Getting Nostalgic with Comfort Marketing; Macy’s Makes a Movie

Copyright 2012 The New York Times Company

Comfort Marketing...aka "using nostalgia to woo consumers during uncertain times" is one our fav topics, if only because the "times" have been particularly uncertain for a long time now, and specifically, for most of the past 10 years(!) that we've been blogging here.

If you are first time visitor, I'm a big fan of this type of advertising (go ahead, you can call it branding if you want), and the NY Times presumably piggybacked on our opining about this topic after they [coincidentally] ran on a piece on this very topic last January, immediately after we talked about it..

They're baaackkk! Courtesy of a great piece in today's NYT written by Stuart Elliott, Macy's is set to launch a TV ad campaign (and presumably, complemented by an online and a mobile-device compatible version) which "artfully co-mingles" Boy Bieber, Donald "You Can't Trump This!" Trump, Martha Stewart and Taylor Swift with clips of Edmund Gwenn aka Kris Kringle from the 1947 iconic film, "Miracle on 34th Street."

“The Macy’s campaign is indicative of a trend on Madison Avenue known as comfort marketing, using nostalgia to woo consumers during the uncertain economy. Other examples include revivals of familiar brand characters like Speedy Alka-Seltzer as well as campaigns that commemorate milestone anniversaries.”

For all of you marcom gurus and talking heads that have the attention of corporate sponsors, this is a strategy that always works well, if executed with creative thinking..

"System Update" is Major Banks' Euphemism for Being Hacked

Almost funny..after this blogger reported multiple incidences involving online banking issues (phishing, Identity Theft attempts, and erroneous charges on credit card) over past several days, and being told by bank 'customer service' staff the issues were merely related to "system updates", we're all reminded again that phrase is nothing more than a euphemism for "we've been hacked! (and that your account information was likely hijacked by perpetrators).

The intriguing part is that select politicians with nothing intelligent to say are attributing this week's cyberattacks on multiple banks to Iranian-backed trouble makers.

I guess the confirmation sent to me by Amazon for that $700 flat panel TV will actually be shipped to someplace in the middle east!

Citibank systems down for 2nd day- "Call Back When Our Systems Are Available"

Here's an update to yesterday's posting-

Citibank credit customers are experiencing a 2nd day in a row of "systems down" --those trying to telephone the customer service number displayed on their credit card, or the 'customer service' telephone number displayed on their various websites are being told after waiting on hold for upwards of 30 minutes "This is not customer service; if you want customer service, you need to call a different telephone number, but since all of our systems are down, you should wait until they are back up to phone.The real customer service telephone is 866-311-4975.."

Good fodder for those on the receiving end of collections team from Citibank; tell them that all of your systems are down and to call back when they are back up again..

Corporate Marketing/Communications 101: Customer Service is where the rubber meets the road; if you insist on failing to address major snafus in an intelligent manner,  remember the adage: the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

#Havock about #iPhone5 and #IOS6- Buying Google, Selling Apple, Shorting Citi

I finally gave in and bought an iPhone. 3 Weeks Ago. Before knowing that iPhone5 would be coming out. Whatever. I wanted Siri. And, after reading the reviews about iPhone5-bigger screen, much lighter, but no more Google Maps and snafu reports i.e. apps that aren't functioning with the new iOS6, which is not only part of iPhone5--but a latest operating system upgrade available for all other iPhones. Like 100 million other idiots, I downloaded that to my new (well, not so new) iPhone.

2 days later
I receive an email notification from Amazon confirming my purchase of a $700 flat screen that was delivered to an address in Texas that I've never heard of. As a matter of fact, I didn't order a $700 flat screen from Amazon, but I did attempt to download the Amazon app to my new iPhone because I wanted a Kindel book that Nook isn't carrying yet.

2. Concerned that if my Amazon account was breached, I figured I should check my credit card statement via the Citi online platform. Within 10 minutes of investigating the phishing attack (or an identify theft attack), I then went to my online credit card

3. I immediately noticed a $506.12 charge that purportedly took place today. The merchant was not identified, and the only information displayed by Citi was the merchant category ("Home Supply Company")

4. In the past 30 days, I hadn't used that credit card to purchase anything other than gas, train tickets and other sundry items--all under $75.00.

5. I called Citi. I was on the phone with 4 different customer service and fraud representatives over the course of 4 hours. F-O-U-R  H-O-U-R-S  (4). I might as well as have been connected to an Asperberger's clinic.

6. The Customer Services representatives insisted they were unable to view any transaction on my account re the $506.12 charge. They couldn't explain why it was displaying on my online dashboard. Hence, I was transferred between the 'customer service' dept and the 'fraud detection' dept 2x during the 4 hours of attempting to find someone that could what was going on.

