Quantifying the clutter

When I created this blog, I had information such as this in mind:

“As consumers, we see over 3,156 images a day. We’re just not conscious of them,” says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst of the consumer research firm NPD Group. “Our subconscious records maybe 150, and only 30 or so reach our conscious behavior. If I have a celebrity as part of that message, I just accelerated the potential for my product to reach the conscious of the consumer.”

That quote is found in a NY Times article about the power of celebrity and how some brands can enhance their message's relevancy by using celebrities to hawk their products.

It illustrates the competition marketers have for consumers' attention and the importance of using smart methods to cut through the clutter.  But "smart" doesn't always have to mean using a celebrity.  It just happened to have helped in the cases cited in that article.

Technorati Tags: Marketing clutter

News flash: I bought shoes!

Last night I was stunned to find out that a shoe purchase I made on Zappos.com turned into a newsfeed item in my Facebook profile.

I discovered this by looking at my profile and my first thought was, "Holy shiitake! How did that get there?" I was horrified and my knee-jerk reaction was to delete it from my mini-feed so that no one could see it when they viewed my profile. But it was too late for that secret. I IM'd with my friend Lauren about my discovery and she said something like, "Oh yeah. I saw that. They're cute." So you mean everyone of my friends knows about my shoe purchase?! Sure enough, this was in every friend's feed:

Anybody who can view my profile (which only people I've granted access to can do) could click on through to look at a picture of the shoes I bought. Thankfully my shoe size wasn't a part of the feed. At least something was considered sacred.

I can't figure out how my shoe purchase found its way into Facebook. I may have had Facebook open in one tab while making the purchase on Zappos.com in another tab, but that's too simple of an explanation. To borrow the term Dave Coustan used when I Twittered about this: creepy. At this point, I have more questions than answers:

1. What does Zappos or Facebook think there is to gain by sharing my purchase with the masses?
2. What does that icon to the left of my name mean? (I can't click on it anymore since I deleted it from my feed.)
3. How the heck did it get there?

I'm not ashamed of my shoe purchase. It just isn't something I consider newsworthy. I've never bought anything from Zappos, but have read great things about them and I thought this would be a good opportunity to give them a try. I'll be curious as to what kind of feedback I get from either group.

In the meantime, I think my shoes are supposed to arrive today. Then what? Do I upload a photo of them and create a Facebook album to show them off?

Technorati Tags: Facebook, Zappos

One Year Later

I recently passed the one-year anniversary of my first blog post. I had every intention of posting something on the very day of my anniversary (which will go unmentioned here so as to avoid calling attention to exactly how overdue I am). But before I knew it, the day passed, and so did a week or two before I was able to begin this entry.

I started this blog with the intention of calling out marketing campaigns or practices for their successful (or unsuccessful) attempts at cutting through the marketplace clutter. But part of the reason for my falling behind in marking my anniversary may be that I became a victim of the very clutter I intended to take aim at - everyday life and an overload of information that I am trying to process.

In my first post I mentioned a conversation that I had with a friend about Barack Obama. This was way before he launched his presidential campaign and Obama Girl became a YouTube sensation. (That video cracks me up.)

So, I checked back with her to see if she had a better idea of who Obama is on year later. Here's what she had to say (syntax is all hers):

barack obama is a democratic presidential hopeful and is a senator from chicago. (i think) he wants to pay teachers more, so he's peaked my interest!! i still get most of my news from the internet on my yahoo page, and will scan ajc.com/usatoday.com on occasion. i am a people magazine junkie, but that doesn't really qualify as news. other than that, i'll hear important things by word of mouth.

I'll continue to post my thoughts on the marketplace, so long as my personal clutter doesn't get in the way. But, I am not going to limit myself to just what marketers do - I plan to address all the different channel consumers use.

Facebook's recent announcement has me thinking. Another post for another day, I suppose.

Heineken A Winner at the U.S. Open

I found this article in Forbes and wanted to talk about it before it was too late.  Sports marketing is a personal interest of mine and this piece does a great job of showing how sponsors of the U.S. Open do more than just plaster their logos around the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.

