10 AM meeting at the Renaissance Hotel. Heard the whir before I saw the giant inflatable trampoline house, plopped right smack in the middle of the Renaissance's very tony lobby. The sounds of children bouncing and giggling inside wafted merrily through the corridors.
What a delightfully subtle way to encourage locals to book relatives at the hotel and to bring guests back – their little munchkins in tow!
People often underestimate the value of the fun factor.
Seth Godin states that "humans like humans" when he posts commentary and the endgadget shared photo of a customer's xBox360 signed by the entire xBox team (including Bill Gates). Warmth, friendliness, hospitality, and connection draw crowds, customers and friends. Light a fire, keep it real, and watch what happens.
Historically, it has been difficult for companies to coordinate marketing disciplines or, shall we say, "herd the cats" – advertising, sales promotions, PR, demand generation and web.
What's at stake: the opportunity to reach target audiences with coordinated marketing efforts that, together, build your brand and revenue stream faster.
Marketingprofs.com describes the next generation of integration as a "...more intense synchronized or 360-degree marketing style of integration, which uses a total media mix to message consumers in a coordinated way with no one medium dominating. Synchronization is to marketing what surround sound is to an audio system..." Marketingprofs.com used the M&Ms Global Color Vote of 2002 to underscore the importance of integrated marketing. M&Ms initiative resulted in nearly "10 million consumers voting on a new color, a jump in product sales, and a dramatic harvest of relationship marketing leads for re-contact."
For a client interested in building relationships quickly with decision makers, we mobilized integrated, multidisciplinary branded marketing "engagements", including exclusive, personalized web environments, banner advertising, email campaigns, executive library, executive community building e-zine (exploring critical developments in e-business), targeted offers, web conferences, C-suite roundtables co-hosted by Forbes, tradeshow incentives, upsell promotions, etc. 
This integrated marketing initiative took top down support, the ability to envision and implement, plus, at times, a touch of old fashioned strong arming. The results helped drive early success in the marketplace.
Start-up to large enterprise, for marketing synergy to proliferate: take control, set the course, support the champions and deploy influencers.
So you ask a girl to marry you, give her a pile of gifts, a sparkly ring, you fawn all over her, tell her you love her 10 times a day. And then you stop calling. Hmmm. Do you think she's feeling a little abandoned? Do you think she's considering auctioning the ring on eBay?
Businesses, small and large, abandon their prospects all the time. I mean all the time. Clients say they want to build relationships. They ask us to produce strategic marketing campaigns targeted to decision makers across several verticals; we find the right lists, develop valuable offers, create the campaigns, track response. Then the ball gets dropped. Sales doesn't follow up on the leads. Marketing stops marketing after the first touch. Nothing. Either the year's budget has gone elsewhere or "priorities" have been reset. Leaving A and B+ leads growing cold on the table. Gone are the warm fuzzies and gone are the new business opportunities.
For the past year, OfficeMax has been sending me monthly mailings with $10 off in-store savings cards and other incentives. At first, I would tuck the cards in my purse and forget to use them by the expiration date. The savings cards kept coming. And, though a loyal Office Depot shopper, I started going to OfficeMax. Month after month, OfficeMax sent the yellow, purple and black plastic cards. Now I am an OfficeMax shopper. But those cards better keep coming!
Building relationships, whether in business or in life, take time, work, consistency and care. Trust and loyalty build over time. And you can't always measure that. (Well, maybe 3 dates or 40 text messages...)
No more loving and leaving.
It was 36 degrees at 6:30 AM in my town. Drove my husband to the Bart train. Returning home, I watched early morning commuters navigate the crosswalk with their cardboard cup holders filled with Starbucks concoctions. Yesterday morning at break time, our roofing contractor stopped the job so that his crew could have their daily customized Starbucks caffeine fix. Floating into my brain, the words: "Become a Ritual". When I take Highway 5 to LA from the Bay Area, I look forward to stopping at the one and only Starbucks, located at the base of the Grapevine. Is there a special ritual, through action or deed, that your customers can come to expect and count on? We are creatures of habit so figuring out how to become one is a worthwhile exercise.
PS: Think outside the bean.
Trojan markets "protection" to men and women in totally different ways. But, of course! Trojancondoms.com is decked out in fire engine red, links guys to the Trojan Game Arcade, highlights the new and improved Trojan Vibrating Ring and touts the Trojan Selector for the perfect combination of features, lubrication, material and fit.
Now click over to Elexa, Trojan's gender sensitive girlie girl website. It's pink, magenta and purple. There's girl talk blogging, info on body image, comments on Dr. Drew, dating and emotions. Don't miss the monthly Top 10 Cheezy Pick-up Lines! I noticed that the word "condom" is barely there. Talk about understanding your target audience. They're even doing their part to stop the spread of STDs in women. Go Trojan!
Last Saturday night we headed to Resurrection Theatre on Folsom Street for the memorial fundraiser and fashion show commemorating the life and work of talented fashion designer, Project Runway finalist and CCA grad, Bruce Beasley. The event drew artists, designers, musicians, hetero cross-dressing fashionistas and one lone drag queen. He towered over the crowd at 6'4"+ tall, dressed Marilynesque with platinum wig, rhinestone necklace, red dress and pumps. Nobody minded him being there, but nobody came up to greet him either. He had miscalculated the audience and his act fell flat. Uncomfortably out of place, he slipped out the back door.
To sustain and grow your audience, you must differentiate yourself and stand out from the crowd. But it goes much deeper than bells and whistles. So, before you spend thousands of dollars marketing that unique brand positioning, know your target audiences very well – their values, prejudices, expectations, hopes, fears, behavior, goals, preferences and favorite songs. Use market research. Ask for feedback. Wade into the fray and find out for yourself. Really understand them and you'll create solid, long term affiliations rather than dissonance.
