JCPenney, in efforts to win male shoppers, have been buying male-oriented media (ESPN Radio, for example) and pitching a male-oriented tagline: "Get In, Find It, and Get Going." They obviously have identified how men prefer to shop (i.e. quickly), and even try to set apart the male zone as the Men's Department inside JCPenney.

Never mind that the Men's Department inside JCPenney is not noticeably different than the Men's Department inside many other department stores, but that's not the point.

Recently they have tweaked their tagline, replacing "Get Going" with something more benign. I guess "Get Going" sounded too much like "Get Out." Frankly, I don't think most men would be offended by that. I can't even remember the new wording! Ask my kids -- my wife has trained them that "when you're shopping with Daddy, you're on a mission." Hey, it works for me.

Now Ace Hardware has taken a strikingly similar line: "Get In, Get Help, Get On With Your Life." The theme is clear: men tend to view shopping as a task to be done but not savored.

These taglines are intended to reduce perceived risk -- the risk of having to spend a lot of time shopping when all they really want is to find something and move on. If you want to attract male shoppers, you need to cater to that desire and communicate it.

Have you identified what appeals to your customers? Are there obstacles in your customer's mind that delay visits or purchases? Speak their language and their interests -- you won't win them all, but you'll win more. And right now, that's a great start!

Labels: advertising, customer centered, differentiation, marketing, strategy, taglines

More and more I am believing that the strategic partnership is marketing's great frontier.

There is nothing new about two entities joining forces and collaborating in some fashion, but I'm seeing a lot more of it. And I'm recommending a lot more of it.

A strategic linking of complementary businesses is becoming an ordinary part of the planning process. Long gone are the days when we decided "what to advertise and where to advertise," and that's about it. We feast on companies that are stuck in that kind of limited thinking.

Creativity isn't just for graphic design, it's for finding ways your business can evolve to something more.

Of marketing's "Four P's," strategic partnerships are now a critical element of Placement. For a great read on where to find mutually beneficial relationships, read pages 49-80 of Blue Ocean Strategy. (Actually, read the whole thing.)

Who shares your same customer? Who shares your same image? Who can link you to higher visibility while you do the same for them?

Labels: marketing, planning, strategy

Continuing on the thoughts from yesterday's post, there are other advantages of competing against your larger, slower competitors. Namely, they are often stupid.

The problem with huge corporations is that stupidity has lots of room to flourish. Quote me on that.

Consider the words of the great Minnesota Fats: "You don't learn from smart people, you learn from idiots. Watch what they do, and don't do it."

Want to see something stupid in the customer service category? A colleague of mine recently needed a receipt for a flight he had taken on Delta Airlines. Logically, he emailed to request. With a little less logic in action, Delta replied by email to tell him to snail-mail his document number to a certain department so they can email a receipt back to him. Meanwhile, his document number was in the email itself. Classic.

What is considered "normal" in your industry that drives customers nuts? Or confuses them? Learn from the big idiots, and give customers a clearly better way.

Labels: bad habits, customer service, customers, differentiation, marketing, planning

You're probably stronger than you think. You're probably better suited to compete for customers than you think you are.

Humility doesn't exactly abound in our culture, but I think many business owners sell themselves short. They see themselves as outmanned, outgunned and underqualified versus bigger competitors. But they're not.

Local banks and credit unions can often make a better case to customers than big regional or national players. Independent jewelers can differentiate themselves very believably against "the mall stores."

There are opportunities like this in almost every industry.

Owner-led businesses can respond quicker -- like now. As soon as an idea is ready, they can implement it immediately. No corporate approval needed. No passing it up the ladder to the franchise marketing department. This autonomy is the ultimate business version of "just do it."

Some built-in advantages follow the simple fact that you're local and in charge. What moves can you make that your larger rivals aren't flexible enough or fast enough to match?

Labels: management, marketing, planning, strategy