This week posting "At your Service"

In this week's positing in marketing class MKT 311PL of "At your Service" from Susan Sullivan's week five class. I have been reminded of poor service and inconsistencies with performance within the service industry. I define the service industry as; restaurants, retail stores Wal-Mart, Best-Buy, Target, etc. and automobile repair shop/dealerships all most any business that offers a service to the consumer.

I noticed recently a negative change in the way businesses deal with their customers. I must admit, it has been a while since I had a representative go the extra mile to win my business or services. I realize the state of the economy is poor and job market is tough, but I believe this is an opportunity for businesses to take notice and get back to basics with customer satisfaction.

Many businesses have limited the amount training of their employees to cut costs. In these tough economic times I hope the upper-management of these companies can see lack of service and follow-up their employees are providing to consumers. When the economy and job market improves, the companies that provide their customers with exceptional service will stand-out. The companies that do not change and work towards servicing their customers better will be left with a poor reputation.

The advertising must work!

The Creative Brief in this week’s reading I found quite interesting. How do you prescribe an outline for creativity and still allow creativity? I would imagine this is a fine line to walk with advertising professionals. Be creative, show us what you have…but by the way there must be a strategy followed and a distinct message that gets conveyed. It would be interesting to research what creative strategies are used or followed for some of the Super Bowl commercials and the Geico car insurance commercials. I find these most unique!

Then there are the ever obscure and highly unlikely Orbit commercials. http://www.splendad.com/ads/show/859-Orbit-Lemon-Lime-Office-Dirty-Mouth

I wonder how effective, these truly are? Obviously there is some level of success as it’s noteworthy for me to write about!

Businesses use vehicles as billboards

I read an interesting article in the Saturday, September 26 edition of the Democrat and Chronicle. The article caught my attention over the increasing popularity of local business owners turning their cars and vans into eye catching mobile advertising. Local businesses such as: Pontillo's Pizzeria, Wegmans, and Edible Arrangements are using a vinyl "decal wrap" consisting of detailed graphics, and attention-grabbing photos to enhance their advertising message.

The cost of the mobile advertising ranges from $2,400 to $3,500 and businesses owners have found that mobile advertising is cheaper than renting a traditional billboard. Business owner's commented that more customers are aware of the services they offer and noticed the automobile driving around Rochester.

With the cost of advertising on TV, radio, newspaper, and billboards on the rise, the mobile advertising wrap on the automobile seems to be an economical means of advertising. The mobile advertising wrap is a solution for signage. Many local towns example have strict zoning codes for signage and permits are required for banners. My wife, a local chiropractor in Rochester, has expressed an interest in this way of advertising. Her truck is parked outside her office on a daily basis and she figures if she was to park her truck in front of her office might increase the number of new patients to her office. I like the concept of mobile advertising, my wife and I plan to complete additional research for this trendy style of advertising.

A rebel against traditional branding: Amazon.com

There is a great article in this week's Business Week titled, "At Amazon, Marketing is For Dummies".

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_39/b4148053513145.htm

It is amazing that Amazon has reached their level of success and broad distribution channels without traditional marketing and branding. Their ease of use and reputation has ranked them to #43 on Global Brand rankings. They have invested in technology and distribution centers which has delivered both perceived and real quality!

Amazon even took an innovative approach to launching an advertising campaign. Instead of hiring an ad agency, they issued a contest to their customers. The customer that created the best commercial, won a $10,000 Amazon.com gift card.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/video-contest/YourAmazonAdContest/ref=gw_cto_yaacsweepstakes?pf_rd_p=490867131&pf_rd_s=left-nav-2&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=507846&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0MAT9DQXVVKHK668PQ8Z

I am sure that the overall success of Amazon's "marketing light" approach, will be copied by other companies. Will they achieve the same level of success? Time will tell.

General Motors New 60-Day Return Policy

I recently viewed a television commercial for General Motors new 60-day return policy. I was blown away by the marketing message sent by General Motors to consumers "If you find a better car, then give ours back" campaign. What a bold move on General Motors part trying to boost sales and gain customer satisfaction. I am wondering how General Motors President, Bob Lutz pulled out all the stops with such an aggressive marketing campaign. Especially when automobile/trucks have suffered slumping sales, and General Motors has lost market share to import car manufactures that offered better gas mileage and reliability.

I would like to understand the factors that went into the implementation of this promotion. I understand the move to increase sales and boost product confidence. But what if the promotion fails? I guess General Motors has answered this question for me by streamlining the company after bankruptcy and accepting millions in taxpayer bailout money. If the promotion by General Motors fails taxpayer money is lost and the company would be holding on to many "slightly used" vehicles to sell.

I would like to find out how much "marketing" research was completed by General Motors to offer such a bold promotion OR is this promotion a gamble of precious taxpayer money as a last ditch effort to save the company. Not to mention the cost of prime time promotion budget of TV ads, sporting events, radio, etc. I am anxious to see the results of this promotion and I hope the promotion is a success for the American taxpayer and General Motors.

Bunker Hill Community College will be a trendsetter.

Was it the foresight of a college professor, the consumer/student demand for more classes or simply a sign of the times? All of those mentioned if you ask me. Take a look at the article:
Students burn midnight oil at Boston College: http://www.rr.com/news/topic/article/rr/1110/8889740/Students_burn_midnight_oil_at_Boston_college/full/

The demand for midnight classes at this college was evident. It is a matter of time before the anticipated success of this model catches on. Currently, Bunker Hill Community College is the “only school in the nation offering overnight classes.”
I am sure a study of consumer behavior and psychographics and demographic descriptors will determine a more defined market segmentation than identified here. Judging by the hours I keep, I may be the ideal student/consumer for this type of program!

Complete a Marketing Strategy for Chiropractic Office

As a partner in my wife's chiropractic business we recently purchased a machine used for spinal decompression. The value of purchasing this machine adds specialization to the facility as industry leaders for non-surgical options. My wife and I had to develop a marketing strategy to ensure the success of our new spinal treatment option.

We had to develop our business objective specifically for the spinal decompression machine. The objective to set our business ahead of industry standards, produce non-surgical options for patients seeking alternatives to painful surgery.

Our customer target are patients with severe spinal issues including disc bulges and disc herniation. These patients have already had MRI diagnostics and have been previously consulted surgically.

In the Rochester area their are only two competitors that have this type of equipment in their office. We have strategically placed our selves on the west side of Rochester, NY and our competitors reside on the north and east side of Rochester, NY.

Due to the expense of the equipment we identified our core strategy must produce quick results. In order to accomplish our goals the core strategy included television broadcasting, radio, and web-site optimization. In our advertising campaign we established our value proposition two-fold through client testimonials in our radio campaign and a personalized message from my wife the doctor in the TV ads.

Our product positioning is streamlined through the core strategy and value proposition we developed. The marketing mix is the final set of decisions necessary to complete the marketing strategy. We set our price consistent with our competitors in order for the community to have price consistency and gain product knowledge. We researched our media outlet a local broadcast TV and radio media station for their news worth reputation in the Rochester, NY community.

The complete marketing strategy in chapter two of the Marketing Management book aided my wife and I to develop a marketing strategy for our chiropractic business venture.

Why not promote Western New York?

Proud of Western New York and apple country ~

I live in Wayne County (no jokes please :-)), Sodus Point to be exact. Needless to say I do a lot of driving back and forth to Rochester to shop, go to appointments etc. and I frequently drive to the airport. I have been traveling for work the past two weeks and was flying back just for the Labor Day weekend before departing again today. I was scheduled to arrive well after midnight this past Thursday so I decided to book a free night at a brand new Hampton Inn in Webster. I had an early morning appointment in Rochester on Friday and I was just too exhausted to drive all the way home from the airport, sleep for only 4 hours and then getup and drive back for my appointment and subsequent meetings.

So I checked in at 1:25 a.m. and let me tell you, the night clerk needs some training in customer service, especially when addressing their frequent – stay program members. I overlooked it, the hotel just opened a few months ago and I am certain they have some kinks to work through. I spent the night and was able to get a few hours of sleep. If any of you have ever stayed at a Hampton Inn, you know they serve a complimentary breakfast in the morning OR they have snack bags available at the front desk to just grab and go. I usually grab one of these bags. No matter where you stay in the USA, the bags always have the same items in them: a Kellogg’s breakfast bar, a blueberry muffin, an apple, a bottle of water and a box of mints.

