The Steve O-Zone

When It Comes To Big Data Is Less More?

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:15:00 +0000

My oxymoronish title aside, two esteemed professors at an Ivy League school say that while those in the marketing world continue to struggle with how to handle all the data they are accumulating, they may in fact be wasting their time and more than likely need to go on what they refer to as a "data diet."

The amount of data brands collect today from all the various channels: social media, email, mobile, and on and on is enormous.

Over the past year or so I've written three different articles about Big Data including one in January 2012 entitled Why CMOs Need To Get Real About The Policy Implications Of Big Data.

In that particular piece I made reference to a study done by IBM the year before of more than 1,700 CMOs from around the world who were asked to identify their four biggest challenges and at the top of the list was Big Data.

Also in that same article I interviewed an attorney who has worked with many Fortune 1000 companies advising them on issues related to cyber security, privacy and data breaches.

However, according to the aforementioned professors, all the talk about Big Data and privacy may be, as they put it, "a tempest in a teapot."

Do Not Track Legislation

Back in February of this year I read an article from the New York Times Senator Seeks More Data Rights for Online Consumers. The article dealt with the fact that Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia wants to "give American consumers more meaningful control over personal data collected about them online."

So I decided to reach out to Eric Bradlow and Peter Fader, Professors of Marketing and Co-Directors of the Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative who have studied the problem of data-privacy from an empirical perspective. Their research shows that brands and companies who are on a “data diet” don’t necessarily lose that much customer insights because limited customer data in conjunction with aggregate information (less privacy sensitive) can still provide precise insights.

And when it comes to personal data, Fader says bluntly that "most sensitive data is worthless and firms are often making mistakes to try to use it (or even collect it)." And adds that "when you build a really good model, there isn’t a whole lot to be gained by bringing in personal data. "

The concept of a "data diet" is nothing new for Bradlow and Fader. In a March 2009 interview with Knowledge @Wharton, the online business journal of the Wharton School, they spoke of something they referred to as "data minimization" or "data diet." The concept behind this is relatively simple: Brands should keep the data they need to stay competitive and ditch everything else. In the interview Bradlow spoke of a trepidation among brands to discard ANY piece of data.

"I think there is a fear and paranoia among companies that ... if they don't keep every little piece of information on a customer, they can't function," said Bradlow. "Companies continue to squirrel away data for a rainy day. We're not saying throw data away meaninglessly, but use what you need for forecasting and get rid of the rest."

Click here to read the full interview with professors Bradlow and Fader.

Big Brands, Big Decisions

In addition to reaching out to the professors I also wanted to get the perspective of someone from the brand perspective to see how a brand - in this case a very large brand, is dealing with and handling the topic of the pending Do Not Track legislation and how they are currently handling the issue itself on their end.

So I tracked down, no pun intended, Christa Carone, the CMO of Xerox to get her thoughts on all this.

She told me from Xerox's point of view they believe there are two issues that need to be addressed: First, is there value for the public to have the option to receive targeted advertising? And, second should the public make their own choice about this, or should governments/companies do it for them?

"Xerox selectively engages in behavioral targeting, and finds it to be effective," she said. However, she added that Xerox is a long-standing supporter of giving consumers’ choice on whether they want to receive more targeted communications from brands. "We were an early adopter of AdChoices," she continued. "And we began implementing the AdChoices’ icon on our corporate ad units in 2011."

One telling statistic she shared me with was the fact across of their corporate units they had just one person elect to opt-out. She questioned whether this lack of action (opting out) was due to a lack of understanding or simply because the consumer chose to opt out. "It’s likely a combination of both," she told me.

Full Transparency

The need, or better still the benefit of coming clean and being as open and honest with consumers has never been more paramount than it is right now. The digital age affords no place to hide - be it figuratively or literally. Brands must be right up front with consumers and Carone is in full agreement.

"As an advertiser, we believe the industry can do a better job of being transparent about this issue -- driving consistent practices, systems and policies and helping to educate the public," she told me. She took it one step further saying Xerox believes consumers should have a choice about whether behavioral targeting benefits their purchasing process.

So, regardless of just how much a given brand stores and uses, the bottom line is there is an inherent responsibility for brands of all shapes and sizes to tell consumers what it is they're doing, why they're doing it and how it can and will benefit them.

Sources: Google Images, New York Times, Knowledge @Wharton, Forbes

Named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review and a Top 50 Social Media Blogger by Kred, Steve Olenski is a senior creative content strategist at Responsys, a leading global provider of on-demand email and cross-channel marketing solutions, and a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing. He can be reached via Twitter, LinkedIn or Email.

LinkedIn Lady Show Interview March 22, 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:02:00 +0000

Last year I had the honor of being a guest on The LinkedIn Lady Show hosted by the brilliant Carol McManus.

Carol is a is a self-described recovering corporate executive who left that world in 2007 to start her own business. She grew it quickly with a very limited marketing budget but through the creative and diligent use of social media.

Today, she is one of the most sought-after speakers and consultants for businesses and entrepreneurs who aspire to grow their business by using this digital medium as a way to stay in touch with and attract new clients.

On Friday, March 22, 2013 I was once again Carol's guest and during the show we talked about Responsys - my employer who is a leading provider of email and cross-channel marketing. Their services include email, mobile, social, the web and display.

We also talked about some of my recent Forbes' articles and the state of advertising, marketing and branding in general.

Enjoy!

Price Always Trumps Brand, But It Shouldn't Matter To Marketers

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 20:15:00 +0000

Let me preface this article by saying categorically I believe very much in the power of branding. I myself (isn't that redundant?) have worked on many branding campaigns for marketers and advertisers of all sizes and shapes. I know first hand the value of branding done right and done on a consistent basis i.e. staying true to a given brand's tone and voice over time.

But I also have been witness to a growing trend.

A revealing trend that is bringing to the light the fact that more and more consumers are sacrificing brand loyalty for the best price on a given product, service, etc.

1/07/2013 - Is Brand Loyalty Dying A Slow And Painful Death? "Sponsored by AisleBuyer, a survey conducted earlier this year revealed that nearly 75% of consumers would switch brands if offered real-time discounts and promotions that were delivered to their smartphones in real time while they were shopping in a store."
1/09/2013 - The Most Powerful Brand Ambassadors In The World May Not Be Brand Loyal "A stunning 75 percent of women now say it’s important get the lowest price on everything they buy, up 12 percentage points. from 2008 and up 22 percentage points from 2004"

Exhibit B

Consider the above Exhibit A and the following to be, well, you get the idea.

The following (below) relates to a little something I like to call social media. Perhaps you've heard of it.

The lines have been skewing for some time now when it comes to brand loyalty and social media and with each passing day that line is skewing more toward the almighty dollar or if not currency in the monetary form, some other form of currency for sure.

From a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council and Lithium survey in 2011.

Then there's this (below) from a report put out by Forbes Insights and Turn late last year called “The New Rules of Engagement: Measuring the Power of Social Currency":

And finally and most recently, this below, from a survey conducted by PwC:

Not So Breaking News

If there is a marketer out there who finds all or any of this news to be "breaking" he/she may need to start considering other employment for this should come as no surprise to anyone.

Consumers are people, people. Get it?

In general they want the best deal, period. Now juxtapose that thinking over a failing or still-recovering economy depending on who you speak to, and price just becomes all that more important in the pecking order.

'Ah but Steve, what about those brands who can never win a price war for any number of reasons? Are they doomed to fail?'

Good question.

No, of course they are not doomed to fail.

If, if they realize that there's more than one way to skin a cat or in this case win a consumer's heart, that is - which ties into the "why it shouldn't matter to marketers" part of the title of this article.

Obviously many brands consistently thrive and survive just fine without being the cheapest on the shelf. They do so for a myriad of reasons including something I like to call "quality." Remember the old "you get what you pay for" adage? Yeah, that kind of goes hand-in-hand with this thinking.

So there are plenty of marketers, brands and so on who wake up every morning knowing they cannot possibly win a price battle but they know there's a quality product so all is well in the world.

Not So Fast

The real winners in ALL of this will be the brands who come to grips with the fact that while price and quality will always play a role in a consumer's decision making process, it is the relationships they create with a consumer that will ultimately determine success or failure.

Make no mistake about it, we are or already are, in what Responsys CMO Scott Olrich referred to as "the relationship era" in an end-of-the year piece entitled Looking Back, Looking Ahead - CMOs Weigh In.

His exact quote was "We will see the beginning of what I refer to as “the relationship era” whereby marketers will move away from an acquisition first mentality to a relationship first one. Marketers will focus more on the entire consumer experience to build and foster a long term relationship with a consumer as opposed to just that initial purchase phase."

The brands who understand how to cultivate and maintain relationships with consumers will be the ones who reap the biggest rewards.

Sources: PwC, CMO Council, Forbes Insights and Turn, Lithium

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review and a Top 50 Social Media Blogger by Kred, Steve Olenski is a senior content strategist at Responsys, a leading global provider of on-demand email and cross-channel marketing solutions and a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing.

What Two 5-Year Old Kids Can Teach Us About Society

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 19:07:00 +0000

As anyone who knows me will attest I am a very passionate person by nature. And normally my passion, in this particular space, covers topics like branding, marketing, advertising, social media and so on. I write about my thoughts on the aforementioned topics and hopefully anyone reading what I have to say, er write, will come away the better for it.

Today, however, I want to share with you two stories - each dealing with a five-year old child in very different, albeit equally difficult circumstances.

Each should serve as a lesson to all of us and serve as a not-so-gentle reminder that ignorance is still rampant in our world and common sense is a truly lost art for for many. And yes, there is a lesson to be learned here for brands, marketers and advertisers - at least one lesson such as the customer is NOT always right.

You'll see what I mean.

The first story comes from Houston, home of a restaurant called Laurenzo's Prime Rib and a waiter named Michael Garcia. Not long ago Garcia was waiting on Laurenzo's regulars Kim Castillo and her 5-year-old son, Milo, who is very popular among the employees.

Oh yeah, Milo also has Down syndrome. Here's a picture of him.

According to a story in the New York Daily News "Castillo and her family were sitting at their table for all of 10 minutes when a group across from them got up and moved to the back of the restaurant. Their waiter Michael Garcia didn’t think too much of the move until one bit of conversation caught his attention. He heard a man in the group say, “'Special needs children need to be special somewhere else.'”

That's right. A man, an adult man - who was in the restaurant with his family, uttered what is arguably some of the most offensive words I have ever heard in my life: “Special needs children need to be special somewhere else.”

According to Castillo, Garcia, the waiter, then refused to serve this man and his family after hearing such horrific words. She wrote on her Facebook wall "The waiter promptly told them he was offended by their comment and refused to serve them."

My hat goes off to Michael Garcia who risked his job by his actions. "I had considered whether or not I would lose my job, but I knew it wasn't right," he said. "I could find another job and my guests would follow me."

As to the gentleman who said those disgusting words, apparently he too was a regular at the restaurant with the operative word being "was."

Clearly this was a classic of case of the customer is not always right and the lesson to brands, marketers and advertisers? Well remember the words your employees use carry a lot of weight. As Pam Moore just wrote about for Social Media Today, "Every employee within your company is a walking billboard of your brand. If you don’t like what they say, do, tweet, think, post, pin, video tape or sing about your brand, then you better start on the inside out and fix it."

Now juxtapose what Pam - who has been named as one of the Top 10 Influencers in social media by Forbes, wrote over this story. Do you think whatever company this man who said such derogatory things is proud of him today? Do you think they would want to hold him up as an example of their brand, their company, their values?

Don't think so.

Common Sense Is Not So Common

The next story comes from Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania and involves, well, here's one of the headlines about the story: Pennsylvania kindergartener uses Hello Kitty bubble-gun at school, suspended for "terrorist threat"

Here's how one writer at boingboing.net characterized the whole incident:

"Mount Carmel Area Elementary School in Pennsylvania suspended a five-year-old girl for pointing a Hello Kitty bubble-gun at another student, characterizing this as a "terrorist threat." The little girl had to undergo psychiatric evaluation before she was allowed back in.

Her parents say that they couldn't get their daughter into another school, because no one wanted a kid with "terrorist" on her transcript. They're considering a lawsuit."

The little girl even told her mom that she was being told she could go to jail by school officials. For their part the Mount Carmel Area School District said the allegations “may not be consistent with the facts" adding that they take "the well-being and safety of students and staff very seriously.”

I will be very interested to learn in the coming days and weeks of any inconsistencies the school district alluded to.

And as for the other part, that sounds fine, doesn't it?

Surely we want the well-being and safety of students and staff taken very seriously, right?

But at some point doesn't common sense have to enter into the equation?

Doesn't the letter of the law have to be interpreted differently in a situation such as this?

Don't you think the adults in this case could have exercised some common sense before overreacting, allegedly, in the manner in which they did?

So it would appear ignorance and lack of common sense are in abundance despite all the advances we collectively make every day. Perhaps it's good to hear about stories like these to remind us of that.

Sources: New York Daily News, BoingBoing

Looking Back, Looking Ahead - CMOs Weigh In

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 20:57:00 +0000

This is such a great time of the year isn't it? I mean with all the parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting and caroling out in the snow. This time of the year is also time for fearless forecasts, the ones where everyone dares to boldly go where no man, or woman has gone before.

Or something like that.

What I am referring to of course is it's the time of year when people make predictions for the coming year about this and that. And while I wanted to pen such a piece myself, I wanted to put a little different spin on it - I am a big fan of spinning, as it were.

So I decided to reach out to a group of CMOs and other high-level folks across a wide array of industries to, yes, get their thoughts on 2013 - but to also get their take on the year that's coming to a close.

My esteemed panel consisted of the following: (in alphabetical order of last name, in case you curious)

Julia Carcamo, Vice President of Brand Marketing, Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. (JC)
Christa Carone, CMO, Xerox (CC)
Steve Fuller, CMO, L.L. Bean (SF)
Scott Olrich, CMO, Responsys (SO) (full disclosure - my employer)
Denny Post, CMO, Red Robin (DP)
Randall Rozin, Global Director, Brand Management and Marketing Communications, Dow Corning (RR) (Randall wins the award for longest title)
Will Seccombe, President & CEO, VISIT FLORIDA® (WS)

So quite the eclectic mix for sure which is good as I wanted a diverse group to speak to and cull and glean info from as they look back on 2012 and ahead to 2013.

Ok without further adieu here's some of their thoughts looking back on the year 2012:

Was there anything in 2012 that going into the year you thought was going to happen but did not?

(RR) "I thought the number of high quality leads generated from social media platforms would be much higher."
(CC) "Stronger economic improvement in the US and a leveling off economic declines in Europe. I’m an optimist; now I’m more of a 'cautious optimist.'”
(SO) "I thought this would be the year people would stop over investing in search marketing."

Conversely did anything happen that you did not see coming?

(JC) "I didn’t see our customer base using so much more social media and accessing our content through mobile devices."
(CC) "From a social marketing perspective, I did not expect LinkedIn to transition so quickly from a resume-posting social community to one that has increasing relevance for B2B relationship building through relevant content sharing."
(RR) "The popularity of social media curation via sites like Pinterest and the resurgence in direct mail."

In 2012 mobile marketing was very much on many marketers minds yet so many still found it hard to put into practical application. Did you use mobile marketing as part of your overall strategy?

(JC) "We kind of stumbled onto it in 2012, but now that we have a better handle on the tools and on the needs/desires of our customers, I think there will be a much clearer path in 2013."
(RR) "I ‘d say we’ve dipped our toes into the shallow end of the pool this year."
(CC) "Our initial focus is optimizing our content for all screens and taking deeper data dives to understand how, where, when and why business decision-makers access our information and engage with us to inform their purchasing."
(SF) "We’ve seen mobile (pads and phones in this definition) explode. And it’s amazing to think that the bulk of the traffic is being driven by a device that wasn’t even invented until early 2010."

Misc 2012 thoughts...

(SF) "2012 was a little different for us because it was our 100th Anniversary. Lots of new marketing activities and good lessons, but a few really stick out. While customers are especially 'careful' in their shopping since the recession, it's amazing how much they enjoy 'new and unique.'"
(WS) "We undertook a massive transformation in 2012 to position the organization to best create and add value for industry partners and travelers worldwide."
(SO) "Social media continued to be a great engagement platform but not necessarily a revenue platform."

And the winner for the Smart Aleck Award goes to Randal Rozin for his response when asked if if there was anything he would've done differently if given the chance? "I had a horse come in 25 to 1. Problem was the others came in at 12:30. I’d like to have that one back."
Looking Ahead To 2013
If not already, will mobile marketing play a role in your overall marketing strategy?

(RR) "Definitely. For me print is fast becoming like Jan Brady from the Brady Bunch, but instead Print is saying ' Mobile, Mobile, Mobile.' Mobile will be more important than ever in 2013 in users’ consumption of information, including video, but will also be important as an outreach platform from search to display."
(DP) "We currently employ two mobile apps - one for our very popular loyalty program and the other to guide guest menu choices known as the 'Customizer.' We will be expanding access to both applications next year and exploring other forms of mobile marketing to connect with our guests at just the right times to keep Red Robin top of mind."

What impact, if any, will the reelection of President Obama have on your overall marketing/advertising strategy going into 2013?

(CC) "None."
(SO) "Not much."
(RR) "Post election there is definitely more media inventory available. Also interesting to note there will be neither an Olympic event, nor any FIFA World Cup in 2013. There is an opportunity for other creative brand activation and sponsorships."
(SF) "Not really. We share everyone’s concern for the 'fiscal cliff' and the impact on consumer confidence, but nothing relating specifically to Obama’s reelection."

And finally what you've all been waiting for:
What are the three biggest trends or predictions you see for 2013?
(DP)

Multi-platform marketing - as I sit here watching on-demand TV with my iPad in my lap and my Blackberry at my side, I am know damn well I am one of many surfing, viewing and emailing all at once. Which marketers will be first to reach me in all three with relevant, connected messages?
Economic recovery gains momentum - I am an eternal optimist. We're due.
Fast retailing gets faster. The pace of innovation and imitation is dizzying and only getting faster. It has become harder and harder to hold a competitive advantage. Success being to those who are ready to move fast and move on faster.

(CC)

Data + Creative Content + Relevance: The role of B2B marketing shifts from sales enablement strategies and tools to communication-based, data-driven stakeholder engagement.
The priority becomes less about promotion and more about creating, curating and sharing relevant content to connect with decision makers in ways that give them more confidence in our brand and more reasons to be advocates of our technology and services.
Content really does become king -- in subtle, creative, engaging and really relevant ways.

(RR)

Content marketing is the new black of B2B marketing campaigns. Goes with everything.
Greater balance between mass customer marketing and account-based marketing. Investing in those accounts that spend more.
More B2B marketers will adopt marketing automation as a core competency, especially lead scoring and nurturing.

Additional trends Randall sees are:

Social CRM will move from ‘hype to heaven-sent’ for integration.
Social media marketing will move from experimental to accountable. B2B winners will emerge and others will be culled more quickly.
Knowledge management, corporate security, HR and legal will be forced to embrace social media within their firewalls and employees seek to connect at work.
Further fragmentation of media – Media will continue to become even more fragmented, meaning it will be more and more difficult to reach your target audience in mass. This means content management and distribution will be even more important to effectively reach your target audience and growing your business.

(SO)

We will see the beginning of what I refer to as “the relationship era” whereby marketers will move away from an acquisition first mentality to a relationship first one. Marketers will focus more on the entire consumer experience to build and foster a long term relationship with a consumer as opposed to just that initial purchase phase.
We will see a transition from big data to the right data. Marketers will realize that there’s plenty of data to go around but it’s finding the right data that will have the biggest impact on their ultimate program success.
Digital overtakes physical. Digital marketers and ecommerce marketers, etc. will begin to influence and drive more revenue than their bricks and mortar counterparts.

Misc 2013 thoughts...

(WS) "We will continue to increase investment in content and in international marketing and multicultural marketing."
(SF) "We are worrying about the Postal Service. The role of the catalog has changed dramatically over the last decade, but it remains a valuable advertising vehicle. The Postal Service’s continuing financial issues and possible impact on deliverability, etc. are a concern. And while I can’t say that I like the term “big data,” there are a number of intriguing services popping up in that space that facilitate advertising, better omni-channel service, etc."

When It Comes to Mobile Marketing, Integration Is Key

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 17:18:00 +0000

As a long-standing proponent of marketing integration I can speak to the fact that many marketers still have difficulty in putting it into practical use, including many chief marketing officers which was the basis of my piece aptly titled The Eleven Letter Word That Continues To Elude All CMOs And Marketers.

Based on recent research it would appear many in the mobile marketing space would be wise to integrate their marketing messages, especially this holiday season and in particular across two specific mediums.

The research comes from Responsys, AKA the company I work for, and reveals some very interesting and intriguing findings and shows a clear correlation and opportunity for mobile marketing folks.
According to the research almost 40% of consumers who previously opted in to receiving promotional emails from a retail marketer are also interested in getting promotional messages from these same retailers via SMS or text messaging.

The findings alone would be significant but when you factor in that this past Cyber Monday saw an increase of 96% in mobile sales year-over-year from 2011 according to IBM, plus mix in the the fact that the percentage of emails being read on a mobile device are growing steadily literally as we speak – you can see why in the press release announcing the findings were the words "...marketers will have a massive opportunity to drive online and in-store purchases this holiday season and beyond through smart cross-channel marketing."

Making Spirits Bright
Michael Della Penna, Senior Vice President of Emerging Channels at Responsys – who recently shared his views on the Papa John's saga What Mobile Marketers Can Learn From The Papa John's Lawsuit – says retailers and marketers can have a ho, ho, ho happy holiday season if they take advantage of some good old fashioned multi-channel marketing.

"The holiday season is a great time for marketers to experiment with mobile as part of their integrated cross-channel marketing strategy given consumers are traveling, out shopping and on high alert for discounts and offers from their favorite retailers," said Della Penna. "For example, offering information about an invite-only discount or a reminder that gift wrapped packages are ready for pick-up are effective ways to engage customers who have opted-in to receive mobile messages from your brand.”

As to what specific types of promotions consumers prefer to receive via text message:

42% prefer location-based offers
39% like general discounts, offers and deals
37% want to hear about in-store sales and events
32% are into gift guides and product recommendations

In terms of age breakdowns, 64% of younger adults (18-29) prefer to receive the location-based offers but not far behind were 30-39 year olds (50%) and 40-54 year olds (42%). All of this lends credence to the fact that the use of mobile smartphone technology is growing across many generations.

Source: Responsys

Named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review and a Top 50 Social Media Blogger by Kred, Steve Olenski is a senior content strategist at Responsys, a leading global provider of on-demand email and cross-channel marketing solutions.

Mobile Marketing - The Elephant In The Room For Marketers

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 21:06:00 +0000

"A difficult situation that is very obvious but not discussed or addressed."

That's just one of I'm sure many definitions of the phrase "elephant in the room." Frankly I don't really care which definition you subscribe to. The fact of the matter is that mobile marketing - despite all it's continued hype and promise has been severely under utilized by marketers of all shapes and sizes.

And the word "continued" is absolutely the operative word in the sentence above.

Recently, in a piece for Digiday, Brian Morrissey wrote of the Ad Industry Lies and at the top of his list was mobile:

"1. It’s the Year of Mobile (for the fourth year in a row)
Everyone talks about the power of mobile and how it will change advertising. But the truth is, no one has figured it out yet. Mobile advertising is like going back to the internet 1995, except on a much smaller screen."

Did you catch the "fourth year in a row" reference? Think about it.

How many times have we all heard that this year is the year of mobile?

About a month ago I wrote a piece entitled Mobile Marketing Too Large For Brands To Ignore which featured a very telling quote from Mark Donovan, comScore SVP of mobile: "“With nearly 86 million Americans now shopping on their smartphones, this pronounced shift in consumer behavior is simply too large for retailers to ignore, with the future of their business depending on how well they adapt to the new environment.”

According to eMarketer:

Time spent using mobile devices for activities such as internet and app use, gaming, music and others has more than doubled in the past two years.
This year, the amount of time US consumers spent using mobile devices—excluding talk time—will grow 51.9% to an average 82 minutes per day, up from just 34 minutes in 2010

So we know consumers are more and more turning to their mobile phones to do well, pretty much everything but first and foremost they are using it to spend money, to buy your products, services and wares.

Then how do you explain that, according to the Chief Marketing Council, a mere 16% of companies have a mobile marketing strategy to establish and foster customer engagement which theoretically leads directly to more sales?

Or, also according to eMarketer, that less than 2% of all U.S. marketing spending, or just $2.6 billion, to go toward mobile advertising?

Is The Price Not Right?

As per a recent infographic the Wall Street Journal released "the cost and market for mobile ads remains relatively small compared to other outlets like television and the Web."

I realize these are estimates and best-guesses and all that but the infograph clearly shows that mobile ads are the least expensive medium for advertising at just $2.85 which is half the price of ads on the internet and ten times cheaper than those on tv.

And by no means am I stating that all marketers should suddenly shift all ad dollars into mobile. Of course not.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge proponent for creating an integrated marketing strategy.

The point is that marketers can obviously see the massive shift into mobile marketing and mobile advertising.

There is most assuredly a tremendous opportunity to set yourself apart from your competition by taking full advantage of the fact that more and more consumers are going mobile. And isn't that Marketing 101? Be where your customers are. Get your message in front of the right people at the right time on the right platforms?

Sounds easy when I put it that way.

Sources: eMarketer, Wall Street Journal

Named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review and a Top 50 Social Media Blogger by Kred, Steve Olenski is a senior content strategist at Responsys, a leading global provider of on-demand emaion-demand email and cross-channel marketing solutions.

Content Marketing The #1 Driver Of Leads For B2B Marketers

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 17:48:00 +0000

This past May I wrote an article entitled Why The Value Of Content Is Nothing New. The opening line to that article would also be appropriate here:

"One of the big buzz phrases sweeping the digital nation is the term "content marketing.'"

It seems the sweeping of said digital nation is still occurring, especially in the business to business marketing world for B2B marketers - according to the results of a study conducted by B2B Magazine, identified content marketing (51%) as being the most important tool for generating leads, outscoring brand awareness (38%), thought leadership (34%) and sales (29%).

The study of 440 B2B marketing professionals also indicates a sincere willingness to make a commitment to content marketing with two-thirds of the respondents saying they will be either "very" or "fully" engaged in content marketing by next year. This represents a 100% increase (66% to 33%) over 2012 to 2013. I would say that is a pretty significant increase, wouldn't you?

In terms of the specific content B2B marketers prefer, social media was named as the the most important followed by articles, e-newsletters, white papers and blogs and several other digital or online types or methods.

It would appear, however, there is a disconnect between what method of content B2B marketers prefer vs. what method or avenue they judge their content marketing success against. From the graph below you'll see that Web Traffic is cited as the #1 criteria they are using to measure success and way down the list is social media.

Could it be B2B marketers, like their B2C brethren and so many others, are still having a problem connecting the social media dots from engagement and interaction to sales?

Reuse, Repurpose, Regenerate - The 3 Rs of Content Marketing

Randall Rozin, Dow Corning's global director-brand management and marketing communications, in speaking with B2B Magazine, said something I have been saying for quite some time which is basically that not only is ok to reuse existing content, it makes a lot of sense, too!

Rozin said "marketers can derive multiple uses from a single piece of content." He used examples such as a video that could double as a call to action while also living on the given company's YouTube channel. The transcript of the same video could be converted into a white paper and/or blog post.

In other words, go ahead and use the materials you already have "lying around." Companies have a wealth of information they use every day that would make for great fodder for Content Marketing such as information they can glean from sales fliers and presentations, annual reports, user manuals, customer service manuals, charts, and on and on.

All they need to do is position it as a value added service they're providing to their prospects and customers. Use the information from the aforementioned items as a way to educate their prospects and customers on ALL that they do for chances are there are some products and services that they may not even know you offer which could of course lead to more sales opportunities for you.

Sources: B2B Magazine, Google Images

Marketers Continue To Struggle With Big Data

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 20:16:00 +0000

It would appear marketers the world over are collectively losing sleep over one thing: who will be voted off Dancing With the Stars next. I kid. Just wanted to see if you were paying attention. And no for the record, I do not watch DWS - not there's anything wrong with that.

: Big Data (Photo credit: Kevin Krejci)

No what I am referring to is that two word phrase that is surely on the agenda of many a marketing meeting from sea to shining sea. A two word phrase that marketers concern themselves with all the live-long day or at least a significant part of their day: Big Data.

And depending on who you listen to and/or believe either marketers are handling their new found wealth of prodigious piles of information quite well and are using insights gleaned from the data to their benefit or, quite simply they are not.

The headline of a recent article on Harvard Business Review: Marketers Flunk the Big Data Test. The article references a study done by CEB of nearly 800 marketers at Fortune 1000 companies which revealed that "the vast majority of marketers still rely too much on intuition — while the few who do use data aggressively for the most part do it badly."

The study also revealed:

On average only 11% of the decisions marketers make when it comes to consumers is based on data
Over 50% of the marketers surveyed said they rely on past experienced and/or their intuition to make decisions
In a list of what they rely on to make decisions, marketers listed data dead last after engaging with their co-workers, seeking expert advice and data last on their list — trailing conversations with managers and colleagues, expert advice and one-off customer interactions.

But is using your gut necessarily a bad thing? I can tell you as one who has worked the "marketing" side of the aisle, trusting my gut instincts has served me well. Christa Carone, the CMO of Xerox, believes there should be a happy medium and there's nothing wrong with trusting your gut.

"I wouldn't want to give up the data that helps us make fact-based decisions quickly. But I fear that marketers' access to and obsession with measuring everything takes away from the business of real marketing," she told me recently. "It's impossible to measure 'squishier' meaningful intangibles, such as human emotion, personal connection and the occasional 'ahhhh' moment. Those things often come with a marketer's intuition, and they deliver big-time. To me, this means trust your gut even while as you’re trying to embrace Big Data."

Could not agree with her more. There is no way to tell what someone is thinking or feeling. That does not show up on Google Analytics, at least not yet. A good marketer will know his/her audience and be able to not only use the data that is available to them but also integrate their personal experiences and knowledge into their decision-making.

Tsunami of Data

That's the phrase Acxiom CMO Tim Suther used when I spoke to him earlier this year for a piece I wrote for CMO.com entitled How To Rein In The Riches Of Big Data. And he of course was spot on for marketers, whether they choose to believe it or are even aware of it, are faced with a seemingly endless amount of data and as Suther puts it "the best companies and brands will be those who do a better job of controlling it.”

And speaking of awareness or in this case, lack of it - from a recent eMarketer article:

The writer of the article chose to look at the positive side writing "only 17% were unaware of the concept of Big Data."

To me, I look at it from the complete opposite perspective and believe 17% who were unaware of Big Data is 17% too many. Now I will admit I do not know who these retail executives were that were surveyed but how in the world can they not know about Big Data at this point in time?

Have they been out of the office for a few days, months, years? C'mon boys and girls, this is the big time, this is Big Data. I understand there are concerns about how to handle the data, what to do with the data and so on but the fact remains marketers - from ALL industries, have a tremendous opportunity to increase their bottom line significantly.

A recent Oracle survey of of North American retail executives showed that nine in 10 thought a failure to capitalize on the benefits offered by data translated to lost revenues.

Exactly my point.

As for how to use the data, Carone believes in not over-complicating things but rather taking a "simpler approach to aggregating the data and mining practical insights from the data." She says marketers need what she describes as "more elegant interfaces" that can bring all the data together to deliver those much sought after "aha" moments that "really influence marketing strategies and spend."

Sources: eMarketer, CMO.com

Three Of Four CMOs Say Social Media Impacts Sales

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:53:00 +0000

Not long ago I wrote an article on the use of social media among CEOs and how many often talk the social media talk on behalf of their brands/companies but very few actually walk the social media walk for their own personal use.

Today comes results of a survey conducted by Bazaarvoice of 100 members of The CMO Club. Now while I realize the sample size is small (100) it is worth nothing that 56.1% of the brands represented have more than $1 billion in annual revenuewhile another 36% have $100-999 million in annual revenue, and just 7.9% have annual revenue of $0-100 million.

Entitled “Chief customer advocate: How social data elevates CMOs” the survey and subsequent white paper ”reveals the results of an online survey of 100 members of The CMO Club, which includes CMOs of business-to-consumer and business-to-business organizations.”

Key findings include:

Social (media) data impacts decisions for nearly all CMOs. Almost half of CMOs have used social data to make predictions or forecasts, and nearly nine in 10 say this data has influenced their decisions.
CMOs use data to drive smarter decisions beyond marketing. While marketing teams and agencies most often uncover the data itself, insights are used in product development, customer experience, sales, and C-level discussions.
CMOs believe social reveals consumer sentimentand improves brand awareness. CMOs are most confident in social data analysis of product/service sentiment, and in its impact on overall brand loyalty and awareness.

As for the impact CMOs believe social media has on sales:

While I’m not sure why the folks behind this survey/white paper decided to “water down” the confidence quotient, if you will, by inserting the word “somewhat” in the subhead in the chart above, especially when they did not use the word in the headline – but regardless the fact that so many of the CMOs surveyed identified social media as having such a profound impact on sales, as well as brand awareness and loyalty speaks volumes.

It speaks volumes in that CMOs, perhaps unlike their fellow C-suite residents (CEOs), realize that social media is here to stay – yes there are those still on “it’s a fad” bandwagon, and that it can have a significant impact the things that matter most, AKA the bottom line and brand loyalty.

It would also appear that CMOs realize that social media is a direct reflection on the world around them – the world where consumers live, work and play. While not crazy about the use of the word “somewhat” again, the graph below shows that a large number of CMOs surveyed believe that social media is effective for identifying discernible trends among consumers with the word “discernible” being the operative word for sure.

The graph also reveals how CMOs believe that social media does a great job at reflecting consumer sentiment.

CMOs Are “Customer Champions”

Erin Mulligan Nelson, CMO, Bazaarvoice used that term in discussing the findings of the survey, saying “In a consumer-obsessed C-suite, the CMOs are the chief customer advocates and social (media) data is their ultimate weapon. Social data lets CMOs truly know their customers and predict consumers’ future needs before they even have them. Nearly all CMOs now use this data to drive decisions. As the business world re-centers around serving and delighting consumers, social data is turning CMOs into customer champions — and heroes within the C-suite. And as an industry, we have just started to tap into the potential of social data.”

She is dead on when she says that we have just started to tap into the potential of all the social media data of course as we are just now beginning to realize the sheer magnitude and power and scope of the mounds of data. Given the fact that we as consumers now create as much information every two days as we did from the dawn of civilization to 2003, I would say Acxiom CMO Tim Suther was correct when he referred to it as a ”tsunami of data” in an article I wrote back in February entitled How To Rein In The Riches Of Big Data.

The aforementioned article also speaks to the inherent dangers brands and businesses face when deciding what to do with all this new found data and the possible legal ramifications therein.

Sources: CMO.com, Bazaarvoice, The CMO Club

Named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review and a Top 50 Social Media Blogger by Kred, Steve Olenski is a freelance copywriter/blogger looking for full-time work. He has worked on some of the biggest brands in the world and has more than 20 years experience in advertising and marketing. He lives in Philly and can be reached via email,Twitter, LinkedIn, or his website.

September 11th - Not Just Another Day

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 14:24:00 +0000

There are days throughout the year that have a "feel" to them, be it a holiday or a birthday, etc. These are not just another day(s) in our lives. We must add September 11th for it will never be just another day.

The post below is something I wrote years ago and I repost every year on this date. The reason I repost it is for the simple reason I want people to always remember what it felt like on September 11, 2001; to never forget what it was like that day. My fear is that people already have or will in the future treat September 11th just like any other day.

***

Kramer: What's today?
Newman: It's Thursday.
Kramer: Really? Feels like Tuesday.
Newman: Tuesday has no feel. Monday has a feel, Friday has a feel, Sunday has a feel...

Fans of Seinfeld will of course recall this classic exchange. As was the case with most things Seinfeld, this was an example of something we all could relate to. I mean days do have a feel, don’t they?

But it’s not just days of the week that have “feels” associated with them.

How does January 1st feel? Well that probably depends on what you did the night before.

How 'bout April 15th? Tax day. Doesn’t mean much cause you always get your taxes filed early, right? Or perhaps you are an habitual late-filer and this date causes you to break out in hives.

July 4th? Cookouts. Burgers. Dogs. Fireworks. Summer. Any of these ring a bell?

October 31st? Halloween. Costumes. Scary ghost stories. Soon as night falls it takes on a whole new feeling, doesn’t it?

December 24th? Anticipation. Excitement. Expectation.

December 25th? Family. Presents. Children. Santa. Snow. A certain euphoria and sense of family comes over us on this day, doesn’t it?

Your birthday? Your spouse's birthday? Your children's birthday?

ALL of these are special days in our lives each with their own unique feel to them.

These are all Not Just Another Day in our lives and on our calendars and in our blackberries and cell phones.

Well I think we must add September 11th to the list.

Right or Wrong, September 11th will NEVER just be another day. It can't be.

For if we allow it to become just another day, then we will have failed.

We will have failed to honor those lost that tragic day. Their memory will die. And we simply cannot nor should not allow that to happen.

September 11th? Personally it evokes feelings of: Fear. Anger. Outrage. Bewilderment. Disbelief. Revenge. Shock. Sadness. Innocence lost.

September 11th will NEVER just be another day.

Mark it down.

When Taglines Go Bad – The Best Buy Saga

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 20:40:00 +0000

So there I was minding my own business when I came across an article on Fast Company entitled What Every CEO Can Learn From Best Buy’s (Continued) Branding Mistakes. Written by David Brier, who I know to be not only a great writer but also a branding expert, the article made reference to the new tagline the much-maligned Best Buy recently trotted out after what was surely an exhaustive 18-month odyssey.

Truth be told the 18 months was spent “working to reframe the retailer’sbrand proposition” and the new tagline was one item that came out of saidreframing.

The new tagline for Best Buy is, wait for it “Making technology work for you.”
In his article Brier refers to the tagline as “not only tired, it is a death sentence that is bland, old, worn, uninspired and not reflective of a single strand of your customer’s aspirations.” He also, quite correctly I might add, says the tagline “reeks of “marketing speak” and “committee-itis.”He goes on to talk about branding in general but I want to focus squarely on this horrifically bad tagline.

By the way, is it me or does the title of my article sound like a title for a new reality show? Can’t you just hear something along the lines of “Tonight on the Discovery Channel, advertising taglines or slogans are all around us and most of them serve to help a brand and inform the public.

But what happens when something goes awry? Tonight at 9, it’s the premier of When Taglines Go Bad.” Cue the loud piercing female scream or shriek and an image of people running wildly through the streets.

But I digress.

The new Best Buy tagline or slogan, whatever you want to call it – and please don’t start with the “they’re not the same thing, Steve” mantra, is all the things Brier said it was but it’s also a line that one would expect to hear from a new company/new brand, not from one’s that been around as long as Best Buy has.

If they were just starting out and they unveiled this tagline, I would laud and applaud it for it would immediately tell me what they do – in a matter of speaking. It would at the very least provide me a glimpse into what’s in their DNA.

But this is Best Buy, a brand that is very well known and instantly recognized.I will never understand why such an established brand sees the need to suddenly become Lucy Literal or Larry Literal, whatever the case may be. You’re Best Buy, we know you. Save the sales pitch. Save the educational angle. You’ve earned the right to be creative, to use an experiential tagline.

The Real Thing

Perhaps you’ve heard of a soft drink called Coca-Cola. Well when Coca-Cola first came to the attention of the public one of their first taglines was “Delicious and Refreshing.” See what they did there? Not many people knew what Coca-Cola was other than a soft drink. But their tagline immediately conveyed the benefits one would get from enjoying some. They realized they better let the consumer know right up front what Coca-Cola can do for them.

Fast forward to today’s tagline for Coca-Cola, which is “Open Happiness” and you can see the difference. Of course there have been many different taglines employed by Coca-Cola over the years but the point is this is a brand that is very well known and instantly recognized.

They know they can have some fun and put people in the moment, if you will, and utilize experiential type of wording in their tagline for the need to inform and educate has long since passed.

Named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review and a Top 50 Social Media Blogger by Kred, Steve Olenski is a freelance copywriter/blogger looking for full-time work. He has worked on some of the biggest brands in the world and has more than 20 years experience in advertising and marketing. He lives in Philly and can be reached via email,Twitter, LinkedIn, or his website.

Did The Penn State Brand Get The Death Penalty?

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 20:29:00 +0000

There are no shortage of definitions for the term “brand equity.” You probably have your favorite. This is one of mine, especially in the context of the Penn State brand: “A brand’s power derived from the goodwill and name recognition that it has earned over time, which translates into higher sales volume and higher profit margins against competing brands.”

The reason I like this particular definition when it is applied to the brand of Penn State is because of words like “goodwill” and “name recognition” and “earned over time.”

Clearly the Penn State brand, with Joe Paterno at the helm for over 45 years, wielded the power that came from goodwill while garnering name recognition, which in turn lead to higher sales and higher profit margins – that in the university world translates to an increasing level of enrollment and an increasing level of monetary donations from alumni. All of which makes the competing brands green with envy for sure.

At its peak, which for all intents and purposes was anytime right up until the world found out about Jerry Sandusky – the Penn State brand possessed a tremendous amount of brand equity.

And while in some eyes the lines may have been blurred with many wondering “Is it the Joe Paterno brand?” or “Is it the Penn State brand?” – the fact remains that the brand was an extremely powerful one and one that surely did not achieve its massive cache of brand equity overnight.

Yet as we now know, this once seemingly invincible and impenetrable brand, has been reduced to a mere shell of its former self.

A History Lesson

We all know the line about history and what can happen when one fails to learn from it. And history is replete with brands who, for one reason or another, have failed or fallen victim to issues – some not even of their own doing, which resulted in severe loss in brand equity.

In 1982 Tylenol suffered a massive blow to its brand equity when seven people died after taking Extra Strength Tylenol laced with cyanide. After recalling 31 million bottles and losing more than $100 million, Tylenol rebounded and recovered to eventually regain 100% of the market share it had lost.
In 2004 Martha Stewart was found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of an agency proceeding, and making false statements to federal investigators. Needless to say her brand equity and all its various offshoots, took a major hit. Her brand recovered eventually, her daytime TV show is in its sixth season, and this fall she will have a new cooking show on PBS.
On July 4, 2011, revelations surfaced that News of the World – owned by Rupert Murdoch’s powerful News Corporation, hacked into voicemail messages of murdered British schoolgirl Milly Dowler. Just three days later it was announced that News of the World would be shut down.

These are just three examples of major brands suffering severe damage to their hard-earned-over-time brand equity. Each of the brands recovered – well except in the case of News of the World but obviously Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp brand is alive and kicking despite the closing of News of the World.

But none of these brands needed to recover from the kind of damage that is being inflicted on the Penn State brand. The reason being none of these brands’ fall from grace, if you will, involved the sexual abuse of children and subsequent cover up by the very people who A) built the brand and B) were entrusted with maintaining its goodwill.

How can the Penn State brand possibly survive this unprecedented – a word that’s used a lot in talking about Penn State these days, loss of brand equity?

In the case of Tylenol for example, the problem was identified and corrected as fast as humanly possible. Yes it took a great deal of time to reestablish trust with the public but as you saw, it did happen and can happen again for Penn State.

Or can it?

What Does The Future Hold For The Penn State Brand?

As I sit here today I honestly do not know if the public will ever regain a level of trust with the Penn State brand. It’s quite possible I would have said the same thing back in 1982 about Tylenol. But I was only 17 and had a can of Spam for a brain, so.

But right now, do I think the Penn State brand can ever recover, I honestly don’t know.

Much of my uncertainty has to do with what is still emanating from Happy Valley. There are still far too many brand advocates/brand ambassadors of the Penn State brand still steadfastly refusing to admit something went terribly and tragically wrong.

There are far too many who are entrusted with maintaining standards of the brand – the board of trustees for example, who refuse to admit to the public, much less themselves, that such atrocities were being committed right under their very noses.

And if those entrusted with the brand’s health and future cannot first bring themselves to this fact, how can the brand ever hope to rebound and recover? If they don’t think anything went wrong in the first place, why would they ever think they need to repair and restore the brand?

Joe McDonough, VP/Executive Creative Director at Masterminds, a full-service agency with a focus on brand integration, says it comes down to brands realizing the responsibility that comes with achieving such lofty brand equity status.

“The more respected, more credible the brand, the higher the stakes and the more critical it is to treat the public trust as the cornerstone of your brand’s foundation,” says McDonough.

McDonough, who has worked on such big name brands as MGM and Pinnacle Entertainment, says the keepers of the Penn State brand made a fatal mistake in the face of the crisis.

“When the powers-that-be decided to go into damage control mode instead of pursuing the ethical, or in this case – lawful position, the stakes were raised to double or nothing,” he added. “Imagine if PSU had actually gotten away with covering this up?”

Crisis management consultant Dr. Ken J. Brumfield says the problems transcend the playing field. “It’s not the football culture, but rather the senior executive team culture that got them here,” says Brumfield, author of the book “S.E.T. CULTURE: What Every Organization Needs to Know Before Crises Occur.”

What Can Brands Learn From Penn State?

According to Brumfield there are three distinct things the leaders of Penn State need to do to rebuild its tarnished brand.

Change the culture from the top down
Make better decisions
Seek outside help

Of course these are a lot easier said than done.

Changing the culture means first admitting the culture was bad in the first place. As I mentioned previously, I’m not so sure the leaders of Penn State would openly admit their culture was bad.

As for making better decisions, that of course comes down to who is making the decisions in the first place. With all but one of the board of trustees still in place, if not power, making better decisions than those previously made may not be so easy.

And as for seeking outside help, setting up advisory boards, etc. – that too will depend on if the leaders of Penn State deem such an action necessary and warranted.

For his part, McDonough believes the best thing a brand can learn from Penn State is that despite all the years one spends building trust with the consumer, it can all come apart in the blink of an eye.

“The public’s trust is hard won and easily lost. In this day and age it’s the public who bestows the value of your brand upon you – they assign which rung on the brand consideration ladder you grasp – but the hold is tenuous and needs only the slightest negative momentum to send you tumbling down,” he says.

“Now that ‘all media is social’ and every conversation can become a public forum that trends in the millions for even trivial snippets of reality TV flotsam – the need for stewards of brands of every scale to maintain actual credibility – not just the veiled appearance of it, is paramount.”

Source: Live Science

Named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review and a Top 50 Social Media Blogger by Kred, Steve Olenski is a freelance copywriter/blogger currently looking for full-time work. He has worked on some of the biggest brands in the world and has over 20 years experience in advertising and marketing. He lives in Philly and can be reached via email,Twitter, LinkedIn or his website.

CEOs On Social Media: Do As I Say, Not As I Do

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 19:24:00 +0000

As a parent I of course have tried to instill a set of rules for my children to adhere to as a means to teach them as they move along the growth ladder. All parents instill their own set of rules and values and so on to help guide the instruct their children, right?

Well let’s say that when my kids were younger, say around 3, I hung up a sign in the kitchen that read: “Don’t Touch A Hot Stove.” I made the sign big, bright and bold so they could not miss it every time they walked into the kitchen. And they followed the rule and never touched the hot stove.

Now let’s say one time they walked into the kitchen and there I was touching the hot stove, burning my fingers, screaming in pain.

“Daddy, you told us to never touch the hot stove. Why did you touch it?”

“Um, well… it’s different for grown ups.”

“Oh, I see… you want me to get mommy so she can take you to the hospital?”

While this may not be the best analogy the point is very clear that when it comes to social media and the use thereof, far too many CEOs are telling their employees – and the rest of the world for that matter that they know their company needs to be “doing it” yet simply do not practice what they preach.

What CEOs Are Saying To Their “Kids”

“As a percentage of overall marketing budgets, spending on social media is expected to increase 17.5% over the next five years.” That comes directly from a study conducted last year by Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business of nearly 250 top executives.

From an infographic put out by MBAPrograms.com which reveals recent findings on how corporations are using social media. Note, how “corporations” are using social media, not those running them.

94% of corporations are using social media in one way, shape or form
85% credit social media for providing increased exposure to their business
74% indicated an increase in website traffic thanks to as little as 6 hours a week on social media
58% say it’s use for lead generation & developing brand loyalty
65% say social media is key to learning about their competition

As to their preferred social media networks…

No great surprise there.

Ok, this all looks great, right? CEO’s are investing more in social media and corporations are “getting” social media and realizing that is not a fad, is here to stay and to stay alive in today’s world, one better “get” social media.

What CEOs Are Actually Doing

Not long ago I wrote an article on Josh James, his company Domo and the now infamous #domosocial experiment. Josh is the living embodiment of a CEO who “gets” social media so I definitely urge you to read about his groundbreaking experiment.

Josh and his company recently teamed up with CEO.com to conduct a survey on Fortune 500 CEOs and their use of social media. Josh wrote about the findings of the survey which clearly revealed that a very large number of CEOs are “touching the hot stove” as 70%, yes 70% of all Fortune 500 CEOs have no presence of any kind on social media.

“You kids get to getting on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest and all that good stuff. I’m far too busy to spend my time engaging with the very people who keep us in business.”

The obligatory infographic from the Domo and CEO.com survey:

It really is mind-blowing and in fact quite hypocritical when you get right down to it when you consider the fact that CEOs openly acknowledge the importance of the use of social media for their companies yet don’t see the need to be socially active themselves.

Yes, I saw the stat that read the number of CEOs using social media is expected to grow to 57% from the current 16% in 3 – 5 years but I will believe that when I see it. And by the looks of things, I won’t be seeing in 3 , 5, 7 or even 10 years. Sorry, not buying it.

I want to leave you with quotes from Josh’s article and also one from David K. Williams who recently penned CEOs and Social Media — How Much is Too Much?

From Josh’s aptly titled article CEOs Afraid Of Going Social Are Doing Shareholders A Massive Disservice:

“It is my hope that CEOs come to believe in the transformative power of social media. But if they persist in lagging far behind the general population in social media participation and not delivering value to the shareholders that is there for the taking, they may not be CEOs for much longer.”

From David’s article:

“If we haven’t convinced you yet (of the importance of social media), consider these two results from the BRANDFog 2012 CEO Survey as the final clincher: More than 82% of respondents are likely or much more likely to trust a company whose CEO and team engage in social media. And an amazing 77% of respondents are likely or much more willing to buy from a company whose mission and values are defined through their leaderships’ involvement in social media.

The conclusion is clear: Any leader who isn’t engaged in social media today is like the leaders of 50 years ago who insisted on sending a telegram instead of dialing a phone.”

'Til next time,

Source: Forbes

Huddle Up: How a Former NFL Player Can Help You Score at Social Media

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 20:22:00 +0000

Like many other red-blooded Americans - both male and female, I am a huge football fan. Born and raised in the City of Brotherly Love, I am also a long-suffering Philadelphia Eagles fan.

I am also, as you could well imagine, a fan of all things social media, else why would I be writing this article in this forum in the first place?

I digress...

When I heard about a new social media platform founded by former Atlanta Falcon Will Overstreet called Voices Heard Media, I was instantly intrigued.

I mean if you added in coffee, you'd have three of my greatest loves all in one: football, social media and java.

A man can dream, can't he?

I am kidding of course. My wife and kids know I am kidding, right?

Anyway, Voices Heard Media is actually a leader in multi-platform user engagement tools including a patent-pending Engagement Engine technology platform which powers a suite of embeddable applications. These applications in turn generate engagement and help build and foster communities directly on a given website as well as across mobile and social media networks.

Their list of clients include Fox Sports, AOL, The Huffington Post, HGTV, Food Network, the Washington Wizards, numerous television stations and more.

I caught up with Will not long ago to find out why he believes that successful businesses need a real-time engagement platform that individual social media platforms don't fill... but his does.

Q: Why is it important for brands to engage consumers?

A: First and foremost the consumer now expects it. Their expectations are for a much higher level of service and the ability to reach anyone at anytime. Many times customers worry about the risk of engaging their customers; however if a company is not talking and communicating then someone else will be communicating for you. This is a far greater risk than simply hitting something head on, and at least being able to control the message and react to the market.

Q: What do you see as being the biggest challenge for marketers/advertisers today and how can Voices Heard Media help them overcome those challenges?

A: The challenges are many, Steve...

Provide something of value to the consumer. Your content and communication cannot just be about the next special or deal - it has to add value to the customer’s experience.
Start with real world goals and try different techniques to discover which activities have the most impact for your business
Not all customers are the same. Customers have different goals. There is no cookie cutter answer.
Set expectations with the customer. Overnight success is rare and not the norm.
Take the time to review what is working and what is not and be prepared to make changes
Explore the vast sea of technologies and know which one you should go with.
Come up with content ideas to reach the consumer
At first give the customer the fish but always be trying to teach them how to fish.

Our company works directly with customers but we prefer working with partner companies like marketing / PR groups, and other software vendors because our service in combination with other partner services ultimately delivers more value to the customer.

We work with customers and partners in many ways, from simply providing software to helping them plan and execute a strategy. We look to develop long-term relationships and become a trusted source for any type of community engagement opportunities. This mindset has allowed us to stay ahead of the game in developing the expertise and future solutions for the marketplace.

Q: What does the future hold for engagement tools when it comes to marketers and advertisers?

A: The tools will become more advanced in their reporting features and eventually will be able to automatically react and serve the customer a better experience and response.

The benefits will enhanced scalability and information gathering tools that effectively allow businesses to be communicating with consumers while requiring less human interaction.

***

So, what do you think of this platform?

Is it something you could use yourself or one of your clients?

What ways/platforms are you using to engage your customers and prospects?

'Til next time...

Image source: Google Images

Enough Already With The "Alien" Advertising!

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 20:22:00 +0000

Remember the movie Alien? Or was it Aliens? I can never remember which was the first one.

Doesn't really matter...

You will surely remember this classically-grotesque scene:

Now, you tell me, other than the blood, guts and screaming, what is the difference between this scene and these two commercials for Cars.com?

What is truly amazing to me is the fact that, well there are a quite a few things that are amazing to me about these Cars.com spots:

1. Someone in some ad agency conceived of this idea/concept and someone else - probably an executive creative director and others, saw the concept and green lighted it to send to the client.
2. Someone, or a group of people, at Cars.com saw the concept and green lighted it for production.
3. The first of the two spots above actually ran during this year's Super Bowl. So someone at Cars.com green lighted the agency to spend millions of dollars to air this commercial AFTER green lighting how much money to actually create and produce it.

Can someone point me to the nearest wall so I may bangeth my headeth against it... over and over and over.

Of course Cars.com is hardly the first and unfortunately will not be the last brand/advertiser to utilize the "Alien" advertising method.

Think about it... what other examples do you know of where a brand/advertiser used this method?
And what do you think of it?

Did you like these spots for Cars.com?

If so, what did you like about it?

Named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review, I am a freelance writer/blogger currently looking for full-time work. I have worked on some of the biggest brands in the world and have over 20 years experience in advertising and marketing. I live in Philly and can be reached via email,Twitter, LinkedIn or my website.

When It Comes To Inbound Marketing Time Is Definitely Of The Essence

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 19:48:00 +0000

A couple of months ago I wrote a post titled Curiosity May Have Killed The Cat But Complacency Will Kill The Marketer. In that particular post I told of the dearth of retention marketing by quoting a survey which revealed that 60% of the B2B and B2C companies surveyed devote less than 20% of their marketing budget to customer retention.

Today I want discuss another form of marketing, one that has become extremely important since the digital age was thrust upon us – inbound marketing.

There are many definitions of the term inbound marketing but I happen to love this description/definition of inbound marketing, courtesy of Trust Media:

“Inbound Marketing is a marketing strategy where businesses implement tactics to ‘get found’ by customers. Inbound Marketing involves creating and providing valuable content for your customers, promoting your remarkable content, building customer relationships, and overall ‘pulling’ the customer toward you. Inbound Marketing strategies create brand awareness, improve Search Engine Optimization, create thought leadership, develop valuable customer relationships, establish credibility, and build trustworthy reputations.”

You may have your own favorite definition of the term, but I think most people would agree with the basics of the above description/definition of inbound marketing.

Now, I highlighted the phrase “overall ‘pulling’ the customer toward you” because at the end of the day, this is the ultimate goal of inbound marketing. If your goal is to “ pull your customer toward you” in order to sell them something, then time is definitely of the essence.

Follow The “Lead”er

Way back in 2007, if someone used the word “pinterest” you would have thrown the flag at then for misspelling and only the cool kids had iPhones, Dave Elkington, the CEO and founder of a company called InsideSales.com, along with Ken Krogue, the president and co-founder, wanted to know the answer to a question that sales professionals had pondered since the beginning of time – Internet time that is.

What Dave and Ken wanted to know was how and more importantly, when sales pros should respond to sales leads coming directly via inbound marketing.

After discovering that no research had been done on this topic, they decided to do it themselves. They reached out to James B. Oldroyd, a professor at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

“Because so much money was migrating to Internet marketing efforts, we knew there would be significant interest around the topic of lead response rates, timing and effort, and there influence on the outcome of a lead,” says Elkington.

Krogue recognized the changing tides and shifts that were occurring in the world of marketing, “quickly realizing the industry was migrating away from the old way of doing business (outbound) cold calling to the new digital marketing environment, centered around web leads.”

Don’t Take Five

The most dramatic finding from the 2007 study had to do with the time it takes to respond to an inbound, marketing generated lead. “The study revealed that the odds of making contact with a new lead are extremely high if you call within the first 5 minutes of submission,” said Elkington. “The odds drop off dramatically by the first 30 minutes. Specifically, a rep is 100xless likely to make contact if the first call is made 30 minutes after submission. The odds of making contact drop by 3000x if the first call is made 5 hours after lead submission.”

“We call it the ‘wow effect’ as in wow, that was fast! You are impressive.” says Elkington, referring to the reaction a person has when contacted so soon after submitting a lead.

But according to Elkington the most interesting data had to do with qualification behavior. Qualification is defined as the rate at which the lead contact is willing to set an appointment and enter the sales cycle.

The study revealed that the odds of qualifying a lead dropped 21x if the first contact is made 30 minutes after lead submission.

The study, entitled How Much Time Do You Have Before Web-Generated Leads Go Cold, was presented at Marketing Sherpa’s 2007 annual summit. Krogue can still remember the reaction he got from Ann Holland, the founder of Marketing Sherpa.”I told her about the survey results and the first words out of her mouth were: “Do you really have what you say you have? She couldn’t believe it.”

That Was Then, What About Now?

Since the survey findings were released and over 100,000 downloads later, one would think the number of businesses/companies would now “get it” when it comes to the need for a rapid response.

Not so, according to Krogue who says they routinely conduct audits of businesses but “the bar is still set pretty low” and that many businesses are still “not responding fast enough nor are they persistent enough.”

There also may be the case of businesses not even realizing what’s going in their own company and that some are under the misconception that their company is not as bad as others. Krogue gives an example of a national sales exec at a U.S. based insurance company who raved as to the efficiency and proficiency of their sales team when it came to web based leads.

Sure enough, after submitting a lead of his own as a test, Krogue did not receive a follow up contact until six days had passed – hardly the optimal five minute time frame to say the least.

In Closing

According to Elkington B2B companies spend anywhere from $30 to $200+ on each marketing generated lead while B2C firms typically spend from $2-25 for each hot lead. He says “if a CEO realized the amount of money they were throwing down the drain in terms of wasted leads and lower close rates due to no-follow-up, slow-follow-up and low persistence, they would shake the tree and turn things upside down.”

I think it’s time to shake the tree and turn other things upside down in all sorts of other ways when it comes to inbound marketing, wouldn’t you?

Think about your own personal experience. If you go so far as to enter your contact information online via a form let’s say, all under the guise of wanting to learn more about a given product or service, aren’t you going to be more receptive to talking about it while it is still fresh in your mind?

I know I would be.

Sources: How Much Time Do You Have Before Web-Generated Leads Go Cold, InsideSales.com,James B. Oldroyd, Trust Media, Forbes

Named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review, I am a freelance writer/blogger currently looking for full-time work. I have worked on some of the biggest brands in the world and have over 20 years experience in advertising and marketing. I live in Philly and can be reached via email,Twitter, LinkedIn or my website.

In Honor Of Some Good Copywriting And My New Logo

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:59:00 +0000

As one who has written many headlines, taglines, slogans, billboards and any other short forms of copy, I can certainly appreciate a good line when I see one.

And I came across just such a line walking through Wal-Mart not long ago.

I was cruising through the summer "stuff" - the outdoor furniture, the pool supplies, all the lawn-type things and of course, the grills.

It was while walking past the BBQ grills that I came upon a display for Easy Off Grill Cleaner. At first I strolled right on by but then stopped and went back to see what was written on the side of of the display.

I don't know, of course, who penned this particular line and some of you may think "eh, it's an ok line" but I loved it.

Loved it because it spoke to me. Not literally of course, that would be a little creepy.

But spoke to me as a consumer and gave me a friendly edict if you will.

A kind of gentle warning, a subtle reminder, a... never mind, you get the idea.

See for yourself:

***

I also wanted to share something I am very excited about... my new logo.

My man Kemar Wedderburn of Pixel Ignite created this for me and I think it looks great but want to hear your thoughts on it.

The Real Reason GM Left Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:20:00 +0000

So GM is pulling its $10 million Facebook ad budget and we all are now left to ponder who will be next, right?

In their official statement GM marketing chief Joel Ewanick said “We regularly review our overall media spend and make adjustments as needed. This happens as a regular course of business and it’s not unusual for us to move our spending around various media outlets – especially with the growth of multiple social and digital media outlets. In terms of Facebook specifically, while we currently do not plan to continue with advertising, we remain committed to an aggressive content strategy through all of our products and brands, as it continues to be a very effective tool for engaging with our customers.”

Blah, blah and blah.

GM is pulling their money from Facebook just as they would pull an account from an ad agency. There is no difference.

See, somewhere along the way to IPO nirvana the folks at Facebook forgot the one cardinal rule in advertising – always keep the client happy and do whatever you can to please them.

Anyone who has been in advertising for longer than 30 seconds knows this is the way of life. Like or not, and a lot of times we don’t like it, that is the way it is. How many times of those of in the ad agency world have griped and complained about a given client’s decision to change this or alter that only to realize at the end of the day, the client is paying the bills – literally?

Fearless Forrester Forecaster

In what maybe a bit of a Nostradamus-esque bit of foresight Forrester analyst Nate Elliott wrote last November that he hasn’t “spoken to many companies that are thrilled with their Facebook programs.”

And on May 14th, on the eve of the announcement from GM and on the quasi-eve if you will of Facebook’s IPO, Elliott wrote “Facebook still hasn’t stumbled upon a model that’s proven consistently successful for marketers, or that brings in the massive revenues to match the site’s massive user base.

Hmm, catch the use of the words “stumbled upon?” Probably nothing but thought it was worth mentioning.

Regardless, they are some very telling words coming from Elliott and speak to the issue that I think is prevalent which is Facebook seems to put more emphasis on its members than it does on those who allow for the site to even exist in the first place – the advertisers.

Elliott seems to agree with my take writing “Facebook just doesn’t pay nearly as much attention to marketing as it does to user experience. If Facebook did pay much attention to the marketers who handed it billions of dollars last year, and who make the site’s very existence possible, maybe we’d see innovative new marketing solutions every six months rather than every few years.”

I’m not saying, and I don’t think Elliott is either, that there needs to be a higher value placed on satisfying marketers and advertisers than on consumers, but rather there should be an equal amount of time and effort devoted to each.

One last thing from Elliott, which he labeled as being “shocking” – and I would certainly agree with him, is that one global consumer goods company told Forrester recently that “Facebook was getting worse, rather than better, at helping marketers succeed. And companies in industries from consumer electronics to financial services tell us they’re no longer sure Facebook is the best place to dedicate their social marketing budget.”

So Is Facebook Doomed?

Of course not.

GM’s decision is sending shock waves for sure through the halls of big brands and smaller ones, too. I’m sure many are openly questioning their own Facebook ad buying strategies. So it will be interesting to see the fallout from all of this.

There is also the possibility that GM’s poor Facebook ad experience is self-inflicted.

In the original Wall Street Journal article, where the news of GM’s decision first appeared, there was mention made of a meeting held earlier this year in which reps from Facebook actually criticized GM’s approach of having multiple firms managing its advertising for the site.

Too many cooks in the Facebook kitchen?

Somehow I think that plays a role in all of this but, be that as it may – and I think it’s a small role, Facebook still needs to do a better job at helping the folks who keep them in business.

They need to provide better tools to the marketers and advertisers.

They need to keep them happy.

Sources: Wall Street Journal, Forrester

Named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review, I am a freelance writer/blogger currently looking for full-time work. I have worked on some of the biggest brands in the world and have over 20 years experience in advertising and marketing. I live in Philly and can be reached via email,Twitter, LinkedIn or my website.

