05/28/09
11 thoughts for 11 years.
As I celebrate 11 years of being in business, I look back on some of the things I’ve learned.
- We get better every day. Back in 1998, I thought I knew everything there was to know about advertising. All I really knew was how to win awards. That is not the same thing as helping our clients prosper by any stretch. Every day, I learn something that we can apply across our client spectrum to improve their business.
- The client knows more than we do. We used to walk into a room and try to out-passion people about their own businesses. This is not our job. Our job is to take their passion, help take it to the next level, and help it spread in the marketplace.
- Technology should be wrapped around fundamentals. I’ve seen web firms come and go. I’ve seen online ad agencies come and go. I’ve seen SEO companies come and go. Hell, I even recall a couple of Second Life agencies. Technology has grown so much in the last 11 years, and even in the last 11 minutes. But technology is a means to deliver proven marketing fundamentals. It is not a fundamental on its own.
- The good days are good. Getting new business. Launching a campaign after months of work. Presenting a client with a plan and a vision and a brand that gets them re-excited about why they come to work every day. Those are good days, and they make it well worth it. Heck, they even make up for the….
- The bad days are really bad. Getting a budget cut. Not getting paid for our work. Winning a pitch and then finding out it wasn’t funded. Losing business for all the wrong reasons. Internal issues. These are the bad days. And they can really wear on you in this business.
- We get to meet some of the coolest people on the planet. Celebrities. Industry movers and shakers. People with little more than an incredible idea. Their stories are so different, but remarkably inspiring. There is no other business I can think of that allows such access to unique stories, goals, visions, and dreams within deep, meaningful relationships.
- You’ve got to have fun. As a small office, we tend to drive each other insane. So we have office games (including this one called Mickless that is so perfect, I believe I could sell the concept). We joke. We rib. And we get an incredible amount of good work done on behalf of dozens of clients.
- Take a long view of successes. When I think of client engagements, 11 years gives you the ability to see not only what worked immediately, but also what is sustainable from a marketing perspective. Every agency shows you their success stories. I’m not afraid to show failures as well. After all, are you going to trust someone who claims to have never failed? How then, have they ever learned to succeed?
- Times will always be tough. The last 11 years in the State of
- Share more. I used to be afraid of letting go. Letting go of industry secrets. Of the special sauce. Of our client list. Of relationships with other partners. It took me a while to see the light, but the more you give, the more you get back. So now I share freely, ask frequently, and open my business to anyone who wants to look. If you can replicate it, go for it. But you can’t.
- Eleven things on a list? Unnecessary. Brevity is still king. If you can’t sum up things quickly, you’re doing it wrong. This blog post has gone on way too long, and if I’m being honest, there was diminishing returns after about 4.
05/26/09
Viral marketing: Catching lightning in a bottle.
In meetings, seminars, and even the occasional new business presentation, we get asked the following questions more than a few times:
- How can we get seen on YouTube?
- Can’t we just create something viral?
Both questions are pointing to the same underlying questions. How can one create something viral and ensure that it is seen everywhere? And furthermore, without a budget to back it up? Answer: can’t be done.
Consider the following stats:
- Every minute, ten hours of video is uploaded to YouTube (YouTube.com)
- Some 53% of YouTube's videos have fewer than 500 views (TubeMogul)
- About 30% have less than 100 views (TubeMogul)
- Just 0.33% have more than 1 million views (TubeMogul)
In other words, you can’t ever count on anything becoming viral. It happens more organically, and in a less controlled manner than you can possibly image. Plus, without the benefit of sending people there via a more traditional media buy, it may never be seen.
If a video gets posted on YouTube and no one watches it, is it still a video?
YouTube is a perfectly good tool. But again, it is not a plan. Your odds of having something take off on YouTube are about the same as winning the lottery. Is that how you’d like to conduct business?
05/20/09
Ann Arbor graphic design firms, interactive agencies, advertising agencies, unite.
Ann Arbor is a small, but extremely talented hotbed of interactive agencies, integrated marketing companies, graphic designers, strategic marketing firms, creative boutiques, SEO companies, and marketing consultants.
But we don’t do a good job of helping one another. Actually, we’re terrible at it.
It is a very competitive business, for certain. But those cities that have had national success have been able to accomplish a great deal through collaboration. Portland. Minneapolis. These are cities that have built creative Meccas around companies competing – but sharing along the way. When an entire region becomes known for something, it helps everyone – the big companies and the boutiques.
