McDonalds, Spooks and Scary Freaks

I am writing this blog on Hallow’s Eve.

This is the night of spooks and scary freaks.  I told a friend of mine that its always a fun evening … but for those of us working with many business firms today… there’s many of spooks and scary freaks we encounter every day on the job!

Boo. 

Looking back across the last year, I quickly have to say that in 2014, I’ve encountered a bunch.

Some attempting to wear the sign of “Advisory Services”… others “Ad Agency”… others “Brand Strategy Group” … funny how so many attempt to assist and guide businesses when, in reality, all they do is mix up concoctions that bubble and release steam!

Enough about the alchemists.

My drive in writing an article that was posted in this morning’s Wall Street Journal about McDonald’s.

Don’t know how many of the readers out there visit McDonald’s regularly.  I get breakfast at McDonald’s at least 2-3 times a week.  Hard to pass up a nice breakfast of two sausage McMuffins and coffee for less than $2.50 for the full meal.

As much as the food is good and cheap, the process of giving an order and getting the “fast food” fast is something that has bugged many this year.

I remember going into a McDonald’s and seeing food prepared sitting in bins that the person at the register could turn-around, place in a bag and hand over to a customer in less than a minute.

McDonald’s pioneered fast food.  But today, McDonald’s – and others that today wear the label “quick service” are finding that they are in trouble.

The last couple of months, I got out from behind my desk and actually went and talked to people on-the-streets about their thoughts and perceptions about fast food restaurants.

What they shared is reinforced directly by the Wall Street Journal article.

#1 – Fast Food is no longer fast.  Whether it’s a process flow issue, a technical communications issue, a mix of drive-through vs. text-in vs. person-at-the-counter order coordination issue… the service is not only not fast, its way too slow!

#2 – Corporate procedures and processes have created a blockade between the restaurant and customers.  There’s no local restaurant personality.  Comments and questions are channeled to corporate.  People no longer talk to people.  People have been replaced by corporate procedures, the Internet and mobile phones.

#3 – Product innovation at some of the fast food restaurants – and McDonald’s can take center stage in this act – has stalled.  Same-old-same-old is now just simply old.  Now I am the first to say that too many Quick Service Restaurant brands take a simple menu and make it complex as well as take a core focused deliverable and dilute it quickly… but lack of innovation is very problematic.

#4 – The Millennials are no longer in their teens.  As they have grown up and now coupling, their tastes have changed.  There are few exceptions with brands ranging from McDonald’s to Burger Kings to Taco Bell to Chic-fil-A that have arrived in the “here and now.”

The McDonald’s USA President, Mike Andres is quoted in the Wall Street Journal article a number of times.

President Mike would get a “C” grade if his commentary was actually an essay test.  He’s right about one set of commentary and wrong about a second set of commentary.

He’s right that the McDonald’s current regional structure needs some serious revamping. 

He cites directly how currently, McDonald’s groups the South with the Northeast as one region labeled the East. 

While much of the population of Atlanta is now comprised by folks not born in Atlanta, not sure if it’s the water that changes the taste buds, but “sausage gravy biscuits” that score well in Atlanta really struggle up in Rochester, Philly and Boston.

There’s a reason why Millennials champion “local indies” and “farm-to-table” dining options, and run from the BIG corporate chains. 

President Mike gets that one right.

However, Mike goes on to then talk about how McDonald’s needs to become more sophisticated in its digital technology to allow customers to order from their smart phone apps. 

First, not sure that too many folks resist getting fast food because they cannot go on their iPhone and place an order. 

Panera made a big to do about how it was doing away with some of its onsite people at the register and shifting over to mobile phone ordering.  The stores added a set of what appear to be IKEA-link book-cubicles where individuals placing orders through their smart phones can walk in and pick up their orders. 

While I cannot lay claim to what I see as full market research assessment, but when I visit Panera store sites around meal times, I have yet to see the cubicles filled with much of anything.

