Digital Disconnect

Over the Christmas holiday, my family and I traveled to Charleston, SC to have some low key quality time together.  I noticed something which  I found fascinating - three woman and one teenager were sitting in the airport coloring in a very meticulous coloring book.  

I asked a few of the ladies and the teen the reasons for taking up what I thought to be a child’s activity.  The answer I got was interesting… they said they were “burned out” on technology and this was a way to escape the digital world we live in, if just for a few hours.

This “escape” became clear, when I looked upon those in the airport and 90% of the travelers were staring into a small phone screen.  I use the words “into a small phone screen” on purpose.  They seemed to be so transfixed on the phone for hours, ignoring much of what was going on.  In fact, two individuals missed their flight because they were transfixed on the screen.   They didn’t hear the announcement of the flight, nor did they hear their names being called out for the “last call.”

As a Marketer I now question whether the mobile ads we run are being recognized or are lost in the blank stares of the consumer… I don’t have an answer, but the thought runs across my mind.

I’m now looking to find my “Big Chief” Tablet and that 64 Crayola set I had as a kid.

Scott

Thou Shalt (or not) for 2016....

10.  Thou shalt audit media schedules… ensuring any media rebates are spent expeditiously.

9.  Thou shalt refer to “sales” in conversations regarding marketing… e.g.  “Advertising which drives our sales funnel.”

8.  Thou shalt not spend precious marketing budget on items which don’t drive revenue.  

7.  Thou shalt create compelling content which engages clients.

6.  Thou shalt create media spend plans before spending all marketing budgets on creative development… ensuring proper media levels can be achieved to reach thee lofty sales goals.

5.  Thou shalt actually measure sales activity associated with marketing… true sales/cash register ringing, etc.

4.  Thou shalt have open, honest communications with vendors and agencies.

3.  Thou shalt not spam customers with email.

2.  Thou shalt integrate marketing and communication tactics to create a marketing ecosystem.

1.  Thou shall put together a Marketing Strategy and Plan based on revenue goal attainment, measure and communicate results. 

Scott

2016 Predictions -- the Swami Speaks

1. TV costs will increase 20-25%  As it’s a political year, inventory will start getting tighter during the year.  In addition, the Olympics hit in the summer and that always plays havoc with inventory.  HINT:  lock in your TV inventory now, to avoid the high prices political ads will cause once the candidate pool becomes clearer. 
2. Agency rates will increase. 4-6%  This isn’t really anything new.. they always increase.  But as agency holding company’s are having a difficult time getting toppling growth, they’ll need to pressure top line growth.  Digital ad cost will also increase during the year due to the before-mentioned.
3. Recruitment of solid employees will be challenging.  News this past week shows unemployment is at the lowest rate in years.  The market is still extremely tight and company’s will find it difficult to recruit.
4. Company’s will look to drive more products to lower cost channels… ecommerce, inside sales, etc.  Driving every dollar of revenue will continue to be a focus.
5. Metrics will be pushed even further… All of the investment in Marketing Automation needs to pay off.  This will be the year the investment really starts to pay off.  If it doesn’t drive revenue it’s going to be scrutinized big time.
6. Authenticity will be a key focus.  Politics always shows the worse in people, so customers will be looking for company’s that are truly authentic in the sea of negativity… don’t get caught on the bad side of this situation.
7. PR will suffer.  Politics will make it difficult to get mass messages out into the marketplace.
8. Customer Service will be a differentiator… now more than ever.  
9. Marketing Operations will become a more important function within Marketing.  Keeping control of the marketing train will make this function that much more critical.
10. Budgets for the year will increase, albeit moderately.  Consumer spending seems to be on solid footing and company’s will want to capitalize.  But be aware as we head into the second half of the year… a recession might be looming. And if businesses get even a whiff of this, budgets will tighten and tighten quick.

Of course 50% of these will be wrong, but what the hell.

Scott

Trump -- A Marketing Genius?

I don’t care for politics.  And with all of the incredible negativity during this political season I care for it even less.  But the marketing associated with this years candidates is fascinating  Specifically, Donald Trump.  Why is Trump so successful at not just getting support but increasing it even amongst increasing pressure from opponents, media, etc.?  He’s a masterful Marketer.  Yep I said it.  He might have insulted every religion, race, country, sex… ok everybody, but he keeps rolling.

It’s the basics of today’s marketing strategy.

