After starting his career in marketing in the steakhouse business, where he was Chief Marketing Officer for a Denver steakhouse, John Pietro has worked on advertising and marketing campaigns for Coca-Cola, Cinnabon, Exide Battery, Baja Fresh, Burger King and Hardee’s. He worked for Wendy’s International, where he was promoted to head of Field Marketing during the famous “Where’s The Beef?” campaign, before going into the agency business and working for Omnicom, the largest agency network in the world. Eventually, Pietro opened and operated his own advertising agency for 12 years.
SCORE OC: What are the three questions you are asked the most as a SCORE OC counselor?
Pietro: Number one is I need the silver bullet; do you have it? The answer is no. However, I can show you a process and a structure to improve your marketing.
Number two: Why doesn’t my marketing work? There are three reasons marketing doesn’t work: wrong customer, wrong message or both. The answer is to use the marketing cycle to answer these issues.
Number three: What is your opinion on discounting? Research has proven discounting accomplishes two things: It devalues your brand and it reduces your margin. Neither is good.
SCORE OC: Where should social media fit into your marketing strategy?
Pietro: Social media is a tactic, just like radio and television. You need to develop your strategy first, then determine where social media can help accomplish your strategy. Social media is not the “be end and end all,” but there is a place where it can create value. Think of the buying funnel. Social media can very cost-effectively move potential customers through awareness, consideration and interest, the same as conventional media does. Social media is about driving the target customer to your website; your website should then generate inquiry for your product.
To make an appointment for one-on-one advice from John, call 714-550-7369.
