Insourcing is in – for your company and your brand.

April 2nd, 2012

by Dan Gershenson, VP of Brand Strategy

Last night I was catching the re-run of an episode of Undercover Boss featuring Dennis Slagle, the CEO of Mack Trucks.

As you’ve probably heard, this series follows a different corporate executive around each week in disguise as they discover the goings-on of their companies up close and personal. More often than not, they fall on their faces while trying to do the “everyman” jobs but learn a ton about their employees in the process, often with very emotional results.

During the program, something Mr. Slagle said about the Mack brand struck me. Amid swirling rumors of Mack moving production to Mexico, he shot those rumors down by saying a family-oriented culture and giving back to the community were key elements of the Mack brand.

“Like our employees, I want my grandchildren to grow up in a country that builds things. I think it’s essential to securing the future economic health of our communities and our country. But we’re not entitled to that future. We have to earn the ability to keep manufacturing here by ensuring we’re competitive – and I’m convinced that working together, we can do just that.”

– Dennis Slagle, CEO, Mack Trucks

Now, some skeptics may say this was all PR for the cameras, but I believe him. Mack is a company over 110 years old and part of its legacy as a manufacturing brand is that it is made in America. To have production shipped overseas or across our borders would fundamentally change the very fabric of that brand.

Over the last several years, I read of manufacturing brands doing what is right for the balance sheet rather than the brand. Almost apologetically, I would hear the phrase of “We’d like to build here but we just can’t.” And yet, here was a CEO readily admitting that it would be cheaper to move production to a country like Mexico but that it would not be true to Mack’s roots.

I think when Mr. Slagle looks back on this decision to re-embrace insourcing (besides the decision to go in front of the cameras), he’ll be glad he made it. For one thing, the deepest divide in manufacturing is between available jobs and people with the skills to fill them. It’s not that opportunities are lacking. So if all is relatively equal and we have to train people to further our manufacturing companies, why not hire and train employees here in the U.S. to ensure greater quality control?

Insourcing is also good for the culture of the company. When companies want their mission statements to be living, breathing entities that their own people communicate on a daily basis, why not entice employees here in the U.S. to live that mission in every department, rather than trying to educate different cultures on your own? Certainly it has to be easier for managers in departments such as Marketing and HR.

This is what is truly exciting to me. Not just that we’re learning to bring American jobs back but that we’re strengthening the American brands that go with them. It’s more than putting the phrase “Made in America” on every product, sales piece or website.

What we have before us with insourcing our brands is an opportunity to tell the story about why we’ve stayed here or why we’ve come back. And in doing so, why it’s made us better than ever in our manufacturing production, in our corporate operations and in our external service.

No wonder that makes for good TV. So how are you telling the insourcing story for your company?

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How much would you pay for Two-Buck Chuck?

March 13th, 2012

by Lucas Heinrich, Graphic Designer

We usually view our preferences as the end result of clear decisions that we made on our own; I bought that brand of soap because I have found it clearly works better than the other options. The truth, though, is that countless outside factors affect every choice we make or opinion we hold, whether we realize it or not. It has been shown repeatedly in experiments that most people are quick to conform to the majority view in any group setting, even if it means going against what your own senses tell you.

As consumers, the factors that sway us one way or the other can be more subtle, but no less powerful. In 2001, a study looked at a group of people distinguished for their taste and refined opinions: 54 students majoring in wine making and wine tasting. Each was given two glasses of red wine to critique, one poured from a $90 bottle, the other from a $5 bottle. All the students went into great detail describing the vast superiority of the expensive glass, not a single one of them noticing a slightly important detail: both glasses were actually the $5 wine.

The test was run again, only this time with an even bigger difference: both glasses were cheap white wine, with one dyed to look red. And, shockingly, not a single wine expert picked up on this fundamental difference in their tastings. They saw a red wine in the glass, their mouths expected to taste a red and, sure enough, they described a red wine in their critiques. None of this is to say there are no differences between wines (though I am more of a beer guy, myself); the lesson to take away is that any differences can be easily overwhelmed by the power of expectations. Our minds immediately latch on to what we are told about the product before we even experience it – it’s nearly impossible to walk into any situation truly “open-minded.”

