I just came from seeing the movie Kick Ass. It was kind of like Ninja Assassin meets Revenge of the Nerds. A somewhat dark but comical super hero flick that puts a capital “S” on the idea of spinning an old idea. It was highly engaging and entertaining with young Chloe Moretz delivering an outstanding performance. At age 13 she already has 19 movies to her credit and the foul mouthed little Hit Girl (her character in the movie) is certainly worth a watch.

Oddly enough, watching this flick filled me with renewed enthusiasm on our quest to constantly raise the creative bar, especially within the transportation niche of our marketing business. Even though we deal with similar service offerings and visual elements across our customer base, there is always a way to put a fresh spin on things…if you dig deep enough. I would suggest that the “missing piece of the puzzle”, “one call does it all”, “single source solution”, “big enough to serve you, small enough to care”, some version of “our people make the difference” and having a swoosh or globe in your logo will be items that we’ll put a little further back on our personal “spin it” list…if our customers allow us that opportunity.

Roger Miller, a prolific hit songwriter of the sixties and seventies said “I try to write things people haven’t heard for a while”. There are an infinite amount of fresh spins out there. Like a new combination of notes in a melody, it’s our job as marketers to identify them and bring them to life, adding a little can of kick ass to each project along the way!

On March 28, 2010 my daughter Katherine changed my active status to Grandpa Marketer. She was still in diapers herself when I started Palmer Marketing in January of 1988. She spent the evening with us recently and I must say it was amazing how quickly she has adapted to being a mom. I would also say I have no remembrance of it being so much work.

So how do I switch from talk of babies and grandpas to marketing? In addition to being a lot of work, there are many parallels. Your brand needs to be well conceived. Sometimes it happens quickly and naturally, sometimes it too can take 9 months and many laborious hours to come into being. For your brand to develop and stand for something meaningful it requires a strong foundation and consistent nurturing. As the keeper of the brand it is very much a full time job. If no one in your company is the “champion of care” for your brand it can lose its way and change into something you had never intended. And just like we never stop being parents, or grandparents we should never stop offering guidance, even when our brand is mature and has a life of its own.

Speaking of mature, as company owners of the baby boomer era, we have more challenges today than ever. We grandpas have to plan for succession and make sure our current branding and face of our company conveys the right message to today’s decision makers. Our company is well on its way with this transition and gradually I’m able to step back more. I have complete confidence that the group I have assembled will keep things rolling to the standards we as a team have established…I couldn’t always say that. Along with our administration and promotions support, we now have 6 artists, a senior creative and a business development VP that are all in their thirties…I’m the only Grandpa.

People ask me ‘How’s business?”  My answer is we are the best version of ourselves we have ever been…and doing our utmost on a daily basis to give birth to new thinking, precise messaging and exemplary creative that help our clients’ marketing efforts.

Grandpa out …

Tiger Woods' new Nike Ad

Move on to America’s sweetheart Sandra Bullock who wins an Oscar and 1 week later finds out her husband has been cheating on her. Okay what are your expectations when you marry a biker with a name like Jesse James and as many tattoos as former stripper girlfriends. Sandra was totally “blind sided” but from a marketing perspective their careers will both benefit from the additional exposure.

Let’s move on to marketing and our particular niche in Canadian transportation. Most transportation companies stopped marketing to any degree at the precise moment their numbers started plummeting with this past (we hope) recession. Layoffs, salary cutbacks and parking equipment were commonplace. Some faired better than others but essentially everyone had to look hard at how they could stop the bleeding and most put marketing budget cuts at the forefront.

Fast forward to a slowly recovering Canadian economy. If you turn on the taps now how long will it take to see any measurable benefits? Compare that to waiting till the economy recovers and then start advertising…

Based on material we’ve researched and the effects of our own marketing push (starting last June, 2009) we would say 9 months minimum is a reasonable expectation to see results from renewed advertising efforts. Few have the resources or faith to advertise in a still limp economy, so those who do will stand out and be top of mind with potential customers. During past recessions statistics show those who kept advertising grew 256% faster than those who cut or stopped advertising. It might be fair to speculate (based on this information) that if you wait for the economy to fully recover it may take you 256% longer to gain ground. Thus 9 months becomes 23 months of equivalent advertising spend before noticeable results are produced. Therefore you should spend 2.5 times less overall if you start advertising now versus waiting or a full economic recovery. Comments?