ANA Marketing Maestros

Are You a Bacon Lover? Wendy’s Sure Hopes So.

By Cara Brooke Schultz

Is social media an increasing aspect to your marketing plan? For a growing number of companies, social media is an important force driving communication between the brand and their consumers. Wendy’s wanted to drive more people to talk about their brand via social media. In order to get customers to tweet about their new product—the Applewood smoked bacon burger—Wendy’s started the “bacon hunt” contest.

According to an Adweek.com article, customers will follow @UrBaconMeCrazy on Twitter and Tweet answers to questions such as how many strips of Applewood smoked bacon would appear on the mythical double baconator. Customers are awarded points and required to use the hashtag #bacon in all of their Tweets. Throughout the contest Wendy’s is giving away several $200 Wendy’s gift cards and once the contest concludes on Friday, November 20, a lucky person will win $2,000.00. Since the contest started nearly two weeks ago, Wendy’s has drawn 1,773 followers on Twitter. Are you going to get in on the fun and Tweet #bacon?

Snapshot of the ANA Annual Conference

By Cara Schultz

Well, I survived my first conference with the ANA and I have to say, it was a great experience. The speakers were extremely insightful and entertaining, from Eric Ryan’s presentation in which he displayed their new commercial (which I have to say is hysterically genius) to David Jones’s speech on his theory: “the new world of marketing is square.” Overall the speakers were amazing, they gave great industry insights. I learned an incredible amount in a short period of time. Stephen Quinn, CMO of Walmart explained that media spending, customer segmentation, an emphasis on multicultural markets and marketing analytics helped to improve the overall in-store experience.  Michael Keller, Chief Brand Officer for Dairy Queen talked about his company’s online presence.  DQ has built an online consumer following with its Blizzard Fan Club, Facebook page, and two unique online games.
 
Not only did I pick up numerous nuggets of information from the top industry gurus, but I also had the opportunity to speak to several attendees at the conference. I asked questions, like what sets their company apart from the competition, how are you battling the recession, and of course how is your company dealing with advertising on multiple platforms (Web, print, mobile, e-books, etc). To watch and listen to what people had to say, check out our original videos. Chime in with comments and suggestions…I plan on continuing our ANA videos, and they will only get better with your feedback!

Tck Tck Tck: Advertising with a Conscience

By Susan Burke

At the 2009 ANA Annual Conference-The Masters of Marketing, David Jones, global chief executive officer, Havas Worldwide, spoke about a particularly important advertising program his agency recently created for the Tck Tck Tck: Time for Climate Justice campaign. The campaign, which grew out of Kofi Annan’s Global Humanitarian Forum, is focused on the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference. The conference will be held in Copenhagen on December 7, 2009. The purpose of the conference is to discuss and update international climate change agreements.

Tck Tck Tck encourages organizations and individuals alike to think about what is at stake in Copenhagen and express their desire for climate change reform. The campaign includes Web sites that contain information on climate change and real life stories, beautiful and thought-provoking print, Facebook applications, widgets, mobile applications, and videos. One video features several of today’s top musicians performing a song created specifically for the Tck Tck Tck campaign. 

Over 200 partner organizations have joined this fight for climate justice, including the World Wildlife Fund, Oxfam, Greenpeace, Amnesty International, and the National Resource Defense Council.  With close to 3 million people already signing up to declare their support for climate justice, the stunning advertising created for this campaign is positive proof that our industry can help to make the world a better place. How is your organization contributing to a cause of social importance?

ANA Annual Conference Round Up: I Need a Nap!

By Bob Siegal, Prager and Fenton LLP

Now that the 2009 ANA Masters of Marketing Conference is behind us we finally have a chance to catch up on our sleep while we reflect and process an enormous amount of content.

Of course I must give kudos to Bob, Bill and the ANA team for staging a great conference. The fact that 1200 people attended was itself a very pleasant surprise and I think the sheer number made us all feel that perhaps the American economy really had turned a corner.

I for one want to especially thank the on-site FedEx office who helped solve the inevitable issue of what to do with all the paper, books, pads, bags, Yahoo commuter mugs and assorted tchotchkies one is want to accumulate after four days. Thanks too to the skycap who was nice enough to just pocket my gratuity and look the other way at what was clearly my seriously overweight bag.   

