The Chinese online grocer Yihaodian (translated as shop number one) set himself an ambitious target: Set up shops all over China, overtake the competitors and even stake a claim in the Forbidden City in Beijing. Virtual Reality and a 50% discount on all good purchased in the digital shops helped them achieve this.
Agency: Ogilvy China
Thursday is guest post day here at Duct Tape Marketing and today’s guest is Vitra Singh – Enjoy!
I started a small business. And I failed. Not exactly the ideal outcome for an aspiring entrepreneur.
Looking back, there are things I should have done differently. Here are 5 pitfalls to avoid, based on my own experiences:
1. Avoid jumping in too quickly: I came up with my business idea while in grad school for my MBA. The inspirational case studies of individuals who took their companies from zero to millions motivated me – and that’s a great thing. I was so enthusiastic about the idea and eager to serve a demographic I could closely relate to, so I invested my savings into the idea without much structure or detailed knowledge of the industry. Before putting many eggs in one basket, be sure to actually know about the industry inside and out (back, front, and sideways too.) Start by asking yourself these questions: Is there room in the market for one more business and if so, does the market want specifically what you are offering? Is there competition and how are they doing it? How do reach your target audience?
2. Avoid proceeding without a business plan. A business plans provides the structure and data you need to present your idea and strategies to potential investors, employees, and of course, yourself. Because I used my own, I did not see the need to create a plan, but I was completely wrong. Taking the time to write down your mission, competitive analysis of the marketplace, marketing plans, budgets, forecast revenue, etc really is worth your while. On those days you feel you are not getting enough done, or are lacking in motivation, looking to your business plan to show you have the solid foundation of how to proceed will be key. Sure, you will tweak and change things – that’s a part of business, but having it all in one document will be a positive step in your success.
3. Avoid feeling shy about being “salesy.” I was excited about my business idea and having the courage to get it up and running. However, I was always shy and scared when it came to selling – selling myself, selling my business, selling my products. I didn’t even know how to approach the idea of selling—those subtle, but genuine tactics and strategies that show you are truly passionate about your product. So I just didn’t do it at all. Looking back, I attribute my lack of skill here as the #1 reason for the failure of my business. Now I know better! I have seen people with not-so-original business ideas go very far because they knew how to put themselves out there, get the word out about their product, and really become a force to reckon with. Talk to your sales friends, read tips online, practice on your mom – this should be a priority. Your business will likely not succeed if no one knows about it.
4. Avoid Ignorance, which is just another way to say Ask The Right Questions! For example, if you are in the process of having a website built and do not know the difference between HTML and Flash –that’s okay the first time around. However, the next time you interview a potential web developer, you better be sure to ask how deep their knowledge of both is and be able to ask follow-up questions once they give you an answer.Almost daily in building up a business, you will hear or come across ideas that you know nothing about. It is your job to research and learn what these things mean and how they affect you and your business. Asking vendors and contractors the right questions is crucial. Much of the time, “experts” of a field can tell in the matter of seconds if you know what you are talking about. If it appears you do not, you may be charged more or be mislead. Avoid being that person.
5. Avoid doing something just to make money, without feeling passion for it. I’m speaking generally here because sure, people can have a phenomenal idea that will make them loads of money and not have a passion for it. But those cases are probably rare. When times are challenging and you want to give up, the one thing that gets you though all your doubts is passion – in your product or service and how you think it will be useful to your ideal client. I interviewed many entrepreneurs in my book, who share why working towards a passion is important for the overall happiness of their lives.
5 Lessons from a Failed Business is a post from: Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
Podcast interview with Chip Heath
There’s a running joke in my family. When my girls were growing up I would often shout out to each of them as they were off to the next party or outing – “Make good choices!”
While I was completely sincere in my words it never failed to draw a big smile from them and their friends. (They’ve given me several gifts over the years immortalizing this phrase – see image above!)
While making good decision in life and in business is a great asset I wonder how many people really know how to do it well.
Most of what we do all day long is make choices. We choose when to get up, when to eat, when to go to bed and how to react to every word, deed and thought.
Of course, business only multiplies the choice making buffet.
We get to decide how to position our business, what color our logo should be and even who to hire. Some decisions are certainly more vital than others, but what tools do we generally use to make them.
If you’re like me, it’s mostly gut, experience and a boat load of emotion. Sometimes this works well and other times it plays right into my blind spots.
