Marketing and the Glass Slipper – A Princely Price

Thinking about marketing and stuff on the Southcoast, MA – MATCH MAKER.  MATCH MAKER.  MAKE ME A MATCH.  FIND ME A FIND.  CATCH ME A CATCH – So sang Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof.  In the spirit of the musical’s main character -  Tevye – I offer that, “a woman will spend a lot of time looking for the perfect man and what does she demand of him when she finds him?  That he change!” 

Businesses look for good marketing support and then dictate what they want done.  I’ve been doing this (marketing) for a long time.  Yet, I continue to be amazed by what appear to be intelligent and very successful business people.  They sense or see on their balance sheets that business isn’t doing as well as it should or that it’s not heading in the direction they envisioned.  In their desire to resolve their real or imagined problem, they go through the classic phases of recovering from addiction.  I say imagined problem not because it’s not real but more than likely; what they think is the problem isn’t the problem.  As the addicted do; first, they finally admit they have a problem - admission.  The remaining four of the five phases to recovery are compliance, defiance and acceptance.  Then there is surrender. 

Surrender, however, is the most difficult stage for these addicted business owners. The scenario that has played itself out in front of me time and time again is this: It is five minutes to Midnight and someone has to fit into the glass slipper.  The glass slipper symbolizes salvation.  “Some day my prince will come…”   Yep, the title song of Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  What is the addiction?  Finding someone who will fit their glass slipper concept of the marketing problem they think (same as imagined) they have.  They are obsessed by their quest.  They are addicted to the hope of finding the perfect match they’ve envisioned.  Match maker.  Match maker…

I hope I’m not coming across a bitter.  I am more frustrated than anything else.  How do I know that what they think their problem is – ain’t?  The conversations go like this.  I wait for them to tell me what they think needs fixing.  Then I relate to them what I’ve experienced as follows.

I sat in my car across the street from your business and observed that:

• You and your staff have the best parking spaces
• You have quite a few customers trying to do business earlier than your posted hours of operation.
• Your building & parking lot is a mess
• Your landscaping shows a lack of care and pride (I was once asked what this had to do with anything)
• There’s more… 

I called your business several times and each time I was:

• Treated either rudely or indifferently
• Placed on hold for no less than 5-minutes each time
• Passed around and around
• Never given the satisfaction of a correct answer or viable solution
• There’s more…

I visited your website and I was:

• Confused upon arrival
• Irritated by the old or outdated information
• Annoyed by broken links
• Disappointed by the lack of any useable  information
• There’s more…

I walked into your business and I was:

• Ignored from the time I walked in
• Appalled by the untidiness of the displays
• Never greeted or acknowledged
• Not asked if I needed any assistance
• There’s more…

Your marketing is either internally controllable or affected by uncontrollable outside market forces.  The internally controllable factors in your business would include your personnel, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) as in a uniform way things are done from sales training, customer relations and housekeeping to merchandising, product selection and promotion.

The external forces of politics, the business environment, as well as, social and technological changes may be uncontrollable but they are not insurmountable.  Politicians may raise taxes but, there are ways of lessening the impact.  Tell the customer you’ll pay the sales tax.  The business environment goes in cycles of boom and bust.  What goes up must come down.  Ranting and reacting is unproductive.  Social behaviors such as trends and fads may be unpredictable but they shouldn’t be ignored.  Technological advances are only worthwhile looking into if they truly help lower costs and boost productivity.  Although uncontrollable in nature, they can be adopted or adapted as required. 

Zig Ziglar the famous sales coach and motivator said, “Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust.”  Most businesses suffer from lack of sales because they fail to respect the needs of their clientele and because they fail to ask for the sale.  When someone like me comes along to state the obvious, it seems too simple and therefore lacks value.  So, most business owners will feel the problem they believe is hurting business can only be cured by expensive and complicated marketing consultation and/or support. 