President Mike want to check out how many high-tech Millennials actually dine at McDonald’s... how many folks actually want to spend the time placing an order on a smart phone versus simply walking in and getting an order... how much time is wasted in taking an order and coordinating the time of arrival and just how hot is burger and fries ordered... for starters!

I remember back in my college days that the press featured a Laundromat that was also serving beer on tap and how that idea was going to forever change the way the 20-somethings would do laundry in the future.

Fast Food and smart phone apps might share the idea of “fast” in common, but not too sure that combining the two together is that smart of an idea.

If President Mike would send me an airline ticket plus some nice warm clothes, I would be happy to fly up to greater Chicago-land and show him how the Millennials are quickly moving out of the fun days of apps and into the realistic days of working 24/7 to have a place they call their home. 

In the annual Trendcasts that EXPERIENCE issues each year in advance of January 1^st, we’ve highlighted the impact of the Millennials a bunch. 

Fact is simple.  They are no longer news.  They are here. 

Earlier today, I grabbed a bagel and coffee at an indie café in Athens, Georgia. 

While Atlanta lays claim to being the state capitol of Georgia, Athens lays claim to being the capitol of the Socialist Republic of Georgia.  Many of the twenty-something individuals that comprise Athens are not big fans of big brands and BIG Business.

When I complimented the owner of the bagel shop on just how good the bagel was, he quickly thanked me and then added, “we’re not in the business of selling corporate crap.”

As I preach from the pulpit a lot and if President Mike called me I would tell him… Get out from behind the desk, laptop and corporate meeting calendar and get out and have some good conversation with the people who you are attempting to build a bond.

There’s simply too many spooks and scary freaks that sit behind those desks!

Target's CEO Is Banking On The Past Repeating Itself

It made the news last week. 

Target is going to change its brand experience.  And its brand offering.  And its brand followers. 

Target – the hip discount retailer where the latest style choice in everything from home furnishings to clothing to outdoor sports gear to electronics … shoot even doggie food and toys not only were found on the shelves… but also where they often premièred!

Target – whose advertising you actually took a moment to watch that seldom contained much of any copy, but was glamorized with music and graphics that made most any commercial break something fun to catch.

Yup.  Target is changing.

And their new CEO, Brian Cornell is driving the change.

Many who follow this blog, have heard it many times before…Target is the Millennial generation brand. 

And… as I wrote last week… the Millennials are evolving right before our eyes!

But here’s the gamble that Target is making.

They understand that the Millennials represent their core equity.  They observe that the Millennials are not only nesting, but beginning to form “family” units.

They look around the marketplace and see that the kid & family empires of the past have faded as the ZOOMER generation (GenXer’s kids) is now entering high school.

So Target is stream-lining and limiting its house & home.  Electronic facings are also being pared down to only a few.  Gifts and accessories in some cases being axed.

BUT… clothing – particularly kids and infant lines – will be expanding.  So too will the food and grocery items.

Target is going from being the hip and cool brand of the rising Twenty-somethings to becoming the emerging family brand.

I spend a lot of time talking to Millennials.  I camp out with them, sip coffee, Tweet and interact with them online and shop the grocery aisles with them.

The one observation I can quickly make… they are NOT at all the same headset of the Generation X Cocooners.  They are not hell-bent on creating the nest, making babies and living in the mdist of 24/7 family time.

In fact, when you say the word “kids,” Millennials quickly visualize both watches and pocketbooks.  How much time will raising the kids take and even more so, cost.

Now I have never met Brian Cornell, but there are some quick surface level observations I can quickly make…

1. He’s a trailing Baby Boomer, but sure looks, talks and reacts online and on-screen like a GenXer...BGO Example – “More and more I see moms shopping our stores with a child in a cart in one hand and a smartphone in the other hand”

2. His experience was shaped around Pepsico snack food brands – CPG as they say in the “field”

3. He’s dwelled a lot in the C-Store marketplace... BGO Example – “We’re launching a new concept called Target Express that will be 1/6^th the size of a normal one”

My gut tells me that Brian Cornell may not set any records for long-term CEO stay at a corporation. 

But then again, I am the first in line to say, I’ve been wrong.

