Random

    Marketing

    Well, well, wellness.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    There are all sorts of ad agency segments: pharma, direct response, B2B, digital, CPG, financial, ethnic, entertainment and even a small shop that focuses on baby boomers (AgencyFive0).  What there doesn’t seem to be is an agency segment that focuses on the healthy. 

    I am hip deep in the science of health these days and though not a conspiracy peddler there are a great many people who believe a degree of collusion exists in businesses that make money off of disease. (Enough on that, I watch too much television.)  

    What I am comfortable talking about is the fact that healthcare is 17-18% of U.S. GDP and a lot of money is changing hands when it comes to medicating, treating and surgically repairing patients.  Don’t hold me to this exact data point, but about 20% of medial costs go to prevention and 80% to treatment.  That’s wrong. And that’s why there are pharma agencies.  Were we to flip that equation, there would be more wellness care and wellness-focused ad shops.  It’s a segment that is unique, growing and discrete — and a segment whose time has come. McTrust me.  Peace.

     

    Marketing Hack.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    Not the noun, the verb.  A marketing hack (vb.) is a marketing shortcut designed to create immediate return.  Like a technology hack, it plays off of something that already exists – tweaks it, tests it, then turns it loose to see what happens. Prior to the web there weren’t many marketing hacks (vb.). Maybe buy an 800 number close to a competitor, draft the media plan of the #1 brand, create package design similar to that of the category leader, direct coupons at competitive buyers.  Pre-Web, there were more marketing hacks of the noun variety – people who stole other’s message to create sales.  (Hey, pass me Campaign Magazine, I need some inspiration for an ad.)

    But with the web changing everything in the world of marketing — collapsing the sales cycles into a few clicks — we have a growing preponderance of marketing hacks (vb.) which are disrupting the business, as Jean-Marie Dru might say. In a bad way. The science of creating attention and clicks is displacing the science of creating product preference, and brand loyalty. 

    Marketing hacks (vb.) at their worst are like human cells growing out of control… and you know what that is.  Market research scientists are being replaced by marketing technology scientists and it is creating some serious near-term chaos.  In my travels I’m finding the smartest marketers are those seasoned professionals who know how to find a motivating idea, manipulate it (like Beckham) and put it in consumers way with subtly to create a sale. If it’s a hack so be it, but it can’t be  a tactical gimmick.

    If your marketing agent is 26 years old, a 3 year social media veteran and pulling the strings of significant marketing budget, you might just be placing too much emphasis on the verb.  And, if you should look around the room, if there is no noun in sight, chances are you might be that noun. 🙂 Peace.

    PS.  There are many new media marketing hacks that building sales and loyalty. And they are more than exciting.  

     

     

    Barack and Hilary. Hillary and Barack.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0
    If you have been watching any of the democratic debates lately you have been treated to some serious sparing between Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Nobody really likes the mudslinging which often results in a draw, but I have to wonder why so much time is reserved for this sort of McNasty campaigning? And why does the media focus on it so?
     
    Here’s my take. As nasty as it is, and as petty as some of the points and counterpoints are, I think it gives us a view into the candidates under pressure. Do they remain cool? Do they stumble? Do they loose sight of their strategic vision or do they get embroiled in the tactical piss-fest? Who looks ready to crack, America ask. All other policy things being relatively equal, I look to these moments to help me understand who acts “presidential” under pressure and who is wired best to handle the pressure-packed job.
     

    Ego.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    freud

    Ego is the root of all brand planning evil. Okay, will maybe not evil but it can still screw up a good insight. (For returning readers, it can also screw up a good incite.)

    When you read your briefs and decks and find this nuggets that sounds and feel motivating you must ask “Is this me talking?”   Is this my point of view?  Or is it a fair and unbiased observation – supported by fact.  NY ad agencies have often been ridiculed for making ads that don’t sell between the wickets, the wickets being the east and west coasts. Are we including everyone when we observer trends, when we ideate?  That’s why testing and researching outside of the big metropolitans areas is important.  

    Good planners are paid to think beyond the ego. To think beyond the subject before them. Planners catalog a lifetime of experiences and observations and use them when sorting through their day jobs and assignments at hand. They drop the ego. They drop the leash (Pearl Jam reference).

    Remove the ego, the self-projection and you can begin to truly see. (It’s hard.) Peace!

     

    Kindle and Kindling

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

     

    I’m riding the train to the city (sorry, New York) and a gent next to me is reading the new Amazon Kindle 2. I interrupted him to ask about its performance and he was not even miffed. He loves it. When I ask how many books he’d read he told me with the Journal (sorry, Wall Street) on screen that he is reading more than ever before. “I always have something with me.” The wireless works fine, he added.  

     

    The idea that people will read more than ever because they always have material close by is intriguing and, if correct, suggest better grades for kids, better erudition for adults and, dare I say, a more informed populace. Ahh, the future.  

     

    This dude was so Zen-ed out, in fact, that after I returned it to him and apologized for the newsprint smudge on its pretty thin frame he smiled and gave me a knowing nod. Enough said. This thing is going to take off like dried kindling on an arroyo. Peace.

     

     

     

    Graying of the Microsoft Geeks

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0
     
    Almost 2 years old, with gazillions spent behind it, the Zune media player has been an abysmal failure, capturing only 2% market share. It’s another bad example of Microsoft having Jobs-envy.
     
