Words are Things...

It's been a while. We haven't posted here since April 25.

 

And today's "dropping by" is just to check in, and issue an update: We'll be away for a little longer. Yes, Lasting Impressions is still on hiatus for another month.

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There's a lot going on at Complit Communications. Yes, a lot of good writing is still happening. But to avoid spreading ourselves too thin, we are having to put some projects on the side for a while.

But here is a promise you can hold us to: We are coming back with fantastic marketing insights in July 2022.

In the meantime, here are three priceless reads that we recommend. Not only for marketing pundits, but for anyone who sells anything and wants to get better at it:

 

1. The Mirror Makers: A History of American Advertising and its Creators by Stephen Fox. Available here.

 

2. Advertising for Results by G. F. Brown. This eBook is available for free download online.

 

3. A Beautiful Constraint: How to Transform your Limitations into Advantages, and why it is Everyone's Business by Adam Morgan and Mark Barden. Available here.

Happy reading throughout June.

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Well, many of us may never have seen a diamond in the flesh and neither is this a time to pretend. But good writing takes a lot of reading and that's why we are taking some time off to research and read. And wallow in some good funk!

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Beyond Branding: Advertising and Promotion

We have in the past touched on the essentials of a brand, how brands are stored in the mind by way of impressions and how to build a remarkable brand. 

 

 

The book Tips and Traps for Marketing Your Business is a great way to advance the marketing process that revolves around the brand, and this is done by building awareness.

There are four ways to do this:

The first and most effective way to achieve this is through advertising and promotion. Advertising can best be seen as mediated persuasion. And since persuasion has always been done by salesmen, then advertising is akin to mass production of salesmen.

A second way is use of traditional media. Yes, television, newspapers, radio and television still have a role to play even in a connected, digital world. They are mass media but the trick to effectively use traditional media is by not advertising to everyone. Instead, it is advisable to identify a target audience and focus on it.

The third tool to build your business is publicity. This is the often misunderstood world of public relations. Worth noting, however, is these four misconceptions:

• public relations is not free
• public relations is not just press releases and news stories
• public relations is not always externally focused
• public relations is not one-way communication.
  

The purpose of public relations is to ensure that a company or business has a positive image with the audiences that are important to its success.

Finally, interactive marketing. This is where the Internet plays a pivotal role in real time, boundless interactions between brands, organizations and both prospective and existing customers. The web has the effect of leveling the playground thanks to its ubiquitous reach and easy access to almost every one.

Key tools in Internet marketing comprise web sites, Email, social media networks, over the top platforms such as online chats and bots. It also includes online forums, content creation and video sharing platforms and more online destinations where Internet users congregate based on specific interests.

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A business that is driven by passion can easily become your life. Overwhelmed by fears, as Mariah Carey sings, the owner can be tempted to hold it under grass... But a business thrives and evolves when that idea which adds value and helps customers solve problems or get to where they aspire to be, is let out to the world. And the real beauty is in watching it rise. Like a butterfly.

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From Remarkably Bland to Remarkable Brand

 As we have seen before, a brand is stored in the mind for the prospect and customer by way of impressions. Not as chunks of information or facts. A brand is an emotional experience that is predicated on, and driven by a promise made to a customer.

That makes branding the process of building a positive collection of perceptions in your customer's mind.

 

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But to have a prominent and preferred position in the customer's mind, a brand needs to stand out. For the most part, this is done by establishing a unique selling proposition (USP). In advertising, this is the characteristic of a product or service that differentiates it from its competitors.

For Marketing Monday this week, we share with you a very insightful presentation from Neutron LLC titled 'The Brand Gap: How to Bridge the Distance between Business Strategy and Design.'

The immediate take-aways from this lengthy presentation is that:

1. A brand is not a logo

2. A brand is not an identity

3. A brand is not a product.

It is a person's gut feeling about a product, service or organization.

So how do you build your brand from bland to remarkable? This is achieved by making your brand charismatic. This means a product, service or organization for which people believe there's no substitute.

To achieve this, there are five disciplines of brand building that one needs to master:

1. Differentiate

2. Collaborate

3. Innovate

4. Validate

5. Cultivate

There is much more insights not highlighted here. And there is also a Kindle edition of 'The Brand Gap: How to Bridge the Distance between Business Strategy and Creativity.'

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From The Brand Gap, we learn that the main purpose of branding is to get more people to buy more stuff for more years and at a higher price. 

Once you get the branding essentials right, we bet you'll be all smiles on your brand new computer and a bright future in sales...

