“SO WHAT”

Do you ever watch or read an advertisement and immediately think to yourself, “So What”. It happens to me all the time. The “what’s in it for me factor” is left out of most advertising these days. The basic rule still stands that the consumer must be able to see the benefit to them before a purchase is made. Seems simple enough, however it escapes most campaigns. So did the marketers get so caught up in the ad campaign that they simply forgot about what makes the consumer buy?

Developing marketing campaigns is like putting a puzzle together, you have to have the right pieces in the right place to see the whole picture. In order to see the whole picture you have to ask the right questions to develop a campaign that draws the consumer to your brand and product. At Reflex Blu the process is called "7 Questions, 1 Answer". This 7Q1A process is the foundation and path to successful marketing campaigns that drive ROI. We work with clients across all industries and the “So What” to us is bottom-line results. We believe that by asking the right questions we can deliver the right results for you time and time again.

Have we become accustomed to settling for mediocrity?

When was the last time you were in a situation where you thought someone had exceeded your expectations? Quite frankly, it has been a long time for me. It seems people are willing to just do the minimum and are happy with the results. I looked up the word mediocrity to see what the dictionary said and, sure enough, it confirmed average and second rate as the definition. Have we become so accustomed to “average” being the norm that we have forgotten how to expect excellence? Is excellence and giving 150% a bad thing? Especially when we look at it in the context of generating revenue to the bottom line. When did we start settling for mediocrity?

What is the difference between ordinary and extra-ordinary? That little “extra” right? Extra-ordinary is alive and well at Blu. You might then ask, “That sounds good but, what is so extra-ordinary about Blu?”

> Extra-ordinary respect for our clients
> Extra-ordinary passion to serve our communities and in communities around the world
> Extra-ordinary blend of logic and creativity
> Extra-ordinary ability to produce great results (and quantify them as well)

We deliver exceptional results for our clients because we refuse to settle for mediocre ideas. If you feel as though you are in need of extra-ordinary, step out of the ordinary and into the Blu.

Give 'em what they want

Apple has done it again. They released a much-anticipated product that sold 300,000 units…on Day 1! Some fanatics pre-ordered theirs on-line. Others stood in line in the wee hours of the morning for the privilege of being one of the first few lucky owners. And what did they get? A crossover product. A hybrid. Something that bridges the gap between laptop, eReader and iPhone. It’s portable, lightweight and app-driven.

Apple has earned a reputation for creating products that are useful, simple and sleek. Visual appeal and sound clarity set their products apart from the rest. First, it was the iPod. With it came iTunes (even my 67 year old father uses it). Then came the iPhone. Now, the iPad. And with each new product, there’s a newer version waiting in the wings to keep the momentum building. We have seen it time and again from Apple – iPod classic, iPod shuffle, iPod nano, iPod touch, iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3Gs. The next hot version of the iPad WiFi version that was just released – the iPad 3G. The brand loyal innovators and early adopters get these products moving off the shelves. The late majority (this is where I fit in), who are willing to wait for the bigger, better version with all the bugs worked out, keep them moving.

How did Apple do it? Like they always do. They created a buzz, started by a demonstration from Steve Jobs. They rolled out a few press releases, a couple of TV commercials, did some on-line advertising and used iTunes as another channel. But the bulk of their advertising was done virally. Pre-release, everywhere I looked there were articles and reviews by more “experts”. Some loved it and some didn’t get it. But chat rooms and tweets were full of people trying to determine if it was a must buy.

Apple listens to its customers – then develops. They know the demographics of their audience. They cross-sell that audience into products that move them to the next most logical product. We’ve all heard the saying, “the devil is in the details”. Without question, the details are in the demographics. Apple doesn’t try to push products that people don’t want. It doesn’t work. Look at the Palm Pre. It’s about to drag Palm into bankruptcy. Meanwhile, Apple dominates the marketplace.

Do you know WHO your customers are? Are you giving your customers WHAT they want? Do you know WHEN and WHERE they want it? Do you know WHY they want it? WHICH channels of communication should you use to reach them? HOW do you know? Reflex Blu can take you through the 7-question process to unveil the answers.

How loyal are you?

Has poor customer service ever caused you to take your business somewhere else? You’re not alone. According to a recent survey of over 1,000 U.S. adult consumers, a single negative experience with a customer call center would likely cause 68% of the respondents to take their business elsewhere. Survey results also revealed consumers expect excellent service in return for brand loyalty: 87% of people felt they had a right to a better contact center experience if they regularly spend money with a company or stay loyal to a brand. 51% of people said the main reason for their dissatisfaction with a company is poor customer service or a bad contact center experience.

