My industry experience includes apparel, hospitality, technology, life sciences, consumer package goods, logistics, recreation and education. I’m happy to share relevant examples and case studies.
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Doc Searls muses on the delusional nature of relationship marketing, and points out a missing piece: Customers aren't sufficiently equipped to relate to vendors.
This is useful reading for anyone immersed (or about to be) in CRM.
Technorati Tags: crm, vrm, relationship+marketing, vendor+management
The other day I linked to a review of What Sticks, which analyzes what works in advertising. The book's authors conclude that online ad banners work better than most people think.
Today Scoble offers a sweeping generalization on the relative value of banners and ad text links, and suggests that there's a direct relationship Google/Yahoo! ad media and their respective stock prices. Of course, ad media are part of their business models, but it's a long leap to the conclusion that 1) ad media = stock market price, and 2) the market rationally values the effect of ad media on the business. Nonetheless, Scoble concludes that ad banners (Yahoo!) don't generate sales as effectively as text ads (Google), so Yahoo's stock is more volatile than Google's. That's his opinion, but I'd like to see something more to back it up. An anecdote about discretionary versus non-discretionary ad spending doesn't make the case, though.
Scoble does make a comment that is, at least conceptually, on the money: "Google is the new Yellow Pages." Replace "Google" with "search" and the statement would be even more accurate. Google's only the new Yellow Pages as long as they keep their eye on the ball and maintain their search leadership.
Technorati Tags: yellow+pages, google, search, banner
Seth Stevenson reviews What Sticks, a data-driven examination of what works in advertising. A highlight:
Based on their research, Briggs and Stuart argue that an advertising message heard three different times in a single medium (for example, a television commercial you see three times) will be far less effective than a message experienced one time apiece in three different media (for example, as a TV commercial, then as a print ad, and then as an online banner ad). The numbers prove beyond doubt that this "surround-sound" approach is a winner. A few other data-based findings: It's generally better to show your product name and logo for the duration of an ad, not just at the very end. (Though Nike, famous for revealing the Swoosh logo only in the last moments of its TV spots, might disagree.) Also, the time of day can have a profound effect on a consumer's response to an ad (e.g., a McDonald's ad airing at lunchtime will be far more productive than one airing in the evening). And finally, online ads (and particularly large, intrusive ones) are far more effective than most people realize.
Pay attention to this. The money quote:
"You've also got pronounced changes in consumer behavior while they're consuming media," said Tom French, director at McKinsey. "And ad spending is decreasingly reflecting consumer behavior."More evidence that marketers need to continually question what they're doing, and why.
Advertising Ourselves to Death on the brilliance of Alltel's new ad campaign, which touts MyCircle. If you haven't seen these commercials, watch the one on AOtD. It speaks clearly to what wireless customers want while taking a subtle swipe at national competitors.
Technorati Tags: cell+phone+advertising, alltel
The Harvard Business Review on marketing to the inhabitants of Second Life and other online worlds.
Technorati Tags: second+life, avatar+marketing
Neil Boorman's planning a bonfire for August 26. The fuel? Every branded product he owns. Oh, and some petrol to help the fire along.
Extreme Spring cleaning? No, Boorman's beginning a quest, albeit in a flashy kind of way, to lead a brand free life. Which will be chronicled in a book titled Bonfire of the Brands, to be released August '07.
Look beyond the bonfire for a moment - in my opinion it's the least interesting part of this exercise. Boorman is interested in what he calls a third way for brands, in which they fuel commerce and competition while providing more than emotional manipulation. It's an important area for marketers, and one seems to attract mostly this kind of thinking:
'For great brands to survive, they must create loyalty beyond reason. The secret is the use of mystery, sensuality and intimacy… the power to create long-term emotional connections with consumers'
Kevin Roberts, CEO Saatchi & Saatchi
This suggests that any utilitarian purpose for brands and their underlying products is secondary to a reflexive emotional reaction on the part of consumers. I don't deny the emotional component, but there is a strong utilitarian element to brands and it's one that I'm curious to see if Boorman addresses. We're working in an era when what brands mean and how we communicate about them is shifting, and I suspect that ad agencies aren't going to lead the way in figuring this out. Maybe Boorman has something to contribute. And maybe this bonfire will spark some new thinking.
Technorati Tags: neil+boorman, bonfire+of+the+brands
A client invited me to sit in on an online marketing presentation this morning. Lately I've been the presenter at these kinds of things, but this morning that honor went to the client's media agency. It was interesting to see the topic from another angle.
This is a rough approximation of how they allocated time among discussions of various online media:
It's a very different viewpoint from the one I've been preaching. There was a heavy emphasis on paid media, and little serious discussion of blogging, podcasting, and social networks. Imagine a traditional ad buying approach overlaid on interactive media - lots of talk about reach, impressions, and share of voice, and very little about the fundamental changes in buyer/seller relationships that are making the Internet such a compelling marketing channel.
This is how I might break down the same sort of online marketing discussion. 
More about understanding what customers want, and not just where they are. More about making businesses visible, open and engaged. More about tapping into people and networks, and less about spending massive amounts of money on paid media.
More: Online advertising isn't necessarily a bad thing any more than a blog is necessarily good. But, the ad-centric view of online media seems to have some shortcomings, particularly an inordinate degree of focus on traditional ad metrics and reliance on big budgets to get a message across. Media buying seems ripe for disruption and it surprised me to see a traditional approach, albeit applied with some new tools to changing media.
Technorati Tags: online+media, social+networks, advertising, blogging, podcasting, search
Meet some of the fine folks from the Public Relations Society of America Tarheel Chapter. I spent part of the afternoon leading a seminar about blogging, online social networks, and tools for monitoring online conversations. The PR world can be skeptical about the blogosphere - some of that came out in the discussion - but the discussion was far ranging and touched on some important practical matters, as well as issues like transparency, credibility, and the role of gate keepers.
Technorati Tags: PRSA, prsa-tarheel, PR, seminar
A confession: I'm a member. I depend on Moleskine journals and calendars for keeping track of my meetings, taking notes, writing drafts, and stowing odd bits of paper that need a home but otherwise wouldn't find one. Moleskine is my analog oasis in the midst of an increasingly chaotic digital world.
The company didn't set out to create a cult following for a unique product with an interesting story. No, people discovered Moleskine journals and told others, who became customers then found new ways to use Moleskines and then blogged about it...so you can see where this is going.
Think about your business: Do you have products, services, or stories that can cultivate the kind of buzz that outweighs any amount of corporate-led marketing?
(Tip of the hat to Church of the Customer)
Technorati Tags: moleskine, citizenmarketing
Also, for those of you looking for my review of the Minox 35, it's here.
