Plug the Hole

from the Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo last week:

Losing It

Do you know how many times your business has lost potential business because they had the wrong person dealing with the public?

A couple weeks ago, my friend Amber made the following comment on Twitter:

If your receptionist isn't friendly when I call or visit, I won't call or visit again.

What Amber stated is not profound, or new.

She simply stated what most everyone feels.

If you are going to skimp on employees, you are probably losing more business than any advertising and marketing program can ever generate, because now with the power of Social Media, those bad experiences have an audience.

Fix it today.

Fix it now.

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Moms, the Facebook & the Email

My own mother passed away before Facebook, but she did have an email account.

Happy Mom's Day!

This is from Mediapost:

Moms Choose Technology That Connects Them With Other Moms

Motherhood in the U.S. has changed dramatically over the past several decades, together with the evolving role of women. In conjunction comes explosive technological growth. Technology nearly dominates our society, and moms are adapting to that transition as fast as it is happening. With this in mind, health marketers need to recognize their changing roles and the effect of technology.

Word of mouth has always been a powerful means to share information, particularly for moms because they often trust each other simply through the bond of the parenting experience. With technology, that word-of-mouth community is rapidly expanding. Moms are reading about and sharing experiences on blogs, communicating through other social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter, and using search engines to find even more.

Most industries can benefit from this changing U.S. mom market, and the health industry is in a particularly favorable position. In addition to their other roles, moms are the caregivers in most families. As mothers aim to balance work and family, their role often includes taking the lead on family health, whether it be treating the illness of a child or monitoring the meals of the family to ensure better health. Mothers also often take control when aging parents need assistance. In fact, a report from Babycenter.com found that 93% of the moms surveyed manage the health and well being of their entire household.

All of this caretaking requires health-related knowledge. Moms are doing Google searches, turning to health-related Web sites and, most importantly, they are talking to each other; verbally, in email, and through blogs, Facebook and Twitter.

From data collected in a 2011 survey for, "How U.S. Moms Share & Spread Health Information 2011 Report," it was found from mothers who often share health information that:

• Email and Facebook are their top choices for sharing knowledge; 84% often share things via email and 69% often share via Facebook.

• Email and Facebook are also the places where they most often hear about the new things -- 83% often find out about news things via email, and 76% via Facebook. Only 65% choose television.

• On a daily basis, 98% check email, 84% visit Facebook, 60% visit a news Web site, and 60% talk on the phone with a friend.

Moms who share health information are sharing their knowledge and opinions about products and services with family, friends and other parents. These moms also are at the center of the technological growth that continues to transform society, which means they are connecting with the world outside close friends and family -- a global community of tech-savvy moms who also are ready to share and listen.

While most industries should take another look at how they're marketing to mothers, the health industry should pay close attention. There is opportunity to reach this valuable market and benefit from its historic transformation.

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The Social Media Disconnect

Facebook uses the term Friends, but what really defines a Friend?

Are they someone we would call a friend in real life?

Are the "Likes" on Facebook really things we are passionate about, or do we just want to see what they will give us for being on of their fans?

From Mediapost recently:

Here We Go Again ...

Relationship marketing is about quality, not quantity. This is not to say that numbers aren't important; they are. Marketing programs need critical mass to succeed. However, the numbers follow quality. Why did the Old Spice Guy attract such large numbers? Because the content was really, really good.

Take a step back. For the past 20-plus years we have heard about the need to establish one-to-one relationships with our consumers. Go back 11 years to Seth Godin's Permission Marketing and you'll find one of the ways he thought we could build these relationships was through email.

But guess what? Most companies messed that up because they started sending out email that was self-serving instead of serving their customers. Somewhere along the line the idea of delivering personalized messages to loyal and engaged customers turned into a need to get permission from the most people possible, which eventually turned into simply getting the biggest list possible.

This hit home when working with a client several years ago. We walked into the annual planning meeting to discuss the goals for the coming year. After all of the plans were presented, the person heading up the marketing organization said, "Our primary goal for the year is to add 10 million names to our email list." No financial targets. No engagement metrics. Testing and optimizing content were to be put on hold until that objective was reached. All of the energy and resources were directed toward the goal of building the biggest possible list.

Not surprisingly, the year was largely wasted. We met the goal, but other areas of the program suffered. Creativity on the content side suffered. The messages that were going out weren't personal. Revenue did not increase in proportion to the size of the list because a lot of the names being added simply never became engaged in the program. We'd shifted away from the core concepts of permission marketing (and relationship marketing) to mass marketing through a personal channel.

The same risk exists in social media. As we read about the "Social Media Revolution," about two-way dialogues, authenticity, transparency, and customer empowerment there is a specter looming beneath the surface. More and more we are hearing things like, "we need to get to 10 million Facebook Fans" and "we need to get 1,000,000 Followers on Twitter." It's like déjà vu all over again.

It's a wrong-headed approach and here's why:

1) The disconnect between "likes" and impressions: there is an underlying assumption that once a person "likes" your brand that your posts will show up in their news feed. That's not necessarily true for two reasons. First, Facebook EdgeRank determines your placement in each users newsfeed (if at all). Second, many users will hide your posts from their news feed. Click the "X" once and your posts disappear. A parallel can be drawn back to email deliverability. Simply said, not all of Facebook posts get delivered.

2) Social Media Fans don't represent new customers: another assumption of "big numbers" marketing objectives is that new fans (or followers or subscribers) represent new customers. In some cases this may be true, but as Jay Baer recently wrote in "Ra Ra Wrong. How Facebook's Cheerleaders Are Blowing Smoke", "the people that 'like' your company on Facebook already like you in the real world. Consequently, your Facebook fan page is just another way to identify, corral, and (hopefully) activate them."

3) The "relationship" is over-valued: social media seems like the ideal channel to establish a relationship with our customers. We post something to Facebook and people respond. That's good. But there is a good reason that Facebook allows us to "like" brands instead of becoming "friends." When is the last time you heard someone say, "My best friend is Diet Coke?" Or "I wish I could have a better relationship with Toyota?" You don't because consumers don't talk about brands that way. The fact is that consumers, and especially Gen Y consumers, are not interested in having a "relationship" with your brand.

Just to make the point, we recently asked a group of consumers about the "relationship" they have with different brands. Most respond that they have no interest in a "relationship," they just "like" stuff. A small percentage of consumers do want two-way dialogue and want to interact with brands. It's an important minority because of their willingness to endorse your brand to their friends, but it is a minority nonetheless, which doesn't give much credence to the idea of simply building a big list of fans.

