S&MM SoundOff

Going to the Dogs

I consider myself a dog owner gone wild—meaning I’ll spare no expense on Roxie, my beloved miniature schnauzer puppy. I’ve been known to rack up on toys, treats, and the occasional fuzzy sweater at my local PetSmart.

I’ll admit, pampering my pooch to excess is a bad habit, but Roxie’s got her own problems. She loves to bark at strangers. Yikes!

So, it’s no wonder a recent e-mail grabbed my interest. It was from a dog trainer who claimed he could “transform even the most bull-headed miniature schnauzer into a well behaved angel.”

Such a promise instantly sparked skepticism. So I Googled the guy’s name (Dean Rankin) and found out he’s believed to be a marketer disguised as a dog trainer! Needless to say, I didn’t take him up on the offer. I picked up a dog training book at Barnes & Noble instead.

I think this type of marketing is questionable. Consumers who fail to do a background check could be duped by this guy.

What’s your opinion? Is it ethical for a marketer to pose as someone else (such as a professional dog trainer) in order to sell a product or service? Do you consider this a credible form of marketing?

Plus, find out how to develop marketing based on customer wants and needs.

Dressing for Success?

A suit and tie generally conveys success at work, but everyone needs a break once in a while. That could be jeans on Friday or, according to a list compiled by The Creative Group, bedroom slippers or a scuba outfit. As a kid, I remember my dad planning for weeks to compete in an ugly-tie contest at his office. His best tie had a giant pink fish on it—extremely ugly but not quite bad enough for the top prize. And with Halloween quickly approaching, you’re likely to see some wacky outfits around the office—I’m planning to buy some devil horns to be worn at the Halloween lunch this Friday.

A little creative dressing can make work a little more fun, but what happens when the craziness continues every day? What's the craziest thing you've worn to work? Have you topped The Creative Group's list?

Bringing Home the Bacon

Several weeks ago, Neil French, a prominent advertising executive at WPP Group, stepped down after making controversial remarks about women in the industry.

Here’s what ABC news reported:

"Women do not make it to the top because they don't deserve to," Mr. French was quoted as saying. He reportedly also described women as "a group that will inevitably wimp out and go suckle something," and said motherhood makes women "wimp out."

I was shocked by his comments. Mr. French is an old relic of a bygone era. Or is it not bygone? Is he speaking for the majority of the corporate elite?

Women have shown they are capable of bringing home the bacon, frying it, and feeding it to their families. It is a challenge for many women (and men) who decide to juggle family and career. I believe those choices need to be respected and heralded, and not undervalued by those who don’t understand the struggle.

Do you agree with Mr. French's assessment? Why don’t many women make it to the top of the business world? Are you struggling to balance work and family?

For more reading, check out S&MM’s finding balance section.

Sex and the Salesperson

This morning on The Today show, Matt Lauer and Donny Deutsch were discussing whether it was ethical to take clients to strip clubs in hopes of closing a deal. This came up in light of the story about American Express suing for charges made in 2003 by the CEO of the company Savvis at the New York Strip club Scores. Apparently the CEO had gone there with three business acquaintances and racked up a $241,000 bill.

Sales & Marketing Management did a story 10 years ago about the rising number of business deals being brokered at strip clubs. Back then it was 49 percent of male sales managers and salespeople who entertained clients at topless bars. Apparently not much has changed.

As a woman I feel that a topless bar is no place to conduct any type of business transaction. Even if it is just entertaining a client apart from business. Would women be expected to take female clients to male strip clubs? I hardly think that would be appropriate or tolerated. Anyone care to counter my point?

Do you think  it is ethical to do business in a strip club? Do you think it harms a company’s image or is it an accepted practice?

Rainy Day Sales?

It’s a dreary day in New York City. The air is damp; it’s been dark almost all day; and the extended forecast doesn’t look much better.

So in the midst of all of this bleak weather, I thought about salespeople. How would bad weather affect your sales calls? Does it affect your performance? Is it harder to get motivated to sell? Of course if you’re a salesperson in Seattle, I suppose that this is something you’d encounter nine months out of the year so you’d have to be used to it.

I know I love the summertime but I’m curious to know: Do you have a favorite time of year to be on the road? Or does weather have no impact on your determination to sell?

New and Improved Isn’t Always a Good Thing

Innovation seems to be a key to success in the business world. Companies are always racing to have the latest and greatest products out there, to meet customers’ needs before the customer is even aware of them. But what happens when customers would just prefer a consistent, high-quality product without having to upgrade every few years? The LOCO shoe company is betting their business that constant innovation is not the key to success—they promise not to change their shoe designs until the year 2009.

