Saturday, September 24, 2011
Did Netflix overlook consumer inertia?
This is a guest post by Sam Vasisht. Sam is president of 21TechMedia, a Boston-based firm providing market entry and market growth
strategy consulting for tech companies. More of his contributions to
industry publications and other posts can be found on his blog at
www.techmediatalk.com, and you'll find him on twitter @21TechMedia.
With everything being said about the Netflix
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Where does the time go?...
Well its officially the end of a hot dry Summer. Pools are closed, the kids are back in school, and a very productive 3rd quarter is drawing to a close.In our industry, some projects take a lot of planning and organization to keep all of the moving parts in order. You need to make sure everything is on target and ensure that all parties have the elements they need to pull everything off. That takes alot of effort and responsibility.
Many times you get so engrossed in the work, that all of a sudden, you blink and it's 2 months later. In the heat of the moment when you're under deadlines you don't really get the time to appreciate the effort that goes into those campaigns.
Trust me, we all know work and projects can get very hectic - Just make sure you take the time to breath and enjoy the fruits of your labor. When I get down time, or complete a big project, I try to go back through and reflect on it. I pat myself on the back, take it all in, appreciate how all of the pieces came together, and stand in front of the mirror and flex (OK not really the last part so much). Just don't let a whole summer roll by before you realize it.
If you ever feel like you need a hand, or that stack of work isn't disappearing fast enough give us a call we're always here to help.
Until next time,
Jeremy
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
How to Choose the Right Marketing Asset Management Solution
Implementing a marketing asset management solution is a big step for most companies. Not only does it represent a significant financial investment, it also requires you to change the processes you use to acquire, manage, and distribute marketing materials. In some cases, it can change how you execute direct marketing campaigns and programs.
To select the right MAM solution, you need to determine what capabilities and functionality you need and then make sure you ask prospective solution providers the right questions.
There are four key issues that all companies should address when evaluating potential MAM solutions.
Solution Use and Scope - How will the MAM solution be used? Put another way, what kinds of materials will be included in, and managed through, the MAM solution? How you answer this basic question will determine how many and what kinds of individuals need access to the solution, and it will greatly influence what functional capabilities you need in your solution. The obvious answer here is marketing materials (marketing collateral documents, promotional items, point-of-sale materials, etc.). When you're evaluating potential MAM solutions, however, consider what other kinds of materials your solution could be used to manage. Some examples would include:
Incorporation of Business Rules - Can the MAM solution be customized to incorporate and enforce your business rules and control mechanisms relating to the acquisition and use of marketing materials? A capable solution provider should be able to customize the MAM solution to incorporate the control mechanisms you need, but this issue should be addressed early in your evaluation process.
Reporting Capabilities - Does the MAM solution provide all of the reporting capabilities that your company needs?
Of course, your evaluation process should not be limited to these four issues. Your company's particular characteristics and needs will point to other issues that you should address when selecting a marketing asset management solution.
To help jumpstart your evaluation process, we've just published a white paper that contains twenty-three critical questions you need to ask when choosing a marketing asset management solution. If you'd like to review a copy of our new white paper, send an e-mail to ddodd(at)pointbalance(dot)com.
To select the right MAM solution, you need to determine what capabilities and functionality you need and then make sure you ask prospective solution providers the right questions.
There are four key issues that all companies should address when evaluating potential MAM solutions.
Solution Use and Scope - How will the MAM solution be used? Put another way, what kinds of materials will be included in, and managed through, the MAM solution? How you answer this basic question will determine how many and what kinds of individuals need access to the solution, and it will greatly influence what functional capabilities you need in your solution. The obvious answer here is marketing materials (marketing collateral documents, promotional items, point-of-sale materials, etc.). When you're evaluating potential MAM solutions, however, consider what other kinds of materials your solution could be used to manage. Some examples would include:
- Direct marketing campaign materials
- Sales support materials (presentations, proposal templates, etc.)
- Administrative/technical/human resources documents
- General business supplies
Incorporation of Business Rules - Can the MAM solution be customized to incorporate and enforce your business rules and control mechanisms relating to the acquisition and use of marketing materials? A capable solution provider should be able to customize the MAM solution to incorporate the control mechanisms you need, but this issue should be addressed early in your evaluation process.
Reporting Capabilities - Does the MAM solution provide all of the reporting capabilities that your company needs?
Of course, your evaluation process should not be limited to these four issues. Your company's particular characteristics and needs will point to other issues that you should address when selecting a marketing asset management solution.
To help jumpstart your evaluation process, we've just published a white paper that contains twenty-three critical questions you need to ask when choosing a marketing asset management solution. If you'd like to review a copy of our new white paper, send an e-mail to ddodd(at)pointbalance(dot)com.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Subscriptions Dead? Maybe Not.
When I joined Arena Stage in 2007, I came to my new job with a couple of preconceived notions about subscriptions. Perhaps it was in part a reflection that I am on the Generation X/Millennial cusp, but I was certain that the subscription model was outdated and ineffective. Many mature organizations that had developed their business models on subscriptions were seeing significant declines in subscriber numbers, and were literally caught between a rock and a hard place -- should they dump their subscription model and leap into the unknown, or keep putting band aids on a failing and timeworn strategy? Reports from major performing arts organizations at the time seemed to indicate a trend of declining returns, forcing a feeling that immediate change to a staple in our business model could be warranted.
In early 2008, Arena Stage along with a few other LORT theaters, began to test subscription alternatives in focus groups. In doing so, I was absolutely certain that the results would show at least one, if not several, attractive alternatives to subscriptions. I was wrong. Our work indicated that each option we put forth was less attractive to target single ticket buyers, multi-buyers and current subscribers than what we currently had. I was so surprised that we conducted a second series of focus groups with similar results. Amazed and confused, after a few months, I concluded our market research indicated that the subscription model wasn't outdated, but that our execution was flawed.
With the help of Target Resource Group, we conducted a thorough audit of all subscription related practices, and started making significant changes in mid-2008. Since our 2008-09 season, Arena Stage has experienced substantial growth in subscriptions, increasing our subscriber base by 57% and revenue by 73% in three fiscal years, beginning 1.5 years before the opening of the Mead Center for American Theater at the height of the global economic crisis and during a time when we were performing in transitional spaces throughout the metropolitan area. Even more surprising, during the same time period, our subscription related marketing expenses decreased, which along with increased revenue, effectively doubled our return on investment (ROI).
