John Noonan is Ireland’s top marketer

A big congratulations to John Noonan, Sales & Marketing Director of Flahavans who won Marketer of the Year last week. He’s the man behind the resurrection of one of Ireland’s most well known brands.

It is great to see that it was his marketing strategy creation and implementation that won over the judges. They said that they were particularly impressed by Mr Noonan’s strong focus on research and insight to identify customer trends and frame a very successful product development strategy to grow the business.

As a marketer, he clearly led and implemented his strategy successfully with the support of management and demonstrated that in this difficult economic climate (and against aggressive competitive challenges), marketing and effective leadership will achieve success.

I’ve always said that marketing is more than promotion and Mr Noonan certainly is one to share that view. Operating in a highly competitive  market where Flahavans competes successfully against international food giants Kelloggs, Nestle and Weetabix, he was responsible for crafting a finely tuned re-positioning of Flahavans which has resulted in market share growing to 65.3pc in the year to August 2009.

The brands profits increased by over 15pc and with a fourfold increase in turnover.

Well done to John and his team with congratulations to the other finalists.

What’s the difference between Marketing & Advertising?

While networking earlier in the week, I got the age-old comment “So you’re in marketing. I tried advertising but it didn’t work.”

I spent the next 30 minutes explaining the difference between marketing and advertising and then asking what why his advertising didn’t work.

It’s a comment that I get frequently. So I’m throwing it out there -

What do you think is the difference between marketing and advertising?

This is my understanding:

Marketing takes in the whole process of getting and keeping customers. It is at the core of every business success. It takes in promotion but also covers understanding the environment in which a company operates, the effect of competitors, pricing, product choice, consumer behaviour, political changes and the list goes on.

Advertising is just one way to promote a business to a mass audience and it’s generally paid for.

What is your understanding of it?

How do you protect your most valuable asset?

Most people, in business terms, profess their customers and staff as their most asset. While these are incredibly important to a business, another one is the information that the business holds - finances, info on customers, personnel records, emails received and sent, legal correspondence, bank details etc - the list is endless.

Yet so many people don’t think about their information as an asset.

When was the last time you backed up your data?

Well - that’s exactly what Host-it want to know. They would like to get five minutes of your time to get a more exact picture of how Irish companies - small and large alike - protect their most valuable asset by backing up their data.

Click Here to take survey

The survey is just 6 short questions and please be as honest as you can. The survey is anonymous.

However, if you’d like to win a years access to Host-it Back up Vault, then include your email address so you can be entered into a free draw. You’ll also get a copy of the results.

Go on - it’s less than 5 minutes. In fact, it will take longer to boil the kettle!

Word of the Week: Consumer

For some reason, whatever I read this week, the word ‘Consumer’ keeps popping up, generally in the context of a customer. It makes it an ideal candidate for an Achieve Marketing Word of the Week.

Meaning of the word Consumer:

Dictionary.com defines it as

• a person or thing that consumes

• Economics: a person or organisation that uses a commodity or service

• Ecology: an organism, usually an animal that feeds on plants or other animals.

According to the Collins Dictionary, it’s a noun and is defined as

• a person who buys goods or uses services

It’s origin dates back to 1375-1425 for earlier sense ‘Squanderer’.

In Marketing terms…

In marketing terms, a consumer is often used inter-changeably with the word customer.

In this context, a consumer is an individual who buys a product or service for personal consumption or use. They make the buying decision and can be influenced by advertisements and marketing.

Once they make a decision as a consumer, they become a customer.

So I guess strictly speaking, a customer is not the same as a consumer - for example, a child would be a consumer of Haribo jellys but the parent is the customer.

But not all things in marketing are so clear cut, as the parent could be influenced by the child (Pleeaase Mum!) and make the buying decision as a consumer.

As long as consumer is consuming a service rather than another human being, (in the ecology term), I think consumer and customer can be used interchangeably.

***Ends***

Featured Friday: Photographer Insurance Package by Heritage

Due to the success of last week’s Featured Friday - Swine Flu Tool-kit by Healthforce, we are back with another Featured Friday.

