Marketing

SUPER BOWL...EVERY DAY

by Roy MacNaughton

Once again, it’s that Super Bowl time of year! Time for all the various Super Bowl promotions, contests, chances to win, special dinners, meals, coupons, combinations with entertainment facilities, movies, DVD’s, video games and any number of assorted ways to entice the public into your food service establishment or lodging facility.

This year you might want to think a bit more about the focus you will need to be successful in terms of what specific methods you employ to get those buyers into your place of business. Focus is truly important. Focus is of ultimate importance in football, hockey and baseball for that matter.

There once was a small, wiry baseball player named Wee Willy Keeler in the early part of the last century who was famous for hitting singles almost every time he came up to the plate. My good friend, author, tourism marketer and journalist, Len Hansen, of Bellingham, Washington, (www.lenhansen.com), who is an authority on such matters, told me: “ Willy couldn't hit home runs...while, in contrast, the contemporaries Babe Ruth and such, were slugging four baggers while, at the same time, averaging under .300...while Willie, by choking up on the bat and "hitting it where they ain't" was punching singles. And, if he was on first, he was quickly on second and third, and then scored when a long ball hitter would hit a sacrifice fly. His teams won ballgames, and Willie batting and on-base records.

How did he do it? When asked by the media how he always seemed to get a hit, his answer always was a variation of: “I hit ‘em where they ain’t!” Which is another way of saying: “I hit them where I have made observations and a conscious decision to put the ball to the best of my batting ability…or something like that.” In other words, he aimed for where he wanted the ball to go, not to where he thought he could hit it.

One of the biggest reasons we marketers often fail in our grand plans and schemes is that we fail to have the concrete discipline to achieve the desired results we need, particularly because we do a lousy job of defining what those results should be in real terms. Often we focus too much time on the actual tasks that need to be done and not enough on the results and what they should look like. Author, Sergio Zyman, ex chief marketing honcho at Coke says: “In the future, marketers are going to have to do a much better job of what I call destination planning. And their bosses will have to demand that they provide a clear and objective result for the effort and money that gets allocated to them. Put another way: if you want to be successful, then you must clearly define, in detail, what success looks like. Then you’ve got to figure out how to get there.”

Now the reason for stressing this point, particularly this month, is that with all the money that will be spent on marketing, advertising and food service promotions, it makes sense to know two important things up front: (1) what does the expected success of your proposed promotion look like? And (2) what are you going to focus on in order to achieve this success? I prefer answering the second question first, since the answer to it leads automatically and logically to the first.

The answer here is deceptive.

It is the need to focus on the ultimate customer, not the “game”.

Sure the Super Bowl is what garners everyone’s attention. It is the focal point of all the hoopla and goings on. But it is merely the “vehicle” by which you reach, inform, motivate and persuade your potential customer to patronize your food service outlet or lodging facility. The Super Bowl is the method to get that consideration. It is the “context” in which you get the attention, scrutiny and action you desire.

It’s simple really. All you need to do is focus like a laser beam on the customer. Now how many times have you heard that? Thousands of times you’ve heard it; but have you really done it that way? Or did you get just a little off target in the heat of the battle or the excitement of the promotion—especially if it was the Super Bowl?

The American Marketing Association has recently changed its definition of “marketing.”

No major changes have been made in nearly twenty years, but in that time so much has happened in the world of marketing, including the advent of the Internet, that it has literally forced those in the marketing business to re-visit what marketing is all about and to re-write it. This is not a small or academic thing. It is a new acceptance of the spirit and intent of marketing being about increasing customer value. It confirms for all to see the move away from clever branding and marketer-centered tactics to a proper alignment surrounding the customer. It places much needed emphasis on the power of building customer relationships, something many of us have been yelling about from the rooftops for a quarter century.

When they began interviewing a young upstart Internet entrepreneur, Jeff Bezos, who had founded a new firm to sell books online, Amazon.com, he stressed over and over again that he was more interested in building what he called “a customer-centric” company, than worrying about whether or not he made an immediate profit each quarter. That was the single driving force behind the moves made by Amazon. We see the results today. He knew that customer value is what drives the marketplace; and he knew in particular that the Internet would finally make the customer King. With so many different choices and only so much money to go around, the customer now has the power to make or break any company that doesn’t meet his needs. This has never been more true than with restaurants and lodging establishments.

The AMA definition of marketing, in place since 1985, was: “marketing is the process of planning and executing conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of goods, ideas and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals.”

What about the customer? The new definition of marketing is: “Marketing is an organization function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.” Take note of the difference here. The philosophy has changed from what marketers do--‘performing’ marketing tasks--to the marketers’ new job, creating and delivering value to the customer and then continuing to build and sustain positive customer relationships over time. The implications are clear here. If you deliver value to the customer and maintain a great relationship with him over the long run, you will benefit and so will your stakeholders.

The new definition is no longer centered on the ‘transactions only’ side of marketing or the brand itself. Marketing seemed to get a little ‘brand-crazy’ these last few years. Practitioners got all caught up in the value of the brand, and what they had to do to build the brand. One can plan, create and communicate a brand all they want, but if you don’t deliver value to the person who is buying the product, idea or service, the value of the brand is irrelevant.

The power in the sales equation has shifted from the sellers to the buyers. Marketers now must be asking themselves first: “what are my customers thinking about my product or service? Are they getting what they perceive to be value for their money? If they do believe they are receiving value, will they come back and purchase again? If not, what do I have to do to ensure that they will return?

It’s not that these kinds of questions were never asked in the past. They were, but maybe not up front, first, as the premier concern. Getting the brand right and the other facets of the marketing plan in order were seemingly more important. Now, with this new definition and industry move toward the “customer as King”, and constantly managing customer relationships, we should see some real ‘hot-stepping it’ in the marketplace. Experts say we will also see greater allocations of marketing dollars towards relevant interactions that provide value to the consumer. Many have said that this definition change is a reflection of what is occurring naturally. We can only hope so.

So this year, don’t get all caught up in the football “game”. Realize what the game is and what you have to do to be successful. The game is the “raison d’etre” (the reason for being); the reason for having them come to your place of business. Once you get them there, it’s up to you—and you alone—to ensure that they get what they deserve and expect, so they will want to come around again and again, even if you are not offering a big party or celebrating an event like the Super Bowl. You need to provide them with a “Super Bowl experience” every time they visit you. Then it will be your Super Bowl all year ‘round.