My 300th Blog

This is my 300^th blog.  I’ve written the equivalent of a novel over the last few years—about 80,000 words.  I’ve been really struggling with this blog, as I search for deeper meaning.  What does blogging mean?

I’m not sure if I have anything earth shattering, but here’s what I’ve learned:  Blog 1 through 100 you write for others.  It is fun and there is a lot of feedback.  After 100 blogs, you must be writing for yourself.  Unless you really love writing—the research, the exploration, the frustration of the blank page or what we call the “hungry monster”—you can’t keep it up week after week.

Blogs are easy to start.  They are incredibly hard to sustain.  It is just like everything in life and marketing.  Things are easy to start, but incredibly hard to maintain over the long haul.

Few companies have the discipline:  Apple, Disney (the parks are still incredibly clean), Nordstrom and Southwest.  There are more, but it is a short list.

So maybe one of the key takeaways of this blog is that a key to success is consistency. It’s great to start things, but to be successful is to sustain the effort.  I’ll let you know at blog 600 if I still feel that way.  Thank you for reading.

Read Full Post »

Consistency vs. Creativity: Elmer Fudd and Googly Eyes

Cavemen, gecko, talking accidents, spokespeople, googly eyes named Kash.  It is all enough to make you think that GEICO (Government Employee Insurance Company) is missing someone at the top of its corporate branding department.

Yet, in spite of the incredibly breakthrough commercial creativity, GEICO is ruthlessly consistent.  Every message strikes its core messaging hard: GEICO will save you 15% or more on insurance.

GEICO’s newest branded character, the investigative reporter in the “Rhetorical Questions” campaign, asks the key question, “Could switching to GEICO really save you 15% or more on car insurance.  Is Too-Tall Jones too tall?”

For some, this is the classic battle between creativity and consistency.  GEICO is abundantly consistent with its messaging—you save money.  The creative helps drive people to the consistent message.  GEICO has been able to brand several characters or story lines.  There is nothing wrong or inconsistent with that approach.  Many companies and organizations don’t have any kind of branded characterization to help communicate and connect its brand with people.

GEICO is creative and consistent at the same time.  Hey, this branding thing is so easy, even a caveman could do it.

Read Full Post »

Should Your Business/Organization Blog?

Who is blogging?  According to Sysomos.com, the most active bloggers are people 1 to 35 years old (that demographic makes up 73.3% of the blogging population).  Only 7% are in my age range—and that is ‘just’ older than 50 years old.

Sysomos.com analyzed more than 100 million blog posts.  It found that there are an equal amount of men and women.  Most bloggers are located in the U.S. (about 30 %).  What the study didn’t differentiate is how many are business blogs and how many are personal blogs.   Or, how many people start blogs and stop.

Rather than sending out sales e-mail after sales e-mail about your business, a blog allows you to be more authentic and complex in your messaging.  There is more meat to your message than bun.  The online space is rapidly evolving and new models for communications are emerging:  A blog gets you in the electronic game.

If you have a “What’s New” section of your website, you should already be blogging to some extent. A blog does help build community and true relationships that can develop and grow over time.   It can be one of the best tools for sharing information and expertise.   And that is good for business on many levels.

Read Full Post »

I’m at “Peace” Being a Boomer

I’m a boomer and proud of it.  However, I just read a piece of research from the Stanford Graduate School of Business that surprised me–but it does explain why I like listening to spa-inspired, Native American flute music now.

What researchers Sep Kamvar, Cassie Mogilner and Jennifer Aaker found was that “younger people are more likely to associate happiness with excitement, older people are more likely to associate happiness with feeling peaceful.”   I was watching a casino ad the other night that first was ‘screaming’ throughout the commercial, and in the titillating copy the word “excitement” was used several times.  Considering how many ‘boomers’ go to casinos, I thought the ad was way off target.  This research indicates that boomers view happiness in terms of being low stress, a good use of time, carefree and relaxing.  (Maybe boomers don’t want to be happy in a casino.)  A phrase a boomer would not say is, “I am so stressed, but loving life.”   

According to Nielsen, boomers comprise 1/3 of TV viewers, online users, social media users and Twitter users; watch the most video per day (more than 9 hours), and dominate all packaged-goods categories .  Nielsen’s research show that this demo will be an active consumers much longer than we all expect.  Companies, and especially non-boomer marketing managers, designers and producers, will need to relearn how to successfully message to this demographic group.   

