Kudos to Target and its Ad Agency Weiden + Kennedy for their spot on Black Friday advertising campaign featuring this overly excited and anxious shopping FANatic.
And, file this effort in my “Darn I Wish I Did This Ad Campaign” folder.
Target is using 5 spots from last year (why not – who says an old great campaign can’t be re-engaged?) combined with another 30 online. And, he talent casting, honest copy, imagery, sound and smart campaign integration (see all 35 videos) off and online is simply brilliant and off the charts.
It’s a great example of how ad campaigns should be run. Read Adweek’s take on it here.
Your birthday. Your spouse’s, kid’s, parent’s, grandparent’s, brother’s, sister’s etc., birthdays. Your wedding anniversary and/or your parent’s anniversary. The 4th of July – America’s anniversary. All big time events and occasions to celebrate right?
Well, as a ‘homer’ living in Pittsburgh, and as a professional marketer I’m baffled by the fact that the Pittsburgh Pirates marketing team did absolutely nothing – zero – not a thing – this season to celebrate the 10th anniversary of PNC Park (a gift by the citizens of Pittsburgh), arguably the best ballpark in all of Major League Baseball.
Hey, but don’t take my word that the Pirates’ PNC Park is the best, check out this brief ranking list of the best Major League Baseball ballparks by some of the ‘folks that really know’:
Fox Sports ranks PNC Park first
Now, certainly you can argue that PNC Park might not be the best Park in all of Major League Baseball, but you’d have to agree that it’s at least in the Top 5. And, even if PNC Park wasn’t ranked that high, why wouldn’t you still take advantage of the significance of the date and celebrate all season long?
In fact, the symbolism for a 10th year anniversary for the Pittsburgh Pirates is incredible too. The symbol for the 10th year anniversary is aluminum or tin and here we have one of the greatest companies ever headquartered in Pittsburgh – ALCOA – the Aluminum Company of America (its Headquarters is only .19 miles or 44 seconds from PNC Park) and the world’s leading producer of aluminum! And the designated gemstone of a 10 year anniversary is the diamond…get the symbolism, baseball diamond?
You could also argue, that the Pirates didn’t have much to celebrate and/or remember over the past 10 years, but don’t we all have bad years? It doesn’t mean you forgo celebrating your birth!
We do a ton of hospitality marketing consulting and anyone in the business will tell you the profitable, sales building significance of celebrations such as birthdays and anniversaries.
It’s sad and disappointing that the Pittsburgh Pirates missed the tag on the 10th anniversary of PNC Park. They would have hit the cover of the ball knocking it clear out of the Park and into the Allegheny River!
Don’t forget to step up to the plate and swing for the fences when your brand’s birthday/anniversary rolls around!
Idlewild and SoakZone Best Park for Kids & Families
All of us at BrandMill are happy to report that one of our super clients – Idlewild & Soak Zone in Ligonier, PA (about an hour drive from Pittsburgh) – is now open and operating its 134th season of summer fun and has made a huge splash with its new water park attraction, “Wowabunga” Family Wave Pool.
New Wowabunga Family Wave Pool
Wowabunga features intermittent waves suitable for both younger and older guests as well as a “beach” area perfect for guests looking to soak up the summer sun. See awe-inspiring cirque entertainment all summer long at Cirque Extreme – Under the Big Top and enjoy the following special events – all included with the price of admission – and with free picnicking too:
- June 13 – 17 & June 20 – 24 – BOGO Days
- June 19 – Firefighter/EMS Family Appreciation Day
- June 27 – July 3 – Showcase of Stars
- July 4 – Fireworks
- July 5 -8 – Antique & Classic Car Show and Parade
- July 11 – 15 – Mister Rogers’ Neighbor Days
- July 18 – 22 – Meet the Marvel Comic Super Heroes (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America)
- July 25 -29 – Christmas In July
- July 31 – Cheerleading Competition
- August 12 – Italian Day Festa
- August 22 – 26 – Car Load Days
- October – Hallowboo!
For more details, check out this recent video on KDKA-TV’s Pittsburgh Today LIVE featuring Park Spokesperson Jeff Croushore.
About Idlewild & ZoakZone
Founded in 1878 as a simple picnic ground along the Ligonier Valley Rail Road, Idlewild & SoakZone is the oldest amusement park in Pennsylvania and third-oldest in America. In addition, it is rated the best kid’s park in the world by Amusement Today magazine and the best park for families by the National Amusement Park Historical Association. Idlewild features seven fun theme areas such as SoakZone Waterpark, Story Book Forest and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Seasonal operations run through Labor Day and “Hallowboo,” a Halloween-themed event, takes place in October. Idlewild is part of the Palace Entertainment family which hosts over 13 million visitors annually at 40 locations across the country. With 8 theme parks, 11 water parks and 21 family entertainment centers, Palace is the largest operator of water parks and family entertainment centers in the nation. For more information, call 724.238.3666 or visit http://www.idlewild.com and http://www.palaceentertainment.com.
