Rational Marketing

Author: Catherine

  • Which Came First?

    We did a study and analysis of our customers and sales over the last 14 years. We found a few surprises.

    Even though we have a passion for helping new businesses get started and grow and love watching people realize their dreams. The average number of years that one of our customer organizations has been operating was almost 20 years. Are organizations more likely to spend more on direct mail the longer they are in business or are they still in business because they spend more money on direct mail?

    The larger a company is in terms of employee size also correlated with average sales. In other words, the more employees that work in a firm, the more the firm spent on direct mail. Again you could ask did the organization grow because they used direct mail more or are they more likely to use direct mail because they have more employees?

  • Back to Basics

    According to an article extracted from McKinsey Quarterly by Harvard Business Publishing, purchasers of consumer electronics have greater interest in products offering core benefits at attractive prices than in products with unused bells and whistles.

    Consumer Attitudes Toward Products
    Consumer Electronics Get Back to Basics

    Part of marketing is product design, but I wonder do we need to embrace these trends in other areas too?

  • Function for All

    Trendwatching.com’s February 2010 newsletter highlights products that are simple, small and/or cheap. The products and services are designed for low(er)-income users in emerging markets, but manage to appeal to buyers in mature consumer cultures too.

    Goods and services especially designed for emerging markets often incorporate one or more of the following characteristics:

    • Smaller and/or limited number of features, to keep prices low.
    • Simpler, or easier to use, for inexperienced consumers.
    • Energy efficient (or not using any traditional energies at all) and/or easy to repair and/or waste-reducing.
    • Robust, as some of them are used in rugged conditions.
    • Well-designed (the democratization of design is a global phenomenon).
    • Aimed at helping owners to generate income, or allow users to create self-sustaining systems.

  • Email & Texting or Marijuana?

    BNET recently sent an email, the subject line read “Which Is Worse for Your Brain: Texting or Pot?” That is quite a question.

    The post referred to a University of London study done for Hewlett-Packard that found that “infomania” — a term connected with addiction to email and texting — can lower your IQ by twice as much as smoking marijuana. Moreover, email can raise the levels of noradrenaline and dopamine in your brain by constantly introducing new stimuli into your day. When those levels get too high, complex thinking becomes more difficult, making it harder to make decisions and solve problems.

    Read all your email and text messages, and your mind becomes so drained that it’s a challenge to get anything else done. Sure, some of it’s important — and that’s precisely the problem. “The brain hates uncertainty,” says David Rock, the CEO of Results Coaching Systems and author of “Your Brain at Work.” “It’s literally painful to not download your email the moment you arrive at your desk in the morning. But once you’ve processed 30 or 40 emails, you’ve ruined your brain chemistry for higher level tasks that are going to create value.”

    In short, the brain’s capacity for decision-making was created for a time when people had less to think about. So now you have an excuse for not keeping up.

    These are interesting facts to keep in mind as you plan communication with your customers and prospects. Maybe this is one more reason to think about direct mail?

  • Simple Sells

    BNET recently shared this great post about simplicity. Marketers at Starbucks, Kraft, and Campbell have discovered that “simple” sells. Products that stress fewer ingredients – food, drinks, cosmetics, even pet food – are outselling rivals, as this USA Today story explains.

    Is this a trend with traction? Will this “marketing megatrend” extend beyond consumable products? Leading consumers with creative marketing is one thing. Is ’simple’ something we should all be considering in our marketing, branding, and positioning? The answer to that is yes. Here are …

    Five Reasons Why You Should Keep It Simple:

    1. Communication. Regardless of whether your organization is Business to Business (B2B) or Business to Consumer (B2C), high-tech or high fashion or non-profit. When it comes to positioning, the simplest and easiest to understand way of getting across your unique value proposition (the reason why customers should buy from you and not your competitor) is always the best way.

    2. We’re All Consumers. You, me, the CEO, even the seemingly unflappable finance and IT people. We’re all consumers and we’re all subject to mega-marketing trends that invade our subconscious day and night.

    3. Stress and Overload. We’re all stressed-out on media, product, and “choice” overload. Too much choice can be a bad thing. We are all overloaded with media and product choices. Moreover, technology adds complexity that takes time to learn. It’s nice to have one less thing to analyze and worry about. “Simple” is calming, relaxing … for a change.

    4. In Management and In Life, Keep It Simple. That simple rule goes a long way to explaining why Apple’s Mac continues to gain market share over PCs.

