Keeping Score

New York battled Chicago Sunday afternoon in a game for the ages.  There was an overflow of raving fans in the stadium and a worldwide television audience.  They played many hard-hitting minutes into overtime.

Kansas tipped against Kentucky in last week’s finals in front of students, alumni and fans from around the country.  Both teams played a great game to the final buzzer.

Jimmy and Timmy lined up at the start line on a playground packed with kids.  Both sprinted the distance all the way through the finish line and were met with a cacophony of cheers.

So, what’s missing from the New York/Chicago game?  How about the Kansas/Kentucky tilt?  And Jimmy and Timmy’s run against one another to schoolyard fame?

Who won and what was the score?!?  How much further would you read any of the above without those details, as well as supporting information?  What were the teams even playing?

The same is the case for marketing (or any other business, for that matter).  Why spend the time and money if you’re not going to evaluate the work by keeping score?  A scorecard should be an integral part of each and every campaign or project, and CMOs around the world are now making these analytics a priority.

After all, without details of the outcome, how do you know who won?

– Gary Sayers, V.P. Account Director

B2B: “Boring 2 Brash”

What is B2B advertising notorious for?  Print advertising and trade shows.  Lots of information, uncreative messaging, unimaginative layouts, and rational appeals.  Just plain boring, boring, boring.  You know what I’m talking about.  It’s everything that consumer-facing advertising is not.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.  Case in point:

Manheim is the world’s largest provider of vehicle remarketing services.  They have set the standard for establishing a reliable environment for buyi ng and selling vehicles at auctions and online.  Their primary target: car dealers.  Like other companies, Manheim has traditionally reached car dealers via trade shows and trade pubs.

Guess what?  Times have changed.  Customers in the digital age expect dynamic and engaging communications, whether that target is a college student, a soccer mom, or a car dealer.  Not surprisingly, eMarketer predicts a very strong resurgence in online media.  Manheim is on top of this trend and has begun to shift the way they deliver their message.

Kilgannon developed a campaign for Manheim built around a brand video and interactive Web site.

The Web site provides dealers the opportunity to engage the brand: see and hear individual buyer and seller videos, download white papers, access other valuable resources, view instructional videos, check out upcoming events, vote in a dealer survey, and, of course, access Manheim’s online transactional tools.  Short versions of the videos will also run in news pre-roll and online flash banners across a variety of Web sites, including www.autonews.com, www.automotivedigest.com, www.autoremarketing.com.  Additional promotional elements, such as e-blasts, in-lane auction elements, and print, extend the presence and also drive dealers to the Web site.

But the new world of B2B marketing doesn’t stop there.  It must also be accountable.  Kilgannon will measure the effectiveness of the campaign via a Scorecard focused on a wide range of perceptual and engagement metrics, from readership studies and customized brand research to site traffic and video views.

If you’re still thinking that B2B is boring, be brash and think again.

– Gary Sayers, VP, Account Director

Marketing’s Holy Grail

Target audience insight. It’s the “who” of effective marketing strategy. It inspires creative teams to greatness. It makes the difference between good communications and powerful engagement. In short, it’s the Holy Grail to many marketers. Yet the quest to find it can be worthy of an Indiana Jones sequel.

Identifying your target audience is easy. Many strategies simply label the target – Moms. Adults age 25-54. C-level executives. Better strategies dig a layer deeper, describing something about them — Moms who are frustrated because their kids won’t eat healthy foods. Adults age 25-54 who own a car. C-level executives who love golf.

These phrases do describe the target audience, but they still only crack the surface. Where’s the insight? Insight results from painting a complete picture of your target, viewing the world through their eyes.

As an experiment, I recently asked Marketing Discussion Board, How would you describe your job in language a 5-year-old could understand? The responses included:

“I make some of the commercials that you see on TV and in mommy’s magazines.”

“I do things that make people happy to buy stuff.”

“I meet people and request them to buy (my company’s product), the same as I request you to drink milk.”

Someone even said, “I’m guessing, ‘I think s*** up’ probably won’t cut it. So how about…I think up ways to tell people about the stuff companies make, so they can sell it.”

It was apparent that each respondent thought carefully about what would be understandable, important, and appropriate for a 5-year-old. This same skill should guide the development of compelling target audience insight. When you get it right, your marketing will interest, engage, and motivate your target.

Our new B2B campaign for Manheim, the world’s largest wholesale automotive auction, is designed to do exactly that – articulate the benefits of buying and selling vehicles at auction through the eyes of the various personalities that conduct business there.  Whether a Magician or Cowboy, Detective or Prospector, we hope Manheim’s target sees a bit of themselves in the campaign and is more receptive to Manheim’s message as a result.

So before you start your next campaign, dig deep, walk a mile in your target’s shoes and, find out what is really important to them. You’ll be glad you did.

– Pam Alvord, EVP, Chief Brand Strategist

Looking for inspiration on my bookshelf.

I’m not a writer.  I think I’ve made that perfectly clear in my previous blog entries.  I really wish I was though because, generally speaking, I think writers are cool.  There’s definite power in a well-crafted piece, whether its ad copy, editorial or just a smart-ass reply in Facebook or Twitter.

But as I sit here and look desperately toward my small collection of business books to see if something already published will inspire me, I am struck by something.   Most of them over-promise, enticing us with things like, “Revolutionize your customer service model in 10 easy steps!” or “Become a top-notch speaker by working the room with your eyes.”  Really?

So, the written word needs to be taken with a grain of salt – a rather large one sometimes, particularly in business.  I think all too often, we look to a self-proclaimed expert for answers to our questions. That “expert” might just be better at marketing themselves than actually delivering useful and practical information.

It irks me that sometimes, because someone else says it, we take it as gospel.  And we don’t give ourselves enough credit for what we believe is going to be effective, or what our collective experience has proven.

So, trust yourself, and forge ahead, using books as inspiration, not the Holy Grail.

Here are a few that have inspired me over the years:

- The New Marketing Paradigm: Integrated Marketing Communications

- The Great Marketing Turn-Around:  The Age of the Individual and How to Profit From It

- Radical Marketing: From Harvard to Harley, Lessons From Ten That Broke the Rules and Made it Big.

What does your list look like?

– Ellen Repasky, SVP, Account Director

The Marketing “S” Word — and seven other words to live by

With the title of Chief Brand Strategist, it is inevitable that you have to define what you do.  Chief and Brand are pretty self-explanatory, so I suspect that it is the “S” word that trips everyone up.  It isn’t that Strategy is an unfamiliar word – but it seems to mean different things to different people.

• To some, strategy is a PowerPoint security blanket — put it in a binder on your shelf, so if anyone asks, you have one.
• To others, strategy is a buzzword – something guaranteed to make you look smart if you throw it around in meetings, as in Great idea, Bob.  But, what’s the strategy behind it?
• In some organizations, strategy can be a formula – For target audience x, brand y is the miracle product that delivers benefits a, b and c better than any other competitor.
• And, strategy can even be paralyzing – something you know you should have but seems big, scary and insurmountable.

To me, strategy is as simple as a road map that both focuses and inspires effective marketing efforts.  The foundation of strategy goes back to journalistic fundamentals and six simple words — who, what, where, when, why and how.

1. Why may be the most powerful word in strategic development.  Simply ask Why am I considering this initiative? Why is also a particularly effective way to refocus knee-jerk tactical assignments, as in Why do we need a Facebook page?
2. What has two key components — What am I trying to achieve? (ensuring accountability) and What need does my brand address? (Note, this is different than answering What am I trying to sell?)
3. Who defines the audience and is more than just Who am I trying to reach? Who really becomes effective when you can truthfully answer Who will be most receptive to what I have to offer?
4. How demands discipline.  Answering How does my brand meet the target’s need? requires digging to find the true benefit your brand offers, not just making a list of product features.
5. Where has changed dramatically over the past few years.  The question is no longer Where can I best reach the target?, but rather Where can I best interact and engage with the target?
6. When can really make a difference when budgets are tight (and whose aren’t?).  The strongest strategies look at all the potential points of influence and clearly articulate When will the target be most receptive to this message?

In the end, developing a great strategy isn’t rocket science.  But getting from good to great requires the discipline of a drill sergeant.  Once you have defined who, what, where, when, why, how, go back and look for one more word – and.

7. And is the difference between good strategies and great ones.  Great strategies are focused, precise and require trade-offs – there is no room for and.