It has been said that the Harley-Davidson brand is one of the strongest brands in the world. Proof of that lies in the fact that Harley-Davidson has become so ingrained in the lives of its loyal enthusiasts that some actually tattoo the brand onto their skin.
And if it is not tatooed directly, it is on their shirts, their jackets or anywhere else they can proudly display the brand on their persona.
The beauty of this is found in the marketing value behind this brand loyalty. Not only are the enthusiasts reinforcing their loyalty with each branded piece they wear, but they are proudly endorsing and advertising the brand to many others. Just like the Coca-Cola example discussed in a previous blog entry.
And we are not talking about just the "Hells Angels" crowd either. On the contrary, the average Harley-Davidson owner is a middle to upper class male in his mid-forties. These are doctors, lawyers, accountants and other professionals making a very nice living. Sounds a lot like the same demographic that a school might be targeting for philanthropic purposes...doesn't it?
Why wouldn’t your university want your loyal alumni to do the very same thing for you? Wouldn’t you like your school to become that ingrained in the fabric of the lives of your alumni? What if all of your alumni could become walking advertisements for your school also?
How many people would see your branding in the course of a typical Saturday if your alumni were wearing just a simple tee-shirt with your branding spread across the front of the shirt?
Would 25 people see it at the supermarket? Would another dozen notice it at the local Home Depot? Possibly another 25 would see it at the Little League or Soccer game. The number for the day could easily hit 100 and then some. All without doing anything different than the usual errands and activities of a typical Saturday in May or June.
Now do the math. Lets say we select a targeted group of alumni. Maybe all alumni in the 35-45 age range who you have good addresses for. Lets say that this target group comes to 10,000 alumni in total who are sent the tee-shirts and asked to wear them on a very specific day. There should be a definite call to action with a defined rational behind it.
Maybe the day is your school’s special anniversary…or maybe it is to commemorate the kick off of a new campaign…or maybe it is just a tribute to this year’s graduates. Bottom line is...you could get 1 Million marketing impressions all on the same day! What would you normally have to do to get that kind of exposure? Run a television ad? How much would that cost?
The bonus is that the shirts would be worn again and again. The residual marketing value would continue to pay off for as long as these shirts are worn.
You would get all of the following from this kind of program:
1) The good will of the school actually giving something back to the alumni. Alumni would love to get a free tee-shirt from their school.
2) The opportunity to create a great deal of "buzz" in the community, in the media and with your entire alumni base around this special one day event.
3) The residual marketing benefits of your brand continually being seen every time the shirt is worn for millions more marketing impressions over time.
Not a bad deal for a $3.00 tee-shirt investment, is it?
And by the way, this is not a new concept folks. The NFL, Major League Baseball, NCAA, Nike and other brands are making millions and creating more and more loyal enthusiasts every day based on doing the same. They have woven their brands into the lives and lifestyles of their target audiences.
My twelve year old son is a great example. For whatever the reason, Nike has created a very loyal brand enthusiast in my young seventh grader. Nike shirts…Nike hats…Nike backpack…etc.
But an interesting thing happened recently. When I was given a hat with my college logo on it, my young Nike "brand snob" had swiped that hat for himself inside of a week. When I asked him why he took my hat, the reply was, “Because that is where you went to school and I may want to go there someday!”
Hmmm…interesting isn’t it! Getting that feedback about the school just because I had that hat! And it didn’t even have a Nike logo on it!
And now all of his friends at school will see that hat and learn a bit more about my alma mater from him.
Branding at its best.
I hope this makes you think a bit about the power of branding and just how it can help your efforts.
If you have thoughts about this or would like to know more about this kind of a program, please contact me and I would be glad to help!
Happy branding!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Does Your Direct Mail ROI Need CPR?
With the fiscal year end approaching for many of you, the state of the economy has surely left an imprint on your bottom line.
