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I always read about great conferences, I save the emails and brochures and then tell myself that next time I’ll have the time to attend. So when a good business friend generously offered a ticket to the sold out Simmons Leadership Conference in Boston, I jumped at the chance. Easy, end of story, right? I then spent the next week totally torturing myself. Should I go, shouldn’t I go, too busy at work, too much coordination, too much money and then the walapalusa for all women, my family might need me, aaargh! But alas here I am at my lovely and quiet hotel room typing away. There are adorable little soaps and shampoo and I get to have a very well appointed king size bed all to myself (sorry Eric, I really will miss you).
Why should we push ourselves to attend these kinds of events when the opportunities arise and why is it so difficult for women to make time for ourselves? The answer to the first question is easy, throw hundreds of like-minded people in a room and you’re bound to get something good out of it. Conversation is the inspiration for innovation and who doesn’t need a little inspiration. The second question “guilt” is much more complicated. Sometimes I think it’s a perfect excuse for not moving out of our comfort zones. As a wise friend told me, “You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable.”
So all I have to decide now is which out of three seminars to attend, Understanding Social Networks, Dealing With Difficult People or The Female Vision, hmmmmm. Room service, please!
–Ann Byne, Principal, The Byne Group
I was watching one of my favorite shows, “Sunday Morning” a few weeks back and learned some interesting new things about the advertising icon Leo Burnett (1891–1971). Many of you probably have no idea who Leo Burnett was, heck I barely knew the name. But I bet everyone knows the Pillsbury Doughboy, Tony the Tiger, The Jolly Green Giant, Morris the Cat, Charlie the Tuna and the unemployed Maytag repairman. As a baby boomer my childhood was filled with many of those characters and Leo Burnett and his agency created them all.
Some of these characters have never gone away, they’ve been tweaked and modernized through the years. Tony first came to life in 1952 and has been going strong ever since. [http://adage.com/century/icon09.html] Others were living on a dusty shelf somewhere in my memory and are now being reintroduced and revved up to engage the next generation. Leo Burnett's genius lives on in these iconic brands
I Googled Leo Burnett to find out more about this advertising giant and yes, although Leo is long gone, his agency, which is now worldwide is going strong. What I found most interesting was just like the iconic characters he created, Leo’s philosophy is also timeless! Here are just a few of his famous quotes about advertising.
“Regardless of the moral issue, dishonesty in advertising has proved very unprofitable.”
“Advertising is the ability to sense, interpret… to put the very heart throbs of a business into type, paper and ink.”
“Anyone who thinks that people can be fooled or pushed around has an inaccurate and pretty low estimate of people – and he won’t do very well in advertising.”
And my favorite, which proves “that everything old is new again."
“Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.” Hey! I thought I came up with that!
Leo Burnett (1891–1971)
–Ann Byne, Principal, The Byne Group
Unless you live under a rock you have probably seen the Darth Vader Volkswagen ad from the Super Bowl. It’s gone viral with (as of this writing) 23,896,467 hits on YouTube. Why is it so popular? It’s undeniably clever and touching yet very simple, not one word is spoken.
In a media cluttered world, delivering communications with simplicity and clarity is more essential than ever. We are all living in fast paced times and as the world gets more complex we all crave a little simplicity.
During the past few years, many large brands have realized that and simplified their messages. Just think of Charles Schwab and the "Talk to Chuck" campaign. Or Staples with their popular "Easy" Button spots. And one of my favorites the popular UPS "Whiteboard" campaign showing a guy drawing and talking to us about how UPS works. These ads are captivating. I think it’s because of the select amount of words they use and all that beautiful white space.
Consider one of the most famous speeches in American history, the Gettysburg Address. It’s emotional language delivered big ideas with purpose and power and in just 278 words!
So how do small businesses get on the bandwagon? After all, who of us has the same kind of marketing budgets as the big guys?
According to the book 27 Powers of Persuasion by Chris St. Hilaire (a well known message strategist) "It’s about persuading people without browbeating them... whether it’s persuading a group or selling a product, it’s easiest to accomplish a goal if your story is simple." Why? I believe its because we are all inundated with messages that shout at us; online, offline, mobile and we crave simplicity and sincerity.
So how can you find the "one" story from "many"? Think about situations in which people experience their own relationships between your brand or service and the lives they lead and depict it. It’s easy if you’re a non-profit, there are always great stories about one person you helped. But what if you’re selling bricks? Try to remember there is always an end user. Those bricks build homes and "many" people live in those homes, and in just "one" of those homes is one family just like you. Just ask yourself what’s going to relate to my specific audience and find the right way to communicate it. Or as Chris puts it in his book, "recognize your audience's reality… So if you sell water don’t ask how do we sell more water ask yourself why do people like water?"