Here are recent examples of car salesmen behaving badly… Three years ago, I entered into a lease agreement on a car. I planned on purchasing it at the end of my lease and had built up quite a bit of brand loyalty due to a good track record with the car and the dealership’s service department. As my lease was nearing the end, I set out to negotiate the purchase price of my car (I discovered that the residual value was higher than the current market value, according to Kelley Blue Book). So, I called the dealership to discuss my options. The salesman really wasn’t interested in selling me my car- he wanted me to purchase a new one. After much back and forth, he asked me what number he needed to get to in order for me to buy. When I told him, he said, "you're really working me hard” and that he really didn’t know what I wanted him to say. I told him “nothing and thanks.” Initially, I had no intention of getting rid of the car – but I decided to go check out the competition.

That weekend, I went to a different car dealership. After test driving a couple of automobiles, the salesman promised to call the next morning with some figures (since it was near closing time). When it became late afternoon the following day and I had still not heard back, I contacted him. He said that he was off work that day and would need to call me back in the morning. The next day, he had someone else contact me who really didn’t know all the details originally discussed. The pricing he gave me was ridiculous. Frustrated, I called (or e-mailed) a total of 6 dealerships to get price quotes. Here are the results: 66% of the dealerships didn’t follow up when they said they would and 50% of the dealerships e-mailed price quotes back but were way out of line with where I told them I wanted to be.

But, one dealership was different. Not 10 minutes after I pressed “send” on the online request for quote, my phone rang (and it was 8:43 pm!). This salesman was extremely helpful, polite and came up with several options right off the bat. During the next week, we negotiated the details over e-mail (rather than wasting a lot of time sitting in the car dealership). He came up with multiple pricing options, sent a credit application via a link to their secure site and was always quick to respond.

It’s clear that companies who communicate through the RIGHT CHANNELS, provide SOLUTIONS and are in tune with the importance of EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE will ultimately prevail over those who don’t. The original salesman finally called back and got to the figure I was looking for - but it was too late.… So guess which one got my business?? Oh, and they also took care of my car tag - it’s being mailed to me. :-)

WHY you should go see a 25 Foot Snowman!

During the recent snow “events” in the Northeast, including Snowmageddon, I noticed a very unique and well crafted snowman. Having grown up in the northeast, I am no stranger to snow, and have spent considerable time constructing snowmen with my children. However, during the recent storms, I noticed that one of my neighbors had constructed a 25 foot tall snowman. I am not even certain how this was accomplished, but I imagine some heavy machinery may have been involved. What struck me was the impact that this snowman had on the community. The owner of the property had created something unique, unlike every other snowman in the neighborhood, and by doing this he separated himself as a unique brand – and as marketers, that is what we all must do. The key to the WHY is making your creation something that must be seen/read/viewed/emailed - creating something unique, that stands apart from the competition, and is unlike any of the hundreds of similar snowman on the block. Within days of being built, I had mentioned this creation to friends and family, who in turn mentioned it to their friends and family, and eventually the 25 foot snowman went viral via Facebook and Twitter posts. People were coming from all over to see what essentially was a big pile of snow – but not one to be missed. With all the challenges of getting noticed in the marketplace today, the WHY is key. WHY is your product or service better than the others, WHY should I invest the time to learn more or ask questions. WHY would I want to become a customer?

The story remains that if you build something unique, people will seek out your brand. If you have the tools to push the uniqueness of your product to the right people at the right time you will succeed and you need to do it now, before your great idea melts into just another puddle of water. The WHY audit is just one part of the seven question approach to successful marketing that Blu has created. We have used our WHY audit to help health insurers, banks, car care centers, energy companies and other customers invent success. We also have many BIG IDEAS for other verticals as well.

The Art and Science of Needs Based Selling

You know the old saying, “you get one chance for a first impression”? How true this still is even when we are inundated with marketing efforts across all different marking channels. There seems to be a shift these days from the old school approach of needs based selling to selling the item of the day. While the item of the day may impact the bottom line temporarily does it grow your customer base and provide long term value for your company? The Art and Science of gathering information from clients through a needs based analysis seems to make the most sense in impacting revenue for the short and long term. If profit is a result of customer behavior then how do you get the customer to behave in a way that is profitable? The answer is as it has always been, ask the right questions, put the customer in the right product that suits their needs, and grow the relationship through your marketing efforts.

It’s obvious that everyone needs revenue and profit today. Deviating from the “Stimulus” framework of our government, we believe that there is significant danger in focusing only on Today. The trick is driving traffic for the day as part of a methodical migration process from the long term.

A wise man once told me that a man who can only see the tips of his shoes and not the road in front of Him is bound to trip or get lost. Don’t let that happen to you.