« May 2007 | Main | July 2007 »

June 6, 2007

Best-of-Breed Corporate Blogs

Just saw an article in BtoB Magazine titled " Looking at the best-of-breed blogs". Not sure that I agree with a couple of the selections (more later), but here is the list:

GM FastLane
Nuts About Southwest
Benetton Talk
Road Warrior Tips
ShopFloor.org
Direct2Dell

I might quibble a little about GM, and ShopFloor.org is a bit unusual since it is a primary communication vehicle for the organization. However, there are a couple of interesting lessons.

First...Southwest shows how much faith you need to have if you really want to launch a successful corporate blog. It really unleashed the employees. Benetton shows how much you have to believe in your own message. Left-leaning and clearly political, that's a blog not many corporations would be comfortable with in the U.S. And Dell showed perseverence can pay off. They made mistakes, took their beating, then got back up and still succeeded.

Posted by jcioban at 7:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 5, 2007

Marketing Gone Wild

Building on yesterday's critique of an ad, I offer yet another example of marketing gone wild. Here is the official logo of the 2012 Olympics being held in London:

On the official Olympics site, here is the explanation:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Available in four colours - pink, blue, green and orange - the new emblem is modern and will be dynamic, evolving in the years between now and 2012.

It symbolises the Olympic spirit and the ability of the Games to inspire people to take part - not just as spectators, but as volunteers, in the Cultural Olympiad and more.

Launching the brand at the Roundhouse in North London, London 2012 Chair Seb Coe said:

"London 2012 will be 'Everyone's Games', everyone's 2012. This is the vision at the very heart of our brand.

It will define the venues we build and the Games we hold and act as a reminder of our promise to use the Olympic spirit to inspire everyone and reach out to young people around the world.

It is an invitation to take part and be involved."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Words escape me.

But, Seth Godin did a great job of describing the reaction of many:
"If you are paying money to someone who talks like this, may I suggest you stop? And if you work for someone who talks like this, time to look for a new gig."

Thank you, Seth.

Posted by jcioban at 7:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 3, 2007

The Attack of the Killer Ad

This is not AdRants and it is not my normal posting to be critiqueing ads. But every so often, I see an ad that reminds of everything wrong a company can do with its B2B ad budget. This ad from Kyocera caught my attention in just that way.

(Click image to view larger size)

I assume, the concept was awareness, and BusinessWeek (where this ad was running)certainly has reach. But, is "color" really a value proposition for placing an ad that costs tens of thousands of dollars? I assume the point was to let people know that Kyocera is in the color game but the very soft copy does not make a bold statement -- and there are NO differentiators versus competition. The art direction is out-of-control. The Web site listing is for the Home Page -- there is no campaign-specific landing page to quickly get a reader to a payoff. Finally, the placement: BusinessWeek. Many ads in BusinessWeek are "investor-oriented. But for all that money, this is clearly not an investor ad, yet it has a weak call to action.

To be effective, B2B ads need to be clear, express a strong value proposition, explain the simple benefit for the customer, preferably have a strong call to action, and must run in media that are demographically correct. This ad misses the mark on many levels and is a great case study for any company working on ads for B2B media...a study in what not to do.

Posted by jcioban at 8:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Delivering An Experience

In the June 11, 2007 issue of BusinessWeek, there is a a great quote from Allen Adamson of Landor Associates: "It is far more complicated to deliver an experience than it is to deliver entertainment on a screen. You have to rely on employees to do so, and just ask any fast-food chain how complicated that is."

The article was about Nickolodean's foray in to branded hotels. But, the words are valuable to virtually any business where customer service matters. Frankly, whether you are in a consumer-oriented or B2B company, that means you. As I have written before, buyer loyalty is harder than ever to maintain, and more any more companies....all the way to those selling through retail chains...need to think about what their "consumer experience" really is.

Posted by jcioban at 7:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack