Back in December, I blogged about where the future of marketing is headed, including the factor that firms will be tightening up their marketing teams and budgets.  Marketers will be forced to leverage their creativity to stay in the game.

An article from Time Magazine has exposed a psychological study that may help marketers foster that creativity very simply—good music and viral videos!

Participants in a study at the University of Western Ontario were separated into 3 groups:

• The first group listened to an upbeat Mozart piece and watched a video of a laughing baby.
• The second group listened to music from Schindler’s List and watched news about an earthquake.
• The third group listened to music and watched a video that were shown not to affect mood.

All participants were asked to learn to recognize a pattern that existed in a given problem.  The results?  The first group performed much better at discerning the pattern than the negative or neutral setting groups.

So what does this mean for workers, namely marketers?  Music could be their first step in easing the tension to innovate.  It’s important to “get in the zone” when working on an important project, and music may be the extra kick in getting creative juices flowing.  This isn’t to say that headphones should be in all day or offices should be blasting Pandora for everyone to hear (and deal with), but in the moments we really need to pump out great content, copy, strategy and more, we might as well pump up the jams.

In addition to the right music stimulating your productivity and creative abilities, positive videos also seem to have a good effect based on the study.  Obviously YouTube has plenty of content to boost your mood and in consequence your creativity, but for content slightly more work-friendly, sites like Mashable.com, Cnn.com, and FastCompany.com all feature videos with content that can be fun, interesting and relate to work.  During your lunch break or in the morning before diving into the workday, watch a video while you check your email for the extra positivity boost.

Do you think multimedia will become a ritual mood enhancer in your workday?

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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In an increasingly competitive setting for landing employment, social media provides a useful tool for prospective interviewees gaining information about their possible employers.  Mashable.com shares an article that gives useful tips for interview preparation moving beyond a corporation’s website by analyzing blogs, Twitter pages, and LinkedIn.  Do any of these tactics cross the line between company research and invasion of employee privacy?

From each section, I’ve pinpointed some of the most important takeaways:

LinkedIn

A company’s LinkedIn profile offers information, such as new hires, specialties, and related companies where past employees may have previously worked.  Research of the LinkedIn profile helps interviewees develop more insightful questions to rise during the interview, along with possible personal connections to the company that one may not have realized existed.  Helpful questions to ask oneself when exploring a firm’s LinkedIn page include,

“How long do most people stay with the company?  Where do they go after?  Do all current employees share similar credentials?”

Corporate Blogs, Facebook, and Twitter

Companies may have news releases and relevant information on their website, but how do they directly communicate with their audience?  Many firms share their progression on campaigns, events they plan to attend, and articles or news on topics they find interesting and significant through Facebook and Twitter accounts.  Corporate blogs offer a more detailed view into common thoughts and opinions the firm wants its followers to consider.  Contemplate the objective of a company’s blog: Does it focus on its own accomplishments and events, or does it communicate information that relates to a certain subject that isn’t the company itself? 

Employee Blogs and Social Networking Accounts

Employees are the key drivers of an organization, so their personal blogs and social networking accounts provide insight about the way they may go about handling their work.  This information can be especially useful for determining how well one may fit with the company, but should not be plunged into too deep during the interview, as it may be unsettling for interviewers to discuss their personal life in a business setting. 

While it may be beneficial to follow executives of an organization, I feel it is almost an invasion of privacy to track down employees from a site, like LinkedIn, and then access their personal thoughts through Twitter or Facebook.  It’s certainly important to understand a firm’s general environment to determine fit, but it becomes eerie when an applicant finds themselves walking into an interview recognizing and knowing the employees, when the knowledge is not reciprocal.  There is a part of me that doesn’t want to understand the company too much more than they understand me, especially on a personal level.  Think about the opposite side of these tips; a firm can now search its applicants on Facebook and Twitter, tapping straight into their personal lives.

With companies using resources like Facebook and Twitter for corporate promotion, it only makes sense to dig a little deeper and find more information.  Competition is fierce, and it will be interesting to see the way that individuals fare through gained knowledge from these sights, as well as the way firms will manipulate them to attract the best applicants.

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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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Today I was reading an article on Mashable.com about a WTFJeans, an innovative style of jeans made to hold all of your gadgets. The target audience is “geeks”, as they put it on the website. But I think the creators are underestimating the amount of consumers who would buy these. Right now they only have one style for men and one style for women. I wouldn’t be surprised if WTFJeans starts expanding the collection after these are all sold because they are so practical for everyone.

The jeans feature a pocket to hold your iPhone or iPod Touch and a hidden pocket to carry a memory stick. Not only do they have a pocket to protect your iPhone, there is micro-fiber lining the pocket to clean your phone when you take it out. They’re making a limited amount that you can order online in 3 stages. The BETA version is the first 100 sold in March. The Early Bird sale starts right after the BETA, only 400 pairs available. The last set of WTFJeans doesn’t come out until August or September apparently, and people can only order whatever sizes are left.

They are only promoting the jeans online, because that’s where their customers are, obviously. There’re using a combination of blogging, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to show everyone the creative process of making the jeans.

It’s very interesting how fashion and technology are becoming integrated. Obviously technology is a huge part of a lot of peoples’ lives, and that’s not going to change anytime soon. I know I’m not the only one who feels disconnected from the world when I forget my cell phone. These jeans make carrying your phone or iPod a lot more convenient. I don’t know how many times I was going somewhere and had to carry a purse just because my phone doesn’t fit in my pockets.

I’m curious to see if features like this will start popping up in other clothing pieces. Have you seen any other companies creating clothes with technology in mind? Did you or do you plan on buying WTFJeans?

Julie Novak
Marketing Coordinator
RedZebraWorks

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