Out of the Mouths of Babes-Email Marketing

Having just executed 3 different (list-based) email marketing campaigns on behalf of a consumer product company with a line of kid friendly, alcohol free hand sanitizers--I'd argue that the age of email marketing is dead and kapoot.

The emails were nicely designed, the subject field(s) were compelling, and the call to action shout outs were green-lighted by 4 unrelated email marketing advisors that received no compensation for their pre-launch opinion.

We sent out at 'best day of the week (tues and thurs), we provided tools that would encourage referrals (we included testimonials and discount coupons). Although the last of the 3 campaigns yielded somewhat better results than the first two, the overall results were abysmal.

With that said, Marc Lore, CEO of Diapers.com has demonstrated that email marketing can work--as long as it conforms to the discipline of leveraging lists that are acquired in-house--NOT acquired lists. And there are necessarily certain nuances to keep in mind. Attached article is from May, Marc was profiled in today's NY Times business section

Generation MySpace Is Getting Fed Up

BW's Spencer Ante and Catherine Holahan are the most recent media experts to observe what we pointed out back in December, and that advertising performance (clicks, purchases etc) is a fraction of what advertisers hoped, and that ad revenue projections for social networking sites are proving grossly over optimistic.

It doesn't take a social scientist to know that the value of a social networking site is predicated exclusively on the loyalty of its members--and obviously its that loyalty which inspires the aggregate traffic counts for the platform.

Facebook has quite the track record for introducing innovative ideas, but at the same time, they've imposed these innovations without asking the most important people if they would support it--and they've never invited them to participate in the enterprise value that these members created for its founder. And on more than one occasion, the members rioted , causing Facebook to lose face and retreat. God forbid they should actually conduct member surveys before introducing major releases.

In the case of advertising, this weeks BW article shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone i.e. the that social networking sites are proving to be grossly overrated insofar as a vehicle for advertisers, or as the next gold mine for those looking to make billions in advertising revenue.

We already know that the return on investment i.e. CPM based banners has been diminishing more rapidly than the value of subprime mortgage debt. That's why pay for performance (i.e. PPC and CPC applications are the bread and butter to Google's bottom line. But with that said, the actual # of clicks vs. impressions will always remain insignificant. But Google's Adsense program is exactly the type of application that should be introduced to social networking sites.

Why an advertiser would think that advertising on a social network site would be a panacea merely demonstrates how little most advertisers know about peer-to-peer marketing---and the BW article points that out.

Members on a social network go the site to communicate with other members, not to be inundanted with 3rd banner ads.. They don't click those ads when they're actually surfing the net, so they aren't about to click them within what is supposed to be a 'protected comfort zone'.

Yes, marketers know that products are best promoted via influencers--and a social networking site is by definition, a hotbed of influencers. But unless the member is doing the influencing, any third party advertising strategy is not only going to fail--its going to backfire--and negatively impact the loyalty of its members. Simple logic that any VC should understand before plucking down the next five cents of investor capital.

Facebook claims that allowing its members to advertise products of their own choosing on their own profiles wil make the page 'too cluttered'. Instead, Facebook is imposing what ads display where, including scrolling across member profile pages. That's the equivalent of inserting billboards on the side of my house, without asking my permission, and the fact that I'm not even being offered a piece of the ad revenue is almost incomprehensible.

My 22 year old is a senior in college--and I've polled her, along with two dozen of her peeps. They're all ready to graduate, and to leave Facebook behind them, for the simple reasons noted herein. With that said, if there is going to be ads on the platform, it only makes sense that individual members could select "My Favorite Stuff" and be allowed to maintain their own proprietary 'billboards'--and share in the revenue accordingly.

Out of the mouths of babes.

Have you been Phished? Has Your Identity Been Stolen?

Identity thefts due to on-line phishing continues to be a massive problem. Despite both low tech and high tech security strategies introduced by online payment vendors, credit card companies and banks, there still remain 'holes' that attackers can penetrate. These are often referred to as "Man-In-The Middle (MITM) and "Man-In-The Browser" attacks.

Consumers can't really protect against many of these types of incidences-hackers have a variety of ways to perpetrate your PC and lift your info--the most common of course is sending you an email that appears to be from your bank, from PayPal or from Amazon. Even the most experienced computer industry execs have been tricked into clicking on those links and supplying 'correct billing info".

We've just heard about KeyID, a new company that has come up with a very interesting solution that banks and credit card companies can integrate into their systems and otherwise add a completely new level of protection for their customers... We'll keep you updated as we hear more about KeyID !

Marketing and the Presidential Campaign

For those following my musings, you'll know that I have a tendency to be acerbic--but I try to stay away from political opining--and leave that to Bill Maher and Rupert Murdoch's Bill OReilly--as I don't need to risk potential consulting clients to be offended by my personal political viewpoints.

With that said, the current Presidential campaign, and particularly Mike Huckabee's comments today suggesting that his God supercedes the US Constitution has ignited my need to opine.

Have we gone so far off the path of common reason that more than 100 responsible, educated people would even consider voting for someone that suggests that religous beliefs should supercede the US Constitution. When and if the US Govt gives me back the right to vote, the odds of my voting Republican are pretty close to zilch, but if I had to choose, Ron Paul would be my fav.
I chuckled when I saw Huckabee's "Christmas" ad--but today's salvo compelled me to reach for Alka-Seltzer.. Is this guy a total lunatic?

Sure--I'm an east coast, quasi liberal. Harry Truman was my Dad's favorite President. But I can be a switch hitter--as I truly believe that party affiliation is less important than the personal perspectives of the top gun with his finger on the button.

I will always believe that Jack Kennedy was an inspiration for his and generations yet to come, that Ronald Reagan was a lousy screen actor, but smart enough to surround himself with very smart people; that Gerald Ford might have tripped on stairs--but he was a true American hero--that Jimmy Carter was the second worst President of the last 30 years--George W winning the trophy for that title--and that Obama should have changed his name if he wanted to be a serious consideration.

My fav would be Mike Bloomberg (notwithstanding his being a meglomaniac of sorts)--but alas, this country isn't ready to elect a Jewish person to the highest office--and its becoming ever more doubtful that we're mature enough to elect a woman or a person of color.

Lesson to be learned--any worthwhile contender for the highest political office necessarily needs to be politically astute--and his/her "message" will have to be re-engineered/tweaked to appeal to the targeted audience. The risk in overtweaking--or posturing a message that is so obviously designed to 'sell' one particular audience, and then changing it the next day to appeal to another audience is one that few people can afford to take. And right now, none of the candidates have demonstrated the ability to manage that kind of risk. There's a guy named Putin looking for a job--his posture is more appealing than Huckabee's. Mike-time for you to bow out and leave it to Mitch and John to duke it out. Sorry Rudy-you were never a realistic choice, and I'm a New Yorker that lost 10 good friends in the WTC on 9-11.

Cornel Bucks Privacy Concern-Stands Out in Outing Troubled Students

Let's give a round of applause to Cornell University--and their innovative approach to making sure that troubled (and potentially suicidal students) are under constant watch--and when even the slightest hints of danger are displayed, parents are the first to be called. This is a philosphy that every single school in teh country should be taking--as opposed to nambsy pamsy fear of violation of privacy laws---and in fact--universities that incorporate programs similar to Cornell's should be receiving federal grants--and those that don't should be losing their federal grants .

There. I said it... Ron Paul---are you listening?

Buffet To Start Bond Insurer--Marketing Coup By Branding Genius

Warren Buffet only gets better with age.. And the stock price for Berkshire is miles higher than any other company--not only because it trades at $135,000 per share--but because Warren is uniquely masterful at identifying opportunities and leveraging the power of brand integrity.

Seizing the moment-Buffet is launching a municipal bond insurer--in a time when every other competitor is on the ropes as a result of investments in mortgage debt---he's starting with a totally clean slate, an over capitalized balance sheet, and the integrity of the Berkshire brand. Our bet is that in two years, this new company will be bigger than Ambac and MBIA combined.

Are Your Clients Happy-A Positive PR Agent Story

Todd Brabender--PR Pitcher of the Year Scores a front page WSJ profile of himself--with examples of how he succeeds for clients where most others fail. His rate of $2500/mo is likely to going to increase thanks to his own profile, it reads like he's someone that should be considered.

That tells me that not every PR agent should be pooh-poohed.

Paying For PR-But Only When It Works?

If you missed the Dec 17 WSJ Small Business section, or don't have an online subscription, below is a snapshot of the challenges faced by Cynthia McKay, CEO of Le Gourmet Gift Baskets.
After expensive and unsatisfying experiences dealing with retainer-based PR firms that were expected to generate buzz with media outlets, Cynthia ultimately opted for an agency that only charges for actual media mentions. Its an interesting approach--paying only for performance. McKay says that this model has generated great coverage, which in turn has sparked a big increase in sales.

We always like to believe that you get what you for, and unfortunately, too many think that a PR firm that imposes a hefty retainer falls into that category.

Our advice: If you have the passion for your product, and you're comfortable putting on a sales hat--try the old adage :"If you want to do something right , do it yourself." There are certainly some exceptions..as noted in the above anecdote from the front page of WSJ Dec 19 edition... (Hey Rupert---hope you don't mind that I keep on referencing your publication!)

The Situation: After years of trying different public-relations approaches with mixed success, Le Gourmet Gift Basket settled on a pay-per-placement program.

How It Works: CEO Cynthia McKay paid a PR agent an initial fee of $1,000. After that, she pays only when her firm gets a mention in a media outlet.

What It Lacks: Pay-per-placement firms usually just pitch a story and don't offer other services like strategy development.

Facebook: Hubris Leads to Egg on Face

Last week we posted a note sent to Facebook's head of advertising encouraging her to embrace a program that allows its community to share in the ad revenue that their eyeyballs are otherwise responsible for. The simple application would include a small box on the students' (or now everyone else allowed to be a member) home page with a "my favorite stuff"--and display links to advertisers that they want to endorse. It could work in a similar manner as the Commission Junction platform.

As a Dad with a college senior in house, I posed the idea to my offspring and her peeps, and they all thought it was a good idea--after all, it could be a source of income, however small it might amount to.

Lo and behold, I was unaware of a company called Weblo--which is apparently one of the hundreds of software companies that are taking up Facebook's "open architecture" invitation to introduce their applications to the Facebook community.

Per today's NY TImes- "Chris Kelly, Facebook's chief privacy officer has said Facebook does not allow users to sell ads because Facebook does not want user's profile pages to become cluttered"

That's the wrong response, just like it was the wrong approach to allow Beacon to publicize users activity without getting their permission.

Weblo's CEO has it right : Rocky Mirza says that people should be able to sell space on their pages on Facebook (and a variety of other sites like MySpace and YouTube) because they are the content creators on those sites. Facebook would have no content if not for its users, he said, which makes it different from media organizations, for example, that have content because they pay reporters.

Short Life for Chief Marketing Officers

Latest edition of BusinessWeek merely profiles a job title that's been misinterpeted by too many for too long. David Kiley and Burt Helm's article points out that CMO's have typically been accountable for approving creative ads and managing the agency process, when in fact, its a job that's supposed to connect the tag line to the bottom line.

Now that metrics are the meter, it isn't any surprise that the average CMO is out of a job in 22 months. But..in all fairness, CEO's (and Boards) need to understand that re-engineering, re-branding and revitalizing sales are complex processes.