PHAYES TWO

Congratulations to Rob Adams and the McCombs School of Business for their vision and execution for Texas Venture Labs launched just last night. There was excellent content (see slide presentation below, and watch UStream here) Be sure to listen to Daniel Nelson’s segment (23 min in) on how he approached his Phurnace Software start-up with a true marketing-first orientation. “Just figure out what the pain is.” And they kept on that theme, staying close to their customers, iterating and solving the problems. As a reward, his firm was bought by BMC Software. Not bad 4 years and 3 weeks out of B-school.

(apologies for the weak audio…crank it up!)

UStreamed Video from my iPhone

I watched the whole thing. The announcement of the iPad. Via a combination of a Ustream feed and the gdgt.com blogger’s stills and commentary. It was thrilling. And once again, a brilliant marketing case study. (If you missed it, here’s the 180 second version)

What tires me is the press’ “responsibility” to report that tablets are all over, and why should Apple expect to have any more success than the other manufacturers (from HP to Toshiba, etc.). Answer This isn’t about devices. It’s about ecosystems.

When Apple introduced the iPod, they were late to a boring MP3 scene but redefined the space because they came to the party with a music ecosystem (iTunes store plus content from key providers) and a level of product integration that made the process so simple and inviting that there were zero barriers to adoption (from young kids to the very old – all have adopted the iPod). Then, once smart phones have been fully deployed by RIM and others…enter the iPhone. And an entire ecosystem – make that industry – of apps. Now, with the iPad, we’ll see the consumers of all kinds embrace the intimacy of content consumption from periodicals (and yes, with the potential to completely reinvigorate ‘magazine’ advertising), to books, to movies, and photo sharing. Right. it’s all been done. But not this well. And it’s not about all the other devices already available. The impetus has not existed. And it won’t take much. We can count on the iBook store to succeed. And we can look forward to carrying around our entire library of books and magazines, the latest editions and the most treasured classics, along with our music and movies if we choose. So that when we curl up on the couch, we’re ready to engage. Oh, don’t have the stuff you want? You’ll be connected on your home wireless or hotspot and you’ll quickly find it. And finally, the major progressive media outlets (can you say New York Times) can combine media in compelling ways for consumption. Yes! I can enlarge that photo from Iraq and see the detail. Or run the video of the Senator’s speech. Or watch the spelling bee final. Look out. Mixed media consumption will change fairly radically.

My favorite authority on the iPad and media impact? Colin Crawford. He’s leading the media industry in helping to understand what’s happening and what’s coming. Thanks Colin.

Also, my favorite new go-to development team for iPad apps? Clarus Agency here in Austin. (full disclosure: Clarus is a Chief Outsider client)

Like most people, I LOVE the sport of rating the Super Bowl ads. It’s most fun in a group. Sort of a real-time focus group. And there were some wonderful spots last night. But let’s face it – even a highly entertaining ad that splits my side might not have the kind of impact that moves a marketing needle. How would you measure effectiveness of your Super Bowl ad?

Memorability of the Ad? Memorability of the Brand? (they’re very different, aren’t they?) For example, the Betty White football tackle was one of my favorites. But I had to really think hard to remember it was for Snickers. I mistakenly remembered it as a Doritos ad.

My favorite “case of the missing brand” is actually the annual Elf Yourself from JibJab. And who’s the sponsor? (most people guess one of three competitors – Staples, Office Depot or OfficeMax. It’s the latter.)  What was the most memorable brand this year? I think it had to be Doritos (or was it Tostidos? because there were so many…and mostly really good!

Conversion to Online Hits? GoDaddy and HomeAway played this card very hard. GoDaddy reported huge traffic and sales surge; their best in 6 years of Superbowl ads. I suppose if you want to build your brand identity around tank tops and shorts, ok. It hasn’t hurt Hooters, but it actually turns me away as a potential customer. Then, there’s HomeAway. With leadership from Mike Butler, CMO (of T-Mobile, CapitalOne and Kellogg) they’ve reported a 500% traffic surge today. I have to admit I cracked up over the mini-movie segments on their site. But for both of these companies they’ll need to impact their annual sales for the year by 10-15% or more to pay the bills. Will they? At least they’re able to put visitors in a position to buy with the online focus…

Special kudos to HomeAway who I just noticed is even buying Google Adwords to further leverage their investment

Super Bowl Commercial
See why hotels are no vacation.
The Griswold’s are back! Watch Now
homeaway.com/griswold_mini-movie

Clarity of Brand Promise? Easy to measure with the right research, there were a couple of spots that did this well. The benchmark has to be the Google ad. Using their product, they told a complete story. A touching one at that!  Even the Etrade baby spot with the jealous girlfriend did a reasonable job of laying out its value proposition.

And perhaps the least appealing ad – from Bud Select 55 – clearly told the story, but probably angered viewers for its lack of cleverness. Is that a backfire? Or will buyers consider the product because of how well they understand what it offers?

