Marketing Brilliance and the lack there of

So, if you are keeping up, you know I was in Michigan for the Christmas holiday. During our trip we got to see all of my family members...including the cutest 22-month old little boy named Jack. He put a box on his head and ran around screaming "MONEY!" Quite possibly the funniest thing I have ever seen...for the first 10 minutes any way! Check out the picture!



It's time to focus now. During my trip to Michigan, I had the pleasure of meeting with an old friend who will be able to help MarketMatch go to the next level with regard to technology, networking and phone systems. A pain I know you have all felt at some point. In that it would have been inappropriate (and painful!!) to bring my husband to the meeting, I did what any other really good wife would do. I gave him my T-Mobile account information and dropped him off (with his Mac book in hand) at the only Starbucks within a 30 mile radius. Yup, really small town! I thought that would keep him busy during my meeting a few miles away.

After two hours of geek speak, my meeting finally ended. I called my husband and told him I would be there in 10 minutes to pick him up. When I arrived at Starbucks to pick him up, he was...ummmmm...what's the word....ANGRY!!! Apparently this is the only Starbucks on Earth that doesn't have Wi-Fi access. 2 hours of good coffee and people watching was all he got.

As a business traveler, I have come to rely on the Starbucks connection. I can always count on the trusted coffee shop to provide me with the 15 minutes of connection I need to send the critical email and file, and sometimes even deliver on the promise to blog.

What a great Brand Position Starbucks has created. Imagine my disappointment when I realized that the brand promise didn't deliver. I don't care if it is Mount Pleasant, Michigan or Dayton, Ohio, Hilton International or a community bank. When a brand is created and delivered it should be consistent. When we deliver our brands inconsistently our customers become less faithful. If there is nothing they can count on, why should they count at all?

Did you know many McDonald's locations are now offering Wi-Fi? I would rather smell coffee than fries any day, but when I need connection my preferences go out the window. Maybe I need to reconsider on whom I rely.

As we enter 2008, take a minute to think about your branches, your people and the messages you are sending. Is it consistent or are you giving your customers a reason to stop somewhere else for their connection?

Your Partner in Branding,
Jenna

A Key Mission for 2008

Greetings on this cold and wintery New Year's Eve day....I hope it is warm wherever you may find yourself!

Just like what we prescribe for our clients, MarketMatch completed a strategic planning initiative for 2008 and we are very excited to get rolling for the year. We have many new items that you will soon hear about and exciting plans for new ways to support our clients!

As I was thinking about 2008, I was reminded of the experiences I had when my oldest daughter was in high school marching band. True to my form, I had to participate and couldn't just be involved I had to volunteer to be the "Pit Crew Boss"...the person in charge of making sure all instruments, band members, support items, etc. made it to each competitition and practice for the 150 member band and color guard.

In my daughter's last year, we had the privilege of being selected to play at the halftime celebration of the Sugar Bowl (it was in 2003 and Florida State played Georgia!) As the band practiced and practiced and practiced....I remember a key mission the band director laid out for the band.

He would say....after a very successful practice....that it was the responsibility of each band member to think of one...just one....thing that they could individually improve. He went on to say that if we did that for every practice and every competition, we would "fix" 150 mistakes EACH TIME.

To that end, 2008 may seem a bit daunting as you review all of the Agenda items....but break it into SMALL steps and involve every one....soon you will be making incremental improvements and BIG jumps without too much fus....

My New Year's wish to you....get a bit better, faster, stronger each day in 2008!

Cheers!

Bruce

Help from my family

Here I sit in Michigan, working from the breakfast nook table with my dad on his laptop to my right. My mom in the kitchen perpetually cleaning and my brother and husband in the room discussing the size of geese floating on the river and what a lucky man Regis Philbin is to get to look at Kelly Ripa every day. Seriously.

So, I thought I would get a little marketplace perspective from two boomers, a Y-er and an X-er. I asked for a brilliant idea for my blog today and got this advice:

"Why do you have to buy 10 hot dogs but you can only buy buns in packages of 8?" As contributed by my husband...the X-er.

Followed by my brother's (the Y-er) two cents, "Whatever happened to G.I. Joe. Kids don't have any good cartoons to watch anymore." He doesn't even have kids!

My dad replied with, "Why are you working on Christmas Eve?" To which my mom replied, "What is a blog?" They are the Boomers.

