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This is noteworthy not just because it’s an innovative idea, but because it reminds us how easily innovation can be achieved if we’ll just take the time to interact with and listen to our customers! As you’ll hear from Sears Tower Skydeck General Manager Randy Stancik at about the video’s 90-second mark, “The idea came from our visitors. Our visitors have asked us to get outside. They want to get closer to the windows,” So they looked into it and, sure enough, an elite team of engineers and builders made it so. They were willing to literally go out on a ledge for their customers!

Innovation can be as simple as responding when our customers give us a suggestion! We have to be willing to “go out on a ledge” by having the courage to listen, then to take what they suggest seriously, and be willing to deliver on what they’re asking for. A risk, yes, but far less risky than just hoping our customers are happy only to find out we lost them to competitors were listening and were willing to step out into the unknown for them!

But the real “a-ha’s” came as a result of unsolicited feedback. Soldiers shared several powerful, emotional stories about how relieved they would be on the battlefield to see the easily-recognized Mack trucks dependably trudging through the mud to bring supplies, medical aid, etc. British soldiers remarked that the very shape of the trucks reminded them of a tough bulldog, which coincidentally happens to be Great Britain’s national mascot. The rest, as they say, is history. Mack instantly adopted the bulldog as their brand symbol, placing likenesses of the rugged canine on the hoods of their trucks.

The Customer IS the answer to every marketing question! We need to be sure we have as much open dialog with them as possible, both formal and informal, and that we LISTEN when they have something to tell us. What they have to say could be worth a fortune!

John Deere’s real value, it’s real capital, it’s real “green,” is in the power of it’s brand. When Mr. Deere founded the company, he based everything he did on the guiding principle, “I will not put my name on anything that does not have in it the best that is in me.” This commitment to excellence has lasted well over 100 years! It has VALUE because it connects with the customer, the customer believes it, trusts the brand, and is willing to pay a premium for it. John Deere is a brand we can bank on.

This brand loyalty isn’t just true for the heavy equipment which makes up their core product offering, but for any and all ancillary products loyal customers can purchase with the John Deere name on them. John Deere doesn’t make toy trimmers or caps or any of those items. Toy companies and apparel companies and other vendors line up outside John Deere’s doors and pay a hefty licensing fee for the use of the John Deere logo and color scheme, which they’ll then use to  market a line of products using the John Deere name, for which John Deere will receive a generous royalty. The hefty horsepower of the brand lets John Deere make money on the front end with the licensing fees and on the back end with royalties. John Deere wins, the merchandisers win, and of course, the customers win because we’re all part of a value-for-value brand experience.

J. Paul Getty, one of the first “celebrity millionaires,” was often asked for a formula for getting rich. He replied, “Rise early, work hard, and strike oil!” If you build a solid brand, it’s better than striking oil! The residuals are incredible, the passive income is there, and you don’t have to get your hands dirty or deal with the EPA!

Typically, the best time to address an issue, concern, or objection in the marketing or selling process is when it arises. However, if we know in advance that there is an ongoing concern, or that the customer’s perceptions of our brand are based on inaccurate information, and that a specific objection is likely, it’s not a bad idea to bring those to the forefront and address them before they are even raised. In come cases, this gets the objection out of the way so our relationship with the customer can begin.

In fact, sometimes handling a “negative” up front can be turned into a benefit! In the classic The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, the authors praised Avis Car Rental for their “We’re #2, So We Try Harder” campaign. After striving to be number one, they realized they weren’t going to get there, so they said, “You know what, forget about being number one in the market, let’s be number one with our customers. Let’s focus on what we can ultimately do value-wise for the customer, not on what we want to achieve.” The campaign immediately struck a chord and their sales increased. No, they never took the #1 spot away from Hertz, but they increased their profits incredibly. Listerine enjoyed similar success with its “The Taste You Hate Twice A Day” campaign which is also showcased in the book.

If you have a good rebuttal to a negative (objection), and we KNOW (because we did our RESEARCH) that it’s going to come up, don’t be shy about using it. Experiment with using it in your copy or presentation BEFORE the target audience raises the concern and see how that works. By getting your ”bad news” now, you may be surprised at how much sooner profits show up! 

As you probably recall from previous posts, discounting isn’t one of my favorite marketing strategies. In fact, one of the Burtisms I emphasize in my ECHO Marketing program is, “Don’t cut the price, build the brand!” I will urge you in the vast majority of cases not to lower your price, but to instead focus on ways to increase the value you deliver for your customers in such a way that they don’t mind paying a premium. On the other hand, we have to be careful not to overlook a strategy because we mislabel it.

Consider how Disney allows a person free entry into one of their theme parks on the person’s birthday. At first this looks like a discount. In fact, one could estimate that the average discount is 25%. For example, if a group of 4 visited the park, and one person attended for free, then the promotion was basically 1/4 or a 25% discount on the admission. However, the admission charge is really just a bonus when you consider Disney’s business model. It’s about as sure a bet as you can find that the attendees will spend enough on merchandise and concessions that will be bought inside the park to more than make up for any such “discount.” In reality, that discount of allowing free attendance once a year is a very insignificant marketing investment with potentially very significant returns!

You may find this Disney Lesson is something you can modify and put to work in your own organization, but the real lesson for us all is to remember to constantly seek profitable ideas from every possible source.

The famous 101 Ranch suffered a similar fate. They once offered the most celebrated wild west show around. They attracted the biggest name talent of the day, and provided their audiences with a return on their entertainment dollar many times their investment. They had an amazing run, but failed to notice how a new entertainment delivery system, motion pictures, was using them as a proving ground from which to scout future talent for their movies. Just about as soon as a star demonstrated exceptional talent and crowd appeal, they’d wind up with a lucrative film contract and a train ticket to Hollywood.

