b2b marketing & sales thoughts by nick rice
Brand Autopsy: Creationist WOM Eggs-ample
John Moore is right on. I’m not sure what made CBS thinking that advertising on eggshells made sense for their brand, but they’re trying it anyway. Just because it’s technically feasible to put a message on a substrate doesn’t mean it’s appropriate for your company’s image. WaffleHouse maybe, but CBS? I’m all for trying new things, but you have to stay in alignment w/ your business.
technorati tags > word of mouth, marketing, advertising, eggs
Still think the blogosphere is just for early adopter fringe web users?
Think again. Check out some of the stats in this article.
User generated content or free for all communication; call it what you like but blogging and social media networks have really grown into their own over the last 12 months. Companies are launching new 3o second commercials solely on YouTube instead of paying $$ for network airtime. Fortune 5oo companies use MySpace to launch products to highly influential young adults w/ billions of dollars of purchasing power.
When a customer is happy enough or mad enough to talk about your product or service you should pay attention. In fact, you should encourage the conversation. That’s what web 2.0 is all about. The tables are turned and if you’re not taking the lead you will be left behind. Your audience is too savvy. They demand control over their experience with your brand and the ability to speak out about it – good and bad.
You cannot control your brand. You can only hope to guide it’s direction by knowing who you are, who your customers are, what they want, and who you want to be to them. If you think the world is small; the gap from CEO to customer is tiny. You don’t need a million dollar research program; just start a blog and pay attention.
The truth is that they’re already talking. They always have been. Read more…
technorati tags > blog, social, networks, media, youtube, myspace, marketing, advertising, customer, branding, web 2.0
8.5×11 poster from Seth Godin
technorati tags > marketing, seth godin, poster, knowledge, customer, branding, advertising, marketer
Here’s a quick tutorial of some of the web 2.0 sites that are driving viral & social networks.
technorati tags > branding, web 2.0, youtube, myspace, ask a ninja, social networks
Great article from Jim Lenskold. The gist of it is that long term branding activities should not be in a death match for budget dollars against short term marketing projects that generate a measureable ROI. They should be complimentary. You may not be able to pin-point exactly which branding initative contributed directly to quarterly sales, but branding has long term impacts on pricing, stock value, and strategic direction.
If you only focus on short term project-led ROI, you miss out on big picture industry-shaping strategic activities that lead to future sales growth. If you’re not tracking either; you should and need to be able to prove a positive return on your daily activities. If not, how do you expect C-level execs to continue funding? Not to mention, you’ll never have a true seat at the table for strategic discussions.
It’s funny that I was just talking about this the other day as well. The point is that what gets measured improves. You can track long term strategic goals like preference, attitude, and profitability; as well as short term goals like purchases from online ads, direct marketing response rates, and event marketing.
Done well, all short term activities feed and strengthen your long term strategic goals. You can build brand while making sales – as long as you are truly working with your customer’s best interests/desires in mind.
technorati tags > branding, marketing, ROI, investment, strategy, metrics, measurement
Geez, I can’t believe that someone is going to fall for this. Or better yet, pay an agency to come up with it.
More comments
technorati tags > icon, logo, KFC, YUM, branding, rebrand, strategy, advertising
To keep your name in front of your target audience? Yes, but that’s really about long-term branding not revenue or ROI.
To support the effort of your sales team? Sure, that’s important but they typically are just looking for another excuse to call the customer. A new white paper, brochure, or sales tool is a great reason to reach out.
How about differentiating yourself from your competition? Interesting, but Marketing Communication (marcom) is simply the vehicle for talking about your true differentiations like consumer benefits, unique business model, industry leading features, etc…
I believe it’s really about changing behavior.
It’s easy to make money off of run-rate business – typically you don’t have to work very hard to keep it flowing. The real challenge is getting a brand new customer to buy. Becoming a preference in his or her eyes – now that’s a big deal (a long term, strategic, profitable big deal).
Marcom is the art & science of combining your value to the audience, your unique elements, and a reason to act NOW. I believe that a “call to action” is a critial component of any marketing communications effort. It could be as simple as a unique URL to visit to or some type of bundled promotion, but you need something to keep a new customer moving towards a purchase.
Marketing communications is about creating a bread trail for your audience to follow. Get them hooked, keeping feeding them value, and they will buy.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bizj/060515/1288631.html?.v=2
This paragraph stood out to me:
“Respondents said they ranked UPS highly for being an industry leader, forward-thinking, easy to use, ethical, popular and a growing company. At the end of last year and beginning of this year, DHL carried out a $50 million campaign to promote its customer service. The promotion followed $150 million in ads DHL took out to re-introduce itself to the U.S. market.”
Notice that they didn’t talk about shipping time, price, or truck color. After $200M+ in advertising, DHL still doesn’t make the list.
With CEO’s perception is reality. Congrats UPS!
PS. surprise, surprise, look what happens when you’re top of mind w/ executives. Funny how that works huh?
I wanted to pass on some lessons I found on the “Own Your Brand!” blog:
The brand ownership lessons:
The context was the brand perception issues that GM is facing. Most people still think of them as builders of inferior cars. Right or wrong that’s the prevailing thought. They have put a lot of thought & money into re-becoming a premier brand worldwide. It is a long process. And it happens one interaction at a time, one new product at a time, and one ad at a time.
You cannot change your brand perception without careful thought and planning (or designing) the experience. Design is about more than fonts and colors; it’s a thought process that considers customer needs, your unique elements, the marketplace, your visual equity, and your objectives.
I found a great site you have to check out, thanks to Jill Konrath at Selling to Big Companies.
It’s a slightly humorous look (read: would be more funny if it wasn’t so accurate) at the typical PR/Design agency. I love their tagline, “We do stuff.”
As we at Cre8tive Group look into a website refresh, this is be one example that I will hold up as what to stay away from because it’s easier to talk about ourselves than it is to talk about what prospective customers want to hear.
Lessons:
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