BE TRUE

Imagine going to a Metallica concert where the band comes out on stage, heavy metal outfits and all, and proceeds to play two and half hours of popular country-western songs.  Not pretty, right?  Yet, there could be seemingly good rationale by concert promoters to do such a thing.  According to the CMA (Country Music Association), 42% of Americans – or about 94.8 million people are Country Music fans!  Shouldn’t any band seek to tap into such a large market segment?

Business owners run up against this type of sentiment from time to time.  Especially in a challenging economy, who wouldn’t choose to seek out a sizeable new pool of potential new customers?  But, like Metallica playing “You Were Always on My Mind” as an encore, broadening a brand’s appeal is not always the right move.  There is a better way.  

First off, let’s be honest – we are not experiencing a “challenging economy,” it’s a LOUSY economy. 
That said, the formula for success in such an economy is simple.  Work harder, deliver more, at a better price…and win!  In building a brand, how do you work harder and deliver more?  You deliver on a stronger brand promise.  If your brand promises great prices and good service, it must now promise (and deliver) great prices and great service.   “Quality, convenience, value” must become “Quality, unmatched convenience and THE best value.”  

It’s not a word game.  Brand promise is a real commitment in the physical world.  It needs to be demonstrated consistently, unwavering.  Bands that are known for playing two hour shows should play three hour shows, because fans are now sacrificing more to spend money to see that live performance.  Always over-deliver, that’s a promise that will resonate with any audience.

Need help promoting your brand promise?  Call us.

Who’s Got Your Back?

Think about your favorite restaurant. What’s special about it? The ambiance, service, menu, value, location – a combination of these attributes? Whatever it is that has you hooked, you are, indeed hooked. You wouldn’t hesitate to rattle off a list of reasons why you recommend this place to your friends, family and pretty much anyone who possesses a tongue populated by taste buds. If we were to estimate your value to that restaurant…you’d probably be somewhere in the gold to platinum range.

When you think about your business’ most important assets, what comes to mind? Proximity to customers/clients, availability of products, expertise in your field, vendor relationships, large inventory? You work hard to maintain these assets to ensure your company’s success. However, if your business’ asset list omits top clients, you are overlooking a HUGE opportunity. Not because your best clients patronize your business, but because they consistently market your business for you!

This is one of the reasons why social media marketing is growing so rapidly. Your best customers have always served as your top marketers and social media networks provide more opportunities to empower these “uber patrons.” See for yourself. Take a look at the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens Facebook Page. You’ll see that not only do they utilize Facebook to inform about upcoming events; they also empower their audience to share experiences. In doing so, they give a platform and amplification to their brand ambassadors, who willingly market “the Morikami” to friends, family members and the local community.

You may say to yourself, well, my business is B to B − there are no lovely rock gardens, romantic bridges or flowering plants. Our best clients are business people, isn’t that a horse of a different color? Yes…and no. The type of engagement may be different, but the dynamics are the same. Business to business clients refer preferred business partners all the time. We refer local PR agencies and PR agencies are among our top sources for new business leads. Social media networks provide us with opportunities to publicly thank and promote business partners (B to B clients), establishing mutual ambassadorship, enthusiastically promoting each other’s business. We feature each other’s Facebook Pages, promote each other on Twitter and within LinkedIn profile updates.

Interested in maximizing customer, client or business partner relationships for your company? Let’s talk.

Personality?

It may seem strange to believe that businesses possess distinct personalities, but if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. We regularly attribute human traits to non-human entities. Who hasn’t owned a “temperamental” computer or a “moody” air conditioner?

Good, bad or indifferent, businesses do have personalities and express traits that are usually associated with individuals. “Aggressive” may be a desirable personality trait for a lawyer, but not for a dental practice. Likewise, few people are looking to hire a “gentle” lawyer.

Whether or not personality traits are explicitly stated, they are interpreted. Ask the pizza delivery guy about local businesses, you’ll hear words like nice, mean, picky, cheap and generous. Interestingly enough, you would get similar descriptions from people who have never serviced these companies, but are familiar with the reputation of each. Perhaps this is not surprising (or even interesting), but what is certainly worth considering is:

• Do you know your business’ personality?
  
