We’re all our own little media companies now, aren’t
we?
We don’t need no stinken TV, Radio, Billboard or Newspaper. We don’t have to pay to reach people.
Nah, amigo; we can do it for FREE. And that’s always the right way to go,
right?
We can send out coupons and price offers as many
times as we want and when it doesn’t work we blame the tech stuff; we rarely
ask to investigate it deeply.
We just look for a
reason it failed such as:
ü
The tech kid we
hired didn't send it out on time
ü
It’s the economy
ü
The offer was
higher than my competitor
ü
It’s the economy
ü
The audience
gets bombarded with stuff, only 10% opened it
ü
It’s the economy
Yet, we can print our own newspapers, create our own
TV commercials and stream them via the net to our audience. We can make our own
pod casts and send them to our audience to get them to listen to our message. We can search engine optimize till we are
blue in the face; we can Google + our friends and set up our sites, blogs and
communications for mobile.
And most of you have, but guess what? IT DIDN'T MAKE
YOUR REGISTER RING.
We can even send out customized messages to micro
segments, (very small niche markets. An example of this micro segment might be
non athletic kids who are more into tech than sports to get them to bowl in a Hi
Tech league only for kids who are into tech).
Yup, you’re your own little media company and
perhaps you have been doing some or many of the above mentioned strategies. Then why hasn't your business really, really improved. Maybe being your
own media company isn’t enough. Very clearly,
IT IS NOT.
IT IS ABOUT THE MESSAGE.
IT IS ABOUT THE MESSAGE.
Always has been and always will be. It is about your brand (in the old days this
was called “image”) and how it makes people feel. Do they get all nostalgic and
feel happy when they think of your center and fondly remember the happy times
they had there as a kid or is it merely dust in the wind? Perhaps the mention
of your center conjures up nothing. No positive feelings. No negative feelings.
Just apathy. Pure sucky apathy – he’s the toughest competitor you face
And that is the
worst place to be.
Because getting people off of their apathy to do
anything when they don’t know if it will make them feel good is a difficult
task at best. Proprietors all over the country tell me how hard it is to get people to just
open play bowl at 9pm, let alone league bowl.
My father would come from work at about 630, have a
cup of coffee, eat dinner, shower, get his bowling duds on and go bowling at
9pm. Often he would come home at 1am or 2am feeling “happy.” Not drunk or even close to it. He was just
happy that he chose to spend his time at a place that made him feel glad all
over.
And then this phenomenon disappeared. "Hey what happened? Where did it go?", we proclaim. Too late. You missed the changing message.
Sure it was a different time. A different economy
and a different demographic society, but the one clear and decipherable fact
was that HE Liked It Enough and It Resonated With Him Enough That He Was OK With
Bowling At 9pm.
The brand of the bowling center (the experience) made him happy.
The brand of the bowling center (the experience) made him happy.
What message are you putting out there? What do
people remember or think about when they hear your bowling center’s name or is
merely dust in the wind that blows in one ear and out the other.
Message for
today You have all the high tech tools you
need to reach people; to build your brand identity and to tell stories about
your business that makes a human connection
Or are you going
to sit there tonight and just send me another freaking coupon for Cosmic Bowl?
