Against the Grain: Hot Topics

There's a malady we see quite a bit in this business. We call it "chasing the flavor." It happens when sales and marketing executives are constantly dropping one initiative for the latest flavor of the month. One month it's 3-D videos. The next, they've forgotten about the videos and are onto Twitter or sales incentive programs or giant inflatable pink gorillas. All valid ideas (ok, not the gorillas...), but none of them will ever work if you keep chasing the flavor.

It's impossible to know if a new marketing or sales initiative is working after a few weeks or months. Sales people have to adapt, dealerships and distributors need to adjust and customers need to be educated. Runaway successes are rare in this world. You put the program into action because the strategy was sound and the numbers made sense. Trust yourself. You'll be glad you did.

Yesterday, I sent out a tweet about my aversion to the RFP (request for proposal) selection process when looking for marketing services. Yes, I understand they are necessary for some clients, but are they really the best way to find an agency partner?

Looking back, RFP’s were first created as tools for purchasing agents to make a specific comparison of similar products or services to make an informed decision. It’s a way to compare apples to apples when buying supplies, equipment and specific services. Here’s how much Company A charges, here’s how much Company B charges, etc. The problem with using RFP’s to compare marketing services is that the approach is rarely apples to apples. For example, a simple television commercial assignment. It can be wide ranging in its use of talent, location, quality, message and therefore cost.  And in the end isn’t it about results?  The commercial driving the desired action is infinitely more valuable than the one that doesn’t, regardless of the price tag.  There is no way for an RFP to judge effectiveness, only its price.

The other problem is the lack of collaboration in this type of process.  I would agree that it can show some creativity, thoughts and philosophies, but this is a relationship business. Chemistry, the most important part in my opinion, of the client/agency relationship is completely ignored.  You can learn more about an organization over dinner and drinks, than you ever will through an RFP.

The client/agency relationship isn’t really all that different from an interpersonal relationship, is it? Can you imagine getting married after two or three dates? It happens, but long-term compatibility is a long shot at best and the shorter process certainly doesn’t increase the odds of success.  That’s what an RFP is – signing on the dotted line after barely getting to know someone. I think the client should be courted, complete a small project, spend some time getting to know the agency staff and see if their work is for you. And then, when you feel like it’s the real deal, sign on that dotted line! I’ve often said to prospective clients if they feel like our personalities don’t mesh, or if they couldn’t picture us sitting back and having a drink, we’re probably not the agency for them.

Before I start to sound like sour grapes, we regularly participate in RFP’s and frankly, win more than our fair share.  If you have to do them why not be great at them, right?  Some of those relationships have turned into great partnerships that have lasted, and some wins turned out to be a bad fit. Are we going to keep responding to RFP’s?  Of course we are.  I just hope that a few people on the other side of the desk will think about the process from a different perspective and try and bring in the human element. It will ultimately be better for both sides.

Welcome to the future. Hybrid and electric cars are all the rage. Green collar workers have replaced the web 2.0 crowd as the darlings of venture capitalist and angel investors. And the Obama administration is positioning the "green economy" as the lynchpin of the next economic boom. Suffice it to say — with or without $4.00 gasoline — green is here to stay.

Green is also quickly becoming the favorite color of marketers and advertisers. It seems everyone is adding a little green leaf to their logo and playing up their eco-friendly packaging, manufacturing or distribution strategy. And although it's a no-lose corporate strategy, greening up your marketing message is a trickier proposition.

So in honor of Earth Day, here are four things to think about before integrating a green message into your marketing.

Integration into your brand — Do your customers care?
Doing the right thing for the environment might not be a tough decision. Whether or not to integrate it into your marketing, however, can be. Marketing is a tool to drive sales, and if a green message isn't going to positively impact the bottom line, there's no reason to make it part of your message. No sense in clouding the issues your customers really care about.

Do it first. Then say it.
If you do choose to integrate a green message into your overall marketing strategy, the right time to start is after you've made the changes to your product, process, procurement or personnel. It seems like common sense… but it's tempting to start writing press releases as soon as the initiative is announced. Having some proof (and metrics) behind the pudding makes for a more powerful, more relevant story.

Remember the little things.
Pushing out a green message following the retooling of a plant or major clean-up initiative is great. But if your customers or employees see that message and then notice that you're not recycling soda cans in the break room, you'll seem disingenuous.

Get certified.
It's one thing for you to say you're green, it means so much more when it comes from a trusted, neutral party. Earning LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, or certification from the EPA or an organization like Green Seal holds much more water than a claim, however substantiated, from the corporate office.

As with any other marketing initiative, looking before you leap is essential. Your brand and message are carefully crafted things that shouldn't be altered without sound reasoning and thorough research. Going green may well be the best thing you can do for your brand… but think it through first to ensure you're doing the best thing for your company and your customers.

Save A Tree, Build Your Brand?

With gas prices climbing near $4 per gallon, landfills reaching capacity and global warming poised to become the major issue on the global political scene, consumers and corporations are increasingly concerned about their ecological footprint. Green building and green manufacturing are growing trends in nearly every industry and corporate sustainability has become not only an environmentally-responsible policy, but a fiscally-responsible one as well.