Most Saturdays now, I get the great opportunity to spend the better part of the day with Zevi, my 5 year old nephew. 

No question, Zevi is one cool little dude. 

Its not only fun to see the world through the eyes of a five year old, the time I spend with Zevi actually makes me a better consultant in my exchange with clients.

Kids see things in a much clearer focus than adults do.

Zevi’s first request when he arrives at my country farm house is simple… when are we going over to shop Target – properly pronounced “tar-jay.”

He loves to go over to the Target down the street and walk the aisles. 

Of course, he goes first to the toy department, then over to the sports department, then over to electronics, then over to find a snack food for the day, then over to check out the latest in Ninja Turtle T-shirts. 

Now of course, I am also having a blast checking out the latest in seasonal specials, outdoor gear and the latest in the sport shirts.

We also shop together at WalMart and Five Below… but we both have more fun when we journey over to Target.

This Saturday, I will likely have to sit down and let Zevi know that Target is going to change a bunch over the next year. 

One thing is clear… at age 5, Zevi not only has moved beyond baby-goods and he cannot stand being near them. 

We probably have to find another place to journey to on Saturday afternoons… and my bet, is that we will not be the only ones out there making the change!

Corporate America sometimes does some dumb stuff.

Maybe Brian Cornell needs to get out from Target’s corporate campus, grab Zevi and take a journey through his store aisles for a good perspective.

Generational Change Is Never Easy To Accept

Change is never easy to accept.

Abrupt change is often citied as the most difficult and dramatic. 

In the business world we hear that a lot. 

A CEO is removed by a Board.  A marketing VP elects to quit.  An ad agency is fired.  A media publication bites the dust.

In the marketplace, we observe change with job losses, the closing of a retail chain, new elected leadership replacing old elected leadership and sudden price escalations.

Generational change is also never easy to accept. 

And perhaps, its even further magnified in its impact because its not quick.  And its something that is often overlooked and miscalculated.

Generation change is never-ending.  However, its not as predictable as many think.

There are three clients who I am working with right now who are coming to terms with generational change. 

One of the clients is a neighborhood community.

Another is a bank.

And the third is a media group that owns more than 30 newspapers.

Atlanta, like many Southern agricultural and rail line linked communities, clustered, for the most part, around train stations along the rail lines.  City lines extended out a mile or two at the most and after that, it was farmland that was organized the most at a general county level.

For many, many years after the war, Atlanta was the city and the rest of the countryside was the county. 

Yes, there were the cities of Marrieta, Snellville, Roswell and Duluth, but up until 25-30 years ago, those were very outlying cities that most living there, didn't even work in “that urban oasis called Atlanta.”

Up North where I was born, the cities are made up of a continuous flow of one ethnic or national group that butts up to the next.  Cities and suburbs are continuous and often there is no such thing as an unincorporated county neighborhood.

As the South grew fueled by industry moving from the “rust belt” to the “sun belt,” areas between the cities and towns expanded… and generationally are now experiencing change.

Those who settled in the county suburbs in the 1960s and 1970s are now in their own 60s and 70s.

Many have already moved out further into the ‘burbs, up into the cooler mountains or down on the sunny shores of Florida.

Back even 10-15 years ago, the GenXers coupling placed a priority on making babies and cocooning together in their suburban home where the schools were nice. Mom’s could caravan the kids to after-school events and the Dad’s could commute to bring in the money to pay for it all.

GenXers have worked aggressively to give to their kids what many did not experience because their parents divorced.

That said, the intown neighborhoods are now facing the onslaught surge of the Millennials who value less drive time and access to fun more than the frustration of commuting and living in sub-divided developments. 

Millennials are also “hands-on” change agents.  If the public schools went downhill, they are much more engaged in getting their hands dirty and taking on the challenge of making the schools better… and that’s even before they elect to have little kiddies to even send to class.

Millennials also crave that sense of “place.”  A physical dwelling spot that they can touch and feel and become part of… something that GenXers sacrificed for the ability to live all together in the family room.

