20 posts tagged “marketing canapes”

Marketing Canapes was developed as an evolution of an emailed newsletter, I've always been an advocate of being able to communicate in two directions. One of the limitations in placing Marketing Canapes here was that people would have to join VOX to be able to reply to a post. Fortunately, that is a freebie. Not an ideal situation, but doable. I have posted before about moving Marketing Canapes elsewhere so anyone can access it and make comments. That is still on the table.

In looking over the short Black PR post and reply, I have noticed that there are those on VOX who have no problem going to a blog and posting while restricting that blogger from being able to view their blog and posts (if there are any at all). I'm not picking on Ivana - I think her comment was a good one - but if you are going to make comments on my blog, then afford me the courtesy of opening your blog to me so I have the same privilege. Otherwise it can degenerate into a blind where someone can take potshots at other bloggers and hide behind privacy settings.

Another similar situation arises when a commentator comes in and and all you reach on the other side is a commercially-oriented blog with token or non-existent public postings. They are designed for one-way communications.

Consequently, I am considering removing all these one-way VOX sites from my neighborhood.

If you want to talk to me and my neighborhood and post on my blog, then open yours up to me.

I am wondering how the rest of my neighborhood feels about this matter.

When I started this blog, I was doing all reportage and no origination of material. But over the months, it occurs to me that I have a lot of stories built upon some 30+ years in marketing and allied fields. I've been letting a few of these seep out from time to time.

Monitoring some 250 RSS blog feeds, I have been astounded about how many pros do not understand the basic history of the field we are in, how many think that because they didn't know something that the revelation they have had is something new to the world. They do not understand the foundation of their industry and in ignoring it are building their professional lives on shifting sands. I'll not mince words (see the post following this one) where some idiots finally got a clue that the access to the boss is controlled by an assistant of some type. Well, at least they got it. Anyone want to make a bet that another firm won't post the same "look what we discovered" drivel again in five or ten years?

Here's a short bit, another blogger posted that because of all the ear buds running at high volume, being in the hearing industry would be a good thing. HELLO! Anyone home? If that same thought did not occur to her the first time she could hear some car's amped up stereo system from a hundred years away, then she is late to the party. Finally here, but later than hell. Costco went into the hearing centers for that reason. For more than eight years I've been telling people that were I 30 years younger, I would head that way because of the loudness these kids were subjecting themselves to.

Well, rant off for right now. I guess this is a bit of Marketing Canapes served with attitude.

There is an interesting article with this title at Valley PR Blog. Danwool says these eight are what separate the elite practitioners from the rest of the herd (edited, my comments in parens):

(1) Knowledge of business operations - If you don’t know how a business works and especially, how it makes money, you cannot succeed in PR. (Good consultants of any kind need to know the client's business as well as do the businesses' execs).

(3) Knowledge of consumer behavior — No consumers, no business. Wrong consumers, no business. Who target consumers are, how they think and how to reach them — especially on the Internet — is the lynchpin (sic) of PR. (No wonder venture capitalists turn to a business plan's marketing section first).

(4) Strategy – “Every battle is won before it is fought” — Sun Tzu “The Art of War”. (Well, given the situation in the Middle East, this is debatable, you have to be willing to stay the course).

(5) A great attitude. A great attitude builds confidence and trust, even if the end result is a loss. You always get hired on attitude, not skill. (However, it does not offset continued losses).

(6) Journalism skills – PR pros are essentially corporate journalists with sales responsibilities. You have to think and write lik (sic) journalists in order to out-think them and write stories they want to write themselves. (I would say, write for the editors and do not worry about out-thinking journalists).

(7) Rhetoric and negotiation skills — You need to know how to argue well and properly break down an argument into premises and conclusions. You need to know how to negotiate (fight) beyond one round. (And know when to fold 'em).

(8) Focus — PR is a non-linear, fast paced business with an ever-changing environment. (Back to Schwartzkopf's, the one who can sort through the chaos fastest will win).

Branding & Marketing has a short article on making good PR photos. Most of the advice concerns people photos and one of the things I learned well back that goes to their advice on how to stage people is to make sure all the people's eyes are at different levels as well as directing the direction of the look. Additionally, some PR photos do not have people in them at all and my advice is to "police" the area to make sure it looks clean and neat, especially in such areas as construction sites. 

