I recently contributed another article to Chief Marketer on the topic of face to face events. Specifically it explains how to use events as a lead generation and lead nurturing tool. While working for several media companies I had responsibility for publication branded events and custom events. One thing I learned is when using events as lead gen tool it is critical to scale your event (and budget) to the anticipated return. Many people do think of live events as custom media, but they can be very powerful tools as part of a private custom media solution. Click here to read the article.
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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.
I recently came across some interesting brand loyalty research. This article from Chief Marketer refers to a study done by Brand Keys that looks at a “Customer Loyalty Engagement Index”. In a nutshell the findings suggest customer loyalty greatly increases when products and services are customized to the consumer. This makes perfect sense, as customization is becoming more critical to marketers as product differentiation is becoming hard to come by these days. It is a testament to world wide engineering and manufacturing skills that most products sold in the US today are made very well. Since most competitive products do the same thing reasonable well, the ability to customize for a specific buyer has become an attractive product attribute.
The two factors driving the age of customization are the same ones that are driving the move to private media channels and content marketing. An advance in technology and web adoption has made ordering customized products or consuming custom content real and easy to do. However, the biggest factor is that consumers have the power and are in control of their choices. The web has empowered consumers to shop and/or gather information across the globe. It also plays into the consumer’s mindset – they would much rather have something created just for them instead of the same product purchased by the guy down the street.
You can see how this can apply to your marketing choices – if you send your customers content that has been customized for them, you will increase your chances of building a relationship of affinity, trust and loyalty. Many companies are missing a golden opportunity to build a stronger relationship with their customers by not communicating with them in a customized private custom media venue. How many companies are still relying on mass market bulk mailings to talk to their customers if they talk to them at all? The technology exists where you can mine your database to know a customer’s interests and tastes; why not send them content and marketing messages that are customized for them instead of a generic catalog or email? Or even worse, do think you are hitting your current customers with a mass media ad that is focused at prospects? Marketers are required to evaluate their customer communications in light of changes in the way people desire and consume information.
We are in the age of customization, and savvy marketers don’t want to be sending yesterday’s news to tomorrow’s customers.
Last week I wrote about Starbuck’s attempt to reach out to customers and prospects for constructive feedback and new product ideas. In Tuesday’s Boston Globe they ran an insert (with attached card, see below) that made the following offer: Come in to Starbucks on Wednesday’s for the next six weeks, and receive a free tall Pike Place Roast coffee. Pike Place Roast is their new smoother blend that was requested by many of the suggestions on the site. It is a great tactic to use custom media to get new and lapsed customers into stores and try their new coffee. I have to believe this promotion was focused at people like me who prefer the taste of Dunkin Donuts and do not regularly shop at Starbucks. Six weeks of free coffee can get someone hooked and make a stop at Starbucks part of their regular routine. Most importantly, it gets the product into people’s hands. All the “branding” and expensive TV ads in the world can’t guarantee that.
In the interest of marketing science I went to my local Starbucks yesterday morning to test their offer and taste the new blend. It was the typical Starbucks experience with lots of earnest, serious people sitting around with no particular place to go at 8:30am on a week day. I strode up to the baristas and ordered my tall Pike Place Roast and flashed my card. I guess the card identified me a newbie since my barista felt compelled to thoughtfully point out that “tall” means “small”. It was probably the best coffee I ever had at Starbucks, not as good as Dunkin Donuts, but much improved.
It is interesting to see their private media channel come full circle from soliciting advice from their customers to putting a program in place to put their words into action. I will give it a shot the next few weeks and let them try and convert me. Maybe some day I will actually know what Venti means.
Starbucks has been getting beaten up this year and faces tough competition from Dunkin Donuts. Even McDonalds is taking a run at them. One of the ways they chose to respond is a great lesson in listening to your customer and embracing a private custom media channel. For many companies the knee jerk, old school reaction would have been to launch a “branding” campaign or hire a celebrity pitch person. Instead Starbucks did something very cool – they launched My Starbucks Idea web site. The purpose of the site is to ask their loyal customers what they could do to improve the product and service. I would encourage you to go to the site and read the both the volume and passion of the responses. The site is powered by salesforce.com and they did a similar site for Dell. Interesting, Dell and Starbucks have a lot in common – both were innovative companies who used to be the fresh up-and-comers, and once they got too big; they lost touch with what made them great.
I commend both companies for creating a private media channel to have a two way dialog with their customers. This kind of forum gives customers a place to vent, and make suggestion. Read through some of them – they are not only thoughtful, but smart. A lot of companies give lip service to listening to their customer, but how many actually do and act on it? More than ever, people in the executive suite are isolated from their customers, where they are a long way from their middle class American customers and prospects. Also, since they only talk to other execs, they get caught in an infinite loop of their own B.S. How many meetings have you been in where sales and marketing people sit around pitching each other and not taking in outside information? Happens all the time and the result: the ads we see on TV and in magazines are completely off target.
