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Monthly Archives: July 2013

Meet the Noinfo-graphic – says nothing but looks good

31 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by Malcolm Auld in Content Marketing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

branding, content marketing, digital marketing, direct marketing, infographic, social media

Sorry folks, this one’s a longer read than normal. I’ve been pondering infographics since writing about this one here last week.

content-marketing

It seems infographics are a fabulous way of pretending that what you publish is way more important, or carries more weight, than if you just wrote the words down. After all, the content is in an infograhic – way more cool than the same content in mere text.

One of the ‘benefits’ of infographics is that you don’t need copywriting skills. You just slap sentences and phrases together in loose groupings of commonality, then apply some graphics. There’s no need to link the sentences or paragraphs – you know, the way people who write copy need to? It doesn’t have to make sense – it just has to be graphic.

How-to-Easily-Create-3-Infographics-in-PPT-offer2

There is no definition for infographic in any dictionary. But in Wikopinion, an infographic is described as: Information graphics or infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge intended to present complex information quickly and clearly.

So I thought I’d strip the graphic from the above infographic and lay bare the content to see what it really said, rather than what it appeared to say. Here’s the complex information without the graphics – I’ve put the content in bold and my comments in normal text.

Cold calling is for amateurs

This is a phrase not a headline – and it’s not supported by any facts. Cold calling is also for professionals – and whole industries such as fundraising, B2B lead generation, telcos and more use cold calling via telephone quite successfully. Although these days, people use technology like voicemail, to block unsolicited calls, which is causing declines in the right-party hit rates.

Make your customers come to you through content marketing

Given that proven channels already get customers to come to you – telephone, mail, email, advertising, events, articles, POS and more – there needs to be compelling reasons to support content marketing to replace proven channels.

Curiously there is this strange belief that advertising has stopped working now that we have the interweb. Nothing could be further from the truth. People still respond emotionally to propositions whether they are delivered as paid ads, editorial, or some other form of content. Just remember the old saying: “nothing happens until you sell something”.

Sales and marketing is an ever-evolving landscape. While traditional forms of marketing may still be effective, the evolution of these verticals has fostered a more efficient and more profitable model for business.

WTF? I never knew sales and marketing were landscapes, let alone ever-evolving ones. Go figure. And yes, traditional forms of marketing (whatever they may be) continue to work. How long does a new technology have to exist before it is traditional technology? Take email for example. Is it a traditional channel? It’s been around almost 20 years.

…the evolution of these verticals blah blah blah – I have no idea what the rest of this sentence means. Maybe it’s just content for content’s sake?

Your customers prefer online communication

My customers prefer online communication to what? Where are the facts to support this outrageous statement? As I said in my last post, I prefer online communication to a broken leg for example. But to what do my customers prefer online communications – help me here content marketing guys? You cannot make a preference statement without factual comparisons.

I don’t necessarily prefer online to the printed word or broadcast word. My radio works just fine. If I listen to it through the internet, it chews up gigabytes and costs more to listen. I’d rather watch a movie on my large flatscreen TV than my laptop or iThing.

I generally print out white papers to read them, though I do use a digital reader when travelling, but read books and newspapers at home. I also read newspapers online. In fact I have no over-riding preference – am I strange?

329 million people read blogs each month

So what? Each month a few billion watch television, listen to radio, view outdoor posters, read mail, email, books, magazines and newspapers too. What type of blogs do they read – this might be useful information eg do they read gossip, food or fashion blogs??

27 million pieces of content are shared each day

And a gazillion conversations are held across breakfast tables, in cars, on public transport, at workplaces, in bars, blah, blah, blah….

The big fail with this claim is the use of the word “share” for it implies that because somebody posts something on a social site, the content is actively shared with those linked to the site. Most social posts never get seen let alone read. The sentence should read: “…content are posted each day”. Close to 90% of the posts won’t even get seen. Think about it – 27 million per day. Who physically has the time to consume all this content?

73% of people prefer to get information about an organisation through articles, rather than in traditional advertisements.

So advertising doesn’t work anymore? This is a big call – over 5 billion people prefer articles than ads? Hmm, me thinks something fishy here. Given they’ve said 73% of people, I can only assume they mean across the total population of all humans, no matter what age. Or do they mean people who have access to the internet? Maybe primary grocery buyers? Or B2B decision-makers? You can see the flaws in the phrase.

