Category: Drew’s Articles

A fellow Renegade recently took a job on the Client side and asked for some advice to ease the transition. Here’s what I suggested:

1. Know your brand: Seems simple enough but you’d be amazed at how many folks on the client side can’t articulate their brand’s values and aspirations. Without this understanding, how can you possibly judge creative work and arbitrate between what is and isn’t on brand? Knowing your brand means knowing its history, its customers, its competition and its strengths and weaknesses. This takes time and a deep sense of curiosity but is well worth the trouble. Once you know your brand, your job will become much easier and the work you get to approve, much better.
2. Know your company: Again, this seems like a no brainer, but if you, as a top marketer, don’t know the ins and outs of your company, you don’t stand a chance of getting great work through your company’s hierarchy. This understanding is especially important for new arrivals who are eager to make their mark but stumble when they incorrectly read the politics of their company. Before you jump in and set a new direction, make sure you have a firm foundation of support both intellectually and politically. The expression “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,” comes to mind.
3. Own the integration process: Lots of clients allow each of their agency partners to have their own creative strategy for each of the marketing disciplines. This is not a bad practice in and of itself, but it can lead to disintegrated communication programs. A great client insists that their agencies work together to develop one over-arching strategy and one over-arching campaign. This approach leads to big campaign ideas like the Dove “Campaign for Real Beauty” and GE’s “Ecomagination.”
4. Have some chutzpah: Let’s face it, cutting through these days is tough and it takes some chutzpah. In the era of the ad-zapping DVRs, perhaps the biggest risk is not taking one at all. If you are uncomfortable trying to do something fresh, then marketing is probably a bad career choice. Imagine the chutzpah it took to tell the board of a conservative insurance company that their new spokesperson was a duck? Ten years later that same duck has increase shareholder value by a zillion and made Aflac a household brand. So the next time you are reviewing campaign ideas, keep in mind that one you are certain you could never sell to the CEO might be the campaign that makes you and your company famous.
5. When in doubt, test online: Since too much chutzpah could cost you your job, especially if you haven’t been there very long, you might need some ammunition to convince the boss that a particular ad or campaign is worth the risk. One way to do this is to test the campaign online. Online testing has the advantage of being incredibly targeted and swift to produce. We recently ran a campaign that was meant to drive online sales and included a pool of 5 different ads, one of which was a little racy. Turns out that the slightly racy ad outsold the others in the pool three to one. Ironically, we still ended up pulling that ad because of one complaint letter!
6. Be nice: Linda Kaplan Thaler wrote a whole book on the “Power of Nice” in business and in life. Unfortunately, her book is not on the “must read” list at many companies. For those of you just starting out in the business, it may not be obvious that being nice is a prerequisite to maximizing your ROA (Return on Agency). In fact, you may get the sense that the opposite is true, what with procurement beating up on the financial side, CEO’s crying “to heck with brand just give me sales,” and everyone else placing the blame on the agency for just about everything but product defects. It is a tough time to be Nice, but the rewards, I assure you, are extraordinary. Be nice and you’ll inspire a level of dedication reserved for the worthy, the heroic, the best of the best. And even if that doesn’t happen, at least you’ll have a “nice” answer to your kid’s question, “How was work today?”

Of course, I’m just an agency guy—what do I know?

A new year awaits, ripe with promise. Time to pounce on the opportunities that guarantee higher ROA in 2008. Here are a few for your consideration:

1. Stand for something—Sounds simple enough but few brands or companies for that matter, really stand for anything. Those that do seem to thrive and inspire endless amounts of creativity from their agency partners. Apple stands for originality, consistently delivering products and services that are intuitive, elegant and a joy to use. (For more on how Apple got here, see this great summary on basement.org). Dove stands for self-esteem, striving to help women find “real beauty.” What will you stand for in 2008?
2. Fix your product—Is there some aspect of your product or service that you simply know is not competitive? This is the year to get it right before you spend millions on marketing the same old same old. The ancient adage that ‘there is nothing like a great ad campaign to kill a bad product’ applies now more than ever. With bloggers waiting to pounce faster than you can say Digg, your flaws will be paraded for all to see. You need look no further than Dell and Jet Blue to know how quick and painful an avalanche of negative cyberink can truly be.
3. Provide vision not tactics—It’s your brand. Tell us where you want to go, share your vision, loud and proud. But don’t be ultra-prescriptive, detailing every last tactic you want to pursue. Nothing inspires a clever agency like a clear destination AND an open road. You’ll be amazed at the creative solutions your agency (partners) will discover to help you get where you want to go. With so many tactical options to consider, the most effective combination of tactics is rarely clear until the big idea is discovered. Limit the tactics upfront and you’ll undoubtedly be asking yourself later “why isn’t my agency thinking out of the box?”
4. Think about marketing as service—Instead of investing your precious marketing dollars on ads that explain why your widget is superior use your marketing to provide a genuine service that benefits customers & prospects alike. Your customers will thank you with increased loyalty and your prospects will appreciate the added value you delivered. The HSBC BankCab provides a service, giving customers a free ride in NYC. It also generates tons of good will and PR in the process. For many more examples visit MarketingForGood.net.
5. Dance with your customers—Everyone talks about having a dialogue with your customers and this has spawned the user generated content craze. And a dialogue is certainly better than a monologue–but a dance is better still. A dance is a far more intimate and memorable affair. It requires being in sync with your customers, creating interactive brand experiences both offline and online that are simply unforgettable. Channel Al Pacino in “Scent of a Woman” and you’ll be dancing into the marketing history books in 2008.
6. Measure what matters—Of course, the ultimate goal of marketing is to support sales. However, when was the last time you made a significant purchase decision without doing some research first? The reality is that most of us collect all sorts of information from all sorts of sources, narrow our list to a reasonable consideration set and then make a purchase decision based on price, availability, convenience, reputation and a myriad of intangibles including that bane of rational marketers: “I just like that brand better.” Marketing can and does impact the consumer across their journey. You need to measure the critical milestones along this journey not just the sales at the end. If your CEO asks “are your communications working?” then you need to be able to show your “dashboard” with all the critical datapoints from awareness to trial, purchase consideration to Net Promoter Score, web traffic to social media buzz and so forth. This sounds so obvious but you’d be amazed how few CMO’s have the metrics they need to defend their campaigns.
7. Say thanks—We agency types are like faithful workhorses, toiling 24/7 to please our masters. A heart-felt bit of praise is cheaper than a crisp apple or sugar cube and goes a long way to ensure continued dedication. We know it is our job to meet your deadlines, to deliver big ideas and to flawlessly execute them. Just the same, a little praise goes a country mile on our side of the fence. Think about it, offering up a thank you for a job well done costs you nothing and could be the glue that holds your high-performing agency team together for another campaign or six.
8. Your welcome—Make a point of sitting down with your agencies this January to discuss how the relationship could be more productive. You might be surprised how an open dialog could identify some simply fixes on both sides that can speed up the process, increase the work quality and improve overall program results. Make sure you ask for a frank appraisal of your staff as well. You might learn about an abusive product manager who is a thorn in everyone’s side, gumming up the works and is in need of a “fresh” opportunity in the shipping department at your Des Moines warehouse.
9. RIP RFPs—Here’s a wacky thought, forget the RFP’s for small projects this year. The time your staff will spend preparing, briefing and reviewing redundant proposals could surely be put to better use and negates any possible cost-savings procurement might squeeze out of your otherwise demoralized agency. Instead, give the project to one of your long-time agency partners as a reward for all their hard work to-date and as an incentive to making your business their most important and beloved. Not only will you save time but also you’ll probably end with a more cost-effective marketing campaign. Cheers to that!

