• You have to pinch yourself to believe it – the year that started in severe economic turmoil is now half over.  Now it’s time to ask the most important business question of the year: “What do you have to do the rest of this year to reach your profit goals?”

• If you don’t have profit goals, your company has nothing to strive for and is just driving aimlessly.  Establish your profit goals now and make the appropriate plans to achieve them.

2. On The Road And Online…The New Advertising Landscape

• Did you know that the number of consumers who seek local information on a mobile device grew 51% from March 2008 to March 2009?  The point at which these consumers are searching is the point of transaction.  If you understand the marketing funnel, then you know this is your most valuable prospect.

• What social marketing was to 2007, mobile marketing is to 2009.  The wave of adoption has matured and is ready to crest.  With that in mind, we suggest your business take these strategic steps:
  • Audit your Web site to ensure that it is “mobile friendly.”  Roughly 50% of mobile users abandon a site because it is too difficult to find what they are looking for.
  • Add mobile advertising to your marketing strategy so that you can capitalize on this thirst for local and mobile information.

3. The 60-Second Close: Mobilizing To Stay Ahead Of The Curve

• As an advertising agency, it’s our job to keep you well ahead of the curve and prepare you for what’s next.  We urge you to consider mobile users as a potential customer base that is growing rapidly.

• Consequently, now is the time to start “mobilizing” your Web site – developing a version of your current site that’s smartphone friendly.  Not sure where to start? We can help you get there … faster than ever.

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60 Second Impact – July 2009

• As companies transition from this tough economy to the stability of business basics, it’s time to re-think and re-innovate your marketing.

• Whether you’re in the business-to-business or business-to-consumer sectors, “personal connection-oriented marketing” still works. Although it’s a throwback to the old days of “Mom and Pop” marketing, it has made Nordstrom a success – even in this economy.

• Make sure you add “human touch-points” to your sales-building plan. These include a genuine smile and honest conversation, a thank-you note and a post-sale phone call.

• Make “personal connection-oriented marketing” your competitive edge. Very few companies are taking this approach, believing that shaking a hand and having a conversation takes too much time and is simply old-fashioned.

• How effective is the personal connection? After all these years, through good times and tough times, this strategy still works for Nordstrom and no matter what business sector you’re in, it will work for you.

2. Want A Better Ranking On Google?  Here’s How A Blog Can Help

• Having a difficult time securing a strong ranking on Google for your prime search phrases? Getting your company’s Web site into the top range of the search results is a difficult and daunting task, especially if having a strong Internet presence is a critical part of your marketing plan.

• The best solution to this problem is a company blog. A blog can enhance your search engine rankings simply because Google looks at blogs differently than it looks at Web sites. Google views blogs as being extremely relevant in terms of the content.

• In addition, Google likes frequent copy changes. A blog with frequent postings gets spidered more often than a static Web site. Ultimately, the more frequently you blog and the more relevant your posts are to your company’s expertise, the more often Google will visit your blog and believe that it is important enough for users to see it, thus giving it a much stronger consideration for a higher placement in the search results.

3. Surprise!  Advertising Is Not Dead

• Contrary to what the pundits have been spouting for the past decade, advertising is not dead. In fact, it is more alive and popular than ever.

• While there have been changes and course corrections in some of the more traditional media, the popularity of advertising is evident on countless new mediums. Witness advertising on the different transit systems, billboards, escalators, grocery carts, gasoline pumps, T-shirts, pizza boxes, grocery receipts, bus shelters, park benches, buildings, movie theaters, airline boarding passes, washrooms, baseball stadiums and, of course, everything related to the Internet.

• So, is advertising dead? Certainly not. It’s just that the venues to reach different targeted groups – your customers – have changed and multiplied.

4. The 60-Second Close: When Did Marketing A Business Get So Complex?

• There’s no doubt that your “daddy’s same old marketing plan” won’t grow today’s business. The Internet and an influx of new and non-traditional mediums have made life a little more complex and much more interesting.

• Need help separating it all out? Need help determining what will work best to reach your target customer? Let us know. We can help you get there … faster than ever.

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60 Second Impact – May 2009

• Back in the ‘60s, the late founder of Wal-Mart, Sam Walton was asked what he thought of the recession. He replied, “I thought about it and decided I did not want to participate.”
• Although it’s difficult not to be affected by the economy, we prefer you make a decision not to participate in it either.
• But before you say, “That’s easier said than done,” you’ve got to remember that the economy will recover. Whether it takes one year, three years or five, you do have a choice to make — roll over and shut the doors, or get “mad as hell” and fight back.

2. Fighting Back #1: Developing A Return On Interest

• There’s a good chance that the majority of your competitors are just mediocre at what they do. There’s no customer loyalty to businesses that are mediocre and boring. Consequently, this leaves you with an automatic entry into becoming different and better than them by implementing a customer-focused strategy.
• Customers love unique experiences and stories. Tell them something interesting. Surprise them. Give them something to talk about that they’ll tell others about. The most effective advertising is not what you say about you, but what others say about you.
• The best way now to get a return on your investment (the old ROI) is to get a return on interest (the new ROI).