1. Content — he’s provocative.  I’m not sure he knows what’s going to come out of his mouth next.  And honestly, I’m shocked at much of it, but it keeps me listening to him…even though I don’t care for him.  People are drawn to great, ongoing, new content and Trump has plenty of it. 
2. Authenticity — he is nothing but “authentic”… he connects with a certain segment of the population and you only do that if you are authentic.  He is raw in his comments and it seems their are many who connect to those comments.
3. Timing — have you noticed that Trump seems to come out with a new point of contention just when the previous one is starting to die off?  I say it’s not a coincidence.  He keeps his content coming in waves.  And that keeps him as the top news story on the networks and other media outlets.
4. Social — the guy is everywhere… the media is on Tweet alert and is always discussing his Twitter activity.  That free promotion must increase his followers allowing him to reach more folks with his targeted content.
5. And talk about free… I don’t believe I’ve ever seen someone get more free advertising.  Does the guy even run TV spots?  Hell, he doesn’t need too. 

Scott

TV Ratings -- Sometimes a Case of Shooting Yourself in the Foot

AdAge reported on a December 9th, 2015 article that TV ratings continued to fall… and this time 39 legacy shows are experiencing the issue.  Just 3 are feeling an uptick.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.  We know live sports events always do better as people would rather experience the action as it happens vs. rebooting TIVO to watch.  The Sunday Night Football ratings prove that as the ratings were up 8.2 in the 18-49 demo up from the last ratings period.

But I’m confounded by a move ABC is making.  Marvels Agents of Shield just ended it’s Fall shows on December 8th.  But the show doesn’t return until March… March, you’ve got to be kidding me.  It’s time slot is being filled by Agent Carter another Marvel property during the vacancy, but March?  It’s 2.5 months from now.   That’s an eternity to have the show off the air.  AND… Agent Carter really doesn’t have a solid track record as a ratings driver.  And hoping that the Shield crowd stays around for Carter is a risk.  Certainly, getting the audience to gravitate to a new show is great, if, they also stay around for the old show.  But that’s a damn big risk.

Now summer is different story, consumers expect the reruns or shows off the air.  But during the prime season to keep a show off for 2.5 months.  Good luck boys.  My gut, ratings will fall on Agents of Shield at least 15%.

I don’t know about you, but I’m so frustrated with the TV networks these days.  Shows are off the air for extended time periods, get switched between different TV properties, can be watched online etc.  It’s no wonder ratings continue to fall.  The disaggregation continues making it easier for consumers to get access to the show, but this continues to hurt aggregation of ratings.

I long for those days of less tech, and schedule simplicity.

Scott

2016 Marketing Budgets -- a Few Tips

It’s baacckkkk… Marketing Budget Planning

Glistening Christmas lights, the smell of cookies in the oven, carolers singing the traditional holiday songs and the task of getting your marketing budgets done.  A few thoughts on budgeting.

1. Inflation — take it into account on production, agency fees, etc.  I usually figure about a 2% y/o/y increase.  Media inflation can be a wild card, but check with your agency on an estimate. 
2. Zero based budgeting — I like it.  It helps me apply the appropriate amount of marketing funding needed to reach the sales goals of each product.  In addition, it gets those nasty conversations you must have with business groups which won’t receive financial support before you get into the new fiscal year.
3. Cut the fat.  It’s the time to look at results and make the hard cuts.  If something isn’t working get rid of it.  Stop wasting precious financial capital.
4. Staffing — get your plan together early.  Do you need to upgrade talent, cut non-productive employees.  If so, ensure you’ve budgeted appropriately.
5. Run Rates — get those campaigns aligned and your budgets as well.  Nothing is worse than the decision to create a campaign, but not have the money to carry it out.
6. Capital — work with finance to understand your capital requirements.  Does this get charged to your budget?  Or is it paid out of a “pool” of funds at the corporate level?  Retiring capital investments sometimes helps the company’s financials.  Taking on a new capital project not only impacts capital finances but also operating expense.  Not everything can get charged to capital… so ensure you have the operating expense planned for as well.
7. International — work with finance to understand the impact currency rates will have on your budget.  If the US dollar can’t buy as many UK pounds, you’ll need to budget more to have the same media impact, etc.
8. Agency negotiations — if you’ll be negotiating a new contract… take a look at my post on contract negotiation.
9. Tracking — setup very detailed tracking of your dollars.  The amount spent of different  media types, how much goes internationally, how much you spend on campaigns, business units, fees, creative, etc.  It helps in understanding profitability of marketing and will help you plan for 2017 budgets.
10. Special initiatives — they will come out of left field, so build some buffer into the budget and understand where it sits.  Finance loves to pick at the “miscellaneous” budget line.

