WHAT DO PROFESSIONAL PEOPLE SAY ABOUT ENERGY|MC ?

Alayne Reesberg
Chief Executive Officer • World Design Capital Cape Town 2014
"It has been a pleasure working with you – a true professional."

Alayne is referring to my interactions with her and her team during the World Design Capital 2014 project last year, when I covered the main events for the magazines I consult to; namely -
To Build Magazine - www.tobuild.co.za
SA Building Review - www.sabuildingreview.co.za
You can read some of the articles online at the following links, or read the e-books:
• http://www.tobuild.co.za/viewonline/articles/284/company-news/world-design-capital-cape-town-2014-s-lasting-legacy
•   http://www.sabuildingreview.co.za/viewonline/articles/119/advertorials/water-essential-for-the-future
Note these were commissioned articles and photography, not sponsored editorials.

Cecil Homan
Founder •  Eco-Insulation • Ultimate Climate Comfort
"Eco is flying high with the jet stream. Thanks for article sent and posted."
"World class editorial - world class service"

Cecil is referring to the full agency, editorial and technical writing support service that his company enjoyed since it's inception in 2007.

Marilyn Luchtenstein
Sales Manager • Brits Textiles
"Thanks and well done"

Alexis Sacks
Partner • MD Accountants and Auditors Inc.
"Thank you for the tremendous corporate profile brochure. It really is outstanding and we are proud of the final product..... It has been a pleasure working with you".

Professor John Smallwood  
Head: Department of Construction Management •  NMMU
"Given the number of errant advertisements and my intimate involvement with construction H&S through contracting, consulting, research, publishing and community services, the (mentioned) advertisement is significant in that it probably contributes one of the few, if not only material advertisements that makes proper reference to the subject. It was certainly eye catching ...."

An advertisement written and designed for leading insulation provider, Brits Textiles received accolades in the construction sector.

Billy Perrin
Publisher • Trademax Publications - SA Roofing, SA Affordable Housing, Timber IQ
"Always a pleasure working with you - a true professional".

Wayne Miller
General Manager • BlueScope Steel Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd
"You've done great work for us".

Carl Nortje
Managing Director • Rawson Developers
"Thank you for the great article".

How to destroy a brand in four easy steps

It's disheartening to notice that many brands stray from the high road brand image reinforcement route into short termism. If you really want to destroy your brand, you should do the following:


1. Appoint a low budget design company with a big mouth as your brand champion. There is no better way to set about destroying the value you have built into your brand over many years.
2. Start insisting that advertising must convert into immediate sales and cease advertising and other programmes that build long term brand equity.
3. Start over-writing clean uncluttered imagery with in-your-face, cheap-looking brand image elements and text headlines.
4. Stop talking to your market as sensible professionals and start talking price only.


If you practice any or all of the above, you are actively participating in the demise of your brand and also destroying the market. Of the first, your competitors will be pleased. Of the second, they will be annoyed but for only as long as you exist in the market.

RESOURCES ARE LIMITED: HOW TO SPEND THEM

Are you spending your marketing resources wisely? Do you have any marketing media spend at all?


It seems that the world economy has not yet recovered from the 2008 crash. Money is in short supply! From a marketing perspective that is potentially bad, since I often get asked by clients how they should optimize their shrinking marketing resources, or even do away with marketing expense altogether.



The very worst thing you should do is stop communicating to your market. It takes years and money to build some equity in your brand. Reckless or short term decisions can throw that all away, effectively writing off your valuable advertising and other marketing spend of previous years.

The City of London created ceramic poppies to remember the 100th year anniversary if WW1. Photo by www.professionalphotoshoots.co.za

Brands are very much like the poppies. Here today, gone tomorrow, at least in the minds of the customer.

So here are ENERGY|MC's suggestions for marketing 2015:

Content - you need more than ever to develop your marketing message. What is it you are selling or providing? To whom and where? And what makes it unique?  You need to have mind some brand stories - case histories if you like - that tell the client just what it is that you can do to help them.

1. Digital marketing. This is the best free resource of all, but meaningless if you don't have a coherent, sensible package of information that you want to send out to your prospects. By digital marketing, I include social media, especially.

2. Avoid spamming. At all costs. As an editor, I receive spam emails sent using free packages such as Mailchimp and others. They are an irritation and largely meaningless. Always ask for permission to send and do not base your email messages on images alone. Most email packages do not download images automatically so your nicely formatted newsletter comes out looking drab.

3. Editorial - and opinion pieces. As an editor of a business to business magazine, I like these. Especially if they are customized to my magazine by someone who has taken the trouble to find out what the focus of my magazine is. Editorial is published free in the print media, as long as it meets certain conditions.

Hint however: Editorial should be professionally prepared!

4. Targeted paid advertising. Repeat, repeat, repeat - in the same space!
Paid advertising is not always as expensive as it seems, since often the agency fee paid by the publisher covers the expenses of the administration and a basic level of desktop publishing by the agent.

5. Calls to action. This happens when you make the customer an offer online or in print, or your sales people make the call.

It sounds great doesn't it? If you are ready for me information or for a no holds barred free telephonic consultation, please give my office a call 0 2 1  6 8 0 5 2 4 5 to set up a time with my friendly receptionist.

THERE'S STILL A GREAT ROLE FOR PRINT MEDIA ADS !

I've always maintained that print media acts as a driver to online content. Why? While newsprint is experiencing difficulties and some broadsheet news media are even scaling down to tabloid, informative magazines are in a class of their own. Well, anything you touch and move around has greater affinity with your senses and there's nothing better than the feel of smooth glossy / coffee table type magazines.

They are also focus the attention of the reader/viewer better than e-editions that compete on tablets with a range of different apps. In the South African B2B media, this is especially true, which is why I always advise my clients to advertise in professional magazines.

Therefore I find the article written by Steve Smith in MinOnline at  http://www.minonline.com/news/20519.html to be very relevant.

"Google and Ipsos find that 48% of smartphone readers are performing mobile queries off of ads they see in magazines. In this regard, print holds up well with other media, since only 35% of smartphone users search off of poster and billboards, while 57% do so from in-store promotions and 58% from TV. Magazines in particular are key drivers of the mobile ecosystem."

Take a look and see if you agree!

Gareth