If I recall my history, the research on this in the mid-eighties revealed a higher number, around 80% of adult consumers believed editorial content was more credible than paid advertisements as a source of information about organisations. But it doesn’t man advertising doesn’t work. So the percentage appears to have fallen over the last 2 decades – maybe there’s too much content?

61% of people feel better about companies that deliver custom content and are more likely to buy from such companies.

Another big call – over 4.25 billion people. And how do you define custom content? Is it digitally printed mailings with variable data relevant to the individual within the content? Is it an email with your name on it? Is it an RSS feed where the user nominates the content to be delivered? Another vacuous claim.

Content is social and shareable

Where do I start? I think they mean that online content is social and shareable? Well it may be easy to share, but there is no guarantee the content is social – whatever that means? I’m sure for example, an article on the intricate treatment of tapeworms in canines by a pharmaceutical company, might have some social properties, if you are a vet and crack animal jokes with other vets??

Just because content is published online does not automatically make it social. But marketing messages have always been social – they appeal to our emotions. Just because we now have social media channels, doesn’t mean messages have only just become social.

The content your brand creates can reach across multiple channels, for fans and advocates to share.

Like a number of the sentences/phrases, this one is grammatically incorrect. Technically your brand doesn’t create any content. Marketers and customers create content about brands. But I think I get what they mean. If you publish stuff on the interweb, people who like it will forward it to others via email and social sites for example. Wow – I bet very few people knew that was a benefit of the interweb.

People spend more than 50% of their time online reading content and an additional 30% of their time on social media, where content’s being shared. Clicks from content are 5 times more likely to result in a purchase.

Unbelievable! 7 Billion people (as against animals) spend 80% of their time on the interweb. When do they get time to sleep and eat and work – what type of jobs do they have? I want a job that’s less than 20% of my time. Or maybe one where all I do is spend my time on the interweb and get paid for it.

And amazingly, clicks from content are five times more likely to result in sales. Is this in every category? What if the only content is a paid advertisement?

What should I be creating? Content marketing tactics are most often executed through the use of the following:

Articles 79%

Blog entries 65%

eNewsletters 63%

Case studies 58%

Whitepapers 51%

Does this mean that 79% of all content is articles? Or of all content creators, 79% create articles? The percentages make no sense whatsoever?

Where are people sharing? The greatest amount of content is being shared across the following channels:

Email 93%

Social networks 89%

Blogs 82%

Message boards 81%

There’s that sharing word again. It should read “What are people posting” – because there is no guarantee that anyone consumes the content – only that it was posted to a place they could find it if they want to. And again the percentages make no sense.

The impact of content marketing. Not only does content marketing satisfy your customers and extend your brand message across the social web, but it can also grow your bottom line.

Where is the evidence content marketing satisfies my customers or grows my bottom line? Another generalisation to validate alleged expertise.

100%

+105%

Conversion rates are 105% higher for consumers who interact with ratings and product reviews

I’m assuming an interaction with ratings means people who read/view/listen to ratings? And do these people need to always interact before they buy? What if they interact once then just continue to buy, never interacting again? What about consumers who are already predisposed to the brand and don’t go online? They like the brand and buy it. How do they rate against people who interact with ratings?

Does this mean that if my homepage was just ratings and reviews I would double my sales because peopl e would have no choice but to read the ratings before buying?

100%

+83%

Consumers who receive email marketing spend 83% more when shopping

This worries the bejeezuz out of me. Firstly if I understand what these illiterates are saying “people who get email spend 83% more than those who don’t?” That means a hell of a lot of punters on the planet, are spending way more than a small number of punters. So are they saying all we have to do to increase sales is to send email messages to people. Stop all advertising, ramp up the email marketing!!

And secondly I’m cancelling my bride’s email account – she could send us broke every time she opens her Outlook.

14.6%

+1.7%

Organic search leads have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound marketing leads have a 1.7% close rate.

Once again, jargon to validate. Organic searches in what category? What type of ‘outbound marketing’?

Available channels & customer reach. Customers use multiple channels for content consumption. These channels can increase the reach of your brand.