Tennis, like golf, attracts a high net worth fan.  While most companies leverage their sponsorship of a sports event or team through venue signage, the U.S. Open is an event that warrants a more interactive approach.

"Marketing is getting more experimental, more aggressive and more direct," says Andy Glaser, brand director at Heineken USA, who adds that the four annual tracking studies the company performs show that its U.S. Open sponsorship improves its recall with customers. In addition to its Red Star Cafe sampling site, the company is unleashing vendors with funky-looking space age backpacks to dispense Heineken beer to fans in the seats.

I like this tactic - why not be proactive in getting your product into the hands of potential customers? Especially when a high concentration of your target market is in a setting that fits well with the brand attributes you want to highlight. 

I hope more sports sponsors take this interactive approach.  The Fan Fests are nice, but let's see more experiential attempts that allow consumers with a more enriching experience.

Technorati Tags: Heineken, U.S. Open

Critiquing J.C. Penney's Plan

J.C. Penney's CMO calls out the dilemma of marketing clutter in his quote announcing the company's "2007 Back-to-School" campaign:

“While traditional marketing remains an important part of our approach, we are focused on incorporating new components into this year’s Back-to-School campaign that will truly reach youth in an authentic way,” said Mike Boylson, chief marketing officer for JCPenney. “Using this unique approach, we’re able to break through the marketing clutter and sameness to attract kids and teens – whether it’s at the movies, in the mall, on the phone or on the Web.”

But for all the channels J.C. Penney is working in this campaign, there's no social media! 

There's a lot of one-way information going on here.  I think the clothing retailer could really cut through the clutter by adding two-way dialogues with the teens and youths they're targeting.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Advertising, J.C. Penney, Social Media

Using Buzz Cola to Garner Movie Buzz

The post I wrote about select 7-Eleven stores being converted to Kwik-E-Marts is one of the most viewed pages on this blog. The magical conversion took place this weekend. Actually, only a dozen of the 6,000 7-Eleven stores have been made over to look like the fictional convenience stores of "The Simpsons" fame. But the rest will be selling Buzz Cola, KrustyO's cereal and Squishees, the slushy drink knock-off of Slurpees.

If you Google "Buzz Cola," my post is the seventh link that comes back in the results. There are more Simpsons fans out there than I had imagined.

All of this hoopla is part of the July 27 premiere of "The Simpsons Movie." It's a cheap stunt for Fox since 7-Eleven is paying for the whole thing (which is estimated at costing in the "single millions").

So why do this? It seems like a pretty cheap way for 7-Eleven to stand-out in the generic convenience mart category. It gets them some good buzz (pun intended) in the press and may even bring in Simpsons fans looking to buy the limited-edition theme foods. But I don't know if it's really going to attract much more attention from Slurpee/Squishee loyalists.

This is why Fox participated:

"We wanted to make sure the movie stands out as a true cultural event this summer," said Lisa Licht, a marketing vice president at Fox. "It has to stand out from other summer movies and TV shows."

Hmmm.... separating the film from the cluttered summer movie scene, eh? I'll go with it.

7-Eleven stores that have been transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart are located in New York City, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Burbank, Calif., Los Angeles, Henderson, Nev., Orlando, Fla., Mountain View, Calif., Seattle and Bladensburg, Md. (UPDATE -- here are their addresses.)

Have you visited one of these stores? Did you go there because it was a "Kwik-E-Mart" or because it was just plain convenient? Please share your stories and opinions in the comments.

Technorati Tags: The Simpsons Movie, Buzz Cola

iPhones and Email Marketing

I took a quick walk over to the Apple Store at Lenox Square Mall in Atlanta today to check out the scene before the iPhone launch. At 1 p.m. there were upwards of 185 people there – and it was growing by the minute. I just purchased a new phone (a Moto Q) a few weeks ago and have no plans to switch to AT&T. So I was merely there to gawk at the crazies who were at the mall before dawn to be the first in line.

