As the world reacts to the threat of a pandemic, markets crash, toilet paper sold out and Purell is counting cash.
What aren't we being told?
3000 people died in China in 3 months. That is the equivalent of 25 people in Canada because of the population differences.
12 people die every hour in Canada due to heart disease based on Health Canada data.
Based on facts, shouldn't we be more worried about Big Macs?
Or is there some other agenda?
Is the Coronavirus more scary? Are world governments protecting us from mass hysteria, similar to George Orwellian theory?
Or is it not a problem and other governments are shaking the American economy to its knees. An investor friend hypothesizes that the recent price reduction in gas has to do with Russia and Saudi Arabia flooding the market with excess oil as an attack on the US economy.
Could this be considered an act of War?
What's really going on?
Financial markets are crashing.
Money is being lost.
Governments are installing travel bans.
Professional sports are shutting their doors.
Did I mention Oil is cheap?
What about governments committing money to Coronavirus relief fund?
Canada is approaching 1 trillion in debt and is committing to a relief fund.
How are we paying for this?
Does this mean our taxes will have to go up when this hysteria ends?
Or does it mean our country is one step closer to bankruptcy?
And if we are closer to bankruptcy, what happens then?
I have so many questions.
But none of them have anything to do with Coronavirus.
Because that's not the issue.
It's bigger than that.
And only time will tell what is really going on.
Have fun.
Stay safe.
Drink a Corona.
Try not to worry. Coronavirus is not a zombie apocalypse.
That'll be the next thing we should be scared of.
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Lesson about marketing from a Las Vegas Beggar
The difference between making noise and making money in the marketing world is the same as the difference between a beggar and a busker.
The beggar asks for money, but offers nothing in return.
The busker parts you with your money in exchange for entertainment.
The homeless guy's tool is sympathy.
The Busker hammers the drums with entertainment.
We give more time to those who entertain us.
We give more money to those who command our time.
It's a fact.
The beggar asks for money, but offers nothing in return.
The busker parts you with your money in exchange for entertainment.
The homeless guy's tool is sympathy.
The Busker hammers the drums with entertainment.
We give more time to those who entertain us.
We give more money to those who command our time.
It's a fact.
If the beggar interrupts and makes us sad, he's a busker.
If he gets us looking in the opposite direction trying to avoid eye contact, he's a beggar.
The busker interrupts but he makes us smile.
If he gets us looking in the opposite direction trying to avoid eye contact, he's a beggar.
The busker interrupts but he makes us smile.
Most marketers ARE beggars.
Information is a beggar's tool.
Traffic is a beggar's hope.
More traffic does not mean more money.
Emotion is the entertainer's tool.
Traffic is the entertainer's strategy.
More traffic means more money.
Here are two examples of good marketing from the streets of Las Vegas.
Information is a beggar's tool.
Traffic is a beggar's hope.
More traffic does not mean more money.
Emotion is the entertainer's tool.
Traffic is the entertainer's strategy.
More traffic means more money.
Here are two examples of good marketing from the streets of Las Vegas.
Friday, February 7, 2020
Luck is a lady named Serendipity
Inspiration comes from a room. There are no windows. There's a door but it's locked.
You can try to break it down. But you're wasting your time. The one who locked it knew you'd try, so it has been reinforced to handle 5000 pounds of pressure.
Trying to break it is wasted energy.
You can try to pick the lock, but you're wasting your time. The one who built the lock knew you'd try.
Instead of wasting time to force the door open, use your time to find the key.
The key to the door unlocks all inspiration you'll ever want.
The first time you find the key seems like luck. But it's not. It's a process. And your methods are not necessarily good for someone else.
But some odd reason, the key is never in the same place as you last left it. It's as if the one who built the lock has children who play with your keys.
Once you know the process, the keys mysteriously appear.
I'm embarrassed to admit my way to inspiration.
But it works every time.
I listen to Frank Sinatra.
I'm not joking.
My favourite song ever is "My way".
It's my life's story.
I was thinking of "Luck is a lady" this morning.
Luck happens when good things happen despite not having planned for it.
I don't believe in luck. I believe things happen for some reason without our understanding.
That being said, yesterday my mind was troubled.
I had work commitments on Friday.
My son had a hockey tournament in the morning.
Aline (my wife) was going to take him to the game.
