Astonish Your Customer(s)

Astonish your customer(s) ... Isn't that the responsibility of every company and marketer? Isn't that what every customer wants? 

Every marketer needs to constantly ask ... What audacious promise could the brand make (and keep) that will astonish our customer(s)? 

 

Asking the question is easy. The "how" is hard. This blog will provide the "how" by profiling the example of the do-ers, the original and unconventional thinkers and, especially the brand builders that astonish their customer(s) without the resources of the big companies.  

(TY: Paul Arden, Seth Godin)   

My Giants, My Celtics, My ...

It has been very common to hear people pronounce, "My Giants won today", or "I can't belive how badly My Wildcats played today".

My, not THE. Notice the difference?

My favorite movie is ..., My beer of choice ...

Does your brand get referred to as ... My, or just THE? Do what it takes to make your brand a "MY" brand.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

How to: Un-Staple a customer

Needed a rush order of business cards. Went to Staples and was given tremendous service. The cards were good enough and cost $30 - over & out, good experience, satisfied enough to come to Staples  again.

Four days later I am driving in my car, phone rings, I answer and was told that it was Mary from XYZ Research calling about my recent Staples experience.

I asked: Did I give Staples permission to contact me - whittingly or unwhittingly? Mary did not have the info to answer my question. Mary was very nice and offered to take my name and contact info off the list. I accepted the offer.

This spam-ish move by Staples will cause me to think twice before I patronizing Staples again.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

Can one word have power?

I was at a party and heard a person proudly proclaim they had bought a bunch of oldies (music) and that he only bought the RE-MASTERED versions. Two people quickly responded, "I only buy the RE-MASTERED versions of oldies."

I asked: "What does RE-MASTERED really mean?"

The first response: " Well, it means, RE-MASTERED", as if that was a satisfactory explanation.

Soon, all three people were jumping in, finishing one another's sentences, trying to described REMASTERED, in multiple vague ways.

In the end, I concluded that - to them - REMASTERED just meant better, and better is 'good enough'.

Sometimes successful marketing can hinge on the selection of just one word.Simple is good - Simple works.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

Packaging - the hidden idea

Where do you find your target or ideal audience?

If you listen to your media planner, he will give you a bunch of options using TV, print, outdoor, web, etc.

That is well and good but the one place you are sure to find the audience is the store shelf.

That's right, everyone who buys a pain reliever must actually visit the pain reliver shelf in the store. Some people know exactly what product they want and know its exact location of the shelf and therefore are 'snow-blind' to all the competing products on the shelf. Many others - most, in fact - must search the shelf to select a product.

So, the one place your brand is guaranteed to cross paths with virtually every shopper/buyer in the category is at the shelf.

So, pay attention to your packaging. Don't just tweak it - make it great. Make it worthy of notice, handling and reading.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

I know how to make more $, let's screw our customers

62% of the airlines operating profit comes from fees charged for bags, preferred seats (in coach) and reservaion charges.

You could say that this model is similar to the warehouse clubs where they essentially marke thier profit on the membership fees.

The big difference is that warehouse clubs give great value, sometimes unmatched value and are always working to increase the value for their customer.

Can that be said of the airline, in general?

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

Do you do 80% of the work?

Laura Brashier, founder of the web site 2date4love was asked what it takes to be an entrepreneur. Her advise:

If you think you’re an aspiring entrepreneur first ask yourself this question:

Am I the 20% of the people who do 80% of the work?

If you answered YES, then you have what it takes. Keep on learning and don’t stop until you get there.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

Men no longer allowed to pee from standing position

Change a rule = Get noticed.

I think it was P.T. Barnum who famously said, "If you want a crowd, pick a fight.".

There are all sorts of ways to get noticed. The best way is to create a remarkable product.

Another way is to change very longstanding rules and conventions and norms.

Enter the Vancouver restaurant that bans men from peeing while standing.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

Where are the homeless senators and congressman?

Are there any? Is there one? Today? Ever?

Why? Why Not?

Be wise as to the profession you choose - some come with unwritten yet valuable guarantees.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

Cool Is Back (but it has, regrettably, left the room)

I am not a veteran of Silicon Valley and therefore do not know my way around.

It was 1999 and I was in Silicon Valley calling on a customer. It was near dusk and I was racing to the airport. I was speeding around a bend and I saw it: A gigantic banner proclaiming "Cool is Back" along with a picture of the iMac. It was huge, hanging over the front door of the building, bathed in light.

I remember thinking two things:

1) That must be Apple's HQ

2) It must be great to work in a place that brought "Cool Back" and proclaims it publicly. 

If what's cooler than being cool is, Ice Cold, then Steve Jobs was an Arctic Glacier.

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

Steve Jobs - More like Lincoln than Edison, Einstein

Steve Jobs:

• Adopted
• College dropout
• Apple III and Lisa computers were flops
• Hired John Sculley
• Fired at age of 30, from Company he founded and led
• Created NeXT Inc., hobbled by exorbitant price tag and key design flaws
• Largely written off as a has-been during 11 year absence from Apple
• Cube-shaped Macintosh
• Pancreatic cancer
• Liver transplant
• Option backdating scandal

Abraham Lincoln:

• Lost job in 1832
• Defeated for state legislature in 1832
• Failed in business in 1833
• Sweetheart died in 1835
• Had nervous breakdown in 1836
• Defeated for Speaker in 1838
• Defeated for nomination for Congress in 1843
• Lost renomination in 1848
• Rejected for land officer in 1849
• Defeated for U.S. Senate in 1854
• Defeated for nomination for Vice President in 1856
• Again defeated for U.S. Senate in 1858

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.