Gail Keith Marketing Strategies

Sleeping with Elephant

In two years of being in business and twenty plus years in marketing – I have worked with more graphic designers than I care to count. There are those who are production designers, you have to spoon feed them every detail; they have no skill in the collaborative process. Some are talented and creative, but can’t hit a deadline to save their own life. While others have talent, hustle for deadlines but charge as if they were Picasso. And God forbid, you get mixed up with one that has some strange combination of the above afflictions . . . you might as well buy stock in Maalox to make it through the process.

The thing is, every one of the above named designer disasters has an impressive portfolio, award winning work and even client references. However, in my line of work finding out you are in bed with the wrong talent is as regretful as . . . well, finding out you are in bed with the wrong talent.

After much searching and many “by the skin of our teeth successes” in the area of collateral design for our clients, we finally found a talent rich design firm, committed to meeting deadlines with a fee structure appropriate for various clients types. And if all that wasn’t enough they smell good and occasionally, pick up the tab at happy hour too.

Danny Fausto and Perry Crider of Elephant – Design + Advertising, left an entertainment design gig in LA and came to Phoenix with one objective in mind: take over the town.

I met Danny at a Chamber event and within a couple of weeks we had three major client projects in their lap. One of the projects was already 8 weeks behind after another design firm dropped the ball. Within one week of working with Elephant, the project was back on schedule and we were back in our client’s good graces.

The “LA Boys” as we have come to call them, are the classic LA triple threat. Instead of singing, dancing and acting our “LA Boys” run circles around the average firm with Graphic Design, Web Development, and Print Solutions and as a bonus, Photography is also in their talent pool.

Next time you see me or Nicole, you will notice the glow of satisfaction and it’s because we are finally in bed with the right team . . . Elephant.

Charisma isn't just for evangelists

The most overlooked marketing asset you have . . .

While I am proud to have developed several well deserving pet peeves in my 40 years, few boggle my mind as much as a business owner who doesn’t make the effort to present themselves with enthusiasm, professionalism and even charisma.

My friend, Hilari Weinstein, was recently interview by Channel 5 for her Charisma Clinic and how it impacted one young women’s quest for the Rotary International Scholarship.

Click here to check it out

How do YOU know you are at your best when on a sales call or making the big presentation? Check out the Charisma Clinic.

Tell Hilari, Gail sent ya . . .

Hi my name is Gail, and I am a You Tube Addict.

It was 1997 when we had our first home computer. In the beginning, I would unplug the phone and plug in the computer, go to the bathroom, get a drink, tuck in the kids, change my clothes and it was usually about that time I would hear a sound which became music to my ears – the connection tone and the voice of America On Line – “You Got Mail.” Thus, began a relationship with my computer which would quickly turn into a full on dependency.

With in a few weeks, I discovered chatting and made friends around the world. And I admit it, I also discovered free porn –I surfed with one hand over my mouth checking out “preferences” I never even knew existed. After all, porn was not accessible to girls growing up in Scottsdale, the internet certainly changed that for all of us. I also quickly realized the potential dangers and influences which awaited my children who were technically savvy at a young age and wanted to use the computer constantly.

For a period of a year or so, I was always in front of the computer – I lost entire days to chatting, surfing, playing with my profiles. I found myself only going to bed at night when my eyes were completely glazed over and my neck was so stiff good posture was painful.

In the following years, my career changed and my computer became a work tool. It was no longer the source of social entertainment which supported my first addiction. I had grown tired of my computer. Even as screens became flatter, connections became faster and the internet became vast . . . the computer was a place for work and aside for the occasional joke email – I had long since stopped turning to my computer for entertainment.

Now, ten years after my last computer related addiction, I discovered a wonderful thing called You Tube! I spent three hours the other night looking up musical artists, trying to find someone who wasn’t represented on You Tube. From vintage Johnny Cash, to concert footage of Cheap Trick to classsic Molly Hatchet. I found it all on You Tube. I found the best clips from my favorite comedians, witty videos from college students, hysterical Super Bowl commercials, dogs that talk, babies that laugh and sad, sad individuals who feel bad for Brittany Spears. (warning, don't watch this one unless you have a barf bag near by.)

