Creating an IMPACT

Good day! I apologize for not writing anything last week, but our clients at The WIN Firm come first. Are you ready?

The sun is shining brightly outside, the weather is definitely cool and The WIN Firm is full of IMPACT this fall! As you have discovered through reading previous posts, everyone at The WIN Firm enjoys what we do! So, today I am going to share one way we as a marketing firm help better the places we live: Northeast Tennessee and Chicago, IL.

Feeding America is a national Food Banking organization dedicated to combating hunger in our country located in Chicago. We at The WIN Firm are heavily involved with Feeding America's efforts through concept development, design and grant writing, especially on the local Northeast Tennessee level. As the grant writer for Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee, I use every bit of my marketing expertise to engage the grant reviewing audience through carefully crafted proposals. Today, I am happy to reveal the efforts of this work!

As you can see, our work at The WIN Firm is all about creating an impact. Many marketing groups and agencies all have successful case studies, but we at The WIN Firm are proud to showcase how our work leaves a lasting IMPACT.

I realize that today's post is kind of an affirmation of what we can do at The WIN Firm, but I wanted to showcase our work for you to see a "Real-Time" Case Study. We are proud to help our neighbors and know that the marketing we do is helping.

Blessings,
Chris Teague
V.P./C0-Founder
The WIN Firm, Inc.
www.thewinfirm.com
Email: chris@thewinfirm.com

Working to Help the Hungry

Good day everybody! Welcome to another post from the WIN Firm brought to you by me, Chris Teague. Today's post is especially important for us at the WIN Firm! We are taking time out to recognize the importance of helping those that are less fortunate than us. I want to tell you a story about one of our clients, Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee and partner, Feeding America. This story is not about our firm today; rather, it is about our client doing an AMAZING job helping hungry residents in our Northeast Tennessee community and the country as well. We at the WIN Firm would like to introduce you to Roger's Story.

Roger, a child that lives in Bristol, TN, participates in Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee's Food for Kids program through the Bristol City Schools. Roger’s mother was laid-off from her job and faced some challenging situations that included the difficult choice many parents in our region and country must make, whether to pay for utilities or food. Roger’s mother chose to provide food for her son and pay for the utilities to the best of her abilities, but soon found herself behind in paying the bills. As money decreased, Roger’s mother was forced to leave the apartment she lived in and move into a tent. Roger’s only shelter at night came from a nylon piece of fabric and the only food he ate was for lunch at school. Roger’s situation was discovered by his school and action was taken to enroll him into Food for Kids. Thanks to Second Harvest and Feeding America, Roger was able to immediately receive food from Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee to take home, so that his mother would not have to make the choice between feeding Roger and using her limited income to find housing for her family. Roger’s story is unique, but many children in our region and America suffer from malnutrition because of their impoverished living conditions.

Please take a moment to support the hungry. We at the WIN Firm make sure our work goes to raise awareness for issues that touch our lives. You too can help be the voice for our country's hungry, impoverished residents. We at the WIN Firm invite you to go to www.hungeractioncenter.org, sign up to be a voice for hunger support, and help feed the less fortunate people around you. As a perk, there is a contest that helps your local food bank. When you take action on hungeractioncenter.org, minutes are logged for your work and counted. The food banks that accumulate the most minutes by the end of September win a free tractor trailer load of food for their community. Please help us!

Blessings,
Chris Teague
V.P.
WIN Firm
"We create ideas that WIN."

Who is Following You?

Good day to everyone! This is Chris Teague welcoming you to another marketing post from my work with the WIN Firm. I would like to apologize for not having this post up yesterday: there were a few glitches on blogger that prevented us from posting. Are you ready for a simple marketing lesson many of us tend to overlook?

Look over your shoulder...check your rear-view mirror...turn around....are you being followed? It is kind of creepy to think you are being followed at times, but as a company, you want to be followed. In fact, we as people desire to follow. Yes, you may lead, but you really follow. Sorry to burst your bubble, but we are just made to follow and that is perfectly okay. So, do you know who is following you? Really? I bet there are people you are missing. Keep reading; I will explain.

