Gossett Marketing

As much as we all want this pandemic to be done and over with, as much as we want to be able to make travel plans as freely as we used to do, the fact is that COVID-19 continues to be a challenge and things won’t be going back to “normal” anytime soon or perhaps ever. Most people are settling into this fact and making the best of the situation.

Just recently, I read a New York Times Opinion Piece which said that Dr. Fauci told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, “If you’re talking about getting back to a degree of normality which resembles where we were prior to COVID-19, it’s going to be well into 2021, maybe even towards the end of 2021.” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/15/opinion/coronavirus-precautions.html?campaign_id=39&emc=edit_ty_20200916&instance_id=22236&nl=opinion-today&regi_id=74586418&segment_id=38249&te=1&user_id=3e21bfc7edc421f4499d99f53134721a 

Home For The Holidays For The Foreseeable Future

Whether we like it or not, my guess is that pretty much everyone will be hunkered down wherever home may be for the holidays. In fact, my guess is that we will be celebrating holidays well into next year from the comfort of our very own homes! Thanksgiving, Festivus, Chanukah, Kwanza, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Easter will find most people celebrating with family members via Zoom or in person with just a few trusted family members and friends.

Together Far Apart

Fortunately we live in the digital age so, when necessary we can be together while staying apart! And, we can have anything delivered – near and far –  right to the homes of our clients, employees, teammates, prospects and loved ones. So, let’s first and foremost be thankful that we are still here, still breathing, loving, working – even if it is remotely – and able to celebrate when so many others have lost that privilege. And, let’s party like it’s 2020!

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Every business, corporation, organization and individual is being challenged to negotiate and survive the COVID-19 pandemic – hopefully intact, but perhaps even stronger, wiser and better.  Out of necessity, we are being called upon to dig into our deepest reserves and resources. Not just financially, but emotionally, mentally, spiritually and physically. This time demands imagination, cooperation, caring and compassion. Everyone must invent ways to cope and continue on in the face of this enormously challenging time. (I wrote about some ways of coping in last month’s article. In case you missed it you can read it by clicking here:New Normal Presents New Opportunities To Grow Business)

Helping Each Other

I’ve been asking myself, “How can we help each other?” I am searching endlessly for ways to encourage the members of my team to hang in and hang on, as well as my clients, prospects and vendors. We will get through this together.

There are a multitude of issues my business is facing. I am certain businesses of every size are being challenged in similar ways. One of the biggest challenges continues to be how to build loyalty and team spirit and cohesiveness when so many employees are mandated to work from home. As we are finding out, not everyone is cut out for working remotely. (I’m one of them!) Another important issue is bringing in new people. How should we welcome, train and engage new employees with social distancing and little or no time in the office under such unusual circumstances?

Share What We Learn During This Time

Sharing what we are learning from this crisis is a great starting point. I see this as the perfect opportunity to build...

We are living in an extraordinary time.

I’ve been spending more time than usual alone during our shelter-in-place quarantine. And, I’m sure I’m not alone in wondering about how this extraordinary historical event is going to affect us long term. I also have to admit I’m getting a little squirrely. At first, it seemed fine, staying home, making sure my team stayed at home. Having virtual meetings and all was kind of fun. But now, a full month into it, I admit, I’m feeling ready to get back to “normal.”

Resistance Is Futile

I realize, however, that “normal” may be something very different and we don’t know when that new normal will go into effect. I had to check my attitude as I realized I was beginning to experience resistance to the situation. I finally remembered the line from one of the Star Wars movies where the Borg said, “Resistance is futile.” It’s so true that refusing to accept what is happening is pointless. But that doesn’t mean you give up.

Resilience Is Required

I started fishing around for a word that would help me adjust my attitude and I’m sharing that word with you. It’s resilience. I like it because it is so close in sound to resistance, yet the meaning is so different.

Resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. It’s also the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.

The Importance of Packaging

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “It’s what’s inside that counts.” That’s so true about so many things in life. Starting with people’s behavior and motivations, books, places of business, products, ad infinitum. But, before anyone will discover what’s inside, they must be interested in finding out. That’s what makes the outside, the packaging so important.