At 11:51 a.m. today I got an email from Apple announcing the iPhone (see the picture at right). This week I've been talking with a colleague about email marketing, specifically viewing messages on PDAs. When I tried to view the same message on my Q, it came through as a garbled mess. (I'll try to post a photo of that.) For all the talk about how important email marketing is, we had trouble finding best practices on viewing emails on a mobile platform. I am anxious to see how HTML emails are rendered on an iPhone. It struck me as funny though that I couldn't use my Moto Q (a Windows Mobile Device) to read an email promoting the arrival of the iPhone. I guess Apple hasn't figured out how to send text-based emails.

This segues into what my next post will be about – email marketing and reaching those who read their messages in platforms other than the web and Outlook.

UPDATE: I've added the photo of how Apple's lovely HTML email became garbled on my phone. How/where do you read your email?

X Doesn't Always Mark the Age

Penelope Trunk had an interesting post yesterday about generational ID's.  You may think you're a Baby Boomer or in Generation Y just because of the year you were born in.  But, how about identifying with a generation by how they use various forms of media? 

Check out the test she put together and see if you're really acting your age, er, generation.  I scored a 14, which puts me just out of my Generation X birthright.

This got me to thinking.  The way a message is sent isn't always going to be received as it's expected to.  To cut through the clutter, companies can no longer assume they know who's going to be on the receiving end. 

Are you acting your generation?  Take Penelope's test and come back with your results.

Bad Advertising: It's Not Me, It's You

Heather at Microsoft posted the funny video below, which I wanted to pass along.  It does a good job if showing how ignorant companies can be when trying communicate with their consumers.  The dating analogy is perfect.  

This also seems like a good time to mention that I was FINALLY able to get Windows Live Writer to play nice with my Blogger template last night. So I am now able to post much quicker and easier than I have been able to in the past.  (But probably without pictures since I can't FTP them to Blogger, I don't think.) Now, if I could just get Outlook to work like it's supposed to on my home computer all will be right in my world.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Advertising, Blogger, Microsoft

This pep rally sponsored by...

I'm a day late, but there was a good article in yesterday's New York Times about how marketers are targeting the population of high school athletes, which to my surprise, is 7.2 million strong. As a former high school athlete, this story is of great personal interest to me. My take-away from this story is the increased interest by large media corporations in the population called Millenials, Generation Y or baby boom babies. It was only a matter of time before CPG and the beverage industries also took an interest. The 80% growth figure over the past 35 years quoted isn't a surprise. With the popularity of women's soccer after the 1996 Summer Olympics, interest girls has grown in all sports.

I hope this all isn’t some preamble to corporate sponsorships of high school championship games. The Sprite 1-AAAAA Georgia High School Football Championships at SunTrust Field, anyone?

Cover your eyes, it's the 2012 logo

Having worked at the 1994, 1996 and 2000 Olympics, and been raised in Atlanta and lived through the fun that was (pre-Grey’s Anatomy) Izzy, I have a personal interest in Monday’s announcement of the logo for the 2012 Olympics in London. To say what was unveiled Monday has gotten a negative reaction would be an understatement. In just one day, thousands have signed a petition calling for the logo to be scrapped and an animated version of the logo was pulled Tuesday from the official website because of concerns that the footage’s flashing lights would cause epileptic seizures. Niiiiiiice….

I didn’t even realize the imagery represented the numeric 2012 date upon first glance. It’s been referred to as a swastika, and I don’t think that’s too far off. I think it’s a jigsaw puzzle piece gone awry.

On the left is a look at the old logo. As one BBC blog put it, this one doesn’t fit on cell phone as nicely, which is the medium of choice of the kids these days, which is apparently the audience organizers were targeting.

London 2012 organizing committee chairman Seb Coe says this logo "… will define the venues we build and the Games we hold and act as a reminder of our promise to use the Olympic spirit to inspire everyone and reach out to young people around the world.

"It is an invitation to take part and be involved. “

Yack. Someone needs to get this guy some training. Is that really how he speaks?

