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

YouTube - Videos from this email

Your Strategy Is Your Business

At the Bowling Summit this week in San Antonio, TX I had an opportunity to sit through a social media session or two. What struck me was the single mindedness and sometimes seemingly, frantic need to be “noticed, opened, clicked, engaged” as a measure of your marketing success. 

I always thought it was  ultimately to have someone buy something from me. 

It was all great stuff and I picked up a few nuggets from the speakers vast knowledge. But, and it’s a big but, no one got down to the strategy of it all. Oh sure they talked about segments and defining your target, but basic strategy was just a whisper in the dark.  And I think that’s where we all fall into the “tactic trap.”   

Instead of really spending time on defining strategy, we go right to the “to do lists” of fliers, announcements, Facebook postings, tweets and emails.  All relevant stuff, but NOT the foundation of your business. 

Your strategy is your business.  

Most proprietors will tell you their targets are families and they are a family oriented business and then spend an inordinate amount of time and money trying to attract the 18 to 34 yr segment during weekday nights.  Maybe they should spend that effort trying to perfect their “family products."  You think?

Your master strategy is to decide who you are now and who you want to be (providing that new position is  not only viable, but credible.  More importantly, what is your Unique Selling proposition and why should I buy from you vs. someone else.

It’s OK to be a traditional bowling “alley."  It’s OK to be a Family Entertainment Center.  It's OK to be whoever you want, as long as you have customers willing to buy "YOUR UNIQUE" products.

But it’s not OK to try to be something to everybody.

So here’s my take on strategy, specifically related to your summer marketing needs. In fact, here are your choices:

1.             You can market last year’s products to your existing market (winter and summer customers).    I.e. Adult child programs to existing kids leagues

2.            You can market new products to your existing market (winter and summer customers.    I.e.  Go to a baseball game at end of summer.    I.e.  Get a gift certificate for a  high performance bowling ball

3.            You can market last year’s products to new customers.    I.e. Adult child program to church youth group.

4.            You can market new products to new customers.  I.e.   Fundraiser league to church youth groups.

Once you define your strategy or any combination thereof, you can begin to clearly define your products; get as specific as possible on WHO is the target and then develop your communications; of which social media is just ONE part.  Your challenge is to develop the most efficient communication strategy that meets your objectives.

Most of all, keep reminding yourself that your strategy is your business.  Maybe even "tweet" about it :)

A Blog is Not a Dead Bug on Your Windshield

A couple of day ago I was at a friend's house when he and I began talking about our respective blogs. His granddaughter a precocious child of 6 years old, said, "Whats a blog, it sounds like a dead bug."  After we all had a good laugh, I said to myself, "Self, out of the mouths of babes, comes truth.

Yes, Megan, some blogs really are dead bugs on a windshield; some lose the reader in about 30 seconds and some are so inconsistently posted that they look like a static web page.

But here you are facing another Superbowl weekend, struggling to come up with a great offer in the face of [past failure.  the responses I get are as follows

• "Whatever we tried, it didn't work. people stay home on Superbowl and have their parties at home."
• "Nobody is coming out. we've tried for 6 years and get no more than 6 lanes going."
• In the face of all the money we spent, I'd sooner just close at 5pm, go home and watch the game with my family."
• And on and on

Here's what I hear when proprietors tel me that, "Fred, no matter how much we cut the price or offer free food, NOBODY comes and we have NO other ideas.

So in the light of that here are some ideas to sell a Superbowl party at your center:

1. Sell the party and the bowling as an out of home experience that wont leave your home in disarray because your buddies messed up your sofa or couch spilled salsa, chicken wing sauce or beer spillage. and worse, with a very aggravated wife.
2. if you are not into football and could care less about the Superbowl  then come on out to happy Lanes, we're having an anti Superbowl party
3. Free touch football game in the parking lot when you come to our Superbowl party and get free pizza, chicken wings and soft drinks when you donate to XYZ local charity $10 or more.  Bowling is regular price

OK i know you can think of other stuff to promote, but the only way you're gonna get this out is with a blog to your list and the 5 key elements your blog must have are as follow:

1. A Great Headline  that draws me in. Words like "Warning, This could be your house!!!" And a corresponding picture of a house with salsa and guacamole and beer stains all over
2. Content that sets up a proposition; "IF this happens then this will happen.  and of course what happens is bad
3. Set up the solution to the problem.  Your solution IS our product and or your place of business which can solve that problem, Demonstrate it  with a story about a customer. A "story" is one or two SHORT PARAGRAPHS.
4. Tell the customer what action he or she should take and by what date.  Provide sense of urgency.  Reserve by February 1st and "save $10 on your bowling." or "get FREE shoe rentals"
5. Summarize the deal/offer and end with a catchy phrase or funny little joke.  "if the Superbowlniks in your family drive you crazy, come on out to Happy lanes and have a SUPER TIME with people like you...without the stress

"Innovate. Create. Focus"...and the solution will appear. 

