WHY IS THERE SO MUCH REALLY BAD MARKETING

OUT THERE ?

Richard Meyer

What would your boss say

If you spent over $200 million on a marketing and advertising campaign and your market share

increased 0.2% ?

Maybe…

Yet it’s happening today

Progressive insurance spent over $200 million on the “Flo” marketing campaign and their

market share went up 0.2%

And all they can say is that

Progressive insurance consideration rose 23%

and its brand impressions rose by

18% ?

Are there really that many dumb people out there ?

Judging from all the bad marketing the answer to that would be “yes” !

But what are the reasons for really bad marketing today ?

Overreliance on outdated marketing metrics ?

Marketers have grown comfortable with formulas like gross ratings points, frequency, awareness and intent, time-tested formulas for building brands

in traditional media.

Old metrics like those are not relevant today

A lot of people are aware of Mercedes and intend to buy one but first they need to hit the

lottery !!

Some believe that “doing something” is better than doing nothing

But they forget that

Marketing costs money & unless the marketing is smart, on point and creates a substantial ROI, marketing is just a way to camouflage the

act of throwing thousand dollar bills out the window.

The recession has created fear in a lot of marketers

The recession has created fearful employees who have become note takers and task masters rather than Linchpins who challenge conventional marketing

thinking and execution

As well as brand new consumer values that a lot of marketers chose to ignore

The working middle class is suffering and is distrustful of brands and marketing.  Wages are stagnant  Job security is gone  Stress is a lot higher

 Healthcare costs are going up

And with all these changes things going on

Way too many marketers are “following the instructions” and not thinking. They are afraid to be responsible for

decisions and they have left their passion for marketing at home.

Because business has created a white collar factory

Their marketing is planned, controlled, measured and it’s

optimized for productivity not around consumers.

It has become more important to be loved by coworkers than it is to be take intellectual risks.

It’s often easier to say the four words that can kill an entire business

“It’s not my job”

Too many agencies have not become strategic brand partners

Great agencies are the ones who win lots of awards. So choose

them.

Then there are

The people who want to get their name in the trade press because it looks good on a resume.

And finally too many do the politically correct thing instead of asking “why?”

What’s needed to make marketing valuable and relevant again ?

Find people who are passionate about marketing and customer satisfaction

Who can balance brand objectives with a great customer experience

Brand Objectives

Customer Experience

And are willing to take calculated risks to try new ways to engage consumers

Learn to listen to consumers and customers again

And integrate social media into your business strategy

Because the value of social media is it's the richest data set that's ever existed

  What's a Facebook friend worth?   What does a chat with someone on Twitter

actually do for our brand objectives?   According to an ExactTarget survey of

1,000 marketers, 70% said they plan to increase spending in social media, but less than 20% said they could effectively measure ROI.

  Companies using reputation as a measure of success are more likely to be shifting budget to social media. That tells you something about the mind-set."

ROI isn't the thing that's pushing people to social media.

But don’t think that social media is going to solve all your marketing problems

The company said the only market segment to experience a decline in market share for the company was the North American market space, declining by 1-

percent from the same period last year.

Social media alone is not going to save your brand

Increasing budgets for channels in which you can’t measure ROI is wasteful

Understand what consumers want from brands on social media

And measure everything you do continually to stay relevant to consumers

There are a lot of barriers to social media adoption by companies

You need to become a marketing Linchpin by adding value to your company

Enhance your value and become indispensable by;   suggesting ways to solve

problems   taking the initiative on

projects   sharpening your skills and

showing a willingness to help others

Find ways that the company can earn more money and

spend less

Because marketing today is the sum

of the least expense that results in the highest ROI.

Lessons of Toyota should be a warning to all companies

  Reputations that took decades to build can be damaged in a short time.

  The organization needs to be able to respond to weak signals (problems) before they become strong signals.

  As you expand and grow never lose focus of your customers.

Toyota drivers have gone from being customers of the company to being wards of the government. Don’t give loyal brand customers reasons to look at other brands.

If you can’t learn the lessons from others you could leave a lot of nails

Marketing is not a science anymore It’s an art

Some see just a bridge over a pond while others see a moment

captured on canvas in all its beauty.

Marketing is nothing but a platform for art and the

emotional labor that goes with it.

Most artists can’t draw

Most artists can’t draw but an artist is someone who uses bravery, insight, creativity and boldness to challenge the status quo. An an artist takes it

personally. Seth Godin, Linchpin, 2010

About me

Richard Meyer   My CV http://www.richardameyer.com   My marketing BLOG http://www.richsblog.com   MY DTC BLOG http://www.worldofdtcmarketing.com

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