Several companies (ours included) have been fortunate enough to create great work for high-profile clientele. Put us all together, and Ann Arbor has one heckuva stellar national resume. But it would be difficult for any major brand to add Ann Arbor or even the Detroit area into the conversation.
First, I intend to look in the mirror. For too long, Phire has been fairly silent in the local advertising, design, and interactive communities. Frankly, we’ve been busy. But the only way for the entire area to rise up to national status of “must go” places for major pitches, we must all get along. Starting…now.
05/19/09
Inspiring Change: Creating a Movement v Cutting Down a Tree
I read a book recently called the Golden Spruce about a disgruntled outdoorsman and former logger turned quasi environmentalist who cut down a 300+ year old tree to make a point about deforestation. His goal was to bring attention to the deforestation of the Pacific Northwest and inspire people to put an end to a particularly hideous form of “strip logging.” The tree was an important fixture in the local indigenous culture, and was known around the world for its incredible and unique beauty. The story ended horribly with the “environmentalist” dying on the lamb and the indigenous people feeling more isolated and alienated from their dying culture. The deforestation of the Pacific rainforest continues. His heart may have been in the right place, but his tactics were clearly misguided.
This got me thinking about efforts we have been involved with, in which we have tried to affect behavioral change. We have had the most success when we have spurred the development of a movement, and empowered individuals to contribute/act in a positive manner. We have found that hope and positive change are much better motivators than fear and destruction. This is illustrated by work that I have done with Energy Star, as well as our University of Michigan Planet Blue initiative (case study available from our website). In both cases, we used themes of empowerment and inspiration to compel individuals to get involved and be a part of a broader movement. The Energy Star Change a Light, Change the World campaign has achieved great success by giving individuals relatively small, simple tasks (change a light bulb, etc.) which are tied to a greater good. The same can be said with Planet Blue, in which we have motivated individuals throughout the University with small tasks to reduce energy usage (turning down the thermostat, turning off lights, etc.). We have created a community in which people can witness the involvement and success of their peers, and have spurred a friendly competition to perform energy savings acts.
Contrast that with efforts that have taken a more negative tone, focusing on destruction and fear as motivating factors. For years, Greenpeace has tried to use images of dying baby seals and fear to drive environmental awareness. While they have certainly achieved a good amount of notoriety, it can be safely stated that they have alienated and turned off as many people as they have inspired. The same may be said of PETA and their negative efforts (blood on fur coats, etc.). We may even draw parallels from the recent presidential campaign, with one candidate focusing on hope and change, while the other used mostly negative attacks.
The rise of social networking may have a lot to do with the success of more positive/change driven initiatives. It is now possible to communicate, inspire and motivate individuals in a much more immediate and task driven manner. Social networking is a huge component of the Planet Blue efforts, and has been given much credit for Obama’s victory.
However, I hope the success of the positive/inspiring efforts speak more to our human spirit, and our ability to inspire and act collectively towards a common goal.
(Mike Rouech)
05/17/09
The Basis of Marketing: Changing the Conversation.
A small marketing firm in Ann Arbor, Michigan can change the world. We firmly believe that, or we wouldn’t be in business. We’re not looking to start a revolution, mind you. We just want to change conversations, influence perspectives, and replace misconceptions with realities – one organization at a time.
Marketing professionals, after some time, fall into two camps. There are those who want to affect people through pure creative – more of a gut instinct. And there are those who are very analytical and want to affect charts, and will only consider numbers when doing so.
Very few go back to the fundamental basis for what all marketing is aimed at: changing the conversation. Think about it: very few of your (or anyone else’s) decisions are unilateral. When purchasing a product or using a service, you usually consult at least one other person. Therefore, you have to affect both decision maker and influencer. If there are negative perceptions in the marketplace, these can be death to a brand whether they are real or imagined. If your perception didn’t come from a direct experience, chances are it came from a simple and seemingly harmless conversation.
Consider this: a recent study illustrated that a full 30% of all negative recommendations were given by individuals who never used the product or service they were asked about. This frightening statistic means that they are relaying others’ experiences in a kind of negative evangelism. Brands do a good job of steering initial conversations, but do little to provide defense of this negative conversation. And these tend to be the ones we recall the most.
