A local entrepreneur opened a new breakfast cafe for all the right reasons, but didn’t quite fully consider the restaurant name and customer perception. It made me sad, but it’s also a reminder of the impact of brand.
The Marketing Spritz
When I was teaching my marketing class last fall, I talked about the “spraying and praying” marketing approach. The short version of this is doing any and/or all communications activities without a clear strategy and goals. It probably goes without saying that I don’t recommend this approach.
But sometimes “spritzing” is ok. I didn’t realize how my students fixated on this conversation. I saw a couple of them a few weeks later.
“Hey! I ordered some stickers. It’s a spritz!”
“I want to place an ad in the paper for the holidays. Is it an ok spritz?”
So what the heck is it?
Spritzing is often a one-off activity, or a tester to see if something works. It’s not necessarily part of your regular strategy, or it could be something you do before you are finished with your strategy. Here’s an example:
After I started my business, I was approached by a non-profit to sponsor the local ice rink with a banner. The pixels were barely dry on my LLC paperwork, my website wasn’t launched, but my logo and branding was shiny and new. I was excited to get out there and it was an affordable investment. Did I have any demographic info? No. Was this advertisement in line with my brand? Not sure.
One banner please and thank you.
So why did I do it?
I wanted to do something to promote my business and feel like I was moving forward. It was a low-risk way to do so. I also wanted to determine if sponsorship banners would bring in business. I knew I would be approached in the future by the gajillion non-profits around here and it would be great to have a baseline.
Most importantly, the ice rink is an important part of this community and I wanted The Brandstalk to support it. I’m a recreational ice skater, my husband is a life-long hockey player and it’s always nice to have variety in winter activities in Teton Valley. As I put together the pieces of The Brandstalk, one of my intentions was to share my success with Teton Valley non-profits that supported causes I was passionate about.
No, I won’t yell at you if you Spritz. Or buy a couple radio ads to drum up interest. Or order promotional stress balls with your logo on it. Just ask a few questions first:
Can I afford it if it doesn’t work? This is not just about money. Think about things like time, production and visual impact.
How will I track the response?
What other benefits might I receive other than straight business? Think about impressions (eyeballs), chatter, goodwill and experimental data.
And of course some questions for after:
Did it distract from my brand?
Or did it auto-magically contribute to my brand promise?
What can I improve for next time?
What did I learn so I can make better calls on the next Spritz?
You Had Me at "Brand."
This morning I listened to a story on NPR “Feelings Toward A Partner Affect Brand Buying Decisions, Study Says”.
Huh?
We all know there are lots of tangible and intangible things that affect buyer behavior, so this shouldn’t really be a surprise. But thumbs up to the curious researchers- Gavan Fitzsimmons (Duke University) and Danielle Brick (University of New Hampshire)– and NPR headline writers for making me turn my head.
The research asserts that when you are enjoying relationship health and positivity, you stick with your “normal” brands or even those preferred by your partner. In adverse times, you buy brands that your partner dislikes and even those that you may not like in this “act of defiance.” Listen to the story here:
https://www.npr.org/player/embed/502274818/502274819
Here’s an example: Last year, I was annoyed with my husband for leaving hockey gear askew around the house. I asked him to clean it up a few times, or at least get it into an under-control pile, but life got in the way (or probably a hockey game) and it wasn’t happening. On my next trip to the store, I found my huffy, pouting self in front of the hard cider section. I don’t love hard cider, but might enjoy one every year. Hockey Husband really makes a crazy, contorted face when he hears “hard cider.” Yep. I did it. I rebelled.
Host Steve Inskeep asks if marketers can use this to sell more product. To do that, there’s a lot of projection, inference and assumption that the marketer has to do- likely more than even big brands are comfortable with. And let’s talk about right time- right place. If you think getting a video to go viral took some luck, try to guess when couples are fighting.
Let’s just get crazy and say Potato Chip Brand A decided to capitalize on this concept. How does it even fit into their brand story? Will it alienate a major audience? Is it a one-off promotion? How can they build the message without injuring all the brand work they’ve done so far? To me, it doesn’t sound like a solid campaign concept, but it’s worth exploring. Here’s a link to the full study: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/688755
I think people are “buying defiantly” because it makes them think they are having their own experience, not one shared with the person that ticked them off. They are also simply being normal passive aggressive humans that are trying to soothe themselves with retail therapy.
What other ways might your personal relationships affect what you buy or don’t buy? What about your customers and what’s happening behind their scenes? What did you think about the story? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter.
