Evolution in the Ad World

We certainly live in exciting times. With the downward spiral of newspapers comes opportunity online. Per the Financial Times, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is in discussions with Microsoft to delist their news sites from Google. Microsoft owns rival search engine Bing.

This could change the landscape for the way newspapers monetize their sites. If the search engines pay them to index their content, this could breath new life into a dying media.

Consumers still want news, this is an interesting way to solve the funding problem. What's even more intriguing is the giants on one side lining up against Google.

As Google downplays the importance of generating revenue with news content, it's obvious they still need to be the primary search tool overall to continue to dominate in the pay-per-click arena.

The lesson is the ad world continues to turn... and evolve. How fun!

Why Block Google?

I'm very curious about Murdoch's business model of having readers pay for online content. The New York Times tried this a few years ago with their Time Select product. They decided to open their entire site for free to generate more search engine traffic. Now, Murdoch is threatening to not make pages available to Google, so they won't get search engine traffic. Really??

I understand that their visitors would then have more value to advertisers. It's like comparing a cost-per-point from a news program to Springer. The type of audience matters.

Yet search is one of the ways the Internet is interactive. An inactive reader is great for branding... maybe. Right now, it's still difficult the measure the results of branded display campaigns.

The good news about half in the US would pay for content, according to the NYTimes. That's a much higher number than I would expect. Yet, people only want to pay $3 per month.

We're in for an interesting road ahead, as the business models for newspapers evolves. It reminds me of the early days of cable TV, when the mindset was customers did not want to pay for TV.

What Do You Need From A Car Dealer?

My entire career has been in advertising, specifically automotive advertising. The landscape has changed dramatically in this time period. TV and newspaper were the dominant media and that has certainly changed.

I'm presenting a workshop next week on Social Media for the local Milwaukee area dealers through their association (ADAMM - Automobile Dealer Association of Mega Milwaukee).

Obviously, Social Media is about listening and engaging before you transact. Yet, Razorfish's latest research shows customers sign up for brands to get a special offer. On Twitter, 44% follow for specials and it's 37% on Facebook/MySpace. What they fail to mention is about 60% don't sign up for that reason. It's still important to build a relationship before you ask for something in return. It's not an "all or nothing" situation.

What I'd like to know is what you'd like to see on a car dealer's social media sites? I have plenty of ideas (outtakes from TV ads, info about the product, "how to" videos, etc.), but would like your input.

Please e-mail me (mallemon@me.com) me or send me a message (@mallemon) on Twitter.

Guilty Pleasure

The NYT reports the ad world once feared DVR's is now embracing them. The concern was viewers would fast forward through ads, the advertisers would see less results and ad revenues would decline. I remember discussing this with local TV salespeople a few years ago and their response was, "viewers now watch more TV and they'll watch an ad for a product they're interested in." It must have been a "Spots & Dots" article, because they all quoted the same rhetoric.

Fast forward a few years and the reports seem to mirror this viewpoint.

What's frightening is I got a DVR in '04 and now watch more TV than ever. Before my DVR, I really only had one program I watched regularly. And my friends knew not to call during that one hour a week. Now, I'm following several shows. I don't think I could have gotten addicted to "24" without a DVR. When I find a new show that's been on a few seasons, having a DVR allows me to find older episodes. The DVR has become an enabler for me to watch too much TV.

I think back to the first year I lived in Milwaukee and didn't even have cable. Or the Internet (it was '94). I even subscribed to the local paper.

My new love of TV has been my guilty pleasure. At least I'm not alone.

Caveat Emptor

While working on a freelance project last week, I discovered a local source reselling Yahoo! Behavioral Targeting at a higher cost than going directly through Yahoo! The advantages of using the local source include “free” services for creative and placement. That’s it. Yahoo! Provides templates or you can use your own creative. If your budget is over $2,500 per month, Yahoo! also provides telephone support.

A friend of mine (JS – you know who you are) had mentioned this was happening across the country, so I asked the sale team I met with about the rate difference. The sales manager admitted it was less expensive to go direct. I actually found this refreshing, as most managers would have danced around the question.

