Fans are Wired at Home and Events

Sports stadiums are connecting in new ways.  Are you ready to follow the trend at your next event?

The NBA’s Brooklyn Nets have in-arena Wi-Fi, 4G coverage, a giant scoreboard and an LED marquee; Cowboys Stadium has a 160-foot-wide video screen; progressive conferences allow attendees to Tweet live on a giant screen while the speaker is talking.

This is true social media.  People are together and using technology to better connect with the event.  It is changing our events to be more technologically advanced.  It may all go past connectivity, but think of the last event you were at and were disappointed you couldn’t get online or connect to cell coverage to post.

Here’s the real problem: People are starting to stay home.  Cisco surveyed sports fans in the U.S. and other countries and found that 57% preferred to watch games at home than attend an event live.  While at home, Cisco found that people wanted the best of the “at-home” experience.   Some stadiums will not show controversial plays on their big screens, but that will change.  The fear of enraged fans is falling to the fear of no fans at all.

Think of your next event.  How are you allowing technology to further your goals and connections with people at social events?  At a minimum, do you have adequate cell and Wi-Fi coverage?  If not, be sure to switch to another venue, before your fans do.

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The Magic Frequency Number is 12

In the marketing biz, people often talk about the number of impressions, touches, hits, responses, likes or rating points.

How many touches does it take to have an impact?  The problem is few know what the impact should be:  awareness, purchase, identification, likes, engagement, contributions.

But once you know, what is the magic number?  I like to equate this to talking with teenagers.  How many times do you need to tell a teenager to clean his or her room before they do it?  I think it is somewhere between 12 and 15 times.

In fact, Visual IQ completed an analysis of client data and impressions and found 12 is the median number of times a consumer is exposed to brands’ messages before purchasing.  The median number of days from first brand exposure to purchase is 47.  That is 12 contacts.  Imagine asking a sales person if they have had 12 contacts with a prospect before abandoning the hunt—I’d guess the median for this is 3.

Of course, all of this depends on if the target audience you are trying to reach has any awareness of you at all.  For example, I get a fundraising letter from an organization that found my name and address.  I don’t know them at all.  I certainly don’t know them enough to give any money.  But for the past five years I’ve received an ask in the mail.  I suppose after 7 more years maybe they will have enough awareness to make me open and give.

12 to 15 touches—and that is for each message and subsequent response.   How many are you making with your marketing?   Not convinced?  Read this 11 more times and I think you will start to get the idea.

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Take 2 Aspirin, Check Online, Call the Doctor in the Morning

Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project found that 35% of the time people have gone online to diagnose their own medical condition or the medical condition of a friend.  It’s the beginning of “online diagnosers.”

What is surprising is that 41% of online diagnosers said that a medical professional confirmed their diagnosis.  The report also found that women are more likely than men to go online for a diagnosis.

One area that is sure to grow for healthcare is “reviews.”  Right now only a “modest” group of consumers use health-related reviews and rankings.  About 20% have consulted online reviews on drugs, medical treatments, doctors, hospitals or medical facilities.  Just 4% of Internet users have posted an online review of healthcare services or providers. Knowing that reviews control actions of most online users, it will be a very short time before reviews become a key decision-making tool in healthcare.

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Do You Want to Work at an Advertising Agency?

We receive tons of resumes, inquiries concerning job openings and interest from students—and their parents—about internships.  I love the career, but it is not AMC’s Mad Men.  We have little time to swizzle scotch and worry about high fashion.

Usually we love awards and high rankings, but CareerCast.com has given advertising and public relations a high ranking we would prefer not to have.

Advertising agency executive topped the CareerCast.com’s most overrated job of 2012.

1. Advertising agency executive
2. Senior corporation executive
3. Commercial airline pilot
4. Stockbroker
5. Surgeon
6. Attorney
7. Public relations manager
8. Flight attendant
9. Photojournalist
10. Architect

High stress, an over-crowded job market, high burnout and the “aura of glamour that Mad Men helps perpetuate” is why advertising and public relations received such high marks.  It is a great career and wonderfully rewarding.  But it is strategy that wins the day, not scotch and fashion.

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Can You Think Like Your Audience?

The best way to think like your audience is to conduct research.  Yet quantitative surveys, focus groups and online sampling are not always feasible. So when we don’t have research, we must decipher what will appeal to our target audiences.

The problem is that when you try to interpret your target market, how do prevent your own personal tastes and biases from contaminating messaging?

Here’s a little test:

• Do you listen to an argument and think both sides are right?
• Do you love all colors?
• Do you vote for both parties?
• Do you like rap, classical, rock, country and pop music?
• Do you have a high degree of empathy for the problems of others?
• Do you often watch people react to situations and study their responses?

If you answered “yes” to all, you probably can set yourself in someone else’s shoes.  If it is “no,” crank up the research.  My father was head of engineering at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.  He took the clocks out of every patient room because he thought it would drive people crazy watching the clock for hours.  After he had to spend considerable time as a patient, he realized that when you are floating in and out of consciousness, the first thing you want to know is the time. How long have I been sleeping?  Is it still day or night?  He couldn’t think like the audience until he was literally in their shoes.

