When did the US government get into the pizza consulting business?

A recent article in the New York Times revealed that the U.S. Department of Agriculture was involved in consulting and recommending to Domino's Pizza that it add 40% more cheese to its pies!

I didn't realize that the government was in the pizza consulting business, but I could spend days discussing that.

According to the article, "Dairy Management, the 'consultant' [hired by Domino's] which has made cheese its cause, is not a private business consultant at all. It is a marketing creation of the United States Department of Agriculture".  Yes, the very same Department of Agriculture responsible for leading the government's national anti-obesity campaign.  Talk about "speaking out of both sides of your mouth"!

One slice of Domino's pizza has as much as 2/3rds the recommended daily allowance of saturated fat.  So, on the one hand, the USDA is recommending to the nation's largest pizza chain that it add significantly more cheese to its pies, while on the other hand, recommending that Americans eat less saturated fat, something cheese has in abundance.  Obviously, I'm not the only one that sees some inconsistencies here that could be potentially problematic for Domino's, but highly problematic for the federal government.  Unfortunately, we're talking about a federal agency.  Traditionally, federal agencies have never seemed to be too concerned about their reputations.  They let congress worry about that.

Here's my favorite quote from the article:  "The department acknowledged that cheese is high in saturated fat, but said that lower milk consumption had made cheese an important source of calcium. 'When eaten in moderation and with attention to portion size, cheese can fit into a low-fat, healthy diet'."

I get such a kick out of health and dietary ads that use the disclaimer, "with proper diet and exercise".  The fact is that if everyone maintained a healthy diet and exercised regularly, there would be no need for dietary supplements or weight loss pills.  With "proper diet and exercise", I could probably take diet pills made of bacon fat and still lose weight.

The government is bad enough when dealing with bureaucratic legislative and regulatory issues.  I really wish they would stay out of the marketing business.  They're going to give us all a bad name.  Next thing you know, they'll be selling used cars or launching an airline.

Better Get Your Holiday Shopping Ads Online NOW!

According to a recent article in Marketing Daily, research shows that online shoppers tend to be less receptive to holiday ads as the holiday shopping season progresses.

Max Mead, VP of Business Development & Analytics for PointRoll, who conducted the recent study, told Marketing Daily, "On average, anywhere between 4 and 6% of online shoppers interacted with retail ads in the fourth quarter -- beginning in November at 6%, then drifting lower, with interaction rates hitting their lowest points in early December, most likely due to the heavy levels of online ads. In the final weeks of December, interaction rises to 5% again".

The likely culprit for the fall after early November:  Online retailers offering greater discounts for early buying. 

Why the rise on the backend?  Because late online shoppers can also take advantage of last minute sales from retailers trying to move extra inventory.

Christmas shopping has become a year long process for many.  Though the convenience of shopping online hasn't reduced the cattle drives at the mall.  Personally, while I enjoy the "spirit" of holiday shopping; I can do without the long lines of traffic trying to get into the mall and the longer lines trying to get out!

However, while my online shopping has increased over the past few years, I'm a traditionalist at heart, and I will never stop shopping at brick & mortar stores during the holiday season.  Regardless of the hassles; the decorations and the music at the malls just make it feel more like Christmas.  I guess it still brings out the kid in me.

If you want to get a head start on the holiday bargains though, begin your e-shopping right after Halloween.  If you're a retailer, you better get those online ads placed now!

I bet you've been practing content marketing and didn't even know it!

I'm a big believer in content marketing.  I've been an active practitioner for years and didn't even know it until recently.  I bet you have too.  If you use interactive content on your websites, social media or other channels to promote your business, service or message, in general, you're practicing content marketing.  Pretty simple concept huh?  It just took someone to come up with a cool label to give it relevance.

Eric Anderson recently wrote an article in iMedia Connection on the 10 Commandments of Content Marketing.  I think you'll enjoy reading them.

1.  Content shall be shareable
2.  Content shall be malleable

3.  Content shall be collaborative
4.  Content shall be measurable

5.  Content shall be fearless
6.  Content shall invite comment

7.  Content shall start everywhere
8.  Content shall go everywhere\

9.  Content shall be sponsored
10.Content shall be forever

I have found that providing content that stakeholders and prospects will find entertaining, educational, or otherwise valuable is quite simply, the best possible way to generate awareness and loyalty.  It's a simple formula really:  Give them what they want, let them play, and invite them (and their friends) back for more. 

