The Dark Art of #HedgeFund Marketing: Shine Light on What You Do..Duh!

Courtesy of Bruce Frumerman



Editor Note: Marketing and Communication techniques for hedge funds are often no different than the techniques other service-centric businesses need to focus on. Its all about differentiating yourself from competitors and developing messages that distinguish yourself and ones that are clear, crisp and easy-to-grasp. We don't often profile 'competitors' in our posts, but we're happy to make an exception in the case of this simple, but important tutorial for masters of the universe who often believe what they are saying makes sense...even if their audience remains confused.

Have you taken notice of what SEI reports in 6 Ways Hedge Funds Need To Adapt Now, which addresses what it takes to succeed in the hedge fund business today? This sixth annual global survey of institutional hedge fund investors, with insights from roundtables with industry experts, reports that the key challenges hedge fund firm owners face today include the need to be able to demonstrate a sustainable edge and a clear value added, and to have business and marketing acumen.

SEI notes that seven out of ten institutional investors responding to its survey complained that “there are too many look-alike strategies in the hedge fund industry today.” Investors are not just looking for absolute returns, but for “differentiated alpha sources” that can produce non-correlated returns.
But, it is not enough for hedge funds to distinguish themselves in terms of their pedigree, talent, strategies, and performance, SEI observes. They need to “clearly articulate their investment process, and explain what makes their results repeatable (not to mention worth the fees they are asking).”

At too many hedge fund firms the owners never put the full detail of their hedge funds’ investment process stories in print. Verbal elaboration at an initial sales meeting to explain what your flip chart bullet points were meant to convey is not going to be remembered four or fourteen months down the road when a family office, institutional investor or wealth management firm may be getting around to discussing your fund and a few others with similar performance and risk characteristics. This often results in coming across as a commodity-like investment choice rather than a differentiated hedge fund with a value-added portfolio management approach.

Hedge fund marketing materials should make it easy for investors to conduct their due diligence. Too often they do not. While the pitchbook is the right tool for communicating data-based information (charts, graphs and numbers) it is the wrong leave-behind marketing tool for delivering a compelling and detailed explanation of investment process, which is text based content. An additional marketing collateral sales tool is required

For the entire article (which links to Frumerman's firm), please click here to FinAlternatives

Corporate Comics Update: Honest-Tea, It Works!

Using comic-book style elements within corporate collateral is a branding approach that we've profiled more than once..Lo and behold, Honest Tea's co-founder Seth Goldman, a Yale graduate, is applying his smarts to a proven method by telling his corporate story with pictures..

Here's the excerpt from today's NY Times snapshot courtesy of Elizabeth Olson:

WHEN it was building its brand, the beverage maker Honest Tea stayed off the conventional marketing grid, opting for samplings, recycling events and word of mouth to reach its audience. Now the company’s founders are taking an alternate route to telling a button-down corporate history and are instead laying out their story, warts and all, in the pictorial form of a comic book.

“People ask me if it’s a graphic novel, and I say that it’s graphic, but not a novel,” said the Honest Tea co-founder Seth Goldman. Together with Barry Nalebuff, who was his professor while at the Yale School of Management, the two are sharing their company-building lessons in illustrated panels that track the brand’s start in 1998 — and its many missteps and near disasters — through to the flourishing company that was bought in 2011 by Coca-Cola. 

To lay out the dozen years of Honest Tea’s ups and downs before that point, Mr. Goldman borrowed an idea from something he loved doing with his three sons — reading comic books. He wanted to illustrate the company’s story, and persuaded Mr. Nalebuff, who has written five other books, to come aboard. 

A Revolutionary Marketing Strategy: Answer Customers’ Questions..Duh!

Excerpt from NYT Feb 27 column profiling small business entrepreneur's winning approach to winning customers. Compelling for anyone that claims to have the holy grail directional GPS..
Hats off to reporter Mark Cohen!

Q. Take us back. How did you save your company?

A. I just started thinking more about the way I use the Internet. Most of the time when I type in a search, I’m looking for an answer to a specific question. The problem in my industry, and a lot of industries, is you don’t get a lot of great search results because most businesses don’t want to give answers; they want to talk about their company. So I realized that if I was willing to answer all these questions that people have about fiberglass pools, we might have a chance to pull this out.

