”Coupons are like alcohol; originally a stimulant, than a depressant.”

The biggest problem with coupons of course that nine times out of ten erode margin you end up subsidizing those who are already loyal without a demonstrable change in activity outside of them coming to expect the discount every time they show up. You’re effectively saying,

“Here. Go ahead. Reach into my pocket and take some profit margin.”

So what’s a poor internet marketing guru to do? Well, you’re better off identifying an activity that can grow your profits: such as rewarding your brand’s advocates for recommending you to their social network. Use Social Media Monitoring to identify those fans with the biggest networks and give them something to talk about. So here are 7 ways to provide non-monetary rewards to your biggest fans including specific examples from real-life marketers.

1. Invites Them To A Special Event

I love my local businesses that shut their doors after hours and have a party for their best customers. My local hockey shop does it annually for the men’s hockey league. It’s a great way for them to network and thank key decision-makers. It works for special company product launches as well.

2. Give Them Direct Access To Senior Staff

While research into ‘why people follow brands online’ shows that the number one reason is couponing it also indicates how interested people were in potentially being able to directly access brand managers, thought-leaders and the other ‘business celebrities’ that walk your halls. It gives management a manageable way to directly connect with top customers and gives the customer bragging rights. Exclusive email addresses or hotlines are easy ways to implement this.

3. Break Your Own Rules

British Airways, rocked the airline world when it introduced Fast Track which allowed its first-class passengers a way to zip through customs. Do you have a key rule that you can waive for your best customers that gives them bragging rights?

4. Make Them Part of Product Planning

Recent research on why people follow a brand showed that beyond getting free stuff, people want to know about new products and give their opinion. Dick’s Drive-In let its customers choose between three sites for its sixth Seattle location and got 115,000 votes (and you can bet a lot of loyal fans for the new location not hesitant to tell their friends.)

A version of this is Beta Testing Invites. Google and Twitter are masters of this marketing technique. By inviting in a select few ‘lab rats’, it makes the product better and is so effective it created the ‘forever beta’ philosophy. Works offline too. When Starbucks first opened in our city the windows were covered with paper and only occasionally did the door open to let in lucky folks into the inner sanctum to test the results of their barista training.

5. Give Them Something They Value Which Costs Little (To You)

Starbucks is an amazing marketer. It showed particularly when they offered Free Coffee on Earth Day to anyone who owned a travel mug. Way back when I was helping Blockbuster we offered loyal renters free movies from the kid’s section. The inventory was already paid for and offered parents a welcome kid-distracter. Perceived Value High; Cost Low.

6. Solve Another Problem For Them

Is there a special service you can provide them that cost you little but helps them a lot?

• The Financial Services company that washes your car while you attend their seminar?
• Like a Florist who calls to ask you whether you want the same order this Valentine’s Day?
• Or the shop that offers its best customers extra late hours during the Christmas rush?

7. Celebrate A Special Day

Social Media is such a godsend to this tactic it’s spawned a new expert: the birthday marketer. There’s virtual cakes, flowers and a while host of items that you can send your biggest Facebook fans but better yet, make sure there’s a natural fit between the day and your product. While birthdays are great for brands like Dairy Queen if you’re Victoria’s Secret, Valentine’s Day may make more sense or Tax-Free Day if you’re Intuit’s TurboTax.

Hope this helps.

Wait!

There’s an 8th way to reward your fans that doesn’t cost a ton! You guessed it. Surprise Them! KLM detected when a passenger checked in with Foursquare at the Amsterdam airport. A quick monitor of their Foursquare, Twitter and Facebook revealed their interests and likes (and size of their social footprint). KLM then hunted them down and provided them with a personalized gift. Here’s a link to more.

I don’t trust you.

Not if you’re a corporation that is. And I’m not alone as over the past 30+ years we’ve grown to trust corporations less and less and each other more and more. Word-of-mouth as a marketing concept dates back to when consumers first climbed out of the primordial ooze but what is new is that it’s on turbo-charge and been made into a powerful internet marketing tool thanks to social networking and the explosion of reviewing and rating tools.

Don’t trust me on this?

Don’t blame you. So here are 15 statistics that underline the internet marketing power that comes from activating your most valuable resource: your fans.

