FAQ that Companies Have for Their PR Agencies (Part I)

Companies and clients often ask a lot from their PR agencies or marcoms. Not without reason - since PR agencies work on a monthly retainer, the company wants to get maximum results.

As anyone in PR can tell you; it’s a tricky field. You have to put in a lot of effort and networking that is not visible to the company or client. In the end, it’s the results that count. Any company that hires a PR agency asks the same main questions.

In this post and the next one, I will address these FAQ.

1. No agency is in contact with all relevant journalists.

Yes, journalists of trade magazines and broadsheets relevant for you must be targeted - in the Americas, Europe, and the Far East depending on your business. But is it unrealistic to expect your PR agency to be on first name basis with all of them. They do have their own database and network though and will try to get you as much targeted exposure as possible. Please note that journalists don’t always bite. Yes, that is chutzpah considering how cool your company and product/service is, but that's life in the media lane.....

2. The location of a PR firm or professional is not that critical anymore.

However, if you are considering investor relations, it helps to be in or near the main financial centers, such as New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris or Tokyo. If you are targeting governmental agencies in the US, finding a PR agency near Washington DC helps, as does finding one in Brussels if you want to target EU-related governmental bodies and influencers.

3. Think local.

No PR agency is truly global. Many have partner agencies in other countries, which makes them highly effective. To reach journalists in Europe, you do need to communicate in the local language. No journalist of La Stampa, Le Monde, or Die Zeit will communicate with you in English.

4. You do need to send out press releases, but they must be newsworthy.

Publicly traded companies must put out a press release on any change that could influence investors’ decision to buy or sell stock (e.g., appointment of a new C-level manager or board member). Private companies can (and must) be far more selective. A new product release, major contracts, deals and partnerships, as well as received investments are all worthy of a press release.

To get the news out, I strongly recommend using one of the major paid distribution companies. My favorite is PR Newswire, which also takes care of translations and distributes to all media channels (including social media) in any region and industry you want.

5. A PR agency is only as good as the input they receive.

It is therefore crucial that you as a company or client share your goals, competitive information, and yes, all the relevant skeletons in you closet. Any publicity based on faulty or incorrect information, will backfire big time.

6. Some PR goals are unrealistic.

“Get me on Oprah” is a mantra that companies have been singing for many years. Chances are very slim, to say the least. Sending out (by email) and uploading B-roll footage (e.g., to YouTube) to be freely used by the media is cheaper and far more effective. Cold calling the media is a waste of time (and money), trust me!

To be continued in Part II - keep posted!

(Image courtesy of Jeff Bullas)

A Cute and Creative Application of QR Code

Quick Response (QR) is a good tool for creative marketing. A QR code is a 2D barcode. It is similar to the well-known 1D product barcode, but a QR code can contain far more (and different kinds of) information. Reading a QR code is different from reading a standard barcode. Apart from scanning the code with a barcode reader, the QR code can also be read by using a free application on a smartphone.

QR codes can be linked to a company’s website, a YouTube video, a photo or any other hyperlink.

Marketers quickly saw the possibilities of the QR code and started using them for all kinds of B2C campaigns. A QR code is easy to create as an image. It can be printed on business cards, folders, flyers, products, and yes, even cookies.

The German company Qkies offers its consumers the ability to bake cookies with edible QR-codes. The company allows its customers to put their own personalized code on top of the cookies. One package consists of dough and 10 edible QR codes. (Yes, the buyer must bake the cookies first). On the website of Qkies, the “baker” can choose to which website the QR code should point to.

Qkies is the brainchild of a German food company and DFKI, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence.

Disney's Muppets Movie Edgy Marketing Campaign

Disney (NYSE: DIS) is releasing its latest Muppet movie, aimed at a wide audience. Apart from kids, Disney also wants to wow parents who grew up loving the Muppets the first time around.

The Muppets phenomenon has been around for 35 years. The latest movie has just been released in 3,440 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. For promotion, the services of controversial comedians such as Sarah Silverman, Ricky Gervais and Wanda Sykes were enlisted.

Similar to their hominoid counterparts, Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog and Animal have hit the talk show circuit. They appeared on “Saturday Night Live" and “Chelsea Lately." When talking to E! talk show host Chelsea Handler, Miss Piggy was asked if there was any "penetration" involved with her relationship with Kermit. Miss Piggy’s love life was also discussed on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", She responded that "there might be handcuffs involved, if you know what I mean." Move over Angelina Jolie! Miss Piggy’s love interest Kermit the Frog appeared on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno."

The movie trailers are also catering to the mature audience. These trailers spoof "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" (with a trailer titled "The Pig With the Froggy Tattoo"), "Paranormal Activity" ("Abnormal Activity") and "The Hangover II" ("The Fuzzy Pack").

Disney marketing executives refrain from going on the record. But Disney executives obviously realize that going for a broader appeal of a youth-targeted movie is highly profitable, as Sony's "The Smurfs" showed. That movie grossed a neat $560 million at the global box office.

Interesting enough, the strongest demographic for "The Muppets" consists of women older than 25. (Source: research firm NRG). 95 % of women over 25 were aware of the movie and 37 % stated that they have "definite interest" in seeing it.

The CardMunch Application Let You Scan Business Cards; Creating A Digital Rolodex At Your Fingertips

At WATEC 2011, a business contact showed me CardMunch, the latest cool application to capture business cards. LinkedIn just unveiled a completely revamped version of CardMunch, which it bought from Bowei Gai at the end of 2010. CardMunch is a free iPhone application that let you scrape business cards for vital information.

