We're Already Well Known Thanks

Well, to those of you who are interested, YES! I did complete the London Marathon last Sunday in a time of just over 6 hours. Initially I was aiming for around 5:30 but my training programme said to allow for the heat and given that over 6000 people were treated for heat stroke, I'm pretty pleased to have finished in one piece. That piece is still rather sore, but believe it or not, I'm actually contemplating doing it again next year.

Thanks to anyone who sponsored me, wished me well or had anything else to do with it - your efforts are truly appreciated.

OK. Let's talk marketing. (Oh, do we have to Paul? It's like all you ever talk about in here. Why don't we just go and bury our heads in the sand like everyone else and look forward to the new Star Trek movie?)

I had a very interesting conversation with a client this week. They were already ordering some items for a conference but we hadn't really talked about their marketing materials. To paraphrase, this is what happened next:

Me: So how do you use promotional merchandise to market yourselves?

Client: We really don't need to market ourselves, people have generally heard of us.

Me: Interesting. Tell me, have you ever heard of Coca Cola?

Client: Good point.

It seems so obvious but people out there still don't seem to get it. We all of us walk around believing that the world at large has generally heard of our company. The trouble is that unless you are working for the likes of Coca Cola, Microsoft and so on, the chances are that you are not world famous.

Merchandise Mania are pretty well known - within our industry. It's not like I meet someone at a dinner party and when I tell them where I work they say "Oh yes, Merchandise Mania, I've heard of you guys - you're brilliant!" Actually, that did happen once but it was an amazing coincidence - the person I met at a party was literally in the process of ordering some merchandise from a colleague. Small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it.

Should we all be striving to be world famous? Sure, there are some companies that simply couldn't handle that level of work. That's fine, but to not consider some expansion just makes no sense at all. We should all be working so hard that we are at the point of turning work away, and when that point arrives, we can start looking at hiring more people. The latest unemployment figures suggest that it would not be that hard to find someone out there who's looking for a job.

Let's go back to the Coca Cola reference. Coca Cola don't need to market themselves. Their brand positioning is second to none and yet they still choose to do it. Why? Because they recognise that good marketing doesn't just get you to the top - it keeps you there too. What's to stop me switching to Pepsi? A taste test? Hardly. A lower price point? Nope - I can buy a supermarket own brand cola for a lot less, despite the fact that I'd rather stab my own eyes with a fork. Fact is that it's all in the marketing - subliminal messaging, rebranding, whatever it takes to win the Cola Wars, they've thought of it and they're trying it out on me and you.

So the next time you're thinking "people have heard of us", ask yourself a few fundamental questions - Which people? How have they heard of you? Most importantly, what have they heard about you?

Good marketing takes many forms and in the current climate, none of them should be overlooked. Even this blog is one of the ways I market myself and all it costs me is the time it takes to write it. My name is Paul Rose and I work for Merchandise Mania - I take it you've heard of me?