Monday Morning Quarterback: It's about having the right tools...

Greetings!

Well...it's Monday morning and time to be the "Monday Morning Quarterback" as I review the weekend. 

I'll begin by sharing that my daughter and her fiance bought a house about 30 minutes from us and its the perfect place to start their family.  Two-story, big rooms, lots of space and a yard that backs up to a wide-open field.  Great deck and really cool sun room.  Perfect right?

Well...you know how that goes.  The landscaping was "nice" but not what they wanted, the deck was spacious, but not well tended, the front door was cool, but a storm door would be ideal!  So, we went to work to help out....and that's where the RIGHT TOOLS come into play.

In any job, having the right tools is critical to both success and efficiency. For me, it was the pick axe and narrow shovel that allowed me to get into tight spots and be focused on the job at hand.  Especially for us, being 30 minutes from our house, made tool selection and access very important....the right shovel, leveling sand, a pick axe, hedging shears, etc.   For marketers, the same concepts apply!  The tool set you have becomes the resources to drive your success.  Here are three key "tool kits" to concentrate on:

Inside Tools

• Your team:  Developing the right mix of talent and focus
• Your support: Generating the necessary executive support and encouragement
• Your delivery: Ensuring you build teamwork to deliver at the customer point-of-contact

      KEY: Organize your tools close at hand for maximum leverage and success.

Outside Tools

• Extension: Enabling new capabilities and skills to add to your team
• Focus: Tactical focus to allow you to think strategy
• Expertise:  Clear expertise and advanced skills that move you ahead

      KEY: Expand your team exactly where needed without HR expense!

New Tools

• New to you: new ideas that you have not explored but others have succeeded with
• New to everyone: new ideas that can change the game in your market
• New spin: taking a proven idea and making it your own

      KEY: Sometimes the "new tool" is exactly what need to take that next step

The key is the tool set you have as resources...but it is also the WILLINGNESS to use the tools at your disposal.  This past weekend, it took the pick axe and the narrow shovel to get rocks out so that the paver wall would be leveled with the leveling sand and be perfect.  The tools and willingness combined to make it happen...for your bank/credit union... its the same.  Use the tools you have and be open to new ones or from other sources...it just may turn out to be the best tool ever!

Cheers!

Bruce

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We bring these marketing philosophies to credit unions and community banks nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too.  Contact us to see how.

Over 230,000 visits worldwide, we hope that you enjoy this blog.  If you find it helpful, please share it with your colleagues.  Also, check out our YouTube Channel for short video blogs about financial marketing.  

MarketMatch is also a nationally and internationally requested speaker.  Contact us to bring our marketing ideas to your next conference.

Here are the conferences where you can find MarketMatch.

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A 10 Year Old, Bad Dancing, 2 Dogs & Your Agency Relationship

I haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure it's out there.  You know, EVERYTHING is caught on video now-a-days.

I first want to apologize to everyone, and then explain myself.

When you see that video of the dashingly handsome, painfully modest, suburban man acting 15 years younger than his true age and doing a dance in his front yard that is a unique interpretation of an Irish jig and the Macarena ... I'm sorry. But I had a darn good reason!!!

My 10 year old son mowed my lawn ... by himself ... for the first time this Saturday.  

(Pause, while I do ANOTHER little dance)

At face value, this seemingly has NO meaning to you, my fine marketing reader. But wait, it will!

With my son dutifully walking straight lines back and forth in my yard, it freed me up to do a lot more. I was able to mulch the flower beds and straighten up the shed. With a much more productive Saturday than I had anticipated - I was able, on Sunday, to be a lazy slob and nap with my pit bulls on the couch.

Don't get me wrong. It wasn't easy to hand over the mower. And at first, I kept stepping in to go back over small strips that he missed. Even now, I look at the yard and know that it doesn't look EXACTLY how it would if I were to do it, but it looks pretty darn good. And thanks to his help, I was able to accomplish significantly more.

Now, think about your 3rd party partnerships. Like my handing off the mower, it may be hard to relinquish some tasks. And since we are, in great part, in a creative business, I can guarantee that the solution an agency comes up with will be different than the direction you would have taken. 

There are two reasons to engage a 3rd party marketing firm:
1) When you need additional expertise in an area that simply isn't your forte.
2) When there aren't enough hours in the day to focus on all the things that really matter.

Had I kept stopping to "recommend" better ways for my son to mow, I would have never gotten my other work done.

That's the trick to a sound partnership, isn't it? You need to know when to let go and trust your partner. Assign them the jobs that you are comfortable handing off or where you need the added expertise. Unlike my boy, I'll bet it's NOT their first time behind the mower. Then you can look like a hero by completing more than expected. Heck, you might even have time to hit the couch and nap with your pups too.

We bring these marketing philosophies to credit unions and community banks nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too.  Contact us to see how.