7. While at 3hrs 50min, I logged back on to my credit card account to discover the $506.12 charge was no longer there. No memo statement re a  reversal or a credit. It was as if the charge never appeared. It did and I have a screen shot to prove it. Citi customer service reps that I was last on the phone with couldn't even begin to figure out how why a transaction displayed on my account, and disappeared with no trace. If I wanted to find out what happened, I was told to contact customer service.

8. While in one of those 'hold' moments with Citi--I received an incoming call from JP Morgan Chase. At least that's what my caller ID displayed. I put Citi on hold and took the JP Morgan call and the caller very quickly provided his name (I was distracted because I didn't want to lose the Citi call)--and then said he was calling about a check being presented to JPMorgan with my company name and he was calling to confirm the account. I don't bank at JPMorgan

9. Distracted--I asked to repeat who he was (even though I didn't write it down)..and what was the account name on the check. It turned out to be a very close rendition of my business account name. I asked how he got my phone number, and he said he Googled the name on the account. That's great. local banks are using Google to verify facts when being presented with checks.

10. I'm taking my profits in Apple , buying Google, and shorting more Citi.

Apple is a great company, but I'm thinking someone slipped on a bar of soap. 2 days after I download IOS6, I'm blanketed with phishing attacks, attempted check fraud, a credit card overcharge--all within 4 hours. Somethings not right, besides the fact that  its obvious that Citi (and likely every other bank) has no idea what's going on inside of customer accounts, and how hackers are walking through their stores as easily as a burglar walks through dept stores in the middle of the night. 

What's Next for Hedge Funds? Marcom / Advertising to Enhance Alpha

While keeping our fingers on the pulse i.e. new rules that will enable hedge funds and other investment vehicles to leverage marcom and advertising schemes in the course of soliciting investors and enhance their brands, latest self-promo blog posting from HedgeCo,net, a 3rd party marketing platform, makes for an interesting read:

The pending regulations connected to the JOBS Act is one that has advertising firms drooling in anticipation of getting a slice of what could prove to be tens of millions of dollars in fees from notoriously big-spending Alpha types from the financial services world.

If you happen to be one of those that believe spending more makes you more recognized, you're in luck: there's no shortage of vendors that will help you part with your (actually, your investor's) money.

Words of wisdom for deep-pocketed, fast-action hedge fund managers from one of our favorite gurus--and one that works with many alpha-types in the financial world: be careful what you wish for.

The memo you missed re: Marketing Your Business; KISS

"Sales is not the same as Marketing"..whoever subscribes to that philosophy has been working in corporate cubicles way too long..
Yes, if you wanted to paint an org chart..in many enterprises, these two functions are typically separate, and depending on the industry (and/or size of company), Sales often reports 'up' to Marketing.

Whatever..regardless of  business size, the rules and tactics are often taken from the same playbook.

If you're  a 'small' business, and you just recently figured out how to get a website on the internet, before the world totally passes you by, read this week's NYT article "Small Retailers Open Up Storefronts on Facebook"...


Here's another in the latest trend i.e. "one size fits all" marketing KISS. Keep your message simple and stupid..whether its an advertising program, or a more 'institutional' strategy. Your target audience is actually not as smart as you think, and the more words and/or images that you use, the more likely you are to confuse them.

Don't believe me? Follow the talking head commentary re Presidential campaign advertising tactics and messages. Every 4 years, neuroscience gurus come up with even more granular strategies, and every cycle media analysts spend nothing but airtime critiquing them.

But the fact is, if all it takes to win an election today is a bigger advertising budget than your opponent, that proves that people in general are stupid. By that logic, this article is logical read

Venture Capital Firms, Once Discreet, Learn the PR Game

Remember when venture capital firms were more secretive than the NSA? I certainly do. That's when NDA's were signed in blood, and VCs were loathe to talk about anything other than how much and when a prospective fund investor would be wiring in a check, and would only make references to the industries they were focused on, nothing more.

New rules (duh!). As noted by Nicole Perloth in her NY Times column today : for all of you under-employed PR wizards, great news: the VC world is 'ramping up.' and hiring those who can tweet, blog, and word-smith--just like the start-ups those VCs invest in.

Self-promotion via aggressive, this generation public relation strategies is not only in vogue, its become an integral component to an industry that competes like gladiators for the opportunity to invest in deals as well as for fee-paying/profit-sharing institutional investors who are ever-more pernickety when it comes to allocating assets to 'alternative asset' managers.

A telling part of the article profiles the mindset of Andreeessen Horowitz (Marc Andreesen made his bones and mini-billion as a result of co-founding Netscape); each year 15 deals account for 97 percent of all venture capital profits. This means VC's need laser-like precision to identify and get a piece of a very small fraction of the deals that actually end up making money for investors.  And to do that, VC's need to be "out there" with magnetizing messages that start-up companies can gravitate to. 

