Introducing Rafflecopter. Its so easy even your good ol' grandma can do it. Seriously, I wondered why nobody has come up with it before.
Here's a quick demo.
Now you're ready. Go ahead and try it out!
Sunday 22 April 2012
Contests Made Easy
No doubt one of the most effective ways of driving traffic to your website or generating Facebook likes is by putting up a a raffle or contest.
Introducing Rafflecopter. Its so easy even your good ol' grandma can do it. Seriously, I wondered why nobody has come up with it before.
Click here to try it out http://www.rafflecopter.com/
Here's a quick demo.
Now you're ready. Go ahead and try it out!
Introducing Rafflecopter. Its so easy even your good ol' grandma can do it. Seriously, I wondered why nobody has come up with it before.
Here's a quick demo.
Now you're ready. Go ahead and try it out!
Brilliant IKEA Campaign
I've always been amazed at Ikea's branding strategies. The designs are clean and minimalist which appeals to modern and sophisticated buyers yet the price point is quite low. It really is value for money.
So when I saw Ikea's current campaign for their mattresses, I thought it was quite genius. They got some of their staff to dress in their PJs and sleep in the most uncomfortable of public places to drive their point across. The tagline was "I wouldn't have to sleep now if I had an Ikea mattress." This rings true for most of us working full time. A full night's sleep is paramount to function well in the office. Ever had those sleepless nights tossing and turning and feeling like crap the next day?
Kudos to the Ikea guys and gals who braved the heat lying on unforgiving hard surfaces to show passersby how horrid it is not to have a nice comfortable bed to sleep on.
It certainly grabbed a lot of attention from the crowd. Some even stopped to take pictures of the unusual and often hilarious sight.
I'm borrowing some photos from the Ikea Singapore Facebook Page to share with you guys. Pretty cool huh?!
So when I saw Ikea's current campaign for their mattresses, I thought it was quite genius. They got some of their staff to dress in their PJs and sleep in the most uncomfortable of public places to drive their point across. The tagline was "I wouldn't have to sleep now if I had an Ikea mattress." This rings true for most of us working full time. A full night's sleep is paramount to function well in the office. Ever had those sleepless nights tossing and turning and feeling like crap the next day?
Kudos to the Ikea guys and gals who braved the heat lying on unforgiving hard surfaces to show passersby how horrid it is not to have a nice comfortable bed to sleep on.
It certainly grabbed a lot of attention from the crowd. Some even stopped to take pictures of the unusual and often hilarious sight.
I'm borrowing some photos from the Ikea Singapore Facebook Page to share with you guys. Pretty cool huh?!
Sunday 15 April 2012
When Ignorance is NOT Bliss: Importance of Surveys
As marketers we often have a gut feel of the general characteristics shared by our customer base. Reason can lead us to logical conclusions about their demographic and buying behavior.
However, without real hard data, we can never be sure if our marketing strategies are indeed reaching the right people. While a company can survive without ever conducting any type of survey however crude or sophisticated, failing to gather this information can lead to much waste both in time and resources.
Let's begin by examining target demographics. Demographics often include age, gender, race, location, education and household income. The marketing messaging that a company will utilize will depend greatly on these factors.
The only way to confirm if your hunch about your target market is correct is to set up a survey. While companies with huge marketing budgets can hire consultants to do comprehensive market studies for them, SMEs operating with limited funds often don't have as much money to burn.
But before you even delve into the survey, you must first figure out why you want to embark on this survey in the first place. In my case I wanted to check if the marketing strategies and messaging that we have been doing so far actually reach the right people. I also wanted to get feedback on customer preferences.
One thing to note is that when you make a survey you have to keep it short. 10 to 15 questions max. Make it as foolproof as possible and include questions that are multiple choice ones. This way, it is a lot more convenient for customers answering the form and for you when you tally the final results.
Make sure that your questions are pertinent to the issue at hand or is actionable, meaning something can be done by management to improve the current conditions.
So now we are ready to create the survey. One easy way to do it is online.
