Marketers enter the Shark Tank

Time for another reality business show. We've already seen Trump's "You're Fired" and Richard Branson gave it a show. This time it's Shark Tank, produced by Sony. Entreprenuer wannabes meet succesful entrepreneurs to pitch thier ideas. It may be entertaining, but will it paint a picture close to the reality faced by most entrepreneurs trying market their business? Here are some other blog posts about small business marketing.

Home Run Derby - a Sponsorship Payout?

Albert Pujols didn't win the Home Run Derby at the All-Star game festivities last night. The event was won by Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers, son of former major-leaguer Cecil Fielder. But the real question is, did the marketers win? Pepsi, State Farm and others were the paying sponsors. Did they generate a favorable ROI on their All-Star investment? Probably not, at least in terms of direct sales. But direct product sales was probably not the goal. Brand association with this high-energy, contemporary event (the Derby is still relatively new, and more exciting than the game itself) was the goal. In turn, this association and other sponsorships align these brands with the values of the audience. That is, they associate the brand with contemporary, high-energy, mainstream "American" events. This alignment impacts brand choice over time. This alignment impacts trade relationships as well, especially when a buyer is making a choice to promote a brand (Coke vs. Pepsi). So, Albert Pujols may not have been the big winner last night. In the end, I think the sponsors came out ahead.

Twittering for Brand Marketers

Well, it seems that it's been all Twitter in the news lately (or Michael Jackson). Brand marketers are still trying to figure out how work with Twitter. Many wonder if it's worth the effort at all. With the evolution of Web 2.0 social media tools, brand conversations are happening faster and in more places. This challenges marketers who traditionally spend time trying to manage communications rather than planning and participating in the engagement.

Here a couple of real-world things a brand marketer might try if you are still trying to dip you toe in the waters of Twitter.

1. Set up a Twitter account. (Obviously, you can try the water if you don't go to the pool.)
2. Log In, watch and listen. Then post a few messages. (Step into the shallow end.)
3. Begin to Follow others. There are several ways to do this, but two very easy methods include:
A. Use the Search tool on twitter to find people you want to follow.
B. While logged into to your Twitter account, open another window in your browser and type in www.twitter.com/username using the name of the person you want to follow. For example, to follow me, type www.twitter.com/mwitzling When you get to the Twitter page of the person just click the "Follow" button under the photo.

Don't know who to follow? For marketers, try following your competitors, key industry players, and bloggers that you like. Seth Godin is one of the more popular marketers to follow. Follow me if you like.

4. Auto Follow. You can easily set up your account Settings to automatically follow those who follow you. This helps start the potential for dialogue. Once you do this, you are ready for the main part of the pool.

This is not intended as a full training guide, just a push to help you get started. For marketers, it's very easy to move from this point to hosting your own instant "focus group" on Twitter, engage with loyal users, and track key issues.

Good luck!

Seth Godin interviewed

As a quick followup to the previous post, Seth Godin is interviewed by Thomas White on Business Matters radio show. Worth listening.

New Writing and Publsihing Models - Comment on Godin

Seth Godin recently posted a comment about the need for publishing models that allow writers to benefit from their writing. With digital publising eleminating the historical barriers of printing and publishing content, anyone today can publish their thoughts and writing. (Heck, look at this blog post itself.) For the serious "professional" writer, it now becomes more challenging to stand out from the mass of citizen writers, and even more difficult to earn a living writing in the tradtional manner. Godin posits that new publishing models will evolve to allow writers to be compensated. I suggest that new writing formats may be the solution rather than new publsiing models. Perhaps a combination of both.

For those in marketing, what are the implications? Fewer copy writers? Ability to write your own copy? More or less ways to interact and communicate your brand mesage?

No such thing as bad, as long as you can Sell

A statement made by Gill Wagner last week has been sticking in my mind. Talking about sales and marketing in the current economy, Gill said, "There's no such thing as bad, as long you can sell." Too many marketers and sales people are bemoaning the poor state of the economy, but those that keep their eye on the prize continue to do well. Is your brand strong? Is your sales team motivated? Lots of opportunity for those that are willing to push the ball forward. Agree?

Five New Rules of Marketing

In an article by Jack Neff in Ad Age, he reports on a presentation by Simon Clift, CEO of Unilever discussing the role of brands and how social media impacts brand strategy. Below are the five new rules for marketing by as presented by Ag Age. Good stuff.

Five new rules for marketing
The flat-earth, digitized world described by Unilever CMO Simon Clift is one in which the marketing norms have changed. Here are Ad Age's "New Rules."
Listening to consumers is more important than talking at them. As Mr. Clift said, "We may be ahead of our competitors, but we're most definitely behind consumers." The consumer is not a moron, she's the person defining your brand.

