In the world of products for sale, enticing customers to buy, and well thought up branding strategies, there have always been gambles among the sure fire attempts. In the 1980’s, computers were coming into play to really analyze data and markets, but a lot of demographic research was with focus groups, and still is today. There are companies that realize the selection process, filtering of data, and asking consumers what they like best about certain TV and print ads is one of the biggest commodities on Earth; some solid knowledge of buyer psychology. Whenever a business can secure funds to get a well known celebrity on board, they have to be very meticulous when selecting one.
In 1984, in a hard to imagine state of the trade, Nike was a struggling shoe company. Converse and Adidas at the time were hitting much heavier, and that year, Nike had a 500,000 dollar advertising budget. After several meetings, they decided to drop the entire amount on Jordan, who at that time was a rookie for the Chicago Bulls. The thought behind the gamble was that it was going to take something so fresh and revolutionary to turn the brand around, that this drastic motion was needed to move forward. It was rumored that when Michael first went to Oregon to meet with Nike he didn’t have any intention of signing with them.
During his pitch meeting, they showed him a montage of slow motion clips from his college days and some newer ones of his ability to jump, move through the air backwards, and command the ball. Many people that became fervent fans of the shoe line were not aware that the black and red colors were not among his favorite. He was simply not impressed in the least and had significant brand loyalty with Converse. When Jordan won the slam dunk contest In Seattle for 1986, the logo was transformed into the “jumpman” logo of today. As far as the ethos and personification of this logo, it was iconic. The way in which it was printed and laid out, it was a logo that defined perseverance and a strange sense of happiness in unison. Some think it was one of the last pure advertising campaigns that had pre teens wanting to be somebody who was truly wholesome. What many DO know is that Nike went on to become the biggest shoe company in the world, and they are simply adored by collectors who take the product line just as seriously as any high end should be taken.
Erin Patton was considered the mastermind behind a lot of this product marketing push, and has also worked to create Shaq’s huge image presented now on behalf of Comcast Cable. Groups like Tribe Called Quest and Public Enemy helped shape his and many other mindsets during that time, and growing up in Pittsburgh, an avidly sports frenzied town; gave him even more knowledge about the psychology involved in audience connection with athletes. Another genius plan behind Jordan that Patton concocted was making sure the barbers all had the newest pairs. Making sure the hip hop artists had the latest pair was essential as well, but Patton knew the barbershop was such a gathering place for urban influence that it was imperative to engage them with fresh product.
This was genius, as was Nike’s gamble to spend that 500,000 dollars almost thirty years ago. The fight to retain astronomical celebrity talent rages on, with plenty of successes and failures. This was one intense success story, on behalf of someone who could sail backwards through the air to dunk like nobody’s business.
Designed for victims of the Wall Street Crash to enjoy; this perfume Joy by Jean Pataou in Paris radiates happiness; and is concocted from the scents of many flowers. Deep and rich, it is still a fragrance to ring in future prosperity, and not wallow in the problems of the past. Its 800$ per ounce price tag shouldn’t be thought twice about, just like upper end champagne or diamonds; it will make you sparkle.
In February of 2013, Etsy sold $92.7 million in goods. That is quite a feat, and there are roughly 10 million visitors per month. If you are crafting, painting, making any kind of jewelry or art, it is a great place to get your marketing feet wet and start vending. There are a few things you need to look at to do Etsy professionally, and we’ll guide you in the right direction. Some entrepreneurs are fearful about using a third party vendor because they feel they will lose control of their product, and fall prey to a large company with minimal customer service. What you are advertising has to be legitimate and unique, but it is very obvious that Etsy is doing something right. Etsy has been known to be a great place to test out an art line or new product you’ve been dreaming about, and now could be the time for you to make the exciting and dramatic leap.
One of the first hurdles when you deal with trying to make a profit on Etsy is finding a unique product. It is painful but true to admit that this could take months. You really have to browse quite a bit to see what is selling and what is not. You may find something really unique and cool that looks great, and not be able to pinpoint the trend of sales; why is it doing well one day, but not on another. Most people who are making a full time living from Etsy have been doing it for quite some time. However this is in no way a reason not to get started! Having a product people really go bananas over will drive your traffic for you, but it takes time. Little things like accessories, vintage items and crochet are the heaviest hitters on this website.
