Eye Candy – May
Here is a continuation of our “Eye Candy” feature post. The following quick hits of inspiration are provided by Trina Mousseau, Creative Account Specialist at Inventa, and Director of Membership for the BCAMA.
1) The Sound of New Business Generation
Jump on the Green Train With Your Eyes Open
The consumer packaged goods industry has a long history of duking out margins and shelf space to drive sales and build brand loyalty. For many consumers, making healthy and eco-friendly choices, is becoming a strong deciding factor to select one brand over another. The packaging, messaging, and claims all look promising at first glance, but as you dig deeper, you’ll uncover false claims and certifications that, yes, even you’ve fallen for.
A marketing firm by the name of Terra Choice Environmental Marketing regularly checks in on the environmental claims made by consumer markets. In 2009, they published The Seven Sins of Greenwashing. A group of researchers took a deeper look at product details and claims and found that on 2,219 products, nearly 5,000 green claims were made. Ninety-eight percent of those claims committed at least one Greenwashing Sin.
The first and probably the biggest issue highlighted in “The Seven Sins of Greenwashing Report” were the creation of fake labels or false suggestions of third-party endorsements. Unfortunately, as consumers, it’s partially our fault, because we’re demanding to see these third-party certifications on the products we buy. Companies are only too happy to meet that demand with their own made up certifications and endorsements that seem real to the average consumer. How can you tell if a third party certification label is legitimate? Consumer Reports has launched their Greener Choices website. Their Eco-labels center allows you to verify any suspect labels. “As a consumer, look for a third party certification — not just a shiny graphic and educate yourself about what these labels mean. As a designer, ask lots of questions and take responsibility for verifying the claims on your own work”, suggests Vancouver-based design consultant Lisa Hemingway who teaches Design for Sustainability in Langara’s Communication and Ideation Design program.
Kids (toys and baby) products, cosmetics and cleaning products are the three categories in which green claims — and greenwashing are the most common. Consumers often fall victim to the vague or no proof claims that a particular product is “biodegradable’, ‘natural’, ‘organic’, ‘made with natural materials’, and ‘earth-friendly’ and so forth. Natural doesn’t mean it’s green. Didn’t you know, arsenic, mercury, formaldehyde are all ‘100% natural’?
With the heightened awareness of the impact people have had on the environment, consumers make feel good purchasing decisions in the hopes of creating a better future. The good news is green product claims are on the rise, because companies are working to meet the needs of the green consumer movement. With proper education around these certifications, ideally we will get to a point where consumers demand a standard to a point where you can’t just call it green without backing it up. Consumers are getting wiser and an army of sources is ready to tell them what’s a fact and what’s fiction, like the EnviroMedia Greenwashing Index. It’s a great source that’s helping consumers become more savvier about evaluating environmental marketing claims and holding businesses accountable for these claims.
Well, after playing “the sins of greenwashing game, I’ve gone home to take a look inside my own cupboards. I now know that I’ve unassumingly brought shampoo, dishwasher soap, and even tetra pak juice that all committed one or more Greenwashing Sins. On your next shopping trip, can you spot the Greenwashing Sins?
By Sarah Clayton, Principal, Marketer, & Designer, www.blupeacock.ca and BCAMA, Director of Marketer of the Year Award
Sin of Vagueness image, courtesy of Terra Choice Environmental
BCAMA Vision Conference “Tweepstakes”
The BCAMA is pleased to announce a new Vision Conference promotion that could result in you winning a RESET Vision Conference book package from our Vision authors. The books include:
The promotion will run until April 30th, 2010. You can win this fantastic Vision Conference package by:
1). Follow the @bc_ama account
2) Re-Tweet the following text
Follow @bc_ama & RT: I want to win & RESET my business with the Vision Book Package: http://ow.ly/1Dukz #bcama
Here is the fine print: Contest closes at 6pm on April 23rd and is only open to residents of BC. We will select the winner and notify them on May 3rd. We will make three attempts to contact the winner via Twitter reply “@” or direct message “DM” e-mail within 24 hours of announcing the winner. The winner will be asked to provide their phone number or e-mail address where we can further contact them for additional mailing information. Books will be shipped to the address supplied by the winner. If the winner cannot accept the books for any reason or does not respond to our contact notifications within the 24-hour time period, another name will be drawn. Orders will only be shipped to resident or company addresses in B.C.
BCAMA Facebook Fan Page Contest
The BCAMA is pleased to announce a new Vision Conference promotion that could result in you winning one ticket to the Vision Conference and a RESET Vision Conference book package from our Vision keynote authors.The promotion will run until April 23rd, 2010. You can win this fantastic Vision Conference package by:
First, become a fan on the new BCAMA Facebook Fan Page.
