Some seriously BRILLIANT WOMM I ran into last night. It’s straight up from Sernovitz’s WOMM Manifesto, Rule #7.
Situation Report: Vines Grille & Wine Bar – quality steaks, fish, & live jazz. Great place.
And no nuts.
Check out the bar. No “snack food,” just a basket of bacon for their patrons.
That is some great stuff.
Sernovitz Rule #7: Be Interesting, or Be Invisible.
Well done, Vines.
(Only improvement: make it easier for us Talkers to “tell-a-friend!!!”)
Here’s a great post from Guy Kawasaki… the #1 below is my favorite:
“I love to do business with small businesses—in-store, online, for myself, for others, for pleasure, for work—it doesn’t matter to me. I love to find great products and services made by entrepreneurs who are trying to change the world. And I love to help small business owners because they aren’t flying around in corporate jets and lunching with investment bankers. American Express’s idea for Small Business Saturday is a marvelous one, and I’d like to help out by them explaining 10 ways that small businesses can enchant their customers.
Put likable, competent and passionate people on the front line. I prefer to interact with employees who smile, know what they’re talking about, and love what they sell. However, companies often put the lowest-paid, least-experienced employees behind the counter or at the front desk and hope for the best. This doesn’t make sense. Ask yourself this question: Is the first impression of my business a good one? Because if it’s a bad one, it may also be the last one.“
Continue reading the rest of Guy’s post HERE.
“A camel is a horse designed by committee.”
If you try and run WOMM via committee, you’re toast. Trying to get approval from too many people will ratard your cool idea.
Just throw some spaghetti; see what sticks.
(Picked the below up from WOMMA… pretty cool case setudy)
This campaign won a Silver WOMMY in the Engagement category for 2009.
Introducing a car into the Canadian market in the throes of a recession is gutsy. If that car is futuristic and literally named Cube, it seems downright mad. Nissan and Capital C were undeterred when they figured an unconventional car needed an unconventional entrance into the Canadian market.
You + Car = Brand
Nissan wanted to reach the Urban Gen Y audience, the most likely group to appreciate the small and fun image of the Cube. Traditional advertising was thrown out the window. Instead, Capital C planned to give away 50 Cubes via audition to the most creative people who wanted them. Through street teams, community managers and a lot of social interaction, 7,000 Canadians applied for a chance to audition. From them the top 500 were selected to compete by uploading any and all forms of content to the community page, Hypercube.ca. The best 50 creators were awarded a Nissan Cube.
The Results:
1. The sales goal of 300 cars per month was exceeded by 20 cars.
2. Awareness among Urban Gen Yers rose from 13% to 32%.
3. Over $1 million (USD) in earned media – 30 newspaper articles, 35 blog posts, 5 TV interviews & 3 radio interviews.
4. The community lives on with members contributing content at cubecommunity.ca.
At THIS EVENT (Nov 13th Session), we were given these cool Seth Godin action figures (disclaimer: Seth made us promise to see the humor in it before he actually would allow us to keep “him”).
Inside, is a little purple booklet duly named “The Little Book of Marketing Secrets,” by Seth Godin.
Thought it might be beneficial to share the 12-marketing secrets included (copyright Seth Godin – no date specified, although action figure packaging has copyright date of 2007):
Marketing Secret #1 – Marketing is what happens when you tell a story (a true story, and authentic story) to the right people and the choose to believe it. And then they spread it. If you do it right, people take the actions you are hoping for. Tell the wrong story, you lose. Tell no story, you lose.
Marketing Secret #2 – The best stories don’t tell anything new. They make the audience feel smart and secure by reminding them how right they were in the first place.
Marketing Secret #3 – If you don’t know what to say, don’t say anything. If you don’t have an ad worth reading and acting upon, don’t run it.
Marketing Secret #4 – Anticipated, personal and relevant messages always outperform spam.
Marketing Secret #5 – A message aimed at everyone rarely reaches anyone. Be vivid. Tell a Story. Don’t be bland.
Marketing Secret #6 – The best marketing is a really great product.
