Last Tuesday, Northwestern University’s Medill IMC students and alumni, along with members from the Chicago marketing community, gathered for the IMC Talent Q symposium. Like the name suggests, the Talent Q had a keen focus on uncovering and understanding the talent that stands behind today’s winning marketing and communications programs. To understand the driving forces of  success, the Talent Q team fielded an online survey (N= 430) and conducted in-depth interviews focusing on case studies. From this research, nine skills and attributes emerged as contributors to success in the world of marketing and communications. These elements of talent can be categorized into three groups that speak to scope, strategy, and style.

Scope: All about how marketers frame the world and their goals.

1. Accept marketing is about ideas, not channels: In the Talent Q survey respondents revealed the most “overhyped” skill is digital and social media, but respondents also indicated a top factor impacting the future was ever-increasing media options, including digital. The conflicting responses show that skills like digital and social media should not be viewed in isolation, but viewed as an element of a greater idea and/or strategy.

2. Put the audience first: The companies that are most successful in marketing and communications have a real understanding of the wants and needs of each their audiences—their external customer AND their internal employee audience.

Strategy: How marketers get to their desired goals.

3. Find the right balance of breadth vs. depth: Companies have varying needs for breadth versus depth for talent and the key is to find the right balance. Both attributes are equally valuable and must be determined at a company-level.

4. Embrace that big ideas can come from anywhere: Marketers must strive to find the right balance between old and new talent. A case study on the talent behind the Allstate “Mayhem” campaign by Leo Burnett revealed that a good idea can come from anywhere. The original campaign idea came a young, fresh creative mind and was elevated from “good to great” with the help of more knowledgeable, experienced marketers.

5. Own your “value-add”: The marketing landscape is evolving and the demand for talent is shifting from a generalist to a specialist model. As this shift occurs, it will be ever-more important for individuals to understand their strengths, focus on them, and leverage them to collaboratively build more effective communication programs.

Style: The tactics marketers use to get to desired goals.

6. Be passionate (enthusiastic and committed): 30 percent of companies state passion is an important attribute for an ideal hire. Passion is deemed important because people with this attribute push themselves harder and hold themselves to a higher standard.

7. Be nimble and resourceful: Problem-solving, resourcefulness (80 percent of respondents) and nimbleness (76 percent of respondents) were identified as important attributes in identifying talent today.

8. Communicate well, persuade effectively, and tell a story: Successful campaigns hinge on the marketer’s ability to effectively tell a story. As a result, 32.5 percent of companies state “ability to communicate well” is an important attribute for an ideal hire.

9. Be curious, creative and collaborative: The combination of curiosity, creativity and collaboration are essential attributes in creating winning marketing teams.

Did you miss the IMC Talent Q? Check out the webcast from the event.

The brainchild of Medill’s Integrated Marketing Communications graduate program, the IMC Talent Q will feature IMC graduate students and industry professionals sharing the latest research and insights on successful talent cultivation.

Keynoting the event is Dana Anderson, senior vice president of marketing, strategy and communications at Kraft Foods, who will undoubtedly inspire attendees to toss aside conventional thinking and take what she calls “leaps,” an idea that aligns with the new risk-taking philosophy being embraced by Kraft.

In addition to the findings that Medill IMC students will share from their research on the traits of effective marketing communications professionals, a panel of  industry leaders will lead a discussion on effective talent cultivation. Panelists include Fred Cook (president & CEO of GolinHarris), Jill Perkins (senior consultant at Towers Watson), Melanie Steinbach (managing director at Russell Reynolds Associates), Sherman Wright (co-founder and managing partner of CommonGround Marketing) and Dan Jessup (head of people strategy at Groupon).

The event couldn’t be more timely. According to Marty Kohr, adjunct lecturer and Medill IMC Talent Q advisor, the magnitude and velocity of change in the marketplace have never been greater, nor has the need to better understand the talents and skills of the people who drive effective marketing communications.

