Author: Drew Neisser

If MFG is about removing some of life’s little annoyances then Embassy Suites should be recognized. Had the pleasure of staying at the Embassy Suites hotel in Lincoln, Nebraska last week. Was there to give a speech on MFG to the surprisingly robust Lincoln advertising federation. Being a busy guy, I had to finish off the speech on the plane and when I got to the hotel, I needed to print the text. “How late is your business center open” I asked expecting the usual 9-7 response. Instead, I learned that not only was it open 24 hours a day but there was no charge for printing all I wanted. Relieved, I waited until the next morning to visit the center and using my trusty USB portable drive found a waiting computer eager to do my bidding. As luck would have it, the printer jammed and I was running out of time. To the rescue came the maintenance guy who promptly fixed the printer and waited until my document was printed in full. Bringing a sigh of relief I thanked him and asked “how much for printing 10 pages?”. Knowing I’ve lived in New York too long, I almost dropped my still warm speech when he said “no charge, sir.”  I can’t tell you how many hotels I’ve been to that charged for computer usage, paper, faxes and all those things business travelers like myself need when we are on the road.  Eliminating that charge seems like a little thing but that coupled with Embassy Suites’s friendly staff, comfortable rooms and a deliciously free breakfast makes me certain to choose them again and again. Be my guest, check them out for yourself.

This morning at our semi-monthly status meeting, a fellow Renegade presented her idea report on Product Red, the Bono initiated movement to help fight AIDS in Africa. She wore the red T-shirt she bought at GAP and described how good she felt doing some good for the world while doing something good for herself–shopping. It was a wonderfully emotional report as she explained the program and then dedicated her presentation to two of her friends who died from AIDS. Product Red is unquestionably a brilliant idea that will enlighten millions about an important issue simply by buying iconic products they want to buy anyway.

Lots of products and services in the marketplace are at best parity and more often are simply inferior. Too many marketers accept products as is and then leave it to the rest of us to “polish the turd”. Buff all you want, a stinker is a stinker.

We were invited to pitch a client earlier this year and did a little homework on them. Turns out they ranked lowest in their industry in customer satisfaction. Customers only stayed with them until they could find a better option. When we visited the client and told them our research findings they said to us “so you’re saying our baby is ugly?” We admitted as much and then offered a suggestion on how we could use marketing to help address their product problems. Since in our humble opinion, any other approach would be wasting their money. With a cost per customer acquisition of well over $300, we figured churn would ultimately kill their business. They said thanks but wanted a promotion right away that would lift sales–we wished them the best of luck. MFG is all about making the product/service better or at least addressing critical product/service weaknesses (like customer service).

I love the Slim Jim’s snapalope campaign! It makes me laugh and feel really good about our trade. Each ad is funnier than the next and laughter is proven to make us live longer, if not just more enjoyably. The soda-bottle camouflage suit one kid wears is hysterical and the fact that he loses out to the kid who hides in the cooler and cold-cocks the fleeing snapalope with the cooler door is funnier still. Another ad opens with three snapalopes frozen at the front of the store lit up by a car in the parking lot, a brilliant homage to the cliché “deer in the headlights”. Now if only Slim Jims weren’t at the bottom of the nutritional food chain along with SPAM and Twinkies…

Wal-Mart, yeah – that’s right, big bad Wal-Mart, has started a massive “sustainability” initiative that could be the single biggest Marketing for Good effort in the world. By asking all its suppliers from P&G on down to create more eco-friendly products and production processes, this dominant retailer is actually using its clout for the betterment of our little world. Given the fact that they account for more than 25% of sales in just about every category, the ripple effect of this initiative could be extraordinary.