Would You Hire this Lawyer After He Lies to You?

Is this lawyer lying or innocently stretching the truth?

This ad in the Yellow Pages is titled “I Can Address All Of Your Legal Needs”.

The quotes imply that the words come directly from the lawyer. The lawyer’s name is in the ad but I’ve blocked it to protect the guilty. This appears to be a solo lawyer firm because there is no firm name – only the lawyer’s name.

The point is that this individual lawyer claims that he can address all of your legal needs. That’s simply ridiculous. No individual lawyer could possibly address ALL of the legal needs of every viewer.

A major law firm might justifiably claim that because they have hundreds of lawyers specializing in all aspects of law.

The three bullets list real estate, family law and civil litigation. Then there’s a strange stew of commercial litigation, wills, powers of attorney, corporate and commercial law…

My questions are:

• What do you specialize in?
• What are you really good at?
• Who is your best prospect?
• What problems can you fix?

The nagging question is “Why did you lie to me?” “Why did you claim that you can address ALL of my legal needs?

Would you hire a lawyer whose first message to you is a lie?

This Yellow Pages ad is as believable as the yard sale notices that claim “something for everyone”.

George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

Harvey's made a Beautiful Hamburger but they messed up their Marketing

You might remember the old advertising jingle, “Harvey’s makes a Hamburger a beautiful thing”.

It seems they’re not so good at producing beautiful or even truthful advertising.

I’ve been a fan of Harvey’s for more decades than I care to admit. So naturally I was interested in the flyer that arrived with the newspaper. When I’m riding or driving around in the summer I often look for a Harvey’s to grab a bite.

This flyer was a four-page insert. Look at the front page and notice what messages stand out the most.

The first message that might grab you is $1.99. Why? Because it is the near the top left of the page and more importantly it’s the largest font on the page. It’s also orange with a white online on black - which is attention grabbing. Nice colour scheme.

As you scan the page, the next message that might grab your attention is “2 Weeks Only!”

It’s heavy font of black on white and emphasized with an exclamation point. When you look under that heading you’ll see the time frame of June 27 – July 10, 2016.

Before you open this flyer you might be thinking “I only have two weeks to take advantage of these specials.”

The top of the second page features “Summer Drink Deals”. Under that heading, it states, “All Summer long”. But what does that mean? If you read the previous page you’ve been programed to expect only two weeks of specials.

If you examine the fine print with a magnifying glass you’ll discover that the All Summer Long” ends on Sep 11 even though you know that summer really ends on Sept 21. Apparently Harvey’s definition of summer is different than the rest of the world. That means “All summer” was a lie. Ouch!

Below the summer drink deals are eight coupons. Naturally, based on what I read on the front page, I assumed that these coupons were only valid for two weeks. However, if you are persistent enough and pull out your magnifying glass you’ll discover that these coupons expire on August 21, 2016.

I was confused at this point so I understand that you might be as well. Apparently Harvey’s didn’t consider the downside of confusing or lying to their customers.

The coupons are difficult to read because it’s tiny black font on orange background. There are more difficult combinations but this is onerous enough to discourage people to read it.

Under the tiny print about expiry date was even smaller print which I was unable to read with my magnifier.  Who knows what it said.

Top of the third page features “Three Cheese & Bacon”. The middle of the ad states “Limited Time Only” but it didn’t define the time frame. You might wonder “When is this available and when will you tell me?”

Bottom of this page features another eight coupons. At least these are on a white background which is much easier to read then on an orange background. But the font is tiny again. The expiry is Aug 21, 2016 and under that is the nano-font that wasn’t meant to be read by regular people. Where is Ant Man when you need him?

The back page was a repeat of the Summer Drinks Deal – claiming to be all summer long – but not really all summer long because it ends on Sept 11. Do the people at Harvey’s know when summer starts and ends? Do they know that most people know when summer ends? Why are they lying?

Perhaps we can look forward to their pseudo “All Fall” “All Winter” and “All Spring” promotions.

Well Harvey's, good thing I still like the hamburger. But, your marketing stinks. It's annoying, deceptive and confusing.

As Dr Phil might say, "How's that working for you?"

George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

Fast Food Flyer Distribution

These flyers with coupons arrived in my mailbox last week, (early August). Often we immediately discard these flyers. We kept these because there are the occasional summer jaunts and we might enjoy a sandwich, burger or breakfast.