  
• Are you satisfied with your business’ personality?
  
  
• Is your business capable of altering its personality?
  
  
• What personality traits would benefit you business?

Okay, once again, we’ve set ourselves up for the spike! This is what we do. It’s the brand that is essentially the business’ personality. What does the brand stand for and what does it say? How does it look and how is it perceived? Why am I asking you? Can I stop asking questions? I don’t think I can? Of course I can. My brand is silly, but I’m in control.

Brands are very much like the people for whom they are created and frequently mimic their personalities. If you ignore your brand, your business’ personality will be seen as lacking in consideration. Side note (venting opportunity): Spirit Airlines might as well not waste time contemplating personality, because they consistently deliver rude and cheap. If Spirit were a person, they’d invite you over for a dinner party and serve stale bread with watery ketchup (and they’d open your bottle of wine and drink it themselves). Back to our topic.

What’s sad to see is a business that’s fueled by intelligent, passionate, considerate people - and it’s not properly conveyed throughout the brand. The personality is not properly communicated or interpreted. With a well designed marketing strategy, this wouldn’t be the case. If your business needs personality enhancement, give us a buzz. We’ll make time for you. Attentiveness is one of our strongest traits!

Pocket Sized Brand Ambassador

“Cool card!” You love to hear this, because it’s not just a card, it’s your brand. The cool business card demonstrates pride of ownership. Some business cards say, “Hi, I’m Bob. I work for a payroll company. Here’s my info; you can email, fax, call or visit me if you so choose.”

The cool card says, “Check it out, this company is going places. We make our own rules and we’re badass. If Denzel was a company, he’d be this one!” Is this overstating the importance? Is a business card simply an efficient method of giving out contact information?

Heck no! Unless the recipient of your card has already been to your office, seen the quality of your work or checked out your website, this is your first opportunity to make an important impression.

True story - received a business card from an executive at a promotional products company called Far From Boring. Underneath the name, the title line read, “Handsome Bastard.” You know what? That’s Far From Boring! Guess who recently landed the spot as our favorite promotional products vendor?

A cool business card is not a disposable piece of paper. It’s too cool to toss away. Even once this contact is in your database, you can’t toss away the cool card. It’s too good. Too much went in to it. It’s a piece of the company. Some business cards present a powerful logo like a sizzling steak on a silver platter. Others serve you a paper plate with a hot dog and stale roll. The recipe we like: Captivating logo, sturdy card stock, a pleasing color palette and smart text in legible font.

Anything worth doing is worth doing well. Business cards are not a necessity, they’re an opportunity. When your card is passed on from a referral, who is there to ensure that impression you make is exactly the one you intended? Your good buddy, the cool card, that’s who!

Who’s got the time?

Blah, blah, blah…how awesome for you, a new blog post to read…maybe this one features a “game changing” marketing technique, so that you’re not wasting time reading it…perhaps this post will help invigorate your brand and make you twice as happy to go work tomorrow…or, this could be one of those posts that demonstrates how freakin smart and creative we are - separating ourselves from the competition and blowing your mind!

Actually, this post is about the need to put posturing aside and help our clients get what they really need…time!!! Get this…if we can save clients time and help them save their clients time, we can impact the time crisis facing almost all of us adults living in the free world today (free world?).

Social media. Does it suck? No…not really, if you use it right. Five tips for doing social media the right way and saving everyone’s time (also known as the 5 “Be”s):

1. Be concise – It’s not that hard, just say it as succinctly. You got a sale? You got a joke? You got a picture to share? A 40-second video? Bring it on. Just save the aggrandizing for someone who likes that stuff.

2. Be visual – Why? Back to point number one - a well chosen image can tell the story, or at least part of the story, quickly.

3. Be honest – This helps everyone, even sales people – (though it’s a heavy duty cultural shift for sales). Honesty works! Why are television shows now predominantly reality-based? Most of us evidently prefer to watch bad real plot lines over clever fiction.

