Art Appreciation for Amateurs
Day 2 of NOT talking about social media on social media outlets… How about discussing the impact of seemingly unimportant selections of STUFF?
“… represents millions of dollars and countless jobs…”
“It’s comical how you think you’ve made a choice that exempts you…”
Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada
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It’s been more than a decade since The Cluetrain Manifesto by Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger rocked the Web and climbed to the best-seller list. It’s effects continue to percolate across our culture and commerce. Hey business, “it’s not your relationship to manage!” Just as you finally come to grips with Customer Relationship Management (CRM), the customers themselves have turned the tables… and now they’re managing you.
Let’s see if some of the Cluetrain “predictive theses” have come true…
Does this look like 2010?
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Like any other business, the media industry evolves in cycles. In the past few years, the job openings at media companies have been few and far between, but now, as content converges and more media companies are looking for interesting and engaging ways to branch out and reach larger population bases, there is an increase in the availability of highly coveted marketing positions. However, the availability of new technologies and new developments in the media industry have created a demand for new kinds of experience, cultural knowledge and skill sets that candidates must be aware of it they wish to vye for such a position.
The media industry, historically, has not provided much in the way of career potential for marketing executives. Today, though, it is currently exceeding more mature industries, such as consumer packaged goods, in career opportunities. When searching for a marketing position in the media industry, it’s important to know that the industry itself is highly varied. There’s online media, traditional print media (newspapers, magazines, trade publications, etc.), television media, music media, etc. All these forms have different revenue models that require a different forms of marketing. For example, an e-commerce focused company might be interested in hiring marketing professionals to support customer acquisitions or product development, while a newspaper might need marketing support for circulation.
Newspaper executives know that online classified-advertising services are taking a bite out of industry revenues. Recent announcements by Google and Microsoft suggesting their interest in the classifieds business only add to the newspapers’ concerns, which also include rising costs and declining circulation.
From 2001 to 2004, online players such as craigslist, Monster, and Realtor.com captured approximately 5% of the newspapers’ U.S. market share—resulting in a loss of $2 billion of the $34 billion classifieds market. In some categories of classifieds, the loss was far greater: 40% or more. Lost market share is only part of the story. Newspapers are having difficulty raising advertising rates to make up for sagging volume, since online competitors offer advertisers an inexpensive (and inexhaustible) supply of ad space in local and national markets. In some cities, newspapers find that they must offer small advertisers general classified ads free of charge. Newspaper publishers cannot afford to give ground, because classified ads make up more than one-third of their advertising revenues. display ads account for most of the rest.
Any company that sells similar products at a range of prices fears cannibalization. Take the case of a subscription media company that expanded from one product line to a mix of offers that included several similar but lower-priced products sold through a number of channels. Executives felt that the new offers were necessary because the original product, while quite profitable, was losing market share and might never penetrate certain customer segments. The new products did indeed attract these elusive customers, but the lower prices also lured some established customers away from the mature product.
Deciding how aggressively to push the new offers proved difficult. The company’s customer-relationship-management system allowed marketers to pinpoint the extent of the cannibalization. Yet the data implied simplistic recommendations—for instance, abandoning the new products without regard for their strategic importance. Unless the implications were clarified, product managers balked at exploring the trade-offs between market share and profitability. Indeed, they had an incentive not to do so, for each product was organized as a separate, competing business with its own sales targets.
To break the stalemate, smart senior executives are looking beyond traditional marketing and media buying approaches to data and search engine optimization techniques for planning new marketing expenditures. Expanding and embracing new forms of marketing that engage and attract younger audiences (to stave off natural attrition rates) are the salvation for traditional print media. Not to completely replace it… but to make for a more rich and enticing user experience.
Here are ten essentials of marketing for the next 100 years to ensure that this industry continues to thrive and contribute to the growth of the U.S. economy.
1. Become increasingly targeted, focused, and personal: The future is a world in which consumers receive only messages that interest them… and only when they are receptive to these messages. However, marketing goes beyond just communicating with customers. It encompasses the entire process of customer relationship management… attracting, retaining and growing long-term loyalty.
