What we're reading

As a follow up to our previous post on Staying Ahead of the Curve, here’s a list of what I’m currently reading to do just that:

The Strategy Paradox by Michael E. Raynor

An excellent book, although very dry at times, about how companies should be planning for the future. Filled with information for all levels of management and employee, it’s a great read if you want to know how to plan for the future. The key point is that what makes a business successful, its innovation, risk-taking and going against the status quo, is the same qualities we find in unsuccessful businesses. Shows us how to balance risk taking and mediocrity so we end up producing the mp3 player instead of the mini-disk player while giving you ways to avoid this.

Small is the New Big by Seth Godin

A nice collection of musing by the godfather of digital marketing. Filled with blog posts, Seth covers many issues, some important, some not on marketing and running a business. Not a cover to cover read, but a great book to have handy for some tidy inspiration

Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris

Re-reading my favorite book on one of my favorite Presidents. Morris spins this biography to the point where you’d swear you were reading a fictional tale. And you have to love how Roosevalt is the last president to ever knife a cougar to death. He was also the inspiration for teddy bears. All in all, it’s a great book to learn some history and the writing style is simply incredible for a biography.

Pygmy by Chuck Palahnuik

Following in the lines of many incredibly different books, Pygmy doesn’t disappoint. Written in a very, very strange manner, Pygmy is a fun read once you get used to the wordings. Another great book by Chuck.

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!

What do you mean growth doesn't last forever?

Everyone who has had their doors open over the last 5 years has felt the great joy of expanding and growing their business. Unfortunately, due to no fault of your own, that growth has likely stopped. But, instead of passively blaming greedy Wall Street suits while allowing your business to stagnate, take advantage of the down turn. Many great leaders have spoken of turning an obstacle into an advantage and now it's your turn to do just that.

• Take this time to re-set the foundation of your business. If you overstretched yourself during the boom years, take this time to re-establish yourself around your home base.
• Get market research done to ensure your ads are reaching your target market.
• Re-connect with your best customers; establish a relationship that will help both of you prepare for sustained growth.
• Take this time to make sure your business is running as efficiently as possible.
• Design new ways to distribute, manage, or create your product.
• If the days at work aren't as busy as they used to be, take advantage of the slow times by networking with others in the field, fix bridges you may have burnt in mad attempts to get that order filled during the boom.
• Create and establish a public image that ensures your phone will never stop ringing, boom or bust.

You couldn't do those things doing the boom, but you sure can now. A recession is not the end of the world. It's an opportunity to re-set your business for growth in the years to come.

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!

Beating Goliath

Malcolm Gladwells latest article for the New Yorker is, like everything else that flows from his finger tips, a golden piece of literature. The incredibly successful author of The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers recently jumped into the land of the underdog. His article uncovers a fascinating trend.

- Political scientist Ivan Arreguin-Toft has studied every war fought in the last 200 years that featured an overwhelming military favorite. As predicted, the favorites won in over 70% of the wars. But what makes his study worth mentioning, is that when the underdog embraced their weakness and chose unconventional strategies, they won. Convincingly. In fact, over 60% of the time, when the underdogs did what only the underdog could do, they won. This trend is not limiting just to the battle field, but is similarly found in sports, software engineering, and other games of strategy.

So what does this mean for you?

Well, there are two messages you can take home from this article.

1) If you are the little guy on the block, you can win. In fact, if you welcome the opportunities that being the underdog presents, odds are you will win. You just have to have more passion, more drive, and a stronger commitment than the big guy.

2) You must do things differently than the Goliath. This matters most to marketing. Goliath is known by everyone after they watch their first hour of T.V and spend a day reading billboards. You have to be creative with your media presence. Don’t fight Goliath by using T.V ads and radio placement, hit them quietly. Use local events, the internet, and the press as your key weapons in battle. Embrace viral and guerrilla marketing tactics. Allow your inner David to take charge and take down Goliath, one step at a time.

And if you get discouraged remember you don’t become a giant without spending time as the small guy first. McDonalds, Starbucks, and Blockbuster all started out as local Mom and Pop stores. Produce a quality product while using effective marketing and one day you’ll be fighting off challengers.

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!

Staying Ahead of The Curve

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education
- Mark Twain

Mark Twain said and wrote a lot of great things, but none of them resound with businesses today quite like this one. The Internet has fundamentally and drastically changed the way the world works, yet most of us received our education in a pre-Internet world. Have you taken the time to learn how to grow your business using the Internet?

Reading books and blogs about this new, digital business age can help turn your project from small to huge. Taking the time to learn how to grow your online presence and attract clients and readers without using traditional advertising, can save your budget and create a ripple effect of growth.

Make it your goal to spend a couple of hours every week to not only keep up to date on your industry, but to also take the time to learn what you didn’t learn in school. Go get your http://www.sixmonthmba.com/. Learn about becoming more productive through www.lifehacks.org. Step into the minds of New York Times best selling authors and Internet gurus at http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ and http://www.thelongtail.com/

The business world is constantly evolving; shouldn't your education be as well?




Mark Guest is the director of Social Media for OutRight communications

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!