Springwise reports on three different companies that will help either the consumer or the medical insurance companies reduce medical costs by comparing prices in geographical areas and furnishing the information for a portion of the savings.

There was a great hew and cry when Wal-Mart dropped its layaway service and the impact that would create for their poorer customers. Looks like layaway has moved online, but that probably will not help those lower economic bracket customers. Springwise reports that although there are no really big online retail players involved yet, the service looks promising. Customers pay a percentage upfront and when they complete paying eLayaway the goods get delivered. 

Ypulse posts about a new model of influence that says, essentially, that opinion leaders do not count, what counts is the media dispersion in terms of networks. "Most recently, Duncan Watts of Columbia University is getting attention with a new, more nuanced theory. His work highlights the intricacies involved in the spreading of ideas, and leads to a conclusion more based on a large network effect of easily influenced people, rather than a small group of influential people."

I think Watts missed a key part of the influencer issue. In fact, while decrying the power of an influencer and talking about how people are influenced in terms of networks, he misses that each of these networks has key entry points. While someone may be influenced by a particular net, I know there are members of that net that have far more impact and influence than the others. Take the social media dealing with marketing. A lot of people are influenced by what they read and see it on these sites and that these online entities may be far more powerful than more traditional media in reaching these people, but, and here is the rub, while the network influences, I will bet the professor that, in this arena, if I post something, and it gets some play, once someone like Seth Godin picks it up and runs with it, a lot more people will pay attention to it. There is no escaping the influencer because each and every media, each and every network and each and every endeavor has its primary influencers and the media they use are simply their tools. The network is a tool for dispersion. The posting members of that net are still the primary influencers. Yes, the media is the message, but given individuals are far, far more powerful than others.  

How do you manage crisis communications in a 24/7 media world? Online Public Relations posts that by the time you hear about the problem half-way around the world, it is probably international media that is telling you about it because they can cut to live coverage with the flick of a switch and there your client is and you've not had your first cup of coffee. "What this means is there is little one can do in the early hours of crisis management except to scramble for facts along with everyone else. Phone chains are insufficient and getting someone on-site is often too slow. As a result, it seems to me the PR business needs to re-examine crisis management and perhaps, start over, " says Jim Horton. My suggestions is, if you are not a firm with a 24/7 global presence, try forming some strategic alliances with smaller independent crisis communications firms spaced around the globe who can pick up the ball and get things rolling until your main office can come online.  

Over at Marketing Education 2.0, the answer is a resounding, "NO!"  Ron Elizando says, " I think it’s of utter importance for new marketers to have the abilities and strategic tools to be able to manage new media." My reply there goes back to the genesis of Marketing Canapes -- a newsletter designed to bring marketing educators and students up to speed on new media. Once I had the newsletter developed and promoted, ALL the initial educators were blog readers and/or writers.  None of those who were unaware of blogs and other newer social media bothered subscribing. Since I migrated Marketing Canapes to the web, I have not bothered tracking who is looking and who is not. 

If you wish to comment on this post and are not a member of VOX, please email me and I will post your comments. Marketing Canapes email

BOP means "base of the economic pyramid" and there are 4 billion people in this market that have less than $5USD per day in discretionary income. Is this a viable market for the international business? The answer coming from Harvard's Working Knowledge says, "YES!" No surprise there. Back in the pre-blog days of Marketing Canapes, this subject was covered in terms of India where the average Indian could not afford a tube of toothpaste. Smart companies realized this and re-packaged their paste in smaller and more affordable sizes than are typically sold in the developed world. (Think sample sizes and travel-kit sizes as the norm). Consequently, they developed market share and have benefited as some of those poor have moved up the economic ladder and remain very brand loyal because, as people, they were treated with respect and in terms of what they could afford. Well, this article continues the coverage of that poor market. What the BOP market lacks in individual income is more than made up by the massive numbers in the BOP. 

If you cannot comment on this from within VOX, please send me email and I will post your comment(s) for you: Marketing Canapes