Simple Marketing Advice

Posted by Rahna on March 31, 2008 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment

Dead Industries…or technological possibilities?

Posted by Rahna on March 27, 2008 under Strategy | Be the First to Comment

I read an article that called Steve Jobs on the carpet for a (rather stupid) comment he made about how reading is dead.   As one who buys about 100 books every year, I cannot agree with Mr. Jobs.  However, I would not like to have everything I have ever said dissected, so I will leave that commentary to someone else:  http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/book-lust/index.html

However, it did raise for me the marketing question of obsolescence.   Everyone said the radio would be dead when TV entered the market, and everyone said books and newspapers would be dead when the internet came along.  Anyone who grew up in the eighties understands the song phrase, “Video killed the radio star” because they remember when MTV showed music videos.  I work with a premium paper company that, by all rights, ought to be dead due to the paperless office….but it’s not.

People still buy books, listen to the radio, print their resumes out on paper, send mail through the post office, and read the newspaper.  I’m not saying that the newspaper industry isn’t seriously struggling, but it is still delivered to millions of homes. 

Steve Jobs’ comment simply makes me think, “What would I do? If I were in charge of that company or industry, how would I grow sales?”  At its core, it’s the same answer that any smart marketer would give: find ways to remain relevant.  Offer your product or service in new ways.  Look at what your core competencies are and find new ways to deliver those competencies.  After all, newspapers are not really in the business of selling sheets of newsprint…they are in the business of informing, selling the latest and greatest information available anywhere.  New technology may present new challenges, but it also produces new opportunities.  Are you taking advantage of those opportunities?  Potentially, those new technologies just offer more choices to consumers.  When MTV started airing videos, it became a monumental marketing vehicle to promote record label sales.  Newspapers need to reinvent themselves to deliver content to someone’s iPhone and grow revenues digitally. 

Maybe you are in that situation, working in a company whose core product line is threatened by emerging technology.  Try to turn it around.  What possibilities does this new opportunity bring?  Is there anything that you could provide or do that could change your business model for the better because of this new technology?

Stretch your thinking to see where change can take you, and take heart in the fact that, despite Steve Jobs prediction, there will always be people like me that defy the “trends.” 

Well, gotta run.  I think I’ll stop by the bookstore….

The Brand-Building Power of Passion

Posted by Rahna on March 24, 2008 under Branding | Be the First to Comment

I’m a firm believer in passion….both for you and your consumers.

For you:   If you have an opportunity to work in a company where you are a consumer of the products, you will have a MUCH easier time doing your job….plus, you’ll enjoy it a whole lot more.  Passion for your product translates through your work, whether it’s an advertising campaign, an e-newsletter, or an on-line community program.  Consumers are not stupid; they can smell a fake a mile away.  If you are trying to “sell” them something (rather than communicating with them about a great product or service you have to offer), they will know.  Your advertising won’t ring true, and your sales will suffer. 

For your consumers:

There are people who absolutely LOVE what you have to offer…people who are crazy about what you provide.  If  you have been around a long time, you may have on-line groups that connect with each other to talk about how great your product is, but even if you’re a small business, you can still leverage consumer passion…maybe you’re  an accountant just starting out doing your Uncle Ed’s taxes and your sister’s home-based business taxes….Your sister and Uncle Ed are happy that you are saving them time and money.  That is a firm foundation upon which to build.  That can grow into an empire.

So get passionate—look for more opportunities to add a little passion into your day, and watch your business blossom!

Elaine Follis: A Personal Brand Seen in the Obituaries

Posted by Rahna on March 20, 2008 under Personal Branding | Be the First to Comment

This week, I received the sad news that one of my favorite college professors had passed on, and I can’t help but reflect on what a HUGE brand Dr. Elaine Follis was.  For more than 30 years, she taught Religious Studies at the small liberal arts college I attended.  Her reputation for storytelling was strong enough to convince everyone from Business Administration majors to Art History majors to get on a waiting list to take Old Testament.    In the class, she communicated facts about Biblical history, but more importantly, she inspired students by elucidating the modern-day relevance of Bible stories to our lives. Elaine Follis always had a way to answer the “So What?” question about (seemingly) ancient, boring, stuffy old stories about building the walls of Jericho or the Biblical figure Jeremiah.

So why am I writing this in a marketing blog?  Because if you were to ask any of the (literally) tens of thousands of people whose lives she touched what her influence was, you would get similar answers.  This woman had such a strong brand; she knew what she was about, and she just did it CONSISTENTLY.  Her brand remained the same throughout her lifetime. 

