Fashion prediction?

from the WonderBranding.com blog recently:

I found this amusing little clip from sometime in the 1930s, predicting what fashion would look like in the (gasp!) year 2000.

Somehow, I have a feeling Lady Gaga may have seen this at some point.

The comments of the narrator (ooooh, swish!) are truly entertaining.

And for you guys out there, you’re not left out. Looks like the predictions were just a few years off with the MC Hammer pants, but they did get it right with all the pockets needed for tech gadgets (and candies for cuties!).

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Invent, Innovate, or Wait

Seth Godin:

It’s (always) too soon to know for sure

The cost of being first is higher than it’s ever been…

It’s entirely possible that you’re racing.

Racing to the market with a new product or a news story or a decision or an innovation. The race keeps getting faster, doesn’t it?

If you’re racing, you better figure out what to do about the times that you don’t know for sure…because more and more of your inputs are going to be tenuous, speculative and possibly wrong. Day traders have always understood this–all they do is trade on uncertainty. But you, too, if you’re racing, are going to have to make decisions on less than perfect information.

Given that fact, what are you going to do about it? I think it’s worth a few cycles of your time.

Is it smart to blog on a rumor?

Worth dropping everything and panicking because of a news alert?

Should you hire someone based on information you’re not sure of?

What about changing your website (your pricing, your layout…) based on analytics that might not be absolutely correct? How long are you willing to wait?

Given that you will never know everything for sure (unless you’re opting out of the race), some of the issues are:

• What’s the cost of waiting one more day?
• Are you waiting (or not waiting) because of the cost of being wrong, or because loud people are yelling at you?
• Is the risk of being wrong unreasonably amplified by part of the market or your team? What if you ignore them and focus on customers that matter?
• And have you thought about the costs of waiting too long? If you don’t, you’ll probably end up last.

Have you noticed how often stock analysts quoted in the news are wrong? Wrong about new products, wrong about management decisions, wrong about the future of a company? In fact, they’re almost always first and almost always wrong.

Rule of thumb: being first helps in the short run. Being a little more right than the masses ultimately pays off in the long run. Being last is the worst of all three.

A few people care a lot about scoops. Most of us, though, care about alert people making insightful decisions. Decide who you’re trying to please, then ship.

Moving Forward

From my email:

Daily Sales Tip: ‘Let’s Do This’

Get advances if you can’t close.

“Let’s do this” is a proven technique that allows you to talk about the next steps in the process while you move your prospect forward toward a final decision.

Let’s suppose you’re an hour into the sales call and the prospect has shared with you some of the problems he has, but he’s still unsure of your product or service’s value.

You want to go back to your office and study them prior to giving a proposal. In this case, you would say, “Let’s do this. I’m going to go back and put some thought into this and then let’s set a time we can come back in a week and take it a little further.”

The better process manager you are, the better salesperson you are.

Source: Sales trainer Bill Caskey

Friday Night Marketing News from Mediapost

My folks were loyal Buick owners. I inhertited their LeSabre and Regal when they passed away:

Automotive

Buick Aggregates Feedback On Its Regal

by Karl Greenberg

The Moment of Truth site sits atop a platform that scours the web for anything Regal, filters out the dross and naughty verbiage and displays the resulting content on a visually arresting 3D billboard that displays video, tweets, comments, and blogs. Content ranges from consumer opinions and testimonials, to automotive reviews and critiques. …Read the whole story >>

Food

Recall, Weak Cereal, Eggo Sales Hurt Kellogg

by Karlene Lukovitz

CEO David Mackay noted that cereal as a whole tends to be among the highest-spending ad categories, and said that Kellogg sees important opportunities in marketing outreach to the Hispanic market, support of product launches and other areas. The company expects to grow ad spend by a percentage in the mid-single digits for the overall year. …Read the whole story >>

Retail

RadioShack Rolling Kiosks Into Target Stores

by Sarah Mahoney

“It’s a genius cross-branding move,” Cathy Hotka, a retail branding consultant based in Washington D.C., tells Marketing Daily. “Target is known both for its high traffic and desirable demographic, and kiosks selling high-demand items do really well — this seems like smart partnering.” …Read the whole story >>