Two popular survey markers are Survey Monkey and Google Forms. Survey Monkey has a free version but only allows you 10 questions. More than that you need to purchase the software, Google forms on the other hand does not have a limit. But it cannot do questions with multiple answers. Both are fairly easy to use but I find the way Google Forms organize the information into a spreadsheet to be way better.
If you already have a Google account, simply click the documents tab and go to "create new". It will show a pull down menu and all you have to do is click "form". Then you are ready to create your survey.
Since I was trying to find out if our marketing efforts were appropriate for our audience, I began my survey by finding out the demographic of my customer base.
Here are some questions worth asking:
1. Age (helps you choose the right media to reach a certain age group, ie online media vs offline media)
2. Gender (helps you decide functional and aesthetic designs that appeal to certain genders)
3. Household Income (an indicator if you are targeting the correct social class)
4. Educational Attainment (helps you choose the tone and messaging of your ads and marketing materials)
5. Children (important if your products are geared towards parents)
6. Area/location (important you you plan to expand or branch out to new areas)
7. Lifestyle questions that are related to your specific brand
Getting this data can already give you a wealth of information that can dramatically improve your marketing strategies.
In the survey that I designed, I also asked a few questions about the customer's preferences in relation to the product or his experience with the service. Here are some sample questions:
1. How much do you spend in a certain product category
Knowing how much each customer is willing to spend would give you an idea how much their budget is for specific items. It will allow you to review your pricing and see whether it is perceived to be too high or too low.
2. What are the items you usually buy
What the customer usually buys indicate what popular items they are interested in, This may prompt you to add varieties in a certain product category. It can also help you develop new product lines that was previously not available in your store.
3. How is the service provided to you by the staff (especially important in retail)
a. Friendliness - tells you if you are choosing the right sales staff. Not only should they be smart enough to handle daily tasks but they must also have the right attitude and demeanor
b. Product knowledge - do you have sufficient training that allows the sales personnel to be familiarized with your products?
c. Speed of service - are the processes you have in place efficient? You might have steps that can be eliminated and can improve service rendered. It can reveal if you are overburdening the staff with so much paperwork.
4. How aware are you about new products just introduced in the market. - are you choosing the correct platforms when introducing products? It happens often that a new product has potential but the management is not able to give it the correct promotional strategies that will allow it to thrive in the market. The product might be superior but people simple don't know about it.
The key thing to remember, as I mentioned earlier, is to design questions that are pertinent and actionable.
So now that you are done with an online survey, you must also do an offline one. This is especially true for products that are being used by the baby boomer generation who are often not keen on spending much time on the internet. To give this age group a chance to be heard, creating survey forms that they can manually answer with a good old pen or pencil is a good idea. If you have a store, simply ask the sales people to request customers who visit to spare a few minutes of their time to answer a few questions.
The best way to get them to do so is to give incentives such as providing free gifts or a discount on any purchase. The online survey can also include a voucher or discount coupon that they will automatically receive via email after completing the survey. The best thing about it is you can also harvest their email address since they would be required to input it to receive the "free coupons." This allows you a chance to invite them to subscribe to your newsletter. How about that for hitting two birds with one stone.
So the question remains, how many should be surveyed? Zoomerang.com comes up with a suggested survey sample size depending on the size of the customer base.
Now, it might be a bit difficult to estimate the correct customer base. But one way is to look at your database or the number of subscribers to your newsletter. This can give you a rough idea how many customers are engaging your brand.
Once you have decided on the number of respondents, then you are ready to roll it out. Good luck!
However, without real hard data, we can never be sure if our marketing strategies are indeed reaching the right people. While a company can survive without ever conducting any type of survey however crude or sophisticated, failing to gather this information can lead to much waste both in time and resources.
Let's begin by examining target demographics. Demographics often include age, gender, race, location, education and household income. The marketing messaging that a company will utilize will depend greatly on these factors.