Customer retention is so important to a company's growth. Any executive, store owner or manager will tell you that keeping customers is less expensive than finding new ones. While this may be true, many organizations are unaware of who their customers are. What do I mean? I am talking about the customers that have not purchased anything from you, but like you and will buy from you. What? You mean I have a large customer base following me? How do I reach them? You just need to engage this customer base a little and provide them a purchasing avenue, but you must know who they are first. Want to figure out who is following you and increase your beloved customer base? Come on down to see how we at the WIN Firm help clients "track" those following you.

Step 1: You must be open to knowing that your industry is constantly changing, people are changing and your customers no longer look exactly alike. Well, they don't on the outside. Once you are open to UNDERSTANDING your customer today, you will be prepared for the next step.

Step 2: Let's explore alumni giving a little bit. WIN works with colleges and non-profits that depend on the public's support of their efforts to remain sustainable, financially speaking. There is one question that we always hear from our clients: "Who out there will give?" Great question! To discover the answer, we have found that anybody will give and will, but he/she simply hasn't found a reason to just yet. So, figure out this reason and engage your givers. Wait! I thought we were talking about tracking our followers. We are! Keep reading.

Step 3: Now that you know people need a reason to do something, you can effectively discover your followers. How? Analyze your current customers and their buying, or in this case, giving behaviors. There are those that buy/give a lot, and there are those that do not buy/give a lot. Common knowledge, right? Right! So, use this knowledge to figure out who is following you. That's right! You can know who is following based on the characteristics and mannerisms of your "known" customers. Stay with me.

Step 4: Okay, you know that some people simply have plenty of money to spend/give, may really like you and even have found satisfaction in your product. There are others that want to share the same thing as these people, but you haven't discovered them yet. We at WIN are innovative, so take this next step/tactic/strategy openly. Check it out!

Step 5: People are everywhere. How do you find those following you? Engage them. Bring them out of the jungle and unmask their camouflage. We understand that people give due to various reasons, especially depending on where they are in life. We created a concept that reached and brought the following groups together: current students, those freshly out of school, those at the beginning of a career, those starting a family and those "established." These are all customers following a college, but the college does not really know who they are. Why not find them?

Step 6: We approached a school and offered them the concept of being "Social." No, I am not talking about social media just yet. I am referring to the power of socializing and networking. We created various socials within the college's community that connected these groups and allowed them to chat, meet one another and network. What brought them together? Their common connection: COLLEGE. Using the theme of "Helping," we were able to create a reason for these unknown customers to be engaged. The college discovered its "unknown" customer and giving increased!

Blessings,
Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing
WIN Firm

People are Buying!

Good day everyone! I wanted to post an entry before those of us in the U.S. take time to celebrate our Independence Day. Today's post is a follow up to our theme of "sharing". However, you will discover from this post and moving forward, a series of posts that lead you through the workings of our firm and shed some light as to why we are small, work with BIG clients and are capable of producing your desired results. We are the WIN Firm, and our name is the beginning, middle and end of all we do. As you read this blog and follow our series, you will see that we value our clients and want to help them engage people on various levels with the sole intent of producing a winning formula. Therefore, you will discover in your reading that we share our work with YOU because it is how we ensure our clients become successful.

The best phrase(s) we love (and imagine you do as well) to hear at WIN is/are: "People are buying. We are really seeing an increase in customer satisfaction!" Wow! Doesn't that just make you feel good inside! We have won numerous design, concept and creative awards for our efforts, but none of those even come close to the feeling we have when our clients see the fruits of our labor. Imagine knowing that every client you work with has something great to say about you! Would you even need to show case studies to get new work? What if you could simply have work waiting for you instead of having to chase it all the time? If you think like me, having working waiting for you is a great relief! Thankfully, we at the WIN Firm have been able to shift our focus to being a firm dedicated to TRULY communicating your brand and you will see how we have been blessed with amazing clients in this series of posts! So, if you have been following along and wanted to know where we came from and what we do exactly, you will see it all in this series and be empowered with information to deliver the same results we do!

