"WHY AREN'T WE DOING THIS?"

Some years back, I had a client who would always have a folder for me – stuffed with papers – each time I came to his office.

Invariably, the papers were marketing or PR campaigns done by other companies. And on every one of them were the scribbled words: “Why aren’t we doing this?”

Several times, I tried to explain to him that there were numerous reasons we weren’t doing this…among them:

* Just because that particular medium or campaign was appropriate for some other companies, didn’t necessarily mean it was appropriate for his company.

* Because the way you distinguish yourself – in both PR and marketing – is not to do what everyone else is doing. Quite often, I’ve found, it’s to do the opposite of what everyone else is doing.

* Because if you echo the same line as everyone else, your own voice will get lost in the crowd.

* Because you have to develop – and continually reinforce – your own specific message, and your own USP.

* And, lastly, because I – the expert whom you hired as your PR counsel – didn’t believe those particular media or strategies were best for your company.

I found it offensive to be asked, “Why aren’t we doing this?”

I tried explaining it to him on two or three different occasions. And then, rather than explain any more, I fired him. My explanation was simple: I only worked with clients who wanted original thinking, rather than just to follow the crowd.

That was about eleven years ago. And, recently, I fired another client who asked the same question. My reasoning was a bit different this time, though.

He would send me e-mails almost every day – sometimes several a day – with info about some company or campaign, and then the question: “Why aren’t we doing this?”

So – in the spirit of experimentation, and keeping an open mind – I started doing this, in addition to implementing the strategies that I had first proposed (and that he had agreed on).

Lo and behold, after about a month, he asked why his invoices were so high. I explained to him that, in addition to the strategies he and I had originally agreed upon, he was always asking me to pursue this. And that, as a professional with over twenty years of successful public relations experience…I actually expected to be paid for the work I did.

He grumbled a sort-of acceptance. Then, a week later, he e-mailed me that, unless we could lower his costs, he might not be able to afford PR counsel any more. So I e-mailed him back – “You’re fired!”

Simply put, the money wasn’t worth the aggravation.

My moral of the story(ies)?

Beware any client who says “Why aren’t we doing this?”

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
(954) 575-4089
www.winstoncommunications.com
steve@winstoncommunications.com

HIGH NOON FOR GM?

As Yogi Berra once said, "It's déjà vu all over again."

So GM is now coming out with a new marketing campaign – again. This time, under certain conditions, they’ll take your car back within sixty days if you’re not satisfied. And it’s actually not a bad idea.

But I’m not sure it’s enough, by itself, to get enough people into the showrooms…enough people to save GM, anyway. It has to be part of a larger thrust. People have to want GM cars first.

Several years ago, I was sitting in a meeting with top executives of a major-league sports team that had been losing for a long time, and had been having trouble drawing decent crowds. I watched with a sense of bemusement as they animatedly debated - and kept asking my opinion about - which "marketing" approach would fill their seats, which "promotions" would work, which "message" would work, etc.

After watching for a few minutes, I finally said, "Guys, this is all ##!**&&*!!! It's not marketing or promotions or giveaways that put fannies in the seats. It's a winning team! Instead of wasting all this money on marketing schemes, go out and get yourself some good players! And you'll be amazed at how quickly the seats fill up!"

Moral of the story? The "New GM" marketing "strategies" will no doubt be slick, and somewhat emotional. But they will fail again, unless the "New GM" executives teach themselves this mantra: IT’S NOT ABOUT THE PROMOTIONS. IT'S ABOUT THE PRODUCT!

When I was a young guy, in the seventies, my pride and joy was the Chevy Camaro convertible in which I drove around town…green, with the black that I had painted on top of the hood and on the rear end. Man, that was one cool car! (Didn’t hurt with the teenaged girls, either!)

Now GM has brought back the Camaro. I’ve seen a couple. And they’re gorgeous! Sleek and mean, like the seventies models, with a big front hood and grill that scream “Don’t mess with me, sucker!”

There’s only one problem that I can see. In an era when gas has been over $4 a gallon, and when increasing numbers of people are going “hybrid,” this is a muscle car. Let’s face it – If you’re going to bring back the Camaro, it should be as a muscle car. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t have an engine available for those of us who want the looks of a muscle car, without the gas bills. All Camaro models – even the six-cylinder – get 16-17 mpg around town. To be fair, the highway mpg figures are in the mid-twenties; most of us, however, spend more time tooling around town than we do on the highway.

Note to the "New GM:" Ads and promotions are not going to buy you a hell of a lot of time, especially considering the cynicism of the American public when it comes to your cars and your management. Instead, realize that, for most of us, the real showroom is on the road, not in your dealerships. Realize that your best marketing tools are the cars you build…not the promotions you build around them. Build more cars that make us turn our heads as they pass by (as the Camaro does). Build cars – even “muscle cars” – that get better mileage. And build cars that will last as long – and as reliably - as Toyotas and Hondas.

Then we'll buy them.

And then you'll have "fannies in the seats!"

Steve Winston
President, WINSTON COMMUNICATIONS
(954) 575-4089
steve@winstoncommunications.com
www.winstoncommunications.com