Building a social media strategy is an imperative for any brand in today's world, but building the biggest social media list possible is a recipe for disaster. Sure, it may all simply be semantics, but we've been down this road before and there is no reason to make the same mistakes. Take your eye off of building a quality audience and the audience you end up building will be less impactful (and thus less profitable) than if you had simply focused the same resources on generating better content. Interact with your customers. Thank them when they do nice things. But most of all, engage consumers by injecting fresh and engaging content into the community.

Do these things and the numbers will come. Focus on the numbers first and your efforts will end up being wasted.

Morgan Stewart is Co-Founder and CEO of Trendline Interactive, an email-centric marketing consultancy. Follow him at twitter.com/mostew and reach him here.

Michele Souder is Vice President, Strategic Services at Trendline Interactive.

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Building Relationships

Another great post from Drew's blog:

Marketing tip # 71: How many hooks have you set?

Posted: 25 Oct 2010 05:58 AM PDT

Whether it comes to fish or our customers, the more hooks we have in them, the more likely we're going to be able to keep them!

I'd like to think the "hooks" we have in our customers -- the reasons they can't imagine going anywhere else to buy what we sell, aren't painful, but in fact... they're the little things we do to be so remarkable and so unforgettable, we have earned their business and their love for life.

That's the way we should be setting our hooks. With love. It's all about creating that love affair with our customers.

I was speaking to a banking association last week and told them the story of a bank who happens to have a significant population of 70+ aged customers. Which makes social security day a busy one! Lots of elderly ladies showing up to deposit those checks and then they hang out for awhile.

The bank saw the opportunity and began providing cookies and coffee. It was a white haired networking extravaganza. Now, that's a nice hook.

But the bank tellers took it to a whole new level. They started noticing if some of the regulars hadn't been in the bank for awhile and they took it upon themselves to call those customers (often widows who lived alone) to make sure they were okay and if they needed any assistance. Some of the elderly actually broke down and cried on the phone because they were so touched by the concern.

That's setting a hook with love. And that's how you keep a customer for life.

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Social Media & Customers

from the Wonder Branding Blog:

Small Businesses Whomp The Big Boys At Social Media Marketing

Posted: 20 Oct 2010 07:00 AM PDT

It looks like marketers are getting a handle on how to effectively use social media tools.

A new report commissioned by Network Solutions and the University of Maryland identifies a shift in thinking about social media and what kind of business opportunities are available.

E-Marketer provides an excellent chart, showing what marketers expected social media to do for their business, and the modified results of what actually happened.

Surprise, surprise – businesses find that social media has been very effective in staying in touch with current customers, and has strengthened employee relationships internally.

Acquiring new customers within their target demographic? Not so much.

The bonus comes for small business owners, who recognized the “loyalty factor” of social media very early on, and are gaining the most from staying in touch with current customers through dialogue and word-of-mouth.

This is an excellent sign that social media for business is gaining traction. It also means that many new apps will develop in the coming years – keep your eye on the horizon.

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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 Conversation

Finally, some retailers are understanding how to use social media as a connector. This is from WonderBranding:

How Ann Taylor Rocks Social Media

Posted: 29 Jun 2010 09:46 AM PDT

Thanks to Ken Brand for pointing me in the direction of Ann Taylor and its sister store LOFT, which seem to have a very smart strategy for using social media tools like Facebook.

The company realizes that social media is not the end-all and be-all of marketing strategy. (As I said on a panel discussion last week, if that’s the way you think, then you need to have your head examined.) They are using outlets like Facebook to do two things:

1) Research. Surveys and questions posed to fans of the page (yes, I still call them fans) in order to learn more about what kinds of clothing styles are hot now and where trends are going. (click on image to enlarge)

2) Conversation. Ann Taylor is working hard to answer comments left by fans, to let them know that the company cares, and to nip potential bad feelings in the bud.

Customers recently spoke up, saying that there was too much airbrushing of swimsuit models. Check out the company’s reply:

When customers questioned whether LOFT’s clothes might look as great on “real women” as they do on stick-thin models, LOFT began photographing employees of varying size wearing LOFT outfits.

This is how you use social media.

It’s not about the latest viral video, trying to drum up something wild to get attention.

And it’s not about direct selling.

It’s about conversation.

Conversation that will provide consumer research data you never could have otherwise gathered.

Conversation that requires you to be open, honest, and flexible.

Conversation that could make current and former customers fall in love with you all over again.

How are you using your company’s Facebook page? Is there a disconnect between what you want and what the customer wants? Maybe it’s time to review your strategy.

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The Brand called You

Drew has advice to share:

Have you built a rock solid foundation for your personal brand?

Posted: 05 Feb 2010 03:10 AM PST

Whether you work for someone else, are a serial entrepreneur or anything in between -- in today's world, you can't afford to ignore the idea of personal branding.

A generation ago, employees often stayed with one employer for the lion's share of their career. Today, most professionals will not work for several companies -- but they will most likely change their entire profession.

And even in the unlikely case that you do find the employer of your dreams right off the bat -- you still want to distinguish yourself by standing out from the crowd.

Enter personal branding.

By the way, I don't think personal branding came about thanks to the internet. It's been around for generations. Abe Lincoln certainly created a personal brand. So did Hitler. But, the internet certainly makes it easier for an average joe or jane to create a credible, spreadable personal brand.

But to do it right, I believe it takes intention.

When I speak to college classes, I warn them. What you put out into the world via Facebook, blogs, Twitter, MySpace, FourSquare and whatever comes next -- stays out there. And it's incredibly findable.

Two relevant facts:

1. No matter what we want to know, we Google it. (So imagine what the next generation of managers, business owners and reporters will do).
2. Google never forgets anything.

So given those facts...how do you intentionally build your personal brand?

Decide what you're all about.

Note I did not say...create your brand. Just like with a company -- a brand comes from your heart and soul. So dig deep and figure out who you are -- that is relevant to the world. (We're many things, some private and some for public consumption -- your brand is the world's view).

There are lots of ways to figure it out. Write your own obit, do Strength Finders, Myers Briggs or put together your own little brand task force who knows you well and loves you enough to be honest.

Determine what your personal brand looks like -- off-line:

No matter who you are or what you do, odds are that you spend more time off the computer than on. So be sure that you can live the brand in your daily life, 24/7. How does it come to life (remember, this is from other's perspective).

If your brand is that you're a developer of others -- how would a developer behave? Think of all the touchpoints you have with other people -- meetings, networking, on the phone, in an employee review, etc. How does the developer brand come to life?

Evaluate your existing on-line presence:

Google yourself. Does your brand show up? Is it the most prevalent message? Scan through your old Facebook updates. Is your brand there? Are the other themes complimentary to your brand or do they feel off? What types of things are you retweeting? What do your recommendations say on LinkedIn?

