Catapult Blog

Where’s the money in that? Social Media ROI for B2Bs

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:03:00 -0400

A client recently asked for help demonstrating ROI for their B2B business. Senior management just wasn't sold on the value of social media if it could not be mapped back to leads and ultimately, sales.

This question comes up often with many of our clients in the B2B space. While you can map social media back to ROI through the use of analytics and a good understanding of your revenue stream and cost of acquisition, we prefer to take a slightly more holistic approach.

People power.

Social media for B2B is really "P2P" - people to people. When you are selling your brand's products, be they goods or services, they are sold based on your relationship with that person, your connection. Social Media is a vehicle for creating, expanding and nurturing those connections.

Most B2B sales are based at least in part upon establishing expertise in an industry. If you sell glassware to laboratories, you aim to establish your brand as an expert in lab glassware. Social Media becomes a vehicle for demonstrating that expertise through the social interactions and connections you make.

They're talking about you.

Brands can successfully use Social Media to become "human" again. Your customers are individual professionals within the organizations you do business with, and their decisions are influenced by their relationships with peers and colleagues. Positive word of mouth is the currency here, your customers and prospects are asking other professionals in their industry which brands they should consider, and the past purchasers of your brand are voicing their experiences in the space. These conversations take place daily, at trade shows, professional conferences, online and offline. Many of these conversations are happening through the use of social media, forever catalogued on the Internet, waiting for the next potential buyer to discover.

These conversations inside social media are the exchange of ideas and concepts with other professionals, discussing industry challenges and breaking developments. They are asking each other for recommendations and experiences on products and services, and they are talking about these experiences with their peers. Shouldn't your brand be more actively engaged in these conversations?

Marketing your expertise.

Not so fast though! In order to be successful in social media your brand must go beyond the "hey look at me" approach to social media and instead make a more value-added effort to involve your brand in these conversations. Valuable content and information is what conversations are built upon. You can demonstrate your thought-leadership through blogs instead of whitepapers, becoming more transparent, accessible and relatable in the process. Or you can supplement product demos with online video, allowing prospects to access and understand your product on their own terms and at their own convenience. You should also inventory your knowledgebase and identify any opportunities to share that content and expertise to the professional community in ways that not only enrich the relationship but also provide a great demonstration of industry expertise and accessibility.

Becoming buzz-worthy.

Buzz, the positive word-of-mouth generated by professionals in your industry, is a powerful success metric. Everyday people respond to results - tangible results, like "this car gets better mileage than that car." Or intangible results, like "this car will make me look more successful than that car." Professional people are looking for results that impact their business performance in a positive way. While your brand may be able to deliver on the results you promise, social media can actually help you over-deliver on the individual professional's expectations for your brand and service - and that is a powerful thing.

Exceeding expectations turns customers into advocates, and advocates have influence. Every advocate you create increases your chances of obtaining good buzz, and being recognized for your expertise. These advocates share their positive experience with their peers and promote your brand to others seeking the same services, both offline and online.

The elements of good social media strategy lie in mapping the activities back to your brand's performance metrics and overall business strategy. How you recognize success and what you hope to achieve. New tools for measurement are being developed everyday, but the conversation about your brand hasn't stopped to wait for new tools to arrive, it goes on with or without your involvement. Are you ready to join the conversation?

How are you utilizing Social Media for your brand? Have you had a difficult time understanding its impact on your business and measuring ROI? Leave a comment below or drop us a note at info@garfieldgroup.com. We'd love to talk about your challenges in B2B marketing and work with you on a formula for success.

The overworked, underappreciated marketing executive

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:41:00 -0400

For nearly 30 years, I've had the good fortune to work with an incredible number of great partners as clients. People who have a combination of great business acumen, imagination, insight into their customers, and deep knowledge as to how to drive results.

Recently, a new trend has emerged that is troubling. It's put a huge strain on our partners and I think limits their ability to do great work. I call it the "overworked, underappreciated marketing executive."

You might be one. Or know one. Constantly running behind. Juggling too many priorities and too little budget. Managing too many vendors and resources. Stretched way too thin to have time to think or-- imagine this-- plan ahead.

