Local Store Marketing

Dogs in the Balihoo office? You bet!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010 by Kallen Hayes

The Balihoo office is a pretty productive place. Our employees are hard-working, enthusiastic, energetic, and extremely passionate about revolutionizing local store marketing. We work really well together and collaborate with a level of team spirit and cohesion rivaled by (maybe) only a few other groups.

AND... our mascot, 'Scout', is a dog.

Is this some crazy coincidence? I don't think so. And neither does the author of Manager's Best Friend, an article that appeared in The Economist last month. The article suggests, based on research done by Central Michigan University, that the presence of canine friends in the office space can improve teamwork and encourage team allegiance. Participants in the study who had a dog to "slobber and pounce on them" gave better feedback about their group members in the studied areas of trust, team cohesion and intimacy.

I'm glad Balihoo culture encourages canine companionship. We have a dog photo cork board, our meeting rooms are named after employee's dogs, Scout paraphernalia is all over the place, and we're always quick to hand-out one of our beloved Scout stuffed toys.

Just recently, our VP of Marketing, Shane Vaughan, got a new yellow lab puppy named Dexter. Much to everyone's excitement, he's been paying weekly visits to our office. Other notable past canine visitors include Wrigley, Max and Bronco.

It doesn't take scientific evidence to convince me that a canine companion can lift anyone's mood and therefore, at the least, create a more enjoyable work environment (although I might argue that bringing a puppy into an area occupied by females will most likely temporarily decrease productivity). But, productivity aside, we can all agree that enjoyable environments make for happier people, and I'm confident that happy Balihoo employees make for happy local marketing software customers!

Want to Grow Your Sales? Then Empower Your Channel

Tuesday, August 31, 2010 by Chris Keller

You’ve heard it a thousand times: Empower Your Channel to Grow Sales.

Sounds good, right?

Problem is that empowering your channel has always meant hiring more sales people who struggle to control the loose ends. It turns out that implementing channel marketing automation technology is a cost effective approach that will provide a tangible return on investment.

Reality

A recent call with a prospect illustrates the situation. Half of this prospect’s sales come from Group A, a handful of large, national B2C buyers with thousands of local stores. The other half of sales come from Group B, consisting of thousands of local and regional distributors with 1-5 locations. Logically, this marketer focuses the majority of his resources on the handful of big buyers who drive sales quotas.

The irony, while Group A does drive tremendous volume, and total sales, their fixation on price drives profit out of each transaction, resulting in commoditized products. In stark contrast, Group B tends to be very loyal, strong brand advocates, and more profitable (considering the very small amount spent on them currently). So the prospect neglects Group B.

Sadly, this is an all too common problem. Gerald Murray, Research Manager with IDC, recently released a study of channel marketing for large IT companies stating that, on average the IT company participants in his study have 19,000 inactive partners. Beyond IT, the problem pervades other industry sectors.

Solution

How then can the prospect cost effectively drive sales through the more profitable Group B? It turns out that hiring more people is not the solution. The increased human capital costs would outweigh the subsequent sales increase. The opportunity then must lie in the use of technology.

Murray from IDC tends to agree, though his solution is to implement partner relationship management (PRM) tools, though I don’t think that fundamentally tackles the channel marketing problems. Instead, I think a local marketing automation (LMA) platform includes the full suite of tools to solve channel problems. Also based on technology, it focuses on empowering the local channel reseller, a distinct difference from PRM tools that focus on tools for a brand’s channel marketing/sales organizations.

The LMA solution is scalable, cost effective, and ultimately places emphasis on local store marketing execution, a movement that is much more than a trend. To understand this as a solution, one must consider the MARKETING problems a channel faces:

Marketing Materials - Access and ability to customize proven, professionally designed, and nationally branded creative assets.
Advertising Funds - Traditionally administered as a co-op marketing solution, national advertising dollars are a lifeline to the small marketing budgets of local channel resellers.
Strategy - Local channel resellers typically don’t have the training, experience, or attention to develop, implement and execute effective cross-medium local marketing.
Execution - Local marketing requires knowledge of effective branding across multiple mediums.

What do you think? Are these the problems your channel faces?

Need Flowers? Call 1-800-Flowers. Need LSM? Call Balihoo.

Friday, August 27, 2010 by Alex Fascilla

The other night, I caught an episode of CBS's Undercover Boss, a show in which, if you haven't already heard (hopefully, you have, as your CEO could be lurking--perhaps even watching you now as you read this, posing as an interested temp as he scribbles a mental note, "This guy likes to read blogs when he should be working . . . fired!") features CEOs of Fortune 500 companies—never mind—I just explained the entire premise of the show.

