… or forever tarnished? What’s your comment?

According to Constant Contact, here’s the industry-specific chart. So, are you sending out a newsletter? How do you compare?

Tis better to risk ruffling feathers than risk being ignored.

If your advertising/marketing doesn’t grab attention, and possibly even ruffle some feathers, it may not be that good. Because, as everyone knows, about 90% of people are numb to about 90% of ads. And, if your message gets overlooked you’ve just wasted your time and money. Not that an ad has to be controversial to be effective, but, those that are — if also truthful, on strategy, and highly creative — often generate the best results. Like these:

Controversy: The minister initially rejected it believing that it would offend some church members. But he also understood and appreciated what we were trying to do. When the ad finally ran, many conservative church members were offended.

Results: Younger, non-church members (the main target audience) loved it and the provocative campaign helped increase membership over 30% by the 2nd year. It also got positive press in The New York Times. The minister later informed us that many people told him that, of all the ads, this was their favorite — and the most memorable. The campaign is featured in Prentice-Hall’s Principles of Marketing and this Fall marks the 11th consecutive year of the nationally recognized campaign.

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Controversy: Daffy’s Off-Price retail message is that you’re crazy to pay retail. Yet, some hated this ad so much they actually picketed in the streets. The Alliance for the Mentally Ill insisted that the ad was very offensive.

Results: Major press in The New York Times, etc which fueled sales and helped add to a 25% dollar volume increase. Clearly, many others disagreed with The Alliance. (See other Daffy’s ads)

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Controversy: Picking on Smuckers Jam is like picking on Mom and apple pie. Yet, to make our point we believed we had to do it. Fortunately, our savvy client agreed eventhough he knew that Smuckers might try to sue his pants off.

Results: A 90% sales increase the first month, a featured article in Forbes, and no lawsuit. Because what we said was true. In fact, the results were so dramatic that our client doubled his media spending the following month and the campaign went on to become a case study taught at Harvard Business School.

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Controversy: Our original client rejected the ad fearing negative feedback. So, we found another client — one who believed in the message enough to run it and stand behind it.

Results: A month after the print ad ran we got a request from the client for 1000 posters because so many schools, social workers and protective care agencies were requesting copies of it. Our agency later received the first ever United Nations Humanitarian Award for an ad.

To view some of our less controversial work, visit:
http://www.follisinc.com/theads.htm

GET A BUZZ. “Buzz” is anything that gets people “buzzing” and spreading the word about your product. Or, as I like to call it: Word-of-mouth on steroids. It’s the goal of any marketer with a limited budget. Kenneth Cole knows about that. So does The Marble Collegiate Church in NYC.

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Ford recently handed 100 Ford Fiestas to 100 people selected from 4,000 applicants. These “agents” — that’s what Ford calls them — get to use the cars for six months in exchange for completing monthly “missions” with different themes. They’ll share their experiences through YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter accounts Ford created for the campaign.

By turning the marketing over to social networking sites, Ford provides its target audience with content generated by people within that audience. Ford is taking a hands-off approach and telling participants not to hold back their opinions, bolstering the campaign’s credibility.

So, do you think this is a smart marketing strategy? Will it be credible?

Millions of YouTube hits, worldwide press, and now book and movie deals. Do you think it’s mainly the old media (TV) or new media (YouTube, etc) that’s been the driving force behind this media frenzy?

You Must Build Credibility.

The Follis Report “Top 10 Cred Killers”

10) Non-working web links.
9)  Poor business telecommunications.
8)  Bad Design (especially logo)
7)  Poor production on any business or marketing materials
6)  Weak writing.
5)  Bad G-Cred.
4)  Crappy business card.
3)  No business card.
2) “Website under construction.”
1)  No website.

Have any to add?  Leave your comment.

It’s ALWAYS better to Attract than Chase.

This tip may be the most important one of all. So, I have to say it again:
It’s ALWAYS better to Attract than Chase.

This is not rocket science. If you can …

1) determine the core emotional desire or need of your customer
2) address that desire or need with a really good solution
3) present that solution in a way that’s not agressive (ie: attracts their attention and motivates them…)

…then they’ll be lining up at your door. It’s the difference between smart, respectful marketing, and selling.
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Associate your business with a good cause.

Associating your business with a good cause can be a win/win situation if the cause ties in with your brand and/or allows you to showcase your product or service. This viral marketing effort is an example. Here’s the press release.