“A Strong Brand Commands a Premium”

I read an article in the Globe and Mail the other day which made an impression on me for a couple of reasons. Kids and advertising: Mommy, that's my bestest (sic)  brand referenced a study in the journal Psychology & Marketing which  found that children as young as three illustrate an “emerging ability” to use ads to judge which products will be the most “fun” and make them popular. This, despite the fact they are unable to read at this stage in their life.

I remember my first child around the age of three stating “You can do it, we can help” every time we either said the word Home Depot® out loud or saw their logo – whether on signage, in print or television ads. This wasn’t a fast food brand that she was buying into: just a corporate tagline that was entering her little world on a frequent and consistent basis.

Of course, extrapolating this to Ugroup Marketing clients – usually start-up and growth stage companies in telecom and software sectors – is the power of branding. “A strong brand commands a premium”, wrote David Aaker, noted brand specialist and author. He’s right. While it is easy for smaller companies to shy away from “expensive branding exercises,” all successful companies will eventually see the need to formalize their brand strategy. Understanding the essence of corporate and related product brands, communicating that to all stakeholders and ensuring employees deliver on the brand promise (with every stakeholder touch point) is the ultimate goal. An effective brand is something all employees can rally around. It will help differentiate you against your competitors. If the Pyschology & Marketing study is correct, it may even sow the seeds of relationships with your next generation of customers.

Email Marketing: Cost-effective lead generation

I was interested to read a report “The Forrester Wave™: Email Marketing Service Providers, Q4 2009” that came across my desk the other day. I am a big believer in permission marketing and the use of direct email. This probably shouldn’t be a surprise given the corporate tagline at Ugroup Marketing is Measurably Better. Direct email is inherently measurable. Unsubscribe is the ultimate response of your irrelevance to the email recipient.

As one might expect, given the economic downturn, companies increased their direct email marketing last year.  When asked “How has the current economic situation altered your email program?”, the top responses included:

• 48% were trying to make their communication more relevant
• 35% identified the need to have direct email “pick up the slack” for other programs
• 34% suggested they are emailing more frequently

Necessity is the mother of invention, and as much as direct email was a viable marketing channel prior to the economic downturn, I suspect that many organizations will retain it and much of the cut advertising spend, as well as tradeshow budgets of 2009, has disappeared forever.  

PR in a Web 2.0 World

Having a degree in public relations, I am amazed at the impact the internet has made to the industry. It wasn’t that long ago that PR firms and newswires were the main mediums (and expenses) to get your message to the media – and ultimately your targeted audience(s). If the “news” your company generated, and the pitch by your agency of record resonated with the media, articles and coverage would follow.

Today, we’re seeing mainstream media closing down editorial bureaus and trade publications eliminating or greatly reducing print runs in favour of online models. Sometimes even revised business models can’t survive in an era of diminishing advertising revenues. Earlier this year, Crain Communications pulled the plug on the venerable RCR News, one of the key wireless trade publications in North America with a 25 year track record.

Web 2.0 has changed the game and some claim that technology has made journalists obsolete. It may be true to a degree. Companies today can publish their news directly through less expensive internet distribution mediums to a series of websites, traditional news services and blog authors. Cutting out journalists altogether is possible. While I agree with the benefits of this approach from a pure search engine optimization (SEO) perspective, it does beg some questions: What releases are truly newsworthy? What releases further the aims of the company? This is where your in-house PR practitioner, marketing communications professional or outside counsel adds value in determining a communications strategy. Furthermore, I still believe journalists have a critical role to play. At a minimum B2B enterprises should be targeting their key trade editors/journalists and analysts. If future investment or employee recruitment are key requirements, local business media should also be targeted.

What Selling a Used Car “Taught” Me About Advertising?

While those of us at Ugroup Marketing are focused on telecoms and software for the better part of our work day, it’s interesting when we get to apply our daytime skills outside office hours. I recently had the opportunity to do one of the most basic sales activities: sell a used car. This wasn’t any used car; it was a 10-year old Honda.

Understanding the need to determine my buyer personas, I wrote advertising copy that targeted the following: 1) Sammy - college student looking for affordable and reliable transportation;  2) Jimmy – driver of a “nice car” in the summer looking for a winter “beater” to get around in the cold Ottawa winter. Why male only personas? The car was a standard transmission and according to my last two mechanics 95% of standard transmission vehicles in Canada are driven by males. Thankfully my wife is part of that other 5%.

Armed with my advertising copy, I picked my mediums: two generalist “for-sale” sites and a site that targeted used automotive vehicles. When I had minimal interest after a couple of weeks, I also placed an ad in the city paper. A slight price reduction and a series of follow ups and test drives, and I am happy to report the car was sold. The whole experience reminded me why I love the Internet: I could quickly determine the car price against market value based on some quick website reviews; I could see how many individuals were looking at my ads; I could determine the success of each respective website as an advertising medium based on the email responses received (which are automatically tagged with the originating website’s domain) or from simply asking the caller “What site did you see the car on?” The newspaper ad?  This exercise in old-school media garnered exactly “0” responses. I’m glad I work with the Internet.

By the way, in case you’re wondering: Sammy (not his real name) bought the car.

Three telecom sites to keep you connected

I am often asked what sites I track for my telecoms news. Since RCR disappeared earlier this year, I am down to three primary sites for my news. All three sites have either free subscription daily emails or RSS feeds.   There is just something so easy about getting a couple of emails a day in your inbox. 

Cellular News  - The title may be a little dated, but lots of content is available on this site. One of the reference sites for the industry.

Another great site is Totaltelecom.  They have a decent print magazine as well, but if you’re like me you prefer to get your information in real time.  A similar site with long historical “print” roots is Telephonyonline .

Tap into these sites and you’ll stay plugged in to telecom.