Of course the campaign is integrated… next pitfall
As a continuation of my last post on the topic of campaign integration, I have found that the following pitfalls are common when we think that the campaign is integrated.
Common integrated campaign pitfalls.
Pitfall #1: Media that don’t reinforce each other
Pitfall #2: Create a budget first, metrics second.
Pitfall #3: Awareness vs. sales
Pitfall #4: Delegate and forget
Pitfall #1: Media that don’t reinforce each other
TV commercials are not always a success story, i.e. poor creative or a TV ad which was not sales actionable. At times if we are not careful, we can make the same mistake or worse, the TVC does not support other media used (ex. Radio and online). The messages have to be consistent and the choice of media needs to build a 1-2 punch and they must complement each other.
Now we can’t cover every potential combination of one medium plus another but I feel compelled to remind you that when an agency proposes 2, 3 or 4 types of media it begs the obvious question of:
Why combine these?
What proof do we have that the combination of these 4 media will give us maximum impact?
Hearing things such as:
‘In our opinion we felt that these were a good combination’ or
‘This combination always worked well for us in the past’ or
‘We tested this on another client and the results were great’.
These are not justifiable reasons and they are a sure sign that this combination was made in haste or random.
If you are still not convinced, ask the agency or the team making the proposal:
‘The TVC will complement online how?’ or
‘Prove to me that some customers will see the same message in 2-3 different media and therefore creates a call to action?’
‘Explain to me the link between Outdoor and the web banners?’
Here is an example of how various media work together as parts of a sum and feed into each other.
Let’s use a campaign example of a local real estate developer called PrimeProperties.com
In addition to print advertising, the agency convinced the company to place banner ads on real estate websites. Additionally, they prompted the company to test TV and radio advertising designed to serve as a lead generator for all segments (residential, commercial) as well as office space prospects, notaries, real-estate agents, bankers, and inspectors.
This broadcast approach served as a “Go-to-the-Web” driver (“Go to PrimeProperties.com now and receive…”) and helped to build a database of leads that could be pursued through telemarketing and mailings.
Instead of sending the prospects a single piece of communication, which is rarely enough to initiate relationships, the agency suggested a multifaceted campaign that called for prospects to receive a personalized introduction letter offering a “Prime customer” gift, a follow-up postcard focused on the property’s key benefits, a direct-response brochure and Go-to-Web card, and a telemarketing call.
Adding any combination of media is easy; getting them to work ‘in synch’ (and therefore generate revenues) is not.
There is still room for taking risks here and testing combinations but there has to be a rationale; assumptions need to be noted and written down as to why you are combining this medium to another at the outset and the corresponding objectives as to why you combined them in such a manner.
By documenting the rationale (memo, assumption or stated objective) you can always go back and validate if the combination of media was successful – this is part of the monitoring function.
If on the other hand the combination was haphazard, not documented and no post mortem was done, you are simply wasting valuable Marketing funds since you have no way or tool to consider the cause/effect of your media combination.
Of course the campaign is integrated…
It’s a common question when the Marketing leader gets ready to listen to a campaign organized by the agency. Is the campaign integrated? To which the agency responds: Of course the campaign is integrated…
An integrated campaign as a reminder means that the campaign does not use any one single component of marketing-be it advertising, public relations, sales promotion, or social media but rather a combination of these to make sure that most audiences will be addressed via one media or another.
Putting all your money in one medium is likely to falter precisely because it is not supported by a full complement of marketing initiatives that must reinforce one another, producing exponential results such as 1+1=3.
One may ask, “Isn’t advertising in one medium only better than doing nothing at all?” That’s question misses the point. A wiser approach is to ask what can be done to support the investment in advertising so that you achieve the objectives you established at the outset.
What is preferred logically and in an efficient manner is an integrated set of marketing tools and initiatives carefully planned within the framework of a multifaceted marketing campaign.
To do that, you must create a media plan designed to make sure that all of your marketing tactics work together.
Lastly, getting marketing to generate Top Line revenues implies marketing initiatives that produce a significant return on the marketing dollars spent.
In order to give you some direction on ensuring that the campaign is (in fact) integrated, watch out for the following four pitfalls:
Common integrated campaign pitfalls.
Pitfall #1: Media that don’t reinforce each other
Pitfall #2: Create a budget first, metrics second.
Pitfall #3: Awareness vs. sales
Pitfall #4: Delegate and forget
For the purpose of brevity for today’s post let’s explore the second one:
Pitfall #2: Create a budget first, metrics second.
We’ll spend more time on metrics, analytics and ROI later but a common mistake is to set a budget first, then spend later on a variety of media.
The justification to coming up with a budget first could be:
a) Slow sales
b) Competitors are not advertising as much or,
c) The state of the economy.
In fact even if sales are slow during an economic downturn, they never stop altogether. And if everyone else is cutting back on spending during a recession, this is the worst time to cut back on marketing as is frequently the case. Studies show that businesses that continue marketing through a recession (http://www.renaud-investments.ro/five-steps-on-how-to-survive-in-a-recession-3) are the ones that come out ahead when the economy begins to turn (ex. Orange in Romania).
This could be an opportunity for you to gain market share by being aggressive.
But at the same time coming up with a budget figure out of the blue or out of thin air because sales are down, orders have declined and inventories are mounting is not rational thinking either.
You must consider the following instead:
1) Who’s the target of the marketing campaign?
2) Do these initiatives follow the marketing plan?
3) What goals will this campaign seek to achieve?
4) How these funds will to help sluggish sales?
5) The messages used to position your product as The customer solution
6) How the campaign will be measured?
7) How leads will be captured?
