Content Factor Weblog

Should Western Manufacturing Be Saved?

2009-06-02T13:23:00.002-05:00

Great article (and response threads) by Dan Gilmore in Supply Chain Magazine on the merits of saving U.S. manufacturing.

The Second Annual Social Status Seminar

2009-04-02T10:27:00.002-05:00

The Content Factor is again participating in the successful Social Status Seminar Series. This time, some of us so-called experts are going to make marketing and promotional recommendations for Earth University that utilize social media.

This is the second incarnation of the event, which is sponsored by PR firm Trevelino Keller. Here is a link to the invite. There are still seats available and I definitely recommend it.

On Twitter Now!

2009-03-31T16:27:00.001-05:00

Just wading in...

http://twitter.com/McKeonPaul

Wish me luck!

An Actual Email Received by One of Our Writers...

2009-03-18T11:02:00.004-05:00

Subject: Great Advertising and Marketing Concepts

Dear sir, This is Bhaskar from Hyderabad, India. Working for a Fortune 10 Company. I am closely watching present market scenarios both in India and abroad. Now its time to redefine the marketing strategies according to the current financial situations. I designed some concepts for the better advertising. That will make the product to penetrate into the market. I am sure these captions will become the most popular for your customers. My services include

* I can help you in providing Marketing strategies for the current situations
* I designed some Advertising Captions for the companies.

I Provide these with very low cost. You just try me, I am sure i wont let you down. Apart from this I have very beautiful tips and concepts for creative ad making.

You can reach me at Mail :
Mobile:

Thanks and Regards,
Bhaskar

What convergence changes--and what it doesn't.

2009-02-02T14:32:00.004-05:00

I was watching TV this past Sunday morning and saw this piece from Jeff Greenfield on CBS' Sunday Morning show. I thought it was very insightful. Leave it to the "old media" to best sum up the implications of the "new media." I especially liked his commentary at the end about what doesn't change.

What a twit or tweet?

2009-01-23T13:31:00.003-05:00

I used to be a Partner at Ketchum so I feel bad for my friends there. I also dabble and work in social media, so I can see the other side of this story too.

It's a prime example of the opposing pull of business discretion with self expression as our professional and social lives become more blended. Discretion is certainly required in any client/service relationship, and self expression is almost mandated if you want to be noticed in the online social world.

It looks like Ketchumite James Andrews got caught in a trap not unlike the unwitting college graduate who gets turned down for a job because the recruiter went to his Facebook page.

If you are wondering what I am talking about, the whole sordid mess is laid out in a series of posts on David Henderson's blog. If nothing else, it's interesting reading.

Ketchum has done great work for FedEx for years, so hopefully FedEx will remember that. And while I've used just about every other sort of social media, I haven't yet ventured into Twitter.

Maybe I'll wait a while.

Who Says PR Doesn't Matter?

2008-12-03T20:49:00.005-05:00

Anyone that thinks that is the case need look no further than the U.S. automakers appeal for close to a $35 billion bailout. As this CNN article suggests, public opinion is now significantly against the government bailout. Before the auto executives showed up on Capitol Hill in their highly-publicized corporate jets, public opinion was 50/50.

This PR faux pas could end up costing them close to $35 billion.

Before starting The Content Factor, I spent 15 years in public relations. The old pros have a saying: "Not only must it be right, it should 'appear' right."

The Social Status Game Board

2008-11-12T12:14:00.017-05:00

I participated in a breakfast seminar today with five other organizations. The event was put together by PR firm Trevelino/Keller and revolved around a unique Monopoly-like game board designed as an interesting way to put together an online social media program for businesses and other organizations. As you move around the board you are prompted to consider options ranging from Facebook and mySpace to Twitter and Digg.

Present company excluded, there were a lot of smart people on the panel, including folks from Search Discovery, Vitrue, Luckyfish and (my favorite) dNeero.

Using the board, we actually built a social media strategy for Zoo Atlanta. It was pretty cool. The question and answer session may have been the best part, as the panel answered a lot of very practical questions ranging from when to use Facebook pages vs. Facebook groups and how to reach Twitter Moms.

The Content Factor's contribution to the Zoo Atlanta campaign: Winston the Warthog. But that's probably another post.

