Marobella's Branding SoapBox

Will MacGyver Be Your Next Creative Director?

Ad and all other manner of agencies have been 'making' things since they existed. Albeit things like print, TV, outdoor, websites, display ads, DM, collateral etc. The artifact that is typically created falls out of a knowledge-worker sensiblity rather than the tinkering-on-a-workbench type of making that occurred during the Industrial Revolution or today in the factories around the world. 

However, there is a blending of world's starting to happen that is a canary in the coalmine. The maker subculture has been slowly showing up in unused corners of ad and digital agencies over the past couple of years. In cities around the world, hacker spaces have been popping up giving people that have a technology, DIY propensity to get together and make things. Many of these people are now becoming creatives in the ad and digital agencies as they evolve from the traditional advertising of yesteryear into evolution of connecting with buyers in new ways. This evolution is forcing an understanding of technology combined with the grasping of brand and marketing concepts. A new breed, for sure. Combine this with the fact that the physical and digital worlds are colliding faster than ever and our retail and environmental spaces will begin to adapt to our thoughts and will (neurological commands are coming to a store near you.)

The people that understand how to make something from a series of seemingly unrelated parts and pieces molded into a usable, relevant experience will be the creative directors of tomorrow. In fact, the agencies out in front are developing hacker spaces right inside of their agencies. The canary in the coalmine are the early adopters inside of agencies doing this stuff in their spare time and in those unused corners of the agencies to prove to leadership and clients that it can be done. And, it creates a nice innovation halo for the agency's brand. 

Today, the agency that my business unit is nested within, Havas Worldwide Chicago and one of those early adopters, Tyler DeAngelo the Executive Creative Director, brought the world the The Buzzed Buzzer. The Buzzed Buzzer is a new year's noise maker that doesn't work unless you are drunk. Powered by a breathylyzer inside of the horn, it rocks when you are rocked. This idea is borne from a passion for the creative process. Creative as defined in bringing together things in new ways that have never been brought together before. This isn't his first entry into the world of maker, he brought us the gumball machine that only dispenses when you check into the location on Foursquare currently places inside of Legal Seafoods In Boston. 

But Tyler and Havas are not the only innovative people in ad agencies talking about maker culture in creative environments. The venerable Ed Boches wrote about his POV on maker culture here, an excerpt from his perspective >> 

It demonstrates a culture of innovation by using rather than simply talking about new technologies.

 It teaches people who aren’t technological to conceive things that can be built and prototyped, tested and iterated, expanding their creative repertoire and frame of reference.

 And perhaps most importantly it shows clients that their agency is inventing, not just making ads.

I think the is the golden age of marketing and advertising. It is a generation where creatvity isn't just about the big idea, tagline or awesome art direction. It is about inventing. And isn't that the spirit we all strive for anyway? Invention is the mother of necessity so hopefully this is all leading us into a necessary new era of connecting people and brands. 

 

Creating An Impossible Future

Today, I am thinking about what the future looks like for the new company that I have been entrusted with and it reminded me of an Impossible Future that a team I worked on some years ago set for ourselves and achieved.

An Impossible Future is an envisioned future which a team can rally around and work towards. It may seem impossible at the time, but do all of the right things and it can be achieved. The most famous, of course, is a man on the moon (JFK and NASA) or changing the world with a personal computer (Jobs and Apple.) This is a transformational statement that forces the company or organization to act differently. 

When I was at Greco Ethridge Group in the late 90's, we were a successful, relatively unknown ad agency that had caught the early wave of digital marketing and integrated it seamlessly into our offering. We had some great brands at the time - IBM, 3Com, CMP Media and more. We were growing slowly and really wanted to be recognized on the national stage. One day in a strategy meeting, I threw out the idea, let's set a goal to be named Agency Of The Year inside of 3-years. At the time it was so far from our reach. Nobody knew who we were, we did great work but were a great secret. Our Impossible Future had become AOTY. I even kept a small piece of paper in my wallet that said AGENCY OF THE YEAR. Every time I opened it, it reminded me of our mission. 

This forced the entire firm to behave differently and became our litmus test for everything we did. Was our work world-class and breakthrough? Were we growing at over 20% per year? Did we have name brand new business wins? Were we profitable? Were we hiring great people? It gave us a platform for every major area of our business. 

Guess what? We achieved it well inside of 3-years. Because were primarily a B2B agency focused on high-tech, we won AOTY from Ad Age's BtoB Magazine. That award and write-up still hangs in my home office because it reminds me that the impossible can be achieved. Believe it and it can be done. 

What is your impossible future?

TBWA Proclaiming Digital Should Be Integrated!? Wait, what?

TBWA's New Approach To Digital

So, is this TBWA's way of making a declaration that standalone digital shops are a thing of the past? Said Mr. Carroll: "I don't know if they are a thing of the past, but I can only judge based on what we're seeing in the market and what prospective clients are asking for. ... More and more [requests for proposals] and our clients are asking for integrated digital in our offerings." According to Mr. Carroll, seven of the last 10 RFPs TBWA has gotten from prospective clients have asked for integrated digital capabilities, and recent wins, such as work for Four Seasons and for Adidas, required that TBWA deliver both traditional and digital creative work.