What I really like about the site is the “Ideas in Action” section where Starbuck employees respond in their own words and tell customers what action they will take based on customer suggestions. This is powerful because many times when you write to a web site, you get an automated response which is sometimes worse than getting none at all. I have to admit I have never been a big Starbucks fan – the coffee is too harsh and I can’t stand the ordering process. It was fun to see that many others feel the way I do. As a result, they are introducing a “smoother” coffee and talking about an express line for impatient people like me who just want a regular coffee; and don’t want to stand behind a line of people ordering complicated permutations of coffee beans, milk (cow or soy) and odd flavors.
Now, let’s see if they take this process one step further. They have collected scores of contact names and been given the “permission” to talk to them about Starbucks. I would suggest starting a real Starbucks private custom media channel to their customers using content marketing to further strengthen the bond between them and their customers. This approach could get Starbucks back on track and make the brand fresh again. Meanwhile, I can’t wait for the first express line open.
I love Whole Foods as does my “mom” posse - every time I go to the store, I run into lots of Moms I know. And, we all have at least five grocery stores to choose from that are closer than Whole Foods (WF). We are not driving out of our way because we are going to save money. Whole Foods definitely skews to the expensive side of the super market spectrum, even for the “healthy” category. So why are we all so loyal to WF during these challenging economic times?
I was curious enough that I posed this question to my friends: “What makes you drive an extra 20 minutes to a market that clearly charges a premium?” Across the board the first response was perceived quality of the products but it was the next strongest responses that I found interesting as a custom media marketer.
As a community, moms pride themselves on making smart choices for their families. The responsibility for making healthy food choices falls squarely on our shoulders. We want our children to learn good eating habits and help them to make good decisions even when we aren’t there. Whole Foods enables Moms to do their jobs better. The store is packed with information about the foods themselves as well as the brands. The content can include health benefits, cooking tips and serving suggestions. Most of my friends commented that they spend more time in WF compared to other stores because they are busy reading about each special item as well as health news and updates. They learn something every time they go shopping. This is a classic example of content-based marketing to attract and retain customers. The use of informative information we can use makes us more likely to shop at WF, and likely increases the amount we spend per shopping trip. In addition, customers are invited to sign up for fl@vors to receive special offers, recipes and food education. This is a great customer affinity newsletter that aims to get more business out of current customers.
However, the biggest differentiator vs. traditional markets for the moms is the live informational events. I am not talking “try the salsa and smoked sausage on at toothpick in the aisle” kind of event our moms experienced. We’re talking sushi making classes; kids cooking lessons; cooking demos and book signings; quick and healthy meal classes; you name it! There are events and classes at WF just about every week. Mom friends sign up together and it becomes a big girl play date. Some of them are in-store, some of them are via sponsorships of local community events which cannot be undervalued. (Giving back in these times is not only responsible, it is mandatory.) This is a very smart use of live events as custom media to strength the bond between store and customer. Whatever the venue, WF has carved as niche as a destination that plays a critical role in our lives.
Positive and fun interactions with the brand reinforce why we are willing to drive farther and spend more. But overwhelmingly, my own little straw poll indicated that the informative content kept us coming back. It is a competitive world out there and creating a dialog and educating the customer can help move products off the shelves, even the most expensive products. I am guessing that there are other retailers out there that could take a page from the WF marketing book: educate the customer with content-based marketing, engage them with live event and watch the bottom line grow.
Last month I became a member of a somewhat exclusive club which is unusual for me since I have avoided joining anything for most of my life. You name it – frats, the Elks, Shriners, Freemasons, religions, community groups – no matter the club; I was not your man.
After thinking about it for years, I took the plunge and leased a Mercedes-Benz. I went to my local dealer on President’s Day weekend dressed like a slob and was clearly only interested in the cheapest model they produce – the C300. However, from the minute I walked into the dealer, I was treated with respect and like I was someone important. The sales manager greeted me warmly and made sure I was with a sales person as quickly as possible. He kept apologizing for the wait which was no more than five minutes.
I purchased 6 cars before this one and each transaction was confrontational and unpleasant. It was the same drill we have all been through – the pressure to buy today – and the old “What is going to take to for you to buy a car today”. And of course, the Oz-like sales manager/business manager who is kept in back office and is in charge of closing and the final price. His purpose is to intimate you into buying now. The whole experience is usually horrible and you never want to go back. My father-in-law once punched a guy who would not give him back the keys to the car he was considering trading in.
The people at my dealership worked hard with me to come up with a deal that worked for me. My sales person patiently explored all options with me in terms of down payment, mileage etc. I took a test drive and was incredibly impressed with the car and the knowledge of my sales person, who happened to be German – how cool is that. The business manager was also helpful and closed the deal by giving me a credit for the two payments I had on my existing lease. At no point did I feel pressured or harassed into buying
What I found interesting was in the sales pitch and all the conversations there was a subtle but strong theme. From the moment I walked into the dealership they viewed me as a possible life time customer, not a one time deal to make a monthly quota. There was a lot of talk about “joining the club” how I have earned this car/status symbol. Part of being in the club means I can come by any time for a free car wash, or call for a Mercedes service call anywhere in the US.
