Marketing Lessons from Speech Contests

We're holding a lot of speech contests this month in the Toastmasters International organization.  Contestants are vying for titles in both prepared and extemporaneous speaking.  Watching, so far this season, over thirty speakers (and many more in past contest cycles) I am ever more conscious of how a speech contest can provide useful lessons for marketing a small business.

For one, many contestants don't package themselves well.  There is something to dressing for success in these things and in contrast the average speaker appears to have emerged from work in the garage or from a back yard barbecue.  What is more this ultra-casual style is often accompanied by scowls, fidgeting, and poor posture.  The image can be that the contestant isn't taking things seriously or just doesn't want to make the extra effort to optimize presentation.

For another, many contestants don't have the best product.  That product---their speeches---is at times (a) poorly organized, (b) delivered without confidence, (c) difficult to understand, (d) littered with "crutch" words and sounds, (e) presented without energy, and (f) absent of logic.  And often the speaker doesn't think about the audience and doesn't couch things or speak in a way that recognizes that audience.

The result is predictable.  The product and presenter lose points with the judges.  The judges select the competitor that offers the best product on the table and who gives the most in presenting that product.  Sound familiar?

Bottom line:  The business that takes the time and trouble to present a good product or service in the most appealing way, recognizing the audience and its needs, is the one most likely to make the sale.  If speech contest judges understand that, it's a good bet that any customer does as well.

Some Guerrilla Market Research Techniques

Let's face it: market research can be very expensive.  It's getting difficult to to anything with a market research company for less than $10,000.  And as a result, many small businesses simply do without.  But there are some tricks for learning things that don't require a major cash outlay.

One tactic is "guerrilla market research".  This is based on the idea that we pick up our best intelligence from looking for ourselves.  A competitor brick and mortar can be observed: I've taken a seat on a bench and watched customers enter and leave and made notes about who I saw.  Obviously one should be respectful and not camp out at the front door for this.  Mystery shopping is a related technique that allows allows for the observation of product lines and pricing, for example.

It's a little harder to watch competing service providers, people who work from home, say.  But there are business expos now and then that competitors may use and that's an opportunity to see who the most interested prospects might be.  Most of all we can look at competitors on social media or web sites and see who engages with the business.  

Bottom Line: Don't not do market research because money is a concern.  There are ways---many ways---to observe a market that don't cost a fortune and which provide solid, useful data.

Have We Lost Credibility?

Advertising is replete with claims.  It has to be by its very nature.  A business can only attract customers by asserting that it can solve problems those customers might be having.  But that said, there is a very fine line between making a credible claim and, well, lying.  Sadly a prospect who has become jaded by some bad experiences may reject many other advertising claims.

How, then, to establish credibility within an advertising message?

The first advice I give is to avoid fantastic claims.  This ranges from the sly intimation that various cosmetics or "enhancements" will make one more attractive to the simple but absurd label on the pizza box that says "now try the best."  If it sounds over-the-top to you, it will also to a prospect.

The second advice is to support a claim that may sound boastful with some data, either in the form of a testimonial or survey or some such.  If you can prove that "our customers say we have the best in town", then feel free to make the claim.

And the third advice is stick to plausible but meaningful differentiation.  Do you have a special expertise? is your product made in a unique way?  Your service may not lead to World Peace but it just might be the very right thing for a customer who needs someone who has a certification in forensic accounting.

Bottom Line:  By making extravagant claims you risk alienating prospects.  People are pretty good at spotting nonsense and then disbelieving anything else that's said.  But by making sensible and defensible comparisons one can earn trust and improve the bottom line.

Is Digital Going Too Far?

It is becoming increasingly obvious that the hyper-digital Age is doing a number on interpersonal communication.  Look around you and see how many people are buried in mobile devices, oblivious of other human beings.  Not only that but we're increasingly prodded to take our relationships with others---including customers---to Digital Land in the form of social media.  I'm starting to wonder if we're going in the wrong direction.

Social Media offers a wealth of good outcomes.  We can engage with a wide range of people, reach people when they are not at our location, and connect with incredible networks.  At the same time, we're more easily able to lose ourselves in digital canyons and lose our souls to "digital heroin".