If you are a producer or seller, this can be both frightening and encouraging. Frightening in that even if you have a product twice as good as your competitor, you could still end up with fewer customers if the other guys can establish an image of quality with the public. The good news, though, is that with the help of people who are professionals at making businesses look good (hint hint), you can be the one to gain that edge in customer expectations. That’s the best situation of all: being the best in your field and having customers who believe you’re the best. Maintain that and you might actually be able to afford that $90 wine.

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What’s your mirror saying about you?

February 22nd, 2012

by Dan Gershenson, VP of Brand Strategy

What if you were to wake up tomorrow, immediately throw on some clothes and head out the door straight to work without doing anything else?

Naturally, that sounds silly to most of us. How could you go out into the world without spending quality time getting ready and… checking what you look like in the mirror?

Yet, many companies do this very routine time after time to themselves in another way without realizing it.

Let me explain. Every company has clients we need to serve in order to make money and grow our businesses. So we focus on them. Relentlessly. We rush to serve this or that client, make this deadline, fill this appointment, take this meeting, etc. Monday becomes Friday before we know it.

Assuming we’ve probably done well by our respective clients that week, come Monday it all starts over again.

All is well with the world, right? Wrong.

The problem with the hurried pace of the day-to-day is that we rarely take the time to look in the mirror to do a self-check on ourselves.

We’re not immune to that here at Boost. You could say we’re so focused on servicing our clients here that we realized something – we needed to pick our heads up from the grindstone and spend more time taking a hard look at what we could improve upon. We had to look in the mirror.

We had to ask challenging questions of ourselves more regularly, like:

• Could our processes be better?
• If employees reviewed managers, what would they say?
• What are we putting off in terms of new products and services?
• What business opportunities are we neglecting in terms of new audiences?
• What technologies do we need to learn more about?

What we found from the experience were several enlightening takeaways – some of which resulting in short-term goals and some which were a little more long-term. We knew our strengths but we didn’t pull any punches by trying to gloss over our weaknesses or threats. In every case, we realized that by taking the time to invest in our own brand’s self-examination, we were actually investing in being a better Boost for our clients.

In other words, looking in the mirror isn’t a frivolous exercise that’s independent of your clients. In fact, you can even involve your clients by asking what you could improve upon, if you’re so bold. So don’t be surprised if we pick your brain a little more regularly!

We share this with you because you might find fulfillment in adapting this line of thinking for your environment. Look in your own mirror and ask some of those challenging questions that ultimately prove rewarding to answer. Don’t avoid the issues you know are there and aren’t going to go away. After all, your brand is more than your day-to-day existence. It’s also about the vision of why you began, who you are today and where you want your business to be tomorrow.

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Great Branding Knows No Age

December 21st, 2011

by Dan Gershenson, VP of Brand Strategy

I recently heard about a group of four advertising agency veterans in their 60’s and 70’s who were opening a consultancy geared toward helping brands that targeted…people in their 60’s and 70’s.

More power to them and kudos for opening their own shop. I even think it’s great that they’re specializing toward a particular segment. But the part that mildly annoyed me was a statement by one of the owners who said they were more uniquely qualified to speak to the senior audience because they were seniors.

Nice try. But I call BS on that.

Similarly, I also call BS on the notion that just because you’re a man you can talk to men better than a woman can. This kind of close-mindedness is what leads agencies to staff beer accounts with male creatives that more often than not leads to cliche “babes and booze” advertising. I’d like to see what a beer account could have with more female perspectives because I think it would be refreshing (of course, a little thing called talent would be a consideration too).

This “sameness” of age, gender, race and location does not guarantee an instant relationship to work that resonates between the agency and target audience.

Is it nice and convenient? Sure. I’ll grant that. When you’re living what your target audience goes through to the point of where you ARE the target audience, you’ve got a leg up. But standing upon that alone isn’t enough.

Terrific research, planning and creativity are still needed.

Why? For one thing, you’re just one person. And to get greater depth to see if the message is being on target, you have to get outside of your walls – whether it’s the walls of your business or the walls of your mind.

This can mean speaking with people one-on-one or in a group. Online and/or offline. Inevitably, regardless of what you think you automatically know or have in common with that person you’re speaking to, you uncover certain nuggets of insight that you never knew were there.

Because of this process, great work can be done by people who are nowhere near the target audience. I have strived to appeal to retirees, construction workers, people needing therapy, I.T. professionals and scientists. I am none of those things and I’d like to think I’ve done a good job at connecting the brands that hired me to the people they wanted to reach.

