"Don't budget by medium."

There's a good article in AdAge summing up the authors takeaways from several industry heavyweights at Advertising Week on the topic of the digital divide, the divide between not only new media vs old media advertising but also operations. Yahoo Chief Marketing Officer Cammie Dunaway's advice to marketers: "Don't budget by medium." On his recent merger of offline and online operations, Carat CEO David Verklin said "Synchronization isn't integration."

The key point is a companies employees, agents, partners, etc.. should be all be focused on and rewarded for business value creation regardless of old or new execution methods. Both are valid and both will continue for some time. .. read on.

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Pudding ads in phone calls

Pudding Media is just launching the marketing of their new IP telephony service. The service is rather unique. It offers free phone calls over the Internet in exchange for showing you ads, which are relevant to your conversation. Apparently, they have a voice recognition system that monitors your call and then displays ads or content matching your conversation. This is much like what Google does within their Gmail service, which has sparked a tremendous amount of privacy issues.

The company positions their services as making phone calls interesting. As if ads (even relevant ones) really do that. What I like is that they are offering it up to content providers as a way to bring their communities together. For example, if I am a newspaper and have a story related to the current conversation about local school quality that [story] will be shown at the moment of the conversation, which should prompt further conversation and of course more advertising views. Think about the application of this to traditional forums and message boards.

Pudding Media will be one for online marketers to watch. The service is naturally one which will spread quickly and I suspect they will promote heavily within the social networks. They are being very stealthy now by having you preregister for an "invitation" to join when it is live (@ thepudding.com).

Not sure how they came about the name. I personally prefer "cake." JR

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What's a widget?

A widget used to be a description of some generic manufactured product, but now it is a real thing. Today we are hearing more and more about widgets, so here is a quick summary from a marketer's perspective. Simply defined, a widget is a portable chuck of computer code that can be embedded into a web page. A widget can be static or interactive and is often used to extend the widget maker's business to other websites. Widgets can be content, which updates automatically like the weather, a simple application such as a game or a form. For example, you can look to the right of this page and see how I have installed a simple widget of the top viral videos. I have nothing to do with updating this, I merely embedded the code into the blog template and voila, it appears and keeps refreshing itself. There are many ways to use widgets to effectively build your business. You tube created widgets to allow myspace.com users to embed video on their profile pages. They used the heavy traffic of myspace to draw an audience to their website and like magic it exploded. Building widgets is not that difficult - if you know what you want. You need a clear cut strategy in sync with your business goals and most importantly you need to make an effort against syndicating it.

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What's it called.. "Company Value" or "Customer Equity"?

There's an interesting article published yesterday in AdAge .. Seeking Higher ROI? Base Strategy on Customer Equity with a call to action... "Why CMO's Need to Pay Closer Attention to a New Metric to Focus Investments on the Most Profitable Actions."

The new metric is "Customer Equity", which is compared to the traditional metric "company value". The article offers such great advice as "Do more of what drives value" and "measure the return on your marketing.. in terms of Customer Equity". While the intent of the article is sound, we ask... how did we get here? It appears the marketing community has manufactured a "new metric" with "new measurement" ideas eerily similar to one of the oldest measurements in business.

As marketers we like "new" but let's not forget business basics and simple common sense as we develop our "new" ways to market our products and services. For example, Word of Mouth is "new" but is it? Hasn't your existing customer always been your best customer? Hasn't personal referral always been the most effective? What is new is the Internet and software technologies as the basis to efficiently scale our "new" marketing programs. So, make sure your "new" Word of Mouth marketing programs drive real "Customer Equity" growth.

