My Grandpa was an Old Spice man long before Isaiah Mustafa made it cool to be one.

First launched by The Shulton Company in 1937, the original product was called Early American Old Spice (for women, oddly enough). They eventually expanded into the men’s products market, using the now-distinctive nautical imagery. It’s only been over the last decade that Procter and Gamble (who purchased the brand in 1990) began expanding the brand with deodorant sticks, body washes, and body sprays.

I have to admit, I would never have thought to pick up a bottle of Old Spice for my husband.

In fact, my earliest memories of Old Spice are all colored with the (circa 1970s) robin’s egg blue bathroom tiles of my grandparents’ bathroom, where the buoy-shaped white bottle was always displayed prominently on the shelf.

In my mind, Old Spice was always an “old man” scent. I mean, it’s called “Old Spice,” for cryin’ out loud.

Fast forward thirty-plus years.

Enter Isaiah Mustafa with his sweater tied jauntily around his shoulders, riding a white horse – evoking imagery that was typically reserved for those romance novels that line the shelves of the grocery checkout line.

The next thing you know, I’m yelling for my husband to stop fast-forwarding through the commercials so I can catch another glimpse of bare-chested Isaiah assuring me that Old Spice can do more for me than improve the scent of my guy.

I admit, I loved the commercials, but I didn’t run out and buy my husband some Old Spice.

Can the Spice Boy Buoy the Sales?

That is the question of the hour. Clearly, P&G was attempting to change perceptions with this ad campaign. When the campaign first launched in February, it quickly racked up over 12 million views. Despite this, in the fiscal year that ended in June, sales of Old Spice were actually down 7 percent.

So here’s the dilemma – P&G has created a media hit with Isaiah… but has the phenomenon overshadowed the brand?

Recently the towel-swathed Isaiah began delivering personalized video messages to fans and followers from where else – the bathroom. He’s burning up Twitter, Facebook and the Old Spice blog with celebrity replies to Ellen Degeneres and Alyssa Milano, among others.

Using celebrities to promote products isn’t a new concept; particularly when the product itself lacks any real distinction — or in the case of Old Spice — has a consumer perception that the brand is outdated. The downside is this — with the “always on” nature of social media, the lifespan of overnight celebrities such as Isaiah (forgive me football fans!) has been shortened dramatically.

P&G runs the risk of quickly overexposing Isaiah (again, forgive me), at which point consumers will lose interest in both the endorser and the brand.

What to do?

Procter and Gamble could extend the shelf-life of this campaign with a few minor changes. Suppose they began doing a nationwide search for real “Old Spice Men?” Brand users could submit short video testimonials of their own, and the best of the bunch could be turned into a commercial for the brand.

What does this accomplish?

First, it will provide social proof. If consumers begin to see lots of hard-bodied young studs are using Old Spice, the brand will again gain buzz and potential popularity. Old Spice would gain brand equity and good will. Lastly, a campaign such as this would also have viral popularity as those who submit entries forward their videos to family and friends. Viral popularity = free advertising…two words that every major brand loves to hear.

It’s too soon to tell how this one will turn out – or whether or not Old Spice will come out smelling like a rose.

We just lost my Grandpa a couple of months’ ago – I only wish he’d lived long enough to see how hip he’d become as an Old Spice guy.

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To say that I have a sweet tooth would be a gross understatement.

As a little girl, I squandered many a weeks’ allowance at the corner store — back when my $2 went a heck of a lot further than it does these days. I’d giddily race home with a sack filled to the brim with all sorts of treats, and at least one (real glass) bottle of soda pop.

Those first few moments after I’d spread out my haul across my desk were mesmerizing. My eyes would dance across the brightly-colored wrappers as I inhaled the enticing fragrance of sugary bliss. Truly this must be heaven!

But it wouldn’t last.

Despite my mother’s continued advice (read: warnings) to ration out my stash over several days, invariably I would indulge a bit too heavy that first day, and end up with a stomach ache.

How could something so good go so wrong?

In a marketplace that is both crowded and noisy, discerning which information is sugar and which is substance can be difficult at best. Sleek graphics, pulse-pumping soundtracks, video imagery and convincing copy have been known to lead many new business owners astray. It happens — and the sad fact is that it happens all too often.