Content marketing gives consumers a reason to engage you and helps build trust, loyalty and retention.  Once you have that, you have a customer that will advocate for you all day long. 

Now insert that into the customer lifecycle model and see where it takes you.  :-)

Is Your Company Meeting Today's Demanding Customer Service Expectations?

Raise your hand it you feel you work in a customer service based industry.

I’m going out on a limb here by guessing that virtually everyone who reads this blog post raised a hand (at least in spirit!).

Now raise your hand if you believe that YOU personally provide excellent customer service.

Again, I’m taking a stab in the dark, but I’m guessing about 90% of you believe you provide excellent customer service.

Last request…raise your hand if you believe that the business you work for provides excellent customer service.

OK, if you raised your hand, take a moment to really evaluate the quality of the customer service your business provides. Think about all the people in your company who interact with stakeholders, internal or external, including: the finance department, HR, IT, product development, marketing, sales, CEO, and even the receptionist. Do you think that they would ALL score an “A” on a customer service evaluation? OK, for the sake of discussion, let’s assume you do.

Now take a look at your customer retention rates over the past three years and answer that question again.

If your retention rates have dropped significantly over the past three years, chances are that the quality of the customer service your company provides may not be as good as you think it is.

Yeah, yeah, I know… the poor economy has led to a drop in consumer spending across the board, leading to a drop in customer retention. But consumers still need to make purchases. They’ve just become more selective about who they spend their money with. If you’re not meeting their customer service expectations, chances are, fewer consumers have selected to spend their money with you!

Over the weekend, I was having a problem downloading some software that I purchased for my PC. I contacted the manufacturer and couldn’t get anyone to actually pick up the phone. Right off the bat, I would have given these guys an “F” for customer service. I then noticed that they had a customer service chat room. I decided to give it a try. The customer service representative was quick to respond, patient, helpful and generally provided excellent customer service. Had I tried the chat room first, I probably would have given this company an “A” for customer service. However, since speaking to someone was my first choice (which they didn’t satisfy) and communicating digitally was my second, the best score I can give this customer service is a “B”. I would probably buy from this company again, but not definitely, and what’s worse…I’m sharing my negative customer service experience with others. Believe me, your customers do the same thing. Statistics show that a dissatisfied customer will share that experience with 8 to 10 other people.

Would you be satisfied with a customer service score of “B” in today’s economy? I wouldn’t! You know why? Because I guarantee you that one of your competitors is going to be scored an “A”, and I bet you know who that competitor is. Now compare customer retention rates and see if your competitor’s rates are better or worse than yours over the past three years.

A recent statistic at the Trainingzone.co.uk outlined the following reasons why customers quit:

• 1% die
• 3% move away
• 5% develop other friendships
• 9% find the service or product cheaper elsewhere
• 14% are dissatisfied with the product
• 68% are dissatisfied with the attitude of indifference shown towards
them by an employee

If you are COMPLETELY satisfied with the customer service your company provides, then just ignore this blog post. However, if you have even one ounce of doubt, I suggest you take another look at your customer service training. In today’s economy, you can’t afford not to.

Google & Rosetta Stone Battle it out over Keyword Sales

Google and Rosetta Stone are in the midst of a legal battle that could have dramatic impact on future SEO marketing strategies (http://tinyurl.com/yc3x5qo).

Google is selling the Rosetta Stone brand name as a keyword in competing advertiser SEO campaigns. Rosetta Stone is claiming trademark infringement. While using competitor names as keywords in search engines is a very common practice in online marketing, this case could have long lasting effects on how SEO campaigns are conducted in the future.

Using another brand name as a keyword in a search engine doesn't automatically drive the user to the competitor's site. It only brings up the site as a possible option in the search results. Therefore, I don't think that Rosetta Stone has any solid ground to stand on, but how the court rules will be interesting. Stay tuned!

Marketing Cynics Never Win

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of leading a roundtable discussion on marketing strategy with a group of small business owners and entrepreneurs. Halfway through the exchange, as often happens during conversations about marketing strategy, the discussion eventually turned to social media.

As a devoted advocate for the use of social media as a business tactic, I explained the marketing successes I have witnessed and been a part of using the communications medium.

While most people in the room were very curious and asked excellent questions, I’ve found that there is inevitably at least one vocal cynic in every group I speak to. This group was no exception.