Today, this article in Advertising Age is proudly proclaiming that the digital discipline should be integrated into the advertising agency because more and more clients are asking for it. As a guy that has been in the advertising game for 20-years and integrated digital into an advertising agency in 1997, this is not new news. Our agency, Greco Ethridge Group, won agency of the year from BtoB/AdAge in 1998 because of this integration and since then, it has always amazed me that the traditional agencies and their creatives always saw digital as a stand-alone to TV, Print and OOH. I always left meetings with partner traditional agencies scratching my head because the partner felt that any essence of digital would soil their TV idea. 

The fact is, clients and brand marketers need to have their agency partners in little boxes neatly arranged so that they can ensure best-of-breed thinking. A marketing agency that has digital at its core cannot have advertising ideas as good as an advertising agency and an advertising agency, for sure, cant have digital ideas as good as a pure-play digital shop. Maybe there is some truth here, but I believe the slowdown for the integration of digital and advertising hasnt just been the reluctance of agency leadership, but the slow adoption of clients to accept that fact. 

However, now as GenX and even GenY leaders come into prominent roles in brand organizations, that old way of thinking will start to disintegrate. Combine that with budget pressures to consolidate spending and resource constraints in managing multiple agencies and you have a perfect storm that will force innovation inside the traditional-minded ad agencies and force digital agencies to develop brand consulting and big idea capabilities. 

It is a great time to be a marketer. Let's go. 

New Marketing Rule: Declaring Things Dead Is Dead

How Stella Artois Could Respond To Newcastle

Stella Artois vs. Newcastle Beer from Paul Marobella on Vimeo.

Steve Jobs' Impact on Fashion

 

 

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The Karl Lagerfeld Tweed Helmet with iPod pocket, The Scocket, a scarf with an iPod pocket or most Burton snowboard jackets and lululemon workout sweatshirts; all of these categories of fashion have been re-engineered because Mr. Jobs integrated a small MP3 player into everything we do. Whether riding the train, walking our dogs, snowboarding down a mountain or in downward dog in yoga class. The fashion integration of iPods is endless. 

 

Thinking about the impact on how Mr. Jobs and Apple has changed our behavior and relationship with technology, music and other digital content; the fashion elements become the vessel in which we are able to seamlessly integrate that technology into our lives. When was the last time a product drove innovation in fashion beyond the parts & pieces of the garment? And beer funnel helmets don't count... 

Can Boxing Re-Build It's Brand?

 

Last night, I went on a twitter-tirade after Floyd Mayweather knocked out Victor Ortiz with what will be one of the most controversial endings to a championship bout in recent history. Clearly, Mayweather would've probably won that fight, but Ortiz was showing some flurries that were met with head shakes and confident shake-off's from Mayweather. 

And while those knock-down blows may have been 'legal' within the confines of the boxing rules, what the the boxing champions do not understand is that the sport is bigger than themselves. They can only benefit from sportsmanship, fighting clean and giving PPV viewers what they paid good money for. And while that win was clean and fair, it does continued damage to the boxing brand. 

Dare I say that last night's fight was fixed? I mean, my wife even went there after he was knocked out. What kind of experienced fighter drops his hands and tries to hug and kiss the guy for a second time after apologizing to him? Really? He should've lost in principle. Shows that he didn't have the killer instinct to beat Floyd.

I went on the twitter-tirade because many years ago, I wrote off boxing. Probably after the Tyson debacles with Holyfield and the shady Don King promotions. Everyone, everywhere was and probably still is convinced that boxing is fixed; that is has become a 'real' WWE. Well, I gave boxing another chance last night after being wishy-washy on whether or not to pay the $65 for the fight. And, shame on me, I was bitten again as were probably 2M other people. 

No wonder the UFC and MMA brands are continuing to build steam. Somewhere, UFC president Dana White was smiling wide after last night's fight. That is exactly the type of shadiness that is driving his sport. People have had it with the big build up for the once-every-18-month fight that ends in 4 rounds. A 'long run for a short slide' as I like to say. The UFC is doing it right; build fighter brands that all ladder up to the UFC brand, ultimately. Keep fans satisfied with free fights on cable TV and then offer big UFC title events on a much more frequent basis. Smart. 

Imagine what boxing could be and how much money these guys could make spread out over the rest of the boxers not just one or two guys if they just managed their brand? Seems like boxing needs a re-boot. 

In The Real World, Not Everyone Gets A Trophy

(This post purely represents my personal views and not that of my employer)

Tonight, I watched my 7-year old daughter's beloved T-Ball Red Sox lose their semi-final playoff game for the first time in a few years. Last year, they lost in the Village championship and received some very nice silver trophies. An award well-earned. Tonight, they lost and the coaches busted out the trophies. Albeit, they are more of a bobblehead trophy, but nonetheless, a trophy. For losing.