LOCO makes running shoes, and running shoes are hardly immune to innovation. First there was the waffle grid on the bottom, and now there are weightless and intelligent shoes, shocks and gel. But most runners just want some shoes that will get them to the finish line injury-free. I am a runner, and the last four pairs of running shoes I bought were all the same model. I don’t particularly care about having the newest technology. I found what works for me, and I’m happy.

I think LOCO may be on to something. Their customers are runners like me who stick with what they like, so they gave customers what they want. And in this case, they didn’t have to change a thing.

--Julie

Building Buzz or Manipulative Marketing?

No amount of advertising or marketing collateral is as cost-effective or as successful in building up a brand as word of mouth. Whether you sell widgets or ideas, the core of business is still based on human reaction and interaction—and most marketers will tell you that you can’t put a price on having customers be your evangelists and advocates.

In the past few years, word-of-mouth marketing has become more integrated into Corporate America’s bloodstream, especially those vying for the attention of Gen X and Y consumers. The most intricate word-of-mouth campaigns seem to focus on finding market influencers and getting them to back your brand. S&MM caught wind of the trend a few years back in a story we did on how smaller businesses build buzz. As part of its marketing efforts, one of the companies mentioned, Rheingold Beer, sought out members of its target audience (the hipsters of Manhattan’s trendy East Village neighborhood), and got them to wear Rheingold T-shirts and hats in exchange for free beer.

But one watchdog group is taking exception to these buzz-building efforts, viewing it as deceptive because it may not be apparent that some evangelists are in fact hired marketing hands. The group names Procter & Gamble’s Tremor marketing service in particular, which on its site says it has identified “influential teen connectors” to build word of mouth among young people; P&G says it doesn’t manipulate its teen audience.

The thing marketers need to ask themselves is this: Are your word-of-mouth efforts feeding organic buzz? Or are you trying to unnaturally force-feed your message to customers? Just the other day, our intern Julie noticed some street marketers handing out postcards that no one was taking. One of them decided to make a fake phone call to a friend to proclaim how she happened upon some cool postcards on the street. Apparently, the strategy didn’t result in a surge of pedestrian interest. I think most people would know that postcards aren’t something you write home (or make a phone call) about.

How to effectively build word-of-mouth buzz is relatively new ground for corporate marketing departments, so it’ll be interesting to see how strategies evolve over the next few years. But one thing’s for sure: Never underestimate your customers’ intelligence—or cynicism. They can likely tell when the buzz they’ve heard is real or planted.

A Gift Card Can Be Thoughtful

I recently read a survey that said holiday shoppers are going to spend more on gift card purchases this year. I was pretty surprised because I’ve always believed that people who give gift cards are shoppers who fail to put thought into gifts for their friends and family—it's pretty much like giving cash right?

In Corporate America, gift cards are a manager’s way to motivate employees without having to worry and rack their brains about what employees will like. One of the big issues managers have is wondering what (besides cash) will keep their troops going—gift cards seemed to offer the answer.

And last Christmas, I changed my mind after experiencing the true power of gift cards. Here’s my story:

My soon-to-be mother in-law is a wonderful woman, but she can be tricky to shop for. She reminds me of Mrs. Brady—in a good way. She’s a fine cook and has plenty of cooking gadgetry. She’s also got plenty of shoes, perfume, and knick knacks. So, when it came time to purchase holiday gifts I was stumped.

I wanted to impress her and give a gift that would show how much I enjoy spending time with her family. But frigid temperatures and malls filled with screaming kids sent me to my last resort option: a gift card.

On Christmas morning, I presented her gift and as the wrapping paper was flying I kept thinking about my lowly gift card purchase. Will she like it? What will she say? Where's the nearest exit?

To my surprise, she loved it and said it was such a thoughtful gift. Whew! I was relieved.

The gift card was from a portrait studio and enclosed inside a picture frame. Her family is growing bigger with the addition of two grandchildren and two new daughters (myself and her son’s girlfriend). So, she’s going to use the gift card and frame for a special family portrait.

What’s your experience with gift cards—good or bad—and do you plan to purchase any this year?

For more on gift cards, check out the next generation and discover the top benefits of using gift cards.

Clash of the Brands

While interviewing sales executives, one tenet I’ve heard oft-repeated is: “We aren’t afraid of turning away customers who aren’t a good strategic fit for us.” That principle popped into my head when I’d heard that Wal-Mart had bought eight pages of advertising in the September issue of Vogue, with more to come in future issues. My first thought: This is not a strategic fit. A magazine overrun with haute couture is being sponsored by a massive discount retailer? My second thought: How exactly did that sales meeting go?

Wal-Mart: “Here’s some cash. Forget that an outfit in one of your photo spreads costs more than our entire junior’s department. We’d like eight pages of ads in your most-anticipated issue of the year.” Gucci-clad Vogue account rep: “Wal-Who? Is that like a Home Depot?”

