In A Recession – Double Your Marketing Bet

Everyone is feeling the pinch of today’s economy, and there’s no surprise in the fact that the first thing to be eliminated is often marketing and advertising related.  It’s survival of the fittest – and tightening of the financial belt is running rampant in small companies to the biggest of corporations.

I came across James Surowiecki’s article in The New Yorker, that clearly illustrates how two similar companies—Post and Kellogg, created a case study in the nation’s infamous Depression.

“Post did the predictable thing: it reined in expenses and cut back on advertising,” he noted. “But Kellogg doubled its ad budget, moved aggressively into radio advertising, and heavily pushed its new cereal, Rice Krispies.”

And what were the results in that economy?  Kellogg’s strategy paid off.  “By 1933, even as the economy cratered,” Surowiecki continued, “Kellogg’s profits had risen almost thirty per cent and it had become what it remains today: the industry’s dominant player.”

There it is – the lesson of history that today’s Recession cannot deny.  Those who can afford to keep investing grow stronger, while the weak grow weaker – largely due to the fact they are struggling to stay afloat financially.  But there’s more.  When the weak scale back on marketing, campaigns from stronger companies have a far great impact.

Of note in the Surowiecki’s article is the important differentiation between risk and uncertainty.  Risk requires a business to make its decisions based on a range of possible outcomes.  Uncertainty, which is rampant throughout our society today, thrives on a lack of potential outcomes, leaving everyone wondering exactly what might be expected next.

The author makes sense of today’s obvious state of uncertainly: “So it’s natural to focus on what you can control. [M]inimizing losses and improving short-term results. And cutting spending is a good way of doing this.”

And so it becomes obvious that the majority of companies today who are focused on decisions that may cause them long term harm, may, in fact be missing the opportunity of their lifetime by allowing a good marketing opportunity pass them by.

Have you seen signs of this business pattern in your operations?  If so, what do you think the best way to handle that lack of action and confidence might be?

Twitter And The 80/20 Rule

Social media isn’t for everyone.  But in today’s economic climate, small businesses are attracted to the inexpensive, self-promotion new media channels in droves.  The problem I’ve been seeing recently though is nothing new; the old 80/20 rule still applies.

It all starts out well enough, until like anything shiny and new, the excitement quickly wears to a grinding halt.  Like dating a pretty girl with nothing in common, it’s fun for awhile, until you realize you have nothing to really talk about, and the physical attraction becomes nothing short of boring, and eventually, even annoying.  Social media can be a fickle date.

That leaves a small percentage of marketers who are drawn to the sharing of relevant, cutting-edge information.  Or so we think.  Many of us have become quite vocally skeptical, which for the short run makes us look very smart indeed.  We might look very intelligent for the short term to those who can’t comprehend our brilliance – but it’s a very bright light that can just as quickly burn out.

Recently, one of my favorite resources, TechCrunch reminded me that 80% of Twitter participants are… for lack of a better word… squatters.  Many of them are web 2.0 gurus who shouted a collective cry of self-assurance.  Now some are stepping up, like those at Shoemoney Blog to let us all know they’ve been right since day one.  And perhaps they have been right in  waiting for this all to transpire in due time.

The point here is that Twitter (and other social media channels) are not unlike any other web based media.  The early adopters rush to grab their place in line, hoping to manipulate their advantage into megabucks.  How many people grabbed Twitter account names, Facebook pages, or Myspace sites in hopes of selling them to the brands that followed into the social media sphere?  How many of those sites are inactive because of that early greed today?

But I digress, and think  TechCrunch put it best: “Twitter is no different than any other form of social media. A small fraction of users produce the overwhelming amount of content, even if it is just 140 characters at a time. Everyone else just drinks from the stream.”

There it is… the good ol’ 80-20 rule.  80% of your outcomes come from 20% of your input.  Surprise! Nothing new here. The biggest results come from approximately 20% of (in this case) users.  But there’s good news here.  Noone is forcing anyone to provide content to get anything out of social media.  It’s perfectly acceptable to monitor a variety of news and information whtout engaging anyone for any reason.  You can learn quite alot that way through research and good old listening. But like all rules of quid pro quo…you get what you give.  Don’t give?  Don’t expect to get.  It’s a pretty simple equation.

