Is your marketing sending the right message?

A recent call to a clients office left me confused and surprised. It was a Doctor’s office and they were not in. So I got their answering service. Actually at first I got their answering services on hold message. After being told I would speak to an operator promptly, I heard their recorded music. Since almost everyone has gotten away from elevator music, this was pop music. Actually, it was the current queen of pop—Britney Spears. So I listened to about 45 seconds of her recent controversial hit [the one about Amy] which is out and out vulgar.

I’m no prude, but this song gets switched off when in the presence of either of my daughters. How it got on the radio in the first place is beyond me. It is up there with some of the nastier stuff Prince recorded in the ‘80s. And that was rarely on the radio.

After taking my message, the operator answered a couple questions I had about this song. Her company is aware of it, but it is out of their control. They pay for a quarterly subscription so they just have to wait it out. Really? Stop it now. Don’t wait.

Everything in and around your business is part of marketing. Your place of business, your printed materials and forms, your delivery trucks, your employees, and your style of handling phone calls. Whether you intend it to be marketing your business or not, it’s all marketing.

I would not let an employee make deliveries celebrating sex, drugs, or alcohol. Nor would they parade a controversial anti-hero in front of my clients. The same goes for my phone messages. You don’t have to go back to the watered down stylings of Muzak strings, but come on people use some common sense.

What tone do you want your marketing to hit? Do you want people to think you are staid, or hip, or conventional, or happy go lucky? Are you ok offending or being controversial? What message to you want your public to hear? Answer these questions and go for it.

Printing Magnets — on our printing press?

We recently worked on a fun project for a large Church organization. They needed a large quantity of magnets in a hurry and on a tight budget. Typically these are done by a silk screener. They are great quality but turnaround time and price might have been obstacles here.

Fortunately, we recalled a recent sales call from a paper mill rep from Nekoosa Coated Paper. They have a new magnetic sheet product that will run through a printing press. After trying the samples he left behind, we decided to go for it.

It worked great. They printed nicely, they dried quickly, and the finished product was beautiful. These were cut to business cards size but we could have cut them to just about any desired size. Also, with our die cutting capabilities on our letterpresses, we can cut them to almost any shape imaginable—triangles, circles, start, you name it.

Give us a call to see how we can promote your business or event with magnets.

They Don’t Live in Glass Houses

You know the phrase: “People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.” Have you ever thought the phrase is strange? People who live in brick or frame houses should not throw stones either. But this is not about that. This is about direct marketing.

There is a company or maybe a few companies who market directly to the public in an unusual way. You might have folks like this in your community too. Is it a widespread phenomenon? I don’t know. They take their flier or brochure, or whatever, and put it in a Ziploc® with a handful of rocks. No. Seriously.

Then they fling them out of a moving car onto driveways around the neighborhood. I seem to recall one being from a home repair business. But I don’t recall the name or if I ever looked at another one. The packages annoyed me. It was litter dumped on my property.

Why do they do this? Is it to save money? If so, I doubt it is cheaper. Between the cost of the baggie, the rocks, the labor to fill and seal the bags, and the cost to drive around, it all adds up. Now, if they had pretty stones in there, maybe. If they sold rocks and pebbles for landscaping, perhaps. But, I don’t think they are.

Standard Mail postage is about 26¢ each—it is a real good deal. Yes, we charge for our services to mail. But you are getting a professional direct marketing piece. Put down the stones.

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/tahliajayde/3600630428/)