This Little Piggy….

5 easy ways to market:

Getting your product recognised out there in the marketing world can be difficult. Here are a few easy steps to remember the key elements that can help get your product to market effectively.

This little piggy went to market

When taking your brand to market there are important factors to consider. Your strategy will form the basis of the whole of your brand’s future.

There are so many questions to ask – how do you feel about your brand and its future? What would you like to see happen to it? What possibilities do you have? Who is the right person to take your brand forward? What is your unique selling point; your niche? All important questions to consider when entering such a competitive market.

Your strategy will determine where you want to go; it is a description of your desired outcome. And that’s just the start! Consideration needs to be taken for your core values, the strength of your brand, your target audience, your position in the market and a review of how genuine the value you are offering is.

Your strategy is set to learn more about your business ethos, your products and services and your markets. Getting to the core of what you are trying to achieve gives a clear understanding of how to set your objectives both online and offline.

When going to market, there are so many questions to ask yourself. An effective strategy really will help you bring home the bacon.

…This little piggy stayed at home

With the developments of modern technology, there’s no need to be in the office or rely on your marketing agency to market your brand. The advances in social media and online marketing have grown rapidly, and more and more businesses are being self sufficient in their online presence.

Networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are ever growing in their popularity and provide instant access to a wide spread and diverse audience. With access to literally most of the business world, there is little room for error in finding contacts to speak to. These instant portals are flexible and allow you to determine strategically chosen target audiences – the perfect opportunity to market your brand and communicate on a more intimate level, without meeting face to face.

Facebook allows people to become a ‘friend’ or a ‘fan’ of your brand, displaying their support and interest in you- a great indication of a ‘happy’ client. Twitter gives you the opportunity to connect with inspiring people and ‘follow’ their thought patterns, as well as pointing your own ‘followers’ in the direction you want to take them. And LinkedIn creates forum based conversation, engaging and providing expertise at an executive level.

Overall, social media is an effective marketing medium that won’t break the piggy bank!

…This little piggy had roast beef

Now this one caught your attention, didn’t it?? That’s exactly the aim of guerrilla marketing. It is all about creating something that catches the human eye as it is out of the norm.

Guerrilla marketing is hugely powerful, marketing products in completely different ways, yet in everyday environments. It allows businesses to be creative on a new level, promoting products and services in unique and innovate ways. The aim is to create the element of surprise, the wow factor!

You may have seen those mischievous bods at t-mobile surprising the general public with a flash mob dance? That’s guerrilla marketing- creating the unexpected! Our resident guerrilla guru Tom has posted examples on the Happy blog- check them out J

You’d think that something so brilliant and high-impact would cost a small fortune, but guerrilla marketing can be as simple and giant vinyl footprints through a city centre. The only thing limiting guerrilla marketing is the imagination! Who knows… you might even see flying pigs!

…This little piggy had none

Without a strong brand your marketing efforts are worth nothing. A brand is the forefront of your business; it speaks for you and it creates expectations of the product and service to come.

A brand is not just a logo, but everything that your customers think, feel, say and hear about your product or service. It is a complex package of emotional and rational benefits driving a customer’s choice.

We relate to brands on so many levels – some even as far as the big ‘L’ word! It is this emotion that links a brand to our feelings, and creates a loyalty to the products we crave. Brands are important to us in every aspect of our lives.

A brand needs to be strong to compete in an overcrowded market. Do a sufficient amount of people (relative to your target audience) know about your brand? Do people always remember your brand’s name? Do people understand fully what your brand is about? Do you get a lot of repeat business? These are all indicators of how strong your brand is, and only a strong brand can compete and grow effectively.

All in all, creating a strong brand avoids making a pigsty of your business and your hard work!

…And this little piggy went….‘wee wee wee’ all the way home.

One of the most effective ways of marketing your product or service is through micro marketing. That’s targeting your audience strategically and specifically.

Choosing a ‘wee’ target audience that fits your customer profile is more likely to be effective than targeting on mass. I am not disputing the effectiveness of mass marketing through social media, but targeting specific contacts is likely to give you a better response and conversion rate.

Personalised direct mail is always a winner. Anything where the customer sees that you have put time, effort and care into your communication is received well. It is never nice to think you are part of a big mail out. Making your customers feel special, like they are your most important customer (or potential customer) is key to a successful and strong brand.

So, instead of ‘hogging’ the whole market place, try targeting a niche, a selection of strategically chosen customers.

The integration of these 5 easy steps is the recipe for success in getting your products and services to market, just like our first little piggy!