Think of a time when you bought something and it gave you goose bumps. You knew that your purchase was everything that you wanted. Can you remember a time when that happened? For most of us, this memory is most likely pushed down below all the memories we have of the junk we bought that ended up being thrown away or replaced. Can you think of what it was like being a child and buying that first pair of shoes you really wanted? Did you run faster, jump higher and feel proud of yourself for choosing such an awesome pair of shoes! I remember my first pair of L.A. Gear Pumps. I wanted the Reebok pumps, but my parents couldn't afford those, so L.A. Gear was next in line. It didn't matter to me that I wasn't wearing Reebok, because in my mind I had the same thing. I wore those shoes everyday with the biggest smile on my face and never even cared about Reebok! I bet all of you have similar stories like mine and can take a moment to remember the joy I experienced. What if you were able to find that same joy again? We help our clients find joy and instill that same happiness in their products and customers, which is why our clients have wonderful things to say about our work and continue to help us grow. As you follow this series of posts, you will share in the joy our clients experience and discover ways of implementing the things that make you happy into your work. We are the WIN Firm, and we want to see you win!

Blessings,
Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing
WIN Firm

Going Beyond Your TV

It's Friday! Today is great for us at the WIN Firm because we have the opportunity to share another marketing tool we have been using to much success. Today's post is going to be short, but ENGAGING!

Have you been in restrooms where there are advertisements posted on TV's or above bathroom stalls? Did you pay attention to these advertisements? For me personally, I was just in a restroom today and can't even remember the ads I saw! However, this doesn't mean that others forget them. I am not quite sure either what the advertising company pitches when it comes to ROI and traffic. I think it may go something like: "There are 500 people eating at this fine establishment every weekend, which means you have the opportunity to reach 500 people as they take a..." I'm sorry, but this pitch wouldn't fly for our clients.

Marketers and advertisers especially, do there best job to reach us. With the realization that YouTube is more powerful than TV, more and more marketers are utilizing their media budgets online and seeking to find consumers wherever we go, including the bathroom. To break free from the madness, I have developed various tools to get in YOUR face that I would like to share. I call these tools: When TV Blows, Try This!

Instead of posting advertisements for a company in bathrooms, we put stickers with taglines right on the urinals in men's stalls for a boating company. Guess what! It worked too! You see, men like boating and the whole water thing goes well when you're in the restroom. One thing we did was make sure that you saw the tagline and created a call to action that simply read: "We dare you to tell someone that I was caught thinking about boating in the bathroom TM." This call to action prompted men to be bold and worked well when the company promoted its tagline asking: "Where do you think about boating TM?" We went beyond your tv and caught you in the bathroom with a simple, yet effective strategy.

I hope that this "SECRET" strategy helps you think of being more creative than the TV permits you to be. Remember, people are watching less TV these days despite the Nielsen Ratings. Please, please, please! Don't trust the box!! I hope you have enjoyed WIN's session on: When TV Blows, Try THIS!

Blessings,
Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing
WIN Firm

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

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

Paying a Quick Respect

After playing around on Twitter this evening and searching for the WIN Firm on Google, I came across our blog and am pleased it is appearing in search.  One thing I noticed after reading my earlier post today is that I needed to pay some respect to a couple of authors who reminded me why I love marketing. 

Being responsible for implementing new strategy for growth at the WIN Firm, I am always thinking of how to compete and grow in today's market place.  However, after reading and recently, re-reading Punk Marketing, I realized that there are people out there who care just as much about you as I do, and these people are fed up with the disconnection that exists among marketers and you. I also wanted to publicly let a couple of authors know that I appreciate them for bringing Punk into marketing, because the key to Punk Rock was that it came from the underground and was led by one of the most creative and artistic generations of music listeners who were tired of complacency. 

Who are these authors I respect and thank for calling out the complacent, detached marketers of today? Mr. Richard Laermer and Mark Simmons have earned my colleagues and my praises for their work today. 

I wrote this post because I did not want the two men who helped get me back on track to think I thought ill of them based on an earlier statement I made on today's first post.  If you guys read this post, please know that I think you could add much more about Punk Rock and the entire counterculture that truly changed the face of music through some of the most creative marketing ever to exist in the music industry.  What's great about the Punk movement is that this marketing did not come from any multi-million dollar brand budget.  Instead, this marketing came from a connection found amongst people fed up with complacency.  Punk Marketing reminded me of this passion I have to go against the grain.  

Thank YOU, Richard and Mark! 

