Tag: Home Depot

Reading v. Viewing: Which is Better?

Posted on by Drew Neisser

Let’s do a little test together.  Watch the video below which features Trish Mueller, CMO of Home Depot and Pete Krainik, founder of The CMO Club, and make note of the marketing insights you gained.  Next, please read my interview below, also with Trish Mueller. Then jot down your key takeaways.  You’ll have to trust me that both are well worth your time and in no way are redundant.

Drew: What 1385af4innovations/programs are you particular proud of?

I am proud of the seamless transition we’ve made into the digital, social and mobile world, and I am most proud of how our team continues to innovate in a “VUCA” world (volatile, unpredictable, chaotic and ambiguous!).  I enjoy the fact that here’s no map for where we’re going – we’re operating on the frontier of the new media world & we’re forging new digital roads every day.

Drew: How do you keep innovating in the shifting sands of marketing? Is this a mindset, a culture, a staffing issue?

We have built a dynamic culture of curiosity & courage, and we encourage a fast test & learn mentality across the entire team.  It is definitely a team sport, with ideas coming from team members at any level or rank.

Drew: Where do your get your inspiration? 

I am a voracious reader & I specifically pay attention to what is happening across retail marketplaces, not just in home improvement. I spend time with peers in other specialties, and I also spend time with our marketing team at every level, to see what is on their minds and to pressure test if we are missing out on opportunities that may not otherwise get in front of me.  I work very hard to be approachable, so everyone feels they can share their ideas – you never know where the next innovation may come from & you’ll never hear about it unless you dig in with the team.

Drew: How do you instill creativity across your department / organization? 

First, we nurture creativity with existing team members, we reward those who take risks to learn and we actively recruit against specific criteria to fuel the talent pipeline long term.  We look to have our staff reflect a perfect balance between subject matter expertise and new, unconventional thinking. When recruiting, we focus on “raw talent”, those who have the right mind set versus matching just to specific expertise in given functions.  This approach with staff feeds the group’s curiosity, tests our thinking and fosters a culture of “what if we tried this?” vs. the legacy of “we do it this way.”

Drew: A lot of marketers go so far as to celebrate failures as a reminder of the importance of taking risks to move forward.  Have you had any programs that didn’t work out as hoped and if so, how did you make sure the organization not only learned from the misstep but also that the folks responsible didn’t get punished?

We have a very strong communications-based culture that keeps innovation and quality work in front of everyone.  I personally recognize our team accomplishments every Friday in a formal communication that goes out to the entire marketing team.  I also recognize team members individually with thank you notes, shout outs in our monthly “All Hands” meetings, additionally we award a special quarterly innovation award.  We call it the “Big Swing” award, which recognizes a person or a team for taking a swing at exploring new ideas which helped us learn, even if the idea may not have worked out as we originally thought.  During the all marketing team presentation, we lean more on what we learned in the recognition vs. whether it failed or succeeded. 

Drew: Looking ahead to 2016, what is the single biggest challenge that you’d like to overcome? 

I’d prefer not to answer this one – I will either give away a key strategy to potential competitors or expose some weakness, not to mention opening myself up to a zillion cold calls from companies wanting to sell me new technology that supports my goals!

BLOG POST continued:  SO, if you complied with my request to watch the video and the read the interview, then first and foremost, I suspect you’ve come away with a super positive portrait of Trish Mueller.  And based on other conversations I’ve had with Trish, your perception is dead on.  Second, you probably remembered different things from each. I thought the video was particularly good at demonstrating the power of in-store home improvement classes. (By the way, that is wonderful example of “Marketing as Service” in action.)  Our interview reveals more of Trish’s management style, how she stays on top of her game and how Home Depot encourages risk taking.

So which is better? The video is beautifully produced and obviously took a lot more time to create than my interview.  The video has the advantage of sight, sound and motion.  The interview, on the other hand, goes deeper and into areas that wouldn’t have translated as well on video.  And that’s the point. Different media communicate differently. Neither is “better” in the absolute, both have their strengths. Like instruments in an orchestra, each can certainly stand alone but the combo is almost always more powerful.

