Baby, It’s Cold Outside – Image Marketing Consultants Recommends Ice-Breakers

Snow, winds at 40 miles an hour, and temperatures in the 20s swept into the Northeast Corridor.  Most minds were less on how to celebrate the New Year than on how to get from Point A to Point B without suffering too much.

That sort of frame of mind is a great opportunity for retailers, professional services firms, and nonprofits to “break the ice” with propsective buyers and donors.  And this marketing tactic costs very little.

Just put out a device to dispense warm beverages and maybe some mini treats.  All the better if you bake them yourselves.  Or for that spread you can partner with another organization such as a bakery, car dealer, or public relations firm which wants its brandname out there.   Yes, next to the goodies, there’s a cute sign identifying the warmer-uppers as from X or Y organization.

Warm, no pun intended, hospitality truly does melt the hearts of even cynical buyers.  This tactic is especially effective when they have just endured the brutality of frigid weather.

 

Happy New Year from all of us at Image Marketing Consultants.

“Downton Abbey” – Image Marketing Consultants Advises on Marketing/PR Opportunity

“Downton Abbey” returns to PBS on January 6th.  Americans have fallen in love with this idealized version of the past, ranging from formal dining every evening to cooperative arrangements between the employer and employees.

Clients and prospects ask us at Image Marketing Consultants how they can leverage this amazing bit of pop culture for marketing and public relations.  Well, there are infinite possibilities to capture the good spirit and style of the series and use those to bond with customers and prospects, get the attention of media, and produce engaging material for your own social media.

For example, eating establishments can christen a certain dish or snack after a character in “Downton Abbey.”  A fine chocolate or elegant dessert could be listed as “Mary’s delight.”  In addition, there can be an evening a week designated for serving all the courses the family at the Abbey traditionally eats.  Formal attire required. Invite the media to sample the sweet fare and settle in to an old-fashioned dining experience.  Owners can also promote this special event through their social media.  Have members of staff live blog and tweet, video tape, and take photos. Some of those can be takeaways for guests.

Another approach is to partner with one or more other businesses and nonprofits for a contest to depict in print, digital, video or audio the specialness of “Downton Abbey.”  Through this kind of alliance the prizes can be significant and the media could be attracted to the story. There are also fun ways to play with this meme on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and Google+.

A third suggestion is to declare a “Downton Abbey” day or retreat in the workplace in which management and labor try fresh ways of becoming an authentic team.  That could include guest speakers, panels, and role playing.  Your communications department can generate plenty of internal coverage on this experiment.

Every so often, a bit of pop culture embeds itself into the national consciousness.  That won’t be forever.  Yes, it’s a use it or lose it.

Kate Sirignano, founder of Image Marketing Consultants, invites you to a complimentary consultation about your marketing, partnerships, public relations, special events, and social media kate@imagemarketingconsultants.com, 203-404-4868.

 

 

Holidays 2012: Use the pause to think, advises Image Marketing Consultants

A client told us at Image Marketing Consultants, “Things slow down during the holidays.”  He said it, with an undertow of apology.

After all, the American brand of capitalism is to be always doing, always on the go.  Because of that, too many leaders of organizations don’t approach so-called “slow times” as opportunities to think about emerging opportunities and threats and how to deal with them.

There is an often-repeated anecdote about Bill Gates, current global philanthropist and founder of Microsoft. His mother called down to him when he was in the basement and asked him what he was doing.  He answered, “Thinking.”  She didn’t understand why he would be doing that.  He and his mother had a difficult relationship.

Thinking is not a trait encouraged when we are young, at least not in America.  Yet, it’s frequently exactly what successful people do and a lot of it.  The late Steve Jobs was always connecting the dots in his head, in new ways.  Hillary and Bill Clinton have been able to “think” their way out of crisis.  When he was studying at Oxford, News Corp head Rupert Murdoch learned game theory, that is to plan his moves in context of what he thought his opponents would do.  President Barack Obama, TIME Person of the Year, is sometimes criticized for being in his head so much but, despite the economic problems of his first term, he won a second one.

