I Was Wrong.

Shortly after making his pro debut at the Greater Milwaukee Open, I wrote a memo to my client at Oscar Mayer suggesting that they get on board early with Tiger Woods and work with him to develop programs that would help kids build self esteem and see new possibilities for themselves (and of course sell a little bologna and a few hot dogs along the way). Well, 13 years later they're looking pretty smart for ignoring my advice.

That's the problem with the celebrity endorsement, one of the mainstays of American marketing, sooner or later everybody does something stupid or worse. In today's world where we all live in glass houses, there is no place to hide. So before you hop into bed with the movie star du jour, sports legend or musical genius, you may want to know who else he or she has been sleeping with. Better yet, figure out how to make your brand famous without borrowing fame from someone else. The reputation you save, may just be your own.

Strategy Laid Bare (Almost)

One of the most important aspects of strategy is knowing who your target is and who it is not. You can't mean something to everyone, so you better mean everything to someone. Such is the case with a few entrepreneurs that have decided to innovate in their categories by focusing on the hormonally active, serving their products with a side of skin. I'm not sure I'd recommend this as a business strategy for an accounting or law firm, but one thing's for sure, it's certainly going to generate buzz. Okay, so this is a crass example, appealing to the basest level of man's desire, but the principle here is solid.

Build fundamental differentiation into your business that's incredibly meaningful to a significant slice of your potential customer base and don't worry about anyone else. If you own a coffee shop and you get a majority of men 15 - 45 coming into your store every morning, you can probably make a living good living. Who cares if your mother, wife or members of the Mormon Church would never go there? Seth Godin calls this being a Purple Cow. Adam Morgan refers to it as creating a Lighthouse Brand. Whatever you call it, it's smart marketing. The pantheon of brands that have foundered by trying to be popular by not offending people is long and filled with storied names: Oldsmobile, Pan Am, Montgomery Wards, Howard Johnson's.

Don't become one of them. Differentiate or die.

Advertising Is The Match That Lights The Fire.

It used to be that advertising was your marketing campaign. You ran a commercial and people beat a path to your door. (Anybody remember 1984?)

Now advertising is just the start. If you're not prepared to back your ads up with strong PR, promotions, and online/social components, don't even bother. Nowhere is that better illustrated than with Super Bowl advertising. Yes, you have to have a great ad that stands out from the crowd. Yes, you must communicate the positioning and benefits of your brand. If that's all you do, however, especially on Super Bowl Sunday, you may as well just take $3 million and flush it down the toilet.

Snow Day Special Extra!
In honor of the first real day of snow in Sheboygan, here's a link to an article I wrote for Winding Road magazine about the Bridgestone Winter Driving School. Enjoy.