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Making magazine subscriptions sticky

Consumers have many choices and unfortunately for magazine publishers their subscribers are having a much harder time understanding the value of their content. In most cases, they can find the information they need through search and if its community they are seeking; local discussion groups abound. Magazines have an advantage and that is they are considered a trusted resource for information; they are the authority. Subscribers however, are smart and demand more from their publishers to in turn commit their loyalty. Many publishers we work with have been reacting to this by lowering the price of their subscriptions. We advocate raising the price and provide them with more value. This is especially true in specialized niche audiences. So, where does the value come from? More pages in the magazine? Perhaps in part, but focus has to be on the web for value. The web is more scalable and able to reach every potential subscriber at a much lower cost. For years magazine publishers have used the web as a repository for their magazine content, posting it for all readers - for free. This tactic does more to decrease the value of the title than can ever be offset by the short term gains from incremental online advertising dollars. If publishers want to build long term value then they must first stop the churn rate and to do this they need to address the product they provide their subscribers. It's time to bring the magazine brand back to the center of the subscriber's relationship with their specific interest. Today this is much more than a printed book, which is filled with ads and sent weeks after news breaks. The web has so much potential to compliment print and become part of the subscription product. News, quality video, community, convenient applications, and proprietary insight are all what subscribers crave and believe it or not, the magazines are sitting on top of it. With a bit of focus and consumer insight publishers can extend their core product to deliver more value, retain more subscribers and maybe even grow their circulation. JR

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How to build community

To build community online YOU need to get your audience talking. The most important thing in developing a relationship with your audience is to engage them. So many times we speak with marketers about their "community" plans and they are simply missing the boat. People don't seem to understand just how difficult it is to build community. Many feel that putting technology into place, blasting an email to customers and posting an occasional message is enough. Au contraire, if this is your approach too then you are completely wasting your time. Think about what community means: "A group of people having common interests" (one definition). To bring people together that share common interests you need to connect with them as a peer on their level. In fact your entire organization needs to engage in your efforts and join the community. If you commit to a strategy of being one of your customers and engaging them directly as peers, your messages will be viewed as authentic (not a self-serving sales pitch) then they will genuinely feel like part of the (your) family. If you can accomplish this then your audience will come to you via your new friends' friends.

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Creating viral marketing applications

Try building an online application or game for your customers or audience. They will thank you by sharing it with friends. A good example of one we created is Hoozin?

Hoozin? is a scheduling tool designed to eliminate the common hassles of organizing a group gathering. How often is your inbox filled with messages back and forth about when and where a group will gather.. a golf game, a dinner out, a bike ride, a play date, a reunion, or even a business meeting... let's meet at 7 at the park, I can't, how about 7:30 at the beach, no 4:30 at the river is best for me... and soon, and so on. Hoozin? eliminates the nonsense and wasted time with a clean, simple scheduling program.

To use Hoozin?, the organizer simply suggests various dates, times and places to meet. Hoozin? sends one email message to all the desired participants, who, in turn, indicate their preferences on a web page for all involved to view. The organizer then reviews the groups preferences, sets the date/time/place most convenient for the group, and Hoozin? sends a second email to the group confirming the final details. It's that simple and it's free to use.

This is a great simple solution to common annoyance and most importantly it attracts new visitors right from your customer's address book.

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Infectious Thought: Get to know your best customers

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Building Relationships With Customers

If you develop a relationship and trust with your customer and they will help you build your business.

Back when I was in the food business (Greenfield Healthy Foods (91-97) and privately owned (before Campbell Soup bought us) we would spend a tremendous amount of time interacting with our customers. We were the first to develop and nationally distribute a line of "better for you" snack foods. This earned us many big fans and often times real vocal critics.

People want to be heard. Well, most of us anyway and there are ones out there that demand it. Each day I would plow through all our mail from consumers and personally answer many of them. The rest I would have our customer service representative or sales people handle. The mail ranged from tremendous praise to unmentionable threats. I often wondered why people would go to such lengths to communicate with a company over a silly cookie or brownie. Needless to say, it was important enough for them to write and we treated each one very thoughtfully.

We had a policy that everyone who wrote us would get real samples (not coupons) of our latest product. The more you were unhappy, the bigger the box you received. We would send our freshest product with many new flavors and of course a personal note from one of our executives (and we all wrote them). We let the customer know they were heard and rewarded them for providing feedback. Many times we would get second and third letters back from these customers, thanking us and providing us even more feedback on our products.

