Trade show boothmanship training? Not bloody likely

I’ve been getting a lot of emails from trade show/conference vendors about training for trade shows. While I’m a big fan the e-newsletter, this might not be the best tactic for companies who create exhibit booths and signage seeing as the economy took a nosedive this past year and just about everyone has cut back big expenses – like trade shows. Marketing and sales folks are recycling what they have from last year and an email about “boothmanship” training isn’t likely going to change their mind and drive them to the company for a soft sell. So, what should these companies do?

Well, if I headed up marketing at a trade show company, I wouldn’t give up the newsletter, but I also wouldn’t send it every 2 weeks. That’s just going to annoy me. I’d also go back to some traditional marketing to create brand awareness and I’d revamp my message to talk about:

-          Cost effective methods for trade shows and conferences – cut your cost in half, while increasing qualified leads

-          Pre-conference jitters: Practical methods on how to maximize sales time at the event

-          Attracting attention to your company: How to make them come to you

With all that said and done, these companies likely won’t see the dollars coming in for another 6-9 months, but at least they will be top-of-mind once corporate marketers can spend again.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

The Celebrity CEO: Don't Put all your eggs in one basket

We all know them. We all love or hate them. But, the question is whether or not the celebrity CEO is good or bad for companies. With CEOs-turned-industry-leaders- like Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Steve Balmer (former and current CEO of Microsoft), Martha Stewart, and Larry Ellison - you have larger than life leadership tied to the well being of the company (at least that’s what most people think). Comments from these gentlemen can move markets, similar to the power Alan Greenspan once held. But, there is a lesson to be learned from creating Celebrity CEOs. Companies built around one man (or woman) – no matter the dynamic personality or genius – can put the entire organization at risk, and there are many examples to choose from.

·         You need look no further than one of my all-time favorite Celebrity CEOs – Steve Jobs. From his first illness some years ago to today’s “mystery illness,” Apple’s stock price seems to rise and fall based on the health of this gentleman.

·         American International Group, a major global insurance company, was headed up by former Celebrity CEO Maurice (Hank) Greenberg for more than four decades. When he “retired” from his post, the public was uncertain about the company’s new leadership and the stock took a momentary dip. His celebrity-dom rubbed off on his sons – Jeffrey W. Greenberg, former celebrity chairman & CEO of Marsh & McLennan Companies, who was publicly ousted from the position; and Evan G. Greenberg, president & CEO of ACE Limited, the lesser known Greenberg.

·         Martha Stewart’s drawn out investigation, her time as a jailbird and finally her release made headlines around the world.

·         While last month’s downgrade of General Electric from its AAA-rating received lots of attention, Berkshire Hathaway’s similar downgrade was largely ignored. Unlike the ratings downgrade of GE and many other high profile companies (including ExxonMobil, J&J, ADP, and Pfizer), criticism about Warren Buffett’s reign over the company’s investments and acquisitions were looked upon as long-standing concerns tied to the health of the company. Of course, in the case of the Oracle of Omaha’s financial wizardry, the criticism bounced off him like raindrops hitting the curve of a car’s windshield. However, what happens when Buffett decides to retire or hand over the reins to someone else (you never know at his age).

While you want your CEO to be a visionary and stand as the leadership within a company, it’s not always a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket and create only a solitary celebrity spotlight. There are three major issues associated with creating a celebrity leader:

-          Larger-than-life expectations can lead to dangerously exaggerated disappointments. Investor confidence is a vital element for public or equity-backed companies, and celebrity CEOs typically cause a roller coaster effect of highs that are too high, and lows that are too low. 

-          A single misstep by the Celebrity CEO – including personal misfortunesm as per Steve Jobs – can have a disastrous effect on the stock price or even the profits. We won’t even mention the criminal or civil suits some of today’s celebrity CEOs may face in the not-so-distant future.

-          Overemphasis on the leader to solve all the company’s problems.

-          The importance of well planned, duly announced succession.

Pepsi's New Look - Love it or Hate it?

It's time for change.  No, I'm not talking about the presidential election here.  I'm talking Pepsi's brand new look.  Love it or hate it, Pepsi is changing its logo.  And, the branding experts are loving it. Even Peter Shankman - a favorite marketer of mine - is talking about the new Pepsi look.

So, here's the evolution...

Millions of dollars went into this?  And, marketers are saying that it will cost hundreds of millions to roll out the new look. 

Hey!  I believe in marketing (obviously) and I've seen it work.  But, I'm still baffled at why brands spend millions to change a perfectly good logo.  Call me crazy, but the o1987 or even the 1971 logo worked fine. In fact, I would have suggested bringing back the old 1971 logo so that people can harken back to the good old days of the last recession.  Kidding about the link to the recession, but totally not kidding about the bringing back the logo.

