Author: Drew Neisser

There is in old saying in our business that there is nothing like great marketing to kill a bad product. Perhaps this is why I found last week’s Onion story called “Perfectly Marketed TV Show somehow fails” so funny. Here are a couple of quotes from that story:

Kinney added that it was “inconceivable” that a television program
supported by 1.25 million promotional coffee-cup sleeves could
perform so poorly.
Most disappointing to NBC executives was a weeklong interactive
“roadblock” the network purchased on the home page of the popular
social-networking website MySpace. The full-screen pop-up ad
described the series as “Just Shoot Me on a half-caff cappuccino—to
go!” Experts say that, while there have been several documented
cases in the past of television programs underperforming in the face
of brilliant marketing campaigns, a direct cause for the bizarre
phenomenon has not yet been determined.

I call this to your attention because way too many times we agency folk are asked to work with inferior products and blamed when the marketing “doesn’t work.” If you know your product needs fixing, fix it first or risk the consequences. When Gordon Bethune took over Continental, he realized his airlines was broken. Flights were late. Baggage was lost. Customer complaints were endless. To focus his entire organization on the problem, he rallied the company around the simple promise “on time with bags.” He offered every single employee $100 for every quarter in which Continental was among the top 3 in on-time arrivals. Within a few months, the company went from worst to first. The advertising then made the simple promise that Continental would “Work hard. Fly right.” This one-two punch of product improvement and focused messaging helped Continental recover when most had already written them off as dead.

Just this morning at a Likemind gathering I had interesting conversation with a client and a fellow agency-type about if and when an agency can tell their prospective client’s that their “baby is ugly.” All agreed that this message must be delivered but the debate centered around timing. Do you win the business first and then tell them or be honest from the beginning? The reality is that you are damned either way. If you don’t tell them early on, then you will probably be in it too deep too quickly to be honest later on. And if they don’t fix the product/service, then you’re doomed to failure regardless of the brilliance of your marketing. If you do tell them early on, I can assure you that 9 out of 10 times you will not win the business or keep it for long.

We have tried to be honest in two recent pitches and though the client thanked us for our frankness, they frankly chose another agency. In both cases it was a Pyhrric victory for our competitors since within six months both companies had either gone bankrupt or canceled all marketing activity. This was little comfort to us because we actually believed had these clients pursued a different course they could have been successful. In both cases we had proposed addressing their problems head-on by transforming marketing from mere messaging into “marketing as service.” We still have a lot of heart for this approach and fortunately so do a lot of clients.

In the final analysis honesty may be the best policy but it does have its price. Perhaps it is simply an issue of diplomacy. What do you think?

Since we learned yesterday that the US actually emitted fewer greenhouse gases in 2006 than the year before, it only seems appropriate to share a few cool new products that could help this become a trend. While the stuff from Sakar may seem mundane, the nanosolar powersheets and the Volitan concept boat are way to cool for words. As for the eco dryer shoes, I can’t really be sure these all that green but they might prevent your household from turning such after you remove them. Certainly if you were them and you can consider yourself plugged in!

Sakar launches green initiative (Twice Magazine)

To begin, the Eco Trends line will focus on computer, iPod/MP3 and
digital camera accessories. All of the accessories under the Eco
Trends name will be made of recyclable plastics, which use less oil
and pollutants and which conform to RoHs compliance standards. The
packaging will consist of both recycled plastic and paper and be
printed with eco-friendly inks and dyes.

Nanosolar powersheets promise cheap solar power everywhere, unlimited gadget energy (Gizmodo)

Winning the Green Tech Grand Award and “Innovation of the Year” nods
from Pop Sci, Nanosolar PowerSheets pack a whole lot of potential
into their Paris Hilton-cheap, Nicole Richie-thin panels—we’re
talking solar power for 30 cents a watt, compared to the $3 it costs
now, without silicon or laying the panels on glass.

Volitan concept boat uses wind power and solar energy (Gizmodo)

The Volitan, meaning “flying fish,” is a pretty fantastic concept
boat with impeccable green credentials, using sails, wind and solar
power to get around, storing energy in its batteries.

Eco shoes dryer saves us all from smelly feet (Gizmodo)

Each dryer contains a silica gel material that can absorb moisture
using power generated by an internal battery that can be charged
from any standard wall socket.

