How TV Ads Can Shoot Your Competitors Sales Through The Roof
As a manufacturer or distributor of products there can be huge frustration in getting your product in front of your target market.
I have a distributor client who sells a health related product who is so fed up with super-slim margins, no retailer support and slow payments from retailers that he has (successfully) started to go direct to the public for sales via his web site.
As one of the owners of this company I’d often go into sport stores and ask after the cooling vest. A sales assistant would – 9 times out of 10 – tell me they don’t stock it and that they’d never heard of it.
(That was despite the fact that I knew they did stock it and that this very same retail chain insisted on a $15,000 ‘contribution’ towards their product catalogue where our product was 1 amongst 100, and they’d also insisted on hugely expensive point of sales posters that they never, ever displayed.)
The Manufacturer & Distributor Have a Tough Job
You see, as the manufacturer or distributor you have to do so much more than just make it and ship it.
You need to provide as much support as possible – in terms of point of sales material, advertising ’support’, sponsorships, staff training, etc.
But all that often doesn’t filter down.
- Point of sales material isn’t displayed
- Advertising support results in miniscule ads
- Staff turnover is so high, or they’re so disinterested, that it’s completely wasted
Another Great Example
I just saw another great example of this.
I saw a TV ad for a product I am interested in. It retails for $130. The TV ad said to visit the web site for stockists.
So that’s what I did.
I visited the closest stockist – a 12 minute drive away.
A sales member told me they don’t stock the product. And then she tried to sell me a similar/competitor product.
2 Things Here
- If they do stock the product then they’ve lost the sale.
- If they don’t stock the product the manufacturer/distributor needs to revise their stockist list on their web site.
TV Ads Sell The Competitor’s Product!
Either way, this poor manufacturer/distributor is spending huge money on TV ads to have a hot
prospect drive to a store and then be sold a competitor’s product!
The manufacturer/distributor must be pulling their hair out.
(And they’ll probably get complaints from the stockist that I visited saying that the TV ads did nothing for the sales of that product!)
Cheers
Brendon
Top 8 Ways To Positively Influence Your Market
As regular readers might know I do a little public speaking here and there. From business groups to community groups to schools.
Next month I have a few speeches on:
- a local university
- a local school’s Business Week (to the entire Year 11 grade)
- a Gala Awards night
You know, it’s funny how it works. I hope the people who listen to my speech get the benefit. But I always get a terrific benefit from doing speeches.
- I’m positioned as an expert in my field
- I’m seen by tons of people who are my target market
- I (sometimes) get paid
- When other hear I do public speeches (like you reading this blog now I guess), their perception of me as an expert is often enhanced
The Perception Is Critical
The perception of you/your business as expert is usually a very positive thing. The key to influencing perception is education.
Can an education strategy help your business?
Top 8 List
Here’s my top 8 list on educating your market in a very positive way.
- Write a book
- Do speeches
- Write articles
- Write a newsletter
- Start a blog on your web site
- Get a gig on radio- or start your own when your radio gig ends!
- Implement a Public Relations strategy – check out show # 34 here
- Get well respected people to talk about you
Cheers
Brendon
$1 A Shot – Money To A Worthy Cause
We have a few clients wander into our office over the day and a few have tried their luck!
You see, we have a golf putting machine that you putt golf balls into. For $1 you get to putt 2 golf balls from a line in reception.
The money goes to a charity.
And if you get 1 of your shots in the hole (and it doesn’t pop out!) then I’ll give you $5 from my pocket.
It’s 1 go per visitor – I don’t want you practicisng and getting good 
)
Tina’s been practising – she’s down $1 today. Thanks Tina!
Cheers
Brendon
Kachiiiiiiiiiiing – Jack Sinclair Cleans Up!
My daughter is playing hockey tonight. My wife and son Harry are up the road watching her.
Jack, my great 13 yo son, rode his bike down to the office. You see, he helps out by doing the cleaning of the offices every now and then.
As he rode down the road in the dark he ran over what he thought was a mobile phone. He went back and, sure enough, it was.
