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Posts from the Advertising in 2012 Category

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shutterstock_69901633Even the medical field is catching on.  2013 will bring amazing new innovations at private practices and hospitals designed to minimize wait times and provide additional convenience for patients.  They’re smart; they recognize change is an important part of creating a memorable customer experience.

A significant cultural shift is transforming the service landscape – consumers’ need for instant communication is growing daily.  Complete customer satisfaction now means, “I want the best solution at a reasonable price from people who care about me.  I want the finest service AND I want it now.”

What can you do to keep up with these new expectations?  Here are a few tips:

  • Answer your phone quickly, with a smile and ready to be of service.
  • Return voicemails, the same day they’re received.
  • Reply to emails and web contact submissions, the same day they’re received.
  • Monitor your social media; respond to requests the same day.
  • Be on time, every time.
  • Make it easy to quickly access your products or services.
  • Lastly, and most importantly, develop new systems to make it more convenient for your customers to do business with you.

For most people, time is money.

Show them you value their time.  Now.

In 2009, Andy Rooney, one of my favorite curmudgeons (may he Rest In Peace), did an air travel bit on 60 Minutes.  I always enjoyed his segments and as I flew home this holiday, I remembered this one with a smile.  He was, of course, sarcastic and at times cynical, but his overall point was right on.

Rooney said the airlines had a lot going for them.  He said “all people like to travel because they want to be anywhere but here.”  He went on to suggest that “getting there ought to be fun.”

I agree.  It’s like everything else we know in the business/advertising world; the experience is what keeps our customers coming back for more.

Cheers to U.S. Air for listening to their focus groups.  They’ve made me a loyalist and I honestly enjoy the vast majority of my coast-to-coast flights with them. Here’s why:

  • We all value our time.  How about flying out of your hometown (thanks to the William M. Thomas terminal), making one stop in Phoenix and 7 hours after initial departure landing somewhere close to the Atlantic?
  • There are still some great host/hostesses serving as flight attendants.  Most of us still enjoy the stereotypical 50’s flight attendant from a favorite vintage ad.  You know, the happy ones who welcome you with a smile like you’re a guest in their home.
  • WIFI is awesome.  That is all.
  • Dividend Miles work.  Great benefits and flexibility – refreshing.
  • We all value our time.  Wait, I already said that.  On time departures and arrivals are the new norm.  Who doesn’t like that?

Rooney’s idea applies universally.  Is your business making whatever you do or serve enjoyable?   Are you listening to what your customers like and what they could do without? (ie:  airline ‘meals’)

It’s always been about the experience.

It ought to be fun.

 

we would all get along and always play nicely when interacting with fan pages.

Here’s the problem:  just who decides in the subjective world of ‘codes of behavior’ what playing nicely means?

Let’s face it, social media has created a protocol conundrum for us all.  What’s acceptable for one may be totally offensive for another.  Views of decorum run the gamut in an online world that is cross-generational and demographically, geographically and experientially mixed.  While diversity is completely celebrated, it can also put page administrators in the occasional position of having to be the ‘manners police.’

There are some very real reasons business pages were developed and why they thrive today (aside from the revenue stream they generate for Facebook).  Both brands and fans have embraced the idea that open dialogue is mutually beneficial and enjoyable.  From the perspective of the business owner, the feedback brings them closer to the very MOST important people they know – their customers.  While it’s my experience that 98% of Facebook exchanges are positive and fitting, there is that 2% . . .

To Facebook users, and to the page administrators who find themselves in the situation of having to make a call between appropriate and inappropriate postings, here are some observations I’ve made over the past few years.

Fans can almost always expect a positive response and get the most from pages when they:

  • Share about brand experiences – good and bad.  If you’ve had a negative experience, most brands will jump on the opportunity to listen to you, learn from it, and make you happy. Remember, owners and managers will also welcome your phone call or a personal visit to make things right.
  • Ask questions. Most pages are monitored often enough to answer you quickly – even during off hours.
  • Watch pages and use them to your advantage.  Get involved with contests and watch for posts on new product arrivals and sales.
  • Tell the business if you have an idea for something you’d like to see offered.  Some of the greatest new product offerings come from customers.
  • Keep it light and positive.