 

Top Firm Leverages Online-Video To Create Series of Corporate MarCom Messages

For you branders and 'marcom gurus' who might have missed the latest memo: corporate deployment of video vignettes to better deliver the 'brand message' is now the top weapon in most 'mindshare' arsenals.

To illustrate, you'll want to read in between the lines re: new strategy from Omnicom subsidiary..(if you keep reading, you'll trip over the link!)

Yes, of course we know that Omnicom is the world's second biggest ad agency, so its only logical that a company in that space would necessarily embrace the latest and greatest tactics.

But, these aren't run-of-the mill mad men who happen to have lots of digital production facilities at their disposal to play with; these are the people that set the tone and tenor for "what's next?" and use themselves as guinea pigs to demonstrate strategies that make sense...and ultimately dollars for brand managers that follow their lead.

 today's profile in the NYT Business section  is a good read for any VP of Marketing trying to impress the boss with what your company is still too slow to do--while competitors start to eat your lunch..

Mad Men and Hedge Fund Marketing: Let The Games Begin

Courtesy of Huffington Post column re Hedge Funds Can Now Engage Mad Men: 
Mad Men, the wildly popular AMC TV show about the fictional 1960s advertising agency Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, is set in a haze of cigarette smoke, alcohol and chronically inappropriate behavior. Hedge funds, dating back to a similar era, have remained equally hazy to most Americans, as well as often being equally off-center in their behavior.

Today, as a result of the JOBS Act (Jump-Start Our Business Start-ups), hedge funds are now allowed to advertise their products through the mass market. And, to further confuse consumers, hedge funds come in all flavors, all shapes and sizes. Speaking of them as a single asset class is akin to going to the zoo and telling the zookeeper, "I'm here to see the animal."

We love creative marketing..and for you hedgies looking to hedge with a boutique outfit that walks, talks and knows Wall Street inside and out, here's a short selection of OUR recent favorite ads 

Marketing to Men?: Read This Memo!

Courtesy of Mark Jaffee, ModernMan.com

Men want to be entertained, no surprise there. So it makes perfect sense that brands would try to weave their message into articles, videos, games, shows, and films that men find entertaining. While the notion of branded content isn’t new, marketers have become increasingly more creative in their tactics. Last month’s Cannes Lions festival even added a “Branded Content & Entertainment” category to reflect the trend.

Engaging content beyond the standard pre-roll or banner ad can help brands move the needle in terms of consumer awareness, image, and sales. Yet many advertisers are hesitant to step outside their comfort zone and take on the role of content producer. For those looking to reach guys, they’re missing a huge opportunity.

No Need To Fool A Fool

These days, men -- as well as women, tweens, and domestic animals for that matter -- are savvy enough to know when we’re on the receiving end of an advertisement. But we don’t necessarily mind. Men are quite happy for marketers to throw their brands in our faces, so long as we’re entertained along the way. 

Old Spice proved that point with its clever “Old Spice Guy” campaign that inspired men (and women) to forward videos, tweet questions to a spokesman draped in a towel, and speak in a deep baritone for no particular reason. The result: Body wash sales went up more than 100%, and Old Spice became hip in a heartbeat. 

Audience First, Product Second

Brands can also get people talking even when the products are presented more subtly. “The Hire,” BMW’s series of eight short films from 2001, is considered a benchmark case study. Starring Clive Owen and directed by heavies such as Ang Lee and Guy Ritchie, the films cost $25 million collectively and stand on their own instead of feeling like an extended commercial. More than 45 million people viewed “The Hire,” which helped bump BMW’s sales by 17% in 2002.

So how does this style of branded content differ from straight-up advertising? As Avi Savar, the category’s jury president at Cannes Lions, explained, the key is to start with a story and then figure out how to connect that story to the product. 

Likewise, Schick’s recent “Clean Break” reality series about three guys escaping their daily rut doesn’t call out the brand within the episodes. Time will tell whether Schick sells more razors as a result, but clearly the company is attempting to create content that engages its target audience. The story comes first.

Knock Knock

I said it up top, but it’s worth repeating. Guys want to be entertained. And we especially want to laugh. When K-Swiss enlisted the HBO character Kenny Powers to be its spokesman (and eventual faux-CEO) in a series of videos, there was nothing subtle about how it promoted its Tubes shoe line in virtually every frame. But the videos were hilarious, and the ensuing buzz recalibrated the company’s image and resulted in a sales uptick in 2011. 

Creating quality content that resonates with consumers is not an easy task. If it were, TV shows would never get canceled and every film would have a $50 million opening weekend. But marketers have as much chance as anyone to produce entertainment that will get guys’ attention, especially since they supposedly know their audience inside and out.  