Second, head over to the discussion on “Vision Conference – RESET w/ innovative ideas” and share examples of brands that have made significant changes in their marketing strategy. It could be anything from a new campaign to an article explaining changes in database strategies. Please provide the title and link for the article to complete the entry requirements (see example below).
http://adage.com/hispanic/article?article_id=143023
(Short URL’s are accepted too)
Here is the fine print: Contest closes at 6pm on April 23rd and is open to any resident of BC. Entries must contain the title of the article and link to article. We will select the winner and notify them on April 26th. Ticket is for the BCAMA Vision Conference on May 13th, 2010 at the Westin Bayshore, Vancouver. We will make three attempts to contact the winner via Facebook e-mail within 24 hours of announcing the winner. If the winner cannot attend the Vision Conference or does not respond to our contact notifications within the 24-hour time period, another name will be drawn. The winner will be asked to provide their phone number, e-mail address, and house address after being notified via Facebook e-mail. Books will be mailed to the address supplied by the winner after e-mail confirmation. The winner will be asked to show a valid government ID indicating that they live in BC to receive their ticket to the Vision Conference.
How a Marketer Does a Sales Pitch
Written by Andrea Baxter, the Founder & Principal of Bratface Marketing, a boutique marketing firm. She provides innovative marketing solutions including branding, strategy, communications and team building skills to organizations from small, independent companies to larger public corporations.
You can follow Andrea at @andreabaxter or contact her at Andrea@bratfacemarketing.com
Through my years as a marketer, I have never had to do sales, in the traditional sense. I’ve never really pitched business or gone out there to sell something to someone. I guess as marketers, we do sell indirectly at the end of the day. And when I told a former colleague of mine that I hate sales (Tyler Wright), his response was: “You need to hire a cheesy sales guy with a goatie, a golf shirt and a permanent bluetooth! It’s the only way to go.”
Ummm not sure that really is the best way to go…but thanks for the advice nonetheless.
I don’t like sales, and I don’t pretend to know that I am an expert at sales, because I am not. But in order to grow this business on my own and bring in new business, I have to suck it up and just do it because no one else will. If only we were all as ballsy, provocative and ego-driven as Donald Draper from Mad Men. What is the art of the sell anyway? Sure sales people are good at it but are they really speaking the truth when they sell a product or service? Most people would answer ‘no’ to that question. In my opinion, there is more in a sales pitch then just making a quick buck.
One thing I have learned in this business is that I am better at certain parts of selling than I thought. When you take out the whole sales side of it, I realized I am selling not just my services but my story, my background, and my integrity. I have learned some lessons about a sales pitch and I wanted to share them with you…my audience…my followers.
1. Sell Outside of the Box – Drawing outside of the lines is something I live by and have done since I was a kid. I have never been one to always play by the rules nor have I taken ‘no’ for an answer (much to the chagrin of my parents). Most of the time. I always need to prove a point (I am a Taurus after all) and I find that it has helped in selling my business and my skills. Don’t be afraid to sell to individuals or companies that seem out of reach. Sure they may be big, global companies that others believe you are wasting your time with, but I beg to differ. I have pitched companies all around North America that I figured I didn’t stand a chance with so much as even garner a response. But I got one and in some cases, more than just that. I figure even if I don’t have their business, they know me and I’ve therefore made an informal introduction. You never know what it can lead to down the road…
2. Don’t Just Sell. Acknowledge & Congratulate – I do a lot of pitching through email because it’s convenient and quick. I don’t just sell my services, I make sure to include some mention of a recent article, award, accomplishment – you name it – that the company/person I am pitching has received. It shows that you have done your research, taken an interest and made the pitch not just a sales pitch. People you are pitching want to know that you are up to speed on what is going on in their company. You also want them to know that you still read a newspaper…even if it is through Twitter or a Kindle:)
3. Be Human – sounds like a simple thing do to, but a lot of people get wrapped up in all the ‘professionalism’ when they are pitching someone. Sure you have to be professional in your approach, but the people you are pitching are also looking for some realness behind all of that corporate nonsense. Make sure how you write or say your pitch makes sense and is funny and relevant to your email. It allows you to stand out of the crowd and be different. Remember Apple’s slogan back in 1982? It was “think different“. If it can work for Apple, it can surely work for you.
4. Keep It Brief – This seems like an obvious one but you would be amazed how many times I have gone into great detail and length in an email pitch, only to kill half of what I wrote the next after reading it through! I tend to write like I talk but before I hit that send button, I make sure it is brief and to the point. There is nothing worse than to have the person receiving the email go “no thank you, I don’t have to the time to read this”. Think of your pitch as a press release. Keep all the relevant, pitch worthy information towards the top so the recipient can get the gist of your email from the get-go.