That kind of thinking will only make a simple problem more complicated .  Of course, as soon as it’s discovered that the remedial marketing isn’t helping it’s the marketing consultant’s fault.  A Chinese proverb reminds us that,  “To open a shop is easy, to keep it open is an art.”  Detroit automotive industry legend, Lee Iacocca believed that businesses were all about people, product and profits.  Your people (employees and customers) are your business.  If their not, find some who are.  Your product is why you exist.  Identify your product and it will define you.  

Profit is what happens when all is said and done – correctly.  Put profit first and you may lose good employees and customers to your competition.  The glass slipper may not be the solution to the problem you think you have.  It may be best if you heed the advice of Snow White’s hosts the Dwarfs who were serious when they sang, “Come on get smart, tune up and start to whistle while you work.”  It may just be helpful in getting you to look at things a little differently.

4 Reasons Why Marketing & Parenting Are the Same

Thinking about marketing and stuff on the Southcoast, MA – CHOICES. CONSEQUENCES. BLAME.  RESPONSIBILITY. REASONS. EXCUSES. INDIFFERENCE. CARING. - Again, I was out for my walk or what the old timers would call my constitutional and it happened again - bam! 

On the old Jackie Gleason Television Show there was character played by Frank Fontaine called Crazy Guggenheim whose catch line was along the lines of. "I was just standin' there.  I wasn't doin' nothin'.  I wasn't botherin' nobody."  Well, I hope you get the picture.

Oh, the bam?  Marketing and parenting are the same...

1. Kids don't bring themselves up AND businesses don't run themselves - both have a specific life-cycle that requires a specific set of skills and attention.  Kids and businesses both come into being in the first stage of the cycle, the - New or Introductory Stage - nearly everything that goes on at this stage will set the parameters for the rest of the life-cycle.  Once the cuteness factor wears off, it's down to the day-to-day, standard operating procedures (SOP) that are required to make sure everything is as it should be.  Schedules have to be created and kept to.  Systems need to be formulated to maximize time and productivity. The bragging only comes after the work and effort is put into the enterprise, whether child or business.

The second stage is perhaps the most critical of  the cycle, the - Growth Stage - which has to be regulated.  Too much or too little at this stage will impair and impede healthy growth.  This is where the successful schedules and systems come home to roost.  At this stage of the game, everyone should know their part and their place.  Here, at this point is when freedom and independence are crucial.  Hovering and smothering will do more harm than good.  Good parents and entrepreneurs know when to let go.     

The third stage is also a critical one.  Entropy can affect this part of the cycle, the - Maturity Stage - which has to be identified and dealt with.  Too much laissez-faire in is not a good thing.  The worst part of this stage is S.O.S.O. - Same Old. Same Old. - it is worse than hovering and smothering.  Maturity should not be confused with confidence and comfort. Neither humans nor businesses should believe that maturity is either a state or a quality of being fully grown or developed.  Where there is no growth, life is diminished and entropy sets in. Growth is required for life, whether physical, intellectual or spiritual.

As for the fourth and last stage of  the cycle, the - Decline Stage - if any of the stages were not successfully completed, there is a decline.  The word decline, comes from the German word kline, or small.  At this stage, everything has to be cut back, curtailed or corrected.  Regardless of what decline sounds like, it can be turned around. Everything has to be looked at with new eyes and sensibilities.  All parties need to be in sync with the turn-around goal.  There can be recovery and resurrection. 

We hear parents say, "I didn't raise them to turnout that way!"  My question is, were they raised by space monkeys then?  Business owners have a similar lament, "This is not how it was supposed to turn out."  Well, it did and it's time to accept responsibility and stop wasting time playing the blame game.     

2. Kids AND businesses can't be left unsupervised - they require experienced managers.  Running with scissors!  Yet, how is it that McDonald's founder Ray Kroc was able to create an operational system staffed by teenagers?  How about a simple and effective SOP?  How about management training?  How about common sense?  The key word is responsibility.  Parents and business owners need to be attentive, open-minded and responsible.  The kids and employees need to be engaged, encouraged and taught what responsibility is and the difference between reasons and excuses.  