After college, I continued to keep in touch with her by phone, and over the past few years, she broadcast podcasts.  Whether talking to her on the phone, listening to her podcasts, or sitting in her lecture hall, Elaine Follis was always the same: engaging, funny, self-deprecating, approachable, interesting, passionate, and brilliant.  That’s a pretty strong personal brand.  Here’s what the Boston Globe obituary said:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2008/03/20/elaine_follis_at_64_scholar_teacher_of_old_testament/

I teach about personal branding, and one of the exercises is to think about what you would like people to say about you in your obituary.  Morbid, perhaps, but instructive.  So I have two thoughts for today:

·         Think about what you are (and what you would like to be known for), and be that…consistently. 

·         Respect other people’s personal brands and celebrate what other people bring to you…while you can.

Matt Damon’s Re-branding Efforts

Posted by Rahna on March 17, 2008 under Personal Branding | Be the First to Comment

There is a risqué video skit which Matt Damon did, which I first saw on Jimmy Kimmel over one month ago, but is currently “abuzz” on the internet.  In an effort to keep this blog rated “G,” I am choosing not to write the title of the skit (you never know when your children may be reading your blog).  Needless to say, if you did a search on Jimmy Kimmel vs. Matt Damon, you can undoubtedly find it for yourself. It involves a running joke with late night host Jimmy Kimmel, who “disses” Matt constantly by “running out of time” before Matt can be brought on.  As revenge, Matt makes a video with Kimmel’s real life girlfriend.  Kimmel responds by making a video with Ben Afleck.   

What does this bit of humor have to do with marketing?  It has to do with branding and re-branding.  Oscar winner, Damon, has built acclaim and garnered praise for roles in The Departed, The Bourne Identity and Good Will Hunting, all very “serious” roles.  This radically different video can be seen as an attempt to break that mold, re-branding himself as someone with a sense of humor, someone willing to go to the outrageous in order to stretch his thespian skill set.   

The danger in Hollywood in building a brand is that you can also become “typecast”, seen as someone who can only play one type of part.  Actors who allow themselves to get into such a rut can quickly become bored, so efforts like this can keep one from being typecast.  When considering actors for a comedy, Damon, “a serious actor,” would still very much be considered. Now think about your own career.  Are you bored with the projects you are being given?  Would you like to stretch your wings and try something new?  Become known for more than you currently are?  All of this is possible.    Write down what qualities and abilities you would like to add to your portfolio, then set out a plan to acquire those skills and express those qualities to others.  I am not suggesting that you need to do something as radical or controversial as Matt Damon did, but you should always be thinking about your career from the context of what your current and future personal brand is.   

Do not be limited by what you are today.  Build a bridge from today to become what you would like to be, tomorrow. 

Your Public Environmental Presentation

Posted by Rahna on March 13, 2008 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment

Environmental awareness has gone so much beyond an intellectual argument over the verity of Al Gore’s documentary.  Regardless of your political leanings,  as a marketer, you cannot ignore the business impact of your consumer’s perception of your environmental stewardship.   

Some companies are going out of their way to offer eco-friendly products or deliver services in a way that uses less energy, produces less contamination, or leave less of an environmental footprint.   

And those companies are reaping huge rewards.   

But what if you are one of those companies not doing a lot?   

As a marketer, it is your job to present your company in the best light possible.  I have seen clients who do not think much about what they do or don’t do because it is not important to them personally.  It does not matter what you think personally.  It’s all about what your customers (or potential customers) think.  And today’s consumer is willing to travel an extra mile down the road, or pay a slight upcharge, or put up with a small inconvenience if they know they are supporting a company, a product, or a service that promotes environmental friendliness.   

As the marketer in the company, it is your job to fiercely defend the most positive stance your company can support (or add new programs so that stronger environmental statements can be made)!  Turn over stones, look long and hard to find what your company is doing.  Do not settle for some namby-pamby answer– push deeper.  Make sure that you are making as aggressive a statement as possible, because guaranteed…your competition is.

The Future of Digital Social Networking

Posted by Rahna on March 10, 2008 under Consumer Engagement | Be the First to Comment

I posted a comment on the following blog

 http://blogs.forrester.com/charleneli/2008/03/the-future-of-s.html

The premise Charlene Li, who works at Forrester Research, puts forth is that, in the future, social networking will be ubiquitous and as natural as breathing.  She talks about creating management tools to simplify the many social networking groups one can belong to, and an interesting proposal for technology to help monitor and manage the natural relationships we have in many forms of communication (phone, email, IM, meeting appointments).  She also talks about how to better identify and leverage (as a marketer) the influencers of a given group.  It’s an interesting post, and worth the read.  Here’s my addition to the conversation:

I love this conversation, and the ideas Charlene puts forth are quite interesting.  As with everything, though, the context of who you are talking to (and with) plays an enormous role in establishing the verity of your statement that social networking will be like “air.”  I say that as an over-40 year old who has had a LinkedIn account since 2003 and has just recently (reluctantly) gotten a Facebook account. 

