New Century Dynamics Executive Search places a Strategic Marketing Consultant to support a rapidly growing direct-to-consumer subscription meal delivery company.
Jim Weber, President of New Century Dynamics Executive Search, and Managing Partner of ITB Partners, reports that he has helped a client find a Strategic Marketing Consultant to assist them in charting their future.
Working with the senior leadership team, this Consultant will drive the development and plan the execution of a comprehensive growth strategy to achieve the company’s objectives. This Consultant will evaluate the organization’s branding, digital & traditional marketing, partnerships, event planning, public relations, community outreach programs, and customer experience group.
Download the eBook to learn about the 48 proven strategies for success for local marketing. For example, the eBook can be used as a reference manual.
In other words, it can be useful for CEOs, CMOs, franchisees, operators, and “Mom & Pop” owners of brick & mortar operations. Several of the 48 proven strategies for success are useful for service area operations such as home services.
How to use this eBook
As the CEO of a multi-unit operation, you could download the eBook and give it to your operations and marketing teams.
For example, if you are the head of marketing for a multi-unit brick & mortar business, you could use it for ideas and ways to challenge your team.
And most importantly. if you own a brick & mortar business or are the franchisee of any retail or restaurant chain, use the 48 proven strategies for success to augment the marketing tactics your franchisor provides.
What is local marketing?
Local marketing is marketing to the people who live and work in your trade area and have a propensity to buy your services and/or offerings.
Local marketing used to be simple. To market your business in a local area, business owners used to join the local chamber, send direct mail postcards, buy a yellow-pages ad or perhaps even walk the trade area to introduce themselves to other local businesses, schools, banks, etc. in the neighborhood.
One of my favorite stories is about a small business owner who had the misfortune of being located in a strip center with two other businesses that sold the same wares. The store on the right advertised that they were having a sale, and everything was 10% off. The store on the left followed suit and put up a banner that said everything was 15% off. What was our owner to do?
He also put a banner over his front door that said:
MAIN ENTRANCE
Which door would you enter?
Examples:
#2 is how to optimize your Google My Business (GMB) page
#8 explains the importance of email marketing
#22 how to use local service ads for service-area businesses
#31 about how direct mail still works
#37 explains how to deal with the constant request for donations
#40 on how to use various kinds of signage to promote your business
In addition to ITB Partners, Doug works as a fractional CMO with Chief Outsiders. Chief Outsiders is the largest fractional CMO firm in the USA. As a result, Chief Outsiders is home to 75+ chief marketing officers who specialize in helping small to mid-sized companies grow.
Doug Reifschneider, Member of ITB Partners, and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Chief Outsiders, recently completed an extensive PE firm engagement. The PE firm’s project was compressed into 45 days, and because of the need for speed, Reifschneider partnered with a colleague from Chief Outsiders to complete the project on time. The PE firm employed the two CMOs to develop a 100-day plan for a household services firm they plan to acquire.
The pair from Chief Outsiders complimented each other because the project included:
Digital Marketing Assessment
Digital SWOT
Scorecard for the website, digital marketing, and social media
recommendations
Gathering insights about the customers, competitors, and company
Develop a growth strategy
Activated SWOT analysis
Brand positioning workshop
Brand house exercise
From here to there exercise
Developed a marketing plan for the balance of 2021, including 14 “Game-changing” ideas
Prepare a go-to-market plan if invited to continue work with the new portfolio company
About Doug Reifsc hneider
Doug Reifschneider
Doug Reifschneider is a dynamic marketing leader with 30+ years of experience in the restaurant industry. He has a history of driving growth through the creation and delivery of unique, creative brand strategies enhancing customer affinity and market position. While at Firehouse Subs, Mr. Reifschneider helped achieve a 4X increase in locations, to 1,030 restaurants generating $684M in revenues and 19.4% average annual sales.
During his foodservice career, he navigated the ever-changing marketing/advertising environment. The advertising menu proliferated from a relatively short list of tactics (TV, radio, print [direct mail, magazines, newspaper, etc. ], OOH, POP, and direct selling) 20 years ago to thousands of online options which included but was not limited to display, native, SEO, SEM/PPC, web sites, landing pages, mobile and others. Doug has experience with all of it and is always looking for new technologies to exploit such as Blockchain.
Throughout his career, he consistently strengthened brand equity, grew the customer base, and boosted revenues through the development of innovative marketing campaigns.
Like the eye of a hurricane, businesses raked by the leading edge of the COVID-19 pandemic are now taking a cautious look outside. Though the winds have subsided, and it’s tempting to think that the worst is over, the eye simply gives us a chance to prepare for what’s left to come. But the time is now to begin planning for the rebound.
