How to convert words into loyality

You must have heard of those contests where you are asked to write about a service or product to enter a big-prize raffle. Something like, "Describe in no more than 30 words, why you like our product".
Well, what do you think those words that you have written are meant for? Testimonials? Yes, but thats not it.
The 30 words that you used to describe the service/product actually go on to become binding promises that make you keep coming back to the product. Its human nature to respect ones own words, even if you know its a lie, you will tend to live up to your words. You do that just to prove that you were not lying and that people should not find you dishonest. Marketers bank up on this aspect of human nature and create those competitions.
Its important to know that the hard work(survey and research) and creativity is involved in framing the right question. The question would typically depend on the kind market you are targeting and how do you want your product to be seen. For a cola brand the questions could be put up like:

A. Why do you think eViral cola is best thirst quencher?
B. Why do you think eViral cola is very refreshing?
C. Why do you always think of eViral cola when you feel thirsty?
D. I always drink eViral cola because.....
E. I drink eViral cola everyday in lunch because...
F. I always carry eViral cola when i am traveling because...
G. Eviral cola is the the best cola because....
H. I always make sure there is a can on eViral cola in my refrigerator because...

There are endless questions that could be framed but it depends completely on how you want to place your product in the market.

Now, of the above questions, B would get people scratching their heads but would rarely bring them to something they can write (until one knows the secret formula of the cola).
E,F and H are strictly targeting a particular segment of the market. G is an all rounder.

Decide what kind of words would your customers feel committed to and get them to write that. Feel free to share a few interesting questions that you can think of.

PS: never drink a cola with that kind of name.

Important points for a successful brand makeover

some random points for a good brand makeover

1. make sure the coverage is big
2. have some connection to old color and logo
3. do not look for a complete change but an evolution
4. do not change the domain name yet
5. convey the message first to your employees. If they don't get the idea then you don't get your target.
6. the announcement should be at one go and not slowly spreading to other regions like you do with a product launch

Getting them to say yes

You must have read a lot about getting people to say yes before you actually put in the real question. It does work and is important in selling to humans.
Its just about the inertia. When you have just said 3 YES to my 3 questions, you have actually made a short relation with me, my questions and my thoughts. So now when i put in the BIG question you actually find it an obligation to say Yes. It just that your brain believes that by saying NO you are betraying the short relation that we just made. You don't want to carry the burden of being a betrayer so you just say yes, even if half hearted.

Get media attention in one line, Facebook style

People are dying to get media attention and this fact would go good even for the already rich and famous. Anything simple action or word can get media talking about your activity. This was recently proved by Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook. In his internal mail, which was purposefully leaked, Mark writes:

“Hey Everyone –

I’m writing from India to share with you the good news that Elliot Schrage will be joining our management team as.....

And this one line got all the bloggers speculating Facebook's India launch. The original article on TC has more comment relating to this one line than the actual news of the article. Indian technology blogs have already started spreading the speculation.
Even if there is no India launch, Facebook will surely manage to get a lot of media attention in India. This will be enough to get some more Indian accounts signed up on Facebook.
Good work Mark!

Sulekha: Creating word of mouth

With the marketing strategy called BlogPrint, Sulekha is jumping into cat fight of bringing in serious bloggers in their bag. They will be publishing chosen blogs and posts as books and sharing the revenue with the bloggers.

"...One blogger will be selected every month whose blogs will be featured in a book. It will be a 'Single author' book dedicated to featuring the contributions of one featured blogger on Sulekha.com and will showcase a selection of his work..."

By this promotion Sulekha is sure to catch eye of some serious bloggers and also some of the newbies who buy the very idea of blogging just for money and not for passionate writing. Sure Sulekha will be successful in its approach to rope in the best bloggers that there are and also some good writers who are yet to take upon this idea of blogging. The new writers will be the ones who will be driving traffic to Sulekha and get their friends to read their posts. Its like the social network's friends invite system that will actually go on to create a WoM for Sulekha.

New look means more business. Really?

I had blogged in my first post that i would be changing my blogs lay out very soon. And here it is, the blogs new look. I am not sure when i will be giving my blog a makeover again, but i am sure i will so i am posting a snapshot of the current layout as a time capsule.

Well the question arises why did i change the layout. Well in my case the older layout was very broad so the posts did not take much length. The sidebar on the blog did not run in neck with the posts. I also did not want to increase the number of posts in the main page to increase the length. So, all the reasons turn out to be non-technical ones and just to make the blog more attractive and appealing to the first time visitors. Get them to read the posts, make sure they find value and subscribe to the blog. Isn't that what marketing is all about?
My point here is that the real appeal should always be in the product, in this case, the posts, but to get people to try the product your packaging should be appealing.
So, how important is a makeover for brands? Brand makeovers are all about giving your brand a fresh start. When you have a change in ideology, your motives or change in target customers, a brand makeover helps you deliver this point to the world.
But there should always be a reason for brand makeover. Some times brand makeover can be done just as an excuse for the new ad campaign or just for the sake of change, like Ceat did.

From to

In the past, we have had UTI Bank changing to Axis Bank. The reason in this case was the end of contract between the bank and the parent company but it did wonders for the bank. It helped create a more trustful name for the bank as the name UTI had lost public faith after the US-64 issue. Others in the banking industry in India who opted a makeover in the recent past are Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank. For both the banks the new look helped target a new market and get a new set of loyal customers.
Brand makeover is a costly marketing initiative but can do a great deal to lift the company's turnover if planned properly and executed with all other factors and the real product in proper shape. Remember its the product that will ultimately get your cash register ringing and marketing is just an art that can help.

No one reads what BlogRush syndicates

So, you are finally reading the posts here. Well if you have arrived here from the BlogRush widget on some other blog you will be happy to know that this is the first post on this blog that is receiving readers through BlogRush.It could also be that you are the first reader here through BlogRush. If so, i must first congratulate you of this distinction and also myself for finally getting my first reader through BlogRush. Well my earlier post had been syndicated 359 times but did not receive any readers.


Is it only me or is this the case with other bloggers as well. Given the fact that i am new to blogging and using tools such as BlogRush, there are two possibilities that i can think of. Either my titles are not too attractive and catchy or may be readers do not really bother about those widgets.
If the first is true than i believe i should start giving some misleading titles or change the subjects that i cover on this blog. But if the second point is true than we will soon see the end of BlogRush and other distribution media as well. John Chow in his blog reported that even with 24K subscribers through Feedburner his revenue percentage from Feedburner was lowest.
So let me know if you really think there is a future for such media. Also drop in numbers for your percentage of readers who reach through Blogrush. Is Blogrush only eating up space or is it really worth it? For those advertising through Blogrush, please give it a thought.