All You Need Is A Good Idea!

FIVE DOLLARS A FOOT

2009-11-13T10:04:00-05:00

I had a Subway Buffalo Chicken foot long yesterday. Scooped out, toasted, with cheese, and every vegetable they had behind the counter. Then doused with ranch dressing.

I meant to save half the sandwich for today, but this blog is not about my appetite. It is about the amazing Subway pricing. That entire sandwich cost me five bucks. And for someone stronger willed than I, it would have made two days of lunches.

I was reminded of all this by an article in BusinessWeek, by Matthew Boyle. He talks about how the 3.8 billion in sales generated nationwide by the $5 footlong alone placed it among the top 10 fast-food brands in the U.S. And how it all started five years ago with Stuart Frankel, who owned two small Subway shops in Miami.

Among many interesting facts, the one that best fits this blog is how, “A huge company can wake up and eventually seize on a good idea.” (For all you CFO types, please note that profit margins didn’t decline, thanks to the overall boost in volume and the increased productivity of the staff.)

Sure, the company knows the campaign will eventually run out of steam. Boston Market, Domino’s and KFC have launched similar deals. And one Subway franchisee is now offering footlongs for $4. But this unquestionably demonstrates the strength of a good idea to build business.

And your latest good idea is…?

COMPANY’S COMING

2009-11-11T09:35:00-05:00

This may be nitpicking. But if you print an ad with only six short paragraphs of text, you may want someone to proofread it. Twice. Because a typo will certainly stand out on a page with fewer than 75 words.

What do you thinke?

TOYS 'R' NOT US

2009-11-09T17:32:20-05:00

Discovering that Toys “R” Us owns FAO Schwarz is as discomforting as finding out that until 2008, Godiva chocolate’s owner was Campbell’s Soup. No real reason why it should make a difference, but it does, at least to me. As it would to find out that Donald trump was owned by Lefrak city. Sort of diminishes the quality brand image that makes people willing to pay a premium for the perceived luxury, and justifies the indulgence.

But no harm is done to an image if most consumers aren’t aware of which company really owns what brand. Which is why I was surprised to read in the New York Times that Toys “R” Us is planning to open FAO Schwarz boutiques inside about 600 Toys “R” Us stores. Gerald L. Storch, the chairman, was quoted as saying that “This assortment makes FAO accessible to all of America. I don’t want anyone thinking that FAO merchandise at Toys “R” Us is super expensive, because it’s not.”

Whoa! So FAO is planning to take a toy brand that represents luxury, quality, and exclusivity, and make it just another me-too brand? To me, it’s a lose-lose proposition. Shoppers at Toys “R” Us will not feel comfortable seeing Cadillacs at a Chevy dealer, and those who are interested in FAO will not be at ease going to a Toys “R” Us to make their purchase.

Now I may be wrong about this, but we should soon find out. The point for you is to carefully consider with whom you partner. While it’s a great way to extend your brand and get more reach in difficult times, make certain you are not going to damage your image.

What do you think?

DON’T COUNT ON THE WORDS

2009-11-04T09:25:00-05:00

It’s not that words don’t count. It’s that you shouldn’t fall into the trap of counting words because you believe short headlines will always be better.

Here, for example, are two different ten-word headlines. In both instances they are the only copy in the message, so the words are obviously very important.

The first example was reported in the New York Times. It was commissioned by FirstBank of Colorado, which hired a local marketing firm to design ads that promoted the regional bank’s conservative lending practices.

At the Colorado Rockies’ first home game of the season, fans at Coors Field witnessed a single-engine propeller plane with a banner in tow. If you can’t read it, it says: “This is the closest thing we have to a private jet.”

The second example is from an insert with, again, just ten words. In this case: Experience the all-natural, distinctive crunch that’s meant to be savored.

The difference between the two is simply that one of them has an idea; the other is a listing of cliché nouns, verbs, and adjectives.

So use as many words as necessary to get your idea across. But be certain that you have an idea in the first place.

What do you think?

FREE BONUS CHAPTER

2009-11-01T10:27:46-05:00

This bonus chapter contains some insights that never made it into my book, All You Need Is A Good Idea!, as well as a gathering of more recent observations and ideas.