After I signed my agreement, the sales manager who first greeted me came over, shook my hand and put his arm around my shoulder to welcome me and offer his congratulation for “arriving”. It all sounds corny, but it worked for this cynical guy.
When you think about it there is no difference between a Kia and Mercedes in the respect they both get you from point A to B. To sell a premium price car you must sell more than basic transportation. Additionally, the high price point means there is a limited amount of buyers and lots of competition for their dollars. All the expensive broadcast and print ads in the world can’t duplicate the experience I received when buying my car. Your next best customer is always your current customer. Check back with me in three years, but the odds are high I’ll be staying in the club.
There have already been a million reviews of the creative, and that is not our goal, but rather to take a Private Media/Custom Media look at the efforts.
One of the big themes was Web tie-ins and promotions. Google/You Tube offered a special package which was a smart option. When you are spending $3 million for 30 seconds of rented TV time, it is a no brainier to buy a package from the premier search engine and video sharing site. My Space and other sites also promoted how you could recap the commercials online after the game. Many (but not enough) of the commercials invited you to a special Web site with mixed results. This was the whole focus of the Go Daddy campaign where they teased you to go on line for a lame Junior High joke about Danica Patrick and a beaver. Embarrassing all around, and did nothing to persuade people to use their domain buying service.
The other theme was the overall level of violence, anger, mayhem and gross outs. Puking babies, hearts jumping out of a chest, people sucked into a jet engine, face mauling badgers, and Justin Timberlake being beaten senseless. I haven’t even gotten to the politically incorrect and just plain offensive – making fun of foreigners, unattractive women and creepy clowns. I am a pretty insensitive guy, and even I was offended at some of this stuff.
Mayhem has been a theme for a couple of years now. I can only guess that this is what happens when big agencies try to make news rather than practice good marketing. They are trying to outdo each other and be outrageous to break through the clutter. This is classic example of agencies talking AT customers rather building a relationship and imparting information that could be used to make a buying decision. The whole Super Bowl ad culture has forgotten the purpose of advertising and marketing is to actually sell products and services.
What struck me the most about these ads is how all those marketing dollars could have been used more effectively. Here are just some rough ideas on how to better spend $3,000,000 using content based private custom media solutions.
1. Mining your customer and prospect database to create a quarterly magazine or newsletter with customized content to build a relationship of trust with your customers.
2. A frequent buyer’s affinity program aimed at your best customers to get them to spend more money and convert them to life long customers.
3. A series of interactive webcasts where you can give customers and prospects great information while creating a two-way dialog.
4. A custom Web site packed with content and an online video series with a viral component to build excitement about your brand and turn customers into brand evangelists.
5. A series of face-to-face events to get yourself closer to your customers. There is no substitute to getting your prospects to actually touch, feel and try your product. This works for both consumer and business offerings. If you want someone to try a new version of Pepsi then get it into people’s hands in a fun atmosphere. That will convert a lot more customers than a commercial that rips off a 1990’s Saturday Night Live skit
Two Ads I Really Liked
I thought the ad for the Audi R8 did the best job showing you the product in action and creating excitement for a new car. First they get you hooked with a parody of the Godfather. They even used an actor, Alex Rocco, from the original film. (He played Jewish gangster Moe Green, the bullet in the eye guy from the scene where Michael settles all family business). After getting the viewer sucked in they tease the car in action, which was impressive to say the least. The only reaction you can have is “Wow, I have to know more about that.”
The other ad I really liked was the Coke parade ad. While Pepsi tries to be cool and trendy, Coke takes a timeless, classic approach with cartoon characters. It was creative, fun and multi generational, using Charlie Brown, Stewie from Family Guy and Underdog. Just putting those three together was inspired. The best part was in the end poor old Charlie Brown gets the bottle of coke. It was a feel good, affinity building moment that stood out in a sea of mean-spirited commercials.
I am also compelled to mention that my media flavored NY vs. Boston Super Bowl game prediction was right on the money. The lesson – When Hubris comes up against Karma, always take Karma and the points.
I love football and I am a huge Pats fan. I have also worked in advertising and marketing for 20 years. So as you can imagine this year’s game was for me a BIG disappointment! It wasn’t just because my beloved team crashed and burned on what was to be their coronation in the Hall of Perfection. It was because these were some of the worst Super Bowl ads ever. My viewpoints about to be expressed are not necessarily those of my employer. They are observations of a focus group of one: a Super-fan/Super-mom.
Reality TV culture has infiltrated our commercials. Kina Grannis won the Doritos-Idol contest and while I was prepared to hate it in the same way that I hate reality TV, I was pleasantly surprised. She has a beautiful voice. The tune was catchy. I didn’t have to cover my children’s eyes as it played or mute the language. I am glad Doritos is giving an unknown a chance but I am not sure it would make me buy high sodium, high fat snack foods for me or my family.
