They say history repeats itself. And, for sure, America has seen the likes of this economic recession before. Your parents or grandparents might even have well-known stories about their experiences in past economic hardships (walking uphill both ways, etc.). But they’ve got nothing on what recently went down here in Milwaukee, WI. This ain’t your grandma’s recession.

 

Meyer & Wallis has been hard at work on an ad campaign and event for Milwaukee area retailers for several months. See, we realized that most of the dire economic news we’d hear about was happening elsewhere, yet was being presented as if it were happening everywhere. Bank closings in New York, foreclosures in California, unemployment in Detroit, etc. Maybe it isn’t as bad in Milwaukee, we thought. So we did some research, and sure enough: business IS better here.

 

So to make a long story short, a couple weeks ago, more than 250 local retailers gathered to hear speakers from across the country talk to them about how to market in this down economy using every media at their disposal. We had a doctor of consumer psychology, the mayor and county executive of Milwauke, representatives from Meyer & Wallis, and speakers from each of the major media bureaus. As far as we know, they’d never been gathered together for one event before. Ever. The day was jam-packed with insight and information designed to help area retailers stay afloat and weather this economy, coming out stronger on the other side.

 

But in addition to the great speakers, we unveiled an ad campaign we’ve been working on for some time, designed to instill confidence and optimism in Milwaukee consumers. Because, after all, business is better here!

 

So here’s one of the ads we did for this campaign. I’ll be unveiling more as the days go by. But be sure to also check out the website at businessisbetterhere.net
 

A while back, I wrote about Campbell's introduction of a huge line of healthier soups that it introduced to compete head-to-head with competitor Progresso. For a company whose oldest products are notoriously high in sodium, this was a daring move that would require nimble and precise marketing messages.

Well, Campbell's efforts have proven highly effective, and Marketing Daily just named them their food marketer of the year. You can read the whole article here, but I just wanted to point out a couple interesting facts for the sake of this blog.

First, Campbell's introduced several new products last fall. They accompanied this introduction with an intensive multimedia campaign. Both these efforts surely required a large amount of capital, amids an economy that was already showing signs of instability at the time of their launch. But get this: when the mortgage/credit crisis struck its first big blow on September 29th last year, Campells was the only company in the S&P 500 to show gains on the stock market that day. But they didn't stop there. As the ecomony continued to reel, Campbell's quickly adapted their marketing messages to tout the frugality of a meal made with Campbell's soup. At the end of the year, company-wide sales were up 8% to $8 billion and net earnings were up an astounding 36% to $1.17 billion. In their first fiscal quarter of 2009, condensed soup sales alone are up 14%. Campbell's is in a comfortable position to release more new flavors this year and continue their marketing push.

What can careful advertising in a down economy do for your company?

That.

Hats off to BBDO New York for a great campaign that included use of cross promotion with Kraft and interactive text messaging. If you're in the Midwest and you find your company struggling in this economy, some skillful marketing by one of the area's most experienced retail advertising agencies might be just the trick. We can't say this enough -- marketing in a down economy works! And Meyer&Wallis knows how to do it.

Sometimes you build market share by taking it from the other guys. At other times, however, your potential market may remain largely untapped. This almost always happens at the introduction of entirely new products — like the television or the iPod — when almost all of your potential customers would be first time buyers. But recently, a cunning retailer realized it was happening right under his nose with a product almost as old as civilization itself.

Winemaker E&G Gallo did some research on behalf of Food Lion, and found that 75% of Americans find the wine department at their local supermarket completely overwhelming. And since the remaining 25% of savvy shoppers accounted for 68% of total wine sales, Food Lion realized this was a market that had real growth potential. So they and E&G Gallo conducted some research and developed some in-store merchandising designed to educate and empower their shoppers. The result? Wine sales are way up, of course!

Sometimes the best solution to a problem is the most obvious one. But how come no one with shelves and shelves of wine thought of this before? Because sometimes the most obvious solutions aren't the most obvious. Strange, but true.

