REICH COMMUNICATIONS

Feature Creep

"Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, allowing us to do things more quickly and efficiently.  But too often it seems to make things harder."

So begins a piece in this week's New Yorker about something called "feature creep," the spiraling complexity of product features, which frustrate consumers and waste their time while costing business untold millions.

Product returns in the U.S., the article says, cost a hundred billion dollars a year.  A study by Philips Electronics found that more than half of returned products have nothing wrong with them. The problem, instead, is with the features and/or the difficulty in accessing and using those features.

For more, see my post over at MarketingProfs Daily Fix.  To make it easier for my fellow Luddites to get there, I've added a handy feature to my 2 cents, called a link.  To use it, you can download the 32-page instruction manual. 

Or... click here. 

Priceless

I've posted before on what I'm getting from blogging.  On my earlier list of benefits was camraderie.  Maybe a better word for it is "friendship."

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of spending a beautiful Saturday in New York City with friends -- all friends I've made in the past 4 months of blogging.

Except for CK, these were people I didn't know four short months ago.  But through blogging, enhanced by emails and phone conversations, I am honored and pleased to call them my friends.  Drew McLellan, who joined us from Des Moines with his wife and daughter, Lewis Green who came in from the Hartford area, Luc Debaisieux (Mindblob), who flew in from Brussels just for this and brought us all delicious Belgian chocolates to boot, and from Modena, Italy via Philadelphia, the Conversation Agent, bella Valeria Maltoni, whom I had met several weeks earlier.
(Photo: Standing, Lewis, Luc,Drew, David.  Seated, CK and Valeria)

The reason for the get-together was to introduce ck to the tree we and about 20 others who couldn't be in New York presented in memory of her mom -- a tree adorning a quiet little oasis on 114th Street in Spanish Harlem.  After presenting ck with the tree and the plaque dedicated to Sandra Kerley, we headed back to midtown and had brunch in Bryant Park, behind the main public library on 42nd Street.  After the food was long gone, we lingered and talked and laughed...  about ourselves, our work, our  personal histories and families and even, at times, about blogging.

After about 4 hours, as the waiters were starting to set up around us for a private party, we finally -- and reluctantly -- left to head our separate ways.  CK  took Luc to see some NYC highlights before he headed back to the airport, Valeria went to the train to head back to Philadelphia, Drew went to find his family before they broke the bank at the Gucci store on Fifth Avenue, Lewis went to find a place for a cold beer before going for the train, and I drove back home -- 15 miles north to Mount Vernon.

I know that as we went our separate ways, we all were floating a few feet off the ground, high from the wonderful few hours we had together -- friends brought together by this new medium that I, a year ago, had called "a waste of time." 

Little did I know back then what a wonderful investment of time it would turn out to be.  The ROI is, in my mind, priceless.

The Magic Formula

Mack Collier, in a post at The Viral Garden, raises the question of ROI in reference to social media.  He talks about a conference where a presenter talked about  "Return on Interaction," saying you don't need to monetize conversation.  Someone then said you do have to figure out how to monetize interaction via social media, since "businesses are in business to sell stuff, not just to have a conversation."

Mack then writes, "Here we go again.  Business doesn't want to jump into social media and have a conversation until they can figure out how to monetize that conversation."

He adds... "You don't have to; the conversation monetizes itself," offering the following formula as proof:

Communication=understanding=more effective/efficient marketing=lower marketing costs.

Mack's formula makes perfect sense to me, but I'm not so sure it'll fly in many boardrooms.  I'd say most of us bloggers would get it and would wage a battle in the agency's or client's conference room to make sensible use of social media to engage in useful conversation with customers and prospects.  But we, alas, are still the minority experimenting and learning what's possible and what works in this wild new frontier we've chosen to be a part of.  Not every marketing exec, CMO or CEO  knows  much about social media and the power it can unleash on their behalf.

Those who get it might accept Mack's formula and say, let's do it.

But business is about money, and the reality is, most managers need a way to determine where to allocate resources. It can be on hunch, or it can be on a more solid measurement.  I'd best most managers would go with the solid measurement, whatever form it may take.

If we're looking for ways to promote use of social media in marketing, then we'll also have to figure out methods of measurement that we're comfortable with.  Mack's formula may vary company by company, depending on how flexible management is.  But in most cases, there will have to be some formula, whatever it may end looking like.  I don't know the answer.  If and until there's a formula that becomes widely accepted,  we'll  probably have to develop our own that works for us and our clients or our bosses.