Bad Writing, Obtuse Business Jargon and The Super-Fantastic Corporation Confusion Game

2008-09-18T10:43:00.004-05:00

When I was a business reporter, a mind-boggling frustration of mine--and every journalist for that matter--was that I had to spend countless hours deciphering the most obtuse corporate speak imaginable. Here these companies were pitching why they should be written about and I couldn't even understand what they did in the most basic sense.

Just take a look on PR Newswire and you'll be inundated with bad messaging. We're "the leading on-demand revenue performance management solutions company..." Actually, they make software that helps companies make financial forecasts. Or try this one, taken from an "About Us" section: ____ "enables unprecedented performance and design benefits with efficient, flexible, easy-to-use digital power IC solutions based on the patented Digital-DC..." I'm not even going to venture a guess; I left my acronym dictionary at home.

Which is why we've developed The Super-Fantastic Corporation Confusion Game. It challenges you to figure out what companies really do based on their own messaging. The companies in the quiz span the spectrum from technology to professional services. Some of them you'll know quite well. Just a word of caution, though: You may want to have an aspirin handy.

Just say what you do already. There's no reason for jargon, ambiguity or corporate speak. And there's certainly no reason for bad writing.

We hope you enjoy the game!

A Perfect Match: Great Technology and Engaging Content

2008-08-29T11:34:00.005-05:00

You can have the best technology in the world behind your online social community. But to keep users coming back -- and back again regularly -- engaging content is mandatory.

That's why we're proud to announce a partnership with one of the leading social network developers in the country, Neighborhood America. The company has created many popular Web 2.0 sites including HGTV's Rate My Space and FOX News' uReport.

Check out the release that went out on the wire today!

The New Pitch: The Value of White Papers

2008-07-31T18:50:00.003-05:00

If you're interested in an easy read on the value of white papers and a few tips on how to create good ones, then check out this short article I wrote for The NY Enterprise Report--a business magazine catering to small businesses.

Offshoring content development?

2008-06-29T20:54:00.000-05:00

BusinessWeek recently ran this story about the Orange County Register outsourcing some content duties to India. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Good content will be increasingly in demand. Consumers and businesses want and need it, yet many will insist on paying the absolute lowest price.

For now, the OC Register seems to be outsourcing mostly the “mechanical” copy functions, such as editing and proofing. Yet it may only be a short time before offshore firms figure out a way to deliver acceptable original content creation. In fact, we’ve had several clients explore this. While none have been fully satisfied, I suspect it is only a matter of time until an acceptable offering is developed.

The challenge for offshore companies when it comes to original content creation is not physical proximity. Good content can be created from anywhere; it is contextual proximity and having a shared mindset with the reader. That’s a whole different story--as anyone who has called a customer service desk staffed with offshore personnel can attest to.

Is More Foreign Tech Talent Really Needed?

2008-05-06T09:58:00.008-05:00

Congress is debating the merits right now to raise the H1-B visa cap -- a move that would bring in more highly-skilled foreigners to take positions primarily in the tech industry.

Bill Gates and many other technology leaders have argued for years that the American high-tech workforce is not adequate to fulfill demand. However, one of my clients, Rudolf Melik, CEO of project management software firm Tenrox, blogs that that claim is overstated.

While some skill sets are hard to find here, he argues, the high demand for more visa workers is mostly about cheap labor. He gives some interesting fixes to the problem at:

http://www.talentontarget.com/

Miller's Brew Blog -- Will It Run Flat?

2008-05-01T11:52:00.007-05:00

You should check out Brew Blog, a site run by Miller Brewing. What a great tool. Miller can now let beer enthusiasts, analysts and other interested parties in on company happenings before the PR machine sanitizes the news and releases it to the general public, right?

Wrong.

The site (http://www.brewblog.com/) instead focuses on nemesis Anheuser-Busch. That's right -- Budweiser and Boddington's, not Miller Lite.

I think it's too early to tell whether the site will stay successful. But the blog is compelling to say the least.

In a decades-old battle between the two brewing giants, No. 2 Miller has taken the unusual step in taking industry news by the horns by leading conversations on the Internet instead of following it.