Putting my daughter to bed tonight, she showed some signs of disappointment and tears because they lost. She understood the gravity of the game (in t-ball) and what it meant to win. While she likes the bobblehead, I know she doesn't think it represents anything. She didn't win. I never like to see my daughter cry, but I must say there was a part of me that was proud of her for recognizing that her team didn't deserve a trophy. 

It got me thinking about the age of entitlement that I believe we are living in with our younger workforce (not everyone, but still a pervasive issue.) It has me thinking if the 'raise after 6-months for doing your job' set is borne from the 'trophy for everyone and nobody is a captain on this team' generation that we've bestowed upon generation y and worse, millenials. Some of the younger generations think that for just doing their job, the company owes them something more.

The fact is in the age of 10% unemployment, it takes going above and beyond in today's competitive world to win, whether at the corporate or individual level. Just showing up for work, punching a clock, doing what is asked of us and doing it well is not enough. It certainly isn't enough to ask a capitalist, for-profit enterprise for more. Go above and beyond and do it with respect, integrity and a positive attitude. Believe me, the people that you work for recognize extra-effort, but most importantly a positive atttitude which will be rewarded. And, if it isn't, leave. You are accountable for your life, your career and your actions, nobody else.

In the real-world, not everyone gets a trophy. In fact, the opposite is very true. The people that lose, that don't put in the extra-effort and expect the world to reward them because they went to college, showed up for work on time and did the work they were compensated for, are the ones that never make it to their desired levels. They are the ones that are always blaming somebody else for 'being kept down.' 

So, hopefully we as adults can teach our children that even though somebody, somewhere thought it was a good idea to give the losers trophies, that isn't why we play the game. We play the game for personal pride, for achievement and for satisfaction that we were/are part of something bigger than ourselves. A team. 

Digital Media Planning More Creative Than Ever

The lines between creative, technology and media selection in the digital space continues to blur.

The channel and media recommendations agencies make for their clients are now happening in different parts of the planning process than they traditionally have in the past. The linear nature of planning has become more fluid and immediate. The technology available to planners and creative technologists are allowing creative messaging and call’s to action to be targeted in both behavioral or contextual ways that could alter the messaging in real-time. This has ramifications for the creative process and also creative people that understand the power of the technical platforms that can help them create more relevant, targeted messaging that will almost positively have a bigger impact for the brand. I submit that the media/creative process become closer and more integrated than ever and this will have implications for the unbundled media and creative agencies. How can we as an industry cross-pollinate these teams in a way that makes sense for the client and for the bottom-line of said agencies?

This is the most exciting time in digital marketing in the past 15-years. For creatives, I can imagine that the people that take the time to understand the new and burgeoning digital advertising and marketing platforms, will be able to deliver their 'big ideas' in ways they never thought possible. For planners, adding value beyond just choosing the channel and the properties; but contributing to the ideation process in helping the creative teams concept around the digital technology available to them and then educating the client on the new buying patterns (buying audiences not networks, for example) will continue to help these two critical functions in the advertising work closer together and continue to add value for brands.

This world is moving and changing so fast that taking a segment of time on a daily basis to learn about new technology providers, application, platforms or system that will allow brands to connect with their customer segments in ways never thought before will help teams and agencies deliver value in ways clients are expecting. I submit that the agencies and planners that do not adapt to this new world and continue to follow the traditional planning process will go the way of the long-forgotten IAB standard sizes. 

 

Social Media For CPG Brands

Recently heard from a CEO of a portfolio of CPG brands, "I want to show straight-line value for my social media efforts that prove I am selling more product as a result."

I get it. With finite marketing dollars, she wants to know why should I invest money and resources into a part of the 'marketing' mix that is an in-direct line to value-creation?

My sense is that this is not the first time any of you guys have heard a CEO/VP of Marketing/Marketing Director say something like that regarding social strategies. Of course, I launched into the categorization of metrics into three categories depending on the objective and the level of the organization we are dealing with and the positive sentiment, engagement and value that having a robust community around the brand can create.  

This chart from Forrester does a nice job of breaking out the types of metrics to aggregate depending on the view of the client organization, but the only real straight-line value metric there is coupon redemption for CPG brands. The sales figure for CEO's is a lagging indicator and takes time in the CPG/Distribution channel to measure and even so how can you attribute a 5% bump in sales to increased activity from a brand's Facebook promotion? 

It seems surveys are also a powerful tool in helping the CEO see purchase and frequency intent for people engaged in a CPG brand's social platforms. When a person is at the shelf in a grocery store and has a planned or even impulse need, your brand is the top-of-mind brand they reach for because they remember consciously or sub-consciously that they are engaged with you in the social space. Baselining those that are not engaged in a CRM/Social platform and those that are can show fruitful results in value. 