For this week’s episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast I chose to interview best selling author Chip Heath. You may recall the Heath Brothers penned Made to Stick and Switch.
This month they are back with a new release Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work.
As the title and subtitle imply, they aim to teach us all how to make better decision. The book focuses on a 4 part decision making approach that is a bit of a systematic process that can be applied to most any situation.
The trouble with most of us is we make decisions that tend to validate what we already think and doing so blindly or without recognition can lead to trouble or repeating a history of less than stellar decisions.
In Decisive the Heaths suggest the following path:
Every decision is choice, whether to embrace love or fear, raise your prices, launch a new product, all choices. Next time you face a decision think about the four points above and by all means decide to read this book!
How to Make Better Decisions is a post from: Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
If you're a photographer and someone mentions GoPro, you think of a super-sturdy camera for the adventurous.
Why is that?
Because GoPro has done a good job defining their brand.
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as the "name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's goods or service as distinct from those of other sellers." Your brand identity is the representation of your company's reputation through the conveyance of attributes, values, purpose, strengths, and passions. Great brands are easy to recognize, their mission is clear, and it fosters that coveted customer loyalty all businesses crave. A brand is one of the most valuable fixed assets of a business, and it must be carefully crafted to ensure it properly represents the business, and resonates with the intended customer base.
So ... how's your brand doing? Does your business have a brand identity? If it doesn't -- or your brand isn't as strong as it could be -- follow along as we guide you through the steps to take to define your brand. It may seem like a fluffy concept, this branding business, but we're going to try to put some structure around it so any marketing team could get started defining their company's brand.
Before you attempt to define your brand, you need to do some exploration. Take a long look at your company to get a clear picture of its purpose and place. The familiar SWOT Analysis can help, actually. The SWOT Analysis provides insight into the strengths and weaknesses of your brand, the opportunities it has in the marketplace, and the threats it might face in that marketplace. In short:
When you do a SWOT analysis, you should involve everyone in your company, as well as some of your best (and worst -- yes, your worst!) customers. This can be done with a simple survey that asks questions that get at the four points in the SWOT analysis. Or if you prefer, it can be achieved with in-depth research performed by an outside firm ... but more on that later.
However you gather the information, once you get it, you should be able to sit down with your marketing team and clearly state your company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Once you have a clear understand of your SWOT, it's time to define your brand.
Developing a brand identity is a five-step process that aims to clearly define what your brand stands for -- its goals, its personality, the emotions you want people to experience when they come into contact with your brand, and a clear conveyance of that identity through a positioning statement. Here's what you'll need to create to do that:
A vision statement describes what you want your company to become in the future - hence the name "vision" statement! It should be aspirational and inspirational. Ideally, the statement should be one sentence in length and should not explain how the vision will be met. Don't worry, that'll come later. When developing your vision, keep these questions in mind:
To give you an idea of what you should end up with, take a look at JetBlue's vision statement:
JetBlue Airways is dedicated to bringing humanity back to air travel.
A mission statement defines the purpose of the company. It should be simple, straightforward, articulate, and consist of jargon-free language that's easy to grasp. It should be motivational to both employees and customers. When crafting your mission statement, keep these tips in mind:
To give you an idea of what a good mission statement looks like, take a look at Mickey Mouse's. I mean, The Walt Disney Company:
The mission of The Walt Disney Company is to be one of the world's leading producers and providers of entertainment and information. Using our portfolio of brands to differentiate our content, services and consumer products, we seek to develop the most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world.
Say, what? That's right, your essence. Talk about fluffy. But seriously, you need to develop an "essence." The essence of the company speaks to the intangible emotions you want your customers to feel when they experience the brand. A brand's essence is the representation of the company's heart, soul, and spirit, and is best described with one word. When defining the essence of your brand, consider these points:
Here are some great samples of brands' essences:
Just as with humans, a brand's personality describes the way a brand speaks, behaves, thinks, acts, and reacts. It is the personification of the brand -- the application of human characteristics to a business. To generalize an example, Apple is young and hip. IBM is old and stodgy. See what I mean? So, what personality do you want to put forth when people experience your brand?
A brand positioning statement is a one- or two-sentence statement that clearly articulates your product or service's unique value, and how it benefits customers. The positioning statement must define the audience, define the category in which the brand exists, cite a clear product or service benefit, set your brand apart from your competitors, and instill confidence the brand will deliver on its promise. When crafting a positioning statement, consider:
For instance, Zipcar has a great brand positioning statement:
To urban-dwelling, educated techno-savvy consumers, when you use Zipcar car-sharing service instead of owning a car, you save money while reducing your carbon footprint.