So, before you part with your hard-earned cash, I encourage you to weigh out the nutrition from the nougat. A bit of due diligence in the short term will prevent buyer’s remorse later.

Content:

It’s easy to get caught up in the hype of huge product launches. We all know when they are happening — a sure, clear sign is when every list you belong to suddenly begins churning out the same affiliate copy. What always amazes me are how many mid-level marketers will promote products sight-unseen. They haven’t read that 7-volume monster program that they are pushing you to buy…yet they are putting their reputation on the line by recommending it.

What if the product isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on? Have these marketers given any thought to how you’ll likely respond the next time (and there always is one) they begin promoting the NEXT best thing since Wonder® bread?

Take a good long look at those lists you’re on. If they aren’t providing you with consistent, actionable content, let them go. That goes for those blogs you are reading as well. If you are squeamish about unsubscribing right away, try scanning a few before you decide. The bottom line is any newsletter or blog that you are reading as a trusted resource should be providing more than just a steady diet of promotional pixie sticks.

Quality:

Quality should apply to more than just the visual look of a web venue. What sources do they cite? Is said venue providing you with pertinent and correct information? Are they ahead of the curve, or always a day late?

I recently read an article that talked about how easily misinformation becomes proliferated on the web — simply because folks are too quick (or perhaps just too lazy) to check the facts before republishing information they’ve found elsewhere. Before you become a devotee of the latest trend or tutor — spend some time vetting them out. Read their articles, follow their blog. Check out their social media profiles on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Do they interact with their followers, or pontificate? Do they walk the talk?

Finally, never underestimate the power of a well-executed Google search. Is the information being promoted something that may already exist elsewhere on the web…or heaven forbid (gasp), for free?

Social Proof:

A large part of the appeal of social media is the fact that it has so dramatically impacted consumers’ buying habits. Jumping on sites like Foursquare or Yelp can provide a helpful review on the new restaurant that just opened around the corner. Sites such as AngiesList have sprung up to help save consumers from falling prey to sub-par service providers. I encourage you to use the same discretion before laying out the cash to claim the latest piece of training material.

If you are lucky enough to find a good quality source that you can trust (and there are a great many out there), find out who THEY are reading. Chances are they’ve already mentioned a few of their favorites by way of retweets, blog posts or Facebook shares. If not, it doesn’t hurt to ask.

Employing these tips and some good ole’ fashioned common sense will insure that when it comes time to bite, you’ll have something worth sinking your teeth into.

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There is no disputing the power of a well-written, newsworthy press release. In fact, it is one of the single best things you can do for your business.

Newspapers, magazines, radio and television news programs are filled with stories about businesses and organizations every day. What you may not realize is that those stories are often the result of a press release. There is a bit of skill involved in crafting a truly newsworthy release; the rewards can help stretch your promotional dollar significantly.

In this 8-page, no-fluff guide, I’ll share the 6-step “Publicity Litmus Test,” the 5 critical self-evaluation questions that will result in a killer press release, the 7 steps to successful self-promotion, and 14 resources from my own  personal PR rolodex.

To download your copy, click here.

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Tiger Woods appears to have picked up tips on how to swing — both on and off the course — from his father.

The very public details of the golf icon’s infidelity have been a topic of discussion on this blog before; and, while I hadn’t planned to address it again, the new Nike commercial that aired on April 8th prompted me to rethink that decision.

The controversial ad was created by the Wieden + Kennedy agency, and features a black and white image of Tiger (complete with contrite puppy dog eyes) and the voice of his late father, Earl Woods. If you are scratching your head at that last sentence, you aren’t alone. The audio has been excerpted from a 2004 interview of Earl for the documentary “Tiger: The Authorized DVD Collection.” In that narrative, Earl compares the “authoritative” nature of his wife, Kultida, to his own nature, which he described as “inquisitive.”

The camera zooms in on the somber-faced Tiger while we hear the elder Woods say, “I want to find out what your thinking was. I want to find out what your feelings are.” He continues, “And, did you learn anything?”

Insert your own snarky remark here. I know I did…

As this advertising abbhoration drew to a welcome close, my inner Don Draper was trying to pick his jaw up from the floor. Whatever Nike’s ad titans were smoking when they hatched this idea should prevent them from operating heavy machinery. Or ever writing ad copy again.

