What's the best medspa advertising?
/What do medical spas and cosmetic medical practices name as their primary concern? About 85% name increasing patient flow through advertising.
I've been around advertising and advertisers for a long time (Since 1989 or so.) and have seen my share of what works, and what doesn't.
There are any number of comments on this site by medspa owners along these lines: "I tried direct mail / radio / print / whatever... and it didn't work." To this I say... hmmm.
'Trying' could mean about anything. Most of the ads that I see produced by clincs are so bad that they're almost laughable and detract from exactly what the positioning of any cosmetic practice should be. (The 'Got Milk' rip offs for 'Got Hair?'are a prime example.)
Any form of advertising can work if it's done right. Sure, there are some that are better than others. I don't use yellow page ads for example, not because they don't work, but because they don't work well enough for the cost. But I'd still consider them if the price was right and the quaility improved.
Many advertisers will produce your ad for free. Seems like a deal but a guy making $9 an hour isn't really in the business of providing quality or really 'building your business'. So while you may have tried something in the past that didn't work, cowboy up and admit that you probably weren't doing it right.
Here's what some smart people have to say about building brands and advertising.
"If you can, be first. If you can't be first, create a new category in which you can be first." - Al Ries & Jack Trout
"A brand should strive to own a word in the mind of the consumer." - Al Reis and Laura Reis
"A product is something made in a factory; a brand is something that is bought by the customer. A product can be copied by a competitor; a brand is unique. A product can be quickly outdated; a successful brand is timeless." - Stephen King, WPP Group, London
"Ordinary people can spread good and bad information about brands faster than marketers." - Ray Johnson
"The idea that business is just a numbers affair has always struck me as preposterous. For one thing, I've never been particularly good at numbers, but I think I've done a reasonable job with feelings. And I'm convinced that it is feelings - and feelings alone - that account for the success of the Virgin brand in all of its myriad forms." - Richard Branson
"We don't have a good language to talk about this kind of thing. In most people's vocabularies, design means veneer... But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation." - Steve Jobs
"I have a BMW. But only because BMW stands for Bob Marley and The Wailers, and not because I need an expensive car." - Bob Marley
"A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well." - Jeff Bezos
"It is not slickness, polish, uniqueness, or cleverness that makes a brand a brand. It is truth." - Harry Beckwith
"Your premium brand had better be delivering something special, or it's not going to get the business. - Warren Buffett
"A brand that captures your mind gains behavior. A brand that captures your heart gains commitment." - Scott Talgo
"Ordinary people can spread good and bad information about brands faster than marketers." - Ray Johnson
"It is a pretty recognizable brand name. Originally it was "Jerry's Guide to the World Wide Web" but we settled on "Yahoo"." - Jerry Yang
“Customers must recognize that you stand for something.” – Howard Schultz
"A brand is a set of differentiating promises that link a product to its customers."- Stuart Agres
"Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith and perseverance to create a brand." - David Ogilvy
"I've always thought that a name says a lot about a person. So naturally, being named Howard, I always wanted to crawl into a hole." - Howard Stern
And this from Brandchannel.com which is dead on in dealing with the perceived return on investment (ROI) that is one of the most common questions I'm asked. It remindes me of my daughters former love of all things having to do with sharks. She'd often ask me, "Dad, what's the most dangerous shark?"
I'd always reply with the same answer, "The one biting you."
Brand Advertising
"Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. Now, if I only knew which half."
John Wannamaker spoke these words in the late 19th Century, little did he know that many an advertiser in the 21st could say the exact same thing and not be far off the mark.
We get questions all the time about brand advertising and return on investment, as marketing officers around the globe are continually called to task in justifying or accounting for their budgets. We've seen clients actually lose brand equity when they decided not to advertise because of the lack of tangible ROI. But brand advertising is not designed by nature to generate sales—it is a means by which to create awareness, differentiation and consideration.
Marketing in the 21st Century is not about ROI anymore. It's about the return on customer, maximizing the lifetime relationship with an individual. It's about getting that one person who purchases your product once to purchase it again. Purchase it more often. Purchase new things. Over and over and over again until they become something more than a customer. They become an advocate for your brand.
But how do you do that through traditional advertising? Well, you can't. Does this mean that traditional means of advertising—television, print, radio—are worthless? No we're not saying that. Again, the value in traditional media (and many new forms of media) is in creating brand awareness. Let's face it. We're all consumers. Advertising in an inherently intrusive marketing tool. But it's 100 percent necessary because how would we know which brand of spaghetti sauce to buy at the store? We consider the ones that you have heard of most often, or those that have brand attributes that we prefer. And that is a function of brand advertising...
