Corner The Market

After taking a hit from the Tiger situation, the PGA is clearly on the rebound and is poised for a banner year in 2011.    Thanks to the “young guns” who have added a new dimension of talent, scrappiness, and fearlessness to the sport.  Dennis Johnson and Bubba Watson are booming drives 400+ yards, making golf seem more than ever like an action sport.   Then you have Rory McIlroy, an engaging 21 year old who exudes confidence like a 30 year veteran, and Rickie Fowler also 21 with his OSU “orange-wear” and aggressive shot making.

Add the new non-US talent –  Majors winners Martin Kaymer from Germany, and Louis Ooster-something from South Africa, Ryo Ishikawa from Japan who recently fired a 58 at age 18 (yes, that’s 18 years old…), and we have several exciting layers that draw viewership.   If Tiger regains form, and it looks like he will, the PGA will be buzzing in 2011.

Our take is…companies should be lining up for PGA sponsorship opportunities as a major component of their marketing mix.  With sponsorship costs “right sized”, this could be a great opportunity for a high return on investment.

For as long as I can remember, big sports have been associated with big advertising. Go to the World of Coke Museum and you’ll see an exhibit on Olympic pins and torches from the past 80 or so years. Sports stars dream of making it big and having endorsement deals that range from sports drinks to cars to clothing lines.

But in a tough economy, how can companies afford to keep up the spending? A recent Forbes blog talks about how many advertisers are cutting their dollars, not because they don’t result in increased sales, but because many companies can’t show that advertising dollars result in increased sales. As Patrick Rishe explains, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly how beneficial sports sponsorship is, particularly because it is hard to link those advertisements directly to sales. When sales go down, it can be challenging to understand whether that is from poor sponsorship choices or just a bad economy.

Luckily for the sports fans and consumer industries alike, there is a solution to protecting those highly lucrative sports sponsorships while still ensuring a high ROI. Riche discusses the fact that there are various ways of measuring the return on sports sponsorships, but unless they are highly accurate, they can show results that are far from the truth.

As long as marketers can spend smarter, assessing which sponsorships exactly are the most valuable to their image and which markets they truly want to target, there is no reason why sports sponsorships can’t result in an increase in sales. Riche’s advice? “Look for agencies and consulting firms that specialize in analyzing the returns to sponsorships to profit from this new era of conservatism among corporate America as it relates to activating sports sponsorships.”

If you’re looking to KICK up your sales, DRIVE for better results and get your sponsorship on TRACK, consider TopRight Sponsorship. We have the playbook to help you meet your goals.

Probable conversation at Comcast Headquarters:

“We have terrible customer service, our coverage stinks, and the only reason we are in business is because we have a monopoly in many areas. What should we do?”

“Let’s change the name, maybe people won’t notice the bad stuff anymore!”

“Genius.”

Nice try, Comcast. We’re not the only ones who caught on, either.

Now that the iPad is available and quite popular, business owners are increasingly feeling the pressure to make their website look its best on such new devices. The iPhone along with Firefox have been responsible for a big push towards making websites standards compliant, but the iPhone/iPad have really brought the issue to the forefront because neither platform supports Flash.

We at TopRight Creative have never encouraged using flash for a website or any kind of navigation and content elements, though slideshows are occasionally acceptable when using clean fallback methods.

With the growing use of iPads and tablets in general, there is even greater demand to make websites look and function their best on these new devices. To help with the transition, Apple published a tech note on the subject. It addresses some major items developers must factor into websites, such as adhering to W3C standards instead of plug-ins, thereby abandoning Flash and other such abominations.

The great news for our clients: We have always avoided non-standard practices and choose technologies carefully.

There are some additional things we are doing now that will take advantage of the new iPad and similar tablets to continue providing our clients with exceptional websites. Included is designing the site’s page to best fit within the iPad viewport. In general, designing for a device is a bad idea, but in this case it’s not really the device per se but the realization that the tablet’s viewport dimensions are in fact fixed. As a result, it’s not a bad idea to set up pages so the main content stays above the fold. This may be a minor technique to most, but attention to the details is what sets us apart from the rest.

