Six Steps toward Doing Almost Anything

Six Steps to Doing Almost Anything
Any time you have a major project to do (such as your major assignments for this course), you should ask and answer six questions. You can do anything if you answer them.




Here are the six questions:
1. What do I want to do (describe in detail)?
2. What do I need in order to do it (people, things, money, other resources)?
3. How will I get what I need?
4. From start to finish, what steps must I take to do what I want to do? (Break it up into small tasks.)
5. What can go wrong, and how will I deal with it?
6. (After the project is completed) How can I improve upon this project in the future?




1. What do I want to do?
(I’m using an example that doesn’t require you to keep thinking of business terms and business models.)
I want to organize a picnic for 300 shut-ins. The shut-ins will be handicapped or elderly people in nursing homes (state which), hospitals (state which), and private homes (contact churches and other sources of information for names and addresses of shut-ins) in the (name specific geographical area). The event will take place 9:30 A.M.-3:30 P.M. on November 19, which is two months from the day that I begin my plans. The shut-ins will have transportation to and from the site, food, and live entertainment. A local celebrity will act as emcee for the entertainment portion of the event. Medical personnel and caregivers will be available.




2. What will I need?
1. Six city buses, twenty family-sized cars, and thirty designated drivers.
2. 50 gallons of baked beans, 60 gallons of potato salad, (continue food list), 500 ten-ounce paper cups, 600 napkins, 150 pounds of ice cubes, six barbecue grills, (continue supplies list).
3. An level outdoor area of at least three acres, with an awning large enough to shade four picnic-sized food tables.
4. 350 folding chairs.
5. A popular local celebrity to act as emcee.
6. Two stand-up microphones and three wireless microphones. A sound system and someone who can operate it.
7. Pallets and risers for a 10’ X 20’ stage.
8. Popular local entertainers (Who?).
9. Newspaper, television, radio, and Internet publicity.
10. At least 12 cooks, 2 traffic handlers, and (mention each person you’ll need).
11. (The list goes on, but I’ll mention one more:) A project chairman, a project co-chairman, 6 committee directors, and 36 committee members.




3. How will I get what I need?
Answer this question for each item or person needed. Tell how and from where you will get them. Here are a few examples:
1. Borrow risers, pallets, and sound system from the nearest high school or college (Which high school or college?).
2. Ask the local cannery to donate the canned beans and potato salad you will need. Make sure that the name of the cannery is displayed on the picnic program.
3. Ask the city bus company to volunteer buses and drivers for the day. Ask church members and others (Which others?) to pick up shut-ins at their homes and drive them to the site.
4. Buy off-white, card-stock paper for programs and use your photocopier to produce 350 copies.




4. From start to finish, what steps must I take to do what I want to do? (Break it up into small tasks)
When completing this portion of the planning, you keep two dates in mind: today and the day of the event.
When mapping out this portion of the planning, you begin with the day of the event and work your way back to today. You list these tasks in reverse order because each thing on the list is the answer to an implied question: “In order to do a certain thing by a certain date, what must I do at an earlier date to make it possible; and by which date must I do this?”




Here’s an example:
1. Nov. 19, 5:00 P.M.: All shut-ins have returned to their places of residence.
2. 3:30 P.M.: Complete Shut-in Picnic.
3. 9:30 A.M.: Program begins (follow schedule)
4. 9:10 A.M.: All shut-ins should have arrived at the picnic site.
5. 8:00 A.M.: All transport vehicles have left to pick up shut-ins. All locations have been notified to have shut-ins ready when transportation arrives.
6. November 18: All drivers, and the bus company have been called to make sure that everything (give details) is “go.”
7. November 12: Final project meeting. Problems discussed and resolved.
8. October 19: Transportation plans finalized.
9. October 12: Bus lines and drivers agree to plans.
10. October 5: Bus company and individual drivers are contacted with request for buses and drivers.
11. October 4: Routes taken by each vehicle mapped out.
12. September 29: Names and locations of each shut-in received from hospitals, nursing homes, churches, etc.
13. September 20: Hospitals, nursing homes, churches, etc. contacted
14. September 19: Shut-in Picnic Project meeting; roles are assigned.




