TIP TOP PR

The Art of Retracting a Press Release

2012-02-11T17:47:00.003Z

Suppose you provide communications support to a global, non-profit entity, such as the global milk sharing network (Human Milk for Human Babies).

During your PR activities, you come across a woman who is asking for milk for NY friend currently living in Paris. The friend has a hard time finding enough milk for her baby, and turned to the hm4hb website for assistance.

As a PR professional, you see a golden opportunity to get the purpose of the non-profit across. Since the French webpage of the non-profit is not very active, you boost it with a press release, promoting that webpage. You then send the release to about two dozen French media outlets, including Le Monde that picks up the story. Le Monde also talks with the director of the milk bank in Paris who claims that milk sharing is governed by French law. It is therefore illegal to share milk via a website A TV5 reporter states the same.

The non-profit, fearful of French police showing up at its French offices, wants to retract the press release. Just pulling the French and English version down from the website will not do the trick.

So what are the options?

Amending the press release and resending it to all media and journalists, including Le Monde and TV5.
Lesson to be learned: obvious mistakes are best handled this way, especially for listed companies.
Reposting the press release on the website.
Lesson to be learned: leverage the power of your website (and social media) to do damage control.
Replacing the press release with a letter explaining the intentions of the non-profit.
Lesson to be learned: asking forgiveness always put a company in a positive light.
Getting legal advise on the law in France. Lesson to be learned: always have legal look at a press release before sending it out.
Do nothing. This way, its will blow over; quite likely sooner rather than later.
Lesson to be learned: least said, soonest mended.

But the best strategy (of course) is to avoid the need of retracting anyway!

La Redoute’s Advertisement Faux Pas

2012-01-26T18:13:00.006Z

La Redoute is a popular French clothing company. On its website, is published a nice advertisement for its line of children's clothes. The image shows four cute kids in colorful beachwear. The photographer also captured a man in the background not wearing one stitch of clothes.

The photo was displayed on the website for almost a whole day before the company realized the faux pas and removed it. By then however, it had gone viral steam. \

The company turned to social media to do damage control.

"La Redoute apologizes for the photograph published on its site and is taking steps to remove it," a company representative tweeted.

On Facebook the company posted: "We will strengthen the validation process of all brand communications for this cannot happen again in the future." Over 1,000 users commented; quite a lot were amused.

Some cynics wondered if it was all a well-planned and executed PR stunt. One of them saw it as: "A marketing coup by La Redoute's web team ahead of winter sales."

Although it would definitely be a good marketing ploy, it is highly unlikely it was done on purpose. In its official statement to press, a spokesperson of La Redoute stated: "An internal inquiry has been opened to determine how the error happened."

Following this debacle, the following was tweeted: "Oh and La Redoute also appears to sell a t-shirt that spells holiday as "holyday"…Zut!

It might not have been fun for La Redoute, it’s even worse for the skinny-dipping man. For now his identity remains a mystery. Hopefully it stays that way.

About The Five Types of Prosumers

2012-01-25T15:02:00.018Z

Euro RSCG has been conducting research about prosumers (professional consumers) for some time now. With the rise in social media use, the importance and impact of prosumers has been growing.

Prosumers differ from consumers. Prosumers have (relatively speaking) more influence, are more involved, and are more digital-savvy. compared to “regular” consumers. For brand owners, prosumers are important. Companies want to know what motivates them.

There are 5 prosumer archetypes based on social media use, the way content is shared, and reasons to be active on social networks:

Utilitarians are the natural allies of brands that make appealing offers

Entertainers get excited by stimuli

Advocates as a good citizen and to contribute to a better world

Co-Creators support brands that approach them in a personal way and help them to come into contact with others

Competitors assume that brands are in competition, as they themselves would.

To learn more about prosumers, check out the video below. It also includes world domination by Google in 2050 and Lawrence Lessig becoming US Secretary of Justice in 2020 and declaring copyright illegal!

Enjoy!

A Steve Jobs action figure - just what Sheldon Cooper et al want….

2012-01-10T19:22:00.018Z

It only took three months after the tragic passing away of Apple’s iconic founder Steve Jobs for a company to come up with merchandise. The company “In Icons” is going to launch Steve Jobs action figures.

The company’s website has pictures of the poseable Steve Jobs figure on its website. The figures are expected to be shipped in February and will cost $99.

The Chinese manufacturer believes that the 12-inch-high Jobs doll will become a collector’s item. They might be right; there is a lot of viral buzz and the item already appears on eBay for around $135.

If you take a close look at the doll, you will see that it is rather eerie. The level of detail is too much, including pores on Jobs' forehead, subtle wrinkles under his eyes, and veins on his hand. According to the company, the item will come with 2 pair of extra hands; 1 in case the original set goes AWOL and one set with pointing index fingers.

In case you wonder, the Steve Jobs action figure comes with a whole set of clothes and accessories that would make Barbie green with envy. Items include: 2 pairs of glasses, 1 black turtleneck, 1 pair of blue jeans, 1 pair of sneakers, 1 black leather belt, 2 apples (one with the iconic bite) and 1 bar stool.

Needless to say, Apple, Inc. is not amused. According to The Telegraph, the conglomerate is allegedly threatening to sue the toy maker unless they cease trading.

It would not be the first time; back in 2010, Apple blocked M.I.C. Gadget from selling a Steve Jobs action figure on Ebay, stating that the action figure was a violation of its copyrights and trademarks.

FAQ that Companies Have for Their PR Agencies (Part II)

2012-01-06T17:36:00.028Z

This post is the continuation from the previous one that you can find on my precious post.

7. Companies must have a dedicated (and charismatic) spokesperson

For startups, putting the CTO or VP R&D without any media experience in front of journalists and the media is disastrous. In many cases, the interview will result in a monologue about all the cool features of the amazing technology/product/service, peppered with tech lingo.

The journalist needs to write something cool that everybody can easily understand. Listen to the PR agency and your marcom; they will tell you who would be good for the interview and prep them accordingly. Technical information, including diagrams, should be sent upon request by email.

Please note that there is no such thing as “off the record”. Any information you share about upcoming investments, major deals or product developments will be covered by the journalist. Also make sure that all information submitted is accurate. A good journalist will do his or her homework and will know if you fibbed.

8. What you said is not always what you get

Journalists and the media can use received information as they see fit. A journalist might write about your technology under a funky heading that make you cringe. Journalists might even misquote or relate incorrect information. There is not much you can do about it, except asking your PR agency or professional to contact that journalist, thank him or her for the great article and gently correct the mistakes. Don’t expect a correction though.....The only way you can do damage control is on your own corporate blog, Facebook, or Twitter account.

9. Social media for PR entails more than harnessing the power of Facebook and Twitter.

Many countries outside of the US have there own social networks (and search engines). China uses Baidu, Russia Yandex, and the Germans prefer Xing over LinkedIn.

PR agency (or in-house professional) should also target the most influential bloggers in your industry, such as Technorati or the Huffington Post. Using op-eds is also useful, such as offered by the NYT are effective.

10. Professionals have been trying to come up with a “calculator” - without success
The best way for companies to get a grip on results is to ask for reports on progress and exposure. It is important to realize that exposure might take time. To give an example, the CEO of Curapipe was interviewed at WATEC on 19 November 2011. An excellent article appeared in the Mexican media on December 27; more than a month later. Due to the power of going viral, articles can be reposted and blogged about for a long time!

FAQ that Companies Have for Their PR Agencies (Part I)

2011-12-31T13:46:00.025Z

Companies and clients often ask a lot from their PR agencies or marcoms. Not without reason - since PR agencies work on a monthly retainer, the company wants to get maximum results.

As anyone in PR can tell you; it’s a tricky field. You have to put in a lot of effort and networking that is not visible to the company or client. In the end, it’s the results that count. Any company that hires a PR agency asks the same main questions.

In this post and the next one, I will address these FAQ.

1. No agency is in contact with all relevant journalists.

Yes, journalists of trade magazines and broadsheets relevant for you must be targeted - in the Americas, Europe, and the Far East depending on your business. But is it unrealistic to expect your PR agency to be on first name basis with all of them. They do have their own database and network though and will try to get you as much targeted exposure as possible. Please note that journalists don’t always bite. Yes, that is chutzpah considering how cool your company and product/service is, but that's life in the media lane.....

2. The location of a PR firm or professional is not that critical anymore.

However, if you are considering investor relations, it helps to be in or near the main financial centers, such as New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris or Tokyo. If you are targeting governmental agencies in the US, finding a PR agency near Washington DC helps, as does finding one in Brussels if you want to target EU-related governmental bodies and influencers.

3. Think local.

No PR agency is truly global. Many have partner agencies in other countries, which makes them highly effective. To reach journalists in Europe, you do need to communicate in the local language. No journalist of La Stampa, Le Monde, or Die Zeit will communicate with you in English.

4. You do need to send out press releases, but they must be newsworthy.

Publicly traded companies must put out a press release on any change that could influence investors’ decision to buy or sell stock (e.g., appointment of a new C-level manager or board member). Private companies can (and must) be far more selective. A new product release, major contracts, deals and partnerships, as well as received investments are all worthy of a press release.

To get the news out, I strongly recommend using one of the major paid distribution companies. My favorite is PRNewswire, which also takes care of translations and distributes to all media channels (including social media) in any region and industry you want.

5. A PR agency is only as good as the input they receive.

It is therefore crucial that you as a company or client share your goals, competitive information, and yes, all the relevant skeletons in you closet. Any publicity based on faulty or incorrect information, will backfire big time.

6. Some PR goals are unrealistic.

“Get me on Oprah” is a mantra that companies have been singing for many years. Chances are very slim, to say the least. Sending out (by email) and uploading B-roll footage (e.g., to YouTube) to be freely used by the media is cheaper and far more effective. Cold calling the media is a waste of time (and money), trust me!

To be continued in Part II - keep posted!

(Image courtesy of Jeff Bullas)

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year

2011-12-31T13:43:00.002Z

Tip Top PR wishes all its customers a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.
May 2012 be a wonderful year for you and your loved ones.

A Cute and Creative Application of QR Code

2011-11-27T20:32:00.007Z

Quick Response (QR) is a good tool for creative marketing. A QR code is a 2D barcode. It is similar to the well-known 1D product barcode, but a QR code can contain far more (and different kinds of) information. Reading a QR code is different from reading a standard barcode. Apart from scanning the code with a barcode reader, the QR code can also be read by using a free application on a smartphone.

QR codes can be linked to a company’s website, a YouTube video, a photo or any other hyperlink.

Marketers quickly saw the possibilities of the QR code and started using them for all kinds of B2C campaigns. A QR code is easy to create as an image. It can be printed on business cards, folders, flyers, products, and yes, even cookies.

The German company Qkies offers its consumers the ability to bake cookies with edible QR-codes. The company allows its customers to put their own personalized code on top of the cookies. One package consists of dough and 10 edible QR codes. (Yes, the buyer must bake the cookies first). On the website of Qkies, the “baker” can choose to which website the QR code should point to.

Qkies is the brainchild of a German food company and DFKI, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence.

J-Lo’s not-so-clever product placement at the American Music Awards

2011-11-25T13:32:00.009Z

It is completely legitimate that Jennifer Lopez wants to hawk cars, but there is a clever way of doing it. During the American Music Award (AMA), she and her dancers performed their entire routine in front of a Fiat. As one journalist puts it: “It was a little like watching Cirque du Soleil's erotic "O" show in Las Vegas with a Subaru parked incongruously in the middle of the stage.” Oy!

Not only the media thought that La Lopez crossed the line. Some f her contemporaries happily tweeted that they were dumbstruck. Questlove of the Roots tweeted: "Yo. I know I didn't just see that dumb Fiat. I KNOW I didn't just see that friggin' Fiat."

Legend tweeted back to Questlove: "That had to be the most shameless thing I've ever seen in a performance. I was genuinely shocked."

Although spectators commented on the great shape that Lopez is in at the age of 42, many found her mid-song move going from class to crass too much. The Wall Street Journal described her number as "basically a car ad combined with a striptease."

"Jennifer Lopez gave what will surely be the most cringe-inducing, embarrassing performance of the night," wrote the Los Angeles Times. "It wasn't that Lopez wasn't really wearing any clothes, as audiences expect that nowadays. Instead, it was Lopez's choice of an accessory, which in this case was a car. When the actual commercial ran not too long after the performance, the only difference was the emphasis on the name of the brand."

Jennifer took it too far. Viewers are used to product placements, but she overdid it. Will it harm her career? No likely. Will it increase Fiat’s sales? Not sure; but it was great PR! Was it tasteless? For sure!

Disney's Muppets Movie Edgy Marketing Campaign

2011-11-24T15:36:00.007Z

Disney (NYSE: DIS) is releasing its latest Muppet movie, aimed at a wide audience. Apart from kids, Disney also wants to wow parents who grew up loving the Muppets the first time around.

The Muppets phenomenon has been around for 35 years. The latest movie has just been released in 3,440 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. For promotion, the services of controversial comedians such as Sarah Silverman, Ricky Gervais and Wanda Sykes were enlisted.

Similar to their hominoid counterparts, Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog and Animal have hit the talk show circuit. They appeared on “Saturday Night Live" and “Chelsea Lately." When talking to E! talk show host Chelsea Handler, Miss Piggy was asked if there was any "penetration" involved with her relationship with Kermit. Miss Piggy’s love life was also discussed on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", She responded that "there might be handcuffs involved, if you know what I mean." Move over Angelina Jolie! Miss Piggy’s love interest Kermit the Frog appeared on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno."

The movie trailers are also catering to the mature audience. These trailers spoof "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" (with a trailer titled "The Pig With the Froggy Tattoo"), "Paranormal Activity" ("Abnormal Activity") and "The Hangover II" ("The Fuzzy Pack").

Disney marketing executives refrain from going on the record. But Disney executives obviously realize that going for a broader appeal of a youth-targeted movie is highly profitable, as Sony's "The Smurfs" showed. That movie grossed a neat $560 million at the global box office.

Interesting enough, the strongest demographic for "The Muppets" consists of women older than 25. (Source: research firm NRG). 95 % of women over 25 were aware of the movie and 37 % stated that they have "definite interest" in seeing it.

The CardMunch Application Let You Scan Business Cards; Creating A Digital Rolodex At Your Fingertips

2011-11-19T12:27:00.011Z

At WATEC 2011, a business contact showed me CardMunch, the latest cool application to capture business cards. LinkedIn just unveiled a completely revamped version of CardMunch, which it bought from Bowei Gai at the end of 2010. CardMunch is a free iPhone application that let you scrape business cards for vital information.

You snap a picture of the business card, and CardMunch 3.0 ties that business card with the person's LinkedIn profile. This gives you insight into mutual contacts, credentials, recommendations, etc.

What makes CardMunch powerful is its Cover Flow-like Rolodex feature. No more card scanners at exhibitions necessary; MunchCard lets you swipe through virtual business cards of all of your contacts. You can also add notes to contact cards while you wait for the cards to be processed.

You can also quickly add information from your contact’s CardMunch record to your iPhone address book. LinkedIn does not do this by default for all contacts, which shows you that LinkedIn truly cares about privacy. It is possible to send quick e-mails to contacts from within the application. It is also possible to initiate a LinkedIn connection request, but once "connect" is pressed, it cannot be undone.

It’s a great and free application to swipe business cards at exhibitions. Hopefully, LinkedIn will add some more features, such as: to "favorite" a contact, to sort contacts by company name/the date the picture of the card was taken, or to record the location where the card was scanned (e.g., Curapipe at WATEC 2011)

To grab the free CardMunch Application from the App Store, click here.

Curapipe Shows Its Trenchless Automated Leakage Repair (TALR) Solution at WATEC 2011 in Hall 11, Booth 1

2011-11-13T18:05:00.006Z

Curapipe Shows Its Trenchless Automated Leakage Repair (TALR) Solution at WATEC 2011 in Hall 11, Booth 1

Curapipe explains why its TALR is a low-cost alternative for water mains renewal

Curapipe System Ltd, a pioneering provider of an innovative breakthrough leak curing solution for water pipes, today announced that it will show case its Trenchless Automated Leakage Repair (TALR) solution at WATEC 2011, 15 - 17 November 2011 at the Tel Aviv Exhibition Center in Hall 11, Booth 1.

Curapipe’s Trenchless Automated Leakage Repair (TALR) repairs leaky holes and cracks in urban water pipes that normally remain undetected by existing detection technologies.

With TALR, bulk reduction of leakage is now possible with minimal disruption and rapid deployment. Focused primarily on urban water distribution networks that constantly leak, Curapipe’s TALR solution is a low-cost alternative to water mains renewal.

"We are extremely excited about our TALR solution because for the last 50 years no breakthrough leakage repair technology has found itself into the urban pipeline market. We have recently seen innovative technologies emerge for leak monitoring and detection but no similar advancements in actually dealing with the problem. This is where TALR can make a difference as we will be demonstrating in our booth at WATEC,” said Peter Paz, CEO of Curapipe.

About Curapipe

Established in 2007, Curapipe Systems Ltd. is a pioneering provider of an innovative breakthrough leak curing solution for buried pipelines. Curapipe addresses the need of water utilities to repair leaks in distribution mains that normally go undetected.

With its team of highly skilled PhD technologists in the fields of hydraulics, materials and pipelining, Curapipe can provide its customers with its unique TALR (Trenchless Automated Leakage Repair) solution. With TALR, water utilities can dramatically reduce leakage in urban water distribution networks with minimal disruption. Curapipe’s TALR solution is a low-cost alternative to water mains renewal that can be rapidly deployed.

TALR has recently been pilot tested with a major urban water utility in one of the main capitals in Western Europe.

Curapipe’s technology platform is also suitable for future rollout in the oil and gas industries.

For more information, visit the corporate website at www.curapipe.com

Media Contact:

Debra De-Jong, Marcom
T/F: +972 (0)8 675 1766
E: Debra @ curapipe.com

Visit Curapipe at WATEC 2011, Hall 11, Booth 1

2011-11-03T12:48:00.018Z

Curapipe System Ltd., a pioneering provider of an innovative breakthrough leak curing solution for water pipes, today announced that it will show case its Trenchless Automated Leakage Repair (TALR) solution at WATEC 2011, 15 - 17 November 2011 at the Tel Aviv Exhibition Center in Hall 11, Booth 1.
Curapipe’s Trenchless Automated Leakage Repair (TALR) repairs leaky holes and cracks in urban water pipes that normally remain undetected by existing detection technologies.

Apple Takes Action Against German Cafe for Infringing on Its Famous Logo

2011-10-30T07:00:00.009Z

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has sent a “cease-and-desist”letter to “Apfelkind“, a cafe in Bonn, Germany. Apfelkind („Apple child“) uses a logo consisting of a red apple with the silhouette of a child inside. Owner Christin Römer submitted the design to the Trademark and Patent Bureau in Munich, Germany. She applied for 42 classes (categories), including fashion and service provider. She also stated that she would like to franchise her “Apfelkind” concept.

The legal eagles at Apple noticed that the two logos are very similar. Apple lawyers promptly objected to the submission and issued a “cease-and-desist” letter to Ms. Römer.

She immediately involved the German media, playing the David vs. Goliath card.

But things are not as clear cut as Ms. Römer might think.

The problem is not just having the logo on the building. She also sells merchandize with the logo (such as cups) online. She also writes on her website that she is planning to expand her webshop (there is already a picture of pillows featuring the logo).

Furthermore, her submitting the logo in the category “service provider” and announcing that she wants to build a franchise show that she is a savvy business woman.

Her claim that her logo was inspired “by the apple trees of my neighbors” is weak to say the least. She hired a graphic studio to do the design. Any reputable graphic designer will warn against piggyback riding on famous logos.

How will it end? Ms. Römer has two choices: to spend a lot of money fighting for her patent, or changing the design and removing it from the “service provider” category.

