ANA Marketing Maestros

Facebook: Advertisers Are Your Friends

By: Irina Skaya

Earlier this month, Facebook  launched its new ad system that allows advertisers to track users’ activities on the Website to deliver product referrals and target advertising.

With a recurring theme of behavioral targeting at last month’s ANA Annual Conference and industry headlines that consumers must be part of the brand, Facebook is up to something.   

Embracing a most powerful form of advertising, word-of-mouth-marketing, the idea is that consumers are more likely to trust a recommendation from their friends rather than from a 30-second TV spot. The only question I beg to ask is, “Why would anyone publicly disclose their shopping habits, unless they were getting paid for it?” Facebook might have to throw serious discounts or perks to win participation. 

Facebook’s new ad system has also raised some privacy concerns. Although Facebook does not ask users for permission in way that lets them know that they might appear in an ad, it will not share any personal information with the advertisers. And it is a personal choice for users to sign on as fans of a company.

The new ad system presents a major opportunity to tap the high disposable income student demographic currently using Facebook. You can create relevant ads according to users’ interests, relationship status, education status, etc. For instance, if you are a recruiter looking to fill a position and want to hire people from specific companies, you can target people based on what company they are employed by. If you are an advertiser promoting wedding consultancy business, you might want to target those who have, "Engaged” under their relationship status. 

When it comes to online, the power clearly lies in the hands of the consumer – from growth in user-generated content to Facebook’s new ad system, we are witnessing a transformation in the nature of advertising.

Now Arriving: Mad Men

by Mark Fogelberg

"Getting paid for selling stuff is the only thing that matters."

Having waited nearly a year since I first read about this show, I eagerly welcome the Thursday debut of Mad Men on AMC. Situated in an advertising agency circa 1960, the show captures the drama and the business of a completely different era.

By picking 1960, the producers chose a crucial time in American history. Culture and society are about to be reborn just as advertising is about to be reborn.

With excessive drinking, smoking, promiscuity, indulgence and stories all told through flawed heroes, the show looks to capture a bygone era that may not be as different as we'd imagine. How much has changed and how much has not? I hope you join me in finding out July 19th.

Tidbits from Advertising Financial Management

By Will Waugh

I am out in lovely Phoenix at the Arizona Biltmore for our Advertising Financial Management Conference. For those of you who are not familiar with the show, it is a gathering of marketing, finance and procurement/sourcing types congregating over the latest in agency compensation/relations.

So the first topic on Monday's slate - the Net Promoter score. Or, in a nutshell, "How likely is it that you would recommend our product/service to a friend or a colleague?" This is the core of how Enterprise Rent a Car's customer research. It is also a major component of the organic growth of the organization which has more vehicles on the road than its three nearest competitors - combined.

Bob Parsons, the CEO from GoDaddy.com was the tail end of the morning. Here is an extremely interesting character with a fascinating story....fifth grade flunky, factory worker, Vietnam vet, accountant, successful entrepreneur. He is also, as we know, the architect behind some of these most talked about advertising in recent history. Apparently, he also has the most read CEO blog in the blogosphere.

Technorati tags: advertising godaddy

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

A Customer's Story - What Bad Employees Do To Your Brand

By Barbara Bacci Mirque

During a winter trip to the lovely Whistler Blackcomb Ski Resort in British Columbia, Canada, I learned firsthand about the dark side of one to one marketing. No, not the digital type this term invokes but the good old fashioned one on one, personal sale that built companies such as Fuller Brush and Avon.

My experience was with a vacation timeshare and the outcome was not pleasant, but now that company is going to learn about the power of the conversation and how in the digital communication world we inhabit, the customer has a voice – a loud voice. I can express my displeasure with this company not to a few friends but to many hundred through blogs, social network sites, etc.

