The word is that it takes decades to build a good name and moments to ruin it forever. It used to be that folks could claim credit for things that they had no part in and run from the bad news with which they might have played a big part.  Not so in 2011. The www, phones with cameras and tweets galore make us all potentially infamous.

In this spirit a few words for Mr. Cain:
1) Strike the word NEVER…immediately makes one suspect.
2) Your own personal communications program should be a plan.
3) You can’t make it up as you go along.
4) What you said at noon will be repeated to you at 4. Count on it.
5) You have successfully placed yourself into public life. The rules are different now.
6) The other members of your party are not on your team. They are out to destroy you.
7) Your message points have to be truthful. Truth floats.
Stick to your message points. Don’t go off script.
9) Asking “who” made the allegation does tend to acknowledge that there is a real one.
10) The people at The National Press Club are not your friends.
Gang,
We coach on this sort of thing. Best we can offer up is to tell the truth. Tell it the best way you know how, but tell the truth. Get the bads news out fast. Absence of your point-of-view will enable your enemies to make up their own version. And once you deploy the facts and answer the questions, behave with sincerity. You can then move on to whatever it was you were doing prior to the mayhem. But sadly, at this point the playing field is not the one that you knew it to be.

1. Finally Revealed: The Best Time To Send Out Your Email Campaign
2. The Digital Revolution: Is It More Sizzle Than Steak?
3. Using QR Codes As Marketing Tools
4. The 60 Second Close: Three Key Strategies No One Else Tells You About

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1. Finally Revealed: The Best Time To Send Out Your Email Campaign

• A new study from online marketer Hubspot, (www.hubspot.com) reveals the most effective time to send an email broadcast to your customers, no matter which business category you are in, is early Saturday morning.
   
• Weekend email campaigns tend to have a much higher click-through rate (CTR) than those sent during the week, which means more consumers read your emails and fewer opt-out.
   
• During the weekend, recipients seem to be more relaxed and ready to read email, rather than tackling all of their email messages on a harried workday.
   
• Send out your next email campaign Saturday morning and track the CTR. Keep in mind your CTR also depends on how well your list is segmented (so your customers get relevant information) and how attention-grabbing your message is.

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2.  The Digital Revolution: Is It More Sizzle Than Steak?

• We are in the middle of a digital revolution. Millions of consumers are making purchases based on information found through their computer or smartphone.
   
• Because of that, companies of every category view the digital landscape as an advertising bonanza – a new mecca to increase sales and promote products while reaching millions of eyeballs.
   
• But many companies are approaching this new frontier with a gold-rush mentality, without strategically considering the prime purpose of marketing – to increase profits.
   
• The reality is that huge traffic counts don’t necessarily translate into sales and some digital media formats just don’t play out as great advertising and profit-building platforms.
   
• The fact is, digital tactics alone will not dramatically affect your sales. They must be integrated into your plan, complimenting your traditional marketing efforts.

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3.  Using QR Codes As Marketing Tools

• With the increasingly popularity of smartphones, QR (Quick Response) Codes are ready to go mainstream and play an important role in linking your customers and clients to valuable digital content via their smartphone.
   
• Manufacturing companies are putting QR codes on their catalogues and packaging to provide additional selling information or instructions.
   
• Retailers and service companies are placing QR Codes on merchandise, promotional products, store fronts, for-sale signs, menus, print ads and business cards to tell additional stories about their products, such as up-selling opportunities, testimonials and product reviews.
   
• To find out which scanner is best for your smartphone model, search online for “QR Code readers.” To learn how to generate and send a code back to your digital content, search “QR Code generators.” The smartphone scanners and generators are free; all you provide is the content for viewing.

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4. The 60 Second Close: Three Key Strategies No One Else Tells You About 

• We’ve provided three important strategies to consider as you move your marketing efforts forward: effective timing of your email campaigns, establishing a digital strategy and implementing a QR code program. 
   
