Dragon Lisa

Last week I had the pleasure of going to Blacklands Primary in Kilwinning and acting as a ‘Dragon’ for their ‘Dragon’s Den’ pitches. Four groups of the Primary 7s had been working for a number of weeks on a project, researching, designing and marketing a desk tidy that they then pitched to us through presentations, 3D images, i-movies and fielding any questions we threw at them afterwards.

And I have to say that I was immensely impressed by all the children who took part. Not only did they learn to work together well in a team, they also put so much effort into everything they had done and really showed an enormous amount of imagination and thought.

When I was in Primary 7 I can’t imagine how I would have approached something like this, but I think it’s fantastic that schools are now giving children projects like this, preparing them for life outside the school walls. My only worry is how good they are going to be by the time they come out!

Unfortunately we didn’t have any piles of cash to hand over, just a winner to pick out of the groups and it was a hard decision as they all did so well. In the end it was the level of research one group had put into their processes over the others that just swung it, but it was close, very close.

So well done again to all the kids in Primary 7 at Blacklands and thanks for letting me be one of you your dragons!

100th Post

So, it’s our 100th post today. To be honest I completely forgot until I came to post it, so it’s not an all-singing, all-dancing breakthrough insight into marketing. Hopefully though, it will give you a little to think about though.

I saw this quote today on The Hidden Persuader, via Room 116 and thinking about adverts such as Sony Bravia and the recent Cadbury spot I found it quite interesting and quite apt in current times. It also made me question once again how much of advertising is about selling the product and how much is just sheer art. I would argue however that a healthy dose of self obsession is often required in art, and I’m sure is probably often prevalent in those working in the advertising industry also (but let’s not generalise here – in ANY industry).

Another reason it made me think was because, on a personal level, I always enjoyed art at school but decided not to pursue it because I didn’t fancy the life of a starving artist. Plus, truth be told I didn’t feel I was that fantastic at it that I could actually make a career out of it. However, I still wanted to do something creative and ended up choosing marketing as I felt it would give me the opportunity to use my creativity in a variety of ways. I wonder how many in advertising and marketing as a whole made that very same decision? Hmmm...

To everyone that’s been reading so far – thanks - I hope you enjoy the next 100!

We are 1!

Today is our first blog birthday. One year ago today it all started. How time flies when you’re having fun!

Also, it’s talk like a pirate day, ha-harrr! So enjoy it me mateys!

Training your way to better marketing

A really great reason to love marketing is that it's not akin to brain surgery.

Sure, there's enough to know about to keep University lecturers in jobs. We're talking paradigms and models and theories which are overturned seemingly every fortnight with the newer, the more relevant and more innovative. Although in the grand scheme of things, the marketing which should matter to you, i.e. that which will make a big positive difference to the success of your business is very much something you can learn.

And we can teach you.

Not that I'd dare forget the brilliant creative people out there. Sure, great marketing also takes great talent, enthusiasm and commitment. The creative work we've showcased right here on this blog (and dare I say in AME Marketing's portfolio) is testament to our wonderful, vibrant, effervescent industry. But saying, "Oh I have no talent or creativity! Marketing is not for me!" is not a very good excuse. At AME Marketing we don't believe that such qualities are innate. Your latent abilities can be brought out, nurtured and developed.

This year, AME Marketing will be delivering a series of marketing training workshops to teach you about marketing, in the areas we believe you'll receive most benefit. We're talking about building marketing strategies, researching your customers and obtaining valuable insights about them, promoting your web presence, communicating benefits to customers creatively and promoting your business in ways that don't require you to spend a huge advertising budget.

All the workshops are free to attend and will be taking place right here at AME Towers, aka our offices in Prestwick. You'll get to come along for a morning, see a marketing agency "in action", learn something useful for your business and leave with enough information to put what you've learned into practice.

Want to know some more about the workshops? Well, have a gander.

Workshop 1: ‘Copywriting Masterclass’ – Tuesday 4th September 2007
Want to multiply the selling power of your marketing communications? This enjoyable and interactive workshop will show you how to market your business the ‘write’ way!

Workshop 2: ‘A guide to Search Engine Optimisation’ – Tuesday 9th October 2007
Got a web site? Want to increase its ranking on search engines? We tell you everything you need to know. Receive a comprehensive report on your site, covering search engine and web site functionality!

Workshop 3: ‘Market research, do or die!?’ – Tuesday 20th November 2007
Want to know why research is essential for your business? We show you how to properly research your market with any budget, and what might happen if you don’t!

Workshop 4: ‘Strictly Come Marketing’ – Tuesday 5th February 2008
Discover how marketing is like any good dance routine! You can learn and master it in just ten steps!

Workshop 5: ‘Promotion, beyond advertising!’ – Tuesday 11th March 2008
Save your marketing budget by introducing yourself to the wider world of promotion! We show you the methods that will save you money and, ultimately, increase your chances of success!

Workshop 6: ‘All the signs tells us you need a marketing plan!’ – Tuesday 29th April 2008
Why is marketing planning so important? We show you how, with smart objectives and a clear set of marketing activities in place, your business can meet and even exceed its targets!