Retail

Cosmetic Companies Post Prettier Profits

by Sarah Mahoney

At Avon Products, which hiked its ad spending 19%, second-quarter revenue rose 8% to $2.7 billion, with beauty sales climbing 9% and increasing in all categories. And Revlon’s sales gains were propelled by color cosmetics and Revlon ColorSilk, but partially offset by lower sales of Almay cosmetics and Mitchum anti-perspirant deodorant. …Read the whole story >>

Automotive

Ford Rallies For Fiesta At X-Games

by Karl Greenberg

The company is using a 24/7 strategy for Fiesta with a marketing program tied to the X Games 16. Ford will field souped-up Fiestas piloted by four drivers including Ken Block, who has been doing online stunt videos for Ford in his Fiesta. …Read the whole story >>

Telecom

J.D. Power: Carriers Improve Customer Service

by Aaron Baar

“It’s not just about making a customer happy, it’s actually exceeding that,” says Kirk Parsons. “It’s an opportunity for the carriers to use the care experience as a way to build loyalty. In today’s wireless market, a lot less new customers are coming in, and it’s really about stealing customers from your competitors.” …Read the whole story >>

Bruner Named GMA SVP, Science & Regulatory Affairs

Coke Partners With WNBA For Parks Program

Power: 3rd Party Auto Sites Are Tops for Shoppers

Clearwire To Power Best Buy Connect 4G

Email Marketing

A couple years ago, I expanded my marketing knowledge by agreeing to be the V-P of Communication for my local Advertising Federation. I learned a lot about email marketing and how direct mail, (junk mail) is similar, since we used both to promote our monthly events.

Now, when I’m talking to a business or non-profit, I share the tips I learned from first hand experience and from other experts, like this:

Why ‘Spray and Pray’ Email Marketing Doesn’t Work

Your B2B email marketing program might have a good reason for sending a steady stream of one-size-fits-all messages to prospects. “The idea being that by keeping these folks exposed to your company’s name and logo, you’d stay ‘top of mind,'” notes Ardath Albee at Marketing Interactions. “That process is now referred to as ‘spray and pray’ marketing.”

As you might guess, there’s a problem with the “spray and pray” approach: It doesn’t work to gain or maintain customer loyalty.

Why? Because awareness doesn’t promote action, Albee explains. “I’m aware of Anheuser Busch. I love their Clydesdale ads. But I don’t drink beer. I’m also aware of many other beers. If I had to pick one, it would probably boil down to a ‘close my eyes and point’ exercise because I have no expertise in selecting beer.”

What’s a better approach? Albee creates a scenario in which a business needs to choose an email service provider (ESP).

• Vendor A sends the usual offers and testimonials. “They rave about how well their customers are doing by using their superior system,” she says.
• Vendor B, meanwhile, sends educational content that enables prospects to improve their email campaigns—even if they don’t become a customer—and demonstrates how other customers have succeeded.

While Vendor A is less expensive than Vendor B, the customer has gained more confidence in Vendor B. And even though the Vendor A service might equal that of Vendor B, it won’t be the company that gets the call. “[S]taying top of mind wasn’t enough to win [Vendor A] a customer when compared with all that Vendor B did to go beyond just staying top of mind,” Albee concludes.

The Po!nt: Give ’em info they can use. It’s not enough to stay at the top of customers’ minds; show them why you deserve to be there.

Source: Marketing Interactions. Read the full post.

It’s all about the Benefits, buddy

From my email:

Daily Sales Tip: Customers Buy Benefits

Sometimes, one of the most difficult things to teach beginning sales professionals (or sometimes even more senior sales professionals) is the difference between features and benefits.

All too frequently, salespeople list their product or service features, without articulating how those features will ultimately benefit that prospect or customer. Unfortunately, your prospects or customers are not always able to make that leap for themselves. And when they do not see the benefit, they do not buy. So, what is the difference between features and benefits? How do you articulate that difference?

Product or service features are facts — they are just there. There is no real value or judgement attached to them. They simply exist. For example, the product is blue, it’s a certain size or shape. Another example: The store is open 24 hours.

The most important thing you want to remember about features is: Nobody cares!

Your customers are buying benefits. They are saying to themselves, “What’s in it for me?” “What will this do for me?” “What will this do for my company?” “How will this affect my bottom line?” “How will this affect my employees?” “How will this affect customer relations?”