Why? At a time when companies are scrapping for every sale, looking for new ways to engage customers and stand out in a hyper-competitive market, why is this trend taking hold? From my perspective, there are four key factors:

"Do more with less." This is a mantra across every organization and is felt deeply in the marketing department. Historically, marketing budgets get a lot of scrutiny- and not every company sufficiently invests. However, these days, marketing executives are being asked to do an incredible amount of work on their own. From writing press releases, to white papers, updating content on the website, looking at Google Analytics, even doing design or handling sales calls. They're forced to act as a lean, sometimes one-person team that is stretched thin or managing junior staff or teams of freelancers to get their job done. The willingness is there to do more with less, but at a certain point, things are not being done with the highest quality or best-qualified resources. Or a high-level marketing executive's time is being spent on lower-level tasks that limit their ability to drive higher-level results.

"Forget about branding, just get me leads." For some companies, branding is considered wasteful spending on "soft" things like image, reputation and trust. So instead of taking the time and effort to lock in on an all-important core value proposition and brand presence, companies crank out email after email, webinar after webinar, and hope that this will be enough to engage and educate prospects and drive sales. However, without a well-established brand reputation, prospects may have no idea who you are or how you stack up to your competition. This approach ultimately reduces the effectiveness of lead generation programs - and lengthens the overall sales cycle by creating obstacles related to trust and reputation that must be overcome.

"React, then think." Many of the programs we see springing to life are ad-hoc shoot-from-the-hip ideas that are focused on very short-term results. While these can be effective in driving rapid activity and interest, they don't create the brand equity-trust, awareness, competitive positioning - that earn you a regular spot on prospects' short lists. Many of our clients are planning month-to-month, or at best quarter-to-quarter. The ‘long view' is not being served. And budgets and activities are not being thought through in terms of how they can deliver long-term value to the company.

"Technology can solve all of our problems." There are a number of valuable technologies that can make it easier to manage, optimize, and measure marketing campaigns. For example, we employ a number of CMS (Content Management Systems) on behalf of our clients, such as Word Press. We also leverage tools like TweetDeck, Google Analytics, Hootsuite and Campaign Monitor to allow us to manage, automate and understand the impact of various programs. We have seen a trend lately toward purchasing campaign management tools such as Eloqua as a way of solving the problem of "Integrated Demand Generation."

While there are valuable features (such as monitoring web traffic, conversion rates, and automating email touches), the only way to unleash the power of these tools is by applying the basic disciplines of marketing to them-- profiling your key audiences and understanding their needs and motivations, crafting messaging that positions you against your competition while solving a business problem, and developing creative treatments that are attention-getting, relevant and drive a response through a strong call-to-action.

Presidents, CEOs, COOs and CFOs take note: if you are overworking (and under appreciating) your marketing executives, you are undermining critical building blocks to your business success. Give your marketing team the freedom to develop and properly fund an annual marketing plan. And give them the quality resources to execute it. As ROI, you'll be investing in a brand that is built to last - driving sustained growth, long-term customer relationships, sales and profit.

Do you see the symptoms of an overworked Marketing department? Do you have insight on how to maintain higher-level branding and marketing imperatives in an atmosphere driven by short-term sales? Are you able to measure marketing success and associate it back to lead generation and your business goals?

Drop a note in the comments area below or send us an email at info@garfieldgroup.com. We'd love to hear what you think - and share some of our experience and ways we've helped our clients deal with these challenges.

Garfield Group Expands Integrated Team

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 11:48:00 -0400

Garfield Group is excited to announce the addition of three new members of the team in our Boston and Philadelphia offices.

Russ Gallant joins Garfield Group as Managing Director of our Boston office. Most recently, Russ managed global brand strategy and digital campaigns for global athletic and casual footwear brands adidas Group and The Rockport Company. With more than 15 years on the client side, he provides us with a valuable perspective and insights related to driving both creative innovation and business results.

Dave Snyder has joined us as Interactive Account Director serving clients out of our office in Philadelphia. Dave previously worked at digital agencies TrueAction (part of GSI Commerce), G2 and Refinery, and offers over a decade of digital experience that includes design, development, project management and account strategy. As one of his first initiatives, Dave is leading new product development and plans to introduce some new services related to "Measure & Action" — dashboarding measurable results — over the summer.

Sequoia McDowell joins Garfield Group's Boston office as Web Developer for the digital team, following successful stints with Hunt&Gather and Mullen. In addition to having the coolest name on the team, Sequoia is an accomplished programmer, helping us drive innovation on the technology side.

"These three new additions to our team confirm how quickly Garfield Group is evolving," said Larry Garfield, President, Garfield Group. "Russ, Dave and Sequoia are all helping us fulfill our vision of a fully integrated agency with no boundaries — online and offline — engaging our clients' key audiences in more creative and measurable ways."

iMANY Relaunches

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 10:11:00 -0400

Contracts. Complex contracts. Large numbers of contracts. They're very difficult to manage. And plague pharma companies with "revenue leakage" — money lost through charge-backs and rebates. It's a big, big issue. Health Insights Reports that the industry is losing $11 Billion annually.

