Pitching for the Industry
Given the economic challenges that most marketers are facing today, it’s no wonder that the best of them are seeking the expertise of promotional marketing agencies to help not just weather the storm, but beat it.
Sure, some companies are drifting off into the corner, hoping the damage won’t be too severe. But others are walking straight into the fray with a plan in mind — a plan that will not only keep things moving through troubled times, but set the stage for what will happen when the downslide turns into an upturn.
For those of you in the corner, can you still do some things to get back into position for today and tomorrow? Absolutely. And if you’re in the middle of the room, are there things you could be doing better? Absolutely.
One of the first things to do is read and answer the following questions. If you then find yourself saying. “Yeah, that’s pretty much the boat my brand is in,” a call to a promotion marketing agency should be placed as soon as you put down this magazine.
Do you have excess manufacturing capacity, empty seats, vacant hotel rooms, growing inventory?
Is your advertising working less and less effectively over time? Are consumers just not responding as readily now?
Is your media plan getting less and less viable, as reach declines and prices escalate? Do you find yourself having to do less and spend more to get it?
Do your channels of distribution (retailers, distributors, franchisees) need to be rallied and pumped up?
Do your consumers need a little extra push to make a purchase?
Does your current marketing formula need to be recalibrated?
Do you need to ‘prove it’ to your consumers?
Do you have a great story that just needs to be demonstrated?
Do you have a great business plan and key marketing strategies, but need to bring them to life?
Do your internal troops need to be rallied and motivated?
Do you have important target segments that are hard to reach (college kids, ethnic groups, urban trend-setters)?
Are you over-spending on price discounting?
Are you executing last years’ plan again this year, and likely to execute it again next year, with no changes?
Do you see trends in the marketplace that you want to capitalize on, but just don’t quite know how?
Do you not see any trends but wish you could?
Are you getting more than your fair share of consumer minds? Shelf space? Share of category spending? Merchandising?
Are your non-working dollars growing faster than your revenues?
Do you need a faster-acting solution?
Do you want to or need to make a splash in the marketplace?
Do you want to get merchandising out of your media buy?
Do your consumers need some tangible proof to convert?
Do you need to say it and then also to prove it?
Are you launching a new product or service?
Are you relaunching or restaging your brand?
Do you need to bring your brand to life and make it accessible?
Have you gotten all of the awareness and distribution that you need, but revenues aren’t up to budgeted levels?
Do you want your consumers to storm the aisles?
Does your organization lack the muscle memory to learn and improve over time?
There are very few businesses and brands that wouldn’t benefit from a good promotion marketing plan. I can count on one hand the brands that can be driven to their potential just by advertising alone. And, unfortunately, there are too many brands relying on price adjustments (discounts, coupons, etc.) to try and grow. Where does your brand fit in?
If you determine that you need some serious promotion marketing help (a “yes” to at least a few of the above questions suggests you do), how might you go about selecting the right resource for you? We’ve zeroed in on six criteria:
- Does the agency have a proven track record of finding creative solutions?
- Are these creative solutions insight-based and strategically sound? Do they exhibit insights about your business?
- Are their programs ROI-positive? Will their price be lower than the value you receive? Can they demonstrate how they’ll look at this?
- Are they highly service-oriented? Do they go above and beyond? Do they have a ‘can-do’ and ‘will do’ bias?
- Do they have all of the logistics, processes, and discipline to guarantee quality and speed?
- Do you respect their talents and skills and passion, and do you feel a good chemistry with their team?
Of course, this is all just my opinion. You can stay in the corner if you’d like.
Jim Holbrook is president of Zipatoni, St. Louis. He can be reached at [email protected].
