What do college students think is the most critical in their world? A new survey by SurveyU found:
81% think education is very important
68% consider child endangerment/abuse prevention critical
The next most important are: rape prevention (65%), civil/human rights (65%) and cancer (62%) round out the top five, with drunk driving prevention (61%), genocide (59%), domestic violence (57%), AIDS (57%) and environment/conservation (54%).
Poverty does not appear -- although one could argue that poverty is an issue that intersects many of these issues.
Most interestingly, GenY -- the generation where access to global information is the most ubiquitous (there is no "time before web" in their memory) -- they are most interested in issues related to their own lives, their own community and their own country.
Marketers and communicators must learn to navigate in a global world where personal takes precedence. We have the technology.... but do we have the will, the patience and the savvy?
Friday, June 26, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
the power of brand
We often talk about brand personality -- the character of the product, organization or service.
Building brand is about creating a poignant (and positive) experience with the brand. Disney is all over that. Coke cuts through the heat with icy cold refreshment. The i-phone is the fastest, most powerful and totally cool smart phone (the blackberry, the business phone -- not so cool but reliable).
The experience of using the i-phone or blackberry affirms the brand. The i-phone is slick, cool and operates with the flick of a finger. The blackberry is clunkier, and uses a key board.
If I close my eyes and imagine... the i-phone user is wearing designer jeans and t-shirt and the blackberry guy has a suit. The i-phone user is smiling and flicking, the blackberry guy is frowning and thumbing. This all affirms the brand experience.... notice, the logo was never mentioned.
Here's an interesting study.
Elizabeth Loftus studies false memories -- memories which actually create the brand experience. A group of people were shown a photo of Bugs Bunny in front of Disney Land shaking hands with people. A photo shopped image, as Warner Brothers and Disney rarely share their brand icons.
Then they had the participants carry out different tasks. Later they asked the participants to share their members of a trip to Disney Land. 30% remembered shaking Bugs Bunny's hand.
Brand is made up of a complex mix of personal experience and marketing messages.
When your brand is in the hands of a variety of stakeholders, building a consistent experience can be challenging. If your marketing message is creativity, but your presentation is linear and lacks interest, the marketing message will be lost. Each individual in your organization carries your brand message -- what brand experience do they give?
Building brand is about creating a poignant (and positive) experience with the brand. Disney is all over that. Coke cuts through the heat with icy cold refreshment. The i-phone is the fastest, most powerful and totally cool smart phone (the blackberry, the business phone -- not so cool but reliable).
The experience of using the i-phone or blackberry affirms the brand. The i-phone is slick, cool and operates with the flick of a finger. The blackberry is clunkier, and uses a key board.
If I close my eyes and imagine... the i-phone user is wearing designer jeans and t-shirt and the blackberry guy has a suit. The i-phone user is smiling and flicking, the blackberry guy is frowning and thumbing. This all affirms the brand experience.... notice, the logo was never mentioned.
Here's an interesting study.
Elizabeth Loftus studies false memories -- memories which actually create the brand experience. A group of people were shown a photo of Bugs Bunny in front of Disney Land shaking hands with people. A photo shopped image, as Warner Brothers and Disney rarely share their brand icons.
Then they had the participants carry out different tasks. Later they asked the participants to share their members of a trip to Disney Land. 30% remembered shaking Bugs Bunny's hand.
Brand is made up of a complex mix of personal experience and marketing messages.
When your brand is in the hands of a variety of stakeholders, building a consistent experience can be challenging. If your marketing message is creativity, but your presentation is linear and lacks interest, the marketing message will be lost. Each individual in your organization carries your brand message -- what brand experience do they give?
Monday, June 8, 2009
Flurry
How many weeks until the holiday season?
Not enough!
Integrated marketing efforts for the 2009 holiday season should be well mapped by now... but many organizations are still putting their plans together. As we continue to receive requests for holiday programs that include print, mail, web and e-mail, I was wondering how many dollars were lost each year simply because the planning was not in place.
I just read an article this morning analyzing the decline in retail revenue. The author implied that while there is decline in some markets, when studying the numbers, it appears that retailers with a strong brand, solid investment in marketing and adherence to brand promise are actually gaining in the current market.
As we assess our marketing results, we need to be very careful not to use declining economy where our own strategic plan and marketing spend has been weak. We haven't seen a significant drop in client's revenue -- with the exception of clients who have decreased their spend.