Below is a brief summary of major tactical changes:
Simplified Pricing. Our previous subscription pricing strategies were incredibly complicated. I remember spending hours poring over pricing strategy, and at the end thinking that one would have to be a CPA to understand how our pricing model worked. We decided that in order to create an effective value proposition, subscription pricing would have to be clear and easy to understand. We worked for weeks to develop a simple pricing structure that could be messaged easily, such as "buy 6 plays, get 2 plays free." The new pricing structure allowed us to easily communicate a value proposition and to eliminate complicated order sheets, replacing them with order forms that could be filled out easily. Clear, concise and transparent pricing was pivotal to effectively communicating the value of a subscription.
Introduction of Dynamic Pricing for Single Tickets. In 2009, Arena Stage introduced dynamic pricing for single tickets, and we immediately started to see an unanticipated outcome. Due to our new subscription pricing structure and the introduction of dynamic pricing for single tickets, we were able to guarantee subscribers "the best seats in the house at the best prices." Dynamic pricing eliminated last minute discounting on premium tickets, and rewarded single ticket buyers with a lower price for better seats if they were willing to purchase earlier. In turn, our patrons soon started to understand that the earlier they purchased, the better "the deal" they received, with the ultimate deal being given to subscribers. As we religiously track all customer service issues, we can say with full confidence two years later that dynamic pricing has not caused distress with our ticket buyers or donors, and in fact, from the moment we introduced dynamic pricing to current day, we have increased the number of single ticket buyer households by 84%.
Focus on Retention and Customer Service. We were allocating too much resource on subscription acquisition, and not enough on subscription retention. We developed a "say yes to the customer" approach with our subscribers, thereby earning us "industry leader" marks on our most recent customer satisfaction survey conducted by Shugoll Research. Year to year benchmarks for customer service have increased steadily as we focused on providing our subscribers the best experience possible. Given today's sad state of customer service at most establishments, we were determined that our customer service would be a competitive advantage. In addition, we allotted resources for special subscriber recognition efforts throughout the year, including a sneak preview of the upcoming season, complimentary artisan chocolates at specific performances and subscriber-only events. During the 2010-11 season, we introduced a concierge program for all new subscribers. Each new subscriber was assigned a personal concierge on staff, who was expected to make themselves available to answer questions, field requests or be helpful in any way. Concierges were reactive to inbound inquiries, but were also expected to be proactive throughout the year, offering new subscribers recommendations on local restaurants, parking, interesting tidbits about upcoming productions, and the like. By concentrating on customer service and retention, we were able to increase our overall subscription renewal rate by 13% over three fiscal years.
Eliminated Advertising, but Increased Direct Mail and Telemarketing. Prior to 2008, 25% of our subscription budget was allocated to advertising. After exhaustive efforts, we could not trace a single subscription purchase back to our advertising campaigns. Therefore, we cut all subscription advertising, and refocused those resources on direct mail and telemarketing. In doing so, we completely revamped our direct mail and telemarketing campaigns. In terms of direct mail, we would previously print hundreds of thousands of season brochures, and then mail them out in a few rounds of massive mailings. Our brochures were 28 to 32 pages in length, and functioned more as a branding tool than a sales piece. Today, we send out 30+ direct mail pieces during each subscription campaign that specifically tailor the offer to the target. We have eliminated our subscription brochure, cut our design costs by 60%, and have directed all of our resources to testing message and offer. For more information on our new approach to direct mail, please read "The Future of the Season Brochure." While retooling direct mail, we also invested heavily in telemarketing. If executed properly, many patrons actually view telemarketing as a service, as it allows them the opportunity to discuss the plays with a seasoned caller and to ask any questions they may have. As the economy worsened, we found that many potential subscribers needed personal interaction with a friendly and knowledgeable sales agent in order to make a commitment.
Delayed the Introduction of Smaller Packages and Concentrated on Upgrade Strategies. In 2009, we started to experiment with delaying the on-sale date of partial season packages in order to focus our efforts on upgrading subscribers to the full season. There was a fear at the time that our partial subscribers would become frustrated, and leave the company all together, but I was confident that our programming was strong enough that a delay would encourage subscribers to upgrade. The value proposition was clear -- the only way to guarantee the absolute best seats in the house for our most popular productions was to purchase a full season subscription. By focusing on full season subscriptions and postponing the introduction of partial subscriptions, we were able to increase the percentage of full season subscribers by 14% from FY09 to FY12. Expanding upon previous successes, in 2011 we launched a completely separate upgrade campaign alongside our renewal and acquisition campaigns. In addition to crafting and executing strategies that focus on renewals and acquisitions, we now also focus on upgrading subscribers throughout the year. These strategies have proven to be quite effective, and as of publication, we have upgraded more than 1,800 subscribers from smaller packages to larger packages in the current fiscal year.
Relentless Dedication to Monitoring ROI. In FY12, we will spend almost 20% less on subscription expenses than we did in FY08 despite the fact that the number of new subscribers has increased by 166% during the same time. I've always been taught that acquisition campaigns are expensive; that you have to "spend money to make money." In most cases, I agree, however if you aggressively monitor ROI on each campaign, in many cases, you will find efficiencies that will allow you to actually decrease your expenses in the middle of an aggressive acquisition cycle. Many marketers think that given limited staff resources, tracking ROI is too time consuming, however a relentless dedication to monitoring ROI will reveal where you should invest in the future, and more importantly, where you should cut.
In addition to the above, it should also be said that the most important ingredient to any subscription campaign is programming. A subscription campaign is both a referendum on the previous season and an indicator on the amount of excitement in the marketplace for the upcoming season. In my time at Arena Stage, I have been extraordinarily lucky that our artistic team has consistently produced and presented exceptionally high quality work, without which, the aforementioned tactics would have only resulted in minor successes at best.
In early 2008, Arena Stage along with a few other LORT theaters, began to test subscription alternatives in focus groups. In doing so, I was absolutely certain that the results would show at least one, if not several, attractive alternatives to subscriptions. I was wrong. Our work indicated that each option we put forth was less attractive to target single ticket buyers, multi-buyers and current subscribers than what we currently had. I was so surprised that we conducted a second series of focus groups with similar results. Amazed and confused, after a few months, I concluded our market research indicated that the subscription model wasn't outdated, but that our execution was flawed.