We at Image Marketing Consultants hope that you will take the time during the next few weeks to reflect on how you could make your organizations more successful.

We invite you to a complimentary consultation about your marketing, partnerships, public relations, special events, and social media.  Please contact Kate Sirignano kate@imagemarketingconsultants.com, 203-404-4868.

Small Business Can Thrive Amidst Big Boxes, Reassures Image Marketing Consultants

Small businesses tend to tremble when they hear the rumor that a big box is moving into their neighborhood. They fear that big box will crush them.

Image Marketing Consultants is not the only one reassuring you that you can survive.  In THE HAMDEN JOURNAL, Christopher LaTorraca wrote the cover story “Local Retailers Compete Against the Box Stores.”

In it LaTorraca explains that the little guy has been thriving by making business personal.  That is, they go the distance in customer service.  That includes knowing their customers so well that they have in their inventory exactly what will be purchased.  There is no need to wait.

Other initiatives which have been effective for clients of Image Marketing Consultants is hosting special events.  Online fatigue has set in and people are again eager to go out, especially if the event is free.  The cheese shop can put on a cooking demonstration of how to make a cheese soup and the clothes retailer can stage a fashion show for one demographic such as women over-50.  In addition, small businesses can partner with each other as well as larger companies to sell products and services they couldn’t manage to do alone.

According to American Express, 100 million will shop at locally owned business.  The challenge is to ensure that your shop will be among them.

Kate Sirignano, founder of Image Marketing Consultants, invites you to a complimentary consultantion on marketing, partnerships, public relations, special events, and social media kate@imagemarketingconsultants.com, 203-404-

Numbers: They Can Provide Tipping Point, Advises Image Marketing Consultants

Anyone who has made a presentation to a board of directors at a corporation, a group of venture capitalists, or security analysts on an earnings conference call knows the importance of numbers.  Although sophisticated professionals understand that numbers can be manipulated, they still demand them – lots of them.

Because of the so-called “creativity” involved in marketing and public relations those heading organizations might have held back on including numbers in messaging.  Mistake.  Numbers seduce.  They are entities which prospects and current customers and clients can put their arms around.  Also, digging them up and putting them out there show you care.

One set of numbers which get more than the average share of attention is this: results from a survey.  For example, an expert on employment law includes in her communications the numbers from ManpowerGroup which found that 86 percent of employees in America plan to look for a job in 2013.  In higher education, Quinnipiac University developed a powerful brandname through its Polling Institute.  And you can also harness this power of the survey.

How to conduct a survey?  You can Do It Yourself (DIY) through a free mechanism such as Survey Monkey.  Or, you can seek out a partner to share the cost and enhance the opportunities for promotion.  You can also use a professional agency such as Image Marketing Consultants.

Kate Sirignano, founder of Image Marketing Consultants, can help you with collecting and presenting the numbers which could be the tipping point in your marketing, public relations, and partnerships.  Contact Kate for a complimentary consultation Kate@imagemarketingconsultants.com, 860-863-5861.

Those Connecting Questions: Tips from Image Marketing Consultants on Engaging Prospects

The beauty of posing those connecting questions to prospects is that we marketers send the clear message: We are here to listen to you.  Those questions which trigger that immediate connection can be asked in person, on the home page of your website, in the subject head of an email blast or blog post, or as part of a tweet.

Here are some examples of connecting questions which have converted browsers to buyers:

Do you want your family to be happier?

Can your child be doing better in school?

Would owning a house make you feel secure, finally?

How long has it been since you had a sit-down meal in a restaurant?

Why are you afraid to ask a decorating question?

Do you need to stop overspending on the holidays?

After the connecting question, there are many ways of listening.  One is simply to provide the “white space” of a pause.  After that, you can offer brief snippets of information, a complimentary consultation, a no-pressure demonstration, or a free sample.

Kate Sirignano, founder of Image Marketing Consultants, asks you:  Could you be selling more?  Could you be raising more funds for your cause?  Could you be spending less on marketing? Please contact her for a free consultation kate@imagemarketingconsultants.com, 203-404-4868.