Interesting, eh?
Not enough!
Integrated marketing efforts for the 2009 holiday season should be well mapped by now... but many organizations are still putting their plans together. As we continue to receive requests for holiday programs that include print, mail, web and e-mail, I was wondering how many dollars were lost each year simply because the planning was not in place.
I just read an article this morning analyzing the decline in retail revenue. The author implied that while there is decline in some markets, when studying the numbers, it appears that retailers with a strong brand, solid investment in marketing and adherence to brand promise are actually gaining in the current market.
As we assess our marketing results, we need to be very careful not to use declining economy where our own strategic plan and marketing spend has been weak. We haven't seen a significant drop in client's revenue -- with the exception of clients who have decreased their spend.
Interesting, eh?
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
u@?
I may have gotten distracted by Twitter (I was shocked to find out my last entry way April 15th...) But back to Twitter -- imagine giving inspiring, informative, interactive messages in 140 characters. It tweaks (yeah,yeah...) the imagination, doesn't it?
How are you using Twitter?
As millions of Tweets appear on my personal tweetdeck.com, I need to refocus.....
On Friday, May 15th we launched the results of a youth survey... over 1200 young people participated in the survey. One of the unique features of the survey was that 80% of the respondents are faith-based.
The overall goal of the survey was to discover trends in the teen and college aged market -- focusing on the teen market. One of the most interesting tidbits in the survey is that teens do not like country music (it's rock, pop and hip hop!).... but, hands down, they like Cold Play (Alternative -- but a bit poppy) and Taylor Swift (country)!
The survey shows the interactivity of young people's forays into communication... while Google dominates, Facebook and You Tube are stars.
To get your copy of the survey, just email me and I will send you a PDF.
We'll have it up on our web site (barefootcreative.com)......... give me a day!
I'm looking for wisdom in the next phase of social media.... as MySpace dwindles to less than 60 million users and 35+ are taking over Facebook.... Where is the next digital hang out for teens? Will MySpace have a A&W renewal?
How are you using Twitter?
As millions of Tweets appear on my personal tweetdeck.com, I need to refocus.....
On Friday, May 15th we launched the results of a youth survey... over 1200 young people participated in the survey. One of the unique features of the survey was that 80% of the respondents are faith-based.
The overall goal of the survey was to discover trends in the teen and college aged market -- focusing on the teen market. One of the most interesting tidbits in the survey is that teens do not like country music (it's rock, pop and hip hop!).... but, hands down, they like Cold Play (Alternative -- but a bit poppy) and Taylor Swift (country)!
The survey shows the interactivity of young people's forays into communication... while Google dominates, Facebook and You Tube are stars.
To get your copy of the survey, just email me and I will send you a PDF.
We'll have it up on our web site (barefootcreative.com)......... give me a day!
I'm looking for wisdom in the next phase of social media.... as MySpace dwindles to less than 60 million users and 35+ are taking over Facebook.... Where is the next digital hang out for teens? Will MySpace have a A&W renewal?
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
sink or miss the boat?
Choosing marketing strategies is a tough call -- especially entry level activities. For instance, the pioneers who advertised in TV made decisions that changed the way they did business. We hear of the successes...
Like Kellogg's whose story is popping up all over the place right now. They increased their advertising dollars during the 30's and experienced exponential growth. ... but what about the thousands of companies that went bankrupt?
Revenue growth is a complex art...
Academics Peter Dickson and Joseph Giglierano suggest businesses are concerned about two kinds of failure:
“sinking the boat”: making a bad decision at a key time that sinks the company.
“missing the boat”: simply ignoring opportunity or taking too long to adopt.
When is the right time to make a bold business decision: Kraft launched Miracle Whip in 1933. Hardly the right time considering the economic climate.
Ford launched the Edsel in the 50's -- at the height of commercial success. Thousands of case studies have focused on the stunning failure of the Edsel -- the wrong car at the wrong time.
Audience affinity for your product -- whether an actual physical product, service or compassionate opportunity -- is critical.
Like Kellogg's whose story is popping up all over the place right now. They increased their advertising dollars during the 30's and experienced exponential growth. ... but what about the thousands of companies that went bankrupt?
Revenue growth is a complex art...
Academics Peter Dickson and Joseph Giglierano suggest businesses are concerned about two kinds of failure:
“sinking the boat”: making a bad decision at a key time that sinks the company.
