The Lessons Companies can learn from their Live Chats

More and more companies have a live chat option on their websites.

It’s a great tool on many levels.

1) It allows companies to connect with users that are unfamiliar with their offerings.

People search internet and come across their website. They are looking for something and they often do not find it immediately.

These visitors love a live chat option to ask for tips. This allows a company to learn a lot about their visitors.

Furthermore, live chat allows a company to communicate with user groups that normally would not purchase the company’s products or services. However, since these visitors did end on the website, they expressed an interest or problem that the company can address.

2) Live Chat can help with conversion

Live chat definitely helps with conversion. It is the perfect tool to persuade any doubting Thomas, and also helps to accumulate questions that visitors are wrestling with to make their decision.

Addressing these questions is often crucial.

3) Addressing irritation / frustration of users

Visitors often turn to live chat because they are irritated or even frustrated with a company. In many cases they tried to contact the company in a traditional way (phone, fax, email) without success.

The service department or the helpdesk must be used to being contacted 24/7. However, in case that that the customer does not get the response/ / service he or she expects, live chat is a great way to retain such a customer.

In short, live chat (when used properly) can give amazing insight into one’s (potential) customers and market!

Just check out some offerings, such as liveperson and nanoRep!

Why Temp Agencies such as Adecco Suffer in the Current Economy

Adecco, the world’s largest temp agency, remains a victim of the current economic downturn. The company saw its Q3 profit slide to 18%.

Adecco’s revenue accumulated to 118m Euro. The turnover of Adecco declined with 5% to around 5.3b Euro. Outsourcing more manpower in the US could not completely compensate for the diminishing demand in Europe. Adecco’s main competitors (Dutch Randstad and US Manpower) noticed that the declining revenues will also happen during during Q4.

 

In France, the largest market for Adecco, revenues declined with 16% during Q3. One of their major customers, Peugeot, recently announced that it will lay off around people.

What does it mean? In Europe, temp agencies are feeling the economic crisis. However, this might only be partly the case. Social media, such as LinkedIn, are becoming more active and are taking over a lot of traditional HR and recruitment functions.

 

Let’s face it – it’s a heck of a lot cheaper for companies to recruit employees or freelancers via LinkenIn or Facebook than using a traditional (and expensive) temp agency such as Adecco, Manpower or Randstad.

 

Unless they can show substantial added value, temp agencies will just not cut it with businesses nowadays....especially since outsourcing companies are proving their weight in gold!

How Temp Agencies such as Adecco Suffer in the Current Economy

Adecco, the world’s largest temp agency, remains a victim of the current economic downturn. The company saw its Q3 profit slide to 18%.

Adecco’s revenue accumulated to 118m euro. The turnover of Adecco declined with 5% to around 5.3b euro. Outsourcing more manpower in the US could not completely compensate for the diminishing demand in Europe. Adecco’s main competitors ( Dutch Randstad and US Manpower) noticed that the declining revenues will also happen during during Q4.

In France, the largest market for Adecco, revenues declined with 16% during Q3. One of their major customers, Peugeot, recently announced that it will scrap 8,000 jobs.

What does it mean? In Europe, temp agencies are feeling the economic crisis. However, this might only be partly the cause for their misery. Social media, such as LinkedIn, are becoming more active and are taking over a lot of traditional HR and recruitment functions.

Let’s face it – it’s a heck of a lot cheaper for companies to recruit employees or freelancers via LinkenIn or Facebook than using a traditional (and expensive) temp agency such as Adecco, Manpower or Randstad.

Unless they can show substantial added value, temp agencies will just not cut it with businesses nowadays....especially since outsourcing companies are proving their weight in gold!

William Shatner’s Latest Marketing Move – His Shatoetry App!

The actor William Shatner is best known for his role as Captain Kirk in the original StarTrek series and movies, as lawyer Denny Crane in Boston Law, and as Frank O’Hara on Psych. Being a savvy marketer, Mr. Shatner has now launched his new app “Shatoetry”, available for the iPhone.

It contains a library of pre-recorded words allowing users to create unique“Shatisms” that play using Shatner’s voice. According to Mr. Shatner, his life story is unique. He therefore wants his fans to “make them say whatever they want him to say”. Users of the application can therefore create simple sentences, phrases, word juxtapositions, etc. They can send words, phrases or even poems to their friends.

The app also allows two users to collaborate online. They can create their own text using Shatner’s voice. For advanced users, the app allows them to compose poetry and haiku... (personally, I am not sure what would be the benefit of that....)

According to Shatner, the app will be updated with word packs for the holidays and special occasions. He prices the app at App Store right now for $2.99.

As a savvy marketeeer, Mr. Shatner posted the following YouTube promotional video:

British Gas logo placement – a cunning marketing move or a happy mistake?

British Gas has actively promoted the London Olympics 2012. More specifically, it took on swimming as its pet project. Sponsorship for Olympic athletes usually helps both the Olympian and the company sponsoring them. The Olympian gets money to train and live, and the sponsor gains valuable exposure.

To keep up with times, British Gas also hired CHI and Partners for a new brand identity. Its logo, which has been used for since 1995, has been spiced up.