In the end, I'm afraid, it is about money.

A Little P.R. Can Go a Long Way

Looking through Sticky Figure's Marketing Blogs Portal as I often do, I came across a headline for a post by Kevin Levi at Small Business Branding that caught my eye.

Titled "A Little P.R. Can Go a Long Way," it talks about the battle between ad and public relations people, where the ad agency folks often don't get the value of public relations.  He goes on to correctly give some of the reasons p.r. should be a part of a brand's marketing mix.

I'll share with you my comment to Kevin, and I'll add a little more to think about.

.....

I think advertising agency people today are recognizing the role and the power of public relations, rather than fighting it.  I used to have those fights with ad agency folks, who would belittle p.r. effectiveness and treat us like we were small potatoes because our budgets were a lot smaller than theirs.

Back in the early 1980s, when I was directing the p.r. work for L’eggs hosiery, the ad agency, Dancer Fitzgerald Sample (now Saatchi) wanted to grab our p.r. budget (under $200,000) for themselves, even as they were spending around $16 million for the client. They convinced the client to do an advertising equivalency evaluation, to see what the free time and space would have cost had it been purchased as ads. We resisted at first, saying it’s comparing apples and oranges. But the client went ahead with the evaluation.

According to the ad agency’s calculation, our $200,000 brought more than $2 million in space and time. And that doesn’t factor in the credibility factor, of course.  Plus, some of the publicity we generated could not have been bought at that time for any price -- like a photo on the front pages of the Sunday New York Times and the Sunday Daily News.

I find the tables have turned 180 degrees and smart ad agencies understand and utilize the power of public relations.  All of the giant ad agency holding companies have bought p.r. agencies over the past 20 years, and p.r. is a routine part of the marketing mix they recommend to clients.  Over the past several years I’ve had several ad agencies refer me to their clients for public relations support to complement the ad agency’s efforts.

...

Kevin, in his post, explains how p.r. can generate exposure in print, broadcast and online.  But we must add to the mix the effectiveness of non-media exposure such as special events, exposure at conferences and seminars (especially good for b2b clients), and many other direct-to-target methods. 

Public relations should not be put into a cubby-hole of media relations alone.  Done well, it can reach the targeted audience in many ways that don't rely on an editor to put it into print or on the air.

Around the blogosphere

Thought I'd use the weekend to do some catch-up with what's been happening out there on the web.

Happy blogiversary to Toby Bloomberg at Diva Marketing Blog for 3 years, and to CK for giving us a year of CK's Blog.

Two online friends made their debut at MarketingProfs Daily Fix this week -- Cam Beck and Drew McLellan.  Nice going, guys.

And Drew marked another impressive accomplishment this week, when he published his e-book of job-hunting advice for college grads.  He pulled together suggestions from about 50 people.  It should be a must for every high school and college placement office.

Conversation Agent Valeria Maltoni made the Top 25 list for the first time at Viral Garden, and she also had her debut as a contributing writer at The Blog Herald.

And it's been a good blog week for me as well.  I wrote my first article Thursday for MarketingProfs Daily Fix, talking about bloggers accepting freebies from publicists and marketers who hope we'll write about their products or services.  Thanks to all who commented and added to a lively discussion.  It's not too late to weigh in on the subject, if you have an opinion you'd like to share.

Happy weekend everyone.  See you online.

Blogola - Blogging for Booty

"Blogola" is what The Wall Street Journal called it in a Page One story Tuesday, and it's the subject of my very first column for MarketingProfs Daily Fix.

The Journal story describes the public relations efforts the networks and the TV production companies are making to win over bloggers who they feel are influential.  They're using the same techniques they employ when seeking coverage by mainstream journalists -- freebies, paid junkets to Hollywood to visit the sets of new and returning shows, access to the stars.

Are bloggers "selling out" in exchange for freebies ranging from tote bags to getting toted, free, to L.A. to visit the sound stages and meet the stars?

Where's the line... or is there even one?  Should there be one?

Jump over to Daily Fix for the whole story, which won't be complete, of course, without your comments.

Tell you what... if you come over to Daily Fix now, I might send you a valuable gift.  Or not.

Time for MarketingProfs Book Club

Today is the start of the third round of the Book Club over at MarketingProfs.  Host CK has a book lined up that should be interesting and provoke lots of discussion.

