Today started out simple. AT&T as an Internet provider of my corporate apartment in the city and a new router was to arrive this morning shipped overnight.
When the UPS truck pulled up at 9am sharp, I anticipated getting the box and getting the Internet running even faster.
Instead, the UPS driver handed me an overnight letter envelope.
Nope. Not addressed as coming from AT&T.
The UPS “urgent overnight” package was shipped to me from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Sounds like a law firm, but it’s instead a financial advisory stepchild.
Inside the envelope was a simple post card stating, “Morgan Stanley Smith Barney is pleased to announce that ‘so-and-so’ has accepted the position of First Vice President, Financial Adviser.”
So-and-so is a new agent that I have been working with from another financial advisory firm.
When I showed the announcement card to the UPS driver, he quickly replied… well I am sure it is something valuable they sent you on that card because that sender paid close to $30 to get it to you overnight.
I am sure that Morgan Stanley Smith Barney’s Duluth, Georgia (a suburb of Atlanta) brand office was focused on getting me to switch over my investment portfolio to them since they hired the agent managing the account.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney… at least this local Atlanta office… probably has little-to-no understanding of what an action like this conveys about their brand in an economic environment where small business owners are having to tightly manage spending costs to deliver some form of financial return.
Shortly after I called the Atlanta Morgan Stanley Smith Barney office and left a message of concern, the agent they hired who I had worked with, so-and-so, called me. He was unaware of my calling concerned about the use of UPS “urgent overnight” delivery.
He laughed when I asked why would his firm spend close to $30 versus $.50 to mail the announcement card, and replied, “well, you know, that is the personality of my new firm.”
I quickly replied that while I think he’s a nice guy, there is no way in heck that I am going to move my investment portfolio over to a financial company that places little-to-no value on how it manages its own spending.
BIG BRANDS often do dumb, stupid things… round #2.
Later when I got the snail mail delivery, there was another letter that surprised me.
The letter was sent from a Volkswagen dealer also out of Atlanta… Gunther Volkswagen at the Mall of Georgia. The letter was sent “direct from the desk of Joseph Gunther” himself.
In the letter, Gunter “personally offered” me $29,883 for my Volkswagen Touareg … an offer higher than $28,460 that he offered me in a “personal” letter three weeks ago.
When I received the letter from Joseph Gunther three weeks earlier, I picked up the phone the moment I received it and spoke directly to Joseph Gunther about the offer.
Specifically I thanked him for the offer…the only problem was that I no longer had possession of the car and never owned it. I returned the leased car back to Volkswagen nearly 2 years ago.
Embarrassed, he told me it was a mistake in their “database” and he would personally make sure it was corrected.
Upon the receipt of the letter this morning, I picked up the phone again and called Joseph back. He was not there, but I was sent over to their “head of sales.”
When I outlined the scenario that occurred, the first response I received was that it was not a fault of the dealership. If anybody was at fault, it was the firm that does the mailings.
“The Buck Stops Here” can play several roles in this scenario… the least of which is that other customers receiving letters like this probably will not even take the time to express it directly over the phone to the dealership.
It my case... "The Buck Stops Here"... Mr. Gunther will certainly not be receiving any of my future business... along with the other folks who read this blog!
Dealerships of BIG BRANDS often do dumb, stupid things.
The third highlight of my morning was simply another chapter of an ongoing BIG BRAND saga.
After an hour and 20 minutes on hold, I finally… FINALLY… got a live person from AT&T on the phone to ask where was the router box that was to be delivered this morning.
The person at AT&T was a nice person. I give her extra credit for being nice.
Turns out, that the router box was not being delivered today.
Instead, the shipping order was placed today. The box will arrive on Monday morning.
Unfortunately, no one will be here to receive the delivery.
I know it sounds boring and you are probably wondering… why is this part of the story included in this blog? What does it have to do with BIG BRANDS doing dumb things?
Well, after being on hold for more than an hour and 20 minutes, an “aha” insight hit me.
When I called to place the order and keyed into the automated answer service that I was a NEW customer, an AT&T person answered on the other end of the phone within less than a minute.
Soooo… I ended the call where I had been left on hold and called the same number back…but this time when the automated system asked me for the phone number on the account, I entered in that I was a new customer and did not have a number.
Guess how long it took for the nice person from AT&T to answer the call.
Less than a minute.
Maybe someone needs to send the CEO of AT&T that chapter of Marketing and Sales 101 that it costs a lot more to land new customers than it costs to retain existing customers.
Then again, if you are a BIG BRAND that has a monopoly on the marketplace, perhaps you don’t care.
A new client that I landed yesterday is a German company that oddly is in the business of owning and constructing cell phone towers.
I am really looking forward to working with this client because they hired our team based on strong belief that a brand has to represent something of value… that is competitively unique… and most of all, believable and translated directly in the experience with the brand.
That’s refreshing.
Enough about AT&T, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and Gunther Volkswagen.
Enough is enough!
My final observation on this Friday… the glass is indeed half full for businesses and entrepreneurs that care enough to venture out and deliver a positive brand relationship with their customer base.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Passion Does Not A Brand Kill
Passion does not a brand kill.
But process flows, corporate management hierarchy, systematic rational thinking, organization for the sake of organization… all of that… will.
I don’t know if you have seen the YouTube video about Grand Rapids yet.
If not… here is the link… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPjjZCO67WI
Watch it.
But know that in less than one week, there have been 2,453,145 others that have as well… it’s on YouTube.
