“Time is neutral and does not change things. With courage and initiative, leaders change things.” This quote from Jesse Jackson summarizes the essence of the seventh attribute of effective marketing leaders – initiative.

Leaders don’t wait to be told what needs to be done. They are perpetually dissatisfied with the status quo. They see the same problems others see but can’t sit still while the problem goes unresolved. Inaction is not an option. I’m not sure whether this is a “personality defect” or a learned characteristic, but the attribute is both a blessing and a curse. Either way, people who possess this inner sense of taking the initiative distinguish themselves from most of the population.

Initiators become champions of causes that others want to follow (watch the video on your right for a bit of inspiration on this point). Sometimes this is the person who refuses to be worn down by corporate bureaucracy, inertia and apathy when others have given up. Other times it is the person who steps forward and has an idea that inspires those around him. But most often it is someone who knows that things can be better and decides to take responsibility for doing something about it.

A person’s position may mandate that he or she initiate actions. In a company that is experiencing revenue challenges all eyes are on the CMO to see what changes he or she will initiate. In this case many of the previously discussed attributes, such as vision, insight and courage, will be important in fulfilling the organization’s expectations. Ford’s leaders are handling this well right now. Toyota’s? Not so well!

But frequently initiative comes from someone without an organizational mandate. This brave soul decides that a risk is worth taking and doesn’t care about the question, “Who put you in charge,” and acts because action was needed. He stepped forward because someone had to. She stood up because sitting quietly would not make the situation better. These are the leaders every organization must nurture.

Who on your team is an initiator? How do you support the risks they take? Are you still initiating change the way you used to? If not, what happened? Great marketing leaders emerge from those who take the initiative. Are you one of them?

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Attributes of an effective marketing leader, part 7: initiative

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Today is the annual “Monday Morning Quarterbacking of Super Bowl Commercials” day. And unlike many years, the football game was better than the commercials. The Drew vs. Peyton battle was great. Most of the commercials, not so great.

Here are my picks for Best, Worst, Underrated and “What were they thinking?” commercials.

Best: Snickers. The spot was attention-getting, humorous and most important, a great statement of the company’s brand proposition. I remembered it this morning and I associated the message with something relevant to me as a consumer. Well done, Snickers!

Worst: GoDaddy. The commercials were lame, degrading and have nothing positive to say about the brand. They make me want to do business with the company’s competitors. I know this is consistent with its previous efforts, but surely GoDaddy could do better.

Underrated: Google. I would have never expected that a 30-second demonstration of Google could be engaging, but this was masterfully done. It had the two essential ingredients of great story telling, one action leading to the next and a relevant message (more on this in an upcoming post). It made me feel something, which was quite unexpected. It might not be the highest-rated spot, but there are lessons to be learned from Google’s execution.

“What were they thinking?” Dove. After several years and millions of dollars positioning Dove as a beauty brand for women, now they want to launch Dove for Men. I’m usually less critical of brand extensions than Al Ries, but this one is a dangerous gamble for Dove. Surely, a new brand optimized for men could have achieved its goal of reaching a new market with much less downside for the company’s core business.

If you want to see how the Ad Meter scored all the Super Bowl ads, click here for the USA Today coverage. It turns out that the Ad Meter and I agree on the Best and the Worst commercial. But what do you think? What are your Best and Worst picks for Super Bowl 2010?

This is a post from Marketing Has Changed by John Ellett. Subscribe to my feed.

Super Bowl: Commercials overshadowed by football

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This Sunday is the big annual event for television advertising, the Super Bowl. Many people tune in more for the commercials than for the game itself. And many of the spots will make a positive impact for their marketers. But looking beyond the “most liked” ratings is particularly important.

This commercial is a classic case. I remember watching “Cat Herders” during a past Super Bowl and laughed out loud. It received great reviews and very high “scores.” The problem was no one remembered who the ad was for. In terms of brand recall I’ve heard that it scored at the bottom.

So as you watch the big game this weekend keep an eye out for the brands that do great advertising and the ones that move the ball forward for their brands. Then join the Monday debate on who did both.

This is a post from Marketing Has Changed by John Ellett. Subscribe to my feed.

