GM is at it again

7.6 million more cars recalled, bringing the total to 28M YTD.  Was it worth bailing them out?

http://www.newsplex.com/home/headlines/General-Motors-Recalls-76-million-Cars-for-Ignition-Switches-265259981.html

It just keeps getting worse and worse for GM

General Motors today said it is recalling 3.4 million cars in North America because bumpy terrain or weight attached to the key could move the ignition switch out of the run position -- the same basic problem that began its recall crisis earlier this year.

via AdAge.

GM is in a freefall

Recall after recall after recall.

This brand is in trouble.

http://www.boiseweekly.com/CityDesk/archives/2014/06/14/still-another-recall-from-general-motors-this-time-its-the-camaro

Fat needs a rebrand

I agree with Vinnie Tortorich.  Everybody is afraid of fat because it’s called fat. It needs to be re-branded and called, simply, "energy." It would prolong and enhance real lives.



http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-saturated-fat-20131022-story.html


#NSNG

No sugar, no grains.

Is social media really antisocial?

I'm struck by the new media landscape and how social media shapes just about everything we take in as news and also our interactions with one another.

But this new social media landscape has a dark side.

One needs only to start reading the comments for just about any news story or article and they will quickly see (usually within 3 comments) how people resort to name calling, demagoguery, or just plain rudeness.  Read the comments on just about any YouTube video and you will quickly see the dark side of human nature emerge, complete with cursing, name calling, and incivility.  Most of these people who never speak or behave in such a manner in the virtual world if they were speaking to the person face-to-face or across the table from them.  Why, then, does the illusion of anonymity bring out the worst in human behavior online?

Does social media actually elicit antisocial behavior?

The Definitive Guide to Marketing Metrics and Marketing Analytics

The Definitive Guide to Marketing Metrics and Marketing Analytics shows
marketing professionals how to talk the talk of C-level executives in terms
of forecasting and reporting, and walk the walk to the revenue table by
leveraging metrics that matter

With compelling graphics and real examples of Marketo’s own metrics and
tactics, this guide offers best practices for harnessing data to not only
prove, but improve ROI.

** *This Paper Explores* **

· The right metrics for understanding and interpreting marketing results

· Revenue metrics that get the executives' attention and prove marketing
ROI

· The critical elements of a marketing dashboard

· And much more

The Definitive Guide to Marketing Metrics and Marketing Analytics

Branding doesn't happen in your marketing department

Branding doesn't happen in your marketing department. Branding happens when your whole company aligns behind a single idea.

Most people don't understand branding

Branding isn't something that happens in your marketing department.   Branding is what happens when your whole company aligns behind a single idea.

The American Branding advantage?

Branding is inherently a long-term, relationship-building strategy. Do you think American companies are better at branding than Chinese companies because American companies are more relationship oriented while Chinese companies are more transaction oriented?
From the NY Times:
OP-ED COLUMNIST The Romantic Advantage
By DAVID BROOKS

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/31/opinion/brooks-the-romantic-advantage.html?smid=pl-share

Oh, the times they are a changing...

This is either one of the dumbest product ideas ever or a brilliant, tongue-in-cheek way for Burger King to generate some buzz.

Allegra anti-itch cream?

When you think "Allegra," do you think of something that is spread on your skin to stop the itchies or do you think of a tablet you swallow to ease nasal allergies?

I know Benadryl extended into the anti-itch cream segment, but I think Allegra is so strong in and closely identified with the nasal allergy segment that trying to be an allergy pill and a skin cream at the same time is just a little too much.  I wouldn't be surprised at all if the cream hurts their allergy med sales.

Just my two cents from the sidelines.

My book review: Brand Real

This book is a comprehensive discussion of modern branding and covers the many interrelated aspects of developing and building a brand. Not only must you figure out what your unique promise of value should be (i.e your brand promise or position), but you then must align your entire organization to delivering that value and keeping your brand promise at all customer touch points. This excellent book will walk you through all practical implications throughout the process and help you build meaningful brands along with a brand-aligned organization.

A must read for anyone serious about learning more on the topic of branding.

One of the best compliments ever

Just the other day I received what I consider one of the greatest compliments ever.  A person whom I consider a mentor told somebody else (referring to me), "He took everything I ever taught him and improved upon it."  :-)

Marketing & Branding ebooks

My e-books are now available for both Nook and Kindle.

How To Build and Manage Your Brand

For Nook

For Kindle







How to Brand and Market A Commodity

For Nook

For Kindle

Book review: The Book of Business Awesome/UnAwesome

This is an interesting book. Read either the `awesome' half or the `unawesome' side first and then flip the book upside down to read the other half. One half contains stories about brands getting social media right and the other half contains stories about brands really screwing up in their social media communication practices.

Each chapter is very short and reads as a mini-case study. All are anecdotal based on experiences of the author.

As a result, you will get an easy-to-read book that entertainingly covers best and worst practices in using social media as a business marketing tool.

In my mind the most important aspect of the book is the fact that the author reminds the reader that social media are just tools to communicate with audiences. These channels merely and only enable you to communicate with people. Social media channels can only highlight the corporate behavior in which you are already engaged. If you have lousy customer service then social media will just make it more obvious. If you ask for feedback from customers and state that you want to hear from them but then ignore or delete their feedback, it will reflect poorly on you and expose you as being disingenuous or thin-skinned.

The author is really talking about making sure your organization is aligned properly to treat customers the right way. He then shows how some companies are using social media to assist in those efforts. Some get it right, some get it wrong. Some misunderstand how social media works, others understand it and leverage its powers properly, and yet others simply behave terribly in the first place and social media can't fix those fundamental organizational problems. The social media tools, in-and-of themselves, will not change organizational behavior. My favorite sentence in the book is on p. 83 where the author states, "Social media does not make a company good or bad; it just amplifies what they already are."