In fact, the YouTube video made the Major Net’s Nightly News on Friday evening this week so I guess we can toss in several million more that have watched it in the last week.
It’s a great video based on the song Bye, Bye Miss American Pie.
The production of the video was sparked by a young twenty-something who discovered that the city was cited in a Newsweek article of the Top 10 dying cities in the U.S.
He was so passionate about his city roots, that he raised $40,000 in donations and rallied together about 5,000 folks to be part of the video.
He staged and filmed the video in 3 hours with a single camera and film truck he rented.
The kids filming it, the local citizens, the mayor, the police chief, the fire post and the local high school band were all passionate about it.
Passion does not a brand kill.
Here in Atlanta-land, home of corporate giants like AT&T Mobile, Coke, UPS, Georgia-Pacific, InterContinental Hotels and AFLAC, the city was hell bent a few years ago with building a brand for the city.
Those MBAs and Corporate Cultured Leadership got together with the Chamber of Commerce and raised a pool of funds to hire an ad agency and do a research study to identify the rational benefit pay out of the Atlanta band experience.
Did they hire a local Atlanta shop to assist?
No. They hired the New York-based ad agency Grey that serviced what was then BellSouth.
Did they find a team of passionate local folks to bring the brand to life?
No. They played out their MBA models to craft a brand story.
Did they decide to tap into the online social networks and go viral with the brand message?
No. They believed strongly in using the local television network affiliates, the Cox radio stations (local Corporate “good ole” boy), the Cox-owned (and dying on the vine) Atlanta Journal Constitution and last, but not least, the local outdoor billboard giant.
I bet, if you’re reading this Blog- dialogue from anywhere outside I-285 (outside the perimeter – OTP), you have no idea what was the Atlanta brand campaign.
Well here is the link to the Atlanta brand campaign on YouTube…
http://www.youtube.com/results?search=Search&resnum=0&oi=spell&search_query=Brand+Atlanta&spell=1&suggested_categories=26%2C17%2C24%2C10%2C25%2C27&sa=X
That video has been up posted on YouTube for more than a week.
It’s actually been up on YouTube for more than 156 weeks.
And in 156 weeks, that video is posted a total of 1,216 views. That’s not a typo.
Those MBAs and Corporate Cultured Leadership crafted that campaign around the tagline… “Everyday Is An Opening Day.”
The day it premiered, about 2,000 folks over at Coke Corporate received pink slips and a few days later AT&T merged with BellSouth and announced that the headquarters was being moved to Texas.
The annual budget for the campaign was over $6 million. That’s not a typo.
I knew the woman that served as the “marketing director” of the Brand Atlanta team. She raked in more than $150,000+ per year for a couple of years.
The agency got its share of the dollars and so did Cox media, the local outdoor company and the local network affiliates.
I’ve posted stories on this blog before about interactions I have had with area Chambers and business organizations.
I have highlighted and shared how they see the world around them, define opportunity and believe that business will build in the future.
I have used adjectives to describe them and won’t retype those adjectives again, but you can go back and discover the type of adjectives I have used.
In one week, another city city that was on the death list is now back in conversation about cities which are taking on the challenge of change and paradigm shifts. Passion is moving that city forward, not a business model or the communication of a rational benefit.
A few days ago, I conducted a set of conference calls with some great travel agencies in the Midwest and the Northeast about how they can tap into targeted market potential sitting right in their own backyards.
We talked about using online newspaper and identifying new Millennials that see the travel agent in the same perspective as they see their “helicopter” parents.
One of the travel agencies is owned and managed by two Baby Boomer women that work out the basement of a house just outside the Philadelphia metro.
They both got excited about what was shared and said “Wow, we can share our passion for our those great resorts with some cool folks right here in our backyard.”
I am going to Email them this afternoon with a link to the Grand Rapids YouTube video.
Passion does not a brand kill.
But process flows, corporate management hierarchy, systematic rational thinking, organization for the sake of organization… all of that… will.
But process flows, corporate management hierarchy, systematic rational thinking, organization for the sake of organization… all of that… will.
I don’t know if you have seen the YouTube video about Grand Rapids yet.
If not… here is the link… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPjjZCO67WI
Watch it.
But know that in less than one week, there have been 2,453,145 others that have as well… it’s on YouTube.
In fact, the YouTube video made the Major Net’s Nightly News on Friday evening this week so I guess we can toss in several million more that have watched it in the last week.
It’s a great video based on the song Bye, Bye Miss American Pie.
The production of the video was sparked by a young twenty-something who discovered that the city was cited in a Newsweek article of the Top 10 dying cities in the U.S.
He was so passionate about his city roots, that he raised $40,000 in donations and rallied together about 5,000 folks to be part of the video.
He staged and filmed the video in 3 hours with a single camera and film truck he rented.
The kids filming it, the local citizens, the mayor, the police chief, the fire post and the local high school band were all passionate about it.
Passion does not a brand kill.
Here in Atlanta-land, home of corporate giants like AT&T Mobile, Coke, UPS, Georgia-Pacific, InterContinental Hotels and AFLAC, the city was hell bent a few years ago with building a brand for the city.
Those MBAs and Corporate Cultured Leadership got together with the Chamber of Commerce and raised a pool of funds to hire an ad agency and do a research study to identify the rational benefit pay out of the Atlanta band experience.
Did they hire a local Atlanta shop to assist?
No. They hired the New York-based ad agency Grey that serviced what was then BellSouth.
Did they find a team of passionate local folks to bring the brand to life?
No. They played out their MBA models to craft a brand story.
Did they decide to tap into the online social networks and go viral with the brand message?