Hopefully, more brands will put on a content producer’s hat, or work closely with agencies and publishers like ModernMan.com that can provide the creative juices. Marketers are ultimately judged on how well they drive revenue, but making guys laugh, feel, and think will certainly help their cause.

#NYSE EURONEXT TO SPONSOR #SPACEX

  

Corporate Sponsorship Idea of the Week: NYSE Euronext, the global icon for the free enterprise system should become the exclusive corporate sponsor for SpaceX Inc., the Southern California company that changed the course of history last week after successfully completing the first mission for a commercial spacecraft enterprise.

Its almost poetic when considering the synergy between these two brands; both share a vision that extends across a broad spectrum of space and time, and both have in-common branding focus whereby each company  is dedicated to being known as a vehicle that powers innovation and commerce well into the future.

Westport, CT's JLC Group created this idea, along with a series of brand message campaigns.

A Great Name To Make a Great Brand

A good name and brand design can go a long way in selling a successful company. Some teams have developed winning products, but under less memorable names, which is why rebranding is sometimes a good idea.

#Bespoke Latest Buzzword-Best Practices?? Bore Me Some More!

Slick salespeople and marcom gurus seem to spend more time figuring out which of the  latest buzzwords to put into their narratives, and the phrase "bespoke", long-associated with up-scale haberdashers, has officially become ubiquitous for those trying to frame their brand message in a distinctive manner.

Not only can't I pronounce the phrase properly (and apparently, neither can half of those using it), and aside from the fact that whenever I see the term, I think of the Schwinn bicycle that I had when I was 12 years old, I respectfully suggest that any professional marketer who insists on repeatedly using the phrase "bespoke" is sending a counter-intuitive message. The more its used, the more the definition becomes diluted.

Unlike other terms that have been become disturbingly de rigueur e.g. "best practices", "headwind", "tailwind" "alignment of interests", "visibility", "transparency" within every other value proposition utterance, "bespoke" is not only commonplace in a broad assortment of service provider and consultant-industry jibber jabber, its now being used within the actual names of products!

Shira Ovide writes about this in today's WSJ; a nice read, even if I'll keep thinking of bicycles.

 

Investor Offer: Innovative Concept, Marked-to-Mystery, No Revenue; $100mil Valuation- JOB OFFER: Social Media Whiz For GoldmanSachs

Per prior posting re: JOBS Act--coupled with yesterday's NYT column from Nick Bilton,  "With No Revenue, An Illusion of Value"..headline to this post might become standard fare.

Gotta love the term 'mark-to-mystery' (technique for establishing an enterprise value for a company that has no enterprise value insofar as revenue)...sounds like a phrase that someone will align with GoldmanSachs...
Yes..I should have held off making this post until after Jake Siewert reviews my application to become GS's new head of social media...oh well..

#JOBS Act: Boon for MarCom Pros Serving HedgeFunds & Start-Ups

As noted in today's NY Times, professional marketers who service hedge funds, as well as start-up enterprises soliciting investors should be sharpening their pitch books; as currently written, new federal legislation will provide greater flexibility for the marketing and advertising to prospective institutional investors.

We've been following this story for several months, and [necessarily] have a full arsenal of branding, PR and marcom strategies specifically designed for compliance-centric financial industry clients seeking to extend their reach.

#MadMen Return Inspires Nostalgia-Style Ad campaigns

"..Nostalgic cues in advertising do indeed influence the type of thoughts consumers have during ad exposure, and that these thought processes appear to have an influence on attitudes toward the advertisement and advertised brand.."

The above excerpt is courtesy of a 2004 white paper appearing in the Journal of Advertising, and is presumably  one of many cues that the creators of the hit AMC show "Mad Men" sought to exploit when writing their first outlines for that show.  We know for a fact that the producers were particularly mindful when digesting the 1991 Miami University white paper "Use of Nostalgia in Television Advertising" with the abstract:  

Nostalgia was used by means of theme, copy, or music about 10% of the time according to a content analysis of more than a thousand commercials sampled from ABC, CBS, and NBC. Nostalgic references were to family activities or to the “olden days,” among other themes, and were most likely to be used with food and beverage commercials. The study suggests nostalgia may be especially important in a changing world because it connects us with our past.

This 'theme' in advertising is as ageless as the Coca-Cola logo, if not always used as propitiously as planned (e.g. Honda's 2012 SuperBowl ad featuring Matthew Broderick aka Ferris Bueller).

And, as TV watchers, advertising industry fans, and brand marketers are all aware, "They're baaackkk..", and the new season of Mad Men is accompanied by among other initiatives, a special edition of Newsweek Magazine populated with art-deco style ads and throw-back images and slogans, to an assortment of ad campaigns in a host of mediums courtesy of a broad spectrum of brands that seek to exploit/leverage/capitalize on an approach that touches the individual yearning for an idealized past.