When it comes to marketing in retail, Meyer&Wallis has done it all. From national name brands to scrappy local competitors, we know how to reach potential customers where they're at. And, since "where they're at" is increasingly online, I should mention that our online advertising strategies are so cutting edge, we've even taken out a trademark on one of our concepts. Wherever your potential customers are, Meyer & Wallis can find them. Even if they're in a place so obvious it hurts.

Meyer&Wallis has been named the agency of record by Carpet Town, one of the leading purveyors of flooring and interior design in the Milwaukee area for more than 35 years. Meyer & Wallis will provide Carpet Town with marketing and advertising services.

Founded in 1971, Carpet Town quickly grew from a “cash-and-carry” carpeting warehouse to one of the largest retail flooring stores in the greater Milwaukee area. It has repeatedly earned The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Consumer Analysis Award as the number one choice for flooring. It has also won multiple awards from the Metropolitan Builders Association, and is proud to be one of 200 retail stores nationwide chosen as a Stainmaster Flooring Center.

Throughout our 40-year history, Meyer & Wallis has built up a rich foundation of experience working with a wide variety of retailers. And, despite our being a midwestern ad agency, many of them have been from all over the country, including supermarkets, realtors, manufacturers, and several specialty retailers. Through our prorietary planning methodologies, award-winning creative abilities, and innovative media buying strategies, Meyer & Wallis intends to help keep Carpet Town on a trajectory of success and growth!

Visit Carpet Town by clicking their logo above, and visit our main site to see what else we've been up to.

Alright. So a couple days ago, I discussed Obama's campaign from a marketing perspective, and said that retail brands — not just politicians — will likely be studying it for a while. Turns out I'm not the only one who thinks so.

On her Retail Industry blog, Barbara Farfan talks about how local retailers — not just retail brands — can learn something from the Obama campaign. Her three main points are:

1. Employees Want a Mission
2. Employees Want Clarity
3. Employees Want to Celebrate

Especially in the current economy, I feel like these are three things in danger of being pushed to the back burner. "How can we celebrate at a time like this?" "Mission?? Our mission is to keep our doors open!"

If there was ever a time for small, measurable goals and celebrating their completion this is it. Even here at Meyer&Wallis, we'made an intentional effort to celebrate small successes and scale back our expectations in this troubled economy. What we've found is, by adjusting our goals and celebrating as a team when we achieve them, we feel more hopeful and motivated.

So whether you manage a large national brand, or a local retail store, give your employees the gift of a clear, attainable mission, and celebrate little successes with them along the way. It'll help get you through this tough economic season, and might even get you elected president some day.

Just saw this on another blog, and it turned me all reflective on the work we do here at Meyer&Wallis.

So often, when trying to differentiate yourself in the marketplace, the impulse is to talk about your brand, your method, your product. After all, you truly believe it's superior!

But consumers don't want to hear how much you know about what you're selling them; they want to hear how well you know them. Which is a great argument for the existence of ad agencies in the first place. It's your job to know your product, and it's our job to know your customer. We're the ones who take all the effort and passion you've put into your product(s) and try to communicate that to the heart of your customers. There are plenty of ad agencies who can make compelling claims about your product. There are far fewer who can confidently, accurately talk directly to your potential customer. This is what we've been specializing in for 40 years.

Retail marketing is all about insight about the consumer. With proprietary research methods that have been perfected over decades, we're confident at Meyer & Wallis that we have the edge when it comes to knowing who you're talking to as an advertiser.

One of my recent posts was about our work on behalf of Meijer. They were facing a huge full-on attack by Wal*Mart in most of their markets, and bracing for tremendous losses. We told them that we had some ideas, but first, we needed to talk to some of the consumers who chose to shop and chose not to shop their stores. After several quick focus groups, our strategy changed in light of what we found. Based on the numbers, the only way Meijer could survive was if they spoke directly to those who had already rejected them. And how do you talk to a consumer who has already decided she doesn't like you? You talk about her. And it worked.