Don’t we live in New York Apple country? Doesn’t New York State produce an average of 25 million bushels of apples annually? It ranks #2 in the country! Why in the world did this snack bag contain a Washington State apple? Need I say more. I think this was a poor choice on the part of Hampton Inn local management and a poor decision not to support our local farmers. Hampton Inn should be promoting ‘local’ tourism- places and things of interest. I don’t think they would host a fall apple picking event and pick Washington State apples off the trees. It is clearly ridiculous to spend the amount of fuel necessary to transport an apple from 3000 miles away, when the second largest apple producing county in the nation is located just 5 miles away!

I plan to write them a letter. I will let you know if I receive a reply.

Marketing in the Simplest form

My wife Susan, daughter Kayla and I decided to take the long Labor Day weekend and visit my in law's in the Thousand Islands. My in law's live near the St. Lawrence river in Clayton, NY. My wife jumped behind the wheel of her SUV to allow me to enjoy the scenery over the next two hour drive. As we turned off the highway and started our final stretch of the drive, I noticed signs on the side of the highway for a "bake sale" five miles ahead. I didn't think too much of the sign posted on the side of the highway until we drove another mile down the highway and I saw another sign that read "Fresh bake goods sale today" As we approached town, the signs were more revealing "Fresh baked pies, cookies, pastries, fresh apple cider, and fresh made applesauce" the signs were larger, more colorful, and decorated with bright red, yellow, blue, pink, and green balloons (my daughter loves balloons). I told my wife we should stop and just "look" at the sale and get a balloon for my daughter Kayla. My wife reminded me I have a half-marathon to run next weekend and my diet could not withstand cookies, pies, etc. As our family approached the bake sale stand, an aroma filled with fresh apples and sugar intoxicated each of us. I sampled the freshly made applesauce, apple pie, and oatmeal raisin cookies (my daughter helped me of course). I decided we should bring a apple pie, fresh apple sauce, and a variety of cookies to the in-laws, after all we were helping the church with their bake sale.

My simplest form of marketing example were the signs on the side of the highway that perked my interest from the first sign I read. As we drove closer to the sale, the church volunteers did an AWESOME job with the signage using words like "fresh baked" "fresh made"
my daughter spotted the balloons and needed one badly. When our family approached the food stand I was greeted with a warm friendly welcome and a sample cup of fresh applesauce. The stand was neat and organized with variety of baked goods for sale at modest prices. Once our baked goods selection was finalized, the woman bagged our purchase, shook my hand, and thanked me for our purchase. I learned a lot from this transaction, even a simple church bake sale can teach me about marketing products and delivering exceptional customer service.

I ran an additional five miles today to work off the pieces of apple pie and chocolate chip cookies. The baked goods were worth it!

Ray Nanni

The end brings us back to the beginning again

I seem to look forward to coming up with a witty title more than coming up with the meat of the post. Maybe that's because I rarely know how the post will unfold as I start typing. I can't help but think how excited I am to be at the end of another module, only to be starting a new one soon. Finishing off a big paper means getting ready for the next one, just like cleaning up after a big marketing event means starting final details of the next big event. I wonder how many of us have already planned something big for when we finish this program in January?

And yet you didn't think I was talking at all about IMC. If your message isn't consistent first, how can then end bring you back to the beginning? The glaring mistake by each of our three case studies, was not bringing them back to the beginning, but trying to become something they were not. Something their customers did not see their brand becoming. Trying to revolutionize their home niche, instead of letting the customer ask for it. We see it all the time and don't always notice it, but how often do re constructing our brands really lead to a positive new place. But when customers ask us to change, they are already there waiting for us to get back to the new beginning.

DOUBLE YOU DOLLARS

I recently received an e-newsletter from the Rochester Business Alliance and was intrigued by this month featured article. During the difficult times of recession, many companies are cutting back on their expenditures, starting with their marketing departments. The article states, “in an economy like this, cutting back on marketing is flirting with business suicide.” I could of not said it any better myself and that is why it was easy for me to let my employer know that we need to think low cost, but not with out sacrificing our marketing agenda.

So how can a business get more out of their limited marketing dollars? I wonder if Erox Corporation would have benefited from the five below suggestions!

1. Get back in touch with old customers by making phone calls to set up lunch meetings. Don’t just discuss business but get to know an old friend again.

2. Offer prospective customers a free sample. I recently had to research into printing companies and the one I chose took the initiative to complete a project for free to demonstrate their digital printing capabilities.

3. Focus your advertising. Publish your advertisement in relevant sources to have a larger reach and make a special offer to receive a return in investment.

4. Let your customer help you out. Ask for testimonials and case studies to be used in your sales presentations and advertising.

5. Give extra attention to high-integrity behavior. Be fair and care about your customers’ opinions. Word of Mouth is a free way to advertise.

If you act in the best interest of your customers, you will receive a wealth of respect and profit.

On a side Note: Everyone did a great job last week on their presentations and have a wonderful week off.

Got startegy in your IMC plan?

Congratulations to all the groups during week five for some great IMC presentations! It was interesting to see how we all took different routes to bring out the IMC plans of each organization we covered. One of my initial questions in this class was…does IMC have a template or some organizational format that needs to be followed when building an IMC plan? And I believe the answer was, “no,” but it was stated that there were some key elements that needed to be included, as was reflective of our team case studies.

Our text, Strategic Integrated Marketing communications, defined IMC back in Chapter 1, as: “a concept of marketing communications planning that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines (e.g. general advertising, direct response, sales promotion, and public relations) and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum communication impact.”

When I reflect on my initial questions and then look at our individual analysis, it was because of each company’s strategies that the plan elements we decided to cover seemed so different – no two companies will ever have the same strategy. The difference in strategy is the result of the brand's IMC planning process, described in Ch. 11, which looks something like this:

1. Target audience objectives will need to be carefully considered. Because some markets have multiple target groups a brand generally needs more that one level of communication.
2. Decide how purchase decisions are made in the category, and then optimize message development to facilitate that process.
3. Establish positioning.
4. Setting communication objectives.
5. Decide how to deliver the message.

A brand's target audience or consumer will always dictate the startegy needed to reach them because communication with them is the end goal. So, I conclude that strategy seems to be the key element of any IMC plan. Without strategy, you will never have a unique message to offer your target audience and, as a result, your messaging will get lost in all the noise. To prevent losing your message, a well thought-out IMC plan can strategically integrate a brand's message and effectively place it in front of the right consumers at the right time, by the proper means necessary to “affect the four basic communications effects of: category need, brand awareness, brand attitude, and brand purchase,” as stated in Ch. 11.

Looking back on our IMC 5 week journey

As we have learned over this 5 week journey, marketing functions do not (and can not) operate in isolation. This became evident as we presented the case studies for Virtual Vineyards, Erox, and Charles Schwab. In each of the cases it was evident that the company realized that all messages needed to be unified when delivered to their audience. Each company also understood that it was more important to go after a specific target audience, rather than a generic large audience. And I don't think we'll ever forget one of the suggested audiences for Erox Corp.

I saw this article in yesterday's D & C Businesses using social media reinvent marketing. Each day that goes by it becomes more and more evident that if you are not connecting directly with your target audience then you will be left behind as other companies grow. This article provides some local examples from companies who have started utilizing the power of social media.

Making a first impression...

In the sales business, we all know that finding a way to get in the door is the biggest battle of all. For our new Toshiba office in Albany, we have been looking for a way to get out sales reps in the door and straight to the CEO without giving them a goofy gift that will just get thrown out.

So my idea that I made a demo of today is a trash can. A literal metal trash can. And in this trash can there is a letter introducing the companies to Toshiba on HUGE paper. The tagline on the top of the letter says "Instead of giving you a gimmicky gift you're just going to throw out, we saved you the step and put it in the garbage". The letter talks about going green and how we can make your company become paperless. We are also going to run a contest that if you meet with our reps, you can win $2500 to donate in the name of your company rather than spending the money on gifts.

I'm writing about this because I am continuously battling with our sales department on spending money for silly gifts like mugs or pens compared to something that will make a CEO laugh and take notice.