Don't just look at the subject matter. Look at language, tone, replies to others, what you do and don't talk about, play, share with others and the online/social media tools you do and don't frequent.

Step back and be as objective as you can. If a stranger Googled you -- what would they think and know about you? Does it align with your brand?

And don't forget your traditional old website. It may be the most content rich place for your brand to live. Do you own your own domain (like www.drewmclellan.com). If not -- grab it quick if it's still available.

Decide where you need to be online:

Depending on your brand, your presence might be expected on a certain social media tool. Should you be writing guest blog posts for a specific site? Is tweeting resources a part of who you are/want to be perceived to be? If you're the developer of others...how does LinkedIn figure into your plans?

Don't overdo this. Most people do not have the time or patience to establish a deep presence on every social media site, so don't try. Be active where you want to invest the time and where it makes sense.

Live it:

Off line, on line. Be your brand. Think about your choices. If your brand is about being the consummate, buttoned-up professional, should you be playing mafia wars or farming on a Facebook account that links you to your customers?

If your brand is about being very intellectual and deliberate -- should you be firing off emotional responses to negative comments on your blog?

If your brand is about being gregarious and generous, should you be the wallflower at the networking event?

Like most things, if you did the prep work -- it shouldn't be difficult to live your brand, once you've gotten in the habit of keeping it top of mind. If you find that you can't live your brand consistently or it feels fake -- you probably have to go back to the drawing board and dig deeper.

Be consistent and be patient:

This isn't going to happen overnight. The more consistent you are, the quicker your brand will not only rise to the surface but stick. But it takes time to influence opinion and influence Google. Remember...we're living in the age of cynics. Don't try to be something you're not. Don't try to force it.

Your genuine brand will come from within. All we're trying to do is make sure that brand stays in the spotlight so you can do and be all that you're capable of.

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Are you Dying from the Inside Out?

Yesterday I met with a client whom I had not seen in a couple of months, and found out why he's been unavailable.

A couple months ago he was not feeling well and thought it was a flu bug. Turns out his appendix had burst. But he didn't realize what was going on inside and continued to try and live as if nothing was seriously wrong.

Finally after a few weeks his wife convinced him to visit the doctor who discovered how serious his condition was and he was off to surgery. They opened him up and had to clean out all the resulting infection from organs that were dying inside of him.

If he had not eventually gotten checked out, I would have been attending his funeral instead of talking about his business plan yesterday.

I have seen many businesses that are dying from the inside out too. Here's some help from the THINKing blog:

THINKing

Tap Employee Passion

Posted: 13 Apr 2009 05:14 AM PDT

Meriwether Lewis set the stage for the Corps of Discovery’s success before one single “employee” had been hired. From the outset Lewis and Clark engendered a communications culture that brought in the right prospects, then kept morale high and increased the productivity of those eventually hired.

More important, Lewis’ communication culture not only outlined the day-to-day duties of Corps member, it imbued “employees” with a sense of mission and meaning.

He ruthlessly searched for just the right recruits. Lewis sought the strong, skilled and eager, rejecting the weak, ignorant, and unmanageable. And through properly communicating his needs, he was able to get the people who could learn and live his “brand” to apply.

Prospects were told openly and honestly about working conditions: you will be in hostile territory, surrounded by hostile people. You must rely on your own devices for food and shelter, and you could die.

They learned about benefits: “great personal rewards will be bestowed upon you by a grateful government,” if you are selected.

Lewis took his “employees” one step farther: you will go, he told them, where no non-natives have gone before. You will help find the Northwest Passage. You will aid in the advancement of science, discovering new places, new species and new peoples. The mission is one of critical importance to the security of the new nation.

It was this open, honest communication of the emotional aspects, the meaning of the job that unleashed the potential of the Corps of Discovery as “brand emissaries.”

Why Bother Communicating With Employees?

Sure, you’re saying, when it’s a matter of life and death, and you must depend on the person next to you for your survival, it makes sense. But, we’re just talking about business here.

The same goes for business. Employees are your most important audience, and that they hold the keys to your organization’s success. Let’s examine the facts to find out why this assertion is true.

Companies spend millions of dollars each year developing mission and vision statements, identifying their brand, and then communicating their brand promise through various media.

Employees are the primary “media” in the majority of brand contacts. In most companies, employees don’t understand the brand promise well enough to communicate it, let alone live it and articulate it clearly.

Gallup research of 300,000 businesses indicates that 75% to 80% of your people are achieving much less and feeling far less enthusiastic about their work than they could be. If all your employees were “fully engaged”, Gallup says, your customers would be 70% more loyal, your turnover would drop by 70%, and your profits would jump 40%.

The research also found that consumers who felt fast food restaurant employees did a great job were five to six times more likely to come back to that brand. At banks where employees stood out, the customer was six to 20 times more likely to continue the relationship.

Additionally, great employees also tend to engender “passionate” customers. For example, customers who praised store-level associates were 16 times more likely to be passionate about the retailer’s brand.

Get employees on board from an emotional perspective and they carry their passion out to customers. Passionate customers carry it beyond to prospects through word-of-mouth.

Need an example? Let’s look at SAS Institute, a company with a clear mission. In its mission, SAS embraces lifelong learning for employees and service that is focused on customers with improvements driven by those customers.

Employees want a company that understands they have a life outside of work, that they have a need for learning and development beyond the strictly job-related.

Recognizing this, the company built a 200-acre corporate campus, landscaped to encourage outdoor leisure. Thousands of acres adjacent to the SAS campus were bought and made available for employees to buy and build their homes. A private junior and senior high has been opened on campus so parents can have lunch with their kids.

Employees are treated like university faculty and are helped by the company to pursue their own intellectual interests, as well as their job-related ones.

As a result, instead of the typical 20 percent turnover of software companies, SAS has had turnover of less than four percent. SAS has a 95 percent annual renewal rate among its customers, and revenues increased from $653 million in 1996 to $1.13 billion in 2001.

So, take a lesson from Meriwether Lewis: communicate your brand position with your employees, tell them openly and honestly what’s happening inside the company, and unleash some passionate results of your own. What do you think? Are employees integral to success or just another piece of equipment?

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Stop Losing Customers

Often as I work with my local clients, I try and uncover reasons they are not converting all of their shoppers" into "buyers". Click here to read more on this subject.