The new logo is hip and trendy.  But, like my mother always said, buy classic looks because it will never go out of fashion.   

Twitter as a Conduit of Fiction

TechCrunch's Jason Kinkaid explored whether or not Twitter could be a conduit of fiction in yesterday's Can Twitter Authors Capture the Magic of Lonely Girl 15.  Hmmm...only 140 spaces to fill up. 

Twitter has become the text version of “Reality TV” online. I know so many people hooked on Twitter and “watching” people comment on the most mundane things or retort in some witty fashion. Will Twitter capture an audience for authors, dramas and other fictional mediums. I say yes. For goodness sakes, there are a bunch of mad men (and women) posing as the MadMen characters on Twitter and they have a huge following.

So, I'm afraid the answer is going to have to be yes. I think authors could write their novellas on Twitter and have a following.

Some questions come to mind.

• Would a chapter consist of 3 tweets or 4?
• Is this the death of literature as we know it?
• Will acronyms like LOL and IMHO begin becoming an acceptable form of grammar in the publishing world?
• Will literacy decline? 

Why Isn't My Marketing Working?

When companies come to me, they sometimes say “My marketing isn’t working.  Fix it.”  And, 9 out of 10 times, the reason is a one simple reason – There is no objective for marketing and no agreed upon measurements.   

1-      Understand your business objectives and align them with your marketing objectives.  Too often, I’ve come across marketing managers who aren’t privy to what the ultimate business objectives of the CEO truly are.  Majority (I’d say 90%) of the time the objective is simple – sales (retention and acquisition, meaning retaining and growing the existing client base and acquiring new clients) – but how you get there shouldn’t be a cookie cutter marketing program.  Other corporate objectives that should be taken into consideration are: fundraising, M&A strategy, shareholder relations (investor relations if the company is public) and if the owners are seeking for a buyout (or sell out).

2-      Measurement. Agree to reasonable measurement goals at the onset of the marketing program.   As I have heavy specialized in public relations, I have often asked smaller companies and start-ups why they need PR and sometimes I get the answer “it’s cheaper than any other marketing tactic out there” (meaning advertising, direct marketing and the like).  This is usually when I try to clarify what their main objective is.

3-      Your sales and marketing should be married instead of locked in a bitter divorce.  The disconnect between sales and marketing is always laughable.  For more details on the how, why and what, watch Fight of the Century: Sales Versus Marketing. My long-time business associate, Soraya Morgan, and I had a blast putting it together.

4-      What’s your “deal”?  Figure out what’s your chief selling point.  Why are you unique from your competitors?  And, if you’re really struggling after going through this exercise, create a main key message(s) for your organization that will be infused into all aspects of marketing and sales.    

5-      Be Targeted! Be very focused on your target audience especially if you’re a B2B company.  If you have 20 market targets, you have about 15 too many.  Be focused in your approach.  Select 5 major industries to go after first and create focused marketing campaigns for each. Penetrate those 5 markets first. Once that’s done, look to introducing your product/service to other targeted markets.

6-      Consistency.  Are all your corporate materials – online and offline – consistent? 

7-      Do you have the right marketing team? Be aware that not all marketers are created equal. In general, marketing is the process of planning and executing the marketing mix (see Wikipedia: Marketing). However, within marketing, you have many different types of marketers with a wide-ranging skill set.  No one person can have all the answers and that includes your marketing director.  Give him/her some help either by hiring someone with a different, but complementary skill set or retaining outside help (a freelancer, a consultant or a firm).

a.      Product marketers and marketing managers are tied directly with the sales, product creation and bringing the product to market.

b.      Sales and marketing executives are usually the sales person who

c.       Public relations is the act of managing information between an organization and its publics – customers, prospects, employees, investors/shareholders and the industry (or even the general public).

d.      Marketing communications is the practice of creating and executing branding and marketing campaigns.  The practice of advertising, branding, direct marketing, graphic design, marketing, packaging, promotion, publicity, sponsorship, public relations, sales, sales promotion and online marketing all fall under marketing communications.

e.       Integrated marketing communications is a fairly new term which calls for a holistic approach that includes emerging media, tradition media as well as new and old marketing tactics to work together. 

A place to read about some of the ups and downs distinguishing all these subsets of marketing can be found on  http://crowcommunications.com/forum/smf/index.php?action=printpage;topic=17.0.  Though the ensuing discussion are mostly from PR people, but it gives you a hint at the fragmentation that’s happening in the industry.

8-      Steadfastness & patience. Nothing happens overnight.  Be ready to make a commitment to marketing – whether it’s a comprehensive integrated marketing communications campaign, public relations program or social media marketing campaign.