At Garfield Group, we were excited to have the opportunity to help relaunch iMANY — a company that provides enterprise-level management of contract data — and tie that to transactional performance across the contract lifecycle. Working with their team, we were able to reposition them in a compelling new way: Contract Performance. Optimized.

With newly designed "Creative Brand DNA" — including a new logo, color schemes, visual treatments, website, sales materials, advertising and more — they've relaunched and are ready to drive new sales. Check out the new website launched in late May during their SUMMIT user conference.

Creative Forces Collide at Lincoln Financial Field

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:57:00 -0400

On Thursday, May 20^th creative professionals from 39 different countries around the world united with a common purpose — to celebrate the next generation of creative talent. The event? Portfolio Night 8 — the largest simultaneous career speed-dating night event for aspiring copywriters and art directors in search of creative cultivation.

This year the event finally made its way to the City of Brotherly Love, and brought with it a plethora of talent seated on both sides of the table. In attendance were some of Philly's top creative directors, who were there to critique the work and provide industry related advice. Garfield Group had the distinguished honor of sending two of its own creative directors, Nicole Boyd and Joshua Tumelty, who were honored to play such a vital role in nurturing the next-generation of creative professionals and were even hoping to jump start a few careers. Excited by the opportunity, we set out hoping to find a few rising stars to add to our roster.

Six hours later, over 400 portfolios shared had been shared and many connections were made. Despite the abundance of talent and great creative and the event ended as enthusiastic as it started.

Many connections were made and the group as a whole left that evening with an increased appreciation for all things creative. Garfield Group however also ended the evening still looking to fill two openings in our current roster.

Think you've got what it takes? Maybe we didn't get a chance to meet that night, or perhaps you know someone who's perfect for the job. If you're looking for a dynamic environment that will challenge you and push you to your personal best, then we're just what you've been looking for. To learn more about our Senior Copywriter and Senior Interactive Art Director opportunities, visit: http://www.garfieldgroup.com/careers/

And to all those who attended Portfolio Night 8, we look forward to seeing you next year. Until then, stay inspired.

Garfield Group Video for Greater Philadelphia Cares

Thu, 20 May 2010 13:34:00 -0400

On April 20th, Greater Philadelphia Cares (GPC) hosted a special Leadership Breakfast at the Union League in Philadelphia to celebrate National Volunteer Week. The event served to acknowledge the amazing contributions made by volunteers and corporations over the past year.

In honor of the event, Garfield Group created a special video inspired by GPC's tagline, "Volunteer. Be the change." Featuring photos of volunteers and narration by GPC's own Amanda Larson, the video tells GPC's story in an emotional, compelling way:

As you might already know from earlier posts, GPC has inspired Garfield Group as well. Read the case study to learn more about our Norris Square Project, and how your organization can team up with Greater Philadelphia Cares, too.

Garfield Group Visits Wharton

Thu, 13 May 2010 10:37:00 -0400

In the fall of last year, Larry Garfield '82 and Matt Curtis '09 were invited to speak at MUSE-a-thon, the American Marketing Association collegiate chapter at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Something must have clicked with the students, because a month later Garfield Group was invited back to another Wharton conference - this time the Wharton Undergraduate Marketing Conference (WUMC).

Our topic: "Disruption in the Force" - a discussion of the way traditional vehicles like television, newspapers and magazines have begun to give way to Web 2.0 and social media like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.What role do these new tools play in the marketing, advertising and public relations universe? As control over messaging and timing passes from the Empire to the people of the Republic, how are companies and agencies responding? What's the right balance to find new harmony within the universe?

Speaking to a range of students from Wharton and other business schools along the East Coast, Larry described his 28-year career working at large advertising agencies like Young & Rubicam New York, and the dramatic changes he has witnessed in marketing, advertising, and branding while running Garfield Group since 1990. Matt described how he looks at marketing communications as a recent graduate, with a focus on digital marketing.

We got a great discussion going-and pointed out that the way current students are immersed in the world of digital media and Web 2.0 gives them some competitive advantages when entering the workforce, even in a recession.

We also introduced students to The Lab -- an online community where Technology, Life Sciences and B2B marketers can share advice, insights and their own experiences in creating successful marketing programs. Members of this community, called "Lab Partners," have the ability to learn, explore and discover how their peers are experimenting in new areas such as social media as business environment makes the transition from traditional to digital marketing. Everyone received a copy of our "Periodic Table of Marketing Elements' poster. Click here to request your free copy.

