Advertising: That Works - That Does Not Work - Case 2: Having a "Blue Light" Special When No One is in the Store

So here I go dating myself again.  K-Mart used to have unannounced, impulsive-like sales in an attempt to both clear slow moving product and/or create an exciting experience for the shopper.

Modern Look of a
Blue Light Special

K-Mart would have Blue Light Specials at peak traffic times in the store - they created a sense of excitement and urgency in the store which brought more people into the store.  Everyone's heads would pop up when they heard "K-Mart Shoppers, we're holding a Blue Light Special in Housewares - 75% off.... for the next 10 minutes". OK.... We had no life in the 70s.... OK.!

I learned from these E-Ticket experiences (cough) that advertising is about getting to a group of people in your target market - both; and good advertising for you is never cheap, but at the same time, it is never too expensive.  The real cost of advertising is based on the return it provides.

"Doing business without advertising

is like winking at a girl in the dark;

 you know what you are doing

but nobody else does" - Stuart Henderson Britt

Advertising is not a generic product and there is a plethora of good choices - Pick the best one for you.

Avoid ROP* packaged buys as you will be packaged into slots where no one reads/listens/watches bringing down your cost per ad in the package.  They sound real good because your cost per ad is so much lower, but in reality, what you are buying is dead air.

After you have found the advertising opportunity that seems to fit your business's needs (verified because you ask people if they read/watch/listen to it and when), test it and then ask people if they saw it.

Remember, K-Mart never held a Blue Light Special for an empty store.

~B

ROP Definition: "Run Of Paper" is an advertising term used by newspapers referring to an advertisement that may be placed anywhere within the paper.  Similar acronyms are used in other mediums meaning the same thing.

E-Ticket

Read Case One - Advertising: That Works - That Does Not Work - Case 1: Our Restaurant is Empty on Tuesday Nights.

Age sucks; am I the only person that remembers what an E-Ticket was?

Advertising: That Works - That Does Not Work - Case 1: Our Restaurant is Empty on Tuesday Nights.

There are as many reasons why advertising works as there are why it does not work.  Each article will contain one case; welcome to Case One.

Case One:

• You own a restaurant; it is busy on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
• Objective: Create a larger Tuesday and Wednesday crowd.

I gotta find out why everyone
 waits in line for their Pizza.

Suggested Approach: Your first thought may be to promote specials, immediate seating, or no-reservations-necessary in your advertising for the slack times.  This type of ad says to me "Hey come buy something no one wants - no line to wait in".  A better alternative would be to create more demand during your busy time creating lines at the door - making your restaurant a destination.  People that finally get seated learn how good your restaurant is and thus visit it more frequently (ie: Tuesday and Wednesdays).  People that are either impatient or won't stand in line in the first place are curious to the mystique of what is so special about that place; they stop at the first opportunity of no line.

The moral here is that Good Advertising does not sell bad product or product no one else wants.

~B

Read Case Two: Advertising: That Works - That Does Not Work - Case 2: Having a "Blue Light" Special When No One is in the Store

McPrint vs Local - Its no different than Big Box vs Local

So this morning I went on continuing my research on "Local" and, in particular, "NetBetter" printing.  I walked into Staples just to get up-to-date info on the McPrint business (Understanding the Changing Print Market).  I have difficulty sounding anything but sarcastic in this article, but it's the epitome of Big Box and McPrint.  Here is how my conversation went this morning (with some injected commentary).

• Me: "Hi, I'd like to get some pricing on some business cards". 
• Staples: "Sure, we have several different types. You can order them online.
• Me: "Wow".
• Staples: "If you need them now, order the "Instant" cards, we do them here".
• Me: "What size are these, I don't like the undersized business cards like from Vista".
• Staples: "Our cards are all standard 2" x 3"."
• Me: "You mean 2" x 3.5"." (thinking she just mis-spoke).
• Staples: "No, our cards are standard size, 2" x 3" (at this point she looks at me and sighs (like saying, 'you see which side of the counter I am on')).
• Me: "No, standard business cards are 2" x 3.5"."
• Staples: "No they are not". (the 'your stupid' look continues).
• Me: "Go grab one, let's measure it - I just want to make sure they are not undersized like Vista cards".   
• Staples: As she walks away with a frustrated look, grabs a card and measures - "Oops, we are both wrong, they are 2" x 3.25"."  She tosses the card on the counter next to a sample I brought in.
• Me: "That's 2" x 3.5"."
• Staples: With frustration she remeasures and then humbly states: "Oh yea, these ones are 3.5" wide".
• Me: "OK - I'll check the pricing online".
• Staples: "Order the 'Instant ones' if you want them produced here".
• Me: "Bye"

My morning - I must remind myself that this is McDonalds and not Morton's: "NetBetter".

