C-Stores: Breaking Bad Habits

The last time I checked, everyone knows that c-stores sell cigarettes and beer.

Did you know that cigarettes account for 50 cents of every dollar spent in your
store? As a result, it is most likely that cigarettes and beer bring in the most 

revenue.This does not mean that your forecourt and storefront needs to look 

like a playground for addicted adults. Did I just describe your store or chain? 

If so, then now is the time to pull your head out of the proverbial ashtray and 

realize that you are competing with quick serve restaurants just as much as 

other c-stores. Take note of these chains that are cashing in on a more food 

focused marketing strategy. 

Wawa Is Now "Convenience Food Market"

Perception is reality, and if your customers think of you as a place to eat or pick
up a meal, then you have won them over. Wawa is a great example of a c-store
that understands people are: on the move, in a hurry, and have a desire to get
good food on the go!  Wawa recently made the shift from convenience store to 

convenience food market. Market sounds much more appetizing than a store;
market makes me think food.  If you were pumping gas and this was on the 

pump topper wouldn't it make you hungry?
  

                    

7-Eleven Features Freshness & Value

7-Eleven is committed to offering fresh food and value. The next time you 

visit a 7-Eleven store, pay attention to how well they execute their at-store 

marketing. 7-Eleven uses mouthwatering images and really showcases great 

price points or special value offers. Additionally, their food is fresh is made daily. 

By the way, I taste tested their fresh food and they deliver on their fresh promise!

      

    

   

Quik Trip Advertises Like A Quick Serve Restaurant

In addition to making their food look fresh and appetizing, QT steps up their 

advertising by marketing like a fast food chain with a $5 combo meal. The 

forecourt is jam-packed with so many delicious images and offers that it really 

drives impulse purchases. Once you are inside, they continue to encourage food 

purchases with more appealing food offerings. 

Hopefully this is a wakeup call for many of you. QSRs are coming after your 

customers with a vengeance. Many chains are really pushing breakfast and late 

night snacking, and they are stealing your customers. Ditch the Marlboro and Bud 

signs and advertise combo deals and snacks. Then watch your sales soar!

Should Wendy's Raise The Avis Red Flag?

Wendy's made History and Headlines this week stealing 2nd place away from Burger King

as the 2nd biggest burger chain in the US.  Not to take the wind out of anyone's sails but
even if you combine the $8.5 billion annual sales of Wendy's with the $8.4 billion annual
sales of Burger King it is only about 50% of what Mc Donalds raked in last year which
was a staggering $34.2 billion in sales.

It is going to be a definitive year for Wendy's and I would bet my life savings that they are
going to pull out all of the stops to maintain 2nd place status and increase their margin of
difference from BK. We are going to see product innovation, price wars, increased marketing
efforts from both parties. This year should prove to be a  Battle of The Burgers!

The real question is should Wendy's raise the notorious Avis flag? "Were 2nd But We
Try Harder" This method really catapulted Avis and strongly secured there position as
the #2 car rental company.Everyone roots for the under-dog and will support the perceived
little-guy.  

If I was the CMO of Wendy's 

Our marketing team would be busy re-creating the Avis "we are #2" campaign and quickly.
It might not be that we try harder . . . Maybe it is that we are healthier? 

Red flags with the #2 would be proudly waving from the roofs of every Wendy's & every
kids meal would  include a Red #2 Flag . . . sounds like a genius idea & Wendy's you have
my permission to use this.

If you were the CMO of Wendy's what would you do?

Sources http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2117295/Wendys-dethrones-Burger-King-2nd-biggest-burger-chain-US-McDonalds-1st.html

Dissecting The Genius Of Taco Bell's Cup

When a customer leaves your store or pulls away from your drive thru what are they holding?
They are holding your brand! What is your shopping bag saying about you? What message is
your pizza box or in this case, your cup sending? This is your chance to build loyalty to drive
to brand advocacy and reassure the customer that they made the right decision.

Way to go Taco Bell! You are cashing in on the Doritos Locos Tacos in a big way.  If the
customer did not order the Doritios Locos Taco this time, your cup is going to spur their
curiosity and drive that purchase the next time.  This cup is a conversation starter and
anyone who notices it will ask, how was that Doritios Taco? It is eye-catching and a
intriguing so the diner wants to learn more. This cup is a must read!

