As the owner of a branding and web design firm, I admire creativity in many forms. As a marketing strategist, I believe that we can use creativity to build relationships with people. We can spread our philosophies, ideas, and values through effective and creative campaigns.

Creative campaigns can be expensive or inexpensive. They can be initiated by a corporation, a non-profit, the government, a group, or an individual. The most memorable campaigns are not the most complex. Instead, they rely on a powerful concept and the ability to evoke some sort of emotion in the recipient of the message.

I was sent an e-mail today from my friend, Jeff Pevar, featuring a video/audio that is currently being downloaded on YouTube. I think it fits all of the factors I mentioned above. It is powerful, evocative, and imaginative…in fact, it’s called “Imagine This.”

This video is a creative collaboration between Tom Compagnoni of Wax Audio in Sydney, Australia and John Callaghan of Cal-TV in Dublin, UK.

From the Cal-TV site:

In early 2006 he [John Callaghan] created a video piece called “Imagine This”, a cut-up of GW Bush singing the John Lennon classic “Imagine.” This made front page news in the European daily newspapers El Pais and Il Corriere, and was shown to over 9 Million people on the Canadian TV show “The Hour.” The piece has also been shown was at film festivals across Europe.

“Imagine This” was just awarded the “Special Mention” award in the “Best Irish Short Category” at the Cork Film Festival. It was also used to open the festival and was screened before “Death of a President.”

From the Wax Audio site:

Wax Audio was born from the desire to squeeze back into the ether elements of absorbed mass-media, captured, transfigured and promulgated with hardware & software specifically designed to aid this practice, yet ironically made available with the legal obligation not to do so. (OK, coz it’s funny hearing George W Bush, Tony Blair, and John Howard rapping in unison about how they’re gonna find stockpiles of WMDs in Iraq when in fact they didn’t. Hardy har har…)

Each piece represents a regurgitated manifestation of captured sounds (synchronously re-contextualised during their digestion phase in the belly of the Wax Audio hard-drive) mixed with recycled beats, original samples and a wealth of material taken from the digitized multi-track tapes of previously recorded works.

Click here to watch this amazing and creative idea campaign. {Please note: the audio has swearing and the video has pictures of war victims in it}.

I would love to hear your feedback on this collaborative effort.

Hugs and success,

Wendy Maynard
Your friendly marketing maven

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Positioning yourself in a niche is powerful.

It is a strategic process to match your expertise and passions with the people you are targeting. And it sets you apart. You are competing with a lot of noise in the marketplace to get your potential customers’ attention – and their business. If you can stand out with a unique benefit (your niche specialization), you are a lot more likely to get noticed because you are unique from your competition.

One way to define your niche is to evaluate your current customers. What group are you serving right now? What do they find unique and valuable about your company? If you don’t know – ask them. It is important to understand your services from the customers’ point of view. You can also use Survey Monkey to send on online survey to them.

As you examine your current customer base, you may be surprised to find you have already carved out a niche. If you haven’t, choose an area of focus in which you are passionate and have some knowledge. After all, if you don’t enjoy working with your customers, why bother? It also makes it easier if you pick a niche you already know well or one that will be fun for you to learn EVERYTHING about.

I can hear you protesting, “But I’m good at a bunch of things. Do I really have to choose?” The Marketing Maven answer: “Yes! You have to choose if you want to make more money, work less, and make your business life easier.”

Let’s look at how this might work…

Jane the new attorney decides to position herself in a niche. She narrows her area of law expertise to Estate Planning. But Jane wants to go big, so she narrows her niche even more to Estate Planning for Doctors in Seattle. Ahhh…now we’re talking. Jane can begin to advertise her services very precisely.

Instead of just being that new lawyer in town, Jane positions herself as THE attorney to go to if you are a Seattle physician who needs to get their estate planning in order. You think she starts to get known well? You bet she does! And guess what else? The longer she serves this clientele, the more her name gets known and the more of an expert she becomes.

Dr. Joe says to Dr. Maria, “Hey, I just got finished with Jane tidying up my trusts and working on such and such. Oh…you need to do some revisions, too? Well, Jane works exclusively with the medical industry. She understands us and she knows what we need. Here’s Jane’s number - you should definitely call her.”

Are you seeing how this works? No physician worth their salt would DARE go to any other attorney for estate planning. Jane has to hire two paralegals to serve all the business that is coming to her now.

Most successful self-employed individuals offer a highly specialized product or service to a particular niche that few others are adequately serving. Instead of offering generalized management consulting, you can choose to consult to the hotel industry on staffing issues. Instead of being a public relations consultant, you can offer public relations consulting to the California wine industry. Instead of just being a photographer, be one that specializes in portraits of infants and toddlers.

