Wow! It has been a crazy end of the year and start of a new year! Welcome to this new year of posts by The WIN Firm. This is Chris Teague, and I am the V.P. of our wonderful marketing/advertising firm. Today's post is a brief explanation of what we have been able to do during this challenging economy: Create new strategies and have fun doing it!!
Monday, I was having lunch and someone asked me "What I did for a living?" I simply replied, "I have fun!" Don't misunderstand me. Not all work is fun, but overall, working with The WIN Firm is fun. I am unable to speak for other marketers today, but all of the worry wrapped up in today's economic climate has only made us happier than we were at WIN.
Why would I be happy when clients are cutting budgets and leaving us with less billable work than we have ever experienced? Simple: I LOVE the challenge of seeing whether we are good enough to compete. The author, John Eldridge, explains in various books how men always seek approval from their father and want to be tested. Though Mr. Eldridge is specifically writing to men, his point about proving worth relates to all of us! We all want to know that we are good at something and can overcome hurdles in our lives.
This year, we are unveiling some AWESOME strategies for increasing a company's brand, market presence and bottom line. Please stay tuned as we UNVEIL our "secret strategies" that we presently utilizing for our clients. Our clients love the work we are doing and YOU will too!
The WIN Firm's posting schedule will be on a regular basis. We will post updates once a week for everyone. Posts will occur every Thursday, so check back with us next Thursday at 3pm EST. Please take our strategies and ideas. Use them to help you market your company. We are here to share what we do: Have Fun!
Be blessed in all YOU do!
Chris Teague
Chris Teague
V.P. The WIN Firm
chris@thewinfirm.com
Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Meeting the NEED
YOU are driven to surpass status-quo expectations. We too possess the drive to produce RESULTS that our clients NEED.
Welcome everyone! This is Chris Teague, and I am going to share a WINNING idea we at The WIN Firm use to generate RESULTS. Last week’s blog was an example of the impact we provide to clients, and as you can see, we truly strive to leave a positive footprint as we walk through this life. So, today’s post is another example of good ideas that will help you produce effective marketing communications.
Have you been in a situation where your current marketing efforts were working, but your boss was not seeing the same thing you do? This lack of recognition can often bring you down, hindering your creativity. Stand UP! Let me show you how to keep the good marketing going while pleasing your boss.
Step 1: Hire The WIN Firm. Okay, seriously. First, review your company’s overall growth plans for the year. Is your marketing playing a positive role in this growth? If so, then determine what exactly your boss needs. Is it more results? What are these results? Well, what are you waiting for? Go ask the boss what is needed! This step is important because you are not only marketing to external audiences; you also need to reach internal audiences: your boss.
Step 2: Remember that you are doing a good job and that your marketing is working. Be positive! Now that you know what your boss needs, it is time to produce some winning results (Call me now! :) Instead of putting more money into your current campaign, segment your campaign. Much like you do to reach various audiences, segmented your campaign will enable you to demonstrate the results your boss needs. Take the information your boss provided you and create a side campaign that compliments your current campaign. This segmented campaign should be directly targeted to an audience that can quickly show your boss desired outcomes.
Step 3: Track this campaign and measure it as best as possible. Create a separate landing page for the campaign. The landing page unique visitor count will be a good measure to show the boss results. Enhance your imagery in various advertisements and create new messages. These images and messages need to be distinctly different from what you are presently doing, yet ensure your brand is kept in tact. Once you begin receiving responses to this campaign, you can march right into the boss’s office and say: “RESULTS delivered!”
Be blessed in all you do,
Chris Teague
The WIN Firm, Inc.
chris@thewinfirm.com
www.thewinfirm.com
Welcome everyone! This is Chris Teague, and I am going to share a WINNING idea we at The WIN Firm use to generate RESULTS. Last week’s blog was an example of the impact we provide to clients, and as you can see, we truly strive to leave a positive footprint as we walk through this life. So, today’s post is another example of good ideas that will help you produce effective marketing communications.
Have you been in a situation where your current marketing efforts were working, but your boss was not seeing the same thing you do? This lack of recognition can often bring you down, hindering your creativity. Stand UP! Let me show you how to keep the good marketing going while pleasing your boss.
Step 1: Hire The WIN Firm. Okay, seriously. First, review your company’s overall growth plans for the year. Is your marketing playing a positive role in this growth? If so, then determine what exactly your boss needs. Is it more results? What are these results? Well, what are you waiting for? Go ask the boss what is needed! This step is important because you are not only marketing to external audiences; you also need to reach internal audiences: your boss.
Step 2: Remember that you are doing a good job and that your marketing is working. Be positive! Now that you know what your boss needs, it is time to produce some winning results (Call me now! :) Instead of putting more money into your current campaign, segment your campaign. Much like you do to reach various audiences, segmented your campaign will enable you to demonstrate the results your boss needs. Take the information your boss provided you and create a side campaign that compliments your current campaign. This segmented campaign should be directly targeted to an audience that can quickly show your boss desired outcomes.
Step 3: Track this campaign and measure it as best as possible. Create a separate landing page for the campaign. The landing page unique visitor count will be a good measure to show the boss results. Enhance your imagery in various advertisements and create new messages. These images and messages need to be distinctly different from what you are presently doing, yet ensure your brand is kept in tact. Once you begin receiving responses to this campaign, you can march right into the boss’s office and say: “RESULTS delivered!”
Be blessed in all you do,
Chris Teague
The WIN Firm, Inc.
chris@thewinfirm.com
www.thewinfirm.com
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
The Marketing Season
What a beautiful day we are having here in Northeast Tennessee! I hope each of you are enjoying this day as well. Hello! It's me, Chris Teague, bringing you more exciting concepts and strategies we at the WIN Firm have or are using for our clients.
I want you to stop for a moment and think about this summer. Was this the best summer ever? Did the summer fly by? What do you distinctly remember about this summer versus other summers? Okay, now that you have thought for a moment, imagine using the thoughts and those feelings associated with them for a marketing message. Today's lesson is about using our longing for an eternal summer to create a winning message.
Step 1: Think of all the songs we hear about summer. What are the messages we are hearing? Use these same messages to help you communicate with your audience. What? I am referring to the feeling that summer is a bitter-sweet escape we all experience in our lives. We associate this feeling with being alive, if only for a short period of time. Therefore, craft a message that makes your customers feel alive.
Step 2: Position your product, company or what you need us to buy as being the solution to our longing for being alive. Be our summer. How can you reach me on this level? Think about what you offer and you will find the answer to this question. However, you must be authentic and truly have something of substance for me.
Step 3: Use the very images of summer you pictured in your mind earlier or that you picture when you hear songs like, "Boys of Summer," by Bryan Adams. Use these pictures to craft your visual tools that compliment your message. Once you have mastered these three easy steps, you will be able to bring customers to you.
We have used each of the steps listed above for various clients with awesome outcomes. The key is to implement this strategy for a short period of time so that you can accurately measure the impact of the campaign. We normally run this campaign for no more than two months.
Blessings,
Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing
WIN Firm
I want you to stop for a moment and think about this summer. Was this the best summer ever? Did the summer fly by? What do you distinctly remember about this summer versus other summers? Okay, now that you have thought for a moment, imagine using the thoughts and those feelings associated with them for a marketing message. Today's lesson is about using our longing for an eternal summer to create a winning message.
Step 1: Think of all the songs we hear about summer. What are the messages we are hearing? Use these same messages to help you communicate with your audience. What? I am referring to the feeling that summer is a bitter-sweet escape we all experience in our lives. We associate this feeling with being alive, if only for a short period of time. Therefore, craft a message that makes your customers feel alive.
Step 2: Position your product, company or what you need us to buy as being the solution to our longing for being alive. Be our summer. How can you reach me on this level? Think about what you offer and you will find the answer to this question. However, you must be authentic and truly have something of substance for me.
Step 3: Use the very images of summer you pictured in your mind earlier or that you picture when you hear songs like, "Boys of Summer," by Bryan Adams. Use these pictures to craft your visual tools that compliment your message. Once you have mastered these three easy steps, you will be able to bring customers to you.
We have used each of the steps listed above for various clients with awesome outcomes. The key is to implement this strategy for a short period of time so that you can accurately measure the impact of the campaign. We normally run this campaign for no more than two months.
Blessings,
Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing
WIN Firm
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Your Stop for SUCCESS!
Hello, this is Chris Teague, V.P. of the WIN Firm. Good day to all of you following the WIN Firm here on our blog! Whether you are a public or private follower, we are happy to help you see how our marketing firm works, giving you an inside look into our operations and the understanding of why we are a great asset for our clients.
From day one, we decided to post a few projects we are working on, and past ones that teach you how to achieve the same marketing success ALL of our clients have achieved. Today's post will be brief, but is designed to help you be more than just a creative individual, but be a process-oriented individual who can create the campaign you want, producing desired results. Here we go!
Imagine working for a firm or agency that has a mission and vision of using its skills and talents of communication to promote generosity and progress. Then imagine that a pre-requisite for being hired was that you were active in helping others in your community. Think of the work environment! It must be great! This environment is not utopia; rather, it is the environment we all work in at the WIN Firm. I want you to know where we come from because it is the core of our winning concepts and our clients success.
According to the Tennessee State Report Card, 47 percent of children in our region of Northeast Tennessee participate in the federal free/reduced meal program. Two out of the eight counties in our region rank among the nation's highest counties for childhood poverty. Wow! What can we do about these shocking statistics? You are about to learn what WIN is working on to help meet the needs of our community in a 3 step process.
Step 1- Identify those who presently support the effort to end childhood hunger and create a message of "Thanks." Working with our local food bank, we help communicate how wonderful those who support the food bank are in all we do. Why? See step 2.
Step 2- A common fact in business is that customer service is a key ingredient to repeat business. We firmly believe in this model and made sure that the food bank's first part of marketing was to acknowledge those who give on a personal level, keeping in touch regularly.
