Marketing Matters

Why hire an outside agency or consultant to do your marketing or at least work with your current internal marketing department? A good question, and one for which I regularly find real world examples. Let me start with one of the most important reasons…objectivity.

Brenner Associates recently redesigned a website for a software/services company. They were flabbergasted that we recommended NOT mentioning the name of their flagship product anywhere on the home page (with limited room for text). Instead, we suggested substituting the product name with important key phrases that clearly explain the benefits and value of this product.

To someone inside the company, the product name is everything. While under development, the product – and its name – was everything to the employees. They lived, breathed and dreamt about it for months if not years on end. So when it came time to market their new widget, it seemed obvious that the company’s website homepage should scream the product name upfront and center.

Too bad the rest of the world did not have the same pre-launch experience. Potential customers never head the product name before and don’t care, at this point, what it’s called. However, what they DO know is that they have a problem that needs solving. And they have a general idea of what terms to use to look for solutions.

For example, say your company has just launched a new product called MoraleCentral, a new online tool that gives users tips on how to solve employee morale issues. 

Chances are, potential customers – those with employee morale problems – would go to the Internet and Google such terms as  “employee moral”, “moral boosting”, “improving employee productivity” or “teamwork tips” But unless they are already familiar with the product itself, chances are zip that they would search for “MoraleCentral”.

More importantly, once they found your website, its important that they instantly know that they’ve came to the right place. If you don’t catch their interest in the first second or two, they are just a click away to the next site.

So, what would be of more value to have highlighted on your homepage? The term MoralCentral or the words “Solve Employee Morale Problems Now”? The product title means diddly to them. But when they see the “solve employee moral” highlighted, they know instantly that they’ve come to the right place.

For the guy who has been working on MoralCentral for the past year and a half, this might seem counter intuitive. For an outside marketing pro, the choice is obvious.

It addition, MoralCentral will certainly have no SEO value whatsoever. The phrase used to highlighting the problem/solution, however, will have been chosen based upon its proven track record for driving viewers to websites. What’s the point of highlighting anything if no one will ever see it?

Another case in point

Several years ago, Brenner Associates was working with a top printer manufacturer. The internal marketing team was quite excited (and anxious) because the company was about to launch a new printer, the XPT 3000 (not the real name). The reason this was such a big deal to the printer company and its employees is because the new XPT3000 was about to replace the company’s best selling printer to date. If this new printer wasn’t a success, it could really hurt sales.

So Brenner Associates looked at the new product and at the competitive landscape and at customer demand and decided that the best thing about this new printer was that fact that it was, by far, the fastest printer under $100. And that is what we led with our press release headline – AJAX Introduces The Fastest Printer Under $100.

The internal marketing manager was upset. Why didn’t we mention the name of the printer or that it was replacing their most popular printer?

He wanted a headline that read AJAX Replaces Popular XPT1000 With New XPT3000.

To you and me (outsiders) it should be obvious. But it wasn’t so clear to the person that had been living and breathing XPT3000 for the past six months.

Then I asked the manager, “what if Frigidaire was about to replace its best selling refrigerator with one that was twice as big for half the price. Should the headline be Frigidaire Replaces Its Best Selling Refrigerator With New One or Frigidaire’s New Refrigerator Gives You More For Less ?

This was easy for him to answer correctly.

He was an outsider looking in.

Objectivity.

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You mark my words. Sooner or later, Toyota will admit that the acceleration problem they are having with their cars is much more than a floor mat problem. Then over the following several months, we will hear about evidence that shows the company knew about “these other” problems for years.

And even if I’m wrong, the fact that I (and most American consumers) would probably bet that I’m right, is indicative of a crisis communications strategy that is about as bad as it gets. By breaking some of the most fundamental rules regarding crisis PR, Toyota has destroyed any sense of the trust that they’ve built up over the past couple of decades. And each day it just gets worse.

Here are some of the rules that Toyota apparently continues to ignore:

Rule 1. Be up front and honest.
Rule 2. Be quick to admit mistakes – it’s better that you reveal them yourself then have someone else do it.
Rule 3. Show sincere concern for those harmed and those that may be harmed in the future.
Rule 4. Lay out a viable strategy for setting things right.