You snap a picture of the business card, and CardMunch 3.0 ties that business card with the person's LinkedIn profile. This gives you insight into mutual contacts, credentials, recommendations, etc.

What makes CardMunch powerful is its Cover Flow-like Rolodex feature. No more card scanners at exhibitions necessary; MunchCard lets you swipe through virtual business cards of all of your contacts. You can also add notes to contact cards while you wait for the cards to be processed.

You can also quickly add information from your contact’s CardMunch record to your iPhone address book. LinkedIn does not do this by default for all contacts, which shows you that LinkedIn truly cares about privacy. It is possible to send quick e-mails to contacts from within the application. It is also possible to initiate a LinkedIn connection request, but once "connect" is pressed, it cannot be undone.

It’s a great and free application to swipe business cards at exhibitions. Hopefully, LinkedIn will add some more features, such as: to "favorite" a contact, to sort contacts by company name/the date the picture of the card was taken, or to record the location where the card was scanned (e.g., Curapipe at WATEC 2011)

To grab the free CardMunch Application from the App Store, click here.

Apple Takes Action Against Cafe in Bonn for Infringing on Its Famous Logo

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has sent a “cease-and-desist”letter to “Apfelkind“, a cafe in Bonn, Germany. Apfelkind („Apple child“) uses a logo consisting of a red apple with the silhouette of a child inside.

Owner Christin Römer submitted the design to the Trademark and Patent Bureau in Munich, Germany. She applied for 42 classes (categories), including fashion and service provider. She also stated that she would like to franchise her “Apfelkind” concept.

The legal eagles at Apple noticed that the two logos are very similar. Apple lawyers promptly objected to the submission and issued a “cease-and-desist” letter to Ms. Römer.

She immediately involved the German media, playing the David vs. Goliath card.

But things are not as clear cut as Ms. Römer might think.

The problem is not just having the logo on the building. She also sells merchandize with the logo (such as cups) online. She also writes on her website that she is planning to expand her webshop (there is already a picture of pillows featuring the logo).

Furthermore, her submitting the logo in the category “service provider” and announcing that she wants to build a franchise show that she is a savvy business woman.

Her claim that her logo was inspired “by the apple trees of my neighbors” is weak to say the least. She hired a graphic studio to do the design. Any reputable graphic designer will warn against piggyback-riding on famous logos.

How will it end? Ms. Römer has two choices: to spend a lot of money fighting for her patent, or changing the design and removing it from the “service provider” category.

In the mean time, she got lots of free publicity. She should realize that multinationals invested a fortune in their brand and are therefore highly protective of their logo.

The lesson to be learned here is to make sure that your logo, font type, slogan or color scheme do not even vaguely resemble those of other companies. Be original! It is not only better marketing, but also prevents legal problems.

Eight Simple Tps for Starting and Using Social Media

1) Establish a presence

This may sound redundant, but you need to be on the social media trinity: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. LinkedIn is great for professional networking. Facebook is a more informal way to connect, although the business pages are very much B2B. People can “like” your business page, which is great for branding. Twitter is the cocktail party in social networking; just keep the tweets business-related!

2) Engage your peers

Your peers are your potential customers, business partners or employers, so you need to engage them with articles, blogs, comments and postings. It’d s great way to establish your brand and position yourself as a thought leader.

3) Make sure your target audience knows where to find you.

You need to promote the links to your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blog. An easy (and often overlooked way) is your AutoSignature. Make sure that you also link your website and blog to your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

4) Find your voice.

As the French say: “c’est le ton qui fait la musique”. Decide how you want to communicate with your target audience. Do you want to keep it formal (for B2B) or informal (for B2C)?

5) Pace yourself.

Avoid starting with many tweets and blog posts a week that are impossible to keep up. Too much activity can be overwhelming and lead to burnout. It’s better to set up a schedule for your social media and stick to it.

6) Keep it simple.

Tweets, postings and blogs should be fun and easy to understand. Try to avoid using complex language or concepts.

7) Visuals rule.

A picture can tell a thousand words. Use visuals in your blog and postings; people love it!

8) Engage.

You are using social media, so be social! React, like, and comment to other people’s posts. Be generous and informative. Again, it’s a great way to brand and position yourself as a thought leader.

Want to learn more? Contact me at www.tiptoppr.com

Tattoo Barbie - Mattel's Clever Marketing Ploy

Mattel’s latest Barbie doll sports pink here, a trendy outfit and has tattoos across her left arm, neck and chest. This limited edition Barbie is the result of a cooperation between Mattel and Italy-based brand Tokidoki. The doll is marketed as a collector’s item for adults and sells for $50. This pink-haired, tattooed Barbie wears black T-shirt with heart and crossed bones, leopard print leggings and a dog called ‘Bastardino’. Supposedly, this has invited the wrath of parents across the U.S, and was debated on the O’Reilly Factor.

There is some understandable skepticism if the so-called outrage of concerned parent is real, or a clever marketing ploy by Mattel.

The Daily Mail did some digging and found a number of obscure websites for “tweenage” girls where people had a negative opinion of Barbie’s tattoos.

However, the majority of the experts that normally pipe up were silent. Quite likely, they just don’t see it as a big deal.

It’s not the first time that our Barbie got tattoos. In 1999, Butterfly Art Barbie was withdrawn from stores after parents complained. In 2009, the company released Totally Stylin’ Tattoos Barbie, a doll with removable sticker tattoos.

