Next month I'll be an official Grandpa as my youngest daughter and husband welcome their firstborn into the world.
I'm just 51. My Dad was in his 50's when he became a Grandpa too.
But today's 50 year olds are often more likely to be online and tech savy then the previous generation because we are the Boomers!
Are Digital Marketers Ignoring Baby Boomers?
Boomers' lives are going in many different directions, as empty-nesters, step-parents, grandparents and caregivers. For all of these roles, the Internet and digital media are absolutely essential.
eMarketer estimates 78.2% of this cohort is online, nearly 60 million adults. Even as their numbers decline, that penetration rate will remain high through 2015. And they control more than $2 trillion in annual spending.
"The baby boomers grew up being chased by marketers and advertisers that tailored products and brands to appeal to them," said Lisa E. Phillips, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, "Digital Lives of Boomers: Reaching Them Online." "Now the median age of this cohort is 55, and many boomers feel as if they have dropped off many marketers' radar."
Boomers spend more time and money online than any other demographic. Younger boomers (ages 47 to 55) spent an average of 39.3 hours online per month in 2010, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Older boomers (ages 56 to 65) averaged only slightly less, at 36.5 hours. A lot of that time was spent shopping -- and buying. Forrester Research reported that boomers spent an average of about $650 online over a three-month period in 2010, compared with $581 by Generation X internet users (ages 35 to 46) and $429 by Millennials (ages 18 to 34).
Boomers also stay connected on the go. eMarketer estimates 86.9% will have a mobile phone this year, and 16.9 million boomers will access the internet from a mobile browser or installed app. In 2015, that number will reach 25.4 million, or nearly 40% of boomer mobile users. This is a market that content providers, game publishers and brand marketers should not pass by.
Marketers who widen their messages to include boomers would be wise to make their efforts ageless, rather than targeted at an older set.
"Boomers are immediately turned off by association with old age, infirmity and decline," said Phillips. "Most brands do not want to 'age' their products with blatant appeals to older consumers. The win-win is to create an overarching brand message that gives a nod to boomers, but also includes younger adults and even grandchildren."
This often means turning a negative -- fears about failing health, for example -- into a positive, such as showing the benefits of products that contribute to a healthy lifestyle.
(Source: eMarketer, 04/04/11)
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Gramps is Online
How Homeowners Are Spending their $$
Conservatively, and with a hammer:
Fortunes of Home Improvement Chains Improve as Americans Tackle Repair Projects
After several years of perusing real estate listings and spending Sunday afternoons at open houses, Denise Majeski decided to stay put and fix up her 25-year-old Gurnee, Ill., home.
As the housing market languished even as the economy improved, Majeski determined the financially prudent course would be to fix up the house a little at a time, starting with replacing the windows and renovating the bathrooms.
"Initially we were thinking about moving," said Majeski, 55. "But that would require a mortgage and additional amounts of money. We can do a home improvement at a pace that we can afford."
It is a choice more homeowners are making these days and one that is lifting the fortunes of the long-suffering home improvement industry.
Seasonal hiring at Lowe's Cos., the nation's No. 2 home improvement retailer, is up 15% this spring as homeowners, feeling more secure in their jobs, tackle maintenance projects delayed during the recession.
And Home Depot Inc., the largest home improvement retailer, in February reported its first annual sales increase since 2006, before the housing market crashed. The home improvement business is stabilizing despite the continued weakness of the housing market, Home Depot Chief Executive Frank Blake said at the time.
"People are doing what it takes to be happy where they are," said Jack Horst, retail strategist at Kurt Salmon, a consulting firm. "They are more likely doing maintenance and replacement than big fundamental changes."
A few buckets of paint, brighter lighting and some new door handles are enough to make Rebecca and Bill Klies happy in their new home. The couple, in their 30s, bought their first condo last October in a short sale, in which a lender allows a homeowner to sell a property for less than the amount owed on the mortgage.
Now the Klieses spend weekends at Home Depot and Lowe's getting ideas on how to fix up their West Loop loft in Chicago without spending a fortune. They've swapped out light fixtures, recaulked the shower, put up new towel racks, installed a ceiling fan in the bedroom, bought new light switch plates, painted several rooms and touched up the molding.