Anyway, this particular episode trailed Chris McCann, the President and little brother of Jim McCann, the CEO of the largest floral and gift company in the world, 1-800-Flowers. [An aside: the best scenes came when Jim treats Chris like they're both 9 years old again, going so far as to almost blow Chris' cover in a stunt to embarrass him in front of people that technically work for him. Classic!]. The episode proceeds as most do. Boss finds some bad. Boss finds more good. Boss hands out promotions/gentle coaching. However, one particular scene made my "hey-Balihoo-could-own-that-if-given-the-chance" light bulb go off. Yes, I have that light bulb. Jealous?

Shortly after this scene was shot, Chris was almost fired by this lady! No joke!

The scene involves Chris visiting a franchise that recently went from locally-owned to a 1-800-Flowers branded florist shop. When the manager of this particular store was asked why the store was struggling, she stated simply, "people just don't understand we're the same shop, with a different name, especially since we aren't involved in local advertising." DING! Enter Balihoo. With Balihoo actively enabling breakthrough local store marketing, that store, and other 1-800-Flowers franchises just like it, would have been quickly outfitted with the tools neccessary to get their store performing optimally.

So, Mr. McCann (and others just like you) . . . can I get you our local marketing playbook?

Local Online Marketing Works - Take it from Groupon

Friday, August 27, 2010 by Betsie Richardson

Being in the business of local advertising, we at Balihoo are often asked by our small business owner clients about how to utilize local internet marketing. They hear buzz that their customers are overwhelmingly adopting online media. But the internet appears to our business owners as, well, the world wide web - rather daunting, and they don't know where to start.

Our retail store owners in particular spent much of their local marketing efforts in the past few decades hanging coupons on doors and running inserts in the local newspaper. This method simply doesn't cut it in today's fragmented consumer marketplace.

Online advertising is a great way to market on a tight budget and reach a targeted demographic. Google Paid Search (pay-per-click) and SEO efforts should be top on any local business marketer's list. Then consider what your local media outlets offer on their online properties.

Groupon's online display campaign in the NYTimes.com illustrates a great example of local targeting through online news sites. Admittedly, I was reading an article about Snooki, but my shame aside, Groupon's ad on "Boise's Best / Up to 90% Off / Get Today's Special" caught my eye, and I found myself adding to their click through rate. The special today happens to be laser hair removal at a high end spa in Boise. Well targeted at me - a young female professional reading the Fashion & Style section of the NYTimes.com.

Groupon is averaging 500,000 new subscribers a week. After they ran an $11 million promo for Gap, they gained 750,000 subscribers (see Advertising Age's article).

What to learn from Groupon's online marketing:

Identify your target demographic and only buy top-rated pages against that audience
Keep your message concise and easy to read (the less words the better)
Focus the message on the call-to-action
Leverage the measurability of online advertising - track your results closely and optimize as you see upward/downward trends

Are you a franchise owner looking for guidance with local store marketing? Check out Balihoo's white paper.

5 Steps: Creating an Effective Referral Marketing Program

Monday, August 23, 2010 by Marcie Blagden-Ellison

If you own a local business or are a local product distributor, you likely know how powerful customer referrals can be to your bottom line. While most business owners recognize this opportunity, many mistakenly leave Referral Marketing out of their annual local marketing strategy.

Perhaps you're thinking: "Referral Marketing - as a strategy? Referrals should be organic," which, in part, is correct. Referral marketing should be organic; however, if you aren't providing your satisfied customers with the tools and an incentive to share their experience(s) with their social networks (via referral marketing tactics), you're missing out on a huge opportunity.

At the end of the day, nobody talks about businesses that allow themselves to be forgotten. In order to get a significant amount of referrals, you need to ensure that you've made it EASY for customers to refer you. To do this, you need a referral marketing plan.

To get started, follow these steps:

1. Consider the companies that you've referred. Why did you refer them?

Taking a minute to consider the companies that you've referred will help you to identify some tactics or methods that can help kickoff your referral brainstorming process. Once you've identified several referral marketing masters, consider what seems to 'work' for them.

Example: My gym has practically mastered the art of referrals. They continually run members-only promotions that encourage members to bring friends and family into the gym (free training, free gym bag, discounted month, discounted Smoothies, free body analysis, etc.). As such, I've referred several neighbors and family members. So, If you have a membership-based business, take note!

2. Identify Your Target Referrer
Not all of your customers are going to be your best referral candidates. Carefully consider who among your most satisfied customers are your target referrers. Once you have that person identified, think about what makes him/her happy with your service. What do they find valueable? You want to make sure that the value(s) and benefits(s) that they will be sharing align with your referral marketing goals.

3. Create Your Custom Referral Plan
Ultimately, everyone likes to get a deal. Offering a discount, free item, unique promotion, etc. is often the best way to prompt referrals. Most satisfied customers will be more than happy to recommend your business - especially if you're offering them an incentive to do so. To ensure that your plan gets off to a successful start, make sure that all of your employees are onboard.