8) How are you going to monitor the results?
Committing to X million euros to a marketing budget in the blind implies that you will be spending big money without any clear plan for how it will generate additional revenues for the business.
This is certainly not the way to generate Top Line revenues with Marketing!
Dealing with apathy: How Branding can unleash the SuperHero in all of us!
Customer complaints are vital. It tells us how we are doing and it gives us the opportunity to solve problems.
Customers that raise complaints want immediate results but at the same time, are giving us the chance to show that we are worthy of getting their business. When customers stop complaining, this is sign that customers have given up on us.
In fact do you know what is worse than a customer complaining?
A customer that does not complain (…and walks).
We hear the cliché that ‘Customers comes first’ or ‘The customer is number one’ but those clichés remain clichés unless the brand has the ability to deliver SOUL in our day-to-day transactions.
In simple terms, the Soul is what the brand represents…it’s the promise delivered every day. This is what a Marketing leader must convey but at times when it comes to frontline staff talking or meeting customers that ‘fire in the belly’ or that brand soul may not come across loud and clear when its desperately needed. This is an area where Branding can help.
Let me give you an example (yes banking).
I deal with a bank that it based in a country that has received a lot of attention lately. The staff are great helpful and courteous. So far, so good.
4 years ago my debit card had to be renewed and the bank rep told me that I needed to wait for my new card. After 1 week I called and they told me ‘nope not ready yet’- pretty impractical since if I wanted money, I needed to go in person in a branch to get cash ( when was the last time you did that?).
After another week – same answer and they could not tell me. Well this went on for total of 6 weeks when the paperwork or ‘form’ was lost or whatever (remember, I’m a customer – I really don’t care of the reason) I finally get my card.
In my next meeting with the Branch manager I tell him ‘Catalin, you’ve got great people at this bank but unfortunately your processes suck…’ I was sincere. How is it possible that a client has to wait 6 weeks to get a renewed card?’
Fast forward 4 years now. Same bank!
They called up my friend who recently traveled to Dubai and told her that because of recent fraud issues in Dubai, they strongly recommended to her to cancel her card and to get another one. That’s pretty progressive right? A bank calling you to deter potential fraud.
My friend agreed and also agreed to go to a nearest branch to fill out a form to get her card renewed.
At this point I started to worry!
It took 5 weeks to get a renewed card after multiple calls – probably for the same reason…again we don’t care about the reasons – we’re the customer.
When we went to a branch in Baneasa mall and spoke to a bright looking fellow and my friend told him the story about the card. Then I added then . ‘Yep in my case 4 years ago I had to wait 6 weeks.’
We were pretty cool and not upset by this point.
His reaction? ‘Humm’ is what he said, his head nodded, then went back to filling the form.
Not ‘well we’re really sorry about this’…
Not ‘well let me look into this…this is unacceptable to make customers wait 5-6 weeks to get card’…
Not ‘I will look into this and get back to you’ or…at the minimum…’I will report this to our customer care team and I will ensure that someone calls you to give you an update/explanation. I will personally follow up with our customer care department to make sure someone gets back to you’
In other words…Initiative, attention to the customer and a bit of empathy (not apathy).
Ok you’re going to tell me Paul this is a customer care issue and the bank probably needs to take care of its customer care policy or this your fellow was not properly trained or worse… this is Romania. NOT!
I don’t agree. Before that fellow gets on the phone and follows Customer care procedures, he needs to WANT to get on the phone and put out this fire! Training is important but you can’t train people to HAVE the initiative. This has to come from the soul; the soul is what the brand is all about.
In other words are people going to kill themselves to solve this problem? If so, THAT my friend is brand loyalty and brand affinity.
I had the pleasure of working for brands that I wanted to kill myself for those brands; I wanted to please my customer and I wanted to make a difference.
Why? Well because I felt part of the brand. When I showed people my business card I was proud that I worked for Bell Mobility, Connex or Orange. It was a cool place to work; we were going to ‘invade the nation’ with this brand and unbeknownst to me, the Marketing leaders at the time (Tim McChesney, Aneta Bogdan and Paul Phillips in this order) had managed to instill that sense of pride, joy and the SOUL that made me wake up every morning and do the best for our brand!
A little naive?
Want more proof?
I challenge you to listen to any interview of an Apple employee that was involved in the IPod, IPhone or IPad. Look at how their face lights up when they explain how much they were part of the Apple development team. Of course Steve Jobs made this an amazing place to work but Apple employees are passionate. We don’t all work for Apple but the same unbridled enthusiasm is possible for you, the Marketing Leader to instill regardless if you sell paints, pharmaceuticals or yogurt.
The brand makes it happen.
Follow my next post as I describe areas where as a Marketing Leader, you can unleash this SOUL so that your team members actually enjoy killing themselves for the brand.
1. Marketing…Sales…what’s the difference?
There is always a healthy debate between Marketers and salespeople (at least from what I recall in my career) and the issue of which department matters most in a company. I guess you could compare this debate and logic to ‘what comes first? The chicken or the egg?’
Marketers need to understand sales effectiveness. This seems terribly simple but ultimately the most direct effect of sales (as a result of marketing) is that sales generates revenues.
Plus as a Marketer how you can’t expect to drive top line revenues from market initiatives unless you have a thorough understanding of your company’s sales department and how effective they are.
Fact:
There is a strong link between sales and marketing and dynamic marketing leaders are always seeking feedback from the sales team when it comes to reading the market, understanding competition and fine tuning products and services.
In fact you should always welcome it.
Ask yourself when was the last time a sales peer gave you feedback on prices, the promotion or the new products launched last week?
