It was a combination of spending a lot of time last week speaking with business leadership combined with having my house broken into where I finally said, “okay its time for a drink.”
It was when I was sipping on that margarita that I was hit by the high-tide wave of change… and not one of those churned by Hurricane Irene.
It’s the Trend Wave posted on the BRANDVenture website that highlights how individuals, businesses, brands, social groups and cultural groups are giving up reliance on others, other organizations and other elements of the market-at-large.
Simply said… they are fed up.
Fed up with an economy, political promises, trade association support and industry leadership guidelines.
Over the course of the last six weeks I have spoken to more than 80 business owners, CEOs and CFOs.
The study was for a bank.
I’m glad that BRANDVenture is not client dependent on banks.
Business leadership literally hates banks. As one CEO put it, “they are evil, but an evil I have sleep with.”
Top management’s business and economic expectations over the next 12-18 months are not positive.
And for my fellow Atlantans, their expectation of Georgia and Atlanta is even lower than Washington and the US.
But here is what is surprising.
They too have reached a level of a re-awakening… they too have been hit by the Trend Wave…they too are finally declaring…
I HAVE HAD ENOUGH AND I AM GOING TO TAKE CHARGE!
My bank client has already communicated that they want to reach beyond entrepreneurs; they want to expand their reach of mid-size businesses.
As they say, entrepreneurs are too risky.
I remember the book that came out a few years about “unleashing the child within us.”
Regardless of how large the company, the connection level with “the entrepreneurial drive” is the MBA version of unleashing the child within us.
Now I have taught Entrepreneurship at the university level and also have worked with departments of economic development in designing entrepreneur workshops.
The focus of those courses and sessions is how to take the passion of an idea and use that passion, marry it with the market need/desire for the idea and use it to drive the organization and bring-to-market strategy.
The business leadership I spoke with is taking control of their destiny. They are rethinking and reorganizing their business approach. They are re-engineering their service mix and how they process business leads.
However, most importantly, they are refocusing on their customers. They are taking them out to lunch or grabbing a morning coffee with them.
They are asking investing in what drives the customer and what they can do to fuel that drive.
Business leadership is fed up with the automation of banks.
And we are not talking about the ATM or online account management.
And they are smart enough to know that the automation of business relationships doesn’t work in lifting business out of the hole.
The re-acquisition of self-destiny is a Trend Wave because it is something that is impacting a wide scope of our marketplace and society at-large.
Smart marketers, driven by a re-acquisition of self and the entrepreneurial spirit will revive both their brands and the economy at large.
Automated, systematized, mass marketers will fade from the scene.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Good Ole Boys Just Cannot Get Beyond It
I was all ready to write about the economic forecasts for the remainder of 2011; then I came across a news story this morning that I quickly realized was much more fun.
Fun because it exemplifies why a company like BRANDVenture is in business.
I stand proud as an American every day the sunrises. Despite all the turmoil going on in Washington and on Wall Street, I remain sold on what makes up the American brand culture.
I would be willing to put a $100 bet on the table that nearly all of you reading this blog have a story you can recall about a fun time eating a hot dog.
Could have been at an iconic brand experience like a parade, campfire, baseball game or picnic. Could have been back in college days when that’s all you could afford.
Hot dogs transcend income, age and urban-rural American culture.
So what was the news story that warranted a shift from the GDP to the good ole dogs?
Sara Lee Corp and Kraft Foods are suing one another in the US District Court over brand advertising claims of being the “top dog” (that’s the editorial term used by AP in the article).
The war between the brands dates back to 2009 when Kraft’s Oscar Meyer ads claim to be the best tasting franks beating out Sara Lee’s Ball Park brand.
Of course Ball Park immediately launched a counter campaign citing another taste test survey in which they were the better tasting brand.
The article showcases how each company is discrediting the other brand’s methodology like Sara Lee complaining that the Oscar Meyer test served the franks sans the buns on a white paper plate.
Last blog I wrote about the “crash and grab” marketing mentality; the hot dog fight is a great example of the good ole boy mentality of “mine is bigger than yours.”
And the hot dog scenario is only the latest example.
Over the weekend, I saw one of the Verizon coverage spots raise its head again claiming to have more coverage than AT&T.
That good ole boy brawl also made its way to the courts.
Coke and Pepsi are famous for their “taste better” campaigns too. But at least Coke made light of the “taste better” campaigns with Coke Zero taking on Diet Coke.
A few months ago, one of the brands that I work with on a periphery level decided to test out their product against the lead competitor to see which one consumers preferred.
This client had an ongoing panic-attack through much of the three-day one-on-ones because there really wasn’t much of a clear winner.
Outside of Indra Nooyi, Pepsico’s CEO, I would wager another bet that the leadership behind these brands are male.
Males are hell-bent on “strutting their stuff” and claiming superiority.
As my book title I am writing observes… All Men Are Pigs… but, the real issue at heart is that the leadership of these brands fail to hear the consumers screaming out there… “I DON”T CARE ABOUT YOU…TELL ME ABOUT ME!”