With the help of Target Resource Group, we conducted a thorough audit of all subscription related practices, and started making significant changes in mid-2008. Since our 2008-09 season, Arena Stage has experienced substantial growth in subscriptions, increasing our subscriber base by 57% and revenue by 73% in three fiscal years, beginning 1.5 years before the opening of the Mead Center for American Theater at the height of the global economic crisis and during a time when we were performing in transitional spaces throughout the metropolitan area. Even more surprising, during the same time period, our subscription related marketing expenses decreased, which along with increased revenue, effectively doubled our return on investment (ROI).
Below is a brief summary of major tactical changes:
Simplified Pricing. Our previous subscription pricing strategies were incredibly complicated. I remember spending hours poring over pricing strategy, and at the end thinking that one would have to be a CPA to understand how our pricing model worked. We decided that in order to create an effective value proposition, subscription pricing would have to be clear and easy to understand. We worked for weeks to develop a simple pricing structure that could be messaged easily, such as "buy 6 plays, get 2 plays free." The new pricing structure allowed us to easily communicate a value proposition and to eliminate complicated order sheets, replacing them with order forms that could be filled out easily. Clear, concise and transparent pricing was pivotal to effectively communicating the value of a subscription.
Introduction of Dynamic Pricing for Single Tickets. In 2009, Arena Stage introduced dynamic pricing for single tickets, and we immediately started to see an unanticipated outcome. Due to our new subscription pricing structure and the introduction of dynamic pricing for single tickets, we were able to guarantee subscribers "the best seats in the house at the best prices." Dynamic pricing eliminated last minute discounting on premium tickets, and rewarded single ticket buyers with a lower price for better seats if they were willing to purchase earlier. In turn, our patrons soon started to understand that the earlier they purchased, the better "the deal" they received, with the ultimate deal being given to subscribers. As we religiously track all customer service issues, we can say with full confidence two years later that dynamic pricing has not caused distress with our ticket buyers or donors, and in fact, from the moment we introduced dynamic pricing to current day, we have increased the number of single ticket buyer households by 84%.
Focus on Retention and Customer Service. We were allocating too much resource on subscription acquisition, and not enough on subscription retention. We developed a "say yes to the customer" approach with our subscribers, thereby earning us "industry leader" marks on our most recent customer satisfaction survey conducted by Shugoll Research. Year to year benchmarks for customer service have increased steadily as we focused on providing our subscribers the best experience possible. Given today's sad state of customer service at most establishments, we were determined that our customer service would be a competitive advantage. In addition, we allotted resources for special subscriber recognition efforts throughout the year, including a sneak preview of the upcoming season, complimentary artisan chocolates at specific performances and subscriber-only events. During the 2010-11 season, we introduced a concierge program for all new subscribers. Each new subscriber was assigned a personal concierge on staff, who was expected to make themselves available to answer questions, field requests or be helpful in any way. Concierges were reactive to inbound inquiries, but were also expected to be proactive throughout the year, offering new subscribers recommendations on local restaurants, parking, interesting tidbits about upcoming productions, and the like. By concentrating on customer service and retention, we were able to increase our overall subscription renewal rate by 13% over three fiscal years.
Eliminated Advertising, but Increased Direct Mail and Telemarketing. Prior to 2008, 25% of our subscription budget was allocated to advertising. After exhaustive efforts, we could not trace a single subscription purchase back to our advertising campaigns. Therefore, we cut all subscription advertising, and refocused those resources on direct mail and telemarketing. In doing so, we completely revamped our direct mail and telemarketing campaigns. In terms of direct mail, we would previously print hundreds of thousands of season brochures, and then mail them out in a few rounds of massive mailings. Our brochures were 28 to 32 pages in length, and functioned more as a branding tool than a sales piece. Today, we send out 30+ direct mail pieces during each subscription campaign that specifically tailor the offer to the target. We have eliminated our subscription brochure, cut our design costs by 60%, and have directed all of our resources to testing message and offer. For more information on our new approach to direct mail, please read "The Future of the Season Brochure." While retooling direct mail, we also invested heavily in telemarketing. If executed properly, many patrons actually view telemarketing as a service, as it allows them the opportunity to discuss the plays with a seasoned caller and to ask any questions they may have. As the economy worsened, we found that many potential subscribers needed personal interaction with a friendly and knowledgeable sales agent in order to make a commitment.
Delayed the Introduction of Smaller Packages and Concentrated on Upgrade Strategies. In 2009, we started to experiment with delaying the on-sale date of partial season packages in order to focus our efforts on upgrading subscribers to the full season. There was a fear at the time that our partial subscribers would become frustrated, and leave the company all together, but I was confident that our programming was strong enough that a delay would encourage subscribers to upgrade. The value proposition was clear -- the only way to guarantee the absolute best seats in the house for our most popular productions was to purchase a full season subscription. By focusing on full season subscriptions and postponing the introduction of partial subscriptions, we were able to increase the percentage of full season subscribers by 14% from FY09 to FY12. Expanding upon previous successes, in 2011 we launched a completely separate upgrade campaign alongside our renewal and acquisition campaigns. In addition to crafting and executing strategies that focus on renewals and acquisitions, we now also focus on upgrading subscribers throughout the year. These strategies have proven to be quite effective, and as of publication, we have upgraded more than 1,800 subscribers from smaller packages to larger packages in the current fiscal year.
Relentless Dedication to Monitoring ROI. In FY12, we will spend almost 20% less on subscription expenses than we did in FY08 despite the fact that the number of new subscribers has increased by 166% during the same time. I've always been taught that acquisition campaigns are expensive; that you have to "spend money to make money." In most cases, I agree, however if you aggressively monitor ROI on each campaign, in many cases, you will find efficiencies that will allow you to actually decrease your expenses in the middle of an aggressive acquisition cycle. Many marketers think that given limited staff resources, tracking ROI is too time consuming, however a relentless dedication to monitoring ROI will reveal where you should invest in the future, and more importantly, where you should cut.
