News

It’s that time of year again and, even if you don’t make any resolutions on a personal level, my guess is that your organization’s marketing efforts could use some fine-tuning (or even radical change) as we face some of tough economic times.

So, here are some of the top suggestions from KMK Media Group staff on what your New Year’s Resolutions should be when it comes to your marketing and advertising in 2009:

1. Do a communications audit. Take ALL of your organizations communications – brochures, posters, print ads, website pages, emails, forms – and put them in a room. Do they all look the same? Do they all convey the same message? Do they represent your organization and its brand well? I bet you will be shocked, SHOCKED at the disparate branding messages your staff put forth every day. Get a hold of this stuff, people!

2. Create a plan that aligns with strategic business objectives. If your marketing plan isn’t aligned to the strategic business objectives of your company, you may as well be throwing money out the window. Do your homework – know what your CFO and CEO are thinking and learn the lingo of the boardroom. Do they want to grow X% in these particular geographic areas? Well, then marketing needs to ensure that’s their goal as well. Understand what “ROI,” “growth targets” and other buzzwords mean and apply them in your marketing planning. Make sure your marketing plan is measurable and then…measure it!

3. Be Collaborative. As mentioned in No. 2, marketing needs to align itself with the goals of the organization. But as marketers, we also need to open ourselves to suggestions and feedback from all levels. For example, ask your front-line employees their thoughts about how to better reach current and potential customers.  Convene a focus group or two of current clients and really hear what they say about the strengths and weaknesses of your business and its brand.

4. Upgrade your Digital Presence. Your website needs to be moving into a “2.0″ life cycle. (And there is simply NO excuse for not even having a website anymore). Add a blog feed, an audio or video podcast and/or polish the interface. Educate yourself about search engine optimization and how you can optimize your site. Try social media. Start an email newsletter service.

5. Plan your public relations for the year. Take a calendar and, if possible, literally plot out pertinent months/weeks for your organization and how you can tie that into news cycles. Spend some time learning the local media landscape and how your organization can help them tell compelling stories. PR is one of the most cost-effective marketing tools at your disposal, so make sure it’s a large part of your marketing plan for the year.

6. Review your media contracts. If you haven’t already, review all of your contracts with your media outlets and other vendors. Chances are, you can negotiate your rates to be more favorable in 2009 given the scarcity of advertisers these days. Or, if you can’t get a lower rate ask for freebies and “value adds” like additional ads, free color, or a promo tie-in.

Any one of these tips have multiple posts previously on ADWire – click here to search those.

This next year will be challenging – we all know that. So let’s start it off right and really put those marketing and advertising dollars to work in ways you might not have thought of yet.

Happy New Year!

Stuart Elliott, advertising columnist for the New York Times, yesterday posted his thoughts on the best and worst ads in 2008.

• Political advertising certainly took a large amount of the advertising limelight in 2008 – record amounts were spent, including an unprecedented 30-minute infomercial purchased by PE Barack Obama in the week leading up to the general election.

• The Obama campaign also wrote the book – or at least the first edition – on the use of “non-traditional” and “social” media and the Internet. Ad industry types and political wonks will be studying it and teaching about the Obama campaign’s use of media in B-schools in the years to come.

• Mr. Elliott also calls out the Stewie Griffin v. Underdog ad from Coca-Cola as one of the year’s best:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc1ADvKwWXU[/youtube]

• Finally – angry moms. Motrin put up the following ad, which angered many moms, who were so vocal in their opposition (mainly via social networking site Twitter), Motrin was forced to pull the ads.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmykFKjNpdY[/youtube]

• Volkswagen also seemed a bit flippant with moms with its “Routan Baby Boom” series of ads featuring Brooke Shields. While it did not stir up as much controversy as the Motrin ads, it did leave some scratching their heads:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZeA_1Ku6Z0[/youtube]
Which ads did you like in 2008?

I certainly think the Mac vs. PC ads were well-done, as were a number of the Olympic ads that were shown during the Beijing games (which also were absent from Mr. Elliott’s column).