Just click "Free bonus Chapter" in the sidebar, under my photo, to download the (FREE) PDF.

(Yes, it is FREE. As in no cost, no e-mail address required, no hidden “gotchas,” no need for you to buy something else to get the bonus.)

WHY AM I DOING THIS?

Giving information away is the new business model. Ideally the result is that one person tells another, more and more people hear about your product, viral word of mouth kicks in, your community of talkers expands, and sales actually increase.

To prove that theory is correct, there are some actions you might consider taking:

· You can purchase the book at your local bookstore or Amazon.com. (Thanks)

· You can write a review of the book at Amazon.com.

· You can leave a comment below with your thoughts about the offer, the free chapter or the book itself.

· You can send me an email at ideas@allyouneedisagoodidea.com to be on my list for future offers. (Any e-mail addresses collected will never be shared, sold or given away.)

If you find the bonus chapter helpful, you might be interested in purchasing the complete book. It is designed to help you in your goal to make your business conspicuous, by providing a comprehensive guide — casual, conversational and totally practical — from generating the first fuzzy notion to creating the final good idea.

Using personal case histories for brands from Skippy peanut butter to Frigidaire appliances to New York's Stage Deli, you will see how to create the ideas you need to stand out in the marketplace, build market share, get publicity, appear larger than you really are and make your competition nervous…while actually having fun.

If you enjoy the chapter, tell your colleagues, your friends, your LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and other social media fans, friends and pals. If not, tell your competition.

WHAT’S A NICE PRODUCT LIKE YOU DOING IN A PLACE LIKE THIS?

2009-10-30T08:59:00-04:00

It was a long ago copy exploratory for Anacin. (A copy exploratory is where the ad agency is in crisis mode and the entire creative department pitches in to come up with new ideas. It is more panicky than a new business pitch, because here the business is yours to lose.)

You can read the exciting details about my good idea for the TV campaign in my book, pages 134-138. But it is the print executions I want to discuss. My plan was to put my tag line, with no other copy, in places no aspirin ads had gone before. Sections of a newspaper, for example, that were inherently headache provoking, such as the real estate pages. There, among all the listings for homes and apartments—filled with prices and decisions guaranteed to be nerve racking—was the simple message, “What would you give for some Anacin right now?” and an image of an Anacin bottle. Or picture the same graphic and slogan in the midst of the help wanted section. Or the stock market pages. Or the financial section.

What brought this all to mind was a recent blog of Drew McMellan’s that had a graphic of a product with very unexpected, but brilliant shelf placement. Head to his page to see for yourself, and maybe print the picture and paste it on your computer for inspiration.

My question for you, as usual, is to how you can adapt this thinking for your Phufkel. Is there a media buy or product placement or any other kind of creative twist that you can use for yourself? Is there a blog you can link to that seemingly has nothing in common with yours, till you get the light bulb moment? How about an ad for a stain remover in the restaurant section?

How about you think of some for yourself?

DON'T PUT ME TO SLEEP

2009-10-28T09:30:00-04:00

There is a saying that there are no dull subjects, only dull writers. And I have done several blogs over the past year or so about the importance of passion when creating your marketing. (Here is the link to the post about audacity.)

Basically, if you don’t care, why should I? I’ve got a lot on my mind, mostly dealing with my problems. I certainly don’t care about your stuff even if it can help me solve a crisis…unless I hear about it. And with 5,000 or so messages a day fighting for my attention, a me-too, bland, halfhearted attempt to get my attention probably won’t work.

So even if your products are three-inch nails, or flat-edge toothpicks, get enthusiastic and find something interesting to say. And say it in an exciting, unexpected way. After all, what is intrinsically exciting about sneakers? Or minutes on a cell phone plan? Or chicken cutlets? Yet I bet you can think of a particular product in those categories that has managed to create a story that has captured your attention.

As usual, someone has said all this better than I. James A. Baldwin, the writer, who proclaimed, “Fires can’t be made with dead embers, nor can enthusiasm be stirred by spiritless men.”

Wake me up.

