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