This generational change is taking effect.  The pace is not overnight… but as more Millennials enter their 30s and more move from Property Virgins to community change agents… that pace will heighten and the impact will rattle many a foundation.

The neighborhood community I work with attempted to organize and create a "new" city last year.  It failed.  It was a model created by the aging Boomers that attempted to grab onto the community dynamic that was there 30 years ago.  Not the one there today.

The last session with them, I asked them a simple question, what percentage of this part of Atlanta do you think is made up of adults age 55+?  They quickly answered that the "Boomers" and "Seniors" who settled in this part of town made up at least 60% of the commuting.  The actual percentage was 12%.

The Millennials now represent the largest age group and its growing the quickest. 

As we hear in the international politics, they are having to re-anchor around the new generational realities!

I really get a kick out of working for my bank client.  They have a brand image that is actually retro-home-grown chic. 

From the viewpoint of Boomers, the bank might not be cool enough.  Shoot… they’re not a national brand that sponsors professional sports teams. Nor have posters in the airport terminals.  Nor advertise in the regional edition of the Wall Street Journal.

And that’s actually a good thing.

Small town banks that reach out beyond their foundation city, but still remain customer focused in the way that banks did before the advent of the ATM, is an essence of cool that Millennials crave… especially as their Boomer parents push them out of the house and they seek surrogate substitutes that can guide them and hold their hand!

My client, the small town newspaper group actually has the ability to look at a glass that is either half full or half empty.

No question that the web has challenged the survival of many city-centered newspapers.  Social media transport news and information perhaps even better than online editions of USA Today… or at least the news that many actually care about reading.

BUT… just as much as Millennials are declaring their own new hometowns, small town newspapers are providing a local anchoring point of connection that old and young alike place value.

The Mature Generation might soon be passing as they quickly enter into the 80s and 90s, but right now, they represent the vast majority of what makes up the population residing along Main Street in the hundreds – maybe even thousands – of small towns that dot the landscape of Middle America. 

Oddly… Millennials are driven to sink down roots… Matures are driven to continue to connect with their roots.

Millennials and Matures are more alike than many marketers might think.

The marketplace is experiencing BIG change. 

Ad agencies fail to see it.  Many entrepreneurs are driven by the expectation that everybody will buy their product. Corporations are too anchored by dated models to adapt to capture it.

I’m in the business to not only accept change, but find ways to embrace it… and capitalize on it.

Are you ready to journey?

My Advice is to Get Out

Whenever I tell people that I live in Atlanta, at least two-thirds reply quickly and say, “I’m sorry to hear that.”

After a number of years of hearing this, I have stopped asking the question “why.”  Instead, I ask them if they know anyone who lives in the city of Atlanta.

And they quickly respond that they do and that all they hear is that the traffic is horrific.

When I then ask where do the folks live in the city, they will rattle off places like Alpharetta, Roswell, Lawrenceville and Kennesaw. 

For those of you reading this that do not know much about Atlanta, those are cities that are close to 20 miles out from the city line.

Sure, the interstates the run through the city itself will become land-locked in rush hour, but in all honesty, not as much as the roadways outside the perimeter.

And the roadways in the city rarely get blocked. 

Living in Atlanta is more like living in a small town than the picture many paint of the city life.

I always find it amusing how people form viewpoints with little-to-no exploratory beyond the surface level see the world around them. 

Reading this morning’s Wall Street Journal was not a happy experience.

Whether it was the story about Coke and its global declines or Target and the hiring of a new CEO to bring it out of its coma or Samsung’s mobile chief feeling the heat or the European automotive brands hitting a pothole… the story line was almost the same.

Brand management is scratching their heads to figure out where to go next.

As I am writing this, Wall Street has dropped more than 200 points.  This might be more of a correction because of expectations of coming out of the Fed’s last meeting. 

My prediction is that we are going to see the economy hit another stalling point.

I share the story of Atlanta perceptions because that story is really not too different from the stories being shared in the boardrooms by the executive leadership that has no idea of where to turn next.

If you’re a really loyal reader of this blog, you probably know where this text is going.

