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5 Reasons Why Weight Watchers Marketing Rocks

Friday, January 6, 2012 —

For the past year, I’ve committed to a healthier lifestyle and have been following Weight Watchers. I haven’t shared much about this because I’m still working on getting to my goal “weight.” So far I’m way impressed by this program and it really works – I’ve lost over 70 lbs.

Weight Watchers recently rolled out many improvements to the plan for 2012 including a new iPhone app called Weight Watchers Barcode Scanner. This app allows you to scan barcodes and calculates the PointsPlus values of food. I recently downloaded this app and so far I really like it.

Weight loss programs and services are a hot topic this time of year because there is a large portion of the population that can use these services. According to the Worldwide Health Organization, over 1.8 billion people are overweight worldwide and it is estimated that and people spend more than $60 billion on weight loss programs and services. Wow. That’s a whole lot of market potential. No wonder you see so many products and services popping up to capture a bit of this market share.

So with all the weight loss program choices out there, how does Weight Watchers stand out with their marketing? Here are the top five reasons why I think Weight Watchers marketing rocks:

1. Consistent branding, messaging and communications with members who are engaged.

2. Well-respected celebrity endorsers and partners– Jennifer Hudson, Charles Barkley, Hungry Girl, and Dr. Oz. Plus, they also feature real users of the program and their success stories.

3. An easy-to-use online and offline community to help you keep your weight loss on track with success stories, tips, blogs, challenges, etc.

4. Mobile apps for tech-savvy consumers.

5. Print publications (cookbooks and a magazine) plus products to make following the program easier.

The marketing of Weight Watchers definitely reflects their great understanding of their audiences and a focused effort to engage their “ideal” consumer. This provides Weight Watchers with the best opportunity to stand out from the crowd. For example, Charles Barkley is clearly a great spokesperson to engage more men, the apps engage techy consumers and Dr. Oz targets middle age women. Is your marketing this focused?

Susan Schoultz is Design Director at Clear Verve Marketing and works with clients to plan, create, and execute marketing campaigns. Follow her on Twitter as @clearverve2.

Tags: 5 reasons why Weight Watchers marketing rocks, marketing

Stop Using the Marketing Fast Pass

Friday, November 4, 2011 —

Every day in Walt Disney World, magic happens. I experienced this first-hand on a recent family vacation. I have long been a fan of Walt Disney, the marketing genius behind Disney and of all that Walt Disney World employees do to exceed customer expectations.

We can all learn from the genius of the Disney brand with their Disney Institute (training I had experienced through a past job which is AWESOME!) and appreciate the many brilliant marketing ideas they have in place. One of the many genius service ideas Walt Disney World has in place at all of their parks is the FASTPASS.

With a FASTPASS at Walt Disney World, you can cut your wait time down for most rides or shows using your park pass. You swipe your park pass on kiosks near the ride or show and receive a ticket with a set time to return at your reserved time to enter the ride or show.

This FASTPASS idea got me thinking about our roles in marketing. With so many tools available for marketing an organization, it is easy succumb to using a marketing “fast pass” and jump right into using tactics without making sure they tie back to a marketing strategy or objective. The end of the year is near and strategic planning is on the horizon for many organizations. Is your marketing plan in place? If not, don’t delay getting your planning underway before the year ends. If you are not sure where to start, we can help you navigate through the lines so you don’t have to use the marketing “fast pass.” Because while a FASTPASS may be great when you are trying to get on an amusement park ride as quickly as possible, if you are trying to build your business as quickly as possible, a marketing “fast pass” leads to disjointed efforts which really only slow you down.

Susan Schoultz is Design Director at Clear Verve Marketing and works with clients to plan, create, and execute marketing campaigns. Follow her on Twitter as @clearverve2.

Tags: Marketing Fast Pass, Marketing Planning, Walt Disney World

SIMcast – What’s Clear Verve Marketing?