And who better to learn from than the event’s A-list group of speakers. “I have been inspired by the individual accomplishments and collective wisdom of the panelists,” said panel moderator and Assistant Professor Dan Gruber. “I look forward to a lively, engaging and enlightening panel.”

Kohr agrees and congratulates the Medill IMC students for taking on this quest. “The students benefited from the journey and their efforts will help fellow students better prepare for the future as well. The same is true for our alums, our faculty and our corporate partners. We know identifying, developing and retaining top talent is a critical issue for all successful managers,” he said.

Visit the IMC Talent Q website to learn more and to register for free. Can’t attend the event? It will be live streamed and archived on the IMC Talent Q website.

Have a question for one of the panelists? Include it in the comments or tweet it with the hashtag #IMCTalentQ and we’ll ask it during the Q&A session.

Follow IMC Talent Q on Twitter: @IMCTalentQ, @danielagruber, @MartyKohrNU, @fredcook, @danjessup

So let’s talk shopper marketing and digital marketing for a bit.

Target: Target recently took its online business in-house. Prior to the site’s relaunch, Target.com had been powered for 10 years by Amazon, and in 2010, Target reported 10 percent growth online and 2 percent growth offline. Part of its strategy to take control of its e-commerce platform is to focus on differentiation and delivering a better guest experience for its customers online.

What’s interesting about this? As more people purchase online and reduce trips to the store, there’s more pressure on CPG companies and retailers to provide a flawless online experience and figure out how to upsell customers. I can’t even tell you how many times I have walked into a Target store looking for a few specific items but walked out with a basket full of unplanned purchases. Target, along with stores like Whole Foods and IKEA, do an outstanding job of providing a unique experience for shoppers in the store. Now, the challenge will be to replicate that experience online.

Walgreens: In August Chicago was the first market to be offered Walgreens’ WebPickUp service. This online ordering program gives consumers the option to purchase items through its website and then pick them up in-store. Walgreens reported that in the last two years its online traffic has increased by 50 percent.

A few weeks ago I decided to give it a try after I was sent a direct mail piece with a coupon for $20 off my order online, but I can’t say it was a great experience. It took me longer to find the products I needed online than it would have taken me in the store. It will be interesting to see how consumers respond and if this service is something people will value.

Amazon: Amazon is to e-commerce as Google is to search as P&G is to shopper marketing. Amazon leads the pack in e-commerce with a 47 percent e-tailer household penetration. It’s proof that consumers are willing to forgo the shopping trip for convenience and the often lower prices that can be found online. In 2010 Amazon had 40 percent growth online with sales at $4.1 billion, and it continues to expand its offerings by acquiring e-commerce sites, including Diapers.com, Soap.com, BeautyBar.com, Wag.com, and YoYo.com.

Best Buy: Recently Best Buy announced plans to decrease the footprint of its stores and focus more on its online business. In a way, it really doesn’t have a choice. Consumers have shown that while they might prefer to walk into a Best Buy store and interact with its products, they’re also walking out the door and then getting online to actually make their purchases. This practice, also known as “freeriding,” puts retailers like Best Buy in a sticky situation since consumers are researching and buying electronics online more so than any other category to date.

My prediction: The convergence of shopper and digital marketing will play a major role in the development of effective marketing campaigns to consumers. Marketers will be challenged to create a consistent online and offline experience for their brands while social media marketing will play a more tactical role and be part of a larger overall strategy to connect with consumers online.

Do you agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments!

Dr. Chang-Gyu Hwang is the former CEO of Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd. and the current National Chief Technology Officer and Head of the Office of Strategic R&D Planning in Korea. A true visionary in the digital technology and research field, Dr. Hwang was in charge of developing the world’s first 256Mb DRAM and was named one of “25 Stars of Asia” by BusinessWeek.

This Tuesday, November 8, Dr. Hwang will speak to a group of Medill IMC and Kellogg graduate students at Northwestern University. In anticipation of the event, Dr. Hwang was kind enough to give us insight into the future of digital technology.