Or work for Meijer was a huge success. They have expanded their business and continue to thrive, even though they were once bracing themselves for extinction.

This is why we consider Meyer & Wallis to be a turnaround specialist. When time is of the essence and options seem slim, there's no one with a more proven ability to identify your key strengths, communicate them to consumers in a way that feels focused on them, and generate immediate, mesurable results.

According to Crain's Chicago Business, Wal*Mart is poised to take advantage of the current economy and to muscle out even more of its competition in the Chicago market. Over the past year, Wal*Mart has almost doubled it's share of Chicago's $12 billion market, to the detriment of local competitors Dominick's and Jewel-Osco. With stronger capital and distribution chains at its disposal, Walmart is up to the challenge.

What's worse, in previous years, both Dominick's and Jewel-Osco have lost market share to upscale retailers like Whole Foods. Now, with the economy taking a turn in the other direction, they will be feeling competition from the bottom as well as the top.

What are Dominick's and Jewel-Osco to do? Well, Meyer&Wallis happens to be a retail marketing specialist. And in the not-too-distant past, we actually took on Wal*Mart in a similar situation, and won. What? When? How??

A few years ago, we had the Meijer superstores as a client. After years of impressive growth and rising market share, Meijer caught the attention of Wal*Mart, who then opened stores directly adjacent to many Meijer locations, many in the suburban Chicago area. Meijer expected to lose considerable market share to the more established Wal*Mart. In fact, they felt their very existence was in jeopardy.

Meijer’s first instinct was to lower prices, but under the agency’s counsel, knew this was not a sustainable long-term solution. The agency felt the only way to survive would be to attract customers who had rejected Meijer as a shopping destination. Out of our own coffers, we commissioned research to find out who had rejected Meijer and why.

Armed with research findings, we created television, radio and print ads that spoke to and empathized with female rejectors. We appealed to the belief that they were the “CEOs of their households” and offered them a shopping experience that would save them both money and time – two of their greatest concerns.

Due to Wal*Mart’s significant presence, Meijer did indeed lose 9 share points to Wal*Mart. However, we gained 11 share points by winning over previous rejectors.  Bottom line...Meijer actually gained 2 share points despite Wal*Mart opening stores in 40 of Meijer’s measured markets, and they continue to thrive today.

Incidentally, we've also had Dominick's and Jewel-Osco as clients, helping them survive similar challenges within the supermarket world.

When it comes to retail marketing, especially supermarket marketing, no one has more experience, or has engineered more successes on behalf of their clients, than Meyer & Wallis. That's just the truth.

Is your business in the shadow of the Wal*Mart of your industry? We might have a few ideas for you...

There's a great article over at Barbara Farfan's Retail Blog about the different responses retailers are putting forth during this shaky economic environment. While many businesses are posting losses, several are still making money. And they think they know the secret to staying profitable: keep making and marketing fantastic products.

For example, accessories manufacturer Coach Inc. made more than they expected to last quarter. A bit of quick research revealed that the reason may be because consumers believed in the quality and uniqueness of the products they were offering. So for this holiday season, Coach Inc. is rolling out virtually every product in their development pipeline in the hopes that their consumers will continue to be "dazzled" and presented with products they're willing to buy.

Several of our own clients have expressed trepidation about the current economy. And with good reason! But I'll say here what our president and CEO have been telling them: Even in this economic downturn, people will continue to respond to advertising, and, per usual, the advertiser with the most unique message will stand out. The thing is that, in the coming months, most advertisers will get very conservative with their advertising, not to mention their product development and deployment. But in doing so, their brand will fade into the consumer's background, almost encouraging the reduced spending they fear. The advertisers who continue to find ways to stay in front of their consumers during this economy will not only reap modest benefits now, but huge benefits later on when the economy begins to recover and their brand is already top-of-mind.

Read Barbara's article here.