Just got back in town to Pittsburgh, from two glorious weeks throughout Italy and Switzerland.
Ugh! What a state of depression I’ve been in since! Can’t wait to go back!
We saw some amazing, breathtaking sights such as the Sistine Chapel, The David (I’m a big Michelangelo fan), The Vatican, Pompeii , the Amalfi Coast, Capri, and much more.
However, one man/woman made creation that simply took my breath away as a marketer was the Gelateria (gelato) stands and stores throughout the various Italian cities we visited. They seemed to be on every street corner!
And, what a merchandiser’s dream of flawless execution.
Believe me, even if you were a severe lactose intolerant individual, you’d cave in to any one of these Italian gelato taste bud blowing experiences.
You would not be able to resist it!
As these pictures show, the merchandising of these Italian Gelateria’s are without peer. And, the taste delivers on the merchandising promise.
My question then is, “What are you doing with your merchandising to create a brand experience such as these Gelaterias?”
P.S.: For a great tour guide for Italy, the Holy Land and more, check out Fr. Anthony Nachef’s Proximo Travel. And, tell him Steve Wayhart sent you!
These days you hear a ton about Cause Branding and Marketing and about authenticity and transparency in brand messaging.
Well, to see it first hand, check out this interview we set up for our friends at Light of Life Rescue Mission and good friend, former Pittsburgh Steeler and broadcaster Tunch Ilkin.
It’s easy to see how Tunch and Beth’s passion for the Mission enables it to attract volunteers and donors who help its staff make miracles happen every day by getting homeless men and women back on to bright path of recovery.
Net – it’s easy to ‘sell’ when you believe in your product and what you’re doing!
If you’d like to participate in Tunch & Wolf’s 9th Annual Walk for the Homeless on Saturday, May 9th, click here for more information.
Remember,when you light a lamp for someone else, you brighten your path too!
Killer short film demonstrating the power of words.
Sure wished we’d done this!
Earlier this week on March 23, a devastating tornado swept through Hempfield Township (Greensburg), PA – a community about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh.
Young 15-year-old Tyler Tubbs’ first person account is now sweeping the internet with remixes and parodies. His video of the tornado has nearly 200K YouTube views and has earned national acclaim and coverage via media channels such as CNN. And today, Pittsburgh’s “Tornado Boy” is now being compared to “Double Rainbow Guy” with over 1 million views!
The tornado left in its wake widespread destruction. And, while several families lost their homes, thankfully no one died and injuries were minor.
It’s easy to laugh now at Tyler’s hysterics because no one died or was seriously injured. And, it’s especially funny to me as a Pittsburgher because his “Pittsburghese” comes shining through loud and clear! You got to love it!
OK, since this is a Marketing Blog and not the Weather Channel, what can marketer’s learn from Tyler’s ordeal? Well, here are five marketing lessons you can take away from Tyler’s experience to more effectively tell your brand’s story.
- Communicate with authenticity, transparent honesty and enthusiasm - Tyler was ‘in the moment!’ You feel his amazement, excitement, fear and heartfelt storytelling. His repetitive “tornado” announcements and varying pitch of his voice reinforced his message.
- Always show and tell – Adding video to a story always adds more drama than simply reading a story in print with no visuals and adds to the experience.
- Publish now – Don’t hesitate with new news. Tyler didn’t wait to add music, supers, slick transitions or even edit the film to make it a mini movie of the week. He immediately published and reaped the rewards of viewership. How many of us wait until something is perfect before we launch only to find that others have caught up to us and the parade passed us by?
- Always be prepared - Tyler had his camera with him and immediately acted. I’m sure 95% of all the folks in Hempfield had a cell phone camera of some sort, but they did not act – if they did, they certainly did not move as fast as Tyler.
- Get key influentials/networks to spread your viral effort – This isn’t quite true for Tyler – yet – but when Jimmy Kimmel tweeted Double Rainbow Guy’s video, his views took off!
We can’t expect to have a key influential like Jimmy Kimmel spread our good word, but today – with social media dominating just about everyone’s lives these days and tools such as Facebook and Twitter making it so easy to spread news via our own networks of a few hundred friends and family – nearly everyone is more influential than we were 5-10 years ago making good news travel amazingly fast!
Remember that you are an influential and to publish NOW!
Throughout my days as a professional marketer, I could never understand why doctors write with such poor penmanship when giving prescriptions. In fact, the sloppy practice has always annoyed me.
