A Lot of Talking...But is Anyone Listening?

Over the past two weeks I've had the pleasure of moderating two panel discussions on Beyond Analog: Becoming Part of Today's Digital Marketing World. The Webinars were sponsored by the American Marketing Association as member-only events, and were precursors to the AMA's Mplanet 2009 conference slated for January in Orlando, FL. On the panel were Julie Fleischer of Digitas, Greg Verdino of crayon, llc, and Toby Bloomberg of Bloomberg Marketing.

One of the slides Toby shared had to do with a graphic created by Brian Solis and Jess3 called the Conversation Prism. This masterfully illustrated wheel identifies all the various ways the social Web is integrating itself into peoples' lives...or the other way around. Either way, it is an amazing look at the proliferation of engagement technologies. But with all the ways we have to talk to one another, to review, share, tweet, input, output, post, publish, update, and edit -- the larger question is if anyone is listening, or are we all just talking into the ether.

There are already many places where you can find the number of estimated blogs, Web sites, and users of social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Second Life, and cyworld. Needless to say, there are a lot. People are publishing at an amazing rate -- some of it relevant, much of it personal, most of it just noise.

Listening to the presenters, and sorting out the questions from the audience, here are a few items of note I took away from the event:

• The opportunity to add digital to the marketing mix is appealing, but not the first thing a marketer should start doing. Marketers must first ensure what they have to say is relevant and builds relationships. Let the message and the audiences' reception requirements define if the mix has more digital or analog in it.
  
• Digital is not a silver bullet, and it is not a panacea for the insufficiency of an existing marketing program. Many marketers will start a blog, add their company to Facebook, or attempt to find ways to widget and wiki, but unless the marketing program is based on consumer insight, tactics -- whether they are digital or analog -- are just tactics. The responsibility is to customize the marketing program to your audience.
  
• ROI is not as elusive as many marketers think. The problem is not that we can't measure the ROI of digial initiatives. Rather, the problem is that we don't have targeted, specific goals in the first place. Remember, measurement starts at the mission/goal articulation phase of the planning process, not as an after thought at the end of the campaign.


• Waiting is not an option. Many marketers are waiting for someone else to figure out what digital is and isn't before they do something. The fallacy of this approach is that your consumers are already engaging in digital. Waiting simply means that your consumers are building relationships and engaging with those businesses, products, and services that are doing things right now.

-- David Kinard, PCM

Fight Commoditization with Real Value

I just finished reading an amazing book by Erich Joachimsthaller, Hidden in Plain Sight: How to find and execute your company's next big growth strategy. It's a fabulous book and I'll be interviewing Erich on my radio program on Wednesday, November 19 on wsradio.com.

One line in the book hit me like a ton of bricks this weekend while I was reading it.

"We were a highly specialized product turned into a commodity."

To be clear, the line references a German insurance company who by all accounts was a superior product in the marketplace, but because people where shopping on price, none of their elaborate feature sets meant anything. I see this same situation so often; price-driven markets turning complex and highly differentiated products into commodities. So what is a markter to do?

Well, first you should read this book and it will tell you what the insurance company did. But aside from that, you need to ensure your head is not hidden in the sand, hoping that somehow consumers will suddenly wake up to your messaging and branding and agree with you that your products are truly the unique offerings you believe they are. It's never going to happen.

When a product is willingly or unwillingly turned into a commodity by the market and consumer opinion, the simple fact of the matter is that the product has failed to rise above the fray and create a demand ecosystem. In other words, I would say that most products suffering this fate are developing and pushing feature sets that are not relevant, not important, and don't resonate with consumers. That's why they're comparing only on price, because you're just as good, or good enough, as everyone else.

I think Joachimsthaller brings out many excellent ideas in his fresh book and it shoudl be required reading for MBA students. Oh wait, I teach MBA classes, and I assign the books. Guess what folks -- it's now on the reading list!

-- David Kinard, PCM

Hidden in Plain Sight is also the American Marketing Association Foundation’s Berry Book Award winner for the best new book in marketing.

Remember the Association

Yesterday I have the privilege sharing to other marketers at a local American Marketing Association meeting in the Seattle area -- the PSAMA (Puget Sound AMA). I was asked by the president, Kathryn Hall, to share about the value I have received from my AMA membership. It was an easy thing to do.

Three main thoughts came to mind -- gains, growth, and gelling.

In reverse order, I have gelled with some amazing people I've met through my connection with the chapter and the national association. Truly scary smart people like Sue Reninger from RMD Advertising in Ohio, Daryl Brewster, former president of Nabisco and former CEO of Krispy Kreme, and Jim Ward, former president of Lucas Arts. I would not have connected with any of these individuals if it wasn't for my AMA membership. But while these few are mentioned here, there are literally dozens of close friends, and hundreds of important contacts I've made that have made me a better marketer. And, because of my membership, I can contact any member with confidence -- anywhere in the world -- to help me or answer a question.

With regard to growth, my membership in the American Marketing Association has been the best professional development resource I can identify. Pure practical knowledge has flowed from amazing speakers into my brain -- people from companies like Nike, Nabisco, Jet Blue, Second Life, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are just a few that come to mind. Learning about dashboards from those who are defining the practice, or branding from Jack Trout himself -- amazing learning and amazing development -- and all because of my memberhsip in the AMA.

But in the most practical sense of it all, I can attribute more than $100,000 of revenue to my company or self because of my membership. I work my membership. I network, reference my PCM credential, and use my connections to position myself as a valuable resource to my customers and employer. I am talking hard cash in my pocket -- earning me well more back than my annual membership fees have cost.

When you think of how you want to compete in this breakneck world of business, or keep on top of the latest trends and issues facing your industry, and meet people that are the links to future business development and resources -- remember the association. Whatever industry you belong to, there is likely an association serving it. And, if you're a marketer of any kind, being an active part of the American Marketing Association is a must.

-- David Kinard, PCM