If you can’t remember – that’s a problem; either:
1) As a marketer you are not getting feedback from sales since they don’t have your phone number or email or a method/channel to give to feedback,
2) You are not welcoming feedback,
3) You have not created an environment where sales can openly give feedback.
In all cases, something has to be done immediately.
Any customer centric organization has to provide an environment where sales can for example, get on the phone or email you to say ‘hey…this client is telling us that our prices are too high’ (common sales reply)…or this client has decided to leave for x/y/z reason because of the product.
Another reason could be that customers expect a higher group discount or are asking if we can modify the product/package or distribution somehow. These are all legitimate questions and market feedback and it implies that there is a dialog between marketing and sales.
As a Product Manager, I would get the distribution sales team to call me on a daily basis to complain (read, suggest) about one aspect or another about the products. This is healthy. As a Marketer, you have to welcome this kind of feedback and you have to toughen your skin since you may get a lot of criticism.
In Romania we initiated this environment of informal feedback since the sales team simply did not know that they could or should give feedback to Marketing.
We also had a product development board (formal feedback) where new products and enhancements were presented because existing products lacked a better price/package or feature.
Informal since you want to hear it ’live’ or before someone has to write an email and formally since it’s important that if you are getting similar feedback from many sales teams about the same problem, this implies that the problem must be addressed immediately or it has to be elevated to your boss or the next product development board.
Experience:
I am assuming that all good marketers have some form of sales experience. If you don’t I would try to deflect this aspect about your career as long as you can. In my opinion you need to have sold something to be effective in marketing. Sales may seem easy but it’s not. There is a lot of work to even get a customer interested in your pitch and even then, that does not guarantee that you will close. Marketers must understand this pain of trying to ‘make the sale’.
If you wish to stay in marketing and you cannot leave your marketing job tomorrow to start a new sales career, then I strongly suggest that you engage in a MLM (Multi-level marketing) or network marketing organizations like Amway, Tupperware, HerbaLife, NU Skin, and Avon in your spare time. Even if you try it and don’t like it, the fundamental part of this exercise is to understand what is required to sell. You’ll get free training and initial products to sell to your friends and family. After a while say in 2-3 months you will either love it or hate it. That’s the pain I am talking about.
Bottom line- Selling isn’t easy.
Sales discipline: Basics
The success of any organization resides in the Sales department’s ability to reach sales targets that were established in the Business plan – this is imperative.
Each Sales representative – let’s call them Account Managers (AM, for short), must go through a consistent prospecting process till a sale is made. I’ve described for illustrative purposes the most basic sales process below. I will assume for sake of example that the Account Manager is new and was not given any particular segment focus – a ‘shot gun’ approach in other words.
Day to Day Plan:
Daily Activities
0930 – 1030
Account Managers starting their day early, on time to do Telephone calls
Returning phone calls of previous day
Leads generated internally
Cold calls to prospects
Confirm presentations booked by other team members
Call on new contact developed within existing clients
Follow up on Direct mail program
Goal: Book a meeting even if it short in nature. The AM does not try to sell products/services over the phone.
1030 – 1230
Customer meetings either booked or “in the neighborhood” calls to existing clients.
1230 – 1300
Lunch
1300 – 1600
Customer meetings
1600 – 1900
Returning phone call messages on same day
Leads generated internally.
Follow up on Direct mail program.
Cold calls to prospects
Confirm presentations
Call on new contacts provided by Marketing leads or Customer Service.
This has to be done religiously – every day!
Adding to the rigor of cold calling, prospecting and meeting customers, the AM needs to initiate the following:
1) Direct mail to selected targets such as Romanian publicly traded companies, banks, manufacturing, trading firms, NGOs, insurance companies, government institutions or other relevant vertical markets.
2) Telemarketing to customers. Purpose of call is to introduce your company. Other reasons are to explain offerings, getting feedback on existing suppliers, product/service guarantees – but not on the phone. Remember the objective is to get an appointment!
3) Chamber of commerce/trade association events.
4) Accompanying the Sales Manager for customer visits, both to introduce company and prospect for more business.
5) Customer ownership focus:
Develop/add/ complement the customer profile and account review in your CRM for new contacts that you have developed.
7) Thank you letter after each call and place lead information in CRM that can be recalled for future prospecting purposes.
You get the idea.
The trick in sales is that if you repeat all these steps in a consistent manner, you will develop a small yet growing database of good customers.
It takes time.
I have sold water filters (yes…MLM), mobile phones, computer equipment, consulting contracts, sponsorships and coaching services. In my experience the AM starts to become effective and on ‘top of his/her game’ after approximately 1 ½ years of selling. It takes that amount of time to get to know your customers, learn the tricks of the trade; you avoid mistakes and become focused on customer needs and an expert at ‘closing’.
Rome was not built in a day, nor will you become an effective Account Manager overnight.
Customer Experience – are we ‘In Synch’?
I am always astonished when I see a respectable, consistent integrated media campaign-be it with classical media (TV, print or radio) or online only to see the ‘wheels falling off the cart’ when it comes to a ‘Moment of Truth ‘. It almost seems like the left hand was not talking to the right hand in the company when it comes to the whole customer experience. In other words the customer facing departments are not In Synch or synchronized.
A moment of truth is that one magic moment where a company is evaluated – fairly or unfairly for the way its products perform, the way it interacts with the customer, the way it delivers its service or any instant that consumers come across a product/service.
I will always remember a speech given by Tom Peters (Passion for Excellence) where he was emphasizing a moment of truth by using a quote from an airline executive. The executive said ‘Tom, when passengers see a coffee stain on the tray table in front of them, they automatically assume that we have engine troubles.’
