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SWAT Summit offers YOU a discount!

July 2, 2008

Get the inside scoop on advertising and marketing on social networks on July 17th in lovely San Francisco.

Social networks are transforming the way brands and consumers interact. Leading brands and agencies are embracing their potential — are you?

SWAT Summit looks at how agencies and brands can harness the power of social networks. This conference is for anyone who wants to be a leader in the next generation of marketing and advertising — and for the publishers, developers, and ad networks who will work with them hand in hand.

SWAT Summit is an exclusive gathering place for 200 key influencers and decision makers such as Brand Managers, Media Planners, Media Buyers, Marketing Directors, and individuals at the Director, VP, and C-Level.

Limited spots are also available for: Press, VCs, Analysts, and Academics.

Check out their speakers, or go ahead and register.  Marketing Minute readers are being offered a $100 discount on the event.  Use discount code:  drewmm

You have six months left

July 1, 2008

It’s July 1st. 

Officially, you have burned the first half of ’08.  Maybe it’s time to dust off your marketing plan (you do have one, don’t you?) and see how you’re doing.

• What’s working better than you expected?
• What’s not performing and needs a tweak?
• What have you neglected and need to tend to?
• What haven’t you started that you meant to get going?

You’ve got six months left in the year.  What one thing could you do/fix/start/stop that would have the most impact on your business?

Could you get started on it today? 

Oodles of insight

June 30, 2008

Looking for some reading that will make you pause and go "hmmmm?"  I’ve discovered a treasure trove. 

1)  Check out a spot that Chris Brogan pointed me to —  Manifesto archives.  They’ve got articles on marketing, ROI, escaping corporate America, the upside of a downturn and much more.

This is all part of a non-profit called Change This.  Their goal — to change the way ideas are spread.  Interesting premise…and some great thinking.

They also have a blog where they founders and participants talk about why Change This is so important.

2) Char Polanosky over at Essential Keystrokes is celebrating her blog’s 2nd anniversary.  If you aren’t familiar with Char’s blog — it’s an excellent read.  She covers a wide array of topics from web design to blogging to new media and more.

To celebrate her anniversary, Char is giving away some of her favorite web-based tools, including:

• 6 months free subscription to 37 Signals Highrise – the contact management system with a kick – valued at $300.
• 1 full year of Freshbooks (Shuttle Bus package) to streamline your invoicing process – valued at $168.
• 5 one-year Pro subscriptions to pMetrics – the ultimate blogger’s stats package – valued at $59.99 each.
• Wiley Publishing has offered 5 copies of Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett’sProblogger: Secrets to Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income. It is the absolute must read book this year!

So get over there, get comfy with her blog and win yourself a prize or three!

3) Lewis Green of bizsolutionsplus finds his summertime Fridays a bit of a dead zone.  But leave it to Lewis to come up with a long list of useful ways to fill that time.

Here’s a few of his thoughts:

• Recommend client’s move forward in new ways.
• Send out a new thought paper.
• Read other’s work.
• Recommend other’s work.

Check out his post to get the whole list and add a few of your own!

Whew!  My brain hurts just writing about all that thought leadership.  Go slow so you don’t get a brain freeze…but don’t miss these great resources.

Study on the internet and consumer behavior

June 30, 2008

The good folks from Fleishmann-Hillard sent me some information about their European offices’ recent work on understanding how the Internet affects consumer behavior in Europe.

Key findings:

• The Internet beat TV two to one on influence, and eight to one over print.
• People ask other people for personal purchase advice, but for airline tickets and bigger ticket items, they prefer the corporate sites.
• Only 28% of people trust the information they read online, and yet 66% say the web helps them make better decisions. Sounds like they use the web to get information but want someone in their life to verify the decision.
• Different countries use the web differently: Germany uses more search; the UK has more social networking interest and the French, more digital communications with web cameras and instant messaging.

The full report on the research is free to download here.

The Dream Team — Age of Conversation ’08 authors

June 29, 2008

When Gavin and I announced that we were going to create a 2nd Age of Conversation book and were looking for authors — we had plenty of takers.  275 to be exact.  Now, several months later, the submissions are in and we’re knee deep in editing.

It’s funny how life can interfere with our plans.  We had several authors who had to take a pass due to family, work or other obligations/situations.  When the dust settled and all the chapters were turned in, we had 237 authors left standing.  Here they are:

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

Quite an impressive list.  And you’re going to love the insights and stories they had to share.

For the next month or so, we’ll be editing and working through design/layout issues.  And before you know it, Age of Conversation ’08 will be ready for promotion and purchase.

Thanks to everyone who is participating and remember….it’s all about raising money for charity.

Stay tuned!

