When I was faced with the question ‘does sex in advertising work’, I struggled to give a definitive answer on the spot. Initially my answer was ‘yes, it works’. But after reflection, it struck me that whilst it does sell, how does it affect the longevity of a brand and products success.

For some brands, sex is used to grab attention; some people refer to this usage as ‘borrowed interest’. In other words, companies attempt to take the interest generated by sexual connotation and use it to generate interest for their brands. So that’s good…it can work, but on the flip side, you could argue that whilst sex may stop the traffic, it only produces, at best, a one-time sale that won’t build brand value which is needed to sustain long-term growth.

Well, not in all cases. There are plenty of brands that have used sexual positioning strategies that have resulted in major long-term success. One of those is Calvin Klein. He has successfully imbued his brand’s identity with sexuality. For well over 30 years, sex in one form or another has been a mainstay in Calvin Klein fragrance, fashion, underwear, and accessories ads. The result? In 2008, products with Calvin’s name generated at least $1 billion in annual revenue.

So yes, sex in advertising works, and for many brands and products its essential. But if sex is used merely to draw attention to a product that has no relevance to sex, then long-term success is not likely.

When your customers or potential customers receive your brochure, read your advertising or visit your website, they will glean messages about your company and form an opinion. Now in most cases, you will not be there to ensure the ‘right’ message is portrayed, it is therefore essential that your branding works its magic and gets the message across for you.

The development and maintenance of a brand and corporate image is not necessarily difficult or complicated. It’s simply about getting a few simple things right:

• Keep your brand identity simple, ensure it’s easy to understand and consistent across everything that you do – ensure your brand identity is reinforced every time a customer comes into contact with your company.
• Your brand identity should provide a ‘promise’ to your customers that your company is then capable of delivering – if you are an established, straightforward business, don’t try and develop a funky innovative brand identity that is out of touch with what you do and the way that you do it – don’t send mixed messages, you may scare potential customers off!

It’s important to remember that having a brand is much more than just having an attractive logo…and you don’t always need new logo to create an effective brand!

Effective and powerful brands have the ability to grasp your attention with mixed sensory experiences such as sight, sound, smell or touch. For example, you leave the living room to make a cup of tea, from another room you hear the television, an advert jingle plays and instantly you recall the brand.

This is brand recognition and really a level of brand awareness that most companies espire to. Brand recognition and awareness will be covered in a future Blog post, so sign up and make sure you don’t miss out on our future posts.

Our response to the ‘directors’ negative mind block – How does your boss measure return on investment when attending networking luncheons or participating in Associations.

Done correctly, social networking on sites like Twitter or Facebook is really no different – you don’t measure participation based on direct sales, you measure success based on identifying one potential strategic partner, acquiring one actionable bit of advice, or striking up a conversation or two that may eventually lead to developing a new customer. That kind of sounds like a set of solid networking objectives doesn’t it?

Put simply, there simply is no ignoring or escaping social networking. It’s a simple and highly effective extension to your marketing and business communications.

Everyone that runs a business has a desire to grow the business and be successful. The most effective way to grow and expand your business is by focusing in on natural or organic growth. Natural or organic growth can be boosted in four different ways.

1. Acquire and grow your clients
2. Encourage and engage your customers to buy more products
3. Encourage your customers to buy more expensive products
4. Encourage each customer to buy more profitable products

All four of these will increase your revenue and profit.

So now let’s focus on the first point, which is to acquire more customers. Why? Simple… by acquiring more customers you increase your customer base and your revenues then come from a larger base, a larger base is a safer business, it’s the old saying, don’t put all your eggs in one basket!

So how do you use marketing to acquire and grow your customer database?