There are some things most administrators will agree reflect universally poor taste:

  • An individual’s use of the Facebook Message feature to spam a business about the latest weight loss miracle product.  Highly unlikely to result in a sale.
  • The posting of your business ad/link on another’s business page wall without permission.  Think putting a political yard sign in someone’s lawn without first asking.  It’s irritating – and like the sign – will be removed.
  • Sharing one’s devotion to another business on a competitor’s wall.  Makes you wonder what type of people frequent that other business.
  • Inquiries about the cost of a displayed item ought to be handled differently on a page than at a yard sale. “how much?” (with a lower case “h”) works better at the latter.
  • Posts including foul or sexually explicit language will always be deleted.  Duh.

Think of social media as a creative, amusing experience and it will be.  As different as we all are, we can all get along.  And to the page administrators of the world – good luck with those grey areas.

Post on.

“Will email continue to play a role in the future of advertising?”

If you had asked me that question a year ago, I would have said “yes, but it’s diminishing.”   There were so many compelling reasons to think it was becoming a dinosaur in the ad world.   Major universities were dropping it, consumers were opting out of email subscriptions because of irritating overuse, Facebook messaging was becoming more popular, and IM and texting and use of other fresh methods of communication were on the rise.

I didn’t anticipate a few important trends.  Along with many other agencies, digital experts and technology bloggers I didn’t see the rapid fracture in the digital and social world coming so quickly.  While consumers now spend time on many different social media platforms, practically everyone has an email address (yahoo is the most common, go figure).  The second thing keeping email alive is the exponential growth in the use of smartphones.

More than 50% of all phones in the United States have the capability to receive and send email and 88% of Americans still check their email daily.  It’s predicted that by the end of 2012, more people will be reading emails on their smartphones than their desktops and 85% of all mobile email will be read on an Apple device. (-cdn.techi.com)

I’m happy for forward thinking email management companies like Constant Contact who have embraced the social movement rather than trying to compete with it.  The folks at CC are actually creating ways to integrate their email offerings into the social world.

While I’ve always advised my clients to create and maintain accurate customer email lists, it was more of a back-up plan in my mind rather than a solid means of connecting with their consumer in the future.

So ask me today:  “Does email have a future in advertising?”

I don’t believe it’s going away anytime soon.

Smartphones and tablets have given it new life.

” Social Meets Experimental ” is my number two pick for being the most fascinating 30 minutes of the of the conference.   When Tim  Ellis, the EVP and Global CMO at Activision, took the stage at the Pavilion, I was tempted to take coffee break.  Seemed hypocritical to spend a half an hour listening to tips on selling the virtual killing game once banned from my house because of the violence.  Happy I stayed.

Ellis, who left his mark on innovation while at VW with the early release of the Super Bowl ad turned viral, “The Force,” is now rebooting Activision’s Call of Duty.  His imagination, innovation and ability to turn negative brand feedback into positive made his one most impressive and thought-provoking presentations of the conference.

He was charged with launching Call of Duty Elite, a paid service for their gaming users.  Once early word of the service hit the web, it resulted in a summer-long viral outcry from their fans.  The brand was painfully reading every comment and blog and watching every COD-bashing video about the new Activision ‘rip off.’   While complete details of the program couldn’t be released,  Ellis took the challenge as an opportunity to experiment.  To take a risk.

Activision created a two-day immersive brand event in Los Angeles to launch the Elite program.  It was like COD heaven, complete with live gaming competitions for a $1 million prize, paintball ranges, zip lines, life-size versions of certain game maps and live musical entertainment.

Engagement gone wild.  Social madness and global media attention resulted in $20 million dollars of advertising value to Activision.  Call of Duty XP was the second-most-watched event on Live stream in history –  right after the Royal Wedding.

In a 16 day period, the new subscription service reached 1 billion dollars in sales.

“‘Can experiential media, plus social media, equal mass media?” (Ellis)

Apparently so.

This is the branded coffee cup compliments of TiVo on the first day of this week’s Advertising Age Digital Conference, 2012.

The irony made me laugh.   My peers were checking their Smart Phones as they filled their cups under the spigot of their brew of choice.  (Sidebar:  What’s the point of drinking decaffeinated coffee, really?)  Picture hundreds of agency owners, account managers, buyers, brand managers, producers and techies under the same roof at the Metropolitan Pavilion – calling it Wi-Fi overload would be an understatement.  Very little digital pausing going on.

