The Choice Seems Clear

Seems like a situation with easy logic: advertisers should spend their marketing dollars with the medium that offers the most audience engagement, right? Well, then someone tell me why Newspapers get 20% of the marketing dollars when they only deliver 8% of time spent between the media and their audience?

BusinessInsider.com shared 2008 research from JP Morgan via their Chart of the Day post:




The Internet tops the chart in disparity of attention vs. advertising investment by delivering 38% of time spent with the medium but receiving a mere 8% of total advertising dollars.

The other big missed opportunity is Radio, only receiving 9% share of advertising budgets, but delivering 19% of audience engagement -- a virtual mirror image of Newspaper!

Certainly something to talk to your clients and prospects about as you help them plan their strategies for 2010.

BusinessInsider.com notes the numbers are from 2008, so the ad spend on newspapers is lower today-- but go on to say "it's not low enough, considering how little we spend with them."

A New Perspective on "Added Value"

The expectation of SOME advertising clients is that they are entitled to free radio spots, van stops, on-location broadcasts, web banners, email blasts, etc. that all seem to fall under the mysterious category of "Value Add" -- simply because they bought an advertising schedule. This expectation is utterly ridiculous. I don't know how media companies (especially Radio) ever let themselves get roped into this one-sided deal. What happened to the "win-win" deal?

Clients like this are either asking the media outlet to outright LIE to them about their "real" price (by hiding the costs of all the freebies deep within the traditional spot costs), or they really believe that media companies can afford this sort of "buy and bribe" practice.

My opinion has always been that this sort of "value add" would NEVER be permitted in any other business. Can you imagine walking into McDonald's and ordering a "Value-Add Meal?" That's where you buy the fries and drink and they give you the burger (and some McDonaldland Cookies) for free.

What about going to the movie theater and buying two tickets to see a show, and then expecting to receive free popcorn and Snowcaps from the refreshment stand?

Buying a new car and getting a boat for free?

Why are media companies (hello, Radio!) the only ones expected to do these sorts of things? The next time you have a client hitting you up for a bribe... er... I mean "value add" send them a link to the video below. Perhaps they gain a little insight into just how outlandish these expectations really are.



You want to offer your clients some REAL value-add?
The added value I bring to MY clients is that of creativity, experience, marketing savvy, and personal dedication to help them grow their business. If they're really interested in elevating the success of their company -- I want truly to help them solve their toughest marketing challenges. If, on the other hand, they just want the cheapest rates and to have the station van out on a Saturday handing out balloons and hotdogs (or worse yet -- will only buy into an advertising campaign to get seats at the next game or concert) they really aren't seriously interested in their marketing success so much as getting all the "free stuff" they can from the media company. If their business can be earned by those sorts of bribes, they really aren't a client that I'd be interested in working with. Let them pick someone else's pocket.

I'm a creative marketing professional that works tirelessly for my clients, and I expect a fair rate for my services. How about you?

Secrets of the Male Shopper

Great article in the BWOnline archive on the topic of targeting males in your marketing.

Advertising to men falls into more than the two cliched columns of the Metrosexual (fashion and 'product' obsessed) and the Retrosexual (sports and beer obsessed) -- the cliches only account for about %5 of the male population on the extreme edges of the spectrum. Here's how you reach the rest.

The best ideas from the article?

• Appeal to their inner-geek
  Think Dyson vacuums and Bugaboo's new stroller
• Allow for Advertiser-Activism
  Today's males want to interact with their brands -- Just look at all the parody ads on YouTube
• Not just Quick-Buyers -- They are Browsers
  Men under 35 shop more like their sisters than their grandfathers
• Provide Content Camouflage
  Men's Health, Stuff, and Maxim -- all male mags, BUT -- two in every five pages pitch products. They are masks for men to shop without opening themselves to ridicule from their beer-buddies
• Make 'em Comfortable
  Most men might feel a bit out of place at salons and unisex spas -- but add alcohol and ESPN while they wait in queue for their pedicures and manicures, call it a "Grooming Lounge", and you just might have a $4-million dollar business like Washington DC's Michael Gilman and Pirooz Sarshar

Click to read the full article.

Meaningful Online Engagement

Heard of a new book today called "Dot Boom" about how to created meaningful online messages that engage the Boomer generation. I visited the book's website (http://www.dotboombook.com/) and watched a 45-minute presentation by co-author David Weigelt. Definitely worthwhile...

My favorite bit was a quote he used from Albert Einstein:
"Not all that can be counted counts and not all that counts can be counted."
~Albert Einstein

What a great seque line to use the next time someone wants to focus on CPM pricing instead of achieving results!