But if you don’t engage in any conversations, or provide any content, I personally don’t think you have the right (or knowledge) to criticize others who do (or don’t do).   Just sit back and enjoy the ride – and start with what I believe to be the #1 rule of good marketing – listening.

So how are you using Twitter in your business or personal life?  What do you expect to get, or give from this relatively new channel in the marketing mix?  I’m “all ears”…

Warning: The Social Media “Guru”

courtesy of communications catalyst

Recently, there seems to be a coincidental alignment between reality and theory.  In this case, the topic of social media “gurus” was being discussed around our social and professional circles when I ran across several other blog posts that seemed to align exactly with the content of our debates.  And so, it seems, a good topic to bring to this blog.

With the decline in the job market, self-promotional tools and schemes have proliferated.  I can’t count the number of “get rich on Twitter” or “make money on Facebook” programs that have been pitched my way in recent months.  Along with those programs seemed the rise of the “social media guru” – an obvious attempt for some to brand themselves in a new marketing sector while they continued to struggle with today’s economic decline.

While I enjoy participating in the social media sphere, and encourage our clients to strategize their engagement – I’m no social media expert.  As the face of these marketing channels literally change on a daily basis, I’m wary of anyone who might be so bold as to say they are on top of all it’s rapidly changing facets and nuances.

If you’re in marketing or are marketing your brand, your budget has likely been cut, staff has departed or been reassigned, and the pressure to produce sales from a dwindling market has increased.  Producing qualified leads is still very possible today – converting those prospects from “fence sitters” to buyers is an entirely different challenge.  New sales goals, reduced marketing budgets, and increased expectations have challenged us all to apply more creativity and sound strategy to the brands we know and love – and especially to those that aren’t entirely transparent to the target audience.  What then, given these new circumstances, is a good marketer to do?

Some have turned to social media as the cure-all in hopes that the inexpensive promise of reaching new prospects is well worth the time and investment dedicated to Facebook, Twitter, and a host of other potential market channels.  My inbox is flooded daily with new strategies and “opportunities” to use these free channels to maximize what remaining budgets any client may have.  Yet the challenge remains – just where do you start?  And how do you measure ROI?

Having conducted a few seminars for interested entreprenuers, I can tell you they all share that very frustration.  Often, they’ll throw their hands up, realizing they don’t possess the time or expertise to start a campaign with any strategy and turn outward for help in the “free social media” sphere.  Just Google or check LinkedIn for “social media expert” – then stand back for a glut of referrals to a wide variety of companies and individuals.  Do you hire a big agency?  A one-man-shop?  How do you know who is really worth the investment?

And given the dour economy – many people jump in without much investigation, in hopes of moving to any type of response sooner than later.

Then I ran across a great blog post by Eric Weaver at Brand Dialogue, who clearly outlined some very basic considerations I think each of us would be smart to help guide the decision process.  I’ve recounted them here for your review:

1. Engage a consultant that shares a “media-agnostic perspective”. It’s not the tools that create results – as much as we may love them…it’s the strategy and messaging that will ultimately win the game for any brand.  Ask the consultant how they fit into the marketing mix that includes the tried-and-true traditional channels.  If the response is all about the tools – keep looking.

2. Seek a marketer, not a “techy”. We marketers see these tools in terms of brand, outreach, dialogue…and most importantly, trust.  Technologists often think they understand these integral parts of brand strategy…but more than often…they don’t.   Seek  marketers who have embraced and utilized social tools as part of overarching awareness, conversion or loyalty campaigns – they get it, and can guide you to success overall.

3. Look for quality… not quantity of clients – not followers. Cult followings of people who are similarly enamored by the technology follow those of the same type – and they’re not reaching new markets that can help your brand. Don’t mistake online popularity or digital verbosity with expertise – they are far from the same thing.

4. Look for selflessness rather than self-interest. Consultant relationships can go well – or wrong.  Don’t engage anyone who might turn on you and use you as an example of what not to do.  A good consultant will champion and advocate for their client brands without regard for their own personal growth or online positioning.  Beware the “hangers-on” who are focused on a steady stream of work than deploying the right strategy for your brand.

5. Demand evidence of commitment. Look for testimonials and absolute proof positive that this “guru” has consistently produced for people and brands like yours.

6. Look for final products, and ask them to fully disclose their role. Find out exactly what that consultant has done for any client, and ask for an example of that specific work.  Too often, we see big claims for campaigns from someone who has only taken a small role in the development of the strategy.