3. Fighting Back #2: Educating Your Customers On Value

• Customers don’t understand what they’re actually getting for their money. If you educate them about your service and your product, they’ll feel better about the price, and you’ll never have to discount.
• Tell your customers that the pizza is $22 because you use only the best grade of Wisconsin cheese, and others don’t. Tell them your product is manufactured in this area and supports the local economy. Be factual, be honest, be persuasive.
• If you don’t communicate and educate, you make it easy for your customers to abandon any kind of loyalty they might have to you, thus encouraging them to “shop around” to hunt down the lowest price.

4. The 60 Second Close: We’ll Even Supply The Boxing Gloves!

• Ready to step into the ring to fight back? It’s easy to do but as with any good boxer, it takes a good training session to understand how to go toe-to-toe with this economy and withstand its punches.
• We’ve got some unique ideas on how to guarantee victory.

Call us now. We can help you get there … faster than ever … and we’ll even supply the boxing gloves!

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60 Second Impact – March 2009

• Many businesses are trying to salvage their sales by taking “Steroids” – those quick-fix addicting cures commonly known as coupons and discounting. These “steroids” might spike your sales temporarily, but they could have harmful effects on your profits. Generally speaking, use these techniques for initial trail, not to sustain sales.
• Viewed as a lazy marketing alternative to truly connecting with customers and establishing relationships with them, “steroids” are proven to have limited positive effects at building your business over the long term.

Why It’s Important to Win: Nobody Remembers the Losers

• The first step to beating the recession is to have a desire to win. Are you prepared to make this commitment? Do you have a winning game plan in place that solidifies your position in the minds of your potential customers as being the best in your business category?
• If not, the odds of winning the battle in your business sector might weigh heavily against you. You might become forgotten on the landscape and a blur in people’s minds. Nobody remembers the losing Super Bowl team.

Make Your Web Site More Effective

• Is your Web site easy to read? Do your users have to struggle through content that is too small and not formatted, or do they encounter words where the letters look the same?
• The best practice for Web site readability, according to www.webaim.org, is to use fonts with styles of letters that are “friendly.”
• We have one of the best and most experienced teams of Web designers in America. If you need help with your Web site – just call. We’ll be glad to help.

The 60-Second Close: It’s Your Call – Hunker Down or Touchdown

• The worst thing you can do during this tough economy is to hunker down and sit it out. We strongly believe that with a proper plan, a targeted strategy, a great offer and a knock-your-socks-off creative effort, you can and will succeed.
• We have clients that we have represented for 20 years, 30 years and 40 years that are still increasing sales year over year. How do we do it? Planning, teamwork, commitment to success, innovation, research, great creative, new media … Constant innovation.
• But nobody makes it to the Super Bowl of business without the support of a strong team of experienced coaches. We’d like to help you coach your team to a winning year. Call us. We can help you get there … faster than ever.

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60-Second Impact – February 2009

• Each January, we suggest a theme on which to focus your business activities for the coming months.  This year’s theme is “the year to risk.”
• During 2009, we urge you to take risks and do things differently.  Risk introducing a new service or product.  Risk trying new online marketing efforts, such as those within the arena of social media.  Risk changing your Web site to something that captivates users.
• Risk trying new offline sales and marketing efforts such as networking or speaking – efforts that improve your image as a leader and an authority in your business category.

All the World’s a Twitter.  Claim Your Twitter ID Before It’s Taken

• The popularity of Twitter as a social media platform continues to zoom.  Up to 10,000 people join Twitter each day, and more companies are jumping on the bandwagon, using Twitter as a micro-blogging conversational tool to “talk” to their customers.
• We urge you to claim your Twitter ID, whether you decide to participate in Twitter or not.  A Twitter ID is like a URL.  It’s part of your personal brand.  Once someone else takes it, you’ve lost it forever.
• Remember when you couldn’t get that domain name for your Web site because someone beat you to the punch?  It’s the same situation with Twitter.
• Follow us on Twitter: @cjrwadvertising

New Year’s Top Ten Lists: Why Your Company Should Write One

• Inundated with top ten lists?  There’s a reason that people are fascinated with lists.  They’re easy to read, easy to remember and easy to talk about.  Some lists are ridiculous, some are humorous and some are factual.
• Lists play an important role in your company’s marketing efforts by educating people, in an easy format, about the value of your product.  Does your company have a list of the top ten reasons your product or service differs from your competitors’ or the top ten characteristics that set your company apart?
• Having a top ten list gives you and your staff the ability to easily verbalize how your company stands out from the others, especially if you’re in a business sector that’s full of similarity.