The only way to confirm if your hunch about your target market is correct is to set up a survey. While companies with huge marketing budgets can hire consultants to do comprehensive market studies for them, SMEs operating with limited funds often don't have as much money to burn.
But before you even delve into the survey, you must first figure out why you want to embark on this survey in the first place. In my case I wanted to check if the marketing strategies and messaging that we have been doing so far actually reach the right people. I also wanted to get feedback on customer preferences.
One thing to note is that when you make a survey you have to keep it short. 10 to 15 questions max. Make it as foolproof as possible and include questions that are multiple choice ones. This way, it is a lot more convenient for customers answering the form and for you when you tally the final results.
Make sure that your questions are pertinent to the issue at hand or is actionable, meaning something can be done by management to improve the current conditions.
So now we are ready to create the survey. One easy way to do it is online.
Two popular survey markers are Survey Monkey and Google Forms. Survey Monkey has a free version but only allows you 10 questions. More than that you need to purchase the software, Google forms on the other hand does not have a limit. But it cannot do questions with multiple answers. Both are fairly easy to use but I find the way Google Forms organize the information into a spreadsheet to be way better.
If you already have a Google account, simply click the documents tab and go to "create new". It will show a pull down menu and all you have to do is click "form". Then you are ready to create your survey.
Since I was trying to find out if our marketing efforts were appropriate for our audience, I began my survey by finding out the demographic of my customer base.
Here are some questions worth asking:
1. Age (helps you choose the right media to reach a certain age group, ie online media vs offline media)
2. Gender (helps you decide functional and aesthetic designs that appeal to certain genders)
3. Household Income (an indicator if you are targeting the correct social class)
4. Educational Attainment (helps you choose the tone and messaging of your ads and marketing materials)
5. Children (important if your products are geared towards parents)
6. Area/location (important you you plan to expand or branch out to new areas)
7. Lifestyle questions that are related to your specific brand
Getting this data can already give you a wealth of information that can dramatically improve your marketing strategies.
In the survey that I designed, I also asked a few questions about the customer's preferences in relation to the product or his experience with the service. Here are some sample questions:
1. How much do you spend in a certain product category
Knowing how much each customer is willing to spend would give you an idea how much their budget is for specific items. It will allow you to review your pricing and see whether it is perceived to be too high or too low.
2. What are the items you usually buy
What the customer usually buys indicate what popular items they are interested in, This may prompt you to add varieties in a certain product category. It can also help you develop new product lines that was previously not available in your store.
3. How is the service provided to you by the staff (especially important in retail)
a. Friendliness - tells you if you are choosing the right sales staff. Not only should they be smart enough to handle daily tasks but they must also have the right attitude and demeanor
b. Product knowledge - do you have sufficient training that allows the sales personnel to be familiarized with your products?
c. Speed of service - are the processes you have in place efficient? You might have steps that can be eliminated and can improve service rendered. It can reveal if you are overburdening the staff with so much paperwork.
4. How aware are you about new products just introduced in the market. - are you choosing the correct platforms when introducing products? It happens often that a new product has potential but the management is not able to give it the correct promotional strategies that will allow it to thrive in the market. The product might be superior but people simple don't know about it.
The key thing to remember, as I mentioned earlier, is to design questions that are pertinent and actionable.
So now that you are done with an online survey, you must also do an offline one. This is especially true for products that are being used by the baby boomer generation who are often not keen on spending much time on the internet. To give this age group a chance to be heard, creating survey forms that they can manually answer with a good old pen or pencil is a good idea. If you have a store, simply ask the sales people to request customers who visit to spare a few minutes of their time to answer a few questions.
The best way to get them to do so is to give incentives such as providing free gifts or a discount on any purchase. The online survey can also include a voucher or discount coupon that they will automatically receive via email after completing the survey. The best thing about it is you can also harvest their email address since they would be required to input it to receive the "free coupons." This allows you a chance to invite them to subscribe to your newsletter. How about that for hitting two birds with one stone.
So the question remains, how many should be surveyed? Zoomerang.com comes up with a suggested survey sample size depending on the size of the customer base.
| Size of Customer Base | Sample Size Needed (95% Confidence Level) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +/-3% | +/-5% | +/-10% | |||
| 2,000 | 696 | 323 | 92 | ||
| 3,000 | 788 | 341 | 94 | ||
| 5,000 | 880 | 357 | 95 | ||
| 10,000 | 965 | 370 | 96 | ||
| 20,000 | 1,014 | 370 | 96 | ||
| 50,000 | 1,045 | 382 | 96 | ||
| 100,000 | 1,058 | 383 | 96 | ||
Now, it might be a bit difficult to estimate the correct customer base. But one way is to look at your database or the number of subscribers to your newsletter. This can give you a rough idea how many customers are engaging your brand.
Once you have decided on the number of respondents, then you are ready to roll it out. Good luck!
Tuesday 28 February 2012
Men's Magazine Faux Pas
A Philippine Men's Magazine drew flak for a supposedly "racist" cover.
In many Asian countries, fair skin is a prized characteristic for women. Whitening products are a million dollar industry. As a consequence women with darker skin tones tend to be discriminated upon.
The cover featured a fair lady basking in the spotlight while dark skinned women are relegated to the background. A caption "Stepping out of the Shadows" appears at the bottom purporting that being dark skinned does not warrant a woman to be a star in her own right. The uproar and indignation caused by this controversy has forced the magazine to pull its cover from circulation.
In many Asian countries, fair skin is a prized characteristic for women. Whitening products are a million dollar industry. As a consequence women with darker skin tones tend to be discriminated upon.
The cover featured a fair lady basking in the spotlight while dark skinned women are relegated to the background. A caption "Stepping out of the Shadows" appears at the bottom purporting that being dark skinned does not warrant a woman to be a star in her own right. The uproar and indignation caused by this controversy has forced the magazine to pull its cover from circulation.
Marketing Luck
Prosperity symbols and lucky charms seem to be big in Singapore. It gets even more pronounced during Chinese New Year festivities. Getting the favor of the universe is never a bad thing when ushering in the new year.
McDonalds Singapore knows very well the psychological power of this and proceeded to come up with a fitting product: the Prosperity Burger. I personally tried it and did not feel the least bit prosperous. I felt the peppery sauce was too strong and salty. The sauce was so gooey that the whole thing was just one hot mess.
The business of utilizing symbols of luck to market products is not a new thing. Though it seems to be more pronounced in Chinese communities.
I remember my boss telling me about this story. It was a time when the Singapore economy was experiencing much drawbacks and hardships. The government, worried about the country's state of affairs, decided to consult a Feng Shui expert to assess the situation and recommend possible solutions. The expert, after applying Feng Shui principles, concluded that because of the railway project being constructed at that time, it disturbed the "mythical dragon" residing underground. The said project has actually injured the dragon's spine. To counter the bad luck brought about this, the advise was to have as many pakwa/bakwa (the octagonal shape which symbolizes luck) in every household. How to convince the diverse racial groups in Singapore can pose a challenge. The solution, reach in your pocket for a one SGD dollar coin and look at the edges carefully. See the shape just inside the round border? That is the pakwa/bakwa. Legend has it that Singapore's economy grew to leaps and bounds after that and the rest was history.
I'm not sure if I got the details of the story right. But that was the gist of it.
Interesting, isn't it? So when marketing to a specific group or community, it would be beneficial to know their long held beliefs and symbols that represent happiness and prosperity then start from there.
McDonalds Singapore knows very well the psychological power of this and proceeded to come up with a fitting product: the Prosperity Burger. I personally tried it and did not feel the least bit prosperous. I felt the peppery sauce was too strong and salty. The sauce was so gooey that the whole thing was just one hot mess.
The business of utilizing symbols of luck to market products is not a new thing. Though it seems to be more pronounced in Chinese communities.