Careerbuilder.com, which seems harmless enough of a company, was a loser for me. Bloody hearts jumping out of shirts; sweet little fireflies being consumed by spiders, now this is the stuff that bad dreams are made of! The Super Bowl is a family event and we watch it with our kids. Did we not learn a lesson when Janet’s wardrobe malfunctioned? Like all good parents, when your kid is turned off you tend to follow suit in solidarity. The only thing this ad accomplished was make me happy that I like my job.
Salesgenie.com should be taken out back and have bamboo shoots stuck under their fingernails. My kids were questioning if that was mocking an entire community. (Remember, schools teach cultural sensitivity these days!) Ling Lings Bamboo Furniture, Ramesh and his Widgets and I Dream of Genie were not only bordering on political incorrectness, they were just dumb. Come on, do we really think Ramesh is going to save his job and provide for his seven kids because of 100 Sales Genie leads? The ads were insulting at best and patronizing in the least.
On the other hand, I loved the Tide-to-Go Interview. My Talking Stain was funny, memorable and like the stains on my kids’ clothes, it gets my attention. I went to mytalkingstain.com (completely inspired by Office Max and the Dancing Elves of holiday fame) and couldn’t wait to upload my kid’s photos. Children love to see themselves on-screen, e-mail their likenesses to their grandparents and all the while I am interacting with a brand. I already buy Tide, but this reinforces my relationship with them. Today Tide made me laugh in addition reminding me of their key product attribute—they clean clothes. That little value add, a smile during a crazy day, can go a along way for a mom.
I am grateful that I didn’t have to explain erectile dysfunction or Viagra to my kids. But in general, I was underwhelmed with the quality of the ads and messages. I was uninspired by companies who waste millions of dollars and opportunities to communicate a real message on silly cartoon characters that tell me nothing about the benefits of their products. I am disappointed that my team wasn’t super and that the ads for the most part were super-boring.
The proposed take over of Yahoo by Microsoft is a fascinating intersection of marketing, technology and advertising, with Microsoft motivated by its inability to compete with Google in search and online advertising. If I were in Steve Ballmer’s shoes I would probably do the same thing, but this strategy is a classic example of fighting the last war.
Mergers in the tech world never seem to work out for a variety of reasons, but mostly because they forget about the customer or take them for granted. These deals always sound good in the conference room where insulated executives pitch each other on stories of efficiency and synergy. They think that one plus one never equals three, in some cases such as TimeWarner/AOL – one plus one equaled .75.
Trying to merge cultures, technologies, people and rivalries is always a mess, and the needs of and desires of customers always take a back seat. It is always assumed that if “Joe” is a customer of Company B, and it is bought by Company A, then “Joe” naturally becomes a customer of Company A. This is faulty logic – our man Joe has no relationship or loyalty to the new company, and may not even like them (remember the HP/Compaq merger). The market has already selected Google as the de facto search standard by a huge margin. Why they would think that combing the second and third place search engines would get people to switch. The wisdom of crowds has spoken and it is not talking about the MSN network.
I have always been a big fan and heavy user of Yahoo’s content and email, but frankly, their search is not nearly as good as Google’s. I have started the day with my customized myYahoo page and used their email service forever. However, if a Microsoft-owned Yahoo tries to convert me to a Hotmail account, I am gone, and so will others who don’t want an email address that looks like it comes from an adult site.
Microsoft has to be very nervous about Google’s success and plans for the future. According to the New York Times, MS is heavily dependent on sales of operating systems and Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook) for profitability. In the last quarter alone their operating profit from Office was $3.2 billion on $4.8 billion in sales. That is literately printing money and a business model they need to defend.
It is hard to imagine a time when corporate America won’t be using MS Office, but fast forward 10-12 years. Do you really think we will all still be using packaged software that costs $400 a pop, or will we be using some sort of Software as a Service (SaaS) or ASP model? Check out Google Docs and you can see they are moving in this direction. That thought has to scare the heck out of Microsoft. Not to mention mobile computing and other platforms where they are lagging behind.
Technology is a cruel business, where one moment you are the hot new thing, the king of the hill, and a minute later you are yesterday’s news. Google will not be toppled by the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo. However, one day they will likely be knocked off the mountain by a group of brilliant kids who get their start in a garage.
I like my dry cleaning strong. Strong colors, strong creases, strong chemical smells. I want to peel my ultra-heavy starched shirts right off the hanger and feel as though I’m wearing a brand-new shirt. I want to lift up that plastic veil and marvel at the sight of my born-again wool coats. I want to be sure that my linen pants were dipped in pool of industrial-strength Oxy Clean and then lovingly hand-creased by a strong and meticulous Russian woman.
After a recent move, I decided to frequent a nearby location of the Zoots chain. “They have a delivery service, shoe repair AND in-store tailoring!” I salivated. “Boy, I bet they’ll crease my pants with pride. I’m there.”
And so began my year-long lukewarm affair with Zoots. At first, I was just vaguely dissatisfied with the fact that when I dropped clothes off, it was at least four days before I could pick them up. Then, I began to notice that the receipt they gave me for pick-up never had the cost on it. And the clothes just never…felt clean. More than anything, I just couldn’t shake the thought that they were trying to dupe me into paying more for what was truly some mediocre cleaning and even more mediocre service.
