bill oleary's blog

Will Technology or Budget Deficits Force Eductation in the U.S. to Change?

2010-11-21T11:24:00.002-05:00

Education in the U.S. is a huge market and one that has been resistant, maybe even allergic, to most real change and innovation. For profit education is remaking the landscape in the U.S. but still faces some real credibility issues.
Traditional educators look on for profit firms with scorn and condescension. The reality is that technology and profits are going to force the traditional educational institutions to change. I doubt that the Ivy's will ever seriously change their primary model of providing an undergraduate education, but technology and the availability of information will make change inevitable for many other higher education institutions as they face enrollment challenges and budget constraints.
To say that google threatens the very existence of the top tier universities may be overstated. But it could make the middle and lower tier schools unrecognizable to us in 15 years. To survive, many will be forced to change dramatically. Some will focus exclusively on narrow areas of study. Others will slash their cost structure in order to compete. How far and how fast these changes hit higher education in the U.S. is still unclear. But as these institutions are forced to diversify revenue streams, the for profit and technology models start to look better and better.

There was an interesting panel discussion about education and entrepreneurs that was written up on ReadWriteWeb:
Founders of Kno, Khan Academy, NIXTY Debate Education and Entrepreneurship
"The speakers included Lisa Petrides, founder of the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management and Education (ISKME), Osman Rashid, CEO and co-founder of Kno, Salman Khan, founder of Khan Academy, Glen Moriarty, CEO and co-founder of NIXTY and Philip Bronner, from Novak Biddle Venture Partners.

Undoubtedly, there are several factors which Petrides describes as "game changers" in education: information available freely everywhere, personalized learning, widespread access to the Internet. But with the obstacles in the education system, including its political and legal barriers, there's a sense that it is difficult for entrepreneurs to get a foothold - and get funding - for education technology.

Education is a Huge Market Now, but Will Open Content Change Things?

But Kno's Rashid argued there are huge opportunities. The annual market for education technology is $88 billion, and growing at a rate of 21.7% a year. The market for digital textbooks alone is $54 billion.

But as the panelists debated what constitutes "disruption" in education, both Khan and Moriarty argued that the future of much educational content was likely to be free and open. Khan Academy, for example, is in the process of becoming a "real free virtual school for the world." But the move to make content free shouldn't devalue the learning experience, and there are lots of opportunities to build analytics and management platforms.

Despite the emphasis on free content and opencourseware, venture capitalist Philip Bronner made it clear that investors are interested in startups working in this area - good news for education technology entrepreneurs"

See Also

Build Your Ed-Tech Startup With Help from the Kauffman Foundation

As Interest in Online Learning Grows, Udemy Lands $1 Million in Angel Funding

5 Ways Tech Startups Can Disrupt the Education System

Ed-Tech Startup LearnBoost Takes Aim at Legacy Software Systems

Using Social Games to Teach Kids Entrepreneurship

Apple TV.....what is it anyway?

2010-10-07T00:17:00.000-04:00

Good post from Louis Gray on Apple TV. I have the first generation Apple TV. It is somewhat useful, but not very useful. Looks like next gen Apple TV is only marginally more useful, but still not very useful....

http://blog.louisgray.com/2010/10/new-apple-tv-extends-fragmentation.html

Friday, October 1, 2010

New Apple TV Extends Fragmentation, Cupertino Style

For all the noise around fragmentation in the world of Android, one would think the state of affairs on the other side of the technology aisle would be perfectly unified - with one operating system, one user environment, and one experience where all things play nice. But while it's not as often discussed, my plethora of Apple devices is increasingly fragmented. The newest culprit? The brand new Apple TV, which has an incredible form factor, and some surprises in terms of what's simply not there - making me have to remember what media plays on what devices, and what devices are capable of doing what.

Have a Social Media Presence? Have a Plan for Responding to Unhappy Customers?

2010-09-09T10:45:00.000-04:00

HOW TO: Respond when Social Media Attacks Your Brand

This is a great story/post from Mashable. Social Media is such a powerful tool for companies to engage their customers and potential customers. But it is the attributes that make social media so powerful that pose the biggest risks to a company. Ad dollars don't matter when everyone has a voice and each individual is deciding to whom they are going to listen and trust. Think of it as customer service in a fish bowl. What if every unhappy constituent had an audience? Well, that is exactly what social media can become.

So companies have to be prepared for criticism because it will come. They need a plan of how to respond. They need to be sincere, human and understand the customer is always right. The Ritz Carlton doesn't try to convince an upset guest that they shouldn't be upset. In the same way, companies with social media presence should try to convince their customers they are wrong, incorrect or don't understand.

The last one there is probably the biggest trap for companies and marketers. "If our customers only understood" or "The customer doesn't understand" are dangerous phrases. IT may be true that the customer doesn't understand. But that is your challenge that theirs, assuming you want them as a customer.

Cool Story -- Where the Startups Are, By Zip Code

2010-08-28T14:06:00.000-04:00

Cool story in ReadWriteWeb this week about looking at where startups have the greatest density.

Where the Startups Are, By Zip Code

As part of our "Never Mind the Valley" series here, we often feature communities outside the Silicon Valley that have become thriving centers for entrepreneurship. We've profiled cities like Boston, Montreal, and Austin.

Sometimes we notice there's a flurry of startup activity in a particular location that warrants coverage, and sometimes we're pitched stories about these locations. (And you should feel free to pitch us as to why your city should be featured, particularly if you're outside the U.S.) But as great as these sources for stories are, neither offer any sort of scientific method for pointing to the cities that are the best locations for startups.

In a blog post yesterday, VC Brad Feld wrote about the "entrepreneurial density" of Boulder, a city often noted as being a startup hotbed. He writes,

"Entrepreneurial density isn't just the "number of entrepreneurs per capita", but it's the "number of people that work at entrepreneurial companies per capita." It gets even bigger when you include students and calculate the "(number of people that work at entrepreneurial companies + the number of students) per capita. As ED = ((entrepreneurial_emps + students) / adults) approaches 1, you get complete entrepreneurial saturation. I'm going to guess that Boulder's Entrepreneurial Density using this equation is somewhere between 0.50 and 0.75, but this is just a guess. I'm curious if anyone out there has a real way to calculate this."

Responding to the challenge is Pete Warden, who has used Crunchbase and US Census data to provide an answer.

According to Warden's figures, the top zip codes for money raised per person are:

CA 94104 - $629m total - $1,681,925 per person
CA 94304 - $2,822m total - $1,656,031 per person
CA 94105 - $972m total - $472,540 per person
MA 02142 - $1,013m total - $448,833 per person
IL 60606 - $739m total - $439,744 per person

And the top zip codes for company per person are:

CA 94104 - 87 companies - 0.233 per person
CA 94105 - 173 companies - 0.084 per person
CA 95113 - 24 companies - 0.044 per person
MA 02142 - 73 companies - 0.032 per person
MA 02210 - 19 companies - 0.032 per person

Using his OpenHeatMap tool, there are, of course, maps of the information. And Warden has open-sourced the code and the data so that others can work with it.

Warden admits that it's a "crude approach," but nevertheless, it's interesting to see how the numbers may or may not patch our perceptions of entrepreneurial hot spots.

Foursquare for the Real World? ShopAlerts Debuts Geo-Fenced Mobile Promotions

2010-08-18T13:34:00.000-04:00

Foursquare for the Real World? ShopAlerts Debuts Geo-Fenced Mobile Promotions

Excellent story today on ReadWriteWeb about mobile coupons and promotions. Obviously, this is where the market is going even if consumers aren't there yet. It will take some real consumer benefit to jump start adoption. Retailers need to figure out how much is worth to them to have customers opted-in to a mobile promotion service and then offer them the best possible offer out of the gate. That may help speed adoption.

As a marketer, it gives you the chance we have all talk about....putting your best offer in front of the consumer at the moment of consideration.

Is Four square too complicated or are text based coupons not sexy enough? My guess is that customers will self select and they will be meaningfully different customers....

I am surprised it has taken the providers this long to get to this point, but here we are.

News Flash: Friends are the most trusted source of info

2010-08-17T09:49:00.004-04:00

So the beauty of social marketing from a marketers perspective is this:

"Real-world friends most trusted online source"

If someone endorses your product on Facebook, in an authentic (read as not planted by the company) way, friends notice. It may not be enough to get them to buy your product without additional research, but you have suddenly entered the consideration set.

Most companies and institutions are not really sure how to handle this aspect of their marketing mix because, well, it isn't THEIRS, really. But we should start to think of it as part of the mix we need to influence, encourage, nurture, and reward.

There have been plenty of reports of companies monitoring Twitter to try and understand what people are saying about their company or product. It has mostly been as a defensive measure from what I have seen -- marketers hoping that influencers on Twitter don't poison the well.

Friends have always been the most trusted source for products and services. Social media just makes those voices louder and the ripples larger. So the srategy for companies? Keep wowing your customers and they will keep telling their friends....some on facebook, some at the salon or the little league game.

A Useful Map of the Social Media World

2010-08-11T13:48:00.004-04:00

If you are looking for good resources, CMO.com is fairly good. They aggregate content so it is an efficient place to get marketing articles and news.

I found this map of the social media landscape there. I thought it was helpful. Share me

Motel Six -- A Brand That Knows Who It Is

2010-06-21T10:25:00.001-04:00

Motel Six has been running a heavy schedule of radio spots in the DC market in recent weeks.

They are still using their "spokesperson" Tom Bodet. And he still uses their signature tag, "We'll leave the light on for you."

They understand who they are as a brand and who their customers are. The copy writing is excellent in the latest advertising. One of the latest spots this line -- "and at Motel Six we have free Wi-fi. Which stands for wireless..fi-something." Pitch perfect.

Posted via email from Bill's posterous

Auto Makers Need To Fear Apple and Facebook

2010-06-02T22:03:00.001-04:00

via adage.com

Really interesting article in Ad Age this week about the decline in younger drivers. http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=144155

It is clear that the Internet is direct competition for the automobile. It used to be the way to be free and see your friends was to get your license and drive. Not any more. Just log on to Facebook. No need to leave your room.

Posted via web from Bill's posterous

Battered KFC Gives Itself Another Spin - Advertising Age - News

2010-06-01T21:45:00.002-04:00

via adage.com

KFC's marketing is hopelessly lost. Its not hard to see how they got here. They are, and have been, the market leader in fast food chicken for years. They got there with Finger Licking Good fried chicken. At some point, consumer demand for greasy, heavy food began to change. So KFC had to adjust its menu away from Finger Licking Good chicken.

This is where their marketing nightmare began. With a changing menu they the tried what seemed like a new slogan every month. Let's hope that Unthink is the last of these changing slogans. What the hell is Unthink? Seriously? Its like Think Outside the Bun, only not effective and stupid.

But perhaps marketing isn't the problem. Perhaps the product is the problem. After all, Taco Bells campaign has worked because young men want to it its food. Who is dying to eat new KFC products? Well, perhaps, like me, you can't actually think of a new product they serve. That might make it a little difficult to crave it wouldn't it?

Ad Age reports that the company is launching a new campaign. "So Good" doesn't sound any more promising, but maybe they will stick with it long enough to come up with product people actually want to eat.

Posted via web from Bill's posterous

Apple Adobe Spat Is Proving Irresistible

2010-05-13T12:22:00.001-04:00

Is it just me, or is this spat between Apple and Adobe regarding the use of Flash on Apple products gotten to be irresistible in the way a beheading may have been in medieval England? And this morning Adobe ran a full page ad in the WSJ with the headline "We (HEART) Apple!" Looks like, unfortunately for Adobe there other technologies that advertisers can use.....stay tuned. This isn't over yet.

From ReadWriteWeb:

Apple Flash Ban Good for Greystripe: Company Behind "iFlash" Ads Sees
200% Growth

Written by Sarah Perez / May 13, 2010 7:08 AM / 1 Comments « Prior Post Next Post »
No Flash on the iPhone? It's not a problem for advertisers, apparently. Developers tasked with creating rich media ad units for Apple's popular mobile devices have been busy porting their Flash-created ad collateral into an iPhone-friendly HTML5 format using mobile ad firm Greystripe's "iFlash" ad technology, which provides a Flash-like ad experience.

The iFlash ad format has become so popular, in fact, that Greystripe is just now announcing a 200% growth spike for these "iFlash" ads following the iAds announcement.

According to news the company linked to by way of Twitter post , but not press release , the growth for the 18-month old iFlash technology is due to the experience it offers, something that's similar to Apple's recently announced iAds technology. Like iAds, iFlash also provides rich media animation, touch interactivity and click-through actions, all of which are available without leaving the mobile application where the ad appears.

Greystripe's CEO Michael Chang sees iAds' imitation as a form of flattery in this case, proof that his company is doing it right. "Apple's selection of an ad format almost identical to our 'iFlash Custom' ads is a testament to the incredible potential of interactive, rich media mobile advertising and the value of customer engagement," he is quoted as saying.

The company claims it holds a 75% market share on the full screen rich media mobile market and have ads that reach 14 million unique monthly users in the U.S. Over the past two years, it has served over 2 billion full screen rich media impressions. Recent reports from comScore Inc. put the CTR for these iFlash ads at 2-5% on average, with 15-30+ seconds of user engagement.

While "fat-fingering" may contribute to some accidental ad launches, it's the engagement time that's really telling. Spending /half a minute/ watching or interactivity with an ad is proof that creative, engaging ads can and do appeal to mobile users. (At least for now. Web banner ads used to be popular too, believe it or not).

Flash's Backdoor to iPhone

What's interesting about this news, besides, of course, the incredible growth rates the company is seeing, is how the iFlash ad technology actually works. It takes pre-created rich media ad units that were built using Adobe Flash and transcodes them to run on the iPhone, iPod Touch and, as of this month, iPad. The resulting ads are transformed into HTML5 format, a web standard that is supported on Apple's iPhone operating system.

For ad developers used to working with Flash technology, iFlash is essentially a workaround for the Flash ban on Apple devices, explained in detail by Steve Jobs himself back in April.

Apple caused quite a stir when it announced that iPhone apps created using Adobe's now-discontinued Packager for iPhone would not be allowed into the iTunes App Store, prompting Jobs' eventual response to all the hubbub. The Adobe software had allowed developers to create mobile applications using Flash and then port those to an iPhone-ready format. Although the technologies behind the Adobe converter and the iFlash transcoder are quite different on the back-end, the idea is the same: /create with Flash, then port to iPhone./

With Apple's iAds launch just around the corner, one wonders if Apple will continue to allow a Flash transcoding product that competes directly with their own advertising initiatives to remain in business. Booting them out, though, would be tricky. After all, iFlash ads are in supported HTML5 format. Still, considering Jobs' opinions on Flash , it must irk him to see that Flash developers have found such an easy workaround for the Flash ban, if not for apps, at least for ads

Posted via email from Bill's posterous

The Smartest Move GM Has Made in a Long Time

2010-05-07T13:36:00.001-04:00

Who was one of the best marketers of the last couple of years? Hyundai. Not even just the best car marketer. What they have been able to do is nothing short of miraculous. It was a sound long term strategy that was made successful through smart, effective marketing.

