3 plus 1=

Well, actually more than 4. From MarketingCharts.com yesterday:

Forrester: Interactive Marketing to Hit $55B by 2014

The latest forecast from Forrester Research predicts that interactive marketing in the US will hit nearly $55 billion by 2014 and will grow - at a compound annual growth rate of 17% - from 12% of overall ad spend in 2009 to 21% over the...

Jul 10-09: Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Signs of What's to Come, Wireless, Online, Online Networks, New Tech, E-Commerce, Blogs, Email, Financial, Industry Events, Interactive

Face-to-Face Still Tops for Purchase Decisions

Neutral, informal communication on behalf of a preferred brand or vendor can have significant and far-reaching impact on purchase decisions, and in-person word-of-mouth still carries more weight - among all adult age groups - than recommendations via social networking, according to (pdf) a recent Harris...

Jul 10-09: Opinion, Online Networks, Packaged Goods, Signs of What's to Come, Traditional, Youth, Measurement/Analytics, Email, Behavioral Marketing, Automotive, Blogs, Branding, Demographics, Interactive

Marketing Execs’ Most Embarrassing Email Mistakes

Nearly eight in 10 (78%) US advertising and marketing executives confess to having made at least one mistake when sending out email at work, including emailing a message to someone it wasn’t intended for or copying someone on a message they weren’t meant...

Jul 10-09: Agencies, Online, Sign of Doom, Privacy, Email, Interactive

Behind the Curve: Week Ended July 10, 2009

Below are some links to recent research news and studies from the collection of items that MarketingCharts didn’t get to writing up this week, but still may be worth a peek: Social Media Magnifies Social Divisions; Migration from MySpace to Facebook Mirrors “White Flight” King...

Jul 10-09: Research, Planning, Online Networks, Signs of What's to Come, Telecom, Retail, Wireless, Measurement/Analytics, Integrated/Cross-Media/Convergence, Blogs, Behavioral Marketing, Branding, Demographics, Europe, Entertainment, Topics

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Social Network Users

AdAge released this info this week. Do you agree?

What Your Favorite Social Network Says About You

Anderson Analytics Survey Reveals Consumers' Likely Interests, Buying Habits, Media Consumption

By Beth Snyder Bulik

Published: July 08, 2009

YORK, Pa. (AdAge.com) -- Do you Twitter? Then you are more interested in sex than the average Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn user. Like LinkedIn? You're more likely to watch soap operas. Favor MySpace? You're probably not into exercise.

Photo: AP

Which social network you favor says a lot about you -- and you might be surprised just what it says. A new study by Anderson Analytics is helping identify users' likely interests, buying habits, media consumption and more for marketers. The survey studied the demographics and psychographics of both social networkers and non-users and found that "there are definite data-driven segments in the social-networking-site market, both for non-users and users," said Tom Anderson, founder and managing partner.

Today 110 million Americans, or 60% of the online population, use social networks, and that number is fairly conservative, because instead of counting unique users or everyone who has an account, as many estimates do, the Anderson study counted only people who have used a social network at least once in the past month.

Users tend to spend a lot of time on social networks. The average social networker goes to social sites five days a week and checks in about four times a day for a total of an hour each day. A super-connected 9% stay logged in all day and are "constantly checking out what's new."

Social networkers' feelings about brands online in general are more positive than the researchers thought they would be. Some 52% of social networkers had friended or become a fan of at least one brand. When asked if seeing a brand on a social network makes them feel positive or negative about that brand, an almost-equal 17% said positive and 19% said negative. The other 64% were neutral or didn't care. When asked if they would like more communications from brands, 45% were neutral, while 20% said yes and 35% said no.

Anderson conducted the study online in June with 5,000 demographically representative respondents, and then went in-depth with 1,250 of them. With the help of Mr. Anderson and his team, Ad Age dug into the reams of stats to create the mini profiles below.

Social-network users overall
Social networkers get a bad rap for using social media to pump up their egos and reputations with "fake" friends. But the truth is, in general, they're not super-aggressive about building networks. Almost half (45%) said they will link only to family and friends, and another 18% will link only to people they've met in person. That means almost two-thirds associate only with people they know offline. The fake-frienders are still out perpetuating the myth, though -- 10% of those surveyed said they will connect with anyone who's willing to connect with them.

And another myth blown: Most users are not wasting company time. Only 15% said they go on social networks at work.

Their top three interests are music, movies and hanging out with friends, and they use social media most to stay in touch with friends, family and classmates. Not surprisingly, they do more online than non-users of social media, from watching videos to reading blogs to making purchases. They are four times more vocal than non-users when it comes to commenting on discussion boards, posting blog entries and uploading videos.

Anderson's research breaks down general social-media users into four categories: business users, fun seekers, social-media mavens and late followers. Of those, social-media mavens are the key group, not only because of their high incomes and decision-making power at companies but also because their large social-media footprints can make them brand allies and evangelists, Mr. Anderson said. Fun seekers are also an important group because they are the up-and-coming mavens as they transition from students to employees.

Non-users of social networks
Contrary to what some might think, people who spurn social media aren't tech haters. In fact, they spend as much time as social-media fans surfing the web. But they say they don't use social media for three basic reasons: They don't have the time, they don't think it's secure or they think it's stupid. While the first two groups -- which Anderson labels "time-starved" and "concerned" -- may be swayed to join eventually, don't hold out much hope for the last group: 94% said they will never use social media.

About 22% of time-starved people said they'll be using social media within three months, and another 27% said they probably will within a year -- when they get the time that is; they're more interested than all others in pursuits such as exercise, entertaining, music and movies.

The concerned non-users are an older demographic (one-third are retired) who don't use social networks because they're worried about their privacy. However, they do recognize value in social media and may join as they become more comfortable with it.

Non-users in general don't shop online as much as social networkers, but they are much more likely to visit online retailers Amazon and eBay. They also named IAC's IWon and HGTV as favored web destinations.

Facebookers
There are 77 million Facebook users, according to the study, and Facebook users were almost completely average in their level of interest in most areas when compared with users of Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn. Out of 45 categories, only national news, sports, exercise, travel, and home and garden skewed even slightly higher than average, and then by only one or two percentage points.

"Facebook is average because it has the most users. When stat testing, anything near the average is less likely to be significant," Mr. Anderson said. "They are also capturing a wider range of users for various reasons, from high-school and college fun, leisure user to business and parents and grandparents."

They are more likely to be married (40%), white (80%) and retired (6%) than users of the other social networks. They have the second-highest average income, at $61,000, and an average of 121 connections.

Facebook users skew a bit older and are more likely to be late adopters of social media. But they are also extremely loyal to the site -- 75% claim Facebook is their favorite site, and another 59% say they have increased their use of the site in the past six months.

Twitterers
This is the super-user group. Twitterers are more interested than the others in many subjects but skew particularly high in all news categories, restaurants, sports, politics, personal finance and religion. They also especially like pop culture, with music, movies, TV and reading, ranking higher than average. And their buying habits mirror that. They're more likely to buy books, movies, shoes and cosmetics online than the other groups.

Twitterers are also entrepreneurial. They are more likely than others to use the service to promote their blogs or businesses. How do they keep going? Coffee, apparently. Some 31% buy coffee online, far above the average 21% of other social networkers.

They're more likely to be employed part-time (16% vs. 11% average), have an average income of $58,000, and average 28 followers and 32 other Twitterers they're following. They're not particularly attached to the site, though -- 43% said they could live without Twitter.

MySpacers
They are the young, the fun and the fleeing. While MySpace users skew younger, they also said they'd used the site much less in the past six months.

The 67 million who are still there are into having a good time. They're more likely to have joined MySpace for fun and more likely to be interested in entertaining friends, humor and comedy, and video games. They're less into exercise than any other social group but seek out parenting information more than any other.

The content MySpace users put up is most often about specific hobbies, or pictures of family and friends. Their average income is the lowest, at $44,000, and they have an average of 131 connections. They're more likely to be black (9%) or Hispanic (7%) than users of the other social sites. They are also more likely to be single (60%) and students (23%).

LinkedIn users
It's probably no surprise these guys are all about business. We say guys because LinkedIn has the only user group with more males than females (57% to 43%). They have the highest average income, at $89,000, and are more likely to have joined the site for business or work, citing keeping in touch with business networks, job searching, business development and recruiting as top reasons.