And the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

Facebook

There are more than 15 million businesses currently using Facebook to educate, engage and share with customers.

And hundreds of millions don’t use Facebook. But how are those that use it making money from it? It’s like saying there are 15 million businesses using the phone to answer customer calls.

Twitter

There are more than 58 million tweets per day

Sadly there are – much of it by celebrities and sportspeople. And how is this relevant to making money?

You Tube

You Tube reaches more US adults than any cable TV network

So does radio, and broadcast television and newspapers and mail and email. What’s the point?

SlideShare

SlideShare boats more than 60 million visitors a month

This is the dead giveaway that these bozos don’t know how to create content – they just type and use spellchecker to do their thinking. SlideShare is now a cruise company.

LinkedIn

There are 2.5 million business pages on LinkedIn

And again, what’s the point?

Marketing is solving your customer’s problems, and content marketing is the medium that brands are using to solve those problems.

If you can build authenticity through content, you’ll build relationships and loyal customers.

Aah the sweeping generalisation to validate the infographic. Obviously the definition of marketing is so wrong it’s not funny. For example, I don’t know any advertisements that solve IT problems in the payroll department?

And now content marketing is a medium. Yet Wikopinion says: “Content marketing is any marketing format that involves the creation and sharing of media and publishing content in order to acquire customers.”

And all we need to do is build authenticity through content to succeed? Really?

The ‘info’ part of this infographic is so lacking in useful, usable or complex information, it’s laughable. It’s illiterate, inaccurate in the use of numeric support and generally a waste of the reader’s time.

It also brings into play the fact that somewhere in this content marketing miracle, someone is shoveling the manure by the truckload.

A real lot of doo doo!

You can’t have it both ways.

If the advertising people are right, then it pays to advertise and all those online ads are paying their way and turning the cogs of commerce.

But, if the content marketing people are right, then advertising is a waste of time and we should just publish articles (sorry, content) and ignore advertising because according to the infographic, nobody reads or views advertising any more.

I’ll leave it to you to work it out, but recommend that if you really want to understand the content in infographics, strip out the graphics and see if the words make sense.

You’ll soon get the picture, so to speak.

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Some contemporary philosophy for Friday…

19 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by Malcolm Auld in Marketing

≈ 4 Comments

thinker_philosophy

As I hurtled  through space, one thought kept crossing my mind – every part of this rocket  was supplied by the lowest bidder.
~ John Glenn
*****

When the  white missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land.  They said ‘Let us pray.’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the  Bible and they had the land.
~ Desmond Tutu
*****

America is the  only country where a significant proportion of the population believes that  professional wrestling is real but the moon landing was faked.
~ David  Letterman
*****

Men are like linoleum floors. Lay ’em right and you can  walk all over them for thirty years.
~ Betsy Salkind
*****

The only  reason they say ‘Women and children first’ is to test the strength of the  lifeboats.
~ Jean Kerr
*****

When a man opens a car door for his wife, it’s either a new car or a new wife.
~ Prince  Philip
*****

A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kickboxing.
~ Emo Philips.
*****

Wood burns faster when you have to cut and chop it yourself.
~ Harrison Ford
*****

The best cure for sea sickness, is to sit under a tree.
~ Spike  Milligan
*****

Lawyers believe a man is innocent until proven  broke.
~ Robin Hall
*****

Kill one man and you’re a murderer, kill a million and you’re a conqueror.
~ Jean Rostand.
*****

In hotel rooms I worry. I can’t be the only guy who sits on the furniture naked.
~ Jonathan  Katz
*****

If life were fair Elvis would still be alive today and all the impersonators would be dead.
~ Johnny Carson
*****

Home cooking. Where many a man thinks his wife is.
~ Jimmy Durante
*****

America is so advanced that even the chairs are electric.
~ Doug Hamwell
*****

The first piece of  luggage on the carousel never belongs to anyone.
~ George  Roberts
*****

If God had intended us to fly he would have made it easier to get to the airport.
~ Jonathan  Winters

The consumer is not a moron, she is your wife!
~ David Ogilvy

avagoodweegend!

