What Do I Know About Failure? - Jules Epstein, Primary Design

AIM 2010

What Do I Know About Failure?

Jules D. EpsteinPresident and CEO

Primary Design, Inc.

• 56 year old Jewish guy from Philadelphia who ignored family’s advice to become a doctor or a lawyer. Instead, insisted on a life in real estate marketing.

• Bought my first 200 year old house at 26 and restored it singlehandedly over 10 years. Made my first $100,000. During the same period, my good friend, Steve, bought and flipped 5 homes without touching them. He made his first $Million.

My Credentials

• Owned a 50% stake in a vacation home that I sold to my real estate partner for $375K to save my business in the recession of 1989. He held onto it and recently sold it for $3.25M.

• Advised several friends to sell their Apple stock when it “topped out” at $80. I haven’t heard the end of this one.

My Credentials

• A relative term

• Without an occasional failure we would not know success

What is Failure?

• With the exception of consultants who are always right, absolutely

• As marketers we cannot help but fail on occasion because we “test” new ideas

• And again, failure is relative. It’s inevitable when you have a great run of successes

Is it OK to Fail?

• Failures fall into one of two buckets:

–Bad Ideas–Bad Execution

Analyzing Marketing Failures

• A Bad or Uninspired Idea with a great execution can be a resounding success.

Take for example…– Lady Gaga– Subprime Loans


• Or on the other hand, a great idea executed poorly can be a total failure.

Take for example…– A Well-Done Filet Mignon– Insurance (any)


• New Coke

Bad Idea or Bad Execution?

• DeLorean


• Tropicana Packaging


• Windows Vista


• The Sawmer


• Refrigerator Pet Door


• Coffee and Doughnut in One


We don’t

How Do We Avoid Failure?

• Stick to what you know– Utilize media sources and ideas that have a proven

track record– Do not force ideas. Usually if it doesn’t feel right, it

isn’t right

Minimizing Failure

• Avoid being the guinea pig– Never stick your neck out too far. And if you do,

only do so if you are willing to lose all– Maybe it’s better to be Burger King and let

McDonalds spend the marketing dollars– Be cautious buying untested media. Let someone

else be the guinea pig. You can always go in the next edition

Minimizing Failure

• Do your homework, ask questions– Has your competitor already tried this approach

and failed?– Is this executable and financially viable?– Why hasn’t anyone done this before?

Minimizing Failure

• Track your results– Use unique call-in numbers and URLS – Use all analytic tools at your disposal– Talk to your customers

Minimizing Failure

• Nip it in the bud– Keep on top of your results– Swallow your pride– If you are not getting the results you expected, cut

your losses. Remember the Apple Newton?

Minimizing Failure

• If you get stuck with a bad or old idea, find a way to make it work – Most ideas are mediocre at best anyhow– Think out of the box and take a fresh approach

Minimizing Failure

• If you have a good idea, don’t screw up the execution– Be sure it’s properly funded– Be confident that its launch is timed properly– Make sure it is appropriately positioned to your

market

Minimizing Failure

• Cover your bases– It takes a “cocktail” of “drivers” to get your market

where you want it to be… at your door– Resist putting all your eggs in a single media

basket. These days, the media or website du jour is likely to be the failed media or website of tomorrow

Minimizing Failure

In Summary

Never forget the immortal words of NASA’s Apollo 13 Flight Director, Gene Kranz (or was

it Ron Howard?) when he declared…

FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION!

Thank you and may all your failures be small!

Real Estate

What Do I Know About Failure? - Jules Epstein, Primary Design