Their interests reflect that as well. They like all kinds of news, employment information, sports and politics. They also more likely to be into the gym, spas, yoga, golf and tennis.

Excluding video-game systems, they own more electronic gadgets than the other social networkers, including digital cameras, high-definition TVs, DVRs and Blu-ray players.

How do they unwind? Here were two surprises among the things they're more interested in than the others: gambling and soap operas. Some 12% seek gambling information online (vs. an average of 7%), while 10% go online for soap-opera content (vs. an average of 5%).

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Your Comfort Zone

From Drew:

Creature comfort?

Posted: 06 Jul 2009 08:30 AM PDT

Recently, we looked at how fear can paralyze. As promised, let's now take a peek at fear’s evil counterpart, comfort.

While fear paralyzes, comfort just makes us lazy. When things are going okay and business is good are you out there working it? Are you staying in touch with existing clients? Reaching out to former ones? Looking for that new business prospect? Probably not.

That’s why marketing efforts cannot be effective without being a part of a schedule. It’s just too easy when things are going well to just let things slide. But, if part of your week’s schedule, week in and week out, is to make 5 cold calls or schedule lunch with a former client – then it will get done. It’s habit. And if it isn't habit -- it is scheduled.

If you don’t get into the habit, that comfy place you’re in now is going to shift sooner or later. And then you’re going to gear up a marketing effort – and be frustrated when it doesn’t work instantaneously.

Marketing isn’t something you start when the ship is leaking. Effective marketing is consistently and regularly talking to your key audiences. Just like the ground absorbs the rain water better when it comes in a light, all-day rain, your potential customers will hear you much better if you talk to them regularly, rather than shouting at them when you need their business right away.

Don’t let fear or comfort control your marketing. You take control. Put a simple written plan in place. Build it into your workweek, your planner and your habits. Feeling a little less comfy? Good.

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Friday Night Marketing News

A little early:

Sports

Taco Bell In First: 2-Minute All Star Game Ad

by Karl Greenberg

"Sports are the foundation of our media investment; we have been incredibly pleased with our relationship with Major League Baseball, of which we are official QSR. When we started 'dating' the NBA, we saw that as a perfect in terms of fan base," says Yum Brands' Deborah Myers in a chat with Marketing Daily. ... Read the whole story > >

Food

Wise Potato Chips Go For World 'Crunch' Record

by Karlene Lukovitz

The "Big City Crunch" has been promoted since May 18 via New York-area print, outdoor and radio advertising featuring Mets shortstop Jose Reyes, plus promotional messaging on the Mets TV network, ad wraps on buses and street ambassadors handing out chip samples and promotional pieces. PR has resulted in additional media exposure. ... Read the whole story > >

Beverages

Evian's Dancing Babies Take Internet By Storm

by Tanya Irwin

The launch of evianliveyoung.com, created by BETC 4D, is also a big component to this new platform, says spokesperson Cameryn Mercurio. On this site consumers can find the two viral "Live young" films and other digital teasers such as: the audio remix, "making-of" clips, and "interviews" with select babies from the film sharing anecdotes from the set. ... Read the whole story > >

Retail

Retailers Again Croon Blue Tune In June

by Sarah Mahoney

With the exception of Target Corp., which posted a worse-than-expected 6.2% decline, value-conscious chains offered the month's bright spots. For example, teen retailer Aeropostale posted an admirable same-store increase of 12%, while Abercrombie & Fitch turned in another enormous loss, with sales falling 32% in June. ... Read the whole story > >

Trends

Q Score: Celebs Worth More Dead Than Alive

by Aaron Baar

According to Marketing Evaluations (a.k.a., The Q Scores Company), the likability factor of celebrities who struggled with some perception problems in life, such as Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley, increased greatly after their deaths. The same will likely hold true for Michael Jackson, says Henry Schafer, executive vice president of Marketing Evaluations. ... Read the whole story > >

Packaged Goods

P&G's Duracell Leverages Trust In New Effort

by Karl Greenberg

Duracell says the effort also includes a 60-second radio ad highlighting an amateur radio station located at the National Hurricane Center operated by volunteer ham radio operators who talk to first responders in South Florida. The first new TV spot shows an Air Life Denver pilot in night-vision goggles saving tornado victims waving from their totaled home. ... Read the whole story > >

Mays Family Allows Commercials To Continue

HP Partners With Green Social Network For Contest

Actor Chris Noth Hired By Life Insurance Industry

PepsiCo Creates New Product Development Position

Chrysler Lines Up Marketing Teams At Chrysler, Jeep

McDonald's Launching Massive McCafé Sampling

Amazon To Sell Cell Phones, Service Plans

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Choosy Shoppers Choose...

Jiff?

But with brand extensions going out the wazoo, it's a different world. Drew wrote this:

Too many choices paralyze buyers

Posted: 08 Jul 2009 11:58 AM PDT

When television was first introduced, there were 3 black and white channels. Today, 500+. Many in my baby boomer (I would like to point out that I am on the very tail end of that demographic!) demo grew up reveling in the idea of many choices because it was new territory.

But fast forward to today and you see those same baby boomers being overwhelmed at the array of decisions (based on choices) they have to make every day.

Walk into any mobile phone store and just count the number of phones available. It's staggering. Then, you have to figure out what each one does...and why it matters to you.

No wonder it is often easier for us to check out, than to check all the options.

Consumer research shows that the American consumer is suffering from choice fatigue. A study (by Sheena S. Iyengar from Columbia University and Mark R. Lepper from Stanford called "When Choice is Demotivating") found too many choices actually frustrated shoppers. People were offered either 30 choices or 6 choices of jam and then given coupons to purchase what they sampled.

Of those that had the opportunity to sample 30 only 3% made a purchase, while of those given 6 choices ten times as many or 30% made a purchase. That's a huge difference.

To better understand how we all react when faced with too many choices watch this brilliant TED talk by Barry Schwartz - author of The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less. In this talk, he explains how and why the too many choices are paralyzing us.

So what does that mean for you and me?

It means that there is power in simple. Our customers are time-starved and information-saturated. Make it easy. If you have to give your customers a lot of choices -- group or organize them in a way that allows their brain to sift through the options more logically and quicker.

It also means that we need to recognize that having more choices doesn't necessarily give us an edge over the competition.

If you are going to offer lots of variety -- be sure you have a good reason for doing so, and be sure you help your consumers navigate through those choices.

Or they might not choose you at all.

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Why?

The answer is below:

Daily Sales Tip: Why People Buy

A fundamental question in selling is not why people sell, but why people buy.

It is well known that people buy for their own reasons -- not for the seller's. In fact, their motivation to buy may have very little to do with the reasons why the seller thinks they should buy. When it comes down to it, people buy something to meet their needs, or resolve the problems they are facing.

According to Neil Rackham, author of SPIN Selling, people decide to buy when, "the pain of the problem and desire for a solution have been built to the point where they are greater than the cost of the solution."

A good sales professional can help clients come to that realization. But it doesn't happen as easily as you might think. Most people learn the basics of conducting needs analysis, customizing solutions and linking benefits to pain in their Sales 101 class. However, once they are out in the real world, they forget to bring these classroom lessons to life, and somehow their competence, composure, and confidence suddenly evaporate. Faced with self-induced, pressure-filled selling situations, they confuse telling with selling.

As dairy farmers are apt to say, "Cows don't give milk. You have to take it from them." The same is true with selling. Nobody just gives you a sale. You have to take it. But how you "take it" is very counterintuitive. A natural tendency of most sellers is to rush in. And as the Newtonian principle outlines, the equal and opposite reaction on the part of the buyers is to shut them out.

Like milking a cow, selling can be a delicate operation. While a client probably won't threaten you with a hoof, you're still faced with the fact that the harder you push, the more pushback you get. Why? As Harry Truman once said, "The best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it."

Nobody likes to be told what to do -- not even children. Imagine going to a doctor who gives you the same prescription she gave the previous patient because it worked. By not listening, by not being inquisitive, by not clarifying assumptions, sellers come across as not caring -- or caring more about themselves -- and perpetuate the stereotype of the arrogant, pushy "salesman" we all love to hate.

