In light of the recent tension from WikiLeaks and the holiday season, I find myself wondering, “Where is the love?” 

An article I read today from Fast Company addresses the recent embarrassing confidential information released by WikiLeaks, telling executive to remain guarded and assume the worst from those they don’t trust.  On the verge of the holiday season, I feel that rather than solely shielding ourselves against others, businesses and executive should take this opportunity to spread some cheer. 

This seems like an appropriate time to bring up an article I found on CNN.com called “8 feel-good websites to brighten you day”  which simply describes and provides links to 8 websites that can bring a smile to our faces.  The question is how can businesses create ways to make their customers and followers feel good, and in term stimulate good reputation and possibly sales?

While it isn’t exactly relevant for businesses to have RSS feeds of “happy news” for the day, maybe if we try to remind consumers that we’re people too with interests and concerns they’ll feel a stronger bond to the company.  Establishing a connection with followers is like making friends- sharing common interests and bonding over them.  Does an entire campaign need to revolve around making consumers happy?  Maybe for larger businesses where consumer reviews are easily found online, but for smaller businesses blogging, tweeting and even using Facebook can bring the extra humanism to a consumer’s experience.

As long as it remains appropriate, businesses shouldn’t be reluctant to share things they care about or ideas that they find interesting to stir conversation and thought.  Keep the thought in mind when working over the holidays, maybe the smallest pleasant gesture towards clients can create a big impact for your company’s reputation, as well as moving your clients to spread the cheer too!

Tina Walsh
Marketing Coordinator

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A few weeks ago I read an article from Fast Company called, “The Future of Advertising” that made me feel unnecessarily anxious about the future of marketing, rather than amazed by the transforming industry.  If you made it through the whole article (or if not) you may also feel this concern that seems a bit melodramatic in response to the digital age’s heavy influence on the future of advertising.  Let’s take a deep breath and dissect this down to the basics:

• Some marketers are freaking out (honestly) because of digital technology altering the way we advertise.  Former CEO of ad agency Marsteller, Andy Nibley[DW1]  stated, “Is there any industry I get involved in that doesn’t get destroyed by digital technology?”  Here is where the problem lies for all of the beyond-stressed advertisers out there- digital technology is not destroying the advertising industry, it’s changing it.  Mind you, these are big changes and a great amount of learning and resilience involves the success of moving through the transformation.  But acceptance is the key.  Digital technology will not destroy advertising, but it will force agencies to think on their feet and use raw creativity.  As opposed to destruction, the ad industry will expand and reach new possibilities that clients can only dream of, while marketers bring them to life.
• “The death of mass marketing means the end of lazy marketing.”  This statement leads me to question, when was lazy marketing ever okay?  And, not to be harsh, but good riddance to those who just wanted to squeak by, providing only the minimal services to clients.  The digital age has opened up the marketing industry to social media, websites, online ads, search, applications, and many other options now available for implementation.  With so many choices, visibility is not necessary on all fronts, just those that are effective.  Rather than mass marketing, the industry is moving into mass customization where marketers must determine what mediums work best for business and apply those practices, rather than spreading their budgets too thin.  Digital technology also enables consumers to be marketers, which can be rewarding or disastrous depending on the way marketers use the information.  Active marketers (as opposed to lazy ones) will find consumer reviews and leverage them by presenting the good and addressing the bad head on.  Anyone thinking Domino’s?
• It’s time to tighten up.  Not only as a result of the economy, but also the new tools available to marketers, cost-free.  Social media leaves many executives wondering why marketing budgets must increase, and feel a need to scale back on activities and talent.  Now more than ever is it vital for marketers to expose their creativity, as much of the industry scare is related to older, dare I say outdated and outmoded advertising (and thinking) models that haven’t kept up with the times.  Marketing as a whole is changing as digital grows stronger and stronger.  Creativity, talent, practicality and adaptability will be allowed to thrive.  Marketing isn’t a profession that requires formal continuing education, but the most successful are those who keep themselves ahead in the game.

 So, are you still anxious or do you feel a bit better?  Marketing and the advertising industry are certainly taking a drastic turn, but there is so much to take advantage of through the use of great new tools that simplify tasks and new ways to satisfy customers through social media.  Leveraging change, rather than rejecting it will be the ultimate divide between those who succeed and those who sink under the pressure of the digital revolution.

Tina Walsh
Marketing Coordinator

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Aside from the traditional media attacking The Gap as a result of its sudden and drastic logo change, social media tops off the attack with @GapLogo and @OldGapLogo, parody Twitter sites stirring up buzz by arguing their sides of which logo should come out on top.  The uprising against the new logo became so strong that Gap finally went back to its original logo, tweeting,

“We’ve heard you.  We only want what’s best for Gap.  No crowd sourcing, but the Blue Box is back”

The respective responses from @GapLogo and @OldGapLogo:

“This is for you, @Gap.  Take me back!  Please! Listening to Take That – Back for Good ♫ http://blip.fm/~xcfd3”

“Well…looks like my work here is done.  Peace.  I’m out”

Parody accounts on Twitter are not new to the world of social media, but their targets and uses continue to transform into tools for voicing concern and distaste with many large corporations aside from the Gap.