I was looking for something to watch last night, after my elf was tucked in his bed. I was bummed to find out I missed the annual marathon of “A Christmas Story” on TBS. Didn’t watch it once this year!

So, my husband and I started watching ESPN…they were doing an hour-long special on the best of the “This is Sportscenter” ads the network has been producing since the mid-1990s.

Like this post, there wasn’t much substance…just a look at some well-made and entertaining ads.

Here were some of my favorites; which are yours?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH1lqY3TFp8[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUwJAkVbAHA[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS94wDfSt9E[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_BYO_6nvdI[/youtube]

For you Applesauce fans, here’s one with Bill Bradley and Keith Olbermann:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dNClZ6C90E[/youtube]

Happy Holidays!

Susan Gunelius, an advertising columnist for Entrepreneur.com, posts a piece on MSNBC.com about the top 10 words to avoid in your advertising in 2009. Her advice – which frankly should apply anytime, not just in 2009 – will help anyone tasked with writing copy to promote a business. So check it out here.

Top 10 Advertising Words to Avoid

1. Free
2. Guarantee
3. Really
4. Very
5. That
6. A Lot
7. Opportunity
8. To Be (or any variation thereof)
9. Synergy
10. “Drinkability”

I’ve been reading a lot in the past week or so about companies, distressed about a downturn, that are looking anew at reaching minority consumers via multicultural marketing efforts.

(Click here for a recent BusinessWeek piece and here for an Ad Age blog about multicultural social marketing.)

If multicultural marketing can help your business or organization, here are a couple of tips:

• Online is a good platform for targeting minority populations, which tend to form close-knit groups online. This might be a good place to start getting your message out on a micro level.
• Don’t just translate the words – multicultural targeting often requires a translation and adaptation of your message and tactics to be effective.
• Look to local groups for help – La Voz Latina for example is a great resource for tips and help reaching out to the local Hispanic community.
• Remember that most advertising still reaches all groups – America continues to be a “melting pot” – so specific multicultural marketing should be part of an overall integrated plan.

Advertising Age published a summary of what it thinks the Top Ten legal issues will be for advertisers in 2009.

Nothing surprising here – more oversight, more wrangling over scarce resources and the legislative leviathan that threatens the advertising world every year. Who’s saying what to whom and how much responsibility marketers have to improve the lives of consumers (vs. personal responsibility) are perennial favorites of this type of article…and 2009 is not shaping up to be much different.

One thing that should be on the radar screen of any agency that buys media on behalf of its clients – what happens if its client files bankruptcy…then the agency is left holding the bag in terms of media commitments. Who pays then? An esoteric little argument between agencies and media outlets, to be sure, but one that will likely play out locally at least once next year I’ll bet.

Nielsen released its annual look at all things ratings last Friday – books, movie box office, songs, downloads, most-visited websites, and more. This doc summarizes the results into a “Top 10″ overview.

More data is available if you purchase the study from Nielsen, but for most local advertisers this Top 10 information should be sufficient to start you thinking about which shows may be worth your advertising dollars in 2008.

But remember – just because a show/site/song is popular doesn’t mean it reaches your target audience…but that’s a blog post for another day. So, for now:

Top 10 Regularly Scheduled TV Programs

Program – Network – % of Homes in US

1. American Idol (Tuesday) -  FOX – 15.3
2. American Idol (Wednesday) – FOX – 15.3%
3. Dancing with the Stars – ABC – 12.3%
4. Dancing with the Stars Results Show – ABC – 11.4%
5. The Mentalist – CBS – 10.0%
6. NBC Sunday Night Football – NBC -  10.0%
7. CSI – CBS- 8.1%
8. NCSI – CBS – 8.0%
9. 60 Minutes – CBS – 7.6%
10. Survivor Gabon – CBS – 7.6%

Top 10 “Timeshifted” Primetime TV Programs
Consider the data below when running time-sensitive ads – people are using DVRs more frequently now. This means if you advertise a weekend sale, you could be missing a chunk of your audience because of DVR recordings (or “timeshifting” in industry jargon).

