Cost-Effective Marketing

Marketing departments are seldom given enough money to accomplish what they feel they should accomplish on behalf of their brands. And marketing budgets are some of the first to be cut when organizational belt-tightening is required. So what is a marketing professional to do?

Here are some of the approaches I recommend to market brands on the cheap:

• Strong media relations, especially with the most trusted industry publications
• Generating publicity
• Including well thought-through publicity stunts
• Doing something outrageous or unexpected, something that will create a buzz
• Holding contests
• Creating a board of advisors
• Creating new product preview events for your best customers and top prospects
• Offering webinars on topics related to your brand's expertise
• Authoring a blog
• Writing a book
• White papers to establish thought leadership
• Speaking at meetings, conferences and trade shows
• Establishing a customer referral program
• Interacting with customers and potential customers on social media sites
• Conducting surveys to identify prospects and build awareness for your brand
• Creating customer clubs and meetups
• Email newsletters with viral components
• Automated, personalized email campaigns
• Podcasts
• YouTube channel
• Influencer marketing
• Supporting industry analysts
• Building strong relationships with the industry's most trusted consultants
• Business partner referrals
• Strategic partnerships
• Co-marketing with other non-competing brands
• Using other people's money
• Using LinkedIn to identify leads
• Always suggesting that people share your content with others and providing them an easy way to do so
• Including providing ways for people to share your content on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and other popular websites
• Always including strong branding, links and contact information on email signatures

Answers to the Luxury Brand's blog post quiz on Wednesday, February 12: 

1 - 3 (Opus)

2 - 4 (Phineas Auden)

3 - 2 (Briggs & Stratton M550)

4 - 3 (Janus CRX 507)

5 - 3 (Oliver Silas)

6 - 4 (Jasper Dashiells)

7 - 4 (Errazuriz Chardonnay Max Reserva Aconcagua Costa)

8 - 1 (Seraphina)

9 - 1 (Samuel Hutchins)

10 - 2 (Ascona)

11 - 1 (McPearson Z500)

12 - 2 (Spellman)

13 - 3 (Xanadu)

14 - 1 (Yacht Club de Cuomo)

15 - 3 (Basel International)

16 - 1 (The Crypt)

17 - 3 (Delatour)

18 - 3 (Lake Bord)

Brand Aid: A Quick Reference Guide to Solving Your Branding Problems and Strengthening Your Market Position sold here.

The Most Popular Posts by Year

These are the 77 most popular Branding Strategy Source blog posts by year:

2014

• Basic Human Needs and Branding
• Branding and Memory
• The Poison Parasite Defense

2015

• Brand Manager Competencies and Responsibilities
• Comprehensive Brand Management Training
• Volvo Brand Strategy
• Branding and Product Design
• Brand Equity Measurement 101
• Brand Naming
• Most Important Brand Management Tasks
• Brands and Memory Structures
• The Brand Management Process: An Overview
• Did You Know?
• Purpose Driven Brands
• Automobile Purchases and Self-Image Reinforcement
• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
• Marketing versus Brand Management
• Dove's Real Beauty Campaign
• Brand Research a Must for Brand Positioning
• Writing the Agency Brief
• Mission, Vision, Values, Essence, Promise
• Luxury Brands and Exclusivity
• Measuring a College or University's Brand Equity
• Customer Need States
• The Importance of All Five Senses in Branding
• Brands and Baseball Caps
• Nine Favorite Brand Management and Marketing Books
• Brand Attributes, Benefits and Values
• Branded House versus House of Brands
• Disruptive Technologies and Business Models

2016

• Rebranding Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Measuring Brand Insistence
• Different Types of Brand Benefits
• Successful Advertising Approaches
• Online Brand BuildingBrand Equity Measurement 101