We humans do our best to keep ourselves as attractive on the outside as possible. We bathe and brush our teeth and hair. We wear clean clothes and make ourselves visually socially acceptable. We exercise and eat healthy. We want to be as attractive as we can be in order to gain the interest of romantic partners and develop friendships.

Business is no different. Whether your business is a retail store or online store, whether you provide a product or a service, every presentation says something about your personality and brand. And that first impression tends to stick with potential customers and clients.

A Brand Experience Begins On The Outside

Do you procrastinate?

We’ve all heard these expressions that embody the fact that someone has waited until the very last possible moment to get something done. In many cases it seems like it would be impossible and the accomplishment of whatever this thing was seems absolutely miraculous. While it happens all too frequently, in my business I don’t recommend waiting until the 11th hour to get important marketing materials ordered.

The Monday After Thanksgiving Rush

Just the Monday morning after Thanksgiving (it already feels like ages ago!) I had requests for 3 rush orders. The first one was for a very large vinyl banner that they needed that very afternoon! This happened as a result of another vendor (instead of coming to us in the first place – how dare they!!) producing the banner incorrectly. I only blame them for not coming to us first, and I doubt that will happen again! But, were we able to get the job done for them? Yes, indeed, we got it done.

Someone Dropped The Ball Or In This Case The Bag

Another client who had been away on their honeymoon returned only to discover their colleague had forgotten to order some nice gift bags for a big event that was scheduled for the weekend after Thanksgiving. And, the answer is “yes”, we will be delivering them to our client on time on Friday (at an additional rush cost of course).

From the hauntingly sweet celebration of Halloween, we move into the season of thanks and giving.

Our hearts open wide, and our generosity of spirit very often tends to extend to those we know and love as well as complete strangers. Seasonal songs suddenly flow through us. Joy fills the air. But, as a business owner, where do your thoughts of thanks go first? I hope your answer is to your employees.

Without employees, business could not exist.

We need others to make our businesses run smoothly and keep on keeping on. And authenticity of appreciation is felt so very often without a word being said.

There are many gifts and tokens of appreciation that can be given, and we can certainly help you come up with gift-giving ideas for your employees, clients and prospects. In the meantime, here are some thoughts about gratitude and generosity I found at forbes.com to help you get into the spirit of the season.

Resilience is one of the trendiest international corporate buzzwords.

While many people have yet to truly understand exactly what it means and how to measure it, there are others who are doing their best to enact policies that reflect the concept of resilience.

Garbage, Garbage Everywhere

Generally speaking, resilience is defined as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. However my understanding of how the term is being applied in business has to do with disaster management and recovery specifically as it relates to our planet’s environment. When it comes to corporate responsibility and public perception, resilience is measured in the things one does to bring our environment back from the brink of being covered in garbage.

If you are at all aware of the environmental concerns, you know about the Pacific Garbage Patch. A quick visit to Wikipedia will reveal the extent of the garbage. You’ll read that, “Researchers from The Ocean Cleanup project claimed that the patch covers 1.6 million square kilometers. The plastic concentration is estimated to be up to 100 kilograms per square kilometer in the center, going down to 10 kilograms per square kilometer in the outer parts of the patch. An estimated 80,000 metric tons of plastic inhabit the patch, totaling 1.8 trillion pieces. 92% of the mass in the patch comes from objects larger than 0.5 centimeters, while 94% of the total objects are represented by microplastics.”

Make A Corporate Commitment To Environmental Recovery

The environment, and your customers, need you to show this type of resilience. You can demonstrate resilience by promoting your commitment to the use of reusable, recycled products in every possible area of your business. From the corporate break room and kitchen to your promotional products. We have helped many of our clients completely transform their on-site break rooms and kitchens from the use of paper and Styrofoam cups to reusable drinkware branded with their company logo.

Summer time, summer time, sum-sum-summer time!

Those words are the lyrics to a very old, yet very popular song bring joy to just about everyone! Summertime calls to us humans to get outside, to spend time in Mother Nature. It’s time to lounge around the pool, spend time at the beach or on the boat. School’s out, vacations are on and typically, most businesses tend to be a little slower. And with the longer days of sunlight, time actually seems to slow down a little too. It’s a great time to regroup.

