Publicity Tip - Embrace your fans

The internet has completely changed economic thought. And not just in a grand, hyperbolic sense. There is a fundamental shift when a company begins to sell its products online.
A brick and mortar company is bound by the limits of its storage capacity. It can’t sell 500 000 cds because it can’t afford to have 500 000 cds on hand. This is an undeniable fact. But if you move online, you can exploit a limitless amount of inventory. Since buyers expect to wait a day or so for shipping the product, you can store those cds in a cheap warehouse. It can cost money to have a single cd under the bright lights and watchful eyes of a salesman in a store, but mere cents in simple warehouse.
The Long Tail by Chris Anderson goes into depth about what if means for the future of businesses. If you want your business to flourish in the digital age, I’d recommend this book. The general gist is this – as we move forward, the brick and mortar stores simply won’t be able to compete with the online retailers’ endless stock and cheap pricing. Instead of economics based on scarcity, it’s economics based on abundance. Chris goes over what it means from the supply chain end and what it means from the consumer end, but he doesn’t have the chance to cover the impact it has on the marketing.
So what does this change mean for you?
You need to work on marketing your product with more than ads. Ads should always be used in addition to an actual marketing plan. Online sales are generated by the most trusted and most publicized by fans of the product. That’s we why suggest embracing your fans. Try utilizing a message board, a testimonial form for them to fill out, exercise your social media tools and use publicity. Show off the satisfied people who are urging everyone to buy what you are selling. People are passionate about what they spend their money on. Let your fans work for you and give them the tools to help sell your company.



OutRight Communications is a marketing, design and PR firm that can skillfully craft your public image. Our team works together to ensure that your message is delivered to the public, whatever your message may be. We specialize in long term image crafting, publicity, web & graphic design, press releases & media interviews, author services & book publicity, media buys, and creative writing. Get in touch today to solve your media problems!

Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and poor strategy

Why it’s important to never put all your eggs in one basket

This years NBA finals had a potential dream match up for the NBA. With the favorites to meet in the final being the leagues two biggest stars, marketing execs were drooling at the chance to put these two at the forefront. These two athletes, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, are constantly rated as some of the worlds most famous individuals, recognized in all corners of the globe. They commanded immense amounts of extra security at the Olympics; they have both been featured in documentaries, books and on more magazine covers than one could conceivably count. Since both teams were heavily favored to meet in the finals and breezed through the first few rounds, the ad campaigns started early. Nike, Vitamin Water, ESPN and even the NBA itself started to promote this “dream” match-up. Everyone with a vested financial interest had decided that the Lakers and the Cavaliers would be meeting in the finals and they all hedged their ad campaigns on this. Unfortunately, sports don’t go to script that nicely and LeBrons team never made it as far as everyone thought they would. When the Orlando Magic, led by fellow Olympian Dwight Howard, ran up against the Cavilers, they were victorious in a mere 6 games. This led to having just Kobe in the finals, facing an Orlando team that no company has been running ads about.

Nike and Vitamin Water, two companies who have become synonymous with great ads for the world of sports, failed terribly this time around. The two companies hedged all their campaigns during the most watched games of the year around a possibility. Yes, it was a likely one, but far from a guarantee. Now these companies are scrambling to get out relevant ads as well as doing some damage control over their lack of anything Orlando Magic based.

It’s important to position yourself to take advantage of likely events, which Nike did in this case. Both Kobe and LeBron are Nike spokespeople and Nike knew they would be selling millions of shoes if the two made the finals. The ads were in place, both on Television and on websites to make sure everyone watching basketball knew that the two people likely squaring off in the finals were Nike men. Unfortunately for them, they are now stuck with the fact that they backed the wrong horse. Orlando’s all-star Dwight Howard is an Adidas man and Adidas simply stop placing ads featuring him because they too believed the James-Bryant Hype. This isn’t the first time this type of failure has happened in the sporting world (see Dan vs Dave with Rebook and 19-0 with the Boston Globe) but no lessons have been learnt. Now millions, if not more, have been lost. Again.

It’s a very simple lesson too, a cliché we all learnt when we were young – don’t put all your eggs in one basket. It’s fine and quite advantageous to put more weight on the future you see as most likely, but if your campaigns are based on something as unpredictable as the sporting world, make sure you spread your eggs out. Adidas didn't even bother competing with this idea and has completely blanked on running ads for the superstar who took down James, Dwight Howard. And when you're buying into your competitors hype machine, that's never a good sign.