Technology has invaded into the headset of management.

Systematic has over taken innovation.  Creativity is claimed and touted, but there are vast limitations that temper the scope of application.

Much of management today focuses inward.  They hire firms to talk with their management teams. Some even bring in the shrinks… I am not kidding!

The article about Target in today’s Wall Street Journal is perhaps the most interesting… and telling.

The CEO comes from Pepsico with past roles working with WalMart, Sam’s Club and Michael’s. 

The Wall Street Journal labeled him as a stabilizer of brands by helping to anchor them with the brand’s core market base.

I hope… and really hope that he sees more in the target brand than the fact that it can be labeled as a “discount retailer”… but I would not be too surprised if he doesn’t quickly transfer over his expertise of reaching out to the mass market.

Few of top management take the time to get out of their corporate cultures, slip on a pair of Levi’s and get out and dwell with “folks in the ‘hood.

I went into a Target yesterday to shop.  If you really want to see the brand through my set of glasses, you have to pronounce the brand name correctly… “Tar-jay.”

With all their hype about changing, my Target experience yesterday was really not too different from any in the past 10-15 years.

Perhaps the biggest change is the new and expanded food aisles that occupy space where once stood broader selection of products for the garden, car and home shop. 

In fact, Target right now is wrapping its hands around capitalizing on the bank-to-school last-minute shopping surge. 

There are displays of notebooks, pens, Crayons, and backpacks.  But there are also end-aisle overstocked displays of cheap home goods, desk lights and bath accessories.

The fact that there is now a downward decline in households with school age kids does not seem to get even a whimper of notice in Target’s merchandising effort. 

Back-to-School will always be around as a key promotional effort to tap.

Yeah… and Boomers will always be out there to relive their “Peace, Love, Harmony” days of the 1960s.

I also got a kick out of seeing all the cheap “dorm-room” fillers crammed into the Target aisles.  Futon sofas, bean-bag chairs, sleek desk lamps and geometric patterned shower curtains.

What Target is up against is the proverbial Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious or as I term it the BGO. 

The vast majority of the Millennials are long past their high school and college days.

Instead of shopping Target for the “hip and cool” furniture for their new cool $1,800 per month apartment or even their first-time home-owner pad, they are driving over to IKEA, HomeGoods, Haverty’s (yes… Haverty’s) and Pier 1 Imports store.

The BGO is simple. 

The Millennials have gotten older and passed on to another life-stage.

Oh, I know the reply from the internal Target team. 

Well we know the Millennials.  We have a Facebook page.  We Tweet and post pics on Pinterest. 

We know all about that mobile generation.

Yeah.  When’s the last time you got up from your desk or iPad and ventured out into where those folks live, work, dine, shop and hang with their friends in the real world?

The Millennials are driving the market right now whether they decide to wear the label or not.

What’s chic and hip is now up against what’s affordable and fits into their check book balance – or debit card balance.

My bet is that Target’s new CEO will be the driver of moving Target into more direct competitive alignment with WalMart. 

There will be limited change in its product line… except more price specials.

The brand will reach out to be more “mass-appeal.”

There will be a lot… a whole lot… of internal operational changes. They can't afford to have another credit card record leak like they had last year leading into the Holidays.

My friend, the psychiatrist told me that crazy people seldom become sane… and because of it, he will always have a job.

My advice to the brands featured in today’s Wall Street Journal is simple.

Get Out.

Get out from behind those corporate walls and boardrooms and go dwell with your customers in their day-to-day world. 

And if the thought of doing so creates a panic-attack…

Call me.

And in addition to my going out and doing it for you, I will pass over the phone number of the doc who can help you manage the panic-attacks.

The GenXers Can Finally Lay Claim To Trendsetting!

I had the pleasure of having a cup of coffee with a GenXer yesterday. 

She told me about the struggle she’s going through.  Back “before having the kids” she had a very successful career.  She worked in marketing and sales.

But then along came the kids. 

Now before readers relate to her frustration because of being female… put a hold on it.

Over the last fifteen or more years, both she and her husband placed top value on raising those kids. 

He made sacrifices too.  In fact, they ended up moving just to get the kids in better public schools.  

And instead of taking a nice “get-away” vacation trips, both she and her husband channelled the dollars instead to refinishing the basement so that they and the kids could have more quality time.

In 2015, the leading edge of GenXers hits the magic moment of turning 50.  Yes.  50 years old. 

And the trailing edge will turn 39. 

You really don’t hear too much hoopla about it.

In fact, outside of kids, kids, kids and kids… you really hear little about Generation X.

Fact is… there’s really not as many of them as there are Boomers and Millennials.

In fact, you add those two population groups together and the GenXers barely represent about a third of the size.

I’ve written blogs about the GenXers in the past.  Close to half growing up with divorced parents.  Vowing adamantly that they would not get a divorce and instead preserve family values that their parents seemed to ignore.

Sidelight… left-side media has it ingrained in their headsets that “family values” is all driven by a disdain for gay folks when instead, “family values” is largely driven by GenXers and their dedication to avoid following in the foot steps of their parents.

GenXers are not known for being trendsetters and change agents.

However, this past week, there was an article in the Wall Street Journal about a new trend hitting the movie theaters that actually we can all thank the GenXers for driving.

Really.  Not making this up.

Before I tell you what the movie theaters are doing, let me share a couple of interesting snippets about the GenXers.

In all the house and home work we do, we have not only gone out on the streets and talked with GenXers – or the family market segment, but we’ve shopped with them, toured their homes, joined the search online and with agents, sat with them and their interior designs and even baby sat the kids while the parents got out their paint brushes to make the bedroom a “teen retreat.”

My one observation is simple.  GenXers care more about the time cocooning than they do about the look, feel and style of the cocoon.

GenXers are famous for buying the house with the unfinished basement and carving out space for their “family” media room.

Down here in the ATL, there’s a furniture chain called “Rooms-To-Go.”  The retailer caters to GenXers by stocking “functional” furniture at very affordable prices.

Where IKEA might have an edge of style and design.  Rooms-To-Go has an edge on durability and function.

While Lay-Z-Boy has sorta been successful in repositioning their furniture line as being more stylish, Rooms-To-Go gave recliners new meaning with their classic GenXer signature piece… the sofa with the built-in food rests, declining back cushions and the built-in beer-can or Pepsi-can holders.

Remember... GenXers are not all professional and white collar.  There's a diverse generational scope that embodies the blue-collar working family too. 

Those blue collar GenXers might not have a Rooms-To-Go in their small town, but there were "close-out" says featuring those faux leather theater seat sets being sold off the pack of the moving truck... for sure!

Since the trend of the family media room hit, the Smiths, the Jones, the Kamdars, the Fohfamas, the Perez and the Chengs… all have purchased the large 84” flat screens, Best Buy sound systems and recliner sofas to stock the GenXer version of the family room.

The Wall Street Journal article bears the title:  “Coming to a Theater Near You: Recliners”

Yes… recliners.

Gone will be the flip down theater seats.  Gone will also be the larger number of seats.

Welcome the Lay-Z-Boy look along with the premium ticket cost that offsets the decline in the number of seats.

AMC Entertainment is leading the charge… By the way, now owned by a China-based Dalian Wanda Group.

The GenXer basement home theaters are soon to premiere in a mall parking lot near you!

The next time you hear a GenXer co-worker, friend, PTA community leader or your GenXer significant other talk about how the Boomers and Millennials are stealing their stage… tell them to go catch the latest movie at the neighborhood AMC Theater.

And you can even add… “... and it will feel just like home.”

Top Five Learnings From High Tech & Social Network Geeks

I attended a very interesting session this past week sponsored by Cox Media and this week, I am dwelling in Seattle with the leadership of Microsoft and Google.

First… The Cox Media folk…

My Cox Media contact told me initially that the morning offsite was going to be all about online advertising and marketing.  It turned out to be mostly about SEO and website architecture. 

The session was close to three hours long.The person making the presentation was the Cox Media SEO corporate expert.  From my perspective, the guy was a true tech geek. 