You speak of information technology “big bangs,” including the spread of networked PC technology and mobile technology more recently. What do you expect the next IT big bang will be? How do you think it will change the way we communicate and interact? How will we as marketers be able to leverage these technology advances to serve our customers?

Dr. Hwang: There are three macro trends for us to anticipate with the next IT big bang. First digital devices are more and more interconnected and furthermore, non-digital objects will be seamlessly connecting with each other. And future technologies will respond without external stimulus and will be something that looks familiar, even though we have never actually seen it. One of the current devices reflecting these three trends is the smart phone, but this is just a beginning. In the next IT Big Bang we will experience a dramatic change in the quality of life, going beyond just convenience and efficiency. More advanced IT technology will become more intimately connected to our daily lives and will touch and inspire human’s nature, manage our health, and enable a greater consciousness of our environment. I believe these points will be a key leverage for the marketing process.

Some of our classmates visited Seoul this summer and were blown away by the cutting-edge communication technology that they encountered. As national chief technology officer for Korea, what types of R&D projects are you working on that we as marketers would be interested in?

Dr. Hwang: I, as national CTO, am focusing on twin strategies for development of R&D in Korea. One is “market pull”-based R&D and the other “open innovation.” In “market pull” – based R&D, customers’ potential needs are always top priority. It is totally different from “technology push” –based R&D. The center of technology is a human being. At the same time, “open innovation” is a very important issue for Korea. Nobody can do everything by themselves. We are willing to collaborate with others and, in fact, many world-leading companies have a strong interest in the Korean market. Why? Because Korea is a very attractive test market for many reasons. If you want to know the reasons, please join my speech. You, as marketers, can hear many valuable points from my presentation.

We appreciate your support for Medill’s integrated marketing communications graduate program. What does IMC mean to you? How do you see IMC fitting into the marketing world?

Dr. Hwang: I believe integrated marketing communications is a process for managing customer relationships in many aspects. As I already mentioned, the touching of human nature is a key of future technology. From the marketing point of view, it has been moving from mass media to more specialized media, which are centered on specific target audiences and from a manufacturer-dominated market to a consumer-controlled market. I believe these phenomena will prevail through the whole process of marketing. It means the importance of IMC is getting bigger and bigger.

Students, faculty and alumni are welcome to attend the event. To reserve your seat, please RSVP here. 

Event details:

Website optimization is very similar; it’s using the same resources to squeeze the most out of the investment in the site. Be it through altering landing pages, registration forms, or calls to action, site optimization can increase conversions like Albert Pujols hits homeruns.

This simple recipe makes it possible for even time-strapped marketers to focus on their site to drive conversions, whatever the end goal may be. Many companies have seen tremendous increases in revenue through site optimization.

Ingredients

• A website
• Somebody who knows how to install code on pages  (possibly your friendly IT guy)
• Google Website Optimizer or any other web analytics or optimizer program

Mix the ingredients in the bowl until smooth, and do the following:

1. First, think about your goal. Is it to get customers to sign up for a newsletter? Complete a purchase? Then consider ways that may help or hinder customers from achieving that goal.
2. Start small. Test differences in color, placement of your corporate logo, and position of text boxes. Keep a control page, and observe which configuration is most successful in getting customers to complete the goal.
3. Go bigger. Create different landing pages, and test different elements. Fiddle with sign-up or check-out information. Are you asking your customers for too much information, such as your neighbor’s mom’s boyfriend’s dog’s date of birth? Does it prevent potential customers from completing the conversion?  Experiment with elements that might impact or influence your consumers. Sometimes, those elements are not necessarily intuitive. As this HubSpot webinar points out, the words “register” and “submit” can connote very different things in the subconscious minds of consumers.
4. Always test, test, test. Never settle. Your company’s website is one of its most important assets. Don’t leave it on the stove without proper attention; after all, a burnt pot is really hard to clean. On the other hand, there’s nothing as tasty as a perfectly baked cake. But it takes the right temperature and a lot of love to make it that way.