HAVE A MOST SPECTACULAR, INCREDIBLE DAY

2009-10-26T09:37:00-04:00

I first noticed it at my local Starbucks. It started out, as I recall, with, “Have a nice day.” This was fine for a while, but then escalated to, ‘Have a great day.” When this had worn itself out as a welcome, it was replaced with, “Have a wonderful day,” and, “Have a glorious day,” soon, I am sure, to be one-upped to, “Have the most fantastic day you have ever had, including past birthdays and the day you won the lottery.”

It is difficult to stick to one adjective; repetition quickly causes it to lose its original purpose of offering something extra, especially when all others are proclaiming the same thing. Plus you no longer sound unique, or even sincere. Hence the search for bigger and better modifiers.

Which leads me to two questions for you:

Are you using words that overuse has cloaked in invisibility? While a cliché may be accurate, and a convenient shortcut, it is never as compelling as an original combination of words

And how about cutting down on your adjectives in the first place? Marketing materials filled with “bigger,” “better,” “more powerful,” are rarely as persuasive as words that convincingly demonstrate your differences.

Isn’t that the best, greatest and most excellent advice you’ve had all day?

ARE YOU A FAN OF FACEBOOK ?

2009-10-23T09:25:00-04:00

In 2008, when my book was published, I started this blog to promote the book. I also wanted to help small businesses understand the importance of marketing ideas by providing examples, good and bad, to help them learn how to make their business conspicuous.

Now, a mere year or so later, I decided to promote my book more aggressively. I became a member of Linkedin, though I was not sure of the actual business benefits. (My slogan for Linkedin was, and still is, “Many have joined. Few know why.”) I joined some of the groups, issued status reports and posted discussions, but never noticed any major impact.

So I decided to take the next steps, which were Twitter and Facebook. I wanted to use Facebook to promote my book and use Twitter to link Facebook with my blog, as a sort of continuous, hopefully interesting, loop.

Then I read Jay Ehret’s October 2 blog where he quoted a report that said 5% of Twitter users account for 75% of all activity on Twitter. 94% of users have less than 100 followers. And 75% of Twitter users joined in 2009. So I decided to postpone Twitter and start with Facebook. (Though I bet there are some similar discouraging reports.)

Of course, nothing is as simple as it seems, with the possible exception of a toothpick. Since I wanted to promote my book, I opted not for a Facebook profile but a Facebook page, which is designed for an organization, product or public personality. The page, which I titled “All You Need Is A Good Idea,” was easy to set up, but not easy to figure out or customize. There are help pages, but if you have a specific question I could not find a way to ask it. And it is very different from a profile. In fact, if I get a Facebook page fan, I cannot friend them without having a Facebook profile, which I do not have.

Also, I have no idea how to entice people to come to my page and become fans. (Aside from clicking on the Facebook link on this page.) The only thing Facebook suggests is to take out pay per click ads to get more fans, which certainly seems to support their avowed mission to make the world more open and connected.

And I am not particularly happy with their putting a Facebook ad for their products on my Facebook page. But there is no way I have found of figuring out how to prevent this.

Also, if you look over at the lower left side of this post, there are names of fans, and videos from my Facebook page. I want neither of these things cluttering up my blog, but have no idea how to eliminate them…nor have I discovered any method to contact a Facebook person to ask these questions.

So on a scale of one to ten, I guess I give my Facebook experience a six.

Any thoughts on how I can make it an eight?

IT'S NOTHING TO CELEBRATE

2009-10-21T09:31:00-04:00

I received a brochure in the mail recently. The copy on the cover stated “Over 60 Years Experience.” And I am delighted that this company has been around that long.

But one of the first things you read in my book—heck, in any book on marketing—recommends you talk less about yourself, and more about your target’s needs. Somehow, survival alone, flatly stated, does not seem particularly compelling. What is the reason/benefit/”hook” you are providing that sets you apart and creates curiosity? Why should the audience read further, or turn to the next page?

For example, when I created the message for New York’s Stage Deli’s 70^th anniversary, it was “Celebrating 70 Years of Excess.” It was not a dull, “70 years of feeding people.”

For Rapid Park, a group of garages, it was “Fifty Years Of Keeping New Yorkers Off The Street.” It was not, “Fifty Years of Providing Parking.”

Make it interesting, make it exciting, make it memorable. At the very least, make it about why your customer should care.

What do you think?