YOU ASKED FOR IT

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t make.”

—Michael Scott

April 18, 2013TRAVEL FAR, MY FRIEND, TRAVEL FAR

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

• Passport America featured a University of Vermont study that said the further people travel away from home, the happier they are. That should put a smile on the faces of Southwest, Marriot and Jayco!

• We’ve mentioned before how important mobile marketing is to your mix. This recent chart from eMarketer not only confirms it, but exposes how quickly in the morning smart phone users are engaging with their devices. Pay attention McDonalds, IHOP and Waffle House...there’s breakfast business to be had!

JIM HUEBNERj imh@huebnerpetersen.comCELLULARTELEPHONE970-420-3382

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...

INTERPRETATION OPTIONS:

1) Her teeth hurt so much that she couldn’t eat and thus lost weight.

2) The laughing gas backfired, causing her to want to wear the same jeans everyday.

3) The dentist differentiates by doing “liposuction-while-you-wait” during teeth cleaning.

© 2013 Hmmm by Jim Huebner

I just got back from Nashville where I attended the semi-annual meeting of Amplify, a small association of ad agencies from around the country. At this particular meeting, I was really looking forward to the presentation on SEO. Google is constantly changing the search landscape, and it’s important that we stay on top of those changes. What I WASN’T prepared for were all of the BONUS marketing lessons I’d glean from my time in the “Country Music Capital of the World.” (I guess it helps that I was looking for them, too.) Here are a few...

ELVISI arrived a little early and was able to sneak in a tour of Studio B. This was the humble little abode where Dolly Parton, Roy Orbison,Charlie Prideand a host of other big namesrecorded anumber of hit songs. The guide said that when Elvis Presley recorded “Are You Lonesome Tonight”, he asked for all of the lights to be turned off and then recorded the entire rendition in the dark. Why? Because to convey the true essence of the song, Elvis needed to feel lonely. So the application to marketing is this: Do your surroundings—colors, signage, messages, type of people—convey the feelings and aura you want around your brand? If not, you might want to consider making some adjustments.

COUNTRY MUSICSome people hate it. A lot of people love it. And within all of those lyrics about cheating...and dating...and

drinking...and breaking up...and getting back together...and staying together...and staying young...and growing old...there is one thing that makes this genre successful... storytelling. I believe it’s the specific stories these crooners tell that make their songs stick. And there is marketing lesson #2: Tell stories that relate to your brand, and people are more apt to remember it.

JACK’S BBQWe ate here on the last night of the trip. Located on the main drag in downtown Nashville, this place has a great location but even better following of customers. The line was out the door and down the block. After a 45 minute wait, I found out why. The FOOD! In the words of Lou Holtz, the marketing principle is this: “First we will be best. Then we will be first.”

GRAND OLE OPRY HOTELThis mega-hotel is said to be the largest non-casino hotel in the country. And it WAS large. So large that it took 15 minutes to walk from my meetings to my room. But the walk was pleasant—right through a beautiful atrium of trees and restaurants and waterfalls—and the people were some of the friendliest hotel staff I’ve encountered. The lesson? Make sure the upsides of your product or service greatly outweigh any downsides...and you’ll have happy customers.

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATIONI guess I’d be remiss if I didn’t pass along some of the SEO things we covered...• A 2-4% rate of conversion of unique visitors to your site is optimal.• Keep your URL structures as simple as possible.• Your keyword frequency on any given page should fall within 8-46 repetitions.• Quoting people is a great way to repeat keywords without annoying the reader.

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 each Jim at jimh@HuebnerPetersen.com or on LinkedIn.

Nashville—Music, food...and marketing lessons

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

WORDS TO

LIVE BY

Trust in the Lord

and do good; dwell in

the land and cultivate

faithfulness..

–Psalm 37:3

THE piano on which Elvis played and recorded “Are You Lonesome Tonight”