Buzz Builder

The Story Blog Explains How Banco Provinicia in Argentina Creates Interest with an Edgy TV Ad

On The Story Blog, which the excellent team at Creative Brand Communications produces focusing on bank marketing, credit union marketing and branding, I came across an unusual TV ad that Banco Provincia ran in Argentina.

In the post, which includes a streaming version of the TV ad, Maija Klarin wrote:
"Set in Buenos Aires Province, the spot features an elderly man who is moved by his bank to change the way he thinks about the town’s transgender hairdresser. He realizes that Banco Provincia loaned money to the woman with full knowledge of her transgender status, which causes him to reconsider his past treatment of her. The summarizing statement in the commercial is, 'Your life changes when there is a bank disposed to change'...

My feeling is that it will be a while before we see marketing as 'risky' from a US bank. Like many other industries have already done, I’d like banks and credit unions to tackle social issues and taboos in our country. Purely from a branding perspective, I think it would help financial institutions connect with consumers on a personal level and differentiate themselves."

Last December, my wife and I were lucky enough to spend two weeks traveling in Argentina, a beautiful and fascinating country well worth visiting. Perhaps because of all the old buildings and run down infrastructure, the country didn't strike us as being particularly progressive. But, I agree with Maija's take that advertisement demonstrates a remarkable degree of progressive thinking - particularly for a state-owned bank.

I can't understand why so much marketing for banks and other financial institutions in our country is so staid and safe. Of the billions of dollars that these companies spend, how much is remarkable enough to be remembered and discussed? Clearly, one bank in Argentina has discovered that creative marketing can stir conversations and makes positive impressions.

Rather than Being Bitter, Innovative Entrepreneurs Twitter

The April edition of my free monthly Buzz Bulletin eNewsletter is going out this afternoon. Read it below and sign up for future editions on my company's website.
 

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
Steve Jobs, Founder & CEO, Apple Computer

With the economy mired in a severe recession, many entrepreneurs have stopped marketing because they believe that they must conserve scarce financial resources. Yet, others are increasing their exposure to existing clients and prospects as they embrace online social networking in efforts that require moxie not money.

Today’s newsletter focuses on how you can grow your business with Twitter, a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length which are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them (known as followers). Twitter has grown from 475,000 unique visitors in February 2008 to 14 million in April 2009.

Last October, Andrea Waltz, a friend and successful professional speaker, told me that she had just created a Twitter profile and was curious to see whether it could help grow her business. Having heard few business successes stories on Twitter, I was skeptical. Six months, later Andrea has 2,700+ Twitter followers and considers the service a core part of her marketing strategy.

Andrea told me, “Twitter has allowed me to get connected to the ‘end users’ who are interested in our Go for No!® program. I don't push our books but I have had people buy them because they saw me tweeting about them.  More importantly, Twitter has allowed me to connect with people that are doing similar things. For example, I make a point of following other speakers, authors and experts in direct selling, which is one of our big target markets. One of these people, a direct sales coach/trainer, just had me and my partner as experts on a call for her 10 day teleseminar series ‘Direct Sales Super Summit.’ We gained excellent exposure from being affiliated with her and she offered to share the email list she generated for the event. This is just one small example of how Twitter can be a valuable tool to get to know like-minded people and partner with them on successful projects.”

An interesting 4/13/09 article in The New York Times describes how many other businesses are benefiting from Twitter including large companies like Dell, Amazon, and Starbucks, as well as a small day spa in San Francisco.

It’s impossible to know exactly what Twitter can do for your business. But why not give it a try? Before doing so, I suggest that you check out “The Top Seven Mistakes that Twitter Users Make” on the 10,000 Words Blog.

I would love to follow what you’re doing on Twitter and learn how it’s working for you so please connect to me on Twitter.

GM and Chrysler Should Learn from Efforts to Build Online Buzz for the Ford Fiesta

Thanks to a recommendation from Brenda Buratti, who blogs about how to minimize stress and create better relationships in her interesting Live Your Better Life Blog, I read an interesting Wall Street Journal article about how Ford has picked 100 young, Web-savvy drivers to get behind the wheel of its new Ford Fiesta subcompact for six months and post their impressions on sites such as YouTube, Flickr and Twitter.

This campaign makes a lot of sense given that it will likely reach the young drivers who will like the stylish and sporty Fiesta (now there are two adjectives I've never used to describe a Ford vehicle) that is still unavailable in the U.S. but continues to rack up impressive sales in Europe.