If you withstood the worst of the impacts of the pandemic so far, you likely have accepted that the storm was coming, and had battened down your hatches (or at least applied for PPP funding to keep vestiges of your business afloat). Now, as we can start to imagine a future, it’s critical to have your plan in place when the rebound hits.
For those who haven’t been willing to consider the details needed in your post-pandemic recovery plan – or simply weren’t willing to “go there” – now is the time to plan for your rebound.
The public has been released from their quarantine in many states and other states are scheduled to open. Research indicates consumers will be ready to shop and dine. The world into which they will venture will indeed be changed. Will their appetite for dining with you also be transformed?
In my view, planning for the rebound – the re-grand-opening into the brave new world – will require a three-step planning process:
An accurate assessment of NOW – Analysis and cost-cutting based on where you are today, and how you’ll conduct business until social distancing is no longer needed;
Planning for NEAR – Executing on pivots or changes to your offerings to help your cash flow to improve your survivability, and;
Plan NEXT – Stop random acts of marketing and follow the 12-step approach that follows “The Growth Gears,” a strategic marketing book authored by Art Saxby and Pete Hayes, to plan for your recovery.
Where have your customers gone? Are they still in need of your unique brand of hospitality? Have you maintained your competitive edge? Can you keep your employees active and engaged in the business? Many businesses are grappling with these and other questions, as they fight for survival in an apocalyptic present, and uncertain future. Here are four tips to consider when planning for the rebound and assessing your business:
Review costs
Most people have already done this – things like canceling recurring services that are simply irrelevant, asking for payment terms on necessary services, and in general, having a series of difficult conversations about labor, supplies, and rent. Job No. 1 is to understand your cash flow – and factors influencing it.
Review competition
What is your competition doing now? How have they pivoted? Did they reduce hours of operation? Were they forced to close? Is there something you could do with your local competitors to encourage customers to order takeout and delivery? For example, an entity called “The Great American Takeout” has formed, and has encouraged customers via social media posts to takeout food to support restaurants every Tuesday since March 24.
Reconnect with your employees
Did you furlough or lay anybody off? With the crew that is left, what has the pandemic done to morale? How are you? Now is the time for frequent communication with your current and past employees. To prepare for reopening, you should prepare a plan to re-hire and train employees.
Reassign tasks
To keep employees on the payroll (assuming you have sales because you are offering curbside pick-up or delivery), reassign team members to answer the phone, shuttle deliveries, or serve as curb-side ambassadors. In the short term, this could also mean repurposing the business for strictly philanthropic purposes. One restaurant invited the American Red Cross to park its Bloodmobile in their parking lot for a blood drive to help medical professionals.
Step 2: PLANNING FOR NEAR
Planning for the rebound needs to happen now. If you’ve withstood the worst of the pandemic so far, you may find that the tweaks you’ve made temporarily should be considered for permanence. Now, more than ever, understanding the customer’s needs and wants – and how you are positioned to be a guiding force in their upturned lives – can be a make or break proposition. Here are some ways to be a part of this change:
Rethink offerings.
If you’re a restaurant, you might offer groceries or sell toilet paper. Most restauranteurs reduced their menu offerings to optimize the to-go experience. For retailers, this can involve sticking with conveniences like online ordering and curbside pick-up. Creativity is key. Here are some creative examples:
Red Roof Inns: The lodging company offered up hotel rooms as a remote office and alternative resting spaces during the day for truckers for only $29.
Fogo de Chao: The unique Brazilian restaurant shifted its focus to offer curbside packages of ready-to-grill cuts of meat.
Wow Bao: The restaurant has begun “selling the materials necessary to make a simplified version of their menu of bowls, buns, and potstickers to other restaurants and ghost kitchen facilities,” according to the website Restaurant-Hospitality.com.
Subway: The sandwich chain is testing a Subway Grocery concept in California. The beta program allows customers to order items such as baked bread, deli meats, sliced cheese, vegetables, and soups.
Panera: Like Subway, Panera Bread has launched a grocery offering at scale to allow customers to order essential grocery items such as loaves of bread, milk and produce, and to have the items available for delivery or drive-up pickup.
