Houston Marketer

The Vendor-Client Relationship Explained

2009-08-04T17:10:00.000-07:00

If you're in advertising or marketing, this may sound familiar.

Behold The Man in the Chair

2009-07-22T10:02:00.000-07:00

Do you know how to deal with The Man in the Chair? It seems like he's got it in for you, but in fact he's here to make your brand stronger. Ignore him and say goodbye to at least some growth potential. Thanks to the Business Marketing Association (BMA) for making this available.

Jacqueline Taylor on Marketing (Houston Chronicle)

2009-07-21T07:52:00.000-07:00

A few days ago Jacqueline Taylor, associate region director of the UH Small Business Development Center, offered some sound advice to a small business owner who had the following query:

"I haven't been spending much on marketing lately, and now I've noticed a drop in sales. What can I do to attract more customers — on a budget, of course?"

Check out her response. The advice is simple and solid. And you know, I've worked with a number of major corporations that could use a refresh on these basics.

I'm always amazed at how fast and deep the cuts are to the marketing function in response to a down business cycle. Uh...isn't that when you need more business the most?

Great Article About Crowdsourcing in the NY Times

2009-07-20T11:58:00.001-07:00

What do you know about crowdsourcing? Whether you depend on internal departments or external agencies to create new ideas--or you're in the business of providing them yourself--this trend will impact you in some way.

Houston Comedian on Marketing

2009-07-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

Hey now, you're talking about my people...

On War and Marketing

2009-07-07T11:31:00.001-07:00

Managing the Multi-Generational Workplace

2009-06-28T19:16:00.000-07:00

I knew generational differences were going to be an issue when I made a Caddyshack reference to a girl who worked for me and she just sat there blinking. That’s why I really enjoyed Friday’s AMA Professional Development Special Interest Group on how people of different generations can relate to each other and work well together in the marketing world.

The upshot is that there are more generations in the workplace together now than ever before: two generations of Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y (Millennials). So it’s critical to understand your multigenerational coworkers so you can relate and get the most out of the team.

While all stereotypes are inherently false, some of the generalizations made about each generation of worker ring true for many. As a Gen X guy, I know a lot of the stereotypes are true in my case (micromanagement the worst thing possible, prefer blunt communication, value independence and work-life balance).

Check out these three good articles on the subject:

A Boomer's Guide to Communicating with Gen X and Gen Y (BusinessWeek)

Age Just a Number: Cohesive Office with Different Generations (ABC News)

Aging and Work (Boston College)

Great job to everyone who set up Friday’s event. Speakers included Mark Strong of Valtera (who has dogs named Rocky and MacGuyver), Sally Doffer of ConocoPhillips, Amy Mifflin of Marathon Oil and Kim Wachel of KBR.

Texas Wine Makers Need More Buzz in Brand

2009-06-25T16:21:00.001-07:00

According to a new study from the Texas Tech Wine Marketing Research Institute and the Rawls College of Business, high brand awareness is more likely to lead to brand survival than high perception of wine quality.

The study tracked the fates of 25 Texas wineries since 1991, when more than 900 Texas wine enthusiasts rated the quality and name recognition of the wineries' products.

The study's lead author told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal that: "A lot of wineries put so much effort into improving the quality, but not as much attention is being paid to marketing." Natalia Kolyesnikova, an assistant professor at Tech whose family has been in the Ukrainian wine business for generations, authored the study.

Sadly, many people still consider Texas wine a gag gift and the wineries on the Texas plains, such as Llano Estacado Winery and Cap*Rock, are doing their best to combat the stereotypes. In keeping with a decades-old University tradition, the students of Texas Tech are also pitching in to help support this still-fermenting part of the Texas economy.

(Cowboy wine holder by DetailsArt)

Congratulations to Gary Cerny at Michels Corporation

2009-01-27T14:42:00.001-08:00

Congrats to Garcy Cerny, who landed a spot as the company's Regional Marketing Director. Best of luck in your new gig.