Has anyone else used something out of the blue to get your team through the door?

No such thing as meeting expectations

I read an interesting blog the other day and the author spoke about how there is actually no such thing as meeting expectations, you either exceed or miss the mark. 60-80% of customers describe their customer satisfaction as satisfied, or very satisfied and a simple "meets expectations" is no longer an option. In order to overcome this, your goal should now be to always overdeliver and find ways to give a little extra. If the expectations of your customers are one thing, give them more. You should never settle for being a commodity and you should always seek to bring unique value to your customer.
This relates to IMC in that when we create a plan, we should always think about the customer first. In order to give them what they want, actually listen to what they want to hear/see/do, and apply it to you marketing. Once you figure out what it is they want and how to deliver it, think of something different that they might also like. This will make them very happy and eager for more!
I also stumbled across this interesting, rather edgy slideshow. Watch it if you dare, I think we are all adult enough to handle it. It is about social media and why we all need to get involved NOW!!
http://www.slideshare.net/mzkagan/what-the-fk-is-social-media-one-year-later

Understanding your Buyer Personas is at the heart of great marketing

As we wind to a close and head off to learn more about marketing metrics and the infamous marketing dashboard, I'll take with me a fundamental but vital reminder -- great marketing originates from an understanding of your buyer personas and the problems they face. In good company with the advice of David Meerman Scott in World Wive Rave, by taking time to listen to your customers talk about their problems, articulate their needs, you'll be able to speak in to them in meaningful ways, using their terms, about how your product or service can help them. Your marketing becomes real, valuable and engaging in a way that influences your consumer to make a decision in your favor.
Meerman Scott offers this counsel,which some tenured marketers and big marketing machines seem to forget over time: "Targeting your work to buyer personas prevents you from sitting on your butt in your comfortable office just making stuff up about your products, which is the cause of most ineffective marketing". Now look carefully and fess up - how often have marketing campaigns from your company focused on the product calling out all the technology minutia which separates you from your competitors? Have you ever used jargon laden language and messaging like, "flexible, scalable solutions" or "cutting edge technology"? There's an endless laundry list of industry buzz words and phrases that mean little to customers. Don't fall into that trap!
Take David's challenge to "...speak with members of your buyer personas. Meet them on their own turf, their home office or where they go for fun - and listen to their problems. Then create something interesting and valuable especially for them, and offer it for free on the web". It's not your mothers marketing game anymore. What have you got to lose?
For more on Rules of the Rave, pick up Meerman Scott's World Wide Rave. It's a quick, easy, one sitting read. It may do more for your online marketing success and position you for the new ways of marketing than any other two hours you spend!
Mary

Final IMC Thoughts

In our review of the case studies of Virtual Vineyards, Erox Corporation, and Charles Schwab, we learned the importance on IMC in the sustained performance of a product or brand. Proper positioning, brand awareness, brand image, and brand loyalty play key roles in building a strong brand. Creating favorable perceptions within the market compared to the competition is also an important aspect of a good IMC plan. More importantly, and unless you have an unlimited marketing budget, to be successful in today’s hyper-competitive, over-advertised marketplace, you should be focusing your business and marketing on serving a specialized and preferably small niche market. By deciding to focus on serving a small niche market, you greatly increase your odds for business success with much less risk.

Integrated Marketing Communications is a concept of marketing communications planning that recognizes the added-value in a program that integrates a variety of strategic disciplines such as general advertising, direct response, sales promotion and public relations, and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency and maximum communications impact. In an integrated campaign, general advertising shines at strengthening brands and brand equity while direct marketing builds relationships and dialogue, and provides the means to build brand loyalty today’s competitive environments. Sales promotion provides short-term buying incentives for both consumers and the trade. Public relations and publicity can offer third-party endorsements and extra reinforcement for the paid advertising messages. None of the IMC elements is inherently superior or inferior; they all have important functions in an integrated campaign. Contrary to new beliefs, the campaign should still focus on a “big idea” and a graphic look that threads through all four elements. This maximizes the chances that consumers will get the message and then have the message reinforced and layered in their memories without the “cognitive inconsistency” that arises from mixed messages or contradictory graphic elements. Having a viable product concept, achieving favorable quality perceptions, and providing benefits to fulfill a consumer need will ultimately determine the short-term success or failure of a product, but a sound strategic and integrated marketing communications process will provide a blueprint for long-term product success and growth.

How are Press releases changing

The entire information stream of this thought comes by way of new media. A tweet delivered to my dashboard mentioned "How to get your press releases read, not trashed". With a tiny url directing me to http://www.ragan.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=5AA50C55146B4C8C98F903986BC02C56&tier=4&id=4BE67D25A6B74D998E946AA5178996A0&AudID=3FF14703FD8C4AE98B9B4365B978201A
The article says in a nutshell, all the rules are history, what matters is an interesting story. In 140 characters or less preferably. With the advancement of Twitter as a press release forum, emails enabling links to your own website for background info, and for that matter the ability ever more present to deliver a news release directly to your customers. The structure of press releases is falling by the wayside, with the only necessity now being an interesting story. Ragan attacks the new hire press release with a vengenance. "Why should I care the your company hired that person, I don't know who it is." With Greg Kamp just weeks ago saying he hasn't written a true press release in almost a year, I wonder how much longer any of us will be writing a true press release. Maybe we will simply be Tweeting, updating our company Facebook status, and blogging about newsworthy events and items.

The skill is good to have, but will it become a skill similar to churning butter or dipping candles. A skill learned in history class?

"Marketing Salvation"

I was listening to K-Love Radio this morning and was contemplating what I wanted to blog about when a news story came on talking about Harley Davidson Motorcycles. Since I have a love for the beautiful machines, I was intrigued and then was amazed by what I heard.

In Sturgis, South Dakota the 69th Annual motorcycle rally was held this year which attracted more than 4,200 motorcyclists and their friends. The interesting part is the brilliant marketing strategy used to draw in such a big crowd. All attendees were given a chance to win a black Harley-Davidson Motorcycle.

THE MARKETY STRATEGY

Dakota Baptist Convention and North American Mission Board for the past four years have been donating bikes to be raffled off to all those who listened to a 3-8 minute testimony and in the end this year’s rally end up having 800 profess their devotion to Christ.

Their goal was to bring the love of Christ to those who may not hear the message due to their choosen lifestyle. Volunteers for this rally know all too well about the path not to be traveled in life and some have started their own bikers clubs with the passion to serve God.

The convention’s executive director stated, “you have to start with relevance, something that’s going to get their attention, something that’s going to make them stop and say, ‘Yeah, I’ll listen to you for three minutes.” No matter the response from the participants to the testimony, the main objective was that the message was told and heard.

This got me thinking how creative we can get when we “Market Salvation.” These days people are not just going to line up and say preach to me. There are so many things in this world that have caused such temptation and what the convention did was an excellent example of creative marketing.

For you IMC junkies, you can read the full article by clicking the below link and you will notice how integrated minded the marketing team got to achieve the supreme strategy set by God.

ENJOY!

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=31093

“What do you know about New Media / Social Marketing?”

“What do you know about New Media / Social Marketing?” This is the question Deb Mourey asked at the beginning of her presentation last Thursday on New Media and Social Marketing. What a humbling question this turned out to be, especially considering I sat among a class of aspiring marketers at the tail end of their degree program. She presented marketing from a position that shuck the foundation of traditional marketing – Social Media Marketing is not even in the same ball park with traditional marketing efforts.

Mourey dissected the 4 P’s of marketing, as they relate to today: Promotion must be where the customer is; Product must be relevant to consumer needs all the time; Price is transparent now; Place is going away. It’s true... the old relationship between consumer and advertiser is over: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3qltEtl7H8. As marketers we can no longer use the one-way communications methods with consumers…we need to listen! Traditional messaging (push messaging) results in low consumer engagement, but New Media Messaging offers the consumer a high engagement relationship with your brand and a two-way conversation. Social Media is all about the conversation and the relationship, with the consumer in control (taking the lead). The traditional marketing strategy was to control the message, but that works against consumer satisfaction and building trusting relationship in the long run. As a result, brands need to develop consumer trust in every fiber of their corporate being and communications. As Mourey stated, the 4 P’s need to be replaced by: anyplace, community (Brand), discover, engage, experience, tribe, with authenticity and trust baked into every brand experience. The P’s, in Mourey’s opinion, have been replaced by “the 10 B’s,” which are:

1. Be interested – listen to consumers
2. Be human – listen, date, share, generate buzz, create a tribe and repeat…
3. Be open
4. Be helpful – add value to your conversation
5. Be focused – remember that one word-of-mouth = 20 television ads
6. Be systematic
7. Be local
8. Be careful – no spamming your consumers with unwanted messages
9. Be able to give-up control, but monitor the feedback
10. Be irresistible – market to the Millennial’s using the tools they use…they do not watch TV ads!