Powerful Questions

Sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer says: "Ask smart questions and they'll think you're smart. Ask dumb questions and they'll... well... you figure it out."

Dumb questions:
What will it take to get your business?
(If you don't know -- go away.)

Can you tell me a little about your company?
(There's a little something I like to call "research." Look into it. Start with Google.)

What's your budget?
(Jeez. Just point a gun at them and grab their wallet.)

My friend Scott Ginsberg created a great video that shares "44 Killer Questions Your Competitors Aren't Asking" and I've embedded it below. Before you wipe your brow and say "Whew!" these are "starter" questions, meaning that Scott gives you a great beginning to a question -- you're still going to have to put some thought into the subject of the question in order to really drive it home and make it personal to your customer.

Now, THAT'S smart.

Are You Helping Your Clients 'Work the Room?'

...or are you just selling them advertising?

Branding vs. Awareness

The PR News Blog has a nice post on the difference between branding and awareness...

"Often people mistake branding with awareness. Awareness is fleeting. Like a fireplace -- there's fire as long as you're feeding it logs. Branding is the ability to leave the family room and still feel the glow of the fire within."

I also liked their advice on making sure your brand possesses the four tenets of branding: intellectual, intuitive, emotional, value-based.

A good article to keep in mind when discussing awareness and branding campaigns with clients.

Dismantling Trusted Marketing Strategies

Great post from Brian Massey at the Society for Word of Mouth Marketing.

Your Wake-Up Call...

• TV is not an effective way to communicate, video is.
• Radio is not an effective way to communicate, the human voice is.
• Print is not an effective way to communicate, words and images are.
• Web sites are not an effective way to communicate, solving problems is.

$1 Billion in Sales. No Advertising Required.

Good article from AdWeek covering some of the reasons why Zappo's didn't need traditional advertising to create a company with $1 Billion (with a "B") dollars a year in sales.

Some insight from Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh...
"One of our core values is being open and honest. It ends up creating more trust with our customers... It's the opposite of what most businesses do."

"One disgruntled or happy employee can write something on a blog and have that read by millions. It's the same thing with a customer. Our belief is a company's culture and brand are two sides of the same coin. You can't control every touch point like you could 50 years ago."

"About 75 percent of our orders are from repeat customers. We've grown from zero to $1 billion in gross sales in 9.5 years. The No. 1 driver has been from repeat customers and word of mouth. It lets us to spend less on customer acquisition."

"There will be less reliance on advertising for a long-term, enduring brand. Word of mouth is so effective right now."

"If you go to twitter.zappos.com, you'll see all the employee Tweets. We have lots of stories of employees meeting up with each other outside of work because of Twitter. With customers we find it's good for building a more personal, emotional connection with them."

"With most Web sites, it's hard to find any contact information. We put our 1-800 number at the top of every Web page because we want to talk to our customers. It's our best branding opportunity. We have 5-10 minutes of our customer's attention where we can let our true personality shine and develop that personal connection."

The scary part?
Zappos just started a consulting group specifically created to teach other companies their method of growing business using their (proven!) non-traditional means.

The takeaway?
It's more important than ever to be perceived as a marketing and promotions expert/consultant/resource rather than a plain old media salesperson.

Facebook is free.
Twitter is free.
Domain names are less than $10 each.
Site hosting can be had for $5/month.
YouTube hosts videos for free and a myriad of sites offer podcasting and blogging options at no cost. (And we all know traditional media costs are falling like a rock.)

Your value comes from having a sound strategy to grow profits and build business for your client.

Everyone has access to the same tools.
It's what you do with them that counts.

Godin Delivers the Goods

Video recording of a live seminar with Seth Godin.
Well worth the investment of an hour to view.
Pass this opportunity up at your own risk!

VBR: Staycations

With the already established MixFunGuide.com and TheFanGuide.com websites, the trend toward families cutting costs by reducing the travel and expense of their family vacation is a prime marketing challenge for our advertisers and real revenue opportunity for the creative account executive.

The latest buzzword for the trend mentioned above is "Staycation" and here is some information that can help you craft a compelling VBR that gains the attention of your prospects...

Let's start with Weber, the grill-maker, which released some survey results last month that say this is the summer of staycations and grilling. They surveyed over 1,000 people and received some interesting results:

• Among grill owners planning staycations, a whopping 80% plan to grill weekly
  
• 41% plan to grill at least several times each week
  
• Once having the term explained to them, 51% of the respondents said they plan to take one or more staycations this summer
  
• 24% who are changing their traditional summer vacations to include a staycation this year
  
• 40% say they plan to try new grilled foods or grilling recipes
  
• 13% plan to purchase a new outdoor grill this summer
  
• 7% plan to update or improve their current grill
  
• Others plan on buying grilling accessories (11%) or a grilling cookbook (8%)

What about state tourism organizations as a target?

