Monthly Archives: May 2009

How Should a Company Advertise Itself as Green?

Publicity

I would like to know if a company wants to advertise themselves as Environmental friendly or as a green, how those advertisement can be communicated effectively? What message does it should include and which are the best communication channels should be appropriate to gain better from targeted audience.

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Jay’s Answer: A message should be sent using the channels that their prospects pay attention to, and with wording that clearly shows that the product’s benefits can help their problems. Green may or may not be a primary benefit to customers, but it can be a strong secondary benefit. Because everyone these days is saying they’re “green” customers are getting jaded (no pun intended).

Headlines For New Lingerie Line?

Names + Taglines, Products

I am the owner of a new lingerie line, and am trying to create some clever and sophisticated, yet edgy slogan for an ecard campagin directed to my buyers…..any ideas? My lingerie collection targets an affluent consumer. We sell at high-end boutiques, and better department stores. Our niche is that we incorporate great printed fabrics into our line, where most other lingerie available out there is in solids. The three key words we used to define ourselves are rich, feminine, and distinctive, with an empahsis on distinctive. Many of the prints we use are exclusively devleoped for us.

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Jay’s Answer:

  • Your Prints Has Arrived
  • Wear Your Prints Out

Whose Marketing Is Extraordinary?

Publicity

I want to learn that which company’s, which marketing idea you find the most extraordinary.

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Jay’s Answer: For me, the best ideas are the ones that actually achieve their goals. Too often businesses try to be too clever and they wind up falling in love with their ideas and not their results.

Here are my top 4:

  • TED: I enjoy for the sheer volume of amazingly focused presentations.
  • Bioneers is similar to TED, but the focus is on biological/social issues. Wonderful, inspiring messages.
  • Apple for their ability to create not just customers, but evangelists for their products.
  • Amazon for their continued refinement of their customer “experience”

Ideas For A Management Development Program?

Services

I am trying to organize a Management Development Program on the topic – Designing Effective TV Commercials. The participants (Brand Managers/ Marketing Managers) would primarily be from the consumer goods industry.

Could you give me suggestions/ ideas what should be the content so that the takeaways from the program are actually considered valuable? I am already trying to invite someone from the ad industry as a speaker who would add value to the program.

I would appreciate if you also let me know how I can make the whole program an interesting and entertaining one at the same time.

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Jay’s Answer: Show (good and bad) commercials that you have case studies for. After showing the commercial, stop the video, and ask the audience their opinion of the commercial and the likely results from it (and why). Then show the case study. Repeat.

Split the audience into groups, and give them each the same assignment, handing them a Flip Camera to film the commercial. Show the commercials at the end, and award prizes (if desired).

Ideas To Celebrate Our Bank’s 25th Anniversary?

Publicity, Services

I work for a community bank that is preparing to celebrate our 25th anniversary. What ideas do you have to promote our anniversary? I am thinking I have two goals with this event: (1) Thank our customers and employees, (2) capitalize on our strength and stability.

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Jay’s Answer: Go through your records and identify homes and businesses that you’ve loaned to. Then contact them, asking for pictures of their home/business (ideally with them in it). Create a photo wall (also on website) of your customer community. Each week of the 25th year, randomly pick someone’s name (who gave a photo) and reward them publicly ($25? Give the money to a local charity of their choosing?)

What To Name My Mortage Broker Newsletter?

Branding, Names + Taglines, Services, Starting Out

I am designing a newsletter for real estate agents I want to work with. I am a mortgage broker and this letter will go out once a month, free, and be full of the latest up to date changing rules and guidelines for mortgage lending. Agents need to know this as it impacts their customers. Other competing brokers don’t always keep up with the rules nor bother to inform the agents. I see a chance to set myself apart. My first newsletter will tell about me and my credentials and include a photo; it will be in a newspaper format, with a header and columns and plenty of white space to make it easy to read. I will promise monthly mailings of the latest changes. This is a chance to brand myself as well…and I just cannot find the “perfect” name.

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Jay’s Answer: I’d suggest also a link in the newsletter back to your website and/or RSS feed to get any important changes that real estate agents need to know immediately.

  • Real Lending News
  • Lend Me Your Ear
  • The Real Estate Lending Advantage

Business With Passion: Logan and Noah Miller

Videos

Trailer:

When identical twin brothers, Logan and Noah Miller‘s homeless father died alone in a jail cell, they vowed that their film, Touching Home, would be made as a dedication to their love for him. Either You’re In Or You’re In the Way is the amazing story of how–without a dime to their names nor a single meaningful contact in Hollywood–they managed to write, produce, act, and direct a feature film in under a year starring four-time Academy Award-nominated actor Ed Harris and a cast and crew with 11 Academy Awards and 26 nominations.

Business With Passion TV Show Logo

How Can I Communicate Our Digital Picture Quality USP?

Branding, Services

This is a service which has only 1 differentiating factor from other competitors which is its digital picture quality. It has only 18% market share till now. The market leader has a 51% market share. The major competitors are the traditional cable operators. Please suggest how to increase the customer base and different ways of communication with single minded proposition.

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Jay’s Answer: You provided what’s better (digital picture quality), but what about what’s not-as-good as the competition? If you’re as good as the competition, and still have something unique, you can have a side-to-side comparison and ask people to choose what they prefer (all other things being equal). As for the 18% market share – you get more customers when: 1) people leave existing providers or 2) new people choose you. If people are unsatisfied, then give them motivation to switch to you (free first month’s service with proof that they have been customers of your competition in the last 6 months). For new people, create a matrix comparing yourself with the others, and show how the choice is “crystal clear”.

Headline For a Eco-Friendly Printer?

Names + Taglines

I have to create an ad for our fair trade, green retail shop in San Francisco, which now is also doing digital printing on recycled paper in just one day! We are printing business cards, letterheads, fliers, posters, postcards, note cards…. everything on recycled paper.
You go to the store, give your file to the customer representative and she prints it for you the same day.

I know there are two different markets: one is retail and the other one is printing.

Could you please help me creating an original tag line – short and catchy?

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Jay’s Answer:

  • We Print In All Colors Of Green.
  • Black and White and Green Printing.