Are the Beijing Olympics headed for an opening ceremony marketing problem? Today's Wall Street Journal raises the specter of athletes wearing masks to the opening ceremony and causing China to lose face. Other blogs and sources are starting to pick up on this.

What if 10 or 20% of the athletes in the opening ceremony parade walked in wearing face masks to protect themselves from the pollution and, ultimately, their chance at an Olympic medal? What does that say about the Chinese government? Do you want that imagery tied to your brand, after paying tens or hundreds of millions to be the official X of the Games?

Do you have a contingency plan in place? What will you say when images of mask-clad athletes in the murky Beijing air, in front of your expensive banner, are transmitted to the world?

Just a thought and one I haven't fully wrapped my head around yet. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
photo credit: upton

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What's the value placed on a social media marketing campaign by the marketers that develop the campaign?  It's hard to tell, because one typically can't get access to the key metrics associated with the campaign, particularly sales attributed to the effort and ROI.

I was intrigued by a new social push by Sony Ericsson for the Z750a flip phone, created by their agency, Iris.  The campaign is titled "Bringing Purple Back."

Well, neither Sony Ericsson nor Iris would give me any objectives for the campaign.  Neither was any information or speculation found on unofficial Sony Ericsson blog sites about the campaign.

Being an inquisitive guy, I decided to use the crude but effective research technique of following the money to learn more.

Smart marketers tend to invest more dollars where volumes are high and margins are high, and less when the expected outcome is otherwise. 

I tend to think of Sony Ericsson as a fairly smart marketer, based on my hypothesis that they're focused on the consumer--they've got a great assortment of cell phones and get generally very good reviews for the products, which are eye-catching and (to my mind, anyway) competitive with anything out there.

So how much is Sony spending on the Bringing Purple Back campaign?  Not much.

Let's take a look at what I've found this morning:

1. Prizes of just $2,393.  Six lousy free cell phones and one grand prize of a $599 gift card, positioned as a free pair of designer shoes. (Why not a phone and a free year of AT&T service?  But I digress.)  No million dollar sweeps.  Not even a free phone a day.  Six over the course of a six week promotion.
2. Short promotion length.  Six weeks.  Unless something is absolutely crazily viral, it takes a couple of weeks at minimum to get a campaign off the ground.  By the time things are up and running, it's game over.  The excessively short time frame smells of a budget compromise.
3. PPC buys of $0.  Go to Google and Yahoo and try to search for "Sony Ericsson 750a".  While I don't expect the Bringing Purple Back website to pop, why no PPC spend?  (I tried a number of different KW searches including the obvious "Purple Cell Phone" and came up snake eyes.)

Say the agency fees for the planning and site were $300K.  Sony Ericsson spent over $88 million just a couple of years ago to sponsor the WTA women's tennis tour.  What do you think gets daily attention back at HQ?

In conclusion, I have to believe that either this social effort is either:

1. Not worth much to Sony Ericsson and given an appropriate amount of investment and care.
2. A botched effort, due to poor planning and low budget (see the PPC buy screw-up above).
3. A test.

If it's got the right amount of effort associated with it, given the expected ROI, then OK.  (I still have to believe that some PPC, particularly at the kickoff when you might get some search attempts, makes sense.)

If it's a botch, then I hope there's a good campaign debrief on the calendar for Sony Ericsson and Iris to review execution against objectives and so forth.

What do you think of the effort? Might it work?  Could purple be the new black?  Do you like the Z750a phone?

photo credit: Marco Gomes

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Today is the 64th anniversary of D-Day. I am appalled that none of my daily mainstream media reads (New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today) this morning had anything commemorating the event.

On June 6th, 1944, the brave men of the Western democracies began the liberation of occupied Europe in one of the most audacious and complex military operations the world will ever know. They beat back the forces of evil and tyranny and, through their sacrifices, helped give us the lives of peace and prosperity we enjoy today.

I was born over twenty-three years later, yet I will never forget.

There are countless stories of bravery and leadership, such as that of Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., who insisted on arriving in the first wave on the beach to provide morale to the troops. He led men up the beach wearing a knit hat, supported by a cane and brandishing a .45.

Or Brigadier Lord Lovat, who together with his piper Bill Millen led his men into battle armed with bagpipes and a knife. You'd follow men like those into Hell itself.