Perfect is the enemy of good (Jay Heyman)

June 27, 2008

Drew’s Note:  As I try to do every Friday, I’m pleased to bring you a guest post from yet another interesting thought leader who shares his insights via the blogosphere. Without further ado, meet Jay Heyman.  Enjoy!

Good times and bum times, the one thing we all need to do to is find a way to stand out from our competition. You know, the 740 other people you can uncover in the Yellow Pages or with a Google search that do exactly what you do.

Well, don’t tell your competition, but I am suggesting to you that the most important part of your marketing is the idea.

Yes, I know that the creative portion is just part of the total marketing mix. You have all the other traditional elements of marketing to consider, such as pricing, research, media selection and channels of distribution.

Pick the wrong price point? Painful!

Misinterpret your research? Ouch!

But if you fail to make your marketing conspicuous, get it wrong or get it bland — you will suffer the death of a thousand silent cash registers. However if you use the power of a good idea to get attention, you will build market share, get publicity, appear larger than you really are and make your competition nervous…while actually having fun.

A GOOD IDEA

A good idea sounds fresh and new and presents itself in an arresting manner. It will slow down the audience, grab attention, and invite further inspection of your message. An unexpected splash of color, the precise word in a headline, a stopper of an illustration, a twist on your usual message, a new target, a different execution – anything can help create a good idea. The Coke spot with two Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade balloons trying to capture the bottle, and Charlie Brown emerging the surprise winner is one very random example of a good idea. But good ideas don’t rely on big budgets. A local landscaping company that uses the name, "Holly, Wood and Vine" is a good idea.

GO FOR THE GOOD

The good news is that you don’t need to find a "great" marketing idea. And actually there are lots of reasons not to try to develop one. While you are waiting for the "world’s greatest " idea you will find yourself conscientiously discarding all the ideas you create, judging them as not being good enough, or a little trite, or not quite clever enough. You will never satisfy yourself sufficiently to actually use one of them.

Keep prodding, tweaking, and tampering with something good, trying to turn it into something perfect, and you will not just miss a lot of important deadlines. It is possible you might never get there at all, in effect turning a good idea into no idea.

Good ideas, with words and ideas that are fresh and unexpected will jump off the page, the TV set, the computer and do handsprings, whistle off-key, anything it takes to grab attention and shout, "Look at me. Look at me!"

And that’s close enough to perfect for anybody.

Jay H. Heyman is co-founder and creative director of Porte Advertising, a sixteen-year old ad agency in Manhattan. His latest book is All You Need Is A Good Idea! (How To Create Marketing Messages That Actually Get Results). It is available online, at your favorite bookstore, or through his blog, which he invites you to visit often, so he can test his stat counter.

Every Friday is "grab the mic" day.  Want to grab the mic and be a guest blogger on Drew’s Marketing Minute?  Shoot me an e-mail.

Want a beer with your Wall Street Journal?

June 26, 2008

Two very nice things happened over the past couple weeks.  This blog was named by the Wall Street Journal as one of the 15 Entrepreneur Blogs Worth reading. 

Then….as if that wasn’t cool enough, a blogger I have just discovered, Mark Nagurski from Really Practical Marketing wrote about a Marketing Minute post on his blog.  He said, in part, "The more I read from Drew McLellan the more I want to buy him a beer…"

So of course, I commented on his blog, saying that I was printing off his post and if we were ever in the same place (he’s in Ireland) I was totally calling him on the beer offer.  Come on…the man said free beer.

Mark goes one better and finds YouGotBeer.com.  He was literally able to buy me a beer over the internet.  I got an e-mail notice that he had bought me a beer.  I go to the site and choose which restaurant (and there are several) I’d like to get my beer from and voila, they send me a gift card!

Being mentioned in the Wall Street Journal AND a free beer.  It doesn’t get much better!

The other blogs mentioned in the WSJ article are:

The Eco-Capitalist
Get Elastic
Seth Godin
Guy Kawasaki
Lifestream
Malcolm Gladwell
WorkHappy.net
Small Biz Trends
Duct Tape Marketing
Drew’s Marketing Minute
Holly Dunlap
Justine Ezarik
Honest Tea
Craig Newmark
Mark Cuban

Is your brand an accident waiting to happen?

June 25, 2008

David Vinjamuri released a book this spring called Accidental Branding:  How Ordinary People Build Extraordinary Brands and it’s built to inspire.

The book tells the story of seven average people who developed successful brands despite their lack of formal marketing training. 

Instead, they built their brand from their heart and their gut. 

As a comment from the book jacket (from Gareth Kay) points out, one of the things that makes this book so interesting is that the companies profiled are not the same Nike, Apple, Virgin and Whole Foods that we read about every day.