2. Build real, tangible and enduring brand value: Fundamentally, marketing is about building brands and brand value. As an industry, marketing must focus on taking strong brands and making them stronger; taking brands that have lost their way and restoring them to prominence; and building new, powerful brand that meet the emerging consumer needs of tomorrow.
3. Become increasingly effective, more creative, insightful and accountable: Marketing effectiveness depends on smart consumer insights that are meaningful, actionable and predictive. Effective marketing also requires great creative, driven by these consumer insights. Effective marketing must be reliably and consistently accountable, informing us about how well we are building brands and growing business.
4. Become more integrated and proficient in managing expanding media platforms: Marketing must be seamlessly integrated across all media and marketing functions. Integrated marketing, however, continues to be talked about more than actually implemented. Marketers must strategically approach decisions and media choices in a completely agnostic fashion. Every marketing resource must seamlessly work to build brands and grow businesses.
5. Supply chain must become more efficient and productive: Marketing efficiency enables us to shorten the supply chain, reduce waste and improve productivity. Ad-ID is the foundation of digital workflow throughout the marketing process. It will improve the accuracy of reporting and evaluation of advertising assets, affording process improvements and cost savings for everyone.
6. Ecosystem- including agencies, media, and suppliers- must become increasingly capable: Today’s marketing ecosystem comprises a complex, interconnected community of advertising agencies, media organizations, research firms, production companies and other resources that support marketers’ needs to build brands and expand market share. Marketers need these partners to continuously create new ideas and competencies.
7. Professionals must become better, highly skilled, diverse leaders: As we prepare for the future, we must cultivate the talents, skills and continuous development of marketing professionals. We must also embrace diversity, a vitally important factor in reaching and influencing culturally different consumers. Diversity contributes to a more inspiring and creative environment… one that grows companies for a lifetime.
8. Be indisputably socially responsible: Consumers must have trust that the companies they choose to do business with respect their personal values and are sensitive to larger societal issues. As an industry, we must continue to commit resources to socially responsible endeavors. The future of marketing depends upon us behaving and acting in the best interests of society.
9. Be unencumbered by inappropriate legislation or regulation: We must protect marketing’s First Amendment rights, even with regard to controversial products. We must also vigorously work to defeat proposals for taxes on advertising and efforts to alter its 100% tax deductible status. Finally, we must continuously strengthen our exemplary record of self-regulation.
10. The Marketing discipline must be elevated and respected: We must continually underscore the fact that, nationally, marketing generates over $5 trillion in economic activity, or about 20% of total U.S. economic activity. Sales of products and services stimulated by advertising support 15% of the jobs in the country. Building respect for marketing’s economic impact will help attract the best and the brightest to our profession.
by Bob Liodice, President & CEO, ANA (Association of National Advertisers)
Even though there is much hype about how much longer print magazines, newspapers, and trade journals will continue to exist in our ever-growing digital environment, ad marketers (and the ancillary Creative Directors, Brand Managers, Graphic Designers, etc.) still have a lot of opportunity to validate the importance of a print ad spend in a social media world.
Case Study Example: Your company is XYZ, Inc. and you are planning for a Q1 new product launch. How about incorporating a specific discount code into the ad that you create and place within each publication? Like: “For a 10% special reader discount, please visit www.xyz.com/fastcompany” or “… www.xyz.com/wired” or “… www.xyz.com/wallstreetjournal”
When you utilize this strategy, you can immediately start tracking the ROI on the overall campaign (both click-throughs and sales). You can also measure the overall reach of the ad (e.g. If someone passes long the discount code/url to a friend, you don’t care that the 2nd person didn’t directly see the add only that the message got to them and they took action). In addition, you can track how each specific publications performs based on their unique urls and codes.
