Watching the Oklahoma/UNC basketball game the other day with my sons, a Guitar Hero commercial played that caught EVERYONE'S attention ...

Watch ...

During a great match-up, we watched BRILLIANT marketing at work.

With this commercial, you had 4 legendary NCAA Coaches dancing around in white boxers, like Tom Cruise in the movie "Risky Business".

Now, most have us have seen Guitar Hero commercials before, and they tend to make us take notice, but this one I thought was perfectly executed to the audience. It is a great reminder for us as we create new marketing initiates for the 2^nd and 3^rd quarter of ‘09.

See, Guitar Hero got it right.

They created another hit using iconic faces (the Coaches and Metallica) and played this commercial to an audience who would "get the message" loud and clear (college basketball fans.)

Let's bring it back to your real estate business ...

In your current website, email, postcard, magazine or other forms of marketing you are currently running, are you constantly thinking about the consumer (or possible client) on the other end?

Remember, the marketing you are using, IDEALLY AND IN A PERFECT WORLD, is to get that phone to ring ... (many agents spend time and money creating brand awareness and distinction in the marketplace.)

In what I do, everyday I am receiving marketing pieces from my clients asking me to evaluate and improve response rates. Here's a short list of some of the most important items we discuss in these coaching sessions:

• Is the message relevant right now?  Remember, times have changed. What you used to say about yourself in 2005, might not be the best method to use now in 2009.
• In your printed material, is the font and style choice actually readable?
• Is the language you are using clear and to the point?
• Do you have a call to action to encourage someone to call you?
• Is there a clear way for someone to reach you?
• If there is, are you picking up the phone or answering your emails in a timely manner? (This is a big pet peeve I hear from consumers time and time again ... they are calling agents to want to work with them and the agent sometimes is non-responsive to their inquiry.)
• What are you spending?
• What have been your results from previous campaigns?
• Do you know where your business had come from in each campaign?
• Are you embracing any web 2.0 marketing strategies?

As you know, this list could go on and on ...

So let's use 4 Icons singing in their underwear as a visual reminder ... ummmm, ok let me rephrase that, just a reminder ...  in order to have homerun marketing campaign that causes consumers to take action, we have to think about the points we have brought up today!

Strategy Matters and Passion Rules!

Tom