And now GM has gotten its hands on Joel Ewanick, former marketing head of Hyundai. It also looks like he held out until he got the control he needs to actually be successful. Something tells me that GM is a company to look out for in the next 18 months.

ewanick

From Forbes.com
/
GM Scores A Marketing Coup
Joann Muller, 05.05.10, 1:55 PM ET

General Motors' revolving door of management continued Wednesday with the naming of a new vice president of U.S. marketing, but this one ought to be a keeper.

GM snatched Joel Ewanick, Forbes' CMO of the Year in 2009, from Nissan North America, which had just hired him away from Hyundai two months ago. He's being handed perhaps the toughest job in marketing: resurrecting GM's Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC brands after a decades-long slide capped off by GM's 2009 bankruptcy.

GM’s cars are greatly improved, but old perceptions die hard. GM’s government-sponsored bankruptcy only made the job tougher. “People are angry with GM for taking a lot of government money and they won't even consider buying a GM vehicle,” said John Wolkonowicz, automotive analyst at I HS Global Insight. “And there’s nothing they can do about it until the time is right to do an IPO [initial public offering] and they can pay the taxpayer back.”

Ewanick, who will report to GM's North American president, Mark Reuss, will start May 24. He replaces Susan Docherty, whose star seemed to have fallen as quickly as it rose under new chief executive Edward Whitacre Jr.

But that's the way it is at GM these days. Whitacre is pressuring executives to perform, and if they don't, they're out. In April GM's sales rose 7.2%, well off the industry's growth pace of 19.8%. So Docherty, who'd already been stripped of her sales duties, is now out as chief marketer too. (GM said Docherty's future role will be announced later.)

It was Reuss who decided to replace Docherty with Ewanick just two months after he reorganized GM's sales and marketing leadership, including Docherty as vice president of marketing, declaring, "This is the winning team." Reuss was not available Wednesday to talk about his change of heart.

In a statement, Reuss said, "Susan has been deeply involved in GM's sales and marketing initiatives for many years. With her drive and focus, she has laid the groundwork for solid plans and rejuvenated our agency relationships, placing us in good stead for the future. We look forward to her contribution across the business moving forward."

Outside marketing experts, though, called the move long overdue. "They had their backs against the wall and they absolutely had to do this," said Peter M. DeLorenzo, a 22-year automotive marketing veteran who now runs Autoextremist.com, a blog devoted to the auto industry.

Ewanick made his mark at Hyundai, where he is credited with developing last year's "Hyundai Assurance" program, which guaranteed customers could return their Hyundai purchases with no credit implications should they lose their jobs.

In an interview DeLorenzo said GM had tried to hire Ewanick before he went to Nissan, but the deal fell apart because GM wanted to protect its old guard. He wrote on his blog: "Ewanick is smart enough to know that without the CMO title, and without absolute control over GM's marketing efforts, he wouldn't stand a chance to make an impact, so he walked away. Finally Mark Reuss stepped in and made it happen."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The timing isn't ideal, however, DeLorenzo pointed out. Chevrolet is about to launch an advertising campaign created by its new agency, Publicis Worldwide, reportedly featuring the tagline "Excellence for All." Cadillac's new agency, Bartle, Bogle, Hegarty, is also working on a new campaign.

Ewanick will have to decide quickly whether the ads can match GM's iconic campaigns of the past--like "See the USA in your Chevrolet"--or he won't last long either.

Posted via email from Bill's posterous

Apple Keeps Changing The Landscape

2010-05-06T12:30:00.003-04:00

I held my first iPad this week. Ok. I am sold. Apple is simply unbelievable. I don't NEED and iPad, but I WANT one badly. But perhaps more importantly, we see huge potential for our sales force (development officers) to take these devices on the road loaded up with Keynote presentations, videos and photos to help make our case. The potential as a business tool is huge.

And don't underestimate the utility in the home. Check out this guy who has made a custom cabinet in the kitchen. Very smart. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq6My3kEqqk

Thu May 6, 2010
*ReadWriteWeb*

* iPad Killing Netbooks Already? *
An interesting chart released from Morgan Stanley Research this morning shows
that during the month of April - the month the iPad launched - netbook sales
stalled. Did the iPad really have that much impact on an industry that was once
the fastest-growing segment of the PC market? Or was the netbook's fall from
grace bound to happen at some point,...
Continue Reading »

Posted via email from Bill's posterous

Don't Waste Your Promotion Dollars

2010-04-28T21:36:00.005-04:00

I was driving to work yesterday and heard a spot for $4.99 haircuts. Huh. That sounds interesting. Not for me, really. But I can see how people would respond to a promotion for $4.99 haircuts.

My first thought was "why would the company do this?" They can't be making money on a haircut at this price. But the more I thought about, the smarter I thought it was. Think about it. If you like the person who cuts your hair or the way they cut your hair, you will go to that person even if the price goes up a bit. So it is a classic loss leader strategy. I get it.

About the time I have this thought, the spot is over and I realize I didn't actually know the name of the company promoting the $4.99 haircut. Was it Hair Cuttery? Or one of the other chains? What are their names?

So I googled $4.99 haircuts. Which I am sure plenty of other people did. But I the results surprised me. I didn't get anything clean. I got a couple of "retail offer" aggregator site results. And about half way down a result for Great Clips. Could it have been a Great Clips spot I heard?

I clicked on their site. Try it. Great Clips home page. Do you see a $4.99 offer on there anywhere? I don't. And not under any of the tabs.

So then I click on their Facebook page that they promote.....seriously? A Great Clips Facebook fan page? Ok, I guess. And I look there for their announcement of the offer. But I can't find it, but I do see some fans talking about the a $5.99 promotion and then another about the $4.99 promotion.

Next I Google it again and look at the "Coupon" sites that have come up. It looks like I need a coupon for the haircut. Fatwallet.

Was there a print component to this campaign? Postcard coupons perhaps? That would make sense. Did it tell me where my nearest Great Clips was or did it drive me to the web? Did it drive me to a "send a friend a coupon" feature?

Here's my point. Great Cuts obviously spent money, good money I would imagine, to run a morning drive time spot to promote a product. But they did not have their channels aligned. At the very least, the promotion should have been on the home page of the company site. I guess a splash page for the promo replacing the homepage temporarily would be to much to ask.

I don't want a $4.99 haircut. But I know people will. Make it easy for them next time. If you spend for a promotion, create a mousetrap where all your channels lead back to each other.

The New Idealist Social Network - Chris Hughes Starts Jumo to Connect Volunteers to non-profits

2010-03-19T08:39:00.001-04:00

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Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes talks to Dana Goldstein about his new venture for connecting volunteers to non-profits, Jumo, which goes up today, and why Obama’s Organizing for America fell short.

Among Facebook’s tight-knit group of co-founders, Chris Hughes has always been the idealistic one.

When the social networking site first took off in 2004 and his roommates Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz dropped out of Harvard to make a killing, Hughes—a middle class kid from North Carolina—returned to college and graduated, writing a thesis about Algiers. When candidate Barack Obama intrigued Hughes, he shocked Facebook CEO Zuckerberg by quitting the company to work in the unprofitable world of campaign organizing, where Hughes helped to build and run MyBarackObama.com, the candidate’s groundbreaking online organizing tool. When the presidential race ended and Hughes needed to chart his next move, he tried venture capital, doing a stint as “entrepreneur-in-residence” at General Capital Partners in Cambridge. But he kept asking himself what he could do to contribute to the greater good.

“We have a real problem when it comes to giving,” Hughes said. “People tend to give around moments of crisis, at the end of the year, maybe when they see a really dramatic photo or video.”

So Hughes traveled to Africa, India, and Latin America. He spoke to development gurus like Jacqueline Novogratz of the non-profit Acumen Fund and Jeffrey Sachs, the Columbia University economist famous for his proposals on how to eradicate global poverty by 2025.

“I was constantly thinking, ‘What do I know and how can I use what I know to help these people?’” Hughes said of the social welfare thinkers and activists he met during his travels. “I took some serious time trying to think through that question.”

Where he ended up was Jumo.com—a new networking site to connect non-profits to the public and to one another, which soft launches Thursday morning. By fall, members will be able to use Jumo to learn more about social justice causes, donate money, and find out about opportunities to volunteer time and skills. The name means “together in concert” in Yoruba, a language spoken in Eastern Senegal, which Hughes visited last April and fell in love with.

On Jumo, Hughes says, a college student looking to volunteer during spring break will be able to type in the dates of her vacation, the regions to which she’d like to travel, and see a comprehensive list of volunteer opportunities. A lawyer fluent in Spanish might be able to help Latin American governments rewrite building codes to better protect against earthquake damage. A Washington, D.C. woman who gives regularly to Planned Parenthood could learn about related, smaller organizations that need support, such as Hughes favorite One by One, which funds the $420 surgery that repairs obstetric fistulas, a preventable condition caused during childbirth that can lead to a lifetime of stigma for affected women, who often leak urine and feces out of their vaginas.

Hughes recently relocated from Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights neighborhood to the Village to be closer to friends, he says, yet—perhaps a sign of his desire for do-gooder, bohemian cred—“I felt sort of bad about leaving Brooklyn.” Jumo, a non-profit, is now his full-time job, and since he decided to move forward with the idea in January, he has been able to raise about $500,000 from individual donors, hire two full-time staffers, and rent office-space in SoHo.

Whether the non-profit sector is ready to embrace a new social networking platform remains to be seen, especially given these organizations’ often-limited staff time and lack of familiarity with cutting edge technology. And there’s competition—Ning, for instance, allows non-profits to build their own branded social networking websites using pre-fabricated tools. But the most formidable rivals are Hughes’ old friends at Facebook, which already offers the application Causes, on which users can donate money and promote non-profits to friends. Hundreds of thousands of non-profits are members of Causes, and in the application’s first two years, 25 million Facebook users “joined” at least one of the causes. But according to a Washington Post report, the majority of Causes non-profits have never received a single donation through the application.

via thedailybeast.com

Good for Chris Hughes. There have been a number of small companies, mostly not for profits, trying to create a better, easier way for people to get involved in volunteer activities. Looks like Jumo may eat them all.

Posted via web from Bill's posterous

Fotobabble: Add Audio to Your Pics

2010-03-01T13:37:00.001-05:00

via readwriteweb.com

This seems like a cool app. Not essential to living and breathing....but cool nonetheless. Could be a really cool way to provide more living memory to kids pictures. (Yes, I have three kids and take lots of pictures. Some of which have very funny stories about when or where they were taken.)

Posted via web from Bill's posterous

The Most Influential Cause Marketing Campaigns - GoodWorks - Advertising Age

2010-02-16T10:10:00.001-05:00

The Most Influential Cause Marketing Campaigns

Cause Marketing Forum Founder Offers His List of Top Efforts

Posted by David Hessekiel on 02.10.10 @ 02:10 PM

David Hessekiel
Thousands of programs designed to do well by doing good have been launched by businesses and nonprofits over the last 30 years. Many have been short-term and pedestrian, while others have been inspiring and impactful.
As we enter a new decade, I've tried to identify the most influential cause marketing campaigns. My hope is to educate and be educated by inspiring a dialogue on the most outstanding work in this field.
1. American Express Statue of Liberty Restoration (1983): During a three-month period, American Express offered to contribute 1 cent for each card transaction and $1 for each new card issued and backed the offer with a substantial media campaign. The effort raised $1.7 million to restore the statue and Ellis Island, moved the needle for Amex's business and gave birth to the field of cause marketing.
2. Yoplait Save Lids to Save Lives (1999 to present): This has become one of America's best-known breast cancer campaigns. The fact that consumers save and mail in millions of sticky lids to raise 10 cents each to support Susan G. Komen for the Cure is testimony to cause marketing's motivational power. Yoplait does a masterful job of integrating this transactional program with its sponsorship of Komen's Race for the Cure, continually refines the initiative and supports it with paid and earned media. To date it has raised more than $26 million.
3. Dove Campaign for Real Beauty (2004 to present): Unilever didn't adopt a cause; it created one with breakthrough creative that sparked an international discussion of beauty stereotypes. It developed the Dove Self-Esteem Fund and hopes to reach 5 million young women with information on positive body image by the end of 2010.
4. 1,000 Playgrounds in 1,000 Days (2005 to 2008): The Home Depot and KaBOOM took employee volunteerism to new heights with this national three-year program to build great places for kids to play within walking distance of their homes.
5. The Members Project (2007 to 2008): Promotions that ask consumers to direct corporate giving are growing common, but American Express pioneered the use of social media and buttressed brand appreciation with this effort. Over two years it gave away $4.5 million, including top winners the Alzheimer's Association and U.S. Fund for UNICEF.
6. Whirlpool and Habitat for Humanity (2004 to 2007): The appliance maker transformed its previously little-known commitment to provide a range and refrigerator for each Habitat home built in the U.S. into a major driver of brand loyalty with a multimedia campaign featuring Reba McEntire. What's more, they did all cause marketers a favor by measuring and sharing the impressive results.
7. Lee National Denim Day (1996 to the present): A traditionally male brand, Lee made huge inroads with women by embracing the breast cancer cause in a unique way: It empowered consumers to organize workplace drives at which employees contributed $5 for the right to wear jeans to work on the first Friday in October. Over 13 years, the program has raised nearly $75 million for breast cancer research and advocacy.
8. Product (Red) (2006 to the present): Founders Bono and Bobby Shriver boldly threw out the cause-marketing rule book to create (Red). Their privately held company created and licensed a hot brand to The Gap, Apple, Armani and other marketers and staged an unprecedented launch. Although often criticized for a lack of transparency, (Red) has raised more than $140 million for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and continues to attract new corporate licensees such as Nike and Starbucks.
9. Live Strong Bracelet (2004 to present): When the Nike and Lance Armstrong Foundation came up with this idea to raise funds and awareness for the supercyclist's cancer charity, no one dreamed it would become a worldwide fashion item worn by presidential candidates, movie stars, kids and grandmothers. To date, more than 70 million of the glorified yellow rubber bands have been sold for $1 each.
10. What did I miss? What do you think are the most influential cause marketing campaigns of all time? Either comment here or go to www.BestCM.posterous.com to critique this list and nominate great attempts at doing well by doing good.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Hessekiel is the founder and president of the Cause Marketing Forum, a business dedicated to helping companies and causes succeed together. Its eighth annual conference will be held in Chicago on June 2-3.

via adage.com

Cause marketing is not easy to do....there needs to be a real cause. Sometimes marketers can create one by tapping into real consumer values....sometimes consumers create their own and adopt brands or anoint brands to the cause. This was a good article about some of the most important cause marketing campaigns. I think what is missing however are the public health campaigns which in many ways have been the most effective and visible of these types of campaigns.