When I’d get a prescription and attempt to decipher it myself, a flurry of questions would race through my mind such as:
Would the pharmacist get my prescription right?
Doesn’t it slow things down and add to unnecessary increases in human errors.
For a profession in which errors can lead to death, shouldn’t processes be handled with more care?
And, who do these elitist doctors think they are?
Well, after struggling with a bronchitis condition for the past 3 months, I finally decided to see my doctor and was amazed, excited, happy and extremely pleased to get my prescription via a computer printout – WOW!
Such a simple procedure, easily taken to the next level and is now REMARKABLE to me. And, I’m sure it’s remarkable to others too.
‘Remark’able I say because I’ve told over 10 people in 2 days about this seemingly small, but most gratifying experience.
With this simple procedural improvement, I’m more jacked about my doctor than ever before. They’re more professional, state-of-the-art etc.
Are there simple practices that you can review and through a few easy steps surprise and delight your customers?
Can you improve your invoices, meeting minutes and more to make them WOW documents and procedures.
I’ll bet you can. And, if you spruce things up a bit I promise you that your customers will bet on you in the future!
P.S.: Now, I’m sure my doctor isn’t the only one with computerized prescriptions. Which begs the question, “Why didn’t they do this 10 years ago?” Be first, be daring, be different! Why wait for others? Do the right things…right now.
When was the last time you were truly ‘WOWED?”
I bet you remember the moment because it probably doesn’t happen to you often. And, I’ll bet you’ll agree with me that there’s a depressing lack of “WOW” in the world today!
Merely doing satisfactory things for satisfied customers, friends or family is a ‘greens fee’ today.
And sadly, the majority of us do not.
We do the least required to get along and wake up wondering why our relationships ended. I suggest that a lot of relationships break up because of a lack of wow and mutual appreciation.
How do you wow?
I find that it’s best for me to practice and plan to wow. What works best for me, is to bake a little wow into my marketing processes so I don’t forget about how to wow. That is, I work hard to review my tasks in front of and behind me, to see if I have any wow opportunities and then take steps to take advantage of them.
- Say “yes” often
- Guarantee results
- Be quick to respond
- Inspire others to action
- Be kind, nice and courteous
- Add value to someone’s life
- Smile and maintain eye contact
- Find ways to surprise and delight
- Send handwritten thank you cards
- Offer options instead of mandatories
- Anticipate others needs and satisfy them
- Provide individualized customer service
- Be in the moment, focused and actively listen
- Write notes when taking input and directions
- Have manners – say ‘’please” and “thank you’
- Be enthusiastic, optimistic, happy and pleasant
- Be sincerely grateful and humble with your successes
- Prove your concern with an exacting attention to detail
- Be welcoming, approachable, reachable and hospitable
- Follow-up regularly to build relationships – reach out first
- Be organized, clean and stress free – a welcome, caring refuge
- Reward friendship and loyalty with unexpected acts of added value
- Get feedback after your actions and provide service “after the sale”
- Find out what’s been bothering someone and customize your solution
- Be calm, understanding and accept responsibility when you fail or lose
- Do ‘remark’able signature work with the basics and in any encounter
- Be trustworthy – keep your promises and respect others in their absence
- Keep your promises – in fact, underpromise and overdeliver
- Freely share insight and knowledge
- Always follow the “Golden Rule”
Do you have any to add?
I’m far from perfect, that’s why lists like these help me. Try just 2 or 3 this week and I’ll bet you’ll see an immediate positive impact in your relationships.
Sure, these wow tips might be common, but like most common things they work and they’re easily overlooked, forgotten and opportunities become lost.
Remember…“To do a common thing, uncommonly well, brings success.” – Henry John Heinz – yeah…that Heinz!
If you’re looking for a way to truly build your business in a uniquely profitable way, put a plan in place to build customer trust in your brand.
I say unique, because when you consider this chart, you’ll see that many industries are not highly trusted. This online U.S. Harris Poll was conducted on November 8 and 15, 2010 among 2,151 adults 18+.
Trust in a brand (personal or business) is the keystone of all relationships. By doing the right thing/s, you an earn a person’s trust, but it’s easy to lose it – and you can lose it quickly – practically overnight regardless of your past reputation.
Here my 10 ways to build trust:
- Be authentic – be real
- Lead with integrity and humility
- Be honest, don’t lie and always tell the truth
- Be objective, fair and consistent in your actions
- Don’t gossip – respect people in their absence
- Keep your promises by doing what you say you’re going to do
- Don’t take people for granted – anticipate needs, don’t just react
- Be open and transparent on your dealings and provide clear information
- Always do your best and give your engagements everything you’ve got
- Be a Servant Leader by putting others best interest ahead of your own
If you follow these 10 ways to build trust in your brand, “they (your customers)” will come again and again. Trust me.