Emma Dobson is a branding expert and Touch Point guru at Happy Creative, a full service marketing agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk

Branding Workshops from Happy Creative

Branding is what we do brilliantly at Happy.  So much so we thought we’d share the benefit of our years of experience with a series of Bespoke Branding Workshops, ideal for any business whatever stage your brand is at.

So what do you get from a Happy Creative Branding Workshop…

Making your Brand Work – Happy Creative Branding Workshops

“I can’t start my day without my Costa Coffee”

“I wouldn’t survive without my iphone”

“I love my Ugg boots”

“Me and my Alpha, we’re one cool partnership”

These are some of the deep seated emotions that people share with the brands they respect, love and admire. We have relationships with brands in all areas of our lives, in our business life and in our lives as consumers. Different brands have different meanings for us depending on our experiences of that brand.  Without question, brands are an important part of life.

Emotional connection – the very essence of great brands. It’s the emotional connection that links brands with our feelings.

It is no coincidence that at every touchpoint of these great brands, there is an emotional connection inducing strong feelings and brand loyalty.

When there is so much ‘noise’ around us, with so many visual and auditory messages, and so many brands competing for attention, how can brand managers, marketing managers and company owners create strong bonds and emotional connections to help make their brand more successful?

A series of branding workshops run by experts who know branding could be the answer.

Happy Creative’s interactive branding workshops explore:

• What’s a brand
• How strong is your current brand
• How to position your brand
• How to create meaningful brand values
• How to understand how your brand fairs alongside its competitors
• How to find unique ‘gaps’ to give your brand a competitive advantage

Whether you are an experienced marketing/brand manager or new to brand management, the series of branding workshops are tailored to your own company, brand and goals. They will help and inspire you if you are looking to refresh an existing brand or if you are creating a new brand for a new or existing market.

The highly interactive branding workshops and generally are aimed at the senior management team (although this varies from company to company) with an ideal maximum of 6 in any one workshop.

All workshops are facilitated by experienced brand professionals.

For more information on how branding workshops could help your company, call 01253 446 933, email hello@happy-creative.co.uk or tweet us @Happy_Creative

Ad of The Week

Simple, classy and stylish…it’s got to be an Alfa Ad

Why satisfied customers defect …

Customer loyalty is the feeling of attachment or affection for a company’s people, products or service.

Generally it’s accepted that the more competitive the market the more important the level of customer satisfaction. What’s not always appreciated is how important that level of customer satisfaction is.

In markets where there is intense competition (most markets) there’s a huge difference between the loyalty of a ‘simply satisfied’ customer and a ‘totally satisfied’ customer.

It is, therefore, essential for companies to excel in both defining its target customers, and delivering a product or service that completely meets their needs.

There are five areas that affect customer satisfaction:

1                     the basic elements of the product or service that customers expect

2                     basic support levels

3                     a recovery process should things go wrong

4                     extraordinary service

5                     the overall customer experience

Except in a few rare instances, total satisfaction is the key to securing loyalty and generating long term financial performance.

Here’s six top tips for customer satisfaction best practice.

1                     Analyse each of the five stages above and ensure that you are adding value at every stage.

2                     Cherish your loyal customers. Generally speaking a customer who is completely satisfied keeps returning. Within this band of customers will be individuals who are so satisfied that they become brand champions, sharing with others their great experiences with you. Find your champions and introduce a champion care programme.

3                     Know your defectors; these are the customers who are a little (or completely) dissatisfied. The satisfied defect too.  Know who your defectors are. Give them attention when things go wrong, listen to them, respond to them, correct their bad experiences. Preventing defectors from leaving can positively influence your customer retention.

4                     Identify the mercenaries; these customers may be completely satisfied, however they show little loyalty. They chase low prices, buy on impulse and seek change for changes sake. With these customers it takes as much effort to please them as the loyal customers, but they do not stay long enough for the relationship to be profitable. Knowing who these customers are can help you make strategic marketing decisions as generally no matter what you do, they will go elsewhere.

5                     Locate your hostages; these customers feel they are stuck. They may experience the worst but must accept it. Hostages are often difficult and expensive to serve. They may be stuck but they complain and can devastate company morale. Recognising this type of customer early in the relationship means you can help move them into a different category or move them out. The general rule is that customers should not feel trapped.

6                     Listen to your customers; use customer satisfaction ratings in surveys to understand the level of satisfaction. Plotting results can help you understand how satisfied, or otherwise, a customer is. You can survey satisfaction with both the company in general and with the products and services. Have processes in place for regular feedback, and ask your team to report on what they hear.