When I examined them I discovered that all the coupons expired months ago.

And yes, I did need to examine then with a magnifying glass while also wearing my reading glasses. The fine print was that tiny. Imagine my embarrassment or indignation if I had presented one of these expired coupons to the cashier at the fast-food restaurant.

When I pulled them out of the mailbox I remembering thinking, “These promotions usually arrive in January or February.”

There were at least two flaws in this promotion. The first is the timing which I will address in this post. The second issue is the design of the flyer, which I might address in another post.

A&W

These coupons expired May 8, 2016 – three months ago.

Mr. Sub

These coupons expired April 24, 2016 – more than three months ago.

At least you could read the expiring date without a magnifying glass.

Burger King

These coupons expired Feb 28, 2016 – more than five months ago.

McDonalds

These coupons expired February 7, 2016 – six months ago.

What are the questions that might pop into your mind while examining these coupons?

Did the flyer distributor screw up? Did they hold on to these flyers for at least six months and then decide to distribute them six months later?

Did A&W, Mr, Sub, Burger King and McDonalds discover that they had left over flyers – then decide to distribute them even though the offers had expired?

Where those fast-food restaurants using the same ad agency that was trying to get an extra bump from this promotion?

Why didn’t any of the parties notice that the coupons had expired? Did they even consider the backlash of those embarrassing exchanges?

You might even wonder, “How could the people at A&W, Mr Submarine, Burger King and McDonalds have been so negligent?

George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

You Only Need to be Slightly Better than the Competition

On a Sunday motorcycle ride my bike suffered a flat tire. I wasn’t hurt and the bike wasn’t damaged. Fortunately I was close to a mall. The Canadian Tire store in that mall wasn’t able to repair the flat but the service manager allowed me to store my bike in the shop over the weekend. That was an unexpected friendly gesture. Storing the bike inside was much better than leaving the bike in the parking lot over the weekend.

On Monday I started calling motorcycle shops to arrange pick up and repair. I was surprised at the responses.

The first shop was less than a mile from the Canadian Tire store. The person who answered the phone said,

 “Nah, I’m booked solid and everyone’s screaming for their bike. I have to turn you down. I don’t want your business.”

Wow. That was a brutal rejection that I didn’t expect. I won’t call them again and I can only imagine why people might be screaming.

The second shop was closest to my home. The person responded with,  

“I’m busy today. Call me tomorrow.”

I wondered, “Why can’t you take my call now? Why should I call you back tomorrow?”

By the time I called the third shop my expectations were greatly diminished. The person said, “I can pick it up tomorrow.”

Wow! That sounded promising. Tomorrow was the best promise I’d heard so far. Then he added that he might not examine the bike until Thursday. The bike might not be available until Saturday. That was the best promise yet. I told him that I’m a weekend rider so Saturday or Sunday was good.

A Few Questions

Why were the people at the first two shops so negative? Why did no one ask me about my expectations? Is that a symptom of the industry or simply bad retail service?

Tuesday morning I waited for the service truck at the arranged time. Fifteen minutes after the scheduled pick-up time I called the shop to check the status. The shop person didn’t apologize for the lateness. Instead she said that the truck should be there soon. The person picking up my bike was 30 minutes late. He didn’t apologize either.

It looks like there is room for motorcycle shops to improve their attitude and customer service. Naturally attitude and customer service have much in common.

It’s curious that the friendliest person was the service manager at the Canadian Tire store. He had no immediate gain from me. They don’t repair motorcycles nor do they sell motorcycle accessories. They specialize in automotive, house and garden.

I will remember the snubs and the kind gesture.

George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

Don't Offend with Friendly Fire

Friendly Fire: What does that mean to you?

We live in a more connected world than we did 20 years ago. That means that it’s easier to offend. It also means that we have less excuse to offend.

It’s tough not to offend someone when you take a stand. Don’t worry about offending those who aren’t your market. But be sensitive to the feelings of your target market. You don’t want to tick them off – unless you are planning on changing your marketing.

The point is - are you aware of who you might be offending and are you comfortable with that?

This is a reminder that certain words and phrases trigger emotional responses.

Most of those connections are about race, religion, wars,

Humber College recently held a contest for entrepreneurs to receive money.

It’s an adaptation of the Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank TV shows. I applaud the college for encouraging entrepreneuership.