Program – Network – % of Timeshifted Views

1. Heroes – NBC – 35%
2. Fringe – FOX  – 26%
3. Lost – ABC – 25%
4. Bones – FOX – 21%
5. Grey’s Anatomy – ABC – 20%
6. House – FOX – 18%
7. Survivor Gabon – CBS – 18%
8. American Idol (Tuesday) – FOX – 13%
9. The Mentalist – CBS – 13%
10. American Idol (Wednesday) – FOX – 12%

Coupons were passe during the halcyon days of double-digit percentage growth of Americans’ 401(k)s, which wasn’t too long ago. Now, with the R word staring at us every day and the statements from your investments showing a sharp reversal of fortune, coupons are the new buzz word.

Couponing has always been a stalwart of measuring your advertising’s return-on-investment (ROI), albeit a somewhat old-fashioned one. And it’s likely no surprise to anyone that people will use more coupons in an economic downturn.

But what is surprising is the rapidity with which coupons are gaining traction in today’s marketplace. Consider the following from a study released last week by Packaged Facts, which combined data from a number of consumer-research sources:

• 87% of consumers say that they prefer to shop at places that offer coupons
• 89% say they’re more likely to use coupons during a recession.
• Coupon use is – and traditionally has been – much higher among smaller, more affluent families. One likely cause is these families usually subscribe to the newspaper in higher numbers.
• Coupons won’t make people try new stores or products – just 38% of respondents said they’d switch because of a coupon.
• Favorite coupon vending option? On-shelf dispensers, followed by color newspaper inserts.

Read more about the study here.

How to Make Coupons Work for Your Business

Coupons make more sense than ever and are an easy way for you to track your advertising efforts. Some suggestions:

1. If you run a coupon in more than one outlet – in the newspaper and online, for example – make them unique to each outlet so you can determine its source once it’s redeemed. Keep records of that data, determine trends and adjust your ad spending accordingly.
2. Be sure you give your ad/coupon enough time in the marketplace to work. A one-day ad in the newspaper that resulted in zero coupon sales is not indicative of whether or not that campaign will work long-term.  Give it a month or two before you judge whether or not that particular vehicle is effective for you.
3. If you offer a coupon, make sure it’s on your corporate website and include it in any regular e-mails or mailings you may to to your existing customers. Rewarding regular customers -  your most important audience during this economy – should be part of any coupon (or advertising) strategy.

Recession would in most cases instigate a reduction in expenditures, and often advertising dollars get the ax first. But some events seem to be immune.  A recent Sports Illustrated article shows that despite network advertising declines, the Super Bowl still attracts the big bucks.  Half-minute ads are going for $3 million each, and of the 67 available, less than ten remain unsold.  Just when General Motors is parting ways with Tiger Woods, advertisers still seem to feel that Super Bowl is the safe bet, because generally you know what you’re going to get – the highest viewer totals of the year.  Last year when Rockford based companies Alpine Bank and Lonnie’s Carpet Max aired new ads during Super Bowl, local residents were looking out to see who they might know on TV as both ads used local talent. (view both commercials here)

Both local businesses drew subsequent buzz from the Register Star and great word-of-mouth marketing in the community.  Lesly Couper, Alpine bank’s vice president of marketing and communications, said the commercial idea has been floating around for about 10 years. “It turned out better than we imagined it,” Couper said. “It looks like a national spot.”

Is Super Bowl advertising for everyone? Decidedly not, but for businesses that are seeking to reach a broader market, not trying to “talk” to a niche segment, the Super Bowl will still be, despite recessionary woes, the most widely-watched and most throroughly analyzed event for TV commercials.  They all try to make a bang, and some end up in the can but then again some will make the top ten list and be viewed countless times on YouTube.  Not to forget that the YouTube phenomenon is an bonus campaign if your ad is interesting, weird, unusual, or otherwise provocative.  So with good creative ideas and execution, local businesses might consider the Super Bowl still a super option for advertising.

Plenty of companies  think that if they see their ad on the evening newscast (and their board members/president/CEO see it) that they’ve done their job and the customers will come running.

Um, not so much.