Positive Ad Buzz? According to Mullen’s and Radian6 BrandBowl 2010 who measured the traffic and sentiments of Twitter traffic, Google is #1 at one point, Doritos as #2, Snickers #3 and Focus on the Family #4 (surprise! That got NO VOTES from the pros). I like this measurement because it requires a voter to have mentioned the brand and then the Radeon6 tool also scored the sentiment. By the way, on this tally, GoDaddy is #9 with 1/1oth the Tweets of the Google ad.  And the measurement continues (which is why my visual to the right may be different from my reporting).

And finally, if you want a REAL ad professional’s opinion, be sure to see AdvertisingAge’s Bob Garfield in his annual review (you will see, we don’t agree on everything!)

Recently, I was interviewing the president at one of my client companies. I asked him what he expected from Marketing in 2010. He said, “I want us to be top-of-mind in the marketplace.” We spent the next few minutes discussing the fact that since his company had virtually zero name recognition on the national scene, it would be impractical and “crazy expensive” to buy our way into the market’s mindshare. We eventually agreed to an alternative objective for the year: to be top-of-find.

According to Google, each month some 22,000 businesses are looking for solutions that this company delivers. We determined that on these searches, our company and products were nearly invisible in Google results. Two ways to look at this. 1) What a disaster!  2) Green pastures!…We have an opportunity to increase our site traffic 10-fold!

So now we’re in the process of applying an SEO strategy (search engine optimization program) with the help of RefreshWeb, and we’re immediately launching a Google Adwords campaign (actually a series of campaigns tailored to 5 regions) to buy our way onto search results page, at least until our SEO work kicks in.

Today’s marketers aren’t nearly as concerned with creating brand presence and top-of-mind as in the past. While a strong brand is still desirable, it’s now downstream from the more pressing task of being discovered by active buyers. As buyers find you, they will learn about your products and experience your brand in as they engage with the content you make available to them. (creating engaging content is a subject in a future post…)

Forgive me for over-simplifying this part of a holistic online marketing program…but frankly, there are some simple things businesses can attack that can have huge impact. Let me know what you think.

When I left a senior executive position at a F500 company this past summer, I had alot of thinking to do. It was clear that I wasn’t interested in jumping right back into the corporate world, but I wasn’t exactly sure how to nail down a vision of my future.

Good thing I met with Valerie Hausladen, former president of Tocquigny, plus head of Enfatico’s Austin office. She’d recently published her book “Professional Destiny” and was willing to talk about it over lunch with me. And the timing was perfect, because I was headed to New Mexico for backpacking the following week. Sitting in my tent in pouring rain for several days, I literally waded through her book, making notes and doing the exercises she suggested. Shazaam. I had my vision for my professional (and personal) destiny. It put my radar on alert so that when the opportunity to join Chief Outsiders rolled around, I was able to recognize it as a perfect fit with my goals.

So have a look. Read about Valerie here on her BLOG. And here in the Austin American Statesman this week (a great read!). And she’s having a book reading and signing this Thursday, 7pm at Bookwoman, 5501 N. Lamar Blvd.

Thanks Valerie, on behalf of those like me who’ve been helped by your book and those soon to be!

In a recent study conducted by Chief Outsiders, LLC,  a poll of C-level executives from mid to large companies provided some insight into why Chief Marketing Officers have limited tenure in their roles. #1 Reason: CMOs rarely gain credibility with the C-Staff. Is this a function of the individual or the function of marketing itself? In either case, perhaps 2010 is the year of marketing credibility. For the sake of CMOs everywhere. And their businesses.

But how? Certainly as more companies recognize the CMO role as “Chief Metric Officer” with a growing mountain of online and social marketing data, CMOs have the opportunity to step it up. But is there more to it than campaign and brand management where much of this data is related?

Perhaps the most credible and  long-lasting CMOs will be those who can work side by side with their C-level peers in establishing business and operational strategy. While many companies view the marketing function as how a company “goes-to-market,” or how a company and its products are perceived in the marketplace, a more holistic and frankly traditional approach may better serve the company, and the CMO. This broader view of the marketing role includes the very identification of market opportunities, product gaps and needs, segmentation of targets, product definitions, strategic alliance strategy, product line consolidation, pricing, channel strategy, etc.,  AND getting everyone on board.

Why is the CMO role so rarely inclusive of this scope? Largely because these broader functions exist all or in part in other areas of the organization when they arrive. And frankly, finding an executive with the talent to lead all of these areas with the proper experience is very difficult. As a result, it will fall on the CMO to be the collaborator across functions to generate the synergy to move “all” of marketing forward. In this process, the CMO has the opportunity to demonstrate his/her orientation around market data (vs. asserting market instincts), alignment to business objectives, and eagerness to work with C-peers in finding innovations for marketing success.

The CMO must not only turn available data into actionable insights, but must build the credibility to bring alignment across the entire organization in order to execute the marketing strategy and business goals. This requires a deliberate investment, to gain the needed credibility. Failure to work collaboratively across executive domains will result in eventual dismissal. But the CMO’s willingness to lead the cross-company marketing domains, driven by insights and analytics, arm-in-arm with C-peers is perhaps a formula for gaining credibility and extending the value the CMO position brings to the business.