It is with much regret that I must share with you that nobody had a brilliant idea to share in my blog today...including me!

Here is my holiday wish to you all. May the holiday season find you safe and happy and the new year be filled with marketing brilliance, lots of deposits and guaranteed ROI.

Merry Christmas!!
Jenna

2008 Marketing Resolutions

It is almost impossible to think that the end of the year is only two weeks away. To echo Bruce's comments from a couple of posts ago, where did the 4th of July go? As promised last week, I want to ante up for 2008 with my Top 5 Marketing New Year's Resolutions! Let's dig in:

5. I will blog weekly. Yes, that's right, I am re-re-committing to this blog and will share marketing wisdom with you weekly. If you take a minute to vote on the right hand side of this blog, I will be sure to share expertise with you in those categories.

4. My blogs will be shorter but pack a bigger punch. Need I say more?

3. I will communicate the MarketMatch message more clearly. This will probably hold true to most of you: We can do it all for our clients, but do they know that? Find a short, easy way to tell them and tell them often.

2. I will be more involved. So for you MarketMatch followers, you know we are headquartered in Ohio...but did you know we are a national company? I work from our Denver, Colorado offices. I will get involved more regionally so that all of you in my neck of the woods can get to know me, trust me, and hopefully find value in what I can do for your institution.

And the #1 thing I will accomplish this year is....

1. The return on the MarketMatch investment will more than 100%...no excuses, and I will put my money where my mouth is. (This is where I put the disclosure that the ROI guarantee is a rebate on the difference when the program is executed as recommended, etc. Email me at: jrowland@marketmatch.com for more information).

Thanks for your readership, and here's to a great 2008!!!

Cheers,
Jenna

Notes from NAMP #3

At the Table: Making Marketing’s Voice Count in Organizational Leadership
Speakers: Jerry Yoshitomi, MeaningMatters, Port Hueneme, CA; Brian Jose and Susie Farr, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD

1. At the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, they implemented several organizational changes after their staff turnover got to be really high. First they learned that a director’s loyalty needs to shift to the success of the organization and the leadership team, rather than being with their individual departments. This meant that each director needed to become more expert in other department activities. The director of artistic initiatives and the director of marketing shifted to become joined at the hip. Decisions were made together by those two and the executive director, and the offices of those two staff members were moved to be right next to each other.

2. Always challenge the prevailing organizational wisdom and make improvements because the world is changing quickly and you must adapt. Try to draw attention to issues without drawing attention to specific individuals. Gather the people in the organization who can influence change.

3. As a strong team member, you can’t just be an expert in your discipline—you must now know about other departments. If the finance director wants to know why you aren’t hitting the ticket sales goal, then work with him to develop an understanding of the problem so he/she better understands marketing. Overall knowledge about all departments by the leadership team will promote better understanding and therefore better decision-making. This understanding has to be a two-way street—invite questions. Questioning is liberating and genuine, constructive conflict can be very good. “Artificial Harmony” can destroy an organization.

4. Strive for complete clarity and transparency in the organization.

5. People who get defensive about questioning can inhibit growth and can support a stagnant environment. The idea of running your department as an entity by itself is detrimental—be open about your process, invite questions, work with your peers. They all have different strengths.

6. Maybe some questions we should be asking: What are we doing that is ground-breaking? Are we setting an example for the rest of the country? Are our processes outdated? Are the practices of the American regional theatre outdated? Where are we stagnant? Where are we dynamic?

7. Two to One ratio – you have two ears and one mouth so listen twice as much as you speak.

8. Suggested reading: “Five Dysfunction of Team” and “Death by Meetings” by Patrick Lencioni and “Leading with Limited Authority”

Resources

You will notice that we have updated our blog quite a bit in the last week or two...including adding some links to other blogs. We want you to know that we don't have any affiliation to the other blogs, but we do find their content to be timely and relevant (most of the time anyway!). Those links are in the left column. Click away!

Coming soon: My Marketing New Year's Resolutions. A top-five countdown!

Have a great week!
Jenna

It's December....where did June go??

Good morning...I woke up this morning and thought to myself..."good, its only the 10th of December." It took about 30 seconds for that thought to actually sink in....wait, I meant to think "Its ALREADY the 10th of December!"

Every year speeds past and the summer fun we all had is just a memory....but the good news: we still have time to plan to make 2008 great! So with that, I will share my top 10 planning tips for 2008!