The 60-Second Close: How to Get Better Results

• You need to think and act differently.  Blending and similarity aren’t going to get you where you need to be during this economy.
• Interested in learning more about the risks you should take in order to succeed in 2009?  Do you want a team behind you that will challenge you and put you on a path to success?  Then call us.  We can help you get there – faster than ever.

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60-Second Impact – January 2009

• By the time you read this, Americans will have selected a new president and for the next month or so, the pundits will continue to analyze what went right, what went wrong and who voted for whom and why.
  
• The arrival of a new administration traditionally sparks optimism within the economy, but this year will be different. Retail prognosticators are forecasting a gloomy holiday shopping season. Is your business prepared to beat the odds?
  
• Going to battle against the recession is a no-win situation. But if you want to be the one standing when the smoke clears, you’ve got to have a plan to outwit and outsell your competition.

Why You Shouldn’t Lower Prices During These Tough Times

• It’s hard to resist the urge to lower the prices of your retail products or services during these times, but you must realize that if you do so, you are taking a risk.
• Despite eating into their profits, most companies lower their prices, hoping to bring in additional sales and keep their staff on payroll. This tactic may attract bargain customers, but they’ll most likely abandon you once you increase your prices.
• So, what do you do? Rather than lowering your prices, develop a way to increase your value. The reason people won’t pay your price is because there’s not enough value attached to the product.
• For example, a high-end steak restaurant, rather than lowering their menu prices, should be adding value by developing a promotion with a high-end retailer like Brooks Brothers.
• Discounting and dropping your prices is the penalty you pay when you’re not delivering enough value for the money you’re charging.

Record Numbers Are Visiting Newspaper Web Sites

• They may not prefer the paper version, but readers continue to flock to newspapers’ Web sites for fast breaking information and analysis of the news. Visits during the third quarter were up 16% over the previous quarter. (www.marketingcharts.com)

The 60-Second Close: Being There When The Dust Settles

• Some of the best-known companies in the country, in your region and in your neighborhood –- your competitors — may not have the endurance to make it through the next quarter. We believe you will succeed. But just as your customers have changed, your marketing needs to change as well. It needs to tell a story of trust and integrity — of something remarkable.
  
• Interested in learning more about how you can outwit and outsell the competition? Want to be there when the dust settles? Then call us. We can help you get there … faster than ever.
  

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60-Second Impact – November 2008

Cranford was nominated based on his many years of professional success in the advertising industry as founder of Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods, as well as his outstanding volunteer efforts in Arkansas and with the President¹s Advisory Council on the Arts.  He was officially selected as an inductee by his peers during the American Advertising Federation Tenth District Convention this past April.

Other than Cranford, only two others were from outside of Texas:  Ray Ackerman, Ackerman McQueen and Lowe Runkle, Lowe Runkle Company.  Ackerman and Runkle are both from Oklahoma City.  The other recipients were Sam Bloom, The Bloom Companies (Dallas); Roger Enricio, Pepsico and Dreamworks (Dallas); Morris Hite, Tracy-Locke (Dallas); David Keith, Cargill Associates (Houston); Fred Korge, Savage Design (Houston); Earl Littman, POP Broadcasting (Houston); Stanley Marcus, Neiman Marcus (Dallas); Stan Richards, The Richards Group (Dallas) and Liener Temerlin, Temerlin Consulting (Dallas).

The Southwest Advertising Hall of Fame is a creation of the Tenth District of the American Advertising Federation, encompassing Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.  The mission of the Southwest Advertising Hall of Fame is to honor men and women from our region who have distinguished themselves in their careers, who have contributed to the betterment of advertising and its reputation, and who have made volunteer efforts outside the workplace.
More information about the Southwest Advertising Hall of Fame and the Tenth District of the American Advertising Federation can be found at www.aaf10.org.

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Cranford Enters Regional Advertising Hall Of Fame

• Buying TV is easier than developing and implementing one-on-one customer relationship programs, easier than developing training and incentive programs, and easier than implementing a VIP customer service strategy.

• In order for mass media to be successful, your “house” must be in order on the sales floor. Do you or your current advertising firm go beyond mass media to examine this for you? If not, then call us. We can help you get there … faster than ever.

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Is Your “House” In Order?

• Over these past years of sliding sales, the Gap has used celebrity endorsements as their advertising strategy in an attempt to “connect” with its target audience. That strategy didn’t work.

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=TQm20nTPoJ4]

• In a classic case of “advertising stubbornness,” –- it didn’t work before, so maybe it will work this time — the Gap is now introducing yet another new army of 12 (yes 12!) celebrities to be featured in a black and white print campaign to help pull up those sagging sales. Lots of luck!

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It Didn’t Work Before So, Let’s Do It Again: The Gap And More Celebrities

• Do you have an ongoing campaign to get the most votes and customers within your marketplace? If not, then give us a call. We can develop a specific campaign to get you where you want to go … faster than ever.

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The 60 Second Close: Do You Have A Campaign To Win Your Election?