Good luck in the coming year.

Scott

Agency Negotiations - Tips

Agency Negotiations are critical to the success of marketing initiatives.  I’ve done a number of negotiations over my career.  Here are a few things I’ve learned.  The below are some thoughts… you are responsible for anything you implement, I’m not responsible for anything you do.

1. Negotiate each price piece separately.  You need to understand the exact costs you will be charge for each function.
2. Salary’s — you do NOT have the right to see the agency’s staff salaries.  But you can identify the salary bands.
3. Identify the definition of each salary band and the number of staff members who will be in each band.  Not the names.
4. Determine the exact number of people on the account — full time, part time, as needed, etc.
5. Provide the agency with a very clear statement of work.  They can’t tell you the cost if you don’t tell them the work.
6. Thus, the statement of work will help determine the resources and allow you ensure you have the right level of staff.
7. Take a look at how Executive salaries and time are applied to your account.  These salaries are higher so the more time on the account the more the cost.  Are you going to be engaging with them that much?  And what type of engagement?  Is it a check in?  If that’s the case, I’d question whether you should pay anything.
8. Overhead — the hidden costs. Understand every single piece of overhead for each office, geography, etc.  Here’s my thought… there are overhead fees which need to be paid, but you should pay your fair share.  Larger clients usually cover a larger portion of overhead vs. smaller clients just based on shear overall billings.  Watch these expense carefully.
9. Rebates.  As I’ve blogged about earlier you must clearly state what your position is with rebates.  Do it in the contract so you’re not dealing with this issues later.
10. Data security and privacy.  You don’t think of this one until either your company data is leaked or your customer data is leaked.  Make sure you are clear as to who has access to your company marketing data.  And I always want my agency to have the same strict data privacy and security rules for any customer data they might possess.  Anything less will probably cause heartburn.
11. Media Rates — are you paying a percent of media only, which covers everything?  Or are you paying a media rate and also a fixed fee for staff.  Or something in-between.  This can get very complicated.  I always like to look at it from different options and see what makes sense — both cost and support wise
12. Individual Media Rates — check out all of the rates for each media type.  Digital, search, TV, etc.  Negotiate them all individually if possible.
13. If you can cut to the chase and get everyone to sing from the same hymnal… get agreement with the agency for a set a profit percentage.  If you get to this, then you need to work on reporting and quarterly adjustments as appropriate, etc.
14. Setup quarterly reviews with the account team, etc.  Discuss performance.  Identify what and how any issues will be dealt with and a correction plan.  these will be carried out.
15. Set the rules — sounds easy right?  Do the advertising, place the media.  But what about entering your ads into award contests?  How about paying for tickets for your staff?  All without your knowledge?  Put some parameters around some of the big areas.  You won’t get them all, but everyone will know your intentions.  Also, make damn sure your staff is aware as well to avoid the “didn’t know syndrome.”
16. Bonuses. Just like your employees, bonuses will probably be a form of most agency staff compensation packages.  This one gets tricky… is the agency responsible to pay for this out of profits?  Or, should it be something which is worked into the overall compensation you pay the agency.  I’ve done it both ways.   
17. Clearly identify the business performance metrics and apply these to the agency’s performance metrics.  Get the scorecard defined, agreed upon by all and put in the contract.
18. kick backs or added fees preferential vendors
19. Always have the right to audit every single dollar and invoice which flows through your account.  Get the agreement on how many times an audit can take place, but the circumstances, scope, if any costs will be applied for doing an audit.
20. Procurement.  Have them lead any negotiation, but for God’s sake, keep the pitfalls at bay.  This should not become so intense that you and your agency questions whether they should actually have this relationship.  
21. Don’t get carried away.  You’re not going to get everything you put on the table.  Make it clear with Procurement what you can and can’t live without.  And make sure you understand what Procurement can and can’t live without.  Usually indemnity gets dicey. 
22. Structure.  Lay out your agency organizational structure ahead of time.  This can be an addendum, etc.  But get something down on paper so you understand what/who is being hired, for what positions, who they report too, etc.
23. International aspects.  If you’re an international marketer, check to see if they have translation experience.  Cultural knowledge is key.  Knowing the media within the market.  Don’t get the typically “yes we do that” — get examples, speak to clients.
24. What will constitute past due billing for the client and what the agency will charge you.  Again, they are not your bank.  Pay them on time.  Don’t play the “float” game after you’ve negotiated the time for payment to be received.
25. Make sure the agency is paying it’s vendors on-time for your business.  At one point, media company’s wouldn’t buy media for me, because the agency had not processed previous payments due to them.
26. Professional Agency Negotiator.  This might be a good idea if you or your procurement team are new at these types of negotiations.  Agencies are different than your typical vendors and you need to understand this prior to going into negotiations.
27. Scope of Work — make the scope of work the agency is responsible for very tight.  Make it      clear, understandable, with notes and examples.
28. MSA.  Align your statement of work as close as you can to that of your normal contracts.  One note, media agencies are shelling out a great deal of money to media companies, so pushing the agency’s payment to 60 or 90 days is unrealistic.  I prefer 30 days… an agency is not your banker.
29. How to add in other work.  You want a control point for moving additional work product under an agency.  Hopefully, you’ve already negotiated the pricing, but allowing your entire company to move business around without a control point is problematic.  It’s not that you’re telling people they can’t move the business, but rather, you’re making sure you know what the agency is doing… as this can impact service levels and the like.