NOTE: As a rule of thumb, industry experts suggest waiting until the transaction (i.e. cash register exchange) is complete before asking for referrals.

4. Elicit the Correct Information
Using a referral form or card will help you capture the information you're after AND will encourage referrals. Consider creating a personalized form or card of some sort (that offers a discount/free item to BOTH the referrer and the referree). Following the business transaction, send/provide these referral cards to your satisfied customers.

5. Keep Track - and Keep in Touch!
Don't worry if a number of your referral candidates don't immediately recommend your business. Depending on your business, the referral process might take longer (i.e. car dealerships). Make sure you have your referral contacts' info on file and keep in touch with them by sending quarterly letters or newsletters.

Example: The car dealership that I bought my last car from sent me a personalized tin filled with cookies around the holiday season. I've sent them two referrals and won't forget them anytime soon (i.e. - Send more cookies, please!).

At Balihoo, our media planning strategy team provides many of our clients' local business owners with integrated marketing plans. The different types of referral programs that I have seen this team come up with is remarkable. To continue exploring the art of customer referral programs check out this Entreprenuer blog post. Or to learn more about building a breakthrough local store marketing plan, check out this free white paper.

The New Definition of 'Locally Owned and Operated'

Monday, August 23, 2010 by Kallen Hayes

What does it mean to be locally owned and operated? I found myself asking this question when I stepped into Tully’s Coffee the other week and noticed that exact phrase written on one of their gift cards. The card itself caught my attention because it had a beautiful picture of Boise on it (a smart local store marketing tactic). What really got me thinking was their use of ‘locally owned and operated’. I’ve always thought of Tully’s as a chain coffee shop, whereas ‘locally owned and operated’ makes me think of an individual, independently-run store. I'm positive the Tully’s on 8th and Broad in downtown Boise isn’t the only Tully’s coffee shop in the world and I know the company's corporate headquarters aren't located here in Boise. So does my favorite coffee shop (with great tasting lattes) really qualify as local? The question has been raised by other Balihooers and undoubtedly brings to mind the arguments of our era's epic battle between the 'big box' businesses and the local ma and pop shops. Though, with the growing trend toward franchise and chain businesses and the continual blurring of the line between local ownership and corporate control, has the meaning of locally owned and operated evolved?

According to my research, there are a variety of opinions on the definition of "locally owned," but most tend to agree that it describes a business owned in majority by local residents who are largely free to make their own local advertising, operational, and legal decisions. On the International Franchise Association's website, they promote the notion that all franchise companies are ‘local’ and are merely supported by their parent companies to facilitate and accelerate the steps to achieve their own business development goals. In fact, the IFA’s tagline, 'Franchising: Building local businesses, one opportunity at a time' clearly states their intention to foster and support healthy communities.

I would argue that the time has come for a significant shift in what consumers consider to be a ‘local’ business. With today's advanced technology and improved production, distribution, and shipping standards, it makes sense for small business owners to maximize their investments by leveraging resources available through franchise organizations and co-op memberships. In order to help these small business thrive in this new competitive landscape, we as consumers should adjust our 'us versus them' mentality to embrace the new era of national organizations. Sure, to some extent, there will be an inevitable loss of local history and charm as chain brands replace many of the old and cherished business names with which we've grown up. But we cannot deny that market forces will prevail in the end. The concept of economies of scale tells us again and again that pooling resources and knowledge will always create a smarter business model.

To look at it from a more personal perspective, it's only fair to admire and appreciate a local resident with the entrepreneurial spirit and drive to start their own business, employ local workers and sponsor local events. Further, they may be every bit as committed to contributing to the health and future of their community through their local store marketing efforts as the individually owned local store owners whose businesses have survived against the big-box retailers. With that in mind, Tully's Coffee and the other franchise and chain stores with local owners dedicated to serving their customers and investing in their communities are every bit as deserving of the locally owned and operated recognition.

Let Us Organize Your Skittles

Friday, August 20, 2010 by Paul Price

Imagine a big jar filled with Skittles. The Skittles are randomly distributed throughout the jar; a jumbled mishmash of red, green, yellow, purple and orange. The jar is on a machine that shakes it vigorously. Now, imagine that this shaking action is captured on a video and played in reverse.

There is no way that you can tell the video is being played in reverse. When the video is played backward, the candies bounce just as they would when played forward. You have no way to know if the video is playing forward or in reverse.

Now, record a new video in your mind. This time, start with a jar where the Skittles are arranged in colored layers. Moving from the bottom to the top, you have red, green, yellow, purple and finally a orange layer. As the machine shakes the jar, the candies bounce and collide until they are again randomly distributed.

In this video, you can easily distinguish a forward playing recording from one that plays in reverse. This experiment illustrates the effect of entropy known as the arrow of time. The basic principle of this model is that without the help of an external exertion of energy, a system tends to become less ordered over time. Interestingly, this is the only physical property that seems to define the flow of time from past to future.

