Are You Getting Ready?
Stampede or not, hosting a corporate event needs to be planned in advance; did I just say there is only 59 days left before the beginning of the centennial of the greatest outdoor show on earth. Some of you may think “59 days” is long enough to contemplate booking your venue and starting to invite your guests. Guess what: available venues are getting scarce and invitations are being distributed across the city. I even met with the representative of a “promotional items” company last week who told me they are out of many western gadgets.  Since some organizations started planning a year ago, if you are not ready, you are late.

Create, Be Different, Be a Cowboy.
Isn’t it fun to be a marketer and having to plan and organize a great Stampede event which involved dressing like a cowboy? Look at this dress code advertising for the Stampede: A city that dresses together stays together:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43rNvQtVE14

Finding the right outfit is easy, but if you really want to impress your guests for the centennial, you also have to think about your Stampede decoration, your venue, your employee dress code, the design for your invitations, your promotional items, etc. Try to have ideas that stand out from your competitors or what you have seen before. You probably won’t be surprised if I tell you the event I am organizing this year will be a stylish and unique. How? Sorry, I can’t reveal that for now, but you will be informed for sure.

However, I can mention that I found some very interesting western ideas/products that could help color up your venue. Imagine some “Steak House Horns” that are 6’6” wide to put above the entrance of your tent for example:  Stampede Horns.  Of course, this is only one example; it’s the centennial so be inspired and impress.

Happy Stampede everyone and please, don’t forget to invite me to your corporate/friend events!

It Started With A Great Product
I remember my very first marketing class: one of the lines that my professor wrote on the board was about the Marketing Mix (4 P’s), which was about Pricing, Product, Promotion, Place (Distribution). The Marketing mix is certainly a very simple concept even if it doesn’t include every aspect of today’ needs.

The Go Pro company is a perfect example of a company that manages successfully the product aspect of their marketing mix. On top of understanding new online/sport trends, Go Pro was able to create a complete product, offering it at a great price for the targeted segment, and markets it perfectly. As a result, Go Pro is being listed on every sport product reviews as the camera of the year (all markets put together).

…and I’m Going Pro!
The Go Pro managers were visionaries. They understood and saw these following trends :
(1) an increase in popularity in video sharing via social media platforms;
(2) videos are better tools to transmit emotions and experiences;
(3) the intense popularity of extreme sports since 1990 and the sharing of these  videos via Youtube.

Taking into consideration these trends, Go Pro identified precisely the functionalities they needed to put into the perfect camera using off the shelf technologies.  The camera needed to be small, durable, waterproof, “crash-proof”, mountable on anything, focusing on videos, image quality, panoramic view, accessories for sports, simplicity of use, etc. They didn’t reinvent the camera or try to design one that would be used by professional photographers; instead, they probably asked Sony to sell them the internal organs of a basic compact digital camera and they focused on everything else.  Of course GoPro didn’t consider developing a camera from scratch, they just wanted to better package a stripped down version of the digital cameras readily available.

As a result, all sport practitioners want a HD Hero 2, and once they get it, most of them share their joy on Facebook telling their friends they can’t wait to post their very first extreme video. Camera owners also share their videos on Youtube, Facebook or other social media platforms. As the name of the brand says, extreme sports fans all want to be a hero, hoping that their next crash will become viral.

This Post Isn’t A Product Review…
it’s only an example of a company that was able to address a niche segment’s needs. The niche just happens to be big.  Congratulations to Go Pro: you rock and made the filming of sports of all kinds a lot more accessible.

Just for fun, here is my very first SnowKiting video. I hope you will enjoy and share it with other extreme sports fans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj19PfBhO5g

And by the way, the best videos are often taken by beginners, not by pros, because they (we) crash hard and often, so don’t think “I should wait until I am good” if you want to make good videos.

Managing a brand is a complex task, and companies often underestimate the value of it as well as the necessary time and effort it takes to build brand equity.  Allowing the right amount of time for brand management isn’t a waste of time since it can position a company to be the leader in their industry.