Source: Abhay Padgaonkar, President of Innovative Solutions Consulting, LLC (www.innovativesolutions.org)

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Thursday Night Marketing News

Check out the last story from Lifesavers:

Food

Whole Foods Adopts Non-GMO Verification

by Karlene Lukovitz

The Non-GMO Project is a nonprofit collaboration of North American organic and natural product manufacturers, retailers, processors, distributors, farmers and seed breeders, plus consumers. Its stated missions are to enable consumers to make informed choices and help ensure the sustained availability of non-GMO food options. ... Read the whole story > >

Retail

Shell Unveils European, Asian Ad Push

by Karl Greenberg

Within each country, the campaign has a set of regional broadcast spots that start with a drop of fuel falling onto a piece of paper, through which one sees a range of vehicles driving down different streets. The ads also drive consumers to www.shell.com/everydrop. The first of a juggernaut of 11 such ads started in targeted countries this spring, with the latest raft of six TV spots launching this week. ... Read the whole story > >

Financial Services

HSBC Focuses On The Big Apple

by Tanya Irwin

"We are focusing in on our footprint by taking the 'Values' campaign and bringing it home to New York and letting real people own it," HSBC's Johanna Breman tells Marketing Daily. "We as a bank are really interested in learning what drives people's life decisions and how might we best get at what really matters so we can develop the best products that meet their needs." ... Read the whole story > >

Electronics

Consumers Look To Ease Carbon Footprint Guilt

by Aaron Baar

In the 21 countries covered in the survey, women were generally more concerned about the environment than men. Seventy-one percent of women said they felt guilty disposing of an electronic device rather than repairing it, compared with 63% of men. ... Read the whole story > >

Automotive

Nissan Pits Altima Against Camry, Segment

by Karl Greenberg

"We think advertising should always be branded and have a price position. It isn't easy to unite value and brand; we acknowledge that. But in this marketplace it is imperative we incorporate both messages into everything we do," says Erich Marx, director of Nissan marketing. ... Read the whole story > >

Consumers Say Health Videos Are Top Resource

7-Eleven Looks for Lower Bank Fees

Microsoft's Reller Takes On Marketing Duties

MLB, MasterCard Back Cancer Initiative

Life Savers Offers Cell Service For Life

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Yes, No, or Maybe

Seth Godin recently wrote on how you can use Maybe and make more money:

What to do with special requests

The bike shop is busy in June. If you bring your bike in for a tune up, it will cost $39 and take a week.

A week!

What if someone says, "I have a bike trip coming up in three days, can you do it by then?"

At most bike shops, the answer is a shrug, followed by, "I'm sorry, we're swamped."

The problem with telling people to go away is that they go away. And the problem with treating all customers the same is that customers aren't the same. They're different and they demand to be treated (and are often willing to pay) differently.

So, why not smile and say, "Oh, wow, that's a rush. We can do it, but it's expensive. It'll cost you $90. I know that's a lot, but there you go."

Outcome: Maybe they'll still leave. But maybe they'll happily pay you for the privilege of doing business with you. Why should this be your choice, not theirs?

If you do tax accounting for mid-size businesses, why not offer a special last-minute service? A service in which you process shoeboxes filled with unsorted papers? A service that costs less but happens during your slow season?

There are two really good reasons to turn down special requests:

1. because you're marketing yourself as extremely busy and perfectly willing to turn down good work.

2. because you want to market yourself as someone who is a rigid artist, a stick in the mud or a crotchety perfectionist. This works great for pizza places.

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New Ad Campaigns

From Amy:

Roller babies. Name Hardees' biscuit holes. An hourglass of Skittles + hungry friend = prematurely aging man. Let's launch!

Just another day in the "Birdhouse." A TV spot for Robinsons' Be Natural soft drink give a bird's-eye view inside a bird's humble abode. Our feathered friend comes home from work, puts away toys, watches news delivered by a pigeon broadcaster, has a human cuckoo clock and keeps packaged worms in the fridge, next to the Robinsons. The bird curls up with a beverage and a nice tabloid. "Squash made from naturally sourced ingredients" ends the ad, seen here. BBH created the ad, edited by Cut+Run.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority launched "What Happens in Blank," a TV spot that drives home the fact that inserting your town's name into the popular "What happens here, stays here," tagline doesn't magically transport you to Vegas. The debauchery found in "The Hangover" cannot be replicated at the Caribou lodge. A man puts the moves on a woman while riding a Ferris wheel... in Billips County. She's unimpressed. A man hopes his rectal exam stays between him and his doctor -- and Caribou lodge members love to let loose and dance. See the craziness here, created by R&R Partners.

Starburst feels connected to a Scot-Korean father and son in "Kilt." Both are contradictions; Starbursts are solid, but juicy, and meeting a kilt-wearing Scot-Korean doesn't happen every day. Once the father explains to his son that Starbursts, along with their family tree, don't make sense, he points out another oxymoron: Timmy, the albino lifeguard. Watch the ad here. TBWA/Chiat/Day New York created the ad and MediaVest handled the media buy.

Evian is making roller skates popular for the diaper-wearing demographic. Roller Babies is airing on broadcast TV in Europe, and on YouTube in the United States, Japan and Canada. "Let's observe the effect of Evian on your body," begins the ad. Viewers are shown a boombox with a "Rapper's Delight" tape, and a baby clad in a white onesie and roller skates. The song begins and a group of onesie-wearing skaters convene at a park to show off their skills. Halfway through the spot, action is halted for Evian copy that touts the water as a supporter of a body's youth. More shots of laughing, happy, skating babies complete the ad. "Evian. Live young," says the voiceover. Ninety-six babies were filmed to create the ad, seen here. There's also a Web site containing teasers, making of the ad footage and links to babies' Facebook pages. BETC Euro RSCG created the ad and BETC 4D created the site.

Like Skittles through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives. Well, at least one man's life depends on where in the hourglass the Skittles lie. A guy nonchalantly grabs a handful of Skittles from an active hourglass, only to have his roommate arrive home with clumps of hair falling out. "I told you not to eat the Skittles from my hourglass. You're speeding up time. How many did you eat?" the roommate asks while his friend continues to eat. The roommate grows older, balder and wrinkled by the second, until he falls asleep mid-conversation. Watch the ad here. TBWA/Chiat/Day New York created the spot and MediaVest handled the media buy.

Hardee's added Biscuit Holes to its menu but wants a catchier name than biscuit holes. Man-on-the-street taste-tests bring out more double entendres than you can stuff your hole with. The first ad pits Hardee's "b" holes against donut "a" holes. "The a-hole seems kind of small" and "the a-hole tastes funny" are just some of the feedback given by passersby. See it here. Consumers attempt to name the biscuit holes and come up with some gems: goody balls, sweet balls, puffy nuts and frosty dippers are only a few possibilities. See them all here. It's crass, but hard not to laugh at some people's reactions. One woman gets an entire ad dedicated to her hearty appetite and name suggestions. Watch it here. Remaining ads show a woman being fed, an eating contest and a challenge: how many holes can one fit in their mouth at once? After watching these ads, did anyone else think of an old "South Park" episode where Chef shared a recipe for his chocolate salty balls? See a clip here. Don't forget to visit the biscuit holes microsite where the witty can upload idea names. Mendelsohn Zien created the campaign.

A national cinema spot for Axe Instinct: Leather is strange. You have no idea what the spot even advertises until the closing credits. What we have is a seductive song and something moving underneath black leather. Halfway through the ad, an outline of a leg is revealed and the camera moves up the leg and over a woman's chest until we see the outline of her face. The spot ends with the woman wrapped in an embrace and the copy: "Axe Instinct. The Power of Leather." See the ad here, produced by Blacklist New York.

Mitsubishi Electric launched two TV spots promoting its ductless HVAC comfort systems. The first spot compares the quality of fresh air found in the middle of nowhere to that achieved with Mitsubishi Electric's cooling and heating systems. Watch it here. The second ad, "Footprints," uses most of the same footage found in the first ad, but focuses on saving money on home energy bills and reducing one's carbon footprint. See it here. Ames Scullin O'Haire created the campaign and handled the media buy.

