Pandora is no longer purple

Thanks to my friend Nick and the article on WIRED we learned that Pandora radio will now have ads.
It would be fun to discuss whether or not have ads on the radio, but in this economy we know that money is tight. So facing an ever tightening budget our friends at Pandora have turned to something tried and true- ads.
This is where the Purple Cow that was Pandora suddenly loses all his color. Pandora was (is) a revolutionary way to listen to music. As part of the Music Genome Project a user can type in a song or an artist and Pandora will play music that has the same qualities as that song or artist. And they tell you why they are playing that song and how it is similar.
Truly unique, truly purple. I don't know of a single radio station that does that.

So it boggles my mind why Pandora, with its revolutionary delivery method, went with a traditional answer to its financial struggles! Sure they added the premium service, which now allows users to skip the ads. And for many people ad free radio is worth paying for. Look at how long Sirius and XM have survived. Pandora should have looked at their financial problems and approached them with the same vigor and uniqueness that they approached their music-- create something revolutionary. It would have been true to their brand and embraced by their users.

If I was Pandora I would have approached my problem with the same process that CVS Pharmacy did a few years ago. Back then the CEO's of CVS realized that a pharmacy and its profit margins were forever bound to the prices the drug manufacturers charged. Feeling like they were no longer in the drivers seat they began a massive switch in their inventory to a house brand. After all, many consumers purchase items along with a prescription. Now they are in control of their profit margins and their stock price reflects it.

Back to Pandora. They could have taken their knowledge of music and applied it even further. Perhaps creating a label for small artists needing help getting their name out there. They could loop in the artists music with their current radio and offer to sell the listener a digital copy. Kind of like how Amazon is getting into the publishing business.

My point is this. When the internet first came along we treated it like television. We placed ads on it and assumed consumers would keep buying. Then we found out that the internet was not television, that users interacted differently online they did with the boob tube. With a revolutionary idea like Pandora why go back a step to a model that takes your uniqueness away?

Marketing after the Election

With the election over we can now take a lesson from the Obama playbook in terms of message. Starting Nov. 5th the approach to selling changes-- hope will sell a product. Goodwill can inspire actions and transactions. And institutional advertising will become a priority.

Technorati Tags: Advertising Branding Creativity Positioning

It's loud in my head

I can't help but share this article from Boing Boing. Now, if you read the article and the comments you can easily dismiss this as an invalid marketing expereiment. Or as some contributors put it- as scam.

But can't a well crafted offer appear like a scam?

I think what we can take away from all of this is that 1800 people walked by and only 28 asked for a note. 28!
I can hear the marketing person already "well we got good response, 1800 people saw our sign." True, but only 28 reacted.

Keep this in mind for your next campaign. Just because they "clicked" or read it, doesn't mean they reacted. The noise that everyone contends with on a daily basis is loud and only getting louder.

Technorati Tags: Creativity Positioning Target Marketing

How big is your list?

While speaking with one of our resellers today she bragged that sent 10,000 emails to her entire list.

Ten thousand- that's a lot. I mean, really thats A LOT!

So who cares?

What if only 700 or so open it? That's 9,300 who didn't. Ninety three hundred is A LOT!

Is it relevant and personal? That is what you have to ask yourself every time you send an email campaign. If its not relevant- why send it? If it isn't personal - and no adding a "Dear {First Name}, doesn't count. I mean really personal. If you spent the time to get the person's name, then you should spend the time to get personal with them.

Here is what I do.

When I prep for a email campaign, I think of my audience. Who do I want to speak to? And more importantly- do they want to hear it? So I don't brag to my boss that I sent ten thousand emails. I brag that I sent one thousand with an open rate of 60%.

Here is my idea for you...
When getting ready to send your email campaign think about this. Would I send an email to my entire address book letting people know I am having a party? I bet not. I know my Aunt Alma wouldn't appreciate that.
An email campaign to your entire list is has the same effect.

So think back to the last time you spoke generally to a friend or coworker without ever listening to what they had to say. Sending to your entire list has the same effect.

My thoughts on user-generated content

User- generated content is undeniably hot right now. Websites like youtube, flicker, facebook, and myspace make sharing your personal preferences easier than ever.

Some brands inspire great content.



Some really miss the mark.



But lost in all of this hype is the original user-generated content- the customer feedback letter.

Here is my idea for you...
The next time you think about having a sales contest I believe you need to make the goal unrelated to a dollar amount. Instead, work to increase customer satisfaction and monitor it by the number of complimentary letters your company receives. Increasing sales is beneficial in the short term- increasing brand loyalty is beneficial for the long term.

Technorati Tags: Creativity Branding Positioning Customer Service

2 Great Points

1. People don't surf the web anymore- they info snack- Thanks Seth
2. Customers don't read anymore. They scan. - Thanks Scott

Real vs. Reality

I just ordered a combo meal from a restaurant. What I got was real. What they presented me with was a painted reality.
So my question to you is what does your company perceive as reality and what is real to your customers?