Meanwhile, if you are an online businesses, you need to do a similar assessment:

Stood Up at the Altar

Because your customers will abandon online purchases if they encounter a tedious checkout process, it's critical to make your e-commerce functionality simple and efficient. In a post at the Conversation Marketing blog, Ian Lurie offers recommendations like these:

• Never make a customer log in before checkout. "If you show any kind of form requiring a password on the first checkout page," he says, "you're losing customers."
• Display shipping costs on the same page as shipping options. There's almost nothing more frustrating than getting to the confirmation page and discovering the two-day option costs much more than anticipated. A surprised customer might abandon the purchase, rather than going to the trouble of choosing a cheaper alternative.
• Request information you actually need. "Don't need their phone number?" says Lurie. "Don't ask for it. Don't need their full ZIP+4 code? Don't ask for it! Are 99% of your customers in the USA? Have that pre-selected in the billing and shipping form."
• Make it quick. Small conveniences count—for instance, let customers check a box if billing and shipping addresses match, and make any edit from the order confirmation page.

The Po!nt: "If your developer says they can't make these changes, or even tries to bill you for it after swearing they could build a great site for you," says a tongue-in-cheek Lurie, "slap them. When they fall down, kick them. When they stop crying, tell them to fix the damned site."

Source: Conversation Marketing. Click here for the full post.

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Local Sports a Marketing Winner

For over 50 years, my hometown has had a minor league hockey club, the Komets. Now that the holidays are over, I'll be attending a couple games this month. Actually, I've listened to more games on the radio than I've ever attended.

Looking for a way to connect with local consumers? Check this out from AdAge.com:

Why Local Sports May Pay Off for Marketers

During Difficult Times, Investing in Community Events Can Win Consumers

By Jack Neff

Published: December 29, 2008

BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- Marketers have it wrong, according to Richard Luker: In a time when consumers are hunkering down in a bad economy, they yearn for the community of local events rather than the big national ones advertisers gravitate toward. And at a time when people are making and maintaining friends virtually on the internet (and marketers put more spending there), people actually need more social networking the old-fashioned way -- face to face.

Richard Luker

As chief strategy officer of TBA Global, an event-marketing agency, Mr. Luker has a vested interest in more money for community events. But that's not the only reason he's proposing that U.S. marketers divert $30 billion of the $300 billion they spend annually on media and marketing into local events such as Minor League Baseball, small-college and high-school sporting venues and local parks. The case for that shift, to be spelled out in his book, "Simple Community," next year is that social, economic and technological factors have been making community events increasingly important -- with smaller arguably meaning better.

Why support local teams when marketers are stretching budgets and may need to allocate what spending they have to big-league sports that command the most eyeballs? "Major League Baseball, while I like it, is not about me," Mr. Luker said. "Minor League Baseball is about me and my neighbors. I can feel like I am with my community. Reality around us is saying we want and need more of that."

Recent backlash
Mr. Luker, who has been tracking people's recreational preferences broadly for more than two decades (in 1994, he launched the ESPN Sports Poll), said one thing that's emerged from recent polls that he's never seen in the past quarter century is a backlash against conspicuous consumption and waste. "There's a general perception in the American population that corporations are less than responsible in the way they spend their money, and it is clearly unacceptable."

So Citibank owning naming rights for the new Mets stadium after getting government bailout money may not go over so well, he said, but support for community events seen as a necessary part of daily life could go over better. "I believe there is a complete misunderstanding of how to play this," Mr. Luker said. "What companies are doing is stopping any kind of investment that has to do with the gathering of people. ... That's a big mistake, because American brands I believe are going to be held accountable for the fact that they withdrew the kinds of things they provided as comfort during good times at the times people needed it the most."

Consider that while attendance for Major League Baseball was down 1.1% to 78.6 million last year, attendance was up 1.1% to 43.3 million for Minor League Baseball. Attendance rebounded to a record not seen since 1949 in 2004 and has continued setting records ever since -- despite there being only half as many Minor League teams today as in 1949.

And while the Arena Football League called off its 2009 season due to financial problems, its minor-league affiliate with 25 teams, Arena Football League 2, continues. Mr. Luker, a consultant to the latter, advised the AFL to get even more local by going with 100 teams. He's also advised the launch of an online portal by which Division II NCAA colleges can attract sponsors and events at their facilities -- DIIcommunity.com -- which he said has surged past initial estimates to attract 300,000 visitors monthly. Now he's advising the National Federation of High Schools in a similar effort to build sponsorship support for high-school sports and theater.

Crises can help
Crises may actually help, not hurt, Minor League Baseball and other largely inexpensive and highly local events, said Mr. Luker, who started tracking attitudes about recreation immediately following 9/11 and continuing through such events as the start of the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina and most recently the financial collapse.

Following 9/11, strong majorities ranging from 65% to 75% of people said sporting events and sponsorships should continue as planned. "Americans care about and need times of social gathering," he said. "And it's not just sports and entertainment, but also the holiday parties at work."

Even during the Great Depression, he said, spending on recreation didn't decline, remaining at around 2% to 3% of gross domestic product. That has shot up to 5% in the past 10 years, perhaps fueled by greater need, but also financed by a lot of unsecured debt.

Extra opportunities
In fact, he sees more opportunity for marketers to step up funding of events at local parks and recreation centers, which will see budgets slashed by cash-strapped local governments in the next year. His surveys have found 31% of adults ages 18 and up typically have visited a park within the past week, and 70% have visited one within six months, creating a potentially huge audience for marketers. "Invest in the things people need and want right now," Mr. Luker said. "They'll tell the story. And when they do, they'll value you."

Moreover, he said, the virtual gathering of people in social networks is only intensifying the need for real community gathering, not supplanting it. "Kids now are able to see the whole world," he said. "It's worldwide, but it's an inch deep. And there's this pane of glass that separates them from experiencing that entire world."

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Can You Give a Little Extra?

It's Christmas time so Starbucks is using red cups instead of my favorite, "The Way I See It" cups.

I miss seeing what others have to say while drinking my white mocha.

My kids used to love Jones Soda for the special label.

What can you do with your product or service to make it stand out?

This is from MarketingProfs.com:

Chew on This

What do kids—and, maybe, you—like about Bazooka bubble gum? It could be the flavor, or perhaps the size of its bubbles, but we'll bet it has more to do with the Bazooka Joe comic strip contained in each wrapper. You open it up, hope for a strip you haven't yet seen and chuckle at the corny joke, even if it's a repeat. Good times.

In the Editorial Emergency newsletter, Julia Rubiner opines on a similar thrill she gets from the recently redesigned packaging of her favorite Wrigley's product. While she appreciates the compact dimensions and tab closure, "what's made me an even more ardent fan of the Classic Bubble iteration of the Extra brand is the cheeky copy printed on the inside flap of said envelope package," she says.

• The first slogan she saw: "15 sticks of unadulterated, mind numbing, euphoria-inducing, earthshattering, long-lasting, and humble enjoyment."
• Another pick: "Doesn't bubble gum remind you of your childhood? It reminds us of your childhood. You were a cute kid."
• And her favorite: "Made with real bubbles."