Friday, July 30, 2010 —

We often share helpful information or tips in our blog and also want to share our expertise. Have you ever wondered what we do at Clear Verve Marketing? Check out this recent interview with Kirk Strong for a Smart Interactive SIMcast featuring our President, Christina Steder to hear first hand.

Tags: Clear Verve Marketing, SIMcast, Smart Interactive Media

To Discount or Not To Discount?

Thursday, June 17, 2010 —

Discounting can be tempting for businesses and organizations to consider. Especially with our current times. As with any marketing strategy, the need for discounting really depends on the situation and the type of business and organization. If you offer a product and need to push inventory out the door or sales are down, discounting may be necessary. If sales are going well for your company or organization then there is no need to discount.

To determine how best to provide a special offer, you have to understand what is going on in your organization and be on top of sales. Here are some questions to consider.

1). If your sales are down, make sure you have a good understanding of the internal and external environments for your business instead of jumping right into discounting. Here are a few things to consider: Do you have more competitors offering your product/service? Is something in your organization not going smoothly? Do people not have a need for your product/service as it currently exists?

2). Review and fine-tune your messaging. It is good to be consistent with messaging but if your offering is not well-explained in the first place, your prospective customers may not understand why they should buy. If customers don’t understand why they should buy, they may buy only because of the discount and not value the purchase. Especially in a service environment, this can lead to vendor shopping.

3). Consider the long-term effects of discounting over time. If you are always discounting, what is the perceived value you provide to your customers/donors? Will they ever be willing to pay full price? You may have devalued yourself to the point where customers don’t appreciate your offering and only buy because they need to and you are the cheapest.

4). Understand your customer and measure how they respond to offers. If you are looking for customers to purchase more of your product or services, test offers and consider a customer loyalty offering versus a discount each time they purchase. Customer loyalty offerings can allow you to provide special perks to those customers that purchase from you most frequently.

5). Make it easy for your customers/donors to work with you. Nothing can turn off a person more than bad service and the negative word of mouth that goes with it.

6). Test marketing channels for special offers based on where your customers are likely to see your messages. Know the demographics of these channels to make sure you are reaching the right audiences.

7). Instead of a discount, consider offering a gift with purchase or free initial consultation.

We hold on to some of our favorite articles and found these valuable on the topic of discounting.

Golden Practices Blog: Tired of Competing on Price

The Right Way to Offer Retail Discounts

Can your Brand Afford to Discount? from Marketing Profs

Do you have any other tips to share when it comes to discounting? Please share.

Susan Schoultz is Client Service Director at Clear Verve Marketing and works with clients to plan, create and execute marketing campaigns. Follow her on Twitter as @clearverve2.

Tags: customer experience, Discounting, Strategic marketing

Fundraising with Twitter

Monday, April 12, 2010 —

This week, we will launch a first for Milwaukee. On Friday, April 16, in conjunction with A Day for Meta House, Clear Verve has organized the first ever Milwaukee-area twitter-based fundraiser. Thanks to the generosity of Manpower and the vision of the people at Meta House, we hope to raise $1500 through retweets of the hashtag #Day4MH. Here’s how it will work:

During the tweetathon, Meta House will be using twitter to send out messages about their mission, the activities that will be happening at the breakfast and lunch events, and Manpower’s support for retweeted messages. Tweets will also be sent following the theme for the day – the ripple effect of addiction and recovery and how one person’s life affects many other’s – and asking people to share their messages of inspiration and the people who have impacted their lives.

Then, Milwaukee-area tweetathon participants are invited to attend a tweetup at iPic at Bayshore from 5:00 – 7:00 pm. Admission is free, but freewill donations will be accepted to benefit Meta House. Attendees can RSVP for the tweetup by clicking here.

If you don’t know much about Meta House, be sure to follow #Day4MH on twitter, you will learn a lot. They are an amazing organization, a nationally recognized treatment center that has been providing alcohol and other drug abuse treatment services designed specifically for women since 1963. Meta House helps women struggling with drug and alcohol addiction reclaim their lives and rebuild their families. Its model program meets the unique needs of women and their children, ending the generational cycle of substance abuse. Meta House knows that women are likely to have become addicted in response to the pain of traumatic life experiences. They also know that women succeed in treatment when they have a healing environment that understands the importance of their roles in society. For more information, visit www.metahouse.org.