Yes…it’s difficult to find the right social media mix and help for your brand in today’s market.  But take the time to vet any consultant who offers their help – no matter how inexpensive or great the claims may be.  Beware the technologist who talks a good game, but is actually learning how to market at your expense.

I’d really like to hear more about the successes and failures we’re encontering in this new field of consulting – and help our clients find the best solution for their social media campaigns with the right mix of talent, strategy and messaging.

What experiences have you had in this area recently?

What color is your brand?

Probably no news to you…color matters.  Alot.

According to a University of Loyola, Maryland study, color increases brand recognition by up to 80 percent.

Color is also very influential to  brand identity in a variety of different ways. Consider the unexpected success Heinz EZ Squirt Blastin’ Green ketchup has had in the marketplace in the past few years. More than 10 million bottles were sold in the first seven months following its introduction, with Heinz factories working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to keep up with demand. The result? $23 million in sales attributable to Heinz green ketchup [the highest sales increase in the brand's history]. All because of a simple product color change.  Obviously, the success of this change was culturally based as the product did not sell as well in America as first anticipated.

Consider how Apple brought color into a marketplace where color had not readily deployed before. By introducing the colorful iMacs, Apple was the first to say, “It doesn’t have to be beige or white”. The iMacs reinvigorated a brand that had suffered $1.8 billion of losses in two years. (And now we enjoy a rainbow of colorful iPods.)

There is a great new tool which can help out with color selection called Cymbolism. It’s an interactive survey of color and word associations. Every page loads a new word, for which you have to select a color you feel best represents it. The results are then aggregated and you can see most popular associations either by color or by word.

To help you consider color choices  for your brand Usabilitypost aggregated the results from Cymbolism, and also provided examples of logos that use each color:

courtesy of usabilitypost

So what color do you choose? There are often many considerations, some of which are purely cultural. Here in the Western hemisphere, white is often considered the color of peace or purity, but in some parts of Asia white is the color of death.  The color you choose should be researched with the target market you have in mind to be sure there are not cultural translations you may be overlooking.

Most importantly, the color you choose should really be something you like, not just something you worked out through a “formula”. If you not happy with the color options in your brand image’s logo, then it’s unlikely you’ll be happy to see it every day on your website, business cards or any other application. Consider choosing something that represents your company’s personality, but be sure it’s something you’ll like personally as well.

The Foolishness of Fencing in Facebook

courtesy of noesium.wordpress.com

The topic of corporate “fencing” of social media sites has been circulating around many of the community groups I’ve recently engaged.  While there are always two perspectives to consider for every action, I think this article from Marketing Profs sums it up well:

In a post at the Acidlabs blog, Stephen Collins points to the results of a recent survey that found a whopping 55 percent of Australian employers blocked workplace access to social networks like Facebook; the proportion is smaller elsewhere—20 percent in Britain, 12 percent in France and 10 percent in Germany—but still represents a huge number of companies.

“I’m firmly of the view that this is a foolish approach by business,” says Collins, explaining that the policy insults employees by assuming they’ll behave like irresponsible children. Instead, he proposes the implementation of sensible guidelines. “I’d suggest that it’s very okay to use Facebook to stay in contact with industry peer groups at work,” he notes as an example, “but demonstrably not okay to use Facebook to play zombie games or Scrabble at work.”

Here are some of his recommendations:

> Use employee feedback to write a policy that sets clear parameters and consequences.
> Teach employees how social networks operate, and how to make the most of their business potential.
> Encourage them to engage in ways that will enhance innovation at your company.

The Po!nt: According to Collins, sites like Facebook are not inherently anti-productive. “Social networks are just another tool that have incredible potential to help your business if used in the right way,” he says.

So my question to you is:  Is fencing social media sites the most responsible way to manage employee communications?  Should corporations fence these channels for employees?  Or is there another way that might be better for both the employee and company that is productive, yet secure?

Managing Your Social Media Campaign

Having conducted a couple of informational seminars and networking meetings recently, I’ve been hearing a pattern of questions from a wide range of entrepreneurs from my community:  “I know social media is something I need to be doing for my business, but I don’t know where to start, or how much time to devote to it”.

It’s a complex social media world out there, and while many people only think of a few channels such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, there are literally hundreds of other choices (including blogs, wikis, podcasts etc.)  that might be good options for your communication and marketing strategy.  Add to that the somewhat long development period required to establish yourself and your company as a credible “voice”, and you’ve got a recipe for confusion and misguided time investments.

