Flint Interactive’s Nicole Sandman and I sit down to discuss digital marketing, social media, and the lessons she learned from growing up on a pig farm. She also fills us in on the history of Flint Interactive, how her work has changed in the last seven years, and balancing her career and time at home with her husband and two lovely daughters.
Brands Re-Imaging to Test Consumer Appetites
Starbuck’s, Target, Wal-Mart and Bloomingdale’s are just a few of the major brands that have been engaged in brand tweaks, tests and teasers in-store, down the street and around the corner in several markets.
In the case of Starbuck’s, three “stealth” stores opened as a test in the Seattle area as reported in Entrepreneur magazine. The strategy was to introduce a new store concept that was “inspired by Starbuck’s,” and as a possible strategy to a larger rollout of “unbranded” cafes.
Bloomingdale’s created a “pop-up” Nespresso coffee bar brand in the center of its recently renovated cosmetics department in New York’s 59th Street location. Bloomingdale’s officials described the strategy; “cosmetics sharing space with a coffee company is a little out of the box,” an unexpected discovery that Bloomingdale’s holds core as an approach to keeping loyal customers – well, loyal. The boutique functions as a location to make a few gift purchases and enjoy a free specialty caffeine drink and learning a bit more about the specialty coffees.
Target Corporation introduced four temporary “bodegas” in Manhattan in the fall of 2008. The high-profile spaces called attention to a collection of design-inspired products. None of the products were scheduled to appear in the traditional Target stores until much later.
Even Wal-Mart has been tinkering with the notion of reaching out through a Latino-themed warehouse, based on its more traditional format. The Mas Club opened in August 2009, as part of an attempt to lure recent immigrants, hungry for familiar foods from home, to buy products in bulk-sizes, ala Wal-Mart style.
While it’s important to note that brands must evolve to remain relevant and continue to engage consumers, the articles referenced for this post suggest that either leaders of the brands are trying much harder to keep their image fresh, or they are becoming more active in the search for new consumer markets.
From a research perspective, imagine being able to drop your brand into a new location, observe consumer interactions within the environment, study the results and rollout a bevy of new “tested” products to your target audience. It must be working, otherwise these brand leaders wouldn’t be going through such efforts.
Marketing 2.0 – The Extreme Makeover Edition
One of my favorite SNL characters is Stuart Smalley, portrayed by Senator Al Franken. He used to look in the mirror and say, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!” A humorous yet inspirational daily affirmation that reminds us that we are good just the way we are. In the same manner, I confess that I thought marketing was, indeed, beautiful just the way it was—despite its disparate processes and imperfections.
photo by tanakawho on Flickr
But the world went and changed. Communication technologies evolved and altered how we consume media. The next thing I knew, the marketing practices I fell in love with back in college had grown unsightly and questionably obsolete. But have no fear, marketers! Our old friend just needs a little nip-tuck, and she’ll be generating leads and building your brand just like the good ol’ days.
Here are five makeover trends meant to upgrade your marketing strategy.
1. Interruption to Engagement
“Psst. Hey you! Stop what you are doing. Look over here, and listen to what we have to say!” If our marketing efforts could talk, this is what they would be saying.
Our tactics and messages are typically about interrupting our audience in hope of gaining mind share. However, technology allows us to imbed our messages into our consumers’ lives without nearly as much disruption: emails read on smart phones, online pre-roll advertisements before watching your favorite sitcom on Hulu, and rich media banner ads that practically bring your website to your consumer without yanking them away from their current web page. Be where your target audience consumes media. Make it seamless and easy for them to participate with your brand.
2. Awareness to Participation
Did someone say participate? Previous marketing intellect prescribed a healthy dose of “attention grabbing,” taken with a full glass of “awareness building.” While both are still imperative, the latest studies show we need to take our marketing beyond simple awareness. Consumers don’t want to be talked to; they want to engage in a conversation.
Social media is about having a personal voice and sharing it with the world (or connections, friends and followers, depending on the social tool of choice). Successful companies have found ways to transform customers into vocal consumer advocates via Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, YouTube and community blogs. Craft your message, provide a platform for discussion, and engage in a dialogue with your audience—they are dying to be heard.
3. Marketer-Centric to Customer-Centric
Bad news. We’re marketers and we have two things going against us: time and subjectivity. First, most of us are strapped and burning the candle at both ends—so we send communications out to consumers when we find the time, or when it’s scheduled on the promotion calendar.