Fellow Marketers, there is a serious paradigm shift in the marketing world and the strength of your message depends on your resourcefulness and ability to use the expansive New Media Tool Kit. The tools are out there you, but you need to know what they are and how to use them!

Mourey concluded with a challenging question… What does your digital footprint look like? What digital assets do you bring to your company in this changing marketing landscape?

Want to Get In on the Conversation?

I couldn't resist the temptation, in fact, I consider it a disciplined strength of good marketing to follow voice of customer feedback to the happy ending. I'm beginning to wonder if that will be the case for this scenario.
You remember I shared the link to Dave Carrol's musical feedback on YouTube to United Airlines after the premature demise of his guitar at their hands and the compelling need Dave had to share the extent of his pain and dissatisfaction with the airline.
This whole exchange is taking on a new life of it's own with the help of social media. Entertaining to be certain. Amusing or not so amusing for United Airlines to be sure. Wondering if they will ever get as clever a response back to Dave while their reputation can still be saved?
If you too would like to see what's happened in the ongoing saga, take a look at Dave's second video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-UoERHaSQg. Be sure to watch the end when the United van runs over the guitar not just once but multiple times. Pure allegory, pure fun! Dave has enlisted a tuba player, oompah band with a trio of German Geeks, the FBI, a token old person and scores of volunteers. It's become a musical video production rivaling Rodgers & Hammerstein.
Additionally, there's now a third party airline industry expert who is weighing in on the situation with full his full production video counseling United on how to rebuild trust with their customers: http://.simplifying.com/2009/simpliflying-releases-the-answer-in-response-tounited-breaks-guitars-by-dave-carroll. This elaborate production comes complete with production timeline, original score and backstory.
So, if you're wondering who owns customer response, feedback and happiness reinstatement at United, the answer is evidently no one! At least no United employee, marketer or otherwise, on facebook, twitter or any linked social media.
This certainly underscores the comments Deborah Mourey made last week to "get on the social media bus or risk being at the bottom of the barrel"!
Mary

The Strenght of Three

Social media had evolved into a strong leg of marketing communications. Today social media is used by marketers, advertisers and public relations professionals to reach their audiences. These are three very different entities involved in the full scale communications process. So I can only wonder who handles social media today.

Marketers are generally focused on the strategy of communication. While advertisers focus on the creative perspective of communication. And of course public relations focus on the media and other publics to ensure communication reaches the audience. Each profession clearly possesses a different take on the element of social media but does any one hold the responsibility?

In my, the answer is no, this is the beauty of integrated marketing at its finest. As independent entities the task of social media communication would present individual strengths. Marketing would effectively target their audience with a well defined communication messaging. Advertising would effectively draw the attention of the audience with their creative approach to communication. And public relations would say it best in their content message. But all three entities working together for form integrated social media communication with combined strengths. Integrated communications would demonstrate target focus, creativity, and effective content that reach an audience better than any single entity ever could.

Now that’s the true excitement of integrated marketing communications.

Twitter is not to be ignored

After the two guest speakers we've had I can see that marketers see Twitter as a vital part of what they do (and what everyone should do). I actually have tried to be better about logging in and tweeting more often since we had Greg as a speaker. I even saw an article in this week's Rochester Insider (p 21) on the 3 people profiles are using Twitter to help promote themselves. I was looking for a link to share with you, but I couldn't seem to find it on their site. I will bring in the print version on Thursday if anyone is interested, or you can pick one up practically anywhere.

Matt brought up a good point in his post To Tweet, or not to Tweet about building a following for a small brand or company on Twitter. I would like to throw one other thing out there about this topic -- what if your small company is strictly local? What would be the best way to start building a following on Twitter?

Social Media Considerations in IMC

There are many considerations to take into account when creating an IMC plan. Social media is one area that is growing in popularity and there are several advantages for marketers trying to reach prospective consumers; such as real-time consumer interactions, lower costs, and occupying a space where your customers are that will facilitate user generated content and word of mouth marketing. However, the marketing effectiveness of social media is highly dependent upon a good understanding of who your consumers are, and how to effectively relate to them. Facebook and twitter may seem like good places to get your message out, but marketer’s also need to be savvy in using third party applications that make them useful. In addition, these tools should be used as a way of creating two-way interactive information sharing about a product or service, and not just for broadcasting static messages. Interestingly, users spend an average of 27 minutes a day on facebook, while users only spend an average of 8 minutes a day on twitter. Compare that with the statistical average of viewing television, which is 4 hours a day for the average American, although many of us would argue that figure is too high. In any case, a well rounded IMC plan will consider the target market first, all the relevant touchpoints, and match the communication objectives, media options, and communication plans to achieve the selected positioning strategy.

Simply had to share this article

Hopefully everyone is as excited about Fast Company as Mary and I are. If not, here is another great article from them. http://su.pr/2hUg5H It relates to the promise made by companies, and puts IMC in a nutshell.

Matt

Leaving class this week I wondered what the future would hold for marketing, advertising and public relations. Traditionally each has held independent roles in the communication of messages to a target audience. With focus on a future of integrated roles in communication, one can not help but wonder in the future will bring an extinction to traditionalism.
Marketers have traditionally focused on designing a communication campaigns and understanding how to reach a segmented audience. While advertisers have traditionally focused on designing the promotion/advertising campaigns to communicate the marketers vision of a communication campaign. And public relations have focused on maintaining a line of communication between an organization and its publics to promote understanding and acceptance of a communication campaign. Now with a focus on integrated communication the three separate entities are combining to form consistent communication from one single entity.
Effective yes, but what does this new focus on integration mean for professionals in each of these separate industries. Perhaps the wave of the future will be integrated marketing/advertising/public relations firms. This will certainly benefit those utilizing such firms, with efficient and consistent communication. However it is my belief that there will always be a need for individual experts in each of these areas. And we will never see a completely unified and integrated existence among the three roles.

PR in Rochester

After Greg stressed the importance of Twitter last week in class, I took to the company Twitter to give PR a shot and use the site as a way to get feedback from local users of our products to see how we're doing. All I had to ask was "How do you like your office's copier?" and I got over 50 responses that day. My next step was to ask those with VERY positive and also VERY negative responses what brand copier their office uses and why they feel so strongly about it. This was done through direct messages and almost all of my DM's were answered. Only 1 Twitter user that answered had a negative opinion of a Toshiba copier and his copier is about 8 years old- past its normal life span! Now my point in writing about Twitter is this; my HR Director tried to block it, then I told her I would prove why it's useful and I did! Of course we would like more than 50 responses but 50 in Rochester is a good enough start for me!

On a completely different note, I am a member of PRSA (the Public Relations Society of America) here in Rochester. This organization, similar to RAMA creates networking events and educational workshops that you can attend (way cheaper than RAMA) and I am the co-chair of next weeks Social/Member Mixer. I have made so many important connections through PRSA with all types of businesses and I think this event will be just as successful. Here is the link to register: http://guest.cvent.com/i.aspx?1Q,P1,2DA8D63F-2FB8-43D5-BBC1-5F90327D2BFF
It's only $10 for non-members and basically will include heavy appetizers and drinks at The Crystal Barn (yes, where I used to/still work). Hope to see some/all of you there!

To Tweet, or not to Tweet?

I share Mary's enthusiasm for Fast Company. An excellent read, and worth the $10 for a yearly subscription if you want something tangible to hold onto.

The article I found interesting made it way to me via Twitter, and is about Twitter, one of Greg's passions.

The underlying story, as I read it between the lines, is Twitter is a mass instant messenger(period) .