For additional insights, you might check out these posts from my colleague, Kirk Coburn
- Dear Emily Post – What is a CMO?
- Chief Marketing Outsider

I can hardly stand it. I’ve had two informational interviews with acquaintances this past week. And neither had done any prep – other than to be ready to tell me how their experience and aptitude would be really great for me, my firm, my clients, etc. Frankly, I feel a bit blessed to get this “in my face” reminder of how any of us can fall into the “let me tell you about me” syndrome. It seems to happen most often to people who are frustrated with finding their next job or position. The frustration appears rooted in a self-assurance voice (“hey, I’ve really got lots to offer if someone would pay attention to me!”) as a result of not finding work. (Seth Godin’s free eBook might help you with a fresh perspective)

In “The Purpose-Driven Life” author Rick Warren opens with a condemning thought – “It’s not about you.”  It’s about living a life that honors our Creator and prepares us for eternity. But for the sake of this discussion, when you sit down with someone to network with, remember you can do yourself a major favor by looking across the table and being prepared (know who you’re talking to, know what you want, know what you can offer).

I received a lengthy email from a Chief Outsiders candidate a couple of days ago. It included the longest bio, resume and career history I’ve ever seen, including articles, photos, headlines from industry events. I was quite impressed. The cover letter/email was also extensive including general accolades about the firm I’d joined and how there might be a fit for this individual. In reply, we set a time to get together today. When we got on the phone I quickly learned that this candidate, who was convinced he was a fit for our firm, had not even visited our firm’s website! “I was busy with meetings all day and haven’t had a chance to check it out.” Really?  After I tried to postpone the meeting to give him a chance to review, he said he’d really like to make use of this meeting, and proceeded to describe in painful detail many things that frankly weren’t relevant to Chief Outsiders.

So, while I’m grateful that I’m learning from these acquaintance’s mistakes, I pray you won’t have to experience them yourselves – on either side of your networking meetings!

For some AWESOME reminders of how “to be” and how to get your head around your value, your relationships and your behavior, check out this terrific free eBook of productive thoughts from Seth Godin. Enjoy!

When companies suffer a set-back (financial, product failure, leadership) they too face what may seem to be an insurmountable situation: what can be done to repair the damage?  Are the fundamentals in place? Can a business change it’s spots (or stripes)? What is the market seeking more than anything? I’d submit the following:  Honesty. Contrition. Hard work. Humility.

Sometimes the recovery being sought is simply viability. By setting an objective of restoring “greatness,” a business (or individual) may be setting themselves up for frustration. Patience and good behavior over time will produce good works.

The art of marketing, perhaps like no other in business, includes an emotional component. Connecting with buyers’ heads and hearts is our job. Communicating effectively is no small undertaking. Selecting the right messages and the right time and understanding how to set a market resonance into motion is at the very core of what mature marketers must master. But it’s behavior that’s being watched in a crisis, beyond the words.

Indeed, what one DOES next, counts. Not a single step, but a series of steps that work to reestablish a trajectory. The right vector, over time, will demonstrate rather than proclaim the essence of the business. And trust may indeed return.

I’m a big fan of Walt Mossberg’s technology reports in the WSJ. But today, I was really disappointed. He published his fall buyers’ guide (video version here)…and made a quick comparison of the latest in Windows 7-based PCs vs. Mac’s with Snow Leopard.  It was like reading a review from the early 90′s, just plugging in the lastest specs. Geez. Come on Walt. No mention of impressive progress in specific areas of integrating into a consumer’s world…of their phone, social sites, home network, digital devices…just the same old comments about 32 vs 64 bit., size of hard drive, basic pricing differences, a nod to processor cores…blah blah blah.

Perhaps I’m hyper-aware of the latest advances on both fronts since I’ve recently acquired a MacBookPro (best computer I’ve ever owned), an iPhone and I’m preparing to update my AMD Phenom-based quad-core desktop to Win 7. And yes, they’re working nicely together (thanks to Google Apps I’ve got 4 difference emailboxes and two calendars all staying sync’d on all three devices). I’m in heaven.

Okay Walt, you’re a good gadget guy. But I think you can help your readership more by spending additional time with how things work together. Not just features descriptions of the latest device. Okay?

With Carol Bartz at the top (of Autodesk fame), Elisa Steele as CMO (of NetApp fame) and Penny Baldwin as SVP Integrated Marketing (of Y&R fame), the marketing prowess of Yahoo! will be hard to top. Hats off to these fine executives making a real difference and understanding the value of brand and promotion.

For many, the luster had worn off Yahoo! over the past few years. Perhaps seeing the company on the “for sale” lot for so long, it started looking like last year’s model. Over the past year, however, the changes at the top and in marketing (along with lots of hard work across the company, no doubt) are resulting in signs of life. Even vibrancy.   Sure, revenues are flat, but the ship has been righted with earnings double analyst expectations.  We’re witnessing a re-birth. A company that has determined who it is and where it’s going.

Was that a radio ad you heard? Yes! In fact, Ogivly created some 1,000 creative assets across all media to support their new campaign in India, UK and the US. Penny Baldwin is interviewed in this recent AdAge article and describes their dual agency strategy and the importance of the Yahoo! branding campaign.