In the mean time, she got lots of free publicity. She should realize that multinationals invested a fortune in their brand and are therefore highly protective of their logo.

The lesson to be learned here is to make sure that your logo, font type, slogan or color scheme do not even vaguely resemble those of other companies. Be original! It is not only better marketing, but also prevents legal problems.

A good boss is hard to find, and being one might be even harder

2011-10-24T17:31:00.014+01:00

The average employee works around 40 hours per week. For business owners and employers, this number is much higher. Employers and business owners care about their bottom line. But this does not need to come at the expense of their workforce.

The following tips serve not only as advice for employers, but also as a checklist for job seekers and employees. Few companies meet all the points on the list. The one that comes closest is Google (NASDAQ:GOOG).

1. Pay every employee a decent salary. Avoid paying top brass (including yourself) 6-figure salaries while paying your employees the absolute minimum you can legally get away with. Apart from morally questionable, it is just dumb business practice. Disgruntled employees equal lower productivity, potential strikes and legal complications, as well as brand/reputation damage. In short – it impacts your bottom line – and not in a positive way!

2. Engage your employees by making them stakeholders in the company. Stock options, bonuses, and profit sharing are all great ways to make your employees feel part of the company and to share in its success. It’s a win-win situation!

3. Pamper your employees. Full-time employees spend most of their waking hours in their offices (or cubicles). Their working environment needs to be comfortable. Noisy cubicles or too many employees sharing one office only lead to lower productivity. Just think about it: did you ever try to write an important document while colleagues are talking on the phone trying to make a sale or supplying customer support? You get my drift.....

4. Encourage socializing. Homo Sapiens is a social animal. Non-work related chats are part of our lives. I once worked in a company where my direct boss frowned upon any conversation that was not directly related to work, including: “how was your weekend?” Needless to say, it was counter-productive. Clever companies allow for coffee klatch, water cooler gossip, and joint activities. I also worked at a company where once a month a department prepared lunch for the whole company. It was a great way to socialize with other departments. I still have fond memories of the barbecue that the QA department organized (and not only for the food!).

5. Encourage the use of social media. Whether an employer likes it or not, employees have access to social media, especially outside working hours, and know how to use them. As the saying goes “if you can’t beat them, join them”. To avoid any brand or reputation damage, issue a briefing that states what employees can post on Facebook and tweet about. It’s also a golden opportunity to turn your employees into brand fans! Your employees will be happy to blog, twitter, Facebook and post on LinkedIn about the latest product, investments, or any other news that can be shared.

6. Feed the masses. Napoleon figured out that an army marches on its stomach. We all need to eat, so stack the company’s fridge and kitchen with bread, fruits, vegetables, milk, soft drinks, yogurts, cheeses, etc. Make sure to include low fat products. Include products to meet the dietary needs (e.g., gluten-free products). In short, make sure that your employees can make a (healthy) sandwich or snack during working hours. Coffee and tea should be free of charge. Lunch should be affordable and there should be provisions for employees working overtime. HR should inform employees if they need to pay income tax on free or subsidized lunches and dinners.

7. Encourage physical exercise. If the company is too small for owning their own fitness room, make sure to strike a deal with a local gym/swimming pool. The best option is to offer a discounted membership at a network of fitness centers or gyms. This way, the employee can exercise close to the office or close to home. Also encourage company sports teams and provide the location for players to practice and hold tournaments.

8. Define career paths. Treat your employees like gold and find out what hidden talents they have. Be clear in your expectations and tell them if they have room to grow. Encourage your employees to take initiative and to propose new ideas or concepts. Many employees underachieve due to unclear guidelines. Many need to play it safe in order to hold on to their job, which is a waste of potential talent. Be fair to your employees and do not oversell opportunities. I was told many times that I would get a promotion or amazing opportunities “once we are going public/are being bought up”. Sadly enough, it never happened!

9. Democracy rules. Many companies claim they have two-way performance reviews in place. In most cases, it is still a one-way street. Employees need an environment where they receive regular feedback about how they are doing, but can also freely talk with their management. Yes, I know, easier said than done!

10. Company culture is set from the top down. As an employer or business owner, you must make your managers accountable for treating all employees with respect. When going on a job interview or a business meeting, just check out the company culture. Is the girl at the front desk polite and cheerful? Do people you meet in the corridor smile and say hello? Are people helpful? If not, there is something rotten in the State of Denmark!

If you want your employees to be happy, your might want to pay attention to the tips above. As the old saying goes: “a happy wife, a happy life”. In the same spirit: a happy employee contributes to a profitable organization!

Tattoo Barbie - Mattel's Clever Marketing Ploy

2011-10-22T18:25:00.004+01:00

Mattel’s latest Barbie doll sports pink here, a trendy outfit and has tattoos across her left arm, neck and chest. This limited edition Barbie is the result of a cooperation between Mattel and Italy-based brand Tokidoki. The doll is marketed as a collector’s item for adults and sells for $50. This pink-haired, tattooed Barbie wears black T-shirt with heart and crossed bones, leopard print leggings and a dog called ‘Bastardino’. Supposedly, this has invited the wrath of parents across the U.S, and was debated on the O’Reilly Factor.

There is some understandable skepticism if the so-called outrage of concerned parent is real, or a clever marketing ploy by Mattel.

The Daily Mail did some digging and found a number of obscure websites for “tweenage” girls where people had a negative opinion of Barbie’s tattoos.

However, the majority of the experts that normally pipe up were silent. Quite likely, they just don’t see it as a big deal.

It’s not the first time that our Barbie got tattoos. In 1999, Butterfly Art Barbie was withdrawn from stores after parents complained. In 2009, the company released Totally Stylin’ Tattoos Barbie, a doll with removable sticker tattoos.

But it seems that in 2011, nobody seriously cares about a doll with tattoos. That leaves us with an interesting marketing question: did Mattel create artificial controversy to sell its latest Barbie? Knowing Mattel – quite likely! As usual, Mattel is laughing all the way to the bank. The doll is already sold out......

A painful lesson in copyright and graphic design – inspired by Steve Jobs

2011-10-19T17:39:00.006+01:00

Social media has changed the game; in more ways than one. Let’s look at the case of Mr. Mak.

Mr. Mak, a university student in Hong Kong who is an aspiring graphic designer. Upon the passing way of Steve Jobs, he designed a graphic of the Apple logo with a silhouetted profile of Mr. Jobs. It went viral and was even picked up by news media. Even actor Ashton Kutcher posted the design on his Twitter account. So far, so good...

But then, it was noticed that his design has an uncanny resemblance to the design of Chris Thornley, a British graphic artist.

Mak developed his design in late August using a white Apple logo on a black background. He used a black silhouette of Mr. Jobs indented in the apple as a tribute to Mr. Jobs after he stepped down as chief executive of Apple.

Although Mak said he had searched across the Internet both to ensure he was not infringing on another design, he did not come across Mr. Thornley’s design.

But his design turned out to be similar Mr. Thornley’s. Thornely designed a black Apple logo on a white background, with a white silhouette of Mr. Jobs. The angle is slightly different from Mak’s design.

A shocked Mak said he had received notification from Mr. Thornley’s wife, Julia, about the similarities of the two designs.

In the world of graphic design, similarities between images are quite common. This case illustrates once more how easy it has become to unearth similar images or outright copies. Mr. Thornley, a 40-year-old living in Darwen, England, acknowledges the dangers the digital age presented to creativity.

He is following the controversy while receiving treatment for a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He stated that he first developed his design in May 2011. He wanted to celebrate the fact that someone who had cancer was still working, still driving forward and still thinking positively about the future.

“The Internet can be a double-edged sword,” he said. “You need to use the Internet in order to promote yourself, but in order to do this you are making yourself vulnerable to these situations.”

Mr. Thornley went on to say that he hoped to speak with Mr. Mak soon about the two designs.

“J. Mak has been as honest as he can about the situation, I think,” he said. “It is important to have the debate about this, and J. Mak has to be credited for opening up the debate and not hiding from it.”

Mr. Mak said that he learned a valuable lesson.. “It really taught me to be very careful about what I say and do. With all the negative publicity I received in Hong Kong, it taught me to be very careful. At the same time, I need to stay true to my sense of aesthetics.”

Finding your target audience – the Jim Beam lesson

2011-10-10T15:47:00.007+01:00

Jim Beam launched its Red Stag in 2009. This black-cherry infused bourbon was aimed at the male market. The company opted for a strong masculine product name and enlisted rapper Kid Rock to promote it.

Much to the company’s surprise, the drink was a hit with women. Female drinkers appreciated the sweeter taste compared to regular bourbon.

Jim Beam began to investigate. As its global chief marketing officer Kevin George stated: “We wanted to understand the emotional reasons why women drink wine or spirits. While women make up almost half of spirits drinkers, they consume just a quarter of the volume sold.”

As a result, after 216 years of marketing almost exclusively to the male drinks market, Jim Beam is embracing women. The company introduced three new products aimed at female drinkers: Courvoisier Cognac infused with red wine, Pucker vodka and low-calorie Skinnygirl cocktails. Skinnygirl Cocktails, created by American reality TV personality Bethenny Frankel, was purchased by Jim Beam. Since the drinks contain only 100 calories per serving, they are attractive to women wishing to avoid the calories of a typical 480-calorie restaurant margarita.

But also Jim Beam’s existing Sauza Tequila brand benefited from the switch to marketing towards women. As research shows, about 57% of all the Tequila sold in the US is mixed in margaritas. Two-thirds of those margaritas are consumed by women.

Sauza began a marketing campaign based on the idea of a “ladies night in”, hosting at-home margarita parties and advertising on the Food Network. Sauza teamed up with restaurants to create what they called “Sauzaritas”

Based on its success with the female market, Jim Beam is planning to introduce a new line of chocolate liqueurs called “Crave”. The drink will blend flavors such as mint, chili pepper and cherry.

Jim Beam’s marketing story proves that companies should never take their market audience for granted. They should be open to step out their comfort zone and check new opportunities.

Marketing your Error 404 page - how to handle it

2011-10-04T15:45:00.007+01:00

Your corporate website will sometimes show an Error 404 page to your website visitors.

There are several reasons why this occurs:

The URL written in the Address Bar may have incorrectly been written.
The link to the page may be broken.
The page may have been moved to another site.

From a marketing aspect, the Error 404 page offers an opportunity to engage the visitor. Having a good Error 404 page may even be as important as having great web content!

It provides an opportunity to communicate with page visitors and direct them back to your website. It is therefore a chance to re-engage them.

Many organizations realize this and have created some outstanding Error 404 pages – often using humor.

An example of such an Error 404 page is the one of the UK company “late late gifts”. It fits their brand perfectly.

Tips for a good Error 404 page:

Avoid using “Error 404”
Explain in simple and clear language what the problem is
Make your apology short and to the point
Offer one or more alternative links to your corporate website
Avoid redirecting to your homepage (your customers and most search engines don’t like it!)
Use the Error 404 page for additional information or to enforce your brand
Add the main menu of the website and/or a search function ((e.g., Heinz)
Add humor (carefully!)
Make sure the Error 404 page has the same look and feel as your website (it is part of your overall branding!)
Include an email link for feedback

Using animal symbols in marketing - not the cat's meow!

2011-09-28T13:24:00.007+01:00

Using animals in marketing can be tricky. We all know strong brands that use animals: Puma, Jaguar and ING bank to name a few. But an animal may have different (and negative) connotations in export countries and other cultures.

In some countries, animals are considered to be a low life form. Using animals to promote eyeglasses is cute in the Western world, but a no-no in Thailand. (See also David A. Ricks "Blunders in International Business")

Based on Greek mythology, the owl in considered to be a symbol of wisdom (it was the favorite bird companion of Pallas Athena). Using an owl is quite common in Europe and the US (with the exception of hooters) for educational software and institutes. However, Asians consider the bird a symbol of stupidity. Not what you want in your marketing campaign!

Muslims consider dogs unclean animals. Any advertisement with cute dogs is therefore bound to fail. The same applies for showing women and men in one advertisement. Head and Shoulders adapted its advisement for the Arab-speaking market.

However, cats are extremely popular in Japan. Just think “Hello Kitty” or google one of the many YouTube clips.

Kate Edwards in Multilingual magazine’s August 2011 article, “Animal Symbolism” points out that (animal) symbols need to be managed carefully. “In an increasingly interconnected world, we have to remain diligent in choosing our symbols wisely with the utmost care.”

Before using animals in marketing campaigns, check the local culture. See what kinds of ad campaigns are popular. If a pet is conspicuously missing, there is a sound reason for it. Checking local proverbs is also a good way of checking for cultural sensitivities.

As with all marketing material: think global, but act local!

Jonathan Stark’s Starbucks coffee card – a clever marketing trick from an app developer?

2011-09-12T14:29:00.007+01:00

Mobile application developer Jonathan Stark (a mobile app consultant from Providence, Rhode Island) made his Starbucks card available for anyone by offering his Starbucks Mobile app on the Web for others to use.

His message read:
“Need a caffeine boost? Use Jonathan's card. Want to buy a cup of joe for a pal? Or, more likely, someone you've never met? Use Jonathan's card.”

Stark posted an image of the electronic card, inviting anyone to copy it to their own phones.

"Jonathan's Card is an experiment in social sharing of physical goods using digital currency on mobile phones ...," he wrote on his site. "Based on the similarity to the 'take a penny, leave a penny' trays at convenience stores in the US, I've adopted a similar 'get a coffee, give a coffee' terminology for Jonathan's Card."

Needless to say, lots of people followed up on this call to action. After its launch in July 2011, the campaign went viral once it was covered by several tech blogs.

According to Stark, more than 177 people spent $3,651 on the card; not bad considering that the original balance was only $30 balance. A couple of times, some users transferred money to their own Starbucks accounts.

"It's been a bit emotional, actually," Stark stated. "People's reactions have ranged from accusing me of stealing to thanking me for renewing their faith in humanity. It's been very uplifting overall, but it does hurt when the occasional pessimists send negativity my way."

How did Starbucks react? “We think Jonathan's project is really interesting and are flattered he chose Starbucks for his social experiment. We're curious to see how his project continues to evolve."

In the end, it all came to an end due to Sam Odio, who wrote a script that let him transfer large amounts of money from Jonathan’s Card to his own personal card.

Once Starbucks became aware of Odio's efforts, the company shut down Stark's card. "We were concerned with fraudulent activity," a Starbucks’ spokesperson said. "Starbucks was supporting the program from the sidelines, because it was an interesting thing, and in line with the pay it forward mentality. But the very concept of sharing a card violates our company's terms of service."

One thing is certain: Jonathan’s card was an interesting marketing experiment in collective consumption and mobile currency – and excellent branding for Jonathan Stark himself!

Abercrombie and Fitch’s Reverse Endorsement Deal – What a Situation!

2011-08-31T04:55:00.005+01:00

Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino of “Jersey Shore” fame, has been asked by Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) to stop wearing their clothes. The company is willing to pay him for this, which makes it a reverse endorsement deal.

On August 16, Abercrombie announced their decision to disassociate from The Situation, stating: "We are deeply concerned that Mr. Sorrentino's association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image. We understand that the show is for entertainment purposes but believe this association is contrary to the aspiration nature of our brand and may be distressing to many of our fans." Funny enough, Abercrombie & Fitch itself has courted controversy with racy catalogs and questionable products.

From a marketing standpoint, it is quite likely that A&F will be laughing all the way to the bank. "It gets their name further out into the marketplace with one of the hottest brands on TV right now at the peak of the back-to-school season," said Wall Street Strategies analyst Brian Sozzi. "It's free marketing. Because the approach is so ridiculous, everybody's talking about it."

MTV, who hosts Situation's "Jersey Shore", responded to Abercrombie's money offer with a statement: "It's a clever PR stunt, and we'd love to work with them on other ways they can leverage Jersey Shore to reach the largest youth audience on television."

Abercrombie and Fitch may not want Jersey Shore’s Situation wearing their clothes but Larry Flint wants Mike Sorrentino for his Hustler brand. Larry Flynt told TMZ: “The Sitch may not be good enough for Abercrombie & Fitch, but he’s good enough for us.”

Is this move by A&F a clever PR stunt? Will reverse endorsement deals become popular? Time will tell.....

How NPS Measures Customer Happiness

2011-08-27T15:31:00.021+01:00

Companies want to know if their customers like their products and services. Net Promoter Score (NPS) tracks how likely is it that they will recommend the company’s product/service to a friend or colleague, using a 0-10 point scale, and tracking the ratio of “promoters”, “passives” and “detractors”.

Promoters are loyal enthusiasts who will keep buying and refer others, fueling growth. They score 9-10.
Passives are satisfied but unenthusiastic customers who are vulnerable to competitive offerings. They score 7-8.
Detractors are unhappy customers who can damage your brand and impede growth through negative word-of-mouth (WOM). They score 1-6.

Apple (AAPL) has some of the highest NPS scores of any sector by careful listening to what customers have to say and responding to it.

Apple made its retail stores to places where people can gather and learn, not just buy. Apple learned that customers want an ongoing relationship with Apple and not a one-off purchase transaction. Apple opens on average between three to five stores a month worldwide, using the NPS to check how effectively each store is meeting expectations.

Apple uses the NPS in its daily management of its more than 300 stores. Apple’s central NPS team analyzes customer feedback from all the stores to understand the systemic reasons for promoter’s enthusiasm or lack thereof.

Apple store employees who create promoters are recognized by store management. Each day, the “daily download” takes place, when employees review the NPS feedback and discuss how to adjust their work accordingly. Detractors are phoned by Apple store managers within 24 hours resulting in additional sales of $25m yearly.

Other companies that use the NPS are: Intuit (INTU), Philips (PHG), Southwest Airlines (LUV) and Allianz. They use NPS to monitor customer satisfaction.

How to Tweet - That's The Question!

2011-08-07T14:14:00.016+01:00

Is Twitter just for people who can’t shut up? Many tweets are irrelevant, and it takes some digging to get to the good stuff. That way, it’s not any different from looking for a good book. Between shelves of Dan Brown fluff, there are literary gems such as “The Perfume”, “Madame Bovary” and “To Kill A Mockingbird”.

Companies (and individuals) can of course choose never to send a tweet into cyberspace. But the problem is that companies will be left behind and their competitors will have the competitive edge.

Tweets are short (140 characters) and resemble sms-speak (not surprising, considering the original twitter concept) and have huge marketing potential.

Following is a short guide to tweeting (courtesy of www.ReputationManagementFor.com with some of my own additions).

1/ Tweeting
When you tweet, you’re sending a message to all of your followers (see 2/) and displaying the message on your Twitter Feed (a list of your tweets). Now, it’s extremely important that you bear a few things in mind when tweeting, as you can end up wasting a lot of time for zero productivity. Don’t over-tweet, but don’t tweet sparingly either. A Tweet a week does not an interest garner. These are some important things you’ll need to keep in mind while tweeting:

Don’t treat Twitter like an SEO exercise. Nobody cares for unexplained, uninteresting links, and if all you’re doing is linking back to your website, people will generally ignore you.
Don’t make ridiculous spelling mistakes. Tweets are only 140 characters long, and typos and other errors will reflect badly on your company. Spell it right; sell it right.
Try not to be too personal, or emotional. You’re marketing your brand, and while that doesn’t mean you should be robotic, attention-seeking will ultimately reflect badly.
Develop your own style, but unless you’re a professional comedian don’t make every post into a joke.
Make sure to hashtag important keywords in your tweet (see 4/).

Ideally, every time you tweet you want your followers to re-tweet (RT) your posts. That way, you are reaching the followers of your followers.

2/ Following
When you follow somebody on Twitter, it means that you’re going to automatically get updated with every tweet of that user. You can opt to get as many people to follow you as possible, or to expand your brand awareness and market influence to targeted users (journalists, institutes, bloggers, magazines, etc.).