The flame from the previous logo has been replaced with a more abstract shape that is in part green.

Its current logo made (advertising) history. British Gas sponsors bronze medal-winning UK diver Tom Daley. However, the company’s logo was rather “strategically” placed on Daley’s sports outfit, as you can see on the picture.

British Gas was criticized for the “pretty awkward placement”of its logo. But let’s face it; there are not that many places where you can put your sponsor logo on this little blue number!

Personally, I think that the placing of the log is brilliant– once seen, you will never forget it! How many Olympics 2012 sponsor logos on athletes‘ outfits can you remember?

It did not harm 18-year-old Daley either – he is looking into ways how to cash in on his celebrety status. 

So let’s face it – even if it was a mistake, it has given both British Gas and Daley a nice PR boost!

Is Better Place Going The Solyndra Way?

It was officially announced that Better Place founder Shai Agassi has quit the board of Better Place, following his departure as chief executive last week.

This move triggers major concerns that Better Place would not be able to make it. According to the Guardian, Mr. Agassi left Better Place following his replacement by Mr. Evan Thornley as the CEO of the company. Thornley preciously ran Better Place in Australia.

According to insiders, Better Place is planning to lay off half its staff in order to battle its cash-flow problem.
Better Place has stations installed in the USA, Israel and Australia. The company was also planning to build an infrastructure in Denmark. Better Place reportedly secured a €50 million loan from the European Investment Bank in August 2012.

Due to its collaboration with the Renault-Nissan Alliance, Better Place operates stations in Israel with Renault Fluence Z.E models. Owners of these cars are able to change deplete batteries in their cars for fully charged ones. This reduces the process to a few minutes, which would be closer to the time it takes to refuel a petrol car.

But will it enough? Or will it go down the Solyndra way?

Knab, the Latest Banking Initiative

Knab, (which is “bank” reading backwards) is the latest bank initiative by Alex investor bank founder Mr.  René Frijters and the Aegon conglomerate. 

Labeled “the bank of the future”, is in an online bank where a bank account + bank card will cost the customer €15 monthly.

The customer will have access to a digital dashboard that allows insight into all his payments, pension & saving funds and assets.  The customer will also have access to various digital aids, including a “red line application” that automatically transfers money from a saving fund to a current account in case of a pending deficit. The customer therefore avoid penalties. 

The customer will pay 1% up to a maximum of €2,000 annually for asset management.  Knab does not employ any sale advisers; a group of selected asset mangers have access to a podium on the kanb website, but are removed if their validation by customers is below par. The validation is shown in stars behind their name.

Knab piggyback rides on the new bank permission granted to Aegon. The name Knab has the K in front, which stands for Klant (customer). This is for sure nice marketing and branding, but does not hide the fact that Knab aims at customers that earn twice the average salary and want to manage their financial future themselves. Not exactly your average Joe. 

Knab wants to break-even in five years with a customer base of 100,000 customers. Frijters is hopeful to gain 250, 000 customers by that time.

 Will Knab succeed or go down the Icesave path? Time will tell...

7 Tips for Using Twitter for Business

Using Twitter for business has become one of the main social media activities. But effective tweeting for commercial purposes is easier said than done.

It boils down to the following 7 tips:

1. Getting more followers on Twitter

It is important to understand that the number of followers is not that relevant. What is far more important is the quality (or suitability) of followers. Once you get a notification that someone is following you, check who they are before following them back.

The same applies to the reverse: only follow contacts that are relevant for you, your business, and industry.

2. When to tweet and how much

If possible, find out when your target group is on Twitter. Research shows that the ideal number of tweets in the US is 10-20 a day; for Europe, this is a lot less.

3. Relevant Tweeters

Who are relevant tweeters to follow and invite?

• Users of your (or a similar) products or services
• People from your area and industry
• People that inspire (gurus, industry leaders)
• Your LinkedIn and Facebook contacts
• Subscribers to your newsletter
• Participants of your webinars or events
• Prospects you want to engage/land

4. Ideal Subjects for tweets

People like to see tweets about tips, highlights, hot items and news. Topics of tweets could therefore encompass:

• Trends and developments in your region/industry
• New products/services
• Discussion items
• Tips and advise
• Trends
• Hot industry and product news
• Webinar, promotions, news items
• FAQ
• Blog posts

5. Time to Tweet

It takes around 15 to 30 minutes daily to tweet. Research of finding relevant trends, articles and news items to tweet takes longer. It might pay off to enlist a subcontractor to tweet on behalf of your company. It is in many cases more cost effective and ensures quality and consistency!

6. Follow Up

People react in various ways. If the tweet contains useful tips or (news) articles, you need to retweet. Asking for advice is also a good way to get more exposure. Do not forget to put the hash tag in front of your question!

7. Monitoring

There are several tools to monitor your Twitter presence and progress. They include: Klout, PeerIndex, TweetRank en Twitalyzer.

Do you have more tips or tricks for tweeting for business? Please leave a message!

IKEA Bank – Taking Advantage of a Weak Economy?

