Reports around our industry (and other industries) showed that once again consumers are tightening their belt. Uncertainty about the economy, the future of the existing tax cuts, double dip recession possibilities and job losses have created a real hesitancy in consumers' minds on how to spend their few discretionary dollars. Many are saving more. Most are doing nothing.
And that's hurting our industry. But within this gray cloud of summer open bowling, that hopefully is passing over our heads, there can be light at the end of the tunnel.
If there is one thing that we have proven is that we can be "AFFORDABLE FAMILY FUN". We just haven't gotten that message out to enough people frequently enough. Nor have we demonstrated or proven it successfully
Like the car dealers or electronics manufacturers, comparison advertising states facts, and depicts in very clear terms, what the advantages of one product are to another product. Consumers can relate to these charts. It's a quick visual gulp that they can process quickly. We say that we are a better value than the movies. We say we are a better value than water parks, amusement parks and dining out experiences, but we never display it. Shouldn't we? Heck Yes.
Here's an example:
Create a chart that looks like this. On the left side of the page list 7 key variables such as:
1. food, beverage, 2 hours of entertainment
2. exercise
3. music and lights
4. conversation
5. all ages can do
6. friendly competition
7. achievement
Now to the right of this column, create 3 columns that say Bowling, Movies, Applebees
Under each column and next to each variable, write "Yes" where bowling has an advantage and "No" where the competition does not have an advantage. In the price category, under bowling I put $49.95. In the movie column I put $60 and under Applebees I put $70* (includes tip and beverages).
For the other variables under Movies, I put a "NO" for every one of them, except "Maybe" in the "all ages can do."
Under Applebees, I put a "No" for all variables except I put a "Yes" under "conversation and "all ages can do."
Now if you create this chart and send it out to your email list and distributed it to your facebook friends or even direct mailed it (hopefully you would do all three) along with a sending a compelling coupon offer to visit your center for Pizza Pins N Pop, would you get a response? I think YES!
Use a headline like:
"Why Should Family Fun Cost an Arm and a Leg?"
At Happy lanes it Doesn't"
Now, go tell somebody.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Kindle vs IPad
I read a report the other day that Amazon, the on line book seller sold more "E-Books" than paper books last month. This was the first time this happened. Coincidentally, the bricks and mortar book retailer "Borders" filed for reorganization and is also in play as a possible buy. Its current chairman as well as other investment groups are all vying for a position.
Amazon was also the innovator of The Kindle, an e reading device, that when introduced in 2007, was sold for $399. As competition rose - Barnes $ Noble's E Reader called "The Nook" and Sony's Reader - Amazon's prices fell to $139. Do you think they are making money on the device or just selling it at cost so they can sell more e books?
In April, Apple introduced the IPad (and sold 3 million units to date) which allows its owners to read books as well. Of course, owners of Blackberry, IPhone and Droid owners can also read books on their phones.
But the IPad will win.
Simply because one dimensional products have a shorter life cycle. Remember when word processing machines were all the rage? What happened to them? What happened to single purpose devices in our economy. Many have not survived.
What about your bowling center? How can you make it a multi use facility? Sure,you have a bar and a snack bar and a bunch of games, but what can you do to stay relevant in the NEW multi purpose environment. Can you become a Birthday Party Showcase too? Can you become a GREAT sports bar too? Can you become a late night, night club too?
What will you be when you grow up?
Amazon was also the innovator of The Kindle, an e reading device, that when introduced in 2007, was sold for $399. As competition rose - Barnes $ Noble's E Reader called "The Nook" and Sony's Reader - Amazon's prices fell to $139. Do you think they are making money on the device or just selling it at cost so they can sell more e books?
In April, Apple introduced the IPad (and sold 3 million units to date) which allows its owners to read books as well. Of course, owners of Blackberry, IPhone and Droid owners can also read books on their phones.
But the IPad will win.
Simply because one dimensional products have a shorter life cycle. Remember when word processing machines were all the rage? What happened to them? What happened to single purpose devices in our economy. Many have not survived.
What about your bowling center? How can you make it a multi use facility? Sure,you have a bar and a snack bar and a bunch of games, but what can you do to stay relevant in the NEW multi purpose environment. Can you become a Birthday Party Showcase too? Can you become a GREAT sports bar too? Can you become a late night, night club too?
What will you be when you grow up?
Thursday, August 5, 2010
What You Always Suspected is Here
Hidden inside Ashley Hayes-Beaty's computer, a tiny file helps gather personal details about her, all to be put up for sale for a tenth of a penny.The file consists of a single code that secretly identifies her as a 26-year-old female in Nashville, Tenn.
The code knows that her favorite movies include "The Princess Bride," "50 First Dates" and "10 Things I Hate About You." It knows she enjoys the "Sex and the City" series. It knows she browses entertainment news and likes to take quizzes.
"Well, I like to think I have some mystery left to me, but apparently not!" Ms. Hayes-Beaty said when told what that snippet of code reveals about her. "The profile is eerily correct."
Ms. Hayes-Beaty is being monitored by Lotame Solutions Inc., a New York company that uses sophisticated software called a "beacon" to capture what people are typing on a website—their comments on movies, say, or their interest in parenting and pregnancy. Lotame packages that data into profiles about individuals, without determining a person's name, and sells the profiles to companies seeking customers.
Ms. Hayes-Beaty's tastes can be sold wholesale (a batch of movie lovers is $1 per thousand) or customized (26-year-old Southern fans of "50 First Dates"). "We can segment it all the way down to one person," says Eric Porres, Lotame's chief marketing officer.
Ashley Hayes-Beaty's taste in film is tracked by a New York firm—and offered for sale for a tenth of a cent. One of the fastest-growing businesses on the Internet, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found, is the business of spying on Internet users.
The Wall Street Journal conducted a comprehensive study that assesses and analyzes the broad array of cookies and other surveillance technology that companies are deploying on Internet users. It reveals that the tracking of consumers has grown both far more pervasive and far more intrusive than is realized by all but a handful of people in the vanguard of the industry.
• The study found that the nation's 50 top websites on average installed 64 pieces of tracking technology onto the computers of visitors, usually with no warning. A dozen sites each installed more than a hundred. The nonprofit Wikipedia installed none.
• Tracking technology is getting smarter and more intrusive. Monitoring used to be limited mainly to "cookie" files that record websites people visit. But the Journal found new tools that scan in real time what people are doing on a Web page, then instantly assess location, income, shopping interests and even medical conditions. Some tools surreptitiously re-spawn themselves even after users try to delete them.
• These profiles of individuals, constantly refreshed, are bought and sold on stock-market-like exchanges that have sprung up in the past 18 months.
The new technologies are transforming the Internet economy. Advertisers once primarily bought ads on specific Web pages—a car ad on a car site. Now, advertisers are paying a premium to follow people around the Internet, wherever they go, with highly specific marketing messages.
It's rarely a coincidence when you see Web ads for products that match your interests.
(Reprinted from the Wall Street Journal, July 2010)
Is this spying or is this market research. It is market research if the person knows you are doing it. It is spying, if the person doesn’t know?
There is something a bit creepy about this.
Of course, the scam artists and internet marketing "get rich quick" guys will love this because it will make their job so much easier. Imagine them sitting a round and saying, "Hey Joe, what if we just tapped into the thoughts of these markets and see what they clicked on, says Homer."
"Lets go for phrases and then products and then frequency and then size and color!" Yeah, that's the ticket, says Homer." And as Lotame's chief marketing officer said, "we can segment down to one person" And that means that every message can be personalized. In the hands of ethical marketers that's a good thing, but in the hands of "the get rich quick, trust me crowd", it makes me feel uneasy.
In any case, keep your antennae up for this technology and go to a website called Bluekai.com. BlueKai is the center of the digital data economy and the largest auction marketplace for all audience data.
This really is "Big Brother and The Holding Company".
The code knows that her favorite movies include "The Princess Bride," "50 First Dates" and "10 Things I Hate About You." It knows she enjoys the "Sex and the City" series. It knows she browses entertainment news and likes to take quizzes.
"Well, I like to think I have some mystery left to me, but apparently not!" Ms. Hayes-Beaty said when told what that snippet of code reveals about her. "The profile is eerily correct."
Ms. Hayes-Beaty is being monitored by Lotame Solutions Inc., a New York company that uses sophisticated software called a "beacon" to capture what people are typing on a website—their comments on movies, say, or their interest in parenting and pregnancy. Lotame packages that data into profiles about individuals, without determining a person's name, and sells the profiles to companies seeking customers.
Ms. Hayes-Beaty's tastes can be sold wholesale (a batch of movie lovers is $1 per thousand) or customized (26-year-old Southern fans of "50 First Dates"). "We can segment it all the way down to one person," says Eric Porres, Lotame's chief marketing officer.
Ashley Hayes-Beaty's taste in film is tracked by a New York firm—and offered for sale for a tenth of a cent. One of the fastest-growing businesses on the Internet, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found, is the business of spying on Internet users.
The Wall Street Journal conducted a comprehensive study that assesses and analyzes the broad array of cookies and other surveillance technology that companies are deploying on Internet users. It reveals that the tracking of consumers has grown both far more pervasive and far more intrusive than is realized by all but a handful of people in the vanguard of the industry.
• The study found that the nation's 50 top websites on average installed 64 pieces of tracking technology onto the computers of visitors, usually with no warning. A dozen sites each installed more than a hundred. The nonprofit Wikipedia installed none.
• Tracking technology is getting smarter and more intrusive. Monitoring used to be limited mainly to "cookie" files that record websites people visit. But the Journal found new tools that scan in real time what people are doing on a Web page, then instantly assess location, income, shopping interests and even medical conditions. Some tools surreptitiously re-spawn themselves even after users try to delete them.
• These profiles of individuals, constantly refreshed, are bought and sold on stock-market-like exchanges that have sprung up in the past 18 months.
The new technologies are transforming the Internet economy. Advertisers once primarily bought ads on specific Web pages—a car ad on a car site. Now, advertisers are paying a premium to follow people around the Internet, wherever they go, with highly specific marketing messages.
It's rarely a coincidence when you see Web ads for products that match your interests.
(Reprinted from the Wall Street Journal, July 2010)
Is this spying or is this market research. It is market research if the person knows you are doing it. It is spying, if the person doesn’t know?
There is something a bit creepy about this.
Of course, the scam artists and internet marketing "get rich quick" guys will love this because it will make their job so much easier. Imagine them sitting a round and saying, "Hey Joe, what if we just tapped into the thoughts of these markets and see what they clicked on, says Homer."
"Lets go for phrases and then products and then frequency and then size and color!" Yeah, that's the ticket, says Homer." And as Lotame's chief marketing officer said, "we can segment down to one person" And that means that every message can be personalized. In the hands of ethical marketers that's a good thing, but in the hands of "the get rich quick, trust me crowd", it makes me feel uneasy.
In any case, keep your antennae up for this technology and go to a website called Bluekai.com. BlueKai is the center of the digital data economy and the largest auction marketplace for all audience data.
This really is "Big Brother and The Holding Company".
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
A Sofa Buying Experience Gone Awry
A 97 year old woman buys a sofa from Jennifer Convertibles in March. In April, the wrong sofa is delivered. Not only isn't it what she wants, but one of the cushions is two shades lighter than the others.
It is now August. She and several of her friends have called the company and gotten the proverbial run around. In fact, her attempts have turned into marathon phone -a-thons where she was transferred from one person to the next, put on hold interminably and told, “someone would get back to you”.
Of course, nobody did.
So now I am getting a "go" at Jennifer Convertibles. I want them to see the e-power of the Internet and to see how negative messaging will be spread to every person in my email club as well as people in my members’ clubs and to my facebook friends and their friends.
Please email this to Jennifer Convertibles. The President’s name is Rami Abada Contact: Jennifer Convertibles at 419 Crossways Park Dr., Woodbury NY 11797
Of course they have filed for voluntary bankruptcy so let's email them at Invest@jenniferfurniture.com. Why wouldn't a company who treats customers this way file for bankruptcy?
Or sign your name at the bottom and send it off to the email above. Ask the company to call Fred Kaplowitz @ 516 359 4874
Now, could this be happening to you? Yes indeed!
The bowling experience isn’t quite as expensive as a full sofa, but a corporate party could be even more expensive and the opportunities for a “bad experience” very real.
Accept no substitutes. Guarantee your service with “money back guarantees.” Oh sure, some people will beat you, but overall what do you think the result of that statement would be. It would mean more business because you have credibility.
“Excuse me sir, would you and your daughter like to join our Saturday adult child league. Try it for one week and if you’re not happy we will give you your money back. Why wouldn’t someone, who was on the fence, at least consider this offer? And isn’t getting them to show up and try our universally recognized and enjoyed product always the first step in the buying continuum?
Unlike Jennifer Convertibles, who cannot resolve a 4 month old problem with my Mother in Law, offering and standing by your guarantees makes good business sense.
It is now August. She and several of her friends have called the company and gotten the proverbial run around. In fact, her attempts have turned into marathon phone -a-thons where she was transferred from one person to the next, put on hold interminably and told, “someone would get back to you”.
Of course, nobody did.
So now I am getting a "go" at Jennifer Convertibles. I want them to see the e-power of the Internet and to see how negative messaging will be spread to every person in my email club as well as people in my members’ clubs and to my facebook friends and their friends.
Please email this to Jennifer Convertibles. The President’s name is Rami Abada Contact: Jennifer Convertibles at 419 Crossways Park Dr., Woodbury NY 11797
Of course they have filed for voluntary bankruptcy so let's email them at Invest@jenniferfurniture.com. Why wouldn't a company who treats customers this way file for bankruptcy?
Or sign your name at the bottom and send it off to the email above. Ask the company to call Fred Kaplowitz @ 516 359 4874
Now, could this be happening to you? Yes indeed!
The bowling experience isn’t quite as expensive as a full sofa, but a corporate party could be even more expensive and the opportunities for a “bad experience” very real.
Accept no substitutes. Guarantee your service with “money back guarantees.” Oh sure, some people will beat you, but overall what do you think the result of that statement would be. It would mean more business because you have credibility.
“Excuse me sir, would you and your daughter like to join our Saturday adult child league. Try it for one week and if you’re not happy we will give you your money back. Why wouldn’t someone, who was on the fence, at least consider this offer? And isn’t getting them to show up and try our universally recognized and enjoyed product always the first step in the buying continuum?
Unlike Jennifer Convertibles, who cannot resolve a 4 month old problem with my Mother in Law, offering and standing by your guarantees makes good business sense.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Turning Water into Wine
Do you have a bunch of data base names that could use an email,but don't know how to get them?
What would those data base names be worth if you could get them? $25?, $100?, $500?
Have you tried to contact just 100 of them by mail or phone and offer them $10 of free bowling if they give you their email.
What do you have to lose?
It's better than having all those names collect dust!
Go to NCOA - (mailcleanup.com) and clean your list and then send out 100 letters or postcards or make 100 phone calls (if you have permission). If you get a good response, send out some more.
Keep solving problems.
What would those data base names be worth if you could get them? $25?, $100?, $500?
Have you tried to contact just 100 of them by mail or phone and offer them $10 of free bowling if they give you their email.
What do you have to lose?
It's better than having all those names collect dust!
Go to NCOA - (mailcleanup.com) and clean your list and then send out 100 letters or postcards or make 100 phone calls (if you have permission). If you get a good response, send out some more.
Keep solving problems.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
The New "New" Marketing Plan
I love marketing plans. Love to get into the data and analyze it. And then to develop a stream of alternatives, then create a best fit analysis and all that other geeky stuff.
The "New" new plan format is a lot simpler.
First, is the "What It Is Section." This is where we tell each other what is happening in the market, to our products, what thee competition is doing and the assumptions we make about each of these. Is this our view of the world? is it real? because everything else will be based on this foundation.
Second, is the "What Are We Going To Do?" section. This is where we determine what we are going to do to change the product, the advertising, the distribution, the sales channels, the people you will need, the technology, the budgets, the deadlines, the number of units, (games, bowlers, beers, birthdays, company parties, fund raisers, etc). This is the plan. there really isn't anything else.
Of course, you're going to be wrong. Deadlines will come and go, advertising plans will drop off the planet, programs won't get implemented, so the next section is all important.
Section three is "What Are You Going To Do Differently NOW." This section gives you a back up plan when the other stuff that you planned doesn't work. some people call it a contingency plan. I call it the REAL plan.
So before the season starts, why not take a shot at doing a plan. Maybe even a real plan.
The "New" new plan format is a lot simpler.
First, is the "What It Is Section." This is where we tell each other what is happening in the market, to our products, what thee competition is doing and the assumptions we make about each of these. Is this our view of the world? is it real? because everything else will be based on this foundation.
Second, is the "What Are We Going To Do?" section. This is where we determine what we are going to do to change the product, the advertising, the distribution, the sales channels, the people you will need, the technology, the budgets, the deadlines, the number of units, (games, bowlers, beers, birthdays, company parties, fund raisers, etc). This is the plan. there really isn't anything else.
Of course, you're going to be wrong. Deadlines will come and go, advertising plans will drop off the planet, programs won't get implemented, so the next section is all important.
Section three is "What Are You Going To Do Differently NOW." This section gives you a back up plan when the other stuff that you planned doesn't work. some people call it a contingency plan. I call it the REAL plan.
So before the season starts, why not take a shot at doing a plan. Maybe even a real plan.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Chopping Wood and Hauling Water
Is it really all about chopping wood and hauling water?
Seems like we spend more time working so we can get more technology so we can work more efficiently to make more money to get more technology…to chop more wood and haul more water.
If we stopped for a minute and devoted one day a month to some serious sitting and staring time to really think about our business, would it hurt? Would it hurt us to stop the chopping and hauling every month; to take a step back and evaluate, reevaluate and modify, if needed. Or are we so blinded by the habitual need for more wood and water that we keep doing the same thing?
Maybe doing the same thing is a good thing. It has history, it is consistent, we have mastered it and we pretty much know what the results will be within a 5% to 10% margin.
With all this talk about “out of the box” thinking, not many are really doing it. Business people say things like, “It’s too risky. It’s too much work. It takes too much time.” And besides, it will keep us from the chopping and hauling that which we know so well how to do.
But doesn't familiarity, as the old saying goes, breed contempt? And probably a little complacency too?
Take a break from the chopping and hauling. Do a little thinking and dreaming. Do a little reevaluation of different and possible more productive ways to chop and haul.
One of my clients built a free ice cream cup into his summer daytime kid program. For a 25 cent ice cream, he is bringing in 50 to 70 kids a session.
Amazing what a little sitting and staring time will do for you. Mark a date on your calendar. Sit and stare for a while, maybe you’ll come up with a better way to chop and haul.
Or at least enjoy the ice cream.
Seems like we spend more time working so we can get more technology so we can work more efficiently to make more money to get more technology…to chop more wood and haul more water.
If we stopped for a minute and devoted one day a month to some serious sitting and staring time to really think about our business, would it hurt? Would it hurt us to stop the chopping and hauling every month; to take a step back and evaluate, reevaluate and modify, if needed. Or are we so blinded by the habitual need for more wood and water that we keep doing the same thing?
Maybe doing the same thing is a good thing. It has history, it is consistent, we have mastered it and we pretty much know what the results will be within a 5% to 10% margin.
With all this talk about “out of the box” thinking, not many are really doing it. Business people say things like, “It’s too risky. It’s too much work. It takes too much time.” And besides, it will keep us from the chopping and hauling that which we know so well how to do.
But doesn't familiarity, as the old saying goes, breed contempt? And probably a little complacency too?
Take a break from the chopping and hauling. Do a little thinking and dreaming. Do a little reevaluation of different and possible more productive ways to chop and haul.
One of my clients built a free ice cream cup into his summer daytime kid program. For a 25 cent ice cream, he is bringing in 50 to 70 kids a session.
Amazing what a little sitting and staring time will do for you. Mark a date on your calendar. Sit and stare for a while, maybe you’ll come up with a better way to chop and haul.
Or at least enjoy the ice cream.
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