Another, more troublesome surprise, is the fact that Nielsen estimates only 5% of advertising dollars are targeted toward boomers.   Maybe part of the economic slowdown is that business (marketing, service providers and product engineers) took its collective eye off the largest, most affluent and most powerful consumer group.  Next time you see someone with an iPad, ask about their age.

Read Full Post »

Business Means Saying You Are Sorry

I’m really, really sorry for this blog.  I’m sorry it can’t be more.  The reason I’m apologizing is I just wanted to join the ranks of those making public apologies:  General McChrystal, Tony Hayward of BP, Toyota’s president, the Catholic church, British prime ministers, a host of politicians, Tiger Woods, Don Imus and Kramer.

In the first 30 seconds of Tiger’s press conference, he said he was sorry.  When you work in the public, you must be forgiven by the people you offended, but then you must also be forgiven by the general public.  Don Imus was forgiven by the Rutgers team, but not by the public.

Three things must happen in a public apology:

1. Express genuine remorse
2. Take full responsibility
3. Introduce a plan to never let it happen again

How well is BP doing?  They are missing part three.  They can apologize again and again, but they need the plan for going forward.

Now, you may not spill oil in the gulf or have your car accident interrupt network programming, but you will make a mistake.  And, you will need to apologize.  Not just to the person you’ve wronged, but to all your customers.

In this social media age, word can travel at light speed.  Your apology needs to travel faster.

Read Full Post »

Focus on the Family PR Win

Don’t get mad at me.  This is not a blog about pro-choice or pro-life movements.  It is a blog about the power of public relations and the fact that I believe Focus on the Family did one of the best PR campaigns I’ve ever seen with their Super Bowl ad. 

What did they do that was so incredible?  They stopped barking, for one thing.  And, they started thinking about selling benefits.  They then enlisted the perfect spokespeople for their cause — the Heisman-winning quarterback Tim Tebow and his mother — and had them tell a very compelling story.  Focus on the Family also developed an ad ”safe enough” for CBS to approve for air during the Super Bowl (and the fact CBS really needed the nearly $3 million for the commercial).  Once CBS released that Focus on the Family purchased the commercial, the PR buzz (in traditional press and on the Internet) was incredible.  By including Tim Tebow, the public relations train even made stops on sports talk radio. 

Most advocacy ads use shock value and righteous indignation to sell messages.  Anger might help win for Super Bowl teams, but not on the field of public support.   Only true benefits rule the day in marketing. 

Sure, the ad was safe, but with the heavy pre-air PR, the ad achieved a national awareness it could never have generated on its own. 

So what can we learn?  Sometimes lowering your voice can make your point loud and clear.  And, telling the right story can build PR value beyond your commercial’s placement–even if you place the ad in the Super Bowl.  Let’s hope all advocacy advertisers learn from this example.  Save the barking  for the dogs.   

Equal time rebuttal:  Even this Jimmy Kimmel rebuttal feeds the Tim Tebow PR value–but it is really funny. 

Read Full Post »

Capitalize Real Words in Your URL

I saw a commercial on the air that stopped me:  There was no audio, no music, just a website.  The URL was http://www.metrocatholicschools.com  For some reason, maybe because I was never good at Wheel of Fortune, I couldn’t read it or decide who placed the ad (here’s a hint, my children go to catholic schools). 

Maybe you can read it.  It is actually, http://www.MetroCatholicSchools.com.  This reminded me that we only have seconds to communicate or the moment is lost–sometimes forever.  Instant recognition is imperative. 

So here is a simple trick:  Capitalize the real words of your URL (Uniform Resource Locator).  The capital letters will not impact the navigation.  They will improve your recognition and  enhance communicating your URL name.  And in advertising, since many people are not just waiting by the TV, radio or mailbox with a pen and paper, it will help people remember your URL name so they can call it up later. 

Capitalization helps us make sense of the name.  If you have a short URL, it may not make much of a difference; however, URLs are getting longer and longer because most short URLs are already taken. 

Can you read this URL?   http://www.capitalizerealwordsinyoururl.org.

Now try:  http://www.CapitalizeRealWordsInYourURL.org. (This is not a real site.)

Even the most computer-adroit teenager who text-messages and IMs will appreciate being able to read the URL, even if it is only on some subconscious level.

Another reason:  What is http://www.molestationnursery.com?  Is it MolestationNursery.com or MoleStationNursery.com; or TheRapistFinder.com or TherapistFinder.com; ExpertSexChange.com or ExpertsExchange.com?   These are all real URLs.