"These are simple little fixes that make a big difference overall," Rebecca Klies said.
At the same time, home improvement stores are getting an extra sales boost as homeowners dig out from a winter of lengthy cold spells. The severe weather has left shingles, gutters and downspouts in need of repair and lawns littered with broken shrubs and damaged trees.
"These are the have-to-do projects," said Jim Kane, president of Home Depot's northern division. "We've just come through a tough winter, and the winter has just taken its toll on all those things."
Maintenance and repairs account for about 40% of Home Depot sales, up sharply from recent years when home sales slowed, said Daniel Binder, an analyst at Jefferies & Co., in a report last month.
Spending on home remodeling is expected to rise 9.1% in the first quarter to $125.1 billion from the same period a year ago, according to a widely followed index from Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies. The last time remodeling activity for a three-month period topped $125 billion was the second quarter of 2008.
The center predicts the industry to gain momentum this spring with sales jumping 12.7%, to $132.9 billion, in the second quarter from a year ago, before tapering off to a 6.5% gain, to $123.5 billion, in the third quarter.
More homeowners are tackling basic house projects on their own instead of using general contractors, bringing in electricians or plumbers only for the toughest jobs, said Rich Cowgill, Chicago-area chapter president of the National Assn. of the Remodeling Industry.
Cowgill said he had noticed an increase in the size of the do-it-yourself classes he teaches as a volunteer at ReStore for Habitat for Humanity as more homeowners try to lay tile, replace windows or put up drywall.
"People are dressing up their homes because they've come to the realization with housing devalues that they're not going to move," said Cowgill, who also owns a home remodeling business.
Kris and Dennis Cortes of Flossmoor, Ill., are typical of the post-recession home remodelers, industry experts said. The parents of five children said they chose to stay in the home they bought 20 years ago and to give the house a face-lift. They are adding a couple of gables to the roof, installing a new garage door and updating the landscaping.
"We could buy the megamansion, but we choose not to," said Kris Cortes, 46. "We're choosing to allocate our resources more toward education, charity and savings. I do think the country at large is headed in that direction."
(Source: Chicago Tribune, 04/13/11)
The Big Picture
from my email:
Great sellers are not immune to lousy meetings. They sometimes miss a cue, get distracted, make decisions to abort the effort too soon, or too late. Sometimes they mis-target, short change the research effort or just come across a prospect who's there to win the session, which usually means to lose the opportunity.
So great sellers experience what the rest of us do as well, episodic failure. The difference between the remarkable sellers and the rest of the pack is that the exceptional performer doesn't judge himself by an unfortunate outcome. That is to say, he doesn't become that failed visit. That's just not who he is.
The great seller takes a much longer view. The bad call was an occurrence; an event, rather than an inevitable outcome in the absence of sheer luck. He sees it for what it is; a moment in time...a short moment over a long time period. So, he doesn't get down. His self-image doesn't take a "hit." He either has an immediate take on what fell through or makes an artful analysis. If no answer satisfies in either case, he moves on, comfortable in the knowledge that, "hey, stuff happens." It's not a defining moment. There are lots of folks out there to meet with and help. Tomorrow's another day, as is the day after.
Great sellers don't get down and lose time. They get challenged. They never stop learning and growing and trying to make life/business better for all with whom they come in contact.
They take a longer view.
Source: Sales consultant/manager Bob Sherman
Friday, April 15, 2011
Remember the Lonely Maytag Repair Man?
He's coming back, slightly as the first story explains in our Friday Night Marketing News Update from Mediapost.
Also, just what I've always wanted, more fiber in my waffles. (Story 6):
by Sarah Mahoney 
by Karlene Lukovitz 
by Tanya Irwin Naming Names
from Al Ries & AdAge.com:
You might have missed the news: The board of trustees of Northwestern University have approved the expansion of Medill's formal name to the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.
"The expanded name," said Medill Dean John Lavine, "fairly recognizes who we are and the kinds of professional careers our graduates enter."
