Stopwatch Marketing Blog

One of the tenets we so often try to emphasize with our clients is the notion that “Good Marketing Requires Constant Vigilance.” OK, I stole the words “Constant Vigilance” from Mad-Eye Moody. Anyway, Stopwatch Marketing has been out for about six months now and the temptation to de-emphasize marketing the book and go back to a life of consulting from dawn to midnight is significant. However, there are, as they say, legs, to this thing yet. But, of course, marketing this book takes as much time and effort as writing it did! (I was warned about that by other authors a few years ago, but I had, of course, simply assumed that the brilliance of the writing would allow me to lean back and just watch the books fly off the shelves.) In fact, fellow blogger Drew McLellan gave me some great advice when the book came out. He indicated that I should never stop juggling – part of EVERY day involves client work, another part involves marketing the book, another part blogging, and, as his post today indicates, a very big part involves family.

For those who are interested, you’ll find there are still some events at which AnnaMaria and I are speaking (including two in Vegas in the Fall, among others, which should eat up all the royalties). Having completed a lot of book signings, including this one in May,

I will again be participating in a local bookstore event here in Connecticut. Our Local Borders is, apparently, one of the chain’s best and a big part of their marketing program is a monthly “Author’s Roundtable.” Here’s how their website describes it:

“Welcome to Borders in the heart of downtown Fairfield. We’re a community bookstore with great author events. You won’t want to miss our acclaimed New Author Roundtable on the third Wednesday of each month, hosted by our award winning bookseller Dianne. This interactive event features a panel of writers talking about books and the writing process, with lively discussions encouraged. Recently Dianne was named the bookseller of the year by the Romance Writers of America. Dianne’s passion for books is contagious and you’ll want to stop in to get her latest recommendations.”

So, if you’re in Connecticut on August 20, stop by the Borders in Fairfield that evening. As you can see from the invitation, I have promised to buy a drink for the person who asks the best question!

Finally, a bonus question: Which of the photos is AnnaMaria, which is Drew, which is Mad-Eye, and which is me?

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Reg Nordman, in his “Knights on the Road” blog, recently gave Stopwatch Marketing a great review. Reg has come up with a really interesting way to stimulate interest in his blog: Instead of bombarding the blog reader with either sales pitches (”Lucky for you, dear reader, you happened onto my blog. Now let me tell how great a consultant I am”) or tons of rather spurious content (”While I was walking my dog last night, I had a thought about how you, too, can build a multi-billion dollar organization, just like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs”), Reg’s site recognizes that his target market (Sales Executives) spend a lot of time on airplanes and in hotel rooms. They read a lot on those planes and in those rooms. And – here’s the key point – that might like to know, from another “Knight of the Road” what books would be good to read!

So, Reg’s blog, subtitled, “Noble Seekers in the New World of Sales,” is chock-full of quick and useful…book reviews! Even better, the site is organized in subject areas, both for business (e. g., Branding, Finance, Marketing, etc.) and leisure (Fiction, Travel, Writing, etc.).

We have struggled with this issue – how to make the blog truly useful and interesting, not just an extended billboard or sales pitch for our firm. (Although, if you need a marketing consultant, feel free to call +1 203.349.8285!) Reg Nordman, I think, has hit on something: If you’re planning your next trip and looking around for something productive or fun to read, I encourage you to check out his blog.

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Frustrated. Exasperated. Depressed. (almost). That’s how I feel sometimes these days talking to some of our very own clients, too many of whom DON’T want to talk about marketing. They want to talk (dare I say, “whine”) about their budget cuts, the subprime mortgage crisis, the impending economic slowdown, etc. I should quickly add, not ALL of our clients, feel this way. In fact, the very best know that the best time to bury your competition is when THEY are cutting back. When the competition is afraid of increasing advertising budgets or adding sales staff…that is the moment when you, armed with complete confidence in YOUR strategy, move in for the kill. Confidently. Decisively. Remorselessly.

This is a theme we’ve returned to in our consulting practice many times before. I, unfortunately, am old enough to have helped companies and brands through more than one previous recession, or industry consolidation, or downsizing, or whatever euphemism is most appropriate at the time.

