Negative Effects of Short Term Profits

The most recent issue of Harvard Business Review features an article entitled If Brands Are Built over Years, Why Are They Managed over Quarters? I thought this final quote was worth sharing.

Brand Management today is like driving a car by looking only a few feet ahead. The drivers can change direction rapidly, but they're not necessarily on a path that will take them where they want to go. In the face of an increasingly fragmented media and powerful retailers, brand managers cannot afford to be steering their brands in the wrong direction. Mounting evidence suggests that a short-term orientation erodes a brand's ability to compete in the marketplace. Accordingly, managers are well advised to refocus their attention on the basic principles that once made their brands ascendant.

I often find myself being short-sighted and need to look at long term effects of what is done today.

If you are intereseted in this article, email me at craig@matchstic.com and I'll send you a copy.

Craig Johnson
Matchstic

Learn Marketing from a College Student…

As a business owner, it’s often a temptation to focus all of your efforts on perfecting the product and business structure, while customers are flying by your doors having no clue who you are or why your business will make their lives better. Recently, I was given a quick lesson in Marketing by an unlikely source: a college student named Kat McClusky looking to interview for a job at Matchstic.

She took the following steps that can be applied to getting in front of any new potential client or customer: Entice, Engage, and Inquire.

Step 1: Entice
I received the following email from the contact form from our website: “Best. Website. Ever.” That was it. Nothing else. You think I’m gonna just let that go? Of course not! Could this be a potential client? A friend? It doesn’t matter – anyone who would say that about our website, I’d like to know! I was so enticed that I was forced to send the following email back “Is that all you are gonna tease me with?”

Step 2: Engage
Soon I received a note back saying only “I think that about covers it” and included a link to a funny Will Ferrell video. I watched the video, a rare one I hadn’t seen before, and laughed a good bit. I still know nothing about Kat – she hadn’t even signed her name to any email at this point. All I knew was that I had been complimented and entertained.

Step 3: Inquire
A day later I get this email, “In the event that you'll humor me one more time, I wanted to ask if you wouldn't mind taking a look at some of my design work… I'm even going to be in Atlanta next week. Even if you aren't looking for anyone I would love a test interview if time allowed for one. thanks, Kat” – Her work was very good. I was impressed as was Blake, our Creative Director.

I told Kat to call me. We were not looking to hire, and it’s too bad. I like the way she thinks. I want to hire designers that know how to get someone else’s attention as that is what we do for our clients. I am going to do all I can to help her get a job. Some lucky employer will be privileged to have her on the team.

And I realized that we can all learn from Kat. With all of the form letters that go out and cold calls that are made every day, remember Kat. Entice, Engage, then Inquire. All too often that process is reversed. Good luck to you Kat, we know you’ll do great things!

Craig
Matchstic