Once we felt we had a good repore with a customer, we would occasionally ask them a favor. You see, were were a pretty aggressive young company and needed to extend our distribution. We knew that in many chains when a store manager received a request from a local customer that they had to reply to it. We would write to our customer and include several boxes of product, but this time we would ask them to bring it to one of the local supermarkets where they shopped (and where we did not have distribution). This tactic would work like a charm for us. We had a real customer, who was passionate about our product make a heart felt pitch directly to the store manager. In some cases we received calls from the store manager seeking to carry the product or we would get a call from a headquarters buyer directly.

The experience taught me a tremendous amount about consumer behavior and how to benefit from your customer relationships. Most importantly, I learned that a relationship is not something which can be contrived from a single promotion. You need to make the effort to establish a genuine connection and develop a trust. After that you can have a lot of fun together. JR

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Generating great ideas

Great ideas don't come easy but you can get better if you practice.

We have all been there. You are watching the TV, surfing the web or out shopping and see a product or a campaign that strikes you. "What a great idea," you remark to yourself. This thing came out of nowhere and fully captivated you or even better made you purchase it.

How did it evolve? Was it years of careful research, design and testing? Perhaps to bring it to market, but I doubt it started that way. Most times it begins with a problem that some clever person identifies and then with a little creativity and combined with personal experience a germ of an idea is born.

I think of the new kids toy phenomenon Webkins. This is a remarkably simple concept that has been staring at us since the web was born. Someone said to themselves, "hey, if we sell something at retail, like a cute stuffed animal and put a unique tag on it so the buyer would have access to a personal animated web community, we can connect offline and online and own that customer 24/7/365 and better yet it can spread virally throughout kids social networks around the country." Webkins has the guts to follow that brilliant concept through and today most kids have them at home (mine have about 12).

For me ideas don't just jump out. As a father of three, owner of a business, co-chairman of a non profit organization and avid cyclist my free time is precious and my mind is usually very clouded with the multitude of tasks happening simultaneously. This is the story for most of us.

Normally I am pretty creative when I can get the quiet time to think. So what I do is make time, and for me, the best way to do that is during a workout. On my off days from cycling, I like to run. I get about 1-1.5 hours of solid "me time" and it is amazingly stimulating. The thoughts that stream through my head while out running come out like someone has opened the flood gates. If I am running in the morning I mostly think about business related matters and after work it's usually family or personal. Either way, you let your brain loose and wonderful thoughts come streaming. Keep in mind there are two things that can trip you up: 1. The iPod - if you want to get the most of your brain don't bring the iPod. 2. The intensity of the workout - Pain has a way of getting in the way of good thoughts sometimes, but you can harness the after effects of a tough workout during your cool down phase. After you are done going hard, just slow down, enjoy the accomplishment, the onset of endorphins and some stimulating free thinking time.

Great ideas are inside each of us. Make time to think about whatever is important to you. Make it without distraction and most importantly make it fun. If you do this you will not only be more productive in your life and work, but you may even come up with the next Webkin. - JR

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For a big brand what does "buzz" get you?

Big brands don't need "buzz" from their marketing; they need revenue.

This promotion by World Wrestling Entertainment (press release below) is very clever, but what did it really accomplish? Where are the results? How many new paid subscriptions or event tickets did they sell?

We agree that it is important to be concious about brand building and image, but a big brand like WWE has enough buzz. We like to see WOM promotions (even better central WOM strategies), which deliver specific business metrics - the only way to judge success.

You would never present your marketing plan to your CEO by saying that we are going to grow sales by creating "buzz". As you enter planning season consider integrating a comprehensive WOM program within your overall marketing strategy, which focuses on the key value drivers within your business. It should be very well received. - JR



WWE(R) Names Its 'Biggest Fan' Through Successful Viral Video ContestWednesday August 29, 4:46 pm ET

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--World Wrestling Entertainment® and Ziddio's "Are You WWE's Biggest Fan?" contest culminated on Friday evening in New York City, as lifelong WWE fanatic Mike Timpson of Los Angeles, Calif., beat out thousands of other contestants on his way to being crowned WWE's "Biggest Fan."