5. What can go wrong, and how will I deal with it?
1. It could rain. (Make sure the event is held close to a building with a suitable interior that you can use.)
2. A bus could break down. (Have a bus on stand-by, or have an alternate transport plan.)
3. One of the shut-ins could have a physical emergency. (Arrange for at least one qualified nurse or paramedic is available from each nursing home. This should be among the needed resources in Question #2.)




There are many other things that can go wrong, and you should address each one of them. Always assume a worst-case scenario. You may have to face one.
Years ago, a civic group borrowed an empty store front just long enough to construct a temporary “Haunted House” for the week of Halloween. Only a couple of days before the “Haunted House” opened, the Fire Department declared the temporary structures a fire hazard.
The civic group quickly sprayed everything with a fire retardant liquid. If the “Haunted House” had not been constructed to raise money for humanitarian purposes, the fire department would never have allowed the “Haunted House” committee to go ahead with their plans.




6. How can I improve upon this project in the future?
If you’re planning a shut-in picnic, you need to ask and answer this question only once. If you’re planning a business model, you should ask it at every opportunity.
If you have a business model that works, someone will eventually find a way to copy it and—more likely—improve upon it. Then your business model will be outdated, and your competitors will take your customers away from you.
To keep this from happening, you have to make your business model obsolete before your competitors do. You do it by re-inventing your business early and often. The early twentieth century stage magician and escape artist Harry Houdini provides us with an easy-to-understand example of how to do this.




Houdini as a marketing strategist
You may have heard that “a magician never gives away a trick,” but Houdini did it very often.
Every time he came up with another illusion or escape, other performers tried to learn how he did it. Then they could do it themselves. (You might say that the other magicians were Houdini’s business competitors.) If they had succeeded, Houdini’s tricks wouldn’t have as much entertainment value.
Houdini was always working to improve his tricks to make them more amazing, and he was always developing other tricks. He knew that other magicians would eventually figure out how he had done his tricks and would try to copy them.
By the time one of his competitors was able to copy one of his tricks, Houdini had already come up with something even better.
Then what do you think he did?
Houdini would stop using a trick as soon as he had developed a new or more amazing one. Then he would write a book or magazine article and tell how he had done the trick he had stopped using.
As a result, his audiences were more amazed than ever at his abilities. Houdini’s competitors were left with nothing because people already knew how the trick was performed.
That’s what you should do. Success is one of the biggest obstacles to continued success. No matter how successful your business model is, you should keep your eyes and ears open to any change in the business, social, or political climate in order to update—or even replace—your business model. If you don’t, your competitors will eat your lunch. As one marketing strategist wrote, “You should eat your own lunch before your competitors do.”

Advertising and Marketing Mid-term Exam, Autumn 2010

     Your mid-term exam grades will come from what I see on your team's blog (company web site) and it will be based on how well you've learned the following lessons:

1. Fit for Competitive Advantage

2. Ideas that Create Value

3. Sell the Benefit!

4. Know Your Target Consumer

7. Core Competencies and Competitive Advantage

9. Brand Personality and Packaging

11. Cause/Brand Alliance

     Lesson 3, "Sell the Benefit," will not be found on this blog.  I have stressed "benefit" over and over in these classes, so you should know it by heart.  
     Remember that, whenever I've told you about the benefit that certain products promise, I've always used only a few words.  Often, I have described the benefit in only one word, such as taste, convenience, or popularity.  That's what you should be able to do.  Later in the year, when you create slogans for your products, your slogans should suggest the benefit of using the product.  
     Very few people will be willing to read an entire paragraph about the benefit of using your product.  If you can't tell the benefit in five words or less, you'll probably never be able to sell the product.

News English Mid-term Exam, Autumn 2010

     Each team should have already started their own on-line newspaper, giving the name of the paper, the logo, and the masthead.  Your mid-term grades will be determined by what I see on your site.  Your grades will depend on how well you learned the following lessons:

1. What is News?

2. Newspaper 0ffices

3. How News Reporting Really Works

4. Reliability of News Reports

5. Newspaper Structure

6. Headlines

7. Inverted Pyramid Style

     Your newspaper should look as much like a real newspaper as possible.  Your news should come either from actual events or from work generated by other classes.  For example, the Advertising and Marketing classes are good sources for business news, product news, other business and product related news, and advertisements.  The Travel and Tourism English classes are good sources for travel news, business news, and advertisements.