Random iPhone App of the week: MasterCard launched ATM Hunter, an App to find ATM locations anywhere in the world. The free App can locate ATMs based on a person's current coordinates and inform him/her where an ATM is located, whether it's in a bank, store or gas station. ATM locations can be shared with others via SMS. MRM Worldwide created the App.

Amy Corr is managing editor, online newsletters for MediaPost. She can be reached at amyc@mediapost.com.

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Buyers Remorse

Today's sales tip is from Craig Garber:

Most of the people who buy from you will go away and never
return again, and then a smaller percentage will love you
and what you've sold them and return many many times over.

There is an even smaller percentage of your buyers, however,
who will experience some kind of regret or what's commonly
called "buyer's remorse," after making their purchase. And
some of these people will give you a hard time and make
their problems your problems.

Buyers remorse is typically the result of three different
things:

One, people spent more money than they should have -- and...
they don't see the benefits of what they're getting.
Meaning, they bought on impulse and didn't think things
through.

The best way to make sure this doesn't happen is to always
give the end result benefits of what you're selling
(meaning, sell the comfort and pride the living room set
gives you, not just "a couch and two chairs"). Make sure
you give people test-drives of your product, to the extent
this is possible -- this helps a lot.

Two, spending money they can't afford to spend.

This isn't a big deal on a "want" purchase like a television
or a bottle of booze. But on a "desperation" purchase, but
it is where someone is desperate for relief or for
something else, and they think your product or service is
the magic bullet they've been looking for... that's going
to make everything they've screwed up over the last ten
years, better overnight.

Although you may be able to mitigate the problems these
folks might give you (I'll tell you how in a minute), for
the most part, don't worry about them. They are immature
and aren't likely to be successful or happy, anytime soon,
until they're ready to take full responsibility for
themselves.

These are the pains in the ass who make their problems your
problems, and everyone else's problems they come into
contact with throughout their pretty unhappy lives.

Trying to "control" them is like trying to control your
ex-wife when she's amped up on meth. Ain't gonna happen
any time soon, trust me.

Then there are those other buyers who are in Customer Limbo,
for lack of a better description. They most likely bought
your product because they had some kind of a good "feeling"
about it, or about you, but... they probably didn't do
enough research to justify their own purchase, logically.

Meaning, you whet their appetite by pushing their correct
emotional buy-buttons, but they didn't spend the time
digesting everything you had to offer or everything you had
to say before making their decision.

These are the folks you can do something with, when it comes
to eliminating buyers remorse.

And that best thing you can do is offer them some kind of
post-purchase reassurance. You use the same tone of voice,
or the same gifts of kindness you used to persuade them to
buy in the first place, and you give them thanks and
reassurance, all at the same time.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. 7 Steps To Writing Powerful Eye-Opening Bullets:
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Wednesday Night Marketing News

Clickables from Mediapost:

Financial Services

Fifth Third Bank Tells Students 'Don't Be That Guy'

by Tanya Irwin

The effort includes www.53.com/students, in-bank and college campus signage, t-shirts, cinema advertising, online ads and a scholarship sweepstakes. In August, to coincide with the new school year, the campaign will further expand to include TV, print, online and guerrilla marketing. The campaign runs through mid-September. ... Read the whole story > >

Retail

Study: Thriftier, Healthier Consumers Dining In More

by Sarah Mahoney

Besides buying more frozen food, other fast-growing cost-cutting techniques include making a list (82% now do this, up from 70% in January), comparing store circulars (64% vs. 52%), and shopping in a variety of stores based on prices (46% vs. 37%), according to Supermarketguru.com. ... Read the whole story > >

Automotive

Piaggio Cites Relevancy To 'Urban Mobility Report'

by Nina M. Lentini

Paolo Timoni, President and CEO of Piaggio Group Americas, tells Marketing Daily that he finds it odd that, although scooter usage around the world has risen, "somehow only in North America is the usage of two wheels very limited. For the past three, four years, we have tried to encourage the [TTI] to learn about scooters, to consider them as a solution." ... Read the whole story > >

Food

Health, Convenience Still Dominate Food Trends

by Karlene Lukovitz

Organic foods will show the most significant growth in the decade ahead, with instances of Americans eating these foods jumping by 41%, forecasts NPD. Population aging is a major driver. "People eat more fruits and vegetables as they age, and fruits and vegetables dominate the organic sector," sums up NPD's Ann Hanson. ... Read the whole story > >

Research

Marketers Would Do Well To Target Boomer Men

by Aaron Baar

Says the Natural Marketing Institute's Steve French, "If you're never targeting them, you're never going to get the purchase. ... They are more connected to a national brand, than with the wider selections that women may be aware of. Men may also associate a house brand back to the days when it was an inferior product." ... Read the whole story > >

Retail

Ace Hardware Snags 30% More In Mobile Effort

by Mark Walsh

The Ace campaign handled by Horizon Media was aimed at driving people to Ace Hardware stores for Memorial Day sales on items including Adirondack chairs, Round-Up Weed & Grass Killer and Ace Royal Paint. ... Read the whole story > >

Candie's, Kohl's And Spears To Do It Again

Panasonic To Sponsor L.A. Kings Hockey Team

Coldwell Banker Launches Times Square Billboard

ANA Extends Deadline For Multicultural Award Entries

Heinz Ketchup Promo Collects Inspiring Memories

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Twitter Twatter

I found this report via Twitter. Imagine that! Click here to go to the site, or just read below:

Last month a social media analytics provider named Sysomos released a comprehensive report on Twitter usage. The problem with most analysis on Twitter, though, is that it is limited by the minimal amount of data that Twitter collects. So, to fill the gaps, most reports do things like guessing gender based on real names or pulling data from keywords in people's biographic information. This often yields some questionable results - and the Sysomos report is not immune to this (for example, they find that 65% of Twitter users are under the age of 25, but base this on only the 0.7% of users who actually disclose their age).

Looking past these small points, the report does share some fairly interesting observations and stats as well if you dig a bit deeper. Here's my read on the 10 standout conclusions that the report offers to help you (and your brand) better understand the potential uses of Twitter:

1. 21% (One Fifth) of Twitter accounts are empty placeholders. These are the percentage of Twitter accounts that have never posted a single tweet. They may either be registered simply to hold a username for later use, or be experimental accounts started up but never used.
2. Nearly 94% of all Twitter accounts have less than 100 followers. In a finding perhaps consistent with the newness of the tool as well as the fact that many people may currently have an account simply to start experimenting with the tool, Sysomos found the vast majority of Twitter users have an extremely low followership.
3. March and April of 2009 were the tipping point for Twitter. During these months, Ashton Kutcher launched his quest to get to 1 million followers faster than CNN, Oprah started using Twitter, and the steady flow of new users to the site continued. For many, it offered a safer and easier way to get their feet wet with social media, 140 characters at a time.
4. 150 followers is the magic number. In a particularly interesting data point from the survey, Sysomos found that Twitter users tended to "follow back" all their followers up until about 150 connections. Then the reciprocation rate fell off dramatically, which seems to indicate that this number may be the crossover point where people shift from using Twitter for more personal use to using it more for "lifecasting" their thoughts and actions to a community of people who they feel varying levels of connection to.
5. A small minority creates most of the activity. A steep curve of a small minority of actively engaged content creators generating most of the activity on a site is common among social networks, but it is steeper and more pronounced on Twitter. 5% of users account for 75% of all activity, and 10% of users account for 86%. This seems to suggest that the site has managed to engage a mass audience beyond those who typically engage with social media.
6. Half of all Twitter users are not "active." If you take a general description of being "active" on Twitter to mean that you have posted a tweet at some point in the last 7 days (1 week), then the survey learned that 50.4% of all Twitter users fit this category. If you remove the 21% from point #1, this leaves about 30% of users who have an account and have tweeted before, but happen to be inactive now.
7. Tuesday is the most active Twitter day. One of the most useful data points from the report is that it clears up the common question of which day of the week is the best day to tweet something. Sysomos found that Tuesday stood out as the most popular day for tweets and retweets, followed by Wednesday and then Friday.
8. APIs have been the key to Twitter's growth & utility. In terms of tools that people are using for Twitter, Sysomos found that more than half (55%) of all Twitter users use something other than Twitter.com to tweet, search and connect with others. This may, in part, be due to Twitter's notorious reputation of failing/crashing, but also is a credit to all the third party applications that have been built on top of Twitter and do their fair share to bring new users to the service.
9. English still dominates Twitter. When exploring Russia as part of a class that I am teaching this summer at Georgetown, one of the barriers we learned about was the difficulty of fitting some Russian language words into just 140 characters. Twitter is, however, extremely English-friendly. As the Sysomos report found, the top four countries on Twitter are all English speaking (US, UK, Canada, Australia). Of these, US makes up 62% of all Twitter users, followed by UK with nearly 8% and Canada and Australia with 5.7% and 2.8% respectively. The largest non-English speaking country on Twitter? Brazil with 2%.
10. Twitter is being led by the social media geeks. This particular finding should likely come as no surprise, but 15% of Twitter users who follow more than 2000 people identify themselves as social media marketers. These individuals are more likely to post updates every day (sometimes more than once per day) and also use Twitter more actively for direct communication.