The New York Times reported that there is evidence Toyota knew about some of the most recent problems back in 2007 or earlier. And now, instead of admitting their mistakes, it appears that the Japanese company is trying to minimize the extent of the problem – blaming it on floor mats..even when there is strong evidence to the contrary.

To reduce public concern, the company quickly put out ads telling Americans that Toyota made a mistake and is now refocused on quality control. Sorry guys. Too little, too late. You provide no specifics to what the problem was or how you are correcting it. You do not address the inordinant amount of time it took to reveal these problems or how you are addressing internal issues to prevent this from happening again.

And still the reports of runaway cars continue to make headlines.

Of course, the company’s current crisis communications plan is the result of executive decisions to reduce the impact on sales. In the meantime, the law suites and recalls will certainly add up to be one of the biggest and most expensive blunders in automotive history. Yet, the company continues to portray, what seems to be, indifference to its customers and greater concern for its own bottom line. Not good.

As far as the bad and the good…While not as ugly as Toyota, Tiger Woods didn’t do so well with his crisis communications either. He did finally hold a press conference and spoke honestly about what led up to his crisis. Unfortunately, it was another case of too little, too late. He did outline a strategy for fixing the problem (off to the sex clinic) and in time, his fans may actually forgive him and the endorsements may return.

As for the good, I’m reminded of a corporate crisis that came across my desk over a decade ago. Turned out that the largest personal printer manufacturer in the world was selling a printer that could kill you! That’s right. If you put your finger in the right place at the right time, you would receive a shock that was bigger than the one you’d get when you saw how much you’d be spending on printer ink cartridges.

As soon as the problem was discovered, a meeting was held to determine the proper course of action. While the implications for damage to immediate sales were not good, the right decisions were made:

1. An immediate recall of all effected printers
2. A halt in production until the design was corrected
3. A proactive communications strategy.

That’s right. Even though no one had yet died (or was even harmed) from the printer, it was the company’s own PR staff that first alerted the press (and subsequently, the public) to the problem. The potential danger was, if anything, exaggerated rather than minimized. A strong course of action was outlined…and in the end, the company received more press for its quick action than for the original problem.

The ugly, the bad, and the good.

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As a PR pro, I am often asked to review and comment on existing websites. In many cases, a company has just plunked down thousands of dollars on a website makeover only to find the results disappointing (at best).

No wonder. Websites are often designed and created by HTML or PHP experts, not marketing pros. The end result is a site with lots of animation, java-run menus and clickable pages. It may also have a smattering of imbedded SEO code or even an associated blog. Unfortunately however, coding experts rarely have the marketing expertise to ensure the site’s success.

With that in mind, here are some things to consider when developing a website for your B2B business.

1. Home Page: Websites are like a book.

Is This Your Home Page?

If you were looking for a book to read, would you pull one off the shelf and immediately jump in to the middle and start reading? Of course not. You would first look at the cover. Then perhaps you’d glance at the back of the book or the inside jacket to see a picture of the author.

In the same way, a website’s home page must be inviting. Pictures are good – especially of people. Words are ok but white space is better. Most importantly, it must clearly tell the visitor that he has arrived at the right destination.

2. Messaging: Still the real gold of any marketing effort.

Decide who you (your company) are, what value you provide and how you differ from the competition. You may have only seconds to grab a visitor’s attention so be sure your positioning and key messages are concise and clearly visible on the page. Have someone from OUTSIDE your industry proofread the copy on the page. If they don’t get it right away, chances are, there is too much industry jargon being used.

3. Clarity: Bullet points and highlights.

Messages get lost in long worded paragraphs. Whenever possible, make each web page easy to scan. Use bullet points. Highlight important words or concepts. Repeating keywords is not only an SEO strategy – it also helps underscore your messages.

4. SEO: It’s not just inserting keywords.

Marketers have always relied on PR pros to create effective copy. Now that copy must also provide SEO value. Putting these two requirements together – sharp inviting copy AND SEO-rich content – is a real craft, but essential. Nailing this requirement will have a real impact on the effectiveness of the site.

5. Video: An enormously effective sales tool.

There is a reason why imbedded video has become such a hot item in the world of web marketing. It works. It can add a human element to a cold site. It can also serve as the perfect vehicle for quickly explaining complex concepts. Video testimonials from current customers or product users can be invaluable. Best of all, it doesn’t have to be an expensive proposition. In fact, today’s esthetics oftentimes favor sincerity over polish.

6. Conversion: Finally, a way to measure success.

Measuring marketing success has never been easy…until now. By building in to your site smart conversion strategies you not only measure how many people visited your site, but how many of these visitors turned into actual customers. A conversion page on an e-commerce site is easy – it’s the page where they order product. But on a B2B site with no shopping cart, you will have to be a bit more clever. Perhaps you track those that went from a product page to a contact page – or maybe you offer a downloadable document that provides sales lead information.

The bottom line is that a successful website must have more than information. It must be inviting and provide convincing messages in an easy to scan format. It must be enjoyable to visit and easy to measure. And that takes more than proper coding.

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WE ALL KNOW that David Letterman can be a funny guy. We are now learning that he can be quit a savvy PR professional as well.

The talk show host’s handling of his recent “sex scandal” is truly one for the lesson books. We know that this kind of “news” can wreck careers. We are seeing that it doesn’t have to.

It has now been about a week since the news first hit the press and the story already seems to have shriveled up and all but blown away. How is this possible? A celebrity, a sex scandal and a blackmail! This is the kind of story that the press usually feeds upon for weeks if not months. It’s the kind of story that has ruined the careers of some of the most powerful (presidents, senators, CEOs) and well-loved (actors, musicians) public figures of our times. For Letterman however, it seems to have become little more than a fleeting comedic subject hardly worth a mention. How can this be?

BRENNER’S TOP THREE LIST OF LETTERMAN LESSONS

1. Be the first to tell the news. Letterman didn’t wait for information about his trysts to come out in the press. He was the first to break the news. In fact, he told his story on the same day that the warrant was issued for the alleged blackmailer. This not only allowed Letterman to take control of the message, but it kept him from appearing defensive (and hence, guilty).

How do so many politicians miss this? They certainly have the same high-quality PR council that I’m sure Letterman had. Do they simply – despite all the evidence to the contrary – think they will be the first to squelch this kind of news? Time and time again, we see the negative results of sitting on a story and letting others control the message. When will they learn?

The same goes for companies that have bad news to tell. Be it a sex scandal, a product recall, an impending financial concern or other bad news – it’s vitally important to act fast and, if at all possible, ensure that you (and not the press) are the ones breaking the story.

2. Be honest. Letterman doesn’t deny the accusations. He doesn’t even try to minimize the wrong-doing (can you say, “It wasn’t really sex”?) He is very clear that he had sex with employees.

3. Take control of the message. If you watch the replay of his “confession,” you can’t help but be impressed with the way he took control of the message. Consider the following:

- He chose the setting for telling his story. He could have called a press conference. He chose instead to reveal his story on his show, in front of his biggest supporters – his fans.

- He shifted the story from one about sex with employees to one about blackmail. In fact, it wasn’t until almost 8 minutes into his ten-minute explanation that he even mentioned the fact that it was all about illicit sex. In his telling, it was all about this creepy guy who terrorized him with blackmail.

- He did say early on that the “blackmailer” was going to write about all the “terrible stuff” that he (Letterman) had done throughout his career. In fact, he mentioned “terrible stuff “several times. By the time he got down to specifics regarding sex with employees, it didn’t seem so terrible after all.

- Most importantly, he did a great job of positioning himself as the victim, not the guilty. In his telling of the story, he was able to keep the focus on the “blackmailer” and the trauma that he (David Letterman) had to endure in dealing with this evil-doer. He talks about be terrified that someone may be hiding under his car, he’s riddled with “Lutheran Midwestern guilt,” he has to do things he hates doing (conferencing with his lawyer), he says that this whole thing was “quite scary” and that he was made to fear for himself and his family. He even ends by saying his motivation for sharing this story was simply to protect his friends and family.   

So now, a week later, the story seems to be all but dead. I have yet to see Dave’s picture on the cover of any of the grocery store tabloids or on my computer screen when I pull up Yahoo! News. Is this the end? That may depend upon additional revelations revealed as the case plays out. If the sex wasn’t consensual or if any of the women felt harassed, the story may have additional play – but for now, thanks to a smart communications strategy, Letterman has certainly scored a knock out in the first round.

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