Let’s pretend I had a product I needed to market to everyone in the world who had the same name as me: Dan. Obviously, there’s a lot of guys in the world named Dan. But even though I share their name, the reality is I don’t understand all the Dans. I need to talk with them and get to know them. And in doing so, I’d find out what makes each of them individually tick. After all, we come from different backgrounds, have different aspirations and have different things we enjoy doing. To assume that I know them because I share the same name would be, of course, quite foolish.

Well, why should we be assuming things about our audience just because we happen to share the same age, skin color and gender? We can dig deeper than that. Out of respect for their complexity and sophistication, we have to.

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Brand America Depends on One Math Teacher

November 2nd, 2011

by Dan Gershenson, VP of Brand Strategy

In the midst of the worst economic period in decades, there’s a perception that America doesn’t have jobs. That’s not entirely true.

As an article in Reuters explains, America has jobs and they’re waiting to be filled in the manufacturing industry. The problem is, those jobs need to be filled by qualified people in math and science. And companies aren’t getting nearly enough of those people.

This isn’t merely a recruiting issue in my mind. It’s a problem we need to address much farther back in how we brand the subjects of math and science to kids.

That’s right. Just as companies themselves need to be positioned as attractive brands, we’ve got to figure out a way to brand math and science as attractive to students in High School. Who is to blame?

One teacher, good or bad, can be all it takes to influence direction.
For me, the great divide came from one Math teacher in High School.

If you were to look at me today, you wouldn’t think I once was great in Math. But I was. In middle school, I got all A’s. I was taught by teachers who knew how to break down the principles of math and show me how A equaled B. They were patient with me when I didn’t know something and they didn’t get frustrated.

When I went to High School, everything changed. My freshman year high school math teacher was a man with tenure who had been teaching since the 1950’s. He seemed to enjoy yelling and when students didn’t understand something, he got angrier instead of patient. He would say, “I don’t know what’s wrong with these kids today. I don’t know why they don’t get this stuff.”

The subsequent teachers were calmer but not much better. They were good people who had taught for too long and grown too out of touch. They just didn’t know how to relate anymore.

More than anything, they didn’t know how to adequately answer the question that so many kids have on this subject:

“How am I ever going to use this stuff in the future?”

It’s a fair question, isn’t it? It’s not disrespectful. All we wanted to know was that there might be a practical application for what we were learning. What careers are there for people and what does that look like? We were thinking about our futures, my math teachers had an opportunity to address it and they flat out blew it.

They also missed the boat in bringing in people who used math and science in their careers. In four years, I never heard from one.

And because of that, a kid who had once gotten A’s in math couldn’t get away from the subject fast enough. I literally chose a major in Journalism not only because I enjoyed writing but because I wouldn’t have to take any math classes.

One lousy math teacher caused that shift.

It’s a little scary to think how much influence one person can have on a life, but it’s there.

That was just my experience, of course. Others had better ones and positive things to say. But there’s no way around saying this – those teachers absolutely killed math as a career possibility for me. For others, they merely proved to be uninspiring. Those people went on to become successful in other careers, like publishing, aviation, telecommunications, health care administration and more.

What can we do to build and rebuild the attractiveness of Math and Science so that we have a stronger Brand America?

Take a day or take a whole week or two to feature “Careers in Math” and “Careers in Science.” Have professionals from those fields come in who can captivate the imagination of students to show how there is a very real-world use for what they’re learning. And as you can imagine, because they have so much impact on our life’s direction, I believe we need to pay our principals and teachers much more.

Yet, rather than merely complaining and hoping, I thought I could take my own actions in a small way to shift our fortunes in the Math and Science Department.

Our new venture here at Boost Marketing – Made Here Made Well – highlights great people who are making exciting durable goods right here in the U.S.A. I’m looking forward to sharing a lot more about MHMW with you in an upcoming post. For now, know that for every product sale made on MadeHereMadeWell.com, we’ll give a percentage back to the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Educational Foundation.

I’ve known the people at SME for a long time and am impressed by their work in educating students on the merits of a career in manufacturing. I believe when a strong foundation in Math and Science at the high school and collegiate level is connected to great programs that show career practicality like the SME’s, it is no stretch to say Brand America wins.

