Marketing Technology Blog

Anyone who’s worked in large business settings has undoubtedly complained countless times that the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. In today’s world of aligning online to traditional media, this phenomenon is even more apparent.

Attention to detail and a constant stream of communication are vital in any enterprise, large or small. A simple misstep resulting in a critical communication breakdown or the smallest typographical error can have far-reaching ramifications.

Case in point: Denny’s restaurants. Their new dinner menus printed and distributed last fall feature a CTA to “Join the conversation” on Denny’s Facebook and Twitter pages, and their corporate website. One small problem: the wrong Twitter ID is listed.

According to a recent CNET News report, menus distributed to around 1,500 Denny’s locations nationwide list a Twitter ID belonging to a man in Taiwan. Denny’s is reportedly working with Twitter to assume the ID, which has been inactive for over six months.

This incident exemplifies the need for communication between the digital and traditional arms of marketing. Granted, most folks sitting down to dinner probably aren’t going to be looking up Denny’s on Twitter while sitting at the table. But this kind of snafu in any other context could be catastrophic.

It might have seemed safe to assume that Denny’s would have registered twitter.com/dennys, just as they have dennys.com. But they didn’t, and you know what they say about what happens when you assume.

What if the same error were made in a TV spot or print ad? Or on a direct mail or email postcard or newsletter? Marketing and Communications must be in direct, constant contact with Interactive in order to prevent this kind of mistake from undermining even the best interactive marketing efforts.

Printing new menus might not appear to call for the input of the Interactive team. But now even the most old-school business tools feature some element of digital, such as URLs. Both arms of communications–traditional and digital–must be involved in the planning process of any project to ensure a unified front.

It’s that time of year again… when you must put time aside to review your annual marketing plan. 2009 may be more important than any year previous with the rapid adoption of social media strategies. Here’s what I recommend collecting:

• Marketing Spend by Medium – this is actual money paid for external marketing and advertising efforts. Breaking this down within categories is essential as well. In other words, don’t just list ‘online’… break online down to web site, search engine marketing, social media, etc.
• Marketing Resources Spent by Medium – this is internal resource costs in human manpower as well as supplies and equipment. Again, be sure to break each medium down to the lowest common denominator.
• Customer Acquisition or Product Sales by Medium – this is both a count and revenue amount accumulated by medium… include both referrals and word of mouth. Understanding how many customers, as well as the value of those customers, is essential to planning for next year. Some mediums may bring smaller counts… but much larger deals.
• Customer Retention by Medium – this may take some additional effort, but understand what your company is doing that is impacting your customers’ retention. Many times educational programs and consultations are seen as an expense. Recognize the value of the services you provide at no cost… you could see the most gains here!
• Year over Year Comparisons – how did your marketing strategies perform compared to last year? You can absolutely bet that it’s going to change again next year! Changing your media mix, resources and strategies will increase your marketing return on investment.

Don’t put off a year-end marketing review. Most companies spend money in marketing where they have the resources, where they think the revenue is coming from, or where they’re simply most comfortable. Performing a year-end review will provide you with the tools you need to attack 2010 with a new, winning strategy!

Some levity today…my good friend Jenni Edwards sent me a video via Kristian Andersen and it got me motivated to find and post my 5 favorite commercials celebrating manhood. If you don’t see the mancommercials via feed or email, click through to the post.

Manhood is about lots of metal, blowing things up… and beer.

Manhood is about whiskey and doing stupid, epic stunts… and living to tell about it.

Manhood is about sports, expeditions, sophistication, beautiful women… and more beer.

Manhood is about not being afraid to show our feminine side… with beer.

And finally, the commercial that Jenni sent me. Manhood is about working hard, fighting, chainsaws and selling stuff… or not. I don’t care.

If there’s a lesson to today’s post it’s that humor and video still have their place in advertising! And with the web, the viral nature of video is one worth taking advantage of!

I love the Mac ads.

Most people do, because they’re funny, without being offensive.  They don’t bore us with product details, but in 30 seconds or less, resonate with their audience, because they get “right to the pain”.

As you watch them, it is easy to assume that Mac and Apple in general have always had great advertising.  But a quick look at some of their early advertisements, reveals an ugly truth, and I mean ugly. Apple started out very similar to PC with copy heavy ads, selling features instead of benefits.

1979 Adams's Apple Campaign

Somewhere along the way, they found their voice and their sense of humor.  The early ads were still a little too “text heavy”, but  by 1979 they had learned the power of a strong visual and headline as a means of grabbing our attention.  Over time, their ads have become more and more visual, which is also the real strength of their product. They found their voice.

The goal for every business is to find their voice.  Brands do not launch fully grown, they evolve over time.  The Internet and social media give you  a chance to accelerate your evolution if you are consistent across platforms. The challenge is to  create interesting, engaging personalities on Twitter or Friendfeed, which is supported by the personality of your website and the rest of  your marketing and advertising.

And while IBM claims an end to Advertising as we know it I think there will always be room for smart, engaging ads which are supported by a smart and engaging brand.