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2010 Massachusetts US Senate Special Election Results - Map

2010-01-20T09:02:00.001-05:00

via boston.com

Wow. The map of results is telling. He won nearly the entire eastern half of the state. Tells me that no one understands how health care reform benefits them.

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Video - Video Central - FOX Sports on MSN

2010-01-11T11:03:00.001-05:00

via msn.foxsports.com

Geeks Gone Wild! Fox Sports has a great sense of humor. How many of these guys are we going to be working for in 15 years?

Posted via web from Bill's posterous

Ford's Turnaround Can Provide Important Management Lessons -- NYTs article "Ford's Bet: It's a Small World After All"

2010-01-10T11:10:00.002-05:00

Alan Mulally has played his hand very well. Ford has had no choice but to change and he has set out a strategy that just might work.
Mulally has developed a simple strategy that requires all parts of the company to work together to achieve. The goals are clear and the company has been reoriented to achieve the goal. This is true leadership.
By focusing on building cars that people want to drive, Ford is becoming a car company again after morphing into a finance company where cars were a by product of the production capacity that the company possessed.
Have you seen the new Taurus? Mustang? Edge? They are actually good looking cars and solidly built. Time will tell, but Mulally's strategy seems as good a chance that Ford has.
Ford’s Bet: It’s a Small World After All

By BILL VLASIC

Published: January 9, 2010
DEARBORN, Mich.

Fabrizio Costantini for The New York Times

At what was called the Michigan Truck Plant, Jon Topping, left, and Sharath Veldanda prepare to modify an assembly line to produce the new Focus.

Enlarge This Image

Fabrizio Costantini for The New York Times

Alan Mulally, Ford’s chief, with clay models of various Ford cars. He says buyers worldwide look for the same qualities.

"HE blew into the Ford Motor Company in 2006 as an outsider from a different industry, and he was hailed as the latest in a long line of purported saviors of a faltering, century-old automotive icon.
At the time, skeptics in the clubby world of auto executives whispered that the newcomer, Alan R. Mulally, would be swallowed up by the complexities of the car business, his ebullient personality smothered by the feudal infighting for which Ford had long been famous.
Yet three years into his tenure as chief executive — and with a host of still nettlesome challenges awaiting him — Mr. Mulally has thus far proved to be the unifying figure that Ford has needed for decades.
His vision is distilled in the laminated, wallet-size cards carried by tens of thousands of Ford employees that spell out his management principles beneath a simple heading: “One Ford ... One Team ... One Plan ... One Goal.” And on Monday, at the opening press conference of the 2010 Detroit auto show, Mr. Mulally will unveil the car that embodies his strategy for returning Ford to its status as a leader in the global auto industry.
That car, the new Ford Focus, is arguably as important to Mr. Mulally as the Model T was to Henry Ford, the founder. Despite some previous efforts, the Focus is Ford’s first truly global car — a single vehicle designed and engineered for customers in every region of the world and sold under one name. It is small, fuel-efficient and packed with technology and safety features that, Mr. Mulally believes, will appeal to consumers in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
The car also represents what Mr. Mulally calls the “proof point” of everything he has done since joining Ford after a 37-year career with Boeing: he hopes that the vehicle will provide a rolling blueprint for generations of Ford cars to come.
“If we were going to be world-class, we needed to pull together and leverage and use our global assets around the world to create a powerhouse ‘One Ford,’ ” he said in an interview in his office at Ford’s headquarters. “It’s exactly why we are here.”
In an industry populated by naysayers and familiar with wrenching disappointment, Mr. Mulally’s doubters have largely disappeared because he has already delivered more than what was expected of him when he replaced Ford’s chairman, William C. Ford Jr., as chief executive.
One of Mr. Mulally’s first, prescient acts in 2006 was to borrow $24 billion, which later gave Ford the cash it needed to stave off the government-sponsored bankruptcies of its crosstown rivals General Motors and Chrysler. He has also shifted Ford’s emphasis away from trucks and sport utility vehicles to cars and crossover vehicles, and dumped luxury brands like Land Rover, Jaguar and Aston-Martin that were consuming Ford’s resources and distracting management.
Perhaps most important, Ford has shrunk drastically, shedding jobs and factories to better align its production with demand. For decades, Ford executives and workers labored inside a bureaucracy that made decision-making cumbersome and often undermined dexterous responses to market shifts. It was a system that also withstood repeated efforts by others to streamline it.
But under Mr. Mulally’s hand — and in response to a downturn that threatened the very existence of Detroit’s Big Three — Ford has finally started to run a tighter ship.
All of this is beginning to show up in Ford’s bottom line. It reported $1 billion in earnings in the third quarter of 2009, its first profitable quarter in nearly two years. Mr. Mulally, however, says he doesn’t expect Ford to become “consistently” profitable until 2011. (Coincidentally, that’s when the new Focus will begin appearing in sizable volumes in the United States and Europe.)
While the Focus is only one of several new products on the way, it is the centerpiece of Ford’s transformation from a truck-heavy manufacturer to a producer of smaller, lighter and more environmentally friendly passenger cars.
The impact of the Focus on Ford’s global operations is even more significant. While Ford has been an international company since early in the 20th century, its overseas divisions have long operated as semiautonomous units geared to individual markets.
In the 1990s, Alexander Trotman, then its chief executive, developed a plan called Ford 2000 to standardize some vehicles around the world. The new system saved money, but the products it yielded were successes in some markets and flops in others. The initiative was summarily dropped by Mr. Trotman’s successor, Jacques A. Nasser.
Upon his arrival, Mr. Mulally took his own shot at knitting together Ford’s far-flung operations, seeking the economies of scale that a “world car” could bring.
“Why are we doing it this way?” he asks. “Because we believe the customer requirements are going to be more the same around the world than they are different.”
INDUSTRY analysts have long derided Detroit automakers as being overly fixated on the United States market and unable to see how vehicles designed for Europeans and Asians could appeal to American consumers.
“There’s nothing revolutionary about selling the same car around the world,” says John Casesa, an industry consultant. “Toyota does it. BMW does it. But the Detroit companies were always disproportionately run around their North American strategy.”
In that regard, the Focus is Ford’s first big bet that it can effectively sell a single, largely uniform car — with variations to come later — in several global markets. Currently, the company has three engineering “platforms” serving what the industry calls the C-car segment — essentially, compact vehicles the size of a Toyota Corolla or a Honda Civic. The three platforms account for annual sales of about 1.1 million vehicles, although the various models are substantially different inside and out.
The new Focus is built on one platform for all markets, from Shanghai to Seville to Seattle. The platform is also flexible enough that it can be adapted for different body styles, whether hatchbacks or small crossover vehicles.
Within a few years, Ford expects to sell as many as two million vehicles a year off the new C-car platform and to save billions of dollars in costs by avoiding multiple platforms.
“The Focus represents the first tangible evidence of a global strategy,” says Mr. Casesa. “For the first time, Ford is executing it and not just talking about it.”
A YOUTHFUL-LOOKING 64-year-old with close-cropped red hair and a toothy smile, Mr. Mulally is relentlessly optimistic and perpetually in motion. Educated in engineering at the University of Kansas, a father of five and married for nearly 40 years, he can be so exuberant that he’ll sometimes hug people the first time he meets them.
But Ford executives quickly learned that beneath that sunny disposition was a demanding and competitive executive."
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Sign in to Recommend Next Article in Business (3 of 26) » A version of this article appeared in print on January 10, 2010, on page BU1 of the New York edition.

via nytimes.com

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Dos Equis - Most Interesting Man Introduction commercial

2010-01-07T21:31:00.001-05:00

via splendad.com

I love this Dos Equis campaign. I imagine it has increased their sales. Their distribution has improved in the last two years and this campaign is catchy enough to increase sales.

Stay thirsty my friends!

Posted via web from Bill's posterous

College Students: Facebook Only Game in Town

2009-12-11T10:57:00.002-05:00

Not surprisingly, Facebook is the social network of choice for college students in a study by Anderson Analytics.

College Students: Facebook Only Game in Town

It makes sense that one network would be seen more positively and used overwhelmingly by specific market segments. After all, a social network is like an online party. Why would choose to go the lame, barely attended party? You wouldn't if you were typical. So someone has to win, and that is Facebook.

Celebrity Endorsers -- Quick Gains for Awareness, Large Reputational Risk You Don't Control

2009-12-09T17:46:00.008-05:00

This just in....celebrity endorsers are a risky marketing strategy. It certainly works. Tiger Woods as your spokesman was a sure way to gain awareness. But guess what? All celebrities are human, and this past week only reinforces this. It can be a good strategy, but have a plan when your spokesman beats his wife or crashes his car after a bender in Vegas.

It can be risky to place the reputation of your company in the brand of a celebrity. You can't control their actions and that is a direct risk to your business. I prefer to control as many of the risk factors that are controlable. Some aren't controlable. But your company's reputation should be.

Its not a surprise that Pepsico would make this move, especially because the product wasn't that good and I suspect wasn't selling to projections.

PepsiCo Drops Tiger Woods Drink

By COREY DADE

PepsiCo Inc. is dropping a Gatorade drink named after Tiger Woods from its lineup, and television ads featuring the golfer haven't been aired since a storm of publicity erupted over his car accident last month and subsequent revelations about alleged extramarital affairs.

Mr. Woods has been at the center of a media frenzy since he crashed his Cadillac Escalade outside his Florida home Nov. 27, setting off a chain of events that has opened his personal life to scrutiny and led him to admit unspecified "transgressions." For nearly two weeks, news media have continued to closely monitor Mr. Woods and the comings and going of his family.

On Tuesday, Mr. Woods's mother-in-law was treated for stomach pains at an Orlando-area hospital and released. Barbro Holmberg, the mother of the golfer's wife, Elin Nordegren Woods, is staying with the Woodses during a visit from her native Sweden.

PepsiCo said Tuesday the move to drop its Gatorade Tiger Focus sports drink is part of a broader overhaul of its Gatorade brand that has been in the works for months, and isn't connected with Mr. Woods's recent troubles.

Advertisers haven't aired TV commercials featuring Mr. Woods since shortly after the scandal broke, according to monitoring data from Nielsen Co., which scans the prime-time, evening news, late-night and sports telecasts on major broadcast networks and 19 cable networks. The Golf Channel isn't included in Nielsen's tracking.

Most recently, Gillette ran a 30-second TV spot including Mr. Woods on Nov. 29, Nielsen said. That ad, which also features baseball player Derek Jeter and tennis player Roger Federer, aired eight times in November. It was the only ad including Mr. Woods that Nielsen recorded during the month, said Aaron Lewis, a spokesman at Nielsen.

It isn't clear what, if any, other commercials featuring Mr. Woods might have been in the works or slated for broadcast at the time of the accident.

Gillette, a unit of Procter & Gamble, hasn't pulled any ads, said Michael Norton, a Gillette spokesman. "We are running our media schedule as planned," Mr. Norton said. He said Gillette has one ad in rotation that includes Mr. Woods, and that he doesn't know when it is scheduled to return to the air. "We haven't made any changes at this time to our marketing strategy," he added.

PepsiCo said it is discontinuing Gatorade Tiger Focus and some other Gatorade drinks to make room for a new lineup of products focused on athletes and sports performance. A company spokesman said the new offerings will be released soon, but declined to provide specifics.

"We decided several months ago to discontinue Gatorade Tiger Focus, along with some other products to make room for our planned series of innovative products in 2010," Gatorade spokeswoman Jennifer Schmit said in an e-mailed statement.

Gatorade Tiger Focus hasn't been a strong performer; volume in the first 10 months of this year was down 34% from a year earlier, according to Beverage Digest, an industry publication and data service. Tiger Focus accounts for about 4% of overall Gatorade volume, Beverage Digest said.

Ads and promotional matter featuring Mr. Woods continued to run on sponsors' Web sites Tuesday. A section on the Nike Inc. Golf site dedicated to Mr. Woods continued to display Web videos featuring the golfer, as well as his line of apparel, balls and golf clubs. "Being the best takes dedication, patience and insight. For Tiger Woods, these are the pillars of his approach," the site read.

Representatives of Nike, Gillette, Electronic Arts and laser-eye surgery chain TLC Vision Corp. said Tuesday that their sponsor relationships with Mr. Woods hadn't changed. TLC Vision continued to feature Mr. Woods prominently on the homepage of its Web site.

Among other companies with which the golfer has endorsement deals, jet-rental company NetJets said in a statement Monday that it continued to support Mr. Woods. Sports-collectible retailer Upper Deck and phone giant AT&T declined to comment. Consulting firm Accenture and watch maker Tag Heuer, a unit LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, couldn't be reached for comment.

Why Do Illegal Drugs Have Such Better Names Than Legal Drugs?

2009-12-09T17:20:00.002-05:00

Have you ever noticed this? There are all sorts of creative names for marijuana, methamphetamines, cocaine, etc.

What about high blood pressure medicine or cancer drugs? Here's a list of the top 200 prescription drugs. A sample from the list:

Avodart
Byetta
Cardura
Cozzar
Tricor

And the list goes on and on with non-existent word names that, with rare exception, tell you nothing about what the drug actually does. No wonder drug makers need to spend million and millions on advertising. If they didn't, why would you ever remember the name Vytorin?

There are a couple of drug names that are better than the others.

Flowmax for one. It just sounds like a drug that helps you pee.

And Plan B. Well, if you didn't want that pregnancy......you are looking for a plan.

So here's my idea for the pharmaceutical industry. Get a bunch of college guys who use drugs from time to time and create a bunch of real world creative teams to name your prescription drugs. The results can't be any worse. And you can probably pay them in pizza and beer.

Mary Jane, reefer, speed, weed, crack......these are much better names and names inspired by the use and experience of the actual drugs. I am certain that my team would have come up with a better name for Viagra. Liftoramus or Erectilomax perhaps. They couldn't do worse. Let's give it a shot.

