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Are the walls between our personal and professional lives crumbling?

February 8, 2008

When I was growing up, my dad set the standard for how a business person behaved. He went to work every day, did his thing and came home. He would, on occasion, bring some work (read — paper) home with him. I’m sure my dad made friends at the office but I didn’t know or hear about them.

My parents socialized (bridge, cocktail parties, etc.) with the neighbor couples.

They’d occasionally have to go to a dinner or host some work people at our house. But those were rare occasions. For the most part, his two worlds were pretty separate.

Today, I look at my two worlds (work and personal) and the line is awfully blurry. Sometimes I wonder if that’s a good thing. Just in the last couple of weeks…

I’ve twittered (to my professional network) about my daughter’s incredible performance in her one act play
I read on Facebook that one of my employees didn’t crawl out of bed until 4:30 pm
I’ve posted family photos on my Flickr account
I’ve gotten a ticket (the game Parking Wars) on Facebook from a Microsoft exec
My marketing/branding blog has promoted a purely social event in NYC
I’ve had lunch with a client and we mostly talked about our kids
I sent a condolence message to a marketing colleague when I read her Twitter that she’d lost their family pet
In rapid succession, I joined a branding group and our church’s group on Facebook
A blog reader sent me a link to view his video chronicles of his personal journey with weight loss
I have pet work colleague’s (fluff) friends on Facebook (not as bad as it sounds)

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Are you experiencing the same thing? Online or offline, are your lines getting equally blurred?

What do you think about this phenomenon? Do you think this merging of our lives has something to do with the fact that the old work day of 9-5 is also a thing of the past?

What’s the upside? Downside?

Stopwatch Marketing should be on your nightstand

February 6, 2008

Isn’t that where we all keep the book we’re going to read next?

I think Stopwatch Marketing is the book you should read next.

Here’s my formula for the ideal business book.

Tell me something I either don’t know or twist something I do know, so I get it in a new way
Tell me stories with lots of detail (case studies) to make your theories come alive
Make sure those stories cover a range of industries so I can see myself/our clients in some of them
Teach me how to apply your theory/ideas so I can really use them

Stopwatch Marketing nails every one of my criteria and then some.

The gist of the book is that customers all operate on their own internal stopwatch. But each person’s stopwatch is moving at a different speed. They may all be shopping for the same product (let’s say a bottle of wine) but how they shop for that wine is based on their own motivations/situation.

Someone grabbing a bottle of wine before a party is a very different shopper from the person who is trying to pick out the perfect bottle for a first date.

The trick is, of course, how do you recognize and capitalize on these different kinds of shoppers?

John Rosen and AnnaMaria Turano make their readers a promise on page 6 of their book. They say:

"The promise of the book you hold in your hand is that it will show how to analyze, evaluate, and exploit the time that represents every shopper’s most important resource…to understand how to measure the length of time your customer will spend searching for your product or service…and how to make absolutely certain that your product or service is close to the front of your customer’s queue: that lineup of shopping options that gets longer for consumers every year."

The authors identify four different types of shopping personas:

Impatient (pressed for time)
Reluctant (only purchase when they have to)
Painstaking (researches as long as necessary to select the best)
Recreational (slow and leisurely)

This chart illustrates the four shopping styles and the types of products that often fall into each category. Part of the message is that a person is not always the same kind of shopper.

I might happily spend an hour in Barnes & Noble, browsing and enjoying the atmosphere (recreational shopper) but when I’m in Target….I want to get in and out as quickly as I can. (impatient shopper) unless of course, I am shopping for a new digital camera (painstaking).

The book goes on to illustrate how both product and service driven companies have used the insights of the shopping styles to better understand their consumers and how to target them with the right message, at the right time.

But….what most business books lack is that next step. Teach us how to actually use this stuff. Not Stopwatch Marketing. The entire second half of the book is devoted to doing just that. There are sample focus group questions, needs gap examples, customer survey samples, web analytics information, budget building suggestions and much more.

There’s lots of meat on this bone whether you’re an experienced marketer, a consultant or a business owner. Get it on your nightstand soon.

Buy the book
Check out the authors’ blog

Should you lower prices during a recession?

