Mobile Marketing

From ContentMarketingToday.com:

How the Sizzling Shift to Mobile Computing Is Changing More Marketing Rules

Posted: 17 Jun 2010 03:44 PM PDT

Get Ready to Rethink Your Content Marketing by Aiming at Millions of Buyers on the Move

For those of us who been around computing since the early days of PCs, the consumer move to mobile devices and away from desktop and even laptop computers is astonishing–and maybe a little terrifying.

In the first year of its existence, 1981, the IBM PC sold 100,000 units. Most of those buyers were geeks or leading-edge business users. Apple’s iPad sold 1 million units in less than one month and 2 million units in just two months. IPad users still include geeks and business types but they’re just as likely to include your six-year-old and your grandmother.

These unbelievable sales numbers represent a fundamental transformation in the way a very large segment of the population is consuming information and accessing the Internet. To get some idea of the seismic nature of this shift take a look my favorite highlights from a presentation given by Morgan Stanley at the June 2010 CM Summit in New York City:

Amazing Mobile Computing Facts from Morgan Stanley’s Presentation:

• It took more than 1 year to sell 1 Million iPods but only 28 days to sell 1 Million +iPads
• Billions of mobile apps have been downloaded:
  • 4B iPhone
  • 400MM Android
  • 12MM iPad (in just 6 weeks)
• In 2010 more Smartphones will be sold than either desktop or laptop computers
• In 2012 Smartphones will out sell desktop and laptop computers combined!
• Among Smartphone users as of April 2010,
  • 48% have browsed the web
  • 40% have used social media
  • 30% read the news
• The iPhone represents 55% of mobile page views
• At the end of 2009 twice as much time was spent on social networking as on e-mail
• Thanks to mobile devices, consumers are already doing cloud computing, leaving the enterprise behind
• Since 2008, mobile users have come to expect:
  • always on access with super fast boot time
  • near zero latency access to nearly all information
  • daylong plus battery life and elegant portable devices

Cranky Laptops Cave to Cuddly and Communicative IPads

It happened to me and it’s probably happened to you, too.

Within the past several days, I had to reach out to professionals to bring a six month old laptop back from a near-death experience. After three hours on the phone with an exceptionally patient and competent HP technician, I was both homicidal and suicidal.

We don’t want that. We want our information and our connectivity right now. We want easy and we want painless.

That’s exactly what’s driving so many millions of customers to mobile devices of which the iPad may be the perfect prototype. In fact, if I could write and dictate articles easily on the iPad, I would probably have tossed my laptop out the window.

IPad and Its Mobile Cousins to the Rescue

The iPad, or something very much like it, is what we really want from our information devices. It turns on immediately. It’s super responsive. It easily connects to the Internet. It’s both powerful and portable. And, perhaps best of all, it doesn’t rely on a resource hog of an operating system and a bunch of pesky devices that fail when you most need them.

For those of us who do a lot of writing, building complex spreadsheets or other very sophisticated applications, we will probably have to hang on to our desktop or laptop computers. But for many of you and for many of your customers, the use of computing devices is primarily:

• to connect and communicate wherever we are whenever we want
• to consume information via the Internet, including e-mail, news, web-based content
• to get our social media fix
• to consume locally based information from word processing documents, spreadsheets, PDF files, etc.
• to write a short e-mail or text messages
• to listen to music, watch videos, watch TV or movies
• to play games

We can do all of that with an increasingly rich and robust set of mobile computing devices that include not only the iPad but the iPhone, Blackberry, Android devices, and some potentially terrific tablet computers just over the horizon.

That means that just when you thought it was safe to go back into the content marketing water, you will have to do a bit of rethinking. But I think it’s more a matter of adjustment than a dramatic change in your approach to your customers.

How to Take Advantage of This Content Marketing Mobile Inflection Point

You are almost certainly using the Internet as a primary content marketing weapon. And, it is probably delivering significant a better results than many of your traditional advertising and marketing practices. Now, begin to think slightly differently as your customers go mobile for much of the information they consume.

• Make sure that your website is fully readable on the most important mobile devices which would include the iPhone, the Android, and the iPad. That may mean giving up Flash. At a minimum, it’s critical that any flash on your website takes a secondary rather than a primary role on your home and on your landing pages.
• Consider working with a developer to create an iPhone or an iPad app that will take advantage of the unique capabilities of these two pervasive computing devices. In particular, think about how the touchscreen might improve your users interaction with your content.
• Get social with Facebook, Twitter or other applications that can reach out to your customers with special offers while they’re on the move and in a buying mood. As indicated above, 40% are actively pursuing social media opportunities while on their smart phone or iPad.
• Provide special offers, coupons, or dedicated discounts that mobile users can bring with them directly on their smart phone or iPad. Don’t make them print something out if they can to show it to you on their mobile device.

We are at the beginning of a fundamental transformation in the way that we all consume information. Our customers and their computers are on the move as never before. Just as you may have tried to reach traveling prospects with billboard ads on the highway, now it’s time to make sure that you’re connecting with them on the virtual highway.

The good news is that, unlike driving a Corvette on Route 66, your prospects can slow down to pay attention to what you have to say. Just make sure that the new mobile information you’re providing is still relevant and compelling as all good content marketers do.

If you’d like to see the entire Morgan Stanley presentation you can click below:

Internet Trends 2010 by Morgan Stanley Research

View more presentations from CM Summit: Marketing in Real Time.

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Reaching Gen Y with your Message

from Mediapost:

Can You Reach This Target With Only Earned Media?

We all know Gen Y is the primary creator, curator and distributor of earned media. It can be a brand's evangelist and best friend or its worst enemy. But the question arises, can you leverage only earned media to reach Gen Y or is paid media an integral part of the mix?