Bonus Geographical Stat/Quote: "The cities with the biggest Twitter populations are New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, San Francisco, and Boston. Los Angeles is the fastest growing city on the list."

Download the full report from Sysomos at http://www.sysomos.com/insidetwitter/

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Bold or Bashful

Some very good points from Drew:

Fear Factor

Posted: 01 Jul 2009 06:44 PM PDT

Want to know what sabotages most marketing efforts? It’s not the competition, the small budget or too much work, so you can’t be proactive. So what is?

Fear.

There is a sweeping attitude (although many who have it won’t even see that they’ve been infected.) that it’s better to be safe, bland and expected when marketing. Many marketing execs and even some agencies are just not willing to stick their proverbial neck out and risk being bold or different.

What is there to be afraid of? You might get noticed? You might inspire reaction from your consumers? You might get someone’s attention?

You don’t have to do it the way you’ve always done it or how your industry does it. I’m not advocating being wild just for the sake of it. Do it in your voice. Have a good strategy. Just deliver the message in a way that is a surprise.

Take a look at your recent marketing efforts. Are they staid? Expected? Would you notice them if you were the audience? Do you make a bold statement? A startling promise? Do you say something that you haven’t seen someone else say this month?

If not, the fear bug might have bitten you. Want the antidote?

Resolve to stick your toe in the waters of bold. Come on in, the water’s fine! You’ll love being heard for a change.

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3rd person

This is about having someone else speak on your behalf. On my revamped home page, I listed some of the quotes from folks who know me and my work and included links to their Linked In profiles so you could see that these are REAL PEOPLE. (LinkedIn.com is also where most of the quotes came from too)

Art Sobczak wrote about this concept recently:

How to Sound More Credible and Persuasive

Greetings!

It was finally my turn in line at the Department of
Motor Vehicles. I was hoping the simple transaction
wouldn't take too long. The computer had other ideas.


While a clerk, a manager, and a person who, I guess,
is paid to simply observe such things and smirk tried
to sort things out, I figured I'd entertain myself by
watching what was going on at the other windows.


Next to me a slight confrontation was unfolding.
A woman trying to register her car apparently didn't
have the appropriate proof of insurance. Spread out
on the counter I saw an ad ripped from the Yellow
Pages, a piece of notebook paper with numbers
scribbled on it, and a refrigerator magnet with
an insurance agent's name. "Well, this is the
company I'm getting the insurance from," she insisted,
pointing to the magnet, " ... and here's what I'm getting,"
she said as she shoved the paper in the clerk's
face.


"Sorry, maam, I need actual proof of insurance."


Still not backing down, she was more insistent.
"Oh, come on. Look at this stuff. I have the
insurance. I just don't have the stupid piece of
paper with me that you want."


The guy behind the counter looked at her with
steely eyes, squinted them slightly, leaned
forward, and matter-of-factly said, "Lady, the
STATE OF NEBRASKA will not allow me to give you
a registration without actual proof of insurance."


She finally bought that one, and muttered something
about his, and his mother's genealogy as she stomped
away.


I guess she figured she could argue with this guy,
but fighting the entire state was over her head.


SALES POINTS
This illustrates a sales and influence point
we can and do use:


Absent third parties of authority usually carry
more weight than what we say, or can substantiate
what we say.


We use this in different ways.


TESTIMONIALS: You can say that your system can
increase productivity by 20%. But it's more impressive
to state that "Jan Halston at Allied Engineering
saw a 22% increase in production output which he
said was directly attributable to the system."

Action Step: Think of actual testimonials, case
studies, and success stories. Get permission to
use company and individual names. But even without
names this still carries weight by saying, "I had a
customer the other day who said ..."

=========================================

INDEPENDENT INFORMATION SOURCES: I typically
roll my eyes when I hear, "We're the most
respected in the business," or, "We're the
leaders in ..." The skeptic in me is thinking,
"According to whom?" What really carries clout,
though, is something like, "According to
a study done by Widget News Magazine, we are
rated number one in customer satisfaction."

Action Step: Collect all the studies, news articles,
and other information mentioning your company and
products. Compile according to the categories and
situations you can use.

======================================

THIRD PARTIES OR ENTITIES: If a savvy customer
detects you can give him a lower price, he
will keep grinding, trying to extract it from you.
However, it's more difficult when the price is
set by the Corporate Pricing Committee, and is
based on a complex algorithm, market prices for
raw materials, and the phases of the moon. Of
course, your hands are tied in this case. You
get the picture.


Action Step: Think of the situations you encounter
where you are challenged. Prices, benefits ...
then determine if there are other people or
entities you can use to substantiate--not make
excuses for--the way things are.



Go and Have Your Best Week Ever!

Art

Quote of the Week
"The cure for grief is motion."
Elbert Hubbard

Contact: Art Sobczak, President, Business By Phone Inc. 13254 Stevens St.,
Omaha, NE 68137, (402) 895-9399. Or, email:arts@businessbyphone.com

Follow Art's Tips on Twitter
I'm now Tweeting You can follow more of my very brief
posts, tips, musings, and sometimes nonsense at
http://www.Twitter.com/ArtSobczak

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Tuesday Night Marketing News

Clickables from Mediapost:

Food

Doritos Bags Enable Virtual 3-D Concert Experience

by Karlene Lukovitz

Users log onto Doritoslatenight.com and point the printed marker on the bag at a Web cam to launch virtual performances that seem to "pop directly out of the bag." In addition, the technology allows users to change the video performances experienced each time simply by changing the way they hold or move the snack bag. ... Read the whole story > >

Sports

NBA, Taco Bell Ink Sponsorship Deal

by Karl Greenberg

With the new arrangement, Taco Bell gets access to the NBA brand for in-store promotions; sponsorship of NBA, Women's National Basketball Association and NBA Development League events; and television and online branding exposure. ... Read the whole story > >

Electronics

Toshiba Campaign Aims To 'Set You Free'

by Aaron Baar

The television commercials will run in spot markets on broadcast and cable networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC, Bravo, Comedy Central, MTV, Discovery Channel and others. A print ad, running in general market lifestyle magazines, alludes to Toshiba's history with the line: "In 1985, Toshiba brought you the laptop. 6,927 patents later, we're bringing you its future." ... Read the whole story > >

Retail

Report: Bad News Ahead For Grocers

by Sarah Mahoney

While traditional supermarkets experienced a moderate sales gain of 3.6% in 2008, reaching $403.7 billion, its share of food retailing dollars slipped to 42.1%, according to the annual report on food retailing from consulting company Willard Bishop. And by 2013, it expects grocers' share to dwindle to just 35.2%. ... Read the whole story > >

Restaurants

Chipotle Mexican Grill Extends Campaign For Ad

by Karl Greenberg

Chipotle Mexican Grill, the national burrito chain, is extending its "My Chipotle" ad campaign, which it launched in May, by asking consumers to write its next TV spot. The company is dangling $10,000 to whoever writes the winning ad submission, and says it may put the winner's favorite food combination on its menu. ... Read the whole story > >

Kmart Offers Price Break To Mich. Unemployed

Office Depot Drives NASCAR Promo

Starbucks Promo Gives Away Ice Cream

Subway, 'National Geo Kids' Team On Promo

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Survey Says....