But when you’re a business and losing money on that first daily deal or hovering right around cost, make sure you have a plan for how you can convert these transactional customers into repeat business or make additional money on that first visit. Otherwise, what is the benefit?

This is my last quarter of graduate school at Medill IMC, and in one of my classes on e-commerce we’ve been zeroing in on the online daily deal industry. I was surprised to find out that there are more than 350 online deal sites for consumers to use beyond the well-known players like Groupon, Living Social, Buy With Me, Gilt Group, etc.

All of these sites seem great for consumers. Deals are delivered to your inbox every morning, guaranteed, and they’re categorized, localized, and seemingly relevant. But are these deals good for businesses? How many companies really understand the risks and rewards of using online daily deals to market their products and services?

If you’re offering customers too many deals and promotions throughout the year, you’re running the risk of conditioning consumers to not pay the full price for your product or service. Essentially, you’re training people to wait for a discount.

Partnering with a daily deal company and running an online promotion puts you on the frontline. It can be good for business—or really bad depending on the type of customer you bring through the door and whether or not she returns.

There are many scenarios where daily deals work well for companies but there are just as many that do not. Consider running a daily deal promotion….

• If you’re a new business and trying to get the word out
• If you’re introducing a new product or service
• If there’s an opportunity to upsell customers upon their initial visit
• If you have high margins
• When you can handle the increased traffic and won’t risk the relationships you have established with existing customers
• When you have a plan to measure the ROI for your daily deal investment—how are you going to make sure you follow up with customers? How can you get them to do business with you again?

More than 30 years later, I feel this same sort of nostalgia as I browse Twitter and Facebook reading others’ tributes, adding a few of my own thoughts and reflecting on how Jobs’ vision for a better world through technology has impacted my life. From the Macs I’ve used at home and on the job to the hours of music I’ve listened to on my iPod to the numerous ways I use my iPhone every day, it’s probably not much of a stretch to say that Apple products have changed my life.

This sense of loss extends to my student/professional life too. After all, we’ve discussed Steve Jobs and Apple in all of my IMC classes over the past year. Apple has been held up as the sterling example of a brand built by focusing on the needs of the customer (including needs the customer didn’t know he had), creating perfectly integrated, consistent communications, and differentiating by emphasizing not only function, but form as well. The result: a brand that commands premium prices and creates value for its shareholders. No doubt Jobs’ wildly successful approach to innovation, marketing and the consumer experience will be studied in business schools and at Medill for years to come.

I’ve read tweets tonight describing Jobs as the Thomas Edison of our time, but I prefer to compare him to Walt Disney—another extraordinary visionary who opened up new vistas for all of us and in the process built an extraordinary brand. When he introduced the iPod in 2001, Jobs remarked, “In our own small way we’re going to make the world a better place.” That’s something all of us as marketers can aspire to.

Let us know what you think about Steve Jobs’ marketing legacy in the comments.

But what about companies that are not so obviously destined for Facebook success? After all, there are certain products or services that aren’t thrilling to talk about. So I investigated the Facebook pages of companies with products that just don’t seem like “Facebook material.”  My findings were quite surprising.

Let’s talk some scents: Yankee Candle

My grandparents used to live in Deerfield, MA, just miles from a Yankee Candle factory. During the holidays, the store was a mecca for holiday shoppers from all around New England. But even at, say, 11 a.m. on a scorching day in August, the parking lot would still be nearly 100% full of candle aficionados. But I did not believe this incredible zest for candle shopping could actually translate into online discussion. After all, what is there to talk about? “I just bought an apple pie Yankee Candle, and guess what?! It smells like apple pie!” Surely, I thought, people would never take to Facebook to discuss scents.

