ANA Marketing Maestros

Thought Leadership as a Marketing Concept

By Will Waugh

I spent some time reading and re-reading David Armano's post  at Logic+Emotion on how thought leadership has been reinvented.

It occured to me that you could take this from an individual level and apply it to companies that have positioned themselves as thought leaders. One company, ANA member SAS Institute has done this effectively in the B2B space. A website that they sponsor called Better Management hosts an array of intellectual capital and business solutions for executives. In this realm, they clearly utilize content as a killer app.

Points from the Logic+Emotion post which apply to SAS's thought leadership positioning:

• Thought leadership can now come from anywhere.
• If we can't schmooze at events -- we will schmooze virtually.
• Our relationships will be formed purely out of merit—from what we have to offer and what we are willing to share.

The third point is key. Companies that are willing to offer up a "peek inside" while at the same time sharing valuable information (in many cases, milllions of dollars in R&D) will rule the online arena of thought leadership.

Technorati tags: sas marketing thought leadership

Speed to Satisfaction: Snap and iReader

By Kaitlin Villanova

The average search lasts somewhere around 15 minutes, and so does the average attention span.

Snap  is an efficient time-saving search tool whether you are using Yahoo!, Google, MSN, or in my case a Kaitlin search (thanks to pimpmysearch).

Snap offers a solution that is “visual, fast, and interactive” far superior to the text-in text-out search paradigm. When you hold your mouse over the link a window preview of the site pops up allowing you to make a judgment on the site without having to click-through. This will force marketers and designers to make the sites more visually appealing and aesthetically welcoming..

iReader has a similar model to Snap, it is a browser extension for Internet Explorer and Firefox. The difference is, rather than just providing a visual screen shot of the site, it scans the text and puts the information provided in the site into a two or 3 point bullet form.

It is difficult to judge which is  a better model, if you are looking for a visual preview of the site before you visit, then Snap is for you. If you would prefer a snapshot (no pun intended) of the content on the site then iReader may be a better fit…personally I use both.

These esoteric web tools are welcoming to the not-so-techy user for little or no cost. Marketers must prepare their sites to be visually appealing with rich content that will give the user a reason to return.

Technorati tags:Snap marketing iReader

HP Marketer: Not Convinced Second Life Has Value

By Will Waugh

Eric Kintz over at HP comes to life with a Top Ten List on why he's not sold on Second Life as a marketing channel. Most of the marketers I have talked with that have experimented with SL say that they are not actually expecting to make a ton of money, but rather create a channel for communication.

His Top Ten (more comprehensive explanation at his blog Marketing Excellence):

#1. The technology is still too complex

#2. The model is not yet scaleable

#3. The subscriber statistics are misleading

#4. The model’s scaleability is further threatened by a corporate IT backlash.

#5. The content is primarily adult oriented

#6. Brands are underestimating the investments required.

#7. Brands are not staying true to the Second Life values.

#8. Second Life experiences are not integrated with the overall brand experience.

#9. Potential revenues and profits are limited.

#10. I barely have time for my first life……

Lenovo' s online marketing chief Dave Churbuck reminds me of a November post on this very same topic.

Technorati tags: second life marketing

Garfield's Chaos Scenario

By Will Waugh

I like Bob Garfield. I have followed his writing and reviews for some time. I know his criticisms have hit a lot of nerves (including many of our members) but his insight on the future of marketing are extraordinary and, in many cases, spot on. I did ask him about the future of associations like ours and he was bullish on our role in marketing's evolution. Would he tell me otherwise at our event? Probably not but he is pretty straightforward.

I can't embed the video that Advertising Age is hosting but here is the link of Garfield speaking at our TV Forum a few weeks back. He hasn't posted on his blog Garfield: The Blog in awhile, but the writings are always entertaining and insightful.

Technorati tags: video marketing chaos scenario

Stengel - Communications Specialist in Demand

By Will Waugh

We recently interviewed Jim Stengel, P&G's Global Marketing Officer, for an upcoming publication we have coming out tentatively titled Marketing Thought Leaders: Conquering the Growth Frontier. When asked for his predictions on specialized positions for the new marketing world, he only gave one - a communications specialist role. I thought the definition for this was interesting so I thought I'd share it:

It's someone who is a bit of a consumer researcher and a bit of an advertising agency planner type - someone who is an integrated thinker; someone who understands the communications world. And I think someone who also understands the content world. It's a much more complex planning skill -- strategic thinking you might call it.

There you have it. The world's top marketer on what sort of skill sets a new marketer needs to have. I have talked about content as a killer app  as well as the renaissance marketer and how these traits are neccesary components of the evolving marketing world. The challenge, of course, is finding the talented individuals with a varied skill set across this spectrum. 

Technorati tags: stengel marketing communications

Holy Chip

By Kaitlin Villanova

Apparently Doritos had the right idea when they gave consumers the opportunity to create there own chip commercial for the Super Bowl (although Bob Garfield wasn’t impressed), now Pringles is up to the same thing with their jinglesforpringles contest. In this contest they are giving the consumer the chance to write a Pringles jingle hoping to spark some brand awareness and engage the chip-loving consumer.

