Laura’s Winning Ideas

This marketing stuff can be confusing. Sometimes I hear marketing and advertising departments suggest that proposal teams deliver proposals in beautiful bindings with the branded company logo. Oh, boy. Sometimes I hear proposal teams lamenting that the marketing department refuses to “approve” proposal themes in time for implementation on their tight proposal schedule. Yikes!

Themes and Branding are very different and any confusion between them will dilute the impact of both.

Here are the Top 10 differences between Branding and Themes:

1. “All About You” VS. “All About the Customer”

Branding is “All About You,” and Themes are “All About Your Customer.” The aim is completely different.

When you are trying to attract attention, branding makes a statement about you and helps you stand out. When you are writing a proposal, you keep a laser focus on the customer.

2. Retention VS. Win

Both Branding and Themes need measurable criteria to evaluate the process and determine how to improve. However, the measurements are different. (Read on ...)

My mentor, Warren Yerks, taught us to use retail customer service techniques in our proposal team. We took up his suggestion to welcome all visitors to the department with “How Can I Help You?” and it made a difference.

Today I’m noticing a good example of the difference derived by maintaining this kind of customer focus.

Contrast these two neighborhood establishments, of which, one closed last week.

The closing is too bad, because this small casual dining spot had a lot going for it. The location was good, food was good, and the menu included a variety of attractive selections. The restaurant was clean and nicely decorated.

However, the problem was a complete lack of customer focus. (Read on ...)

A young woman works with me part-time, helping with house and yard work. She’s saving money for college and has been a willing helpmate as I’ve been painting, staining, planting, and all the heavy lifting involved in moving into a large home and getting a large yard prettied up.

A neighbor asked her to come over and do some work, and she agreed. After a full day of weeding, the neighbor paid her $30 for her time. She was surprised. Her mother was furious.

This is a great lesson for her, and one that applies to proposal teams in guiding the strategy for your managers. You need to be asking lots of pesky questions to be sure there are NO SURPRISES in your proposal when it arrives. (Read on ...)

A theme run amok can have the opposite of your intended effect. Be sure to test your idea against a variety of suspects and develop a sense of the difference between edgy and risque.

Sephora convinced a coffee barista to carry advertisments on their coffee cups for a nearby Sephora makeup store. The cups had a lipstick stain printed on the rim, leaving men with a queasy feeling about the cup and the coffee shop.

This idea was probably well received by the target audience (women) but some of the observers had a less supportive emotional reaction.

Paul Parton of The Brooklyn Brothers, would have suggested instead focusing on an empowering morning message: “You look absolutely gorgeous this morning.” or “Today is going to be a great hair day.”