1. The golden rule and by far the most important point, create or have created a strategic marketing plan
2. Focus, research and guide your product development to reach out to customers you aren’t currently attracting
3. Competitor analysis, price your products and services competitively
4. Ensure you develop your message and materials based on simple solution marketing, don’t over complicate your business or brand

1. If you come up with an idea or discover a unique product don’t ask family or friends if they think it’s a good idea. For a number of obvious reasons, they are unlikely to give you an unbiased opinion.
2. Talk to total strangers if possible, who will not be worried about your feelings or their situation if they are negative.
3. Don’t give away your secrets. If you have an idea for a product that solves a problem or makes life easier, ask people if they have that type of problem, how they feel about it and whether they would buy a product that solved that problem.
4. When pitching your idea to a company for funding or looking for backing of any kind, practice your presentation. Be precise, be accurate, know your product, make the benefits and USP’s clear, gain an idea of how big the market is (numbers of population, financial projections), production costs (if any), suggested wholesale/retail prices and most importantly, set yourself realistic sales objectives.
5. Carry out some simple research. Ensure you have the answers to any likely question to hand. Investors and business people will expect you to have done your homework and not just gone steaming ahead without any idea of a business plan.
6. Understand your limits, know your strengths and weaknesses. No one can be master at everything. If you are good at inventing things it doesn’t mean you will also have an excellent business mind.
7. Don’t try and do everything. Most small businesses fail because the principal is spinning too many plates. Something has to give and it is usually the mental or physical health of the individual.
8. Surround yourself with experienced and talented people. Taking on partners with the skills and experience you lack means that you can delegate responsibilities. You have people you can rely on, more time to concentrate on the areas you understand and support in times of crisis.
9. Just having a good idea doesn’t make for a good business. The bankruptcy courts are full of people who had a good idea and no business acumen.
10. The internet is a fantastic source of business and where most businesses waste money and fail to make an impression. Do not make the mistake of thinking that a cheap website has any chance of being found in the search engines. The companies making millions on the internet are investing good money in having a strong web presence, so get smart and build a social media plan into your marketing.

Studies have shown that companies that continue to market during tough economic times often see growth, where as businesses that cut their marketing budget will often see a decrease in sales.

It’s not time to cut the marketing budget, it’s time to re-evaluate your marketing and analyse what is working and what’s not. Take time to explore new options of marketing that cost less, but can still deliver the results you are looking for, simple savvy marketing that keeps your business at the forefront and several steps ahead of your competitors.

You simply cannot ignore the financial difficulties our country is facing, so understand the importance of marketing during the recession, learn how to set a marketing budget that you can work with, and talk to newbrandguru about no cost to low-cost marketing solutions that you can begin implementing today.

The downside to social media, and quite possibly the sticking point that puts people off, is that you need to keep on top of these tools and build them into your everyday life in order to keep the momentum going and ensure it’s successful.

So how should you build social networking into your marketing?

1. You can use social media to provide an identity to who you are and the products or services that you offer.
2. You can create relationships using social media with people who might not otherwise know about your products, service or what your company represents.
3. Social media makes us “real” to consumers. If you want people to follow you don’t just talk about the latest product news, share it with them and get it in their face!
4. You can use social media to associate your business with your peers. Maybe you serve the same target markets, here strong and prosperous relationships can be built.
5. You can use social media to communicate and provide the interaction that consumers look for.

As you can see, social media carries with it a lot of value and once mastered will give your marketing a edge that will ensure you stay ahead of the competition… don’t be put off by social media, use it to your advantage.

It seems only last week we were standing over the fax machine in the office, feeling proud at how such cutting edge technology would ease our working lives…remember the thermal roll?

Now look at us, it would seem that communication has been made so easy, never before have there been so many avenues and routes to effectively get your message across. But don’t let this get you down, you need to grab this communication bull firmly by the horns and hold on…if you don’t, you might get left behind!

At newbrandguru we make an effort to run a jargon free zone, we stay on top of what’s what and who’s who but we keep it nice and simple. If there are any aspects of your marketing that leaves you feeling dazzled and puzzled, don’t fret…pick up the phone and talk to the team, we are happy to help.

If you’re in the game of placing advertising within publications, you will all know the hardship, frustration and enormous amount of time it takes dealing with ad sales teams.

So here’s the tip… get yourself a good consultancy that passes on their agency commission, this will reduce your advertising budget by 10 – 15 % depending on if they are PPA registered. ‘Hang on’, I hear you shout, ‘I’ll still have to pay the consultancy for their time’. True, true, true, you will have to pay them for their time but the truth is, if you find yourself a switched on consultancy that passes on their commission, the money you save on your advertising will usually pay for the consultants monthly management fee.

This results in you no longer having to waste hours negotiating deals with ad sales, therefore freeing up your own time to get on with running your business and making money.

Sounds good… well if you want more information on advertising management then contact the team.