Armstrong|Shank Advertising Agency

Are Your Customers Loyal?
By Armstrong|Shank President and CEO Susan Armstrong

Remember that satisfied customers do not necessarily mean loyal customers. Positive growth for a company requires that you maintain your existing customer base as you acquire new ones. Just because customers say they are satisfied with your company doesn’t mean they will always be around. There is always another company claiming to have a better product or a lower price. So how do you retain these customers? Your organization must remain customer focused.

How can you determine if your company is customer focused? Ask yourself these questions:

Company Culture
Does the direction of my organization begin and end with management or the customer?

Does my company view marketing as only a cost center that is reviewed annually, or is it viewed as an advantageous competitive tool that is continuously reviewed?

Understanding Customer Needs
Is our decision-making based upon assumptions and judgement calls, or has our company invested in a systematic way of collecting sales data and market research?

Are our internal business conversations centered around pricing trends and backlogs, or on customer needs, competitive share and integrating customer solutions?

Competition
How well do we know our competition? Do we simply know their product features or do we know the strategies, cost structures and business objectives they are implementing?

Company Structure
Does our company operate on a crisis management and recovery basis, or is it focused on doing it right the first time?

Is our customer communication properly directed toward the appropriate audience segments?

By now you may be asking yourself how your company can create a stronger customer focus. Here are some suggestions:
• Study your competition. Know what they are doing right as well as what they are doing wrong.
• Use technology. Take advantage of software programs that assist you in determining which customers are most profitable to your business. Then take care of these customers and look for others just like them.
• Evaluate internal customer support systems and eliminate procedures that are creating barriers to serving customers effectively.
• Ask questions and then listen. Customer satisfaction can be used as a measuring tool for improving performance.
• Make the customer’s voice heard throughout the company. Customer feedback should make its way into each and everydepartment, not just marketing or operations.

Being market-driven creates loyal customers. Customers appreciate having your attention. In turn, you’ll find customer loyalty provides other benefits such as:

Increased profit margins...Loyal customers are repeat customers. It is always less expensive to maintain a customer relationship than it is to build a new one.

Better perceived value...Loyal customers understand and appreciate value and therefore are less likely to price shop.

Additional advertising...Loyal customers become an extension of your sales team. They provide invaluable word of mouth advertising.

Inexpensive research sources...Loyal customers tell you what they like and don’t like.

Favorable working environment...Loyal customers help create high employee morale and low turnover, thereby creating an atmosphere conducive to attracting good employees.

So the next time someone in your organization says a customer is satisfied, turn and ask him or her the question, “But are we satisfied?” Strive to make every satisfied customer a loyal customer at every opportunity.

Discover Your Unique Selling Point
By Armstrong|Shank President and CEO Susan Armstrong

Every small business owner should know what sets his company apart from the competition and should communicate what that means for customers.

It sounds easy enough, but most businesses only advertise features of products or services. They don't tell customers how they willbenefit from using the product or service.

To develop successful marketing efforts, you must know what motivates your customers to do business with you.

So, the first step in advertising the uniqueness of your product is determining who your customers are. You may have a mix of customers, but remember that 80 percent of your business comes from 20 percent of your customers. Identify that 20 percent.

For example, most fast food restaurant owners would say their customers come from all demographics. They serve everyone from single mothers too tired to cook dinner, to business men looking for a fast lunch. But, the bulk of their business comesfrom men between the ages of 18 and 34. These customers buy the large combo meals and buy lots of them; therefore, fast food restaurants need to keep them in mind when developing their marketing and advertising strategies.

Don't stop with just an idea of your best customer's age and sex. To develop successful marketing efforts, you must know what motivates your customers to do business with you. You should know what they do for a living, what they like to do in their free time, how they feel about your product and life in general. If you don't know where their heart is, it doesn't matter where theirbrain is. Speak with your customers on a regular basis to learn what motivates them.

Once you understand your product, your customer and your competition, you can determine how to effectively market your company.

In order to know what sets your company apart, you also must know your competition. Visit their stores to see how they do business, and learn their weak points.

Once you understand your product, your customer and your competition, you can determine how to effectively market your company. The first step in this process is determining the benefits your company provides.