Reconsider sacred cows
As businesses rethink their offerings, they can run smack into certain “sacred cows” that seem to be integral to their identity. For example, a full-service eatery may balk at delivery options, since that fish dish might be ruined in the 30 or 45 minutes it takes to deliver it. This is no time for those kinds of pretensions. Find a way to make a meal pack, or focus on offerings that can be delivered successfully. Several restaurants have created pop-up drive-throughs, with no more than a tent and a landlord’s blessing. And the likes of Home Depot have shifted to curbside pick-ups even as it prided itself on counseling customers in the store.
Reschedule Initiatives
Retailers and restaurants that had planned remodeling projects could move those up, but only if the resources exist to do so. Only the best-capitalized businesses will be able to embark on a remodeling project now, but if you can move up the date, it’s worth doing while your dining room or bricks-and-mortar location is closed. Of course, such initiatives can still be hindered by government directives that limit non-essential work and will vary by municipality.
Reconnect
Communication matters more than ever. We may be keeping our distance physically, but we’ve never been more social. We have regular Zoom happy hours, and we can still call upon clients virtually on a regular basis. B2B companies will have closer relationships since they sell directly to their clients, but B2C companies shouldn’t go quiet either. They need to reach out every few days, so long as they are mindful in tone and content.
On an April 8 webinar sponsored by Valassis and featuring data from Technomic, they suggested:
Source: Valassis
If you can maintain communication with your customers through advertising, social channels, and email, do it. You must be mindful of your tone and message, but the research of the past 93 years is clear – if you can maintain or increase your advertising during a downturn, especially when your competitors don’t, you will be rewarded with higher sales and market share during the recovery.
Step 3: PLAN NEXT
Opening Soon
Planning for the rebound sooner, rather than later, is critical. Those who wait for the rebound to begin will be late to the party. If you wait too long, you will likely lose market share to more aggressive competitors.
With what you’ve gleaned from studying your competitors and company in Step No. 1, above, it’s time to learn more about your customers as they exist today, to get an idea of what and who they may be in the future. The shifts in public policy, social interactions, virtual workspaces, and personal hygiene will likely be tectonic in scope. As a result, you need to understand how the shifts will affect your business and which ones you may be able to exploit.
Ways to learn about your customers now, so you can plan for the Next.
Google Analytics – Look for shifts in devices used, demographics, source of traffic, etc.
Email surveys – Query your customers about their lifestyle, media preferences, food choices, favorite foods, etc. as they were prior to the pandemic, and as they are now. Do a gap analysis to find opportunities.
Read – Information abounds online regarding perceived or guessed new behaviors by many sources. Pete Hayes, CMO, and Principal for Chief Outsiders outlined the basic steps to follow in his blog “COVID-19 Crisis – 12-step Pre-Recovery Checklist for CEO’s. Also, McKinsey & Company posted an opinion on how to prepare for the next stage of the crisis. Their opinion is deeply rooted in management consulting expertise and is more about preparation for the next stage of the crisis vs. recovery.
Regardless of your current posture on the COVID-19 pandemic, it is a certainty that the danger will eventually come to an end. Now is the time to be sharpening your pencils and honing your strategies so you can be ready for the next steps.
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Maintaining advertising in a recession has been proven over time to increase market share and boost revenues over time.
In these uncertain times amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, there are likely two distinct pathways for businesses to follow — adapt or perish. Because none of you reading this would ever consider laying down your arms and not fighting for survival, I thought I’d share a couple of quotes from noteworthy types who chose the latter mindset, choosing to both adapt, and thrive, rather than survive.
“To improve is to change. To be perfect is to change often.” –Winston Churchill
“Skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it is.” – Wayne Gretsky
Of course, your survival instinct is just a starting point. What will it take to truly gird your organization for the post-pandemic economic recovery?
In this blog and the one to follow, I’d like to lay out some steps that might be worth taking. First, we’ll discuss why your advertising budget should be spared the ax. We’ll then discuss strategies to employ to prepare for an economic rebound.
Onward, ho!
Playing to Win the Ad Game
History is full of examples where businesses that maintained or increased advertising budgets during a recession were rewarded with more market share and higher sales and profits.
During the Great Depression, Post cereals reduced its advertising budget while Kellogg doubled its ad spend. The result? A catchy slogan — “Snap, Crackle and Pop” – for its new Rice Krispies cereal, and a 30 percent increase in post-depression profits. Oh, and they’ve been the market leader ever since.
During the 17-month recession in 1973 -75, Toyota maintained its ad spend and became the No. 1 import in 1976, surpassing Volkswagen.
In the 1990-91 recession, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut took advantage of McDonald’s decision to reduce its advertising spend. Pizza Hut sales increased 61 percent and Taco Bell,s jumped by 40 percent, while McDonald’s decreased 28%.