In addition to the above, it should also be said that the most important ingredient to any subscription campaign is programming. A subscription campaign is both a referendum on the previous season and an indicator on the amount of excitement in the marketplace for the upcoming season. In my time at Arena Stage, I have been extraordinarily lucky that our artistic team has consistently produced and presented exceptionally high quality work, without which, the aforementioned tactics would have only resulted in minor successes at best.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
"Marketing" in the 20th century
I was playing around with the Google Ngram viewer to see how often the term “marketing” appears in books during the twentieth century.Here are some of the charts I came up with. In the comments section, please feel free to share your thoughts on what you see in the charts, and if you’d like to suggest other graphs, I’ll do a follow-up post.
The term “marketing” appears to have made steady gains
The term “marketing” appears to have made steady gains
Friday, September 16, 2011
Lee Iacocca once said "We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems."Who in the finance industry hasn't faced problems in the past 4-5 years? But today, are we able to look back at these insoluble problems and see opportunities that were a result of these problems? Some of these issues we know were out of our hands but those issues that we could see, control and do something about were you able to find the answers? Have those problems and answers paved the path for your future? Were there lessons learned?
Problems are only situations or issues without answers. Find the answers & uncover your opportunities. Yours will be different than anyone else's.
Make it a great Friday.
Debbi
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Planning for 2012 Planning
Here's a short video to help you prepare for 2012 planning.
See more Marketing Minutes here.
For much more information on planning for 2012 planning, join us for our
FREE Brown Bag Lunch on Friday, September 16 from 1:00 - 2:00 PM est.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Best Laid Plans...
I spent the last 16 weeks logging more than 400 miles in preparation for an ultra marathon.
What's an ultra marathon, you ask? You know when you finish a "regular" marathon and you wish you could run more (read sarcastically)? An ultra takes care of that.
Anyway, aside from running a boat-load of miles, preparing for an ultra takes planning. I planned and practiced everything from pace, to running in a variety of conditions, to analyzing how I would fuel and hydrate before and during the race. I had run every step of the race in my head numerous times and was prepared for practically anything.
Then race day came...
Mother Nature has a disturbing sense of humor. The skies opened and the rains came ... non-stop ... tenaciously ... for more than 15 hours before my 31 mile trail race ... on dirty. Well, it was originally dirt! By race time, we were running in ankle to shin-deep mud and puddles (well, more like small ponds) that went to our knees. In the end, 16 weeks and more than 400 miles of training, preparing and planning were shot. No one could have prepared for this.
My banking point? As we begin to look at planning season for 2012, remember that planning is vital to feeling ready and confident. Planning will make you prepared for 90% of your upcoming efforts. But planning must be flexible. You never know what's going to be thrown at you on race day. A major employer in your market may close it's doors (or open them), your community may have a flood, your CEO may save a child from a burning building. Good or bad, your business environment can change as fast as my dirty trail turned into a mud bog. Be ready to roll with the changes.
Take care,
Eric
Wednesday...the count down!
Greetings!
It's Wednesday the 14th and the countdown is officially commencing...the ABA Marketing Conference is t-minus4 days! For this year, the conference is in Baltimore-- an ideal location in a great city.
The agenda looks strong, the attendees list growing and the impact to planning for 2012 will be large!
Will you be there?
We hope to see you in Baltimore...
Cheers!
Bruce
It's Wednesday the 14th and the countdown is officially commencing...the ABA Marketing Conference is t-minus4 days! For this year, the conference is in Baltimore-- an ideal location in a great city.
The agenda looks strong, the attendees list growing and the impact to planning for 2012 will be large!
Will you be there?
We hope to see you in Baltimore...
Cheers!
Bruce
Sunday, September 11, 2011
It's Time to Combine Marketing and Sales
Suppose you were hired to design and implement an entirely new demand generation system for a large or mid-sized B2B company. The board of directors and the CEO have given you a free hand to develop whatever kind of system you believe will produce the best results. There are no pre-conceived ideas about what tactics should be used or what organizational structure the demand generation system should take.
When I work through this mental exercise, I can identify several things that would be part of my ideal demand generation system. It would certainly contain a robust lead management process (lead nurturing, lead scoring, lead routing, etc.) that is supported by the right technology tools. Content marketing would play a prominent role, as would social media. I would also include processes and tools for demonstrating the value/ROI of my products or services.
However, one of the biggest steps I would take is to combine marketing and sales into one organizational unit. Not that long ago, having separate marketing and sales departments caused few major difficulties. The traditional roles and responsibilities of marketing and sales in most B2B companies were distinct, and the people in both departments could perform their jobs fairly effectively without a huge amount of day-to-day interaction and collaboration. In other words, having marketing and sales in separate management "silos" didn't significantly impair company performance.
Times (and circumstances) have changed, and it's now critical for "marketing" activities and "sales" activities to be closely coordinated. Buyers expect their potential suppliers to speak with one, consistent voice, and they expect everyone they deal with in an organization to know what interactions have already occurred and what information has been exchanged.
Both marketers and sales professionals now recognize the importance of aligning the efforts of marketing and sales. This has become a hot topic at marketing and sales conferences, and it's been written about in numerous venues. Many experts are advocating that marketing and sales should spell out their responsibilities and relationship in a formal service level agreement. That's a good idea, but why not take the next logical step?
The American architect Louis Sullivan said that "form" should follow "function." Marketing and sales are interdependent components of a single demand generation process. Therefore, they should be part of a single organizational unit for management, planning, and budgetary purposes.
In lean management terms, marketing and sales are components of the same value stream. A value stream is the set of activities that are required to produce value for customers. Lean management recognizes that it is the output/performance of complete value streams that creates value for customers and profits for a company. Therefore, mature lean organizations manage their operations by value streams rather than by traditional functional departments.
In the case of marketing and sales, the "customer" is the company itself, and the "product" is revenue dollars. The sole objective of the demand generation value stream is to produce revenues for the company, and achieving this objective requires an integrated set of marketing and sales activities. Having "good" marketing and "good" sales is important, but what really matters is the performance of the entire demand generation value stream. To optimize that performance, it must be treated and managed as a single process.
Combining marketing and sales may be a controversial idea, and it would be difficult to implement in many companies for cultural and "political" reasons. But the logic is compelling, and just because something is hard to do doesn't mean that it shouldn't be done.
What do you think? If you had a free hand, would you consider merging marketing and sales in your company?