If you are looking for “ewwww-factor,” this spot has got it in spades. Between the irony of the Woods duo both being philanderers, or the posthumously parental dress-down — I can’t really say which bothers me more. What I can tell you is that it comes off as disengenuous on the part of both Tiger and Nike. Of course, Nike realizes that any press is good press — and they selected this controversial spot as the first introduction of their favorite golf pitchman back into the market.

The spot made its debut on ESPN, and was appropriately timed to coincide with Tiger’s return to the Master’s Tournament after a five-month long absence. Nike offered in a statement, “We support Tiger and his family. As he returns to competitive golf, the ad addresses his time away from the game using the powerful words of his father.”

Perhaps if Earl had encouraged the young Woods to show as much commitment to his marriage as he did the game, we’d instead be analyzing the commercial marketing genius that was once Tiger’s brand.

For those who may think I’ve been a bit heavy-handed in my criticism of Tiger from a publicity standpoint, you aren’t alone. My younger brother is a huge fan of Woods, (and a heck of a golfer in his own right). Earlier today we spoke on the phone so I could get some perspective from a true fan. “It’s a shame that it happened, but I just really want him to get back to playing golf. His extra-curricular activities haven’t impacted my opinion of him as an athlete.”

Truth be told, there are probably far more who share his opinion than I’ll ever know. If recent headlines are any indicator, Tiger could well have plenty of celebrity company at sex rehab. While I agree that what happens between a couple should stay between them — when the characters are in the public eye, that becomes difficult at best. What concerns me more is the slippery slope that it places us on when we overlook these indiscretions simply because someone is a celebrity — and the message, both in advertising and otherwise — that it sends to young fans.

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Now that the hype, heartburn and hoopla of the holidays is just a fond memory, it’s time to get back to business.

I know, you’re probably not quite ready to emerge from celebration mode just yet. Sorry about that — just call me Ebenezer.

We all know that without customers, a business won’t survive. That said, it stands to reason that we have to do more than just court them with clever advertising — we must convert them into customers and keep them. Finding customers isn’t exactly rocket science — especially if you’ve done your market research beforehand (you DID do that, right?). The part that can get a bit dicey is in keeping the customers you manage to get, and maintaining an excellent business relationship with them.

So, folks — here’s your mission, should you choose to accept it. Court those prospects — tempt and woo them. But once those prospects hand over their hard-earned cash to you and become an actual customer, be prepared to treat them like your business depends upon them.

Because it does.

Making a List, and Checking it Twice
Santa knows a thing or two about making a list, and so should you. Don’t let the thought of creating a customer database be daunting to you, though. Open Office has a spreadsheet component to it that is compatible with Microsoft Excel, and it’s free. You don’t have to keep elaborate records — simply keeping track of their names and email addresses will enable you to send off the occasional mailing to keep in touch.

I Have a List…Now What?
So glad you asked. Here are a few tips to maintain those customers, and encourage them to use your products or services again:

Keep in Touch
Your customers are just like you — they get busy with day-to-day life, and may not always think about revisiting your site to check out what may be new and noteworthy. It’s your job to service those customers, and keep them up to date on how you may be of service to them. Whether it is a new software upgrade, accessories to an original purchase, new companion products or sales announcements, you can create a simple ezine to share this information with your customers.

TIP: Don’t make your newsletter an in-your-face sales pitch. Spice up your mailing with tidbits like seasonal observances and holidays, tips, resources of interest, or other morsels that will make readers look forward to receiving your mailings.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Without subjecting you to my lackluster Aretha imitation, you get the general idea. The art of old-fashioned customer service is nearly non-existent these days — on the rare occasions that a customer receives a thank you note or email, it makes an impression. Make your customers feel valued and appreciated, and they will consistently seek you out for their future product or service needs.

Big Things from Small Packages
Everyone likes to get free stuff. While this may not be an earth shattering revelation to you, it may be something you haven’t considered. Drop a promotional pen, business card magnet or notepad into an outbound shipment, along with a “thanks for your order” note. You don’t need to go crazy ordering lavish items; but, you do need to make sure that any token you offer includes your name, logo and contact information on it.

