ADvice
Here's our two cents in marketing. Of course,
we write it in the hope that you'll find it more
valuable than that. Like 10 or even 20 dollars'
worth of good advice.
What Happens in Vegas . . . ?
West Cary Group is a firm believer that, no matter how many awards a marketing and communications agency has won or clients it’s wooed, there’s always more to learn if you want to remain a leader in the marketing world.
So when the Global Strategic Management Institute’s Social Media Strategies Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada rolled around in early February, our goal was to gain even more knowledge in the digital space. In this case, we wanted to get the most current insights on leveraging social media to boost our clients’ business and bolster their brands.
We sent Camille Blanchard, Vice President, Account Services, and Rachal Hansen, Senior Account Manager, to Sin City and prayed they’d come back with more than a robust knowledge of knowing when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em. They didn’t let us down. For three days, they became astute students of the latest in social media methodology. The three nights, we didn’t ask about.
To continue with this theme of three, we offer marketers three of the many social media gems Rachal and Camille brought back to share with the West Cary Group team:
1. Make every day Valentine’s Day. Have you ever been on a date and all the other person talked about was him or herself? Next thing you know, you’re left bored, annoyed and wondering if you can politely excuse yourself in just enough time to see who got booted from Top Chef. Social media can and should be about romance, so turn your soulless customer relationship into a loving courtship and entice your clients to stay.
2. Your small business is as big as your most targeted social media campaign. Social media is a brilliant, cost-effective means of delivering hard-hitting marketing campaigns. When strategically targeted toward your core audience, it can be a way to deeply engage with your customers, and you don’t have to have the budget of your wealthier, better-known competitors.
Just take a look at Smash Burger – up from three Denver locations in 2007 to 150 locations nationwide in 2012. In 2009, it amped up its social media activity by posting customer recipes on Facebook and Twitter and featuring giveaways, coupons and trivia contests. In short, it started a conversation with its customers. Followers increased, then sales, then locations, then … boom!
What was that sound?! Social media. Leveling the playing field.
3. Social media can influence consumer decision-making. Think of it as brand interception influencing brand perception. True story: a team member at West Cary Group was on a popular cleanse program that claimed to not make you tired like other diets. Three days in, she had to take naps during the day like a one-year-old, was close to ordering a whole pizza for herself for breakfast and took to Twitter to gripe. Not three hours after she tweeted, a representative of the program personally responded with ways to curb her appetite in a healthy way and stick to the cleanse.
What a powerful way to show that the company: a) paid attention to its customers, b) cared about its customers, and c) was smart enough about its business to inject its ideas into the conversation. Long story short: no pizza was ordered that morn, and by the end of the cleanse she had lost seven pounds and felt healthier than she had in years. But more than that, she will always have a high regard for the brand that took the time to listen to her.
Rachal and Camille brought back many more pearls of social media wisdom that our agency will use to strengthen its digital offerings, but they’re for West Cary Group to know and for our clients to benefit from. Because if there’s one thing we knew long before the Social Media Strategies Summit, it’s that it’s never good to show your entire hand. And we never had to step foot in Vegas for that one.
Contact West Cary Group about our experience in digital services.
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How to Reign in Rogue Tweets
When The Redner Group got into hot water for sending a tweet in retaliation for bad reviews of a video game launch they’re representing, Duke Nukem Forever (#AlwaysBetOnDuke too many went too far with their reviews . . . we r reviewing who gets games next time and who doesn’t based on today’s venom), they taught marketers a great deal. Unfortunately, it’s a great deal about what not to do when using Twitter. So for marketers, how to avoid a ruinous Tweet?
1. Have a designated tweeter. We spend so much time educating ourselves on our brand voice, style and image that we need to remember the rules still apply here—and perhaps doubly so because of the potential audience. The person who tweets should be well-versed on what is acceptable or unacceptable to say as the social voice of the company and follow the guidelines accordingly.
2. If you don’t have anything nice to say… Turns out mom was right. If you have a tweet that might be deemed insensitive, malicious or rude, it’s best to keep it to yourself. And if you’re still itching to tell someone, save it for small talk with your best friend instead of sharing it with the world.
3. Think twice. And then think again. Then ask a friend. Before you click that Tweet button, ask yourself, “Would I say this in a meeting with clients?” or “Would I ask this at a business dinner?” Chances are if you have to stop and ask, you wouldn’t. Trust your gut.
4. Hold yourself and others accountable. There are repercussions to every action. If someone tweets an objectionable tweet there needs to be a swift public apology and a fitting punishment for the offending party.
5. Spin a negative into a positive. Mistakes happen. So when a rogue tweet is unleashed, think of a way in which it can be used for good. For instance, on February 17th, 2011 this tweet appeared on the American Red Cross twitter feed: “Ryan found 2 more 4 bottle packs of Dogfish Head’s Midas Touch beer…. When we drink we do it right #gettngslizzerd”.
It was posted by a worker who misused Hootsuite, but Dogfish Head used the situation as a way to get fans of their beer to raise money for the Red Cross. They set up a donation account and used the used the hash-tag “gettngslizzerd” to reach the masses.
When it comes to Tweets, marketers should think beyond the immediate—which Twitter is built on—and stay focused on the future, which it also affects. Twitter is a fantastic way to give a company a voice. We just have to make sure it’s saying the right thing.
Toaster Pastries and Marketing
When it came to hurricanes, executives at Walmart knew that ice and beer were big sellers. But it took truly predictive technology to unearth the power of the toaster pastry. It turns out that Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts sales increase around seven times their normal rate, pre-hurricane. And not just any Pop-Tarts – strawberry flavored! Thanks to this insight, jam-packed trucks filled with jam-packed pastries are right on the heels of The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore to every storm-threatened shore.
Now apply this same logic to marketing. What if, instead of simply responding to client marketing requests, you anticipated your clients’ marketing needs for the future?
If your marketing and communications agency is similar to WCG’s, your clients operate in a highly competitive, sometimes global landscape that is constantly shifting. They rely on you to keep them ahead of changing customer needs. One way to do this is by demonstrating you’re experts in the digital field.
Do your digital research. When a Fortune 500 client approached WCG to discover how to successfully prime its marketing techniques for the changing mobile landscape, we got to work. With the assistance of our sister agency, hawkeye, we painstakingly collected data from key landscapes, topical case studies and competitive marketing reviews to identify the best strategy for its insurance business. Then we presented all the information we collected, along with powerful suggestions for future mobile strategies.
Put your best digital foot forward. In efforts to win an account with the Henrico Economic Development Authority (EDA), one of WCG’s most persuasive tactics was demonstrating how we could leverage analytics and measurement and reporting services with our electronic marketing savvy to bring its marketing into the future. Our capability for creating compelling campaigns by seamlessly integrating digital channels with traditional ones was one of the chief reasons WCG was named Agency of Record for Henrico EDA.
Showcase your digital expertise. One way WCG has highlighted our digital capabilities is with the newly launched RVA Creates campaign—a collaborative effort between The Martin Agency, VCU Brandcenter, Elevation, J H I, The Hodges Partnership and Venture Richmond to promote Virginia’s Capital as the Capital of Creativity.
Noting the growing trend of users seeking to be active participants in marketing, WCG helped design the RVA Generator—a web tool that enables users to import personal pictures of people, places or things that are uniquely Richmond and uniquely creative. It’s just one digital component of this collaborative effort. Each partner promoted the RVA Generator via Facebook and Twitter, and, tracking our progress via Google Analytics, WCG discovered the RVA Creates site has been viewed over 4,300 times in its early existence.
Which brings us to another point: while traditional marketing mediums usually aren’t enough—they rarely are in this technological age—neither is educated guesswork. Quantifiable data is the true path to business progress. That’s why WCG painstakingly gathers, synthesizes, tracks and measures data. Through our findings, we’re able to develop brand extensions, channel enrichment and ROI-maximizing strategies for our clients and rich experiences for their customers that attract new and repeat business.
Ultimately, it’s a digital marketing world. In order to maintain a leadership position, you always have to do your research. Anticipation of the future based on concrete data, not reaction to the present—that’s the name of the modern marketing game. And it’s a good thing: who would want to live in a world where you have to suffer through a hurricane without the comfort of a gooey strawberry-flavored pastry treat?
Not you? We didn’t think so.
Positive Customer Experience has WCG Staffers Flying High
It’s safe to say that international coach flying can be a beating. With the endless check–ins and extensive pat–downs (at least buy me dinner first), it’s enough to make you want to either stay home or fashion your luggage into a flotation device and make a swim for it.
That is, unless a client requests a last–minute video shoot in London. Then…it’s go time.
Lucky for WCG’s Blair Keeley and Rachal Hansen, the duo booked back–to–back flights on Virgin Atlantic–and learned firsthand the difference between flying and flying high.
Inspired by his stellar flight experience, Blair creates a new superhero: The Masked Super Virgin.
“When a company like Virgin Atlantic improves its business practices in order to alter the unfavorable reputation of air travel, you can’t help but take notice,” said Blair. “And when it improves them from the first touch point to the last, you can’t help but take notes.”
Note #1: Be prepared. This one may seem like a gimme, but it’s surprising how many companies offer great products or services and are inept at delivering, sullying a reputation from the beginning. Virgin hit the ground running by creating a hassle–free boarding experience. Normally during the boarding process, it’s enter at your own risk. Stampedes break out, and old ladies with canes will not hesitate to deliver efficient elbows if it means making it to the front of the line. But Virgin Atlantic was prepared, with three separate lines to board according to seat location, and a 350–seat plane was ready to go in less than 20 minutes. That first impression set a nice tone for the rest of the flight.
Note #2: Be proactive.Customers won’t always send verbal signals that something’s wrong. Sometimes it’s just a look on their face. Anytime anyone on board the Virgin flight looked slightly uncomfortable, there was a flight attendant on the spot asking what he or she could do to help. And when the question was asked, it was always followed up with a “yes, ma’am” or “no, sir” and a smile.
Note #3: Be progressive. Every business can get a leg up on the competition by using technology to its advantage in creative ways. On the back of every seat, Virgin has installed TV screens that operate
A sea of TV screens and video game controllers were visible throughout the plane.
Note #4: Be polite. Sometimes it isn’t about the fanciest technology or the latest gadgets—it’s about good old–fashioned kindness and courtesy. When Blair noticed the Airbus A380 (the largest passenger airline in the world) sitting on the runway, he excitedly brought it to Rachal’s attention. Rachal couldn’t have been less interested, but the flight attendant who sat across from Blair struck up an instant conversation, talking about Virgin’s business and fleet–something Blair had an obvious interest in. Later, on the return flight when Blair and Rachal were checking in at the terminal, they were immediately swarmed by a sea of Virgin red coats, asking if they needed assistance–all made possible by a simple red tag Virgin put on its customers’ luggage to make them easily identifiable.
At every level, when Virgin Atlantic saw the opportunity to enhance customer experience, it did. In doing so, it provided an informative road map for heightened customer service, won business fans for life and made a chilly trans–Atlantic swim seem far less appealing.
Age (Diversity) is More than a Number
Think about your neighborhood, the business community, our country. Nothing looks like it did 20 or even 10 years ago. The world is changing at an extraordinary pace, and the faces are different. There’s much more diversity.
For savvy marketing companies, cultural diversity isn’t simply an ethical imperative, but a way to connect with global customers who have different needs and perspectives. But there’s another valuable diversity to champion in agencies, as well—age diversity.
If you doubt the importance of this issue, consider this: there are three outstanding age groups that drive markets—Baby Boomers, Generation Xers and Millennials—and the largest gap in age spans almost 40 years. Oooooh, what a difference 40 years can make.
Now, I’m “hip,” as the kids say (do they still say that?). Born on the outskirts of Generation X, I feel like I have at least a big toe in this emerging market. I use the word “emerging” because Marshal Cohen, Chief Industry Analyst at market research firm The NPD Group, reports that teens today are spending approximately 6% to 8% more than they were a year ago. However, I got a rude awakening at the most unlikely of places—the Visiting Nurse Association Rummage Sale in Somerset Hills, New Jersey.
I was there diving into various vinyl bins, salivating with each uncovered jewel. Led Zeppelin! Nat King Cole!! Fleetwood Mac!!! Ella Fitzgerald!!!!!! The Psychedelic Furs!!!! Prince!!!!!! OH, MY!!!!!! Then I heard a female voice behind me.
“It’s called a record,” she said, “and what you do is put it on a thing called a turntable. It spins, and when you put a needle on it, the songs play out of a speaker.”
I turned and saw that she was talking to her son, who couldn’t have been older than 13. I, in contrast, had never felt older in my life.
Valuable lessons were learned that day: a) Age affects buying trends in more ways than imagined; b) In order for marketers to gain a greater understanding of these buying trends, we should innovate in a work environment that represents these differences; and c) It’s possible that I’m not as young as I think I am.
Fundamentally, agencies should pay as much attention to their generational make-up as they do their cultural diversity. The more their staffs can mimic the variations in consumers, the greater their inherent understanding of target audiences, and the more precise their campaigns can be.