What this means for you is “let the buyer beware.” Before trying a new product, investigate. Especially if it’s through a reseller. Don’t assume they pay a cheaper rate for their inventory and are selling it to you at a savings.

ROI for Online Display

Per AdAge.com, Google has developed a metric for branding/awareness of online display ads. The tool solves two problems:

1. Click is an unreliable source of measurement because most of the clicks are performed by a small percentage of online users; and,
   
2. Search gets the credit for the purchase/conversion, yet many other ads may have contributed to consumers behavior to search.

The product is new and certainly has limitations - it only works if the consumer has installed the Google toolbar, for example. It's a great start, however, and further research can determine if the users who install the toolbar are vastly different from those who don't.

The industry has relied heavily on click-thru rates and display has not gotten the credit it may (or may not) deserve.

I'm excited to see how this new tool quantifies the impact of display ads to transactions.

No More Joe Consumer

A recent AdAge white paper concludes the concept of the "average American" is gone forever.

Whew! I'm relieved. If a media recommendation of A25-54 on network TV was still the best way to reach the "masses," we'd all be in trouble. The good news is media has led the way in segmentation.

While we have a gazillion channels (with nothing on), consumers have had more and more choices for several years. Yet most people only watch about six channels. The obvious conclusion is the markets are more and more segmented. Yet, you can consistently reach your targeted audience.

This also gives creative the opportunity to craft a message that ties into specific wants and needs of your targeted audience. Instead of just trying to appeal to everyone. It may be shocking, but I have worked with clients in the last few years who still want to have a "menu" approach to creative - something for everyone.

What initially may sound challenging is really just support for strong recommendations. The key is to know who your customer is. Or isn't. Guessing doesn't cut it anymore (it never really should have).

The Birthday Club

Even though the concept has been around for decades, the idea of giving your customer a perceived “gift” on the birthday must still work.

I remember the “birthday club” concept at the local Big Boy restaurant chain when I was a kid in Michigan. When you signed up, you were mailed a coupon for a free kiddie burger.

Now, without signing up, I get discounts off shoes, clothing, coffee, car washes and even cookie dough. And even more clothing. Some offers are sent via postcards, others e-mail and even one embedded in a catalog.

Crazy? Maybe. But it seems to work. The perceived value is special and the customer wants to treat themselves for their birthday. (At least I do!)

With the popularity of CRM/database marketing campaigns, sometimes the most obvious strategy can be effective.

What do you send your customers for their birthday?

The Holiday That Keeps On Giving

Per Adweek, some holiday forecasts hold out some hope. One word can summarize what products need to portray to consumers: Relevance.

Shoppers want to buy gifts that will get used and not get stuck in the back of a closet. Or get's "re-gifted" next year. That's always been their goal, but it's even more important in this economy.

No one wants to appear wasteful, so shoppers will use lists more and will probably start shopping sooner.

The companies that will win this holiday season, now more than ever, are the ones who integrate their media choices and solve problems. As consumers go back to basics, so must marketers. The experience from your product has to fit a need. We all know consumers don't buy a drill because they need a drill. They need holes.

I just hope my holiday gift giving doesn't any "gifts that keep on giving" - my family's term for re-gifting.

Using Your Most Valuable Resource

With all the buzz about Social Media/Web 2.0, it's easy to forget about marketing to your customers. Social media is great to connect and provide customer service, but not so great for sales messages.

The area that needs further exploration is database marketing (aka CRM). Per AdAge.com, most companies are not doing this well.

It doesn't make sense to bombard your customers with thoughtless messages when you have the data to target them more appropriately. The best way to start is testing messages and response rates on a small sample of your data.

For example, I worked on a campaign targeting customers who bought a vehicle and paid an interest rate over 12%. Assuming they made their payments, they might qualify for a lower rate and a newer car. We targeted customers who had purchased three years prior, assuming they rebuilt their credit and now had equity in their vehicle. They were sent e-mail (if we had their address), a postcard and the sales staff followed up with phone calls. We found the customers were very transient and were difficult to locate. We then tested customers with the same criteria but who had purchased two years prior. The results were much better.