1. Traffic on review sites grew 158% last year (Compete.com)
2. 70% now consult reviews or ratings before purchasing (BusinessWeek)
3. Even before making an offline purchase in shops, 51% of consumers use the Internet (Verdict Research, May 2009)
4. 92% have more confidence in info found online than they do in anything from a salesclerk or other source (Wall Street Journal, Jan 2009)
5. 90% of consumers spend 24 hours or more researching a product that cost $300+…and only 6 minutes with the actual online retailer.
6. 90% of online consumers trust recommendations from people they know; 70% trust consumers they don’t know, 27% trust experts, 14% trust advertising
7. 75% of people don’t believe that companies tell the truth in advertisements (Yankelovich)
8. 7 in 10 who read reviews share them with friends, family & colleagues thus amplifying their impact (Deloitte & Touche, Sept. 2007)
9. 34% have turned to social media to air their feelings about a company. 26% to express dissatisfaction, 23% to share companies or products they like. (Harris Poll, April 2010)
10. Why do people share? 46% say they can be brutally honest on the internet.  38% aim to influence others when they express their preferences online (Harris Poll, April 2010)
11. Reviews on a site can boost conversion +20% (Bazaarvoice.com/resources/stats “Conversion Results”)
12. Consumers spend 2X as much time – 14 minutes – with e-tail sites that have reviews.
13. 97% who made a purchase based on an online review found the review to be accurate (Comscore/The Kelsey Group, Oct. 2007)
14. Consumers are 50% more likely to use a local business after a positive review.
15. 85% are more likely to purchase products/services if they can find recommendations aboug it online.

Hope this helps. If it does…

…pass it on.

When it comes to Film, TV or Internet marketing,  video production costs are always affected by the following four areas.

1.    Length of the video

2.    Production values desired

3.    How many hours are planned to complete the project

4.    Complexity of the elements (# of talent, days on location, special effects, animation, etc.)

Whether it is a simple internet marketing video or a large, complex production, anyone making a video has to consider these four elements when determining video production costs and how they will impact on what the final outcome.

Bottom-line: You have to decide on what you want the outcome to be.  

Here are examples of three types of productions (lower, medium and higher priced videos) that will these four elements impact your video production costs. 

1. Lower Video Production Costs

• This video must be short in length.
• Production values must be realistic for the budget. (lower to medium quality production)
• The number of hours dedicated to this project must be minimal.
• The production must not very complex in the number of elements required.

2. Medium Video Production Costs

• This video can be longer in length, but remember your must hold the audience’s attention, so watch your length.
• Production values can increase by upping your level of equipment, crew, editor, etc.
• More hours can be assigned to this project.
• More elements can be added to increase the retention of the intended audience like more talent, filming days on location, and hours in the studio with the editor.

3. Higher Video Production Costs

• You can increase the video’s length and maybe even create separate modules. (Great for training)
• Production values can move up another notch from video to film or film look found on the new higher end digital cameras.
• A greater number of hours can be added to this project, but remember it all has to fit within the budget.
• In this case you can look at things like multiple actors, animation, special effects, increased size of crew, etc.

Now considering the above factors, here’s a simple way to budget.

While we have simplified the process for budgeting purposes, here are three charts that can help you cost out your next video production.

Lower Cost Video Production ($6,500)

We are assuming you’re not using your nephew and his iPhone for your company’s brand and internet marketing effort. If your video production company charges an average hourly fee of $100 per hour, it is simple to do the math. Let’s dedicate a total of 65 hours to this project taking the budget for this lower cost video to about $6,500. (If your video was super simple – e.g. a 30-second straight shot of a testimonial – then that might take only 10 hours and you can do the math.)

Medium Cost Video Production ($12,500)

Higher Cost Video Production ($25,000)

For more information on using video for your internet marketing, check out my last post on 17 Reasons To Add Video To Your Website.

Happy shooting!

Some people say that Google built its brand without traditional advertising.

Poppycock!

Putting aside its current use of traditional advertising to market itself…(ahem)

…Google also was smart as hell to create awareness of which search engine you were using by occassionally tweaking the presentation of its name. Along with other little proofpoints of differentiation like the speed and quantity of its results…

…this creative way of building good ol’ fashioned brand awareness and corporate identity is one of the secrets of its success. Something Yahoo, AOL, Netscape and others missed. And something that continues to be missed by even big online brands today like Facebook.

