“Do Not Call” register in Australia – another nail in the coffin for interruption marketing
Australia has just introduced it's "do not call" register and the sigh of relief around Australian dining tables is audible. There are plenty of companies who have telemarketing as their only or main form of promotional/sales activity; it is direct, it is measurable and relatively easy to implement.
I wonder what they will do next. Will they realise that this is not some bad weather, but climate change?
The only reason this register exists is because people are so fed up with being interrupted they actually got politicians to do something about it. And the politicians did, because there is no downside; you can't loose votes on this issue.
On the first day, the "do-not-call" web server suffered meltdown with the demand from people wanting to register. That just shows how passionate people are about this issue.
I wonder what companies who relied on telemarketing will do now. I've heard of companies considering going back to door-to-door sales. Really.
courtesy Rich Baker
Hopefully they will realise that blunt instruments and short cuts won't work in todays' market. The sledge hammer approach, the one-step sales/marketing process from stranger to customer is less and less likely to generate results. Unless they are willing to work the telephone in with more targeted, permission based campaigns they will run into the same wall of opposition that has created the "do-not-call" register in the first place.
Time to re-think the strategy.
Advertising agencies are not the real problem
I like High Mcleod's thoughts on marketing. He's insightful and by all accounts walks the walk as well as talking the talk with regard to leading edge marketing. In his post "advertising 2.0 doesn't exist" he has (among other things) a good crack at ad agencies, their relevancy and their role.
But is the problem really the ad agency? What is the client's role in this? How close am I if I say that the majority of advertising and selling lacks impact because too little time and effort is invested into differentiating products, services and value proposition?
How much do companies invest in understanding their market? Their competitors? Trying to see what their customers see?
Is that the role of an ad agency? I don't think so. Ad agencies in my mind are good at one thing and one thing only; take a brief and communicate an idea in the most effective way. No more, no less.
Here are a few of Hugh's points:
5. Saatchi & Saatchi: "We're not an ad agency, we're an ideas business." Right. Oh well, I'm sure they're trying to get there one day. Maybe they'll succeed. Who knows.
No they are not an ideas business; that's what the client should be. The ad agency should just be good at ideas to communicate the idea.
6. So a lot of clients have been recently asking their ad agencies, "So what can you do for us in Web 2.0?" And the agencies have been replying, "Lots! Lots and lots and lots and lots!" Bullshit. Ad agencies have so far been hopeless in this space. I don't know of ONE SINGLE piece of work coming out of a traditional ad agency in the last five years that has been even halfway original, thought provoking or effective. Captain Morgan's? Beyond lame. Juicy Fruit? Beyond lame on steroids. Glenfiddich? A missed opportunity.
Ask a silly question and you get a silly answer. What's web 2.0? A new magazine? Instead, what if a client asked "So what can you do for us to get our customers to tell us what they think?" That might be useful.
7. Bartle Bogle Hegarty, the very fine London ad agency, used to pitch their clients, "We makes brands famous". Right. Like movie stars. Like celebs. Like the guys getting out of the limos and walking down the red carpet. Like the ones who get all the money and invites to the fancy parties. While the rest of us stand behind the velvet rope out in the cold, looking in with longing. Great. Super. Lucky us.
What's wrong with that pitch? Nothing that I can see. The ad agency is pitching to a marketing manager/director/vp. The marketing manager wants a famous brand, because a famous brand will make her famous. All this demonstrates is that the agency knows their target market.
So ad agencies are not the problem. They're just not as important in the mix as they believe they are. The problem lies with business that try and take short cuts.The problem lies with businesses that won't invest time and money in the fundamentals of their marketing success.
On, off, below, above…”line” marketing is dead
The old marketing (read advertising) paradigm thinks along lines:
Above the line – broadcast advertising, tv, print etc
Below the line – direct mail, one-to-one marketing, CRM
Online – any internet driven marketing activity or structure
Off-line – any marketing activity that is not using the internet
Its a redundant idea.
Customers see no lines. They don’t care. They are not aware. They simply want to have a good offer of a relevant product or service. They want to deal with you in whatever way they choose.
There is no "online" brand strategy and "off-line" brand strategy. There is only a brand strategy. Well, you hope there is.
30 seconds between success and failure
Rands In Repose: A Glimpse and a Hook
On the surface, this post about writing good resumes has little to do with marketing or branding. But it does. A seasoned hiring manager gives us a crisp overview of how he forms his opinion of an applicant in "the first 30 seconds".
That's not a lot different from the amount of time we're likely to get from our prospective customers, now that time is the scarcest commodity
Imagine; a world without billboard advertising
From the International Herald Tribune:
"SÃO PAULO: Imagine a modern metropolis with no outdoor advertising: no billboards, no flashing neon signs, no electronic panels with messages crawling along the bottom."
Is this the beginning of the end of "interruption marketing"? Will it work? Will it negatively impact their economy?
How video can work in B2B marketing – HP
Is there any medium more engaging than video?
Eric Kintz from HP writes about how they are using video in their online B2B marketing program with great success:
“Marketing” has a brand problem
The role of "marketing" is one of those subjects that often raises as many questions as answers. Now if people don't excactly know what it is that you should be delivering, it is pretty easy to not deliver to a CEO's expectations.