Michels is a 50-year old utility, engineering, design and construction contractor with a long list of impressive clients. But none of that is what really makes the company cool.

What makes the company cool is that once a year they let people get together and play in a quarry. How cool is that?

New TV Show Centers on Fake Agency, Real Brands

2009-01-22T15:54:00.000-08:00

I hate TV; I only own one to have something to watch movies on. But the marketer in me has to give it up for the guys at the TNT cable channel.

On Monday, Trust Me debuts, the product of former advertising men Hunt Baldwin and John Coveny. No doubt cashing in on the success of Mad Men, the Trust Me series (previously called Truth in Advertising) is a TV show about a fake advertising agency.

But the beauty? All of the products and campaigns in the series are real. For plot purposes, they're throwing in some fake ones. But no doubt you can hear on-message references to the brand efforts of Apple, Green Giant, Hallmark, Frosted Flakes, Starbucks and more.

As Stuart Elliott explains in his NY Times article In 'Trust Me,' a Fake Agency Really Promotes, the show "offers another example of a growing trend known as branded entertainment, as marketers seek to insinuate themselves into programming to counter the growing ability of viewers to avoid or ignore traditional commercials. For some, it will be a meta moment to watch a TV show about the ad business that is taking care of business while seeking to garner ratings."

Congrats to Martin Miglioretti

2009-01-15T11:07:00.000-08:00

Martin Miglioretti has been appointed the new Creative Director over at Pierpont Communications. Pierpont seems to be growing, having just opened up an office in San Antonio.

Pierpont leader Phil Morabito was in the Houston Business Journal last week talking about how what a value public relations can be in this kind of economy: "What companies don’t realize is their marketing budget will go a lot further and create much more buzz in a down market. As your competition pulls back, you should become much more aggressive. When you do, you will achieve top-of-mind status and grab market share as the economy stabilizes and will be able to remain on top during the next upswing in the economy. Sticking to this strategy can be difficult for many executives because it is counterintuitive to what is a natural emotional response, but if you stay the course the market gains will be significant."

Turning the Big Blue Green

2009-01-14T15:51:00.000-08:00

Over lunch, I heard Rhonni Vazquez, Vice President, Marketing, IBM Global Communications Sector, talking about IBM’s green strategy and the new green IBM brand.

A few things struck me about the effort, but one awesome thing about it is that the company was able to get buy-in from the top down to make significant operational changes. They went beyond brand strategy to build a business strategy.

Many times, companies will build a brand or pursue a positioning strategy that presents the message they want to present—but it stops at the marketing department. When that happens, the credibility isn’t there and you might as well burn your budget money in a barrel or give it to GM or something.

If you’re not willing to cross the line and sell the operational side when it makes sense, you’re missing a big opportunity.

Ad Industry Christmas Card (Charlie Brown Spoof)

2008-12-19T09:39:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Heather Cobb for sending this my way!

Congrats to John Arensdorf, Spectra Energy Corp's New Chief Communications Officer

2008-12-18T06:00:00.000-08:00

Arensdorf steps up at a time of multiple leadership shifts, as the company gets a new Chief Financial Officer, a new President and Chief Executive Officer and a new Board member.

Based here in the Bayou City, Spectra develops and operates pipelines in addition to natural gas gathering and processing, transporting, storing and distributing for North American markets.

Arensdorf was Baptized by fire as he spoke at the recent Wachovia Pipeline MLP Symposium. The forecast at Spectra? A solid growth position, as the company plows forward with expansion projects and bright prospects.

Houston Stores Spending Less on Christmas Decorations

2008-12-17T05:32:00.000-08:00

It seems to start in April or May. The holly. The jingle bells. The--mysterious in Houston--fake snow. And by the time good old Christmas rolls around, even die hard Christmas fans like me are starting to develop a facial twitch upon hearing Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

But yule probably notice a little less of that this year, according to a recent article by the Houston Chronicle's David Kaplan. It seems like the combination of Hurricane Ike and an economic "cone of uncertainty" are driving area stores to spend less, and get more creative, when it comes to in-store holiday decorations.