It's also important to note that according to MarketingSherpa's 2012 Website Optimization Report, companies that tested their value proposition were 15% more likely to produce ROI for their programs. Sounding a little less fluffy now?
To help make this easier for you, we condensed these questions into a checklist that you can reference during this process:
Once your brand is defined and you're ready to take that brand to market with advertising, inbound marketing, a new website, content, and any other element of outward-facing marketing, a creative brief will help you define the purpose of each particular piece of marketing communication. When writing a creative brief, these are the questions that need to be answered:
1) Define the project deliverables.
What will be the result of the brief? Will it be a video? A website? An infographic? A whitepaper? An email campaign?
2) What is this effort expected to accomplish?
What is the goal of this particular creative project? What do we want to happen after the intended audience sees this piece of creative? What action do we want people to take?
3) Who are we talking to?
A clear description of the intended audience which should include demographics, psychographics, as well as how the audience currently thinks and feels about the brand or product in question.
4) What is the message?
This is derived from your brand position and should include a statement that encapsulates the single most persuasive or compelling product benefit.
5) What do we want them to think or feel?
This is derived from the "Essence" step of the brand identity process, and should describe the emotion you want your audience to feel after seeing this work.
6) What justification are we providing as support?
Explain why the audience should believe your claims. Here you can detail the benefits of your product or service, why your offering is better than your competitors', and how these benefits substitute the claim you made in step four.
7) How is that different from other brands?
Here you want to set yourself apart from the competition by clearly pointing out why your offering better serves the needs of your audience. Are you faster? Are you less expensive? Are you easier to implement?
8) How does this contribute to the brand's positioning?
Every piece of communication you create must tie back to your brand identity. Here you can explain how this singular effort supports the greater brand promise.
9) What practical considerations or restrictions are there?
The nuts and bolts are explained here. If it's a video, are there length preferences? Are there words or phrases that must be said? Are there things that you absolutely cannot say? Are there cost considerations or time constraints?
A creative brief becomes particularly handy when you're working with an outside creative firm or ad agency. It concisely provides the direction needed to create the work, and it ensures everyone is on the same page before resources are expended.
If the above seems like a lot of work, it doesn't have to be. The basic intent is to paint a clear picture of what your brand stands for and how you want it perceived by your customers. However, if the process seems daunting or you feel you could benefit from some professional help (no, not that kind!) then by all means reach out to an advertising firm. Here are some considerations if that's the route you'd like to take.
Do you have an in-house design staff, but just need help defining your brand? Have you tried to develop your brand identity on your own but are not confident it's defined clearly enough? An agency will want to know where exactly you are in the process so they can properly focus their efforts on the areas of need. Here is an RFP (request for proposal) template you can use to formulate your thoughts if you choose to reach out to agencies.
Just like any professional service, an advertising agency costs money. On the flip side, just like any professional service, you're hiring experts with a ton of experience who know their craft and can provide expertise you either lack, or don't have time to learn. Through the RFP process you will begin to get an understanding of what different agencies cost. Be as specific as possible when you detail the scope of the work you're looking for.
If you're a small or mid-sized business, you should seek out a small or mid-sized agency. While you might find a deeper service offering at a larger agency, you might not have access to the agency's top talent as they will likely allocate it to their larger clients. With a small or mid-sized agency, you're more likely to have direct access to the agency president if needed, as well as the agency's top talent.
While any agency worth its salt can certainly learn the ins and outs of your industry segment, many agencies, by design, choose to focus on specific segments and hire personnel with deep experience in that field. Identify which agencies focus their business within your industry, and start there.
This is known as the "chemistry test." Anyone can be the best in their field, but if personalities clash, it's a recipe for disaster no matter how capable the agency may seem. An informal lunch, meeting at an industry event, or an after-work meetup are the best ways to get past the professional veneer and experience the true personality of the people you may end up doing business with.
Defining your brand identity is much like packaging and presenting a gift. You want the recipient to be pleased with the offering -- and that includes everything from the outer wrapping, to the style of packaging inside, to the gift delivery, to the usefulness and appropriateness of the actual gift itself. You want the recipient to understand that forethought and heart went into the selection of the gift, and that it was chosen out of compassion and understanding. And you want it to represent the love you have for, in this case, your customers!
