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Author: Price Pritchett
I’m sitting in a quiet room at the Millcroft Inn, a peaceful little place hidden back among the pine trees about an hour out of Toronto. It’s just past noon, late July, and I’m listening to the desperate sounds of a life-or-death struggle going on a few feet away.
There’s a small fly burning out the last of its short life’s energies in a futile attempt to fly through the glass of the windowpane. The whining wings tell the poignant story of the fly’s strategy - try harder.
But it’s not working.
The frenzied effort offers no hope for survival. Ironically, the struggle is part of the trap. It is impossible for the fly to try hard enough to succeed at breaking through the glass. Nevertheless, this little insect has staked its life on reaching its goal through raw effort and determination.
This fly is doomed. It will die there on the windowsill.
Across the room, ten steps away, the door is open. Ten seconds of flying time and this small creature could reach the outside world it seeks. With only a fraction of the effort now being wasted, it could be free of this self-imposed trap. The breakthrough possibility is there. It would be so easy.
Why doesn’t the fly try another approach, something dramatically different? How did it get so locked in on the idea that this particular route, and determined effort, offer the most promise for success? What logic is there in continuing, until death, the seek a breakthrough with “more of the same”?
No doubt this approach makes sense to the fly. Regrettably, it’s an idea that will kill.
“Trying harder” isn’t necessarily the solution to achieving more. It may not offer any real promise for getting what you want out of life. Sometimes, in fact, it’s a big part of the problem.
If you stake your hopes for a breakthrough on trying harder than ever, you may kill your chances for success.
July 16th, 2009
Source: Canvas Magazine, April 2009 (2008 Vertis Customer Focus Direct Marketing 2009)
- Timing of the piece arriving coinciding with the need for the service/product (67%)
- Consumer’s name on the front of the envelope (66%)
- The package looks interesting (60%)
- A special offer or discount (54%)
- The package looks important (52%)
- Feel something in the package (51%)
- A free gift or token inside (42%)
- Dated material enclosed (35%)
- None of these (5%)
May 7th, 2009
Source: Marketing News (04.15.09)
Author: John N. Frank
The 71 speakers at the American Marketing Association’s 2009 Mplanet conference addressed the meeting’s core themes of brand building in a digital world, connecting with customers, determining a proper marketing mix and global marketing challenges. As they spoke, key message points surfaced repeatedly.
Here, in an easy-to-read, shorthand form are those lessons, compiled by Marketing News staff writers Elisabeth A. Sullivan and Piet Levy, who attended all major sessions, and Editorial Director John N. Frank, who interviewed 26 Mplanet speakers at the Mplanet video studio.
Lesson One: In a Tough Economy, Innovation is King
Speakers: John Hayes (CMO, American Express); Anne Mulcahy (Chairman and CEO, Xerox Corp.)
Tough times are not for the timid, Mplanet speakers agreed. Budgets are being cut and marketing is being asked to do more with fewer resources, but that doesn’t mean marketers shouldn’t be trying new ways to connect with key audiences. “I would suggest that the key for marketing in dealing with the changing environment is the ability to experiment,” said Jerry Wind, a professor of marketing at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. “Adopt a philosophy of adaptive experimentation to have a variety of bold initiatives, and experiment with them and see which works.”
“The challenge is to be radical and bold. The real challenge is to do it with an eye to the bottom line,” added Jonathan Baskin, an Advertising Age columnist and marketing author.
What you can do in this economy will be impacted by the sector you are in, your company’s strategic position within that sector and the financial condition of your firm, noted Suzanne Tager, a practice area director with consultancy Bain & Co.’s retail and consumer products practice. “The good news is…downturns are times of turbulence [but] are also times of incredible opportunity,” she said. Bain sees this as a time when marketers should be looking at the market and saying, “Where are the opportunities? Because your competitors may be hunkering down, giving you more opportunities,” Tager said.
Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy challenged marketers to find great ideas that will carry their brands through the recession. “This is a time when winners and losers get created, and the ability to reinforce great marketing and great brand is extraordinarily important,” she said.
April 8th, 2009
Author: Charlotte Huff
Source: Deliver Magazine (v5, Issue 1, March 2009)
In their ongoing competition for tech-savvy recruits, both for-profit and traditional universities look to marketing for an edge.
When it comes to marketing themselves to potential students, traditional academic schools and for-profit universities differ in their approaches, from the databases they mine for promising prospects to the design of the campaigns themselves. But one thing they share is the desire to become more targeted in their approach, to eliminate waste, and to maximize their return. In other words, they’re just like you.
