Little Things…

Blow me a kiss from across the room.
Say I look nice when I’m not.
Touch my hair when you pass my chair.
Little things mean a lot.

So sang Kitty Kallen in 1954. How right she was. It is the little things. The little things are easy to overlook. The little things seem so insignificant; until that is, they come back to haunt you. Then you punish yourself humming the mantra of coulda-shoulda-woulda.

I just saw an ad in the local paper for a new breakfast restaurant. Ok, I saw it. Ok, I read it. Ok, so now I want to check them out. They’re located, as it states in their expensive (to them it is) little ad, at 12345 Main Avenue. Now I’ve lived in this area most of my life and I know (not real name) Main Avenue and it’s one of the longest streets in the city. Eleven miles long to be exact. And I can’t tell you where 12345 is.

That’s what got me started on this blog. It’s the little things! It would have been so much easier to say we’re on Main Avenue in the shadow of St. What’s His Face church (a real landmark with a real name, by the way). While I’m on a roll, the ad also states the names of the two proud owners, which is real nice but unless they know half of the city and vice versa, it means very little to me. Now if the last name was a connected one – say Kennedy or something as recognizable – well, I could understand what they were trying to do.

Now, in this day and age of the internet, you’d think they would have at least a rudimentary website. Today, having a website costs pennies a day and is almost idiot proof to set up (I think I’ve proven that) and allow potential customers to check you out before they check you out. A website is today’s version of the old Yellow Pages. If you can’t squeeze all of the customer contact information in your ad; you can at least refer them to your website, which also offers you a bonus. It tells you how well your ad pulled in customers or didn’t.

Not changing the subject; there’s a new place that opened on the main drag on my way to the university where I teach. Every time I’ve gone by, since the day it opened, I’ve wondered whether this mom and pop retail shop will survive just because - I can’t read their sign! Regardless of what it says, it’s written in hot pink on a white background. Maybe the fact that it’s now the fourth business in five years to reside there that’s making me assume there may be others to follow.

Back to the concept/theme of this blog – it’s the little things. I’ve been really looking at finding a niche for myself and my profession and, after some head scratching provoked by a strong feeling of déjà vu; I remembered something I was quoted about in a newspaper article on small businesses and advertising a long time ago. I said something along the lines of to wanting to create a source of advertising services for small businesses based on the McDonald’s model.

So close and yet so far from the solution was I in my youth and inexperience. And now, in my middle years, by golly, I think I’ve got it - Business Engineering! Business Engineering offers small business owners exactly what they need – expert guidance and good advice for a reasonable price. The crux of the matter is that too many businesses should NOT advertise before they’re ready to. Remember, first impressions are indeed lasting impressions. Once the public is exposed to you, they will INSTANTLY evaluate, categorize and then QUICKLY slot you away in their minds based only on their experience of your communication. If that communication is fuzzy or off-base, or, if the layout is cluttered and the visuals inconsistent with the text; the result will be the same. Whether what they’ve learned (or, struggled to learn) about you came from a poorly written ad or a badly done sign you won’t get a second look, never mind a second thought..

When Can Advertising Do Harm?

Employing Common Sense & Building a Better Business...

I reinvented my business, myself and the services I offer to small and growing businesses. Why? Because I discovered that marketing means many things to many business people. Some feel it’s a necessary evil while others view it with religious rapture. Many business owners place used car salesmen, politicians and marketing professionals in the same group. They don’t understand or appreciate what marketing does for a business’s image, market position or its bottom line.

The results of my rethinking my profession and my craft lead me to merge marketing with the practice of engineering. Engineers enjoy a solid reputation and respect for the knowledge they have and the services they provide. That’s when I decided to become a Marketing Engineer. Marketing Engineering employs traditional marketing that helps businesses to:

• Claim a solid “position” in consumer’s minds and in the marketplace
• Develop deep seated “brand” identity
• Create a single “value proposition”
• Be easily “differentiated” in the marketplace
• Tell a “story” consumers can relate to

As a hybrid (of sorts), Marketing Engineering employs a new, simple and easy to understand service – Business Engineering. It begins with a Business Engineering Inspection, which is similar in many ways to a home inspection. I look for rotting employee moral, bad sales foundations and productivity termites, for example, and pretty much anything that I feel is undermining your business’s performance and profits.

