August 2007 - McLellan Marketing Group

Product packaging — is it part of your brand or disposable?

August 30, 2007

A recent article in the New York Times focused on how product packaging trends have changed over the last 10-20 years. The trend, as late as the 90's was that companies would retain a packaging design for 7+ years. Today, the trend is less than 2 years. (To the left, Kleenex is now available in oval shaped boxes.)

The article lists many reasons why a company might shift packaging more often today.

Shorter attention spans of the buying population
The movement from container to a 3-D on-shelf ad for the product
Harder to expose audiences to mass media messaging, so have to grab them at the venue
Turning the mundane (tissue boxes, cleaning bottles) into decor
Trying to reduce package size/cost
Functionality (Coors label turns blue when it is just the right temperature)

An extreme example — Mountain Dew is changing its packaging 12 times from May-October. Wow. (see examples to the right)

So what do you think? Are they messing with their brand? Is this sort of revolving door packaging a good thing? Does it matter what the product is?

Related posts:

In the pink or just ick?

More packaging brain candy

Have you committed a Cardinal Zin?

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As we were saying…about watching differently

August 29, 2007

There's a new beta in town. Hulu.com

Their goal? Nothing big. Just to give you access to the world's premiere content, when, where and how you want it.

Here's a bit of the CEO's welcome letter.

Welcome to Hulu! Our passionate and growing team here has been very hard at work on a service that we're quite excited about. We'll keep you updated with news as we go along.

The first bit of news we'd like to share is that we have a name: Hulu.

Why Hulu? Objectively, Hulu is short, easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and rhymes with itself. Subjectively, Hulu strikes us as an inherently fun name, one that captures the spirit of the service we're building. Our hope is that Hulu will embody our (admittedly ambitious) never-ending mission, which is to help you find and enjoy the world's premier content when, where and how you want it.

So do you suppose Hulu will have :30 spots?

Thanks to Jon Burg for giving me a head up on this beta release. Check out his comments as well.

You can sign up to be a part of the beta as well.

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We watch differently. We will advertise differently.

August 29, 2007

A recent study released by The IBM Institute for Business Value suggests that thanks to DVRs, we are actually watching MORE television. But fewer ads.

As DVRs and other technology allow us to skip over the :30 spot — you have to know that advertisers will find a new way.

What do you think that new way will be? Read more about the study and its implications in my post over at Marketing Profs Daily Fix.

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New bloggers toolbox

August 27, 2007

A couple months ago, I asked for your help. I said:

As fresh faces leap into the blogging waters faster than we can count them, it occurred to me that it's in everyone's best interest (and just good manners) to offer a helping hand to the neophytes. We're helping clients launch blogs on a regular basis and for many of them, these is new territory.

But I need your help. Someone helped you…now it's our turn!

Well, help you did! I have now compiled everyone's suggestions and organized them by the following categories:

Are chock full of practical tips
Act as a living lab on how to write compelling blog posts
Demonstrate how to build a community
Teach marketing tools
Are welcome wagons – bloggers who spotlight newbies

The toolbox will now have a permanent home here at Drew's Marketing Minute. Watch for a button along my sidebar.

Feel free grab the button and share it with your readers as well. Hopefully, the toolbox will be a resource that bloggers new and old can find value in for a long time.

Special thanks to the contributors. If I missed anyone, please let me know and I will add your contributions.

Contributors:

Spinning Silk Multimedia

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A quick trip around the blogosphere!

August 26, 2007

Scott Monty celebrates his one year blogiversary this week. Scott's blog is a great mix of marketing musings, old and new. Always worth a read.

Blogger Social Details are in…and the registrations are beginning to build as well. April 4-6th in the Big Apple. We really hope you can make it.

Robert Hruzek is calling on all of us to change the world, starting with ourselves. Count on Robert to set his (and our) sights high. Check out his challenge.

If you loved the Z-list and the W-list, here's another one for you. The Black Entrepreneurs Toolbox from Bootstrapper.