Now back to why the Darth Vader Volkswagen ad from the Super Bowl is so popular. Yes, it leverages humor and the mystique of star wars but there was so much more. It successfully created an emotional connection. How? By getting into the audiences reality with a simple story. As a baby boomer I sat through all of those movies with my son and spent a small fortune on all the merchandising. My son, who begged for all those toys (and still hasn’t forgiven me for giving all of them away) felt nostalgic for his own childhood while watching it. Our realities are different but the ad spoke to both of us.
This “keep it simple” philosophy works across all mediums, from ad messages to websites to social media. To be successful we should always respect how busy people are and not waste their time. You have only a few moments to make an impression, make sure you make it one that potential customers can feel good about.
–Ann Byne, Principal, The Byne Group
Social media offers marketers an opportunity to engage in conversation about their brand. So, how did this baby boomer get to know anything about the benefits of social media? Isn't that a young person's game?
Well, once upon a time, a young woman (that was me), wielded my best marketing and design tools – Pantone markers, letraset – to provide clients with the kind of perfect layouts and marketing messages that assumed people were listening. For the most part, they were. It was a less cynical world. Marketers weren’t competing with the Internet, or YouTube or video on demand or online ratings. Consumers didn’t register for "do not call" lists, use DVRs to tape TV shows so they could “skip” the commercials, or Google clients to see how some of its previous customers felt about their service or product. When we talked to consumers the last thing we wanted was for them to talk back.
Fast forward 25 years, the design and advertising landscape has drastically changed. My markers and paper have long since been retired and replaced with a computer that allows my agency to create marketing materials in less than one twentieth the time. The newspapers of our day are fighting for their lives, the post office is gasping for breath and the youngest members of our population are determined to "opt-in" for marketing.
The times have changed, and good marketers must change with them. For me, that often means educating clients on the latest tools in the marketing toolbox. In some cases, it means pushing them online to listen to the conversation that's taking place right now about their brand. Better yet, I counsel them to encourage the conversation, to ask for feedback in order to do a better job of giving their customers what they're telling them they want.
Would love to hear your thoughts on the subject!
–Ann Byne, Principal, The Byne Group
When it comes to marketing it’s not how loud you shout it’s how well you make the connection.
I’m spending a week helping out with my 3 year and 3 month old grandkids and I realize the same is true in influencing people in our personal lives. I forgot the morning fights I had when my kids were 3, you know waking them up, what they will or won’t wear to school, how full the cereal bowl has to be, etc. It would be easy to shout and demand they do what I want but to what end. In a book about parenting to inspire values titled, Children Learn What They Live, the focus is the way things are said. If you shout one day how much louder will you need to shout the next to be heard. Any of us who have raised children know eventually they will tune us out completely. The ideal way, listen and understand the motives for the behavior and gently but clearly motivate.
Motivating clients is very much the same. First you have to understand your marketplace and find meaningful connections. Next you need to be consistent in your message. And last remember we live in a media cluttered world, delivering communications with simplicity and clarity makes all the difference.
–Ann Byne, Principal, The Byne Group
When was the last time you thought of yourself as being calm. For most of us these are anything but tranquil times. We’re inundated with information, overwhelmed with daily tasks and asked to keep pace with technology that keeps moving faster and faster. Personally I can’t tell you how often I have responded to email from clients without thinking through the correctness of my answer and even worse the flippant way I might have handled an issue with staff saying words that can never be taken back (if anyone reading this ever felt bruised, I'm really trying to do better).
A favorite quote of mine by James Allen an English poet from the early 1900s said it well. “The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good.”
What to do! A possible suggestion, lets continue to have the conversations, (either on- or offline) but lets give ourselves some breathing room before and after. Take time to take stock, breathe and yes be calm!
Any ideas on how you find calmness during your workday, please share.
-Ann Byne, Principal, The Byne Group
I’m a big believer in giving back to the communities we do business in, but is it also good for our small businesses bottom lines? I believe so! Giving back to the community can raise your business' profile and even bring you more customers or clients.
According to Umair Haque's article from Harvard Business Review, Why Betterness is Good Business. “Striving to do more good is associated with greater profitability, equity and asset returns, and shareholder value creation.” And he believes these new business models will help build companies with a purpose, and a mission that is truly understood by their customers.
And as successful members of the community, we have a responsibility to help those that are less fortunate and contribute to the common good. I really enjoy the intangible benefit of giving. Giving back to the community gives me a wonderful feeling of connectedness and the satisfaction of at least trying to make my small corner of the world a better place.
I think customers like patronizing businesses that give back and I believe that giving back has helped my firm move forward!
Have you found ways to give back, would love to hear from you.