Step 3- Thank the donor for giving what they have never given before. We do this for the food bank's thank you letters and the return in money is incredible! Simply thanking someone for increasing their giving efforts even if they haven't, subconsciously creates a call to action for more giving. It works! We helped raise over $32,000 in thank you letters in one month!
Have a great day everyone! We will see you shortly.
Blessings,
Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing
WIN Firm
From day one, we decided to post a few projects we are working on, and past ones that teach you how to achieve the same marketing success ALL of our clients have achieved. Today's post will be brief, but is designed to help you be more than just a creative individual, but be a process-oriented individual who can create the campaign you want, producing desired results. Here we go!
Imagine working for a firm or agency that has a mission and vision of using its skills and talents of communication to promote generosity and progress. Then imagine that a pre-requisite for being hired was that you were active in helping others in your community. Think of the work environment! It must be great! This environment is not utopia; rather, it is the environment we all work in at the WIN Firm. I want you to know where we come from because it is the core of our winning concepts and our clients success.
According to the Tennessee State Report Card, 47 percent of children in our region of Northeast Tennessee participate in the federal free/reduced meal program. Two out of the eight counties in our region rank among the nation's highest counties for childhood poverty. Wow! What can we do about these shocking statistics? You are about to learn what WIN is working on to help meet the needs of our community in a 3 step process.
Step 1- Identify those who presently support the effort to end childhood hunger and create a message of "Thanks." Working with our local food bank, we help communicate how wonderful those who support the food bank are in all we do. Why? See step 2.
Step 2- A common fact in business is that customer service is a key ingredient to repeat business. We firmly believe in this model and made sure that the food bank's first part of marketing was to acknowledge those who give on a personal level, keeping in touch regularly.
Step 3- Thank the donor for giving what they have never given before. We do this for the food bank's thank you letters and the return in money is incredible! Simply thanking someone for increasing their giving efforts even if they haven't, subconsciously creates a call to action for more giving. It works! We helped raise over $32,000 in thank you letters in one month!
Have a great day everyone! We will see you shortly.
Blessings,
Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing
WIN Firm
Friday, July 17, 2009
Shred YOUR Label!
What a wonderful day it is for us at the WIN Firm! We are on the brink of wrapping up a SUPER project that is really going to shape the way people think. Hello, everyone: It's Chris Teague, V.P. of the WIN Firm, bringing you another post in a series of posts designed to help YOU grow through marketing. Enjoy...and keep up with us because we are not living in the past...we embrace today and try to shape tomorrow.
Do you know right from wrong? Does knowing right from wrong stop you from doing wrong? I ask you these questions because so many companies capitalize on our confused state of mind to do what's right. Take this whole "green" trend companies are latching on to these days: isn't it getting old? Seriously, saying something is "green" is about as overused and misused as the whole Nike tagline, "Just Do It!" In fact, sales studies from Forrester research show that using "green" doesn't appeal to the average consumer. Why? Maybe, the answer is because the average consumer can't afford the more expensive "green" product. More importantly, to all of you wanting to reach consumers, doing what's right should not be expensive...should it?
Why can I go to the store and find the same "green" product at a cheaper price than your organic, eco-friendly product with the exception that the label doesn't say it is eco-friendly? In an environment fueled by TV warnings of economic meltdown, we are all more aware of our spending as consumers today. Therefore, we are actually doing the "right" thing and shopping carefully, abstaining from making unnecessary, expensive purchases. Anyways, most consumers wander if buying a "green" product is even the "right" thing to do for us.
Think about it from this perspective as well, as a marketer I see the word "green" being too close to "greed." Knowing that this play on words possibly triggers my subconscious to thinking green is bad, I can see why I am often opposed to buying products that are labeled "green," all the while thinking I am doing the "right" thing. Am I though? Would you like to see how we market a product that is eco-friendly, pocket price friendly and does more than promoting good on a label? Then, follow these steps and discover how to effectively reach us all, communicating the "right" thing to do:
Step 1: We took a product and completely ripped its label to shreds, tore the packaging up and stomped on it right in front of our client. What happened? The client was ticked off! However, knowing what kind of work we do, the client quickly realized there was a lesson to be learned. That lesson? Quit copying everyone else and be YOU. Yes, we know how to communicate a brand at WIN, which is why this process worked and works.
Step 2: After explaining the strategy of looking across consumer buying boundaries (we can explain this strategy if you would like in another post), we were able to create a more dynamic marketing model for the client's product that outsold all of its competitors almost 4-1. How can you do the same thing? Pay attention to the next step.
Step 3: While I just gave you the end result in step 2, I wanted you to see how important this step I am explaining now is for success. If you want people to do the "right" thing, then you need to explain to them the importance of doing the "right" thing. Therefore, we created a simple Thank YOU program for everyone who purchased the product. We wrote a little personalized letter that thanked them for buying a product that was made by hands helping to feed others and why this help was needed. Wow! Nobody even knew that they were helping at the point of purchase. The lesson we want you to learn here is that you can reach your consumers in a more personal way if you aren't too lazy.