One attribute of brand categorization that we get excited about at [wire] stone when we have the chance to build a social strategy for a CPG brand is the 'passion' of the consumer-base for that brand. If people are inherently passionate and engaged daily with the category or brand itself, then the work of an engaging, valuable social strategy becomes an easier task. For example, creating a social engagement strategy for a brand like Brand Jordan in the sneakerhead world or the retailer A.C. Moore in the crafting category is like lighting a match in a dry field. The people that engage those categories and brands have a high emotional investment and very much align their interests and passions with them. The task becomes keeping them engages, fueling those passions, getting them to buy one more pair or visit the store one more time/month. Then, being able to measure that value in engagement that we are able to measure the intent and propensity as a result of that social engagement.

Beyond couponing or special 'community' only deals. I think we as social marketers have to make sure we aren't drinking our own kool-aid when launching into a diatribe about how social creates value even if you can't straight-line it. We have to be more empathetic to the position of the client in wanting proof that this new, emerging space is creating value. This is especially true if they are a 'distribution' business, which means that the more distribution they get on the shelf, the better sales will be. It is our job to help them get that distribution into the channel and then drive people to the shelf to buy that product. Once that CEO sees how passionate people are on their communities and sees the sales line move as a result. 

The Vocal Minority In Social Media: Lessons Learned

 
Market and service transparency is at an all-time high as brands and agencies try to crack the code in engaging their customer/consumers in the social-sphere. As long as there's been an exchange of currency for products or services, there's been unsatisfied customers. The fact is, the larger the brand or transaction amount, the more opportunity for dissatisfaction. And while tens of thousands or even millions of transactions could take place and a small percentage do not go well, this could amount to what seems to be an incredible amount of negative sentiment in the social channels. This is especially true when working with a brand that has seasonal spikes during the year that can amount to a lionshare of their annual revenue. People are more intense, more is on the line and the chance for errors are higher.

Here at [wire] stone, we've been helping brands work out social service protocols to support their marketing and customer service efforts. The space is evolving rapidly for two main reasons: technology continues to improve, which allows community managers to engage better and more efficiently and consumers are getting savvier by the minute; digital natives aren't the only ones that know how to find and engage a brand when they aren't happy. 

Here are some take-away's from our experience and some lessons learned as you or your brand works to engage your marketplace deeper: 

- Conduct simulations for your social service methods and processes, when the bullets are flying that is not a good time to be working out protocol. In advance of the seasonal periods, try to anticipate every possible scenario, including flamers trying to bring your  brand down in all of the social channels. 

- Empower your community managers; give them everything they need to respond to the marketplace in a fast and accurate manner. This includes engaging your legal counsel long before it's needed to recieve approved responses and course of action. This is a tedious and difficult process, but makes it all worth it in the end. 

- Assign 1 point-person between your customer service team and the community managers to mediate and be the ombudsman in deciding what to do next. DO NOT make decisions by committee. 

- Expect the unexpected, consumers will do what they can to get under your skin. The more emotional your product or service, the worse it will get. 

- Use slower seasonal periods to create positive content and sentiment to insulate the inevitable vocal minority. 

- Don't fake it, if there is a concentrated period in time when consumers are posting negative content, don't pander and re-tweet or re-post people that say something positive the mad consumers will see right through that and wonder why you are wasting your time doing that and not getting to their issue. 

- Be patient and keep your cool, continue to have humility in the process and believe you are doing the right thing in helping them. We all have finite resources and things will go off the rails, continue to let people know you are working as fast as you can.

- Be generous when making it right; when a consumer has an issue use that opportunity to really make it right and they will reward you with positive sentiment subsequently to the negative sentiment they most likely created. Get this wrong and they will ping you again. 

- And last but definitely not least, keep your cool. Being difficult to work with when the social and community management team is trying their best to help people, does not make things better. 

New ground is being forged everyday in the area of Social Customer Service and SocialCRM. Nobody likes their dirty laundry aired for all to see, but that is the price of the new social web. As the social web evolves, so will the expectations of consumers. We as marketers are seeking ways to use the social web to build value for our brands and having a social customer service strategy should not be an after-thought, it should be the thought.

Review: Microsoft Windows Phone 7: Save Us From Our Phones

 

I love insightful advertising, work that cuts right the core of humanity and our quirky behavior. I also love a brand and their agency that isn't afraid to zig when everyone else is zagging. Connecting with consumers in the crowded marketing space of mobile phones is no easy task. Apple continues their minimalist white background, hands-controlling-phone work while Motorola delves into the futuristic, space-feel Droid campaigns with a message of empowerment.

What I like about this work from Microsoft (client) and Crispin is that it focuses on the human dynamic surrounding a mobile device. And, the creative direction clearly spells that out. The fact that a small device that fits into the palm of our hand has become the Great Wall that blocks us off from the world around us. It even touches on some very Eckhart Tolle concepts when they end with living in the present or The Now. Very spiritual of Microsoft.