Attendance at the workshops is open to any shape or size of business, but places are limited. If you'd like to attend any of the events, all you have to do is call us on 01292 678920 to book your place.

So, just to remind you, reason 14 to fall in love with marketing is this one. Marketing has much to teach you and you can develop your skills and talents in the area with just a little time, effort and training. And the icing on the cake is that you'll use the skills and talents you've learned to make a real difference to the fortunes of your business.

Welcome to the summer of love

AME Marketing has just launched its summer campaign for 2007.

We want you to fall in love with marketing this summer. Why? Well the truth is marketing isn't very popular. Yet, when done right, it brings you wonderful customer insights, helps you gain a competitive edge, dramatically boosts your sales, nurtures long lasting customer relationships and gives you the power to resonate with people in ways you never thought possible. When you put it that way, what's not to love?

Look out for us over the coming weeks. You'll spot us on our web site, in the local press, in your mailbox and right here on our blog. We'll be giving you plenty of reasons why, whatever you do this summer, it should be your summer of love!

Love yourself. Love your customers. Love marketing!

See the signs, get a marketing plan!

If you've found our blog via our web site, chances are you've already heard the good news that the À La Carte Marketing Programme - the European funded programme delivered by AME Marketing - has been extended until June 2007.

If you are serious about making the most of your marketing in 2007, it is imperative that you make the time to put a plan in place. Marketing on an ad hoc basis will never yield the same results as well thought-out, well-planned, regular activities. During the 'Plan Your Course' marketing training programme, we can take you step-by-step through the process of building a marketing plan. And because the five workshops and five days of one-to-one consultancy are spread out over several months, it allows you the chance to put aside the time needed to carry out this important activity.

Essentially, the course aims to empower Ayrshire businesses like yours with valuable marketing skills and knowledge. It teaches those who are really serious about growing their business how to plan ahead, adapt to market changes and as a result compete more effectively and profitably in the marketplace.

With this in mind, AME Marketing has launched its latest campaign to promote the programme. With the strapline, "All the signs tell us you need a marketing plan!", the campaign aims to direct businesses towards valuable support that will help them grow, compete and become more profitable.

There are three images in the campaign - "Plan Your Course", "No Direction" and "Rock and a Hard Place", so look out for them! We've given you a sneek peek at the artwork for the campaign here, as it will appear on our website, so we'd love to hear your feedback.

In the meantime, if you want more information on the 'Plan Your Course' Marketing Training programme, give us a call on 01292 678920 or click here.

'Plan Your Course'

'No Direction'

'Rock and a Hard Place'

What does 2007 have in store for AME Marketing?

I have shamelessly taken this idea from the Weiden & Kennedy London’s ‘Welcome to Optimism’ blog. When doing my usual trawl of other marketing blogs on the net I came across their most recent post, which was a look at the company’s horoscope for 2007, predicted by a dedicated horoscope magazine. Sounded like fun, so I thought I’d give it a go for AME Marketing.

I didn’t fancy going out and purchasing a horoscope magazine however, so instead looked to the Internet and the wisdom of Russell Grant on MSN. Since the helm of AME Marketing was officially taken over by Lynn and Graham on 1st August of last year, I decided to use this ‘rebirth’ as our birth date, which would make AME Marketing a Leo. So, what did our prediction say?

“Life in 2007: The first eight months of 2007 continue to be a challenge for you. At times, it will feel as though the weight of the world is on your shoulders…” – Eek! However, “Getting regular exercise will help you handle the stress; it’s a good idea to enrol in a yoga class.“ So that will be all of us off to the gym this year then. Good news though - “If you work hard, you’ll reap significant rewards after September 2nd. At that juncture, you’ll have to reconfigure your budget” – That’s more like it.

What about “Love in 2007”? “You won’t lack for admirers this year; in fact, you’ll probably have to choose between several attractive candidates.” Does that mean that we will have lots of lovely clients fighting for us to work for them?

“Loot in 2007”. Well, a fortune cookie told us last year that our ‘business would assume vast proportions’, but what of this year? “Your financial prospects will be a bit varied this year. A source of income could come to an abrupt halt on March 3rd…” – Oh no. But, “Fortunately, a Solar Eclipse on March 19th could bring you an insurance payment, inheritance, grant, or legal settlement” – a bit better. And then, “…on September 11th… an exciting new job could fall in your lap. There’s a good chance that this work is related to health food, bookkeeping, journalism, or holistic medicine.” So, looks like September is shaping up to be a good month, if Russell is to be believed.

And finally, “Luck in 2007: Your creativity soars this year. There’s never been a better time to submit manuscripts to agents, publishers, and editors.” Excellent, although that’s perhaps not who we’d be submitting work to, but hey, lets not dwell on the small points. “It’s also possible that you’ll have great success with auditions.” We’d better get those tenders lined up then. “A fun-filled vacation could also be in the cards for you.” And that answers the question of whether we’ll have a good Away Day this year.

All in all then, looks like it’s going to be a good year… if the horoscopes are remotely accurate. Maybe at the end of December we can come back and review how our year went. Do you think our predictions will come true?