5. Meet In Person – A lot of people I talk to are amazed at how many face-to-face meetings I can get just by an email pitch. This is by far one of the most important aspects of my emails. If I am pitching someone in my city, I would much rather have a coffee with them in person so they can see the real me and put a personality behind the email. If I am not in their city, I make sure I let them know when I am in their area on business so I can meet up with them. This shows people initiative and the fact that you are taking the time out of your busy schedule to meet with them one-on-one and vice versa.
6. Referrals – the oldest trick in the book! If you are trying to connect/pitch with someone who already knows a friend or colleague of your’s, then be sure to mention this at the top of your email. This will give you that one degree of separation, and they are more likely inclined to respond since you already have someone in common. It also helps break the ice too, as you now have one other thing in common. I will give you an example. I am in NYC a lot for business, and I wanted to connect with this one lady whom I found on LinkedIn. I thought I could sit down and have a chat over some coffee when I was in the city. Her resume is like a goldmine…former SVP, Marketing at Wal-Mart, SVP Marketing at Chrysler Motors, regular contributor on Fox News and much more. Not to mention the numerous accolades for her work. I noticed she shared a connection with me, so I used that as my in. One day later, I received a personal email from her saying thank you, that she had heard of my business and that she would love to sit down and chat business when I was in town. Probably the easiest thing I’ve done for something that seemed impossible.
As I continue on this uphill battle of pitching, I know as I continue to do so, it gets easier. What I know for sure though, is that there is always room for improvement. I would love to hear your thoughts and advice on this. Please leave them in the comments section to this blog post.
For more upcoming posts, you can follow me @andreabaxter.
Soap, Sex and other Edgy Insights
A few years ago I was working on a research and strategy project for one of the world’s largest soap manufacturers. One particular interview from that study has stuck in my mind. It started simply enough – a young woman describing the drama of her life and how showering seemed to fit in. She described the way it felt when you rub soap over your skin in the morning, and the sense of satisfaction a late night shower delivers; washing away a drunken night on the town.
And then, unexpectedly, she leaned a little closer and let out a secret. “You know” she said, “I like to put bars of soap in the drawer with my panties. They smell nicer that way.”
Now what do you do with an insight like that?
Sticking with sanity
As marketers and market researchers, we tend to like rational results; answers that can be easily explained. People want lower prices. Product quality is important. Customer service is essential. When we’re faced with insights that seem strange, or don’t fit with our existing ideas, the natural reaction may be to dismiss them or label them as fringe.
According to Prof. Zaltman from Harvard University, “over 80% of all market research serves mainly to reinforce existing conclusions, not to test or develop new possibilities.” The implication from this finding is simple. In an attempt to play it safe and deliver what is expected, marketers may be missing out on some of their biggest opportunities.
Exploring edgy insights
When archaeologists are interested in understanding a culture, they often move beyond the palaces and places of worship, and turn their attention to the trash. It can be messy work, but hidden amongst the shards of bone and broken pots exist deep insights into everyday life.
The same is true for market researchers. To get to the heart of what motivates people, we often needto go beyond logical answers and start digging amongst the ‘mental mess’. For example, in morphological research, we’re encouraged to assume the presence of ‘meaningful Gestalten’ even when things initially appear to make no sense. Simply put, we don’t dismiss anything. Instead, we assume all insights may be part of a motivational pattern and we keep digging.
Why marketing success may involve edgy insights
All of this brings me back to the start of this post, and one woman’s soapy secret. As market researchers, we were faced with an insight that didn’t initially make sense. But we dug deeper, and came to understand that soap motivations extend far beyond quality and price.
How we wash is heavily influenced by social norms, sexuality and our state of mind. We found that opportunities for soap go beyond moisturizing methods, touching topics like body image (think Dove), sexual angst and exploration (think Axe) and how washing can help create a mental transformation (think Original Source).
So how did we deal with that particular soapy secret? We kept digging. And in doing so, we began to understand and uncover some very exciting market opportunities.
By Nick Black. Vice-President at Concerto Marketing Group, Nick has lead market research and strategy projects across Australia, Asia and North America. You can read more about his work at: http://nickblackonblack.blogspot.com
Member Profile – Rich Porayko
Post-Recession Marketing: How to Succeed
Written by Lionel Matecha. Lionel is an Account Director at Graphically Speaking Services, one of Western Canada’s leading web development companies. Follow Lionel at twitter.com/lmatecha.