Read Full Post »

I Like that Ad

During this super week, there’s a lot of talk and anticipation about Super Bowl ad “likeability.”   Many organizations research the ads and score them on ‘likeability’ scales, usually doing the research the day after the Super Bowl. 

To me, it is somewhat flawed research.   Even though there is some correlation between well-liked Super Bowl ads and increased stock prices, the effectiveness (actual sales) cannot be measured the day after the big game. 

I’m just not a big fan of ad ‘likeability.’  I hear people say, “I like that ad.” But that does not tell you if they have been influenced or not.  The goal of Super Bowl ads is not necessarily to be liked, the goal is to sell.  Companies invest $2.5 million for Super Bowl commercials, not to just entertain us or get a laugh, but to work.

I do agree that liking an ad can have some impact, but what the person should really like after watching the ad is the product or service, not just the ad itself.  One new way to measure Super Bowl ad effectiveness is how many people go to the web after a commercial airs in the Super Bowl.  It also shows you must have a strong call to action and a drive-to-web strategy. Last year, Denny’s Grand Slam breakfast giveaway scored big with a 1,678% increase in website traffic.  It was the highest of any of the advertisers.  Did Denny’s have the “most-liked” ad? Was it widely creative? Will it win awards?  Nope. Nope. And, nope.  But the ad did its work. 

Research about Super Bowl advertising by Nielsen also showed that an old concept, a marketing mix of media, works better than one medium.   Recall of Super Bowl ads increased an average 31 percent for ads that air both on TV and the web. 

So watch the Super Bowl ads.  See which ones you like the best. See which moved you beyond to liking the ad to liking the product.   Then watch who really wins after all the liking is over.

Read Full Post »

HO to the Third Power

I have a button I wear every Christmas.  I believe I’ve had it for more than 20 years.  Some people get the message, many do not.   The way my mind works, I got it the first time I saw it and I had to buy the button.  However at parties and in group settings,  I see some people struggle to find the true meaning. (Sounds like a good Christmas tale?)

When I see the way different people react to the button, it always reminds me of how people respond differently to messaging and advertising. 

Scientists and physicians rarely get the button’s message.  I’ve had many say, “What element is that?” or “I know what H2O is, but what is HO3?”   Kids get the button’s message fast and are the first to yell out “HO-HO-HO.”  More women than men decipher the meaning.   Detail people don’t get it; 10,000-foot people usually see the joke.   

It doesn’t mean that one group is better than the other.  It means we are different in how we view and interpret messages.  One message rarely works for all people.

We really need to think about our target audiences psychographically, rather than just demographically.  So the next time you are thinking about putting a message out there, think about what the people you are trying to reach are like:  How do they view the world? Are they left- or right-brain thinkers? How are they moved emotionally?  Then ,craft your message accordingly.  

And if you are too clever, you may be missing a large part of your audience. Loud and literal always wins the day, even at Christmas.  HO HO HO.

Read Full Post »

Does ‘Since’ Matter?

In advertising we make great efforts to include “since” in our names.  Some even use it as a tagline:  ‘GBL bank since 1888.’  How about  Facebook, since 2006?  In this new economy, does ‘since’ matter?  In this new day, being the newest may matter more.  Do you care as a consumer that MySpace started before Facebook or that GM started before Toyota?  

Benefits matter, not the year you started in business.  Imagine if we went around and introduced ourselves like we do our organizations: “Hi, I’m Mark since 1958.”  Actually, I’d rather hide my age.  New really seems to be in (since 2009):  New media, new economy, new age, new technology — all seem to indicate that we are in the age of “NOW.”  We were in the information age; it is now, the NOW AGE.   

Cell phones, smart phones, Twitter, Facebook posts, LinkedIn, even blogs all point to the now-ization of our lives and how we communicate.  We all tend to be living more in the now than ever before.   And, this is changing how we need and consume news and information (and marketing messages).   Also, this now-ization explains why our attention spans are getting so short.    

The other problem with ‘since’ is that it gives no benefit or underlying reason to use the company or organization.  “Acme Dry Cleaners since 1964.”   They may have been operating poorly since 1964.  

Normally, you should have a feeling of stability and credibility because of the ‘since’ tag line.  However, because of the new normal economy and technology takeover. I have a  sense that ‘since’ is gone — well, at least since 2009.

Read Full Post »