I love this German proverb. This is the board next to my workspace, and I carry a copy of it in my wallet, too.

I’m not sure why, but it’s seems to always be true: Marketing departments aren’t doing enough or they are trying to do WAY too much. The former is easy to tackle so let’s talk about the latter.

Initiatives, ads, events, trade shows, blogs, websites, landing pages, direct mail campaigns, Facebook Fan pages. Whatever it is, things are tackled with full energy, then abandoned. Or started and left unfinished. There’s so much going on, there’s no time to actually measure what’s working and what isn’t.

While we do a lot things for our clients, our goal is always to help them do a few things, really well.

Bill Gates once said,

…only through focus can you do world-class things, no matter how capable you are.

Consider your current marketing efforts. Where are you investing your energy? Your money? How much time are you spending doing things just because it’s what you’ve always done?

Does it matter to your customers? Your prospects? Is it a brand driver? Are you sure?

Do the research, then focus your efforts in the few, best places that will make a difference. You’ll be glad you did.

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There have been some good discussions on the Social Media Club Seattle LinkedIn Group recently.

My response to a “who owns social media” question was a bit longish and self-contained, so I thought I’d share it here:

Social Media should be treated as just another marketing channel. Each channel has it’s rules, it’s purpose, it’s strengths and weaknesses. Social Media is good at shaping opinion, so it seems like it should be part of PR.

But doing so is a mistake because it restricts messaging and it can lose its authenticitity. What about the voice of the other constituencies in the organization? What about promotions? PR can’t and shouldn’t try to manage the voice of every facet of an organization.

Should Marketing own it? Social Media channels are contact points that impact an organization’s (or individual’s) brand, after all. I say “no” for the same reasons. An organization isn’t simply made up of the peeps in Marketing and PR.

Social Media needs to owned, directed and managed by an integrated team of people that represent the organization as a whole. If you’d like to see an organization that “gets it,” take a look at the Verity Credit Union Blog, and check out the list of writers on the right.

Oh, they are pretty good at it — the Verity blog was the first credit union blog ever.

So, who do you think owns social media?

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Since 1996, I’ve served on the advisory board for a number of the marketing-related programs for the University of Washington’s Professional and Continuing Education division. If you live the Seattle area, you should know about the Advanced Interactive Marketing Certificate.

Here’s a short video overview:

Check it out, and share this post with anyone you think might benefit from the program.

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We think every organization should market responsibly, but Responsible Marketing isn’t for everyone.

Some of us take that fact a little harder than others.

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This is the lost episode from our seven part series of Responsible Marketing web shorts. Click here to check ‘em out.

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Each year, King County recognizes organizations that have made recycling and waste reduction a priority, so we’re honored to make the “Best Workplace for Recycling and Waste Reduction” list once again this year.

Instead of us telling you how, here’s an excerpt from the webpage listing this year’s recipients:

Outsource Marketing is a fourth-year Best Workplace that is building on past recycling and waste reduction efforts. In 2009, Outsource Marketing rebranded their business to better reflect its responsible approach to business and marketing. Most messaging is done electronically at Outsource. Instead of printing letterhead, notecards and envelopes that might go to waste, the new brand made it possible for it to print small, customized quantities in-house as needed. Old letterhead stationery was turned into notepads. A series of videos were also created to focus on recycling in the workplace.

Outsource Marketing’s printed collateral system consisting of a folder, mini-brochure and multiple insert sheets and cards was replaced by a customizable brochure that is printed and bound in-house using plain string. It has also been formatted so it looks great when delivered digitally. Outsource Marketing has increased its use of collaborative online tools, video conferencing, instant messaging and other technologies to increase waste-free communications. Each staff member has signed a “green pact,” promising to reduce, reuse and recycle where possible. In addition, Outsource Marketing continues to implement responsible, green marketing efforts for its clients.