The easiest and simplest way getting followers is to include obvious links to your Twitter account on your website, and any email correspondence you send out. If you don’t tell people to look for your Twitter account, you’re relying on people looking for you speculatively, and that can be a slow process. Also, you can enter your contact list from GMail, AOL, MSN, Hotmail and Yahoo! accounts to see if the people you already speak to use Twitter. Following people you know on Twitter will encourage them to follow you.

3/ @Mentions
If you have a look at your “homepage” on Twitter, you can see a few tabs below the Tweet box. One of these tabs says ‘@Mentions’. A @Mention is when somebody puts a ‘@’ sign, followed immediately by a username. When somebody @Mentions you in a Tweet, it’ll show up both on their Tweet Feed and on your @Mentions page (which your followers can’t see. A @Mention is useful:

to engage other users who are not in contact with yet. They’re then more likely to return the favor.
if you’re Tweeting their material. Their details do show up on a RT, but a @Mention will show gratitude and let the person know you’re passing on their content/posts.
when tweeting original content. Start the post with “RT” and end it with @yourtwittername. .It makes it easier for people to find you and associate your Twitter account with the content being (re)tweeted.

4/ The #Hashtag
While we have already mentioned that this shouldn’t be an SEO exercise, that doesn’t mean that none of the same principles apply. The #hashtag is the king of Social Media Optimization – an opportunity to make use of ‘keywords’. People searching Twitter for posts on specific subjects will generally find #tagged posts first. Tips to use #hashtags:

If you want to talk about a #subject, #location or #person (without linking to their Twitter account), use the #hashtag.
A #hashtag can be used to emphasize a specific part of your tweet, and generally adds context to any content or comments you might be posting.

Twitter posts show up in Google search results. Although it is unlikely that a Twitter post will outperform a highly contested keyword by normal SEO standards, a clever campaign on a specific subject will get attention.

5/ Trending
Twitter keeps track of when a term (or #term) is being used a lot on Twitter. It records Trends that appear by geographical demographic, and a general worldwide tracker. Thus, if a #term (with or without the #hashtag) is popular in e.g., the US; users who’ve set up their “Trend Feed” to the US will automatically see a list of the “Trending Topics” for that country. Users can also click on a topic that is trending (e.g. budget cuts).

There are many innovative ways to turn social networking and social media profitable for business. On your Twitter homepage, you can link to your own website. You can also add Twitter to your website homepage. Your tweets will now automatically be displayed.

6/ Shortened Links
As mentioned before, tweets are limited to 140 characters. Most website links (e.g., to articles you RT) take up a lot of character space. To solve this problem, there are several free services around that automatically shorten your links. The most popular are tinyURL and bit.ly.

Wishing you Happy Tweeting!

(Cartoon courtesy of Johnny Ancich of Past Expiry)

Nine Effective Marketing Tools for Small Businesses

2011-07-27T10:59:00.005+01:00

Small businesses (SMEs or SMBs) need marketing as much as large corporations. The good news is that there are various cost-effective marketing tools around. These tools are a mix of traditional and new – together, they are highly effective.

1. Have your Own Website and Blog

Every business needs a website. Potential customers are searching online to find out what your business is all about. For branding and to position yourself as a leader, you also need your own blog. Blogs are easily created using Wordpress or Blogger - free of charge!.

2.Use business cards

It is still worth while to hand out business cards. A printed business card stays around, which is good for your branding. At exhibitions and at a first business meeting, business cards are still handed out.

Depending on your target audience, make sure that it has the correct format and language (e.g., Chinese at the reverse side of your English one. Pay attention to the format of your phone number; make sure to include the country code for clients abroad.

3. Brand your collateral

Use your invoices, receipts, proposals, price quotes, and order confirmations to brand your company. Put your logo, slogan, tagline, and contact details on documents that you send out.

4. Create brochures, flyers and PowerPoint presentations

A brochure, flyer or PowerPoint presentation will explain who you are and what you are offering in an appealing and easy to grasp way. Once you turn them into a PDF, they are easy to distribute by email and to post online (LinkedIn, website).

5. Create and update your own website

Potential customers want to check you out. They expect you to have your own website. Your business domain name is ideally the name of your company. In case you cannot register a .com, try .biz. Make sure that you update your website regularly and also check that is opens correctly in all major browsers.

6. Use Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

To reach potential customers, you need to be found. Online searches are the key; people search on search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing) and on social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, forums, blogs, etc.). SEO helps you to be found by potential customers that are searching for you or your product/service.

7. Use social media

LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are the main social media to reach your target audience. They provide a highly effective way to interact with your target audience. It is also easy to spread news about your company and announce special offers.

8. Provide freebies

People like to get free information and advice. One way of leveraging this, is by having your own blog and to post your own articles (e.g., on ezine) that provide useful tips to the readers. This not only positions you as an expert in your field, but also builds brand loyalty. Other excellent marketing tools are having a free download on your website for white papers and free webinars.

9. Make Yourself Visible

Attend seminars in your area, promote a cause your target audience care about or sponsor a charity event. People need to get to know you and your business. If your business is completely online, opt for a (humorous) YouTube video.

These nine tools provide a great way to promote your business - success! Please leave a message how if works out for you.

(Image courtesy of directory.ac)

Guideline for Conducting Your Own Marketing Audit

2011-07-25T18:00:00.004+01:00

You put a lot of effort in your marketing, so you want to know how you are doing.

A marketing audit will show how you are performing.

Following is a guideline on how to conduct a marketing audit.

1. List all the social marketing media you use:

Website
Blog
Forum
LinkedIn (corporate page, own group)
Xing (corporate page, own group)
Facebook (corporate page, groups)
Twitter
Newsletter
Webinar
White papers
Articles

2. List your target audience for each one:

Customers/clients
Potential partners
Investors
Media (newspapers, journalists, reporters)
Analysts
General public
Employees

3. List what your business, sales & marketing goals for using social media are:

Reaching new customers (lead generation)
Retaining customers
Communication with customers (announcing news, special deals, updates such as recalls)
Entering new markets
Market research
Branding

4. Compare your social media with those of your competitors:

Do they use the same social media?
Do they reach the same target audience as you do?
What social media do they use that you don’t?
How frequent do they post, tweet, hold a webinar, publish newsletters?

5. Rate how your SEO and news coverage score compared to your main competitor(s):

Are you covered mainstream (e.g., Yahoo news, Reuters, FOX) and industry media?
Are being blogged about?
Are you being covered by analysts and journalists?
How many followers do you have?
Do people leave comments for you (e.g., on your blog)?
Do people share your content with others (LinkedIn, retweet, Facebook wall post)?

6. Rate the quality of your content.

What content does your target audience like to see from you?
What are they in general interested in (e.g., discounts, product updates)?
What is the responses?

7. Do you have a social media policy in place?

Did you formulate goals?
Do you measure results?
Do you have a crisis management plan?

8. Who conducts your social media?

Internal employee (Marcom, business development, marketing)
External expert (e.g., Tip Top PR)
PR company

9. Are you happy with your social media?

Yes, it does what I want it to do!
No, it does not contribute to my branding
No, too many negative reactions
No, not enough new leads

Once you analyze the answers, you will be able to take action. It will tell you if your social media campaign fits your company and how to improve and/or adjust it. Success!

Perfetti Van Melle Uses a Perfect Mix of Social and Traditional Media Marketing

2011-07-01T16:49:00.005+01:00

For its US product launch of Mentos UP2 stick gum, Perfetti Van Melle started its advertising campaign on social media. Mentos UP2 has already has a Facebook fan page, at facebook.com/up2u. The first 1,000 visitors who clicked on the “like” button got free gum. Up till now, already more 96,000 people “like”. In July, the company plans to post an invitation to on the fan page. People who “like” will be asked to provide the name of friends so they can also get free samples.

The logic behind the Mentos UP2U product name is as follows. Each 14-stick package contains seven sticks of one flavor and seven sticks of a second flavor. The slogan is: “2 flavors. 1 pack. You decide.”

According to Mehmet Yuksek, executive vice president for North America at the Perfetti Van Melle office in Erlanger, Ky, the strategy to introduce Mentos UP2U “is very much 360-degree marketing, starting with very compelling and unique social media content.”

The idea is to first create media buzz on social media, followed by advertising in traditional media like television. The social media are handled by Martin Agency in Richmond, Va., part of the Interpublic Group of Companies. Perfetti Van Melle is also using Lizzie Grubman Public Relations in New York to distribute samples of Mentos UP2U at events in locations like Las Vegas and Miami.

Social media are empowering consumers with greater control and they aren’t shy about posting their feelings online about products and brands. The UP2U marketing campaign illustrates once more how important the combination of digital and traditional marketing has become.

Louis Vuitton’s ad “mistake” or a clever marketing move?

2011-06-25T14:35:00.007+01:00

Louis Vuitton (LVMH.PA) has launched a beautiful advertisement as part of its “Core Values” campaign. It features Angelina Jolie sitting on a barge, informally dressed with a big Louis Vuitton tote bag by her side.

The photo was shot by Annie Leibovitz in the Siem Reap province of Cambodia and first appeared in WWD, followed by the International Herald Tribune, Vanity Fair and a slew of other news, general interest and lifestyle publications.

It is expected to run for at least 18 months and will also feature a video interview with Jolie filmed on location. The campaign will run alongside a few other recent “core values” personalities, including Bono his wife Ali Hewson (in Africa) and Sean Connery (in the Bahamas).

Vuitton launched its “Core Values” campaign in 2007 to reconnect with its travel roots and thus reach a broader audience. According to Pietro Beccari, Vuitton’s executive vice president, “Vuitton gives a travel message through personal journeys which is a fundamental one for the brand.” Other personalities who have features in the campaign are Mikhail Gorbachev, Keith Richards and Catherine Deneuve.

However, there is one oddity in the Jolie ad: the Alto carry-on bag shown in the ad (Jolie's own) is about six years old, and is no longer available in stores.

A mistake? Quite likely not - Beccari commented that Vuitton is considering a "re-edit" of the Alto carry-on.

My take on it is that Vuitton will wait to see what the demand for the “Jolie tote bag” will be and then restart production and sales if expected to be profitable.

If I am correct, this would be one of the most cost-effective market researches for Vuitton. Let’s wait and see!

How Spirit Airlines uses Weinergate for it Marketing

2011-06-09T16:02:00.005+01:00

Spirit Airlines is known for its non-traditional marketing. Even before social media took off for promotion, Spirit made it a habit to leverage controversial trends (MUFF, MILF) and scandals (Tiger Woods) to advertise its low fares.

The current Anthony Weiner scandal (dubbed “Weinergate” by the media) fits nicely into Spirit’s marketing strategy. On Tuesday, June 7, Spirit Airlines sent an email to its customers containing the following sales promotion: “Check out our Weiner Sale boasting fares just too hard to resist! This scandalous sale is no secret so get socially connected … book now before this sale gets hacked!” The company’s homepage offers more Weiner puns.

The promotion has been picked up by The New York Daily News, CBS, The Wall Street Journal and MSNBC.

Arun Sharma, a marketing professor at the University of Miami, explains that Spirit has packaged the promotion well by prominently mentioning its low-cost fares. For a value brand like Spirit, cheap fares are its key selling point. He does not foresee a possible backlash from customers who are uncomfortable with the sale’s theme. "These kinds of promotions do not seem to offend the general public," Sharma said. "They chuckle over things like this."

Previous Spirit marketing campaigns include its 2009 campaign when it ran its “Eye of the Tiger Sale” to leverage the Tiger Woods scandal. The airline’s homepage featured a tiger driving an SUV into a fire hydrant to promote its $9 fare sale.

During the BP oil spill disaster, a Spirit ad featured a sunscreen-covered sunbather and the teaser: "Check out the oil on our beaches."

Spirit Airlines also put a new twist on trendy acronyms. In February 2010, it ran a promo called MUFF to diving destinations. MUFF stood in this case for Many Unbelievable Fantastic Fares. MUFF followed on the heels of the MILF promo. According to Spirit, MILF stands for “Many Islands, Low Fares.”

A few years ago, Spirit CEO Ben Baldanza explained in an interview that the company practices "shock marketing" to keep advertising costs low: "People get the e-mail and forward it to their friends. ..."

Shock marketing and campaign going viral obviously work for Spirit Airlines. Let’s see what the next campaign will entail...

General Pants Raunchy Ad Campaign – Stunt Marketing Gone Wrong

2011-05-09T17:38:00.009+01:00

Australian fashion retailer General Pants has been forced to censor its provocative ad campaign for the fashion label Ksubi. General Pants carries several Australian and international brands for young men and women. Its main focus is on youth culture and street wear.

The retailer’s latest in-store campaign is “Sex! & Fashion” for denim label Ksubi. It featured half-naked mannequins and provocative videos and posters displaying the word “Sex!”. Staff was asked to wear badges featuring the phrase “I love Sex”.

Shoppers were not happy and bitterly (and effectively) complained. Australia's NSW has a Minister for Women named Ms. Pru Goward who stated that the retailer “clearly overstepped the mark”.

General Pants responded by covering the posters with black “censored” strips, but kept the posters and badges will remain part of the promotion, which ends on May 16.

General Pants chief executive Craig King remarked it was a “bit of a stretch” to suggest the campaign may encourage young people, particularly teenagers, to have sex.

General Pants division manager Jacquie Vuleta added that Ksubi is perceived as a polarized brand and the campaign is therefore in line with the retailer’s image. She stated: “They’ve always been a very bold brand and try to make a statement with the campaigns that they do. We did not go into this campaign to offend anybody; it was meant to be a play on the fashion industry and the fact [that] there is sex in fashion.”

Stunt marketing tries to be quirky while avoiding being too cheeky or crass.

Especially start-ups like to launch controversial campaigns to get noticed. However, the campaign must be in context with the brand image.

The main marketing lesson? Be careful with "stunt marketing"; if it backfires, brand and budget are burnt.

Marketing blunder or clever marketing ploy?

2011-04-09T11:49:00.017+01:00

The upcoming Royal Wedding is a marketer’s dream promoting memorabilia ranging from tea towels to tea bags. There are obviously no limits to products that can be given a Royal Wedding twist.

Verdict, part of the Datamonitor Group, predicts that wedding merchandise sales could “easily” top £26m in the UK alone, with food and grocery retailers raking in £360m, while an additional £216m could come from travel and tourism.

There is one item that stood out – a commemorative royal wedding mug that should feature the bride & groom. But although the description details Prince William as the groom, the picture just above the text “Wills” features the groom’s brother Prince Harry.

Producers Guandong Enterprises state on their website that the mug is "a beautiful cup to commemorate the most beautiful occasion" and an "esteemed limited edition heirloom." It could be a mistake, not unlike the ones that were made in Chine de Commande a few centuries ago.

However, it could also be a clever marketing ploy; an effort to create an oddity that will have additional value since it will be rare.

Did they want to create a collectors/spoof item?

Regardless of the motive, the company got great (and free) publicity!

U.S. Senate panel to hold hearing on Vermont Branding

2011-03-07T10:41:00.004Z

Vermont has been marketing itself as "the beckoning country." The Vermont Brand promotes maple trees, high-quality food products, and an enviable way of life with clean air, trout streams, and unspoiled forests.

Made In Vermont stands for quality of goods and foods - from Maple syrup to cheddar cheese. Protecting Vermont Brand has long been a top priority for Vermont’s state officials.Other (out of state) companies try to leverage the Vermont Brand; McDonald's restaurants promoted maple flavored oatmeal much to their peril.

Vermont is defending its brand – even at Federal level. Thanks to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will come to Vermont for a hearing. It will hear testimony to find ways to protect and promote Vermont’s unique brand. Leahy is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and set the hearing, titled “Strategies to Protect and Promote Vermont Brands".

The Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hear testimony from representatives from the Vermont Wood Manufacturers Association, Cabot Creamery, and state Commerce Secretary Larry Miller among others.

Stay tuned to find out if Vermont will be able to protect its brand.

The marketing behind Barbie & Ken rekindling love

2011-02-27T09:05:00.008Z

Barbie and Ken met on the set of their first commercial in the spring of 1961. couple, they were an item through the’60s, ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s — with wardrobe, gadgets and makeovers to adapt to changing customer preferences.

Sales were steadily declining, so the people at Mattel (NASDAQ:MAT) came up with a clever plan – a on-off relationship. It started on Valentine’s Day 2004 when the couple announced that they were going to spend time apart. Barbie began dating Australian surfer Blaine. In 2006, Ken got himself several makeovers, but just remained friends with Barbie. Then the couple was cast in Toy Story 3.

Mattel listened to its customers. Lisa McKnight, vice president of marketing at Mattel, explained that people were really pushing for Ken & Barbie to get back together again.

“We got a lot of formal petitions from brand fans, Barbie fan groups, asking for them to get back together. I think there was one group that sent in a three-page letter, expressing how they felt and how they never should have broken up in the first place and they’ve just got to be reunited. So there’s a lot of passion there. They really are the sort of ultimate ‘it’ couple. So everyone’s rooting for them to get back together.”

Mattel closely monitored customers’ reactions on the website www.barbieandken.com. Both Barbie and Ken also have their own Twitter accounts and Facebook pages and are active users. Fans could leave comments and also vote on if the Love-O-Meter if the couple should hook up again on Valentine’s Day 2011.

As part of the marketing strategy, Mattel launched a new product on 14/2: the Barbie and Ken Gift Set.

Mattel’s marketing strategy has already generated a lot of exposure in the main media. But what will be the deciding success factor is the bottom line – will sales of Barbie products increase….

Business Plan for Freelancers and small business owners

2011-01-17T08:02:00.019Z

A business plan helps you to formulate your goals, outline expected costs and expenses, identify marketing opportunities, and formulate an exit strategy. It helps to measure your business success.

If you start your own business from home, or are a freelancer, it will help you to keep focused. Needless to say, the business plan must be short and to the point.

What should be included in such a business plan?

Executive summary

The executive summary describes in one page what your business is all about.
If you are looking for financing (bank loan, crowd sourcing, angel investor), this is section that convinces them. It proves that you start/have a viable business.

Content of this section can also be used for promotional materials (e.g., to describe your business on your website) and for the boilerplate in your press release.

Reason for starting/having your business

This section describes why you want to start/started your business. It explains the business/market need that you identified and why you have the resources, talent, and opportunity to meet this need. It outlines how you came up with the idea to start your own business.

This section also includes your short bio emphasizing your strengths and experience in your line of business/market segment. If you have co-owners, it’s best to create a separate section with all the bios.

Goals

In this section, your short- and long-term goals for your business are described.

Which products/services you are going to provide to which customers group.

How fast will your business grow?

When are planning to reach your breakeven point/turn a profit?

Do you plan to add products/services, approach additional customer groups, use new channels (e.g., online shop) in the future?

Are you planning to form a partnership (e.g., join venture, revenue sharing) with other suppliers/providers?

Are you planning to sell your business at a certain point in the future?

Offering

This section describes the products/services that you are providing. It also explains how your product/service differs from everything else’s in the market.

Your main differentiators not only show what makes your business unique, but also illustrate your business opportunities.

This section also explains the business potential of your product/service. If you are looking also looking for financing, it should include the following elements:

Facts & figures of your market segment (e.g., number of suppliers, potential customers, shopping behavior).

State if your business is online, brick-and-mortar, or a combination

Clarify if your business is B2B or B2C

Indicate the geographical area you are going to serve

Explain which customer groups you are going to provide
List your delivery channels (e.g., email, postal service, delivery truck)

Marketing & PR

In this section, you explain how you are going to market and promote your business.