The key is to segment your data, run the campaign and measure the results. Once you analyze the results, you test again.

Business today is about using resources wisely. This applies to your customers and your marketing budgets.

Are Newspapers Going Back to Their Roots?

Time Magazine explores the new phenomenon of newspapers publishing sensational articles to grow circulation.

The papers are now publishing mugshots of everyone arrested locally and posting them to their Web sites. Even the Chicago Tribune has caught on to this tactic. I remember always reading the local "police blotter" to my dad (he was blind, so I read a lot to him). It was amusing, until someone you knew showed up in the column. Then I felt like a voyeur.

But isn't the strategy that helps most media grow? Think of AM radio, TV news and even, the Internet.

My biggest concern with the decline of the newspaper industry is no one will be able to afford to cover in-depth local stories. TV stations are about the "here and now." Our local paper has been covering an enormous case of state-funded child care fraud. Without a local paper, my fear is these items won't get coverage.

So, if they have to expose a few local arrests to maintain their revenue stream, so be it. If we didn't want to know, it wouldn't sell.

"How to Videos" for Your Business

The Beyond Madison Avenue blog lists ten reasons you should use online video for your business. I have actually been helping a former colleague produce videos for his store the last couple weeks. We're in production and they should all be live in the next week.

I have been a huge fan of this concept for months. What holds people back, however, is the "fear" of shooting spots and editing them. I showed my colleague a demo of a video I did myself, but he felt more comfortable hiring a production company he found on Craigslist.org.

Another concern is, what should the content be? Let's get back to basics and think about what is relevant to the customer. Do they want to see your latest :30 TV spot? Not likely. Outtakes? Maybe - but that may be better suited for your Facebook fan page. What about a "how to video" on features for your product? In the car business, a how to video on setting up the Bluetooth system in your car might be helpful. For a food product, how to grill or cook using an alternative method. For your customers who are visual learners, this tool can be extremely helpful.

So, go out and get your own video. Shoot some spots. Have some fun. And engage your customers, as well as future customers.

An Amazing Show of Customer Loyalty

A local GM dealership's customers staged a protest yesterday about GM terminating the franchise.

The dealership will remain open, but will no longer sell GM products or be able to perform warranty work.

As a marketer, no matter what CRM tools or campaigns you may run, only great customer service can inspire this type of loyalty. The lesson is, no matter how great your marketing ideas and campaigns may be, it's all about taking care of the customer.

The Power of Teaching

A former colleague asked me to look at his website a few weeks ago and I gave him a few suggestions for improvement. We then went through his ad budget and I recommended a small pay-per-click campaign. He was concerned that it would be expensive, but I showed him how can you start small and manage a budget on Google's Ad Words tool.

After some tweaking to his Google campaign, his website traffic doubled in two weeks and his business improved. We can never be sure it was entirely the changes, as the market has been getting better, but it had to help.

What's really exciting is he asked me to check the campaigns to see if they needed adjusting and told me he created his own campaign for a different product. The campaign has already paid for itself in specific results.

It goes back conventional wisdom - you can give someone fish or teach him how to fish. He now has ownership and can generate traffic/revenue as opportunities arise.

Digital Relevance

I attended an amazing free seminar yesterday on "Writing for the Web." I thought it was going to be about search engine optimization techniques for your copy. It was so much more.

The presenter shared a tremendous amount of research information about consumer habits online. They key focus of the presentation was making your site easy to understand and easy to use for the consumer. It's sound obvious, but many sites are cluttered and difficult to navigate. The bottom line is stay relevant to the consumer.

Why do we forget this? Why do advertisers hear "video on YouTube is hot," and conclude posting their TV spots is what consumers want to see? We should never forget about the customer. Instead of a :30 TV spot, I'd like to see a "how-to" video on using or buying the product. Tell me about your company, why I should buy from you, etc. As a consumer, that's what I care about. What about you?

ROI for Traditional Media - Take Another Look

As budgets continue to shift to Internet advertising, clients are relieved that they can quantify their ad spend with more metrics. While measurable results are certainly import, the key is to make sure you don't forget about the original objectives of a campaign.