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The Digi-art of Stating The Bleeding Obvious with Infographics…

17 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by Malcolm Auld in Content Marketing, Copywriting, Social Media

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

content marketing, digital marketing, direct marketing, infographic, social media

I’m not sure what afflicts so many alleged digi-experts, that they constantly state the bleeding obvious.

Maybe it’s because so few study marketing history? Maybe it’s because they believe that because something is new to them, it is new to the world. Though many are convinced they are experts just because of their job title. It’s like saying you can become a brain surgeon by hanging around the casualty ward.

I’m not sure about you, but I always thought that given the purpose of marketing is to create and keep customers profitably, most marketing activity is designed to attract customers to you. For some reason, marketing 101 is now called “inbound marketing” and is different to “outbound marketing”. They’re getting desperate aren’t they? Is there a “roundabout marketing” for those who are not yet inbound or outbound?

marketing for those who aren't yet inbound or outbound

marketing for those who aren’t yet inbound or outbound

Reminds one of the saying, there are only three types of people – those who can count and those who can’t.

Even worse is the regular assumption that suddenly because of the interweb, people no longer trust advertising as much as they trust editorial, or testimonials, or consumer reviews, or other content that doesn’t appear in a paid media spot.

Let’s be clear here. For at least half a century research has revealed that people trust referrals from colleagues, or editorials, critics reviews (for example movie reviews in newspapers) more than they trust paid advertising. This element of trust in third party content is not new. It’s one of the reasons public relations organisations have existed – to get content published in third party media on behalf of their clients.

Whenever I ask my audiences “what is the best lead you can get?” they always answer “a referred lead”. A referral has always been the best value lead in every industry category no matter how you get the referral. Yet when I ask those same audiences “how many of you are running referral programmes” less than 5% claim to be.

If all you did tomorrow was start a referral programme, your business would grow, whether the programme was analogue or digital, inbound or outbound, with or without paid or unpaid content. Phew.

So it was with some despair a friend of mine in the UK, Michael Rhodes, sent me this infographic last night. Lots of platitudes but not a lot of facts. And it infuriated him so much he created a Facebook page called STBO – Stating The Bleeding Obvious – where people can load examples of same. Please load your STBO stories. Shows you how easy it is to create online content:)

But to the infographic – click on it to enlarge.

content-marketing

For as long as I’ve worked in marketing, I or my clients have published booklets, articles, white papers, case studies, newsletters, videos and knowledge transfer sessions – and since the interweb, blogs. Prior to the interweb these were printed either in business or trade press, broadcast on TV or at seminars, or published privately.

They were then mailed or handed to customers and prospects. We even published booklets of our articles and press coverage and then distributed them to the market. So it’s good to see the infographic claiming you need to publish these long-proven things – albeit online.

But does anyone know or understand what this statement means? “While traditional forms of marketing may still be effective, the evolution of these verticals has fostered a more efficient and more profitable model for business.” Apart from not making any sense, it seems to be implying that marketers should stop doing what has always worked and start doing things that are yet to be proven. Would you risk your business like that?

What lunatic thinks that channels that have always worked, no longer work, just because a few new digital channels have been created?

The subhead: “Your customers prefer online information” is just dishonest and smacks of self-inteerst. Prefer online information compared to what? Sure I prefer online information to breaking my leg. There is no support to the claim, apart from percentages that have been consistent since the 1950’s.

Customers prefer relevant information, whether it’s delivered online or offline. I cannot tell you the number of requests I get for hard copies of my publications for executives to read and distribute to their staff. In a couple of weeks, hundreds of Australian executives who are attending my digital marketing breakfasts, will be given a 48 page book as a premium. I don’t expect to receive complaints that they would prefer to receive it as a blog?

Most of the claims on the infographic are just spurious statements:”customers who receive email marketing spend 83% more when shopping”. 83% more than what? I’m going to cancel my bride’s email account – she’ll send us broke.

The problem with many of the content marketing bandwagon-jumpers, is that most are simply typists with business cards. They are not trained journalists or copywriters. They’ve never sold anything directly as a result of the words they’ve written. Well maybe they’ve sold “how to get rich quick with content marketing” schemes?

They rely on spell-checker to do their thinking for them. They don’t proofread. The dead give-away about their craft skills in this infographic, is located in the claim about SlideShare. According to these content marketing experts, SlideShare is in the cruise business. The infographic states: “SlideShare boats 60 million visitors a month”. P&O better watch out.

It’s amateur stuff like this that inspired John Hancock to establish The Copy Mentor. (I declare self-interest here). This service ensures your copy is persuasive and grammatically correct and doesn’t insult your audience.

I tend to trust third parties that don’t have self-interest at heart. eMarketer for example published this research a couple of years ago. It revealed how few people actually trust online content, particularly when posted by friends and brands they like:

very few people trust online content

very few people trust online content

But I see an opportunity. I’m going to trademark a whole new range of terms to replace infographic – eg scamographic; BSographic; bandwagonographic; selfinterestographic; suckerborndailyographic – the possibilities are endless. Trust me – I work in marketing and create content:)

Can you spot the typo?

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You can learn a lot when you ask for a donation…

16 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by Malcolm Auld in Direct Marketing, Social Media

≈ Leave a comment

It’s just gone tax time – one of the busiest times of the year for marketers in the not-for-profit sector. And given the economy, there probably weren’t as many people with profit problems this June 30, so donations may have been harder to come by.

One of the toughest jobs in marketing is fundraising. Think about the challenge. You have to write copy that persuades people to immediately open their purses and wallets and part with their hard-earned cash. That’s not easy. Give me a brand campaign to write any day – it’s much easier than a charity appeal.

But the one thing you do whenever you ask for donations, is learn something. That’s because fundraisers are always looking for the most profitable source of funds at the lowest cost. They test relentlessly and use their data far more effectively than most other marketing categories.

I’ve just been privy to the results from a colleague who raises funds for medical research. She ran an integrated campaign consisting of direct mail to past donors and rented lists, as well as an online advertising campaign on websites with an execution in social media. The results were fascinating, as well as profitable.

Donations

The direct mail to approximately 29,000 names generated a return on investment of 460%. That is for every dollar spent on direct mail, they generated $4.60 in donations.

The direct mail generated about 92% of revenue.

The online activity consisted of a microsite that was linked to by banner ads, behavioural targeted advertising, home page takeovers (where the advertiser dominates the space outside the publisher’s page as well as on the page), editorials, advertorials, social media advertising, social media posts (Facebook and Twitter), email newsletters and more.

It generated a return of 0.43% – that is for every dollar spent online they generated 43 cents in return. Yet here’s the workload involved. There were over 24 million advertisements delivered on publisher’s sites, almost 500,000 advertisements on Facebook sites, over 7.5 million impressions of the different advertorials and an unknown number of impressions of the editorial that generated Likes and tweets.

The online marketing generated 8% of revenue from 0.5% of the donors. While the online channels were the worst performing, the average donation was strong.

The offline communications went to approximately 29,000 people. The online communications were delivered to over 32 million people. Or for every 1 person who received a mailing, over 1,100 received an online message.

This is an excellent example of using a range of offline and online media to get the best results. More importantly it demonstrates that the cheaper media (in this case online) aren’t necessarily the best performing. This is why smart marketers test – to learn which channels are the most profitable for their market.

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Touring NZ – 100% Pure Nightmare…

11 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by Malcolm Auld in Branding, Customer Service

≈ Leave a comment

This is not an easy blog to write – I’ve pondered about it for a few days, as I calmed down. That’s because I’m a big fan of holidaying in NZ and I’ve consulted and trained a number of NZ tourism organisations.

So it is with reluctance I share my customer engagement experience with you, even though I’m a brand advocate. But hey, as the digi-experts claim, because I’m commenting using social media, I now control the brand. The adrenalin rush is making me high. Look out Tourism NZ – here I type:)

Last week I spent a few days in the South Island with my family. They stayed on for a week’s shooshing down the slopes. I returned home to attend a funeral.

After a couple of wonderful days in Queenstown – see previous blog – we rented a car and drove to Wanaka. Given the season, we had snow chains with us just in case. As the designated driver, I was very cautious and took heed of the numerous warning signs about ‘grit and icy’ conditions.

Conditions were Wintery

Conditions were Wintery

The scenery as always, was spectacular, despite the weather. We took our time driving and were even passed by locals on a number of occasions, as they were more used to the conditions.