3. How your kids AND business behave speaks volumes of their "management" - behavior is the result of culture.  Avoid the lessons of choices and consequences. Pay peanuts and hire monkeys.  And, the results will not only be embarrassing, they may curtail the envisioned rosy future.  When the cat's away, the mice will play.  Kids and employees need to be aware that they and their behaviors not only represent themselves; they also become representative of the family or the company. Let's not forget that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

4. There are no bad kids AND there are no bad businesses - there are also, as another adage goes, no bad dogs only bad dog owners.  With that concept in mind - there are no bad kids and no bad businesses only bad parents and bad managers.

Example is the best example.  Perception is reality and, therefore truth from the point of view of children or employees.  Truths define expectations or the lack of them.  Expectations are defined in rules, procedures and systems.  Systems dictate behaviors.  Behaviors are either acceptable or otherwise and create the structure of a culture.  Cultures are what identify all parties to outsiders. 

One is a reflection of the other.  So, inaction reflects a lack of caring.  And a lack of caring is a sign of indifference.  Where there is indifference, there is no growth or maturity, there is only decline.  Unless you're Crazy Guggenheim, you can't get away with the excuse that - it just happened - "I was just standin' there.  I wasn't doin' nothin'.  I wasn't botherin' nobody."  It doesn't and won't cut it in the end.

Men’s Studies - Cramming?

Looking at life on the Southcoast, MA – MAN.  MANLY. MALE.  MASCULINE.  WARRIOR.  HUNTER. MAN CAVE. CAVEMAN or, from the old nursery rhyme: Tinker, tailor; Soldier, sailor; Rich man, poor man; Beggar-man, thief; Tinker, Tailor; Soldier, Sailor; Gentleman, Apothecary; Plough-boy, Thief; A laird, a lord; A richman, a thief; A tailor, a drummer; A stealer o' beef.   

Thief?  Sure shows up a lot.  I think the thief has been robbed!  I know.  I know.  Never openly discuss religion and politics or, gender or feminism either. Yeah, sure, it’s a man’s world.  Maybe once upon a time but – alas, no more!  You see, the privilege was squandered.  Now the price is being paid.  Man and manhood need to be redefined.  I know I’ve more than likely already raised an eyebrow or two so why not?   

We need to create and offer Men’s Studies courses at UMass Dartmouth.  No, I’m not saying this in any tongue and cheek way.  In fact, perhaps these Men’s Studies courses should be offered under the auspices of Sustainability Studies.  I’m not going to get into details.  I’m just putting an idea out there.  Here’s a song by Greg Keeler to get you into the concept.  It’s called Manly Men:

 

We're men among men and manly men.
Yes, manly men are we.
We're men among manly men among manly,
Manly men are we.

We'll sail up north and cross the ice
And cross the barren snow fields.
You've gotta be tough, and you've gotta be a man
To club the baby harp seal,
To club the baby harp seal.

Maybe that was then.  Maybe this is now.  Men belong to an endangered gender.  Men as fathers.  Men as husbands or significant others.  Men as providers, protectors and procreators are not only endangered, they are also displaced.  Looking at all this from a marketing point of view, I see the role of fathers shredded and demeaned on children’s television shows primarily and also on prime time television.  In children’s shows, mom and dad characters are devalued but of the two, Dad is the most inept.  Was the last of the TV fathers that knew best was Bill Cosby’s Dr. Huxtable?  As for the prime time male, well, they range from the unworthy and unscrupulous to the downright stupid. 

Demographically, where do men fit-in in this American society of ours?  As providers, men can’t make enough to provide for their families without the support of their wives.  The wife’s paycheck represents either healthcare insurance  or money for those extras we’re convinced we all need.  Many women don’t want to work.  They’re conflicted.  They want to be moms.  Yes, some women do want careers just like guys have or used to have.  Yes, there are conflicted guys out there too.  The difference is, when guys were the breadwinners; they had the little-woman at home keeping the domestic fires burning.   When women are in a solo or an equal bread winning role; they usually don’t have the little-man maintaining the domestic status quo.  Enter the professional child care providers.   

