There’s something inherently fun about marketing and advertising. It’s a quest, really: how do I come up with a campaign that’s high on creativity but won’t break my budget? How can I bridge digital with old-fashion touch points, or think of something no one else has considered? How can we make it personal, even fun, and accomplish the ultimate goal of putting your company’s name in the front row of your clients’ psyche?
Where the bonus points really start to rack up is when dealers can pounce on the opportunity to promote themselves while doing another task. Webinars, Ted Talks, conference speaking engagements, etc., are all designed to position you as a thought leader. If you’re going to perform a deep dive a diversification like cameras and access systems, you’re pretty much doing an infomercial for your dealership’s capabilities.
As we wrap up the February State of the Industry report on marketing (we know, it’s March, but February always gets the short shrift) our dealer panel discusses nontraditional and old-school tactics that have helped augment their marketing initiatives.
One organization that has leveraged radio and television advertising is Shore Business Solutions of Wall, New Jersey. Co-owner Danielle Wolowitz points out that the TV spots are part of a larger chamber of commerce ad buy that features other local businesses as well. That makes it more cost-effective to spread the Shore gospel.
Where Shore truly parts from the marketing crowd is through donuts. No, she’s not stopping at Dunkin’ on the way to a cold call. Danielle and husband Chris own a donut shop, and it occupies a prominent spot in the dealer’s business plan. MFPs and crullers may be an odd coupling, but it works for the Wolowitz team. Bringing the tasty treats on calls has been extremely effective.
“We have catchphrases that stick in people’s minds, like ‘Donut let your office technology go stale’ or ‘Donut worry, we’ll be there,’” she said. “The beauty of owning both companies and controlling both brands is I can set the brand guidelines, and not everyone has that luxury. I can incorporate my donut shop branding in Shore Business Solutions and vice versa, and that gives us a little more flexibility.”
At trade shows, Wolowitz has been identified as “the donut people” and it provides a spark, a jumping off point as a conversation catalyst. “It’s definitely a warmer,” she added.
Creativity Wins
While there may be little consensus as to what currently defines non-traditional, L.K. Hoopingarner, vice president of managed marketing services for Impact Networking of Lake Forest, Illinois, believes the ultimate goal is to leverage creativity while finding something that will resonate with one’s audience.
“How you bring something to the market that is different and really creative is what engages people,” Hoopingarner noted. “That’s ultimately a traditional idea, when you think of something like Mad Men, but it’s often forgotten, especially from small- to mid-sized businesses who feel like they want to fit into the safety of what everyone else does.”
Keven Ellison, vice president of marketing for Advanced Imaging Solutions (AIS) of Las Vegas, points out that traditional marketing methods provide the foundation for success, but changing demographics and technology evolution dictates marketers must adapt. Not surprisingly, AI is clearly wielding influence among its faithful.
“AI has revolutionized how we strategize, implement, and deliver marketing efforts, boosting productivity and profitability tenfold,” Ellison remarked. “That said, AI isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it solution. It requires supervision and a solid foundation of proven practices to be effective. Old-school principles combined with AI’s speed and precision are a winning combination for modern marketers.”
Corporate Caring
One instance of an activity serving dual purposes is courtesy of Levifi. CEO Thomas Fimian feels his Charleston, South Carolina, firm gets significant traction through volunteering and supporting the causes of its clients. Some causes, such as the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, paints a picture of the dealership’s commitment to the health and happiness of its community members.
While such sobering events will not include an iota of shop talk, backing such a cause will resonate with other members of the business community also connected to the organization. “Community involvement through volunteering and supporting our strategic good cause, the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, has been a great way to create goodwill in our market,” Fimian said.
The leadership team at Nauticon Office Solutions has joked about the idea of promoting to clients and prospects that they will be throwing $50,000 from the roof of their building, and see who shows up. “Just let it rain down cash,” Carter Hertzberg chuckles. But perhaps it’s the thought of local law enforcement eventually showing up that has the president of the Gaithersburg, Maryland-based dealership relegated to the more vanilla methods.
“We’ve really bought into the [Quantum Business Solutions integration package] and we’re going to give it the good old college try,” Hertzberg said. “We’ve taken some pieces that we got from the Quantum and sort of tweaked them to fit our market and approach, our messaging.”