Fast Company Article -- Mr. Social: Ashton Kutcher Plans to be the Next New-Media Mogul

2009-11-27T13:33:00.002-05:00

Fast Company is the best magazine going right now. This article is very good and worth a read. The web is crushing all kinds of business models. And only those who can think across businesses, industries, platforms and conventions will adapt and succeed.

Mr. Social: Ashton Kutcher Plans to Be the Next New-Media Mogul

By: Ellen McGirt

DUDE, WHERES THE CASH? Here's what scares Kutcher: "When I have a conversation with someone and they say, 'I'm not worried about monetization yet.' " | Photographs by Jill Greenberg

How Ashton Kutcher is pioneering a new kind of media business, bridging Hollywood, technology, and Madison Avenue. Really.

Enlarge

Photographs by Jill Greenberg

Enlarge

ON THE JOB Everyone at Katalyst has a role in the Katalyst HQ mockumentary Web series, including cofounder Jason Goldberg, left, and new-media director Sarah Ross, above right. This year's sponsor is Nestlé's Hot Pockets, below right.

My Photo of the Week -- Godly Light

2009-11-24T09:28:00.001-05:00

	My Photo of the Week -- Godly Light
Cartagena, Colombia

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irishtimes.com:Top of the popes

2009-11-13T15:00:00.002-05:00

The Pope has a new album out for Christmas. One that he speaks and sing on. Perhaps this is a smart way to expand the Pope's popularity and broaden his image....I guess.

I don't know. Seems like a weird move by such a conservative Pope.

Bring back JP II.

From today's Irish Times:

Top of the popes; Pope cuts new CD for Christmas
ARTS:TAKE SOME Gregorian chant, add in the sumptuous strings of the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, top it off with the voice of Pope
Benedict XVI, mix the whole thing up in the historic studios of
London's Abbey Road, and what do you have? A Christmas chart-topper?
With its suspiciously New Age, sumptuously melodic feel, the Pope's new
record, Alma Mater, might indeed do well, writes PADDY AGNEWin Rome
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2009/1112/1224258652585.html

Colin Barlow, president of Geffen Records UK, at the launch in the Vatican on Tuesday, is making no predictions right now, but he does expect this record to sell “quite a lot of copies”. He thinks that in this time of recession times, Alma Mater offers a message of hope and inspiration.
So what is going on? Has this rather crusty, Teutonic old Pope decided to go funky? Well, no, not quite. What we have here are eight tracks which cleverly interweave Gregorian chant with rich modern orchestration, topped off by the Pope, who speaks on seven of the tracks and sings on the other. On track one, Sancta Dei Genitrix, the Pope himself explains just what this record is all about, saying: “Faith is love, and for that reason it creates poetry and music. Faith is joy because it creates beauty. The great cathedrals of the world are not medieval monuments but rather houses of the living where we meet God and we meet one another. Great music, like Gregorian chant or Mozart, is not something of the past for the Church, but rather something living which is an expression of the vitality of the liturgy of our faith.”

Good Article in Ad Age

2009-11-11T22:22:00.000-05:00

Transparency and Chemistry Key to CMO Longevity

Speros, Chow, Judge, Addicks Talk Shop at ANA Roundtable

By Emily Bryson York
Published: November 09, 2009

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Get a bunch of longtime chief marketing officers in a room and you'll hear one thing for certain: lots and lots of questions about staying power. The Association of National Advertisers CMO Roundtable this past weekend was no exception. The group, comprised of Best Buy's Barry Judge, General Mills' Mark Addicks, Con Agra's Joan Chow and Fidelity Investment's Jim Speros, underscored the importance of transparency, relationship building and making sure you're right for the job in the first place.

First of all, Mr. Speros said, you've got to realize that the clock is ticking. "Velocity is key, because you don't have a lot of time to make a difference," he said. "You have to get in very fast and make relationships with the right people, understand the hot-button issues."

Mr. Speros said it's important to have representatives from all the relevant teams -- distribution, product, regulatory, legal -- and make sure they all have a seat at the table. Within that dialogue, he added, great CMOs can be indispensable as "the voice of the consumer within your organization."

Con Agra's Ms. Chow said she's also worked hard to support transparency within her department, keeping executives abreast of what's going on, and holding open meetings. "Our CEO [Gary Rodkin] didn't want to hear about commercials by seeing them on TV," she said of the state of affairs upon her arrival almost three years ago. Ms. Chow responded by setting an hourly meeting with Mr. Rodkin each week, giving a list of high-level projects or ideas. Her team initially worried that projects would be killed before completion, but it's been more about keeping the head honcho up to speed. "Even if he disagrees, he allows us to overrule him," the CMO said. And it's helped open up the conversation elsewhere in the c-suite.

Ms. Chow also said she gave Con Agra's CFO an open invitation to attend her meetings. He eventually joined them for a day in the field, and has now become a key advocate. When the marketing department started presenting social-media ideas, the executives asked to be trained in Twitter and Facebook. She also opened her doors to criticism. After finding an office freezer full of competitors' products, she started asking people why they weren't eating Healthy Choice, and why they hadn't told anyone before.

"If you can't inspire employees to be your brand champions, then you can't inspire anyone else," she said. Following sweeping quality improvements, Ms. Chow has conducted follow-up freezer inspections. While "there are still a few stragglers," she's helped spur a number of conversions.

All four CMOs stopped short of saying that the office should have full ownership of the P&L. While it's possible at package food companies, it would be unrealistic at Best Buy or Fidelity. Instead, Ms. Chow said, "You have to be accountable for your company's investment in marketing."

Mr. Addicks of General Mills took it a step further. "I see myself as the person who has to be a stopping point on a brand if it's not doing well," he said, adding that as CMO he also needs to know the areas of opportunity for General Mills.

Ultimately, the ability to keep a CMO job is in the marketer's own hands. But an important part of that is making sure you land in the right place. "Sometimes it's a matter of chemistry," Mr. Speros said, adding that cultural fits are important to evaluate before walking through the door. And ask yourself hard questions. "Ask if you're qualified, credible" for the position, he said.

This Week's Photo -- The Tractor

2009-11-11T22:21:00.001-05:00

	This Week's Photo -- The Tractor


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My Photo of the Week -- Grand Central 3 PM Saturday

2009-11-04T19:27:00.001-05:00

	My Photo of the Week -- Grand Central 3 PM Saturday
I will share some of my photography on my blog each week. Hope you like them.

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Bad Names for a Business

2009-10-15T13:43:00.003-04:00

Coming up with a good name for a business is not easy. Coming up with a mediocre name is fairly easy based on how many there are. But bad business names are less common. I came across this retail furniture business in LA this week.
CostPlus World Market? I mean, really? That is the name of your business? As in we charge you cost plus a margin? Does that really get your customers excited? I guess it describes what you do though.

I am sure there are plenty more "great" examples of bad names. Share 'em if you got 'em.

Short CMO Tenures Reflective of Dysfunctional Companies - Advertising Age - CMO Strategy

2009-10-07T08:45:00.002-04:00

So here's no surprise....CMOs have short tenures. Why? Well, who really knows what a CMO role is and what it is supposed to do?

Its not like the CFO. Everyone knows the CFO reports to the CEO. To whom does the CMO report? Well, it depends on the company...and what they think the CMO role is.

What control does the CMO have over all aspects of sales, marketing and communications? Sometimes a CMO oversees all three functions. Sometimes just one.

And how often does the CMO control R&D, strategic planning or business development?

Short CMO Tenures Reflective of Dysfunctional Companies - Advertising Age - CMO Strategy

It is not surprising that CMOs have short tenures. CMOs need clarity of their role. Clear mandates and control to get their job done. And understanding from leadership of what it will take to accomplish. That's a tall order, especially when you are trying to hit the quarterly numbers.

When is Going Green Pure Self Interest?

2009-09-28T20:18:00.002-04:00

Ok, so this is a bit of rant, but I really can't stand companies that "offer" you the ability to save the environment. Am I the only one who hates the phone company and the cable company and believes their efforts to "go green" and "save the environment" have nothing to with saving the world or even helping me. Its all about saving them money, pure and simple.

Prove me wrong Verizon, Citibank, Comcast.....what is your overall environmental strategy? Where does less paper fit in? Show me what you are doing and maybe I will believe you. Why do I have to change my behavior to save you money?

But right now I am a very skeptical customer.

If it were my brand, I would be careful to show the customers that my company was changing behavior too. We don't only ask our customers to change their behavior. We change our behavior too. I would share the overall plan. I would provide metrics. I would tell customers how we plowing those saving back into better service or even more environmental measures.

Right now I am certain the savings goes straight to their bottom line. Prove me wrong and I will go paperless, tomorrow.

A Lesson for CMOs from the Health Care Reform Mess

2009-09-28T19:15:00.004-04:00

The vast majority of Americans have health care. Maybe not good health care, but they pay money each month and believe that they are "protected."

It seems to me that the campaign to reform health care started with the high minded goal of making sure that the uninsured get access to affordable health care. This is a noble goal. One I personally support.

But from a PR/sales perspective, why would the 80% with health care want to change to an unknown system? Remember the adage of sticking with the evil you know? To get health care to those 20%, we need to convince the 80% it is somehow in their interest or, at the very least, not counter to their interests.

Remember Harry and Louise? There is a reason those ads were effective. Only now is President Obama focusing his message to those with health care, but it may be too late.

This is a good lesson for brand managers and CMOs. Who needs to accept your change in strategy? If you are introducing a shift or an extention in your brand, make sure you start by convincing your brand loyalists to support the move. And for sure, you don't want them to defect because of it.

Develop a concentric circle strategy to your messaging and put your best customers at the center.

When Do Consumers Decide to Pick Your Brand?

2009-09-26T16:17:00.003-04:00

Why do consumers pick certain products? When do they decide to buy those specific products? When is their purchase decision influenced?

These are all extremely important decisions for your marketing strategy. The recession seems to have scrambled the purchase decision criteria for a lot of consumers. The only way to know is to watch and ask. Research will give you the insights that will guide your strategy. There is a good article in Ad Age this week by Rick Roth.

Boost Your Brand by Understanding the Path to Purchase - Advertising Age - CMO Strategy

There was also an article in Ad Age about P&G shifting their focus and resources to in store promotion. My guess is that they have done the research and understand that in this new economic environment more and more purchase decisions are being made in store based on price and placement.

Behind the Rebranding Campaign of Wal-Mart’s Scarlet Woman | Fast Company

2009-09-24T23:23:00.002-04:00

This was a useless article, but much like a car crash. You can't look away. It is a sad, twisted tale. I am still trying to sort out the meaning of this story.

Behind the Rebranding Campaign of Wal-Mart’s Scarlet Woman | Fast Company

Perhaps sometimes people and companies get what they deserve.

Perhaps sometimes we need to understand that newspaper and magazine articles only tell one dimension of a story.

Perhaps Julie had the wrong values.

Perhaps Wal Mart couldn't handle an edgy woman.

And perhaps Julie shouldn't have agreed to do this article...I am not judging her behavior or performance at Wal Mart. I am just saying that if I were advising her on her PR and career, I would have counseled against doing this.

But the sun is a strong lure for Icarus.

Posted using ShareThis

Avoid Sucky Presentations

2009-09-24T22:45:00.003-04:00

How many bad presentations have you sat through? Or worse, how many bad presentations have you given?

Its not easy to put together a good presentation. What's the formula? It seems a bit like Judge Potter's definition of pornography: "I can't tell you what it is, but I know it when I see it."

So I offer three tools to help.

A How To Guide for Building A Great Presentation
The first is Extreme Presentation Method a methodology by Dr. Andrew Alba at Catholic University.

"The Extreme Presentation method is a step-by-step approach for designing presentations of complex or controversial information in ways that drive people to action. It is based on extensive empirical research and has been pilot tested among leading corporations, including Microsoft, Exxon-Mobil, Kimberly-Clark, eBay, and Motorola."
This site is a great resource. It will walk you through all the major elements you need to consider when putting together a presentation. And the advice is really good. Look at his explanation of Ballroom Presentations for Conference Room Presentations:

A presentation idiom is a form of expression with an associated set of design principles. I call the two main types of presentation idiom Ballroom style and Conference Room style. Ballroom style presentations are what most typical PowerPoint presentations are trying to be: colorful, vibrant, attention-grabbing, and (sometimes) noisy. They typically take place in a large, dark room—such as a hotel ballroom. Conference room style presentations are more understated: they have less color, with more details on each page; they are more likely to be on printed handouts than projected slides, and they are more suited to your average corporate conference room.

The biggest single mistake that presenters make—and the root cause of the PowerPoint debate—is confusing the two idioms, and particularly, using ballroom style where conference room style is more appropriate. Almost all PowerPoint presentations are given using ballroom style—yet most of the time presentation conditions call for conference room style. Ballroom style is appropriate for where the objective is to inform, impress, and/or entertain a large audience and where the information flow is largely expected to be one-way (presenter to audience). Conference room style presentations are more suited to meetings where the objective is to engage, persuade, come to some conclusion, and drive action. This covers any presentation where you want your audience to do something differently as a result of your presentation. It includes: making recommendations; selling; training; communicating the implications of research; and raising funds. Information flow in this idiom is expected to be two-way—it’s more interactive.

Pictures Tell A Thousand Words
Eliminate the 11 point font pages with paragraphs of text. There is a better way. The other presentation to look at is by Seth Godin, marketing guru. If you don't know Seth Godin you have to check out his blog.

Seth has a book out called Tribes which is a good quick read. He posted a presentation that he did about the book to slideshare and I have posted it below. This is one way of doing a presentation. It uses images to tell the story. Remember? A picture tells a thousand words? Well, I assure you that if you can do even a little of this in your presentation, people will remember it.

Seth Godin on TribesView more presentations from sethgodin.

Borrow and Steal
And lastly, I recommend the site Slideshare. There are thousands of presentations posted by users all over the world. What better way to develop a good presentation than to look at a few dozen to see what works for you, what catches your eye, what doesn't work. You will pick up at least five good ideas by spending 15 minutes on this site.

Brilliant Move By Census Bureau and Telemundo

2009-09-22T22:49:00.004-04:00

Marketers pay attention. A brilliant effort by the Census Bureau, yes the U.S. government, and Telemundo may have a big impact on the quality of Census data and the cost to advertise on Spanish language stations.

Census Bureau Uses Telenovela to Reach Hispanics - NYTimes.com

Tele-novelas, the Spanish language version of soap operas, are a tried and true format. Increasingly, the format is being used to send social messages. Recent examples include drunk driving and home ownership. The latest is an effort by Telemundo and the Census to tell Latinos that they should not be scared to give their information to the Census takers. With all the news of deportations in the last 4 or 5 years, their hesitation is understandable.

