The event was quite interesting and at the end I was determined to invest more energy into understanding HootSuite used by the presenter. Now I am a fan! Goodbye good old TweetDeck…
Highlights from the event:
85% of consumers believe that a company should not only have a presence in the social media universe, but also interact with the consumers
78% of those who are 45 – 60 years old are computer users… their top activity online is… dating.
Generation “net” – people born to the social networking world – is the first “global” generation; they can communicate as easily with pears anywhere in the networked world and consider it natural.
90% of purchasing decisions are started on search engines
Social media: one engage follower worth 100 unengaged followers
The presenter uses HootSuite because it allows managing multiple accounts and provides analytics. It also allows following others without leaving HootSuite (unlike TweetDeck).
HootSuite also has a built-in scheduling mechanism and “hootlet” allowing to tweet easier by clicking a browser button and modifying almost ready “tweet” with already shortened URL.
Interesting: if originated by Twitter, bit.ly looks like traffic from Twitter in reports, but ow.ly (HootSuite shortening) is a separate traffic source…
A couple of decades ago health care and marketing were incompatible. Even now, “What is the role of marketing?” is still debated in health care.
In health care, most marketing efforts are focused in the areas where consumer can make a decision, maternity care for example. HealthEast employs 120 physicians and over 450 refer patients to the organization.
Many information systems in health care organizations were designed for financial purposes, not marketing. It creates additional difficulty.
Not long ago quality of health care was not an issue – patients assumed that the quality was high and did not express any desire to “shop” for health care services. Now, 30% of patients claim to be interested in evaluating quality of health care services; most of these patients either have a health condition themselves, or have somebody in the family with health conditions.
A decade ago an internet was used to supplement the primary media sued for health care promotions. Today the Internet is the primary media. “We hardly do anything without creating a microsite.” Microsites are used as an additional call to action and reinforcement of the message that can not be fully communicated on the web site itself. HealthEast had to face constraints of cuts and over last two year cut 43% of staff and costs.
HealthEast promotes some of its facilities as “destinations,” for example; Woodland is positioned as an orthopedic destination. A facility is appropriate as the destination center if it has not only high quality care, but also a high patient satisfaction rate.
The nature of health care will remain episodic and transactional; it is important to establish the relationships with the patient, to become a “partner.”
What kind of improvements patients seek based on the surveys? A few years ago hospitals were evaluated on a “hotel service” – quality of food, etc. Now, patients changed their views, but the patients requests are still simple:
need to be acknowledged as an individual
the treatment needs to be explained to the patient
the patient needs to be introduced to everybody who will be involved.
HealthEast is trying to fulfill these requirements through recruitment and hiring.
HealthEast pays attention to the architecture to improve the healing process. Research shows that hospital surrounding can speed up healing and reduce the need for pain medication. The interior of the building has soft colors and aesthetically pleasing (including light fixture in the patient rooms). Natural light is used as much as possible and most rooms have wonderful view. The hospital uses wooden elements which were also known to help healing process. The portion of the room with outlets for the equipment is designed as a wooden panel – the outlets hidden in the wall. Patient rooms are private, with space for the family and shortest possible distance from the bed to the bathroom to decrease patients’ falls.
Marketing News published a detailed article describing the campaign to introduce the new hospital. The campaign is credited for 0.5% increase in market share in October and November 2008; budget for the campaign was $825,000. St. Joseph’s CyberKnife Center received 40% increase in patients during last year – year and a half.
Interesting – the stories were posted both on YouTube and Vimeo, and not surprisingly YouTube videos were more popular.
83% of all consumer purchases are done by women, and over 90% are influenced by women, women as a category outspend every other category, women involved into 89% of all consumer electronics purchasing decisions, do 80% of health care decisions, have 7 million more credit cards, and involved into majority of business purchases.
91% of women believe advertisers don’t understand them.
People are the most interesting in women’s lives… it is important to concentrate on human benefits and the user, not the product.
Portraying the target market –“the 10 rule” – 10 years younger and 10 pounds lighter. Women can feel depressed if a woman on the picture looks too much close to herself. The image does not have to represent a beautiful woman, but a fit one.