     Remember than the Internet is also a good source for news.  The kind of news you report will depend on what kind of newspaper you're producing.  For example, a community newspaper may also have world news, but their focus is on the community.  A business newspaper will have other news, and so on.  

     Don't be afraid to use your imagination and come up with a kind of newspaper you've never seen before.  For example, have you noticed that most newspapers are created with men in mind?  If your target readers were women, would you really have four sports pages for a twenty-page newspaper?

     The Advertising and Marketing classes and the Travel and Tourism classes are playing the same game that your class is playing.  It's a game with a purpose.  The more you can play it with one another, the more you'll learn in your subject area.

Travel and Tourism English Mid-term Exam, Autumn 2010

     You have already divided yourselves into teams. You and your team have already selected a travel destination of interest to you this year. Each team is supposed to be a travel agency. Over the course of this year, you and your “travel agency” will design a vacation travel package to the place your team has selected.

     By now, every team (“travel agency”) should have already started a blog to represent your “travel agency’s” web site. Of course, everything must be in English. This is, after all, a course in tourism English. You’re learning it by doing it.

      For your mid-term exam, you and your “travel agency” will write an itinerary for your vacation travel package. The itinerary must tell each place the your tourists will go during the vacation, when they will leave, when they will arrive, a general description of what there is to see or do at each place, and how much each will cost. This information must come from reliable sources on the Internet.

     Your mid-term exam project also must include travel warnings and travel advisories that you find on official sites on the Internet.

     You must contact team leaders in other classes (Advertising and Marketing, and News English) in order to advertise and publicize your travel service. The Advertising and Marketing class will help you with your advertisements. The News English class has set up several on-line “newspapers.” They will publish your advertisements and write articles about your travel vacations.

     Post your work on your team’s (“travel agency’s”) blog (web site). Your mid-term exam grade will depend on how well you have done your assignment when I see it in your blog.

Conversation Mid-term Exam, Autumn 2010

     By now, you have already selected your conversation topic. Remember, in your conversation, you’re pretending that you are in an actual situation and you’re reacting to it. Don’t talk about what someone has done. Don’t talk about what someone plans to do in the future. Don’t talk about what is taking place somewhere else. Everything in your conversation must be “here and now.”

     For example, if you’re talking about shopping, pretend that you are shopping at this moment. What would you be saying if you were shopping at this moment?

     Record your conversation in a format that is Microsoft compatible. Save it on your USB. Take the USB to me at the scheduled time for the mid-term exam. I will then see if I can open the document on the school computer. If I can open it, wait until I write down that you have given it to me. Then you can leave. If I can’t open it on the school computer, you’ll have to redo your recording in a format that I can use. 

     Every year, somebody makes the mistake of recording his work in a format that I can’t use. Make sure that you’re not the one who makes that mistake.

Lesson One: Fit for Competitive Advantage

Lesson One: FIT for Competitive Advantage

Social Exchange Theory:
1. Cost
2. Trust
3. Reward
The most important rule of marketing


Social Exchange Theory:

     You have something to sell. Someone else wants the benefits that come with buying what you have to sell. What determines whether he will buy from you? What determines whether you will sell to him?

     Both you and your customer give up something to get what you want. You want the customer's money more than you want to keep the product. Your customer wants your product more than he wants the money you’re charging for it.

     Each of you makes the exchange because the thing you're getting is more to you than the thing you're giving up in order to get it.

Social Exchange Theory:

1. Cost

2. Trust

3. Reward

     That's the secret of successful marketing. The exchange must be a win-win situation for both you and your customer.

Now where does TRUST fit into all this?

Trust:

     It's not enough for the customer trust you before the sale. It's not enough for the customer to be happy at the moment of the sale. He needs to trust you and your product even after the sale.

Trust has several elements:

1. Product safety and health

2. Quality

3. Reliability

4. Service after the sale.

     If your product offers the customer status (such as Nike), there’s another element of trust: Social Responsibility.