 

In-Bound from Obama: 10 Ideas for 2009

Posted on by Drew Neisser

If you think the marketing challenges of 2009 look daunting, imagine for a moment you were Barack Hussein Obama back in 2007. Being an unknown, untested, awkwardly-named black man with limited resources going against one of the biggest brand names in Democratic politics, you’d hardly anticipate a victory in the playoffs, much less a win in the finals. Yet, that is exactly what happened. Obama’s remarkable success offers a clear and prescient 10-point playbook for marketers who want to beat the odds in 2009.

Stand for Something
Knowing that 70% of the country thought the government was headed in the wrong direction, Obama offered a simple, consistent and rational message: “change.” He coupled that with an empowering and emotional call to action, “yes we can.” By appealing to both the rational desire for change and the emotional need for hope, Obama presented his brand as a movement and embraced the notion that former P&G CMO Jim Stengel calls “purpose-based marketing.” As the game gets rougher in 2009 and resources tighter, clarifying your purpose as a brand will be that much more significant. It will help you keep communications on point, your internal team inspired and your target more inclined to cast their vote for your brand.

Capture Your Fan Base
President-elect Obama’s use of the internet to build his fan base was unprecedented by all measures. As of November 4th, his website database included over 3 million hard-core fans that not only contributed millions in campaign funding but also volunteered to make calls, send emails and knock on doors. Members received a steady stream of emails including video, with specific calls to action keeping the fans motivated and on-point. He even had over 128,000 tweets tracking him via Twitter.

In what may be an historic use of email, he reached out to this group before his acceptance speech noting “I’m about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.” This legion of supporters was ready for mobilization at a click of a mouse, something that any marketer could find invaluable. While the notion of building a large database of users is not new, the importance of having such a base is compounded in a weak economy since email can be so cost effective at driving sales, word-of-mouth and loyalty. Make it a priority in 2009 to build an army of followers.

Empower Your Fan Base
Some marketing pundits are calling Obama’s campaign the first to truly apply web 2.0 techniques to the presidential race. According to exit polls, Obama won nearly 70% of the under 25 vote, a share percentage that any marketer would covet. If you haven’t looked at My.BarackObama.com, I highly recommend you take a tour (for a short cut watch the introductory video) and imagine this was your customer loyalty program. Then pop over to Facebook and MySpace, where Obama gathered over 4 million combined supporters, and imagine that this was how your brand leveraged social networks.

The key will be to truly engage your target, inviting them to join a conversation versus peddling your wares. If you do it right, at least 1 in 4 social networkers will gladly download branded content and 1 in 5 will post marketer-related content on their home page. One way or another, be sure to cast your marketing vote for social media in 2009.

Turn on the Videos
This campaign inspired unprecedented levels of online video viewing. On YouTube alone there were over 30 million views of Obama-related videos including the Yes We Can music video (14mm), Obama Girl (12.1mm) and his interview on Ellen (4.8mm). And of course millions more watched the highly damaging interview of Sarah Palin by Katie Couric.

While few brands can hope to gain this kind of following for their videos on YouTube, marketers would be remiss not to create them and use the videos for a variety of purposes from sales presentations to PR, online ads to viral. If you can get you fans to create the videos via user generated content programs, all the better. If not, be sure to keep your production costs low so you have some money to drive “seed” traffic.

Lighten Things Up
One of the more remarkable aspects of the Obama campaign is how he never lost his cool and in fact found moments for levity throughout. His appearance on Letterman a week before the election showed his lighter side as they laughed about Sarah Palin’s “lipstick on a pig” line. Not that Obama can take credit for it but I’m sure he is grateful to Tina Fey and the folks at Saturday Night Live who brilliantly lampooned Palin to the point that her only hope was to face the SNL camera directly—which of course was too little too late.

The point of all this is that comedy is still king and, as marketers, we need to keep things light especially in this dark economic period. Even typically serious B2B companies can find a place for humor. Tibco’s hilarious Greg The Architect video series has helped them connect with IT professionals who welcome a break from endless coding and relentlessly boring vendor pitches.

Touch Your Target
Despite all the success of his emails and videos, Obama never forgot the importance of the meet and greet. His campaign went to extraordinary lengths to have personal conversations with millions of Americans. His events were inclusive versus exclusive, holding his nomination acceptance speech at INVESCO Field in Denver and his victory speech at Grant Park in Chicago.

With budgets declining and the “stay at home economy” emerging, marketers might be inclined to rely on advertising and cut back on event/experiential marketing. This would be a mistake. Savvy marketers like Dress Barn have figured out that their customers actually want to get out of their homes and connect with their friends, which explains why Dress Barn’s in-store Very Indulgent Parties are so popular they are struggling to get them all on the calendar in each of their markets.