“missing the boat”: simply ignoring opportunity or taking too long to adopt.
When is the right time to make a bold business decision: Kraft launched Miracle Whip in 1933. Hardly the right time considering the economic climate.
Ford launched the Edsel in the 50's -- at the height of commercial success. Thousands of case studies have focused on the stunning failure of the Edsel -- the wrong car at the wrong time.
Audience affinity for your product -- whether an actual physical product, service or compassionate opportunity -- is critical.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Web 2.0
I think this means the new environment of social networks... but I've always been slightly suspect of these kind of terms. I believe I can safely say that I have never asked a client what their web 2.0 strategy was (but I'm flexible).
But I read about it all the time.
Social networks, blogs, micro-blogs, SMS, forums, chats.... and the list of on-line opportunities goes on.
We have so many ways of engaging technology.
But are these rabbit trails leading away from our core strategy?
I'm going out on a limb here and suggesting that the key to web 2.0 is not understanding web -- but understanding your customers, your product and your business proposition.
I have a new stove. it has about 23 buttons on the front. Some of them I get... like "light" and "bake." But the Sabbath Delay feature? Not so much. I have figured out how to put food in the morning and have it bake miraculously when I am at work -- but I have to follow 2 pages of instructions.
My point?
I am vastly underusing my stove.
I would argue that many companies are vastly underusing technology or using random features without developing a measurable strategy.
There are some barriers to using it well:
1. Using multiple aspects of digital communication is time consuming.
2. Multiple channels without strong focus fragments your message.
3. Lack of a clear understanding of overall marketing goals, making it difficult to set tracking parameters.
4. Too much information muddying the waters and distracting from core goals.
So we're mid-stream in web 2.0 (whatever that means).... how has it changed the way we do business?
But I read about it all the time.
Social networks, blogs, micro-blogs, SMS, forums, chats.... and the list of on-line opportunities goes on.
We have so many ways of engaging technology.
But are these rabbit trails leading away from our core strategy?
I'm going out on a limb here and suggesting that the key to web 2.0 is not understanding web -- but understanding your customers, your product and your business proposition.
I have a new stove. it has about 23 buttons on the front. Some of them I get... like "light" and "bake." But the Sabbath Delay feature? Not so much. I have figured out how to put food in the morning and have it bake miraculously when I am at work -- but I have to follow 2 pages of instructions.
My point?
I am vastly underusing my stove.
I would argue that many companies are vastly underusing technology or using random features without developing a measurable strategy.
There are some barriers to using it well:
1. Using multiple aspects of digital communication is time consuming.
2. Multiple channels without strong focus fragments your message.
3. Lack of a clear understanding of overall marketing goals, making it difficult to set tracking parameters.
4. Too much information muddying the waters and distracting from core goals.
So we're mid-stream in web 2.0 (whatever that means).... how has it changed the way we do business?
Monday, April 13, 2009
e-learnings
Cynthia Edwards, copywriter at Razorfish Global Email Solutions group had some interesting insights into retail ecommunication from non-profit sites.
She points out that retailers may be missing opportunities that non-profits have already figured out.
Many charities have developed great engagement tools online - especially for information because transferring information on-line is inexpensive (especially if your on-line tools are well-developed), timely and engaging.
Engaging donors early -- World Wildlife Fund does this really well -- and keeping the information up-to-date and interesting helps build long term relationships.
World Vision, well known for aggressive marketing strategies, is good about welcome messages, thank yous and quick notes in response to donor's emails. They excel in communicating their core message -- especially in early interactions.
Use moments of interactions wisely, building relationship -- not just passing through information. There's nothing as impersonal as a "personalized" form eletter.
She points out that retailers may be missing opportunities that non-profits have already figured out.
Many charities have developed great engagement tools online - especially for information because transferring information on-line is inexpensive (especially if your on-line tools are well-developed), timely and engaging.
Engaging donors early -- World Wildlife Fund does this really well -- and keeping the information up-to-date and interesting helps build long term relationships.
World Vision, well known for aggressive marketing strategies, is good about welcome messages, thank yous and quick notes in response to donor's emails. They excel in communicating their core message -- especially in early interactions.
Use moments of interactions wisely, building relationship -- not just passing through information. There's nothing as impersonal as a "personalized" form eletter.
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