You can drive traffic to your Etsy store in quite a few more ways than just letting it sit. When the hard work of creating the craft and photographing it well is done, let it sit for awhile and see if it generates interest. Even if it doesn’t right away, there are things you can do. Some people say that putting the store on Facebook and Twitter can do wonders, and it can. Your Facebook network will get reminders in their news feed that you have items up for sale, and can browse them and share them with other people. But you can also take things a step further and make your own You Tube commercials for you wares. The best thing to do is place your wares on a table or in front of a white wall, then slowly pan around the item with a video camera and talk about it. Viewers love to hear your inspiration on the project, and what spurred your interest or passion for the piece.
Once you have You Tube commercials up for your Etsy store, you put in the description the link to your Etsy store. You can even use the character generator on programs like Movie Maker and Adobe Premiere to have the URL address up the entire duration of the video, and have the text move around and fade out. As far as keywords in the video AND in Google, stick to the basics. Add things like “best” and “great” and it can inch you ahead. The analytics and SEO game is a tough one, and sometimes your great products will speak for you and generate revenue. After all your other bases are covered, there’s another round of ammo in your Etsy entrepreneur package: a blog.
You can write about things that drive interest, vintage subjects, photography, or clothing…. And then strategically place the URL or “link back” to your Etsy store. And when it comes to blogging: if it starts to stress you out, just lay off for a day or two. This is a “side door” if you will, to the storefront. It’s not your storefront itself, although many Etsy sellers are so serious that they will only talk product on their link back blog. News headlines, happenings, local opinions, and the like are all fair game, but if you stray away from your store front content, just casually draw your audience back in within three days or so.
Give them a few photos, or even pat another Etsy seller on the back for their products. There is an organic movement and drive for products that aren’t mass produced and are homegrown. The journey is hard and competitive, but rewarding; and as always, the web can give you many resources to boost your edge. If you skip a step, like the Facebook blasts or YouTube commercial ..whenever you get time, go back and do it; just trust me, the results are out there for the hard, independent business person to reap.
These black and transparent albertina podium heels are buffed in black leather, and anything but usual. Made in Italy by Givenchy, the transparent top is an entirely risky, non simplistic design move. Even if some women think it visually “doesn’t work”, this would be one interesting and fine piece to add to your collection. There’s just so much going on here that is quizzically in its prime, and in a standalone class.
This large Veneta intrecciato leather hobo bag by Bottega Veneta is as classy as a showroom mirror or dirtiest martini in the bar. Almost bringing a 1930’s style and swagger to your table and hands, the nude color and characteristics would get any fashionable woman in their right mind excited about walking out the door with it. This is one of those pieces that is so high up there it probably purrs in your carseat while you drive; pure upper end style.
This ready to drink assortment of cocktails was started 4 years ago, by Bethenny Frankel. Two years later, the brand was sold to the booze giant Beam for what was reportedly an epic sum of money. In 2012, it was reported that sales climbed 400%. This is truly newsworthy, for anyone in the realm of cocktail marketing, or marketing period. As we researched comments and opinions on the web, the taste of their flagship drink, the skinny girl margarita, was not as sickeningly sweet as some other brands out there.
As we peeked at their social media pages, we noted some trademarks of their logos and some key things that may have boosted their brand so high in today’s over competitive, shark filled tank of marketed drink products. Being endorsed by the Bravo network did not hurt; at a time when people were cutting the cable and going strictly to internet Bravo still had a huge female demographic pull.
First of all, the logo on the Twitter site has a very distinct and voracious red behind the circle that is almost reminiscent of a polka dot dress; or something billowy and easy. It almost conveys a hammock or fresh linen, then inside the circle is the woman with a black dress, red top, and holding out a cocktail in her left hand. One of the most ingenious things done with Skinnygirl marketing is the portrayal of the skinny girl herself. Yes, she is very thin, but the ponytail and the very simplistic portrayal was decidedly not high maintenance; it was almost a “sensible Sally” looking girl, maybe a step away from a librarian, not a runway walking catty type donna.
In 2011, it is said this company sold 586,000 cases of their liquid, low cal ware. One of their only minor hiccups in their branding journey was when Whole Foods stopped carrying the line because of a preservative that did not meet their standards for pre-inspection. This was definitely noted in a shaky economy, but for many reasons, sales of vodka were up. Skinny Girl has a line of wines as well, a very savvy move for anyone in the lovable liquids line of work. Part of the success of the line is no doubt the creator had already written books about attaining skinniness.
In 2009, she released The Skinny Girl Dish: Easy Recipes for your Naturally Thin Life. Drinks like White Cranberry Cosmo and Pina Colada added to the appeal and selection of the line as well. The cucumber, Island coconut, Tangerine, original margarita, and bare naked are vegan friendly as well, a huge plus in the current climate. Once laughed at, the vegan lifestyle is no longer a laughing matter, with tons of people following the footsteps of a healthier choice in what they pour down the hatch; and always being happy to stay skinny.
