But isn’t this just code for: “Ya gotta have personality?”

Want to blog and actively participate in social media to engage customers and prospects in your content? Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but if you’re boring, academic, and didactic in your tone or long-winded, who’s going to engage with you? Who wants to do business with you?

Personality! That’s what it takes. It’s “the visible aspect of one’s character as it impresses others” or “the distinctive character of a person that makes him [her] socially attractive.”

In the “old” days, it was the salesperson who capitalized on using personality, but in many cases, it was to BS the unsuspecting prospect into making a purchase, whether it was the right move or not. Today, BS is passé. It has been replaced by meeting the customer’s needs in an honest manner.

Whether you’re involved in B2C, B2B, government, or nonprofit marketing, it’s your personality that attracts others, builds relationships, and garners trust. You can’t force it. It has to come naturally.

What personality characteristics do you think are valuable in marketing now?

The brewer apparently saw unit sales drop by 1.7% last year, but it is planning to counter that along with competition coming from Anheuser-Busch with product innovations and new advertising spends. Its first big idea: a new bottle designed with interior grooves.

Pouring the beer out creates the appearance of a “vortex.” With advertising support behind the new bottle, and the tag “great pilsner taste,” MillerCoors is likely to get some interest here.

Other innovations are: the 16 oz. Coors Aluminum Pint and a Coors Light Cold Activated Window 12-pack. The cans in brand signature silver feature the iconic mountain range in thermochromatic ink. The ink turns blue when the cans are chilled to the ideal temperature for consumption. These innovations will likely be advertised.

Some might say that an interesting pour and color magic will get you just so far. But here’s my take: Packaging does a lot to enhance—or detract from—customer experiences.

In fact, researchers say that at least 70% of the time consumers make final purchase decisions right at the shelf. That just goes to show how important packaging is to the decision-making process. When consumers opt to purchase a product, and packaging has helped seal the deal, we refer to that as “the first moment of truth.”

Then, when customers actually engage with the packaging as they use the product, a “second moment of truth” unfolds. If packaging heightens the user experience in some way,or makes the product more memorable, it’s likely consumers will purchase it again. In fact, it’s much more likely the brand and product will become the one of choice.

So maybe creating a vortex in a bottle isn’t so far-fetched. Maybe packaging that changes color to indicate ideal drinkability isn’t either.

Questions:
• Do you think these new packaging innovations are just marketing gimmicks or do you think consumers will see real value in them?
• Are there specific products you purchase because the packaging adds substantially to their value in some way? If so, which ones and why?

I’d love to hear from you.

Like customers, we need to know what those influencers look like. What motivates and inspires them? How do we connect with them?
A May 3 article in eMarketer called “Is the Current Definition of ‘Influencer’ Too Narrow?” is a must-read for anyone in business. It begins to answer these questions. The article is based on a CNET study called “Understanding Influence, and Making It Work For You: A CNet Networks Study.”
The study tells us that the highly-connected influencers use e-mail (84%) and in-person discussion (88%) for their most frequent interactions. Phone (46%), instant messaging (16%), and text messaging (15%) happen much less often.
For us to reach out to these influencers, we need to use basic marketing strategies, including understanding their emotional and informational needs, communicating with them in a way that is easy to forward and share, building trust, and sending the right messages, at the right time, to the right place.
It should come as no surprise but is worth remembering that the message, not the vehicle, is the most important element to get influencers to spread the word. If you don’t have something provocative, incredibly interesting, or newsworthy to share, no one will listen. Your best influencers are happy customers who love your great products, services, and experiences.
Here are the results of a study by Osterman Research that ranks the most important things we need to spread word of mouth: satisfied customers (53%), great products or services (27.5%), an exciting brand (13.3%), have an advertising or PR firm (1.7%), and low prices (0%). These numbers tell us much about where we need to focus our business-growth strategies.
I wonder. Word of mouth is how I get most of my business. It is also a strategy that I recommend to my clients. What are your experiences? Do these numbers suggest ways we can get better at what we do?