ANA Marketing Musings

It’s there in black and white…

Marketers will always have an affinity for print advertising.  It’s one of our most valuable targeting and reach-extending media. It has shelf life, and it’s extraordinary in its ability to match the advertising message with the editorial content.

However, the media landscape has evolved – and continues to evolve with lightening speed.  For print to remain competitive within our marketing mix, we offer 10 “pleas” to get the print industry to the head of the class. The following were presented at the June 16 ANA Print Advertising Forum held at the Grand Hyatt in New York City:

1. Help marketers understand print’s cause/effect contribution to generating results and building brands long-term. We need to understand more why print is the medium of choice for marketers to achieve their near term and strategic objectives.

2. Give us issue-specific circulation and cumulative data that show how an audience builds over time. Identify how that data is most specifically relevant for our brands target audience. Data is great – but it must be relevant and have targeted focused value.

3. Give us reader involvement insights that help us understand the unique connections publications have with readers. How do readers “get cozy” with the publications and show us how that affinity cascades to the advertised brands.

4. Tap into the creative energy that permeates editorial pages, and give advertisers some new, innovative, branded ways to sponsor publications. The relationship with print has to become broader, more integrated, more involved with a range of communications alternatives. We have to leverage them together to create enough “punch” to cut through the clutter and deliver an “embracing” message.

5. Reduce the long lead times to secure space and submit materials to monthly magazines. There really is no excuse for not making this happen. Publications need to examine their internal process chains and find ways to cut needless time out of their production cycle – to make it more accommodative to advertisers.

6. This one’s for agencies.  Find new, cost efficient ways for us to test print creative – and to test more frequently. With technological advances and the ability to transfer digital images of the web, there are clearly ways of expanding cost effective opportunities to understand the effectiveness of alternative print creative.

7. This one’s also for agencies. Raise the creative bar.  Put some of your senior talent on print advertising.  We want intelligent, visually exciting breakthrough print campaigns. This one has been talked about for years – and I just don’t get why print is always taking a back seat to electronic media. Recognizing the size of the investment in print vehicles, print creative must take a prominent stance in the minds of the agency creative management team

8. Either justify or end the practice – once and for all – of absurd bleed charges. Enough said. Let’s make this happen and let this old, antiquated legacy cost die a quick and painless death. They have no place in today’s marketing cost structure – particularly as the emphasis on marketing accountability has taken front and center position with CMO’s and CEO’s.

9. Either justify or end the practice of surcharges for national newspaper advertising in local editions. Fees should be based on value delivered – that’s why this doesn’t make sense.  

10. Get with the digital program!  Print media should be the leaders – not the followers – in this exciting realm. There is an expanding bundle of opportunities that will open up new vistas for everyone in the communications business – particularly those in the print arena. Do it now and make the world safe for the world of opportunity.

Marketing with Women

Last week, ANA and AXA Financial co-sponsored a day-long mini-conference titled “Marketing with Women”. Led by former agency CEO and Founder of “Just Ask a Woman”, Mary Lou Quinlan, and a cavalcade of marketing and industry executives, the day was focused on bringing attention to today’s most powerful constituency – women.

It’s rather strange that we almost take women’s focused marketing for granted. Maybe we’ve all been doing it for so long, that it’s a “given.” But it shouldn’t be. Recognizing that women make up 70-90% of all the purchase decisions in the US and control a preponderance of wealth, we need to keep women top of mind and really get into their heads – if we are going to enhance our probability for successful marketing. P&G certainly gets it. Not only do they profess “Know thy customer” – they also acknowledge that their customer is a woman. That helps, big time.

ANA’s conference highlighted so many fascinating knowledge points – too much for this writing. So let me take a crack at defining four distinct platforms that I took away from the meeting:

1. Understand women’s financial power and wide-ranging influence

By 2020, four-fifths of wealth will be in the hands of women whether personally accumulated, inherited or directly influenced. How women wield that power is critical for all marketers. Small shifts in spending patterns can have broad implications for many business categories. Those shifts can happen in reaction to product innovation or customer satisfaction. As marketers, we can never afford to be comfortable that we are doing it right – particularly in the fast paced / rapidly changing environment we live in.

2.  Listen to what women want – then get ready!

Sure, it’s very important to understand where the women consumer is today. But the real question is, where will she be tomorrow? Just when we think we have it figured out, the landscape changes and shifts – as fashion, innovation, quality and styles move rapidly. Companies like Toyota have made enormous inroads to the female consumer simply by setting up ownership groups and listening. Marketers have a captive audience in their female employees; use them as sounding boards. Let them teach you what’s hot and what’s not. Leverage their marketplace savvy to give you an honest peek under the tent to let you know where the marketplace is moving.