    Microsoft is not about music, it’s about innovation and execution in computing software and computing applications. This is where its future lies. Microsoft needs to put all the smart Zune people in a room, let them know very gingerly that the project is in harvest mode, find out what they learned from the exercise and what can be used for its next gen project. 
     
    It then needs to spend it time and R&D money identifying the next OS for mobile devices. Microsoft needs to think forward, not backward.  Mobile phones, smart phones, netbooks and even handhelds we haven’t yet thought of (GPS, language translation, money payment) are waiting for some unifying software and apps. That’s what Microsoft is good at. Not entertainment applications or advertising platforms. 
     
    The geeks are graying and thinking like people living in mansions.  
     

    Jeremy spoke in class today.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    Last year I worked with an interesting K12 educational development company called Teq. For a brand planner it provided a perfect storm of stimulating elements: a business with a changing model, tons of humanity (tools to teach children), inner city color, political sturm und drang, and pent-up market demand. Oh, and the market could be measured in billions not millions. In addition to developing a brand plan and marketing communications plan I had my eye on creating a social media dept. – something I’ve long blogged about.

    Before I landed at Teq I found a dude on the company site named Jeremy Stiffler. He was one of the reasons I really liked the Teq, site unseen. Every company needs a Jeremy Stiffler.  He was a SME (subject matter expert), who without breaking a sweat could be recorded on video and teach the products and services.  Part actor, part teacher, part digital usability savant, Jeremy could look the camera in the eye and walk you through a product or topic tutorial (tute) with flawless effectiveness. Good teachers know when a student doesn’t get something by looking at their expression. Jeremy, intuitively knew it, even from behind the camera.

    Social media departments need a good writer, videographer, editor and still photographer.  Obviously, they all need to be orchestrated at the hands of a brand manager and plan.  But the best departments in their respective business will always have a full or part time Jeremy.  Not a pretty on-camera face or rented talent, an illuminating teaching presence who works for the company and gets people. Peace.

    Small Batch Brand Strategy

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    I am loath to admit it, but What’s The Idea? is a small batch brand strategy consultancy.  The market has been conditioned to think a large corporate brand strategy has to cost $100,000; add another $150k for naming and logo design. Most of my clients don’t have that kind of money. My clients tend to be small and mid-size or start-ups.

    My framework for brand strategy – one claim, three proof planks – is tight and enduring.  But for some larger businesses, helmed by multivariate-obsessed MBAs, it may seem overly simplistic.  And inexpensive. Simplicity is the beauty of the framework, frankly. It mirrors what consumers remember.

    In small batches, with only 40 or 80 hours invested in research and planning, the process has to be relatively simple.  The information gathering metaphor I use is the stock pot. My cognitive approach, the “boil down.”  When you work in small batches, you self-limit your ingredients. You know what not to heap into the pot.

    I’ve done small batch brand strategy for crazy-complicated business lines. A global top 5 consulting company with a health and security practice and a preeminent hacker group who helps the government keep us safe. Small batches both.

    Try the small batch approach. As Ben Benson used to say, “I think you are going to love it.”

    Peace.  

     

    Are you brand planner material?

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

     

    Ovarian cancer kills 15,000 women in the U.S. every year. 22,000 women are newly diagnosed every year. These are statistics. Grim statistics. Typical Americans see these type of statistics daily in the news and have become somewhat inured – until it hits home, that is. Murder statistics, KIA war statistics and obesity statistics all fall into this category. Marketers, on the other hand, live on statistics: annual sales, unit sales, target pop size, share of market. Account or brand planners care not a whit about the numbers. They care about blood pressure and galvanic skin response. When we talk about saving for college with young moms are they sweating? What does that say about their choice of husband? Their self worth? Can a planner actually smell fear? It does have an aroma you know. Emotions and feelings are what planners care about…and we mine them one person at a time.

    If you love statistics it’s okay to get into marketing. If you love people, get into planning. The dude from the TV show Elementary who plays Sherlock Holmes may be a great observer with a bag full of analytical tricks, but he is not good at getting people to share. So Sherlocks need not apply either.

    Like people? Want to give people moments of happiness, satiety and comfort? Become a brand planner.  

     

    Planning Tips for B2B

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    I use a battery of static questions when doing discovery in my brand planning process. There are follow-the-money questions for C-level executives and follow-the-sales questions for sales people. I augment the latter with sales call tag-alongs with top and bottom sales earners.

    An interesting way to get information fast is to interview the head of HR. S/he should have a great understanding of heard-on-the-street market perceptions. The tough questions they field from candidates are great input and can provide competitive intell. Additionally, ask the HR head to recap the boiler plate they use to introduce the company.

    Another way to get to information fast is to sit in on new employee sales training. Succinct and compelling value props, key talking points, and product benefit highlights suggest an easier task for the planner. A fruit cocktail approach, not so much.

    If a company is smart enough to have an internal messaging service like Chatter, see if you can get access and peruse key topics. (At Nestle, the internal messaging community is very strong.) This is not Edward Snowden stuff, I’m talking about approved community threads and discussions. Read them, they can provide centers of gravity for planners.  

    Great planning is 80% listening. But when you don’t have the time to listen to everybody you need some shortcuts. Plan on. Peace!

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