Some examples are:

WOM (word-of-mouth) using social media such as Twitter and Facebook

Advertising in printed media, on the web (e.g., Google AdWords), radio/TV

Listings in directories, forums

Press releases (using free or paid services)

Using a PR professional

Sponsoring, including donating at charity events

Financials

This section gives an overview of the financial forecasts. It should include a table of your expected costs and revenues per quarter or year. It is important to define your initial and ongoing investments (e.g., in keeping stock, premises) as well as the projected breakeven point/profits.

If you are looking for financing, it should detail how much money you’d like to borrow and on what it will be spent.

Exit strategy

This section outlines when you would close down your business.

Benchmarks could include:

Occurrence of certain market conditions (e.g., no need for the product/service anymore, losing market share to large competitors, change of regulations)

Not reaching the financial targets (e.g., no breakeven point, only operating at a loss)

Consumer behavior changed and there is no interest in your offering anymore (or it’s available for free)

Your co-owners pull out

Changes in technology make it impossible to provide/deliver your product/service

Do you want more information? Please feel free to contact me!

(Image courtesy of Ted Gogg at www.tedgoff.com)

Man returns library book after 76 years, giving the library a great PR boost

2010-12-26T16:09:00.008Z

Mark McKee kept his favorite library book for 76 years. before he finally plucked up the courage to send it back to the library. He also sent a letter along with it, in which he wrote: “My conscience took over. I was entranced by the book and kept it with my prized possessions, intending to return it forthwith.”

Mr. McKee borrowed “A Dog of Flanders” written by English author Marie Louise de la Ramee, when he was 13 years old from the public library in Mount Clemens, MI.

When he sent back the book, he was convinced that he owed the library thousands of dollars in fines. But the library director, Donald Worrell Jr., not only waived the late fee, but also sent Mr. McKee a new copy of the book stating “we figure the story is better than the money”.

This is certainly true – the story went viral after being picked up by the local media, giving the library a nice PR boost.

In case you wonder what captivated young master McKee for so many years, read on.

The story of “A Dog of Flanders” takes place in 19th century Belgium. Orphan Nello went to live with his grandfather in a small village near the city of Antwerp. One day, the boy found a dog (Patrasche) that was almost beaten to death. The two became close friends. Nello helped his grandfather selling milk with Patrasche shackled to a dogcart to get the milk into town each morning. Nello fell in love with Aloise, the daughter of a well-off man in the village. Nello entered a junior drawing contest in Antwerp in order to win first prize (200 francs annually). He lost and then his grandfather passed away. After being accused of arson, Nello went to the cathedral of Antwerp to see Rubens' The Elevation of the Cross, but he could not pay the entrance fee. On the night of Christmas Eve, he and Patrasche found the cathedral open and went in. The next morning, the boy and his dog are found frozen to death in front of the triptych.

Season's Greetings from Tip Top PR

2010-12-24T09:24:00.001Z

www.tiptoppr.com

Facebook's Titan Messaging System Reviewed

2010-11-17T18:47:00.008Z

Facebook announced its new Titan Messaging System (aka Fmail) on 11/17.

In an official blog post, Facebook software engineer Joel Seligstein explained that the service is different from email as we know it:

"There are no subject lines, no cc, no bcc, and you can send a message by hitting the Enter key. We modelled it more closely to chat and reduced the number of things you need to do to send a message. We wanted to make this more like a conversation."

In the video below, CNET editor Rafe Needleman (of Red Herring-fame) tried it out and talks about the features.

Not without my IP lawyer – Nexocial’s painful marketing lesson

2010-11-06T06:39:00.015Z

The company Nexocial was forced by Apple (AAPL) to change the name of its nPad-tablet. Apple argued that the product name infringed on its trade marks. Nexocial also had to discontinue its nPad-website. It is unclear what new product name will be chosen by Nexocial. Hopefully this time they will check it with an IP lawyer first.

Nexocial was wise to comply with Apple’s demand. The nPad is the brainchild of Hugo Leijtens, the Dutch CEO of Chengdu–based Nexosial. He believes that the iPad lacks some important features. His tablet therefore is Windows 7-based in order to enable multitasking and support Flash. The tablet also has a USB-port and has a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. However, the battery life is only 4 hours; about half of Apple’s iPad. The two products also look uncanningly alike - which puts Nexosial in hot legal water by default.

By blocking Nexsocial to use the nPad product name, Apple effectively prevented it from entering the market. By losing the momentum, Nexosial decided not to enter the consumer market anymore, since it is now (over)crowded. The company stills sees possibilities in the enterprise market, where a few companies are experimenting with it.

Legal actions, including patent trolling, are used as marketing techniques to prevent market entrance or market expansion by competitors. Companies, and especially start-ups that could be a threat for behemoths such as Microsoft, Google or Apple, need to seek legal advice before launching a product or entering a market.. The fallout could otherwise break the company.

Will Nexocial be able to weather this storm? Not likely, unless Leijtens has another marketing ace up his sleeve...

Silly Bandz marketing success

2010-10-17T17:28:00.009+01:00

Silly Bandz is a great example of how marketing of a fad item works.

Silly Bandz are silicone rubber bands in the form of animals (e.g., tree frogs, dolphins, geckos), objects, letters, Barbie, and Justin Bieber. They can be worn as bracelets, and revert to their original shape once taken off. They are mainly aimed at Tweens, who collect and trade them. But boys and girls as young as 5 have start wearing (and trading) them.

Robert Croak is the rubber band man who came up with the idea after seeing a similar product designed for Japanese offices. His business has grown 10 times in the past six months. Croak is currently shipping millions of Silly Bandz weekly.

What contributes to the marketing success of the Silly Bandz fad?

Appeal

The shapes and colors appeal to te target market. The bands are coveted by both boys and girls (the picture shows a 5-year old boy showing his collection), and several ages groups (from 5 up to 15). The appeal is global, which explains its quick adoption in non-US markets. The bands also give their owners a certain status and bargaining power among their peers.

Product strategy

Silly Bandz cleverly discontinues less popular shapes, while introducing new ones (e.g., Justin Bieber, Helllo Kitty, and iCarly).

Collecting and trading

Collectability always extends the lifespan of a fad. The longer the bands are collected, shared, and traded, the longer its product lifecycle (and income stream) will be.

Affordability and packaging

In a US retail store, Silly Bandz sell between $3 for a pack of 12 to $5 for a pack of 24 items.The product is affordable for the target group that has the spending power. As Croak puts it: "Let's face it. In a tough economy, any parent can afford to spend $5 to get their kid something they really want." The packaging is a small, no-nonsense, transparent plastic bag; "what you see is what you get".

Promotion

Croak uses social media for marketing buzz, including a blog. The Silly Bandz Facebook page has over 700,000 fans. Its Twitter feed has more than more than 15,000 followers. As Michael Lewis, CEO of Forever Collectibles points out: "it's 100% viral. When one kid finds it at a store, in two seconds the kid or his mother is on the phone texting that they've found them."

Additional Products

In addition to Silly Bandz, there are also Silly Ringz, Silly Necklace, SillyBandz Caribinerz, and Silly Buttons.

But Silly Bandz is facing two major threats:

Some schools have banned the silicon bands since they could pose a distraction (e.g., kids trading in class) or pose a physical danger (e.g., used as rubber bands to snap others).
Although Silly Bandz is trademarked, it was only a matter of time, until other brands would appear.

Silly Bandz has its share of imitations/competitors, e.g., Zanybandz and Crazy Bands.

But for now, Silly Bandz are still selling like crazy. Silly Bandz also seem to enter the adult market - as a flirtation tool. Singles at bars and clubs are slipping the object of their desire a Silly Band to show that they are interested in a stranger that they just met there. This could open a whole new market segment for Silly Bandz.

Disney launches its user-generated (UGC) marketing campaign

2010-09-25T13:47:00.012+01:00

Disney (DIS) is leveraging user-generated content for its marketing. The new Disney Parks’campaign will use visitors’ own home videos and snap shots. Disney dubbed its new marketing campaign "Let the Memories Begin". It works as follows. Consumers can post their content (photos, videos) on the website Disneyparks.com/memories or via the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Facebook pages.

This content is used (with permission of its creators) for a TV spot dubbed "Hugs" that premiered on the Today Show and will air on several networks, including CBS, ABC and Animal Planet. It consists of a video collage of happy children at Disney parks, with the tagline "Where Dreams Come True".

The print ads will appear in the November/December 2010 issues of People, Martha Stewart Living, Real Simple and Parents, among others.

Disney will also collect memories from consumers during a tour in major cities. A Disney vehicle will make appearances to conduct interviews with consumers.

The “Let the Memories Begin” campaign embraces all aspects of social media: messages are shared on the website, including photos, videos and texts that are categorized by theme, emotion and location. Participants can register on the new site and then a user is offered the ability to opt-in for future Disney e-mails that include “Let the Memories Begin” updates and other information on the parks. The functionality will also be a part of the Disney park pages on Facebook, YouTube and MySpace.

The next piece of the campaign will be when photos taken daily in the parks become projections at night on the Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World Resort or “it's a small world” at Disneyland resort. Disney photographers will capture guests and will display about 500 photos per location per day.

Disney states that it got the idea from its customers – according to Leslie Ferraro, Executive VP of global marketing, Disney Destinations: “the inspiration for this effort came from our guests. Each and every day people are making memories at our parks, posting them online and sharing them with friends and family."

Will it work? According to Forrester Research, consumer-generated content (USC) is still a fairly niche market.

But Disney is killing two birds with one stone. Firstly, Disney expects that its consumers will relate better to real people with real experiences, than to professional ads with professional actors. With the popularity of social media, a UGC marketing campaign is the way to go. Secondly, using (free) UGC saves a lot of marketing budget.

All in all, lots to gain with not much to lose.....

New social networks for enterprises: move over Yammer, Podio is coming!

2010-09-04T16:56:00.008+01:00

A friend of mine in the Netherlands told me about Yammer, a new social network for enterprises. She was checking it out for her organization (Visio).

For several companies I worked and freelanced for, I have been looking for a secure “in-company” platform. It seems that I finally found some.

Yammer is sort of a hybrid version of Facebook and Twitter that helps members of an organization to let their workers interact and collaborate. It works according to the freemium-model: to start a Yammer network is free; but to own, have control and administer data and content, an enterprise must pay between $3 to $5 per user/per month.

Yammer claims that it is being used by more than one million users and 80,000 companies worldwide for their internal communications. Yammer offers access in three ways – through web login, a desktop application, and mobile apps.

According to an excellent article on TechCrunch, Yammer (aka Twitter for business or as an enterprise microblogging platform) is facing stiff competition from Podio. To quote TechCrunch, Podio “is a full work platform with messaging, calendars, tasks and contact management, – not just another project management space.”

Podio describes itself as a ʻsocial work platformʼ similar to Facebook for companies. It claims to be a full work platform with messaging, calendars, tasks and contact management. It gives users the ability to build their own ‘apps’ without any technical knowledge, and allows for almost endless customization. According to Podio, over 2,000 apps have already been built by users, which include CRM systems, meeting planners, process facilitation, recruiting, contract drafting, and employee feedback.

Another new social network for enterprises is ZYB. ZYB describes itself as a mobile phone utility and social networking site. It started in 2005 as a European service to provide easy back-up services for mobile phones. ZYB leveraged the data set into building a social networking platform with Twitter-like location-based functions.

Yammer is not giving up, and announced the launch of Yammer 2.0. Yammer’s CEO and founder David Sacks believes that the ability to create a go-to corporate social network is a Facebook sized opportunity.

If this is the case, both Yammer and Podio will be targeted for acquisition by companies such as SalesForce or Google.

For now, the race between Yammer and Podio is on – to acquire enterprise customers.

The BBC Doctor Who website - a great example of a succesful relaunch

2010-06-08T18:37:00.004+01:00

The recent relaunch of the BBC Doctor Who website is an interesting case study for many reasons.

The BBC team in Wales was aware that the entire franchise was going through something of a regeneration. The new Doctor, his companion and the creative team on the show meant that changes to the tone of the brand were coming that had to be reflected in the website.

BBC’s brief was a simple: 'make the site the no.1 destination to experience the world of Doctor Who, past, present and future'. In web design terms, this translated into extending the reality of a show with such rich subject matter.

The website was then built in a way that became a platform to distribute originated content associated with Doctor Who. The goal was to ensure that Doctor Who would be more than the Saturday night TV program. It transformed into a 24/7 experience of which the online element is a key component.

From a technology point of view, the team utilized the new BBC Platform. The use of this new platform opened up a new suite of development tools. It enhanced the speed of the site and it allows for producing more dynamic and customizable content.

The new Global Visual Language enables to (literally) think big with designs, using the metaphors of time and depth within the site.

Together with R&D , the web design team realized a powerful way of engaging with narratives online, which helps to explore how to tell stories that don't fit into single Doctor Who episodes.

For content, the BBC accrued feedback from its audience from its 'red site'.

Feedback included:

The audience loves monsters. For this reason, a brand new section in the site for viewers to explore and learn more about them. Iconic foes like Daleks and Cybermen have had repeated encounters with the Doctor which is reflected within the sites designs.
The Doctor Who site is the destination for Doctor Who fans and the news section is important for two reasons: to deliver level production news (which is a key request from users) and to break important Doctor Who news stories.
The Fun & Games section of the site has a major priority; it's also extremely popular with the younger audience. A brand new look and feel was introduced to this section to keep it visually engaging and entertaining. The BBC is also working on the development of its own Adventure Games.
Past series are unlocked from archives and content is migrated to the new site.

The first phase is completed and the new site is available online now.

Startup providing “kwedit” to people without credit or debit cards

2010-05-20T09:49:00.005+01:00

Kwedit (pronounced qwe-dit) is a new startup. Its focus is to help teenagers and other people without credit or debit cards to buy virtual goods online. It works like credit: a buyer promises (Kwedit Promise) to pay later in order to get an item now. If the buyer keeps his (or her) promise, the buyer’s Kwedit score goes up. This will enable the buyer to borrow larger amounts of money. If, on the other hand, a buyer doesn’t fulfill his/her promise, the score will go down.

Since virtual goods have no “real” value, buyers real credit score (for credit card applications or for buying a house) is not affected and the debts are not enforceable. Kwedit can be paid off through the mail, by paying cash at 7-Eleven stores, or by using a credit card from a friend/parent.

According to Danny Shader, CEO of Kwedit, it could broaden the market for virtual items and even teach kids about real credit. Shader headed Accept.com (a developer of online payment systems) before Amazon.com Inc. bought it in 1999.

Kwedit is not the first company to come up with a payment system for those without credit or bank accounts. San Francisco-based Boku Inc. lets users pay for virtual goods using their mobile phones. And many stores sell prepaid cards that can be used for online purchases. Kwedit is currently available on 100 social games, and also as an option on Social Gold.

The target audience for Kwedit and Boku is large - according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., an estimated 9 million U.S. households have no checking or savings account - and thus no debit card to go with it.

The idea of virtual buying is appealing to many. Just look at the popularity of games such as "Farmville" and "Pet Society" where users play for free. It’s the sales of virtual add-ons such as seeds and farmland that rake in millions of dollars. According to social games developer Zynga said its players raised more than $1.5 million for Haiti earthquake victims in five days by purchasing virtual items.

If Kwedit’s business model will be successful, gaming companies will be quick to follow. But also companies providing virtual goods and services, such as online music, will embrace the concept. Michael Arrington of TechCrunch wrote: “I’d love to pay for music on iTunes or MySpace music via Kwedit. At some point, we may just be able to.”

We will have to wait and see…..

How to market on YouTube

2010-04-28T20:24:00.012+01:00

YouTube has been used by companies to market themselves. These “viral videos” include videos like Miss Teen South Carolina , Smirnoff’s Tea Partay music video, the Sony Bravia ads , Soulja Boy . These videos have traveled all around the internet and been posted on YouTube, MySpace, Google Video, Facebook, Digg, blogs, etc. They have been viewed millions and millions of times.

Marketing campaigns can harness promotional videos and become truly viral. To get at least 100,000 people to watch a company’s “viral” video, keep the following in mind.

Not all viral videos are what they seem
There are tens of thousands of videos uploaded to YouTube each day. A company needs to get at least 100,000 views to be considered successful; hopefully reaching 1.5 million views. In short, not all videos go viral organically – professional PR help might be needed.

Content is King (sort of)
If a company wants a truly viral video that will get millions of people to watch and share it, then content is king. But good content is not the only condition to get 100,000 views. A video must have a decent concept, an should not be forced to fit a brand. Rather, a brand should be fit into a great concept. Here are some guidelines:

Make it short: 15-30 seconds is ideal; break down long stories into bite-sized clips.

Don’t make an outright ad: if a video feels like an ad, viewers won’t share it unless it’s really amazing, such as Smirnoff’s Tea Partay.

Make it inviting: make sure to give a viewer a call to action, such as the Geico commercials.

Core Strategy: Getting onto the “Most Viewed” page
The core concept of video marketing on YouTube is to harness the power of the site’s traffic. The goal is to get a video on that Videos page, which lists the Daily Most Viewed videos. When being one of the twenty videos on the Most Viewed page, it means that it grabs 1/20th of the clicks on that page. The higher up on the page the video is, the more views it will get.

To ensure the first 50,000 views onto the Most Viewed list:

Blogs: reaching out to individuals who run relevant blogs and actually entice them to post the embedded video or the relating URL.

Forums: embed the link to the video in a post as part of a relevant threat. Although a bit tedious and time-consuming, it can have a tremendous effect when done properly.

MySpace: Plenty of users allow people to embed YouTube videos right in the comments section of their MySpace pages.

Facebook: Sharing a video with friends lists can have a real impact. Another option is to create an event that announces the video launch and invite friends, writing notes and tagging friends, or posting the video on Facebook Video with a link back to the original YouTube video.

Email lists: sending the video to email lists, including employees. Announce the launch of the video and tell recipients that they can forward the link. This can be a very effective strategy, leveraging the viral effect.

Each video has a shelf life of 48 hours before it’s moved from the Daily Most Viewed list to the Weekly Most Viewed list, so it’s important that this happens quickly. Once a video is on the Most Viewed page, the number of views must be maximized. People see hundreds of videos on YouTube, and the title and thumbnail are an easy way for video publishers to actively persuade someone to click on a video.

Titles can be changed a limitless number of times. For starters, the title can include phrases such as “exclusive” or “behind the scenes,” or “funny video.” Later on, the title can change to something more relevant to the brand.

If a video is sitting on the Most Viewed page with nineteen other videos, a compelling video thumbnail is the single best strategy to maximize the number of clicks the video gets. YouTube provides three choices for a video’s thumbnail, one of which is grabbed from the exact middle of the video. The frame at the very middle must therefore be interesting. The thumbnail should be high res and ideally it should have a face or at least a person/animal in it.

Strategic Tagging
YouTube allows for tagging videos with keywords that make the videos show up in relevant searches. Tags can also be used to control the videos that show up in the Related Videos box. Ideally, the tags are unique, and are not used by any other YouTube videos. Done correctly, this will for full control over the videos that show up as "Related Videos".
Once views start trailing off after a few days to a week, it’s time to add some more generic tags, tags that draw out the long tail of a video as it starts to appear in search results on YouTube and Google.

Metrics/Tracking: measuring effectiveness
Tweak the links on YouTube (whether in a YouTube channel or in a video description) by adding “?video=1” to the end of each URL. This makes it much easier to track inbound links using Google Analytics or another metrics tool. TubeMogul and VidMetrix also track views/comments/ratings on each individual video and generate graphs for review. These tools also follow the viral spread of a video outside of YouTube and throughout other social media sites and blogs.

Article Marketing

2010-02-08T15:36:00.003Z

One of the best ways to promote a company is with opinion articles. Many magazines (online and hard copy) welcome well-written articles. These articles should not be biased though – nobody wants to read a (blatant) sales pitch. As marketing professions will tell you – educating your target audience/potential customers is an effective marketing strategy.