No. They believed strongly in using the local television network affiliates, the Cox radio stations (local Corporate “good ole” boy), the Cox-owned (and dying on the vine) Atlanta Journal Constitution and last, but not least, the local outdoor billboard giant.
I bet, if you’re reading this Blog- dialogue from anywhere outside I-285 (outside the perimeter – OTP), you have no idea what was the Atlanta brand campaign.
Well here is the link to the Atlanta brand campaign on YouTube…
http://www.youtube.com/results?search=Search&resnum=0&oi=spell&search_query=Brand+Atlanta&spell=1&suggested_categories=26%2C17%2C24%2C10%2C25%2C27&sa=X
That video has been up posted on YouTube for more than a week.
It’s actually been up on YouTube for more than 156 weeks.
And in 156 weeks, that video is posted a total of 1,216 views. That’s not a typo.
Those MBAs and Corporate Cultured Leadership crafted that campaign around the tagline… “Everyday Is An Opening Day.”
The day it premiered, about 2,000 folks over at Coke Corporate received pink slips and a few days later AT&T merged with BellSouth and announced that the headquarters was being moved to Texas.
The annual budget for the campaign was over $6 million. That’s not a typo.
I knew the woman that served as the “marketing director” of the Brand Atlanta team. She raked in more than $150,000+ per year for a couple of years.
The agency got its share of the dollars and so did Cox media, the local outdoor company and the local network affiliates.
I’ve posted stories on this blog before about interactions I have had with area Chambers and business organizations.
I have highlighted and shared how they see the world around them, define opportunity and believe that business will build in the future.
I have used adjectives to describe them and won’t retype those adjectives again, but you can go back and discover the type of adjectives I have used.
In one week, another city city that was on the death list is now back in conversation about cities which are taking on the challenge of change and paradigm shifts. Passion is moving that city forward, not a business model or the communication of a rational benefit.
A few days ago, I conducted a set of conference calls with some great travel agencies in the Midwest and the Northeast about how they can tap into targeted market potential sitting right in their own backyards.
We talked about using online newspaper and identifying new Millennials that see the travel agent in the same perspective as they see their “helicopter” parents.
One of the travel agencies is owned and managed by two Baby Boomer women that work out the basement of a house just outside the Philadelphia metro.
They both got excited about what was shared and said “Wow, we can share our passion for our those great resorts with some cool folks right here in our backyard.”
I am going to Email them this afternoon with a link to the Grand Rapids YouTube video.
Passion does not a brand kill.
But process flows, corporate management hierarchy, systematic rational thinking, organization for the sake of organization… all of that… will.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Wait Too Long And Its Old News
Sitting here sipping on a cup of coffee and reading the Atlanta Journal Constitution (“AJC”) at San Francisco Coffee House in the Virginia-Highland neighborhood of Atlanta.
The AJC is running a feature story about the aging population of Atlanta.
In fact, the AJC has been publishing a set of articles about the graying of the local boomer population.
The AJC cites the recently released 2010 US Census numbers that compare stats with the 2000 US Census stats.
I am not surprised at all with the numbers.
Over the last couple of years, I have completed a set of projects for assisted living care centers, hospitals, land developers and real estate planners citing the same trend.
In addition to working with ongoing US Census stats, we also have gone out and conducted more than two-dozen chat groups and about 50+ on-the-street interviews with boomers and empty nesters.
Oddly, just a couple of the clients believed what the interviews and stats are predicting.
About a month ago, one of the land developers set up a meeting with one of the largest assisted living center firms in the US, however, the firm had to close down a number of their facilities due to the real estate bust.
The firm is based out of the Northwest and is developing a new concept that focuses more on independent seniors seeking out a more holistic, healthy living environment.
There was no doubt that the Northwest environmentalist, natural living geeks were assisting in the development of the concept.
The CEO of the assisted living center traveled to Atlanta to see first hand the track of land available.
The real estate developer had sent a copy of an assessment report of the Atlanta area and their land tract specifically as it related to assisted senior living.
Even before I got up to present the stats, the CEO very quickly stated that he was not impressed by what he had seen in Atlanta.
I quickly asked him what had he assessed thus far.
He went on to say that his company had developed a model ten years ago that forecasted out potential based on the number of existing facilities, the number of beds, their current percentage occupancy and the number of people currently age 70+.
Okay.
He then said that his model rated the Atlanta metro area and the specific location of the development site as just average potential.
The location did not have hardly any competitive senior living centers and those there, were posting only 85% occupancy levels.
To be honest, we had heard a similar rationale voiced by another senior living developer earlier in the fall of 2010. The other guy just left his former employer after it posted some dramatic losses.
I already emailed the land developer this morning and suggested that he forward a couple of copies of the AJC to these guys.
When I got up to present to the CEO, I asked him directly, how did he define leading-edge insight and innovation.
He had difficulty answering the question.
His reply was a defensive one of his time-proven models that had been developed by statisticians and MBA business modelers.
Needless to say, when I made the presentation of the recent stats and highlighted the fact that opportunity was truly red-hot, he challenged the numbers and could not rationalize out why other developers had not already built senior housing developments.
Apparently, entrepreneur and innovator the CEO was not.
Yesterday afternoon I had a great conference call with marketing director at a hospital in the Midwest.
We talked about the brand and how to move it forward.
As I shared my approach to digging into the headsets of consumers and seeking out ways to deliver the experience they sought, he quickly replied that he saw the opportunity from the same perspective.
I told him that he was probably up against resistance internally at the hospital, but he needed to pride himself on how he viewed the challenge ahead.
