This is the first of my crowd sourced blog entry ideas as suggested by Christopher Hewitt Chris wanted to know whether providing services Pro Bono was a good idea for startups.
In a word Yes.
More important than the answer are the reasons. It says something about us as people or an organisation. It starts the brand personification process.
It says we give before we expect.
It says we have confidence in our knowledge and our skills.
It says we trust you not to take advantage of us.
It says we are prepared to a resource before we expect you to become one.
In all it creates an environment where reciprocity is likely becuase of how humans work. In addition, it’s the best way of providing a sample, when providing a small bottle of shampoo or a taste test isn’t possible.
TRANSIT takes note of the marketing efforts undertaken by the Los Angeles Metro company, which is responsible for subway (MRT), light-rail, Bus-rapid transit and bus service in the Greater Los Angeles Area.
Those familiar with Los Angeles in California, USA, would probably think first of Hollywood, then perhaps expressways and traffic congestion. Los Angeles is also one of the first cities where the phenomenon of ’smog’ (ground level air pollution caused by industrial and car exhaust) was first really noticed, reported and studied.
But you may not know that at one time the Los Angeles area had one of the largest public transport systems in the entire United States!
And you may not know that the past few years have seen significant investment and improvements to public transport in LA, including the expansion of the subway (MRT) and light-rail systems.
But there is another crucial component to getting car users out of their cars and onto public transport, and that is creative and effective marketing of public transport to the ‘choice’ users (as opposed to the ‘dependent’ user).
As you know here in Malaysia, most public transport agencies focus on the ‘dependent’ user much more than the ‘choice’ user.
Perhaps there is something to learn for us.
From Transit Agencies Need to Invest in Marketing: A Lesson from Los Angeles at The City Fix blog.
“The key to putting together the group,” Mr Raymond said, referring to the in-house ad agency known as Creative Services, “was that we wanted to make public transportation cool.”
Making buses appear as an attractive alternative to cars is an ambitious goal for any transit agency, but it’s especially ambitious in a place like Los Angeles where image and the automobile are everything. Yet, traveling around LA it’s hard not to feel the presence of Metro. It’s fleet of colorful buses are ubiquitous on every major city street. And unlike standard city buses, these buses aren’t dreary and dull. They boast vibrant colors like California poppy from a color palette inspired by the city. Metro also has a number of playful ads on billboards encouraging Angelinos to leave their cars at home and take the bus, rail or carpool.
A humourous way to promote public transport. Image courtesy of Metro & The City Fix.
Two different perspectives on public transport. Have you seen ads like the one on the left in KL? Which one do you identify with? Image courtesy of The City Fix.
TRANSIT Says:
As always, your thoughts on the ‘image’ of public transport are welcome.
The Register has an amusing account of a TechCrunch interview with Facebook creator, Mark Zuckerberg, claiming that he is a prophet.
Surprisingly, Zuckerberg is not referring to foreseeing the rise of social networking, but rather the lapse of concern over privacy.
Zuckerberg said that he saw the coming of an age where people would want to share everything, and he aimed his business at that market.
“That social norm is something that evolved over time and we followed.”
But is it really a social norm? Or is it something that people are beginning to accept because the companies driving social networking have finally found a way to make money?
Social networking sink-hole
John Norton of The Guardian posted an interesting article last month about how social networking can not make money.
“The truth is that investing in social networking represents the triumph of hope over experience. The optimism comes from a feeling that it’s impossible to gather, say, 350 million people in one place and not somehow make money.” he says.
The number is not random. It is in fact the user count of Facebook as of last week – a population greater than that of America. And yet Facebook is still running at a loss. Twitter, according to Norton, has not made a cent.
These networks can not charge membership – for then people will just not sign-up. Advertising, which has worked so well for Google, does not work so well in other cases – with click-through dropping as low as 8% according to Norton.
Is investing in social media, therefore a waste of time?
Fun and games
Facebook has come under fire recently for its privacy policy updates that, by default, share your information with everyone, including Google.
According to PrivCom.gc.ca, social networking is part of a revolution in marketing. It allows companies to openly harvest personal information about people and target products directly at them.
Dennis Yu, CEO of advertising/marketing firm BlitzLocal, came clean to TechCrunch recently, in an article about just that.
“People on Facebook won’t pay for anything. They don’t have credit cards, they don’t want credit cards, and they are not interested in shopping. But you can trick them”
He explained how applications developed for Facebook can go viral, and users are all too willing to give over their personal information, “Users in one click gave the game permission to access their profile data and they didn’t think twice about it.”