I remember my boss telling me about this story. It was a time when the Singapore economy was experiencing much drawbacks and hardships. The government, worried about the country's state of affairs, decided to consult a Feng Shui expert to assess the situation and recommend possible solutions. The expert, after applying Feng Shui principles, concluded that because of the railway project being constructed at that time, it disturbed the "mythical dragon" residing underground. The said project has actually injured the dragon's spine. To counter the bad luck brought about this, the advise was to have as many pakwa/bakwa (the octagonal shape which symbolizes luck) in every household. How to convince the diverse racial groups in Singapore can pose a challenge. The solution, reach in your pocket for a one SGD dollar coin and look at the edges carefully. See the shape just inside the round border? That is the pakwa/bakwa. Legend has it that Singapore's economy grew to leaps and bounds after that and the rest was history.
I'm not sure if I got the details of the story right. But that was the gist of it.
Interesting, isn't it? So when marketing to a specific group or community, it would be beneficial to know their long held beliefs and symbols that represent happiness and prosperity then start from there.
Saturday 25 February 2012
Changi Millionaire
Changi Airport has always been my favorite airport. Not only because I'm based in Singapore, but really, it is simply the best in terms of facilities and services.
So I was at the Tampines train station a few weeks ago when I saw a couple of sales people giving out an orange paper bag to commuters. Not knowing what it was, I was handed one and I curiously accepted. Upon opening the bag, I found a flyer promoting the Changi Millionaire contest. At that point, I had no idea what it was. The flyer was inviting people to vote for the contestants vying to win a million Singapore dollars. It also stated that the winners will be announced at the Changi T3 airport and a special "gift" awaited the first 300 attendees.
Since I am a marketing executive, I am always curious to see marketing events and gimmicks. I trekked to the airport that Sunday to find out what it was all about.
The queue still wasn't long when I got there but it quickly grew to a couple of meters. Once we reached the registration desk, we were given an egg-like plastic toy which had the voting coupon inside. The voter is supposed to write down their info as well as their contestant of choice.
We then had to drop the egg with our ballot in the corresponding box. While we were doing this, waiters were walking around offering drinks - a cute pink concoction (which I thought was Sprite with some coloring).
The program began with a dance number from a couple of students. The hosts then welcomed the guests and invited the contestants on stage.
There were seven contestants vying for the grand price. They were to best each other in three challenges. I would not detail the challenges anymore in this post. But they were really fun and managed to capture the attention of the audiences.
The hosts were pretty engaging too. I don't think I caught their names. I just moved to Singapore so I'm still trying to get to know local celebrities. The guy was hilarious. They were both great.
After the event, we were given our special gift (I was one of the first 300 people who lined up). It was a cute Angry Birds stuff toy.
So I was at the Tampines train station a few weeks ago when I saw a couple of sales people giving out an orange paper bag to commuters. Not knowing what it was, I was handed one and I curiously accepted. Upon opening the bag, I found a flyer promoting the Changi Millionaire contest. At that point, I had no idea what it was. The flyer was inviting people to vote for the contestants vying to win a million Singapore dollars. It also stated that the winners will be announced at the Changi T3 airport and a special "gift" awaited the first 300 attendees.
Since I am a marketing executive, I am always curious to see marketing events and gimmicks. I trekked to the airport that Sunday to find out what it was all about.
The queue still wasn't long when I got there but it quickly grew to a couple of meters. Once we reached the registration desk, we were given an egg-like plastic toy which had the voting coupon inside. The voter is supposed to write down their info as well as their contestant of choice.
We then had to drop the egg with our ballot in the corresponding box. While we were doing this, waiters were walking around offering drinks - a cute pink concoction (which I thought was Sprite with some coloring).
The program began with a dance number from a couple of students. The hosts then welcomed the guests and invited the contestants on stage.
There were seven contestants vying for the grand price. They were to best each other in three challenges. I would not detail the challenges anymore in this post. But they were really fun and managed to capture the attention of the audiences.