But it seems that in 2011, nobody seriously cares about a doll with tattoos. That leaves us with an interesting marketing question: did Mattel create artificial controversy to sell its latest Barbie? Knowing Mattel – quite likely! As usual, Mattel is laughing all the way to the bank. The doll is already sold out......

A painful lesson in copyright and graphic design – inspired by Steve Jobs

Social media has changed the game; in more ways than one. Let’s look at the case of Mr. Mak.

Mr. Mak, a university student in Hong Kong who is an aspiring graphic designer. Upon the passinga way of Steve Jobs, he designed a graphic of the Apple logo with a silhouetted profile of Mr. Jobs. It went viral and was even picked up by news media. Even actor Ashton Kutcher posted the design on his Twitter account. So far, so good...

But then, it was noticed that his design has an uncanny resemblance to the design of Chris Thornley, a British graphic artist.

Mak developed his design in late August using a white Apple logo on a black background. He used a black silhouette of Mr. Jobs indented in the apple as a tribute to Mr. Jobs after he stepped down as chief executive of Apple.

Although Mak said he had searched across the Internet both to ensure he was not infringing on another design, he did not come across Mr. Thornley’s design.

But his design turned out to be similar Mr. Thornley’s. Thornely designed a black Apple logo on a white background, with a white silhouette of Mr. Jobs. The angle is slightly different from Mak’s design.

A shocked Mak said he had received notification from Mr. Thornley’s wife, Julia, about the similarities of the two designs.

In the world of graphic design, similarities between images are quite common. This case illustrates once more how easy it has become to unearth similar images or outright copies. Mr. Thornley, a 40-year-old living in Darwen, England, acknowledges the dangers the digital age presented to creativity.

He is following the controversy while receiving treatment for a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He stated that he first developed his design in May 2011. He wanted to celebrate the fact that someone who had cancer was still working, still driving forward and still thinking positively about the future.

“The Internet can be a double-edged sword,” he said. “You need to use the Internet in order to promote yourself, but in order to do this you are making yourself vulnerable to these situations.”

Mr. Thornley went on to say that he hoped to speak with Mr. Mak soon about the two designs.

“J. Mak has been as honest as he can about the situation, I think,” he said. “It is important to have the debate about this, and J. Mak has to be credited for opening up the debate and not hiding from it.”

Finding your target audience – the Jim Beam lesson

Jim Beam launched its Red Stag in 2009. This black-cherry infused bourbon was aimed at the male market. The company opted for a strong masculine product name and enlisted rapper Kid Rock to promote it.

Much to the company’s surprise, the drink was a hit with women. Female drinkers appreciated the sweeter taste compared to regular bourbon.

Jim Beam began to investigate. As its global chief marketing officer Kevin George stated: “We wanted to understand the emotional reasons why women drink wine or spirits. While women make up almost half of spirits drinkers, they consume just a quarter of the volume sold.”

As a result, after 216 years of marketing almost exclusively to the male drinks market, Jim Beam is embracing women. The company introduced three new products aimed at female drinkers: Courvoisier Cognac infused with red wine, Pucker vodka and low-calorie Skinnygirl cocktails. Skinnygirl Cocktails, created by American reality TV personality Bethenny Frankel, was purchased by Jim Beam. Since the drinks contain only 100 calories per serving, they are attractive to women wishing to avoid the calories of a typical 480-calorie restaurant margarita.

But also Jim Beam’s existing Sauza Tequila brand benefited from the switch to marketing towards women. As research shows, about 57% of all the Tequila sold in the US is mixed in margaritas. Two-thirds of those margaritas are consumed by women.

Sauza began a marketing campaign based on the idea of a “ladies night in”, hosting at-home margarita parties and advertising on the Food Network. Sauza teamed up with restaurants to create what they called “Sauzaritas”

Based on its success with the female market, Jim Beam is planning to introduce a new line of chocolate liqueurs called “Crave”. The drink will blend flavors such as mint, chili pepper and cherry.

Jim Beam’s marketing story proves that companies should never take their market audience for granted. They should be open to step out their comfort zone and check new opportunities.

Hoe Raines Rules opdrachtgevers kan helpen bij IT-investeringen

Raines Rules zijn een aantal simpele regels waaraan IT-investeringen moeten voldoen voor accordering door de President van de Verenigde Staten. Deze regels voor IT zijn in 1996 opgesteld door Franklin D. Raines, die toendertijd directeur was van het Office of Management and Budget, één van de executive offices van de President.

In ons land is Rijks-CIO Maarten Hillenaar een fan van de Raines Rules. Hij ziet bij IT-investeringen door de overheid zonder meer een rol weggelegd voor de Raines Rules. Hiermee kunnen zo in het voortraject van elk project vastgesteld worden wat een IT-investering financieel en beleidsinhoudelijk moet opleveren. Verder of de investering voldoet aan de referentie-architectuur en of alle beschikbare standaarden zijn gebruikt. Verder moet ook nagegaan worden of het al ergens is uitgevoerd.

"We willen als cio's binnen de rijksoverheid over dit instrumentarium kunnen beschikken om onze beleidsmakers te adviseren bij risicovolle ict-projecten," aldus Hillenaar.

Maar ook voor het bedrijfsleven kan het pakket Raines Rules een goed instrument zijn, vooral als het om grote IT-investeringen gaat.

Aandachtspunten voor een opdrachtgever zijn hierbij:

1. De ICT-oplossing moet de kernprocessen van de organisatie ondersteunen.

2. Zijn er alternatieven in de private sector? Zijn er andere (overheids)organisaties die het proces efficiënt kunnen ondersteunen?