Then, prepare to react. Listening takes you so far. What marketers need do is to have the business systems in place to rapidly integrate these findings into tangible actions. Competitive advantages are typically “temporary” and often “fleeting”. Move quickly and responsibly to capture the moment – and the opportunity.

3.  Organize company communities to drive awareness / sensitivity / action

AXA Financial has been at this for about three years. They literally have begun creating company-wide communities that provide organized approaches to women’s marketing or generate unique findings about specific areas of women’s interests. This extraordinarily patient and rather unusual approach is paying off on AXA’s bottom line – as these individuals generate better results than typical company work groups.

These approaches have enormous implications for management structures as well. Ask yourself, is your company human resources and management structure properly crafted to optimize women performance and contributions? If not, consider the option of creating opportunities for women to facilitate their professional development and work/life balance – particularly when it comes to raising a family. Such women are incredibly valuable to your company as they carry years of experience and insight – that could be lost if they decide your company is not the place where they can successfully prosecute all of the complex demands in their rapidly changing lives.

4.  Make it all happen

Look at the processes achieved by marketers like Best Buy who have turned 25% of their stores into female friendly models and have watched these adaptations trump other stores’ performance. P&G has become increasingly creative with their female customer base as evidenced by their recent multi-platform product launch of Mr. Clean Magic Reach. 1-800 Flowers.com and Wyndham Hotels are other examples that have adapted and continue to adapt – as they have taken a far more progressive and aggressive approach to converting ideas into realities. There are some marketers out there who have smartly targeted this audience and have compassionately connected with them – a connection that has benefited everyone.

As marketers, it is important to truly understand the make up of our audience – and to set our marketing plans and initiatives into action. Let’s be sure to remember the power and influence of women as we set those wheels in motion.

Marketing Accountability – Finally Taking Hold

Of course the journey is very long – but the principle of marketing accountability seems to be finally getting a grip on the overall Marketing Supply Chain. And I am thrilled!

Several recent examples I would like to highlight:

* Ad-ID and E-biz for media are both starting to gain traction. Ad-ID is the new digital coding system that acts as the industry’s UPC code. By applying this to all advertising assets, companies can digitally track, traffic and transfer assets and messages across the entire chain of communications – from advertiser to media delivery. 250 companies are now using Ad-ID. E-biz, or EDI as many of us remember, provides two way digital information flow for television and radio – with applicability to other media as well. Through digital communications, paper and people can be removed from the advertising asset management process. This eliminates costly rework and agency labor, greatly improves accuracy and champions marketing and media accountability. Great progress has been seen – particularly in the local television and radio industries.

* The XMOS studies represent an important step forward in making media management decisions. XMOS literally helps companies identify optimum asset allocations but can also do so within the context of changing creative -- which is the wild card that has largely been viewed as less controllable. This gives companies the latitude to explore different media options to optimize revenue generation down at the brand level. Several “big-name” brands are leveraging this tool to make important brand / media management changes.

* Project Apollo represents a big step forward in consumer research. Apollo is a “single-source” research model that provides critical learning about actual purchases in response to exposure to radio and television media. Measuring “cause and effect” represents a significant leap in learning – providing marketers with increased knowledge about the implications of changing marketing spending and media allocations.

* Procurement departments have certainly proved their worth to improve agency accountability – even though they have elicited pain for marketers and agencies. Having this “third-party” group involved has elicited greater discipline among all parties improving the evaluation and decision making processes.

And, of course, I could go on and on. These “cases” are simply the tip of the iceberg for a “movement” that is well underway – but has a long way to go. We will not let our foot off the accelerator as we convene ANA’s Marketing Accountability Forum in July and ANA’s Annual Conference in October.

The Most Socially Responsible Industry in America -- Advertising

The cornerstone principle that underscores all marketing is commercial free speech. When commercial messages for legal products are truthful and non-deceptive, marketers should be completely free to market their products and services unencumbered by government regulation – or the threat of such regulation.

I raise this point – at this particular moment in time – because of the outrageous attempts by Congress to vilify advertisers and marketers for many ills in American society. As noted by my colleague Dan Jaffe in his blog, Senators Harkin and Clinton bashed food marketers for undermining the health of our children by causing obesity. Representative Moran called for the restriction of ED ads. And Senator Grassley outlined provisions to eliminate the tax deductibility of prescription drug advertising.

I have no problems with politicians calling upon various industries to support initiatives that seek to improve the social well-being of all Americans. But I do have big problems when those calls threaten to impose governmental regulation and control -- particularly when the underlying issues are poorly supported by the facts.

I am particularly frustrated when the good work and socially responsible initiatives of our marketing industry go unrecognized and unappreciated – particularly by those grand standing in the political arena.

* Think of the great work done by the Advertising Council and its media partners who provide more than $1.5 Billion in donated media to educate the public on a variety of issues including drunk driving, seat belt usage and, of course, the well-being of children.