People buy for their own reasons, not for yours. And people buy because they believe that the product or service will get them what they want. And what they really want is a Big Benefit.

Customers and clients want what they want; not what you think they may want or should want. They have their own reasons for buying. You may have to help them identify those reasons, but they will be theirs, not yours.

Here is an easy way to identify benefits:

Make a list of all of the facts/features of your product or service. Don’t think about it, evaluate it or judge it. Just list them.

Once you have that list, go through the list item by item, putting yourself in your prospect’s shoes. Say to yourself (as your prospect), “What’s in it for me?”

Then, write down the answer. Once you have done that, you should have a compelling list of customer-centered benefits. Once you have that list of benefits, it will be easy to make your prospects and customers understand what’s in it for them.

Source: Sales trainer/author Wendy Weiss

Thursday Night Marketing News from Mediapost

Click & Read:

Automotive

Saab Woos Its Formerly Loyal Customers

by Karl Greenberg

“We have put together an extensive loyalty communications package, including a loyalty bonus for all customers, and we talk to customers on an ongoing basis either via direct mail or events,” says Mike Colleran. Saab last week was in Aurora, Ohio for the annual Saab owners convention, and the company has been wooing Saab-fan bloggers who wield enormous influence. …Read the whole story >>

Beverages

PepsiCo10 Finalists Pitch Digital Start-Ups

by Karlene Lukovitz

The start-ups selected will be given the opportunity to execute a pilot project with PepsiCo brand teams. PepsiCo has partnered with venture capitalist firm Highland Capital Partners and social media publication Mashable, and will connect some entrepreneurs with other business partners, including OMD Ignition Factory, TracyLocke, DMG::Events and Weber Shandwick. …Read the whole story >>

Retail

Wharton: WOM Customers 16% More Valuable

by Sarah Mahoney

“In the short run, these word-of-mouth clients are more valuable because of higher margins,” Christophe Van den Bulte, a professor of marketing at Wharton University and one of the authors, tells Marketing Daily. “And in the long run, they are more valuable because there is less churn.” …Read the whole story >>

Retail

Sears Targets College Kids Via FB Application

by Aaron Baar

The effort uses an application called the Campus Connector through which students can decorate a virtual dorm room with Sears products. Through the application, students can shop for products such as bedding, appliances, electronics and bath essentials, and place them in a virtual dorm room to be shared with others. …Read the whole story >>

Automotive

‘DriverVille’ To Help Launch ’11 Mazda 2

by Karl Greenberg

It will support the Facebook game with ads. It’s just one piece of an integrated campaign that includes TV, cinema ads, online lifestyle/engagement sites, print, customer relationship marketing, a music tour and MazdaUSA.com. The campaign is likely the last from longtime Mazda agency Doner, which had the estimated $150 million account since 1997 and developed the “Zoom-Zoom” tag. …Read the whole story >>

Research

Harris: Just 30% Of Adults ‘Love’ Cooking

by Karlene Lukovitz

Given the huge popularity of cooking channels/shows and Americans’ current propensity to eat at home more often to save money, the poll results may point to an element of necessity versus enjoyment, and a preference for “watching others cook” versus having to actually cook oneself, observed Harris. …Read the whole story >>

Neiman Marcus Tempts Fashionistas With Contest

P&G To Sponsor Next Five Olympic Games

Kimberly-Clark Launches GoodNites Via Social

Medal of Honor Ad Preview Linkin Park Track

‘Material Girl’ Officially Unveils New Ads

Beware of the Social Media Experts

I’ve been a presenter at a few conferences on Social Media and Marketing and I cringe at being called a guru or expert for one reason:

No one is an expert or guru on such a new and expansive subject.

Was Ben Franklin an expert on Electricity? Not by today’s standards.

There are people who are good at certain niche’s, and there are those who are good at looking at the big picture, and I’ve discovered very few who can do both.

I prefer the big picture approach, because I can always find someone else who can work out the technical details for me.

Now, on the subject of Viral Videos, check out this from MarketingProfs:

Shooting Down Three Myths of Viral Marketing

The word “viral” has become synonymous with social-media success, writes Ian Greenleigh in a post at ReputationOnline. “It’s even showing up on business cards.” Some of the professional titles Greenleigh has recently seen: Viral Brander, Viral Marketing Planner.