Q. What was the first question you answered?

A. The question I was always asked within the first two minutes of talking to customers was, How much does a fiberglass pool cost? Pool installers are like mattress or car dealers — we hate talking about how much a pool costs until we have you in person because there are so many options and accessories we want to sell you. As a result, pool companies never mention price on their Web sites. But I said, I don’t care what the question is, we’re going to answer it.

Q. Did you actually tell people the price of a pool?

A. No — because I couldn’t. But see, that’s the magic behind this. Google’s search engine doesn’t really care if we answer the question. It’s just looking for companies that are willing to address the question. So I said in that article, there are a ton of options, so it depends, the price can range anywhere from $20,000 to $200,000 and a lot of our customers end up between $40,000 and $80,000. And that was enough. Within about 24 hours of writing that article, it was No. 1 for every fiberglass-pool, cost-related phrase you could possibly type in. And because I have analytics, so far to this day, I’ve been able to track a minimum of $1.7 million in sales to that one article.

Q. What was the next question?

A. People used to ask me all the time, “Marcus, I’ve been hearing that fiberglass pools have all sorts of problems and issues. So what are the problems and issues?” Of course, they’d been talking to a concrete pool guy, but it doesn’t matter where they got it, now they have the question. So we wrote an article about the problems with fiberglass pools and specifically came right out and said: Here are the issues. Here are the benefits. You decide. Now, when you go in and type anything about fiberglass issues and problems, you’re going to see the River Pools Web site and you’re going to think, “Oh my gosh, these guys are so honest.”

Q. Anything else?

A. In most industries, there comes a time in the sale process where the customer turns to you and says, “O.K., I like you, but who are some of the other good companies that do this?” Half the time it’s a test, because people know who our competitors are because they can find them in .5 seconds online. Most contractors avoid the question. They say, “Oh, we don’t really have competition.” But because I was asked that question so often, I decided to answer it. I wrote a blog post about the best swimming pool builders in Richmond, Va., one of our main service areas.

Q. Where were you on the list?

A. I wasn’t on it.

Q. You weren’t?

A. No, because the moment I put my name up there I would lose all my credibility. But here’s the thing. Take the first company on the list, Pla-Mor Pools, a top competitor of ours. If you type in, “Pla-Mor Pools reviews Richmond, Va.,” which of course people do all the time when they’re vetting a company, what comes up? Me! You vet all my competitors, now I’m showing up for all their key words. If you really want to understand the power of inbound marketing, it comes down to this idea: I want to have the conversation at my house.

Q. Once you wrote a blog post, how much time did you spend promoting it on Twitter and Facebook?

A. I didn’t. Dude, that one article on price has never been tweeted. It’s never been Facebooked. I’m not saying social media doesn’t help, but it’s nowhere near what people think. The only metric that really matters is total pages viewed. Here’s a statistic for you: If somebody reads 30 pages of my River Pools Web site, and we go on a sales appointment, they buy 80 percent of the time. The industry average for sales appointments is 10 percent. So, our whole marketing campaign revolves around getting people to stick around and read our stuff, because the longer they stay on our site, the greater the chance they’re going to fall in love with our company.

Q. What do you say to business owners who say they don’t know what to blog about?

A. That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard, and I hear it a lot. What they should be doing is just listening to every single question they get and answering it. In my consulting business the first thing we do is brainstorm what questions the company gets on a regular basis. I’ve never had a company come up with less than 100 questions in 30 minutes.

Q. How do you suggest companies find time to do all of this blogging?

A. Most of the time, they can take the employees they already have talking to customers and turn them into content producers. If you have 25 salespeople, and each one of them writes one post a month, your search is going to be through the roof because that’s a new piece of content every day.

Q. How have your competitors responded to all of this?

A. They still don’t really get it. They’re nice about it. I’ll have one of my best-pool-builder lists come out, and I’ll run into them. And they’ll say, “Hey, man, thanks for including me in that list. I’m not sure why you did it, but thanks.”