The Avis “We Try Harder” campaign might be dated, but at least Avis leadership was smart enough to know that it wasn’t about being #1 or #2 that matters to the business guy (or gal)… it was which car rental brand was dedicated to delivering the best brand experience.
Think about this… Can you imagine where Apple would be today if they elected to all of a sudden take on the “mine is bigger than yours” marketing mentality and change their brand claim to “the largest tech brand in the world.”
Apple not only could do that… but also say that they are now beating out EXXON for the highest valued company in the world.
Steve Jobs does “think different” than the CEOs at Sara Lee and Kraft.
Its truly a shame that neither of those hot dog marketing teams (including their ad agencies) don’t sit back and think about the fun and memorable experiences of eating and marketing their brands around that experience.
Its also too bad that they cannot have fun and passion in doing what they do and perhaps even make us laugh with a set of parody spots about good ole boys touting the “mine is bigger than yours.”
Perhaps as Ad Age noted in its online news release yesterday, “consumers brace for downturn,” that the hot dog boys understand that they actually might have a product opportunity.
(And back in those college days when I had little to spend on meals, I have some fond memories of grilling out the franks!)
Fun because it exemplifies why a company like BRANDVenture is in business.
I stand proud as an American every day the sunrises. Despite all the turmoil going on in Washington and on Wall Street, I remain sold on what makes up the American brand culture.
I would be willing to put a $100 bet on the table that nearly all of you reading this blog have a story you can recall about a fun time eating a hot dog.
Could have been at an iconic brand experience like a parade, campfire, baseball game or picnic. Could have been back in college days when that’s all you could afford.
Hot dogs transcend income, age and urban-rural American culture.
So what was the news story that warranted a shift from the GDP to the good ole dogs?
Sara Lee Corp and Kraft Foods are suing one another in the US District Court over brand advertising claims of being the “top dog” (that’s the editorial term used by AP in the article).
The war between the brands dates back to 2009 when Kraft’s Oscar Meyer ads claim to be the best tasting franks beating out Sara Lee’s Ball Park brand.
Of course Ball Park immediately launched a counter campaign citing another taste test survey in which they were the better tasting brand.
The article showcases how each company is discrediting the other brand’s methodology like Sara Lee complaining that the Oscar Meyer test served the franks sans the buns on a white paper plate.
Last blog I wrote about the “crash and grab” marketing mentality; the hot dog fight is a great example of the good ole boy mentality of “mine is bigger than yours.”
And the hot dog scenario is only the latest example.
Over the weekend, I saw one of the Verizon coverage spots raise its head again claiming to have more coverage than AT&T.
That good ole boy brawl also made its way to the courts.
Coke and Pepsi are famous for their “taste better” campaigns too. But at least Coke made light of the “taste better” campaigns with Coke Zero taking on Diet Coke.
A few months ago, one of the brands that I work with on a periphery level decided to test out their product against the lead competitor to see which one consumers preferred.
This client had an ongoing panic-attack through much of the three-day one-on-ones because there really wasn’t much of a clear winner.
Outside of Indra Nooyi, Pepsico’s CEO, I would wager another bet that the leadership behind these brands are male.
Males are hell-bent on “strutting their stuff” and claiming superiority.
As my book title I am writing observes… All Men Are Pigs… but, the real issue at heart is that the leadership of these brands fail to hear the consumers screaming out there… “I DON”T CARE ABOUT YOU…TELL ME ABOUT ME!”
The Avis “We Try Harder” campaign might be dated, but at least Avis leadership was smart enough to know that it wasn’t about being #1 or #2 that matters to the business guy (or gal)… it was which car rental brand was dedicated to delivering the best brand experience.
Think about this… Can you imagine where Apple would be today if they elected to all of a sudden take on the “mine is bigger than yours” marketing mentality and change their brand claim to “the largest tech brand in the world.”
Apple not only could do that… but also say that they are now beating out EXXON for the highest valued company in the world.
Steve Jobs does “think different” than the CEOs at Sara Lee and Kraft.
Its truly a shame that neither of those hot dog marketing teams (including their ad agencies) don’t sit back and think about the fun and memorable experiences of eating and marketing their brands around that experience.
Its also too bad that they cannot have fun and passion in doing what they do and perhaps even make us laugh with a set of parody spots about good ole boys touting the “mine is bigger than yours.”
Perhaps as Ad Age noted in its online news release yesterday, “consumers brace for downturn,” that the hot dog boys understand that they actually might have a product opportunity.
(And back in those college days when I had little to spend on meals, I have some fond memories of grilling out the franks!)
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Is Crash & Grab The Hip Thing To Do?
Okay … here is the headline on FOXNews.com…
Fan Nearly Falls From Stands During Home Run Derby in Phoenix
And about four sentences into the article, the reporter references the same drive-less lucky guy earlier this week in Dallas…
His near miss came the same day as the memorial service for Shannon Stone, a 39-year-old fan who died last Thursday while trying to catch a ball thrown into the stands at a Texas Rangers home game.
The reporter raises the most pertinent question… Is this a trend…the drive to grab the ball that the players simply could not catch with no rational sense of the actual physical parameters… defined by the environmental surroundings?