Have you taken steps to define your brand yet? Did you do it yourself, or work with an agency?
Have you ever thought stock images and stock video are the work of the devil, bringing down all that can be good and creative? Then have a look at this most awesome music video by Darwin Deez “You can’t be my girl”. Lean back and enjoy the sweet revenge.
Director: Keith Schofield
Digital technology has shaped just about everything in our lives including the way CPG marketers and consumers connect. The evolution has caused many misconceptions about the role that at-retail plays, and will play in the future. A recently released study by PwC, as reported on by Progressive Grocer, identifies 10 myths of multichannel retailing and provides some much needed perspective on the role of social media as an important contributor to the shopping experience, but not the shopping experience itself.
The study is based on a survey of more than 11,000 shoppers worldwide, addresses misconceptions about multichannel and pulls out ideas for trading partners to keep pace with consumers. Here are some of the myths unearthed by PwC:
- Social media will become an indispensable retail channel. Social media is more likely to become a driver of shopping across all channels, rather than just a channel for online stores.
-Stores will be showrooms. The survey results said that, for most consumers, the store remains the center of the shopping experience. However, there is an important showrooming role that can be played by stores as companies discover how to drive purchases across multichannels.
- Tablets overtake PCs in shopping. Tablets and smart phones are used at the end of the purchase, particularly in-store, while shopping.
-Global consumers are becoming more similar. Retailers still need to account for local differences and trends.
- Retailers are positioned better than brands. With consumers buying direct, they do not always distinguish between retailer and brand.
-Online retail sales take away from other channels. In reality, consumers are spending more with multichannel retailers.
These myths, and the trends that debunk them, all point to the continued importance of at-retail to consumers. By extension, they also point to the critical in-store merchandising and marketing services provided by the members of the World Alliance for Retail Excellence & Standards, formerly NARMS International. The members will be getting together to discuss these trends and others at the 2013 Retail Merchandising and Marketing Conference (RMMC) on April 27-30 in Scottsdale, Arizona. And speaking of digital technology, there is a just released RMMC Mobile App that you can use to enhance your trip to the Valley of the Sun.
This is a guest post by Dave Thomas.
Entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes.
With that being said, what kind of business owner are you? Do you have trouble sleeping at night when it comes to meeting the needs of your customers, worrying about the people you hire, or what your rivals may be up to?
Those are all legitimate concerns, but what about your reputation? Specifically, what about your online reputation as both a person and an entrepreneur?
Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs wait until something negative happens that they then turn their attention to their online reputation. By that point and time, the damage to their business may very well already be done.
So, what are some things as an entrepreneur that you need to do to better protect what is said about you online?
Among the items to zero in on:
First and foremost, make sure you don’t make any major gaffes when it comes to social media. While there are some entrepreneurs who have failed to engage in and reap the rewards of social media, others have dove into it. While participating is great, there is always the chance that a mistake or two will be made, mistakes that can damage your online reputation.
For example, let’s say you get into a beef with an angry customer who has taken to Facebook, Twitter or another social venue. Next thing you know, they have called you and your business out. In order to provide your side of the story, you respond, with the dialogue going back-and-forth, sometimes in a negative tone.
The unfortunate part for you is that current and potential customers see you in a less positive light, meaning their business could very well go elsewhere. If you feel you can’t answer the customer in an efficient and professional manner, by all means do not engage publically with them. Take the conversation to private channels, allowing you and the customer to hash out a solution. You also want to make sure that any comments you or your team make on social media come across as professional. While it is okay to have a little fun with SM, posting inappropriate office party photos or comments should never even be considered;
With all you have to do as an entrepreneur, you probably do not have time to do periodic online checks of your name and your business. The problem here is that there are companies out there that post information you may choose not to go public, including personal addresses, income levels, divorce information, court documents and more. By doing a Google search of both your name and your company’s name, you can stay abreast of what others are seeing when they do likewise;
Finally, there are many different ways you and your company can come out looking like stars on the Internet. Make sure you promote things like blog posts that make you out to be an authority in your field, customer testimonials, press releases about the interesting things your business is doing, videos and podcasts that assist customers and much more.
In the event there is some negative information floating around online that puts you and/or your business in a bad light, projecting all the good things you are doing will lower the bad stuff on the search engines.
From social media to your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts and more, make sure the time you and your employees spend on the Internet is productive.