Often the entire impression people have about your brand is a result of the one or two people who are responsible for posting your public social media messages so the book serves as a warning to make sure you think that through and create social media strategy and guidelines first before you just cut a couple people loose on your social media initiative. After all, those people can ultimately shape the entire impression people have of your brand.

Deliver to go undelivered?

So, when I open up my October issue of Deliver Magazine, the magazine by the United States Postal Service for marketers aimed at boosting direct mail marketing, should I conclude anything from the editor's letter?  You know, the one in which he states that "the time has come for us to take a little break" and "Deliver magazine is going on hiatus?"

Naw.  I'm sure everything at the USPS is just peachy and direct mail is stronger than ever.

It does seem a bit odd, though, that a magazine that aims to boost direct mail marketing would state that while it is ceasing its printed and mailed version that "you'll still be able to find Deliver content online and download back issues."

Move along folks.  Nothing to see here.  Everything is just fine at the U.S. Postal Service.

Dear Volt, Where do I put the batteries?

I'd say that LG Chem has more than a marketing problem.  Those God-awful consumers just don't seem to want to buy enough Chevy Volts to meet sales projections.

Volt no jolt: LG Chem employees idle

Funny thing about politics...

This U.S. election year is interesting.  With Facebook and Twitter being so pervasive,  everyone seems to be speaking their mind on politics in real time.  News flash to those trying to sell me things: I will now go out of my way to make sure I never, ever let my dollars flow toward your products and services.  Did you really mean to cut your audience in half?  See also:

Politicizing your brand? Think twice, please.

Good brand behavior found!

Here is a brand that gets it:

"We owe you a big apology for the intermittent service outages we experienced on September 10 that may have impacted your website, your email and other Go Daddy services.

We let you down and we know it. We take our responsibilities — and the trust you place in us — very seriously. I cannot express how sorry I am to those of you who were inconvenienced.

The service outage was due to a series of internal network events that corrupted router data tables. Once the issues were identified, we took corrective actions to restore services for our customers and GoDaddy.com. We have implemented a series of immediate measures to fix the problem.

At no time was any sensitive customer information, including credit card data, passwords or names and addresses, compromised.

Throughout our history, we have provided 99.999% uptime in our DNS infrastructure. This is the level of performance we expect from ourselves. Monday, we fell short of these expectations. We have learned from this event and will use it to drive improvement in our services.

As a result of this disruption, your account will be credited for the value of 1-month of service for each of your active/published sites.* This credit will be available to you for the next 7 days. Please click the button below to redeem your credit.

It's an honor to serve you. Thank you for the opportunity to re-earn your business and trust.

As always, please call us 24/7 at 1-480-505-8877 — anytime, for any reason.

Sincerely,

Scott Wagner
CEO
GoDaddy.com"

Top Brands of 2012

According to Millward Brown.

http://www.millwardbrown.com/brandz/2012/Documents/2012_BrandZ_Top100_Chart.pdf

Is the Chevy Volt really a car that nobody wants to buy?

THE MADNESS OF THE VOLT:

...." a textbook example of seizing a staggering amount of money from taxpayers, and plowing those resources into an utterly failed attempt to create a “market” for something nobody wants to buy."

The downward spiral of a brand

When you hear gobbledygook like, "[Dell] has transitioned to an 'end-to-end' business IT company in the past five years," you just know a brand is bleeding the equity it once had.We are not just a PC company

U.S. Independence Day

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." ~Thomas Paine


"Where liberty dwells, there is my country."  ~Benjamin Franklin


"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." ~Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address, 1863.


"There, I guess King George will be able to read that." ~John Hancock, on signing the American Declaration of Independence.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility, or CSR, is not new.  These company behaviors date back to early Capitalism and the two are not mutually exclusive, despite popular political opinion.

http://blogs.hbr.org/video/2012/06/a-brief-history-of-doing-well.html?awid=4929111144116256515-3271

Green ‘drivel’

I think "green" was just handed a major branding problem.
The godfather of global warming lowers the boom on climate change hysteria

Is the thrill of Facebook starting to fade?

 In a Reuters story today, a recent survey revealed that 4 out of 5 Facebook users have never bought a product or service as a result of an ad or comment viewed on Facebook.  Even more discouraging is the fact that while the number of Facebook subscribers might be growing, 34% of those surveyed reported that they are spending less time on the site than they did 6 months ago.

Advertising on the site appears to not be very effective and user engagement is waning.

These are very hard facts and a tough position to be in for a company with an advertising revenue business model.

Facebook stock is down? How predictable.

So after the third day of trading, Facebook is trading for $31/share after an IPO last Friday at $38/share.

If I've got this right, we're talking about social networking company that gets the majority of its revenue from advertisers, that has users who hate ads, and the ad model doesn't really work well on mobile devices anyway...which just happens to be an ever-increasing percentage Facebook total users.

News flash: User growth does not equate to profit growth. I thought we learned this during the dot com bubble of the 1990's.

Just because a social networking site can attract a lot of non-paying users does not mean it creates significant value for anyone. Value exists when people are willing to pay something to get it. How many people would stay on Facebook if they were charged a monthly fee to do so? How many users are willing to click on ads and purchase products so value is created for advertisers?

Until Facebook can figure out a way to create sustainable value for its users and/or advertisers such that people are willing to start engaging in commerce on Facebook in significant ways then it has a faulty business model. Attracting lots of eyeballs never was a business model in and of itself. Money needs to start changing hands.

SEE ALSO: Social media is not a business model.

Last issue of Personal Branding Magazine

Personal Branding Magazine publishes its last issue.

Publisher Dan Schawbel provides no explanation for why the magazine is ceasing publication, but offers it for free.

You don't ultimately define your brand.

You don't ultimately define your brand. Your brand is defined by the people in your market. Branding is about authenticity and respecting your customers so they gladly allow you to have some influence on shaping how they view your brand because they trust you and got more value from you than the investment they made in your brand.

