New Ideas and A Commercial Round Up

Well it's time to sit back and consider 2009. Some may want to take a broom to it and sweep it out the door while others may try to hang on to 2009 at least in spirit. So while we're reflecting, here is something to think about. In this Washington Post article they're talking about books as a multi media experience. For me reading always was a multi sensory experience, but this article highlights some new ideas about the "book" as we currently know it. So my question is - how would a library market this "new idea?" Something to think about.

Now to the commercial round up - cheers and jeers for 2009. As always my top jeer contenders are from the auto industry: Any commercial with the title of DUH, well that's a clue. Big red bows, lots of snow and snowmen, who wouldn't want to go into debt for that!! And another favorite the Snuggie. The guy in the background doing that weird dance, that's just scary. The sad thing is I think the snuggie commercial connects with more people than the car commercials. But to my cheer - this commercial chokes me up everytime I see it, I don't know whether or not it's the music or the images or the little sentences imposed on the screen but if marketing is about getting attention then this spot does it. And that's what it's all about - getting attention and calling people to action. Happy New Year!

The End of 2009

Happy Holidays to everyone - next week will be the round up of 2009 commercials that still reverberate in our heads.

A Simple Explanation - What Is All This Stuff

Even if you have been a marketing professional for years the world and the tools we use have been changing repidly. One thing we don't talk about when we're touting new technologies is: how do we throw it into the marketing mix, and what the heck is it. I think non-profits and libraries in particular have a real edge on for profits in this area. We don't have budgets to blow and we are meeting our "customers" on a day to day basis. Most likely your pr or marketing staff person wears many hats, and one of those hats will place them at a public service desk. So if your message isn't getting out there - people will tell you so..if you ask.

But anyway - not to get distracted - here is definition of some marketing terms from one of my favorite bloggers David Meerman Scott:

You can buy attention (advertising)
You can beg for attention from the media (PR)
You can bug people one at a time to get attention (sales)

Or you can earn attention by creating something interesting and valuable and then publishing it online for free: a YouTube video, a blog, a research report, photos, a Twitter stream, an ebook, a Facebook page.

So folks, plain and simple, it's about creating something of value and putting it out there for people.

Service With A Smile

Does it make you sigh whenever you get service with a smile or help without guilt when you ask for it? I know for me, the exception seems to be those moments when I actually get someone who answers my questions reasonably. Despite all the fun campaigns you see for library marketing - it's the frontline people who make the impression! So having said that - here's a great article on how to make the best of the repetitive questions!

Web Site Insight

Don't you love a great web site, and don't you curse the slow, clunky, non-intuitive ones? More and more I find that I am doing business electronically, paying bills, researching companies, looking at other blogs for information and points of view. If I run up across a web site that makes it painful to navigate and is full of insider jargon it goes to the back of the closet - yep you got it, I am not going to use it again. So what does that have to do with marketing?? Instead of looking at your front door as the entrance to your library - look at your web site, that's what other people do. But more importantly, what do you need to look for. This blog(one of my favorites) has spelled it all out for you. And while you're at it, remember who you're designing this for and what you're trying to tell them. Another caveat, make sure your staff can buy into the image and can get behind what you're saying on your web site. If they can't it's the car commercial versus going to the dealership experience. One word...disconnected.

Perfuming the Pig

Well Ad Age has done it once again...just when you think you can walk away, they drag you back in. I love this headline - and the article is great too. I think anyone who needs a refresher on re-branding ought to read this and commit it to memory. Most importantly to me, it talks about how branding or re-branding relates to your staff or your support people - meaning you've got to create an image your front-line people can get behind. They other key point is that you've got to know who you want to talk to, who your audience it. What you create for your board is not going to necessarily resonate with the users/consumers you are trying to reach.

But now to "perfuming the pig!" I was thinking of all kinds of ways to use this phrase, for example, the road re-paving they did in front of my house, without the prep work on the old asphalt, well, yes..it was just perfuming the pig. Or how about dragging out old commercials with dead spokespeople and adding a new tagline - again - perfuming the pig. I love it - what are your perfuming the pig examples?

Social Networking and Tribes

A great deal has been written about the theory of Tribes, and a recent survey by Deloitte discusses this very issue. I enjoyed it and if you're looking for a new marketing model this is the way to go. It also points out the weaknesses and flaws of the older models that companies are trying to modify to fit today's environment. Lots to think about and for a non-profit there are lots of opportunities. Unlike the majority of large corporations, non-profits won't have a great deal of money invested in a structured marketing model, so you're one step ahead. You won't have to dismantle what you don't have.