November’s AiMA event, “Mobile Marketing: How mobile is more than texting, tweeting, and talking,” was the first I’ve been able to attend. The event certainly was more than texting, tweeting, and talking (although there was a lot of texting and tweeting happening in the crowd); panelists encouraged incorporating mobile into marketing plans for 2010 and shared interesting facts regarding the growth of iPhone applications, the mobile web, and more.

The event was moderated by Michael Becker of iLoop Mobile, and there is no better way to describe him than with this tweet from the event:

@JermoH #aima – iLoop’s Michael Becker is like the Britannica of Mobile Marketing.

Becker opened the event by showing a commercial for a Motorola cell phone. From 1983. The advertisement stated that cell phones would completely change the way we communicate. Understatement of the century.

Given that the event was on mobile, it seems appropriate to sum up the key topics via what was tweeted live as each panelist spoke:

Mack McKelvey, VP of Marketing for Millenial Media.

• @briangupton: RT @ATLmobile: Mobile has lowest Cost Per Engaged User per @mellenialmedia #aima
• @JermoH: In Sept, there were 64million mobile users (1/3 size of Internet) #aima

Brian Seti, Division Manager and National Marketing Manager for Yamaha WaterCraft Group:

• @kristengreen: Yamaha no longer spends $ on traditional advertising. They focus on mobile & social and are able to deploy campaigns more efficiently. #AiMA

Derek Von Nostran, Director of Consumer Marketing & Analytics for The Weather Channel Interactive:

• @laurenmullins: Only 20% of iPhone apps downloaded are used the next day. – Derek Von Nostran, TWC #aima
• @JermoH Top phone for Hispanic market = iPhone, top phone for African American market = Razor. #aima

Von Nostran also discussed the popularity of TWC’s iPhone application. It’s the most popular weather application, and one of the top 10 applications (ranked just below Facebook). TWC launched a game as a follow-up, but the application met subpar success because of the target’s inclination to only utilize TWC for weather information.

To read more tweets from this AiMA event, search for #aima on Twitter. The November event was AiMA’s last big event for the year, but there is a web analytics lunch and a holiday party both scheduled for the first week in December.

Remember those struggling musicians, artists, and filmmakers we’re so used to hearing about? While you will probably still have an opportunity to toss a few bucks into the guitar case of a musician along a city street somewhere, social media is completely changing the way these struggling musicians gain exposure and produce content.

Enter KickStarter – an online community where people can “pledge” money to the projects of artists, musicians, filmmakers, designers, journalists, inventors, explorers and just about everything in between. KickStarter has two fundamental beliefs:

1. A good idea, communicated well, can spread fast and wide.
2.  large group of people can be a tremendous source of money and encouragement.

Doesn’t this idea sound indicative of social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube? KickStarter has taken fundraising — and turned it viral.

I know what you must be thinking: does this even work? The answer is, simply, yes. Assuming the project is well-promoted and worthy of donations. It’s time for an example: Allison Weiss, a musician based in Athens, Georgia, set out to fund a short EP via KickStarter. She set a goal of $2,000 and a deadline of 75 days to raise the money. Weiss reached and exceeded her $2,000 goal in 10 hours.

Prior to KickStarter, a local musician like Weiss could probably never imagine funding an entire EP within a matter of hours. Weiss used her long list of social media profiles to promote her KickStarter project for the remainder of its 75-day timeline, and the money kept coming in.  Weiss promised that more album tracks would be added as more money was raised. By the end of her KickStarter deadline, Weiss had raised a whopping $7,711 (that’s 386% of the initial goal) and her goal of an 8-song EP is now a full-length album entitled Allison Weiss Was Right All Along, and is due out November 24^th.

What does this mean for the music industry? Record labels will never fold due to social-savvy do-it-yourselfers like Weiss, but these independent artists seem to in much more control of their own destiny. Having an understanding of niche sites like KickStarter and being well-connected in the social space is vital for any aspiring musician.

This seems to be simply another change inflicted upon the music industry because of the internet. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that purchasing and downloading a digital copy of an album was completely unheard of, but today iTunes is the number one music retailer in the United States.

It’s pretty crazy how the music industry has been turned upside down by the internet. They ways we create, share, purchase, and listen to music are completely different than ten years ago. The question is…is this for the better?