Part of our view of beautiful Wanaka

Part of our view of beautiful Wanaka

On the road into Wanaka, a Police car sitting on the opposite side of the road, suddenly burst to life, did a screeching U-Turn and pulled us over. The kids were partly excited and partly scared – ‘are we going to gaol daddy?’

I asked what the problem was and whether we were speeding? The policeman said he had no idea, I’d have to wait. Quite a strange response we thought. He took my license and I explained we were tourists and this was our first time here. Then he returned with a ticket for doing 70 in a 50 zone.

I doth protest. “It’s a 70 zone and the 50 sign is down there” I exclaimed, pointing to the 50 speed sign about 100 metres ahead. “No mate, there’s a sign back behind that tree down there”, pointing vaguely into the distance. “The locals don’t like people speeding into town. I’ve cancelled 3 licenses already today, caught loads of people.” he boasted.

He then asked what I did for a living – needed it for the report. I said “I promote NZ tourism in Australia, encouraging Aussies to holiday here – it’s what we’re doing now.”

As he handed me a $150 fine he said “you’re not going to write anything bad about this are you?” I replied subtly “you have no idea.”

Now I’m all for catching speedsters on the road. But this was one of those cynical revenue raising exercises, ripping off innocent tourists in an obvious trap. One definition of a trap is “A stratagem for catching or tricking an unwary person” – and that’s exactly what this Policeman was doing.

So we drove into Wanaka, steam coming out of our ears, as well as off the car bonnet. I blame the gorgeous scenery – it’s distracting enough for any driver. Maybe there should be road signs that say “look at the speed signs, not the scenery” on the tourist roads?

We spent a day wandering Wanaka – I recommend the Cardrona Pub for lunch and a bevvie or two.

Great place for a meal and a drink or two...

Great place for a meal and a drink or two…

Next day I drove back to Queenstown to catch the afternoon flight direct to Sydney. I left at 9am Sydney time. The weather was closing in at Queenstown. It is always a problem for international flights as they have full fuel tanks and have to get up and over the mountains quick-time.

The DIY machine told me to go to the service counter as there was something wrong with my ticket. At the counter, a human told me they had no idea if the flight could take off, as the plane was too heavy and the pilots would decide what to do on arrival.

Knowing they always overbook the flight and then hope for cancellations, or bump people, I stood my ground. Given my reason for flying was compassionate, I was sent to “Pat” at ticketing, who keyed some magic strokes to guarantee I wouldn’t be bumped off the flight.

But then a customer service person, or possibly a flight attendant, approached me (I wasn’t sure, as she was just wearing a slightly different uniform to the others). She couldn’t guarantee, given the weather, that the flight would even leave today, but she could guarantee I could get home via Auckland.

I said confidently, “I don’t want to be bumped to make it easier for the flight to take-off, I know how the system works.” She was adamant there was little chance the flight would leave, but they could get me to Auckland if I hurried now.

So off I rushed, hopping from left to right foot in the security line as the “FINAL CALL” light flashed above me, while silently screaming to the granny in front “move lady move”.

Less than 20 minutes to departure, I rush around the corner – Queenstown’s international terminal is only one gate – to see a full lounge and not one person boarding. We stood for over half an hour before boarding and departing late.

It gets better. I arrive in Auckland, but the Auckland to Sydney flight is delayed. We board. Nearly an hour later we are kicked off, as there is a technical problem.

After an hour in the terminal, we were given $12 food/drink vouchers, but most people had already had their dinner, as we didn’t know how long we would be stranded. FYI beers started at $8.50 and fast food burgers at about $7.50.

About 2 hours later we re-board and finally took off, in a race to beat the Sydney curfew. This is about 2 hours after my Queenstown to Sydney flight (which had taken off on time) had landed in Sydney. I know this because my bride rang me from Cardrona – she was tracking my original flight online and thought she’d share the news.

During the flight, the head in-flight person asked each individual if they needed accommodation in Sydney because they had missed ongoing connections, etc. So I thought I’d share my story with her, given how much of my time had been used up by the airline.

As I described the speeding fine story, she revealed she had been pulled over by the Police a few nights ago, heading home from a late shift about 10.30pm. “I knew I was speeding as there aren’t many cars on the road at that time of night. But as I was wearing my uniform, he let me off because he did shift work as well.” she smiled.