Give Me a Break
Discounts are always welcome. During these challenging economic times, a discount on a future purchase may well encourage a future purchase in a timeframe of 10-30 days. You may consider setting up an autoresponder series that mails recent customers a promotional offer to encourage a future purchase — or you may use your regular ezine to send out these offers to your “preferred customer list.” Again, this all goes back to making your valued customers feel valued.

Turn Customers into a Commissioned Sales Force
There is no stronger endorsement than that of a satisfied customer. If we’ve learned anything from the boom of social networks, it is that consumers will seek out the advice and feedback of their peers before making a purchase decision. Turn your customers into brand evangelists by offering them a discount or free gift when they refer a friend that makes a purchase. Most shopping carts allow you to add a custom field for data collection during the checkout process — this provides a simple way for shoppers to give credit to the friend who referred them.

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Many small businesses fall prey to attempting to be all things to all people.

The reality is, no business will ever attract ALL the consumers; therefore, it stands to reason that we should focus our time, energy and resources on identifying a select group rather than trying to reach across the mass market. For this reason, it becomes important to pinpoint, as closely as possible, exactly who the potential buyers are. The process of identifying the most likely customers and creating a tailor-fit marketing campaign addressed exclusively for those potential customers is known as target marketing.

Target marketing is the strategy of focusing your marketing efforts on a distinct group of potential customers. When properly conceived, designed and implemented, target marketing can help increase customer satisfaction, improve brand loyalty and gain an edge over competitors.

Is it Really That Important?
The short answer is yes.

Consider mainstream corporate America. Early in my career, I worked for a large field office of a market research firm. Over the years, we surveyed consumers on a wide variety of items — from food items to perfumes, from cleaning products to alcoholic beverages and duct tape. We screened commercials, storyboards, print ads, slogans, and radio commercials. Our clients would fly in from all over the country to sit behind two-way glass just so they could get a glimpse into the minds of their target audience.

All this to say, big businesses know that the time they spend honing their message will save them time and expense when they introduce the product to the market. If a particular ad concept falls short of thier expectations, it is far easier to make changes in the early stages of production rather than when the ad is actually in print.

The same rules apply to small business owners.

When you conduct target marketing, it is critical that you fine-tune your product or service to meet the precise need of your chosen target market. Positioning your brand as the obvious choice for a particular niche can pay strong dividends. Becoming the “go to” expert in your field can provide the keystone to building a brand that stands out from the competition.

Best of all, once you have achieved this status — you will begin to see that you are gaining sales due to the merits of your product and reputation, and not strictly based upon price.

Get Ready
The steps that you take in the preparation of your marketing campaign are among the most crucial to its success. It is in this stage that you consider market segmentation — a process in which you divide the total market into distinct sub-groups of buyers who have distinct needs or wants, or are likely to respond differently to certain products or marketing mixes. Market segments are often defined by many different factors — geographic location, age, gender, socio-economic standings, and lifestyle preferences (i.e. pet owners, health-conscious consumers, etc.). In order to be able to drill down to the most specific demographics of your audience, it is imperative that you know WHO your customer is.

Taking Aim
Now that we have defined the market segment we wish to target, it’s time to take aim. In this stage, we are evaluating the market segments we’ve identified in order to determine their potential. The attractiveness of a market segment is determined by factors such as its size, growth rate, current and potential competition, brand loyalty of current customers in the segment, projected market share, sales prospects and expected profitability in the segment. Based on the evaluation, one or more of the segments may be selected for your business to target. However, the final decision to zero-in on a particular market segment also depends largely on its suitability to the objectives, resources and capabilities of your home business.

Fire Off that Campaign!
The final step in the process involves designing a detailed and effective marketing mix that will resonate with and appeal to your chosen market segment. Your marketing efforts should be coordinated into a concerted effort to successfully reach your target buyers — and should strike a balance between pricing, distribution, promotions, and product specifications. Despite what media format your message is presented in, consumers will receive the same message. Knowing that consumers must be presented with your message on the average of seven times, the need to make those messages cohesive becomes much more evident. Likewise, the value of target marketing is enhanced — the identified market segments are more receptive, and tend to respond favorably to your marketing efforts.

Marketing without a plan is like winking at a pretty girl in the dark. You know what you’re trying to achieve, but the object of your interest remains unaware.

In either case, despite the best of intentions, you’re still going to miss the mark.

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I love crazy socks. In fact, the more outrageous they are, the more likely I am to fall head-over-heels for them — much to the embarrassment of my friends and family.

This crazy fashion fetish isn’t exactly a new one — in fact, I’ve been like this for as long as I can remember.

What tends to confound everyone is that my socks are in stark contrast to my otherwise conservative image. I guess you could say I am the result of what happens when you combine J. Crew with Rainbow Brite.

But here’s the thing — I’m perfectly happy with that. You see, it illustrates a more universal truth about me — I try not to take myself too seriously. More importantly, I try to make a concerted effort to find a bit of humor in each and every day. It may come in the form of pink and black pirate socks, or it may come from writing a post about Captain Jack Sparrow’s marketing methods for recruiting a crew.

Either way, the result is immediately recognizable as a reflection of my personality.

Okay, so socks may not be your thing. Perhaps you are an avid golfer. You can use the same principles by drawing parallels between the game and your business. Create promotions that play to the theme — “check out these sale links while our boss is hitting the links,” etc. If this is something new that you are trying, don’t overdo it. Start small, and build over time. You don’t want to come off as disingenuous.

One of my favorite retailers, The Black Dog, does this brilliantly. When you send in a photo of yourself wearing a Black Dog t-shirt (preferably in some exotic locale), you may end up in a future catalog. They’ve even added a Flickr photo gallery to their recently updated website. They involve their customers, and make them feel like part of the family.

Allowing your business to reflect your personality builds rapport and loyalty — two cornerstones of any successful business.

Firms that operate with white-glove sterility and robotic auto-reply emails are a dime a dozen — and for some market segments, that may be just fine. For my dollar, I tend to prefer those product and service providers that provide a user “experience” — they provide a welcome respite from our daily lives, and leave us feeling good about our interaction.

And THAT is certainly no small feat.

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In my household, I seldom have control over the remote. In fact, I have come to believe that it is somehow repelled by estrogen, like some sort of reverse magnet.

If I were in charge of the remote, I’m quite certain that I’d be keeping it busy. Between politics, the economy, frenzied fuel headlines, and the lack-luster prime time offerings…frankly, it seems as if we can’t find much to watch at all. And, what we do find seldom leaves us feeling warm and fuzzy.

Consumers are restless, and they are changing channels. They are looking for a bit of good news…anywhere.

As marketers, we know that we must continue to advertise, even in lean economic times. That may seem counter intuitive, but it’s true. If you wait around for things to get better, you will most surely lose any foothold you already have; believe me, there is no shortage of hungry competitors just waiting for you to throw in the towel.

I can almost hear you say, “But Traci, I can’t afford to advertise right now!” All sugar-coating aside, friends…you can’t afford not to advertise. I’m certainly not suggesting breaking the bank with pay-per-click ads, or taking out a second mortgage so you can do a direct-mailing.

Instead, allow your creativity to assume control of the remote.

Take a chapter from the networks’ playbook — during the course of broadcasting all those reruns, they bank on the fact that some of those episodes will be new to you. Hmm…not a bad idea, right?

Start thinking of new ways to market yourself. How can you adapt an existing product or service for a new market? What can you repackage, reformat, revamp, or rename in order to create something new?

Dust off back issues of your newsletter and create a “best of” ebook. Find collateral affiliate links that you can embed into the content, and offer it as a give away. Good quality content is likely to become viral. You may also want to repurpose old newsletters or articles into audio or video content (think iTunes and YouTube).

What about episode “cross-overs?” Consider reaching out to those who have a complimentary (but not competitive) business — you can pitch ad swaps, joint ventures, and special offers — essentially anything that creates a win for both of you.

In terms of your promotional efforts, there are plenty of things that you can do during the lean months that can help keep you afloat. Options like article marketing, search engine optimization, affiliate marketing, and press releases can be viable (and valuable) alternatives when budgets look bleak.

Finally, don’t make snap judgements. It’s difficult to focus when you are zipping around the dial at near light speed. Slow down that clicker-finger, and you are likely to uncover a few gems that you knew were there.