~B 

 

Local: Word-of-Mouth (Daytime) Marketing and it's Overall Effectiveness

You can not forget what works best in marketing - Word-of-Mouth (Daytime) Marketing. I call this "Daytime" because it is the only time you can do it.

• It has a 100% open rate.
• Prospect knows you are real.
• The referral is already given.
• Conversion Percentage is high(est).

Internet Marketing would thus be "Nighttime" marketing. Yes, it gets to the masses but the returns are lower.

Do both - get out - see the sun - meet people - shake hands - make friends - create relationships - network - sell.

~B

Local: Competing with the Internet Print Giant in the Evolving Local Print Market and How I Plan to Disrupt (Fix) it.

Introduction
This is about much more than the local printer - it's about "Local" everything.  It's also about the impressions (mis-information) that Madison Avenue style advertisers can create.  The printing business is so typical of "Local"; maybe that is because I know it that way; maybe it is because it used to be so "Local".  I have described in past writings what consumers want: it's "NetBetter".  As a primer to this, one should read my "Understanding the Changing Print Market" article.  This is a long one - I hope you have time.

The Defensive Printer 
The first thing I tell people in business, or starting a business, is to never take your first step with or from a defensive position - wins will come few and far between if you do.  Knowing this, which all printers do (at least today's survivors), why do they still?  There are so many things that can be said when a client walks in and says "... can you match that $3.99 Vistaprint price?"  So many good answers exist that put you on the offense.:

• "We don't produce at that low a quality level".
• "Here is our price, see if they can match it" (I like this one best).
• "Here, lets sit down and try ordering some cards from Vistaprint; I'll match their price for comparable product" (when/if they do this you have won a customer forever).
• Next time you see them ask, "Hey, how much did you end up paying for those $3.99 cards?"
• When someone hands you a Vistaprint card, acknowledge such and show them the differences.  It will point out the importance of first impression and embarrass them in a similar fashion to them ripping their pants all without you looking like a jerk; after all you are only trying to help.  Any salesperson (someone who handles many cards) can "feel" a Vistaprint printed card - and that is never a good thing.

Let's provide some food for thought here.  This will include some research, opinions and some of my solutions.  Happy Reading.

The Price Comparison 

How much did you pay for
your Free Vistaprint cards?

So today I thought I would do a little market research and evaluate some of the pricing of Vistaprint - every local printer's primary nemesis.  So I went in to the Free Business Cards area to get the numbers I have heard people spout.

Free business cards were for the quantity of 250; 500 are $9.99 and 1000 are $19.99; all these are amazing prices - if this is what they actually cost.  I selected 1000 cards for comparison.

I was first asked how quickly I wanted them - this surprised me.  Your typical local quick printer will have your cards available for pickup in 3 - 5 days at no premium.  At Vistaprint, the following charges existed:

•   3 Day - $26.89
•   7 Day - $17.40
• 14 Day - $10.42

I have never had the luxury of having a customer say "get them to me whenever" so I am going to assume that most people, after going this far in the process, choose the "3 Day" option - after all, they need some cards!!!

Then came my choice of card stocks and finishes.  Now if you have ever felt Vistaprint Cards you know they are uniquely different.  The "Free Matte" stock is very light weight, almost like a heavy paper rather than card stock.  There are multiple levels of premium offering including both stock weight and finish.  I chose the second most expensive choice, which is on a premium stock with gloss finish.  I did not see a more specific description of the stock, but I recall in the past this being a 14pt card stock - a very acceptable card stock.  This choice added $18.74 to the price.

Then came the card's back.  If you want nothing done, it's $2.99.  Have them print "what you want" on the back - its $7.49.  The free version has a Vistaprint Advertisement on the back - How classy is that - sorry, I just laugh every time I see one of those "get your free cards.....".  I chose the $7.49 option.

Total Price for my Vistaprint Free Cards:  $73.11
(albeit I wanted 1000 rather than the 250).

Price sounds like less an issue when you know the facts.