At the TV Forum on Tuesday, Beth Comstock of NBC Universal talked of the “viewser” those who live in an “always on world,” they are connected, engaged, and in control. This brings me back to my point on the Pringles, in this contest they are hoping to reach this group of techy viewsers who, may or may not eat Pringles, but certainly watch American Idol (most likely on a 20 minutes delay so they can skip the commercials with their DVR), cast their vote via text, and are savvy enough to whip up a witty, comical skit about potato chips on their Mac computer in under an hour. This viewser is going to see the value in participating in a community activity such as the jinglesforpringles contest.

I know we are all getting tired of hearing about “user generated content” but I was perusing my bloglines when I came across an article in The Opine:

“The User Revolution [is] largely driven by the proliferation of media options, the emergence of    the Internet, and the growing sophistication of consumers. If you have been keeping up with the web and consumer trends, this is no surprise. Consumers no longer have to succumb to brand clutter and noise. They know what they want and they know how to get it. The niche is king and the choice is theirs.”

Okay, now what do you guys think about jingles for…..Pfizer??

Twitter Wants to Know: What Are You Doing?

By Kaitlin Villanova

Want to learn exactly what your consumers are thinking and doing and when? Twitter.com allows for that kind of intimacy. The community of “connected” users can communicate to friends their up-to-the-minute activities via IM, text, or email. Think of it as shorthand blogging.

Rather than writing a blog about how you are eating lucky charms cereal, then searching online for an image of the familiar leprechaun on a red box, just text message your Twitter account and save yourself a whole lot of time.”

Some Recent Twitter posts:

“BTW [by the way] I am in the apple store right now”

“Going to get a haircut, it is so warm out”

“Designing second life for you!”

Blogger Kevin Dugan writer of Strategic Public Relations Blog admits “Thousands of geeks texting random thoughts and keeping us up on their mundane status probably has value.”

Example of Twitter's usefulness in the community from Israel Hyman's Twitter microblog:

Robert Scoble wanted to have Kathy Sierra’s speech from SXSW (South by Southwest a music festival in Austin Texas, that has attracted a strong following amongst web creatives and entrepreneurs) so he asked via Twitter if anyone had a link to the audio. Within a couple minutes, someone gave him a link, which he posted via Twitter, and a few minutes later I was listening to the talk in Arizona. Twitter is microblogging at lightning speed. It’s an “always on” chat room.”

Now that you  have a better understanding of Twitter, it’s your turn to upload an image, invite friends, and answer the twitter question: What are you doing?

Technorati tags: twitter community social networks

Watching TV Online

By Will Waugh

I am a big fan of the show Friday Night Lights (a product of the Script Development Fund of the Family Friendly Programming Forum). I don't watch a lot of TV, having relegated my entertainment to Netflix . Friday Night Lights is great TV. Well acted. Intense drama. What TV is all about. The thing is, I don't watch it on TV. Over the last long weekend, I watched the first six episodes on Yahoo! and the remainder over the last couple of weeks on nbc.com.

Who says you can't watch TV online? The experience as I see it:

• You watch six segments with  the same pre-rolled ad before each.
• A lot less advertising than an hour of TV (average of 25 commercials versus six)
• I liked the Chase and Hilton Hotels commercials but by the third run of the promo for the new Robin William's movie, I was walking away from the computer.
• The picture was flawless and the resolution crisp.
• It will never reach TV levels with its current experience because it is a singular event.
• Advertisers still win with this advertising. A complementary static ad runs concurrently throughout the entire viewing experience. The audience may not be large but the exposure is worth it.

Some great reading about video pre-roll and online video as a whole at The Daily Reel and Will Video for Food (one of my favorites). 

Technorati tags: video marketing friday night lights

News for Marketers Without Scouring

By Will Waugh

I received a note like I'm sure many other marketers did announcing a new service from Prophet called Backpocket. Their chief executive is quoted as saying: "We’re excited to provide what we hope will become a go-to resource for busy marketers who need to keep up with the news, but who don’t have time to scour the media to find it."

Well, we hear from ANA members all the time that marketers just don't have the time so, in concept, this sounds like a great service. I checked it out and it looks like a nice mix of what all the Smartbriefs and MediaPost newsletters provide combined with the valuable resources of Prophet and their soothsayers.

Lincoln Financial's Online Video

By Will Waugh

I'd like to call people's attention to Lincoln Financial's online video series Hello Future Films which allows the user to choose their path towards retirement with subtle hints of product offerings. This is a clever execution that delivers on their messaging of 'owning the optimism of the future.' It is also consistent with the trend we are seeing with advertisers as content producers and distributors.

The big challenge: As a financial services firm in an industry that had veered towards commoditization, how could they break through the clutter of traditional media.

Key insight: Baby boomers approach the world optimistically and retirement is not a conclusion for them but rather a fresh start.

Behind Lincoln Financial Group’s new media play is an established brand positioning that fortifies both their consumer objectives and financial intermediary objectives - Retirement is being redefined. It’s not an end, but a series of transitions that requires smart products and solutions to help clients achieve continued success.

Technorati tags: lincoln financial video marketing