Current Affairs Archives - Page 11 of 14 - McLellan Marketing Group

Second Life’s shelf life

January 29, 2007

I think we are in the midst of a time of chaos. Cool chaos, but chaos none-the-less.

Marketers are scrambling around, trying to get a handle on this whole social media “thing.” And we don’t want to miss anything — so we’re trying a little of everything.

Including Second Life.

Let me give you my take, by asking you a few questions.

Would you like to ask your prospects to download a special software, just so you can talk to them?
Do you want to create a persona (maybe a pirate’s wench or archaeologist) and deal with other people who have done the same?
As a consumer, do you have time to navigate a cartoon you around, trying to find other adults, let alone other business people, to engage with?
Would you trust market research done with no controls or any reassurance that the participants are being truthful (remember, they are telling you they’re a biker dude from Fresno)
Do you sell a commodity (music CDs, software downloads) or are you a huge budget (Starwood Hotels, Toyota) advertiser — if not — is this really a viable venue for your sales efforts?

If you want, go be a pirate’s wench. Have some fun. But I wouldn’t plan on making your fortune there. (Unless of course you pillage a village!)

Update: I was listening to Mike Sansone’s blogtalk radio show and one of the topics covered was Second Life.

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2007 — My turn at offering a marketing prediction

January 15, 2007

The last week of December and the early part of January are always awash with predictions. I got a nice note from David Polinchock, pointing me to the excellent series he wrote for Brand Experience Lab. Then, I found Be Excellent’s Top 10 Business Resolutions for 2007.

Both well-written and wise posts. There’s not a bad observation in the bunch.

Want to hear my prediction for 2007?

I don’t think that most businesses will actually do any of it.

I don’t believe that most businesses are brave enough to step out from the shadows of "we’ve always done it that way" to try something new.
I don’t believe that most businesses have the courage to trust their own customers and employees to grow and share the brand.
I don’t even believe that most businesses understand branding enough to take a whack at it.
Sadly, I don’t believe that most businesses will even bother to listen to the blogosphere, let alone engage in it.

Are you brave enough to prove me wrong? I sure hope so.

Flickr photo courtesy of pastelginger.

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Come out from your hiding place

January 14, 2007

I’ve read that for every person who comments on a blog there are 100+ who are reading in silence. Which is allowed. No one says you have to chime in.

But we’d sure like it if you would. As I said to Phil Gerbyshak on the phone yesterday — every conversation is more fun if someone is actually talking back.

Phil was telling me that it’s National Delurking Week. It’s the blogosphere’s way of inviting (yes, inviting) you to dip your toe in the water by posting a quick hi or giving me an idea you’d like us to explore here.

But, if you want to keep hiding — that’s cool too. I hope you won’t mind that I’m going to keep seeking by posting interesting ideas, challenging commentary and trying to entice you out.

Flickr photo courtesy of Cashaww

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Apprentice meets Survivor = Biggest Loser?

January 12, 2007

It’s fascinating.

What was this fringe thing that only the "kids" took that seriously is suddenly becoming very mainstream. We have magazines like TIME and AdAge paying homage to the citizen marketer and social media. And now, we have the NFL, Chevy and Frito-Lay asking Joe Citizen to create ads for them.

Duck…the pendulum is swinging!

How far will this new variation on reality TV/marketing go? What do you see as the upsides? The risks? Is it just another flash in the pan along this new road or are consumer generated ads the new norm?

And where is the strategic thinking underneath any of these consumer creations? Or in this new world, doesn’t that matter?

In case the NFL article goes away… Download NFLad.pdf

flickr photo courtesy of Cilest.

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Should I launch this product?

January 11, 2007

I need some advice. Let me give you the facts.

I have a new product that is going to create incredible immediate demand. No questions asked.
It is unique and it will take my competitors awhile to catch up.
I will not be able to actually deliver the product until the middle of summer ’07.
I have a name for it, but another company owns the rights to that name.

Here’s my question. Should I announce my product and launch the marketing of it this week?

My guess is that most of you will tell me no. Deal with the legal issues. Don’t create demand you cannot fulfill. And yet, Apple announced the iPhone this week and is now stuck in a quagmire with Cisco Systems suing them over the name and the actual product not being ready for months.

Maybe you’re smarter than I am and can help me figure out how in the world they talked themselves into thinking this week’s announcement was a smart strategy.