With the popularity of Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other forms of social media, it is very tempting for brands to believe that it possible to achieve a successful marketing campaign by using earned media alone.

Specifically with Gen Y, there is a common belief that once they "like" your brand, they will spread your word and, therefore, paid media can become a lesser part of the marketing mix. In reality, it is only on rare occasions, with the rare brand, that an earned media campaign can be successful on its own -- and even then, it will only be successful for a short time.

Pepsi, for example, is one of the largest risk takers in social media and has launched significant earned media initiatives targeted at Gen Y. Pepsi has been extraordinarily bold in putting its brands in consumers' hands and has done so with both great accomplishments as well as failures.

One of its most recent successes is the Pepsi Refresh campaign. Instead of putting paid media dollars behind splashy Super Bowl ads and traditional paid media, the money was spent to "refresh the world" with a viral contest that contributes funds to people's ideas and causes. This creative earned media event had a lasting effect in the media marketplace, helped Pepsi foster trust with its consumers and tied it deeper to its brand identity.

Clearly, this was an earned media victory, but it is important to recognize that paid media was a major force in the campaign's success and a key driver in building awareness of the initiative.

With more and more brands seeking to reach the social consumer, it'll become increasingly harder for marketers to break through the noise and clutter -- thus making a paid media campaign even more essential. Take online video for instance. A few short years ago, a smart, sexy or funny video could quickly go viral.

Today, there is such a high volume of video content available that it is now rare to see a breakthrough video go viral. There is simply too much for the consumer to look at and brands are now realizing that paid video distribution is a necessity for viewership. This same type of thinking needs to be applied to the concept of all earned media, not just video.

Lastly, when putting together an earned media campaign that is supported by paid media, the question of measurement must be addressed. What does success look like? What is the cost of success and are the metrics the same for both the earned campaign and the paid campaign? These are not easy questions to answer and, certainly, the answer will be different for every experience.

Because this space is so new and initiatives are so unique to each brand, the metrics for success will vary. However, the first step is to define the desired objectives for each program and how much risk you are willing to accept. From there, you need to select specific editorially aligned outlets and publishers to partner with and allow them to help set expectations, leveraging their knowledge of their audience base.

Be open with them about what you are trying to achieve and the creative you plan to put forth. The more information you provide them, the more they should be able to help you develop realistic goals and measurements for success -- on both the paid and the earned side.

Putting your brand in the hands of Gen Y can be risky, but if you believe in your product or service and stay true to your ideals, an integrated earned and paid media campaign can result in a revolutionary brand experience coupled with measureable success.

Kristine Shine is VP of PopSugar Media (www.popsugar.com), a division of Sugar, Inc., which provides content and social media for Gen Y women. She is responsible for helping marketers forge a trusting relationship with Y Women through PopSugar's sites. Follow her on Twitter @kristineshine.

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TV vs Social Media

The subject of debate is: Word of Mouth...

Internet Can Drive Word of Mouth Even Better Than Television

There's no arguing that word of mouth (WOM) marketing impacts sales. And while a large number of people talk about content they found online, three-quarters of the time those conversations take place offline.

A recent study from Yahoo on WOM marketing demonstrates that the Internet has grown more influential when it comes to informing people through conversations about brands, even more so than TV in certain categories. The study also finds that the best vehicles for influencing WOM come from consumers who play in social networks. These "Conversation Catalysts" drive a disproportionately higher percentage of WOM activity.

While many marketers have little doubt that the Internet can influence WOM marketing nearly as much as TV, the huge gap in budgets for online versus television tells a different tale, says Radha Subramanyam, Yahoo vice president, who heads corporate and media research. "There's a bit of an intellectual gap in how marketers spend their budget that doesn't exactly tie to ROI," she says.

Although only 7% of all brand-WOM conversations occur online, 38% of people have brand-WOM conversations both online or offline influenced by the Internet, which Yahoo estimates at 74 million people.

Among the media channels influencing WOM, the Internet has grown while others like television and print remain flat. The level of Internet references rose to 15% in January 2010, compared with nearly 12% during the same time in the year-ago period.

Despite the buzz around social media and its role in WOM, most conversations take place face to face. Media -- both online and off -- are influential in driving these conversations, but it's important to note that 76% of WOM conversations take place in person.

Two-thirds of WOM is positive, and only 8% is negative, according to the study.

Certain categories such as financial and automotive appear to do better than health and health care and personal care and beauty. The study recognizes a 17% impact on finance from the Internet, compared with 8% for television. Yahoo believes that impact has a 1% bump to 18% on its network.

The study finds that Yahoo's audience drives more WOM marketing for automotive and finance categories. While the Facebook and YouTube audiences both have a considerable reach, a much higher volume of auto and finance WOM occurred among the Yahoo audience since January.

Automotive in Yahoo's network drove 54% of WOM marketing volume compared with 48% in Facebook; 46%, YouTube; 21%, MSN; 17%, AOL; and 15%, Hulu. Finance in Yahoo's network drove 55% of WOM marketing volume, compared with 48% in Facebook; 40%, YouTube; 23%, MSN; 17%, AOL; and 14%, Hulu.

Conversation Catalysts have become the most valuable WOM segment, because they have a large social network, belong to clubs, organizations and social groups, and often give advice in five or more product categories. They are 20% more likely to mention the Internet in brand WOM conversations.

This trend is driven by millennials, Subramanyam says. "This generation is moving into the years of life where they think about purchases. These kids are now becoming adults," she says. "This generation is the first that literally grew up with the Internet."

As millennials become the new adults, marketers will see an interesting cultural shift, Subramanyam says.

