Tag : small business strategy

Wichita Marketers Pay Heed: A Great Caddy Is Hard To Replace

Posted by Dave Mace at 9:52 pm

Note to self: Don't fire caddy before comeback event.

If you’re any kind of a professional golf fan, then you know that Tiger Woods fired his longtime caddy, Steve Williams, a couple weeks ago.

Regardless of the reasons or which spin you choose to believe, there is no disputing the fact that Tiger has been changing up a good many things in the past couple years. His marriage fell apart, he has been nursing a serious knee injury, and he has changed swing coaches and swings.

So, what does all this have to do with Wichita marketing and creating small business success?

There are so many possible directions to take this particular post, it’s hard to choose just one. But I think the most pertinent would be a lesson on not giving your edge to competitors.

When looking at your marketing program, it’s sometimes easy to see things that appear out of place or to see gaps that might or might not exist. The first inclination is to make wholesale changes when, in fact, serious reflection–not action–is the order of the day.

With things in disarray, it’s easy to look for reasons to blame and things to change. Taking action is the easy thing to do. The difficult and more astute choice is to take stock and make strategic plans before putting any actions in play. Otherwise, your already-compromised status amongst your competitors could become even more tenuous.

In the case of Tiger Woods, this happened when he reacted, seemingly rashly, to Steve Williams’ choice to caddy for Adam Scott while Tiger was injured and in no position to give Williams a paying gig. Competitive karma seems to have granted Williams its grace since the veteran caddy was on Adam Scott’s bag as he won the Bridgestone this past weekend, beating Woods by 18 strokes. Woods chose a college chum for his caddy. Just one more major change after another.

Now, in this little analogy, your “caddy” might be a particular advertising channel, a special feature on your product or a level of service your competitors find difficult to abdicate. When the chips are down–and believe me, I know this is a tough financial and economic period right now–it’s easy to start cutting costs and changing things up.

Again, don’t “fire your caddy” only to allow him to be picked up by a rival. Don’t sacrifice the things that have worked in your haste to make changes. Patience is the currency of the successful small business marketer. Maybe your caddy is a trusted advisor who can sit down with you and carefully examine what needs to change and what needs to stay the same. It’s not that change is bad. It’s just that it’s a better idea to be cautious and deliberate about it, especially during turbulent times.

Wichita small businesses: We just want you to look good in public

Posted by Dave Mace at 11:02 pm

Look, we know we don’t always have all the answers. In fact, it’s our ability to admit what we don’t know that makes us better able to serve our small business clients. So, when we give you a point of view, a perspective, a hint, a guideline, an opinion or an informed recommendation, our motives are pure.

You might say we’re a bit like the fashion experts on “What Not To Wear,” who take style-challenged individuals and help them make better decisions on, well, what to wear.

Did someone tell her NOT to wear this?

One big difference is that many times, we small business marketing experts don’t offer our clients a radical makeover and a complete change of clothes.

But what we have in common with TV’s Stacy London and Clinton Kelly is that we try to take what’s on the inside of the person–in this case, the company, the owners and the brand–and create an outward representation that makes them feel comfortable while conveying that TRUE personality accurately to onlookers.

In other words, we don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak. We try to take what’s best about your company and leverage it with a look and feel, and communication channels that best suit your business.

Unfortunately, not everyone listens to us–at least not the first time–and, like on “What Not To Wear,” we have to do our convincing in a little stronger manner. We’re not necessarily saying you shouldn’t stick with the brand-equivalent of the sequined tube top and Spandex® miniskirt, but you might want to look at some alternatives. After all, we’re only looking out for your best interests.

The other good news is that we can help you find solutions that fit you to a tee but don’t bust your budget.

And remember, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. Let your small business marketing experts help you bring that to the forefront. Because it’s not just about the pretty pictures and the clothes don’t make the person or the business. But we’ll make sure what’s on the outside represents you accurately and in a way that’s attractive to customers.

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5-Hour Energy shows small business marketers how to leverage brand strength

Posted by Dave Mace at 5:27 pm

Right in the midst of the holidays and college football bowl season, 5-Hour Energy has kicked up its promotions a notch by appealing to higher-level benefits of the product: convenience and motivation.
Prior to this new round of television spots, everything I saw and heard on TV or on Jim Rome’s radio show was about the performance of the product in helping the user avoid fatigue and post-high let-downs from soda and coffee. If you haven’t seen the spots, you can view them here: http://www.5hourenergy.com/commercials.asp.
But these new ads point out that 5-Hour Energy can be used in the morning as a replacement for coffee that takes time to make. So, whether you never get up early, you have trouble getting started or you just oversleep, you can reach into the cabinet for 5-Hour Energy instead of hassling with making coffee.
What I like most about the brand taking this tack is that it doesn’t presume to adopt an entirely new persona (ala Subway serving breakfast) but rather elevates the conversation from the product benefit of increased energy to a couple of things that hit home with many people: not having enough time to make coffee and not wanting to get up and get going to work or the gym.
After all, “feel like going to the gym again,” is a nice value proposition, even for someone who doesn’t care so much for getting an afternoon energy boost on the job.
My prediction for 5-Hour Energy is that the brand will successfully leverage its equity built in effectiveness and superiority over its rivals. This means the brand has a good chance of capitalizing on its current promotional campaign that focuses on inherent, yet higher-level benefits and staving off new entrants to the market.
Small business owners would do well to learn this lesson. If even a rapidly-growing and developing brand cuch as 5-Hour Energy can tweak its strategy mid-stream, it is probably advantageous for all of us to consider how to leverage our brand strength while not diverting from our core brand values.
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