IKEA has silently launched its banking business. Its latest target is the Netherlands. Ikano Bank is fully owned by the Kamprad family, the founders or the IKEA outlets. 

The Ikano bank is not supervised by the Dutch National Bank and is therefore not part of the guarantee safety net that applies for current (and official) Dutch banks.

Ikano Bank is planning to allow consumer credit lines in its outlets.  According to the Chamber of Commerce, it encompasses interest free loans as well as loans up to 10,000 Euro.

According to its annual report, Ikano issues debit cards and is planning to issue credit cards in order to “provide a range of credit products”.

Since Ikano is not supervised by the Dutch National Bank, it resembles the IceSave structure. If you remember, the Icelandic bank folded and was not supervised and covered by the Dutch bank guarantee system.

Currently, Ikano is only supervised by the Swedish system, but not the Dutch one. Caveat Emptor!

As far as I can tell, it is taking advantage of the current economy. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, credit increase with 16 percent compared to the previous year.

Ikano started as a division of IKEA that manages real estate. In 1995, Kamprad established the bank, with one branch in Sweden. In 2009 the Ikano Group reorganized and clustered various financial activities.

Ikano Bank is currently a bank with branches in 16 countries Assets accumulate to Euro 203 million with outstanding loans of Euro 2.1 billion.  Income was reported at 342 million in 2011.

The bank is mainly active in Sweden, Denmark, Great Britain, Germany, Finland, Russia and Finland.  

The question remains: is IKEA taking advantage of consumers not being able to pay for IKEA merchandise the ordinary way? In that case – IKEA might find itself be caught up Dutch courts like Wehkamp once was....

Prison Fashion - Clever Marketing Ploy or Sincere Social Conscious?

Three graduates from the Rotterdam School of Management started an interesting initiative. Dave Geerders and Roy & Sascha Oosterbaan launched a new clothing brand called Stripes Clothing.

The Stripes Clothing items are made in prison by inmates. According to the company’s philosophy, they “advocate the use of your freedom to the fullest and stimulate specialized labor in prison. This way, inmates will regain self-confidence and gain skill to be used whenever they are given their freedom back. This will not only increase their chances in society, society as a whole will benefit from this too.”

The Ministry of Justice supports the project. It runs prison production in its jails that serves a wide range of enterprises. According to the MoJ, they stand for “quality, sufficient capacity, appealing prices and tailor-made”.  

The garments are designed by Said Lechheb, a talented young designer in his early twenties from Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He studies graphic design at the Willem de Kooning art academy.

It looks like our dynamic trio purchased T-shirts in bulk (from China?)  and just had them tweaked. "Walls Heritage" for example features a “khaki pocket made randomly from a used inmate overall, so each shirt is unique.”

The T-shirts are sold for $38 up; not exactly a bargain. Considering the design and production costs, it leaves a hefty profit for management.

Which makes me wonder - is this sincere sentiment or clever marketing using cheap labor & design to rake in the big bucks? What do you think?

Microsoft Surface Tablets Feature On Walls in NYC – a Clever Ad Campaign or Urban Fan Mail?

Is Microsoft  advertising its Surface tablets in a brand new way; on walls in the streets of NYC?

The Verge first posted a gallery of photos showcasing Surface artwork on a building wall in New York City. The wall features three tablet outlines, including colored keyboard attachments. The wall was professionally highlighted by lights (beyond your average street lanterns).

The mural advertisement does not provide any pricing information or product details. It only displays the word "Surface" in the center of each rectangle.

This leaves the question open if  this is:
(1)  an official Microsoft campaign, or
(2) the product of a dedicated fan with (too much)  time on his/ her hands.

Microsoft declined to comment on the street art. An official spokesperson only remarked that "unfortunately, at this time, we have nothing more to share regarding the advertisements."

It would not be the first time that Microsoft used creative advertising tactics. Windows Phone 7 was featured in street graffiti in 2010 in San Francisco, which left the city's Department of Public Works at the time quite upset. Microsoft also used similar doodles during its 2002 MSN launch.

Microsoft announced its upcoming family of Surface tablets in June. According to the company, the devices are the newest platform for its next-generation Windows 8 operating system. CEO Steve Ballmer boasted that he expects Microsoft to sell at least several million Surface tablets following its October 2012 launch.

That still did not answer the question if the writing on the wall is a clever ad campaign or urban fan mail.......

Virgin’s Richard Branson Business Advice

As we all know, Richard Branson is highly successful. He operates according to the following credo:

1. If you don’t enjoy it, don’t do it. You must love what you do.
2. Be innovative: Create something different that will stand out.
3. Your employees are your best asset. Happy employees make for happy customers.
4. Lead by listening: Get feedback from your staff and customers on a regular basis.
5. Be visible: Market the company and its offers by putting yourself or a senior person in front of the cameras

He also teaches these principles to participants in Virgin’s Pioneers program. Participant Jamal Edwards took good notice.

Edwards founded SB.TV, an online music and lifestyle channel, with just himself and his camera. He posted videos of rap performances for his online followers and soon developed a cult following for his passionate, innovative and authentic early videos of musical events.