Even so, there's a missed opportunity in understanding that traditional Internet marketing has a bigger impact on word of mouth, says Brad Fay, chief operating officer at Keller Fay Group, and marketing consultant at McKinsey. "There's a big opportunity to drive word of mouth using something as simple as a brand Web site," he says. "The study found it's the number one component to drive word of mouth through the Internet."

About 15% of all conversations include something from people who found the information online, Fay says. People sit side-by-side with a mobile device in hand, talking about restaurants, clothing stores or services they read about online, he says.

The study concludes that Internet content can significantly impact WOM activity, especially on sites that serve this market segment known as Conversation Catalysts.

Yahoo partnered with Keller Fay to observe WOM activity from more than 18,500 survey respondents between August 2009 and January 2010. WOM conversations were tracked with the assistance of a 24-hour diary and follow-up contacts to answer standardized questions about brands and companies they talked about.

(Source: Online Media Daily, 06/11/10)

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More than Price

Wisdom from Seth Godin:

What's included?

This is the pricing question of our time.

First, from the buyer's point of view: when I buy this car/boiler/phone, how much are the services that come with it going to cost me every month, forever?

We stand at the Verizon store agonizing about the extra $34 in posted price for one phone over the other, then sign a contract for $2400 in fees.

We are attracted to a car with a rebate, not caring about the $2000 extra in lifetime gas costs.

More and more, the thing we buy isn't a thing, it's a subscription. The thing might as well be free.

And from the seller's point of view?

When you sell me that low-cost email service, did you also just get yourself on the hook for a lifetime of free support? What's that going to cost you?

When you take her reservation at your hotel, are you prepared to do all the work and attention you need to get a decent review on TripAdvisor? Ready for your CEO to take a call in the middle of the night, ready to comp meals, scramble teams of reps or engage in months of correspondence with that customer? Because that's all included in your marketing costs now, isn't it?

I recently hired someone to do some research and brainstorming. The first stage of what might become quite a bit of work. I was sort of amazed at the end of the short project... he asked me if I was happy with what I got, and I said, 'no.' He said, 'sorry' and walked away.

On one hand, this is dumb marketing, because he'd already done the hard work of establishing a customer, and wasn't particularly interested in turning that customer into a happy referral.

On the other hand, the old school decision to view a transaction as a transaction, time to move on to the next, is getting more and more rare. Perhaps it's an intentional act on his part, a way of doing business in the moment, without investing in or worrying about what comes as a result.

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Friday Night Marketing News from Mediapost

Click & Read:

Automotive

Nissan, Lance Armstrong Ride Hand-In-Hand

by Karl Greenberg

The effort for the car, which goes on sale in late fall, also involves sponsorship of such marquee athletic events as the Boston and New York marathons and the Tour of California bicycle race. Nissan also joins Radio Shack and brands like Nike and Trek as supporters of Armstrong's Team Radio Shack bid for the 2010 Tour de France, which runs July 3 - 25 this year. ...Read the whole story >>

Restaurants

Chipotle Mexican Grill Wants Your Spam

by Karlene Lukovitz

It's a clever social media- and Web advertising-driven campaign designed to generate donations for a nonprofit encouraging healthier, locally sourced school meals, while simultaneously reinforcing Chipotle Mexican Grill's message that fast food needn't be "junk" food. ...Read the whole story >>

Retail

New Campaign Builds Burberry's Digital Edge

by Sarah Mahoney

Burberry, which has been staking out its claim as one of the most tech-savvy luxury brands around, has taken the wraps off a new ad campaign that allows users to get their digital hands on the clothing and accessories -- zooming, dragging and rotating the motion-responsive images in an innovative way. ...Read the whole story >>

Automotive

Dealers Flock To West Point To Drive Jeep

by Karl Greenberg

One influential dealer tells Marketing Daily that the issue is the economy, not the brand. "I'm excited about the future because it's all about product, and there's pent-up demand." He also says dealers are very happy about the new campaign for Grand Cherokee, which was done by the Portland, Ore.-based Wieden + Kennedy. ...Read the whole story >>

Retail

Levi's Proclaims 'We Are All Workers'

by Tanya Irwin

The campaign stars a dozen residents of blue-collar town Braddock, Penn. Since 2001, Mayor John Fetterman has worked to revive the economically challenged town by enlisting artists, craftsmen, musicians and business owners. The campaign features Levi's new line, Work Wear Collection, including iconic pieces such as 501 jeans, denim trucker jackets and work shirts. ...Read the whole story >>

Ford Agency Team Detroit Names Sanghvi EVP, Chief Digital Officer

by Gavin O'Malley

Ford advertising agency Team Detroit on Thursday named Monik Sanghvi as its new EVP, and chief digital and integration officer. In this role, Sanghvi will be leading the Digital Marketing unit at Team Detroit, which brings together five WPP marketing and communications agencies, including JWT, Y&R, Wunderman, Ogilvy and Mindshare. ...Read the whole story >>

Vitaminwater Jumps On 'Twilight' Bandwagon

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Christmas 2010 Predictions

Yep, it's just 6 months away...

2010 Holidays to be Kinder to Retailers

U.S. retailers might get a gift from consumers this year: A boring but steady holiday season with a gentle uptick in sales, according to industry experts at the Reuters Consumer and Retail Summit.

That would come as a relief after the drama of 2008, when holiday sales plummeted during the worst days of the financial crisis, and 2009, when stores from Macy's and Saks to Abercrombie & Fitch Co waited for shoppers to return.

"It's going to be the most boring holiday season we've had in quite some time," said Janet Hoffman, global managing director for Accenture's retail practice.

"(That's) going to be really good news for many retailers because what they're going to see is incremental lift in sales."

The experts agree that sales over the 2010 holidays will be better than last year's, but still a far cry from 2007 levels.

