The Bigger They Are, The Dumber They Are
My small biz clients are sometimes intimidated by “big company marketing.” Wow, they must know what they’re doing. And they’ve got all that marketing muscle! We can never compete. We don’t have their experience or money!
Au contraire. It’s the biggest companies that often make the biggest and dumbest mistakes. Sure, they’ve got more money and can reach more people - but that often means they’re wasting more money and driving away more people.
Example: Ziff-Davis picked the wrong people to spam. Why, oh why is it so hard to understand? People DO NOT want to be at the end of a cold email blast. It’s sorta like if the Jehovah Witnesses stood on your porch beating on the door and refusing to leave, then breaking in and shoving leaflets down your throat.
In many cases, a small biz can handily beat a bigger one. Here’s the simple Duh-Oh list:
1. Treat your customers like human beings.
2. Act with some common sense and decency.
3. Use your head (and heart) when planning communications.
4. Say what you’ll do. Do what you’ll say.
Thank you, you can mail a big, honkin’ check to me for this advice. (Big companies pay consultants bazillions each year for exactly this type of advice…and then don’t use it. Sigh.)
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November 7th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
Fair enough!
(I suspect I’ll stop learning when I’m 6′ under…), I’ve been picking up, and even reading, marketing books. Hence why I’m a loyal reader here!
As part of my continuing education as an IT guru
One of the ones recommended to me was “Positioning”.
Which, having read, struck me as an appalling cynical book. Even with it being the updated version.
Some really good stuff in there too. But the core premise seemed to be that it almost doesn’t matter how good or bad a “Coca-Cola” or “Macdonalds” et al does at their marketing; They’re #1 and that’s pretty much a law of nature.
??????????
Cheers!
- Steve
November 7th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Well, no matter how big, they still feel compelled to market. Both feel the heat from competition and customers.
And, eventually even the largest of the dinosaurs die. Look at what’s happened to GM - not dead, but in really bad shape. IBM had huge problems. And, most of the “biggest” companies of say 100 or even 50 years ago aren’t even around - or if they are, it’s as subsidiaries of some conglomerate.
Here’s a good book for marketing/positioning/branding perspective: Ideas That Became Big Business, by Clinton Woods. Long out-of-print (published in 1959), Some of those big businesses: Burroughs Corporation, Electrolux Corporation, Eastern Air Lines, The General Fireproofing Co (!?), Bell & Howell , Automatic Canteen Company of America, The Cream of Wheat Corp.
See where I’m going with this? No company is ever too big to not be concerned with marketing, or more accurately communicating with their customers.
November 7th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Mary,
Nice post. I found you from linking to Grokdotcom.com. I wanted to share another article with you and your smart readers that shows the power of the “little guys and gals” personal touch in outdoing the big guys.
http://www.grokdotcom.com/2007/11/02/no-but-i-did-sleep-at-a-staybridge-suites-last-night/
November 7th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
Hi Ron!
Thanks for the link, and I’d already written about this one, in my post, American Airlines doesn’t read “on-line blogs.” Great example of how something “little” can be a huge thing. AA should really talk to the people at Staybridge and Zappo’s.
November 8th, 2007 at 6:50 am
I read this morning about the Wired Editor who is now blackballing anyone who sends him an off topic press release. I’ve said for years that email marketing was playing with fire. Very little returns, but one wrong move can cause virtually irreparable harm.
November 8th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Hmmm. I think I get where you’re going Mary. I guess what I …got? from Positioning was a viewpoint that Good or even Bad Marketing almost didn’t matter. So long as you did some, you could easily retain your Position.
ie. You didn’t have to do a great job; You could have garbage products. But keep the Marketing train going and life was gravy.
Now, I guess with the ease with which good and bad messages can spread these days; this …mindset? is headed down the path of the dodo? Or, If I’m reading you right? It always did, but it would take a long time to ooze down that path anyway?
Thanks!!!
- Steve aka Grasshopper
November 8th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
You’ve got to have a position before you can keep it - and that means you’ve got to have more than slick marketing.
The folks that wrote Positioning are a bit behind the times. In the past, companies were much more able to control the message and perception of their products and service. Also, there were far fewer choices in most product and service categories (just look at the supermarket shelves today, versus what you and I remember from our childhoods.) There were very limited media outlets and traditional push advertising worked pretty well. Today, we get information from many different places, most importantly from other consumers/customers. And, ,we ignore a lot of the “hey, look at me!” advertising. (TIVO, etc.)
It’d be interesting to talk to some of the big companies such as Coca-Cola and Mickey D’s. I’d bet they wouldn’t agree that it’s “easy.” Hence their constant expansion into new markets, experimentation with new products, changes in old ones.
Now, snatch the pebble from my hand…;-)
November 8th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Ahh. Good! It’s not just me then. Thinking they’re behind the times. Not my core field, so I tend to be more… cautious in my criticism.
I dunno if you realise it? Your use of “Mickey D’s”. Perfect example front and centre of communication and spread thereof. Until I saw your use of that alias for MacDonald’s, I’d always assumed that Mickey D’s was an Aussie colloquialism. Perhaps it is/was.
Cheers and a Huge Thanks!
- Steve
PS. I believe you can buy Stone Proof(tm) Glass Houses these days??? Certainly seem to be a lot of ‘em around.