The collect-them-all mentality of the fun-loving copy has upped the volume of her purchases, and she is even considering the purchase of other flavors to see if they say something different.

"After all," says Rubiner, "by the time you spot that chewy copy, you're in the bag—you've already purchased the product. In other words, these morsels aren't meant to make you buy the product; they're meant to make you keep buying the product." And that's Marketing Inspiration.

More Inspiration:
Paul Barsch: Decisioning in Volatile Times
Paul Chaney: Marketers Trend Toward Tried-and-True, but ...
CK: In Recessionary Times, One Can Learn a Lot From a Rat

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Texting

Last weekend, I noticed a teen sitting in front of me in church was texting. He's not the only one that is "hooked on texting". Click on the charts to make them BIGGER. This is from MarketingCharts.com:

Texters Young, Culturally Diverse, Online Spenders

Adults in the US who use the text-messaging feature on their cell phone are 49% more likely than the average American to be between age 18-24, 14% more likely to be Hispanic and 24% more likely to be African American, according to (pdf) a survey from Scarborough Research.

The study also found that El Paso, Texas is the top US city for text messaging, with 57% of all adult cell-phone subscribers (age 18+) there reporting they use the text-messaging feature on their cell phone, compared with 48% of adult subscribers nationally.

Other leading markets for text messaging include Salt Lake City, Dallas and Memphis, Tenn., where 55% percent of cell subscribers use text-messaging.

Fort Myers, Fla., Charleston, W.Va., and Grand Rapids, Mich. are the local markets least likely to text message. Only 36% percent of Fort Meyers and Charleston cellular subscribers text, as do 35% of those in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Texter Demographics:

Scarborough points to the youthful, multi-cultural texting demographics as a likely reason why El Paso, Salt Lake City, Dallas and Memphis are the top text messaging markets. El Paso and Dallas both have Hispanic compositions that are well above average. Further, Salt Lake City and El Paso are top markets for 18-24 year old adults, and Memphis is a leading city for African-Americans.

Other key characteristics of texters:

• They are among the country’s highest spenders on cellular services. On average, they spend $87 on their monthly cellular bill. In contrast, all cellular subscribers spend an average of $75 monthly.
• They are 46% more likely than all cellular subscribers to typically spend $150 or more on cellular service monthly and are 12% more likely to plan to switch services.
• They use a wide variety of phone features - such as picture messaging, streaming video and email -at a rate higher than that of the average cell user.
• They are avid technology shoppers and are more likely than the average cell-phone subscriber to live in a household that owns - or plans to buy - a wide variety of hi-tech items, from HDTVs to MP3 players to video game systems.
• They most often shop at Best Buy for audio-video purchases: 39% of Texters live in a household that shopped this retailer during the past year vs. 27% of all consumers nationally.
• Other leading stores for Texter households include Wal-Mart and Target. 35% of Texters live in a household that shopped Wal-Mart for tech items during the past year, while 20% shopped Target.
• They are leading online spenders. One-fifth (20%) of Texters spend more than $1,000 online annually, vs, 17% of all cellular users.
• Internet applications permeate all aspects of their lives, from household tasks (such as bill paying) to entertainment (such as downloading movies or TV programs) to interaction (such as blogging and downloading a wide variety of content).
• Texters are active, on-the-go consumers. They are 37% more likely than all cellular subscribers to have played basketball (as a leisure activity) during the past year; 29% more likely to have gone jogging/running; 29% more likely to have played tennis, and 23% more likely to have practiced yoga.
• Texters are 12% more likely to have attended a professional sports event, and 57% more likely to have gone to an R&B, rap or hip-hop concert during the past year.

“Text messaging could be largely disproportionately appealing to marketers because it delivers a young, multicultural audience,” said Gary Meo, SVP, digital media services, Scarborough Research. “Additionally, texts can provide a very locally targeted vehicle for marketers wanting to reach people in the right place at the right time, ready to make a purchase. Texting is becoming a ubiquitous cell phone function.”

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Inside LinkedIn.com

Last weekend the following article appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. I have been asked to be a part of a discussion on Social Media and I believe it is important to know the boundries between the purely social and the business oriented social media platforms. The big pure social networks are MySpace and FaceBook. Classmates is an "old school" network in that it still requires you to pay a membership fee to be active.

According to this article, LinkedIn is #4, adding a new member every second, 24 hours a day. Read more:

LinkedIn CEO touts growth of network

Sunday, November 23, 2008

When Dan Nye joined LinkedIn last year, he knew the company had a viable product - it was his own posting on the professional-networking site that helped land him the job after it was spotted by founder Reid Hoffman.

Since leaving Advent Software and taking the helm of LinkedIn in February 2007, the 42-year-old has shepherded growth in all aspects of the service. Membership has swelled from 8 million to more than 30 million, while the staff has expanded from 60 to 370 employees.

And, the site is making money. Although as a private company, LinkedIn doesn't release dollar figures, Nye says it's been profitable for several years. Reports place that revenue at $100 million for 2008, up from $10 million at the end of 2006.

In June, the company raised funds at a $1 billion valuation.

According to Nielson Online, LinkedIn of Palo Alto was the fourth-fastest-growing social-networking site in September, behind Twitter.com, Tagged.com and Ning - and ahead of Facebook.

Meanwhile, it's the fourth-largest social-networking site, following Myspace.com, Facebook and Classmates Online.

Nye recently sat down with several Chronicle Business section staff members to discuss the future of the site, which plans to remain independent, and how it's faring in the troubled economy. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: How have things changed since you became CEO of LinkedIn in February 2007?

A: When I joined, we had 8 million members in the network, and we had 60 employees. We now have over 30 million members. We have 370 employees, and we're currently adding new members at one per second, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

What's most gratifying is seeing the success that people are having on the network. There are just amazing stories about people making money, finding opportunities, getting advice, avoiding disasters from reference checking, reconnecting with important people in their lives, getting introductions, getting access.

Half the members are outside the United States. All industries are represented, all fortune 500 companies, over 3 million small-business owners.

Q: What did you expect to happen when you joined LinkedIn, and have your expectations been met?

A: It was a small company with huge vision and great ambition. And when (founder) Reid (Hoffman) and I talked about what we could possibly do and where it could go and how big it could become, we were talking in a range that we have far exceeded.

We raised money at a billion dollar valuation in June. We've just raised more money. When I look at the slides I put together when I first joined the company, I expected us to have 26 million members in the network by the end of 2008, and we're actually going to have close to 35 million. I thought we were going to have about 200 employees by now, and we have well over 300. I thought that the revenues would reach one stage; we far exceeded that as well.