Blessings,

Chris Teague

V.P. Marketing

WIN Firm  

Marketing the Heart: Cause-oriented Marketing

It's a beautiful day here in Johnson City, TN and all systems are a go for the WIN Firm. I hope each of you following or reading this blog is well and I wish you much success in all you do. Since our work with launching a product to help with social change through environmental and educational growth, we at the WIN Firm have been defining our own purpose for marketing. Therefore, today's topic is an introduction into the marketing we stand by and will support.

Marketing is the reason people gravitate to brands and purchase products. We as human beings are conditioned to following the leader, or in this case, the brand. However, I have discovered over my ten years of marketing experience that there is a growing disconnection between the marketer and consumer. This topic has been debated and addressed by various people, and there is even a book about losing touch with the consumer entitled: Punk Marketing. Thus, there is no reason for me to reiterate what someone else has said. Rather, today's topic is about the marketing I have challenged the WIN Firm to choose that connects with you, the consumer; the person.

If you are following marketing, then I am sure you have heard about "Big Dog" agencies that land HUGE accounts and win all sorts of creative awards. These agencies are truly talented and we at the WIN Firm appreciate the quality of work produced by them. Despite all the talented marketers in existence today with all of their awards, people still are disconnected. Why is that? What aren't marketers doing right today? I don't pretend to have all the answers, but do know that the WIN Firm is heading in a new direction and has no desire to take part in today's marketing culture the way it is.

I don't care about a commercial with puppets featuring LeBron James and Kobe Bryant no matter how creative it is. The commercial just doesn't appeal to me, and especially doesn't make me feel compelled to buy some Nike shoes. However, I did once love buying the new Jordan's when I was a teenager. Why? I felt that the shoes connected me to Michael Jordan. Wearing his shoes represented "Greatness." So, I have taken a new avenue in marketing and pitched the following idea to our firm:

Why not find a company that truly is great or tries to be great, cares for people and takes action to promote greatness instead of created an over-marketed false image of a company that wants you to think of them as great?

This question was not taken too well by my fellow marketers and I was even asked to reconsider my position. I didn't back down and even developed my own concepts, campaigns and pitched them to our firm as if I was pitching them to a client. Guess what? I still didn't get the full buy-in I wanted, but I did open the door and that paved the way for what I am doing now. My door is open a little, but now I want to bust through and have the challenge of producing.

I mentioned greatness earlier and also mentioned a book on marketing that has a theme of doing it the "Punk" way. Not to slam the authors of the book, but they missed the key to what started a revolution of underground music that led to the emergence of bands like Nirvana. I won't rant and rave on the history of punk rock (even though I love it!). Instead, I want to use the counter-culture movement that ignited punk rock and is ingrained into our culture today. The beauty of this movement is that it needed no "Big" agency to help it grow. No, this cultural shift in music came from the heart, which is where I want to take marketing.

Why should the WIN Firm create a concept for a business to increase sales or market position if it has no heart? Why should we spend months developing a brand when you have no brand to begin with? Instead, I pose the option of putting all of our skills that make decent companies look like solid companies through our creative marketing, advertising or whatever you want to call it, into companies that truly are GREAT. What companies am I talking about? How about ones that help their fellow human being? How about a group that feeds the hungry? How about a company that gives kids a shot at life? These companies are GREAT! They already see value in life! These are the companies that the WIN Firm is going to help.

There is no need to make up greatness when it already exists. So, I care nothing about the marketing culture of today that promotes mediocrity and complacency. I care about YOU! Therefore, I don't want to persuade you to buy a new car because you will be safe, look cool or have great gas mileage. I want you to see your fellow human being in-need and help him or her. The WIN Firm is moving into this direction of cause-oriented marketing, and with your help, I can make it happen sooner than later.

I would like to extend an opportunity for you to nominate your favorite cause-related group that promotes positive, ethical values and standards and tell me what makes the group great. I will then expend all of my energies, talents and God-given marketing skills to promote the best presented cause. The WIN Firm has given me permission to embark on this venture, so if you care enough, tell me what organization the WIN Firm can help. I will even launch my own product to sell on behalf of the selected group and donate at least thirty percent of all sales to the group. Therefore, I will put my marketing where my mouth is, or I should say, MY HEART! Please e-mail your submissions at:

chris@thewinfirm.com

I am also on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/thewinfirm10

Blessings,

Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing
WIN Firm

It's All About YOU!

