How to Be a Brand Butler

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Connie Reece

Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs and co-author with C.C. Chapman of the upcoming Content Rules (Wiley, 2010), believes that serving is the new selling.

“What does that mean for businesses like yours?” she writes in an article for the American Express OPEN Forum. “It means that you need to demonstrate a certain empathy toward customers: understanding what they want, need, and how your product helps them accomplish their goals–how it fits into their lives.”

Click the link below to read Ann’s thoughtful article.

If everyone with a website is a publisher, and everyone is the media, brands increasingly need to position themselves as reliable and valuable sources of information. You need to create value for your customers by sharing a resource, improving their lives, or making them smarter, wittier, better-looking, taller, better-networked, cooler, more enlightened, and with better backhands and cuter kids. In other words: Your brand must increasingly share or solve, not shill

via Serving Is the New Selling: How to be a ‘Brand Butler’ : Marketing :: American Express OPEN Forum.

Social Media versus Social Media Marketing

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Connie Reece

We talk a lot at on the Changing Behavior blog about the necessity for credibility in branding. Does a company’s “walk” match their “talk”? Or in other words, is the brand’s messaging supported by a customer’s experience at every touchpoint with the company?

For example, Fred’s recent post, Credibility Gap on the Diaper Aisle, pointed out the disconnect between P&G targeting dads with special Pampers promotions while still talking to moms.

In a well-written post, Forrester analyst Augie Ray writes about a recent retail experience and asks brands: Do You Want to Succeed at Social Media or Social Media Marketing? The distinction is important. Do you want people to talk about your marketing, or about your product or service?

Here’s a short excerpt, but do take time to read the whole post.

Do you want people buzzing about your marketing or about your product or service? The difference is not found on Facebook or Twitter but in the ways companies are led. Marketing leaders who only focus on messages in social channels but fail to attend to how the brand is realized in actual product and service experiences may succeed with social media marketing but fail miserably with social media.

via Do You Want To Succeed At Social Media Or Social Media Marketing? | Forrester Blogs.

Credibility Gap on the Diaper Aisle

Posted on August 24, 2010 by admin

While catching up on some New York Times articles recently, I came across a write-up in the Media and Advertising section. Getting Dad to Do Diaper (Buying) Duty started off typically enough: P&G has a new “strategic” push aimed at men for their leading diaper line.

With one eye on the TV baseball game, I read with divided attention, thinking, “Here we go again. A rehashed press release from the behemoth ad king. P&G wants to get out one more legendary story of how they sprinkle marketing magic dust on another classic American brand.”

Quite frankly, I wasn’t buying it.

Then, all of sudden, I realized the writer, Andrew Adam Newman, wasn’t buying it either. He was questioning just how serious they were about targeting dads when most of their marketing materials still focused solely on moms. Continue reading →

Social-Media Buzz: How Ad Age Tracks Major Brands

Posted on August 20, 2010 by Connie Reece

Want to know how major brands are faring across the top social media channels? Check out this new weekly feature from Advertising Age:

In this new weekly chart — a collaboration between Advertising Age and real-time buzz tracker OneRiot — we monitor discussions on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and Digg, and present the good news and the bad news for big brands with current social-media buzz.

Social-Media Buzz: GM, American Apparel, Hulu – Advertising Age

This week GM, Hulu, Facebook and Sony get “smiles, ” while American Apparel, Apple and Google get “frowns” — the “spin” Ad Age assigns to each story based on the sentiment of the prevailing coverage. The chart also includes links to the most popular stories being shared on the social web.

This type of analysis can be used as a tool to assess a brand’s credibility. Are they living up to customer expectations, or is there a disconnect between their marketing message and public perception?

Gulf Coast: To Eat or Not to Eat

Posted on August 17, 2010 by admin

I recently returned from my annual family vacation on the Gulf Coast. I grew up in the Gulf Coast region, and my heart has gone out to the people whose lives have been virtually destroyed not once, but twice in the past 5 years.

Even so, when it came time to plan our beach trip this year, my brother and I struggled with the decision of where to go, and especially whom to believe. Was there really oil in the water and on the beaches, or were the beaches as beautiful as ever? When we watched the evening news (which I still do most every night) there was oil everywhere. But when we went to the websites of the beach towns, everything was glorious.

In the end, I did what most of us do. I asked the people I knew who were still in the area. Had they been to the beach? What was happening?

It’s what most of us do when we really need to know something–we ask our friends and neighbors because who else can we really trust? I’m thrilled to be able to say that the beaches in the Pensacola area were as beautiful as ever, maybe better than ever since volunteers were out sifting the sand for oil every night.

So now, the beaches are back and the tourism industry can begin to breathe again.

Next comes the seafood industry. The ban on shrimping is lifted and commercial shrimpers will be back on the waters. But, who is going to eat food they are afraid will be harmful to themselves and their families?

According to CBS News, laboratory tests on seafood from the Gulf have shown little hazard from oil, and a test is being developed for the chemicals used to disperse the crude, though there is no evidence they build up in seafood. Still, shrimpers are worried the public won’t want what they catch.

This is one of those times marketers dream of, when we can use our skills to help people who really need us. When we can bring the answers they need to solve their problem. But everyone knows there will be a big ad campaign. Aren’t we too cynical for that? Aren’t we going to ask our friends and neighbors what we should do? Are they going to have the answers this time?

As marketers, what is the answer? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Update: We found that the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board has a great website with up-to-the minute information on the oil spill and the quality of Gulf Coast seafood.

The Price of Engagement

Posted on August 6, 2010 by Kelly Slothower

There is a homeless lady in my neighborhood who will show you her hand-drawn pictures for $2. This strategy fascinates me. I mean, I appreciate her creativity in trying to entice me, but so far she hasn’t made the sale.

Perhaps I’m afraid of what she might have drawn – do I really want to see it? I mean, I’m curious by nature, but most days I wonder if I really want to engage with her about this. I’m sure she will want to talk with me and share the special story of each one. How long will that take? How many do I get to see for $2? Would I be able to walk away? Should I just give her the $2 and walk away without looking or interacting with her? It seems like a serious commitment.

After successfully avoiding several requests to “show you my pictures for $2,” I realize how similar this is to the way marketers treat their customers today. We assume that people are interested in what we have and they care enough to commit their time to engage with us.

But maybe people just want to see what we’ve got and move on without having to commit.

Is engagement more important than sales these days? Does engagement drive sales? According to a recent article in Women Entrepreneur, that relationship is questionable. “40 percent of companies are using social media to market their products, but half of those can’t show the impact of these efforts on their business.” Perhaps that is why there is a lot of talk about social media/engagement but very little action.

So for now, I’ll save my $2 for cheap seats at The Byrd, where the pictures are pre-screened.

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Monthly Archives: August 2010