Secondly, we forget to be objective. We force-feed our customers the value prop we’ve defined for our product or service. The reality is, customers don’t care about how smothered your inbox is, and they don’t care about your functionality spec sheet. Customers are looking for relevant information when it’s convenient for them, not you.
Marketing automation technology allows for triggered direct mail, email, and mobile responses which deliver that instant gratification your customers demand. Optimization features in these tools will soon allow us to automatically test and improve results of marketing campaigns for each individual—including collection of time and behavior-based data that will forecast when your customers are most likely to view your marketing communications.
4. Segments to Individuals
Did someone say individual? (I’m getting good at this transition thing). A number of years back, we thought we got smart. We started communicating to our consumer base differently by segmenting them into groups using demographics, firmographics, and purchase history.
We just can’t seem to catch a break. Today, by tracking web-based behavior (website activity, email click-throughs, web form submissions, and social media interaction), we harness the power to completely customize creative and copy for each communication, ensuring the right message is used to resonate with your customer.
Personalized direct mail, email, banner ads, mobile messages are all feasible or on the horizon. It’s not just cool (and a little freaky I’ll admit), it will soon be an imperative in order to break through the “one size fits all” clutter.
5. Business Gets Personal
Business used to be personal. I’m talking small-town bakery personal. Then, mass communication exploded. Service had to scale, and the goal was to reach as many people as possible with a single message.
However, marketing is in a throwback trend. Corporation executives are having interpersonal two-way conversations with their consumers while the world observes. Studies show people trust other people more than any other marketing medium.
Subsequently, organizations are starting to share stories of people impacted by their brand. People listen, people respond with their own story, more people listen and respond. Soon everything becomes marketing. Organic, consumer-driven discussion trumps the carefully crafted corporate message.
Coming SOON – Joel Kotkin’s book THE NEXT HUNDRED MILLION: America in 2050
THE NEXT HUNDRED MILLION: America in 2050
By Joel Kotkin
Release date: February 4, 2010. Published by The Penguin Press
Read more about The Next Hundred Million
In stark contrast to the rest of the world’s advanced nations, the United States is growing at a record rate and, according to census projections, will be home to four hundred million Americans by 2050. This projected rise in population is the strongest indicator of our long-term economic strength, Joel Kotkin believes, and will make us more diverse and more competitive than any nation on earth.
Drawing on prodigious research, firsthand reportage, and historical analysis, The Next Hundred Million reveals how this unprecedented growth will take physical shape and change the face of America. The majority of additional hundred million Americans will find their homes in suburbia, though the suburbs of tomorrow will not resemble the Levittowns of the 1950s or the sprawling exurbs of the late twentieth century. The suburbs of the twenty-first century will be less reliant on major cities for jobs and other amenities and, as a result, more energy efficient. Suburbs will also be the melting pots of the future as more and more immigrants opt for dispersed living over crowded inner cities and the majority in the United States becomes nonwhite by 2050.
The Next Hundred Million provides a vivid snapshot of America in 2050 by focusing not on power brokers, policy disputes, or abstract trends, but rather on the evolution of the more intimate units of American society—families, towns, neighborhoods, industries. It is upon the success or failure of these communities, Kotkin argues, that the American future rests.
Visit Amazon…
Visit Barnes & Noble.com…
Joel Kotkin is executive editor of NewGeography.com and is a presidential fellow in urban futures at Chapman University. He is author of The City: A Global History and is finishing a book on the American future.
Joel serves as a Senior Consultant with Praxis Strategy Group a partner with the Flint Group
Departmental Convergence – How Digital is Changing Your Business
Traditional evolution of business has lead to segmentation by department for many companies. Marketing, sales, customer service, human resources, finance and fulfillment are some of the most common. But digital communications is creating a virtualization and convergence that is dramatically changing the way businesses operate.
How customers engage with companies has changed with the explosion of digital and social networking tools. Customers have wrested power to engage with companies on their own terms and in a fully visible environment. One-to-one conversations have now become open forum, placing greater pressure on companies to be well organized and prompt in response.
Customers can choose to engage on your company website using Google Sidewiki or your own message boards. They can also engage via social media outposts should you have a presence there. And if you don’t have social media outposts, they can still engage your brand in discussion whether you are present or not!