Optimistic by nature, we marketers tend to rally behind the next big thing faster than you can say
“sub-prime mortgage.” In 2008, marketers should avoid “strategic planning” hyperbole and focus instead on measuring their success one satisfied customer at a time. The following is a brief look at ten ideas that could help you engage prospects, bond with your customers and maybe even make the world a better place.

Time to Green
Having a “green” plan is no longer a luxury. Every day, another venerable brand, from HSBC to BP, Wal-Mart to Intel, Toyota to Aveda announces its commitment to a sustainable future. While much is hype, “green washing,” that delivers modest environmental impact, new rating services like B Corporation will help all of us tell the “difference between good companies and just good marketing.” As GE announces billions in green-related sales, and BP fends off bad eco-press, you might even find a new eco-seat in the boardroom – Chief Green Officer, or CGO. Dupont and Dow Chemical already have Chief Sustainability Officers. Regardless of the title, make sure someone in your organization is evaluating the environmental impact of your company and setting measurable goals for the three “r’s” in green — reducing, recycling and reusing.

Outdoor Activity
The big surprise this year was the rebound in out-of-home advertising, growing faster than every medium except the Internet. This old standby reinvented itself as a technology-rich means of engaging, entertaining and educating commuters who find themselves trapped in ever longer commutes. Mini Cooper tested RFID-activated billboards that personalized messages to drive by customers. This highly customized approach linked “old” (outdoor) with “new” (online), transforming an integrated media platform into a cult-building private 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) and elevator riders (Captivate Network). Innovations like these will drive out-of-home to new heights.

Get in the Game
Gaming now permeates our society, creating fresh ways for marketers to connect. Millions of non-golfers started swinging virtual clubs as the Nintendo Wii transformed the notion of video games. Senior citizen centers bought Wiis to entertain guests and to help connect with grandkids. MTV has invested $500 million in online games, on top of the millions it spent acquiring AddictingGames. And although gaming accounts for 13% of online time it accounts for just 1% of online ad dollars. Even B2B marketers will be smart to give gaming a fresh look while seeking to blend messaging, training or recruiting with gaming.

Mobile – I Can Hear You Now
This may be the year to give mobile a closer look as technological improvements and new products create fresh opportunities for marketers. On the tech front, Bluetooth-enabled phones have made it easier for mobile marketers to provide contextually relevant information. The Air Force set up Bluetooth transmitters at racetracks to communicate with potential recruits. Apple’s iPhone, which seamlessly moves from cell to WiFi, partnered with Google and Yahoo to enable ad-supported programming. A new service, Cellfire, has enlisted a million people to receive coupons for burgers to videos. The promise of mobile marketing is that it can deliver highly personalized and useful information when and where you need it. As long as marketers don’t spam, mobile marketing could be the missing link in personalized communications.

Join the Club
Marketers will be wise to capitalize on the growing appeal of social networks in 2008. Besides the Goliaths, MySpace and Facebook, social networks exist in niches, from teens (Pizco and Tagged) to seniors (Eons) to photographers (Flickr) to young do-gooders (AllDayBuffet) to B2B (LinkedIn & Plaxo) to just about every interest group (MeetUp). Two more are under construction by Renegade including a virtual Gilda’s Club for people living with cancer and networking site for CMO’s. For Chase, creating a partnership with Facebook has helped make their “+1” credit card the card of choice among college students. Other marketers might be smart to create a social network or to take an existing virtual social network and make it physical (Second Life had its first offline convention in 2007).

Rise of the Widgets
New mini-software applications, “widgets,” provide marketers unprecedented access to hard-to-reach targets as Facebook and MySpace can attest. According to ComScore, over 220 million folks used widgets last May. iLike, which allows Facebook users to share iTunes playlists, grew to over 15 million users in under a year. Slide, which allows users to create slideshows and embed them in their social network homepages, claims to be the largest personal media network in the world, reaching 120 million unique viewers monthly. That’s but the beginning of the widget avalanche.