4. Be proactive – Anticipate your clients needs. You know the aspects of your business that make you less than perfect. Acknowledge these shortcomings, reset expectations and satisfy more customers in the process.

5. Be inventive – Let’s not waste anyone’s time by showing them something they’ve already seen. New media permits us to invent by simply pushing the social media levers in an entirely new way. Hold a LinkedIn contest on your Facebook Page. Broadcast screenshots from your front door to your Twitter audience – every Tuesday at 9 AM. Challenge your nearest business competitor to a cooking contest – broadcast it live – with both brands gaining recognition for the event.

We could go on and on, but we don’t want to waste your time!

The Juice -- Aris

For Valentine’s Day, we thought we’d give you all a special treat, an inside peek at our own code (and love) monkey, Aris. Aris, of course, is not spelled with a “d,” but if it were, it would definitely be spelled with two D’s for a “double dose of his pimping.” Aris works the Interwebs here at dg, making websites and off-color remarks, and basically providing all the dreamy eye-candy we can handle.

So here, gentle readers, sit back and imagine yourself cuddled on a soft rug by a warm fire, sipping cognac and making small talk. Go ahead. Ask those questions you always wanted to.


Q1 – Why advertising?
To slip subliminal messages into our ads that will facilitate continuing seasons of the 1980’s “Buck Rogers” (minus Twiki). 



Q2 – Aside from working at d+g, what experiences have you had on the job that have shaped who you are today?
That would have to be when I was a Male Erotic dancer. I learned that sex sells. I learned a lot more, but not much I can share with you here. (Editor's note: Aris actually has worked as an erotic dancer, and may still freelance for the right price.)



Q3 – What is your favorite reality show?
What’s a reality show?



Q4 – What superpower do you harness that is mostly concealed to your co-workers and clients?
The power to (CENSORED) myself in a meeting and not even flinch.



Q5 – What is your favorite thing about d+g?
Gavin’s experimental English.



Q6 – Favorite South Florida eating establishment?
I’m playing the field right now.
 


Q7 - What sites, blogs, etc do you frequent and how often?
The Daily Rotten for my dose of news of the weird.

Sorry, gentle readers, but I'm afraid your dream date has come to an end. Time to snap out of it and get yourselves back to work. Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!

Advertising Trends: Of A Personal Nature

The other day, I’m on Facebook and notice an ad for one of my favorite bands, Guster. They’re playing at House of Blues in Orlando next week and tickets are available. Cool! So, I’m about to click the ad to learn more, when I think to myself, “Wait a cotton picking minute here, this is no coincidence.” It dawns on me that: 1) I live in South Florida, 2) I’m connected to the Guster Facebook Page because I “Liked” it and 3) I’m being totally manipulated by Big Brother, A.K.A. the Facebook rulers - who know who I am, what I like, where I live and a ton of other personal tidbits. Ewwwwwwww!

This is becoming a fairly regular debate among ethical marketers as of late, whether marketing to people based upon personal preferences, divulged for non-solicitation purposes, is fair game. Yes, we all understand that when register at a social media website that we agree to the terms of the site’s owners, and it’s clear that the information submitted belongs to them, not us, but ewwwwwww, we’re freakin’ being watched, and potentially manipulated. Is this right? Is this fair?

For the sake of argument, let’s look at the Guster scenario from the other side. Thanks to the creepy Facebook powers that be, I now know that Guster is playing in Orlando next week and I could make the trip to catch that show. I’ve been too busy to visit their website and take notice that they are touring and playing in my neck of the woods. Now I know! Thanks to Facebook and their advertisers, woo hoo.

Obviously, the potential problem with this scenario is that it’s a slippery slope. Music preferences is one thing, but if I “Like” the Facebook Page of a divorce lawyer and suddenly see advertisements for local apartments, dating services and microwave dinners, I’d feel like I’m being stalked by advertisers.

