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    I heart slogans.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    The Catskills, a mountain range in NY State, has a promotional group seeking to improve its image among a new generation of tourists.  To that end they are holding a contest to find a new slogan. A really accomplished NYC branding expert was quoted today in the NYT as saying the leading vote getters are not really differentiated.  They are “so generic, that they could be applied about almost anywhere.” And he’s right. But two of the most famous of tourism slogans extant are “I love NY” and Virginia is for Lovers.”   Not a lot of endemic value there.

    The brand expert correctly said “To change the perception of a region today requires more than a slogan; they don’t really change perception the way they used to.”  That point is way accurate.  The reason being slogans don’t last very long these days.  I’m making this up but I’d say slogan lifetimes average 26 months. And whose fault is that?  Ad agencies. 

    I won a big piece of advertising business while with an agency once by telling the review committee why their line was so great.

    Done well, great slogans are guiding principles.  And strategies. They are not just limericks. Peace. 

    Sales, Operations and Strategy.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    Here’s my take on these three important engines of commerce. 

    Sales is responsible for making money hit the bank account. When sales are good everyone in C-suite is happy. Sales people like patterns; if something works they will use it. Sales people like air cover so that prospects know who they are and what they do, even before they arrive. Sales people like leads, but they have to be great leads. And they like good support in the areas of communications, delivery and aftercare.

    Operations is responsible for logistics. When products and services are procured, delivered and serviced in a frictionless environment, the C-suite is happy.  Operations is not just loading dock stuff, it’s about interdepartmental efficiency.  When operations are fluid and systematized, problems are dealt with quickly, minimizing hiccups and reducing negative impact on profits.

    Strategy done well, is the traffic cop that makes sales and operation more fruitful.  Strategy is not mission, however. Every major league baseball team has a mission. Win games. Score more runs than the other team.  Every company has a mission. Make more money than you spend.  Make more money than the competition.  In Army parlance, the mission might be “take Hamburger Hill.”  The strategy on the other hand is how to take that hill.  

    All strategy and no sales makes Jack a poor boy. All three areas need to perform together in order to create sustainable success. Now you don’t have to go out and buy Jack Welch’s books.  Go forth, Peace!

    All my .edu exes live online.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    MOOCs are the haps these days.  The acronym stands for Massive Open Online Courses.  Coursera, started by two Stanford University scientists, is one such MOOC and it’s a for profit enterprise.  MITx began this whole movement by offering a couple of free online courses then deciding to brand itself MITx —  a good idea. But this past it partnered with Harvard and rebranded the venture edX.  Today Cal Berkley joined edX which is a not for profit.

    This is an nascent and exciting category but one has to wonder if these aggregated Xs will soon become exes. The university brands by themselves are so powerful that an online holding company with a master brand atop seems a short term solution. Let’s wait and see. Peace.

    VCs and Branding

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    There’s an interesting article in the Times today regarding the branding of Venture Capital firms.  The word “brand” is mentioned 4 times (Tools, File, Find on page) but nowhere is there any sense of what these VC firms actually stand for – what their point of difference is. The article really means “awareness” and “PR” not branding.  Marc Andreesen and PR hawk Margit Wennmachers all know the value of awareness, stories and creating positive prevailing wind in the blogosphere, but no one (reporter Nicole Perlroth included) understands how to build a brand…how to organize the selling story that is branding. They misuse the word.

    And that might be a good thing, because though it’s important to have a well-known and respected VC behind you. Entrepreneurs – and this, the article does say – want to make sure their company and brand are visible during start-up. Start-ups are the ones that need the brand building, the organizing principle. More so than VC firms. Everybody needs strong brand, a strong Is-Does and a meaningful organizing principle, but VC firms that hire PR people and think that’s branding need to dig a bit deeper. Peace.

     

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    Micky-soft. One view forward.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    Microsoft just announces its first ever quarterly loss; the function of an accounting move to write down the purchase of aQuantive, an ad serving company for which it overpaid and, perhaps, mismanaged.  But the story of the quarterly report points out a larger financial issue which one might debate is of questionable strategy.  In order to keep current PC sales moving, Microsoft has agreed to allow every new purchaser of a PC with Windows 7 a $14.99 upgrade to the soon-to-be released Windows 8 – an exciting new operating systems that will change the way PC users navigate their machines. Windows 8 is much more touchscreen-like and tile operated.

    I understand that their relations with PC manufacturers is important, but I’ve never approved of this sort of pricing approach.  Before new model years, car sales do slow. You have to plan for that. As I’ve written before, Windows 8 should have been renamed Tiles and this mad break with the past celebrated. Like when Windows 3 was launched. Microsoft’s brand diaspora and product diaspora, has slowed growth.  This is one time, however, when the company should make a sharp cut and move on. Windows 8 is a very cool product.  Even the techie “grouchos” aren’t killing it. It’s time to take back the news cycle and move on from Windows.  Peace!  