Having started my career as a journalist with People (yes, it counts as journalism) and NBC News, I am always inclined to informally interview my fellow attendees to see what resonated with them. While this conference typically yields a tremendous amount of usable content – almost every CMO has at least one worthwhile nugget of wisdom to impart (although the consensus seemed to be it often was not the answer to Bob’s final “take-away” question) – this year the reaction to the speakers seemed markedly different than in years past.

While there are always high and low points - some speakers and events simply stand out above others – it was interesting to note that so many of the speakers inspired such visceral reactions among the attendees.

Like fear. More than one meal table – mate expressed the notion that while they admired Eric Ryan (and I am assured he only looks like he’s fifteen) and what he’s accomplished at Method, they couldn’t imagine either working for or servicing a company who asks its potential employees “How are you going to keep it weird?” The fear was that if this is truly the future of American business, where do those who don’t know how to keep it weird fit in?

Or amazement. Like me, most of those I spoke with had no idea there actually was a “new” Kodak, having assumed other than producing motion picture stock, the “old” Kodak was essentially soon joining the ranks of Studebaker. It wasn’t just that Jeffrey Hayzlett’s presentation was engaging and entertaining – which it was - it was filled with a string of facts that were totally eye-opening for most of us.  Of course it was also filled with images and interviews that left some in audience filled with emotion and wiping their eyes (no, not me, I had an eyelash).

Interestingly too, while Sunday morning is often perceived as time for either sleeping in, hasty good-bys or early flights home, those of us who stuck around (in fairness I only had a 90 minute flight) were treated to some worthwhile content courtesy of Diary Queen’s Michael Keller, Dunkin’ Donuts’ Cynthia Ashworth, Dial’s Brad Casper and especially Fender’s Richard McDonald. Sure he was untraditional –  correctly assuming he was the only CMO to present that had been out jamming with Alice Cooper Saturday night, the only CMO to present in shirt sleeves, the only CMO with an arm full of tats (although both IBM’s Diane Brink and General Mills’ Mark Addicks were wearing long sleeves, so who really knows?) what made him so worthwhile was his unbridled passion for his brand and his job. A nice finale to his presentation, the conference and an unabashed treat for the audience was when Richard presented a Stratocaster to the conference attendee for her friend's 13 year old son. That was both an incredible “Kodak moment” as well an outstanding example of audience engagement. And once again people were wiping their eyes, although my excuse is that I was simply overly tired….

The Shift: Transformation of Today’s Marketers Into Tomorrow’s Growth Leaders

By Megan Burke, CooperKatz & Company

The days of marketers operating in a vacuum, with marketing and business strategies devised independently, are ending. The best marketers are now creating integrated perspectives that start with their companies’ growth objectives.

On day two of the ANA's Annual “Masters of Marketing" Conference an esteemed panel of CMO “growth leaders” gathered for a Round Table discussion to talk about Scott Davis’ book The Shift which explores the five shifts marketers must undertake to fundamentally shift the role of marketing and help drive the growth agenda and bottom-line results. Panel members included:

· Scott Davis, Senior Partner, Prophet

· Mark Addicks, Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, General Mills, Inc.

· Joan Chow, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, ConAgra Foods

· Barry Judge, Chief Marketing Officer, Best Buy Co., Inc.

· James D. Speros, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Fidelity Investments

Each provided their perspectives on how they have successfully shifted the role of marketing within their organizations.

On Thursday, the ANA released the findings of a survey it conducted, in partnership with Prophet, which found that although mararketers want to be seen as visionaries- individuals who can shift perspectives and capabilities to bring about game-changing outcomes in their organizations, they are further away from this realization than they think.

For more information about the study, check out ANA.net or read this Advertising Age article.

Charles Schwab: Turning Crisis into opportunity

By: Ryan Anderson, Starwood Hotels and Resorts

As the financial markets eroded steeply in the second half of 2008, consumer behavior changed quickly and marketing executives had to reassess business priorities and plan their response to plummeting revenues. While many would expect brands in the financial services sector to go radio silent, Becky Saeger, EVP and CMO of The Charles Schwab Corporation, focused on turning crisis into opportunity.

Going well beyond crisis management, Schwab would recommit to their purpose of helping people be financially fit, despite the uncertainty of these economic times. While consumer involvement is typically very low for Schwab, “suddenly involvement shot up like a rocket” said Saeger. “This gave us the unique opportunity to engage with our clients.” She shared the following guideposts for campaign development on their path to growth:

Focus on what you can control. Schwab couldn’t control that over 100 banks had failed. That investor sentiment was dropping over 35%. That interest rates falling to virtually zero. What could be controlled was every point of contact in the arsenal to provide products and support to help clients and prospects through these times.