Q: You raised money in June, and then you said you've had another round more recently?

A: Yeah, so we've had four fundraising rounds. The first round was Sequoia Capital, the second was Greylock, the third was Bessemer Venture Partners, and that's right when I joined. The fourth was Bain Capital. We kept the round open in order to take money from strategic investors, and we just took that from Goldman Sachs, SAP and McGraw Hill.

Q: Could you say how much money came in?

A: $22.7 million. That was the follow-on. So 53 and 22.7 is $75.7 million.

Q: Do you see yourself needing more capital in the near term?

A: There are three things that are really important to understand about LinkedIn relative to its financial position. One is that we have a very strong balance sheet from having raised this money.

We actually never touched the series C money and then we went and raised more money. We also have a very strong revenue stream. Our revenues this year are up well over 100 percent over last year, and we are forecasting to continue to grow the revenues. We turned a profit in 2006 and we are running the company right at the line. So it sort of depends how the fourth quarter goes to know how the year ends up.

The third thing to know is that our businesses are built on top of a very active and fast-growing network, and a network, frankly, that has become much more important in a recessionary period where people are realizing, "You know what, connecting with people I know and reaching out and learning how these Internet tools are used and presenting myself so that I can be found on the Internet is valuable and important."

So we are not in need of cash, for any reason, and we have the cash to weather whatever storm we all face and to make acquisitions when we see ones that are attractive to us.

Q: Can you be specific about weathering the storm? Can you look forward and see how long you can last with your current money?

A: Forever, so long as we're not losing money. There are rules of thumb on how much cash you need to have. Ours is decades and decades.

Q: A strong growth rate is the envy of most every company, and it's also been the undoing of many companies. Scaling is the issue, and you've got to be able to manage it. What can you tell us or our readers about how you're doing?

A: There are many aspects of scaling. One is making sure that you're embracing and pursuing the opportunity and you're choosing to grow. And I think much of 2008 was about that. We were recruiting and attracting the very best talent from the very best companies in the valley.

So we have a very strong and significant engineering and operations team. We are building a second data center, so then there's the scaling of the site itself. We're bringing our second data center online right now and working through all of the balancing issues and the ways to make that work.

That's happening at a time when there's great demand on the system. We hired a vice president of technical operations from Google. And we have a great engineering team and operations team that is building the site to perform. I have confidence that what we're doing is working. It certainly has been working, as we have had to meet the needs of 1 million, 8 million, 20 million, now 30 million.

Q: Can you put a dollar figure on revenue?

A: We actually don't talk about the dollar figures. There have been reports in the press about the revenues being between $75 (million) and $100 million.

Q: Is that reasonably accurate?

A: I'm not denying it.

Q: And that's up from $10 million in '06, from our research, is that about right?

A: Yes.

Q: What are the proportions of your revenue stream?

A: We have four revenue lines and we just announced a fifth. One is advertising. The thing that's great about advertising on LinkedIn is if you have a limited budget, LinkedIn is a tremendous place to spend those dollars because of the quality of the demographic.

It's a professional network without a lot of the noise and nonsense. And you can target the ads to people by what industry they're in, what seniority level they're in, what geography they're in. It's a very, very efficient and effective form of advertising. The types of companies that advertise on LinkedIn are Bank of America, Dell Computer, Hewlett-Packard, Radisson Inn, Southwest Airlines, Porsche, BMW, Nissan or Mazda, etc.

The second is online subscriptions. And that's where members are buying access to more of the site. It's a particularly important and valuable service right now, as we have so many job seekers trying to leverage their networks. And so online subscriptions is another meaningful and valuable business for us.

Then there are the job postings, where individuals can pull out a credit card or corporations can post jobs, and it's great because the job seeker can find a job and see how they know somebody who posted it, or they can reference-check the company or the poster to know if that's a place they really want to be.

And then the fourth one is corporate sales, where we sell seats of LinkedIn into corporations, and that's primarily used for recruiting. The corporation owns the seat. So it's not just a LinkedIn subscriber, where it's tied into an individual account. It's the corporation's account, and they can take notes on candidates and all the recruiters can coordinate so that they're not reaching out to the same individual for a position. It's a separate interface that sort of rides on top of LinkedIn.

And the fifth business line that we just announced is LinkedIn surveys. We can go put together a panel of thousands of people who will fill out a 20-minute survey. And that's an exciting business for us and very unique and scalable.

Q: Can you describe your typical user?

A: The typical user is difficult to define, but I will tell you the demographic. The average age is 41 years old. The average household income is $109,000; 76 percent of them have a college degree or a graduate degree. It's pretty evenly split between men and women, slightly more men. Forty-eight percent are outside the United States. We're the largest network in Western Europe, and we're very strong in all English-speaking countries, as well as countries that have lots of commerce with the English-speaking world. We just launched a Spanish version of our site as well.

We're growing really fast with young people right now who are seeing the importance of participating in this professional network and understanding how it's different from a social network.

We're seeing great growth from small-business owners because they're seeing how they can attract clients and reference-check vendors and candidates and things like that. And we're also seeing tremendous growth inside of corporations and certainly with executives. Education is a very fast-growing market for us right now.

Q: How do you vet how members are portraying themselves?

A: There are many governors built into LinkedIn to make sure that the quality stays high. Let me give you some examples. If a person sends you an invitation to connect, you can accept the invitation, you can press a button that says I don't know this person, or you can press a button that says "archive." The "I don't know" button means this person just sent me an invitation to connect and I don't know them, and if five people do it, then in their account they have to include an individual e-mail message to send an invitation to connect. So that stops people from spamming just to build connections.

Another example is if somebody puts up a photo that is inappropriate. LinkedIn doesn't have photo sharing, it has one professional photo. If somebody were to put up a swimsuit picture or something like that, there's a little button next to the photo that says "flag this photo." It goes to our customer service team and the photo comes down and then they review it and determine whether or not it should stay up.

Now, the other reality is when you get 30 million people interacting with one another, there are going to be people who are going to play games or use it in an inappropriate way. And so we have the ability to flag a profile and our customer service team just takes it down.

Q: I'd be interested to know who you believe your competitors are. There's a whole lot of social networking going on out there, and there's a call for consolidation. You can't be in 17 different networks.

A: I actually think that what we're trying to do is focus our competitive juices on enlightening people and helping people who are not participating in a professional network, to understand the importance. So if we maintain a maniacal focus on helping people understand what they can accomplish on the network, that is where we need to concentrate all of our energies.

We actually don't spend a lot of time talking and thinking about any of the companies that are trying to enter the professional networking arena.