The buzz words spewing from the mouths of your favorite ad strategists are flying faster than a buzz saw right now; "nostalgia", "vintage", "brand heritage" are just a few, but let's be as clear as the black and white films of yesteryear; this blogger LOVES leveraging nostalgia within brand marketing, advertising or any other tactic that captures mind share.

A good update on the state of old images and new ideas courtesy of the New York Times is right here.

"JOBS" Bill= Marcom Bonanza! #Crowd-Sourcing" + Kickstarter-Style "Crowd-Financing"=$$

Some snarly congressman must have been lobbied by the smart marketing guy who has a vision to create a combination of Kickstarter and SecondMarket; after all, the JOBS Act, passed by the House earlier this week, and now waiting for Senate approval, is going to be a bonanza for those who know how to package and promote funding for innovative start-ups. Crowd-sourcing, crowd-funding, micro-financing...all of these new-age concepts are going to benefit.

You're not familiar with the new legislation? This is the one that the current administration insists will stimulate innovation and jobs. Detractors decry the Bill as a roll-back to the days of bucket shops that telemarketed investment in shares of Nigerian gold mines and other such schemes. Suffice to say, its overwhelmingly supported by Democrats and hotly debated by the GOP.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself.  If you don't know what Kickstarter is...the short description is simple: a social network type portal that facilitates [presumably] cash-starved innovators (technology, film, food products, clothing, whatever!) to solicit "micro-funding" for their pending projects.In consideration for donations, the innovator provides a free sample of the soon-to-be-made product, a t-shirt, or some other quid pro quo.

If the [fixed amount] financing objective of the entrepreneur is met, Kickstarter kicks over all of the "donations" that were held in escrow, less a 3% fee. If the financing round falls short before the deadline date, the donations are re-credited to the donators' credit card. If the financing is oversubscribed, the entrepreneur seeking funding can buy himself/herself a Ferrari. That's right, those seeking funding have no obligations and those making the donations have no recourse. It's all done on a trust me basis, and its completely unregulated. (One recent deal from "Double Fine Adventure" soliciting $100k production funding for a new video game delivered $3.4 million to the founder)

Note: This blogger is directly familiar with (2) Kickstarter stories: Chocwasabi, a recently-funded and particularly delicious success story, and an 'in-the-works' "Apple-flavored" device called "JuiceTank", which, after it completes its $125,000 "round",  will be an absolute game changer for anyone that's been frustrated whenever their Apple runs out of juice.  

For those not aware of SecondMarket, this is a securities industry and SEC-regulated firm that's become famous for brokering shares held by employees of private company start-ups and selling those stakes to 'sophisticated investors'--ostensibly looking to own a stake in a company that will soon go public and make everyone a zillionaire. Think "Zuckerberg", and you'll appreciate that SecondMarket has been the vassal serving among others, Facebook insiders and early-stage investors in the course of their cashing out early.

Combine Kickstarter and SecondMarket..and the Occupy WallStreet movement will need to move--because Wall Street, at least as far being a source of venture-round financing, will be be much less occupied.  That's this blogger's opinion, anyway.

There's lots of pages to the pending JOBS legislation, and below is a bullet-point take-away for the operators of Kickstarter and SecondMarkets--or more likely, any smart disruptor who wants to capitalize on the burgeoning boondoggle that's leveraging the combination of social media, the ethos to democratize the capital raising process and the "I-don't-want-to-be-bothered" issues faced by the spectrum of up-and-coming entrepreneurs that don't want to be hamstrung by regulations relating to soliciting and securing funds in consideration for equity shares in their company..

What the final form of the JOBS bill will be remains to be seen, but in its current iteration, this is going to create lots and lots of jobs for smart marketing/communications and PR industry professionals.

First, the bill would allow “crowd-financing” under astonishingly flexible conditions. It would displace current Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure rules for public offerings, allowing a new venture to raise $1 million through widespread Internet solicitations as long as no single investor put in more than $10,000. According to some, the loosened regulations would also make it easier for future Bernie Madoffs to create, say, 50 fake firms, steal $50 million from unsuspecting investors and retire to a tropical island.

The bill would eliminate the existing ban on general advertising, which limits most private-securities offerings to the relatively small number of accredited investors who can be contacted through private channels. This is where the rubber will meet the road for marketing experts that will surely be needed to help package and promote new enterprises and innovative ideas. 

Yes, absent this ban, unscrupulous promoters will, without any SEC oversight, market stock via the Internet and launch mass mailings to millions of unsophisticated investors. [That's where/when the marketers and PR people will be benefiting.]