Play the "so what" game with your own product. Put yourself into the position of your best customer and consider the features of your product or service. Make a chart listing those features in the first column. Ask yourself "So, what does that feature mean for customers?" Put your answer in the secondcolumn, and ask a second question: "Why should my customer care about this?" By the third column, you should have a selling proposition identified.

For example, say a feature of your company is that it has been in business for 50 years. Before you start advertising that feature, ask "so what." Your answer may be that your company has gained a lot of experience in the past 50 years. Again, ask "so what." This time your answer is that 50 years of experience means your company works quickly with few mistakes. That's your selling proposition. If it's unique — something no one else does — it's your unique selling proposition, and it should be used as the basis for all of your advertising messages.

Remember, though, that your USP is just a starting point. Once you have defined it, you now must tell your company's story in a way that captures the mind and heart of your customers. Think about what really matters to your best customers and write your message as though you were speaking with them. If the message speaks straight to them, they will start listening.

Seeing Into the Future
By Armstrong|Shank President and CEO Susan Armstrong

Do you wonder what the future holds for your business?

Your answer should be a resounding "yes," and you should be preparing for it. Planning now will allow you to prepare for change and better react when change happens. Most small business owners don't know where to start when it comes to planning for the future.

We all get caught up in our day-to-day business and trying tothink very far ahead can be overwhelming. But, that's just what we need to be doing, and there are simple steps we can follow to ease the process. Whether you are thinking about how to market your company to gain an edge over the competition, which
products/services your company should provide, or anything else that will affect your future, work through these steps in your decision-making process:

1. Think globally first.
The first step in planning for the future is thinking about national and global trends that affect your business. For example, if you run a nursing home, trends that affect you would include the aging of Baby Boomers, the increase in life expectancy and the growing popularity of retirement homes.

2. Decide how the trends will affect your business.
The nursing home owner can expect an increase in individuals needing care and needing care for longer periods. But, she can also expect to lose some business to retirement homes if she doesn't prepare.

3. Decide how you will adapt to the trends.
You may decide you are comfortable competing in the changing environment, so you don't need to do anything. Or, you may decide your business will become obsolete and you need to find another line of work. But, more likely you can make changes in your business that will position it to succeed in the future.

For example, the nursing home owner may decide the increase in the aging population and the growing popularity of retirement homes will offset each other and not affect her business much. Or, she may decide to buy a retirement home to increase her competitiveness.

Agencies that specialize in marketing also can help you decide what sets your company apart from the competition.

4. Now play the what-if game.
Think about the worst disaster that could happen to your business. It could be hit by a tornado, or you could lose all your computer data. Which disaster you choose really doesn't matter. Think about how your business would be impacted by the disaster and create a disaster plan.

Although it is unlikely your targeted disaster will ever occur, other things you never imagined may happen. Having an idea of how you would react to one situation will aid you whenever any disaster strikes.

Agencies that specialize in marketing also can help you decide what sets your company apart from the competition, what change your future may hold and how to prepare. For example, Armstrong|Shank has helped clients rename their business when previous names have become antiquated. We have also provided clients with image campaigns, which can better position those organizations in the future.

Planning for the future is somewhat of a risk. Even with careful planning, the marketplace may take unexpected turns. But if you have a mind-set of regularly planning for change, you will be better prepared when that change occurs.

A Simple Yardstick for a Complicated Business
by Armstrong|Shank Graphic Designer Bruce Hinel

Desktop publishing has created a best-of-times-worst-of-times situation for advertisers. While the decreased cost of computers and graphics software has given most companies an affordable way to produce communications materials in-house, it has also left many of them with the unfortunate impression that creating good advertising is as easy as owning good equipment. This is like saying you can become an aircraft mechanic by purchasing a hangar full of tools and technical manuals. Designers go to school for four years, then spend another two to three in the work place learning to apply literally thousands of art and software "tricks" to the psychology of advertising.

The ease with which ineffective advertising can be produced these days makes it more critical than ever for business owners and marketing directors to sharpen their graphic
judgment skills.

I'm not trying to put down consumer-friendly graphics software; it has its applications. But the ease with which ineffective advertising can be produced these days makes it more critical than ever for business owners and marketing directors to sharpen their graphic judgment skills.