Then, the next month, you can implement A/B split testing on your print ads. Running ads in the same publications, now you need to alter just 1 thing about the ad– different verbiage, a different offer/discount– change 1 thing about the visual creative, etc. Now, see what your ROI does. Again, tracking the same campaigns. The next month, tweak one more unique thing; you are constantly looking for improvements. Eventually, you may end up with completely different looking/saying/feeling ads for each publication, but each will be targeted at the readers of those publications. The point is engaged customers and sales. This comprehensive strategy integrates your print ads into your online marketing where you have a much easier time validating effectiveness.
Jay Baer of Convince & Convert highlights Trident gum and their integration of print and social media saying, “On December 18, 2009, Trident ran this full-page ad in USA Today. The print ad asks readers to visit the brand on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/tridentlayers. I’m not sure that particular tactic was successful, as the account has just 226 followers (a far cry from USA Today’s 1+ million readership). The ad also includes a QR (Quick Response) code in the bottom left (which I snapped with my nifty Microsoft tag reader). Doing so also takes you to their Twitter account. Handy if you’re reading the newspaper without Internet access nearby, and it also provides another tracking mechanism for the brand.”
When XYZ, Inc. is able to effectively track print ad ROI, it gives them negotiating power in securing ad space within publications. Conversely, if print publications would require reporting of their advertisers numbers, it could support justification for publications to raise their rates.
What Wendistry and VSEllis recommend that XYZ, Inc. measures:
1. Revenue and Business Development: (benchmark before and after the print ad/ online marketing initiatives begin)
2. Potential Cost Savings:
3. Value, Awareness, and Influence:
So, here’s a final note about Cause and Influence… For all the metrics you track, you have to realize that the path from initial contact to desired result is a winding one when it comes to marketing. Direct marketing efforts like “get postcard, enter code, buy said product” are more obviously causal and can outline a clear sales path. But in a social and online world where there are literally hundreds of touch-points in effect at any given point, metrics themselves don’t indicate success or failure, just continuous opportunities for improvement.
The World Wide Web may have profoundly changed not only business, but the business of marketing, yet the face-to-face interaction of the trade show endures… in fact, it’s thriving. In many industries, attendance is practically mandatory (think CES). If you’re not there, you’re nowhere.
For many seasoned companies, however, trade shows are less an opportunity to book new orders than a chance to strengthen existing relationships because everyone is so busy with the normal day-to-day. However, for those two, three or four days, you’re all gathering in one place which can draw a lot of industry media attention.
Because of this attention, along with the draw of potential customers, companies often use trade shows to unveil new products, to show the marketplace that they are improving their business, and make a bigger/broader impression. Still, the trade show is a costly marketing tactic… sometimes the single most expensive medium choice a company can make. So, to make a commitment to maximize your investment months before the opening day. The worst thing you can do is show up at the show, set up your expensive booth staffed by even more expensive employees, and wait for the people to show up.
1. Lay the Groundwork: Set specific goals to acquire qualified leaders that can be converted to sales. Decide in advance how many prospects you want to acquire. If publicity is your aim, set targets for media interviews. Make appointments in advance by sending out advance invitations for key prospects and/or media to the show. Train, train, train your booth workers. Avoid wasting time with visitors who aren’t serious and complete the interaction with a true prospect in 10 minutes. Take a few moments at the end of each day while at the show for a staff huddle. Review the successful (and not-so-successful) interactions with an eye on making improvements the next day.
2. Look Your Best: A small company at a major trade show can be easily overwhelmed by the competition. The trick is to become “a show within the show.” For starters, consider upsizing from a 10-foot booth to a 20-foot booth. You double your billboard space and it looks like you could spend more than the minimum to get in. You then have enough room to divide the space between direct selling and relationship building areas. The rule of trade show design is that a person should be able to walk by your booth and in five or six seconds have an idea of what you’re selling and whether or not it applies to them. Consider freebies… a smartly designed tote bag, for example, may actually get attendees to advertise for you… all day long! However, tchotchkes can be an expensive waste so at shows where much of the audience may be unqualified/unknown, keep the extras behind the desk and use them as a thank-you gift after a meaningful conversation.