In between the stuffings this Thanksgiving holiday, I spied a number of green marketing initiatives. Here’s a quick taste of the good, the questionable and the simply foolish.

The Good

Ford has made a number of small but significant moves in the last few months to prepare for a greener future. One of the more interesting ones was their acquisition of a company that can help turn paint fumes into energy. Talk about making lemonade out of lemons, this is indeed a tasty technology if it works as promised. Here’s what they said about in on Environmental Leader:

Ford Motor Co. is purchasing a fuel cell from FuelCell Energy
for its Oakville, Ontario, facility
to reduce paint solvent from automotive painting operations by
turning its fumes into 300 kilowatts of electricity. The Direct
FuelCell unit turns Volatile Organic Compounds that emanate from
enamel base paints and clear coat finishes used in manufacturing
into fuel.

The Questionable

Aveda announced recently that like other Estee Lauder-owned brands, it would focus on green messaging in 2008. Frankly, I’m just not sure what Aveda is doing to be green other than talking about it. Feels like a basic case of greenwashing with a touch of bandwagon jumping. I look forward to being proved wrong about this. The Adweek article noted:

Suzanne Dawson, vp of global marketing at Aveda, cited research
showing eight of 10 Americans now believe that it is important to
buy products from green companies. “We’ve always talked about our
environmental work to the trade, but now it’s time to start shouting
it to a larger audience,” she said. The new campaign, themed “Beauty
is as beauty does,” will switch focus to a new green issue every six
to eight weeks in both print advertising and in-store displays
across the company’s 8,000 salons.

The Simply Foolish

If you thought you were doing good by dropping off your tired electronics gear off at at recycling center, think again. CNN reports that much of this gear ends up in third world backyards. Clearly electronics manufacturers need to step up their efforts to recycle their products properly before they are legislated to do just that. I wrote about Sony’s recycling initiative a few months ago. Here’s a bit from the CNN article:

activists estimate that 50 to 80 percent of the 300,000 to 400,000
tons of electronics collected for recycling in the U.S. each year
ends up overseas. Workers in countries such as China, India and
Nigeria then use hammers, gas burners and their bare hands to
extract metals, glass and other recyclables, exposing themselves and
the environment to a cocktail of toxic chemicals.

The bottom line is that you can’t simply talk about being green. You actually have to do something. Something meaningful and preferably across all aspects of your business. The risk of being exposed as a greenwasher is significant. Toyota is under fire right now for touting its greenness in advertising while lobbying Congress for less restrictive mileage (CAFE) targets. A recent Financial Times article noted that Business Schools around the world were waking up to green as a means of gaining competitive advantage and saving the planet.

Javier Carrillo, director of the school’s Centre for EcoIntelligent
Management, argues that…”Companies have tended to see spending on
sustainability as a burden. However, this reactionary view is slowly
disappearing and is being replaced by the idea that improved
competitiveness and sustainability can go hand in hand,” he says.
“Service companies – and this includes business schools – tend to be
those of least environmental impact,” he says. “But that’s not to
say that they couldn’t raise their game.”

Hopefully this message will permeate the business infrastructure as these freshly minted and green MBA’s hit the real world. Perhaps MBA will soon stand for More Business Acumen instead of Mediocre but Arrogant.

Feel free to add your own acronym.

This feels like a good week for recycling stories from other pubs that feature words of wisdom from yours truly. This particular story ran recently in the New York Times and covered a new service that helps real estate agents turn slide shows into instant movies. (The reporter FYI, Anne Eisenberg, has a great bi-monthly column called Novelties that runs every other Sunday.) I’m writing about it here because I think this service can *enhance* the experience of looking for a new home, making it easier for buyers to let their eyeballs do the walking. The service is called VizzVox and you can find the entire NY Times article here.

Or to save you the trip, here are the “critical” passages:

Drew Neisser, chief executive of Renegade Marketing in Manhattan,
who is in the business of inventive online marketing and Web site
development himself, was intrigued with the service. “It’s extremely
cost effective,” he said. He looked at two VizzVox commercials and
liked them: “They told a lovely story about each home — I was ready
at the end to call my wife and tell her we were moving to San Mateo.”