I had the pleasure of attending (and tweeting) AiMA’s October event, Interactive Creative Engagement. The panel discussion (moderated by Coca-Cola’s Capabilities & Communities Manager, Amanda Thompson) revolved around how engaging and interactive media drive consumer interaction, dialogue, and ultimately brand affinity and sales volume. The panelists at this event included representatives from three big brands: CNN, Chick-fil-A, and Cox Media Group. Below is a recap of what each panelist discussed with the group:

Leon Levitt, VP Digital Media at Cox Media Group reviewed the creative displayed on ajc.com & walked us through the McDonald’s Barista Challenge. Key points that Leon stressed were:

• Good, spectacular creative can make a difference
• Old rules still apply: contact drives eyes, eyes drive revenue, good creative will have an impact, don’t apologize for being intrusive

Michael McCathren, Interactive/Digital Marketing Lead at Chick-fil-A discussed the evolution of the Chick-fil-A cows and the emergence of their (the cows) new website: eatmorechicken.com. Michael spoke about taking risks with creative and the importance of helping your clients feel good about taking such risks.

Adam Naide, Sr. Director of Audience Experience at CNN Worldwide gave the audience a run through of the CNN Challenge which was created to combine the excitement of competitive trivia games with the fun of social online gaming.

Goals of the CNN Challenge:

• Build consumer affinity w/ the brand & talent
• Increase engagement
• Promote sampling of CNN content
• Drive revenue through sponsorship

Below are a few notable tweets from the event:

ewendkos: #aima listening to presentation from Leon Levitt – we can not be too intrusive so long as we have great creative +biz model

JermoH: Summary of Cox’s Leon Levitt: People will respond to great creative. Creative developers, step your game up! #AIMA

DianaBaldwin: Eatmorechicken.com launched last week. Interactive branding. Active branding. #AIMA

GumboShowJoe: #AiMA Michael M from Chick-fil-A empasized that you should push creative and risk with interactive media.

JermoH: cnnchallenge.com looks fun and is going to be a total productivity killer in offices nationwide! #aima

bsteve76: Naide sez CNN tries to be different and provocative w/content. #CNN #aima

To read more of the tweets from this event, checkout the hashtag #aima in Twitter. The next AiMA event will be on Wednesday, Nov. 18 and the topic will be: Mobile Marketing – How mobile is more than texting, tweeting and talking.

We’re back from DMA-09 – with two sessions, a book launch and a wildly successful keynote from our chairman, Stan Rapp.

I’d like to share what you might have missed. Let’s recap!

An important message for the DMA this year was the new face of direct marketing – one that is both direct and digital. This was supported by the opening message from DMA president John Grecco all the way to the closing keynote from our chairman Stan Rapp. iDirect has an important and immediate impact for DMA and its members, and will be an essential piece of support in moving the industry forward.

The Keynote

Stan Rapp (above, standing) kicked off a keynote about iDirect, showcasing iDirect examples from panelists – including Michael McCathren of Chick-fil-A, Mike Metz of Cisco, Oliver Dixon with Ford Motor Company, and Rob Weisberg from Dominos Pizza.

History was made by Dominos Pizza – at the keynote they made their largest delivery in history – 1200 sandwiches of their new oven-baked sandwiches! And, Ford Motor Company selected their next “Junior Agent” from right in the audience. And Chick-fil-A announced their newest digital asset – eatmorchicken.com. The keynote wrapped up with audience questions to the panel; which included “What’s the next big thing?” The response given? “Mobile.”

A few of the Tweets coming from the keynote …

The Book

DMA-09 was also the “official” launching place for the book “Reinventing Interactive and Direct Marketing,” edited by our chairman Stan Rapp for the DMA, and featuring an anthology of writers. Among the authors in the book are two from Engauge – Janet Rubio, the agency’s chief insights officer, and Melissa Read, Ph.D., our vp of research and innovation.

Want the book? Pre-order on Amazon.com at a 34% discount!

Read the Articles

Before and during the show, Engauge contributed several to several articles on the industry media.

“It’s undeniable that the web’s role is more critical than ever in stimulating action as well as creating the interaction that develops brand believers.”– Rick Milenthal, CEO Engauge — Chief Marketer magazine.

Read the articles:

>> BtoB Magazine – Rapp on the “disintegration of integration’
>> Chief Marketer – The Happy Marriage of Direct & Digital
>> BtoB Magazine – The future is both Digital and Direct
>> 1to1 Magazine – Move Marketing Forward by Agreeing to Adapt

The Sessions

Engauge also delivered two regular conference sessions. Both are topics that speak to the agency’s commitment to iDirect as well as the importance of leveraging consumer insights to generation brand engagement.

