Articles by Cam Brown

Magalogs – catalogs that include elements of both editorial content and story-telling through design – help traditional catalogers build brand affinity and connections with their customers. To see an example, click here for a magalog King Fish created for PC Connection aimed at their small business customers.  Retailers are recognizing the benefits of this approach, and are morphing their print to better serve customers, showcasing products in far more engaging environments. And to further demonstrate effectiveness, magalogs are also becoming digital versions, where customer shopping, referral behavior and site interaction is measured for true return on investment. Savvy marketers are starting to use this platform – and there is no reason not to – all retailers should. Build affinity, enhance shopper experience, and track results. That’s a recipe for job security.

They key to a successful magalog is producing the project with a team of creative and marketing-types that understand how to incorporate the elements that result in measurement and increased affinity. There are several applications that improve both measurement and sell-through, so be sure your content provider has a solid knowledge in these areas. A media investment should be accountable and measurable, and when executed properly, magalogs can be at the top of the ROI food chain.

America’s Top Marketer’s Report Their Goals Have Changed

This might have been a street hawker’s cry five year’s ago, but earlier this week, it was proclaimed matter-of-factly by nearly all honorees at BtoB’s Best Luncheon in New York. The event was well attended by senior marketers who were there to hear each of the 11 nominees for marketer of the year.  One of the highlights was a panel of marketing executives who gave their observations and communication strategies for next year and beyond.  You can read more about the event here, and some analysis of the comments here.  For those of us in the room, the theme was profoundly consistent: the brand war is over, and efficient, customer-based communication rules. Some excerpts from the nominees, in their words.

“We are seeing high return on live seminars and panels.” – Oracle

“White Papers and product information are the key for customer engagements.” – Siemens 

“We are focusing on a shortening in our time to customer relationships” and “I see convergence media and building content as our focus.” – Kodak

“We are shifting to one-on-one marketing.” – Xerox

“We are generating more content to help business owners do business better,” and “Our small business focus is shifting to value-based marketing.” - American Express

These are direct comments from large B2B companies who have seen the future – and that future is relationship marketing and metrics to measure their success. Companies that once focused on broad reach media and enormous sponsorship marketing budgets are now working to create the own media channels. These leading companies are taking an active role in creating the content their customers receive, and are part of the process of delivering content they know is most relevant to their customer’s needs.  In effect, they are creating their own private custom media channels.

When top marketing leader’s share with each other as opposed to hiding their top strategies, the shift has already happened. Don’t ride the old school marketing approach of broad reach & branding into the sunset. It is no longer an option to throw marketing investment at media channels featuring no measurability. Re-evaluate your 2009 media strategies now, and work to gain relevance with your customers and mind-share with your best prospects. In this case, following the leaders is the boldest approach.

This year’s Digital Hollywood conference in Los Angeles has been shedding light on the significant challenges marketers face as they try to lasso prospects online. By and large, the panelists have been candid about the immaturity of this medium, but have been unified in their belief that traditional advertising is waning, and providing prospects with meaningful online experiences is the cost of entry.

The panelists, most of which carried senior executive titles, provided sound bites that had me in complete agreement. Here is a sample.

During a session entitled: The Web, Social Media and Advertising: Transforming and Disassembling the World of Traditional Media and Communications, Matt Rosenberg, Group Director, Organic said that to be successful, “Brands are immersing themselves in the content experience…you need to let your brand take a backseat.” I absolutely agree, and that is a core strategy at King Fish Media, where our job is to help clients engage with prospects and clients on a far more meaningful level than brand advertising offers.

Recommended contacts who spoke at this panel:

Raquel Krouse, VP Social Media, Interpublic Emerging Media Lab
Matt Rosenberg, Group Director, Organic
Mark Lewis, Strategic Planning Director, DDB San Francisco

The next session, Bridging TV and Broadband: Strategic Relationships – Advertising, Technology and Content, took the full customer immersion concept to a different level. A senior executive from the Home Shopping Network candidly evaluated her brand, and said that the universal knowledge of her brand allowed for movement into new media platforms (Interactive TV and .TV), saying, “People at the company worried about these platforms, but with the huge brand loyalty, they go wherever the brand goes and build communities there.” We, at King Fish, describe this phenomenon as owning, not renting your own media channel – Private Media.

Recommended contacts from this panel:

Jeff Miller, President and CEO, ICTV
Fred McIntyre, SVP, AOL Video

On a separate note, I hope to never again hear these words as much as I have during the last three days: “paradigm” (thought we were done with that), “frictionless”, “zero sum game”, “net loser” and “value proposition”.