2017

• Brands and Authenticity
• Brand Advertising and Humor
• Naming Brands
• Budweiser 2017 Super Bowl Ad
• The Twelve Key Elements of Marketing
• Hollow Brands
• Brand Tonality
• United Airlines Just Can't Get it Right
• Mass Appeal versus Niche Brands
• Online Brand Management and Marketing Resources
• The Quick Brand Health Assessment
• Brand SWOT Analysis
• Six Approaches to Brand Positioning
• Brand Aid
• Twenty Brand Management Tips
• The Importance of Brand Planning
• Determining the Current Brand Position
• Peeling Back the Onion
• Brands and Tribalism
• The Brand Manager's Span of Influence
• Industry Game Changers
• Big Data and Customer Targeting
• The Exploding Use of Drones in Marketing
• The Elements of Business and Marketing Strategy

2018

• What Do People Need Most?
• The Importance of Colors in Marketing
• Objectives and Strategies First, Please
• BrandForward's Next Level Growth Process
• Identifying Riding Lawn Mower Brands by Color
• Brand Aid

2019

• Brand Research
• Brand Positioning Components
• Mayo Clinic Advertising
• Ten Ways to Successfully Position Your Brand in Overcrowded Markets
• Insights from Twenty Years as a Brand Consultant
• Historical Brands in America
• Brand Switching
• After 35 Years in the Business, My Thoughts About Marketing
• Will Brands Even Be Around in Ten Years?

2020

• Brand Strategy Workshops
• The Eight Skills of a Marketing Rock Star

Luxury Brands Quiz

Just for fun, I have created a luxury brands quiz to test your knowledge of luxury brands.

1. Which of these is not a superyacht builder?

1. Lürssen
2. Vard
3. Opus
4. Cantiere della Marche

2. Which of these is not a tailored clothing brand?

1. Gieves & Hawkes
2. Huntsman
3. Richard James
4. Phineas Auden

3. Which of these is not a jet brand?

1. Dassault Falcon 7x
2. Briggs & Stratton M550
3. Embraer EMB190 BJ Lineage 1000
4. Bomardier Global 7500

4. Which of these is not a helicopter brand?

1. Leonardo AW169
2. Bell 505 Jet Ranger
3. Janus CRX 507
4. Airbus ACH145

5. Which of these is not a luxury watch brand?

1. Patek Philippe
2. Richard Mille
3. Oliver Silas
4. Chopard

6. Which of these is not a luxury furniture manufacture?

1. Giorgetti
2. Boca do Lobo
3. Fendi Casa
4. Jasper Dashiells

7. Which of these is not a fine wine?

1. Château Pichon Longueville Lalande Pauillac
2. Rotem & Mounir Saouma Châteauneuf-du-Pape Omnia
3. Château Léoville Barton St.-Julien
4. Errazuriz Chardonnay Max Reserva Aconcagua Costa

8. Which of these is not a luxury hotel brand?

1. Seraphina
2. Soneva
3. Aman
4. Rosewood

9. Which of these is not a famous glass artist?

1. Samuel Hutchins
2. Winnie Teschmacher
3. Pavel Novak
4. Robert Dane

10. Which of these is not a world class ski resort?

1. Courchevel
2. Ascona
3. Zermatt
4. Aspen Snowmass

11. Which of these is not a luxury automobile?

1. McPearson Z500
2. Lamborghini Sesto Elemento
3. Pagani Huayra BC
4. Bugatti Divo 

12. Which of these is not a high-end loudspeaker brand?

1. Klipsch
2. Spellman
3. KEF
4. Moon Audio

13. Which of these is not an exclusive enclave for the rich and famous?

1. Hvar
2. Ibiza
3. Xanadu
4. The Maldives

14. Which of these is not an exclusive yacht club?

1. Yacht Club de Cuomo
2. Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club
3. Yacht Club Costa Smeralda
4. Yacht Club de Monaco

15 .Which of these is not an elite equestrian event?