We're going to need to recapture the magic of our humanity to be successful in our businesses.  To whatever extent possible take advantage of opportunities to talk with people.  This can include networking groups, trade fairs, sidewalk sales, open houses, and -- when online -- videos (either recorded or live fed) where we are real human beings and not strings of text.  At the same time we're going to be better differentiated from our competition who are glued to their smart phones!

Bottom Line:  Are you becoming hyper-digitized and losing a chance to speak with customers?  Review how you interact with the wider world and explore ways to introduce your wonderful personality to other people.  Smile, talk, listen and be successful.

Back To Life!

In recent months I have seen at least a number of examples of iconic brand images restored to life.  For those keeping score I include KFC's Colonel (albeit in a creepy form), Green Giant (ditto creepy) , Planter's (well, a bit too creepy also) and Miller Beer (at least the jingle).  I think Koolaid should be on this list, too.  And while Spring picked up the Verizon guy, I count that as a rescucitation.  I must confess to thinking that despite the slight missteps, this is a good idea.

In my youth I was taught never to fix anything that wasn't broken.  But our culture has a driving, insane need to reinvent and rethink and this has played havoc with branding.

Sometimes there are winners.  I would suggest that the GEICO lizard, the Aflac duck and Dos Equis' Most Interesting Man series improved on earlier duds.  But there have been losses.  McDonald's has lost their way.  MetLife is a loser for dumping the Peanuts gang.  And even the "Dell Dude" was much better than anything since.

Too often the baby is thrown out with the bathwater.  We get it when the Frito Bandito is quetly replaced, or when the Hawaiian Punch guy disappeared.  Some images do more harm than good.  But tossing out a well established, harmless association just to be fresh??  There's too much risk the campaign will lose energy or even stray into pure creepiness.  Think The Noid or the Midas Hand.  Hence it pleases me to no end when bad ideas are scrapped and the tried or true strays back into our lives.

Bottom Line:  Not all of us have brand mascots, but we do all have brands.  Any time we change the image and associations we build carefully over time risks a reversal of our gains.  Thus, if you get the urge to refresh things, think twice and ask people who will give you a candid appraisal.  And if you do fall off the rails because of a refresh, think about reviving the best of what came before!

What's With All of the Strange Ads?

Dear friends, I must confess to feeling old, or at least out of place.  What's been ailing me is an increasing trend towards simple strangeness in broadcast advertising.  What was once the preserve of sophomoric beer advertisers has spread to almost every corner.  You name it: drug ads that are either mildly disgustic or barmy; telecomm ads that seem cut for deranged lunatic consumption; burger chains featuring grown men dressed as children; twisted house ads -- there is a heavy undercurrent of weirdness.

I find it off putting.  I don't think that I'm alone.

Once upon a time advertisers touted the advantages of their offering, or at worst rapped the competition.  The target audience was firmly kept in mind and view and they seemed like pretty normal target populations at that.

Nowadays the perceived target demographic is "people with whom I can't possibly identify" and I say that gently.

It is time to get back on track.  Focus on the product or service.  Tell its story.  Demonstrate why we, the audience, should want or need it.  Leave out the weirdos.  Drop the creepy talking puppets and CGI confections.  Avoid the nonsense.

Bottom Line:  Are your ads losing their edge and displaying qualities that might disturb an audience?  Are cute and clever being morphed into strange and stupid?  The turn of the new year is a great time to reset and follow the time honored advertising maxims.

The Danger of Excessive Claims

Lately I have been hearing an advertisement from a "preowned" automobile dealer that specifically names a leading large competitor and the claim that the business in question will beat the price of that competitor and buy cars at a higher price.  Well, gosh, it sounds wonderful.  But the business model sounds impossible to me given that the competitor is pretty well known for low margins because it is a very high volume dealer.

Which brings me to my concern.  I immediately disbelieve this advertiser.  I am entirely skeptical of their claim.

It certainly also calls into question lots of other ads and their claims.  Not all of them are as blatant or easy to spot.  But they can be detected and potential business can be lost.

Our only real action is to slow down the madness by acting as responsibly as we can.  We can look at our own claims and our own messaging to see if we are also making statements that defy credulity.  Is what we say honest? true? defensible? explainable?  Anything short of that is a disservice to people who might be inclined to do business with us.

Bottom Line:  Take some time to look at what you're saying in your own advertising.  Be certain you can credibly stand on every word.  Don't play games in a bid to outdo competitors with cleverness and unbelievable promises.  Better to be super ethical and earn every bit of trust!