One of my favorite brands is unquestionably Red Bull even if I drink a Red Bull less than once a year. I still identify myself with that sporty person who likes to push his limit to the extreme and who would love to be the next superstar in his challenging sport competitions. Consumers are attracted to organizations that support their values, such as me who is attracted to Red Bull.

Maelstorm Kiteboarding: Case Study
Examples of leading companies with branding issues aren’t hard to find and some of them will manage the situation fast enough to remain leaders in their industry. Making small branding changes will sometimes help but for other cases, re-branding the company remains the costly but only solution.

Maelstorm, a traction kite (power kite) company that sells products online, is a perfect example of a branding trap. A maelstrom is a large whirlpool with significant downdraft that can even sink a ship.  I find it cleaver to name a traction kiting business Maelstorm (read well…Mael-storm); it merges the water power with the wind power, I suppose the domain name and trade mark were available.  It was all good, and that is how the business started.  There were some problems that were either minimized or not anticipated: people read the name Maelstorm, but they see Maelstrom. Unless you hear someone pronounce the name correctly, you are very likely to think the name of the business is Maelstrom.  FYI maelstrom.com is the website of a virtual reality business. Even if you got the name right, don’t google maelstorm because The Google will kindly suggest that you correct it to maelstrom. If you ignored google’s suggestion, I doubt the ranking was good.

The Maelstorm people didn’t minimize the problem when they saw it and they took action right away.  Maelstorm asked their clients and suppliers their opinion about their branding issue; as part of their strategy, they chose to change their name to: Maelstorm Gear. It is obviously a small compromise and we could debate whether it is the best solution or not but I think it is a good first step. Since the name isn’t completely changed, the notoriety of the brand is mostly kept, but the name is different enough from maelstrom making it easier to have an online strategy (website easier to find).

Of course, some companies have more complex branding issues but this clear example shows how important branding strategies are.  Having the right person and putting the necessary time and budget can save lots of trouble (and time and money).

Do you know any other company facing important branding issues? Please share your story.

Shakespeare VERSUS Molière
The language is the obvious difference.  Some Quebec Francophones are scared of having to deal for a full-day in English. Many Quebecers know that they should have taken their “ESL” class (English as a Second Language) more seriously in high-school, but the classes were so boring and often given by a Francophone with poor English… On the other hand, Western Canadians, who for the most part don’t need to know French, see the language barrier as being huge. Some are ready to jump in by hiring the right people to take care of the eastern market and others will just ignore this Canadian market.

Communications
Anglophones are straight forward: first name is used right away, sentences and emails are shorter. Francophones are more formal: Monsieur Lastname, with longer emails to show that you care and therefore, are willing to make an effort.

A Cowgirl Who Doesn’t Like Beef
Business lunches are popular in Alberta and Quebec; however, they are treated differently. In Quebec, it is common to go out for hours and come back at the office even after a drink or two. People from Quebec will talk about their personal life more quickly and sometimes give very personal information. Albertan lunches are straighter forward; they start at 12pm sharp; no alcohol (or less except during the Stampede) and of course, vegetarians will struggle with the beef menus. Lunches at the workplace are another notable difference. In Quebec, nobody will be left behind; cafeterias will be full and offices will be empty; in Western Canada, people take their lunch inside their offices. I have to admit, it gives me time to read the newspaper or go for a walk.

Because Family Matters…and Religion Too!
Did you know that Alberta has a statutory holiday dedicated to the family, which is called “The Family’s day” and that Quebec doesn’t? A hundred years ago, it was common to have families of 14 children in Quebec, but since then couples don’t get married so much, don’t have as many children and friends are become the new family. The family day was introduced in Alberta in 1990. It’s supposed to reflect values that were important to pioneers, and give the workers the opportunity to spend more time with their loved ones.

Religion is now marginal in Quebec and therefore religious weddings are rare and “thanking God for our meal” is anecdotal. A boyfriend or girlfriend can mean a long term relationship as much as husband or wife.  In Alberta, I have to call my boyfriend “my husband,” since we’ve been together forever, but we aren’t married. In Alberta, I had a networking event where there was a prayer and we all sang the Canadian National Anthem before the meal; this doesn’t happen in Quebec, although I remember a meal at a Quebec City restaurant called “Le Saint Amour” that would have deserved a prayer and the Canadian National Anthem both in French and English.  

