Dear (you),.....

There is something to be said for customization and personalization of marketing pieces these days. Especially for companies that you are currently a customer with who have no excuse to not personalize something.

This rings true for TD Canada Trust. I do most of my banking with them and I have for a while. They are great. They have friendly staff when I go in to a branch and their online banking system hasn't given me any problems so far. I also have a Visa card through them, a rewards card to be more exact....a travel rewards card (TD Infinite Visa Rewards Travel Card I believe is the longwinded title of it). I love it, and they have a pretty good Travel Rewards website that lets you book travel, research flights, etc. All signs point to great. In fact, I just booked a flight and car rental through them recently.

Then this morning I got an email newsletter from them, I hadn't opted in to receive it but no big deal, they are technically my travel agent after all and if they have deals then i'll look at them of course.

Jamaica for $500 + taxes! What a deal!

Oh it's only leaving from Toronto. Next.

Mayan Riviera for $430 + taxes! Wow, another great deal!

Wait, it leaves from Calgary. Useless.

I live in Vancouver, and if anyone knows this it is my bank and my credit card company. They know my address, they know the exact apartment I live in. I know they know this because they send me bills and statements. So why would you waste your time and mine showing off amazing deals that fly out of cities i'm nowhere near???

That just comes down to bad marketing execution and bad use of your database resources. And we had such a good thing going!

Beer companies do brilliant marketing

It never ceases to amaze me some of the marketing/advertising strategies that come out of beer companies and their agencies. From the original patriotic inspiring Joe Canadian rant, the now popular Dos Equis Most Interesting Man in the World, to a simple Kokanee radio commercial I remember from about 12 years ago that made a poke at Molson for always handing out free t-shirts:

Announcer: Everybody loves winning, and now in every 18 bottle case of Kokanee glacier beer you will find a special prize.
Person rattling and opening a box
Male Voice: It's a box.....and there's beer inside!!!! (cheering noises)

Well, I just saw an ad on TV the other day for a brilliant new Molson Canadian campaign that is perfectly timed and i'm guaranteeing it will be adding to their sales numbers for the next while as it runs.

The Give'R campaign offers people a chance to buy specially marked boxes of their beer and on the box is a pin code that you can enter online. Now traditionally companies use the pin code system as a way for people to enter their contest, then the company gets that person's data, etc. This time Molson threw in a wrinkle because everytime you enter one of those codes Molson donates $5 to Canadian olympic and paralympic athletes. Genius. It makes the consumer feel even better about drinking their product and allows them to feel like they have helped contribute to their country's athletes. What a great way to sell a whole bunch of product, portray a patriotic, charitable brand image, AND get valuable information on every consumer to add to your growing database. Pure genius, and the person behind the campaign should be given a serious bonus.

I predict big things as a result of this campaign, way better than just giving away a t-shirt or offering the chance to win something.

Salesperson Species

Every once in a while I have the joy of dealing with a salesperson coming into my company's office and pitching me a new service/product/business. As a result I have been able to determine two major species of salesperson.

Professional Rex

This person will show up dressed sharp. Whether it is the more relaxed salesperson look of jeans with a sharp shirt and blazer or a full out suit this person reeks of someone who is successful at their job. They realize that this life is their profession and your first impression of them is an important part of moving you to a sale. This person will also have done some research on your company, probably by visiting your website. That being said, they typically haven't gone too in depth into your company and can't really talk the talk with you.

Stereotypicus Salespernicus

This guy arrives at your office in a somewhat professional outfit and typically rolls in with a coffee in their hand. They reek.......of smoke, you can smell it from across the boardroom table, seriously. It happens again and again to me. It's shocking and immediately gives off the aura of them being one level below the professional salesperson. Now this isn't to mean that this salesperson is any worse at their job than the Professional Rex, but they have to do a lot more work to do the sale. Also they are usually much less prepared, including not having a business card and choosing to wing the appointment which becomes obvious immediately.

Now there are various categories of salesperson that fall below each species, but that is for another time when i've thought about the various people. I just find it interesting that you can lump the majority of salespeople into these two species. And for reference, if I can smell the smoke on a salesperson from across the table I immediately start to become questionable about the product/service they are selling.