When I came across an article by Leo Babuata on Mashable, I was happy to see his basic step-by-step summary of “How To Simplify Your Social Media Routine”.  For me, this seemed an easy-to-understand, basic summary that anyone could follow, and avoid the risks of wasting time and ruining long-term productivity.

Here’s Babuata’s recommendations for your consideration:

Step 1. Use simple tools to make the most of social media.

The simpler the tools, the better. But tools that combine two or more social media into one are best, because that means you need fewer tools. An example is TweetDeck – not only does it incorporate Twitter , but you can see your Facebook  friends’ updates at the same time.

Another good example is Digsby, which combines email, IM, and social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn.

My setup uses Gmail , as it’s the communication tool that I use most often. I’ve set it up to be my all-in-one inbox: I can Twitter, Facebook, delicious, Flickr, IM and more. You can make Gmail your ultimate productivity center.

Step 2. Focus on sending out high impact messages.

Here’s something that many people who use social media don’t understand: if you send out too many messages, people might stop following you or might even block you, because you’re flooding their inbox.

The secret is to try to make every message you send, or at least a high percentage of them, high-impact messages. Examples: share really useful links, news related to your field, things that are really funny or inspirational, or inside information about your business or blog. The key is to make sure almost every message is something that people will want to share with their friends.

Limit yourself to high-impact messages to reduce the time you spend communicating.

Step 3. Let go of the need to read everything. Learn to scan.

It’s impossible to consume ALL the information that comes at you. It’s like trying to drink from a fire-hose — not only is it a waste of your time, it can be damaging, because you have other important things to do.

So be selective. Find sources of information that are valuable. And scan to get the gist of what’s going on, instead of trying to read every message. Let go of the need to stay on top of everything. Let it go! And instead, just take a dip in the river now and then.

Step 4. Figure out which social media give you the most value, and simplify.

I recommend trying the main forms of social media, but only for a little while. It doesn’t hurt to try them out, but you simply can’t keep up with it all, and what’s more, it’s not the best use of your time. Not all forms of social media are effective for all goals, for all people.

Instead, find just one or two or three that are most effective for you. For me, blogging and Twitter are the best. I try to stay in touch with Facebook, but MySpace and the rest are not worthwhile, for me.

Your choices will be different. But in the end, be selective and guard your time wisely.

Step 5. Form close relationships with people who give you the most value, not everyone.

I’m not suggesting you only follow a handful of people on Twitter or Facebook. But while you can have a large number of friends, you won’t have the same degree of closeness with all of them. So find the people who give you the most value — who share great info, who make you laugh, who inspire you, who give you great suggestions for improving, who help you on a regular basis, who you enjoy talking to. Then focus on building relationships with them. They’re worth spending time with.

Step 6. Manage your time wisely.

It can be easy to do social media too much. Find ways to integrate social media activities in your life without them overwhelming the other work you have to do, and your personal life.

You can set regular schedules, such as doing it 2-3 times a day at certain times, or 10 minutes every hour, or at certain times when there’s a lull in your schedule. But be sure to have boundaries — the rest of your life should be held sacred too.

No article is able to effectively help manage anyone’s social media campaign.  And for that matter, social media in itself is just one small part of an integrated marketing communications strategy.  I continue to find that many business leaders, especially smaller companies, continue to think that social media is a panacea for marketing effectiveness – and continue to struggle with establishing themselves with credibility and measurable results from thier efforts.

Like any profession, social media offers experts that can help guide you to establishing a process that works for your company specifically.  If you don’t know where to begin, or how to strategize a social media campaign that will help your efforts, I’d recommend you team with an individual or company that can show you the results from their efforts – and not just anyone claiming to be an expert in today’s social media sphere.

And don’t forget: Social Media is a communications channel (like traditional media, public relations, etc); not a comprehensive, integrated communications marketing strategy.

Northern Nevada Is Begging For A Brand

Today’s headline in the Reno-Gazette Journal was not surprising.  This blog has been discussing it for months, with a heated debate over factions of our local positioning that has produced interesting comment and suggestions from a variety of savvy marketing and advertising professionals in our community and beyond.