Wow! We are already in the middle of the week! I am pleased to report that our concept: Keep Brazil Beautiful is continuing to grow and everyone here at the WIN Firm looks forward to launching the promotional program and seeing our client reap the rewards of being socially responsible. Well, let's dive right into the work...it's awesome!

With all the hype around green marketing these days, we have really nailed a concept for our client that is going to change the way they sell shoes and bring them a greater reward than sales. What is this reward? Our client is going to build a connection with YOU, and YOU are going to build a relationship with our client. The marketing strategy behind Keep Brazil Beautiful is centered around continued growth and longevity. While short term sales are going to please our client's CFO and various Product managers, the future WIN is building through this marketing campaign is going to deliver something better than mere ROI numbers; we are going to connect YOU with our client for life.

Was that previous sentence a bold statement or what! I stand behind that statement and will do so as long as this campaign continues. Why? My reason is that Keep Brazil Beautiful is not just a sales or marketing ploy to make you buy shoes, though the client's intent is to sell lots of shoes. This campaign is truly about helping the environment, producing sustainable growth and empowering students to be socially aware. Keep Brazil Beautiful is designed to go beyond the traditional non-profit model of charging for services to react to a given need; rather, our model is going to proactively strive to reduce our global footprint along with reacting by replenishing rubber trees.

It's all about YOU! Yes, we at the WIN Firm realized that Keep Brazil Beautiful is one of those causes you are going to be proud of and support; it's not merely a marketing concept. We are turning our client's shoes into a vehicle that promotes caring. Of course marketing this concept is going to make our client money, but the non-profit side of this concept is about giving and receiving. Is this green marketing? Well, maybe; but, we are striving to grow and green marketing is merely a trend right now. As we all know, trends die, so our marketing is about future growth and causes are the future. In fact, causes are the past, present and future. All we are doing from the marketing side is communicating this concept in a manner that fully engages you and prompts you to take action. Our client saw the value of this concept as soon as we presented our canvas, and we are thankful to be working with such an astounding and responsible client.

Are we the first to realize that marketing based on a cause is the way to go? Of course not! However, you will see that our strategies and methods for communicating this cause are effective. One of our followers of this blog asked a question about the research we did over the past ten years on non-profits. J.R., here is your answer to the research. Non-profits that are able to mobilize and raise millions of dollars are the ones who know how to communicate. A simple answer yes, but I will elaborate. United Way communicates very well. Using visual images that not only inform us of what they are doing, but give us a direction to follow, the United Way has mastered the art of speaking to our conscious or I should say, subconscious. Have you seen a thermometer posted on a street corner displaying the amount of money raised up to a certain point? Did you realize the goal was not met and have a sudden feeling that you should give? Were you relieved to know that you held on to the letter your boss sent around about their participation in United Way as a company? Whether United Way knew that this visual image would successfully communicate the urgency and importance of giving subconsciously or not makes no difference, the point is that this simple way of communicating to you on the surface and penetrating the surface works.

The WIN Firm uses studies like United Way and other successful studies from today's leading non-profit organizations to learn how effective their communications are at reaching you. Twitter, MySpace, FaceBook and all of that social media jazz is the "thing" to do today if you want to stay up with the times. Yes, this new way of communicating is important, but organizations that keep their brand and last know how to use all available tools of communication to fuse the art and science of marketing that works for them. These companies and organizations are the ones that may struggle finacially during difficult economic times, but their image never tarnishes; thus, their perceived value remains strong. We at the WIN Firm use this knowledge so that our marketing strategies go beyond the short-term, quick fix solutions that many businesses get caught up in, and we provide them with the tools to achieve the short and long term successes that keep their fire burning.

As I end this blog for today, I do want to say that everyone who has commentted and provided WIN feedback is great! THANK YOU! Dan, we will be talking later this week and your ideas are right on target with where our firm wants to take clients. I hope everyone has enjoyed this post today and that you be blessed in all you do!

Blessings,
Chris

Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing
WIN Firm

Working because we Care!

Good day everyone! I hope all is well in your world today and thank you for keeping up with us at the WIN Firm. Our CMO, Catherine Poole, is going to begin posting a motivational blog for everyone on our blogspot called, The Thursday Kick! I am very thankful to have such a dedicated team of marketing gurus to work with and our cohesiveness produces wonderful results for our partners/clients.