So, my recent decision to try another dry cleaner was indeed premeditated. I packed up my silk shirts and tailored pants and headed to another local chain called Anton’s. I dropped my clothes off with ease, was told they’d be ready in two days, and received a pick-up receipt that had the cost of the cleaning prominently displayed. I was already off to a better start, I mused as I left the store.
About three days later, I reached into my mailbox to find a mysterious package with a hand-applied label and a stamp. I took a closer look and discovered it was a cheery, beautifully designed welcome package from Anton’s. I eagerly tore the package open and saw it included a welcome letter highlighting store locations, a bevy of coupons and a card with dry-cleaning tips, among other items.
Anton’s chose the precise media channel, direct mail, to reach me, and right after I had a very positive experience with them. The excellent timing, the variety of useful materials enclosed and the attractive, welcoming packaging all worked together to make me feel like they truly cared about serving me. They noticed I was a new customer, and they sent me a package to show they appreciated it. That’s perhaps one of the most simple, yet most important keys of customer retention – just showing you care. And no matter what people say about the death of direct mail, if it’s as well-executed as my package from Anton’ was, a simple $1 or $2 mailing might just earn you a customer for life.
Zoots may have cared about my business, but they certainly never showed it. And now that I have Anton’s to re-fresh my creases, I’m one happy customer.
In this Monday’s New York Times, David Carr writes about print magazines and how they fit into his overall media consumption. Read the article—he makes the case that there is less and less time for print and publications like The Week will thrive in the web era with its style of short articles and quick hits of the week’s news. He may be right for some people, but I don’t agree.
To me, the strength of print is the long article and thoughtful analysis. I can get quick AP type headlines and news on the Web all day long. In fact, I do—I monitor the major news outlets on myyahoo.com feed all day long. In addition, I make time for the Boston Globe and the New York Times print editions to get behind the news stories and personalities. I also make time for Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, The New Yorker, Portfolio, Inc. and Boston Magazine. What I get from each of these is long form, in-depth journalism that I would not tend to read online. That may change someday, but for me and probably others my age, nothing can duplicate the environment and affinity you get with your favorite magazine. What I love about magazines is discovering and learning about something I had no idea I would be interested in; or a unique take on an old topic.
For example, this New Yorker story about Rupert Murdoch buying the Wall Street Journal by long time journalist and media analyst Ken Auletta; or well known tech writer Steve Levy writing in Newsweek about Amazon.com and the future of the ebook.
That being said, the magazine industry faces enormous challenges as a marketing vehicle as we move into the Private Media era. Of the magazines I read each week—I could recall only one ad through unaided assistance—the back cover of the New Yorker had an ad for the Mercedes C series, a car I really want to buy in the spring. It is ironic; the only ad I remember is a product I was already sold on.
The case for print advertising is a tough one to make. It is neither actionable nor measurable to the advertiser, and it is the classic example of “interruption” based advertising. The ads are only relevant to a small amount of people who have an interest or ability to buy that particular product. Each week my reading is interrupted with dozens of very expensive ads for pickup trucks, minivans, video games, outdoor camping equipment, energy drinks, credit cards, after dinner liquor and pharmaceuticals that I will never, ever buy. The amount of marketing dollars wasted reaching prospects in the manner is mind-boggling. And by the way, is this the way to have a dialog with your current customers?
Print publishers face a huge challenge—how to stay relevant and profitable at the same time. Most smart publishers are far down the road to becoming multi-platform media brands with strong online, video, events and lead generating offerings. They need to get to a point where the print product is no longer the center of the universe. This evolution will only accelerate over time as most consumers under 35 are online focused and will not have the attachment to print that us middle-aged people do.
However, a stumbling block to the future is that these media companies are stocked with people who have spent their entire careers in print and still see the Web as an ancillary product. And, because print still drives profits, most media company compensation plans are skewed towards selling print ads. I love this quote from Felix Dennis, owner of The Week, and founder of Maxim magazine.
“The American magazine industry has been massively overstaffed for years and years. It is one of the most inefficient businesses in the history of the world. And you know what? The chickens are coming home to roost,” Mr. Dennis said. “They can sit around the campfire listening to the scary noises out in the dark, wondering where it all went, but what I would suggest is that they take some of the chickens, skin ’em, and stick ’em on the campfire and start eating.”
This sentiment will resonate with anyone who spent significant time working for a traditional old line publishing company. Their staffing and business models are still heavily weighted to print, especially in management and sales. Print sales reps still make huge salaries compared to people selling online media and event sponsorships—does that still make sense? Grab a copy of any consumer or trade publication and take a hard look at the masthead and you will be amazed at the layers of management (thick with VPs, EVPs, SVPs and Extra Special Super Terrific VPs) and the people with titles (anything with “Strategic” in it) that look like what they are—old timers and buddies hanging around at big salaries. Add this overhead to rising costs for paper, production, circulation and postage and you have some significant costs that must be covered by print advertising’s declining margins.