But at the same time, the new year is almost upon us and it seems as though the bleeding has at least been slowed and a blank canvas awaits you for the coming year.
In these challenging times, maybe the traditional brushstrokes you have been using in the past could use some additional creativity to take your work to the next level.
Your first thought might be…”But Matt, budgets for the coming year are going to be stretched more than ever…how are we supposed to be more creative with less resources?”
Glad you asked. Here is how. Be smarter. Make those budget dollars work harder for you.
Specifically, if you are not evaluating the Return On Investment (ROI) for your direct mail programs by using a Cost Per Response (CPR) method, then you should be.
The goal of any marketing campaign is to get responses. Whether these responses result in purchases for businesses or gifts for not-for-profits, the desired response is what you are ultimately paying for with direct mail campaigns.
So it should make perfect sense that the proper parameter for measuring the cost of a direct mail campaign is the Cost Per Response, or cost per dollar raised in this case. It needs to be a results-oriented measurement or you are just spending without ever knowing what you are getting back for your money.
Here is an example with simple numbers of how direct mail has traditionally performed…
50,000-piece mailing @ $0.50 each = $25,000.
0.8% response rate = 400 new donors
Average Gift @ $40 = $16,000 Revenue
Net for Campaign: $9,000 loss
Cost per Response = $22.50 each
From this example, we can see that the end result is a net loss for the mailing campaign. Ask yourself this...if you knew that you were going to lose $9,000 before you did the mailing, would you still want to do it?
Maybe…but you would obviously want to achieve a net positive gain for the campaign. Here is how you can do it…INCREASE YOUR RESPONSE RATE!
Ok Matt…big “duh” on that one. No kidding. But how do we do that?
It’s not as hard as you may think. There are products and technologies out there that are proven to increase response rates by over 300%. When these technologies are applied creatively, they can be very powerful.
One such application is Personalized Imagery. With this process, fonts are created and incorporated into the image. These fonts are then used to personalize the piece to an extraordinary level. The end result is a direct mail piece completely customized and uniquely relevant to the recipient.
I am showing two sample applications for you to see here. The first is an Admissions piece that is highly personalized in 3 different locations within the image.
The car's license plate has the recipient's name on the personalized plate...the window sticker in the hatchback window is the recipient's high school and the road sign reflects how far it is from the recipient's home town to the college.
The Advancement piece was created from a picture taken during an actual football game and the scoreboard was digitally enhanced to feature the recipient's name as if it was displayed on the scoreboard during the game.
These are just two examples of how Personalized Imagery can be developed for your direct mail campaigns.
Lets look at what could happen to your ROI with this kind of personalization.
For this example, we will examine a more targeted audience and cut the volume in half to 25,000. The cost per piece will be a bit more expensive but the resulting lift will more than make up for that.
25,000-piece mailing @ $0.82 each = $20,500.
3.0% response = 750 new donors (at a 329% lift)
Average Gift @ $40 = $30,000 Revenue
Net: $ 9,500 gain
Cost per Response = $(12.66)
You more than covered the cost of the mailing with your net result. There is a very measurable $18,500 swing in your favor!
Bottom line...if you want to get the attention of someone you know in a crowded and noisy room, you don't shout out "Hey You!" You use that person's name to get their attention.
Mailboxes today (both physical and electronic) are a "crowded and noisy room". You need to get personal to get someone's attention.
Personalized Imagery is a great way to do just that. It can be just the answer for your Direct Mail and the CPR your ROI needs!
Let me know what you think...
But at the same time, the new year is almost upon us and it seems as though the bleeding has at least been slowed and a blank canvas awaits you for the coming year.
In these challenging times, maybe the traditional brushstrokes you have been using in the past could use some additional creativity to take your work to the next level.
Your first thought might be…”But Matt, budgets for the coming year are going to be stretched more than ever…how are we supposed to be more creative with less resources?”
Glad you asked. Here is how. Be smarter. Make those budget dollars work harder for you.
