SAVE THE DATE:

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 8-10AM

BRAND
FOR BREAKFAST

Make Your Business Healthy In Ninety Minutes

Marketing expert John Tantillo, PhD, a TV, radio and columnist
 personality, delivers you Value for money in his latest acclaimed Power
 Course and New York networking opportunity at top Manhattan restaurant
 Etcetera Etcetera. 
(Breakfast and Subscription Web Support Included)

You’ll Receive:

1) Actionable brand and marketing intelligence


2) Timely and specific brand guidance

3) Instruction on Tantillo’s NAV protocol

4) Tips on how to rapidly develop your Target Market


5) On-line and continuous lesson support

6) The chance to meet other like-minded professionals

SAVE THE DATE!


WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 8-10AM

TODAY'S TANTILLO TAKEAWAY -
Build a strong brand and the sales will follow.

John Tantillo’s Winner and Loser of The Week:   

Loser: The Balloon Boy Family

Folks, without further ado:

The Winner

A few months ago, in the bleak days of General Motors’ near bankruptcy, I predicted that far from going bankrupt, GM would end up surprising us all for the better in the future. 

Two critical marketing indicators caused me to make the claim:

1) the deep strength of GM’s individual car brands
2) GM had already made some strong marketing progress, as evinced by how it handled the New York Auto Show last spring.

Now we’re starting to get some serious sales confirmation from GM in China.

Last week, GM announced that its sales in China over the first nine months of the year rose 55 percent to 1.3 million vehicles. Not only that, but September set a sales record for the company in China.

The company isn’t there yet, but they’re getting there. Their operations in China seem brand-focused and market-driven. In other words, GM is doing what it used to do best: discovering what its Target Markets need and delivering products to satisfy those needs.

So hats off to GM. Prediction: more brand success to come. This time in the U.S. market with GM’s classic brands.

Loser

This week’s loser reminds us that there are no shortcuts to brand building, and that publicity, while important, will never outweigh the most critical marketing consideration: credibility.

Brand credibility is your bottom line.

The balloon boy family looks to be the latest sad story of a personal brand putting the publicity cart before the marketing horse.   

Here’s the quote from Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden after the half-day long balloon chase that enthralled the nation:

“It has been determined that this is a hoax, that it was a publicity stunt … done with the hope of marketing themselves to a reality television show.”

If true, the hoax will probably be the kiss of death for this eccentric reality tv show-leaning clan. There are a lot of problems with reality tv, but one that it can’t afford is the impression that the subjects and situations are fraudulent.

The main takeaway is this: never confuse the flash-in-the-pan of attention for the grunt work of brand building.

This family sounded colorful with its storm-chasing and extra-terrestrial investigations. That could have been the basis for building their brand through a gradual marketing effort (i.e, podcasts, more guest appearances on relevant shows, the building of a highly-trafficked website documenting their family’s activities, etc.).

Instead, my guess is this balloon has been permanently punctured —at least for the dad, after his bizarre behavior. Hey, on the other hand —maybe the mother has a reality show future if she divorces her husband and begins the long process of helping her children overcome his svengali-like hold over their family. Stay tuned.

And remember, the business of direct sales and entertainment is always easier when you keep marketing and branding in mind.