What does all this have to do with Marketing? Only as a reminder that:

• Things never go as planned. (So be well-prepared and know your mission cold.)
• You can't be too prepared, because of the things that will go wrong.
• Personal leadership, at all levels, is the key to overcoming chaos.

Today, I'll remind my children of the importance of this day and begin re-reading Stephen E. Ambrose's terrific history of D-Day. I'll also read Ronald Reagan's famous speech at the 40th anniversary a couple of times.

What will you do?

photo credit: Zigar

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On a brief personal note, I was saddened to hear of the passing of Bo Diddley. It's hard to imagine how radical he sounded back in the fifties, when most of rock was either speeded-up country or blues, with some Gospel influence.

When you listen to the radio today, it's amazing how frequently you hear the "shave and a haircut, two bits" Diddley-esque rhythm.

Bo was also one of the pioneers of rock-n-roll who never fully received the financial rewards he so richly deserved.  However, I'm sure that today he has "...a brand new house on the roadside." Play on, Bo.

photo credit: Anders Ljungbergdddd

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At one point during my college days I wanted to be an A&R guy for a record label.  My reactions to smoke-filled clubs and early-to-bed habits caused me to rethink that career option.

But music, and the marketing of it, has remained a lifelong interest.

Last night, my wife and I saw Duran Duran at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD.  This was her 11th or 12th time and my 10th time to see the band.

When you go to a Duran Duran show, you know you're going to see a great performance, an enthusiastic crowd and hit after hit.

What I didn't expect was a textbook example of creating and maximizing a marketing channel, and an example of how big a part luck plays in everything we do as marketers.

Creating a marketing channel.

Opening for Duran Duran was Your Vegas, a band from Leeds, England.  We sat down early to catch a few minutes of their show and thought they were pretty good.

At the end of their set, they thanked everybody for listening and said they'd be up at the top of the hill signing autographs and giving out free posters.  I listened to their call to action and headed up the hill to see the response, and purchase a CD.

I was pleased to see no aloof rock stars there.

That call from the stage created a long line in front of the entire band, where they took their time chatting with the fans, signing the free posters and CD's and taking photographs with the fans.  The band was gracious, appreciative, and seemed to be genuinely enjoying the interaction.  Further, their new CD was moving briskly from the stand next to them.

Will Your Vegas be the next Killers?  Luck will play a big role, but the band is doing everything right by:

1. Creating a face-to-face marketing channel, starting with their call to action from the stage
2. Engaging in CRM by getting face-to-face with 50-100 fans every night.
3. Making a small investment in posters and pen ink to support the campaign.

Luck and music.

Anna Ross, Simon Willescroft and Dom Brown joined the band as backup vocals, sax and guitar, respectively.  All are highly talented and excellent performers.  Ms. Ross has been touring with the band since at least 2005 as well.

Any of these folks could be headlining a show with their own band.  Why not, then, last night?

In a word, luck.

• Answering the right ad in a paper looking for a guitar player.
• Sitting next to the right person in grade school.
• Being in front of that guy in an audition.

Anna, Simon and Dom are surely doing fine touring with Duran Duran and have done everything right to prepare for success.  One or two breaks and they might be headlining.

The point of this?  The impact of luck on your marketing efforts can't be entirely eliminated, but can be minimized by proper planning and preparation.  Also, don't get down when things break the wrong way, as will invariably happen.  Go right back to planning for the next effort.

Summary and key takeaways.

1. Look for unique opportunities to talk with your target audience.  Don't necessarily think "sales channel", but instead find unique opportunities to talk with those who are interested in your products and services.
2. Prepare for the impact of luck.  Preparation won't eliminate the impact of luck on your campaign outcomes, but it will position you to capture the upside when things are working well.
3. Wear earplugs. Tinnitus (of which I have a mild case) is no fun and only gets worse over time.

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How can you tell if an offer is good, i.e., is a strong consumer offer that makes money?

The answer is when the organization making the offer continues to use the offer.  The case in point is Chrysler's "Let's Refuel America" $2.99/gallon gasoline offer, which I wrote about recently.

The offer was supposed to expire in early June, but based on early results--including 25% more web traffic and a 34% increase in Internet leads--the promotion has been extended through July 7th.

Apparently Chrysler has re-crunched the numbers and found the financial results worth continuing making what's turned out to be a very strong offer.  This is good news for the car buyer looking for a deal, the dealers who like the floor traffic and is good for Chrysler, as far as "moving the metal" goes.  (Overall, though, Chrysler is still in trouble.)