Advice to others: “A project without a leader won’t get done. Appoint a ’green czar’ to lead initiatives and provide support to develop an empowered group. Take a look at marketing materials with an eye toward waste reduction. “

Would you like your organization to be a bit greener? Contact us and we’ll be happy to share a few tips with you.

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The live streaming video of the oil spill turns my stomach, so I’ve been struggling with this question for weeks: “Can Responsible Marketing help restore BP?”

My gut says “never!” but my brain says “maybe.”

The fact is, trust requires both competence and character—two things BP lacks.

I know it’s early to ask, but if BP did the following things:

1. Successfully stopped the oil spill
2. Adequately cleaned up their mess
3. Proved they made their other rigs safe; and
4. Reinvested a large percentage of their profits into other renewable energy options

…would you be willing to give them a second chance?

I boycotted Exxon after the Valdez spill, so I’m on the fence on this one, folks. I’d have to see something pretty special from BP to get me to reconsider them.

How about you?

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Search for “oil spill” on Google and you’ll get this:

Click here to enlarge

On Bing you’ll get:

British Petroleum · www.BP.com/GulfOfMexicoResponse
Get Info about the Gulf of Mexico Response Today

Yahoo:

BP – Info about the Gulf of Mexico Spill Learn More about How BP is Helping. www.bp.com/gulfofmexicoresponse

Normally, I’d say this is Responsible Marketing: Use paid search to share the positive and combat the negative. Bully for BP.

But where’s the competence? Where’s the character? I see neither and BP has lost my trust.

They’ve stumbled so badly, so often and on so many fronts this feels like a desperate ploy to manipulate public opinion. Actions speak louder than words and I’m no longer listening.

In fact, I’ve boycotted BP.

So what do you think? Does this feel like smart marketing or slimy spin?

Comment below to weigh in.

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From the The Wall Street Journal:

The White House is calling on food makers to curb marketing of unhealthy foods to children, part of a broad assault against childhood obesity.

The recommendation is part of a 120-page report released Tuesday that outlines steps to fight the national epidemic. One in every three children ages 2-19 is overweight or obese, the report says. First Lady Michelle Obama has taken up childhood obesity as her signature cause.

The recommendations are for the food and beverage industry, media and entertainment companies and food retailers. Recommendations from the report urge these parties to:

• Extend their self-regulatory program to cover all forms of marketing to children
• Avoid in-store marketing that promotes unhealthy products to children
• Limit the licensing of popular characters to food and beverage products that are healthy and consistent with science-based nutrition standards
• Adopt meaningful, uniform nutrition standards for marketing food and beverages to children
• Develop a uniform standard for what constitutes marketing to children
• Set uniform guidelines to ensure that a higher proportion of advertisements shown on their networks and platforms are for healthy foods and beverages
• Introduce an on-air labeling system that helps consumers easily distinguish between advertising for healthy and unhealthy foods
• Develop and deploy technology to block unhealthy food and beverage advertising

And if the above doesn’t work, the FCC will be called in to revisit and modernize children’s programming rules.

Click here to download the 120-page report[3.3 MB].

This is a step in the right direction, but is it enough? Self-regulation hasn’t worked well on Wall Street. Will this be enough to rein-in Madison Avenue?

I doubt it, but what do you think?

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. . .

Inspired by this tweet by Hank Wasiak.

The carrot or the stick? Neither.

Research has shown that for knowledge workers, using money as an incentive actually hurts performance. You read that right. If you want your team to really shine, give them a purpose:

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We’ve been talking about the marketing benefits of adding purpose to an organization since the beginning here. The research findings illustrated in Daniel Pink’s new book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us add another dimension to the argument:

If you want to fire up your employees, give them some personal freedom–and give them a purpose.

Know a company that’s managing and/or marketing with meaning? Share it here.

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You don’t need the biggest budget to succeed at marketing. The biggest budget doesn’t guarantee success.

No, you need the best ideas. The best ideas win.

What do you think?

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