People are shifting away from the evening news as the source for our news and a new study by Experian Simmons says only 28% of people watching the news find “valuable product information” on those shows.

Scripted TV shows – or more “escapist” fare – show a much better chance for advertisers to get their message heard by their audience.

If your household is anything like mine, the busiest half-hour of the day is when Charlie, Katie and Brian are reading the news. You’re walking in the door, getting the mail, making dinner, returning phone calls. It’s not a huge surprise to me that ad messages are not heard or absorbed by viewers at that time.

So look to scripted TV during prime time to really get your message across – you’re much more likely to get them to listen to you if don’t have to compete with a beeping microwave and hungry kids.

Advertising Age today published its annual Global Marketers survey of advertising spending world-wide (this survey summarized 2007). Procter & Gamble, the consumer products powerhouse, is again listed as No. 1, spending nearly $10 BILLION world-wide last year on marketing…almost double the No. 2 marketer, Unilever.

GM, long a bastion in the Top 3 Global Marketers, slipped to No. 4 in 2007, giving its spot up to L’Oreal.

The year of the survey – 2007 – shows some trends that we could have expected but I doubt will hold true once the 2008 numbers are analyzed:

• Automotive companies spent the most money than any other category, taking No. 1 with more than $22 billion spent. I think we all know that this category will decline this year and next as the Big Three try to keep from careening off a cliff.

• Foreign ad spending increases were robust, but ad spending in the U.S. was weak – not even 1% growth here.  This can be attributed to surging foreign economies and the weak US dollar abroad the past couple of years. The recession we’re “officially” in now should even that out.

• Other heavy hitters like AT&T weren’t included in this report, since they market almost exclusively in the United States. This survey examined only those that spent on at least 3 continents. I think it’ll be interesting to see who falls off this “global” list in 2008 and 2009. Companies will probably look to take some of their marketing dollars and go home with them, given the shrinking economic landscape globally.

• Most prognosticators are predicting flat growth (they are the optimists) to mid-single-digit declines in overall ad spending, with the biggest reductions coming from media buys in the U.S.

Read the report here and get in up to your elbows in all the data here.

Rule number one of crisis communications: Don’t Lie, Spin, Stretch the Truth or Play with Our Affections. (And GM, I’m talking to you).

Back in September, ADwire wrote about GM’s launch of a site designed to present the “truth” about its organization – www.GMFactsandFiction.com. At the time, it was positioned to basically tell taxpayers that it “was not seeking a government bailout,” among other things. (Read the whole post here.) Here’s a snippet of ADwire’s post:

Publicly unveiled last Friday but live for about 2 weeks, this site offers answers on “myths” like “GM is NOT seeking a government bailout”  and “GM cars are not as fuel efficient as comparable imports.” It was launched on the eve of government hearings about bailouts for the auto industry.

Times have changed. The “myth” that was posted back in September that “GM is not seeking a government bailout” has been mysteriously removed from the site. Previously, that myth said they were looking for a “loan” not a “bailout.” Now it’s totally gone. (And there still no search function, so if that myth is still on the site, I can’t find it).

In fact, the site has morphed into a microsite, explaining how taxpayers can get “involved” and encourage their lawmakers to vote yes on a bailout.

Taking a page from last month’s presidential election, the site also offers options like “I’m an Employee,” “I’m a Retiree,” “I’m a Dealer” where these audience segments can click and get their GM-sponsored marching orders, including scripts for calling or emailing their senators and representatives.

Regardless of how you feel about the bailout (and I haven’t made up my mind either…unless they repay my loan with a Cadillac XLR-V), this site might have been a good thing, if they hadn’t stretched the truth when they launched it and if they had designed it from a different point of view. In terms of take-aways:

• Avoid absolutes in your PR efforts – there is little in life that is black and white.
• Be transparent. Preemptive PR – which was what GM was trying to do when it launched the site initially – is usually a good thing. But be completely transparent if you’re going to do it. Don’t try to hold yourself out as the last bastion of truth if you know, even in your heart of hearts, that what you’re saying might be proven wrong later on.
• Give the People what they want. If you’re trying to get the public on your side for something as huge as a government bailout (or “loan package”), keep your language focused on the taxpayer, not yourself. The whole site seems to be written from GM’s point of view, which might be indicative of the organization as a whole.
• Play the Heartstrings. You don’t want your CFO to be the featured video on the homepage for SEVEN MINUTES (a la GM). Get employees on there talking about what a collapse would mean to them. Show the local junior high band practicing in the uniforms the local GM dealership bought for them and talk about the lost corporate support revenue. We want an emotional reason to believe and advocate on your behalf, GM, not another guy in a suit.