A bunch of numbers from RBR.com. Individual results will vary, (I like those disclaimers!):

Television ads most helpful; Internet banner ads most ignored

A new study from Harris Interactive says that television ads are considered the most helpful to Americans, while Internet banner ads are the most ignored by the public. For radio ads, only nine percent of respondents said they ignore them. However, 46% said they ignore online banner ads.

Over one-third of Americans (37%) say that television ads are most helpful in making their purchase decision while 17% say newspaper ads are most helpful and 14% say the same about Internet search engine ads. Radio ads (3%) and Internet banner ads (1%) are not considered helpful by many people. Over one-quarter of Americans (28%), however, say that none of these types of advertisements are helpful to them in the purchase decision making process. Half of people aged 18-34 (50%) say television ads are most helpful while three in ten (31%) of those aged 55 and older say they find newspaper ads to be most helpful. There is also a slight regional difference. Two in five Southerners (40%) say they find television ads most helpful, while only one-third (33%) of Midwesterners feel the same.

Almost half of Americans (46%) say they tend to ignore Internet banner ads. Much further down the list are Internet search engine ads (17% of people ignore), television ads (13%), radio ads (9%), and newspaper ads (6%). One in ten Americans (9%) say they do not ignore any of these types of ads. There are age and regional differences. Half of those aged 35-44 (50%) and 51% of Midwesterners say they ignore Internet banner ads compared to 43% of 18-34 year olds as well as Easterners and Southerners. One in five Americans 18-34 years old (20%) say they ignore Internet search engine ads while 20% of those aged 55+ say they ignore television ads.

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Can you afford to stop?

It's dangerous and could be fatal:

What Happens If You Cut Media Spending?

Predictive Modeling by ThinkVine Indicates One Brand Would Never Close Sales Gap

In the short term, marketers can get away with cutting media spending without much real harm. But that term is as short as a quarter, and the harm, once it begins, can last long after the media switch gets turned back on.

Those are recent findings of ThinkVine, a Cincinnati analytics firm that does predictive media modeling for marketers such as PepsiCo, MillerCoors and Colgate-Palmolive Co. ThinkVine CEO Damon Ragusa said lately he's been getting a lot of inquiries about the potential impact of going dark altogether for a quarter or more.

An analysis the firm did for one unnamed brand looked at the impact of turning off media entirely for a year, then turning it back on the next year at prior levels. For about 16 weeks, sales volume was about the same. By the end of year one, however, sales volume was about 20 percent lower without media than with it.

Turning media back on in year two reversed the sales decline as the brand began growing again at the same rate it would have otherwise. But it never closed the gap in sales results compared with what it would have achieved had it maintained media spending both years.

Different brands respond differently to media cuts, Mr. Ragusa said, and some brands with dominant positions or in less advertising-responsive categories may get away with cutting budgets unscathed. But for many, possibly most, getting back sales and share lost from cutting budgets can be a lengthy and expensive process.

"There is a downside risk," he said. "The cost of getting back what you lose is often greater than the savings."

A brand that is on a downward trajectory anyway because of the economy is much more at risk from a temporary withdrawal of media support than one with flat or rising sales growth, he added.

ThinkVine uses correlation and regression analysis and sales data. But it bases its predictions on the makeup of each brand's consumers, including detailed data on the media and spending habits of various consumer segments. It then crunches as many as a trillion data points for each forecast.

The results aren't perfect but tend to come within 2.4 percent of the real-world sales data in ThinkVine's validation work, Mr. Ragusa said.

(Source: Advertising Age, 06/29/09)

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Some Twitter Numbers

Coming up in a few months, I will be doing a presentation on Social Marketing and Social Media to a group of local business owners and marketing directors.

One area that I'll be covering is Twitter. Look at this:

Half of Twitter Has Never Tweeted

Despite significant growth in the number of Twitter accounts since last year, 53% of those who have registered with the much-publicized micro-blogging service have no followers, 56% are not following anyone, and 55% have never even tweeted, according to a report fromHubSpot.

The firm’s “June 2009 State of the Twittersphere,” which is a follow-up to the firm’s Q408 effort, found that more than 9% of Twitter users are completely inactive, meaning they have fewer than 10 followers, fewer than 10 friends and fewer than 10 updates.

Additional findings:

• 80% of users failed to provide a homepage URL
• 76% have not entered a bio in their profile (vs. 20% last year)
• 69% have not specified a location

Active Users are Regular Tweeters

In contrast to those who don’t use Twitter much, HubSpot did find that a large portion of individuals who are actively using Twitter have embraced it, and are tweeing on a regular basis.

Usage findings:

• The average user tweets .97 times per day
• The average user has tweeted 119.34 times in total
• The average user has a following-to-follower ratio of .7738

HubSpot also reported that the distribution of following and follower numbers falls into a pattern very similar to a power-law or “long tail” curve.

Growth Becomes Exponential

There are, however, dramatic differences in Twitter statistics between last year’s report and this one. In Q408, HubSpot reported that Twitter was growing at a rate of 5,000 - 10,000 new accounts per day. That rate has since accelerated and it has reached a point where it is “futile to attempt to generate a flat growth rate number.”

Twitter Used to Interact & Communicate

The content of tweets that are posted by users reveals that users are frequently using Twitter to interact and communicate with other users rather than just answer the “What are you doing?” question.

• 1% of all tweets are retweets
• 38% of all tweets contain an “@” symbol (mentions)
• 33% of all tweets start with an “@” symbol (replies)

HubSpot also noted that many users often reach the 140-character limit in an attempt to get as much content as possible into every update.

Most Tweets During Business Hours

The distribution of posting over days and times-of-day reveals that business hours during the business week in the US are the most popular, the report said.

London Remains Most Popular Locale

Because the location field on Twitter profiles does not contain any structured data, HubSpot reported that it is difficult to create an accurate picture of location distribution. However, the list of the top thirty most common phrases people type into their location section on their bio provides basic directional guidance. It points to the fact that Twitter seems to be most popular in major English-speaking urban areas, particularly London, large US cities and those in Canada:

Possible Underutilization

The study also found that since Twitter has implemented a limit to the number of users an account can follow (a maximum of 2000 when the user has less than 2,000 followers) there is a large number of users who are following exactly 2,000 users, possibly indicating that many active users are intentionally trying to gain as many followers as possible to increase their reach.

“Recently, there has been a lot of buzz from mainstream media about the growth of Twitter,” said Brian Halligan, CEO and co-founder of HubSpot. “However, the [report] points out that people may not be using Twitter to its full potential. If new users aren’t really engaged, should it really be considered growth?”

About the report: HubSpot’s June 2009 State of the Twittersphere analyzed TwitterGrader data from more than 4.5 million Twitter accounts over a nine month period to measure Twitter growth and report statistics on tweets, the Twitter user base and user geography.

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3 Links in one tip

I could have broken this into three sales tips, but, I decided to give it to you the way it arrived in my email from Jill Konrath:

Top Sales Resources, June 2009

Posted: 30 Jun 2009 06:27 AM PDT

Selling to Big Companies
An Interview with Jill Konrath

David Wolf from Smallbiz America asks me lots of questions about how entrepreneurs can land bigger corporate clients. As you might imagine, I have a few things to say! Click here to listen in.


Don't Cold Call, Social Call
By Nigel Edelshain, Sales 2.0

Learn how to prospect with Sales 2.0 tools and social networks. Just one of the techniques in this ebook causes an approximately 8x improvement over a cold call. Click here to get your free copy.

Top Sales Experts Share Their Top Articles

This free ebook features articles by a whole bunch of people whose work I respect: Mark Hunter, Lori Richardson, Kelley Robertson, Jonathan Farrington, Colleen Francis, Jonathan London, Kendra Lee, Ken Thoreson, Nancy Bleeke, George Huang, Danita Bye & more. I could go on & on!

Download your free copy now.