To my chagrin, I was very, very wrong. On the official Yankee Candle Facebook page, people love talking about scents.  Not just occasionally, but constantly throughout the day without lull. And even more surprising, most posts get multiple comments and likes. As it turns out, scents are a highly stimulating topic, where a fresh vanilla scent is remarkably different from that of a creamy, sugary vanilla:

These discussions occur without any corporate Facebook interaction from Yankee Candle itself. Yankee Candle would clearly delight its scent-loving fans (and increase sales!) by responding to the posts, and in doing so make the Facebook page even more successful. If only Justin Bieber smelled like vanilla satin…

Got root beer milk? Shatto Milk Company

I don’t know about you, but after a long day of work, family, and dinner preparations, I generally do not kick back and think to myself, “Golly, now would be a great time to go onto Facebook and talk about milk!” And then there’s Shatto Milk Company—a small, family-owned local dairy company out of Kansas City—which has an astounding 18,000+ likes on its Facebook page, and where people just adore discussing dairy products, including Shatto’s uniquely flavored milks (root beer milk? I’ll pass).

Where Yankee Candle, an international company with large marketing resources does not have a corporate presence on its own page, Shatto does a fantastic job of responding its customers’ inquiries—for example, on how to acquire an entire wheel of Shatto cheese.  Customers hold Shatto’s products so dear that something as unassuming as milk becomes a discussion topic on Facebook that draws in what seems like the entire population of Kansas City. In turn, when Shatto makes any announcement, its customers provide some pretty awesome WOM:

Take-aways for marketers

Even if a product or service does not necessarily seem ripe for a Facebook page, fear not! Customers are passionate about—or will at least discuss—any topic, even if it is the artificial scent of a cookie wafting through the air. If marketers (or any other non-disgruntled employee) like those at Shatto Milk are monitoring your company’s Facebook page by responding to customer inquiries and making product announcements, the possibilities for customer engagement are endless. There are no excuses not to build affinity for your brand through Facebook!

What marketing and customer engagement successes have you experienced with Facebook? And what fell flat? Let us know in the comments!

Medill IMC presented on social media ROI at Social Media Week Chicago

Social Media Week Chicago was a hot topic this week. And yesterday, Medill added to the buzz when full-time IMC students presented on how to measure the value of social media. In a session entitled Social IMC: Finding ROI in Social Media, Prof. Randy Hlavac, joined by students who participated in his Direct & Interactive Marketing class, shared a business model for social integrated marketing communications (IMC) that links online efforts to an organization’s bottom line.

For many companies, the goal of social media marketing  is to create a dialog with customers. In these situations, metrics often take the form of soft measurements, such as Twitter mentions or “likes” on Facebook. But these aren’t necessarily the metrics that top execs care about.

Enter the social IMC model. The goal of this approach is to create bottom-line impact using a coordinated multimedia program that leverages social media, as well as traditional media. By targeting specific high-value groups, strategies built around the social IMC model can measure return on investment and profitability. Now those are words that will grab the attention of senior management.

Here’s a quick look at the five-step approach to developing a social IMC strategy.

1.  Target social. The first step begins with defining a high-value target market. Once determined, organizations must identify, define and quantify trigger and passion communities that are relevant to this market.

2. Social EKG. Next, you must listen to the online chatter. Leverage online listening tools and conduct a competitive analysis to determine the “socialability” of your brand or company, the competition and the target market.

3.  Think social. Armed with this information, you can begin developing the social IMC strategy. It should include two components: 1) a value exchange (i.e., what you will offer your audience in exchange for their engagement); and 2) a community that provides relevant, timely content customized to your audience’s needs and interests.

4. Go social. With a value-creating community in place, it’s time to entice, inform and engage with your audience. Integrate multiple levels of social media (e.g., streaming content, blogs, news-sharing sites), as well as traditional media (e.g., advertising, sponsorships, events).

5. Social ROI. Develop breakeven and profit-generation scenarios, as well as return on investment calculations, to provide program benchmarks.

For the full Social Media Week Chicago presentation, which includes case studies from ONE.org and Cigna, check out the live feed or join the conversation on Twitter at #SMWSocialIMC.