Yes, you can measure click-thrus and conversion rates, but brand awareness and imaging goals? Not easy to do without using primary research for the specific campaign. That's a luxury most advertisers cannot afford.

Measurement is extremely important, but it must be kept in perspective. For example, many small businesses are using Twitter successfully. How do they know? Because business has improved.

Another example from personal experience is buying spot TV and holding stations accountable to their ratings. Several years ago, I bought paid programming from a new small station in a top 100 market, as well as a spot buy. The station never posted above 30%. The results were horrible - or maybe it was my ability to project a rating? Regardless, the station always ran a fair under-delivery schedule. What's interesting is my $50 paid programming creative that ran at 1 a.m. made the phone ring off the hook. With the direct response type spot creative I was running (on several stations), I knew the :30 lengths were also generating calls. (With a vanity number, we did not have the luxury to run different numbers on different stations). So, according to the ratings, my buy was not efficient. Yet, I know it was effective.

Isn't that what really matters?

New Markets - It's Surprising Where You Can Find Them

Instead of garages, the new entrepreneurs are working from their dorm rooms. This NYTimes article features several college students who have developed and marketed new products.

The product that fascinates me is the collapsible shoes. These two women walk around college in heels. Granted, they go to school in Manhattan, but heels? Yes, I went to a land grant college, but heels?

That being said, I love the product. I've had a few long days where this would have come in handy. I'm impressed that they conducted market research before they pursued it. Their PR strategy has certainly paid off - they have been covered in many news outlets and have a small following of fans on Facebook and Twitter.

Now, I just need to order my pair.

Maintaining Your Brand During A Recession

The way some high-end retailers are maintaining their brand strength is buying lowering prices, per USA Today.

It's an interesting approach because the retailer doesn't have to risk their reputation, but can still keep profit margins. The consumer doesn't have to trade "down" and can shop at the same stores. A win-win for all.

The companies that have been discounting, mainly Saks, have sullied their reputations.

Yet, customers still love a bargain... otherwise T.J. Maxx and Marshalls would not be tallying double digit increases.

My question is how come the prices can be lowered enough to be considered affordable and the company still makes a strong profit? Where's the "sweet spot" in this equation? Those who can figure this out will continue to do well once the economy rebounds.

Advertising Accountability - An Oxymoron?

Anyone who has studied advertising has heard, "I know half of my advertising is wasted, but I don't know which half." Ah, the days before online metrics.

Per Adweek, manufacturers are shifting more of their budgets online. The obvious reason is media habits shifting online. But what's more important is accountability.

Web site traffic lead conversions can be measured. What's still difficult, however, to measure is awareness. Advertising is both and art and a science. Science is becoming a bigger player, but it will never take over completely. There will always be a degree of unpredictability. That's what makes it fun.

I will never forget when someone cold-called me about buying signage at the local airport. Since I worked for a local retail automobile dealer group, I pointed out that half of the people seeing the ads don't live in the market, as they're traveling to town from somewhere else. They would not be likely to buy a car here. The salesperson pointed out the axiom about 50% of advertising is wasted and I would at least know which half was wasted.

Is Pay For Content the Answer For Newspapers?

Remember just a couple years ago when you had to pay to access much of the New York Times' Web site? No Maureen Dowd, Frank Rich or other columnists were available for free. Many of the main news articles were free, but when you clicked on something with the "Time Select" logo, you were denied access. Then, in 2007, the NYT opened their site to everyone. The rationale at the time was to increase advertising revenue and search engine optimization/continuity (if you found an article that went back any length of time, it was in the Times Select category).

Now, the industry in even more serious decline, Rupert Murdoch is going to a pay for content model. The Detroit Newspapers have also gone this route - even limiting the number of days their printed product is home-delivered. The Financial Times has been a paid site for years - here's the article about it in today's NYT.

I've always been a newspaper fan - I read the Detroit News every day from 7th grade (even through college) until I moved to Milwaukee in my late 20's. My daily media "diet" includes several papers. I was ready to pay for "Times Select" when they changed the model. Yes, I'm willing to pay for content - the right content, of course. But I would prefer a "network" of sites to have access to. To just pay for one seems like a luxury.