Seth Godin has already done a fine job of explaining the process of logo development and deployment. Creativity is subjective, but I think most are in agreement that what the London 2012 organizers put forth is atrocious.

What do you think of the logo?

Low Maintenance Messaging

Talk about a different approach! Atlanta-based WestWayne advertising has downsized its website to a single page resembling the classic “404 Page Not Found” page. This is how WestWayne’s page looks now.

Most agencies try to blind visitors to their website with Flashtastic effects that are pretty self-serving. This is a very different approach and I’d love to hear how it’s received by current and potential clients. In addition to offering simple insight from the get-go on consumer behavior, they added a humorous touch by playing off the 404 code and blending it with their phone number. (Pretty convenient that it’s also the area code for the city of Atlanta.) If you know how long since the site’s relaunch, please drop a comment here.

Mmm... sandwich - and a Buzz Cola

You won’t have to go to Springfield to visit a Kwik-E-Mart in the coming months. Select 7-Eleven stores will be transformed into Homer Simpson’s favorite shopping spot to promote the new Simpsons movie. The front of 11 stores will be transformed to look like the fictional store manned by Apu. No word if they’ll use the name “Stop O Mart” in Ohio.

The movie hits theaters July 27, so be on the lookout for KrustyO's cereal, Buzz Cola and iced Squishees at a local 7-Eleven/Kwik-E-Mart near you in the meantime.

I like this idea a lot better than the R2-D2 as a mailbox promotion. Both parties will benefit from this partnership. 7-Eleven will get some new visitors to its stores and The Simpsons Movie gets some good buzz before its release.

At least they didn't pick Chewbacca

I saw on TV recently that the U.S. Postal Service had partnered with Lucasfilm to transform the standard blue mailbox into an R2-D2 look-alike. At first glance it seemed kind of clever. But as I gave it more thought, it seemed like an odd marriage to me. To learn why this unholy union took place, I discovered the USPS is helping celebrate the 30^th anniversary of Star Wars. So there’s some benefit to George Lucas in this agreement, but what about the Post Office? Mack, over at the Viral Garden, has made some good points about this promotion, but I guess I don’t see much of a benefit for our friends in blue who deliver snail mail.

Yes, there’s a lot of buzz about these boxes (this post included). And I can see Mack’s argument that this gives the USPS a bit of personality. But these boxes don’t create a reason for me to go buy stamps. Seeing R2-D2 outside my post office isn’t going to send me rushing inside to buy some postage. Now I will admit that a lot of Star Wars junkies probably will buy stamps they wouldn’t have otherwise because they collect anything and everything Force-related. But is the buzz factor enough to warrant the costs associated with activating this promotion for the USPS? You tell me. I just don’t see there being much additional demand for stamps just because we can feed our letters into an R2-D2 mailbox.

In the meantime, I hope the Force is with my mailman. Given the pollen outside, he needs some sort of protection.

Crashed Ice: A Sport With One Message

After reading about Red Bull’s creation of a brand new sport through which to market the energy drink in last weekend’s New York Times, I have to say… this is pretty interesting. Why be one of many advertisers in an arena or add your brand name to a single event? Red Bull has sidestepped the clutter in the traditional sports marketplace by creating an entirely new competition and owning the concept. The sport has drawn a large amount of attention, with 35,000 people watching a recent outdoor event in Quebec and 14 events being held throughout the U.S. The risk is a sports landscape littered with invented, branded competitions. But no one’s confusing this with ESPN’s X Games. And that problem is a long time coming, I think.

Interactive Advertising - Putting the Fans in the Super Bowl

The idea of user-generated advertising during the Super Bowl fascinates me. That companies would be willing to allow Joe or Jane Public to control the content of the most expensive time on television is intriguing. Not that the advertisers are totally hands-off, as Chevy learned the hard way what happens when the public gets their turn at the advertising wheel. Doritos, bless its cheesy little heart, is going it alone – sort of. They’ve created a contest for fans to vote on their favorite commercial among five finalists. The winner will be announced this Sunday at the Super Bowl in Miami and broadcast on TV during the game.