Once he had established a brand and a following, Edwards and his team extended SB.TV’s reach into more areas, including music and lifestyle, merchandise, clothing and even a record label. Traditional brands like Puma and Nando’s contacted Edwards for deals and endorsements. Edwards keeps up the momentum by being visible, promoting both SB.TV and himself.

Lessons to be learned from Branson:

1. Have the right idea

2. Execute it properly

3. Don’t be worried about the launch date of your start-up

4. Keep an eye on changes in your business environment

5. Be aware that basic (business) rules always remain the same

6. Don’t get nostalgic about how things used to be

7. Take advantage of new opportunities

8. Face new challenges to your advantage

Dutch Department Stores Hema, Bijenkorf and V&D Are Facing Stiff Competition

The big Dutch department stores are under pressure. Hema, De Bijenkorf and V&D are facing stiff competition from the Bol.com/Albert Heijn cooperation. Ahold (the holding company of Albert Heijn) bought online retailer Bol.com for 350 million Euro.

The purchase was a smart move. Bol.com had a turnover of 355 million Euro in 2011. It offers a range of products, such as books, electronics and toys. Bol.com is considered to be one of the most visited retail website in the Netherlands and boasted of having 3.4 million active customers. It recorded sales of more than 17 million items during 2011.

As it looks now, only 2 retail stores will be around in another 20 years, only 2 will survive. Hema looks to be the leader of the pack since has a strong online presence. It is currently the fifth largest internet shop in the Netherlands. V&D is trying to catch up, while De Bijenkorf concentrates on enticing customers to make substantial purchases in their shops. 

The department stores can survive by position themselves cleverly. Ahold has introduce a three-prong approach:

1. In store
2. Online
3. Collection points

Furthermore, they must integrate both online and shop floor. This is easier said than done, as this is also quite expensive. A good example of such a successful integration is the English brand Burberry.

The biggest challenge that the department stores are facing is managing costs. They also need to listen to their customers, and leverage collected data. 

It will be interesting to see how it will all pan out in the coming years.

Promoted Posts on Facebook

Facebook allows you to promote your posts. To choose the best option for your business page, it’s important to understand how it works.

1. Understanding EdgeRank

EdgeRank was a term that Facebook used in the past. Nowadays, the company does not have a product or system called EdgeRank.

The Facebook news feed algorithm takes many factors into account when determining what to show.

These factors include:

1. How often do two people interact

2. How many people have liked a post

3. How many people commented on a post

4. How many people shared a certain story

5. What type of content is being shown

According to Facebook, posts are often seen by as little as 16% of fans. 

2. How your post can be seen by more people

It is smart to plan, create, and post Facebook posts that lots of people will like, comment on, and share. This will save you the trouble of buying Promoted Posts.

3. Using Promoted Posts

Promoted Posts allows business page administrators to reach more people (and potential customers) on Facebook. Many small and local businesses use Promoted Posts since it is easier to create quality content. It saves them the trouble of dealing with the complexities of a Facebook ad campaign.

Once a page administrator clicks on the Promote button underneath a post, a drop-down menu will show an estimation of reach based on monetary increments of $5. 

4. Measuring posts that get the most traction

Facebook offers a tool to learn which of your posts resonate most with your target audience – it’s called Page Insights. It allows you to find out if posts that include a photo or a question are more effective. Once you promote a post, you can click on the Promote button again to see how many actions, such as page post likes, page likes, or link shares were a result of the promotion.

5. Best practices for choosing posts to promote

Page administrators can also use Insights to check which posts are getting the most engagement. This enables them to optimize posts.

Some ideas of optimizing posts include using photos, videos of new products, special offers, special events (such as specials or upcoming in-store promotions), news, and surveys (targeted questions to get feedback).

Success!

From Fruit to Brand – the Cuties Story

It all started with Berne Evans, a former stockbroker. He had already experience with growing tomatoes, kiwis and oranges in California.

When the frost period in 1990 destroyed the orange harvest in California, he found out that supermarkets at the East Coast were desperately looking for mandarin oranges. He saw a huge business opportunity and asked his son to find mandarins that could withstand climate changes.

The identified the Citrus Reticulata Blanco as the perfect candidate. Small, seedless and easy to peel, the mandarin was the perfect candidate. Father and son Evans wanted to build a strong brand. They struck a deal with the Resnick family that built its fortune with Pom fruit juices.

According to the agreement, the Resnicks would take care of marketing and the Evans family would concentrate on production and distribution. Both would be the owners of the brand “Cuties”.
Cuties conquered the US since they were so child-friendly. Children just love Cuties, to the delight of their parents. The demand is not any more for mandarins (or tangerines), but for Cuties. The brand name has evolved to a sort name, similar to aspirin and hoover.

Recent sales accumulated to 75 million carton boxes, which is three times as much as 7 years ago! Strong marketing played for sure a major part, including five different short spots. One of them is 'Know why Cuties are small? Because kids have small hands.'  Another one: 'Know why Cuties are seedless? Because kids hate seeds.'

Cuties are currently dominating the US market, despite some ankle biters.