3. Processen dienen zo simpel, goedkoop en effectief mogelijk gemaakt worden, met speciale aandacht voor gebruik van (commerciële) bestaande oplossingen.

4. ROI moet risk-adjusted zijn in samenhang met de complexiteit van het project, de managementcapaciteiten van de opdrachtgever, de kans op kosten- en tijdoverschrijding, en het risico van onder- of nonperformance.

5. De ICT-oplossing moet consistent zijn met al ontwikkelde informatiearchitecturen. Hierbij is de integratie van proces- en informatiestromen met de technologie die de kernprocessen moet realiseren van belang.

6. De opdrachtgever dient risico's te beperken, zoals alleen gebruik maken van volledig geteste pilots, simulaties, of prototypes. Hierbij is van belang doelstellingen te formuleren om vervolgen deze te testen en meten voor de uitrol.

7. Het ICT-project dient opgedeeld te worden in zo klein mogelijke deeloplossingen die elk aantoonbaar een eigen rendement hebben onafhankelijk van de nog te realiseren gedeeltes.


8. Risico's tussen opdrachtgever en opdrachtnemer dienen gebalanceerd te worden. Dit omvat optimaal gebruik maken van reeds bestaande commercieel beschikbare technologieën.

Voor zowel overheden als het bedrijfsleven is het zaak met een leverancier in zee te gaan die al jaren volgens deze Raines Rules werkt.

Wilt u meer weten? Neem dan contact met mij op. U kunt mij ook bereiken via Tip Top PR www.tiptoppr.com

Using animal symbols in marketing - not the cat's meow!

Using animals in marketing can be tricky. We all know strong brands that use animals: Puma, Jaguar and ING bank to name a few. But an animal may have different (and negative) connotations in export countries and other cultures.

In some countries, animals are considered to be a low life form. Using animals to promote eyeglasses is cute in the Western world, but a no-no in Thailand. (See also David A. Ricks "Blunders in International Business")

Based on Greek mythology, the owl in considered to be a symbol of wisdom (it was the favorite bird companion of Pallas Athena). Using an owl is quite common in Europe and the US (with the exception of hooters) for educational software and institutes. However, Asians consider the bird a symbol of stupidity. Not what you want in your marketing campaign!

Muslims consider dogs unclean animals. Any advertisement with cute dogs is therefore bound to fail. The same applies for showing women and men in one advertisement. Head and Shoulders adapted its advisement for the Arab-speaking market.

However, cats are extremely popular in Japan. Just think “Hello Kitty” or google one of the many YouTube clips.

Kate Edwards in Multilingual magazine’s August 2011 article, “Animal Symbolism” points out that (animal) symbols need to be managed carefully. “In an increasingly interconnected world, we have to remain diligent in choosing our symbols wisely with the utmost care.”

Before using animals in marketing campaigns, check the local culture. See what kinds of ad campaigns are popular. If a pet is conspicuously missing, there is a sound reason for it. Checking local proverbs is also a good way of checking for cultural sensitivities.

As with all marketing material: think global, but act local!

Jonathan Stark’s Starbucks coffee card – a clever marketing trick from an app developer?

Mobile application developer Jonathan Stark (a mobile app consultant from Providence, Rhode Island) made his Starbucks card available for anyone by offering his Starbucks Mobile app on the Web for others to use.

His message read:

“Need a caffeine boost? Use Jonathan's card. Want to buy a cup of joe for a pal? Or, more likely, someone you've never met? Use Jonathan's card.”

Stark posted an image of the electronic card, inviting anyone to copy it to their own phones.

"Jonathan's Card is an experiment in social sharing of physical goods using digital currency on mobile phones ...," he wrote on his site. "Based on the similarity to the 'take a penny, leave a penny' trays at convenience stores in the US, I've adopted a similar 'get a coffee, give a coffee' terminology for Jonathan's Card."

Needless to say, lots of people followed up on this call to action. After its launch in July 2011, the campaign went viral once it was covered by several tech blogs.

According to Stark, more than 177 people spent $3,651 on the card; not bad considering that the original balance was only $30 balance. A couple of times, some users transferred money to their own Starbucks accounts.

"It's been a bit emotional, actually," Stark stated. "People's reactions have ranged from accusing me of stealing to thanking me for renewing their faith in humanity. It's been very uplifting overall, but it does hurt when the occasional pessimists send negativity my way."

How did Starbucks react? “We think Jonathan's project is really interesting and are flattered he chose Starbucks for his social experiment. We're curious to see how his project continues to evolve."

In the end, it all came to an end due to Sam Odio, who wrote a script that let him transfer large amounts of money from Jonathan’s Card to his own personal card. Once Starbucks became aware of Odio's efforts, the company shut down Stark's card. "We were concerned with fraudulent activity," a Starbucks’ spokesperson said. "Starbucks was supporting the program from the sidelines, because it was an interesting thing, and in line with the pay it forward mentality. But the very concept of sharing a card violates our company's terms of service. "

One thing is certain: Jonathan’s card was an interesting marketing experiment in collective consumption and mobile currency – and excellent branding for Jonathan Stark himself!

Abercrombie and Fitch’s Reverse Endorsement Deal – What a Situation!

Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino of “Jersey Shore” fame, has been asked by Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) to stop wearing their clothes. The company is willing to pay him for this, which makes it a reverse endorsement deal.