I firmly believe that whatever it is you don’t know is wrong with your business could be what’s really hurting it. In order to help you see what I see in black and white. The inspection process uses straight forward observation and engagement to get a feel for what’s going with your business both from the outside, or consumer’s view, of your business and the inside.

The process generates a Business Engineering Inspection Report giving you a clear snapshot of your business situation. The report also offers suggestions on how to fix the simple stuff yourself or, when it may be more prudent to hire a business professional. The professionals suggested in the report could be accountants, insurance agents or landscapers. Of course, when specific marketing needs are indicated, I will offer my services which include:

• Writing for print, published and electronic (radio/TV) media
• Website development and enhancement
• Graphic design and layout for printed and published media
• Creative direction
• Media and advertising contractor liaison and coordination

Up to this point...
Tthe lack of advertising may be a blessing. How is that possible? Simple enough. If a business cannot define or articulate its “position” in consumer’s minds and in the marketplace, whether that position be one of size (the largest supplier...), longevity (the county's oldest continuously operating...) or uniqueness (the only place in town serving the deluxe...) or whatever it is that defines and secures that position for your business, it lacks status.

It will also not be easily identified without an easily recognizable brand, mark or logo. Creating a deep seated “brand” identity is also an important element in any advertising you do. The brand, mark or logo represents your "good" name. Your name is not only your identity, it's also what it represents. That is, what it is identified with. The essence of that identity is represented in your mark or logo. You are just as much judged by it as you are by your signature.

Creating a single, easy to embrace and remember “value proposition” is one thing. Having it possess a long lasting, fondly remembered and action inspiring result is even better! The “value proposition” AKA slogan, should be unique, which also happens to position you in the marketplace. It should spark a "desire to acquire" and it should propose a solution to the consumer's immediate wants and needs.

Differentiation could be and is confused with positioning. The difference is (no pun intended - I think) that positioning is about stature while differentiation is about standing out from the crowd. To be easily “differentiated” in the marketplace sometimes only requires the simplest devices or functions. A location can be turned into a landmark. An oddity can be used to maximize curiosity and gain attention.

Finally a business must have a “story” to tell that consumers can relate to. The story itself can be used to position the business or reinforce and work in concert with the brand. And it can certainly be used to deliver the value proposition. Many times the story IS itself the differentiating element the business requires.

Advertising without these elements..
Can and does do more harm than good. Without these elements the message is unclear, confusing and at worst ineffective. It will also magnify fundamental problems within an organization. Many times when I'm called in to speak with a potential client I'm told that they need advertising to increase consumer recognition and hopefully, as a result of the advertising, increase their sales.

I've struggled for years on how to honestly tell a prospective client that, although they believe they need advertising, they really don't; at least not at that point. When I tripped over my Business Engineering concept, it was more than an evolution of my own reinvention as a Marketing Engineer. Business Engineering, especially the Business Engineering Inspection exercise does offer clients proof of hidden or undiscovered issues such as rotting or just plain awful employee moral, bad sales foundations and functions such as strategies, forecasting and even merchandising. So many business owners and managers are so caught up in being busy. However, when confronted they can't say for sure whether that busyness is being translated into business. Of course, some organizations are infested with productivity termites that just eat away at performance and profits.

Before you even consider any advertising, it all has to come down to minding you P's. Is your Place of business working for you or against you? Is your Product or product line earning or should it be turned out? Is your Price structure and practices performing for you? Are you using service as a Promotion tool? The fifth P is all about your People. Your front line and your management and your customers ARE connected.