“Then he checked my rego and it was 6 days overdue, so he told me to get it sorted quickly. I didn’t get a fine though.” As you can imagine, I was overjoyed for her.

It’s obvious there’s one rule for locals and a different one for tourists. Maybe there should be a disclaimer on the 100% Pure campaign (disclaimer: only applies to Kiwis).

But hey, there was one consolation – after traveling for over 15 hours to get home from NZ – I missed the Wallabies Vs Lions match. Thank goodness for small mercies.

BTW – I’ll still holiday in NZ and tell others to as well. And I’m sure I’ll have no impact on Brand NZ – despite what the experts claim.

In case you're wondering about the snow cover in Cardrona

In case you’re wondering about the snow cover in Cardrona

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NZ marketing messages, just for fun…

04 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by Malcolm Auld in Branding, Marketing

≈ 4 Comments

Just spent a day in one of my favourite parts of the world – Queenstown NZ. Always enjoy the local retail signs. Here’s a few, along with a speed demon on the luge:)

You can taste it as you read. Although I’ve never felt guilty about a second drop…

Just what the doctor ordered...

Just what the doctor ordered…

Captain of the ABs is a more powerful job than the PM.

maybe not 3 wise men, but certainly 3 legends...ABs Rule OK!

maybe not 3 wise men, but certainly 3 legends…ABs Rule OK!

Fancy some mutton bird with sea eggs on the side?

mmmmmm muttonbird...

mmmmmm muttonbird…

Unfortunately my 5 o’clock shadow didn’t count

Could be a good incentive for Movember?

Could be a good incentive for Movember?

Not sure if this is a brand name or product description?

How much are the attractive ones?

How much are the attractive ones?

You could walk to all the pubs in Queenstown in 5 minutes, but a designated driver does help in Winter.

responsible service of alcohol

responsible service of alcohol

Maybe there’s a big beauty market for bad ink and heavy metal noses?

a very niche market

a very niche market

Speed demon reliving his slightly earlier years.

Action Man?

Action Man?

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Immediacy equals customer engagement! Pigs…

01 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by Malcolm Auld in Branding, Marketing, Social Media

≈ 1 Comment

One of the digi-myths being perpetuated and sadly, believed, is that because people are online they are more engaged with brands.

There are two issues here. The first, is the definition (or lack of one) of “customer engagement” – we’ll deal with that another day.

The second, which we’ll discuss now, is the fallacy that because we can measure something in real-time, such as a click-through or social post, then the customer who clicked-through or posted, must be more engaged with our brand.

Did we claim before the interweb was invented, that customers were more engaged when they called our customer service centres? After all, talking with a human being is more engaging than clicking on a link on a computer screen.

For no rhyme or reason digi-spruikers believe that just because a person’s activity can be measured online, then they are more engaged with brands. We’ve always been able to measure to a varying degrees, customer activity offline. For example, telephone calls in response to a DRTVC. Or sales in a retail store as a result of a POS promotion, mailing or press advertisement.

Yet the term “customer engagement” didn’t enter our vocabulary. So why now, just because we can track activity online, do we assume this miraculously translates to some new sort of engagement on the customer’s behalf?

The only thing that has changed is the speed at which we track activity. There is more immediacy to our tracking. But the reasons customers act on marketing messages are the same whether the messages are online, offline, or hanging on the clothes line.

Sale-sign-on-line

What has changed is marketer’s tracking ability, not customer attitudes towards brands or their level of engagement.

In fact, the beauty of the interweb is that people have the ability to quickly click and forget – to become disengaged in no time at all. We can ignore things online faster than most any other media. Just one click and we’re gone. Something’s ‘bugging’ me about that last sentence??

In the over-crowded noisy world of the interweb, digi-spruikers are making any claim to get themselves noticed. “Customer engagement” is one of those terms that reflects this posturing. There is very little evidence to support the claim that just because we can measure when a person uses an online media, they are more engaged with the brand in that media.

If it were true, we’d be tracking every “customer engagement opportunity” such as a face-to-face sale, or customer contact in a store, to measure the engagement level.

Then of course we’d simply demonstrate the engagement level’s exact impact on the bottom line.

Oh look, up in the sky…

flying_pig

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