Step 4: Lastly, we included in the Thank YOU program a way for consumers to keep making "right" choices by listing other products that went to help similar causes. Yes, we highlighted our competitor's efforts of caring so that the consumer really could make a conscious choice in continued "green" support if they so desired. You have already seen the results listed in step 2, so we know what we're doing. Anyways, isn't being "green" about helping? Hmmm...
Blessings,
Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing
WIN Firm
Do you know right from wrong? Does knowing right from wrong stop you from doing wrong? I ask you these questions because so many companies capitalize on our confused state of mind to do what's right. Take this whole "green" trend companies are latching on to these days: isn't it getting old? Seriously, saying something is "green" is about as overused and misused as the whole Nike tagline, "Just Do It!" In fact, sales studies from Forrester research show that using "green" doesn't appeal to the average consumer. Why? Maybe, the answer is because the average consumer can't afford the more expensive "green" product. More importantly, to all of you wanting to reach consumers, doing what's right should not be expensive...should it?
Why can I go to the store and find the same "green" product at a cheaper price than your organic, eco-friendly product with the exception that the label doesn't say it is eco-friendly? In an environment fueled by TV warnings of economic meltdown, we are all more aware of our spending as consumers today. Therefore, we are actually doing the "right" thing and shopping carefully, abstaining from making unnecessary, expensive purchases. Anyways, most consumers wander if buying a "green" product is even the "right" thing to do for us.
Think about it from this perspective as well, as a marketer I see the word "green" being too close to "greed." Knowing that this play on words possibly triggers my subconscious to thinking green is bad, I can see why I am often opposed to buying products that are labeled "green," all the while thinking I am doing the "right" thing. Am I though? Would you like to see how we market a product that is eco-friendly, pocket price friendly and does more than promoting good on a label? Then, follow these steps and discover how to effectively reach us all, communicating the "right" thing to do:
Step 1: We took a product and completely ripped its label to shreds, tore the packaging up and stomped on it right in front of our client. What happened? The client was ticked off! However, knowing what kind of work we do, the client quickly realized there was a lesson to be learned. That lesson? Quit copying everyone else and be YOU. Yes, we know how to communicate a brand at WIN, which is why this process worked and works.
Step 2: After explaining the strategy of looking across consumer buying boundaries (we can explain this strategy if you would like in another post), we were able to create a more dynamic marketing model for the client's product that outsold all of its competitors almost 4-1. How can you do the same thing? Pay attention to the next step.
Step 3: While I just gave you the end result in step 2, I wanted you to see how important this step I am explaining now is for success. If you want people to do the "right" thing, then you need to explain to them the importance of doing the "right" thing. Therefore, we created a simple Thank YOU program for everyone who purchased the product. We wrote a little personalized letter that thanked them for buying a product that was made by hands helping to feed others and why this help was needed. Wow! Nobody even knew that they were helping at the point of purchase. The lesson we want you to learn here is that you can reach your consumers in a more personal way if you aren't too lazy.
Step 4: Lastly, we included in the Thank YOU program a way for consumers to keep making "right" choices by listing other products that went to help similar causes. Yes, we highlighted our competitor's efforts of caring so that the consumer really could make a conscious choice in continued "green" support if they so desired. You have already seen the results listed in step 2, so we know what we're doing. Anyways, isn't being "green" about helping? Hmmm...
Blessings,
Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing
WIN Firm
Monday, June 8, 2009
Keeping Marketing Simple
Good evening! It is evening for us in Tennessee, and I wanted to post a short blog on some excellent marketing strategies I witnessed over the weekend. The best part about these strategies is that they were all simple! There were no flashy creatives or trendy web 2.0 gimmicks involved. This was just plain, simple and beautiful marketing at its core. It was brilliant!
First off, I ate at a restaurant that had the best call to action I have seen lately. In fact, its tag line was the call to action. I had the privilege of returning to my home city of Chattanooga, TN this weekend for a music festival, Riverbend. While in Chattanooga, I went with my sister to have some brunch at the Blue Plate Special downtown. When I first walked into the restaurant, I read "EAT HERE NOW" in all capital letters. The letters were very big and caught your eye immediately. What a great tag line! Seriously, it was great because it was so simple, yet powerful. There was no talk about how long the restaurant had been making tasty food (it was very tasty!) or anything like that at all. I thought of asking to speak with the owner to discuss his or her strategy, but decided I would just let it be (maybe next time). I am not sure how well sales are going, but I know the place was busy!
Next, at the festival there were all sorts of people handing out free samples of new products, but the the unique thing that caught my eye was a fan. There were several colleges present at vendor booths during Riverbend, but two made it a point to interact with the crowd. The local university, University of Tennessee Chattanooga, and a local private school, Covenant College, both were in full force passing out fans for those seeking to cool off. However, Covenant College was ready to take their fan giving a step further and completely out marketed their counterparts at UTC. Covenant's foot marketers not only handed out fans, but told us to look at the fan and go to their web-site to win a free MAC. I know that this strategy is nothing spectacular, but it was simple and worked! Covenant created a special URL specifically to measure its impact at Riverbend. Again, simple and sweet!
