thought it would be a good idea to tell our listeners that the show was being cancelled.

But that is exactly what we did.  And within moments, the phone calls started flooding in, as I expected they would.  And we'd mess with the callers for a minute (not airing them live of course) before springing the gotcha.  Most people took it well.  A few took it poorly.  As the show progressed, we kept milking it on-air and the calls kept flooding in (though as people finally got their coffee in them, more of the calls skewed toward people who had already figured out we were pulling their leg).  And right before Noon, two-and-a-half hours into this long-form drama, we revealed the prestige.  And as we stuck a fork into that week's show, Monty and I high-fived each other and figured that the matter was done.

Tee-hee-hee.

In the days that would follow, we came to realize that the joke, quite literally, was on us.

For starters, there was the matter of the mass memo from our Operations Manager (101X is part of a six-station cluster in Austin) specifying that any April Fool's pranks needed to be cleared through the programming department.  And as the irate calls and emails continued to trickle in throughout the following week--to our boss (the Program Director), and his boss (the aforementioned OM), and everyone's boss (the GM)--it became very clear that we had not gotten the memo. Ouch!

One especially devoted listener told our GM that she was going to start calling the station's advertisers and organize a boycott if they cancelled Chillville.  Double Ouch!  And while you have to appreciate the level of enthusiasm and evangelism on behalf of a listener, these are clearly not the kinds of calls you want senior management getting on behalf of a poorly-conceived joke.

And there was no way to un-ring the bell.

See, as much as we strive for Time Spent Listening in radio--and as much as we'd like to think that people hang on our every word and song, and listen for the full three hours every week--the truth is that most people still listen to radio in their cars when they are trying to get from Point A to Point B.  The other undeniable truth is that most people are only half-listening in the first place, and that any message is really the result of what was heard, regardless of how the message was intended or delivered.

You should factor that into all your marketing conversations, and you'll be more successful in making sure that what you say and do is received and retrieved in the manner you intended.



 

Read About Ray Seggern

In eastern Canada we have a very successful chain of gas stations/convenient stores.  They are successful because they do so much right.  They're consistent from store to store.  You know what you are going to get, no matter which store you walk in to.

Their stores are clean and bright, washrooms are cleaned every 30 minutes.

The coffee is good.  The coffee is fresh.  Guaranteed.

And they have a really nice signature product.  Banana Bread.  Delicious banana bread.  Just like mom used to make. 

Signature products are a smart idea.  It allows an otherwise ordinary business to have something to be known for.  For a signature product to really work to your advantage, it should be something that is a little out of the ordinary… something that enhances your day, something you can’t readily get anywhere else.  If this “something” conjures up great memories – you have a concrete step-up in building your brand.

Milne Court has “GRAM’S” Cookies, made on-site from Gram’s recipes, with double helpings of happy memories. They are the best cookies – and you know that your favourite cookie is waiting for you at Milne Court whenever your craving strikes.  Individually wrapped and sold, they are almost guilt free.

When this other chain of stores chose banana bread as their signature product I did an impromptu happy dance.  My mom’s banana bread was always a special treat.   Now with that first bite, a reminiscent taste takes me to visit her whenever I want. 

Their in-store advertising is congruent with the product, by conjuring up “old-fashioned” values.  The pride of the hometown, this loaf of banana bread proudly sports a ribbon – a testament to its taste and quality.  Another concrete step in the branding process.

Sort of.

So much right... but still missing the mark.  A significant detail overlooked.  A significant detail missed by their American advertising agency or somebody in the Canadian head office.  How do I know?  Simple.  That first place ribbon worn with pride is blue.

In Canada, we designate first place with a RED RIBBON. 

Either they hired an American ad agency… or they are promoting that their BANANA BREAD is second best! 

Semantics?  Perhaps to some.   But facts are facts.  Details are details.  Do your homework.  If you are trying to say that your product is a prize winner… make sure that everything you do with, or say, or imply, about your product supports your message.  Don’t put it at the top of the podium and then imply that it is a poser by not paying attention to the details. 
 

Read About Jane Fraser

So if you had your choice, which factor would you most want to make sales because of:

• Price?
• The force of your in-person salesmanship?
• The amount and “sizzle” of your advertising?
  
  OR

• Because people in your market think first and feel the best about your business and your product/service/offer?

For most small businesses, competing on price is a path to destruction.  The big boys and/or the Internet can usually do it cheaper.  And do you really want to live off of the tiny margins of a low-price leader?

Salesmanship is important, but you still have to get leads for your sales staff, right?

And that leaves either relying on event-based advertising “sizzle”OR longer-term advertising capable of making listeners feel the best about your business and offer.  And since sizzle and hype have pretty much stopped working, that leaves the last option, often called branding by those few advertising professionals who actually understand HOW to "brand."