Marketers should be gearing up for all of the new opportunities that will arise with the upturn in the economy. Canada is expected to bounce back faster than a lot of other countries so let’s get ready!
Be Prepared: Set the stage for success
Hopefully you have already been thinking about how to expand and extend your marketing activities in a post-recession economy.
Your ongoing maintenance campaigns can be crafted with an eye to future efforts that will help propel you into a stronger market position — much faster than your competitors.
Review your options
What are you doing now that positions your organization ahead of the pack? This may actually be easy because so many companies have been cutting back or simply giving up. By standing still you may feel like you’re moving ahead, but don’t be fooled into complacency.
This is the time to reassess your marketing strategy while paying particular attention to what you can do to attain a unique competitive advantage. Be poised for success.
Forget the box – think ‘out of the park’
Out-of-the-box thinking is probably part of your standard marketing playbook by now. Get ready to hit it ‘out of the park’ with some creative ideas. Why settle for anything less than spectacular results? By extending your reach you can expand your opportunity.
Back to the future
Take a fresh look at marketing campaigns that have worked well in the past. Sometimes old can be new when set against an altered business environment. And don’t look at just your own past successes: make sure that you revisit winning campaigns by other groups in your market space and even further afield in other industries. Take those good ideas and breathe new creative life into them.
This may also be a good time to audit your brand identity and your overall creative approach. Things will be a lot more fun for everyone as the economy improves so you should put your best creative face in front of your target audience. Show that you are wired for business. Not tired like your competitors.
Be Flexible: Things will be different this time
Change is a constant and this time will definitely be different. How? It doesn’t matter – it only matters that you are flexible enough to ride to the top of the next economic wave. Sounds cliché but this is marketing, after all.
Rather than preparing the ultimate, detailed marketing strategy document that includes a fixed menu of tactics, try preparing a series of ‘what if’ scenarios that can provide you with a flexible menu of choices.
There may be more upcoming significant changes in the market as companies struggle to migrate away from the recession. You must create a flexible framework within which your marketing plans can be adapted to fit a rapidly-changing situation.
Be Savvy: Take advantage of online marketing choices
Every economic cycle produces a new set of options for marketing professionals. Perhaps the best example is the way that this particular market upheaval has helped to reinforce the effectiveness of online marketing initiatives. Many organizations have recently been shifting their marketing focus towards web-based services at a much faster pace than ever before.
Web ROI: The measure of success
There is no doubt that for most companies, there is a greater return on web marketing than probably any other medium. Why? The cost is reasonable, the response is relevant and the results are measureable. Wow – a marketer’s dream!
Online marketing provides a continuously changing array of options from which to choose and savvy marketers have learned to utilize the best mix of online services that best fit their needs. You must start with a compelling website that communicates effectively to each target audience group. Your website will be the hub of your marketing initiatives and the place where your campaigns become conversions.
Seeking the holistic approach
You can craft very sophisticated online campaigns with search strategies, banner ads, contests, polls, email blasts, news releases and even with tied-in broadcast or print programs. Traditional media is still highly relevant for some industries but works best when it coincides with online tactics.
Perhaps the best case for online marketing is the ability to turn customer engagement into a continuous improvement loop. You get highly relevant quantitative data that is used to improve your communication efforts and improve the customer experience.
Fun times ahead
Turn the post-recession era into a successful time for your organization. Let’s get ready to have some fun!
Don't Forget to Include the User
By Sarah Clayton, Principal, Marketer, & Designer, www.blupeacock.ca and BCAMA, Director of Marketer of the Year Award
The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics had a stylish distinctive look – streets and venues were marked with green and blue weaving illustrations that were also used on the website. The design represents art and life, converging cultures, and athletic energy. It is a topic of discussion among designers around North America (http://howdesign.com/article/winterolympics/). While designers are impressed, spectators and consumers who used the website struggled with its functionality.
As consumers, we know that the experience with a brand goes beyond beautiful illustration and design. Both the product and interactive marketing need to function well in order for us to have a positive experience with the brand. As we have migrated to a more interactive focus, it seems that aesthetics sometimes take a higher priority over functionality. Just think about your own circumstances: how often have you gone to a slick website or downloaded a mobile application that looks great, but does not do what you expected? or have you gone on this mad search through a website and when you finally land on the FAQ page, you find that its loaded with self-serving marketing buzz?
We wanted to further explore the issue of balancing aesthetic and functionality, so we met with a few experts who work with companies and designers to incorporate the user experience in the design and development of today’s technology products. We spoke with Gordon Ross, Vice President and Selma Zafar, Senior User Experience Designer, of Open Road Communications (www.openroad.ca), a Vancouver-based professional services firm specializing in the design, development and measurement of websites, intranets, and custom software following a user centered design approach and Melanie Walls, a user experience consultant, with extensive experience in enhancing the usability of business and safety critical systems, where high performance is essential.