The hosts were pretty engaging too. I don't think I caught their names. I just moved to Singapore so I'm still trying to get to know local celebrities. The guy was hilarious. They were both great.
 |
| The second challenge where contestants have to guess the number corresponding to the Visa or Changi logos behind it.  Oodles of cashhhhhh!!! \  Finally the winner is announced. Jessica Down from Perth Australia. So lucky and seems like a sweet girl too. She said she will be throwing a big party for family and friends and probably buying a new apartment. Sweeeetttt! One girl who voted for her also won S$1,000. Unfortunately, I voted for someone else. Dang!  |
Buffet was then served to the guests. It was really yummy too not some cheap ass caterer. Nothing but the best from Changi, of course!
The event was so much fun. Kudos to the event organizers. I will surely join the next round. Better start shopping. The contest starts in May.
Friday 24 February 2012
Are You a Sell Out?
I've never been comfortable seeing myself as a sales person. I'd rather be labelled as a marketing professional creating sophisticated marketing strategies to win over customers.
Sales for me pulls up images of those annoying credit card salespeople shoving application forms in your face. Or those infuriating telemarketers who call you in the most inopportune time, never let you put a word in and just run through their product spiel while you get billed for every second of their nonsense. I wasn't raised to be rude or anything but in this case, I won't hesitate to hang up.
Being in sales would be like a death sentence. A death sentence to my dignity that is. I have to swallow heaps of my pride and open myself to rejection, ire or outright ridicule. And to close that sale you have to keep smiling like a simpleton and nodding your head to whatever crap is thrown at you.
That to me is my impression of the sales profession. Yeah, you get to enjoy a windfall of huge commissions when you successfully seal a deal. But not after having your ego crushed by unapologetic jerks who either play you or just want you out of their faces. Obviously, sales is not for the sensitive types. The balance of power is not likely to be in your favor.
This long held view seemed to be challenged by an article I read on Success Magazine. It was a letter from the editorial director Darren Hardy.
Hardy suggests that sales is actually not a bad word. It is something all of us engage in every single day. Whether we want to recommend a good movie to a friend or convince your husband to try a new restaurant we saw online, it is simply the art of influencing people. Whether or not you stand to gain directly from the persuasion, life will be so much easier if you have the life skill of convincing people to do what you want.
Like today, I was telling a friend about this small company printing photos on wood and frames them. They come our real nice and artsy. She got interested and asked me for their contact number. I didn't realize it but I was actually pitching this company without them knowing about it and me handsomely compensated for it. I guess for me when money is involved in recommending stuff, the credibility goes down a little bit. More so if you are pitching to strangers and you become nothing more than the company's mouthpiece to be dealt with with caution and a healthy dose of skepticism.
Like today, I was telling a friend about this small company printing photos on wood and frames them. They come our real nice and artsy. She got interested and asked me for their contact number. I didn't realize it but I was actually pitching this company without them knowing about it and me handsomely compensated for it. I guess for me when money is involved in recommending stuff, the credibility goes down a little bit. More so if you are pitching to strangers and you become nothing more than the company's mouthpiece to be dealt with with caution and a healthy dose of skepticism.
Hardy disagrees and goes on to say that we must change our perspective on the word "sell," and think of it as giving "help" or "advice" to a person who needs it. Instead of pitching a memorized spiel, why not consider the person's dreams, aspirations or problems that need solutions and take it from there.
It got me thinking that indeed this is a great paradigm shift in philosophy. It goes on to quote Zig Ziglar's teachings "You can have everything in life you want if you will just help other people get what they want." This the power of reciprocity. I thought yeah, makes sense.
So rather than looking as salespeople as bottom of the barrel scumbags willing to lie, cheat and steal to close a sale, there are a few diamonds in the rough genuinely willing to help.
But I do think the timing and conditions are equally important to prime the potential buyer to listen to what you have to say. Unfortunately, lousy telemarketers and aggressive credit card salespeople are just clueless.
While I haven't completely fallen in love with the sales profession, I think I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. Marketing, however, is still my first love.
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