Wow – I’m really getting off-base.  I’ll return to the breadwinner theme at another time.  Getting back to the Man, as is were, as providers, we neither hunt nor grow our primary food sources these days.  We’ve traded our hunting and farming duties for a diverse number of roles within the modern workplace.  As protectors, we no longer have to battle with indigenous people and animals for territory to keep kit, kin and stake safe.  As procreators, well, perhaps not much has appeared to change in that department and in some cultures and ethnic groups; it’s the proof of manhood.

World War I was perhaps the beginning of the end of the modern male.  Half of that generation was either killed in battle or wandered about in intellectual shell shock.  After the carnage of World War II, the American male was, to use a British term, deemed redundant.  Enter the barbeque grill.  It was, at one point, a sanctuary for men.  The only visible proof that the old man had some value.  After all, he was outside making believe he was useful.  At least he wasn’t dirtying up or burning down the house.  Men drifted in the muck and mire of their jobs through the Fifties and the Sixties.  Then came the upsurge in feminism, the advent of political correctness and Christine Lavin’s New Age Sensitive Guys. 

Men have feelings too.  The movie City Slickers investigated the hopes and dreams of ordinary guys.  But, is being a part of the woodwork, as well as, ordinary and average something that must be accepted?   Joe Walsh crooned in his Ordinary Average Guy tune:

I'm just an ordinary average guy

My friends are all boring

And so am I

We're just ordinary average guys

We all live ordinary average lives

With average kids

And average wives

We all go bowling at the bowling lanes

Drink a few beers

Bowl a few frames

We're just ordinary average guys

Ordinary average guys

The result of all this is the American Male.  But the workplace is still male dominated!  Look just because most men are bosses doesn’t mean all bosses are men.  If manhood is such a great deal in the Twenty-First Century then why the uptick in Man Caves? Maybe we could find out if we had a Men’s Studies course!  What would the research into the role of men in today’s society what it would reveal their functions and responsibilities as providers, protectors and (procreators) parents.  It’s just a stupid man idea.  Unless, of course, you think it may have some merit?

Chime in please and let me know if you think it's a stupid idea or if it's something that should be seriously considered.  Maybe the name Men's Studies bugs you.  If so, how about Male Studies?  Checkout this article in Inside Higher Ed.  Author Jennifer Epstein profiles the newest academic discipline to emerge in the field of gender studies.  

The Bare Facts: Nude v. Naked

How One Man’s Broccoli is Another Man's Asparagus in the Southcoast, MA – HERE’S A POST THAT ATTEMPTS TO BLEND WHAT I BELIEVE IS SIMILAR ABOUT MARKETING AND ART –  Why?  It’s partly an exercise and a leap of faith.  Much of drawing is about focused observation.  By that, I mean, really looking at what you’re looking at.  Observation feeds perception and perception frames reality.  In business, you have to be observant.  Vigilant.  Every nuance.  Every inflection.  Everything offers a clue.  But, you have to know what you’re looking at.  You can’t jump to any conclusions.  You have to be aware of patterns and trends.

When you look, regardless of who you are, business (marketer) person or draftsman (artist), what are you looking at?  What do you see?  The old chestnut of one man’s trash being another man’s treasure is the same as one man’s opportunity is another man’s threat comes down to one thing – perception.  My college art instructor Herb Cummings used to have his own  version of that old chestnut: One man’s broccoli is another man’s asparagus. 

What it means is, that there is a danger of allowing our preconceptions to cloud or distort our judgement.  Eye witness reports are unreliable for that very reason.  What you see may not be what you’re actually seeing because you’re not looking at what you’re looking at objectively or, with objectivity.  Much of art (appreciation) is about objectivity.  Case in point: A work of art depicting an unclothed woman.  One observer sees a nude figure.  The other sees a naked woman.  The painting or sculpture hasn’t changed.  Why then, are the observations entirely different?  Does education or experience, or the lack of either define the objectivity of the observation? 

