ANA Marketing Musings

Recession Marketing Vlog: Develop Trust & Connectivity

Back to the ten series on recession marketing.! Our fourth strategy to survive the tough economic times is focused on developing trust and connectivity. You have to give cthe consumers what they need to be true brand believers. At the ANA Masters of Marketing conference, Coca-Cola CMO Joe Tripodi said, "We went to our core audience, asked them what they wanted, and gave it to them." The result: the immensely successful launch of coke zero.

ANA Supports Delay of DTV Transition

Last week, we sent out a media alert in which we announce our support for the delay of the DTV transition. The ANA, the 4A's and the AAF jointly back the requests that Congress delay the digital TV transition. We pointed to Nielsen’s projections of the number of households that could lose TV if the transition takes place on Feb. 17. We also cited the chance for the government to address some unresolved issues that arose throughout the transition process. Take a look at my video blog as I zero in on the importance of postponing the transition to digital television.

Recession Marketing Vlog: Let Creativity Fly

Thanks for coming back and looking at my third blog in this 10-series, "Marketing in a recession" video blog. The third strategy deals with being creative. Innovation through consumer insights and experimentation can produce breakthrough ideas. I tell you why it's important, especially in tough economic times.

Recession Marketing Vlog: Invest In The Brand And Be Courageous

Welcome back! Today, I will share with you the second strategy to survive the turbulent economic times. This one talks about being courageous and the importance of investing in the brand in order to grow market share, and have overall better long-term growth than competitors.



Check back early next week for the third way to bounce back stronger from tough times.

Technorati tags: marketing investment recession tough economy AdAge

Recession Marketing Vlog: Passion and Leadership are Imperative

Welcome to my very first video blog! I'd like to invite you to my office where each week, I'll discuss the latest in the marketing industry. First, I will start a series of video blogs on marketing in a recession, based on the "Top Ten" published in AdAge. Today, you will hear the first strategy marketers need to deal with the tough economic times. This strategy deals with the need of passion and leadership to be a successful brand.

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P.S. Feel free to comment on my video blogs!

Technorati tags: marketing recession tough economy AdAge

Ways to Bounce Back Stronger from Tough Times

1. Passion and leadership are imperative

A successful brand needs a strong, visible leader who oozes belief in the business and the consumer proposition. That passion cascades throughout the organization and becomes infectious.

2. Invest in the brand and be courageous

Defy conventional wisdom and spend to grow market share. Studies have repeatedly shown that businesses that increased marketing investments during a recession grew market share, increased margins and had better long-term growth trends than their competition.

3. Let creativity fly

Innovation through consumer insights and experimentation can produce breakthrough ideas.

4. Develop trust and connectivity

Give them what they need to be true brand believers-and loyal forever. At ANA's Masters of Marketing Conference, Coca-ColaCMO Joe Tripodi said, "We went to our core audience, asked them what they wanted, and gave it to them." The result: the immensely successful launch of Coke Zero.

5. integrate all communications

Reach the consumer base through multiple avenues-but creatively deliver the same message across all platforms.

6. Be accountable

Create a culture of accountability and partner with finance, research and analytics to measure everything you can. IBM's success is grounded in a disciplined process that started with a cross-functional marketing and finance team that reviewed all activities.

7. Invest in people

Build skills, build capability, build knowledge and watch the bottom line grow. Zappos brings employees to its Las Vegas headquarters for a week of training to ensure they embrace the company culture and philosophy.

8. Trust your agencies

They are your ultimate "brand consultants" in forming strategy, developing breakthrough creative and expanding media platforms.

9. Strengthen the marketing supply chain

Aggressively pursue efficiencies and productivity, and watch the dollars flow.

10. Be socially responsible

Do the right thing. Your consumers will notice and reward you for giving back. Jim Stengel, former P&Gglobal marketing officer, says it is time for us all to "go beyond cause marketing or ideals-based branding and have an inspirational and motivational reason for your brand."

Growth in Uncertain Times

Last month, we were feasted to a bevy of Chief Marketing Officers, senior industry executives and Chief Executive Officers at ANA’s Masters of Marketing Conference. We gathered to discuss a very simple, targeted “theme” -- “Growth”. The presentations did not disappoint as we gained unique insight into each of these senior executives’ marketing growth engines.

 

What was striking was the individual and collective sense of “optimism” – which seemed overtly and intrinsically counter-intuitive when compared to the alarming business headlines – domestically and globally. What was compelling was the demonstrated ability to generate real, tangible and organic brand and business growth despite a wavering economy and uncertain business expectations.

 

Some common threads among the presentations were:

 

·         “Positive energy” and commitment to winning. Having found strategic underpinnings to drive business, brand and financial success, these companies were sticking with it and not backing down in their drive to maintain the strong franchise momentum.

 

·         Expanded use of media while concurrently embracing the foundations of a truly integrated marketing strategy. With a hefty dose of metrics and accountability and metrics, the level of insight and knowledge seemed to be at a higher platform.

 

·         Courage to make bold and substantial business decisions to differentiate brands and to evolve business models.

 

Let me briefly share cornerstone presentation insights and messages:

 

·         Jim Stengel, P&G CMO, talked of the need to unleash the power of people to develop the right business and brand building strategies – but to do so by providing an environment that valued contributions and personal and professional needs.