I got to thinking about this principle as I was mowing, weeding and maintaining my yard yesterday afternoon. Everything in life follows this principle: yards, cars, homes, computer systems, roads and even business strategies including your local advertising strategy. It will slowly fall apart and become less effective over time if you don't continually test, measure and refine it. For example, if local internet marketing was not a part of your strategy a few years ago, it may not have hurt your sales. But, today, if you aren't investing in local internet marketing, then you are almost certainly losing opportunities.

Even if you are executing a successful local pay-per-click campaign today, it is almost guaranteed to be less successful in the future if you don't continually test, measure and refine your approach. The same goes for all other mediums, strategies, tactics and local marketing ideas. You have to stay up-to-date on the new tools and techniques or your competitors who do keep up will leave you behind.

As a national brand, local affiliate, reseller or independent small business owner, you have a lot to worry about, and probably don't have time to get into the nuts and bolts of fighting local advertising entropy. That is where Balihoo comes in. We do that work for you; from ad builder software to email campaign automation, microsites and local media buying. Click here to take a look at some of our whitepapers and case studies. If you are a franchisee or product reseller, then direct your national brands to Balihoo, so that we can help them and you to get your skittles (aka: local store marketing strategy) to look more like this:

Moe's Southwest Grill Nailed It!

Thursday, August 19, 2010 by Brian King

I was recently catching up on some light reading at FastCasual.com, a site devoted to insights for innovative restaurants, when I stumbled upon an article that made so much rationale sense in a world that can sometimes be so irrationale.

The article, Moe's invests in local-store marketing strategy, is in reference to Moe's Southwest Grill's recent corporate initiative to increase local marketing efforts by adding a grassroots element to the franchisee's bag of available tools for franchise marketing.

Below are two favorite quotes from the article, and my thoughts on them:

1. "Local-store marketing has always been a part of what we do and we have always provided a kit to our franchise partners, but not many of our franchisees are comfortable leaving their four walls." - Right on! So many franchises want to focus on local advertising and marketing, but neglect to provide quality tools to the franchisees that truly enable them to act as effective local marketers. Ahem. . .better take a peek at Balihoo's Local Marketing Automation solution.

2. "It allows the franchisee. . .to totally control his or her territory, and they're less reliant on corporate staff or the franchisor to do the marketing for them." - FINALLY! While their effort is primarily focused on grassroots marketing, at least they are working to put tools in place so that local marketing isn't something that is only discussed during executive brainstorming sessions, but rather something that is actively done at a local level to drive demand generation.

Kudos to the team at Moe's. Now my recommendation to them: Call us, because we all know that grassroots marketing is just one component of the numerous marketing activities that should take place at the local level. We can help you with the rest!

Beersbee: Power Tools and Local Marketing

Friday, August 6, 2010 by Chuck Mitten

At our company campout last weekend, I was introduced to a great new game called Beersbee. It's a combination drinking/skill game that's pretty simple, and a ton of fun. IMO, it's a great addition to any backyard barbeque.

Inspired, I was walking through Lowe's the other day in search of some PVC pipe to build my own Beersbee kit, and I just couldn't resist the pull of the power tools section. You don't really need power tools to make a Beersbee kit. I just dig tools (pun intended). They help you do stuff. And when you have exactly the right tool for a job, it's an awesome thing. The right tool makes you powerful. Smart. Efficient. Productive. Confident. You get the job done quickly, and done right.

I was in the process of admiring a table saw that I know I can't fit in my garage when I realized: Balihoo really provides power tools for local marketing automation. And a lot of the brand builders that I talk to on a daily basis are closer to hacking things out of stone (from a marketing perspective) than they are to using power tools.

The cool thing is that when they see how easy Balihoo makes ad building (across all media types), co-op management and local media buying and marketing execution, they get that same feeling I quietly enjoy at my local hardware store: Zen. Appreciation of the artful match of purpose and capability.

Balihoo: Top quality power tools for Brand Builders. Give me a call, post a comment or drop me a line. I'd love the opportunity to show them to you.

And if you want to know what it means to trust your power tools, check out this amazing video.

The Basics Of Pay-Per-Click

Friday, August 6, 2010 by Sam Martin

One of my responsibilities at Balihoo is managing pay-per-click campaigns for several local franchisees. A couple years ago I knew absolutely nothing about pay-per-click advertising, but since then I have tried to learn as much as I possibly can, not only my personal satisfaction but to better serve our clients local store marketing efforts.

The one thing I have found about pay-per-click is that on the surface is it pretty straight forward but the minute you dive in a little deeper it gets fairly complicated. There are a lot of dials to turn and buttons to push in order to make a campaign perform at its best. The complexity of PPC creates a challenge when trying to describe how it all works to clients that have never been engaged with local internet marketing. To hopefully help in this area, I recently built a slide deck that gives a brief overview of what PPC is and how it can benefit local store marketing.

