The Marketing Is Us Blog

Low Cost No Cost Marketing

 

Yesterday I had the pleasure of listening to Rachael Bermingham - co-author of the bestseller '4 Ingredients'. This was a book with a first print run of 2000. Today, two years and two months after its launch it has now sold 1.5 million copies and still selling!

Apart from Rachael's natural exuberance and infectious energy it was wonderful to hear her simple but proven marketing philosophies. She admits she is without a degree in the area but has done a lot of self learning .. has made some mistakes but done many things right - evident by the ongoing success of her books. Particularly interesting is the philosophy that marketing can be done with little, or as Rachael says, no money. I call it 'low cost/no cost' marketing'. With '4 Ingredients', Rachael heavily focused on public relations, building relationships and lots of personal follow ups.

It was heartening to hear Rachael tell her audience that  marketing was not advertising, a basic tenet for marketing specialists but confused elsewhere.

Marketing companies focus on providing strategic marketing services to their clients. At  Marketing Is Us , our focus is the provision of cost effective strategic marketing solutions in growing business. Our services are holistic and strategic, that is planned, considered and hopefully all encompassing. Rachael has demonstrated so aptly that effective marketing should be all of these things; and particularly for small business, does not have to be expensive.

A great talk and much inspiration drawn. Thanks Rachael.

A New York State of Mind

 

I’ve had a somewhat wistful weekend.  This time last year I was in The Big Apple.  I had a spent a lot of time there in the mid – late 1980’s, and it was great to be back!  

 

In between visiting friends –  obligatory visits to the MET and MOMA and nights out - seeing Macbeth on Broadway and the American Ballet Theatre perform a tribute to Jerome Robins – I  managed some work!  Although it didn’t seem like work, attending the first day of Mediabistro Circus – their  first ‘conference’ focusing on digital trends and changing media.  Mediabistro.com,  a division of Jupiterrmedia Corporation , generates more than 6 million page views each month as a resource which includes  daily media news, classes and seminars, and recruiting services. Jupitermedia Corporation is a leading global provider of images, news and original information.

Rather than  ‘deadly panel discussions, rehashed conference fodder or self congratulatory case studies’ – the Media Bistro Circus 'conference' promised a ‘roster of Internet rock stars presenting fresh takes on topics crucial to their businesses’.

 

Held at the Skylight Studios, downtown Manhattan  – the first day’s sessions comprised Publishing: Form Print to Digital – with speakers including Paul Cloutier, CEO 8020 Publishing, James Daly Editor In Chef of Eduotopia  and Paul Rossi, Publisher of the Economist.  Paul spoke of the ‘clickatorial’ and reader engagement advising that every article published online received 200-300 comments,  totalling 13-15000 comments per month.

The Blogging session examined how the ‘blogosphere has revolutionized communication and the world of media’. Elisa Camahort, co founder and COO Blogher spoke of how blogs enable expression and connection with people of like minds in the formation of communities and their motivation to find information.  We were told that more than half of US women online reading blogs which are influencing what is and  is not purchased.  Amongst the speakers were Anish Dash, Vice President (or ‘Chief Evangelist) of Six Apart, the  maker of blog platforms including this one – Typepad. Amongst many messages were ‘blogs are the web'.. 'the centralised model is not how media works and won’t be the path forward – rather it will be user controlled.'

 

A highlight was the keynote presentation by Chris Anderson, Editor in Chief of Wired magazine and author of The Long Tail – the bestseller which examines the value of market fragmentation, niche markets, their significant value if aggregated and how the Internet has made this possible.  Chris advised ‘content first,  networking second, urging to firstly establish sites that are  about something, then build in social networking features’.

 

The event had its own twitter wall – a bit like the stock exchange ticker - tracking the steady stream of tweets.

 

Although I was fighting the jetlag – and drinking a lot of coffee to counter the effects – it was fantastic to hear some of the best in the world speak about the phenomenon which has changed the marketing landscape.

 

One year on – it is great to see so many Australian businesses and marketers embrace the technology and platforms. The marketing landscape has changed and as marketers we  need to demonstrate the value  of these platforms to our clients.

 

This year’s Media Bistro Circus is taking place in June – again in  New York and promises to be equally stimulating with presenters including author Tim Ferriss of 'The 4- Hour Workweek'. Let’s go! 

By TwitterButtons.com

Much ATwitter About Twitter

The audience demographics of social media mean the medium can no longer be ignored by strategic marketers and their clients.

Twitter, the microblogging phenomenon, where messages are posted in 140 characters is the fastest growing social media platform recording 7 million visitors in February 2008 (Nielsen 2009) - a 1382% year-over-year increase from 475,000 unique visitors in February 2008 making it the fastest growing site in the Member Communities category for the month.

Twitter is most popular amongst working adults with the largest age group being 35-49; with nearly 3 million unique visitors, comprising almost 42 percent of the site’s audience. Interestingly, this age group is also the fastest growing demographic using Facebook.

As with other social media - from a business and strategic marketing perspective - its not about the hard sell. Rather the focus is on engagement, sharing information and resources, and building relationships within an online community, the members of which represent potential brand advocates. When tweeting is aligned with your brand and positioning, brand reinforcement can also be achieved.

Twitter should be considered as another medium in all integrated promotional mixes.

By TwitterButtons.com

More on Brand Obama

 Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images North America

 

Last week we blogged about the ‘First Brand’ - Obama. 