The same could not be said for Harrods of London.

What Latvia can Teach You About Branding

2008-12-02T15:38:00.000-08:00

You can't brand your way out of being an asshole.

In an innovative move to keep pessemistic outlooks from damaging the perceived health of the Latvian economy, the Baltic state merely arrested bearish economists according to Wall Street Journal.

Latvia was admitted into the EU in 2004, and does a brisk trade in the kind of production and assembly jobs inherent in many blue-collar economies: agricultural machinery, textiles, vehicle assembly lines, etc.

But no matter how cheap its labor, how industrious its working class or how enticing its tax and land incentives--Latvia has dedicated itself to maintaining a suspicous commercial brand. And there is a lesson to learn here for all corporate marketers.

The communications component of your marketing mix deals with putting your best foot forward in key markets--and doing it in a way that supports your organizational objectives. But no matter how many business-friendly ad campaigns, PR stories or outreach efforts Latvia invests in over the next decade, they might as well take that money and burn it in a barrel.

If your service is bad, your products poor, your positioning ineffective or your operations flawed--good brand management will only soften the blow or buy you a little time. You can't spin your way around bad business practices for long.

Congrats to Jennifer L. Johnson at Total Safety

2008-12-02T07:06:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Jennifer L. Johnson, the newly appointed Corporate Marketing Director at Houston's Total Safety.

Johnson will handle Marketing, PR and communications responsibilities. She's helping her team assemble a new catalogue and beef up the Total Safety website, according to a recent article in the November issue of the American Marketing Association's Marketing News magazine.

In her brief time there, she has already had a go at introducing video techniques into the company's marketing plan, filming the CEO for an employee program to "introduce him to people who've never seen him," and therefore help humanize the company.

Shaky Economy Great Time to Refine Budget

2008-12-01T11:27:00.000-08:00

Growing your marketing budget right now is a tough sell. Sometimes the money just isn’t there, especially in a place like Houston with an engineering and finance culture (and oil hovering just over $50 a barrel, down from almost $150 this past July).

So now what? Before you sign of on a smaller budget, or continue with business as usual, consider putting every single 2009 marketing initiative in your marketing plan under the microscope.

Yes, this includes the things you’ve done EVERY year since you’ve been on board, and, yes, even the newsletter with employee babies and dead deer that nobody ever reads unless they’re the one who had the baby or shot the deer.

Ask yourself:

+ Where, specifically, is this effort contributing to the balance sheet?
+ How does this effort improve revenue, profits or conversion rate?
+ In what way does this project help differentiate the company and its offerings?
+ Is this effort an investment in longer-term value? How do I know?
+ Where do I need to focus our marketing resources for longer-term growth?

It sounds obvious, but many marketers take on or continue a host of projects for political or historical reasons, or simply because that’s the way it’s always been (before they were hired).

A shaky economy and slowing growth in the energy sector are great reasons for Houston marketers to clean deadwood from their marketing plans, tweaking budgets to run leaner on less.

Now is the time for smarter marketing

2008-11-21T16:06:00.000-08:00

Marketing: first on the chopping block every time when the rough seas hit. Because, obviously it is a luxury, right? Maybe. Another way to look at it is that with fewer dollars out there in your clients' total budget pool you have to be more aggressive with marketing and PR just to fight for those remaining down-economy dollars.

That's my totally biased opinion. But it is a corroborated one.

Check out this article in last week's Houston Business Journal, Gain a competitive edge by marketing in a down economy, by lawyer Bill Boyar at Boyar & Miller here in town.

Boyar notes that: "...Slashing marketing can be a serious strategic and tactical mistake. Marketing your product or service is fundamental to the success of your company, regardless of the underlying economic conditions..."

Nobody can be convinced of this recession-time logic. You either believe it or you don't. If you don't, however, you forfeit your right to complain if our current economic recession shuffles the pecking order in your market to a landscape that leaves you hungry for the good old days.