Here are a few of the quick highlights from some of my favorite speakers/presentations:

Seth Farbman, Global CMO, The Gap: 

  • Make it easy and follow your heart when developing your brand.  Adjust but never stray from your mission.
  • Be reliable and create solutions for your customers.
  • Customer expectations are changing daily. They’re elevated and you have to meet them.

John Harrobin, VP Digital Media and Marketing, Verizon

  • There’s an algorithm that makes a human-generated text message (which performed at .2%  response) perform at 1% when computer-generated.  Copywriters of the world:  keep your egos in check.

Mark Mahaney, Managing Director, Internet Research, Citigroup Investment Research

  • I’ll tell you what his stock tips were later – I’m buying them right now.
  • In 2011, Internet usage grew 21%.  Estimates put Internet usage at 3 billion by 2016.
  • Once traditional media (print, yellow pages, direct mail) has been devalued and slowly replaced by lower cost internet options.

Cheryl Guerin, Senior Vice President and Group Head of U.S. Marketing, MasterCard

  • 50% of all phones are Smart Phones.   (This was a recurring theme throughout both days.)
  • We check our phones an average of 40 times a day.  More Americans would rather give up coffee than their phones.  I need both.
  • Mobile devices and tablet usage are expected to quintuple in the next 4 years (again, recurring theme.)
  • Get creative.  The cross-platform video on the “Yankees/Priceless” campaign showed great creativity and emotion – very well done.
  • Yes, your phone will soon be your credit card.  (Watch for the Google Wallet launch.)

Randall Brown, Global Director of Digital Strategy, Gatorade

Created and runs “Gatorade Mission Control.”  A platform for real-time social media monitoring and engagement, analytics and insights.

  • The wall between the consumer and the brand has been taken down.  It’s now two way communication.
  • Social has created a new place for the consumer to express.  Human needs, wants and behaviors haven’t changed – just a new forum.

Other bits I walked away with:

  • Mobile, Mobile, Mobile.  Phones, tablets and apps are the new king.
  • Reinforcement that information exchange is now immediate and we’re all publishers.
  • Product placement is still hot and the more creative and unexpected the better.  Midstream during a panel discussion, David Packman and Rob Norman exchanged shot-sized bottles of Tanqueray.  Very funny.
  • Look around you for unexpected creatives.  Enjoyed watching a team led by a young Cal Poly, SLO student pitch a new app concept to Anheuser-Busch. Who better to ‘tap’ than a team of college kids for new beer app ideas.  They represented California (and beer drinking college kids) well.

I’m sure everyone walked away from this conference with a little something different.  Some benefitted from the exposure and networking, others from what they learned about brands pushing the limits of advertising beyond what they had ever imagined, and some simply from two days of pure forward- thinking energy.

There are three other fascinating presentations/projects that changed the way I think and that I want to share in greater detail – stay tuned, each is a blog in itself.

Nice job, Ad Age.  The conference was well planned, organized and ran right on schedule.  Each presentation was brief (under 30 minutes) and perfect for the short attention span of the new generation (and me!)

I hope you printed this and sat outside to read it with a favorite drink.  And that you enjoyed a digital pause.

Delana and Kevin Harvick from Pinmarklet

The Great American Race starts in a few hours.

Social media will definitely factor into the experience. Twitter will be abuzz as favorites take the lead, get squeezed out, held up in pit alley or bend a fender.

What about Pinterest? The online bulletin board’s usage last year jumped from 1.6 million registered users in September to 7 million in December with more views than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn combined, according to Shareaholic. Not bad for a company started in 2010. Who’s using it and how will the sporting world take advantage of it?

According to Google Ad Planner and Ignite Social Media, 80% of Pinterest users are female and 81% of all users are between the ages of 25 and 54 with 77% earning more than $50,000 per year (the U.S. average median income). Do I hear ‘disposable income’?

The company’s mission/goal is “to connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting. We think that a favorite book, toy, or recipe can reveal a common link between two people . . . “ Eye candy and inspiration of every variety can be found as you enter key words in search or simply use the random approach of scrolling through images of all things gorgeous (and some very funny).

As would be expected, opportunistic marketers are paying attention. Pinterest encourages individuals to share their favorite things while following rules of “etiquette” (love it). It also gives businesses the opportunity to create billboards of their favorite products, people and designs to help followers discover what makes them special through images and brief captions. Visitors can “like,” “repin” (to their own page) or comment – very engaging.