I share Mr. Dennis’s opinion—it’s time to blow up the internal structures of these companies and realign assets and people to reflect the new reality of the multi platform, Private Media world. It’s time to bite the bullet and come to the realization the long term future is not a print dominant world. They need slash costs and hire and reward the people who are driving online, video and event products—not the risk-adverse print veterans who are waiting for the “good old days to come back”. Time and progress only move forward, get on the bus or be run over by it.
It was early on a Thursday morning in Nashville, and sunlight streamed into the hotel lobby, glinting off the silver serving trays filled with pastries. A well-coiffed man walked up to the SunTrust Committed to Growth event registration table. He greeted me enthusiastically, shook my hand firmly and introduced himself. He was an entrepreneur and business owner and, from the looks of him, most likely a successful one.
Suddenly, his winsome smile darkened. He leaned in toward me, his thick southern drawl even more pronounced. “Now. Whom do I speak to about my dissatisfaction with SunTrust?”
A stout, smiling banker to my left stepped forward. “Hi sir, now what’s the problem?” The banker whisked the man off into the crowd, attentively listening to his issues.
In that moment, it struck me what a gift this was for SunTrust. To have a customer call you while angry and for you to scramble to band-aid an unsavory situation is one thing; for them to show up in person at your event and to give you the chance to repair a bad relationship face-to-face is another.
King Fish Media, in partnership with Profitable Channels, has been producing and managing SunTrust Small Business Growth seminars for the past several years. After every event, I hear this comment in various forms: “Gosh, it’s so good to be able to connect with prospects and current clients face-to-face.” It’s the personal touch that makes a relationship thrive, and in an industry that’s as dry yet as personal as banking, it’s essential for customer retention.
The value of live events extends beyond just delivering informative, relevant content to your valued customers. It opens up endless possibilities for customer service and stewardship that other media channels don’t provide. Although at times difficult to accurately measure, it’s clear that a timely, well-produced live event is often the most impactful channel through which customers can fully grasp your commitment to them.
By the end of the morning, the smile on the business owner’s face at the SunTrust seminar couldn’t have been more genuine, and the banker sent him off with a flourish. He returned to his banking colleagues are remarked, “Now that’s good stuff.”
The moms market is one of the most lucrative targets for marketers – some estimates have it pegged at well over $1 trillion, and keep in mind that moms have influence over more than 80% of a household’s purchasing power.
While it seems like it would be easy, Mom Hunting isn’t always as simple as it appears. They are right out there in the open, but the competition for their attention and time is fierce. They are not just filtering information for themselves, but for their families, their homes, their schools and committees. How do you capture the attention of this valuable gatekeeper?
Traditional business to business marketing has a few key strategies that have worked well: Targeted events, trade magazines, trade shows, email newsletters, online videos, and web casts. All of these can help persuade potential clients to see the wisdom of selecting a certain product or vendor. These techniques can also work for mom with one critical caveat: the content and format has to absolutely be developed with the mom in mind.
Example: If you are having an event for moms, you have to plan the event with the perfect balance of information and resources - you must factor in the babysitters! Holding an event for moms in the daytime without offering a strategy for the kids would be a clear statement of your lack of understanding of the challenges that these moms face. In a recent Working Mothers Conference, produced by King Fish, the event was not only extremely well attended, but even the moms who did not take advantage of the babysitting service appreciated the offer and said so in their post event comments.
For ducklings, a multi-platform mom-marketing effort for Albertsons/Shaws supermarkets, the content at each turn supported their tag line: “a little help along the way”. For the magazine element of the program the editorial was developed with the busy mom in mind.
Recipes had a handy shopping list that included minimal ingredients that could be prepared quickly and enjoyed by all palates. The editorial content acknowledged the fact that most moms are short on time and prefers not to cook different meals for finicky eaters. This approach appealed to the readers and kept them coming back to the magazine.
Balancing this type of editorial with actionable information that speaks to the busy mom’s day to day existence was also part of the content plan. By the way, it’s not always about the kids and the spouse, how about something for a little mom time. Quick beauty secrets that were whipped up with grocery store products were always a hit!
Also, keep in mind the power of the mom’s networks, and how much time they spend communicating with each other. Recently I received a video of Anita Renfrew, (viewed over 10 million times on YouTube) the mom who sings the “everything a Mom says in a day” to the tune of the 1812 Overture, in less than 3 minutes. (Over 25 moms sent me this link knowing I would enjoy it.) With this song she captured the hearts and minds of countless moms. Every one of us who, while wiping the laughing tears from our eyes said, “I wish I wrote that!”. We say it the same way we wish we had developed the “Baby Einstein” series of educational tapes for kids. As though we know we COULD have done that, because it is so simple and so obviously true. If a marketer can develop a viral campaign that includes this level of entertainment with the right content for moms, they will have a success. That will be a brand that spreads faster than a germ in a pre-school class!
