Mistakes Marketers Make-How To Cut Through the Clutter

Today's edition of the WSJ included two columns that encapsulated compelling marketing (and advertising) do's and don'ts, observations that are particularly appropriate when facing heavy "head winds". The type of climate we can expect to be in for the time being.

That said, lets all remember that advertising is merely a component of marketing, and interesting to point out findings in JackMeyer's recent report, "..advertising, as a percentage of marketing budgets, continues to wane; and advertising spends are necessarily being directed to platforms that are otherwise uncluttered, with content that's creatively captivating..."

Advertising insight courtesy of Sridhar Balasubramanian and Pradeep Bhardwau from UNC's Business School:

1. Target customers at times when they're unoccupied. (This underscores the reasons why airport-centric venues (especially in-plane)offer a nice vehicle.

2. Tease, don't tell. The logic here is that brain can only process so much information, and when it comes to an ad, too much of anything is no good. Make the message intriguing, so that it drives the eyeball to a destination that can sell.

3. Cross Promote. By aligning your brand with another complementary brand, you introduce a much coveted goal-third party endorsement/integrity. That said, make sure you're aligning with a brand that has integrity.

4. Integrate your ad within a frequently used application. A great example of this approach is a software application that we highlighted two years ago-created by our friend Evan Richmond, a fellow that's always been ahead of his time and whose approach to capturing eyeballs is now under the umbrella of Think360 whose

Marketing Do's and Don'ts; Contrary to Conventional Wisdom..
(Courtesy of David Corkin at South Australia's International Graduate School of Business)

1. Broaden The Brand..as opposed to conventional 'wisdom' of zeroing in on the perceived demographic target

2. Loyal customers aren't really so royal. Loyalty is nice, but research suggests, its over-rated. Especially when it comes to commoditized products. And what isn't commoditized these days?

3. Increasing sales is achieved by increasing the customer base. That brings us back to broadening the brand. The conventional and incorrect wisdom according to Corkin, is to emphasize increasing loyalty of existing customers and trying to increase their purchasing of the product/service.

4. Promotions are great--if the goal is to sell your product at a discounted price (and earn less profit margin) to existing customers. Otherwise, this strategy rarely captures new, long-lasting customers.

5. The 4 P's (product, price, place and promotion)-a topic that our generation of MBA's will rattle off in a presentation (including job interviews) overlooks a more fundamental focus--we keep saying it--Its all about The Brand...Creating positive associations in the mindset of the audience. That requires creative thinking.

6. Marketing is about hunting and capturing. Wrong-sales is about hunting and capturing--marketing is about making sure your message/image is inserted in locations that your audience is actively visiting.