Scorch Talk

I read an interesting blog by Seth Godin yesterday which likened the Marketing effort to “what happens between the frames of a comic book story”. His theory being that in the same way our imagination helps to create the story / fill the gaps between the frames of a comic, the Marketing effort is actually what happens in between your tangible Marketing activities.

So it’s not just the ad spruiking your latest product or service, or the website you slavishly updated. It’s the feeling your client had when she got better service than expected, or the realisation your prices were lower as you promised, or the chat between friends about how your product/service/business helped change their day/skin/house/life.

So all this leads me to ponder the question… if the actual Marketing effort is rounded out by what happens in between the frames, how do we ensure the whole story is getting told right?

1) Live the Marketing strategy - the message in your marketing strategy has a far greater chance of being received if everyone in your business is on board with (and maybe even inspired by) the concept. No point spending thousands on advertising a message if the team doesn’t feel any ownership or desire to help tell the story.

2) It’s all about culture – does your organisation have a culture that promotes the principles, standards and/or ethics you believe in? Does each person within your business consider the values and goals of the organisations as their own?Every interaction a customer has with your business, whether it be good or bad, are the unseen results of your organisational culture (or sometimes lack thereof).

3) Listen, Listen, Listen. The obvious premise of any business is having a customer or clientèle with a need for your product or service, but what are their needs, really? only one way to find out. Then on each level – from customer service, to the retail offer, and everything in between, listen to what your market wants and try to deliver.

…And if you’re wondering who’s getting it right, check out the latest Marketing strategy of the Commonwealth bank. i was amazingly surprised over the last month to actually get the very” un-bank-like conversations” with a few different tellers, and be greeted like a friend, as suggested you might in their “determined to do so” campaign. It would seem they may have the culture right, and the team all (seemingly) living the strategy. Who would have thought?

Well it stands to reason that the first blog on Scorch Talk should be a little about how Scorch Marketing came to be…which hopefully is a story with more substance than choosing a cool sounding name off the kids bicycle….

For the first year Scorch Marketing and Communications was just Lisa O’Keeffe, working from a home office with two clients, having a lovely time and still fitting in some lunches and golf on the days both kids were in school. Then that terrible temptress ‘ambition’ showed her face (assisted by a dose of opportunity and a fair smattering of A type personality) and here we are today. A small team , in our quaint offices in West Perth, our loyal (and hopefully happy) clients, and just managing to maintain some semblance of a life outside of our passion of Marketing!

So we have the lovely foodie clients, Morish Nuts, who make the most delicious nibbles (this is no manufactured PR claim either – just ask anyone who’s tried them). Morish will be launching a new website soon and focussing some marketing energies on the rest of Australia (hence where Scorch comes in!)

In the Home and lifestyle sector we have the latest in high end furniture at Ultimo Interiors, owned by the wonderful Genny and Enzo Sberna,  whom constantly amaze with  their service and knowledge of all things design! Ultimo stock the latest from Europe and also the beautifully manufactured CO2Designs from here in Perth.

Also in homewares is Tile Boutique, a new national brand in the Tile sector, importing the latest from Europe to their 27 stores nationally, with 7 stores in WA , all locally owned and operated. TB is basically a group of committed Tile retailers deciding to join together under one brand with all the associated benefits, and its a pleasure to embark on this journey with them.  We’ve just finished Tile Boutique’s first TV campaign airing  in Perth from January 13th, with beautiful music and imagery composed by the team at Hyperactive (thanks Adrian!).

Our Scorch Talk updates will cover anything we find interesting about Marketing, PR and Social Media, and will also provide interesting updates on what our clients are up to, and the latest trends in design and interiors from Europe.

Stay tuned for next weeks blog about Scorch’s other clients…..one of whom had the responsibility of Cate Blanchett on her recent visit to Perth (i’ll see if I can get any goss!), one an industry event, and a creator of organic skincare for bubs and grown ups (hopefully Smitten will be blogging themselves soon - with people more and more reluctant to put chemicals on their skin, it’s a hot topic).