But with unemployment near 10 percent and concerns about where the economy is heading, shoppers will be cautious through the end of 2010.

"From a spend perspective, the spend is still down," compared with levels two years ago, said Regina Gray, vice president of strategic insights at credit information company Experian.

"Consumers are still going to be very conservative this year," she said. "While confidence is increasing that doesn't mean that spend will increase."

The holiday season, which runs from Thanksgiving in late November into the first week of the New Year, can represent as much as 40 percent of annual sales for some retailers.

Soon after the financial meltdown hit its nadir in the fall of 2008, retail sales collapsed. Holiday sales at stores open at a least year (same store sales) were down 5.6 percent that year compared with a year earlier, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. Last year, they rose 1.8 percent.

Same-store sales in May this year were up 2.5 percent compared with a year ago, falling just short of expectations.

Better to give up sales than overstock
Still, the economy has stabilized and people with jobs are less fearful of joining the ranks of the unemployed, meaning the holidays will bring some cheer.

"The bar is pretty low and the holidays will be okay. I don't think it's going to be as great as folks are predicting," said Matthew Katz, the global retail practice leader at AlixPartners. A low-single digit percentage gain over last year's holiday sales would be a good performance, all things considered, he said.

Katz said retailers will likely avoid building up inventories, lest they run the risk of slashing prices again to move product should the economy take a turn for the worse.

"I'd rather walk (away from) sales than have inventory," Katz said.

Even if retailers run the risk of losing out on some sales if they run low on merchandise, lower inventory will boost profits, he said.

Nonetheless, the headlines seem to bring a daily reminder of the precarious state of U.S. consumer spending.

Ho-hum sales in May, after bigger sales gains in the first four months of the year, and the return of volatility to the stock market, illustrate how easily any momentum can be reversed.

"In the last month, it's sort of a rocky performance -- one week is good and one week is bad -- and the retailers that I've talked to can't really explain it," said Gilbert Harrison, chairman of boutique investment bank Financo Inc.

"How much of it is psychology, how much of it is because they've spent enough money and they don't have any more, nobody seems to know."

(Source: Reuters, 06/22/10)

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Math Lessons

6 months until Christmas... That means 6 months and 1 week until 2011. Harvey Mackay has some timeless wisdom to help us make sure we meet and beat our numbers in 2010:

Don't just add to your success, multiply it!

By Harvey Mackay

Perhaps you're familiar with the amazing mathematics problem that asks you to figure out whether you'd have more money at the end of one month if you received $3 million on the first day or got a penny on day one and the amount doubled each day thereafter. Most folks would guess that the $3 million would be a better deal.

But choose the penny, and on the 31st day, you'd actually have $10,737,418.24! That's the power of compounding.

Darren Hardy, publisher of SUCCESS Magazine, has just written a remarkable book, "The Compound Effect," that shows readers how to draw on that example in all areas of life. His premise is that everything you do in life exists because you started by making a choice about something. The ripple effects of those choices lead to your ultimate success or failure.

What's most impressive about Darren's formula is that he is living proof that it works. At age 18, he was earning a six-figure salary. The business he built was worth $50 million by the time he was 27. He hasn't celebrated his fortieth birthday yet -- imagine what lies ahead. He has studied success and human achievement all his adult life, and his magazine is fertile ground for research. The man not only talks the talk, he walks the walk.

He cautions that a few key disciplines are necessary for major breakthroughs, and not to expect overnight success. Instituting changes is hard work. Consistency in making changes and choices is the ultimate key to success, yet it's "one of the biggest pitfalls for people who are struggling to succeed," he says.

He credits our grandparents with having the qualities that create lasting success: grit, hard work and fortitude. We should adopt their strong work ethic, which "instilled discipline, chiseled their character, and stoked the spirit to brave new frontiers."

And, he reminds us, "You alone are responsible for what you do, don't do, or how you respond to what's done to you. . . Luck, circumstances, or the right situation wasn't what mattered. If it was to be, it was up to me. . . I was still 100 percent in control of me."

Darren is a tough taskmaster, but at the same time, your biggest fan. He offers a lot of common sense wisdom that can translate to just about anyone's situation. He also doesn't accept excuses.

In fact, he says, "There is one thing that 99 percent of 'failures' and 'successful' folks have in common -- they all hate doing the same things. The difference is that successful people do them anyway. Change is hard. That's why people don't change their bad habits, and why so many people end up unhappy and unhealthy.

"What excites me about this reality, however, is that if change were easy, and everyone were doing it, it would be much more difficult for you and me to stand out and become an extraordinary success. Ordinary is easy. Extra-ordinary is what separates people."

"The Compound Effect" is a fascinating how-to book that's adaptable to many situations. As I think about the very successful people I know, they have put these principles into practice every day. I don't know anyone who started at the top and worked their way up.

But I do know people who have become very successful and then got a little lazy. They lost some of the discipline that propelled them to the top, and then they were surprised that things weren't going as well as they once were. Darren addresses that issue as well, reminding us that what got us to where we are is what will keep us there.

Finally, he encourages us to share our success: "Whatever I want in life, I've found that the best way to get it is to focus my energy on giving to others. If I want to boost my confidence, I look for ways to help someone else feel more confident. If I want to feel more hopeful, positive, and inspired, I infuse that in someone else's day. If I want more success for myself, the fastest way to get it is to go about helping someone else obtain it. The ripple effect of helping others and giving generously of your time and energy is that you become the biggest beneficiary of your personal philanthropy."

Mackay's Moral: (borrowed from Darren Hardy) "You make your choices, and then your choices make you."