1. Palm Beach Masters Series
2. Vejer de la Frontera
3. Basel International
4. Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event

16. Which of these is not an exclusive college club?

1. The Crypt
2. Porcellian
3. The Fly
4. Skull & Bones

17. Which of these is not a jewelry brand?

1. Chopard
2. Graff
3. Delatour
4. Van Cleef & Arpels

18. Which of these is not a destination travel lake?

1. Lake Titicaca
2. Plitvice Lakes
3. Lake Bord
4. Lake Como

I will provide the answers to this quiz in my next bog post.

Retain Customers by Building Community

 

While some may think that an annual customer retention rate of 80% is good, that means you loose one out of every five customers each year. Theoretically, this translates to 100% turnover every five years. And, as most business owners know, it is much more cost effective to retain a current customer than to acquire a new customer.

There are many approaches to retaining customers. Frequency programs purport to do so as do other customer loyalty programs. CRM systems are supposed to help with this. Some companies try to lock customers in through multi-year contracts and automatic rebilling. But the best approach to customer retention is community building because community building creates emotional connection and stickiness. People stay with the brand because it has created a community for them.

Think about how powerful coffee klatches, book clubs and bridge groups are. Imagine if you could create that type of community with your brand's customers.

So, what are some community building techniques?

• Producing user conferences.
• Creating customer advisory boards and customer steering committees. 
• Engaging customers through Facebook pages and other social media platforms.
• Holding customer meet-ups.
• Creating local brand-focused customer clubs.
• Creating physical spaces where customers can interact.
• Holding customer holiday parties and appreciation events.
• Recruiting panels of customers to beta test your new products.

Hallmark sponsors local Hallmark ornament collectors' clubs. Tesla Owners Clubs hold frequent owner meetups. Many wealth management firms hold holiday parties for their clients. Orvis offers free fly tying and casting clinics for its customers. Robert Graham offers exclusive closed door events for people who achieve Master Collector status within their Collector's Club. Most colleges and universities invite their graduates back to reunions every five years. Large churches create small groups focused on different interests to retain parishioners. Patagonia supports grassroots groups working to find solutions to the environmental crisis. Eastern Mountain Sports encourages people to share their outdoor photographs on Instagram with #goEast. SONY's Playstation has create an online space for gamers to connect. Harley Owner's Group (HOG) has more than one million members and holds HOG Rallies around the world. P&G created "Being Girl" as a resource for teenager girls to connect and find answers to the difficult questions that growing up entails. Lululemon's brand community offers free yoga classes, festivals and events and even an experiential store in Chicago featuring fitness studios and a juice bar.

If you want to retain more customers, identify and implement ways to create community among those customers. 

Core Human Needs and Marketing

Psychologists have long hypothesized, studied and tested what they believe to be the core human needs. While most psychologists highlight six basic needs, many also include a seventh need. Here are the seven needs:

1. Certainty/Safety/Comfort/Control/Security
2. Love/Affection/Physical and Emotional Connection
3. Significance/Respect/Uniqueness/Feeling Special
4. Competence/Mastery
5. Contribution/Making a Difference
6. Variety/Experience/Stimulation/Novelty/Satisfying Curiosity
7. Independence/Freedom/Autonomy

Most people experience deficiencies in meeting one or more of these needs on a regular basis. Knowing this, marketers can target their brands' unique value propositions and marketing messages to address these needs.

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise. As a marketer, consider your role to be that of delivering Kintsugi to your brand's customers, that is to help them to fill their perceived deficiencies or brokenness with your brand's "gold."

As an exercise, try to identify at least one brand that focuses on each of these core human needs.

As an example, here is my list:

1. Certainty/Safety/Comfort/Control/Security - National Car Rental
2. Love/Affection/Physical and Emotional Connection - Hallmark
3. Significance/Respect/Uniqueness/Feeling Special - MINI Cooper
4. Competence/Mastery - Footjoy
5. Contribution/Making a Difference - Patagonia
6. Variety/Experience/Stimulation/Novelty/Satisfying Curiosity - Dr. Pepper
7. Independence/Freedom/Autonomy - Marlboro

These needs are fundamental and very powerful. Consider how your brand can promise the fulfillment of one or more of these needs.