30. Indemnity.  I wish I had a lot of input on this delicate topic.  Basically, who takes the blame and is legally responsible.  Experience has taught me this is a mid point type of discussion.  Be smart on what the agency is fully responsible for, but also realize you have responsibility as well.
31. Do NOT have any work start before negotiations are completed and contracts are signed.
32. Don’t screw them — come on, they’re not in business not to make money.  And this is down right stupid.
33. Administration — how solid is their accounting/billing function… how about legal?
34. Meet the entire staff — everyone who will be on the account.
35. Have your finance/accounting department meet with the agency to determine strength in billing function.
36. Legal — same for your legal team… understand if they experience in particular advertising based legal research… and what will be the split between responsibilities.
37. Industry experience — is it important they have it or a nice to have
38. Determine if they are going to bill you for the pitch.  And frankly, you might want to offer to pay each agency a certain amount to offset their costs… it will show a partnership spirit.
39. Find out the exact date that the billing starts — I’ve seen arguments start at the beginning of an agency/client relationship over this very question.
40. Ensure a cultural fit between the client team and agency team.
41. Make it clear when the metrics for performance start… and ensure the agency has the numbers/criteria, etc.  And of course make sure everyone is in agreement on these areas.
42. References — speak to the ones the agency gives you, but research others or past clients and try and connect with them as well… let’s be honest, everyone doesn’t always have a bad experience… but, finding out the warning signs at least gives you heads up when you need to course correct.
43. Don’t be an asshole during the negotiations… respect is critical all around.
44. Set a schedule of when and what you want done during the first 90-120 days. e.g.  when all staff will be on-board, when media is transferred, when international operations will start, when the first campaign will launch, etc.
45. Determine what you own, vs. what the agency owns as it relates to IP, research, modeling, data, creative, etc.
46. Make sure you feel comfortable with account management, research, database marketing, and other disciplines… I always like to have the client teams meet with the agency teams to get a feel of strength/weaknesses, etc.
47. Conflict of interest.  This one is difficult with large holding company’s.  I just like to make sure any of the agencies working on the business do not have a conflict.  
48. International culture experience.  Sounds simple, but having those people in country to advise and work with your country teams is imperative.
49. Working with other agencies/vendors.  Make it clear that everyone will play in the sandbox nicely.  This is your responsibility.  The statement of work needs to be clear, and ensure one agency doesn’t play the blame game.
50. Technology — do they have the proper tech to service your account… how about servers, a Digital Asset Management system, the right statistical modeling software?  And if they don’t, list out your expectations, and find out if you’re responsible for the cost.
51. And speaking of a DAM — make sure YOU own the content on the DAM.  And make sure you own any and all work product.
52. Who’s the “one throat to choke” — you’ll need to know who it is, trust me on this.  And I mean the very top… meet them, know them, etc.
53. What’s the agency’s employee policies as it relates to background screenings, etc.  Make sure they are similar to yours… I once had an agency employee who’s background was flagged by our security team when we did our checks given they were going to be on-site.  You don’t want that stomach acid.
54. T&E — I like to match them identical to the company’s.  Reason?  There isn’t any bitching by your staff when they see an agency person sitting in first class, having a top end hotel room, etc.
55. Define your competition and product categories.  Determine if the agency is in anyway working with those you consider competition.  And if so, are you willing to live with it.
56. Qualify if the agency can pitch others in your category.  There is nothing worse than being dumped by the agency because they went fishing for a larger client.
57. Put in place a time period in which the agency can not work with those in your competitive set.  And make sure this applies to the actual people who have been on your account.
58. Ensure that agency staff must sign confidentiality documents on your specific account information, etc.
59. If the agency resigns the account, determine the time period they will need to continue to manage the account, until a subtle agency is found to replace them.
60. Determine how you will notify the agency of a dispute, the time period associated to fix the issue and ramifications if it’s not fixed.
61. Check if the agency’s holding company is working with a competitor and what your stance will be.  And again, put it in writing.
62. Make sure you inform the agency of special circumstances… the one I always had to deal with while at HP, was agency staff coming into the building with a Dell or Apple PC.
63. New skills — how does the agency staff on top of new skills, products, etc.  For instance do they really understand SEO and social media and the like.  Make sure this is specifically called out and defined.
64. Clearly identify the fee schedule for everything… I mean everything conceivable.  Document everything.
65. Identify when you’ll have discussions on compensation in the future.  Face it, inflation happens and your costs will probably go up at some point.  If you can limit this contractually, all the better.
66. International agency alignment — in Japan, more than likely you’re going to work with either Dentsu or Hakuhodo… their the biggest players.  Make sure BEFORE you sign the contract what those terms are so you don’t have to negotiate again.  And ensure that your primary agency is responsible for and manages that work with the international agencies.
67. Currency buying — ensure you know if the agency is hedging currency for media buys.  And make sure you don’t end up having to pay the price if they hedge incorrectly.  Frankly, I don’t like this practice…
68. Is you're working with an agency who is part of a holding company, it’s probably a good idea to get agreement that the rates you negotiate are applicable across other agencies in the holding company. 
69. These are just a few thoughts, check with the ANA and the AAAA for more information and thoughts on agency negotiations.
70. Finally, this should not be “us vs them” — it really should be a discussion of the needs of each side of the equation.  Respect should be key in all of these discussions.