Are You Looking For Bowlers In All The Wrong Places?

The answer is either yes or no and my guess is YES. Otherwise league bowlers across the country would be growing, not atrophying.

I mean if 72 million people bowl and 2+ million bowl in a league, you must be looking in the wrong places to get new people…cause after all these years, you would have had more by now, right?

On the other hand, maybe you are finding them, but you are losing more each year then you are replacing.  But that is a whole other blog or chapter or even a book. 

Here’s what I think is going on in a lot of centers across the country. You and or someone on your staff comes up with a new idea for a league or you “borrow it” from some other center, whatever, that’s cool.

And then you build a flyer, homemade perhaps, even a little funky; you put it on the service desk and send it out as an email. Maybe, you even get some people in the center to talk to existing customers about it like this: “Hey, want to join our new league?  No? Whatever!  It’s not my business.”

What happens?  4 out of 5 times, you come up with a zero.

So the next time you come up with a great idea, guess what you do? The Same Thing!!!  And Guess What You Get? The Same Results!!

Fred Rule #112: Stop Looking To Existing League Bowlers Or Random Open Play Bowlers (Everybody Is Not A Target) To Form Your New Leagues. 

How many league bowlers really want to join a second league?  And how many open play bowlers want to make a commitment for a bazillion weeks? Even 12 weeks sounds like a lot to them!

.

First, decide when you are going to build a program? (OK Tuesday at 9 pm).

Second decide who is available for that slot (People who are probably single between the ages of 18 and 34).

Third, is there a commonality you can identify? (Retail workers, restaurant workers, auto dealers, school teachers, people who like to party and drink, shift workers, people who have tattoos)  OK let’s go with tattoo people.

Fourth, how do I reach them?  (Go to a popular tattoo parlor in town and find out if the owner has a data based and would he be willing to email his customers for more business. If he isn't brain damaged, his answer will be a resounding YES.

Fifth, create an absolutely irresistible offer (Get $100 gift certificate for bowling during our winter session, X# of weeks and get your first beverage included in the price. It’s not A FREE beverage, it is included and YES you can do this. It is legal in every state because the customer is buying the drink).

Sixth, email your customers who are 18 to 34 years old (Oh I forgot, you may not have ages; never mind – just put it up on your site –)  Don’t want to be emailing Mom with two 8 year olds about tattoos do you?  If you have a blog, then blog about the popularity of tattoos in the 21^st century, talk about the history of tattoos and then make your offer at the end of the blog; with a suggestion that it is for people over 18 or whatever your state laws mandate.

Seventh, distribute on college campuses, retail stores, and local restaurants.

Eighth, make sure Tattoo dude sends out several emails or postcards. Offer to pay for at least half of the cost of mailing.

Ninth, train staff to ask your late night Friday and Saturday bowlers about joining the tattoo league.

Tenth, find someone you or your staff knows who is into tattoos and offer them $100 tattoo gift certificate for every two teams they bring to the program.

And that’s how to look for bowlers in all the RIGHT PLACES!   

Starbucks Marketing Sucks

Starbucks finally figured out that there are lots of people who don’t like their “dark roasted” coffee, but instead, prefer a milder blend.  So now Starbucks has finally introduced “Blonde” roast to satisfy those who prefer a non Starbucks taste. (Bold, bitter and burnt!!)

I’m no super genius, but I have hated Starbucks coffee for years because it was TOO strong and TOO bitter. And I know I wasn't the only one out there.  Lots of people told me the same thing 

But if you wanted more quantitative data, all you had to do was go to several airports around he country and see the number of people in line for a Starbucks coffee vs. those people in line for a Dunkin Donuts' coffee.  DD had almost  twice as many people in line as Starbucks.   

So why did it take them so long to figure this out? Several answers are possible.

1.   They simply didn't have their ear to the ground and didn't speak to non Starbucks customers.  “Who Knew?”

2.  They knew but didn't think the market was big enough for this new product to scale.  “We didn't think we could make money at this!”

3.  We didn't want to corrupt our brand which stood for dark, bold, strong coffee.  “We were protecting our brand, maybe?”

4.  Our sales have fallen because of Dunkin Donuts and MacDonald’s selling breakfast coffee and our share was eroded so we had to do something. It seems like Blonde Roast is a good idea to try and get more market share.”   “We were losing money, what could we do?”

You know why they didn't introduce this product earlier?

The answer, I believe, is “pure arrogance.” 

“Starbucks products are the best,” management probably thought, “why do we have to change?  Let the customer learn to like our existing products.”

Take note that you are not treating your customer the same way nor ignoring his wishes for new products.  They have been telling us about “wanting 6 to 8 week leagues”, and we have been telling you for a couple of years now!!

Are you listening to your customer?