In art school, live drawing classes or, figure drawing classes, utilize the unclothed human figure.  Some of you reading the preceding sentence read it as follows: In art school, live drawing classes, or figure drawing classes, utilize naked models. While, others read it as: In art school, live drawing classes, or figure drawing classes, utilize the nude figure.  Why?  Maybe, it’s a reflection of either your present state of mind, or your lack of perspective on the subject.  Maybe it’s straight-out stereotyping and prejudice as a result of your cultural or religious background.  Whether a model is nude or naked to you may be a matter of your sense of morality. Where to an artist, it’s a matter of aesthetics. 

Perhaps this may be helpful: The model is only nude when no sexual thought enters into your perception. Why are nude models used as part of drawing (art) instruction?  Because it is a tradition handed down to us from ancient Greece and Rome.  They believed the human body was to be glorified for what it was objectively.  It was not objectified.  That in a nutshell is the difference between nude and naked.  Learning how to draw the unclothed human figure is difficult for many reasons on many levels.  I plan on doing a post devoted exactly to this. 

Art instruction, (yeah, here comes the pun) strips away the student’s preconceptions of what drawing is, as well as, the subject, motif or model, clothed or otherwise, in front of them.  Looking exercises force them to really see what they’re looking at.  It does this through a series of objective (there’s that word again) exercises.  The students think the exercises are just drawing exercises when in reality, they’re looking exercises.  One of which has the students drawing everything that isn’t the subject, motif or model.  It helps students see the subject, motif or model from a different perspective.  Wasn’t it Christ who said, “…seek and you will find…”?   

Part of the spiritual awakening that comes with learning how to draw is the finding – the finding of yourself. He also said, in reference to his doubting apostle Thomas, "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."  If I’m going to tie drawing and spirituality together based on “Religion and art – the hallmarks of civilization...” then, I’m going to present to you that learning to draw (art) is a leap of faith requiring the student to trust the teacher and themselves. Speaking of faith; religion(s) has been entwined with Art through one, many or all of its manifestations of drawing/painting, music, dance and singing.  At several points in history, they were inseparable.  I have a whole theory of the current state of both but, I’ll visit that at another time.

 

This presence and level of trust determines what you see.  With all of this in mind, the difference between the observer (draftsman), or the viewer of the drawing, seeing an unclothed or, a nude figure is based on the same reason one business person sees an opportunity for what it is, or for what it may be – a threat.  What separates the two is perspective, which is an interesting word.  It is defined as one’s view or outlook of the subject, or point of view.  It is about posessing an ability to perceive the actual interrelations or comparative importance of things.  Much of marketing then is no different than art; it is about sustaining an acute level of observation and objectivity as well.

Most interestingly, perspective is also defined as a technique utilized by artists to represent three-dimensional objects and depth relationships on a two-dimensional surface. Linear perspective was both en vogue and the new standard in art during the Renaissance. Perspective changed a lot more than art.  It also changed how Westerners viewed themselves and the World.  It was as if Europeans were seeing space and their surroundings for the first time.  

Jacques Cauvin, the archaeologist who started his career in the Paleolithic era caves in France, spoke of a "revolution of symbols." He viewed this revolution as a shift in the ability of humans to conceptualize.  The revolution gave humans the ability to imagine gods.  Drawing went from an act of observing and duplicating (or, recording) the surrounding natural environment to imagining, through symbols (which developed into writing), the supernatural and a metaphysical universe beyond the perceived physical world to assist in answering who we are, why we’re here and whether or not we’re alone..