Companies that survive and flourish are companies that continually work to understand the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty. In short, Happy customers are loyal customers.

Karen Lambert is an experienced strategic marketer and Managing Director at Happy Creative, a full service marketing agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk

Ad of the Week

Here is a very bold ad, one that you wouldn’t perhaps expect to see. It gets the point over very well, makes the whole thing look quite simple and it gets EVERYONE singing too! We love it!

Getting the fear out of social media

You might be getting ready for a spooky costume party on the night of this Friday the 13^th, or thinking about how you are going to make a wig for your witch outfit out of spaghetti.  Just how scary is Friday the 13th for you? 

Fortunately the sun (if you are lucky to see it wherever you are) hasn’t gone down yet so, since we are probably still at work, let’s talk marketing. This very date has made me think of some fears we have about the marketing world. It made me think of the little rituals some people stubbornly follow to avoid those ‘scary’ parts of marketing.

We all tend to seek stability and familiar things, but in a fast-moving marketing world, we shouldn’t believe that doing the same thing every time will always get the expected results. Simply because it won’t. Things are constantly changing and require us, marketers and businesses in general, to move with it… or stay well behind. In a world increasingly dominated by social media we are all so connected.  I’ve therefore decided to talk about some social media fears, and here are my top 6:

Fear number 1: “Let’s stick to the ‘real world’”

You are reading this blog online, aren’t you? Yet, there are some people who still think that focusing only on the “real world” is the best approach. With over 800 million on Facebok and 200 million tweets sent PER DAY, the online world IS the real world, there is no escaping. You either build your company an online presence or you are out of sight. Don’t forget the world out there, of course, but combine both to your business’ advantage.

Fear number 2: “It doesn’t affect my business”

You may think that social media doesn’t affect your industry in particular, but you could not be more wrong. It may not have a major effect now but it affects businesses in different ways and at different times– the challenge is to work out how, and what you need to do to maximise the opportunities and minimise the threats – yes, a tried and trusted SWOT analysis works a treat here.

Fear number 3: “We have to change completely the way we do things”

No, that is also not true. Some people ask themselves: “should we market online or offline?” The answer is that it doesn’t have to be one or the other. Social media is a potential marketing channel, as is direct mail, TV advertising, face to face networking and lots of others. The challenge is to identify what works for your business. And the best way to do that is to work out what you are trying to achieve as a whole and then from each channel, so you can maximise each channel in line with your marketing objectives and resources.

Fear number 4: “The IT Department can deal with it”

Well, they can certainly help setting things up and get you up and running, but unless they know everything about your business and can answer queries, give messages, spot opportunities and engage with clients and prospects, they should only be allowed to stick to what they know best.

Fear number 5: “We have to shout louder than everyone else”

People tend to compare numbers of ‘likes’ and ‘followers’ but, as they say, size isn’t everything! Social Media is just like any other marketing – it needs to be targeted, relevant and ‘value adding’. Just because people follow you, it doesn’t mean that they’re actually listening! Engagement is key, and it’s engagement with the right people: customers, potential customers, partners, influencers, and even suppliers. So, don’t just ‘shout’ -think about the messages and crucially, think about who they are targeted at!

Fear number 6: “It’s just about attracting customers”

Of course Social Media can raise your profile, help you make connections and attract customers. But the best users of social media are those that use it to listen to, and engage with their customers and communities. They use it to have conversations and ‘listen’ to what is going on. It’s an opportunity to observe many markets and the people that use your service/product, so don’t get too caught up with the shouting and pay attention to what is being said too.

So there you have it, 6 fears well and truly exorcised.  Social media is here to stay and you definitely don’t want to get left behind.  The question is what are you waiting for… (a creaking door??)?

(and by the way, if you need help, Happy Creative offers some pretty great bespoke packages for your business to make the most of social media – and much more – so feel free to give us a call!)

Marilia Spindler is an Account Executive at Happy Creative, a full service marketing agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk

Social Media Incentive – it worked!

So, after 12 days, 12 emails, 12 winners and countless numbers of Happy people, the Happy Christmas  Incentive came to an end!

If you’ve arrived at this blog post via the infographic that we sent out, then you’re obviously impressed with some of the statistics and results that came from the campaign that we ran in December.

Or, you may be one of those lovely people who have just come for a look at our blog because you like the things the Happy bunch write about and it’s a way of brightening your Friday!

Either way, we’re glad you’re here, and welcome to our latest blog. This post is a bit of a blow on our own trumpet as we’re showcasing the outcomes of each individual day’s task and winner, as well as the overall results – all of which we and our Happy friends are very chuffed about!

