Situation:
Likoma’s client, The Queen of QuickBooks, had identified small businesses that needed help with accounting but were not quite ready to make to move to take a class, hire a bookkeeper, or set up an integrated accounting system.

An e-newsletter is the perfect solution for maintaining contact with potential clients who will need your expertise at some (as yet undetermined) future time. It provides a vehicle for ongoing communications and keeps your company and services top-of-mind.

Strategy:
I worked with The Queen of QuickBooks to update the website and jumpstart the Queen’s e-newsletter. We made the monthly e-newsletter process easy by:

• Creating a template in Vertical Response.
• Uploading the existing e-mail list.
• Recommending a communications strategy (give away useful information, time topics to fit clients’ seasonal needs, link to informative white papers on the website, include humor to lighten a technical subject).
• Helping the client develop an editorial calendar, so she could plan a variety of topics for her monthly communications and time them appropriately.
• Assisting with copywriting and project management for the first few newsletters, until the client got the hang of doing it herself.
• Teaching the client to upload and send the newsletters in Vertical Response herself, so she had flexibility and low cost.
• Uploading copies of past newsletters to the client’s website, to encourage site visitors to sign up for the free newsletter.
• Revising the site layout, so the free newsletter signup button was more prominent.
• Providing ongoing technical, editorial, and strategic support on an as-needed basis, so the client had complete control over costs but could still get the job done.

Results:
The Queen of QuickBooks’ e-newsletter and website work synergistically to showcase the company’s expertise. The company’s web traffic and e-mail list have increased. And the Queen of QuickBooks herself is positioned as an expert in streamlining accounting systems and using accounting information make smart business decisions.

Raised $24,000,000.00+

Situation:
Circumstances beyond the Zoo’s control delayed voter-approved construction for several years, during which time costs increased substantially. The Zoo needed to raise millions of dollars quickly in order to avoid falling even further behind in construction of the “New Zoo.”

Strategy:
We developed a multi-piece mailing, which was supplemented with personal phone calls from Zoo board members. The upscale brochure:

• Included a map and architectural renderings of the “New Zoo” to help create a sense of immediacy, even though construction had not yet begun.
• Emphasized the personal connection people feel with the Zoo, and the ways in which it affects individuals.
• Offered opportunities for permanent recognition (such as personalized plaques) for high-value donors.

Tangible results:
The capital campaign raised more than $24,000,000 for the San Francisco Zoo in only a few months.

Retained 33% more customers …

Situation:
Australia’s state-run telephone company, Telecom Australia, faced stiff competition from multinational telecoms when Australia deregulated its telecommunications services. I was the Account Director for the direct response agency Telecom chose to help retain customers in the face of aggressive competitors promising lower prices and superior service.

Strategy:

1. Begin with market research and segmentation.

The most important aspects of campaign development included market research and segmentation. We found, for example, that residential customers were price conscious but not price sensitive. In other words, while they stated that low prices were important, they were actually more concerned with receiving good customer service. Business customers, however, were not concerned with good service so much as with low prices.

Consequently, we developed a two-pronged marketing approach, emphasizing price for businesses and service for residential customers. Telecom Australia developed an array of flexible pricing plans for residential customers, which allowed us to use a “tailored to the way you call” message combining service and pricing benefits. We also segmented by spending levels, type of spending, product, and need. Advertising dollars were focused on the business segment, which had higher volumes, more complex telecommunications needs, and less inertia.

2. Determine the most effective positioning.

Market research also pointed the way to effective positioning. We personalized Telecom Australia’s voice, since the incumbent was perceived as a bureaucratic monolith. And we positioned the incumbent as a consultant or advisor, a one-stop-shop that could help customers navigate the complex and confusing process of deregulation and pre-selection of a telecommunications carrier. Communications were designed to appear simple and straightforward, since customers were well aware of the high cost of advertising, and tended to be turned off by overly expensive-looking design.

3. Use multiple channels of communication.

Because competition was intense and the results of a one-shot pre-selection vote would affect revenues for many years to come, Telecom Australia used a broad-based array of communications, including television, radio, direct mail, collateral materials in retail outlets, booths set up in malls, doorhangers, and branded promotional incentives. We even created “BBQ cards,” which were wallet-sized, accordion-folded, laminated lists of talking points for Telecom Australia’s three hundred thousand employees to use in social situations when they were asked about their company’s role in deregulation.

Tangible results:
Retained significantly more customers than anticipated in Telecom Australia’s aggressive marketing plan. In some areas, we retained 33% more customers than anticipated. (Results varied by geography and timing.)