Colors, language, models, music and mood should not feel right to you if you are not the target audience—and that is more than age or sex, it also applies to psychographic differences as well.

It is a rare skill to separate your personal feelings from messaging decisions.  And, it is too easy to think what others should do, but almost impossible to know what others will do.

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Shorter Church Services

Traditional churches are struggling:  older congregations are disappearing and younger families are not refilling the ranks.

A 2012 Millennial Values Survey found a growing number of young people are religiously unaffiliated.   Some churches have tried contemporary services by adding a guitar or other instruments.  None of this seems to be working.

A new trend being tried in Florida is to shorten traditional Sunday services to attract more young members.  According to the Sun Sentinel, “abbreviated ceremonies are an innovation that leaders hope will lure back…young people.”

One church, St. Paul’s Episcopal in Delray Beach, Florida, offers a “family” service that is just 30 minutes long.  Not surprisingly, not just people with young children are attending the new service.

Shortening is a trend for the future.  Advertising body copy, letters, sales flyers, emails and presentations all need to be shorter to better communicate in this hyper-cluttered marketing world.   Now for the benediction.

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There’s a Target Audience Watching You Extremely Closely

As marketers, we are always concerned about speaking directly and intensely to the target audience.  Targeting audiences are where the word “relevancy” started being used in marketing.

However, there is an audience who will see your materials first and will be moved, influenced or ashamed of your marketing materials.  The target audience watching you so closely is made up by the employees of your organization.

New marketing can invigorate employees.  It sets up expectations.  New marketing materials can build morale, instill pride and provide employees with key information about your organization.  It gives employees a shared voice.  It is the most “undervalued value of advertising,” as one of my friends says.  However, if the message is fake, inflated or over-hyped, then the marketing can have damaging effects.

They may not be your primary audience, but your employees are watching more closely than you know.  They are like a sponge.  And they are learning.

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The Most Amazing Blog EVER!!!!!

Advertising has a problem.  It is hype.  We in the industry are slowly desensitizing target audiences with over-promises (and under-delivery) in our marketing.   

Even a word such as unique is not unique enough, now things are “really unique” and “very unique.”  We just can’t help it.  Our marketing voice is not matching with our real-world voice.

Are people really noticing? A new study by Lab42 says that 17% of consumers want laws to regulate ad claims.  What the survey really showed was that consumers are real skeptics when it comes to advertising claims.  Nearly 20% say ads are “very exaggerated.”  Less than 5% said “ads are accurate.”  As you can see by the chart, the exaggerated area far outweighs the accurate ratings.

Despite all the over-hyped claims, consumers were still more likely to purchase products due to brand advertising than reject them according to the study.  My question is, for how long?

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I Want Great Service for Christmas

For this Christmas, I want some great service.  Think of the last time you had really great service, either in a store, on the phone or at a restaurant, this holiday shopping season.   It is hard to think of a time. 

“Service” is so overused in advertising copywriting that the word has become neutral.  Service joins the handshake in financial ads or the phrase “exceeding your expectations” as meaningless marketing.

The problem is that logos, colors, marketing materials, social media strategies and fancy ads go out the door when poor service is delivered.  Service is meaningless in marketing, yet in person it is THE most important part of marketing your company or organization.

The best service I received this year was at Nordstrom in Chicago.  While my wife and daughter were in the shoe department 30 minutes before the store was closing, I ventured up to the cafe to get a drink.  At first the person at the front door apologized and said they were closed.  He then recanted and said, “Come on in, I’ve closed the register, but would you like a free cookie and drink.”  We didn’t take him up on the offer, but I’ll never forget his effort.  That was great service.  Just like strong advertising, it was surprising, memorable, differentiated and it made me smile.

In this digital age, it is hard to deliver great service.  Building real relationships requires human contact, and that is when service becomes critical.  When I’m in a store and I say, “I’m just looking,” I’m really just looking for some great service.

See you next year.  Happy Holidays.

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Christmas is Only 15 Days Away

Christmas is only 15 days away, but according to Yesmail Interactive,  nearly a quarter of consumers started doing thier holiday shopping before October. 

So when you see all those decorations and Christmas items up prior to Halloween next year, don’t get mad.  Understand that retailers are responding to consumers.  There are a lot of people who are planners and not last-minute shoppers.   In fact, for every person who waits until December, there is an equal number of people who shop early.

Some other interesting findings about holiday shoppers:

• 80% claim email promotions either somewhat influenced or strongly influenced buying decisions
• 48% of consumers use their mobile device in-store to read product reviews
• 64% of consumers visit a company website to find more details about a product
• 34% say they purchased an item after being exposed to a social media promotion

All of this Christmas joy is from Yesmail Interactive.  The report is called the “Consumer Online Behavior Report: Developing Informed Digital Marketing Strategies for Holiday Success.”

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