A healthier way to build both new and repeat business includes a few different marketing communication components. But first, back to the ‘Thank you for your support’ campaign. You may remember it started in the 1980’s when bottles of wine coolers were first introduced by two folksy entrepreneurs, Frank Bartles and Ed Jaymes. The two down-home gentlemen entered the market by telling us how they had come to the conclusion that “Between Ed’s fruit orchard and my vineyard, we could make a superior premium grade wine cooler.” Frank told us that Ed took out a second mortgage on his house and wrote to Harvard for a M.B.A. and was prepared to enter the wine cooler business. Ed always stood behind him on the company’s front porch nodding appropriately.
America was instantly captivated by these two old men of entrepreneurs and quickly captured the market share. The Bartles and Jaymes campaign is still a great example of establishing communications through marketing for product identity and reaching a large population without all the complexity of modern day technology. Here’s a checklist of what still works best in a simple application of marketing communications:
A picture can tell the whole story. Pictures are visual. When you take out the words, is there still a message?
Look for a key visual: Can you pick one picture that tells it all? Too often, advertisers want to put too many items into one picture frame of an ad.
Grab attention. The first five-seconds of a look are crucial.
Be single-minded. A good message is uncomplicated. You need the name of your product or service, the benefit to the consumer and the reason your consumer should believe in it. That’s it.
The tone of your advertising message must reflect your product, service or company’s personality. If your product or service were a person, who would it be?
Avoid “talky” words. Look for the simplest and most memorable set of words to get across your consumer benefit.
Creating and keeping a customer is a way of doing business. This should be close to the heart of every successful small business person. It involves knowing and reaching out to customers, listening carefully to their needs and preferences – and complaints – and acting to service them better and better every time. The tools used in marketing communications can be very helpful to small businesses and large alike. There is never a substitute for a personal commitment to creating and keeping a customer.
And, thank you for your support!
Lisa Schmidt is a marketing communications strategist. She can be reached at GetMarketingMatters@gmail.com or 360.314.2730.
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