Are you ready to discover how things are progressing with the concept: Keep Brazil Beautiful?

First, before we begin, I want to thank Dan Oda for a wonderful conversation about more giving opportunities related to this campaign. Dan, "OBRIGADAO, VIU!" The beauty of not being secretive and allowing others to view what we are working on has proven to be a great business model for WIN. This Wikinomics approach to working with doors open makes us much better marketers for our clients. In fact, I have received a suggestion to make a profile change and another regarding a spelling mistake on Exxon Mobile; both were great suggestions. See, this feedback is exactly what we need to be sharp!

Now, to the project! We mentioned in last week's blog that design and style were removed from our list of deliverables for time being due to further research needed on shoe-wearing consumers. Therefore, we began researching consumer behavior in terms of shoes being worn today and also spent the past week mapping out our course of giving models so that people truly know their investment is helping. We want everyone to not only buy our client's fabulous shoes because they are cool, trendy and comfortable; rather, we desire a stronger, more emotional connection to you, the consumer, than the simple thrill of owning some new shoes.

We have taken our giving concept to a new level, and Dan gave us some wonderful insight into being proactive in helping Brazil versus our original reactive approach. We decided that being proactive is what many non-profit organizations lack today in the U.S. It seems every grant I write for Second Harvest Food Bank is based on a reaction to an identified problem: hunger. What are we doing to prevent hunger? This question led me to think harder about our Keep Brazil Beautiful concept. What can we do to truly bless the country that gives us so much rubber for the shoes we wear? What about being even more environmentally aware while promoting education as well?

Yes, we are going deeper into our concept. Why? We work because we care for our clients, and we develop marketing concepts for clients who care for you, me and the environment. Thus, there is a new development of giving. Dan posed a great idea of tree planting that involves partnering with Google, using its mapping software along with cross-promotion efforts to implement an "Adopt a Tree for Brazil's Children" campaign. You would continue buying these wonderful shoes, knowing that your money is going back to replenish the Rain Forest, but you will also be able to provide ongoing support that truly Keeps Brazil Beautiful.

By adopting a tree, your investment will go to the future of Brazil. We will start a tree forest on a University's property that is close to the Rain Forest. We are now working on the logistics of making this idea a reality and furthering our campaign, so more information is to come around this new development. Imagine, you will help the environment through specific tree placement and planting as well as help provide work opportunities and education to University students. Imagine a campaign like this in the U.S. Wow! Working because we care is not only going to sell a whole lot of shoes for our client, but we are also proactively taking care of people and the environment. Maybe we should be a non-profit marketing firm! I hope you have enjoyed today's post! Please comment.

Blessings,
Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing
WIN Firm

Doing our Homework Pays Off

I hope everyone following the WIN Firm is having a fantastic day and I wish you well this weekend! Today's brief topic covers the importance of doing your homework. Our teachers had right all along: we will always have homework! Well, that is true for my colleagues and me at WIN. Are you ready to learn what took us several years to learn in about five minutes?

What we have researched, studied, reviewed, analyzed...or whatever we were doing, has enabled us to develop a strong strategy to delivering our shoe concept. Keep Brazil Beautiful is not a campaign that we sat around singing camp-fire songs one evening and came up with. The social cause of our marketing concept arose many years ago when our executive team began serving on various non-profit boards, because we wanted to make a difference. Guess what we learned over the past 10 years or so serving on these non-profit boards: You want to make a difference too!

I will not bother you with statistics today, though I am sure some of you are interested in data sets. Rather, I will summarize what we have all learned over the span of 10 years: People care about giving, and those who have, do give. Corporations who give see the biggest return for their efforts too! Don't believe me? Have you been to Wal-Mart lately? Did you see all of those shoppers? More important, I hope you noticed how the employees and have taken notice to the non-layoff of employees while other "Big Fish" are downsizing to no end. Wal-Mart gives more than any other corporation and they seek to truly make a positive impact on their communities.

Our shoes are designed on giving back. We know that you care and that you are still buying shoes even if you won't buy that designer outfit. Therefore, our concept is backed by over a decade of actual and direct research, observation and participation. Thanks for reading and please help us Keep Brazil Beautiful.

Blessings,
Chris Teague
V.P. Marketing-WIN Firm

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