This data includes who they are, where they’re from, what they like and most importantly email and phone numbers, which can be sold to advertisers.
A number of court cases, including the recent class action suit against Zynga and Facebook, are attempting to defend users against such scams, but how much good will the suits do if people are so willing to give away their personal information?
The information age
As I mentioned in my previous post, we’re in an age now where people want to get to know each other online, and this requires sharing of information. On that much Zuckerberg and I agree. However, Zuckerberg implies that a willingness to share automatically means people are no longer concerned about privacy.
The dawn of social networking brought about the creation of a new ecosystem, where in order for the environment (the sites) to survive, the sharks (the scammers) have to survive too. The people who frequent these social networks may not be aware of the danger, they my make silly mistakes like offering a limb to a great white (Farmville springs to mind), but this doesn’t mean that they no longer care if they’re eaten.
When it comes to privacy I believe there’s a very fine line. People may be more willing to share what their favourite food is, but that doesn’t mean that they want to be harassed in their own homes by telesales people trying to sell it to them.
Last Sunday, Pastor John Buchanan (Fourth Presbyterian Church Chicago) gave a terrific sermon on the rite of baptism. Earlier he had performed the sacrament on two babies. And so later spoke of names, identities and how they relate to God’s plan for us. Interesting stuff. Especially for a borderline agnostic like me.
While there was much to glean from his sermon, I want to focus on one thing in particular. Buchanan referenced a book he’d read by Sister Joan Chittister (The Gift of Years) that struck a nerve with him. It did the same for me. I think many of you will relate to it as well…
We define ourselves by our work. It becomes the Who, What, Where, How and Why of our lives. Can you deny it?
In our society, introductions to people almost always include asking what the other person does for a living. I do it all the time: “So, Phil, what do you do?” Big deal. It’s a good way to find common ground.
But what happens, the pastor asked, when ‘what we do’ is over with or, worse yet, taken from us as in layoffs or job eliminations? Do we lose our identities? Do we become nobodies in the eyes of our peers and ourselves? Buchanon suggested living by such a self-absorbed credo devalues us as human beings, often causing serious anxiety and depression. In America, our identities are inextricably tied to ‘what we do’ versus who we are or what we believe in. Take away that and we’re left with…what exactly? Given the current recession and myriad job losses, his sermon was especially poignant. Yet, even in good times the ‘what we do’ credo is troubling. For one thing: what happens when we retire?
Uh oh.
I have always unabashedly identified myself as a writer, be it copy, editorial or fiction. To wit I wrote and edited my high school newspaper (The Lane Tech Warrior). I did the same for both student papers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison (The Daily Cardinal and Badger Herald), not to mention scribing for an independent publication, The Madcity Music Mirror. I started my career as a copywriter at Leo Burnett and continue to do so at Euro RSCG in Chicago. I’ve written three novels and dozens of short stories, some of which have been published. I write and maintain Gods of Advertising as well as The Rogue’s Gallery, which, as some of you know, was originally intended to be a forum for copywriters to showcase their writing.
So, yeah, for me it’s all about the writing. The point I’m building to: What happens when all that ends, as one day it surely must? I get paid to write and creative direct copy. This also gives my blog credibility (hopefully). Take away my job and then what do I do? Relax? I can barely do that now. How am I supposed to do it 24/7?
According to Buchanan, if we are spiritually fit we are more content and serene, regardless of our employment status. But getting fit means letting go of personal ambitions. Self-centeredness must slip away. Easier said…
To me writing is a very selfish act, even if for clients. It has a narcotic effect. I not only get off on doing it; I can’t stop. There is always another brief, another story, another presentation. Writing takes me away from my family, friends and other obligations. Buchanan suggests it also takes me away from God.
His point isn’t that writing is a despicable act (even ad copy!) but that putting it before others and God potentially is. Similar counseling is given to alcoholics: ‘Get outside of your head,’ they are told. ‘Think of someone other than yourself!’
I promise…just as soon as I rewrite that body copy.
The two new C’s beating the P and the G in Gillette or now called the ex-Folgers sanitary brand coy has failed to deploy the safety parachute as campaigns from Coke are likely soon flooding the market for this year’s numero uno position in Asia. Esp. with the Asian challenge fading for Coke as it is firmly established in China as well, In India it has further cemented the gold rush for the heat with a new mega celebrity , budgeted in Indian rupees campaign with cinekhiladi Akshay. Last seen in the Colors resurgence on the Indian terra firma, Akshay may still be out first export from Bollywood for non Indian audiences or diaspora with 2010 establishing a second decade for innoarket aware vative Coke marketing and most of it corresponding to the Indian desi heady rush without the Ramesh Chauhan fights early on.