Back when AIM first started off in the late 1990's, you could IM a friend or a few, and talk about things. And when you closed that conversation, the "messages" were in essence gone. Not that you couldn't save the message, and I don't think anyone is naive enough to know the police/government can't find those messages somewhere, but the conversation is basically gone. Twitter only tracks the conversations and key words for about a week. Meaning if the people following you aren't waiting for your Tweets, they may just miss them. This is not the basic structure of Facebook and Myspace. Those messages tend to reside on your wall for a bit longer, unless say it is your birthday and you get baraged with Congratulations. And I suppose if you have thousands of friends leaving messages at the same time, like the example of Michael Jackson's death, a single message could get lost in the shuffle.

http://tinyurl.com/mvq848 Has Twitter Handicapped Our Ability to Mourn

But from my experience this past week, and seeing the response from friends, family, and even some acquaintenances I barely know. Facebook lends itself for a more meeningful emotional connection than Twitter. So if you are trying to utilize Twitter for PR purposes and you don't have connections like Brian Williams or Ann Curry, or a big title at a major US company like Jeff Hayzlett, how can you build traction with a small brand or company on Twitter? I am not sure you can.

By the way, Jeff and Kodak are tweeting the opportunity to name the new Kodak pocket video camera with all kinds of prizes to be won. I am sure Jeff isn't the only one tweeting this and I have seen at least 40 tweets today mentioning the topic. So how many tweets does it take to get past just scratching the surface of recognition.

Brand StoryTelling:

Several key points made last week by Greg Kamp, our guest speaker, resonated with me and ironically were also reiterated in a recent Fast Company article by Melinda Partin, refer to: www.fastcompany.com/blog/melinda-partin-tank/brand-storytelling-connecting-you-audience . Greg recommended that anyone considering a career in Public Relations strongly consider a fair investment in building journalistic skills underscoring that he or she who says it faster, better or more effectively wins the game and the customer's business.
The new connected consumer expects customized messages which also means marketers must have a good comprehension of the consumer psyche, a message that integrates into the consumers world and is delivered in the right place, telling the right story, at the right time. Melinda goes so far as to say that effective storytelling and customer emotional engagement are key to "transition the consumer from awareness to trial to advocacy" and perhaps deliver a brand convert for life, a goal we all have in common. Do you describe yourself as a "Starbuck's fiend", a "PC" user, an "iPhone Only Girl"? If you understand how your product, service or brand meets a customer's emotional needs, understand where and how your customer will receive your message, and tell your story well, in a truthful way, that appeals to both the heart and mind, you can create an experience people want to be a part of. As a public relations practitioner, remember to focus on your reader and apply the creative power of words in informative, motivating and persuasive ways. You can do it!

Crisis Communication Plan

Week three we had guest speaker Greg Kamp from Dixon Schwabl who spoke about the importance of Crisis Communications Planning. Just as with planning in marketing, advertising and public relations, it is also important to have an integrated Crisis Communications Plan (CCP). Because a crisis will happen when you least expect them it is crucial to make sure everyone in the organization knows what to do from the CEO to the receptionist who answers the phones.

Greg began his discussion on CCP by defining “crisis” as a “situation or issue that affects the masses.” For example, the Tylenol scare in the 80’s was a “crisis,” not someone going postal at work and harming people. For isolated issues, like the later, organizations should develop a “readiness plan” designed to deal with these situations. Therefore, the focus of this blog entry will be CCP.

The marketing department of an organization should have a conversation with upper management / CEO regarding “what could happen” within their organization and how to plan for crisis. Although this will not be a well received topic, the conversation needs to happen and needs to engage “dark thinking” to determine what realistically could happen. Greg defined dark thinking as “the worse things that could happen.” From this conversation / brainstorm a proper CCP will take roughly 6-months to develop. Keep in mind that no one likes to talk about or plan for crisis, but when an organization is ready to deal with the reality a CCP might follow this outline:

1. Determine all the possible scenarios using “dark thinking” and create your plan to deal with these crises.
2. Create “dark website” that can go live in a moment’s notice (no longer than 30-minutes from time of crisis). This site should include your crisis plan information and templates for press releases, statements, and any other communication you may need during your crisis. More information is better than not enough. IMPORTANT: make sure the receptionist answering the phone knows to point crisis inquires to the “dark site” in order to eliminate confusion and control out going information. Site should be updated every 90-days too!
3. Print and store in a safe place your entire CCP, including all stake holder contacts. Update this information every 90-days.
4. Develop a crisis team using members from each department or element of the organization to gain a broad perspective and to cover all the bases.
5. Determine who will be the media spokes person. Make sure this person is professionally “media trained.” Make sure the person has the right personality for the crisis message.
6. Determine all of your stake holders. Know who your audience and how to communicate with them before the crisis breaks.
7. Determine how you will communicate with your audience, i.e. phone, email, Twitter, website, fax, etc. All press communications should be made within an hour of the crisis. Quick reaction time is important!
8. Rehearse crisis mode and update CCP every 90-days.
9. The marketing department should be in charge of executing the CCP – don’t leave this up to the CEO or other management as they will have enough to deal with.
10. Have a crisis / readiness room within the organization where members of the crisis team will meet to execute the CCP.

PR and Twitter

Greg Camp was a great speaker to have in our class this past Thursday. He's very energetic about what he does, and about PR in general. There are a few things I took away from that night, but mostly it was how Twitter is becoming a powerful form of direct communication for marketing professionals. I'm still very much a Twitter novice, and I'm still trying to fully understand its usefulness (sorry Paula). When he said he hasn't sent out a press release in over 8 months, that really struck a cord. That's when it hit me that, WOW, Twitter is really becoming mainstream.

I have a question for the class. Outside of Toshiba, does anyone else's company use Twitter on a daily basis?

“PICTURES THAT PLEASE US”, A WEAK DEFENSE!

As we learned previously in Dr. Redfield’s advertising module, the cover of a magazine is the most expensive and effective page layout location when promoting a product or service. With respect to Self Magazine, it is the cover and who is on it that will make or break monthly sales. Self depends on their customers to perceive the importance of being on the cover and pay extensively for the exclusivity.

Self Magazine corporate strategy is based upon providing readers with real issues and real people in their truest form. However, their current issue has caused controversy due to admitting they retouched a photo to sell magazines.

The cover photo of Kelly Clarkson is being challenged by critics due her quote, “Stay True to You and Everyone Else Will Love You Too” which is on the cover next to her picture.
So what is the BIG DEAL? Clarkson was feature in Self Magazine due to being chosen as one of their top picks for one of the most inspirational people in 2009. It is Clarkson’s self actualization regarding her weight that was the motivation behind her article in Self. In an article on www.mtv.com Clarkson is quoted to saying, “When people talk about my weight, I'm like, 'You seem to have a problem with it; I don't. I'm fine!' My happy weight changes — sometimes I eat more, sometimes I play more.”

So with that said, the question is how can Self Magazine alter a picture which is in direct contradiction to the articles they are promoting? Answer: Comes from a blog in response to recent criticism by the editor and chief of Self, Lucy Danziger, “A cover's job is to sell the magazine, and we do that, every month, thanks to our readers. So thank you.”

Danziger is thanking readers but under what assumption? The comments on Self’s home page in rebuttal to the September cover are not pleasing. Will word of mouth hurt or help the sales of Self magazine in September? People love controversy, so Self may make money due to people wanting to know what the buzz is instead of getting the magazine for is editorial content.

This past Thursday, we discussed various publics and the common thread of applying ethical practices when conducting business. Self Magazine, in my opinion was not honest when they retouched Clarkson’s picture to make Kelly “look her personal best.”
Kelly was unaware of how her pictures would be altered, and I have to agree with a blogger on www.self.com, Kelly should have demanded that any pictures taken are to stay in their truest form to reflect comments made in her article. At least Kelly remains humble and does not let situations this bother her, which is true testimony of how she promotes herself as a role model to young girls.

It is disappointing to see Self Magazine fall short of their name and mission. I wonder if our speaker from Dixon would consider this a marketing blunder?

Click below for other interesting incites regarding Self Magazine.

