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MANAGEMENT: A Tale of Two Cities.
Thursday, February 10th, 2011 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Five months ago, I had the occasion to opine about the potential fatal accidents that too often occur when desperate companies do desperate things — compromising their principles, usurping their leadership, selling their very souls — to rationalize pandering to star performers and justify winning. I just happened to use the preseason shenanigans of the Minnesota Vikings and Brett Favre as examples (see August 2010 below).
Well, just a few days removed from Super Bowl XLV and the Green Bay Packers victory, a post mortem seems in order. So, if you’re a football or business fan and you were paying attention, what did you learn?
1. Inmates Can Never Run the Asylum. Brett Favre was (and will always be) a superior football player. But he was (and always will be) only one of 53 players on a team. Elevating one person on your team above all the others — in effect, allowing that person to write his or her own rules, because you fear he or she can make or break you — is foolhardy at best, and suicidal at worst.
2. Leaders Without Power Can’t Lead. Minnesota Vikings ex-coach Brad Childress can certainly attest to this. When leaders are stripped of their power to manage, discipline or simply act without scrutiny — because above inmate or business rainmaker is clenching your keys — the rest of the inmates will most assuredly riot. As they did in Minnesota. And if you’re a manager like Coach Brad Childress, as well as his minions, you’ll all be out of a job in no time.
3. Right Makes Might. The final lesson? Be you a major corporation, a mid-sized company or a small business, stay true to your mission, values and principles — no matter the heat. Ask Green Bay Packer General Manager Ted Thompson how hot it was when he rid his company of Brett Favre. Ask him how hotter it got when, within one year of his decision, his organization had plummeted from the heights of success to a losing record. And ask him how he feels today, his values and principles justified by a Super Bowl win — and a Super Bowl Most Valuable Player in Aaron Rodgers, who credits his teammates and management, rather than himself, for his success.
Sport and business aren’t analogies anymore. Sport and business are one in the same. My organization can learn from the tale of these two cities, Minneapolis and Green Bay. How about yours?
SOURCE: NOISE
MARKETING: Are You a Pluser or a Minuser?
Thursday, February 10th, 2011 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Here’s something you already know: given the state of the economy the past few years, discounting has become the norm. But here’s something, as NOISE sees it, you may not know: subtraction may not be the best form of addition anymore.
Instead, think addition if you want addition.
By addition, we mean value added. Gift wrapping your service or product with the pretty bow of perceived high value (meaning both desirable and tangible) enhancement, rather than a discount. Amplifying your consumer’s positive experience with your brand by rewarding their experience — therefore exceeding your customer’s expectations, which fuels not only satisfaction but loyalty, which stimulates word-of-mouth and social network referrals. All of which will multiply your addition, so to speak.
And bonus: value-added promotions often cost less in real dollars than simply subtracting real dollars from your price tag.
Now, NOISE is not suggesting you abandon competitive pricing structures. Unless you’re a brand (x-luxury) that commands its own price regardless of market conditions, price point will always be important. But by combining competitive pricing (not discounting) with desirable value-added, we believe your pluses will far outweigh your minuses. It’s a strategy we’re implementing in 2011 with our clients, and the results are (pardon the pun) adding up.
Interested in learning more how NOISE can rock your world? Contact us before February 28, 2011 and tell us you want to get “plused.” And yes, of course: there’s a $5,000 value-added offer waiting for you (legal department mandatory: certain restrictions apply).
SOURCE: NOISE
SOCIAL MEDIA: Four Facebook Dos and Don’ts: Are You Doing Any of Them?
Wednesday, February 9th, 2011 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Experienced social media marketers already know this (we think) — but here are words from the wise, if you’re a brand that’s new to Facebook (or have been led to the promised land by less than seasoned hands):
1. Don’t Establish Multiple Pages For Your Brand. It amazes the experts at Hubspot who authored this report, as well as all of us at NOISE>Social, to see the number of brands that seem unable to control the number of Facebook pages that bear their name. The very first and best way to mark your territory is to correctly launch your brand’s page — then claim its vanity URL (www.Facebook.com/YourBrand) — once you reach 25 followers.
2. Create the Correct Facebook Page. This seems one of those pieces of advice that should come with “duh” attached to it — but again, NOISE>Social and Hubspot see waaaaayyyyyy too many brands creating profiles, rather than pages. Profiles are for people, pages are for business. Profiles (like people) acquire friends, pages acquire likes. The ways of communicating with your community, and measuring your success, are vastly superior when you do it the right way (pages) versus the “duh” way (profiles).
3. Don’t Turn Off Wall Posts. It amazes Hubspot, and NOISE, when brands jump into social media to connect with their consumers in two-way dialogue (the definition of the medium) — yet slit the consumer’s throat by not allowing commentary on their Facebook pages, viewable to the public. If your brand is so afraid of your consumer’s opinion that you won’t give it voice, you’re in poop too deep for social media to dig you out.
4. Start a Conversation and Keep It Going. About as equally stupid as not giving your consumers a voice, is not giving voice to your consumers. If your business is going to participate in social media, participate! Or fail.
Odds are, if your a Trendy Trendspotter, you’re not making any of these gross mistakes. But feel free to pass them along to others less fortunate you know.
SOURCE: SmartBrief, Hubspot, NOISE
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