Constantly monitor corporate reputation and consumer sentiment. As the financial crisis evolved, it was important to understand what the consumer was doing and thinking so that communication could be adjusted accordingly, responding assertively when appropriate.

Be nimble and responsive in real-time.  “Reprioritize everyday and execute like crazy” said Saeger. Attitudes and behaviors changed with every piece of market news, so Schwab’s messaging needed to be in tune with the current sensibilities of their prospects and clients.

These tenants drove the successful evolution of Charles Schwab’s “Talk to Chuck” campaign during a fragile financial era – recognizing their net promoter score at all time high and attrition score at an all time low. Despite the results of this well-laid approach, Ms. Saeger closed with the reminder that sometimes the consumer does not know what she wants. I couldn’t agree more. There is no doubt that the consumer is in control and that we need to be highly responsive in order to succeed. That said, we must remember that an essential part of our job as marketers is to identify our consumers’ latent needs through insight and address them by delivering innovative products, services and messages from our brands.

What are you doing to address your consumer’s latent needs in these trying times?
 

IBM: To the Edge of the Abyss… and Back

By: Geoffrey Precourt, Warc

As seen at: http://www.warc.com/ConferenceBlogs/ANA-112009.asp

The timeline - as expressed through a series of Fortune magazine covers - tells the story of the last quarter-century of IBM sharply and succinctly. In 1984, the company was recognized as one of the world’s “most admired” brands. Eight years later, in 1992, it had become a “dinosaur.” But, by 2004, it was on the rebound. Although the editors of Fortune would not commit to a complete recovery, they were willing to ask. “Can IBM Get Smart Again?”

"We learned a hard lesson,” said Diane Brink, IBM vp/marketing/global technology services. “We were near extinction. And we had an acute need for leadership… to redefine what our business meant in terms of service to others.”

The leadership came with the arrival of Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. in 1993. And, with marketing helping him drive the enterprise, IBM’s transitioned from what Brink called “a company that sold components” to a “company that sold business solutions” - from a provider of hardware to a provider of consulting services.

As a company on the edge of disaster, Brink told delegates that IBM “had lost focus on our clients and our industry. But we survived that near-death experience. It was sobering. But we went through a series of inventions, constantly redefining who we are.”
 
Where IBM ended up was in a “smarter place,” with  “clearer value to clients, and increased profitability,” Brink said. “We successfully remixed our portfolio, with 80 percent [of our business becoming] software and services that meet the needs of our clients.”

Performance metrics stand witness to the transformation. According to Brink, IBM experienced record revenue, profit, earnings per share, and cash flow at the end of 2008 - steady growth that, she added, has continued through the third quarter of 2009.

The company that had brought the world the PC, barcodes, and a massive amount of research on the human genome had refocused its efforts on a connection between business and humanity. And it had done so well in advance of its 100th anniversary on June 15, 2011.

Inside IBM, leadership embraced the cultural changes that would lead to increased value for IBM clients. For integrated marketing - the company’s largest business unit - that challenge translated to a three-point program, as articulated by Brink:

• “Focus on value”: Drill down on the company’s core clients, do more with less, and ensure that there’s a premium placed on value and innovation.
  
• “Embrace and exploit opportunities”: Be aggressive in the pursuit of opportunities and new strategic partnerships.
  
• “Act with speed”: Empower managers with capability and the culture to embrace change while transparently managing risk.”

“Our leaders, businesses and institutions have the opportunity to change the way the world works by focusing on these three things,” said Brink.

“The world is smaller and flatter,” she continued. “But being able to connect is just not enough. Our planet also is becoming smarter. We have the ability to apply intelligence to challenges and ambitions - to just about everything. We can build a case for changing progress, challenging the status quo, and creating new value for ourselves and for clients. Great things are possible if we bring a new level of intelligence to how the world works, how everyday systems interact. It’s a chance to do better, to be efficient.

IBM’s vision of a “smarter” planet includes instrumented people, interconnected companies and institutions, as well as intelligent combinations of man-made artefacts and nature’s systems. To achieve it, Brink explained, will require “back-end systems to leverage data and analytics to create real-time insights.”