IMAGE: Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres - Little Bather or Inside a Harem - 1828

Everything I know About Marketing I Learned Working in Restaurants

Living and Learning in the Southcoast, MA – Part One - WELL, ALMOST.  I STARTED WORKING AT THE AGE OF FOURTEEN AT THE OLD GULF HILL PARLOR IN SOUTH DARTMOUTH AS A DISHWASHER.  There was a gentleman named Manny Couto who was in his nineties and one of the best dishwashers there.  

 I learned from him.  He had a system, pride in his work and he cared about the cooks who put food on his plates, the waitresses who served the food and their customers. He was especially fussy about the silverware because he said even the best meal could be ruined by a dirty fork.  Guy Kawasaki would have been enchanted by him!

My manager was Ed Piccard.  He was like my father and big brother all rolled into one.  He said that although he would miss having me doing dishes, he needed me in the kitchen.  Besides, Manny would train another kid to take my place.  Working as a prep cook under Ed’s guidance, I went on to run the whole kitchen after the self-professed numero uno of the kitchen, a really smart guy named Jeff Zink, went off to college.

Working at Gulf Hill I learned about people, teamwork and systems.  I also learned how to work over forty hours between Friday after school and into the wee hours of Monday morning.   On summer Sundays we scooped Gulf Hill’s famous ice cream from the time the soda fountain opened at eleven; non-stop until two the next morning.  I also had the privilege of working for Gulf Hill’s ice cream maker – Joe Duffy – who’s only demand from me was to never run out of hot coffee.  He also only had one cuss that he uttered often; shit and three is nine - never heard anyone else who said that.  

 Most of the kids were afraid of Joe but I wasn’t.  Joe taught me consistency, product management and customer care.  He would make small batches of peach ice cream and other flavors for our older long-time customers.  I also learned how to make ice cream molds and ice cream cakes with Joe. 

Gulf Hill Parlor was in the restored barn of the original Gulf Hill Dairy.  I got the job because of our Gulf Hill Dairy milkman.  Anyway, there were two older farmhands; Gene Simmons and Freddy Bellevance.  Gene was one of the strongest guys, besides my dad, that I ever knew and one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.  He brought me my dairy order everyday and always had a smile on his face.  As I’m writing this, I’m realizing that this post will have to be in at least two parts as all these memories flood in.  Freddy was very quiet but friendly and would do almost anything for anybody.  What I learned from them was that a good team can be like family.  

Dot Frates ran the floor.  She was the waitress’ boss.  I learned all about respect from her.  Yeah, she ran the floor like an invading general and, as most women in charge who are good at what they do, she was called a bitch.  Bitch or not, she was always fair and kind to me.  Of course, I can’t forget Pat Wood.  I ended up working with her again at Freestones in downtown New Bedford when I graduated from the University of Miami.  Pat was one of the most voracious readers I’ve ever met.  She was also one of the most normal people I’ve ever met.  In a business where nearly everyone complains about anything and everything, I don’t think I ever heard Pat complain.

Restaurants are a great place to learn marketing basics.  S.W.O.T. Analysis for example; the internal controllable factors (Strength & Weakness) were about people, management and standards.  They’re internal and controllable.  Hire good people and treat them well.  Manage like you mean it.  Create and maintain standards that frame your customer’s expectations.  As for the external uncontrollable factors (Opportunities & Threats) well, you have to know what you’re doing.  Be conscious and conscientious and the opportunities will present themselves.   

As for the threats, it’s the same thing.  Rising overhead costs, taxes, regulations and whatever is thrown at you.  I remember when we had to open every single bottle of diet soda we had.  Cases and cases and cases of it and dump them out because they contained cyclamate, an artificial sweetener which caused a widespread cancer scare.  Then there was the tornado that we didn’t know was a tornado that came up from Padanaram Village.  We knew it was obviously one heck of a storm but what was more amazing was how we all worked together to survive that night.  

Gulf Hill Dairy had a great ad slogan on their products and trucks.  It went like this - You Can Whip Our Cream, But You Can't Beat Our Milk!   More about that the next time I return to this subject…