Northern Nevada has long focused its efforts on a wide variety of special events that have long been rooted in our community.  From the start of the season with this week’s Cinco de Mayo, through a summer jam-packed with great events like The Great Reno Balloon Race, The National Championship Air Races, Hot August Nights, and Artown – to name just a very few of the over 55 events we now host.  Our region produces amazing events that have helped bring locals and tourism out together for good reason.  But those days, along with a stable economy, are over, and we now find event producers “begging” from funding resources that can no longer afford to support them.  What’s worse is that those resources are dwindling in numbers and size – and there’s no short or long-term projection that it will reverse course soon.

But today’s public reckoning in our local paper is indicative of a much larger problem – and in my opinion, one that’s not entirely driven by today’s challenging economic climate.  As we jokingly say around our office – “It’s the brand, stupid!”.

None of us can pretend that getting our community leaders, businesses and general public around a single concept and positioning that embraces all that northern Nevada can be is a simple task.  In fact, it may be entirely impossible.  But without a community based effort to engage us all, we’ll continue to fall victim to yesterday’s thinking and efforts.  Add that to the confusion that brand positioning like “Reno Is Artown” delivers to the public, and we’re facing a stream of divergent messages about the same product that are not connected in any way or form.

I wholeheartedly agree with Councilman Dave Aiazzi’s assessment that special events increase our quality of life here.  Personally, I believe this is the “double edged sword” of beliefs.  Many of our residents attend special events throughout the year – and for very good reason.  Some of us actually plan our vacations around these same events to avoid the public crowds that develop during the dates in our our own neighborhoods.  I wonder what the real perception of special events is in our community as I’ve never experienced a survey as a lifetime resident.  We all love events – but many of them have become “tired and stale” to the local community, if not a general annoyance when going about daily life in the downtown core.

The RSVCA publicly states special events are our “top draw” for visitors – in combination with conventions and general tourism.  My question to them is, if special events leave our economy, can those conventions and “general tourists” maintain (and grow) our level of economy?  If not – what might?  And exactly WHAT are the “general tourists” coming here for to begin with?  Do they functionally believe we are  “America’s Adventure Place”?  Or was that simply a catchy advertising campaign slogan not rooted in reality?  One that we may never be able to attain in the public’s mind – the place where brands really exist.  Obviously, I believe we need to focus our collective efforts on the latter target (our audience’s beliefs), and quit seeking outside opinions about how we SHOULD be perceived.

Take a look at what the RSCVA promotes as “The Region” – it includes Truckee, California – certainly not part of our tax base, although it certainly may be the “gateway” to our area for visitors from California.  But I wonder – does Lake Tahoe deserve such a prominent positioning in our brand messaging?  Do we have the infrastructure to support the Reno-Tahoe area as “America’s Adventure Place”? While I do believe associating what is perceived as a negative brand view of Reno-Sparks with the more positive image of Lake Tahoe, I wonder if it confuses those more when our target marketing is not in alignment between the two agencies that represent these regions.  And in fact, if Tahoe isn’t a very different and unique brand from ours that is not a “siamese twin” in concept.

Perhaps the outcry over this is well founded, and long overdue.  Let’s get back to basics – promoting our locale to the world for its unique values and quit pandering to the dwindling 1-80 corridor tourist.  I realize that market sector represent a vast majority of “heads on pillows” in our community, but I also believe that, in part, this is the kind of “small thinking” that has positioned us where we are today – without a believable, engaging brand in the consumer’s mind.

Add this to the longstanding “feud” between Sparks and the RSVCA, and you have the disasterous new positioning suggestion for Sparks to be known as “Nevada’s Festival City”.  Here’s yet another unbelievable, unfounded brand position.  Unfortunately, this one cost $114,000 in funds to an outside agency who would, without doubt, help us all “earn” Sparks’ brand.  Ridiculous.  From our online surveys, this was not only not believable – but unfathomable that our own local government would waste such funds when the talent and ability to help position the city’s brand resides within its own borders.

Now comes the time when casinos can no longer deliver on their promise of supporting our economy.  This isn’t news to anyone, and smarter people than I could have shown you the exact rate of projected decline years ago during the beginnings of Native American gaming facilities throughout the nation.  The gaming well is dry – and we don’t have hope for rain in that sector of our economy.  It’s time we accepted that fact, and got to work on developing a message strategy for what we have that IS unique – and there’s plenty of supporting facts to give that message real meaning and life.

