Buzz Builder

Why You Need to Market Rather Than Hunker Down During a Recession

Over the last couple of months, I've been enjoying Rex Hammock's blog. He writes about "media community, and technology for people who aren't geeks." His recent post on how the financial media is reporting the economic crisis as if it were a Category 5 hurricane is both humorous and insightful. It also contains some great recommendations for businesses that are evaluating their marketing spending in a tough economic environment.The following paragraph really jumped out at me as being particularly important for all marketers as they consider what steps to take during this recession:

"If you’re a company or organization that wants to elevate its awareness — and brand — in the market you serve, the worst thing you can do — in good times or bad — is “hunker down” — as in, hide. The evidence is overwhelming that companies who market wisely and aggressively while others are hunkering down are the winners during — and after — a recession. For example, according to research conducted at Penn State’s Smeal College of Business during the last recession, “firms entering a recession with a pre-established strategic emphasis on marketing; an entrepreneurial culture; and a sufficient reserve of under-utilized workers, cash, and spare production capacity are best positioned to approach recessions as opportunities to strengthen their competitive advantage.”

How to Inspire Referrals and Business Growth with a Balloon, T-Shirt, and Thank You Card

Today, I heard Anthony Miller, a friend and colleague in the Oregon Chapter of the National Speakers Association give an outstanding presentation on how business can succeed in tough economic times. Anthony, who is the president of a sales training company called Stepping Stones Solutions, told an insightful story about how one of his friends is thriving in the mortgage business when many competitors are going bankrupt in today's difficult economic environment.

Anthony said his friend attributes his success to a laser focus on customer service and building a referral based business. For instance, when a customer completes the arduous mortgage approval process and receives a loan, Anthony's friend sends a box to the customer's office containing a big helium balloon that pops out when the it is opened. Inside the box is a handwritten thank you note, a t-shirt with the name of the mortgage company, and a few business cards. Invariably, people notice the balloon and have questions. Commonly, the story of the successful mortgage process is told which oftentimes leads the person hearing the story to ask for information about the mortgage broker and a business card is passed. The mortgage broker who spends about $15 for for the contents and delivery of each balloon package has gotten many great referrals and sales from this effort and considers it his most successful marketing tactic.

What do you do to wow satisfied customers once you've made the sale? How do you still instill excitement that gets people to refer their friends and colleagues? If you have limited marketing dollars, you have to make sure that you spend them wisely in a way that will be noticed. I would be curious to hear what you do.

Washington Mutual Helped Market Itself to Failure

The television ad below shows how Washington Mutual, which felt forced to sell itself to JPMorgan Chase & Co. in September 2008 due to its shaky balance sheet heavy with subprime and other risky loans, helped market its way to failure selling mortgage loans to poor credit risks. Clearly, no form of marketing, be it a buzz approach or traditional advertising, will make a company with bad products or services succeed. In fact, many companies would be better served improving their products or services before doing any marketing.

Marketing Opportunities for Successful Hedge Funds

Until earlier this year, the world's hedge funds were the envy of the financial world having seen total assets under management surge fivefold since 2000 to about $2 trillion according to Hedge Fund Research. However, hedge funds likely lost 5%-9% in September, the worst monthly performance in more than a decade, according to a Hennessee Group report on 10/3. With a plummeting returns, many funds are facing high redemptions and difficulties in attracting big institutional investors such as pension funds and endowments.

According to a recent survey from Prince & Associates in the Wall Street Journal, 81% of investors with $1 million or more in investible assets plan to take money away from their current adviser. An even larger number, 86%, plan to tell other investors to avoid their advisor. Only 2% plan to recommend their firm to other investors. Interestingly, for clients whose investment returns are outperforming the market, fully half plan to take their money away from their adviser for reasons of bad service.

For the hedge funds that are performing well, now is a time of opportunity. Hedge funds which are outperforming the market should step up their marketing efforts and make sure to tell their clients that they are looking to grow through referrals. Positive buzz will resonate much more loudly in a world in which it is rare. The longterm hedge fund winners wil be those which continue to outperform the market while serving their clients well.

Failing Your Way to Success in Buzz Marketing

Today I attended a luncheon with many small business owners in attendance. I was asked to provide buzz marketing tips. Following a brief presentation, somebody came up to me and asked how they could know what idea would work best. Honestly, when it comes to creating buzz, it's hard to know which tactic will be the best one. Sometimes the most effective way to find out is to experiment with various approaches and see which one works best. If you try something that bombs, don't worry. View it as a temporary setback not a failure and move onto a new method. I stumbled across this excellent video on YouTube today which illustrates that failure is just one small step on the road to success: