What Works For You?

Past behavior is usually a pretty good indicator of how well we will perform in the future. That's why we ask for a resume, for a credit history, educational background, past places of residence and even "references."

In our need to be able to analyze data, we establish habits; habits that control HOW we look at information; habits that force us to come to well worn and comfortable conclusions based upon the type of information we receive.

In the early days of consumer research or market research, marketers looked at numbers, stereotyped "housewives" and proceeded to sell their products to this mythical "average American woman." it wasn't until many years later that the concept of "psychographics" (lifestyle research) was introduced into the equation and marketers learned a thing or two about efficiency.

Like early market researchers, many of us are still examining our business and asking old questions such as "how do we drive traffic?"; how do we get more league daytime bowers?"

The the real questions should be "how can I replicate my existing Saturday night customers and get more of them and that requires more SOPHISTICATED research than we have done; so we go to the email and spam out a discount offer for ALL open play bowlers, maybe even to Jimmy who just had his 6th birthday party with us!

And when it comes to researching our customers we still believe that adult league bowlers are as homogeneous as daytime ladies or seniors. And so our marketing ends up being very broad, but not very deep. Think about all the emails you send out to ALL Open play bowlers.

Why wouldn't a 25 year old sophisticated investment banker buy an open play experience differently and have different expectations than a 25 year old construction worker? No judgement here; just noting the fact that these two people will have different expectations of their bowling experience.

Shouldn't we as proprietors begin to understand the importance of these "expectational differences" (among more narrow segments) to our marketing efforts or does the old way still work for you?

Mobile Marketing is Gearing Up

Marketing to consumers’ cellphones has long been viewed as something of a holy grail by businesses – prized but always beyond reach. Recently however, new mobile technologies have gone mainstream, making the elusive goal of an always-on connection with customers firmly within reach of even the smallest business. Consider that:

* There are four times the number of cellphones in the world versus PCs (4Bn vs.
1Bn) and 20% of all U.S. households are now “mobile-only”
* Over 130 Billion texts are sent each month, up from practically nothing in 2000
* Gen Yers (18-29) say their phone is the most
important device they own
* According to multiple analysts, Mobile Marketing and Advertising will explode from just a couple hundred million dollars in revenues in 2008 to $3 – 5 billion by 2012.

Here are a few tips to consider as we move into 2011:

# Think of text message marketing as you do email marketing, except instead of collecting an email address you collect a mobile phone number. Like email marketing, you create campaigns at a website and only send them to customers who have opted-in to receive your message.

# But unlike email, you don’t need fancy graphics, just up to 160 characters of plain ‘ol text. So even the most non-technical and non-marketing savvy small business owner can pick it up in just a couple of minutes. Your customers will instantly read your message 97% of the time.

# Acceptance of mobile coupons – A recession-weary public hungering for discounts is latching on to mobile coupons as the ‘killer mobile app’ due to their convenience. More consumer-packaged goods companies, restaurants, and grocers are launching mobile coupons each month.

# Proven ROI – Texting is proving its chops versus email and social media. On average, texting gets seven times the response rate versus email (7% vs 1%) and reaches twenty five times the number of users as does Twitter.

# Big Box retailers and fast food retailers have built mobile sites and Iphone apps that have allowed consumers to order products, rate services, send gifts, send wake up calls to friends and send a slew of other services once only available on line

Look in 2011 for these pioneers to keep blazing trails with:

# Bar Coded Coupons – 200 7-Eleven stores in San Diego are testing scannable bar codes on consumers’ phones to get up to one free drink per day. Indeed, in the next two years Juniper Research projects three billion mobile coupons will be issued to phones.

# Pay by phone – Starbucks is testing Starbucks Card Mobile, which allows customers to pay for coffee in the shop with their phone. Initial tests saw a 60% redemption rate of the coupon component.

# Integration with real-time data – Ace Hardware is combining weather forecasts with text alerts to hawk more shovels.

As bowling proprietors, shouldn't we be looking to utilize these types of tools as well?

Hey Mr BPAA, can you give us a hand here, please? Thank You

TV: Still the 800 Lb. Gorilla

Recent Nielsen reports indicate that the average American is watching more television each week; approximately 34 hours vs. 28 hours just 3 years ago.

In the average American household, the TV set(s) are on for 6 hours and 47 minutes per day.

This average American, today, is also getting on line about 13 hours per week, up from just 9 hours in 2000.

60% of all TV users use the Web at the same time at least once a month, according to a Nielsen report issued in March of 2010. Americans now spend 3.5 hours per month watching TV while on the Internet.

So by the time someone is 65 years old (baby boomers turning 65 this year!!) they will have watched 9 years of TV. Yikes!

So while many advertisers have moved to on line advertising, social media and mobile marketing, the top 100 advertisers last year spent over $100 billion on TV advertising. Many of these advertisers had a strong on line presence s well.

We have always said that the name of the game is synergy; the use of multiple communication channels to reach your target, so each channel adds frequency and message redundancy

Because the consumer is more multidimensional than ever and seeks information from more sources than ever, the need to reach him/her will depend on more forms of media including people who watch video on their mobile devices, (17 million people in 2011. 12 million people in 2009; 57% increase and will only increase by double digits for years to come)!

If you are leaving Television, especially cable TV out of your media mix, or if you are leaving mobile videos out of your mix, you might be leaving your message on the cutting room floor.

Think multi channels, not just one channel. It’s just how it is.

And if you think Americans watch too much TV instead of reading consider this:

The percentage of Americans who can name the Three Stooges? 59%.

The percentage of Americans who can name Three Supreme Court Justices? 17%

10 Tips For A Positive New Year

Lots of New Year fun with old friends staying over; new friends stopping by and lots of things to do. I really relish this time of the year and so I offer you some food for thought; "Fredquarters Tips For A Positive New Year."

1. When you wake up in the morning, complete the following sentence, "my purpose is_________."

2. Stop being disappointed about where you are at. Think good thoughts about where you are going.

3. Change is NOT your enemy. Make friends with any change that comes your way and be ready to discover the opportunity inside of the challenge.

4. Live with the 3E's : Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.

5. Believe that everything happens for a reason. When God takes something from you, he is opening up your hands to receive something better.

6. The key to innovation is to focus on solutions. Focus sharply.

7. Read more books than you did in 2010.

8. Smile and laugh more. They are natural anti depressants.

9. Make a difference in somebody's life this year.

10. Enjoy the ride. The purpose of this life isn't to come to the end all shiny and new and always playing it safe. Come in yelling at the top of your lungs, "Wheeeeeeeeeeww; that was a helluva ride!!"

Be Relevant

I guess it’s that time of the year; the end of the year which promises us the end of the “old” and the beginning of the “new.” These demarcations must be important otherwise we wouldn’t wish each other “Happy New Year” and say things like: “Best wishes for health happiness and prosperity in The New Year.”

In many respects, it is good to get the old year behind us. 2010 wasn’t very kind to us and we eagerly await 2011 with its aura of a “new start.”

But what will you be starting anew?

Will it be the same old league structures and open play programs or will it be something more inviting, exciting and fun?

Will it be the same old open play programs or will it be new programs that offer people a way to identify with programs that are relevant to them?

It has been said that “you are what you eat.” If that be the case, than I think “you are what you buy.”

Today, people want their buying habits to reflect their values, as indicated by the surging interest in farmers markets and local clothing designers. Wouldn’t it stand to reason than that bowling, at retail, needs to reflect people’s values too?

What are some of those values?

As reported by a recent consumer study, people want to be viewed as:
• Savvy shoppers who understand that getting good “quality” products and services are more important than getting a “quantity” of products.
• Contemporary Traditionalists who want their home, its furnishings and the accouterments that go with it to reflect their sense of style, taste and values.
• Individualists who want to be uniquely different, but not SO different that they are viewed as “weird or strange.”
• Successful people who are fulfilling their social, economic, family and spiritual needs.
• Optimistic about their future. (Recent consumer confidence studies have spiked in the past two months with more than 74% of respondents saying they are indeed optimistic about their future. This is up from 48% reported in November of 2009).

So maybe 2011 will be better than 2010.

But it is up to you to prove that your products are relevant to today’s view of how people see themselves. Or to create new products that achieve the same result.

In 2011; the mantra is “be relevant or go away.”

Uncertainty

We live in a world of uncertainty. There was a time we could count on a few things like: "if we worked hard, we would get that promotion,get more money, get a bigger house and car, put our kids through college and then stroll off into a happy retirement."

For many people, this American Dream has either passed them buy or has been shattered by the recent economic meltdown. This meltdown has also caused uncertainty; uncertainty about the future and for CEO's that uncertainty is translated into "the should I or shouldn't I hire more people question"

Today, workplace uncertainty seems to be "going on forever." American businesses are still skittish about permanent jobs. So they hire temporary workers.

According to the US Labor Department, temporary workers accounted for 307,000 jobs out of the 1.17 million private sector jobs that were added in the past year. For the more than 15 million people who are still out of work, temporary jobs offer less benefits, have no job security and makes it harder for them to save. But yet, temporary jobs are their window; their chance at permanency and represent a glimmer of hope in a still very bleak employment picture.

For you, the bowling proprietor, this could be your chance to draw upon the excess "talent" that is out there; to raise the bar on the kind of people you can hire who will be more than willing to serve your customers the right way.

Who knows? Perhaps their temporary status at your center will become more permanent and with it you will get a better and more grateful employee who still believes the American Dream can come true!

And wouldn't that be nice.

Feed The Dog

Your advertising results are inextricably linked to the message.

Two advertisers invest the same amount of money reaching the same target audience. One succeeds brilliantly and buys the mansion on the hilltop. The other fails miserably, receiving no response whatsoever. The difference between these two was in the message of their ads.

Ads that speak to the heart of the customer and touch a nerve are the ones that turn little companies into big companies. But few people know how to write such an ad. (We do and have been for years!) Most business owners approach advertising with the goal of merely getting their name out. But there is no evidence to suggest this will help you in the slightest.

A recent study by the Wharton School of business, University of Pennsylvania indicated that everything hinges on the message you attach to your name. Is your message predictable and, consequently, boring? Is it believable? Is it relevant to the perceived need of the reader/listener/viewer?

Tempt a dog with a bowl of rice, and he'll ignore you. Put a steak in the bowl, and you'll have his undivided attention. Your prospective customers are no different.

What have you been putting in their bowls?