A bit extreme but if you follow the logic from the passenger’s point of view, the passenger is thinking ’ Well if they can’t at least take the time to clean the coffee stain, I hope that they are taking the time to service the engines…?’
Another example of moment of truth is when a fellow Romanian steps out his car to help you push your car out of the snow during our last snow storms. You certainly did not expect it but it gave you a renewed reminder on how hospitable Romanians can be when things are not going well.
Here’s my example. Someone very dear to me received this sms for an outstanding balance on her bank card:
Cod IDclient XX8644YY: La 06/02/2012 suma datorata este 67.41 RON. Restantele se raporteaza Biroului de Credit.
In English the translation is: Client code: XX8644YY, as of 06/02/2012 you have an outstanding amount on your bank card (owed to the bank). Unpaid sums will be reported to the credit bureau.
Context: Yearly fees were accumulating on the card which had not been used for quite some time principally because my friend has other cards and her main banking was done with other banks.
I assume that banks know that clients have multiple cards and accounts.
Assessment: First of all, total lack of politeness. No ‘Dear Mrs’…or ‘we would like to raise to you attention’…
Second no explanation – we go straight to the credit bureau.
Third: No warnings; this came ‘out of the blue’. No emails, no attempt to call and perhaps enquire as to why this was left unpaid or inactive. Perhaps there was some confusion; who knows what can happen when we call customers to get information or feedback!
I sound cynical (my Canadian heritage) but I am mostly disappointed as a marketer!
This bank which will remain nameless spends a tremendous amount of money on Above the line (ATL) advertising in TV, Print and outdoor with 3 Romanian sport figures.
I mean the visuals are nice, creative, welcoming, and frequent and judging by how long these 3 celebrities have agreed to promote the bank, I assume that the campaigns are working. In fact my friend held on to the card (albeit inactive) for that very reason…it had a celebrity on the card. Now that is powerful Marketing.
Result: My friend was upset with the message and she was not aware that the card had become inactive (I mean the last time I checked, we were all too busy to check to see how ‘active‘ we have been with some of our bank cards right!?). This whole matter was unbeknownst to her. She proceeded to call the bank and cancel the cards, rather…all cards, if this is how they treat customers. Ouch!
The solution:
All touch points and customer facing departments have to be in unison, like a classical music symphony. They need to follow the same music, the same beat and the same song book. Product Managers and Marketing communications folks busy trying to get new customers need to be attentive what the customer care staff or retention/loyalty or collections teams are sending to the customer via SMS. This is inexcusable.
Don’t spend money by swaying customers with nice ads with powerful icons unless you as marketer have complete control of all touch point messages. We don’t expect Marketing to actually make collection calls however any message, let me repeat ANY message to customers has to be consistent with the brand and what you are conveying to the market.
All customers bring value even if their revenue seemed insignificant. The value they bring is how well they will refer you or speak about how they were treated by your company even if the relationship between your company and the customer had to end. Do it gently.
Your homework
As the marketing leader emphasize upon your peers that interact in some way or another with customers such as Sales, customer care, retention/loyalty, collection, PR and operations that all messages to customers, have to be consistent. Get your team to collect all messages (‘canned’ or pre preprogrammed) that were sent to customers in the past and insist that all need to be reviewed by Marketing.
This may be a long laborious task but well worthwhile the time – you may uncover other ‘shockers’.
As the lead Marketer, make it a point to continuously communicate to all your peers that Marketing owns the messages to customers. By rallying your organization with this precious yet effective direction you will be on your way to ensuring that those moments of truth are fair ones.
Saying farewell to a Mentor
There should be a law that you should never need to say farewell to a Mentor. After all a Mentor is someone that has enormous influence on our lives.
Jeff Imelt, from GE quotes mentors as “People you trust to provide feedback and advice”.
Mentors opens doors, are generous of spirit and time and best of all, a mentor’s time is free.
I had to bid farewell to my very first mentor this week; she was 84 years old. It was not easy to say goodbye to Lucienne, or we would simply refer to her as ‘Mom ‘.
Her Stroke complications worsened when she refused to take her medication. As well in the last few days she refused to eat and drink indicating to us that she wanted to finally rest and rid herself of the symptoms that this disease had afflicted her for almost 6 years.
Now for those of us that are fortunate to have known one’s mother, we all learn a few lessons from them.
As I attempt to deal with this loss, I have to admit that I am not doing very well. Part of me wants to go back to ‘business as usual ‘ part of me a.k.a. that little voice in my head, tells me:
‘ Paul deal with this now.’
What better way to deal with this than to reminisce and recall an anecdote of a wonderful lady with so much influence on me that I attribute to her today, the fact that I believe in people so much.
It was not uncommon for my mother to stop a complete stranger on the streets of our small home town in Aylmer, Quebec, to say hello, smile and wish that person her very best. As a child I was at times embarrassed since I had insisted upon her that we did not know this person. Then I realized later, much later that my mother had a gift… To make people smile and to feel good about themselves all in the most unconventional way.
My mentor has taught me to believe in people – not in a forced way but in her own way. To believe in people in a work setting, a social setting, with friends or when people need us the most, in difficult moments.
Forget the Internet, Facebook and work for a few minutes and realize that in this world, we are the sum of all of our activities and each and everyone’s contributions. ‘What we do to better this world is entirely up to us she used to say’. Making one person feel better is one step of attaining that goal of making the world a better place ’.
This was her way of improving the world, one person at a time.
Did she succeed?
I guess it doesn’t matter if she succeeded but I really do believe that she left a little something of her with everyone she touched. I would add that anything worth doing to better our world has to be done through people.