(It’s also a great example to point people to who believe “no, our logo and corporate identity is carved in stone” point. It shows when and why you can play with corporate identity can be played with.)

Now comes some facts on the traffic power of the Google Doodle (the Goodle?). Not surprisingly it has a powerful effect.

Way to go Gumby.

The Google Doodle is a great example of building clever little moments of online branding into your own website design and overall internet marketing.

Will yours have the same traffic power as the Google Doodle? Not even close but, like Google did, you’ll find it a great way to build online brand equity and get people to remember you.

If you’re interested in online branding see my post on Every Error Message Tells A Story and Other Lessons in Online Branding.

Hope this helps.

Bob Nunn is an award winning internet marketing consultant based in Toronto passionate about marketing strategies that move the needle. Book an appointment to see how an 11-point check-up can get your brand revved up online.

What is a QR Code?

Quick primer: QR stands for ‘quick response’ and it’s basically a new type of consumer-friendly bar code that offers faster decoding and higher storage of data. Think of it as a secret decoder ring you give your customers.

Usage of QR Codes:

• 58% of people say they aren’t familiar with QR codes. (Lab42 survey of 500 respondents, Aug., 2011)
• 64% don’t know what they’re for. (Simpson Carpenter survey of 794 online respondents, 2011)
• 28% of smartphone owners have used a mobile bar code scanning application like a QR code. (Mobile Commerce Daily, Jan., 2011)
• Overall, 11% have ever used QR codes (Simpson Carpenter survey of 794 online respondents, Sept. 2011)
• 6.2% of total mobile audience scanned a QR code in June (Comscore)
• 47% of people who did scan found them very useful, 20% said they don’t offer any real advantage and don’t plan on using them in the future. (Simpson Carpenter survey of 794 online respondents, Sept. 2011)
• The data on which gender uses them is mixed but usage clearly skews younger and high-income.

Barriers to QR Code Usage:

• 43% of those unfamiliar with QR code scanning said they don’t what QR codes are, 26% said they didn’t have a smartphone, 14% said they’d never seen one, 13% said they’re inconvenient. (Lab42 survey of 500 respondents, Aug., 2011)
• 52% said they don’t have a device capable of scanning them. (Simpson Carpenter survey of 794 online respondents, Sept. 2011) This could mean either they don’t have a smartphone or they don’t have an app – or know where it is or how to use it.
• 35% of now own smartphones and, along with tablets, usage is growing fast. (Comscore U.S., July) By 2015, it’s expected 200 million Americans – or roughly 2/3’s – will have a smartphone or a tablet. (Instat, Aug., 2011)

Reasons for Using a QR Code:

• Top reason for scanning a QR code is to get a discount, followed closely by getting more info on a product or service (44%) (Lab42 survey of 500 respondents, Aug., 2011)
• 82% expect to get a coupon or deal after scanning a QR code (Queaar.com, Sept. 2011)
• More than half of people who scan barcodes said they did it while in a store to compare prices. 23% said they scanned to bring up more information on the product. The most popular items scanned are grocery (26%), followed by DVD & video games (23%).  (Mobile Commerce Daily, Jan., 2011)
• In Japan, where knowledge and use of QR codes is much higher, the top reason to scan is to get a coupon (31.6%) or a special promotion (30.9%), followed by getting more product info (22.7%) (NetAsia Research, 2009)

QR Code Marketing Case Studies:

• Kellogg put a QR code AND an SMS code on boxes to launch Crunchy Nut cereal. Scans of the QR code beat text messages 7 to 1 with 40,000 QR scans vs 6,000 messages to the SMS address resulting in 38,000 views of the video that was featured; a high conversion of engagement to views. All sounds great and it was a successful launch but – before you pour yourself a big bowl of QR code – Kellogg would have sold millions of boxes so engagement via QR code is likely a very small fraction and the tactic doesn’t seem to be repeated for other lines. (Source: Mobile Marketer, July, 2011).
• Target, Home Depot and Best Buy have all adopted QR codes as part of in-store displays to improve the shopper experience with the latter using the number of scans to guide product marketing decisions.

