We Listen

We start by listening to our client.

The fact is that our client knows their product or service better than we ever can. This is a no-brainer. Clients live their brand every single day. Of course, we do our homework and learn their product/service, the competition and the market.

That last item is worth developing further. We listen to the market...what they care about, how to engage them, what motivates them, what others are saying to them, where they get their information...

OK! So the client knows their stuff. And we know ours. Our part is to be Disruptive! ...from concepts to strategies & tactics to execution...to monitoring & tracking.

Here's the best part. We listen to our 20-years in this business that tells us the best way to do effective marketing is by partnering with our clients. They bring their knowledge and we bring ours. "No one of us is as smart as all of us".

We also listen to the market and remember that we're not creating marketing communications for our preferences...nor for our clients (sorry). We hear what the market tells us they want to hear. It's that simple really.

Give me a call. I bet you find that I'm one of the best listeners you've ever come across.

We Deliver Disruption!

An example of our disruptive principals in action is the hanging sign we made for Hero Nutritionals at the NPE West Trade Show. Each of the molded Yummi Bears® you see here is about 18" long. Hanging high above the booth, this sign disrupted the show.

What is your reaction when you hear that one of the core competencies of the agency you may hire is: Disruption!??

Was it off-putting at first? Or make you nervous? Or intrigue you? OR...

Whatever your reaction, it's probably safe to say it did cause a reaction. The word didn't just slip by unnoticed.

And that's exactly the point. It stops you. Makes you think. Or, one of our favorite words, engages you.

That's what you want for your messaging. That's what we want for your messaging. Being ignored is the worst result of any advertising campaign. In advertising, the opposite of love is not hate—it's indifference.

So, yes—we're Disruptive! but more importantly, we bring Disruption! to everything we do for you.

But, you may say... We're a conservative company. Not to worry. Disruption! does not need to be wacky, crazy or off-color.

It's a shift—a zig when everyone else zags. Or a zag if everyone else is zigging.

It's often something subtle. Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals is Disruptive! (it's also brilliant Positioning—and we'll talk about that in the next core competency). Dyson designing vacuum cleaners that are attractive is Disruptive! for the category. Hotel rooms with 'Heavenly Beds' (from Starwood Hotels) is Disruptive!

Let's have some fun with this. I'll give you some more examples of Disruption! And then you come up with some on your own.

Practice The Science of Positioning

Positioning is the key to the whole (marketing) thing. And the key to positioning is to remember that it happens in the mind of your prospect. So what is positioning anyway?

It's how your product or service is perceived versus all the other products & services in the same category. Everyone in the same category gets assigned (by the prospect) an attribute. This attribute is their position. It's a way for people to organize information in their mind.

Let's look at car manufacturers, and to illustrate, let's start with the attributes.

Some attributes, as assigned by car buyers are:

• Safety
• Performance
• Value
• Economy
• Cool

Now, let's assign manufacturers to each...just as the buying public does.

• Safety...Volvo
• Performance...BMW
• Value...Honda
• Economy...Ford
• Cool...H2

What you want to do is own one single attribute all by yourself. And if the attribute you want is taken, it makes marketing significantly more expensive and challenging. You're better off identifying a different attribute that your brand can own. Uniquely. Naturally, you need to choose an attribute that resonates with the prospect.

Easy, right?

Let's look at some examples of good positioning. Then, we'll ask you to come up with some examples on your own.

Rachael Ray's 30-minute Meals. No one owned this attribute. It's memorable. It sets her apart. And convenience resonates with everyone!

The Heavenly Bed from Starwood Hotels. It's a Memorable and unique position in the buyers mind. It's also a relevant attribute, another pre-requisite for a viable position.

Sony has Peyton Manning pitching their unique position that Sony is the brand the pros use.. As Peyton says in commercials: They (the networks) use Sony to shoot the games. They use it to produce the games. They use it to broadcast the games. So, why wouldn't you use it to watch the games?

Using this unique positioning, Sony lets their competitors fight over other positions involving quality such as the number of pixels, etc. Sony owns a position by themselves—as the professional's choice. Brilliant!

OK! Your turn. How many unique positions can you come up with?

Always Responsive

We are responsive to deadlines, market feedback, client needs and ROI.

We've never met a deadline we could not hit, even when it meant running through an airport to get that incredibly important piece of something on that flight. OK...we only had to do that once. Errrr...twice.

Our sensitivity to market feedback is real. We really do react quickly when the market talks to us, even when we're in the middle of a campaign. We'll make changes on the fly to help achieve the desired or forecast results. Which also means we build as many monitoring mechanisms in place as is feasible.

As far as client needs...well—Duh! We're a service organization...and the Enemy of Good Enough. So, if you need it, we'll get it done.

As for ROI it's a necessity. Marketing is supposed to be an investment. As such, we calculate a projected ROI before we deploy any campaign. Then we do a post-mortem to give you—and us—an analytical picture of what happened, what we expected to happen, contributing factors, etc.

Providing Clarity & Discipline

In the book "Eating The Big Fish—How Challenger Brands Compete with Brand Leaders" they advise having "a Lighthouse Identity, which is a very clear sense of who you are, and the insistent and salient communication of that identity".

In "Good To Great" they say it's essential to establish a "Hedgehog Identity".

So, issue number one in establishing your Brand is clarity. We always recommend a workshop with your key players working with our key players. This is always an extremely productive, high-energy process that defines clarity and builds buy-in as a by-product (Since the key folks are a part of the process, their buy-in is built-in).

Naturally, positioning is inherent in the Branding process as we see it at Quantum.

Why do we call Branding a discipline?

Because discipline is one of the main behaviors that makes a Brand a Brand. This is more difficult than it sounds. Staying true to a clear and specific Brand identity actually limits your choices.

What?

Let's just say your Lighthouse Identity is Luxury. When everyone around begins slashing prices, you have to hold firm. There is a great temptation to give in. But to be true to the Brand, you must hold the line.

Further, it takes discipline to keep the same look, feel, messaging, etc in everything...ads, TV spots, web sites, stationery, invoices, signage, behavior, policies...(particularly if you have an agency always looking at new creative solutions. That's what most agencies do). Again, you must exercise discipline to just say no to new creative...that is unless it continues the same look, messaging, etc.

Are you up to it? Give me a call and we'll discuss it.

By the way...this does pay off. Enough consumers exhibit brand loyalty that it's worth your effort. When we talk, I'll give you 7 to 107 examples.