On August 16, Abercrombie announced their decision to disassociate from The Situation, stating: "We are deeply concerned that Mr. Sorrentino's association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image. We understand that the show is for entertainment purposes but believe this association is contrary to the aspiration nature of our brand and may be distressing to many of our fans." Funny enough, Abercrombie & Fitch itself has courted controversy with racy catalogs and questionable products.

From a marketing standpoint, it is quite likely that A&F will be laughing all the way to the bank. "It gets their name further out into the marketplace with one of the hottest brands on TV right now at the peak of the back-to-school season," said Wall Street Strategies analyst Brian Sozzi. "It's free marketing. Because the approach is so ridiculous, everybody's talking about it."

MTV, who hosts Situation's "Jersey Shore", responded to Abercrombie's money offer with a statement: "It's a clever PR stunt, and we'd love to work with them on other ways they can leverage Jersey Shore to reach the largest youth audience on television."

Abercrombie and Fitch may not want Jersey Shore’s Situation wearing their clothes but Larry Flint wants Mike Sorrentino for his Hustler brand. Larry Flynt told TMZ: “The Sitch may not be good enough for Abercrombie & Fitch, but he’s good enough for us.”

Is this move by A&F a clever PR stunt? Will reverse endorsement deals become popular? Time will tell.....

How Net Promoter Score (NPS) Measures Customer Happiness

Companies want to know if their customers like their products and services. Net Promoter Score (NPS) tracks how likely is it that they will recommend the company’s product/service to a friend or colleague, using a 0-10 point scale, and tracking the ratio of “promoters”, “passives” and “detractors”.

• Promoters are loyal enthusiasts who will keep buying and refer others, fueling growth. They score 9-10.

• Passives are satisfied but unenthusiastic customers who are vulnerable to competitive offerings. They score 7-8.

• Detractors are unhappy customers who can damage your brand and impede growth through negative word-of-mouth (WOM). They score 1-6.

Apple (AAPL) has some of the highest NPS scores of any sector by careful listening to what customers have to say and responding to it.

Apple made its retail stores to places where people can gather and learn, not just buy. Apple learned that customers want an ongoing relationship with Apple and not a one-off purchase transaction. Apple opens on average between three to five stores a month worldwide, using the NPS to check how effectively each store is meeting expectations.

Apple uses the NPS in its daily management of its more than 300 stores. Apple’s central NPS team analyzes customer feedback from all the stores to understand the systemic reasons for promoter’s enthusiasm or lack thereof.

Apple store employees who create promoters are recognized by store management. Each day, the “daily download” takes place, when employees review the NPS feedback and discuss how to adjust their work accordingly. Detractors are phoned by Apple store managers within 24 hours resulting in additional sales of $25m yearly.

Other companies that use the NPS are: Intuit (INTU), Philips (PHG), Southwest Airlines (LUV) and Allianz, They all use NPS to monitor customer satisfaction.

Using sweepstakes and contests for marketing

At exhibitions and events, sweepstakes and contests are a popular marketing strategy. It is a great way to get leads: visitors submit their business card and the winner of e.g., a trip or iPad is announced.

At a sweepstakes, the winner is chosen by the luck of the draw. At a contest, the winner is chosen based on some merit, such as best photo, most votes on a video, best slogan, etc.

In the U.S., federal laws governing marketing promotions have been in place for decades. But also many states regulate sweepstakes, such as Massachusetts, Michigan and Virginia that all ban tobacco-related promotions. California, Tennessee and Utah highly regulate promotions involving alcohol.

Every sweepstakes and contest must have “official rules” and they should be easy to find by the public. The easiest way is to link to the rules where it is easy to find and read them.

What should the rules entail?

• “No purchase necessary.”
• The alternative method of free participation.
• Geographic area of the sweepstakes and/or who is eligible to participate in the sweepstakes.
• Opening date and scheduled termination date of the sweepstakes.
• Complete name and address of the sponsor and promoter of the contest.
• Number of prizes, the accurate description of each prize, the retail value of each prize and the odds of winning each type of prize.
• Whether all prizes offered will be awarded and how the prizes will be awarded.
• Manner of selection of winners and when a determination of winners will be made.
• Where and when a list of winners can be obtained.

From a marketing standpoint it is clever to limit the value of the prize to e.g., an eBook, a voucher of $25 for an online store, or a free product to avoid tax complications for the winner.

Sweepstakes and contests ate a great way to promote and grow business or promote a corporate blog. It is also used on Twitter and Facebook to get followers.

How to Tweet Wisely

Is Twitter just for people who can’t shut up? Many tweets are irrelevant, and it takes some digging to get to the good stuff. That way, it’s not any different from looking for a good book. Between shelves of Dan Brown fluff, there are literary gems such as “The Perfume”, “Madame Bovary” and “To Kill A Mockingbird”.

Companies (and individuals) can of course choose never to send a tweet into cyberspace. But the problem is that companies will be left behind and their competitors will have the competitive edge.

Tweets are short (140 characters) and resemble sms-speak (not surprising, considering the original twitter concept) and have huge marketing potential.

Following is a short guide to tweeting (courtesy of www.ReputationManagementFor.com with some of my own additions).