February 4, 2008

Remembering that perception is reality, we’re headed towards a recession. Whether we are or not. Consumers believe it’s coming…so they will behave accordingly.

So we need to be ready to anticipate how this is going to alter their reaction/response to our marketing messages. And, if they’re right, we need to be mindful of our own budgets as well.

Last week, The New York Times ran a story about how many retailers are pushing the "lower prices" message to capitalize on consumers’ fear. The article documents several companies including the much written about Starbucks $1 cup of coffee.

Is this a good strategy?

Maybe. It depends on your brand position.

Are you the product or service that’s all about being cheap? Are you ready to live with that new brand position far beyond the recession?

A low price strategy is one that’s easy to slip on and incredibly difficult to shrug off, once the economy turns around. Consumers tend to really wrap their arms around a low price position and they aren’t likely to be happy about going back to paying full price.

If your brand is not about price — adopting a low price strategy is probably going to damage the work you’ve already done. And that doesn’t only apply to luxury or high end brands.

As money gets tighter, consumers will want to be confident in the companies they do business with. Brand trust will become even more important, the tighter people are with their cash.

A recession is the time to be even more diligent about protecting your brand by staying consistent. If you weren’t a bargain basement brand a year ago, you should think long and hard before becoming one today.

The real SuperBowl competition

February 3, 2008

We ~~already know~~ thought we knew who was going to win the football game, so we might as well turn our attention to the real competition — which TV spot will win the hearts and buzz of the viewers?

Firebrand has declared Monday, February 4th as "Firebrand Monday" where they will celebrate the mother load of creative TV spots shown on the SuperBowl.

On Monday morning, Firebrand.com will have only the best of the previous day’s commercials ready for download, allowing viewers to share and rate them all, and to decide for themselves which spot wins the coveted “Firebrand Water Cooler” trophy.

On their Monday evening TV show (find out where it’s showing in your area) , the hour will be dedicated to major ads from the Super Bowl, featuring Celebrity CJs such as Reebok’s "Office Linebacker" Terry Tate and Carmen Electra, who makes her Super Bowl debut in an ad for Hershey’s "Ice Breakers."

If you love ads — you’ll enjoy Firebrand’s show. Not just on the Monday after the SuperBowl, but every week.

You can view all the ads online as well.

Who came first – The Mac Guy or the Mac User?

February 2, 2008

That Mac Guy in the Apple ads is pretty confident. He knows the Mac is a superior machine and so he can afford to be nice to the poor PC, who can’t really help being inferior. Afterall, it’s not that he isn’t a nice guy, but it’s just that he’s not Mac.

That’s the basic theme of the Apple spots, featuring the Mac Guy. Here’s a great example of how Apple has positioned the product and personality of their products.

They’re funny, memorable and different. They’re also very spot on, when you think about your favorite Mac user. Most Mac users I know (myself included) feel a little cocky about the fact that they’ve discovered (in their opinion) the superior computer.

In fact according to a recent article on AdAge.com, Mindset Media did a study and found that the ad’s personifications of Mac users was dead on. Their research "mind-set profile" — a psychographic ranking system that scores respondents on 20 different elements of personality — found Mac users to be more assured of their superiority, less modest and more open than the general population. (The article goes into more depth on the study…a good read)

On the flip side, the one and only area where PC users did stand out as statistically different was in creativity — low creativity, that is. Mindset Media found they tend to be realists who are emotionally steady and work well with what they’re given. (Sorry, PC readers, I just really could not resist. I know lots of you are very creative….despite what the study said!)

But here’s the marketing question. Which came first? Has the Mac Guy influenced and shaped the Mac Users’ attitude? Or does Apple have a remarkable handle on their customers and was able to create Mac Guy as a compilation of all their Mac Users?

Marketing question #2 — what do you think the impact is, from the Apple brand perspective, of this alignment long term?

Top Experts Share Their Marketing Secrets

February 1, 2008

Would you like to know Seth Godin’s secret? Or how about Jackie Huba’s or Scott Ginsberg’s?

Have you ever wondered what Michael Port’s secret is? Or even that crafty devil, Drew McLellan?

Well, Anita Campbell, editor of Small Business Trends asked us. (And many other marketing experts like Toby Bloomberg and John Jantsch) And boy did people share. There’s something there for just about anyone and everyone.