You can't hide the corporation behind the brand anymore -- or even fully separate the two. Even this editor's creaking computer only took 0.13 seconds to show that Philip Morris is owned by Altria Group. Welcome to radical transparency, where bad corporate behavior will damage your brands, and vice versa.

PR is a primary concern for every CMO and brand manager. If "marketing" and "PR" are not the same department, tear down the wall. Spend time deciding whether PR is underleveraged in your organization.

Cause marketing isn't about philanthropy, it's about "enlightened self-interest," as Mr. Clift puts it. That doesn't mean it doesn't count. Don't be ashamed of your profit motive, because great branding and doing good are increasingly one and the same.

Social media is not a strategy. You need to understand it, and you'll need to deploy it as a tactic. But remember that the social graph just makes it even more important that you have a good product. Put another way: The volume and quality of your earned media will be directly proportional to the impact and quality of your product and ideas.

Twitter Exceeds NY Times - Marketers should follow new models

The following quote appeared in today's SmartBrief eNewsletter: "...I will mention in passing that the CEO of Reuters spoke out last night, raising the question of why does the Times still need 6-700 journalists? Tom Glocer, chief executive of Thomson Reuters, is quoted by Gillian Reagan of the New York Observer, as arguing that newspapers like The Times should trim costs and focus their coverage. “That view that ‘I am The New York Times and I do everything’—I think that’s not the best way to run a newspaper,” he said. Meanwhile, Tweet by Tweet, asuming Compete has its data trends right, that little bird is fluttering right past The Times on the web’s list of top sites, and you might say, leaving the old business modelers wondering, “What exactly was that thing that just blew by us, anyway? A bird, a plane, or…”

Media is changing. Models are changing. Marketers should experiement with these formats to learn what works for their own brands. Ultimately, for marketers, return on investment from these new media tools will require new marketing tactics rather than old tactics applies to new media.

Brand managers triumph on Trump

Any fans of The Apprentice out there? I don't watch regularly but happening to see the last half of the show on Sunday evening. Social media has infiltrated reality TV. Very strange. Two teams are challenged by Trump to create a viral commercial for All dishwash detergent. Both teams fail miserably based on the judging of the brand marketing team for All. One team took a "tease them with sex puns" apporach while the other used a "be outrageous" approach. Is this really the answer to going viral on social networks? If so, marketing has devolved. Neither team focused on their targetg audience of middle income Moms. If viral marketing is only about being juvenile then the tactic will be short-lived. Thank goodness that All brand team was smart enough to reject both videos. Trump went on to fire 2 people instead of 1 this week. The lesson for marketers (if there was one) is that social media doesn't mean abandoning your brand personality or brand standards. Return on marketing investment may be achievable in social media, but not at the expense of core brand principles.

Newspaper vs Online Advertising - Hilarious

Marketers wondering about the future return on marketing investment between newspapers and internet advertising investments will love this hilarious interview between Mr. Colbert of Comedy Central and the head of the NAA (Newspaper Association of America). Be sure to watch through the exercise where the Colbert hands him three newspapers and challenges him find the current Dow index and the current temperature while Colbert does the same on his iPhone. Is the future of the newspaper in doubt.





http://adage.com/adages/post?article_id=135703

Coke Ads a Zero?

I really dislike the current Coke ad campaign from Coke Zero. The ads feature a pair of actors portraying Coke brand managers upset with the Coke Zero brand. The ad campaign has succeeded at delivering the message that Coke Zero tastes like Coke. For that, nicely done. But I wonder about the damage being done to the core Coke brand by portraying the Coke team as a couple of buffoons. I'm certain that Coke management has tested and measured the brand impression impact on both Coke and Coke Zero. But for this consumer, it's left a bad taste.

Consumers, Producers, and Marketing Change

There is a change happening before our eyes that will impact the way marketers view their role. It will change the way marketers define and measure return on marketing investment. This fundamental change in society is the evaporation of the distinction between consumers and producers.

For decades our society has been based on the proposition that a limited set of producers distribute and make available products to a large set of consumers. We might target a segment of the broader consumer market, but typically we operate in an environment where a scarce number of producers create and sell solutions for a larger group of buyers.

So what happens when technology allows inidivduals to become producers? Ten years ago a business needed to go to a web firm to build a web site. Today, any person can create a web site or a blog instantly and at no cost. Ten years ago a limited number of publishing firms decided what authors words were published. Today anyone can self-publish. The barriers to entry are diminishing in many categories.

As a marketer, how will you respond and measure performance when your consumers can also become producers? Do you measure the production of media content that consumers produce about your company or product? Do you evaluate whether that publsihed content is positive or negative? Do you attempt to pariticipate in the conversation?

One last thought. We talk about citizens as consumers. When everyone becomes both a consumer and a producer, will the language change?