At Phire, we are involved in the beginning stages of a corporate turnaround/rebranding effort for a new client (one of our specialties). The issue is not the reality… they have plenty of positive things happening internally. However, due to a lack of information and actively presented to the public, people have filled in the blanks themselves. These blanks went negative (they always do), and the negatives became the known truth.
It is not our job to change the organization. It is our job to change the conversation. And to do so, we must be bold, loud, creative, and above all – truthful. Then and only then can we move momentum toward a more positive direction, and give customers the talking points and experiences to complete the turnaround.
It takes a lot to change the conversation. But it is not a matter of pushing a 10 ton boulder up a hill. It is more like trying to convince thousands of people to each carry a tiny stone up that very same hill. And for them to tell all their friends to consider doing the very same thing.
05/11/09
The new world of Pre-Customer Relationship Management
In this quickly-changing day and age, it is difficult to navigate the shifting world and its new rules. It used to be a fairly straightforward model of either 1) someone is interested in your product or service based on an ad or referral and contacts you directly. Or 2) based on direct cold calling, nagging, and/or visits, you finally get through. It was a fairly straightforward “do you want to dance?” followed by an abrupt “yes” or “no”.
Today, this model is very different. Through various means, the customer can now find everything out about you first. They can visit your website countless times. They can instantly find out what activities you are involved in. They can follow you on the various social networking sites. In other words, you need to prove to them that you are legitimate, smart, relevant, and offer something beyond your product or service. You must develop leadership and show results on a consistent basis. It’s “Pre-Customer Relationship Management.”
This development is a positive one for people who are competent, results-oriented, and have excellent reputations. Your brand is no longer your own. You can create and nurture it, build a look and feel, arm people with talking points, etc. But ultimately, you cannot put a brand façade around a broken company anymore. You must create a brand that showcases the very best a company has to offer.
To further the dance analogy, if you ask a customer to dance, they no longer say yes or no right away. They say “show me what you’ve got” and watch you dance for a while. They go around the room and ask if you’re a good dancer based on other people’s experience. They look and see if you’ve won any dance competitions in the past. They attend a dance seminar in which you are the teacher. Finally, after all that, they may say “yes”.
The bad news in this new world is that if you are a bad dancer, you will remain a lonely wallflower. But if you are good, present yourself well, follow up, and are exceptional at what you do, you will be able to dance until you drop.
I took that analogy way too far, but you get the point. Marketing today is about being extremely active – and backing up what you say every day with actions.
05/11/09
A Daly thought.
I grew up a fervent Pistons fan. They won their first championship my senior year in high school after some devastating playoff defeats (Bird steals the ball, etc.) in previous years. Their success was inspiring, because they were simply different than the rest of the league in every way. Even though they were from all parts of the country, they were all Detroit personified. Tough. Intimidating. Hard working. Results-driven. And resilient. They climbed the ladder one step at a time – no shortcuts.
Chuck Daly was the unlikely leader of the group. He was slick. Charismatic. Well-dressed. And smiled more than any NBA coach before or since. He was a special guy who was able to subtly bring out the best in everyone, while keeping egos carefully in check. When he passed away over the weekend, we wanted to do something to quickly commemorate it.
This billboard is now appearing on at least two of the electronic boards in the Detroit Metro area. Amazing what can be done in a moment’s notice.
05/1/09
Website launch: Clancy’s Fancy
Today, we launched a website for Clancy’s Fancy, a niche but religiously followed hot sauce. It has been underground for a long time, and thanks to a concerted marketing campaign, we’re showing it to the world. Check out the site, and roam around the homepage for a while. We think it’s kind of fun.
05/1/09
An advertising agency… advertising itself?
Some of you may have found us via our ad campaign that we are promoting throughout the area. Why? Two-fold:
1. Because (in our opinion) we have been a hidden gem in the Midwest for quite some time, and we’re ready to be discovered.
2. Because advertising agencies should do what they believe in. We are counseling our clients to do what they can to hold onto marketing budgets, even in recessions, because it will allow them to have continued recognition during difficult times, and thrive in a turnaround.
We’ve often wondered why advertising agencies never advertise themselves. Largely, it is simply a cobbler’s-kids-shoes thing. But I believe it also speaks to their belief in their own product’s ability to succeed. If you talk the talk, you’d better be walking the walk. In our humble opinion, of course.
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