Marketing Secret #7 – It’s no longer good enough to be good enough.
Marketing Secret #8 – The only asset you can build online is a permission asset: The privilege of marketing to people who want to be marketed to, of selling to people who want to be sold to.
Marketing Secret #9 – If you’re not remarkable, you’re now invisible.
Marketing Secret #10 – The easiest way to be remarkable is to compromise less, not more.
Marketing Secret #11 – The customer is always right. When the customers isn’t right, they’re not your customer anymore. Fire them.
Marketing Secret #12 – Would you put your name on it? If you wouldn’t, don’t do it, because your name IS on it.
Check this out…
“We don’t have exact numbers for you, but for a large percentage of soccer fans, beer is an essential part of the game experience. Preferably cold beer. Which is why Dutch brewer Grolsch is stepping in to lend a hand to anyone whose fridge breaks down during this year’s World Cup.
Customers can call the Koelkast Hulplijn (fridge hotline) and Grolsch will deliver a loaner fridge to tide them over. It’s a fun example of the trend our sister site dubbed brand butlers—brands finding new ways to serve customers, usually free of charge and not directly related to sales. We’re just slightly disappointed by the campaign’s fine print: loaners were only made available to the first 40 people to call before June 19th (the World Cup runs from June 11th through July 11th). Something to keep in mind if you’re planning a brand butler campaign of your own: unnecessarily strict limitations won’t do your generosity justice ;-)”
Doubtful many fridges went out at all. However, by focusing on said Talker group, Grolsch rallied their fans big time, and you KNOW they all told their friends.
Solid stuff. Can you throw some similar spaghetti?
[original article here]
[Grolsch story picked up from Damn I Wish]
Word-of-Mouth Marketing is what can be called the “sales function” of marketing. This quick video with Seth Godin explains exactly why that’s so; and it’s great validation for many of the sales people attending Supergenius, on July 20th!
[WOMM = Word-of-Mouth Marketing]
We’ve received e-mails (and questions via a regional trade show) this week about our passion for WOMM, where it came from, and why… I think it’s best described via Andy Sernovitz’s “WOMM Manifesto” below:
Sign up to the right for the book, we’ll send you a copy… and on top of that, after you read the book, we’ll sponsor ($$) a cool WOMM idea for your LYard!
[a real life WOMM submission by Carl]
Last week I sat down for dinner (ok, maybe it was lunch) at a favorite spot of mine – the Issaquah Brewhouse in Issaquah, WA. It is owned by Rogue Beers and Spirits out of Newport, Oregon. I’ve been a fan of theirs for years, and know that when I’m in one of their pubs or drinking their beer, it’s going to be a good experience.
With my expectations pretty high going in, it would have been difficult to exceed them. They did, but in a remarkable way.
Immediately upon sitting down I was given a 3oz taster of a new beer and this letter:
Here’s the important part – the handwritten note, and the story connecting the taste experience with the manufacturing and the craftsman who made it:
The beer was good! So was the bowl of chili and salad. I gave a silent toast to the beer makers I just read about and their commitment to their craft.
Rogue is an incredibly strong brand in the Pacific Northwest and growing nationally. In fact, it was started by a former Nike marketing guy who wanted to combine 2 passions in his life, but all along has been focused growing the brand. Here’s an excellent blog on Rogue you might find interesting discussing its branding.
http://beervana.blogspot.com/2010/01/brand-dissection-rogue-ales.html
Here’s a challenge: incorporate this idea of sending unexpected samples with hand-written notes into your sales day, and let us know your results!
Today, The Empty Bin dot com launched The Dons of WOMM.
“…a PRIVATE & confidential, informal community of proactive and creative like-minded Pro Lumberyards who believe that word-of-mouth marketing and sales excellence will lead to healthy, sustainable revenue!”
The Dons of WOMM are about throwing some spaghetti against the wall, and seeing what sticks! Try some WOMM!
The staff at TEB look forward to collaborating online with the Dons of WOMM Founding Members…
…there’s a contract out on your ideas!
THE EMPTY BIN 