The boardroom.

     As I mentioned, the boardroom is not the place for opinions without solid support. I remember a meeting with an Atlanta based Fortune 500 company that was planning on opening several retail stores in the Atlanta metro area. After the presentation of my “big idea,” one of the board members said he had only two concerns -- “we better do this before the competition finds out about it” and “how are we going to pay for it.” I explained that aside from the widely-known provider of the life-sized celebrity puppets to be used in the television commercial, and a wildly-popular local radio personality whose voice and likeness [a custom-made puppet -- he had a “face for radio” -- not everyone can have my rugged, good looks, eh?] would be featured in the work, only the vendor co-op manager and media sales rep at a local TV station and those present at the meeting were aware of it. I then handed out my budget with details on how product vendors would match (co-op) client funding.

 I had also explained how the demographics and socio-economics of the talent (including the puppets) was selected to appeal to the company’s highly defined target audience… how the creative theme was carefully constructed to sell through specific product and consumer benefits... how the mission and positioning of the client were incorporated into the copy-points… and how we had created a unique “brand personality." The work incorporated our corporate identity design and “page style” to ensure consistent branding. The challenge was to accomplish this in a highly-creative, 30-second "donut" TV spot.

 The media strategy was to use television and radio spots, “scotch-truck” newspaper ads, and a periodic direct mail circular (mini-catalog). We had arranged for prize drawings (including a scale model mini-racecar), numerous giveaways, and local radio station remote broadcasts, complete with live music and celebrities. Everything was carefully planned for relevance to the target market, the company and its products.
   When I drove out to the first grand-opening I couldn’t find a parking space -- cars lined the streets for several blocks and the new store was packed with excited and more important, paying customers. We had achieved success within a comparatively tight budget (our competitive spending research indicated that the competition spent dramatically more for grand openings) through careful strategic planning (and I was recognized for being way more than just another pretty face).

   In business school, I was told about a research study on entrepreneurs. The study found that the vast majority of them put more planning into their holiday vacations than they did in starting their new businesses. It is no wonder that, according to the Small Business Administration, two-thirds of the approx. 700,000 new businesses started in the U.S. fail within five years.

   In starting a new business, a new advertising campaign, or a new video production (or a vacation -- I sure could use one!); planning is crucial. Proper planning starts with proper research. I'll talk more about this in my next blog.

Comments

[Pam McMillen]

Robert,

I still remain a big fan...this is very interesting and lets others know what goes on in the world of advertising. I look forward to your next blog.

Pam

[Jay Montgomery]

So true Robert. As always the boardroom people are concerned with only two things time and money. If you realize that you need some of these expensive things that take time to do and realize you need to learn the power of delayed gratification then the business will prosper over the long haul.

[ANDREWHIHELLO]

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Hello peoples

[Adman4]

Thanks for visiting my blog, Andrew.

[Sensbachtal]

Just wanted to say Hello to everyone.
Much to read and learn here, I'm sure I will enjoy !