So we’re fractioned.  And in that void comes the culturally popular national appeal of Reno 911 – which at first was literally applauded by many locals when it first aired as helping “put Reno on the map”.  And so it did.  It added to our quirkyness – our uniqueness…and it stuck in the minds of consumers, many of whom were actually convinced the series was produced locally.

We no longer can rely on an gaming economic base that we have known for the history of this region, and now find that lack of stability causing our leaders to debate over the need for new brand positioning slogans and citywide attempts.  This must end.  To that point, Councilman Aiazzi put it best:

“We should all get together and say, ‘Here’s what we are going to do as a community,’ and not just let the RSCVA do their own events and us do ours and Sparks do theirs,” Aiazzi said. “We would get a lot more bang for our buck if we pooled our money and not just point fingers and say this is the RSCVA’s fault or this is Reno’s fault.”

Music to my ears.  I’ve longed to hear a public servant speak-out in such a way, and risk the political backing of so many constituents and agencies.

We have incredibly talented people in our region – and not just at the stakeholder agencies.  We have the insight and understanding to help position our area to old and new audiences in a way that is honest and engaging.  And most importantly, we have the product to back our claims.

Is it time to think anew about positioning Reno with Tahoe?  Should Sparks be mentioned in our brand message?  What is unique about northern Nevada that will engage the public and visitors alike now, and for years to come?  Can we finally spend some time and invest in the great minds that reside here instead of calling on the “out-of-town expert” to tell us what we value and who we are?

And most importantly in all this dialogue is the question that very few have asked:

What do YOU think should be done now?

The Growth Of Green Marketing

First, I’d like to thank Nevada EcoNet and REA250 for the opportunity to contribute an article to the special section of the Reno News & Review that was published today here in the Reno-Tahoe region.  It’s really an honor to be considered worthy of this opportunity, and I hope my perspectives helped paint a good picture of our community and “green” brand marketing.

And so, here’s the article in it’s entirety:

Today’s consumers are increasingly socially conscious, with a growing concern to know if companies honestly treat employees fairly while doing their part to protect and save the environment. Brand values like social responsibility, benefit to the community, and “being green” are at the top of more shopping lists than ever. Not unsurprisingly, enthusiasts of technology are leading the way.

The recently published Forrester study titled Making The Case For Environmentally And Socially Responsible Consumer Products, a survey of over 5,400 U.S. adults were asked about their purchasing habits between April and May of 2008. Amazingly, 65% of those polled consumers confirmed they were “concerned about the environment or global warming.” This trend is up nearly 23% from a November 2007 study, which found that 53% percent of consumers were concerned about sustainability. In short order, business has been quick to leverage this social trending with products and marketing offers – some more successfully than others.

Today’s “green marketing” offers a unique set of challenges; the least of which is a prevalent lack of standards for identifying what it actually means to be a “green” product or company. In combination with the increase in consumer awareness, marketers are seeing a growing demand for eco-labeling, “green” advertising and the overall importance of reporting on sustainability and renewable energy oriented products and projects. This obviously has created a glut of misguided opportunities to nearly everything to be positioned as being “green”, from a minor packaging change to actual services and products that truly reduce energy and waste.

As so many new and old companies jump on the “do good” bandwagon, factions of green marketing have arisen — cause marketing, cause-related marketing, cause branding, conscious marketing, social good marketing and many other new ways of positioning brands within this growing market sector.

What binds this growing set of terms is simple: establishing your marketing efforts in a way that’s truly responsible. Often this can be misunderstood to mean aligning tactics with a cause, but it is certainly not limited to that description. It may also mean the responsible use of funds, reducing unnecessary print marketing materials, or not deploying a controversial ad that might benefit the company financially. Taking this effort a bit further might be easiest to simply call it “Ethical Marketing”.

This trending presents a unique challenge to green marketers like ourselves as products and messages become much more common, often resulting in great confusion in the marketplace. “Consumers do not really understand a lot about these issues, and there’s a lot of confusion out there,” says Jacquelyn Ottman (founder of J. Ottman Consulting and author of Green Marketing: Opportunity for Innovation.) Advantageous marketers can take advantage of this confusion by intentionally making false or exaggerated claims to being “green” – what we now know as “green washing”.