• With your customers and clients going through a shift using today’s technology, your marketing has to adjust also. And while some of the new platforms are quite attractive, will they increase your bottom-line profits? 
   
• Rather than jumping on bandwagons, our goal is to help you determine what is going to work best for your company that will increase your profits.
   
• That’s what we do for our clients and would love the opportunity to do that for you. Just call us. We can get you there … faster than ever.
   

Why? Don’t these global super powers have enough coin to figure it out?

And there’s the rub…no amount of time and/or money can solve this problem. McDonald’s will try throwing money at it (see this). But, McCafe will ONLY work because of scope and scale, not because people think it’s a better experience. This seemed to be the elephant in the room at the YUM! Brands Global Marketing Summit I attended this week. I witnessed a room full of some of the greatest marketers in the world struggling to figure out how to get their brands back on track in the US. And then it hit me…during a presentation by Ron Johnson, SVP of Apple Retail.

If traditional QSR giants want to stay relevant, especially in their home market, they need to make a fundamental shift in the way they make decisions – not just strategic brand decision, but EVERY decision.

Step 1: Develop a clear and compelling brand positioning statement – STAND for something.

Step 2: Create a brand experience around that statement, beyond your advertising.

Step 3: NEVER compromise and never look back.

Most marketers rest after the first step and then wonder why their market share disappears faster than a Chipotle burrito at lunch.

That’s the secret to the success of brands like Chipotle and Chick-FIL-a (or Apple, Facebook, Harley Davidson, Jack Daniels…) – they stick to who they are and what they believe in. And they never, EVER compromise. This mindset is evident from the most minor decisions (the style of napkin dispensers in bathrooms) to the major ones (number of menu items). It’s because they understand that as soon as you compromise on the smallest things, it festers like a virus. And before you know it, you’ve mortgaged your soul for the sake of profit.

Is it a coincidence that the cost of a Big Mac has risen 96% over the past ten years while the average price of a chicken burrito from Chipotle has only risen 31% in that same time period? And no, the “rising cost of commodities” is not the sole reason for this. There are quite a few variables working here, but in the eyes of the consumer, it’s simply that Chipotle cares more about keeping their customers happy. While McDonald’s has set a minimum margin they’re willing to accept, Chipotle has figured out a way to make everyone happy – keeping the prices low and overcoming the margin lost through velocity. And they can do that with confidence because it’s WHO THEY ARE – Food with Integrity.

Don’t get me wrong, just about every great brand has fallen into the soul-mortgaging trap (see iMac and New Coke), but they’ve course-corrected quickly and have never made the same mistake again. QSR giants have an opportunity to do the same. But this time, there may not be a second chance.

I find it funny that current marketing campaigns are segmented into either a mass market or Hispanic market category without much differentiation. However, with the Hispanic community quickly becoming the “mass market,” differentiating among them will be critical for effective reach. The key to keep in mind is the importance and relevance of Hispanic culture to this demographic. Although many Hispanics (especially the younger demos) are acclimated to various social norms in the US, there are still a few things that remain generational staples: family, music, tradition, food and dialect (Spanish, English and even some Spanglish).

For this reason, English and non-English advertising must recognize and respect personal ties to heritage. It will take more than simply translating the message or casting Hispanic actors to effectively reach this audience. Marketers need to gain a deeper understanding of the perception Hispanic consumers have about brands in order to develop impactful strategies. Take music for example – while an ad with salsa music may appeal to a Cuban in New York, it might not appeal to a Mexican consumer in San Antonio who prefers Tejano music.

Hispanics share one culture, but country-specific traditions create individual nuances. Marketers who recognize these subtleties and have an overall respect for the culture will find a loyal following of Hispanic consumers.

60 Second Articles:

1. Why Word Of Mouth Is More Important Than Buzz
2. How To Improve Your Chances For A Top Listing On Google Places
3. Did You Know? Factoids For Meaningful Conversations With Customers
4. The 60 Second Close: Staying A Few Steps Ahead

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1. Why Word Of Mouth Is More Important Than Buzz

• People often use “buzz” and “word of mouth” interchangeably. Buzz typically centers around a one-time event and has a short life span. The buzz surrounding last month’s Super Bowl ads, for example, created excitement for about a week and then suddenly disappeared.

• Word of mouth – the most successful and efficient way to increase sales – is a long-term process based on the interesting, unique and common-sense way your company does business each day, interacting with your customers.

• Word of mouth marketing should be an integral part of your company’s sales-building plan. Every customer touch point should create an interesting experience that encourages your customers and clients to share those experiences with others. The more your customers talk about you, the more your reputation spreads and sales increase.

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2. How To Improve Your Chances For A Top Listing On Google Places

• Google, Yahoo and Bing are placing a heavy focus on “local search” for every business category.

• Run a Google search for “your product or service in <City, State>” and the first result you’ll see, above the organic rankings, is a Google Places listing of five to eight local businesses.

• Obviously, every company would like to be included on that visible part of the list. Most believe the only way to get there is to first claim your company’s name on Google Places, Yahoo Local and Bing, then fill out the form and cross your fingers.

• But what most don’t realize is that, beyond registering your business name, the search engine’s algorithm is likely spidering for additional geographical information on your company’s web pages.

• Here are four critical tips to give you an advantage in boosting your rank on Google Places:

1. When you claim your business and fill out the form, the description portion should include keyword phrases commonly used by those searching the Internet for you, along with your address.
2. Ensure your company’s complete address – city, state and zip code – is listed in text (not embedded in an image) on your website’s home page and on all of your other web pages. Include street intersections if applicable.
3. Add an embedded Google Map of your location to your home page.
4. Insert a geo-meta tag in the header on each page of your website. Get the code at: http://geo-tag.de/generator/en.html

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3. Did You Know? Factoids For Meaningful Conversations With Customers

• We’re Reading Newspapers Online: Daily newspaper websites collectively reach 32.3% of U.S. consumers in a typical month, up from 30.3% in 2008. (Source: The Media Audit)
• Out With The Office Computers, In With Tablets: Tablets are the new corporate rage, growing at a rate much faster than computers ever did. Over 30 per cent of North American companies are already equipping some employees with tablets and this rate is expected to dramatically increase as more tablets are introduced into the marketplace. (Source: Forrester Research, Globe & Mail)
• Kentucky Owns March Madness Title: Adults living in Lexington Kentucky, are among the nation’s top collegiate basketball fans with 76.3% of adults in Lexington regularly following college basketball on radio or TV. Their neighbor in the state, Louisville, ranks second in the national survey with 70.6%. (Source: The Media Audit)

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4. The 60 Second Close: Staying A Few Steps Ahead

• With the Internet and social media making our world much smaller, word of mouth now plays a huge part in your company’s success. Positive and negative comments can circulate among millions of people within seconds.

• Still, you can control what your customers say about you by encouraging favorable chitchat. Need help in developing a word of mouth plan? It’s just one of the many things we do. Need assistance in getting a better position on Google Places? We can help.

• We stay one step ahead, so you can stay ahead of your competition. To find out more on how to stay ahead, just call us. We can get you there faster than ever.

60 Second Articles:

1. How To Solve Your Company’s Most Important Crisis
2. The Grateful Dead And The Beatles: Are They Our New Marketing Gurus?
3. The 60 Second Close: We May Have The Answer For You

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1. How to Solve Your Company’s Most Important Crisis

• The most important crisis faced by businesses of every category is growth. How will your company cultivate new revenues? Will it tap into a current customer base or seek out new targets by offering new products? The key to new growth involves developing a creative campaign that resonates with potential customers and delivers measureable results.
• While every company aims to increase profitability by streamlining services and cutting costs, the smarter corporations are revving up their advertising engines with creative messages that zing.
• Does your company’s current creative campaign have the power to break through the clutter of 5,000 selling messages your customers encounter every day? Can your creative campaign boost your company’s profits beyond all expectations?