What do you think?

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AdAge jumps on the YOU bandwagon!

January 8, 2007

Following in TIME’s footsteps, AdAge announced that the winner for their annual agency of the year award is YOU. Well not quite YOU. They defined it as "The Consumer" but basically you win again!

Read more about their choice and rationale and hear from the Editor’s POV why the stories like Lonelygirl15 and the Mentos/Coke experiment swayed their decision.

In case the articles are not evergreen, here are PDF versions.

Download adagestory.pdf
Download adageeditor.pdf

But here’s what I am wondering. So what? From your perspective, is it just nice validation for those early adopters who are blogging and YouTube? Does it change the way you intend to market your business?

Should it?

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More on how companies interact with bad blog press

January 4, 2007

Isn’t it great when the planets align? If you’ve read my post, Mack’s post or Paul’s post on Kohl‘s…this is the perfect next course.

Over at brandchannel.com, they’ve posted an excellent article on how corporations/brands should/shouldn’t react when a blog slams the company and/or product.

I’ve saved it as a PDF just in case its only posted for a brief time. You can Download brandchannel.pdf here.

You can also jump into the debate on their blog. Let the evolution continue!

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Describe Kohl’s in one phrase

January 3, 2007

Paul over at Hee-Haw Marketing took some pretty damning photos at his local Kohl’s. He raises some great issues about advertising and saying one thing and living another.

Then, Mack Collier picked up the ball and posted this very interesting question: If the CMO of Kohl’s saw Paul’s post…what should he/she do?

I started to add my comment to Mack’s post and then I could hear Mike Sansone whispering in my ear “long comments should be posts on your own site.” So here we have it.

So….Kohl’s has a significant problem. There were lots of good comments on Mack’s site, suggesting what the CMO should do. I didn’t disagree with any of them.

But they all started at stage two — at the store level.

I believe the CMO needs to start at the beginning. The Kohl’s brand. That’s why I asked you how you’d describe the store. Most of us would use words like “cheap, knock offs, second runs, last year’s styles, shoddy production, disinterested employees.”

Every choice the store makes — the stock, the short-handed staff, the under trained staff, the crowded junked up retail ads…tells us that the employees who allowed that Dallas store to look like that were simply behaving as they have been taught to behave. They don’t show the store or the customers any respect because no one has taught them to respect the brand.

Punishing a store manager or answering a blog post isn’t going to fix that. That’s treating the symptom, not the cause. If an organization’s leaders are not willing to explore and uncover what their brand is all about — why they exist (and I do not believe any store exists to offer crap in a shoddy store staffed by disgruntled, short-handed staffers) then really, there is little hope. They will go down the path of K-Mart and others who thought “low prices” was enough.

If Kohl’s management could change the way they look at the chain by seeing it through a brand lens, they would change the way the employees see it. When the employees see if differently, they begin to take pride in their work and their environment. No matter how inexpensive the merchandise is. And when that happens — they change our perception.

Until then…let me recommend Target. By the way….Kohl’s tagline on their website…”expect great things.”

Yikes. They even bolded great.

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What do you suppose is up with this?

December 24, 2006

Image via CrunchBase

Amazon is trying something new.

What do you suppose they gain by creating this new interface?
Is it something you’ll use?
How would you determine the credibility of the answers you got?
How would you reassure someone of the credibility of the answers you offered?

Hmm.

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What does your shopping style say…

December 23, 2006

…about your marketing style?

Maybe nothing. But a post by Valeria Maltoni over at Conversation Agent got me thinking. Valeria’s point is that too many people buy gifts based on what they like, not the recipient.

I think most people market that way as well. They don’t carefully consider what matters to the recipient. They just talk about the stuff that matters to them. Bottom line — they talk about themselves.

That’s like me buying my daughter a men’s sweater, because the color will go great with my eyes! Why would that excite her on Christmas morning? It wouldn’t.

But, if I am genuinely curious about her, if I get to know her likes and dislikes, if I engage her in conversation and ask her opinions — then I can get her a gift that’s right for her.

Back to marketing. Same rules apply. When we actually care enough to know them, we can talk to them about what matters. To them. To their lives.

That’s respectful marketing. That’s effective marketing. That’s the kind of marketing that too few do.

Do you? (Wow…just like Dr. Seuss but without the great illustrations!)

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