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Monday Night Marketing News

From Mediapost:

RETAIL

H&M Blasts Past Nike; Wal-Mart Wallops Tesco

by Sarah Mahoney

Millward Brown says its evaluation calculates the dollar value of a single brand (so that Gap is valued as a separate entity from Old Navy, for example) by combining financial data with research on consumers and business-to-business users, but also includes a forecasting component, predicting the brand's current growth potential. ... Read the whole story > >

AUTOMOTIVE

Ford Posting Better Results Than Toyota In June

by Karl Greenberg

Edmunds.com says Toyota is hurting for a number of reasons, including the fact that the coastal import gold mine is turning to lead, especially with California's economy on IOU support. "California and the coastal areas have suffered in the economy. But Ford has also been coming out with guns blazing in recent months, promoting their products with positive messages. " ... Read the whole story > >

FINANCIAL SERVICES

State Farm Sponsors Bollywood Contest

by Tanya Irwin

The winner of the contest -- who will be selected online at Bollystar2009.com by Bollywood fans around the world -- will be given the chance to sing in a Bollywood musical. State Farm will promote the contest throughout the summer with Asian marketing firm interTrend, based out of San Francisco. ... Read the whole story > >

FOOD

Food Price Inflation Remains Long-Term Risk

by Karlene Lukovitz

While the spikes in input costs that drove food manufacturing costs and retail prices up sharply last year have subsided, food-price inflation remains a long-term risk, in the estimation of retail and food service industry consultancy Willard Bishop. ... Read the whole story > >

SPIRITS

Tanqueray Is Out With First Global Effort

by Aaron Baar

One out-of-home execution features the headline: "Keep your tongue guessing," while another defines the Tanqueray & Tonic as: "A Many Splendored Thing and Tonic." The global campaign, from Wieden + Kennedy in Amsterdam, launched in the U.S. last week, capitalizing on holiday weekend festivities. The effort will roll out in other countries in September. ... Read the whole story > >

Which Car Brand is Most American?

Synovate Asks: Is A Green Car A Dream Car?

Kelley Blue Book: Honda and Toyota Most-Researched

Real Mex Restaurants Gets New CMO

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Social Media Update

From Mediapost:

Facebook Tops, But Social Networkers Fickle

According to Nielsen, total minutes spent on social networking sites in the U.S has increased 83% year-over-year. In fact, total minutes spent on Facebook increased nearly 700% year-over-year, growing from 1.7 billion minutes in April 2008 to 13.9 billion in April 2009, making it the No. 1 social networking site for the month... and worth $10 billion last week according to analysts.

Jon Gibs, vice president, media and agency insights, Nielsen Online, notes "We have seen major growth in Facebook... and a subsequent decline in MySpace. Twitter... (is) perhaps changing the outlook for the entire space... regardless of how fast a site is growing... it can quickly fall out of favor with consumers... (who) are willing to pick up their networks and move them to another platform... at a moment's notice."

Top 10 Social Networking and Blog Sites (April 2009 U.S. Home and Work)
Site	Apr-08 Total Minutes (000)	Apr-09 Total Minutes (000)	Year-over-Year Percent Growth
Facebook	1,735,698	13,872,640	699%
Myspace.com	7,254,645	4,973,919	-31
Blogger	448,710	582,683	30
Tagged.com	29,858	327,871	998
Twitter.com	7,865	299,836	3712
MyYearbook	131,105	268,565	105
LiveJournal	54,671	204,121	273
LinkedIn	119,636	202,407	69
SlashKey	N/A	187,687	N/A
Gaia Online	173,115	143,909	-17
Source: Nielsen NetView

April was the fourth month in a row that Facebook held the top spot in both unique visitors and total minutes, but Myspace has been winning in online video with 120.8 million video streams.

Myspace visitors spent 384 million minutes viewing video on the site, with an average of 38.8 minutes per viewer. In comparison, Facebook visitors spent only 113.5 million minutes viewing video in April, with an average of 11.2 minutes per video viewer.

Top 5 Social Networking and Blog Sites Ranked (April 2009, U.S. Home and Work)
Site	Total Video Streams (000)	Time Spent Viewing (Minutes x 000)
Myspace.com	120,793	384,030
Facebook	41,537	113,502
Stickam	19,617	54,522
FunniestStuff.net	10,206	34,456
Funny or Die	6,503	17,725
Source: Nielsen VideoCensus, June 2009

Gibs concludes, "... maybe the better question to ask is who does each site reach, not who is 'winning'... and how are they building for the future to maintain the loyalty of their visitors, who to this point have shown little long-term loyalty to any specific platform."

For more information, please visit Nielsen Online here.

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Hispanic Online

from Mediapost:

10 Things You Should Know About U.S. Hispanics

1.Hispanics are connecting twice as fast as the general market (14% growth vs. 7%) adding over a million users per year. In 2008, 23 million Hispanics online, about 52% of the Hispanic population. In 2012, more than 29 million will be online, increasing Internet penetration to 58.6%.

Living a connected, collective and spontaneous life is a fundamental Hispanic value and desire. Technology that facilitates connecting, sharing, entertaining and learning is rapidly becoming indispensable for the majority of Hispanics. We are referring to those that are connecting on their computers; recent figures put 57% of Hispanics going online through their mobile phones.

2.The growing Hispanic middle class is super connected: 88% of Hispanics with a household income of $50,000 + are online.

For categories such as technology, consumer electronics, financial services and travel, connecting with consumers where they explore your products, research options, share experiences with communities, and ultimately buy your products is not option, it's a necessity.

3.Hispanics are early adopters of mobile technology: 31 million have a mobile phone. By the age of 15, penetration of wireless services is 64%, by 17, it rises to 78%. Hispanics have the highest proportion of cord-cutters among all segments.

For the most part, mobile marketing is not really on the radar as a consistent Hispanic marketing strategy. The challenge and opportunity of mobile marketing seems to lie in truly capitalizing on the relationship people have with their mobile devices. The mobile phone is not just another screen onto which we can send ads. It represents an opportunity for us to fundamentally change the relationship between brand and consumer.

4.Hispanics will spend money on what they really want: They spend 42% more on mobile devices and 35% more on data services than the average user.

Convention tells us that the Hispanic market is very value-conscious and often makes purchase decisions based on price. When it comes to technology, the opposite has proven to be true.

5.Roughly half of the Hispanics online prefer Spanish, and for 66% it's important to be recognized as Hispanic through culturally relevant content.

Online Hispanics move from Spanish to English and back again in different moments of an interactive brand experience. And far from being a disadvantage, this kind of fluid activity opens up interesting opportunities that help us learn about our consumers while allowing them to customize their online experience.

6.Hispanics are dynamic content creators and consumers: Two-thirds of online Hispanics use the Web to view other consumers' content and 40% create content and provide their opinions online.

Initially generated due to a lack of relevant and in-language content, consumer-generated content in the Hispanic market has taken on a life of its own. Hispanics dramatically outpace the general market in creating and sharing content, and few brands have figured out how to be part of the process creatively. The challenge is to support consumers, provide resources and even become part of the process without imposing artificial restrictions or values.

7.Entertainment content main appeal for online engagement: 37% listen to Internet radio vs. just 30% of non-Hispanics and 36% download music vs. just 29% of non-Hispanics.

They represent a captive consumer that is willing to spend time and in many cases, money for entertainment content online.

8.An online collective life: 77% engage in some kind of online socializing. And 40% are part of a social network. An estimated 20% of Hispanics online are considered "Hispanic-fluentials."

If word of mouth is key to any successful Hispanic marketing initiative, the online space has taken the dynamic to another level. Online, the collective, hyper-social Hispanic cultural dynamic can be expressed, explored and developed without limits.

9.Multi-tasking: Part of the Hispanic DNA. On average, Hispanics spend 17 hours per week online, but they spend 14 hours per day with a technology device (versus 8 hours for the general population).

The big opportunity: moving focus from one screen to three, dynamically connected screens. Because of their higher propensity to use converged technology, this consumer is the perfect target for developing truly integrated multi-channel campaigns.

10. Hispanic online landscape is less crowded: Interactive Advertising Media Investment represented 4.6% in 2007, while in the general market, it is around 7%.

The online Hispanic opportunity is not only about a big and growing market, or about consumers that are eager to engage. Brands that go in first and engage the consumer first have a unique opportunity to establish themselves as first movers and true resources for Hispanic consumers.

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Rejecting Rejection

A great piece from Harvey Mackay:

Harvey Mackay's Column This Week

Beat rejection before it beats you

"How are you getting along?" asked the old timer of the new sales rep.