Why marketers should forget trying to message on video

Why Some Ads Go Viral and Others Don't - Video

Ever wonder why some Internet ads go viral while others don't? In this video, Harvard Business School professor Thales Teixeira explain why.

Why Some Ads Go Viral and Others Don't - Video - Harvard Business Review

Image, Response, and Eye Candy: Trade show giveaway strategies

A colleague once asked me if I would suggest or recommend a giveaway or promotional item for his company. His company exhibited at many trade shows throughout the course of the year and he felt a giveaway item, or "tchotchke", would help his booth personnel draw traffic to his company's exhibit booth.

Despite the fact that the age of trade shows seems to be quickly fading, this topic is still often discussed amongst marketers and the thought of giving away a promotional item with a corporate logo or URL in mass quantities is very tempting to many trade show marketers. "What could be better?", they think, than placing the company name or logo in front of many, many people?

I thought I'd share some of my thoughts about promotional items with you that you might find helpful if you are considering incorporating promotional, giveaway items as a part of your trade show marketing efforts. Examine my colleague's logic and see if it sounds familiar to you...

COLLEAGUE'S PERCEPTION:

"I think at shows we need to have freebies or a giveaway item to just get our name out there and get more people stopping by the booth. This may not increase the quality of leads, but it does increase traffic for traffic's sake".

MY THOUGHTS:

Giving away freebies to increase booth traffic just for traffic's sake is foolhardy unless you can give away an item that makes a lasting impression at very low expense. This represents a very big challenge and it might even be an oxymoron. Untargeted promotion is simply a waste of money.

The best "freebies" are those that are targeted toward the right audience, that clearly communicate benefits, and that are just one part in a methodical, brand-building campaign that is reinforced by other marketing communications. Too many companies spend far too much money on expensive giveaway items that have little to no impact. Worse yet, these companies often do not even understand the impact or effectiveness of their giveaway item because they can not or do not measure the campaign in any way.

If you are thinking about using a giveaway item as a trade show marketing tactic, the place to start is with careful consideration of your budget and your goals. Believe it or not, I've seen more than a few trade show giveaway campaigns launched because the boss wanted a golf shirt with the corporate logo on it or because he/she thought all the employees of the company would appreciate a new T-shirt. This should not be the reason you launch such an initiative. Some things that should help define your campaign are:

- Your budget
- Your goal
- The message your giveaway item will communicate
- Your target audience
- The impression you are trying to create

You must ask yourself how much money you can afford to spend and how many impressions you need to make with that budget to achieve your goals. As with any other form of marketing, if you can't measure it then you shouldn't be doing it.

You, wise marketer, know you must work hard to fully understand the economics of the campaign, measure it, and maximize the effectiveness of each and every dollar you invest. You also need to define what you hope to accomplish with your campaign. Will you use the giveaway item to generate tangible sales leads? Will you use the item to reinforce your brand or identity in a complementary fashion to your other marketing communications? Will you use the item to reward your existing prospects and engage them in continuing dialogue?

Let's take a look at some of these strategies a little more closely.

Choosing the item

It is best to have a giveaway item that is somehow related to your business or products -- if at all possible. As examples, carpenters could give away rulers, car dealers - key chains, coffee shops - coffee mugs, etc. The more closely related the item is to your business the better because people make associations in their minds so give them a "hook" to make such an association. If you can't find an item that is somehow related to your business or product, at least make sure the creative aspect of the item conveys a close tie to your business or product.

I have seen or have been involved in successful campaigns that have used letter openers, ice scrapers, lotto scratch-off tools, posters, custom printed logo labels on water bottles, calendar magnets, pens, T-shirts, and coffee mugs. Any of these items, if targeted to the wrong market or with the wrong imprinted message, could just as easily have been losing campaigns. The possibilities when it comes to choosing a promotional item are almost limitless so take some time to explore the options available and choose an item that matches your business.

Image campaign

Some businesses have large budgets they can use to create an item that reinforces an ingrained marketing message or to help project corporate identity. These companies may be able to afford anywhere between $ 5.00 to $50 or higher per item and give the item away in an uncontrolled manner to anyone who walks by their exhibit booth and grabs one. They have closely analyzed their costs and know the lifetime value of their customers such that they know this approach is very effective for them. If you fall into this category and you know your costs are worth it to build your brand or identity, then by all means try a creative or clever giveaway item that reinforces your brand or identity and get it into as many hands as possible at your next exhibit. Most businesses, however, do not have such a strong identity or such strong brands that this type of image campaign is cost effective.

Customer relations campaign

You might be able to succeed giving away a high value item in a relationship building capacity if you make sure you target your prospects first and only invite pre-qualified prospects to stop by your exhibit booth and receive the giveaway item. Often you can target your audience by sending out a special invitation to your in-house mailing list or by carefully selecting the right segment of the pre-registered attendees using the exhibit's mailing list. In other words, target people you know have the need for or the interest in your products/services first, invite them to visit you at your exhibit booth, and then use the giveaway item as an additional incentive for them to stop by your booth. Marketing is a relationship and you are rewarding your prospects for staying in the relationship with you in this case.

Drawing or raffle

An alternative to using expensive giveaway items as incentives for pre-qualified prospects is to give away only one (or few) such items via a drawing in which you ask booth visitors to drop their business cards into a bowl and then conduct a drawing at the end of the exhibit. You will undoubtedly suffer from the "unqualified lead" syndrome if you choose to go this route. Some marketers use this tactic when they define a dangerous metric to measure their campaign -- the number of leads garnered at the exhibit. We're after quality of leads not just quantity. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that everyone who attends the exhibit or trade show is a qualified prospect. The number of names collected at an exhibit is rarely an effective measure of success.