Mr. Neisser says the VizzVox commercials “are a convenient way to
get a quick and reasonably accurate tour.” But however attractive
some of the commercials may be, he said, he doesn’t think
do-it-yourself programs like VizzVox are a threat to more
traditional marketing services.

“The problem with a technology like this is that you are putting
semiprofessional tools in the hands of an amateur,” he said. “One of
the reasons folks like us are still in business is that we are
professional storytellers. I can’t imagine that your average real
estate agent has the quality of voice and ability to draft a
narrative that is compelling and interesting.”

Marketing for Good is all about helping the customer get on with their lives. VizzVox makes it easier for real estate agents to show homes virtually and in the process makes it easier for home buyers to sort through the plethora of potential palaces. It’s all good even if not every video is great.

Happy T-day!

MediaPost ran a gaggle of my ideas for ‘08 in an article entitled, cleverly enough, Ten Marketing Ideas Whose Time is Now. Since several of them tie right back into MFG, I figured I’d post the story here in the off chance you missed it on MediaPost:

Ten Marketing Ideas Whose Time is Now

Few marketing program completely fulfill one’s hopes. In the new
year, marketers should avoid over-hyped opportunities to focus on
measuring success one satisfied customer at a time. The following
key trends may be worth considering.

Get Game

Gaming now permeates society, creating fresh ways for marketers to
connect. Millions of non-golfers are swinging virtual clubs as
Nintendo’s Wii transformed video games. Senior citizen centers
bought Wiis to entertain guests and connect with grandkids. MTV
invested $500 million in online games, on top of the millions it
spent for AddictingGames. Even B2B marketers will be smart to give
gaming a fresh look while blending in messaging, training or recruiting.

Mobile – I Can Hear You Now

This may be the year mobile deserves a closer look/listen as tech
improvements create new opportunities. Bluetooth-enabled phones have
made it easier for marketers to provide contextually relevant
information; the Air Force set up Bluetooth transmitters at
racetracks to reach potential recruits. Apple’s iPhone partnered
with Google and Yahoo to enable ad-supported programming. Cellfire
enlisted a million people to receive coupons for burgers to videos.
Mobile marketing can deliver highly personalized, and useful,
information when and where needed and as long as marketers don’t
spam, mobile marketing may be the missing link in personalized
communications.

Join the Club

Wise marketers will capitalize on the growing appeal of social
networks. Besides the Goliaths MySpace and Facebook, social networks
exist in niches from teens (Pizco and Tagged) to seniors (Eons) to
photographers (Flickr) to do-gooders (AllDayBuffet) to B2B (LinkedIn
& Plaxo) to gamblers (BetsGoWild), you name it (MeetUp). Chase’s
partnership with Facebook has helped make their “+1″ credit card the
card of choice among college students. Marketers will be smart to
create a social network, or take an existing one and make it
physical (Second Life held its first offline convention in 2007).

Rise of the Widgets

Mini-software applications, “widgets,” provide unprecedented access
to hard-to-reach targets as Facebook and MySpace can attest.
According to ComScore, 220+ million folks used widgets last May.
iLike, which allows Facebook users to share iTunes playlists, grew
to over 10 million users in 10 months. Slide, which creates
slideshows and embeds them in social network homepages, claims to be
the largest personal media network in the world, reaching 120
million viewers monthly. That’s but the beginning of the widget
avalanche.

Roll Video

With 70+% broadband penetration, streaming video is a must marketing
tool. eMarketer reports 123 million Americans watch a video monthly;
three-quarters tell a friend. Whether a B2B or B2C marketer, video
is an enormous opportunity to engage, educate and entertain, the
three new “Es” of successful marketing. Lots of brands are producing
instructional videos to help customers install or use their product
or service. Others create pure entertainment, hoping to build brand
affinity or drive traffic. But the ubiquity of video is not without
challenges. With 7+ million hours of video online, cutting through
requires quality storytelling and judicious editing.

From Behavioral to Contextual

Marketers will add behavioral targeting to contextual “search”
efforts. AOL believes in the future of behavioral targeting, having
spent $275 million for Tacoda Systems, which claims to reach 120
million people in 31 discrete audience segments monthly. eMarketer
predicted behavioral targeting will increase ten-fold over the next
five years, growing from a $350 million to $3.8 billion ad spend. A
test we ran for Panasonic yielded 50% more imminent buyers of a
particular consumer electronics product, making it far and away
better than a simple search buy.