"Not so good," came his disgusted reply. "I've been insulted in every place I made a call."

"That's funny," said the old timer. "I've been on the road 40 years. I've had my samples flung in the street, been tossed downstairs, man-handled by janitors and rolled in the gutter. But insulted—never!"

We all deal with rejection differently. But if you're in the sales game, you better get used to it because rejection is—and always will be—part of business. If it was easy to succeed in sales, everyone would want in. Rejection helps knock out the weak.

In doing my homework before corporate speeches, I often talk to the company's head of sales and ask what skills are necessary for a good sales rep in their industry. Dealing with rejection is always on the list because not everyone can handle all the rejections that are necessary in order to be successful. Too many people just give up. They don't realize that in order to get the yeses, you must hear the nos.

Here is my advice in dealing with rejection, because Lord knows, I've had plenty over my career:

• Don't take it personally. You shouldn't consider yourself a failure if you get rejected. You have to remember that the person isn't rejecting you; they're rejecting what you're selling. The sooner you move on, the sooner you'll make another sale.
• Leave the door open. I always thank the person I'm calling on because they took valuable time out of their day to meet or talk with me. I'm grateful because you never know if your paths might cross again. You might revisit them down the road. They could call you back. And don't forget about referrals.
• Never say no for the other person. Don't anticipate rejection because then you won't even try, let alone give your best effort. Prospects can read defeatism in your voice and body language. If you don't believe in what you are selling, how can you expect a prospect to buy it? Keep your confidence up.
• Analyze every failure, but never wallow in one. I always want to know why people say no, and I'm not afraid to ask. Was it me? Was it my product? Price? Think about what you could have done differently. Then record it in your post-call notes. The next time, you'll be better prepared.
• Know your percentages. Unless you're new to sales, you soon realize how many calls you have to make for each sale. Always remember that your next sale could be just around the corner. Make that extra call before you call it a day.
• Remember past achievements. Look back to your past sales and business successes. How did you feel? This will help ease the rejection of today.
• Consider the market. Realtors, mortgage bankers, car dealers, and construction companies will tell you that cycles come and go. That's not a pass to stop working, but an opportunity to hone your skills and be ready for better times.
• Take a break. If you're feeling down, do something you like—exercise, read a motivational book, listen to a favorite song. Just don't stay away too long. And never take a break when you're on a hot streak, only when you're in a slump.

Two men wrote a book containing a collection of inspirational stories. The two authors figured it would take about three months to find a publisher. What happened next is as inspirational as any of the stories in their book.

The first publisher they approached said, "NO."

The second publisher said "NO."

The third publisher said, "NO."

The next 30 publishers said, "NO."

Altogether, they received 33 rejections over a period of three years. So what did they do? They submitted their book to still another publisher.

The 34th publisher said, "YES."

After 33 rejections that one "Yes" launched the spectacular publishing success of "Chicken Soup for the Soul," written and compiled by my good friends Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. The "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series has so far sold more than 30 million copies—all because Canfield and Hansen had the willingness to fail over and over, but to keep going until they succeeded.

Mackay's Moral: Don't get dejected if you've been rejected—just get your skills perfected!

Miss a column? The last three weeks of Harvey's columns are always archived online.

More information and learning tools can be found online at harveymackay.com.

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Classic Ad of the Week

Is he wearing an eye patch due to injury caused by tiger kitten?

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It's Different Over There

Can you guess who this commercial is for before the end ?

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R.O.S.

Here's how to properly measure the Return On Sponsorship:

You Can Measure Return on Sponsorship

The sponsorship industry has advanced a great deal since the time the phrase "sponsorship can't be measured" typically went unchallenged. As all aspects of the industry have grown more sophisticated, and as the dollar value and prominence of partnerships has grown substantially, the need for accountability has become vitally important.

We are hearing questions such as: Can I measure the impact of my sponsorship activation? What is the return on my venue naming rights deal? As a property, how can I demonstrate return to the sponsors of my event? And the list goes on.

Existing approaches to measurement -- which merely transfer advertising surrogates such as media equivalencies and impressions to sponsorship, or use intermediate metrics such as awareness and attitude shifts to gauge performance -- miss the mark. They don't consider either the differences the sponsorship environment requires or the inherent flaws in the way advertising is measured.

Another issue is the challenge of measuring something for which there is no standard measurement. There is simply no escaping the fact that sponsors must customize the way they evaluate to their own situation.

Truly measuring what we call ROS -- return on sponsorship -- means linking expenditures directly to real investment returns.

Buyers of sports and other sponsorships must -- and can -- assess their partnerships based on actual outcomes rather than intermediate outputs. Instead of measuring the amount of time a sponsor's logo is visible, ROS measures how, if at all, the visibility impacts fan behavior.

Another departure: ROS is an end-to-end solution with strategic and global capability, measuring return against a client's specific, ranked objectives.

ROS contributes to the performance of any sponsorship, enhances the legitimacy of sponsorship and its standing in the internal policy debate, and provides the justification for budget increases.

The following are strategic, organizational and process-related best practices for measuring sponsorship:

Measure outcomes, not outputs: We tend to measure what's easy to measure rather than what matters. This means we end up measuring outputs -- what a sponsor got or did -- rather than outcomes -- what a sponsorship actually produced.

Define and benchmark objectives on the front end: Defining objectives at the beginning of a sponsorship shows which indicators to track.

Measure return for each objective against pro-rated share of rights fee: This allows for fairly measuring multiple objectives around each sponsorship.

Apply the assumptions and ratios used by other departments within your company: Base measurement on metrics already used and accepted internally.

Measure behavior: Retool objectives to align them with the core drivers of value for the business. No matter the brand prestige or business category, behavior shifts are critical to measure.

Measure the emotional connections: In addition to behavior numbers, accurately reflect the contact value between your brand and your target audience.

Include cost savings in your ROS calculations: Not a calculation of how much money was saved by cutting sponsorship expenses, but rather any real savings generated on sales, marketing and recruitment activities that would usually take place outside of sponsorship.

Research the emotional identities of your customers: Successful sponsorship begins with an understanding of your customers -- not as demographics, but as people.

Identify group norms: Psychological connectedness to a sports team or event represents an important aspect of self-identity, and the more a consumer identifies with an organization the more likely they are to support its sponsors.

Slice the data: Client experience reveals that sponsorship does not work equally well with all customers. It works best with those most committed, whether to the property being sponsored or to the brand.

Capture normative data: Sponsors have a dual need for both a comparative, across-the-board analysis of sponsorship activities, as well as individual program evaluation. Incorporate a two-phase structure, addressing both the primary set of objectives (affecting all sponsorships) and the secondary levels, which may be property specific.

(Source: Larry Albus, Marketing Daily, 06/22/09)

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Relationship Selling

This applies to any type of sales:

Relationship Selling
Relationship selling, simply put, is translating all the effort you currently give to selling into building relationships with people instead. Once enough people in your marketplace know, like, and trust you, sales are the natural result.

Building relationships is something we humans do naturally. We talk on the phone, have coffee or lunch, and work or play together. When you need to make a purchase, you call someone you know. If you don't know anyone who offers that product or service, you ask the people you do know. That's how most business actually happens.

The goal of relationship selling is to know a large enough pool of people so that all the sales you need come to you, instead of you having to go out and find them.

Here are the five requirements to make relationship selling work:

1. You have to like the people you want to sell to. You need to truly enjoy their company -- this isn't something you can fake.
2. You must care about their problems, so when you tell them how your product will solve those problems, you are helping them, not selling to them.
3. You have to believe in your product or service 100 percent. You want your customers to trust you, so that means you have to be honest with them.
4. You must be patient. Relationships take time to grow, and can't be rushed. You will make sales by building relationships, but you won't get it tomorrow.
5. You need to have a plan. Building the right relationships won't happen by accident.

If the idea of relationship selling appeals to you, but you don't meet the first three requirements, there's only one way to solve the problem. You need to find a different target market, or a different product to sell.

Relationship selling is based on authenticity, genuine concern, and honesty. It's not a sales technique that can be simulated without possessing those basic qualities.

Source: Sales consultant C.J. Hayden (www.getclientsnow.com)

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