July 2004 - Momentum - M45 Marketing Services

Back to Momentum Issues . . .

M45 Momentum: 45 Seconds to Maximize Your Marketing

June/July 2004 · Hot, Hot, Hot

to this month's edition of M45 Momentum, a monthly e-newsletter for the business community featuring tips, trends and trivia from the experts at M45 Marketing Services.

[Firecracker Image] Summer's here, and things are definitely heating up! In this special summer issue, we'll look at some hot industry trends and continue to offer you tools to make a difference in your marketing efforts.

We encourage your feedback! Send comments and story suggestions to info@m45.biz. Having trouble with the formatting? An HTML version of this newsletter is always available at www.m45.biz/resources/momentum/7_2004.asp.

If you are always looking for a new angle or a new audience to market your products, below are helpful sites providing information on past and future marketing trends:

It's not just for cattle!

Yes, it's a buzzword out in the marketing industry today. But, that doesn't mean it has to be complicated—or pricey! The idea behind branding comes from looking at your organization from the customer's perspective, and understanding—and providing—the type of experience you want your customers to have when working with you. And, a brand is not a logo or a tagline.

A brand focuses on the customer interface with you. There are lots of terms associated with successful branding, phrases like "core promise" or "positioning statement." An example we like to use when doing branding exercises with clients shows a number of successful company names: LL Bean, Volvo, Disney, Fed Ex. While few people—including us sometimes!—can remember the tagline that these companies may currently use, we all know what they do, what they stand for, and how it feels (or would feel) to be their customer.

M45 has developed its own branding process, using our very own TIN STARS philosophy: This Is Not Smoke, Thunder, Alchemy or Rocket Science. We believe that successful branding can play an important role for any organization, no matter its size or market—it's not just for Procter & Gamble or United Airlines!

And using our TIN STARS approach, we can make it simple for you to develop and use this important marketing tool. We chose the name TIN STARS because it exemplifies the fact that something doesn't have to be complicated or expensive to be effective: a tin star can shine just as brightly as one made of silver. And of course, M45's name is also derived from the stars. We pride ourselves on providing Stellar Ideas and Down to Earth Solutions.

So, give us a call if you're looking for a tangible, workable way to differentiate yourself from the competition—branding is just as important in today's competitive marketplace as it is on the open range!

Buzzwords Come and Gone

You're sitting at your desk ready to start the day, when you overhear a coworker using a new term. Within 15 minutes another person walks by and utters the same word. You quickly realize there's a buzzword floating through your organization that will quickly bombard you.

[Bee Graphic] Your mind reels with past terms and you remember the time you decided to benchmark the best practices of several companies with a balanced scorecard, so that you could better understand the bottom line of your company's core competencies. You decided to empower your workforce with your globalization efforts.

In the process you went through every practice that was applicable—just-in-time, kaizen, and lean organization. You even tried re-engineering your quality circle by trying 360-degree feedback from other employees.

You've tried downsizing, rightsizing, outsourcing and insourcing. You even had a quarter where decluttering took center stage. But that fell through when you tried to become a virtual corporation with zero defects during your dot.com period by introducing your brochureware.

In the end, you learned that neither the Peter Principle or Pareto's Law (80/20 Rule) was as timely as Murphy's Law.

And thus you decide to settle back into your morning routine and hope that the latest buzzword will soon become repurposed.

Good Old Summertime - Family Fun & Fitness from FHN

It’s summer, the temperatures are climbing, and everyone is heading to the nearest beach. Except what do you do when the oceanfront is more than 800 miles away? You bring the beach to wherever you are. And that’s exactly what happened on June 26 when 60 tons of sand and 1,000 gallons of water transformed the FHN Family Healthcare Center parking lot into a beach for a Sandcastle Building Contest.

The event was part of a series of Good Old Summertime events sponsored by FHN, Freeport, IL, and organized and coordinated by M45 Marketing Services. The sandcastle building was part of a series of activities designed to bring families together for various events.

Marilyn Smit, co-founder of M45 Marketing Services, said the events are the result of FHN wanting to sponsor something that focused on family wellness. "We wanted to do something that would get families out doing healthy activities during the summer," Smit said.

Top 10 Advertising Icons of the Century

Advertising Age identifies the following list as the most recognizable corporate mascots in the last 100 years or so. Can you match the icons at left with the year they were first introduced?

1. The Marlboro Man		A. 1939
2. Ronald McDonald		B. 1898
3. The Green Giant		C. 1965
4. Betty Crocker		D. 1921
5. The Energizer Bunny		E. 1928
6. The Pillsbury Doughboy		F. 1963
7. Aunt Jemima		G. 1955
8. The Michelin Man		H. 1951
9. Tony the Tiger		I. 1893
10. Elsie		J. 1989

Answers posted at the M45 Website.

M45 Marketing Services
524 West Stephenson Street, Suite 100
Freeport, IL 61032
815-232-2121 - Phone
815-297-0166 - Fax
www.m45.biz

Subscription Information

To receive a copy of M45 Momentum each month, click here.
To be removed from the M45 Momentum distribution list, click here.
To visit the M45 Web site, click here.

Site Map