What became very clear through the interviews was that in the design of every product, whether a software product for banking employees or air traffic controllers, or every day websites like a wedding registry and online purchasing, “when the user is involved in the design process, it always leads to better solutions”. More importantly, “focusing on the user prevents negative perceptions about a brand, because the company has taken the time to understand their users’ goals and needs” (Open Road). User-centered design is becoming more of a factor in creating a positive brand experience. As companies create more sophisticated online and offline brand experiences, they need to ensure that there is a consistent end-to-end experience for their consumers.
Traditional marketing looks at market segments and, as a result, messaging is tailored towards a particular segment in order to reach it. The problem with the online world is that messaging doesn’t translate to the online user. Instead, you have to capture a “persona” because the traditional market segments neglect to tell you what people actually want to do with the technology. The marketing segments help to drive users to an experience through messaging; where as personas define what users want to do once they are there. For example, a 12-year old and a 65-year old can have the same goals on a website but they reside in totally different market segments. Creating both market segments and personas, “is the difference between winning and losing on the design of a website” (Open Road), and ensures the successful adoption of a product.
Where do companies run into problems? Melanie finds that the company or software designer thinks differently than the user. When dealing with safety issues, particularly in the aviation industry the need for including the user experience becomes very apparent. Otherwise, you end up with “designs that neglect to understand the mental model of how people work”. This applies to any product designed today. The struggle for marketer, the company and the software developer is that they are often thinking of their own business needs; instead of identifying “the common ground where the desires of the user and the business overlap” (Open Road).
Where can we go from here? Start with the users and design the experience around them. Take the time at the beginning to understand their needs. Gather information about your users and their experiences through observation and interviews, and build a narrative of the experience. Create personas and talk about the individuals throughout the design process. Pilot the product before you go live. Create a consistency between the online and offline experience so that the user builds a stronger impression of the brand as a whole (Open Road). In that way, not only can your website have a stylish design, but it will also be functional for the users for whom it is created.
Tips for finding a marketing job abroad – Location is key
By Alice M. Chacon
Alice is a recent MBA graduate with a specialization in Marketing Management, based in Toronto, ON. She has a background in marketing, communications and corporate social responsibility in consumer goods, software and media. She is an avid follower of marketing trends and shares news and analyzes trends on her blog: www.alicechacon.blogspot.com and her Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/@alicemchacon.
Last month I started the story of my search for better job opportunities in Toronto. Leaving Vancouver isn’t easy, especially knowing that I was going to miss the Olympics and finally see what all that construction was for!
Toronto is such a different city from Vancouver in so many ways. One of them is that it is so spread out and so densely populated. Sure, the Lower mainland really stretches out, both North to South and West to East. But in Toronto, commutes over an hour are far more common than they ever seemed to be in Vancouver.
Location is key when you look for work here, especially considering that traffic is a nightmare at almost any hour of the day and any day of the week, and that public transit can be terrible when you are trying to get to or from a place far from the subway. And besides long walks, waits and switching buses, trains, etc several times, you have the nasty wind and snow, or the very high temperatures in the summer.
Ideally, you’d want to live close to the place where you work, especially if that is out and far from the subway lines, like Mississauga, Brampton and Markham. But it’s hard to know exactly where you’ll work until you get a job. In some industries, that can be more predictable. Banks and investment firms tend to be located downtown. A lot of technology companies are located in Markham. But if you’re interested in CPG, like I am, it can be hard to say.
In a tight economy, companies want the sure thing. Having a Toronto address is very important when looking for a job here, I’ve been told. I got very little done when I was in Vancouver last fall, finishing my MBA. Since I’ve been here, I’m impressed at how many more people I’ve been able to meet. That means that, like me, if you’re really decided on working here, you may have to find a place to live first, before you know where you will be working.
The good news is that real estate is cheaper here than it is in Vancouver. Rent can also be much cheaper (I’m paying less here for a 1 bedroom condo near trendy Yonge and Eglinton than I was in a much smaller, two-bedroom basement in Dunbar). The bad news is that you probably will need a car, even if you got along fine without one in Vancouver. Even if your home and work are on the subway line, having a car means it will be easier to get out to cottage country or Niagara on the weekends. In Vancouver, you can get around (even to go hiking or get a ferry out to Bowen Island) without a car.
But is it worth it? As of yet, I’m still searching for a good opportunity. However, this is a fast-moving city and there are so many companies in the Greater Toronto Area. I’ll share more about the job search in my next post.