Obviously, I’ve taken much poetic license with that imaginary interpretation, but it’s to illustrate the seeming brand clash here. Even so, Vogue salespeople know that having an account with the retail giant—who also happens to sell a sizeable chunk of all the single-issue magazines sold in America—is nothing to shake a stiletto at. Many vendors would kill to have Wal-Mart as a customer. But I wonder whether Vogue’s readers will turn up their perfumed noses when they get to Wal-Mart’s ads. The seemingly mismatched marketing decision didn’t seem so crazy, though, once I’d read that this is part of Wal-Mart’s new plan to start appealing to a more upscale audience, including an appearance at New York’s Fashion Week, a new fashion line, and rumors of buying out Tommy Hilfiger. I was even less surprised when I’d read the branding effort was being lead by John Fleming, a former executive at Target Corp., which is a perfect example of a retailer that’s mastered “low-cost cool.”

Speaking of Target, they’ve created some advertising controversy of their own when they sponsored an entire issue of The New Yorker, creating ads that mirror the magazine’s look and feel. Not only do we have that “strategic fit” question again (do upscale, urban intellectuals shop at Target?), but an issue of editorial integrity: Does The New Yorker, the winner of so many editorial excellence awards, do its readers a disservice by allowing ads that may be misinterpreted as editorial? And if the magazine’s “street cred” does indeed go down as a result, does this affect their attractiveness as an advertising vehicle?

In both cases, there does seem to be a method to all the madness, but it’s too early to tell whether these strategies paid off. If they do, the retailers will be lauded as forward-thinking risk takers who did what it took to broaden their brand, and found loyal customers along the way. If it fails, they’ll be viewed as outsiders who tried too hard to join a party they weren’t invited to—bringing down the brand of their accounts along the way.

What makes up your “strategic fit?” Did taking a marketing risk constitute a strategic business move, and help you accomplish a brand makeover—or did you have to turn down risky business when it didn’t, at least on the surface, seem to make sense?

The Things We'll Do for an iPod

Simultaneous to its introduction were consumer marketing programs proclaiming a new nano was waiting for you if you took advantage of special offers. Now, the nano joins the shuffle, the mini, and the original iPod as the incentive of choice among consumer-hungry marketers. The world has caught iPod fever, and S&MM isn't immune. Two of our staffers recently took the bait, but with very different results.

Corris, our online editor, recently tried to get an iPod from a viral marketing program. Here's her take:

"I've always been fond of the F-word. No, not that F-word. Free. :-) But here's a case where free wasn't exactly free. The other day while helping set up this blog, I came across an article discussing how a marketer created buzz in the blogging community by offering free iPods. This definitely piqued my interest since it included the all-important keyword (free), and I wanted a new and much lighter nano to bop down the street with. I logged onto their Web site and discovered their plan right away.

Here's the deal: You must sign up for one of their advertised offers--I chose online movie rentals at Blockbuster.com--and convince five of your friends to do the same. Then the nano will be shipped to your address. I admit, I bought the idea hook, line, and sinker and encouraged scores of friends and family to sign up. You know what I got? Absolutely nothing. My friends signed up, but didn't complete the offers required to get the iPod. Now I'll never know if the marketer actually gives away iPods or not.

However, I am very happy with my online movie rentals and won't cancel the offer like I had originally planned. The marketer accomplished its mission: to lure customers into trying out its services. In hindsight, though, marketing practices like this look pretty sketchy."

So the marketer got what it wanted: Corris' business--without even rewarding her. But Julie, our editorial intern, had a different experience, and one that left a bad taste in her mouth:

"I recently received an iPod shuffle for opening a new checking account this summer. However the good feelings I had from receiving the iPod quickly faded as the account--and the iPod--started causing problems. When I opened the account, I closed an existing savings account with the same bank and transferred the money into the new one. In the first week alone, I made several phone calls and visits to the bank because it failed to close the account or transfer the funds as I originally requested. My online account was also frozen, although there was no reason for it to be. The bank's employees were reluctant to help me solve the problems, and the customer service was far from acceptable.

Once the iPod arrived, my frustration was renewed. I had to buy a USB extender so the iPod would fit into my computer, as well as spend time converting WMA files into mp3 files before I could use it. So the iPod was not exactly free. Once my account has been active for the required six months, I will no longer be a customer."

In both cases, the incentives acted as the lure, but at what cost? Are customers who don't intend to stick around worth the marketing dollars? And while Blockbuster.com got a new customer despite Corris not getting the intended incentive, what do you do with angry customers who have to jump through hoops to claim their rewards-or suffer poor service once they're hooked? Smaller businesses, especially, have to think hard about these kinds of incentives because they have more to lose from a bad marketing investment as they compete with the big players.

What's your take on this--good marketing ploy, or perfect way to tick off customers?