Good luck.

Scott

WKRP - "As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly" Thanksgiving Video

As a kid, I loved watching WKRP.  Around the Thanksgiving Holiday, I always remember the episode “Thanksgiving Turkey Drop.”

It’s 5 minutes of laughing… which we always need.

Enjoy 

Scott

https://youtu.be/lf3mgmEdfwg

Ad Placement - What To Do When The Public Complains

Our country provides everyone the right to express themselves via freedom of speech, etc.  You’re going to find, like minded groups who won’t be happy with your media placement.  These groups typically spam Executives or the Marketing Team, with canned emails expressing their displeasure with the advertising and asking (or demanding) that you change your media schedule based on this “controversial programming.”  Some might include:

• Sexual specific programming
• Gay or lesbian programming
• Questionable family values
• Actors/Actresses within a program which might have controversy surrounding them
• Politically based programming
• News programming — too liberal, too conservative
• Basically about anything someone will complain about
• Ethnic based programming

I used to get thousands of emails when these groups would target their displeasure.  I even had a media company threatened me if I didn’t run advertising with their publication.  So I was getting hammered by consumers and the advertising media at the same time.  

At first I was appalled… well pissed is probably the best word to describe someone telling me what and where I could advertise.  But after calming myself I came to accept that everyone has their opinion, they can express it and I needed to deal with it.  So I came up with some general rules of the road.

1. Respect the opinions of these groups/people.
2. Have a drawer statement ready and pre plan for these types of events.
3. Communicate your decision in a professional manner.  You don’t need to give your reason - if you do, you’ll get into a war of ideals, which you’ll never win.
4. Determine if your advertising actually ran on the wrong show… if you’re doing direct advertising, you might have been plugged into a show which might have been inappropriate.  Sometimes mistakes happen.
5. Does the show represent your brand values?  If so, no worries.
6. How many GRP’s is the program in question pulling?  Determine if it’s worth the stomach acid to run in the program.
7. If you have events, etc. which surround the program target audience this should be considered.  Sunk costs without any promotion aren’t going to generate revenue
8. Don’t fall on the sword for a show… if your management isn’t happy and wants you to move the media, do it… don’t argue…it will only create turmoil later.
9. But, don’t let any group tell you what to do.  Stick to your plan if it’s the right place to advertise, do it.  Don’t be swayed by detractors…this too shall pass.
10. Document, document, document… if it gets nasty you’ll need the facts.
11. Have your tech group stop the emails from reaching your email box and other executives email boxes.
12. Notify legal AND security of the situation in the case you start getting protestors out the front door, or the situation escalates further.  Keep your eyes open for any suspicious activities. 