Roll Video
With +70% broadband penetration in the US, streaming video is no longer optional, it’s a must have tool for marketers. eMarketer reports 123 million Americans watch a video at least once a month; three-quarters tell a friend about a video. Whether you are a B2B or B2C marketer, video is an enormous opportunity to engage, educate and entertain, the three new “Es” of successful marketing. 92% of newspaper websites have video content, up from 61% in 2006. Lots of brands now produce instructional videos to help customers understand how to install or use their product or service. Others create pure entertainment, hoping it will build brand affinity or drive web traffic. But the ubiquity of video is not without its challenges. With 7+ million hours of video online, cutting through will require quality storytelling and judicious editing. One 2007 study notes that video viewing drops off dramatically after 30 seconds. Short and sweet videos will be the “up and down” of 2008, getting web traffic up and complaint calls down.

From Behavioral to Contextual
Marketers would be smart to add behavioral targeting to contextual “search” efforts. AOL certainly 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 Renegade 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 an integrated approach to marketing is not news, nor will it be tomorrow. What will be news is how brand experiences will move to the top of the integration food chain, becoming the driving force of communications. It used to be that events and online initiatives were treated by marketers as “below the line” after thoughts. Increasingly, marketers are coming to realize that interactive brand experiences can be far more effective than passive advertising and should be the starting point of a customer conversation. The Nike+ program which helps runners be runners physically (at Niketown stores) and virtually (at Nike+’s website) is a great example of experience as marketing driver. Market research supports this approach as study after study reveals the enormous impact of brand experiences on consumer purchase intent, loyalty and likelihood to recommend.

Marketing as Service
For years, marketers were more concerned with what they said than what the target heard, resulting in endless monologues that fell on deaf ears. Marketers who continually support customers through the course of life, providing genuine value in each communication, will score big in 2008. This 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 but one example of marketing as service, transforming customers into brand evangelists with every ride. Marketers who treat marketing as service and deliver real value to customers and prospects alike will undoubtedly triumph in 2008.

Consumers around the world are taking charge, transforming their relationships with brands from buyer to reviewer, inventor, designer, ad creator, champion or critic. The insightful folk at trendwatching.com call this phenomenon “Customer-Made,” and believe, like I do, that this is not a fad. If anything, brand democratization is a global movement that will just get stronger as consumers thrive on their increased control. The challenge for marketers is to determine how to ride this wave without crashing into the rocks.

Like most tidal waves, this one was caused by seismic shifts, as the internet, new digital technologies and even Reality TV all converged to create a perfect storm of consumer power. The internet is by far the most significant force, shifting the balance of power from seller to buyer.

Savvy marketers have responded by enlisting the consumer to create their own entertainment (MySpace, Current TV), products (Peugeot, Lego), packaging (Jones Soda) and, of course, advertising (MasterCard, L’Oreal, Chevy, Converse, Firefox and Sony Pictures, to name a few). In fact, with so many riding this wave, one can’t help but wonder what a marketer needs to do to cut through. Here are five tips:

1. Renew focus on customer satisfaction
In this new realm, all client houses are made of glass and consumers can wield some pretty big stones. As such, the first order of business is to focus on customer satisfaction like never before. Satisfied customers won’t throw stones –in fact, they’ll do just the opposite, tossing praise to all who will listen.

In Fred Reichheld’s new book, The Ultimate Question, he describes the success enjoyed by a number of companies focused on customer satisfaction. One such company is Chick-fil-A, a quick-service restaurant chain that enjoys incredible customer and employee loyalty. Very curious about how a fast food place had gained such notoriety, I visited a Chick-fil-A restaurant on a recent business trip to Atlanta. Sure enough, my chicken sandwich was delicious and the lemonade was fresh. But the real surprise was the service –as I was sitting eating my sandwich, a women came up to ask me if everything was okay– I almost fell off my chair –this would never happen at McDonald’s.

