December’s most popular articles

Happy New Year everybody.  I’m posting our most popular posts from December for those of you who missed them (yeah, so I ended the survey a little early, it’s the Holidays bud). 

Fresh material for January debuts on January 2nd.

Enjoy.

Why don’t advertisers “get” multicultural marketing?

You have to give the Association of National Advertisers credit, it’s not like they’re not trying.

But no matter what they seem to say or do, American advertisers don’t seem to understand the importance of minority markets to their brands’ success or profitability. There seems to be only one answer to sum up the majority of the obstacles cited by ANA members in a recent survey which attempted to divine the rationale for the dearth of marketing initiatives aimed at including minorities.

Ignorance.

Presidential cheese

Oh well, from a rant on the need for multicultural to this little gem exploiting the US’s first African-American President a full sixty days before he’s even sworn into office.  We all know a person’s right to privacy flies out the window when he’s voted to be the next “most powerful dude on the planet” – but seriously, shouldn’t there be a law about this kind of hucksterism?

Well, at least it’s not real money.  I guess it could have been worse.  In Bermuda, monetary officials are having to explain why they allowed their engraver to change the bill of the White-tailed Tropicbird to more closely resemble that of a Red-billed Tropicbird instead.  Huh?

So they now have a “mashup” of two birds to create some kind of hybrid, megabird for their $50 bill. Next thing you know, they’ll put a Pushmi-pullyu on the $100.  Hugh Lofting would be proud.

(Bet you never thought you’d get a D.D. allusion in a marketing blog, did you?)

Hat tip to the “Make the Logo Bigger” blog for the tv spot.

Top trends of 2009 spotted by Iconoculture

Iconoculture, the leading cultural trend research company, today unveiled the top six trends that will drive consumer behavior in 2009. In a marketplace defined by economic uncertainties, shifting social mores, and an increasingly global and multicultural landscape, the values and trends identified by Iconoculture explain how consumers are likely to respond in 2009.

Subscribe to Iconoculture’s weekly newsletter by clicking here.

Iconoculture provides companies a window into consumer culture with perspectives on why consumers behave the way they do and what impact those behaviors will have on businesses.

Marketing in a recession – 10 things to remember

Think there’s confusion in the world’s financial markets?  That’s nothing compared to the world of marketing – where uncertainty, confusion and out-right panic are not out of the question.

Economic recessions are tough to understand.  For many small and mid-sized businesses, the national recession indicators manifest themselves in ways that often go unreported by the mass media.  Add to that the general sense of desperation felt by consumers and business owners and managers are often left wondering what they could have done to avoid their difficulties and at a complete loss about what to do going forward.

So, let’s try to take a step back and understand the nature of this particular recession and what options lay ahead for the small and mid-sized business when it comes to evaluating and re-loading their marketing plans for the rest of 2008 and all of 2009.  (Yeah, you heard that right – you better be thinking about a total re-boot of your marketing program starting tomorrow because the only thing you can count on in this recession is that your plans made six to ten months ago are out-of-touch with today’s economic reality.)

Friday’s motivational poster #3

Another in our series of Friday motivational posters …

 

 

If you think you can do better, go here or here and make one for yourself.  Then send it to us and if we post it, I’ll send you a Brand Central Station t-shirt.

Can a seasonal card be your secret new business tool?

If you’re like me, nearly every e-card you receive this year will either end up in your Spam folder or all of the images will be blocked by your email client (I use Outlook).  Instead of downloading images and dealing with the various “cyber-security” issues associated with these emails, I usually just note who sent the mail and then send it to the trash.

I have no idea how many clever Photoshop examples, flash games or silly photographs I’ve missed over the years.  But what’s more interesting is to think how many of these senders think they’ve made a positive impression on me when, in fact, they’ve made no impression at all.

This may be one of those times when going “old school” is the best rule. 

Alan Underkofler writes a blog dedicated to “following up” with customers, prospects and the other people who are important in your business life.  Throughout the month of December, he’s been trying to reinforce the importance of sending Holiday Cards to your contact base.  In fact, last week, Alan reminded us that it’s still not too late!

If you happen to be one of those thinking “it’s too late to send holiday cards at this point” or “does sending holiday cards really make a difference in my business?”, I would encourage you to consider recent research by Hallmark:  Hallmark found that businesses say they use greeting cards as a “kind of investment in their business…  They’re investing in customer relationship with the hopes that it will pay back”.  The company has conducted research that found at least half of customers who received holiday cards from businesses say they are more likely to continue doing business with that company versus another one. 

Alan recommends using an online service called SendOutCards which allows you to upload a contact list, select a card, type in a personal message and then have your cards in the mail the next day.

Managing communications during a layoff – whether you’re letting someone go or not.

Times are tough.  We all know that.  And the employment news lately has been bad.  Nearly 600,000 people lost their jobs in November.  And unlike past job losses and economic downturns, the news is reported in real time by those employees directly impacted by the cuts.

