Where’s The Toy In My Cereal?!
McDonald's sees a spike in their sales go up every time they employ their strategy of affixing Monopoly pieces to their soft drinks and fries and a few other choice products. They reward those who super size their meals with double the Monopoly pieces. The game is so popular that if you wanted to increase the sale of a less popular item, such as the filet of fish, you could simply apply more game pieces to its wrapper.
The same phenomena exists with a proof of purchase system. Everyone remembers Kool-Aid points from their childhood. You could purchase a number of Kool-Aid branded memorabilia with a large enough number of points. Pepsi and Coke used a similar method. Pepsi even made the mistake of advertising that with 35 million Pepsi points, you could purchase a harrier jet. Taking this literally, one man with a corporate backer attempted to take advantage, only to be told that this was impossible and the company became embroiled in litigation surrounding this promotion. People were more prone to purchasing Pepsi instead of Coke during the period when Coke did not employ a similar system.
The reason I'm posting this is that gimmicks don't always work, but the concept of scarcity suggests that people's wants are infinite and are prone to consumerism. If you tell some people they want it, it just may work. It's like a Jedi mind trick. You can reward people who purchase your product with items that do nothing more than advertise your product either in the home or in the form of apparel. It doesn't work all the time. It takes the right product, but with enough creativity, this concept of “incentive to purchase” can be a home run.
Where Did The Ads Go?
In the past, Dell was unique because you could go online and customize a computer to your specifications. As a matter of fact, you can STILL do that…BUT did you KNOW that? NO, because they don't remind you that they can do that. You probably also didn't know that Dell enhanced their presence on QVC and that they added Alienware's high end gaming PC's to their arsenal. The U.S. military has a contract with Dell as well and updates all their PC's every 2 years on the average, perhaps as a direct result of their market saturation at the height of Dell's popularity They don't remind you that it was their company and founder Michael Dell that revolutionized the home computer industry by simply catering to consumer needs and streamlining the production process. The point is that once you have a successful marketing campaign, you don't stop. You alter your approach, but YOU DO NOT STOP ADVERTISING.
As a lovely freebie to those of you who read this blog, let me just add that you no longer need to spend a lot of money on a computer. You can purchase a bare-bones PC at Best Buy or another convenient retail chain for around $300 brand new, and it will do everything that 80% of you need it to do. The only thing it will lack is high end processing and graphics capabilities that gamers require and it won't have the software or maybe even the hardware to support a media software intensive job. Aside from those two things, if all you use your computer for is to type the occasional document and surf the web, a cheap one will do just fine. You're welcome. 🙂
Are Companies the New Consumers?
Think about it. As advertisements push the limits and our patience, Company X needs to find some way to get our attention. That is the consumer's product. We offer brand loyalty. It's no surprise that this has always been the highly coveted goal for all companies and brands… but they used to not have to try so hard.
Now, they are among us. Having their own pages on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn… interacting as though they were your friend or “part of your professional network”. They want, so badly, for us to like them. But, can you blame them? The consumer has what the brand wants… Time, attention, loyalty, and of course money.
As I said before, this is no new development, but it is an interesting concept to point out as companies explore new frontiers in advertising. The consumer has all the control – the choice as to whether to click on that ad, go to that site, or to type that company name they heard on TV into their preferred search engine.
So, how can companies counteract this choice? They need to be where we are, doing what we are doing, interacting with us to develop relevance to our daily lives. They can no longer expect a stand alone ad or TV commercial to get the job done. It has to be interactive. It needs a call to action. It needs to sync up with multiple outlets in order to 1. Get noticed and 2. Be seen as relevant. Companies can no longer stand by and expect the customer to come to them… They now need to be the active consumer, embarking on the world, living amongst their desired product – in order to understand it and work with it.
The more inundated people are with information and stimulation, the less likely they are to go looking for it. We talk a lot about consumer driven advertising, and this concept follows suit. Think about the consumer as being the driver of a bus… Not only do they get to choose what ad is placed on the side of their bus, but they get to choose where they stop and who gets on. So, Company X is at the mercy of Brand Y, with Brand Y being YOU.