Taco Bell clearly knows that their die-hard customers are millennials who love to
engage through social media.  By sharing all these tweets and facebook comments
they are saying everyone is talking about our Doritios Taco and WE ARE COOL!
This is a huge pay-off for Taco Bell and their brand is experiencing major buzz around
this entire campaign . . .and this cup has a lot to do with that success.

The final gem of genius is on the back of the cup, where it asks for the customer to
scan the cup and engage with their brand, become a brand advocate! Customers are
not mind readers you, have to tell them what you want them to do. Not everyone will
blog, tweet or to mention you on facebook, but if you ask them to, you significantly
increase the likeliness.  You are saying your opinion matters and we care what you think.

Take a lesson marketers, this is an exceptional example of smart marketing. Go grab your
cup, your shopping bag, your straws, and napkins. Think about what you can do better!
In my humble opinion we can always improve on everything.

Consumer Experiences That Create Buzz & Loyalty

When was the last time that you had an experience with a brand that was unique
and memorable? An experience that had you speed dialing your friends, tweeting
or posting on facebook? It is critical for brands to wake up from their slumber and
realize that customers want more than a good deal, they want to be wowed!  If you
want your brand to grow by leaps and bounds than take note of the unique brand
experiences from these superstar brands!

Chick-Fil-A Annual Cow Appreciation Day
It's silly and fun oh and by the way 1000's of customers are year visit Chick-Fil-A to
this Annual celebration. This is a great concept but it only happens once a day, to create
real buzz you need  to create a memorable consumer brand experience that happens on
regular basis  Do you think that these folks are going to tell everyone they know about
how much fun they had at Chick-Fil-A? You betchya!

Starbucks Augmented Reality 

Starbucks is always an innovator that other brands look to follow. Last winter was no
different when Starbucks launched their augmented reality app everyone took notice!
I could not help but to bring my kids with me to our local Starbucks and let them run the
gamete of using the AR app to interface with all of Starbuck's Holiday products.My
teenager posted it on facebook and my son told his entire 3rd grade class and now I'm
blogging about it.

Jack In The Box "Secret Bacon Shake"
I'm always up for a good time so when I heard about the "Secret Bacon Shake"                    
at Jack In The Box I had to check it out.  Once again my teenage daughter was my
marketing guinea pig.  We pulled into the drive thru and whispered our order (after all it
is is a secret), we were giggling and felt silly as we pulled around to the window and the
suspense was killing us! Would it really taste like bacon?  The girl at the window was playful
with us and asked if we would try it before pulling away so we did and it and we were amazed
The shake tasted just like bacon!  I told  at least countless people and my daughter told all of her
600+ facebook friends . . .  because that is what teenagers do!

Fatburger XXXL Challenge

This is an example of a first impression making a last impression! We were in Vegas 

last weekend with some friends and none of us had ever had Fatburger so we decided 

on Fatburger for lunch.As we were ordering we saw this poster, immediately on of our 

friends was determined that he could put down the XXXL buger which is 24oz of beef, 

layered with cheese. Of course his dining experience was witnessed by everyone in the 

restaurant and their was cheering to support his success! Not only did our friend eat the 

XXXL but he also at his french fries and a large coke.  This is a brand experience that will 

be engrained in our memory forever.  I looked up on you tube and their are many others who 

have posted videos of their battle to beat the XXXL at fatburger.

Put Your Thinking Cap On!

5 Tips To Develop Your Consumer Experience

1. The experience needs to be relevant to your brand.

2. Consider your target consumer and make sure your experience matches up.

3. Your objective is to create buzz.

4. The consumer experience needs to be hassle free and easy to execute.

5. The more people who can share this experience the more buzz!

Cashing In On St Patrick's Day

Americans are projected to spend  $4.6 billion dollars celebrating the "Luck of The Green" 

While St. Pat's accounts for the lowest retail spend of the year it still can pack a punch for many retailers. The average American will spend $35 on the Holiday, now that is green worth celebrating!