A service question, warranty question, sales question, human resources question, finance question or shipping question or concern can all be directed to the same place in the digital environment. Customers look at your company as one entity, not as a network of departments, and they expect your company to respond as one entity. The lines blur, the departments converge and at the end of the cycle only one thing matters – have you answered the customer’s question?
Your company’s success is based on the brand promise that you communicate to your customers. How well you manage customer expectations through their engagement with your brand, your company, ultimately determines your long-term viability and growth.
Step back and have a look at your organizational structure. Now look at all your customer touch points. Are you prepared to respond to your customers in an efficient, timely manner regardless of question? Do you have a strategy for managing customer interaction in a digital open-forum environment? Are your departments prepared and trained to work cross-functionally?
If not, it is time for digital strategy and social media strategy to integrate with your company’s management and planning process. Your customers are already converging. Are you prepared?
Colin is a senior strategist for AadlandFlint and the Flint Group. Follow him on Twitter at @colinnclarke.
Image courtesy CubeFigures.com
5 Question Friday with John Hyduke
After the holiday hiatus, we are back with another “5 Question Friday”. John Hyduke, President of WestmorelandFlint and Business Development Director for the Flint Group, sits down to discuss what goes into opening up a new location and the growth of Flint Direct. We also manage to sneak in a conversation about hockey and his four lovely daughters.
Link Building for Increased SEO
A common misconception
is that search engine optimization (SEO) techniques within the pages of your website will solve all problems related to poor or less than desirable search engine performance. While accurate page titles and keyword-rich copy are important, there are several off-page SEO techniques that often have a faster and more significant impact on your website rankings.
Off-page SEO refers to the strategies you execute outside the pages of your website—all of which are aimed towards link building and increasing site traffic. Here are a few contextual opportunities to generate inbound links for your website:
Article Marketing
Writing and submitting articles is one way to get your site indexed. Submit one-page articles that discuss an area of expertise. Look for submission sites that specialize in the article topic and get your article posted on their website. Make sure to use anchor text in your article that directs readers to relevant content on your website. A few well-known submission sites include: Ezine Articles and Go Articles.
Blogging
Search engines love text that changes regularly; thus, making a blog a great solution for improving your ranking. A blog is the most effective, honest and fastest way to receive inbound links. However, keep in mind that blogs need to be updated regularly to keep the content fresh and exciting. A neglected blog is a bad sign for both search engines and users. Make sure you have the staff and resources in place to maintain an effective blog.
Social Media
Social media is another fast way to generate inbound links to your website. Social media also implies interactivity, which is a positive sign to both users and search engine crawlers. Look at different social media options, such as Twitter, Digg and YouTube to provide users with timely content and to help generate buzz about your website. Along with social media, however, comes reputation management—whether or not you are out actively participating in social media, your customers are out there talking about you. Keep a close watch over social media sites to make sure that the buzz being generated portrays your company in a positive light.
Quality trumps quantity when it comes to link building. Select only reputable online environments that are relevant to the content on your website. This is the ethical way to garner inbound links, and it will help you reach a targeted audience that is genuinely interested in what you have to offer.
Building Strong Brands
What are the 2009 top brands? A quick search on the web will give you numerous lists to choose from as defined by various criteria. All of us know that strong brands directly result in business value. But what do we mean when someone says a company has a “strong brand”?
It’s easiest to start with what a brand is not. It is not a logo. It is not a company name. It is not a product. A brand is the sum total of all the interactions, good and bad, an audience has with a company or product. It is the gut feeling a person has about the company or product; the place the company or product holds in the person’s mind and heart.
Your brand is not what you say it is, but rather what your audiences say it is.
So, if the brand is not what you say it is, how do you build a strong brand? Branding is creating an emotional bond with your target audiences. To do this, you need to know your unique distinctions and how you bridge the gap of what your target audiences need or want and what you uniquely offer. Once you develop a solid, relevant brand promise, you then need to deliver it consistently. One of the core building blocks of brand delivery is your employees.
Your employees are your brand’s biggest ambassadors and are an extremely important internal audience in brand building. Branding is experiential and is everyone in the organization’s responsibility. Branding starts from within and begins with commitment. In the brand development process, it is vital for communications to work with human resources to develop strategies, processes and tactics that engage employees and create a shared understanding of the brand. This activity should identify brand behavior for employees and show them how to “live the brand”.
So, how do you live your brand promise?
