Good customer service is key in this economy

Times are tough. So why did two printing companies allow print jobs to slip through their fingers all due to bad customer service?

My firm had retained one printing company, The Marsid-M&M Group, for almost a year. The quality was good as was the customer service. If they made a mistake, they took care of it quickly and managed to keep us happy. Until last month.

Our department had a large print and mail fulfillment job that Marsid messed up at least three times---on top of a quote we approved that didn't include the postage. So when we received the invoice, we were flabbergasted. "Mail fulfillment" means mailing the items. So how were they going to quote mail fulfillment without the postage cost? If that charge is going to be separate, make it clear! There was absolutely no language suggesting that the postage wasn't included in the other costs.

After much argument, Marsid agreed to absorb part of the postage cost for their communication failure. It was our first and what I hope will be our worst mail fulfillment experience. We no longer use them for this service and are seeking new print companies altogether.

After doing some research, we found another company, DPI of Rochester Commercial Printing. Our first print job was successful, so we decided to get a quote for a reprint of our marketing materials. I sent an email to our DPI contact on Wednesday. This is where it gets absurdly unprofessional. When I called to leave a followup voicemail the next morning, I dialed his extension and got someone else's mailbox. The dude is also not listed in his companies directory.

So after speaking with the receptionist (who said that someone else had that mailbox before him and he must just "not know how to change it"), I left a voicemail anyway, making sure to clarify who the message was for. I waited til 2pm, gave up and called the other print company (the poor mail fulfillment services one). They were more than happy to do the $3600 job.

So Friday afternoon, the DPI sales rep called and sent an email. He said that he had been working remotely on Thursday and didn't have access to his email. And you didn't read my email on Wednesday? Or check your voicemail when you're working remotely? People in sales these days are fighting for business, and you wait 48 hours to get back to me? What an idiot.

If anyone knows any good print companies, please let me know. It's becoming painful dealing with vendors who clearly aren't concerned about retaining business.

Jameson NY subway ads...not their best

It appears that Jameson has lost its touch. I remember a couple of years ago when their subway ads had witty remarks:

- Maybe because "next round on me" is easier to understand than "stanclearclosindoor."

- Maybe people like Jameson because the ads give you something to stare at when you don't know where to look.

Relatable to the New Yorker and just plain funny. So imagine my disappointment when I saw a new series of ads designed similarly, but with boring, weak lines. So boring in fact, I can't remember any of them (and didn't think to write them in my phone at the time). All I remember is being severely annoyed that they must have used the economy as a reason to get rid of a good copywriter and hire someone who can't fill the void.

If you're going to keep the same campaign theme each year, make sure it's up to par with the initial roll out. Don't throw us a NY-targeted ad, and then get lazy and swap it for a generic approach.

Even the coolest promotional items can become discontinued

Every now and again (hopefully not too often), I will touch on some mistakes I've made. It's only fair that if I'm going to rip on others, I admit that I'm not oblivious to my own errors.

Early this year, my firm made a big transition to a new time and billing system. My manager and I decided immediately that our internal communications campaign should slowly educate firm members of the changes while making it fun and light. We toyed with lots of promotional items that we could use. Naturally, we settled on the Clock Rocker.

So over a couple of months, we developed the campaign calendar, email messages and posters. All had the Clock Rocker prominently displayed. We knew firm members would think it was silly and not care about the little dude til they saw him sitting on their desks the week before the switch.

It was a good plan. Was until we went to order the tchotchkes. They had been discontinued. We searched everywhere. With sunken hearts, we reluctantly ordered some of those rubber, photo-holding, stick figure things. They became the Clock Rocker's roadies.

I think I'm mostly disappointed at our lack of foresight. The firm actually loved their roadies and they in no way hindered the campaign, but I prefer following through on plans. Lesson: DON'T WAIT. You never know when something as simple as purchasing a promotional item will be impossible. We should have ordered immediately to complete what should have been the easiest part of the campaign. Better planning next time.