 Just wanted to share another great ad we did for Batteries Plus, a retailer of — you guessed it — batteries of all kinds. How do you say "If you need a specific kind of battery, we probably have that kind of battery, because we carry lots of batteries" in an entertaining and memorable way?

Like this:

Earlier this month, McDonald's began heavily promoting their new selection of cappuccinos, lattes and mochas. This, after Starbucks' sales are down about 6% for the 4th quarter (after it posted its first quarterly loss in the 3rd) and it has closed 600 stores and laid off 1000 employees in the last year. What has happened to not only make Starbucks fall from it's once insurmountable position as the premier coffee purveyor in America, but to also make McDonald's — home of the Big Mac — a viable alternative for premium coffee?

I think it comes back to something I talked about a week or so ago: line extension. If you expand your brand so much that it no longer represents what once made you unique, you're in trouble, mister.

There was a time when, if you walked into a Starbucks and didn't like coffee, you left thirsty. They were proudly snobbish about their love for coffee, and had no intention of pretending otherwise. Employees were required to taste every variety of coffee in the store so they were ready to describe any of them to a customer. They even had to be able to identify any one of their two dozen roasts by taste alone. Hardcore! (Full disclosure: I actually used to work at Starbucks back in the late 90s. Hence, the "insider info.")

But, as time went on, Starbucks realized there were people coming into their stores with their coffee-loving friends and leaving with just a pastry, or just a Tiazzi (once the only non-coffee beverage on the menu). What harm could it do to provide some coffee alternatives for them?

And so began the downfall of Starbucks. What began as a justifiable expansion into teas and fruity beverages has snowballed to include chocolates, music, small appliances, plush toys, Christmas ornaments, sandwiches and clothing — most of it conspicuously overpriced. With a product lineup like this, how could they honestly keep positioning themselves as the leading authority on coffee? Are they awesome at everything? Plus, if we can fairly assume their $12/pound coffee enjoys a similar markup to their $5/bar chocolate or $10/box biscotti, then they might just be selling the same coffee as everyone else (a skeptical, cost-conscious consumer might suspect).

Not only this, but the decision to expand their offerings has changed the culture of Starbucks. Used to be, if you went to a Starbucks, you expected a coffeeshop. Intelligent-looking people talking politics over mugs of coffee, with a copy of the Wall Street Journal sitting on the table between them. Obscure jazz and indie music playing on the speakers — and you felt really cool if you recognized a song that came on. You got anxious about asking for your order "right." After all, Starbucks knew coffee best, so you'd better order it correctly according to their system, right? Now, Starbucks no longer feels like a coffee shop. They're something on the menu for everyone. You're likely to hear the same song in the store that was just playing in your car as you drove there. They no longer brew three different coffees a day. They no longer brag about how often they throw out their coffee and keep brewing fresh stuff. They don't have to. No one cares. People aren't there for premium, fresh-roasted coffee. They want Frappuccinos.

And so, enter McDonald's. If a hodge-podge Everyman-pleasing joint like Starbucks can still sell a latte for $5 a cup, who can't?

In abandoning their position as being passionate about coffee above all else, in expanding their product line way beyond coffee, Starbucks changed consumers' expectations for what a coffee shop should feel like — even though they were the ones who originally defined it. They stopped selling us a unique experience and started selling us products. And they day they gave up on their unique experience, they gave up their position on the top of the coffee world.

I'm willing to bet that you visit Starbucks less than you used to. It's a statistical probability. So where are you getting your coffee instead? Has Starbucks convinced you that you can probably find the same quality at your local supermarket, or have you sought out a more authentic feeling coffee house experience? Either way, blame it on Starbucks.

Now, could Starbucks turn it around? Could they rally and reclaim their former position as the best premium coffee retailer? Perhaps, but they'd need a really good retail marketing team. Someone who can develop their brand while staying true to a very specific brand strategy. Say — that's what we do! In fact, we consider Meyer & Wallis to be somewhat of a turnaround specialist. We love helping struggling brands right a sinking ship. Do you feel like the Starbucks of your industry?