But we here at Trilix (and many of our clients and Three Scoops readers) don’t run a factory, operate a fleet of trucks or directly mine Earth’s natural resources. We’re marketers. But that begs the question: Is there such a thing as green marketing? And if so, can going green with your marketing positively impact your brand?

It certainly goes without saying that being seen as environmentally-conscious is something that, almost without exception, can only help your brand. It’s something that more and more consumers care about, and by caring about the same things they do, you’re giving them one more reason to choose you. Below you’ll find a few simple strategies you can employ to green-up your marketing.

Go Digital
Email and the Internet have unwittingly taken much of marketers’ burden off the planet. By communicating electronically, you eliminate many of the costs and natural resources needed to get your message out.

Let’s take, for example, the simple act of sending a printed letter to one of your customers… Trees were cut down to produce the paper and envelopes. The logs, finished paper and envelopes were shipped by gas-guzzling trucks or ships. The paper mill and printing facility had potentially negative impact on the environment. And then you put it back on a truck or airplane to send that letter to your customers.

All that, or you could have just sent an e-mail and referred them to your website.

FSC Certification
Another great way to “go green” with your marketing is to ensure that any and all of your printed materials are printed on FSC Certified paper by an FSC Certified printer. Forest Stewardship Council certification ensures that the paper (from the forest, to the mill, to the printer) and printing process is sustainable and environmentally-friendly.

Green Providers
Partnering with green-conscious providers is another way to ensure your company’s marketing footprint is as green as possible. This can be as simple as specifying recycled paper and soy-based inks when printing, to hosting your website with a hosting company powered by solar or wind energy. Does your sales team drive company cars? Perhaps you should consider hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles.

The above strategies are just a few of the ways you can green-up your marketing efforts and the perception of your company. And best of all, doing these things doesn’t have to hurt your bottom line. In fact, it might just help it.

For the last ten months, both the gadget and not-so-gadget oriented consumers have been alight with frenzy over a device so revolutionary in its hyperbole, it had achieved cult status before it was ever released. Yes, Apple finally released its iPhone amidst a crowd of single-file fanatics who camped outside Apple stores for the privilege of owning an iPhone on the day of release. The first person in line for the fifth avenue store in New York even maintained a “First In Line” blog during the idle hours before he received the first one at 6:00 p.m. sharp on June 29, 2007.

So now that the iPhone is here, how does it stack up to scrutiny?

The Good Stuff:

Design
As with most Apple products, the iPhone’s design is sleek, ergonomic and wonderful to both hold and adore. The display may be the best of any consumer handheld device, phone or otherwise. The colors are bright, the touch screen is responsive, and the effects are exhilarating.

Interface
Simply amazing. Swipe your finger from left to right to change panes. Flicking your finger up or down quickly scrolls through lists. Dragging your finger up or down controls the scroll. Pinching and unpinching your fingers zooms in and out of your photos, maps and Safari web browser.

Applications
The iPhone holds true to its promise in delivering integrated apps such as Maps, Music, Video, Contacts, Calendar, Camera, and of course, lest we forget, phone capabilities.

The Bad Stuff:

Cost
$600. It’s a phone. ‘Nuff said.

AT&T / Cingular
While I’m sure there are loyal customers to AT&T/Cingular, I can’t fathom why Apple would partner with this particular network exclusively. As you may have heard, the iPhone does not come with a 3G high speed data network… something you would imagine to be a requirement for a device with so much multimedia capability. Why the slow network? Probably because only 1% of Cingular customers have access to its high-speed network… it’s only available in around a dozen markets. While you can access the internet through a broadband wireless connection, this provides little comfort to those who desperately need to show a video of the skateboarding dog to friends at the local pub.

One Carrier
It’ll be 2 years before the iPhone is available on other carriers. Some people (including me) are loyal to their network and refuse to switch. I’m sure there are a host of people who wouldn’t mind switching networks for an iPhone to have and hold, but we’ve all seen the consequences of early contract termination.

Infrastructure
Yes, the iPhone offers much more than a normal phone. But for $600, it’s simply amazing what it does not offer: 3G, GPS, A2DP, MMS, keyboard, flash support, etc. No Adobe flash support in Safari? No picture messaging? Are you serious? Street cred = nada.

Interface
The keyboard is weird. The onscreen keyboard does look cool on TV, but using it takes some practice. The typing is slow (you cannot type with two fingers simultaneously pressed) and I can’t understand why there is no period on the default keypad. It takes a second press to get the period to display.

Obsolete
That’s right. The iPhone, still in its infancy, is rapidly approaching obsolescence. A new version of the iPhone will most likely be released in December and is purported to utilize the coveted AT&T 3G high speed network. Additionally, Apple recently filed a patent for the iPhone nano, sparking rumors of a smaller, more compact option of the iPhone.

If there’s one salvation to the iPhone’s shortcomings however, it’s the fact that the iPhone runs a version of the successful UNIX-based Mac OS X operating system. Because of this, third party providers have the opportunity to develop and distribute novel applications for the iPhone. In fact, Apple themselves are planning a software update this summer which would introduce iChat, an Instant Messaging application.

With the current iPhone merely heralding a better version six months away, perhaps it’s too early to grant is space atop the tech pedestal. Unless you are one of the beloved early adopters who can’t live without the glitzy desiderata of novel devices, or if you just simply have to have the same phone Lindsey Lohan touts about, I’d wait for December to follow the North Star.