Marketing vs. Management

Here's Seth Brown's review of War in the Boardroom by Al and Laura Ries.

It's hard to see through marketing plans when management is generally set in its ways. Creativity gets wasted everyday when company decision makers either drag their feet on approving a campaign or flat out deny its possibilities.

This book suggests that marketing professionals start talking like "left-brainers" to management. I'll have to pick it up. Because as of now, it's easier for marketers to give advisement and then throw up their hands saying (to quote my boss), "I have no equity in the firm." We cannot be successful without proper approval and financing, and can only care so much about a firm that won't help itself.

Maybe this book will teach effective ways to approach management and, thus, be able to do our jobs.

White paper design tips

I had my first exposure to designing a white paper for my firm today. From googling, I saw that most white papers just look like a word document. Most were excessively bland and barely had any differentiations with regard to the font and spacing of titles and copy. I knew I wanted to make ours better.

The Top 6 White Paper Design Mistakes by Roger C. Parker mentions some obvious suggestions. Parker's list is helpful with setting out the list of rules to abide by. I completely agree with his tip to "avoid overusing color." This isn't a newsletter. You want to grab attention without letting the reader be absorbed by the design. A white paper should be appealing without taking away from the content.

I wanted to jazz up my firm's white paper by using dark blue for the titles, the logo in the corners of the pages, and pull-out quotes supported by dark blue lines. I also added a grayscale image for the cover. My manager agrees this is a good start. It follows our branding and stays clean. I'm sure it will be adjusted throughout the week.

Recovery logos disappoint

I cut out an article from Monday's USA Today about the new logos to support programs financed by the Recovery and Reinvestment Act. I agree with Alan Siegel's (CEO of Siegel + Gale) judgement of the logos. They are pretty useless pieces of work (see Exhibit A below).

The recovery.gov logo and what it's supposed to represent is far too indepth. There's a reason only state seals look so complicated. They were created long ago when people spoke slower and didn't have multiple things vying for their attention. We're a little faster these days and don't have time to delve into all the details. So please tell me we aren't expected to get the entire message from that.

As for TIGER, is it really creative to just use orange and black stripes for "TIGER" while completely losing the website in the teeny font below? It's ineffective. As Siegel said, "This is Amateurville." Amen sir.

Use caution with package redesign

I'm sure be now people have either seen the redesigned Tropicana packaging or read about its failure. In Tropicana's attempt to give its carton a generic feel, they've lost consumers in the design confusion. If nothing (not even the font) stays the same in the design, how are shoppers to identify your brand? The only thing that stayed the same was the shape of the carton...which is not different than any other juice carton.

Brandweek had a good, brief article about how General Mills, on the other hand, did it right. By redesigning cereal boxes like Trix to look like packaging from decades ago, it wins in two ways. First, while today's cereal boxes are incredibly colorful and visually stimulating, both generations of boxes have the same general look and feel: red box, white "Trix" in an arch, white rabbit. Second, the older box resonates with older generations and gives the generic feel without cheapening the design.

With the drive during the recession to make items look generic to compete with less-costly products, it's important that professionals strategize wisely to avoid alienating their current consumers. People don't buy more expensive products if they don't recognize or feel a connection to them; it's common sense. If you feel the need to rebrand entirely, pace yourself or you can lose even your most loyal customers.

Ernst & Young's rebranding concept not its best

There's something that's been bothering me for quite some time. Almost a year ago, Ernst & Young did some major rebranding.

Now before I start the bashing, I do have to point out that Ernst & Young's new design is pretty sleak. All printed materials have a yellow beam that draws the eye into the rest of the piece. While I think the use of only yellow in everything might get old (not too mention hard to be creative with so little wiggle room), I appreciate their demand to be recognized. That's the principle behind branding after all.

My concern: their message. "Achieving potential." Marinate on that for a minute. If you're still not getting what I'm hinting at, check out the below definitions.