Google Adwords Overview

View more presentations from Balihoo.

The purpose of this deck was to provide a resource for our clients to reference and gain a better understanding of PPC at a high level. I also wanted to address a few of the questions that I get on a regular basis from clients who are just starting with PPC - Why isn't my ad showing or Why is my competitors ad above mine?

So, if you want to learn some basics of pay-per-click advertising, check out the presentation and don't forget to download our whitepaper to find out more about Balihoo.

The User Experience Journey

Friday, August 6, 2010 by Kevin Donaldson

Software user-experience development is a journey. It's a lot like the journey of life - ideally you continue to grow and learn along this journey, and in the case of user experience, our objective is to make our users feel like marketing super hero's when using our software.

Balihoo's local marketing automation platform is considered to be one of the best in the industry, however we're always looking for ways to improve it. Not only do we continually add new functionality designed to benefit affiliates' with local store marketing needs - but we consistently strive to ensure that the product that we're currently offering continues to evolve and surpass our end-users expectations. A current enhancement that we're working through is in our cross-medium ad builder process and the user transition from the creative template library into the ad-building and ordering process.

In the first image below you will see our current creative details UI that was released earlier this year. This screen is a 'jumping off' point for building an ad and then taking an action with it. While this iteration was well received over the previous release, we knew there would still be plenty of room for growth. However one of the best ways to evolve a product is through real user activity!

Since the time it was deployed we've been gathering feedback through conversion analytics, support calls, training demos and 3rd party usability tests to look for mis-steps in the user experience. Below is an in-progress version of our next iteration. There are some minor tweaks we still want to make but overall this new concept tested well prior to development and we are now in the process of building and deploying this to our customers in the next two weeks. If you look at both screens you'll notice a number of changes including:

Increased use of thumbnail images over pure text
Clear link between the version you are looking against the assets you have stored
Available actions are all available in one place (as your eye scans to the right (always above the fold))
Clear focus toward action (i.e. conversion) on the page
Clear differentiation between the master template and versions the user has customized

This is just the tip of a much broader initiative as we work to further simplify the local marketing execution process. We're excited to be continually moving forward to better serve our customer base. Stay tuned for more peeks into this process over the next few months!

How to take your Co-op Advertising Program to the Next Level

Tuesday, August 3, 2010 by Marcie Blagden-Ellison

Okay, I’ll admit it – co-op advertising, co-op marketing, MDF advertising – these terms threw me at first. The first time I encountered them was in a meeting with the Balihoo Product Management team (notably Kevin and Kelly – these two incredibly dedicated and bright individuals left me excited about the advancements made within the Balihoo solution AND interested to learn more about co-op/MDF programs). I wondered, just how prevalent was/is the need for a cross-media ad builder (inclusive of all media types) that ALSO houses (thereby streamlining) the co-op marketing process?

Who is offering a solution that addresses the widespread question “Okay, so I customized and placed my advertising…now I have to access X to file my co-op claim, why can’t it all just be wrapped up in one single website?!”).” Well… enter Balihoo.

Okay, so I obviously have an agenda here, I want national brands with co-op marketing brands and local store marketing needs to check out Balihoo’s integrated marketing solution – however, I also KNOW that what Balihoo's product is truly unique, innovative and GAME-CHANGING.

Schedule a demo to see how our integrated co-op marketing solution can (and WILL) help your national brand (from the local to national level) progress and see results. You won’t be sorry – I GUARANTEE it! If you attend a demo on behalf of your brand and aren’t impressed – let me know and I’ll personally send you a $10 Starbucks gift card.

Transforming Granite

Monday, August 2, 2010 by Matt Borud

Last Saturday, Balihoo had the pleasure of presenting at the Granite Transformations annual franchise convention in New Orleans. Now this was a significant occasion for several reasons beyond franchise marketing - namely it being my first time in the Big Easy. After the celebration of Balihoo's arrival subsided, it was time to get down to business and talk local store marketing with some eager and engaged franchisees.

The marketing team at Granite Transformation has taken an active and aggressive approach to solving issues that countless franchise organizations face. How can a national marketing team better support local franchisees? Is your brand's creative material compelling and effective - does it help sell your product? How can your marketing team manage seemingly limitless local customizations for hundreds of franchisees across the country? How can you ensure your franchisees are using brand approved advertising material in their local advertising efforts, and how can you track and report on the results? How can your franchisees leverage Facebook, Twitter, local PR, SEO, blogs and YouTube? This list goes on and on - and frankly it requires much more than sophisticated ad builder software or someone to manage your local media buying. It requires a team of dedicated marketing experts each specializing in key challenge areas your franchisees face.