More than 40 studies over 93 years for Advertising in a Recession
In 2009, Gerard J. Tellis and Kethan Tellis compiled and synthesized 40 historical empirical and non-empirical studies on the topic of advertising in a recession. What they found was a healthy dose of evidence that advertising during a recession is a good thing. Several studies found clear evidence the reduced recessional ad spending led to lower post-recession sales; still, other studies found that the inverse – higher spend led to higher sales – was true. And, some studies actually found that market share can actually increase more for some companies during a recession than in stable times. The likely reason is a combination of lost share by competitors and the entry of new, more nimble firms into the post-depression marketplace.
Advertising Drives Word of Mouth
In another example, researchers looked at the lessons learned from the automotive and financial industries during the 2008-2009 depression. Brad Fey and David Shiffman concluded that:
Advertising plays a substantial role in driving positive word of mouth (WOM) for major brands.
Even during a major crisis, ad-driven WOM continues to be nearly as positive as during normal times.
Cutting back ad spend during a crisis diminished the impact of a valuable tool for offsetting negative news (though customer service, public relations, and social media also play a role).
From personal experience, I lived in the 2008-2010 recession. While a member of the executive team at Firehouse Subs, we used the downturn to reposition the brand and double our ad spend – actions that led to increased market share and exponential growth from 2010 to 2016, at a 20 percent year-over-year clip.
“The optimum response to the recession is to maintain, and ideally increase your advertising investment.
Unfortunately, to pull this off you require three things. You need to have some money available to spend on advertising. Then you need an executive team smart enough to know marketing is an investment or trusting enough to listen to your presentation that explains all of this to them. And, finally, you need to not be shit.”
How Does This Relate to Today?
Of course, we know that cash flow is critical, and maintaining ad spend during this crisis is easier said than done for many brands. But, if you have the ability to communicate with your customers through email/SMS text and other owned channels like social media, do it. As Fey and Shiffman learned from their work, the message is important, and this is the time to do all you can to maintain positive Word of Mouth with your customers.
If you are fortunate to have cash reserves and can maintain ad spend, especially by shifting to digital channels where “shelter in place” directives have increased usage, do it too.
Messaging Counts Too
Now, the message you convey during the COVID-19 crisis will vary slightly by industry. In some industries like restaurants and retail that are considered essential services, the advertising message could be similar to pre-COVID-19 messaging, since customers seem to be sympathetic to the struggles being experienced by their local merchants.
But striking the right balance is critical. If you are seen as putting profits before people, you may squander trust in a way that it cannot be recovered. A recent study by Edelman on brand trust confirmed this fact but also found that most brands are using their advertising powers for good rather that evil. Consumers in the survey responded as follows:
90 percent want brands to do everything they can to protect the well-being and financial security of their employees and suppliers, even if it means substantial financial losses until the pandemic ends.
89 percent believe brands should offer free or lower-priced products to health workers, people at high risk, and those whose jobs have been affected.
83 percent are seeking a compassionate connection, including brand messaging that communicates empathy and support with the struggles they face.
84 percent are turning to brand social channels to find a sense of community and offer support to those in need.
65 percent like hearing from brands they use about what they are doing in response to the pandemic because it is comforting and reassuring to them.
The takeaway?
Though it may be ok to advertise product or brand, as usual, it is advisable to change messaging, especially in owned channels like email, SMS/text, and social to a more humanistic tone and values.
“There is no doubt that the COVID-19 crisis is more than a recession. It is much worse and physical distancing is a demand killer. However, we at Edleman believe there will be much pent-up demand after the tide turns. American consumers like to be mobile, to eat out and spend money shopping. Don’t under-estimate the power of “Cabin Fever” and the “stir-craziness” for all Americans due to physical distancing.”
In our next blog, we’ll look at the importance of strategic go-to-market planning in being ready for the rebound.
Doug Reifschneider
Thank you for visiting our blog.
Jim Weber – Managing Partner, ITB Partners
I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox. Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.
Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is very important to me so; please leave a comment.
According to a recent study by Chief Outsiders, a national marketing strategy consulting firm, 88% of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) see the difficulty in staying ahead of Marketing Technology.
Why?
According to Forrester, technology has not just impacted business, it has disrupted it. So much so that CNBC reported that the average life span of an S&P 500 company is about 20 years. It was 60 years in the 1950s according to Credit Suisse. 1
The way technology is evolving, imagine what that figure might be in 20 years.
All you have to do is look at Moore’s law to understand why technology is moving so fast.
What is Moore’s Law & How Does It Impact Marketing Technology?
