Marketing for a Marketing Business

Interestingly we spend our waking hours trying to help other businesses grow and to achieve more. Doctors smoke. Dentists have bad teeth. Bankers have no money. Why is it so often forgotten that you can exercise your skills and creative thinking on your own business.

As an exercise, we have decided to build a promotional plan for our business, Bamboo Marketing.

In the past we have avoided making a noise and telling the world how good we are. Now? We have set ourselves a bold financial ambition for the next 12 months and constructed a marketing plan to help us get there. Our intent is not to boast or to disrupt, merely to acquaint marketers with what we do, how we do it, and what we are capable of achieving.

By simply putting a plan in place we have seen a greater sense of direction from everyone in the organisation. A business coach once turned to me and said - "if you aint got a plan, you aint got a business".....and whilst I know he was merely trying to stress a point, our recent experience would at least support an arguement that says think positively about the future of your own business and sense the pieces falling into place over time. Recognise the achievements regularly as you kick the goals with bright thinking.

We are in the business of coming up with ideas. Ideas that help clients sell more stuff. So what ideas can Bamboo Marketing come up with to help them sell more ideas? There are 3 simple platforms:

1. Promote our promotions
   
2. Ask for more business
3. Drive awareness and engagement
   

The next few months should be interesting, dynamic and fruitful. We are more hungry and more engaged. We are less apologetic. There is pride, delight and passion and our clients are loving it even more. Wonderful!

Latest Promotional News

Losing a pitch

The cost of pitching for new business is bonkers. The expectation that we have a chance of winning seems to blind us to the real likelihood of success.

We have been asked to pitch for a new project with an existing client. The pitch will cost us time and money. Rather than just get on with it and build some lovely ideas, we decided to pay the client a visit today to get to the bottom of why the project is even being pitched out.

So here were our questions and indeed the answers.

1. There has been a change of personnel. The new team has brought its own contacts and relationships. Are we being asked to prove ourselves?

Answer: Yes and we just want to know what else is out there. We think your work is exceptional but there is a lot to do and we want to get the balance right! We want creativity, intelligence, understanding, and commitment.

2. We love working with you and indeed the work we have produced together. What could we improve and what could we have done to have avoided this costly and expensive pitch process from happening?

Answer: No. No. No. You have done nothing wrong. The work has been great. The work must now be taken to the next level. We need to evolve and grow. We need to move from a position of category ownership to spelling out the benefits of what we do.

At this point I giggled to myself because I thought it sounded like a lot of nonsense. Come on Mark, concentrate and persevere.

3. Will you pay for the pitch?

Answer: No.

4. Do you think you really know what you want from the pitch? There is one other agency pitching and they are a very different agency.

Answer: This is a very difficult brief and I think that is why we need a variety of responses.

Look, my gut feeling is we have to chase when we can. If the idea is good enough then we deserve to win. If we dont win with a great idea, then something is obviously not right. We have to remind ourselves that the success of our business is based on relationships and ideas. Clients take us with them and that works for and against us.

I do think we will pitch. I dont like our chances and I am not spelling out my concerns. We will have some great work to showcase our ability next week...ceteris paribus, we will win. Anything else and I will expect someone to buy me a tequila so I can forget about how much it has cost to lose.

Promotions when there is a recession looming

We are racing towards a massive recession and the prospect of it not improving for a further 12 months

Petrol prices are rumoured to be rising to $2.50 per litre

Over 1,000,000 households are in mortgage crisis

Consumer sentiment is lower than it was in 1992

Interest rate rises are still a massive possibility

The central banks everywhere are being accused of not knowing what to do

Vietnam is out of control with inflation and the worry is that many emerging economies are following suit

Basic living costs are likely to rise as per the UK and US

There are less planes in the air, fewer cars on the road, and more folk thinking about striking for more pay

Credit card spending has plummeted

Retailers are scared - more sales and the sales season brought forward

There is a race for the dollar in a wallet which is harder to open

What the blazes are the brands doing when they show little or no understnding of how dire the situation is. I dont want to win the holiday of a lifetime. I want someone to take the edge off the cost of living. I want someone to get a new pair of shoes for my 7 year old daughter. I want someone to help me not feel guilty about a trip to the cinema.

I want empathy.