Measure Green, Make Green
While the economy was clearly the focus of the presidential campaign, during the primaries Obama credited the support of environmentalists who among others helped push him to victory. The Obama-Biden “New Energy for America” plan is an aggressive call for all companies to examine their carbon footprint and do something about it.

Expect to hear more about “supply chain environmentalism” which calls for marketers not only to consider what goes into their products but also to track the environmental impact of their entire supply chains. This in turn will create opportunities for companies like Enviance, whose software helps large companies measure and track emissions, and sites like GoodGuide.com, which rates products by their “greenness.” Green-savvy marketers will make the tracking of their environmental initiatives transparent, which will appeal to shareholders, regulators and potential consumers.

Do Well by Doing Good
The Obama campaign enlisted millions to give a little money for the cause of “change.” People stepped up because they felt part of something bigger than themselves. Now with donations to non-profits declining in lock step with the tanking economy, marketers have a unique opportunity to step up and show consumers they care about more than just sales, and prove that they are concerned with the well being of the community.

A recent PR Week study shows a close relationship between consumer perception and corporate social responsibility—companies that are well known for doing good have stronger word of mouth and more loyal customers. For example, 63% of Americans claim to have purchased a product because of a charitable association with the brand. The key is to pick a non-profit that makes sense for your organization, get employees involved and to make the support meaningful like Home Depot’s commitment to Habitat for Humanity to whom it is donating $30 million for a national green building project called “Partners in Sustainable Building.”

Define your Value
Taxes remained a dirty word in the 2008 presidential race as rising unemployment and falling home prices led to tightened pocketbooks. Marketers are facing a newly chastened non-consuming consumer with 65% of moms eliminating purchases that aren’t “absolutely necessary” and 52% who are just plain “cutting back” according to an Allen & Gerritsen study. It’s gotten so bad that orders for mall Santa Clauses are down 50% from 2007.

Few consumer-dependent companies can hope to thrive is this environment, but those with a clear value proposition will do less poorly. Wal-Mart is still seeing modest year-on-year increases, no doubt because of their clear value position. Starbucks, once an affordable luxury, has suddenly become an expensive afterthought. To compete in this dismal economy, your value proposition will be tested like never before as businesses and consumers ask, “Do I really need that?”

Spend It if You Got It
Ultimately, Obama ended up with the largest war chest in history, outspending McCain in some markets by as much as 4 to 1. In a zero sum game like politics, where the loser goes home, there is no holding back and you spend every last penny you raise (and then some.) Marketers, on the other hand, need to align their budgets with sales goals and make the most of what they’ve got. Ironically, with so many marketers cutting back, there are rare opportunities: from inexpensive sponsorships to remnant ad space both offline and online. Even search prices are expected to soften.

Category leaders will use this downturn to increase their share and upstart innovators will take advantage of retreating competition. Opportunity abounds for those marketers who classify marketing as an investment for their future, who believe that regardless of the short-term economic obstacles, brands will be built and history will be made.

Time for Good

Posted on by Drew Neisser

As the markets retreat and marketers regroup, non-profit organizations, especially New York-based ones, are sure to feel the pinch. The Wall St. Journal reported on this last week:

Officials at charities are trying to devise creative ways to stand out. They are making urgent appeals through direct-mail and email campaigns and taking to the airwaves. Charities also are gearing up to tap their wealthy board members and other well-off supporters for extra cash. If they fail, charities may have to cut staff or seek loans.

As I’ve noted before, brave marketers will dig deep and keep investing in their marketing for good activities. These commitments don’t have to only be in cash. Marketers like Home Depot have learned that they can make a huge impact on their local communities by donating the time and expertise of their employees. Here’s an inspiring example followed by a happy video that should cheer you up:

On Friday, August 22nd, 2008 volunteers from WNY AmeriCorps, Home Depot, and Hands On Greater Buffalo came together to revitalize the outdoor space in front of the Henry J. Kalfas Magnet School in Niagara Falls. Projects included planting a new garden in place of dead or obtrusive plants, installing paver blocks on either side of the walkway, building two benches, and painting the flagpole. A community cookout following the project welcomed local citizens to become invested in their school. Watch the video of the project day below!