The 543 Group

HP On Target

HP's new printer campaign takes their already aggressive marketing to a new level, with new celebrity alliances like singer Gwen Stefani:

HP - What Do You Want To Say?

The campaign is certainly on target in one respect:  it gives consumers more reasons to print something from their computer.  The degree to which it spurs a measurable increase in sales is certainly important.  But, even if it does not, it uses ink, and lots of it.  The ink they are getting in the trade press isn't hurting them either.

All Media Is Social

Industry buzzwords are fascinating, partly because some tend to define a new phenomenon in terms laypeople can understand, but also because some try to do exactly the opposite - describe what might otherwise be considered ordinary or common in some extraordinary way as to render it special.

Such is the case with "Web 2.0" and "social media" - the current buzz phrases given to all things new and different on the Web, whether they involve more than one person at a time or not.  Blogs, mash-ups, viral events, wikis, and such.  Are the ideas really that new?  Or is it just  technology that has made them new to the online world?  I recently advised an agency, in jest, that they begin to claim the 'Web 3.0' space before someone else grabs hold.  They considered it for a while. 

What does 'social media' mean anyway that makes it that new?  The word "social" is derived from the Latin word "socius" meaning to associate or create a bond between people.  Hence, societies are groups living and doing things together, and why all simultaneous group activities online seem to be marked as social.

Since the beginning of advertising and marketing, the goal has been to establish a bond or association with the prospect or customer through messaging and content.  Today many call that creating a brand dialog and, thus, all forms of marketing media, online and off, are intended to create a social relationship with prospects and customers.  Since most such Websites today are associated with some product or service trying to generate that same bond with consumers, it is worth considering the idea that all media is social.

This in no way detracts from the many new and amazing forms of online, dynamic and interactive experiences being put forth for both commerce and amusement, but their goal of making social connections and establishing bonds is not new.  What is groundbreaking, however, is that the tools and technologies now available are actually letting consumers create and influence brands themselves, and the messages those brands are sending out to attract others.  Lest we forget, gaining that kind of insight from consumers, while still engaging them with compelling experiences, is very smart social business.

Building Stakeholder Consensus for Marketing Initiatives

In building any significantly new interactive or online brand experience, part of the challenge to ensure success of the initiative is to gain stakeholder consensus before anything is created.  This is not always easy, and is often overlooked during the strategic planning process. 

If we are conducting formal branding exercise or brand planning sessions, there is usually good participation from those with a significant stake in how their brand is perceived.  However, when it comes to participating in customer-focused research, stakeholders are often nowhere to be found, preferring to review the results in a nice PowerPoint presentation.  However, if you really want them to look past their departmental responsibilities and see how their customers really interact with their products or services, get them to be 'in the room' and observe that interaction first-hand.  There is no substitute.  Third-party findings can always be disputed, but if they see and hear what customers have to say first-hand, reaching consensus on recommended responses usually follows.  Suddenly the needed budgets free up, the value of customer research is no longer questioned and, if you are lucky, a stronger sense of urgency exists to respond with the right solutions.

This isn't brain surgery.  It is, however, creating the proper rationale and atmosphere for stakeholders to see the truth, and then act on it.  For some, those that regularly interact with their customers, results may not be breathtaking.  But for so many executives, who seldom have any direct contact with live customers, the revelations can lead to major shifts in brand marketing and advertising.

There are also many forms of such research.  Assessing all the options and choosing the right method is paramount to make sure that the research really fosters insights on true and unbiased needs, attitudes, and behaviors that lead to predictable purchase behavior.   

Measure Twice, Cut Once

Recent research by Alterian indicates that direct marketers, across the board, are planning big increases in their use of e-mail (82%), personalized landing pages (47%), banner advertising (46%), web surveys (42%), microsites (35%), SMS (27%), and RSS feeds (26%).  However, the same research indicates that many of the companies planning such increases are doing so with little or no analysis of results.

It's one thing to track and measure the impact of online marketing investments; it's very nature makes that easy.  However, digging deeper to understand why the results were what they were, and what steps may be taken to improve future results, is just as important.  Even more important is modeling desired results during the strategic planning phase of the campaign.  Knowing exactly what should happen, and how it will occur, and then tracking and analyzing to see how close the predictive models were to reality is smart online marketing.  It's truly managing investments wisely and ensuring future campaigns provide even better ROI.

Customer surveys can help in this regard, as can target audience insight research on needs, attitudes, and behaviors to really understand what content, functionality, and offers will be the most motivating.  Also important is strategic planning to ensure any online campaign is fully integrated with offline marketing initiatives, as success of the entire marketing initiative often depends on the proper execution of each component. 

Our motto has always been to do the job right the first time, because the results will matter, and you may not get a second chance.

Showcasing Assets

The 30-second TV spot may not rule the world of marketing anymore, but a large compelling first impression on a Website still has considerable value.  The folks at Exclusive Resorts leverage high-resolution video, rich photography, and even a familiar song to immediately engage visitors in their vacation properties.

Exclusive Resorts

While keeping navigation clean, unobtrusive, and to a minimum, they allow a large 'showcase' area of the site to be dedicated to the featured content that will be the most appealing and inviting for visitors.  The cost of belonging to this club may not be as inviting, but the site engages visitors long before they get to that information.

Playing Small Ball

"You can't just buy people's attention anymore.  You must engage them."

This is the word from BBDO New York CEO Andrew Robertson in a recent article updating the activities of David Lubars, their Creative Director.  I couldn't agree more, and it is why I enjoy interactive media so much.

It's very name - "interactive" - tells it all.  It is not passive.  It assumes the visitor is engaged in some sort of behavior, be it for education, commerce, or just communicating with friends or colleagues or family.  For corporate marketing, the traditional thinking that the 30-second TV spot is king is so outdated that I have never even considered it so in my almost 30 years in this business.