Here we go...

#10 ... Market Share. You need to see how consumer trends will effect the future of your business. You need a sustainable competitive advantage over your competitors, based on what you can deliver upon (performance) and what is important to the market (Importance).

#9 ... Measuring Competition. You, your marketing team, branch personnel, and operations are aware of the competition's products, services and advantages. Identify the opportunities and plan for changes, competitive pressures, and weaknesses.

#8 ... New Products and Service Development. Make sure your products are meeting the lifestyles of your customers. And what products would create new opportunities.

#7 ... Product or Service Redesign. Changes in consumer lifestyles can impact your products and services. Re-evaluate your current products and services.

#6 ... Positioning. What consumer lifestyles are out there that your competition isn't satisfying? Position yourself as the full service institution you are...or the nimble niche player!

#5 ... Sales. How do your customers react to your sales process? You need to develop a service culture that will drive your competitor's customers right in your front door and deliver sales opportunities.

#4 ... Pricing and ALCO. Understand the the current consumer trends on the way they spend and save their money at your bank and the market. Do you know how your customers feel about price, value and quality? Are you on ALCO? Do you know what to provide the team?

#3 ... Measuring Brand Loyalty. Build strong brand loyalty. Activity is the best long-term predictor of loyalty...communication ensure activity, focus ensures communication!

#2 ... Targeting the right groups. Define the consumer groups you want or should target and what new groups show the best opportunities. Leverage your time, effort and resources!

#1 ... Branding. Make sure your brand is an intersection of quality products and quality experiences. Evaluate your brand consistency and then set out to make it 100% consistent!

If all else fails...make sure you do a quarterly Strategic Plan check-up to ensure you are on pace with your plan and to assess what modifications are necessary to your tactical delivery.

See you soon...

Go Buckeyes!

Bruce

Marketing to Gen Y

I know it's only Friday, and technically I don't owe you a blog until a week from Monday, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share this with you.

Open Chat with Generation Y'ers

Don't think for a minute that generational marketing is exclusive to a bank or a credit union...it is something we all must pay attention to. Why, you ask? Because if you don't, your competition will! They want what you have...YOUR CUSTOMERS. When was the last time anyone you know handed over their most valuable asset?

Happy Friday :)

Jenna

Pie Crust Promise

Any Mary Poppins fans out there? If so, then you already know that a Pie Crust Promise is one that is easily made and easily broken. For example, when we started blogging, it was created as a pie crust promise...we promised to blog then didn't. But we have since redeemed ourselves via my re-commitment to blog!

So the blog today will be a vent (and a good example of why you should monitor the blogosphere for your bank name) for me to talk (read: complain) about a broken promise with regard to customer service.

On August 28, 2005 I purchased the most incredible refrigerator from Lowe's. Thankfully, I also purchased the 4-year extended protection plan...not sure who talked me into that, but today I am very grateful that they did! I went grocery shopping yesterday as per my usual Sunday morning routine. I came home, unloaded the car and put everything away. Around lunchtime I opened the refrigerator and thought to myself "hmmmm...that doesn't seem very cold." So a few hours later I opened the refrigerator again to find it was 63 degrees INSIDE!!! It wasn't that warm in the state of Colorado yesterday!!

So, I found all of my extended service plan information and was SO happy to learn that you can "call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for service or repairs!" YAY!!! So, here's where my complaint comes in. You can call that number any day at any time, but if you call outside of normal business hours, nobody answers and you can leave a message, but nobody will return your call. UGH.

I won't bore you with more details, mostly because I know you are feeling my pain. A refrigerator that doesn't work but is full of groceries and a promise of service that wasn't delivered upon.

They will be here tomorrow to fix it (I don't want to leave you hanging) but in the meantime, I have coolers with ice and food scattered about the kitchen.

Here's the moral of the story...If you make a promise to your customers, regardless of the time or cost the promise will take to fulfill, you need to deliver. Nobody likes a Pie Crust Promise.

Remember, on average, a satisfied customer will tell fewer people about their experience than will a dissatisfied customer. I am a dissatisfied customer and just blogged about the broken promise from Lowe's. (What are your customers blogging about you? Especially those Gen X and Gen Y customers.)

So, as you begin to think about your New Year's Resolutions, think about adding "I will never make another Pie Crust Promise" to the list.

Thanks for letting me vent! Happy Monday, and Happy Ski Season!

Jenna