Specifically, if you are not evaluating the Return On Investment (ROI) for your direct mail programs by using a Cost Per Response (CPR) method, then you should be.
The goal of any marketing campaign is to get responses. Whether these responses result in purchases for businesses or gifts for not-for-profits, the desired response is what you are ultimately paying for with direct mail campaigns.
So it should make perfect sense that the proper parameter for measuring the cost of a direct mail campaign is the Cost Per Response, or cost per dollar raised in this case. It needs to be a results-oriented measurement or you are just spending without ever knowing what you are getting back for your money.
Here is an example with simple numbers of how direct mail has traditionally performed…
50,000-piece mailing @ $0.50 each = $25,000.
0.8% response rate = 400 new donors
Average Gift @ $40 = $16,000 Revenue
Net for Campaign: $9,000 loss
Cost per Response = $22.50 each
From this example, we can see that the end result is a net loss for the mailing campaign. Ask yourself this...if you knew that you were going to lose $9,000 before you did the mailing, would you still want to do it?
Maybe…but you would obviously want to achieve a net positive gain for the campaign. Here is how you can do it…INCREASE YOUR RESPONSE RATE!
Ok Matt…big “duh” on that one. No kidding. But how do we do that?
It’s not as hard as you may think. There are products and technologies out there that are proven to increase response rates by over 300%. When these technologies are applied creatively, they can be very powerful.
One such application is Personalized Imagery. With this process, fonts are created and incorporated into the image. These fonts are then used to personalize the piece to an extraordinary level. The end result is a direct mail piece completely customized and uniquely relevant to the recipient.
I am showing two sample applications for you to see here. The first is an Admissions piece that is highly personalized in 3 different locations within the image.
The car's license plate has the recipient's name on the personalized plate...the window sticker in the hatchback window is the recipient's high school and the road sign reflects how far it is from the recipient's home town to the college.
The Advancement piece was created from a picture taken during an actual football game and the scoreboard was digitally enhanced to feature the recipient's name as if it was displayed on the scoreboard during the game.
These are just two examples of how Personalized Imagery can be developed for your direct mail campaigns.
Lets look at what could happen to your ROI with this kind of personalization.
For this example, we will examine a more targeted audience and cut the volume in half to 25,000. The cost per piece will be a bit more expensive but the resulting lift will more than make up for that.
25,000-piece mailing @ $0.82 each = $20,500.
3.0% response = 750 new donors (at a 329% lift)
Average Gift @ $40 = $30,000 Revenue
Net: $ 9,500 gain
Cost per Response = $(12.66)
You more than covered the cost of the mailing with your net result. There is a very measurable $18,500 swing in your favor!
Bottom line...if you want to get the attention of someone you know in a crowded and noisy room, you don't shout out "Hey You!" You use that person's name to get their attention.
Mailboxes today (both physical and electronic) are a "crowded and noisy room". You need to get personal to get someone's attention.
Personalized Imagery is a great way to do just that. It can be just the answer for your Direct Mail and the CPR your ROI needs!
Let me know what you think...
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
What can Not-For-Profits learn from the World’s Best Brands?
“A brand should strive to own a word in the mind of the consumer.”
Al Reis and Laura Reis, from The 22 Immutable Laws of BRANDING
Pop quiz for you…
What is the world’s best brand today?
Kodak? Xerox? Mercedes Benz? All were in the top ten at one time but do not crack the list any longer.
There are different ways to slice and dice the pecking order of which brand comes out on top. There’s the “Most Valuable”, the “Most Recognized”, the “Most Powerful” and so on. So to simplify the discussion, let’s just list the top five in alphabetical order…
- Coca-Cola
- GE
- Google
- IBM
- Microsoft
Of those five, Coca-Cola and Google are the ones that share the number one rankings on the various lists I have seen.