The weatherman was calling for a storm.
It looked like the tournament was going to happen regardless.
Which meant my son and wife were going to be on the road in a potential storm.
As we're preparing for the reality of her traveling, we're debating if they should go.
We want to please our son.
We want to protect him.
We don't want to let down the team.
As this is twirling around our tongues, our son had a league game the night before the tournament. The best player couldn't come. And the boys didn't play their best game.
With 26 seconds left in the game, there's a scrum in the corner for the puck. A boy from the other team comes out with the puck. As he's emerging from the cluster of kids, my son gives him one final shove.
The kid falls down.
A whistle is blown.
And my son is given a penalty.
With 26 seconds left in the game, with no effect on the game, my 13 year old heads off to the dressing room.
The penalty wasn't a serious crime. No one got hurt.
The referee called a minor penalty. But with 26 seconds left, he added a game misconduct to the punishment.
Which means, my boy has to sit out a game as a consequence to his 26 second infraction.
Luck is a lady and her name is Serendipity.
When you are dealing with a problem and you're not sure. As long as you've done everything you can do to prepare, the rest is up to Serendipity.
In my experience, things work out.
So don't stress out.
The key to the locked door will be found when you're ready to receive them.
You can try to break it down. But you're wasting your time. The one who locked it knew you'd try, so it has been reinforced to handle 5000 pounds of pressure.
Trying to break it is wasted energy.
You can try to pick the lock, but you're wasting your time. The one who built the lock knew you'd try.
Instead of wasting time to force the door open, use your time to find the key.
The key to the door unlocks all inspiration you'll ever want.
The first time you find the key seems like luck. But it's not. It's a process. And your methods are not necessarily good for someone else.
But some odd reason, the key is never in the same place as you last left it. It's as if the one who built the lock has children who play with your keys.
Once you know the process, the keys mysteriously appear.
I'm embarrassed to admit my way to inspiration.
But it works every time.
I listen to Frank Sinatra.
I'm not joking.
My favourite song ever is "My way".
It's my life's story.
I was thinking of "Luck is a lady" this morning.
Luck happens when good things happen despite not having planned for it.
I don't believe in luck. I believe things happen for some reason without our understanding.
That being said, yesterday my mind was troubled.
I had work commitments on Friday.
My son had a hockey tournament in the morning.
Aline (my wife) was going to take him to the game.
The weatherman was calling for a storm.
It looked like the tournament was going to happen regardless.
Which meant my son and wife were going to be on the road in a potential storm.
As we're preparing for the reality of her traveling, we're debating if they should go.
We want to please our son.
We want to protect him.
We don't want to let down the team.
As this is twirling around our tongues, our son had a league game the night before the tournament. The best player couldn't come. And the boys didn't play their best game.
With 26 seconds left in the game, there's a scrum in the corner for the puck. A boy from the other team comes out with the puck. As he's emerging from the cluster of kids, my son gives him one final shove.
The kid falls down.
A whistle is blown.
And my son is given a penalty.
With 26 seconds left in the game, with no effect on the game, my 13 year old heads off to the dressing room.
The penalty wasn't a serious crime. No one got hurt.
The referee called a minor penalty. But with 26 seconds left, he added a game misconduct to the punishment.
Which means, my boy has to sit out a game as a consequence to his 26 second infraction.
Luck is a lady and her name is Serendipity.
When you are dealing with a problem and you're not sure. As long as you've done everything you can do to prepare, the rest is up to Serendipity.
In my experience, things work out.
So don't stress out.
The key to the locked door will be found when you're ready to receive them.
Thursday, December 12, 2019
Marketing in a crisis
Marketing is fun. You get to say and do things that normally aren't done or said. Good marketing uses an angle that disrupts the audience. Good marketing attracts customers like cell phones to sinks full of water.
But once in a lifetime, the moon turns blue. And something happens, outside of your control, affecting everything you do and say.
A catastrophe puts your entire operation in crisis. You have to close. You won't be able to sell your stuff.
Earth, wind, water, or fire. Something shuts you down for months. You can't do anything until your insurance kicks in.
What do you do?
The time to sell is over. The time to protect has arrived. Protect your market share as much as you can despite not being able to sell anything.
Marketing should not end. It is more important than ever.
The execution changes.
The method changes. But communication must continue.