By choosing a precise niche, your prospects and sources of referrals understand precisely what it is that you offer. Your services are clear and precise. The narrower your niche, the easier it is for clients, prospects and referrers to remember what you do. And, the simpler it becomes for you to become the expert at what you do.

Additionally, the narrower you make your niche, the simpler your marketing program will be. You know where they congegrate, the associations they are part of, the publications they read, and what they struggle with. Once you become clear and become an expert at your specialty, there really is no limit to your business growth (and the amount you can charge for your expertise).

Hugs and success, Wendy Maynard
Your friendly marketing maven

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What is the best way to attract a new group to your hotel? Market to them, silly. Develop a niche that caters to your target audience.

The UK’s Alton Towers has done just that with it’s Sleepover Suite: the ultimate girls’ night in. Their advertisement reads:

Whether it’s for a birthday party, a hen night, or just a catch up with old friends, a stay in the Sleepover Suite means an evening of deluxe, uninterrupted fun.

The prettily pink suite has been sound proofed, for wild abandonment that won’t wake the neighbors. It also includes wall-to-wall theatrical mirrored dressing tables, complete with luxurious pampering products…the walk-in shower room is like having your own spa – it’s a totally multi-sensory experience, with its multi-jet shower and en suite music.

It’s divided into two – an area for partying and a section for sleeping. The party room features the latest home entertainment system, a plasma TV, Sony Playstation, and a mini dance-floor and karaoke area. You will also be able to have your very own movie marathon, as the room includes a selection of classic chick flicks. The second half of the suite is set up for cosy pyjama-clad gossiping, thanks to six cleverly-designed Chill-Out™ beds.

The Alton Towers has other themed suites such as Arabian Nights, Chocolate Suites, and the Peter Rabbit Burrow. And you can go online to get a virtual tour of each room.

Girls? Wanna join me for a sleepover party?

Hugs, Wendy Maynard
Your friendly marketing maven

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What do you do if you want to market your hugs? Easy…it’s back to basics of supply and demand. Simply hold up a sign letting people know what you are offering. The ones who want it will let you know.

Yeah, well what if the cops are opposed to your marketing your hugs because you might hurt someone? Then you fight back by asking the people you hugged (all 10,000 of them) to sign your petition.

This story of hugging takes place in Sydney, Australia.

Here is the commentary:

“Sometimes, a hug is all what we need. Free hugs is a real life controversial story of Juan Mann, a man whose sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives.

In this age of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal.

As this symbol of human hope spread accross the city, police and officials ordered the Free Hugs campaign BANNED. What we then witness is the true spirit of humanity come together in what can only be described as awe inspiring.“

A member of the Australian band, Sick Puppies, took video clips of Juan’s story that he filmed last year. He combined them with one of his band’s songs to create a video intended to make his grandfather smile. It worked so well, the band put the clip on YouTube to cheer up more people.

And, some fantastic things happened…

In six days, one million people have watched the YouTube clip, people are organizing their own Free Hug campaigns in malls all over, and Good Morning America featured both Sick Puppies and Juan the Hugger on the show.

Watch the story of the Free Hugs campaign here.

Here is the local commentary on a Sydney news station. And one other story of Juan the hugger on another Australian news program.

Hugs to you, Wendy Maynard
Your friendly marketing maven

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Why do you hand out business cards? Because you hope that your prospect will hang on to it and eventually contact you to purchase your product or service. It reinforces your professionalism and presents your prospect with your contact data in an easy-to-store format.

But wouldn’t it be nice if your business card did more than that? Wouldn’t it be great if it gave prospects specific information about what you do? Instead of a boring business card that simply includes your basic contact information, create a remarkable business card that moves people to take action.

A remarkable business card acts a tiny salesperson for you. It can also be a great resource for referrers and Centers of Influence.

My business card provides all of my basic information, but it includes a lot more. I have my photograph on the front of my card because I want to start building relationships with prospects immediately. A photo is a great way to help people feel like they know you better.

On the back, I have created a series of pull marketing questions. The headline identifies my target audience and asks readers a series of questions. It reads:

Are you an entrepreneur who is…

• struggling to attract a steady stream of clients?
• working too hard to generate new leads?
• ready to make LOTS more money with less effort?

Then, Remarkable Marketing is for you!

Visit www.GoMarketingMaven.com for more info and to sign up for Wendy’s free ezine.

I’ve identified problems that my clients typically struggle with. I introduce them to my program as the solution. My call to action is to get them to go to my website (where they can find a lot more information) and sign up for my ezine.

Because I give a lot more information on my website and in my ezine, I am not trying to sell them anything via my business card. Instead, I am working to get them to take a step toward a relationship with me. Once they sign up for my ezine, they will learn more about me, my personality, the way I approach marketing, and programs and products that I offer.

How can you change your business card to make it remarkable? What will you include on it?

Hugs and success,

Wendy Maynard
Your friendly marketing maven

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