Super Bowl: When “great” ads can be poor marketing

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You can’t watch television today without seeing Verizon touting that its map is better than AT&T’s. Or AT&T rebutting with how much better its 3G network is. If you’ve read a major magazine lately you have probably seen GM compare its models to its leading competitors. Is this explicit comparative advertising a sound strategy? Based on my experience, I would say, yes, but with some caveats.

In the early ’90s, while at Dell, I was involved in starting a price war in the PC category. The advertising that supported the strategy was an explicit comparison of similarly featured Dell and Compaq products along with their respective list prices. Dell cost usually 30% – 50% less and the campaign caused quite a stir in the industry. It also caught the attention of buyers and helped the company grow from $500 million to $3 billion in a few years. It worked for Dell and it seems to be working for Verizon.

If you are considering this approach, I believe there are four things to keep in mind:

1. Be the champion of the customer: The foundation of this approach should be based on how the comparison benefits the customer. Poor executions turn into shouting matches between competitors. Good ones endear the brand to the customers for whom they are fighting.
2. Compare relevant and important information: Make sure the point of comparison really matters to customers. Southwest does this well with its bags fly free campaign. But I’ve also seen tech companies compare features that are low on the priority list for buyers and the brand comes off as a grouchy engineer trying to prove a meaningless point.
3. Take the edge off with humor: Some of the best comparative campaigns use humor to make their punch seem less offensive but still get the point across. The Mac v. PC guy campaign did this really well for a while. Verizon and Southwest are doing it well now. Chevy’s use of Howie Long? I’m not so sure.
4. Let your customers make the case: This approach can be most effective, especially in the digital world. Reaching in-market buyers with content from fellow buyers can make a compelling case. Make sure it is authentic and not contrived or it will backfire.

So what are your favorite examples of great or awful comparative campaigns?

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Is comparative advertising a good strategy?

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I read an article in The New York Times this morning, For Super Bowl XLIV Advertisers, Synergy Is the Name of the Game, that got me a bit irritated. The premise of the article, and a view that I subscribe to, is that marketers must think beyond the 30-second TV spot and incorporate all digital forms of customer engagement appropriately.

However, this comment caught my attention: “That’s the way you have to go to market now,” said Kathy O’Brien, vice president for personal care at the Unilever United States office in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. “The Super Bowl is an element of a complete, 360-degree campaign.” I started to cheer, but that was premature. She followed her statement with the following: “During the Super Bowl, we’re going to use Twitter to engage the audience in real time by reaching out to people Tweeting,” she added, “and urging them to watch our commercial again.”

Give me a break! Is this what marketers mean by 360-degree campaigns? Using Twitter to encourage re-watching a TV spot? You have to be kidding! Clearly, companies are still struggling to plan coherent, integrated customer-engagement programs.

I have several thoughts on the subject, which I’ll be sharing over the next few months. But first, I’d like to know what you think the root cause of this problem is. Why is this still so hard? Send me your thoughts.

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What is a 360-degree campaign?

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I just read a great post from Mark Cuban entitled, “Why are we condemning Jeff Zucker & NBC over Leno?”. Everyone seems to have an opinion on the subject. I’ll admit I’ve watched Conan’s show for the first time this week because of the controversy. As well as Charlie Rose’s interview with Mr. Zucker.

Mr. Cuban, who is rarely shy on sharing his opinions, has it right in this case. “If you want to know why its going to take longer than people hope or expect to get out this great recession, look no further than media and corporate response to Jeff Zucker’s move of Jay Leno to primetime. What Zucker and NBC did was the EXACT RIGHT MOVE.” He goes on to assert, “But there is a bigger message in all of this. What I have learned from watching all of this is that corporate America has been neutered. No one has any balls anymore.”

I wrote a while back on one of the attributes of an effective marketing leader: courage. While Jeff Zucker may not have handled the situation well from a PR perspective, the guy had courage to try something new and the courage to admit it didn’t work and make changes.

What is your take on the situation?

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Jeff Zucker v. Leno/O’Brien

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It’s that time of year to reflect, renew and refocus. And resolutions are a time-honored tool to help us do these things. So here are five resolutions I propose for marketing leaders everywhere and ones that I hope to accomplish myself.

