The advertising business is really a cut-throat one, and agencies frequently need to be extremely creative indeed in pitching for business - after all, if they cannot promote themselves, how can they hope to promote a client?
This means that numerous agencies have come up with eye-popping ideas for promoting themselves, which means that other businesses might be able to recycle the ideas for their own purposes. If you are in a business-to-business marketing environment in which you need to pitch to clients, you can learn a lot from advertising agencies. There are many examples - this really is just one.
Saatchi & Saatchi is a main London advertising agency, perhaps most well-known for its association with the Conservative Party during the late 1970s and 1980s. However, like other agencies Saatchi cannot afford to rest on its laurels - the agency still has to pitch for business, and has done so in some remarkable ways.
When Saatchi was pitching against several other agencies for the Toyota account, it arranged to have 3 Toyota cars suspended from its office building. Having three vehicles hanging off a central London office block not just made the newspapers - it also impressed the Toyota executives when they came to Saatchi's for the pitch meeting. Needless to say, Saatchi won the account.
Hanging cars from the corporate headquarters is not, needless to say, feasible or appropriate for every company, however it shows how some imagination and daring can achieve a startling result. Determine what will most interest your consumer. Take the fight to the customer - you need to put the promotion correct where they will see it, outside their business premises if essential. Be daring - you cannot startle somebody with out doing something very unusual.
Most companies these days have a website of some sort, and in the majority of cases they're interactive. What numerous managers forget, though, is that the internet is global - which is why it's known as the World Wide Web, of course.
This indicates that everyone from Valparaiso to Vladivostok can access your website - and numerous do. Even if you think you only have a nearby clientele, there's nothing to quit you from picking up business from anyplace in the world.
Caja Granada is really a "caja de ahorros," the Spanish equivalent of a building society or perhaps a savings and loan business. It is non-profitmaking, and operates almost entirely within Andalucía. Recently, however, the company has started to provide internet banking, and it does so in both Spanish and English. Individuals from outside Spain can open accounts, but must obtain a certificate of non-residence in order to have interest paid tax-free: Caja Granada can arrange this for a small fee.
Expanding into the global market has opened up new possibilities. Deposit accounts denominated in euros could be offered to people outside Spain, which means more money flowing into the business, which in turn means it can lend more. The company also gains a competitive edge on some banks when dealing with people who personal vacation homes in Spain - which, in Andalucía, amounts to a big quantity of individuals.
Running the website in English as well as Spanish has not been without its problems - some of the translations have not worked well, and some banking terms and concepts do not transfer easily in between countries. What Caja Granada has recognized, though, is that being on the internet in any way means that the business is global - so they may as well take advantage of the fact.
Check your website for terms or concepts that may be offensive to people in other cultures (this really is not simple). Consider regardless of whether slogans will mean exactly the same to foreigners, even when they're English speaking - most of us are familiar with differences between American English and British English, for instance.
Consider having your website translated for your main potential clients - but always use a native speaker to do the translating. Think about the use of your product in other countries. For instance, bicycles are mainly sport objects in Britain, but are basic transport in Africa.
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Note: This article was sent to us by: Benjamin Flynn at 01212011
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