My Takeaway

1. Clearly this is a medium that’s not quite ready for prime time. It’s growing fast but it’s early and it’s not mass.  New technologies are coming up that may leapfrog it by being more user-friendly and so shrewd marketers may want to sit out on the sidelines for awhile.
2. There’s so many tools out there these days it’s increasingly important marketers understand what the use of each one for consumers. (For more on not having tool remorse, see my Internet Marketing Tool Time posts.) It seems primarily they’re finding QR codes a useful tool to get more information about a product at the point of purchase.  That’s a far cry from it being a useful addition to your magazine ad or billboard where, as someone said, it’s just an ad to see more advertising.

Hope this helps.

Do you have any other worthy – even contrary stats. We’d all enjoy learning from them.

Bob Nunn is an award winning internet marketing consultant based in Toronto passionate about marketing strategies that move the needle. Book an appointment to see how an 11-point check-up can get your brand revved up online.

Addendum: Came across a great little QR Code case study to balance out the Kelloggs example. Heinz ketchup is doing a second roll-out of a QR code program that got 1 million scans first time around. They put codes on bottles that go inside restaurants. The promotion coincides with Veterans Day and lets people say thanks to ‘Wounded Warriors’ with each message or ‘like’ earning 57 cents (get the smart branding?) to the cause. What makes this a strong program is the combination of cause with the insight that in a restaurant you have time to kill.

Too often marketers rely on text to tell their corporate story.

Marketers also add photos to help with the messaging, but there is no better way to build a persuasive story than to marry emotion, with motion, sound with sound effects, and great creative to lift the corporate story off the page and into the heart of the consumer.

After all, isn’t strong marketing all about telling compelling stories that encourage the customer to want to know more about your product or service?

When producing your website video think “wow factor, entertainment and education”.    

These three important factors help make your website set off the emotional triggers within your consumer.

Here’s 14 other benefits that come from adding well-produced videos to your website.

1. STICKIER EXPERIENCE
2. ALLOWS TO CONSUMER TO “IMAGINE MORE”
3. HELPS SET YOU APART WHEN INTRODUCING YOUR COMPANY TO YOUR TARGET CUSTOMERS
4. WHEN YOU KEEP YOUR VIDEO SHORT AND PUNCHY, IT CREATES MORE IMPACT
5. GREAT VIDEOS DRIVE MORE TRAFFIC TO YOUR SITE
6. VIDEO INCREASE THE LENGTH OF TIME ON YOUR SITE
7. VIDEOS INCREASE THE TRUST FACTOR IN YOUR COMPANY, ESPECIALLY WHEN STAFF AND SENIOR EXECUTIVES ARE ON CAMERA.
8. EASILY DEMONTRATES THE PERSONALITY OF YOUR COMPANY
9. WITH PROPER SEO, IT IMPROVES SEARCH ENGINE RANKINGS
10. VIDEO CAN EASILY DEMONSTRATE AND SOLVE A PROBLEM
11. DEPENDING ON THE COMPLEXITY OF THE VIDEO, IT CAN BE VERY COST EFFECTIVE.
12. VIDEO CAN HAVE MULTI PURPOSES (Home Page, Trade Show, Sales Tool, Email Blast)
13. YOU ALWAYS HAVE IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO IT WHEN YOU ARE ONLINE.
14. IMPROVE THE OVERALL WEBSITE EXPERIENCE

So, go to your website right now and pretend you are the customer. In 5 seconds or less, determine if a video might have kept you as a customer rather than moving on. 

That’s why Brand Mechanics in partnership with Larter Advertising is creating a whole new marketing services model this month with the launch of a co-working space for York Region marketers.

Housed in the ‘Larter Building’ in historic Aurora, the introduction of this co-working space will create a brand new marketing model for a new era and we’re looking for partners to join us.

While the advertising agency model built in the last century is still financially and culturally dependent on recommending ‘big’ traditional media, this new model will offer clients a team of top specialists that work independently but share the same core values and beliefs in building businesses and brands.

This way, instead of having to recommend certain tactics to clients in order to keep the advertising holding company happy, clients get only what they need to solve their marketing problem.

Marketers who join this unique co-working space get the creative synergy of working alongside other top marketers and the business synergy that comes from networking and sharing leads and ideas.