A few moments later, I noticed they were selling a book by the founder called Eat Mor Chicken: Inspire More People. When I asked for a copy the manager brought it from the back and subsequently told me his story: he had been with Chick-fil-A since high school, and even though he got a college degree in engineering, he enjoyed the company too much to leave. This kind of loyalty is unheard of in the fast food industry but was completely understandable once I read the founder’s book –it all boils down to this simple notion– give more than you get and you’ll do just fine.

2. Keep it real
In the world of brand democratization, where everyone can know everything about your company, it is essential to keep it real. One of the ways to do this is to support blogs –allowing employees to state the truth as they see it, sharing the good and bad about your company and products. Companies like IBM and Microsoft have done a good job enabling employee blogs, making these companies appear more human and less bureaucratic.

Another approach to keeping it real is by employing a “blog monitor.” Starwood Hotels has the Starwood Lurker, an employee who spends 40 hours a week in the blogosphere responding to consumer comments. In the last four years, he has generated over 11,000 postings, engaging in conversations with Starwood’s most valued customers and undoubtedly calming some of the disgruntled. By being identified as the Starwood Lurker, not posing as an everyday consumer, Starwood is enhancing its credibility and showing its willingness to listen to customers.

3. Reward content generators
As more and more companies ask their customers to create ads or other content, consumers are going to wise up about giving away all this content for free. The smart marketer will find a way to reward content creators, especially those that are generating revenue as a result of consumer contributions. Consumers are motivated by a number of reasons –status, employment, fun, access, connection– find the one that makes most sense for your target and make sure you deliver.

Current TV is running a contest that pays $500 for the first ‘pod’ selected for airing and $1000 for the fourth selected submission. While this is unlikely to make any aspiring commercial designer rich, its certainly likely to keep students and other creative types engaged in the process.

4. Filter out the lame stuff
In an environment, where seemingly every marketer has a user generated ad program, marketers that become recognized for filtering out the weak content, will enjoy the most success. The Converse Gallery is a great example of a quality filtering system and their success is largely due to their ability to screen out duds. Because they have become a reliable filter, aspiring filmmakers and ad types consider a posting in the Converse Gallery to be a badge of honor, a critical portfolio piece.

Renegade recently launched a user generated film contest for Panasonic targeting action sports enthusiasts (www.sharetheair.net ) . We seeded the site with content created by professional skate videographers from Girl and Chocolate. We will continue the filtering process as submissions arrive, posting the best and trashing the rest.

5. Create brand experiences

Finally, in this new world order of customers in charge, marketers should seek to deliver a brand experience, not just a product. Apple Computer provides one of the best examples with their highly successful Apple retail stores that have become a haven for the Mac faithful. A few weeks ago, Apple launched a new retail store in heart of New York City on 5th Avenue. The glass cube above the store sets an expectation that this is a special place, that Apple thinks different like its ads promise.

As part of the launch, Apple had a web cam focused on the cube for Apple fans worldwide to see. One enterprising individual actually proposed marriage to his girlfriend via the web cam. Very few brands inspire the kind of devotion that would literally marry the consumer to their brand. Because Apple consistently focuses on customer satisfaction, keeps it fresh, keeps it real and continuously delivers a rich brand experience, they are riding the wave of brand democratization better than most.

Follow these five tips and you too will be able to ride this wave like a pro.

Aye, we approached the ship armed with two muskets, one saber and a long knife fully intent on seizing our share of the treasure aboard–one way or another. We strolled toward the waiting wenches, one of whom asked for our papers, a dance and finally our room number. The security team gave us suspicious looks and beseeched the captain to bar our entry. Instead he waved us through and chuckled after my pirate matey Trip Hunter boasted, “we’ll be seein’ ya later Cap’n!”