I am communicating with friends and family as part of my duties as executor and by doing so I am reminded of the effect she had on people. The same people she cherished and made her happy. It’s tough to reconnect with bad news but at the same time it connects us, puts us closer and brings back friendships and nice memories.
I hope I can one day, emulate her greatness. This is what a Mentor teaches you – to be really great in your own way, your career, your life and your dealings with people.
I will miss her smile, her love, her teachings, her quirky way of interacting with people but mostly I will miss her kindness and generosity
Her experience in giving back also compels me to help you detect the first signs of a stroke.
I now understand how ugly this disease really is but more importantly I learned that stroke effects can be minimized and cured if the victim acts quickly and seeks urgent medical attention within the crucial, first 3-4 hours of stroke-like symptoms such as 1) weakness (numbness in face, arm or leg), 2) trouble speaking (difficulty speaking or understanding), 3) vision problems, 4) Headache (sudden, severe and unusual) and 5) dizziness (sudden loss of balance).
Another way to detect is to remember the first three letters of the words STROKE: S, T and R.
1) Smile: If you suspect that someone has had a stroke, ask them to Smile…they cannot.
2) Tell: Another way of determining a stroke is to ask the person to Tell you a story or to complete a full sentence – they cannot. T also spells Tongue: Ask the victim to stick out their tongue. If they can, it will come out of their mouth crooked– sign of a stroke.
3) Raise: Ask the victim to raise both arms – they will not be able to if they have just had a stroke.
Any combination of these 5 symptoms should alert you to seek immediate, urgent medical assistance.
Strokes are silent killers. People who have strokes will remain unusually quiet and won’t want to create a fuss about how they are feeling or embarrassed about say, falling down. Strokes create permanent damage to the brain if not treated quickly. If you wait till the next day, the stroke effect will be permanent, debilitating and leads eventually to death. This was the case for my mentor. She waited since in her own typical way, she did not want to burden anyone.
If treated quickly it could reverse any damage the body and brain have sustained.
Please follow this link. It could be the best way to avoid saying farewell to your mentor!
http://www.heartandstroke.com/site/c.ikIQLcMWJtE/b.3483937/k.ED98/Stroke__Stroke_Warning_Signs.htm
YOUR 2012 Imperatives
I had the pleasure of speaking at the CEO Clubs this week and we went over the CEO’s 2012 imperatives. We are not talking about the company’s imperatives but rather what are the imperatives for YOU, as a person.
We are not talking about those New Year’s resolutions either – they usually last as long as it takes you to fill in your 2nd or 3rd glass of champagne right after you chanted the count down.
Where would you like to go this year and how will you know when you get there?
Taking a loose approach to setting your personal imperatives may result in not getting what is really yours, as a person.
Let me share a few ideas on how to structure your own 2012 Imperatives.
First, we need to be selfish here for a few moments. Being too selfish is wrong and not enough robs you of the time you need to spend for you. I am not referring to your spouse, your kids, your parents but YOU.
Why set Imperatives?
1) Simply because it works. I have read books and bios of many peak performance authorities – not the evangelists that you make you feel good for 30 minutes then it goes away like a hay fire but authors of substance such as Dale Carnegie, Earl Nightingale and Stephen Covey. Their conclusions are similar. If you take the time put ‘Pen to Paper’ and write them down, you will achieve them. It has worked for me as well as countless leaders I have interviewed.
2) They give you focus. By preparing what you want to achieve it gives you that direction when you are too busy with 100 things that you have to manage. Unconsciously, by setting your imperatives your mind has been programmed to achieve these imperatives and they focus you in that direction. This focus will have benefits for your family and loved ones as well.
3) It rewards you when you have accomplished them.
4) It reduces stress and worry.
5) It avoids you from getting fired! Think of it. If you as a person are structured and have direction this will reflect in your work. Your employer expects you to be focussed but inherently that should also mean that you know where you are going as a person – they are connected.
An easy way to remember what Imperatives should look like. That’s easy too!
They should be SMART:
S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Achievable
R – Realistic
T – Time bound
Here are time tested steps the make the Imperative setting process easier for you:
1) Find the time to ‘Sit and think’ about your imperatives, without interruptions (SMS, emails, mobile phone, email, staff, etc.). Actually sit down for about one hour and write down what you want to do for yourself in 2012, ex. read 6 books, become financial literate, go the gym 3 times per week, etc.
2) Write it down (WID) on paper!
3) When it comes to the ‘Achievable’ aspect of your imperatives make sure your imperatives are lofty or stretching. Push yourself to the limit.
4) Set as many as you want (ex. 10-2012 imperatives) but again, ‘Realistic’ with the actual description of the imperative & amount of imperatives, i.e. anything over 10 Imperatives is harder to manage.
5) Place them in priority or category once you agree with content.
6) Determine the best way to see/review them weekly or daily (Excel, BB/ iPhone).
7) Determine a scoring method.
8) Rate them on a quarterly basis – rating them too fast or too soon is not good.
9) Don’t be too hard on yourself when you rate yourself. Remember the glass is ‘half full’ attitude will encourage you to reach them, whereas rating yourself as a ‘half empty’ will only discourage you.
10) Reward yourself when you reach one. Buy yourself a Snickers candy bar, go fishing with the boys, go shopping in London with the girls or something that actually rewards yourself – this is important.
Consider that this activity is not difficult, however I challenge you to actually ‘sit and think’ for one hour uninterrupted? When was the last time you did this? It is not only good way to establish one’s imperatives but it’s also a proven method to resolve issues you may be faced with. People don’t sit and think any more since we are bombarded with social media, work, family duties and entertainment.
Given that we are still early in the year, remember:
1) There is no better time to ‘sit and think’ about one ‘s 2012 Imperatives
2) Write it down (WID)
3) Imperatives need to be SMART
4) An investment of only one hour can bring multifold ‘dividends’ on a personal basis for 2012.
My blog has additional details to some of these ideas (see below).
Lastly let me leave you with one final piece of advice.
Don’t bother wondering HOW imperatives work!
The explanation is scientific, metaphysical, spiritual, coincidental, driven by luck, unexplainable, all of these or it’s just eerie. The more you ask yourself how it works the more time you waste: IT JUST DOES!
Perhaps William James summarizes the reason why this process works when he reminds us that the average person develops only 10% of his or her latent mental abilities
‘Compared to what we ought to be we are only half awake. We are making use of only a small part of our physical and mental resources.
Stating the thing broadly, human individuals thus live far within their limits. They possess powers of various sorts which they habitually fail to use.’
William James
American Psychologist, Philosopher, Physician and author on concept of pragmatism
(1842 – 1910).
Best wishes for 2012!
Can Romanian brands compete globally? Just ask Inna!
If you missed Zilele Biz I’d like to give you a summary of my presentation. Even if you were there, the stuff below serves as a good reminder for Marketers and leaders alike.
Before I go into the really interesting topic – Inna (Romania’s singing sensation) I would like to draw a parallel on what it takes for your service/product or solution to earn global success. Any of the points below will apply as it does for Inna.
Successful global brand requirements:
1) Talent/Quality
Any product or service (let’s call it ‘product’ for brevity) needs to be top quality or at least needs to be perceived as having unwavering quality. Think of Mercedes or American Express. These companies like others have demonstrated time and time again that quality makes the customer come back.
2) Energy/Sustainability
Your product has to be number one in the ‘hearts and minds’ of your customers that means you need to constantly push away the competition regardless what they throw at you. Nokia which was the best mobile phone company in the early 2000’s slowly ‘got their lunch eaten’ by Blackberry. Now BlackBerry is getting kicked by Iphone. ‘You snooze…you lose’.
3) People; Let me be more specific: Management, team members, partners and suppliers.
It’s all about people. You get the best leader in charge of an organization and magic happens. If you have a tyrant at the head of an organization – you have chaos.
Suppliers can become your most important ally. John F. Love in ‘Behind the arches’ paints a dramatic look on how McDonald’s transformed ‘Mom and Pop’ suppliers into multi-million dollar firms.
4) Marcomms (Marketing Communications), Managing media/Social media initiatives.
This is where the marketing purists do their mixing: the classic and the new; conventional and social media. Be careful however. Social media is not the panacea for all Marcomms. Classical media (TV, print, radio and outdoor) still carry a lot of weight.
5) New Product Development (NPD) and Determination
Take a look at how many times Samsung is launching new products and that will indicate the type of momentum and dizzying pace it takes to stay alive in a market where customers want more speed/features/ time savers and benefits.
6) Luck
In a recent interview Johnny Depp told Larry king that industry experts referred to Depp’s first 20 years of his acting career as ‘ Box office poison’. Then he was offered the role in Pirates of the Caribbean. Depp said ‘Yes I was lucky at that moment but I also knew that if someone gave me the ball… I had to run with it ‘. Luck plays a vital role in business. Question is: Are you ready when luck comes your way?
7) Pride. More on that later.
So how does Inna stack up?
1) Talent/Quality
In an age of music artists that can fake their way to the top, I can assure you this lady can sing. She sings live every moment that she can including live radio interviews (not to mention in 4 languages: Romanian, English French and Spanish). She’s been singing since she was eight years old and still continues to improve herself.
2) Energy/Sustainability
Remember the last time you had a cold/flu? You felt miserable, calling in sick at work and you just wanted to sleep. When you have on average 12 concerts in 12 different countries per month – you can’t ‘call in sick’. In fact you have to sing even with a sore throat. With jet lag, meeting fans, TV/radio interviews, red carpet appearances, meeting fans before the show, sound checks, hair, make-up, performing the show and still meeting fans backstage after the show…’this life isn’t easy’. Inna has more energy than her whole team combined. She cherishes meeting fans after the show, signing autographs and genuinely takes an interest in all of them. She sustains this energy by continuously pushing herself. Here lies the secret of keeping the competition at bay.
3) People
Inna’s Manager is Lucian Stefan. In his twenties, this fellow has the abilities and competencies of a multinational CEO twice his age in my opinion. Lucian has created the right environment and hired a small team to support him including Marian Dorobantu, Creative Director. By team I also mean stakeholders/partners such as Play and Win who are extremely talented: They do the composing, lyrics, production, mixing and the mastering (quite rare) since in the US only one company/entity will do one of these activities – not all four.
Roton is the music label and the core team also includes 4 main suppliers; Edward Aninaru (Photographer), Maria Andrei (Stylist), Camelia Negrea ( Hair) and Andra Manea ( Makeup)…4 vital components to make a singer look/feel her best.
4) Marcomms (Marketing Communications), Managing media/Social media initiatives.
I can’t possibly list all the things they have done in this area however Social media played an important role:
Facebook: 4,005,257 fans or more fans that Gwen Stefani, Nicole Scherzinger and Nelly Furtado. Lucian through his PC skills has mastered the FB Page.
Twitter: Inna does her own Twitter message – clear enough!
As a result fans have created a multitude of FB pages and Twitter address with the name INNA.
Youtube: As you would expect this has been a critical element for a music artist. Lucian would upload all kinds of Inna video moments as well as teasers of songs, albums as well as really cool moments arriving in new countries. Her first song ‘Hot’ has in excess of 110 Million views on YouTube.
Now I’ll be the first one to say to ‘don’t bet all your horses ‘on social media (SM). Classic media like print is also responsible for Inna’s popularity. In her case getting two covers in FHM magazines led her to other significant covers such as Elle, Viva and Forbes magazines.
SM + Classic Marcomms led to endorsements with Microsoft and Pepsi. My suggestion is to really look at this artist as a possible endorser for your products/services.
I will skip New Product Development (NPD) and go straight to pride…my favorite topic.
When Inna lands in a new country she says 2 things:
1) My name is Inna and,
2) I’m Romanian
Not to make this a political tangent but I want to reach out to my fellow Romanians. It is clear to me that Romanians have this ‘thing’ about being assertive (or lack) about their nationality.
Ok Romania has had bad press in the past in other countries as well as its nomadic people. I am the first to say: So what?
As a proud Canadian we also have issues as a nation.
When I speak to investors I tell them about the abundant IT talent in Romania, English skills, tireless and diligent Romanian employees not to mention EU status and funding opportunities Having lived in 9 countries, I see Romania’s huge talent.
Back to Inna and my message. Like Inna, ‘Be a proud Romanian’ and that enthusiasm and pride will become contagious. Inna has diligently used this in her favor.
Pride is the key word here.
Still not convinced? Check out this Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUMLYdPQpgc and help me understand this question:
How can a Romanian have so much influence and reverence in a country like Mexico – a country that still had not commercially sold her songs until the time she landed for the first time?
I have had the pleasure of working with Inna’s management recently and what I discovered was truly amazing.
When you combine talent, energy, the right people, the right Marcomms, NPD, a bit of luck and lot of pride any Romanian brand can compete globally…just ask Inna!
Father forgets
As I was reviewing my 2011 imperatives – the 11 things I wanted to do in 2011, I realized that one of my imperatives ‘Read one book per month’ was not going to happen since I had read only 6. So I got into panic mode because not only do I establish objectives or imperatives but I intend on reaching them. I found a gem… a book that I had not read since 2004. I mean that counts right? That could contribute to my ‘Read one book per month’ imperative?
What I found was not a book but an experience? It’s called ‘How to win friends and influence people ‘ by Dale Carnegie. This is a classic; it was originally written in 1936 but before you write it off by saying ‘yeah but it’s an old book’ what I have learned from personal optimization and peak performance is that no matter how old classics are, we really haven’t changed as people. I mean you won’t find references to Blackberries and Facebook but the way we interact with people has not changed. You read a book in the next twenty years from now about human interactions you will see commonalities as to how people felt in the early 1900’s.
Dale Carnegie suggests to not only read the book but to re-read each chapter, to think about how to apply some of his concepts and practice it – sounds like another imperative for 2011!
I want to share with you a passage that Carnegie found and re-printed in his book. Carnegie wanted to emphasize the point of how parents criticize their children and before they criticize them again, they should read a passage of American journalism that was written by another author, W. Livingston Larned, called ‘Father forgets ‘.
Criticism brings about guilt. Guilt will haunt you. Guilt is only good if you recognize it and as per Carnegie, you learn from it as this passage adequately illustrates.
This passage refers to what a father says to his sleeping son but it applies to mothers too and really anybody that is dear to you. The passage struck me. Read then re-read to get the full effect on why criticism should be avoided.
Enjoy!
Father Forgets
W. Livingston Larned
Listen son: I am saying this as you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under your cheek and the blond curls stickily wet on your damp forehead. I have stolen into your room alone. Just a few minutes ago as I sat reading my paper in the library, a stifling wave of remorse swept over me. Guiltily I came to your bedside.
These are the things I was thinking, son. I had been cross to you. I scolded you as you were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel. I took you to task for not cleaning your shoes. I called out angrily when you threw some of your things on the floor.
At breakfast I found fault too. You spilled things. You gulped down your food. You put your elbows on the table. You spread butter too thick on your bread. As you started off to play and I made for my train you turned and waved a hand and called ‘Good bye Daddy’ and I frowned, and said in reply, ’Hold your shoulders back!’
Then it began all over in the late afternoon. As I came up to the road I spied you, down on your knees, playing marbles. There were holes in your stockings. I humiliated you before your boyfriends by marching you ahead of me to the house. Stockings were expensive – and if you had to buy them you would be more careful! Imagine that, son, from a father!
Do you remember, later, when I was reading in the library, how you came in timidly, with a sort of hurt look in your eyes? When I glanced over my paper, impatient at the interruption, you hesitated at the door, ‘What is it you want?‘ I snapped.
You said nothing, but ran across in one tempestuous plunge, and threw your arms around my neck and kissed me, and your small arms tightened with an affection that God had set blooming in your heart and which even neglect could not wither. And then you were gone, pattering up the stairs.
Well son, it was shortly afterwards that my paper slipped from my hands and a terrible sickening fear came over me. What has habit been doing to me? The habit of finding fault, or reprimanding – this was my reward to you for being a boy. It was not that I did not love you; it was that I expected too much of youth. I was measuring you by the yardstick of my own fears.
And there was so much that was good and fine and true in your character. The little heart of you was as big as the dawn itself over the wide hills. This was shown by your spontaneous impulse to rush in and kiss me good night. Nothing else matters tonight son. I have come to your bedside in the darkness and I have knelt there, ashamed!
It is a feeble atonement; I know you would not understand these things if I told them to you during your waking hours. But tomorrow I will be a real daddy! I will chum with you, and suffer when you suffer, and laugh when you laugh. I will bite my tongue when impatient words come. I will keep saying as if it were a ritual: ‘He is nothing but a boy – a little boy!’
I am afraid I have visualized you as a man. Yet as I see you now, son, crumpled and weary in your cot, I see that you are still a baby. Yesterday you were in your mother’s arms, your head on her shoulder. I have asked too much, too much.
Market Research can really be fun and interesting!
How can I make the topic of Market Research so interesting that it compels you to read this article till the end?
I mean let’s face it reading about Marketing Research (MR) is about as interesting as watching paint dry! And Market Research is for well… researchers right? Not true.
Market research is one more weapon in the Marketing leader’s arsenal that when properly used can make a big difference.
In my ongoing attempt to make Marketing fun yet useable in your day-to-day activities let’s start with a few definitions:
First, textbook definition of Marketing Research (MR);
Systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the company.
Ok, no revelations here but I like the word systematic – more on that later.
Not all MR firms are created equal. You should know that there are different types of research firms to help you:
1) Specialty-line marketing research firms: These are the ones that conduct Field interviewing services.
2) Syndicated-service research firms: Such as Mercury Research, TNS Gallup, Business Monitor. They prepare industry wide studies (ex. Omnibus) that any players in a particular industry can buy and get a barometer of what is happening.
3) Custom marketing (or bespoke) research firm: Examples like IDC Research. With these firms you can ask to find out any information you want, for example “How many pickles per week do obese teenagers consume in Cluj (silly example to make a point). On a more serious note, I was involved in a research project where we had to determine how many large telecoms operators (Orange, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, etc) would use a fiber optic cable for data purposes if it was deployed across Russia (hint: that is a pretty long, expensive cable and a bit tough to install in some frozen parts of Russia).
Primary Vs. Secondary data (Marketing buzz words): That one is easy. Primary data is when you plan to get information through a research firm; this data is paid for, confidential and remains yours. Secondary data can be found on the www and is also referred to as “Desk research” since its free available information on a particular topic (article, white papers, industry reports, etc).
Marketers collect primary data in 4 main ways:
1) Observation. Xerox used to film users to see how easy it was to find the “print” button on a copier machine. Ever notice why the “print “button is big and green now?
2) Focus groups (also referred as qualitative data) .This is cool and I strongly suggest that if you are NOT in Marketing that you participate as a listener behind the two way mirror. Essentially a moderator interviews 6-8 people (paid to attend and to give their opinions) to discuss their views on a products. In many case INSIGHTS are revealed which is another MR tool. I call these insights the A-HA! moments. The A-HA ! moment is when you hear a customer describe a situation or need from your product or service that you had not realized in the past – sort of a new way to use your product in everyday use.
3) Surveys, referred logically as quantitative data. Normally sample sizes are approximately 1200 people with an interviewer conducting a face to face interview or at times using a computer (CATI) or the web to interview people to get their opinions.
4) Behavioral data. Tesco in the UK through their card memberships and store scanning data can develop a campaign to get you back in the store and buy something based on your past consumption behavior – that is a really cool too.
OK, so I’ve described some of the basic tools and concepts.
Here is where I get the attention of both Marketers and non Marketers:
There are times when Market Research cannot /will not help you:
1) “Analysis Paralysis”. You spend too much time on getting/reading/digesting the data that you cannot make a decision. You often hear ”Well I don’t know… after all the research told us that we should not go into this business or market “. Solution: Use the research for what it is; additional information about the market and opinions of users. Remember research does not make decisions, leaders make decisions!
2) Poor framing of the problem. What was the purpose of research in the first place? Anybody who was read the story and fiasco of New Coke knows that the researchers “asked the wrong question” (see Exponential Marketing, Paul Garrison). It was not a matter of asking if people wanted to change the taste of Coca-Cola but rather asking people what Coke represented for them. Because they were asking the wrong questions this lead to a dramatic change in their strategy and almost killed Coke in the process.
My suggestion is here is that you need to really sit down and frame the problem carefully. I tell my clients (CMOs) to invest the time in preparing and getting involved in the brief. Only from there can you define a proper brief for the MR firm to get the data you need.
When you invest this time at the outset, you become crystal clear as to what you want and this makes it easier for the research company to find the answers you seek. Besides a few minutes in brief preparation time can avoid damage control in hours/days of research that comes back meaningless (and costly).
3) Poor execution. OK you found the best research method, the MR firm and you have spent time preparing the brief. Then the results come in and your MR team tells you with a great deal of pride…”look at all the important data” as they plop the research on your desk. You have a natural interest to read it and you think to yourself ‘Hold on here…what are the conclusions?” Once again the team tells you …”Well look at the Executive summary”!
The next logical question you need to ask the team as a leader is SO WHAT?
The team has to understand that just getting the job done technically is only a part of the execution. They need to read/ understand/process and suggest to the Marketing leader what the company needs to do next. Now that is what I call value add and empowering the team.
Suggestion: Tell the MR team that they have to “live” and understand this new information so much that they have to defend or confirm the direction that this new data is implying.
If they cannot defend the direction then this means a) they have not been empowered to do so or b) they feel that their job as a research team has been completed. In both case this is the wrong answer.
I promised you earlier that I would come back to the word “systematic”. All that means is that you have 1) a method, 2) the MR resources, 3) your involvement, 4) uncovered insights or A-Ha moments, 5) a plan to execute.
Market Research seems terribly simple to a point where you may feel to put it on Auto-pilot.
However the more time you invest in it, the more you get out of it. At one point when you discover that cool A-HA! moment that can seemingly kill your competitor you will look back and say to yourself…”You know Market Research was fun after all”.
Did I convince you?