Could this be illustrating the newest “crash & grab” public release from years of economic stagnation?
Or perhaps, an urgent statement of diversion and denial of the economic, political and marketing mayhem firing up the heat of a global climate change summer?
Tonight, CBS Evening opened with more than 8 minutes of story coverage of Rupert Murdoch and his grilling today by the UK politico.
The Nets… spanning from CBS, NBC, ABC, BBC, CNN and all their children of incest… are like vultures feasting on the perception of a dog that just got hit by a car.
After all… if Rupert Murdoch can be admonished… can their despised competitor FOX News be destroyed as well?
Earlier today, I was on a conference call with a Canadian sister company of a well-known American direct mail promotion company.
The Canadian sister company has the opportunity to handle a network of Canadian direct marketing programs for one of my clients.
The client involved spent a significant investment in building a pretty cool segmentation model of top customers. The segments emerging are “niche-specific” with opportunity ranging from a mere 25% above average to more than 150% above average.
Now I have to admit that there are parts of the Canadian culture set with which I can certainly connect. Grilled salmon with maple syrup glaze makes my stomach growl.
But over the last week, the Canadian direct marketing sister company might be more illustrative of the “crash & grab” headset than a smart strategic mindset.
What did the sister company do?
They elected to fire away, with the client on the phone, about how the segmentation model that the client built was limited at best and that just going out and “bulk mailing was a much better strategy because it would reach out to every one in a retail trade area.”
I got a feeling that Canadian direct marketing sister company who vies to “crash & grab” might have just fallen over the railing.
Our team also won a great media buying account this past week based on identifying the client’s brand-equity audience groups and niche channels of reach and dialogue.
We were up against an agency that claimed the position of buying the top-rated network shows with the highest ratings and banging down the price to “the lowest rate per spot.”
Their argument? Brand success is all about reaching the masses!
No question, I cheered on the agency to lurch over that railing to grab that home run hit.
For some, long-term brand stewardship and rolling up the sleeves with a long-term commitment to growth and strategy is no longer in-vogue.
But CPG brands like TIDE, Coco-Cola, Kraft… long-term consumer brands like NIKE, HERSHEYS, JEEP… innovative technical brands like APPLE, INTEL, FACEBOOK certainly understand where the ROI pays out.
Fan Nearly Falls From Stands During Home Run Derby in Phoenix
And about four sentences into the article, the reporter references the same drive-less lucky guy earlier this week in Dallas…
His near miss came the same day as the memorial service for Shannon Stone, a 39-year-old fan who died last Thursday while trying to catch a ball thrown into the stands at a Texas Rangers home game.
The reporter raises the most pertinent question… Is this a trend…the drive to grab the ball that the players simply could not catch with no rational sense of the actual physical parameters… defined by the environmental surroundings?
Could this be illustrating the newest “crash & grab” public release from years of economic stagnation?
Or perhaps, an urgent statement of diversion and denial of the economic, political and marketing mayhem firing up the heat of a global climate change summer?
Tonight, CBS Evening opened with more than 8 minutes of story coverage of Rupert Murdoch and his grilling today by the UK politico.
The Nets… spanning from CBS, NBC, ABC, BBC, CNN and all their children of incest… are like vultures feasting on the perception of a dog that just got hit by a car.
After all… if Rupert Murdoch can be admonished… can their despised competitor FOX News be destroyed as well?
Earlier today, I was on a conference call with a Canadian sister company of a well-known American direct mail promotion company.
The Canadian sister company has the opportunity to handle a network of Canadian direct marketing programs for one of my clients.
The client involved spent a significant investment in building a pretty cool segmentation model of top customers. The segments emerging are “niche-specific” with opportunity ranging from a mere 25% above average to more than 150% above average.
Now I have to admit that there are parts of the Canadian culture set with which I can certainly connect. Grilled salmon with maple syrup glaze makes my stomach growl.
But over the last week, the Canadian direct marketing sister company might be more illustrative of the “crash & grab” headset than a smart strategic mindset.
What did the sister company do?
They elected to fire away, with the client on the phone, about how the segmentation model that the client built was limited at best and that just going out and “bulk mailing was a much better strategy because it would reach out to every one in a retail trade area.”
I got a feeling that Canadian direct marketing sister company who vies to “crash & grab” might have just fallen over the railing.
Our team also won a great media buying account this past week based on identifying the client’s brand-equity audience groups and niche channels of reach and dialogue.
We were up against an agency that claimed the position of buying the top-rated network shows with the highest ratings and banging down the price to “the lowest rate per spot.”
Their argument? Brand success is all about reaching the masses!
No question, I cheered on the agency to lurch over that railing to grab that home run hit.
For some, long-term brand stewardship and rolling up the sleeves with a long-term commitment to growth and strategy is no longer in-vogue.
But CPG brands like TIDE, Coco-Cola, Kraft… long-term consumer brands like NIKE, HERSHEYS, JEEP… innovative technical brands like APPLE, INTEL, FACEBOOK certainly understand where the ROI pays out.
Friday, June 17, 2011
The Story Of A Memorable Friday
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.
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.
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!
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