Now, the second question about well, there are so many of these social networks, how is the world going to evolve, and how does LinkedIn fit into it?

My view is, the larger the network, the more valuable it is to be in it, and that it's really important to have differentiation in your network. If you look at LinkedIn, it is a very large network, and it is very different. It's all about professional productivity and effectiveness.

Q: What if Facebook were to take a strong move into that space?

A: The thing that's important to take into consideration is who exactly is on LinkedIn and who is on Facebook or MySpace or any of the other networks.

There already are 30 million-plus professionals who are using LinkedIn for professional purposes. Now, some of them are on Facebook, but when you look at what they're doing on Facebook, they're using it for photo sharing, video sharing, playing Texas Hold'em, playing Scrabulous, poking and the various things that happen there.

It has a place, it has a purpose and it's a lot of fun, but it's also pretty clear that people want to have a set of professional contacts and a professional persona and presentation of themselves.

Q: Can you briefly explain the various applications you rolled out recently?

A: We have approved 11 applications from eight vendors. Google Presentations is where you can create a presentation - a slide show - and have it on your professional profile. So, if you go and give a talk somewhere, put the talk on your LinkedIn profile so that people can see it.

Another great one is Amazon book reviews. You can share with your network what books you want to read, you recommend, or you just read and you can make comments about them; and then you can say, show me what books my network is reading and show me what books the people in my industry are reading.

The third is an application for file sharing. You can invite people to share files with you, and you can go put photos in the file, you could put documents in the file of any type, and people can edit them and collaborate with them and put them back in the file.

Another example is TripIt, which is if you're going on a trip, you share the trip details on TripIt and it will tell other people in your network who have TripIt that you're going to be in their area, or you can get alerts to know what other people are doing.

And then one of the really fun and exciting apps is one called Company Buzz. It takes your profile and it sees the company you work for and the previous companies you worked for, and where you went to school, and it goes out to Twitter and it says, this is the buzz that's happening about the things that you're interested in.

Q: What are you going to do with all that money you just raised?

A: Well, the idea was to have that in the bank for whatever the company needs, meaning if we're in an economic mess that's as bad as many predict, it'll be a darn good thing to have that for some insurance. But it's also to take advantage of the opportunities that we think will be available in this economic period.

If companies can't get funded, but they've got great technology or haven't built their revenue streams and they have great technology in great engineers and we think that it would deliver value to our members, were going to be interested, and were going to take action.

Q: What about being acquired?

A: Our plan is to build a strong independent company. We aren't cutting any corners in building this company.

We are investing in the technology infrastructure, we're investing in the corporate infrastructure, and we're investing in people. If you were trying to build for sale, you just wouldn't be investing at the level that we are.

Q: What about an IPO?

A: As a strong independent company that's venture backed, the path that we expect is that we will ultimately have an IPO.

Q: Got a time frame?

A: We don't have a specific time frame in mind.

Listen to the full interview at www.sfgate.com/ZFKW.

Participating in this interview were Business Editor Al Saracevic; Deputy Business Editor Suzanne Herel; SFGate Senior Business Producer Annika Toernqvist; and staff writers Deborah Gage, Andrew S. Ross and Benny Evangelista.

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Gang of 5

Depending on your source of information and definition, there are either dozens or hundreds of "Networking" groups in Northeast Indiana. One of the best is a B.N.I. group that I was a member of for a few years.

If you are looking a creating either a networking group, or a brain trust, look at these recommendations from OffCoarse.com:

Grass Roots takes hold in Gang Of 5

So Gang of 5 (GO5) which I have mentioned before is a grass roots movement to form a better startup community. I am here to propose more people start their own Gangs. I will help you set it up, and get it going. However we have found there needs to be one central person who gets it going and keeps it alive.

The best way to set one up is find 5 other entrepreneurs, give them the pitch and say “So how does that Sound?”. Now find a place to meet, every week, at the same time, and your in business. The first meeting will be like a first date, with everyone getting to know each other, and feeling each other out. Soon the weekly event will be looked forward to and a huge part of your success.

When choosing members, please try to be diverse. Don’t choose all developers, or all bis dev types. Mix it up for the betterment of the group.

You meet each week, give your elevator pitch, then move on to the next person. Once everyone is done, you go back and bring up problems, and find out how last weeks solutions worked out.
Here are the rules we have set up for our GO5.

1. 8 people max, 5 is a great number but once you add in who can and can not attend due to meetings we find 8 will still give you 5 people at every meeting.
2. Must be a closed group. Your gang is your gang, and spots in it are voted on by the gang. Topics stay at the table and are not discussed out side due to their sensitive nature. NO DROP INS unless invited.
3. You have to commit to the gang. You are the owner of your seat at the weekly GO5 meeting, if you can not attend for a time period, or can not attend regularly you should give up your spot. Reason being is that by not participating you are holding the group back, and depriving someone else of the experience.
4. Each meeting starts with everyone giving their elevator pitch, then flows into problems and solutions discussions. Basic premise is to hone your skills and solve your problems.

That is about all the rules we have. However we do vote on lots of things, such as new members to the Gang and other things which would require votes.

Please contact me if you have questions on anything related to getting your own GO5 started. Oh by the way, we plan on integrating a part of STARTAtlatna.org into helping connect people to form more GO5’s. So look forward to that as well.

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Job Opening

A local ad agency (Fort Wayne, Indiana) has an opening for an experienced Media Buyer.

Contact me by sending a resume to mediabuyer (at) ScLoHo (dot) net.

I'll pass along your info to the head honcho.

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Give a Speech and Get Business

On a regular basis I have given talks on marketing, advertising, and I look forward to doing more. Here are 6 tips to follow from http://damniwish.com

Most executives put a ton of work into making speeches... and get nothing out of it. Use these tactics to get new business every time you speak:

1> Have a handout
2> Ask for business cards
3> Never, ever, ever tell them what you do
4> Do something silly
5> Your slides do, in fact, suck
6> Give them a reason to go to your web site

1> Have a handout

Don't let anyone walk out of that room without something in their pocket. At the end of a conference they'll have heard 20+ speakers, and they'll never remember you. Don't pass out a brochure (blatant and boring) or printouts of your slides (just boring). Create a one-page or smaller tip sheet or summary. Make it something useful that they'll want to put in their pocket. Bookmarks work well, and they're cheap to print and easy to carry. Get to the room 15 minutes early so you can put one on everyone's chair.

2> Ask for business cards

Hoping that a few people come up to you after the session is a pretty chancy way to get good leads. At the start of your speech ask for everyone's business card and pass around an envelope. If you promise not to spam them, and promise something of value, almost everyone will do it. Offer to email your slides, send a sample in the mail, or share some new research.