But for a company as big as Nike, it’s ok to take a big risk and fail occasionally. But for a small company, this type of error can be devastating. So next time you’re reviewing your marketing, think about what you’re relying on. Make sure you are relying on things that will come true. It’s true that you can always bet on death and taxes, but you can also always safely bet on sunshine in July, snow in February and hockey year round in Canada. You can’t safely bet on the publics’ opinion regarding politics, the shape of the stock market or the hotness of a celebrity. There are times for taking big risks as a business owner, but make sure you have some control of that risk. And unless Nike was going to give James some better teammates, they had no control.

OutRight Communications is a marketing, design and PR firm that can skillfully craft your public image. Our team works together to ensure that your message is delivered to the public, whatever your message may be. We specialize in long term image crafting, publicity, web & graphic design, press releases & media interviews, author services & book publicity, media buys, and creative writing. Get in touch today to solve your media problems!

A Case Study in Terrible Advertising:

All too often, we see ads that were based on a great idea, but then executed terribly. Coors Light recently put up a new billboard on my way to work. It’s the same design they’ve been running for a long time now with a frosty beer can on the right, and a witty saying on the left. This month’s witty saying? “You’ve just been poked by an Ice Cold Beer”.

I can picture the 50 year old Ad execs of Coors now… “I know! We will run an ad making a reference to that popular FaceBook site! Kids love that place!” Correct they were. Kids of all ages do love that place. FaceBook has been a massive success and leveraging an ad campaign with reference to it is almost a sure fire hit. Unfortunately, they referenced one of the worst things about FaceBook.

The Poke feature on FaceBook is ridiculed in the majority of social circles, mocked by internet commentators and is generally frowned upon by the users of FaceBook. Site users have made valiant attempts to rid the site of this feature, calling it “childish, lame and a waste of space.” The only thing keeping it alive is FaceBook’s stubborn love of their original project. This isn’t anything I would want my brand referencing in a positive light. With a little more research and a little more time spent talking to actual FaceBook users, and Coors could have had a much stronger advertising campaign. “Get poked in real life” is a much better reference than “I’m the creepy guy who pokes people late a night” (on FaceBook of course).

OutRight Communications is a marketing, design and PR firm that can skillfully craft your public image. Our team works together to ensure that your message is delivered to the public, whatever your message may be. We specialize in long term image crafting, publicity, web & graphic design, press releases & media interviews, author services & book publicity, media buys, and creative writing. Get in touch today to solve your media problems!

Grow Your Market Share

The doom and gloom newspaper writers and anchormen want you to believe that you have no hope against the economic down turn. That there is nothing you can do but grab onto something solid and hold on. They are wrong. Very, very wrong. For the wise, far-sighted, strategic business owners, this slow down is a blessing. Why? Because you can be smarter than your competitors. Market share is up for grabs, it's time to position yourself properly.

Many businesses are slashing their marketing budgets, filling the airwaves with horrendously poor ads. This illogical response to declining revenue has opened the door for you. Instead of cutting your budget or allowing an ad that looks cheap to represent your business, it's time to develop your brand. Take the step and allow professionals to manage your public image. Put a stop to the terrible ad campaigns your near-sighted competitors are doing and remember that your brand image is with you for the long run. Here in Edmonton, radio stations are struggling to sell ad space, something that should never be happening! Use your marketing budget wisely and get your name out. Expand your marketing to make sure your business is always growing. Becoming a house hold name means you'll always be busy. So why are you not taking steps to become a house hold name?

Watching an hour of T.V makes this point very easy to see. Corporate giants like Apple, Microsoft, Nike, Disney and McDonalds are producing the same high quality ads they always have been. The leaders of those companies know that everyone is weaker right now, which means market share is up for grabs. By promoting yourself with high quality ads, you can stand out much easier during a recession than during the boom years. If your competitors have cut their ad budgets, you have the opportunity to capture the market. Now is the time to make yourself a house hold name, when your competition can’t compete.

OutRight Communications is a marketing, design and PR firm that can skillfully craft your public image. Our team works together to ensure that your message is delivered to the public, whatever your message may be. We specialize in long term image crafting, publicity, web & graphic design, press releases & media interviews, author services & book publicity, media buys, and creative writing. Get in touch today to solve your media problems!