Am I, however, the norm? I doubt it.

What Is Social Media?

Social media is getting all the buzz these days. Here's a quick two-minute presentation that will give you a quick overview.

If you haven't seen this, you should. If you haven't shown your clients, you should.

For those who don't want to bother to learn anything new, why are you still in the advertising business? The whole idea of just focusing on "traditional" media reminds me of the name of a :30 TV spot the agency I worked for produced in the early '90s. It featured Lee Iacocca (on behalf of Chrysler) and was titled, "Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way."

Yahoo is Joining the Coupon Game, But Are You Using Google's

Per Adweek, Yahoo! is joining the coupon game by offering printable coupons in a partnership with Coupons.com.

The question is, are you already using Google's free coupons? As part of their local business listings, companies can offer free coupons. Here's an example from my website.

If frugal is the "new cool" (or the "new black"), it's time to take advantage of this free opportunity.

Resetting Budgets

Per AdAge, the ad industry (as a whole) won't recover in the second half of this year. Budgets are slowing coming back, but marketers want more accountability for their spending. TV faces more challenges in this area, while digital should continue to slowly grow. Agencies will also have to adjust:

"We are seeing a paradigm shift in our industry taking place as agencies grapple with how to deal with the new realities and manage costs to revenues. The industry is in for a fundamental, enduring reset over the next 10 years," said Jim Heekin, chairman-CEO, Grey Group. "Agencies are going to have to reshape themselves and focus on the services that have the most leverage with clients: superlative creative ideas, strategic planning, multichannel communications. I'm actually optimistic that new media such as social networks will give us great opportunities to help clients build brands across platforms and be valued and paid accordingly."

It's truly a fun time to be in the business. Those who can adjust will flourish.

Mary Allemon Dot Com Is Live

As part of my job search, I decided to create a website to promote my candidacy for advertising/marketing positions. After all, one of the skills I have is website strategy/development. Instead of just telling someone, I thought it might be best to show them.

So, http://maryallemon.com was born. Yesterday.

Resumes tend to be a bit dull, so I also thought this could showcase my personality a bit. I have more strategic ideas than listed on the site... if you want more information, all you have to do is set up a time to meet with me.

Enjoy!

Feedback is welcome and appreciated.

The Need for Relevance

Savvy marketers know your company/product/service needs to be relevant to your customers in order to survive. It's shocking, however, how many smart people get too caught up in what they've always done and forget this.

In the last few years, my focus has shifted from negotiating the best TV CPP's (of course it's still important) to relationship marketing. It started with database marketing using CRM tools. It's evolved to involved social media. The ultimate goal of these forms of targeted communication is to build relationships with your customers and stay relevant.

I attended a social function recently with some friends who I consider talented marketers. We were discussing social media and a friend pointed out the value in what I was learning because, "no one else wants to take time to learn it." I'm still stunned by that comment. A lot of people are taking the time to learn it. In this business, you have to stay current or you become...irrelevant.

The Next Best Thing

When laughing at these ten iconic ads this morning, I realized it's easy to laugh at the past. But did the copywriters and account people (as well as clients) know what the future held?

None of us are Nostradamus. We don't have crystal balls. At least that work well, anyway.

That's what makes advertising so much fun. The world constantly changing and advertising reflects it.

In 50 years, who will be laughing at our work?

Super Bowl Ads for a Recession

Per AdAge, CBS is not going to media buyers with a price for a :30 in the '10 event, but asking them what type of package they need for their client before they determine the value.

This is a much better win-win approach to negotiating. Even though most agencies try to create award-winning creative for the Super Bowl, not all of it is a ground breaking as the Apple campaign in 1984.

Frequency is the key to results. Now that the recession is resetting media costs, maybe everyone can get back to creating win-win scenarios in business partnerships.

ClickZ Poll: 63% Won't Increase Spend on Yahoo/Microsoft

In an informal poll, ClickZ reports that advertisers won't increase their spending once Yahoo search is powered by Bing. Out of 267 respondents, 169 responded no to the question if they'd increase their spend.

