What You Don't Know About Adverting Can Kill You. (Part 3 of a 3 Part Series)

This Is The 3^rd Part Of A Three Part Series On Adverting

For many of us, we think that advertising should produce instant results.  In some cases it does; when you send out a direct mail postcard or letter and ask for someone to email or phone or take some action, you would usually see immediate results.  If you sent out an email and asked for a “call to action”, you might see instant action.

On the other hand, old school advertising like cable TV, radio, Billboard and Newspaper/magazine is not only far more difficult to track, but to expect instant results is only setting yourself up for failure.  And those that do, put a stake in the heart of their future marketing plans.

The purpose of advertising is to create a sale; however, before advertising can create that sale, it has to emotionally change your perception, inclination, propensity and desire for a specific product either from neutral or negative to a positive in order to generate an “I want this product” moment in the prospects heart and head.

One of our problems is that we never give these advertising “flights” enough time.

We say that newspapers don’t work, but then again we expect one little ad to create a run on the center. We say TV didn’t work because well, candidly, you placed the media on the wrong networks and you didn't get enough frequency to make an impression.  You pulled the radio off the air after a week, because you didn't see a lot of people coming in.  Congratulations, you wasted your money.  You need to invest monthly or every other month on radio and cable for a two week minimum. That’s Fred’s rule # 117 on advertising. “Commit to frequency and commit to consistency or don’t do it.”

Or worse, you just did not bother to advertise. 

Too many proprietors are using email as their one trick pony and forgetting about everything else.  Every time you send out an email, remember about 10% will open it and only 2% to 3% of those people will click through to the offer.  So why aren't you disappointed with email as an advertising medium.  Simple, you think it doesn't cost anything so any customer you get is a PLUS.  There’s always a cost and the cost is you might be sending too many irrelevant emails to the wrong audience, especially if your data base is not segmented properly.

Finally, many of you just won’t spend the money it takes to invest in the marketing of the business. You’ll spend it with the lawyer, the accountant and even the electrician before you’ll spend advertising dollars.                                          

And I just can’t figure out why you would have a couple of million dollars tied up in asset that you don’t bother to tell anyone about?  

Why are we one of the only industries that does not market itself, locally, regionally or nationally?

Somebody help me.  What am I missing?

Advertising Your Existing Product (part 2 of a 3 part series)

This is the second in a three part series about advertising.  In our last blog we spoke about the budgeting process for NEW programs and product you would want to introduce. In this blog we’ll discuss how to set advertising for EXISTING programs.

Let’s recognize several facts first.

1.      Every product has a life cycle. Depending on where your product is in its life cycle will be an important factor in how you will spend to promote it

2.      Will your product or program be modified, changed, renamed this budget year or will it be pretty much the same?

3.      What did you spend last year to support it and did you get any sales lift when you did that?

a.     Is the sales trend for the product down over the last two years

b.     What specifically did you do and how much did you spend relative to the sales of the program

c.     Did you do the same thing the year before last?

4.      If you’re including a flier as part of your advertising expenditure, please don’t.  I am talking about direct mail, electronic media and any digital media that you actually PAID for.

Let’s examine a typical scenario for Cosmic bowling.  Many centers are reporting that their Comic Bowl has been off for several years. 

No surprise, considering that the 23 yr old person you are trying to attract has seen the same product for 10 years and it just doesn't give him the same sense of excitement it once did.

So now, you want to jazz up your product, maybe add a band every other week or once a month, create theme nights and get a Master of Ceremonies that rocks the crowd.  

Let’s say you have done all that and it’s time to promote the product.  Outside of Internet (emails and Face book) you might want to consider electronic media as well as direct mail.

Over the last three years, your cosmic bowl has done $75,000, $65,000 and now it’s trending at $55,000.  So you have lost $20,000 in top line revenue which should translate into 75% to 80% of net (especially if you are past your break-even point).  

What would you spend to get back to that $75,000 or more plateau?

Me?  I would spend at least $5,000 over the course of the year, during key time periods to get that number moving in the right direction. Why $5,000? 

Because if I do it right and actually hit that $75,000, I will have added $20,000; spent $5,000 and have $15,000 left…approximately three to one ROI. And that’s what I shoot for when I budget clients’ marketing programs.

Now if your product isn't being changed and you just want to get the message out, then spend enough to buy you at least three two week flights (either on Cable or radio) in November, January and March to achieve a FOUR frequency every campaign.  

This should give your sales a lift during peak times of the year.

 (Remember to "Fish where the fish are.")

Bottom line: Support your winning programs with enough advertising to create and reinforce top of mind awareness as well as a strong call to action - think promotional offer-  for the program among existing customers and prospects. 

Further, modify you losing programs, but support them more to a greater degree because you have new BENEFITS of the program you MUST communicate to get the customer and prospect to take action. Need a strong call to action here as well.

If you follow some of these guidelines, I believe you will see a sales lift.

Then again, you can choose to stick with just Internet marketing…and pray for rain on the weekends.J

Budgeting The Advertising Component (part 1 of a 3 Part Series

Many clients have asked me how much they should be budgeting for advertising and promotion?

My answer usually goes like this, “You need to spend whatever it takes to achieve your revenue goals on NEW programs and spend whatever it takes to maintain your EXISTING programs.”   I can only get more specific if I know what each program is and work from the ground up, rather than just throw out 3% or 5%, which many businesses do just because it is easy.

Let’s say that you want to be very aggressive about building company parties and you are currently doing about $10,000 in this category.  Your goal, you say is $50,000 – a five fold increase.  Now what would you spend to get that $40,000 when you know that x% will be for food costs and x% will be for labor costs.  Hypothetically, after I factor out these costs, I have $20,000 left. 

What would you budget to meet your goals?  

I still don’t have a good answer because I now have to examine who is my best target; (Fred’s theory of low hanging fruit) when would be the best time to market this product; and what are the most efficient ways to reach the target with MY message which is "a compelling offer."

I now devise a plan to go after this segment in the September to December cycle and then again in the January to April Cycle.  My media plan is to use direct mail postcards and letters as well as email and linked in.  I have a data base of 1000 companies having more than 25 employees around me (in a 7 mile radius) and I am also able to discern who has had a party at the center and who hasn't had one in the past year. (I'll no doubt test some offers against current customers vs new customers and try different offers before full launch/roll out.)

Based upon this knowledge I sit down and figure out artist costs, postcard costs, direct mail costs, postage, telephone costs and some indirect labor costs. I total all these costs and come up with $5500.  I set my budget at $6500, knowing that I will need to save some for “an opportunity.”  

After the first flight of advertising goes out, I gauge my results and if I am ahead of or behind my budget.  If I am ahead, I make no modifications, but if I am behind on my “yield”, then I must reduce my spending on the second flight (Jan to April) or develop some new tactics that are not as costly and proceed.  

Adding more dollars to the second flight is like a gambler doubling down to recover his earlier losses.  Unless the world changes or you have a revolutionary product, avoid the double down wherever possible

The budget for your “existing programs” is similar but different enough that you need to be aware of the subtleties. I’ll cover that next time.

Now I have simplified this process somewhat, but I wanted to demonstrate what a “real” budgeting process is and how one must go about it to be “On Plan”.  And isn't that what marketing is all about?  Because if you don’t have a plan with real goals and strategies and tactics to back it up, you have as Paul Simon would say, “A winter’s day in a deep and dark December.”

Or you can just choose 3% and wing it :)

How Long Can You Be Invisible?

As much as I like statistics, I was surprised to read the recent Kantar Media Intelligence Report published in December 2012 about US advertising expenditures:

“Total advertising expenditures in the third quarter of 2012 increased 7.1 percent from a year ago and finished the period at $34.5 billion, according to data released by Kantar Media, the leading provider of strategic advertising and marketing. information. Total spending for the first nine months of the year grew 3.8 percent to $101.3 billion.”

The biggest increases came in television media which grew 9.1% for the period January 2012 to September 2012. Cable TV expenditures were up 5% while network TV was up about 9% (even factoring out $1B in political/election advertising)

Radio advertising too, was also up about 2.4% and billboard advertising was up 4%  

On the other side of the coin, internet advertising was off 3.1% for the same period.

And here is another interesting fact, Apple, Microsoft, Verizon and Google (the kings of the internet) spent billions on TV advertising.  Do you find that strange?  The biggest names in digital media, software, hardware and services spend the majority of their ad bucks on TV!!!

Here’s what I find strange.  As an industry, bowling has stopped advertising; whether it is on TV, radio or even billboards. Every now and then I find a proprietor or two who has invested in “measured media”, specifically electronic media.  Rarely, if ever, do I find groups of proprietors pooling their money to invest in a media campaign.

The Cincinnati group may be an exception.  They run a have a ball program every year and have done so probably for the last ten or twelve years using radio and I think some local cable.  Their results have been consistently outstanding with many proprietors in the group reporting over 100 new bowlers annually as a direct result of this effort.

So how come other local groups haven’t done it? Is everybody so in love with the internet and email (which only 10% to 12% of YOUR customers open) and Facebook that we have completely forgotten about the one media that Americans spend more time with than any other? TELEVISION!  Is the “new media” alone improving your business?

Now I’m not down on internet marketing. Far, far from it.  I write blogs and emails and place face book posts for my clients every day and make sure that they are the very best they can be. So I am a believer! After-all  this is exactly what I am doing writing these words, but I also believe that TV is still a staple and bowling is still a visual experience, so why can’t local groups get together and put on a media campaign?

Is it because they can’t get consensus on what to do?  Is it because they are concerned that the center who doesn't advertise will also benefit? Or is it the fact that they "have done it, been there and not sure” if it worked.  So why bother again, Right?

Probably all valid reasons. 

But not good enough reasons for your center to remain invisible to the THREE OUT OF FOUR AMERICANS WHO DON’T BOWL.  You’re missing 75% of the people out there who haven’t been in your center in at least a year (probably more) and while it is always more efficient to get your existing customers back, you just can’t abandon the “new customer pipeline”.  Certainly, you will agree, that some investment in that distribution channel has to be funded.

Are there any takers out there who want to tap my 30 years of marketing and media experience to help put together a local proprietor group marketing effort?  

Or do you want to stay invisible?

Here's 9 Strategies for Your Best Summer Ever

When you think of summer marketing, most proprietors first thought is to floor 13 to 17 week summer league bowlers and in typical fashion they offer what worked last summer, deduct what didn't work and come up with a few new ideas.

After they get their leagues on the floor (sometime from late April to mid June, depending on their locale), they then begin to concentrate on some deeply discounted open play programs and hope it rains.

Now I know that sounds simplistic, but trust me, I have been in over a thousand centers in this country and that’s pretty much the way it goes. And that's all there is until July when fall league start ups rears its head.

So in this blog, I am going to list nine (9) different strategies that you could implement over the summer; in fact you have at least 9 different strategies to choose from as a way to approach your summer business.

But before we get into the summer choices, have you examined and analyzed the last three years of your business, looked at the trends, seen what kinds of leagues, programs and offerings have been successful?  Do you have a real understanding of where your business is coming from? What segments? What time periods/day parts and what kinds of “consumer offers” are being accepted?

Secondly, in building any league schedule for the summer, do you have offerings for these key segments?

·         Competitive league bowlers

·         Social bowlers

·         Seniors

·         Adult child bowlers

·         Children

·         New bowlers (couples, adult/child, seniors, children)

If you don’t have an offering that is relevant for each of these segments, then you have no chance of getting them to bowl.

Now with that being said, here are nine different ways to build summer leagues:

#1 Traditional 12 to 16 week summer season

#2 Traditional and short season leagues only

#3 Short season leagues only

#4 Traditional and short season leagues plus corporate parties

#5 Traditional league offerings and corporate parties

#6 Short season leagues and corporate parties

#7 Only corporate parties and fund raisers

#8 Open play only (walkina nd organized)

#9 Open play and corporate parties/fund raisers

I can categorically tell you that I have seen each of these strategies work in various centers over the course of many centers. Your challenge is to decide which of these strategies fits your market the best and which will create the most revenue

Therefore you must answer these types of questions before deciding what strategy to pursue:

·         What is your competition offering?

·         What other summer activities are you competing with and of these which ones can you partner with to create a great consumer offer (i.e. Six Flags, Water parks, Casinos, etc)

·         How many companies are in your area and do you have a sales effort that can be geared up?

·         Do you have a data base to reach non league people with short season programs?

·         Do you have a commercial data base of fund raising organizations, religious groups and fraternal groups?

·         Who is going to do the various tasks to implement these programs and how will you monitor their  progress?

·         How much will you spend to reach these various segments and what is your anticipated return?

Or you can do what you did last year and pray for more rain? 

Please let me know if I can help.                                                                                                                    You can reach me at 516 359 4874 or email me at fredkaplowitz@gmail.com

15 Ways to Get Your Customers to Refer Customers

Recent statistics show that 66% of all customers come thru referrals by existing customers, yet only 18% of all companies even have a referral program. 

Seems strange considering that we all know that it is more costly to get a new customer via traditional methods then via word of mouth. 

Moreover, we all have lots of existing customers; they are called league bowlers and while some are happier than others; almost all of them would be open to a referral program that offered them some kind of incentive.

So here’s a bunch of incentive ideas to get people to refer customers to you.

May not be what you expect, but then again, I hope this blog never is.

Refer a customer or get a team and get:  C = customer; T = Team

1.     $10 in Free in lottery tickets (C)

2.    A gift certificate for a new bowling ball  (T)

3.    Your Truck detailed (T)

4.    A $25 restaurant.com coupon (C)

5.    Your last week’s bowling fee FREE (C)

6.    A bottle of your favorite alcoholic beverage (C or T).

o   Don’t distribute this from the center, buy it at retail.

7.    $50 in food purchases at the center (T or C)

8.    $50 Gift certificates to Best Buy, Target,  (T or C)

9.    $100 gift certificate for an airline flight (T)

10.  Free entry into any national or state tournament (C or T)

11.   $50 to $100 in free gasoline (T or C)

12.  Pay your cell phone bill for one month up to $100 (T)

13.  Pay your cable bill for one month up to $100 (T)

14.  Get bags of groceries up to $100 (T); $25 for a C

15.  Get your house cleaned (up to $100) for a (T)

Did I get you to thinking about a referral program?  I hope so.

Follow The Yellow Brick Road

Recent conversations with proprietors have unveiled a rash of price reductions on the bowling product, specifically late night open play after 9pm Sunday through Thursdays. 

Some centers offer various programs (price specials) every day. Others offer one program for all 5 days. Having too many programs makes it hard to support the communication of EVERY program.  Having one program, some proprietors say, becomes your price.  

I say so what?  It’s a price I have come to based upon what the market will bear.

Or is it?

Recent cranial rumblings, (as well as a heavy dosage of recent marketing articles), have led me to believe that most people shop for the lowest price because they simply don’t believe that the game is worth more than the cheapest price. Thus, they have “commoditized” us. “We’re all the same,” they say.

But the little marketing voice in the back of my head says, “Wait a minute.  People would pay more for what you delivered if they only believed that what they got was a bargain”

Would they?

Sure they would! Look at the FEC’s, the boutique centers, the hybrids. They made believers out of people that their product was worth more and thus charged more. (Never underestimate the value of a testimonial to prove your product is worth more)

So in the race to follow some of the big boys down the $7.99 for 2 hours of bowling trail, we may be forgetting that there are a lot of people out there, who want more; who want better…and who are willing to pay for it.

Don’t get trapped into following some other dude’s pricing strategy.  Build your brand. Build what you stand for and deliver more than people expect.

And for God’s sake, tell someone about it!!!

Stand on top of the building and scream, but don’t just  put a flier on the desk and send out a few emails.  

Moses couldn't sell the 10 Commandments if that's all he did!.

45% of our waking time is spent watching TV.  Connect the dots.

Am I Nuts...Again?

Another Super Bowl has come and gone and we are no closer to having a bowling commercial on the Big Game (watched this year by only 108 million people) than we were last year.

This year, I had an opportunity to interview for a BPAA Board position and as we went through the various interviewee type questions, I was informed that the mission statement of the BPAA was to increase the proprietor’s profitability.

I buy that lock stock and bowling glove, but what’s gonna happen to Larry the proprietor who can’t afford to even advertise in his home town and , unfortunately, when he does some hot shot media person gives him a schedule that just doesn't make it. Based upon his poor results, he vows never to do cable TV again. Same thing happened to him with Radio and, of course, Newspaper. Never again

So now Larry is locked and loaded into the Internet, into email, into twitter and SEO and all that good stuff and maybe 10% of the people he sends stuff to actually read it?  And less than half take some action

There’s only one problem.

SALES ARE NOT GOING UP. PROFITABILITY ISN'T GOING UP. NOTHING’S REALLY CHANGING

Will a super bowl commercial fix our industry’s woes? No, of course not, but maybe people will start to say. “Oh yeah, bowling, I used to do that. Let’s go and do it after the game, next Friday night. Whenever. It is now in someone’s brain; maybe 108 million brains.

Commercials this year cost $4,000.000 for a 30 second spot and production costs about $200,000 per spot. If we’re a $4 billion dollar industry at retail, then $4.2 million is ONE TENTH OF A PERCENT…and I am told it is too expensive; that it won’t make a difference; that it’s a waste of money.

Do all those Hyundai, Pepsi and Chrysler people think that?  On the world’s biggest stage, some of the world’s biggest advertisers come to perform. Some stay on the side line.  But its easy to see that Hyundai sales and Chrysler sales are leading (or near the front of the pack) in year over year increases

Too bad the sport with more pay for play participants than anything else in the USA sits woefully on the sideline holding its head in its hands thinking about the next “8 for 8” bowling league instead of figuring out how to use some Pepsi money or Smart Buy money to get on stage and show our stuff.

Like we said in our old school days, "Just wait 'till next year."

Am I nuts?

This Is The ONLY thing this blog will ever SELL!!!

Jesse L Martin, (pictured left) who starred in the Law and Order TV series and devotes tons of his time and talent to Our Time Theatre recently reminded me that it is getting close to "Gala Time." 

As we get ready to gear up for the 2013 "Our Time Theatre Gala" event this April, I wanted to share some tid bits from last year...in the hopes that you will join us at the Gala in NYC and/or contribute to the efforts of this oh so worthy cause.

For those of you who know me, you know how important this cause, personally, means to me and how involved I am with Our Time Theatre.

Our Time Theatre is a non profit organization that helps young people who stutter to reclaim their voices through arts, speech therapy and summer camp programs. 

Please take 5 minutes and catch last year's Gala event, our biggest fund raising event of the year, and see what we're talking about.

Your generosity and support is most appreciated. 

From the bottom of my heart, I Thank You.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEX2ELBHQlg&feature=plcp

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