Mintel Reports completed a recent study noting that approximately 12% of consumers in the U.S. can be identified as “True Greens” – individuals who seek-out and regularly purchase so-called “green products”. With them, 68% can be thought of as “Light Greens” – those who buy green on occasion. “What chief marketing officers are always looking for is touch points with consumers, and this is just a big, big, big touch point that’s not being served,” says Mintel Research Director David Lockwood. “All the corporate executives that we talk to are extremely convinced that being able to make some sort of strong case about the environment is going to work down to their bottom line.

Given the obvious social and economic demand, how can companies honestly take advantage of today’s consciousness toward sustainability, renewable energy and ecology? I believe you have to do three things: Be Genuine, Educate Customers, and Offer Participation.

Being genuine simply means that you are doing what you claim in your green marketing campaign – and ensuring your business policies are consistent with your claim. Both of these elements must be met to establish valid credentials that allow the green campaign to succeed.

Educating customers is not simply letting the public know what you’re doing to protect the environment, but more importantly, letting them know why it matters. If education is not reason oriented for your target market, you’ll encounter a general “so what” response that will dash bottom-line results from the campaign.

Providing your customers with the opportunity to participate enables you to personalize your green initiatives — often by enabling the customer to take part in truly positive environmental action.

The lesson here is obvious and simple: you have to “walk the talk” and actually implement green policies and act in environmentally friendly ways for green marketing to work. If you do, you’ll create a powerful selling point with those who are environmentally and socially conscious and want to act to make the world a better place — a market that’s growing exponentially today.

“Green marketing” isn’t merely a catchphrase; it’s a marketing strategy that can help you get more customers and make more money. As in any marketing effort — the challenge is doing it right the first time.

Branding The Reno-Sparks Region

There’s been a bit of controversy over the recent brand positioning developments for the City of Sparks – just a stone’s throw (literally) from my hometown of Reno, Nevada.  What some would find interesting is that Reno-Sparks is actually one geographic region – with nothing more than a invisible city boundary line between them.  We are, for all intensive purposes, “Siamese Cities” – yet we approach the marketing of each entirely differently.  When the results of Sparks’ campaign was released for public review, a somewhat heated debate ensued, with a fundamental difference arising in how the process occurred, what its basic intent was, and most importantly, the results of an expensive re-branding effort.

That unpopular exercise aside, the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority is about to embark on a similar mission – and a daunting task at that.  Recently, agency officials held a very casual, unstructured gathering of some of this region’s marketing/advertising and brand stakeholders to engage them early in the process.  This was also an opportunity to introduce the company charged with helping this effort – Mortar, based in San Francisco, CA.  As promoted, the agency was selected after an “extensive RFP process” – although I (and none of my colleagues) were aware of the process itself.  This isn’t surprising as it seems the trend to choose larger agencies from out-of-market to position our region (i.e. Nevada’s Festival City).  To a degree, I’m still baffled by the lack of confidence in our own community to express the values we live daily.

I’ve had the pleasure of working on many of the past campaigns to position our region.  And like many who have lived here, we’ve seen themes come and go.  For example, this campaign from the 90’s. As you’ll see, that campaign was specifically targeted at the Portland, Oregon market – then thought a major feeder into our tourism economy.  Yet it was engaging and successful in it’s time – but the times have changed dramatically in today’s economy.

Over the years, there have been many creative approaches to branding the Reno-Tahoe region … some more memorable than others.  Do you recall the “Reno-Reno Twice As Friendly” campaign?  None of them have achieved the instant recognition of the long-lived “The Biggest Little City In The World” positioning.  I believe this is because of a fundamental difference between what consultants have said about Sparks needing to “earn the brand”, and my belief that is our charge to take full advantage of the reality of our brand today – without attempting to alter perception by creative positioning that cannot be achieved when experienced by the public at large (i.e. “America’s Adventure Place“).

What has been missing in past campaigns is simple in my mind – a hard look at reality, and making the best of what we truly offer.  Combine that honest perspective with the need to fully engage regional stakeholders before positioning, and you have the makings for failure before you begin.

Today’s city branding is often approached like today’s fashion brands. Regional and local place, much like fashion products, begin to define traits like distinctiveness, uniqueness and most importantly, individuality to the market.  When done correctly, a city’s brand helps facilitate self-expression and status that residents, tourists and (most importantly) businesses can truly believe in.