Technorati Tags: fast food combo customer perception customer service customer retention

Second place thinking

I think this article points out two things:

1. Verizon doesn't understand the market
2. The problem of thinking your number two.

Clearly Verizon thinks its the touch screen that sells the iPhone and I can't totally disagree. The touch screen is a pretty sexy feature. But its not the only feature that sells the iPhone. Ease of use, intergration, and simplicity--not to mention it is the first phone to be that easy to use with that many features. But hey, if Verizon thinks its the touchscreen--well I guess we will find out if they were right.

Also, it points out the problem with thinking you are number two. Rather than actually listening to the pains in the marketplace, Verizon is deadset to make a phone to carve those iPhone users (or wannabe iPhone users) to their product.

Hey Verizon! Either people want an iPhone or they don't. Period.

So what about all the other underserved Verizon customers who could care less about the iPhone? I believe Verizon would be better served if they listened to their customers and gave the marketplace a product that served their customers needs instead of making a copycat product. WOW-What a concept!?!?! Maybe Verizon should think "Hey Apple has the iPhone, so lets set out to make an innovative flip-phone! And better yet lets ask our customers--the ones who will actually use the product for their input and suggestions".

Alright. So this was a bit of rant. But it bugs me to no end when all companies do to steal marketshare away from each other is copy products. Innovate! Listen to your customers! Why not go in another direction?

Here's an Idea for you...
When you are out talking with your customers-either on a sales call or a presentation. Listen to their pains, their concerns, and most of all their goals. This may sound basic but if all you do is refute your competitors claims you will always be second in the customer's mind.

Technorati Tags: Things that bug me Creativity Positioning Verizon iPhone killer

Changing the rules

Remember when you were on the playground as a kid. It never seemed to fail, there was always one kid that changed the rules when they weren't winning.

You could never win. The rules kept changing.

So what happens when Apple decides that they priced the iPhone too high?

They changed the rules. They said--now its $399.

But wait. What about all of those early adopters that spent $599, not but a few months ago?

Did they just get trumped by the big machine? I think Apple was right in changing the price. $599 was high, but I don't they were right in their timing. Apple was the company that taught us $349 was the right price for music in our pocket. They were also the same company that said you should get what you pay for. So-- to have the internet, phone, ipod, YouTube, etc. in your pocket will cost you.

They just did the price decrease too soon.

Technorati Tags: Apple iPhone $399 Customer Retention Positioning

Random Crap for Sale

I check woot.com everyday for two reasons.

1. They inspire me to write good copy. Seriously. If you need a boost in the creative rear (pun intended) woot.com is a great place to go.
2. I like seeing what the deal is-because it changes daily.
   

So when they were selling a bag of crap today I was intrigued.

What? How-can-you-sell-that? Has the world gone mad?

Nope.

Check out the copy that they wrote.

Bag O’ Crap XXI

Wait, wait, why are you clicking that button? Don't click! You don't want this junk. Seriously, clicking that I WANT ONE button is a one-way ticket to disappointment and shame. You'll cram a few useless clumps of consumer flotsam into your life, be out like eight bucks, and for what? For what? What is the sound of one hand crapping?

If you must proceed, CHECK THIS OUT. Somebody misunderstands this concept every time, so please READ THE BIG PRINT:
1. WHEN YOU ORDER THIS ITEM, YOU’RE ORDERING ONE (1) BAG WITH up to THREE (3) PIECES OF CRAP IN IT.
2. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR SELECTING THE QUANTITY: THREE WHEN YOU ORDER.
3. YOU WILL WASTE FREIGHT IF YOU ORDER FEWER THAN THREE. And you’ll get less crap. Wait, why is that bad again? Do you people really need more crap?

You’re only getting one bag, no matter what. The order quantity you select is the number of crappy items we’ll put in your bag. Select THREE. Later, you’ll enjoy the satisfaction of taunting the surprisingly large number of less observant Wooters who ordered less than THREE.
As usual, we promise nothing about the quality or the desirability of these bags or their contents, except to promise that their quality will be low and their desirability will be non-existent. The best quantity you could possibly order would be ZERO.

THE HOLY CRAP COMMANDMENTS v2.0:
I. Thou shalt expect nothing beyond one bag of some kind and your chosen quantity of crappy items (which should be THREE).
II. Thou shalt not whine and complain when some people’s crap turns out to be nicer than yours.
III. Thou shalt take a moment to consider whether you might be better off just not buying this crap.
IV. Thou shalt not order just one crap and blame it on anything but your own inattention.
V. To paraphrase Stephen Stills, shalt thou not get the crap you want, want the crap you get.
The crap will be shipped via SmartPost, the crappiest shipping method available to us.

So you saw what they did there right?

First of all its woot.com, they have built a reputation with their customers that they are unique, they are not for everyone, and they are perfectly happy with that.

But look at how the marketing department addressed this problem (because honestly selling a bag of crap is exactly that).They didn't see the problem of selling the bag of crap, they only saw a problem of how many items can they convince someone to buy. So they just starting closing the sale right in the description.