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Boost featured in LogoLounge 7!

October 13th, 2011

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It’s great to be noticed not only by our clients for fine work, but publications we respect – and thanks to an excellent logo design, we can enjoy precisely that. Boost’s rendering of the West Willow Family Dental logo was chosen to be featured in the issue of LogoLounge, Volume 7.

Out of 36,000 logos that are entered regularly for consideration, a select number are chosen for this prestigious publication. We’re honored to be one of the few.

Boost is also working on the website as we speak for West Willow, so we’re looking forward to sharing that with you soon. In the interim, we thought we’d provide you a look at the winning West Willow logo we couldn’t be more proud of.

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Building Captivating Conversations In A “One And Done” World

September 6th, 2011

Let’s assume that your website is a place where people visit once and leave. I’m not saying it’s bad. It might be great. But it has little to do with how many links you have on your site, whether it was designed in an “L” or “Z” eye pattern or whatever other rationalization might exist from a web designer.

The new reality is this: People want YOU to come to THEM.

The days of people coming to websites over and over again are, well, over.

Don’t take down your site in a panic. You’ll see in a moment why it has more value than ever. But first, let me put this thinking into an analogy of islands because that’s often where we envision ourselves anyway.

Not long ago, it was an interesting period of time when we would ask people to come to our individual brand islands and hang out there indefinitely. Time and time again, they’d come to visit and spend some time with us. We had a ball having them. We greeted them with open arms and it was fun being their hosts.

Yet, as we know, Mark Zuckerberg built a new brand new, gigantic island resort called Facebook and many of the islanders went over there. Or they started hanging out on the other big islands of LinkedIn, Twitter, GooglePlus, StumbleUpon and more.

Did they forget about us? No. People won’t come back to our islands repeatedly like they used to, but there is good news to be had. They’re still open to transmissions from afar. So if we can provide them with content that speaks to their world, they’ll listen. And if it’s really good, they’ll share with the other natives. In other words, it’s time to tidy up that website with recurring content on a weekly basis. How about an RSS or e-mail feed for subscriptions? What do we have that’s downloadable? That’s share-able? What forms do we have so that in one answer, we can tailor things toward the one-and-done site visitor?

The great irony of all this is that we have to put more work into our websites than we ever did. Not with the goal of having people visit us repeatedly but wanting to receive our content repeatedly. We have to transform our static websites into fountains of information. Because when we do, our customers and potential customers find value in what we’re sharing – as long as it isn’t merely about the sale we’re having next Sunday.

Suddenly, you have to stop and think to yourself, “Wait a minute. If they’re appreciating our content and sharing it with others who share their characteristics and beliefs, what are we stressing out over? Does it matter that they have that relationship with us primarily on a social media channel instead of our website?”

Exactly. So why do some people put so much stock in traffic to a website? Maybe because now and then they’re measuring things they shouldn’t – or they shouldn’t look solely at that metric. For example, if several people are talking positively about us on Facebook, should we be alarmed that the traffic to our main website is slightly down? No. Because we’re already in front of them and in their conversation stream. If these people are Fans who are commenting on what we post or at the very least, “Liking” us, don’t we have something just as good as a site visit? In actuality, we have something better – an indication of content that the person prefers as opposed to a pair of eyeballs.

See, in reality, one-and-dones aren’t really gone. They’re just stopping by to let us know that, at the very least, they’re interested in what we have to say. Now it’s up to us to use smart strategic planning in order to keep in touch with them – where they are, on their terms.

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Boost welcomes veteran creative, strategist Dan Gershenson to its team

August 12th, 2011

Boost Marketing is getting an extra boost in the brand strategy and social media realm, thanks to the addition of Dan Gershenson, a 16-year advertising industry veteran who has held a variety of creative and management posts at agencies in Chicagoland and Florida.

“It’s thrilling for me to help inspire the creative team at Boost,” says Gershenson. “I’m excited to bring a strong element of creativity, strategic insight and social media marketing that our clients can truly appreciate. I’m just enhancing what’s already a terrific foundation to build upon.”

Gershenson has worked on campaigns for clients as diverse as State Farm, U.S. Gypsum, CSL Plasma, Detroit Tigers, Citibank, TooJay’s Deli, Boca Lago Country Club and more. He has also produced over 100 strategic plans.