Here are some general ideas to kick around next time you look over an ad, logo, brochure, newsletter or any other "designed" piece intended to represent your company or product:

• How will the work be used?
  This may limit the amount of detail that will work because newspapers, for example, use a much   coarser line screen than four-color brochures.
• Do the colors fit?
  Colors alone say a lot about a company or a product.
• Does your font give positive visual cues about what your company or product does?
• Does the design work aesthetically, yet communicate clearly?
  Does it precisely communicate the right information with
  the right "feel?" A design style that works well for a law
  firm will not work for a toy store or a manufacturing business.
• Does the design contain elements appropriate to the use of the piece?
  A billboard, for example, must make its point in five seconds, while a brochure may have five minutes-  or more-to do its work on a qualified prospect.

These guidelines can help you focus your assessments of graphic design. It's equally important to focus the purpose of a piece, before writing and layout ever begin, then to remain faithful tothat purpose as the work progresses. Every piece has a specific application-a desired result toward which every design decision should contribute. Don't try to combine all your purposes into one "great" piece because the viewer may miss the real message entirely.

"But come on," you're probably thinking. "How much difference can good design really make? Why pay a marketing firm's designers to manage and execute your company's image, when you could do it yourself for a lot less?"

I'll answer that question with a question: Why do companieswith professional, consistent and appropriate graphic images have names like Coca Cola, Ford
and Microsoft?

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The Right Stories to the Right Media
by Armstrong|Shank Director of Public Relations Sherry Graham Howerton

The key to getting news coverage for your business is telling the right stories to the right media in the right way. It sounds easy enough. But, most businesses don't put enough thought into the news releases they send to the media. That's why newspaper editors throw away 95 percent of all the news releases they receive.

The first step in writing a news release is determining whether it should be written.

Many are simply advertisements. Others aren't appropriate for the publication's audience. If the editor isn't convinced that readers will care about receiving the information, the story will be tossed.

So, the first step in writing a news release is determining whether it should be written. Your information must be newsworthy—it cannot be a blatant ad for your company. If you're not sure whether the information is newsworthy, call an editor or reporter and see what they think. It's also helpful to read the targeted publication to get a feel for what is covered.

Once you have determined that your information will make a good story, decide what is most important for readers to know and write a lead for the story. The first paragraph should tell readers what the story is about in 30 words or less.

The rest of the story should include the who, what, when, where, why and how, and should be written in inverted-pyramid style. Put your most important information first. Editors will cut your story from the bottom if they don't have enough room. Keep the story as short as possible, and keep sentences and paragraphs short. Most paragraphs in news stories are one or two sentences. The news release itself should be kept to one page if at all possible; don't exceed two pages. Use white 8 1/2" by 11" paper with one-and-one-half or double-spaced lines on the front only.

Know the names of the editor and news directors and address the envelope to them.

News releases should be written in Associated Press (AP) style. Style books are available at most bookstores, and they provide style rules for things such as state abbreviations, numerals and titles. The importance of following AP style cannot be stressed enough — editors don't want to waste their time rewriting releases because of
style problems.

Include quotes in the news release. They liven up a story and give it credibility, but make sure they are relevant.

Once you've written the release, spell check and edit it. Some editors will automatically throw away releases that included any mistakes. A news release with spelling, grammar or factual mistakes has no credibility.

Be sure to include correct contact information (name, phone number, and email address). Include an evening phone number if at all possible because many editors and reporters work evenings and weekends. Also include release information, such as "For Immediate Release."

Find out how your media contacts prefer to receive the information. Some use email exclusively, others still prefer hard copies by mail or fax, many utilize both. When sending out the release includepictures if possible, because they can add greatly to the story.
Know the names of the editor and news directors and address the envelope to them. Follow up when the news release involves a time-sensitive event. I've experienced more than once that, for whatever reason, the media contact didn't receive the release and would not have covered the event had I not placed a follow up call.

It's all about doing it right: telling the right story to the right media at the right time, and in the right way. With a little insight, planning and effort, you simply can't go wrong!

Taking the Lead in Tough Times
By Armstrong|Shank President and CEOSusan Armstrong

In the face of tough economic times, many companies are compelled to find financial savings wherever they can. Marketing budgets are often the first to suffer.

History tells us smart advertisers will increase their marketing budgets during an economic downturn—thus making precious gains in market share. Still, it isn’t easy to find the dollars to make this commitment. Small- to medium-size businesses often take such severe hits to their bottom lines that they must do everything possible to reduce their losses.