“Engaging Millennials” / Understanding and Activating New Influencers:
Led by Raghu Kakarala, vp strategy at Engauge

“Data Anthropology” / The Key to Meaningful Consumer Connections:
Led by Engauge’s executive director of brand planning, David Grzelak

I was honored recently to guest blog for one of my favorite groups, 1to1 Media. You can read the post on their site but it starts like this…

Marketing has seen tremendous change over the past five to 10 years. Take a closer look at direct and digital marketing specifically and you’ll see a clear shift. Marketers are beginning to combine the opportunities made possible by the principles and disciplines of direct marketing with the accountability and engagement that are possible with digital marketing. We call this shift iDirect – where the blurring of the lines between these disciplines is being used to garner greater customer engagement that leads to measurable and dramatic gains in ROI.

Read more.

MarketingVox posted a blog that reports on a Twitter for Brands event hosted by New Media Age in London on Friday of last week. It was here that Dell claimed something we first heard a few months ago – they’re making money, and lots of it, on Twitter:

“Dell representatives said they have seen tangible uplifts in sales which can be directly attributed to marketing on Twitter. The brand’s Twitter account has driven $3 million in sales since it began operation in 2007. Moonfruit, a website builder, also said Twitter campaigns have helped the brand. Moonfruit said it spent around 10,000 pounds ($16,400) on prizes for the campaign, and that it brought in more than twice that amount in a single month in new subscriptions, reports ClickZ (via MarketingCharts).”

Surprising? Of course. It’s easy to dismiss the notion that a company could profit from a “what are you doing,” 140-character microblog; where Ashton Kutcher regularly posts such drivel as “lmao great vid.” That is, until you dig a little deeper and see just what Dell has been doing.

Rather than jump in loosey-goosey, Dell has woven the platform in to support their existing direct, digital and CRM strategies. They leverage dozens of Twitter accounts in order to narrow their message to followers with JUST the information relevant to them. Just look at their home page to see what I mean.

Like any marketing platform, Twitter is only as good as how you use it.

It never ceases to surprise me how many brands get intimidated by emerging marketing. They either end up ignoring platforms completely, or disappearing into the mix with an unsupported showing. Dell is a great example of how to do it right – look at what your corporate / marketing goals are, and see how the platform can be leveraged against them. Simple enough. For a company like Dell, that meant using what they knew about their customers to tailor messages, develop community, and offer discounts.

The story isn’t that Dell made money on Twitter. The story is that Dell knows how to leverage emerging channels against their marketing objectives to creative profit. Many brands could take a lesson from them.

Recently, Harris Interactive conducted a poll about consumer’s information-gathering process for their most recent purchase. The poll’s purpose was to identify what carries more weight: face-to-face WOM or online (including social) WOM, both prior to and downstream from the purchase.

Brandweek summarized, “When respondents were asked to identify the various methods and sources they used, 21 percent cited face-to-face with a person not associated with the company, such as a family member, business colleague or friend. Another 12 percent said they got such information through a phone call with someone of this sort … Just 4 percent mentioned getting such guidance via public online social-networking sites, such as Facebook, LinkedIn or MySpace. Another 4 percent mentioned private social networking sites, such as customer communities.”

From Harris’ press release: “Adults who had a memorable product purchase, use or service experience were asked if they had taken any type of downstream action and almost four in five said they had (79%). More than seven in ten who had taken an action (72%) said they had taken positive action with 57% communicating about their positive experience with others while 41% specifically recommended that someone make a purchase.”

Harris had a few takeaways. A couple of them:

1. “Methods of obtaining information and post-experience communication is much more likely to occur through a mix of traditional and new-age consumer generated (social) media, both offline and online. Further, few are using social networking tools.”

2. “Communication to others about a product or service experience is more likely to occur than recommendation, and there is much variability by product/service category. Also, most post-experience communication takes place offline.”

I have a couple of opinions on this poll.

FIRST, MY LAST PURCHASE …

My last purchase was a pair of running shoes. So what lead to me to this purchase?

1.   I talked to several friends who also run to get their advice.

2.  I checked out runnersworld.com, runningtimes.com, and a handful of other credible online sources for runners.

3. I used various guides on these sites to determine the type of shoe that i should be running in.

4. After identifying about 5 or so shoes that fit the bill and my price range, I read dozens of customer reviews to learn about the fit and wear of the shoe.

5. I went to my local Dick’s Sporting Goods and tried two of them on. Based on how they fit me, I picked one; the Nike Air Span 6.
(Note: I’ve also done this by going to Zappos.com and ordering a couple different models and sizes and then returning the ones I don’t keep)

MY PURCHASE PROCESS: Almost completely online. My face-to-face inquiries factored very little into the process.

