Category: Marketing Techniques and Philosophies

By Posted on Posted in Demographics/Psychographics, General Commentary, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies Tagged with , , , , ,

Whole Foods’ standing is less than it was before CEO John Mackey wrote a well-publicized op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, attempting to put the brakes on health care reform. According to Mashable.com, which covers social media, positive perceptions of Whole Foods dropped 10 points in a week, and a 13 point drop in the perception that respondents would be proud to work there. Mashable also notes that the boycott group launched on Facebook is up to 27,000 members.

I’ve been very vocal over the years, saying that strong values can add business value and profitability–most loudly in my award-winning sixth book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First. Does this mean that CEOs shouldn’t be vocal in expressing their opinions on issues of the day?

Not at all. To me, it indicates that CEOs should choose businesses where their key demographic is in alignment with their values. Whole Foods’ constituency is overwhelmingly liberal-to-progressive. If management is shown to be ultra-conservative, their stand may “play in Peoria”–but not necessarily in Cambridge, Berkeley, Austin, Ann Arbor, and the other progressive communities that have welcomed a full-service organic and natural supermarket.

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By Posted on Posted in Advertising, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies Tagged with ,

Latest idiocy in my inbox:

Avoid the PR Spam Blacklist

Last week a well-regarded blogger published and blacklisted the names of individual PR firms and publicists who have sent “unsolicited (and almost always irrelevant) product pitches.”

While we know that you do not set out deliberately to “spam” journalists, it is clear that the practices that we have relied on in the past are no longer effective for engaging today’s media. Many of these practices are, in fact, counterproductive.

Our industry is changing.  And as professionals, we must adapt to the way that our audience – the media – is doing business today. Journalists want story ideas they can use. Journalists don’t want an email box full of spam.

New rules require new tools. And we think our application…(Named product and sales pitch begin here)

Hello–how did this happen to get into my in-box? If you guessed as a spam, you’re right. I have no prior relationship with this company, and if spamming me with a message about how spamming is ineffective is any indication of their intelligence, I’m not going to have a relationship with them.

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By Posted on Posted in Customer Service as Marketing, Energy & Sustainability, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies, People Helping People Tagged with , , , ,

OK, so everyone knows by now, bottled water is uncool if you live in a place where the water is fit to drink (and that includes most of the U.S., Canada, and Europe, as well as many other parts of the world). Issues include environmental impact, cost, depletion of public resources, and centralization of corporate power.

On the other hand, the health benefits of water are very clear—and having suffered a kidney stone, I personally make a priority of drinking water a whole lot.

So…what do you do when you need that second (or third, or eighth) drink of water, but you’re out and about? Triple Pundit just featured a free service that matches those offering water with those who need it.

And quite correctly, TP spent some time on the advantages to businesses of participating: getting people in the door, positive word-of-mouth, and more—but they missed a big promotional opportunity: This clever idea, called TapIt, so far has database listings only in New York City and Orlando, but the concept is infinitely scalable. If you have a physical location and can wash a few extra dishes, visit the TapIt site and click “become a partner.” And then, smart marketer that you are, send out a news release in your local area announcing that you’re the very first business in (location) to participate in this environmentally friendly act of good will.

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By Posted on Posted in Marketing Techniques and Philosophies, Networking, People Helping People Tagged with , , , ,

Proving yet again that you can network pretty much anywhere…I was listening to a teleclass and 37 minutes into the call, the presenter fell off. He didn’t come back on, but someone else asked if anyone was there, and I responded.

Fifteen minutes later, I had been booked as a guest on his radio show, he asked me if I would collaborate on a joint venture involving a pitch to National Public Radio, and another person who’d been quietly listening joined the call to invite me to consider a project he’s involved with.

All because I took 30 seconds to explain what had happened and introduce myself.

What networking opportunity can you seize? (Need idea starters? I suggest my award-wining sixth book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First.

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By Posted on Posted in Advertising, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies Tagged with , ,

Actual submission from my contact form today:

subject = Resume Services
realname = REMOVED TO PROTECT THE GUILTY
position =
Company = SEO Company
Add1Street = 224 Lawrence Road
Add2City = New York
Add2State = New York
Add2Zip = 11111
Add2Country = USA
phone = 000-000-0000
email = REMOVED TO PROTECT THE GUILTY
comments =
Internet Marketing Services

We would like to get your website on first page of Google.

All of our processes use the most ethical “white hat” Search Engine Optimization techniques that will not get your website banned or penalized.

Please reply and I would be happy to send you a proposal.

Excuse me, but just how is spamming my contact form (and with fake contact info, no less) a white-hat approach?

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By Posted on Posted in Marketing Techniques and Philosophies, Marketing Trends/News

By Angelique Rewers

Site sees 513% growth in 55+ user bracket
Number of college and high school users drops 20%

Using Facebook to reach your target audience? If so, be aware that the popular social media site’s demographics are changing rapidly and significantly.