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2. The Grateful Dead And The Beatles: Are They Our New Marketing Gurus?

• Is it possible there are valuable marketing lessons companies can learn in the rise and popularity of two of the most popular rock bands in the world – The Grateful Dead and The Beatles? Two books may convince us of that.
• “Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History” relates how the Grateful Dead always gave back to the community with various benefit concerts. In 1983, the band established the Rex Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization through which they could channel many of their worthwhile community causes. Marketing lesson: giving back to your community results in a huge return on your investment and solidifies life-long customer loyalty.
• To be released this spring, “Come Together: The Business Wisdom Of The Beatles” is about The Beatles obstacle-filled journey to the top. Companies will identify with similar struggles encountered by The Beatles in the early days, from passion, differentiation to image and branding.

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3. The 60 Second Close: We May Have The Answer For You

• Millions of advertising dollars are wasted daily if your target audience fails to hear or see what you’re saying.
• We urge you to closely examine your creative campaign. Is it getting through the clutter or is it being wasted? If you’re unsure and would like a second opinion, then let us know. This simple effort could determine your company’s life or death.
• For creative marketing that cuts through the clutter and brings profitable results, call us now. We can get you there faster than ever.

Our Chief Strategy Officer, Brian Newberry, shared Northlich’s in-depth study on “The Next New Normal; How Consumers Will Reset after the Recession.”  The research is based on qualitative and quantitative studies conducted by Northlich’s MEdiaLab™. Read more from the New York German Press U.S. correspondent for Deutsche Welle .

Consumers will always trust the recommendation of someone they know over something they see in a TV commercial. Does that mean traditional advertising is dead? Absolutely not. But for a brand to be sustainable it must identify and empower brand advocates to spread the message in a genuine and authentic way. Sounds great in theory, but how do you really make it work?

I’ll focus on empowering brand advocates in a later post, but before those advocates will talk about your brand you first have to create a reason for them to care about your brand. Successful WOM Marketing means identifying strategies and tactics that create a talkable brand.

But having a talkable brand goes beyond a million views on YouTube or becoming a trending topic on Twitter – it’s about inserting your brand into the daily lives of people in ways that make them stop and take notice.

We’ve all heard of Charmin’s public restrooms in NYC. The initiative wasn’t just successful because people were able to use their brand of toilet paper – it was successful because Charmin identified a reality for consumers – public bathrooms are disgusting – and they changed that. They created not just a clean bathroom, but an entire experience that makes going to the bathroom enjoyable – all the while making  Charmin the ultimate hero.

People have a certain way that they view their world and to create a talkable brand you must interrupt that view in a new and relevant way. By researching consumer perceptions and their emotional and rational trigger,s a brand can identify strategies for making themselves talkable. Steve Knox at P&G calls this disrupting schemas. Others call it breaking inertia. Me? I call it smart.

Schemas can be anything from expecting a Quick Service Restaurant to serve unhealthy food to assuming a coffee house will serve quality food. When a brand breaks this perception—McDonalds with their McCafe, for example —it shifts the stereotype and gets consumer attention.

What consumer perceptions can your brand change? How can you break the consumers’ trance? Give us a call and we’ll help make you more talkable.

As a part of an ongoing project, I recently had the opportunity to listen to groups of middle-school students talk about their perspective on health, exercise, and nutrition. I expected much of what they said. School cafeteria food, for example, is still not winning any taste-tests—and of course it remains unhealthy. French fries, pizza, corn dogs and burgers are the primary lunch players. (Veggies occasionally make a watery, tasteless appearance.) I did not, however, expect the children to clamor for fresh vegetables to be included in their lunch program.

That sentiment was the first of many paradoxes presented during the sessions. Like most adults, these children understand the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. They knew the right answers and wielded terms from the health-conscious vernacular such as “carbs,” “trans-fats,” and “organic.” Without any urging, they noted that individuals should exercise roughly an hour three to four times a week and eat healthy foods. Yet, also like most adults, the majority of these children are not living by those principles.