Be afraid spreadsheets. Be very afraid.

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:21:00 -0500

Last week, spreadsheets got very nervous. Why? We helped to launch BioClinica Optimizer-the smarter way for pharma companies to simulate, forecast and optimize their clinical supply chain.

Presently, clinical trial managers-those in charge of planning and maintaining the supply of medicine at various testing sites - use manual spreadsheets to figure out how much supply of their drug is needed at various testing facilities around the world. The issue: spreadsheets are extremely imprecise. And the costs of supplying too much or too little of a drug can be enormous.

BioClinica Optimizer uses special forecasting tools to play out an unlimited number of supply chain scenarios, and test all relevant study parameters, from a global level down to an individual site. This yields tremendous cost savings-from better management of drug waste to the prevention of supply crises.

Our strategy? Be disruptive and challenge the status quo. Through print and online advertising and a cool new microsite featuring fun graphics and video, we wanted to get the idea across that you'd be foolish to plan your next clinical trial without BioClinica Optimizer.

Garfield Group Holiday 2009

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:02:00 -0500

Transforming a playground. Transforming lives.

Given 2009's tough economic climate, we wanted to dedicate our annual holiday "gift" to something that would help heal the world and inspire both our team and our community. Fortunately, we were able to partner with Greater Philadelphia Cares (GPC) who introduced us to the Norris Square Civic Association (NSCA). Located in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, the NSCA had an indoor playground that was in desperate need of a makeover.

On December 18th, we painted bright murals and brought in educational toys to transform a drab room into a special place where kids can laugh, dream, and learn - and inspired the National Head Start Association to make a matching donation of $29,000. Arlene Lopez, Education Coordinator for the Norris Square Civic Association was overjoyed at the new playground: "I can't thank you enough for creating a wonderful, new space for our children," she said. "I hope others will be inspired and do the same for other organizations."

Read the case study to learn more about the results of the Norris Square Project.

Holiday 2009: The Norris Square Project

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:59:00 -0500

We're proud to announce that the Head Start program has offered to match our combined efforts to transform the NSCA's indoor playground. Read more »

What used to be a plain indoor playground at the NSCA was turned into a colorful "town square," filled with new toys and excited little kids. See the transformation »

Discover the Right Keyword Search Phrases (KSPs)

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:06:00 -0500

10 Tips for Getting Started in B2B Social Media #3

Keyword Search Phrases (KSPs) are the queries that your audience enters into the search engine and may result in a visit to your website. Once you understand your audience, its time to think about which KSPs should be targeted for acquisition. The most desirable KSPs may not be the best ones to go after if the competition is too stiff. To discover the best KSPs there are a variety of tools and resources you can use to assess your competition.

Google Keyword Tool: This Search-based Keyword Tool generates keyword and landing page ideas highly relevant and specific to your website. In doing so, the tool helps you identify additional advertising opportunities that aren't currently being used in your AdWords ad campaigns. The tool goes one step further by tailoring the keywords and other data (such as the amount of competition for the keyword, the suggested bid, and more) based on your language or country/territory settings.
Hubspot: Hubspot is a search marketing tool used for discovering KWPs and managing their acquisition by providing detailed traffic and visitor intelligence in relationship to your campaigns. You can use the tool to select the best phrases and continue to manage the process. It provides a number of features desirable for product-based marketing programs, especially those with short sales cycles. It is also great for managing the effectiveness of forms and custom landing pages, social media tactics and content efforts.
WordStream: WordStream is a Keyword Management Solution, providing search marketers with integrated keyword tools for discovering, researching, analyzing, organizing, prioritizing and acting on keyword data for PPC and SEO campaigns.

Vertex, Bioclinica Honored at 2009 Enterprise Awards

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 10:45:00 -0500

The 2009 Enterprise Awards brought together almost 1,000 of the Philadelphia region's technology and life sciences elite. This was the 17th year the Eastern Technology Council hosted the annual awards ceremony, which celebrates the vitality of the technology and life sciences communities in Philadelphia.

The Enterprise Awards recognizes the best and brightest companies and leaders in the Philadelphia region and this year Garfield Group is proud to congratulate two clients who were honored for their excellence.

Vertex CEO Jeff Westphal was named Technology CEO of the Year.

