Who cares what the Food Network says, everyone knows the best burgers in Milwaukee are at Sobelmans. Happy news that they are looking into adding a third location, at the space formerly occupied by good ol’ Angelo’s Pizza in the heart of Marquette University. Go Dave and Melanie Sobelman! I’ve mentioned to Dave they should go with more of the original Sobelman’s branding at their second location, Tallgrass, even if they want to keep the grass-fed beef concept. He’s resisted for some reason, and I have to think it is keeping it from being as popular as the original. From the comments in the article, sounds like this third location would be more like the original concept (but probably bigger and nicer).

Details in today’s Milwaukee Business Journal (Side note: does anyone really call that paper by its formal masthead title, The Business Journal Serving Greater Milwaukee? No one does. They should change it.)

It’s May 2011, which means it is finally Spring in Milwaukee (at least we hope so).  When is the last time you took a look at your marketing plan?

If your answer is “when it was finished” or “not sure”, it’s time to open that document up and take a look at it.  What are the goals that were established for the year?  What are the projects that were committed to?  Is the plan moving forward or have some of the items fallen off to the side?

Marketing plans are intended to be guidelines for the year, but if those guidelines are kept in a drawer somewhere then they aren’t very helpful.

I like to keep print outs of the marketing plans we have put together for our clients up on a board - they are in front of my eyes every single day I am in the office.  It may be over-kill but it helps me keep client projects on track and it helps us have honest and goal driven conversations with our clients throughout the year.  For example, I know exactly when a client will be at a trade show and what planned elements we have in place to support that trade show.

You can do the same with your marketing plan.  Put the marketing plan someplace visible so you are able to review it periodically and track against that plan.  It will help keep your marketing consistent, integrated and on-track.

Not all advertising copywriting plays well in Milwaukee. Much of it is just fluff or bland or insulting. But here’s an ad with copywriting that shines:

I liked the Chrysler “Imported from Detroit” Super Bowl ad featuring Eminem, but I think the “Raising your Standards” ad is better precisely because the last line of copy resonates so well.

We will not be asking you to lower your standards to buy a car made here. We will in fact be asking you to raise them.

Like many people, I’m willing to spend a little more to buy from a local store instead of a big box retailer. I will buy some not-as-pretty tomatoes from the local farmers’ market instead of those spotless (but actually not as tasty!) ones from another country sold at the chain grocery store. But I’m not willing to make those sacrifices when it comes to a purchase as significant as a car. I’ve had the exact thought that this ad gets at, that buying an American car would mean getting a lesser car and paying more for it. But the payoff of this ad combats this misperception perfectly: “We will not be asking you to lower your standards to buy a car made here. We will in fact be asking you to raise them.” That’s exactly the tone and message that will make a financially pragmatic Midwesterner like me sit up, take notice and consider the car. The 200 looks great in the ad, but I have no idea if the car actually delivers on the promise. Nevertheless, copywriter(s) wherever and whoever you are, solid work! You made me care enough to think about it.

When writing your own ads, these are some critical questions to think about:

• What perceptions are keeping potential buyers away?
• How can you answer their uncertainty?
• How can you change their mind by exceeding their expectations?

Then, say it in a fresh way (and if you do that, you might not even need to spend millions to lay down a haunting Eminem track at the end!).

Happy writing!

I’m part of #MKEfoodies, which is a local group comprised of Milwaukee area food bloggers, food enthusiasts and food geeks. On Saturday, May 21 the group is combining their baking talents for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer Bake Sale and Silent Auction. Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a 501(c)3 non profit, was founded by two parents inspired by their 2 ½ year old son Liam’s battle with cancer. They were shocked to learn that the main reason over 25% of kids diagnosed with cancer do not survive is because of a lack of effective therapies. And the reason for the lack of therapies was very simple: lack of funding. They pledged to support the development of new and better treatments by giving people a simple way to get involved.

The bake sale is part of a nationwide event taking place in May to raise money for this important cause. Glad Products will be matching 100% of the funds raised in these nationwide bake sales throughout May, up to $225,000.

I will personally be making a few dozen dark chocolate sea salt cookies to support the cause. Come out and buy some cookies and help raise funds to support research for new and improved therapies for pediatric cancers.

Bake Sale & Silent Auction for Kids’ Cancer
Saturday, May 21, 2011
1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery
901 W. Juneau Ave., Milwaukee
Parking available in the structure adjacent to Best Place
Can’t attend? Consider making a donation online!

Interested in donating baked goods or sponsoring a silent auction basket? Email lo@eatatburp.com

Last summer a group of friends and I were lucky enough to witness our first Devo show at Summerfest. It was one of the most epic and wackiest shows I have ever attended. While doing my daily peruse through Mashable I was geeked when I came across an article interviewing Gerald Casale of Devo on their latest video. Devo’s music video for their latest single “What We Do” allows the viewer to be the director. The viewer decides what to see and when to see it in real time. The viewer can navigate and save a version of the video and share it with friends. Generally, I don’t support the use of crowdsourcing but in this context it makes perfect sense. I believe this is great way for Devo to better connect with their fans. What do you think?