Third, the bill would raise the threshold requiring companies to issue public financial reports from 500 shareholders to 2,000. This legislative exemption would also exclude from this 2,000 threshold any shareholders employed by the company. These changes would dramatically reduce the number of public companies required to publish annual and quarterly reports for investors

The bill encourages initial public offerings by reducing regulatory requirements. For example, the bill would require only two years of audited financial reports, instead of three years, for offerings by small companies. Once public, these companies could avoid some burdens imposed on large companies, such as auditor attestation of internal controls and shareholder advisory votes on compensation.

Thanks#God for #GoldmanSachs

That's right. You don't need to read the title twice. Every PR crisis mgt. guru, brilliant brander, and marcom maven from here to Timbuktu (at least those with a following) would have nothing intelligent to say today, were it not for the soliloquy in the op-ed section of today's NYT written by a former [disgruntled?] GoldmanSachs veep.

If you don't subscribe to the NY Times, or if you don't watch CNBC non-stop throughout the day, you might have missed the story that was mentioned at least 200,000 times across the web, and tweeted about close to a trillion times.

The short version: a spawn of the notorious squid took the indelicate approach to sound off at the end of his tenure from the world's most talked-about investment bank/trading firm by somehow scoring op-ed real estate in the world's most read newspaper. One can only guess that his exit interview didn't go as well as hoped for, but his fare-well note was a barn burner..

(Note: Dodd-Frank has actually outlawed combining "investment bank" and "trading firm" within the same letterhead, but we take poetic liberties here). 

We could opine almost endlessly as to what GS should or could do to manage the backlash, from internal memo strategies (don't put anything in writing!) to CEO Blankfein having a fire-side chat with NYT's Dian Henriques--or for a better visual, CNBC's Maria Baritoromo.  We'd opt for GS sponsoring and producing a reality TV show with Maria exposing herself, but we haven't received any RFPs just yet.

But, as we noted here in an earlier blog, Goldman's got a new PR maestro that wouldn't march to my, or anyone else's band, other than Lloyd and the Chipmunks Muppets (Not my annotation! "Muppets" is a phrase that the former Goldman employee claims was commonly used to describe Goldman clients..).

If you've read this far..you might want to click on this link bringing you to an unrelated blog that does a solid job of striking at the heart* of the issue that former Goldman staffer Greg Smith made reference to while exposing himself to the world that we know.

*Actually, there were several issues that were alluded to, but since a squid has 8 tentacles, let's keep playing along with the play on words and suggest there are as many as 8 hearts that were struck in the parting soliloquy.

Building #Brand Equity: Re-Defined. With a Dividend Kicker:# Loyal3

Were it not for Holman Jenkins over at WSJ, this former securities markets brand marketer might have missed the evolving story of Silicon Vallyey start-up "Loyal3" until their ads started appearing during Superbowl XLVII (47). From this viewer's vantage point, Loyal3 is on track to blend the most important elements that drive brand loyalty for big companies by giving those corporates a marcom strategy that simply makes sense.

Loyal3 has found a nice blue ocean for itself, even if the WSJ article is portending high probability that its likely to become polluted by spills from Wall Street pools. Whatever. I really like what Loyal3 is developing, even if the primary reason is that the platform allows my child to buy a stake in a company that she loves with the limited money that she has.

But the real story is that Loyal3 strikes at the heart of brand marketing and its a fast-paced vehicle for enhancing customer loyalty. Its Disruptive ( particularly to Squids on The Street who have likely placed listening devices and inserted sniffers on this company's network), its [mostly] Innovative, and it could be the exact Elixir needed to drive retail investors back into the stock market. Its also got a solid slogan that they somehow managed to get trade marked. If only I could get the premium merchandise concession for the T's, totes and caps!
What's with the subliminal, coded message above? Loyal3's memo To The Competition: DIE
Their slogan is soft and sweet...appealing to everyone!

WSJ's opinion piece (entirety can be read by clicking on the title link) 

NBC Reflects on "What is the Internet??"

Courtesy of NBC Talking Head (not to mention Great Legs..) Jane Wells's blog..

6 Things That Social Media Can Predict

The new game of predicting what social media can predict is percolating. Neuroscientists, spies, pollsters, product promoters, news publishers, and stock market savants are all on the bandwagon. This week's "shocking" disclosure that the F.B.I. is recruiting talent from M.I.T. for its initiative to scrape social media and root out evil-doers is hardly a surprise will certainly open Pandora's Privacy Box, but most would argue that horse left the barn long ago.

In any case, the smarter of the new generation of PR pundits and advertorial alchemists who work hand-in-hand with CMOs are not far behind. One of the more interesting take-aways from this posting's title link story is predicting what people will read. The study referenced in the article found the most important predictor was who published the article, followed by its subject category. Credibility is King, and its easier every day to quickly figure out what's topical, and what's not.

Seeing (and) Hearing Is Believing-Print News Media Embraces Video: Attn:Corporate Communicators

"Boo Ya" to Brian Stelter over at the NYT for today's piece profiling a topic I've been pounding the tables about for as long as I've been writing this blog: leveraging video. Stelter's article focused on the burgeoning growth of live videocasting by the once traditional news outlets (you know, those people with print smudges on their finger tips, as well as the computer-pounding Carpel Tunnel crowd and card-carrying members of   "WOC", aka Writers that Occupy Cyberspace.

Live (and canned/programmed) video content is where its at. Why/How/Where?

1. The cost of programming can be peanuts (get yourself a few high end video cams, good backdrops and retain a video programmer/editor from your local high school),
2. The cost to deliver (bandwidth) is benefiting from the race to zero.
3. Mobile Devices continue to command increasing hours of mind share--that said--pushing ads through mobile remains challenging--an issue that Facebook is particularly familiar with..
4. The ocean of Content is virtually limitless.
Lets take it one step further--to the corporate cubicles. We're here to say that those businesses that embrace the bullets above will bet on board--by producing live segments populated with a broad range of infotaining content targeting customers, vendors, partners and the like.

You read it here first :)

Data Mining, Marcom and Overcoming Analysis Paralysis; The Last Mile

Narrative Science, the Chicago-based start-up that specializes in converting mines of data into understandable objective commentary and narrative is on to something big.

Data mining and extracting metrics for analysis is integral to just about every business; its fair to guess that most enterprises allocate increasing amounts to algorithms that sort and parse data so that decision makers can draw conclusions based on an ever broadening spectrum of inputs--much of it courtesy of the Internet.

Metric analysis is as mainstream as vanilla ice cream; its long been a practice area extending across among other sectors, manufacturing, procurement, sales forecasting, political campaigning, sports, and more recently, the world of advertising.

But..the other side to this coin is commonly known as "analysis paralysis"--too much of anything is no good..and more importantly, without being able to crisply articulate the conclusions drawn from factual findings, the entire exercise becomes, well, an entire exercise.
Below white paper courtesy of Narrative Science points to an important imperative; the science of casting data interpretation into easy-to-read and easy-to understand narrative. Kudos to this group, one that is arguably positioned to upend the traditional publishing industry by introducing automated editorial applications..

Data Mining, Marcomm & The Last Mile

PR 101: Bank Spokesman Should Refresh Message: #BofA Case Study

I don't know Bank of America spokesman Jerry Dubrowski, I don't have any position (long or short) in BofA stock (NYSE:BAC), and I certainly don't expect BofA to retain my services re: public relations advice. So, I'll offer it pro bono, even if Uncle Sam has plowed plenty of taxpayer money (mine included) into this company. The 2-rule advice is pretty simple:

1. PR people should take their Asperger meds before responding to the media.

2. If your PR person has not been tested/diagnosed with Asperger's, the rule of thumb would be to test them for this syndrome before giving them the keys to the "publish" button.

In today's NYT article profiling investment advisory Tangent Capital Partners' focus on small banks and eschewing the behemoth banks such as BofA, Times reporter Bill Alden quoted BofA spokesman Dubrowski with the following statement: [the bank is] “a stronger company today than it was during the height of the financial crisis..” 

Aside from the fact the phraseology used by Dubrowski is as ubiquitous as the phrase "toilet paper," it is the exact same, questionably-credible statement Dubrowski has used on prior occasions (most recently August 2011). Not coincidentally, but sort of funny anyway, these are the exact same words uttered last year by Angelo Mozilo when referencing BofA. For those not aware, Mr. Mozilo is the former Chairman of Countrywide Financial, the mortgage issuer acquired by BofA "during the height of the financial crisis."


While this blogger (who happens to include the financial services space within my firm's practice area) doesn't take exception to spokespeople sticking to certain types of corporate statements, one could argue that financial service companies in particular need to be topical and circumspect, and should certainly update their auto-reply messages to media.

Rule 1. Avoid the "duh!" factor. One would like to think hope that a company such as BofA would necessarily be a stronger company within no more than 3+ years after receiving $45 BILLION in government (taxpayer) bailout funds, especially after using much of that money to acquire, among others, one of the industry's biggest and profitable investment banks (i.e. Merrill Lynch). Further, one would think hope that the $4bil +/- BofA employees received as compensation courtesy of the bailout would have been a big incentive for those employees to help make BofA a better business.

Rule 2. Get the Facts Straight--Unless You're a Presidential Candidate.Alas, per the image below, BofA's stock price doesn't exactly support the contention that BofA is any stronger now than it was at the height of the crisis. If judging from the chart, it would appear this company is noticeably less strong than it was during the height of the financial market's fiasco. (Note: the handicap of acquiring Countrywide has undoubtedly hampered BofA's balance sheet, and, as Warren Buffet has proven more than twice, stock prices don't always reflect the internal strength or the potential break-up value of a company.)

For PR professionals catering to the financial services space, or any other PR professionals, two additional lessons to be learned are self-evident:

1. BEFORE PROVIDING THE MEDIA WITH A STATEMENT OF ANY KIND: Make it a practice of revisiting prior statements made and the context in which they were made.

2. Unless your slogan or tag line is truly "multi-tasking" (i.e. can be seamlessly incorporated into a PR statement to the media), keep your corporate comments to the media on point, in context, and appropriately topical.

To Jerry D at BofA--I necessarily apologize for spotlighting you in particular, and I am thankful that I don't have a mortgage, a line of credit or credit card issued by BofA-if I did, I'm sure it would be yanked as a result of this posting, leaving me in a lurch!

#Protecting Privacy: #Email Disclaimers Leveraging Levity

New rule: those cute disclaimers below your signature are often overlooked, rarely carry any real legal recourse, but can be used to insert a subliminal message that will endear you to recipients who appreciate a bit of refreshing levity

We noticed this one that reads:

Notice & Disclaimer: This e-mail is supposed to be a confidential communication and in theory, is intended solely for the recipient(s) named above. But people forward sh*t all of the time, and I can't really stop you from doing the same. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, trade secret (real or imagined), or might be protected by law in some country or a distant planet against unauthorized use or disclosure.  This message and any file(s) or attachment(s) transmitted with it, are transmitted on a reasonable expectation of privacy. Reasonable is subject to interpretation, and I've given up trusting people to conform to basic requests of privacy. If you have received this message in error and you are not the named recipient(s), please immediately notify the sender

Digital Dilemma Debate: #SOPA : IP, Privacy v. Productivity

Al Gore purportedly once claimed that he helped invent the Internet, and if he actually maintains intellectual ownership, if not parenthood (a DNA test might address the latter), given the spike in stories profiling the ease by which virtually any/every form of digital communication can be easily hijacked or hacked, I extend my personal thanks to Al for inspiring my latest idea; one that might resolve the entire debate surrounding SOPA, the ill-conceived legislation intended to mitigate online piracy.

Background: Last week the 24/7 news cycle was a flutter with the arrest of Megaupload senior execs  [for those of you that might have suffered from an electrical brownout and weren't able to access news stories on the net and have since stopped subscribing to cable TV and print publications because you're now a 100% Webbie] this is was one of several leading e-file sharing platforms that enable users to electronically ship (or simply store) content, whether it be copyrighted, patented or simply private/proprietary information. Despite denials from government officials, the arrest of these executives was precipitously part and parcel to proponents' efforts to push through SOPA legislation.

And, for those not aware, including US senators and Congresspeople who were lobbied with steak dinners to support the SOPA initiative, there's since been a whopper of a backlash; many of the leading internet-based companies that were caught off-guard as the legislation was being formulated, have since raised their swords to challenge government intervention of the Internet. They argue that the Internet is a public domain that should not be regulated, even if Al Gore influenced the US Government to underwrite and develop this now ubiquitous and most pervasive form of global communication/interaction.

Per today's prior posting here, we profiled the NYT story re: the easy-to-open back doors of  web-based video conferencing. Coincidentally, today's WSJ carried a separate story "Hackers-For-Hire", detailing the ease by which anyone (not just law enforcement agencies) can hijack email account passwords and capture insightful and potentially incriminating information embedded within just about any email correspondence.

OK, even if our latest idea might not be our own,  because our recent proposal to "shut down the internet for 6 hours a day" has been met with ridicule by those that have said "you can't put the genie back in the bottle", this idea is bound to be a winner, which is why we've acquired the licensing rights to, and will soon merchandise a device that will re-revolutionize the art of personal relationship marketing and business development.

This idea will not only reinvigorate the US manufacturing sector (until of course, the Chinese are outsourced to make the devices), but it will re-start the art of one-to-one, direct personal communication, which by default, will impact a broad spectrum of businesses that have found themselves disintermediated by the advent of communication applications that diminish the need to actually meet in person with the people that you do business with. This will be a boon to the travel, lodging and restaurant industries, to name just a few.

Here it is--and happy Monday!:

Online Video Corproate Conferencing 201: b4 Hackers hijack you, read the Instruction Manual

As a long-time proponent of leveraging video-technology apps for corporate conferencing, its no surprise that in the race to zero (i.e. low cost offerings), back doors for breaching are easily opened by uninvited viewers.

In today's NYT article by Nicole Perlroth, it seems that the actual problem is not necessarily with the respective 3rd party technologies that are popular, but network administrators /implementers are often forgetting to read instruction manuals that direct users on how to configure the applications, which are frequently set to the lowest security thresh holds to make it as easy as possible for viewers (and broadcasters).

The take-away for type A's that plug and play without first reading the instruction manual: Read the instruction manual.