#Blogging With #Video, Hoping to Go #Viral : Media Training 101--How to Appear on The Small Screen

Since this blogger has remained an outspoken advocate of using video to extend a message since, well, since soon after this blog launched 8 years ago, today's very-nicely written piece courtesy of Kate Murphy, New York Times deserves a hat's off. For marcom czars advising wing-tip clients (and entrepreneurs), here are the take-aways for those who have embraced video messaging..but may not be doing it just right.

Caveat-the article is geared towards those who hope to create a viral effect after uploading their elements to YouTube. But the take-aways below should be equally useful to those creating corporate sizzles..

It boils down to narcissism. If you’re an aspiring video blogger, remember, it’s not about you, it’s about who is watching you. Be conscious and considerate of your audience and its needs, rather than getting mired in your own egotism or insecurity. (It’s good advice for life but essential to making quality video.)

Of course you want to have a decent camera. “If you have an iPhone or Android phone, you pretty much do,” said Eddie Codel, a video consultant in San Francisco, who produces content mostly for corporate clients. A hand-held video camera is nice and offers more features and flexibility, but your smartphone is fine. The only additional equipment you might consider is a separate lavaliere or lapel microphone ($100-$200) for clearer audio. And if there isn’t enough ambient light to illuminate your face, spring for a clamp lamp ($10-$20) that you can find at most hardware stores. No one wants to watch you talking in the dark like someone in a witness protection program. For a flattering glow, Mr. Codel suggested putting wax paper in front of the lamp to diffuse the light. 

If you can’t communicate in an interesting, entertaining, energetic way — I don’t care how much education you have, how brilliant you are, how many degrees you have — it’s going to be painful to watch you,” said Karen Melamed, a television producer and online video consultant in Los Angeles. “Dr. Phil is not on TV because he’s the best therapist in the world, and Paula Deen is not the best chef in the world. They are good performers.” 

Positioning Your Presentation & Communicating Your Message: Story-Telling 101

Courtesy of LeadershipIQ's Mark Murphy--one of my very favorite gurus:

There isn’t a presenter alive that doesn’t want their audience absolutely riveted; sitting on the edge of their seats with rapt attention. Yet, the reality in most presentations is that the audience is sitting back, kind of relaxed and spacing in and out.
Here Leadership IQ CEO and best-selling author, Mark Murphy, shares some ways anyone can deliver a killer presentation.

Q: You say storytelling is a critical element in delivering killer presentations that really catch and keep an audience’s attention. How does that work?

MM: It’s all about dopaminergic response. Basically, when something really interesting, like a good story, happens, the brain starts to light up. And if the story is really exciting, the amygdala gets involved (that’s what you want) and says, “Wow! This is fascinating stuff! I’ve got to start activating some of the other chemicals in the brain—we’ve got to pay close attention to this!” So it goes and starts activating dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter for highly pleasurable things, highly attentive things.

And whoa! Once dopamine gets involved people really start to pay attention. Plus dopamine helps sear whatever it is folks are experiencing (in this case, your killer presentation) into their memory so they don’t forget it. So a great story is a way of getting the brain to say, “I am really engaged with this. I don’t want to miss a word that’s being said here. I am going to remember every word I hear.”
Next time you’re listening to someone else’s presentation, pay attention and see if you experience any moments that leap out at you and just get seared into your brain. Where you walk out of there quoting something you just heard to everyone you run into that day. If you don’t have that kind of experience then it is likely that the person speaking didn’t get anywhere near activating anything beyond your prefrontal cortex. They didn’t get into your limbic system, and they certainly didn’t excite your amygdala.

Q: So what’s the secret to telling a great story that excites the amygdala?
MM: There are a number of different ways to tell stories that really get people’s attention. Here’s one that uses an unexpected twist. Imagine you began a presentation by saying, “Six months ago, we upgraded our servers. Our website visitor capacity doubled. Our website loading speed tripled. And our profits dropped by 80%.” You can do something like that. Take your audience in one direction and then all of a sudden take them in a totally different direction. That’s one of those things that will make people’s heads spin a bit and get them to think, “Wait a minute, did I just hear what I thought I heard? I better start listening more closely.” You can also tell stories that build an emotional connection or introduce a startling fact.