What I find fascinating about this is how can you possibly know? Ten years ago, Yahoo was the rage. Things change quickly and you really don't know what the future holds. I would certainly not automatically assume a bigger budget/share for a new entity, but there are too many unknows involved to make those decisions now.

Isn't that what makes advertising fun?

Southern Comfort Goes 100% Digital

Southern Comfort has changed its entire media budget to digital, per AdAge. Due to network restrictions, liquor can only be advertised during evening cable shows on TV. Because the space is so crowded with competitors, SoCo could not garner pod exclusivity. The funds they spent on cable and magazines is now going online.

What's fascinating is they are able to partner with the national TV network sites with some of their key prime programming. Why do the networks accept these ads and not broadcast versions?

This strategy also speaks to the trends of the recession. A lot of twenty-somethings are cancelling their cable/satellite subscriptions to watch TV online. And they're drinking at home more often. When the economy recovers, SoCo may have gained share, but also may need to rethink this. Or not. It will be interesting to watch.

Allstate's Hispanic Value Message

Per MediaPost.com, Allstate is targeting Spanish-speaking consumers by promoting service and value. The brand is strong for this demographic and the difference between the general market is this group has already gone back to basics. Just another example of value positioning, without denigrating a brand.

Cash For Clunkers Program

"It's here! The sale you've been waiting for."

Now that the "Cash For Clunkers" program has officially begun (Time.com), it should be interesting to see how dealers advertise/promote the program. Many have been promoting it before it began, but everyone will probably jump on this now.

With the closing of many stores this year, the strong dealers have survived. One of their obvious (and sensible) strategies has been to cut back on advertising. With the CARS program (as it's officially called) having limited funds, dealers will need to stand out from their remaining competitors.

What should be fascinating is the dealer-created modifications to the program. Chrysler was out of the gate with the matching program. How many dealers are going to offer discounts on vehicles that don't qualify? Even though the used car market has been stronger than new in the recession, will they offer their own program for used?

How confused with the consumer be? Will this become a free-for-all? Or, will the surviving dealers use sounder communication strategies? It will be interesting to watch this play out.

The Oldest Form of Advertising Goes 21st Century

The oldest form of advertising is word-of-mouth. Difficult to control, but the price is right.

Twitter can help small businesses - many without ad budgets - take their game pro.

An article in the NYT highlights some examples.

This social media tool is certainly not a threat to mass advertising, it just helps businesses create relationships with their customers, for sales and customer service.

Even if someone doesn't think they have time for it, they should at the very least set up alerts to see if customers have negative comments. It's better to address them quickly before they tell everyone they know - online and off.

Keeping Your Site Fresh - Yahoo! Example

Online marketers should learn from Yahoo!'s response to their decline in advertising and user experience. They redesigned their site due to diminishing results. From DMnews.com.

Sites need to continue to be relevant to their readers/customers and allow for personalization and integration. Online use changes and sites need to be revamped to take this into consideration. To just "freshen" them may not be enough.

What do your readers/customers want? How has their use changed? For example, a growing segment on Facebook is women 45-69, who now use it to keep up with their children and grandchildren. If you have a Facebook Fan Page, is it integrated with your site?

Can your site be personalized for your customers? It may be time to take a look at what you're offering.

Online Advertising Needs to Be Interactive

I don't use the "interactive" term often anymore. It seems so 1997. Yet consumers strongly prefer their marketing message on demand online.

New research shows viewers don't like pop-up ads, ads that expand when moused over or not. From Adweek.com.

Advertisers are realizing this because the growth budget areas are in search engine marketing and social media. From emarketer.com. The consumer is interacting with the search engine or choosing to join a company's social network.

The concern now for print media is keeping revenues while their readers consume their product online. Consumers still want news and information, they just don't want banner ads covering the content. If only the sites could ask the reader what they were interested in and then send behavior/interest related ad content with it. The Google content network attempts this, but there needs to be a better way for the newspaper sites.

It will need to happen for the industry to survive and thrive.

The Enduring Recession?

