Canadian Marketing Blog

iPhone #2

It was reported over the weekend that the iPhone trademark dispute between Apple and Cisco has been resolved.

To quote the Globe:

"The companies said Apple will be allowed to use the name in exchange for exploring wide-ranging interoperability between the companies' products in the areas of security, consumer and business communications."

It is hard to read between the lines, but it seems that the two companies agree not to waste their money on trademark litigation and both use the mark. Cisco must not have been as sure of their legal position as I was. Perhaps more likely, Cisco decided it was better to not fight with Apple.

Cisco settled, I think, because it wants to interface with Apple's products.

However, this settlement should NOT be a lesson to people trying to piggyback on other people's intellectual property.

Unless you happen to be Apple, it is not a good idea to use a name already registered as a trademark of a competitor.

Now, what will happen in Canada? Comwave has the trademark in this country... Once again, there is probably a business deal that can be reached, so stay tuned for #3.

Kermit was wrong - it IS easy being green!

If you watched the Oscars earlier in the week, you saw Al Gore pick up the best documentary award for “An Inconvenient Truth”. The success of his movie demonstrates that people are listening. It's one thing to educate ourselves on Global Warming. Doing something about it is what makes the difference. I've said it before and I'll say it again - it's up to us to educate our clients and to give them examples of what other brands/services are doing around to become more eco-friendly. Springwise.com has some great examples. I'll share some with you now.

Green dentist?
Recently spotted in Berkeley, Transcendentist is the first eco-friendly dentist office in the United States. Certified by the Alameda County Green Business Program, the office practices ecologically sustainable dentistry -- from serving organic chamomile tea to using amalgam separator filters to prevent mercury entering the environment. Transcendentist also uses digital imaging instead of x-rays, which means less radiation for patients and employees, and no need for the chemicals that are used to process x-rays.
The eco approach extends to the rest of the office: non-toxic paint on the walls, chemical-free wool carpet and cloth headrest covers and bibs instead of paper disposables.

We all know about Eco-Friendly cars but what about Eco-Friendly Car Insurance?
Touted as the UK's first eco-friendly car insurance, Ecoinsurance offers customers a cleaner conscience and a greener planet, at no extra cost. Each vehicle insurance policy comes with carbon offsets for 20% of the customer's car's CO2 emissions, based on an average passenger car with average annual mileage. Customers who drive cars that emit less than 100 grams of CO2 emissions per kilometer receive an extra 10% discount on their policy.
The company also works with an eco-friendly repair network, paying appointed body shops more to ensure they recycle oil and old parts. Ecoinsurance doesn't seem to be in it just for a bit of positive green PR. In 2005, its parent company Co-operative Insurance became the first insurer in the world to commit to an ethical engagement policy.
Meanwhile in the US, Travelers Insurance is offering hybrid drivers 10 percent discount on auto insurance. Which is only fair -- hybrid drivers are classified as lower than average risk, and are preferred customers: middle-aged, responsible and financially stable (source: USA Today).
Even household items we rarely think about are going green.

Green Hangers?
3.5 billion wire hangers are tossed into landfills every year, and that's just in the United States. While the hangers are light, inexpensive and sturdy, they're not exactly bio-degradable. Hanger Network has developed an alternative: a dry cleaner's hanger made entirely from recycled paper. EcoHangers are sturdy and cheap. And because they're paper, they can be completely covered in full-colour advertising.

Everybody wins: Hanger Network creates a media network of up to 3.5 billion in-home 'views', and advertisers gain valuable entry into consumers' bedrooms for less than the price of a stamp. Dry cleaners get free hangers (wire hangers are about USD 0.08 each), and consumers no longer have to struggle with awkward tangles of wires. And on top of it all, it's an earth-friendlier solution. What's not to love?

Whether you're selling organic cotton or auto insurance, it’s easy to go green!

Slow and Steady Wins the Race!

At the B2B Conference held by CMA last Thursday, I had the pleasure of hearing David Suzuki in action. He was funny, dynamic, engaging, and most of all, powerful. I suspect that he made most people think, a few people nervous, and a small handful scared. But is using scare tactics the way to go? A colleague of mine made a good point today while we debated this new environmental religion that has come to exist in Canada. You can’t go from one extreme to another in one fell swoop. Environmental accountability, responsibility, and sustainability need to be introduced one step at a time – Canadians need to be spoon fed, not force fed.

During David’s talk yesterday he asked the audience of about 200 who had signed up for his Nature Challenge and not one single, solitary person lifted their hand – myself included. He was shocked, left speechless for a second or two. I was embarrassed. Here I was amongst some of the best and brightest in the world of marketing, the movers and shakers, the decision makers and not one of us has made the effort to become involved – not one.

The Nature Challenge is by no means difficult, it’s common sense really. Drive less, eat less, use less. In principle this should be easy, except in business we’re taught the opposite. Bigger is better… bigger budgets, bigger revenue, bigger salaries. This is what we all strive for, this is how we measure success. How do we achieve that symbiotic oneness between fiscal success and environmental sustainability?

Maybe my colleague was right… Maybe we have to take small steps at first and work up to the big stuff. I for one will join Suzuki’s Nature Challenge and tonight instead of the big steak I was considering I’ll eat a salad – and I may even walk to the restaurant!

Home Runs

Marketing is fun but it's not easy. Not anymore. Marketers are now constantly challenged to generate sales and create brand awareness amongst a tsunami of noise and clutter. This is one time when it was not "harder in the good old days".

The statistics are out there. Customers are bombarded with hundreds (if not thousands) of advertising and marketing pitches per day. And they have become very adept at tuning them out. Once fool-proof forms of advertising such as television are showing their Achilles heel.

This is not a negative thing per se, just a consequence of technological advancement. To quote an old '80s song - video killed the radio star. And now the Internet has killed the television star. Call it the marketing circle of life.

So what is a marketer to do? I think it goes back to the whole push versus pull marketing theory. Why shove something at a customer and hope they will bite when they can come looking for you? That is why I believe so strongly in SEM (search engine marketing) and SEO (search engine optimization). If I had to choose one type of marketing activity it would be search marketing, closely followed by email marketing.

Naturally, one can still use traditional forms of advertising such as print, radio, television, direct mail and billboards. However, you are then also under the gun to develop something that is so outstanding, it allows your message to rise above the clutter. And that is no easy task today.

Yes, that pressure does also apply to search and email but less so I would argue because they are much more cost effective mediums. So one tends to get much more mileage out of their advertising and marketing dollars.

Below are some incredible examples of advertising from around the globe that are making the rounds in cyberspace. The agencies that created these deserve much credit.

However, part of me wonders with increasing amounts of clutter does the bar not keep getting raised higher and higher? And at some point does it then become no longer attainable? It be argued that we have already reached that tipping point.

One could certainly hit a home run with creative such as those below but part of me wonders, "Is it still not interruption marketing?" And secondly, in an era where marketers must constantly justify ROI, "How much did the creative below cost to create and execute?" (Yes, I have been hanging around finance lately. Is it that noticeable?)

Yes, you could certainly hit a home run as others have but you also risk striking out. And for all the grand-slam home runs below, how many strike-outs were there and at what cost? Maybe it's time to consider trying a new bat...

A print of a cup of Folgers coffee was placed on top of manhole covers in New York City , USA . Holes on the print allows the steam to come out. Wordings around the cup reads 'Hey, City That Never Sleeps. Wake up." from Folgers.

This is a creative ad by Mini Cooper placed at the Zurich , Switzerland train station. It gives the perception that the Mini Cooper has a large space.

An advertisement for a job recruiting company in Berlin , Germany . Depicting people working in the vending machines, ATMs, it delivers the message that 'Life is too short for the wrong job'.

More on E-mail - Dead or Alive?

As a warm-up for Wednesday's breakfast roundtable on 'Optimizing E-mail for Better Results' - check out Michael Seaton's podcast where he gets the discussion going in advance with some of the roundtable panelists. You'll also hear from a few opinionated marketers about the future of e-mail maketing. Is e-mail going to be the channel of choice for the facebook generation? We'll pick-up on this one at the roundtable.

Integrate Your Online & Offline Giving Programs

Here are some tips for those of you in the charitable sector ‘digitizing’ your marketing/fundraising communications:

1.Resist the temptation to isolate supporters of your cause into rigid streams of giving methods. Developing an ‘online’ giving program should not be in isolation of your established ‘offline’ programs such as direct mail or telephone. While it is true that many of your donors will choose to remain segregated in a particular stream, some will embrace multiple touch points.

For example, one may give annually through an offline direct mail program, but choose to be recognized in an online environment. If your organization is yet to move into an online environment, a first step may be to introduce offline supporters to e-communication vehicles such as e-newsletters and e-updates.

2. When collecting email names, do not assume these individuals will not want to communicate in an offline environment such as the mail or phone.

3. If you can, segment these supporters to evaluate the effectiveness of their multi-channel involvement. It is likely that their commitment level and support will prove the value of your focus in this area.

In closing, you may feel you do not have the time to initiate an entire emarketing program. My suggestion is to start small with a few smaller initiatives and then grow from there. Just one e-campaign can provide a wealth of learning to help drive future online programs.

The Louvre's for sale

The most famous museum in the world, the Louvre has licenced its name to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, for $520 million.

I thought it was bad when the Mighty Ducks became an actual NHL team.

I shouldn't be shocked at commercialism in sports, but art galleries?

The Louvre II will have the elements of any good sequel: many of the same things you saw in Paris will be lent to Abu Dhabi so you can see them again.

The sequel museum will be Louvrier than the original, and the third will be the Lovriest.

Sorry. I couldn't resist the pun.

FacePaint…MyFace? No, It’s Facebook!

The online social network Facebook.com is quickly gaining popularity. It opened up for anyone to join in fall 2006, previously available only to those having an email address from an educational institution. Facebook is like an amalgamation of such messaging programs as MSN Messenger and ICQ with sites that allow users to post and view user-created content such as MySpace and YouTube. While the adoption of social networking on-line is second nature to the younger set, not everyone is so quick to catch on. Hence the title of this blog post, it’s difficult to get these sites sorted as to features, audiences and – most importantly to some – their capabilities and opportunities as marketing tools.

An article in the Globe and Mail, “RIM mascot targets online scene – BlackBerry not the first brand to 'tap into those eyeballs'” by Keith McArthur highlights the idea that consumers who are into a social networking site visit it daily, adding up to a lot of time spent checking out the posts, comments and news of others. Some people are reluctant to join at first, assuming that the site is too juvenile, but its growth really is impressive. McArthur’s article recognizes that brands can also join social networking sites, although this trend is slower to take shape on Facebook than on MySpace. However, since friends are only added to profiles on Facebook with permission, a popular brand would have an easier time of this than others. Of course, “unofficial” pages can be added as well, posing as a brand or celebrity, which can have a positive or negative affect depending on the attention it receives.

An appealing feature to a marketer is the “events” section where members can post invitations to upcoming events and promote them with comments and photos. Another feature, which got its big break leading up to Valentine’s Day, is the “Gifts” option. Members are able to give “gifts” to their friends, which are simply graphic icons such as a cake, flowers, or a puppy dog, to give just a few examples. For Valentine’s Day, all users were offered the chance to give one gift for free. Gifts generally come with a price tag of $1 and require credit card payment. For several of the gifts, proceeds were donated to a charity. Facebook also has a blog where Facebook contributors and employees can offer members advice and information about Facebook.

New features are being added very frequently along with interesting opportunities for marketers. The biggest issue may be: How long will its popularity last? And along with that, can members and marketers get along? There is already evidence of members’ wariness of Facebook’s credibility and threats to their security and privacy.

In light of these issues, another article in the Globe and Mail, “Andreessen gets into social networking - Netscape co-founder attempting to take social networks personal” by Michael Liedtke discusses Ning Inc.’s diversion from such “one-size-fits-all” networks through its creation of a free toolkit designed to allow for the easy launch of a customized social network aimed at a niche audience. This leads to a discussion about such social networking sites as Facebook as internal marketing or human resources tools. Already on Facebook, “networks” are being created that represent employees of a particular company, just as they previously represented schools. However, through Ning Inc.’s tool kit, a more private and secure network could be established. This is a much more interactive option than e-newsletters. It also raises opportunities for B2B marketing.

What‘s next as online “social networking” comes of age?

Inside Sales: Ideas and Tips Part II

This is the second in a series of two posts (Part 1 here).
Today, we share two new ideas to deal with issues on appointment setting and campaign qualification.

Idea: Appointment Setting
Problem(s) Addressed: Lack of face-to-face activity for field reps.
Detail: Teleprospectors within this inside sales sub-segment have but one goal; to set appointments for field sales reps within the accounts that are assigned to each rep. Optimally, this will employ a “limited qualification” model; in just a few minutes conversation, the appointment setter is trying to create enough interest to get the prospect to agree to a more “significant” interaction (face-to-face, telephone- or Web-based). Again, these reps must be specially trained to deliver a very tight value proposition and generate enough buzz in just a few minutes, a skill that only a portion of the inside sales population will have. Because the inside salesperson does not spend a significant amount of time on the phone with a prospect, the degree to which the lead is qualified is usually quite low; this fact must be socialized with and agreed to by the pool of field reps that will be on the receiving end of these appointments.

Idea: Campaign Qualification
Problem(s) Addressed: Lack of a closed-loop lead process; lead definition inconsistency; lack of sales and marketing integration.
Detail: This group of teleprospectors is trained to follow up with respondents to marketing campaigns and other inbound activity; they are not cold callers. The key enabler for this activity is the outbound marketing strategy that the organization has agreed upon along with a consensus between sales and marketing regarding lead definitions. No organization should be seeking a single way to define a lead; rather, multiple “lead levels” should be created, with agreement reached on what “level” a lead must meet before it is formally passed on to field sales. In this case, when inside sales receives a response from marketing, it should be based on a set of organizationwide standards, such as same, address, email address, telephone number, activity level and activity history. When inside sales is through working these leads and “graduating” them to a level deemed field-sales worthy, the lead/each lead must have achieved additional levels of characteristics/qualification.

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On the brink...

At a recent CMA Branding Council meeting we were asked to share some insights we’ve noticed lately in marketing. As people discussed their views on digital signage and corporate social responsibility, I franticly scrambled to think of something intelligent to say. In the end, I shared my thoughts about the massive communication divide that exists between me in my late 20’s and those only a few months younger.

My sister at 26 is on Facebook constantly. Every time I’m at her house she’s relentlessly checking who joined, who wants to be friends, who recently posted pictures, and I inevitably have to sit and listen to her go on about who’s doing what, who’s marrying whom, who lives here, who doesn't.

Emily and I are only 16 months apart in age but when it comes to online communication technology it seems like months are measured in dog years. I literally feel as though I am closing the door on my youth and if I take one more step further to “the other side” I will officially become… dare I say it, just like my mother. This is a woman who raised three bright, technology-savvy children, worked full-time, can recite the periodic table by memory but goes into panic mode when the computer asks her to perform a Windows update or when my BlackBerry starts to vibrate.

I fear I’m on the cusp of becoming uncool; a place I never thought I'd visit, let alone live when I was younger - you know, way back when I was 26.

Black Eye for BlackBerry

Research in Motion (RIM) has taken a hammering in the press lately. They had to re-adjust their earnings because they understated the expenses from stock options so now $250 Million expense is on the balance sheet.

If you are not familiar with RIM, they are an original Canadian success story. They stopped the astronomical growth of the Palm Pilot. They are the creators of the heavily used Blackberry. Yes, the very popular narcotic of the business world known by the street name of 'Crackberry'.

Crackberry addicts are pretty obvious. They use them in a car. They use them in a bar. They use them in the day. They use them when they have nothing to say. They use them in a meeting. They use them when greeting. Highly addictive things.

As a public service message, please look at the following quiz to determine if you are an addict. Acknowledging the problem is the first step. Be it crackberry addiction or DSMS for that matter.

(Full Disclosure: I do not have a Blackberry as having one in my hands would be akin to locking a child in a candy store.)

Getting back to RIM, I can't understate how disappointed I am. The co-CEO of RIM (Jim Balsillie) stepped down on his sword and resigned from his position as chairman of the company. That was the right thing to do. He and co-CEO, Mike Lazaridis, also agreed to pay $5 Milllion personally for the costs of an internal review and audit investigation. Another good move.

RIM has also stated that executives will repay all the benefit they received from the options that were incorrectly priced. It was further reported in the Globe&Mail that the SEC and OSC are also reviewing RIM.

If you recall the Westjet and Air Canada corporate espionage fiasco, the CEO of Westjet stayed in his position where some felt he should have resigned. (In fairness, CEO Clive Beddoe offerred his resignation but the Westjet Board of Directors did not accept it.) The espionage situation did hurt Westjet's brand. No longer were they the plucky underdog with the halo taking on big and obnoxious Air Canada.

Could the option ordeal negatively impact RIM's brand? It appears the benefit of this stock option faux-pas was limited to the ivory tower at RIM. So how do the developers, programmers, marketing folks, customer support and cleaning staff feel? You know the worker bees. I know some great people at RIM who work their tails off. And they are very unhappy about all this.

This situation potentially gives the Blackberry a black eye in terms of employee relations, investor relations, customer relations and brand equity.

Let's hope RIM recovers from this shiner quickly as there is enough cynicism out there for most successful large companies. This is the last thing a world-class Canadian firm such as RIM needs.

Why there will never be a Web 3.0

In 2004, O’Reilly Media played host to a series of conferences which birthed a notion that forever changed the way we think about the online space. Scribbled on a piece of paper and taped to a door, the topic for discussion read: "Web 2.0".

The result? Talks that have continued to inspire the web, the marketing and, most recently, the advertising worlds. Revolving around companies such as Google, Amazon, eBay and more, the seeds of Web 2.0 were sown on the core principles of the aforementioned "dotcoms," which grew, survived and even thrived through the bubble burst of the late 1990s.

Some of the notions which were captured are summarized below.

Web 2.0:

1. is an attitude not a technology.
2. incorporates the notions of "the Long Tail."
3. realizes the content is the brand.
4. is in a state of "perpetual beta".
5. supports software which gets better the more people use it.
6. often grants the right to remix with "some rights reserved".
7. tries to provide the feeling of "play".
8. allows granular addressability of content.
9. is emergent; user behaviour is not predetermined.
10. offers a rich user experience.
11. trusts the user (radical!).

Perpetual beta suggests that these principles, and all those that may follow, are simply extensions of the original notion. In other words, Web 2.0 does not mark a place in time, pre- or post- bubble; instead it simply offers a label for these proven principles and encourages exploration from there.

To suggest that your company offers or sells "Web 2.0" products or services may be technically true, but it sounds terribly naïve. In effect, you're simply announcing that you build web properties that work. Shouldn't that be a given? Could you imagine a car dealer selling a car by saying, "now with engines that run!"

To sell "Web 2.0" as a product suggests there was a "Web 1.0." To say a website is "Web 1.0" is like saying that product is failed or doomed to. So, if you sell "Web 2.0" as a service, are you suggesting to your client that he/she may opt out for the Web 1.0 version?

This brings us to Web 2.1, Web 2.5, Web 3.0 and all the ridiculous version numbers people are tossing around nowadays. I wish these principles were never labeled Web 2.0 because it implies (without further understanding) that there can be a Web 3.0. A property that is in "perpetual beta" does not allow for "versioning". If only that note scribbled at O’Reilly’s conference read "Web That Works" or "Social Media" or "Schicki-micki" or anything to prevent the name from being harvested and exploited by misinformed marketers as is being done today.

This basic misunderstanding has led to many headaches for those trying to develop web properties that work. Lacking a workable lexicon, it's difficult to get the concept past two very dangerous audiences:

- The first audience has no clue what Web 2.0 means, often rejecting the concept as "too risky". (Creating websites that will actually work is "too risky"?)

- The second audience understands exactly what Web 2.0 means, but dislike the term because the first audience has bastardised it - and who can blame them?

Since schicki-micki is too hard to spell anyway, I propose we move on from the designation of Web 2.0 (and thereby eliminating its unfounded sequel Web 3.0), and stick to a common term like "internet," or websites that "work". If you continue to insist on utilizing a new term, consider "social media".

A phenomenon I would not have expected

This is an article I would not have expected in this day and age. Teens are buying books and reading more than teens of previous decades.

When I was a teen, we had a few opportunities for entertainment. The list consisted of playing sports, playing a few select video games (although this was on our TI 99/4A computer since we didn't have a Nintendo, Atari or any other game console), watching TV, going to see a movie in the ridiculously small theatres at the Eaton's Centre, or hanging out with friends wherever we might be (record store, arcade, someone's house). Of course, my Parents had much less choice than I did as a teen.

Teens today have more choice than we did for entertainment. Billions of web pages like Yahoo & Youtube, TV on demand, PVR's, and you're just a wiki away from finding out anything you've ever wanted to know about anything. Home video games allow us to play against anyone in the world and sites like MySpace as well as text messages and chat sites are changing the way teens socialize with each other.

So why are teens reading more now than teens in the previous 30 years?

This is just my opinion and is not based on any facts. I'd love to hear the opinions from others as well.

I believe there may be two reasons influencing this trend.

The amount of advertising teens are exposed to everyday. Every one of the forms of entertainment teens have at their fingertips contain some form of advertising. Even video games and online virtual worlds are being hit with product placement . Advertising was overwhelming when I was a teen, and there wasn't as much back then (do you remember any product placement in the most popular video game in history, Super Mario Brothers?). Books may be only form of entertainment today that does not contain constant advertising hits. Although even this is changing.

Also, teens are now connected to other people 24/7. Text messages, chats, online games, social websites, cell-phones, blogs, e-mail and the occasional age old phone call mean that teens are accessible to each other at all times. Reading a book may provide a much needed escape from this constant e-connection to others.

Whatever the reason, our future leaders are somehow finding the time to read more today.

Bill the means, deliver the ends?

Last week I traveled to New York City to participate in a great discussion on the future of Creativity in Advertising, hosted by Corbis.

Jan Leth, CCO for Ogilvy & Mather in New York, shared the following anecdote:

In honour of their 45th anniversary, Six Flags Theme Parks decided to give away 45,000 free tickets to celebrate the big day. Ogilvy's creative team received the brief, complete with the typical fair: some ads, a promotional website, banners, etc. Of his own accord, the assigned Creative Director posted the event on Craigslist and five hours later the 45,000 tickets were gone.

It's hard to understand how to react.

My gut reaction: the Creative Director did exactly what they should have done. They looked beyond the media, put their expertise into a very creative solution and got the job done.

On the other hand, advertising is typically billed by the means and not by the end. How do you bill hundreds of thousands of dollars for a five minute execution?

Food for thought as the industry continues to shift.

Do we bill the means and deliver the ends, or do we bill the ends, whatever the means?

What do you think?

Swimming Ostriches

Recently, some critics have been of the opinion that blogging is useless and a sign of no life. Although I might disagree, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. And if I'm honest, a year ago I probably shared the same position.

But Hallelujiah I have seen the light my brothers and sisters! Praise the Lord! (It happens when you fully check out something and then form an opinion.)

I apologize for preaching to the choir as you already get it as you are reading this. So please forward this to any friends, family and/or colleagues who need to be converted!

In all seriousness, I've found writing for the CMA blog to be greatly rewarding. It's allowed me to write about something I'm passionate about and get others viewpoints as well. And the other regular contributors and guest submissions have been highly informative and entertaining.

Unquestionably, there are certain blogs that I read regularly just to stay up to date on things in the digital marketing realm. And I feel I'm a lot better for it in terms of general awareness.

Does blogging work for companies? Good question. Since I don't work for any agency per se I'll give you a client-side opinion from the peanut gallery.

In most cases blogging does work. What do I mean? Look at last year's Mesh conference. They event sold out and there were over 500 attendees. If they charged on average $300 per person, that comes out to about $150,000 in revenue. Here is the kicker. They spent zero on marketing or advertising. No radio, no print and definitely no television. Mesh was promoted strictly through blogs and word of mouth. Imagine their bottom line looked with marketing costs.

Now I do not suggest that the aforementioned media are useless. Nor do I advocate you solely depend on blogs to advertise specific events or campaigns but ignoring them entirely may be foolish as so aptly noted in the great video above.

If you do decide to jump into the blog pool from an advertising perspective, I would caution about one thing. Be careful which blogs you associate yourself, your company and your brand with. They come in all kinds of stripes and colours after all. Content targeting works but has limitations. For example, if you promote vacations to Mexico on a blog and someone there writes about recent tourist deaths there or how they sufferred from an upset stomach while on vacation....well...you get the point.

One thing I can say with confidence is that blogs are not going away. They have not hit critical mass yet and are still very much in the early adopter phase. This in spite of the fact that over 55 million are out there. Yes, you read correctly, 55 million blogs are already in cyberspace. There is a lot of noise as one friend so aptly observed but you can tune it out.

Personally, I would never call another blog crap or its writer a loser. Not because I'm Canadian or being politically-correct but it's not my place to judge another blog. Someone else may be excited to regularly write about their dogs and have hundreds/thousands of dedicated readers.

So If I'm smart and have some marketing dollars to invest, I might test advertising on such a blog or podcast if I sell pet food. Don't worry, I will not send you a consulting invoice Ralston Purina. Consider this pro-bono work.

Some major companies now have their own corporate blogs. Mine doesn't but that may change in time. Should yours? That is something you need to determine and decide for yourself. At a minimum, why not try out the space and see what happens?

If you don't have the time to start your own blog or a corporate blog, why not join a collective such as the CMA blog, One Degree or others out there that reflect your interests and passions. That's what I did and I don't regret it for a minute.

Bloggers are also becoming major influencers. This is important to remember if you play in the digital economy. One thing I recently learned from folks who specialize in SEM/SEO (Search Engine Marketing / Search Engine Optimization) is that search engines love blogs. Especially that really popular one. Go figure.

Lastly, If you blog you can come off as someone knowledgeable and it does wonders for your own personal brand. Even if you really are not (present company included). My father once told me that if you write about your passions, you are more likely to be well received. That is why I will never write about statistics, celebrity gossip and/or computer programming.

Sticking your head in the sand like an ostrich when it comes to blogging is at your own peril. So why not stick your toe in the water? You might discover that even ostriches can swim.

The Branding Process: Is it Art or Science?

The answer is: it is both! It starts with a base of information, facts, and data; and then moves into the creative aspects of branding.

When you think of world-class Brands like Apple, Nike, and Starbucks; and in the retail world, Brands like Holt Renfrew, IKEA, and Selfridges, they are built on a solid base of research, analysis, and insights. But their sizzle comes from the creative execution of their Brand strategies.

The current Holt Renfrew shoe campaign is a brilliant example of Brand building. It does an incredible job of supporting the corporate Brand position, while at the same time it builds awareness, traffic, and sales for their new shoe department.

Visit the Bloor Street store and experience how well the campaign is supported with “WOW!” windows, in-department displays, and a collection of staff that are right out of central casting.

Retail Branding: you need to get your facts right but the excitement is in the creative aspects of the Brand.

Focus Groups – A good Meal Goes a Long Way

Last week a colleague of mine attended focus groups in Montreal and Toronto. Her team was testing new advertising approaches for a segment of their customer base. It’s not often marketing teams have the chance to spend quality time with the people who pay the bills, so she was looking forward to the experience.

For two days she told me she heard nothing but customers complain. They had 'zero' relationship with the company, were too expensive, they doubted the value of the products they purchased, heard from the company very infrequently (usually when it was time to renew) and generally resented the fact they had to do business with the organization at all. Yikes.

And all this she said, before pulling out new advertising concepts from her portfolio to share with them. It was one of those moments where you say to yourself, "wow there is a huge opportunity to fix this," or "why did I want to work here again?"

Focus group testing is a 'qualitative' research approach that marketers use to hear current and prospective customers’ feedback about the products and services they use, their attitudes and impressions about companies and their competition. The topics that can be tested are varied, but mostly they are used to collect reactions to creative ideas in development. Also, for companies that haven't communicated to their client base in a while, focus groups help establish starting points for new message platforms or for an updated value proposition. This is valuable insurance that can minimize the chance of launching a program that has little credibility with customers yet looks or sounds great.

The focus group exercise is usually a series of 3 groups of 4 - 6 people each (any larger and they loose their effectiveness) plus a moderator who is part guidance counselor, part gym teacher. By that I mean they can create a comfortable sharing circle to ask questions, get candid opinions and probe to uncover motivations and prejudices. And they keep conversations on track and steer the group, including the loudest and most opinionated, through topics about the company and subject matter with as little bias as possible. Here are some principles I follow to get the most out of a focus group research exercise:

1. Hold the groups early in the planning stages. They should happen early in the marketing planning process (at least 8 to 10 weeks before launch). This gives enough time to evaluate feedback and decide how and what you've heard will affect your work and allow for any adjustments to your approach.

2. Pay close attention to who you invite. Assemble people with the characteristics you're looking for. If you want reactions from new customers, make sure no one slips in that may have a long standing relationship with your company and potentially lots of opinions. This means you need to pay close attention to the recruiting specifications that the moderator is using to confirm attendees.

3. Use your time wisely. Invest time in the discussion guide - it's the foundation of the conversation you're about to have, so make sure you include all the questions and topics you and the agency have. Ensure you don't exceed the two hour guideline. Any longer and you’ll see drooping eyes and chins resting on hands. Make sure you have a good conversation flow and logical segues from one topic to another. A good moderator will look for these bridges - themes that join one topic to the next.

4. Be ready to adjust your approach. If you hear provocative reactions or insights that you didn't anticipate, drill down during the next session. Good groups give you lots of sound bites and help you explore new ideas. They challenge your assumptions about what you think customers think - and help you discover new directions. Ineffective groups don't add to what you already know.

5. Schedule discussion time between each group. Have time to debrief with the moderator and other observers. Listen and share reactions to what you've just seen and heard. Often times, it's everyone's collective feedback that builds the overall reaction - not just one individual.

Done well, focus groups can provide insightful feedback at a point in the marketing planning process where you can make adjustments. And like my colleague added, “Always choose a facility with a reputation for serving up good food. It's amazing how a good meal can help bad news go down.”

A memo from Starbucks

In a recent memo from Starbucks, Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz wrote to CEO Jim Donald about his concerns with watering down the Starbucks "experience".

When your organization grows at an incredibly rapid rate, it is very difficult to match the brand experience that is credited for the growth in the first place.

We all see it in our businesses from time to time. We come up with "more efficient" ways of providing our service only to realize that we didn't take the time to see the impact on the brand.

For Starbucks, Howard Schultz realized that the reason Customers originally came into his stores was for the ultimate coffee experience. The smells, tastes, sights, sounds was what differentiated this buying experience from other places that sold coffee. Customers were willing to wait longer, and take their time to enjoy a mini coffee vacation - ok maybe I'm going too far with the vacation thing :)

Commercialization has its price. By taking away the experience, or the thing that differentiates you with others, you are left with the basics. Fast service, good prices, happy service people, clean stores etc etc. insert McDonalds, WalMart or any other mass chain retailer/service provider.

Starbucks, by losing the experience part of their offering, are competing with those that invented the commercialization of restaurants. Unfortunately they are finding it harder to compete at this level. McDonalds was rated a better cup of coffee than Starbucks in a recent Consumer Reports study.

In order to protect and grow our brands, it's important to always remember the question "our Customers buy from us because.......". In the case of Starbucks, it wasn't as much the coffee as it was the overall love of the experience.

Howard Schultz is committed to getting that differentiation back.

When I say Coca, you think.... Bolivia?

From the department of wishful thinking, the government of Bolivia is attempting to prevent the use of the name "coca"in commercial products, including Coca-Cola.

Bolivian coca leaf has traditionally been chewed and used in local rituals. Bolivia's President Morales, a former coca farmer, is behind the country's efforts to include the coca plant as a “natural, economic, renewable and strategic resource” in Bolivia’s constitution. Bolivian coca industry representatives passed a resolution calling Coca-Cola to take "coca" out of its name and asked the United Nations to decriminalize the sacred leaf.

However, coca is also the main ingredient in cocaine, which may explain the logic behind this grandiose plan.

Not surprizingly, the US State Department opposes Bolivia's "commercializing" of coca. Christy McCampbell, the State Department's deputy assistant secretary for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs, says "if you grow coca that means there's more cocaine on the streets. You need only one specific thing to make cocaine and that's the coca leaf."

I haven't seen the press release, but Coca-Cola has reportedly stated that its trademark is "the most valuable and recognized brand in the world" and protected under Bolivian law.

Email Viral Marketing

For the past little while we have been engaged in email viral marketing. What is email viral marketing? Some kind of nasty computer virus? The bubonic plague transmitted via email? Holy Toledo Batman! What will these marketers unleash next?

Relax. It's actually a very cost effective and legitimate way of getting the word out. It works pretty simply actually.

Step 1: You send out an email to your email list inviting them to participate in a contest. I'm going to assume that your email list is entirely opt-in based. (That means you received express permission from each recipient to send them email. If not, do not proceed to Step 2.)

Step 2: Your contest encourages recipients to send emails to friends, family and colleagues to sign-up for the contest. The more people that they email and who sign-up, the more entries they receive into the contest. This is an important point. Do not reward people for simply emailing others as that could incite spamming. Contestants should only be rewarded for getting others to register to the contest.

So if I email dozens of friends and then 16 register for the contest, I would receive 16 entries into the contest. The more people I refer and who register, the more entries I receive.

Step 3: Step back and watch the contest grow. Just like a virus, your friends are incited to email others and so on and so forth. Now all of sudden you have just created something viral.

Now being in an era of overflowing inboxes and an abundance of everyone's favorite lunchmeat, how can this work? A few reasons:

Firstly, if I know as a participant, I'm only going to get entries only when people I refer register, I'm only going to send it to people who I believe will feel the contest is interesting and the company and or brand is attractive.

Secondly, I know this because if I sent non-relevant email to friends and family I would feel their wrath in no short order. "Sulemaan, why in the name of Saint Peter are you sending this crap to me?" Yes, I'm speaking from experience where if I forward an email to twelve friends, I will receive a cheque from Microsoft for $6,779.24 in 4 days. (Stop laughing it was years ago.)

Thirdly, a new customer is less likely to respond to a cold call/email from you than from a friend introducing a contest or brand to them. If my friend Kate was sending me an email about a contest, I'd look at it. If an email came out of the blue from Petro Canada...well what's that key on the keyboard next to 'Insert'?

We have conducted email viral campaigns for the past few years and they have been very successful for us. We've increased our sales and email opt-in email list size significantly. The viral effect of the campaigns is staggering. Indeed, why not get your customers to promote your brand and reward them for it?

Not that easy you say? No question there are people out there that are part of the BPU but do not let them stop you. Do not let them claim that email viral campaigns violate privacy or any other horse pucky. Nothing is further from the truth.

No, I'm not an attorney (although my beloved wife suggests I should be) as we recently reviewed this viral concept with our legal department and they were fine. I also spoke to some privacy experts at the CMA and elsewhere who said if certain guidelines are followed viral email campaigns are indeed kosher.

Having said all of this there are still some pitfalls to avoid:

(1) Always use a CAPTCHA when running a viral email marketing campaign. Otherwise your contest will get hit with scripts and bots by some very crafty people (aka hackers) out there in cyberspace.

(2) Be prepared to deal with the consequences if your viral campaign becomes too successful. What am I speaking about? Not long ago Starbucks launched a viral campaign and had to stop it as the actual redemption exceeded projected costs. They not only got some bad publicity but a competitor took advantage of the situation.

(3) The same principles of proper usability apply with viral email campaigns as the do with websites.

(4) If viral email campaigns become a pillar of your marketing calendar, make sure you spread them out so you don't lose that luster. Think about it along the lines of not killing the goose that laid the golden egg. If you are going to run a viral email campaign that last 4-6 weeks. Think about running them at most once per quarter or every 4 months.

(5) Always get different quotes from various agencies if you decide to outsource the work. One firm quoted us $100k for just 1 viral email campaign that last 6 weeks. Now I don't blame them as other clients were very willing to pay that amount. However, another agency quoted us 4 viral email campaigns for a fraction of the cost the first agency quoted.

(6) Know the potential strengths and weaknesses of various vendors. Don't just look at it from a pricing perspective. Some firms are great with creative but lousy with project planning and/or technology. For others it's the reverse. Some firms can react quickly to problems late on a Friday aftenoon. Others will tell you to wait until Monday. Figure out what you want to do and what is important. As a professor once told me: Price, Quality and Time. Pick Two.

(7) Just because you want something to become viral doesn't mean it will be. Strategic execution, strong creative, proper usability, a clear call to action and a reward for the participants are all many factors to consider when constructing an viral email campaign.

(8) After you have completed the aforementioned, let it ride and learn so you can optimize things from one campaign to the next. That is what we did. To simply spend more money on advertising from one campaign to the next is foolish. Look at improving your website conversion on a continuous basis. Most importantly, listen to your customers feeback. They will tell you what you are doing right and (if you are lucky) what you are doing wrong.

Email viral marketing can be quite succesful but the trick is harnessing it successfully. To quote Seth Godin: You can do it. I bet you can do just that.

Not MySpace. It's MySHAPE

This is a post for all of the women out there who want to look their best.

I'm sure we've all experienced purchasing clothing online only to be disappointed when we get it home. I can't tell you how many times I've had to return my online purchases. I was thrilled to read about a new site that removes the guesswork out of online shopping caused by inconsistent sizing between brands and retailers.
It's called MyShape.com.

I created my own MyShape profile today. It was easy - just key in your measurements and the website tells you what body type you have. It also gives you tips on fabrics, colours and patterns that are flattering to your figure. It shows you a ton of different clothing options that would suit your body shape AND you can also purchase them online.

MyShape works with 100 designers, who make custom clothing for customers. MyShape receives a sales commission.

Not only am I excited about this site for personal reasons, I also think it's a smart way to target consumers by telling them why they need your services and giving them exactly what they want.

Why isn't radio advertising better?

I had an iPod adapter installed in my new car when I got it last April. Not too hard to believe, I suppose. But the reason I did it is because radio advertising does a better job of annoying me than it does of inspiring me.

Exhibit A: Sean from Spence Diamonds. I suppose there is something to be said for the fact that I even know the guy's name and I know he's the spokesperson for Spence Diamonds. But I would never go into a Spence Diamonds store because I find their commercials so off-putting. Nails on a chalkboard is the only way to describe it.

Exhibit B: Christine McGee from Sleep Country. Both of my kids sing the jingle when it comes on the radio. And admittedly, Sleep Country is a proven marketing success story. But I literally turn the channel every time one of her spots comes on.

Exhibit C: Just about everything else you can hear between the music and the inane DJ banter. Everything just seems to lack any creativity or originality.

In our all-staff status meeting last Monday morning, one of our creative folks presented just a few radio spots from the recent Crystal Awards -- the best in radio advertising. Every spot was better and more creative than the next. Funny, engaging, creative in their use of music, creative in their use of sound effects, creative conceptually.

Terry O'Reilly from Pirate Radio is a guru of Canadian Radio advertising. He speaks brilliantly on the topic and is perceived to be one of the best in the business. Where are his disciples? I'm sure they're out there. Perhaps I don't listen to the radio enough. But there is no denying if they are out there working, they are the exception, not the rule.

The Crystal Awards prove that creative work can be done for radio. O'Reilly himself has said it is the medium that offers the most untapped potential in that it is inexpensive to produce, it can be turned around quickly, and it allows you to be creative if you have it in you to be.

I am seriously challenged to think of one recent radio spot that had me thinking, wow, now THAT'S using the full potential of the channel.

Can you think of one? Here's the criteria: Entertaining. Memorable (spot and product). Smart.

"Thinking outside-the-box"

This blog post is a bit of a rant but I'm sure many of you can relate to what I have to say. There's one thing that has been getting on my nerves lately - that's the overused cliche buzz words that us advertising and marketing folks tend to use. I decided to do a little digging to see if anyone else shared my pain. I was surprised to see that there have been a few surveys on this very subject.

Creative professionals who tout "outside-the-box" or "synergistic" thinking and promise to deliver "the big idea" to increase "ROI" may want to rethink the terms they use. While these terms might have resonated with audiences in the past, they were listed among the most annoying industry buzzwords by advertising and marketing executives in a few recent surveys conducted by The Creative Group and Accountemps.

Executives were asked, "In your opinion, what is the most annoying or overused buzzword in the creative/marketing industry today?" Top responses included:

Outside-the-box
Synergy
ROI
Paradigm Shift
Strategy
Integrated Solution
CRM
Customer Centric
Voice of the Customer
Buzz
Make it pop
Circle Back
Break through the clutter
Take it to the next level
Innovation
Organic
Low hanging fruit
It is what it is
At the end of the day
Ducks in a row
Metrics
Take it offline
Value added
Incremental
Core competency
Incremental

I have to take this offline now so I can get my ducks in a row but I'll be sure to circle back to read your comments.