So began our adventure on the Marketing Forum, a three-day cruise to nowhere on the sparkling Norwegian Dawn. This was our third year on what one former passenger described as “the cruise from hell,” where clients can find no escape from the relentless assaults of a hundred or so rapacious vendors. Somewhat similar to a speed dating service, the folks at Richmond Events strive to match client needs with agency wants, pre-arranging breakfast, lunch and dinner “dates” with hundreds of half-hour meetings stacked in-between. Miraculously, it all works out and thus many return year after year, like the lemmings to cliffs.

Cutting through in this environment isn’t easy. Every vendor sends their best pitchmen and women; all seemingly capable of striking up instantaneous friendships with their prospects, all shamelessly determined to sell their services as “best of breed.” After the first four hours of pitches, many clients lose their will to live as they realize that they are stuck at sea for two more days. The only potential relief happens at night when cocktails, casino and comedians promise to drown most sorrow.

Yet even the evening isn’t pain free—everyone is supposed to dress up, men in black tie, women in fancy evening gowns, which is not on top of anyone’s list after an exhausting day of pitching or being pitched. With the casino fully inclined to take every last nickel, the ship’s comedian being as funny as mud and some vendors still circling prospects like sharks, the situation could be bleak for all but the most valiant of marketeers.

As veterans of this voyage, we knew there was indeed buried treasure on board; the trick would be to search in an entirely unexpected way, a way that not only engaged our prospects but also reinforced our position as renegade marketers. The question was did we have the guts to do something different, to take the kind of risks we often advise our clients to take. It was not without trepidation that we boarded the ship as pirates and then reappeared in the same costumes both black tie evenings.

On the first night of black tie, an unsuspecting client was already seated at our dinner table. Dinners are pre-arranged with the vendors having the same table every night and the clients moving from place to place. Wonderfully Midwestern, she really did not know what to say when the two pirates introduced themselves as her hosts. After catching her breath, she realized that this was not going to be a boring night of sales pitches, and she played along as waiters, busboys and fellow shipmates barraged the table with “ayes” and “arrrs”.

Despite the initial awkwardness of trying to have a serious conversation with two guys wearing silk bandanas on their heads, not to mention the rest of our brocaded buccaneer vestments, we actually enjoyed an inspired repartee with all of our dinner guests. Sure we covered their business needs but not before sauntering through their personal passions. One was a reader, another a mountain biker and so on. Somehow it just seemed right to tell the pirates whatever they wanted to know, personal or otherwise.

We left the dinner table both nights with promises in hand, mainly that they’d take our call when we followed up. On this ship, the gold is often found, not immediately, but down the river a bit, when the needs and timing align like a sail on a yardarm. For example, we just got a call from a prospect we had met two years earlier on the very same ship. The challenge, therefore, is to make sure your initial encounter is sufficiently memorable, a notion that any pirate could firmly grasp.

Practically bouncing into the casino, we were greeted with “yars” at every table. Turns out, we weren’t the only ones who’d spent time on the “International Talk Like A Pirate Day” website. There’s just something about being a pirate that inspires otherwise normal men to growl and otherwise stalwart women to swoon. And not just the dopes–we had a bonafide female rocket scientist join our merry band of pirate wannabees.

By the second day of meetings, about half the ship had either seen “the pirates” or heard about them. When visitors came to our little meeting space, which was sprinkled with gold doubloons, it didn’t take long before they exclaimed, “You guys were the pirates, weren’t you?” to which we responded “Avast ye matey, you’re smarter than a Gordian knot!” And though we expected some would question our sanity, most simply lauded our vivid demonstration of cutting through in a sea of sameness.

By the morning of our departure, we seemed to be friends with just about everyone on the slowly waking vessel. Wearing just our eye patches–anything more would have been too much for 8AM–we were hounded by choruses of “thar go the Renegade pirates”. The night before, we ran out of business cards greeting a flurry of prospects and parrying with competitors who nodded their heads to our daring (and undoubtedly contemplated their wardrobe options for the next voyage). As we threw our legs over the railhead, scaled the gangway and headed back to our offices, we knew without question that it’s good to a pirate.