During each of these sessions, I heard frequent confirmation that intent-based vs. interruption-based communications is the most effective means for clients to communicate with their prospects and customers; custom media provides the single strongest venue to effectively achieve success with this effort.

Read the January 11th WSJ article entitled “The Car That Got Away” and you’ll get a sense of what my wife puts up with fairly regularly. The timing of this article was perfect: after 60 days of online hunting on enthusiast Web sites and associations for one of my favorite cars from my youth (a 1979 Toyota Land Cruiser), I found it, about 2,600 miles away from my garage in Boston. But I found it, and it’s on a truck heading east as we speak.

What was truly interesting about this process were the people I spoke with along the way. No fewer than 45, either on the phone or through email. And every one of them was as excited as I was to talk about their cars. One of them sent a pound of gourmet coffee from Seattle as a thank you for considering his ride. Many poured over our company’s Web site, and asked me very insightful questions about our business. My favorite was a couple who sent voice-over samples of some of their client work, inviting me to learn more about their studio business – and I did. That was completely cool. Others sent videos of their cars in action off road, and made sure to customize them with brief cameos, saying, “Hey Cam, hope you liked the tape – we had fun making it for you.”

Our community was quickly built, private in scope and incorporated the following media channels:
Web sites – enthusiast sites with classified advertising that sold hard

Web-based Original Video – the product in action

Email to send photos and mechanical reviews

Telephone for one-to-one Q&A

Magazines and Newsletters which invigorated the category, and brought all of us together

A customized communication approach to a unique community – at King Fish, we call that creating a Private Media channel – where buyers and sellers create dialogue with one another in trusted environments. It is efficient, it is highly measurable, and it helped me bring home an old family friend.

It’s only December 20th, and we have already had a near record amount of snow in Salem, MA for this month. And technically, it’s still fall. How cool is that? The roof in our 100+ year old converted mill building has been leaking steadily for the past three days, while the work crews have been racing to fix the problem before our forecasted rain this weekend. I have no doubt they’ll make it right.

The streets from Boston up to the North Shore are a bit tough to navigate; sidewalks are narrowed by the trenches dug for pedestrians by shopkeepers hoping to attract last minute shoppers. That incredibly gray concoction of ice, snow, cinders and sand fills the street edges, so we leap from street to sidewalk, hoping to nail a sure-footed landing. And before long, the mess will melt, and we’ll forget the minor hassles of the winter.

With just a few weeks until the presidential primaries get under way, the candidates are looking to score final points for voters. The home stretch is in sight, and now that they’ve exhausted selling points on Iraq, oil, healthcare, the mortgage crisis and the economy, we’re moving into profile pieces on candidates often aimed at their faults or past missteps – the epitome of who-cares content.  The candidates are also wrapping up their apologies to one another for negative debate comments and attack ads.   And, we see the mainstream media is playing their game of building up candidates to knock them down later.

Will people vote based on new information dredged up on personal religious beliefs, positions on infidelity, unflattering pictures and rumors of health problems – I really doubt it. But thankfully, the months of cheap shots, negative campaigning and accusations of flip-flopping will shortly give way to a 2-person race that hopefully will sharpen the two candidates’ messaging and start positioning us once again as a world leader. Our new President is faced with the responsibility of repairing our image with other countries, and he or she had better plan to make this job one. I have confidence that they will.

From New England streets to the voices of our candidates across the country, listen for it and you’ll be amazed: people are upbeat, and they’re generally positive. There is an overwhelming sensation of hope and an effort of goodwill that I haven’t observed for some time. Can the Christmas and holiday season have that great an impact on people? It can. And it is working.  Life can be tough, and every person out there has their own personal challenges. Most of them can be overcome, but some will not. That’s what we’re dealt, and so it goes. But as we head into a new year the county is eager for a positive change and a new attitude. Take a look and see for yourself.
 

There is a remarkable group run out of the University of Massachusetts’ McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies named Give Us Your Poor. Leading this group is a driven and truly committed guy named John McGah (left) - and if you don’t know that name, chances are you will soon.

John has led this program for several years, and aims to not just raise awareness of the homeless, but lobbies Washington to implement legislation that will begin to eradicate it within the decade. And he’s not alone.

Through nothing more than a powerful determination, John has gathered powerful business executives, politicians and now includes musical artists contributing to a new CD to bring their voices to today’s present realities of homelessness. And these are not B-list names.