Geeks right now are cool… in some circles.

About three-dozen folks attended the session.

I was the only “consultant” attending… the other individuals were all “clients.”  Most carried a title with the word “marketing” in it.  A few were the owners of their small business or community group.

The first observation actually further reinforced a broader observation I make of many in marketing today… there is a profound belief that consumer behavior can easily be boiled down to predictable patterns that can be further influenced and molded to lead to purchase engagement.

Just like our communication boils down to “0s” and “1s,” there is a belief that human behavior is modeled the same.  There is a breed of Techie Geeks who view the scope of market to entirely exist within the world of the web and social media.

Two things this geek guy shared I found surprisingly, very interesting!

The first thing he shared was that SEO, in its historic model dynamics, will soon be history. 

I am sure that a number of you reading this Blogl-ogue think of SEO as having to do with the use of the right words and content in a website that will then generate a “higher-post” on the Google search page.

Sites that match up more closely with the “right” content words generate more clicks. 

To be honest, this type of modeling always bothered me.

I have worked with clients that are more hell-bent on using the right words more so than presenting the information in an emotionally, engaging way.

Several of my clients about shot me when I told them to scrap all the wording on their website and express their brand experience more in pictures.

Announced a few weeks ago, Google is doing away with word use as a priority factor and replacing it with actual time spent and the degree of visitor website engagement as the determinant factor in just how high up a website gets listed on the search results page

Wow. 

What a pleasant surprise.  Audience interest guiding what’s best versus word matches. 

The second thing he shared was that the website experience is actually more important than the mechanical architecture of the website. 

Wow… and that was coming from a tech geek.

He spoke about the presentation of information in the format of dialogue.  He talked about ways to build elements of “excitement to read / hear / watch” content that would generate a response to read / hear / watch more.

I really, really hope that individuals attending the Cox presentation heard these two points… however, my bet is that they still are dwelling in the mechanical elements of their SEO-Website-Self-Proclamation of the past.

Onward to Seattle!

Let me first say that I am not out here dwelling with the Google and Microsoft folks to glean high tech insights.

I am actually out here in Seattle exploring how a financial institution can reach out more effectively to engage the high salary geek Millennials. They are, after all, coupling, nesting in a place they call home, and stowing away investment funds to pay for their college degree and future retirement.

I conducted close to 40 one on one interviews today about banks and banking.  More than 2/3rds were interviews with Google and Microsoft geeks and geek management.

Here is what they said that surprised me.

They hate the BIG BANKS.

They love the idea of a “small town” bank.

They love the ad concepts that were simple testimonials.

They seek out personal, in-person interaction with a REAL person.

Here in Seattle, there’s a Starbucks or an Indie coffee house on nearly every corner.

I also noticed a lot of bakeries.  Even “mom and pop” shops. 

High Tech.  High Touch.

That was coined more than 30 years ago. 

It’s alive and well.

I also visited two large outdoor shopping complexes located within a stone’s throw from Microsoft’s corporate office where there was a half dozen home furniture and home good stores.  The sales people told me that the geeks love the country, casual, comfy style the most.

Marketers are you reading this???

Last part of this blog.

In today’s WSJ, there was an article titled:  “Social Media Fail to Live Up to Early Marketing Hype.”

Here are some quotes from the article…

“Fans and follower counts are over.”

“Social media are not the powerful and persuasive marketing force many companies hoped they would be.”

“Gallup says 62% of U.S. consumer say that social media has no influence on their buying decisions.”

“Nielsen found that consumers find television, radio, print and outdoor billboards to be more ‘trust-worthy’ than social media ads.”

I’ll never forget attending a big social media conference and a young lady wearing the title of “VP, Social Media Strategy” from one of the BIG (and expensive!) NYC ad agencies was the speaker.

Her client was a large CPG – Consumer Packaged Goods – food client.

She spoke for more than hour about the modeling and the engagement and the detailed insight that they did with their social media “like” members. 

I finally asked her, “How many people are we talking about?”

The answer:  38,000 people.