Frequently Asked Questions
I will, however, provide some insight into the more common answers to questions we face, and in doing this, it is my hope that I pique your interest to inquire further. So, naturally, one would start with “What is an advertising agency?” Well, the answer is an ad agency can be many things… much like the question “what is a restaurant?” You know they all serve food, but what kind? Do they have a specialty or can you order anything you want? Mad Men Marketing is a full service agency, which means we can provide you with anything you might need. Basically, we can become your own personal marketing team. Only we won't ask you for a salary and benefits, including dental. Instead, we can make your media buys for you, help you with creative ideas and mock-ups, and consolidate your billing to make sure your advertising is running as smoothly as possible – and we do this at no extra cost to you!
SO, naturally, your next question is “Well then, how do you make money?” Valid question. I'm glad you asked… We make our money much like any other accounts services department, like any other company would. If you are placing your TV ads personally, there is a percentage of that spending that goes to the account executive, and the rest to the station itself… When you hire us, we enter as just another slice of the vendor's pie. They pay us 15% of whatever you are spending. We basically charge them to work with us instead of you.
Now, this brings us to the question of additional agency fees… Some agencies will charge you an additional percentage of your ad budget to spend it for you. We at Mad Men do not believe in this. We do have some additional services beyond those an “Agency of Record” would perform that cost us money such as SEO, website development, mobile sites and so on. These services take time and need to be developed, but that is the same across the board.
A common misconception is that working with an agency will cost you MORE money. This actually couldn't be further from the truth. In most cases, we ensure your budget would not need to change in the slightest; and, we can almost guarantee that in working with us – being experts in the field – not only can we save you time, we can also actually save you money – all the while generating better results while spending what you already have (or even less), more efficiently than ever before. Furthermore, because we now have perceived control over your entire ad budget, media outlets tend to be even more accommodating and in turn, provide additional incentives to work with their company.
Another fear companies have is, once they sign with an agency, they worry they will lose control of their advertising. Our services range on the spectrum of control. We will follow your comfort levels and direction to be as much or as little involved as you would like us to be. Of course, every decision is sent for your approval before we move forward, and all creative ideas are run by your team first. We are simply here to make your job easier, and take some time off your hands so you can focus on running your business, while we keep the customers walking through the door, or picking up the phone.
How about this concern: Will we be working with your competitors? That answer is simply, NO! Mad Men Marketing operates as category exclusive. We made a partnership with you, and we have become your advocates… sharing sensitive information and working hard to make sure your business excels in its field. While you are our client, we will not work with anyone else in your category, as we hope you would do us the honor of letting us be your sole full service agency.
So, now you might be asking yourself, “Do I need an agency?” or “Would working with an agency be right for me?” Well, that is a question you must answer yourself. But in my experience, the answer is almost always, YES! Every business is different, with individual needs, owners and infrastructures. But, if you want to make more money, grow your business, spread your ad dollars, consolidate bills, or expand… an agency is just the partnership to help you reach those goals.
With our collective expertise, we can assure that you get the most bang for your buck. We have done the research, we conduct additional research on your behalf, we have credible and already established relationships with media outlets and we know what we are talking about when it comes to consumer driven advertising. Give us a shot and let us be your pinch hitter… It doesn't mean you're completely out of the game – it just means you're calling in some help to give you that extra edge above your competition.
That's what an agency can do for you.
Fact Where There’s Only Fiction
As we continue our pursuit to set a new bar for our industry, I too relate to the main protagonist in this series who is “on a mission to civilize”. And I suppose it should not be surprising when people we encounter are confused by this approach, but it is a little saddening when someone doesn't understand your business model when you say, “we are not looking to take advantage of you”. I kid you not; people can't quite seem to get how we could operate with this mentality. It's an explanation I'm all too ready to share every time I meet with a prospective client.
Competitive rates and good work do not need to be at odds with one another. At the same time, just because something costs a lot, doesn't necessarily mean it's the best. Take a page from the creators of the Newsroom and give yourself a second look at the processes of those around you. In business – notice quality of content and attention to detail, these things are most important. Money is how we all survive; yes, but don't judge a book by what it costs. And, furthermore, just because people aren't talking about it yet, doesn't mean they won't… it could simply be because they haven't heard of it yet. Let's civilize up folks and start getting things done right.