Email Campaign Benchmarks

February 6, 2010

Does anyone have some good industry benchmarks on email campaign performance?  Care to crowd source an answer?

http://www.linkedin.com/answers/marketing-sales/advertising-promotion/direct-marketing/MAR_ADP_DMA/628363-13929550?browseIdx=0&sik=1265503411849&goback=.amq



Super Bowl Show Down – Coke Vs. Pepsi Social Style

February 5, 2010

As the Super Bowl draws closer and closer Alterian continues to find rather interesting data on a number of organizations that are advertising in the big event this Sunday.  To be sure there are a number of brands that are stimulating very interesting conversations, and Alterian’s SM2 social media monitoring solution is listening.  The real interesting data generated through this listening exercise is the competition between Coke and Pepsi.  Coke is certainly ramping up in terms of mentions and conversations, and in positive sentiment, however Pepsi is still ahead of Coke in most categories at this stage.  The simple reason for Pepsi’s performance is that they opted to not run any Super Bowl ads this year and upon announcing their decision in December they received quite a bit of social feedback.  Instead Pepsi is opting to launch their “refresh campaign” through social media channels.

Results can be deceiving as Pepsi’s position is fueled by their early announcement, but what we have yet to learn is what happens after the Super Bowl.  Does Pepsi maintain that leadership position, or does Coke take the top spot.  The real question is what can Coke do to extend and expand its Super Bowl ad spots?  Advertising to date generates a social and emotional attachment to brands, and while the attachment was bigger in the past, it still holds true today.  Consumers still understand what it means to “leave it to the good hands people”, or “like a good neighbor”  If we go back a generation or two, many consumer will identify with “Is it live or is it……?” or “When you’re out of Schlitz…..”  Branding can create attachment as Coke still knows how to generate a smile.  The real win for Coke would be to determine how to take the brand advertising that they ran for the Super Bowl, and extend it and expand into social channels.  If Coke was to really focus on expanding the effect of their advertising they might want to consider engaging in the social conversation.  For, although understanding the voice of the consumer is important, being able to better engage the consumer to develop and extend attachment, to keep the program alive, can be huge.  Next week will be a telling week, the excitement will soon lead to results.  Stay tuned to hear what it is that we’re hearing.


Death of a Salesman…

January 31, 2010

particularly if they are selling newspapers!

The picture is not pretty.


ppt Tip – no more white boxes

January 30, 2010

Ever try to use a white box to block out part of a graphic on a slide, but then have it print out with a black outline on the printed version?  So annoying…

Follow the below link, and look at View > Black and White to see how to fix this.  It’s actually pretty easy.  Wish I had looked for this ages ago.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/190319


Triangulated Learning

January 29, 2010

I love marketing, and I love what I do, but boy do I miss coaching. It’s not often the world’s intersect, but I was recently introduced to a piece by Steve Knox that certainly got the juices flowing:

http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=141734

As a high school football coach I used to pride myself on my ability to find new and innovative (a.k.a crazy) ways to teach the basic skills of football. Football is not an intuitive game. For the uninitiated there are a lot of moving parts and many skills that need to be learned. Frequently what I found was that people learn in very different capacities. When the classic modalities of spoken, visual, and experiential didn’t work, it was time to try something new. As a coach, it was up to us to get outside the box, to find a way to communicate to the players in a way that connected for them. Our props ranged from hula-hoops, to 45lb plates, to trash cans, caf trays, and about anything else that wasn’t nailed down on the field and involved players “jumping in the pull”, “money in the bank”, and numerous other simulated activities. In the end, the whole concept was driven by what called “triangulated learning” or putting the players minds outside of the normal field of play to teach them a new skill.

From past experience I know this works. I just hadn’t thought about the application in the marketing world until I read Steve’s piece. It just makes so much sense. Customers face problems and decisions all day long that they can’t always solve in straight forward ways. By applying the principals of “triangulation” we can reach them in a unique way, to break their models and built-in filters to deliver a message.

Some smart, very interesting stuff – thanks Steve!


Socialnomics ROI

January 28, 2010

This one may not be quite on the same level as Eric’s first piece, but again great production quality and some really great referencable facts.


Thanks to SMB

January 27, 2010

Social Media Breakfast that is….  This past Tuesday I was happy to moderate a discussion here in Chicago amongst a lovely panel of social media experts.  It was a nice mix between agency and client folks and we were able to have a pretty engaged, thoughtful conversation about what is effective social media measurement.    If your into Social and in Chicago I highly recommend you check them out:

http://www.socialmediabreakfast.com/category/chicago-social-media-breakfast/


Social Media Accountability

January 27, 2010

At one point or another I’ve heard someone define crazy as repeating the same exercise but expecting different results.  Mentally I have this picture of an old Simson’s commercial where Bart or Homer keeps reaching for a Butterfinger after being repeatedly shocked.  Basically, this is exactly how I see most marketers approaching the social space.

The metaphor here is to how the advertising world has learned to run itself by household level data supplied by the Neilsen’s of the world.  Was this data every really useful?  Did it ever shed insights on what really moved the needle?  Or, did we just become so desperate to justify what we were doing we grew to accept them as a course of action.  These statistics became an enabler to do our whim – kind of like my Weight Watchers diet.

Why then, when approaching social would we think things would be any different?  Immediately, we’ve all jumped on the buzz bandwagon looking for justification.  Problem is people have not “settled” yet and are still pushing for a social answer that is more accountable and more related to actual business performance.

As service providers then, the question is how do we step to the plate?  How do we provide a measure that truly speaks to business value created?  Start by finding the “client of the future.”  Producing meaningful metrics is entirely contingent on dumping the current episodic, campaign driven mentality of marketing and re-orientating the go to market with a customer centric strategy.  Look for folks who get the “4-B’s” or the like, they are few and far between.  Conversely, you can continue to play the Pancho to your clients as they tilt their windmills with cries of “reach”, “popularity”, and “friends”.


Sometimes – I’m left speechless…

January 20, 2010

for those of you who know who you are, you know who you are