So, how can you help?

We hope you’ll participate in this great experiment and help a wonderful organization make a difference in Milwaukee. Be sure to follow #Day4MH on twitter and take a moment to retweet a few times. Then, show up at iPic to meet the other Milwaukee-area tweeps who will help us raise up to $1500 for Meta House. We’re confident we’ll reach our goal and we hope you’ll be a part of it!

Tags: fundraising, Meta House, milwaukee, Social Media, tweetup, twitter

Service Marketing and the Oscars

Thursday, March 25, 2010 —

In her Golden Practices blog, Michelle Golden draws an interesting parallel between a comment made at the Oscars and accounting marketing.

You should check out her blog to read the whole entry in which she makes some great points about what really matters in service marketing – content. And not jargon-filled, hyped up content either. What matters is content that assumes the audience is intelligent, but not necessarily knowledgeable about the technical stuff that seems like common sense to someone in your industry.

In a service based industry, you are selling the invisible. Whether you offer knowledge, creativity, or a thorough job performing manual labor, people need to understand what you can do for them. They need to know that you’re smart, but won’t make them feel stupid. They need to understand what types of problems you solve. They need to be able to figure out what the heck you do.

Share your knowledge, share examples, explain and explain and explain. It will only make them need you more.

Tags: accounting marketing, content marketing, marketing, Public Relations, service marketing

Details Matter in Customer Experience

Monday, March 8, 2010 —

Experts say we are not supposed to sweat the small stuff in life, but lately I have been surprised by my experiences with several businesses and their lack of attention to detail.

A Restaurant

Most of the time when I visit a restaurant, the service is satisfactory. I was baffled by a recent visit to a local restaurant that offered a new smaller portion menu (side note: I’m very happy for the small portion menus as I could use the portion control help!).

I placed my order, and after about 10 minutes the waitress came back and said that the item I wanted couldn’t be served because they did not have the special martini glasses they were supposed to serve it in. My response to this was, “Can’t you serve it on a regular plate?” This seemed like a logical thing to me. The waitress then told me that the restaurant’s General Manager said they had to stick to exactly how the item was listed on the menu. No exceptions. Huh? To me, this made no sense. Especially since there was not a picture of the item I ordered in the menu. I didn’t even know it was supposed to be served in a martini glass and honestly, would have found it easier to eat off a plate. Seems to me this restaurant has focused on the wrong detail here – what about making the customer happy?

A Hotel

During a recent trip to Northern Wisconsin, we stayed at a hotel & resort that was very nice for the area. We were interested in seeing what was going on that weekend, so we looked at the hotel information “binder” in our room expecting to find that information in there. We did find what was “happening” in the area – last June! Luckily, the front desk was able to help us. Hmm, seems like an important detail was overlooked here as well.

Another Restaurant

When I ordered take-out at a new, local restaurant a few weeks ago, I had to search in several places before I found the phone number for this new restaurant because it was not on their web site. When we picked up our order, I brought it to the attention of the waitress as a helpful note. I recently checked their web site and there still is no phone number listed. Guess my tip didn’t reach the right person.

Don’t Overlook Key Details!

Sure details can get missed from time to time. We are all human. However, we have to make sure we take a step back and look at our organizations through our customers’ point of view. Small details can annoy your customers and turn into negative word of mouth. It used to be said that unsatisfied customers tell five other people about negative experiences. With the use of social media today, one person can easily tell thousands. Bruce Temkin from Forrester shared some new research in his customer experience blog on a study that was conducted with 4,500 individuals and how they share experiences with others. It is something that is definitely worth checking out.

When people are vocal about bad experiences with your company or organization, it is great opportunity to learn, make things right, and engage with your customers. To learn about these experiences in social media or the Web, have you set up tools to track mentions of your business/organization? If not, you can learn more about this in an upcoming blog post.