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Thursday Night Marketing News from Mediapost

Click & Read:

Retail

Nike Cites Strategy In Reporting Its Strength

by Sarah Mahoney

"I said a year ago that Nike is not a 'wait and see' company, and we weren't about to let our core strengths sit idle," Mark Parker, president and CEO, said in the earnings conference call, which was webcast. "Because we stayed on offense, we delivered a strong year in a tough global economy, and we're stronger financially than we've ever been." ...Read the whole story >>

Research

Firm: 10 Excel At Engagement With Consumers

by Aaron Baar

Marketers looking to build engagement with consumers would be wise to follow the approaches of these companies in building and nurturing a brand community, says Hall & Partners' Vanella Jackson. "It's more about understanding the social emotion around the brand and using all the tactics and tools available to building that relationship," says Jackson. ...Read the whole story >>

Automotive

Ford Puts 'Fiesta Movement' Inside Dealerships

by Karl Greenberg

When owners come to pick up the cars, they will get an interactive USB drive as part of the package. The device, part of what Ford calls the Fiesta "unpackaging experience" actually begins when owners drive off the lot. The size of a typical external Flash drive, it holds the owner's manual as well as a portal to Fiesta owners' social communities, podcasts, enthusiast clubs and merchandise. ...Read the whole story >>

Automotive

Smartphone Users Want Connection-To-Go

by Karl Greenberg

Before price is revealed, 77% of smartphone owners say they are interested in in-vehicle WiFi (versus the industry average of 64%), a J.D. Power and Associates study finds. Fifty-six percent of vehicle owners with smartphones are interested in mobile routers, compared with an industry average of 46%. ...Read the whole story >>

Retail

AAA: More People To Travel This Fourth Of July

by Sarah Mahoney

A new survey from AAA projects that the number of Americans traveling more than 50 miles from home this Independence Day will rise to 34.9 million, up 17.1% from the 29.8 million who did so last year, when consumers were more keenly feeling the effects of the recession. ...Read the whole story >>

Research

NPD: Consumers Still Economizing On Food

by Karlene Lukovitz

Nearly one-third plan to use more coupons from magazines and newspapers; 28% said that they'll be stocking up more on food/beverages when they are on sale; 27% said they'll be doing more searching of store circulars to find low prices on food/beverages; 24% said they'll be buying less expensive brands; and nearly 24% said they'll be doing more searching for online coupons. ...Read the whole story >>

Appliance Sales Bouncing Back

Kelley Blue Book: F-150 Top Dog In Trucks

Cadillac Offers Premium Care

Coke Coast Clean-Up Effort Raises $566,000

Verizon, Motorola Unveil Droid X

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New Ad Campaigns

Our radio stations are doing a couple of promotions with the Eclipse movie...

Ads with "Eclipse" tie-ins. PlayStation introduces unofficial spokesman. Let's launch!

Hyundai launched a pair of TV spots promoting its sponsorship of the FIFA World Cup. Each ad illustrates the deep loyalty that runs inside soccer fans. Take "Baby's Name," for example. The ad shows vintage movie footage of a child's first birthday. The little girl kicks a soccer ball, then drops it into her sheet cake. Why do three people need so much cake? To fit the baby's entire name. She wasn't just named after one soccer player; she was named after an entire 1960s Liverpool team! Watch the ad here. One man takes his love for Portugal soccer to the grave in "Die Hard." Clad in Portugal's team colors, good luck prying that soccer ball from his cold, dead hands. See it here. The ad is causing a stir because the deceased man is wearing Portugal's colors while the bereaved son is speaking Brazilian Portuguese, determined by the man's accent. Innocean created the campaign, directed by Rocky Morton of MJZ.

PlayStation has an official spokesman in Kevin Butler and an unofficial voice in Marcus Rivers. Marcus is young, snappy and looking to revamp the face of PlayStation with someone not wearing a clip-on tie. In "Marcus Meets Kevin," the pair trade one-liners until Kevin officially hires Marcus. Expect to see more of Marcus in upcoming ads. "Step your game up," closes the ad, seen here and created by Deutsch Los Angeles.

I can't buy that high school kids drive Volvos, even if the high schooler is Edward Cullen of "Twilight" fame. And half the movie's target audience isn't old enough to drive, meaning this ad was made for Twihard moms. The ad promotes next week's release of "Eclipse," the Volvo XC60 and LostInForks.com, a Web site that leads users on an adventure to Edward Cullen's home. The person who gets there fastest has a chance to win a Volvo just like Edwards. The ad shows footage from "Eclipse" while describing things to look forward to in life: being kissed, desired, loved and missed. The unexpected parts of life, like werewolves and evil vampires named Victoria, are why you drive a Volvo. See it here. Arnold Worldwide Boston created the TV spot and Euro RSCG 4D Amsterdam created the site.

Vitaminwater launched a brand campaign. One spot shows the important role the product plays when preparing for the "Eclipse" premiere. A teen with the face of an alarm clock camps outside six days prior to an "Eclipse" showing. Armed with a sleeping bag, tent, chair, movie posters and mini-fridge stocked with vitaminwater XXX, she's equipped to fight off free radicals... or "Victorias" if you want to speak "Twilight." See "Eclipse" here. LeBron James is the voiceover in "Extreme Health." James prefers simplicity when it comes to taking vitamins and antioxidants. He'd rather guzzle XXX vitaminwater than sleep in a hyperbaric chamber or perform hot yoga. Watch it here. Zambezi created the campaign and Starcom MediaVest Group handled the media buy.

Jeep launched "The Things We Make, Make Us," a TV spot promoting the 2011 Grand Cherokee. The premise is simple: hard work will be rewarded. The ad begins with the building of trains, skyscrapers, airplanes and cotton gins. "As a people, we do well when we make good things, and not so well when we don't," says the voiceover. Cue shots of the 2011 Grand Jeep Cherokee, whose design, inception and craftsmanship were all created in America. See the ad here, created by Wieden+Kennedy Portland.