3> Never, ever, ever tell them what you do

Admit it: You HATE it when a speaker puts up that salesy slide that talks about their company. They always make some awkward comment about it (and then do it anyway). And then... you do the same thing. After a single self-promotional slide, you've annoyed everyone, they've stopped listening, and you just told everyone that you're an amateur. Remember, they already know who you are or they wouldn't have come to the speech!

4> Do something silly

Even the best conference is deadly boring. Do something that gets people to remember you. Pass around a bag of candy, start with a cool song, or give everyone a fun sample. You can be professional and still memorable. You may feel uncomfortable, but the audience will be eager for some laughs and they will support you.

5> Your slides do, in fact, suck

Everyone's do. Especially executives’. Just because you're a great speaker or a wonderful business person, there is no reason to think you are a good presentation designer. Get someone from your design department to clean them up for you. Pay a freelancer $500 for a template you can use for all of your speeches. It's hard to deliver a professional message standing in front of a homemade slide show.

6> Give them a reason to go to your web site

Put something valuable your web site, such as a downloadable document, a useful spreadsheet, or follow-up material. If you get them to your site after the speech, your site will make the sale for you. The speech impresses them, the download brings them back, and the site closes them. Best of all is a weekly newsletter just like this one. You can turn a single speech into 52 weekly contacts each year.

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Ad Agency Employment

Through my work with our local Advertising Federation, (of which I am currently on the Board and serve as V.P. of Communications), along with my radio station employment and a few personal friendships I have cultivated over the years, I have had the opportunity to see some of the inner workings of the advertising agency world.

Times are changing as outlined in this from AdAge.com:

Ad Shops Shift Hiring Tactics

The Souring Economy Has Changed Many Aspects of Recruiting, Right Down to the Personalities Big Agencies Strive For

By Claire Atkinson

Published: September, 2008

As the economy further wilts and the demand for digital experience burgeons, Madison Avenue's talent scouts are shifting gears to fulfill agency demands. Sharon Spielman is managing director at recruitment firm Jerry Fields Associates, a division of the Howard Sloan Koller Group, and specializes in hiring senior-level account-management and account-planning executives. The souring economy has changed many aspects of the recruiting equation, right down to the very personality types that big agencies strive for, she says.

Suzanne Daley, recruiting manager at Mullen

"People are looking for mature, aggressive, in-command personalities," she said, whereas in brighter times agencies were content to hire those who simply had experience in a client's sector. "I think when the economy suffers, they're more concerned about stability and experienced management people who can command a presence automatically. It's their safety net."

And it's not just at the top where the most aggressive candidates are winning out. Even gaining an internship at a midsize agency requires, well, first having done an internship somewhere else. Suzanne Daley, recruiting manager at Wenham, Mass.-based Mullen, part of Interpublic Group, said 450 people applied for 18 internship slots last year. In past years, Mullen may have taken graduates from good schools who had no direct work experience. They also rarely looked further than New England for recruits. Now, entry-level candidates must have prior experience and are as likely to hail from California as Cape Cod.

"We are taking a hard look at the next generation and how to capture and involve them," Ms. Daley said. "We restructured the internship to get the best from across the country." Part of the initiative to recruit better-qualified candidates involves shifting the office to the center of Boston. The move will happen next year. The agency, which has just hired two of its interns, has become much more rigorous about evaluating open positions. "We really make sure it is needed, and the chief financial officer will take a look to see if the client work justifies it," Ms. Daley said.

Finding the right folks is an evolving process too. In prior years, agencies might have turned simply to university ad programs and ad schools or liberal arts colleges. Now they're employing the real-life social networks of their staff in the hunt for an edge. Lisa Donahue, CEO of MediaVest planning unit Truth and Design, said the media agency's searches involve a combination of efforts, from posting jobs to reaching out to prospective employees, to creating roles for individuals who happen to have compelling skill sets, a strategy the agency is employing more frequently. "If you meet someone and you are struck by a great perspective, start talking to them and see how we can create a role for them. ... Bring them on in," Ms. Donahue instructs her staff.

Non-traditional hires
A case in point is Whitney Fishman, the agency's consumer-insights connector. Brought in 18 months ago, this young entrepreneur has her own independent record label and is an ardent blogger on all manner of trend-setting topics. "If we broaden our horizons, there are a lot of good people out there. We don't put them in an old traditional role; we put them in roles that play to their strengths," Ms. Donahue said.

Another out-of-the box hire was Exec VP-Managing Director Greg Warren, who joined the media shop from Leo Burnett, where his experience was in creative and package design. While media pitches are generally all about numbers and charts, he helped the team think more visually about how to present the agency's product.

Digital experience is something many candidates are seeking out as a way to make themselves more alluring to prospective employees, but Ms. Spielman says creative shops have done a poor job of helping train their staff. "Agencies haven't gone far with training or moving people back and forth, so training has suffered, and when you come down to a poor economy, that's when it comes to the front."

At Taxi, New York, an office of the Toronto-headquartered agency, digital skills are in high demand. A spokeswoman said the agency is looking for people who can, for instance, design and build banner ads or microsites, but added, "It's not just about being able to execute. It's about being able to envision how the digital element of a campaign interacts with creative in all other mediums," and it's much harder to find those people. "Ideally everyone is media-agnostic," said Mullen's Ms. Daley. "We like to find folks who can execute brilliantly in any medium."

Lisa Donahue, CEO of MediaVest's Truth and Design unit

While all these trends point to a still-healthy recruitment market -- pay, for instance, isn't yet under pressure at management levels -- and executives appear upbeat about the level of talent on the market, there is another major shift going on that may not benefit the major metropolitan agencies.

Beyond the metropolis
The most significant change Ms. Spielman has seen in the past six months is the willingness of talent to forgo the major cities and relocate to second-tier markets, a consequence of the credit crunch and the poor housing market. Ad executives are forgoing the New York-Chicago axis, she said, and turning instead to Austin, Atlanta and Boston. "People don't feel like they have to live between the city limits."

The poor economy may be creating turbulence for some, but at still-red-hot agency Crispin Porter & Bogusky, the biggest problem is keeping up with the growth, said Marlene Root, VP-director, Quality of Life, the human-resources division at the agency.

She said the company is more amenable than ever to international recruiting and is creating nontraditional positions that might involve partnership building with, say, production companies or video-game designers.

With offices in Miami and Boulder, Colo., the agency has just under 900 employees and counts Microsoft as one of its clients. "The biggest challenge is just our growth, frankly," Ms. Root said. "There's only so much volume you can fit through the door at a given time. It's a good situation to be in -- our growth just creates more opportunities for the agency -- but we're working against that, having to find equally talented folks," she said.

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