What's the point of this post. The point is that we as marketers tend to overlook the simple things of marketing like merely adding a call to action with whatever we are promoting. Just take a look at the top creative ad campaigns today and tell me what they are asking us to do. Are they saying "EAT HERE?" Some do, some do not. We as human beings need to be guided. We desire some sort of direction. Direction that is simple and easy to follow. Therefore, to end my post I am going to leave you with a call to action: Come back tomorrow to read about how Keep Brazil Beautiful is progressing.
Blessings,
Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing
WIN Firm
First off, I ate at a restaurant that had the best call to action I have seen lately. In fact, its tag line was the call to action. I had the privilege of returning to my home city of Chattanooga, TN this weekend for a music festival, Riverbend. While in Chattanooga, I went with my sister to have some brunch at the Blue Plate Special downtown. When I first walked into the restaurant, I read "EAT HERE NOW" in all capital letters. The letters were very big and caught your eye immediately. What a great tag line! Seriously, it was great because it was so simple, yet powerful. There was no talk about how long the restaurant had been making tasty food (it was very tasty!) or anything like that at all. I thought of asking to speak with the owner to discuss his or her strategy, but decided I would just let it be (maybe next time). I am not sure how well sales are going, but I know the place was busy!
Next, at the festival there were all sorts of people handing out free samples of new products, but the the unique thing that caught my eye was a fan. There were several colleges present at vendor booths during Riverbend, but two made it a point to interact with the crowd. The local university, University of Tennessee Chattanooga, and a local private school, Covenant College, both were in full force passing out fans for those seeking to cool off. However, Covenant College was ready to take their fan giving a step further and completely out marketed their counterparts at UTC. Covenant's foot marketers not only handed out fans, but told us to look at the fan and go to their web-site to win a free MAC. I know that this strategy is nothing spectacular, but it was simple and worked! Covenant created a special URL specifically to measure its impact at Riverbend. Again, simple and sweet!
What's the point of this post. The point is that we as marketers tend to overlook the simple things of marketing like merely adding a call to action with whatever we are promoting. Just take a look at the top creative ad campaigns today and tell me what they are asking us to do. Are they saying "EAT HERE?" Some do, some do not. We as human beings need to be guided. We desire some sort of direction. Direction that is simple and easy to follow. Therefore, to end my post I am going to leave you with a call to action: Come back tomorrow to read about how Keep Brazil Beautiful is progressing.
Blessings,
Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing
WIN Firm
Friday, June 5, 2009
Why Aren't We Listening?
"If there's no war outside our heads, WHY are we losing?" As I was searching for some juice to add to a campaign this morning, the above line from rock group, Rise Against, caught my attention and perked my creativity a bit. I thought to myself, "What does war mean to me, and how does this particular word impact my conscious and subconscious decision making?" I then started playing with the theme of waging war on my own campaign and decided that I was flirting too much with being cliche and unoriginal. So, I realized that I had begun this post with a catchy line, but no substance to back it up! Then, I realized something: Marketers and agencies are doing the same thing everyday and we are getting paid big bucks for pushing a lackluster product.
Marketers and agencies are so busy competing for our attention that they have overlooked the values we seek in a company, product and ourselves. Of course there are always exceptions to the rule, so I have no intention of generalizing all marketers and agencies. However, I want you to think about the top ads you have seen recently and how you reacted to them. Did you feel connected? Did you feel you belonged? Did you see yourself? I won't speak for you, but please think about these questions and then ask: Do I care about this concept I am seeing advertised to me?
As the V.P. of a marketing firm, I have lived a few years trying to persuade you to buy said product and tell you how un-cool you are if you choose something else. I have even belittled you to the point that I completely lost you while making lots of money for being a creative marketer. Who am I to do this? What happened to me? I completely "SOLD OUT" and in doing so, LOST YOU. So, if you are a marketer reading this post, please understand that I think we have a purpose to serve, and it shouldn't be about us.
There are many theories, philosophies and cases for why marketing absolutely blows today overall, but the case I present here is that we are too concerned about ourselves and not our clients, especially not our consumers. How can a marketer connect with a consumer being and living so selfishly? Obviously, things aren't going too well.
For those agencies and marketers that are connecting, I congratulate you! I even encourage you to land a huge contract and use all of your ammunition to reconnect by thinking of others before yourself. Use your marketing to reconnect and help us rebuild this beautiful country.
Blessings,
Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing
WIN Firm
Marketers and agencies are so busy competing for our attention that they have overlooked the values we seek in a company, product and ourselves. Of course there are always exceptions to the rule, so I have no intention of generalizing all marketers and agencies. However, I want you to think about the top ads you have seen recently and how you reacted to them. Did you feel connected? Did you feel you belonged? Did you see yourself? I won't speak for you, but please think about these questions and then ask: Do I care about this concept I am seeing advertised to me?