Also, the second C that got the gall of the razor was Canon which beat doomsday prediction for the recession friendly retail industry with a 35% uptick in budgeted targets for cross RS 1000 crores or $400 million this year riding a new market aware Xerox and Photograhy products campaign. Here’s to the new Cs..there are enough jobless students out there to absorb a lot of additional Cs in the marketing software.
If you want more Financials and related stuff, double back to http://advantages.us. Adage has the revolution for now and we are on Ad age.
I was reading a blog by Gail Kurpgeweit entitled What My Dad Taught Me About Marketing to Women and it really got me thinking. How well do marketing and market research agencies anticipate their clients’ needs and how flexible are they in meeting them? From my experience, I would have to say not very well, particularly in today’s economy.
From my experience working on both the agency and the client sides, I have seen both the client and the agency miss the boat. In the past, traditional agencies have focused on being the expert/authority on a subject and could spew out the generalities that come from such a position. That said, what was and is now needed are partnerships in which both parties come to the table with expertise and knowledge to build the relationship and collaboratively construct an answer that is “right” for today. And, to be successful, marketing and market research companies will need to know how to work with each of their clients and their clients’ senior management to build workable strategies and solutions based on today’s needs, which can be real moving targets.
Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not like the clients and agencies aren’t going into their relationships assuming that they are building a partnership. It’s just that neither party seems to put enough effort into building an answer that is appropriate for today’s dynamic business environment. I think this lack of an active partnership comes from a few important factors:
Yesterday’s business dynamic was that a business person hired a “marketing expert” because marketing was outside of his/her core competency and that “expert” was assumed to have the answers immediately. Clients got used to immediate answers and agency folks became enamored of their unquestioned authority stature and all was good… until, the business environment became highly dynamic and today’s perfect answer became an abysmal flop tomorrow. There aren’t any easy, pat answers anymore.
The need to actually talk about business situations is compounded by the fact that clients and agencies are just too busy to effectively communicate
Clients don’t inform their agencies about what is going on in their industry and agencies don’t communicate that they know just enough about their client’s industry to use the right buzz words and be dangerous.
Agencies are so focused on getting new clients on the books, they aren’t taking adequate time to get to know and understand the unique needs each client has. They can’t assume that all insurance companies have the same needs and pain points, just as they can’t assume that all CPG (consumer package goods) companies have the same needs and pain points.
Environments/industries are changing at light speed, and agencies just can’t keep up and know all of the answers from square one!
So what does this mean for today’s marketing and market research companies? To retain their base and perhaps grow in these uncertain times, they need to:
1) Focus on the partnership. The relationships that marketing and market research companies have with their clients have to strengthen in order to make them mutually valuable.
2) Be a real expert. It’s not okay to spew the industry buzz-words and lack substantive assistance. Agencies have to make a meaningful difference to each client. Sometimes an agency has to ask the tough questions and force folks to recognize the elephant in the room.
3) Visit more. If time is money, than relationship meetings are worth their weight in gold. It’s during these in office visits that you will learn the most about what is going on in your client’s world.
4) Be more nimble/flexible. Agencies need to be better at coming up with answers on the fly. They also need to test their comfort zone boundaries when it comes to strategy development. You can’t rely on the same old, same old.
5) Really listen. Clients usually articulate their needs/pain points if you listen hard enough.
6) Ask more questions. Don’t assume the client has thought their needs all the way through. And clients, ask your agencies for help. Don’t think you know it all either!
Will client relationships evolve to the point where the marketing or market research company operates as a true extension of their client’s team? If they don’t, the deterioration rate for agency/client relationships – which has been in a downward spiral for over ten years – will continue to take this potentially valuable relationship out of the business norm. In the end, it’s up to all of us!
I love it when people break through the walls of jargon usually used in an attempt to mystify.
With brands facing increasing consumer demand for transparency, the people in organisations who can lead this change is the marketing department. However, if marketers won’t let go of their jargon, they can’t hope to connect with people who aren’t like them, which let’s face it, most of target consumers wouldn’t be.
That’s what makes this presentation cool…jargon free social media tips. The stats are old now, but the theory is still relevant.
Look up Mark’s other presentations on Slideshare or check out his blog
The Register has an amusing account of a TechCrunch interview with Facebook creator, Mark Zuckerberg, claiming that he is a prophet.
According to PrivCom.gc.ca, social networking is part of a revolution in marketing. It allows companies to openly harvest personal information about people and target products directly at them.
permission to access their profile data and they didn’t think twice about it.”