The recently released CD features work by Springsteen, Seeger, Bon Jovi, Bonnie Raitt, Keb’ Mo, Mario Frangoulis and Mighty Sam McClain. It’s even made ABC’s nightly newscast on Friday, November 9th when Natalie Merchant was named person of the week for her work with Give Us Your Poor and was profiled during a recording session.

John has harnessed the power of media to raise awareness and funds to drive the next chapter of Give Us Your Poor. Among the biggest names and voices recording today, artists have contributed their original work and energy to this cause, and it’s coming to Boston Friday November 16th at the newly renovated Strand Theatre. If you’re from the Boston area, this will be an amazing night; come learn more about the organization and hear some incredible music from Natalie Merchant, Mighty Sam McClain, Mario Frangoulis & Buffalo Tom (for ticket info, click on this link ).

Note:  King Fish provides considerable pro bono work for the Give Us Your Poor organization, as they do for other 501c(3) non profit groups as part of its corporate mission and employee contribution program.

I confess that for me, presidential political races are right up there with American League pennant races. After 175 games or so this season with the Sox ultimately victorious over the Rockies, I can switch gears to the race for out next President.

In 1999, I worked on the John McCain campaign for the Republican nomination in Massachusetts. It was wildly interesting to be a small part of the election process, and one of my top experiences was meeting and speaking with the Senator for several minutes as he prepared to give a speech in rural New Hampshire to about 100 local citizens.

Fast forward to 2007 and an election where campaigns are increasingly fought through video and other electronic means. Some videos are professionally produced by the campaign staff and worthy of Cannes consideration and others are clips from cable TV that rely on humor to help us remember what ought to matter in a candidate - service to our country and strength of character.

 The great thing about video is that there is always another side to the candidate they hope you don’t see, but the video camera is always on and can capture awkward moments. In this example, while I like to think he was in fact reading notes, however, that may be a tough sell.

Or you could see his humor being lost on an audience of students asking about age.  On the other hand, voters are getting a raw glimpse of John McCain that they would not see on the Sunday talk shows. .

The Senator likes to talk straight, “warts and all.” And our media’s there to capture every word, every slip, every sound bite. The new web video culture gives candidates the opportunity you speak directly to the people without the filter of traditional media. It also gives campaigns the ability to post positive clips of their guy, and negative clips of their opposition. But while watching the quick-hits and sound bites, don’t forget to peel back the onion a bit, and look at the qualities of character, integrity and service in all of the candidates.

Missing old friends? Want invites to parties? How about offers to join dozens of new online social networks (all of which are stories in themselves)? Start blogging. Can’t say that we’ve been offered a custom media gig for The Who yet, but given the volume of contacts surfacing in the last 45 days, I’m holding-out hope.

At Think Tank, our staff and some interesting opinioned-types have been offering their thoughts on media and its many current offerings and applications. We’re in the business, and we live to challenge the status quo of media you can rent versus owning your own media channel. We call that Private Media, but what’s in a name? What Private Media does for marketers says it all, and the next 125 words is for those people who’ve checked in and want to hear about what’s new at the shop in Salem.

• Our events group just wrapped the Appreciative Inquiry conference where 500 attendees spent 3 ½ days in keynotes and workshops designed to spur positive change in the workplace. Fascinating subject, and powerful speakers. Click here to read what my fellow blogger Gordon Plutsky has to say about the event.

• Webcasts have evolved beyond straight-forward audio and video platforms; the duration is shortening, content is punchier, and other platforms are deployed that include interactive PDFs, virtual tradeshows and even more engaging uses of video. Cool and smart stuff.

• We’re currently conducting a phone and interactive survey for 100 customers of a King Fish client for a comprehensive market research project. This formidable media company has outsourced this significant custom media program to us to determine who makes the cut for an important performance-based award ceremony next quarter. Brilliant use of Private Media to maximize employee retention.

Recent King Fish acknowledgements by Entrepreneur and Inc. magazines confirm that our approach is working, and that our clients are benefiting from this fresh method of assessing business challenges. There’s the update – and onto a request: for any old contacts stopping by Think Tank, please feel free to invite me to any of the following social networks from my past:

• The guys who get 69 GTO convertibles
• Small bars/clubs where the best music still lives
• My sailing friends from PLP (1976-1979)
• A place I can lose myself laughing again with Gardner, Rich, Jamie, Jon, Woozie,  Spike and JB
• An online community for all of us tortured by my 1st grade swimming teacher.
 

