Promises Kept

There was an article in the paper this weekend about Marie-Josée Lamothe, the Chief Marketing Officer for L’Oréal Canada who had a great marketing idea. In the cosmetics business, sampling is the cornerstone of marketing so when Lancome Paris – one of the 25 brands in the L’Oréal portfolio developed a new fragrance called Midnight Rose, a key piece of the marketing strategy would be to give away 2,000 samples via a Facebook promotion.

Unfortunately they underestimated the marketing power of Facebook and in the first 2 minutes more than 3,000 Facebook users requested their complementary vial – crashing L’Oréal’s internal server and exhausting the supply of samples.

They created a HUGE disappointment for their customers. I have found in my experience working with big companies that often the operations folks don’t know what the marketing folks have promised, resulting in disappointed customers. I’ll explain how this translates to small business and why it’s important for you.

Think about all the marketing messages you see out in the world every day. How many actually keep their promises? Now think about your business and what you are promising your clients. How well are you delivering. Make a list of everything you promise your clients  when you are pitching. Now review the list and rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 how well you are delivering? It may be time to pay attention in a few areas. If you really want to be sure…ask your clients!

In my program, Your Brand Boost,  I teach you simple and no cost ways to do your own market research and find out how well you are delivering on your promises. It’s all about authenticity. If you don’t deliver, how much loyalty do you think you are creating?