3. Always Follow Up: The trade show encounter is just the beginning of the sales process. Immediately after the show, compile a register of everyone whose badge you scanned or who otherwise expressed interest. For those most promising prospects, consider sending out a personalized package with a small gift. Finally, be sure to track the results of your trade show efforts: how many leads resulted in sales worth how much and how long it took to close those deals. Not only will the data give you a sense of the return on your investment, but you can also use them as a benchmark against next year’s show.
I do believe that Will.i.am should be considered the marketer of 2009.
Of course, marketing begins with product, and we could certainly question the quality of the Black Eyed Peas’ music, but here’s what I know… Will.i.am, Fergie and MCs, Apl.de.ap and Taboo deliver something that people want. The Peas have been at the top of Billboard Hot 100 for over 24 weeks, by far the longest No. 1 run in the chart’s 51-year history.
What they with music is best described by Jody Rosen in Rolling Stone magazine, “They have made a kind of spiritual practice of recording dumb songs- a total aesthetic commitment that extends from their garish wardrobes to their United Colors of Benetton worldview.” But, beyond the product, and at the same time inseparable from it, is Will.i.am’s understanding of today’s social-marketing world.
Most brands are still grappling like junior high kids on a first date with the most fundamental shift of the last decade… from marketer as message-pusher to marketer as creator of stuff that consumers will actually pull toward them. The Black Eyed Peas, having mastered that shift, are showing an understanding of perhaps the second-most important change: from campaign to continuous conversation.
Consumers don’t switch on and off, and products don’t sell for two weeks and then disappear from retail channels. But, most marketers still do the vast majority of their work in sporadic bursts, often going whole quarters, if not years between one one-way push and the next. However, the Peas do it differently. Their 2009 album, “The END,” was not only a nice sales gimmick (playing off the rumors that Fergie is going entirely solo and thus making “whirled peas”), but also a brand statement. “The END” stands for The Energy Never Dies and the idea is that it’s a live, evolving, co-created piece of work. A conversation with fans.
“It’s a diary… of music that at any given time, depending on the inspiration, you can add to it,” Will.i.am told Billboard.com. “When it comes out, there’ll be 12 songs on it, but the next day there could be 100 songs, 50 sketches, 1,000 blogs all (online) around ‘The END,’ so the energy really, truly never dies. I’m trying to break away from the concept of ALBUM. What is an album when you put 12 songs on iTunes and people can pick at it like scabs? That’s not an album. There is no album anymore.”
Exactly… there’s collaboration and conversation and content creation.
Excerpted from Jonah Bloom’s column in September 21, 2009 issue of Advertising Age.
Wonder why the marketing world is seemingly obsessed with creating apps for the iPhone? Then, take a stroll down the halls of Kraft Foods, Gannett and others who are jumping on the bandwagon. You’ll see a sea of iPhones as the brand makes serious incursions on RIM’s BlackBerry stronghold, the once acknowledged smartphone of choice for corporate America.
In a conference call with Apple Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook said about 20% of Fortune 100 companies have purchased a total of 10,000 or more iPhones since the handset’s release in 2007, and scores of government agencies and businesses have each purchased more than 25,000 iPhones for their organizations. In many ways, the iconic iPhone is sneaking through the marketers’ corporate back door: Consumers fall for it and decide they want to use it as their business phone, too. The handset’s popularity among corporate smartphone users and its support of the Microsoft Exchange mail server and other enterprise requirements have forced more and more IT departments to support them, landing the iPhone on the list of company-sanctioned phones.
Marketing people who are iPhone enthusiasts are likely to push apps. At Kraft, employees share iPhone best practices, favorite applications and company ringtones. As to be expected at a company that has crafted a much-buzzed-about iPhone application, the iFood Assistant shopping and recipe utility, there’s also a repository of ideas for new-iPhone-application development.
More than 4.500 employees, or about 5% of Kraft’s staff, have iPhones that were party underwritten by the company’s stipend program, which gives eligible employees $100 toward any personal digital assistant they choose. That means Kraft would have to sell more than 450,000 copies of its .99 iFood app to recoup the iPhone stipend. Kraft declined to say how many times iFood has been downloaded, but it is among the top 20 paid apps in the lifestyle section of the App Store.