Communication for men – facts. Communication for women – “scoop.” Example: Wii is explaining how to fit the activity that the product makes available into her life.
9 ways to engage a woman:
1. Ask her what she thinks. Women are not as comfortable disclosing their opinions in a group of strangers (that can be dominated by a strong personality). Smaller group of women where participants know each other could be more effective. Online possibilities: surveys, communities, rating and feedback sites.
http://www.quarkbase.com/ – a free tool that allows evaluation of different websites, including number of links from social bookmarking sites.
2. Get into her conversations.
84% of women will tell friends when they receive a positive brand experience; brands with most conversations grow 4 times faster compared to an average brand.
Example – Charmin cleanest New York bathroom
Blogosphere is important for targeting women; Facebook is growing number of boomer women
Twitter: 64% of moms follow at least one brand, 48% of moms are willing to try product or service recommended on Twitter
But – women may not be comfortable receiving rewards for recommending something to their friends – charitable donations might work more effectively.
Caution about social media – it is important to understand the possible pitfalls; remember Motrin commercial mishap
3. Don’t disappoint her online. Women are comparing your website to every great web site on earth. Yes, it is important to update content. Amazon is a good example for functionality and usability.
Example:Jack Cards – a web site that helps remembering birthdays and other important event. The site allows selecting cards and dates and will send a card to the user in advance. It helps save time and maintain relationships.
Example:Moms panel from Disney World women expect interaction and may not want to limit themselves to “brochure ware” web site with tips on trips and recommendations. Moms panel provides this experience.
4. Go viral.
Caution from another presentation – viral can not be a strategy… it is not possible to plan for viral video – infamous Elf Yourself was one of 20 web sites produced
Though a classic viral marketing success, Elf Yourself was not connected to the brand enough and many of the users did not know what brand produced the site.
11% of women optimistic that the recession will end soon
39% of women consider their financial situation as “not good enough”
6. Be a need, not a want
More and more people are using lists when shopping
Wal-Mart: you can find you “wants” here too… on budget.
McCafe – luxuries without the guilt (women feel guilt too often)
7. Back to the basics. People are doing more activities themselves.
55% cook more meals at home, trips to grocery store are up, and gardening is up.
Landscaping companies offer to put in gardens instead of traditional landscaping.
8. Remember who has the money
Boomers are online and constitute 29,8% of US Internet users.
Millenials (eco-boomers) – most influenced by current economy (were laid off multiple times).
Cross-generational marketing (Wii Fit) – helps to keep the family together, what women find important.
9. Make her laugh. Even sensitive topic can be presented with humor.
It was wonderful to see a mixed crowd of AMA and MIMA. The event presented by Azul 7 concentrated on basics of search engine marketing; however, it still had a couple of nuggets that I would like to mention.
Universal search is a known phenomenon, but it was interesting to research Wolfram Alpha (expected to launch in May) and its approach to universal search. Alpha separates the screen into results categories. I wonder how the new categories can be added (when they unexpectedly appear) and how category priority can be managed… I am a little cloudy on PPC opportunity
Search perspective: big brands should not have just one Web site. Yes, I was advocating this approach for a few years, but it was a pleasure to hear much more educated opinion than my own. Different audiences and needs demand different web sites for specific products or services. While the corporate site can certainly serve as a hub, searching and optimizing happens based on clearly defined needs of the target audience. The goal is not demonstrating a company to the world; but making as easy as possible for a qualified prospect to find the solution/information the company provides.
Content optimization – one idea per page.
Creation of pages for specific market/vertical. Somehow I limited this approach to landing pages (PPC or display), but did not think about SEO. It makes perfect sense!
The event not only introduced a group of us to Medtronic, but also allowed to learn from successes of great marketing team. The most important revelation for me was the long time and efforts needed to assure buy-in in a large organization, and also the fact that this process worth the struggle.
Tammy Johnson, Senior Global Brand Director, started from recommendation that we need to know our organization and how decisions are made. The speed and acceptance of different decisions may be very different.