The main staple of promise and business that launched TOMS; giving to someone in need a pair of shoes for every consumer pair purchased. There are more than 75 shoe companies that partnered up with the manufacturer to help people in need and it doesn’t stop there; the same partners oversee other issues like vocational training, school support, and youth leadership. The shoes given are a canvas black slip on modeled for comfortable distance or village walking and play, with reputable durability. Nations such as Bangladesh, Belize, Kenya, Mexico, and Uganda are some of the receivers of the shoes.
The videos TOMS uses are very engaging and have earthy textures, childlike feeling with acoustic tones. In one video a couple meets each other while each wearing the brand, and only their feet are shown throughout, tapping each other and scooting closer together on a bench. Believe it or not, this almost brings into play the same dynamic that made the “Mad Men” TV show so successful. The video is a little bit timeless, and makes the consumer drift mentally to an era perhaps without as much technology and distraction. The way it’s done is by focusing on the feet only, and creating an audience for one part of their branding in which the couple meet at a vintage store. This is very important to win over the customer who would be concerned about the foreign aid programs of TOMS; one who is not consumed with mass materialism.
TOMS is one brand that really used Pinterest to their advantage as well. Doing this a step above the rest is critical, in the beginning if you just roll out a strategy quickly in order to do something, all hope and prospective sales may be lost. What TOMS did is encourage customers on Pinterest to show pictures of their pairs of the shoes, and discuss and suggest cool places to wear and place the shoes. As with YouTube and video comments, the conversations that happen here are very valuable; and the goal can be reached of eventually getting into the customer’s subconscious and reminding them they need to buy another pair. Blake Mycoskie, the founder of the company decided to start the venture after an eye opening trip to Argentina, where he saw too many shoeless for his own comfort. After a very successful batch, he sold his driver’s education company to fund the rest of the venture.
Highlights of TOMS marketing strategy were going to university campuses to promote the line, and an AT&T commercial that filmed a shoe drop in Uruguay, therefore painting the company as a Robin Hood of sorts in a dismally capitalistic world. It doesn’t matter that TOMS shoes are a for profit venture, the fact remains, there is a mission to give shoes to those in need and its always going to lure future peace corps folks, liberal missionaries, and tree planting types globally. Some of these individuals need more than a gentle push to go out and buy a product but when you look at entities like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, the granola marketing strategies are very diverse, and they do win people over.
Many of these buyers are college educated, giving them more money for the product of TOMS as well. Setting up something like partners that will give away shoes when you sell a pair will not happen overnight. There are so many ways to give these consumers opportunities to help those in need. TOMS has proven this, and has also reaped the hard earned fruits for 7 years now.
In the world we live in with an over abundance of digital marketing, copy cat templates, and quick schemes, it’s easy to forget the definition of image and branding. As dry as it is to rehash, the dictionary definition is “The act of giving a company a particular design or symbol in order to advertise its products or services”. Many successful companies really took off by going to colleges, airports and other travel hubs to hand out freebies. Things like mugs and stress balls were not part of the original branding strategy, but a vital part in spreading the brands image out to people’s bare hands. Another famous quote about a logo that sticks with people and is effective is “It will cost you in money but not in respectability”. There are many businesses like small rental car companies and apartments that’ve chosen to have multiple different logos; a potential mistake.
Another mistake that happens quite frequently in the current climate is making sure that all of the employees are not completely engaged, treated with dignity, and believe in the brand. There are many companies with good branding and image potential but ruin themselves by not giving employees paid vacations, not caring if they have high turnover, and just generally creating a hostile environment. What happens here is the CEO’s and the higher ups are looking for ways to improve the bottom line. But then, through internet resources like Glass Door, they slowly start to turn buyers away through bad reviews on behalf of the inside. Don’t let this happen! Simple things like recognition, casual environment, and not having every other person on the chopping block goes a long, long ways, as do environments where you may pull out the occasional video game or have a Nerf gun war.
Steve Jobs once said, “This is a very noisy world, and we’re not going to get a chance to have people remember much about us.” Elisabeth DeMaso, managing partner of Brenes Co, said about Chanel that “The effect of their Ad placement was immediate with social media buzzing about it on day one.” Most recently, they picked Brad Pitt to be their ambassador on several ads and work to cultivate a younger audience. This was a huge campaign and was prominently featured on the New York Times website. The short is very dramatic and Pitt reveals, “My luck, my fate, my fortune. Wherever I go, there you are; Chanel no. 5… inevitable”. They also used banner ads on Pandora’s IPhone application to steer customers and browsers to their smart phone website. Another move Chanel made was linking viewers to their Youtube page instead of the page where you buy right away; giving them more video content before a straight up purchase pitch.