World Wrestling Entertainment (the WWE), learned a similar lesson. After a few of its big stars like The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, left at the peak of their wrestling fame to go into the movie business, WWE President Vince McMahon (who deserves his own place in the marketing hall of fame) decided they would expand their reach. Instead of just being in the wrestling business, they are now in the talent business. When a wrestler comes on board with the WWE, they essentially become WWE property. The wrestler becomes talent owned by the WWE, who will basically be able to capitalize on them as an asset from that time on. If a star wants to go into the movies, fine. The talent brokerage division of the WWE will be happy to negotiate that relationship and serve as the agent for the star throughout his or her career. They even have their own production company in which to create the features in which to showcase their stars. Problem solved, profits realized.

Maximization should include not only all our delivery systems, but also in how we view what business we’re in. We need to always look for additional profit centers and how to best incorporate them in our business models. This may mean acquisition, or it may mean the formation of strategic alliances, but we have to make sure we heed the enduring words of Theodore Levitt and not get myopic in our marketing vision!

Disney Animation Legend Joe Grant gave Pete Docter, Director of Pixar’s UP, a pencil. The pencil’s visible wear (see for yourself) attests its use in the creation of Disney-caliber artwork of yesteryear. The pencil became one of Docter’s prized posessions partly because, as we can all probably attest, getting something from someone you respect instantly becomes a treasure. However, Docter says another reason the pencil has such great significance is that it reminds him that Disney’s roots, and its future, are in storytelling. Regardless of how big a role new technology plays in the development of new features, at their core, everything Disney/Pixar strives to offer its customers is firmly grounded in a compelling, well-done story.

That’s a big reason why Toy Story was such a smash hit when it was first released in 1996, and why the 10 Year Anniversary Edition DVD sold so well. Though it was a captivating, award-winning application of technology, it has endured because it was just a great story! Toy Story will undoubtedly take its place with so many Disney films that have an audience in each generation. The reason the product has endured is because the brand has endured, and the brand has endured because it’s a story worth hearing again and again. And trust me, if you have kids, you’re going to hear that story again, and again, and again…

I can’t wait to see UP just because I so appreciate the guiding principle behind Docter’s direction and everything Disney does. As he said as he reflected on why the pencil meant so much to him, “Even though people look at Pixar as cutting-edge, we have one foot planted in the tradition of great storytelling.” What a powerful word: Tradition!

The challenge for each of us is to consider what enduring value will our brand have? What story will we tell that will keep current customers wanting to be a part of it, to tell it to others, and to get others to pass it along, maybe even from one generation to the next? The brand is more than just the product, it’s the entire story!

Time is the most precious resource all of us have either in our business or personal lives. We can always make more money, but we can’t make more time. Taking the slack time some of us are faced with currently to work on the business and its systems rather than just working in the business can be an investment of our time that will later pay huge dividends. Often, in the “good times,” we’re so busy taking care of customers, meeting deadlines, and juggling growth that we ultimately don’t operate at our most efficient levels. We are effective in terms of getting the job done, but not optimally efficient in how we manage our resources. A slower time gives us the opportunity to study our business intently, work to fix what needs to be fixed, and rally the entire team around developing strategies that can be implemented as soon as the market cooperates. Or better yet, figure out a way to get the market to meet us on our own terms as soon as possible. By working on the entire system, we can fine tune it so we maximize every resource and take full advantage of every opportunity.

Larry Bossidy, former CEO of Honeywell and a former GE executive all-star, was on CNBC earlier this week with an optimistic outlook for the end of the year. He noted several companies who were using these slower times to invest in R&D, in the improvement of overall operations, and in gearing up with new product offerings to be ready to hit the market when times are more favorable. Click here to see for yourself. His book, Execution, is worth a look, too.

Don’t get me wrong, I certainly prefer boom times to bust, but a slower time isn’t the end of the world, either, if we remember that our job as leaders is to maximize our resources in every economic climate. Let the other guys waste time fretting, we’ll get busy fixing!

This quote from the celebrated Dr. Drucker headlines the copy the Rotman School of Management uses to promote their magazine. You can get a free issue here. They keep using this ad and this quote over and over. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve seen it, as I read my monthly issue of Fast Company or Inc, and I had begun to wonder why they keep on using it and using it and using it. Then, I did an Aggie High-Five (that’s where you slap yourself in the forehead) and I got it! I felt so dumb because not only should I know this as a marketing professional, I even train other marketing professionals and entrepreneurs to do this! Heck, I’ve even BLOGGED about it! Click here and here to see for yourself! 

They’re doing it because it WORKS!!! And if something WORKS, marketing-wise, we keep using it and profiting from it! After all, if we continue to get returns on something that has already paid for itself, we’re getting what our accounting friends call “return on assets” (ROA), which is what a powerful brand will do for us! 

Sergio Zyman said it in his classic, The End of Marketing As We Know It, and it is one of the best marketing lessons we can apply: You change a campaign only when it stops working! It’s OK to THINK about changing a campaign all the time, in fact, we should be constantly thinking “Then what?”, but we should stop using a campaign only when it consistently stops getting us a worthwhile return.

So good for you, Rotman! Maybe I should subscribe! 

P.S. - Thanks to all of you who’ve sent congratulations for our BLOG’s nomination in this year’s 2008 Okie Blog Awards! Thanks especially for clicking HERE and voting!