When I work through this mental exercise, I can identify several things that would be part of my ideal demand generation system. It would certainly contain a robust lead management process (lead nurturing, lead scoring, lead routing, etc.) that is supported by the right technology tools. Content marketing would play a prominent role, as would social media. I would also include processes and tools for demonstrating the value/ROI of my products or services.
However, one of the biggest steps I would take is to combine marketing and sales into one organizational unit. Not that long ago, having separate marketing and sales departments caused few major difficulties. The traditional roles and responsibilities of marketing and sales in most B2B companies were distinct, and the people in both departments could perform their jobs fairly effectively without a huge amount of day-to-day interaction and collaboration. In other words, having marketing and sales in separate management "silos" didn't significantly impair company performance.
Times (and circumstances) have changed, and it's now critical for "marketing" activities and "sales" activities to be closely coordinated. Buyers expect their potential suppliers to speak with one, consistent voice, and they expect everyone they deal with in an organization to know what interactions have already occurred and what information has been exchanged.
Both marketers and sales professionals now recognize the importance of aligning the efforts of marketing and sales. This has become a hot topic at marketing and sales conferences, and it's been written about in numerous venues. Many experts are advocating that marketing and sales should spell out their responsibilities and relationship in a formal service level agreement. That's a good idea, but why not take the next logical step?
The American architect Louis Sullivan said that "form" should follow "function." Marketing and sales are interdependent components of a single demand generation process. Therefore, they should be part of a single organizational unit for management, planning, and budgetary purposes.
In lean management terms, marketing and sales are components of the same value stream. A value stream is the set of activities that are required to produce value for customers. Lean management recognizes that it is the output/performance of complete value streams that creates value for customers and profits for a company. Therefore, mature lean organizations manage their operations by value streams rather than by traditional functional departments.
In the case of marketing and sales, the "customer" is the company itself, and the "product" is revenue dollars. The sole objective of the demand generation value stream is to produce revenues for the company, and achieving this objective requires an integrated set of marketing and sales activities. Having "good" marketing and "good" sales is important, but what really matters is the performance of the entire demand generation value stream. To optimize that performance, it must be treated and managed as a single process.
Combining marketing and sales may be a controversial idea, and it would be difficult to implement in many companies for cultural and "political" reasons. But the logic is compelling, and just because something is hard to do doesn't mean that it shouldn't be done.
What do you think? If you had a free hand, would you consider merging marketing and sales in your company?
Saturday, September 10, 2011
What the heck is a brand anyway?
We use the term “brand” with such frequency, such alacrity, and such assurance, you’d almost think we know what it means.
So what does it mean?
Fact is, we use "brand" to mean many things. Many different things.
So I thought I’d start a glossary of the different meanings of the term brand. Please feel free to add to the list in the comments section below.
A brand is a name that a
Frienemy Marketing: Maximizing Joint Ventures and Other Business Opportunities For Increased Visibility, Sales and Leads
Frienemy Marketing: Maximizing Joint Ventures and Other Business Opportunities For Increased Visibility, Sales and Leads
By Wendy Montes de Oca, MBA
With the economic climate as crazy as it’s been, now’s a great time to look to your ‘friendly’ competition for opportunities to help grow your list and add extra revenues to your bottom line.
Even better, this can be done for virtually no out-of-pocket cost. Let me explain…
For many of my clients who have start-up companies or home-based businesses, I tell them how important is to think outside the box and implement high performing, organic (no cost) online marketing strategies that leverage what they already have: Content.
One such system is the SONAR Content Distribution Model TM, which I discuss in great detail in my new, best-selling book, Content Is Cash: Leveraging Great Content and the Web for Increased Traffic, Sales, Leads and Buzz [Que Publishing, paperback].
SONAR is a powerful method of repurposing and distributing free content (albeit text, audio, video) and synchronizing its release into various, targeted, organic channels. It can work for virtually any business, in any niche, with any budget. SONAR represents the following online distribution platforms: S Syndicate partners, content syndication networks, and user generate content sites O Online press releases N Network (social) communities, social bookmarking sites A Article directories R Relevant posts to blogs, forums, and message boards
Now to cover all the tactical nuances of each of the five SONAR platforms wouldn’t be feasible in this article, and in fact, is already covered in great depth in my book.
However, what I’d like to shed some light upon is the most popular, yet illusive SONAR dove-tail strategy that is often overlooked by many business owners – one that actually encourages relationship cultivation with your competitors – and that I call, ‘Frienemy Marketing’.
When it comes to business growth and visibility, don’t rule out collaborative efforts with your friendly competitors, and by friendly, I mean synergistic and respected formidable adversaries with a like-minded community of followers to your own.
This is a great way to leverage your content and increase market share, enhance brand awareness, grow sales and leads, and establish credibility with a new, yet synergistic list.
As a consultant, and even back in the days when I was leading the marketing efforts at top publishers like Agora, Weiss and Newsmax, it was important for me to be ‘strategically creative’ and deploy as many no-cost online marketing tactics as possible for greater return on investment (ROI).
I would concentrate on the marketing and editorial relationships I had forged with fellow publishers and aggressively pursued ad swaps, guest editorials, and joint ventures (JV).
The idea is to develop synergistic relationships that are mutually beneficial – to look for areas of deficiency in your competitors and think of ways your company can fill the void.
One potential partner may have a great front-end product (e.g., a low cost e-book) but no up-sell (e.g., a higher-priced related kit containing DVDs, CDs, and workbooks). Another potential partner may have an innovative back-end product but no cost-effective front-end product to bring new customers in the door. Still others may have large, qualified lists but need editorial to bond with their lists.
Some tips to keep in mind when looking for partnerships with friendly competitors:
• Do your homework. Find out, in advance, who will be at industry events that you’ll be attending. (Check the program for speakers, vendors, and participants.) Sign up for their e-newsletters. Read their promotional e-mails. Maybe even purchase some of their products.
• Look at EVERY opportunity as a way to maximize your company’s brand during presentation breaks, lunch time, and cocktail parties. When you go to industry events, don’t eat dinner alone in your hotel room. Go to functions. Mingle. Network. Have a genuine conversation with a potential partner… then, if there’s a synergy between your two companies, exchange business cards.
• Before you contact a potential partner, get familiar with his products and target audience and figure out how your company may be able to dovetail with his product line or marketing efforts.
So, once you’ve made the connection, now what?