I know this… the older I get, the more convinced I have become that the past business models are broke.
The walls of the business cocoon need to be torn down.
Management needs to get out from behind their desks and get out and talk with people.
Corporate mission statements that exalt what is seen in the mirror need to be scrapped and crafted instead around a true consumer need and experience sought.
As metro Atlanta ages and I age along with it, I have become more selective to partner with firms and brands that are willing to take the risk to embrace market change.
And if they elect to wait until it hits the front page of the metro newspapers… they will have to take a number and wait in line to capitalize on it.
The AJC is running a feature story about the aging population of Atlanta.
In fact, the AJC has been publishing a set of articles about the graying of the local boomer population.
The AJC cites the recently released 2010 US Census numbers that compare stats with the 2000 US Census stats.
I am not surprised at all with the numbers.
Over the last couple of years, I have completed a set of projects for assisted living care centers, hospitals, land developers and real estate planners citing the same trend.
In addition to working with ongoing US Census stats, we also have gone out and conducted more than two-dozen chat groups and about 50+ on-the-street interviews with boomers and empty nesters.
Oddly, just a couple of the clients believed what the interviews and stats are predicting.
About a month ago, one of the land developers set up a meeting with one of the largest assisted living center firms in the US, however, the firm had to close down a number of their facilities due to the real estate bust.
The firm is based out of the Northwest and is developing a new concept that focuses more on independent seniors seeking out a more holistic, healthy living environment.
There was no doubt that the Northwest environmentalist, natural living geeks were assisting in the development of the concept.
The CEO of the assisted living center traveled to Atlanta to see first hand the track of land available.
The real estate developer had sent a copy of an assessment report of the Atlanta area and their land tract specifically as it related to assisted senior living.
Even before I got up to present the stats, the CEO very quickly stated that he was not impressed by what he had seen in Atlanta.
I quickly asked him what had he assessed thus far.
He went on to say that his company had developed a model ten years ago that forecasted out potential based on the number of existing facilities, the number of beds, their current percentage occupancy and the number of people currently age 70+.
Okay.
He then said that his model rated the Atlanta metro area and the specific location of the development site as just average potential.
The location did not have hardly any competitive senior living centers and those there, were posting only 85% occupancy levels.
To be honest, we had heard a similar rationale voiced by another senior living developer earlier in the fall of 2010. The other guy just left his former employer after it posted some dramatic losses.
I already emailed the land developer this morning and suggested that he forward a couple of copies of the AJC to these guys.
When I got up to present to the CEO, I asked him directly, how did he define leading-edge insight and innovation.
He had difficulty answering the question.
His reply was a defensive one of his time-proven models that had been developed by statisticians and MBA business modelers.
Needless to say, when I made the presentation of the recent stats and highlighted the fact that opportunity was truly red-hot, he challenged the numbers and could not rationalize out why other developers had not already built senior housing developments.
Apparently, entrepreneur and innovator the CEO was not.
Yesterday afternoon I had a great conference call with marketing director at a hospital in the Midwest.
We talked about the brand and how to move it forward.
As I shared my approach to digging into the headsets of consumers and seeking out ways to deliver the experience they sought, he quickly replied that he saw the opportunity from the same perspective.
I told him that he was probably up against resistance internally at the hospital, but he needed to pride himself on how he viewed the challenge ahead.
I know this… the older I get, the more convinced I have become that the past business models are broke.
The walls of the business cocoon need to be torn down.
Management needs to get out from behind their desks and get out and talk with people.
Corporate mission statements that exalt what is seen in the mirror need to be scrapped and crafted instead around a true consumer need and experience sought.
As metro Atlanta ages and I age along with it, I have become more selective to partner with firms and brands that are willing to take the risk to embrace market change.
And if they elect to wait until it hits the front page of the metro newspapers… they will have to take a number and wait in line to capitalize on it.
Monday, April 18, 2011
The Rise Of A New Social Exchange
Over the last couple of weeks, I have been out on the road a lot.
Call me what you want, but unless a trip takes more than 6 hours driving time, then and only then will I consider getting on an airplane and flying to the destination.
Road traffic is quicker right now than the time it takes to get to the airport, park the car, get through security, pre-board the flight, travel by air, land, get to the gate, de-board the plane, pick up the rental car and arrive at the client’s office.
I also like to travel by car because it gets me out among the public-at-large and observe human behaviors versus just crank numbers or read about how people behave and think.
I observed something over the past few trips that I found startling… people sitting in social settings and interacting constantly on their smart phones.
And we are not just talking about the Millennials or teen-age-just-got-the-driver’s-license folks.
No… they were old and young, male and female, motorcyclists and RVers. Some were tech geeks and some literally were Greeks… and not the ones from the frat houses.
They interacted with their smart phones while standing in line at McDonalds as much as they interacted with the smart phones sitting around the dinner table at the very nice restaurants… and even whiling pumping gas and using restrooms.
Not joking… a couple of guys even tracked an online dialogue while standing at the urinal.
Two weeks ago, there was a press announcement that Facebook was going to explore the posting of paid-advertising in real time online exchange.
So when a topic comes up in dialogue and the content is aligned with brand contact points, the brand will appear on the right side bar.
Some of my colleagues think that consumers are going to negatively react and find the alignment way too intrusive.
My perspective is that the glass is half full.
If the typical consumer is so tied now to those smart phones and that becomes their forum for social interaction with others… I believe it is a welcome opportunity for marketers to join in the social exchange.
And the opportunity doesn’t just stop there.
There are some brands that are linking their broadcast ads with mobile dialogues, but there’s a whole lot more opportunity. When an ad says call now… in 2011 moving forward they should really say text your friends now and see what cool things they have can tell you about the cool experience of our brand.
Think about ways that we can reach into consumer dialogue and endorsement with actual product experiences like taste sampling in the grocery stores and food courts.
Not sure how many of you have downloaded Scout Mob app, but it finds you and gives you 50% off deals right where you shop.
Think about how brands can reward “word-of-text” endorsement in real time with the ability to personally interact through smart phones.
Are marketers taking note and tapping into the opportunities.
No.
Many marketers voice the fact that they are expanding their marketing dollars into social media… but… when you look and see what they are actually doing, the large majority is creating a Facebook page where they simply put their “electronic brochure” websites into a multiple posting format.
So many of the marketers I meet along with their ad agency partners, continue to craft dialogue into a one way flow of here is who we are…any questions.
From a social anthropology viewpoint, I must admit that I am concerned about just how individuals have replaced true hands on interaction and exchange with rotating thumbs and electronic text.
From a marketing viewpoint, I see some new model opportunities!
Call me what you want, but unless a trip takes more than 6 hours driving time, then and only then will I consider getting on an airplane and flying to the destination.
Road traffic is quicker right now than the time it takes to get to the airport, park the car, get through security, pre-board the flight, travel by air, land, get to the gate, de-board the plane, pick up the rental car and arrive at the client’s office.
I also like to travel by car because it gets me out among the public-at-large and observe human behaviors versus just crank numbers or read about how people behave and think.
I observed something over the past few trips that I found startling… people sitting in social settings and interacting constantly on their smart phones.
And we are not just talking about the Millennials or teen-age-just-got-the-driver’s-license folks.
No… they were old and young, male and female, motorcyclists and RVers. Some were tech geeks and some literally were Greeks… and not the ones from the frat houses.
They interacted with their smart phones while standing in line at McDonalds as much as they interacted with the smart phones sitting around the dinner table at the very nice restaurants… and even whiling pumping gas and using restrooms.
Not joking… a couple of guys even tracked an online dialogue while standing at the urinal.
Two weeks ago, there was a press announcement that Facebook was going to explore the posting of paid-advertising in real time online exchange.
So when a topic comes up in dialogue and the content is aligned with brand contact points, the brand will appear on the right side bar.
Some of my colleagues think that consumers are going to negatively react and find the alignment way too intrusive.
My perspective is that the glass is half full.
If the typical consumer is so tied now to those smart phones and that becomes their forum for social interaction with others… I believe it is a welcome opportunity for marketers to join in the social exchange.
And the opportunity doesn’t just stop there.
There are some brands that are linking their broadcast ads with mobile dialogues, but there’s a whole lot more opportunity. When an ad says call now… in 2011 moving forward they should really say text your friends now and see what cool things they have can tell you about the cool experience of our brand.
Think about ways that we can reach into consumer dialogue and endorsement with actual product experiences like taste sampling in the grocery stores and food courts.
Not sure how many of you have downloaded Scout Mob app, but it finds you and gives you 50% off deals right where you shop.
Think about how brands can reward “word-of-text” endorsement in real time with the ability to personally interact through smart phones.
Are marketers taking note and tapping into the opportunities.
No.
Many marketers voice the fact that they are expanding their marketing dollars into social media… but… when you look and see what they are actually doing, the large majority is creating a Facebook page where they simply put their “electronic brochure” websites into a multiple posting format.
So many of the marketers I meet along with their ad agency partners, continue to craft dialogue into a one way flow of here is who we are…any questions.
From a social anthropology viewpoint, I must admit that I am concerned about just how individuals have replaced true hands on interaction and exchange with rotating thumbs and electronic text.
From a marketing viewpoint, I see some new model opportunities!
The Rise Of A New Social Exchange
Over the last couple of weeks, I have been out on the road a lot.
Call me what you want, but unless a trip takes more than 6 hours driving time, then and only then will I consider getting on an airplane and flying to the destination.
Road traffic is quicker right now than the time it takes to get to the airport, park the car, get through security, pre-board the flight, travel by air, land, get to the gate, de-board the plane, pick up the rental car and arrive at the client’s office.
I also like to travel by car because it gets me out in among the public-at-large and observe human behaviors versus just crank numbers or read about how people behave and think.
I observed something over the past few trips that I found startling… people sitting in social settings and interacting constantly on their smart phones.
And we are not just talking about the Millennials or teen-age-just-got-the-driver’s-license folks.
No… they were old and young, male and female, motorcyclists and RVers. Some were tech geeks and some literally were Greeks… and not the ones from the frat houses.
They interacted with their smart phones while standing in line at McDonalds as much as they interacted with the smart phones sitting around the dinner table at the very nice restaurants… and even while pumping gas and using restrooms.
Not joking… a couple of guys even tracked an online dialogue while standing at the urinal.
Two weeks ago, there was a press announcement that Facebook was going to explore the posting of paid-advertising in real time online exchange.
So when a topic comes up in dialogue and the content is aligned with brand contact points, the brand will appear on the right side bar.
Some of my colleagues think that consumers are going to negatively react and find the alignment way too intrusive.
My perspective is that the glass is half full.
If the typical consumer is so tied now to those smart phones and that becomes their forum for social interaction with others… I believe it is a welcome opportunity for marketers to join in the social exchange.
And the opportunity doesn’t just stop there.