But the companies that assign these titles “don’t understand social media,” Greenleigh asserts. In short, no one “creates” viral content, he says, and “no amount of blood, sweat or tears can make something ‘go viral.'”

In his Anti-Viral Manifesto, Greenleigh lists the assumptions he says need to be shot down regarding viral marketing. Among the myths:

If success is repeatable, there is a formula for creating successful content. No there isn’t, Greenleigh states: “Normally, it doesn’t even matter if the second piece of content bears any resemblance to the [successful] first, [what matters is] that it is marketed to the same network,” he notes.

Content is king. “Not really,” he says. “If whatever you’re sharing is great, it will be shared more. But if it’s not so great, and you have an existing fan base, it will still get traction.” What matters most is the “kingdom” you create with your customers, he says—based on long-term CRM.

Good guys finish last. Wrong again. Service wins over sensational in the long run. People who “work hard to build networks of brand advocates still see ROI from their efforts,” Greenleigh concludes. “They know that all the metrics involved in supposedly calculating viral-ness don’t mean diddly if they can’t point to results that mean something to someone.”

The Po!nt: Trusted content beats viral content over time. When you are viewed as a trusted content provider, Greenleigh says, “your network will do the heavy lifting once you give them something to spread.”

Source: ReputationOnline. Read the full post.

New Ad Campaigns

Amy’s on vacation this week, Phyllis Fine fills in:

Honda’s Mr. Opportunity sings in Italian. Cats sing in English. A mythical Frenchman creates a better mayonnaise. Let’s launch!

Honda’s Mr. Opportunity sings in Italian. Cats sing in English. A mythical Frenchman creates a better mayonnaise. Let’s launch!

“Uninspired by the condiments of his day,” Colonel Pierre FrenchLastNameI Couldn’tCatch determined to create a better mayonnaise. “So he sailed up to a fine fluffy cloud and brought back a big pinch of it,” which later became the recipe for Blue Plate Mayonnaise. Or so says one of the two entertaining animated spots that attempt to create iconic status for the brand (which I for one have never heard for), both ending with the tagline “Spread the legend.” Second ad is all about the time sandwiches, called “blandwiches,” were on the verge of extinction — who knew? — until our heroic product came in to save the day. Watch the spots here and here. Agency is The Richards Group.

I don’t quite get the central metaphor in this VitaminWater spot: “Some people treat their body like a temple. I treat mine more like an amusement park.” The idea is illustrated very literally by showing a tiny woman juxtaposed against a much larger shot of the product. Woman is doing various circus-clowny things, from walking a tightrope to riding a unicycle. Creative was handled by Zambezi. Media agency was Starcom MediaVest Group.

Target recently launched nine 15-second spots in the latest incarnation of its “Life’s a Moving Target” campaign. In my favorite, a man on a cell phone looks at first one, then the other Target candy aisle as we hear a woman’s voice ask, “Could you get me something sweet… or salty… no, sweet… actually, salty…” When the camera cuts to her we see that of course, she’s pregnant. The featured product, M&M’s Pretzel, neatly solves the sweet/salty dilemma. See it here. “Let’s put the fish in friendship” begins the silly song sung by animated fish — in a commercial inside a commercial for Friskies Seafood Sensations being avidly watched by a gray tabby (who resembles my own cat Joey — but then, most tabbies look pretty much alike). See it here. Meanwhile, the treadmill Vitaminwater Zero spot, which features pounding feet and the treadmill’s time indicator slowly advancing from one second to another, was almost too lifelike in its evocation of the tedium that is the gym. See it here. Then there’s the Target brand tissue spot, with the guy crying while watching a dramatic moment in the movie “Rudy” on TV, here, and the brother wrapping his sister in Cottonnelle toilet paper, here. Wieden+Kennedy Portland created the campaign.

If you’re a cat person, you know that folks often assume you’ll welcome any gift with a feline image tacked on. Still, sometimes it’s hard to be thankful when my mother-in-law gives me the latest cat present, usually something for the kitchen (thankfully, not clothing). That’s the way I felt — mixed — about the first entry in the new national Quiznos campaign featuring the “Singimals”: three cats all dressed up in what look like high school band uniforms, wearing weird blonde wigs on their heads, singing (and playing band instruments) to celebrate Quiznos’ new $5, $4, $3 value menu. Cutest part is the paw holding up a sign that says “Toasty.” Check it out here. The campaign will also feature an online contest where consumers can upload their own versions of the “Singimals” song for the chance to win a $5,000, $4,000 or $3,000 cash prize. Agency is WONGDOODY.