In fact, writing the blog is a former Advertising Age reporter who was hired by Miller to run the site as if he still were a beat reporter. The blogger, reports The Wall Street Journal on April 24 (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120829767153417401.html?mod=hpp_us_inside_today) "tracks the St. Louis company's every move, from earnings reports to management changes." He even broke a global story that the No. 1 rival was introducing Budweiser American Ale, a lime and salt flavored concoction, before any other media outlet -- including the WSJ and Ad Age.

Conventional marketing says that giving your competitor anything other than negative publicity is bad. But here are some reasons why the blog borders on brilliance:

It gives Miller the first shot at spinning industry news before competitors, analysts, the media or the public.
It engages customers and potential customers more than traditional PR-heavy blogs would.
It fosters trust with consumers -- the site, after all, is well advertised who the sponsor is.
It's a good attempt to circumvent the news media.
It attracts media attention.
It's a good source of real intel.
It personifies Miller, making the company look more inviting and less like a stodgy corporation.
Most importantly, it likely gets the goad of Anheuser-Busch when the company gears up to market new products, launch ad campaigns or even hire new execs.

Until I see otherwise, Brew Blog's strategy is stout. It's exciting to see a large corporation think outside the box and take some chances.

The Bum Bot and Viral Marketing

2008-04-23T13:42:00.005-05:00

The Associated Press has a feature today about one downtown Atlanta bar owner who was so fed up with the massive vagrancy problem near his business that he built a robot to patrol the streets at night.

Called the “Bum Bot,” the cube-shaped sentry – equipped with an infrared video camera, spot light and water cannon – barks orders at people when they trespass. Apparently Bum Bot is effective. One man, the AP reporter observed, scattered when ordered to vacate.

(http://www.abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=4707217).

Bum Bot has enraged homeless advocates. Homeless debate aside, what a marketing tool. The story was posted all over the Internet. And I, for one, will check out the bar – O'Terrill's – the next time I’m downtown. I’m sure others will too.

Clearly, Bum Bot is more marketing than law enforcement. The opportunities are endless: Press coverage. Live Web cams. Even T-shirts. This thing could go viral.

By now, you may have heard of Burger King’s Subservient Chicken. The site (www.subservientchicken.com) has a man dressed up in a chicken suit performing whatever command you type. Type “watch TV” and he watches TV. Type “do cartwheel” and he does a cartwheel. Just don’t tell him to eat a Big Mac.

The site has been a wild success. Says consumer trends analyst Tamar Kasriel in The Economic Times:

“In a hyper-competitive marketplace, the buzz around a brand can be a key differentiator. And yes, consumers are buying into — and more literally, just buying — the buzz brands generate. Today consumers expect brands to deliver new experiences. ‘The Excitement Consumer’ is a reality. Consumers today are addicted to newness. Today, Burger King makes video games using the brand’s characters, and people are willing to pay.”

However, you may also have heard about Sony’s failed experiment with viral marketing. In 2006, a marketing company working for Sony created a website titled "All I want for Xmas is a PSP", designed to promote the Play Station Portable. The site contained a blog written by a “teenager.” However, visitors quickly discovered it was written by the marketing company. Users posted angry messages on the site and exposed the issue on YouTube. Sony was forced to admit the site's origin and later took it down. In an interview with next-gen.biz, Sony admitted the idea was “poorly executed.”

At least give Sony kudos for trying.

So, what makes a viral campaign a good one? One of the top ingredients is unexpectedness. Certainly you would not expect to see a robot outside your favorite pub or a man in a chicken suit online doing whatever you tell him to do. Some of the worst ingredients are too much advertising and not being upfront about the relationship between the endorser and seller. Sony's campaign had both of these.

I’m curious as to your thoughts. What makes viral campaigns such as Burger King's successful? And what makes them fail? Have you ever contemplated incorporating a viral campaign into your marketing strategy? Or, are they more trouble than they’re worth?

Made To Stick

2008-03-31T12:12:00.002-05:00

Read a great book over the weekend: Made to Stick.

I am not reading as many business books as fast as I used to, but this one was truly worthwhile for me. In a sense it is a bit of a follow on to Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point. But while Gladwell's book was more focused on widespread social factors, this book is a bit more prescreptive in how to practically create messages that stick. A must read for those in advertising and marketing.