When budgets for traditional promotional endeavors are frozen, decreased or altogether eliminated, companies should make a renewed commitment to marketing programs that offer a measurable return on their investment (ROI.)

The question is, can short-term savings from slashed marketing budgets truly offset the lost market share (and the business it represents) in the future? And, what should a company do about marketing when they must reduce budgets to match shrinking sales formulas?

We recommend the following:

1. Protect your current business. Thank your loyal customers and let them know you appreciate them. Invest in relationship marketing efforts that result in repeat sales.

2. Maintain your lead generation program. If you don’t have one, now’s the time to develop one. You’ll need new business to fill in the gaps caused by shrinking orders from current customers.

3. Increase your ROI. Focus on programs that produce direct, measurable results.

There are several ways to accomplish these three goals:

Current Plan Review—Take a fresh look at your objectives. Review your marketing strategy. Are your databases regularly updated? Is contact activity reported and followed up on? Are you implementing a consistent, ongoing, multi-tiered campaign? As any good marketer knows, one contact is never enough—make sure your plan involves multiple opportunities for a potential customer to respond.

Suspects vs. Prospects—Does your program separate the suspects (marginal opportunities) from the prospects (optimal opportunities)? If not, you could be wasting time and money soliciting business from people who won’t ever become customers. Look at your current customer profile and use the information to find more prospects with a similar profile. If a prospect (or suspect in this case) never responds to calls or other forms of contact, move him to an inactive database and move on to a more promising lead.

Strategy—Have you identified different strategies for different decision makers? Is your message appropriate to the prospect you’re targeting? For example, providing the CEO of XYZ Company with some relevant market information likely will be a more successful approach than dropping by with a clever coffee mug. (However, the coffee mug could open the gates with Mr. Jones’ influential assistant.) Everything about your presentation—from creative strategy to the ask—is critical to engaging a potential customer and generating a response, and each communication should connect specifically with its intended target.

Materials and Support—Does your staff have the information it needs to carry out the plan? What sales incentive programs will help your team be successful? Are materials available and current—sales brochures, direct mail pieces, email campaigns, sample packets, interactive Web tools, CDs, incentives, etc.?

Measurement—If you’re not measuring your results, you’re wasting your precious marketing budget. Tracking response is critical to establishing cost per lead, cost per sale and ultimately your program’s success. It is a tool for helping you fine-tune your efforts and it’s the only way to be accountable to ROI—otherwise you’re simply guessing. Use coupons, specific offers, business reply cards, tracking codes, Internet-based tools and telemarketing inquiries, to name just a few of the ways you can track response.

Results—If they’re marginal, regroup. If they’re amazing, double your efforts. Most importantly, don’t lose sight of your program with day-to-day activities or economic upturns. In fact, your success during tough times could ultimately command additional budget and become the basis of your future marketing program.

Now is the perfect time to focus on and expand specific strategies that retain customers, generate leads and enhance your ROI. Start today!

A Bolt from the Blue
by Armstrong|Shank Creative Director Ed Shank

The creative process is shrouded in mystery. Original ideas areimagined by some to come from thin air. Their creators are put on a par with shamans, thought to coax new ideas from vapor through use of voodoo or black magic - the bigger the animal sacrificed, the bigger the idea. It makes for nice drama, but it's untrue. It's time for demystification.

It's my contention that regardless the discipline: be it advertising, engineering, or baby sitting, if a person needs to generate an "original" idea, or a better way of accomplishing something, the method used is similar, whether the author realizes it or not. The creation of any idea is an ordered process of research, systematic thinking, and inspiration. Further, if you're aware of how the process works, your chances for a satisfactory outcome improve dramatically.

Most of us are aware of the third step in the process. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to learn a great many people think the third step is the process. The third step is the "Eureka" phase. When my generation was children, there was a television program, which may be in reruns today, called Bewitched. The premise is an advertising executive is married to a comely witch. Because he's in advertising, he is regularly in need of ideas. I can't remember if the witch figures into his eventual ideas, but he consistently is thunderstruck with one wonderful idea after another—seemingly from out of the blue. And, in fact, that is how the third step works, but not if one fails to do step one and step two properly. And step one and step two are easy to rush through or ignore altogether, because they involve hard work.

Do your homework
Let's assume you need to come up with a big idea for your job. Your boss, your company, and your client are counting on you. But where do you start? Do you simply sit down with your yellow pad of paper and a pencil and wait for inspiration to strike? You could, but without some preparation first, you might sit there for a long time without success.