Kudos to Carl, the Granite Transformations FAC, and the rest of their marketing team for building a strong network of marketing and advertising experts for their franchisees to leverage. From PR to creative agency, online and social media marketing to franchise marketing software - Granite Transformation has covered their bases and giving their franchisees the tools necessary to thrive in a competitive and challenging market. There are certainly more hurdles to overcome, but the question becomes, whether you're a marketing executive, a franchisee looking for local marketing help, or a prospective franchisee checking out different opportunities - is your organization bold enough to take the steps Granite Transformations has taken to ensure they're franchisees have the most innovative local store marketing tools in the industry? If the answer to that question is 'no' - it may be time to reevaluate your franchise marketing strategies and talk with Balihoo about what we can do for your organization's marketing effort. Because at the end of the day, you're competing with Granite Transformations, whether for home improvement business, the consumer's limited budget and mindshare or your next well-qualified potential franchisees - and they just retooled like the Miami Heat.

From all of us at Balihoo, we're very excited to kick off our relationship with the Granite Transformations team next week. Thank you for your hospitality last weekend and the opportunity to partner - we're looking forward to a successful relationship!

QSR Marketing: The Battle Regarding Size (Health-focus or Supersize-Focus?)

Monday, August 2, 2010 by Marcie Blagden-Ellison

"Supersize, Supersize, the American way"

"Supersize it" A phrase that brings about thoughts of gigantean proportions and excess - and that still remains glued to the McDonald's name even though the Supersize option was eliminated over five years ago.

When the news broke in 2004 that McDonald's was axing its larger-than-large size, McDonald's explained that the decision was based upon down sales and "Menu simplification - the fact of the matter is not many Supersize fries are sold" (as stated by Walt Riker, McDonald's spokesman). The surprise blockbuster hit and Oscar nominated Supersize Me (filmed in February 2003 and aired May of 2004) was supposedly not a factor in the franchise marketing team's decision.

Interesting then, that today more and more franchise marketing and product teams (not McDonald's) are moving (and heavily promoting) larger and larger menu items - Carl's 12-inch Big Carl burger, Sonic's foot-long Quarter Pounder Coney (1 1/2 inches longer than its previous longest hot dog), etc.

Carl's Marketing Development chief, Brad Haley says that for the chain's core customers - young men between the ages of 18 to 24 the idea of a foot-long sandwich works, "Obviously the foot-long sandwich has been very successful at Subway...we decided to do it the Carl's way".

Now, there is obviously a key difference between how these two brands are publicly perceived - Subway has cleverly marketed itself as being the "healthy" QSR-joint - Carl's Jr. on the other hand....not so much. This difference in consumer perception (regardless of specific nutritional facts) will likely have an impact on the QSRs that choose to offer gargantuan sizes. Also of interest (and something that Carl's has obviously identified - they have a very specific target audience that just might jump at this offer - so unless Carl's is featured in the next 'Americans eat-too-darn-much' documentary, their message might just work.

For the small business owner with local store marketing needs - taking risks with new products and services (and their promotion efforts) can be unnerving (especially considering that the local business owner's marketing budget isn't exactly "Carl's size"). Having a professional media team available that can help you identify and pinpoint your target audience and place your message in front of them - AND a creative team that can ensure that your message is in-concert with your brand and resonates locally can take a huge weight off of your shoulders.

To learn how Balihoo helps national brands and franchise organization's effectively market their message and product launches at the local level, contact us today!

The Local Marketing Puzzle

Friday, July 30, 2010 by Paul Price

Are you a local advertiser who is trying to figure out the most efficient way to drum up more business? A few years ago when asked about local marketing, a small business owner may have expressed the kind of frustration this cat is feeling:

It was kind of hard and frustrating, especially with no opposable thumbs. And, as in the case of a color blind cat, it was difficult to really understand the effectiveness and results of your efforts. That was then. Now local store marketing is something a little more akin to this:

You'd think that it would be getting easier, right? I can reach out to individual consumers with all this new whiz-bang technology, right? But with all of the fragmentation of publishers, and new complexity that sits between them and the advertiser it can be a pretty daunting task to just understand the landscape, let alone achieve tangible results. We're talking about agencies, ad servers, media buying platforms, creative optimization, analytics, data suppliers and aggregation, data optimizers, ad exchanges, ad networks, performance analysis, print ad builders, yield optimization, social tools, publisher tools, etc. How do you make sense of all of these puzzle pieces and get them to work together seamlessly?

At the end of the day you simply want more people to spend more money in your store. It would be really nice if it were handed to you like this:

Ok, nobody is going to hand you a completely solved marketing solution. Every business and market is different, there is no perfect one-size-fits-all solution. But the tools and expertise to help you get there are available. Check out our white papers and cases studies to see how Balihoo, the premier provider of local marketing software and services, can help you solve your local marketing puzzle so that you can spend more time chasing mice and playing with balls of yarn. Oops, I got my analogy a little mixed up.