Per Adweek, consumer shopping habits in response to the recession will continue after the recovery.

The article mentions some research/testing, but it would be interesting to see more. The gas price example for the car business is based on advertising promoting mileage. The manufacturers have stepped up production, but the sales ratio to less efficient vehicles is not what you'd expect.

The recession has caused people to rethink their habits, but it will be interesting to see how "sticky" they are when consumer confidence is much higher. Consumers may feel like they're sacrificing now, but like changing a diet, it's not always effective long-term.

Buying habits will probably never be the same because companies have to "reinvent" themselves a bit in a recession. To go backwards might alienate new customers.

The key may be refining and defining your brand for your core and new customers. As the economy improves, you may want to test some older strategies that don't deviate too far from your updated positioning.

Emotional v. rational messages during recession

Here's an interesting post about emotional v. rational messaging during a recession.

As I've been researching how companies are trying to maintain their brand, yet promote value, I'm finding a lot of opinions about maintaining budgets. What's more important is maintaining share of voice. Media costs have dropped. The logical conclusion is you can keep your share of voice with a smaller budget. This is, of course, if your competitors are keeping their share of voice. If they've cut back, you may be able to cut a little as well. The key is share of voice, not a set budget.

What I found interesting about this post was the creative strategy. People buy on emotion, but rationalize their choice with logic. This hasn't changed. The emotions may have changed. It's time to tap into what consumers are concerned about. Marketing is about solving problems. The problems have just changed. The companies that survive and prosper know how to tap into this.

SEM Showing Signs of Recovery

After declining for several quarters, spending has stabilized through 2nd quarter, 2009. From MediaPost.com.

Microsoft's new search engine, Bing, improved their share. Yahoo's share was up, but Google's was down, due to increased efficiencies.

What's interesting is automotive, retail, travel and finance spending was up. These categories have been hit hard by the recession and it's good to see consumer interest in these products is changing.

If the legislation to require opt-ins for behavioral targeting passes, SEM should see growth.

Check Twitter for Bargains

Today's Sunday edition of the WSJ instructs readers how to use Twitter for bargains.

If you're not using this strategy, are your competitors? You may want to check.

Even if you don't offer coupons, what other things can you give your valued customers?

Focus

Now that I've been blogging for a few weeks, I've decided it's time to focus on a few advertising/marketing issues, instead of just random issues I browse upon.

The five areas I will continue to blog about are:

1) Brand image versus value in a recession economy.
2) Online media trends. How does shifting budgets from traditional advertising generate better results?
3) Finding new markets in this economy. This includes elder care, medical records, environmental technology and other areas that are growing.
4) Customer retention programs. How to stay relevant to your existing customers, whether it's through social media, CRM programs or events.
5) The use and application of research to marketing/advertising decisions. This includes TV ratings, DVR usage, qualitative versus quantitative information, and measuring results against objectives.

The other items that don't fit these parameters have been deleted.

If you have questions or insight about any of these topics, please feel free to contact me by posting a comment.

Happy reading!

Online Privacy Bill

A new online privacy bill could change the way advertisers use behavior targeting. (http://tinyurl.com/km39pz)

Basically, advertisers can buy ad space to target you based on other sites you've visited. The "cookies" in your browser provide this information. For example, if you look up information about a car at kbb.com, car ads might start showing up as you browse online. This bill will require you to "opt-in" as you browse.

The obvious benefit to advertisers is better targeted ads reaching the right consumers.

This will then shift the focus of online advertising to paid search. The consumer controls the topic, so no "cookies" are involved.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Research is only a guide

In Mediapost.com, eMarketer issued a report of online measurements not accurately taking branding into consideration. http://tinyurl.com/mg8ft7.

With any results, it's important to evaluate your results versus your original objectives. When measuring branding, you don't use a retail-type measurement to evaluate your results. As the report states, targeting and relevance is much more important the the number of impressions.

One of the beautiful strengths of Internet advertising is quantifiable results. It's also a disadvantage if you use measurements that don't coincide with your communication goals.

Frugality is the new black?