So what happened to incur this wrath? As my husband and I sat warming up in one of the ski lodges, we were scoped out by a marketing person since we fit their demographic (stable looking couple, in the age bracket of those who might be induced to purchase a timeshare at this fabulous resort – how is that for traditional targeting?!). When the pleasant young man started chatting us up, whereas this hardened New Yorker would have ignored him back home, we began conversing and were ultimately invited to a vacation timeshare presentation. Since we had never participated in one before we accepted (and the offer of 2 free lift tickets was enticing!) Little did we know what we were getting into when we later arrived at the sales office– the hard sell began. Ultimately our twenty-something salesman - a former self-acclaimed champion snowboarder - became very offended when we steadfastly refused his incredible price incentive. He ended the session by loudly insulting us and berating us for attending "just for the free gift" (Well of course – but they offered!)

So what are the lessons here?

• For one, be sure you thoroughly train all of your touch points. Your most customer facing among them should not insult your customers. The well honed marketing campaign about this company’s charming accommodations at this terrific ski resort can all be for naught when up against a rude employee.
• Second, monitor the conversation and respond – read the blogs and track what is being said about your company and correct negative perceptions. I plan to post negative comments about this company on communities that I frequent such as TripAdvisor and I will actively seek out other relevant blogs on which I can complain about them.

Don’t let this happen to your company and if it does for legitimate reasons, react to it and correct it at the source.

Technorati tags: timeshares marketing blogs

What's on the Minds of Senior Marketers?

By Will Waugh

A survey that the ANA released found the top concerns on the minds of senior marketing executives are "integrated marketing communications" and "marketing accountability". The ANA asked over 100 senior marketers to select from a comprehensive list of subjects to rank their top three issues that directly impact their marketing decisions and plans.

Integrated marketing communications (Wikipedia) jumped from the fourth spot in 2006 to the top of the list this year. Marketing accountability, which had topped the list for the previous three annual surveys, slipped to second place.

The ANA will use these findings to help shape the content of its Annual Conference: The Masters of Marketing scheduled to take place October 11 – 14, 2007 in Phoenix, AZ.

The entire selection of questions is below. The top 4 are switched around but remains consistent with what senior marketers and CMOs are telling us. Integrated marketing being number 1 does not surprise me, nor should it anyone else in this space as the marketing landscape continues to transform. The real question for those of us marketers out there is, should we be concerned that "attracting and retaining top talent" is the least of their worries?

Issue	2007	2006
Integrated marketing communications	1	4
Accountability	2	1
Aligning marketing organization with innovation	3	2
Building strong brands	4	3
Media proliferation	5	5
Consumer control over what and how they view advertising	6	8
Globalization of marketing efforts	7	10
Growth of multicultural consumer segments	8	6
Advertising creative that achieves business results	9	9
Attracting and retaining top talent	10	7

Technorati tags: CMOs marketing IMC

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

Marketing is #2 on Bright New Careers List

By Will Waugh

I wasn't looking but it popped up on my Yahoo! home page this morning. Seven Bright Careers for 2007 and Beyond highlights Marketing at #2 right after Physician Assistant:

This isn't your grandma's advertising. Today's marketers are developing business strategies in a rapidly changing media environment. To keep up with the media revolution, many businesses are hiring 'new media marketing coordinators' and 'marketing media strategists.'

I am not sure what my "grandma's advertising" was but this excerpt is spot on with indicators we are seeing from ANA members.

Surprised? Online Ad Spending Jumps 34%

By Will Waugh

News from the IAB via MediaPost announces media spending online reached a record $16.8 billion in 2006, an increase of 34%. IAB President Randy Rothenberg said, "The increase underscores marketers' understanding that interactive advertising can engage consumers, build brands and sell products and services."

This is not surprising to most and the trend is likely to continue though most see the growth adjusting to around 15-20% per year from here on out. The article goes on to mention Microsoft CMO Mich Matthews' recent announcement at the 4As Media Conference (Barbara comments on Mich's talk) that the technology giant will shift the bulk of their $1 billion spend online by 2010.

Technorati tags: online marketing microsoft