People Magazine Video of Kelly’s Photo Shoot

PR and Propaganda

The persuasion component or (core element) of marketing, advertising, promotion, and public relations is becoming more apparent as we move forward in our program. When persuasion is our objective, ethics, and ethical decision-making will obviously become a factor in how we choose to effectively persuade our customers to believe our message, buy our products, or use our services. In theory, sound public relations is based on truth, credibility, fairness, and openness. However, how does Public Relations really differ from widespread Propaganda? Webster’s dictionary defines Propaganda as any systematic, widespread dissemination or promotion of particular ideas, doctrines, practices, etc. to further one's own cause. Fraser (2007) states, “Leaders in virtually every great society throughout history understood the importance of influencing public opinion through persuasion.” Public Relations is defined in the text as planned persuasion to reach a specific publics for a particular purpose, or the planned process to influence public opinion. In theory, the best Public Relations practices will consist of truthful and honest communications. As marketers we will be faced with the many challenges of making ethical decisions, keeping the best interests of the consumer in mind, creating positive perception rather than deception, and at the same time developing profitable marketing communications for our products and services.

A short but interesting video: PR Firms = Propaganda
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rPQCPwdwHQ

it's time to smile

I was intrigued in class last evening by by Greg's enthusiasm for Kodak's new campaign. Imagine my surprise and joy to find our hometown giant looking for smiles in our hometown ball field (and CMO Jeff Hayzlett jumped in as well!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa8kj8ysZls

What do you think???

To place or not to place?

Ever since the early 80's and the most well known product placement yet, companies have been bidding for product placement at alarming rates. The James Bond movies have become well known for their product placements, but can you name one of over 100 products placed in that movie? Maybe the recent discussion of the BMW z3 means that is fresh on your mind. Could you name five or 10 products? 10 products would be less than 10% of the products placed. You probably haven't seen a James Bond movie recently as a new one has not been released in a year or so. What is the difference between ET and James Bond? Organic versus forced. How many products were written into the movie, or placements were written into the movie for the advertising buck? While the candy slot was pitched to M&M's, Reese's Pieces benefited by placement where the gratification would be satisfied instantly at the movie counters.

So is the answer not to waste your advertising dollar on product placement.

But what if your competitor says yes.

Would you rather be the Hershey's or Mars?

Some comments

A lot can be said about publicity stunts on television. Paula Abdul probably is not actually leaving American Idol, just as Simon Cowell didn't even though there were claims that he was leaving as well. I do not understand why shows like this even bother with these stunts because their popularity is already through the roof. I used to watch American Idol when it first started, but now I feel that it isn't even about the singers anymore, rather it is about the comedy of the first auditions and the bickering of the judges. Drama Drama Drama!

Since I will not be in class next week, I read the article about the launch of the Z3 Roadster, and I must say I find it hard to believe that product placement really works for introducing a product. I have seen many movies, and noticed a lot of product placement, but I have never been prompted to purchase a product because of this. I would also never be encouraged to purchase a car just because I saw James Bond driving it! But I guess I am not part of their target audience, clearly, as this method did work well for BMW. I was, however, anxiously awaiting for my Scion to appear on the last Fast and the Furious movie so that I would feel like I had a cool car, but I had no such luck. I guess it all depends on what you are trying to accomplish as a marketer and doing your homework/truly knowing your target audience.

PR vs. Publicity Stunts

After working on tonight’s project about publics, mine and Brooke’s being on print media, I got thinking about how companies abuse the media for free marketing, even if this abuse is completely known about by the media.

For instance, if you read any entertainment news this week, I'm sure that you have seen that Paula Abdul will not be returning to American Idol. It was first written that this was over a salary dispute because Idol wouldn’t pay Paula as much as Simon or Ryan Seacrest. But after a week or so of this being played out in the media, I’ve come to wonder if this is really a salary dispute or just simply a publicity stunt? American Idol’s ratings last season were the lowest they have ever been. But with this “salary dispute” going on in the media, the show and Paula are getting more press than they ever have before.

And someone is feeding this information to the press. But my question is, is it ethical as a marketer/PR professional to let a story play out in the media when it is basically one GIANT exaggeration about your client? Or, is the idea of “negative press is better than no press” legit?

As a marketer, I feel that at some time, there will be a breaking point. IF it was to come out that Paula’s salary dispute was simply a publicity stunt and in the end she goes back to Idol, I think viewers will be mad that they were duped. On the other hand, it could just be a publicity stunt for Paula herself to get more work with the million other talent shows. But again, I feel like I’m being mislead and I can’t feel sorry for her for having to leave American Idol.

I think as marketers we have to be careful when “playing” with our audiences emotions and how they perceive out clients. Striving to be truthful is an understatement because we must also to be sure to correct the exaggerations in the media about our clients.

Ethics Toolkit from WOMMA

Much can and should be said frequently about the importance of ethical marketing practices. An underpinning of any successful Integrated Marketing Program or component, is the code of ethics, principles and practices a marketer follows from development to implementation to inspection and results. While often either assumed, discussed at the 30,000 foot level or left to our own integral sense of right and wrong, there is an entire toolkit available from the Word of Mouth Marketing Association available to help any marketer.
Whether you need guidance on fundamental principles or a code of conduct, WOMMA is there to help with an actionable Living Ethics Program. One particularly intriguing resource is an actual ethics assessment tool of twenty questions which can be used internally with marketing staff or with agencies and subcontractors you engage at the initiation of a word of mouth campaign. The questions help you uncover any ethical concerns or issues and avoid potential negative impacts with your audience or to your brand.
The questions cover a broad gamut from the honesty ROI aspects of relationship, opinion and identity to the importance of training ethical expectations with all personnel involved in a campaign and corrective actions plans for recovery in the event of a breach. It's also suggested that written answers be provided by agencies and sub contractors which can protect you in the event of an unpleasant experience downstream.
While the WOMMA assessment tool is new and will certainly evolve over time, it is an excellent starting point for those marketers who may not have strong company/agency guidelines already in place. It can give you a leg up on an developing a morally sound campaign and let you sleep well at night knowing you've done the right thing step by step for your consumer.
Here's the link: http://www.womma.org/ethics/ethicstoolkit.pdf

GETTING PERSONAL WITH PRODUCT PLACEMENT

While watching a movie, Dylan commented on why there was a need to have smoking in movies. Of course, my first thought was a company paid to put their product in the movie. However, I had second thoughts; after all I am responding to a nine year old. Before I could say anything my son commented, “smoking is for dummies.” My son of course understands the recourse of smoking, due to his grandmother current health condition, but how about those who do not have a personal investment in this addiction. (Note: we were watching an old 80’s PG rated movie which an adult asked to purchase a pack of cigarettes.)

The public can get a wrap sense of brand image and popularity of a particular product when featured in movies and video games, as stated by Larry Percy in his text Strategic Integrated Marketing Communications.

Product placement provides a corporation an outlet to reinforce their brand identity by targeting a specific market which in turn will increase brand awareness and sales. However, when products are targeted to children and teens, a company needs to be aware of the negative implications. Often, one will find that this awareness is overlooked and parents are struggling to do their own damage control on behalf of their children.

In some cases when products or services are placed inappropriately in movies and/or are promoted inconsistently to a target audience, there are consequences, such as negative word of mouth on the Internet. Click a topic below to see what I found online for both negative and positive product placements.

• Smoking in the movies
• Drinking alcohol in the movies
• Person on Television (Disney)
• Positive Product Placement (New Moon Movie and Burger King)
• Positive Product Placement (Ten Best Placements)

Finally, after reading all the blog postings last week, I have to say, it is nice to see everyone awaken to a whole new level of marketng. Up until now we have been reviewing the basic elements of strategic marketing. It has been wonderful to see all those who have been rejuvenated by what our current class has to offer, especially for our Jean Unlimited Project.

This Small World We Live In

As the population keeps growing the world keeps getting smaller, however, differences in individuals choices and preferences keep growing with the population. Today effective communication requires strategy. And effective strategy requires a good understanding of the IMC communication elements and how to implement each element.
This week we focused on the elements of advertising, promotion, new media, and direct marketing and the value that each brings to the IMC campaign. I believe as we look at our very diversified, yet very incorporated world, effective communication strategies are the only way to truly reach any target audience. The objective of an IMC plan is to promote brand awareness through advertising and incentive to obtain a brand through promotion. The advertising and promotion elements of the IMC plan are probably two of the most important elements to include in the overall strategy. This relates back to the small, but diversified world we live in. There are so many brands to choose from, but with effective advertising and promotion strategy, the message a campaign is delivering can reach be successful. Through incorporation of new media tactics and direct marketing, the communication the brand awareness and incentive to buy are effectively backed up, leading a consumer with unreasonable doubt in making decisions. Determining the best strategy for an effective IMC plan takes practice and knowledge, but once the strategy formula is found success will ultimately follow. So as future marketers to this small world we live in, effective communication is key. Learning and administering the right formula for each element of communication will the ultimate foundation for success.