But the impact of not counting everyone is great. And yes, illegal immigrants do get counted in the Census. Telemundo is certainly acting in some self interest. The more Latinos the more they can charge for advertising. So it makes sense then, that they are covering the cost of production and airing of the program.

It will be interesting to see what kind of impact an effort like this has. Telemundo remains the smaller network. Univision has about twice as many viewers on most nights. Regardless, this is an innovative approach to solving the consistent problem of under counting Latinos in the decennial census.

University of Phoenix Spends $100 Million Annually on Advertising - Advertising Age - News

2009-09-15T15:57:00.003-04:00

Traditional universities hate to think of themselves as brands. I guess it cheapens their work as educators. But let's be real. Colleges and universities have brands that must be understood, shaped, nutured, and managed....managed just like a company would manage a brand.

There have been some really interesting articles recently about the future of traditional higher education, especially given the economic crisis and the ridiculously high price of most 4 year universities. Some see this as a classic paradigm shift = business opportunity. Try this article in Fast Company: Who Needs Harvard?

The for profit higher ed market has been growing exponentially over the last 10-20 years. The Internet has only accelerated the growth.

Interestingly, these schools are as much marketing machines as institutions of learning. None is as clear as University of Phoenix. It spends $100 Million a year on advertising, but as the artcle in AdAge offers, they may not be much better at defining their brand than traditional schools.

University of Phoenix Spends $100 Million Annually on Advertising - Advertising Age - News

The for profit schools have two key problems: 1) attracting paying students and 2) establishing their credibility and quality. And success establishing credibility will help in attracting students.

But interestingly, I don't see any of these schools address this issue. Most of the advertising I see or here is targeted to their current demographic of non traditional, older students and focuses on convenience and the non traditional nature of their student body as a way to attract non traditional, older students.

Why not spend some of that $100 million to establish credibility? Until most people think online learning and for profit schools are in the same category of quality as traditional higher education, the value of their degrees will be diminished. If I were marketing one of these schools, I would create a consortium of my competitors to throw in marketing dollars and launch a campaign to build credibility. It will take years, but it is the best long term hope for the business.

Will Advertising Agencies Go the Way of the Newspaper Industry?

2009-09-02T13:43:00.005-04:00

The newspaper industry is trapped in a collapsing business model. This is well documented. Technology has forced an evolution of a once solid business model that lastest a couple hundred years. Media companies are all seeking new and sustainable business model and in an increasingly fragmented and specialized marketplace where barriers to entry have been virtually eliminated.

Used to be only those with a printing press could publish. That was a pretty high barrier to entry. In fact, the web has allowed anyone with access to the Internet to be a "journalist." Many will argue about the quality of information being purpogating across the internet by professional and amateur writers. But technology has democratized publishing.

In the analog age, there were real barriers to gathering and reporting news: staff, print or broadcast capabilities, foreign bureaus, telecommunications costs, etc.

So what about Advertising Agencies? Why do we need them? And has the ditigal world changed the business model?

Agencies have always been a place to find bright, creative and strategic thinkers. You go to the full service agency to help develop you marketing strategy -- everything from value proposition to advertising campaign to media buys. And it used to be that the national firms were located in NY and each major city would have a few good firms. This is where talented people would go to find work.

But technology is blowing the model apart. Now, it doesn't matter where the client or the talened ad execs are located. You can see and talk to the client daily on your computer. You can create a virtual creative team.

And when a 22 year old can edit video on his MacBook Pro in his mother's basement, it is hard to understand why you need all the infrastructure and overhead of a large firm.

Watch the revenues of the major ad conglomorates over the next few years. I predict continued downward revenue lines. Lets see how they adapt.

Florida Is Shrinking!

2009-08-30T10:20:00.003-04:00

The New York Times has a story yesterday about a recent report from the University of Florida's Bureau of Economics and Business Research which found that Florida's population has shrunk for the first time since perhaps 1900 (with the exception of WWI and WWII) -- "After Century of Growth, Tide Turns in Florida"

The state is very interesting demographically. From a marketers perspective there are many different markets in Florida. It has one of the highest Hispanic populations in the country. The population until recent years skewed much older. South Florida is vastly different than the rest of the state - younger, more Latino. Northern Florida is as deep south as any place in the country. Like many states, Florida is not one market.

So who left? Who is coming? For marketers, the devil is in these details. My guess is that fewer laborers came to the state and a whole bunch of construction workers left. Anyone who has been to Florida in the last 5-10 years has seen the explosion in building. The collapse of the real estate market in Florida over the last 18 months is well documented.

The 2010 Census will be a treasure trove for marketers seeking to understand consumer markets and migration flows. The Pew Hispanic Center also has very good analytical work regarding the Hispanic population in the U.S.

Looks like Florida's loss is Alabama's gain. The 2010 Census should show for sure, but look for the faster growing states in the Southeast and Southwest to continue to grow.

How Should Businesses Use Social Media?

2009-06-05T17:38:00.001-04:00

Businesses are trying to figure out how to use social media. Many are not sure what it means to their business or their bottom line. This was an interesting presentation from HubSpot that was posted on Slideshare. It is a good overview.

Bottom Line: Social Media for Business

View more Microsoft Word documents from Hubspot Marketing.

Chief Marketing Officers Need To Know The Business As Well As Anyone in the Company

2009-06-04T16:29:00.006-04:00

There is an interesting article in Ad Age about the need for CMOs to understand how their businesses work, For CMOs to Be Visionary Leaders, They Must Have a P&L Mind-set. This seems overly intuitive, but you would be surprised. A true marketer needs to understand all the drivers of the business, the profitability of each customer type, the cost of each product. And many do not.

When I started at Georgetown University, I was coming from financial services. The first question I asked was "what is the business model?" I wanted to know how the university made its money. Academia doesn't really talk this way, but it has a business model nonetheless. Turns out that tuition and philanthropy are key to staying in business.

I have always believed that a marketing strategy really is the same thing as the business strategy. Many people don't really understand what marketing is. Some think it is PR. Others think it is sales. The truth is, marketing is the strategy for selling your product, ie, the business. Marketing is the starting point, not the end point. In other words, if you are doing it correctly, you begin the entire strategic process by asking: Who are our customers? What do they want or need? Does our product or service meet those needs? That is where the strategic process begins....and that is marketing.

Check out the article:

Chief Marketing Officers Must Have a P&L Mind-set - Advertising Age - CMO Strategy

25 logos with hidden messages – Amazing Graphic Designing tricks! | Graphic Design Blog

2009-05-18T17:53:00.002-04:00

This is a great post. Logos are a difficult thing to do well. Think of how many logos are completely meaningless and tell you nothing about what the company does. If you are clever enough to design a logo that reinforces your brand message, congratulations.

Every interaction with a customer is an opportunity to reinforce your brand. Does your logo project the image and message you want your customers to hold about you?

25 logos with hidden messages – Amazing Graphic Designing tricks! | Graphic Design Blog

Beliefs - Roman Catholics’ War Over Abortion - NYTimes.com

2009-05-10T15:04:00.002-04:00

Beliefs - Roman Catholics’ War Over Abortion - NYTimes.com

This was an interesting op-ed in the NYTs yesterday. Most people don't think of the catholic church as a business or as a brand. But it is both. And I think the "business model" (if I can say that without getting in trouble) is under attack from scrappy start ups (evangelical churches) that are more nimble and hungrier for success as well as from a sect of brand loyalists (conservative catholics) who seek to define the brand.

The church in the U.S. has been losing more people than it has been gaining for a while. You would think that an organization that has lost as many as half of its customers/clients/members would try to understand the market and figure out why it is not meeting their needs. I fear the Catholic Church has done what many good, but mistaken, companies have done. They have blamed the member..."they don't like to follow the rules; they don't understand; we aren't going to change, they must."

A brand is owned by the customers. It feels to me like the Catholic brand in the U.S. is now being controlled by the most conservative members of the church. I think that the Catholic church, at least in the U.S., is at risk of making some members feel unwelcome. Look at what the pro-life Christians are doing at Notre Dame. I mean, can you find a more conservative, religiously pious community than Notre Dame?

I respect the conservative Catholics' views and their faith, but I fear that I do not fit into their church....nor do I want to. The most conservative are trying to define what it means to be catholic in the U.S. They want stict adherence to church teaching. While I accept the teachings of the church, I do not agree with all of them. So I ask you, should I be allowed to remain in the church?

I am not saying that the Church needs to abandon or compromise on its teachings. But any large organization that has unanimity of opinion on such important issues can not be an intelligent, organic organization. That would be a cult where all personal opinion and reason is taken away.

I like to think that the Church is a big tent organization, not a narrow one with strict rules of who gets in and how they stay there. The current situation in the Catholic Church feels an awful lot like what is happening in the Republican party. It seems, the most worthy and righteous have decided that their organizations are better off being smaller and purer, than larger, more open minded and, yes, a bit messy.

My God is benevolent and tolerant one. That is the church I seek.

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Welcome To The Reputation Economy - louisgray.com

2009-05-07T11:13:00.003-04:00

Great post from Louis Gray today. If you don't know Louis Gray, you should. He is a West Coast blogger who is smart and insightful and has an inside line on tech.

He writes today about the importance of personal reputation. In a world where information can be created and distributed by anyone, about anything, you must manage your own reputation. And you must recognize that every action has an impact on your "brand." Every Facebook status update, every photo, every article you post.

Like great brands, the market will ultimately determine what it thinks your brand stands for, but you must do everything you can to make sure the market can see you the way you want to be seen. Your reputation is your brand. Don't mismanage it.

Welcome To The Reputation Economy - louisgray.com

How Lehman Got Its Real Estate Fix - NYTimes.com

2009-05-03T10:48:00.004-04:00

How Lehman Got Its Real Estate Fix - NYTimes.com

Well, if there was any question that the newspaper business is desperate, check out the article in today NY Times. The article is fine, if not a little sensationalist and focused on the personal. But this has been an increasing trend with the Times and WSJ. They now compete with Access Hollywood, CNN Headline News, and Joe Nobody's blog. So they increasingly go to content they would never have dreamed of running even ten years ago.

But that is not the point of this post. Check out the photo in the Lehman article. I find it offensive, flat-footed and not very clever. Its too easy and ridiculous.....aside from that I have no opinion.

Is it just me? What do you think?

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Michael Vick in Talks to Become PETA Spokesman - Advertising Age - News

2009-05-01T17:34:00.003-04:00

This is perfect. PETA needs all the help it can get. It has become the Taliban of animal rights. And now they find Michael Vick, who is in desperate need of showing remorse if he ever wants to get paid to throw a football again.

Its so crazy it just may work. It will bring PR to both of them. But the question is, what are their objectives. Vick wants to be seen as remorseful that he contributed to the harm of animals. And PETA want to raise awareness about animal rights. Ok.

But this feels too baldly opportunistic for both of them to be truly successful. I could be wrong. Though we should never underestimate peoples ability to dismiss those who are disingenuous are clearly motivated by purely personal reasons.

I guess we'll see.

Michael Vick in Talks to Become PETA Spokesman - Advertising Age - News

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Are Stadium Naming Rights and Sports Adverstising Deals Worth It?

2009-04-28T11:37:00.004-04:00

Citi paid something like $300 million for the naming rights of the new Mets stadium, now known as Citi Field. You will find similar deals in every city. But are they worth it? There has been lots of debate. The debate usually comes down to a fundamental debate in marketing. Is brand advertising and spending worth it? Here we are again at the ROI question.

How do you measure the return to your business of naming the Mets stadium for example? You can come up with some metrics such as new accounts, customer loyalty etc in the market, but it is usually and indirect metric, that is, you can't directly attribute the new account to the stadium name but it can be seen as helping.

As budgets get tighter, many companies are looking at their budgets and asking, is brand advertising worth it? After all, it is much easier to measure return on investment (ROI) on a direct mail piece. You know your cost. You know your response. You know your resulting sales.

How can a sponsorship of the Washington Capitals or Seattle Mariners makes sense for a business?

I think it can makes sense, but only if there are several conditions in place:

1) You must be targeting a regional audience. By definition, sports franchises are local enterprises. Yes, there are some that are national or global, but this is the exception and not the rule. And, it will be very difficult to measure any kind of tangible impact for a local sponsorship on a national or global scale. Know your audience and make your decision with the assumption that your impact will be local.

2) You must go for some kind of endorsement or key sponsorship. Advertising during Steelers games can be an effective way to reach a specific demographic, if that is your goal. But if you are seeking to benefit from that demographic's emotional connection to the team, then straight advertising misses a key opportunity.

3) The team or franchise you are sponsoring must have a strong and irrational fan base. Think about it. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays made it to the World Series, but never filled the stadium during the year. The Nationals have a new stadium and lots of attention, but the fans are just learning to love them irrationally. The Nats are not the Redskins. Those fans are truly nuts in love. That is the kind of franchise you would want to be associated with....assuming their fans are the demo you are trying to reach.

4) You must make your brand part of the team's brand family. Red Sox fans know that they are part of something more than following a sports team. They call themselves Red Sox Nation. For many, the Red Sox are part of their own personal brands/identities. With effective sponsorship and advertising deals, you can make your product part of the "family." The key is meaningful placement and enagement as well key endorsement by the organization. Another Red Sox example. Citizens Bank is a corporate sponsor. They have signage. They advertise during broadcasts, but perhaps the most effective part of their plan is when Jerry Remy, the color man for the Sox TV broadcasts, reads promo scripts and often goes off script to say what a great bank they are. You can't pay enough for that kind of promotion. But it comes from being a trusted part of the family. And it is a cycle that perpetuates itself.

5) Develop relevant content -- ideally playing off the fans and their emotional connection directly. Avis does this brilliantly in a recent ad developed for the New York market.

I don't know if the $300 million was worth it. But I can tell you, if it is a flat footed advertising deal that doesn't seek to make Citi part of the Mets organization and its fans identities, it will have been a waste of money.

Here are a few other sources of info:
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/29/us/denver-journal-what-s-in-a-stadium-name-tradition-or-money.html

http://www.performanceresearch.com/naming-rights.htm

http://www.ameinfo.com/61816.html

http://www.sportslinkscentral.com/sports_business/sponsorship_research.htm

Facebook Pages Become the Newest Ad Platform

2009-04-23T18:15:00.002-04:00

Facebook Pages Become the Newest Ad Platform -- Mashable

US Weekly, that highly popular, never admitted to, magazine of high culture, has sold a sponsorship of its Facebook page to State Farm Insurance.

Hey State Farm, I reach a highly desirable demographic. Want to sponsor me?