Ernest Beax was the chemist who conjured up the fragrances for Chanel, and the owner at the time selected the fifth. Part of their branding even way back then was using a simpler, square bottle. At the time, bottles with flowers and much more curves were prevalent; it was a tactic that really worked. In a 2009 poll, Chanel No. 5 was described as “The scent for turning a date into a boyfriend”. Back in 1914, Chanel believed that Women did not want to smell like a bed of roses, and yearned for something different. Other brands that compete with Chanel in the industry have found it impossible to imitate and reproduce. Having Marilyn Monroe’s name tied in to the brand helped amazingly in the 1950’s, in a major interview she claimed it was what she wore to bed.
Ridley Scott, who did the iconic movie “Alien” directed commercials for Chanel in the 1970’s, and they were very surreal and helped the product line is many ways. But towards the end of the 1970’s, the brand really needed a makeover and they became nervous as it was even pulled from drugstores because of being perceived as too mainstream. Currently, about 25 million dollars a year is spent to advertise Chanel No.5, and Nicole Kidman helped immensely in recent years as well as Brad Pitt for movie star enticement. There are many things that Chanel did right; and with a little wisdom, strategy and proper logo design, so can others. There’s a wide world out there ready to pony up for your product!
There’s tons of buzz about Twitter, Pinterest, and even using apps like Instagram to promote your business and engage current or future clients. Twitter is growing by the day, and many celebs have already unofficially made the move to it as the preferred way to blast their opinion, or current happenings. The reason why we’re going to focus on Facebook in this article is that while changing every day; it is still one of the “go to” or iconic hotspots in the social media industry, the one that supposedly “almost everyone” is a member of. Also, with Facebook, business pages upload photos very easily, and video as well. If you choose to allow comments, your friends and customers talk about what they like, what they may buy, and the points of interest of your products.
I recently spoke with someone who was hesitant to put his business on Facebook because he was looking at the TV channel “AMC”, who has a very prominent Facebook and social media presence. While looking at the page, he saw a lot of negative feedback. There were fans and other people commenting on posts very negatively, things like, “We don’t give a crap about Mad Men, only Breaking Bad!” Or: “It really sucks that you guys have so many commercials now instead of content!” Let’s look at a few things. AMC, whether you love or hate them, has plenty of content. Trust us. They do. They put money into it, they shoot it, produce it, and it is above average. If a few folks make bad comments, it does not matter. They will be buried soon by other comments and frankly, life goes on with your startup or business.
This individual was afraid to put his business on Facebook because he didn’t have the time to field negative comments and the like such as “Used your business, didn’t do anything for me”. Well, revolutionary brands like Sony and Verizon have had people complaining about them, but they still need an online presence and generate tons of revenue. DO NOT worry about petty folks who comment all day and try to drag you down. Whatever product or service you’re marketing, eventually as long as you do not have a home office in a dank dungeon and provide some form of reliable craft, these things really do iron themselves out. A lot of business owners are hesitant to get on Facebook because they picture it as just gossip; things they do not care about being updated in the news feed. Sometimes when you are using Facebook to engage clients, it is hard to track the results. Let’s say you run a pet grooming business.
So every third or fourth day, you run pictures of cute pets, and different tips on how to groom them, even at home. You slowly add suggestive advertising, like the fact that your store is running a special or has a great new certified employee. The thing about Facebook is that yes, you have your business phone number on the page and some customers will call directly from that, but otherwise you are passively AND actively marketing at the same time. That is, you may not know when your business picks up directly because of your Facebook activity; you may not know if a cute picture of pet or relevant post about grooming got them to call. But, since for now, Facebook is free to join, it is imperative to have a business page, add friends, post videos, and reach out in general.
The purveying fear about joining Facebook as a business is some people won’t like your giveaways, sponsors, announcements, and everything that avenue entails. It really will be ok.. you almost have to face the fear of negative publicity, as much as it may remind you of celebrity train wrecks and the like. With Facebook, if you choose you can disable comments, when a storm comes with negativity, you can get back on track quickly. For something like a photography business, Facebook rules. You can post video, pics, opinions, quickly and it shows up in end user’s news feeds. And that’s the most important quality of Facebook, when someone “Likes” something or posts a response, it shows up in others newsfeeds, directly to their smartphone. We will look at tweeting and others soon…but Facebook is not going anywhere. Keep your business page separate from your personal, and prosper. Well, we know Spock said something like that, but we really do mean it.