Schedule Fun Brain Storming Sessions

Using the slower, longer, more leisurely days of summer to take stock of how you’ll make hay when the hustle and bustle of the fall season kicks in is a time-honored tradition. The relaxed nature of summertime gives the mind a rest and a rested mind is a more creative mind.

I always find time during the summer to pull my team together for at least one leisurely brain-storming session – more if our work schedule allows. I suggest that my clients do the same.

A Change Of Pace And Scenery Opens Up Creativity

If you can do an off-site event, your team will probably love the change of scenery. During these brainstorming sessions, it can be enlightening to pull out old successful campaigns to see if there’s new life that can be breathed into them with a tweak or two. Explore new ideas, too. Use a no-holds-barred technique allowing for zany and unexpected ideas. You just never know where some of those whacky ideas might lead!

Brainstorming sessions are most effective when they are conducted in a casual, playful way. Remember, it’s summertime, which is a playful time. So let the creativity flow and have some fun.

Staying true to your brand identity is critical.

In today’s digital world where even the smallest businesses have a global presence through the social media environment, staying true to your brand essence has never been more crucial. The integrity of your brand will be called out instantly if your brand goes out of character. Mistakes made even 20 years ago were less immediately damaging since not every person on the planet had a TV screen and instant communication device in their hands yet. Now they do!

Every Move You Make

It’s kind of like every business is being stalked as expressed in the classic Sting song, Every Breath You Take. The end of that lyric is, “I’ll be watching you.” Today, consumers do not miss a trick, a hiccup or a misstep. Companies must behave as if the whole world is watching. Because it is.

Could you imagine if a Volvo car dealer gave firecrackers to children as a promotional item? That’s the very crazy kind of behavior that would be totally out of character. Their brand essence has always been marketed on the idea of safety. (The brand is scrambling for a new brand essence.) So, giving something that might be perceived as fun, but is universally understood to be dangerous is an example of a brand acting out of character.

You can be certain that a product/service/brand would lose status instantly if they were to do something so out of character. Sales would go downhill immediately and might not ever recover.

We're all patiently awaiting the end of winter.

If you live above the Mason-Dixon line and enjoy gardening, you know that you have to plant seeds indoors in order to have a successful garden once the weather warms up. Well, the same is true for successful spring and summer promotions. You have to plan and take pre-emptive measures now.

It’s kind of like getting the latest seed catalog and poring over all the exciting things there are to grow. With so many options in promotional marketing, you’ll have decisions to make. For instance, which ones are most appropriate for your brand, where you do business and, which ones will be most appealing to your clients and prospects?

Get Ready For March Madness The First Spring Promotional Opportunity

You can practically feel the excitement bubbling in anticipation of this month-long college basketball competition. I know it has nothing to do with gardening, but it is the most exciting event that comes just before all the other natural events spring and summer bring. And, it’s a great way to connect with your clients and prospects with a few fun marketing promotions. You could send a basketball clapper to help you make some noise for your favorite teams. Squishy basketball stress balls might be a fun idea. Or how about a basketball beer opener? All items can have your logo imprinted as a reminder to your clients and prospects of what a good sport you are.

Earth Day Is Just Around The Corner

You’ll definitely want to do some planning for Earth Day. This is a great time to plant seeds with your clients, employees, vendors and prospects. And with a multitude of earth-centric promotional items to choose from, you’ll want to start planning right away. There are seed packets, desk top gardens, gardening tool kits and more. These can be given to clients whose sales could be re-invigorated, prospects with whom you’d like to nurture and grow your relationship. Of course, all items would arrive with your logo.

If you want to influence and persuade prospects, you’re going to need more than two seconds.

And a recent study indicates that the average lifespan of an email is now just two seconds.

I receive hundreds of marketing emails on a daily basis. If I open even 20% of those that make it to my inbox, that’s a high rate. The rest get discarded without getting opened. Many are simply diverted to my spam folder and never get seen.

This is why I’m touting the value of direct mail as it is enjoying a welcome resurgence by clients around the world who have become disenchanted with the results of email marketing.

Believe it or not, most of us humans still enjoy holding something tangible in our hands.

We still spend more time reading the cereal box in the morning than we do with our emails. In more recent data from the USPS, they have found that consumers actually spend time “interacting with direct mail.” The data shows that, “nearly all consumers (98%) bring in their mail the day it’s delivered. Of these, 72% bring it in as soon as possible, and 77% sort through their mail immediately.”

Have you ever heard the expression: “When you’re cake you get icing?”

A friend and professional colleague shared that one with me long ago and it has stuck. Over the years I have shared it with my team as well. It is the bedrock behind my agency’s customer relationship management program (CRM).

I always see a cake sitting, patiently. Its’ warm, sweetness fills the air with an intoxicating aroma which begs to be covered with another layer equally or even sweeter. The cake doesn’t jump up and down trying to attract attention. It doesn’t scream, “Give me more, make me more enticing!” Nothing of the kind. In fact it is the essence of patience.

My CRM motto is Patiently, Pleasantly Persistent. And the image is that of a cake that is certain to be iced and decorated and sweetly, generously enriched with a delicious icing.

Pleasant Persistence Pays

All the current fancy CRM programs are great for organizing, knowing with whom you were in contact, when, and what products were discussed. But there is simply no substitute for a genuine in-person phone call and/or meeting. These are the pleasantries that used to be the foundation of all business dealings. You really had to like the person you were doing business with. That used to be the way business owners made lifelong friends with the clients and prospects they met during the course of business. Today it is getting more and more difficult to ever speak to, let alone meet another human being for more than a nanosecond. Everything is done digitally.

Call me old-fashioned. I don’t mind. My clients don’t either. They love the attention they get from me and my team. And they reciprocate. The trick is not to overwhelm with personal contact. Pleasantly persistent is the way.

Who doesn’t love to unwrap an attractive boxed or wrapped gift?

It could literally be anything inside and if it’s something you love as much as the wrapping, you’re in luck! So, what I’m talking about today as we begin to turn our thoughts to the holiday gift giving season is packaging.

The Magic Of Powerful Brand Gift Packaging

If I say, “Tiffany’s” what comes to mind? For many people, they will think of the classic robin’s-egg blue box from the store on Fifth Avenue in New York City. That little blue box has become an icon of packaging the world over. It creates excitement and holds the promise that something very special is inside. And rarely does that Tiffany box get tossed out. It is almost as cherished as the gift itself.

Make Your Packaging Compelling

I have nothing against a gift basket, but, why not go the extra mile and make your holiday gift more unexpected, unusual and totally engaging? It’s really not all that difficult. This holiday season think about impressing your gift recipients from the outside in with compelling packaging. And, of course, the gift must be meaningful too.

Before you dive in, there are a few things to consider. First of all, you packaging must be brand appropriate. If you do not own a jewelry store, a delicate blue box may not communicate the correct image. Whatever product or service you provide, you must stay true to your brand. Secondly, consider eco-friendly packaging options. This day and age, eco-friendly is popular and could be compelling in and of itself. Thirdly, why not make the packaging part of the experience? Think “Apple” on this one. With Apple, their packaging adds to every experience.

Many business owners wait until the fiscal year to launch a new division, product or business.

If that rings true for you, you still have time to coordinate your marketing efforts for your new venture. If you are planning your launch to coordinate with an upcoming trade show, now is the perfect time to make certain all your ducks are in a row, so to speak.

First Time Trade Show

If this season will be your first exhibiting at a trade show, you’ll want to be particularly diligent in making sure you have all your bases covered. There’s nothing worse than getting to the trade show floor only to discover you don’t have the materials you need. Or that you’ve arrived with a distinctly invisible presence. If you’re going through the exercise of being there, you really must do your absolute best to make it count. Otherwise it will be like throwing money away.

Of course, you will do your due diligence, and yet still, something will fall through the cracks. If you would like help reviewing what you’ll need in terms of marketing pieces from your branded shirts and booth to your brochures and give-aways in addition to making sure all your marketing pieces are coordinated, printed and shipped in time for the trade show, give us a call. We’ve been helping our clients dot all their ‘I’s” and cross all their “t’s” and get all their ducks in a row before, during and after tradeshows for decades. There’s absolutely no need to attend your first tradeshow as an exhibitor without experienced help.

If your first thought after reading the title of this post was what your employees wear to work, ding, ding, ding! You win!