- achieve: to get or attain by effort; gain; obtain

- potential: a latent excellence or ability that may or may not be developed

So Ernst & Young is working to obtain an ability that may or may not be developed? Really? A global firm is working on getting potential, not success, for themselves and their clients? This is the problem with most people in marcom today. They pick a phrase that for whatever reason rings heavenly music in their ears, but then never stop to think about the actual meanings of the words. I can't imagine they proceeded with this message knowing the correct connotations.

Enough already. My point is, think in all directions. Examine every possible angle before you pitch something that makes it clear you haven't achieved potential either.

Increasing Blog Traffic

This article seems pretty thorough: 21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic. While it's aimed at corporate blogs, I'm finding plenty of tips for MarCommon Sense.

I think this could take me all day to analyze each step for applicability, but I need to start somewhere. I'll report the results of some of these steps in later posts.

Hold on a sec...whose ad is that?

My boss showed me an interesting ad today that was a good half page in the Wall Street Journal. She held it up a few feet away and asked me whose ad I thought it was. Below is a poor scan of the horrific ad. Apparently, it's not for TD Ameritrade.

If you squint while holding the paper a few inches from your face, you'll notice the tiny Nationwide logo. Keep in mind this is a half page ad. And I was instructed to figure out who placed it. But the general reader is more likely to pick up on the green, box shapes; assume it's for TD or another company; and keep it movin. NOT GOOD. Readers should recognize your brand immediately, not someone else's brand in your ad.

Don't even get me started on the fact that my first comment, after seeing the Nationwide logo, was "wait...that's Nationwide's logo?"

I'm obsessed with logos. I think they're one of the best things next to the alphabet. I can tell the difference between the Pepsi, Obama and Korean Air logos. They're not something I'm keen to breeze by or forget. So when a company logo like Nationwide goes beneath my radar, something's amiss.

Nationwide needs to focus on its brand awareness. I should associate the blue box with Nationwide. And they need to avoid heavily recognizable designs that are already used. That's not to say they can't have nice, green backgrounds--but they need to ensure the logo is promptly displayed to avoid false recognition.

Do Guinness marketers go to bars?

I often wonder why Guinness never markets to women. I know I'm the rare female drinker who prefers Guinness to, say Miller Lite, but I can't help but notice that most women only drink the beers marketed to them. Women are associated with lighter beers so often that generally, when I ask for a Sam Adams, I'm handed a Sam Light.

I'm not sure if their "fewer calories" campaign was to attract health nuts or a weak attempt at relating to the female population. While it's understandable to stick with their same slogans, they should consider striving to relate to women. They already have the men in their pockets and I think they need to think strategically about the profits of getting more female consumers.

Which leads me back to my question. Do Guinness marketers go to bars? If so, they would notice what I have. Whenever a guy offers to buy a girl a drink, and she picks something stronger than his initial drink, he will always upgrade--because he's a "big, tough man." I can honestly say that it is my favorite game to play in a bar. If a guy offers to buy me a beverage, and he's drinking a Bud Light and I've been drinking Killians, I'll still switch to Guinness just to test my theory. And two Guinnesses almost always get ordered...

I think it's time for Guinness to get hip with the modern bar scene and turn a bigger profit. And maybe hire me (is it true that breweries give free beer to employees?).

Welcome

Welcome to the MarCommon Sense blog. Too often, I get a good laugh out of the poor marcom strategies people use. Or maybe it's just that they don't actually have a strategy. Either way, most of the problems I've seen can be corrected with just a little common sense.

This blog will be my outlet to vent and offer solutions. It's a guide for anyone from the small business owner to marcom professionals seeking to enhance their knowledge and cultivate their own ideas. I also intend to use it as my own personal anthology of smart tips and ideas that I've seen---a knowledge source for my own career.

When I first mentioned my idea to start a blog about my various marcom ideas, my friends told me I was crazy for putting them out there for people to take. But since giants like General Mills and Google aren't banging down my door to pay me money, I may as well find another outlet for my thoughts.

Brand new to blogging, I had to do some research. These tips seem pretty standard. No better way to learn that to just roll up my sleeves and do.