Stories | Mike McRitchie | Resume and LinkedIn Profile Writer

How Budweiser Captures Hearts

May 4, 2015 by Mike McRitchie Leave a Comment

https://youtu.be/y0qZYqdsYAg

You’ve all seen the Budweiser Clydesdales during the Super Bowl. And how that brings tears to your eyes.

We’ll here’s another twist on the heartstrings pull that Bud does right.

Thank you Troy White for the post suggestion.

In yesterday’s post Get Saucy! I talked about how you can enter the conversation your prospects are having. And how when you do that well you get customers for life.

Well this video does something similar. It get’s people talking. It goes viral (I know that’s an overused term these days).

Why does it do that?

How many guys dreamed of hitting the big time? Very few do but many people crave that. That’s why they still play their sports well past middle age. Capturing the magic of their younger years. Knowing they’ll never have a packed stadium or hear the roar of the crowd.

Enter the “Fan Mob”

This “Fan Mob” does that. You’ve seen the “Flash Mob” version. Singers, dancers, surprising someone with what seems like an impromptu performance. This is that for the middle-aged athlete.

But who’s really the audience? Although the hockey players were the beneficiaries of the packed house. It really was the viewer. The beer drinking ex-athlete who’s going to be watching the next hockey/football/baseball/basketball game and imagine themselves making the plays.

And it is the wives and girlfriends of those guys who know how important those moments are to their man. And tear up thinking about it too.

It is Americana. As American as apply pie and motherhood (and happy early Mothers Day to all those moms out there).

How Can You Duplicate This In Your Business?

So as you’re thinking about your business. How can you build an emotional connection with your prospects? How can you link your products and services to the feelings you want them to connect to when they think of your services or products?

What stories can you tell?

Get Saucy! How Can Your Marketing Drive the Conversation?

May 3, 2015 by Mike McRitchie Leave a Comment

Saucy Conversations

In this age of Social Media, conversations capture buyers’s focus. Shouldn’t they be focusing on you?

So today I was at Taco Bell. They have the cheapest decent fast food around and my kids love it too (which avoids the usual arguing between them over where to eat – usually whatever one chooses the other doesn’t like it and vice versa).

I went through the drive through and parked outside to eat in the car (didn’t have time to go inside so hanging out in my mobile cafeteria).

And while I’m eating and putting hot sauce on my soft taco my daughter asks me what my fortune is. Now I’m used to getting fortune cookies at Chinese restaurants but was kind of lost when she asked the question. What the heck was she getting at?

So I looked down at the hot sauce packets and saw mine said…

“I’m Ketchup’s Hot Sister”

I got a chuckle out of that. I told her what it said and she said “What does that mean?” Thank God she hasn’t figured that out at eight years old (there’s still hope for her).

So I thought about it.

Who is Taco Bell’s target audience?

Cheap food that fills you up and is available when you need it, particularly late at night?

That would be teenagers and twenty-somethings. They have no money and are out all night partying.

And what is better for that late night craving?

These kids are just starting to get the innuendo. And they come in in groups. And look at the hot sauces. And comment on them and laugh uncontrollably. And doesn’t that big wave of emotion with their friends cement them as Taco Bell customers for life? If that doesn’t don’t know what does.

And Taco Bell isn’t the only business to do this.

Happy Meals…Mama’s Little Helper

McDonalds has done it forever with Happy Meals (the name says it all). With the new toy every time. It is a parent’s dream. Happy kid playing with toy. Keeping them quiet while you run errands. And it doesn’t cost too much.

The Most Interesting Man

Then there is Dos Equis’s “Most Interesting Man” commercial series. He exudes confidence. Just what men in their twenties are going for when they’re in a bar trying to pick up on women.

So how could you use this in your business? Is there a storyline you can weave into your marketing? Are there conversations that your audience is having that you can work into your advertising?

Just remember that people are human. Not just buyers of products and services. They need to be connected with in a fun or interesting way. Take a look at some of these and notice other ideas of a similar vein all around you.

Connect to Their Conversations

You may just find that link that starts pulling in customers like hot sauce sets your mouth on fire.

And if that doesn’t, keep trying until you find something that does. You’ll be glad you did.

And your business will thank you too.

5 Things You Can Learn From Taylor Swift to Improve Your Business

April 19, 2015 by Mike McRitchie Leave a Comment

So tonight Taylor Swift won another award.

Now that’s nothing new. She’s been winning awards for a long time.

Tonight she won the Academy of Country Music Milestone Award and had it presented to her by her mom.

Taylor Swift Wins ACM Milestone Award

It was a touching presentation by a Mom who’s seen the good and the bad, the highs and the lows in her daughter’s struggles to make it to the top of Country Music and Pop Music.

Now you may love Taylor, or be like, enough already. But you can’t doubt the connection she has with music and her fans.

So what can you learn from Taylor Swift that can apply to your business?

1) She tells great stories.

Taylor is a great storyteller. Her songs talk about experiences she’s had. Crushes. Being in Love. Breakups. Fairy tales.

And these songs connect with her key demographic of pre-teen and teenage girls who are discovering boys and dealing with teenage craziness.

What stories could you be telling in your business marketing? Are your stories getting into your sales letters, advertising and home page? If they’re not you should consider that. Test it and see what happens.

2) She keeps it simple and memorable.

On the guitar she generally plays simple 3 and 4-chord melodies. I have played her songs on guitar often for my daughter. And I can learn them quickly.

They’re catchy. Easy to remember and easy for her fans to sing. Something also that Gene Simmons of Kiss promoted (but that’s another story).

The stories themselves are memorable and her fans can relate to them and will listen to them over and over again (just ask my niece and daughter).

Simplicity makes your business easier for customers to figure out. And having a few choices helps them to buy instead of leave in frustration. Consider no more than 3 options in a buying decision.

3) She shows you her flaws.

She’s not perfect and she’s not afraid to show that.

Your customers don’t expect you to be perfect either. And letting them in once in a while helps solidify that personal connection.

4) She appreciates and rewards her fans.

Whether Taylor is sending or personally delivering Christmas presents to some of her fans going through tough times. Or connecting with them in a variety of ways, she gives fully to her fans.

What are you doing to keep your best customers connected with you? How are you rewarding their repeated patronage of your business? What else could you be doing? Special event? Rewards Card? Referral bonus?

5) She doesn’t coast.

Like any great business person Taylor Swift is continually challenging herself, growing, changing, creating, and working hard to hone her craft and produce the songs that her fans crave.

Are you constantly creating product and service offerings and making your company more attractive to do business with every year? Are you reinventing yourself and evolving?

Now you aren’t Taylor Swift. But you do contribute to your community through your business. And you can learn from Taylor Swift to improve your business.

I challenge you to do it today!