As President and CEO of Vertex, Jeff Westphal spearheads the strategy and direction as the global leader in corporate tax performance management solutions. Under Jeff's stewardship, Vertex has established consulting and implementation service offerings, and expanded to serve global clients by establishing European Union operations. In addition, Vertex was awarded "The Best Place to Work in Pennsylvania" in 2001 and 2002.

BioClinica was named Technology Company of the Year.

BioClinica, an international life sciences industry leader for more than 19 years, was honored for their long-term vision of making the pharmaceutical and medical device development process more efficient. BioClinica has a team focused on redefining the industry, helping to deliver next-generation clinical outsourcing results through improved, integrated and accelerated clinical trial processes.

Database Marketing Loves IT

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:29:00 -0500

KEEPING YOUR DATA IN-HOUSE VS. OUTSOURCING

C-SUITE COMRADERIE

A few years ago at a National Center for Database Marketing conference, I heard that the decision whether or not a marketing organization should build their database management functionality in-house often rests on the relationship between two people - the marketing chief and the head of technology. If that's true, how does that play out in your organization?

Is their relationship collaborative and friendly? Then building and maintaining a marketing database in-house can work very well. But if the two executives regularly engage in silo defense and turf-grabbing, then outsourcing may be faster, less stressful on the business, and offer you more autonomy and flexibility with your data.

Naturally, politics shouldn't be a key factor in the decision. But delay-driven opportunity costs should be. You can successfully pull an internally-managed database solution into the station even if your CMO and CTO are ‘frenemies'. But it will take longer while they argue over who's driving the bus.

How much incremental revenue, cost savings, or efficiency do you lose in the meantime? You need to figure it out, then figure factor it into your decision process.

STAFFING AND SKILLS

I was once refused administrative rights to a direct mail database, due to a business rule that only the IT team members were qualified DBA's. I challenged the rule, citing my assistant's graduate degree in Computer Science and the fifteen years of database experience between us. We did get our rights - but because we had the proper credentials, not because we were entitled to autonomy. If you don't possess real qualifications within your team or have immediate plans to hire people with them, outsourcing is probably best.

STEWARDSHIP

You've got to put yourself in your tech manager's shoes. A poorly written query against a database on a shared server could grind a production system to a halt. When the field offices suddenly can't enter any new contracts, she's the one who has to stand in front of the Sales VP's desk explaining what happened, not the hapless marketing guy who set the whole thing in motion.

So give her a comfort level by talking like a DBA instead of a marketer. Which statement will be more effective in dispelling her fear?

"It's our database - we know what we're doing - you won't be sorry."
"I promise, I'll never perform a six-table outer left join without a where clause or import a two million row table without proper indexing."

If you know what (2) means, she will realize you're aware of the type of bad acting that brings down servers and she has your word that it won't happen on your watch. If you don't know what it means, you should seriously consider outsourcing.

RISK TOLERANCE

The server corrupts, the on-call junior tech loads the backup, which corrupts too, and keeps loading each previous backup until they're all damaged. Or you discover that the backup failed every night for the last three weeks, but the failure notification went to the phone of an employee laid off last June. It happens. Tight procedures and consistent oversight help mitigate it, but the risk is inherent to any in-house database solution.
Many consider outsourcing safer. But consider the October 2009 T-Mobile Sidekick debacle - a catastrophic database failure in which some vital client data was irretrievably lost. And the keeper of the data wasn't some undercapitalized DB startup - it was Microsoft. They've since recovered some of the lost data, but confidence in outsourcing and cloud computing in particular has taken a definite hit.

Outsourcing data failures are fairly rare, and you at least have the option to sue. But either outsourcing or in-house failure can cripple your operation and lose customers. You need to honestly assess how well your in-house staff can execute on database maintenance best practices, compared to the vendor's ability to do the same, and use those risk factors in your decision.

PLAN B: TRAINING WHEELS AND TRANSPARENCY

If you definitely want to take your database operations in-house, and your tech team balks, you can offer to launch with "training wheel" rights and gradually earn your way to autonomy. Offer to:

Request read-only and row append rights to start.
Email all query coding to an IT manager for quality assurance.
Schedule weekly meetings to review server load metrics, table change requirements, and new data loads you need them to support.
Call for advance clearance to append more than a 100K records into the database.

Give it six weeks and ask again. If you've been diligent, you'll likely be granted full rights to manage your database. The tech department doesn't really want to review your code, add more meetings to their schedules, or interrupt their day to approve your appends. They just want a comfort level that:

You acknowledge you are playing in their sandbox
You won't break anything
You will be a good steward of the data

About the Author

Cathy Carleton loves to find the story in the data. She is a Red Sox fan,
doesn't answer the phone when Mad Men's on, and heads up Database Marketing
at Yellowbook.

