Many of you may have seen this YouTube video on an ad agency client breaking up with her agency. It’s a great metaphor, devastatingly accurate, and a great laugh around the office!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkOHsjZKBB0
Archive for July, 2008
Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
Friday, July 18th, 2008There’s No Business Like Show Business…
Friday, July 18th, 2008A few years ago, I thought that trade shows were dead, another relic of marketing replaced by the Internet. Who needed to go to a trade show to find new products, I “reasoned,” when you can go online to build an instant shopping list?
Turns out that while shows did in fact go into a decline a few years ago, they have been in growth mode since 2003, according to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research. The number of shows, booth space, exhibitor numbers and attendees have all seen annual increases. And 50% of business marketers planned to increase their budgets for shows in 2008, according to BtoB Magazine. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why Reed Business Information’s trade publishing business is up for sale, but its sister company that produces trade shows is not.
In fact, we’re finding a general return to “face time” among clients. One client told me recently that his company exhibits at 140 shows, conferences and regional events – each year! We have two companies who’ve even returned to customer “road show” events, presentations and tutorials conducted at local hotels to potential customers. These companies still have complex products to sell, and they’re finding that these events actually create more than qualified leads, but true selling opportunities.
Trade shows still remain the most expensive form of lead generation. And too many shows remain on schedules for such outmoded reasons as “we’ve always gone” or “our customers will wonder if we’re not there.” However, for most companies, they continue to play a role in an integrated marketing mix. The bottom line for show participation remains:
- Does the show reach actual decision-makers within my sweet spot, rather than fringe audiences or lower-level targets?
- Is the show effective for reaching hard-to-reach prospects that can’t be efficiently targeted more directly?
If the answer’s yes to both, then let the show begin!
The New Face of Blogs
Friday, July 18th, 2008Three years ago our agency operated six different blogs for various clients in a variety of markets. Blogs were the hot ticket in marketing then, and just the announcement that the client had begun a blog generated media coverage!
It was surprising even then how little actual participation most of technology- and engineering-related blogs created. While sports, food, religion and political blogs routinely spawned lively online debates, magazine and company blogs often were outposts of silence. Even well-known authors such as Seth Godin, the pioneer of permission-based marketing, saw relatively little online discussion on his blog.
Today, though, technology blogs have evolved in fascinating ways, according to a new study just released by Reed Publishing’s EDN Magazine. I won’t try to summarize the global study here (call/email me if you’d like a copy), but there are a few items that raised eyebrows in our shop:
- Engineers spend a fair amount of time participating in online groups, and we’re not talking about personal Facebook pages here – 39% of engineers use online networks to get answers to their job-related questions. Top of the list is LinkedIn, followed by Yahoo Groups. Remember, this question specifically asked about their use of online groups for BUSINESS purposes, not leisure/social.
- The big shocker: engineers actually want manufacturers to participate and provide information in these online communities, a complete reversal from a few years ago when companies were seen as intruders to online discussion groups. Today, engineers are so time pressed and place such a priority on getting quick answers to their questions, that they welcome applications advice and product knowledge, when the participant is properly identified.
- 26% use blogs for business, most often as a way to keep up on new technology and to get how-to information.
- 74% rely on webcasts (no surprise there). Most preferred length: 28 minutes
- 59% said they watch online video for work, particularly for online demos and product tutorials. Most preferred length: 11 minutes
Two Direct Mail Wins for Goldstein Group and Franklin & Seidelmann
Friday, July 18th, 2008Congratulations to GGC Art Director Sue Rahn and agency client Christy Boehm, VP of Marketing at Franklin & Seidelmann (F&S). The two created a unique direct mail program for the company’s teleradiology practice that received an Aster Award from Healthcare Marketing Today magazine. It was the second year in a row the GGC/F&S marketing team received an Aster, winning it last year for the new F&S web site launched in 2007. And, the mailer was also named a winner in the non-hospital category by Marketing Healthcare Report magazine.
What’s Your “Why?”
Friday, July 18th, 2008Why do you get up in the morning to go to work? Why do your employees and colleagues? More importantly, why do your customers prefer working with your company? What do you believe in, and will your customers become passionate about working with you if they believe in the same things you do as well?
It all comes down to finding your “why,” or the central motivating reason your company exists. And if you do this well, you’ll attract the best employees, with the most motivation, along with customers who become not just purchasers but advocates for you. You’ll all be aligned to achieve the same things.
Think of it concentric circles. The outer circle is “what” your company does. Most companies have that pretty well defined. The next ring inside is the “how,” or the advantages your company/products bring to your customers. But that’s as far as most of us go, according to author Simon Sinek (www.sinekpartners.com), who writes and speaks about this topic. Simon points out that true passion in an organization comes from unlocking the “why” that rests in the center of the circle.
Nonprofits have this well in hand, of course. The American Cancer Society exists to cure cancer, and they have a cadre of donors, volunteers and employees who share that passion.
One of our clients has a great why. Abanaki used to call itself a pollution control company, and that certainly is a great definition. But they’ve begun talking in staff meetings about their own why: “Clean Our World.” It’s given their employees a strong sense of purpose, a motivation to re-cast their website to explain their “why,” and to draw customers of like mind to buy their products, not their competitors.
People have long spoken about creating the “cult of brands,” or “customer apostles,” without much of a foundation for how to do that. Sinek’s simple question, “what’s your own ‘why’” gives us a roadmap to energize our employees and customers in a way that drives our businesses.
Do you know your why?
Integrating Online Video Into Your PR Program
Friday, July 18th, 2008Last month when we took a client out on the road on a press tour, we encountered something new – an online video created when the editors interviewed us! Magazines are turning to online video as rapidly as they can think of how to use them, and PR is fertile territory. The editors simply interview visiting companies as they give a two-minute summary of their latest product, then post it on the magazine’s site alongside the news release. Here’s a sample:
http://electronicdesign.com/shows/new_products/index.cfm
In fact, at a wireless industry trade show this month, we saw the same pattern repeated – a few publications sent their editors around with simple home video cameras to capture interviews on the latest technology introduced at the show, for broadcast on their site alongside traditional text coverage of the show.
Online video is not just for webcasts anymore. Try experimenting with how to create more video content in a PR perspective. One idea will be to embed a two-minute video pitch with comparative product benefits in our news releases, alongside still photography. Customers and prospects can get a quick snapshot of the product’s core advantages to them, with links to white papers, data sheets, and more elaborate product information as a call to action. Will it work? We’ll share the results with you in the next few weeks.
Morton’s CEO: Branding = Pricing Power
Friday, July 18th, 2008I attended a presentation from Tom Baldwin, CEO of Morton’s Steak Houses, where one of the main topics of conversation wasn’t about steak or service or location selection – it was about brand. Morton’s actually generates more revenue per diner than any of its competitors – about $94 per diner, compared to amounts in the $60s-70s for Ruth’s Chris, Flemings, Smith & Wollensky and the national steak competitors. Why? Well, they emphasize wine as a greater part of their dining experience than others, and that helps, but Tom says their real reason is the power of the Morton’s brand. Over the years, they used to worry as their steak prices broke various pricing points, passing above the $20 mark for the first time, then $25, then $30, etc. And then, as they realized that these price points had no impact on their revenues, Tom says they came to understand that their primary asset is the brand experience at Morton’s, and if they took great care in preserving that brand, they would have all the pricing power they needed. Brand = Pricing Power became their internal mantra, one that would apply to many other companies as well.
Crain’s List Ranks Us High
Friday, July 18th, 2008Congratulations to Goldstein Group, who pegged a #11 ranking on the Crain’s Cleveland Business ranking of Marketing Firms. It was nice to see Crain’s return to publishing an agency ranking. They abandoned such a list in the mid-1990s, and it’s return is welcome. The rankings were based on employee size; currently, the agency employs 16 people, making us one of the stronger mid-sized agencies in Northeast Ohio.