Also, not only does the "drawing" campaign have to be fair, but it has to be perceived as fair. If people feel they don't have a chance at winning because the odds of winning are very small, then this will limit the effectiveness of the campaign. If you choose this tactic, you also run the risk of overburdening your sales force with expensive follow-up activities or sending out lots of literature to unqualified prospects. This is a hidden expense that many marketers overlook. Lastly, if you choose to conduct a drawing for your giveaway item, make sure it is not against the policy of the exhibit. Sometimes such games of chance are strict "no no's" and against the rules of the exhibit.

Response generation

Most marketers I talk with are interested in maximizing the lead or response generation aspect of the giveaway item while minimizing expenses.

If you wish to use the item as a lead or response generator, then you should think about how that item will either lead to the capture of a person's contact information for sales follow-up or how you will measure the reach and marketing effectiveness of that item. Do not create an item that provides no way for people to contact you (don't laugh, it happens). You are trying to generate a response so you need to provide a way for people to respond.

Ice breaker

If you think, like my colleague initially thought, that you must give away something in great numbers in order to (try to follow the logic here): Increase booth traffic in the hope of talking to more people in order to try to uncover needs and hopefully make a match between those unmet needs and your products and you don't care to measure response rate, then save your company some money and try using some low cost item such as candy. What you are really looking for is a way to break the ice with people and attract people to your booth regardless of whether or not they might have a need for your products or services. I don't necessarily recommend this tactic for everyone, however, it can be effective for people who feel compelled to give away something to attract booth traffic, qualified or not, on a very tight budget.

A bowl of candy is an excellent, inexpensive tactic that works well in this case. Think about it for a moment. A bowl of candy in your exhibit booth is very low cost, will not take much effort on your part, will be appreciated and most visitors will appreciate a little bit of chocolate, a mint, or other such confectionery delight. People will walk up to your booth and ask if it's OK to take some candy. At that point, it is very easy to say, "Sure, help yourself. By the way, what do you know about how you can benefit from our products"? You have broken the ice, you brought people to your booth, and it did not cost you a great deal of additional money on top of the cost to exhibit at the show in the first place.

Impressions

The risk we as marketers take with any giveaway item is that it will attract unqualified takers that are only interested in getting something for free. Since we can never fully and absolutely control this, another alternate tactic is to give away an item that has high pass along value. In other words, an item likely to be highly visible on a desk, attached to a wall, or otherwise be visible for many other people to see. Impressions is the name of the game in this case and we want to maximize the number of impressions -- or exposures to our advertising message -- while minimizing costs.

Examples in this case might be posters, magnets, or paperweights. Giving away expensive or personal items such as laser flashlights, calculators, hand-held electronic organizers, etc. are generally not a good ideas in this case because, although many people will want them, they will be consumed by individuals and very few other people would ever have the chance to see your company's advertising message.

Think about it for a moment.

Have you ever received a calculator as a giveaway item? Did you leave it out in the open for many other people to see or did you hide it in a drawer somewhere so nobody else would see/take it? If you choose to maximize ad impressions with your giveaway item, carefully consider how the item will be visible to many other people or how high its pass-along rate will be. An item given away to maximize ad exposures should clearly and concisely state a primary benefit of your products or services and also contain contact information, such as a URL, address, or telephone number.

Measurement

Measuring your campaign is critical. Here are just a few ways to measure the success of your giveaway promotion:

- Require booth visitors to swipe their conference badge through your electronic card reader
- Require visitors to fill out a form requesting additional information and indicate their level of interest
- Conduct or commission pre- and post-exhibit market research surveys to measure the effectiveness of your campaign and its impact on strategic awareness
- Train your booth personnel to record as much information about your visitors as possible. Booth personnel should collect business cards or otherwise capture people's names and contact information, as well as, take extensive notes about their personal interactions with booth guests

Creating an effective giveaway item for your trade exhibits can be a very important part of your marketing mix. Now that we've taken a look at some ways to approach the process, I want you to think about what you are trying to accomplish before you launch your next trade show giveaway campaign. Understand your budget, define tangible goals, develop a strong message, establish ways to measure the campaign, and most of all, be creative and have fun!

Good luck and happy exhibiting.

A disembodied voice tells us about branding...

The Power of Introverts

What is a QR Code?

Have you started to see strange, digital squares in restaurants, in stores, and on advertisements lately?  Do they seem strangely familiar yet oddly, well, odd  and out of place to you?

Welcome to the age of QR Codes.

And just what is a QR Code?  "QR" stands for Quick Response and these Quick Response Codes are popping up everywhere because they are essentially bar codes...but of a very special kind.

No longer just about keeping inventory or tracking products on assembly lines, these QR bar codes are a way for marketers to generate a unique code that will allow anyone with the proper bar code reader to scan the code and be taken immediately to a website or URL of their choosing.  Most times this will be a web page with more information about the product, an online video, or some additional information regarding the product or service that the marketer is offering.  By taking you to a URL via the QR Code the marketer is able to provide a much more detailed and often multimedia-enhanced experience that otherwise would be space or cost prohibitive.

And just why are these things cropping up everywhere?

That would be because more and more people are carrying fancy bar code readers in their pockets and purses.  These fancy bar code readers are called smartphones.

So now you know.  When you see these QR Codes they are intended for people with smartphones who will scan these codes with their phones and then be taken immediately to an online web page to learn more about the product or service.

Let's Lift the Human Spirit

Many advertisers and marketers seem to have lowered their standards to the least common denominator when creating and communicating their messages. Far too many in our profession seem to appeal to the dark side of the human psyche.

Many marketers feel that no message or style is too raunchy if it provides shock value in the quest for increased awareness and profits.  Although these tactics might be providing short-term bumps in sales and brand awareness, they might be damaging brand equity in the long-term. Further, the messages sent are often socially irresponsible or have no lasting moral value.

As marketing professionals, we create brands and ad campaigns intended to appeal to emotion and elicit behavioral change. Since we are doing the work anyway, we should appeal to positive emotions and seek to elicit responses that lift the human spirit and, perhaps, maybe even bring out the best in others...