Focus on the Experience

Marketers’ need to focus on integrated marketing approaches is not
news but what will be news is how brand experiences will move to the
top of the integration food chain, becoming the driving force of
communications. Once events and online initiatives were treated as
“below the line” after-thoughts, but increasingly marketers realize
that interactive brand experiences can be far more effective than
advertising and should be the starting point of a customer conversation.

Time to Green

A “green” plan is no longer a luxury. Every day, another venerable
brand commits to a sustainable future. While there is much “green
washing,” rating services like B Corporation will set standards that
will have major corporations fighting to prove their green. As GE
announces billions in green-related sales, and BP fends off bad
eco-press, you may find a new seat in the boardroom – Chief Green
Officer (CGO).

The Great Outdoors

This year’s surprise was the rebound of out-of-home advertising,
growing faster than any channel except the Internet. Outdoor
reinvented itself as a technology-rich means of engaging,
entertaining and educating commuters. Mini Cooper tested
RFID-activated billboards with personalized messages aimed at
drivers-by, a customized approach that linked “old” (outdoor) with
“new” (online) transforming an integrated media platform into a
cult-building club.

“Narrowcasting” video networks continue to sprout, enabling
marketers to put their messages in front of selective targets – from
health clubbers, to deli shoppers (Captive Audience), moviegoers
(IdeaCast), pet owners (SeeSaw Networks), to elevator riders
(Captivate Network). Innovations like these will drive out-of-home
to new heights.

Marketing as Service

For years, marketers were more concerned with what they said than
what their target heard, resulting in endless monologues. Marketers
who continually support their customers through the course of life,
providing value in each communication, will score big in 2008. The
value exchange can take many forms, but only if the marketer
understands the needs and aspirations of its target AND commits to a
genuine dialogue at every point of contact. The HSBC BankCab,
which provides free rides to HSBC
customers in New York City, is one example of marketing as service,
transforming customers into brand evangelists with every ride.
Marketers who treat marketing as a service and deliver real value to
customers and prospects alike will undoubtedly triumph in 2008.

Obviously, a few of these like “Time to Green” and “Marketing as Service” are closely aligned with Marketing for Good. As for the others, the goodness is to be found in how you use them versus the idea itself. I have no doubt some of you can figure out how to bring good to mobile marketing–and I’m certainly ready to listen. Maybe the Spaniards with their “why don’t you shut up?” ringtones have already figured it out. (If you aren’t familiar with King Juan Carlos’ comment to Hugo Chavez and the ensuing craziness, be sure to read about it here. Over 500,000 Spaniards have already paid two Euros for their very own “why don’t you shut up?” ringtone.) In Venezuela, having this ringtone is a form of protest! Now that’s inspirational.

The fundamental premise of Marketing for Good is that marketers can do well by doing good. As such, I’m always looking for research that supports this proposition. Before I share some more research let me dole out a couple drops of cynicism. In our profession, we often “beat the research until it confesses.” Further, we have been known to commission research to confirm a particular point-of-view vetting the data that does not support the desired “story.” It is no one wonder that one “wise statesman” once said “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

So it is with that good & cynical foundation in mind that I offer the research findings of a branding firm intent on helping companies do good. This particular study found its way to me via the Center for Media Research which publishes studies from all sorts of sources:

According to the inaugural BBMG Conscious Consumer Report, nearly
nine in ten Americans say the words “conscious consumer” describe
them well and are more likely to buy (if products are of equal
quality and price) from companies that:

* Manufacture energy efficient products (90%)
* Promote health and safety benefits (88%)
* Support fair labor and trade practices (87%)
* Commit to environmentally-friendly practices (87%)

The report goes on to list companies that consumers believe are the most socially responsible. The top ones include a number of companies featured on this blog over the last year:

* Whole Foods Market
(22%)
* Newman’s Own (19%)
* Wal-Mart
(18%)
* Burt’s Bees (17%)
* General Electric
(16%)
* Johnson & Johnson (16%)
* Ben & Jerry’s (16%)

Bottom line–if you want to believe, this study certainly supports the case for Marketing for Good. If you don’t, then you probably wouldn’t be reading this blog anyway. Here’s to the believers.