There are some brands that are linking their broadcast ads with mobile dialogues, but there’s a whole lot more opportunity. When an ad says call now… in 2011 moving forward they should really say text your friends now and see what cool things they have can tell you about the cool experience of our brand.
Think about ways that we can reach into consumer dialogue and endorsement with actual product experiences like taste sampling in the grocery stores and food courts.
Not sure how many of you have downloaded Scout Mob app, but it finds you and gives you 50% off deals right where you shop.
Think about how brands can reward “word-of-text” endorsement in real time with the ability to personally interact through smart phones.
Are marketers taking note and tapping into the opportunities.
No.
Many marketers voice the fact that they are expanding their marketing dollars into social media… but… when you look and see what they are actually doing, the large majority is creating a Facebook page where they simply put their “electronic brochure” websites into a multiple posting format.
So many of the marketers I meet along with their ad agency partners, continue to craft dialogue into a one way flow of here is who we are…any questions.
From a social anthropology viewpoint, I must admit that I am concerned about just how individuals have replaced true hands on interaction and exchange with rotating thumbs and electronic text.
From a marketing viewpoint, I see some new model opportunities!
Call me what you want, but unless a trip takes more than 6 hours driving time, then and only then will I consider getting on an airplane and flying to the destination.
Road traffic is quicker right now than the time it takes to get to the airport, park the car, get through security, pre-board the flight, travel by air, land, get to the gate, de-board the plane, pick up the rental car and arrive at the client’s office.
I also like to travel by car because it gets me out in among the public-at-large and observe human behaviors versus just crank numbers or read about how people behave and think.
I observed something over the past few trips that I found startling… people sitting in social settings and interacting constantly on their smart phones.
And we are not just talking about the Millennials or teen-age-just-got-the-driver’s-license folks.
No… they were old and young, male and female, motorcyclists and RVers. Some were tech geeks and some literally were Greeks… and not the ones from the frat houses.
They interacted with their smart phones while standing in line at McDonalds as much as they interacted with the smart phones sitting around the dinner table at the very nice restaurants… and even while pumping gas and using restrooms.
Not joking… a couple of guys even tracked an online dialogue while standing at the urinal.
Two weeks ago, there was a press announcement that Facebook was going to explore the posting of paid-advertising in real time online exchange.
So when a topic comes up in dialogue and the content is aligned with brand contact points, the brand will appear on the right side bar.
Some of my colleagues think that consumers are going to negatively react and find the alignment way too intrusive.
My perspective is that the glass is half full.
If the typical consumer is so tied now to those smart phones and that becomes their forum for social interaction with others… I believe it is a welcome opportunity for marketers to join in the social exchange.
And the opportunity doesn’t just stop there.
There are some brands that are linking their broadcast ads with mobile dialogues, but there’s a whole lot more opportunity. When an ad says call now… in 2011 moving forward they should really say text your friends now and see what cool things they have can tell you about the cool experience of our brand.
Think about ways that we can reach into consumer dialogue and endorsement with actual product experiences like taste sampling in the grocery stores and food courts.
Not sure how many of you have downloaded Scout Mob app, but it finds you and gives you 50% off deals right where you shop.
Think about how brands can reward “word-of-text” endorsement in real time with the ability to personally interact through smart phones.
Are marketers taking note and tapping into the opportunities.
No.
Many marketers voice the fact that they are expanding their marketing dollars into social media… but… when you look and see what they are actually doing, the large majority is creating a Facebook page where they simply put their “electronic brochure” websites into a multiple posting format.
So many of the marketers I meet along with their ad agency partners, continue to craft dialogue into a one way flow of here is who we are…any questions.
From a social anthropology viewpoint, I must admit that I am concerned about just how individuals have replaced true hands on interaction and exchange with rotating thumbs and electronic text.
From a marketing viewpoint, I see some new model opportunities!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
"A Brand That Gets It And Makes Me Smile"
I am the first to admit that many of times I read the Atlanta Business Chronicle, I think about how many great business prospects are out there for BRANDVenture.
“Prospects” being defined as the business leadership that needs strategic advice on how to bring brands to life and stop employing the same old strategy time after time that doesn’t work in 2011 forward.
This past week, I actually read an article about an Atlanta landmark brand and the launch of its new advertising campaign. It was nice to be able to say, “damn that brand gets it.”
What is the brand doing that makes me smile?
First of all, the brand line is great. It is driven by the brand’s EIP (Emotional Ignition Point) and taps into the heart and aspiration of its customer base.
The line is simple. It does not self-promote any of the mechanical and internal elements of the delivery of the brand experience.
The line is NOT a variation of one of their competitors like Home Depot’s line “More Saving. More Doing.” and Target’s line “Expect More. Pay Less”… oh yes, and Wal-Mart’s line “Save Money. Live Better.”
Second, the article doesn’t say anything about whom the brand identifies as its customer base, but I know that the advertiser uses the same system that I do to identify audience groups.
I would put some money on the betting table that it isn’t a simple “Adults 35-54” and furthermore, that the brand understands that more than one audience group represents opportunity.
The media-driven broad target groupings are way out-dated versus the niche-marketing rifle targeting approach accessible to marketers today.
Third, the Atlanta brand took charge of the media mavens.
Specifically, the media cited in the article reflects very directly the lifestyle of the brand’s audience groups and not the media avenues that the Media Mavens (and the Media Reps) claim deliver the “highest levels of reach and ratings.”
The media mix that the Atlanta brand is employing is comprised of top lifestyle cable networks like HGTV, Bravo, The Food Network and Travel Channel.
