Advertising Is Dead. Long Live PR.Written by Harry Hoover
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Kmart, embroiled in financial difficulty for years, had revenues of $37 billion and spent $542 million on US advertising in 2001. Wal-Mart spent $498 million and garnered four times revenue: $159 billion split between its Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores. The average Wal-Mart store does $46 million in sales each year while its Sam’s Club average store sells $56 million. Sam’s Club does almost no advertising. Those are old brands, you’re saying. What about some newer brands, Harry? OK, let’s look at Pets.com. Remember dog sock puppet that starred in their commercials? It won awards, but not sales. In six months Pets.com had $22 million in revenues and spent four times that much on advertising. Off-base advertising creativity at work. The Body Shop was built totally by publicity. No advertising at all. Starbucks, until recently, did virtually no advertising. It has built a brand through good PR efforts. Starbucks’ annual sales are around $1.3 billion, while advertising expenditures over 10 years, have totaled less than $10 million. Finally, what advertising agency do you know that has built its brand with ads? Things that make you go “hmm.”
Harry Hoover is managing principal of Hoover ink PR, http://www.hoover-ink.com. He has 26 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Brent Dees Financial Planning, Duke Energy, Levolor, New World Mortgage, North Carolina Tourism, VELUX and Verbatim.
| | You, Too, Can be a SalespersonWritten by C.J. Hayden
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But that's catch, isn't it? You think there's a lot at stake. What if you don't get contract, client, money? So you make conversation overly significant, put on your marketing face and your selling voice, speak someone else's words... and result is anything but direct and authentic. What impact does this have on person you're speaking with? The opposite of a direct approach is an indirect one: devious, underhanded, sneaky (check your thesaurus). The opposite of authentic is inauthentic: phony, fraudulent, insincere. Isn't this exactly what you have always been afraid of -- sounding like a used car salesman or telemarketer reading a script? Scripts are for rehearsals. In a meeting or on phone, keep some talking points in front of you, but don't read. Every word should be one you would use in normal conversation -- use instead of utilize; fix instead of rectify; help instead of facilitate. Get to point quickly, and tell truth about it. "I'm just calling to introduce myself," is not only an ineffective pproach, it's a lie. Show a sincere interest in people by asking questions about their goals and problems. When you see a place where your business can help, don't hesitate to say so. Be respectful of people's time and really listen to what they say. Respond to what you heard instead of continuing to next item on your agenda. Don't be afraid to toot your own horn while staying true to who you are. But these are just tips for changing your behavior. The real key is in your attitude. If you can recognize that being indirect, inauthentic, or attached to outcome is causing you to lose sales instead of make them, you'll have a powerful incentive to do things differently.
C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients NOW! Thousands of business owners and salespeople have used her simple sales and marketing system to double or triple their income. Get a free copy of "Five Secrets to Finding All the Clients You'll Ever Need" at http://www.getclientsnow.com
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