I then asked what market share of the category her client had built and approximately how many consumers made up their U.S. market. 

Her answer: 25 Million people.

Enough said.

Here’s my perspective of what all this is saying to us in the marketing field…

(1) People are people… not machines.

(2) Pictures communicate a thousand words and the words play a minimal role

(3) Engage… not educate

(4) High touch is hot
(5) Emotionally connect … unless the right side of the brain clicks… Poof… gone!

I Admit I was Wrong About HGTV Magazine

Okay… I am the first to stand up and say I was wrong.

A little over a year ago I posted a blog about HGTV magazine and used the blog post as a podium of commentary that I just could not see how a broadcast brand could easily transition to a magazine format.

I still agree that there are some rather unconventional ways that the editors bring to life television scenarios in a print format.

As a few might know EXPERIENCE does a lot of strategy development work with client-partners in the House and Home marketplace.  And, the work spans across much of North America and even parts of Europe.

I subscribe to a bunch of House and Home publications including House & Home, the premier Canadian interior design magazine. 

The set includes Country Living, Traditional Living, Dwell, Architectural Digest, Home & Garden, House Beautiful and Elle Décor.  It runs the gamut of how the English and French design their interiors to how the fashionable in Manhattan to West Hollywood define style.

There are two BIG CHANGES taking place within this microscope of culture right now. 

One is a direct reflection of the last blog-logue I posted that you can read below… The Millennials are emerging and rattling the cage of architecture and design.

Mid-century is hip and cool… down payments are scarce… and interactive combined with live-work is a “here and now” state of mind.

The second is that as the Millennials rattle the cage of architecture and design, the urban editorial world of house and home publications are quickly retreating to their own backyards… whether its Manhattan, Toronto, LA, Paris or London.

The problem is that their own backyards are so far away from the reality of the here and now of the masses.  Lord help us, but they seem to even make clarification that it’s a penthouse on the Upper Eastside and NOT the Upper Westside. 

At least three of the current issues of the high-brow design pubs feature stories about the homes of one of their own editors. 

The pictures of the “See and Be Seen” photo galleries showcase the same people issue after issue. 

Perhaps the label of “incestual editorial” might apply.

 When I pursue through the pages of HGTV Magazine I am struck by how much more real the people are who are featured in the stories.

Their homes look like what I see when I drive to work each morning or visit other metros and conduct Coffee House Chats at the neighborhood Starbucks.

The issues highlight ways to renovate the “mid-century homes” or near-mid-century homes that are found to be affordable to both “Property Virgins” and “House Hunters” of the mass market.

Instead of showcasing the $4,000 rocking chairs and $2,999 living room lamp, HGTV Magazine lists out finds at IKEA, T.J.Maxx ad Home Depot.

HGTV Magazine has commentary and advice on finding deals featured in pictures versus listing out by name the individual designers who custom made the prototype piece.

Are the high-end designer publications soon to fold… maybe.  I would not rule it out. 

I used to enjoy receiving my issues of Gourmet magazine back in the 1990s.  Gourmet Magazine helped educate me on what made California Chardonnays unique from French Cabernets.

But high cultural dining gave way to Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. 

Target has to rethink and adjust as the Millennials begin to make their mark. 

And the highbrow Manhattan ad execs that see life through their Central Park sunglasses are receiving 911 client calls as ad dollar return diminishes.

We cannot entirely divorce HGTV Magazine from its peers – shoot, a good number of their editorial team once mingled with the Manhattan high-brow.

Are other publications that are embracing the Millennial’s perspective of “sinking down roots.”

Yes.

Whether its Country Living showcasing the Millennial Betty Crockers in Nashville or Dwell Magazine showcasing the 20-something gay couple and their 600 square foot pre-fab, indeed there are other print pubs out there that are getting it too!

And for the purposes of this blog post, I won’t journey far into the online, but trust me, there’s a bunch more sites that are connecting with Millennials without having to turn on the press.

I was wrong a year ago.  I admit it.

As Howard Schultz voices in his best-seller about Starbucks… Onward!