Want to know what Responsible Marketing is about but don’t have the time to read our white paper on the topic?
Well, here’s “The 7 Keys to Responsible Marketing in 2 Minutes,” featuring the characters you’ve grown to love (or hate) in our Responsible Marketing web shorts.
There ya go—with a video that short, now everyone has time to learn about Responsible Marketing. Share away. 
Yesterday, I received a lumpy mailer from a company I’d never heard of. Normally I give unsolicited mail about the same amount of consideration you probably do—a few seconds.
But since it was, well, lumpy, and delivered via FedEx I opened it. Here’s what I found:
On one side, it says “Yes, these are real grasshoppers. They’ve even been approved by the FDA of Thailand.”
On the other side:
You’re a risk-taker, a dream-realizer. What’s left to do that you haven’t already done? Eat a grasshopper. They’re farm raised, covered in chocolate and rich in protein. So, not only will you be breaking boundaries, but you’ll be eating healthy, too.
The attached tag included the call to action:
Entrepreneurs can change the world.
Join the movement now!
www.grasshopper.com/idea
I really didn’t have the time, but I couldn’t resist jumping on this to learn what it was all about. The URL takes you to a page with the following video:
As it turns out, Grasshopper offers a nicely-packaged virtual PBX service for businesses. It’s a direct competitor to Grand Central, a similar service recently purchased by Google that’s locked down while Google integrates it into their systems.
Five things I loved about this campaign
And the three things I didn’t love
Still, Grasshopper has succeeded where most fail. In one fell swoop, they got my attention, held it, and they got me talking. And though I don’t need their service, If I did, I’d consider them.
So, what do you think of Grasshopper’s campaign?
Would you eat a chocolate covered grasshopper? (I won’t)
But if you’d like to try one, contact me and we’ll make it happen. I’ll post a video of you eating one here and you’ll be famous.
We’ve all received direct mail that has our name, title and even gender wrong—the result of poor data integrity, database management, a hiccup at the mail house or any number of things that can happen along the way.
It happens.
But sometimes something lands in our mailbox that’s a real head-scratcher, like this:
Leo Burnett was a titan in the ad business for six decades. His agency is responsible for Toucan Sam, The Jolly Green Giant, the Pillsbury Doughboy, Charlie the Tuna, Morris the Cat, Tony the Tiger, and yes—The Marlboro Man.
Outsource Marketing opened its doors in 1997—26 years after Leo Burnett died. I turned five in 1971, so I doubt our paths ever crossed. Besides, I never could have talked him into dumping Marlboro or leaving Chicagoland.
I don’t know if Chase had bad data, if there was a database glitch or if there was a problem at the mailing house.
I do know two things:
First, direct marketing has made huge strides in recent years, but execution breakdowns like this still happen far too often.
And second, with the purchase of Washington Mutual (may they rest in peace), Chase has all our company contact info and transaction data. If they wanted to get it right, they could have.
So, what do you think went wrong with this mailing?
And what’s the oddest direct mail screw-up you’ve seen?
Photo: Leo Burnett by Yousef Karsh/Retna – Time 100
On Monday, I received a message from Whistler Blackcomb to inform me of the open dates for each of the mountains.
I don’t recall signing up to receive these notifications, but I was there last season and might have provided my email address somewhere to someone.
No matter. I didn’t mind receiving the message, and I didn’t consider it spam.
As one of the top ski areas in the world and host to the 2010 Winter Olympics, Whistler Blackcomb is a premium brand you can trust.
I figured I could unsubscribe from the notification and I’d be done. Here’s the screen I received when I did:
I assumed the section that “Option 1″ in red was the area I was supposed to use to remove myself from their mailing list. But “Option 2″ listed seven other possible lists.
This raised a number of questions for me:
I’m not sure what they are guilty of, but I do know this isn’t what I’d expect from Whistler Blackcomb. They can do better.
So, do you believe Whistler-Blackcomb’s email marketing efforts are responsible or not?
Comment below to share your thoughts.
Some of the best marketing today is being done by groups typically considered boring and safe.
You know—state agencies.
Battling preconceptions to market employment office services to employers
A few years back, Outsource Marketing helped a consortium of seven U.S. states whose charter was to find effective new ways to market state one-stop services to employers. “One-stops” is the name used to describe state employment offices.
I know. Sounds like a yawner, but it wasn’t. At all.