On You Tube, there are very few advertisements plus usage and registration is free. I quickly began to wonder, “How the hell do they make money?”

Well, as it turns out, You Tube doesn’t make money; in fact it is loosing about a $500,000 per month and is in serious danger of being squashed or running bankrupt. Plus, it seems that You Tube is facing a potential landside of copywrite violations and law suits.

All I can say, is “say it isn’t so” . . .I don’t want to see You Tube as nothing more than a flash in the pan of pop culture – I want to watch it from my comfy chair on my plasma TV. I need more time before the legal system punctures as hole in my You Tube.

I suspect I am not the only You Tube addict around. And maybe addict is too strong of a word. Just because I watch You Tube alone, think about it during the day, it’s the first thing I watch in the morning and the last thing I watch at night – doesn’t really equal an additiction, right? Let’s just call it a hobby. I mean, its not like I talk about You Tube when I am out doing business (Ok, actually I do that sometimes).

So . . . follow this link to one of my all time favorite You Tube videos – if you are the sensitive type – don’t go here. If you are easily amused, register to view this video, I promise it will crack you up.

What’s your favorite You Tube clip - comment directly on my blog.

PS - Warning some the links contain rated R language. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Mile High Club

After years of flying while in the corporate world, the novelty of traveling in coach wore off long before the new security procedures or escorting women off flights for dressing too provocatively was common place. (Don’t get me started on how stupid that is.)

However, I did find my last flight to and from Reno to be rather amusing. It used to be the only advertising found on a plane was in the magazines in your seat back. The likes of Ford and Verizon clearly needed something with a “no way to not see this appeal,” and thus the following items now have advertisements on them:

The bins at security – you know the ones where you put your shoes, belts, jackets, purses, baggies of gels and turned off cell phones and lap tops just before the cavity search – well, those bins now have ads in the bottom!

The mini table attached to the seat in front of each passenger now has an advertisement on it. However, the airline marketing team missed opportunity – they should have also sold underside of the tray table for advertising as well, so an ad is visible during take off and landing. Hummm, I wonder how I could get a piece of that action?

On the return flight we were graced with a video trivia game – guess what? One trivia question and one ad the entire flight, is US Airways selling trivia question sponsorship packages?

What’s next – the front of the overhead baggage compartments making flying feel even more like riding on a city bus or subway?

The latest reports say we as consumers see some 3,000 advertising images everyday. Let me say that again, 3,000 images a day! That means if the average person blinks about 10,000 times per 15 hour day while awake, we are seeing an advertising message about every third blink, and lord knows how many images have traveled into our subconscious and become part of our dreams. Wow! And people wonder why advertising is so expensive – the image has to be locked in with a blink of an eye.

How I long to witness an old fashioned snake oil salesman pitching a product with nothing more than his creativity and charisma!

Have you seen advertising in unusual places? Tell us about it by commenting directly on my blog.

Jesus and Marketing

Tonight, I had the privilege of attending the movie premier of –

Jesus: The Lost Years
A documentary by Paul Perry.

Paul happens to be a friend of a friend and thus, I was able to enjoy the movie and after party on a highly sought after VIP ticket.

This movie follows the trail of the Holy Family through Egypt when Mary and Joseph fled Israel to protect the young Jesus from the death sentence issued by Herod. The documentary is filled with location after location along the Nile and the deserts of Egypt where Jesus passed or stayed during his early childhood.

Most of us have been taught the Holy Land is in Israel or more specifically Jerusalem, so that begs the question:

How come Western Christians are basically unaware there is Holy Ground in Egypt?

During the question and answer session following the movie, Paul Perry gave an answer to that question I was not expecting to hear, Paul said –

“throughout history Israel has been better at marketing their connection to Jesus then Egypt.”

Hummm- Israel has been better at marketing . . . I had to chuckle. I never expected to hear the words Israel and marketing in the same sentence.

Plus, it left me thinking, could it be that early Christians pioneered marketing and not P.T Barnum?

Flying Lizards

A few days ago, I went to lunch with one of my favorite clients, Matt Allen, the owner of Virginia Auto Service in Central Phoenix. As we drove west on McDowell, approaching the ever trendy My Florist Café, we spot a plane circling the downtown area with a banner flying behind it.

Before I could even identify what the banner said - I was in my “that is the stupidest marketing I have ever seen” mode. After all, who would use aerial advertising over a city where the view is obstructed by buildings, its so damn hot, looking to the sky feels like gazing into the mouth of a dragon and few people go to the streets on foot in search of lunch time nourishment?

But alas, my question would be answered . . . the white banner was emblazoned with the familiar green lizard and turned out to be none other than my favorite marketing machine, GEIKO.

GEIKO, the powerhouse that dominates the internet, TV and Radio with their gecko logic, caveman humor and B-list celebrity endorsements was using old school aerial adverting and doing it badly. How could this be?

My head was swimming to rationalize what I was witnessing; they must have had a few hundred bucks left in the marketing budget for the month which had to be burned up in order to qualify for more funding next quarter. Or maybe they allowed a rookie metro sexual marketing intern named Dakota make a few decisions in order to keep him from whining about not being taken seriously. Maybe the pilot was the nephew of an executive who needed to impress his wife after firing her brother from the mail room.

It had to be something - surely no seasoned marketing pro with an ounce of responsibility would allow such a marketing blunder to happen.

If only I could be a fly on the wall at the GEIKO office to demystify my burning questions about this tactical waste of money. But if I were a fly - I suppose that Australian accented gecko would break from leading the intense departmental meeting to eat me.

Warren Buffet Wears Caveman Skins

When it comes to marketing, did you ever wonder who are the country’s biggest spenders and advocates? At the top of the list is the master investor himself, Warren Buffet. (No relation to Jimmy Buffet, of course, but we toast Warren with a margarita just the same.)

In fact, Buffet stated in a recent article that he "loves spending money on marketing!" ("Loves spending money on marketing it’s almost too much for a girl to handle - excuse me while I fan my face.)

In 1995, Buffet’s investment company, Berkshire Hathaway made a generous bid for the remaining shares of GEICO’s outstanding stock. By 1996, GEICO was a subsidiary of one of the most profitable organizations in the country and now had the enthusiasm and budget of Warren Buffet to create a new image in the new millennium.

Buffet pushed the marketing and GEICO’s ads and direct mail pieces flooded the airwaves, filled mailboxes around the country and the company’s growth shot upward. The GEICO Gecko made its first appearance during the 2000 television season and quickly become an advertising icon.

However, it was in 2005 that GEICO hit pay dirt with the caveman commercials. Buffet states when he heard the now famous caveman concept he knew they had a winner. (Prior to this series of commercials, I thought the only caveman who roamed the earth were a couple of ex-boyfriends.)

Think about the simple brilliance of the caveman series. GEICO created controversy, ie: the caveman is offended by being called "stupid" which mirrors our overly politically correct culture and there in lies the heart of why its so frickin’ funny.

When it comes to advertising, humor and controversy work and work well. If you are advertising in print or on TV, do you have a message that is memorable? ie, funny or controversial. If you don’t, you are probably wasting your money.

FREE Gee-Spot Quickie Fact- GEICO was founded in 1930 and originally named Government Employees Insurance Company.

Lawyers and Naked Women

A couple of months ago, I was invited to speak at the Arizona State Bar for a of continuing education event. This most respected speaking engagement was the result of a referral from Chip Lambert of Network2networth.com - a profound speaker and business man with a surly sarcastic edge that qualifies him to be a friend as well as a colleague.

A few weeks before the actual event, our hosts from the State Bar graciously invited the speakers to a private luncheon at the Biltmore Embassy Suites. For this special occasion, I pulled out my best conservative navy suit, wore understated jewelry and wiggled into my trusty Spanx to smooth my middle and lift my ass, in order to feel the utmost professional for a couple of hours of socializing with those who interpret the law for a living.

One of the other speakers and luncheon guests was a polished and confident ethics expert. This expert could recite the ethics with as much passion and conviction as a televangelist quoting scripture to heal the sick and drive donations. In short, she was the attorney's attorney, the go-to person for lawyers with concerns around ethics, conflicts of interest or gray legal matters.

During lunch, our expert was sharing examples of attorney's who operated outside the ethical standards of the industry and thus, found themselves in hot water with the Bar in their respective states. As the details of each story unfolded, we shook our heads as if to say "how foolish, any moron could see that was an ethics violation."

