Current Affairs Archives - Page 7 of 14 - McLellan Marketing Group

If you were Apple, how would you respond to iCrime news?

October 22, 2007

I was watching the local news the other day when a sound byte caught my attention. "iPods linked to crime wave." So being a man of the new millennium, I DVR’d it.

Here’s the scoop.

Violent crime in the US increased in 2005 and 2006 for the first time in 14 years. Homicides and robberies are up, while other violent crimes are down.

"At the same time that violent crime rates began to rise, America’s streets filled with millions of people visibly wearing, and being distracted by, expensive electronic gear," explained the authors of the Is there an iCrime wave? report.

According to the report, there are four reasons why iPods are playing a key role in the iCrime wave:

iPods contain almost no easily accessible anti-theft protection
Unlike mobile phones, there is no subscription associated with iPods
iPods are high-status items and may be stolen for their status or to be resold
Since iPods plug into both ears (unlike a cell phone’s one ear occupation) iPod users may be less aware of their surroundings than users of other consumer products

Here’s my question for us in the marketing world: If you were the CMO of Apple and heard about this report/news story — what would you do or not do?

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What is the most powerful selling tool?

October 3, 2007

This just in from the folks at Nielsen. No great shock (I don’t think) to see word of mouth topping the chart, in terms of effective selling tools. The power of a recommendation from a known/trusted source has long been the gold standard.

But what’s pretty interesting, and a big change from a few years ago, is the third highest item on the list. Opinions posted online.

So, what do you think? What does this say about blogging? Sites like epinion.com?

If you’re on the company side — what do you think it means for you and where you spend your resources? If you’re a consultant or agency-side pro — what do you think it means for you and for your clients?

By the way…this was an international survey. It covers 47 Markets: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Thailand, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, UAE, United Kingdom, US and Vietnam.

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Are you a pick up artist?

September 15, 2007

Having a teenager in the house means we watch some pretty interesting TV shows. A recent VH1 offering is called The Pick Up Artist. It features 8 lovable losers who have never had any luck with women and a Pick Up Artist named Mystery.

In the hour long show, Mystery teaches the guys some slick language and practiced "gambits" as he calls them. Then, the guys walk into a crowded bar and look for possible "targets." It doesn't matter who they are. Any woman will do.

The guys fumble through the gambits, trip over themselves in their eagerness to sell themselves to just about anyone….and in the end, usually leave the bar alone, tail tucked.

They're not there because they care about the women or even want to get to know them. They're just trying to score before the other guys do. It's about the win, not the person.

Pretty sleazy, isn't it?

I was feeling pretty high and mighty until I realized that what Mystery's teaching isn't all that different from how many companies approach marketing.

Use slick language
Have a practiced "gambit"
Identify a target
Run the gambit, hoping to score
It's not about the other person, it's about the score

It's an easy hole to fall into when you're trying to make this quarter's projected sales numbers or feeling the pressure of a CEO's scrutiny.

So before you dismiss Mystery and his pick up lines are you sure you're not a pick up artist too?

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Web 2.0 meets Print 2.0

September 10, 2007

Eric Kintz, VP of all things fun at HP, is videoblogging from HP's NYC Print 2.0.

At this event, they unveiled some very cool printable mashup books featuring Gwen Stefani, Hannah Montana (from Disney) and others. Go on, print out a book that makes it look like you and Gwen were on the same tour! Or check out what designer Paula Scher has to contribute to your company's brand. Not your cup of tea? How about what snowboarding expert Jake Burton says about knowing your customer?

Take a peek at Eric's thoughts on how HP is shifting from printers to printing and how those of us who spend time in the digital world are about to discover some new and very cool ways to integrate traditional print with our speed of light digital world.

Eric also blogs over at The Digital Mindset.

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Is this the future of everyone’s personal brand?

September 6, 2007

Dan Schawbel is 23. He has a full-time job. A blog. And a personal brand (Rob Cuesta's take).

(In comparison, when I was 23, I had a dog.)

Dan has embraced personal branding an d has expended a significant amount of energy to mastering it. His blog is all about it. He's created a magazine focused on it. By the way, Donald Trump graces the cover of the first issue and thinker/doer Guy Kawasaki penned an article.

Oh yeah…and he's built his digital personal brand site. A site dedicated to 360 degrees of Dan. His professional life, personal life, ambitions and creations. All in one spot.

What do you think? Will everyone have one of these? What would you put on your personal branding site? Where would you draw the line? Or isn't there one any more?

P.S. If you didn't think owning yourname.com was important — ask Dan what he thinks about it.

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The next generation of social media specialists

September 3, 2007

…are already in training. Sure, there’s MySpace and Facebook, but look out because here comes SugarLoot.com.

This teen-driven site hosts contests that encourage the kids to:

Upload videos
Upload photos
Participate on their blog
Create relationships that support mutual votes and “fan” rankings

The traffic numbers are staggering. Not only is this site attracting kids by the boatload, but it is also attracting advertisers. Prizes for the contests come from companies like Petco (cutest pets), Apple, Westin, M&Ms, American Express, JVC, Dell and others.

It’s also being used to hype upcoming movies. The Clique is a book series aimed at teen-aged girls. Through SugarLoot, they are running a contest where the grand prize winners will get to audition for a role in the movie adaptation of the books.

One of the contestants has over 18,000 views of her audition.

We McLellans were late to the party, but in just a couple days, my daughter’s audition has over 100 views. And we hadn’t even e-mailed the grandparents yet!

My point? If you think your business doesn’t need to pay attention to social media – think again. Tomorrow’s customers are learning it today. You’d better do the same.

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Product packaging — is it part of your brand or disposable?