Many factors influence the educational marketing process, including how frequently the school needs to fill classrooms, says Lyle Kraft, executive vice president of sales and marketing for PlattForm Advertising, a Kansas City-based agency. For-profit schools, for example, may recruit a fresh crop of students every few months, while more traditional colleges and universities may focus the bulk of their marketing energy - and financial resources - on each annual wave of high-school seniors.
Once schools identify their preferred students, they can tailor letters, brochures and other direct mail pieces to appeal to those students’ passions. For-profit schools might send more direct mail, but take more steps to limit cost per piece, Kraft says. They are more likely to develop 8.5 x 11 letter packages, rather than, say, glossy brochures. Then they can personalize those letters by switching out paragraphs and focusing on areas of study, such as health or auto-related classes, which might be more likely to interest recipients based on their age, gender and other demographic information.
A traditional college or university might invest more not just by creating glossy brochures, but also by switching out photographs and micro-tailoring the language, Kraft says. Using variable digital printing, schools can use photographs from the science department, for example, if testing service data reveal that a particular student is passionate about chemistry.
Along with the layouts and targeted language, the brochures can incorporate interactive components to appeal to tech-savvy students. Kraft describes one recent campaign PlattForm developed for a Texas state university involving 80,000 brochures. Mailed to high school seniors living within a 100-mile radius of the main campus, the brochures included a response card on which students could check off their interests. Students could also use an enclosed PIN code to access personalized profiles online and virtually update their preferences, from academics to sports. “When they submit that information, it instantly goes back to the school as a lead,” Kraft says.
March 16th, 2009
To promote our 360-degree marketing capabilities, enovation group teamed with KinetiqHD to create a video as part of a personalized landing page linked to variable direct mail pieces.
The video, as seen on www.sunshinestarship.com, is a spoof on cults and how an individual can utilize the Printelligent system to create automated marketing campaigns to recruit members based on their existential needs.
Proving that businesses can function in a similar fashion, the video communicates enovation group’s ability to not only print, but create effective 360-degree marketing campaigns that generate higher returns on investment and work to stregthen brands.
Of course we can print, but our ability to seamlessly integrate print and technology can work to create significant results. To view the video, please visit:
www.sunshinestarship.com
Credits: KinetiqHD (Bo Parker, Andrew Disney) (www.kinetiqhd.com)
March 2nd, 2009
Source: D Magazine, February 2009
Author: Dave Moore
The economy has gone to hell in a handbasket. Time to sharpen the guillotine, Robespierre?
Not so fast, says SMU professor of marketing Dan Howard, who recommends the following counterintuitive steps:
Increase the amount of money spent on promoting your company
“Most people think opposite; they cut advertising,” Howard says. “But if advertising is supposed to stimulate sales, if you have a downturn, that’s the last thing you should do.”
Increase/improve your sales force.
“Costs are relative to your gain or your revenues, and by hiring excellent people who have been sacked by other companies, you’ll greatly increase your sales.”
Now that competitors are on their knees, look at buying opportunities in order to increase your market share.
“CEOs who really know what they’re doing, in order to gain market share, buy up other companies.”
Don’t cancel office parties or lunches to save dimes.
“You don’t want to cut costs by ruining the morale of the office.”
February 2nd, 2009
Source: Management Portfolio: Digital Printing Report: Volume 16 Number 1
The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council has released a study designed to gain greater insight into the relevance and value of customized content, collateral and communication, and how this can influence marketing effectiveness. The report, titled The Power of Personalization, provides a global snapshot of what’s working - and what’s not working - as marketers continue to explore, define, and apply personalized communications strategies. The report highlights the technologies, practices and solutions such as proprietary on-demand personalization technologies, customized content creation and digital print systems, one-to-one delivery and interaction channels, and the emergence of new applications such as transpromo documents that integrate transaction and marketing communications.
The study surveyed over 700 senior executives ranging from CEO, CMO, SVP, and VPs of Marketing from across different market sectors, including technology, internet, telecommunications, media, professional services, banking/finance, retail, consumer goods, and manufacturing. The study made clear that there is a new emphasis on the importance of individualized lifecycle marketing techniques as companies see the impact, differentiation, loyalty, and word-of-mouth results of customized communications.