We may as well do this in order (and it means we get to go first!).

 

Day 1 – Sponsored by Happy Creative

A whopping 700% increase in our daily blog hits! This has also meant a 400% increase in our month on month stats, and you lovely people are helping our blog stats grow on a daily basis – what a great response!

Congratulations to Gary Sheader as well for winning our scrummy hamper!

 

Day 2 – Sponsored by Napthens

Napthens Twitter account received a record amount of new followers on the day of their task, and it has continued to grow since! So far they’ve grown by over 25% which is brill!

Congratulations to Chris Allen who won the theatre vouchers and thanks again to Napthens for their support in the incentive.

 

Day 3 – Sponsored by Ridings & Faye

Facebook was the platform of choice for Ridings & Faye, and you didn’t disappoint! Their ‘likes’ have nearly trebled as a result of sponsoring Day 3. Excellent news!

Congratulations to Joanna Marshall for winning the beautiful kids’ scooter and thanks again to Ridings & Faye for getting involved.

 

Day 4 – Sponsored by Speed Medical

Back to Twitter for Speed, as they had only just set up an account knowing the benefits of having a larger social media presence. It was a good plan in the end, as we helped increase their followers by over a third, and it’s continuing to grow. Maybe even with a cheeky direct enquiry coming from it…!

Congratulations to the wonderful Danielle at Love to Brand who very kindly donated her prize to a chosen childrens’ charity. What a lovely gesture. Thanks also so Speed Medical for being great sports and helping out.

 

Day 5 – Sponsored by Wyre Cycles

Another Facebook day for Day 5. Wyre Cycles only had a small number of followers before Happy came along and invited them to take part in the Christmas Incentive, and it didn’t fail! Nearly double the amount of followers since that day – wow!

Congratulations to Michael Donkin as well for winning the cycle service. Wyre Cycles, you’re good sports for being part of it as well, so thank you!

 

Day 6 – Sponsored by Meadow Jewellery

Facebook proved a popular platform for Happy clients! And Meadow Jewellery was no exception. Well over 100% increase in followers and growing – you can’t argue with that!

Congratulations to Sarah Greatorex for winning the beautiful pendant, and thanks again to Meadow for supplying it and taking part.

 

Day 7 – Sponsored by Happy Sweet Shop

A slight change in direction for Happy Sweet Shop, but still just as effective! Day 7 was aimed at website traffic, and again, it proved the right choice. A record day and month for website visitors, and a couple of direct sales proves that it worked. What a brilliant result!

Congratulations to the lovely Maria Franchetti for winning the huge sweet hamper and thanks to Happy Sweet Shop for helping out. Great prize and great task – everyone’s Happy!

 

Day 8 – Sponsored by Beyond Big Bones

Even though the lovely Helen has a very niche business, you happy people still helped out an a huge way by growing the Beyond Big Bones Facebook likes! It just goes to show, how effective Social Media can be – and luckily the winner of this day’s task was also in the healthcare profession, so a collaboration could be on the cards…? It’s like blind date for marketing!

Congratulations to Jay at Whitworth for winning the healthy living consultation with Helen and thanks again to Beyond Big Bones for taking part – such a unique and helpful prize!

 

Day 9 – Sponsored by North’n Exposure

A slight change again for Day 9 as North’n Exposure asked you to visit their website and sign up to their newsletter. You obviously were still very much involved in the whole incentive, as you helped to increase their subscriptions by over a third which they’re over the moon with!

Congratulations to Mary Long for winning the super canal boat cruise and thanks to North’n Exposure for taking part – hope you’re as Happy as we are!?

 

Day 10 – Sponsored by CL Edwards & Sons

Another web traffic task today and what a response! We helped to increase the daily hits to CL Edwards by a huge 650% and it’s been steadily growing ever since! Happy Russ and Happy Karen are actually meeting Craig from CL Edwards next week to discuss some digital work following the incentive, so we’re all very excited about that!

Congratulations to super Dan from Speed Medical who won the amazing pendant as well. We’re sure Mrs Super Dan had a very Happy Christmas!? Thanks also to CL Edwards and Sons for taking part and supplying such a beautiful prize.

Day 11 – Sponsored by Whitworth Pharmacy

Web traffic proved to be another popular choice and with the new Whitworth website going live the week before, it seemed like the perfect choice! And it was…! With very little traffic to compare it to, Happy have helped raise the awareness of the new site and grown the traffic steadily since the launch date. You also increased Whitworth’s Social Media followers by directly linking through from the site to their Twitter and Facebook pages!

Congratulations to Matt Back who won the John Lewis vouchers – bet they came in handy over the Christmas period?! Thanks also to Whitworth for taking part – we’re also talking Social Media with the Whitworth team, so keep your eyes peeled for The Whitties in the digital world!

 

Day 12 – Sponsored by Dodson & Horrell

The final day was rounded off by one of our newest clients, Dodson & Horrell, and they also requested we help grow their website traffic. As per the infographic, we didn’t disappoint as the stats prove. Well over 200% increase in both daily and monthly visitors the site, as well as increased followers on Twitter and Facebook as a direct result. Happy times!

Congratulations to Lisa at Exova for winning the doggy goodie bag – Lisa’s got a little dog, so he’ll be Happy! Thanks to Dodson & Horrell for sponsoring the final day of the competition – what great sports!

 

And that’s it – you can’t argue with those stats can you?!

We’d just like to say a massive thank you to everyone who took part and helped out in the Happy Christmas Incentive. We’re really Happy that we’ve helped our good friends increase their online presence, as well as generating some direct enquiries, sales and even some working relationships out of it! It has worked out miles better than what we could have hoped for, so thank you again.

We hope you enjoyed the incentive, and we hope that it helped raise the profile of digital marketing. If you think you’d like some help to raise your business’ online presence, please feel free to give Happy Russ a shout – he ran the incentive and is working with some of our clients with some digital work as we speak as a direct result of the Happy 12 Days.

 

Russ Leonard is Head of Digital at Happy Creative, a full service marketing agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact Russ, please email russ@happy-creative.co.uk , Tweet @HappyRuss or call 01253 446933. www.happy-creative.co.uk

Ad of the Week

Funny little way of sponsoring a programme. Check out the series!

 

New year, new thinking

Well I’m happy to say that I have the privilege of writing the 1st blog of 2012, woo!

So first of all, a very Happy New Year to you all! I hope you all had a great Christmas and indulged in all the festivities!

It’s a shame to see it all come and go so quickly especially with all the hype and I won’t be at all surprised if you’re sat with a glum expression on your face right now because it’s…

JANUARY! 

Thankfully though, you can rely on us all here at Happy to put a smile back on your face with our top blogging every week so make sure you keep up to date with each post and be sure to comment and follow us on Twitbook.

So to my post…

At Happy, we have an ‘ad of the week’ on the blog, where team members pick an advert that really hits home with them so I thought I’d get in there early and mention one that really captured my attention during the holidays.

It was a car advert believe it or not that I actually liked, well loved really! Very often I see a car advert and it turns out to be the same old format over and over but revamped slightly, you know what I mean, a classic interior shot, a shot of a happy family driving along a curved coastal road with a sunset in the background… it’s all so predictable but this was so different and refreshing.

It’s an advert for Renault, the first car manufacturer to offer a range of four electric vehicles accessible to everybody.

Now I know what you’re thinking, I really don’t need to be told anymore about the state of the environment, it’s tiring and I agree with you, it can be at times especially when it is forced on you, making you feel as though you have done something wrong.

But what Renault have done is cleverly maintain this important message but have brought humour into the advert to put us all at ease and listen.

The concept behind the advert is making us all realize as viewers what our day to day lives would be like with no electricity. The advert cleverly shows scenarios where electric products we all take so much for granted have been made into motorised devices.

There is a clear sign of the hassle and effort involved if this were the case and also how much of the world around us would be polluted with dangerous emissions.

The strapline at the end of the advert simply states, ‘You’ve already switched to electricity for many things, so why not for traveling.’ I just love it and it’s so refreshing to see a different approach to such an important topic.

In case you haven’t seen the advert, please see below and enjoy! (My favourite part is the bit with the mini petrol can…you’ll see)

  

As always, if you’re looking for a marketing agency to put the life back into your briefs, contact Happy Creative as we’ll be very Happy to help!

Tom Fearon is a Designer and Guerrilla marketing expert at Happy Creative, a full service marketing agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk

Bring on 2012!

The keyboards clicks are softening, the mice are slowing down and thinking is beginning to gravitate towards Christmas. It’s been an incredible year at Happy Creative and amongst the laughter, space hoppers, late nights, early mornings (I’ve been up since 3.00!), coffee and biscuits we’ve added new members to the Happy team and had the privileged opportunity to make our new and existing clients happy. I’m extremely excited by the new year and the opportunities that we have. A big thank you to everyone involved with Happy Creative and for making our year a happy one. See you in 2012!

James Chantler is Creative Director at Happy Creative, a full service marketing and creative agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk