#BrandMarketers and #CMOs take note: Companies using #Bae to Reach Millennials aren’t #sofleek

Companies like Taco Bell, Jimmy John’s, and IHOP have started using new tactics on Twitter to get in touch with the younger generations of customers. Is your company considering following into the same direction? Don’t.

Taco Bell, IHOP, and Jimmy John’s among others have been taking to social media using words that “the kids are using these days” like “bae”, “bruh”, and “fleek”.  Although companies believe that using these slang words are attracting a the millennial clients to your company, in reality it doesn’t.  In fact, Entrepreneur.com recommend that companies don’t try to “act hip” because millennials simply find it assuming and look right through the tactic. The President of Dorm Co., a company directed at the millennial generation, said “ college students are very quick to sniffing out a phony.” A new Twitter account, @BrandsSayingBae aims at calling out these companies and making fun of them. Although the saying goes, any press is good press; but a Twitter account making fun of your company definitely is not good.

There are much better alternatives to reach the millennial generation then trying to “talk like the kids these days”. For example, Entrepreneur.com several suggestions a couple include the following. First, get to the point fast, millennials lead busy lives and don’t enjoy messages that don’t have a clear point. Campaigns can be witty, sarcastic, and creative but should be concise as well. Second, win over the parents. Most millennials have college debt and are on a tight budget, by targeting the millennials’ and their parents, you max out your client base. Other sources suggest that companies should highlight the companies’ philanthropy. Not only does it appeal to all generations but the millennial generation is becoming known for their generosity and philanthropy, and appreciates businesses that are as well.

Most importantly, be personable. Not in a cheesy, hip way, but in a sincere way. Companies like Old Spice and Dollar Shave Club have especially done a good job connecting with millennials and building a deeper relationship because of the way they connect on a personal level. A simple reply or retweet to a user enhances that relationship so much more.   Your company will seem so much  more #fleek.

#BrandMarketers and #CMOs take note: Companies using #Bae to Reach Millennials aren’t #sofleek

Hedge Fund Marketers Bid On to Social Media Tactics For Brand Awareness

When it comes to branding, social media tactics are integral to leveraging a business strategy. When it comes to leverage, the hedge fund industry at large prides itself on disciplined use of strategies and risk management tools to enhance returns for investors. When it comes to brand awareness and leveraging social media tools to enhance their own brand recognition, most hedge funds (as well as other financial industry members) have remained cautious, simply because financial industry regulators and respective compliance officers are still unclear as to rules of the road.

Those who have spent more than 15 minutes in and around the world of finance (as this writer has) might find this state of affairs ironic when considering that many hedge funds (including the most-respected) are the same folks pouring billions into social media-centric start-ups at valuations that jump off the page, notwithstanding most of these companies are barely out of the start-up gate and are still entrenched in the no-profit stage.

But, when it comes to hedge fund industry brand strategies, it is clear that the social media tide is turning. As noted in a JLC Group December 23 post, there is an unmistakable trend change taking place. We know this first hand consequent to engagements that our firm has been enlisted for by financial industry firms, including initiatives on behalf of a hedge fund industry service provider (who has 1000+ leading finance industry professionals following his Twitter feed) and who was recently nominated as a candidate for Institutional Investor’s 2015 Hedge Fund Industry “Rising Star”award.

The increasing use of social media ‘story’ seems to be resonating, as evidenced by yesterday’s ‘main stream media’ article by financial industry outlet “Investment News.” Because we were so inspired that an industry publication is advancing discussion of this trend, we decided to extract elements from their article “Hedge fund managers testing the social media waters…Lifted advertising ban and pressure from liquid alts drive secretive managers into the open..”

Here’s the extract (link to the full story is below):

Hedge funds, long known for restricting investor access to complex and secretive strategies, are ever so slowly coming out of the shadows and embracing social media.

It’s still a far cry from your favorite celebrities tweeting out what they had for breakfast, but it shows that the alternative investing universe is starting to tap into the Internet for basic marketing and communication purposes.

“If you go to hedge fund conferences now, you’ll see people tweeting out the information, which is something that would have been unheard of a few years ago,” said Thomas Walek, president of capital markets and financial services at Peppercomm, a public relations and market research firm.

According to a study released earlier this week from Peppercomm, 91% of the 100 largest global hedge funds now have websites, a concept that was virtually unheard of just a few years ago.

In terms of proactive social media activity, the study found that 66% of hedge funds have LinkedIn accounts, with an average of 2,300 online connections.

Twitter, which is considered to be more social than LinkedIn, has been embraced by about 10% of hedge funds, the study found. Those hedge funds average 15,000 followers each.

The primary tipping point for the hedge fund industry, according to Mr. Walek, has been the JOBS Act, which went into effect in September 2013 and lifted many of the marketing and advertising restrictions on private investment products.