How To guide 
This post is way too short to be a How To guide, but I think knowing that the right adjustments are necessary when doing business with “the other solitude” is key, and the marketing plan needs to be tailored.

 * Pictures from: Tourism Calgary & Tourism Quebec City

If there is no potential for client retention with Groupon, such as teeth whitening services, photography sessions or helicopter tours, I would probably opt for another type of promotion. For these businesses, Groupon will only bring to your door customers who won’t come back.  

If you are a restaurant or a coffee place, lots of customers will come through your door and they will immediately disappears. You will need to find a way to gain their loyalty and to transform them into regular customers.  When the customer is using the Groupon, I suggest having a good strategy to entice them into getting more money out of their pockets than what they have already put on their Groupon; a clear way is to offer a deal such as 20$ for 40$ of food, when a decent meal for 2 at your restaurant will cost significantly more than that.

For very low margin services/products, do your math correctly.

The best industries for using the Groupon strategy will probably be gyms, rock-climbing facilities, tanning salons, etc; the kind of companies that have fixed costs. These industries have the installation, they don’t really need much more staff if there is a significant traffic increase and it doesn’t cost more based on the number of clients. Plus, they have the potential to transform these potential clients into regular customers.

Considering the 50% discount you give to the customer and the 25% that Groupon takes (50% of the actual deal), it is like giving a 75% discount but getting some marketing help to do so.  I am not considering the no-shows and extras, but my feeling is that in many cases a business would be better off giving their product/service for free to people who are mostly not their typical clientele but who have the potential to talk about it to others and come back.  How to actually do that efficiently should be the subject of another post.

Oh, and for the Groupon users among you, here is my advice based only on my personal experience with them:

• Assume that Groupon does absolutely nothing to ensure the minimal quality of the product/service of the business.
• For restaurant deals, check their inspection report.  For a restaurant in Alberta, check this out: Alberta Health Services.  You might not like what yousee there, so please check it before buying the deal.  Even some EXTREMELY popular repeat Groupon deals inCalgary are in restaurants that have numerous recent critical inspection issues…
• For online deals (not from a local business) it is even more important to read the fine print.  Shipping charges can be a bad surprise when they double the cost of your deal.
• Whenever you feel that you made a mistake after purchasing the deal, but before using it, do not hesitate to ask Groupon to give you a refund.  It worked for me so far.

And by the way, I think I fall into the “cheap” category: I always have a Goupon for the next time we want to go to the restaurant but don’t know where to go, and I only go to those restaurants if I bought a Groupon for them.  I also try not to put more on the bill than what the Groupon deal covers…

Groupon was launched in Nov 2008 and their first market was Chicago. Today, it’s now one of the most innovative billion dollar company. Since I started using them once in a while, I discovered new restaurants and places in my city.  Have these restaurants/places gained a new customer? The answer is probably not.

The Conqueror
I found some positive arguments why a small business should opt for Groupon as part of their marketing strategy:

• Increasing your visibility and the ability to reach your potential market more efficiently.
• Having new customers/future clients who don’t typically visit your store.
• You can actually measure the result (ROI).
• Groupon gives a great word of mouth (people actually talk about their Groupon or give them as a gift)
• For potential customers, it’s a perfect excuse to try something new.
• Statistics say that 20% of buyers don’t show up, which means they paid for not having your product. 