• In Pennsylvania The Constitutional Walking Tour of Philadelphia is pushing its staycation not only as inexpensive and educational, but as a green-friendly trip.
  
• Connecticut created a web site that highlights staycation destinations in the Constitution State and offers discounts to many of those places.
  
• The Arlington (Texas) Convention & Visitors Bureau has a local and regional campaign designed to get the locals to go to Six Flags Over Arlington and spend the night with the family in a hotel.

Retailers can be Staycation destinations, too!
Wal-Mart is making things interesting for consumers, with its subsite makeyourdollarstretch.com and a downloadable desktop Widget called 101 Days of Summer Staycations.

The Staycation trend may have been created the need to cut spending on the rising cost of gasoline (and everything else!) but it may also have been created to help the innovative marketing professionals earn additional profits this summer!

What's Next?

Great presentation from slideshare.com.

Thanks to Bill Harman for the link.

| View | Upload your own

Does Your Marketing Volume Go To "11"?

I am re-reading a couple favorite marketing books during my last-of-2007-vacation-time, and came across a great analogy in John Moore's Tribal Knowledge: Business Wisdom Brewed From the Grounds of Starbucks Corporate Culture.

It's from "Tribal Truth #8" wherein John draws a comparison to marketing strategies being more commonly akin to an on/off switch versus a volume control knob. The analogy seemed especially appropriate for Radio advertising campaigns, and blends perfectly with a well-planned Web component.

When a client considers an advertising campaign, it's either an active schedule that is on the air or off the air. The duration and frequency is dictated by budget restrictions, and the common goal is to turn "on" the marketing campaign and bombard the audience for as long as their ad dollars hold out, and then turn "off" the marketing and hope the message momentum will carry forward long enough to bring about future customer purchases.

Starbucks' strategy was to look upon marketing as a constant flow that could be dialed up or down depending on the need to influence their audience. There were radio and print ads, but usually it was in-store marketing, word-of-mouth, etc. The mainstream media was only used to dial-up the knob and increase the marketing "volume" to allow more people to hear their message.

Consider this in regard to Radio+Web marketing strategy:
The addition of a Web component can help an advertiser's ad dollars go farther. The comparatively lower investment allows the client to maintain a constant level of 'marketing volume' and then turn the control knob to "11" by adding Radio components during times of greater need.

Actually, a steady marketing 'volume' maintained Online will allow the increased volume of additional Radio to work more effectively -- their Web efforts pay-off by building brand awareness so that the Radio message doesn't need to work quite so hard to break through the clutter. The Advertiser will have already been introduced to (and built a relationship with) our Listeners. You may want to reference a blog entry from July of 2007 in which I shared a study that showed Web+Radio demonstrated a 27% ability to recall vs. a 6% recall for using Web-only ads.

Maintaining a constant Web presence and increasing the message 'volume' with Radio as-needed is a great way to help a client's ad dollars work more effectively on their behalf. Try using this Volume Control vs. On/Off Switch comparison the next time you're speaking with a client. It's a great way to tell a compelling story about a 'sound' (...had to slip in a pun!) marketing strategy.

To learn more about John Moore's book (and read all the Tribal Truths) visit: http://tribalknowledge.biz/

NOTE: In case you were wondering, the headline is a reference from the movie "This is Spinal Tap" (for all you heathens.)

Blogs Become Key Marketing Tool for Legal Eagles

This is excerpted from a recent story in the Philadelphia Business Journal:

Lawyers are becoming quick learners in the blogosphere
Saul Ewing partner Robert Louis didn't know what a blog was three months ago. Now it is a key marketing tool for the 60-year-old trusts and estates lawyer.

"I talked to some of the younger people here and after they explained to me what a blog is, it struck me as a good way to get small bits of information to people without burdening them with a five-page memo," Louis said.

So in July, Louis started "Personal Wealth Law News," one of three blogs -- short for weblogs -- that can be accessed through the Saul Ewing Web site, and joined a rapidly growing number of lawyers using the blogosphere for marketing purposes.

Louis' blog updates readers on the latest trends in personal wealth law. A recent entry asks whether the estate of Leona Helmsley, the billionaire hotel owner who died last month, would have to pay federal estate tax for a $12 million trust to take care of her beloved dog (while her four grandchildren were guaranteed nothing). Louis offered a 150-word item asking whether the taxes would be paid from the residue of the Helmsley estate.