Sony launched an amusing TV spot starring Peyton Manning and Justin Timberlake to support its line of 3D TVs, launching later this month. In "2D," Manning and Timberlake tour Sony's 3D Technology Center, where 3D videogames and movies are crafted. The duo wears special 3D glasses, giving them an incredible view of Sony's offerings. The fatal mistake is made when Timberlake removes his 3D glasses, bringing him back to a 2D world, which pales in comparison to a 3D realm. He, Manning, and the entire 3D technology center turn into pieces of flat, lifeless cardboard, until the glasses are worn again. See the ad here, created by 180 Los Angeles.

I love Dr Pepper's latest tweak on its "Trust me, I'm a doctor" campaign. Former NFL defensive end Michael Strahan shows viewers his active, nonviolent lifestyle now that he's retired. He saves caterpillars, helps a man change a flat, drinks Dr Pepper and delivers pizza to his quarterback friend Donovan McNabb. The temptation is too great to pass up, leading Strahan to tackle McNabb at home, breaking a table in the process. Strahan closes the ad praising Dr Pepper and stating, "Trust me, I've sent people to the doctor." Watch "Sack" here, created by Deutsch Los Angeles.

TransUnion Interactive launched a trio of TV spots to promote ZenDough.com, an interactive tool that organizes financial information into something easyily understandable. Wouldn't we all like to achieve financial Zen? A dragon made of interest rates devours a home in "Dragon." An onlooker watches the destruction and follows his path to ZenDough.com, where he's surrounded by soothing water, trees and helpful financial advice. See it here. Hidden robots fiddle with your finances in "Peel Back." ZenDough.com informs users about six secrets behind their credit scores. Watch it here. A man controls his money, and not the other way around, in "Fountain." He causes his penny to skim across a fountain and land into a child's hands, where it grows into a quarter. See it here. Cramer-Krasselt/Chicago created the campaign and handled the media buy.

Random iPhone App of the week: el Jimador Tequila launched 100% Party Planner, a free app that helps users plan a party by offering drink recipes and party themes such as "Paloma Friday," "el Jimador Jam" and "Tequila Tailgate Kick Off." There's also a Google Maps-enabled product locator, informing users of locations that sell el Jimador. The app also includes a list of pick-up lines, Mexican toasts and a Cab Finder tool to ensure attendees get home safe. Draftfcb Chicago created the app, available in the App Store.

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

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The Process

from my email:

Daily Sales Tip: The Sales Process

A successful sales process is a proven, documented sales approach with messaging and job aids that represent your winning model for gaining, penetrating and retaining accounts. A formal process would include standardized scripts that ensure everyone is saying the same things, conveying the same message to customers, and is supported by consistent job aids and marketing tools that are appropriately aligned to the steps and activities in the process.

Sales reps appreciate a standardized process because it helps them be more efficient, develop stronger skills through repetition, and spares them from having to reinvent the wheel with every prospect or opportunity. When they get stuck in pursuit of an opportunity, a process provides them guidance with suggested next steps, instead of leaving them floundering and feeling stalled in their efforts. Sales reps also gain a sense of company commitment, support, and dedication toward the sales department and their efforts. But the greatest satisfaction -- for both the company and its sales reps --comes when they see the true outcomes of being more professional and closing more accounts faster.

Sales managers and business owners appreciate the sales process concept. Once the process is defined, it is easier to manage the sales funnel and the expectations surrounding sales activities. A process creates a system of accountability to new business and better information for estimating new cash flow. Managers can also determine where in the sales process the sales reps are getting stuck so they can address these issues sooner rather than later.

Sales reps' problems are often the result of not giving the appropriate amount of effort, or their selling style or methods aren't effective; a process takes the guesswork out of the latter, and allows a manager to manage the sales reps behavior and activities accordingly. Then the results will come.

Source: Sales coach/author Krista Moore

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Wednesday Night Marketing News from Mediapost

Click & Read:

Automotive

Chevy Plugs Into Microsoft's Kinect For Volt

by Karl Greenberg

"What is so exciting is that this is a multi-screen innovation; that means you could potentially design your Volt or choose options on your cell phone. This brings a tremendous opportunity," says Chevy's Steve Rosenblum. He adds that Volt won't advertise on Kinect and there won't be overt Chevrolet branding. ...Read the whole story >>

Restaurants

CSPI May Sue McDonald's Over Toy Tie-Ins

by Karlene Lukovitz

In its announcement, the nonprofit criticized many Happy Meals as being high in calories and in some cases high in saturated fat, sodium and/or sugar. However, CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson stressed that, "regardless of the nutritional quality of what's being sold, the practice of tempting kids with toys is inherently deceptive." ...Read the whole story >>

Retail

Golfsmith, Nike Team For Social Media Event

by Sarah Mahoney

"We've really ramped up our social marketing efforts and, like all retailers, we're trying to figure it out," Golfsmith's Matt Corey tells Marketing Daily. "This effort with Nike was one where we wanted to do something really unique, and we really hadn't leveraged our Facebook fans, to do something specific just for them." ...Read the whole story >>

Electronics

More-Eager Buyers Researching Products Online

by Aaron Baar

"Whereas last year they were in hold-back mode, now consumers are thinking about buying again," Evan Minskoff, vice president of marketing for The About Group, tells Marketing Daily. "One of the most interesting findings [from the study] is the way they're leaning on advertising for information." ...Read the whole story >>

Automotive

Volvo Dangles XC60 In Online Game

by Karl Greenberg

The "Lost in Forks" creative, showing the Volvo XC60 and scenes from "Eclipse," directs viewers to test their knowledge of the "Twilight" series of films at LostInForks.com. The game, at www.LostInForks.com, developed by Euro 4D, places the player in the driver's seat in a photo-realistic north woods setting that represents Forks. ...Read the whole story >>