CPAs Understand the Value of Good Content

2008-03-21T13:37:00.005-05:00

This article on MarketingSherpa, "How to Maximize Impact of Email Newsletter Ads - 4 Takeaways on Ad Recall, Forwards & More," is about a study conducted by the American Institute of CPAs on the effectiveness of their own email marketing.

Of the four major takeaways, two are lessons in how to use content, especially in B2B marketing. They key is to educate the reader, not push a sale.

Substance really is more important than style. AICPA found that content that was understandable, believeable, and memorable was more likely to influence a buying decision. At the end of the day, buyers don’t want to believe they were influenced by incentives or flashy copy, but rather by solid due diligence, based on educational information.

Sponsored content outperforms a banner ad. AICPA found that readers spend about as much time on sponsored case studies and white papers as they do on editorial content in a newsletter--and the sponsored content has the added benefit of being associated to a vendor.

This article also lists some interesting metrics about how readers use and recall the content from email newsletters--click-throughs don't tell the whole story. Overall, the believability of the information is what impacts a buying decision over the long term.

Oracle Press Release Offers A How NOT TO Do It Example

2008-02-27T18:08:00.004-05:00

Ben Worthen recently made a post on the Wall Street Journal's Tech blog about an Oracle press release that was almost unreadable--and certainly not undertstandable. There are lot's of lessons here for how not to write a technology release. Interesting reading for anybody interested in clear communication.

My comment on the WSJ blog was that often these types of jargon-filled releases are written by somebody that wants to impress their boss by showing that they understand all the jargon and buzzwords. But the real undestanding is not in parroting the jargon but rather explaining its significance and meaning.

Writers' Strike: Winter of Our Dissed Content

2007-11-28T21:04:00.000-05:00

I started to to try to write some commentary of my own about the article linked below, but the article itself really says it all. Be sure to watch the video (you'll have to follow the link from this page to YouTube.com).

Writers: The Most Undervalued People Online, by Robert Gorrell, on grokdotcom.com

My first experience writing for the web was in a small technology company that suddenly needed its first World Wide Web site, as everybody did, in 1995-6. The VP of Marketing assembled a SWAT team consisting of a project manager, a CGI programmer, and a graphic artist. So I asked him, "What's this new web site going to say?" He added me to the team.

Every Company Needs a Journalist!

2007-11-09T14:38:00.000-05:00

I was participating in a panel discussion a few weeks ago at AIMA (Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association). The topic was B2B selling on the web. During the discussion on content, someone seated in the front row blurted out: “Every company needs a journalist.” After the event I was talking to this guy. He further explained what he meant in terms of having someone at the company that really does know how to chronicle events and capture information that is useful to the company and its various constituencies, including employees, customers, prospects, partner and suppliers.

So much valuable corporate information is missed because it is deemed unimportant or company officials are afraid that competitive secrets might get out. In fact, most companies are very poor communicators. Every now and then they come up with some major “thought leadership” project, but this is often a forced effort that fails to convey the true sense of expertise or wisdom contained within the company.

Companies would do better to have an ongoing process of information capture and then a programmed approach to having the intellectual capital and expertise “leak” out of the organization. A corporate journalist, blogger, diarist—whatever you want to call them—could be the wellspring for this effort and the source of much good material for newsletters, blogs, conference calls, speeches and more. Journalists are by nature good listeners and synthesizers. They are even better writers and it could be left to them to capture the essence of a company. That essence, if properly conveyed to the market, could lead to more sales!

Grammar Rules

2007-11-07T17:17:00.000-05:00

As writers, we at The Content Factor often discuss questions of grammar and punctuation. Yesterday, Paul needed to know whether the possessive of “business” is “business’,” with just an apostrophe added, or “business’s,” with the apostrophe and an “s.” Thanks to the Internet, we now have some wonderful resources to help us answer these questions. The answer: add an apostrophe and the “s,” even though “business” ends with an “s,” to form “business’s.” I would have steered him wrong—I’m glad Paul looked it up!

One of my favorite resources for questions of grammar is Grammar Girl, who has a podcast on iTunes, and www.quickanddirtytips.com. One of my recent favorites is the one entitled, ‘It Is I’ Versus ‘It Is Me’” in which Grammar Girl explains which one of these phrases is correct grammar, and why. The bottom line is that one is correct, but one is common. I appreciate Grammar Girl’s position that:

I believe it's best to know the traditional rules and then if you decide to break them you can do so knowingly and with conviction.