PR is about getting your message out, but most importantly it’s about getting your message out in a way that will make people your advocate, not your enemy.

PS to GM – Please make my XLR-V fully loaded and in red when you repay my loan. Thanks!

As a kid I used to lay in the grass looking up at the sky and try to make out familiar shapes in the clouds. “There is a dog, there is a dragon.” As an adult (some would differ), I now have the opportunity to indulge those flights of fantasy, from a marketing perspective of all things.    Flogos is a company that makes clouds shaped like corporate logos. These clouds are a mixture of soap-based foams and lighter-than-air gases such as helium.

Imagine attending an Rockford Rampage soccer game with your company’s logo floating around the MetroCentre.  Your impressions would blow away those permanent corporate banner sponsors that have become overlooked as just a part of the background. Check out the video below of Nintendo Kirby.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-QgU5WkX-o[/youtube]


TNS Media Intelligence is out for its final tally of political advertising spending in 2008 – between $2.5 and $2.7 billion, which fell short of some astronomical projections earlier this year of $3 billion-plus. The bulk of those dollars went into good old fashioned broadcast television; here’s how TNS estimates the money was spent:

• $2 billion – broadcast TV
• $200 million – national cable TV
• $200-$500 million – radio, print, online, local cable TV

And 2009 looks like it’ll be heavy with political ads too, as new appointees in Washington, D.C., necessitate new elections locally, not to mention the 2010 mid-terms.

Taking It to the Streets

Another interesting aspect to political advertising is that political groups that formerly worked exclusively within the Beltway are signaling that they will be taking their messages “to the people” outside of Washington.

Given the policy shifts the new administration is almost certain to make, political action committees are looking to get their health-care/environmental/foreign policy issues heard by the public, whom (they hope) will then pressure their representatives to get something done.  Read more about this trend here.

I’m not sure if this trend of taking wonky issues directly to the public will have any “legs” past Obama’s first 100 days, but if it does, it can have a dramatic impact on the political advertising continuum. So, tune in, speak up and change the world…now there’s some powerful ROI (return on investment).

Security firms, this past month, have been reporting the shut down of an Internet service provider has resulted in a drop in Internet-wide spam of as much as 66 percent. “It was like night and day,” said Matt Sergeant, anti-spam technologist with MessageLabs. “The second that they went offline the drop started.”

Will this be a permanent fix? Research suggests maybe not. “I don’t believe this will have a lasting effect on spam volumes,” Sergeant said. “The people responsible for this are making a lot of money. They are now going to work to get back to a position where they are making a lot of money again.”

An annual survey of the brands and media outlets preferred by American college students had some surprises in it – mainly that Time magazine outranked Cosmo as the favorite periodical on campuses, coming in at No. 1, and CNN.com was ranked in the Top 10 Favorite Websites for the first time ever.

Politics and world events versus fashion advice? Yes, it’s true. According to the fall survey conducted by Anderson Analytics, college students have become more connected to their civic sides and a lot of it indicates the real impact the Obama campaign had in reaching and connecting with young voters.

Other insights:

• 40% (vs 22% last year) share video online
  • these kids are living in a digital, online world and will radically change the advertising and media worlds in the coming years as they reach their full spending potential.

• Least-favorite commercial: Microsoft’s Jerry Seinfeld-Bill Gates debacle (see it here in a previous ADWire post)

• Favorite commercials: Mac vs. PC spots (see it here) and the singing FreeCreditReport.com guys:

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ftq2S89qRG8" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]