This week’s Bloomberg BusinessWeek has been dubbed “The Popularity Issue.” The issue describes a huge range of categories, from movies, to fish, to iPhone apps, identifying the most popular consumer choice in each category.

Unfortunately, the article fails to specifically identify what makes something popular. Why do choosy moms (and dads) choose Jif? Why are more cats kept as pets if more households have dogs? Why was Avatar the most popular movie of the year in every country listed? Why do the French prefer apples if Russians prefer bananas?

Charlie recently wrote about understanding and identifying relevant information. BusinessWeek must have missed the post. Do I care that Orbit is the most popular brand of gum, and that it “has differentiated itself with its crunchy coating, box packaging, and a higher-than-average price tag”? Yes. Do I care that labradors are the most popular dog breed? Not so much.

Some of these featured products are linked to great public marketing and advertising campaigns, but some most certainly are not. We all know that Orbit “gets dirty mouths clean“, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen a TV ad for the Atlanta airport. Despite the fact that the Marlboro man was introduced to the market 60 years ago, Marlboro is still dominating cigarette sales.

So why did BusinessWeek choose to fill the feature with lots of popularity contests, and not a lot of explanation? Maybe because consumer choices, much like high school popularity, are hard to explain. Actually, I’m pretty sure they made an entire science out of studying them… micro-something-something… What the article truly achieves is showing that there is always a story behind a story. Identifying your most popular competitor isn’t enough to show you how to win. A flashy ad campaign isn’t enough to make a product popular. And on top of all that, if you don’t have a product or service people want, you’re definitely never going to sell it. Like Charlie said, it is important to know when to take a fact and accept it for what it is. But don’t forget the value of digging deeper when you have information that could really take your marketing strategy and your company to the next level.

In case you were wondering, I’m giving Stephanie Meyer, the author of the best-selling Twilight novels, my vote for most popular girl in America… the favorite girl and boy names this year were Isabella and Jacob, respectively. Oh, and if anyone has the answer to the French apple/Russian banana conundrum, please leave a comment.

Yesterday I got my Daily Stat e-mail from HBR, and the headline was a grabber: “Men Are Better At Parking Cars”. Now, a headline like that can be instantly polarizing – most men might think, “Well, yeah, of course we are”, while most women might think, “That’s ridiculous! Next you’re going to tell me men are better at using the tv remote control, right?” But regardless of one’s instinctive reactions to the message, the source of this information – a study by mixed-gender university researchers and related by Harvard Business Review – leads me to assume that the research has a chance of being statistically, if not politically, correct.

So, even if there is some validity to the findings, the next question this raises (after, Who the heck would have funded this study?) is, what on earth is a business to do with a consumer insight like this? Marketers are constantly mining consumer data for insights into behaviors, needs and preferences that can help them with product design, messaging, positioning, and other strategies to help them reach their target customers. Often data reveals actionable insights that smart marketers can use to their advantage. And occasionally… data is just a fun-fact. I’ve wracked my brain to think of how a company could use the insight around women’s parking abilities to shape their marketing strategy. Could car manufacturers with self-parking capabilities position this feature specifically to women as a benefit? Could a shopping mall or condominium tout its “extra-wide parking spaces” as a point of preference? Doubtful, particularly if your target consumer probably is not aware or convinced of her supposedly inferior parking capabilities in the first place. So this insight probably just sits on a shelf, next to with insights like that consumers prefer the taste of New Coke.

Sometimes, consumer research leads to valuable and actionable insights, and sometimes, it just leads to a lively topic for an animated discussion over beers. Smart marketers know the difference.

The first step to a solution is admitting you have a problem.

I may be addicted to organization. Clues: I love the Container Store. A lot. I read organization blogs. I own Peter Walsh’s How to Organize Everything. The show I’m most afraid of is not “Fear Factor,” but “Hoarders”. That picture at the top of the blog? It is a screen shot of my computer desktop background. (I made it on paint, if any of you are interested, and use sidebar sticky notes to… I’ll just stop.)

Whatever, I like being organized. And to be fair, I really don’t have a problem with other people being disorganized. Even last year, sharing a tiny bedroom, I was happy to step over my roommate’s pile dirty laundry as long as said laundry didn’t encroach on my 3 square feet of personal space. What I really can’t seem to get over is a disorganized website.

Think about it: companies pay hundreds, even thousands of dollars for a website design. Why would they not make sure it’s functional and organized? If you want people to do business with you, make it easy for them to do business with you! Honestly, I’m often amazed at how disorganized even some organization blogs are!

A website is the face of a company. A strong website is like coming in every day, polished, clean and in a nice outfit. A bad website says, “I changed out of my pajamas into jeans and a t-shirt, and I haven’t brushed my teeth, but I did put on some lipstick, so it all comes out in the wash, right?” That’s not to say websites don’t have their kinks. Sometimes you just have a bad hair day, or a link doesn’t work, it happens. But on the whole, a website should say, “Here we are, ready to work.”

Not to toot TopRight’s horn too much (toot toot!), but I want to give you a little website challenge. In two seconds, look around this page and identify how you can a) grab an RSS feed, b) find all the posts from December, 2009, c) like us on Facebook, and d) get quick info about TopRight Creative. Was it hard? Could you do it in two seconds? Good. Because the reality of the web today is that two seconds is about how long people spend on your site. You simply cannot afford to make browsing hard on your consumers.

I’d have to say that some of the best websites I’ve used include Apple, Swirl by Daily Candy, and the South Carolina Honors College. All are clear in the important links, don’t have a lot flashing on the first page, and are systematically organized so there is a logical way to find information on the sites.

In your experience, which sites stand out as the best? The worst? What do you think makes a strong website?

In a recent CNN article, the difference between American and European cultures is demonstrated through the culture’s differing comfort levels with nude sun bathing. This article not only made me long for a beach vacation (preferably in Southern Spain), but also made me think about the dichotomy within the American culture and how it affects marketing efforts.

As consumers call for more transparency and authenticity in packaging, advertising and manufacturing, the media and corporations are going the other way. For example, plus sized women’s clothing retailer, Lane Bryant was recently chided by network television for a Victoria’s Secret-ish intimate apparel commercial.  They refused to air the ad without serious edits.

These days it seems that each step we take as a culture towards more openness is met by a step in the opposite direction. Seen by some as crude, books by comedienne Chelsea Handler (my personal fav) & author Tucker Max are basically stream of consciousness entertaining memoirs of boozy one-night stands and bodily functions gone awry. As these types of books ascend to the New York Times bestseller list other types of expression such as the Lane Bryant intimate apparel commercial are censored for being too racy.

What does this dichotomy mean for marketers?  First and foremost, knowing your audience is critical. Consumer segmentation is more valuable than ever, especially with the increased ability to reach specific segments through different channels. Additionally, nimbleness is vital.  Your company/brand/department must be quick on its feet should problems arise with your marketing activities and campaigns.

Out of this also comes opportunity. There are some smart marketers out there who will choose to exploit either the conservatives or more open-minded people in our culture.  These marketers walk a thin line. We look forward to further examining their work in our upcoming book on marketing excellence, in which a chapter is dedicated to exploring marketers who rely on exploiting cultural chasms.

Sometimes a fail just keeps on failing. A few months ago, we highlighted how consumers are really the ones who own your brand. And it this case, rings true for United Airlines, in a big way. United failed to provide good customer service and own up to damaging a customer’s property. Thanks to YouTube, about 8.8 million people now know about it. It’s been said that no press is bad press, but in this case, I think the folks at United might be kicking themselves.

Last week, Old Spice launched a truly awesome social media campaign aimed at getting users engaged with their social content. Over the course of 24 hours, the team accepted questions via Facebook, Twitter, and even searched Yahoo! Questions for fodder.

The results? The videos went instantly viral, and demonstrated serious consumer buy-in, with almost 6 million YouTube views and over 22,000 comments. I even tweeted the Old Spice guy: “@OldSpice What is the nature of the universe?” Sadly, he declined to answer.

These videos were simply hilarious, and I highly suggest you check out Mashable’s favorites. What do you think? What are your Marketing FAVES?

Our very own Jo Ann Herold has been featured in this month’s “The Marketing Dialog“. What do you think is the most important aspect of market research?

AMC’s critically acclaimed original series, Mad Men, is a classy period-piece set in the 1960s at the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency on Madison Avenue in New York City.  The show’s plot revolves around Don Draper, the creative director of the firm and the vices, trysts and drama that unfold in his life and in the lives of those around him.  The Emmy winning show has become a huge hit for AMC and it has also garnered a cult following amongst many of today’s marketers.

We never miss an episode of Mad Men at TopRight – not only because the show is extremely well written and engaging, but also because there are terrific marketing lessons to be learned from the golden age of advertising – both what to do and in many cases what NOT to do.  The truth is that marketing has come a long way from the 1960’s when the art of persuasion was the expertise that one had to develop to be successful in advertising.  In one episode, Don Draper delivers the classic line that “People want to be told what to do, so badly, that they’ll listen to anybody”.  Today’s marketer lives in a competitive world that is governed by the science of engagement.  It’s become incumbent upon marketers to step up the truthfulness and entertainment value of their messages as consumers have become increasingly sophisticated and connected to information.  But, there is still some truth in what Don Draper says.  People may still want to be told what to do, however, now they may be listening more to their peers, friends and colleagues via the various social media channels rather than listening to traditional advertisers.  And, that’s the intrinsic beauty of the show:  Mad Men depicts a place and time “where the truth lies”, to borrow from one of the show’s taglines.

To this point, I recently detailed five important ways that marketing has evolved since the Mad Men days at an American Marketing Association luncheon in Atlanta.  Take a look at the presentation: “Mad Men: Where the Truth Lies”, and learn how changes in culture & values, process, measurement, technology and organizational development have transformed marketing into a science as well as an art since the early 1960’s.  You’ll also learn about some great marketers from the past and from the present day who successfully drive purchase intent with their target audience using the art of persuasion AND the science of engagement.

p.s. Don’t miss the Mad Men Season 4 to kickoff on July 25th on AMC!

In the process of conducting research for our new book on Marketing Excellence, we’ve been meeting with great leaders from Google, AT&T, Delta and many other well known brands.   On our quest to find the “untold stories”, we’ve also been meeting with many leaders from smaller companies and brands that are not necessarily household names.

One such leader is Randy Hain, Managing Partner of Bell Oaks.  Randy is a recognized thought leader in the area of talent acquisition and organizational development.  In addition to being a gracious, smart, funny, kind and genuine person… he’s also a darn good marketer!

During our meeting with Randy, we learned how Bell Oaks markets their services in a highly competitive executive search industry – an industry that many regard as moving towards a commodity.   So how does a firm like Bell Oaks create their point of difference?  First and foremost, we discovered that Bell Oaks practices what they preach and this resulted in the firm being recognized as one of the “Best Places to Work” by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Moreover, Randy is a voracious user of Linkedin and has over 1900 personal connections.  Randy also invests a significant amount of his time in sharing his insights and perspectives with his clients and prospects, writing articles on trends and shaping the direction of his industry.

For example, Randy recently penned an interesting article on the forgotten art of social interaction challenging his audience not to become an “Unconnected Leader”.  Not only is it extremely well-written; the paper also provides very useful insights for executives.  Randy believes whole-heartedly in “paying it forward and you will find the golden rule rings true”.  In the fast-paced executive search business – as well as in all facets of life – connecting and networking are an important strategy and rewarding investment for anyone who aspires to be a leader. Moreover, the impact is cumulative…the relationships and contacts that you develop might turn into friendships you have for the rest of your life.

By the way, if you ever want to connect with Randy Hain, he is regularly found helping corporate executives and job seekers with their respective strategies over a cup of coffee at his favorite corner table at La Madeline on Perimeter Center West in Atlanta!

Domino’s is at it again! The recently launched “Show Us Your Pizza” crowdsourcing campaign gets customers to show the world what the pizza really looks like, straight out of the box. This effort comes shortly after the groundbreaking recipe change, where Domino’s openly discussed complaints and improvements as part of its marketing strategy. True, it’s hard to imagine that “our pizza tastes like cardboard” was ever considered part of anyone’s marketing strategy, but for Domino’s, it really paid off.  Let’s be real: Stephen Colbert talked about Domino’s on his show… does it get any better?

With “Show Us Your Pizza”, the assignment is simple: order a pizza, take a picture, and send it to Domino’s. The best pictures will win a cash prize and could be featured in an ad.

Yea, yea. So what? Chances are I’m not going to send Domino’s a picture of their pizza. I don’t even really like pizza. But if I did order a pizza, I would definitely get Domino’s. Why? Because I like feeling like I am at the center of their business model. I like being heard. And most importantly, I like honesty.

Remember the last time you were on the phone with your cell service provider trying to get them to fix your broken cell? “The speaker is broken.” “Ma’am, are you using the device right now?” “No, the speaker is broken.” “Did you try to use the speaker?” “Yes, it is broken.” “Did you turn the phone on before you tried to use the speaker?” “… Really?” “I’m sorry, but I absolutely, positively, definitively cannot give you a new phone. No ifs, ands, or buts. We appreciate your business.” 30 minutes later, after pulling half your hair out, your new phone is in the mail. The truth is, they absolutely, positively, definitively CAN give you a new phone, they just don’t tell you that up front.

Domino’s uploaded a great video to their YouTube channel showing what really goes on in food photo shoots. It’s called “Pulling the Cheese,” but I think a more apt title might be “How Corporate America knocks you over the head with a multi-sensory experience that leads you to believe they have a quality product without necessarily delivering on the promise.” Or something like that. “Show Us Your Pizza” cuts the baloney and skips straight to what actually matters.

I would love to see more companies embrace this kind of transparency. The model is simple: ask, listen, deliver. The best part is, it really works. I may not eat pizza, but I’m definitely drinking the Kool-Aid.

“Microsoft has decided to kill off the Kin”. The brief article states that the product launched in May, and sales have been underwhelming. Since the time of the launch, there has also been a price cut that seemed to indicate that the product wasn’t meeting expectations. Wait, what? This product launched in May.  Read: One month ago. Price cut? I’m about 99% sure I read an article about that a week ago. Information Week wrote an article about it… two days ago. So what’s the deal? Obviously, there’s this aspect: “XYZ Smartphone just came out. It isn’t a Blackberry or a Droid, nor does it possess the mythical awesome power of the iPhone. But you should buy it anyway.” I’d say the general response to these types of products is “Thanks, but no thanks.” At the end of the day, Microsoft was trying to sell a device that didn’t measure up. The many months-long pre-launch media campaign, on the other hand, was killer. So killer I think it may have been the nail on this phone’s coffin. If at any time in the past three months you have watched The Real Housewives, seen a bad chick flick at the movies, or checked out E! News, you’ve likely seen a commercial for KIN. If you haven’t seen it, check this one out. Notice anything strange about the ad? They seem to be pointing out how silly it is for people to be connected on social media, especially people who aren’t actually friends. The phone for your friends, friends, and friends: it connects you to that ex-boyfriend you don’t talk to anymore! The whole “meet your social network” experiment was a cool idea, but it highlights the ultimate uselessness of the phone. And judging by the level of success in the market, people aren’t buying in.

One of the biggest media trends since the BP Oil spill has been @BPGlobalPR, a BP Twitter account chronicling the daily “activities” of BP’s PR department. Other parodies have also emerged, including youTube videos and even an “oil midget wrestling match” featured on TMZ.com. Round-the clock attention to stories such as these, as well as important news updates on celebrities’ lunch meat choices, have made TMZ.com the second most visited blog on the internet.

What is amazing about this craze is people’s ability to find (or make) humor in something so tragic, and it is gaining significant attention. To date, “BP Spills Coffee” has almost 6.5 million views on YouTube. That’s about one in every 50 Americans.

In an interview about his Twitter account, the @BPGlobalPR author stated, “The Internet is full of great information, essays and ideas. But no one is interested in that hogwash, people want to see photos of cats wearing wigs. That’s what gets the attention, that’s what distracts. Our aim is to be that cat in a wig.” It seems the most popular sites on the internet are also the least pragmatic: strange words written on cat pictures, Charlie biting his brother’s fingers, and the rebirth of the music video via VEVO, which can at least claim artistic value… sometimes.

Even the most serious blogger isn’t immune. I’ll admit, in researching this very blog post, I stumbled upon this little gem, listened to all 8 minutes of it, and emailed it to a friend… lol. The truth is, people are still just as interested in honest information as they are in entertaining themselves (perhaps with 30 seconds of a stuffed animal dog show gone awry). So the next time you’re out to share your knowledge with the world, consider leveraging the power of humor to get your message across.

Years of languid management left the Pac-10 conference increasingly isolated from the rest of the college football world.  A sub-par television deal caused a lack of media exposure and resulted in meager payouts to the conference members ($8-10M annually per school compared to $17M for the SEC and $22M for the Big-10).  Pathetic bowl tie-ins—only one on New Year’s Day—further cemented an east coast bias that was a factor in the Pac-10’s numerous BCS snubs over the last 10 years.

Oh, have things changed in a hurry.  Led by its new commissioner Larry Scott, the Pac-10 has shaken up college football with its impending invitation to six Big-12 schools.  This unprecedented move would create college sports’ first super conference: a 16 school league spanning three time zones with 7 of the nation’s top 20 television markets (historically conferences have been characterized by regional proximity and cultural ties).  Scott’s job is to position the conference’s product in order to market it most effectively.  This effort is primarily geared towards the television networks as the Pac-10’s current deal expires at the end of next season.  Furthermore, the new Pac-16 (or whatever name it will be called) will be seeking a partner to help form its own cable network, which will exponentially increase the member schools’ exposure to the rest of the country.

Scott’s revolutionary strategy to market the Pac-10 conference has rocked the landscape of college football.  It is a great example of the iconoclastic, irreverent, even barbarian approach that TopRight is examining in its upcoming book In Search of Marketing Excellence.  At first glance, the Pac-10’s move seems insane, unconventional, and maybe even delusional.  As time goes on, however, it will surely be regarded as visionary and ingenious.

Ever wonder what happened to some of those nostalgic brands of yesteryear?   Join us at the AMA Signature Luncheon June 15th and revisit some of the classics to see how they have adapted to changes in culture and values, process, measurement and technology.

Polish your wingtips and pull out your iPads for a fun and inspiring look at marketing transformation from the days of Sterling Cooper right up to modern day Web 2.0.

Tuesday, Jun 15, 2010

11:30 AM – 03:00 PM

Villa Christina

4000 Summit Boulevard

Remember the event is non-smoking…

Which begs the question What Would Don Draper Do….

There’s a leveling of the playing field going on in the Marketing Management Software world. In past years, marketing platforms such as Aprimo were big dollar, big effort propositions for large organizations. Not anymore. Vendors are ramping up capabilities in an on-demand or SaaS-based model (Software as a Service). And service providers (like ourselves) are increasingly serving clients in a “MaaS” model (Marketing as a Service).

Speaking from our recent client work, we’re finding that marketing management platforms are no longer only for larger players. The dollar, time and resource commitment has been reduced to levels finally within reach of smaller marketing teams. In fact, clients are increasingly demanding it.

What do you think?