April Fool’s Day is tomorrow and it got me thinking about the term “practical joke.” How in the world did that phrase come into existence? Even hilarious practical jokes aren’t really practical, in the sense of being useful. Or are these pranks practically - almost - jokes? Either way, the good guys at Car Talk have a nice assemblage of practical jokes. (Not recommended for work, unless you want to get fired!)

At our agency, we have a lot of clients who are focused on practicality, which seems to go hand-in-hand with Midwestern frugality. In today’s economy, that makes more sense than ever. A big part of our job is to toe the line between practicality and “the big idea.” Or, put another way, passion tethered to practicality. Get too focused on one or the other and your marketing efforts will suffer. Too worried about what’s practical and just do the same things year after year? You’ll miss great ideas and ways to tap customers you never would have reached otherwise. Too pie-in-the-sky (that’s another phrase whose meaning I’d like to know!)?  You’ll probably waste a lot of time and money.

My approach: once you have your strategy and goals nailed down, think as big as you can and then make a careful and critical examination.

It’s official, Twitter has been around for 5 years.  Does that surprise you?  Did you think it would be a flash in the pan or did you start tweeting back in 2006?

Primum tweets and we encourage our clients to tweet as well.  But the point of tweeting on the company side is a bit different.  In fact, we encourage our clients to follow a 1/3 rule:

• 1/3 - Listen
• 1/3 - Share
• 1/3 - Promote

The listen and share aspects are especially important for companies so they understand what their customers are saying.  In addition it helps position the company as a thought leader.

But does Twitter really help boost sales or increase leads?  It can, but that’s not necessarily the best goal for Twitter (especially if you follow the 1/3 rule).  Rather, Twitter can help boost your presence in the marketplace and with your customers.

Has your company caught the Twitter bug?  If you have, what has your strategy been and have you experienced the results you hoped for?

Follow Primum on Twitter

When I first heard about Borders filing for bankruptcy and their plan to close their downtown Milwaukee store, it saddened me. When the weather is nice I like to take the river walk up to Borders to shop for books on my lunch hour. The downtown location was never that busy, but the staff was always very friendly and helpful. I will also be the first to admit I only bought something if I had a Borders Rewards coupon. One of the problems Borders had was that their pricing was always at least 30-40% higher than online retailer Amazon. It always left me to wonder why would a person go out of their way to shop at a brick and mortar store if they can get it cheaper online without having to use a coupon? Given the current economy everyone is forced to spend less so our natural instinct is going to be pay less for the same product elsewhere.

Another reason I might be to blame?

My husband and I bought an ipad a few months back. Before we purchased the ipad, between my husband and I, we had around 8 magazines we religiously bought each month. Every room of our house had scattered piles of back issues of magazines. It always saddened me when it came time to collect them and toss them into the recycling bin. I was thrilled when we could get a subscription for magazines through the ipad, pay less for them and not have physical paper issues scattered everywhere. Also, since most of our magazine are culinary magazines it made it easier to retrieve recipes more conveniently. And score! We saved a tree.

I believe we didn’t intentionally try to make a brick and mortar store irrelevant. I know personally my husband and I try to shop and eat local as much as we can so our dollars stay within our community. I just think Borders couldn’t keep up with the changing lifestyles of consumers which lead to their demise.

Okay. I don’t have 10 ways. As a person who lives and breathes words all day, it’s hard to imagine the concept at all, which is why the beginning of this news clip caught my attention.

One of the alternately most maddening and funny things about having little kids is that things constantly disappear or randomly appear. A recent example in our house was an old news clipping that I found on the floor. I’ve asked and, of course, nobody knows anything about it.  Where it came from I have no idea, but it got me thinking that if this man could run for parliament “although he never speaks” due to his religious vow of silence, we should all be mindful of what we’re communicating nonverbally.

Even in this 140-character obsessed world, it’s probably also a good idea to devote some time to thinking more about the non-verbal modes of communication: from the tactics you choose to insisting on solid design to body language.

(Wow, look at all those nonverbal comments below!)

Should you see the Facebook movie, The Social Network, coming out Oct. 1?

Here’s my Milwaukee edit of Gawker’s Fall Movie preview:

Should You See It: What’re you, a Luddite? Some sort of anti-computer, shack-dwelling hermit weirdo? Yes you should see it. You have to see it, at least if you want to have anything to say at an October beer & wine party on someone’s Brewer’s Hill roof. “I thought it was dull, but interesting, does that make sense?” you’ll say, shivering in the fall air, taking a drag of your Winston Light, staring off at Milwaukee sparkling coldly. And then everyone will nod and drink their Sierra Nevada and pretty soon you’ll be talking about Twitter again.

We’ll be quizzing you when you want to talk 2011 social media strategy.