In 2010 I resolve to:

1. Get out of the economic-meltdown funk: We are all worn out from the fight to keep our heads above water. It’s time to regain some optimism again, put a spring in our step and start smiling once more. Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Dr. John have all sung the following lyrics. It’s time for us to do so as well. “You’ve got to accentuate the positive. Eliminate the negative. Latch on to the affirmative. Don’t mess with Mister In-Between.”
2. Shake things up: The status quo just won’t cut it. It’s time for things to change, and change for the better. We must be the ones to instigate the change initiatives that our organizations desperately need. Yes it is risky. But trying to do the same things for yet another year is even riskier. It’s time to take a leap of faith. Let’s jump together!
3. Get out more: Marketing leaders are the critical connection between the market and the organization. Yet the magnetic pull of standing meetings, management off-sites and daily crisis management keeps us internally focused too much. Let’s get out and meet with customers, visit our channel partners, eat in our restaurants, talk with people and regain the pulse on the market that is critical for honing our intuition. Decisions will be made quickly this year. Let’s make sure our gut instincts are in tune with today’s market.
4. Care deeply: Let’s be passionate about what we do. And genuinely care for those with whom we do it. If you’ve lost the passion for your work, ask yourself why. Is the intersection between what you love to do and what the company needs still there? If so, find a renewed sense of mission that gives you the energy you need. If not, go do something different. If we really care about what we do, it is much easier to care for the people around us. Ask them how they are doing. Learn what is happening in their lives outside of the office. Say thank you. Write them a short note of appreciation. Give them the support they need to grow. Work is much more fun when we do it as a team that takes care of each other.
5. Make a difference: In the lives of our family. For our team members. For our companies. For our customers. For our communities. We are difference-makers and what we do matters. Let’s be purposeful about the difference we want to make in the new year. Let’s be clear about the impact we want to have. Let’s share that with others. We’ll be more committed and more supported if we do. And in the end we can look back at 2010 and say, like Frank Sinatra sang, “It was a very good year.”

This is a post from Marketing Has Changed by John Ellett. Subscribe to my feed.

Five New Year’s resolutions for marketing leaders in 2010

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I ran across this article on PCMag.com recently: 10 Corporate Twitter Accounts Worth Following. It features companies that include Dell, JetBlue and Whole Foods. If you want to benchmark your company’s Twitter activity, these 10 firms would be a good place to start.

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10 corporate Twitter accounts worth following

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No, I’m not talking about the Tiger Woods, Bill Clinton or John Edwards kind of thing. I’m talking about the John Wooden variety. Coach Wooden’s wisdom has been captured on video in a variety of ways over the years, including this great talk at the TED Conference. But it was a blog post by Terry Starbucker, Leadership – What’s love got to do with it, that caught my attention when he profiled the coach’s quotes and a recent video from ESPN.

According to Coach Wooden, “You must set an example. Your players must know that you care for them more than just as athletes.”

This advice applies to leaders of any organization. Members of your team will be much more engaged if they know that you genuinely care for them and that they are valued, appreciated and supported.

This advice also applies to marketing leaders in your role of engaging customers. Do your company’s activities and policies demonstrate that you genuinely care for your customers? Is your “commitment to customers” authentic or just lip service? When you say your are passionate about customer service, is that really true?

Coach Wooden had a great track record of success. He cared for his players deeply and helped them become the best they could be. The winning was a bi-product of his commitment to them. A lesson we would be wise to remember.

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Have a love affair at work.

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Occasionally I encounter a resource that I must share. 3 Minute Mentor is one of those. The videos are the brainchild and production of Nigel Dessau, whose day job is CMO of AMD. In his free time (where he finds it, I don’t know) Nigel takes a common question that a business professional or manager may ask and provides an insightful three-point, three-minute answer.

Here are a few episodes to give you a sense of what is on his site:

Episode 24: How do you write a value proposition?
Episode 20: What (and how) should one ask executive management to help you with your job?
Episode 15: Interviewing for a job – part 2

If you are looking for sage advice from a real pro you might want to spend three minutes a week with Nigel.

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Mentoring resource for aspiring managers

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