Continue reading:
Source: http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/branding-brand-development/4682984-1.html#ixzz1ndkElYUv

By The Marketing Guy Who Drives Sales

U.S. Economy Declines, Dollar Store Concept Soars

From:
http://moneyland.time.com/2012/01/27/why-shoppers-and-shopping-centers-alike-now-embrace-the-dollar-store/

Social Media Myths

 A good white paper from OhMyGov.com

http://ohmygov.com/blogs/general_news/archive/2010/08/24/ohmygov-research-social-media-myths-5-roadblocks-to-discovery.aspx

'Tis the season

While in the store earlier today I happened upon the following board game:

Nothing tells me that the holiday season is being ruined by commercialism more than a board game based on logo recognition!

At first I could not believe that anyone would buy this game let alone create it.  Next I was curious about it.  Now I'm secretly hoping to be able to play it to see how well I do.

Trendy, overused phrase that I wish everyone would banish from their marketing materials:

"Join the conversation!"

Where do good ideas come from?

Despite what many believe, good ideas might not come from flashes of insight or moments of brilliance.  Here is a good video that discusses further.

One cynic's view: Morality makes terrible brands

A strong brand creates an emotional bond with consumers and establishes a degree of trust.  This bond and established trust attracts brand advocates who allow a brand to make some missteps along the way and these brand advocates are a little more understanding and forgiving when these setbacks occur.

Unfortunately, I fear that our society does not behave the same way toward brands that are connected in any way with a squeaky clean image or those built upon any degree of morality as a driver of brand equity, however much or little that morality is implied or explicitly defined.  It seems to me that brands that are widely perceived as being moral or clean or uplifting become huge targets upon which many people will turn as soon as there is even the slightest hint of misstep, lapse in judgement or setback. Often before the facts are even in.

Perhaps it is the natural tendency for humans, who by definition cannot possibly be 100% moral, to tear down and try to destroy something perceived as morally superior at even the slightest hint of a failing because it makes us somehow feel better about ourselves.  Perhaps we resent any air of morality associated with a brand because we know it is impossible to be 100% moral 100% of the time.  Perhaps brand managers who foster any sense of morality are simply setting their brands up for catastrophic failure when an inevitable lapse occurs.

Why do we allow a lesser degree of forgiveness or understanding for brands that are built upon any degree of moral value?  Why do people seek to completely destroy these brands when an inevitable misstep happens?

It seems to me that we ought to allow these brand more leeway but quite the opposite occurs.

Brand managers beware.

Don't want U.S. jobs to go overseas?

As our U.S. economy continues to struggle it is quite common to hear people on radio and television talking about the state of the economy and the job market.  One comment I tire from is when people state, "I don't want U.S. companies to move our jobs overseas when we need those jobs right here."

Stop to think about that for a moment.

Companies do not  move jobs overseas to be mean-spirited.  They move jobs overseas to find a lower cost structure so they can remain competitive in a world where low price is a main driver of consumer behavior--especially during difficult economic times.

So the next time you find yourself complaining about American jobs going overseas stop and ask yourself if you are willing to buy more American products and pay more for them than foreign comparable ones.  If you would rather continue to choose products with the lowest prices so you can save money then look in the mirror the next time you are looking for reasons jobs are going to other countries with substantially lower labor costs.

Book review: Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki

In this work Guy Kawasaki manages to take basic truths about business, sprinkle in a little bit of useful information about the latest social media technologies, stretches it all into book length and emerges with a book that will underwhelm anyone who has read other business books related to marketing, branding and/or customer satisfaction.

That is not to say the book does not have an audience.

If you are a young entrepreneur or new to business management then this is a good book that will teach you the basic generalities of how to create useful products that people want and appreciate. You'll gain a better understanding of why it is important to be truthful in your marketing, why it is important to create realistic expectations for customers and why delivering on promises (and making the right promises) will help you build your brand. You'll gain a better idea, conceptually, of how to create products that stand out and are different in a crowded marketplace.

For those who have read other books on business management or basic marketing the triteness of this work will envelop you in a familiar fog of vague, basic truths about how to deal with people in the manner or style of Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill and Zig Ziglar. If you are looking for meatier nuggets than "be likeable, "be trustworthy" and "be prepared" then you'll want to pass on this work unless you are seeking a breezy refresher or looking to renew your commitment to The Boy Scout Law.

The later chapters that provide some useful and actionable information on how to most effectively produce online marketing videos and how to leverage push/pull technologies earn it three stars from me, but I was hoping for much deeper insights, more current case studies and more actionable information.

Everything counts in brand building

OK.  So I'm a bit of a brand geek.

I was watching a documentary-style news program about Coca-Cola the other night when a company spokesperson talked about introducing the contoured bottle shape to the company's 2 liter beverage offering in an effort to try to produce incremental sales.  (It is truly an art when a change in packaging produces increased sales with absolutely the same product inside.)

That reminded me of a previous post for which I took some flak regarding the redesign of Wal-Mart's soda packaging.  But that's not what I want to talk about today.

Today I want to talk about pizza.

Last week one of my Facebook friends posted the following picture to his wall (photo used with permission) along with his thoughts, "It seems like there are more toppings in the picture."

As you probably already guessed, the post sparked a number of humorous comments regarding deception, truth in advertising and the importance of good lighting in the studio when taking product shots.

It made me think a little about product packaging and how important package design is to a brand.

In this day and age, why would a product brand use packaging or labeling that misrepresents the product? 

Social media almost ensures that any misrepresentation is going to not only be uncovered but shared with many, many people.  Here is one of my fraternity brothers from yesteryear opening a package of pizza in his home and he feels so fooled by the packaging that he snaps a picture and uploads it to his Facebook page where no less than 136 people ( # of his FB friends at the time) see it, realize the misrepresentation on the package and then start commenting.  Do you think Frescetta has helped or hurt its brand at this point?