As the V.P. of a marketing firm, I have lived a few years trying to persuade you to buy said product and tell you how un-cool you are if you choose something else. I have even belittled you to the point that I completely lost you while making lots of money for being a creative marketer. Who am I to do this? What happened to me? I completely "SOLD OUT" and in doing so, LOST YOU. So, if you are a marketer reading this post, please understand that I think we have a purpose to serve, and it shouldn't be about us.
There are many theories, philosophies and cases for why marketing absolutely blows today overall, but the case I present here is that we are too concerned about ourselves and not our clients, especially not our consumers. How can a marketer connect with a consumer being and living so selfishly? Obviously, things aren't going too well.
For those agencies and marketers that are connecting, I congratulate you! I even encourage you to land a huge contract and use all of your ammunition to reconnect by thinking of others before yourself. Use your marketing to reconnect and help us rebuild this beautiful country.
Blessings,
Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing
WIN Firm
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Living with a Cause
Good day to everybody keeping up with the WIN Firm's marketing projects. As always, I welcome your feedback to this post and want you to know our doors are open and we believe in sharing our marketing knowledge to all interested parties. Did you like that disclaimer? Seriously, we at the WIN Firm are really pleased with the progress we are making on various projects and are excited to share our discoveries in this ever-changing marketing world with you. Are you ready to hear how our Brazil project is progressing?
I apologize for not posting on Friday, and will not offer up any excuses for my missed post. I just ask for your understanding and forgiveness.
Let's get started on telling you how our strategies are being formed for the Keep Brazil Beautiful campaign. First, after several years of researching the concept of social causes and non-profit marketing, we have found that people really do care about helping others, their community, the environment, etc... Therefore, we have developed a concept to sell shoes. Yes, we are selling shoes that touch your emotional neurons and make you believe in what you are buying. We have a firm understanding of why you support various non-profits, and have developed this campaign based on the non-profit model of caring.
After we first posted this blog and told people that we were opening up our core, people thought we were really making a mistake. I disagree. You and I and everyone in the world knows how to market something. Ever been asked how you were? Were you actually lousy but responded that you were alright? Well, this response is what we call perception management. Therefore, you manage your perception everyday with the way you comb (or don't) your hair, the way keep your house, etc...
How does all of this perception management tie into our project of selling Brazilian shoes? The answer is that when you wear these shoes you are managing a perception that lets others know you care. Yes, IT IS THE SHOES! You will be telling everyone who sees your shoes how much you are aware of the decisions you make, especially when it comes to the things you buy. What better way to communicate you care than to walk in the shoes of caring?
Our advertising and promotional strategies will all convey the message of our shoe being the BRAND that cares. As we have stated before, we are willing to do whatever it takes to build confidence in our brand and show you where your money is actually going. Our web-sites are going to be designed for you to follow the shoes journey to replenishing the Rain Forest in Brazil and Keeping Brazil Beautiful. Don't we need a company that truly is a steward of goodwill?
Until next time, be blessed in all you do!
Blessings,
Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing
WIN Firm
I apologize for not posting on Friday, and will not offer up any excuses for my missed post. I just ask for your understanding and forgiveness.
Let's get started on telling you how our strategies are being formed for the Keep Brazil Beautiful campaign. First, after several years of researching the concept of social causes and non-profit marketing, we have found that people really do care about helping others, their community, the environment, etc... Therefore, we have developed a concept to sell shoes. Yes, we are selling shoes that touch your emotional neurons and make you believe in what you are buying. We have a firm understanding of why you support various non-profits, and have developed this campaign based on the non-profit model of caring.
After we first posted this blog and told people that we were opening up our core, people thought we were really making a mistake. I disagree. You and I and everyone in the world knows how to market something. Ever been asked how you were? Were you actually lousy but responded that you were alright? Well, this response is what we call perception management. Therefore, you manage your perception everyday with the way you comb (or don't) your hair, the way keep your house, etc...
How does all of this perception management tie into our project of selling Brazilian shoes? The answer is that when you wear these shoes you are managing a perception that lets others know you care. Yes, IT IS THE SHOES! You will be telling everyone who sees your shoes how much you are aware of the decisions you make, especially when it comes to the things you buy. What better way to communicate you care than to walk in the shoes of caring?
Our advertising and promotional strategies will all convey the message of our shoe being the BRAND that cares. As we have stated before, we are willing to do whatever it takes to build confidence in our brand and show you where your money is actually going. Our web-sites are going to be designed for you to follow the shoes journey to replenishing the Rain Forest in Brazil and Keeping Brazil Beautiful. Don't we need a company that truly is a steward of goodwill?
Until next time, be blessed in all you do!
Blessings,
Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing
WIN Firm
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Campaign Concept
Good day to all following WIN's work! I hope each of you have been blessed with a wonderful day. Again, thank you for following our work; we hope it is benefitting your marketing approaches as well. As always, I want everyone to know that our doors are open and we at WIN believe marketing should be shared instead of kept as some secret art form. We want to turn marketing into more of a science than a guessing game, so our blog is designed to be collaborative effort with all of you to ensure we are taking the proper steps that benefit our clients. Okay, here we go!