The first step is a logical step. I call it the homework phase. This is when the person challenged does his or her utmost to learn everything about the problem at hand. You ask questions of knowledgeable persons, you use references available through the library, you check the Internet, you read product literature and technical brochures, you watch films, consult a psychic, if you like; in short, do whatever you can to become as expert as possible on your subject.

Then you condense and organize the material and your notes into concise data that's easily referenced. There's little glory in conducting research. Spending hours pouring over material
looking for the essence of the problem you're trying to solve can be tedious work. There's no immediate reward. There's no hero's welcome at the office or home for bucking up and mushing through. It doesn't make you more attractive to the opposite sex. It won't fight tooth decay. But it will provide the kernels from which great thought will grow.

New combinations
It's my personal belief that with the possible exception of math and the sciences there are no new ideas, simply new combinations of existing ideas. There are still a lot of great discoveries to be made however. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said "know nature and then know thyself." Many of our great and most useful inventions are an extension of that thought, and are ideas adapted from nature. The movement of many machines is based on human
anatomy. The geodesic dome is a structure found in plants. Velcro is the result of an inventor hiking in a field and getting cockleburs stuck on his socks.

Some might argue that computers today are creating product names that are new combinations of letters. The idea to develop the naming program was an outgrowth of lists on paper. And the names themselves are derivatives of others.

So, we now have our raw material for generating "new" thought. What's next? How do you proceed toward finding the answer? Each person will have his or her own preferred technique. My personal favorite is to sit down with a pen or pencil and a yellow legal pad
upon which to jot down thoughts. Step two is the perspiration phase. I think it was Thomas Edison who said any new idea is ninety-nine percent perspiration and one-percent inspiration, or some such figures. This is when you think through and write down all possible combinations. At this point there is no such thing as a bad idea. Any thought counts. Whatever pops into your head makes its way to paper. Once you've exhausted every solution you can think of, you put it all away.

"Eureka, I think I've got it."
Now comes the fun part: step three. This is where you get to play, or go to a movie, or go fishing or whatever your heart desires. Do anything to put the problem out of your mind. But, for this step to be successful, you must be honest with yourself. Have you really done your homework and then labored over new combinations? If so, your hard work will bear fruit. If not, you can wait until Christmas without success.

And then, it's Eureka!, the answer you've been searching for. I've known professionals who've perfected their skill in the use of this technique to the point that they'll have several ideas incubating simultaneously. Their brains become assembly lines cranking out one useful idea after another right on schedule, just like clockwork.

A few years ago I saw Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones interviewed. The interviewer asked him the source of the tune for the Stone's signature rock anthem Satisfaction. Richards responded it came to him in his sleep. He said he'd been thinking about the song, plunking around in the studio on his guitar. He awoke in the middle of the night with the now famous opening chords in his head. Being awakened in the middle of the night with the big idea is so common that many notable thinkers sleep with pen and paper at their bedsides. When the mind's relaxed, the subconscious comes to life. Big ideas often come when shaving, waiting for a train, or while seated in a movie theatre.

If you're a driven person, you might find it hard to relax and put your problem aside, at first. Once you try the four-step method described here (step four is yet to come) and find it works, you'll find that the next time it's easier to let your conscious mind rest while your subconscious mind goes to work.

Exposing your baby to the bright lights
The final step, step four, is sharing your new idea with others. What do they think? In the opinion of others, is the idea a winner or a clunker? I've had experiences where an idea seemed brilliant in the dark of night, but, when brought out for close examination in the bright morning light, a lot of warts appeared.

It doesn't matter how good you think the idea is if you can't sell it to others. A word of caution here though. Others repeatedly refuse many great ideas, especially novels. The man who invented the original Weed Eater took his design to one manufacturer
after another. It was refused by all. Finally he raised the money and manufactured the product himself. Interestingly, for many years afterward, all similar products were licensed for manufacture under the same patent, with fees going to the inventor. So just because others don't take to your idea doesn't necessarily mean you struck out.

So that's the formula. Although it won't necessarily make you a creative genius, it will improve your opportunity for success. As for how the subconscious mind works and where the ideas come from, that's material for another discussion. But, in the meantime, do your homework, then relax and have a great idea.