Don’t be paranoid, but also stay vigilant.  

Scott

Marketing PR Crisis... a few thoughts.

It will happen at least once in your career.  You will have a PR crisis related to something the Marketing Dept. or Agency has done.  You’ll need to respond quickly.  I’ve always made it a policy to have pre-drafted statements ready to go in case this is needed.  It allows me and PR to really think through what main points should be covered.  This might just be a list of things you need to consider vs an actual pre-written drawer statement… but it’s better to pre-plan now, vs responding when all hell has broken loose.

Also, determine what qualifies as an issue.  Having an individual complain might not warrant any special attention.  However, if 60 Minutes is camped outside your office one morning that’s another thing.

Some areas which might bit you…

• Creative or messaging which is in poor taste.
• Advertising which slanders, is inaccurate, etc.
• Media placements on questionable programming (I’ll have a blog post on this coming up) 
• A promotional stunt gone bad
• Hacked customer data 

It’s better to be a Boy Scout and “always prepared.”

Scott

Why So Many Agency Reviews?

Business Insider reported in Map that there were 20 major agency reviews in play at that time.  

Cost Containment — clients are under significant pressure to drive top and bottom line financial results.  You increase the top line by selling more product and the fastest way to increase net income is through cost reduction.

Procurement

• Executives and boards are more actively engaged then ever in ensuring costs are contained   and decreased year over year.
• Procurement is always provided yearly goals to reduce expenses/get more favorable financial terms.
• At the beginning of each year, the Procurement Teams are focused on getting negotiations/cost reductions quickly in order to hit those goals as soon as possible to maximize cost savings.

Clients

• Marketing budgets ain’t expanding at double digits…. but clients being asked to do more with much less.  More business lines, products, sales, channels, country’s, etc.  
• Staffing is not expanding with the growing business demands. Thus, clients are relying more on agency staff resources to help pick up the work.
• Tactics— digital media is chewing up more dollars given staff time, creative,programming, etc.   The costs associated with digital marketing haven’t yet started to decline in cost.
• Deck Chairs — CMO changes always put reviews in play.  And CMO’s sometimes want to bring in their own agency.
• Statements of Work — clients aren’t putting together accurate or complete SOW’s..so an agency can’t plan for proper resources.

Communication 

• Clients do not set expectations with the agency, so the agency might think it’s banging it out of the park, when in reality their missing the mark. 
• eMail vs. Talking — the ability to really communicate is hampered by email.  Yes, you can put it all down for future reference…but why don’t the client and agency sit down first and talk about campaigns, issues, expectations… then put it in writing.

Staffing

• In order to keep costs low, agencies will put less expensive people on the business.  These folks are energetic, etc., but getting the right level of person, even if they cost more is critical.  And by the way… this usually happens because the costs have been cut so much, the agency needs to lower costs to make the appropriate profit level.

Other

• If sales or results aren’t achieving success, the agency get’s blamed.  Regardless as to whether the results from campaigns are positive.  
• Pile On — I’ve noticed you usually have a “vocal client” who isn’t happy with the agency and starts to complain across the company, getting everyone to pile on… It’s amazing how a strong/vocal client can control a group.
• The “Grass is Always Greener” — yep, as much as I hate to say it sometimes it’s as simple as that.  “‘If only I had that agency…”
• Geographic — any skill weakness or lack of support in regions and county’s can also be the kiss of death.
• Shiny New Object — getting something new to play with is sometimes the reason for switching.. I’ve heard Executives say “Let’s just get a new one.”  

I’m sure there a ton of other reasons — the moon and tide changes probably impact it or perhaps someone has created an agency “voodoo doll”…

Scott  

Celebrity Brand Spokespeople

Subway, Jell-O, Smithfield Brands, Nike, Hertz, Nike are just a few of the brands which have been burned in some form or fashion with Spokespeople.  Even when you get what seems to be the “All American Spokesperson” it seems the inconceivable becomes conceivable.  