The Marketer's Toolbox: Selecting Your Marketing Mix.

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:27:00 -0500

The list of factors challenging today's B2B marketers is undoubtedly vast: fragmented audiences, empowered consumers, getting heard amongst the clutter of 3000 messages daily, budgetary constraints, demonstrating ROI, and accountability. But, the resources available to transform these challenges into opportunities are equally as endless. From strategies to tactics, the marketer's toolbox is overflowing with opportunity: strategic brand planning, audience profiling and mapping, PR, outbound marketing, digital marketing, SEO, and social media - these are just a sampling of the tools that today's B2B marketers have at their disposal. What makes them each effective is the careful consideration and analysis of the specific marketing problem at hand and the selection of the most relevant tool(s) to solve that problem. In some instances, this careful consideration is overlooked by the impulse to select the newest tool in the box, before considering how it will help to solve the problem and meet the objectives.

A relatively recent example is social media. It's the shiny new wrench that marketers can't wait to employ. Some would argue that it has crossed the line of becoming an obsession-most marketing blogs, webinars, and podcasts heavily focus on how to leverage it, how to navigate it, how to track it, and how to put it to use immediately. And while it's an effective tool, it's important to remember it may or may not be the solution to the problem you're tasked with solving.

Ford's "Bold Moves" and the Timid Consumer Response

Ford's recent marketing efforts illustrate this point. What started as a beautifully architected creative campaign called "Bold Moves" soon became a social media flop. Aimed at addressing Ford's turn-around from an outdated and behind-the-times business to a reinvigorated and relevant company with bold new products, the campaign failed to develop any meaningful traction with its primary consumers.

The integrated campaign utilized TV, print ads, a microsite full of documentary-like content, a series of weekly webisodes, blogs, and you guessed it, social media. It promised to get the consumer involved and engaged with the transformation taking place at Ford. But Ford's marketing team didn't carefully consider the problem that they were tasked with solving, in this case determining the brand image and repositioning of the company. The consumer involvement factor gained little traction in the social space due to Ford's one-way communication style. And what footprint it did leave behind was met with great scrutiny-Ford had alienated the audience they had hoped to attract by attempting to shield the company from consumer comments. Had Ford charted the course differently and selected more appropriate tools for collecting consumer feedback and participation, the $60 million investment may have sustained itself as corporate platform rather than have been a short-lived, expensive lesson.

How AMEX and NBC Were Illuminated

Unlike Ford's pricey mistake, the savvy marketer approaches each problem with discipline and an open mind-ready to employ a balanced strategy, selecting the best tools to meet the objectives and solve the problem. A good example of this type of insightful thinking is a the recent "Shine A Light" campaign, launched by American Express and NBC Universal. Tasked with creating a positive relationship (image) with the small business community in the wake of much financial misfortune, Amex teamed up with NBC Universal to position the company as one committed to the interests of small businesses, as well as to generate awareness about the significant role small businesses play in the global economy.

Through a careful analysis and consideration of the problem, an integrated positioning effort was launched, leveraging television, radio, business information, PR, direct mail, email, digital, and social media. Amex ultimately delivered $100,000 in grant and marketing support to an inspiring American small business.

TV and radio brought national attention, driving viewers to nominate and later vote for a small business that has demonstrated an innovative commitment to their customers and community at large. A new custom microsite acted as the campaign epicenter, providing free small business-specific content such as business plan development tips, tax resources, Shine A Light direct mail flyers, email templates for nominations and vote collections, widgets, and videos for viral sharing. And finally, community friendly social media took the campaign to the corners of the U.S. via Twitter, facebook, Digg, Stumble Upon, and Delicious, encouraging individuals and their respective communities to show support and vote for a deserving local or regional small business finalist.

So there you have it-two widely known brands, two similar marketing challenges, two very different outcomes. While the tools available were the same for both Ford and American Express, the award for execution of the most relevant mix goes to Amex. Ford had the right ideas in concept and message, but they didn't consider the consequences of how their conservative roots would play out in the social space. Amex on the other hand, with careful consideration of the marketing mix, understood the best way to achieve their objectives and chose appropriate tools to execute their campaign. Ford could have engaged their audience differently via other tools such as, focus groups, consumer surveys, and customer service outreach, which could have impacted their investment positively. Instead, they prematurely entered an unfamiliar space with impulse rather than careful consideration.