Who doesn’t have an opinion? That answer may be more chilling than you’d immediately presume. I’m a talk-radio, print-columnist and online content junkie, consuming more daily info than is probably good for me. Sometimes it’s an essay from someone I respect, but most often the content is heartfelt reaction (reaction to whom?) to syndicated columnists and talking heads expert at eliciting emotional reactions from their listeners and readers. Makes for quick road trips and typically, helps me form a position on issues.

The proliferation of commentary makes you think, and that’s the basic point of why people seek out others’ opinions. It should be utterly immaterial what your political, religious, or private life is all about to other people—it’s your life, you should live it without fear of response or consequence by others (presuming you abide by social & legal ethics). This includes the opportunity to speak your mind, state your case, and support your beliefs with your own thesis points.

Team of Rivals, a book about Lincoln’s cabinet by Doris Kearns Goodwin, bears this point out with incredible clarity. If you read it and understand these magnificent thinkers based on their own ideas and insights, most of the insights in the book are captured from their own daily journal entries. Lincoln and his cabinet were largely moral observers and political philosophers who overcame their individual base-level conflicts for the greater good of a young country. Differences between them were openly debated, and concessions to better points were made frequently. Except for the occasional duel, disagreements were kept in perpetuity on private papers, and not in the public eye. Compare this to the current political debate that takes place on You Tube, cable TV and the blogosphere. Nothing is private, and policy influencers cannot afford to be under the radar.

Today, media offers us the ability to read and form opinions as never before. Aggregators like Matt Drudge (The Drudge Report is one of the best) gather opinions across political spectrums and help readers create and debate opinions. Countless bloggers offer commentary that readers can chose whether or not to read and respond to—all in an effort to elicit conversation, perspective and debate on topics important to them.

In today’s media world there are no limits to available information and no excuses for being uninformed. Certainly, it will take an unidentifiable event to drive people to again document their ideas on paper journals, and forego the ease of electronic storage. So it goes. I have immense faith that people are destined to tire of forwarding emails that by association, they hope purports their own thinking, and will again rely on distinguishing their individuality through their own written ideas.

The Web and ease of electronic communication is a great forum for expressing your opinions and thinking on your own. My hope is that people take advantage of this. Quite a difference from the days of Lincoln when opinions remained in dusty journals destined for historians, but I’m buying my first journal today.
 

Last March, my family was skiing with a large group in Vermont. My thirteen year old son (who spends his time pursuing either speed or jumps of some nature) broke his wrist on our last afternoon. We made it to the local hospital about 7:00pm, and he was in a cast and home by 9:00. I had noticed he was unusually anxious about the time, and about getting out of the hospital, so naturally I presumed he was in pain, and that he needed to get back to the security of his home and family. Wrong.

Walking in the door, he went straight to YouTube, where he searched for and quickly found video taken that afternoon of him and his friends on Sugarbush. It had been about five hours since the accident, and there it was: 5:45 minutes, edited with audio by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and complete with opening and closing graphics. And the director/editor (also 13) had to drive three hours to get home. The most amazing part of this—there were already 350 views of the video.

User-generated content is a reality of all age groups. Kids rely on it for entertainment value, adults rely on peer groups for advice, and businesses rely on their own customers for testimonials to prospective new customers. Virtually no other form of content has been so universally adopted in such a short timeframe.

Of course, there are risks when you let content be posted with minimal screening, and you know what they are. But does it also enhance a brand’s perceived confidence by not over-editing or censoring content generated on their site? Are prospective customers more likely to purchase a particular item of clothing or energy drink because it was featured on a free video spoof and was viewed 3mm times? Looks like the shift is on and yes, that is exactly what’s happening.

Take YouTube phenomenon Tay Zonday, whose song “Chocolate Rain” has generated 7,600,000+ views in four months and is available for download?. Then, look at how many others are already parodying this song (although the beat is excruciating, watch “Vanilla Snow” right after “Chocolate Rain” for an excellent laugh; currently, Vanilla Snow has received about 1mm views), and you get a feel for the power of user generated content. It’s a quirky approach to custom media, but with significant views daily, you can be confident it’s rattling the sensibilities of traditional media companies too stubborn to feel the new wind blowing.

When 13 year-olds are living for free, user-generated content, it’s time to pay attention to the new face of media that has arrived. And marketers in the world of custom media have got to harness the platform and drive their clients to make smart deployment of the medium to remain relevant.