The technical bee issue seems also to be solved. To avoid bees bringing pollen from mandarins with seeds, a new variety was developed by a Californian University that does the trick. 

But is it not all wonderful. Evans balks at the marketing expenses and the Resnicks are annoyed that Evans started to launch a new brand 'Baby Cuties'.

No matter, Cuties wrote marketing history!

All About Benchmarking

Benchmarking is a great method to compare business processes or results with similar data from similar organizations or companies in the same industry.

Data that are compared normally include quality, time and costs. It is important to compare these data with those of companies of the same size that have a similar customer base. Benchmarking also helps to get insight into how to be better, faster and more cost-effective.

Benchmarking is part of strategic management. Various aspects are being evaluated and compared to those of peer organizations. This enables better insight into how to improve. Although benchmarking can be a one-time effort, is more and more used on an ungoing basis.

There are several kinds of benchmarking, including:

• Process benchmarking, which is focusing on organizational processes in order to identify the advantages and strong points of other organizations. Activities are analyzed with the focus on reducing costs and increasing efficiency.

• IR Benchmarking, which entails that investors compare financial results and look at opportunities and alternatives.

• Product benchmarking, which focuses on possible development of new products and services or upgrading existing ones by looking at competing offerings.

• Strategic benchmarking, which looks at the strategic management of other organizations.

There are various ways to benchmark. As a company, you can decide to conduct the benchmarking in-house. In many cases, it might be worth while to approach am agency with experience in benchmarking similar companies in your industry.

(Image: Olympics 1896)

How Ally Stevenson’s Clean Heels Became a Summer 2012 Marketing Success

It’s often a simple solution to an annoying problem that becomes a commercial success. Women wearing high heels know the sinking feeling you get when walking or standing on wet grass. Stilettos are easily ruined and having them repaired is expensive.

Ally Stevenson was also fed up that her shoes were ruined at rainy outdoor events. She came up with a simple and elegant solution: Heel Stoppers. The wearer only needs to slip the stoppers onto the end of the stiletto. 

Clean Heels was founded in 2009 and got a marketing boost from bad weather. Dubbed “the wettest drought on record”, the year 2012 started with months of hotter than normal temperatures, followed by lots of rain. Protecting high-heeled shoes at outdoor events (weddings, races, etc.) became important. Nobody wanted their shoes sinking in mud or wet grass during the event. Clean Heels was able to double its 2011 sales. 

The Fareham, Hampshire-based company was able to generate some nice PR. Heel Stoppers were featured in a number of high-profile magazines, including Vogue. Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt was wearing stilettos with Heel Stoppers in the movie The Lost Valentine. Heel Stoppers also appeared on ITV show Day Break and the UK soap opera Hollyoaks.

Clean Heels is for sure a company worth watching!

Better Place Should Be in a Better Place – Will The Company Succeed?

Better Place provides electric cars with switchable batteries, and has been trying to make its mark for the last four years. Such a car is expensive and Better Place's electricity subscription plans reflect only a 20% discount to gasoline prices for similar mileage.

Local fleet operators worry that the Renault (RNO:EN)-made vehicles that Better Place provides will quickly lose their value and buyers will see the required electricity purchases as too expensive. Rental agencies are balking because of uncertainty regarding the cars' resale value. Vehicles with switchable batteries might lose as much as 70% of their original value in four years instead of the typical 40% loss by gasoline-powered vehicles over the same period.

Better Place has service stations that a driver can pull into, and a fully automated machine shuttle will remove the heavy battery pack and install a fully charged new one. It also has recharging spots—a plug and meter—at the stations and elsewhere for a slow recharge. Drivers must subscribe to this service.

Better Place said that it raised $200 million to fund the infrastructure for a rollout in Western Europe. The round reflects a company valuation of $2.25 billion and brings the total amount raised from venture investors to $750 million.

However, critics say that electric-car owners should be able to fuel their cars from their own home rather than Better Place's grid. They also do not like the huge icons on their cars.

No matter what, Better Place is for sure a company worth being watched closely!

Marks and Spencer’s copycat case – honest mistake or huge marketing blunder?

Marks & Spencer started selling a line of T-shirts featuring a floral pattern. A young textile designer, Rachael Taylor, spotted the T-shirts in the show window of M&S Oxford Street shop. She noticed the striking resemblance with her own signature design of hand-drawn flowers.

As shown in the image, the design is almost identical. Ms. Taylor never gave permission to use her design, stating: “This design is my hand drawn original and has been part of my signature collection for quite some time. It's sold on my own branded products 'Rachael Taylor Designs' from kitchen textiles through to stationery. The design has also achieved international success as a licensed design, appearing on numerous home decor products in the UK, Europe & USA.”

Marks & Spencer have withdrawn the garments from sale while it investigated the complaint. M&S emphasized that they had bought them 'in good faith' from a direct supplier. A spokesperson stated: “We are sorry for any disappointment caused to Rachael Taylor Designs from the sale of a T-shirt that we bought in good faith from a direct supplier.”

Ms. Taylor started legal action, stating: “I believe a copyright infringement has been made by Marks and Spencer from using my design and making it into a garment, then selling in their stores. Not only has my design been used for profit without my permission, I believe in standing up for the civil rights of myself and anyone else who has encountered this in their own professional life.”

In a statement, Patricia van den Akker, Director of The Design Trust, said: “I hear daily of cases like this. It really hurts these small designers, both financially and emotionally.”

Keep posted!

(Image ©Rachael Taylor Designs Ltd. as featured in the Daily Mail)

Is your brand a masterbrand, an umbrella brand, a powerbrand, or a superbrand?

Nothing is simple when it comes to branding.

Let’s have a look at the different brands an try to make some order. Let’s start with a masterbrand, aka an umbrella brand. Masterbrands are corporate brands that have a number of sub-brands underneath.

For example, British Airways is a masterbrand, with its Concorde, First Class, Club World, Club Europe, and Skyflyers as sub-brands. Other examples of strong masterbrands are Coca-Cola, Unilever, and Virgin, that all have a slew of sub-brands.

A powerbrand is a brand that has instant recognition, such as Starbucks, Ford, Google, Nike, Apple, Delta, Microsoft, etc. Ideally, a masterbrand is also a powerbrand and reflects the corporate strategy and image of the company.

A superbrand is a brand that:

1) has a strong message and image

2) stays faithful to it corporate mission over time

3) makes sure that all sub-brands are in sync with the masterbrand

Examples of superbrands are Gilette, Coca-Cola, Davidoff, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, and Lacoste. Branding is the lifeblood of all companies – big and small.

No matter if you are a multinational or a SMB/SME or a ZZP, your brand is what defines you. Make sure you keep your brand strong, consistent and inspiration.

Virgin America's Brilliant Marketing Move

Virgin is known for its brilliant marketing. Keeping up with its tradition, Virgin cooked up another clever marketing move for Virgin America.

Starting August 8, Virgin America's more than 2,000 pilots, flight attendants and other crew members will wear their new and sleek uniforms designed by Banana Republic.

Luanne Calvert, Virgin America's vice president of marketing, stated: "We felt it is time to refresh our look. We felt this is the right time to hearken back to the golden age of flying. "

Airline apparel has evolved since the 1960s, when looks mattered as shown in the TV series Pan Am. At that time, all-female attendants wore colorful, sexy uniforms

Over the years, the outfits became more professional and men joined the ranks. Only a few airlines have redesigned their uniforms in recent years. 

It took Virgin America 18 months to come up with the new look.

Simon Kneen, Banana Republic's creative director, designed the uniforms so crew members could move around without losing buttons or getting stuck on chairs.

"We wanted to respect the heritage of in-flight uniform design while injecting a modern twist that's both functional and fashionable," he says.

With the new uniforms, Virgin achieves:

1. Great publicity
2. Great branding
3. A new income stream

Lufthansa’s Marketing Blunder

Lufthansa sent the following letter (seemingly handwritten and sealed with a lipstick kiss) to its male miles & more customers:

Darling,

The feeling to be the most important person in your life is wonderful. We share so many unforgettable moments. And you had always a knack to know how you can please me.

I have a small request: there is a Woman’s Special Partner Card based on your Miles & More credit card, which offers substantial benefits. With this card, I will be invited to exclusive events and can participate in amazing promotions.

And last but not least: I will get a two-year subscription to Vogue magazine or Architectural Digest. You know how much I love these magazines.

Of course I also want to collect Miles with my credit card, exactly like you that we can turn into a nice trip – may be to Paris!

I would so much like you to get this partner card for me via www.womans-card.de

Thanks so much!

Your Special Woman

Needless to say, this promotion did not set well with scores of customers. Many male customers found that it reeked of the 1950s, while female Miles-and-More account holders (including myself) cannot treat their "special man" to a partner card. Lufthansa did not have the foresight to issue a male version of the Woman's Special Credit Card.

The promotion launched a thousand tweets. “Will I be getting a letter from my sweetheart asking if he can have a partner credit card to go shopping with?” tweeted German businesswoman Anke Domscheit-Berg.

Lufthansa halted its campaign and tried to do some much-needed crisis management on Twitter. However, their initial response “we regret the impression that [the campaign] has made,” did little to calm the stormy waters.

Lufthansa also issued a press release reassuring customers that the company was “never intended to convey outdated gender roles or excluding customers from the [partner card] scheme.”

Most of us agree that the campaign is a major faux pas (outdated stereotypes, sexist) . Personally, I wonder it the one that came up with this gem was watching Pan Am at the time......

How an Amazing Woman Became the Face of the Aunt Jemima Brand

The story starts in 1888, when St. Joseph Gazette editor Chris L. Rutt of St. Joseph, Missouri and his friend Charles G. Underwood bought a flour mill. Rutt and Underwood's Pearl Milling Company faced a glutted flour market, so they sold their excess flour as a ready-made pancake mix in white paper sacks with a trade name.  Rutt reportedly saw a minstrel show featuring the "Old Jemima" song and/or a vaudeville performer, who played a character described as "Aunt Jemima",  wearing an apron and kerchief. Rutt created the Aunt Jemima character to market the Pearl Milling Company pancake mix. Since Rutt and Underwood were unable to make the project work, they sold their company to the R.T. Davis Milling Company in St. Joseph, Missouri in 1890.