To continue reading, please visit InvestmentNews.com

 

Hedge Fund Marketers Bid On to Social Media Tactics For Brand Awareness

Best Practice Tip For Internal Corporate Communication-CEO Email Guide

Executive leadership within the context of CEO best practices and approaches that are intended keep employees fully-informed as to on-going outbound initiatives (and perhaps strategies still in the pipeline and planning stages) is obviously the subject of countless articles, white papers, books and pontification from tens of dozens corporate leadership genies.

For those who embrace the notion of full-transparency, leading experts offer a menu of strategies and mediums that lead to higher employee morale, and in turn, contributions from employees that can prove integral to the decision-making and project implementation process.. From town-hall meetings to use of Twitter (for employees only and with safeguards that make those CEO tweets non-retweetable!), the topic of internal corporate email is typically the top medium that CEOs are most prone to deploy.

Putting aside for a moment the calamity that resulted from the hacking of Sony’s corporate email platform, one can’t emphasize enough the need on the part of employees to be connected and informed, the communication culture is arguably driven directly from the c-suite cubicle of any company’s Chief Executive office.

With that in mind, we noticed a compelling comment expressed by NewBrand Analytics CEO Kristin Muhlner, who was profiled in the Jan 18 edition of the New York Times Business section.  Mulhner’s approach is simple and straight forward:

“..I’ve started sending out an email once a week called ‘Where’s Waldo?’  The email is just to say where people are, such as who [company] our VP of sales is meeting with this week, as well as provide updates on other initiatives. Its amazing the reaction that it [email update] gets from people, because they feel like ‘wow’, cool stuff’s happening, and now I know why he’s not responding to my email today. It helps.”

If not the best way that the NYT reporter could have framed the insight from Muhlner, the point should be evident: transparency, whether in form of email or other communication is critical to leadership best practices, and the culture of communication should be appropriate,  well-defined and consistent.

 

Best Practice Tip For Internal Corporate Communication-CEO Email Guide

The Top 2015 New Year’s Resolution: Brand Enhancement. Hello to Halo Effect

Welcome to 2015. If only because “Top New Year’s Resolutions” inevitably includes a focus on improvement, (yes, we know that “weight loss” is traditionally the top goal for most), whether you are a C-suite exec, a mid-level manager, or a fast-moving entrepreneur, burnishing your corporate brand image as well as your personal brand image is likely on the top of your “to-do” list as this new year unfolds.

The folks at The JLC Group contend that the good news is that the process for creating and/or enhancing brand recognition aka brand awareness often entails the same steps, and begins by first embracing the tenants of the Halo Effect , which is the “cognitive bias in which an observer’s overall impression of a person, company, brand, or product influences the observer’s feelings and thoughts about that entity’s character or properties.”

In an ‘evergreen’ post courtesy of B2B Marketing Blog.uk and submitted by a fellow named Cliff Findlay, there are 10 simple keys to unlocking the code towards better brand recognition; our favorite 4 includes: (i) First Impressions Are Paramount (ii) Define The Emotions You Are Selling (iii) (Re-) Establish Your Brand Values (iv) Stay On Message

Before you click on the above link for more details, we encourage you to consider extracts below from a Jan 2 WSJ column by Joann Lublin, which reminds business executives as to recommended steps for improving your professional brand:

Quick: how would a professional acquaintance describe you to others? Savvy project manager? Collaborative leader? Digital whiz?

That answer is your reputation—or, in the parlance of social media, your personal brand. Career success highly depends on that snap description, says Paul Winum, a senior partner at RHR International LLP, a leadership-development firm.

With the rosy outlook for hiring and promotions in 2015, now’s a good time to refresh your reputation. Maybe you’re known for using sharp elbows to get things done fast. Hone your diplomacy skills—and request some feedback on those efforts.

“Our brand has to evolve,” Dr. Winum says. The management psychologist counsels executives on burnishing their reputations. Edited excerpts of his advice for the rest of us:

WSJ: How do successful executives refresh their reputations?

Dr. Winum: Do an inventory. On one side, you say, ‘This is what I want to be known for.’ On this other side, ask, ‘How do other people see me?’ Determine if there is a gap between brand aspiration and reality.

Continuously invest in personal improvement. [Executives also] figure how to revise their brands when they carry negative attributes. Once you identify how you are being perceived, become a voracious student of what you want to master.

Many people have high IQs but low emotional intelligence. To develop that, someone needs to become a student of manners [and] active listening, paying attention to other people’s feelings and communicating more effectively.

For the full column by WSJ’s Joann Lublin, please click here.

The Top 2015 New Year’s Resolution: Brand Enhancement. Hello to Halo Effect