* Think of all of the great work done by the Partnership for Drug Free America and the enormous success it has had in curbing drug usage – particularly among teens and young adults.

* Think of all of the great work done by the Children’s Advertising Review Unit and the National Advertising Division of NARC – our self regulatory body -- to ensure truthful and non-deceptive advertising.

* Think of all of the great work done by the Family Friendly Programming Forum – the advertiser-sponsored group associated with the ANA that has successfully delivered outstanding prime time network programs so that parents and kids can watch television together.

* Think of all the great work done by the AAF, the 4A’s and the AEF to promote improved advertising and marketing education at our country’s higher institutions.

The marketing industry has done more than its share to contribute to the well being of people in America. Our industry’s social responsibility track record is second to none – and I encourage any and all politicians to take a fair and balanced look at the incredible good that we do.

All of us – the media, the agencies and our marketers -- should be very proud of the indelible contributions we have made -- and will continue to make – to American Society.

Television Has a Great Future – Believe it or not

In my last blog posting, “Who’s Killing Television”, I focused most of my remarks on key issues that the Television industry needs to address in short order. At ANA’s Television Advertising Forum yesterday, I reiterated those concerns – and, in fact, added one or two more.

However, despite my concerns, I am, actually, quite optimistic about television’s long-term health and well being. Over time, I believe television will retain its “championship status” as the preferred medium-of-choice by marketers for a number of very important reasons:

* First and foremost, I believe the convergence of high definition TV and the digital power of the Internet will flourish in the years ahead. This is such a “natural” and will lead to a cavalcade of exciting opportunities for all advertisers and marketers. Brian Roberts of Comcast pretty much said that in his speech at the 4A’s media conference earlier this month.

* Second, convergence will be channeled through one of the most important future tools for marketers – the set-top box. This virtual in-home computer will become the advertisers’ best friend and will be the foundation for lots of positive change for television advertising. In particular, the data that cable and satellite companies will be able to provide to advertisers will – for the first time -- deliver important measurements and metrics and facilitate the level of accountability so needed by the marketing community.

* Third, television advertising inventory will continue to expand with the proliferation of channels and programming. With more channels and, theoretically, more content to fill those channels, the laws of supply and demand just may tip the scales back in the direction of marketers. Advertisers will be able to use television more selectively, hopefully moderating the growth of CPMs and bringing them in line with more reasonable measures.

* Fourth, television sponsorship will continue to unfold in new, creative ways with consumers giving greater permission to advertisers to engage them. Specifically, I am pointing to the evolving opportunities afforded by branded content as well as the development of video-on-demand. These vehicles will provide alternatives to the traditional 30-second spot by generating more personalized advertising and content specifically focused at target consumers.

* Fifth, the quality of programming will continue to improve – particularly at the networks. I think this year is one of the strongest we have seen in a long time. If the networks keep getting it right, opportunities will abound for advertisers to cost effectively reach the millions of eyeballs they expect from the television medium.

* Finally – and what I am most excited and interested in -- is the technology enabling more consumer targeting. I believe this trend will continue to accelerate and proliferate. Whether it’s the targeting technology offered by companies like Visible World or the addressable alternatives available through set-top box management, marketers will gain increased ability to zero-in on their core consumers, bringing greater efficiency and effectiveness to their marketing planning and execution. Of course it is incumbent upon marketers to collect consumer information in a fair manner that takes into account legitimate personal privacy concerns.

The television industry has some of the smartest and savviest people in the marketing community. They are very much aware that television is no longer the bedrock for brand communications. That’s why they need to move aggressively to mitigate their structural issues and leverage the spectacular opportunities they have before them – and do so with purpose and passion. If they need a wake up call, they need look no further than the Pepsi One re-launch – which has no television commercials in its marketing plan.

It’ll be interesting to see how the “drama” plays out. Kind of like a soap opera – don’t you think?

More thoughts to come from the ANA Television Advertising Forum…

Terry Semel, Ron Insana and Legends of Radio to Participate in ANA Annual Conference

Our annual conference is coming together nicely. I am thrilled to announce that Terry Semel, CEO, Yahoo!, will keynote and Ron Insana, the brilliant anchor of CNBC's Street Signs, will join us as host. Other speakers include Michael Winkler, chief marketing officer, Hewlett-Packard; John Costello, executive vice president, merchandising and marketing, Home Depot; and Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi.

We are also planning a wide range of other special activities, including a senior marketers' roundtable that will feature an exclusive new Booz Allen study on the marketing organization plus a daily "Morning Show" sponsored by the Radio Advertising Bureau, featuring famous personalities such as Tom Joyner, Jim Cramer and Sean Hannity. For audience "interactivity", we will be doing some real time polling about the core ideas and theses expressed by our speakers. And for fun, we have added a "Casino Night" to our line-up.

I look forward to seeing all of marketer, media and agency friends in Naples, Florida October 7-10.