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Microsoft Plans Retail Stores-- For Real?

2009-04-22T18:01:00.003-04:00

Anything you can do, I can do better? Hey, Microsoft be careful. Remember the Zune.

Microsoft announced that it will open Microsoft branded retail stores. This raises interesting strategic questions.

First, the business environment:

The OEM market is huge for Microsoft.
Microsoft has 88% market share of operating systems in the U.S. Most people get their Microsoft operating system when they buy their new computer. The manufacturers decide which version of the operating system to install and ship. And as PCs dominate, MS OS obviously dominates. But it doesn't always go the way Microsoft wants. It is interesting to note that there has been a bunch of noise in theblogosphere about manufacturers shipping new machines with the "downgraded" XP operating system but counting them as Vista machines.

(Random thought for another post: It is interesting that Intel chips have a bigger impact on consumer choice than the operating system that is installed on the machine.)

Computer sales are slowing like everything else.
PC sales 6% worldwide in 2008 according to Gartner. But the all the gains were racked up in the first three quarters. In the Q4 08, sales dropped more than 10% compared to Q4 07. That means fewer versions of the Microsoft operating systems. So perhaps people will hold off buying new computers. Consumer direct sales of operating systems (upgrades) could grow as people try to make their computers last longer. Prices of computers continue to fall. Will the cost of the operating systems?

Microsoft doesn't have direct interactions with consumers.
MS software products are sold through manufacturers. Their software is sold through retailers over which MS has little control. With an increasing number of consumer direct products like Zune and Xbox, Microsoft may be looking for more control over the sales experience and the presentation of its brands.

Microsoft's Solution = Retail stores

Retails stores could be seen as a form of brand marketing rather than a distribution play.

Apple's highly successful stores were primarily about distribution. And as a strategy, it worked. For Microsoft, retail stores as a distribution strategy makes less sense.

In a ComputerWorld article by Preston Gralla, he writes: "Seattle Times blogger Benjamin Romano has more details. He interviewed Microsoft President of Entertainment and Devices Robbie Bach, who compared Apple's stores to what Microsoft's will be:

'Apple's approach was about distribution. People forget that when they entered their stores [in 2001], this was quite a while ago, they didn't have distribution for Macintoshes, so they created their own distribution.
'We have plenty of distribution. These stores for us are about building our connection to customers, about building our brand presence and about reaching out and understanding what works and what improves the selling experience.
'So Apple you would think of as a volume distribution play. You should think of ours as much more of a brand and customer relationship investment more than anything else.' "

This has to be about Window 7.
Microsoft is releasing it Window 7 soon and needs that product to be far more successful than the Vistas launch. They can't risk a repeat with Window 7. So by definition the launch must be different. Microsoft was reportedly a bit puzzled about why Vistas wasn't better accepted by consumers. In focus group environments consumers really like Vistas, but in the real world, adoption was more difficult. Microsoft seemed to blame this on "unfair" media coverage. But perhaps it was a bit more complicated than that. Vistas is/was expensive. It is a memory hog. Windows XP, which was pre-installed on most everyones' machine, was running fine. So why pay several hundred dollars to upgrade to a new operating system with a few cool new features?

Will retail stores help or hurt the brand?
I don't have much of a desire to have more "experience" with Microsoft products. Dealing with the headaches they create at work seems enough. What kind of brand experience will they create? Apple is hip and cool, very mod. How do you reflect the Microsoft brand? Perhaps a key feature could be the Simulated Software Crash. It could be fun. Every 45 minutes they could turn the lights off, force customers to put down merchandise, clear the store of customers and force everyone out outside and then reopen. When they reopen the sales people could forget all the conversations they were just having.

Some think Microsoft retails make sense, like Joe Wilcox at Apple Watch, but he also raises the issue of what the stores will be like.

It seems to me that the challenge is getting people into the stores.
Why would I go to a Microsoft store if it isn't to repair my PC? What exclusive products will they have? What can I find there that I can't find at Best Buy for less cost?

What lessons can Microsoft take from Sony and Gateway Country Stores?
Didn't Sony start retail stores for brand reasons? I don't think you could call the Sony stores a retailing success, but perhaps that wasn't the point. It is about the brand lifestyle no doubt as they call the stores Sony Style Stores. And Gateway wanted to create a direct channel to deliver their unique brand to consumer face to face. The NYTs wasn't convinced it is working.

This will be interesting. I can't help but think of Discovery Stores that sought to build brand and experience while selling some products. Retail stores as a brand strategy is an expensive proposition. But if you are Microsoft, and you have the money, perhaps you view the retail loses as an investment in the brand. Eventually, somewhere, Microsoft will need to see a sales increase. Stay tuned.

President Signs National-Service Bill and Issues Call to Volunteer - Philanthropy.com

2009-04-22T12:35:00.005-04:00

President Signs National-Service Bill and Issues Call to Volunteer - Philanthropy.com

How will your company or organization take advantage of the opportunity thsi new national service bill offers?

Why do I say opportunity? Because most people, not all, but most, want to have meaning in their lives. They want to be good citizens, good family members, good neighbors. They want to give back. Many don't feel they have time or don't have a personal connection to a group that needs their help.

So why not enable your employees, members, constituents to be the good people they want to be?

And if they see you as helping them to become fuller people, so much the better. You will develop deeper, stronger, better relationships with you people. Go do it. Create a service initiative. Highlight and reward service. Find a tie in to your business. This is not hard. And it is smart business.

My Wish List of IPhone Apps for Marketing Chiefs - Advertising Age - Jonathan Salem Baskin

2009-04-22T12:26:00.000-04:00

Check out Jonathan Salem Baskin's article in this week's Ad Age. Clever. He's right. When will iPhone apps become truly useful business applications?

My Wish List of IPhone Apps for Marketing Chiefs - Advertising Age - Jonathan Salem Baskin

billoleary : photos : Te Quiero Madrid- powered by SmugMug

2009-04-01T15:22:00.002-04:00

billoleary : photos : Te Quiero Madrid- powered by SmugMug

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Where's My Bailout?

2009-04-01T15:12:00.003-04:00

The "Bailout" poses a problem for the Obama administration. Its a huge number, but who has felt it personally?

This is where the administration needs to be reminding people that things like low mortgage rates and extended unemployment benefits are a direct result of the federal action.

I think some people are expecting a federal agent to show up and hand them some cash. But don't assume people know how they are being helped.

Graffitti in New York outside the Holland Tunnel proves the point.

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Words Matter

2009-03-17T20:13:00.002-04:00

News flash: Words matter, in business, politics, where ever. Take the stimulus bill and the government actions to stabilize the banking system.

The word being thrown around by the media is NATIONALIZATION. What does that mean exactly? Is the government nationalizing the banks?

The technical answer doesn't really matter, because opponents to the bailout (recovery act, TARP, stimulus) have convinced the public that the government is, in fact, nationalizing the banks.

They don't need to elaborate on this. The details only muddy the message. A recent New Republic article by Noam Scheiber said,

"Money aside, the question of nationalization poses serious complications of its own. Even defining the concept is maddeningly difficult. At the broadest level, it implies the government would own the banks and nurse them to health before presumably selling them off. What no one knows--and few people specify--is what ownership would mean as a practical matter. Would the government involve itself in day-to-day management? Would it wipe out current shareholders and own the banks entirely, or would it be satisfied with a majority stake? Would nationalization be more like temporary seizure--that is, honestly accounting for bad assets and injecting new capital, then privatizing as quickly as possible?"

People are are busy. I image most people not directly involved in this (which is most of us) are saying things like, "If event the experts are sure how to define it and what it means, then believing it is nationalization isn't incorrect. And nationalization sounds bad. I am against."

Obama has been tactically outflanked because words matter and simple ideas resonate.

Republican 1. Obama 0.

GM Will Miss Bob Lutz

2009-02-23T14:58:00.005-05:00

So I have ranted about Detroit car makers. Here was my basic point: the reason they are in terrible shape is that they are run by the wrong parts of the company. Management has been totally focused on running a huge organization and oh, yeah, every few minutes a car rolls off the assembly line.

Bob Lutz did an interview with Ad Age last week in which he says exactly this. His big accomplishment, according to him, was getting GM to focus on the product and to build cars people want to drive. Kind of scary, but he's right. That is an enormous accomplishment.

I don't think they are there yet, but perhaps closer than they have been in decades.

What A-Rod Can Teach Us

2009-02-09T15:58:00.004-05:00

Who can you trust any more? Banks? The government? Baseball players?

Alex Rodriguez cheated. He's not alone, but he is one of the best players in baseball. He told Peter Gammons:

"I felt an enormous amount of pressure," said an emotional Rodriguez of the impetus to perform after inking a 10-year, $252 million deal with the Texas Rangers in the winter of 2000. "I was young. I was stupid."

A-Rod is scrambling now to figure out what to say, act, and respond. Seems to me he had six years to prepare an answer. Some unsolicited advice: it should start with, "Here's why I didn't disclose this six years ago."

His brand is done. Shot. He violated the rule that has become more important than any other these days: be authentic, be real, don't lie.

The same rule holds for corporations, universities, governments. Its not that hard to figure out.

If you want trust, be worthy of our trust.

If you want loyalty, be loyal to the values of your customers.

If you want a relationship, don't lie, obfuscate, or be too cute by half.

We will find out anyway. There is no hiding information any more. Better to hear it from you first and quickly if you had a lapse in judgment. Actions must match words. Now more than ever, we are all from Missouri.

Watch Out For Hyundai

2009-02-03T20:34:00.003-05:00

So January car sales were announced today. Chrysler down 55%. Ford down 40%. Toyota down 32%.

Guess whose sales rose in January? Ten guesses wouldn't be enough. Hyundai. Up 12%. Why?

Well, better cars, aggressive pricing in a down economy, sure. But it has to be related to their new ad campaign which offers a contract with buyers that Hyundai will take back your car if you lose your job.

Think about it. Marketers are supposed to get buyers interested in their products and then figure out what will get them to purchase. In some cases, like a car, it is a big decision for the consumer. For Hyundai, as an upstart brand, they have an additional challenge to get consumers to actually consider their brand. In normal times, Hyundai might have a harder time of that. But with everyone being price conscious, suddenly there is an opportunity.

But what is remarkable about the Hyundai story is that not only did they get consumers to consider their product, no simple task, but they also tackled the biggest barrier to purchase. In this economy, can you think of bigger barrier to buying a new car than "I might lose my job and won't be able to afford a new car"?

This is an authentic, timely campaign. It acknowledges the current reality of most consumers and offers a real solution to a real problem -- so much better than "employee-plus pricing." We all know that not even the employees are buying their cars right now.

Cudos to Goodby, Silverstein for this new campaign. And cudos to Hyundai execs for having the guts to go forward with this offer. Hyundai is clearly a marketing driven company at this point. Watch out Detroit.

What do you think? Is this offer enough to get you to consider Hyundai?

What the Snuggie Blanket Proves

2009-02-02T12:41:00.001-05:00

Have you seen the Snuggie Blanket? The blanket with arms? They have sold 4 million units since October. Mostly via direct-response TV.

It is a good reminder to me that I am not the target. As a marketer, we can often confuse things and forget that we are not the intended target of the product we are selling. If we are it is irrelevant.

What does our target think? What do they want/need? Let them tell you vs. deciding for them based on what you think.

It is hard sometimes to separate your personal opinion about a prodcut from our professional assessment of what the market thinks, but that is why we are employed.

I don't get the Snuggie, but luckily someone knew the market would want it. Who knew?

The Winner of the Superbowl is etrade

2009-02-01T22:36:00.003-05:00

Once again etrade delivers great ads that people will remember. Ad age says their previous ads boosted funded accounts by 32% in the week after the Superbowl last year. Not bad.

Love the golf ad.

Singing baby, not bad.

Funny baby is great.

And the outtakes are hysterical.

Top 5 Songs in 2008 Commercials

2009-01-15T15:44:00.006-05:00

Music is an underutilized tool in advertising. There were a few advertisers who used music as a key element of their advertising, as opposed to a background track to fill dead space.

So here's my list of top songs for 2008:

Advertiser: Amstel Light
Song: Chelsea Dagger
Musician: The Fratellis

Amstel used this spot and this song to reenergize their brand and highlight its import credentials. It is much more male focused than their traditional message. My guess is this is aimed at Heineken and Stella drinkers who view Amstel as a girl's beer. Looks like they are muscling it up.

Advertiser: Bacardi
Song: The Muddle
Musician: ?

Bacardi was a bit genius this year by branding the mojito. These cool spots with thumping music really worked.

Advertiser: Apple iPod nano
Song: Bruises
Musician: Chairlift

What needs to be said? Apple is the master of using music in their spots. Their entire iPod series is pure genius and has created several music hits such as Bruises. Apple is best in class.

Advertiser: Nike
Song: List of Demands
Musician: Saul Williams

Nike is nothing but cool. They use great cinematography and music in all their spots to create an attitude and energy that few other advertisers can match. This spot makes you want to get up an run.

Advertiser: Lincoln MKS
Song: Technologic
Musician: Daft Punk

Lincoln is trying to change its image, to be more edgy, focused on technical superiority, which is a slight reach from where the brand has been. These spots help move Lincoln closer to Cadillac and further away from Buick.

If you are curious about music in commercials there are a few good sources (gotta love the internet):
http://www.squidoo.com/tv_commercial_music
http://www.whatsthatcalled.com/forum/index.php?automodule=blog&blogid=1&
http://adtunes.com/
http://findthatsong.net/
http://www.google.com/Top/Arts/Television/Commercials/

What Business Are They In?

2009-01-07T17:59:00.004-05:00

Some companies do not know what business they are in.

The car makers have made this clear. They are in a consumer products business, but run the company like they are a finance company or a manufacturer. Consider Proctor and Gamble. They manufacture a whole lot of products from Pampers to Tide. But they understand the business they are in. They are not run by the finance function or the manufacturing function. They are run by the brand managers.

The U.S. airline industry is another where management has a fundamental misunderstanding of which business they are in. They are run as if they were in the transportation business. Just because you own planes and move people and luggage around doesn't mean you are in the transportation business. They are in the service business, just like Ritz Carlton or Marriott. Ritz Carlton does not treat its guests as if it were in the real estate business just because they own hotels.

Think about it. How memorable is it when a flight attendant is actually pleasant and truly accommodating? When was the last innovation in the airline business that was done for the consumer's interest and not the airlines'? You wonder why Southwest has done well? It has managed to combine good service with cheap prices. The service is appropriate for the price you pay. It is a fair trade and consumers have voted with their dollars.

