Homearama...Branding Extravaganza!

Have you ever been to the Homearama? If you haven't, you should check it out... it's worth the price of admission. Unless, of course, the thought of being reminded about all your home improvement chores doesn't interest you!

The past couple of weeks the city of Mason, Ohio has been hosting this event. The Homearama is a builders showcase. Essentially, this event gives several homebuilders the opportunity to show what they can do if given limited boundaries... end result: Homes worth over one million dollars that can do everything but pay it's own mortgage.

One facinating aspect about this event is that it is a branding extravaganza...

It's amazing how many companies were vying for mindshare. The One Restaraunt and World of Dinettes slugged it out through the use of corrigated signs placed on the side of the road just before you parked. Over twenty home-related companies like Basement Living Systems and Pella duked it out in the big tent, of which you had to walk through in order to enter or exit the Homearama. BMW cars were parked in almost all driveways and greeted you as you exited each house. As you walked to and from your car, there were golf carts that picked you up...of course, they were sponsored by Union Savings Bank. And if that wasn't enough, all you had to do was look in the air and catch a glimpse of the Remax Hot Air Balloon!

Now granted, most of the companies that were branding at the Homearama were large companies. But did you notice, as mentioned earlier, that The One Restaraunt and the World of Dinettes were attempting to brand through use of yard signs? They aren't corporations... And yet they proactively tried to seize the opportunity to fight for mind share. What are you trying to do to seize the mind share of your target audience? How are you proactively branding your image in your prospects?

-Ernie DiMalanta

Insight from Sailor Jack!

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Cracker Jacks? You think of the yummy-in-your tummy, nutritious, carmelized popcorn morsels and peanuts right? Of course not! You think of the free prize inside... the secret decoder, tattoos, stickers, mini magnifying glass. Sailor Jack and his dog, Bingo knew their audience well. Most of us who grew up in a typical American home can all remember "the prize."

This brings up an important topic...

Soft innovations!

Seth Godin, author of Free Prize Inside, shares how soft innovations provide another way for business growth. "The clever, insightful, useful small ideas that just about anyone in an organization can think up. Soft innovations...can make it remarkable. They do this by solving a problem that's peripheral to what your product is ostensibly about. It's a second reason to buy the thing, and perhaps a first reason to talk about it."

Well there you have it...take time exploring the edge of your product or service and come up with several soft innovations. Who knows, you may stumble on something that works!

-Ernie DiMalanta

June: Free Book Contest!

This month's free book contest features, "Good to Great-Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't" by, Jim Collins.

Each month clueless marketing & the folks at Quest Marketing Solutions will be giving away one book for free... We do this in the spirit of continuing education. We feel that everyone should be lifetime learners, especially if you are engaging in the marketing arena.

Click on the link below, and submit your entry by June 30th. All entries must register their:
▪Name
▪Company name
▪Email address
▪Phone number
▪Current website
▪Also type, "Book contest," along with your mailing address in the comment section.

Each entry will be placed in a magical shoebox for random drawing. (Our book contest begins the first week of every month, and the winner is always picked the last week of the month.) Feel free to comment on the book if you have already read it!

Free Book Contest

"To: Potential Customer"

To: Potential Customer... buy from me!

It's rather obvious that direct mail will be around for a long while, but would you please make them a little more personalized! People want connection, they want to be valued, cuddled, loved.... OK. Enough warm and fuzzy talk. If you are planning on sneaking into people's homes via their mailbox, at least you can try to know their names. You have to slice through all the junk mail that they get.

Have you ever heard of using variable data for direct mail marketing? Also known as one-to-one direct mail marketing. This is the process of personalizing all marketing pieces to specific individuals and their needs.

Compare these stats: (click link below to read more)
With traditional direct mail marketing your company may reap a 1-2% response rate. By simply using variable data in your direct mail campaign you can reap 5% to 10% to then even 15%+ depending on certain circumstances! Staggering thought isn't it?!

Still don't understand what it means to use variable data?

Let's say you produce a direct mail piece... Now let's say that you establish changeable fields on your marketing piece that adapts to the varying segments of your target market. Your clients receiving the piece may read, "Thank you for choosing us! We value your business." A prospect may read, "We're here to help! Call us today!" A lapse client may read, "We miss you! Come back and we will give you 50% off your next purchase." On top of this, the pictures change accordingly, as well as personalizing each piece by using the contact person's name on each card... "Dear John, thank you for choosing our company over the rest. We are committed to showing just how much we value you. Please bring this card in for $100 off your next purchase."

Now do you get it? Let's personalize our marketing efforts and reap the rewards after doing so. Don't waste your money involving yourself with advertising schemes that don't provide this personalization. Unless, of course, you enjoy being a clueless marketer!