One of the complaints we hear at times like this from our most senior clients is that they feel their people aren’t bringing them “good ideas.” I often hear variations on the following from Division Presidents, CMO’s, and CEO’s: “If my people would just bring me some good ideas, I’ll find a way to get the money!” Well, shame on the marketing managers who haven’t brought those ideas forward. And, just in case you really DON’T have any good ideas, be assured they are out there, FOR FREE, believe me, on all the other marketing blogs. Jay Ehret even has a space on his site that SAYS he’s giving these ideas away free. For some other great (FREE) ideas see Drew McLellan’s, Christina Kerley’s, Kaitlyn Wilkins’, Phil Gerbyshak’s, or John Moore’s blogs.

For the record, and just because PC’s make it so easy to cut and paste, below are two paragraphs from a long-ago post on this topic:

Getting prepared to address the impending slowdown is neither easy nor painless. In the first place, it has simply been a long time since U. S. marketers had to face such a situation. Indeed, in doing research for a much longer magazine article on this topic, we found precisely one book that addresses the issue specifically – it is out of print, published in 1980. However, thinking back to – and researching – the era of double-digit unemployment, long gas lines, etc., (otherwise known as “the Seventies”) reveals a long list of marketing exemplars – real examples of companies building their businesses and brands. These would include Federal Express, Apple Computer, American Express Gold Cards, Dannon Yogurt, the whole category of Japanese cars, Stouffer frozen / convenience foods, generic products, Levi’s, Wal-Mart, Saturday Night Live, Owens Corning Pink Panther insulation, and Lite Beer. The entire beer category, in fact, underwent huge changes during the ’70’s: Budweiser finally won the decisive victory over Schlitz by focusing on the needs and purchase drivers of heavy beer drinkers, Lite invented and exploited a huge new segment, and super-premium & imported beers such as Heineken and Lowenbrau successfully built rapid, profitable growth in a previously under-leveraged super-premium market.

A quick glance at the list of “Slowdown Exemplars” from the ’70’s, above, reveals some common themes, such as “Offer new, compelling value propositions, exploit untapped segments / needs, and continue to invest heavily in brand-building among core constituencies.” This would be the case with Wal-Mart, Stouffer, Japanese cars, Federal Express, and Saturday Night Live, among others. It should be noted, as well, that these “Slowdown Exemplars” are not entirely composed of reduced price / value priced offerings. Federal Express, Apple, Levi’s, and Heineken were certainly not “value priced” versus competition. This was also the period when prestige brands such as designer jeans and the American Express Gold Card took off.

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Christina Kerley’s excellent marketing blog has a posting today about Fareed Zakaria’s new book, The Post-American World. Zakaria’s key insight is that the rise of “the Rest,” as he calls them – previously under-developed countries who have embraced free market capitalism and are rising in wealth and power at a rapid rate – presents both challenges and opportunities for Americans, especially American business. If we don’t proactively engage with these rising powers, we miss a big opportunity to ride the next wave of wealth creation and power diffusion. This is something we should embrace, not fear. After all, for the past sixty years or so, it was America’s stated goal and strategy to open up all these countries to free market capitalism!

Building on this, CK points out, that she finds exciting “…a changing world–and a shift to several world powers versus one superpower? I don’t fear it or find it daunting.” With change, CK argues, comes opportunity…for big firms and for marketing consultants to help them understand those changes.

As I commented back to CK, when I read Zakaria’s book last month, I was reminded of some of the passages in the ur-business book of all time, In Search of Excellence, published, I believe, in 1983. Among the things Peters and Waterman, in that book, emphasized, was the need for every business to think globally. I’m paraphrasing from a memory stretching back to the early Eighties, but they had a line that went something like, “For any business, no matter how small and local it is today, if you aren’t thinking about doing at least 25% of your revenue overseas within the next five years, you’re missing a big opportunity…and risking bankruptcy.”

Today, our little, Connecticut-based marketing consultancy (MCAworks) does, indeed, bill nearly 50% of its business with overseas clients. One of them, a Japanese firm, has been a client for seven years and running. We have done business in such rising members of the First World as Malaysia, India, Thailand, Brazil, and Venezuela. These are all the result of an overt strategy of seeking out such global opportunities.

The overriding point for small firms like ours is, I think, that we can neither ignore “the Rest,” nor wait for the business to come to us…one has to aggressively seek and close international business, not as an opportunistic sideline, but as a core strategy. Or risk bankruptcy.

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