The irony of the idea is that most mobile phones, especially smartphone, advertising rests on the concept of connections and staying connected. That a device makes us more interwoven as a society rather than less so. The reality is, we are more interwoven, just not to people or events in our direct vicinity. I am curious to see how they pay off this first effort, knowing that CP+B's MO is to have a series of campaigns that build on each other. The pay off for me will be how Phone 7 connects me with my direct vicinity rather than the people or things that are apart from me at that moment as criticized in the advertising. 

And oh by the way, I think someday we will look at the word of this decade to be "Really?" made more famous by Tina Fey and Seth Meyer on SNL Weekend Update. 

GiveBack10 For Our Wounded Warriors

Today, on 10/10/10, Wirestone helped launch an important initiative with the USO to help spread the word about the issues our American hero's face when they arrive home wounded from their battles. I've never served in the military but do come from a lineage of soldiers ending with my Father. I have always admired the sacrifice these people endure after experiencing a life-changing injury on the battlefield. We owe it to these people to help them circulate back into our society and learn about the issues they face. One of the things we love about this program is that it does tie to our work on Think Beyond The Label, which helps people with disabilities become gainfully employed in our economy. Soldiers that are disabled are a segment of that group. 

For us at Wirestone, developing marketing, work and ideas that truly enrich people's lives in direct ways is one of the values we cherish. It gives us purpose, mission and focus as we apply our passion for marketing to causes, products and initiatives that help people. 

Please check out the GiveBack10 or at the GiveBack10 Facebook Page. All it takes is 10 minutes to learn about the issues facing our Wounded Warriors, tell 10 of your friends and give 10 dollars to the cause. 

Creating a Socially-Conscious Brand: Think Beyond The Label

 

Wirestone has had the good fortune of working with a group called Health & Disability Advocates to create a new brand from the ground up. Earlier this year, we launched a brand called 'Think Beyond The Label', which advocates the hiring of workers with disabilities into knowledge-worker roles. This experience has been amazing in more ways than one. To birth a new brand is an incredible experience on its own, but to know that the work you are doing is making a real difference and change people's minds about a topic or misconceptions is truly inspiring. The work that we are doing is truly enriching people's lives versus just trying to sell them more stuff. 

The campaign has moved onto its second phase and it feels like the momentum and excitement around the movement is picking up steam. We've focused on providing real business decision-makers with information and content they can use to understand how to evolve their workforce. To see the energy, passion and impact this work is having is really incredible.

When we first pitched this campaign, we took the angle that business-leaders are inundated with marketing and advertising from all types of brands. Treating this as another government-looking campaign will only create noise in the marketplace. It will fall on deaf ears and will not connect with the hearts and minds. If the desire is to do another PSA-type campaign, then lets not waste the grant and taxpayer monies. 

If you are interested, please visit the website and download the Field Guide To Evolving Your Workforce at http://www.thinkbeyondthelabel.com 

 

Core Values In Marketing: Sincere or Shill?

Does integrating core values and belief systems into marketing sell more product?

Was getting my Sunday morning ritual coffee at a local Dunkin' Donuts and noticed this sign at an adjacent US Cellular store. At first, their statement about the "Belief Project" caught my eye because it felt strangely religious to be in the window of a mobile phone store. At further inspection, I noticed they were stating their beliefs about the Mobile Phone business and basically coming out against the business practices of the industry to date. Positioning itself against it. I thought it was very interesting that USC was branding their belief system and making it a marketing message. I am not sure I'd place it in the category of core values, but more of a business-practice values. Fast forward to me arriving home and pulling out my analog Sunday Paper, while enjoying my iced coffee and breakfast sandwich, I came across a two-page spread ad from USC touting their "Belief Rewards" program. The copy is well-written and to the point. I think the overall integrated strategy is differentiated from what is happening in the business, but I couldn't help that it was throwing stones in glass houses. 

It then had me thinking about how Zappos has moved to integrating their core values into their website and on their packaging. An inward-facing set of values they've brought to the outside world. And, for them, it feels remarkably authentic and heartfelt because their CEO/Evangelist has been tireless at espousing the inner-workings of their company and most people's interactions with the company are consistent and hold true to the statements that are made throughout their marketing channels.

For Zappos it is how they do business rather than how they market. For US Cellular, it feels like how they market and only time will tell if it is how they do business, for real. 

Free Ideas For Sale.

 I am looking for a new high-end restaurant to be my regular haunt. Tomorrow, I am going to invite 15 restaurants to send me a proposed menu of what they'd serve me based on what I like, a narrative on how they move through the kitchen and cook said meals, bios on who the cooks would be, detailed testimonials from other diners that I might call if I want and a broken out cost of not only each item on the menu but each component of the dish - what its wholesale cost is and to justify the mark-up. Then, I will invite 3 restaurants to actually cook me dinner, a full-blown experience on their dime. I won't ask them outright to do it, I will just ask them for "some ideas" on how they might implement my vision. But, if they don't cook me a 5 course meal and for free - there is no way I will choose them as my regular haunt on Saturday nights. 