CoWorking Office Spaces

Modeled after successful co-working idea incubators such as the Accelerator Centre in Waterloo and the MaRS centre in Toronto, co-working spaces such as this have the following benefits:

• Enjoyment of the camaraderie and social benefits of working
• Avoiding the distractions of working from home (60% report they’re more relaxed at home since joining a co-working space!)
• 82% say they are more motivated
• 92% report better interactions

York Region Marketing Hub

The Larter Building is a unique creative space which encourages ideas. For a low monthly rental, marketers who join us will enjoy the following benefits:

• High traffic location central to York Region
• Reception Area

• Working space (desk / chair)
• High-speed wired and wireless internet
• Business Mailing Address
• Free Parking
• Boardroom with large screen TV and white board
• Kitchen

• State-of-the-Art Audio and Video Studios with Green Screen

• Copier (no more trips to Staples : )
• Best yet…no more commutes to downtown Toronto!

We are specifically interested in partners with these skills:

• SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• Web Developers
• Web Designers
• Video Producer
• Social Media Marketing Specialists
• Blog and Online Content Writers

If you’re interested in trying out the benefits of this new marketing business model, email me at bob@bobnunn.com or call my cell 647-519-5247. Or call 905-727-6978 and speak to Diana or Brian.

Bob Nunn is an award winning internet marketing consultant based in Toronto passionate about building brands by tuning-up their online marketing. Book an appointment to learn how an 11-point check-up can get your brand revved up online.

I mean what is with that moon orgy? And over on the right that’s not meant to suggest? No, couldn’t be.

I love the Prius and its interior. Almost bought one last time but this did a poor job* of making it more compelling.

My Fix:

As a wise soul once said the relationship between the branding strategy and the creative approach can be likened to the gap of a spark plug. If the gap is too narrow, the spark created is too weak. This is akin to an ad that is too obvious to get noticed. Too much ‘seen that’.

If the gap is too wide, then the viewer is left with a “huh?” and no connection is made to the creative idea and the product and no sales combustion occurs.

The latter, in my humble opinion, is the problem with this ad.

Hope this helps.

The Marketing Challenge

The Toronto Ski Club is one of the oldest ski clubs in Ontario. And, along with the Collingwood Ski Club, owns about half of the ski hill at the popular Blue Mountain Resort in Collingwood, Ontario. It’s private clubhouse sits at the base of Blue and was built in the 50’s after the founding members had strapped on their skies and discovered the superior skiing north of Toronto.

But the clubhouse needed a little work. About $3 million worth. And, in order to fund that, the club needed to put on a push for new members.

Example of Publicity for New Clubhouse courtesy of Escarpment Magazine

The Branding Strategy

The club had a lot of assets.

• A great membership base famous for its warmth.
• A rich and colourful history in pioneering skiing in Canada.
• Access to the best ski resort in Ontario and, through it, potential exposure to tens of thousands of skiers and potential members.

But the club, despite its proud history, had been under-marketed and the research we conducted found that 40% of the people who skied at Blue Mountain had never even heard of the Toronto Ski Club despite its role as one of the founders of the hill. The website didn’t rank well, its powerful history and modern story were not well-told online. And the brand identity – completely redone in the last 10 years – didn’t leverage the history as an asset. It was if we had the history of the Montreal Canadiens but were using the logo of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

Meanwhile, the affluent, 40ish families it was trying to attract were showing a renewed affection for brands that have a ‘cool history’. Fueled partly by the patriotism of the Vancouver Olympics, retro clothing for Canadian brands like Hudson’s Bay and CBC were flying off the shelves as consumers turned to brands that were authentic and local.

Could we develop a branding strategy that leveraged the history in a way that made new members want to join and existing members want to buy clothing that would give the club greater visibility on the hill?

And could we wrap it all up in a website that told the story and ranked better?

The Solution

Contrary to what the Logo Chief piece says we brought in top design firm, Amoeba Corp, part of the John St. agency. They not only did work for Hudson’s Bay but they also had done the logo for the extremely popular Toronto FC major league soccer team. Following the strategy the team poured through the history books to develop a logo that provided a modern take on the original design from 1924.

(Why a single pole? We didn’t know either till we found out that the original members back in ‘24 used a ‘ski staff’, not two ski poles. That’s cool.)