Six rules:
1. Know your stakeholders
What are your stakeholders’ issues? What motivates them?
2. You are a salesperson
Selling marketing idea:
define roles (who has power?)
don’t do it yourself – build champions
don’t blame others if they “don’t get it”
find words that resonate
define your “toll gates” – can not proceed
make sure your presentations can be understood without presenting (this is a very useful advice, and hard to do…)
Find more “acceptable” and less “frightening” words:
rebrand > refresh
standards > guidelines
mandate > governance
brand > reputation
corporate > global
3. Spot the similarities
Ask worrying parties to highlight similarities
4. De-risk your boldest innovation
Illustrate your ideas; use stories and prototypes
5. Don’t major in minors (pick your battles)
Would you be fighting for the same thing one year from now?
Short-term decisions can destroy value. “Emotional” benefits is not that important… “Utility” is important… but – what if you have value, but it is not perceived as value?
Decisions are made emotionally and then justified rationally. Value is often perceived as: value = functional benefit / price. But is it all? Leadership brands pay attention to value part of the equation.
It is important to “find an enemy of your brand” (not a competitor – an issue (not enough time, etc.)
Wal-Mart “out positioned” Target:
Wal-Mart: pay less > live better (more time/money for what you love)
Target: pay less > expect more (inexpensive upscale products)
People pay more for high-status item when they feel powerless…
Badge Model starts with functional benefits (what the product does), moves up to the external badge (how to appear to others), move up to the internal badge (reinforce positive self-image), and culminates with the transformational benefit (what the consumer hopes to become through the badge).
The most important – relevance and differentiation. Comparing on price leads to commodity. #1 reason why brands fail is lack of differentiation. This is the area where creativity is important.
HYUNDAI – now has 18% of the market. It was the first company that was able to connect its strategy with the most obvious fear of the times: if you loose your job, you can return the new car you purchased.
Why Obama won the competition with Hillary? Branding!
Hillary – functional. Obama – movement.
Julio’s book “Twitter Means Business” is the required reading for one of University of Minnesota classes…
Some notes from the event:
What is Twitter? Twitter is Web publishing… Blogging is time consuming, twitter is not.
Twitter is a big water cooler.
Twitter is good for meeting new people. Facebook is better to communicate with people you know.
Twitter is something new…
Companies on Twitter:
Comcast is on twitter; the company scans the twits and contact people who are having difficulties with the service. Comcast is “helping itself.”
Sears is not on Twitter; unsatisfied customers are free to express their disappointment without any intervention from the company’s side. Sears is “blissfully unaware” about unhappy customers.
Separate Twitter account can be created specifically for press releases – interesting… and very reasonable.
Company can set up Twitter account to do one thing, but the effort can morph into something completely different…(similar to blogs)
In a company, managing Twitter account has to be somebody’s job…
Millenials are filling the crunch of the economic crisis and they have to adjust their expectations. However, there is a silver lining in these dark clouds or reality – young people are rethinking what matters.
Demographic
1987 – 1995
72.1 million
$1.5 trillion of buying power
Formative financial events for the Millenials:
1980 – Dawn of self esteem movement (everybody gets a trophy)
1990 – Recession is not felt (too young)
1995 – Launch of Amazon (idea of accessibility)
1997 – TiVo (idea of control)
1999 – launch of Napster (free music – free access)
2000 – First Millenials graduates college – 65% in debt
2001 – Mild recession, quick rebound
2004 – MasterCard target twins (Hallow Kitty debit card)
2006 – all 10 largest colleges cobrand credit cards targeted to students
2008 – Financial meltdown
Generational mindset
extraordinary by default
praised and raised for success
“what I want when I want it”
I’m “me, but part of “we”
The good life is a right, not a privilege
Generation feels good about themselves, more narcissistic tendencies than other generations. However, it is not “I deserve it,” but rather “we deserve it.”
