Don’t
Just Survive...Thrive! New
& Noteworthy Clients Ask
Uncle Chuck
MCG to Exhibit at Creative Exchange 5 Marketing
Toolbox The
Statistician Top
20 Greatest Business Books -
Dont’t Just Survive...Thrive!
In a recent survey of the advertising industry, 87% of respondents said that their business was “worse” than six months ago (compared to just 6% saying it was worse during the previous survey period). The good news is, savvy marketers (YOU) can boost sales and market share, even if the industry in which they compete is in a slump, by focusing on short-term tactical techniques such as sales and price promotions (including cents-off coupons and rebates), and tailoring advertising in response to the shaky economic climate. Some survival guidelines include:
- Monitor your competitors’ advertising. If they’re cutting down, seriously consider increasing your ad budget and hitting harder. This will provide a great opportunity to capture—and retain—a larger share of the market.
- Avoid gimmicky and clever advertising. Center your message on the benefits and advantages of your product or service—such as convenience or energy efficiency—rather than making emotional appeals.
- Use direct-response advertising techniques. Use hard-hitting copy with simple but convincing language, a special offer the prospect will find hard to pass up, and a strong call to action.
- Avoid ads that look like ads. Make them appear to be vital messages to the consumer offering them the most for their money.
- Stress quality and durability. Consumers are looking for as much value as possible in a weak economy. But don’t actually use the words “quality” and “durability,” as they have degenerated into advertising clichés. Show, don’t tell.
- Study advertising research thoroughly. Know which page positions pull best, which copy factors work effectively, which colors do the job, and so on. Spend every ad dollar carefully.
- Reexamine your marketing mix to ensure it is the most cost effective.
- Keep in mind that perceptions play a major role in a weak economy. If people believe money is going to be tight, they will behave as if it is—even if they have money to spend. Your ads have to convince prospective customers that your product or service is a wise investment.
NEED A LITTLE COACHING? Contact us. We offer “marketing medicine.” We sincerely want to help.
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New & Noteworthy Clients
Creative Business Systems
MCG is putting the finishing touches on the new website for Creative
Business Systems, a company that supplies high-tech office systems and
products, mainly to the dental and medical community.
Robinella & The CC String Band
We are developing the new website for Robinella, who recently signed
with Columbia Records Legacy label. Congratulations to Robin and Cruz
and the band! Grab their new EP in stores in November.
U.S.DenTek
MCG is currently handling the front-end redesign of the U.S. DenTek
website, and helping to facilitate a full integration of a new e-commerce,
inventory and accounting system into the site.
Look for links to this and other new work in the near future at morriscreative.com
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Ask Uncle Chuck
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Got a perplexing marketing problem? Send it to Uncle Chuck. He’s an old guy, and he may not have the answer, but he’ll do his darndest to find somebody that does.
Q: I’m a new marketing director at a catalog-based home and garden furniture products company. I’ve been asked to put together a marketing budget for our 2003 plan, and I don’t know where to start. Are there any benchmarks out there?
Uncle Chuck: Yes, there are. Just about every industry has a benchmark for marketing dollars, typically expressed as a percentage of sales, where marketing dollars equal marketing expenditures divided by net sales. For your specific industry, that magic number is 5.7%. Across all industries, the average is 5%, although every situation is unique and requires careful analysis. Hope this helps. Good luck!
SOURCE: Schonfeld & Associates, Lincolnshire, Illinois.
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MCG to Exhibit at Creative Exchange 5
Morris Creative Group will be exhibiting at CEx5 this month. Please come
by and visit our booth to pick up your free MCG bookmarks (hot off the
press)
11:00am-8:00pm
More details at http://www.cex5.org
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Marketing Toolbox
Guerrilla
Marketing Bomb Shells.
Big news! MCG has partnered with marketing guru Jay Conrad Levinson (yes!
the author of the Guerrilla Marketing books series) and Mark Joyner in
this incredible new company that is just getting started. For Jay to put
the Guerrilla Marketing name behind this project is unprecedented. Click
here to check it out.
Turn things around.
Discover the amazing techniques and “insider secrets” that will boost
your business -- even in this economy. Stop putting it off. Click
here for free guides and tips to starting and managing your small business.
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The Statistician
Just When You Thought It Couldn’t Get Worse…
The market research firm IDC predicts that the volume of e-mail messages
will double from 31 billion emails per day now to 60 billion per day by
2006. Worse, they are predicting that the percentage of that mail that
could be considered spam will increase from 30% today to over 50% in 2006.
Incredible.
You’re Kidding, Right?!
Every year, more than 20,000 brides choose to have their wedding at Walt
DisneyWorld. Talk about a pervasive brand! But where do they spend their
honeymoon?
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Top 20 Greatest Business Books
They asked more than 3,000 business people, on three continents, what
they considered to be the greatest business book of all time. Whatever
their opinions, prejudices, loves and hates, they exhorted them to vote.
The results are fascinating.
1. In
Search of Excellence, Tom Peters & Robert Waterman,
1982
2. The
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey,
1989
3. The
Practice of Management, Peter Drucker, 1954
4. How
to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie, 1937
5. Competing
for the Future, Gary Hamel & CK Prahalad, 1994
6. The Empty Raincoat, Charles Handy,
1994
7. The
Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith, 1776
8. Built
to Last, James Collins & Jerry Porras, 1994
9. The
Bible, Miscellaneous, 1450 BC
10. Small
is Beautiful, EF Schumacher, 1973
11. The
Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge, 1990
12. The
One Minute Manager, Ken Blanchard, 1982
13. Competitive
Strategy, Michael Porter, 1980
14. The
Dilbert Principle, Scott Adams, 1996
15. Principles
of Scientific Management, Frederick Taylor, 1911
16. Funky
Business, Kjell Nordstrom & Jonas Ridderstrale, 2000
17. The
Goal, Eli Goldratt, 1984
18. My
Years with General Motors, Alfred P Sloan, 1963
19. The
Dream Society, Rolf Jensen, 1999
20. Out
of the Crisis, W Edwards Deming, 1982
SOURCE: BUSINESS: The Ultimate Resource / Gordon Kerr, Bloomsbury, London.
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