The Killer

• A common characteristic of Groupon users/clients is: they have a tendency to book/cancel/re-book/re-cancel! Does your business have the energy to handle the trouble?
• It can be difficult to manage the quantity sold. It can increase your short-term costs: hire more staff during this promotional period, more training, etc. Moreover, waitresses aren’t generally happy with it because they often get gratuities based on the discounted amount rather than the full price.
• Groupon attracts cheap customers, the ones who will never pay the full price for your services, which potentially means non-repeat business.
• Generally, a business must have a promotion that gives 50% off the regular price; Groupon usually asks for 50% of the actual deal for their fees. The costs can be high.
• It can be harmful for a business’ image.  Being seen as a discount business, clients might not be ready to pay the regular price anymore.  
• The collective coupon model doesn’t work for every business: it seems that the higher your margins are, the better your chances are of gaining something. The contrary is also true: the smaller your margins are, the more you will lose.
• People who are interested in saving money might not be the right target.
• Even though the business gets a lot of information about the people who purchased their Groupon (I would assume), the Groupon community is not necessarily a random sample of the general public.
• Some Groupon buyers are already repeat customers of your business; you will leave money on their table and on Groupon’s table but get nothing in return.  On top of that your product/service will inevitably lose value in their eyes.
• Think about the long term versus short term ROI.

Is there a Champion?

Some fascinating facts
Canada accounts for 3.95% of the worldwide blogs and 53.5% of the most active bloggers are younger people (between 21 to 35-years-old). The USA, accounts for 29.22% of the worldwide blogs, and the UK follows with 6.75%. The gender is really balanced, almost 50/50 men versus women. Over half of US Internet users are reading blogs at least once a month, and it will climb to 60% in the next four years.

Of course, marketers are using blogs more and more to create buzz or viral campaigns (check my post about Oasis Spa). It’s certainly one of the trendiest ways to do marketing, and the corporate world embraces the trend. However, a study has found a huge drop in the number of companies maintaining corporate blogs over the last year. I don’t have the explanation except that companies might want to focus more on Facebook and Twitter.

It took me at least three weeks to press the botton “SEND” to write my very first blog post. I now try to follow this theory: blogging is all about your next post (and not about your current one). “By their very nature, blogs are fluid and dynamic creatures. A good blog (and bloggers) constantly keeps moving forward. As much as a particular post can be fantastic, it is not long before the next post must be produced.”       

Where Am I going with all that?
Two months ago, when I got my new marketing job offer, I “panicked” thinking that I wouldn’t have the time to blog anymore! I didn’t want to leave my dear friends and unknown followers behind (if I don’t know you yet, let’s connect!). At that specific moment, I realized how much I love blogging and how I am grateful to all my readers/subscribers. I also recognized how much I had learned since I started, from a personal to a marketing perspective. Of course, some of my posts are much more popular than others. Sometimes I am sure that a particular post will bring no comments; my judgment isn’t right on all the time.

REMINDER: This is a Marketing blog.

Today, I am concerned with how I can make your reading experience more enjoyable. I really enjoyed the post: A blog Mentor is hard to Find, which says: “To get where you want to go, you should talk to someone who has been there.”  Since I don’t want a mentor (I don’t have time for that), I have some killer questions for my dear readers:

-  Is there any marketing subject you would like to have more info about?
-  Would you like that I talk more about others industries, such as Sports, China, kitesurfing (please say yes to this one), the lifestyle of a marketer, doing business with Quebec, etc.
-  How would you like that I improve my blog?
-  What would make it more enjoyable for you to read?

Don’t worry, I don’t think I should have made the 2011 awards and don’t be surprised if I won’t make it either in 2012 or 2013 or ever. I know that I am certainly not an excellent writter in William Shakespeare’s language. However, if I could make it more interesting to my followers, I would be very happy to make a difference in your marketing and daily life!

I found some similarities between my new position and my previous jobs: I’m still the only marketing resource for this small size company (well, in Calgary, 120 employees is small but for a Quebec City girl, it’s medium/large). One of my 2012 goals is to fit in the downtown business culture. The first step was to give up some old-fashioned business clothes and finally see my fancy business suit as “must wear more often.” I have to admit, the first step was quite exciting!

After two weeks in my Marketing Specialist position, I already have the mandate to think about long-term strategies for our company. I guess I will learn faster than expected the meaning of conventional oil and the difference between mineral and surface contract.  At the office, I was self conscious about my Quebec accent and by not always being able to find the best words in all circumstances. Well, if I am doing that bad, nobody mentioned it yet.