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Online news distribution service PRWeb today announced that it has added the ShareThis Widget to enable its customers to share their news with popular social networks.

“Already recognized by Technorati as the newswire covered the most in the blogosphere, ShareThis will further enhance the online visibility of PRWeb releases as news is shared in more places than ever before,” said Jiyan Wei, director of product management for PRWeb. “Through ShareThis, our customers will be able to leverage the growing popularity and importance of social media platforms to drive traffic, stimulate viral activity and reach an even larger audience.”

For those who may be unaware, ShareThis is the sharing network that makes it simple and easy to share any online content. Through ShareThis, users can share content with a wide variety of social networks and email options, including Facebook, Twitter, Digg, and MySpace, among others. To use the ShareThis functionality on PRWeb, customers and readers can simply click on the ShareThis button included every online news release and select the social media networks where they wish to share their news.

Why Should this Matter to You?
Glad you asked. Think of how quickly social media has enabled news to be shared in real-time.

Events such as the plane landing on the Hudson in New York, to the recent political uprising in Iran have clearly demonstrated that social media has carved out a significant role in the way we receive our news.

So, what do you think? Will this new addition have any bearing on how you design your releases, and what components (video, audio, etc.) that you might add as upgrades?

For more information on this, or any of PRWeb’s other distribution services, please visit them online at http://www.prweb.com.

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I hope that the headline of today’s post doesn’t mislead anyone — to be clear, I am a huge proponent of Squidoo. I can’t stress enough that I am not slinging mud at Squidoo.com — on the contrary, it is one site that I visit and work on every day.

No, my gripe is with those that would have you believe that you can set up a lens in five minutes flat, using questionable methods — and enjoy overnight success with it.

Folks, promoting this kind of crap stinks worse than a three-day old Red Snapper left in an SUV in the deserts of Arizona. Perhaps that’s a bit harsh, but so be it.

Squidoo is a tool that should be in your marketing arsenal – and it is a tool that can drive traffic, grow your mailing list, and create revenue. But, if you are pursuing Squidoo like a prospector chasing the gold rush, you are going to end up disappointed.

Now that we all have our feet planted on terra-firma, let’s go over some of the strategies that actually do work.

• Decide What to Write About: And the easiest way to do that is to start with yourself. What are your interests? What are you a proponent or critic of? What causes are you passionate about? These are questions that can help you begin brainstorming a list of possible topics.
• There’s No Substitute for Research: Selecting a topic that you have genuine interest in will help keep you focused while you conduct research into your topic. For example, if you have no interest in the Three-Toed Sloth, chances are you won’t be motivated to research the information that would enable you to create a well-designed lens on the topic.
  
• Get Into the Right Mindset: While some would have you believe otherwise, Squidoo isn’t a “set it and forget it” marketing tool. Once you set up your lens, you should commit to updating it periodically in order to keep the content fresh and interesting. What is “periodically,” you ask? Well, I’ll leave that up to you. I have some lenses that I am constantly updating as I obtain more information in the niche; other lenses may go a few weeks before I get around to updating them. The point is that you shouldn’t just slap up a half-hearted attempt at a lens, and leave it there to languish; it would just be a waste of your time.
• Consider it a Long-Term Investment: I like to think of Squidoo like a 401K account (in the days before bank bailouts and Bernie Madoff, mind you). When you begin creating lenses on Squidoo, you’ll quickly see the benefit in becoming a member of the community. First, it is one of the most helpful, supportive and creative groups of people you’ll ever find on the web. Second, you’ll discover that as you create more lenses within your niche, the collective power of those lenses grows exponentially. Again, it won’t happen overnight — but, with time, patience and a bit of creativity, you can develop a solid promotional vehicle that continues to build value. When you stop to think that your only real investment in Squidoo is your time, this is one promotional investment you should give careful consideration.
• Focus on Content First, Monetization Second: If you follow this method, your lenses will rank higher, generate more traffic, and you will build your reputation as an expert. There is nothing wrong with earning money from your Squidoo lens; however, if your lens reads like an extended in-your-face sales letter, it could likely be banned from the site.

Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing some other tips help you reduce your learning curve, and begin leveraging the power of Squidoo. Enjoy the weekend, and I’ll see you back here next week!

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