Everyday is a lost opportunity. Don't let the lost opportunity convert to lost customers.
Customers need product and the twitchy competitor down the street has been rubbing his greasy palms together waiting for your wonderful customers.
Keep your messages rolling.
Remind the customer why they love you.
Over and over again.
Keep your messages rolling.
Remind the customer why they love you.
Over and over again.
Have you ever been to the airport watching families waiting for their dad to arrive? Everyone is at the airport waiting at the baggage carrousel, with hugs, claps, smiles and the five year old daughter is jumping up and down.
The customer can't buy.
Keep them wanting to.
Keep the dialogue going.
Run your radio campaigns.
Post to social media.
Engage, communicate, share, repeat.
Your customers will miss you if you stay in their head. They'll be jumping up and down waiting for your reopening.
Keep them wanting to.
Keep the dialogue going.
Run your radio campaigns.
Post to social media.
Engage, communicate, share, repeat.
Your customers will miss you if you stay in their head. They'll be jumping up and down waiting for your reopening.
During a crisis, you can count on a few things happening.
1. Employees will get other jobs. If you can get payroll insurance, get it. The strength of your business is the people you've hired. If you don't have payroll insurance, figure out how to pay them or help them find interim employment hoping they return when all is cleared up.
2. Suppliers may sell their exclusive products to that twitchy competitor down the street. This is just business. They want to sell stuff and you're not an option.
3. Customers will buy elsewhere.
There will be others who talk a good game, but look for a quick way to get away from you.
Let's call them rats.
Rats are the first to leave the ship.
Remember them. Those who scurry away were never really on your team anyways.
I know that's a hard pill to swallow. The rat is a nice guy most of the time. It's easy to be a good guy when things go well. His true personality emerges when things go wrong.
That's why I call them rats. They nibble on your business like a block of cheddar for years. Then they run, leaving you to pick up their mess.
Good times will return.
Set traps to keep future rats.
Hopefully nothing will go awry again.
A few traps never hurt.
Set traps to keep future rats.
Hopefully nothing will go awry again.
A few traps never hurt.
A good captain keeps his ship clean.
A good captain navigates his plan.
A good captain stays until the very end, putting everyone else's safety ahead of his own.
The time for having fun and farting around is over.
You will be a Phoenix or a pile of ashes.
Everything you know about business can be trashed.
What you become after the crisis is determined by what you do early on.
Be vulnerable. Be real. Be supportive.
And NEVER let them see you sweat.
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Marketing is like boiling an egg
If you are an adult, I'm going to assume you know how to cook a hard boiled egg.
Gramma taught me when I was 10. Here were her instructions.
1. Get a pot.
2. Fill it half full with water.
3. Place eggs in water.
4. Turn on heat to Max.
5. Wait until it starts to boil.
6. Time out 8 minutes.
7. Remove heat.
8. Remove shell and serve with butter.
Pretty simple, right.
To get the results of a perfect boiled egg, the recipe must be followed in this order.
These are the inputs: eggs, water, heat, and time
Here's how you get bad results:
Put the eggs in the pot without water.
Boil water but don't put the eggs in.
Don't turn on the heat.
Pull the eggs out too soon.
Boiling an egg is like your advertising campaign.
Eggs are potential customers
Water is message.
Heat is the money.
And time is still just time.
If you want your advertising campaign to work, treat it like boiling an egg.
Use a message that gets noticed by potential customers. Spend money on areas where these potentials are hanging out. And wait until they come out hard-boiled.
Don't stop the heat.
It takes time.
If you stop the heat before the time is up, your advertising will be wasted. You won't get what you're looking for. You will be disappointed by its results.
So the next time you want to run an advertising campaign. Ask yourself three important questions:
1. Do you have enough time for this to work?
2. Do you have the ability to apply enough heat to get your hard boiled egg?
3. Do you have water?
If the answer is "no" to either of these questions, don't waste your money on the campaign, unless you're looking for transactional customers.
Transactional customers don't need any of this.
They only need a great deal.
If you want transactional customers, all you need is heat and water. You don't even need clean water. Any water will do, as long as its the cheapest around.
Gramma taught me when I was 10. Here were her instructions.
1. Get a pot.
2. Fill it half full with water.
3. Place eggs in water.
4. Turn on heat to Max.
5. Wait until it starts to boil.
6. Time out 8 minutes.
7. Remove heat.
8. Remove shell and serve with butter.
Pretty simple, right.