This week it is Heritage Insurance Group.

A fellow member of the BNI Abbey with me, Derek Balfe impresses me every time I talk to him. Derek along with his partner Stephen Brack set up Heritage Insurance Group, a commercial insurance brokerage in 2008, during  the early stages of a recession.

They have done extremely well over the last year. As other small businesses have gone to the wall, Heritage has taken on new staff members, introduced a new division to the company and sales continue to grow.

They are an academic dream, a living success story. Their success is due in no short measures to their dedication and undying focus on the customer. Invariably they get cheaper rates on all types of commercial insurance but they take the time to listen to their customer’s needs. That’s the huge difference between them and other brokers. If you don’t need certain coverage, then you don’t need to pay for it. You pay for exactly what you need.

They get you a quote based on your needs and budget, not just budget. They check the small print!

Photographer Insurance

Just lately, they’ve launched an insurance package specifically for photographers & videographers - both amateurs and professionals.

They can get a quote for  you to cover your equipment, liabilities and professional indemnity insurance - all in one page.

Derek and Stephen will be at the Photovision show this coming Tuesday, 8th September, where over 1000 photographers will be in attendance. If you are one of those photographers, I recommend that you pop over and say hello. Two nicer guys you wouldn’t meet…even if they are in insurance!!

Go to www.camerainsurance.ie for more information on this particular package.

For more information on the other range of commercial insurance they cover - visit their website at www.hig.ie. They’ll be around for a long time.

***Ends***

Featured Friday: Flu Stop by Heathforce

Last Friday, I wrote but somehow didn’t save the new Featured Friday! Not sure what happened but it’s always good to rectify a problem when you’re aware of it!

So without further ado - welcome to Featured Friday. The day where I post some information on a company that has a new product or service; has inspired me or others or is marketing in a very different way.

This inaugural edition features Flu Stop by Healthforce.

Healthforce is an occupational health and safety company - with a difference. It is nurse led rather than doctor led. The founder Anne-marie Graham was injured while working as a senior nurse so understands how injury and incorrect procedures can literally change a persons life.

Thankfully she started her own business to help others not encounter the same problems that she did. Always focused on the customer, she has created a tool-kit for Irish SMEs and corporates to give information, advice on prevention and management of Swine Flu.

With Swine Flu now classified as a Pandemic (worldwide problem), it’s yet another challenge for employers in an already challenging climate.

What you get with Flu Stop:

• 1 hour risk assessment consultation on H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus
• Information & materials on management
• Information & materials on prevention
• Helpline (manned by nurses) for any queries or concerns you have
• Company policy tailored to your individual organisational needs
• Full insurance review and advice to ensure that you are fully covered
• Access to best industry rates on sanitisation products

Priced at an unbelievable €99, Swine Flu provides companies with peace of mind and solutions on how to effectively prevent and manage Swine Flu, ensuring it doesn’t affect your company’s productivity and competitive edge.

Call 01 639 4967 for more information or visit http://www.healthforce.ie/swineflu/

***Ends***

Achieve Week in Review - 10-15 August

• A quick review of Achieve Marketing Learnings from last week. Things I learned last week include:

• There is an event listing for conferences and networking events for the rest of the summer over at Marketing Mentor on Facebook.

• A much needed SWOT analysis of Social media is well underway, if not finalised already over at Channelship.

• Apple charge €7.99 to upgrade the software on the iTouch.

• @Facundo introduced me to a new word: Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realise it was your money to start with.

• Yahoo apparently spent US$80k to get OMG.com.

• It’s important to check for quality not quantity with twitter followers - I deleted 12 spammy followers last week.

University of Kent found that as a woman, I need thin eyebrows, wider eyes and fuller lips to be a future inspirational leader.

BNI - More than Networking….

Last Thursday, I was running late for my BNI Abbey meeting. I’m not a morning person, I find it difficult to get up between 5.30am and 6.00am and I was moaning to myself on the way in…is BNI worth this? And the answer is yes. When I’m at my BNI meeting. I really enjoy it. This week was no exception.