Of course, this might be a crappy example considering the fit of shoe is such a personal thing. But, then again, aren’t a lot of our purchases personal? Don’t we take a BBQ grill, or a car stereo, or a refrigerator just as seriously? In fact, I’d likely use the same process to buy any one of those things.

Downstream: I had a great experience with the staff at my local Dick’s, and told my friends about it (via Twitter). That helped Dicks. These shoes are also working out really well for me, so I’ve told a few friends (face-to-face) about some of the features that make me like them, in the event they need something similar one day. That helped Nike.

MY REPONSE TO THE HARRIS POLL

Naturally, I zeroed in on the “social networking” stuff. I was left with a few takeaways of my own:

1. Downstream Chatter.

Harris’ takeaway that the post-purchase communication is happening offline – I’d agree with that to a certain extent. In my world – the agency world, infused heavily with digital – I see a lot of post-purchase chatter happening online; particularly on Twitter and Facebook. Maybe this is a sign that brands (and agencies) need to find a way to stimulate more of that dialoge online with people “not in my world.” It might be an easier sell with Millennials, in fact.

2. What’s online WOM?

Notice that MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn weren’t in my purchase process. And why would they be? What was I going to do in Facebook? Maybe put in my status “what running shoes should i get” and wait for a flurry of responses? However, running community websites, running publications, and online reviews from Zappos.com and other websites were high on my list. And while I asked friends for their advice (face-to-face), my decision was wholly made online. The reviews I read on various websites, as well as the editorial reviews on Runner’s World, were very WOM. They’re educated, first hand-feedback based on experience and industry knowledge.

3. The role of social networks.

I appreciate that Harris did this poll. It may bring some clarity to the role of social neworks in marketing. So many brands run into social without understanding how it’s used by their audience. They just want to be there because they feel like they should. The truth is that  - at least not right now – consumers aren’t running to Facebook to decide what shoes to buy.

Now, I am not suggesting that the takeaway from this study is that brands should ignore social. The opportunities lie in finding the RIGHT WAY to be a part of the social conversation.

Maybe I didn’t use Facebook to select my shoes. But that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t want to interact with Nike on Facebook. It’s important to be where your customers are, engage with them, monitor the buzz around your brand, and find ways to connect with your audience to drive action. For example, Nike could use Facebook for offers, giveaways and contests to stimulate action. Or they could promote their Nike+ insert on Facebook, or create a running club there. But then again, they may not need to with nikeplus.com – a GREAT example of how a big brand is using social to drive interest and participation with their brand. Look at that. Did I just create WOM?

According to a post I just read on BtoB: “A newly released study by the Association of National Advertisers found that two-thirds of marketers have shifted their focus to more short-term strategies in the last six months in response to the economy.” 

Of course, this is a result of the economy: “It found that 56% of marketers have cut their media budgets as a result of the downturn; 50% have reduced their production budgets; and 41% have decreased sponsorship and event activities.” 

I found more information about this study from MediaPost.com. They said:

“The latest survey finds that marketers plan to reduce costs by:

• Restricting departmental travel and expenses (87% versus 63% previously);

• Reducing ad campaign media budgets (77% versus 69%);

• Reducing ad campaign production budgets (72% versus 63%);

• Challenging agencies to reduce internal expenses and/or identify cost reductions (68% versus 63%),

• Eliminating or delaying new projects (58% versus 61%).”

BtoB went on to report: “…68% of marketers said they plan to increase their media budgets when the recession ends, and 41% plan to increase spending on social networking and word-of-mouth marketing … The survey also found that 73% of respondents said they would ideally implement these increased marketing activities three to six months before the recession ends. ”

My immediate reaction was frustration. I don’t have a crystal ball; do these companies? There’s no way to tell when the economy will recover. So, in the meantime will spending be low and vision limited because letting loose of money is SCARY? It’s going to take businesses that are bold in their actions to rattle this thinking … and start to turn things around.  Brands can’t make people want to buy if they aren’t talking to them.

But wait. I looked over this study again – zeroing in on the line about the increase in spending on social networking. This might be the nudge businesses have needed to shift their media mix around – spend a little more time on social marketing, and even direct marketing – where results are king. When they’re ready to spend big again, maybe they’ll have stronger connections with their customers and that bigger budget might just accomplish a little more.