Advertising and Promotion

As an IMC marketer it’s important to identify all stake holders connected to a brand in order to deliver a consistent and concise message that achieves results. However, it is just as important to “…[look] at all available communication options and using those which best help effectively and efficiently meet a brand’s marketing communication objectives,” says Larry Percy in his text Strategic Integrated Marketing Communications. In week two of our IMC class we discussed the Elements of IMC, which are Advertising, Promotion, Direct Marketing, Personal Selling and others.

From week two I learned that the primary purpose of advertising is to build brand awareness and brand attitude, while promotions are intended to drive short-term sales or product usage. Our text discussed the Latin root of the word advertising (advertere), meaning ‘to turn towards.’ This Latin root explains the role advertising plays within an IMC message strategy, which is to turn consumers toward a brand. This process of turning consumers toward a brand through advertising takes time and is therefore executed as a long term IMC goal. On the other hand, the Latin root for promotion (promovere), meaning to ‘move ahead,’ is designed to produce an immediate or short-term response to a brand in the form of sales or some specified action that benefits the respondent. While the objective of both advertising and promotion are to build brand awareness and attitude, a promotion, from a tactical standpoint, is really designed to accelerate the decision process of a consumer. Whether we are using advertising or promotion to build brand awareness or attitude we need to know how they function differently and how best to use them to achieve our IMC objectives.

Week 2 thoughts

So I sit here writing this during the rain delay for the NASCAR race at Watkins Glen and realized that even with a delay the sponsors are still getting their brands out to the public (both in person and on Television). At the time that I tuned in a driver was being interviewed in the pits near his car. He was, of course, wearing his fireproof suit, but also a cap with his main sponsor on it. And ESPN referenced him by name, and by who sponsors his car (which I don't remember as it was about 15 minutes ago). I can just imagine that drivers are instructed to do rain-delay interview's in front of their car when possible, which I see tying back to the advertising part of the IMC plan to give screen time to the sponsor to build their brand awareness.

In keeping with the NASCAR theme, there are also promotions that tie in with this sport. At the track the various merchandise vendors hold promotions where the grand prize could be anything from meeting the driver, going out to dinner with the driver and the crew, to winning a year supply of product fom the sponsor, or free tickets to a future event. Away from the track the sponsors may hold different promotions in conjunction with the sale of their product, or a raffle/sweepstakes that consumers can enter into.

The sport has also utilized the subject of our third chapter, New Media, as a way to better connect fans with their favorite driver. Through Nascar.com fans can subscribe to Trackpass Scanner, Trackpass Pit Command, or Trackpass Race View, as ways they can feel closer to the action.

It sounds like they are planning on getting the race in as soon as the track dries off. Hope it's a good race for those in our cloass who follow the sport

Week two takeaway

Week two discussions centered around the individual elements of IMC that are comprised of advertising, promotion, new media, personal selling, and direct marketing. All these elements have advantages and disadvantages and should be evaluated for their effectiveness within the overall marketing campaign. We are constantly reminded about the importance of brand attitude and brand awareness as the communication objectives for advertising. The role of advertising is more of a long-term strategic plan to build positive brand associations in the minds of consumers over time. On the other hand, promotions are a more tactical short-term element of IMC that can help generate repeat purchases, initiate new product trial, and reinforce brand identity. The new media element is also an important consideration with the evolution of the Internet and mobile marketing technologies. Sponsorships, event marketing, and packaging can all play a critical role in communicating emotional and psychological benefits to the consumer along with building positive brand image. Trade shows and fairs have shown to be an important part of B2B marketing although their effectiveness has been a topic of debate. Personal selling has the advantage of two-way interaction with the consumer, but can also be expensive and present challenges for maintaining a consistent message. Finally, direct marketing is a more precisely targeted interactive form of communication that has an accountable system to track overall effectiveness. Consumer databases can also help to identify opportunities through increased knowledge of consumer behavior habits and tendencies. Through these class discussions I have gained a greater understanding of how I need to communicate to the target market through a variety of IMC elements, what the objectives of each element are, and how the elements come together to form a consistent message.

Assignment Clarification

Hi Friends,

Following are a few more details to help guide you as you prepare your assignments, due Week 5.

Team Case Study Analysis Report and Presentation: The team is responsible for ONE report and a formal presentation. The following elements are included in my grading rubric:

• Background (product, brand, history)
• Marketing Strategy, IMC (as described in the case study)
• Successes/Issues (as described in the case study and/or your observations)
• Critique/Recommendations (your analysis of their plan and outcomes and your [theoretical] reasons for support or your recommendations for redirection)
• Paper & Presentation (See my guidelines for academic papers on page 5 of your guide. Your presentation will be evaluated on professionalism.)

Please prepare your report in 4-6 pages and limit your presentation to 20 minutes (I am quite sure you cannot present all the necessary information in less than 15).

Jean Unlimited Integrative Project: Each student is responsible for an integrated marketing communications campaign for the Jeans Unlimited marketing plan. The following elements are included in my grading rubric:

• Background/Company Mission
• Situation Analysis
• Target Market
• Marketing Objective
• Strategies
• IMC
• Paper

This correlates to the final presentation you are required to prepare for Dr. Falco from your perspective as a marketing consultant for the Jeans Unlimited company. Please present your pitch in an academic paper of no less than 10 and no more than 16 pages.

(Note from Professor: A thorough report, inclusive of all the components of the IMC plan as illustrated in Appendix D of your learner's guide, will significantly prepare you for your final marketing plan assignment in the last module.)

Please let me know if you need additional direction. Enjoy the weekend!

A little strategy in your IMC

There are parts of Integrated Marketing Communications that are easy to understand. Advertising and PR are fundamentally part of every marketers job. But remembering that every single communication about a company from every employee is part of IMC as word-of-mouth advertising and PR is important. Whether it is conversations over heard in the check out line between two cashiers, or Uncle Bob venting about his job at a family BBQ, each make an impact on what we think about their companies. Truly they may be neither positive or negative, but their is an impression that is made even if it only scratches the surface. The first scratch may not mean much, but how many scratches does it take before the pain of of those impressions are too much to bear. Screening employees is difficult, and of course you can't exactly control what your employees say, especially on their own time, so how do you add strategy to those parts of IMC. Understand human nature, keep your employees happy, and let them know when exciting new products/services are coming before the outside world knows. How many employees will then go home with the exciting news and tell their friends and families the positive news. Consider adding a little strategy to your entire IMC plan, instead of just part of it.

Week 1 of IMC

Of course after reading through everyone else’s posts I feel like I have nothing else to add!
But FINALLY I am excited to have a professor with relevant experience and examples for marketing in 2009! I know that I am more interested and motivated to put in the effort from this class when I feel like I will be getting something out of it!
As for IMC, after discussing our jeans project I am a bit more inspired to put together a more creative and innovative plan for my brand. Since my target market (teen girls in suburbs and cities) is fairly specific, I think the work comes in creating a cohesive message that can hit them through advertising, new media, etc. while being completely different from what they have seen before.
Also, this class has gotten me thinking about the IMC plan we kind of have for AV Solutions, Toshiba’s sister company. If I were to fill out the outline of IMC, there would be some large chunks missing for AV Solutions especially PR since the only PR I really ever work on is a New Hires or New Product press release.
On another note, I sent out an email to the class yesterday with this article: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/03/new.york.jobless.graduate/index.html
It is about a girl from the Bronx that is suing her college because she has yet to find a job after 3 months after graduating. I’ve been following the story some to see how the college handles is (speaking of PR) and in this case, I think both the graduate and the college are coming off looking less than impressive. I was interested in seeing what my classmates thought and it seems we for the most part agree that a girl with a 2.7 and “good attendance” is not positioning herself in a way that would make someone want to interview her, especially after she’s suing her college for something you can’t expect them to do in 3 months.