And its applications will include fields as diverse as health-care management, transportation and infrastructure, water management, and oversight that includes the authenticity of pharmaceutical offerings as well as the security of currency exchanges.

To connect with so many diverse perspectives, IBM is relying on a strong digital presence.

“Just about a year ago, we started a rich conversation with the world,” Brink said. “Now is the time to fuse intelligence into literally everything to change the way the world works. With intelligence, we all will live and work better, in all sizes of institutions and in all kinds of organizations. Businesses require intelligence to make safer decisions.”

And IBM, she added, will be the service provider, even though its role will be less immediately visible: “No one really sees our logo any more. Our logo isn’t seen. But the substantiation of our mission - to create a smaller planet, to reflect global realities - is not just what we talk about. It’s what we are. Essentially, it’s all around us. It affects each of our lives…. We’re leveraging everything we have to be relevant, to have real-time conversations all over the world.

The marketing effort in support of the broad-based effort reaches throughout the corporation, from advertising to its client centers, recruiting, media relations, event-marketing, social media, business partners, employees and alumni. “We’re listening efficiently in real time,” Burke explained. “We need to speak to many different audiences, to convey who the brand is. [We’re talking] in new and innovative ways to C-suite managers as well as college students. We’re on LinkedIn, Facebook. Blogger, Tumblr, and Twitter. We want everybody involved in our conversations.

“Employees understand the role they have. For prospective employees, and our clients, we help them understand [our culture of] deep know-how, of being innovators, of embracing deep forms of discovery.”

And, in terms of turning the IBM brand around, she added, “We collaborate to think, to make the remarkable possible. There are no problems too big to solve. When everybody thinks, everybody wins.

“The key precondition for real change now exists. A period of discontinuity is a period of opportunity for those with courage and vision. We’ve established a point-of-view. The ‘smarter planet’ is relevant and gaining momentum. It’s who we are. It’s what we do.”

 

The Kodak Growth Moment – Overhauling an Icon

By Bob Siegal, Prager and Fenton LLP

I write this blog post while sitting in the Phoenix Hospital ER, waiting for an orthopedic surgeon to treat my crippled hand. 

OK, I’ll be honest - I’m really writing this while sitting poolside at the Marriott, sipping a Mojito desperately trying to self-medicate while trying to write this blog entry using the frozen claw that my right hand has become. However, if I had a lick of sense I would be in the ER. 

Jeffrey Hayzlett took the stage this morning allegedly to give the above referenced presentation.  If the ANA were being accurate however his presentation would have been titled; “PITY THE POOR FOOL WHO HAS TO TAKE ACCURATE ENOUGH NOTES TO WRITE THE BLOG ON THIS PRESENTATION” – which would be me.

I cannot remember the last time I heard someone relay so much quality information, so quickly in such an entertaining fashion. So there I am writing away like some scribe on crack trying to capture all of Mr. Hayzlett’s musings when my hand completely seized. But I suppose I am getting ahead of myself – let’s turn the clock back a few hours…

So here is Kodak, king of an analog technology and a product line that has essentially become obsolete who along the way also created and owns a lifestyle concept and cultural icon - “the Kodak moment” - that is now entirely an entirely digital activity. What is a giant corporation facing extinction to do?
Kodak’s solution as to hire Mr. Hayzlett, who is undoubtedly the first CMO in American business to be engaged and given the mandate (recorded on video for all to see) by the company’s CEO to “Create Tension Inside the Company” (given this charge, perhaps he should change his title to Chief Tension Creation Officer) while reframing Kodak’s marketing department from an organization that sold a product – film - into a digital force selling Emotional Technology.

We learned a lot in his short presentation –
• Kodak holds 25,000 patents in digital technology
• 70% of Kodak’s revenue comes from digital products
• 2/3 of its income is from outside the US
• The majority of its business is from B to B NOT B to C.
Go figure.

We also learned of the Hayzlett proximity rule – “don’t make eye contact with him or you WILL get an assignment to do something”

We also learned about the transformation process and the underlying Kodak philosophies towards their business:
• People don’t take pictures, they capture memories, moments.
• The real Kodak moment is sharing our moments.
And my favorite:
• My memories are what make me, me. Its only when I share them that I become complete.

