Are You Satisfied With Your Marketing?

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Jay Conrad Levinson's 50-year marketing career is unmatched both in power and scope. Jay not only worked his way to the top of the two largest advertising agencies in the world, J. Walter Thompson and Leo Burnett Advertising, he is also the father of Guerrilla Marketing, the author of 50 plus marketing books. 

Jay was also the driving force behind some of the most creative, iconic and successful marketing campaigns:  Mr. Clean, Tony The Tiger, Sears Diehard battery, Jolly Green Giant, Pillsbury Doughboy, Morris The Cat, You're In Good Hands With All State, Fly The Friendly Skies Of United and the Marlboro Man. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates learned marketing from Jaywhen there were his students at UC Berkeley night school.

After a lifetime in marketing Jay Conrad Levinson observed two main reasons companies fail. (A) They lacked a well-designed strategic game plan from the start. (B) They didn't give the plan they had a chance to work. In today's fast paced world when marketing results don’t happen quickly enough, people get scared and when people get scared, they panic. And then in desperation, they radically alter or scrap their marketing strategy before it's even had time to work.   

The thing is at it's ore marketing is about change. Changing perceptions, changing attitudes and ultimately... it's about changing actions. The reason commitment plays such a central role is successful marketing is because change seldom happens overnight,
 

Have You Ever Tried To Change Someone?
 

Perhaps it was your spouse, your boyfriend, your child or maybe even a parent? How well did that work out? Did it happen quickly or did it even happen at all? Changing human behavior is rarely easy.  By nature we're are creatures of habit and once were set in our ways, it's difficult to change even when it’s clearly in our self-interest.

On Shark Tank’s 100th episode Mark Cuban was asked to give entrepreneurs his best advice, his red flag was simple but serious, “it’s very hard to change minds."
 

Even though we understand change is difficult, there still exists a disconnect between reality and expectations. People expect marketing to be different, they expect it to be a miracle worker and produce fast results. Then when results fail to happen quickly enough, they assume the marketing is not working. Even superb marketing rarely delivers immediate results. Actually few things in life that are truly beneficial ever happen quickly.
 

Sometimes It Seems Like 10 Million

Seth Godin, marketing maven/guru and best selling author of 18 marketing books, estimates the average person is exposed to over a 1,000,000 marketing messages yearly, But what if that estimate is high, what if it’s just 500,000? Getting your message to stand out from all the clutter and make a lasting impression requires both a great message and patience. 

Demand Confidence
 

Every serious business requires a well thought out strategic plan, one that’s based on substance rather than hype. This is the fuel that provides the confidence necessary for your marketing strategy to work.

Don't Commit...Yet

When you create your strategy, take as long as long as you must. If you want to change it, make the changes before you commit to it, but once you create your plan, commit to it. This action demonstrates you take your work seriously and are not expecting overnight results.  

It's rarely easy to remain committed to your marketing when you see little or meager results at best. It’s not uncommon to find you'll might need anywhere from three to six, and even on some occasions, even nine months before the desired results materialize.

This is the key, if you get impatient, if you don’t stick with the plan, it may not work since almost all marketing plans start off slow. If you get scared, lack patience or radically alter the plan before it's even had a chance to work, it's almost guaranteed to be a train wreck. 

 Confidence Is Your Ace In the Hole
 

Imagine operating your business with a clear, well-designed strategy, one you were proud of and one that you could happily commit to. Weak commitments lead to meager results. Most people wait to see results before they commit. That’s not how it works. Visualize telling your fiancée on your wedding day, "I won’t commit until I’m sure things are going to work out."  

If you want confidence in your strategy, create a plan that’s based upon logic, and substance over hype.  If your business needs a clear new direction, one that inspires action, conviction, and commitment let's talk to see if we’re a good fit to work together. Call Brian Bodnar 818 268 8700