He spent the last six years running a brand development agency in Florida, but ultimately, Gershenson had to be true to his roots. “I felt Chicagoland calling me home. A Midwesterner is part of who I am and who I’ll always be. It feels great to be back, creating better brands for people I believe in.”

“But this isn’t just sentimental. I’m also here because of Keith Booton (Boost’s President). I liked that Keith has spent significant time on the client side in his career, which gives him a fantastic ear for what the client needs. He’s not showy or sales-ish. He’s a warm, straightforward person who wants to do everything he can to help people make better marketing decisions. Even if we aren’t the answer. It’s a rarity in our business, to say the least.”

“He makes my job easier and we complement each other very well.”

Gershenson’s blog, “Chicago Brander” has been seen by over 25,000 people. He also serves on the Small Business Committee at the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.

The Boost team has already introduced a number of clients to content marketing packages where it makes sense. “I’m not one of these people who tells companies to throw out everything else they’re doing for social media or because it’s what’s on everyone’s lips these days.” Gershenson says. “Keith, to his credit, wanted to do the responsible thing and introduce it the right way with my help, integrating it into existing brand strategies thoughtfully.”

The results are paying off.

“Keith just told me that one of our clients, a 2nd generation family business, said the work we’re doing right now for them is the best they’ve had in their history. And for us, that feels incredibly good.”

Gershenson is actually a native of Wheaton, where Boost is based. “It’s quite ironic how life can come full circle. Of all the agencies in the world, I had to walk into Boost. And I’m glad I did.”

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Your Brand Can Never Have Enough Odies

August 3rd, 2011

When I’ve clocked off at Boost for the day, there’s nothing like coming home to my family and being approached with glee by our dog, Odie. He’s an Australian Shepherd/Chow mix that we rescued a few years ago. As many a dog like him would do, Odie licks everyone in sight. Including me. I guess when it comes to our house, there’s nowhere else he’d rather be.

Unconditional love. When you think about it, there’s no finer show of loyalty than that.

Businesses don’t always think about attracting the human version of Odie. They think about target audiences and prospects and profitability. Nothing wrong with that. But there’s something to be said for having the kind of deep connection with the people who buy your goods and services that they turn into raving fans.

That’s what we all should strive for as brands – increased loyalty by making it easier for people to talk about us with stories they can’t wait to tell. That may be above-and-beyond customer service or a demonstration that shows how the company treats every person as the only one in the world.

Don’t you do this in your own life outside of work? Of course you do. When you eat out at a great restaurant (or a bad one), you might share it on Yelp. If a movie, Rotten Tomatoes. If a book, Amazon. Nobody from that restaurant or book or movie needs to ask you to do this because you already feel compelled to share it.

When it’s overwhelmingly positive and unsolicited in relation to your brand, you’ve got yourself an Odie.

But if you do need to ask, that’s OK too.

Take LinkedIn Recommendations, for example. When I ask, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how several of our clients say great things about us at Boost – things that even I forgot we did for them. If I wanted to get those kind words on video for YouTube, they’d be happy to do so. You have fans like this too, I’m sure. Their eyes may not light up at the sight of you like Odie’s, but when asked their opinion of you, they can’t say enough good things. And that’s not so bad either. You just have to ask!

Which begs the question, how are you involving your customers in your own efforts to deepen their loyalty? Online tactics always come to mind, but it’s about so much more than one avenue. Customer Appreciation Days. Hand-written notes. A phone call to just say “thanks for your business.” These little gestures can lead to grander, share-able stories. I’m striving to constantly get better at this myself as I’m sure many of you are too.

Let me know how it’s going. Speaking of going, I’d better wrap this up at it’s the end of the day.

Don’t want to keep Odie waiting.

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Branding Case Study: Tully Electric

July 13th, 2011

Founded in 1989, Tully Lighting & Electric is a full-service lighting, electrical and home theater services company. Although many electricians take a “one size fits all” approach, they realize that every job is unique. And like Boost, they think outside the box.

But when Roger Tully came to Boost, his firm looked like every other electrician on the block. Nothing in his marketing efforts reflected the upscale work that Tully specializes in: premium electrical work and unique lighting solutions for high-end homes. We aimed to change that.

Click here to download the case study (4.4 MB PDF opens in a new window).

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