This summer, "Are You WWE's Biggest Fan?" -- a contest hosted by WWE and Comcast's user-generated site, Ziddio -- asked WWE fans around the country to submit videos to http://www.ziddio.com/, showcasing why they believe they are WWE's 'Biggest Fan.' Fans turned out in full force to display their passion for the WWE brand, making "Biggest Fan" one of Ziddio's more popular contests to date.

To celebrate the crowning of WWE's Biggest Fan, WWE 24/7 and its affiliate partners will be giving away a free month of the subscription video on demand service in September to new subscribers as the service showcases the video created by Timpson as well as the videos from the other contest finalists.

"We were truly impressed with the passion of the WWE fans and their excitement shown through their videos and the sheer number of entries in the contest," said Elizabeth Schimel, Senior Vice President, Entertainment, Comcast Interactive Media. "This was one of the most successful promotions we have done to date."

The video contest culminated during SummerSlam® weekend at a special red carpet event in New York City's Times Square. Fifteen contest finalists from around the country were flown in by WWE to have their videos voted on by a special panel of WWE Superstar judges, including Stone Cold Steve Austin®, John Cena®, and Batista(TM). Three thousand fans traveled to Times Square to be a part of the event, with more than 1,000 of them packing into the Spotlight Live venue.

The excitement was palpable as the judges conferred, eventually crowning lifelong fanatic Timpson as "WWE's Biggest Fan." Timpson's video creatively and comically showcased the effect to which 30 years of WWE entertainment has influenced him at home, at work and throughout his daily life. As grand prize winner, Timpson took home $25,000 and a specially-made WWE Biggest Fan Championship belt. All of the finalists were on hand at Continental Airlines Arena Sunday night for SummerSlam.

The contest buzz spread across the internet with contestants creating campaigns on MySpace and Facebook to encourage their friends, family and supporters to endorse their videos on Ziddio.com in their quest to be crowned the WWE biggest fan. Locally, fan videos entries were promoted on local TV news, radio and daily newspapers that produced feature pieces on their hometown viral video stars.

"These user-generated videos were the kind that marketers dream about - unique content that brings out the essence of a brand and generates buzz, which this certainly did for Ziddio and WWE," said Peter Clifford, WWE Senior Vice President of Affiliate Sales and Marketing. "We never cease to be amazed at the loyalty for the WWE brand displayed by our fans, and this contest format truly brought this to life in a compelling way."

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Making the Connection

It's frightening to hear from clients about how little or infrequently they connect with their customers. This is not just a select group of companies I am talking about; these are ones with millions if not billions of dollars in marketing budgets. If they do communicate, it is merely passive via an email newsletter or at best a staged event. And of course it is done one way en masse with no personal message what so ever.

You want to know the real reason? This is a quote from a client prospect we were pitching not too long ago: “No, I don’t think we can do that. It will require a lot of work and time”. It’s true and it unfortunately captures much of what is wrong with corporate America today. We left the meeting shaking our heads in disbelief.

Yes, maintaining relationships with customers is hard and it does take time. You need to have a long term strategy, constantly updated plan and more importantly a commitment by the entire company. It has to be part of your culture. Change is hard, but communicating is not.

No longer do we need to depend upon expensive direct mail and in person visits to interact with customers. There are infinite electronic tools at our fingertips, which we can cleverly use to track customer behavior, send messages, extend rewards and solicit feedback. Companies we work with take advantage of some of these tools, but far too often they are done as one-off promotions with no overarching plan.

Think about it another way – via the customer. She leases a $50,000 car and the first thing she receives is a bill from the leasing company. Then she gets a call at around dinner time a couple weeks later from an offshore survey company asking about her experience at the dealership. Months later she may get their company magazine and assorted direct mail promotions. Of course when her lease is about to expire, the auto maker begins to get real friendly sending discount offers and upgrade promotions on a weekly basis. This person was recently my wife and she had no problem moving her business away from the original dealer. She went to different very prominent foreign brand and guess what happened? . . .the exact same experience.

Hearing these stories makes me cringe, because I know the marketing folks really want to change, but the corporate culture where they work usually gets in the way. - JR

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Infectious Thought: WOM requires a company wide commitment

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