But, what caught my attention for the wrong reasons was the title of their program – Friendly Fire.

I know that title was meant to sound cute with the illiteration but it offended me. Perhaps someone thought that was a clever title.

Friendly Fire was a military propaganda phrase that was meant to soften the reality of allies killing allies.
Instead of telling family that we killed your son by mistake – they announced that your son was the victim of Friendly fire. That means that some idiot killed your son because of incompetence.


To me the use of the term "Friendly Fire" feels disrespectful and offensive.

Do these words offend you? What other phrases have marketers used that offended you?

Add your comments below

 

George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

Who Might Your Product Name Offend?

International Product Name Game

Kia is launching a new concept car called the Provo. They intended that the car would be provocative with its design and gave it a name that is short form for that.

But they seemed to overlook the point that before you name a product for the International market you first check International interpretations of that name.

Ask folks in the UK what the word “Provo” means to them and they’ll likely tell you that it is short form for the Provisional Irish Republican Army – a terrorist group also known as the IRA, or Provos that killed nearly 1,800 people in its 27 year battle against the British rule in Northern Ireland.

That’s probably not the emotions that car dealers want to evoke.

The folks at KIA needed to expand their research of the word Provo past the first page of Google results.

They also could have run the name by people in the UK and USA – two possible major markets for Kia.

I wonder,  might the folks at Kia consider other variations of the word proactive? Here are a few suggestions

• Provac
• Provok
• Prorito (Latin for Provoke)

But certainly not Prozak!

That third suggestion might be worth investigating further because Latin is a dead language and many European languages have Latin roots.

Names do matter – especially when they trigger emotional reactions.

There have been plenty of examples of poorly named cars over the decades. The Chevy Nova was one of the famous ones. Nova means “no go” in Spanish.

With all the possible positive emotional names possible when will we see cars named any of the following?

• Love
• Amour
• Respect
• Ambition
• Hope
• Joy

George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing  
Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

Top 12 Blog Posts of 2012 on Power Marketing Blog

Review the top 12 Blog posts of 2012.

Top 12 Posts of 2012 on Power Marketing Blog from George Torok

 

George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

The Branding Fallacy

Your Branding might be killing your business

Beware of the branding zombies. They regurgitate meaningless mantras like “branding is good”, “you need a brand” and “we can help you develop your brand.” These creatures only want your life blood. Unfortunately these zombies don’t look like the ones in Michael Jackson’s Thriller video. They look like you and me. They call themselves branding consultants, marketing agencies or graphic designers. And they try to sell you snake oil remedies.

It’s time for a branding wakeup call. This might hurt especially if you have recently succumbed to worship of the brand. Remember, “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain” in the movie The Wizard of OZ. I’m ripping back the curtain. You might not like what you see. But it might save your business. I’m urging you: Pay attention to the man behind the curtain.

Let’s start by examining some of the world’s best brands.

Read the rest of The Branding Fallacy

 

George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

Gentlemen Get your Nails Done

I was surprised to find this advertisement for manicures and pedicures in the men’s bathroom. I noticed it on the counter while washing my hands. Naturally, my first reaction was, “OMG, I must be in the wrong bathroom.” Two seconds later I realized that I had just used the urinal so this must be the men’s bathroom.

I finished washing my hands while examining the ad. Then I began to wonder, “Why is it here?” “Did someone place it in the wrong bathroom or is there some new trend happening?”

So let’s examine this advertisement.

I don’t know if $59 is a good price for a combination manicure and pedicure but it was the most prominent bit of information on this ad. Look at this ad and notice your eye movement. Most likely the image of the woman’s face in the top left catches your attention, then your eyes dart to the bottom right yellow seal with $59 in the centre.

What is that selling?

Who is this ad for?

Was it intended to attract men to get a manicure and pedicure? And if so, is it targeted at men who want this service or is it trying to convince men that they should check it out?

Or, was it intended to get men to tell their wife or girl friend about this service?

What was the key benefit offered here?

The photo of the young woman was attention grabbing – especially in a men’s bathroom. You can imagine what images of attractive women are usually used to sell in the men’s room.

The second attention-grabbing piece was the yellow seal surrounding the price of $59.

The third prominent bit on this ad was the word “Express”.

The fourth place that your eyes might jump to is the top right and the words “Black Friars”. And you still wouldn’t know what this ad is about. “Black Friars” sounds like the name of an English pub to me.

