A "Big Gulp" Approach to Marketing

CPM, Inc. is a marketing services company that focuses on developing and executing cost-efficient partnership marketing programs, usually but not exclusively, with entertainment properties.  Since founding CPM in 2008, CPM has worked closely with Fox, DreamWorks Animation, Paramount, and Sony studios to develop co-promotions behind theatrical and DVD releases.

Further, CPM has developed broad CPG and retailer relationships, and has partnered with top companies such as The Coca-Cola Company, Bird's Eye, Cott Beverage, Del Monte Foods, Diamond Foods, Jarden Consumer Solutions, Kellogg's, ConAgra, Mars, Nestle, Purina, Reckit-Benckeiser, Schiff Nutrition, Tyson Foods, and Walmart. 

As CPM, Inc. approaches five years in business (June 1!), I reflect on my hesitation when someone asks, “Yeah, Stu but what do you do?”  So even if it only helps me, I’ll try to explain.

CPM develops partnership marketing programs that bring together consumer goods companies to promote their brands with major Hollywood releases.  The magic, the “secret sauce”, the “1+1=3”, is that CPM created programs generally do not require any licensing fees.  Often (though not always) the studio is willing to kick in some cash in support of a program, beyond permission to use the characters and assets from the movie.

The program starts with some type of proposition.  Buy two of this and get $5 off of that.  Buy the DVD and get a something or other for free.  Go to the promoting brand website and enter to win something having to do with the move.  A value-add offer.

Then we move on to “how do we get the word out” on the proposition.  Five years ago it was print in magazines, maybe some cross linking of websites.  Later, reciprocal Facebook posts were added.  Now, social media content generators (bloggers) are often a big part of “getting the word out”.

In-store activation is critical as well:  packaging, IRC’s, cross-merchandising, point-of-purchase materials.  It all combines to create a 360 degree approach to creating interest in the proposition, thus for the brands and the movie. 

So, where does CPM come in?  With nearly 30 years’ experience in CPG marketing and sales, about 20 of those in Bentonville working with Walmart and Sam’s Clubs, CPM is like the “Big Gulp”.  You know, buy a large drink, and for just a few cents more! you can get a lot more.

The large drink is the money a brand is going to spend marketing, on something, in any case.  CPM is the “Big Gulp”, the “Super Size”.  For just a little more, the brand can add value by partnering with complementary brands (to share costs and broaden the reach of the proposition), and tie in with a major Hollywood blockbuster.

So what is CPM?  What does CPM do?  CPM is the “Big Gulp”. The “Super Size”.  CPM, Inc. is what makes 1+1=3.

Tribute to "the Bear"

Sad, largely lost in the hubbub of the holidays and the noise of the budget mess in Washington, is news of the death of General Schwarzkopf. As a young officer I worked for then Major General Schwarzkopf in the 24th Infantry Division (Mech) in Ft. Stewart, Ga., part of what was at the time called the Rapid Deployment Force.

From my view in the cheap seats, "the Bear" was everything he was advertised to be after Desert Storm, a soldier's soldier who prepared his troops for victory. He did this with genuine concern for his troops and their families’ well-being. As young soldiers in the 80's we knew that if we were to go to war, we would win decisively and with minimal casualties. And seven years later, that's exactly what General Schwarzkopf did in Desert Storm.

How did this care for subordinates manifest itself? 

General Schwarzkopf fostered a commitment to excellence, from the discipline of the post to the manner in which the 24th trained.  A leader can do no higher service to his or her subordinates than to provide a climate that demands a level of excellence and preparation to help to ensure mission success.  Our division motto was “First to Fight” and it was embraced by the entire division.  There was a confident swagger at all levels that suggested we knew we would be, would be prepared to be, the first into the fray.

High morale was maintained.  I was shocked to find that weekend training was banned, and if soldiers did have to train on weekends, the got comp time.  Comp time, in the Army!? Yet with keen attention to discipline and detail at all levels, we trained hard, worked hard, and maintained hard.  As a result the 24^th ID was the tip of the spear into Kuwait and an integral part of the overall success of Desert Storm.

The pine forests and swamps of southeast Georgia did not make Ft. Stewart the garden spot of military posts for soldiers or families.  However our family quarters were well maintained and support services responsive, medical and dental care was first rate, and soldier’s barracks were clean and modern.  It was not a bad place to live and work.

General Schwarzkopf’s leadership permeated down and throughout the 24th ID.  I was personally influenced by several great leaders there, many of whom went on to much bigger jobs, but the climate came from the top.  Many of us were forged as leaders, and as men and women, by the experience of serving under the leadership of “the Bear”.

Cheers to a true American hero.

More Sauce

Originally published in the Naples Daily News, 12/25/2009:

I was confronted with one of the most profound business lessons this afternoon. It was at mall diner in St. Louis. My instructor was the waitress, Ashley D. In fact, the lesson she revealed to me, albeit unwittingly, can be applied to almost any problem in business or personal interactions!

Along with Auntie Ann’s Pretzels, Orange Julius, and Sabarro, nothing says “mall food” like a gyro. Wherever you are, if you are eating gyros, it is very likely you are in a mall. Even on a visit to Greece, when I did have gyros, I THOUGHT of being in a mall.

So, at The Diner of Mid Rivers Mall, with high hopes, I sat down on a counter stool and ordered a gyro. With fast and friendly service, my order was placed in front of me. I took a bite of the meat (what is that mystery meat in mall gyros anyway?), and my teeth slammed together as though I were trying to chew chocolate pudding, reminiscent of my first and last experience with kidney pie. The meat was cool, wet, and worst of all, mushy.

When Ashley came by, I very politely told her that the food didn’t appeal to me, that the meat in the gyro was mushy. Her cheery reply: “Can I get you more sauce?” Well, I smiled and told her this was a problem that couldn’t be solved by more sauce, and I requested tomato soup and crackers.

As I sat at the counter reflecting on this common exchange, I had to laugh. It was one of the funniest illustrations of a common predicament ever. It was truly reflective of how we approach problem solving in business, personal issues (marriage, relationships, parenting), even, maybe especially, in government.

Sales slipping? Offer your customer a quantity discount. Shipping problems? Offer the customer longer terms. New product not selling? Drop the price. Sell it to more customers. Competition taking your business? Replace your salesman. These solutions, on some level, represent “more sauce”.

How about at home? Kids missing curfew? Make it 11 p.m., instead of 1 a.m. Spouse distant, not communicating? Show him with the cold shoulder treatment. Kids a little despondent? How about a new video game! Relationship problems? Find a new partner. These solutions amount to “more sauce.”

There are applications in the complex world of governance as well. Our current system is so tainted with favors, entitlement, corruption, and other claims to privilege, that whatever the side of the political system you claim as home, it is sure that your leaders claim that the solution to our culture’s problems is more of their particular brand of sauce.

Mired in a seemingly unwinnable conflict in a hostile environment around the other side of the world? Send in 30,000 US troops. Running record budget deficits? Tax cuts without accompanying spending cuts. Constituents demanding more services while screaming for lower taxes? Promise big, worry about delivering later. Power slipping away from your side? Label and vilify those who offer different ideas. You guessed it…more sauce.

No solutions offered to these brief examples, simply these thought-provoking questions. When confronted with a problem, does the instinctive reaction reflect thoughtful, creative, long-term problem solving process? Is the solution founded on solid principles and values and does it identify and address the real problem? Or does it amount to more sauce?

Are we going to continue to make choices, continue pratices, and elect leaders that only offer more sauce?

The soup was delicious.