(I wrote about a related issue, how marketing is rated within an organisation, here in response to an Accenture report with some interesting findings)
THis is obvious from the fact that Marketing Executives have some of the shortest tenures in business.
Eric Kintz from HP (who has one of the most poetic titles I have seen for a while by the way: "Vice President of Global Marketing Strategy & Excellence") writes an interesting article on the subject; "What is Marketing responsible for?"
My blogging friends over at Marketing Profs sent me an advance copy of their new book “Marketing Champions” (Wiley Editions) and I like their thinking. Their main argument is that CMOs have to a great extent failed so far to draw the linkage between marketing and the harvesting of cash flow.
They have developed a hierarchy of cash flow responsibilities that I resonate with at a high level. In their pyramid model, the responsibilities gradually build in their relevance to cash flow.
Level 1: Communications
Level 2: Lead Generation
Level 3: Revenue
Level 4: profits
Level 5: Customer equity (customer acquisition, customer profitability and customer retention)
There are not many companies I know where Marketing is responsible for all of the above.
If you would describe these responsibilities to someone and asked who was responsible, you might hear "the CEO" or "The Sales and Marketing Manager" but not "Marketing".
Not that Marketing couldn't do it. The problem is much more difficult. The problem is that the brand "Marketing" is not associated with it. "Marketing" is associated with communications, advertising, spending money.
And I doubt we can convince people otherwise. We can't re-position marketing.
Time to re-brand. A new term, a new concept. Let's get to work!
Maglite LED – Advertising that tells you nothing
I read a full page ad in a local magazine on the introduction of a new Maglite LED. It didn't tell me what LED is. It didn't tell me why it is better, or what it does different from my current Maglite...It told me nothing of any value.
I'm curious. So I go to the maglite website to find out more....yes, a link on the homepage to the a feature page "Maglite LED Technology"...click through and there is an announcement. I have struck out anything that tells me nothing...
Dear Maglite.com Visitor:
Thank you for your interest in Mag Instrument and its products.We are pleased to report that Mag will soon be adding MAG-LED™ flashlights to its product line.
If these products have been a long time coming, it’s because the MAG-LED™ Technology has taken a long time to develop to the point where it is feasible to make an LED flashlight that meets Mag Instrument's high standards of quality, durability, style and function.
Now, after years of research & development, testing and refinement,Mag Instrument is committed to introducing, in early 2006,(note"is committed to" rather than "will")a line of MAG-LED™ flashlights. Like Mag's incandescent-lamp flashlights, these newest members of the Maglite® flashlight family will have the style, performance, benefits and features that both professionals and consumers have come to expect from a Maglite® flashlight, including the fact that they are built for a lifetime of service. The Maglite® design tradition will be instantly recognizable in them, and they will offer the beam-focusing capability that has always been a feature of Mag® flashlights, AND MORE!
Again, thank you for your interest in Mag Instrument and its products. We look forward to the rollout of the MAG-LED™ flashlights in the near future.
Sincerely,
The Maglite Team
I still don't know what it is...
Great ideas in using RSS
(source: "The Business Case for RSS", R Hrastnik)
If you are reading this, it is probably safe to assume that you have a basic understanding of RSS, or at least know what it is.
Since discovering Newsgator and the use of RSS I have been fascinated with the potential applications of RSS for marketing.
One of the things I did was create a "client" feed using the clipping feature in Newsgator. The problem is of course that most of my clients don't have RSS readers. So I used the "headlines" feature and published the headlines on the dedicated customer page where I store their work. But that's abou as sophisticated I get.
I recently re-read an introduction to Rok Hrastnik's book "Unleash the marketing power of RSS in PDF format (about 30 pages) and it has been a great read.
He starts with making the business case for RSS, i.e. penetration, opt-in nature etc, which is fine but I'm already sold. The best part of the article are his examples of how to apply it.
Considering the often longterm relationships of Business to business marketing RSS seems to be particularly appropriate to deliver relevant information in a format that is opt-in and non-intrusive. Some of the applications would be:
- Product updates - its relevant to the audience and often time critical
- Software updates - ditto
- Catalogue publishing
- Special offers and events
- "Thought leadership" articles - write them or find feeds and re-publish
One of the key issues for business websites is meaningful and fresh content. They just don't have the people/focus to publish regularly. So the potential to publish content from a partner, distributor etc without having to do anything must be very persuasive.
PS: just realised that I posted on this in October last year. Ah well, if it is good it deserves another go.
The new war for talent; people who can write
In the one corner: customers/prospects (aka people) overloaded with information and communications from an increasing and diverse number of sources. On offer is a few seconds of their attention, then a few more if you can keep them interested.
In the other corner: a fierce competition for these peoples' time and attention. Capturing it, maintaining it, involving them.
In the middle: a person who can somehow communicate concepts, emotions, ideas in an enticing, captivating, concise manner...
Around the ring: decreasing levels of literacy in schools and colleges...
I can see a new "war for talent" looming.
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