Broadcast Marketing via the “Flyer”

The Webster’s definition of “Flyer”: A small handbill advertising an event or product.

The Shoppers Drug Mart™ flyer is anything but a small handbill advertising an event or product. Let’s see, their flyer, effective September 21 to 25th, 2015. Reads:

“Everyday Low Price”

“Load your Offers, Love your Rewards” (I like this - - very customer centric versus broadcasting)

“Plus Get Every Deal, Every Day, Everywhere” (Really?)

“Seniors’ Day is Thursday, September 24th, Save 20%”

(Sadly, with 600,000 seniors in Canada living in poverty, this really is more of a Corporate Social Responsibility strategy and should be more frequent.)

“Saturday and Sunday, 2 Day Sale”

(Why? When you get “every deal, every day, everywhere?)

Then SIXTEEN PAGES Later …. You'll await this “flyer” next week.

Organizations like who use flyers like this need to rethink the “Flyer” – Sure, I understand the need to plan and shop and my Mom loves her weekly flyers, but 16 pages with numerous calls-to-action is a bit much.  

To Think.  Deeply.  Differently.  Inducing Possibilities.

Music can aid in Creativity

Music can aid in Creativity

“Turn that off!”  Sound familiar?  Well, now you can increase your creativity, and light up your entire brain with a little music, try classical.  For my students, Yes - that is a 45 rpm record – way before your time.

Researchers from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland studied this very topic and using fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging).  Dr. Alluri led the team and observed rhythmic, tonal, and timbral components evolve over time.   They also noted that listening to music employs large scale neural networks beside the auditory areas of the brain.   Some of you listen to classical music when studying, this aids in retention of information as more areas of the brain are stimulated.

Science aside, we know how good we feel when a good song hits the radio, take that feeling and create it again by listening to some music.  So the next time someone tells you to “Turn that off!” suggest that you are merely developing your creative side J

Reference:

Suomen Akatemia (Academy of Finland). "Listening to music lights up the whole brain." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 6 December 2011. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111205081731.htm>.

Omaha! What Business Leaders Can Learn From Professional Athletes - 3 Things:

Omaha! 

 

1.       Practice makes perfect.  The old adage still rings true today, yet we tend to frown upon experimentation in business.   I agree that this adds expense but setting aside some dollars for innovation is likely to improve the bottom-line; prioritize your list and select 2 – then execute.

2.       Respect your competition.  As we saw yesterday, Peyton Manning spoke respectfully of the New England Patriots organization.  This goes to defining your level of professionalism and sets an organizational tone of respect.  Unlike the character from the SeaHawks and his rant that followed the game….  When you respect your competition you can only turn inward and look to innovate - competition helps innovation.

3.       Have a short memory.  Making mistakes as you execute your plan will happen, and sometimes we are quick to say “We tried that before…..”; this is an idea killer.  Learn from mistakes and be willing to try again – it's a sure way to rebound quickly as you and your organization continues to do their best.  Athletes are very good at forgetting a bad play - they quickly move on.  We saw that yesterday when Phil Mickelson shot a 7 on a hole only to play on and score a birdie on the next.

 

 

Is it time to step up your game like Cruisers Yachts™ and SeaRay™?

 

Q: What do you do when your market continues to shrink?

A:  You innovate and shrink the amount of competitors!

I spent last Friday night walking around the Toronto International Boat Show at the Direct Energy Centre and I spoke to many manufactures’ representatives regarding the products they chose to display and how customers were responding over the last year, I was specific to the cruiser yacht market.   I am highlighting two manufactures, Cruisers Yachts™ and SeaRay™, who have chosen to step up their game in this tough and changing/shrinking market.  This is probably why there were line-ups at each, while SeaRay displayed the 51 Sundancer, I have chosen to highlight both of their 45 models. 

Market leadership requires a manufacture to innovate enough that a “culling of the herd” then takes place.  Innovation and change is a good thing, for those who survive they find less competition and greater profitability while the consumer enjoys greater quality. 

Cruisers 45 Cantius

SeaRay 45 Sundancer

http://www.searay.com/Page.aspx/pageId/10230/pmid/324024/450-Sundancer.aspx

Think Differently......  Inducing Possibilities

Have the Can-do Spirit like Canadian Tire and IceCulture?

Can-Do…. With a little

Innovation & Creativity Exchange (ICE)

 

Any Canadian I asked knew this picture was Canadian Tire as we can easily identify them with the little, half red triangle.  More than 52 random men and women were questioned and each took less than 3 seconds to respond correctly.  They also, because as a marketer I was curious, said they would buy the battery and I would too, especially after this last week of cold, blizzard-like weather!

This is more than marketing – it’s innovation and for all who participated in order to make this happen can only smile ear-to-ear when they read  the Toronto Star and watch the commercials.  But this took an innovation and creativity exchange – fitting the acronym is ICE.   Two companies who in their own right are innovative and who needed a partner with that can-do spirit.

Enter IceCulture, a little company located in Hensall, Ontario, population 1,173 (2011 census), they made this truck and in order to achieve perfection, they had to make 3.  When an creative company, like IceCulture, is approached with such a concept they  “think, feel and engage”.  In an earlier post, I referenced doing these steps, regularly in order to establish a creative culture.  What I find even more interesting and the reason for the post is they started by stating: “We’ve never done this before”.  Oh sure, they had made ice-trucks and just about anything you can think of has been given the IceCulture touch, but they have never  created a functioning vehicle that would start up and drive away, until now.

Innovation and creativity often starts with quickly thinking about "how" and along with identifying elements of risk as you are potentially entering the unknown but then it is quickly followed by a can-do spirit.  And in this case, it took 3 tries - 1 perfection and 2 failures - appreciate this ratio the next time you try and stumble.

Organizations like Canadian Tire and IceCulture – one big – one small – are proof that creative cultures do exist.

 

Think differently and leave a lasting impression. 

Free to Fail - Remember Colgate Kitchen Entrees?

Free-to-Fail

Remember Colgate Kitchen Entrees?

 

 

Colgate began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1937.  Fast forward 45 years to 1982 and Colgate saw trends that supported the frozen food market.  They entered - They failed.   The data was correct but the brand was synonymous with oral hygiene and the consumer couldn’t get past it.  The brand was just too big!

This picture is worth a thousand words, for sure.  Did Colgate's strategic move into the frozen food business impact this innovative company?    As you can see, it’s an easy answer.   Organizations, like Colgate, need to establish a creative culture, one that is free-to-fail; it can be a differentiator.   Innovative companies “try” and sometimes they will fail but they embrace possibilities.