This poses the following question. As marketers, how do we balance our curiosity to know all we can about our target audience with our need to establish relationships built on mutual trust and respect? Perhaps the answer lies in the modern buzz word often spoken, but less frequently demonstrated – transparency. All consumers ask for is a level playing field and marketing advantages are only unfair if they are acquired underhandedly. If sellers ask for the right to personalize their pitches based upon consumer preferences, most buyers would jump at the opportunity. It’s only in feeling tricked, that consumers recoil.

I may go see Guster, but I won’t click on the Facebook ad that brought me the information. How I was pitched doesn’t feel right. I would have a better feeling about Facebook advertising if I were specifically given the choice of how I’d like to have advertisers interact with me on their site. That would even the playing field and engender trust.

At dg communications group, we’re always looking for new ways to interact with consumers on behalf of our clients. The programs we recommend are targeted and goal oriented, keeping in mind that like all human relationships, consumer relationships cannot thrive without trust!

The Juice -- Kristian

Kristian plays a utility role in the dg creative department, taking on everything from design & web development to copywriting, photography and animation, while serving as the lead punching bag for Rebecca’s fists of fury. In the interests of full disclosure, he also edits this blog, which affords him unique opportunities to talk about himself in the third person, as if he wasn’t sitting right here, reading right along the whole time. (editor’s note: I SEE WHAT YOU’RE DOING – shut up --NO YOU SHUT UP!)

It doesn’t sound right to say that he juiced himself, so let’s just skip that part and get right to the questions. (editor’s note: WHAT A TOTAL RIPOFF! I DESERVE A CLEVER SEGUE!)

Q1 – Why advertising?
It’s a good outlet for all the stuff I like to do. I enjoy being able to apply myself to all sorts of different challenges in various media. Writing, design, illustration, music, photography and technology all converge in advertising, so it’s pretty ideal for me. (editor’s note: OMG YOU SOUND SO POMPOUS. YOU SHOULD MENTION THAT YOU SUCK AT ALL OF THOSE THINGS.)

Q2 – Aside from working at dg, what experiences have you had on the job that have shaped who you are today?
I spent a number of years as a freelancer, wearing more hats than I ever wanted to. It gave me a great perspective on the industry as a whole, but moreover, it left me with a deep appreciation of working as part of a team. (editor’s note: THERE IS NO “I” IN TEAM, YOU JERK)

Q3 – What is your favorite reality show?
I’m not a big fan of reality TV, but my family has managed to pull me into some of their watching habits. I’ve been known to watch Mythbusters, Wipeout, and Big Brother with them. I draw the line though at things like Jersey Shore or stuff like that. (editor’s note: THEN HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THAT SNOOKIE WALLPAPER ON YOUR COMPUTER?)

Q4 – What superpower do you harness that is mostly concealed to your co-workers and clients?
I have an extremely sharp tongue. I could make Don Rickles cry. You’d never know it unless you were to cross me. (editor’s note: WHAT ABOUT YOUR SCHIZOPHRENIA? AREN’T YOU GOING TO TELL THEM ABOUT THAT?)

Q5 – What is your favorite thing about dg?
It’s like a family here. It sounds trite but it’s true. (editor’s note: EVERYONE KNOWS YOU’RE JUST IN IT FOR THE SNACKS.)

Q6 – Favorite South Florida eating establishment?
Me and the family used to be die-hard fans of Pete Rose’s Ballpark Café until it shut down. We have yet to find it’s equal among family-friendly restaurants. We still mourn its passing when we drive past it. (editor’s note: OKAY, I’LL GIVE YOU THAT ONE. NOW I’M STARTING TO TEAR UP.)

Q7 - What sites, blogs, etc do you frequent and how often?
I try not to stay on one site for too long so that the Internet can’t lock onto my frequency and start sucking the thoughts out of my brain. I do have a few imaginary friends I’ve met “online” that I’ve known longer than most of the real people I know, and I check in on them regularly. (editor’s note: HA HA HA, I KNEW IF I HUNG AROUND LONG ENOUGH, THE CRAZY WOULD START TO LEAK OUT. NOW YOU’VE DONE IT. THEY’LL BE HERE WITH THE STRAIGHTJACKET ANY MOMENT NOW. THEN WHO WILL THEY GET TO EDIT THIS BLOG?)