Bill Cosby and Jell-O

Lance Armstrong/Oscar Pistorius and NIKE

Paula Dean and Smithfield Foods

The list goes on and on.  A brand ties itself to a celebrity aura and the brand takes a hit when that person falls from grace — scandal, legal, financial, moral issues all can take a toll. 

I’ve used spokespeople before and luckily never got burned.  But today

when everyone has a phone with a camera and video recorder the damage can be done within seconds when you can upload a video to YouTube or a photo to Twitter. 

So I’ve come up with a simple philosophy on the use of CELEBRITY spokespeople.

1. The brand must stand on it’s own — a celebrity shouldn’t be the brand.
2. Usage of celebrity will be minimal.
3. When using a celebrity it will be focused for a short time period.
4. The celebrity use will be focused on a particular campaign or initiative.
5. Vetting of the celebrity will go very very very deep… did I say it will go very deep?
6. Worst case scenario planning and disaster management will be thought out and ready to be executed at a moments notice.
7. Pre campaign testing on not just the target audience but also non target audiences, internationally, social channels, etc.… check to see if anyone finds some dirt.
8. Ensure contracts protect the brand, financial investments, etc.
9. Never get caught up in “celebrity” — this is a business.  
10. If sales don’t increase — dump the celebrity.
11. When you start hearing water-cooler talk by employees and management about “why are we spending money for a celebrity” or “marketing is pissing away money”… either start showing the increases in sales to support the use of a celebrity.
12. Use of non-celebrity spokesperson to carry the message on an ongoing basis (e.g. Flo for Progressive Insurance, the Duck for Aflac, etc.) is acceptable.  But, due diligence must be paid so a Jared Fogle and Subway doesn’t occur.  

What other criteria do you have?

Scott

Simple Learnings From a Tragic Loss...

This past weekend, we suffered the loss of a colleague at our company.  It got me thinking about how I had interacted with this individual over the past year.  Probably 75% of the interactions were via email, a social media platform – LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc. 

However, in retrospect, I’ve realized the electronic channel of communication has limitations and it seems I took for granted the importance of picking up the phone, meeting for lunch… the true personal touches which mean so much given today’s fast-paced society.

So as we post on LinkedIn information about business, as we post to Facebook about our kids, as we post to Twitter about our immediate thoughts…let us not forget we are human first and picking up that phone, meeting for lunch is more important now than ever.

Scott 

I Don’t Get It?

I’ve never claimed to be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I’m also not the dullest.  Sometimes, marketing is as much about common sense as it is about creative and analytics.

The first example is a sight named Second Life.  You might remember it as the rage back in the early - mid 2000’s .  You could create an Avatar of your liking, walk around and interact with others in a virtual community atmosphere.  Long story short… a number of tech companies including IBM, Dell, etc. were creating virtual communities where Avatars could interact with the company, it’s representatives and other Avatars.  Although you couldn’t purchase anything, you could walk around and have conversations.

Dell created “Michael Dell’s Dorm Room”… a recreation of where Dell stayed and started the very successful Dell Computers.  Avatars could interact with Dell Avatars, discuss computer options, etc. But they couldn’t purchase items through the store.  I actually went in and try to order a PC, but was told I needed to go to Dell’s website to place my order.

What was being sold on the site were “virtual goods.”  For instance, you could buy virtual clothes or items for your Avatar.

Creating these communities wasn’t cheap… Six figures wasn’t unusual… time on coding, licensing, creative, etc. adds up pretty fast.  Plus, you had to staff your site with individuals to be your Avatar representatives.

Naturally, given publicity around Second Life, a large number of Marketers were pushing for funding to create an HP Second Life Island.  The big question I continued to ask was, “Why?”  The answer was always, because our competition is there.  When I asked the question, “How to we make money using this site?”  No one could answer the question.  Could you place an order?  Nope.  The grand idea was to have seminars on the site.  Really?  We’re going to rely on the site to get the correct people at one of these events?  These people are going to just “show up”… we advertise and they shall come?  That might work… but again, how do we make money?

Long story, short.  We didn’t put the sight up as no one could answer the question.  Perhaps saying “I don’t get it” worked this time.  If you don’t understand it, don’t do it.  It’s simple, don’t invest your Marketing dollars if you don’t understand the payback.  It sounds easy, but how many times do we rubber stamp media plans, creative ideas and the like.  Start taking a deeper look and asking if you get it.  You might be surprised how many things you start to question.

Scott