Is Your Advertising Keeping You Ahead Of The Pack?

Welcome to the 2017 installment of What The Tour de France Can Teach You About Advertising. This is my annual post using the Tour de France, professional bicycling's greatest race, as a metaphor for how you can improve your company's advertising. (You can get caught up on some of the previous entries here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.)

Though this year's Tour has had controversy and crashes, drama and just plain dull moments, I've found myself thinking back to the 1989 Grande Boucle. That race was won by American Greg LeMond (on the right in the photo), who overcame 50 second deficit to beat Frenchman Laurent Fignon (left) by eight seconds on the Tour's final stage. To many, it remains the most thrilling Tour ever.

Though LeMond became the first American to win the Tour in 1986, the two seasons that followed were derailed by injuries and a hunting accident. Aside from one 2nd place finish in a Giro d'Italia time trial, his early form in 1989 left many thinking his best days had passed. And, as he was racing on a lower level team that lacked a capable cast of supporting riders, few considered LeMond a Tour contender.

LeMond served notice in the race's first week that he was on form and the tour became a battle between LeMond and Fignon. For the next two weeks, the two men traded the lead several times. LeMond, using then new triathlon-style aerobars, was faster in the time trials while Fignon, better protected by his team, was slightly stronger in the mountains. Though LeMond won the last mountain stage, Fignon reached Versailles with a 50 second lead and a 15.2 mile time trial separating him from the yellow jersey on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

Given the length of the time trial, just about everyone, Fignon included, felt that 50 second lead was insurmountable. Undaunted, LeMond entered the start house that day with the aerobars on his bike and an aero helmet on his head. Fignon, ever the playboy, chose to ride triumphantly into Paris bareheaded, with his ponytail blowing in the wind, on a standard time trial bike. Though he crossed the finish line in Paris with the day's third best time, Fignon still finished the stage 58 seconds behind LeMond. In doing so, he lost the Tour he assumed he'd won by the closest margin in the race's history. In other words, via his hubris and his overconfidence, Fignon took his foot off the gas.

If your business requires advertising and promotion, then make sure to learn from Fignon's mistake; don't assume anything and don't take your foot off the gas when it comes to your marketing and advertising plan. Just because some form of media has always worked in the past, doesn't mean it will work tomorrow. It's one thing to set up a yearly ad plan and put it into motion, but that plan also needs regular attention to insure that you're marketing dollars are being well spent and that you're getting a decent return on your investment.

Further, keep abreast of your competition's adverting and promotions to see where they're gaining an edge. If you see one element of your marketing plan, be it TV, radio, print, outdoor, digital or social media, is reaching a point of diminishing returns, don't hesitate to re-allocate your spending to maximize your effectiveness. Remember that, in business (as in cycling) no lead is ever truly safe.

At this point, I know some of you are likely asking "When can I find time to do all that when I've got a business to run?" And the answer is to do exactly what LeMond did and embrace new technology in your every day business life. Just as LeMond won the Tour thanks to his aerobars and aerodynamic helmet, you can streamline your marketing and advertising too. Automate your email marketing and rely on templates for quick and easy email responses. Use a scheduler for social media posting and your cell phone (or designate someone) to monitor interactions. Recycle blog content into marketing emails. Reference industry news and updates for your own blog content. Then, simply designate a little time each week or month to review all your traditional and new media marketing efforts and assess (or re-assess) accordingly via phone, email or from your tablet or laptop.

Though he'd revealed he was dealing with a painful, likely abscessed saddle sore, Laurent Fignon's belief that he couldn't be beaten and his failure to embrace new technology meant he metaphorically let up on the gas and stopped pedaling. And, if you're being pursued by the competition, you can't ever stop peddling your business. Remember to stay on top of your marketing, make tweaks as needed, embrace new approaches and tools to keep your marketing and advertising wheels spinning. It's an easy way to keep your business ahead of the pack in every stage and every race.

Don't Make It Up As You Go Along

Welcome to the 2016 installment of What The Tour de France Can Teach You About Advertising. As regular readers of this space know, this is my annual post using the Tour de France, professional bicycling's greatest race, as a metaphor for you how can improve your company's advertising. (If you want to get caught up on some of the previous entries, you can do so here, here, here, here, here, here and here.)

For mostly the wrong reasons (this, this and this, primarily), this year’s Tour de France has been one of the more entertaining Grande Boucles in recent memory. But as wild and wooly as it has been, for most of the contenders, the tactics involved in the race have remained the same. In general terms, it plays out as; Keep yourself in a good position to not lose time, be ready to take advantage of an opportunity when it presents itself, and then be ready to run down attacks to protect your position.

While it may not seem like it, in a broad sense, most of these actions were planned months in advance. The teams and riders scouted the course of each day’s stage ahead of time and, most likely, knew the stages and particular points on a given day’s course where they would make their moves. Then, as the race has unfolded, each team and each rider has adjusted their strategy based on the events of the Tour so far.

So, how does this all relate to advertising? Well, if you’re running a business, you should plan your advertising strategy in advance, know the most advantageous times to market your goods or services and be flexible enough to adjust on the fly. Just as a Tour rider may be stronger in the mountains or in time trials and will plan their attacks at specific points in those stages, it’s important that you plan ahead to take advantage of the best times and approaches to market your business.

To do that, look at every marketing opportunity you have ahead of time and plan your advertising campaign and budget to play to your strengths and to keep your wheels turning during the slow periods. Then keep track of the return on your advertising and your spending and adjust as needed as the year progresses.

Note that, when I say “plan your advertising strategy in advance,” that doesn’t mean Post-Its with “buy advertising in June, July and August” on your annual planner or patiently waiting for a special offer from an ad rep. Long story short; Don't make it up as you go along! Instead, map out where and when you’ll spend your budget ahead of time so that you can save time, save money and keep your business in front of your customers and ahead of the pack all year long.

Further, just as each Tour de France contender and team has a strategy for each stage of the race, make sure you have a strategy for each medium where you advertise. For instance, your digital strategy (Facebook, Twitter, Google, YouTube, Snapchat, PokémonGo) should be separate from your broadcast, print and promotional strategy. Yes, there are those times when you may hit with an across-the-board media blitz, but remember to use each medium to complement the other.

Finally, just as a rider’s or team’s strategy may change based on the results of the previous day’s action, or even based on what happens during the stage, monitor your return on investment (ROI) in all your media and don’t be afraid to adjust your strategy as you go. If one component of your overall ad strategy isn’t performing to your satisfaction, apply those resources to the elements that are helping your business.

Tour de France riders and teams start planning their race strategy as soon as the organizers announce the route in October, well before the race the following July. They’ll study each stage, train on many of the routes and plan what they’ll do at a given point well in advance of the Tour each year. Then, they stand ready to tweak that strategy as the race dictates. And, if you’re advertising your business, you need to develop a comparable strategy with your yearly ad plan. Plan your expenditures in advance to maximize your budget, make sure every media in which you advertise is playing to your strength and, as the results and ROI dictate, be ready to make changes along the way. Doing so may not put you in the yellow jersey, but it will certainly go a long way toward keeping your business rolling toward more green in your bank account.

See also: How Cool Do You Want To Be?