Would it surprise you to learn that the most successful small and once-small-but-now-regional businesses made strategic use of long-term branding campaigns?  Or that, despite myths to the contrary, even tiny businesses can create successful branding campaigns? 

Successful branding doesn’t require large budgets.  Successful branding requires an accurate road map that takes into account the key dynamics involved:

1. Your strategic position within and the size of your market,
2. The strength of your message/offer,
3. Your share of “voice”
4. The actual experience you deliver relative to customers’ expectations

Roy H. Williams has been supplying these strategic roadmaps, building brands, and taking small businesses regional and national for decades.  All on the power of effective branding campaigns.  But not everyone can afford a $7500 consulting fee or the travel expense to see Roy at an increasingly rare public seminar held in Austin.

Enter the Wizards on the Road Small Business Advertising Seminar in Denver.  If you own a small business and have often wondered why your clearly superior product or service never brought you your fair share of the market, this is the seminar for you.

If you’re in or just a flight away from Denver, you really ought to come join us.

Read About Jeff Sexton

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe new life into worn out old marketing strategies, and on a shoestring budget if possible.

Liberty Tax Service is known for trotting out costumed Statues of Liberty and Uncle Sams by the roadside, hopefully to (not so) gently remind passersby that it's tax time.  They generally engage in this street-level campaign right after the first of the year on up through April 15th.

And what may look like an unrefined, unsophisticated marketing tool is actually rather effective.  In addition to trotting out a reality hook with which we all can relate, these "outrageous marketing" techniques also ostensibly serve as a reticular activator in reinforcing that there is a Liberty location along one of the thoroughfares on which they drive.

Now if there is a downside to Liberty's strategy, it is that there is no real branding value conveyed here.  While it drives top of mind awareness through the roof, I'm not sure I really feel anything one way or the other about Liberty Tax.

And that may be enough.  As I see H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt dropping untold sums into high dollar media branding campaigns, I'm not sure I feel anything strongly about those companies either.

And surely Liberty's strategies appeals to potential franchisees (the entry level investment for a Liberty franchise is $34,000, compared with maybe 20 or 30 times that for a fast food establishment). 

I think that, regardless of company size, more and more business owners will be looking for these "shoestring" marketing techniques.  Some will strike interesting innovation models by using brainpower instead of just throwing money at their marketing problems.  No doubt, many will fail in spite of (because of?) their best efforts.

If you are looking to add this type of component to your advertising and marketing arsenal, let me suggest Joe Spoelstra's book Marketing Outrageously: How to Increase Your Revenue by Staggering Amounts!

Read About Ray Seggern

We've all seen the carnage that those depots and marts can inflict in a town. Most small business owners eventually throw their hands in the air and surrender. We find them a few years later wearing blue vests and handing out shopping carts.

It doesn't have to be this way. Mike Dandridge and Tom Wanek are teaching their popular Wizard Academy course on January 20 and 21. It's called "Fight the Big Boys and Win."

You'll learn to leverage "Wanek's Six Currencies of Trust" and discover Dandridge's secrets for turning a poor customer experience into an amazing, sensory field trip that gets customers talking.

Here are a couple of the comments from the last class:

"It’s simple. Business success is battle, you and yours ~vs~ them and theirs.
Want more pie, you gotta do something different, dramatically different. For me, drawing a line in the sand began with this workshop.
Tom and Mike reminded me of Business Field Generals, they shared their arsenal of savvy strategies and guerilla tactics and more importantly, they had the talent and real world business experience to lead us to our own discovers, personal insights, market specific solutions and doable action plans. The taught us how to create, lead, leverage, broadcast, kick-ass and eat more pie.

I thank you, my competitors will not."



Ken Brand, Sales Manager, 
Prudential Real Estate Services

"These two guys, Tom & Mike, & their class “Big Boys (Girls?)…..” are fascinating, fun & passionate…. natural teachers. For two days they held my attention & interest like glue. I have 30 years of business experience and have operated three companies - I thought I had heard & seen it all……until I took their class. I have been rejuvenated & armed with new, cutting edge information that is unique, fresh and makes so much sense. I could have listened to them for a week easily!!"

Jean Carpenter-Backus, TheNakedAccountant.com

Are you ready to Fight the Big Boys and Win?

Read About David Young

Determined to write that book rattling around in your noggin? Get up off your butt and go for it. But beware: being top dog takes more than gumption. You’ll have to win the hearts of your readers and master book marketing techniques.  

• The 7 Myths of Book Publishing Industry
• A sock-you-between-the-eyes book outlining process
• Methods to identify and target my audience.  
• Building and launching a marketing platform

Read About Tom Wanek