    The Farewell Idea.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    “Farewell, My Queen” is a movie I really want to see.  I love historical pieces with great attention to detail.  It’s transporting and a great way to learn.  The movie focuses on three days during the storming of the Bastille and the French Revolution, from the point of view of those in Versailles, specifically Marie Antoinette.

    If you have ever been to Versailles, you know it alone is worth a movie.  Add the French Revolution, the amazingly complicated, interpreted and storied Marie Antoinette and you have a golden opportunity.  But cast Lea Seydoux in the lead and make us dive into what it must be like to know a country is coming for you, and you have drama in capital letters.

    This movie was based upon a book, but the idea at the heart of it was quite simple: What must it have been like for Marie Antoinette during the storming of the Bastille? Every great piece of art and selling idea with ballast is born of an idea. What is your idea?  Peace.

    An interesting sales training technique.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    A friend of mine has been in the car business all her life. As a teen, then a showroom manager and, finally an owner. The economy and “the life” caused her to change careers recently. She is now selling insurance for a large company.  Once a salesperson, always a salesperson I guess.  She passed her insurance tests, learned the products and services, contacted a lot of friends and rolodex contacts and is now onto what she believes a demeaning chapter in this job evolution.  She goes to malls, sets up a table, blows up balloons and fingerprints children as a service to parents. “May I have a smaller balloon… and this time yellow? And can you make it so my hair stands up?”

    I’m sure she is going through the 5 stages of grief.

    I’m not sure how common mall sales training lessona are in the insurance business, but with the right mindset, I bet it’s great a learning ground. You have to engage customers who otherwise don’t want to be engaged, for starters.  Then you must undertake meaningful conversation about something about which customer cares deeply — their child.  Then introduce a negative concept into the selling process…child danger. And then talk about mortality on the off chance someone might be ready to buy life insurance.  “Balloon anyone?”

    If you can learn from all this activity, even if you don’t sell a policy, I bet you will emerge a stronger sales person. Peace! 

     

    Stones. Stone. And Stoners.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    Oliver Stone goes big.  He pushes the truth and sometimes creates his own truth. In his review of Mr. Stone’s “Savages” today A.O. Scott called Stone’s body of work “sumptuous.”  Rich cinematography, larger than life characters and just plain juicy film-making. I am on a Don Winslow (writer of Savages) jag now, and readers might even see a tiny bit of influence in this blog. I’m also a Blake Lively fan. (Not dead yet.) It’s a trifecta for me.

    Marketers and ad peeps should study Mr. Stone.  He finds topics that have gravitational pull, he used great images and sounds to capture them, and he steeps the content in sumptuousness.  Even the Times’A.O. Scott digs this kind of film making.  Go see Savages. It will beat your average Vampire vamp and scare-fest. Oliver it up. Peace!

     

    The games marketers play.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    Is it better to gamify learning or learnify gaming? Is if better to gamify war or warify games? Perhaps I just enjoy being contrarian but I’m growing a bit tired of the gamify word.  Games are contests…with winners and losers.  Not everything in life needs to be so.  Art isn’t a game.  Science isn’t a game. Business isn’t a game.

    Gaming is a trend that marketers are grabbing hold of and early returns are positive, but the reality is gaming in marketing is really about gaming the consumer into learning about and buying products.  And that will get old.  You know when you are watching a movie and stop paying attention for a moment to ask “Was that a product placement?”  It messes with the art.  Good promotional games are and can be successful, but I fear  turning loose coders and web marketers with hi-def gaming assignments will more often than not, detract from brand building. What would a Geico game look like? Exactly. Peace.  

    Robo-copywriting.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    I don’t know exactly why it is, but I love well-written restaurant reviews.  Good food writing does what ads are supposed to do “make you feel something, then do something.”  I sometimes feel the same way about Cathy Horyn, The New York Times style writer.  When reading Ms. Horyn, typically during Fashion Week, I find myself wishing for a touch of style. The do something part of the “feel then do” may be to go out and buy another pair of 501 jeans, but at least someone is benefiting.

    Copywriters need to treat ads as food writers treat food.  They need to persuade through a love of the product.  A juicy scallop grilled perfectly, described loving and attentively, can make a person hungry.  A JPMorgan Chase Mastercard piece in a #10 envelope should be similarly treated.  It wouldn’t surprise me if there were robo- copywriting going on out there with the amount of direct response dreck being published. In fact, some of the robo-copywriting might be better than that of the human variety.

    Hey copywriters, find the time to love the products about which you write. Savor them. And love  the craft. If you don’t, it’s time to step away from the keyboard and take a sabbatical. Peace!   

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