To get the results of a perfect boiled egg, the recipe must be followed in this order.
These are the inputs: eggs, water, heat, and time
Here's how you get bad results:
Put the eggs in the pot without water.
Boil water but don't put the eggs in.
Don't turn on the heat.
Pull the eggs out too soon.
Boiling an egg is like your advertising campaign.
Eggs are potential customers
Water is message.
Heat is the money.
And time is still just time.
If you want your advertising campaign to work, treat it like boiling an egg.
Use a message that gets noticed by potential customers. Spend money on areas where these potentials are hanging out. And wait until they come out hard-boiled.
Don't stop the heat.
It takes time.
If you stop the heat before the time is up, your advertising will be wasted. You won't get what you're looking for. You will be disappointed by its results.
So the next time you want to run an advertising campaign. Ask yourself three important questions:
1. Do you have enough time for this to work?
2. Do you have the ability to apply enough heat to get your hard boiled egg?
3. Do you have water?
If the answer is "no" to either of these questions, don't waste your money on the campaign, unless you're looking for transactional customers.
Transactional customers don't need any of this.
They only need a great deal.
If you want transactional customers, all you need is heat and water. You don't even need clean water. Any water will do, as long as its the cheapest around.
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Winter, wood and wool coats
It's getting colder. Jackets thicken while energy bills rise.
That's winter in Canada. Every year it comes and every year, I dread it. But it comes and I know it.
Dad was recently hospitalized with some respiratory problems. While visiting, he told me he didn't have his wood cut yet. This little setback was going to be a problem. It's his main source of heat for survival.
Come to find out, dad wasn't talking about this winter. He was talking about next winter. He's preparing for 12 months ahead of time.
Not all of us plan that far ahead.
Forget about winter and wood and wool coats.
Have you planned out your next 12 month marketing plan?
Do you know what road you're going to use and what kind of car is going to get you there?
January is still a month away but planning can be done any time. Don't wait until the new year to decide what's next.
Formulate your strategic direction. Understand what can take you there. And in the wise words of Larry the Cable Guy, "Git r done".
Someone asked me this morning, "Given the uncertainty of the economy, is it a good time to be in business".
The best time to be in business was 10 years ago. The second best time is today. Do you want to know when the third best time is going to be?
Get the jacket on. Warm up, snuggle next to the fire. Boil a cup of cocoa. And know where you're driving this business of yours.
It's easy to get wrapped up in the day to day grind.
It's easy to delay planning in exchange for doing.
You know as well as anyone, the easy stuff doesn't get the best results.
Do the hard thing. Steven Covey called it, "Move the big rocks" in his book "7 Habits of Highly Effective People".
Strategy is a big rock.
But here's the bad news.
You can't do the strategy on your own.
You're too close to it.
You're biased.
If you try to do it, it will be watered down, ineffective and a waste of money.
This isn't a sales pitch. I don't need your business.
Just trying to help out a friend in need.
I'll give you my jacket if you really need one and can't afford it.
In my experience, you'd complain about the colour and would toss it away after the first week, if I gave it to you.
That's winter in Canada. Every year it comes and every year, I dread it. But it comes and I know it.
Dad was recently hospitalized with some respiratory problems. While visiting, he told me he didn't have his wood cut yet. This little setback was going to be a problem. It's his main source of heat for survival.
Come to find out, dad wasn't talking about this winter. He was talking about next winter. He's preparing for 12 months ahead of time.
Not all of us plan that far ahead.
Forget about winter and wood and wool coats.
Have you planned out your next 12 month marketing plan?
Do you know what road you're going to use and what kind of car is going to get you there?
January is still a month away but planning can be done any time. Don't wait until the new year to decide what's next.
Formulate your strategic direction. Understand what can take you there. And in the wise words of Larry the Cable Guy, "Git r done".
Someone asked me this morning, "Given the uncertainty of the economy, is it a good time to be in business".
The best time to be in business was 10 years ago. The second best time is today. Do you want to know when the third best time is going to be?
Get the jacket on. Warm up, snuggle next to the fire. Boil a cup of cocoa. And know where you're driving this business of yours.
It's easy to get wrapped up in the day to day grind.
It's easy to delay planning in exchange for doing.