Hunting this big game sounds easy on the surface, but take a tip from your mom who likely said to you as a kid, “it’s the little things that make a difference”. It is the little gestures wrapped around the well conceived content that will lure the mom and keep her coming back. More importantly, you will start to build a dialog of trust and affinity with a new or existing customer.
I hate Volkswagen. No, I take that back. I loathe Volkswagen.
Now, mind you, when I purchased my 2000 VW Passat seven years ago, I was in love with it. The sunroof, the luxurious leather seats, the Tiptronic transmission, the deep blue exterior – I was in heaven. I felt like I was driving a truly magnificent piece of German machinery.
Then, two years into my ownership of my beloved chariot, and, coincidentally, at the end of my warranty, things started to go wrong. The check engine light came on. I took it in to be fixed. They turned the light off and told me nothing was wrong. It came on again the next day. I took it in. They turned it off and told me nothing was wrong. Rinse and repeat for five straight years.
I’ve had the secondary air pump replaced three times and it needs to be replaced again. The dealer’s current explanation for the check engine light’s annoying glare (and deafening beep if I accelerate quickly) is that I drive in puddles, which is causing water to get in the pump. I told them if their cars couldn’t withstand the rain, I’d be better served investing in a goat to transport me to work every day.
Curiously, there is one thing that has prevented me from pushing my car into the sea. It arrives in my email inbox every month and despite my addiction to deleting emails, I don’t delete it. Rather, I open it up and read every piece. It’s the monthly VW newsletter from my local dealer, rife with articles about the newest 2008 Passats (“offering more value than possibly another any European sedan,” I am pleased to read) coupons for oil changes and tips on where to find the best fall foliage.
I love this newsletter. I’ve read every one, top to bottom. I click on every link, poring over the articles on engine upgrades, photos of the newest models, and pieces on where to go whitewater rafting. I mentally calculate what it would take to trade my car in for a new Jetta or Toureg. Temporarily, I forget how frustrated my car has made me, how I routinely beg friends and family to steal my car in the night, how I’ve denied the car its overdue inspection sticker for the past three months. Every month, I want a new one, a better one, one that will whisk me away to the best theme park in New England.
I’m no stranger to custom publishing. We create customer retention newsletters just like this at King Fish Media. In fact, our work for Compass Bank just received a MIN award for integrated marketing. I know this is all created for my demographic. But, working for a marketing firm, I usually feel I am immune to marketing methods in my personal life. I’m surprised at how powerful one piece of communication, so carefully crafted, so compellingly put together, can make me want to take another drink from the tainted water fountain. But, it does. It’s working. Quality, relevant content delivered to the right person can clearly have a magical effect. VW has created its own private media channel for me and for my fellow VW owners, using custom content to help build a high-affinity relationship for customer retention.
So, now it’s only a matter of time before I walk into my local dealer with a problem and walk out with a beautiful new solution. For two years, anyway.
I re-learned a valuable marketing lesson at the AI conference about audiences and keeping an open mind. Some of the speakers wanted to present keynote sessions where people would sit together in tables of 10 and do interactive exercises together. No big deal, but we were sitting 450 people and it just didn’t make sense to me and my B2B/Technology events background. We strongly suggested doing it our way, but eventually relented and reset the room in rounds with materials for a brainstorming exercise. Well, the attendees loved it, and it fit right in with their democratic and participatory ethos. The lesson is one I should have remembered – put yourself in the mind of your customer and keep your preconceived notions to the side. One of the great dangers in marketing is to default back to what worked in your past. Every situation is new and times change rapidly. Approach every situation with a fresh eye and blank slate for the best results. Besides, “That’s the way we have always done it” is the worst phrase that can ever be uttered by a marketing professional.
Another interesting note – one of the speakers in the conference was an old friend and boss, Nancy Newman who is now a V.P. of sales training at Yahoo! It never fails to amaze me how life and careers takes twists and turns. It was great to see her and she was her usual funny self. When she made a few AV and logistics requests and I jumped right back into employee mode and made sure they got done for her, pronto. Nancy was the Publisher of PC Magazine and I was her marketing director back when it was the size of a large phone book in the pre web 90’s. Never in a million years could I predict that I would see her 10 years later at an Appreciative Inquiry conference my company was producing. She was joined in a standing-room-only presentation by her Yahoo! colleague, Kim Bennett. Over drinks at the evening reception Kim told me she was a stand up comedian on her rare breaks from working at Yahoo! That is what I love about face to face events, none these conversations would have happened online or in any virtual world. There is no substitute for human interaction. Here is something the internet is great for – sharing a video of Kim’s stand up act, on Yahoo! Video, of course. Click here to check it out, and enjoy.
King Fish Media recently produced the 2007 International Appreciative Inquiry (AI) Conference. The four day summit brought together people from over 25 countries to hear speakers such as David Cooperrider, Marcus Buckingham and Martin Seligman. I will not even attempt to explain positive psychology and AI even though I am the proud owner of a 20 year old BA in psychology. Click here to learn more about the conference and see links to AI resources.