Before starting to write, identify the target audience. Who are the readers of the magazine you want to send the article to? What are their interests? Do you have a direct connection to the editor, or only via a PR company? Does the magazine allow hyperlinks? Do they also want original illustrations? In short – do your homework!

Many marketing and copywriters ghostwrite – they write the opinion pieces for a company’s CEO, CMO or CTO, and when published, it will be under their name.

Points of attention when writing an opinion piece:

It must be informative. The reader should learn something from reading the article.
It must be interesting. The text should flow and keep the reader interested to go on reading.
It must be based on facts, and not assumptions. References to recent events that were covered in the global media are a good hook, as are reports of leading analysts such as Gartner and Forrester.
It must be neutral. As mentioned before, nobody wants to read a sales pitch. A neutral article covering new or future trends, or “how to…” articles are popular. At the end of the year, articles about predictions for the coming year are in demand.
It should have hyperlinks (if allowed by the newspaper), footnotes and references. It makes the article trustworthy and increases the chance for publication.
Most magazines will ask for illustrations. Try to have original images in high resolution. No matter what industry you are in, the chance that your competitors use the same stock photos is high. Diagrams are always popular in tech pieces, as are product photos. Make sure to send different photos to various magazines – don’t forget, they all want to have original content!
Custom write your story tailored to each magazine. Sending the same article to several tech mags is professional suicide, especially in today’s viral media.
Make sure to put a short bio with contact details at the bottom of the article.
Follow up. Once you see that your article in published, drop a thank-you note to the magazine (or journalist). Blog and tweet about it, and make sure to include the URL of the publication.

Happy writing! For more information, visit www.tiptopwriter.com

Using the Obamas as a marketing asset

2010-01-22T14:23:00.006Z

The Obamas are a marketing asset – as quite a few companies and organizations know. Going by the assumption “it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission”, they use the Obamas in their PR.

The outdoor clothes company Weatherproof noticed that the President was wearing one of their coats when photographed on the Great Wall of China. The company promptly used this news picture for the advertisement touting the tagline 'A Leader In Style'. In the pic, Obama stands alone in a strike, rugged pose – perfect for the company’s image and brand. The picture was taken by the Associated Press, and the clothes company bought the right to use it in an advert. They promptly turned it into a giant-sized photograph on a Times Square billboard. Although Weatherproof did not seek permission from the White House, claiming it didn’t need to since the billboard does not claim Mr Obama endorses the product.

Freddie Stollmack, CEO of Weatherproof stated: 'He didn't come to us. It's just a great looking jacket on a great looking president. Mr Stollmack said he thinks the White House should congratulate his company for making Mr Obama look so good. We did this in good faith. This is an image that we thought would enhance the President of the United States.' He added that although another advertising company had accepted the billboard, the New York Times, the New York Post and Women's Wear Daily had all rejected a similar advert for their newspapers.

The White House was not amused. Deputy press secretary Bill Burton said that the White House has a long-standing policy that disapproves of the use of President Obama's name and likeness for commercial purposes.

But also Mrs. Obama has been used for PR purposes –without her position. PETA used her image in a new ad. PETA states that the first lady has committed to not wearing fur and "the world should know that in PETA's eyes that makes her pretty fabulous." The anti-fur poster features an image of the U.S. First Lady along with presenter Oprah Winfrey, singer Carrie Underwood and supermodel Tyra Banks, under the slogan 'fur-free and fabulous!'

The image that the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals used is the one from her first official White House portrait, taken in February last year. Ingrid Newkirk, president of PETA, confirmed that PETA had not asked for Mrs. Obama's permission to use the portrait, since they knew the First Lady could not officially endorse an anti-fur campaign advert. PETA also insisted, that they used her image in its Washington advertising campaign based on White House confirmation that she does not wear fur. The new adverts featuring Mrs. Obama appeared in Washington's Metro stations, magazines and PETA's website.

It is unclear whether the White House can prevent companies from using the Obamas’ images in advertising campaigns. Shortly after he took office last year, the White House launched a crackdown on 'Brand Obama' and insisted on control over the merchandising free-for-all in the wake of his inauguration. But it is difficult to enforce, especially since the chances for companies and organizations (especially outside of the US) to be sued are slim. Low cost, low risk, huge impact - a marketing dream come true…as the following clip shows....

Tweeting all the way to the bank

2010-01-18T18:32:00.003Z

Celebrities used to tweet about their day-to-day life. “I must have pinched a nerve in my neck, I can hardly look to my left. I will pass on my workout today. I need a massage.”

But now, celebs have found out that tweeting-for-money is worth while. Top earner is socialite Kim Kardashian, who commands $10,000 per tweet. Her tweets include a Nestle commercial, and the background on her Twitter page features the fast-food chain Carl’s Jr. The number of followers (KK boasts a formidable 2.7 million), is the key to profitability.

Dr. Drew Pinsky (more than 1.8 million followers) promo-tweets include endorsements for Sonos music systems and Gogo’s in-flight Wi-Fi. Greg Grunberg (of Heroes fame, nearly 1.5 million followers) tweets about the Yowza iPhone application multiple times a day – for an estimated $ 7,000 and $ 10,000 per tweet. (In all fairness, he donates his twitter bounty to charity).

The deal broker between celebs and companies is ad.ly. According to Sean Rad, CEO of Ad.ly, the likes of Britney Spears or P. Diddy could earn up to $20,000 per tweet, should they ever go for Ad.ly’s pay-per-tweet model.

By law, celebs have to disclose if they are tweeting for money or just for fun/adoration/kicks. The FTC regulation applies to all bloggers, so cave bloggerati!

An FTC-compliant tweet looks like this:
U guys have to watch [http://bit.ly/] Dancing w Stars champ @ShawneyJ backflips over speeding bobsled! Pretty cool! (Ad) 10:59 AM Dec 29th, 2009 from Ad.ly Network

Violation comes with a steep price tag: up to $ 11,000 in fines. The FTC is on the lookout, stating: "celebrities have a duty to disclose their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media”.

As it looks now, we might see a juicy Twittergate scandal in 2010….

The power of Facebook – the Pears soap campaign

2010-01-09T16:30:00.003Z

Pears clear soap is a product consisting of a 221-year-old formula. It is also the world's first registered brand, and boasts a loyal customer base.

Recently, Pears decided to change its age-old formula, changing and extending the number of ingredients and adding chemicals. The original Pears soap contains just eight ingredients, including rosemary and thyme extracts and “Pears fragrance essence”. The new soap replaced these with 24 new ingredients.

Customers labeled the new soap as “smelling and feeling disgusting”. The new soap, which is made in India, smelled strongly of frankincense, rather than the old “mild and spicy herbal fragrance”.

When customers found out that most shops were only selling the new variety, they started a Facebook campaign to force the makers of Pears Transparent Soap to abandon a new recipe after claims the formula. The group, called Bring Back The Original Pears Soap, was achieved what it wanted - the owners of the brand Hindustan Unilever Ltd (based in Mumbai) have agreed to produce something “much closer to the old soap” from March 2010.

The Pears case teaches us some important marketing lessons:

If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. If customers are happy with the product, don’t try to change it.
Brand loyalty. Pears has built a loyal customer base throughout the ages and over generations based on its unique product.
Customers are active and vocal. In the age of Web 2.0, customers have the power to use social networks to get their point across. Journalists pick up stories from social networks; hence the huge impact of this small Facebook group.

Avatar – the marketing success of an expensive blockbuster

2010-01-04T15:51:00.002Z

The blockbuster Avatar has passed the US$ 1 billion mark during the first weekend of 2010 – an achievement only a handful of other movies were able to realize. The latest 20th Century Fox’s blockbuster was costly and complex to make. The accountants at the movie studio will be crunching numbers for the next few months to find out if investing in James Cameron’s Avatar will turn a hefty profit.

It is hard to determine the final cost of the movie – various numbers are flying around. The New Yorker quotes $230 million, while the New York Times estimates the total cost to be close to $500 million. Quite likely, the official budget lies somewhere in between – at $280 million for the production, plus marketing costs.

James Gianopulos, co-chairman and C.E.O. of Fox Filmed Entertainment, told CNN in early December: “it is the most expensive film we’ve made, but now, having the luxury of hindsight, it is money well spent, so I’m not concerned about it.”

However, a movie budget is limited to the production costs. In other words, it comprises of the wages of the actors, crew and special effects people. Marketing expenses, such as advertisements (billboards, trailers, etc.), promotion (events), merchandise (action figures, apparel, etc.) are not included in the movie budget.

In the case of Avatar, Fox cleverly shared the production costs with investor groups Dune Capital Management and Ingenious Film Partners to hedge the risk. They also took advantage of a tax credit in New Zealand (similar to Lord of the Rings), where they shot the live-action footage that comprises about a third of the film. These savings are estimated at $30 million. Fox is responsible for the marketing (around $150 million).

Avatar has it unique selling point (USP) – it boasts own 3D technologies, courtesy of Cameron who invested his own money and got backed by investors. They already got their investments back: the 3D cameras have been licensed for use in other films. Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are making their 2011 film, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, using Avatar’s motion-capture tools.

From the movie industry’s perspective, much of Avatar’s value lies in the film’s ability to motivate cinema owners to convert to 3D screens, which would translate into an additional price increase of a movie ticket by $3-to-$5. Furthermore, blockbusters Star Wars and Titanic are slated to be released again in 3D at an investment of $30 million per movie, and an increase in consumer electronics sales of flat-screen 3D TVs is anticipated.

Depending of the profitability of Avatar, Cameron already has the next two Avatar sequels plotted out. A lot will depend on Avatar’s global appeal. Although the US media are focusing on the earning sin the domestic market, it will be Europe, Russia, India, and China that will contribute to the movie’s bottom line. In its first three weeks, Avatar has earned twice as much overseas as domestically. This success is contributed to the marketing genius of Cameron, who zoomed in on the anti-American feelings abroad.

One thing is for sure – both 20th Century Fox and Cameron will be laughing all the way to the bank.

The innovative marketing strategy of a small law firm

2009-12-22T10:28:00.006Z

One of the best innovative marketing strategies I recently came across, is the brainchild of the Cueto Law Group. This Miami, Florida-based law firm allows its clients to pay up to 20 percent of their legal fees with carbon credits. (Click here for the press release)

Carbon credit trade work as follows: a fixed, high penalty rate is applied to emissions that exceed a set target and firms are free to buy qualifying credits on the open market to bring their balance below the target level. The price of carbon on the open market will vary from scheme to scheme but is guaranteed to be lower than the penalty rate. Hence an upper bound is set for the price of carbon and classical market efficiencies force the real price of carbon emissions as low as possible. Carbon credits thus represent permits to emit climate-warming greenhouse gases. One carbon credit unit is commonly equal to one ton of carbon dioxide emissions.

Under the law firm’s program called “CO Too,” its clients can pay with carbon credits which the company can then trade in the international carbon markets.

"Our CO Too program is a way to help the environment, while at the same time providing an alternative way for clients to pay for professional services. We are proud to be leading the legal industry in this initiative,” said Santiago A. Cueto from the law firm.

Mr. Cueto went on to say that he is optimistic that other industries will follow their lead.
The law firm said carbon credits have gained significance as a legitimate currency with which to transact business.

"The current economic climate is a golden opportunity for the professional services industry to develop new ways to tackle global emissions,” Cueto said adding that credits represent a “paradigm shift” in the way business is transacted.

The global carbon credit market was valued at $126 billion in 2008. The World Bank estimates that the market could grow up to $150 billion by the end of 2009.

The Cueto Law Group consists of Santiago A. Cueto and his associate in Lima, Peru. Established in June, 2009 they are largely doing litigation for international clients with U.S. problems.

Cueto obviously knows a thing or two about marketing – his website is a textbook example of the latest trend in corporate website design, including news feeds, blog, etc.
His timing is also impeccable – he launched his “CO Too” program during the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference 2009.

Although no clients took Cueto up on his offer yet, the media impact was great. Prominent WSJ blogger Ashby Jones interviewed Cueto and quite a few eco magazines picked up the story, including Ecoseed and Mother Nature Network.

It shows how a clever marketing idea announced in a press release distributed via PR Newswire can put a small law firm firmly on the map.

(illustration courtesy of Rodger Schultz)

Article Marketing

2009-12-20T17:33:00.004Z

One of the best ways to promote a company is with opinion articles. Many magazines (online and print) welcome well-written articles. These articles should not be biased though – nobody wants to read a (blatant) sales pitch. As marketing professions will tell you – educating your target audience/potential customers is an effective marketing strategy.

Before starting to write, identify the target audience. Who are the readers of the magazine you want to send the article to? What are their interests? Do you have a direct connection to the editor, or only via a PR company? Does the magazine allow hyperlinks? Do they also want original illustrations? In short – do your homework!

Many marketing and copywriters ghostwrite – they write the opinion pieces for a company’s CEO, CMO or CTO, and when published, it will be under their name.

Points of attention when writing an opinion article:

It must be informative. The reader should learn something from reading the article.
It must be interesting. The text should flow and keep the reader interested to go on reading.
It must be based on facts, and not assumptions. References to recent events that were covered in the global media are a good hook, as are reports of leading analysts such as Gartner and Forrester.
It must be neutral. As mentioned before, nobody wants to read a sales pitch. A neutral article covering new or future trends, or “how to…” articles are popular. At the end of the year, articles about predictions for the coming year are in demand.
It should have hyperlinks (if allowed by the newspaper), footnotes and references. It makes the article trustworthy and increases the chance for publication.
Most magazines will ask for illustrations. Try to have original images in high resolution. No matter what industry you are in, the chance that your competitors use the same stock photos is high. Diagrams are always popular in tech pieces, as are product photos. Make sure to send different photos to various magazines – don’t forget, they all want to have original content!
Custom write your story, tailored to each magazine. Sending the same article to several tech mags is professional suicide, especially in today’s viral media.
Make sure to put a short bio with contact details at the bottom of the article.
Follow up. Once you see that your article in published, drop a thank-you note to the magazine (or journalist). Blog and tweet about it, and make sure to include the URL of the publication.

To see an example of an opinion article, click here

Google's real-time search - a search engine marketing dream come true?

2009-12-09T16:39:00.011Z

Google announced the rollout of its new real-time search function. Search results will incorporate real-time content from Twitter feeds, blog posts, online news content, Facebook status updates, and content from MySpace , FriendFeed, and Jaiku.

According to Google, the latest results and the search options are also designed for iPhone and Android devices for info-on-the-go.

With this move, Google also tries to stay ahead of its main competitor - Microsoft's Bing that already has a real-time search function.

With its real-time search, Google will change SEO forever.

More and more companies will be "forced" to use social media to get the exposure they want and to keep ahead of the competition.
SEO and marketing experts will now have a plethora of new opportunities for SEO and marketing, since keywords and search terms will also be found in real-time news content, tweets, etc.
Companies need to be aware what content and information they release online, especially if they have to company with regulatory rules and regulations (SOX, HIPAA)
Users of social media have to be even more careful what to post on their Facebook page and what they tweet about. They can be hold liable for disclosing info without permission.
Facebook users have to be aware that info on their public profile will be found in real-time.

It is too soon to predict what the impact on SEO will be, but it looks like a search engine marketing dream come true....

How Freddo, an 80-year old frog, broke the mold - twice

2009-08-02T13:58:00.005+01:00

On July 6, Cadbury launched its Freddo campaign, featuring Freddo’s first adventure: The Secret of the Golden Keys.

Freddo is the brainchild of Harry Melbourne, a chocolate mold maker at MacRobertson Chocolates, who told his boss in 1930 that frog-shaped chocolate would sell better than those shaped like mouse (the original concept). After making a sample and send to management, the marketing manager declared it a winner and history in the shape of Freddo, was born.

Eighty years later, more than 100 million Freddo chocolate frogs in a variety of flavors are produced in Australia each year. On its 80th birthday, Freddo is hopping into cyberspace with a series of interactive stories and games designed to stimulate and educate children to mark the occasion.

Cadbury (who acquired the Freddo rights in 1965), stated: "We designed The Adventures of Freddo as a free website which aims to educate and entertain children in the digital environment, a medium this generation is so familiar and comfortable with, using a more modern version of the cheeky, loveable frog that their parents and grandparents grew up with."

But not everybody is charmed by Freddo. Activists against junk food advertising claim that it exploits loopholes in the self-regulation system to market chocolate to children.

There are currently three codes regulating the advertising of unhealthy foods to children in Australia:

the Children's Television Standards that are part of broadcasting legislation;
the Australian Association of National Advertiser's codes on advertising foods, beverages and on marketing to children;
RCMI, which food companies started in January 2009 Cadbury (NYSE: CBY) admits that Freddo chocolates are part of its "pre-teen" product range, but says that the campaign itself does not feature any chocolate, is educational, and encourages an active lifestyle.

Cadbury’s marketing motives are clear, and include launching Freddo internationally if he breaks sales records at home in Australia and New Zealand.
Cadbury obviously has a very good legal team on board. Since the Freddo character is a Cadbury trademark and there are no chocolate products showing in the animated films, the company does not appear to be breaching any rules in the various codes. Cadbury cleverly doesn’t actively market to children aged 12 (and under) and thus abides by its own action plan registered under the RCMI (Responsible Children’s Marketing Initiative).

Kate Watson, Cadbury’s spokesperson claims: "We're marketing to parents. Parents are the gatekeepers. Kids can't go on the website without parents registering the kids.”

Cadbury (and its legal team) must have been pleased when the Australian Senate voted down a bill down that would have banned junk food advertising to children. Our 80-year old amphibian friend broke the mold trice, and for sure will keep on enticing the next generation of Australian kids - with the help of its parent Cadbury.

A grasshopper’s marketing leap

2009-06-17T12:58:00.002+01:00

Grasshopper, an 800 phone number provider for small businesses in the US, rebranded itself. To advertise the new name (they were previously known as GotVMail) and brand, they grafted a clever marketing strategy.

They started with compiling a list of the 5,000 most influential people in the US. It included influential bloggers, journalists, celebrities, TV anchors, and CEOs (Pete Cashmore, Adam Ostrow, and Tamar Weinberg).

Then they created a package to be sent by snail mail consisting of real chocolate covered grasshoppers ( a wink to their new name) with a simple message and video URL. The URL linked to an inspirational YouTube video about how entrepreneurs can change the world.

The packages were shipped out by FedEx last May. Some of the recipients (Josh Lohensohn of CNET) posted videos online of themselves eating the grasshopper. The campaign created a lot of buzz, especially on blogs and Twitter.

Some data (source: mashable.com):

4,911% traffic increase from April to May 2009
144,843 video views with 162 comments
1,500 tweets- 120 blog posts in one month
Tweets from Guy Kawasaki, Kevin Rose, and Jason Calacanis
7 national TV mentions, including FOX

What are the success factors?

A sound concept
This was not just a renaming/rebranding, but a repositioning of the company. Needham-based GotVMail Communications LLC is a maker of communication systems for small businesses. They wanted to relaunch their company targeting entrepreneurship – a shift from being a telecommunications company to a company that helped entrepreneurs.

A theme that makes sense
The company chose the grasshopper to communicate the idea of jumping forward. Since grasshoppers can jump 20 times their own size, they nicely symbolize small businesses (their potential customers) that want to leap forward.

Flawless execution
The grasshoppers were farm-raised insects and dipped in chocolate. They were very professional packaged and clearly stated what was inside.

The front of the envelope said:
“Yes, these are real grasshoppers. Approved by the FDA of Thailand”.

On the back was written:
“You’re a risk-taker, a dream-realizer. What’s left to do that you haven’t already done? Eat a grasshopper. They’re farm raised, covered in chocolate and rich in protein. So, not only will you be breaking boundaries, but you’ll be eating healthy, too.”

The call to action was on the attached tag:
Entrepreneurs can change the world. Join the movement now!http://grasshopper.com/idea

Perfect marketing mix
This campaign combines a snail mail FedEx package with word of mouth (WOM) and social media. The landing page of the video URL made it easy for postings on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other sites using an AddThis widget.

Attainable goals
The Grasshopper campaign was able to achieve its main goals with a small budget:

To get attention
To hold interest
To get people talking
To be considered as a supplier

No word if PETA was among the 5,000…..

Corporate website 3.0 – Skittles brave jump into the marketing future

2009-06-11T12:42:00.003+01:00

Skittles went where no candy maker has gone before – and launched a corporate 3.0 website.

Skittles are candy products, produced by Mars, Inc., and part of the Wrigley product line.

Mars spokesman Ryan Bowling told the Wall Street Journal, that the site was redesigned to better connect with its core teenage audience, which spends a lot of time using social media. "The teen audience relies heavily on their peers for advice on products. This is a unique, unexpected way to engage and to be a part of the conversation."

How does this site work? The “homepage” of Skittles is a small banner that fixes itself on the top left of your screen. No matter which tab you click, the URLs remain www.skittles.com/xxx.
The tabs link to customer-generated content (Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter)

1. “Home” and “Products” link to the Wikipedia page with the product description

2. “Media” has two components: “Videos” that links to YouTube and “Pics” that links to Flickr

3. “Chatter” brings you to the Twitter page

4. “Friends” links you to a Facebook page

5. “Contact” is the only tab that connects to a standard corporate website – the contact form on the Wrigley website

6. “Other Gobbledygook” will take you to the copyright notice and legal disclaimer

7. The middle part is a dynamic banner. Once you click for more information, a new window opens with a dedicated website ( e.g., http://www.havemorefunds.com/)

It is the first time that I came across such a website 3.0 of a reigning consumer brand. Instead of Skittles reaching out to its customers, it allows them to communicate directly and in a highly visible way. There are some possible pitfalls and dangers though......

Does the website reach the target demographics?
To enter the site, you must first confirm that you are over 18. (Before able to login, you get the message: “Hold your horses. Before you can check out Skittles.com, you’ve gotta tell us your age. So spill it”. Aren’t most Skittles-consumers younger?

Is Twitter a good choice?
According to Peter Corbett, CEO of iStrategyLabs, there are no children on Twitter - the majority of application-users are between the ages of 18-49 years of age. Is Mars aiming for the parents of their child consumers or for a whole new demographic?

How are negative comments handled?
Is there a staff that monitors content and communications and that can handle damage control? How does Skittles/Mars protect themselves and their customers from malware and Web 2.0 threats?It is quite easy for cybercrooks to inject malicious code in any of the pages. (Michael Gray provides some great advise on his SEO blog)

What about SEO?
The site consists of an iframe with almost no independent content. Technically, Facebook, Twitter or Wikipedia are not visited, but the Skittles’ website pulls the content for you into an iframe.

How will it affect the overall Mars brand?
Did the flood of obscene, racist, and otherwise tasteless tweets have an impact?

The website was launched in March 2009 and designed by agency.com. According to agency’s executive director Chad Stoller: “It is a very bold campaign in the sense that they are letting consumers speak on behalf of the brand."

My personal take: I love the fact that Skittles embraced Web 3.0 and is brave enough to relinquish control. But it might too much unchartered territory with unpredictable and even uncontrollable results. I hope that Skittles will tell us how they fared – up till now, there have been no announcements or reactions from Mars or the agency. No matter what, I predict that this one will make it many MBA course materials and marketing handbooks.

In the mean time, all I can say is: chapeau!

Chinese Web Marketing – A case study from Money Cat

2009-06-04T16:14:00.004+01:00

Money Cat Consulting is and Australian multi-lingual marketing company.
It provides innovative marketing solutions for corporations wishing to reach Chinese communities in Australia and abroad.

They launched a Chinese-language financial & investment website (http://www.moneycat.com.au), to reach Chinese investors.

To reach out and acquire members, they used various marketing & PR tools – with different levels of success.When reaching for the Chinese market, these are the lessons that we can learn from Money Cat.

Using newspapers is very expensive with a very low response rate. Especially advertisements have little effect, but some advertorials can generate a good level of interest depending on the specific product.
Web banners can work sometimes, but they usually have a limited exposure period. It can be a good tool for branding, but Chinese web users do not click a lot on web banners anymore.
Google Adword-campaign is not effective for reaching the Chinese market – the favorite search engine is Baidu. Google Adword and Yahoo keywords do work in Taiwan and Hong Kong, where English is is predominant Web language.
Taiwanese websites are effective as a marketing channel, since many Chinese web users also look at Taiwanese websites for information. Especially articles on consumer goods and finance are popular.
Blogs are highly effective, it generates consistent traffic. Chinese web users love to read and write blogs. Money Cat sent an article to 200+ blogs across Asia (and Australia), and saw their traffic grown tenfold in a month. However, it is important to target the right blogs for the right topics.
Videos and Audios can be effective, but bandwidth is still a problem. Broadband infrastructure is not yet fully established across China, and quality is often distorted. Money Cat opted to upload video clips on Taiwanese and Hong Kong websites that can also be accessed by Chinese viewers.

Mayo de Cinco Marketing Mania

2009-05-06T12:05:00.002+01:00

Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of the victory of the Mexican people over the French army in the La Batalla de Puebla on May 5th, at Puebla, Mexico.(Puebla is 100 miles east of Mexico City). It should not be confused with Mexico’s Independence Day.

The reason why Cinco de Mayo became such a national celebration in the US is a nice lesson in marketing.

It started in 1966, when Coors Brewing Co. was facing a crisis. Chicano activists began protesting against the employment discrimination against Latinos working at Coors breweries and called for a boycott of Coors beer. Not exactly the corporate image you want for your company.

Coors did some brilliant crisis marketing – they started sponsoring Cinco de Mayo. It served multiple purposes: it kept them on the good side of their ethnic workforce; they kept their Latino customer base, and they bumped up their May beer sales to college students.

That’s the reason why Cinco de Mayo celebrations mainly take place across the U.S. and only locally in Mexico. The US-based Hispanic advertising community uses it as great promotional opportunity for their clients – promoting a wide range of products, including alcohol. Since Cinco de Mayo has been warmly embraced by the US population as a whole, there are now marketing campaigns galore.

A small selection:

1) The Food Network tells its consumers how to get ready for Cinco de Mayo – with a Rachel Ray fajita pan and a corn zipper

2) The Fine Living Network sends their customers 10 margarita recipes

3) Maxim magazine invites its readers to pick their favorite Mexican hottie

This year, Cinco de Mayo marketing activities got a setback. Many Cinco de Mayo festivals got canceled across the U.S. because of swine flu. Unfortunately, anti-Mexican sentiment also reared its ugly head in some places.

Similar to St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo has become a marketing tool for many companies – especially alcohol companies.

Rest me to wish you all a fun Cinco de Mayo, but please be responsible - don’t drink and drive!(illustration by courtesy of TMN).

How do you promote a tourist destination during a recession? By linking it to a global job hunt!

2009-02-24T14:02:00.005Z

To promote their Great Barrier Reef, Tourism Queensland launched in January 2009 a highly successful marketing campaign to get media exposure. They announced that they were looking for a caretaker for the Great Barrier Reef. Job applicants were cordially invited to apply for their Barrier Reef “dream job”.
According to the especially created website www.islandreefjob.com, the “best job in the world” is Island Caretaker, living on the Hamilton Island.

The job is for 6 months, with a salary of Euro 10,000. The real work is to create weekly blogs, keep a photo diary, make video updates and conduct ongoing media interviews to promote “the wondrous Islands of the Great Barrier Reef”. With wonderful tongue-in-cheek humor, additional duties are listed as: feed the fish (since there are over 1,500 species living there, they pretty much feed each other), clean the pool (an automatic filter is in place) and collect the mail (by joining the aerial postal service).

Applicants were invited to apply by sending video – close to 35,000 respondents from 200 countries followed up. To make sure that the videos were not boring, the advertising agency (CumminsNitro in Brisbane responsible for the campaign) posted a (fake) video showing “Tegan” (one of their employees) getting a tattoo of the Great Barrier Reef to show her devotion to the tourist destination.

The focus will now turn to short-listing the Top 50, which will be announced on the Island Dream Job website on Tuesday, March 3. The Top 50 will be narrowed down to a final 11. In a clever marketing gimmick, 10 candidates will be short listed by Tourism Queensland, while an 11th 'wild card' applicant will be chosen by popular vote, thus guaranteeing ongoing media coverage. These eleven applicants will be flying to Hamilton Island in early May 2009 to take part in the final selection process. The final selection will be announced on May 6.

The applicants neatly represent the targeted tourist population. The highest number of applicants came from the United States, followed by Canada, Great Britain and Australia. Applicants are all ages, nationalities and come from all walks of life – including writers, tour guides, marine biologists, environmentalists, students, bloggers, mums and dads and retirees and celebrities such as an Amazing Race winner, a New Zealand travel show host and a former Young Australian of the Year.

The main question remains if the costs justify the results. One this is already clear – it put Hamilton Island firmly on the (media) world map!

Legal oversight, marketing blunder or a stroke of marketing genius?

2009-01-07T07:27:00.002Z

On Election Day last November, Starbucks launched a one day marketing campaign. It offered a free 12 oz. drip coffee to anyone who voted. However, this is illegal in the US. Federal law prohibits payment of money, goods or services in return for voting. Starbucks advertised the voter promotion on television during the comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live (for a brilliant spoof of the coffee chain click here).

Starbucks did some quick crisis management issued the following statement:“To ensure we are in compliance with election law, we are extending our offer to all customers who request a tall brewed coffee."

As a result the wires buzzed with, "Did you hear about Starbucks?" which went hand in hand with: "Do you think Obama will win? "Theis kind of viral buzz is a marketer's dream. Starbucks profited big time from their freebie:

Many that came in for the free coffee left with purchased sandwiches, cookies or muffins.
Others opted to upgrade their free plain coffee for a fancy grande mocha frappuccino latte or espresso.
The Starbucks brand was plastered all over the media

The question remains if Starbucks made an honest mistake (in which case they should fire their legal advisor) or if it was a clever marketing ploy (in which case they should promote that marketing professional to a senior management position).

Quite likely, it was a case of an eager marketing beaver running off with a campaign without clearing it with legal first. If that is so, Starbucks presented us with a wonderful example of effective crisis management.

Although it turned out great for Starbucks in the end, I strongly advise all companies (regardless of industry or location) to run all planned marketing, sales or PR campaigns via their legal department or advisor before launch. This is even more critical if the company operates internationally.

PETA’s rebranding of fish – will its Sea Kitten marketing campaign work?

2008-10-29T10:36:00.004Z

PETA is known for its often provocative and controversial campaigns, such as comparing factory farming to the Holocaust.

In its latest campaign, it tries to convince the public that fish are capable of showing physical affection, of feeling pain and of grieving when their companions die. They are in PETA’s opinion not different from pets such as dogs and cats.Since fish are not furry and cuddly, PETA tries to change the public image of fish from slithery and slimy to cute. Similar to happy Disney characters, it launched a website featuring “Finding Nemo”- like Sea Kittens.

Aimed at small children, the website allows its visitors to create and name their own Sea Kittens.

There is also a section on the website with (rather scary) bedtime stories trying to get the PETA point across. One of the stories read: “Tony the Trout is the smartest Sea Kitten in his school. Already litter-trained at 2 months old, Tommy went on to double-major in neuroscience and environmental studies at Clamford University, eventually graduating with honors. When Tony is caught and fed to a precocious young child who, having eaten one mercury-filled sea kitten too many, falls to the bottom of his class, the irony is not lost on him.”

A spokeswoman of PETA explained, that "If everyone started calling fish 'Sea Kittens,' they'd be a lot less likely to violently kill them for food, painfully hook them for 'sport,' or cruelly confine them to aquariums. When your name can also be used as a verb that means driving a hook through your head, it’s time for a serious image makeover.”

PETA kicked off its marketing campaign at the beginning of October 2008 at a school in Fayetteville, NC. As a gimmick, a huge Sea Kitten welcomed the children, explaining that Sea Kittens are just like puppies and kittens and should not be eaten. As part of the marketing campaign, PETA launched a petition calling for the US Fish and Wildlife Service to abandon its backing for fishing (or Sea Kitten hunting in PETA’s language).

Will the campaign work? Doubtful…….

How I see it, the main “mistake” of the campaign is its target group. PETA wants to stop fishing, which per definition is an activity not conducted by totlers. The best what PETA will achieve is changing the eating habits of the little ones, which will disrupt a balanced diet. It is doubtful that school cafeterias serve fish as a whole, including heads and fins. It’s hard to make the connection between a fish finger and a real fish/Sea Kitten. Fish is also a main food source for many communities, and is a great source of omega-3 fatty-acid which helps reducing the risk of breast cancer.

Furthermore, no matter how you look at it, fish are just not cute! Even the biggest dog or lion has a high hugging factor: nice fur and two eyes looking straight at you. Fish have pointy heads with two large eyes on each side, staring unblinkingly at you (whether dead or alive – as we all know from eating trout in restaurants). They are scaly and cold-blooded, which makes it not exactly appealing to touch. Being cold-blooded and living in water it can hardly strive to become our favorite pet. It is also difficult to relate to the mood of fish – how do they show that they are unhappy? They don't growl, purr or bark... (OK, they do show anger, if I rememberJaws or Moby Dick correctly) And there is the “fish-eats-fish” angle; big fish eat shoals of little ones, which don’t score high on the cuteness scale.

The main result of the current campaign is its high entertainment value. Apart from creating our own silly Sea Kitten (see illustration), many of us are making relentlessly fun of PETA’s Sea Kitten in articles and on blogs. It downgrades the campaign to a Jessica Simpson-like gaffe level, similar to her "Is this chicken or is this tuna?" question while looking at a can of Chicken of the Sea tuna on her reality show. As Michael Pearce of the Wichita Eagle pointed out in his hilarious article, calling fish “Sea Kitten” needs some serious rewriting. He pointed out that according to the New Testament; Christ fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread and “Sea Kittens”; not to mention the fact that several of his disciples were Sea Kitten hunters. Oy!

Marketing during economic turbulence

2008-10-14T10:34:00.002+01:00

In times of an economic recession (and especially during a depression) marketing is the business area that is normally hit hard. When companies want to cut cost or downsize, it’s to the marketing budget, expenses and department they look first.
However, this is a strategic mistake. To adapt to the new economic reality, companies need their marketing professionals to analyze their current market position and to find out what their best strategy to survive will be.

Marketing is uniquely positioned to analyze the changes in customer behaviour and advice on the optimal way to reach them.

To give an example, luxury research firm Unity Marketing interviewed 1,200 affluent consumers (average income $209,500) at the top 20 percent of U.S. household during October 3-8, 2008 about their mindset since the bail-out of Wall Street. The result shows that the respondents are overall spending less on luxury items. However, they do splurge on those items that they really want, even increasing their spending for those targeted luxuries. The way they shop has changed as well – to resist temptation, they avoid stores. Luxury store owners have to come up with new marketing and sales techniques to lure these customers back, such as cash-back gift card sales as Bergdorf Goodman is conducting.

Analyze your company image and overall performance
Any crisis, especially one of the current magnitude that is riddled with insecurities, forces companies to take a long, hard look at themselves. They need to evaluate their corporate vision and mission – are they still the same ones that are in the annual reports and the corporate website? Are they still in sync with the current times and new reality or is it time to refresh or reposition? Many high-tech companies launched a technology that they wanted to bring to the average company or consumer. Many of those technologies and products never took off. Computerworld published an overview of the 21 biggest technology flops, among them ebooks.

Even when a company is doing all right now, what are its survival chances? Will its customers allocate more, less or the same budget for items such as Internet security? It might be time to kill some scared cows, even (or especially) if they are the brainchild of the owners. Apart from using your in-house marketing experts, the best option is involving an external strategist to get a clear view.

London-based Financial Times is building steam, especially in the US. Any crisis is always good for the media, since the public is information-hungry. FT did well by the latest “if it bleeds, it leads” - its September newsstand sales rose with 30% in the US and 20% in Europe and Asia. Registered users of www.ft.com rose in one year from 30,000 to 750,000. FT also advises media companies to bring out their newspaper in several formats, push equally to enlist hard copy customers and online subscribers, using tools such as RSS. FT is also in favour of video, based on more than 1 million views a month.

Build new marketing strategies, be creative
One the main drives of survival is creativity – the ability to adapt to new circumstances. Based on the analysis mentioned before, it might be time for the company to reexamine the current offerings and adjust the current suite of products or services. There might be “sleepers” among them – a product of service that is now less-promoted, but is more affordable and consistent with the overall brand.Based on the advice of the in-house marketing experts, it might be time to make a bold move and sell your product in new markets. Based on the reshuffling of the economic landscape, there will be emerging market niches and customer groups and demands not identified before. Clever companies grab these opportunities – being an early market entrant always pays off.

A recent example is the Australian Tourist NT which is concentrating on local visitors, since the number of international visitors is dropping. "Certainly we would anticipate we might have some softening in international arrivals, so our focus will be to further strengthen our domestic market. Tourist NT stated that it will “certainly continue investing in our marketing activities with partners to ensure that we have a sustained presence in the market to do what we can to ensure we get people visiting."

Communicate with your employees
During economic turmoil, employees are worried about their jobs. They want to know (and have to right to know!) how healthy their company is and if there are any plans in pipeline for cutting costs. Employees are the most valuable asset a company has, so it is foolish not to leverage this main asset!

A new research released today by global public relations firm Weber Shandwick shows that 86% of the respondents see their senior executives or management as "believable" and "trustworthy" sources on the topic. Sadly enough, more than half didn’t hear anything at all from the company leaders.

Don’t cut your marketing budget
The first thing that most companies do when times get tough is cut their marketing budgets. The recent Bellwether survey, published by the IPA, found that Q3 annual marketing budgets have been cut at a record rate as the economic crisis weakens business confidence. Key budgets hit are main media advertising, PR, events sponsorship and market research.

It is a strategic mistake to ignore your customers when your competitors are still out there approaching them, as Post found out. In 1929, Kellogg’s and Post were in a neck-and-neck race for the breakfast cereal market. Unlike its rival, Kellogg's continued to advertise through the Great Depression, gaining a position of market dominance that the company still enjoys today.

Instead of cutting your marketing budget, look at your marketing mix and communication channels to your customers and readjust. Instead of going to a tradeshow, you might opt for more SEO and PPC, conduct more online campaigns, or increase the frequency of your corporate newsletter.

Avoid cutting your prices
In a time when customers become more conservative in their spending, it is a lower price that will sway them to purchase, but their need for the product or service. Impulse buying is replaced by ROI buying. Slashing prices for consumer goods can lead to cheapening your brand, which will result in long-term brand image damage.

Again, marketing professionals are uniquely placed to analyze how the current mixture of price and product/service is perceived by the customers. Adjustment to the overall marketing strategy might be needed. If a company is focusing too much on one small market niche with customers most hit by the crisis, it might want to branch out.Before adjusting prices, analyze all of the elements of the marketing mix and make sure to fully understand what drives current and future customers.

Pamper your customers
As outlined above, customers will be driven by quality and service, and less by the actual purchase price. Customers have to feel good with the product or service itself, but also with the company that provides it. Giving customers extra attention pays off big time. In tough times self-esteem suffers, and companies that care about their customers will maintain existing customers more easily as well as build long-term brand loyalty.

A recent example is investment firm T. Rowe Price that began running a new ad campaign in the last two weeks, with the headline “Confidence.” The campaign ran in the Financial Times, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, communicating that “ultimately, there's one thing that will see our investors through these unsettling times ... confidence.”

Is the SEC killing the press release – not likely!