With nearly 214,000 visits worldwide, we hope that you enjoy this blog.  If you find it helpful, please share it with your colleagues.  Also, check out our YouTube Channel for short video blogs about financial marketing.  

MarketMatch is also a nationally and internationally requested speaker.  Contact us to bring our marketing ideas to your next conference.

Here are the conferences where you can find MarketMatch.

See our story here. (click)

Chat with me LIVE! (click)

Or email me directly (click)

937-426-9848

Follow me on Twitter @egagliano

Be a "Lemon" & "Think Small"

I'm a marketer!  But in my heart, I'm also an ad man.

So it's only right that I just bought a classic Beetle.  This is my new baby... 


So what does a Bug have to do with advertising?


In 1959, Doyle, Dane, Bernbach (DDB) created the ad campaign that would forever change advertising.  It was ranked as the best advertising campaign of the 20th Century by Ad Age and ... most importantly ... it was insanely successful in boosting sales and building a lifetime of brand loyalty.


The Volkswagen ad campaign - featuring the headlines “Lemon” and “Think small” (both used to describe the appearance of the car) - ushered in the era of modern advertising.

In a post-war America where Detroit was focused on big, family-sized or muscle cars and advertising was straight-forward and obvious, VW and DDB broke all the rules.


Why was this campaign so revolutionary and how can these 1959 concepts work for you?

• Differentiation: Certainly the bug was radically different than anything else on the road in '59 (and still is), but the ads stood out too.  In this era, ads were all about the "hero shot," the product being used by happy people.  The ads also filled the page with the rationale of, "We're paying for the page, so we're going to use every last bit."  The Beetle ads still had the product as hero, but focused on black and white photos and white space to drive home the simplicity of the vehicle.  A technique of deliberate understatement.

Pick up most any bank or credit union ad or watch a few on TV.  Let's be honest with ourselves, in most cases, you can swap the logos and the ads are pretty much interchangeable. Make a point of having your ads stand out in the crowd.

• Don't Be Obvious: "Lemon." is a car that breaks down.  "Think small." goes against the grain of what we see as a positive message - especially in '59!  The headlines grabbed the reader's attention in an unexpected way and forced them to engage with the copy - where the true benefits were revealed.  

In 1959, this was revolutionary.  In 2012, in the banking world, it would be too.  So many financial ads today focus on rate and "free" and everything that's important to US.  Few messages focus on real benefits that effect consumer's lives.  Don't be obvious.  Don't write a "bank ad."  Create something that will touch the consumer and get them to take notice.

Even though everything has evolved in the last 53 years, we can still learn a lot from the ad pioneers.  If you're ever stuck in a creative rut, crack open a book of old ads and see what you can bring back.


Take care and have a great week.  Now I need to get outta here and jump in the convertible! 

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MarketMatch is a full-service marketing firm, dedicated to the credit union and community banking community.  We utilize knowledge-based strategies to help you FOCUS on the right story that will generate the greatest  MOMENTUM and prove the best RESULTS with our written ROI Guarantee.

See our story here. (click)

Chat with me LIVE! (click)

Or email me directly (click)

937-426-9848

Must~Read for Marketers

I just watched the greatest documentary~style TV show ever!  The Pitch airs on AMC and premiers on April 30^th. I caught the sneak preview.

The Pitch covers two ad agencies as they compete for the same piece of business.  It is a behind~the~curtain look at the strategic and creative process.  Whether your job is as the “pitcher” or the “pitchee”, this is must~see viewing.

Here are a few quotes from the show that will motive you and make you think about what we do …

“There’s no software that can write a great idea.”

~ Tracy Wong

Founding Partner

WDCW

What we do as marketers is special.  We have the one job that everyone thinks they can do, but few can truly do successfully.  As marketers, we’re expected to be creative on~demand. 

Computers can run our government, they can think strategically enough to play chess, but they can not create the ideas that connect a company’s brand, to a campaign strategy, speaking to a target’s unique needs, in the target’s voice, while factoring in the competitive messages to differentiate and make an impact in the marketplace. 

We are NOT the “arts and crafts department!”  We are NOT the “event planners!”  We are a special combination of researcher, artist, writer, strategist, accountant and sales person.  We are the left and right brain living in perfect harmony.

Marketing is creative, but it’s creative under pressure.  We’re told…

“Go be creative…

… and make sure you do this…

… and make sure you do that…

… and make sure you do it in the next 24 hours.

See you then.”

~ Jonathan Cude

Chief Creative Officer

McKinney

Marketing is about getting passionate enough about an idea that you’re willing to share it with the world … then watching that idea, that you love, get shot down because one person in the room “doesn’t get it.” 

Marketing takes the passion and the desire and the drive to give birth to great ideas and still be enough of a cold~hearted, callused, S.O.B. to forget them and move onto the next without looking back.  It takes thick skin and a short memory.

Last words of wisdom that were not from The Pitch…

“When a doctor makes a mistake, they bury it.

When a lawyer makes a mistake, they lock it away.