Vinjamuri spotlights:

• The Storyteller: John Peterman (J. Peterman)
• The Contrarian: Craig Newmark (craigslist)
• The Tinkerer: Gary Erickson (Clif Bar)
• The Visionary and the Strategist: Myriam Zaoui and Eric Malka (The Art of Shaving)
• The Pugilist: Gert Boyle (Columbia Sportswear)
• The Perfectionist: Julie Aigner-Clark (Baby Einstein)
• The Anarchist: Roxanne Quimby (Burt’s Bees)

Each brand’s story is very different and gives readers a rock solid reminder that anyone and everyone has what it takes to build a killer brand.

I think the stories also serve as a reminder that you cannot fake branding long-term.  What made these businesses extraordinary is how authentic each business owner was in terms of defining and protecting their vision.

Bottom line — they believed in it.  And eventually, so did we.

Like any good professor, Vinjamuri sums up the lessons and packages them into six rules:

1. Do sweat the small stuff
2. Pick a fight
3. Be your own customer
4. Be unnaturally persistent
5. Build a myth
6. Be faithful

This is a fun read.  Vinjamuri is an excellent storyteller and each story has a lesson or three for each of us. 

Try a whisper

June 23, 2008

Our world is chaos 24/7. 

Noise, noise and more noise.  We have clutter in our mailboxes, in our ears, and in our in baskets.  We’re exposed to over 4,000 marketing messages a day and it seems like every one of them is shouting at us – waving their arms frantically to get us to notice. 

I wonder if there might not be a better way?

We’ve all see the power of walking into a room of screaming children and beginning to whisper.  Pretty soon, the kids are quieting down, afraid they’re going to miss something.  Soon, they are straining to hear.  We do the same thing as adults.  We have grown so accustomed to being bombarded with noise that we are drawn to the softness of a whisper. 

This is a principle that we can apply to our marketing efforts.  The initial goal is to get our audience’s attention, right?  Well what if we did that by speaking softly?  By not having our headline at 42 point type.  By not having our radio announcer talk as loud and as fast as he can.  Or by using white space to make our website feel inviting and calm? 

Here’s how the thought process works.

We have a lot of important things to say.  Features, benefits.  And we figure, we’d better take full advantage if we can get someone’s attention.  Never know when we might have it again.  So, let’s shove every bit of information into every postcard, e-mail, banner ad or press release. 

What if instead of talking over ourselves with multiple messages and creating so much noise that it turns into static, we self-filtered? 

What’s the one thing you need them to know?  A URL?  A date?  A change in tax law?  Focus on a single message.  Then tell them.  But do it softly. 

Does the idea of a weak economy scare you? It shouldn’t! (J. Munk)

June 20, 2008

Drew’s Note:  As I try to do every Friday, I’m pleased to bring you a guest post from yet another interesting thought leader who shares his insights via the blogosphere. Enjoy!

Does the idea of a weak economy scare you? It shouldn’t

We’ve been hearing it now for months: The economy is weak. The Dollar is weak. Business is suffering. It’s all very apocalyptic, and for marketers, you might think it’s a scary time. After all, you have revenue to bring in and customers to keep coming back.

But here’s why a struggling economy should excite rather than scare you:

1.  Customers are shopping around more than ever. When people are more price-sensitive, they compare costs and levels of service between companies more often, which means customers that may previously been out of reach to you might be looking your way now. It’s a great time to acquire new customers.

2. The weak economy will weed out the weak companies. This is survival of the fittest! If you’re a strong company, it’s time to rejoice, because soon you’ll have less competition to worry about and more customers to gain. If you’re currently weaker than you want to be, now is a great time to begin making the changes you’ve been putting off to become a great company.

3. Customers are looking for companies to trust. Show you care about and are there for your customers in difficult times, and go out of your way to make sure their experiences are great.  Do it well and they will be loyal to you for years to come. Now is the time to invest in your customers with solid CRM marketing.

4. Every change is an opportunity. This change happens to include challenges that can be easily foreseen, which is, in fact, great news for marketers. Now you can look at your organization holistically and understand more precisely how your actions might affect your business. What’s more, since the struggle is universal, you can glean great insights from everyone else who is working to deal with the situation.

There’s no denying that a struggling economy is difficult on everyone, but with that comes great marketing opportunities that can help you grow your customer base, increase the lifetime value of existing customers and stand out from competitors like never before. Take advantage of it!

Jonathan Munk owns a Lamborghini. Billionaire. Small business marketing expert. One of these describes Jonathan Munk (hint: it’s the last one). Jonathan has spent his career helping companies understand the importance of marketing and helping them solve problems related to their marketing efforts.  He invites you to subscribe to his blog Manizesto.

Every Friday is "grab the mic" day.  Want to grab the mic and be a guest blogger on Drew’s Marketing Minute?  Shoot me an e-mail.

Flickr photo courtesy of Donna Grayson.