Managing a business in a down economy is tough. Belt-tightening is a natural and necessary first step, however, cost-cutting alone is not a business strategy and is unlikely to ever result in any real top-line, bottom-line or market share growth.
It’s at times like these that I believe it’s more important than ever to go back to basics – all the way back to that initial spark that first ignited your business. And for most consumer and enterprise tech companies that spark resulted in your first “Wow!” – a first impression that made someone say these guys “get it,” they’re “really creative,” or “now that’s something I really want to buy.”
Wow! can emanate from cool products, from whiz-bang new technologies, from innovative solutions, from impressive people, and from creative communications campaigns. Wow! can come from big, creative ideas – a squadron of media-packed helicopters flying over a major trade show in Las Vegas; a dry-witted comedian on the Today show delivering a client’s messages using humor to drive home a point; or a series of blogger-driven contests that generates droves of positive posts about a new consumer device. (All did in fact work for Walt & Company’s tech PR and consumer clients.)
Understandably, budgets for lavish PR campaigns, celebrity spokespeople, and big cash prizes are pretty hard to come by. Yet, that doesn’t mean that generating Wow! is off the table. It just means you may need to be more creative in your approach. With that in mind, for the past couple of months we’ve incorporated the following questions into every creative brainstorming session we hold:
- Does this product/service increase productivity?
- Does this product/service save energy?
- Is this product/service more enjoyable to use than competitive products?
- What’s the coolest feature/benefit of this product or service?
- How is this product/service making the world better?
More often than not, the result has been an idea to look at a product or market opportunity differently, as in Wow!, I never thought of it like that. And, those ideas have lead to some communications strategies and tactics that are beginning to show meaningful results.
I’d be interested in your feedback. Also, let me know if you have any questions you think should be added to this list.
Bob Walt
