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Top of Mind Thursday Memo Archive
Top of Mind Thursday – May 18, 2023: Barking Up the Wrong Tree
My dog needed a refill on one of his prescriptions. How difficult could that be?
For years, we’ve used online pet med companies, like Chewy, who quickly and easily refill pet prescriptions on time and at a reasonable cost.
The problem is our vet has decided they don’t want to take the time and effort to approve online prescriptions. Now you either have to go through their online service (priced at about 25% more than Chewy), or come to the vet, pickup a paper prescription, then physically mail the original prescription to the online provider, who can then fill it and mail the meds back. Or you can get the meds from the vet directly, which is always the most expensive option.
Huh? It should not have been easier for me to fill a prescription for opioid pain killers after my recent knee surgery than to get a refill for doggie-Advil.
In an age when everything is done online–including filling prescriptions for human patients–why have we reverted back a century to doing things the old-fashioned way?
Because the vet is concerned only about their cost of doing business–not about ongoing customer care or providing the best solution for their patients. Why don’t we change vets? Because it’s virtually impossible to get a timely appointment with a new vet, and the current vet isn’t taking new customers–so if you leave, you’re out of luck, therefore you put up with being treated poorly.
Right now, we have a supply constraint–too many pet owners, not enough vets–so the vets can throw customer satisfaction out the window and not worry about it. But that won’t last forever. When conditions change, customers will remember how they were treated, and react accordingly.
Don’t expect us to sit and stay forever when we’ve been relegated to the doghouse. There’s a greener pasture out there somewhere.
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
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Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – May 11, 2023: Whose Ad Was That Anyway?
It happened again tonight. Watching TV, a cute ad came on that seemed to have no relation to any specific product or brand.
This seems to occur more and more frequently. Advertisers choose music or a comic scenario or some kind of theme. That’s all well and good, but when viewers can’t recognize who the advertiser is, the question is why spend the money on marketing?
Not all marketing is designed to sell products. Some spots are designed to build brand awareness or recognition. Some advertising is meant to show brand values–what that brand stands for. Other promotions are meant to make you feel good about a recent purchase–to both build repeat business and encourage referrals to other potential customers.
But none of that can happen when your audience sees your marketing and has no idea who you are or why you’re running with those messages. It’s one thing to disagree with a brand’s messaging. It’s another to not be able to connect the brand to the message they’ve just shown you. Or, worse yet, to connect that message to one of your competitors.
Are your marketing messages resonating with your customers and prospects? Or are you leaving your audience befuddled as to who just spoke to them?
John Wanamaker famously said half his advertising was wasted, but he wasn’t sure what half. If your customers can’t connect you to your message, you might be wasting both halves of your marketing budget.
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
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Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – May 4, 2023: What Happens When You Believe Things Are Real
When my daughter was young, we had a “Magic Closet” where we put candy on Halloween night. In the morning, all that candy magically turned into a non-sugary treat, like a book or toy.
After a number of years, she asked us if the Magic Closet was really magic. So I told her the truth: It’s only real if you believe.
Unfortunately, this is true in other places in our lives. If enough people believe something is real and they act on that, it’s quite likely they can transform that belief into reality.
Take the recent banking liquidity crisis. After Silicon Valley Bank failed, several other banks were in danger of failing, too. First Republic Bank was known for offering outstanding service targeted to more affluent customers. The problem is many of those people have accounts holding more than the FDIC insured limit. When those customers began to fear for the bank’s safety, they pulled their money out, which in turn caused the exact effect they were trying to avoid. This past week, the bank was taken over by JP Morgan Chase.
Here’s the problem. When enough people take action based on fear, they feed that fear, which can spiral into a full-fledged panic. Then we’re all in a worse situation than we had before (Another bank is rumored to be in a similar situation today, so the panic continues.). Add in new AI tools that create content that might, sort of, in a way be real (or not) and that just makes things more complicated.
We can’t manage the actions of the masses, but we can control our own responses. Staying cool and calm in the midst of a potential crisis shows true leadership.
How well prepared are you to face potential crises in your industry? Will you be part of the problem or the solution? Can you separate out the fact from fiction? Or, will you be waiting for magic to come in and save you?
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
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Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – April 27, 2023: Above and Beyond
This week, household retailer Bed, Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy.
This was not unexpected, as the company had been fighting declining sales and limited financing for several years. Less inventory in the stores led to fewer sales, which in turn aggravated the cash flow situation.
This was a chain that for many years had a legion of devoted fans. There was a time when one could find almost any kitchen gadget or bath accessory imaginable at a BBB. There were lists to help college students set up dorm rooms and registries to allow newly-married couples to furnish their new abodes.
But then new management decided to invest in stock buybacks, rather than merchandise, and to eliminate the well-known 20% off coupons shoppers had come to expect. For years, the store had even ignored expiration dates–accepting coupons that were several years out of date.
Was it a good idea to get shoppers hooked on 20% off any item at BBB? Maybe not. But once that pattern was established, eliminating the coupons didn’t win back consumers or increase sales.
Interestingly, several competitors are now accepting BBB coupons (even the expired ones!) in an effort to woo the chain’s shoppers to their own stores. Without BBB in the picture, shoppers will need to make new choices.
Is your business making decisions that will strengthen customer loyalty and drive new buyers to you? Or is a focus on the customer above and beyond your thinking?
Check out our marketing thought leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com