I love user-generated content because it allows consumers to connect with brands in so many different ways. It cuts through the clutter and gets right to its target audience. It also builds a sense of community among a group of people with shared interests.

Here are a couple of links to articles: one about user-generated advertising and another about how it relates to the Super Bowl.

Instead of being passive spectators, the trend of consumers actively engaging with brands is one that is sure to grow. Any smart marketer should know better than to put a stop to consumers who can act as an evangelist and spread good cheer through whatever channel possible. And if the cheer isn’t so good? Consider it an opportunity to improve, I say. Shouldn’t marketing be a two-way street?

Redefining Comcastic

Given that it’s been three weeks since my last posting, it’d be very easy to assume this blog was just another passing fancy and had been left to die a slow death in cyberspace. But that would be incorrect. The lack of internet access is partly to blame. (The other part can be explained by a lack of inspiring ideas. I don’t post for the sake of reading my own writing.)

Lack of internet access?! It’s 2007! How could that be possible?! Well, let’s just say that I was not having a Comcastic week last week.

My modem died on January 12, but it took three service technicians over a week to make the diagnosis. I’ll spare you the details. I was able to sneak peeks at my personal e-mail here and there, but not having the internet in my home office felt like my right arm had been removed. Needless to say, I was not pleased.

Just as I ended my last posting by saying how a positive customer experience can be a wonderful marketing tool, a negative experience can have the same effect – but not the kind a marketer would hope for.

So in the week that my internet was MIA, I at least had cable television as a link to the outside world. But in between watching my favorite shows, I saw more than one commercial advertising Comcast’s services. Which got me thinking, what’s the point in talking the talk if you’re not going to (or can’t) walk the walk? Shouldn’t companies make sure they’re able to deliver on current promises before they start making new ones?

The best kind of marketing is positive word of mouth from brand evangelists. But what kind of buzz can a company expect when those who are experiencing their brand (and are empowered to speak to it with authority) have nothing good to say? It’s time to reevaluate the link between marketing and customer service within the company.

A Happy iPod Story for 2007

I am excited to start off 2007 with a tale of good customer service. Just before leaving town for vacation I noticed the screen on my iPod was broken. After a quick trip to the Genius Bar, my iPod was off to iPodResQ to be repaired. It wasn’t the cheapest option, but when I factored in shipping them my iPod, it was a wash. Here’s the 411 of how their process works, and I have to say, it really is that simple to deal with this company. I went from being really annoyed that my iPod was broken to a happy camper that I have my iPod back in working order. The lesson to be learned – never keep your iPod in your purse without putting it in a protective case. Thankfully it wasn’t a lesson to be learned by replacing my iPod entirely.

The (relevant) point of this story is a positive customer experience can be a wonderful marketing tool. We’re all quick to share horror stories, but when someone has a positive experience with your company or brand, their tale can be just as powerful when shared with those who find the source to be influential.

A Card in Hand is Worth More Than Two Gifts Under the Tree

I read this blog about the Starbucks card and wanted to throw in my $.02 on the topic. Having given (and received) this card, I know first-hand how easily they can become a staple item in someone’s wallet. But I think this is an example of a good loyalty program. Given that many people make a Starbucks stop a part of their daily routine, and that one in eight visitors use a Starbucks card to pay for their drink, the coffee retailer has a wonderful opportunity to get to know its customers and create tailored marketing campaigns. In this time of holiday gift-giving, I wouldn’t be surprised if Starbucks cards accounted for a large portion of the $24.8 billion in sales projected here for gift cards. As one analyst pointed out, why not give a gift that allows the recipient to choose how its used?

Where Relevancy Road Meets Location Lane

Here’s a great posting about the placement of messages by Seth Godin. With the abundance of clutter, if a message with information about a product I need is mis-placed, it’s likely to go unnoticed (un heard). A key to success is being in the right place at the right time. Right message, right location – as determined by the content being received and acted upon its target audience.