Research from 4th quarter '08 and 1st quarter '09 shows the obvious - frugality is becoming popular. http://tinyurl.com/n6tld2.

What's interesting is the younger end of the baby boom, called the "Jones" generation because they're busy keeping up with the Joneses, has been coddling their children for years. These are the "helicopter" parents who hover over their children.

The good news is more opportunity for value brands!

Agencies & Internet Firms Unite

Some major Internet companies and ad agencies have finally realized they need to work together instead of seeing each other as competition. Here's the NYTimes article.

What amazes me is agencies should be the first to seek out new media and yet they seem to fight it. Clients want (and need) integration.

Everyone seems to forget that consumers don't live in a vacuum - they see, hear, and feel all different types of messages. To not be integrated does not serve anyone well.

Another Growing Segment

Right now, the growing segments in the economy are government, green/environmental and medical. What may surprise you is alcohol sales are also increasing.
http://tinyurl.com/l7ncwn.

What's interesting is people are drinking at home and not at bars or restaurants. Even though hospitality is suffering, I'm hopeful that with this trend, drunk driving accidents will decrease.

Celebrity Endorsements - Is the Attention Worth the Risk?

With the passing of three very different celebrities this week (McMahon, Fawcett and Michael Jackson), USA Today mentions Madison Avenue will lose three advertising spokespeople - http://tinyurl.com/mpfuuc.

I've always been a little leary of using celebrities to endorse products. I guess I've seen too many do something unfortunate and get caught in a negative publicity sprial. The spin then gets attached to the products they're endorsing.

The risk of this versus the attention your ad gets from the celebrity should always be weighed. You also need to evaluate your objectives in using a spokesperson. Is it because you're a fan or because your target audience will pay attention? And will they remember your product? Because that is, after all, the purpose.

An obvious consideration is credibility with your prospects - would this person use this product? This rule, however, can be broken successfully. Think Joe Namath in pantyhose. But I don't remember the brand. And wasn't that the point of the ad?

Finding New Markets

Our economy is based on finding new markets...this guy is charging people to climb a tree in his yard - http://tinyurl.com/kql3dj.

That people have paid $20 for this is amazing. It certainly sounds like a fun thing to do, but I don't think I would pay for the experience.

I'm impressed, however, with his creativity in finding people he would and garnering publicity for it.

How much do you trust online reviews?

A recent article in the Chicago Tribune (http://tinyurl.com/ncm7rv) points out the FTC is getting involved in companies paying bloggers to endorse their products. The bloggers have not been disclosing to their readers the financial relationship they have with these companies.

When I read online reviews, I always take them with a "grain of salt." How do I know they like what I like? And if they give misleading reviews, eventually people will figure it out.

Don't get me wrong, these financial arrangements should be made transparent (I can't believe I got that word in!). I just wonder how seriously people take these reviews into consideration in their purchase decisions.

Beware of "Registered User" Data

An article in the NYTimes today (http://tinyurl.com/neyvps) explains how social media sites can "steal" your contact list and e-mail them invitations on your behalf. As we all become more and more comfortable online, it's easy to zip through "permission" pages and agree to terms we haven't read. Then, we feel violated when our friends e-mail addresses have been abused.

My bigger concern is the reporting of the number of registered users of these social networking sites...if someone registers in response to a friend's invitation, sees no value and never logs on again, how can they legitimately be counted as a user? This reminds me of some recent newspaper scandals with misleading circulation counts.

What Do You Value?

When I was in kindergarten, my dad had pulled my sisters from a religious school and we were all going to public school the next year. My cousins all went to this school and I was extremely disappointed. For some reason, I really liked plaid jumpers! My cousins told me that in first grade at their school, they had chocolate milk AND they taught you how to read.

How could my dad not send me?

I decided to corner him on this and told him if I went to their school, I'd learn how to read! (I figured the chocolate milk wouldn't fly as a good argument). I'll never forget his vehement reaction, "They'll teach you how to read in the public school." I was skeptical, but had no choice.

When I told someone this story recently, I realized that two things that were extremely important to me at five years old (chocolate and reading) still make my top ten. Are we all just kids at heart? What do you value?