2008-08-07T11:04:00.008+01:00

On July, 30 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published its recommendations for public companies in their efforts to comply with the securities laws “while developing their Web sites to serve as an effective means for disseminating important information to investors”.

sparked a hot debate among IR and financial PR professionals, who are trying to figure out what the impact is. Many IR/PR agencies make good money writing and distributing press releases on behalf of public companies. Since a public company must announce any change in ownership and significant deals as well as notifications, earnings, profit warnings etc. to the public at large, the financial press release was the only way to go.

By opening the possibility of posting all of the above on a corporate blog, it could mean the “death of the press release” as one PR professional put it. IR and PR circles were abuzz with speculations how the major new distribution agencies such as PR Newswire would take it.

Public companies have been weary of using the Internet as a public space for the dissemination of material information, not in the least since they need to comply with Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg-FD) and Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) rules. The SEC is now opening the possible for companies to adhere to regulatory policies without using some of the more traditional methods such as financial press releases. If public companies would opt en masse to use the Web for information distribution, particularly for earnings disclosure, it would have a huge impact on IR and financial PR agencies as well as the newswires.

Thus far, most companies have been leery of using websites to provide investors and other audiences with regulated information, such as earnings.
Beth Harbin, director of PR for Southwest Airlines, is hesitant about changing its current system with PRN, though she acknowledges the positive benefits, which have helped carve out a place for earnings on the airline's website."Since we started our... site, we've always had a vision of making it extremely robust," she said. "We currently have earnings up on our website, as part of a system developed through [PRN]," she said. "It also puts that release right in the hands of the reporters who need it."

It is at this moment not clear what the full impact will be. The SEC document seems to indicate that the SEC wants to open the use of public companies’ websites as part of the whole process of disclosing information in accordance with the Regulation FD.

The SEC stated that it “believes that company disclosure should be more readily available to investors in a variety of locations and formats to facilitate investor access to that information. Investors are turning increasingly to electronic media and to company and third-party websites as sources of information to aid in their investment decisions."

It seems that the SEC does recognize a company website as a channel of distribution. The information must be disseminated in such a way, that it is available to the securities marketplace in general.

How can a public company guarantee that? By taking more affirmative steps so that investors and others know that information is or has been posted on the company's website.

Trying to avoid the costs of issuing a financial press release (of which many companies complain), would not only incur alternative costs (e.g., mailing list and distribution + follow up, SEO, administration, legal & accounting department) but could also jeopardize compliance with SOX.

What would therefore be the best option for public companies to ensure the availability of their information to the investor and securities communities? Correct, by sending out their announcement as a press release!

Using (only) their website for announcements will be risky. Companies will need to consider whether the postings on their websites are “reasonably designed to provide broad, non-exclusionary distribution of the information to the public.” This would entail serious organic SEO or in-house website management with tracking and reporting capabilities.

Another issue is the requirement that the website's capability must meet the “simultaneous or prompt timing requirements for public disclosure once a selective disclosure has been made." This puts a strain on a company’s resources. For practical reasons alone, sending a financial press release via the newswire remains the preferred option, since it will be pushed to Yahoo Finance, MarketWatch, MSN, CNNMoney, CNBC, Factiva, Forbes, Fox Business News, Lexis/Nexis, sites operated by major financial institutions and trading firms, blogs etc.

It relieves the public company from the burden to determine whether its website qualifies as a "recognized channel of distribution" and whether web posting achieves simultaneous disclosure. If you are the IR Officer, CFO, CEO or Legal Advisor of such a public company, you would have your work cut out for you, and the SEC doesn’t supply comprehensive guidelines or instructions to that effect.

The SEC's Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting states in its final report: "Of course, the increased use of corporate websites is not intended to affect the valuable role that newswires and other news vehicles play in disseminating important company information to investors and the public."

Despite the fear of many IR and PR professionals – the SEC is not killing the press release, it just hands us another IR & PR tool.

Branding Rutland – a lesson in branding a small town

2008-07-29T11:49:00.002+01:00

Branding is an art – it tries to capture the heart and soul of a product, service or organization, making it highly recognizable if not unforgettable. Brand loyalty is the key to successful companies such as Proctor & Gamble, Unilever, Coca-Cola, and General Motors (to name just a few).

Countries and cities are entities trying to brand themselves: “I love NY” and “What goes on in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas” are two slogans that made the cities they are connected to memorable. Smaller cities and towns have a harder time to make an impact.

That makes Rutland, in the US state Vermont, such an interesting branding case. Rutland’s city officials, regional development officials and the local business community want to put the city (and region) on the tourism map. They are looking for a slogan that sums up the finest qualities of the city, its economic potential and the tourist attractions. It wants to emphasize that it is within easy driving distance (e.g., from the Tri-State area). However, the slogan must be short enough to fit on a bumper sticker.

Not so successful past attempts included:

“The Crossroads” (which sounds like a rehab center to me)
"The heart of the "Marble Valley" (which doesn’t make sense if one doesn’t know where Marble Valley is located)
"City for Weddings" (isn’t that Las Vegas?)
"Rut Vegas" (which doesn’t have a nice ring to it)

It’s tough to brand a city or town. When it comes to branding, being small and relatively unknown doesn’t help. Lack of substantial marketing and advertising budgets is another restraint.

To brand properly, we must first look at Rutland’s strong points:

Downtown shopping, dining and theatrical opportunities
Pastoral settings of the rural communities just beyond Rutland's borders
Lakes, trails, rivers, ponds, ski slopes and other recreational fun within easy driving distance from the big cities
Part of the highly popular Vermont

The branding guru taking on the Rutland branding challenge is Peggy Bendel, senior vice president of Development Counselors International, who worked on the massive "I love New York" ad campaign, pointed out that branding a small city like Rutland takes a different approach. She recommends that Rutland adopts a catchy slogan and logo that sums up Rutland's best qualities and is easy to remember. The idea is for the city is to change the way visitors – and residents – perceive the community.

She makes an interesting point by stating that small town branding only works if everyone from the Chamber of Commerce and municipal officials down to small business owners and the average Rutland citizen can identify themselves with the slogan and logo.

Branding comes with a hefty price tag - consulting fees, marketing expenses and advertising are roughly $100,000. Rutland can apply for a state grant to be reimbursed for the consulting costs. Needless to say, research into attitudes, impressions and associations with the community are essential for branding success.

Rutland organized a preliminary meeting between a consultant company and about 20 regional and city commerce and development officials, city officials, representatives from recreational nonprofit groups, business leaders and residents. No suggestions for a new slogan or logo were brought up, but the qualities of the community were discussed extensively along with some of the challenges it faces including concerns about overcoming what some perceived as the main public perception problem: the name of the city and county, Rutland, is perceived as unflattering. However, on the upside – it’s easy to remember and spell, which is in our current Internet/Google age a must!

Two regions to the north and south of Rutland have successfully launched rebranding campaigns.
Burlington reintroduced their 1980s slogan "The West Coast of New England." It resulted in a high volume of downloads of the rebranding toolkit, complete with logo, slogan and other materials, coupled with T-shirt and sweatshirt sales bearing the rebranded imagery. The positive feedback from the public is also a sign that the rebranding is successful. The Chamber of Commerce stated that it only paid $30,000 for the consulting fee and left the advertising left to grassroots efforts.

The Green Mountain Regional Program (in the south of Bennington County) successfully concluded it grassroots efforts by introducing its "The Shires of Vermont” brand. According to the group's regional marketing coordinator, the slogan comes from Bennington County's unique designation as the only county with two shires that served as judicial districts in colonial times. It will be interesting to see how the rebranding of Rutland will unfold.

Until then, I would like to finish with a great quote from Bill Baker: “A brand is a promise - whatever you project, you must deliver on it and you can't have variations with everyone doing their own thing. The message has to be the same."

How will the current recession impact Public Relations?

2008-07-14T12:28:00.011+01:00

Whether the current recession is real or perceived (depending who you listen to), the PR industry is looking at the impact it is going to have.

Possible trends to watch:
When media professionals will be laid off or move into other areas, PR professionals (both in house and at the agency-side) will lose established relationships – one of their core strengths. Especially agencies will be hurt by contacts at leading magazines and news outlets that will have no more business value, and need to be replaced. This requires heavy investments in time and effort.

The media organizations that are sizing down (also due to less advertising income) will have to figure out who will be cover their different market niches. They might opt for merging some of topic areas (e.g. lifestyle and health) or cutting some areas in an effort to go back to their core business. PR professionals might find that they cannot pitch their stories anymore, since that specific technology or topic is not covered by that specific media organization anymore.

Both media organizations and PR agencies might start cutting down on their high-level, high-salary employees and replace them with junior or entry-level people who will learn on the fly. This will come at a price – lower quality and less focus. If this trend leads to fewer people and more newbies, readers might punish a media organization by canceling subscriptions. Some media outlets will close down, which will give PR agencies and professionals less opportunities to pitch their stories. The competition for placement in the remaining media outlets will increase, and PR agencies will have a tough job explaining to their clients why they cannot be covered by certain news media.

In this highly competitive market, the strongest and most creative PR agencies and professionals will survive. The media will be looking for quality to keep a competitive edge and to compensate for the loss of in-house resources. Receiving ready-to-print top-notch articles will help the news media to compensate for the lack of experience of newbies.

So is it all bad news? No, not really. It could benefit experienced copywriters, editors, journalists working as freelancers. It could also make it easier for seasoned PR professionals to enter the market as an in-house PR person or at a PR agency.

In the US, being fluent in Spanish as well will become a major asset. It will extend the reach of a company or PR agency significantly. For Europe, being multi-lingual is the key. Since most of the wealth in Western Europe is concentrated in the Germanic countries, German is the additional language to go for. Fluency in French not only secures coverage in the French media, but also in all francophone countries.
Don’t forget: no matter how fluent journalists might be in English, they still have to write their articles in their native language……..

The rebranding of President Bling-Bling aka N. Sarkozy

2008-03-19T16:43:00.003Z

Nicolas Sarkozy was elected based on the conception that he was different from his predecessors. During his campaign, he built his brand as the simple guy (an immigrant’s son without a patrician elite education) who would change things around (an overhaul of the welfare state which he sees as financially unsustainable, unfair and discourages work).
But on Sunday, March 16, the French voters sent a clear message that they were not impressed with M. le President. Sarkozy’s UMP party lost local-government elections in several major cities, trailing behind the Socialist party.
The main reason is the increasingly pessimistic attitude towards Sarkozy’s government policies aimed at boosting purchasing power as the global economy grinds slower.
At the same time, his lifestyle came under attack as well - indiscrete and bordering on ostentatious. Apart from his recent (and very public) divorce from wife Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz, followed by marrying former Italian model-turned-singer Carla Bruni within 4 months, Sarkozy vacationed on a billionaire friend's yacht, jogs wearing Ralph Lauren and a $14,000 Rolex.
His obvious enjoyment of the Good Life got him the nickname "President Bling-Bling".
His current image is in sharp contrast to his election brand as the man-of-the-people.According to Denis Muzet, founder of the Paris-based politics-and-media institute Médiascopie, the French find it hard to accept Mr. Sarkozy's flashy lifestyle as they are feeling economically pinched.
In January, inflation in France reached a 16-year high of 2.8%. A CSA poll last month showed that 56% of French people thought that Mr. Sarkozy "badly represents the role of the president," an 11-percentage-point increase from January 2008.Sarkozy decided to "re-presidentialise" himself by toning down public displays of his lifestyle.
During state visits, he tries to present an image of “elegance and decorum” – sans Rolex watch and Ray-Ban sunglasses.He learned from past mistakes when he was giving interviews while jogging and using his Blackberry during an audience with the Pope.

For his rebranding he reshuffled his communications team. He started by firing his official spokesman David Martinon (a protégé of his former wife Cecilia).Martinon will be replaced by a trio made up of Sarkozy's chief of staff Claude Gueant (secretary general of the Elysee); Jean-David Levitte (advisor for international issues) and longtime aide Franck Louvrier (who is in favor of daily communications with the press, instead of weekly press briefings).Sarkozy also recruited Nicolas Princen, a 24-year old "cyber spin doctor" to detect and counter Internet attacks and rumors against the French President.
Princen will keep a keen eye on websites, chat groups, blogs and film clips -with good reason. A handful of clips released on video sites like YouTube or Dailymotion badly tarnished Sarkozy’s image in recent months.
The first one of Sarkozy being seemingly drunk at a press conference at a G8 summit in 2007 was watched over 10 million times on YouTube. His famous remark to a man who refused to shake his hand at the Agricultural Fair in Paris in February 2008 was caught on amateur tape and watched over 3 million times in less than one month.

Will Sarkozy be able to rebrand himself?
Will he be the patrician, discrete president the French want, implementing amazing new ideas?
If so, he could be one of the best presidents France ever had.
He made a great start with the appointment of this communication team and the toning down of his image.
But may be Riss, a cartoonist for Charlie Hebdo and co-author of "La Face Karchee de Sarkozy" by Philippe Cohen, Richard Malka and Riss, is on the mark with his observation “he will never change. Whether it rains or it storms he can’t change. It’s beyond him.”

Eliot Spitzer’s tarnished brand – can he remarket himself?

2008-03-13T10:28:00.005Z

The Eliot Spitzer scandal will keep on mesmerizing us for some time to come.
For marketing and PR professionals, the big question is if and how Spitzer will reposition himself.
Over the years, he has been building his own brand as Mr. Clean and the Sheriff of Wall Street.
During his tenure as state attorney general he took on the insurance, mutual fund and securities industries, including a high profile and still unresolved case against former NYSE boss Dick Grasso.
He was even pegged to run for president in 2012.

Spitzer is not the first (and will not be the last) public figure that disgraced himself.
We all remember the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal – Clinton came out of that one almost unscratched, even finishing his term with a high approval rate.
Coby Bryant was able to save both his career and his marriage.
Barney Frank’s boyfriend ran a full-service prostitution ring out of Frank's Capitol Hill apartment – Frank not only stayed in congress, but heads the powerful house committee on financial services.
Inside trader and convicted white collar criminal Michael Milken is nowadays first and foremost know for his relentless fight against prostate cancer.
Hugh Grant’s career not only survived, but even prospered from his tryst with Ms. Brown.

The problem with Spitzer is first and foremost that he is not a likeable man.
This scandal hits him hard since he defined his own standards of right and wrong during his crime fighting years.
The “holier-than-thou” have it tough, in contrast to libertines such as Clinton, Kennedy and Frank. So what should Spitzer do?

Phase 1 – the bomb dropped and he has to deal with the fallout.
Hiring a good publicist aka a crisis management expert is highly recommended.
He has to realize that his situation is bad, with powerful enemies out for his blood.

Phase 2 – he has to make a public statement on a respected TV show (60 minutes, Larry King Live) telling the world what a fool he has been and how very, very sorry he is.
Hugh Grant’s mea culpa on the Jay Leno show did him (and his career) a world of good.

Phase 3 – He needs to drop out of the public eye for a while.
Both Martha Stewart and Kate Moss did just that, which excellent results.
Let the next scandal take up front page space.

Phase 4 – It would be clever to get therapy for his addictive, compulsive behavior.
The public loves a rehab story, just look at President Bush.

Phase 5 – He could embrace religion, it’s a proven way to reposition oneself as an ethical person. The world just loves a repenting sinner.

Phase 6 – He needs to embrace a charity; it’s a proven way for redemption and atonement. Milken and Armstrong have a stellar reputation as crusaders, putting their scandals in the shadow. But it’s crucial to select one that makes sense, such as the fight against sexual slavery.

Phase 7 – Once he has repositioned himself, he can start his career in the private sector.

Spitzer has to realize that his life will never be the same again.He needs an excellent sense of humor to weather this storm.
He will be referred to as “Client 9” and "Luv Guv" for years to come.
The best way to overcome this, is to write a tell-tale, tongue-in-cheek” book.
He has to make sure that the public has empathy for him.

Can he make it? It all depends if he follows the proven survival guide:
Public statement – teary confession – staunch support of wife & family – redemption.

Spitzer is a smart guy, and with the right advisors by his side, he will be able to remarket himself.

How a viral marketing campaign went vitriolic – the Mozilla marketing mess

2008-01-14T10:20:00.000Z

Mozilla normally markets its open-source browser using its Spread Firefox site and a host of fans to drum up new users.
In an effort to get a chuck of Microsoft’s market, it came up with an innovative online campaign that sadly backfired.
The “Fight Against Boredom” featured a YouTube movie which echoes “We are the World”.
Only in this case, the singers poured out statistics, comparing Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer users with Firefox users.
It included “fun facts” such as:
“15% more likely to have watched cartoons on TV within the last seven days” and “21% less likely to fish”.
However, it also included:
“23% less likely to have cancer” ; “25% less likely to have breast cancer” and “20% less likely to live with others suffering from cancer.”
These “statistics” also included that Firefox users were less likely to have high cholesterol or heart disease.

The TechCrunch blog was the first one to report on and object to the marketing program.
The readers’ comments make fascinating reading.
To give an example, Zachary wrote: "As a Firefox user who has cancer, I'm less than amused."

Paul Kim, Mozilla's vice president of marketing, tried to do some damage control.
He wrote on his blog:
“This is Paul Kim, VP of marketing for Mozilla. I want to apologize to anyone who was upset or offended by some of the stats on the not yet final website for this campaign.
The list Techcrunch referenced was posted without a final review by Mozilla and wasn’t intended to be published as is.
We’re working right now to correct this on the site, which goes live in a final form later today.”

The apology doesn’t make sense. This kind of campaign should never have been conceived, not even as a rough concept.
I agree with blogger Tom Page, who points out that:
"Saying that it was not meant to be 'publicly available' makes it seem as if these comments are only acceptable as a private joke at Mozilla. Caesar's wife must be above suspicion, and if something like this came from Microsoft you'd go absolutely crazy."

Mozilla yanked the campaign.
What puzzles me most is the part that their PR Company played in this.
AKQA profiles itself as “ideas-lead agency” that holds the “Agency of the Year” title on “both sides of the Atlantic at the same time”.
You would expect more (cultural) sensitivity from an agency like this.
("Al AKQA", that also features a stuffed monkey on its website, claims $ 350M. in online media billing and 450 staffers).

Considering the gap between Firefox and its rival (according to the company Net Application, Inc. Firefox accounted for 16.8% of all browsers that visited the 40,000 sites the company monitors for its customers), this latest expedition in creative marketing will not help.

The lesson to be learned: marketing professionals need to be diligent in all their materials, even if it's only a rough concept.

Shopdropping – a cool marketing strategy or the nicer twin of shoplifting?

2007-12-29T12:06:00.000Z

Shopdropping is a marketing and self promotion tactic by clandestinely placing altered or recreated objects into retail stores.

It is not new – in 1989, the Barbie Liberation Organization swapped the voice boxes of 300 Barbie dolls to those of G.I. Joes before putting the dolls back on store shelves.

The organization tried to make a point about sexism in children's toys.

There are two main groups that are currently using shopdropping.

The first group is promoting a cause.

Anti-consumerism advocates slip by replica products packaged with political messages onto store shelves and religious zealots insert their pamphlets between the pages of gay-and-lesbian magazines in bookstores.

The second group uses it for personal marketing and promotion.

Self-published authors sneak their works into the “new releases” sections of bookstores, personal trainers put their business cards into weight-loss books, music producers place their free CDs between commercial music CDs, and aspiring professional photographers place their homemade cards, URL included, in the greeting cards section of book and stationery stores.

No store is safe: Wal-Mart, Target (T-shirts with political message), Starbucks (free CDs of budding artists were shopdropped), Bloomingdale’s (music CDs) are just a few examples.In itself, shopdropping is not illegal (yet), in contrast to its evil twin shoplifting.

However, trade name and brand name infringements and product liability (especially when it comes to consumer products such as cosmetics and toys) do have legal repercussions.