Reciprocal Ad Swaps
Assuming you both have content-based ezines, you can test the waters and see how your lists will react by doing an advertising swap. In other words, you run an ad in his e-newsletter and he runs an ad in yours for either name collection (lead generation) or product sales. Both list sizes should be close in circulation size, hence the reciprocity. You both keep any sales or email addresses collected, and call it a day.
To make sense out of the results of that test, you have to know your “opportunity cost” – the “cost” you will incur for running an outside ad to your list instead of your own ad. If you normally sell ad space in your e-newsletter, this cost could simply be the flat rate fee you typically charge. Or, if you know the average revenues an issue brings in, you could calculate the potential “missed opportunity” of letting another ad run to your list on a given day.
You should also agree to share important information with your partner. Before his ad runs in your e-newsletter, point out any creative issues. Provide your partner with your e-newsletter’s sent and deliverability sizes, open rate, and ad click rate. Exchanging performance data is critical to a long and mutually beneficial relationship. It has to be a win/win situation for the partnership to work.
Guest Editorials/Editorial Contributions
You can also look into doing guest editorials in other publishers’ e-newsletters – with an editorial note or byline that links to your offer. This is a great way to get introduced to a new list with the “implied” endorsement of the publisher. His endorsement gives you credibility. And if you provide his readers with good, solid, useful information, they will bond with you quickly.
This is a soft-sell approach that may or may not yield results on its own. But when coordinated with either a dedicated e-mail (if your partner is on board with a revenue split) or an e-newsletter ad the same week, your conversion rate (the number of people who go on to buy your product) will dramatically improve.
Joint Ventures (JVs)
I’ve got one more idea for you: joint venturing. This is a quick and cost-effective way to make money with your list even if you have not yet developed any products.
With a JV, you have an instant product line with no overhead costs. Your partner will supply the products, fulfill orders, and provide customer support. All you have to do is promote the products to your list and split the net revenues with them. For an even a more turnkey approach, you can sell e-reports through sites like Clickbank.com, where everything is automated.
To determine the viability of a potential JV product, there are several strategic marketing variables to consider. I like to think of them as “PPPGS”:
P = Product quality
P = Price point
P = Performance (when promoted to your potential partner’s house list, as well as to outside lists)
G = General market demand
S = Subscriber interest (when promoted to your list, as determined by feedback, surveys, etc.)
Remember – you’re looking for long-term partners, not one-hit-wonders. So carefully select the people you approach, making sure their products, brand and message makes sense to your business…and, together, you can reap the unlimited profit potential of Frienemy Marketing.
Ed note:
Wendy Montes de Oca, MBA has nearly 20 years of marketing experience with Fortune 500 companies and top publishers and an expert at organic marketing tactics. She is the President of Precision Marketing and Media, LLC, and author of the Amazon best-seller, Content Is Cash: Leveraging Great Content and the Web for Increased Traffic, Sales, Leads and Buzz [Que Publishing, Paperback]. To learn more about SONAR marketing or get your copy of Content Is Cash, click here now!
http://www.amazon.com/Content-Cash-Leveraging-Increased-Biz-Tech/dp/0789741083/
By Wendy Montes de Oca, MBA
With the economic climate as crazy as it’s been, now’s a great time to look to your ‘friendly’ competition for opportunities to help grow your list and add extra revenues to your bottom line.
Even better, this can be done for virtually no out-of-pocket cost. Let me explain…
For many of my clients who have start-up companies or home-based businesses, I tell them how important is to think outside the box and implement high performing, organic (no cost) online marketing strategies that leverage what they already have: Content.
One such system is the SONAR Content Distribution Model TM, which I discuss in great detail in my new, best-selling book, Content Is Cash: Leveraging Great Content and the Web for Increased Traffic, Sales, Leads and Buzz [Que Publishing, paperback].
SONAR is a powerful method of repurposing and distributing free content (albeit text, audio, video) and synchronizing its release into various, targeted, organic channels. It can work for virtually any business, in any niche, with any budget. SONAR represents the following online distribution platforms: S Syndicate partners, content syndication networks, and user generate content sites O Online press releases N Network (social) communities, social bookmarking sites A Article directories R Relevant posts to blogs, forums, and message boards
Now to cover all the tactical nuances of each of the five SONAR platforms wouldn’t be feasible in this article, and in fact, is already covered in great depth in my book.
However, what I’d like to shed some light upon is the most popular, yet illusive SONAR dove-tail strategy that is often overlooked by many business owners – one that actually encourages relationship cultivation with your competitors – and that I call, ‘Frienemy Marketing’.
When it comes to business growth and visibility, don’t rule out collaborative efforts with your friendly competitors, and by friendly, I mean synergistic and respected formidable adversaries with a like-minded community of followers to your own.
This is a great way to leverage your content and increase market share, enhance brand awareness, grow sales and leads, and establish credibility with a new, yet synergistic list.
As a consultant, and even back in the days when I was leading the marketing efforts at top publishers like Agora, Weiss and Newsmax, it was important for me to be ‘strategically creative’ and deploy as many no-cost online marketing tactics as possible for greater return on investment (ROI).
I would concentrate on the marketing and editorial relationships I had forged with fellow publishers and aggressively pursued ad swaps, guest editorials, and joint ventures (JV).
The idea is to develop synergistic relationships that are mutually beneficial – to look for areas of deficiency in your competitors and think of ways your company can fill the void.
One potential partner may have a great front-end product (e.g., a low cost e-book) but no up-sell (e.g., a higher-priced related kit containing DVDs, CDs, and workbooks). Another potential partner may have an innovative back-end product but no cost-effective front-end product to bring new customers in the door. Still others may have large, qualified lists but need editorial to bond with their lists.
Some tips to keep in mind when looking for partnerships with friendly competitors:
• Do your homework. Find out, in advance, who will be at industry events that you’ll be attending. (Check the program for speakers, vendors, and participants.) Sign up for their e-newsletters. Read their promotional e-mails. Maybe even purchase some of their products.
• Look at EVERY opportunity as a way to maximize your company’s brand during presentation breaks, lunch time, and cocktail parties. When you go to industry events, don’t eat dinner alone in your hotel room. Go to functions. Mingle. Network. Have a genuine conversation with a potential partner… then, if there’s a synergy between your two companies, exchange business cards.