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The Market in the Market Gap

 If you go to WIRED magazine's web site, this is how The Long Tail is introduced:

 

It was originally an in-depth article by WIRED Editor Chris Anderson which eventually developed into both the The Long Tail book and The Long Tail blog.

This is important because the long tail is at the heart of niche markets.

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A niche is defined as a a shallow recess, especially one in a wall to display a statue or other ornament. A niche market is therefore a small, specialized market for a particular product or service.

In essence, a niche market exists in a gap within a large market segment.

 

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But there's a key question any person or business coming to market with either a product or a service needs to ask:

Is there a market within that gap in the market?

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Starting small. That is the very foundation of scaling and organic growth. Niche markets are small, and may at times appear to exist tucked away in market segments that initially show little promise or seem hopeless.

Marketing: Planning and Strategy

In this week's #MarketingMonday, we tell you about a very nice book.
Written by Subhash C. Jain, 'Marketing: Planning and Strategy' is a goldmine of marketing gems for any marketing student, pundit or practitioner.

We ain't gonna say much, but just a casual look at the Contents will give you a sneak peek into what awaits you in this book.
The fourth chapter deals with understanding competition. From a business viewpoint:

"competition refers to rivalry among firms operating in a market to fill the same customer need. The businessperson’s major interest is to keep the market to himself or herself by adopting appropriate strategies."

Chapter five is all about focusing on the customer, which interestingly opens with this famous quote by Adam Smith:

"Consumption is the sole end and purpose of production; and the interest of the producer ought to be attended to only so far as it may be necessary for promoting that of the customer."

There is a chapter about measuring strengths and weaknesses, another on developing marketing objectives and goals and about organizational structure.

On strategy, the author has outdone himself with detailed chapters on strategic marketing tools viz: product strategies, pricing strategies, distribution strategies, promotion strategies... even global market strategies.


Chapters 19 through 47 are case studies of actual businesses with respect to their maketing strategies.

We highly recommend this book. But more than that, this is where yu can actually get the book and start reading in just a few minutes. Get your copy of 'Marketing: Planning and Strategy' now!

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According to Albert Emery, we can look at marketing as merely a civilized form of warfare in which most battles are won with words, ideas, and disciplined thinking. The end goal is customer acquisition and retention. And this calls for a new attitude in how mediated persuasion is conducted. And new strategies if need be.

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You are Unique. Like Every Person Else

Today's #MarketingMonday shines the light on a key person in advertising - the prospect who is defined as "a person regarded as likely to become a potential customer or client."

 

 

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Over a decade ago, I recall listening to this episode of 'The Age of Persuasion' podcast. This particular episode is on marketing to the masses. Consider this:

"When you speak to thousands, or millions, you surrender the persuasive power of one-on-one intimacy."

Since advertising is mediated persuasion, your marketing message is best served reaching as many a population as possible. But for it to be effective, it should be aimed at one person at a time. Smart advertising doesn't speak to the entire market. It speaks to just one person.

So who is this one person?

This one person is the prospect. And just as you can lead a friend to go the right way in conversation, you fashion your message the same way in advertising.

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The Mass Audience is a myth. And since society emphasizes the individual over the group, we tend to believe that we are very different. But from an advertiser's point of view, these individuals are essentially the same. Quite ironic.

One more thing: Advertisers speak to what an individual believes, and then they expand it to the masses.

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We are quite different and no two persons, even identical twins are exactly the same in the way we behave or respond to things. So yes, you are different. Just like everyone else!

Branding, Impressions and the Elements of an Advert

Today's post is essentially an index of sorts. 

It is however, not without substance since it points us two core ingredients of marketing: branding and advertising.

On Branding, it is worth noting that branding isn't about facts, it is about emotions. You store brands in your mind, not as chunks of information but by way of impressions.

The Age of Persuasion podcast has valuable insights on the 6 remarkable brands and more remarkable brands episodes.

Besides branding, advertising is mediated persuasion and it is one of the most visible and glamorized aspects of marketing.

The are several elements of an ad. These are:

• interactions of words and visuals
• attention-getting devices
• humor
• testimonials
• music (with a focus on the jingle)
• presenters
• characters
• drama
• comparison
  

You can find details of the above elements in 'Advertising and the Mind of the Consumer' book which is available on Amazon.

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The tenets of marketing and marketing have stayed true even with the passage of time and significant changes in ad delivery mediums. The times they are a changin', but it is important to keep customers satisfied.