Adam Williams

Advice for marketers and small business owners

Marketing

Marketing

Developing a Personal Brand: I’m having a digital identity crisis

By
on

I recently realized that I had lost control of my digital life. With multiple web properties, social accounts, brands and email accounts, I suddenly realized that I did not have a unified brand that represented me. For example, despite several Twitter accounts, not one of them was branded with my name (inhibiting my ability to establish myself as a thought leader and marketer).

Just as large companies go through reviews of brands, web properties and divisions, we need to do something similar. Let me explain what I did. Pulling out one of my favorite tools, a large white board, I listed every website that I either own or contribute to, all of the brands that I represent online, all of my Twitter handles and all of the email addresses that I use.

Continue Reading

Comments Off on Developing a Personal Brand: I’m having a digital identity crisis
Marketing

Dear CW: Have you tried talking WITH your audience lately? I didn’t think so

By
on

I’ve tried to reach out to The CW several times via Twitter asking about things such as show times and why your website is down. Not once I have received a reply. Apparently, you use your Twitter account just for broadcasting and not communicating, listening or interacting with us – your viewers.

Continue Reading

Comments Off on Dear CW: Have you tried talking WITH your audience lately? I didn’t think so
Marketing

Brand Association: How Starbucks and Barnes & Noble beat Borders

By
on

Andrew Davis, while speaking at Content Marketing World, used the phrase “harnessing the power of participation creation” to describe leveraging someone else’s audience to bolster your own brand (thank you Arjun Basu of Sparksheet for your coverage of the event). Davis then used Tony Bennett, whose career was going down the drain, and his duet with the Muppets as an example. The Muppets, a very positive brand, lent some branding juice to Bennett by performing with him. That juice helped revive Bennett’s career.

This is the exact reason that advertisers seek well-known faces, such as athletes and movie stars, to star in commercials. When we see an entity that we trust/like/admire/emulate endorsing someone else, we have a tendency to extend that credibility.

Continue Reading

Comments Off on Brand Association: How Starbucks and Barnes & Noble beat Borders
Marketing

Why Borders failed, a digital strategy and what it means to small bookstores

By
on

Borders, established 40 years ago in Michigan, just shut its doors. To be honest, I’ll miss it. Despite the “big box” feel, I often found myself lost wandering the aisles wishing I could buy everything. In the wake of Borders’ demise, let’s take a moment and reflect on what happened. Some of the reasons that I’ve read include:

  • Huge inventory in each store and large lease spaces
  • Bet on CDs and DVDs (when everyone else was going digital)
  • Did not develop an eReader
  • Dirty bathrooms
  • High prices
  • Handed over the website to Amazon
  • We are supplier (and therefore brand) agnostic

I’m going to touch on the last two specifically.

Continue Reading

Comments Off on Why Borders failed, a digital strategy and what it means to small bookstores
Marketing

Developing a Personal Brand: Robert Redford and the Sundance Kid

By
on

What’s in a name? Apparently everything was in the name when Robert Redford took a starring role in the 1969 classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. As a result of his role as the Sundance Kid, Redford has branded his ventures the Sundance Ski Resort, Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute, Sundance Cinemas, Sundance Catalog, and the Sundance Channel.

That’s pretty amazing. Redford transformed this singular event in his life into an internationally recognized and respected brand. The Sundance brand isn’t just about a name though. Why did Redford buy a ski resort? Because he’s an environmentalist. Why did he found the Sundance Film Festival and Sundance Institute? Because he believes in the value of independent films. And why the name Sundance? Because it was an important part of his acting career.

Continue Reading

Comments Off on Developing a Personal Brand: Robert Redford and the Sundance Kid
Marketing

Daily deal sites teach your customers to undervalue your business

By
on

One thing that I’ve learned from Living Social and Groupon is that my wife shouldn’t pay more than $99 for laser hair removal. Typically, it costs $600-$800 per area. However, I usually see a $99 deal once or twice a month. So we never expect to pay more than $99 as long as Groupon is still in business. For us, the value of laser hair removal has been permanently reduced.

The same problem occurs for a lot of businesses. Being featured at 50% off teaches customers that the reduced price is what they should expect to pay. I think that’s one reason you see the same companies offering deals month after month. They have to because that’s what consumers now expect to pay.

Continue Reading

Comments Off on Daily deal sites teach your customers to undervalue your business
Marketing

Stop using QR codes until you learn to optimize for mobile

By
on

I received a magazine in the mail with an advertisement on the back cover that had both a URL and QR code as a call to action. The URL (shown above) prompted the reader to find additional information about available research by visiting www.companyname.com/research. However, when I visited that URL, I simply landed on the home page. This is a complete failure for two reasons.

  1. The home page had nothing to do with the advert or the offer to find additional research.
  2. The company missed the opportunity to embed tracking code into the URL that would record how many people visited the URL having seen the ad.

Continue Reading

Comments Off on Stop using QR codes until you learn to optimize for mobile