The result is that you have greater freedom to live with a brand of chewing gum, toilet paper or perfume to your liking than to live with a brand of politics to your liking.
On that cheery note, I wish you a pleasant weekend.
—Steve Cuno
In a real marketplace, a product appealing to only an iota of the market can prosper. Not so in the political realm. Politicians, referendums and propositions must capture the majority or fail.
The result is that you have greater freedom to live with a brand of chewing gum, toilet paper or perfume to your liking than to live with a brand of politics to your liking. On that cheery note, I wish you a pleasant weekend. —Steve Cuno
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Want to increase contributions to your NFP organization? An excellent article by Paul Bobnak on the fund-raising power of freemiums appears in today’s issue of DirectMarketingIQ.com. It’s brief and well worth reading by clicking here now.
—Steve Cuno I hope that my use of “poop” in the headline doesn’t offend. The cat litter industry fears it may.
Hence cat litter advertising has always, so to speak, pussyfooted around the, er, issue with expressions like “litter box odor.” But now, Arm & Hammer hopes to cut the crap with new commercials for its Multi-Cat and Super Scoop brands. “Your litter may control urine odor,” says a perky voice, “but what about feces?” Arm & Hammer’s new wording may indeed be an act of courage. While use of “poop” and “pee” would hardly draw notice in programming, the terms would very likely draw complaints if used in a commercial. Mind you, I have my limits. I’m not for defaulting to the worst vernacular. On the other hand, I have never known a cat owner to talk about “litter box odor,” nor have I known one to complain of “urine and feces odor.” At their most tactful, they wave a hand in front of their nose and say, “Whoa, the cat box stinks.” Often they are less demure. For that matter, I wonder how many consumers even know the word “feces.” —Steve Cuno This year’s Ig Nobel Prize for Management goes to Alessandro Pluchino, Andrea Rapisarda, and Cesare Garofalo of the University of Catania, Italy, for demonstrating mathematically that organizations would become more efficient if they promoted people at random.
Not a gag. The conclusion is based upon bona fide research. Having worked with management in oodles of companies throughout my career, I feel at once validated and consoled. The Ig Nobel Prizes are awarded annually by an organization called Improbable Research for “achievements that first make people laugh and then make them THINK.” From their website: “We also hope to spur people’s curiosity, and to raise the question: How do you decide what’s important and what’s not, and what’s real and what’s not—in science and everywhere else?” (Thanks to the latest Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast, which is where I heard about this year’s management prize.) —Steve Cuno Loyalty marketing is its own science. To benefit from a very informative podcast on the subject, click here. Despite technical troubles, it’s worth listening to. Guest expert is Bill Hanifin, who happens to be a loyalty guru, not to mention my strategic partner and good friend.
—Steve Cuno A cluster of Boy Scouts appeared, advisor in tow, at my door last night. After a moment of arguing as to whose turn it was, one of them, eyes trained on his shoes, bumbled through something about asking for donations.
“Man,” I said, “you really need to work on your sales pitch.” He and his buddies chuckled in agreement. So did their advisor. So I did some on-the-spot sales training. Why, I asked, did they want the funds? To do community service, they said. Then, I said, open with that. Not, “We’re collecting for…” People don’t care what the person at the door wants—yet. First they want to know what’s in it for themselves. I suggested leading with their specific plan for helping the community, moving on quickly to how those activities will be of worth to me, and only then adding that if there’s any way I could help, with even the smallest amount, it would make a huge difference. Two of them rehearsed a new pitch then and there. I listened and coached. They had fun with it, and so did I. And, they made progress. By the time they left, I was encouraged. I suspect their odds of raising money had just increased. I didn’t bill them for the consultation. I suppose that makes this my largest contribution to the scouting program to date. —Steve Cuno Smart catalog marketers make every item earn its place on the page. If an item’s sales pick up, it will be given more space. If its sales slow, it will be given less.
The current Levenger catalog (subtitled “Tools for Serious Readers,” whatever that means) devotes half of its outside back cover, plus the entire inside back-cover spread, to pricey, upscale bookends. Giving the bookends that much space is new, from which I infer that sales of Levenger bookends are on the rise. If so, I personally am not surprised. It’s only a question of time before I order the Jack London wolf. The Winston Churchill pig is pretty cool, too. Want to know what’s selling? Subscribe to a popular catalog and watch it change over time. Just be sure to choose a catalog from a company that tests and tracks. There are clueless catalogers who, thanks to a popular product line, succeed despite themselves. Imagine what they could accomplish if they woke up. —Steve Cuno Before you read further, cast your vote. Which do you think would bring in more sales: an offer for $5 off, or an offer for 20% off?
In our continuing quest for evidence-based marketing decisions, we conducted a scientific test on that very question for one of our clients. Yes, scientific. We tested two versions of a postcard—one offering a $5 discount, the other offering a 20% discount—on upwards of 40,000 customers over a period of three years. Every other customer received one or the other version of the postcard. Other than the discount offer, the postcards were identical. The results are in. Drum roll, please... The 20% offer won. It consistently outsold the $5 offer by 2%. Lest you scoff at 2%, multiply that over hundreds of thousands of customers for years and years. It adds up. Plus, for this client, the average customer spends $20 at at time. If you’re a math wiz, you have already figured out that 20% of $20 is $4. And if you’re even more of a math wiz, you may also have figured out that $4 is less than $5. About $1 less, to be more precise. So by offering what is effectively a $4 instead of a $5 dollar discount, our client sells more, increases profits by an average of $1 per order, and gives his customers the deal they prefer. This is a good example of the value of testing to see what works instead of assuming you know. Now, don’t do anything rash, such as running off and changing all of your dollar-off to percentage-off deals. This is one finding for one company in one industry. The result may not hold across the board. Please click COMMENTS above and let me know if you guessed right. Be honest. I know a thing or two about the reliability of self-reported data. Which is why this agency prefers testing to asking. —Steve Cuno The FTC just delivered a slap on the wrist to the makers of POM Wonderful pomegranate juice. Contrary to what POM ads claimed, there is no evidence that pomegranate juice treats or prevents cancer, erectile dysfunction or any other ailment. Except, perhaps, thirst.
So if you have erectile dysfunction and you’ve been guzzling pomegranate juice, I hope you at least liked the taste of the stuff. Not that slapped wrists deter the determined. POM Wonderful is back with a campaign hinting that the stuff is an aphrodisiac. Does pomegranate juice truly enhance sex life? An unbiased source, namely, POM Wonderful’s billionaire owner Lynda Resnick, said, “I certainly believe it does.” There. What more do you need? Though it’s impossible to regulate away every flimflam product, I hope government remains vigilant. Meanwhile, consumers need to inform themselves. Curious about an advertised medical claim? The science-based medicine feature of the Skepdoc blog, writtten by Harriet Hall, M.D., is a great starting point. An informed public is the surest weapon against flimflammery. —Steve Cuno |
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