One of the attendees who owned a small business in Washington, DC (I won’t mention the business) didn’t believe in social media and seemed more focused on criticizing it than learning about it or even trying it (for more than a few weeks). At one point this person even asked everyone in the room who used Twitter to raise a hand. Only two people in the room did so, me being one of them (there were 12 people in the room). While this didn’t surprise me since everyone in the room was there with the goal of learning more about marketing strategy and social media as a component, the lack of hands seemed to be all the evidence this small business owner felt she needed to prove her point that “no one uses Twitter” and that doing so would be a waste of time.

It took every ounce of energy I had to refrain from pointing out that her cynicism might be the reason her business was failing. Instead I held my tongue and replied that “social media may not be right for every business (although if properly executed, I believe her business would be PERFECT for it), but social networking is how people communicate today and its use will only grow. Therefore, ignoring it could be a mistake”.

While I don’t think I convinced her to reconsider, I couldn’t help but feel a certain amount of pity. Her dedicated cynicism is unlikely to lead to success. Do any of us know a hard core cynic that is a successful business leader? Of course not; because successful business leaders are willing to learn and take risks. They embrace change and innovation. They seek out new opportunities. Many of the most successful business leaders in the world failed many times before they succeeded. But they picked themselves up off the ground, brushed themselves off and got back on the horse.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t take precautions to minimize risk. But to avoid the unknown or fail to recognize and adapt to change will never lead you to the pot of gold. Anyone remember Smith Corona? Once the most successful manufacturer of typewriters and word processors in the world; they failed to adequately adapt to the advent of the home computer. Now they only manufacture word processor supplies and portable typewriters. I didn’t realize anyone actually used typewriters and word processors anymore. What a lost opportunity!

If you know of anyone who is a virulent cynic, do them a favor and get them a copy of the book Who Moved my Cheese? by Dr. Spencer Johnson, M.D. It will change the way they think…unless they see it from a cynic’s point of view….

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Are they still Immutable?

Here is an interesting quote from a recent Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey :
"Recommendations by personal acquaintances and opinions posted by consumers online are the most trusted forms of advertising globally. The Nielsen survey shows that 90% of online consumers worldwide trust recommendations from people they know, while 70% trust consumer opinions posted online."

Wow! Trusting recommendations from people you know doesn’t surprise me. However, the percentage of consumers who now trust recommendations from people they don’t know and have never even met is pretty staggering!

I know this may sound like a cliché, but we really DO live in a new world. Brand loyalty and corporate reputations can both be built or destroyed across the globe with the touch of a mouse. Some businesses might look at this an extremely dangerous paradigm. However, to smart businesses, interactive global communications makes goal setting a whole lot easier. Focus on product quality, value, customer service and transparency. Do these well and your odds of succeeding improve substantially. Do these poorly and your reputation will be smeared around the world faster than you can cash an unemployment check.

This morning a colleague shared with me the philosophy of another marketer with whom we do business. He said that good companies cannot succeed with an average product regardless of how much money they invest in marketing. My immediate response was “This is certainly true, but hardly enlightening”. However, his comments led me to go back and reread The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing.  Remember that book by Ries & Trout? For years it served as the marketing bible!

According to the book, the first law of marketing is “Better to be first then to be better”. I found myself reading this law over and over again. After eyeballing the statistics above on consumer recommendations, I couldn’t help but question whether or not law #1 still holds true. In 1993, to be the first to launch a new product meant you were likely to control the market for years to come, regardless of whether a competitor launched a better product just months after you. However, that was before consumers could so easily influence one another so quickly, and in such large quantities, through the internet. Social media, didn’t exist (in digital form anyway) when the 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing was first published sixteen years ago. And I certainly don’t believe the authors could foresee how technology would soon have such an enormous impact on consumer behavior. As a result of these technological innovations, it appears that “first” and “better” may be showing signs of balancing out on the scale of marketing laws.
So in today’s value based economy, combined with instant global communication; is being first still more important than being better?? With just a bit of tentativeness, I have to say “yes”, but certainly “better” is gaining ground.
Anyway, I could go through my opinions on all 22 of Ries & Trout’s Immutable Laws of Marketing, but I’d love to know what you think. Which laws still hold true today? Which ones are outdated? And do you think any new laws should be added to the list?
And for those of you with supervisors who still don’t believe in the power of social media…share the statistics above when you’re developing your next strategic marketing plan. I can’t think of a more powerful argument to support your case.