As you face the daily challenges of marketing in an increasingly diverse and dynamic business environment, remember the importance of analyzing the situation and selecting strategies and tools that are contextually relevant. Don't forget to check out the Idea Lab periodically to discuss other real life case studies, like Amex and Ford.

A day in the life of an Advertising Agency Copywriter

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:22:00 -0500

After a colleague shared Atherton Bartelby's Brand Timeline Portrait, in which he created a graphic representation of all the brands he experienced over the course of a day. I got to thinking: although writers and art directors play on the same team, we see things in different ways. I took it as a challenge to create my own timeline from the point of view of the other side of the creative department.

So I present a day in the life of a Copywriter, as chronicled by some of the best (and worst) advertising slogans. Because it's one thing to record your day with logos, but it's quite another to narrate it with taglines.

7:00 AM It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

7:09 AM It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

7: 18 AM It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

7:20 AM Look Ma, no cavities!

7:22 AM Clean, clear and under control.

7:25 AM Clearly, someone's been doing the Herbal.

7: 28 AM You're not fully clean until you're Zestfully clean.

7:36 AM Strong enough for a man. Ph-balanced for a woman.

7:47 AM Nothing comes between me and my Calvins.

7:48 AM Fall into the Gap.

7:49 AM That's the magic of Macy's.

7:52 AM Easy, breezy, beautiful CoverGirl.

8:02 AM Designer Shoes. Warehouse Prices.

8:03 AM Breakfast of Champions.

8:14 AM Put a tiger in your tank.

8:17 AM Drivers wanted.

8:47 AM The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup.

9:00 AM Think Different.

9:30 AM What's on your mind? What are you doing?

9:54 AM Think Different.

11:35 AM Good to the last drop.

11:40 AM Think Different.

12:52 PM Yum, Yum Bumble Bee, Bumble Bee Tuna

2:31 PM Think Different. Write out loud. Think Different.

5:38 PM Just do it. Just do it. Just do it.

5:45 PM Run faster, jump higher.

6:33 PM That's G.

6:40 PM Drivers wanted.

7:07 PM Home is the most important place in the world.

7:28 PM Doesn't your dog deserve ALPO?

7:31 PM Don't treat your puppy like a dog.

7:36 PM It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken.

8:04 PM Tough on grease. Soft on hands.

8:29 PM America's most watched network.

9:34 PM Think Different.

10:46 PM Look Ma, no cavities!

10:48 PM Kill the germs. Feel the clean.

11:03 PM The world's best mattress.

And now I challenge you to create your own timeline. Use any kind of brand element to catalog your day - logos, taglines, colors, or even stock symbols. You'll be amazed at what you learn about yourself and your brands.

Garfield Group Interactive wins a 2009 MITX award

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:25:00 -0500

The Nation of Why Not was the big winner in the final award of the evening; Travel, Tourism and Hospitality. In Partnership with JWT and Royal Caribbean, Garfield Group Interactive provided a customized commercial social media platform for the Flickr integrated photo sharing website. The site provides a destination for Royal Caribbean cruisers to share their photos and experiences.

Begun in 1996, the MITX awards have grown to be the largest and most prestigious Web innovation awards competition of its kind in the country. We were proud to join 1,100 of the best interactive professionals in New England for the 14th installment of the awards.

MITX is a premiere Internet business and marketing association representing over 7,500 professionals in New England, it is a dynamic and growing community of thought leaders, collaborators, and individuals in search of insight, education and opportunity. Garfield Group Interactive is a proud member and contributor to MITX.

The Garfield Group Interactive Team at the 2009 MITX Awards

Photo credit: Jenny Schuerholz at Blue Sky Factory

Live from The Lab

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:50:00 -0500

Did you miss the first Live from the Lab webinar? Want to see it again?

Watch the on-demand replay of this webinar as David talks about his latest book, World Wide Rave, and discusses the latest trends in social media marketing for technology, life sciences and B2B brands.

View the Video

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Audience Assessment: The 90-9-1 Rule for B2B Social Strategy

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:08:00 -0500

In this series of articles, I will outline a social strategy that is essential for B2B brand managers to understand when getting started in social media.

The 90-9-1 Rule for B2B Social Strategy

Usability Guru Jacob Nielson's 90-9-1 Rule for Social Design stated that 1% of users contribute most of the content, while 9% contribute periodically and 90% are lurkers, or simply consume content. For B2B marketers, a small percentage of your audience will actually create content that promotes your brand, while many more may bookmark or mention that content on Digg, Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, etc. Most of your audience will just take notice. You may know many people that are target buyers of cars, but there are only a few of them you may ask advice about buying a car. In social media, it's equally important to target the influencers - not just your target buyers.