When a marketer makes a mistake, they publish it for the whole world to see.”

~Nick Sabatino

Flynn, Sabatino & Day

Nick was a mentor and a friend.  He shared this thought with me when I was an intern and I’ll carry it with me forever.  It speaks to typos and design flaws and ideas that simply miss the mark.  It reminds us of the importance of what we do and reminds me that my reputation, my company’s reputation and my client’s reputation are on the line every single day.

Be proud, marketers, you are an exceptional, irreplaceable, crazy~out~of~your~mind group of people.

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Want to learn more?  Enroll in the MarketMatch eCollege!  Smart learning online sessions delivered five consecutive Tuesdays with CFMP credits, tactical advice and a game plan for success!

MarketMatch is a full-service marketing firm, dedicated to the credit union and community banking community.  We utilize knowledge-based strategies to help you FOCUS on the efforts that will generate the greatest  MOMENTUM for your organization and demonstrate RESULTS with our written ROI Guarantee.

Learn more about us here. (click)

Chat with me LIVE! (click)

Or email me directly (click)

937-426-9848

HELP! - When to Outsource Marketing

(This topic was requested by one of our readers.)

We are all asked to do more with less.  How do you know when to outsource your marketing?

When the Twin Towers and the economy were devastated in 2001, my largest client opted to move their advertising in-house.  Immediately, I became expendable to my ad agency – along with a dozen of my friends.  I didn’t know at the time, but it was the best day of my professional life!

Within a week, I had an interview with a credit union to be their Marketing VP.  My first step … learn what the heck a credit union is!  Soon after, my life as a financial marketer launched. 

Now here’s where the outsourcing comes in.  On my third day as a CU marketer, I had a meeting with this company called MarketMatch (yes, I’m not just a consultant, I was a client).  What I realized was that I knew how to be a marketer, but there were nuances to financial marketing that I needed help with.  What’s more, I was a department of one (and a part time assistant) and I had a lot to learn about my market.  I hired MarketMatch to conduct market research that I didn’t have time to conduct on my own.  I also used them to turbo-charge my learning curve on financial marketing.

So, what’s the lesson in all of this?

When do you turn to help?

Sole Search

Understand what you and your department are best at.  Also own up to where you’re weaker.

I am an idea guy.  I have created concepts for several award winning campaigns, but I don’t even know how to open design software. 

Look to bolster your weaknesses so you have more time to maximize your strengths.

Manage Your Resources

Prioritize the most important items that MUST get done to achieve your strategic objectives.  Then list all of the day-to-day stuff that you simply can’t avoid (newsletters, meeting reports, non-marketing tasks that fall on you, etc.).

I knew that I needed market research before I could design a plan to help my CU grow.  I wanted to understand our level of awareness in the market, perceptions about us, perceptions of our competition, if the market knew what the heck a credit union was … or cared.  I didn’t have time to properly conduct and analyze the research AND run my department, so I turned to MarketMatch.

In most cases, you can hire a marketing firm of many individuals, each with their own unique strengths for less than the expense of hiring one qualified marketing professional in-house.  When you analyze your list of “must dos” and compare it to your sole searching exercise, you’ll quickly see if you can justify outsourcing and where to focus your outsourcing search.

Know You Are Unique

Every town has a local ad agency.  And every agency has its strengths.  But look at their client list (past and present). 

As an ad man, I’ve worked on an enormous variety of accounts: water parks, soccer shin guards, international container shipping, refrigeration air compressors, large-format ink jet printers, legal documents, helicopter share ownership.  While many of the basics of marketing apply across the board, I can tell you first-hand that there is no industry like ours.

Your marketing partner can’t provide prudent recommendations without a firm understanding of your balance sheet.  If your agency doesn’t understand the unique needs of banking, they’ll be reduced to order takers by default. 

Do They Help You Sleep Well At Night

The job of any outsourced partner is to strengthen your efforts, to provide an outside perspective, to fill expertise gaps and to ultimately make you look like a hero!

This may be a good time to mention MarketMatch’s ROI Guarantee!!!

Check several references from institutions of similar size, target segments and project scope.  Can your agency point to other successes that closely resemble your needs?  The bottom line … are you confident that, when you lay awake at night – concerned about all that troubles you – your institution’s marketing efforts will not be amongst the worries?

(Do you have a topic you'd like to see in this blog?  Please add a comment below.)

Want to learn more?  Enroll in the MarketMatch eCollege!  Smart learning online sessions delivered five consecutive Tuesdays with CFMP credits, tactical advice and a game plan for success!  Enroll here!


MarketMatch is a full-service marketing firm, dedicated to the credit union and community banking community.  We utilize knowledge-based strategies to help you FOCUS on the efforts that will generate the greatest  MOMENTUM for your organization and demonstrate RESULTS with our written ROI Guarantee.

Learn more here. (click here)

Chat with me LIVE! (click here)

Or email me directly (click here)

937-426-9848