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How brands help us decipher features

August 25, 2007

Picture_4

A good brand sets up expectations. The more definitive the brand, the better we can anticipate the experience. We can almost sense what would be a "right or wrong fit" based on the brand values or behaviors.

For example…see how many of these you get right:

What shape is Disney Cruise line's most popular pool?
What rating would Disney's 7 pm live entertainment show earn?
How about their 9 pm show?
How late is the casino open?
The food that is consumed in the largest quantity on the ship is…
How many times a day do the cruise activities team have "age specific" kid activities planned?
What is the decor of the most popular on-board restaurant?

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Facebook gets the door slammed in its face

August 23, 2007

Shhh….listen for it.

It's happening all over the world. Companies are slamming the door in the face of Facebook.

Citing productivity and security, corporations from Australia's largest telecommunications company, Telstra to many ma and pa store fronts, are banning the growing social networking tool.

According to London's Telegraph, more than 2/3 of UK companies are making Facebook off limits and visiting it during work hours is a sackable offense. (I so wish I spoke UK) Interesting that London was just identified as having more Facebook members than any other city in the world.

According to a survey by Sophos, over 50% of workplaces are now "FaceBlocking" and the ones who have not are afraid of employee backlash.

And it's not just corporate America. Colleges and public access points are also blocking or considering blocking the site.

What do you think? Smart? Paranoid? An over-reaction? Justified? If you were the CEO of an organization, what would you do?

Related posts:

Social Media isn't just for kids

MySpace holds first primary

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When’s the best time to chase new business?

August 23, 2007

2007 has been a good year for many businesses. Studies are showing consumer optimism and spending are up. B-to-B reports are saying that businesses are also spending with renewed confidence.

You may be one of the lucky companies that's feeling pretty good about the work you have piling up. Customers are aplenty and the register is ringing. In fact, you are probably so busy you just don't have time to think about marketing. You'll get back to it when things slow down. Right?

Wrong. Really wrong.

The time to aggressively market is now. Why? Somehow we forget that client acquisition is hardly an instantaneous event. If we wait until we have extra time or really need the cash flow – we're in trouble.

The best time to reach out to potential new customers? It needs to be a constant part of your day. Every day. The challenge is to automate your efforts so that no matter how busy you are, it does not stutter or stop. So how do you go about making marketing part of your routine?

Identify at least one marketing tool that you can commit to for the rest of the year. It might be a monthly sales postcard to dormant customers, hosting a 4th quarter seminar aimed at your target audience, or a push in your print ad schedule.

Next, do something that locks you in. Print the postcards. Schedule the seminar and publicize the date. Sign a contract for the print ads. Do something that commits you. No matter how busy you are.

Is it enough? For most businesses, no. But it's a good start.

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Create a stack of impressions

August 20, 2007

Who gets tired of your marketing messages first?

You do.

Long before your target audience has completely absorbed your key messages, you are so sick of them you just have to freshen them up. Right?

Don't.

Your target needs to hear the same message 8-13 times before it even registers with them.

How high do you let messages stack up before you get distracted/bored and change things up?

How close were you to the magic 8-13 times and maybe your first sale when you changed gears? When in doubt….leave it alone.

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It’s about you and it’s about getting social!

August 20, 2007

It's time to start the countdown! 228 days until we all gather together to kick off the first of many Blogger Socials!

You. Me. And hopefully a hundred or more of our marketing blogger friends from all over the globe. CK & I came up with the initial idea. Then we tossed it out to you.

And boy, did you get busy! You picked the where. You picked the when.

Visit the event's official site www.blogger-social.com. Check out what you helped us plan. Find out how to register. Subscribe so you stay plugged in.

Together, we will make this a can't miss event. We're counting on your help.

To try to keep all the discussion on the event's blog — we're closing comments on these announcement posts. So come chat it up with us over at www.blogger-social.com.

See what CK has to say. Listen to a podcast about Blogger Social over at Matt Dickman's blog.

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