Q: What’s one big thing to avoid when giving a presentation?
MM: Narcissism. When you talk about others more than you talk about yourself, that’s good. But when you talk about yourself more than you talk about others, that’s bad. But that can be challenging in some presentation situations. Leadership IQ teaches presenters to apply the Narcissism Ratio which is a little check that signals when it’s time to tell a story or to talk about somebody or something other than yourself. That way you don’t spend 20 minutes talking about all of the awards your company has won – something about which your audience probably doesn’t care. And it directs you to talk about something about which they do care, something that’s really going to activate them and get them on the edge of their seats.
To apply the Narcissism Ratio to your next presentation, keep track of how many times you say “I” or “me” versus the number of times you say “customers” or “employees” or “you” or “they” or anybody other than you. It takes some practice, but it’s really quite an effective way to keep your finger on the pulse of where your presentation is going as it happens. That way you are always on track and making sure your  audience stays fully engaged.
For more tips on delivering memorable presentations, join us for our upcoming webinar The Secrets of Killer Presentations.

Marcom Resolutions for 2013- GS Exec Didn't Get The Memo?

In the spirit of "..'Tis the season to opine about resolutions for the new year..." we noticed 2 media articles today that inspired comment.
1. WSJ's "Money's No Object for His Stereo Types" .
This article profiles the Manhattan-based uber luxe business "catering to sound system/stereo aficionados for whom "money is no object", according to the business owner and former corporate litigator-turned-Crazy Eddie-to-the-ridiculously wealthy. 

Apparently, one (presumably senior) Goldman Sachs employee didn't read what any half-wit would think was an existing  internal memo that eschews employees from being profiled by the media whenever the topic of conspicuous consumption is being reported. This fellow not only spoke with the WSJ reporter who wrote the article, but acknowledged having just spent more than $200k to outfit his home with a state-of-art sound system. Although he did request that his name not be used for the article, the fact that he avowed being a Goldman Sachs employee would seemingly be in bad taste, particularly on the eve of a fiscal cliff agreement that imposes significant hits to the average Joe's take home pay.

On a more proactive point, WSJ's "How to Be a Better Boss in 2013" came equipped with elementary reminders for corporate execs and entrepreneurs.. The take-aways included the following:

•  The "reply to all" button is among the most misused—and reviled—pieces of office technology. At best, an accidental click can lead to an inbox-clogging chain of messages. At worst, it can cause a personal embarrassment before the entire company 

•   Set clear goals slightly beyond your current abilities and list specific actions that advance you toward that goal. Those hoping to move beyond the plateau should also seek feedback. Without frank, even harsh, feedback, progress will likely stall. 

•  You need to get out of your comfort zone. 

•  A successful manager needs to convince people to do things. Frame a choice as leading to a potential loss rather than a gain. This can create a sense of stress—and help managers get things done. Example: A study in which a group of executives were presented a proposal for an IT project. Twice as many in the group approved the proposal if the company was predicted to lose $500,000 if the proposal weren't accepted, compared with a scenario that predicted that the project would lead to profits of $500,000. 

•  Favorable outcomes almost double when we identify common ground with the other party in a negotiation. Find similarities between you and your customer—such as the car you drive or the age of your kids—and express them before you start negotiating with them over a contract or a price. 

•  Achieving any goal means grabbing hold of these opportunities before they slip through your fingers. One solution: If-then planning. Not only decide what you need to do, but also decide when and where you will do it, in advance. The general format of an if-then plan looks like this: If — occurs, then I will —. For example: When it's 3 p.m. today, then I'll stop whatever I'm doing and work on that project; If it's Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, then I'll go to the gym before work; If it's Tuesday morning, then I'll check in with all my direct reports.

 

Newtown CT Elementary School Massacre: When Will Corporate Executives Address The Issue of Gun Control

This writer has often used this blog as a tongue-in-cheek vehicle to spotlight the interesting, and sometimes ludicrous corporate marketing messages. The event that took place in Newtown CT--a few towns from where I live--compels me to opine from a different bully pit.

The topic of gun control in this country has been dominated by the NRA. The underlying thesis advanced by the gun lobby--and the one that waves the 2nd Amendment i.e. "our right to bear arms" is ostensibly embraced by an overwhelming number of American citizens. Who can't scratch their head when being told "Guns don't kill people, its people that kill people" ??