 

·         Mike Mendenhall, Hewlett Packard CMO, discussed the massive revolution towards digital and social networking solutions – which even included marketplace technology and insights sharing. With innovation and creativity generated from multiple sources at faster speeds, HP’s business system was prepared to incorporate out-of-the-box concepts to marketplace reality

 

·         Tony Hsieh, CEO Zappos.com, shared the ultimate business model – with an organization that makes consumer service and care its singular and unrelenting focus. Mr. Hsieh consistently demonstrated that long term growth is built upon a foundation of loyalty and quality – a combination that can’t be shortchanged or managed inconsistently.

 

·         Joe Tripodi, CMO Coca-Cola, demonstrated that great and powerful brands – that had lost their way --  can be reinvented and energized to transform an entire business enterprise. Mr. Tripodi developed and leveraged a global integrated marketing platform that was strengthened with consistent and compelling brand messaging.

 

…And there were many more stories that would fill a marketing library. For me, Jez Frampton, CEO Interbrand, said it best when he empirically and evangelically implored his audience to believe and invest in the power of brands to deliver the short and long term growth objectives that corporate executives and shareholders are demanding.

 

(As appeared in The Advertiser)

Q&A with Outgoing ANA Chair Steve Sullivan on delivering growth, the Masters of Marketing and the marketing mosaic

Q: What are the biggest challenges and opportunities for delivering growth marketers will face over the next five years?

                  

A: Growth, or growing the top line, in a lagging economic cycle is the business equivalent of running in a dust storm. The distance to destination is obscured and progress is difficult and slow. I’d like to see attendees at this year’s ANA Masters of Marketing Conference come away with insights in five areas.

                     

1. How marketers are adding new features to classic products to counter share decline.
2. Examples of the crucial role product and service creativity play in a slow economy.
3. How technology is making it possible for marketers to establish relationships with consumers before they become customers.
4. New techniques marketers are employing to understand and use consumer insights swiftly.
5. How the best marketers are linking marketing results to business results to gain management support for more investment in their brands.

                         

Q: How do you see marketing organizations evolving, especially as it relates to fueling growth?

                        

A. The biggest change in company marketing organizations will be in response to the complete fragmentation of ways to reach consumers. Historically, marketers could “paint” their plans using the three very broad brushes of network television. Today a marketing plan has to look more like a mosaic — many small pieces that fit together to make a picture. Knowing how to use all these pieces will require a specialized knowledge that many companies simply don’t have today. This fragmentation will require more specialized expertise within marketing organizations — a trend that began with the commercialization of the Internet.

                     

(As appeared in The Advertiser)

Jim Stengel, Global Marketing Officer of Procter & Gamble, says, "Marketing agility will help you survive and thrive"

Jim Stengel oversees the world’s largest corporate advertising budget — the $7.9 billion The Procter & Gamble Company will spend in 2008 to market and promote its extensive portfolio of consumer products. That kind of buying power may differentiate Stengel from many of his CMO peers, but his outlook for the next five years is still tempered by some of the same concerns. “You see the consumer confidence rating as well as I do,” he says. “They are sinking to the lowest level in 25 to 30 years.”

                                 

So what’s a marketer to do? Stengel points to the growing importance of two traits: value and agility. “Certainly, the first one requires us [marketers] to be very close to the consumer and offer good value in these turbulent times,” he says. “The goal is to ensure that our brands represent the right value for consumers. If they don’t, we lose. This whole area of value is a really important trend over the next five years.”

                        

The ability to be agile could be the difference between thriving and surviving in light of the business-model changes Stengel foresees. “There is tremendous change happening in our industry,” he says. “Those that will survive and thrive are the ones that are in touch with the changes, are externally focused, are agile, and are ready to shift their business models and their ways of working. Companies that are not are going to suffer.”

                           

(As appeared in The Advertiser)

Joe Tripodi, Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer of Coca-Cola, says, "Balance inspirational and operational marketing"

The Coca-Cola Company is in the early phases of a transformation into a total beverage company, according to Chief marketing and Commercial Officer Joe Tripodi. As part of his role, which he assumed in 2007, he’s taking a careful look at the need to balance inspirational marketing with operational marketing. “Particularly in these challenging economic times globally, it’s very important for marketers to be thinking about a whole host of operational marketing elements,” he says, citing examples, such as improved precision and targeting and more customer engagement through CRm systems.

                     

Inspiration marketing, according to Tripodi, involves a much deeper understanding of what drives buyer preference. His presentation will explore the topic further, including better use of digital and the Web to engage and retain customers. “My view is, if you think the 30-second television commercial is going to solve all of your problems, then I have some land to sell you,” he says, noting that his own organization is building up muscle and capability in digital. “We see a lot of studies that say 75 percent of consumers make decisions in the store. So they’re not really thinking about that great 30-second spot they saw the night before.”

            

A frequent participant at the Masters of Marketing, Tripodi describes the conference as “the epicenter of marketing leadership,” both a provoking forum and an opportunity to rub elbows with fellow marketers. “You feed off of that — you get juiced by it,” he says. “As a marketer, that’s something that you really look forward to.”

            

(As appeared in The Advertiser)