Wow. What a great concept! They got this internet thing down perfectly.

Here's why.

• I went to the website with the idea that I more than likely would buy something if it was cheap.

• A $1 is cheap and really $3 bucks isn't much more, so yeah. Sign me up, I'll take 3.

• So rather than trying to sell me, the moved in for the kill right away, and just closing the sale by telling me I need to make sure there is 3 in quantity of the order. And if I don't put a 3 in the quantity I am stupid and getting taken advantage of.

Wait. I am not stupid, I know that I can order 3. I'll show them, I will put 4 in the quantity and press checkout!
Rats! Its already sold out. Now I really want one! Hang on. One what? One bag of crap that someone else just bought? Yup. Now I feel left out.


Here's an idea for you...
When was the last time you prematurely went for the jugular right away with a sale? I work with salespeople everyday, and every day I see them being very timid about closing the sale.

Stop being timid!

Go in for the kill, worst case scenario they will say NO. But in that 'No' your going to find out a key hurdle you needed to overcome a while ago. So now you can start addressing it.

Now, I wouldn't advise you to tell your customers you think they are stupid. But you should know that people don't like to feel stupid. So perhaps we should point out how smart other companies have been because they bought your product.

So what have we learned.
If you have a great reputation you can sell crap in a bag. Check that, you can sell out of crap in a bag.And we need to take a page from woot's book and start closing the sale sooner. They went in for the kill on a bag of crap--and sold out. If they can sell out of crap, why can't we sell the out of the best product in the world?

Technorati Tags: Advertising Creativity Positioning Sales Tools woot.com great copy inspiration

__________________________________________________________________


The ebook is here!

Friends first, customers second--the approaches I use for every sale, every time.

Click here to download it for FREE from my website!

A Marketer's responsibility

Just because we can, doesn't mean we should. Yesterday, on yahoo sports, I read that they were selling tickets to the right field and filling the seats! The catch? All you can eat at the stadium, dogs, nachos, soda--it's a free-for-all in the right field.

This is all an attempt to increase game attendance and fill the typically empty right field. I am calling it 'The gut appeal'.

What an easy way out. I can just see the headline in a year or two 'Dodger fans: the fattest on earth'.

I highly doubt the reason people were not attending the games was the price of the food. If I had to solve this problem I would give fans a reason to attend and buy tickets in a certain section.

I would make it unique to increase the experience of the game and not their waistline.

Let fans in those seats experience a different side of the game, have players enter on their side of the stadium, make them available for autographs to only ticket holders in those seats.

The Point?
It's easy to temporarily drive up sales or attendance by motivating your base with gluttony, but you have a greater responsibility. When those fans go to the game, they'll say they go for the food, not the love of the game. They don't go because they are brand loyal, they go for the freebie. When people buy your brand do they buy for the discount? Or do they buy because they are loyal to your brand?

Technorati Tags: Advertising Customer Service Positioning Dodger Dog Yahoo Sports

Pop-Rocks on my pillow!

The Chick Flick floor. That is the title for the 11th floor of “the CURTIS”. Every picture on the floor is movie posters for girlie movies. In the room there are pictures of Marilyn Monroe working out, a kid blowing a bubble, and a Dudley Doo-right bobble head adorns the bathroom. Did I mention they put Pop-Rocks on the pillow?

I had a bunch of choices on a recent trip to Denver, but gravitated toward “the CURTIS”. From the minute I walked in I could tell this place was different. The front desk staff was playing scrabble, and the name tags they had on didn’t proudly proclaim their title but their favorite movie.

I want you to take a minute and think about the last hotel you stayed at, do you remember anything memorable? Probably not. Today, most of the hotel chains across the nation are nothing more than cookie cutter versions with different names, offering us the same saltine cracker choices. It's really disappointing if you think about it.

So what would you do to compete with that?

Promise your guests that they don’t just stay here, but experience your hotel. That’s what the website for “the CURTIS” boldly proclaims.

This isn’t your average hotel. And the staff is way above average, and I didn’t even mention the hula hoop contest they had in the lobby on Friday night! Or the fact that they come by every night to turn you bed down and give you candy.

This shows what a great marketer can do. The color scheme is perfectly carried out, orange and brown (yeah that’s what I thought too, but it works) is everywhere. And what you would expect to have the hotel's name on it does (coasters, pens, paper). But this place is so much more than that. The alarm clock is a VW Beetle. They know your going to steal the door hanger, so they offer to customize it on the website and let you print it out. By the way the door hanger says "If this sign is a-rockin' don't bother knockin'!"

The promise is carried out in EVERY detail. You really do experience this hotel!

The Selling Point:
It's one thing to tell your customers they are going to experience your company or your product, it's another to actually make them experience your product. You can't just say that your product is amazing you must show your customers that your product is amazing! In selling and in marketing DO-ing is much more convincing than SAY-ing.

tags technorati : Branding Differentiation Packaging Pop-Rocks the Curtis Dudley Doo-right Denver Hotel