When you are managing your brand everything counts.  The product itself, the promises you make and keep, and even the promises made or implied by your packaging.  If your product does not deliver on those promises then you have made a one-time sale and probably hurt your chances for repurchase and long-term brand loyalty.  There simply is no place to use deception or misrepresentation because in this day and age of social media and user-defined brands, you just won't get away with it and you'll achieve the opposite of a strong brand.

Perhaps I've misrepresented this as a blog post about pizza.

Mea culpa!

This post was really about how packaging can either support or undermine your branding effort. Use packaging wisely.

Book review: The Power of Alignment

This is an absolute masterpiece that reminds all business managers that if an activity is not aligned with the overall objectives of the organization then it should abandoned or not embarked upon and that profits come only after relentless focus on people and service.

The authors describe the overall objective of the business or organization as The Main Thing and remind us how critically important it is to make sure that The Main Thing remains the main thing in the business otherwise the forces and efforts exerted in the business are at risk of working against each other. Yes, departments can meet their immediate or departmental goals and objectives but actually not get the business any closer to its overreaching goal if things are not properly aligned. I've seen far too many businesses operate with a silo mentality where silo goals are almost completely detached from overall corporate goals. This condition has lead to devastating results in management, branding, marketing and acquisition strategies. The authors remind us how important it is to make sure everything is aligned and remains in alignment.

Does everyone in your business know how their objectives are tied to the overall objective or mission in your organization? Do they really understand how all other employees' objectives are tied to the overall Main Thing? If not then "The Power of Alignment" will help you understand how to bring about organizational and cultural change that will allow your business to prosper and endure.

Loaded with great quotes from business leaders and plenty of examples, this book will show you how to make sure everyone in your organization is working together to hit the main target and why it doesn't actually matter if that main target changes from time to time when market conditions change. In fact, if your organization is aligned to hit targets then the target can be just about anything.

I highly recommend this book and hope that one day it is required reading at all business schools and executive management courses.

How to Use Facebook to Drive Higher Sales

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/03/how_to_use_facebook_to_drive_h.html
"As Facebook has grown to more than 600 million users, many companies have been struggling to figure out how to leverage it to help their businesses.

Most have limited themselves to advertising or establishing company pages on the platform only to discover that while these methods allow them to engage their Facebook fans in a dialogue and increase brand awareness, they do not necessarily lead to increased sales..."

continue to article @ Harvard Business Review.

Just exactly what is a brand?

Brand - Direct Marketing

In my humble opinion, the integration of brand marketing and direct marketing is the way of the future.  With online and digital marketing more important than ever and traditional (paper) direct mail nearing extinction, savvy marketers will look for ways to generate a direct response (a click, collection of user contact information, purchase, etc.)  while creating a brand supporting impression at the same time.  The core brand values will be communicated while trying to elicit a direct response in some fashion.

Look for it.

http://chiefmarketer.com/disciplines/directmarketing/brand_direct_marketing_10182006/

Long-term value creation

I see a future where businesses are judged based upon the long-term value they create rather than quarterly financial reports or short-term dividends and profit numbers. Too much emphasis is placed on short-term results and the practice is harming long-term value creation and business viability. The short-sighted goal of pleasing investors on a quarterly basis places an enormous amount of pressure on managers to take short-cuts and artificially inflate traditional business performance metrics. The many recent corporate scandals clearly illustrate that many business managers succumb to the short-term profit pressures placed on them by investors. Let's all stop it and look to invest in long-term value creation.

Source: http://www.davedolak.com/mission.htm

Branding Gone Awry: 10 Most Ill-Advised Ads of All Time

From Bschool.com:

Branding Gone Bad: 10 Most Ill-Advised Ads of All Time

Capitalism is the answer

Unleashed capitalism is the answer to economic recovery.

Hire those overqualified applicants!

The Dec. 2010 issues of Harvard Business Review has a short article entitled, The Myth of the Overqualified Worker that discusses new research that reveals that overqualified applicants/new hires are not more likely to quit sooner or under perform on the job because they feel they are superior.  Counter to conventional wisdom, overqualified workers tend to perform better than other employees and they don't quit any faster.

Keep this in mind as you start to hire new employees coming out of this period of economic depression.  There are many overqualified applicants out there that are more than worth a second look.

Why would you not hire somebody capable and willing to deliver more than you ask for?

Social media is not a business model

Back in 2007  Rob Frankel posted an interesting analysis of the buzz environment that surrounded online social networking sites. In fact, Rob predicted the demise of social networking sites.

http://robfrankel.blogspot.com/2007/09/demise-of-social-networking.html

I agreed with Rob at the time in that current practices in marketing and advertising did not (and still do not) support the business models for many of these social networking sites.  The "build traffic now and worry about revenue later" mantra just won't cut it unless these sites can exist using an advertising-supported model.  Indeed, many social networking sites have vanished since 2007.  Friendster anyone?

So what if pure-play social networking sites are able to collect large numbers of users who interact in these online communities? Just because lots of people do it doesn’t mean there are profits to be found for the site owners--unless, as already stated, these sites can be ad-supported or user-supported which is hardly anything new.  In a nutshell, social media must in the long run be monetized by those who own the sites and the servers.

Most people who participate in social media simply are not willing to pay a fee to participate just yet.  Would you be willing to pay a monthly fee to be on Facebook?  Would you be willing to go to a "PPT" (Pay Per Tweet) model on Twitter?  Without substantial advertising revenue the name of the game in the long term will have to be building brand loyalists for these online sites. Loyalists who gladly contribute an ongoing revenue stream.  Right now social media users find paying fees undesirable and targeted advertising just a bit creepy.  In fact, targeted advertising is often seen as an invasion of privacy and when users sense that too much personal information is being shared with advertisers they quickly revolt.

Integrating social media elements into existing sites that already survive on revenue generated in other ways is a great way to bolster brands and further engage customers.  Adding Twitter, YouTube and Facebook to your marketing tool kit is just plain smart.