Why The Value Of Content Is Nothing New

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:03:00 +0000

One of the big buzz phrases sweeping the digital nation is the term “content marketing.” And while content marketing is important, it’s not as if someone just woke up and realized the value of content.

Was reading Brandon Gutman’s interview with Evan Shapiro on Forbes about the fact that TV is not dead – yes, there are those who still insist on proclaiming television to be dead, and I came across a quote from Evan which inspired me to write this article.

Before I get to my point, I definitely recommend reading Brandon’s interview. It’s very well done and provides some interesting insights into the thoughts of a key player in the television industry.

Ok, the line that Evan said during the interview is quite simplistic and obvious, but as I mentioned it inspired me, so you know, it has that going for it, which is nice. (kudos for catching the Caddyshack reference)

“Content is still king.”

Yes that’s the entire line.

Well, truth be told Evan’s full thought was “Content is still king. And I submit that TV is the best, most valuable and most relevant content on earth right now.”

I admire Evan’s zest and passion for what he does but “the best, most valuable and most relevant content on earth right now?”

You think there’s just a tad of hyperbole in there?

Be that as it may, it has always been and always will be about content. But not just content for the sake of content.

It has to be the right content.

It has to be the right TV shows as in Evan’s context.

It has to be the right content from brands and marketers in the social media space.

It has to be the right shoes for shoe store owners.

It has to be the right content to match whomever your given audience is.

And that has never changed nor will it ever.

And as for content marketing, heck I even wrote a piece late last year titled “The Future Of Business To Business Marketing Summed Up In Two Words: Content Marketing” in which I laid out the findings of a survey which revealed the importance of content marketing in the B2B world.

So I get it. I get the fact that content, in today’s digital world, as Evan put it – is still king.

Content Comes In All Shapes And Sizes

But the value of content as a whole is nothing new.

Think about it.

Let’s use sports for an example.

The Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Browns. Not to pick on any specific teams but they provide the perfect example.

For the past 10-15 years or so, and counting, their teams have been pretty dismal, wouldn’t you say?

How would you think their fans would sum up the “content” of their teams over the past 10-15 years?

Yes I know all about revenue sharing and how smaller market teams can’t compete, but all things being equal but would you say their collective “content” has been of any value to their fans?

Of course this is a highly over simplification of my point but you knew that, right?

Location, Location, Location
Know when you’re talking to a realtor and they invariably trot out the age old adage of location, location, location as being the three most important things when it comes to real estate?

In the context of today’s world for marketers, advertisers, brands and so on, the three most important things are content, content, content.

But it cannot be content just for the sake of content.

It cannot be running the same lineup or roster out there, to borrow the sports analogy. It has to be quality content. It has to be content that your customers and prospects want to see and read and engage with and share with their friends.

And only you know what that content is.

Image Source: Google Images

Named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review, I am a freelance writer/blogger currently looking for full-time work. I have worked on some of the biggest brands in the world and have over 20 years experience in advertising and marketing. I live in Philly and can be reached via email,Twitter, LinkedIn or my website.

My Appearance On The Linked In Lady Show

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:02:00 +0000

I don't know how many of you out there know who Carol McManus, AKA The LinkedIn Lady is, and if you don't know her, you should.

She is a self-described recovering corporate executive who left that world in 2007 to start her own business. She grew it quickly with a very limited marketing budget but through the creative and diligent use of social media.

Today, she is one of the most sought-after speakers and consultants for businesses and entrepreneurs who aspire to grow their business by using this digital medium as a way to stay in touch with and attract new clients.

She is also the host of an immensely popular radio show appropriately titled The LinkedIn Lady Show. She has had many of the heavy hitters from the world of social media including the very popular speaker and author, Jason Falls, appear on her show.

And yours truly was extremely honored to be invited to appear and aside from a slight and brief technical difficulty, I thought it went very well and I for one had a blast.

Enjoy...

Pinterest Marketing Strategies

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:56:00 +0000

Unless you've been living under a rock - not that there's anything wrong with that, you know what Pinterest is, or at the very least have heard of it.

It is of course the latest, greatest, hot new social media platform that every brand marketer, brand manager, product manager, CMO and really any marketer or advertiser on the face of the Earth is using as a means to engage their audience.

Or something like that...

Make no mistake about Pinterest is here to stay and its uses are still being debated and discovered quite frankly.

A little while ago I wrote an article for Forbes titled Why Brand Managers Need To Take An Interest In Pinterest.

Here's an excerpt:

The person who makes the majority of household purchasing decisions has developed an affinity for the latest and greatest social media platform, Pinterest. And brand managers and brand marketers would be very wise to take note.

...brand marketers and brand managers would also be wise to pay very close attention to what’s going on over at Pinterest HQ.

As I mentioned, the person responsible for the majority of household purchasing decisions has developed an affinity, a trust even, with Pinterest. That person of course is a woman/mom.

Click here to read the whole story.

Today I want to share an informative and helpful infographic re: marketing strategies and Pinterest.

It's great because it gives you some basic tips on all the different ways to use Pinterest.

So tell me how are you using Pinterest both individually/personally but also for your business/company/brand, etc?

Or have you not jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon for any number of reasons.

Please do share your thoughts...

You Call This Advertising?

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:40:00 +0000

Let's face it, in today's world, advertisers and their agencies are faced with enormous challenges when it comes to getting their brands, products, services and wares noticed.

The need to be creative, to be different, to stand out was always paramount to success but now, thanks to social media, digital advertising and all the good stuff that goes with it, the bar has been set very high.

We already know that many, if not most, consumers feel like they are subjected to too much advertising and simply don't trust the advertising they are subjected to in the first place.

Ok, so we (those in the advertising circle) know we have to rise above the every growing amount of clutter to get noticed.

And I'm sure the folks at DraftFBC Buenos Aires had every intention of drawing attention to their client when they conceived and ultimately created this spot below but...

And you know maybe I'm a little over sensitive right now what with my kids recently losing their grandmother but...

Well you be the judge:

Like I said maybe I am being over sensitive right now but to me this commercial is an example of an agency trying to be edgy just for the sake of being edgy.

I mean what's more edgy than watching a grandmom get blown away in a hail of gunfire during a bank heist?

And trust me, I am one prone to push the proverbial envelope as I don't like "same old, same old" by any means.

Maybe this is a cultural thing? Maybe Americans view grandmothers in a different light than they do in South America? Maybe that's why this bothers me so much.

What did you think?

Did you like it? Why?

Did you not like? Why?

Taking It To The Streets - A Brilliant Example Of Street Savvy Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:32:00 +0000

For those of you over the age of say 40, I apologize if The Doobie Brothers' song Takin' It To The Streets is now reverberating in your head, but after learning about this campaign, the phrase of taking it to the streets was the first thing I thought of.

The opening line to The Doobie Brothers' classic is "You don’t know me but I’m your brother" and I in fact have to thank my brother Michael Olenski for sharing this brilliant - at least I think it's brilliant, example of what I am calling "street savvy marketing."

Hey maybe I've coined a new phrase today - street savvy marketing.

Well you all can decide if you like that phrase or not or maybe it was already in use and I never knew it.

Anywho, the example comes from the cable channel TNT, who decided to make a dramatic entrance if you will, into the country of Belgium. Created by Duval Guillaume ad agency, the campaign was simplistic in design yet incredibly creative in its production and features choreography rivaling a Broadway show, all of which left a crowd of onlookers "too flabbergasted to react or to run away or intervene" according to agency rep Marc Wellens.

It's amazing what can happen when you take an otherwise nondescript square, add in an innocuous red button, a sign with one simple edict on it, and some good old fashioned human curiosity.

This is kind of a flash mob in reverse whereas you don't have a pre-scripted scene involving a mob or crowd all waiting for their cues but rather a crowd that unwittingly becomes part of the action, which is just as, if not more powerful and impactful than if they had been "in on it."

Judging by the fact the the video, as of this writing, has over 29 million views on You Tube, it would appear that many others also found it quite interesting, if not, dare I say, brilliant.

Well, truth be told I didn't think all of it was brilliant. There was one part which made no sense to me and that was the part where the football players - the American football players that is, remember this is Belgium, came running out to enter the fray. I don't understand why the agency would elect to inject something so American into an otherwise European-themed idea but hey, that's just nitpicking and the football players are only in the video for a brief time and it is at the end.

Of course now TNT needs to live up to the enormous hype they've created and now must televise shows that produce the same amount or more of drama.

Good luck with that.

Source: You Tube

Named one of the Top 100 Influencers In Social Media (#41) by Social Technology Review, Steve Olenski is a freelance writer/blogger currently looking for full-time work. He has worked on some of the biggest brands in the world and has over 20 years experience in advertising and marketing. He lives in Philly and can be reached via email,Twitter, LinkedIn or his website.

Brand Managers Have A Lot Riding On A Logo

noreply@blogger.com (Steve Olenski) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:47:00 +0000

I am not a designer nor do I play one on TV. However, I have done my fair share of branding and have worked with many a designer and art director on logo design and creation.

And just as every word in a given brand's tagline or slogan carries an inherent amount of weight, so too does the color of their respective logo.

I would bet the majority of consumers never realize the level of painstaking detail that goes into the creation of a logo. But as you will read and see below, every color carries with it a different connotation that a brand/company hopes conveys the precise subliminal message they want it to for they more than likely have a whole lot of money riding on it.

Let me know what you think of this as I am very curious to see if you notice the color or colors of a logo and if so, do those colors affect you in any way?

Source: http://fr.locita.com