Thanks to blogs, IM’s, discussion boards, social networking sites and micro-blogging tools like Twitter, employees are writing about their personal experiences – and the effect is rippling through organizations that have nothing to do with the layoffs.  Kami Huyse, writing in her Communications Overtones blog, provides seven suggestions to HR directors on how to approach announcing layoffs and handling the resulting need for discussion and empathy inside the organization:

The layoff (especially mass layoffs) will most likely be blogged, Twittered or otherwise related in a public forum

The company should consider putting out an official story about the layoffs and voicing genuine concern

The company will always be the bad guy, but this can be mitigated by doing the right thing

A personal touch is needed for these situations, forget mail, e-mail or SMS messages

Minimize faceless and policy-driven thinking

Remember that investors, future employees and your mother is watching how this is handled

Remaining employees will be demoralized by a brutal layoff – they could be next after all, plus they will have survivors guilt

HR staff and corporate managers shouldn’t fall into a trap of thinking they only have to worry about employees’ feelings when layoffs hit their operation.  The social aspect of online media today means that the losses and trauma experienced by employees at one company are now shared through their informal networks – networks that extend beyond the walls of the enterprise and can include friends, family members and colleagues at other businesses all over the world.

Job loss creates very real grief in both the person losing the job and that person’s friends and family.  According to this piece on job loss grief, written by Carolyn Wilkin at the University of Florida, there are steps to the process of dealing with job loss grief – and there are things people can do to help their friends through those steps.

Corporate owners and managers should be proactive though, recognizing the potential for lost productivity if they fail to recognize and deal with the side effects of the broader economic stresses on the economy.

More confusion over what branding is …

Not all brands are created equal.

… and what it’s not.

The Media Orchard blog has an interesting post about brandsand branding.  They take on Jeff Bezo’s comment that “a brand for a company is like a reputation for a person.”  And rightly so.  As the Baradel’s team at the Orchard point out, branding is a little more complex than that.

Instead, they say, branding is much more:

Branding is all about personification — giving human traits to things that aren’t human … Branding communicates the continuity of a company’s business model — to shareholders, to customers, to employees. It says, “This is the kind of person we are — if we were actually a person.” 

But here’s the hard truth to the matter:

Corporations are not human. And that’s a good thing, because if they were human, they would be sociopaths. This isn’t a cheap shot. A sociopath is a person who is interested only in their personal needs and desires. By definition, corporations are designed expressly to serve the interests of their shareholders — and only those interests.

Now, these are important facts to bring up when discussing brands and branding, but they only tell part of the story.

Help yourself by helping a reporter out.

Peter Shankman (in one of his more vulnerable moments ... and there aren't that many!)

HARO (Help A Reporter Out) is a relatively new editorial inquiry service developed and managed by the ever-ingenious Peter Shankman.  Peter (who started The Geek Factory and travel companion site Airtroductions – now TripLife.com) is a brilliant PR flack, social networker and modern-day, bon vivant of technology.

So, what’s the big deal about HARO?

There are a few services that help put journalists in need of knowledgable sources and information in touch with the experts and PR flacks who represent them.  Most of them come with some kinds of strings attached (usually in the form of subscription fees).  But HARO is different because it is free.  Shankman’s revenue comes from the ad sold at the head of each bulletin (issued three times a day).

The model seems to be working.  HARO now boasts a circulation of over 36,000.  Multiply that number by Peter’s stated ad rates (as per this article in AdWeek) and we’re talking a tidy sum … all of it earned. 

HARO’s system of circulating reporter inquiries to sources is quick and efficient and works because of a level of integrity enforced by Peter, himself.  When you receive HARO e-mails, you get the distinct impression that Peter’s watching what’s going on and who’s responding.  It’s an impression he reinforces with his own sense of urgency and candid honesty:

These requests only come from reporters directly to me. I never take queries from that other service, I never SPAM, and I’m not going to do anything with your email other than send you these reporter requests when they arrive in my in-box.

This is really the only thing I ask: By joining this list, just promise me and yourself that you’ll ask yourself before you send a response: Is this response really on target? Is this response really going to help the journalist, or is this just a BS way for me to get my client in front of the reporter? If you have to think for more than three seconds, chances are, you shouldn’t send the response.

In the end, we could probably all stand to do this a bit more, huh?

As a friend of Peter’s for some time, I can tell you this IS quintessential Peter Shankman.  And because he is who he is – generous nearly to a fault and ingenious to the point of near exasperation, you don’t dare let him down by breaking the rules.

HARO is a must for publicists and marketing pros.  Check it out and sign up today!

Creative crowdsourcing at work

Yesterday, I had an opportunity to interview with Matt Mickiewizc, the US representative for 99designs.  The site, a spinoff from Sitepoint, puts clients in direct contact with graphic designers from around the world.

Over 22,000 graphic designers from over 100 countries.

And the results can be pretty amazing.  So far, 99designs has helped broker over 14,000 projects, soliciting creative ideas from places like Africa, South America, Asia and all over Europe and North America.  Each project is presented as a “contest,” complete with prize money and a creative brief to provide direction. Each entry submitted by a designer is posted for public display (check out examples of contests here, here and here).

Interested in a free e-newsletter to promote your business?

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