–Ann Byne, Principal, The Byne Group
“Brands are stories, containing a promise to perform, at every possible contact point. These stories are accepted or rejected by consumer audiences based on performance.” –Neal Mendelsohn, Chief Experience Officer at Fourth Wall, LA
I agree with Neal, stories matter. It’s the way potential clients are engaged, acquired and retained. In my years helping firms with branding and marketing I sometimes see a gap between the promise a clients story makes and the experience people might have. What I try to stress moving forward with them is the importance of an honest message. Hiding our real capacity from other people will eventually lead to diminish our capacity for real. This is not about lying, it’s about being transparent. And once you cross the line it becomes a slippery slope becoming impossible to ever catch up!
Whenever I give seminars on branding and social media I use a great definition Howard Levy, Principal of Red Rooster Group shared with me.
Promise + Experience = Brand
I like it because it’s such a simple way to understand that an experience that doesn’t live up to a firm or organizations promise impacts how their brand is seen not to mention their bottom line. The lesson that keeps resonating with me is something a mentor shared with me years ago, “under promise and over deliver.” It sounds so simple and so logical that we almost take it for granted. And now with social media and ambient awareness, it’s a big, virtual world out there and whether you like it or not, people are talking about you! Every time you can give more than promised it’s like giving a little present that people aren’t expecting.
*Oh, and by the way Neal Mendelsohn is my very talented cousin. (My dads brothers left NY to follow their dreams in California in the 60s and their kids never looked back) Visit his blog: staytruetoyourbrand.com
–Ann Byne, Creative Director/Principal of The Byne Group
I don’t believe social media will ever replace the need for business development people or traditional marketing but in the new economy it definitely needs to be a part of your marketing arsenal.
Traditional branding is a top down approach with companies, both profit and non-profits defining their own brand. The difference today, brands are being defined by conversations, by what people say both good or bad about your firm. Is this how your firm is engaging clients?
Promise + Experience = Brand
Core values of a firm are created internally, but the branding of the promise happens outside by how clients experience you. In today’s environment where every firm offers “quality services, on time and under budget,” it is difficult to differentiate. Difficult unless you have built trust and relationships in the market place. “Look at it this way: "Traditional marketing was like taking a sledge hammer and hitting your prospects and clients over the head with it. It was almost like, “Believe me, or else.”
Branding today is like a magnet that draws clients to the company a “trust agent." This is the real value and purpose of social media in a business context.
Facebook and LinkedIn are already well established. And your firms’ employees and clients under the age of 40 use Twitter and text messaging as a part of life. So, this is definitely not a fad. Social media is the place where you cultivate your brand in the new economy and where ambient awareness is a way of life. And yes like everything else worth doing it takes thoughtful strategy and a real commitment of time to do it right.
–Ann Byne, Creative Director/Principal of The Byne Group
Parts excerpted from: engineeringdaily.net
How are you getting through this tough economic time?
Last year during our regular Monday morning meeting I broached the subject about the economy with my team. Lets talk about our future? None of us knew exactly how things would play out and yes I was more than a little nervous. What I did know and shared with them was, now more than ever, our clients needed to know how valued they were and we needed to approach their assignments no matter how small, as if it was our first and only chance to prove ourselves. We’ve worked very hard this year and we’ve been lucky, our clients are all still in business and happily, not one of them has gone elsewhere.
While a growing business needs to constantly have new customers, the focus must be on pleasing your existing customer base. From my experience companies that fail to nurture and retain their clients ultimately fail. I remember when the dot com was all the rage in the 80’s (ok, so I’ve been around awhile). Firms I knew were dropping their clients pursuing the glitzy new kid on the block! Sadly when it all went bust many of those firms went out of business.
According to an article in Harvard Business Review “Building Relationships” shows where many companies are headed, and all must inevitably go if they hope to remain competitive. The key distinction between a traditional and a customer-cultivating company is that one is organized to push products and brands whereas the other is designed to serve customers...”
–Ann Byne, Creative Director/Principal of The Byne Group
Harvard Business Review: http://hbr.org/2010/01/rethinking-marketing/ar/1
If social media was the soul mate of any type of organization, it would be the not-for-profit.
On June 19th, Ann Byne, President of The Byne Group, along with Howard Greenstein, social media strategist and President of The Harbrooke Group, presented at the Cornel Cooperative Institute for Not-For-Profits to an impressive group of not-for-profit executives who wanted to find out more about using Facebook and other social media tools to add significant value to their advocacy, fundraising, member retention and marketing efforts.
The group learned about how social media was a perfect fit for building community, publicizing events, increasing involvement, and fundraising to a wider audience. They were also facilitated in a discussion of the concerns and challenges they face in implementing a social media marketing program.
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