Financial Services

Six Flags Names Discover 'Official Credit Card'

by Tanya Irwin

To promote this partnership, Six Flags has launched an extensive merchandising program, featuring point-of-sale signage and verbal promotion of the 5% instant discount for Discover card members at most transaction locations throughout Six Flags parks. Online branding and promotion will be featured on Six Flags' Print-n-Go purchasing Web site. ...Read the whole story >>

Subway Sponsors Little League Charity Tour

FirstBank Launches TV Campaign In Colorado

Widow Of Pro Wrestler Sues WWE, The McMahons

Nokia, 'Heroes' Creator Kring Team For 'Good'

Detroit Auto Show To Stick With Two Press Days

Kenneth Cole Launches Save-the-Gulf Facebook Store

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Facebook Marketing Tips

I read this last week from Mediapost:

How To Stand Out In The Facebook News Feed

There are nearly 500 million users on Facebook every month. And, according to Facebook, approximately 25 billion pieces of content are also shared on the site. That's a lot of people and brands generating and sharing a lot of content.

And brands aren't just competing against other brands for attention; they are competing against all content, including posts from family and friends, everyone in a user's social online environment.

And who is spending the most time bogged down in that content? Teens. Of all the demographics, teens spend more time monitoring, reading, creating and sharing content. According to the Pew Research Center, 73% of online teens, ages 12-17, use social media, most notably Facebook. Not only are teens inundated with content but they are also extremely selective about what content/brands they chose to engage.

So what does all this mean for brand marketers trying to reach teens? Now more than ever it requires you to truly cut through the clutter and create real, honest and engaging content; communication that will lead to an ongoing, 24/7 relationship. And if you do that, the results can be tremendous for your brand and your bottom line.

Our platform has more than 72 million Facebook fans worldwide across our client base. This allows us access to an enormous amount of data to extrapolate, analyze and create best practices and strategies for optimal social media communication. It gives us tactics based on proven data and results, not shots-in-the-dark.

Here are some tips based on our aggregated data and insight.

Remember the Power of the News Feed: Why the news feed? It's where users spend the majority of their time and attention on Facebook. Our "Wall Apps" technology, part of Vitrue SRM, shows that brands achieve 110 times greater engagement when they deliver an application through a user's Wall as compared to other elements of their Facebook page, such as a tab. Think about that: 110 times more opportunity for your brand's poll, coupon or quiz to be engaged with and shared -- essentially a brand endorsement. That's ROI.

Speak Authentically: Be true to your brand. Be authentic, straight forward and open in your communication. Personalize your brand. Take Abercrombie & Fitch, for example: all its posts have that edgy tone to them, whether it's a random update or photo/video post of new clothing items. Check out its recent post fronting a boy's polo with photo: "It's my go-to Polo. Classic, and never lets her ... errr, I mean, me down." They are trying to stay true to the brand's personality and voice and using Facebook to push their persona.

Quality Posts: Send only relevant or helpful posts. Don't merely post to post. Teens can become annoyed quickly -- and don't mind telling you and everyone else, too. Vary your posts: Use polls and quizzes. Use coupons. Deliver "insider" information, making them feel in-the-know about your brand. Run contests. Give value back to them. And use photos and graphics as they are much more appealing and eye-catching. Abercrombie & Fitch does a great job of posting clothes in a "non-advertising" manner, making it easy to share new fashion news -- and usually an edgy quip. And they mix up their posts to keep their users engaged. (No one is asking me, but I'd suggest posting more "coupon apps" in the news feed, especially in today's economy. Again, depends on your brand's image.)

Post Frequency/Time: Know your audience -- don't post too frequently, or not enough. If you're a news organization, like CNN, by nature you'll be posting a lot. If you are a clothing or restaurant or soft drink brand, a general rule of thumb is two to three posts a day. Most social media management products have scheduling built into their platforms that allow you to schedule your posts. Abercrombie & Fitch doesn't post enough. During the past two weeks, it posted about nine times. Yet, their followers are extremely active with likes and comments. It has an engaged audience -- engage them more!

Determine Your ROI: Social media -- just like every other marketing tactic -- should be analyzed to determine effectiveness. Constantly review and question your communications and tactics. Are they working? What could we do better? Do we need to build our user/fan base? Are we truly engaging our users? Have we surveyed our users for their feedback? If you're curious about your Facebook page ROI, check out our free Vitrue SPE. It assigns an actual media value to your page, as well as provides a potential value and best practices to reach that potential.

Founder and CEO Reggie Bradford brings nearly two decades of technology leadership and experience to Vitrue, the company he founded in 2006. Vitrue provides Fortune 1,000 brands a comprehensive social media marketing approach, delivering cost-effective solutions for marketers to connect with consumers in social ways by empowering consumers to help build brands through their online actions. The company boasts a growing roster of customers that represent some of the world's leading media companies and consumer brands. Reach him here.

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6 Tips from Jim

Jim Meisenheimer that is:

Lackadaisical Selling Effort

Do you know what the characteristics of a lackadaisical selling effort are?

We all want to believe that we are the best at what we do.

Unfortunately you don't get to decide that, your sales prospects and customers do!

Having a lackadaisical selling effort is nothing to be proud of.

Being lackadaisical simply means you show a lack of interest or spirit. If you have a bad case of it, you might appear to be indifferent, listless, and even languid.

Salespeople who have a lackadaisical approach to sales usually have one or more of these characteristics:

1. No written "To do" list. In sales, nothing will get you into more trouble than wandering around aimlessly throughout your selling day.