One company is over 100 years old while the other is just over 10 years old. One has been a manufacturer of consumer products that people around the world have enjoyed for generations, while the other is a high tech internet based search engine whose brand name was officially added as a verb to both the Merriam Webster Collegiate as well as the
Let’s see what we can learn from Coca-Cola first.
With the turn of the new millennium in 2000, Coca-Cola established a new goal for their company…”To become the world’s premier relationship company.”
They set out to deliver deeply resonating consumer brand experiences by doing the following:
- Create memorable connections with their consumers.
- The consumer was going to be respected. They would feel like they are a part of the brand…much like a fan of a sports team feels like they have a stake in the team.
- There would be the ability to customize a brand experience for different consumer segments.
- Opportunities would be developed for consumers to identify with the brand.
- They were going to be different, better, and special”
What they did was set a goal to become a larger part of people’s daily lives. They could no longer rely strictly on their history and reputation. They were going to be more relevant to the consumer!
They began by changing the focus of their slogan from themselves and their products to the consumer. In 2000, the slogan was changed from “Always Coca-Cola” to simply “Enjoy”.
Today, if you go to the Coca-Cola website (www.coca-cola.com), the focus is still on the consumer experience…The slogan is…”Open Happiness”.
The other thing that you immediately notice is the lack of focus on their products. Instead, the website focuses on your experience with the brand.
You see the “MyCokeRewards” Program that states…”Grab a drink. Enjoy. We’re gonna love you back.”
Front and center is the opportunity to own Coca-Cola merchandise both through the Rewards program and also through the Coca-Cola Store. Not only are they encouraging the consumer to identify with the brand, but they are getting millions of branding hits every day when people use the merchandise or wear the apparel.
Better yet…people are actually paying them to help advance their brand. And doing it gladly! This is just BRILLIANT!
You will also see opportunities for the consumer to help all kinds of great causes from Education and the Environment to Saving Polar Bears. Just by drinking the Coca-Cola products. Adding to the experience of enjoying the products by supporting great causes also.
The only products you see are Diet Coke and Coke Zero. Interesting! A great example of how they are customizing the brand experience for a different segment of their market.
All of this is very consistent with the original goals set back in 2000 and makes their brand sustainable! Its no wonder they are #1…
Now lets take a look at Google.
It has been said that a brand should strive to own a word in the mind of the consumer. In Coca-Cola’s case, they have owned the word “Refreshment” for generations.
In Google’s case, they not only own a word…they invented it also! Now when you are thinking of doing a search online, you are more likely than not thinking about “Googling”. Their brand has become an action…or an experience!
Google has become a portal of information to its customers and consumers. They are a destination and a resource for their customers all at the same time. They have found a way to become a valuable part of your daily life…They have relevance and meaning to their customers. This makes the Google brand sustainable.
Like corporations, not-for-profits should be thinking about their sustainability also. Most universities struggle with making branding work for themselves. It appears that the greatest mistake universities make is their short term approach to branding that is most often associated with products and not corporate brands.
Products change. On the other hand, corporate brands are focused on sustainability and are based on overarching core values and beliefs that connect the entire organization. This is where Universities should be focusing their efforts with their constituents.
Let’s look at Harvard as a litmus test…
Over 100 years ago, a prominent guidebook of the times called Harvard…”"the oldest, richest, and most famous of American seats of learning." Remarkably, the first two are still true absolutely and the last part is arguably still true as well!
Harvard has been able to sustain its brand since it was founded in 1636. Like Harvard or not, agree with them or not, their core values and beliefs have not changed drastically for over 300 years.
The products (courses and facilities) may have changed, but the corporate brand has endured. Yes…I said corporate brand! Harvard is also the first and oldest corporation in
“Harvard” defines a first class educational experience. It is also defined by the success of its alumni and how strongly they identify with the brand.
Wouldn’t it be a good thing if your University Brand was as strong and defined as the Harvard brand?
Write in and share your thoughts on this and the other topics of the blog!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)