The article points how leading executives at Ford were reluctant to give away cars for six months when they have no control over what the young testers will say about the car or where they will say it:

From the article:

When Ford first tossed around the idea of loaning 100 cars without the ability to control what the drivers might say, Ford's sales chief emerged as the leading internal skeptic.

"I was like, 'Nah, go to Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica [Calif.], go to Royal Oak [Mich.] on a hot night with the kids out for ice cream,'" said Jim Farley, Ford's global vice president for sales and marketing. "Pull up with 10 vehicles, give away free T-shirts, have people do test drives, broadcast the whole thing on the Web."

Mr. Farley said his reluctance softened when a group of sons and daughters recruited from Ford's largest dealers endorsed the six-month online effort.

"The interest in the Web [campaign] had far exceeded my expectations," he says. "My hunch was pretty traditional."

Today's consumers, particularly savvy young ones, are looking for authentic information about the products that they might buy - particularly big ticket items.Ford's campaign for the Fiesta provides this authenticity. Although some test drivers might make negative observations, their comments will only reinforce the authenticity of the campaign which should be overwhelmingly positive given that the Fiesta provides benefits that are likely to appeal to the young testers.

If American car manufacturers adopt more creative word of mouth marketing campaign likes this one rather than dumping billions into boring car commercials that people skip with their DVRs, they might just survive without government-funded bailouts.

Matt Weinstein in "What Bernie Madoff Couldn't Steal From Me" Video

Last December, my wife and I were extremely lucky to travel in Antarctica for nearly two weeks with a group that our client OCSC, a sailing and adventure travel company in Berkeley, had organized. The trip was even more spectacular that we had hoped. The scale and grandeur of Antarctica never ceased to amaze. But, we never expected to learn so much from a fellow traveller.

On our boat, we met Matt Weinstein, a successful professional speaker and all-around great guy. Midway through the journey, Matt was called up to the ship's bridge to take a satellite phone call from his wife Geneen Roth, an accomplished author and healthy eating expert. Geneen told Matt that they had lost nearly everything that they had saved for retirement since they had invested with the infamous Bernie Madoff.

Unable to rush home since there are no flights out of Antarctica, Matt still had about a week left on the journey. During this time, when we talked with him, we were amazed that he didn't demonstrate much anger or grief. Surely, we thought, he must be in a state of shock which would morph into rage as time passed. But, over the past few months, we've seen that Matt possesses an amazing ability to reflect on what's really important in life. While he and Geneen will likely only recoup a small percentage of the money that Madoff stole, he has earned something of greater value.

Below is a video of Matt presenting an insightful and entertaining speech on "What Bernie Madoff Couldn't Steal from Me." It's the best eight-minute presentation I've ever seen. If you like it, please forward it to a friend. Here's wishing that Matt gets a lot of groups to hire him to speak about what's really important in life!

Buzz Marketing Lessons from Attendees at The ASPPA 401(k) Summit 2009

On 3/23/09, I gave a general session presentation at The ASPPA 401(k) Summit on how 401(k) plan advisors and providers can galvanize their business with buzz. I was pleased to see that attendees were excited about finding innovative ways to grow their businesses outside the realm of traditional marketing. Seemingly, many of them have experienced lackluster results with conventional advertising approaches similar to those that led me to start my word of mouth marketing company in 2002.

Afterwards, Sheri Fitts from The Standard and I led a workshop which featured three plan advisors discussing how they have worked with us in building their businesses with buzz over the past five months. The panelists were David Hinderstein (Strategic Retirement Group-website coming soon), Michael McCabe (Trinity Advisors Group), and Andrew Sweeny Jr. (Horan Securities).

At the workshop, we asked the advisors and providers in attendance to join a LinkedIn group called Advisors’ Buzzstorm which is open to any 401(k) professional interested in sharing creative ways to create buzz for their businesses without traditional advertising. In a workshop exercise, plan advisors and providers shared some of the most successful “buzzstorming” practices that they’ve used to grow their sales. Their comments included:

• Establishing myself as a resource for attorneys and accountants
• Using newsletters and seminars
• Sending out oversized postcards, blast emails and videos (like YouTube)
• Distributing email newsletters with Constant Contact
• Leveraging LinkedIn to build a larger professional network
• Working on visual brand
• Tracking clients and competitors via Google Alerts
• Calling clients four times a year to check in and ask for referrals at the end of every call
• Sending out a client survey
• Teaching CPE to CPA's 3 times a year along with an estate attorney
• Creating a marketing plan for referrals from 100+ brokers and CPAs at my broker/dealer
• Blogging on our website (each of our advisors contributes)
• Issuing targeted press releases about new initiatives or ideas that might be provocative, innovative or insightful regarding current events in the news
• Obtaining a certificate in retirement planning from Wharton School of Business and subsequently promoting this accomplishment via e-mail, snail mail and website
• Sending out financial newsletters by e-mail to corporate & individual clients
• Speaking at industry events where I share some of my findings
• Sending targeted e-mail campaigns to qualified prospects
• Meeting with prospects in person (road trips)
• Positioning myself as a subject matter expert available to reporters looking for commentary on industry events
• Growing through word of mouth referrals from the investment advisors we work with on various projects

The Best Marketing in a Down Economy

Below is an article from the March 2009 edition of my free monthly eNewsletter The Buzz Bulletin. To sign up for future issues, please visit the Galvin Communications website.

“Do what you do so well that your customers will want to see it again and bring their friends.”
Walt Disney

In today’s difficult economic climate, it’s easy to feel as if there’s little you can do to improve sales since the media keeps churning out stories about how consumers and companies aren’t spending money. The good news is that many of your competitors will believe this and stop trying to attract customers. This presents tremendous opportunities to grow your business.

Last week, Bob Stonhaus, a friend, client and founder of modular wine storage manufacturer STORViNO, sent me a statistic about the recession of the early-1980s. McGraw Hill Research found that companies which maintained aggressive sales and marketing efforts enjoyed more growth – some 275 percent in the five years after the recession – compared with only 19 percent growth amongst companies that cut or reduced their marketing budgets during the economic downturn.

Now, you might be thinking to yourself, “Hey, that makes sense but I don’t have extra cash for marketing since my sales are terrible.” Well, the best marketing doesn’t cost anything. Rather, it takes a commitment to love and delight your customers with stellar service.

Yesterday, my wife Ellen and a friend went to Vinideus, a neighborhood wine shop and bar in Portland, Oregon that we’ve walked by for months but never visited. Ellen was curious to check it out since we’ve seen signs in the window announcing a diverse array of activities including a networking evening, French movie night, salsa lessons and a variety of musical performances. One of the owners greeted her and everybody who came through the doors with a smile and warm hello as if they were arriving in his living room (in fact, the shop has the cozy atmosphere of a family-run bistro in France).

When he overheard Ellen and her friend discussing the nuances of authentic French crepes, he apologized for interrupting but enthusiastically told them about his plans for introducing crepes in a few weeks as well many of the other exciting things that Vinideus would be offering.  When Ellen and her friend left, they had signed up for the shop’s weekly newsletter and were already making plans for their return.

They wandered a few blocks up the street to try another wine bar, where the atmosphere was quite different. While the service wasn’t bad, it lacked the warmth, energy and knowledge of the previous establishment. Likewise, the space itself felt cold—literally and figuratively. There was no music, no laughter and, not surprisingly, very few customers on what should have been a popular place on a Friday night. Ellen’s comment was, “There was no enthusiasm, no love.”

Think about the businesses that you love. What makes you loyal to these companies over others that offer similar products and services? Is it possible to adopt some of their customer service tactics? By doing so, you will take your business to new heights as satisfied customers keep coming back and referring their friends.

Outstanding Service Will Sustain Many Businesses in Good & Bad Times

Based on yesterday's article in The New York Times, it's clear that many New York City restaurateurs are worried about their long term survival in this protracted economic downturn. They are slashing their prices and turning on the charm to keep customers coming in and referring their friends. While this is certainly good news for New York diners, it's a bit tragic to see customer service used in what seems to be a short term marketing ploy.

When I think about my favorite restaurants, I recall good service just as much as tasty food. An informal poll of friends indicates that many of them share my appreciation of good service. In fact, we make many restaurant selections because of fond recollections of stellar service. If the restaurants featured in the New York Times article had always focused on providing outstanding service in good economic times as well as bad, I'm confident that many of them wouldn't be suffering so much in this weakened economy. Truly great service businesses, including restaurants, will usually be able to generate enough buzz to sustain themselves regardless of the direction of the economic tide.

Buzz Marketing Camp Launching in San Francisco Bay Area - Learn How to Get People Buzzing & Buying on a Tight Budget

Many businesses are struggling to attract customers with reduced marketing dollars. Even companies that have kept their marketing budgets intact are finding it increasingly difficult to meet their sales objectives since consumers are buying less and not responding to traditional advertising. That's why I'm launching Buzz Camp which is a results-producing, idea-generating half-day workshop designed to help businesses of all sizes break through the commercial clutter and get people buzzing and buying in spite of a challenging economic environment. The first Buzz Camp will take place on 4/23/09 in Berkeley, CA in association with the Emeryville Chamber of Commerce.