Two examples of parody Twitter accounts that target corporations include @BPGlobalPR and @ceoSteveJobs.  @ceoSteveJobs pokes fun at issues that Apple faces, including iPhone4 complications, mediocre service from AT&T, and the highly intimidating persona of Steve Jobs.  @BPGlobalPR is much graver, as it eerily makes jokes from the point of view of BP executives, such as

“In Space, nobody can hear you scream. So quit hollering and taking pictures you stupid astronauts! http://ow.ly/21saV”

While humorous, does the account move beyond the zone of poking fun and spreading awareness to simply using fear and dark sarcasm to inform?

I do not follow any parody Twitter accounts at this time, nor have I begun to follow any of the parody accounts discovered from the creation of this post.  While humorous, it’s unsettling to me to participate in the negativity that such accounts promote.  I stand behind the idea related to @ceoSteveJobs and @GapLogo and @OldGapLogo that if you don’t like the product, then don’t use it.  Regarding more serious issues, such as that of the gulf crisis, I would rather focus my energy on efforts that directly foster progress and improvement. 

The flip side of such accounts is that they offer informational content.  Viewing a parody account informs the reader of all activities taking place for the corporation—and none of the information is sugar coated.  Rather than searching through news sites, viewers can simply click on articles within tweets to learn more about the corporations’ latest happenings.  The same can be said of shows such as The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.  Both shows use satire and comedy to inform people to stir thought and engagement in current events.  These Twitter parody accounts can serve they same purpose, but I wonder if sometimes the snarkiness takes away the value?

What is Twitter’s take on the creation of such accounts?  They fully support users’ self expression, so long as they do not abuse the Terms of Service and make an effort to follow the guidelines for parody accounts.  Guidelines include creating a username and profile name that are not exactly similar to the parodied item, the bio distinguishes itself from the real identity, and communication with followers and users is not intended to deceive or mislead.  This is where the difference between Twitter parodies and shows like The Colbert Report lies; there is transparency with the shows, and the honor system with a policy for good behavior on Twitter.

What does this mean for corporate executives of medium to large sized businesses? Businesses will have to monitor the popularity of parody accounts, or perhaps avoid their creation in the first place by satisfying customer grievances before they assemble/congregate into hate groups.  For companies like BP, the issue goes far deeper (pun intended) than customer service, but following social networks that parody the company are a good place to connect to what people think and feel about their brand.

Tina Walsh
Marketing Coordinator

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In my last post regarding affiliate marketing, I brought up the question of whether an affiliate marketer can make a full living off of affiliate models.  The people behind The Third Tribe, who offer an affiliate marketing program, do not believe affiliate marketing is successful without incorporation into a larger strategy pipeline.  In a phone seminar between Johnny Truant and Sophie Simone, they highlight the difficulties that are not so apparent when “Average Joe” signs up for an affiliate program.  Some topics of their conversation include,

• Johnny’s irritation with Google Adsense: Affiliate marketers often make a number of cents for each sale or click that comes from their site.  Google Adsense does not pay marketers until they have reached $100, which took Johnny nine months.
• The products to promote are the ones with personal meaning.  Knowing a product’s creator and having used the product yourself, it’s easiest to communicate genuinely about the usefulness and benefits of the product.  Readers can tell the different between a sincere suggestion and phony sales pitches.  A connection to the product results in an earnest description and more clicks and sales from viewers.
• Communicating genuinely to readers builds trusts and causes them to become loyal to your site.   Loyal readers are more likely to click links from your site that you recommend, rather than the ones that simply interest them, because they trust your knowledge.  They will also recommend your site to their peers, resulting in a growing base of loyal followers.

Without a relationship as the connective tissue between a product and readers, affiliate marketers find that generating sales is much harder than anticipated.  Some most basic affiliate models, such as the Barnes and Noble or Tea Forte models in my previous post, allow an affiliate to choose links to set up on their site, but if they don’t have a true understanding and fondness for the product, they will not generate revenue and will ultimately abandon the product.

Does it seem like The Third Tribe is hypocritical with its criticism of affiliate marketing when it has its own affiliate model?  Its model is different enough that it’s their form of an improvement of the models they describe.  Third Tribe’s affiliate model is not built for affiliates to generate revenue; it’s a tool to bring down monthly costs to maintain a Third Tribe membership by referencing friends.

I think Third Tribe gets it right when they place strategy at the center of affiliate marketing. It also seems to me that a healthy dose of skepticism and distance from your own approach is a good thing, opening doors for improvements and innovation that can lead to greater success. In this regard, I think Third Tribe’s exploration is insightful and useful to anyone considering “cashing in” on affiliate marketing.

Tina Walsh
Marketing Coordinator
RedZebraWorks

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Recently I’ve been researching revenue sharing, specifically affiliate marketing- a concept where a business rewards its partners (affiliates) with money depending on clicks, leads, or sales generated.  Many average Internet users see affiliate marketing as a way to make easy money.

A blogger or Web site owner simply has to partner up with a business, create a landing page or set up banner ads, add in the right key words to attract interested users, and wait for the cash to roll in.  This new profit model has dawned a new group of “average Joe” marketers, making a profit for themselves along with prospects for businesses.

Businesses create their own models of affiliate programs to best suit their objectives for the marketing scheme:

Barnes and Noble (B&N) offers a 6% sales commission on a variety of products that affiliate marketers may choose to advertise on their sites.  Affiliates simply follow the steps to apply banner ads to their page, receive their monthly commission in increments of $100 from Google Adsense.  B&N targets the authors of books as a way to promote their pieces through their Web sites and generate company revenue.

Tea Forte offers affiliates a 10% commission on all sales, providing banner ads, product choices, and links to include in their Web sites.  Their program is more neutral than B&N or Third Tribe (which I discuss below) in their use of LinkShare, a provider of online marketing solutions that creates and manages an affiliate program to meet the needs of the company.

The Third Tribe offers 33% commission per month for each (active) referral membership.  Third Tribe uses affiliate marketing as a way for members to reduce their own monthly membership fee and earn additional income; in order to successfully gain a profit, affiliates would need at least four new or recurring referred members each month.

The varying models of business to consumer affiliate marketing stir a number of questions:

How does affiliate marketing generate new sales (in addition to passive income), rather than redirecting interested customers through different channels to purchase?

Can an affiliate marketer make a full living off of these models?

How does affiliate marketing fit into a business’s sales pipeline?

Questions or thoughts? Let me know what you think.

Tina Walsh
Marketing Coordinator
RedZebraWorks

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I started to notice that my energy was diminishing over the course of a workday. I wasn’t sure why I was feeling so tired, but then I realized that when I have gym time planned into my busy day, it seems I’m more productive in everything I do.

I started my Monday off knowing that I have spinning class with my triathlon coach at 7 in the morning, work, and then yoga class. After my spin class, I got ready for work and felt like I could accomplish anything. When I got to work I realized I need to write a blog post. So here I am, feeling wide awake ready to get things done and I come across an article on Entrepreneur.com called Physical Fitness Is Good for Business: Use these lessons from triathlon training to improve your work performance.

Perfect. This is exactly how I’m feeling today, so I just want to summarize the article and relate it to the work we do at RedZebraWorks.

Some analogies between entrepreneurship and endurance sports:

• Strategic Planning: How do I approach the race, event, or marketing campaign?
• Competition: Who are my rivals? How can I beat them? What qualities do I have that they don’t?
• Measurements: Am I improving my times, stroke efficiency, product sales, or brand awareness?
• Transition Management: How efficiently do I move between race segments, projects steps, and how is my site’s optimization?
• Financial Investments: How much should I spend on race gear? How much of my resources should I allocate to social media or eMarketing?
• Contingency Plan: What’s plan B if I fall on my face or our marketing strategies don’t get the results we hoped for?

The author, Aaron Kwittken, also gives a list of tips to achieve your Game Plan (or Marketing Plan):

• Look for inspiration: Subscribe to a magazine or email newsletter that relates to your industry.
• Start out with a small goal: Allow for more reliable growth by starting small and building up. An Ironman doesn’t start off competing in an Ironman.
• Set Goals: Always set performance based goals, something that is measurable. Always attempt to be better.
• Never become a Did Not Finish: No matter what setbacks you encounter, you always need to finish. Even if you fall off course, just keep picturing that finish line.

This article left me feeling like I am making good choices in my life, both personally and professionally. What do you do to stay motivated at work?

Julie Novak
Marketing Coordinator
RedZebraWorks

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I was on my Twitter account the other day and saw a Tweet about focus groups being dead for Ad Agencies. I was curious because we were talking about them in my marketing class, so I clicked on the link.

The post on fuelingnewbusiness.com is interesting to me not because I’m surprised that focus groups are becoming less relevant, but because if I’m learning about that in my class, there’s some kind of disconnect. A quote from the article says, “Our industry will experience more change in the next 5 years than we have in the past 50.”

That means by the time I graduate and get a “real job”, the changes in the marketing and advertising industry will be completely different. Marketing is changing now more than ever, people are getting thrifty with their techniques. Social media is playing a huge role in this, because it’s very cheap, you can connect with consumers on a more personal level and in return gain more insight than you ever could by sitting people in a room that is totally unnatural and asking them questions.

Dana asked me the other day, “Have you talked about anything you learned here at work in class yet?” I said, “Honestly, no.” I’m really hoping that Drexel does have a marketing class that focuses on eMarketing and some more recent methods. I’m not sure if it does though.

I suggest that colleges should have a class dedicated to comparing what was marketing like 5 years ago? 2 years ago? Last year? And compare that to what’s going on right now- what might be going on next year and what we think will be going on when we graduate. I understand that it’s critical to learn “The History of Marketing” and a lot of the basics are still relevant. But where’s the innovation and forward thinking?

For an industry that is constantly changing and evolving, why aren’t our marketing classes changing with it? Does anyone know of a marketing class that discusses current trends and methods?

Julie Novak
Marketing Coordinator
RedZebraWorks

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