I will invite some of my friends to eat the meal and will of course ask them their advice. I will invite the chefs and cooks out to the table to ensure that I like them and our 'chemistry' is in order, along with the other people in the restaurant. Okay, then after I have decided which restaurant will be my regular haunt, I will call them and tell them congratulations you've won my business but I want it all for cheaper. To which, they agree. I will then proceed to call the other two restaurants and tell them they both come in a very close agonizing second place to the winner. 

By now, if you are in the ad/marketing agency business you recognize this analogous story. Why in god's name to we propagate this type of behavior? We come together at industry functions, lock arms, sing songs and talk about the evil clients and search consultants and how they are sucking our finely-tuned brains for ideas and then kicking us to the proverbial curb. We go on and invest tens of thousands of dollars, take our people away from their families on holiday weekends, lose ungodly amounts of sleep and learn about our deepest fears at 4am. We typically do all this with less than a 5% chance of winning. 5-10% chance of winning!! Who bets all this on such small odds. We do. That's who. 

This is as much a call out to all my agency brethren to resist the urge as it is me talking to myself. This is hopefully about client-side people and search consultants seeing this post and show restraint in gently encouraging agencies for speculative ideas and not paying them for them. 

There I said it and that was cathartic. 

Can Groupon Cheapen Brands?

 
The collective buying bellwether, Groupon, just received another $135,000,000 in cash infusion to further build their business model and scale. This tells me they could be moving beyond the local businesses that typically use their services to offer a discount off services in return for a group buy, often at really high return rates. For example, Phil Stefani's 437 Rush Steakhouse in Chicago ran a Groupon yesterday and as of the screen grab above had sold 2,460 of the $30 offer generating $73,800 in revenue. I would bet still at a healthy margin. That is probably a week or two's revenue for that restaurant. The math turns out to be acquisition cost for the brand in calculating how many of those people will come back a second and third time creating loyalty. 

I hadn't really thought about the issue of damaging brand equity through Groupon until I saw this restaurant in Chicago run this promotion. Pretty nice place, but to me, it cheapened the brand's identity. Maybe I am not the type of person to pull out a Groupon deal receipt when paying, but some people are. This new form of 'couponing' is hunting for people that shop deals and the return rate can be low on repeat visit, even if they had a positive experience. 

As Groupon goes national and seeks national brands to engage their service, it will be interesting to see what types of brands seek to drive spikes in store traffic. 

A Lesson In Branding: Oak Park, IL

On MBSB, I normally write about global consumer and B2B brands, but I had to make an exception to talk about a local situation in the Village where I live outside of Chicago. While the drama only really affects the people within the town limits, the lessons and story lines are nothing short of soap operatic. In fact, as the days go by it only gets better. I'd also like to share a line that I learned almost 20-years ago as I was breaking into the branding business as a warning about clients "There are three things that everyone believes they are experts on, Baseball, Sex and Advertising." Baseball is interchangeable, but you get the picture. 

In a nutshell, my Village hired an agency to re-brand the town in order to attract more tourist visitors and thereby increase revenue for the Village's businesses. A great plan because our taxes would make Bill Gates blush and anything that can provide some relief is welcome. Cut to today: 

The firm based in Nashville, TN (I guess there weren't any world-class destination/branding agencies in Chicago!?) recently unveiled their logo, tagline and corresponding ad campaign for the Village. And to use a Daniel Burnham reference, it has stirred some souls. In fact, in my professional opinion the work is 'sophomoric' (to use a word uttered by the person in charge of the campaign at the Village in response to people's reaction to the campaign). And to prove that I am not just bitter because I didn't work on it, I love the new Chicago Navy Pier tourism campaign "Go A Little Overboard" And, I pitched for that business and lost. 

There are a few things very wrong with the work that was unveiled by the Village. And, to add, these are common branding mistakes that are made when a process is rushed, the client is difficult or the people conducting the work cut corners or are unqualified. First, the work is not big enough, meaning that they didn't get to the core benefit of why people visit Oak Park. They went the easy route and 'drafted' some famous people-brands like Frank Lloyd Wright and Ernest Hemingway. Of course, people come to Oak Park to be closer to their heroes and see where they plied their crafts. But that isn't the only reason. People come to Oak Park for other reasons, too. They come to visit the Harrison St. Arts District, visit the various beautiful churches (inc. The Unity Temple), the cuisine, learn about Oak Park's role in mafia history, shop the cool local boutiques or enjoy our parks & trees. They didn't get to the core essence of what Oak Park is about and why people would want to visit - not why they would live there - while that is different, I do think they are related (more on that in a minute.) 

In addition, the people responsible for the campaign are ignoring the feedback they are getting about the campaign and EVEN WORSE are bragging about how cheap it was to create. Incredible. I see this mistake all the time. Companies choose the lowest bid and it ends up costing more in the long run. Here is the article that contains his quote "It is ridiculously cheap for a study like this." I am happy that the Village is looking for the lowest bids, but being penny-wise and pound foolish is a mistake that many companies make.

 Frankly, the logo is the least of my concerns with the campaign - whether or not you think it looks like a penis (that is the first time I have written that word in 3-years writing this blog).I take issue with the core benefit of why people would want to visit Oak Park and the tagline. Let's tackle the distillation of why someone would want to visit Oak Park:

I moved to Oak Park 2.5 years ago. I moved here because of the creative culture that pervades all aspects of the community. Creativity is a word that has many meanings. To me, it expresses individuality, vision, innovation, inspiration and a risk-taking community. This manifests in so many ways in Oak Park beyond the personalities that lived here, which is where the campaign is placing its  bet on Frank Lloyd Wright and Ernest Hemingway. I believe the 'Experience' of Oak Park rests squarely on the creative culture where independence and open-minds are valued. A place where people come to be inspired and to stretch their imaginations. That experience includes the FLL homes and studio, EH's birthplace, Harrison St Arts District, the newly renovated downtown OP, the cool restaurants, the welcoming melting pot community and more. And let's be honest, the fact it is 10-miles from Chicago helps. If Oak Park was way down in S. Illinois we wouldn't be having a conversation about tourism. 

That leads me to the tagline: Oak Park "Step Out Of Line." When I filled out the branding survey that was done a while back in advance of this work, I answered this question "How would you describe Oak Park to someone that has never heard of it?" My answer: Far enough away to feel safe, close enough to get shot. I was being facetious of course, but we do have a bit of crime in Oak Park that is much rougher than let's say, Naperville. So, when I see a tagline that invites people to Step Out Of Line, I think that this is license for people to raise hell. Stepping out of line is not an invitation to be different or unique, it is well-known vernacular for being raucous. I wonder what Oak Park's finest think of that? 

I don't envy the people in this position including the agency that worked on the business. I know how hard it can be and how personal people take their creative thinking. It is hard not to get defensive. But, because I really like Oak Park, I couldn't help myself and I am an expert in the previously aforementioned three things - I thought I'd offer a few taglines free of charge.  However, I would appreciate a credit on my next tax bill if they choose to accept one. They play on the essence and attributes of the Oak Park brand I previously mentioned. 

Oak Park: "Wright Down The Street"

Oak Park: "You Belong Here"

Oak Park: "Imagine Yourself Here"

Oak Park: "An Open Mind Is Mandatory" 

Oak Park: "Bring Your Walking Shoes"

Oak Park: "Arrive Curious. Leave Inspired" 

Take a 30-Minute Learning Break

I'm often asked how do you keep up with what is happening in your business? 

The answer is a dedicated commitment to learning, everyday. The information, insights and ideas are moving so fast that it is almost impossible for any one person to be the eternal fountain of knowledge. Similar to a commitment to taking a lunch break, smoking break or a trip to the gym - I've always dedicated a 30-60 minute block of time through the course of my day to sponge as much information as I can. At a recent Ad:Tech, I heard Rishad Tobaccowala from Denuo talked about that he sets aside 4-6am every Saturday morning to learn about what's happening and Jeremiah Owyang from Altimeter Group recently talked about that he read about what's happening pre-6am, everyday. Well, I am not sure I can commit to that because I like to sleep, especially on Saturday's but I do find the time in the morning and or late at night to dive in. Also, I use aggregators, technologies and mobile applications to keep myself informed and up to speed. 

Twitter has also become a great big suck of information into my brain. I love following people that are much smarter than me and tapping into their intelligence. I really believe that my time on Twitter is an investment in my knowledge. 

I also read a ton. My Kindle has streamlined this process for me and I am reading almost 2-books a week because of the ubiquity of having my books digitized. The key is having a trusted mastermind group for which you follow their twitter feeds, blog posts or articles they write. 

My advice is to find the time. In fact, I even tell the people that work for me that your success doesn't rest on what you do with your 'up time' but how you make the most of your 'down time' or your in-between-moments. As Gordon Gecko said, "Money doesn't sleep."

Showdown at the Social Media Corral - PR or Digital?

This post is bound to create some controversy. I hope it does.  The moral of this story is “Anyone can say they can do anything.” Focus on their core competencies and how it aligns to the various elements of creating a social influencer strategy and decide who fits in where. There may be a role at the table for multiple parties that will inevitably think they can do what the other partner can, but defining parameters and clear delineation will make everyone’s life easier. In addition, agencies will continue to reinvent themselves and every area of the advertising/marketing/pr categories are no exception. I think the services and core competencies of agencies will look very different in the next 5-years.

For some time, traditional PR agencies and digital marketing agencies have been on a collision course trying to win the hearts and social media budgets of our clients. Lately, the question has been asked of me in various high-profile brand pitches/meetings. “How do you guys distinguish where you play vs. our PR agency?” Now, in full disclosure I work for a digital marketing agency that works with global brands – where we sit on the spectrum of agencies certainly differs from traditional advertising agencies and digital agencies that rely on ‘traditional digital’ marketing including the purchase of media. I have many friends that run and/or own very successful PR-firms and perceived a first-hand perspective on how they are positioning themselves, which by the way is changing as fast as I’ve ever seen.