Here are a few reasons why it’s a good idea to follow the rules of dating when making branding and advertising decisions for your company.

Dating Scenario 1: Stop telling me that you’re a nice guy.

I dated a guy once who told me he was nice – repeatedly. From a woman’s perspective this is a red flag, and it’s also slightly annoying. If you’re such a nice guy why do you have to keep on telling me? As it turns out he really was a nice guy, but I didn’t need the constant reminders. Just let your actions do the talking and I’ll decide for myself.

Marketing Lesson: Brands live in the mind of consumers.

Brands are not necessarily what marketers think they are or what marketers want them to be. You as a marketer can tell consumers over and over that your brand is great but ultimately it’s up to consumers to decide. And if your brand is great, consumers will experience that greatness firsthand and then tell others that your brand really is great. And isn’t that more credible?

Dating Scenario 2: Wasting time dating the wrong people.

I have a pretty good idea in my mind about the type of guy that I’m compatible with and the kind of guy that I’m naturally drawn to. However, I’ve found myself wasting time by dating the wrong guys even though I instinctively kn0w they aren’t the best fit. Why do people do that?

Marketing Lesson: Identify what you have to offer and seek out the customers who will value what you can provide.

After working in both sales and fundraising, I can vouch for the validity of the 80/20 rule as well as relate to the frustration of pursuing customers that aren’t the right fit (even though I really wanted them to be!). A better alternative is to cultivate relationships with the customers who really value what your company has to offer and seek out those customers who are looking for a solution that no one else can provide. There’s an opportunity within that group of customers, and it’s a more productive use of your time and resources.

Dating Scenario 3: Trying to be someone that you’re not.

This will ultimately backfire on you. I once dated a guy who said he loved to do things outdoors – alluding to his affinity for hiking, playing sports, etc. After dating for a little while I found out he did none of those things on a regular basis; however, he was an avid deer hunter. This did not qualify in my mind as being an “outdoorsy” type of person. Needless to say, it didn’t work. We were just too different, and I wasn’t that thrilled to discover that hiking meant hunting – it’s not the same thing.

Marketing Lesson: Stay true to your brand DNA.

Some of the strongest brands and companies can be described in a few words. They are consistent and confident; they keep their brand promise to their customers. It’s no wonder then that companies like Amazon, Starbucks, Apple, Nordstrom, Zappos, etc. have a very loyal customer base. Their customers know what they’re going to get and are happy with the results every time they do business with them. There are no surprises.

Dating Scenario 4: Talking about yourself the ENTIRE time you’re on a date.

Have you even been out on a first date and the person spends the whole time talking about himself or herself? By the time the date ends, you’re not only bored to tears but you could probably write a biography on their childhood.

Marketing Lesson: Customers want to engage in two-way conversations.

People don’t want to hear only about you and what you can do for them. They want to tell you about themselves and share information about their lives. Customers are willing to tell you what they like or don’t like about your brand and offer suggestions and valuable feedback if they feel as though you value their opinion. Listening to your customers is more important than barraging them with messaging.

Dating Scenario 5: Meeting a random person at the bar.

It’s nice to think you can maybe go out on a Friday night and meet someone really cool at the bars. You know, just strike up a random conversation with someone, exchange numbers and voila - the person of your dreams. Most of the time this just doesn’t happen. For starters, it’s because you don’t know who this random person is. You don’t have any friends who can vouch for the guy. You don’t know that when he says, “I’m a consultant for this great company downtown, and I like to run on the trails by the lake every weekend” if it’s really true.

Marketing Lesson: Credibility goes a long way and so do recommendations from the people you trust.

I call this the Groupon phenomenon. It’s all about the power of word of mouth. We naturally trust our friends’ suggestions. We associate with people who have similar values and interests. We feel better when we get recommendations from people we know. So when a close friend tells you to visit this new restaurant in Wicker Park because the food is amazing, we figure if they like it, we will probably like it too.