1/ Tweeting
When you tweet, you’re sending a message to all of your followers (see 2/) and displaying the message on your Twitter Feed (a list of your tweets). Now, it’s extremely important that you bear a few things in mind when tweeting, as you can end up wasting a lot of time for zero productivity. Don’t over-tweet, but don’t tweet sparingly either. A Tweet a week does not an interest garner. These are some important things you’ll need to keep in mind while tweeting:

• Don’t treat Twitter like an SEO exercise. Nobody cares for unexplained, uninteresting links, and if all you’re doing is linking back to your website, people will generally ignore you.
• Don’t make ridiculous spelling mistakes. Tweets are only 140 characters long, and typos and other errors will reflect badly on your company. Spell it right; sell it right.
• Try not to be too personal, or emotional. You’re marketing your brand, and while that doesn’t mean you should be robotic, attention-seeking will ultimately reflect badly.
• Develop your own style, but unless you’re a professional comedian don’t make every post into a joke.
• Make sure to hashtag important keywords in your tweet (see 4/).

Ideally, every time you tweet you want your followers to re-tweet (RT) your posts. That way, you are reaching the followers of your followers.

2/ Following
When you follow somebody on Twitter, it means that you’re going to automatically get updated with every tweet of that user. You can opt to get as many people to follow you as possible, or to expand your brand awareness and market influence to targeted users (journalists, institutes, bloggers, magazines, etc.).

The easiest and simplest way getting followers is to include obvious links to your Twitter account on your website, and any email correspondence you send out. If you don’t tell people to look for your Twitter account, you’re relying on people looking for you speculatively, and that can be a slow process. Also, you can enter your contact list from GMail, AOL, MSN, Hotmail and Yahoo! accounts to see if the people you already speak to use Twitter. Following people you know on Twitter will encourage them to follow you.

3/ @Mentions
If you have a look at your “homepage” on Twitter, you can see a few tabs below the Tweet box. One of these tabs says ‘@Mentions’. A @Mention is when somebody puts a ‘@’ sign, followed immediately by a username. When somebody @Mentions you in a Tweet, it’ll show up both on their Tweet Feed and on your @Mentions page (which your followers can’t see. A @Mention is useful:

• to engage other users who are not in contact with yet. They’re then more likely to return the favor.
• if you’re Tweeting their material. Their details do show up on a RT, but a @Mention will show gratitude and let the person know you’re passing on their content/posts.
• when tweeting original content. Start the post with “RT” and end it with @yourtwittername. .It makes it easier for people to find you and associate your Twitter account with the content being (re)tweeted.

4/ The #Hashtag
While we have already mentioned that this shouldn’t be an SEO exercise, that doesn’t mean that none of the same principles apply. The #hashtag is the king of Social Media Optimization – an opportunity to make use of ‘keywords’. People searching Twitter for posts on specific subjects will generally find #tagged posts first. Tips to use #hashtags:

• If you want to talk about a #subject, #location or #person (without linking to their Twitter account), use the #hashtag.
• A #hashtag can be used to emphasize a specific part of your tweet, and generally adds context to any content or comments you might be posting.

Twitter posts show up in Google search results. Although it is unlikely that a Twitter post will outperform a highly contested keyword by normal SEO standards, a clever campaign on a specific subject will get attention.

5/ Trending
Twitter keeps track of when a term (or #term) is being used a lot on Twitter. It records Trends that appear by geographical demographic, and a general worldwide tracker. Thus, if a #term (with or without the #hashtag) is popular in e.g., the US; users who’ve set up their “Trend Feed” to the US will automatically see a list of the “Trending Topics” for that country. Users can also click on a topic that is trending (e.g. budget cuts).

There are many innovative ways to turn social networking and social media profitable for business. On your Twitter homepage, you can link to your own website. You can also add Twitter to your website homepage. Your tweets will now automatically be displayed.

6/ Shortened Links
As mentioned before, tweets are limited to 140 characters. Most website links (e.g., to articles you RT) take up a lot of character space. To solve this problem, there are several free services around that automatically shorten your links. The most popular are tinyURL and bit.ly.

Wishing you Happy Tweeting!

(Cartoon courtesy of Johnny Ancich of Past Expiry)

Wikipedia Needs More Contributors

David Daw published an interesting article in PCWorld. He writes that Wikipedia is not yet fading away, but could do with an extra dose of contributors to give it a much-needed shot in the arm.

At Wikipedia's annual conference this week, founder Jimmy Wales warned that Wikipedia is slowly losing contributors. He said the issue was an important one that Wikipedia needed to focus on.

Wales blamed the drop in contributions on Wikipedia's editing guidelines, which many users feel have gotten more complex in recent years. While longtime users are busy in edit wars about the minutia of Wikipedia entries, new users are often left in the dark or chastised for not creating articles in the proper format.

The best solution is to make edits easier for new users. Wikipedia also is trying some other fixes.
Among them: Sue Gardner, executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation nonprofit that runs Wikipedia, said the organization is working with college professors to have students assigned Wikipedia articles as class work. Users can now also send each other virtual badges in a program called WikiLove to encourage more participation.

It's unclear how effective these strategies will be, though Wales also was quick to point out that some of the attrition is natural.

The typical Wikipedia user, whom Wales described as "a 26-year-old geeky male," is bound to move on to other things eventually and, after ten years, there simply aren't as many things for new users to add.

Wikipedia has more than 3 million entries, but by March had only about 90,000 active contributors, according to The Associated Press, which reports that Gardner says the goal is to add another 5,000 by June of next year.

For the original article, please go to www.pcworld.com/article/237452

(Cartoon courtesy of Brian Fairrington, Cagle Cartoons © Cagle Cartoons)

Nine Effective Marketing Tools for Small Businesses

Small businesses (SMEs or SMBs) need marketing as much as large corporations. The good news is that there are various cost-effective marketing tools around. These tools are a mix of traditional and new – together, they are highly effective.