And crafted a bit of digital storytelling that went like this:

It started in 1924 with a trailblazing membership that made it their mission to explore and ski as much downhill terrain as they could find, and who ultimately played a pivotal role in the establishment of skiing on the Niagara Escarpment. And it has continually strengthened over the years, with a family of members that actively embrace and enjoy the winter months with boundless enthusiasm and a pioneering spirit.

Today, the TSC’s private clubhouse proudly sits at the base of Blue Mountain in Collingwood, Ontario and the club continues to welcome the winter with best in class alpine programs, unrivaled hospitality, and an exceptional vantage point from which families can share their enthusiasm for the season’s pleasures.

The Toronto Ski Club at Blue Mountain. Loving winter since 1924.

Sweet. Cool ski clothing was created using a couple of variations of the design.

And the site was re-built around this story, taken out of a Flash format and augmented with top keywords to get it ranking and quotes from existing members to boost conversion. The Facebook page was also optimized and reinvigorated.

The Results

• The site moved from page 3 on Google to a high position on page 1.
• Site traffic increased by 101%
• Average pageviews increased by 7%
• Clothing sales hit an all-time high
• The club exceeded its membership goals for this past winter; almost tripling the number of test-drive members
• In fact, membership goals have almost been reached for next winter and there’s not a snowflake in sight.

Changing branding with a well-established organization is never easy as the Gap and Starbucks well know. You’re messing with something sacred so it was nice to get notes like this:

“As a long time member of the Toronto Ski Club, I appreciate and commend Bob Nunn for his skillful management of an important but contentious project including both, the development, as well as the membership “sell through”, of a rebranding of our club’s visual identity.”

We recognize the support of the members and Blue Mountain Resort and the incredible execution of the staff and volunteer members in achieving these results. Hope this inspires your own online branding challenges.

Bob Nunn is an award winning internet marketing consultant based in Toronto passionate about building brands by tuning-up their online marketing and conquering the halfpipe. Does your internet marketing need a tune-up? Contact us to learn how an 11-point audit can create a roadmap to get your brand revved up online.

What’s interesting is how he got his start.

He sold stoves door-to-door in Scotland during the heights of the Depression. In becoming successful at it, he became fascinated in how what he said made a difference between whether he got in the door or not.  He learned, tested new approaches and eventually became so successful they asked him to write the sales manual for the entire company. By the end of the 30’s he had followed his interest across the Atlantic to work for Gallup Research. He later cited their emphasis on meticulous research and adherence to reality as a major influence on his thinking.

His Approach

“I prefer the discipline of knowledge to the anarchy of ignorance.”

“Do your homework. Study the product you’re going to advertise.”

Given this philosophy, I think he would be ‘gob-smacked’ by the tools every marketer today has at their fingertips such as keyword research.

“If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think.”

Sounds like he would have loved tools like Google’s Wonder Wheel.

I suspect he would admire the whole suite of online tools every ad practictioner has available to them today:

Men Before They Went Mad

When you consider these wise words, it seems to me that, somewhere along the way, advertising got a little lost from his era to ours. Drank a little too much Nike juice and lost focus. As media fragmented and cluttered, the business started squeezing too hard on the bat hoping for creative entertainment to be what broke through. Ogilvy said:

“When I write an advertisement, I don’t want you to tell me that you find it ‘creative’, I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product.”

Or, more succinctly:

“If it doesn’t sell, it isn’t creative.”

I’m not saying that we don’t have a duty to make it interesting by using our creativity. Search marketers themselves could raise their game along these lines and build more sustainable brand propositions than “Great Price. Buy Now!” but when advertising rewards creativity devoid of insight at the expense of selling based on understanding, something gets lost.

Advertising as a profession has a new chance. We’ve been given an incredible set of tools to dive deep into understanding the needs people have and the exact language they use to articulate it. We need to turn away from Cannes and turn toward keywords and social media to find new clear and compelling ways to communicate.

Hope this helps the cause.

Bob Nunn is an award winning internet marketing consultant based in Toronto passionate about building brands by tuning-up their online marketing. Does your internet marketing need a tune-up? Contact us to learn how our 11-point diagnostic can create a roadmap to get your brand performing online.