The takeaway is that Chrysler's promotion has, once again, proven the old direct response maxim: If you want to dramatically increase your response, dramatically increase your offer.

When was the last time you looked at your offer? How might you reallocate your offer cost to create a more exciting offer that's a true consumer benefit?
photo credit: epicharmus

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Guy Kawasaki, who is one of my favorite regular blog reads and speakers, is the author of The Art of the Start, which is a quick and worthwhile read for anybody thinking about starting up their own company.

One of the 10 things you should do, according to his book, is "Make Mantra." I absolutely loved this, because it accurately describes what all truly innovative companies are doing and, more tellingly, what a lot of big companies are not doing.

I think that Papa John's has "Made Mantra" with their focus on making it easy for the customer to order.  They've sold over $1 billion of pizza via their online ordering tools.  According to the CNN article, it's just the start of likely dozens of new ways a Papa John's customer can order.

Now that's a mantra--make it easy to order.

So what are you doing to make it easy for your customer to buy more of your products?  Or more often? Or more efficiently?

Guy Kawasaki talking about "Make Mantra" is below.

photo credit: ronnie44052

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Seth Godin and I have, unsurprisingly, a similar attitude toward marketing.  Compare, for example, his post What Do You Know? with my People Don't... post of a few months ago.

Both basically remind the marketer that your "targets" (and this probably isn't a great term) really don't care about you and that the rules have changed in the Web 2.0 world.
photo credit: psd

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Are you using sampling in your marketing efforts?  Ad Age had a quick article on some of the sampling efforts being undertaken by major marketers this summer.

What's old is new again.  Is it better to hit a prospect with 3 to 5 impressions and tell them about your product or is it better to put the product in their mouth or on their skin and show them how great it is?

If you think about it, the Web 2.0 technique of giving away your entire product dates back to the days of the local shopkeeper.  

Back in the day, the general store owner would give you a taste of what was in the barrel to get you to purchase the product.  Now, digital products and services providers allow you to use virtually all of their services free of charge, with the hope that you'll come back repeatedly and purchase the premium (paid) product or generate pageviews to generate advertising revenue.

Sampling's an old marketing technique, but it's taken hold in Web 2.0 products and, with the advent of more granular tracking tools, is becoming more popular with traditional CPG.

As Winston Churchill once said, "The further back I look, the further forward I can see."  What other "old" marketing techniques can you think of that can be resurrected in your marketing efforts?

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Good marketing isn't about chasing after the corner case--that last possible customer who might be buying from you, but who isn't.

Overruling the veto vote to extend the reach of your brand often backfires.

Think of Starbucks and how they added breakfast sandwiches to the menu. It gave the customer who was considering a breakfast sandwich a reason to go to the local store instead of McDonalds.

The problem was that it made the stores smell lousy and more like McDonalds, which is a problem when you're trying to sell $4 cups of coffee, a decidedly un-Golden Arches price point.

Thank goodness wisdom prevailed and Starbucks has gone back to their roots (coffee) and nixed the breakfast sandwiches.

Now Baskin-Robbins is making the same mistake and trying to solve for the Least Common Denominator by adding soft-serve to their menu. Now B-R is going to move away from what they're known for (an interesting array of quality, scooped ice cream flavors) and start to compete with everybody in soft serve. So is Baskin-Robbins quality scooped ice cream or cheap soft-serve? My guess is the answer in the minds of consumers will be "neither."

It's always tempting to solve for the "veto vote" LCD or corner case to increase sales. Unless that's done very carefully, it results in a widening of the target audience beyond what is reasonable, addition of vaguely related products and an "everything to all people" branding effort. Not a great place to be and, like Starbucks, you tend to find yourself focusing back on your core business after you've confused the customers.

Always focus on your core audience and core business and expand away from them only after very careful consideration.

One way to think about your core business and core audience is to ask the typical targeting questions in reverse. Ask "who isn't in your target audience?" and "what don't you do?" I find those questions are often answered more easily than the same question asked in the affirmative and with more clarity.

Summary and takeaways

1. Be wary of "everything to everybody". Trying to negate the "veto vote" or adding product features to address a corner case are warning signs. Tread lightly.
2. Understand what you don't do. It can help focus your marketing efforts on the right audience and right target markets and cause you to put aside distractions to your branding efforts.

What do you think? Will Baskin-Robbins succeed with soft serve ice cream? Are there other solutions to their growth problems?

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