Just don't succumb to the notion that engaging in social media is in-and-of-itself a business model.

The latest logo debate says a lot about brands and social media

Starbucks recently unveiled a new, revamped logo that is stirring some heated debate and has some of its loyal customers frothing at the mouth based on some of the comments on the company's Facebook wall.

While some like the new logo others seems to absolutely hate it and say they want the old logo put back on the cups.  Starbucks has dropped both the name and the word "coffee" from the new logo.  Evidently being seen with the Starbucks cup is as important--if not more important--than what's actually in the cup to some.

This brings to mind a passage from Theodore Levitt in Marketing Imagination when he talks about the importance of packaging and how it is sometimes more important than the product itself.  The image projected and the feelings you have about a product can sometimes be more important than the benefit you derive from the functional product attributes themselves.

And so it is in the modern era of branding.

Marketers know within hours what people think of any change in their brands' packaging and identity elements because people express themselves openly, freely and almost instantaneously on social media.  People passionate about a brand will sound off about it and make their voices heard.  Remember that your brand never, ever meant anything other than what the market thought about it anyway.  You don't get to define what your brand means, they do.

It does make me wonder, though.  Do we buy the coffee because we think it is superior and that we are paying a fair price or do we buy the cup with the logo on it so others will see us with it and the content is inconsequential? 

Does PR Drive Sales?

Christine Huynh recently posted a good piece that discusses whether or not PR--especially using social media--drives sales.  Find it here: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/7331/Why-PR-Doesn-t-Drive-Sales.aspx.

Social Media Marketing - An Overview

The 6 Elements of an Influential Web Experience

From Copyblogger

http://www.copyblogger.com/imfsp-radio-5/#more-12457

Message mismatch?

During a long drive yesterday I noticed quite a few vehicles on the road with trailer hitches on them.  At some point an ironic thing came to mind after seeing so many HiddenHitch brand hitches.

If they truly are hidden hitches then why do I see so many of them?

stealthybuzzysocialmediamarketing

"stealthybuzzysocialmediamarketing"

I think I'll use that one again and again.

Gap Logo Part II

So Gap has unveiled its "new" logo and people all over the Internet are going crazy and losing their minds over it. Marketing wonks and designers are spewing venom at Gap for the new design and for some reason they're coming completely unbuckled over the fact that Gap has responded by suggesting a "crowd-sourcing" approach to an alternative logo design.

My guess is that consumers have been drifting away from this brand recently and that’s why Gap decided to make some bold moves. I have no idea. I don’t work for Gap or any of their agencies but I just can’t believe this amateurish/stock art-looking logo that has caused all these marketing & design wonks and regular consumers to lose their minds and go so nuts over it was a serious effort at creating this particular new logo.

Maybe Gap is just having a hideously public Tropicana Moment and really did just screw this one up. If so I’m sure they’ll dump the new logo in a hurry.   But let’s not confuse the feelings toward the logo with feelings toward the overall Gap brand.

If a brand has no more equity than what people think of its logo then it doesn't actually deserve to exist. That said, I've got to believe the Gap brand promises and delivers some value to people somewhere that has nothing whatsoever to do with its logo.  If the Gap brand has any equity left then its loyal customers will surely forgive a little logo mishap, right?

I am just guessing (ok, maybe hoping) that there is more behind this than just a logo change. I think Gap is struggling and is hoping to get consumers riled up such that they open up and pour their hearts out as to what the brand means to them because Gap probably realize they’ve lost some relevance and maybe don’t really understand how they are perceived anymore.

And guess what?

People all over the Internet and at the company's Facebook page are engaged and telling Gap exactly what they think about the "new" logo and telling Gap what they should focus on rather than a new logo design. Hmmm. People now buzzing about a brand that I actually didn't even realize was still around. Double hmmm.

I certainly wouldn’t have gone about it the way Gap has but I’ve got to believe there is more behind all of this logo change. It is just my personal guess and maybe a little cynicism about how companies are experimenting with stealthybuzzysocialmediamarketing (yes, I know I made that all one word) and maybe drinking a little too much “social media changes everything” Kool-Aid. They had to be hoping such an amateurish logo would stir things up and get people talking. Did they really blow a new logo design or are they getting exactly what they wanted to get all along?

Time will tell.

Gap Rebrands Itself Into Oblivion?

The many self-ordained branding experts currently chattering about Gap probably have it all wrong.  Just because Gap has put a new logo out there does NOT mean they've rebranded themselves.  A logo is not a brand!

My hunch is that they've put a teaser out there to get people who are interested enough to offer their own insights on what the Gap brand means to them to do so.  Indeed now even the President of Gap, Marka Hansen, is telling us that she is interested to hear what's on the minds of their "passionate customers" to help guide Gap through the evolution to the "next phase of of Gap."

It sounds to me like they understand they are having a brand identity crisis and they are reaching out to the marketplace to provide feedback so they can gain an understanding of just exactly the Gap brand means to people today.  They are reaching out to understand how the Gap brand currently connects and resonates in the hearts and minds of consumers.  They will then have a basis for understanding the equity the brand still has and how it has already evolved in consumers' minds.  Then all Gap has to do is build on what is there and try to incorporate new attributes into their rebranding strategy.

I think they are brilliant.