Some of them will have you nodding and others will have you kicking yourself in the pants! Either way, well worth the time spent.

Read all the secrets.…and then come back here and share yours.

Blogger social or bust?

February 1, 2008

Have you heard? We’re throwing a party.

You coming? No matter where you are….hold up a sign and hitchhike if you have to. But NYC is where you want to be April 4th – 6th.

Two weeks from today, the attendee list closes. You’ve got to register and pay no later than 02/15. New York City. Over 50 marketing bloggers. And about 225 hours of fun packed into less than 48.

This is going to be a weekend you will remember for the rest of your life. We promise.

M&M capitalizes on a myth

January 31, 2008

We’ve talked quite a bit about how consumers own our brand. It lives in their minds and hearts. But we can have great influence in terms of how our brand is received and perceived.

But sometimes, people do crazy, unexpected things with your brand. Take M&M’s for instance. We’ve all known about the powers of the green M&Ms for years. Pretty darn sure the folks at The Mars Company didn’t start that myth.

But, now they’ve demonstrated that they’re smart enough to take advantage of it. As I was perusing the Valentine’s Day row (have to get ready for Who Loves Ya Baby Day) in Walgreens, look what I found.

I’ll bet they sell a ton of these packages and good for them. Think about what they did:

They embraced the brand…from the consumer’s point of view.
They showed a sense of humor and playfulness (always been a part of their brand).
They took an old product and gave it new life for very little cost.
They extended their possibilities for the Valentine’s Day holiday. Some will buy the pink and red M&Ms but others will love these green only packages.
They created a buzz worthy moment for themselves
They created a seasonal product that people will watch for again next year

Bravo M&M/Mars for recognizing that you can’t rein in your brand and sometimes, you just have to go with the flow. In this case, brilliantly!

What is creativity?

January 30, 2008

Finger painting, anyone? What does that cloud look like to you? How do you make a can opener look cool?

Creativity is one of those words that conjures up something different in each of our heads.

Which is exactly why I know that Chris Wilson’s contest is something that everyone can play!

It’s easy to enter and would be cool to win. Here’s the short version.

Take a photo showing what creativity means to you.That’s it!
Upload it to your Flickr account. (Open an account if you don’t already have one. It’s free!)
Join the Flickr the Fresh Peel: Creativity Contest group.
Send your creativity photo to the Fresh Peel: Creativity group.
Tell your friends to vote for you when the time comes!
You only have until February 6th to enter. So hurry up!

What’s in it for you, besides the camaraderie of playing and the thrill of victory? Well, two lucky players will win MetaMeme’s ThinkCubes.

Check out Chris’ site Fresh Peel, the contest announcement and all the details.

Does going green + Boomers mean you’re in the green?

January 28, 2008

Green, green, green. Everywhere you look. You’ve got green in all the candidate’s speeches, Al won the Nobel Prize and hybrids are flying out of dealerships.

Should you be pushing the green aspects of your products or services (assuming there are some)?

Several studies released in the last month or so suggest that it might be in your bottom line’s best interest. According to a USA Today story, a study done by Deloitte suggests that 1 in 5 consumers planned on buying more earth friendly items this holiday season.

At 79 million, the Boomers rule the buying word. AARP also recently released data on this topic. According to their research, over half (40 million) Boomers consider themselves green.

Of course — time will tell. People saying that they’re green and behaving with their wallet are two very different things. I am sure both Deloitte and AARP did a very thorough and professional job on their research. But the cynic in me also thinks that when asked by a researcher — do you recycle or are you more likely to buy a product because it is environmentally friendly — most people would be embarrassed to admit they are lazy consumers who are willing to contribute to the decline of the Earth rather than toss their cans in the recycle container. I mean really — which answer would you feel better about giving?

Treehugger.com suggests that 2008 is the year where green is the new everything. On the flip side, Joel Makower (author of The Green Consumer) points out that 16 years after the publication of his book — we still do not have a significant number of green products that are mass produced.

What do you think? Will this be a competitive advantage for the companies that can capture this wave? Have you considered adding or spotlighting a green aspect of your offerings?

Or, as a consumer — where do you stand on this issue?

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