Then our ethics expert graced us with a story of a criminal defense attorney in New York who printed a picture of a naked woman on the back of his business cards. The NY attorney wanted to encourage inmates (ie, his target market) to pass his card around to others who found themselves in the unfortunate position of being incarcerated. Before she could wrap up the story and the rest of us could give the knowing head shake, I was so moved by the creative genius of the NY attorney and blurted out. . ."Oh My God, that is Brilliant!!! "

(Here's a little tip for future reference, if you ever want to score points with an ethics attorney, avoid making any comments to imply you condone nudity as a marketing ploy.)

Despite the looks of disapproval and tension at the table, I stand by my outburst! A naked woman on the back of a criminal defense attorney's card is a brilliant marketing move. It was not so brilliant in terms of ethics or gaining support from peers, but from a pure marketing, how to get attention and how to get people to talk about you - it couldn't have been any better if P.T. Barnum himself created the idea.

I am sure the attorney was fined and/or ordered to cease and desist the distribution of the naked business cards. However, he will be known for years to come as "the attorney who had a naked woman on his business cards." A slap on the wrist for what possibly amounts to years of recognition with his target market . . . not a bad trade if you ask me.

Think about your business, is your target market talking about you and passing your business card around? If the answer is no . . .maybe its time to get naked and stir things up a bit.

Paper Gowns will be Provided

Time and time again I meet business owners with a wicked sense of humor, sarcastic wit and language that could make even a trucker blush. Yet, the small business community is riddled with boring, uncreative, overly politically correct marketing collateral that lacks personality or worse fails to speak to a target market. How could such a contrast exist in a hot bed of creative, forward thinking individuals who have broken free from the shackles of the corporate world to pursue the very essence of the American Dream?

There is a syndrome among small business owners that I like to call "I need to appeal to everyone, not offend anyone syndrome." It’s a debilitating condition which makes business owners believe anyone, everyone and someone might purchase their product or service. As a result, their business image grazes over the heads of the masses and lacks the ingenuity to lock eyes with their ideal client.

You could be suffering from this condition and not even know it. It is highly contagious and those afflicted with the syndrome often validate, speculate and contemplate marketing among themselves without the care of a professional, thus perpetuating the spread of the disorder.

The side effects of the condition are most distressing and include low bank account balances, falsely upbeat business reports along with secret and periodic resume distribution. In extreme conditions, those afflicted with the syndrome often use "budget" as an excuse to refuse help.

Although support groups are available, no medication exists to treat the condition.

There is hope and resources available for those with the courage to seek help. If you or someone you love suffers from this condition, call our help line at 602-799-0662 for your confidential evaluation.

Paper gowns will be provided.

Blogging Virgin

Any excuse to wear white . . .

First times are always fun . . .well, I guess that's not exactly true.  I remember the first time I had to call the IRS and I remember the first time I locked my keys in the car, oh and I can't leave out the first time I spoke publicly with a microphone when I had a cold.  I guess the word fun doesn't always apply to first times.

My first time blogging is definatley an event that will live in my memory right along with the first time someone told me about e-mail, or the first time I saw the internet or the first time I plugged in my very own PC at home.   All exciting milestones but not as a good as a first kiss.

The term "blogging" has been around for a couple of years now.  I knew I needed to blog but just couldn't get my head around it and what I did understand was exactly what I thought, an over simplification of the process. I needed someone to help me with my first time . ..

You must realize that blogging (worthwhile business blogging) is more complicated then simply signing up for a blog on TypePad or other service.  You have to know how to generate conversations, how to allow people to subscribe to your blog, what RSS is  and lets not forget how important Feedburner or Technorati is. 

If any of this is foreign to you, then you need to meet Dave Barnhart of Business Blogging Pros.  Wow!  This guy knows his stuff and got me set up fast! The thing is, Dave knows how to do it right.  If you want to blog about your cats that's one thing, but if you want to blogg to build your business or business relationships, that is an entirely different back end set up.

My recommendation is, stick to what you know - your specific wigit or service and hire a professional to get you going on blogging! I did and I couldn't be happier with my "first time".