If you continued to read under Black Friars, you would discover a detailed address that indicated this service was available at this hotel. That seems a long way to say “Visit the nails spa right here.” My guess is that information was for people who were not in this hotel.

As a marketing specialist I was intrigued, unlike the usual suspects, so I eventually noticed the words about Manicure and Pedicure.

A few marketing lessons from this ad:

Who are you targeting? The men’s bathroom is a different audience than the women’s bathroom. And there is more than one target audience in the men’s bathroom.

Don’t create one ad and then publish it everywhere else. You see this often where the magazine ad gets duplicated on the billboard. It saves on design cost and wastes money on publishing.

Look at the ad and think about what might be going through the mind of the viewer.

By the way, if they wanted to get men to visit the nail spa they might have used the heading, “Gentlemen, Get Your Nails Done – and enjoy the extra attention from the ladies”

George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

Marketing Tips video: Forget about Branding and Focus on Real Marketing

It's easy to get fooled by the hype about branding. That is a good hole to throw a lot of money into. Instead go back to basics. What is the real purpose of marketing? Not to build a brand. It's to build a business with sales.

Listen to George Torok offering marketing insights from the streets of the Big City.




George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

Customer Service at the Hotel Makes or Breaks Them

We were fed up with the hotel. We had held two full-day seminars there. The third seminar was already arranged but we were planning to go elsewhere next time.

The meeting rooms were better than average. The location was convenient. The lobby was attractive. The lunches were superb. And the price was competitive. But we were planning to move our business and were even willing to pay more, because we were unhappy.

Have you noticed that unhappy customers are willing to pay more elsewhere? That’s an important marketing lesson.

Why?

Our contact person was usually difficult to reach and correspond with. She was either “on the phone”, “in a meeting”, or “not in”. She seldom returned our first call. She also seemed to often overlook our email. We followed up with her so many times that we wondered if they really wanted our business.

We were not a huge account but we had shown that we could be a regular client, (two or three times a year). And we always paid promptly.

On the day of the seminars the contact person did not show up to greet us or even check on things. In fact the only staff who came to the room were the serving staff. They were efficient but not very friendly. No representative from the hotel checked in with us at any time to see if things were okay or if there were any changes.

After the meeting, there was no call from the hotel to ask for feedback or thank us for our business.

At the previous meeting, the serving staff had removed the sandwiches along with the desserts immediately after lunch. I thought that strange because some people like to have their dessert snack a little after lunch. I also like to have a sandwich at the end of the day because I'm usually famished after a full day of conducting a seminar.

Lucky for the hotel something changed. They got rid of the old and hired new people.

Amazing how that can change the customer experience!

The new contact person was cheery and easy to connect with. She came looking for us early in the day to introduce herself and welcome us. She appeared later to check on our needs and experience.

When we broke for lunch 30 minutes early, the chef rushed to provide our sandwiches and wraps. And they were superb.

When lunch was done, the server asked if we wanted the leftover sandwiches and wraps. “Yes, that would be nice.” was our reply.

“Well you paid for them so I’ll package them all up for you.”

They nicely packaged up all the leftover lunch and desserts in ‘take out' trays.

Instead of making us feel like thieves for having a sandwich later or taking a dessert home – they made us feel special by packaging it all up for us like presents.

So guess what? We plan to go back to this hotel for our next seminar.

Here’s the marketing lesson for you: If you are in the service business – nothing trumps customer service when it comes to keeping customers!

Before you spend a dollar on advertising and branding – ensure that you have the right people with the right attitude. That includes your management, because a good service culture starts with them.

Once your have the right people, provide them with the training, leadership and rewards to deliver superior customer service.

If you do that, you will save a fortune on advertising and branding because your customers don’t care about that. The only people that care about your advertising and branding are those in your marketing department.

Your customers care about service. Customers are funny that way.

George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing
Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

Make the Pain Go Away

How Many People do You Tell about Bad Service?

Probably more than you tell about good service. Why? We tend to remember and share our pain more than our joy.

Doctors are experts on identifying and relieving pain. People visit their Doctor when they have a pain. When the Doctor greets them and asks, "How are you?" they respond, "It hurts when I do this". The Doctor's job is to make the pain go away.

How would you feel and think if the Doctor told you "the pain is good for you", "we can't do anything about the pain because it's our policy", or "there must be something wrong with you because no one else had complained"?

Sounds ridiculous - yet that is the way many companies respond to customer pain as expressed in customer complaints.

Perhaps companies should change the name of the complaint department to "Pain Relief". And perhaps they might label the staff in that department as doctors and nurses.

Naturally, companies need to adopt that perspective - that they are in the Pain Relief business.

Just imagine the possibilities.


George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing
Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter

Shoestring Marketing: Where to Save and Where Not

Time to save money on your marketing? How can you do that and still get effective results? First, avoid five big mistakes that many make. Then use the nine techniques waiting for you below.

Not
In your attempt to save costs don't cut in these areas:

Value
Never try to save money by cutting the value of your product to your customer. If you reduce value they will expect a corresponding price reduction at the very least.

Quality
Never sacrifice quality to save money. Be clear on what quality means to your customers. The best definition of quality is 'meeting expectations'. Your customers got quality if they got what they expected. Quality is neither about price nor cost. Saturn, Toyota and Rolls Royce are all quality cars.

Speed
Never try to save money by making your customers wait longer. They will never have more time.

Cheapest deal
Going cheap is not a good way to save money. Cheap looks and feels cheap. Don't send your marketing messages that feel cheap. Instead pick your marketing channels and hunt for the best deal - not the cheapest. There is no point in printing your business cards on the cheapest paper.

Core benefit
Never trim from the core benefit of your product in your attempt to save money. Whatever the main reason they buy your product - don't you dare reduce that. That is like cutting bone.


How to Save
You can use these methods to help you save money on your marketing:

Barter
The oldest form of commerce - trade food for animal hides. You can try two approaches to barter. You can trade directly with your supplier or customer. For example you might trade some of your product with a publisher for ad space in their publication. The drawback to this form of barter is that you both must want and need what the other has. You might barter the whole amount or have a mixed deal of cash and barter.

Another form of barter is through one of the many barter companies. They form a relationship with many companies. Any one of the barter group can buy your product with their barter dollars. You can then spend those barter dollars with some other member of the barter group to buy what you need.

Co-op
If you are part of a larger group such as a franchise you can get advertising subsidy from your franchiser to help you promote their name and your business. Grocery stores and bookstores also use this technique to get money from their suppliers to allocate premium shelf space to those who pay for it. If you sell or distribute for a manufacturer you might be able to arrange co-op support from them.

Ask customers
This is so simple that many overlook it. Ask your customers what they've noticed that you could eliminate that has no significant value to them. For example I noticed my local bank renovating the branch every few years. That added zero value to me. I wish they would stop it.

Buy when others are not
Buy your marketing services when demand is low. Most printers are very slow in July and August. If you offer to buy at that time you might get a lower price, faster service or even more value.
A company president was planning a national conference in a prime location. He asked a big hotel, "When is your slowest week of the year?" He then offered to book that week for his conference and asked for a deal. He got it and they got the business.

Partner
Share a promotion with another company that also markets to your customers. You can split the costs of your promotion. You can offer to promote their product at your business while they do the same for you. You can offer your product as a prize in their contest promotion. You might trade referrals or give testimonials for each other.

Work with a charity
You could donate time, product or resources to a charity. They might recognize you in their signage, printed material or with a nice letter. When you work with a charity you benefit from the goodwill you create among your customers and the community. You might also get some free media coverage in the process.

Negotiate
You can get more from your marketing if you just negotiate with your suppliers and customers. Negotiation is a skill not a talent so it can be learned and honed. Read a few good books and take a course on negotiation to become a superior negotiator. You will learn the different gambits, styles and strategies of negotiating.

Be creative
Look for unusual promotions in other industries and find a way to make it work for you. Being creative does not mean being original. Borrow ideas from around you. The best way to get creative ideas about your business is to talk to people who know nothing about your business. For how to generate more creative ideas try using SCAMPER as described in "Secrets of Power Marketing" and at www.Torok.com/

Offer something more important than money
You might save on your marketing by offering your suppliers and customers something that they value more than money. What could that be? Depending on their situation it could be using your name as a reference, access to information, exposure to new markets, referrals, new technology, time to relax, etc..

Spend carefully and be creative in stretching your shoestring marketing budget.


George Torok Keynote Marketing Speaker Co-author of Secrets of Power Marketing
Get your free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" Power Marketing on FaceBook Marketing Zoo on Twitter