There was much, much more content; details on the transformation process, funny stories about bypassing the corporate infrastructure to make things happen quickly and efficiently, the emotional connection to consumers, being willing to put yourself out there to do what you know is right. But, the thing is it took me all afternoon to write this so I need to stop. If you want to see the rest of the story, the outcome of this work in progress, a stop at Kodak.com might not be a bad way to start.

Name Your Own Job Title: Yes There is a Method to the Madness

By: Darlene Abubakar, Amtrak

Method Products, Inc. manufactures and distributes household cleaning products and Eric Ryan, the company’s Chief Brand Architect and Co-founder, indicated that Method is a challenger brand,foolish enough to go up against not one or two but seven goliaths in the category – companies so big that he would love to just have their toilet paper budget to support his marketing efforts. 

Marketing budget aside, Eric believes strongly that the most successful marketing efforts work from the inside out – starting with employees because the brand must first live in the mind of the employees.  And as such, the HR Director is really your Marketing Director, he stated.  He added that they do cross functional interviews and prospective employees receive a homework assignment – “How would you keep Method weird?” This approach allows them to feel the chemistry of the candidates and their approach to the brand.  Once hired, employees establish their own job title.

Mr. Ryan believes that companies need to elevate work to a higher place – put something out that is bigger than them.   He also challenges the “old” organization structure and indicated that marketing needs to “look more like us.” There must be two way conversations with engagement and participation.  Don’t build a brand around a brand promise – a single idea, but around a brand philosophy – a singular cultural idea.  Create products worth talking about and continue to challenge the norms.  Eric stated “The soul can not be outsourced” bring creative in house so you can respond quickly. To maintain a creative approach, they have an open office space to encourage dialogue among employees.  They also, place all creative, no matter what stage, on what they refer to as Wiki-walls so that any employee may comment or add to the concept.

“People against dirty” is their brand philosophy and the company believes that you should know what’s in your home care products.  Most people don’t think about the chemicals in their cleaning products, but Method is supporting The Household Product Liability Act, a bill currently under consideration by congress that would require that all ingredients be listed.  He shared with us a video – “Shiny Suds” that will be launched in a couple of weeks – it’s funny and makes a strong statement about who is sharing our bathtubs with us.  It will be going viral so check it out and share with your friends.

My last words - whether you are a start-up or a traditional “legacy” company, I ask the question “is there a method to your madness?”

Google: Green or Red Stripe?

By Ryan Anderson, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
 
The ANA has devised a clever system to the badges provided to each attendee at the Annual Conference. As is typical of most conferences, these 3x4 cards provide your name and the company you represent. This creates an interesting social scenario whereby most of us do a face-chest-face evaluation throughout the daily procession. Largely this is done out of curiosity, but in some instances this is a tactic used to predetermine the worth of a potential conversation.
 
The clever part comes with their color-coding system. If your badge has a green stripe, this means you are an ANA member or staff person. If your badge has a red stripe, this means you are vendor or sponsor. By providing this simple visual clue, we are able to easily identify who are the buyers and who are the sellers in this advertising ecosystem.
 
The reason I share this fact is because when Eric Schmidt, chairman and CEO of Google, spoke at today’s general session, I was curious what color badge he received at registration (though he probably didn’t stand in queue). On one hand, Google was just ranked #7 in Interbrand’s Best Global Brands 2009 and has shown year over year increases in ad spending. So one could surely state “green.” On the other hand, Google earned ad revenues in the area of $21 billion in 2008, so one could just as easily state “red.”

Early on in his speech, Schmidt said matter-of-factly that Google is in the advertising business – that 97-98% of revenue comes from advertising, mostly in the right margin of search results. But later in the Q&A session, he discussed being in the information business – needing to innovate as fast as possible, seizing the opportunities ahead to provide consumers with the best access to this “information explosion” we’re all encountering. “If Google doesn’t seize those opportunities, someone else will” said Schmidt.

This green/red debate reminded me of Chris Anderson’s book, Free: The Future of a Radical Price, where he contends that the most effective price is no price at all. Now free doesn’t mean profitless, it just means that the route from product to revenue is indirect. In Google’s case, they are providing an amazingly effective product (information) that happens to be free to the consumer, where their indirect (and profitable) route to revenue is advertising.

I’m not sure if the ANA staff has printed any, but I think the stripe on Google badges should be some color in between green and red…perhaps brown (the unfortunate mixture of these two colors).

For additional coverage of Schmidt's speech, check out New York Times reporter Stuart Elliot's blog post here.