 

In this weekend's  Weekend Australian Magazine Amy Chozick profiles Desiree Rogers (pictured left), the White House Social Secretary, who reports directly to the First Lady and who is considered by many, to be the key to the Obama brand.

 

Ms Rogers, 49, Harvard MBA, breast cancer survivor and one time Vogue model - 'demonstrating executive and chic can coexist’, is responsible for ‘planning the events that promote the Obama presidency’, ensuring ‘the White House is reflective of who they are’. In keeping with her academic and business background, Rogers treats her role strategically as a business, with clearly defined mission and objectives.

Interestingly and not previously usual it seems, the East and West wings are collaborating closely – with Rogers meeting the President’s Chief of Staff every morning at 8.15 am to swap notes – and perhaps strategies!

The marketing of Obama is certain to trigger some business school case studies.  The activities of the White House Press and Social Secretaries will form part of this analysis and continue to fascinate, particularly as some murmurs emerge about potential overexposure.

Stay tuned.

By TwitterButtons.com

Clever Lamb Advertising

 

On 28 April we published a post about the very clever Meat & Livestock Australia Mothers Day ad. The talented people responsible were: BMF Agency; TVC ECD Warren Brown; Ad: Jake Rusznyak; Copywriter Dennis Koutouogenis, Production - Orange Whip Films and Director Simon Macrae .

Looking forward to the next one.

 

By TwitterButtons.com

More on Twitter

Sydney based journalist Patty Huntington has been writing some great articles about the use of Twitter in various creative industries.  The latest which appeared in 'The Weekend Australian' today is about Australian born director Robert Luketic who is the first to document the progress of the film making process on Twitter.Today's article is not yet available on line but here is the link to one which appeared last month. Net Gain- Patty Huntington.  As Patty says the subject 'definitely has wings'.

By TwitterButtons.com

Healthy Habits

Another good article in HBR this month: Do Take That Break in which author Samuel Z Goldhaber, MD discusses the ramifactions of remaining immobile in meetings or behind desks for long periods,practices which can set the stage for deep vein thrombosis (DVT). 

The article says that although most people associate DVT with long flights, employees who remain in their chairs without getting up for several hours were more likely to develop DVT than others who moved around.

Dr Goldhaber recommends moving at least every 90 minutes and to avoid blood thickening dehydration by drinking plenty of water.  If you are stuck in a long meeting - he advises to do some heel/toe lifts to keep blood moving.

More information is available at Health HBR.

I know I'm guilty of getting immersed in my work and staying glued to my chair! But its worthwhile to develop some better habits when your health and well being are at stake.

As the song says 'gotta start moving ..!'

A great reminder.

 

By TwitterButtons.com

Protecting the Obama Brand

Interesting item in today's Australian about the promotion and the strategic planning involved in the development and protection of  the Obama brand.  The contrast between the President's dining with the elite and his recent visit with VP Biden to a burger outlet (with the President paying) has attracted much media attention and is mentioned.

"It was artificial, but most people would still say, 'He's a regular guy with my kind of tastes'," said Professor Larry Sabato, professor of politics at Virginia University. 

Fascinating. President Obama has created many firsts - in addition to being the first black US President. His use of 21st century technology and his overall marketing approach particularly is great to observe.

What a brand to protect and how interesting (and challenging) would be the strategic plan. 

By TwitterButtons.com

Great Job | Great Publicity

The winner of 'The Best Job In the World' was announced today. The lucky winner from 34,000 applicants world wide was Englishman Ben Southall.  Click here to see the story and his audition video.

Significant is the $100 million worth of publicity generated by Tourism Queensland from an investment cited as $1.7 million. The ROI will be even greater if the increased global awareness of Australia and beautiful Queensland translates into increased visitation and expenditure.

Paying $150K for six months, based on Hamilton Island and  reporting on the Island and the Reef, it is certainly a great job with great publicity generated from a fantastic, innovative idea! 

Well done Tourism Q!

Here is the job spec!

Marketers' Must See

Its great to have a regular program about one aspect of marketing - namely advertising. Its a must see for all marketers as they contemplate the promotional elements of their strategic marketing plans.

Quoting from the ABC website:

'The Gruen Transfer is a fast, funny show about advertising that will make you look differently at the constructed world around you.

It's not an expose. It's not a satire. It's about truth in advertising. Finally.

We used to know what advertising was. It was that stuff in the margins, in the ad breaks. But in recent years, it has begun colonising every space it can. US ad wizard Mark Fenske, the guy behind the Nike campaigns, calls advertising "maybe the most powerful art form on Earth". And the Earth aint the end of it. Not so long ago, Pizza Hut stamped its logo on a rocket to the moon. Earlier this year, Doritos announced it would beam its ads into space.

We all think we're immune to advertising, that we're smarter than the marketers, but can you honestly say you know why you buy one brand of detergent and not another? As you walk the aisles of the supermarket, how many of the purchasing choices you make are consciously your own? And if you can be persuaded, without realising, to buy the orange dishwashing liquid, what else can you be persuaded to do? Advertising: you know you're soaking in it.

Which is where The Gruen Transfer comes in. Each week, host Wil Anderson is joined by guests with the best and brightest minds in the advertising industry; insiders prepared to share the ideas and insights that drive them.

End Quote!

Tune in - its worth watching!

This week's pitch!