Among the people you’ll find “pinned” on the site are athletes. I chose to include an image of our local boy Kevin Harvick and Delana with this blog, which came from Pinmarklet. Many sports teams are jumping on board – visit pinterest.com to find your favorite team’s page or sports hero. Hopefully, if it’s Danica Patrick, she’s fully clothed. (oops, did I say that out loud?)

If you’re new to the site, here are a few tips. Rather than “request an invite” to create a page, ask a friend who already has a Pinterest page to “invite you,” you can get started right away with your boards. And if you’re a small business, tie your Pinterest account to your Twitter or Facebook account so you can share your pins with them as well. Pinterest allows you to choose which pins you share on those feeds/timelines, so your followers don’t get sick of seeing you “pin.”

What’s the future of Pinterest? Will it continue to grow? Is it just another social media trend? My bet is on growth. First, because it’s a fun break from life’s responsibilities, it’s inspiring, can make us happy and laugh, and encourages us to enjoy the beauty that surrounds us. Second, it has strong word of mouth and last, you don’t have to create an account to enjoy the site. You can visit pinterest.com and browse (for you commitment-phobes).

This 25-54 year old female is enjoying the Pinterest moment.

And you’ll probably find me pinning while the cars circle the track at the Daytona 500 today.

Face painting, jersey wearing, team flag waving fans across the country gather today to watch the field turf competition of the year.  Not just any average sporting event; Nielson reports that 2011 Super Bowl attracted the most viewers in television history at 111 million.  2010′s showdown comes in second at 106.5 million.  Will 2012 continue the trend?

Advertisers think so and this year, watch for a brave new world of interaction from the top brands.  The ads, once kept under tight wraps until game day have been hitting YouTube over the few past weeks.  Over 11 million people have already viewed the new Honda CR-V Ferris Bueller resurrection ad.

The phenomenon of the “second screen,” which is being pushed hard, is this year’s advertising game changer.  Nielsen estimates almost 70% of smartphone and tablet users text or post on Twitter while watching TV.  Capturing these active users on what may be the most watched show in history is just plain great advertising.  There are new interactive apps from many brands and most of the ads you see today will encourage you to engage socially on Twitter or Facebook for a chance to win ‘stuff,’ be entertained by polar bear’s live reactions to plays or weigh in on the game.  Watch for the square barcodes on this year’s spots to take you to the brand’s funness.

When you spend $3.5 million dollars for a :30, smart advertisers will be doing much, much more than just airing television spots.

The lesson for locals?  Watch the ways big agencies are drawing in fans for more of an experience with a brand.  So much opportunity with new technology.

Be open to it in 2012.  Enjoy the game!

“If you’re always in a hurry, always trying to get ahead of the other guy, or someone else’s performance is what motivates you, then that person is in control of you.” Dr. Wayne Dyer

Dr. Wayne Dyer

First, I’m going to admit that I don’t do New Year’s resolutions.  I do make changes in my thinking and in my life, but rarely are they associated with the start of a new year.  So I’m just going to call this a thought provoking message to begin 2012.

The past few years have been challenging for some of my clients.   In business school they teach us to watch our competition carefully so we know why a customer may be putting that dollar in their register and not ours.  What works for them?  Are they cheaper?  Do they deliver?  Do they have better service or products?  Do they have a better location?  Are they spending more on advertising?  Are they a big chain buying at a lower price point because of volume?

Stop.

Don’t hide your head in the sand, but today, think about what Dr. Dyer has to say.  Focus less on what your competition is doing and more on what makes you and your customer happy.  What are you doing so well that they keep coming back for more?  Why are you different?  Are you doing everything you can do to make your customer’s experience as amazing as it should be?

As an agency, it’s hard for me to say this but it IS the truth.  There’s no amount of advertising you can do that can generate business if your house isn’t in order.  Advertising may get the customer in the door, but if they aren’t happy with their experience, they won’t be back and will probably tell 10 friends (or 300 on Facebook or Twitter.)

Slow down, focus on your own house, be happy with what you do well and give your staff incentives to be the best hosts/hostesses they can to each and every person who calls or walks through the door.  Get control.

Then, spend money on advertising.

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