August 30, 2007

A recent article in the New York Times focused on how product packaging trends have changed over the last 10-20 years. The trend, as late as the 90's was that companies would retain a packaging design for 7+ years. Today, the trend is less than 2 years. (To the left, Kleenex is now available in oval shaped boxes.)

The article lists many reasons why a company might shift packaging more often today.

Shorter attention spans of the buying population
The movement from container to a 3-D on-shelf ad for the product
Harder to expose audiences to mass media messaging, so have to grab them at the venue
Turning the mundane (tissue boxes, cleaning bottles) into decor
Trying to reduce package size/cost
Functionality (Coors label turns blue when it is just the right temperature)

An extreme example — Mountain Dew is changing its packaging 12 times from May-October. Wow. (see examples to the right)

So what do you think? Are they messing with their brand? Is this sort of revolving door packaging a good thing? Does it matter what the product is?

Related posts:

In the pink or just ick?

More packaging brain candy

Have you committed a Cardinal Zin?

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Facebook gets the door slammed in its face

August 23, 2007

Shhh….listen for it.

It's happening all over the world. Companies are slamming the door in the face of Facebook.

Citing productivity and security, corporations from Australia's largest telecommunications company, Telstra to many ma and pa store fronts, are banning the growing social networking tool.

According to London's Telegraph, more than 2/3 of UK companies are making Facebook off limits and visiting it during work hours is a sackable offense. (I so wish I spoke UK) Interesting that London was just identified as having more Facebook members than any other city in the world.

According to a survey by Sophos, over 50% of workplaces are now "FaceBlocking" and the ones who have not are afraid of employee backlash.

And it's not just corporate America. Colleges and public access points are also blocking or considering blocking the site.

What do you think? Smart? Paranoid? An over-reaction? Justified? If you were the CEO of an organization, what would you do?

Related posts:

Social Media isn't just for kids

MySpace holds first primary

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But will they buy Paul Potts’ CDs?

June 20, 2007

Odds are you have watched at least one YouTube video of Paul Potts, the cell phone sales guy who arrived at the UK’s Britain’s Have Talent as the unknown underdog and took the world and the competition by storm.

If not…here’s a chance to see him in action. This particular video has been viewed over a million times and it’s one of many variations.

So why are we so fascinated and taken by Paul Potts?

He’s the underdog.
He’s ordinary.
He’s not gorgeous or appearing to have any other "advantage" in life.
He’s afraid but doing it anyway.
He has a dream that he’s willing to take risks to explore.

We are suckers for this kind of story. We take heart in them. We cheer on the underdog and feel like maybe if he can capture his dream…then we can too! (cue the music.)

But.

I know…I’m the jerk who is raining on the parade. The world has embraced Paul Potts. But he sings opera. And the bulk of the world does not like, listen to or understand opera. And he is ordinary looking in a field (entertainment) that clamors for beauty. Think I am being mean? In his first post-winning interviews, Potts also focuses on his looks and the "repair work" that needs to be done.

So now what? Do you think Paul Potts will change the world’s impression/buying patterns regarding opera? Will he at least take the opera world by storm?

Will the traits that attracted the world also inspire them to pull out their wallets? Or will Paul be a great inspirational YouTube video and in a few months, be back at the cell phone counter?

His personal brand served him well to win the competition. He won our hearts. Do you think it will serve him well in the marketplace and let him win our wallets?

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Not a lick of marketing insight here!

June 7, 2007

In all fairness, I have to beg your forgiveness. You see, this post has absolutely nothing to do with marketing or branding. It is 100% purely personal and you won’t hurt my feelings one bit if you pass on reading it. I promise the next post — we’ll be back on track.

At 44, I can look back on my life so far and smile. I’ve enjoyed some successes that I’m pretty proud of. I’ve written a book, launched and maintained a marketing agency, built a work environment that honors the people who work there, created a successful blog, blah, blah, blah.

All of the noteworthy things listed above pale in comparison to my great accomplishment. My daughter.

If you’ll indulge me…I’d like to brag on her for a moment. She’s a great student, a good kid and quite beautiful. But what gives me the greatest pride and pleasure is her heart. And this week, she was recognized for the remarkable young woman she is growing up to be.

It was the last day of school earlier this week and there was an awards ceremony. Her school has a special award, named after a boy who attended the school and sadly died of a cancerous brain tumor. The award is given to one student who best embodies the traits of this young man. The only other requirement is that they have to be involved in the drama program as he was very active in the program while he was in school. The students vote for who they believe:

Has good ideas
Participates fully
Has an exemplary attitude
Has a love of learning
Personal interest and motivation
Makes classmates smile; sense of humor
Is everybody’s friend
Doesn’t give up

My daughter knew she had been nominated by several classmates but the winner is kept secret until the awards. Here’s a portion of what her teacher said as she announced the award:

…Most of all, though, this year’s recipient symbolizes the spirit of this caring young man.

Peers who nominated her described her this way: "she makes everyone happy; she has no enemies” . . . “She is always happy and ready to go” . . . “Drama is her thing and she always has the right attitude” . . . “She might struggle but she always tries hard and the best that she can” . . . “She is very good at acting and loves drama” . . . “She is a very funny, kind person and she’s always positive and smiling. She’s everyone’s friend”. . . “She is always very nice to everyone and is very involved in Drama and Thespians” . . . “She is so creative and such a great person. She can get anyone to laugh. She loves acting and never gives up.”

And then she said my daughter’s name. (We had been notified in advance, so we were there, waiting in the wings.)

Wow.

And then, that 13 year old confidently took the mic and told her entire school how honored she was to receive the award.

I can’t wait to see what she accomplishes. I know the sky’s the limit. And I know, no matter where she goes from here — she is indeed my greatest gift to this world.

Thanks for indulging my parental pride. Now…back to marketing & branding!

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