                           

Quick Facts About Consumerism On St. Patrick's Day

• 50% of Americans plan on celebrating St. Pat's Day

• 82% will purchase green apparel, hats, t-shirts or accessories

• 30% will go bar hopping to throw back some green beers

• 30% will cook a special dinner at home; such as corn beef & hash

• 24% will spend money on decorations for their home,school or office

• 19% will attend a private parties

• 13 Million pints of Guinness beer are consumed

• 4.2 Billion pints of green beer are consumed

Battle Of The Green At Drive Thru

You can now order your Shamrock Shakes from Mc Donald's which is available in 14,000 locations Nationwide.  There is a Shamrock Shake fan club that has over 2100 fans and is growing faster than a leprechaun. http://www.shamrockshake.com/  

To battle against the golden arches, Burger King introduced a special offer of free fries all weekend,while supplies last. This plan may have Mc Donald's green with envy as the King's free fries comes with green ketchup provided by Heinz. No coupon needed!

Cashing In On Decorations & Apparel

If you are part of the 24% of Americans who plan on decorating your home, office or class room you can cash in on this online offer from Party City and save $10.00 off your decorations.

With 82% of American's buying appareal for St. Pat's day their is a good chance that you will need a cool t-shirt, check out these affordable shirts from Old Navy $5-8 bucks Old Navy T's

Sources 

http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/cashing-st-patrick-s-day-20918,

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/story/2012-03-12/st-patricks-day-saturday/53499126/1 

http://www.mainstreet.com/article/smart-spending/bargains/deals/deal-alert-free-fries-burger-king 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/03/090316-st-patricks-day-facts.html, 

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2011/03/17/green_beer_hidden_water_footprint/

Don't Kick The Cat & Other Valuable Life Lessons

Losers Suck

We cannot win every deal or make everyone like us . . . It is a fact of life. What do I mean
by losers suck? When you do loose and we all do, how do you loose? Let's say you have
been pursuing a contract with a potential client and they decide to go with someone else, where
do you go from there? Are you a poor sport and go home an kick the cat? Do you point fingers
at others or do you figure out where you fell short? This is an opportunity to look yourself in the
mirror, now is the time to roll up your sleeves and continue to foster the relationship. Rejection is
hard and for most of us we take it personally, so I understand that this is not an easy thing to do.
It is easier to move on from it and say . . . next! I challenge you to do the opposite and remain a
valuable resource and continue to win them over so when it is time to revisit their options, he
only has one name in mind . . . yours!

It's How You Finish That Counts

Everyone can start something really well but what matters is how you finish!  We can all start out

with our new job full steam ahead but do you putter out? Real winner's finish with gusto and give a

100% when it counts the most. When others around you are falling short, this is when you should

push harder.

Smart People Rule

When I was a kid, the smart kids were considered geeks and were made fun of, and the jocks

were cool . . . boy was I dumb!  I wish I would have spent more time in the library then in the

gym.  Every morning before my kids leave for school, I tell them "smart people rule" it is my daily

mantra & my kids live it.  You want to be better than your competition than you need to out-smart

them! You may not have a degree from Harvard but make yourself the expert about whatever it is

that you do! Be the thought leader, find genius solutions and you will rule.

Work Smart Not Hard

This is the ideal piggy-back on smart people rule! Stop re-inventing the wheel and create ways to

streamline your work-load, do not mistake this with working less. Dedicate 30-60 minutes everyday

to create strategies and work on tactics. This concept is like mapquesting the most efficient way to
get from A to Z - keep in mind that sometimes it is not that you need to make important stops along
the way so that when you arrive at your final destination your outcome is success.

The Only Thing You Can Control Is Your Attitude & Effort

Let's say the guy driving next to you decides to cut you off, you can't control his poor driving or
perhaps his road rage but what you can control is how you respond.  Make a conscious effort to
pause for a few seconds before responding to anything.  Your attitude and effort are two things you control. People want to surround themselves with people who have a can-do attitude, are you that
person? or do you have the Eeyore syndrome . . . "It's not much of a house but it's my house."

The Definition Of Insanity Is Doing The Same Thing Again & Again 

. . . and expecting different results, yeah, yeah we have all heard this before but do you practice

it? We are creatures of habit, so it makes sense that we tend to repeat our mistakes.  Stop the

madness and check yourself on a regular basis.  Is the outcome that I wanted? What could

I have done differently to get a different or better result?  If something works great use it again

but if something failed go back and re-tool your method.