Wednesday Night Marketing News from Mediapost

Click and read (and stay cool this week)!

Retail

Tesco's Fresh & Easy In Investors' Crosshairs

by Sarah Mahoney

While some analysts are calling for Tesco to cut its losses now and exit the U.S., Jim Prevor says there continues to be plenty of speculation that the retail giant will find a bigger way to both cloak the extent of its missteps with Fresh & Easy and still expand in the U.S. -- either through acquisition, joint ventures, or even franchising. ...Read the whole story >>

Electronics

Isabella Eyes Sweet Spot Between PC And Phone

by Aaron Baar

Isabella founder and CEO Matthew Growney says the Vizit is just the first of several so-called Mobile Internet Devices that are meant to fill the gap between home computers and cell phones. In an interview, Growney talked about the company's first product, how it plans to avoid being pigeonholed around it and the entire MID sector. ...Read the whole story >>

Beverages

Got Milk? Campaign Goes IPad, SMS

by Karlene Lukovitz

Meanwhile, text messaging is enabling MilkPEP to offer female teens access to an exclusive video of Conrad (by snapping a photo of the ad with their smartphones and texting to get immediate video access in return). Again, the video drives home the milk-is-cool message, with the actress/fashion designer explaining why milk is a favorite beverage. ...Read the whole story >>

Automotive

Green Debates Target Younger Folk For Lexus

by Karl Greenberg

Lexus' Andrea Lim says the stylized focus of the efforts, with a "dark" theme, is meant to get people interested in the program who might otherwise be turned off by an overtly environmentalist, perhaps patronizing, tone. "To make it edgier, we had to make it polarizing, not what one normally associate hybrids with," she says. "No nice blue skies and butterflies." ...Read the whole story >>

Retail

Shell Offers Car Buffs 'Fuel My Passion' Contest

by Tanya Irwin

Shell is inviting automotive devotees to share in a contest and sweepstakes how Shell V-Power fuels their passion for driving. Geared toward the type of person who "reads the owner's manual for fun," the second annual contest from the Houston-based company asks enthusiasts to submit a photo and a few sentences about how Shell V-Power fuels their motor-loving passion. ...Read the whole story >>

Automotive

National Pep Boys Effort Taps Mixed Media

by Karl Greenberg

The change in marketing strategy also shifted the focus to consumer research. "We felt business would grow if we could answer what [consumers] were looking for," says Scott Stoughton, who adds that Pep Boys did quantitative and qualitative research last year in many markets, "Even down to the tagline." ...Read the whole story >>

Travel Site Taps EBay's Chris Orton For CMO

Walmart Takes Another Step Toward Banking

Esurance Unveils IPhone Mobile App

Crystal Light Throws Lilith Fair Tailgating Event

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The Power of the Ritz

Is not in the name, it is in the people.

From WonderBranding:

Why Ritz-Carlton Is A Cult Brand And You’re Not

Posted: 01 Jul 2010 07:09 AM PDT

The latest print edition of AdAge features a short but excellent article on the legendary success of the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain.

The article doesn’t say a word about advertising. It does, however, address how Ritz-Carlton maintains a freakishly high level of word-of-mouth reputation.

It’s not complicated, and it’s not a secret.

Anyone could do it.

But most don’t.

There are three basic elements to the Ritz-Carlton philosophy:

1) Every employee lives and breathes VALUES and SERVICE. Walk up to a Ritz-Carlton employee and ask about the 12 Service Values, and they’ll likely whip out a small pocket accordion file that features each value, three points of service, and the company’s credo.

Value Number One is: “I build strong relationships and create Ritz-Carlton guests for life.” Whoa. Even if the other eleven Values are blank, that one alone should blow your hair back.

2) Every employee has AUTHORITY and RESPONSBILITY. Every employee of Ritz-Carlton has automatic authority to spend up to $2,000 to help a guest resolve an issue. That’s right – $2,000 per guest, without having to obtain permission. There’s a built-in level of trust, but with that comes a great deal of responsibility. Once an employee gets a complaint, they own that complaint. No passing it off to someone else – they can get help, but they have to see the resolution of the problem through to the end.

You may not be able to afford $2,000 per customer, but what if you gave your employees authority of even $25 per customer to resolve problems? And what if you made your employees see the resolution of a problem through to the end? Imagine what kind of trust and pride that would build.

3) Values, Service, and Pride are re-visited each and every day. This is the kicker, and the one reason why Ritz-Carlton is a cult brand and you’re not. They didn’t just make up the values and customer policies then let it ride. The staffs of each hotel meet at 8 a.m. every single morning to review their mission, discuss issues, and often times hail an employee for a specific success. Pride and teamwork are reinforced each and every day in order to maintain consistency and to grow the brand.

Are you committed enough to customer experience to meet with your staff every day for a review of the company’s values, highlight customer resolutions, ask for help resolving problems, and feature success stories? Do you have the fortitude that it takes to do it every single morning? Because that’s what it’s going to take if you want to take your business to the next level.

Brian Bennett, a regional director for Ritz-Carlton knows that marketing and advertising have limited effect. “It’s the positive experience that will make a guest who visits us five times a year visit us six or seven times. The experience is what triggers change in human behavior and that change is pure profit.”

The recovery of the economy is still further off than we’d like to acknowledge. Businesses that survive, and then rise to the top when times get better, will be those that take the Ritz-Carlton methodology and apply it to their own situation. It’s not easy, and probably means a complete “lifestyle change” for your entire business. But trust me – you need to do it.

The question is: Will you?

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The Facebook Files

from RBR.com:

The social media habits of women 18-34

Oxygen Media released a study conducted by The Oxygen Media Insights Group, into the minds of women (18-34) and their social media habits. The findings have revealed greater information about how young women – and in comparison their male counterparts – are using social media to power their “Live Out Loud” lifestyles. The study revealed they are using it to gather hard news, share information with friends and vent about happenings in their lives at a breakneck pace.

Also uncovered was the ‘addiction’ some profess to have including waking up in the middle of the night to check a text or checking their Facebook in the morning before washing their face or brushing their teeth. The survey, which interviewed more than 1,600 social media users 18-54, explores the profound impact social media has had on today’s young women in their quest to “have it all” and all at once.

OMG! I’m Addicted!
Today’s tech savvy woman 18-34 has a fixed dependence to social media networks. An overwhelming majority (57%) admit to talking to people online more than face-to-face, while 34% say checking Facebook is the first thing they do when waking up in the morning – that includes brushing one’s teeth or using the bathroom. Even more surprising is the 26% who get up in the middle of the night to read text messages and the 21% who confessed to checking Facebook during the night.

More than one third (39%) are self proclaimed Facebook addicts; 37% have fallen asleep with their PDA in their hands; 84% believe its okay to update your status more than once a day; and 78% think it's okay to check someone else’s Facebook profile more than once a day; 19% say they have gotten into fights with loved ones about how much time they spend with their PDAs/cell phones and 31% feel more confident about their online persona than in their real lives.

• 34% women 18-34 say checking Facebook is the first thing they do when waking up in the morning
• 26% women 18-34 get up in the middle of the night to read text messages
• 37% women 18-34 have fallen asleep with their PDA in their hands

Uncensored…actions speak louder than words
Young women don’t always practice what they preach. While privacy is a concern for women 18-34, they have not let this matter censor their behavior. The shocking reveal here is that even though two-thirds (63%) use Facebook as a career networking tool, almost half (42%) think photos of them visibly intoxicated are okay and 32% think photos of themselves or others making obscene gestures are appropriate as well… and for all to see including co-workers and bosses. Respondents also seem to be unconcerned about being tracked at any given time – More than half (56%) of Twitter users think its okay to Tweet their current location; more than half (53%) post issues they are having at the moment; and half (50%) use Facebook to let others know what they are doing. 85% of women think its okay to post photos of a girls or guys night out; 86% think posting photos of children is okay; 79% are okay with kissing in photos and 73% are fine with posting photos of Bachelorette parties.

• While two-thirds (63%) of women 18-34 use Facebook as a career networking tool, almost half (42%) think photos of them visibly intoxicated are okay
• While 37% of women 18-34 admit they’ve accidentally texted something embarrassing to the wrong person, 32% think posting photos of themselves or others on Facebook making obscene gestures is appropriate
• Only 44% of women 18-34 trust Facebook with their private information, but 56% of Twitter users think its okay to Tweet their current location

Are we frenemies?
58% of young women use Facebook to keep up with their frenemies; 50% say its okay to be a Facebook friend with a complete stranger. Maybe Facebook is not a competition for collecting the highest number of friends - a surprising 50% agree they could rely on a Facebook friend for help in a crisis situation, however 46% say its okay to be Facebook friends with someone you don’t like in real life; but only 31% would “de-friend” someone they no longer talk to in real life.

• 58% of women 18-34 use Facebook to keep up with their frenemies
• 46% of women 18-34 say its okay to be Facebook friends with someone you don’t like in real life
• 50% of women 18-34 agree they could rely on a Facebook friend for help in a crisis situation

Staying Connected…no one picks up the phone anymore
Traditional means of communication have been tossed aside by today’s modern young woman 18-34. When keeping in touch with family, friends and various associates an overwhelming 73% agree they text more than they talk on the phone and more than half (56%) consider texting their main form of communication. Keeping with this new age trend, tech obsessed young women have also replaced traditional forms of media as their primary news sources -- 48% find out about news through Facebook more often than traditional news outlets and 41% of those who use Twitter use it to stay up to date on current events and news.

• 56% of women 18-34 consider texting their main form of communication
• 41% of women 18-34 who use Twitter use it to stay up to date on current events and news
• 44% of women 18-34 turn to Facebook for reviews of TV shows and music

The Dating Game
It's time to find a date for Saturday night… 50% of single women 18-34 (vs. 65% of single men) think its okay meeting and dating other singles they meet through Facebook; 6% use it as a way to “hook up” (vs. 20% of men) and 37% of women 18-34 would not take down pictures of her past for a current significant other. When it comes to men 18-49 and their online dating habits, the results are in -- 42% of men think it’s okay to keep tabs on their girlfriends and wives via access to their online accounts (vs. 49% of women) and married men are more likely to cheat using social media. Half of the married men surveyed do not consider sending a text to an ex flame or having a Facebook chat with someone they’re attracted to as cheating. And the men are heartbreakers -- men 18-34 are twice as likely as their female counterparts to break up through Facebook (24% men vs. 9% women) as well as via text message (31% men vs. 14% women). It’s heartening to know that some young women still roll ‘old school.’ 91% say it’s not okay to break up with someone over Facebook; and 74% of Twitter users say it’s not okay to start an argument with someone over Twitter.

• 50% of single women 18-34 (vs. 65% of single men) think its okay meeting and dating other singles they meet through Facebook
• 37% of women 18-34 would not take down pictures of her past for a current significant other
• Men 18-34 are twice as likely as their female counterparts to break up through Facebook (24% men vs. 9% women) as well as via text message (31% men vs. 14% women)

The Moms Weigh In
88% of young moms 18-34 think it's okay to post photos of their children on Facebook; 73% say that Facebook is “me time;” 42% say its okay to send private Facebook messages to members of the opposite sex while in a relationship; 42% feel that it keeps them hip and 25% like their Facebook friends more than their real ones!