And they know they’re not. Despite rattling off many of the foods that make up a healthy diet, the only food items that elicited excitement and passion were the notoriously caloric ones: pepperoni pizza, fried chicken, cheeseburgers, ice cream sundaes and French fries. We asked the kids to share their thought on the discrepancy. One boy said, “I know I need to eat healthy foods, but the bad ones are the only ones that taste good.” Alarmingly, the majority of students held a different view. Instead of recognizing that some of their favorite foods were unhealthy, they tried to justify each choice. Strawberry ice cream is healthy because it provides a serving of fruit and dairy. Cheeseburgers are fine as long as you eat one with a slice of tomato and lettuce.  Fettuccini Alfredo is good for you because it doesn’t have any red-meat. If only it were true.

Children often say the darndest things, but this time, these naïve rationales are worth exploring. The fact that these children are already trying to justify poor choices signals things to come. Clearly these kids have some understanding of how to live a healthy lifestyle. They lack practical experience—and role models. The nation is waging war on obesity but victory will only come when we equip the next generation with more than knowledge—they need to experience healthful decision-making first-hand.

Right now, that is not happening. That’s the reason Northlich has continued to engage consumers to gain the understanding of how to affect positive behavior change in this space. As noted before on this blog, the tipping point for the obesity epidemic is quickly approaching. Only those that anticipate and proactively strategize for the impending consumer fallout against products, brands and services that have allowed obesity in America to flourish will remain successful.

60 Second Articles:

1. Crack The Marketing Code By Answering These 10 Critical Questions
2. Look Who’s Talking — Not The Movie
3. The 60 Second Close: Is It Time For “Retro” Marketing?

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1.  Crack The Marketing Code By Answering These 10 Critical Questions

1. Does your company have a unique “story” to tell that makes it stand out from the competition?
2. Does your company offer a product, a service or an experience that is not only of value, but is memorable enough to break through the advertising clutter and be heard by your target audience?
3. Does your company employ a team of goodwill ambassadors who have a passion for the company’s culture, philosophy and the product?
4. Does your company understand what business it is really in? (Southwest Airlines is not in the airline business, but in the business of providing people a safe, fun and memorable way to get to their destination.)
5. Does your company understand the lifetime value of a customer and the exorbitant costs of gaining new customers versus retaining current customers? Does your company have a customer retention strategy?
6. Does your company know who its best customers are, not by demographics, but by their first name? How is your company rewarding the best customers for their valued loyalty?
7. Does your team have not only an intimate knowledge of your product and service, but an understanding of what’s most profitable — not in terms of percentages, but in real dollars and cents?
8. Does your company strive to make a difference in your community, where your customers live and work?
9. Does your company have a “face” – a personality, a CEO, a President or an owner to which customers can relate to and readily access?
10. While everyone loves first impressions, does your company leave an everlasting final impression with customers that creates memorable conversations and encourages repeat purchases?

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2.   Look Who’s Talking — Not The Movie 

• Here’s an instant and reliable way to find out if anyone’s talking about you or your company on Facebook or Twitter. It’s a new search engine called Kurrently, at www.Kurrently.com.
• Test it yourself by sending out a tweet and then go to Kurrently and do a search for a keyword within that tweet. Presto, you’ll be found. Now, test it with other keywords that are relevant to your business. It’s quite possible that people are talking about your product without you even knowing about it.

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3.  The 60 Second Close: Is It Time For “Retro” Marketing?

• Incorporating TV, radio, print, direct mail and billboards into your advertising plan almost seems “retro” because no one talks about traditional advertising anymore. It’s not the “in-thing” and it just doesn’t seem glamorous like it used to be.
• Contrary to what the many pundits are saying, we strongly advocate that when targeted properly, “retro marketing” still works and it works even better once you’ve cracked the all-important marketing code.
• Crack the code then develop your sales-building plan. It’s your model for real growth and profitability. Need some help? We can show you how to get there … now much faster than ever.