FRAGMENTED EFFORTS MEAN DIMINISHED RESULTS

There are some business owners we really like who, for some reason, have brought woe upon themselves and their marketing.

Maybe it's a simple lack of understanding. Could be fear. Or, as with so many entrepreneurs, it might be about control.

Whatever it is, it leads to unwittingly undermining their marketing and yielding less impressive results than they truly deserve.

One of my favorite clients suffers from this.


FIXING SOME REALLY BAD RADIO

Years ago, I was approached by a Southern California media agency to execute some radio commercial repair. The copywriting was awful, "I have no idea how to make people care" junk.

The resulting work got people's attention (for the right reasons), and has yielded some pretty powerful results.

The problem is, this work stands alone.

Other than one identifying feature from that work pasted onto the company's other advertising, there's virtually no integration between the radio and any of the other media.

The print ads look like one thing--that in no way resembles the spirit of the radio.

The website in no way reflects the radio or the print.

The fliers they send out have no obvious link to the website, radio or print.

It's as if separate companies were handling each of the media with no idea what the others were doing.


BRAND DISCONNECT

None of the marketing elements support any of the other marketing elements.

Which means, there's a lot of money going to waste out there--especially when you consider the main competitors: big box retailers like Home Depot, Lowes, Best Buy, etc.

As you know, the big box stores all have very cohesive branding and marketing efforts.

Any time you see ANYTHING representing Home Depot marketing, there is no doubt it's Home Depot. Just the color. That shade of orange is unmistakable.

They've all spent time and money making sure their materials and messages hold together across all media. They build brand identity and top of mind awareness.

Yet, our favorite family-owned competitor has no such brand image.

They have a series of efforts, all well intentioned, with no brand cohesion.

We're also not sure why.


WE KNOW THIS MAN, AND HE'S NO DUMMY

The fellow who owns this store is a really, really smart guy.

He completely understands his customers and his business from top to bottom.

He's built a gorgeous retail facility that's filled with exceptional displays and lots of natural light.

He's previously worked in areas like nuclear energy.

He is an excellent yachtsman, and even does races from Los Angeles to Hawaii.

In fact, that latter quality lead me to considering the following metaphor...

Your marketing is a sailboat.

The various media are the crew.

If your boat is going to win, all your crew have to be on the same page with the same goal in mind.

They can't go off, each one charting separate courses, and expect to win.


THE AD AGENCY IS THE CAPTAIN, AND IS ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW THE CREW BEHAVES

And this is one possible reason why so many small businesses have fragmented, non-cohesive marketing efforts: they have no ad agency, no identifiable direction, and no strategic plan.

The crew are all running around the deck, doing their own thing.

They're not communicating. They're all independent operators.

They might as well be on different boats.

The biggest boats, which have the most money and always finish first, are the Home Depots and Lowes of the world. They may not even have the shrewdest game plan. But by virtue of their sheer size and their focused efforts, they always cross the line first.

The smaller boats, the independent retailers, might not be as fast or as fancy. But if they have an equally focused effort, they can make life much more challenging for the big box boats. They can win more business and close the gap between themselves and the bigger guys.

But...only if they're operating with just as focused and cohesive an effort.

All the media need to work together so that no matter where a prospect encounters the message, there's no mistaking what business it's advertising--and it needs to be enticing.


ONE GUY WE KNOW IS USING THE RECESSION AS AN EXCUSE TO OPEN HIS FOURTH STORE

It was a little surprising.

I worked with this guy back in the 1980s, at a little Boston-based chain of hi-fi stores called Tweeter Etc. (Yes, THAT Tweeter, before it became a monolithic national retailer.)

Tweeter's marketing was really good, smart, consistent and coherent.

And now, all these years later, I've found this fellow again. He owns a chain of three appliance stores. He's opening his fourth. And you can tell that he learned at least something from the Tweeter marketing. His efforts are smart, consistent and coherent.

In a time when so many businesses are doing things like stopping their advertising to save money (which, to quote Ogilvy, is like stopping your watch to save time), he's opening a new store.

I can virtually guarantee you who the dominant player in that market is going to be when the recession is officially over.

He's moving his boat forward, his crew all in agreement on their direction, and his course is set for the finish line.

He might not beat the big boats of Lowes or Home Depot.

But you know he's there.

He's too consistent not to be visible.

And they really don't like having him on their tails.

Ya gotta love an upstart.

To be an effective upstart, integrate your marketing efforts. Make sure everything is on message and of a piece. Bring together all the fragmented efforts, and you'll be able to annoy your competition as well.