I see the value of networking from a business standpoint, but my personal relationships are, for the most part, not web-based.  I strongly agree with the comment posted “We don’t need social networks to have a social life.  Social networks are trying to reproduce our real social activities, not the opposite.”

You mentioned that friends in your morning walking group “don’t participate in social networks – and won’t for the foreseeable future.”  These are the type of people who don’t necessarily know the short-hand language of text messaging, don’t really see the difference between e-mail and IM, and do not understand the panic of not being able to find your Blackberry when you already late for work in the morning.   The conversation about social networking is happening within certain circles of people who are more comfortable communicating digitally.   I personally hate it.  If you want to talk with me, pick up the phone and call me.  Sadly, I think that preference simply shows my age.

But I know that there are MILLIONS who do choose to communicate this way, and for them, I agree with Charlene that it is (and will be) as natural as breathing.  But as you continue this discussion, understand another of  the challenges, which is, essentially, the reach (or the limits of the reach) of this type of communication. 

Related to that, the challenge of establishing the marketing value for marketers goes beyond just figuring out how to make it happen…it goes to how to make it relevant for the marketer.

I am a Marketing Strategist who has leveraged on-line communities for consumer conversation, as well as product development and introduction when I worked in the marketing department at LEGO.  Now that I am a consultant, I find that it is hard, in some cases, to convince someone to invest marketing dollars on networking sites.  For the most part, I am dealing with people of a similar age to me (or older), who did not have a Facebook account (or even an email address!) when they went to college, so the personal belief in digital social networking is not there.  It’s easier to support a recommendation for a Facebook effort to one Client who is going after the graduating senior in college, but it’s a much harder sell (and a much murkier marketing challenge) for my Client who is looking to sell a Cadillac.

I also find the discussion about whether or not to recommend a product to be somewhat funny. I disagree with the commenter who posted,  “There is a big difference between a fan of some music band and a fan of a computer brand or a car, etc.”  No, there isn’t….not when you really believe in the product.  The social networking value for a marketer is simple:

·         Provide something truly of value to a consumer group

·         Then let that consumer group know that you are providing it. 

A strong, community-based marketing effort really just fans the flame of a specific target’s desire (that should already exist for a compelling product).  If you are selling crap, any marketing effort will fail.  One of the first things marketers learn is that nothing kills a bad product faster than good advertising.  Everyone tries it, hates it, and you’re done.  Perhaps Charlene’s ideas of simplifying the process for social networking management will help broaden the reach of social networking and bring it closer to being “like air.”

Watch Your Tone

Posted by Rahna on March 6, 2008 under Branding | Be the First to Comment

I have come across a problem more common than I would have thought possible: professionals who don’t know what they stand for. 

Recently, I have been working with several,  very diverse businesses to help them provide guidance for creative development on some sort—logo development, website redesign, etc.  This usually involves development of a creative brief.  A standard part of any good creative brief discusses “Tone.”

The question is, “What should the tone of the communication be?”  It can be a simple list of adjectives that describe the impressions you are trying to create….”light and flippant,” “scholarly and serious, “ “Unpretentious but on the cutting edge of cool.”

This is vital information to a creative.  They use this information to turn those adjectives into color schemes, word choices, design ideas. 

Everyone should know what the tone of their brand is, so if you don’t, ask around.  Ask your customers, ask your employees, ask your spouse.  “Are we fun?  Are we young?  Are we established?” 

One classic way to think about this is to pretend that your brand is a person.  Now describe that person.  Try that and see what you come up with.

It doesn’t matter to me how you come up with what your brand is all about, but if you want creatives to do amazing work for you, you’d better be able to describe your intended impressions!

To text or not to text?

Posted by Rahna on March 3, 2008 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment

In a seminar that I was giving last week,we were talking about communicating with your target audience via all media available–including digital media.  We got to talking about text messaging and the rise in text message advertising opportunities.  There was a gentleman in his late 40’s who had sent a text message to one of his college buddies. This college buddy commented that he should not have texted him because it was costing him money.  He was grumbling over the text message, saying, “Only my daughter texts me.”   The gentleman in the seminar said that interchange made him skeptical about texting as a way to communicate with a target. 

My response was that he needed to make sure that he communicated to his target audience in a way that his target audience wanted to be communicated to. If he were approaching someone in their early 20’s, undoubtedly they would have a cell phone package that included unlimited texting and therefore receiving a text message would not have been an issue. The phone is where so many of today’s youth spend their time, talking and texting to each other (in many cases, texting more often than talking). Texting is by far the number one non-voice activity used with a cell phone. But if you are speaking with someone in his late 40’s, texting is not intuitive and not their preferred mode of communication.  In that case, then yes – sending a text message may not be the right thing to do.  

So should you start sending a text message? Well, it depends on who you are sending it to.