It has, and always will be, the touchpoints that matter.  Whether that is a banner ad you clicked through, a YouTube video you forwarded, a customer service encounter, a buzz event you experience on the street, or any other form of message communicated from company to customer, it is how it touches you on an emotional level that matters.  What is important is not how cool or clever or even entertaining it is, but how well it motivated you to spend more time with the brand or, more importantly, how well it compelled you to part with some of your hard earned money, or your company's money.  And how quickly.  That is what has always mattered.

And one of the best attributes of interactive media is that its impact is all measurable.  There is no guesswork or interpretation of impression value needed.  Results are finite, and can be available in real time.  What's not to like when you need to know true ROI? 

It used to be that online and interactive marketing should be a component of any strategic marketing plan.  The larger long-established agencies call it 'playing small ball' because of the relative production budgets and lower commissions. It's actually a big-league game, with serious stakes and opportunity for winning streaks for those who get it and do it right, leveraging the knowledge of those who have been in the 'league' a long time.

Should You Go To Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 and other often called 'social media' technologies is today's buzz phrase for all things new that are online.  Many market sector industry leaders and upstarts are becoming expert at leveraging such new technologies as blogging platforms, RSS feeds, Wikis, and mashups.  If you have not thought about what such technologies might be able to do for your own company, consider Gartner's advice.  They suggest that your company may need a Web 2.0 strategy if:

• Web 1.0 has already had a transformative impact on your company
• Your products or services are largely information-based
• Your products or services are highly customized and personalized
• New products or services are rolled out on a regular basis
• You employ lots of home-based or widely dispersed workers
• Your workforce is comprised of younger workers
• Customers or suppliers could potentially exploit Web 2.0 technologies to become competitors

Good advice - especially that first point.  Ask yourself if your company has already leveraged every established Web 1.0 capability to enhance growth, reduce cost, or gain market share.  Odds are there is plenty left that should be considered or improved when it comes to staff, prospect, customer, and supplier communications, e-commerce, and online marketing and promotion of your goods and services. 

In our experience, there is generally no shortage of ideas that could be developed into opportunities.  The trick is having the proper strategy to determine which are the right ideas and initiatives that will return the greatest ROI and are in synch with overall corporate goals and objectives.  That makes it much easier to leverage not only Web 1.0 capabilities but also consider which Web 2.0 opportunities will be good investments of company resources.  Then the trick is getting all internal stakeholders in IT, sales and marketing, and operations to agree on the best specific tools to leverage, and who will put it in their budget.

Who Is Using Who?

With over a 100 billion clicks to Websites every day, the Web 'machine' is learning about us, all of us, and more so each day, each minute.  We cannot even fully comprehend all the changes that user-generated content will bring about in the global society, but one professor has made a good attempt at explaining where things are headed, and some of the issues that need to be faced by all those with content-rich online experiences.

The Web is Us/ing Us

Michael Wesch at Kansas State raises the core legal, ethical, and even moral issues that are going to be more in the mainstream in the next few years as we all are challenged to understand all the data, information, insight, and knowledge available to those who seek it.  As we all begin to be the authors, or shared authors, of more of that content, what we learn from each other will surpass most of what we have learned elsewhere.  Hopefully, much of it will be the truth.

SEO Benefits From the Human Touch

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO for short, is a 'standard' service offering of the 543 Group, and encompasses components that have been delivered to scores of our clients over the past several years.

For those unfamiliar with SEO, it is part of the process of building or enhancing a Website such that it will attract traffic from major Web search engines and directories.  It is not, as many believe, just about metadata, the 'hidden' data behind the viewable pages of a Website that describe the page and all of its contents.  Properly implemented, it can raise the 'natural' position of your Website on major search engines, often to the important first page of results and 'above the fold' (requiring no user page scrolling to see it).

There are several 'best practices' to proper development and implementation of an SEO program for your Website, including the following:

• Domain Name Selection
• Site Copy Development
• Metadata Development - including keyword, page title, description, and image alt tags
• Site Linking and Site Map Methodology
• Directory and File Structures
• Robots.txt File Placement
• Search Engine Submission

Many providers of SEO services will tout their automated services to map your site and create proper metadata.  Don't be fooled into thinking it is that simple, because you really do get what you pay for.  SEO is not a commoditized, software-only driven process.  Part of the process can be somewhat automated, but often the difference in success or failure of a site's popularity with search engines is the human guidance provided to each step of the process.

It is also important to know that many of the steps necessary to a proper SEO program can be implemented by your own company staff.  At the 543 Group, we do not force you to pay for any SEO services you can easily do yourself.  Thus, our value is in delivering only the components you need at a reasonable fixed fee.  Properly implemented with the attention to detail required, we have experienced increases in search engine site results from as far down as the 10th page of results or lower (which means no one ever finds your site) to the top half of the first page.  The resulting increases in site traffic are quite measurable and can raise awareness for your competitively differentiated products and services.   

How Fast Do You Need It?

The 543 Group recently was asked to develop an engaging interactive 'splash' Website to support a press event for the launch a hot new consumer electronics product.  The requirements included design of the site layout, creating all of the HTML code, providing for contact information and e-mail capture to create a mailing list for future announcements, and designing and building a 30-second Flash movie to create energy around the new product's features and benefits.

The real challenge?  We had a weekend to put it all together.  We delivered on time, on budget, and to the client's satisfaction, and the press event went off without a hitch.  While not the desired routine for every project, it can be accomplished when everyone pulls together and planning includes exceeding expectations. 

In this business, it's not "What have you done for me lately?"  It's "What have you done since lunch?" Often, it's quite a lot.  What can we do for you today?