That’s right, branded apparel (aka uniform) is very often a company’s number 1 promotional tool. When done well, a branded t-shirt, cap, tote and other branded items can create a separate revenue stream in addition to creating brand awareness.

Top 3 Reasons People Keep Promotional Items

To be kept, promotional items are either fun, functional or trendy. It’s even better if they are all 3: Fun, functional and trendy. You can’t beat that. Just ask some of the companies that have captured that magical combination.

Brands Built On Branded Apparel

Ever heard of ‘Nike’, ‘Life Is Good’ or ‘Ralph Lauren’? Sure, you have! How cool is the Nike swoosh? Whether you think it’s cool or not, millions of people do. It appears on everything Nike makes and has helped increase the brand’s exposure taking them from a running shoe manufacturer to a top maker of branded athletic apparel.

Look in your own drawer and closets. How many T-shirts, hats and hoodies do you own that are from a company’s logo line? While Ralph Lauren didn’t actually invent the polo shirt, he did invent the Polo brand embroidered with the famous polo player.

As I mentioned earlier this month in my blog, Don’t Leave Your Employees Hungry For Recognition, we humans crave recognition. My take on this is that recognition is a form of love and appreciation. And we certainly can’t give or receive too much of either love or appreciation.

Our employees deserve all the recognition we can heap on them. Without them, where would we be? Nowhere.

Employees Are First Customers

I’ve said it many times that our employees are actually our first customers. If you don’t go above and beyond to treat your employees well, well, then how do you treat your customers?

Whether your business has or doesn’t have an employee-recognition program, you may be inspired after taking a look at the statistics below published on foxbusiness.com to initiate one or to update your current program. If you are a manager, perhaps you can run some of the information up to the decision-makers in your company. Whatever you do, know that treating your employees better and giving them more recognition can only improve the workplace and the bottom line.

Sometimes even the smallest token of appreciation means so much. And it doesn’t have to be merely recognition of loyalty for length of time. There are multitudes of small ways to say thanks besides the words themselves: a plaque, a pen, a visor or cap with your company logo. Within companies these tokens become symbols of pride, status and achievement.

The Gossett Marketing team can help if you need inspiration. We’ve been providing our clients with tokens of employee appreciation as well as helping to set up and improve their employee recognition programs for years.

Minimize Turnover

Voluntary Turnover Is 31 Percent Lower at Organizations With Highly Effective Recognition Programs

Creating a company policy that helps to improve the lives of your employees will go further in keeping employees happy and engaged than an atmosphere of fear and competition.

So, if you are just starting out in business, are ready to begin implementing employee appreciation programs or need to refresh your program, you may be in need of ideas.

In my most recent blog, Employer’s Year-End Employee Motivation Check-Up, I offered a few basic ideas for getting started. This article is devoted to a broader range of ideas I’ve watched clients successfully implement over the years.

Years of Service Programs:

A very easy program to initiate is a years of service program. Starting with key dates in an employee’s life it’s very easy to make employees feel embraced with a “Welcome Aboard” recognition. Follow up at 90 days and 1st year anniversary. You could do every year recognitions or milestone years such as 3 years, 5, 10 etc. Some of the most successful programs I’ve seen typically include letters from boss or bosses, online “recognition” walls, and at least one commemorative item. As the years pass the commemorative items get more interesting and valuable.

Engagement Programs:

These types of programs are designed to keep employees feeling engaged and connected to the company. Something as simple as an online discussion wall for posting awards, milestones, in which employees are publicly acknowledged is a great way to begin.

Help with education and personal development leads to greater understanding of the company’s goals. In addition, health and wellness are becoming more important in many employees’ lives, but gym memberships are expensive. And, not all employees will have time to balance a gym membership with a spouse, children, community involvement and more. One very highly appreciated perk is a wellness benefit. As with other perks, this program can be set up in a number of ways – discount to a certain gym, cash reimbursement on fitness-related equipment and classes or company athletic events. For instance, several of our clients bring in a yoga instructor a few days a week during lunch or at the end of the day. Others coordinate a lunchtime walk. Regardless of how it works, healthy employees are likely to perform better and miss less work, so this will benefit your company as well. They will also feel good about coming to work everyday and will want to be productive for the good of the cause.