The Affari Blog

We run across so many people that are trying to be all things to all people.  I love this article written by Maria Ross, because it gives great advice on determining your target audience.  There’s also a link to watch an interview with marketing guru Seth Godin…and yes, it is remarkable!

By Maria Ross 

Oct 18, 2010 -

Small business owners are ambitious. You want to capture as many sales as you can — and want to build a brand that will get you there. You drool with envy at big businesses like Apple or Nike who can rally their “tribes” with ease when they introduce new offerings. 

Wouldn’t it be great, sigh, if you I could just launch and the masses come running, Twitter lights up like a house on fire, and the launch video I created with my Flip camera and my dog goes viral?

This is what I love about creating brand strategies for small businesses. They are hungry and they are “biased towards action,” as an old manager of mine used to say. That’s exciting.

What becomes less exciting is being the headmistress forcing them to walk before they can run. That kind of brand loyalty can’t be “created” overnight. It’s not about slick ads or cool logos. It’s not about how many hits you have on YouTube or the catchiness of your tagline. Brand runs deeper. It’s the core and the essence of who you are, what value you provide and to whom you provide it. Good branding starts with crafting a strong brand strategy first that addresses three dimensions:

• Visually: What do you look like?
• Verbally: What do you sound like?
• Experientially: What does doing business with you actually feel like?
  

Building your loyal tribe means communicating a clear and consistent message across every single customer touchpoint. It means walking your talk and proving yourself over time.

Seth Godin has talked in the past about building tribes. In a 2009 video, he explains that in order to create this zealous following, you need to be specific versus general. That translates to, “You can’t be all things to all people.” I advise small business clients to create a persona of their ideal customer — not average, but ideal — so they have an actual living, breathing person in mind to which to direct all their brand communications. If they target a few types of customers, then it is okay to create two or three personas, but a small business with a small marketing budget can’t afford to market effectively to 20 different audience types. They are better off directing their precious time and resources to really “going deep” and connecting effectively with two or three.

Some small business owners, scared that this means turning down money, refuse to target an “ideal” customer. “But what if someone outside of that ideal wants to buy from me? And someone from this random demographic bought from me once, so we should do a whole marketing campaign for them.”

Hold on. Creating a brand that targets an ideal customer does not mean you create a checklist and turn non-ideal customers away like a nightclub bouncer. If someone wants to buy from you who you didn’t intend to attract, then you can still sell to them. It’s not about who you will sell to; it’s about where you will proactively focus your marketing time and effort.

It’s like Nordstrom and Walmart. At the very basic level, both companies are retail shops that “sell things to consumers.” But Nordstrom goes after a higher-end customer with a quality and customer service brand promise. Walmart goes after a customer for whom low-prices and convenience matter most. Does this mean Walmart is “rude” to their customers? No. It just means they know who they are and who they are targeting, and they don’t try to attract everyone in the retail market spectrum. It doesn’t mean someone who shops at Nordstrom won’t pop into Walmart every now and then for something when the need arises. It just means Walmart is not necessarily spending time and money making a brand promise that speaks to people who care more about high-end customer service and less about price.

Think about your authentic brand: Are you set up to deliver what you promise? And for whom does that promise matter the most? Then use your imagination and market knowledge to build an ideal customer persona so you know who you are talking to:

• Give them a name, an age, an occupation. What are their demographics? What is their household income, where do they live?
   
• Walk through their day. Where do they work? Do they commute to work? If so, by what means?
   
• What is their family life like? Do they have one?
   
• What do they do in their spare time or for fun? Do they like team sports, or solitary activities? Are they foodies or do they mostly just grab fast food?
   
• What magazines do they read? Where do they get their news and information? Or do they just care about entertainment? If so, what do they watch on TV or what films do they like? Are they active Internet users or strictly offline?
   
• What groups or associations do they belong to? Could these be places you could join to network with your ideal customers or groups you can partner with to do events or presentations and reach these folks?
  

Once you create this one- or two-page profile, you can start to see what their life is like — and what problem your products or services might be able to solve. You can then speak about benefits in words they care about. You can also find creative ways to market to them that you may never have thought about. More importantly, this can help you avoid bad investments on marketing activities that seem amazing on the surface but that will never attract this target customer.

Again, this is not a checklist. If others get caught in this net and are attracted to your brand, then great. Something about your message must resonate with their lifestyle or needs and, therefore, they can be great tribe members. What you want, though, is a brand that connects with a target person, not just a generic, average composite of someone who doesn’t exist in real life.

Once you start focusing on an ideal customer, you will be speaking their language and they will care more about what have to say and sell. Quality is what makes a tribe successful for your business and brand — not just quantity.

Maria Ross is the founder and chief strategist of Red Slice, a branding and marketing consultancy based in Seattle. She has advised start-ups, solopreneurs, non-profits and even large enterprises such as Microsoft, Discovery Networks and Monster.com on how to craft their brand story to engage, inform and delight customers. Maria is the author of Branding Basics for Small Business: How to Create an Irresistible Brand on Any Budget (2010, Norlights Press). 

 by Karlene Lukovitz

To support the launch of Trident Layers’ Cool Mint + Melon Fresco flavor, the brand will run a one-day promotion in which people who grab taxis from a special stand in Manhattan’s Times Square can pay for their rides with packs of Trident Layers.

Between 6:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 21, Trident will run a branded cab stand/promotion area at the corner of Broadway and 42nd Street.

People who present a pack of Trident Layers — either purchased or one of the free sample packs that will be distributed at the promotion location, while supplies last — can use the pack to “pay” for a trip anywhere within the city limits in designated Trident Layers cabs.

The novel promotion ties in with the theme of Trident Layers’ national, integrated marketing campaign: “So good you’ll want to get paid in gum!”

While waiting for their cab rides, people will be able to participate in a number of activities.

A “Grab for Mint” game will offer the opportunity to enter a cylinder where 120 mint leaves are continually circulating, and grab as many as they can within 20 seconds to earn prizes.

They will also be able to pose for photos with celebrities, including reality TV star/chef Bethenny Frankel, and pick up coupons for the gum.

 by Fern Siegel

AnimalPlanet.com and Purina have partnered to create custom online content. The Internet effort, “Small & In Charge,” runs through October and features original Web programming targeting small-dog owners. The content includes a Webisode series titled “Small Dogs, Big Jobs.”

Purina’s Mighty Dog dog food brand is specifically geared to small dogs.

Lisa Luedde, assistant brand manager, Mighty Dog, calls the online information “relevant and fun,” supplying dog owners with specifics to “enhance the lives” of their pets.

Site articles cover a history of small dogs and myths about various species, courtesy of the Discovery-owned HowStuffWorks.com. Animal Planet is one of the Discovery channels.

Also, a daily “treat” blog features posts dedicated to small dog products, as well as canine quizzes and video clips of terriers.

Harold Morgenstern, senior vice president, advertising sales, Discovery Communications, stated that “Small & In Charge underscores AnimalPlanet.com’s commitment to creating and delivering custom content that is a win-win for our partners.”

The online original series was produced and created by AnimalPlanet.com, Purina and Purina’s digital media agency of record, Spark.

Fantastic article on adage highlighting five ads dedicated to the World Cup.

See Them Here

Via: Cell Phones

It will certainly be a shame if we are all deprived of any more great Tiger Woods ads like those we’ve seen in the past. Here are two Nike spots that are classics in my memory. The ‘Baby Tiger spot makes me smile. The Earl Woods spot gives me goosebumps. I really hope we are treated to more of these amazing spots come golf season.

Great article on the psychographics of beer!

“What Your Taste In Beer Says About You