They are also running advertising on ESPN and MLB Network. Male viewers, especially those found within their top lifestyle target groups, are big sports fans.
Fourth, the magazine mix is a true lifestyle portrait of their audience groups.
Not only is the Atlanta landmark brand advertising in conventional publications reflective of its product line – business publications like Forbes, Business Week and Fortune, but it is also using magazines reflective of the target group lifestyles…Vanity Fair, Men’s Journal, Food & Wine and The New Yorker.
Oh… and the magazine mix reflects very directly on a core target base as well as opportunity development segments like Millennial generation techies, managers and entrepreneurs with Fast Company Magazine as well as successful African-American business leadership with Black Enterprise.
I have met the senior VP of marketing who is quoted in the article.
I can tell you that he and his personality is not the tight suit and ties found in other Atlanta business boardrooms.
This brand gets it.
They understand fully that the market has changed.
That reach and frequency and mass marketing is dead and the brands that ascribe to it, are dying quickly too.
Trust me, there are many times when I work with top leadership of top brands and Lord help us their ad agencies and media buying groups, that claim the strategy platforms I develop are heretical.
And there are some very leading-edge management and agency teams that I work with that take a deep breath and take the risk of adopting a new marketing paradigm.
Then smile as their brand shares grow!
The Atlanta brand that makes me smile is Delta Airlines.
Their new brandline is “Keep Climbing.”
Their recently hired new ad agency is Wieden-Kennedy… the same agency that crafted NIKE’s brand campaign, Just Do It.
Need I say any more?
“Prospects” being defined as the business leadership that needs strategic advice on how to bring brands to life and stop employing the same old strategy time after time that doesn’t work in 2011 forward.
This past week, I actually read an article about an Atlanta landmark brand and the launch of its new advertising campaign. It was nice to be able to say, “damn that brand gets it.”
What is the brand doing that makes me smile?
First of all, the brand line is great. It is driven by the brand’s EIP (Emotional Ignition Point) and taps into the heart and aspiration of its customer base.
The line is simple. It does not self-promote any of the mechanical and internal elements of the delivery of the brand experience.
The line is NOT a variation of one of their competitors like Home Depot’s line “More Saving. More Doing.” and Target’s line “Expect More. Pay Less”… oh yes, and Wal-Mart’s line “Save Money. Live Better.”
Second, the article doesn’t say anything about whom the brand identifies as its customer base, but I know that the advertiser uses the same system that I do to identify audience groups.
I would put some money on the betting table that it isn’t a simple “Adults 35-54” and furthermore, that the brand understands that more than one audience group represents opportunity.
The media-driven broad target groupings are way out-dated versus the niche-marketing rifle targeting approach accessible to marketers today.
Third, the Atlanta brand took charge of the media mavens.
Specifically, the media cited in the article reflects very directly the lifestyle of the brand’s audience groups and not the media avenues that the Media Mavens (and the Media Reps) claim deliver the “highest levels of reach and ratings.”
The media mix that the Atlanta brand is employing is comprised of top lifestyle cable networks like HGTV, Bravo, The Food Network and Travel Channel.
They are also running advertising on ESPN and MLB Network. Male viewers, especially those found within their top lifestyle target groups, are big sports fans.
Fourth, the magazine mix is a true lifestyle portrait of their audience groups.
Not only is the Atlanta landmark brand advertising in conventional publications reflective of its product line – business publications like Forbes, Business Week and Fortune, but it is also using magazines reflective of the target group lifestyles…Vanity Fair, Men’s Journal, Food & Wine and The New Yorker.
Oh… and the magazine mix reflects very directly on a core target base as well as opportunity development segments like Millennial generation techies, managers and entrepreneurs with Fast Company Magazine as well as successful African-American business leadership with Black Enterprise.
I have met the senior VP of marketing who is quoted in the article.
I can tell you that he and his personality is not the tight suit and ties found in other Atlanta business boardrooms.
This brand gets it.
They understand fully that the market has changed.
That reach and frequency and mass marketing is dead and the brands that ascribe to it, are dying quickly too.
Trust me, there are many times when I work with top leadership of top brands and Lord help us their ad agencies and media buying groups, that claim the strategy platforms I develop are heretical.
And there are some very leading-edge management and agency teams that I work with that take a deep breath and take the risk of adopting a new marketing paradigm.
Then smile as their brand shares grow!
The Atlanta brand that makes me smile is Delta Airlines.
Their new brandline is “Keep Climbing.”
Their recently hired new ad agency is Wieden-Kennedy… the same agency that crafted NIKE’s brand campaign, Just Do It.
Need I say any more?
Friday, March 18, 2011
The Value Of A Brand Logo
I am addicted to Coke.
Coke ZERO to be specific. I consume about six cans a day.
I applaud Coke for getting Coke ZERO distribution in fast food restaurants and C-store fountainheads.
Coke ZERO is great because it is slightly less carbonated than Diet Coke, which means I can chug it down quicker.
Today the 2010 soft-drink sales gains hit the news nets and newspapers.
Diet Coke just surpassed Pepsi for the #2 spot in the US…Coke already owns the #1 slot.
PEPSI fell 4.8 percent.
4.8 percent is a BIG drop.
The article in the AJC goes on to say… “one analyst fears morale implications for PepsiCo.”
Now I am not a financial analyst, but I do listen to people talk about all sorts of things across the US, online and in the blog-louge world and there’s been a lot of commentary about the Pepsi logo change.
Here’s the commentary from a 10/20/2008 blog post on BRAND NEW about the new Pepsi logo rollout…
“YUK. These logos make me want to cry.”