Hmmm. Let's say you're a recent graduate of Medill and are trying to get a job at General Electric. After all, they could probably use an expert in journalism, media and integrated marketing communications.
GE would be a perfect place to put your new-found knowledge to work. As everyone knows, General Electric doesn't just make electrical products. It has a big business in medical equipment, jet engines, infrastructure and finance, among other things.
Voila! You have the perfect solution for the company. An expanded name that fairly recognizes who they are and what they do. The company could be called the "General Electric Medical, Jet Engine, Finance and Infrastructure Company." Or GEMJEFIC, for short. (Actually, GE might be receptive to a name change with all the bad publicity the company has been receiving about not paying taxes on its $14.2 billion in profits last year.)
Seriously, though, is that what Medill is teaching its students? That as time goes on, names need to be expanded to include additional activities an organization is getting into. That contradicts decades of marketing thought.
Heaven help Advertising Age if it hires a Medill student to help the publication move into the journalism, media and integrated-marketing-communications era.
Possible new name for the publication: "Advertising, Public Relations, Direct Marketing & Social Media Age."
Medill has a "name" problem. The word "journalism" has become obsolete. No young person wants to be a "journalist." What does that mean? Keeping a journal? Writing a blog?
Young people today want to get into TV. Or into the newspaper or magazine business. Or into the radio business. Or into the internet.
The sum-up word for these activities is "media." Wouldn't a better alternative to the Medill School of Journalism be the "Medill School of Media?"
Furthermore, "media" is alliterative with Medill, always a good idea in a name. (BlackBerry, Dunkin' Donuts, Best Buy, Dirt Devil, Mickey Mouse, PayPal, Range Rover and dozens of other successful brands.)
Then, too, media is a two-way street. It can be understood to include the people who produce it (formerly journalists) and the people who buy or try to place messages in it (advertising and PR specialists).
In addition, Medill has another name problem. It already is a secondary name. It's part of Northwestern. Many people refer to the school as Northwestern's Medill.
If you look at a number of successful educational institutions, they seem to be going in the opposite direction from Medill. Do you remember the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama? Probably not. In 1899, it changed its name to Alabama Polytechnic Institute. You probably don't know that name either since in 1960 it was changed to Auburn University.
Medill is making a classic "branding" mistake. It is trying to put meaning into its brand name when the best brand names are those that are devoid of "inherent" meaning.
What does the name "Auburn" mean?
What does the name "Princeton" mean?
You probably know that these are the cities in which the universities of the same name are located. But that's not their "brand" meaning. Auburn University and Princeton University are well-known and respected institutions of higher learning.
Almost all recent brand successes use names that are mostly devoid of inherent meaning. Google, Facebook, Zappos, Starbucks, Craigslist, Wikipedia, eBay and many others. Their "brand" meanings have been developed by years of marketing activities.
When you start with a blank canvas, name wise, you can often build a dominant brand much easier than starting with a name that has a verbal anchor.
Suppose Auburn and Princeton were called "Auburn City University" and "Princeton City University." Do you suppose they would have become the educational institutions they are today? (Actually, Princeton was once called the College of New Jersey.)
New York City, for example, is one of the most important and dynamic cities in the world. But City University of New York is just not in the same class as Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford and dozens of other universities that are not nailed down by a verbal anchor.
Furthermore, if Medill wants to become the "mighty Medill of media," it has to get out from under its Northwestern umbrella.
Look at Wharton, the country's best-known graduate school of finance. Few people say The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Wharton has succeeded in moving out from under the University of Pennsylvania, another verbal anchor.
It's human nature to want to identify with a larger institution than your own. But that's not the way to build a brand. The way to build a brand is to create a unique, individual identity that stands on its own.
That's why line extensions are weak. The extension always plays the role of caboose to the master brand's engine.
As far as names are concerned, why wouldn't Medill want to take credit for "integrated marketing communications," an idea the institution created and nurtured?
They would and should, except for one problem. "Integrated marketing communications" is a brilliant idea hobbled with a descriptive name when it should have had a memorable brand name.
In every company I have studied, I have yet to find a "CIMCO," chief integrated marketing communications officer. What I have found, however, are thousands of CMOs.