Remember, your online reputation is at stake.
I’m at Sky Harbor Airport, waiting on my United flight back home, after six days on the road. Was in LA for meetings, then Orange County for the same, then Phoenix for what I call, “the cure.”
What’s the cure? And what am I curing?
Every day, I take steps to prevent the onslaught of workaholism. It’s a real disease. Just like alcoholism or drug addiction, workaholism affects millions of people around the world. I know this sounds like a bad SNL skit, but it’s actually real. Workaholism isn’t the same as working hard. We all work hard, I work hard because I love what I do, whether it’s starting a new company, speaking, consulting, writing, or teaching. I’m fortunate that I love what I do, every single day.
See, there’s a huge difference between working hard and workaholism. For those who are fortunate enough to enjoy what they do, working hard is a great, great drug. Getting a new client, closing a deal, giving a killer keynote to a standing ovation, these things actually make me high. I used to date a neuroscientist. She was much, much smarter than me. Over dinner one night, we talked about why I love what I do so much, and she told me that it’s actually chemical. When I speak? When I close a deal? When I do television? My body releases extra Dopamine, and technically, I’m high. Once you get that feeling, you really, really want more of it. There’s a reason for it. It makes you feel good. Really, really good.
Problem is, some people can only get this feeling from work. And much like a drug addict, they chase after this feeling at the expense of personal relationships, their family, their friends, and anything else that’s not work. Simply put, they’re addicted to the feeling they get from working. They’re workaholics. And that high gets lonely really fast.
For a while, I thought I was one. I’m never without a connected device, I’m the guy who shuts off his phone .5 seconds before the plane lifts off the runway, not thirty minutes before, when the door closes and I’m supposed to. Being out of touch for me is a bad, bad feeling, and I used to go out of my way to stay connected. I would have my device out at the restaurant, at the coffee shop, and yes, even occasionally on a date. It wasn’t good.
Then, something changed. I didn’t stop getting “high” from work, but I learned something fascinating about myself – I learned that I could change the way I got high. I learned that it didn’t always have to be from work, and I could keep connected 99% of the time, and use that other 1% of the time to shift my brain.
I learned that I could start to take the time to do other things, while still working regularly. To explain, I learned that I could let myself become truly enveloped in the moment of something that wasn’t work, but that I enjoyed just as much, and when that moment was over, I could go right back to work. Then I could go right back to whatever I was enjoying, and back and forth, and so on, and so on, and so on.
Here’s where my blog turns into a finely-tuned point: To prevent workaholism, (or to recover from it,) all we need to do is find other things we love just as much, and do those on a regular basis. It could be as simple as hanging out with our family, or putting the device away when we go for a workout. For me, it’s skydiving, training for physical activities, and pushing myself out of my comfort zone.
So back to my past six days: I was in LA for back to back meetings Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday morning, after yet another meeting, I jumped in my car and drove down to Phoenix, Arizona, where, for a few hours on Friday and a few hours on Saturday, I got high from things other than work.
On Friday, I hung out all day at Skydive Arizona, and got three spectacular jumps in. In between jumps, I was able to talk with FOX News about a segment, get interviewed by two different newspapers about Superbowl Advertising, and set up a speech next month in Connecticut. All while doing this:
A Good Day – Eloy, Arizona – 1/25/13 from Peter Shankman on Vimeo.
Then on Saturday, in the pouring rain, I jumped in my car, drove 200 miles from Phoenix to Winslow, Arizona, to cross the photo to my right off my bucket list. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for over ten years, and am so glad I got the chance. Best part? Both days gave me the same dopamine rush as work did, but in a non-work way.
Standin' on the corner, in Winslow, Arizona.
End result? It’s ok to chase and capture that “high” all the time, just not the same way each time. Variety is the spice of life, and you can be damn sure it’s also a great way to live. So for an hour today, put down the phone. Hit the gym, go play with a puppy, go read to an elderly person. Take your partner out for a random surprise dinner. (I did this with my wife last week. It works.) Not only will it help you do your job better when you return to it, but you’ll introduce your brain to an entirely new way of getting happy, while bursting out of your comfort zone. And that? Well, that’s when the real magic happens.
Having any type of “holism” isn’t good, no matter how good the feelings you get from it are. Being tunnel-visioned isn’t good when it’s at the expense of things you love or people who love you. But being able to shift, and let yourself get the same feelings you crave from multiple sources is a great way to live.
Go have fun.