R.T. Davis marketed the ready-made pancake mix using an older, matronly black woman in an apron and kerchief for branding, which was a stroke of genius. Aunt Jemima’s appearance on the package implied long hours in a southern kitchen and an authentic, homey product. Ironically, the actual pancake mix reportedly did not live up to that image....

For the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Davis needed to bring its new brand to live and looked for a woman to personify Aunt Jemima. Enter Nancy Green. Ms. Green, a storyteller, was born a slave in Montgomery County, Kentucky in 1834. She quickly charmed the crowds while doling out pancakes in the booth at the exposition. Her charisma made the Jemima brand so popular that she got a lifetime contract with Davis. This made her the first African-American supermodel and spokeswoman. Leveraging her popularity, the Davis company was renamed the Aunt Jemima Mills Company.

The Aunt Jemima character became so popular, that copycats tried to move in. The Aunt Jemima Mills Company started taking its imitators to court to protect its brand. In 1915, the Aunt Jemima Mills Company filed a suit against Rigney and Company, which had large implications for trademark law in the U.S.

Rigney and Company used the Green’s Aunt Jemima name and an image similar to Green’s portrayal of the character to sell its pancake syrup. Davis’ lawyers argued that Rigney’s use of the character “created in the minds of purchasers the belief that the said goods are a product of the plaintiff.” The judge ruled in favor of the Aunt Jemima Mills Company stating: “while the pancake flour and pancake syrup were not the same product and did not compete with each other, they were related in their uses and consumers could be misled to think they were made by the same company”. The case set a precedent, known as the "Aunt Jemima Doctrine".

Nancy Green became known as the "Pancake Queen" and traveled on promotional tours all over the country. Due to her appeal, flour sales were up all year and pancakes were no longer considered exclusively for breakfast. She was tragically killed in a car crash in Chicago on September 23, 1923. One year later, the Aunt Jemima Mills ran into financial trouble and was bought by the Quaker Oats Company. 

Over the years, Aunt Jemima has been personified by several spokeswomen and had a few makeovers. The current Aunt Jemima looks more like a working mother – she is slimmer than the original Aunt, her hair is styled and has a touch on grey, and she is wearing a white blouse and pearl earrings.

The original Aunt Jemima, Nancy Green, was an amazing woman who was smart and charismatic. At an age when most current job seekers would despair of ever finding employment ever again, she became the face of a global brand and was able to land a lifelong contract. Her financial freedom allowed her to engage in antipoverty programs. Chapeau!

Marketing Cute Coins - Royal Canadian Mint's Clever Marketing Strategy

Historically, a Mint was established as part of a respected monetary system. To state it more simply, it is a place where money is coined. Most Mints are governmental owned, such as the Royal Canadian Mint. Minting coins and printing money bills is not cheap. The Mints came up with a clever marketing strategy to make money (no pun intended): minting a limited amount of commemorative or collector coins.

This is big business, as the 2011 annual results show. The Royal Canadian Mint recorded revenues of a whopping $3.2 billion. The pre-tax profits reached $43.8 million, which makes 2011 the fourth best year for net income for the Royal Canadian Mint which operates as a corporation whose sole shareholder is the Government of Canada.

As part of its clever marketing strategy, the Royal Canadian Mint's latest collectible coin features a dinosaur whose skeleton shines at night from beneath its scaly hide. The coin actually features two images on one face. The other side depicts Queen Elizabeth II. (No, she does not glow in the dark). Coin designer Julius T. Csotonyi infused the design with a photo-luminescent element so that, when the lights are on, a depiction of the dinosaur appears, but when the lights are off, the dinosaur’s skeleton glows in the dark. According to the Mint, the luminescence will not fade with time.

Made of cupronickel, the coin has a face value of 25 cents and its sales price is $ 29.95. It is much larger than a regular Canadian quarter, which avoids confusion. The coin shows an artist's rendering of Pachyrhinosaurus Lakustai, a 4-ton, 26-foot dinosaur discovered in Alberta in 1972 and named after Al Lakusta, the man who stumbled on its bones in the Pipestone Creek bone bed.

Because the coin is so gimmicky, it received a great deal of media attention. Articles about the coin appeared in a slew of newspapers and technology sites, including CNET and Wired. The coin was also mentioned on television news programs and in a segment “Canada’s Currency Coup” on the Colbert Report. As a result, the coin already sold out of its 25,000 mintage and is selling for a substantial premium to the original issue price on eBay.

But the Royal Canadian Mint is not stopping here. The quarter is the first of a series of four coins. All these coins will feature photo-luminescent prehistoric creatures. These coins are part of its marketing and sales plan. Overall, the Royal Canadian Mint is planning as many as 150 numismatic products and collectibles for 2012.

IKEA’s Marketing Blunder

IKEA promised way back in 1999 in Brussels that it would not use any wood from primeval forests and has been boasting the slogan 'We Love Wood' on its wooden products ever since.