So, maybe there’s a silver lining in this economy situation – smarter marketing. That’ll nicely compliment the better service those same businesses are enjoying as employees take their jobs a little more seriously. Businesses might just come back stronger than ever.

A few days ago I received a very nifty mail piece from the USPS. It’s one of the more visually creative direct mail pieces I’ve seen in a while  (forgive the image quality, this pic was taken with my phone)…

(The inside of the USPS mailer – a Dell testimonial)

The front cover says “Marketing Intelligence for Ad Professionals,” and the inside cover “Direct Mail Tactics – From the Brands You Know.”  The piece then contains two direct mail case studies — or maybe they’re testimonials?? —  from AT&T and Dell, lined up in a clever file folder design. The creative is unarguably great, and the quality of the piece is outstanding.  The message:  use direct mail in our “lousy economy” to get “results that drive marketing.” The piece has a call to action for a free informational DVD. There’s little question this was an EXTREMELY pricey piece to produce. 

… AND THE MISSES BEGIN …

Now, when you “go all out” like this – most savvy direct marketers will make VERY sure their messaging is a match to their target audience; maximize their $$. For this campaign, maybe there’s not a firm way to measure Cost Per Acquisition - they’re selling the Post Office. Selling Stamps. Maybe the intention is to measure who orders to the DVD? But that doesn’t equate to dollars and cents … in some cases only a trickle of interest.

Anyway … considering I received the piece, I have to assume I am within their target audience. So … I work for an advertising agency, corporate communications – and I do create messaging campaigns. This piece may have also reached the agency’s account directors and brand managers who work on a multitude of brands. Still, my piece was assigned to the digital group at Engauge – a little bit of a miss.

And …

1. The “cases” are brief and not very compelling.  The quote from Dell (above) says: “Dell wouldn’t exist without direct mail and catalogs – it’s an essential component of our business … even if we aren’t selling like we might in a great economy, we still have the opportunity to gain market share.” OF COURSE Dell has success with postal direct mail and catalogs. They’re DELL. I argue that this piece would have been exponentially more compelling if they’d used “Direct Mail Tactics -From the Brands You DON’T Know.” That’s where real success can be measured – somebody who I maybe haven’t heard of, who did what this piece wants ME to do: try postal direct mail for unexpected results.

2. They include a tear card to get a FREE DVD to LEARN MORE! Maybe they used Billy Mays!!!!! I can’t wait!!!!!! I might have to order it, if for nothing else than to see how much more money they spent. 

3. The only website landing page they offer is for the DVD (if you’re interested: http://www.DownEconomyDVD.com/stephaniecritchfield). What if I don’t want the DVD? What if I just wanted to read more complete case studies? Or estimate / calculate the cost of a direct mail campaign, start to finish? What if I wanted to find a direct marketing agency in my area? 

4. Lastly, and this is just a personal thing … for me it came across a little desperate. Go figure, the USPS wants me to mail more. Maybe I could have gotten over that icky feeling if the cases felt more tangible and relevant. 

The truth is, direct mail CAN work. And it DOES work … all the time! There are plenty of stories out there that showcase this better. I think a far less costly piece could have been produced (and digital leveraged significantly more) for a much better connection with the audience. I promise you … the VERY FIRST thing everyone in marketing who received this piece thought was “WOW, this was an expensive piece to produce!” 

Don’t get me wrong, USPS, I heart you – I can still send holiday packages through you at easily half the cost of FedEx. And, you did make that awesome Elvis stamp, and the one with ducks on it.

Working at an interactive marketing agency, we talk about personalization as a major difference between ”Web 1.0” and “Web 2.0.”  Many think that personalization and using technology to connect with people in a more personal way is the future of interactive marketing.

When is the last time you received a personal thank you note?  When is the last time you sent one?

Today I received a personal thank you note from a partner for referring some prospective clients and serving as a mentor.  Here is the catch: the card was not entirely personal.  The sender used a service called SendOutCards.com which allows you to select a card, upload your message and recipient’s address, and have a card sent directly to them.  I did a double take when I received the card before I realized that it was not personally written.  Not only did the envelope appear to be hand written, but the card did as well.  There are many services (including Hallmark, American Greetings, etc.) that allow you to personalize their cards before sending, but SendOutCards.com is unique (as far as I know) in that they will allow you to send them a handwriting sample so the card can be written in YOUR handwriting.

When I showed Jeff Hilimire the card I had received, he said “wow, that is kind of like the future.”  Indeed it is, Jeff.  The future will help us leverage technology to connect in a more personal way.  What is more personal than sending (and receiving) a hand written thank you note?