IT’S ALL ABOUT SHOW-BIZ AND REALITY TELEVISION

In the world today, we are being bombarded from left and right with advertisements. From the television blaring out on some new bank’s products, to the radio jingle proclaiming the low tariff rates and advantages of switching to some mobile operator. And while driving the skyline is dotted with billboards, street lights now have adverts on them and even the traffic warden is being branded by some organisation looking to maximize its marketing budget.

I have nothing against mass advertisements but it’s becoming so crowded that to really stand out of the crowd, hence the good people in your department of corporate communications (if you can afford to have one) or the entrepreneur must begin thinking of new and better ways to get his message across. Publicity is cheaper and more convincing than advertising- but don’t take my word for it, just ask a public relations expert. However if you desire that the press write about your product or service you have to make it newsworthy. The product or service may not need to exactly be ground-breaking, however if you can put it in a mixed context or concept that has never been done before then you can end up making it appealing to the press and all the more publicized and convincing than the combination of all your advertisements ordinarily would.

THE CHALLENGE
Martins wanted to come up with a way to attract customers to his new hotel especially since it had only just opened and the location wasn’t quite a landmark.

THE STRATEGY
Following the advice of a media consultant, he set about the task of initiating a new project that he intends to run yearly. Every Valentine weekend he runs a Loving Hearts contest. The prizes include a 5 course candle light dinner, free movie screenings and of course a weekend at the hotel for 10 lucky couples. The other contesting couples who are not quite so lucky still receive massive discounts to stay in the hotel any weekend for a particular stay of time.
To publicize the event, he would send press release to regional as well as local media outlets from television stations to radio and newspapers.

THE OUTCOME
The first contest which was held last year received massive turnout of people who came to the hotel’s venue for the raffle draw and the hotel received massive bookings during the event and subsequently. Today its known as the “Lover’s Hotel”, which is not so bad since it now puts the name on everyone’s lips.
LESSONS LEARNT
Contests, awards, barters and shows can be an ideal way of getting attention to you. Naturally you have to make sure whatever concept you choose to develop must be a natural fit for your business and wouldn’t cost you too much of your money. You should also bear in mind that people generally are creatures of habit, and once they come in through your doors, the rest is then up to you to convert them into raving fans. So you might consider training your staff to be extra courteous. For a hotel- a theme night for lovers is suitable for a dentist it may not quite work. However what might work is a contest for “Most Enigmatic Smile” or “Bad Teeth of the Year”, where winners could win a year free dental care.

BRAINSTORMING QUESTIONS
1. What kind of contest would lead to an increase in my business?
2. What prizes would be most appropriate and affordable for your business?
3. How do you intend publicizing the contest?
4. Have you thought of making every participant part of your mailing list?

TIPS: FREE CONSULTING ADVICE
1. Spend some time thinking of what sort of contest is appropriate to your business and will alos be newsworthy. An unusual or humorous approach usually works well with the media, so let the creative juices begin flowing. Sometimes what is deemed downright ridiculous may actually be the key. A new school may consider having a scholarship contest for disabled kids, a bar may consider a contest for “Fastest Guzzler” and so on.
2. Schedule the contest well ahead of time so the media can run coverage on it during slow days when there isn’t sufficient bad news or scandals to cover.
3. Don’t forget to have some visual angle. There’s more publicity that way as most newspapers, magazines and televisions prefer stories with accompanying pictures. If people are submitting videos or photographs, have a professional photographer cover the event. Then send it to the papers afterwards.
4. Make everyone a winner! Give all participants a discount voucher or a certificate of some sort and by doing that you’ll be gathering goodwill required to keep any business afloat even in the worst possible years.

TODAY, EVERYONE’s AN EXPERT!

(The Problem Challenge)

We are in a society that is currently being largely influenced by the media; whether its cable television, internet radio, social media such as Facebook and Twitter. As the world gradually becomes a smaller global village, the inhabitants are generally developing a similar mindset of how business should be and gradually dropping the traditional methods of doing business- mind you the traditional values of loyalty, putting the customers first etc. generally don’t change, the only change is the way its message is being communicated to customers.

The average consumer today is well educated, more informed and more outspoken and opinionated. They’ll rather take a front seat when it comes to making decisions that would affect them.

We recently found that out when developing a nationwide campaign for behavioural change communications amongst individuals in various focus groups. Initially we thought we understood the brief given to us by the client. It seemed pretty much straight forward- do background research on the topic, do some thinking, draw up copy and pass on to the graphic designers to follow suit.

The Strategy

As an afterthought we decided to sample some of the slogans and graphic designs to our friends; the rationale then was for show-off rather than feedback. However when asked for their opinion on the advertorials, the response was somewhat quite different (not in a good way) from what we expected.

We decided to take it to the public and get comments. So we published a list of the various slogans for the various categories of people we were targeting and politely requested that our friends on Faceboook and followers on Twitter make votes as to which idea they wanted to see developed on a billboard or aired on their favourite televisison or radio station. After so many votes and a few tweaks here and there with more consultations from our “facebook friends turned consultants”, this turned out to be quite intuitive because needless to say our art direction was more insightful than our competition contending for the same job. We got the job!

The Outcome

We got more similar assignments from the same client as well as referral to a high-level CEO on a key account. Who knew Facebook does more than help you merely keep in touch with friends from primary school?

Lessons Learnt

There are 2 lessons here. One is never jump to conclusions. It would have been pretty easier option to just ignore the input of other people outside of our organizations’ creative team and researchers and tell ourselves that we are the experts not them. However if your business has to deal with the selling of products and services to other individuals outside of your organisation then maybe it’s a wise choice to start actively seeking their opinion and advice on issues that would affect them. The world is gradually evolving from the traditional approach of having the management board make a decision and then informing the customers about their decision. Nowadays the average customer wants to be part of the decision making exercise and have a sense of ownership. This rewards in turn by having more loyal customers that feel as keen as executive directors.

The second lesson is of course the fact that social media is becoming a widely accepted tool used by most of your customers and if you’re business is not already using it as a medium to communicate with customers and potential customers, then you’ll soon be regarded as outdated and old-fashioned by the time this year is over.

Questions to ask?

1. If you are experiencing challenges with any aspect of your business, who are the logical people to as about the source of the problem?

2. What is the most effective way of asking these people for their input? Is it something you can do yourself or would it make sense hiring an outside consultant to do the job?

Tips: Finding out what’s turning your customers on or off.

1. When people buy or don’t buy your products or service, ask them why. This has to be done in a non-obtrusive manner. Have a comment page on your website where they can leave recommendations or comments. Have a comment form drawn up and posted to them with a free pen asking them to fill the form and keep the pen.

2. Sometimes the best way to look at your business operations is by not looking at it from the inside. Get an outsider- a company with expertise in customer experience evaluation also known as mystery shopping to evaluate every part of the ideal customers experience and then give you their reports. Alternatively for smaller businesses you can ask friends or family members to go through the same experience as a customer would from the beginning to the end- from the telephone call to place an order, to making enquiries, to having a meal at your restaurant or spending the weekend at your hotel. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t put yourself in the customers shoes every once in a while.

Good Luck!

Ebuka Anichebe is the Managing Director of Jean-Paul and Associates Consultancy. He has an uncommon approach to marketing media consulting, business development and customer experience evaluation. He’ll like to hear your views on this article and more, write to him at ebuka@jeanpaulconsult.com or call 07040448749