According to Kraft, the iPhone delivers intangible benefits beyond the productivity gains the company is looking to reap by partially paying for employees’ PDAs. “As a consumer-goods company, we want to be at the forefront in innovation and offering what our consumers are looking for,” said DAvid Diedrich, Kraft’s VP-Information Systems. “Providing our employees with the same tools our consumers have enables us to better engage with them.”
In a nutshell, Apple is making gains on RIM. Worldwide, its share of the smartphone market jumped to 13% last quarter, up from 3% a year ago, according to Gartner. RIM’s global smartphone share last quarter edged up to 19% from 17% a year ago. With a 3% share of the corporate installed base as of last year, the iPhone, however, despite its early success in the corporate world, still has a ways to go in unseating BlackBerry as the dominant enterprise phone. Primarily because the handset remains dogged by the perception that it lacks BlackBerry’s bullet-proof security.
Still… the marketing mayhem continues…
excerpted from Rita Chang’s article in August 24, 2009 issue of Advertising Age
Blogs, podcasts, video- and photo-sharing sites, social networks… it’s all a spaghetti bowl. To make sense of the madness, below is a great graphical representations from Forrester’s Social Technographics® research… a very informative set of charts as to the demographics of Internet users and how they spend their time online.
The value of Social Technographics comes when it’s used by companies to create their social strategies, and at the heart of Social Technographics, the data looks at how consumers approach social technologies, not just the adoption of individual platforms.
General Motors’ new advertising and marketing czar is Bob Lutz, who until April of of this year headed global product development. According to CEO Fritz Henderson: “Bob’s responsibilities beyond creative design will include brands, marketing, advertising and communications.” (I can just visualize Bob at his first meeting with one of GM’s agencies: “I’m not a marketing expert, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.”)
Has respect for marketing fallen so low that the most difficult job in the profession (getting GM out of the ditch) can be given to someone with so little experience in marketing?
Hello, GM… Marketing comes first, advertising comes second. That’s why Bob Lutz seems to be on the wrong track when he immediately focuses on fixing the advertising. “I think you will very quickly see a drastic change in the tone and content of our advertising,” said Mr. Lutz. “And if you don’t, it will mean that I’ve failed.”
I think he’s wrong (and Wendistry agrees with Al). Advertising at GM is not broken. Marketing is.
Marketing’s job is to coordinate all the various disciplines inside a corporation in order to develop the right product, the right price, the right position, the right distribution strategy and the right brand name. Advertising’s job is to position that brand name in the minds of consumers.
Good marketing makes advertising decisions relatively easy. Bad marketing makes advertising, and everything else related, difficult, if not impossible.
So, what is GM’s marketing problem? One complaint of commentators in the media is that “General Motors doesn’t build cars that people want to buy.” This is true. People want to buy Toyotas, Hondas, BMWs, Mercedes, Lexus and other brands. People want to buy brand experiences, not just vehicles.
What you park in your garage is your family’s most visible status symbol. Nobody wants to buy a Walmart V-8, no matter how cheap it would be.
Hence, Bob Lutz’s approach: “We’re going to go from being very defensive and risk-adverse in communications and become much bolder in getting our story out.” Bob, I’ve got news for you… you have no story.
Bob, your problem is marketing, not advertising. I don’t care how good your cars are. I don’t care that Buick is the most dependable vehicle made in America. I don’t care that Tiger Woods endorses it, and I like Tiger. It doesn’t matter. You have no story.
For that matter, Tiger didn’t really even do much for the brand. In the eight years of the Tiger, Buick sales fell from 404,812 in 2000 to 137,197 last year, a decline of 66%. (Why, for the love of Pete, didn’t the marketing people at Buick ask the obvious question: Is the owner of a $20 million yacht likely to drive a $30,000 Buick?)
Get a real marketer in charge at GM and get a real story.
Al Ries‘ Column: excerpted from July 27, 2009 edition of Advertising Age.