“It’s not subtle, it’s silly and stupid”
“Boring and pointless”
“Oh damn. I really hate the new Pepsi brand”
“Someone F up BIG time.”
Okay. Wonder if any of the folks at PepsiCo were listening?
Someone told me a few weeks ago that it is all about the Millennials and GenXers taking over as the new corporate CMOs and Brand VPs.
Changing brand identities and logos seems to be the new marketing buzz.
Last week, Starbucks premiered their new logo where they took the girl out of the ring and dropped the Starbucks Coffee Company copy text.
Maybe its because I am a Boomer, but I don’t like it.
The Starbucks CMO says it is designed to broaden their brand as it expands into other product lines.
Okay. But whatever happened to the core brand platform of the “Third Place?”
(Maybe that is before the MBAs took over and taught the folks at Starbucks all about the USP and Benefit Statement)
GAP tried out a new logo that their new CMO insisted was very needed to bring the brand into the more current times.
About three months after the announcement, GAP got smart and re-launched the classic brand that got GAP where GAP is at today.
Wal-Mart changed their logo to get more competitive with target and in that case, it seems to have helped.
The jury is still out about the Holiday Inn logo change.
I am sitting here scripting this on a MacBook Pro and the Apple logo on the other side hasn’t changed. Apple’s apple has been around for a while.
Some analysts say that NIKE’s corporate value is about 80% linked to the value of the swish…and that hasn’t changed since it was launched.
Okay…back to the Coke story and the challenge that Pepsi is loosing right now…
While I love my Coke ZERO, I would put $50 on the Vegas tables that a large reason why Pepsi sales are on the decline is about an identity change that was just plain stupid.
Sure Coke has changed their brand logos, but the changes have been minor updates.
I remember as a kid growing up that my mom hardly ever gave me any critical commentary about what I put on to wear to school… and while my dad was rather tolerant, he would sometimes advise me to go back to my room and pick out an outfit that was much more aligned with the event I was heading out to attend.
I would put another $50 on the Vegas tables that the CMO from Pepsi and the CMO from Starbucks were classic ADHD and their fathers seldom voiced any concern about what they wore heading out of the house.
Maybe if they want to keep their jobs, they will turn more of a listening ear to their bottomlines and Wall Street.
Okay. Hand me another Coke ZERO!
Coke ZERO to be specific. I consume about six cans a day.
I applaud Coke for getting Coke ZERO distribution in fast food restaurants and C-store fountainheads.
Coke ZERO is great because it is slightly less carbonated than Diet Coke, which means I can chug it down quicker.
Today the 2010 soft-drink sales gains hit the news nets and newspapers.
Diet Coke just surpassed Pepsi for the #2 spot in the US…Coke already owns the #1 slot.
PEPSI fell 4.8 percent.
4.8 percent is a BIG drop.
The article in the AJC goes on to say… “one analyst fears morale implications for PepsiCo.”
Now I am not a financial analyst, but I do listen to people talk about all sorts of things across the US, online and in the blog-louge world and there’s been a lot of commentary about the Pepsi logo change.
Here’s the commentary from a 10/20/2008 blog post on BRAND NEW about the new Pepsi logo rollout…
“YUK. These logos make me want to cry.”
“It’s not subtle, it’s silly and stupid”
“Boring and pointless”
“Oh damn. I really hate the new Pepsi brand”
“Someone F up BIG time.”
Okay. Wonder if any of the folks at PepsiCo were listening?
Someone told me a few weeks ago that it is all about the Millennials and GenXers taking over as the new corporate CMOs and Brand VPs.
Changing brand identities and logos seems to be the new marketing buzz.
Last week, Starbucks premiered their new logo where they took the girl out of the ring and dropped the Starbucks Coffee Company copy text.
Maybe its because I am a Boomer, but I don’t like it.
The Starbucks CMO says it is designed to broaden their brand as it expands into other product lines.
Okay. But whatever happened to the core brand platform of the “Third Place?”
(Maybe that is before the MBAs took over and taught the folks at Starbucks all about the USP and Benefit Statement)
GAP tried out a new logo that their new CMO insisted was very needed to bring the brand into the more current times.
About three months after the announcement, GAP got smart and re-launched the classic brand that got GAP where GAP is at today.
Wal-Mart changed their logo to get more competitive with target and in that case, it seems to have helped.
The jury is still out about the Holiday Inn logo change.
I am sitting here scripting this on a MacBook Pro and the Apple logo on the other side hasn’t changed. Apple’s apple has been around for a while.
Some analysts say that NIKE’s corporate value is about 80% linked to the value of the swish…and that hasn’t changed since it was launched.
Okay…back to the Coke story and the challenge that Pepsi is loosing right now…
While I love my Coke ZERO, I would put $50 on the Vegas tables that a large reason why Pepsi sales are on the decline is about an identity change that was just plain stupid.
Sure Coke has changed their brand logos, but the changes have been minor updates.
I remember as a kid growing up that my mom hardly ever gave me any critical commentary about what I put on to wear to school… and while my dad was rather tolerant, he would sometimes advise me to go back to my room and pick out an outfit that was much more aligned with the event I was heading out to attend.
I would put another $50 on the Vegas tables that the CMO from Pepsi and the CMO from Starbucks were classic ADHD and their fathers seldom voiced any concern about what they wore heading out of the house.
Maybe if they want to keep their jobs, they will turn more of a listening ear to their bottomlines and Wall Street.
Okay. Hand me another Coke ZERO!
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