A telling example of how shopdropping is evolving and becomes illegal is the case of a lead singer for an independent pop-rock band in the East Village, NYC.

The band started shopdropping by slipping their promotional CDs between the pages of The Village Voice newspaper and into the racks at large music stores.

They now changed their strategy and put stickers with logos of fashion designers such as Diesel, John Varvatos and 7 for All Mankind on their promo CDs. They then placed them in the pockets of those designer clothes.

Shopdropping seems to be limited to the US; outside of the US, there was only one major shopdropping recorded.

In 2005, the French Fondation Babyrul shopdropped hundreds of home-made CDs into record stores and mash-up DVDs into Blockbuster branches to “challenge the commercial space-time of a store”.

This brings the catching New York Times headline “anarchists in the aisles?” to mind.

What will be the future of shopdropping?

Will it be a passing fad or develop in a serious guerilla marketing strategy?

Time will tell – we will all be a lot wiser after the holiday season.

A whole bunch of Crocs

2007-09-29T17:20:00.000+01:00

Crocs are clog-like footwear, made of a proprietary plastic resin called Croslite.
Currently, Crocs are sold in 27,000 stores in 80 countries and counting.
Croslite is a lightweight, water-proof resin material which softened with body heat.
This forms a shoe to the shape of the foot, making it very comfortable.
A Canadian company saw the possibilities for spas, and developed a clog which also hadholes for air and drainage.
Scott Seamans and Duke Hanson came across the footwear during a sailing trip from Islas Mujeres, Mexico, to Florida in 2002.
They started a company selling the clogs with a friend, sandwich chain executive George Boedecker.
For financing, they borrowed $5.2million to buy the Canadian firm behind the original design. Seamans added a strap across the heel to make it perfect for boating.They called their version “Crocs”, since the clogs would look as good out of the water as in it.
There initially market was spa and boating people. Once they went mainstream, they encountered fierce criticisms from the fashion industry. To put it bluntly – both the American and British fashion industry hated the Crocs with a passion. Customer disagreed – they made Crocs their favorite summer footwear. Kids, seniors and everyone in between snapped up the colorful clog-like sandals like candy - including Hollywood celebrities and Prince William’s on/off girlfriend Kate Middleton and her friends.
The company fares well as a result – they floated on the US NASDAQ exchange in February 2005.
Crocs' CROX stock has climbed since to over 300%.Recently, there was a backlash. Parents complained that their kids wearing Crocs on escalators could be hurt. The potential danger was highlighted on the CBS Early Show with CBS Correspondent Susan Koeppen. According to media reports, a child in Arkansas had to have a partial amputation after his shoe got caught last year. In Virginia, a mother managed to yank her little one free with only a deep cut.
However, it is important to keep in mind that escalator accidents can happen with any shoe. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission there were more than 10,000 injuries last year – 20 percent of which happened on the side or near the top or bottom of the escalator.
The negative media coverage didn’t affect Crocs’ popularity.Crocs decided to branch out and launch an Autumn/Winter collection, consisting of closed-toe and leather-trimmed styles and a strapless clog lined with microfiber.
It also keeps of closing licensing deals, including deals with Major League Baseball, DC Comics and Marvel Comics.
So what is the secret of Crocs’ marketing success?
Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at NPD Group, gives a great inside.He labels their appeal as the “bulldog effect” – they are so ugly that they are cute, not unlike Uggs.
Other success factors are:

They are comfortable.
They are marketed through word-of-mouth marketing.
They are affordable.
They are widening the assortment to boots, flip-flops and fashion shoes.
They are turning into a lifestyle brand.

Will Crocs have a long life?
Only if they stay hot and captivate the market – not an easy thing to do!
Just in case you wonder – do I own Crocs?
No, never in my life! I wholeheartedly agree with Amanda Platell in her hilarious article in the Daily Mail.

Is Aquafina heading for a watery grave?

2007-09-18T06:54:00.001+01:00

Bottled water consumption is increasing both in the US and in Europe.

Whenever there is a growing market, there is aggressive marketing.

Clever marketing campaigns have created consumer perceptions that bottled waters are purer or healthier than tap water.

What is inside the water bottle often remains a mystery to the consumer - not in the least due to lack of a defined standard for bottle labeling.

It gives water producers creative freedom in their product positioning.

Take Aquafina, the top selling water in the US.

Due to clever branding, it is perceived as generating from a distant spring in a glen or mountain.

However, this PepsiCo Inc. product is pws: from a public water source. In plain language - tap water.

A US watchdog group called “corporate accountability international” took action and forced Pepsi to reveal the source on the bottles.
Pepsi tried some crisis management.
North American spokeswoman Michelle Naughton declared:
“If this helps clarify the fact that the water originates from public sources, then it's a reasonable thing to do.”
In contrast, Pepsi’s competitor Coca-Cola (producer of Dasani) was a lot smarter marketing wise.

It clearly states on the Dasani website that it comes from local water supplies, is then filtered using a process called reverse osmosis, followed by enhancing it with minerals.

Coca-Cola spokeswoman Diana Garza Ciarlante went on record and stated:
“we don’t believe that consumers are confused about the source of Dasani water. The label clearly states that it is purified water.”

Coca-Cola further leveraged the Aquafina story by informing Reuters that it will post online information about its quality control testing later this year.

Coca-Cola is ahead on its competition in the social conscience arena as well – it supports nearly 70 public water projects in 40 countries, in partnership with such groups as CARE and the World Wildlife Fund.

Is Aquafina heading for a watery grave? Not likely.

For starters, the demand for bottled water rose by nearly 10 percent in 2006.The average annual consumption per person is around 26 gallons.Industry observer Beverage Digest estimates annual sales in 2006 at $15 billion.
Dave Kolpak, a portfolio manager at Victory Capital Management, said the environmental objections will have little impact on the bottom line for either Pepsi or Coke, though he admitted it could slow the market's growth rate.According to Dave Kolpak, portfolio manager of Victory Capital Management, people may talk about the issue, but will likely continue buying bottled water.

If Pepsi launches a clever marketing campaign, addressing the source issue and combining it with support for selected social causes; they will not even feel it in their financial results.

A twist on text marketing

2007-07-02T07:24:00.000+01:00

Text marketing is not new.
According to Frost& Sullivan, text marketing will be the most important medium for advertising in the 21st century, outperforming print media and billboards.
Wireless Intelligence, a joint venture between the GSM Association industry group and the research firm Ovum, estimates the global number of cell phones at 2.5 billion; an increase of a half billion in just 12 months.
Of the cell phone users, over 95 million in the US alone are active text message users.
(Source: the Yankee Group).

For marketers, it’s a marketing dream: a low cost/high effective marketing & promotion tool. The potential customer can be reached anytime, anywhere.
The first area where text messaging has become successful is entertainment.
Using text messaging to vote off candidates on reality shows worldwide has become popular.
To give an example: the 2004 season of "American Idol" generated 13.5 million text messages.

As a marketing tool, text marketing is currently mainly used for participating in contests and sweepstakes.
McDonald's, Burger King, Procter & Gamble Co., General Motors Corp. and CBS Corp have all launched campaigns that require consumers to enter via text message.

Text marketing first took off in Europe and the Far East for two main reasons:
1) In most countries, cell users typically pay for messages sent, but not for those received.
2) There are less technical obstacles , since there are not that many carriers/mobile phone
platforms.

One way of approaching potential customers is with an opt-in program.
The US grocery retailer Meijer (based in Grand Rapids, Michigan) launched an opt-in program in the Indianapolis market with mobile-marketing firm SmartReply Inc.
Using the fluctuating gasoline prices as a hook, consenting customers of its gas and convenience stations were sent text messages whenever Meijer was about to raise pump prices by 5 cents a gallon or more, giving them two to four hours to fill up at the lower price.
A great way to build customer loyalty!

A new twist on text marketing comes from New Zealand.
The company Hoo Haa believes that the key to successful text marketing is paying the customer to receive the ads.
This way, nor customers, nor the phone companies get annoyed.

It works is as follows.
Cellphone users registered with HooHaa by listing their name, age, location and buying interests.
These data go into a database that can be accessed by advertisers, who can send text messages.
Each contacted customer gets a 10 cent credit for each advertiser text message received.
The credits are accumulated into lots of $2.50 that are then reduced from their mobile accounts.

Since its launch in January 2007 close to 45,000 people have signed up for the service.
The HooHaa database has a broad cross-section of consumers, with people aged 18-30 being the largest demographic group.

HooHaa is now moving into the Australian market.
CEO Brian Hawker is cautious and points out that it’s still early days.
"We've been surprised by the swift uptake and to be honest there is an element of our touching wood. But we think that we might have happened on a business model for marketers to reach mobile customers with tailored messages."

He could be spot on with his observation.
Cellphones are a great marketing tool, since it gives marketers direct one-to-one access to consumers.
In contrast, traditional direct marketing sends out 100,000 pamphlets or messages trying to reach 1,000 customers.
Rapp Collins Limb Walker direct marketing executive Robert Limb sees the appeal of text marketing in the permission to communicate that the customer has to give.
This could develop into close ties with between the customer and the advertiser.

The HooHaa business model is also based on the cooperation of the cellphone companies. Vodafone, Telecom and Pago are currently participating.
Will this concept become successful in other countries?
In my opinion, Europe and the Far East are more likely to adapt it than the US.
Paying a customer to receive a message will not work in the US, where consumers must pay for incoming calls and text messages.
But one thing is for sure, it’s a great and creative way to use text marketing.

Make Way for the Widget Marketing Wave

2007-06-28T08:53:00.000+01:00

One of the latest trends in marketing is widget marketing.
Widgets are small applications that provide online functionality and content, and are distributed through a potentially vast number of websites.
A website or webpage owner integrates the widget from a third party website or webpage by placing a small snippet of code.
The code brings active content from the third party website (links, advertisements, images) without the need for the website or webpage owner to update the content.

Due to their nature, they are now becoming a new marketing & advertising venue.
Widgets are uploaded onto all kinds of sites, including profile pages, forums and blogs.

Widgets are sometimes called blidgets (TypePad) or snippets (PageFlakes).

Yahoo offers more than 4,300 widgets.

It entered the widget arena with the purchase of Pixoria, a producer of widgets.
Other companies, such as Netvibes, Snipperoo and YourMinis also offer widget galleries.
Apple and Microsoft have desktop tools in the form of constantly updating stock tickers, news feeds and airline schedules.
According to Google, “gadgets” are one its fastest-growing products.
But they don’t stop there.

Apple’s latest version of its Mac OS X operating system let its users build widgets from scratch and share them with others, even if they’ve never written a line of code.
Microsoft’s Vista comes with 11 standard “gadgets, as well as the option to create more and upload them to Windows Live.

Current users of widget marketing include The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and ESPN.
Flickr (a photo-sharing site) lets its members create a “badge” that they can post on their blogs and personal home pages to let friends know when they’ve uploaded new snapshots.
Fox Interactive Media (comprising all of Fox’s sites as well as MySpace, RottenTomatoes.com and AskMen.com) launched its own platform, called SpringWidgets.

What are the benefits of widgets?

1) They are low cost to develop.
2) They don’t require advance coding skills to create.
3) They are extremely easy to use.
4) They are pulled by the consumer, not pushed by the marketer.
5) They are a completely new marketing tool and a great addition to the current marketing mix. 6) They are low cost to distribute.
7) They have a much longer lifespan than traditional online ads.

A great example of widget marketing is Purina’s weather widget.
It lets pet owners know what the weather is outside when you wan to take the dog for a walk.
In the first two months, it was downloaded more than 15,000 times.
It means, that the Purina brand is now constantly in front of 15,000 pet owners, which gives maximum exposure for minimum costs.
The key success element of Purina’s widget is the fact that it is an extension of its brand while giving useful, up-to-date information.

Widget marketing is still in its infant stage.
It is hard to tell if widget technology providers such as well-funded Clearspring and Freewebs will be able to become profitable.

Widgets do have some disadvantages.
The state-of-the art interactive ones use a lot of computer resources, resulting in slow downloading.
People might download so many widgets, that their webpage becomes cluttered and therefore the marketing message of an individual widget is lost.
As a business model, it isn’t clear yet how profitable it will be as a promotion and branding tool. Advertisers are not yet comfortable with widgets, since tracking and analyzing its traffic is hard and their influence on consumer behavior not yet known.

Personally, I like this new addition to the marketing mix.
It’s exciting to see how it will develop.
For those of you who want to learn more about widget marketing, it’s worth while to attend WidgetCon 2007 taking place on 7/11 in NYC.
Let's widget away!

Marketing to Male Pigs – the Trojan Way

2007-06-24T13:25:00.000+01:00

Trojan, the US condom producer, launched a marketing campaign “it’s time we evolve….interested?

In the campaign, men are portrayed as pigs– literally! (or may be hogs, it’s hard to tell).

The commercial shows bar filled with women and a bunch of bar-sitting pigs with cellphones. When one pig goes to the restroom and returns with a condom purchased at a vending machine, he is transformed into an attractive man.

The beautiful blond who had been indifferent now smiles at him.
The end of the commercial carries the message: "Evolve: Use a condom every time."

Printed ads will appear in 11 magazines, including Cosmopolitan and Glamour, and on seven Web sites.

The campaign certainly created a nice little media storm.
For starters, Fox and CBS refused to air the commercials, while ABC, NBC, and nine cable networks (including (MTV, Comedy Central and Cartoon Network's Adult Swim) didn’t have a problem with it.
In its rejection letter to Trojan, Fox stated that the ad was rejected since “contractive advertising must stress health-related uses rather than the prevention of pregnancy."
CBS didn’t take such a moral high ground – it wrote to Trojan that the ad “wasn’t appropriate for the network, even with late-night only restrictions."

The brains behind the campaign is the Kaplan Thaler Group.
According to CEO Linda Kaplan Thaler, the humor in the ad is a way of “ getting consumers’ attention and opening up a serious conversation about sexually healthy lifestyles.

Some people may be initially surprised by the imagery, but we’re really using the pigs as a metaphor for selfish behavior to call to attention a very important subject.”

Trojan defended its campaign by stating:

“Evolve is a wake-up call to change attitudes about using condoms and, on a larger scale, the way we think and talk about sexual health in this country.

Other than abstinence, the best way people can prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection is to use a condom every time they have sex.

Unfortunately, that’s just not happening today—single sexually-active Americans between the ages of 18 and 54 use them only about 25 percent of the time. We urgently need to foster healthier attitudes about sexual health and condom use.”

Mens News Daily labeled the campaign “male-degrading”, adding that it’s not surprising in a country that “gives round-the-clock media coverage of any rich blonde who drives her car while drunk ... or emerges from it without panties”. (Paris, Britney, and Lindsey – are you listening?).
The website goes on with the cry for “killing the Trojan pig” by boycotting Trojan condoms and protesting against ABC, NBC, and the nine cable networks that air the commercial.

From a marketing point of view, the commercial is excellent. It created a lot of buzz, far more than a less controversial ad would have done.
The commercials are also done in good taste, and are entertaining as well.
They were directed by Phil Joanou (State of Grace). Special effects were done by the Stan Winston Studio (Jurassic Park), since our porcine males are animated – no real livestock was used.
Lots of people viewed the strong reaction of Fox and CBS with bewilderment. As Andrea Kalfoglou pointed out on Agora Vox:
“the message is all about thinking about your own health and that of your partners everytime — a great public health message.”

Personally, I don’t understand the rejection of Fox and CBS.

Both networks are using sex in their marketing.

They place Viagra ads and broadcast shows such as Temptation Island.
Even if you don’t like the humor or are offended by men portrayed as pigs, there is no doubt that preventing airing it or calling for a boycott is not the way to go about it.
Ironically enough, Fox and CBS made the discussion of condom use far more accessible, since their ban gives people a nice opener.
In the mean time, Trojan got a lot of free publicity, which is good for their sales, their brandname and (hopefully) the health of sexually active adults.

In conclusion, we have stumbled on an interesting paradox here.
In the US, sex sells every product (from cars to cosmetics) – but not condoms…..

Having fun with EMV - emotional marketing value

2007-06-10T09:52:00.000+01:00

During a market research for EMV migration of payment terminals (EMV stands for Europay, Mastercard, Visa; the smart debit cards), I hit on a completely different EMV.
The Advanced Marketing Institute developed an Emotional Marketing Value (EMV) score.
It analyses the impact that a headline has on its readers.
It’s a tool for copywriters to check what the impact of a specific headline has on its readers.
Needless to say, I was intrigued.

The tool analyzes the words in the slogan or headline as follows:

Intellectual impact
Words which are especially effective when offering products and services that require reasoning or careful evaluation.
According to AMI, intellectual impact words are best used to attune copy and sales messages aimed at people and businesses involved in the fields of education, law, medicine, research, politics, and similar fields. While not restricted to these groups, by giving presentations which are weighted with intellectual impact words, your clients and customers will be more positively influenced and you are more likely to attain a more favorable response.
Empathetic impact
Words which resonate in with Empathetic impact often bring out profound and strong positive emotional reactions in people.
According to AMI, empathetic impact words are best used to attune with people and businesses involved with care-giving. For example, nurses, doctors, and counselors all tend to respond easily and favorably to empathetic words. Women, and especially mothers, are very strong in their use of empathetic impact words in the language. While use of empathetic impact words does not have to be limited to these groups, we've found that by selecting m ore words with empathetic impact delivers desirable conversion responses from those types of market segments.
Spiritual impact
Words which have the strongest potential for influencing people by appealing at a very deep emotional level.According to AMI, spiritual impact words are best used with people and businesses desiring to make an appeal to some aspect of spirituality. This does not mean religion specifically, but any product or service that resonates with “spirituality” oriented markets is appropriate. The clergy, new age, health food and related markets all respond favorably to sales copy heavy with spiritual impact content. Women and children also respond strongly to words in the spiritual sphere. Marketing documents with strong spiritual impact content can make for the most powerful presentations in the marketplace but must be used with considerable skill.

Again according to AMI, the English language contains approximately 20% EMV words.
Most professional copywriters' headlines will have 30%-40% EMV words in their headlines, while the most gifted copywriters will have 50%-75% EMV words.
A perfect score would be 100%. According to AMI, this is rare unless your headline is less than five words.

I played around a bit with the tool and try to find a top score in each category.

My first challenge was to create a headline with a strong intellectual impact.
I decided to zoom in on Apple’s new iPhone, and came up with the headline:
“iPhone best technology”.
It scored 66.67% in both intellectual and empathetic impact, which does make sense.
Orpak’s “fueling your business for success” has a 20% spiritual score.
A slogan I once coined for a high-tech company “your power to communicate” scores 50% on the spiritual scale. Not bad, considering the company was active in broadband-over-powerline (BPL or PLC).
By repeating words, the score goes up.
“Profit, profit, profit!” scores a cool 100% on the empathy scale; "free, free, free!" also scores 100%, but strangely enough on the intellectual scale.
"Opportunity, opportunity, opportunity!" even scores 300% in all three categories.

I also had a look at strong and successful slogans to see how they scored.

The US Army’s famous “we want you” scores 100% in all three categories.
Philips's new slogan “sense and simplicity” only has a 33.3% intellectual score. May be it is too close to Jane Austen’s novel title for its own good?
Unilever’s “feel good, look good and get more out of life” scores a measly 10% in the intellectual category, which I didn’t expect. I was sure it would do well in the empathetic and spiritual categories.
Bobcat’s “we are closer than you think” scores a nice 50% in all categories, despite it being slightly stalkerish.
Holmes Place (the global fitness center network) “One life. Live it well” doesn’t score at all. It is 0% neutral, although I expected it to score nicely in the spiritual category.
Nokia’s “connecting people” has as strong 50% score; but in the intellectual, not the emotional categories.

How reliable is this tool? I have my reservations, but it is definitely fun to use!