Grow T.O.M.A.

Marketing T.O.M.A.?

The foundation for Marketing,  is T.O.M.A..

T.O.M.A. is Top Of the Mind Awareness.

If I say Hamburgers, what is the first business that comes to mind?

How about Mufflers?

At the time I’m typing this, McDonalds and Midas have T.O.M.A. with 90% of Americans.

This means that when 90% of the population needs a muffler, their first knee-jerk thought is Midas.

When it comes to your business or service, what percentage of the people in your community think of your service or
business first?

This usually causes business owners to squirm.

We’ve consulted some companies that admit it may not even be a tenth of 1%, and they’ve been in business FOR YEARS.

This is really sad because T.O.M.A., although impacted greatly by advertising, is a result of “Positioning” as much as it is a result of advertising.

“Positioning” is just a fancy term for guerilla marketing, Public Relations, or just well thought out marketing.

Here’s a couple examples.

If I just moved into town, and I’m an insurance agent, I’m going to make sure I’m at every fair, every event, every social gathering that town puts on. I’ll be handing out my business cards and coffee mugs to everyone, everywhere. Over time, I could position myself as a credible source for insurance. Although this method is very slow, it does work quite well.

A corporate version of positioning would be sponsorship. Your company may want to consider sponsoring a cancer research “Walk of Fame” and have cancer survivors walk 10 miles and raise awareness. Your company will most definitely make it on the evening news and be written up in the local papers for having a big heart.

Those are a couple quick examples of “Positioning” but this article is on T.O.M.A..
The fastest way to create T.O.M.A. is to create a “Buzz” for your company.

If you are a video store you could put a balloon of Godzilla on your roof.
If you are a plumbing company you could strap a toilet to the top of your van and drive around for a week.
If you are a carpet company, you could tie a catchy jingle to the delivery of your phone number at the end of every radio and t.v. commercial.
If you are a restaurant you could have people roll dice after their meal and guess the number they are going to roll before they roll. If they say they are going to roll an eight, and they roll a five and a three, which adds up to eight; give them a certificate for 8% off their next visit. I promise you they won’t forget the fact that they won. THEY WILL BE BACK AND THEY WILL BRING FRIENDS.
If you are a construction company, can u do some remodeling in an underprivileged part of town — PRO BONO?

T.O.M.A. is more a result of well thought out strategy that creates awareness and a “BUZZ” about who you are and what you do, than it is about advertising.

Once you have a buzz going, consistent advertising works that much better.

Go ahead, roll the dice and create some T.O.M.A.!!!

-Ken
Growth Consulting for Today