Blogs as marketing tools are being taken seriously by the legal, medical, banking, real estate, and other old-school professional categories. Podcasting is coming up fast as a new area of new media they can exploit.

Need a VBR for approaching this category?
You could start by citing the article above. Why not offer the opportunity to become the official source of legal advice on the radio station websites? Of medical knowledge? Financial advice? If they have an existing blog/podcast, we can repurpose the feed on a landing page within our own website. If they do not, we can assist them in producing the content.

While they may state they already have their own blog, nothing matches the power of the Radio as a way of telling the public about its availability, nor the built-in audience our websites can contribute in growing their audience. It's worked for Ask The Beauty Doctor and for Your Micro Minute. There are currently podcast pitches in the field for a "Green" report and a Money Minute.

Who will be next?

Promotional News/Sales Opportunities

Lots of news about new promotional pushes from advertisers. Should spark lots of ideas for VBRs and half-baked ideas to pitch!

Black Dog Ale
Partnering with humane shelters to publicize October as national Adopt-a-Dog Month by adding a splash page to its Web site that offers visitors information about the program and lets them find the addresses of participating human societies in 16 states. The brand, from Spanish Peaks Brewing Co., features the founder's black Lab "Chug" on its packaging and logo.

Boboli
New product push via In-Store Merchandise. George Weston Bakeries is launching a national merchandising program around a new Boboli product that includes recipes, coupons and healthy-living tips in-store.

The company is pushing Boboli 100% Whole Wheat personal size crusts with "Build-a-Better-For-You Pizza" in-store displays starting Oct. 1. Each will feature a child topping a Boboli crust. Recipe take-ones and healthy living tips will be part of the P-O-P offering.

Gillette Pushes Razor in Video Contest
Gillette is challenging college football fans to get their 'game face' on in a new promotion to push its Fusion Power razor.

The company has partnered with former Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn in a sweepstakes that encourages guys to create videos or photos that show their own game face. A grand prize package includes a trip to New York City to meet Quinn.

People can enter at www.gillettegameface.com where they will be directed to join the Gillette GameFace group on Facebook and to check out Brady Quinn's GameFace video with advice on how to create their own.

Gardenburger Hunts for 'Real Man'
Wholesome and Hearty Foods Co. has launched an online contest to find a 'real man' to promote its meatless products. People can nominate themselves or the man in their lives they believe defines the company's official "Real Man" title. The goal behind the campaign is to show that Gardenburgers, a 100% natural meatless product, aren't just for vegetarian or women, but for men, too.

Agencies and Clients at Odds

Pearlfinders.com's recent survey of ad agency clients provides some not-so surprising (at least to anyone who is not an ad agency) results about what clients want from their agencies...

85% of clients don't feel agencies prepare enough. Clients want agencies to be far more proactive in providing research on their product or category.

75% of clients said they might or would definitely "follow-up" were an agency to pitch a solution relating to one of their current business challenges.

And perhaps most importantly, 92% said that they might respond favorably to switching to a new agency if an agency had produced some research or insights into their category.

These results have the need for implementing CSS strategies written all over them. "Providing proactive research" sounds like a VBR to me. "Pitching solutions relating to current business challenges" is the focused presentation that results from a solid CNA. And "switching to a new agency" -- that's earning new business from being a Customer Focused Sales Pro.

Click here for the entire article.

Radio + Web = Powerful Combo

Radio Ad Effectiveness Lab is conducting a new series of research projects under the umbrella theme, “Radio and the Consumer's Mind: How Radio Works.” The goal is to continue learning both how Radio advertising affects consumers differently and how it works synergistically with other forms of media.

Our new online test showed that recall of advertising is dramatically enhanced (27 percent versus 6 percent) when a mix of Radio and Internet ads is used compared to website ads alone. Radio ads can also improve website traffic and a brand's emotional bond with consumers when added to Internet exposures.

In addition, the study finds radio is finding new ways to tie together stations and websites to get more auto dollars.

The auto industry is pouring a huge amount of its marketing dollars into the web. And some radio operators are seeing it as a way to get a bigger piece of the pie. More and more stations are building proposals around the Web. One of the biggest has been CBS Radio’s “Discover Your Ride” campaign for Chrysler. It gets listeners to go to station websites, then to carmakers’ sites. RAB EVP MaryBennett says, “Stations have got this relationship with the audience that’s choosing to be overinvolved with the station by going to their site. This allows auto marketers to play into that relationship.” It’s too soon to say if it’s changed where automakers are putting their budgets – but she says it’s helped “plant a flag in the ground” for radio.