What business is your company in? Who really runs the company? Companies who really understand their business and their customers have aligned the answers to these two questions.

Are You Spamming Your Email List?

2009-01-07T13:46:00.013-05:00

Everyone hates spam. Marketers know this better than anyone. But the reality of today's business environment is driving marketers to send more and more email messages. Budgets are tight and email is free. And more and more people are seeking and obtaining their news and information online. So it just makes sense.

If you are like me, you have signed up for all kinds of websites and enewsletters over the years. My inbox fills up every day with emails that I have supposedly asked to receive. Its too much. It borders on spam. But I asked for this right? So when do opt in emails become spam? How do you actually define spam anyway?

Typically, it seems spam is defined in terms of the sender -- spam is an email sent by a faceless, nameless individual to people who didn't ask to receive it. Fair enough. But there is a legal form of spam that is only getting worse -- Opt-in Email Assault or "OEA" as I call it.

We have all been victims of OEA. You know how it goes. You are forced to register with a web site and in the process they ask you if you want to receive email updates. "Sure, why not." And then it starts. Two emails the first day. Four the second day. Six by the third day. By day three you aren't even deleting their emails, but the view pane in your email opens it so the marketer on the other side is all excited because 40% of his recipients are opening his email.......

As marketers, we often assume that if a user has signed up and opted-in to our emails that we have all the permissions we need to reach out to those users whenever we want.

So what is the right number of emails to send to your user base, you may ask? When does it become spam? Answer: when the user decides your emails are not valuable or relevant.

For a recipient, spam has much less to do with the number of emails and everything to do with the relevancy of the information to the user. If the user wants each and every one of your emails because they find them useful or informative, then it isn't spam. If you send them dozens or hundreds of messages they don't want, users will consider it spam.

Here's a formula:
Limited number of emails of Low Relevancy = Slight Annoyance
High number of email of Low Relevancy = Spam

The trick is providing valuable content and understanding the interests and needs of your user base. Users are now expecting to control the ways marketers communicate with them. It is now on the users terms and if you don't allow them to choose those terms, you risk frustrating or alienating your users. The more specific and specialized you can be, the more relevant and valuable your emails will be. Here are a few rules to follow with your opt in email lists.

Allow your users to:

1. Tell you as specifically as possible what kind of information they want to receive.

2. Determine how often they want to receive messages from you.

3. Determine through which channels you communicate with them.

Email is such a frustration for people, if you add to that frustration it can only hurt your brand.

Posts Video, Photos Direct From Email on Posterous

2008-12-22T16:26:00.008-05:00

Check out Posterous. It is a site that allows you to post video and photos to a unique page that they create for you just by sending an email. You can set password controls or leave it open to the public. And its free.

According to Techcrunch, they apparently just got a new round of funding. It will be interesting to see how they monetize this.

They announced today a new group blogging feature that allows groups to send in posts directly to the blog. Seems ideal for groups of friends, families, reunions, etc. I started using Posterous today and it is wickedly simple to use.

Very cool service. Seems like the kind of app facebook or google will want for Christmas.

Saab Proves GM Doesn't Get Consumers

2008-12-18T15:52:00.019-05:00

So my theory about Detroit is that they have struggled because they are not consumer focused companies. And probably haven't been in decades. Saab is a perfect example.

GM went looking for growth in the late 1990's like all the other car makers. With Saab they saw an opportunity. Unfortunately, what they saw was an opportunity for themselves. Here is what I mean.

Saab has been a quirky, little brand for years with lots of loyal Saab owners. (Disclosure: I owned three Saabs in the 90's.) The Saab loyalists loved the outsider personality of the brand. They loved the unusual, even odd, designs. They loved that their cars were quirky and considered it personality, part of the charm.

The big publicly known problem with Saabs was that they were mechanically challenged. To own a Saab was to know a mechanic on a first name basis. GM looked at Saab and said, hey we can solve their biggest problem. We can put in GM engines and share the chassis across different brands such as Subaru. It will create efficiency and reliability. We can also make the designs a little more mainstream and attract a broader consumer base once the mechanical reliability is improved. With Saab, they saw the opportunity to solve their own problem, excess manufacturing capacity.

But there was a problem with this approach. It isn't what the Saab owners wanted. The Saab consumers would not take mechanical perfection if it meant giving up the personality of their Saabs. And this is exactly what GM did.

GM put in GM engines and "redesigned" the 9-3, their base model to try and attract new, young buyers who have never purchased a Saab before. They were successful at first, but here is what has happened since then. Saab is now selling less than half the units they did in the first year of GM ownership. Saab loyalists have all but abandoned the brand and those new 9-3 buyers don't seem to be buying a second Saab.

So by creating an efficient (read as less costly to produce) product that appeals to a broader market, they managed to completely change the brand and misread the loyal customers that they inherited. Ford, in a rare example of consumer focus, understood that Volvo = safety and practicality. They have not changed the core brand values. (It still may not save them from being sold, but at least the brand is intact.) Saab used to equal interesting design and fun driving. Not so much any more.

GM made its initial investment in Saab in 1990 and took full control in 2000. US sales climbed to a record 47,914 in 2003. In 2008, they were down 31% through October. Last year, GM sold 9.55 million vehicles globally, making Saab a small, distracting brand with 125k units sold. Now it seems that Saab is on the block. Too bad. It didn't have to be like this. If Detroit understood brands and consumers, this might have been avoided.

Where Detroit Went Wrong

2008-12-17T14:55:00.006-05:00

Here is my theory. The Big Three stopped being customer focused businesses decades ago.

Every company has a personality, which most of us call the "culture" of that company. And in every company there is one business function that really controls the company. For example, finance, manufacturing, marketing could all be the function that calls the final shots. At P&G it is marketing, at Fed Ex it is operations, at Citi it is finance. Most times this is unwritten, but understood by all.

So much of a company's culture is determined by the dominant function within the company. At the automakers, finance and manufacturing long ago became the dominant functions and ultimately drove the products that the company made. How else do you explain the Pontiac Aztec?

With perhaps the exception of their pick up trucks, the Big Three have not built cars that people really want in many, many years. Their quality is apparently equal to the other car makers now. So why don't we want to buy American cars? Because they weren't designed and built based on what we want. They were designed and built based on what the company wanted to build, the need to feed their large manufacturing operation busy, the need to pay their long term obligations. And to be clear, the dealers are not end consumers and depending upon their opinions is better than nothing, but no substitute for meeting consumers needs.

To be fair, I think Ford is now taking much more of a consumer focus and their CMO Jim Farley is their best chance at bringing the consumer's voice into the design and engineering studios.

If the U.S. automakers were consumer focused and not internally focused, their brand strategy would have made a whole lot more sense. What role does Buick play in their product portfolio? Why do they make the exact same model under the GM label and Chevy label? We all know it is exactly the same car/truck. So what is the point?

In recent years, realizing their products weren't meeting broad swaths of the market, Detroit began buying foreign automakers like Volvo, Saab and Hummer. But look what GM did to Saab. They tried to standardize their engines and platforms. The designs became more vanilla and units sold have dropped by almost half since GM purchased them.

Jim Farley and his comrades are the key to the Big Three's survival, with or without a large bailout package.

Managing Your Personal Brand Online

2008-12-15T15:48:00.008-05:00

With the proliferation of news sites, social networking profiles and video and photo sharing, you (your name or your photo) can probably be found all around the Internet. Increasingly, people are trying to manage their online brands. But before you "manage" your mentions, you need to know what mentions are out there. There are a couple of easy, interesting ways to do this:

Google:
If you are like most of us, occasionally you type your name into google to see what you will get. To get automatic updates you can set up google news alerts with your name as the key words and you will get an email any time a news story or blog mentions you.

Addict-o-matic:
This is a site that searches major websites and services for mentions key words. It searches Twitter, Google Blog search, Yahoo News, Flickr among others. It is a great way to search a large number of important sites and services.

Technorati:
Technorati is a well know blog search engine service. They seek to make the blogosphere accessible. You can search for blogs by topic. You can see which blogs have the most traffic. You can also search your name if you so choose to see if you are coming up in any blog discussions. Unlikely for most of us, but you half-famous people may need this.

Social Media Projections for 2009

2008-12-15T11:51:00.004-05:00

Most marketers I talk to are stunned at the speed and breadth of change in the social media space. A few years ago, no one had heard of Facebook and now 40 year old moms are sending party invites to their friends and writing on walls in Facebook.

Check out a new report published today that includes some of the leading thinkers in this space. Social Media Projections for 2009 is a straight forward title for a report that is chock full of insight about where things might be heading. You can view it inline below compliments of Scribd.
Social Media 2009

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Management Business social media 2009

Be sure to read in Rhohit Bhargava's piece "What Marketers Did...(2008) / What Marketers Will Do (2009)" He says in essence, we will begin to adapt to the power of these networks vs. trying to force our constructs into a new world. Example, conduct "focus groups" on social media usage by customers to determine "authoritative" results to inform your strategy. In this new world, we can and should use these networks to gather the same information that expensive, formal research would produce.

How To Sell A Commodity...Like Chewing Gum

2008-12-14T14:54:00.010-05:00

A brand that caught my attention is Stride Gum. Chewing gum is a boring, undifferentiated category. So how do you create a distinct brand? Create a personality that targets a clearly defined audience and let them know what problem your product solves for them. And their marketing mix is creative for a chewing gum, and not dependent on coupons, inserts and tv spots.

The Target: Stride's audience is 18-30, for sure, and based on their ads and web marketing, it is focused on young men. I am not exactly in the demo myself, but they got my attention.

The Personality: They have a new ad campaign that is very funny. "Office Park" is my favorite spot of this year. These ads will get them noticed.

They also have a clever viral campaign that on the face of it seems only tangentially related to the brand, but is actually central to their brand strategy. Stride is on to it...get others to spread the word about your product and you immediately get more from your ad spend. They sponsored the travels of Matt, an ordinary guy who travelled the world filming himself dancing with average people in dozens and dozens of countries.

It sounds dumb, until you watch it. Then it becomes a bit addicting and you start asking all sorts of questions. He is featured on their website under Matt's Place. He also has a website that tells his story, no college, doesn't like to work, wants to travel, dances like a goof and found someone to pay him for it. Not inspiring, but funny to the right demo.....high school and college aged guys, perhaps?

The Problem To Solve: Television brand advertising can be a colossal waste of money, but it can also be very effective if you have a strong creative brief that clearly outlines your audience, your business objective and the consumer's problem to be solved. The folks at Stride seem to be trying to solve three issues at once with their new spots: 1) attract new customers and encourage trial with strong creative that breaks through the clutter and gets Stride noticed, 2) the promise of a gum that is exciting and has long lasting flavor and 3) encourage existing customers to chew more gum.

Keep your eye on these guys. They are creative marketers.

Facebook's Scary New Service...Is Brilliant

2008-12-03T11:13:00.005-05:00

Facebook has a brilliant new strategy. But if you are over 30, when you first hear it, you might be scratching your head. Some may even be a little freaked.

They want to launch a service that allow you to share your web activities with your facebook friends. The service is called Facebook Connect and allows users to log on to web sites and see their friends behavior on those sites. The NYTs has an interesting article about it today.

What is genius is that it allows sites that currently are not "social" sites, to be pulled quickly and easily into the facebook world. This is really the next evolution of the Share This button. Scary and wildly interesting.....

Segmenting Your Web Audience -- Google Just Made It Easy

2008-12-02T16:57:00.001-05:00

The challenge with third party segmentations is that they are expensive and never seem to be "exactly" right for your needs. And how do leap from household address to web behavior? Google Analytics, which is quickly becoming the de facto web tracking tool, has released an "on the fly" segmentation tool.

Google Analytics Blog: More Enterprise-Class Features Added To Google Analytics

You are only as good as what you can track. It looks like a promising tool that will allow marketers and others to unlock the data that they are capturing.

A good quick explanation is available on Online Sales blog

Want to Figure Out Your Social Media ROI? Consider a Plan. | Marketing Profs Daily Fix Blog

2008-12-01T12:29:00.002-05:00

With social media all the rage, how does it fit into a fixed marketing budget based on ROI and measurement? What are a whole bunch of tweets worth? Beth Harte has an interesting post on MarketingProfs.

Want to Figure Out Your Social Media ROI? Consider a Plan.

"It’s all the buzz these days, what is the ROI of social media? What’s the return? How much money can I make off this social media stuff? What’s the investment? How much time and money is this going to take? You’ve heard it all, right? We know conversation with our customers is the right thing to do. But how can we justify utilizing social media even on the most basic of levels?"
Remember when dotcoms were new and investors and entrepreneurs tried to convince the world that the old metrics didn't apply any more? Well, turns out that the metrics hadn't really changed that much. If you don't have sales, you can't have profits. And without profits, you can't stay in business indefinitely."
So even though social media is new (and many of the companies haven't figured out how to make money for themselves) I am guessing the old metrics still apply and we need to figure out how to track the success of social media within our larger marketing mix.

Old School Buzz Marketing -- A Line Out The Door

2008-11-24T17:03:00.003-05:00

In Washington a new, little shop has opened -- Georgetown Cupcake. It sells upscale (read expensive and delicous)cupcakes and only cupcakes out of a tiny shop. The shop is so small that only a few customers at a time can fit in there. And whether planned or not, this fact has led to their greatest marketing tool -- a constant line of 15-50 people at all times.

Now don't get me wrong, these ladies are doing everything right. The packaging is clean and sharp and exudes sophistication. The product is very good. Their logo is cool and the company Range Rover that tools around town is "on message."

But the line! If all those people are waiting in line, why aren't I? What am I missing? Those cupcakes must be precious.

If I had been looking for a space to open a cupcake shop, I don't know that I would have worried about customers not fitting into the shop. Frankly, I probably would worry we would have enough customers to keep the shop open. But now that a line is their problem, I say, ladies don't move the shop. Keep the line. Hand out umbrellas. Put 0ut a heat lamp. But keep the line.

What the Car Makers Can Teach Us About PR

2008-11-20T15:54:00.004-05:00

Understand your audience: Don't spend $1,000 an hour to fly to DC to ask for taxpayers money

Tell a plausible story: If your products are horrible, don't blame consumers for not buying them.

Be truthful: You forgot you were selling a product. You were too busy running an organization. That is and was your problem, not the economy

Untenable Public Positions -- Smithsonian Trustees Exhibit #1

2008-11-19T17:39:00.005-05:00

Rule number one of public relations - Don't take a public stand that a) sounds disengenuous b) undermines your credibility c) appears completely self-serving d) all of the above.

