Are you using all of your resources?

Posted on June 17, 2009 by markkolier

You have great people working together in your company toward common goals. If you didn’t you would be making changes or at least thinking about making changes. The people that you work with are most often your primary resources for getting things done.

But are you using ALL of your resources? As a relatively small (less than 20 people) direct and digital marketing agency we are, at times, growing our business by availing ourselves of great resources through partners and associates. In the end coming to work every day is about getting the most effective campaigns/highest ROI on behalf of our customers.

Yet one of the more difficult aspects of working in a smaller agency is bandwidth when it comes to how to handle the many marketing channels that are available. We are really good and deeply experienced in on-page, direct mail, digital and a wide range of e-commerce platforms. However we are not nearly as experienced in channels like broadcast and cable television, radio, telemarketing and OOH (out-of-home). There are times in reviewing what is best for the CUSTOMER; that best thing falls outside of our main areas of expertise. And like many agencies we have invested much time and effort in developing both the relationship as well as the understanding of our clients’ business. That’s where our outside resources help us help our customers.

By managing the overall communication stream across whatever channels are employed we keep the message consistent (something that is often lacking when there are multiple agencies working on behalf of a client but not with each other). And as such there are occasions (increasingly) that we will introduce our partner resources to our clients so we can then work WITH those partners in order to do the best possible work on behalf of our customer. We still own the agency/client relationship. And we remain the driving strategic force.

Does that make me concerned it could make our agency look weaker or that we could lose the customer to a larger agency with a broader range of in-house services? No not at all. Our resources offer insight and expertise that complements our own. By bringing qualified partners to the table we show our customers that we understand our own limitations, but we respect that there are many things to consider and we only want the best results for our customers. I think it makes us a much stronger agency and our customers have told us they feel the same way.

So – are you using all of your resources? You really should not be afraid!

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A great opportunity for Tiger Woods to re-brand himself as ‘Eldrick the Fearsome’

Posted on June 13, 2009 by markkolier

Of course the artist who formerly was named Prince tried this and yet is currently named Prince. So it doesn’t always work. But the spectacular and amazing golf career that Mr. Woods has produced to date is the stuff of which legends are made. Tiger is so much better than his peers that fellow U.S. top ten golfer Jim Furyk was heard to say to reporters recently – ‘I wish you’d all quit pissing him off,” he said jokingly of Woods, … and make him come back and keep proving stuff. Tiger Woods is always Tiger Woods.’ But what if he wasn’t called Tiger Woods any more?

Last week he hit two great shots on the last two holes, which enabled him to come back and win the tournament. I mentioned to my wife that there’s another one for the legend that is Eldrick which is actually Tiger’s true first name. She had never heard his real first name before and noted that Eldrick sounded like a Viking or Norse name. It struck me the same. So I got to thinking – maybe Tiger Woods should become ‘Eldrick the Fearsome’. Talk about a name that aptly describes his professional persona. And his fellow professionals would not admit it but they do fear him for good reason. He kicks their butts time and again. And talk about the merchandising opportunities. There’s a Saturday morning cartoon smash hit in ‘that there’ name. Not to mention a full slate of action figures. I contend that Tiger Woods is not an exciting action figure. But ‘Eldrick the Fearsome’ comes with shields, helmets and saves impoverished villagers from the tyrannical King and his court every time. He is respected and beloved by all.

Tiger Woods is a memorable name and an argument can be made that it is known nearly to the degree that Muhammad Ali once was renowned. But I think using the name ‘Eldrick the Fearsome’ has even more potential for lasting value and would only add to his legend. Professional athletes sometimes choose unusual names in order to differentiate themselves from their peers. It seems to happen more often when their talent is unremarkable. There was a football player who changed his name to ‘He Hate Me’ when in the short lived XFL several years ago. His real name was Rod Smart. Maybe he was smart or maybe not I will let others judge that one. But I (and others) remember it.

Jimmy ‘the Greek’ Snyder had a great nickname. ‘Erik the Red’ has offered thousands of years of lasting value. A thousand years from now which name do you think has greater lasting value, Tiger Woods, or ‘Eldrick the Fearsome’? It’s no contest in my view.

What do you think?

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Clients and prospects are now talking about customer acquisition. Are you digging a new mine?

Posted on June 9, 2009 by markkolier

Economists and pundits (at times they think they are one and the same) tell us the recession began sometime in 2008. What I recall our clients and prospects doing around the same time was focusing on customer retention. The thought that it is more valuable to keep a customer than to spend marketing dollars to acquire a new one was overriding. Marketing budgets were slashed and primarily the area to suffer most was investment in new customer acquisition.

That is hardly an earth shattering observation. Marketing agencies like ours became even more driven to better understand data analytics and to help our clients mine their data gold mine. What I have noticed in the past month is that the talk is about new customer acquisition. I think that is a harbinger that conditions are better than they were in 2008 and the hold back in marketing budgets may be relaxing. At a certain point any mine runs empty. Yes there will be the ability to extract worthwhile material from the mine but its capacity to offer a great many more nuggets will have been exhausted.

That’s the reason many companies are finally looking again to dig a new mine. A robust pipeline of new leads offers continual opportunities to grow your customer base. Once a prospect has raised her hand to indicate interest a product the real work can begin to move that prospect to becoming a customer.
My philosophy is that companies should be prospecting to find new mines all the time. That did not happen during the steep downturn in 2008. Marketers were understandably scared and in the ‘cut first and ask questions later’ mode. Maintaining a regular flow through your new lead pipeline will prove to be extremely beneficial to those companies that have continued to invest in new lead generation. It’s not too late if you have turned off your marketing pipeline, but don’t wait any longer because then it just might be.

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Facebook and the backlash effect – when too much becomes too much

Posted on June 6, 2009 by markkolier

The fastest growing segment on Facebook is the group aged 35-49. People are reconnecting with high school and college friends that they have lost touch with. Just type a name into Facebook, and you have a reasonably good chance of finding an old friend. You can see their updates and interactions between people you know – that can be cool. But you also see interactions between people you don’t know. This has zero interest to me. Also there are people reaching out to me who I have not been in touch with for more than 30 years. If we have not been in touch for 30 years it’s probably not because I could not find you. Nothing personal of course.

When it starts to become a responsibility to update your status or respond to a question somebody posed I predict the backlash effect will present FB with a big challenge. Oddly enough on Facebook if somebody asks you a question and you try to respond when they are not on line the question does not go through – this is apparently a design flaw that is being addressed. Right now it’s just aggravating. And aggravation is not a model for a good user experience.

We are still in the nascent stages of the social networking ‘revolution’. Right now it is cool to share photos and keep in touch with family and friends that live far away. I am enjoying staying in contact with my nieces and nephews as well as friends around the country and around the world for that matter. But I think I am beginning to get tired of all this connecting particularly when I am asked a direct question on FB. Maybe I am not on-line or maybe I don’t feel like typing a response on my Blackberry. And if I don’t feel like it I realize I just should not do it. Yet the person on the other side of the equation might perceive that as my ignoring them. Sure I could say I don’t care but that’s not really the case. Just like with the telephone – sometimes it rings and I don’t want to answer it even before I know who it might be. It does not mean I don’t care – just not then.

Being connected 24/7 has its advantages. But I believe that people (particularly this fast growing 35-49 segment are going to tire of the constant communication). For me the cool factor is wearing off. I don’t need 52 FB applications all seemingly about my top five of whatever. Who cares?

I think the pendulum has swung too far. How about you?

Posted in Living in the World Today, Social Media | 1 Comment

Ahead of the curve – I have had a Netbook for years but didn’t know it until now

Posted on June 2, 2009 by markkolier

When I was in Tokyo earlier this year in March my friend and I went over to Akihabara which is the area in Tokyo that has all the newest gadgets and technology. I was interested in this since innovative technology often comes out of Japan. The most prevalent thing I saw there were cute little ‘computers’ called Netbooks which now have become the rage here in the United States.

Much less expensive than a traditional laptop (they start as low as $ 400 maybe even under that), Netbooks are much smaller and lighter than a laptop, have full internet capability and just a few applications like Word/Excel etc. They are more user friendly than a smart phone since you can actually type on them without having to correct spelling errors (or intuitive word spelling that comes with many smart phones) to anywhere near the degree that occur when typing on a hand held smart phone.

Since I have been doing so much traveling the idea seems intriguing to me. Until I realized that I have been using my laptop as a Netbook all along. It’s just heavier and has more features that for the most part I never use. I log into our company server and work remotely as do so many people. All the applications I need are contained on the server and I really don’t have much use for the ones contained in the hard drive of my laptop. Sure I have the option of using the apps on my laptop hard drive and I occasionally use them (when I am working on the plane without internet access) but as we head to the ‘cloud computing’ world the need for applications on a hard drive is lessening every day.

So while I can think of myself as an early adopter I am not ready to toss my laptop in the junk pile just yet but that day is coming. Of course once I have a projectable keyboard off my smart phone (that will host the same apps that I have on my Netbook) the need for a Netbook will also go by the wayside. Maybe that day will come before I make the switch to a Netbook. I hope so.

Posted in Customer Experiences, Living in the World Today | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Advertisers using Mobile phones to at last begin to give customers some value – but they still could do more

Posted on May 29, 2009 by markkolier

Unilever announced that they are beginning a trial run this weekend of mobile couponing for specific products like Breyers Ice Cream, Dove soap, Hellman’s Mayonnaise, and Lipton Tea. (You can read more about it at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124354778510364127.html). The test is being conducted at a ShopRite store in Hillsborough, NJ. From today’s WSJ article – ‘To get the coupons, customers must visit the Web site Samplesaint.com, from which they can transmit the Unilever discount offers to an Internet-enabled cellphone. At checkout, the cashier scans the bar code on the phone’s screen, redeeming the coupon and deleting it from the phone’

Good idea on being able to get the coupon on your phone. In fact in 2009 (this exists in other countries already) your airline boarding pass will also be downloadable to your mobile device and you will have the TSA and gate agent scan the barcode displayed on your phone – good-bye paper.

But why is Unilever limiting coupon download to a non-Unilever website? Looking at how people use the internet I searched Breyers, Dove Soap, Hellman’s Mayonnaise, and Lipton Tea and a couple of the sites had an area for coupons but they were not intuitive to download (check it out for yourself). This is a test promotion so while having the portal to get the coupon on the home page is not possible I believe the test will not be representative since who will remember Samplesaint.com? This simply is not how people use the internet to get what they want and it almost seems like a branding opportunity for Samplesaint.com and not one of the noted Unilever products.

CGSM advises our clients that one or two clicks work best when trying to create an action or response. Downloadable coupons will be the standard very soon – I suspect the Unilever test will be inconclusive mainly due to asking the consumer to work a little harder.

Do you agree?

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LinkedIn is a great business search engine

Posted on May 22, 2009 by markkolier

By now those of you who have read some of my posts know that I have no real use for Plaxo (although I am a ‘member’) but am a regular user of LinkedIn. I have yet to become what I see a number of people are which is what I call a ‘serial networker’. Those with more than 500 contacts fit this moniker. I have over 300 and personally know and have met almost every single person in my network. This is unlike Twitter on which I have nearly 600 followers but have met under 30. More on following large groups of people on Twitter in a subsequent post.

But I really think LinkedIn provides are great tool and service for business people. Since the information is self-provided it is generally accurate if not a bit embellished. (Save for the prevaricators that are no doubt members as well but hopefully not in my network). Whenever I am given a new contact via referral the first thing I do is type their name into the search function of LinkedIn. It does not work every time since there are still many folks who are not on LinkedIn or there are times when there are too many John Smiths to figure even if you know the geographic location. Since the information is what people provide on their own and when you do get a proper profile you get a snapshot of their location, career path, education and even a few interests. This is BEFORE you have even LinkedIn with them. And answering questions in specific areas does build your standing and reputation as a resource which has helped me and our company gain business.

But it gets better than that. Search by company can provide position locations for job searches. Industries can be investigated by category. And people with whom you have lost touch can be found (yes this is done on Facebook and other social networks as well). Of course you can get great information via Google and Yahoo but I have found LinkedIn to be faster and quite reliable.

Did I mention that Linkedin is free? They do have a revenue model for enhanced access and the ability to send messages to people with whom you would like to be in touch but have no contact. More importantly introductions via people you are connected to work out really well as there is a level of inherent trust built in.

I don’t understand why anyone would not want to be listed on LinkedIn. The days of reveling in ones anonymity are over. People can find out things about you in many other places. Just ask and read about Justice Scalia this past week. Wouldn’t want them to find out things about you from your own perspective?

Have a great holiday weekend.

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Dominating Twitter

Posted on May 15, 2009 by markkolier

As the old saying goes if I had a dollar for every time I read a fellow Tweeter’s throw down about them guaranteeing you will ‘DOMINATE TWITTER’ I could retire fat and happy. I have been using Twitter for about 10 months and somehow have acquired more than 550 ‘followers’. However I have no desire to ‘dominate’ them or anyone else in the Twitter Universe.

From what I can gather by dominating Twitter and having large amounts of followers (Ashton Kutcher got to one million followers recently – proudly he noted) offers you a database for you to push your products or services. My sense is this is not a sustainable business model in any way. It may work for a while but eventually I see people ‘following’ smaller not larger amounts of people. And following people that you actually are interested in will dominate.

How can you possibly follow 500 people much less 40,000? The answer is you cannot. Since Twitter is still new building large followings may seem like the thing to do. But since most of us have limited time for just about everything the only way to monitor large numbers of followers is to be on Twitter all the time. If you look away for 15 minutes tweets can be buried pages back. And I sincerely doubt there are many people that are looking back at tweets they might have missed.

Where is the value in Twitter? There is great value in the ability to monitor conversations about a brand. There is also value in tweeting or re-tweeting things that interest you that you want to share with your followers. Real time news reporting at the events has a great impact and can get important information out to people as fast as it happens – and that’s never happened before in human history!

But Twitter domination is a pretty obnoxious concept as far as I am concerned. I want to work with people. And I don’t need to beat down others who are trying to exchange ideas and information. So give up you Twitterific Dominator ‘professors’. How about you try to collaborate and work with others to make business and the world a little bit better. Now there’s a dominating concept! What say you?

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Do ALL social networks HAVE to be about commerce?

Posted on May 12, 2009 by markkolier

Look even though I am an inveterate marketing guy I am tiring of the move to advertisements on most all social networks. It’s gotten to the point where friends of mine are using social networking to advertise their own businesses and ideas to their friends (like me!). Yes I realize social networks need a business model. But it seems to me that the direction in which social networks are heading is to just be platform to sell more stuff. This could prove to be the undoing of social networking.

Several months ago I wrote about World of Warcraft as perhaps the most effective social network of them all. Why? Because the folks at Blizzard Entertainment do not refer to it as a social network in any way! WOW has more than 11,000,000 paying ‘members’ who get true value and engagement for their dollars. Second Life tried this model (sort of) as well but it has not worked out nearly as well.

How could things be changed? Well for one thing let’s say you had to pay $ 5.95/month to be a Facebook member to not be served advertising. How would that make you feel? Would it be any less engaging? I don’t think so. And there is a pretty good revenue model opportunity for FB with more than 200 million members. Just do the math. (Hint – You may need to use a calculator.)

Just this week the Wall Street Journal (and other publishers are thinking the same way) floated out the idea of micropayments (i.e. charging for some content) since giving the content away for free devalues the very content itself. There was also a study saying the 97% of people would pay for content. http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/11/newspapers-paid-content-survey-technology-paidcontent.html

Obviously we are still in the nascent stages in the evolution of social networking (and marketing for that matter). But the perceived golden goose may be inflicted with swine flu if things do not change soon. People will tire of Twitter, Facebook, MySpace etc. . . There will be a new and better platform to replace it unless the model changes to serve the ever-changing needs and desires of social network members.

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Finally an explanation of why I cannot use my mobile phone on the plane

Posted on May 6, 2009 by markkolier

Of course I am not sure if I believe it or not. Last night a flight attendant did do something unusual. When admonishing a passenger for not turning off his phone she explained that mobile phones are operative to about 10,000 feet.

When a passenger is on a mobile phone control tower instructions in their headphones are accompanied by a high pitched noise. Apparently this is not bad if one person is on the phone but if there are a plane full of people the cacophony in the pilot’s headset makes it difficult to communicate with the control tower.
This sounded strangely plausible to me. But what was best was the flight attendant’s willingness to lift the curtain a bit and let passengers (i.e. customers) in on what should not be a secret.

Why have I never heard this before? I know that should it be true (and I have no reason to doubt it but somehow do anyway) I would not want the pilot of the plane I was flying on having noise and consequently an inability to hear instructions from the people who are watching little blips on the screen all day.

Airlines are hardly specialists in communicating with their customers. On countless occasions reasons for delays go unreported or worse when you get information it’s something like – ‘ATC has put a hold on air traffic so we have to wait to hear back from them before we can take off. Thanks for your patience.’ Then they offer no communication (or water or food) often for an hour or more! This is how mutinies are born!

So to have an explanation for something that we all have been thinking about for a long time (or at least I have) was refreshing and I can go with it. For now. I still cannot figure out why or how an Ipod or headphones would interfere with communications so maybe that will be explained on my next flight. But I am not counting on that.

Posted in Customer Experiences | 2 Comments