We can help.

Is your business ready for the emerging generation of mobile phones and the generation of consumers that use them? Most new smart phones are GPS equipped, and enabled to use a host of new things never before possible. They are "location aware." Like a regional affiliate of a national network, they can mix in some local marketing with the national messages, wherever "local" happens to be. They can also make it much easier to find information about your business when near you. That is, if your digital ducks are in a row.

John Jantsch has this advice on his "Ductape Marketing" blog:

1) Make certain that your business profile is correct and complete in Google Maps, Yahoo!Local and LocalLive. (Claim your listing in Google or risk having it hijacked) - many devices will use this map data to help people locate and view satellite photos of your place of business.

2) Start exploring ways to make your websites, blogs and email marketing efforts mobile friendly. I use a service called MoFuse to create a mobile friendly version of my blog. (This topic warrants and entire post and I’m working on it.)

More and more consumers are bypassing traditional media, researching restaurants, mechanics, and retailers online. On their phone. Or, they're simply checking their GPS-enabled phone for the one that happens to be closest by.

Once you complete the profiles talked about above, your customers do the rest. Each of those sites provides a place for users to rate you. So if Johnny an Suzie are driving down the road and search for a local burger joint on Johnny's iPhone, when yours comes up, it'll come up with reviews from actual customers. Assuming they had a good experience, that's some of the best free marketing you can get! So don't miss out on this easy opportunity to get your name in front of potential customers.

Right now at Meyer & Wallis, we're working on a couple very exciting projects utilizing this very technology. If GPS-enabled phones know where you are, they can be programmed to do way more than give you driving directions. And if you have the desire to truly stand out among your competition, the world of mobile marketing is still very much a frontier where innovation will get you noticed. But it won't stay that way for long.

(We'd love to help.)

This week, the USDA begins requiring retailers to include country of origin information on several products, including fresh and frozen produce, nuts, and fresh meats. We’ve seen cute little stickers on most of our fruits and vegetables for a while that tell us where they hail from. But within the next 6 months, expect to see similar declarations of origin on beef, pork, lamb, etc. I asked our CEO Bob Meyer, who on his own has over 40 years’ experience with retail advertising and retail marketing, for his thoughts on what this means for supermarkets.

“I think it will create a huge advantage for American breeders... probably an almost unfair advantage because the assumption is that the controls here over the raising of livestock are much tighter and more stringent than they are in foreign countries. And I don’t know if that’s true or not, but, that being the assumption, it will give the advantage for American growers. It will put an impetus on foreign growers — which is probably very positive.

You almost have to believe that the reason this got passed is that American breeders wanted it and lobbied for it because it does create kind of an unknown advantage for unknown reasons.

It will put the impetus on subjectively lesser origins. We don’t know that they’re lesser, we just think they are. The impetus on retailers of those products and those suppliers will be to promote their own cleanliness. I think it will create some opportunity, either for Americans to come out and say, “we have better meat here, “ or for foreigners to claim that they do something better.

It’s interesting. meat breeders have been trying to figure out a way to brand meat for a long time. Meat, historically, has been largely unbranded and if there’s any assumptions of quality that come to the meat it’s from the store, not the breeder, because meat is one of the things that the store prepares and presents, and upon which their reputation is built. Breeders, for at least 20 years, have been trying to figure out how to brand meat. Coleman has tried with beef— that’s where our president Chris Mortenson worked. Right here in Wisconsin, Provini has tried with veal. People have been trying to do it with limited success, because the stores don’t want to get caught having to stock three different brands of beef.

It seems to me that what will eventually come from this is an opportunity to brand the meat. I mean, if New Zealand lamb is really better, then now there’s much more of a reason to call attention to the fact that it’s a New Zealand product. But it also creates a huge downside risk. If there is any significant problem or health risk in the food supply of a foreign company, it will kill them in the marketplace here. All it will take is one person saying they got sick from a “New Zealand lamb product,” and it will hurt all New Zealand lamb sales. This will probably have a huge impact on quality control in foreign countries that import these affected goods into the US.”