An analysis of data from Facebook’s Social Ad platform conducted by iStrategyLabs reveals that the site’s users are getting much older in a short period of time. The study found:

* A staggering increase in the 55+ age group from 950,000 to 5.9 million in just the last six months
* A 70.8% increase in the number of total U.S. users over the last six months (71,901,400 total)
* That 54.6% of users are female
* That 16.5% fewer high schoolers and 21.7% fewer college students are using the site (iStrategyLabs reports this could be due in part to the fact that younger users are being alienated by their parents joining the service)
* That the majority of users (28.2%) fall into the 35 to 54 age group

Examined another way, between January and July 2009, the overall number of users…

* Ages 18 to 24 has grown only 4.8%
* Ages 25 to 34 has grown 60.8%
* Ages 35 to 54 has grown 190.2%
* Age 55 and older has grown 513.7%

What’s this mean for you?

First, the number of Facebook users overall continues to grow, making this popular social media site an increasingly important communications channel. Even if your organization is not on Facebook, you can guarantee that at least a fraction of your target audience is.

Second, if this data is correct — and it may not be as Facebook doesn’t guarantee the data it provides to advertisers is 100% accurate — then Facebook is not a young site anymore. With such significant changes happening at an increasingly rapid pace, it’s critical that you continue to monitor trends and adjust your advertising and communication strategy accordingly.

You can see a complete breakdown of iStrategyLabs’ data here.

Reprinted from The Corporate Communicator, a free e-zine dedicated to helping professionals communicate more effectively with employees, customers and the media. To get the latest industry news, research and best practices at your fingertips, register for a FREE subscription at www.thecorporatecommunicator.net.

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By Posted on Posted in Advertising, language, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies, People Helping People

I love this!

Troy White writes about a 97-year-old macho cowboy event, the Calgary Stampede, and how organizers got these touch cowboys to benefit breast cancer research by wearing pink.

Be edgy and/or challenge them – “Are you tough enough to wear pink?” This was the campaign they ran this year – everyone who bought a pink western shirt (yes – for the guys) was donating a percentage of the shirt price to breast cancer research. This was a HUGE success for them … in the parades – everything was pink … at the bars – half the guys were wearing pink … at the midway grounds – pink, pink, and more pink. Major success – and for a very good cause.

It reminds me of the long-running “Don’t Mess With Texas” campaign, also as macho as they come–and what you might not remember is that it’s an anti-littering campaign!

I love the idea it’s possible to reframe very progressive messages in ways that resonate with a cowboy crowd. The reverse is probably also true. I’m a very un-macho guy with a strong progressive streak. What kind of message would reach me for a conservative cause? Either direction, this method makes for a lot of food for thought in marketing.

I do spend some time discussing how to frame in my award-winning sixth book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First,by the way. Please see elsewhere in this newsletter for a deep-discount offer on that life-changing book.

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By Posted on Posted in Abundance and Prosperity, Advertising, Energy & Sustainability, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies Tagged with , , , , ,

Scott Cooney writes on Triple Pundit about ecopsychology…the correlation between sustainable lifestyle choices and happiness (which seem to focus, in this particular article, on how much happier Germans are than Americans, even though Americans earn and consume so much more. But Germans have a lot more time off work, and presumably spend some of that time getting close to nature.

While he doesn’t exactly connect the dots–in fact, relying on the reader to make some rather big leaps in assumptions–there is a key takeaway here: that beyond the feel-good aspect of doing what’s right for the earth, sustainable lifestyles also offer inherent psychological benefits, because being outside in a clean and well-functioning environment reduces stress, increases feel-good hormones, etc.

And the implication for marketers–and this, I think, is extremely important–is that when marketing a Green product, you should have some hooks not only about saving the world, but about the better mental state that results in doing what’s right for your soul and your psyche, as well as the earth. I bet some very powerful campaigns could be shaped around this message.

For more on marketing Green,I recommend my award-winning sixth book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First. It includes profiles of people like Amory Lovins and some unique, holistic ways of looking at Green issues in the marketing world.

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By Posted on Posted in Abundance and Prosperity, Ethics-International, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies, Social and Economic Justice

Answer: I just read provocative articles on BNET on these two topics.

First, Stacy Blackman, while supporting cause marketing, notes that these products are often more expensive, because the company has to cover the cost of the donation. However, I commented that a successful campaign would bring in enough extra sales volume that this shouldn’t be an issue.

Second, Jeffrey Pfeffer makes a fascinating case for lowering healthcare costs by improving US workplace conditions and decreasing job stress caused by anticipated layoffs and other factors. He notes lower stress levels AND better working conditions for many European businesses.

Plenty of footnotes for those who want to check his sources and assumptions.

Of course, there are many other factors–not the least of which is that most other industrialized countries have shifted healthcare from a privilege of the wealthy to a right for all, using a single-payer system that in many cases pays doctors on salary rather than fee-for-service. HR 676 in the US would bring this sensible system to our shores as well, and by some estimates slash health costs around 30 percent.

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