Looking Forward to Week 2!

My heartfelt thanks and appreciation for your candid reflections of the past week. I cannot apologize enough for the challenges with getting you all on board -- for which I take total responsibility -- but I am glad that you are arrived and well!



I have a couple announcements to share with you this week. I enjoy your reactions to new information and hope that you continue to share your opinions and to ask questions. Always keep in mind that your feedback is important. It reflects your investment in your success. It also helps us maintain our commitment to excellence. Your input contributes significantly to our continuous improvement.



And how about this beautiful weather??!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHTPdbpogRE

IMC Introduction

IMC is somewhat of an ambiguous term, as it seems to have several meanings. However, one definition is the planning and ability to deliver a consistent message to the target audience. Positioning is important as it establishes a link between the brand and the need in the minds of the consumer. Two kinds of communications are promotions, which are short term tactical messages that attempt to generate consumer action, and advertising, which are strategic messages that are meant to build brand awareness and positive brand attitude. Corporate image, reputation, and identity are key elements that should produce a positive set of beliefs in the consumers mind about you or your brand. The corporate story should contain elements of relevance, responsiveness, be realistic, sustainable, and can serve as a foundational tool for consistent message communication. When developing an IMC plan, consideration should be given to the many stakeholders that have a vested interest in your product or service. IMC drives the meaning of the brand, ensures control over the brand, sustains the brand, and is ultimately the voice of the brand.

Identity, Image & Reputation

It became apparent to me that every corporation has a corporate story, an identity in which the corporation would like to be portrayed to their stakeholders. And this list of stakeholders, as we’ve learned, goes on and on. From customers, to employees, to suppliers and investors, the stakeholders must deem your corporation with an identity, image and reputation. This stands true right down to the core of a company or individual.

In the realm of integrated marketing communications, a company’s identity, image and reputation all combine to form the bases of who and what a company stands for. Without a strong identity, image or reputation, the act of building brand awareness would be difficult. And consequently, the entire process of designing an integrated marketing communications plan would be rather difficult.

This is why I believe that understanding “who” you are, weather on a corporate level or down to an individual level, is the most important step in any marketing plan, integrated of not. And that understanding the difference among identity, image and reputation, will help in the overall understanding of “who” you are.

Of course we all know “who” we want to be and “how” we want others to perceive us; however, there is a great difference in “who” we want to identify ourselves as, and “how” we are perceived. This is identity versus image. Corporations attempt to achieve a consistent identity from top to bottom. Through consistency in identity it is a much easier task to achieve consistency in image.

I bring up the factor of individual identity and image as the perception of a company often goes right to the core of employee interactions with individual customers. If this individual identity awareness did not exist among the employee it would be difficult to present an image of a corporation with consistency to what the corporation proclaimed to be.

Perhaps it is this strong correlation to success stemming from consistent identity, image and reputation that leads companies into well developed training and development programs. When we look deeply into brand awareness, it is often the heart and soul of the employees within a corporation that we see.

Planning is the IMC Mantra

Our first IMC session was a memorable one. Immediately past the "getting to know you" warm up activities expected with each new course, we jumped right into a lively and passionate exchange about the fundamentals of Integrated Marketing Communications. It soon became clear that the messages and communications delivered to each stakeholder, employee, distribution channel, existing and future customer, literally every possible recipient, needed to be carefully thought out and planned for consistency. And as Percy emphasizes, marketing communication opportunities come from identifying important touchpoints for how and when consumers make brand decisions.

One of the most amusing recent "all too real life" examples of a missed communications opportunity which snowballed into a customer satisfaction issue then through viral explosion further damaged an already jaded company reputation can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOozo. Watch and learn how important every customer communication can be!

What is IMC?

Week one of IMC was great! I am excited and relieved at the same time to know that things are finally coming together - the light at the end of the tunnel. Since the beginning of this program classes have seemed a bit fragmented and inconsistent, but after Susan’s introduction to IMC we seem to have a frame work to tie some things together.

What is IMC? Larry Percy clearly defines IMC, in our text Strategic Integrated Marketing Communications (pg.5), as “…the planning and execution of all types of advertising-like and promotion-like messages selected for a brand, service, or company, in order to meet a common set of communication objectives, or more particularly, to support a single ‘positioning’.” What I took away from our class time and reading last week was… the key to mastering IMC is planning! When you consider that “…consumers seem to see almost every form of marketing communication as advertising,” we as IMC marketers need to make sure that “…we are strategically controlling or influencing all messages sent” (Percy 2008). Furthermore, we need to “… [look] at the whole marketing process from the viewpoint of the customer” before we can develop an effective IMC plan (Percy 2008). “A strategic understanding of IMC must be based upon a rigorous planning process that will identify appropriate target audiences, develop marketing communication that will accomplish those objectives in a consistent way, and find the best ways of delivering the message” (Percy 2008). And that’s what IMC is all about!

So…I’m ready for IMC and 4 more weeks of a great class!

Thoughts after week 1

I too am impressed with our professor's enthusiasm, and I am confident that I will get a lot out of this class. I took an IMC class in undergrad and it was my favorite class. We (myself and another classmate) put together a marketing plan for a restaurant that we created. At the end we presented it to the class and our professor wanted to work there! I have no doubt I will enjoy this class just as much as that one.

Andy, I am very sorry to hear about your recent setback at your new job. I hope that things start to look up for you soon either there or at another company.

One thing I took away from the last class was the idea to think how you can target each individual group you are trying to grab the attention of. It really put my jeans project into better perspective. I know the type of people I want to go after, but they are not all the same. It will be easier for me to do what Apple did with iPod, and figure out which group I want to target first, and go from there rather than trying to target everyone at once.

I came across this image that I thought was amusing/relevant. The idea behind it is that the key to IMC is researching to find the right idea/concept, then determining the appropriate mix of Traditional and Social Media to go along with that idea and then figuring out the weight of each medium to get the Right 3--right people, right places, at the right times. I found it here. It's a pretty neat marketing blog with an interesting premise.

Well cohort, that's all I got for now. I will see you on Thursday. By the way, this is my first time on a blog. Not bad for my first official post, eh? :)

Marketing Corporations and Yourself-Reflection 1

First of all, “two thumbs up to our professor for having a love for Nascar and having an actual link to learn more about the misunderstood pastime J. I was sad to see that the race was postponed due to rain, which was not just in Rochester on Sunday.

On a serious note (not to say Nascar is not serious), I am looking forward to the next four weeks due (which I have to agree with Andrew) to the enthusiasm that our professor has for IMC.

Upon the closing of our first class, I found myself contemplating whether I have all required for the advertising portion of our Jeans Unlimited Thesis. If anything is to be missing, I am certain it will be clarified by the end of our module; not only for myself but for all.

I believe it was fair to comment in class that if the Integrated Marketing Communications course was taught either as the first or second class, it would of given the students an outline as to what is required in defining the backbone of a marketing plan

The below link provided the concurrence of such conclusion which was a Blog posting titled “A Word About Integrated Marketing Communication” dated May 23, 2009 by Vortex Integrated Marketing out of Salt Lake City (http://blog.vortexplan.com/, 2009). Vortex specifically, pointed out that one of the key responsibilities of a CEO is to recognize that IMC needs to be the brains of the operation by outlining the goals and objectives of a corporation.

“Integrated Marketing Communications is a comprehensive, consistent, goal oriented, focused and planned methodology to marketing and communication” (http://blog.vortexplan.com/, 2009). Percy outlines perfectly what Vortex mentioned in the sentence above by way of Figure 1.4 on page 26 of his text; a strategic process to aligning IMC with the corporate objections of a business. To identify, determine and establish the advertising well-being of a business’ marketing plan is nothing new for both Vortex and Percy.

Lastly, whether it is the stakeholders of Mayor Bob Duffy, Victoria’s Secret, Nascar or our own companies, all involved will need to embrace IMC and all it has to offer.

I wonder, if we as individuals treat ourselves as a corporation and create our own IMC plan to marketing ourselves, how well will prospective or current employers respond to what we have to offer? I wish Andrew well in moving forward to dealing with his own situation, as well as good luck to others in our class who are looking for new employment.