Overall, the picture seems clear: Radio and the Internet can be powerful advertising complements. Whether the goal is to reach more people, or to reach them with greater impact, this particular combination of media seems to be a recipe that’s worthy of more consideration.

Source: Radio Ad Lab

Email Campaigns Need Better Landing Pages

Landing pages linked from e-mail marketing campaigns generally fail to grab attention quickly, according to a review of 150 Web sites by Silverpop, a Web marketing solutions provider. Furthermore, some pages are confusing and cluttered, prompting the visitor to quickly leave.

Silverpop set out to evaluate marketers’ approaches, and registered to receive e-mails from 150 top online companies. Landing pages reached from messages’ clicking links were evaluated for 14 different elements, such as matching the e-mail leading to the page and/or the company's Web site, ease of navigation, amount of copy, and design formats.

Among the key findings of the report, "Eight Seconds to Capture Attention: Silverpop's Landing Page Report":

45% of landing pages didn't repeat the strong promotional copy found in the e-mail, thus failing to reinforce the call-to-action that prompted the e-mail recipient to click a link in the first place.

35% of the landing pages analyzed didn't match the e-mails’ look.

35% of the landing pages didn't include an opt-in request. It’s essential to ask visitors to register because they may have arrived at your landing page without being in your database. For example, someone else might have forwarded the landing page’s link to the visitor.

29% of BtoC companies posted landing pages that didn't match the e-mail, compared to 41 percent of BtoB companies.

17% of e-mail marketing campaigns failed to deliver on the promise inherent in the message's call-to-action, and merely dumped recipients to a company’s Web site home page.

"E-mail marketers spend a lot of time and energy creating targeted, relevant campaigns, but then fail to carry the ball across the goal line due to lackluster landing pages," said Elaine O'Gorman, vice president of strategy for Silverpop, in a statement. "Landing page optimization can have a tremendous impact on e-mail marketing success rate."

"Using a home page as a landing page can be confusing,” O'Gorman said. “It's much better to create a landing page unique to the e-mail campaign whenever possible."

Alltel 'My Circle' Huddles-up with NFL

From PromoXtra:
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Alltel Brings 'My Celebrity Circle' to NFL
Wireless phone provider Alltel is launching an integrated marketing campaign this month to tout its "My Circle" feature for users. The campaign includes a contest and celebrity endorsements by high-profile NFL receivers.

"My Circle" allows Alltel Wireless customers to get unlimited free calls to and from the 10 phone numbers that matter most to them any time of day or night. "My Circle" numbers can be any combination of wireless, home and office numbers located anywhere in the United States, regardless of local phone company or wireless carrier. These 10 numbers are in addition to customers' mobile-to-mobile calling community and do not require a special handset.
---

You may recall seeing the clever Alltel television commercials incorporating lookalikes of spokespeople for each of the major cellular carriers in an effort to illustrate that Alltel's My Circle feature allows free calls to friends no matter which mobile service they use.

With Alltel's intent to promote this feature using NFL players, it certainly opens the door for advertising and promotional opportunities with The Fan.

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VBRs & HALF-BAKED:

• A campaign that uses all the on-air personalities to show they can use MyCircle no communicate matter which airshift they work.
• How about a college player based version of the same NFL campaign? Mary B. has a client that is trying to promote former-Buckeye players, perhaps the MyCircle extends to linking players no matter which year they played?
• This can also be applied to Mix -- what if the sports celebs were musicians? My Circle crosses barriers of different record labels? Signed vs. Unsigned artists?

Back To College Spending Stats

College students and their parents plan to spend $36.6 billion for the return to campus, according to the National Retail Federation. That’s a 3.6% increase over last year's spending, and more than double the NRF's projected $17.6 billion spending for the K-12 back-to-school season. This year's combined spending for back-to-college and K-12 back-to-school will rank second only to holiday spending.

The NRF expects spending on electronics (including flat screen TVs, Xboxes, iPods and notebook computers) to jump 27.5% to $10.46 billion, and spending on dorm furnishings to rise 5.4% to nearly $4 billion. Incoming freshmen will spend the most, averaging $1,112, mostly on electronics and dorm furnishings, and seniors will spend about half that, averaging $558.

Here's a link to some great charts/graphs showing 'who's spending what'.

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VBRs & HALF-BAKED:

• A virtual shopping list of clients/prospects and categories to approach.
• Opportunity for second-hand stores?
• Close-out sales?
• Perhaps some discounting through Mix Marketplace.
• Malls/Shopping Centers.