We called the last number dialled and it was a young guy with his mate who were searching for the phone. They were in the area and called in to collect it.
One Happy Jack Sinclair
And here’s one happy Jack Sinclair with $20 in his hand. $20 richer after the fellow gave him $20 for being honest. He’s a great little kid and good on the guy for giving him $20.
Jack Wants To Waste It
He wants to waste it on something silly like camping gear.
I’m trying to talk him into coming to the pub with me now and spending it on beer.
Does that make me a bad parent?
Cheers!
Brendon
I Might Add Mel To The Brag Wall
Here in the office we have what we call a ‘Brag Wall’ (pictured right).
In the reception area we have various things from clients hanging on the walls – framed letters, framed and signed photos, medals, framed and signed singlets and more.
David is a client of ours who owns Hammer Nutrition, a endurance fuel business. We’ve just popped up David’s latest special on his site – which is a free t-shirt with every order above $100.
David Remembered Our Brag Wall
David remembered that we have our Brag Wall and dropped in a shirt for Mel to model for his site and a signed shirt for us to pop on our wall. Thanks Dave!
That’s Mel modeling the signed shirt to the left.
3 Choices
I figure we have 3 choices:
- Frame the signed shirt
- Frame the photo of Mel wearing the signed shirt
- Frame Mel wearing the signed shirt
I think I’ll just frame the shirt – Mel’s cooking is too good to miss out on!
Start A Brag Wall
I love our Brag Wall – it’s a real source of conversation for people who come into the office.
And it gives visitors something interesting and relevant to look at (potential clients reading sincere thank you letters in the reception area is a good thing).
And it gives us a nice sense of a bit of history here in the business – after 8 years or so we have some interesting stuff up there.
Can you start a Brag Wall in your business? It’s easy, cheap (we use $2 frames for our letters and certificates) and a real good thing to have.
Cheers
Brendon
iPod Nano Racing Ahead
I’ve been meaning to get an mp3 player for a while now that records my voice. I think that would be real useful for making notes to myself.
Then I heard that Nike teamed up with Apple to produce a chip that works with an iPod Nano to track a whole range of things you do when you run. Sounds good.
I thought I’d hang out for that and then buy a microphone input to record my own audio (i.e. notes to myself, speeches, etc).
Can’t Record With an iPod Nano
But you can’t record audio with a Nano (as far as I can tell).
I have an iPod Mini. I purchased the attachable microphone jack last year for that iPod only to find it doesn’t work on a Mini iPod. D’oh!
Technology Is So Advanced
Technology is so advanced that you’d think an iPod could record your voice. Methinks they can, but Apple is just jerking us all around so they can sell more and more attachments.
It’s enough to turn me off iPods, but iTunes is just so darn easy to use!
Cheers
Brendon
120,000 Reasons To Measure Your Yellow Pages Ads
I just called into a client’s business to say hello. Whilst I was there he mentioned he’d drastically reduced his Yellow Pages Phone Book advertising spend – from $120,000 pa down to the absolute minimum.
You see, this guy measures how his marketing is working – as we all should. And he found that over the past 2 years he was spending $120,000 on ads for gross sales of $146,000. That would mean a bit fat loss based on his margins.
My client is in an industry where I’d have thought Yellow Pages would work really well – but it hasn’t.
Are you just assuming your advertising is working?
It’s easy to check – just ask every single person who buys from you “How did you hear of us?”
Simple. Effective. And can save you $120,000 per year.
Cheers
Brendon
If You Want More Email Readers Don’t Do This
If you want people to read you e-mail newsletter
don’t do this: don’t send your newsletter out from Friday afternoon through to Monday 11 am.
Many people will be like me this morning – come in and download 1,752 emails. If it’s not essential reading it gets deleted immediately.
Once I’ve attended to my initial morning emails I’m far more like to give longer consideration to emails that come in during the day.
Cheers
Brendon
As a manufacturer or distributor of products there can be huge frustration in getting your product in front of your target market.
prospect drive to a store and then be sold a competitor’s product!