The Smithsonian Board of Trustees have no credible reason for not taking accountability for the situation there. Either they did know the situation and approved (which is the case) or they didn't know, disapproved, and are guilty of negligence. Either way there is no reasonable justification for how or why they escaped accountability.

They held a public Board meeting this week...their first ever as I understand it. The Washington Post, which has shamelessly exploited the situation with its New York Post-like coverage, wrote about the meeting.

At its first-ever public meeting, the regents of the Smithsonian Institution sat
around a red-covered table and announced they wanted "a lively dialogue."
The audience did not hold back. The first volley from the public, gathered
in an auditorium at the National Museum of Natural History, was essentially this: Why didn't all of you resign, since you are the
people who picked the last secretary? The tone of the question implied that
the
group was responsible for the tenure of Lawrence M. Small, which ended in
a scandal and smeared the reputation of the Smithsonian.
Regents
Chairman Roger W. Sant repeated what he
has said many times before: The board asked its members, "Do we resign or
roll
up our sleeves?"

And so I say, Roger, be a man. Take responsibility. Resign. And when you leave, take James Grimaldi and Jackie Trescott with you.

Genuine Corporate Philanthropy -- RIP

2008-11-19T17:12:00.002-05:00

The trend has been growing for a number of years and the financial crisis may have finally put a nail in the coffin of truly selfless corporate philanthropy.

In fact, I believe corporate philanthropy doesn't exist anymore. At least not in a traditional way where giving is done with no expectation of return. Where giving is about doing the right because it is the right thing to do.

Today, corporate philanthropy has to forward the mission, the bottom line or the reputation DIRECTLY. Don't take my word for it. The Economist held and interesting conferenc e this week where this was discussed.

2008-11-19T11:32:00.001-05:00

Bill is trying out Ping. What a cool service. Check it out at www.ping.fm

Pepsi's Big News

2008-11-18T18:31:00.002-05:00

Pepsi is kicking its agency to the curb after 48 years?!?!?! BBDO is out and Chiat/Day is in....is this further evidence that TV advertising is dead? Would love to know the back story to the NYT story....

Don't Understand SEO?

2008-11-16T22:20:00.003-05:00

There is a good presentation from Ogilvy on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is the modern day version of buying prime real estate. Every marketer needs to use this tactic.

Email Marketing Help

2008-11-16T21:56:00.005-05:00

DM News, a direct marketing magazine and website, have just published an email marketing guide and it is quite good. Email is cheap, quick and overused. Very few companies seem to do email marketing really well.

The guide from DM News provides some helpful tips as well as good emerging trend info.

The Right Way to Display Data

2008-11-14T22:13:00.002-05:00

How you display data is everything. Great data, displayed poorly is like a brilliant idea that you can't explain to anyone. When you display your data correctly, it tells a story without a single word being spoken.

The New York Times does an excellent job of displaying complex data sets, often across multiple axis. If you haven't checked out their election maps, you must. Be sure to look at the county analysis.

A Great Marketer Shares a Great Presentation

2008-11-14T12:32:00.002-05:00

Seth Godin has a new book out named /Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us. /He has posted a presentation about the book at slideshare, another very cool resource. This is how captivating presentations are done.

I know...you are thinking, I work in a very corporate (read as stuffy, conservative, etc) environment. You won't be able to get away with an entire presentation like this, but look at the impact of the images he uses and how little text there is.

What will people remember from your presentation? 84 bullet points in 12 point font?

Polls: Exact Science or Fuzzy Math?

2008-11-11T16:45:00.006-05:00

Polling is either an exact science or fuzzy math depending upon with whom you talk. The major polls got it mostly right this time around. And how addicting was Real Clear Politics?

There is a good article in the Wilson Quarterly, which is by the way, a great magazine. It is called, "Poll Power" by Scott Keeter.

It is funny how the Founding Father's feared direct democracy....

"It is doubtful that the Founding Fathers would have taken much comfort in the reliability of survey research. They were skeptical of public opinion and fearful of direct democracy, believing, as James Madison artfully declared, that the public’s views should be 'refine[d] and enlarge[d] . . . by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country, and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations.'"

The Sound of Democracy

2008-11-11T16:38:00.006-05:00

So I am reading an interesting book, The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution, by David O. Stewart. On the heels of the most exciting Presidential election in a generation, it is interesting to see how we ended up with the electoral college.

It is funny how the Founding Father's feared direct democracy....they were democrats, small d, and elitists in the kindest sense of the word. They didn't really believe that everyone had a voice. How different we are now. Now any idiot with access to a computer can make their voice heard with blog or comment box.
And yet, the noise of it all is the sound of democracy.

I wonder how many of those guys failed to vote......

Worst Advertising of the Week

2008-11-05T16:19:00.000-05:00

Prilosec OTC

They have a new commercial, or at least it is the first time I have seen
it. And I hope it is the last. It features a 40 something year old
white woman, dancing at what looks like a 25th high school reunion. She
is dancing like Elaine from Seinfeld, but it is not meant to be a joke.
Wow. What a bad ad.

Obama Campaign = World Class Marketing

2008-11-05T16:14:00.000-05:00

There is a great article in Ad Age 'What Marketers Can Learn From Obama
<http://adage.com/columns/article?article_id=132237>' which says, "Nov.
4, 2008, will go down in history as the biggest day ever in the history
of marketing. " This is not an exaggeration.

The Obama campaign was pure marketing genius, from strategy to
execution. They positioned their product perfectly. Built an
unprecedented distribution network, changed consumer behavior and made
purchase of their product about far more than the product itself.

The genius of Obama's campaign is that it tapped into that truly
American desire to dream big dreams. He created a movement that at its
core was about redeeming this ability to dream. It only became clear to
me last night. I knew it was about change, and I knew he had created a
movement in this country to create change, but I didn't appreciate that
the lifeblood of the movement was this desire to dream.......amazing.

Thoughts on Voting for a President

2008-10-24T10:41:00.003-04:00

Great article from Leon Wieseletier at the New Republic about voting for a president. In marketing you learn, people are complex and as much as we desire to put them in a box and describe them as a means to understand them, most people defy strict categorization. So when we go to vote, how could any candidate accurately embrace or reflect all our contradictions? No wonder people always feel they are choosing between the lesser of two evils>

My favorite part of his article: "McCain feels with his heart, but he thinks with his base. And when he picked Sarah Palin, he told the United States of America to go fuck itself."

Comment Crazies

2008-10-02T15:55:00.003-04:00

When Comment Boxes were created on the web so readers could leave comments, I am sure everyone thought it was brilliant, a democratization of the web, give everyone a voice.

Here's the problem, the only people who seem to comment are the same people in your (school, business, church) who are the first to complain, blame, criticize, mock or dismiss. And they are usually the most ignorant. Now, not only do they annoy you, they have the ability to annoy the entire world. I call them the Comment Crazies.

Think I am exaggerating? Go find a news story with a number of comments posted. Any story will do. The more important the better. Then look at the comments. My guess is that 80 percent of comments are angry or ridicule, 10 percent seek to clarify a point and 10 percent are too strange to classify. On rare occasion you may have someone defending a position.

It is easy to be against something. It takes knowledge and conviction to be for something. If you have an opinion and you want to post a comment on line, please ask yourself first, "Will my opinion enhance this conversation?" Or is it just mindless, grammatically incorrect, hate-laced drivel?

Think before you post! For the rest of us....

Old School Cool

2008-09-03T20:19:00.001-04:00

Okay, so if you aren't a doctor or dealer, why would you have a pager? Old school uncool.

Saw a guy today on a cell phone with a retractable antena. Who still has one of those? Old school cool!

Barack, Don't Take The Bait

2008-08-23T13:35:00.001-04:00

The Republicans will try desperately to force Obama to state all his policy positions. "How can we vote for him if we don't his stand on the policies?"

The Republicans want Obama and the Dems to take about policy planks because voters don't elect a president based on policy. They vote for the candidate that shares their values, inspires their hopes, and who seems like a real person.

Don't offer dizzying explanations of tax policy. Speak of economic pain. Bring back Carville if it helps to remember 1992 -- It's the economy stupid!

Creating a Cause Brand

2008-08-13T16:47:00.004-04:00

Causes and cause brands are different than regular products or services. Typically, there is some larger engagement with consumers -- beyond purchase or use of a product. You must enroll followers in your cause, often through the actions and activities of your consumers. So how do you do that?

1) An effective cause requires:

a. A clearly stated goal to be achieved – such as eliminate malaria, get Obama elected, reduce childhood obesity

b. A sense of urgency

c. Proof points of the cause's progress/results – Obama touts fundraising, number of donors/volunteers, new registered voters

d. Clear and multiple ways to get involved beyond giving money

e. A rapid response and broad channel communications capability

2) Your brand must have an opinion and must stand for something. What does it have to say?

3) The opinion of your brand must begin with/come from your leader. Movements need leaders.

4) The mission of the cause and your brand's involvement must be authentic. Consumers are cynical and will not abide disingenuous motives. For example, it will be difficult for Exxon and BP to lead an effort to affect climate change. Their conflicted position does not allow them to be leaders of this cause. They can support it, but not lead it

Jet Blue's Pillow Talk

2008-08-05T22:10:00.001-04:00

So Jet Blue has announced that on flights over two hours, they are no longer providing free pillows and blankets. Instead they are selling a pillow and blanket kit for $7.

So let's keep a couple of things in mind as we consider this move. Jet Bue has fashioned itself as a fairly hip, smart brand. Its customers are probably savvier than your average consumer. Owning and running an airline is a crappy business that struggles to make money in the best of times. Jet Blue customers probably read newspapers. This is also the same company that cratered when it appeared tone deaf to customer complaints during its operational melt down during a winter storm in NY.

Now we have their explanation of the new pillows. The company's comment appeared in article today in the New York Times. "Replacing our old, recycled pillows and blankets with this state-of-the-art high-quality take-home kit is an eco-conscious, health conscious and consumer-conscious decision," the general manager for product devlopment, Brett Muney, said.

Brett! You forgot the part about it saving the company a couple million dollars. And here's the joke. Your customers understand you need to run a profitable business. What they can't understand is why you would insult their intellegence with a half truth. They look like cool blankets. We can handle it.

Integrity and authenticity. This is how a company wins. And every time you try to spin you customer you erode part of a hard earned trust.

Bad Advertising of the Week

2008-08-04T22:17:00.003-04:00

This week's winner: John McCain

I mean c'mon.

I know Willy Horton worked well for George Bush Sr. But have you seen John McCain's new attack ad? It is a montage of Obama pictures, most from a large rally. In the background we hear the crowd chanting "Obama. Obama." The voice over talks about how Obama is the biggest celebrity in the world. And at that point they show a picture of Britney Spears and then one of Paris Hilton, while fading back to Obama. The actual message of the ad blames Obama for high gas prices which alone is kind of silly.

The ad is fairly genius and pathetic. I mean, if you got nothing else, take the worst of society and try and pin it on your opponent. It's not racial. They couldn't do that...yet. Could this really work?

I have to say. I am bit fascinated, in a car crash kind of way. It will be interesting to see if this ad moves the polls. It seems too heavy handed to me, but then, I am not a swing voter.

More Miller!

2008-07-31T18:45:00.002-04:00

Ok. So I have been watching a lot of sports lately. I love the Miller High Life campaign. The lastest spot where their lovable Miller High Life beer delivery guy goes to a sporting event to drop off Miller in one of the suites is priceless. Seems watching a game (or not watching as the case is) from a suite is grounds for taking away real beer.

Very funny and very effective.

GM and Ford - Which Ad Strategy Is Right?

2008-07-23T09:25:00.002-04:00

GM, primarily through its Chevy and GMC units, has been advertising heavily over the last week or so. They ads emphasize the (relative) fuel efficiency of its trucks and SUVs in one ad and then the fuel efficiency of their smaller models in another that has been in heavy rotation.

Ford meanwhile has been silent. And so it got me to wondering, what are the different strategies here? It is clear GM is trying to move inventory even in this challenging economy and spending heavily to try and do it. Ford seems to be keeping their powder dry. I am not sure what their plan is.

I think they announce earnings and a new company strategy Thursday, so I would expect to see move advertising from them after Thursday. I would not be against Jim Farley, the CMO at Ford. I am eager to see what comes next.

Bad Advertising of the Week

2008-07-15T19:26:00.002-04:00

This Weeks Winner: Merrill Lynch

They are running an ad that has a big bull running around deserted countryside while some non-memorable male voice over talks about BLAH BLAH BLAH experience BLAH which way do you go BLAH help BLAH before the bull appears on a ridge overlooking a large city (New York?).

Who is this ad intended to reach and what am I supposed to remember? I don't remember a single line and if the bull wasn't actually Merrill's logo, I am certain that I wouldn't remember if it was an ad for Merrill or Morgan Stanley (another unmemorable advertiser).

What makes you different? Why should I hire you? What is your personality?

Same space, like the company or not, but Charles Schwab has a personality. Their "Ask Chuck" campaign at least stands out. I hope the Merrill Lynch brokers are good at signing up accounts because I doubt their corporate advertising is helping much.

Product Extensions That Make Sense

2008-07-14T13:02:00.006-04:00

Remember Lo Jack -- the mysterious service that allows the police to track your car if it is stolen? Was it some beacon or something? I am not sure, but I remember how cool it was and how it was "the" anti-theft product to have for your car.

Well I was in the Apple Store the other day and saw what is possibly the smartest product extensions I have seen in a while. Lo Jack for your laptop! So if someone steals it, you can track down your computer. Just like the car version, I don't know how it works, but Lo Jack is such a credible name in theft recovery, this just makes perfect sense.

Imagine how much you would have to spend in advertising to convince people that you have a product that helps you recover your laptop just like Lo Jack can help you find your car. Better to just call it Lo Jack for you computer.

When you can use your credibility for a providing a service in one industry and can extend that brand into another industry, that is a home run.

Simple and Irrational Can Be Wildly Successful

2008-06-30T20:24:00.004-04:00

Look on your AMEX card and you will find a small "Member Since" at the botton. Sports Illustrated does it too with the subscription renewal forms. Why should anyone really care if they have been an AMEX "member since" college or an SI subscriber since high school?

There is nothing rational about membership. This plays to our emotional connection with brands. Brands become a part of who we are and how we think about ourselves. Why else would it matter how long I have been a member of a credit card company that doesn't really have members?

What are you doing to appeal to the emotions of your customers? And try to keep it simple.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Hessekiel is the founder and president of the Cause Marketing Forum, a business dedicated to helping companies and causes succeed together. Its eighth annual conference will be held in Chicago on June 2-3.

bill oleary's blog

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