Spending several days at this conference reinforced my belief that face to face events are a critical media channel, and a key component to any Private Media solutions. Events a media channel? Of course, they are. Events bring together a community of people with similar interests with compelling content in a high affinity environment. That is the perfect description of private media. Additionally, a live event is the best community building mechanism known to man. It is one thing to join an online social network, but it is quite another to spend three days with a colleague in keynotes, breakout sessions and social situations. You can actually see relationships being created and deals being done when you walk around reception rooms and break areas. Can you think of a better customer retention venue than spending 48-72 hours with your best customers?
Events can be a hub and jumping off point for additional permission marketing vehicles such as newsletters, magazines, Web sites and more. As we become more and more Web centric, live events are more critical than ever to build relationships and market your company. As a marketing guy who has run his share of events and conferences, I am a huge believer in face to face. I strongly believe that focused events are a “must have” in most private media solutions. When you have someone in your own environment for a period of time, you have a golden opportunity to message to them and create long term customers.
“It looks like your payment was misplaced, so we had to turn off your electricity. We have no proof that you sent it. I can’t backdate payments. This probably ruined your credit. I know it’s 95 degrees out and you’re sweating to death in your house. There’s nothing I can do. Maybe you own a fan? Thank you for calling First Electric Company! Have a great day!” rambles the robotic customer support representative, barely stopping to listen.
As you slam down your phone and your dog whimpers in the sweltering heat, you yell, “How could they lose my payment?! They didn’t even listen to me! I AM HOT!”
Whether it’s a snotty salesperson, a condescending technical support representative or a negligent front desk agent, we all know what it’s like to be treated badly by someone who is being paid to help us. As we seethe in anger over being mistreated, we have several options. Our doctors would recommend a brisk walk so we can clear our heads. Our inner fatties demand ice cream. The road-rager in us demands we get in the car and see how many other drivers we can drive off the road.
But what do most of us do? We complain. Loudly. To anyone who will listen. And increasingly, that includes posting about our experiences online.
No matter what you’re angry about, there is a site on which you can post about it. Having issues with your faulty Hyundai? Post on furiocity.com, where the site logo is a frowny-face emoticon. Have major beef with Capital One? Take a gander at caponesucks.com, where over 6,000 registered users complain about being mishandled by Capital One. Feel that you were wrongfully arrested? Grumble about it with fellow inmates on screwedcentral.com, where they will also gladly host your complaints about the government.
So how do companies control the negative feedback? As media becomes more and more instant, the need to know what people are saying about your company is critical. The impact of one bad experience broadcast on the internet could potentially expedite customer churn and cost you millions of dollars in lost revenue. I came across one extremely angry man who claims that a pest control company killed his dog and is trying to send his wife to prison for writing a bad check. If that isn’t bad PR, I don’t know what is.
It may be easy to brush off angry customers as being crazy, but that tact might not be the right one to take. In most industries, there is very little difference between competitive products, so customer service has become the great differentiator. It is critical that someone in your marketing organization monitors these sites and monitors what people are saying online about your brand. In addition, it would be a wise move to provide your customers with a clear and easy-to-use forum for sending their disputes and complaints to you directly instead of sending their rage directly into the void.
The bottom line is that you’d better start listening, or else the rest of the world will first.
There I was, in my local toy store, with my son who was in the process of potty training. Can I tell you how much I have spent in that toy store? I have shopped in this store over and over again, not only for my three children, but for the countless number of friends who have invited us to equally numerous birthday parties. If shoppers were frequent flyers, I was a platinum purchaser.
After walking around for the obligatory pace lap, my son announced to the entire store that he had to “go potty”. Of course I said to the woman behind the counter, with my hands full of Polly Pockets, baby dolls, a t-ball set and a model sailboat, “Can my son please use your bathroom?”
“No, I am sorry, we don’t have one” she replied.
“You don’t have a bathroom?” I said just loud enough for all the other mothers to hear, slightly sarcastically?
“Well… um. Er. Actually we only have a bathroom for employees, not customers.”
My son was by now whining, creating quite a scene, and with the same frustration that I have experienced with slow or unresponsive online stores, I abandoned my shopping cart. I left it full and unpurchased. I left it and never went back. I called every mom I knew and told them about the injustice and in solidarity we all agreed to not shop there again. I ran into a mom at the playground later that week, who unbeknownst to me, had also been in the store at the time of the scene. She too abandoned her arm-cart in sympathy, but not without giving the woman a piece of her mind.
Moral to the story for smart marketers: Don’t make us mad. Maybe it’s not your bathroom, maybe it is your return policy. Maybe it is your message. Maybe it is the challenge of finding what we want with facility. Maybe it is just your customer service or your tone of voice. But don’t make us mad. Our sisterhood is extensive and we know how to use it to help us and to punish you for your bad behavior.
By the way, it works both ways: we are quick to embrace and reward the vendors and service providers who speak to us with respect; help us save time and money; make it easy to do business with; and of course, let our little guys use their potties.