Consider these statistics:
- Investments by marketers totaled $58.4 billion in 2007, and that figure is expected to increase to more than $70 billion by 2011 (source: Winterberry Group)
- More than $3 billion was spent in the U.S. alone on email marketing (source: EmailInsider)
- 56 percent of marketers believe personalized communications out-perform traditional mass-market delivery (source: The Power of Personalization)
Survey participants were able to identify key trends in companies’ design, implementation, and integration of personalized communications through media such as email, personalized URLs (PURLs), digital advertising, direct mail, word-of-mouth, dimensional mailers, etc.
The principal takeaway from the study: personalized marketing techniques are still in the infantile stages of being integrated intomost companies’ marketing budgets and campaigns. Despite the need for quantifiable tools for gauging effectiveness and ROI, marketers lag behind on adoption due to the void of accurate and reliable customer data sources. However, the majority of marketers who have actuated strategic personalized marketing techniques have seen decidedly greater success over traditional mass marketing approaches.
Other key findings derived from the study include:
- Improving customer retention and loyalty is the primary catalyst of personalization efforts; while the value of customized communications is perceived as high, actual usage is low.
- Over 56% of marketers content that personalized communications out-perform traditional mass-market delivery; digital, database-driven channels offer the most upside potential for engaging in customized communications. However, 38% of marketers don’t know whether their personalized communications have performed better than their traditional marcom techniques.
- Nearly 50% of marketers report having fair-to-poor or little knowledge of customers, and almost 47% rate their company’s data integration capabilities as being deficient or needing improvement. Although, 56% of professional services respondents rated their customer data as “extremely good” or “reasonably reliable.”
- Chief marketing executives are seen as the primary owners of personalized marketing initiatives. However, sales and customer relationship management groups most frequently maintain control of the data that provides the foundation for these campaigns.
- A majority of marketers currently spend less than 10% of their budgets on personalized communication; in the future, 55% say they will spend more than 10%.
- Purchasing history/activity - as well as size, profitability, and location of customer - are key data for designing personalized communications.
- Multi-channel integration is still lagging in personalized communications as nearly 50% of marketers report a low level of integration.
- While many marketers are still working at tracking the overall effectiveness and ROI of personalized communications, almost 40% say they are generating either “extremely effective and measurable ROI” or “better response rates than other programs.”
- Individualized letters and email are the most common form of personalized communication.
- Marketers are somewhat intimidated by the investment required for personalized communications as there has been limited testing across all areas.
- Conversion and close rates are the primary measure of success, followed by email actioning, website traffic/page views, and impact on retention and churn.
January 21st, 2009
Source: www.brandweek.com
Author: Martin Bihl
Ladies and gentlemen, what we have here is a failure to communicate.
Traditionally, brands have spoken in a “monologue” form to consumers. Print ads. TV commercials. Billboards. They talk at, or to, consumers. They say, “Here I am. This is what I am/do.” And for a long time, the only way consumers could engage a brand was with their wallets. If people bought the product, well, then whatever the product was saying was working. And if they didn’t, then it wasn’t.
This began to evolve when brands started asking people what they thought of products. Emotions. Feelings. Focus groups. Product testing. The stuff that Procter & Gamble is famous for (or notorious for, depending on your pain threshold). And suddenly the consumer could talk back–albeit in small doses. “Talking back,” however, is not the same as having a conversation (as anyone who has endured a focus group knows). So, while consumers suddenly had a voice, they used it the only way they could–to deliver monologues right back at the brand.
Another path for the consumer was promotional items. Coca-Cola T-shirts. Tide race cars. McDonald’s holiday ornaments. The pursuit and display of items like these by the consumer became another way for them to deliver a monologue on the brand they prefer–announcing to a broader audience than a focus group (that is, everyone who can see it) that they align with this brand.
So what started as a simple financial transaction between two interested parties–I give you money, you give me product or service–evolved into “matched monologues.” Brand: This is what I am. Customer: This is what I want.
But look what’s happening now. Now, those simple monologues are evolving into a genuine dialogue. The consumer takes the brand message and reconstitutes it (via mashups, sampling, etc.) and feeds back to the brand a variation of itself–which the brand may either embrace, build upon, or ignore at its peril.