To be organized you have to get organized which means having a prioritized and written list of things you want to do every day. Plain and simple.

2. No written script for making cold calls. Look, making cold calls to new sales prospects isn't easy and it usually isn't much fun. But if you're in sales, you have to get over it. One of your primary responsibilities as a sales representative is to secure new business.

The reason most salespeople hate making cold calls is because they don't know how to do it the right way. The wrong way is to mumble and stumble throughout your telephone call. The right way is to prepare a script or buy a script that works like a charm for you.

My good friend Art Sobczak has written several outstanding books on making sales calls to new prospects. If this is something you should be doing, you can stop being frustrated, and start being more effective using some of Art's sales techniques.

Do yourself a big favor and use this link to get more information:
Or cut and paste this into your browser:

http://bbp.infusionsoft.com/go/HSM/JM/

3. No written sales call objectives for every sales call. This is a huge mistake. What makes it a huge mistake is that an overwhelming majority of all salespeople show up on the sales prospect's doorstep without any written sales call objectives.

It takes less than two minutes for a street wise sales prospect to recognize another aimless and meaningless sales call - to average the Observer it's that obvious.

As soon as you start preparing written sales call objectives for every sales call you'll immediately begin differentiating yourself from all the other salespeople who happen to call on your sales prospects.

Let me put it another way that may make more sense to you. You can either be the cream of the crap or cream of the crop.

4. No written strategic account plans. And don't let the word "strategic" scare you. There's a reason why commercial airline pilots file flight plans before every flight. There's also a reason why cruise ship captains, prepare in advance, navigational charts to guide them throughout the cruise.

It doesn't matter where or how you write these plans. For all I care, you can write your plans on the back of an envelope. Just be sure you include what you're going to do, how you're going to do it, and the timelines for everything.

Now what's so complicated about that? RIGHT - nothing!

5. No written and/or prepared sales questions. Nothing will help you to find out what keeps your customers up late at night than good open-ended sales questions.

Good sales questions will teach you everything you need to know about your sales prospects and customers.

Good sales questions will pinpoint and amplify specific customer problems. Knowing these problems makes the rest of the sales process a whole lot easier.

Good sales questions say a lot about you. Your questions show your interest. Your questions help build rapport and establish your credibility.

It's been said you can tell the quality of the questions you're asking by the quality of the answers you're getting in response to your questions.

6. And finally - no hand written thank you notes. Don't let a day go by that you don't send hand written thank you notes. Most people live their lives in "e-mail." When you send hand written note cards you'll stand out.

You can't delete a personal note. In fact it's been my experience, the people tend to hold on to the hand written note cards the get - because they get so few of them.

As you can see, there's a common thread with all of these lackadaisical characteristics. And this common thread is a failure to put things in writing.

It's such an easy thing to do and yet so many salespeople fail to do it.

Why is that?

Chalk it up to a lackadaisical selling effort.

Jim Meisenheimer. 13506 Blythefield. Lakewood Ranch. FL. 34202
941-907-0415. jim@meisenheimer.com. http://startsellingmore.com

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Tuesday Night Marketing News from Mediapost

Click & Read:

Electronics

Sony Leverages 'Big Gun' Celebs For 3D Sets

by Aaron Baar

"Justin [Timberlake] and Peyton [Manning] are part of the Sony marketing asset list," Ari Weiss, creative director at agency 180 Los Angeles, which created the campaign, tells Marketing Daily. "So when we were looking at who we were going to use for these products, we wanted to use our biggest guns against the 3D products." ...Read the whole story >>

Retail

Study: BP Has Lost A Billion In Brand Value

by Karl Greenberg

General Sentiment CEO Greg Artzt says it will cost BP a fortune to dig itself out of the hole it is in just on the media side. The numbers show that BP would have to do a tremendous amount of advertising merely to counterbalance the negative commentary. "And they are clearly worried about their brand; they do a lot of advertising. But look at their market cap. They won't recover." ...Read the whole story >>

Restaurants

Bojangles' Debuts Approach To Craving Theme

by Karlene Lukovitz

TV spots from the chain's new agency, Charlotte, N.C.-based BooneOakley, play off a new catch phrase, "It's Bo time." In each vignette, a very audible stomach growl signals "Bo Time," triggering a frantic rush to the nearest Bojangles'. And in each case, the call interrupts an activity that would otherwise be considered a fairly urgent priority. ...Read the whole story >>

Automotive

Power: Quality Greatly Affects Purchase Decision

by Karl Greenberg

J.D. Power says that last year consumers predominantly discussed the woes of fallen U.S. automakers, often naming the lack of quality manufacturing and engineering as primary culprits. Toyota's big recall changed that. This year, people are discussing the quality of vehicles as a primary consideration. ...Read the whole story >>

Retail

Adidas Says World Cup Already A Winner

by Sarah Mahoney

"All of the investment the big-name brands have made in the last two decades in turning sports events like the World Cup into a marketable opportunity, rather than just an advertising ploy, is really taking off," says NPD's Marshal Cohen. "And you'll see it in the secondary and tertiary brands as well." ...Read the whole story >>

Airlines

Southwest Launches Vacation Destination Giveaway

by Tanya Irwin

Loyalty club members will have a daily opportunity to answer Rapid Rewards trivia questions and play an instant-win game with prizes including Rapid Rewards credits and free roundtrip tickets. Southwest is promoting the contest on its website and via social media, including Facebook and Twitter. ...Read the whole story >>

Saab Gets New Design Chief

P&G's 'Life Goes Strong' Extends Program

NRF Launches Radio Campaign To Limit Swipe Fees

AT&T Advanced Advertising Solutions Hires Ogilvy's Mandel

Jamba Selling Branded Apparel In Restaurants

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