Week of May 25, 2009

I know this is going to sound obvious, but has your sales department blitzed the local financial advisors? I don't mean calling on the obvious, traditionally advertising folks. I mean businesses that have never or not recently advertised.

Once again I did the easy old Google search in my town. Wow, what a gold mine. Beyond traditional financial advice, I found financial advice for Moms, financial advice for college students, and even biblical financial advice!

There are endless leads in search engines and even in the -- don't laugh because it's so 80s -- Yellow Pages. Newspapers aren't so good any more because the paper is so thin; the ink leaks through from the other side obliterating phone numbers and addresses.

I know most of you are not corporate guys or owners; neither am I ...never have been. But, today I'd like to show a little love for the corporate folks. You know the old saying, "Do as I say, not as I do." We frequently look at some of the directives from corporate and wonder how they can say what they are saying. They've got to know how downright ignorant it is, but then we realize they've either never walked in our shoes or haven't done so in a very long time.

Let me suggest that we've either never walked in their shoes or haven't done so in a very long time. These are tough times and difficult decisions are being made daily. Try to understand the reasons for some of the decisions and directives from your bosses. If you do, maybe karma will get you and your staff will understand some of your difficult decisions.

General George Patton, Jr., one of the greatest American generals from WWII, has some of the greatest quotes of all time -- and I thought you'd like to see a few that apply today as well as they did over 60 years ago.

1. "If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking."
2. "Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory."
3. Every manager should take this one to heart and REALLY practice it: "Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."
4. "Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom."
5. And my personal favorite: "The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other b------ die for his."

So this year:

1. Never quit thinking and creating with your staff. They have great ideas. Your job is to open the door and let those ideas flow. Your job is not to make them think just like you.
2. Know that in the end, the rush of winning is indescribable.
3. Make sure your staff knows where they need to be and watch where they take you.
4. Make these tough times the bottom and bounce as high as possible
5. Don't say you are doing your best and accept mediocrity. Make the competition accept mediocrity.

Value is an interesting concept, one that your advertisers can use to their advantage if they understand what their clients perceive as value. An interesting thing has happened in the perceived values of Apple and Microsoft-based PCs. Apple had a higher perceived value among 18-34 year-olds than the PC, according to research by Brandindex until March. What was different that might have caused this? It appears to be the Microsoft "Laptop Hunters" advertising campaign in which 18-34 year-olds were sent out to find everything they wanted in a PC for less than $1,000. And the winner was, you guessed it ... MICROSOFT.

So while smooth, hot-shot Mr. Apple is making nerdy Mr. PC look stupid in Apple's ads, Microsoft sucker-punched Apple with value. You can be certain this won't be the end of the battle. It's going to be interesting to see Apple's next move. How will they convince cash-strapped young people that their products at double the cost have a higher value?

If you can prove your product has more value and gives the consumer what he/she wants, you win every time. If you can help your advertiser show more value for his product you'll be a hero. And while you're at it, show all your advertisers that even though your cost is higher than the competition, so is the value.

There are two types of defining moments we all have periodically in our business life. I call them the "Wow, that was great" moment, and the "Oh no" moment. "Wow, that was great" is self-explanatory. "Oh no" works better with another word replacing "no," but literary decorum doesn't allow me to type the word the FCC doesn't allow. We all love the "great" moments and hope to learn from them, but don't forget to learn from "oh no," too.

The other important thing is that if you have few or no "oh no's," you are not working effectively. I remember back in the '70s when research was just getting started, I was working with one of the radio research pioneers. He researched the station well and strove to remove all the negatives. The station started sounding bland and I told him, "We've created a station that no one doesn't not like." Think about it. Take a few chances and create some bumps in the road to make your station memorable.