Transparency. Word of the year.
photo by AMagill on Flickr
Oxford University Press recently named Facebook’s “unfriend” as word of the year. Time named “sexting” number one in its top 10 buzzwords for 2009. I keep my own list of corporate communication words – many that are buzzwords or related to trends. Topping my list for the second year in a row is transparency.
Organizations and businesses of all kinds keep talking about the need to be transparent and achieve open, honest communication. Google the phrase “transparency in healthcare,” and you’ll get deeply entangled in both sides of the year-long health care reform debate.
But true transparency is a hard concept for some organizations. It’s even harder for some management teams to embrace. True transparency goes beyond what the public relations team prepares, or how a spokesperson responds.
Social media has taken corporate (and personal) transparency to a heightened level. No longer is the “authorized spokesperson” representing a company, a product or an issue. Customers and employees are weighing in, telling us all what it’s really like to own a product, experience good or bad service, or work for an organization.
With all of this, the role of the communications professional has widened. Listening – always a critical part of communications – is now the first step. Developing guidelines for social media usage is one way a company can adapt to the issues that come with being a transparent organization.
I predict transparency will still be at the top of my list next year. Are you ready for the opportunities that transparency will deliver? How are you adapting to the challenges?
How to Get the Most Out of Your Agency Partnership
Prior to WestmorelandFlint, I worked for fifteen years on the client side in marketing and public relations positions, utilizing several agencies and freelancers. One of the first things I did when joining WestmorelandFlint was to make a top 10 list of things I hated about agencies so I could keep the perspective of a client. After seven years here, and almost fifteen years on the client side, here is my advice on getting the most out of your agency partnership.
Describe Your Business Problem
Many times clients start with the end in mind, i.e. “I need a brochure.” While that sometimes may be the best option, it’s most helpful for you to describe the problem in measurable terms, such as “We would like to increase our share of architects who need our service by 5%.” With the goal in mind, your agency can help you think of other solutions to bring the desired result.
Share mandatory elements including your logo or tagline, brand colors (if your agency hasn’t created the brand), and parameters for any project. Communicate what’s on your mind, but give them the freedom to explore and provide insight into your customers.
Don’t Be Afraid to Over Communicate
Reveal as much as you can about your company, product or service. Take your agency on a tour of your operations, provide monthly sales projections and results, past research, and let them talk to your customers and front line workers. They need to be as informed as they can be to ensure that the strategy and creative executions are on target. Also, know that anything you share with your agency should remain in strictest confidence.
Discuss the Budget in Advance
Often clients have a budget in mind but are hesitant to share it in advance, preferring to see what the agency will come back with. While this approach may work well for a quote on a particular project, it can lead to a lot of wasted time developing multiple plans to get to the budgeted amount you had in mind. Also, an agency can help prioritize your marketing initiatives if you have a ballpark budget in mind. Once a budget and plan are developed, make sure to review it closely so that you understand the proposal, especially what happens if the scope changes.
Reviewing Creative
Agencies put a lot of time and thought into creative concepts. When they share a concept, don’t be afraid to give your feedback – positive or negative. Agencies rely on your understanding of your business and market, but know that they bring outside expertise and perspective and a deep understanding of strategies and tools needed to reach your target audience and bring desired results.
If you love the concept, share what you love so your agency can learn and continue to hit the mark.
If you don’t like the concept, share what you like and don’t like. To simply say, “I hate it” doesn’t help your agency produce the best results and makes it difficult for them to know where to go next. You don’t have to fix the problem, that’s what you pay an agency to do. Simply state what aspect you see as the problem and then ask them for feedback or to tweak it.
If you think the concept totally missed the mark, explain why. Otherwise, your agency may spend a lot of time trying to fix something that can’t be fixed. Revisit the goal and the end result so there can be agreement on the problem that needs to be solved.
Recognize That Everyone is a Marketer
Everyone has an opinion of how you should market your product or service – your board, staff, CEO – but it really shouldn’t be about what appeals to them; it’s all about the customer. Keep that in mind as your make your marketing decisions. Work with your agency to arm yourself with rationale for chosen strategies and tactics.
Share the Results
Your agency should be passionate about their work and want to know the results of a campaign or initiative. Share successes as well as learning opportunities; it only makes your agency stronger on your behalf.
Do you have anything to add to this list? What helps you get the most out of your agency partnership?
Photo by Andy Rob