I also discovered why we have an elevator that doesn’t go to the 15th floor but is called the +15 elevator. For my non-Calgarian friends, the +15 is 16 Km of the “world’s largest elevated climate controlled pedestrian system linking over 100 downtown office buildings (including 59 bridges)”.  +15 means it is at least 15 feet in the air. The city should certainly market the +15 as a tourist attraction.

Where is the best spot for a marketing professional in Canada?
I don’t have the answer but I can say that there are cultural differences between my new work environment and Quebec City. Considering that Calgary ranked fifth as most livable cities in the world (out of 140 global cities – by the Economist Intelligence Unit in 2011), savvy marketers will probably move in the West in search of new challenges. Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver are certainly the three cities that come to mind first for Marketers.  Since Calgary’s strengths include low taxes, high quality of life, well developed business and well educated labor, I am probably not the only one to have made the move to the +15.

For many reasons, and because of my ambitions, looking for a new job has become a familiar task. Now that I found a great position, I think it’s time to share my experience. This post is dedicated to human resource departments, companies and hiring managers.

Downtown parking
A company downtown Calgary asked me once to go for an interview. Believe it or not, I had three interviews with them plus some homework to prove that I was good enough for the job. It cost me more than 120$ in parking plus the time I had to take off from my job. After the third interview, I didn’t want the job anymore because the process was way too complicated. And by the way, the homework wasn’t a theoretical question, but basically work they wanted me to do for them for free.

Timeline
A few years ago, I had a job offer. However, I had to apply for a grant from the government to pay for my position. It happens a lot with high tech companies since the government wants to help them to market their product internationally. The process from my first interview to the start date for the company took over a year. After a year, the job was still very interesting but my objectives had changed and I wasn’t sure anymore if I still wanted the position. Meanwhile, of course, I found another position.

Misunderstandings and Follow-ups
I once did a follow-up call after a second interview for a company that I really wanted to work for. Two weeks after my interviews, I was curious to know if I was still in the race. I finally got the HR manager on the phone, and he told me, not very kindly, that the hiring manager had already called me. In fact, I never received that phone call, and there was clear miscommunication between the departments. Finally, I came to the conclusion that I wasn’t being considered anymore. Very good way to learn it! One of my friends told me that company has a very messy human resource department. I totally agree!

In this period of joy where I should be celebrating with friends and family, I am mostly getting mad trying to troubleshoot Social Media Tools. I had some issues with WordPress, Twitter and Facebook. Even if I keep saying how these tools are easy to use, I am not a software expert and I realize that too often I need more technical skills.

My WordPress Issues
When I was in Vietnam, my blog stopped working since some plugins weren’t up-to-date and on top of that, I wasn’t using an anti-spam plugin. As a result, I had too much spam and my host shutdown Blooming Marketing for 3 weeks.

Two weeks ago, when I updated my Smart YouTube Pro plugin, something went wrong. None of my videos were appearing on my posts anymore. The new plugin version was the cause, and it took me forever to resolve the problem.  The solution remains unclear, but everything seems to work fine now.

On top of that, I am trying to add my logo to my theme, but I really need some HTML knowledge since my theme doesn’t support a logo. I haven’t resolved the problem yet.

Believe it or not…
…I also had a technical problem with Facebook. People think it’s really simple: you update your wall, put some pictures… et voila! Creating a Facebook Fan page is actually quite easy; however, adding some IFrame pages for the Facebook Fan Page can be tricky. Some of these applications need basic HTML knowledge in order to add pictures, links and texts. I always thought that being a “Social Media Expert” involves being a good communicator/marketer. Well, it also means being able to learn technical stuff! Oh, and am I the only one who thinks the i-Phone and Android Facebook apps have very limited functionality?   

So far, I’ve almost always found the way to resolve my problems. I understand why some people don’t want to give themselves the trouble. Me, I complain but I like it.

On that note, I wish you a happy new year. I hope that all of you resolve the technical issues on your Social Media platforms, or find your best marketing strategies for the coming year. Most importantly, I wish you all the success you deserve with your business or projects to come.