Social Responsibility:

     Suppose you sell a product that's supposed to make the customer feel “cool” or “popular” in some way. Your customer isn't buying just a product from you. He's buying the benefit of being seen as "cool.”

     Would your customer feel the same about your product if his friends stopped thinking it was "cool"? Your product might no longer be considered "cool" if people learned that the company making your product:

1. Was a major polluter,

2. Was located in Burma or under some other regime that violates human rights, or

3. Had laborers producing your product under conditions that was dangerous to their health.

In that case, you're at risk of losing your customers' trust.

Stakeholder Relations Management:

     Marketing isn't just between you and your customers. It would be very simple if it were. You have social exchanges with a wide variety of people who can help or hurt your business. These people are called stakeholders because they have a stake in how you conduct your business.

To stay in business, you must keep all of them satisfied. Here are only a few of your stakeholders:

1. Your customers

2. Your customers' friends and families

3. People investing in your company

4. The society and environment in which your business operates

5. The society and environment in which your product is made

6. The banks from which your company must sometimes borrow money

7. Many others.

Conflicting Stakeholder Claims:

     Different stakeholders want different things, and they often conflict. Here are a few conflicts you have to manage:

Investors: “Use profits to expand the business.”

Shareholders: “Use profits to pay dividends.”

Creditors: “Use profits to pay off loans.”

Customers: “Lower costs”

Workers: “Healthier working conditions.”

Environmentalists: “Less pollution.”

Societies: “Give something back to the community.”

     Each of the financial stakeholders mentioned above (investors, shareholders, and creditors) realize that you must satisfy all three groups (as well as the other stakeholders) if you are to stay in business. You satisfy all three groups by giving them more than they can get by dealing with someone else.

     This type of stakeholder relations management is called balancing stakeholder claims.

Fit for Competitive Advantage:

     When problems arise, there are two kinds of business managers: problem solvers and opportunity seekers. Problem solvers focus on the problem, and sometimes they solve it.

     Opportunity seekers see opportunities in every problem. They focus on the opportunities. When you make the most of the opportunities, the problems usually solve themselves. That's because, in every problem, there's a need to be met; needs offer opportunities for the person who can satisfy those needs.

“You don't want a crisis to go to waste.” —Rahm Emmanuel

Nestle in Central Africa

     Some years ago, a company called Nestle demonstrated the concept of turning problems into opportunities. Nestle set up a milk-collection station in one of the worst places on Earth to collect milk. Farmers were too poor to keep their cows healthy enough to provide quality milk.

Transportation was so bad that a third of the milk was spoiled before it could get to market.

Nestle provided veterinarians to keep the cows healthy, and refrigeration to reduce spoilage.

They also worked to improve transportation.

     Nestle got what they wanted: reliable sources of quality milk. The dairy farmers got what they wanted: higher prices for their milk. The communities got what they wanted: improved living standards and more opportunities for their families. Schools became a reality for many children whose parents previously could not afford an education for them.

Issue Sets Analysis:

     Shrewd business managers—like Nestle—look at the whole picture. Marketing isn't just a social exchange between the businessman and his customer. It involves everyone who can help or hurt his chances of successful marketing.

     Everybody wants something. Everybody needs something. Everybody fears something or is concerned about something. All these things that people want, need, fear, or give concern are called issues. To a marketer, all these things are called business opportunities.

     When a need or problem arises, it's wise to do an issue sets analysis. Ask yourself what each person or group needs. Then look for the perfect FIT so that each person or group involved can benefit from having their needs satisfied. As a general rule, the more satisfaction you can create for more people, the better it will be for your business.

Group Exercise:

     Divide up in groups of no more than seven students per group. Imagine that you're business partners.

     You're planning to set up a refreshment stand and bicycle supply shop along a riverbank. You and your partners have already borrowed a great deal of money to invest in your project.

     The county is making plans to build a bicycle path along the riverbank, and it's expected to extend all the way from the city to the seacoast. They will soon hold a public meeting on the issue.

     Bicyclists and local tourists are in favor of the bicycle path. A lot of people, however, are against it. Some of those against it are environmentalists. Some are poor people who will have to move if the bicycle path is built. Others oppose it because they say that it's a waste of tax dollars.

