Going Direct
Mike Moran , in his book
Do It Wrong Quickly, explains that
branding and brand recognition originated from the introduction of broadcast media. Before radio and TV, people would travel to Main Street and shop at the local stores. You purchased food, clothes and other staples without thought to who the manufacturers were. You wanted candy? You stuck your hand in a big glass jar and dug for your favorite.
For those who mail ordered because they lived in rural areas or wanted something from Europe, they got acquainted with Sears or another publisher of consumer catalogues. The brand still wasn't in the conscious of the average American. Radio and then, TV made people notice brands because manufacturers paid for advertising time that paid for broadcasting companies' salaries. Those advertisers now had to compete for your attention to buy their kind of soap or cigar.
In 2007, people are too brand conscious. Besides the shoplifting and fighting people do over name brands, folks are travels across oceans to be the first to own a pair of sneakers by Hubda Hubda, Inc. Maybe we need to go back to blind selection of quality merchandise. It's possible with Internet access and language translation tools. It's reality to purchase coffee and seasonings straight from a bazaar vendor in
Turkey,
Jordan or
Ethiopia--if you know her email or Web address. There's no language barriers. You can't read the Web site because it's in Mandarin, French, Yoruba? No problem: get the online language translation tool to switch everything in English.
There so many search engines to make it happen--vertical and horizontal. So, is it really
iPod you want or digital music and video coming from a light weight device.
YouTube?
MySpace? YourWorld!
Labels: boutique PR firm, brand recognition, branding, ecommerce, Ethiopia, iPod, Jordan, media, MySpace, radio, society, technology, translation tools, Turkey, TV ads, YouTube
Is it Marketing, Promotion or Advertising?
In the years I've been in business I realize that people are using words without understanding what they mean. In some instances, it's not understanding what they need. Case in point is what are marketing, promotion and advertising? If you're a business, it's different ways to communicate that you have something to sell. If you're a nonprofit, it's the means to let people know you offer a social service.
Advertising is a message placed in the media that you paid for. You know that people listen, read or watch a particular TV show, blog, radio station or website. So you pay to air an infomercial or buy the front inside page of a magazine. You say eveyone knows that but not true. Some people confuse advertsing with marketing. This may happen because there are elements of marketing in the bought space. Marketing is anything used to induce a sale or reward a sale.
Marketing is keeping your office clean; it's offering refreshments to your customer while she decides on a hairstyle and it's giving a rebate for buying a big-ticket item now rather than later. Marketing communication is the skillful use of words to conjure images and bring out emotions. Some marketing communication is worn from overuse. For example, "I'm not trying to rush you; it's just that I'm walking to the closet now and can bring the shoes back with me." I tried this trick at a bazaar. I kept asking this woman, "Put the dress in the bag?" She was pleased that the dresses were only twenty dollars. I had placed three dresses in the bag after the chief vendor had bagged the first dress.
Promotion, or public relations, is visibility and brand recognition through FREE message placement in the media. The key to placement is news worthiness or notoriety. Nonprofits have an easier time with placement than businesses because they are offering a free or low cost needed service. The trouble is many nonprofits don't submit press releases. Businesses are sweating for PR; it's free advertising. I was approached by a diamond jeweler to get a story in a newspaper about his beautiful rings. After some questioning to find a plausible news angle, I had to tell him that the newspaper in question would want the jeweler to buy advertising space. The jeweler was frustrated by this because he knew of another business that had a story in the newspaper. I pointed out that the other business did community service and held a free business class. These activities were seen as newsworthy. After all, the media stays in existence through advertising. Advertising is bought because many people like a type of story.
The ideal situation is finding the right balance between advertising, marketing and promotion to keep the sales coming. Advertising is necessary. There's no getting around it. If you can develop good will from marketing--offering a discount, doing free delivery--do it.
There are people who still say that what I've written is stale. I say that there are too many people who don't know or haven't got the terms straight in their minds.
Labels: advertising, marcom, marketing, media, promotion, radio, Web 2.0