Ultimately, a region’s brand must communicate messages about who we are to others in the attempt to create an emotional connection that actually transforms the place’s experience.  For this to really work well, it must also be functional with easily experienced benefits from infrastructure, weather, employment and education. Distinct characteristics that help the consumer make a clear differentiation between our product from similar regions.  None of the characteristics live alone – are are viewed in totality as a whole.

With the daunting task ahead for the RSCVA to make our regional brand truly effective this time, consider these top 50 cities (with a nod to #37) as compiled by Alfredo Andia in his article “Branding the Generic City”:

The Top 50 U.S. City Slogans:
1. What Happens Here, Stays Here. Las Vegas, NV
2. So Very Virginia. Charlottesville, VA
3. Always Turned On. Atlantic City, NJ
4. Cleveland Rocks! Cleveland, OH
5. The Sweetest Place on Earth. Hershey, PA
6. Rare. Well Done. Omaha, NE
7. The City Different. Santa Fe, NM
8. Where Yee-Ha Meets Olé. Eagle Pass, TX
9. City with Sol. San Diego, CA
10. Where the Odds Are With You. Peculiar, MO
11. Where Your Ship Comes In. Gulfport, MS
12. Soul of the Southwest. Taos, NM
13. Experience Our Sense of Yuma. Yuma, AZ
14. The City Was So Nice They Named It Twice. Walla Walla, WA
15. There’s More Than Meets the Arch. St. Louis, MO
16. Keep Austin Weird. Austin, TX
17. Where Chiefs Meet. Meeteetse, WY
18. City with a Mission. San Gabriel, CA
19. Where the Trails Start and the Buck Stops. Independence, MO
20. The City That Never Sleeps. New York City, NY
21. The Aliens Aren’t the Only Reason to Visit. Roswell, NM
22. Lose Your Heart to the Hills. Kerrville, TX
23. Take Me to the River. Vicksburg, MS
24. We’ve Got All the Civilization You Need. Riverton, WY
25. The Town Without a Frown. Happy, TX
26. The Town Too Tough to Die. Tombstone, AZ
27. Where the Stars Come Out to Play. Fort Davis, TX
28. Rollin’ on the River. Manchester, OH
29. Named for the Turn of a Card. Show Low, AZ
30. More Than Just a Song. Shenandoah, TX
31. Where Horses Have the Right of Way. McKinleyville, CA
32. Only in San Francisco. San Francisco, CA
33. It’s Not the End of the Earth, But You Can See It From Here. Bushnell, SD
34. Where Nature Smiles for Seven Miles. Spring Lake, MI
35. Live Large. Think Big. Dallas,TX
36. Real. America. Up Close. Rapid City, ND
37. The Richest Place on Earth. Virginia City, NV
38. With Time for You. Richmond, MI
39. Newark, on a Roll. Newark, NJ
40. Where the Trout Leap in Main Street. Saratoga, WY
41. Life, Celebrated Daily. Norfolk, VA
42. The Natural Place to Visit. Sitka, AK
43. People Say We’re Old-Fashioned. We Hope So. Virginia City, MT
44. Where the People Are Warm Even When the Weather Isn’t. Andover, KS
45. Where the Bald Eagle Soars and the Carp Drops! Prairie du Chien, WI
46. Where History Never Gets Old.Fredericksburg, VA
47. The Town That Made Tulsa Famous. Glenpool, OK
48. Get ‘Er Done. Havre, MT
49. Town Without a Toothache. Hereford, TX
50. Livable, Lovable Lodi. Lodi, CA

Our region’s brand is YOUR brand.  I hope this post might begin some dialogue about what and how we could approach this important task with constructive input and collaboration.  It’s time we believed in our region again in order to elevate it past the “Reno 911″ popularity of today.

So what’s your stance on this task?  What would you offer to those that are challenged with developing the next phase of our regional brand?  How can we better communicate the real values of living and visiting northern Nevada to the world?

I hope you take a moment to think about the possibilities and offer your constructive opinion.  We need to get it right this time.

Flipbook Music Video

A couple of years ago (*yikes*!), I posted a piece about the return of the flip book.  Over time, this resurgence of this tactile technology hasn’t succumb to the “fad o’ the day” that so many nostalgic formats often take toward oblivion.

Instead, it seems the flip book is here to stay.  To illustrate this, I ran across a great video by Kraak & Smaak called “Squeeze Me” – and thought you’d enjoy this lighthearted but innovative application of this old technology.

Enjoy!