The reality
$20,000 – average debt for college graduates
$2,500 – average credit card debt ( 2008 )
57% pay minimum on their credit cards
77% moving in with mom and dad
Specific generational pain points in a recession:
student loans
credit card debt (average salary for young grads is less than a generation ago, but prices are higher)
jobs disappearing (more laid-off professionals are willing to take jobs that used to be entry-level)
Changes in behavior
using less credit cards
trading off (moving with mom and dad; choosing community college, etc.)
adjusting expectations (no “job hopping” when dissatisfied with a job…)
Still…
81% are hopeful about the future
57% are excited 81% cited relationships with friends and family is important (rather than career success)
As a result…
Thrifty is good! “Almost a pride in clipping coupons.” Online comparative shopping.
Flash mobs – large groups of people offering to shop in a certain establishment if price is reduced or business practices changed to more ethical/green
Though the topic sounded boring – the last MN AMA event was one of the best I attended and the speaker was simply remarkable.
I was quoting the speaker the very next day on one of the meetings in the office.
A few ideas from the event:
Today’s economy has different implications for different companies; different demographics and geographic regions experience the downturn differently
Target prospects changed… Financial services companies may not be that attractive…
Dynamics of your customers are shifting – markets are shifting – do research…
Everything is shifting; however the changes are happening faster than ever. We are experiencing a systemic shift – not just a temporary change during a downturn
“Successful companies do not abandon their marketing strategies in a downturn; they ADAPT these strategies”
Budget increases now are seen in the interactive and particularly social media (measurable results)
Risk aversion is higher in economic crisis; show the buyer how it is less risky to buy from you… How?
Crisp vision
Simplify transition
Minimize initial investment
Help with a solid business case
Predictions
Social media will become the new search
Everybody is in media business… what is your online media strategy?
It is about measuring: all marketing programs should be measured
Tuesday event by INNOVA Marketing was a very enlightening presentation that finally clarified in my understanding the essence on experiential marketing. As a person who concentrates on interactive marketing I am usually more energized by case studies from different marketing verticals – these case studies have more “discoveries” and surprising results.
It is important for me to follow new developments in the boundary areas – as we were recommended by a keynote speaker on last AMA conference.
Some of case studies presented by INNOVA Marketing:
Bringing OfficeMax new brand icon to life – a rubber band ball.
INNOVA found the person who was already working on creation of the largest rubber band ball and helped him to find materials that were needed. The rubber ball became certified as world’s largest, what caught attention of the media. INNOVA had a few challenges, including how to present the ball as “big;” the ball did not look as impressive even if it was very heavy. The ball was sent “on a tour” to promote the brand.
Mentos – “objective was to drive consumer trial, build grassroots support and position Mentos as an iconic lifestyle brand”
The solution included 111 events in 53 different markets, which involved hired “brand ambassadors” and branded convertibles. INNOVA also created the world’s largest fountain of Mentos and Coke.
Experiential marketing attempts to connect consumers with brands in personally relevant and memorable ways. The alternative term customer-experience marketing emphasises the idea of communicating the essence of a brand through a personalised experience. Wikipedia
Why experiential marketing is effective:
understanding the best environment to reach the audience (the audience’s everyday events)
main ideas – direct interaction with the client
efficient to get close to the right customers
INNOVA Marketing noted that revenue impact of their efforts is difficult to measure, because experimental approach is usually working together with other channels. However, INNOVA is very successful to see business growth within the companies that used their services – other departments/products/markets became interested in what their colleagues did with INNOVA.
My note: experiential marketing is understandably partnering with PR. I asked, the company does check the internet for mentions of their activities. However, there is no active efforts to introduce the interactive element from the beginning of the campaign.
Interesting point: would interactive component eventfully come from the PR side, or would it warrant the third partner – purely interactive social marketing firm? Only time will tell, but it is definitely very interesting time in marketing!
The event was quite interesting and at the end I was determined to invest more energy into understanding HootSuite used by the presenter. Now I am a fan! 
Goodbye good old TweetDeck… 
85% of consumers believe that a company should not only have a presence in the social media universe, but also interact with the consumers
Posted by Vanessa Bright 
Posted by Vanessa Bright 
Posted by Vanessa Bright 
The event 
Tuesday event
