YOU ASKED FOR IT

“Baseball is ninety percent mental,and the other half is physical.”

—Yogi Berra

May 15, 2014BIKES, MOBILE & OLD SPICE

BRAND OBSERVATIONS OF THE DAYFrom my random collection of info sources, here are some highlights related to the brands of our times...

• Good news for Giant, Trek and Cannondale. Adology reports that independent bike store sales were up 6% in Q1 of this year, after a 2% decline in 2013.

• I saw on CNBC yesterday that Google Glass is now available to anyone in the U.S. for $1,500. I think I’ll pass. What I’d gain in smarts, I’d lose in looking dorky...and I can’t really afford any more losses there.

• Kohl’s, Macy’s and even Footlocker might want to take a look at their mobile marketing efforts. BazaarVoice.com reports that clothing and footwear are the most researched non-digital products on mobile, with 32% having browsed these categories on their tablets and smartphones. The site adds that by 2016, of those who shop online, 85% of those shoppers will also be doing so on their mobile devices.

•If you haven’t considered online video ads in the past, it might just be time. BI Intelligence reports that “video ad views exploded in 2013, topping over 35 billion views in December.” The report also stated that video ads also provide the highest

average click-through-rate (CTR) of all digital ad formats at 1.84%. And who are the top online video advertisers? Here are the top five, ranked by total number of views...

1) Old Spice - 373,350,360 views 2) Google - 341,000,239 views

3) Nike - 309,236,716 views 4) Samsung - 255,584,409 views5) Blendtec - 202,301,723 views

JIM HUEBNERj i m h @ h u e b n e r p e t e r s e n . c o m

C E L L U L A RT E L E P H O N E970-420-3382

Hmmm.

Brought to you by popular demand of a client, my mom, and some folks I met at a church potluck

From the remaining gray matter of Jim Huebner

Information that will make you smile, groan or think...

No, but I think I know someone who might be...

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© 2014 Hmmm by Jim Huebner

How to win (and then lose) a customer

...and on its way to the HuebnerPetersen blog...! PAGE2

My family knows. My office knows. My friends know. I love barbecue.

In fact, when we moved our offices two years ago, one determining factor for the new space was the close proximity to great barbecue. I’m happy—nay, thrilled—to say Serious Texas BBQ is less than a minute away...and yes, they know me by name.

And while I’ve loved barbecue for as long as I can remember, oddly enough I’ve never really taken on the task of doing it myself. But after this past weekend, that is all going to change. My wife surprised me with an early Father’s Day gift, and bought me the barbecue smoker I’ve had my eye on for three years...the creme de la creme... the daddy of ‘em all...a Traeger Wood Pellet Grill.

Why Traeger? Well, two of my friends rave about them. In fact, one of them got so hooked on his Traeger grill that he started brokering truck loads of wood pellet bags to minimize the cost of feeding his smoked barbecue addiction. And any time I bring up the name

Traeger with my other friends, many start watering at the mouth and telling me stories of their Traeger experiences.

As a marketing guy, I can’t help but be impressed by the brand fanaticism Traeger has established. In my analysis, it happened by following a fairly simple principle—#1: Meet a fundamental desire with a high-quality product and the right distribution...and you have the basic ingredients for some powerful word-of-mouth marketing.

When I finally got my Traeger grill home, I couldn’t wait to call my friend (the one ordering wood pellets for his Traeger by the truckload) and tell him about my—er, my family’s—new acquisition. As soon as he picked up the phone, I went off telling him about the grill, the pellets I bought, what I’m going to try first...and just as I was about to ramble off my barbecuing schedule for the week, he said, “Well hold on. Now did you already buy the unit? Because I need to tell you what I heard about the grills...”

He went on to say that he had heard they’d stopped building the grills in the U.S. and were now using cheaper, thinner steel that didn’t hold the heat in nearly as well. He admitted that in the

end, it really wouldn’t affect the taste. He said in the winter, I’d just need to put some kind of insulated jacket on the grill to keep the heat in. He then mentioned two other brands that still build them in the U.S. and are using heavier steel. He said he’d be looking at one of these when he was back in the market.

Now, I haven’t verified to see if what my friend said was accurate, and honestly, I’m

still excited about my grill. BUT there is an important lesson to be learned here...and it’s the second principle we can take away from my experience.—#2: If you build a great product and have established a loyal following, the last thing you should do is cheapen, dumb down, or in any other way diminish the quality upon which you’ve spent years building your reputation.

Why? Because “next time” they’ll buy the one upon which you’ve built your reputation...except it’ll be your competitor’s product.

Jim Huebner is President of HuebnerPetersen Integrated Marketing.The firm was established in 1989 and specializes in making companies heroes to their distribution channels through strategic brand positioning, integrated marketing, and front lines marketing services. You can reach Jim at jimh@HuebnerPetersen.com or on LinkedIn. For “Hmmm” archives, CLICK HERE

WORDS TO

LIVE BY

And do not neglect

doing good and

sharing, for with

such sacrifices God

is pleased.

–Hebrews 13:16 (NASB)