Keep Brazil Beautiful
Since our shoe company is based in Brazil, we want to give back to this beautiful country. The shoes we are marketing are the tool to be used to help raise awareness for our cause to replenish the Rain Forest. As David Pennington commented on our blog last week, wearing your shoes shows everyone you care. Therefore, we are going to take the shoe's brand to a new level of social awareness. The company and brand will be known for its social consciousness and be seen as a brand that represents YOU as caring.
There are several causes that companies have used to promote their products and we have studied or discovered several amazing campaigns thanks to those of you who have been following us and others. We are currently posting questions all over the web and have received SUPER responses! If you responded, "THANK YOU!"
We are taking these responses and comparing them to similar campaigns based on social causes so that we can fully understand what works. We believe marketing is a science of discovery and want to go away from the art of guessing. Our clients do not pay us to guess, so we make sure we focus on the processes needed to ensure we are not guessing; thus, this campaign is all about using what works and will work.
We have designed the Keep Brazil Beautiful concept as an offering for other companies and you to see our brand as one that helps to replenish what it uses. How do we do this? We will operate as many non-profits do, raising money for a cause, but giving you something COOL in return; a comfortable, urban and professional looking shoe that shows YOU care.
We are even going a step further than most companies by establishing a non-profit foundation that uses the shoes as on of its fundraising efforts for earth preservation. Our brand will connect with all those who have a heart for change and progress, but will also connect with those who want to feel good about the products they buy. These shoes are designed to be marketed around this concept of: Doing equals Caring. Keep Brazil Beautiful is about Being Beautiful.
Come back Friday for more!
Blessings,
Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing-WIN Firm
Friday, April 10, 2009
Product Integration Part 2
Good Friday everyone! I wish all of those following WIN's work a wonderful Easter. Today has been an incredible day for us at WIN. We are all taking time to be with family, but we do have one brief conference call today before all work is finished for the weekend. Since our call is in about 10 minutes, this blog update will be brief, but complete.
Let me start off by thanking our local business community, especially the World Trade Center and Regional Alliance of northeast Tennessee. For those of you new to our firm, our main office of operation is in Johnson City, TN, but we have production offices in Philadelphia, San Diego, Atlanta, Nashville and Chattanooga. Our strategy team actually transplanted here in northeast Tennessee from all over the country and world and are proud to live here! Okay, enough said about where we live; you came to see what we have been up to since Wednesday.
Phase I continued:
We have received a lot of feedback for boxing/package designs for the shoes and will be exploring some of those in more detail than we have presently. We would like to thank Andrew Darlington from Heritage Insurance Group, Javier Soriano (independent) and J.R. Augustene (independent) for their input.
We currently are working on developing the Keep Brazil Beautiful Campaign that consists of creating a way for consumers of our shoes to actually see where their money is going. People no longer trust a company being "green" merely because the company says they are. Therefore, we are developing a relationship with folks in Brazil to create a fund that supports the Rain Forest.
To show you where your money is going, we are going to have funds sent every month from the shoe sales directly to the Keep Brazil Beautiful fund. As stated before, we are donating $15 from every sale to preserve the Rain Forest, but we want you to know where the money is going. We are developing a page on our site that posts all the names of people who purchased the shoes during a month and updates them on the campaign's growth.
We will tally up all of the funds at the month's end and send the money over to Brazil. Each person who bought the shoes will receive a certificate of purchase and donation to the fund. We will authenticate the purchase even further by a check donation covered by U.S. and Brazilian media, so you will see your money going where we say it is going.
This is all I have for you today due to my time constraints. Please check us out on Wednesday for more updates. As always, please comment if you have any suggestions.
Happy Easter and Bless You!
Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing
WIN Firm
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Product Integration in the U.S.
What a great week! WIN has been busy developing and learning how to integrate an international product into our lovely U.S. market. Let me be the first to say that this is an absolutely AWESOME project! Okay, that is enough of my chatter; let's move on to the work I talked about sharing with everyone who follows our blog.
Phase 1 Marketing:
We have been working on developing customs relationships with ports in Charleston, SC to eventually bring the product over to the states. However, we are not physically importing the product in bulk until we have proven there is enough interest in our market to take on this task. Therefore, our initial phase of marketing will be to introduce the shoes using viral and guerilla marketing strategies.
As with any marketing campaign, you need to know who you are talking to and what to say to them. This product is geared towards an urbanized audience that is interested in music like emo, rock, punk, goth and bluegrass. Yes, bluegrass listeners fit the mold. You will see why later.
Our audience is prone to be proactive for causes they believe in and have proven they act on emotion. Recent examples of our audience's drive to make decisions based on passionate beliefs are an increase in green energy efforts, increases in Prius sales, decreases in fast food use, increases in organic products and the recently elected President Obama whose platform of CHANGE encouraged an entire country to move into a new direction.