Ike Brings Outdoor Signage Brainstorm

2008-09-25T06:00:00.000-07:00

The power may have been off the last few weeks, but the light bulbs in the mind’s of Houstonians everywhere burned with creativity when it came to outdoor signage. They say good outdoor takes three things:

1. A thorough understanding of your audience
2. A message that distinguishes you from others
3. An understanding of the limitations of the medium (and how to push them)

Here are some excellent examples of homemade Ike-related signage that did exactly that. Even though they not exactly be market-focused, they are behavior-focused anyway; and that’s what marketers do--engineer change in other peoples’ behavior to achieve some objective.

For more, check out the Houston Chronicle’s list of signage aimed at Hurricane Ike.

Today is National Punctuation Day. Period.

2008-09-24T19:01:00.000-07:00

Don’t think punctuation matters? Just ask Lynn Truss, author of the heavyweight guide to punctuation Eats, Shoots and Leaves. It’s easily the best book ever written about punctuation because it’s just so darn accessible. Janet Maslin of the New York Times said, upon its publication in 2006, “Eats, Shoots & Leaves ‘makes correct usage so cool that you have to admire Ms. Truss.’”

Still not convinced? Check out a story from the Globe and Mail on a company that may lose over $2 million dollars (that’s about £4.50 for you British readers) because of a typo in a major contract.

Your Current Product Market Shot?

2008-09-10T19:48:00.000-07:00

Find a new one. That's what defense contractor Alliant Techsystems did when it realized that the war in Irag might not last forever--but duck hunting probably will.

In an article in BusinessWeek this week, Upscale Ammo: No. 1 with a Bullet, Brian Hino showcases how Minneapolis-based ATK transformed its brand from commodity product to a quality leading position at a premium price point.

Nothing gets the weekend warrior crowd hot and bothered like the words "military grade."

Design Matters (If you don't call it that.)

2008-08-27T06:38:00.000-07:00

It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that design is an afterthought of good marketing strategy.

But even the smartest of marketing strategies won't get consumer markets fired up in a vacuum. It takes careful integration of many disciplines to make that happen in a way that sticks and delivers the lasting volume to stick it out in the B-to-C world. And design is a critical part of that mix.

Just ask Coca-Cola's new chief of design, David Butler.

Butler has used high-performance design to enhance brand identity, user experience and sustainability. And he's gotten Coke un-stuck from the visual identity doldrums. His secret? Don't call it design.

Read more about it in this week's BusinessWeek article by Jessie Scanion, Coke's New Design Direction.

The Spies of Social Media

2008-08-26T21:27:00.000-07:00

The last decade has seen social media networks create cool new communications avenues for both the individual and the organization. But not without a little risk.

As Rohit Bhargava warns in a post at Influential Marketing Blog, tech-savvy online spies could piece together information about your company's goings on that might put you at a strategic disadvantage. Here's his hypothetical scenario as shared by MarketingProfs:

1. You tweet about a business trip to the West Coast with a friend who is known to be a lawyer.
2. She updates her Facebook profile, mentioning a client meeting in Redmond, Washington.
3. Media outlets quote a Microsoft executive about being in discussions with companies in your field.
4. A Microsoft engineer blogs about a new company in your town.

"In four small updates from unrelated people," says Bhargava, "a smart social media surfer could get a very direct sense of a deal about to happen and some inside information..." Scary.

Making the Big Pitch to Investors

2008-08-19T11:11:00.000-07:00

I have been fortune enough to have been on the pit crew with a number of my clients, especially in the renewable energy sector, as they go out for new financing. It’s always a lot of fun for me--mostly because as the hired help I don’t have to actually stare some ice-blooded guy at Morgan in the face and ask him for $10M without laughing.

But coming up with the messages and material that make a great investor pitch—without setting off the investors’ ever-more-sensitive bullshit detectors—is very rewarding. If you’re about to make that pitch, check out this great collection of Financiers' Pet Peeves from BusinessWeek.com. This kick-ass piece by Stacy Perman includes such advice as being in too much of a hurry, talking about yourself too much and using that deal-killing phrase: "Serial Entrepreneur."