Let's put aside the fact that 'the overwhelming number of American citizens' are lemmings who take for granted the nonsense spewed by the media, or through the media courtesy of advertising paid for by those attempting to influence "the overwhelming number of American citizens." And it works--as best evidenced by the 'overwhelming' number of lemmings that are elected to public office and find themselves in the position to legislate.

The 'framers' of the Constitution introduced the 2nd Amendment because we lived in a world that required Americans to defend themselves against  a foreign government that wanted to impose its muscle on a people that fled that country (and many others in Europe) in order to build a democratic, law abiding, free land.  Ironically, Britain--the country we wanted to arm ourselves against, has always had rigorous laws prohibiting citizens from acquiring fire arms.

But, I digress. Let's take a look at the United States in 2012. The events in Newtown CT were caused by someone using an automatic weapon. How or why any individual citizen should be allowed to purchase an 

automatic weapon, or the ammunition needed to fire such a weapon  is beyond any rational explanation.

Gun proponents claim that aside from the "rights granted by the Constitution",  they use assault rifles/automatic weapons for hunting. Hunting what?! Deer? Rabbits? Elephants? Is it actually "normal" to believe there is a sport in killing animals with machine guns??

Celebs Embrace Social Media On-Line Megaphone to Build Brand Bank Accounts; Get On the Bus or Get Run Over By It.

Like it or leave it, according to today's front page of the NYT Sunday Business section,  celeb's use of social media (think Facebook and Twitter) has become a cottage industry for algo and data mining geeks who can turn cottage cheesy celebs into brand icons--and more importantly, introduce a data point for sponsored spokespeople's agents that can be used as a tipping point during contract negotiations.

Sure, you've heard this all before; marcom gurus have been touting social media for dozens of months, but now its gone institutional, and it's a practice area that hasn't gone unnoticed by the most brand burnishing Baristas. Case in point: :the who's who backers of  "theAudience", the most recent digital media consigliere to capture the mind share of marketing and sponsorship execs. Underwriters of this shop include William Morris Endeavor, Lionsgate, Universal Pictures — and one tech superstar, Sean Parker,
 
"..After largely ignoring social media — allowing fake Facebook pages to proliferate, sticking with tried-and-true publicity stops like “Entertainment Tonight” — stars and agents are realizing en masse that they need to get on that train.."

The British comedian Russell Brand says theAudience has helped him sell out shows “without any paid advertising”; the company also advises him on where to route tours, based on the geography of his fan base. “It’s a smart way to talk to my fans directly and in a bespoke manner,” Mr. Brand says.

The take-away: whether you're a fading star or an aspiring A-lister, social media + computer geek guidance is a low-cost strategy that can (according those who charge fat fees for finessing your message and build your follower list in a manner that builds your brand bank account.

Getting Nostalgic with Comfort Marketing; Macy’s Makes a Movie

Copyright 2012 The New York Times Company

Comfort Marketing...aka "using nostalgia to woo consumers during uncertain times" is one our fav topics, if only because the "times" have been particularly uncertain for a long time now, and specifically, for most of the past 10 years(!) that we've been blogging here.

If you are first time visitor, I'm a big fan of this type of advertising (go ahead, you can call it branding if you want), and the NY Times presumably piggybacked on our opining about this topic after they [coincidentally] ran on a piece on this very topic last January, immediately after we talked about it..

They're baaackkk! Courtesy of a great piece in today's NYT written by Stuart Elliott, Macy's is set to launch a TV ad campaign (and presumably, complemented by an online and a mobile-device compatible version) which "artfully co-mingles" Boy Bieber, Donald "You Can't Trump This!" Trump, Martha Stewart and Taylor Swift with clips of Edmund Gwenn aka Kris Kringle from the 1947 iconic film, "Miracle on 34th Street."

“The Macy’s campaign is indicative of a trend on Madison Avenue known as comfort marketing, using nostalgia to woo consumers during the uncertain economy. Other examples include revivals of familiar brand characters like Speedy Alka-Seltzer as well as campaigns that commemorate milestone anniversaries.”

For all of you marcom gurus and talking heads that have the attention of corporate sponsors, this is a strategy that always works well, if executed with creative thinking..