Influencers (1%):

The people who create content online are influencers who promote brands they like. They have established a reputation through their accomplishments and by delivering consistent value through their insights and opinions. They have developed a following. This is a sophisticated, intelligent and Internet-savvy audience. They can make or break a brand, see through marketing propaganda and have a low tolerance for spam. Who are the influencers for your target customers? Who are the thought leaders in your industry? What are their Internet habits, what blogs do they read, what social networks do they participate in? This segment of your target audience may not represent a significant percentage of your revenue but they can potentially drive more awareness and trust than you can.

Brand Advocates (9%):

Brand advocates are target buyers and influencers likely to promote content and mentions created by people they follow and respect. When serial entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki tweets a links to a blog article and suggests its great insight for marketing professionals, I will often 'retweet' that update even before reading the article. So far I have never been disappointed. Guy's judgment is consistent and his ideas and perspectives have been a significant source of inspiration and knowledge over the years. I have become a "brand advocate" for many brands Guy has promoted, as many of the products and services he has recommended, I have used with great success and recommend them to clients as well.

Target Buyers (90%):

Of course, you need to optimize the experience to service the 90% of the consumers of your product that may not participate in the conversation, but who represent the highest portion of revenue opportunity. Make it easy for them to understand your value proposition, to see what real people are saying, and to discover that your solution has social status. There are many ways you can fine-tune the experience and make sign-up or conversion more effective buy reducing friction and increasing incentives. Your ongoing program should be able to uncover insights from real consumer interactions so that it can be come increasingly accurate in acquiring qualified lead and reducing attrition observed on lead capture forms - a topic we will discuss further.

The Ten Tips: Going from Zero to Social and Beyond

Your Website is the Hub
Audience Assessment: The 90-9-1 Rule for B2B Social Strategy
Discover the Right Keyword Search Phrases (KSPs)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Campaign Strategy
Social Media Operations
Customer Acquisition
ROI-based Planning
Social Media Monitoring
What's Next

Maximizing Your Social Media Benefits

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:07:00 -0500

Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and all the other forums for social media are all the buzz. And rightfully so - they are changing peoples' communications habits. There are now ongoing conversations taking place online about every topic, and as a marketer you want to be included in the conversation. Social media is a great opportunity to communicate with your constituencies and prospects and stay fresh, relevant and top of mind. Better yet, you even can become the topic of conversation.

For B2B marketers, the challenge of being the topic of conversation is a bit greater. You want to be the focus of conversation in places where buyers go to look to make decisions about products like yours. Like other elements of the marketing mix, it is critical to view social media as part of an overall communications plan directed by a marketing strategy. But, as is too often the case - organizations move right to tactics that are implemented without a strategy or cohesive plan. Social Media is no different than other elements of your communications plan. "We need to get on LinkedIn, Facebook and twitter" is not a plan.

As with the entire marketing mix, start with your target customers. How are they making their decisions, what information do they need, and who influences them? You want them to have all the information they need at the time they are looking to make a decision. The ability to do this will be based on your ability to be viewed as a reliable authority. Being knowledgeable and acknowledged as such by the relevant community provides that credibility. This credibility requires not just providing valuable relevant content, but being a n active participant in the conversation.

Delivering a consistent message in the right places, at the right times, with valuable content and active participation will all add up to success. This consistency requires maintaining a supporting theme and a coordinated approach in all communications, including the company website, e-mail, blogs and social media, in such a way that they work together, complement each other, and support one another.

Note: This post was originally shared on Chuck's TMCnet blog, Now Market It.

About the Author

Chuck is an entrepreneurial marketing executive in the high tech industry with expertise in strategy, marketing and business development. He has extensive experience in the introduction of new products and services, particularly in the communications and networking markets.

Chuck is currently the Managing Director at Precise Insights, a strategy and marketing consulting company. Previously, he was the VP of Marketing and Business Development at Quintum Technologies; where he joined the company as a pre-revenue start-up and helped grow it to have the second largest market share in its market segment.

Chuck has spoken at conferences around the world and was named one of the "Top 100 Voices of IP Communications". He holds a JD, an MBA and a BS in Electronic Engineering.

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Audience Assessment: The 90-9-1 Rule for B2B Social Strategy

The 90-9-1 Rule for B2B Social Strategy

Influencers (1%):

Brand Advocates (9%):

Target Buyers (90%):

The Ten Tips: Going from Zero to Social and Beyond

Maximizing Your Social Media Benefits

About the Author