When the means of production (to use an ironically archaic expression) are in the hands of the consumer, the matched monologues turn into an actual conversation. Think of how consumers turned Mentos into a pop icon in 2006 when they mixed it with Diet Coke and YouTube. Or consider how Scion has used “tuner” culture to shift their customers purchase cycle from the showroom to the longer aftermarket customization
Nowhere is this more brilliantly illustrated than in the 25th anniversary Web site for the Brian Eno/David Byrne album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. In 1982, they built an entire album around sounds and audio clips they found on other albums, on the radio and on television. Back then it was unheard of. Today, we call it “sampling” and it’s the foundation of hip-hop and rap.
So what did they do to mark the album’s 25th anniversary? They posted all the mixing tracks to two of the album’s songs, allowing–indeed, encouraging–the public to build new songs with them–just as they themselves had, 25 years earlier. And these songs are then reposted on the site, adding another generation to the conversation begun a quarter century ago. Check it out at: www.bush-of-ghosts.com/remix/bush_of_ghosts.htm.
This is what user-generated content really means, and this is what it will look like in the future: A genuine “back and forth” between consumer and brand that regularly evolves and changes. What’s holding us back is that brands–trapped in a monologue mentality–are merely using the trappings of the new technology to help consumers create their own monologues.
Ultimately, the successful brands will be the ones who learn how to talk with consumers. The others? They’ll be the ones just talking to themselves.
Martin Bihl is founder and creative director of 7419llc, which provides creative for agencies and clients around the world. You can reach him there at mbihl@7419llc.com
January 12th, 2009
Source: Printing Impressions, 2008
Author: Suzanne Morgan
The days of the passive print buyer lie in the past. Print buyers are no longer sitting back and waiting for printer reps to cold call them or invite them out for lunch. In today’s technological environment, consumers are more proactive than they have ever been. They actively research their options and, with the advancement of the World Wide Web, it has enabled print buyers to spread a much larger net, capturing information on potential suppliers, even international suppliers.
As Travis Kalanick, founder and CEO of Red Swoosh, states, “Social networks are like grease - in some cases, gasoline - for our personal business networking machinges. If you aren’t plugged in, you will be out-done by better-connected, hyper-networked colleagues and competitors.”
Just think about it: We used the telephone until it became clogged with telemarketers; we used e-mails until our accounts were overcome by spammers. The new generation of communication is through the use of social networks. The popularity of social network sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Digg is growing on an exponential level.
According to a New York Times article dated October 27, 2008, a market research firm called NewDiligence recently surveyed end users and IT managers about their usage of social networking sites: 60 percent of the respondents said they use networking sites at work, and half of the respondents check in once or more every day.
Social networking sites afford vanguard print suppliers the opportunity to officially connect with all of the people they know - and then grow their networks exponentially. According to our research, printers are jumping on the bandwagon; a recent survey conducted by Print Buyers Online.com demonstrated that 45 percent of our major print suppliers currently use social networking services to attract business.
Interestingly, even when it is not encouraged by the company, some representatives do this on their own because they are aware of what excellent marketing tools they can be. Account rep M. Evans is one of these individuals. He shared, “My company doesn’t use them, but another rep and I use LinkedIn and Twitter on our own to stay connected with clients, announce new developments and to develop leads.”
Online networks accelerate and globalize the print buying process, and establishing a network requires on part social know-how and one part technical expertise. For example, LinkedIn, which claims to have more than 20 million registered users from 150 different industries, allows users to post career accomplishments and ask for “connections” for jobs or business introductions.
Listen to what Maria Popova said in the book, “Poke Me, It’s Real: Facebook, Interaction Benefits and the Future of Marketing” (at www.brandweek.com): “So, what’s in it for brands? Possibly the most sophisticated psychographic targeting system yet. Facebook profiles include basic demographics (age, gender), richer information (location, education, religious and political beliefs, relationship status, sexual orientation) and invaluable detailing that, if used smartly, can reveal a wealth of insight.”
Have I got your attention? Keep reading to learn the pros of getting connected.
Potential Clients Will Come to You
When you establish a social network, you immediately gain access to leads who are looking for the specific services you provide. Users will opt-in to receive your updates - and you will be dealing with a warm lead instead of a cold call.
You Will Stay Top-of-Mind
By keeping an active profile and updating it regularly, you will be able to create brand awareness among print buyers. You can do this by showcasing your latest products and services, and by demonstrating your expertise by listing articles, Q&As, etc. The more you show what you know, the more they will keep coming back.
You Can Collaborate Directly With Your Audience
By sharing content with print buyers, you give them the opportunity to provide invaluable feedback - in real time. Social networks make it easy for users to provide their thoughts on the services that you provide, and you will be able to manipulate your marketing strategy accordingly.
