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Based on experience, your search for a marketing resource should begin with questions like “How does this person think?”; “What does he know?”; “What is my investment if we work together?” …in other words, how do we become a team that benefits from each other’s strengths?
Let’s start with a free marketing lesson I call Monthly Marketing Morsels. Since 2013, I have been sharing advice on a broad range of marketing topics, and many of them are posted on this website for your review and evaluation. The latest lessons can be seen below.
Contact me if you want to sample a free personal consultation – phone, video chat, or face-to-face. Call Jack Cantwell 717-269-0288, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. At the very least, get into the database and start receiving Morsels each month.
Authenticity. Transparency. Consistency. - Oct 2022
I have been a subscriber of industry journal AdAge Magazine since I was a rookie “Mad Men era” Guy in the early 1960’s at BBDO in Buffalo, NY. AdAge is still alive today, and there is always a chance you can learn something new.
Example – there is a nice two-page spread in the September 19th issue about one of my favorite topics, brand, and brand loyalty. The article is authored by a bright young woman named Paige O’Neill, CMO of Sitecore, an AdAge publishing partner.
Times are tougher these days. Research shows that consumers are more “transactional”, easily swayed from brand loyalty by pricing. But companies fighting for brand loyalty still have a reasonable chance if they pay attention to actions that relate to the values that connect consumers to you and your business.
Which brings us to our headline words…
AUTHENTICITY:
Present yourself in a manner that involves empathy, understanding and representation of consumer beliefs. Eight of ten consumers polled say brands build stronger relationships with consumers through actions that exemplify sympathy and understanding.
Read more: Authenticity. Transparency. Consistency. - Oct 2022
Learn from your mistakes - Sept 2022
I have been “doing what I do” since I clutched my diploma in 1960 at Ithaca College. And 62 years later I am still “doing it” …Interacting with clients, planning, writing, managing projects. The fire to produce results still burns.
But. recently, something happened for the first time in all these 62 years that I cannot explain. I committed to representing a client at an important event, and completely forgot to show up. How did that happen? No explanation. No excuses. I just forgot, starting with not putting it on my calendar! No shifting of blame. That’s the way I explained it to the Client, who graciously accepted my apology. Lesson – build trusting relationships with the people you work with. And be honest above all else. Don’t ever "pass the buck" and "shift the blame". We are all human.
I look upon this one-time stumble as a learning opportunity. It is always a good idea to take the time to review how you get organized for marketing, PR, Advertising and Promotion work. It can become easy to take your eye off the ball if you don’t stay organized and focused.
It boils down to Tools & Resources - Aug 2022
I try to keep up with the work of several experts in my field, whose wisdom hits home when it comes to how you do what you do and stand out in the process. The simpler the starting point the better.
In a recent blog, Marketing Guru Seth Godin put a spotlight on two things that are essential to marketing. He focused on two weapons in our arsenal – tools and resources. This month, I am using these two key words to share some of my own thinking.
MARKETING TOOLS –
It used to be that your toolbox had a limited number of ingredients – ads, commercials, direct mail, outdoor, etc. Now, add “Digital” to “Marketing Tools” and off to the races we go. You cannot master everything, so review what is available and get comfortable with the combination that helps you solve your customer’s problem to the fullest. For effectiveness, find the tool that helps you engage the customer better than others. I have success with email marketing for instance…you are reading this Morsel, aren’t you?
'Tis the Season to Find a June Bride - June 2022
Marriage usually implies something personal, but for this Morsel, we are talking about the idea of a marriage between two businesses who collaborate to run a promotional-focused campaign.
The idea, which has a record of success, encourages you to think about a potential promotional partner who shares the same demographic you do and is in a non-competitive business. One partner’s product becomes the premium for the promotional campaign.
Let me take you back to 1975 when the idea took shape. McDonald’s was introducing breakfast as a daypart. And Gillette was introducing a new product, the Good News disposable razor. Both products shared the same target audience, men 18-34, and both were motivated to achieve product trial. The marriage worked. After a successful regional trial, the campaign rolled out nationally with sales of twenty-three million breakfast entrees, one razor per entrée…a lot of trial!
Marketing Effectively Without A Budget - May 2022
WARNING
This month’s marketing lesson contains bragging.
I had the privilege of helping run the PR campaign for Myerstown’s 250th Anniversary Celebration (which attained National attention). Sestercentennial excitement stimulated a group of volunteer community-minded citizens to build on the momentum. They started a non-profit 501 c-3 organization called The Myerstown Vitality Partnership in 2019. The MVP Board focuses on revitalizing their hometown, attracting and helping local businesses with tax breaks and other initiatives.
MVP’s first task – communicate their existence and educate the marketplace as to who they are, what they are trying to do, and to rally support for the mission, and gain financial and volunteer support in the process. Nice idea with one problem...no budget.
Read more: Marketing Effectively Without A Budget - May 2022
Roll with the Punches - Apr. 2022
When the world situation changes (think Covid, and now the terrible situation in Ukraine), among the first to adjust quickly are the marketing and advertising professionals.
The “go to” trade magazine ADAGE reports that Ukrainian-based ad agencies have stopped client work and jumped into the fray by helping the Ukraine government fight disinformation that they say has been spread by Russia. The rules have changed with social media – Google is blocking Russian internet ads and Facebook is blocked by Russia, so their people have lost access.
Our people are showing moral support of the Ukrainian people. The Metropolitan Opera opened their season with a performance of the Ukrainian National Anthem. We all seeing solidarity in other contexts.
With soaring gas prices, how is the travel industry responding? Suddenly electric automobiles are gaining traction on the marketplace.
Project Management… A Simple Example - Mar. 2022
A good marketing agent brings value to client service by taking responsibility for developing and managing details for an approved campaign. For our March Marketing Morsel, I am using an example – a Chicken BBQ Fundraiser on Saturday, May 14th at the American Legion Post 109 in Lickdale. The proceeds will benefit Compeer of Lebanon, a charity that helps local Veterans in need. So how do we make this fundraiser a success, and minimize the expense?
Here are some of the project elements. Use them as guidelines for your own fundraiser.
- Rule One – Match up every task with a responsible person (or small team) and attach dates to what they agree to do, Have occasional status meetings.
- A project manager takes responsibility for being the team leader and caretaker of deadlines. He or she must be the “squeaky wheel” that keeps everything moving.
- The Flyer – gives you all the details the public needs to know to support the promotion. It takes legwork, but get copies into the hands of organizations who will support the charity. The more bulletin boards the better.
For Auld Lang Syne - Jan. 2022
A young Advertising Agency guy named Jack got his start in a giant worldwide company named BBDO in the 1960’s, the Mad Men era of the advertising industry. Jack leaned a lot from top BBDO leaders. One of them, the CEO of all of BBDO, Charlie Brower, retired with a memo to all of us. “It would be ungracious to creep away without giving my friends a chance to ignore my advice.” He then shared “16 things I have learned in my 43 years in the adverting agency business.” I kept the memo and pass on Charlie’s wisdom this month. It is still timeless.
1. The expedient thing and the right thing are seldom the same thing.
2. The best way to get credit is to try to give it away.
3. You cannot sink someone else’s end of the boat and still keep your own afloat.
4. It is not important to come in early and work late. The important thing is why?
5. If you get a kick out of your job, others will get a kick out of working for you,
6. No one should knock research who has ever been helped by a road map.