Vistaprint screen image showing
the real cost of their Business Cards

I like so much the way Vistaprint advertises their "Free" and "$9.99" cards that we added a similar (better) product to some of our websites; a "$9.99 for 250" set of business cards.  We considered free, but we don't see the demand for the real low quality stuff especially after someone holds one. The Link shows you how we do it - it's not meant to sell you something - after all you are in the business. Get Your $9.99 Business Cards Here.

The Click Comparison
Wow, who has the time to do this?  Actually it isn't so bad, especially for the B2C market.

I had 15 clicks and each one required some review so it was not like just clicking "next", "next", "next".  Vistaprint is the ultimate in "would you like fries with that" website. We can all learn from what they do, even though I do consider, they do it to an extreme.

It took me just over a half hour to order my first card.  If I had needed to do a second, it would be substantially quicker; probably in the 15 minute range.  This is why Vistaprint owns the B2C market. In B2B, time is money and this is the first thing felt by the buyer or manager.  What if you needed to order a second set (or more)?

One could argue that Vistaprint saves the customer design expenses - it's not about you - ever been to a trade show and you get two identical cards from 2 (or more) vendors?  How can this happen with so many choices?  Popular is Popular. Click.
 
The Quality Comparison
I don't think much needs to be said here. Just feel the difference.  Next time someone hands you a Vistaprint card (I can tell by feel), simply say, "oh, you get your cards from Vistaprint?"  Listen to what they say - it's usually funny - it's always a sales opportunity.

The Vistaprint card is on top.The correctly sized card (2 x 3 1/2) is beneath.
Note the difference in size.

 Why The Local Printer Can't Compete
With a Branded Website

Local will win only if the "Locals" can work together.  Their growth must be about taking back the local and not fighting over someone else's local.  Get back the Vistaprint customer - educate the Vistaprint customer.  There are many branded websites out there (Their site, your name), but they are each unique; like many many small fish fighting for the same food.  There is a need to learn from Brick-and-Mortar examples.  Bill's Hardware can't compete with the marketing and buying power of Home Depot; but it can under an Ace or True Value Logo.  Want more info?  See the articles from May 2012 "Why Branded Websites Don't Work With Any Business, Especially with Local Printing", from April 2012 "Who Me, “Who Three” - Fixing the Local Print Business – Part Three"; and, also from April 2012 "Understanding the Changing Print Market".

Our Solution and Plan to Disrupt

We Love The
ACE Hardware Business Model
(We Will Improve That Later)

Our solution at LightsOn is to provide a uniform online collaborative brand; much like Ace Hardware or True Value Hardware does for the local Brick-and-Mortar hardware store.  When  you visit LightsOnGraphics.com note The local info (Your local info) on the right.  Our objective is to fill that with people in that local's graphics business.  Our plan is never to take your local business, we don't want the business from the phone call that the website generates, we simply want the business from the website - the order you would have lost anyway - with the local referrer/printer/designer getting an attractive commission.  Our Objective is to recreate the "Local" printer the way ACE Hardware recreated the Hometown hardware store.   How will we do this?  Read more.  Who Me, “Who Three” - Fixing the Local Print Business – Part Three. 

More to come.

Want more now?  Local Printers, Local Designers, Local Postal Stores - collaborate with us, collaborate with each other and Brand Local - turn the LightsOn in your home town. Call or email for more information.

Click

~Bob Leonard
rleonard@LightsOnGraphics.com
561-371-4113 

Local - Net Better

Collaboration: Localization: Is Buy Local a Collaborative Effort?

Collaboration is an "in vogue" topic these days.  "Buy Local" is equally, if not more so, in vogue.  But we really need to understand that these efforts did not begin yesterday.

A newspaper is a collaborative effort being managed by the newspaper company local to the area the newspaper is delivered with each of the advertisers sharing in the cost to produce the newspaper leaving some extra money as profit for the newspaper.


A strip mall (or any mall for that matter) is a collaborator in that the businesses, through a management company / owner / landlord, share costs. From the parking lot, to the signage, to the walkways (common areas) - a cost sharing collaborative is taking place.  The businesses share more than that, they share customers; the customer may come for one specific purchase, but see all the other "opportunities" (other stores).  It is why businesses like to rent where there is a popular "anchor" store (like a large grocer); because they can ride the coat tails of the anchor and collaborate as a larger force.

Collaborating is much more than good business, it is business.

~B