    The podcast turns 4 this month, and over the last few years, we’ve seen a sharp increase in the number of people who download Podcasts. Podcasting is a relatively new technology in the world of digital media, allowing anyone from individuals in their mother’s basement to big movie studios to post an audio or video file to the internet in such a way that it is automatically downloaded by those who “subscribe” to that podcast. Now perhaps that lengthly explanation wasn't necessary, but, like I said, this is relatively new technology. Only four years ago this month, the word “podcast” had yet to be uttered. Today, about 19% of internet users have downloaded a podcast to enjoy it later, and they have literally thousands to choose from. While 19% may not seem very impressive, it's likely to keep going up and up as the medium gains momentum. What does this mean for your business?

    Whether you're a hospital looking to rise above the sea of healthcare marketing going on around you, or a retailer wondering how to make use of interactive media in your retail marketing, or the guardian of an aging brand wondering how to reach out to a younger generation with your brand strategy, podcasting might be for you.

    It just so happens I'm listening to a podcast right now. There's a show on NPR I'm never around a radio to hear live, but that I can download as a podcast. Not only has this allowed me to enjoy this programming I'd otherwise miss, but it has led me to audition some other NPR programming as well, exposing me to their sponsoring companies, even to consider making a donation!

    Think of the other great ways to engage potential customers with this medium. You could feature company news or new products in a weekly or monthly podcast. Talk about exciting new hires or technologies at your hospital. Does your product really shine when it's in use? Produce a video podcast showing your ingredient being cooked with, your product being tested for durability, your product being used in innovative ways, or how it compares to the competition. A podcast is also a great way to create a "culture" around your brand. For example, you might be a beverage manufacturer, which has nothing to do with music, but you know your customer base tends to like a certain kind of music. Produce a weekly podcast featuring up-and-coming artists you think your customers should know about. They'd soon come to see your brand as "in touch" with who they are, helping you stay top-of-mind for sure.

    These are just a few ideas off the top of my head. But at Meyer & Wallis, that's NEVER how we actually do advertising. Our creative marketing strategies are grounded in what we believe to be the best research and planning in the industry. And with new media like podcasting, it's still possible to do something no marketer has done before. Imagine what a "first" like that could do for a brand. We do. All the time.

    So, remember the iPhone? The gadget that few of us need but almost all of us want? Especially in the just-released 3G version, mobile “extras” like web browsing and email support are better integrated and more robust than on any other device.

    It is into this market that New York upstart Peek thinks they can throw a new winner. Their about-to-be-released mobile device has a nice, bright screen, full QWERTY keyboard, and is easy to set up with virtually any email carrier. And... that’s it. No web. No voicemail. No voice, in fact—it’s not a phone. It's just a wireless email reader.

    Now, I would have guessed that, back in the day, when the light bulb was introduced, natural gas and kerosene lamp suppliers immediately understood that their days were numbered and hoped to find some kind of niche market where their products could survive. But, in fact, the opposite happened. They refined their products and introduced new features, hoping to compete with the newer, superior technology. Of course, it didn’t work. And neither will the Peep.

    Objectively, the Peep is probably a solid little device, that does what it claims better than most consumer mobile phones with limited data capabilities. But the problem is so do BlackBerrys, smartphones and iPhones, only they do more. If there is any market left for a wireless device that only checks email, it can only get smaller. (Those of you who still have a pager may disagree.)

    At Meyer & Wallis, we believe many unsuccessful products are actually decent products that are poorly marketed. Peep needed a brand strategy that introduced them in a way that didn't compete with smartphones, since that's not what they are. A better brand strategy would have been to find a NEW market whose need they could meet. But, with their current retail marketing strategy, this may well be the first and last you hear of Peep.