In 1965, Gordon E. Moore, the co-founder of Intel, made this observation that became Moore’s Law.
Moore’s Law refers to Moore’s perception that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles every two years, though the cost of computers is halved. In addition, Moore’s Law states that we can expect the speed and capability of our computers to increase every couple of years. Plus, we will pay less for them too. Another tenet of Moore’s Law asserts that this growth is exponential.2
Moore’s Law tenet is that the number of computer chips on a single board grows exponentially.
Source: Moore’s Law graph3
It is hard for a human to keep up with exponential growth. And marketers are human. This is why marketers are having trouble keeping up with marketing technology.
Why specifically do CMOs think it will be hard to stay ahead of technology?
Because many CMOs haven’t kept up with marketing technology to-date. And the exponential growth that is expected to continue will be mind-boggling.
The Marketing Menu Changed!
For example, as recently as the 1990s, marketers had a finite list of advertising and promotional tactics at their disposal. The tactics to increase sales, improve brand awareness, and grow market share were low tech too.
Out of Home (Billboards, transit benches, and shelters, taxi’s, etc.)
Promotion (sports teams, schools, etc.)
Yellow pages if a local or multi-location business
Today, with the addition of OTT (Over the Top) TV, banner ads, advertising on social media, and other digital options, the choices on where to place advertising dollars are staggering.
MARTech = Marketing Technology
The modern CMO is faced with options in Martech and Adtech. Yes, those are real terms used within the marketing world. In 2011, we had about 150 MarTech choices. By 2019, there were over 7,000 choices.
In 2011, there were about 150+ Martech vendors. By 2019, there were over 7000!
To put in perspective, RedHat published the following tech stack that is aligned with the customer journey. One brand using this technique would interact with over 30 Martech vendors.
Who can keep up with that, let alone stay ahead of it?
Illustrates 30 MarTech companies have to work with to manage the customer journey.
Source: 4
Technology has disrupted business in many ways. According to Forrester, the primary reason technology has disrupted business is based on three issues:
Empowered consumers
Blurred lines between digital and physical
Disruptive business models powered by data and tech
In their reports titled “Winning In The Age Of The Customer,” and “The Customer-Obsessed Enterprise” Forrester suggests that companies that are not just customer-focused, but customer-obsessed, achieve higher revenue growth, customer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction.
Enter the COVID-19 pandemic
To put into perspective how important technology to business is, consider how different brands in food service were impacted by the pandemic.
Chipotle sales decreased 16% in the last two weeks of March compared to -25% at McDonald’s & Pizza Hut, -30% at Taco Bell and -35% at KFC
According to Black Box Intelligence, sales reported by all restaurants in their database for the week ending April 19 were -47.6%
As reported in QSR magazine for Domino’s “What’s happened in the first four weeks of Q2 (March 23 to April 19) has been more enlightening. Domino’s witnessed U.S. company comps jump 10.6 percent. Franchises are up 6.9 percent. Blended, it’s a 7.1 percent year-over-year same-store number.”
The first 3 examples are from brands that were already focusing on their digital capabilities. Wing Stop was one of the first restaurant brands to offer chatbot ordering on social media platforms. And Domino’s has become the de facto leader in the pizza segment when it comes to technology.
The key takeaway for restaurants is that the pandemic created a new set of consumer desires and demands and the brands (often chain with marketing teams) already knowledgeable and leading in technology won. This plays out in retail too. If you’re a retailer and you didn’t have an eCommerce platform prior to March 13, you’re probably hurting bad, or closed.
The pandemic forced many brands to accelerate their use and adoption of technology to meet the new consumer needs.
Conclusion
The bottom line when it comes to brick & mortar businesses is that marketing technology is part of the customer experience and great technology can create a great frictionless user experience. Bad technology can do the opposite. The pandemic forced business owners to embrace eCommerce, digital ordering, and contactless payments and transactions faster than ever before. Consequently, brick & mortar brands must:
Own all the consumer touchpoints
Own customer data
Connect offline to online for a true omnidirectional view of your customers
It’s not easy to keep up with technology. The effects of social distancing and working from home simply made every business pivot or adapt to less touch and more connection via technology.
If Forrester is right, the technology we marketers use to reach intended customers needs to pivot and more companies need to become customer-obsessed to succeed.
Staying ahead of that trend will be very difficult, very difficult indeed.
Doug Reifschneider
Doug Reifschneider is a 30+ year marketing veteran in the foodservice industry. He currently works with Chief Outsiders as a fractional CMO.