Honda goes to the opera in one of its latest Mr. Opportunity spots. Scusa, that’s “Signor Opportunity,” who comes onstage to save the day by singing news of the Honda Clearance Event, after an agitated soprano tunefully bemoans the loss of her golden opportunity. Yes, it’s all sung in Italian (with English subtitles), and hilariously over-the-top. See it here. (Am I hallucinating, or is the first phrase the soprano sings, translated as “Alas,” really a distinctly non-Italian one: namely, “Oy, vey”? Or is there an Italian equivalent that sounds like Yiddish?) RPA handled the creative and the media buy.

Random iPhone app of the week: With StayHIP, the first bookable app for boutique hotels, mobile users can search by city name, price, or keyword (for example, “contemporary, luxurious, urban”) and view rates and availability in real time. The “Hotels Near Me” feature instantly finds the nearest boutique hotels using guests’ GPS location. Developed by TRAVELCLICK and Mobiata, the app is now available at the App Store and for Android.

Regularly scheduled Out to Launch columnist Amy Corr is on vacation this week.

Phyllis Fine is columns editor for MediaPost.

6 Lessons from A Cab Ride

Jim Meisenheimer:

Chubby The Cabby

Chubby the cabby – has what it takes to be successful in business.

Have you ever gotten into a taxi that was dirty, so much so you
were afraid to touch anything?

Have you ever gotten into a taxi and had to deal with the driver’s
attitude?

Have you ever gotten into a taxi and the driver didn’t speak
English which made getting to your destination nerve-racking?

Look, we’ve all had these experiences.

Here’s a taxi experience that will make your day and also serve
up a lesson on how to be successful in business.

Craig Soling, one of my newsletter subscribers, sent this to me
and I want to share it with you.

Craig says, “I recently attended a national conference in Chicago
Illinois. I live in a northern suburb of Chicago and decided to
commute each day. I have a friend who lives about 1 mile from the
convention center, so I decided to park my car at his place and
walk to the convention hall.

On the second day, I was exhausted from being on my feet and a
full day of meetings. So I decided to take a cab back to my car.
It was a great decision!

As soon as I got into the taxi I was greeted with enthusiasm. The
driver said, “welcome to my cab, you just made the best choice of
your day, I speak English and I truly believe in the power of
positive thinking and positive attitudes.”

Craig was instantly intrigued, not to mention not so tired anymore.
The ride was quick, but I stayed and talked to my driver for another
15 minutes.

For every question I asked, he had a well thought out response.
He wasn’t a driver, he was a salesman!

As soon as I stepped into the cab, the driver began making the
sale for my next ride, without directly talking about it.

And it worked. I got his name and telephone number side note on
the phone number, when I asked for his business card, he told me
he doesn’t have them because people just throw them away. He told
me to get out my cell phone and he would wait until I programmed
his name and number.

In Craig’s e-mail to me he said he hoped I would enjoy this story
and obviously I did.

Craig recommends that if you’re ever in Chicago, give Chubby the
Cabby a call for your transportation – you’ll enjoy the ride!
Chubby 773-392-1114.

Thanks Craig for sharing this with me. Here are some of the
lessons I learned.

1. Enthusiasm makes a difference!

2. Deal with the problems up front – “I speak English.”

3. Be positive in everything you do.

4. Ask people to program your name and telephone number when
you’re with them.

5. Ask for the business.

6. Be different.

The next time I’m in Chicago I’m calling Chubby the Cabby!

He’s got what it takes.

Got a motivating story to tell?

Send it to jim@meisenheimer.com

See my Blog here: http://jimmeisenheimer.wordpress.com/

Twitter me here: http://twitter.com/jimmeisenheimer

Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/jim.meisenheimer

Jim Meisenheimer. 13506 Blythefield. Lakewood Ranch. FL. 34202
941-907-0415. jim@meisenheimer.com. http://startsellingmore.com