However, as it turns out, IKEA's wood is not always so ecological, responsible or sustainable. A report published by Swedish and Russian environmental organizations show that IKEA’s wood also comes from harvesting primeval forests in Karelia in North Russia.

Swedish state television also covered IKEA’s walk of shame. According to the conducted research, Swedwood, a subsidiary of IKEA, has been harvesting more than 560 hectares of primeval forest annually. Sadly enough, Swedwood was the first foresting company that received a FSC-certificate (Forest Stewardship Council). The certificate guarantees that the wood originated from forests that are managed in a sustainable and ecological way.

According to Linda Ellegaard of the Swedish environmental organization Protect the Forests, which conducted the research, the FSC-certificate does not really work. "Logging companies can decide themselves who will certify them. The FSC controllers are not reliable, since they do not want to deliver bad news – they want to also have a job in the next year. We have eye-witnessed the devastation of the deforestation in Karelia ourselves. However, the certification agents did not say even one bad word about the cutting down of 600-year old trees". 

IKEA stated (of course) that it is not aware of any wrongdoings. "We do not just cut down trees, but pay attention to biodiversity. We are aware of the responsibility to log wood in the forests of Karelia. However, Swedwood has the highest international standard for responsible logging – the FSC certificate. We put our trust in that". 

The FSC claims to have a clear understanding with local Russian environmental groups and logging companies. Arjan Alkema of FSC calls the research of Protect the Forest lacking. "Swedwood makes agreements in accordance with the Russian law and regulations. The value that the Russians attach to the primeval forest is different than that of the Swedes. Furthermore, Swedwood leaves 6,000 hectares in that area alone". 

It is not the first time that IKEA is faced with unsavory practices. The past of the founder of IKEA, Mr. Ingvar Kamprad, is unsavory to say the least......  

Image courtesy of Reuters "shoppers at IKEA"

Useful Tips for Pitching News

As a marketing or PR professional, it is quite likely part of your job to pitch news to journalists and magazines.

It is important to realize that not every interview you arrange or information you sent will be published.  

Once you have news to share, seek out the magazine that matches your target audience.

Below are some tips for pitching your news:

• Get to know the writers/journalists by checking out what they have written about before.
  
• Feed the right story; it must be interesting / newsworthy.
• Only pitch new products or significant product changes.
• Only .pitch case studies when your company is mature / well-known
• A pitched case study or article must contain a hot topic, such as solving a business problem with a proprietary technical solution.
• Only pitch executive profiles of well-known appointees / executives.
• Only respin old news if it has a new angle.
• Highlight the unusual.
• Pitch in a timely manner; the earlier the better. If not pitched in 0-day, the hot topic will be all over the news within 2 hours.
• Provide compelling collateral; supply sources that are appealing.
• Pitch by email; journalists and writers hate to be “stalked”.
• Never intimidate; be professional.
• Once published, distribute the article via your own channels (Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin).
• Search on social media and forums for the article. Once found, share and leave comments. Also search Twitter for tweets about the article, and retweet.

Success!

Starbucks Bugs Customers – Adding Bugs To Drinks Is Not A Good Idea

Recently, Starbucks decided to use a new colorant for is pink drinks and glazing. Instead of using milk products and real strawberries, the coffee chain decide to use chochineal extracts that consist of crushed bugs from South America. 

Cochineal extract is allowed by the FDA as a food colorant. Since it is cheaper to use, Starbucks used it to color its popular Frappuccino Strawberry and Strawberry Smoothies. 

Vegans and vegetarians were not pleased when they found out that their soy milk Frappuccinos and Smoothies suddenly contained animal products. Customers in general were bugged by the idea that there were bugs in their Starbucks.

As usual, the power of social media was harnessed; sentiments were vented in online forums and in YouTube videos. The online petition on Change.org got almost 7,000 signatures.

Starbucks got the marketing message and announced that from now on, lycopene extracts (from ripe tomatoes) will be used. Cliff Burrows, the President of Starbucks U.S., apologized and posted the following blog post:

“As I first shared on March 29, we’ve learned that we fell short of your expectations by using natural cochineal extract as a colorant in four food and two beverage offerings in the United States. Our commitment to you, our customers, is to serve the highest quality products available. As our customers you expect and deserve better – and we promise to do better.

After a thorough, yet fastidious, evaluation, I am pleased to report that we are reformulating the affected products to assure the highest quality possible. Our expectation is to be fully transitioned to lycopene, a natural, tomato-based extract, in the strawberry sauce (base) used in our Strawberries & Crème Frappuccino® blended beverage and Strawberry Banana Smoothie.

Likewise, we are transitioning away from the use of cochineal extract in our food offerings which currently contain it (Raspberry Swirl Cake, Birthday Cake Pop, Mini Donut with pink icing, and Red Velvet Whoopie Pie).

This transition will occur over time as we finalize revisions and manage production. Our intention is to be fully transitioned from existing product inventories to revised food and beverage offerings near the end of June across the U.S.

We thank you for your continued feedback, support and comments, and we encourage you to continue to share your thoughts here as well.”

Although Starbucks bugged its customers, it did excellent crisis management.