• 88% of young moms18-34 think it's okay to post photos of their children on Facebook
• 73% of moms 18-34 say that Facebook is “me time”
• 25% of moms 18-34 like their Facebook friends more than their real ones!

Spoiler Alert!
78% say it's okay to talk about the outcome of TV shows in your Facebook status and 69% say it's okay on Twitter among users!

• 78% of women 18-34 say it's okay to talk about the outcome of TV shows in your Facebook status
• 69% of women 18-34 say it's okay to discuss outcome of TV shows on Twitter among users

The Reality Check
54% of the youngest women (18-24) do not trust Facebook with their private information; 72% agree that what you put on Facebook will live on forever and 89% agree you should never put anything on Facebook that you don’t want your parents to see. 80% of moms 18-34 feel that Facebook is a way to preserve your memories – a “modern day scrapbook” and 55% of moms who Tweet are more likely to keep Twitter for the rest of their lives.

• 54% of women 18-24 do not trust Facebook with their private information
• 72% of women 18-24 agree that what you put on Facebook will live on forever
• 89% of women 18-24 agree you should never put anything on Facebook that you don’t want your parents to see

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Life Lessons

Our Sales Tip today is a story that I'm familiar with, and even if you are too, it's worth reading again and sharing with others. From SalesDog.com:

Fail to Succeed

by George Ludwig

Identify someone you consider to be successful and ask that person how many failures he or she had before success came. I guarantee you that any successful person had to learn failure before success. That's what learning is all about: doing it wrong in order to get it right. We don't all succeed at everything we try. Most of us go through failure to reach success, just as we go through fear in order to build courage.

Weight lifting is a great example to illustrate this process of going through failure to reach success. Years ago, when I started building up my scrawny 112 pound body through weight training, my first instructor introduced me to the concept of "going for failure." I didn't think that sounded so fun-"Let's go fail!"-but my coach explained that breaking a muscle down by exhausting it totally was the best way to build it stronger. By going to failure, I prepared my muscles for greater success. I failed so that I eventually could succeed.

Life is no different. Failure is a necessary part of growing and building strength to eventually succeed. Consider the case of a lanky Midwestern boy who chopped wood for his father until he was twenty-one, but who had always hungered for more out of life. He started borrowing books and reading every evening. What he read began to inspire and motivate him to become a risk-taker in the pursuit of success. He was willing to fail in order to succeed, and fail is exactly what he did:

• At age 23 he ran as a candidate for state legislature and lost.
• At age 30 he was bankrupt.
• At age 32 the woman he loved and intended to marry broke off the engagement breaking his heart.
• At age 33 he married another woman who bore him four sons, of which three he lost because they died before reaching adulthood.
• At age 35 he ran again as a candidate for state legislature and again he lost.
• At age 47 he was selected a vice-presidential candidate and again he lost.
• At age 49 he was nominated for the United States Senate and again he lost.

The man described above, however, was elected President of the United States of America at age 51. His frequent experiences of failure gave Abraham Lincoln the resolve to handle the great challenges of his presidency and the repeated initial failure of the Union forces. He never saw failure as a reason to stop attempting success, and he ultimately changed the course of American history.

Failure is never the end of the road. Failure is how you learn and grow. Whether it's building biceps, achieving financial freedom, becoming the best parent possible, or reaching the Oval Office: you must fail to succeed.

George Ludwig is the bestselling author of Power Selling and a widely recognized authority on sales success and peak performance psychology. Visit: www.GeorgeLudwig.com.

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Tuesday Night Marketing News from Mediapost

Welcome back from a long weekend...

Automotive

Nissan Inks Deal With Apple's IAd Platform

by Karl Greenberg

Nissan reps say the iAds will help the company continue to reach early adopters and will also target the 15,000 or so customers who have already placed reservations for the car, which will be available beginning in December with mass-market availability by 2012. ...Read the whole story >>

Retail

Top Merchandising Executive Is Out At Walmart

by Sarah Mahoney

John Fleming, who has been with Walmart 10 years, was previously the CMO, best known for bringing on the highly controversial Julie Roehm. Just weeks after her firing in December 2006 -- a black eye that stayed with Walmart for months -- Fleming was shifted over to merchandising, and was replaced in the CMO role by Stephen Quinn, who remains in that role, and reports to Simon. ...Read the whole story >>

Restaurants

Burgerville TV: Branding Plus Cause Support

by Karlene Lukovitz

Citing the brand's close relationships with the communities it serves and research from The Hunger Project showing that communities can break the cycle of hunger by creating their own sustainable food systems/structures, it is introducing a new Burgerville "Community Champions" program -- the first in an ongoing series of efforts to help create and promote local sustainable food initiatives. ...Read the whole story >>

Automotive

Ford Re-ups Sponsorship Of Ironman For Edge

by Karl Greenberg

Ford says its involvement with Ironman pays off. The company says that between 2006 and 2008, favorable opinion about the Ford brand grew from 58% to 66% among members of the Ironman community and that people on-site at Ironman events are 38% more likely to seek information on a Ford vehicle versus a competing brand. ...Read the whole story >>

Retail

Staples Enlists Celebs For Back-To-School

by Tanya Irwin

The effort, from Alloy's AMP Agency and Alloy Digital, kicks off July 6 and runs through Sept. 18. "Give-Back Pack" (www.staplesgivebackpack.com) features country music star Kellie Pickler, TV star/singer Drake Bell and pop music star Jason Derulo as "pack leaders." ...Read the whole story >>

Entertainment

Summertime Brings Events To The Forefront

by Aaron Baar

"We know there's a lot of different events and activities," Scarborough's Howard Goldberg says. "What's important when it comes to trying to tie a[n event marketing] campaign together is to try and touch customers on an emotional level. And more and more companies are trying to do this through event and sponsorship." ...Read the whole story >>

Retail

Lowe's, Home Depot Push Hard-Working Staycations

by Sarah Mahoney

Both big-box stories are offering plenty of easy, affordable DIY-projects, and chains like Walmart and Target are making extra-big pushes on patio furniture and fun stay-at-home ideas, from trampolines to inflatable pools. ...Read the whole story >>

Fewer Affluents Buying Luxury Products

EA Takes Need for Speed On The Road

Study: Prepaid, Youth Cards Present Opportunities

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What's Old Becomes New again...

I've never owned a mini-van and neither have my kids (yet). My business manager bought own a couple weeks ago due to the upcoming birth of her twin daughters this summer and the need for a vehicle that seats 4 kids and two adults comfortably...

This is from Mediapost:

Nostalgia And Gen Y -- Forget About It (They Already Have)

It seems to this boomer that you can't turn around without seeing something from your youth being re-introduced into popular culture. The Old Spice campaign won big at Cannes this year, Google has a Pac Man game and the Karate Kid is back along with the Smurfs.

While my agency has done its share of brand reinventions, it does make me wonder if marketers are just trying to uncover brand equity that's still alive in these old brands or do they think GenYers are more affected by nostalgia than other demographics?

It's true that in bad times people tend to long for a simpler, easier time and brands that remind us of those times can bring a smile to our face and stir up positive emotions. But it would be wrong to assume that GenYers are more nostalgic than the rest of us or that they will immediately flock to anything from their past. In fact, it might be more accurate to define Gen Y as the "anti-nostalgia" demographic for a couple of reasons:

• Because they typically retain close ties to family and friends, GenYers have little reason for wistful memories of yesterday, as everyone from "yesterday" is here today and will likely be here tomorrow.

• GenYers are always on the move, and while they shouldn't be considered emotionally shallow, they make their attachments early in life, and have spent their early adulthood spinning through experiences, trying on identities, and generally discovering what has a place in their world.

It's the second reason that best explains why marketers cannot assume that "if we reintroduce it, they will come." For GenY, the emotional weight of personal history is quantified not so much by nostalgia (which has sort of a negative connotation) but rather in their ability to cherry-pick the best parts of their childhood and brings those ideas and products forward into their adult lives in meaningful ways.

For fashion, Etsy, vintage T-shirts, and Urban Outfitters all represent the best parts of Gen Y's early foray into individualism: fashion that allowed them to craft their own identities without leaning too far outside of what their "tribe" was into is still important for GenYers today.

Fast-forward to the present, with Gen Y entering the workforce as young adults and becoming parents. Both present new challenges to their identities but Gen Y doesn't meet these challenges by feeling nostalgic for "easier" times; rather, they are firmly focused on the future, taking full advantage of how technology makes life easier, how social networking through mommy groups helps them cope with the ups and downs of being a parent, and all of the other everyday issues of adulthood.

For example, minivans, the carpool chariot Gen Yers grew up inside, are relevant today not because of nostalgia but because the vehicles have evolved into mobile living rooms. Their relevance is meaningful and incredibly useful to young parents looking for seamless ways to go from a home environment to another place with all the creature comforts and entertainment options of home. The fact that a GenYer grew up inside a minivan doesn't hurt, but nostalgia alone isn't their reason for buying one.

In fact, in many ways, the idea of nostalgia is something Gen Y might thumb their nose at because they are so adept at multi-tasking and staying connected to what's most important and useful to them at the moment. While a reference to yesterday can certainly add an element of familiarity, finding a way to add value to a Gen Yer's life today is far more important to a brand's success than merely reminding them of their childhood.

Mike Doherty is president of Cole & Weber United. He is a marketer with more than 25 years of experience creating effective growth strategies for a diverse group of clients. Working on both the agency and client sides of the business, Mike's passion lies in helping clients find new ways to go beyond the boundaries of traditional advertising to effectively engage customers in branded experiences.

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Short Stuff

from my email:

Daily Sales Tip: The Shorter the Better

You have to ask questions that truly engage the customer. However, this doesn't mean you need to develop complex questions.

Instead, the best tactic is to ask shorter ones. Long questions tend to result in short answers, while short questions will generally result in long answers.

An example of a great short question is, "Why?" In my opinion, there isn't a better follow-up question you can ask after the customer has shared with you some information.

Consider how your customers would respond to other short examples like, "Can you elaborate on that?" and "Could you explain more?" These shorter questions elicit detailed responses and that's just what you want.

On the other hand, asking complex questions often tends to perplex customers. Because they are not sure what you are looking for, they respond with the universal answer representing total confusion, "What did you say?"

Questions should not be your means of showing your customers that you are an expert. Save that for your statements.

Source: Sales consultant/trainer Mark Hunter

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Unmeasureable?

Success rates for online advertising is often measured as a click thru rate.

However a tiny % of folks who see or hear ANY form of advertising respond immediately.

That doesn't mean the advertising isn't working, as the following report explains:

The 'Subliminal' Effects of Banner Ads

Consumers say they ignore static banner ads, and don't click on them, but eMarketer Senior Analyst David Hallerman cites stats from a Microsoft Atlas study that suggest the static strips running across the tops of Web pages still influence purchase decisions.

Successful campaigns require a variety of tools and it appears that banner ads have begun to take on the dubious title of "staple." Hallerman, who has been researching a report about online brand marketing, calls banner ads "somewhat subliminal" because banner ads appear to affect consumers whether they realize it or not.

"The positive, yet not always easy-to-measure effects and the increasingly lower cost and availability of banners give campaigns a steady foundation," says Hallerman. "Banners help to fill in the campaign."

Expect the report to look at spending trends because where companies actually allocate budgets means more than any talk their executives say in front of conference podiums and public events. Hallerman also plans to analyze consumer reactions to banner ads and alternative ways of finding conversions, as well as measurement strategies, and some of the miss-measurement methods.

Banner ads complement search advertising, too. In 2010, the nearly $12.4 billion that companies will spend on search advertising accounts for about 45% more than what they will spend on all three display ad formats -- banners, video and rich media -- combined.

Citing research from an unnamed source, Hallerman says about 18% of consumers searched for the brand's products or services after being exposed to a banner ad. Success from banner ads, however, depends on the company, the industry, the product and the stage in which the brand tries to hit the consumer. How brands rely on targeting also plays a role.

As marketers look to engage consumers -- and to gain better measurement and targeting tactics than what's available with most other media -- they will continue to increase budgets for Internet ads of all kinds, cannibalizing newspapers, magazines and other traditional media spend. The Internet's share of total media ad spending will rise from about 15% in 2010 to more than 20% in 2014.

A large part of the growth will come from video, even in banner ads. Spending for online video advertising will make the format the second-biggest recipient of new ad dollars from 2010 to 2014, according to the eMarketer report "U.S. Ad Spending: How Big Is the Bounceback?" Of the more than $13.6 billion incremental dollars that will flow into online advertising during the next five years, 33% will come from video ads, compared with 44.5% from search.

However, don't expect the online video boom to become as hot as some hype would suggest, according to the report. Annual spending growth rates should hit between 30% and 40%, as brand marketers looking for greater targeting shift a portion of their TV budgets onto the Web.

As search attracts more dollars and video gets more growth, banner ads will increasingly become filler for those two ad formats, as well as for other elements of advertising campaigns. And as the market share for banner ads continues to decline -- even in 2014, when spending on banners will make up 20.3% of all the ads on the Internet -- the format will remain second to search.

Despite the ongoing commoditization of banner advertising, a result of the plethora of ad networks and the growth in the number of Web sites and pages with ad inventory, the total share of online ad spend for banners will stand at more than 20% from 2009 through 2014, according to Hallerman. It could turn the medium into a low-cost staple for online ad campaigns.

(Source: Online Media Daily, 06/24/10)

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How You Say It

is just as important as how many times you say it and who you say it to.

Drew explains:

Copywriting tip #91: Can you say it a different way?

by Drew McLellan

One of the maxims of marketing is repetition. Maybe that's why most ad copy sounds the same. Everyone seems to take the same spin on the product or service...and end up sounding a bit "me too" when all is said and done.

Take the idea of encouraging seat belt usage. For years we've seen the test dummies slammed into dashboards and front windows. We've had traffic fatality statistics scroll by and we've been shown mournful family members express their loss.

Nothing wrong with any of it...it's just been done to death. Which is why this commercial is so powerful. Watch it and then I'll tell you the back story. (e-mail subscribers...click here to view)

Pretty impactful -- wasn't it? An independent director in the UK, Daniel Cox, got the idea for this spot and went to the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership and proposed his idea. They let him shoot the spot and because of its completely different approach -- it has become a worldwide sensation...and very effective in delivering the seat belt message.

Not only has the YouTube video been viewed over 9 million times, but the spot has always garnered significant news coverage, including this story on CNN.

So.... how do we create the same impactful, fresh kind of copy writing/concepting? We ask different questions and we view the "problem" from different points of view.

Try some of these on for size:

1. Put the message in the middle of the "table" and walk around it. Identify different people who would have a perspective on it. What might they say? (Listen carefully to their choice of words)
2. What would the problem (product, service) say if it could talk?
3. If you had to play charades...how would you act out the problem (product/service)

Being creative and fresh isn't a fluke. It's hard work. Perhaps because it's so difficult -- it's rare. Which is why we are so enamored when it happens!

Share the Embrace Life spot with those you love... what better way to ask them to buckle up?

Hat tip to my Dad for sharing the spot with me!

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Gender Selling

from SalesDog.com:

Selling to the Opposite Sex

by Michael Dalton Johnson

Chances are the people most of us encounter in our work lives are not really from Venus or Mars. The latest evidence, scientific and anecdotal, indicates that virtually all of them are actually from Earth, no matter how other-worldly they may seem.

Being natives of the same planet, however, doesn't necessarily mean they speak the same language—especially in sales situations.

Before I proceed down this dangerous road, let me quickly say that all women and all men can't be neatly lumped into two distinct communication styles. There are exceptions and gray areas.

Generally men are focused on achieving status and avoiding failure. Men are "doers" and want to solve problems and feel competent. Women tend to be focused on achieving involvement and avoiding isolation. Women relate, connect, and want to feel acceptance. Their focus is on intimacy and relationships, whereas men focus on independence and status. In sales, successful communications is a continual balancing act which requires juggling the sexes' conflicting needs for intimacy and independence.

"There's no doubt that gender differences have a real impact on interpersonal communications," writes Will Turner, founder of Dancing Elephants Achievement Group. "In the selling world, salespeople need to understand and adapt to these differences." Turner urges salespeople dealing with customers of the opposite sex to "never assume that you understand, or are understood." Instead of assuming, presuming, or guessing the other person's meaning, he recommends "listening carefully, clarifying everything that is said and adopting a conversational style tailored to the particular customer and situation."

Women selling to men: Sell straight to the bottom line. Avoid processing your thoughts out loud. Focus on goals, tangible benefits and problems your product or service will solve. Clarity, brevity and a bottom-line focused presentation will give you the best chance of closing the sale.

Men selling to women: Listen. Agree. Be friendly and helpful. Empathize. View your meeting as an opportunity to get to know your prospect and her needs better. The sale will likely follow.

With a little practice, male "report talk" and female "rapport talk" can be successfully learned.

Michael Dalton Johnson is the founder and publisher of SalesDog.com His new book, Top Dog Recession-Busting Sales Secrets can be seen here.

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Classic Ad of the Week

All this and they own NBC too!

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After the Mistake

from MarketingProfs.com:

'I'm Sorry': Three Ways to Say it to Customers

No matter how excellent your company's product or service, and no matter how outstanding your customer service team, you will encounter disgruntled customers. It's a fact of life. And, warns Michael F. Kelly at MarketingProfs, this disproportionately vocal group can do serious damage to your company's reputation.

"If 20% of your market has a negative opinion of your brand and each person shares that negative opinion with five others, while the 80% with a positive opinion each tells only one other person," he notes, "within a short time the market will be more negative than positive."

It's a scary proposition, and he offers this advice for dealing with the negative word of mouth:

Don't shy away from criticism. Ask your customers for complete honesty and prepare yourself for tough answers. "Look at this as an opportunity to greatly increase the effectiveness of the entire organization," advises Kelly. "Senior management must encourage the hunt for and elimination of things being done that make customers value the brand less."

Identify a problem—as well as its emotional impact. "A statistic that merely says people wait 4.5 minutes on the phone for customer service is not sufficient to convey the customer's experience," he explains, "and it's easily ignored. Instead, ask customers how they felt about the delay."

Fix the problem, and clean up the mess. This isn't always easy, and you can't expect instant results. "People have memories," he says. "A bad experience with your company or product, especially if it was associated with an unresolved emotional reaction, can be remembered and acted on for years after the problem is ostensibly resolved."

The Po!nt: Whatever you do, always begin the conversation with a genuine apology. "Without an apology," says Kelly, "nothing else is heard."

Source: MarketingProfs. Click here for the full post.

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Charting your Course

As our country celebrates over 200 years of our independence today, I am reminded that the men and their families didn't know exactly how their lives and actions were going to turn out, but they did know what principles they were living for.

Drew wrote about a similar concept last month on his blog:

What's your north star?

Posted: 22 Jun 2010 03:19 AM PDT

I heard this story several years ago…. and a discussion with a client yesterday reminded me of its importance.

A young sailor had been traveling for many days on the open ocean. He had the night watch so literally -- for over two weeks, he saw nothing.

Finally, the vastness overwhelmed him and he asked his Captain, "how do you know where to head, when darkness is all around you?"

The wise Captain pointed his finger towards the sky and said “Fools watch the waves and make decisions according to ever-changing circumstances, but a wise captain charts his course by a star that does not move.

When your journey is long and the way before you is rough, never take your eyes off the North Star, son. Stay focused on the unwavering constant.”

We can twist ourselves into a knot if we react to everything our competitors do, or the ups and downs of the economy or any other outside factor that shifts and changes on a dime. Or, we can have a clear understanding of our business' purpose and mission. That's understanding your brand and living by it every day.

Are you making decisions based on where the waves toss you or have you charted your course according to your brand, your principals and your true north?

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.com

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Walmarting it

I wonder if Sam Walton envisioned all of this:


Via: Home Loans

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Personalize It

One big mistake sales people make is they don't understand what their clients want to buy, or how they buy.

Here's 4 lessons from MarketingProfs.com:

Four Lessons from Posh Real-Estate Agents

If you're not in the market for luxury real estate, there's a good chance you haven't seen the glossy brochures that Christie's Great Estates and Sotheby's International Realty produce for their multimillion-dollar listings. "It is a shame that few of us do get to experience this world," writes Rohit Bhargava at the Influential Marketing Blog, "because when it comes to marketing there is a lot that anyone could learn from how luxury [real-estate agents] run their businesses."

Here are a few ways real-estate professionals excel:

They leverage strong personal brands to build credibility. "Often," Bhargava says, "you see the story of the agent's career and how he or she made it to that point." Agents also discuss personal histories and interests—especially those they share in common with potential clients. "All of this," he continues, "is designed to give you a sense of who they are before you consider working with them."

They know a thing or two about targeting their audience. If agents in the luxury real-estate market advertise in the wrong place, they know they'll only waste time with unqualified inquiries. "They don't care about reaching millions or even about reaching thousands," notes Bhargava. "They care about reaching the right dozen people, period."

They create desire with lust-worthy photography. There's no such thing as an amateur snapshot in their marketing collateral: instead, houses are presented as nothing less than a venue for perfect domestic bliss. "The imagery sells the houses," he says, "and encourages you to dream."

The Po!nt: When looking for marketing inspiration, don't limit yourself—you'll find great ideas in what seem to be the most unlikely places.

Source: Influential Marketing Blog. Click here for the full post.

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Building Connections with Social

from my email:

Daily Sales Tip: 4 Tips To Find Prospects Using Social Media

A recent blog by Jay Baer outlined ways to track down prospective clients by using Social Media. He recommends:

1. Hire a Spy
Flowtown and Rapleaf are two of the leaders in the emerging field of social anthropology. It's ingenious, and a bit freaky (like Cirque de Soleil).

You provide a list of your customers' email addresses, and these services figure out how (and who) among your customers are on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and niche social networks, what their "likes" are, and other important details.

Flowtown is perfect for small and medium businesses. Rapleaf is better for larger companies.

2. Ask
Perhaps the most obvious way of finding out where your customers are hanging out in social media is unfortunately the least utilized. Ask them.

3. Email Behavior
Have you added links to your social outposts in your emails? Have you added the ability for email recipients to share content on Twitter, Facebook, Digg and elsewhere? If you send email routinely, you need to integrate email and social immediately.

Most quality email service providers give you the option of easily adding sharing tools, and you can then run a report showing which of your subscribers clicked your Twitter link, and/or shared content on Facebook. Presto! Now you know that person is active on those social outposts.

4. Gmail Stalking
Twitter, Facebook and other social outposts have incorporated functionality that allows you to see whether your Gmail contacts are using the services, and invite them to connect with you. While this integration is intended for personal use, you can utilize it for your business, too. Here's how:

• First, take a list of your customers' email addresses, and create a .csv file (you only need email addresses, not names, mailing address, etc.)
• Next, create a free account on gmail.com specifically for this purpose (you don't want to be doing this on an existing account)
• Third, upload the .csv to your Gmail account.
• Now, go to Twitter and create a brand new account using your special new Gmail email address. On Step Two "Find Your Friends" of the Twitter sign-up process, select Gmail. Bam! Twitter automatically reads all of the email addresses of your customers stored in Gmail, allowing you to track the number on Twitter and/or follow them immediately.
• Now, set up a new Facebook account using your new Gmail address. On Step One "Find Friends" of the Facebook sign-up process, indicate that you have a Gmail account, and follow the simple instructions. Bingo! All of your customers on Facebook are presented to you, and you should be able to become their "friends" with a single click.

I uploaded a list of approximately 2,000 subscribers to my email newsletter (you're a subscriber, right?) and was able to track down more than 1,000 on Twitter, and 500 on Facebook. Total cost? Zero dollars, and about 30 minutes. As the social Web becomes ever more interconnected, understanding how your customers are connected (or connectable) in social media is a sizable part of the success equation. Source: Jay Baer's Convince & Convert Social Media Consulting & Coaching

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Friday Night Marketing News from Mediapost

Yeah, it's early.

I'll continue to have updates over the weekend...

Retail

Disney Unveils New Store Prototype

by Sarah Mahoney

"Disney was wildly unsuccessful with its first venture," says George Whalin, a retail consultant, adding that its sale to the Children's Place back in 2004 "never made any sense." (Disney bought the stores back in 2008, and ended up closing nearly 100.) But this time, he says, Disney execs hired the same people who designed Apple's highly successful stores, "and that was a stroke of genius." ...Read the whole story >>

Restaurants

Survey: 25% Of Consumers Plan To Eat Out More

by Karlene Lukovitz

The results confirm social media's increasingly critical role in communicating with restaurant patrons. About half now indicate that they sometimes read online reviews and blog and tweet about restaurants. In the past 30 days, almost one in two had read an online review, blogged or tweeted about a restaurant to get a recommendation, and 13% had posted an online review after dining out. ...Read the whole story >>

Automotive

Caddy's Offers Experiences To High-End Buyers

by Karl Greenberg

"These will be golf clinics that include opportunities to test Cadillac models," says Caddy's David Caldwell, adding that Callaway was tapped for the program because of its technology focus on golf gear. "We are about 'Art and Science' and they are a design- and tech-driven golf brand. Both parties thought there was a good parallel." Invites will go both to Cadillac owners and owners of competitive-brand vehicles. ...Read the whole story >>

Technology

Study Finds E-tailers Putting Money Into Mobile

by Aaron Baar

According to the study, Web retailers are spending an average of $170,000 each this year developing their mobile sites (with large retailers, naturally, spending more and smaller ones spending less). "Usually, paid-search programs are several million dollars, so the investment in mobile is still modest," says Sucharita Mulpuru, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research. ...Read the whole story >>

Financial Services

Chase Features Real Cardmember In Campaign

by Tanya Irwin

Chase learned about Scott's experience with the card through a customer research focus group. It was struck by her passion to succeed and make a name for herself. The initial television spot, shot in New York City, includes footage from Sweet Revenge and Scott's office. ...Read the whole story >>

Automotive

Chevy Adds 4 Markets For Volt Introduction

by Karl Greenberg

Chairman Ed Whitacre also announced that the company is going to battle consumers' "range anxiety" -- the fear of getting stuck somewhere with a dead battery. The company will send a Volt on a "Chevy Volt Freedom Drive" from Austin to Manhattan this week, a 1,076-mile trip to be made by a bevy of GM engineers who will Twitter and blog about the trip, which is timed to end on July 4. ...Read the whole story >>

Southern Comfort Aids Gulf Relief

2K Sports Spends Summer On Hockey Tour

Kia, Hyundai Siblings Say June, First Half Were Best-Evers

Rite Aid Launches Simplify, New Private Label Effort

JetBlue Launches 'Be True' Campaign

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Media Changes in the next Decade

As a child of the 60's and 70's, I grew up without cellphones, cable TV and the internet. We got the news via Walter Cronkite (Google him!), and the afternoon newspaper.

My kids grew up in a different world, and my grandkids world will be vastly different too.

Here's an insiders peek into what is coming:

What Happens to Traditional Media When it Goes Digital?

At the ARF Audience Measurement conference last week, some speakers really got me thinking about what happens when all media becomes digital. Here are three forces that could produce profound changes in media and advertising both from a business and user experience point of view.

Everything Will Become Digital

Digital used to be synonymous with online but everything will become digital. Dave Poltrack from CBS predicts a huge increase in HD, 3D, and IPTV TV sales. David Verklin, president of Canoe Ventures, talks about the interactive TV advertising experience that will be nationally available. Video in Facebook? How about Facebook built into your new 55" HD 3D TV? The future of print media is being revolutionized by electronic readers like iPad. One can also imagine codes being inserted into print advertising or editorial pieces that, when captured by a smart phone, instantly leads to a multi-media experience or electronic coupon.

No longer is CBS a TV company or Time, Inc. a magazine; no longer is "media platform" the business organizing principle. Now, the media property is the organizing principle and it must live synergistically across platforms.

Data Will Always Trail the Media Possibilities

New touchpoints are emerging weekly, it seems. Advertising via the iPad was born so very recently. Apps for smart phones that create amazing location-awareness and shopper marketing options are emerging so fast it is mind-numbing. How can a manufacturer not want to put codes on packages that, via a reader on any smart phone, can now bring a brand's story to life with sight, sound, and motion at point of purchase? Digitization allows a marketer to guide a consumer along the path to purchase right to the check-out.

The point is, syndicated media research data bases, custom marketing research assessment can't possibly get ahead of this; they will always be playing catch-up, focusing on the most significant of the touchpoints that are attracting substantial funds.

The Importance of Understanding Audience Size Will Diminish

The most important things in traditional media, the stats we all understand, relate to audience size (GRPs, circ, etc.). However, imagine watching an episode of House on a platform that allows for selective ad serving. As soon as two different households start getting different ads served to them, measuring total audience becomes less important to the advertiser. Online, monthly uniques are a guide to which sites an advertiser should consider but they are paying for impressions served (or clicks). "Traditional" media could/should move to this model as it becomes digital.

If this comes to pass as traditional media become digital, imagine the implications for syndicated media currency databases, and media tools. While this will be traumatic to the existing infrastructure for "traditional media", the increased business value of advertising and the increased CPMs that advertising should command when it is made more relevant based on intelligent serving rules are potentially very significant.

(Source: Joel Rubinson, Chief Research Officer, The Advertising Research Foundation, from an article that appeared in Retail Wire, 06/30/10)

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The Point of Powerpoint

Is not to bore people to death.

Want to kill a sales presentation?

Do a boring Powerpoint.

I use Powerpoint to create handouts, have done it that way for years until last year when I actually used it the way it was designed, as an interactive presentation projected on a screen.

My first one lasted 40 minutes, included a couple of videos and had 87 slides. We actually did Q & A as part of the presentation.

Seth Godin has some advice to follow:

The 200 slide solution

The next time you find yourself on the hook for a 40 minute presentation (with slides!) consider, at least for a moment, a radical idea:

A slide every 12 seconds. 200 slides in all.

You're used to putting three or four bullet points on a slide. That's at least four distinct ideas, but more often, each of those ideas has three or four sub ideas to it. In other words, you're cramming 32 ideas on a slide, and you're sitting on that slide as you drone on and on. Perhaps you spice it up with some reveals or animated bullets, but it's still 32 ideas going stale before our eyes.

What if you blew it up? Just one word on a slide. Or, perhaps just one image (no cheesy stock please). Maybe you write, "Cheaper" on one slide and, "More durable" on the next...

Slides create action. When did you decide that the appropriate amount of action was six or twelve times every half hour?

How would your pace change if you had 200 slides? How much better would the integration of slides and talk be?

I don't honestly expect you to do your presentation with 200 slides. I'm hoping this exercise will help you realize that you might not need any slides. Or that 50 or 100 slides will pick up your energy and make your argument more coherent.

But please, don't do that presentation you did last time.

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Thursday Night Marketing News from Mediapost

Click & Read:

Retail

Walmart Slides But Still No. 1; Amazon Soars

by Sarah Mahoney

Most impressive is that the group's total brand value declined just 1%. "It could have been a lot worse," says The Store CEO David Roth. "And I think that's a testament to the fast ways retailers have reacted during the recession. It really shows the importance of the brand. In a world where prices and products are becoming more similar, that intangible retail brand is increasingly becoming the key difference." ...Read the whole story >>

Electronics

Bosch Effort Focuses On Refrigerator Technology

by Karl Greenberg

Bosch is launching a new French-door refrigerator in the U.S. but the main focus is on a new technology, VitaFresh -- designed to preserve produce for twice as long as conventional crispers -- and a marketing focus on bloggers, social media and Web. The company is also boosting U.S. marketing efforts this year. ...Read the whole story >>

Beverages

Mountain Dew Extends Label Art Effort

by Karl Greenberg

"There's definitely a consistency between the DEWmocracy and Green Label efforts -- it's definitely about engaging consumers, bringing them in and making them part of the process," says Dew's Hudson Sullivan. "We have had lot of success creating dialogue between the brand and consumer; when they see they are impacting the business we found they also become a lot more emotionally invested in the product." ...Read the whole story >>

Electronics

Fujifilm Ad, PR Campaign Targets Hispanics

by Aaron Baar

Radio ads in markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami, target gift givers and receivers. Fujifilm is also acting as a sponsor for radio promotions and giveaways in those cities at Hispanic events such as the Puerto Rican Day parade, 116th Street Festival and other concerts and events. ...Read the whole story >>

Financial Services

Visa Finds Success With FIFA Social Media

by Tanya Irwin

To drive additional interest, Visa is holding a promotion on the YouTube channel that runs until the tournament's end, July 11. Viewers can enter the "Visa Watch Your Way To Brazil" sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. In addition to the grand prize trip, fans will have the chance to win weekly prizes including $100 Visa gift cards. ...Read the whole story >>

Honda Sings An Aria To Clear Lots

Here Come Designer Pampers (For Baby With Everything)

Captain Morgan Taps Marisa Miller as 'First Mate'

Mootopia Goes To The Dentist

JCPenney Opens Shop-Within-A-Shop For Aldo Footwear

Actor Seth Green Appearing In Nintendo Spots

Continental Airlines Partners With Red Bull, Stirrings

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