Let's look more closely at why they oppose the bicycle path.

Those who are against the bicycle path:

1. Environmentalists

2. Poor families living along the flood plain

3. Communities along the riverbank.

     Environmentalists point out that the planned bicycle path would run the entire length of a flood plain. A flood plain is a flat area that is usually above water but which is sometimes underwater when heavy rains cause the river to overflow.

     Much of this riverbank area is marshy. To build the bicycle path, marsh would have to be destroyed and filled in with dirt and rocks. Much of the riverbank consists of mud flats, which would have to be destroyed and filled in as well.

     All of these—flood plains, marsh, and mud flats—are called wetlands. Man-made and natural wetlands are home to many kinds of wildlife. They also help to purify the city's waste water that's dumped into the river.

     Environmentalists claim that the bicycle path would break up the wetlands into smaller parcels and make it a less healthy environment for wildlife. They also say it would be less attractive and less able to purify the city's waste water.

     Poor families on the flood plain: Forty years ago, groups of poor people who belong to a racial minority group came to the city in search of jobs. The jobs were low-paying, and they couldn't afford to live in the city. So, they used throwaway materials to build homes for themselves on the flood plain.

     From time to time, the river overflows its banks and floods their homes. They rebuild their homes and continue living their lives and tending their gardens.

     When the city began developing plans to build a bicycle path along the riverbank, these settlers were told they would have to move. The settlers don't have deeds to their property.

     According to common law, though, if you claim land and work and develop it for many years without anyone objecting to it, you have a right to the land. These people, however, can’t afford lawyers to help them with their claim to the land. Besides, the city claims the right of eminent domain in building a way people can pass through the area.

     People living in communities along the riverbank say that the bicycle path would do nothing for them. They see no reason for their tax dollars to be spent on something that would benefit only local tourists and recreational bicyclists.

Let's look at their claim:

1. The bicycle paths wouldn't cause people to bike instead of driving because the bicycle paths wouldn’t go anywhere than people would have been driving anyway. For example, they don't help anyone go from home to school or from home to work or the store.

2. Tax dollars would be leaving their communities to pay for the building and upkeep of the bicycle path, but the bicycle path would not be taking money back to them in terms of tourist's dollars.

3. They also argue that the bicycle path was designed to meet urban needs, which are different from the needs of small-town and rural areas.

Now let's look at those who are in favor of the bicycle path:

1. Bicyclists want it for recreational purposes. The bicycle path would be in a scenic area, and it would be an enjoyable way to exercise. It's also much safer than bicycling in the city.

2. Casual nature lovers often enjoy bird watching, being among the sights, sounds and smells of nature. Since the riverbank is an ecologically diverse area, there’s much more to enjoy there than in the city.

3. Government leaders believe that the bicycle path would be an important part of developing the riverbank area for tourism. By making the area more scenic, it would attract local and foreign tourists. They also say that it would encourage people to ride bicycles instead of driving cars everywhere they go.



     Get together with your group and come up with a business plan that will please everyone—environmentalists, settlers, communities, bicyclists, casual nature lovers, and government leaders. While you’re at it, your business plan should gain more customers for your business, as well as build your reputation as a responsible business leader.

Now it's your turn!

Advertising and Marketing

Table of Contents


Introduction to Advertising and Marketing
1. Fit for Competitive Advantage
2. Ideas that Create Value
3. Sell the Benefit!
4. Know Your Target Consumer
5. Six Steps to Doing Almost Anything
6. Leadership and Creative Disagreement
7. Core Competencies and Competitive Advantage
8. Murphy's Law
9. Brand Personality and Packaging
10. Reputation as an Intangible Asset
11. Cause/Brand Alliance
12. Product Placement and Celebrity Endorsement
13. Supply Chain Management
14. Managing Outside Pressure
15. Creating Your Website
16. Remembering Your Target Consumer
17. Choosing Your Advertising Media
18. Selecting Your Models and Spokesmen
19. Writing Advertising Copy
20. Mistakes to Avoid in Writing Copy
21. Designing Radio Advertisements
22. Blocking Your Advertising Images
23. Designing TV and Video Advertisements
24. Guerrilla Marketing on the Internet
25. Writing a News Release