    5. Left-Brain And Right-Brain Appeal. Emotionally, we associate “simple” with easy, quick, controlled. While we make left-brain decisions based on the perception of quality and performance, in many of those metrics – defects, moving parts, size and weight – less is more. These days we just want things to work the way they’re supposed to – no instructions, no drama, no returns.

    Direct mail is a really great way to communicate “simple” in a clear-cut and easy to understand way. Call us at 602-272-2100 for some fresh ideas in graphic design or just let us mail your simple idea.

  • Life Changing Opportunities

    In December 2009, Deliver Magazine did a summary of statistics about new parents that they extracted from TheBump.com.

    • 69% of new and expecting moms use the samples received in pregnancy and parenting gift packs
    • $3,342.00 is the average amount spent during the first year of pregnancy
    • 85% of new parents set up a college savings plan
    • 82% of new parents create a will/living trust/estate plan
    • 67% of new parents book a vacation
    • 51% of new parents purchase or lease a new or pre-owned car
    • 32% of new parents purchase a home for primary residence.

    These facts remind us that life changing events prompt changes in buying behavior. Other life changing moments:

    • Getting a driver’s license
    • Going to college
    • Entering the work force
    • Getting married
    • Empty nest
    • Retirement

    I think you get the idea. I know that my friends are looking forward to children going away to college so they can finally fix up their houses. Can we help you reach a key group as they go through new experiences that lead to new needs and wants? Using a well defined list helps you speak directly to people who need and want what you have to offer.

  • List selection strategies

    The list could be the most significant factor in the success or failure of a direct mail campaign. Regardless of how strong the creative and message may be, if the message isn’t communicated to the right audience, the impact will be compromised.

    Surprisingly, few marketers spend the time and energy to accurately identify their audience. In an effort to make sure everyone knows about the promotion, they often communicate with people on the fringes, thus lowering the overall performance and value of the campaign.

    One option is to build customer “profiles” for your products or services. If you can determine conversion as a percentage of desirable market segments, you can make an educated decision regarding which segment will produce a positive return on investment. Marketing only to those people with the highest propensity to purchase from you inevitably increases your campaign’s success, performance and value.

  • The Power of Touch

    Real Simple Magazine printed an extract of research results from The University of Wisconsin-Madison that found that 30 seconds is all you need to feel attached to an item after touching it. Research says you are 39 percent more likely to buy an item you touch as opposed to one you never handle.

    Retailers, is there anything you can do to encourage your customers to touch things?

    What about mail? Can you get a sample or a representation into the hands of your next customers?

    University of Wisconsin-Madison Associate Professor of Marketing Joann Peck and Jennifer Wiggins of Kent State University found that the simple addition of a fuzzy dot glued to the cover of a mailing piece encouraged readers to spend more time with the mailer and increased response.

    Talk to us about other ways to include something to touch with your direct mail.

  • Television Ad Spending

    Forrester Research released an excerpt of a study on TV Ad Spending and predicts that TV ad spending will grow by 1% to $69.5 billion in 2010. Forrester Research also released an excerpt of a study on Media Measurement stating that marketers can’t see value in multichannel marketing until they can measure it. TV spending is still the biggest expense for large companies, even as Internet usage increases and mass media audiences fragment. “65% of marketing leaders think Internet measurement is more useful than TV measurement.” Measurement of TV advertising and other media will become more like that of interactive marketing, and branding advertising and activities will be held to the stricter accountability of direct marketing.

    Direct marketing’s measurability is the desired standard.

  • A Tribute to Advertising

    As we look forward to one of the occasions when we as a nation love to talk about advertising. What about these Super Bowl statistics courtesy of Moneywatch.com.

    • Cost of a 30-second advertisement during Super Bowl XLIV: $3 million
    • Increase in traffic to Super Bowl advertiser CareerBuilder on the day after 2009 game: 25%
    • Amount the Census Bureau is spending to air one 30-second 2010 Super Bowl ad: $2.5 million
    • Amount the Census Bureau has spent on Super Bowl advertising before 2010: $0
    • Per-person price of the three-day Tail-Great Super Bowl Package at the Trump Miami, including accommodation and one Super Bowl ticket: $4,500 per person
    • Estimated cost to South Florida of hosting Super Bowl XLIV, including increased police presence, clean-up, etc.: $8 million
    • Estimated benefit to South Florida, as measured by additional revenue to hotels, restaurants, and other spending: $353 million
    • Appreciation in ticket price since the first Super Bowl, in 1967: 22,225%
    • Compound annualized growth rate of ticket price: 13.4%
    • Appreciation in average U.S. home sale prices between 1967 and 2009, according to Census data: 999%
    • Compound annualized growth rate of home prices: 5.9%