clemans on marketing: confessions and misdemeanors

Mavericks: Rock Star Marketing

Everyone was stoked. Mavericks Surf Contest® was held January 12 in solid 25-30 foot swell. Greg Long won the event, hosted by big wave surfer and natural goofy-footer Jeff Clark. The waves, weather, myth, and marketing brought out the crowds.

Marketing gold: Broadcast by NBC Sports from Half Moon Bay
Media hype: "World’s greatest big-wave surfers" to ride "the most dangerous waves in the world".
Heros: 24 "legendary" surfers.
Anti-Hero: "Ever-present threat of the Great White Shark".
Everyone Wins: Long shares his winnings with his fellow finalists.
Merchandise Galore: Official 2008 killer contest tees, leashes, neon logo-embellished wet suits, beanies and caps.
Social Network: 50,000 viewed the free-live webcast on Myspace.com and more than 1,000 people watched the competition on the big screen at the live viewing party at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

Surf's up and so is business.

Self-published and proud of it!

It is easy to publish a book once you have the material. I chose Blurb because they offer excellent printing quality and quick turnaround. We designed and edited two books. The first, Picturing the '50s, a Blurb.com "Staff Pick", covers my dad's stint as a tabloid news photographer for the long-defunct Los Angeles Mirror. The second book, Marooned in Darfur, captures his years as an Army Air Force Sergeant and weather observer in Darfur during World War II. Once the books were completed, we posted them on Blurb and created neilclemans.com to promote them.

Consider jumping into the fray by publishing your own book, whether personal, professional, non-profit, individual or corporation, to capture a story, build credibility, present work, teach something, promote a cause. Next, build a website, then blog, link, and spread the word.

10% of the proceeds from the sale of Marooned in Darfur will be donated to the Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur.

Search Engine Marketing: Build Awareness, Generate Better Leads.

We work with two successful companies who ascribe to the direct sales business model. They are at last ready to test search engine marketing and pay-per-click. Their goals: improve visibility, targeted traffic, and leads.

Here's the blunt truth they needed to hear: During an organic search, their businesses won't show up anywhere near page one. Prospects had a snowball's chance of finding them.

The good news – an aggressive geo-targeted pay-per-click multi-search engine marketing program, tended to constantly, can improve lead quality, increase users, maximize visibility, convert prospects, and boost natural search ranking.

The Numbers
78 percent of Internet users research a product or service online before buying it, and 71 percent buy online.

Too Big to Ignore
Internet users constitute an audience of an estimated 203 million people in the U.S. alone.

If It’s Not Measured, It’s Not Managed
(Google Search Engine Marketing Case Studies)

Online Business Software Company:
1/10 click-throughs became a lead.

Online Discount Tire Company:
15% increase in online sales

Global Real Estate System:
90% of customers came from search engines.
70% searched for properties on line.

Retail Display and Equipment Company:
Doubled business within one year.

Pay-Per-Click Process & Tools
Search Engine Marketing Strategy
Keyword and Key Phrase Generation
Ad Creative
Call to Action
Bid Management
Analytics

Over three to six months, the results are measured and the bidding tweaked accordingly. Judiciously planned, you'll spend much less on SEM than adding a new sales person or building or running an advertising campaign. No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google, and the medium is volatile, but Search Engine Marketing has proven itself a worthy tool for business building.

Bank Business.

One bank teller station over, the customer announced loudly that he needed to get home because he had pebbles in his underpants. The teller never missed a beat, smiled, and continued with the transaction. Professionalism is alive and well.

Lexus of Concord knows my name.

I walked into Lexus of Concord. With a smile, Parts Specialist Henry Vargas asked what I needed.

"A replacement owner's manual for my parents' IS 250".

Before I could mention my name, he said, "Are you Laurie Clemans?" He had remembered calling me about a week ago. Wow. A little thing like remembering my name gets me thinking about considering a Lexus next time around! Every other customer service interaction at the dealership was equally as positive. It's no surprise that Lexus ranks high in customer satisfaction. Business decision makers should take notes.

Leadership "It" Factor. 15 Crucial Tips for Success.

GREAT LEADERS COMMUNICATE COMPETENCY AND RAPPORT to build trust. Great companies, hell bent on leading the pack and inspiring loyalty, must project the same – in thought, word, and deed.

1. Crunch the numbers, but warm the story.
2. Communicate with power and credibility.
3. Convey approachability and energy.
4. Share critical information.
5. Stand for something.
6. Deliver as promised.
7. Project confidence and the "voice of authority".
8. Commit to relationships.
9. Be prepared.
10. Set the standard.
11. Focus big picture/long term.
12. Promote accomplishments.
13. Find the humor.
14. Listen, respond, innovate.
15. Sell what's unique.

(The same goes for Great Marketing and Branding.)

 

 

Green Barbie.

Barbie is reducing her carbon stiletto heel print. She now comes with a built-in rechargeable lithium polymer battery that charges via a USB port. What starts out as hype, might just become habit.

Branding Should Stick to Your Ribs.

Cold cereal is fast food. Add milk. Use a spoon, or not. But cold cereal won't get you through the day. Lots of companies make "brand cereal". Sure, it's easy to produce. But there's no staying power.

Great brands stick to your ribs. They have personality, deliver a solid, meaningful point of view, engage at a primal level, are versatile and memorable, meet the needs of the customer, and engender loyalty.

I'm not talking about the branding sleight of hand perpetrated by companies like Kellogg's.

Take a good hard look at your brand. Puffed wheat or steel cut oats?

100% Renewable Design

The rugged Radius Source Toothbrush made a great stocking stuffer. Fabricated with 100% renewable plant sources (Nebraska Maize) and a lightweight replaceable head, it cleans up with smart packaging, inspired product design and radiating bristles for easier brushing.

Radius does an excellent job *"integrating social and ecological needs with culturally creative and aesthetically pleasing structures". See the Sanborn Principles for Sustainable Development, outlined in 1994! Note Principle #5:

Beautiful: Beauty in a habitat environment is necessary for the soul development of human beings. It is yeast for the ferment of individual creativity. Intimacy with the beauty and numinous mystery of nature must be available to enliven our sense of the sacred.

Even toothbrushes count!

*The Sustainability Revolution by Andreas R. Edwards