• Before you contact a potential partner, get familiar with his products and target audience and figure out how your company may be able to dovetail with his product line or marketing efforts.
So, once you’ve made the connection, now what?
Reciprocal Ad Swaps
Assuming you both have content-based ezines, you can test the waters and see how your lists will react by doing an advertising swap. In other words, you run an ad in his e-newsletter and he runs an ad in yours for either name collection (lead generation) or product sales. Both list sizes should be close in circulation size, hence the reciprocity. You both keep any sales or email addresses collected, and call it a day.
To make sense out of the results of that test, you have to know your “opportunity cost” – the “cost” you will incur for running an outside ad to your list instead of your own ad. If you normally sell ad space in your e-newsletter, this cost could simply be the flat rate fee you typically charge. Or, if you know the average revenues an issue brings in, you could calculate the potential “missed opportunity” of letting another ad run to your list on a given day.
You should also agree to share important information with your partner. Before his ad runs in your e-newsletter, point out any creative issues. Provide your partner with your e-newsletter’s sent and deliverability sizes, open rate, and ad click rate. Exchanging performance data is critical to a long and mutually beneficial relationship. It has to be a win/win situation for the partnership to work.
Guest Editorials/Editorial Contributions
You can also look into doing guest editorials in other publishers’ e-newsletters – with an editorial note or byline that links to your offer. This is a great way to get introduced to a new list with the “implied” endorsement of the publisher. His endorsement gives you credibility. And if you provide his readers with good, solid, useful information, they will bond with you quickly.
This is a soft-sell approach that may or may not yield results on its own. But when coordinated with either a dedicated e-mail (if your partner is on board with a revenue split) or an e-newsletter ad the same week, your conversion rate (the number of people who go on to buy your product) will dramatically improve.
Joint Ventures (JVs)
I’ve got one more idea for you: joint venturing. This is a quick and cost-effective way to make money with your list even if you have not yet developed any products.
With a JV, you have an instant product line with no overhead costs. Your partner will supply the products, fulfill orders, and provide customer support. All you have to do is promote the products to your list and split the net revenues with them. For an even a more turnkey approach, you can sell e-reports through sites like Clickbank.com, where everything is automated.
To determine the viability of a potential JV product, there are several strategic marketing variables to consider. I like to think of them as “PPPGS”:
P = Product quality
P = Price point
P = Performance (when promoted to your potential partner’s house list, as well as to outside lists)
G = General market demand
S = Subscriber interest (when promoted to your list, as determined by feedback, surveys, etc.)
Remember – you’re looking for long-term partners, not one-hit-wonders. So carefully select the people you approach, making sure their products, brand and message makes sense to your business…and, together, you can reap the unlimited profit potential of Frienemy Marketing.
Ed note:
Wendy Montes de Oca, MBA has nearly 20 years of marketing experience with Fortune 500 companies and top publishers and an expert at organic marketing tactics. She is the President of Precision Marketing and Media, LLC, and author of the Amazon best-seller, Content Is Cash: Leveraging Great Content and the Web for Increased Traffic, Sales, Leads and Buzz [Que Publishing, Paperback]. To learn more about SONAR marketing or get your copy of Content Is Cash, click here now!
http://www.amazon.com/Content-Cash-Leveraging-Increased-Biz-Tech/dp/0789741083/
Friday, September 9, 2011
We will never forget
As we come upon the 10th anniversary of 9/11 let us not forget about the precious lives that were lost and the lives of those who were forever changed.This video gets me every time. It reminds me of how blessed I truly am, with my freedom, my life, my family. May you find peace today, September 11, 2011 and every day of your life.
Make is a remarkable Friday.
Debbi
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Logo throwback
I get to thinking from time to time how far brands have come from past decades and how logos have evolved over the years. This entry is simply an interesting comparison from yester-year's logos to the marks of modern times. Its quite interesting to see a logo evolution whether it be better for the brand or just a natural progression to a younger audience.
Until next time,
Jeremy
Until next time,
Jeremy
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Want a Super Bowl Ad? Better Hurry!!!
Kickoff of the 2011-2012 NFL season is tomorrow and already there are only 5 slots open for this season's Super Bowl!!!Have you planned YOUR January media yet?!?!
These 30-second spots are selling for a record $3.5 MILLION each. That's right, for every second you watch some monkey dance for beer and for every second you suffer through the GoDaddy girls partially undressing, someone is paying $116,667.
The banking point? Really, it's just a cool advertising fact. But if there is a lesson learned here its that there is value in reach. $3.5 mil per :30 is justified (to some) because the game is a national event. More people are watching one TV station during those 3 hours than during any other time of the year. You don't see this kind of lunacy with the World Series or NBA finals - because they're stretched over a week. You don't see TV spots going for $3.5 mil during the NHL Stanley Cup - because, well, it's the NHL.
The Super Bowl is an EVENT! Larger than life ... even if you don't care about the teams playing.
I think that we can all learn from the event aspect for our self-promotion. I won't promise 3.5 million new customers or $3.5 million in new loan balances, but if you can create an EVENT, you can generate buzz.
Take care,
Eric
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Building a Budget that Empowers via Flexibility
Each September, a great deal of my focus migrates to budgeting for the next fiscal year. Even while the current fiscal year is just getting its start, many senior managers at Arena Stage are focused on the following year, knowing that in just under four months, a new subscription campaign is set to launch. As summer comes to an end, and the new theater season begins, I find myself already thinking about how in many cases, budgets are created to restrict, rather than to provide, flexibility.
If there is one thing I have learned since 2008, it's that success is greatly dependent upon one's ability to adapt quickly to changing circumstances. I've always been fascinated by people who consistently make the choice to stick with a strategy that isn't working instead of leaping into the unknown. In doing so, many believe they are mitigating risk, however refusing to adapt when a strategy is clearing collapsing only ensures failure, and what could be riskier than that? Those that are change adverse often times use a rigid budget to fortify their position, but a good budget lives and breathes with an organization, thereby providing plenty of flexibility when needed.
When budgeting, common practice at many non-profit performing arts organizations allocates revenue and expense into two categories: contributed (development) and earned (marketing). In doing so, each department is assigned resources and given revenue goals with a simple charge--use the resources provided to generate the targeted revenues. In my career, I have observed that this system of allocating resources and establishing revenue goals for separate and distinct departments can lead to inefficiencies that reduce, rather than maximize, return on investment.