They Provide Validation
Once you have a membership group that has opted in to your profile, each of these individuals serves as a reference for your company. Better yet, they will forward your information to their friends and colleagues - and, pretty soon, you will have an entire network at your disposal, whenever you announce a new service or product.
They Allow Introverts to Shine
Does someone in your company hate making phone calls, but is brillient when it comes to sharing your strengths in an online setting? By participating in a social network, these individuals are allowed to shine, on their own terms. And, that is a win/win in my book.
There’s No Lag Time
By participating in social networks, you are able to engage people on a minute-by-minute basis regarding what is going on in your organization. You can hit them with current product offerings before the press release hits the news. And, due to its viral nature, your news will be forwarded to the people most interested in your company’s developments.
It Creates Communities of Interest
Another interesting phenomenon about social networks is that people will sign up for your cause - and forward it to their colleagues, so they can get involved. Before you know it, people will not only be asking what you are doing, but how they can help you achieve your goals.
On the other hand, as with all things, there are negatives to consider when participating in social networks:
Draw the Line
It is important to keep in mind what should and should not be shared. Many people fall into the trap of contributing too much personal information. I recommend creating a company policy that oulines what can and cannot be shared online, and ensuring that people are sticking to it.
Beware of Addictive Behavior
When creating your organization’s policy, dictate how many hours per week your marketing consultant will put toward updating online profiles. Many of our members confessed to the addiction of social networks; draw the line between what is helpful and what is wasteful.
Be Dedicated
When participating in social networks, it is important for your information to stay fresh. By providing content that is timely and fresh, you will keep people coming back - and not opting out because of stale or redundant story lines.
Maintain Proper Protocol
As with any marketing campaign, remember to be transparent, create trust, and avoid grammatical and typographical errors. Keep in mind that everything you create can be forwarded to others - and will be permanent in cyberspace.
If you keep the potential pitfalls at bay, social networks can enable your marketing campaign to deliver surprising results. To stay in the forefront, you must be open to new frontiers - and, by doing so, you will not only maintain current clients, but gain brand awareness and loyalty in the process.
January 5th, 2009
Why a bipartisan campaign of Web and print services could increase business for you.
Source: Canvas; December 2008
Author: Cyndie Shaffstall
“Why buy print if I can post it to the Web (for free)?”
How many times have you heard that statement? How did you respond? Who were you talking with? Given the widespread concern for our collective financial future, it’s not surprising; but what do you say?
Web marketing in and of iteself is rarely successful. It needs a launchpad in some cases and in other cases it is the foundation for a marketing structure. Marketing 101 teaches that a potential customer customer does not hear your message until they’ve heard it at least three times. Therefore their marketing event should be three-pronged - e-mail, Web and print, or some combination thereof. What that can mean for you is opportunity. Understanding search-engine optimization (SEO), viral and social marketing, and other online positioning can help you to impress upon your customer the value of adding print to their campaign.
In most cases, print costs more to produce than electronic campaigns. However, by the time you factor in the hosting costs, click-thru tracking, banner ads, traffic fees, Web designers, and the lot, a customer might well spend more on the electronic messaging than the print job.
Back to the Marketing 101 rule, imaging a budget split in thirds: one third to the e-mail message, one third to the matching landing pages, banner ads, and statistical analysis, and one third in print. The print portion might be a postcard or brochure that goes out at campaign launch, or it could be a loyalty piece such as a gift card that closes the campaign.
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By way of example, we recently built a customer-loyalty campaign with three components: a variable-data e-mail, variable-data Web pages (also known as PURLs), and a direct-mail postcard. There were three versions of the e-mail and postcard. They had the same message and were sent to the same customers, but each version had a different reward: one was a simple thank you, one a coffee-shop gift card, and the last, a discount coupon at our store. The intent was to determine what type of gift would actually drive the customer to the site and compel them to complete the survey.
At the end of the campaign we had a stack full of completed surveys, data on what type of customer visited the site, what offer prompted them to take action, and we also knew whether e-mail or print drove them to act.
With this in mind, the next time you’re sitting with your potential customer and they are discussing their print requirements, offer up analyses, maybe a banner ad or two, or how about an e-mail?
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Getting involved, knowing how you can complement a campaign, and how you can help the customer achieve better results will bring you the repeat business that is your mainstay.
December 15th, 2008
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