The "new" logo isn't the end of their rebranding process, it is just the beginning.
~~~
Read the .BrandChannel.com original article.

Will Budweiser regain its brand mojo?

So InBev thinks the way for Budweiser to regain its market share is to provide samples of free beer.  I seriously doubt the new ad blitz and free sample promotion will restore this once mighty brand to its former glory.

There are simply too many other options in the category including many national beers and unspoken numbers of local, craft brews.  Bud is (arguably) not the best tasting, not the cheapest and not all that prestigious.  On top of that it is not even an American brand any more since being acquired by InBev.

I don't think the problem is that people haven't tried it.  I think the problem is that preferences have shifted and even as a lifestyle brand Bud does not represent a highly aspirational choice.

What is the biggest threat to direct mail?

Read Craig Huey's excellent answer and analysis at Brandweek.

We're all drowning, and all you do is raise the water level...

We're all drowning, and all you do is raise the water level...

The danger of acronyms in branding

Are You Making this Classic Marketing Mistake?

Just because you know what the jargon and acronyms mean doesn't mean that anyone else does.

Great book: Ad Land

Does anyone else want to shoot this pig and have a baby back rib BBQ or is it just me???

4 Powerful Web Content Ideas that Don't Depend on Text Alone

4 Powerful Web Content Ideas that Don't Depend on Text Alone by Nick Usborne

Introduction to KPI's: How to Develop Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

You become what you measure

On various occasions throughout my career I've given presentations in which I've stated, "if you can't measure it then you can't manage it." I might have to modify that statement and take it to the next level in the future.

Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational, writes in the June 2010 issue of Harvard Business Review that CEO's and employees care a lot about how they are measured and as a result do everything they can to score high on the measurement scale--whether or not it is actually tied to financial or business success of the organization. He suggests that individuals will strive to optimize their performance score on the overriding measurement metric. In other words, as a manager or business owner you get what you measure.

We see this all around us. Some organizations might covertly send a message that sales are valued above all else. Yet other companies might telegraph that short-term stock price is the ultimate measure. Commercial airline passengers might think that the overriding metric of the industry is on-time departures when it seems that pushing away from the gate on time is the only thing that matters to the airline. The drive-through customer at the burger joint who gets a bun with no patty might infer that speed is valued above accuracy or quality.

This is an important point to keep in mind. Not only can't you manage it if you can't measure it but be careful what you measure because the one metric that seems most important to the people in your organization will be the one they work hard to optimize above all others.

I believe that future managers and business leaders will be measured on their ability to communicate to their organizations the importance of setting the right metrics, showing balance in their metrics and not allowing any one single metric to solely shape the culture of the organization. Communicating the right mix of metrics and the values behind them and then subsequently balancing them to ensure long-term organizational health will be the skill set of the business leaders of tomorrow.

Economic growth is highly correlated with small, entrepreneurial employers

In the current issue of Harvard Business Review, Edward Glaeser and William Kerr reveal the results of their research in an article entitled, The Secret To Job Growth: Think Small.

In the article the authors find that there is a high correlation between the existence of small firms and job-growth rates during times of economic recovery. The bottom line is that industries with more small companies and start-ups enjoy faster employment growth and that while politicians like to trot out large companies as examples of recovery these large companies actually generate comparatively little job growth even if they are doing well.

The authors suggest that the way to real economic growth is for politicians to reduce costs for start-up companies and small businesses.

HOW TO: Help Employees Talk About Your Brand Online

http://mashable.com/2010/07/28/internal-brand-management-online

What Exactly is Twitter and Should You Be Using Twitter For Business?

What Exactly is Twitter and Should You Be Using Twitter For Business?
By Jeanne Kolenda

Twitter, twitter, tweet, tweet everywhere! It seems that almost overnight Twitter burst onto the scene and created quite a stir. At first, it seemed ridiculous that little short one-liners about inane things would be anything I'd want to involve myself with as a business owner. Well, I changed my mind, and I'll tell you why.

First, Let's Define Twitter
In simple terms, Twitter is a free service that allows one to say just about anything to anyone else in 140 characters or less. It's referred to as "micro-blogging." You go find people you want to follow and click on their "Follow" button and they usually click back on your "Follow" button, and it goes from there. It's not like Facebook, in that you don't even have to have a clue who these people are to follow them. Usually with Facebook, you start off with your family, friends, business colleagues, and it may grow from there. But not with Twitter. My general rule with Twitter is that I'll follow anyone who isn't being illegal, obnoxious or offensive. And I periodically go through manually (there are tools for this) and "Un-follow" people who have not followed me back, unless there's a compelling reason to leave them on my active list. So that's Twitter in a nutshell.

Is Twitter a Waste of Your Time?

So, the real question is why you would use Twitter. If you look at it on the surface, it really can appear to be a colossal waste of time. And it can be. Before you answer the question of whether or not you should use Twitter, it may be beneficial to analyze your objectives.

Reasons I Use Twitter

The best way to help you answer the "Twitter" question is to share with you the reasons I choose to use Twitter on a regular basis.

1. I find it is a valuable way to network and connect with other people in my line of work who have similar interests.
2. I have learned to quickly scan through those short little "Tweets" and stay in touch with business thoughts and ideas.
3. With all the links that are available in those brief 140 characters, I have access to a much broader and deeper knowledge base.
4. I find a steady stream (I sometimes refer to it as a rushing river) of ideas, links, resources, content and valuable tips.
5. Some of my current customers have found me on Twitter. Maybe they saw one of my Tweets, clicked on the link, read a blog post, and signed up for a free webinar, and then purchased a product. This is not uncommon.

Now, before you would decide to use Twitter for your business, you'd need to identify at least one compelling reason from my list above. If you can identify that reason, then start to focus on how you can learn to use Twitter to that end.

In closing, Twitter is not learned in a single day, or even a week. It's a process that evolves over time. But it's a good idea to get started if you think it's right for you.

I have produced a quality eCourse on how to make Twitter work for you. I invite you to check it out here:
Make Twitter Work

Thank you for reading. I wish you much success!

Jeanne Kolenda is a small business marketing coach, specializing in bringing offline businesses online. Logon to http://www.businesstrainingteam.com and download a free eBook entitled Local Business Marketing On the Internet. To contact Jeanne, email ]Jeanne@businesstrainingteam.com.

Article Source: What Exactly is Twitter and Should You Be Using Twitter For Business?

Does it pay to advertise commodities?

http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~hal/people/hal/NYTimes/2006-06-01.html