1. Have your Own Website and Blog

Every business needs a website. Potential customers are searching online to find out what your business is all about. For branding and to position yourself as a leader, you also need your own blog. Blogs are easily created using Wordpress or Blogger - free of charge!.

2.Use business cards

It is still worth while to hand out business cards. A printed business card stays around, which is good for your branding. At exhibitions and at a first business meeting, business cards are still handed out.

Depending on your target audience, make sure that it has the correct format and language (e.g., Chinese at the reverse side of your English one. Pay attention to the format of your phone number; make sure to include the country code for clients abroad.

3. Brand your collateral

Use your invoices, receipts, proposals, price quotes, and order confirmations to brand your company. Put your logo, slogan, tagline, and contact details on documents that you send out.

4. Create brochures, flyers and PowerPoint presentations

A brochure, flyer or PowerPoint presentation will explain who you are and what you are offering in an appealing and easy to grasp way. Once you turn them into a PDF, they are easy to distribute by email and to post online (LinkedIn, website).

5. Create and update your own website

Potential customers want to check you out. They expect you to have your own website. Your business domain name is ideally the name of your company. In case you cannot register a .com, try .biz. Make sure that you update your website regularly and also check that is opens correctly in all major browsers.

6. Use Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

To reach potential customers, you need to be found. Online searches are the key; people search on search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing) and on social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, forums, blogs, etc.). SEO helps you to be found by potential customers that are searching for you or your product/service.

7. Use social media

LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are the main social media to reach your target audience. They provide a highly effective way to interact with your target audience. It is also easy to spread news about your company and announce special offers.

8. Provide freebies

People like to get free information and advice. One way of leveraging this, is by having your own blog and to post your own articles (e.g., on ezine) that provide useful tips to the readers. This not only positions you as an expert in your field, but also builds brand loyalty. Other excellent marketing tools are having a free download on your website for white papers and free webinars.

9. Make Yourself Visible

Attend seminars in your area, promote a cause your target audience care about or sponsor a charity event. People need to get to know you and your business. If your business is completely online, opt for a (humorous) YouTube video.

These nine tools provide a great way to promote your business - success! Please leave a message how if works out for you.

(Image courtesy of directory.ac)

Guideline for Conducting Your Own Marketing Audit

You put a lot of effort in your marketing, so you want to know how you are doing.

A marketing audit will show how you are performing.

Following is a guideline on how to conduct a marketing audit.

1. List all the social marketing media you use:

• Website
• Blog
• Forum
• LinkedIn (corporate page, own group)
• Xing (corporate page, own group)
• Facebook (corporate page, groups)
• Twitter
• Newsletter
• Webinar
• White papers
• Articles

2. List your target audience for each one:

• Customers/clients
• Potential partners
• Investors
• Media (newspapers, journalists, reporters)
• Analysts
• General public
• Employees

3. List what your business, sales & marketing goals for using social media are:

• Reaching new customers (lead generation)
• Retaining customers
• Communication with customers (announcing news, special deals, updates such as recalls)
• Entering new markets
• Market research
• Branding

4. Compare your social media with those of your competitors:

• Do they use the same social media?
• Do they reach the same target audience as you do?
• What social media do they use that you don’t?
• How frequent do they post, tweet, hold a webinar, publish newsletters?

5. Rate how your SEO and news coverage score compared to your main competitor(s):

• Are you covered mainstream (e.g., Yahoo news, Reuters, FOX) and industry media?
• Are being blogged about?
• Are you being covered by analysts and journalists?
• How many followers do you have?
• Do people leave comments for you (e.g., on your blog)?
• Do people share your content with others (LinkedIn, retweet, Facebook wall post)?

6. Rate the quality of your content.

• What content does your target audience like to see from you?
• What are they in general interested in (e.g., discounts, product updates)?
• What is the responses?

7. Do you have a social media policy in place?

• Did you formulate goals?
• Do you measure results?
• Do you have a crisis management plan?

8. Who conducts your social media?

• Internal employee (Marcom, business development, marketing)
• External expert (e.g., Tip Top PR)
• PR company

9. Are you happy with your social media?

• Yes, it does what I want it to do!
• No, it does not contribute to my branding
• No, too many negative reactions
• No, not enough new leads

Once you analyze the answers, you will be able to take action. It will tell you if your social media campaign fits your company and how to improve and/or adjust it. Success!

Posted by Tip Top PR at 6:00 PM

Perfetti Van Melle Uses a Perfect Mix of Social and Traditional Media Marketing

For its US product launch of Mentos UP2 stick gum, Perfetti Van Melle started its advertising campaign on social media. Mentos UP2 has already has a Facebook fan page, at facebook.com/up2u. The first 1,000 visitors who clicked on the “like” button got free gum. Up till now, already more 96,000 people “like”. In July, the company plans to post an invitation to on the fan page. People who “like” will be asked to provide the name of friends so they can also get free samples.

The logic behind the Mentos UP2U product name is as follows. Each 14-stick package contains seven sticks of one flavor and seven sticks of a second flavor. The slogan is: “2 flavors. 1 pack. You decide.”

According to Mehmet Yuksek, executive vice president for North America at the Perfetti Van Melle office in Erlanger, Ky, the strategy to introduce Mentos UP2U “is very much 360-degree marketing, starting with very compelling and unique social media content.”

The idea is to first create media buzz on social media, followed by advertising in traditional media like television. The social media are handled by Martin Agency in Richmond, Va., part of the Interpublic Group of Companies. Perfetti Van Melle is also using Lizzie Grubman Public Relations in New York to distribute samples of Mentos UP2U at events in locations like Las Vegas and Miami.