On second thought, how about the Medill School of Marketing?
Well, what about Northwestern's Kellogg, the graduate school best known for "marketing?" As far as Medill is concerned, Kellogg is the enemy -- sibling rivalry, if you will. Kellogg has a reputation for marketing, but the school itself is called the School of Management.
Medill needs to get out from under the Northwestern umbrella and start building an independent brand with a short, memorable name.
| ABOUT THE AUTHOR | |
| Al Ries is chairman of Ries & Ries, an Atlanta-based marketing strategy firm he runs with his daughter and partner Laura. | |
Social Media for Small Business
A study was released recently that compares Social Media satisfaction and awareness for marketing and advertising.
This is from Mediapost:
According to the MerchantCircle Merchant Confidence Index (MCI) survey, the total Q1 2011 MCI score is 5.1% higher than a year earlier. The largest contributor to its growth is respondents' expectations for sales revenue growth during the next three months.
| Merchant Confidence Index | ||
| Expectation | Average Response on 1-5 Scale | % Change vs. Feb 2010 |
| Rate today's economy compared to past 12 months | 3.00 | +11.5% |
| Change in sales revenue over next three months | 3.52 | + 4.8 |
| Change in marketing/advertising expenditures over next three months | 3.07 | +2.3 |
| Change in headcount over next three months | 3.13 | +2.6 |
| Source: MerchantCircle, (Merchant Confidence Index Survey), March 2011 | ||
More than four in 10 small and local business owners expect sales revenues to improve somewhat in the next three months. 13% expect significant improvement, a combined 57% of respondents anticipating some sort of rise in short-term sales revenues.
| Expectations for the future (How do you expect your sales revenues to change over the next three months?) | |
| Expectation | % of Respondents |
| Improve significantly | 12.9% |
| Improve somewhat | 44.0 |
| Remain relatively the same | 28.9 |
| Decline somewhat | 10.3 |
| Decline significantly | 3.9 |
| Source: MerchantCircle, (Merchant Confidence Index Survey), March 2011 | |
The factor with the highest year-over-year growth rate is respondents' rating of today's economy compared to 12 months ago, which improved 11.8% to 15%.
| State of the U.S. Economy (How would you rate today's economy compared to the past twelve months?) | |
| Expectation | % of Respondents |
| Significantly improved | 3.0% |
| Somewhat improved | 34.6 |
| About the same | 32.3 |
| Somewhat weaker | 19.6 |
| Much weaker | 10.5 |
| Source: MerchantCircle, (Merchant Confidence Index Survey), March 2011 | |
About six in 10 small and local businesses anticipate their marketing expenditures to remain relatively the same during the next three months. Only 2% expect them to increase significantly, while less than 5% expect them to decline significantly.
| Marketing expenditures (How do you expect your marketing/advertising expenditures to change over the next three months?) | |
| Expectation | % of Respondents |
| Increase significantly | 2.1% |
| Increase somewhat | 23.2 |
| Remain the same | 59.1 |
| Decline somewhat | 10.9 |
| Decline significantly | 4.7 |
| Source: MerchantCircle, (Merchant Confidence Index Survey), March 2011 | |
When asked about their usage of a variety of online marketing tools and channels, 70% of respondents said they are currently using Facebook. This makes Facebook the most used of any marketing tool covered by the survey, closely followed by Google. LinkedIn comes in third. Generally speaking, the lower the current usage rate of a tool, the higher its planned usage rate, suggesting small and local businesses are open to a wide variety of online marketing channels.
| Adoption of specific online marketing services (Are you promoting your business with the following websites/services? % of Respondents) | ||||
| Site/Service | Promoting | Not Promoting | Not Yet, But Plan To | Not Familiar |
| | 70.3% | 20.1% | 8.9% | 0.7% |
| | 66.2 | 25.8 | 7.0 | 0.9 |
| | 58.2 | 29.2 | 7.0 | 5.7 |
| Yahoo! | 49.2 | 41.7 | 7.8 | 1.3 |
| Yahoo! Local | 45.0 | 41.3 | 8.5 | 5.2 |
| | 39.8 | 48.8 | 9.5 | 2.0 |
| Citysearch | 39.7 | 43.6 | 7.5 | 9.2 |
| Yellowbook | 39.3 | 51.4 | 5.4 | 3.8 |
| Superpages.com | 33.3 | 51.3 | 5.8 | 9.6 |
| Bing | 33.2 | 52.6 | 10.3 | 3.8 |
| YouTube | 26.8 | 54.8 | 16.4 | 2.1 |
| MySpace | 19.2 | 70.1 | 7.7 | 2.9 |
| Groupon | 6.6 | 66.1 | 13.0 | 14.3 |
| Source: MerchantCircle, (Merchant Confidence Index Survey), March 2011 | ||||
And, with regard to expectations of marketing activity in the next three months, only 15% see a decline.
| Marketing expenditures (How do you expect your marketing/advertising expenditures to change over the next three months?) | |
| Expectation | % of Respondents |
| Increase significantly | 2.1% |
| Increase somewhat | 23.2 |
| Remain the same | 59.1 |
| Decline somewhat | 10.9 |
| Decline significantly | 4.7 |
| Source: MerchantCircle, (Merchant Confidence Index Survey), March 2011 | |
The online survey was to a random sample of 1.6 million local business owners, and There were 8,456 total responses from local business owners across the United States. Overall, about three fourths of the respondents' budgets for marketing are below $5,000.
| Annual Ad/Marketing Budget | |
| Budget (x000) | % of Respondents |
| <$1.0 | 34.1% |
| 1-2.5 | 21.7 |
| 2.5-5.0 | 16.4 |
| 5.0-7.5 | 8.0 |
| 7.5-10.0 | 6.8 |
| >10.0 <25.0 | 7.7 |
| >25.0 <50.0 | 2.6 |
| >50.0 | 2.8 |
| Source: MerchantCircle, (Merchant Confidence Index Survey), March 2011 | |
| The Top Three Most Effective Marketing Or Advertising Methods The Responding Business Uses Or Has Used | |
| Most Effective Channel | % of Respondents |
| Search engine marketing | 40.2% |
| Profile on social network | 36.7 |
| Email marketing | 35.8 |
| Other online methods | 34.4 |
| Coupons or direct mail | 23.9 |
| Print newspaper | 19.7 |
| Online yellow pages | 17.6 |
| Blog | 17.0 |
| Banner/display ad | 9.7 |
| Local radio | 7.6 |
| Source: MerchantCircle, (Merchant Confidence Index Survey), March 2011 | |
For additional information, please visit Merchant Circle here.
Sphere: Related Content
Googling is a 2 way Street
from my email:
Daily Sales Tip: Your Image
When your meeting pops up on your prospect's calendar, they might be tempted to remind themselves of who they are meeting with.
Will they Google you? Check your LinkedIn profile? Or maybe even your Facebook page? What will they find? What picture of you will they have before you even enter their door?
Source: Nigel Edelshain, CEO of Sales 2.0, LLC
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Time for Something Sweet & Sticky for Supper?
The Thursday night Mediapost Nightly Marketing News includes a story about Log Cabin and Social Media. (Story #5).
Please wash the syrup off your fingers before updating your Facebook status.
by Karl Greenberg 
by Tanya Irwin 
by Karlene Lukovitz Coffee, Candy, and Cellphones
from Amy at Mediapost:
Schadenfreude is cause for "Celebrations." Skittles puts your finger to work. Let's launch!
Sprint launched a TV spot, "Anthem," on Monday, debuting a new tag line: "All. Together. Now." Say goodbye to the "Now Network." The new tag line aims to demonstrate the sheer amount of time people spend interacting with friends on their mobile devices. "Anthem" begins with social media overload: people are checking in to locations, emailing, friending people on Facebook, browsing through pictures and watching YouTube videos. As memorable YouTube video clips are shown (Charlie bit my finger, for example), a voiceover says, "Unlimited is good. And thanks to Sprint you can talk, text, and post as much as you want, for no extra cost. So go ahead world, unlimit yourself." Watch the ad here, created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. The Simply Everything Plan costs $99.99 per month, plus a $10 data charge for smartphones. Remember this price as we look at another wireless carrier out to save consumers money. 
Never underestimate the power of coffee. Cumberland Farms launched its first TV campaign in more than 15 years to tout its Farmhouse Blend coffee that tastes too good to cost 99 cents. A man pumping gas and drinking his Farmhouse Blend coffee thinks he's dreaming when he sees a princess standing beside a white horse. His fantasy is short-lived once a petite man in medieval wear shouts to the princess: "Get in the truck. The kid's party starts in 10 minutes." Watch "Princess" here. "Heaven" is funny. A woman sitting in traffic and drinking her coffee believes she is having a religious experience when an angelic figure appears before her in a white cloud. In actuality, it's a construction worker carrying two sets of orange cones and informing the woman: "Nothing to worry about ma'am, just a busted steam pipe!" See the ad here. Full Contact Advertising created the campaign.
| Amy Corr is managing editor, online newsletters for MediaPost. She can be reached at amyc@mediapost.com. |
Refocus with these 8 Questions
January is a month of resolutions. February and March are the months, most of them get tossed aside.
Now that April is here, let's review...
from my email
Daily Sales Tip: New Year's Resolutions
This weekend is a good time to prepare yourself for the rest of the year. Here are 8 questions to consider from Bob Pike, The Pike Group.
1. What do you want to accomplish in the next year?
2. What will it take to do that?
3. What are the barriers to achieving those goals?
4. What are the resources that you'll need to achieve those goals?
5. Is everyone connected with the organization in agreement that those objectives are the most important ones?
6. What value are you delivering right now?
7. What are the strengths you bring to the table?
8. How do you know that your customers would agree?
Your time spent preparing resolutions from these reflections will give you direction that will increase your billing and reduce your stress.
Source: John Potter, VP/Training, Radio Advertising Bureau
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Ford Micro-Targets Car Owners
Face it, the people most likely to buy a new car, already have a car.
And the hot topic right now is rising gas prices.
Looks like Ford has the right idea in the second story from Mediapost:
by Aaron Baar 
by Karl Greenberg 
by Karlene Lukovitz Creating 100% Satisfaction
A couple weeks ago I came across this story from the Wizard Chronicles:
Diamonds Are a Guys Best Friend… if You’re These Guys!
By Sonya Winterbotham, Wizard of Ads Partner
It may in fact become the first book I will finish in one day… Not that 167 pages is a big challenge but my reading pace tends to be that of the tortoise and not the hare. For those, who have waited far too long to read the Alchemist it is a story about following your Personal Legend, following your dream and doing what you were born to do. I believe these two men are doing just that…
David Everett and Ian Brookes are jewelers. They are not men who use molds or machinery to make mass produced pieces shipped to chain stores around the country. David Everett and Ian Brookes are true craftsmen, with hands born of skill and eyes formed of precision they meticulously, lovingly, proudly produce the most spectacular pieces of jewellery crafted by hand.
But that is not why I want to share the EverettBrookes story. These men possess something else… In following their Personal Legend, they have built a business model that shows great incite into understanding their customer’s needs, wants and behaviors.
So here is what EverettBrookes understand, and how they do things differently:-
What a woman wants when buying a ring is perfection. For perfection to transcend design paper to finger is no easy task, and David and Ian came to the conclusion that it is not always possible.
Once on her finger she may wish the diamonds were a little bigger, the band a little thicker, the setting a little higher and what most jewelers would say is “tough luck, you picked it, we made it, better choosing next time.”.
David and Ian made a very firm decision that people would only walk out their front door with a smile, and a smile comes from perfection.
So what do they do? Offer to start over again and make the ring exactly how you want it… at no… extra… charge. They’ll start your ring again from scratch… no charge, no obligation, no stiff jewellery store stance, just the promise of perfection.
What would most others do? Look at the bottom line, grumble about cost, and say they can’t afford the risk… EverettBrookes looks at every customer as a brand ambassador and if just one walks out the door feeling disappointed – well that’s the risk they can’t afford.
Their entire business model is created around customer needs – not their needs.
- They open late so couples can come after work, and if you need that engagement ring for your party on Saturday, they won’t tell you it can’t be finished in time.
- They’ll just ignore the clock and work late, work early, work around the job so that sparkle is on your finger to show off to your friends on Saturday so they can ask “where did you get it” and you’ll say – “I got it from this amazing jewellery store called EverettBrookes… let me tell you about them”.
Those Funky Looking Ink Blots
Do you know what a QR code is? It is a barcode designed to be read by smartphones that take people to a specific place online. Try scanning this one and see where it takes you:
Nick Jerome has more:
QR Codes: Thinking outside the square
(posted on http://joannapenabickley.typepad.com/)
QR codes are quickly becoming a part of any integrated marketing campaign. We all know they’re great for offering coupons and additional product information, but the possibilities for using them are really endless. Whether you are a Fortune 500 company or a small non-profit, creative use of QR codes can help people engage with your brand. Here are some examples of “outside the square” thinking:
San Francisco was the site of a pilot program between CitySearch and Antenna Audio. QR codes were posted on the city’s historical landmarks and restaurants. When scanned, they produced information about the site or reviews on the restaurant.
Eventbrite is starting to use QR codes at registration desks. Event attendees register online and receive a QR code on the confirmation. Event coordinators can scan the codes at the registration table and gather attendee information quickly and accurately.
Starbucks made QR codes a successful ecommerce solution. Starbucks Card Mobile Application allows customers load an account with money, and the pull up their account’s QR code at the register for convenient payment.The Smithsonian used QR codes to increase engagement with their Neanderthal exhibit. When visitors scan the code they are sent to a website where they can take a picture of a friend with their phone, and the program shows what they would have looked like 30,000 to 50,000 years ago as a Neanderthal.
These are just a few examples of the creative ways QR codes can be used. The bottom line is that a QR code should always provide added value for the user. That value can be a discount, information, convenience or just plain fun, but it represents an opportunity to engage with people in a new way.
About the Author
Nick Jerome is a marketing services manager at FASTSIGNS®, a visual communications services provider with more than 550 locations around the world.
Sphere: Related ContentCreate Your Category
from my email:
Daily Sales Tip: Commoditization Your Problem?
Do you sell corn, or sweet Jersey corn? Do you sell potatoes or Idaho potatoes?
Has the commoditization of your product or service got you down or is your inability to differentiate it from the pretenders holding you down? A few days ago, WCBS-AM Newsradio in New York aired a feature by Ray Hoffman of The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Hoffman was reporting the thoughts of the CEO of Priceline about the complaint of commoditization, and its painful effects on profits.
The answer offered -- differentiation.
Look, you sell either a piece of meat or sirloin, a bushel of wheat or a bushel of super fine, no toxins Kansas wheat, cars or Cadillacs.
You hit and run, or you are there every step of the way with your client from order to renewal. You sell "as is" or "satisfaction guaranteed or your money back." You make a difference in his success potential or it's "every man for himself."
If your product or service is above the pack, and especially if you own that reputation and it's verifiable, you can't be commoditized. You're different, unique and uncommon, and so "Please Mr. Jones, may we discuss the value to you that I bring to the table? Because I promise you, it's very different than those you are comparing me to -- like apples and...."
Here's a letter that one of our well-trained, genuine and talented managers received just this week from a client:
From: Dawn M Richardson
Sent: Monday, March 14, 2011 1:06 PM
To: 'Tim Miller'
Subject: RE: Tim Miller Calling
Tim, I must tell you that I do believe that you are on my side. I don't believe that I've just begun working with you but I have made a friend, too. I appreciate your sincerity and honesty. I look forward to a long working relationship with you...
My guess is that Tim's price will be discussed, but without reference to another guy's price, because the other guy is not Tim. He's different, not a commodity.
Source: Pilot Group Partner/Consultant Bob Sherman
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Tuesday Night Marketing News from Mediapost
Click & read:
by Karl Greenberg 
by Tanya Irwin 
by Karl Greenberg 
Posts