Here’s a collage of selected images from the campaign:
The superhero theme was unique at the time, and it helped us battle the incorrect preconception that all state employees are disinterested paper pushers.
To the contrary, focus groups and surveys of business owners and managers in all seven states told us business reps at these state agencies were entrepreneurial, engaged, and super to have around.
The campaign results were quite good, and we documented our findings to help create a marketing template for state employment offices nationwide.
A fully integrated stop-smoking campaign
A new stop smoking campaign targeted primarily to young adults from The Colorado State Tobacco Education and Prevention partnership is particularly well done:
The Cigarette is Dead offers an interactive timeline where site visitors can mark the moment when tobacco became either physically, personally, politically, socially dead to them. The personal stories made up of text or video range from the moving to the mundane, and are worth a look.
This is an integrated effort and ads are seemingly everywhere and their messaging is on murals, billboards, bus shelters, huge outdoor banners, projected on highly visible buildings and spray painted on side walks:
Some might argue marketing the environment, AIDS prevention, child abuse, etc. is easy. It’s not like marketing a professional service, a product for businesses or a consumer product.
I’d argue that, while true, that’s a bit of a cop out.
Sure, this campaign is works because of its message, but it is good for a number of other reasons:
Remember, this isn’t a funded Silicon Valley startup. This mini-movement was supported by the Colorado state health department.
So, can you market as well as a state agency? Why or why not?
And have you seen other state agencies do marketing well?
Comment below to share.
The financial crisis has everyone on edge, myself included. I lost my bank, and I’m not sure who’s next. Should I put my money in coffee cans and bury it in the backyard?
When people are on edge, sometimes they do things they normally wouldn’t do.
Same goes for businesses.
Here are a 10 things companies often do in an economic downturn, and why they are a bad idea—especially now.
Think about it: Times are tough, so people are reducing spending. If you cut your marketing spend, think they’ll spend more?
Nope.
For some companies, this is the beginning of a death spiral they can’t recover from.
Another reason to market in a poor economy: Less competition—see above.
For many companies, the number one source for new business is word of mouth and referral.
Poor customer service will turn that asset into a liability when your customers quit saying nice things—and start telling the world how good you used to be.
Your customers are the lifeblood of your company—treat them well now, and they’ll reward you later.
Even if you have informed your customers you might do this, it’s a practice few consumers appreciate. You are betraying your customer’s trust, and destroying a permission asset that’s worth more than everything else in your company.
This doesn’t need to be defined further—you’ll know it when you see it.
You’ll have materials filled with marketing puffery instead of relevant messaging powered by consumer insights.
Also, if your company sponsors worthy non-profits, don’t be so quick to cut your support. These groups are hit hardest when the economy tanks.
Sooner or later, this will come back to bite you.
The average CMO is lucky to last two years.
The truth is, strategic marketing takes time and the folks in these positions often aren’t given enough time to succeed.
It takes time to build a relationship with a marketing firm. Do all you can to make sure you are treating the relationship as a partnership and doing your part to make it work.
Advertising alone won’t do it.
Neither will PR.
Same goes for Direct Marketing, social media or online marketing.
Marketing is an ongoing process, not a single action—in a good economy or bad.
Do you agree or disagree with any of the mistakes on the list?
Have anything to add?
Comment below to weigh in.
Getting a prospect’s attention is tough enough, but let’s say you are able to break through. Now that you have their attention, can you keep it?
Think your prospect will read four pages of copy to learn how you are different? Think again.
We live in a sound-bite culture where scanning—not reading—is the norm.
Sure, you can use Flash and other multimedia tools to help you get your point across, but not all users will be able to view it on all platforms.
That’s why I’m a fan of good-old-fashioned illustration.
The best example I’ve seen using illustration to describe a complex idea is for Google Chrome, a new browser Google will offer in beta today.
Google created an online comic book featuring the project’s developers.
I had no idea this was a comic book when I started reading it, but 38 pages later, I had powered through the entire thing. More importantly, I believe I now have a strong understanding of the major technical differences this browser will offer.
Notice I said “technical” differences. This was done so well, even a guy with limited technical knowledge like yours truly got it. If this is as good as it looks, Google will have another hit on its hands.
The next time you have a complex idea you want to communicate, consider illustration.
If done well, it will help you get—and keep—your audience’s attention.
Have you seen illustration used to make something complex easier to digest?
Comment below to share.