Social media are empowering consumers with greater control and they aren’t shy about posting their feelings online about products and brands. The UP2U marketing campaign illustrates once more how important the combination of digital and traditional marketing has become.

Louis Vuitton’s ad “mistake” or a clever marketing move?

Louis Vuitton (LVMH.PA) has launched a beautiful advertisement as part of its “Core Values” campaign. It features Angelina Jolie sitting on a barge, informally dressed with a big Louis Vuitton tote bag by her side.

The photo was shot by Annie Leibovitz in the Siem Reap province of Cambodia and first appeared in WWD, followed by the International Herald Tribune, Vanity Fair and a slew of other news, general interest and lifestyle publications. It is expected to run for at least 18 months and will also feature a video interview with Jolie filmed on location. The campaign will run alongside a few other recent “core values” personalities, including Bono his wife Ali Hewson (in Africa) and Sean Connery (in the Bahamas).

Vuitton launched its “Core Values” campaign in 2007 to reconnect with its travel roots and thus reach a broader audience. According to Pietro Beccari, Vuitton’s executive vice president, “Vuitton gives a travel message through personal journeys which is a fundamental one for the brand.” Other personalities who have features in the campaign are Mikhail Gorbachev, Keith Richards and Catherine Deneuve.

However, there is one oddity in the Jolie ad: the Alto carry-on bag shown in the ad (Jolie's own) is about six years old, and is no longer available in stores.

A mistake? Quite likely not - Beccari commented that Vuitton is considering a "re-edit" of the Alto carry-on.

My take on it is that Vuitton will wait to see what the demand for the “Jolie tote bag” will be and then restart production and sales if expected to be profitable.

If I am correct, this would be one of the most cost-effective market researches for Vuitton. Let’s wait and see!

How Spirit Airlines uses Weinergate for it Marketing

Spirit Airlines is known for its non-traditional marketing. Even before social media took off for promotion, Spirit made it a habit to leverage controversial trends (MUFF, MILF) and scandals (Tiger Woods) to advertise its low fares.

The current Anthony Weiner scandal (dubbed “Weinergate” by the media) fits nicely into Spirit’s marketing strategy. On Tuesday, June 7, Spirit Airlines sent an email to its customers containing the following sales promotion: “Check out our Weiner Sale boasting fares just too hard to resist! This scandalous sale is no secret so get socially connected … book now before this sale gets hacked!” The company’s homepage offers more Weiner puns.

The promotion has been picked up by The New York Daily News, CBS, The Wall Street Journal and MSNBC.

Arun Sharma, a marketing professor at the University of Miami, explains that Spirit has packaged the promotion well by prominently mentioning its low-cost fares. For a value brand like Spirit, cheap fares are its key selling point. He does not foresee a possible backlash from customers who are uncomfortable with the sale’s theme. "These kinds of promotions do not seem to offend the general public," Sharma said. "They chuckle over things like this."

Previous Spirit marketing campaigns include its 2009 campaign when it ran its “Eye of the Tiger Sale” to leverage the Tiger Woods scandal. The airline’s homepage featured a tiger driving an SUV into a fire hydrant to promote its $9 fare sale.

During the BP oil spill disaster, a Spirit ad featured a sunscreen-covered sunbather and the teaser: "Check out the oil on our beaches."

Spirit Airlines also put a new twist on trendy acronyms. In February 2010, it ran a promo called MUFF to diving destinations. MUFF stood in this case for Many Unbelievable Fantastic Fares. MUFF followed on the heels of the MILF promo. According to Spirit, MILF stands for “Many Islands, Low Fares.”

A few years ago, Spirit CEO Ben Baldanza explained in an interview that the company practices "shock marketing" to keep advertising costs low: "People get the e-mail and forward it to their friends. ..."

Shock marketing and campaign going viral obviously work for Spirit Airlines. Let’s see what the next campaign will entail...

General Pants Raunchy Ad Campaign – Stunt Marketing Gone Wrong

Australian fashion retailer General Pants has been forced to censor its provocative ad campaign for the fashion label Ksubi. General Pants carries several Australian and international brands for young men and women. Its main focus is on youth culture and street wear.

The retailer’s latest in-store campaign is “Sex! & Fashion” for denim label Ksubi. It featured half-naked mannequins and provocative videos and posters displaying the word “Sex!”. Staff was asked to wear badges featuring the phrase “I love Sex”.

Shoppers were not happy and bitterly (and effectively) complained. Australia's NSW has a Minister for Women named Ms. Pru Goward who stated that the retailer “clearly overstepped the mark”.

General Pants responded by covering the posters with black “censored” strips, but kept the posters and badges will remain part of the promotion, which ends on May 16. General Pants chief executive Craig King remarked it was a “bit of a stretch” to suggest the campaign may encourage young people, particularly teenagers, to have sex.

General Pants division manager Jacquie Vuleta added that Ksubi is perceived as a polarized brand and the campaign is therefore in line with the retailer’s image. She stated: “They’ve always been a very bold brand and try to make a statement with the campaigns that they do. We did not go into this campaign to offend anybody; it was meant to be a play on the fashion industry and the fact [that] there is sex in fashion.”

Stunt marketing tries to be quirky while avoiding being too cheeky or crass. Especially start-ups like to launch controversial campaigns to get noticed. However, the campaign must be in context with the brand image.

The main marketing lesson? Be careful using “stunt marketing”; if it backfires, brand and budget are burnt.