(Should W&K happen to stumble upon our blog, apologies for blatantly stealing your idea. And, should any of our readers wish to read Weiden & Kennedy’s predictions, or any of their blog posts, you’ll find them at http://wklondon.typepad.com/)

Why you need a marketing plan - NOW!

With the end of the year fast approaching, now is the perfect time to begin putting a marketing plan together to help start the New Year in the right direction.

A strong plan can help you create, guide and coordinate your marketing efforts. It will compel you to think about your business goals and how your marketing strategy will facilitate the realisation of these. Furthermore, preparing the document itself will allow you to examine and appraise the current state of your business and the industry it operates within. Therefore, before you sit down to actually write your marketing plan, research and make sure you have a clear idea of the following.

1. What are your products and/or services, their benefits and features?
2. Who is your target market and what are their buying habits?
3. Who are your competitors and what is their offering in comparison to yours?
4. What is the problem, need or desire your product or service solves?

Although some companies build marketing plans that are more strategic in nature, it is likely your plan will simply set out the course of one year. The document should contain information about your company, its resources, influences, products and/or services; short and long-term objectives; your marketing strategy and activities you will conduct to help achieve your objectives; your expected outputs; contingency plans and a timetable. It should also document the costs of any marketing activities as well as how you plan to measure the success of such activities.

Once the plan has been written, it will need updated each year. Take note of any changes in your market throughout the year and if you need to, alter your activities - the tactics that proved successful one year may not work so well if conditions have altered significantly. So, plan to review your marketing plan frequently and use your contingency plans if need be. Reviewing every quarter is ideal; however if that is not feasible, do so at least once each year.

These are just a few tips on where to start when putting your plan together. The task may seem overwhelming and is indeed time-consuming, but it is entirely worthwhile. If you don't already have a plan in place, now is the perfect time to do so. A well-written, comprehensive plan can be the focal point of all your ventures since it describes how you will attract and retain customers -- the most crucial aspect of a business.

Yet, should the task seem a little too daunting, don't despair. We have the answer. The 'Plan Your Course' Marketing Training programme, which is delivered by AME Marketing, offers a series of five workshops as well as five days consultancy time to assist you to research, prepare and formulate your plan.

The course empowers you with valuable marketing skills and knowledge, ranging from how to carry out a marketing audit of your business to setting budgets and allocating resources. By the end of the course, you'll not only know how to structure your plan, you'll know how to carry out each of the activities contained within its pages.

Utilising support from the À La Carte Marketing Programme, the course is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This means that the costs to businesses like yours are kept as low as possible. So, a course that should cost you £2,850 only costs you £600.

With only a month and a half left until ERDF runs out, the time to book your place on 'Plan Your Course' is NOW! Follow the link to our main website, which you will find to the left of the page, or give us a call on 01292 678920 for more information.

Can you really afford not to plan ahead next year?

The Huntress Queen

Our clients often ask us about the significance of 'the lady archer' in our company logo. She is Diana the Huntress - a strong willed, free-spirited, independent and powerful Roman Goddess.

She is often represented with bow and quiver on her shoulder and dog or deer at her side. Although a huntress, she offers protection to those in her care.

We incorporated her into our logo in the 1980s as a symbol of our philosophy to track down markets for our clients, whilst nurturing their knowledge of marketing principles.

And so it begins

Welcome to the AME Marketing blog site!

AME Marketing is Ayrshire's longest running full-service marketing consultancy. In 2006, we turned 21!

Over the past two decades, we've helped more than 1,500 clients to adopt marketing principles. Those clients have learned how to better compete and grow. They've entered new markets and launched new products. Most importantly, they've maximised profits by satisfying customer needs and building customer relationships.

Our longevity is down to knowing the needs of our own target markets better than most. We know there is a need for highly tailored marketing assistance that is of very high quality and, most importantly, is affordable, credible and offers great value.

This unflinching demand was our motivation to introduce the European funded 'À La Carte Marketing Programme', which allows SMEs in Ayrshire's Objective 2 areas to slash as much as 50% from our ordinary rates. The programme is drawing to a close, but there's still money to be spent. If you're interested in saving up to half of your marketing budget, the best time to contact us is right now.

Demand for different types of services has also meant that our skills set has grown. For example, we have proven ourselves capable of complex long-term project management, having managed the delivery of all Investors in People activities in Ayrshire since 2002.

The latest addition to our portfolio of services is training provision. We're about to launch a comprehensive array of learning opportunities which you can access for the greater good of your team and your business. It runs the gamut of marketing and people training activities, from marketing planning, copywriting and research to leadership and management skills, appraisal skills and much more.

Alas, the truth is that most small businesses remain uninformed about what marketing is, why it is important and how it can help them achieve their goals. This is bad news and it makes us unhappy!

With that in mind, AME Marketing is campaigning for increased marketing awareness across the board. Quite frankly, we want you to share our faith in what marketing can do! In order for you to believe, here we will do our level best to tell you what some of our competitors dare not - the truth about marketing and how it can help you in a no-nonsense format that makes it easy for you to get the ball rolling on your own marketing activities.

We hope you enjoy what's coming up and we look forward to getting your comments and feedback on what you read here.