The Czech Dream

Friday, July 23, 2010 by Phil Bear

Back in 2003, roughly 19 years after Ghostbusters was released in theaters, two Czech film makers decided to create a documentary about the impact that marketing has on people.

Their plan was a simple one. They would create a massive marketing campaign for a shopping mall, and its grand opening. Sounds pretty straight forward right? Wrong! The M Night Shyamalan twist? The shopping mall never has, and never will exist.

Looks like you just got air-bended.

The two film students, Remunda and Klusák, created a marketing campaign around a shopping mall called Czech Dream that was going to "open" a month from the start of the campaign. We're talking radio, television, billboards, and even a jingle.

When the big day arrived, and the 3000+ people that showed up for the opening walked towards the front of the "store", they found this:

Bruce Willis is dead the whole movie!!!!

The point the filmmakers were trying to make, from my perspective, is that we are all suckers for marketing. But it didn't strike me that way. Throughout the movie they are advertising legitimate items (be it celery, chain-link, or Ghostbusters on BluRay) with a good price. People in the film were showing up for specific things. They didn't show up because they were brainwashed by marketing.

Consumers have something they want or need. Marketing effectively is the way in which brands reach consumers about the products they, the consumer, already have interest in. How is this a bad thing? If anything, it needs to be done better. Enter Balihoo.

Balihoo, and our local marketing automation software, give national brands the ability to reach consumers that have a want or a need. We provide brands with the tools (via our sweet ad builder software), and the knowledge (thanks to our incredible local media planning team) to market national brands through local stores and dealers effectively.

Lastly, if you only watch one Czech movie about two film makers who market a make-believe shopping mall, Czech Dream is definitely the movie I recommend.

Local Store Marketing Tips for Small Businesses

Monday, July 19, 2010 by Ashley Moore-Cliff

Like many young professionals fresh out of graduate school can tell you, this market has proven to be difficult to find the level of salary that helps yield a return on the investment of education. Many recent grads, myself included, are having to work second jobs to help pay off those pesky student loans that are now being billed on. That being said I consider myself one of the lucky grads who has been able to find work with a great company like Balihoo in the field that I would like to be in. And to supplement additional income, I also work at Ethan Allen Home Interiors as one of the weekend receptionist. The Ethan Allen Design Center of Boise (EADCB) is a locally owned small business that experiences the marketing challenges that small businesses encounter.

I often find that while working at Ethan Allen, it is hard for me to turn off my marketing brain and thus I am constantly trying to come up with marketing ideas for the owner that are cost effective. Most small businesses don’t have a huge marketing budget; and for that reason it is necessary to make sure the money that is allocated towards local advertising is being used in an efficient and productive way.

While researching marketing ideas for small businesses I found the article Ten Powerful Marketing Tips for the Small Business by Ann Marie Rubertone. In this article, Rubertone outlines ten marketing ideas that small business should consider such as teaming up your marketing efforts with another business, hosting an open house, or simply answering your phones differently. I find this article a great resource for small business owners because it helps generate new and creative marketing ideas. But it is important to remember that before you begin implementing some of these local marketing ideas, you will want to make sure you understand your target audience. Knowing your customer is the key to the success of your local marketing campaign.

Ethan Allen Corporate has a great knowledge base of their target audience and EADCB works hard at maintaining the corporate image while at the same time making it fit into the local Boise community. Because EADCB knows the importance of buying locally and supporting local small businesses in their community, a large part of their marketing is focused on giving their location a local identity. EADCB bases a lot of their marketing funds on sponsorships of events throughout the community like Ballot of Idaho, local high school teams and events, and Idaho Voices for Children. They also host various open to the public educational seminars throughout the year, and twice a year have “Customer Appreciation Nights” where they focus on making their customers feel like they are part of the “EADCB family.”

However you decided to distribute your marketing funds, ask yourself two questions; who’s my target audience and will this local store marketing campaign reach them effectively?

Your Co-op/MDF Advertising Program Sucks

Wednesday, July 7, 2010 by Shane Vaughan

If you've ever been associated with the "delivery" side of a co-op or MDF advertising program, you've likely received an email/vmail/letter something like:

Dear Product Manufacturer,

Your Co-op advertising program sucks.

First, what are the specific rules and regulations? How do I know what's covered? What is my specific co-op advertising balance and what can I use it on? I've spent hours and hours working on this with my sales rep (is that the best use of his time?) and we still have no idea.

Secondly - thanks for all the product images...now I get to take them to my local agency and pay thousands to get an ad designed that I 'hope' you will approve. At least you're paying for most of the design fees, but wow, wouldn't those dollars be much better spent driving demand in the marketplace?

Thirdly - are you serious with this creative? It's a big, branded ad for your brand with a small little spot for my logo. Why would I spend money on this? Where is the demand-generation component? What's going to get customers to walk in my store and make a purchase? Where is the tracking? How do I know if this is going to work for my local marketing efforts?