For those of you that don’t know the BNI, it is an international Business Networking & Referrals Organisation. Set up by Dr Ivan Misner in 1985, it has become a global network with chapters in almost every country in the world. It’s interesting because Ivan Misner never set out to create a global organisation, he was simply looking for referrals for his consulting business.

That’s really the premise of BNI - getting and giving referrals. However, I always find that there is more than business networking to a BNI meeting.

Take last Thursday’s meeting for example. 28 business owners around one table are all going through the same ordeal of the recession. They’re all concentrating on surviving and thriving in tough economic times.

BNI Creativity at its Best

But the level of creativity that is coming out of this table alone would inspire anybody.

Derek Balfe of Heritage Insurance posed the question:

“If you were to swap jobs with me, who is the first person that you’d contact?“

The question was obviously posed in a business context but I thought isn’t that a clever way to seek referrals? A few names naturally came to me and that helped me get a referral to Derek and hopefully get him new business.

Stephen Monaghan of Phonelink and Ronan Reynolds of ACS have collaborated to offer a package for employers who have employees with suspected and actual swine flu. Many employers aren’t equipped to network out their telephone or IT system but these guys are now allowing an employers to do that - give access to an employee while they’re at home.

Tom Molloy of Flux Web Design created “The Flux Factor” report - a report that assesses everything about your website - SEO, design, wording, graphics etc. For the month of August, he’s giving free reports. It normally retails at €199.

BNI is more than a 6am start. It’s about collaboration, looking out for one another, learning from each other and having a bit of fun in the process.

Ivan Misner may not have set out to create an organisation that affected millions of business owners but that’s exactly what he has done. I’m sure my 28 colleagues around the table would agree.

Why you should include a P.S. Statement in your sales letters

The PS or post-script is often said to be the second most important part of the sales letter after the headline. With this in mind, I did a small sample survey of my friends and colleagues about the P.S. statement. Over 90% of respondents said that they glance at it while some (15%) really take the time to read it.

While this little survey is by no means quantifiable or statistical, it does show that the average reader reads the P.S. statement.

Given that people are generally time poor and reading has become glancing, here are four things to think about when writing an effective P.S. statement to suit your business.

1. Emphasize Action

All SMEs should write direct response sales letters. The call to action is so important. With your P.S. statement, you can emphasize that the reader must act now to avail of time limited bonus or special offer. It’s all about picking up the phone now and placing the order or finding out more about you.

2. Restate Benefits

Write a one liner summarising your product’s main benefit and why the reader really needs it. People buy for two reasons - they want a problem solved or the product/service produces a certain feeling or emotional response. Remind them why your product/service is the best product or service on the market.

3. Explain your Guarantee

If you talk about a guarantee on your sales letter, you can restate it here. Explain why you are giving the guarantee (relationship building etc) and tell them that you are absorbing the risk. Tell your readers that buying your product is a no-brainer - it’s a win-win for all.

4. Redefine your Unique Selling Point

Take the time to write a line about what makes you different. Why should someone buy from you over someone else. If it’s credibility that a reader is looking for, state it. If it is success stories, give details of some. Whatever makes you different to your competitor, restate it here.

So in summary,

Writing good sales letters takes time and at Achieve Marketing, we know all about it. We take time when we have a copy-writing job to do. If we take the time, then you should also.

Think about using the P.S. statement as giving that final push for sales but remember, too many P.S. or P.P.S statements make you look desperate for the sale. Don’t waste the last opportunity to make or break the sale. Make the sale by thinking carefully about your P.S. Statement.

Banking Credit Questionnaire

I received an email from Ronan Dennedy, the CEO of Louth CEB.

The County Enterprise Boards, nationwide, are conducting a survey on the impact current Bank lending arrangements are having on the small business sector.

I’m putting the link to the survey here, for any small business (operating out of Ireland) has less than five mins to spare.

www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=2_2b7MxqVFTXf2jpDQ4Z_2f7ZQ_3d_3d

It’s open until Tuesday, 30th June cob.