You rule, Grammar Girl!

Writers, Beware the Ribbon

2007-10-23T10:24:00.000-05:00

I don't want to whine too much about Microsoft Vista or Office 2007...I have come to learn that these software upgrades are part of computing life. But I have a word or warning for hard-core writers out there who delve into all the nooks and crannies of MS Word. The warning is: Set aside some time for a learning curve on all the new navigation.

If you're accustomed to the toolbars in all Office applications, brace yourself for change, because they are all gone. The new multi-tabbed "Ribbon" takes its place. The tabs and the groupings on the ribbon are somewhat logical, but the ribbon isn't customizable like the toolbars were. Many of the dialogs and interfaces "beyond" the ribbon are familiar, but you have to hunt and peck to find them, and then re-commit to memory all the clicks you need to make to perform your most basic functions.

There is one customizable toolbar, the "Quick Access Toolbar," and if you were a MS Office Power User before, you'll be able to customize it relatively easily...but if you weren't, it will probably be challenging to set up anything that resembles the toolbars you were used to.

Here's a good article that covers the pros and cons of the Ribbon, with plenty of user feedback:
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10877_11-6142596.html

Or, if you like to drink the Microsoft Kool-Aid, here's their rah-rah description of the changes:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/HA101679411033.aspx

How To Write a Book--The Easy Way

2007-10-22T14:45:00.000-05:00

We recently finished a year long series of white papers that eventually became a book. This is really an ingenious way to accomplish an otherwise daunting task. The project took more than a year, but the client had the marketing benefit of each completed white paper throughout the year. With a little editing at the end of the project, the white papers became chapters and the chapters became a book.

Many people don't realize what great marketing vehicles books can be. In this particular client's case, his salespeople are reporting increased sales due to this book. It's not necessarily because people are reading the book cover-to-cover, but because they believe (and it's true) the company really is an expert in its field.

The Five Biggest White Paper Mistakes

2007-09-11T14:48:00.000-05:00

White papers are a great way to convey thought leadership, solve customer problems and create interest for marketing programs. But many companies make some basic mistakes when writing a white paper. Here are the five we see most often:

1. Overselling: A white paper may be part of your marketing program, but its first goal is to educate or inform. If you try to oversell, you will likely lose credibility and the opportunity to make a sale later in the sales cycle. Sure, you can mention your product or service, but it should be primarily in the context of an example or a solution that can help solve the problem that your white paper has helped illuminate.

2. Give the conclusion first: Readers of white papers are just like everyone else: busy! Give them the findings on the first page. Then, spend the rest of the paper building the background and logic for that conclusion. Too many writers “keep their powder dry” until the middle or the end of the paper. Readership falls off dramatically from the first page to the last. Make sure the reader gets your key message(s) up front.

3. White papers don’t have to be just “black ink on white paper”: Use illustrations and diagrams to help make your point. Studies show that pictograms—the combination of words and pictures in an illustration or diagram—are one of the most effective methods of communication. And don’t forget to add an explanatory caption to these visuals. Make sure you tell the reader what the diagrammatical “take away” is. Don’t assume they will get it.

4. Two columns are too risky: If your white paper will be read from a computer screen, don’t format it in two columns. You may like the two column look when the document is printed, but it forces the electronic reader to scroll back up and then down the page again—twice per page. That’s a sure-fire way to lose them.

5. Have someone else say it for you: Research by KnowledgeStorm and others shows that third-party quotes and research from analysts, journalists and other informed sources carry a lot of weight with readers. Use this information as much as you can. Put it in callout boxes and footnotes as needed. Make sure it stands out.

Web Content Usage Up 37% Since 2003

2007-08-26T18:42:00.000-05:00

According to a recently released study conducted by Nielsen/NetRatings, people are spending about half their online time consuming and interacting with content. This is up 37% since 2003. Apparently engaging with content has replaced communicating as the top online activity. To those of us engaged in online content development this comes as no surprise. According to the the study, three key reasons are: the ubiquity of broadband access, the emergence of social meda sites such as youtube and myspace and the improvement in search technology which more frequently serves up the content that users are looking for.

For more on the study, go to eMarketer.