Buzz Camp will cover:

• The latest trends in buzz marketing and what they mean for your business.
• How to build a cohesive brand message that drives business growth.
• Buzz secrets from America’s most successful companies.
• How to create buzz through online newsletters, seminars, special events, blogs, networking (both face-to-face and online including Facebook and LinkedIn), consumer review websites (Angie’s List, CitySearch, Yelp, etc.), and viral videos.
• The inside scoop on what the media and bloggers want and how to generate free publicity that greatly exceeds what you could afford to purchase in advertising.
• How to obtain free and prominent media and blogger coverage using a simple three-step process that Patrick developed to land his clients in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Business Week, Forbes, Boston Globe, InStyle, Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Business Times, San Jose Mercury News, Contra Costa Times, Oakland Tribune, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, The View from the Bay (KGO TV), NBC News, Evening Magazine (KPIX TV) , KTVU News, Home & Garden Television, etc.
• Techniques to increase the loyalty and enthusiasm of your customers and prospects that drive repeat sales and referrals.
• How to get to the top of Google and other leading search engines through search engine optimization (SEO) without wasting money on pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.

Check out details and registration information for Buzz Camp here.

Should a San Francisco Chiropractor Sue a Former Patient Over a Negative Yelp Review?

I'm convinced that customer review websites will be absolutely critical to the success of all businesses. That's why the front page story in the San Francisco Chronicle about a San Francisco chiropractor suing a former patient over negative reviews published on Yelp, a popular website that rates companies, is so fascinating.

The Chronicle reports that Christopher Norberg posted his first Yelp review in November 2007 after visiting Steven Biegel at the Advanced Chiropractic Center on Valencia Street. In his six-paragraph review, Norberg criticized Biegel's billing practices and said the chiropractor was being dishonest with insurance companies.

The story details how Norberg and Biegel exchanged emails about the complaint. And, when Norberg refused to take down or edit his commentary, Biegel decided to sue for libel and invasion of privacy. Biegel's business has been hurt by the reviews, said his attorney, Eric Nordskog of San Francisco. "Although negative reviews are fine, there are certain statements that are false statements of fact," he said. "He accuses Biegel of dishonesty and of committing insurance fraud, which is a crime in California."

If Norberg's comments are false or exaggerated. I can certainly see why Biegel would be frustrated enough to undertake legal proceedings. However, even if Biegel wins a lawsuit, he might end up hurting his business. Based on the hundreds of comments that the story has already received on the Chronicle's website alone, many are siding with the Norberg for reasons of free speech.

In the words of Andy Sernovitz, my friend and word of mouth marketing pundit, when it comes to bad online customer reviews, "the solution to pollution is dilution." That is, Biegel would be much better served laying out reasons why Norberg claims aren't true without suing him. And to counteract the negative weight of Norberg's review, Biegel should ask his satisfied patients to go to Yelp and share their perceptions of his practice. These steps would be much easier and less controversial than a lawsuit which has an uncertain outcome both in terms of the judgement and how the public will perceive it.

Consumer Review Website The Senior List Aims to Be the Angie's List of Senior Services

A couple of days ago, I received an email from Chris Clark, president of The Senior List, a website aimed at people looking for quality senior services. Chris thought I would be interested in his company based on a post I wrote on this blog in January 2008 which explained why I'm willing to pay for membership on Angie's List, one of the leading customer review websites with approximately 750,000 members across the United States.

I'm intrigued with The Senior List because it provides a valuable service which I haven't seen elsewhere. In fact, a few months ago, my wife and I were thinking about how to find a reputable financial adviser for her parents and didn't know where to look. When I checked out The Senior List, not surprisingly, I noticed primarily health-related categories but I also saw that it has a money management section. If only it had reviews of money managers near my wife's parents, our task of finding a financial adviser would be much easier.

The Senior List is worth visiting since it has an attractive web interface and many useful articles for seniors or those who find themselves responsible for helping seniors make important life decisions. Since the website is relatively new, it still doesn't have many reviews. But, given the billions of dollars that are spent on senior services, I have no doubt that there is a large pool of potential reviewers who can provide insightful reviews for The Senior List. In the "Age of the Empowered Customer," when buzz from regular people is so influential, I'm sure that there will be a proliferation of customer review websites focused on important niches like seniors.