You know as well as anyone, the easy stuff doesn't get the best results.
Do the hard thing. Steven Covey called it, "Move the big rocks" in his book "7 Habits of Highly Effective People".
Strategy is a big rock.
But here's the bad news.
You can't do the strategy on your own.
You're too close to it.
You're biased.
If you try to do it, it will be watered down, ineffective and a waste of money.
This isn't a sales pitch. I don't need your business.
Just trying to help out a friend in need.
I'll give you my jacket if you really need one and can't afford it.
In my experience, you'd complain about the colour and would toss it away after the first week, if I gave it to you.
Monday, November 25, 2019
A discount retailer hurts no one but himself.
As Black Friday approaches, I was thinking about my Canadian retail friends. Black Friday wasn't even a thing in Canada seven years ago. Canadian Thanksgiving is in October.
The Canadian retailers decided they needed a new reason to throw an event at its shoppers so they followed their American cousins into the Black Friday frenzy.
Just another reason to give a discount to get more sales. It's kinda funny. Canadians don't get a Thursday vacation.
My friend Bruce owns five pizza restaurants. He believes customers only come to him because of his flyers. So he runs a flyer every three weeks. He'd do them every week but he can't afford the shipping costs.
The pizza business is notorious for this type of behaviour. Once upon a time I used to work for a pizza chain. We did the same things to keep franchisees and the top brass happy.
Even 15 years ago my gut didn't feel good about it.
Here's what happened, eventually the marketing effort fizzled out. It chased the transactional customer, who wanted the best price. At that time, we had two people answering phones at a restaurant on a Friday night. Two people to handle all the calls.
Do you know what the number one question was?
Yep, you got it. "What's your special?"
Some customers ordered after hearing the specials while others promised to call back. We have no idea if they did.
Bruce doesn't understand the difference between a transactional customer and a relational one. He's dehydrating in the desert, and he doesn't realize there is a cooler filled with fresh water to his left.
He thinks the easiest path to sales growth is chasing these low margin, fickle customers who only want the best price.
I order six pizzas from Bruce's restaurant every four weeks for a gathering of friends. The first time I ordered, they gave me a $40 discount. I didn't ask for it. Didn't know about it. Didn't need it. But do you think I took it?
Of course. I like money. You wanna give it to me? I'll take it.
The interesting thing is the second time I ordered the same six pizzas, I expected the discount. If it wouldn't have been there, I may have asked for it.
He converted a loyal, relational customer into a transactional one at his own expense.
Bruce knows the restaurant business. But he doesn't understand marketing. He thinks he does so I can't explain it to him. Bruce believes in these short term sales tactics.
I can't change his mind. I've given up trying.
I've seen this re-run before. Hell, I was in it.
I was thinking of Bruce while visiting a Factory Outlet store in San Marcos, just outside of Austin, Texas.
There were Bruce's everywhere. 60% off. Buy one, get one Free. Buy one, get one half price. The parking lots were full and customers were buying stuff. Looked like a good day for business.
There was one store that wasn't promoting discounts. Bruce could never work at this store.
It was the only one that had a line outside. Security had to manage the customers wanting to get a glimpse inside. No discounts. Business looked good here too.
It wasn't pizza. It was her Italian cousin: Gucci.
The pizza industry has converted itself into a commodity. It's like wheat, or salt. The prices continue to drop. A special we used to offer at the pizza chain 15 years ago has only gone up by $3.00. Inflation has gone up by more than that. The only way to make a living selling pizza is to sell a lot of them.
I'm not saying pizza has to be like Gucci. They can play a different pricing strategy and not get wrapped up in the highly competitive pricing wars.
The next time you run a sale to attract a customer, think about your marketing strategy.
This approach is hurting your longterm brand, unless you're moving old inventory or perishable stock. If you got lucky and you bought a couple of shipping containers at a discount and you want to pass savings onto your customers, that's ok too.
Just remember, a discount retailer hurts no one but himself. And if you're not sure, ask Walmart. They closed 269 stores in 2016 and just announced another 22 closures for North America in 2019.
Rick Nicholson is a multi unit business owner and partner at Wizard of Ads. He looks at marketing from the perspective of relationships, corporate beliefs and most importantly its effect on sales. If you want to know how he can help you, you can reach him at ricknicholson@wizardofads.com.
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