marketing « Brian Junyor

27Apr/081

Green Marketing?

A post by Chris Keating over at The Wiccan Scientist regarding his growing skepticism over the environmental impact of plastic bags reminded me of a Burst Media study from earlier this month. According the the survey, 65.3% of consumers say they "sometimes" believe green claims made in advertisements. 22.7% of consumer say they seldom or never believe green claims made in advertisements. That's a whopping 88% of consumer who are skeptical about products pitched to them as green.

Interestingly, given all the cynicism, 81.9% of the respondents have incorporated some level of green activity in their lives. This indicates to me that most folks want to live in a way that is environmentally conscious, but don't trust corporate america to give them the real skinny on their products.

The internet has given the average citizen access to a vast amount of data to be able to verify the claims advertisers make about their products. In fact, the same study found that 41.6% of respondents frequently or occasionally research the claims made in green advertisements.

Making an emotional connection with your customers has always been important, but in the digital age you'd better make sure that you are telling them the truth. The age of buyer beware is slowly turning into the age of seller beware -- otherwise, you'll be called to task, probably on a forum board, blog, or wikipedia.

And as for my paper or plastic preference, I have to admit that I am a plastic guy who wishes he was a canvas guy.

Image Credit: by aussiegall

Filed under: Environment, marketing 1 Comment

16Jan/082

Agency Turnover

What is the top reason for dumping an agency? Lack of innovation.

On January 14th the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council released the findings of their annual Marketing Outlook survey. Below the positive findings regarding spending for 2008 was a piece of information I found interesting about agency turnover.

Marketers reported significant agency turnover in 2007 with advertising (41 percent), web design (38 percent) and public relations (26 percent) firms most frequently changed in 2007. Special markets (e.g. ethnic), demand generation, hosted services/solutions and sales promotion had the lowest incidence of substitution.

The need for global scale and size did not seem to be a factor in agency switches. Rather, performance issues were the most prevalent reasons for swapping out agencies in 2007. These included:

Lack of innovation

No value-added thinking

Poor creative

Quality of work

Results and deliverables

Filed under: marketing 2 Comments

9Jan/081

Ad Avoidance & Marketing Campaigns

I've always thought a good marketing campaign should include a focus on getting the ad avoiders. Even if you don't build your plan around them, you should spend some time focusing on what types of advertising & marketing vehicles (think experiential) can be used to reach them. Those insights will help focus any campaign.

Ad Avoiders

Filed under: Life, marketing 1 Comment

7Jan/080

Advertising Fast Stats

$500 billion dollars are being spent on ads, more than half of that in the US
On an average day, The Average American consumes:
- 6 hours of Television
- 2.5 hours of Radio
- 31 minutes of Internet
United States is 6% of world's population, and generates 60% of the world's ads.
The eye travels across a page at a speed of 100 miles per hour.

Advertising is plagued by HKM - "Homogenized Kodak Moments". Campaigns across industries look the same and nothing stands out anymore. Marketers need to do a better job turning TV and radio into direct response vehicles. Consumers will go to websites and offer information about themselves (for free) if they're compelled by advertising.

Source: "How to Enter the Golden Age of Agency/Client Relationships." Steve Cone, Former Managing Director and Head of Advertising and Brand Management, Citigroup Global Wealth Management. ANA Agency/Client Forum, 07/19/07.

Filed under: marketing No Comments

7Jan/080

Ten Key Online Predictions for 2008

eMarketer has issued these 10 prediction for 2008. Nothing particularly surprising about their assessment. I give the agree/disagree/no comment after each.

Online ads stay resilient. [agree]
Video surge slows. [disagree]
Social network advertising hits $1.6 billion. [agree]
Networking goes beyond MySpace and Facebook. [agree]
YouTube decides the election. [disagree / they (you tubers) are tethered to their computers, they won't venture out on election day in significant numbers to decide the election.]
Beijing Olympics pumps ad spend. [no comment]
"Buy online, pick up in-store" becomes stock feature. [agree]
Movie downloads go mainstream. [it should, but I don't know if it will]
Music marketers roll out new business models. [they should, but I don't know if they will]
Dynamic ads heighten gaming revenue potential. [anything is possible]

They also project an increase in online advertising, "marketing executives will gravitate toward the internet, looking for more measurable ad formats to buttress their positions."

Online Ad Spending