Let me give an example:
Organization X anticipates that a certain production will achieve a significant single ticket revenue target, and as such, budgets higher than average expenses for advertising. The production opens to less than stellar notices, and word of mouth isn't helping either. After several weeks of slow sales despite the considerable investment in advertising, management concludes that the additional expenses set aside for marketing aren't providing the necessary return on investment, and asks that you reconsider your strategy. Meanwhile, you've begun to hear from the development department that the first annual fund campaign of the season is substantially over-performing, although they don't have the additional funds needed to grow the campaign beyond what was initially budgeted for.
In these types of situations, many marketing directors would reallocate funds from the under-performing production to productions later in the season, even though those productions, if budgeted properly, should already have plenty of resources allocated to support them. Fearing that they won't receive adequate resources in future budgets if they "give back" money in their expense budget, marketing directors can feel like they are incentivized to ineffectively spend resources on a struggling production or to reallocate them to productions that are already resourced appropriately. Meanwhile, the development department has struck gold, and could desperately use an infusion of additional resources, but none will come.
To avoid situations like the above, I believe budgets should be created with minimal essential resources allocated to each revenue stream, ensuring that each is supported adequately. Resources traditionally budgeted above the minimal level for campaigns that are anticipated to do well, should instead be used to fund a reserve that is used to allocate additional resources to over-performing revenue streams based upon actual highest achieved return on investment. Why religiously stick to a budget that 10 months prior allocated additional resources to anticipated successful revenue streams when current reality indicates that the additional expenses aren't warranted? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to move resources across departments to invest in activities that are actually over-performing rather than those that we thought would over-perform?
In addition, chief development officers and chief marketing officers should share responsibility for the total revenue goal of the organization, thereby eliminating any territory related issues that may arise. Together, they should be charged with shifting resources on a regular basis to fund activities that reduce cost of sale, maximize return on investment and best position the organization to achieve the annual institutional revenue goal.
At the end of the day, performing arts organizations are having to use their limited resources much more wisely than in previous years, and that reality should force all senior managers to reexamine how resources are allocated and spent.
If there is one thing I have learned since 2008, it's that success is greatly dependent upon one's ability to adapt quickly to changing circumstances. I've always been fascinated by people who consistently make the choice to stick with a strategy that isn't working instead of leaping into the unknown. In doing so, many believe they are mitigating risk, however refusing to adapt when a strategy is clearing collapsing only ensures failure, and what could be riskier than that? Those that are change adverse often times use a rigid budget to fortify their position, but a good budget lives and breathes with an organization, thereby providing plenty of flexibility when needed.
When budgeting, common practice at many non-profit performing arts organizations allocates revenue and expense into two categories: contributed (development) and earned (marketing). In doing so, each department is assigned resources and given revenue goals with a simple charge--use the resources provided to generate the targeted revenues. In my career, I have observed that this system of allocating resources and establishing revenue goals for separate and distinct departments can lead to inefficiencies that reduce, rather than maximize, return on investment.
Let me give an example:
Organization X anticipates that a certain production will achieve a significant single ticket revenue target, and as such, budgets higher than average expenses for advertising. The production opens to less than stellar notices, and word of mouth isn't helping either. After several weeks of slow sales despite the considerable investment in advertising, management concludes that the additional expenses set aside for marketing aren't providing the necessary return on investment, and asks that you reconsider your strategy. Meanwhile, you've begun to hear from the development department that the first annual fund campaign of the season is substantially over-performing, although they don't have the additional funds needed to grow the campaign beyond what was initially budgeted for.
In these types of situations, many marketing directors would reallocate funds from the under-performing production to productions later in the season, even though those productions, if budgeted properly, should already have plenty of resources allocated to support them. Fearing that they won't receive adequate resources in future budgets if they "give back" money in their expense budget, marketing directors can feel like they are incentivized to ineffectively spend resources on a struggling production or to reallocate them to productions that are already resourced appropriately. Meanwhile, the development department has struck gold, and could desperately use an infusion of additional resources, but none will come.
To avoid situations like the above, I believe budgets should be created with minimal essential resources allocated to each revenue stream, ensuring that each is supported adequately. Resources traditionally budgeted above the minimal level for campaigns that are anticipated to do well, should instead be used to fund a reserve that is used to allocate additional resources to over-performing revenue streams based upon actual highest achieved return on investment. Why religiously stick to a budget that 10 months prior allocated additional resources to anticipated successful revenue streams when current reality indicates that the additional expenses aren't warranted? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to move resources across departments to invest in activities that are actually over-performing rather than those that we thought would over-perform?
In addition, chief development officers and chief marketing officers should share responsibility for the total revenue goal of the organization, thereby eliminating any territory related issues that may arise. Together, they should be charged with shifting resources on a regular basis to fund activities that reduce cost of sale, maximize return on investment and best position the organization to achieve the annual institutional revenue goal.
At the end of the day, performing arts organizations are having to use their limited resources much more wisely than in previous years, and that reality should force all senior managers to reexamine how resources are allocated and spent.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Value creation versus value capture
A few years ago researchers studying the use of tools by animals reported a fascinating discovery: New Caledonian crows could not only use tools to get at food, they could fashion a tool to get at food. Specifically, Betty, the crow in the scientists’ lab, showed that she could shape a twig or wire into a hook to pull otherwise inaccessible food out of a transparent tube. This was the first
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Go ahead celebrate a little...
Tomorrow my wife and I celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary - which led me to start thinking about milestones.
Success in general is accomplished by surpassing milestones. Regardless if it is a career milestone or a personal one, everyone should take the time to celebrate them. Without at least recognizing milestones and/or goals, you never really stop to take a breath to see how far you've come on your journey to greatness.
Here are 5 reasons to make sure you track and celebrate your milestones.
- A celebration helps you refresh, reboot and get ready for the next milestone
- Achievements big, small, good or bad, are opportunities to look back and learn from your mistakes
- Things happen in small steps, and a milestone is a reminder of how far you've come in accomplishing those important steps towards your end goal
- A milestone achievement is also an opportunity to start a new phase, evaluate, and perhaps take steps in a different direction
- Who doesn't love celebrating...so go ahead celebrate when you reach your next milestone!
Until next time,
Jeremy
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