This post is written with the caveat that any agency can instantly change its complexion with a smart acquisition one way or another. A PR agency could become a powerful digital and technical player with one stroke of the pen or vice versa. I think we’ll see more deals in this area over the next 24-months.

I’d like to start with a few key words that are talked about consistently with regard to social media – Authenticity, transparency and conversation. How does traditional advertising stack up with those three words? Not well. Broad-based, manufactured brand marketing has always been accused of being one-way marketing, not authentic and certainly not transparent. And, from where I sit the traditional core competency of PR firms have been to create news based on a brand’s positioning or efforts and then rely on the firm’s connections to garner coverage for the brand or said another way – earn media rather than pay for it. Okay, so is creating a spin for a brand’s initiatives and then ‘pitching’ the media (whether traditional media or online) considered authentic and transparent? And in addition, most of the social media efforts for brands take place in the online world. A world that has endless possibilities with regard to technical creativity. In fact, many have said that the new creativity in social media is the planning of how applications, technologies and platforms are brought together to create a unique experience. No different than the words in the dictionary, the fonts in a catalog or the colors on a wheel are brought together to create an award-winning creative campaign – we all have the tools at our disposal, it is all in how they are brought together to solve a brand problem creatively. Are PR agencies positioned to create truly online contextual experiences where people come together and talk about a brand or company experience? Certainly, they can outsource the technical implementations and even the creative design elements but is that really what a world-class brand would want? I do think that PR agencies are well-suited in the content creation part of creating powerful experiences, whether brand-generated or developing relationships to syndicate. Also, the outreach initiatives that have moved online like blogger outreach could certainly be a core competency of PR.

I propose that an agency (digital or otherwise) with truly integrated strategic, creative and technical capabilities are the front-runners for the social integration partnerships. Here is my rationale:

Core competencies:

-       Connecting brands with influential customers rather than connecting brands with influential editors is where digital marketing agencies have always played. If a campaign or initiative is picked up by the media, then cool. I think that PR agencies have had to change their focus of whom they are ‘pitching.’ The more strategic digital agencies have the capabilities of developing deep segmentation and UX studies of the target customers and learning how technology integrates into their lives. Certainly, PR agencies have many smart people that understand segmentation and could play in the area of customer understanding and building relevant social programs.

-       The creation of rich, interactive contextual experiences that are based on well-informed user-experience analysis and built on powerful technical platforms are a critical component of properly situated social media programs for brands. A credible digital agency will go deep in this area and can be flexible in creating custom communities or platforms and/or customizing third-party platforms like Ning. In fact, the third party platforms are becoming more and more complex with customization capabilities.

-       Custom Application development – As the social media world moves into a social business design realm with consultancies like The Dachis Group espousing the next step of integrating listening and learning into core business functions, partners with technical chops to move away from a marketing core function of social media to integrating with other systems in the organization whether ERP, CRM or other systems will be critical.

-       Integrated Business Analytics: Any digital agency worth its salt has an integrated digital analytics team that includes data, web and social media analytics along with powerful listening and monitoring posts for brands. Analytics is not as simple as subscribing to Radian6 and then telling your clients that you play here as well. Analytics is a complex competency that requires a seat at the table from day one of an engagement. Certainly, PR agencies have always monitored the environments in which they’ve pitched their wares through clipping services and now have shifted to the social monitoring tools. Social monitoring is definitely an overlap.

-       Multi-media content creation is also an overlap area between PR and marketing. That’s what PR agencies do, they create content. I think that is why they are better situated to organize blogging initiatives and outreach to the new media editors. But content goes beyond writing into areas of video, applications, real-time content and more. This is an area that could certainly go into either camp. Of course, the creation of content is almost always linked to the improvement of an SEO strategy. Many PR agencies are starting to talk about how they are experts in SEO. I liken this to digital agencies saying “Of course we could write a press release and pitch it to the media.”

-       If a social media strategy is implemented properly it should create long-term value for a brand. Creating intellectual property and assets for the brand is the focus. At the end of the day, moving more product and/or services is what really matters for our clients. The brands that are doing it right are integrating CRM programs into their social efforts. The area of CRM is a competency in and of itself. Developing 1:1 relationships with customers and providing the right message at the right time based on an understanding of that customer is most definitely a core competency of many digital agencies. I think a PR agency would be hard pressed to develop the mechanics of a CRM program and then integrate into social efforts.

Now, it is probable that I’ve generalized the capabilities of both PR and marketing agencies for the purposes of making a point. However, like any marketing agency category, some agencies will be further down the path of evolving than others. Many PR agencies have taken important steps in becoming more relevant in social media while others are still dialing for dollars. Some digital marketing agencies are still building websites while others are integrating technical applications and developing experiences that congregate a brand’s most influential customers that creates value for the brand.

I’ve certainly presented some controversial points in this post and will let you decide who is better situated. Please add your $.02 on anything I may have missed one way or another. Please add some fuel to the fire.