Knowing this information, we have created a campaign based on charitable giving. The first shoes we will introduce to the U.S. market will be a special edition shoe that supports the Rain Forest. Each consumer who buys the shoes will have $15 go to protecting the Rain Forest and keeping Brazil BEAUTIFUL.
These shoes will be as "green" as possible. The boxing will be made out of eco-friendly material. Does anyone have any recommendations for the most eco-friendly boxing we could use? There will be a big THANK YOU for supporting Brazil's BEAUTY on the box, so that consumers know what they are wearing is HELPING.
We are in the box design phase right now, so I am uncertain exactly what the box will look like, but you I will be posting some samples to this blog once we have decided on a few to sample.
We are also in the process of developing several micro-sites to attract the urbanized market and developing a strong viral/guerilla campaign to drive people to these sites. We will be sending street marketers to various concerts, events and locations where our audience lives.
I will end our blog with the information that has been provided today, but please check in with us on Friday to see what we have been up to. Remember, our doors are open! Being open means that we WELCOME comments and constructive ideas.
Have a blessed day!
"By focusing on the processes of life, we allow God to handle the results."-WIN's motto
Friday, March 27, 2009
Playing on the Senses
Do you remember your grade-school teachers stressing the importance of science? If you are anything like me, then you listened but never really seemed interested to what anyone of authority was really saying during your adolescence. Perhaps, I should have listened a little more intently to the lesson on "Using Our Senses." As every marketer knows, playing on our senses is a key element in delivering messages to audiences.
My question is, "How do you know what senses to use?" I will focus on just three: Hearing, Touching and Seeing.
Hearing:
Should you always play "Eye of the Tiger" when you want people to be motivated? It seems like every high-school basketball team has this song integrated into their warm-up tracks and apparently we all seem to remember the underdog story of Rocky Balboa whenever the song is played. So, does HEARING "Eye of the Tiger" create a passion to be great despite the odds? Could this song be used to motivate us here in the U.S. to rise above these challenging economic times and achieve greatness? Maybe some company will come out with an "Eye of the Tiger" campaign and get us all pumped up to buy something again. We will have to wait and see.
Touching:
What about touch? My wife loves to buy clothing that is soft. If you have soft clothing at decent prices, my wife is the consumer for you. I'm not kidding. Everything we recently bought for our 5-month old was chosen on softness, not BRAND! So, I wander if other people ignore brands and buy things based on how they feel. Would someone buy a fully loaded Hyundai if it felt more comfortable than a Lexus?
Seeing:
"Seeing is believing." How do colors make us think in terms of making decisions? Our CMO, Catherine Poole, is an expert color consultant who speaks on behalf of paint brands like Freshaire Products. Catherine has implemented complete branding campaigns based on color, not words. Yes, that's right. Eliminate the little logo with your company's name on it, and focus everything on the emotions of color. Sound crazy? It doesn't seem so crazy when you see rip-off t-shirts using Budweiser's crown to promote their company. These rip-off companies know that you will think of Budweiser being "King" and hopefully associate them as being superior as well.
I have left out taste and smell, but will talk about these other two senses during my next blog. Be blessed in all you do and remember, "You've got the, eye of the tiger, the thrill of the fight..."
Chris Teague, The WIN Firm
www.thewinfirm.com
My question is, "How do you know what senses to use?" I will focus on just three: Hearing, Touching and Seeing.
Hearing:
Should you always play "Eye of the Tiger" when you want people to be motivated? It seems like every high-school basketball team has this song integrated into their warm-up tracks and apparently we all seem to remember the underdog story of Rocky Balboa whenever the song is played. So, does HEARING "Eye of the Tiger" create a passion to be great despite the odds? Could this song be used to motivate us here in the U.S. to rise above these challenging economic times and achieve greatness? Maybe some company will come out with an "Eye of the Tiger" campaign and get us all pumped up to buy something again. We will have to wait and see.
Touching:
What about touch? My wife loves to buy clothing that is soft. If you have soft clothing at decent prices, my wife is the consumer for you. I'm not kidding. Everything we recently bought for our 5-month old was chosen on softness, not BRAND! So, I wander if other people ignore brands and buy things based on how they feel. Would someone buy a fully loaded Hyundai if it felt more comfortable than a Lexus?
Seeing:
"Seeing is believing." How do colors make us think in terms of making decisions? Our CMO, Catherine Poole, is an expert color consultant who speaks on behalf of paint brands like Freshaire Products. Catherine has implemented complete branding campaigns based on color, not words. Yes, that's right. Eliminate the little logo with your company's name on it, and focus everything on the emotions of color. Sound crazy? It doesn't seem so crazy when you see rip-off t-shirts using Budweiser's crown to promote their company. These rip-off companies know that you will think of Budweiser being "King" and hopefully associate them as being superior as well.
I have left out taste and smell, but will talk about these other two senses during my next blog. Be blessed in all you do and remember, "You've got the, eye of the tiger, the thrill of the fight..."
Chris Teague, The WIN Firm
www.thewinfirm.com
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