Also, I see you've given me a print ad and a flyer. That's great and all but this is 2010 - where is the banner ad? What if I want to put up a microsite? PPC? Social media? TV? C'mon, marketing at the local level HAS to be integrated across mediums - I know you know that because that's what YOU do at the local level. Where are the other mediums?

Finally - 6-10 weeks to get my co-op/mdf money back? Really? And half the time we have to go round-and-round to get that (another great use of my sales reps time). Why can't you just give me an immediate discount on the marketing spend for the amount you're going to cover?

That's it, I've had enough, I'm going to market Competitor X from now on. Good luck with your big product launch later this year....

Any of these issues sound familiar? Did you know that using Balihoo's channel marketing software to manage your co-op advertising program can address all of these issues and more? Avoid getting another letter like this, request a free demo of our solution today.

Tracking the ROI of a New Product Launch

Wednesday, June 30, 2010 by Marcie Blagden-Ellison

When it comes to introducing a new product or service, one's product launch marketing options are limited only to one's imagination.

You can opt to go with one of a variety of standby, traditional marketing tactics: downloadable coupons, free samples, unique giveaways, etc. OR you can opt to stretch yourself and consider trying something a little different.

Chick-fil-A recently received some buzz after doing just that. Teaming with Mobilization Labs (a company recognized largely for their work work with the Jonas Brothers - they helped the then "new" band build an online fan base of over 600,000 in less than 4 months) the QSR launched a new sandwich via an online reservation system that did two three very important things:

1. Informed customers about the new "Spicy Chicken Sandwich" in a personalized, rewarding fashion
2. Provided Chick-fil-A with crucial data regarding their valued customers (Do you know who your most influential customers are?)
3. Supplied Chick-fil-A operators with adequate information to ensure that they were well-stocked (but not overly so) come launch time.

The reservation system - getspicychicken.com - allowed visitors to select a store as well as a timeframe (between March 31st and June 5th) to receive their free sandwich (Facebook, Twitter and email options followed reservations). In the end more than 1 million customers redeemed their "invitation" - and Chick-fil-A was able to track the viral spread to learn more about who their 'most influential' customers are, where and when coupons were redeemed and who redeemed them.

Combining a personalized "invitation", a free lunch and a feeling of elite-ness (you could only receive the new sandwich during the first week with a printed, barcoded "invitation" in your hand) Chick-fil-A brillantly (and seemingly very successfully) launched their new sandwich (while gaining valuable customer data) that is sure to help them plan future local store marketing events!

I am always fascinated by the different, seemingly simple, systems or concepts that prove to be immensely successful. Chick-fil-A's product launch marketing tactic managed to make customers feel that they were receiving a personalized benefit, franchisees feel adequately prepared, while also learning a tremendous amount about their demographic. Nicley done.

And if you are really only reading this post because you are curious about the sandwich - check out these reviews: Review 1, Review 2, Review 3

OR if you are confused as to why Balihoo finds product launches interesting, schedule a live demo with us!

The Power of Word-of-Mouth Advertising: How to Generate it?

Tuesday, June 29, 2010 by Marcie Blagden-Ellison

There is no question that word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing tactics can generate interest, store traffic and sales. Hearing about a product or brand from a real person is simply viewed as being more powerful - and in many cases, more "trustworthy" that hearing about it from the brand or manufacturer.

Today, one of the best places to generate WOM is on the internet. At a time when seemingly "everyone" maintains at least one social network presence - the internet is more influential than ever and provides brands with a platform to spark WOM (the not so easy part: WOM success requires solid concepting, precise timing and proper execution).

According to this study, the internet encourages brand-related conversations (thereby influencing our purchasing decision and brand preferences) and generates WOM more successfully than TV. While only 7% of all brand-WOM conversations occur online, 38% of people have brand-WOM conversations offline that are influenced by the internet (Yahoo estimates this 38% to be about 74 million people). Also of interest, apparently 15% of our conversations involve subjects, products or brands that we discuss (or back up) with information found online.

This discussion brings up two things:

1) If you are still dragging your feet when it comes to diving into local internet marketing - WHY!? Your customers are online and in your absence your competitors are getting all the glory.

2) Obviously not all WOM is GOOD - but if you aren't a part of it and/or ready to address it (good or bad) that's far worse! Get ahead of the game by planning an online campaign with the goal of sparking WOM buzz. With FREE tools like Twitter and Facebook - all you need is a clever concept, an appealing offer, intelligently planned timing and a targeted audience.

So, is your brand generating lucrative WOM action with its local internet marketing strategy? At Balihoo, our media team has a blast researching and developing unique, affordable, non-conventional advertising tactics for our clients' local marketing and media plans - who knows what they could do for your brand.