Made to Stick, by the Heath Brothers (Chip and Dan, not Percy and Jimmy, who jazz lovers would think of when you say the Heath Brothers), talks about ideas that stick.  Why some do and others don't and... important for those in the marketing business... how to make your ideas stick so they resonate and spur people to action.

If you haven't participated in the Book Club before, now's the time to start.  It's informative and fun, you'll learn something new, and you'll get to chat with lots of interesting people along the way.  There's a good chance you'll meet the authors online, too.  The authors of the previous two books we shared actively joined in the discussion.

Book Club was the final thing that convinced me to start blogging.  I had been sitting on the sidelines, reading Daily Fix and some other blogs, and occassionally dropping in to post a comment.  But after the fantastic interaction of the Book Club, I was hooked.

There's no cost, no obligation.  All you have to do is register, if you haven't already done so.  If you act quickly, you might even get a free copy of Made to Stick from the Book Club.  If not, buy or borrow a copy, give it a read and then, when the discussions start in a few weeks, join in.

For more info, click here.

Happy birthday Helvetica

Helvetica celebrates its 50th birthday this year.  So says I.D. Magazine in its April issue.

A little research shows that when it was designed in 1957, it was initially called Neue Haas Grotesk -- kind of a grotesque-sounding (no pun intended) name.  Thankfully, it was renamed Helvetica, taken from Helvetia, Latin for Switzerland, where the Haas Type Foundry was located.

It's been called one of the most-loved and respected typefaces and certainly it is one of the most widely-used.  Its clean sans serif look reflected the move toward modernism and the clean look typical of Swiss design at the time.

In 1961, Haas Foundry's parent companies Stempel and Linotype began marketing the font worldwide.  Some critics have written that Univers is a  better-design system.  But Helvetic won out, it seems, for two key reasons.

Linotype did a better job of marketing the new typeface.  Swiss design was the "in" thing in the early '60s, and  the sales pitch for Helvetica was smart and to the point, essentially saying "You want Swiss design?  Here it is."

In an interview in I.D. Magazine, filmmaker Gary Hustwit sums it up -- "Helvetica was Swiss design in a can."  (Hustwit recently released a documentary film titled Helvetica, which premiered at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin in April.)

Ad agencies and design firms wanting to be modern and trendy began using Helvetica widely in ad headlines and copy, in company brochures and even in logos.  Helvetica is still embazoned on many corporate headquarters.

The font got another big boost with the advent of personal computers.  Steve Jobs is reputedly serious about typefaces and he, so the story goes,  selected Helvetica to be bundled into the typefaces available in the early Macs.

It used to be that most people, unless they were designers or involved in printing and design, generally had little or no knowledge of different typefaces.  With computers, however, we've all become instant designers.  And by simply clicking on the "font" bar in our Word documents, we've come to know names like Arial, Tahoma, Century Gothic and the ubiquitous Times New Roman.

But even after 50 years, Helvetica has a special place on many designers' tables.

When you're playing around with different fonts on your computer, which ones do you enjoy and why?   Just curious.  One I like is Comic Sans -- it's clean, but  not at all plain.  For letters and news releases, though, I stick with either Times New Roman or Arial.

Mothers Day

There are a couple of posts out there now that are worth a read on Mothers Day.

CK has a beautiful tribute to her momma, and she's sharing  some pictures of her for the first time.  I'm sure this is a tough holiday for CK, and we all send her our love and strength.

Mark Goren up in Montreal has a nice post about some things he's learned from his Bubbie (that's Yiddish for grandma).  It resonated with me for a few reasons.  First, her lessons were right on target.  Second, Bubbie is what I called my grandmother and it's what my kids call my mom.

Michelle Miller talks about a special gift she gave to her mom this year.

I'm know how fortunate I am that I'll be having dinner Sunday with my mother Doris, who turns 84 in exactly a month.  She's taught me patience and calm, giving everyone a second (or third) chance, appreciating beauty all around us, and so much more.  With us will be our daughter and her family, which includes our 18-month old first grandchild Jack, named in memory of my father.  (Father's Day is the tough holiday for me.)

Let's count our blessings and be thankful for our moms, wherever they are.  Mothers Day really should be every day.

Get the VCR down from the attic

The online newsletter Media Buyer Planner reported on a deal between ABC and its cable sister ESPN and cable operator Cox Communications. 

The essence of the deal is that subscibers to Cox's video-on-demand service will not be able to zip through commercials when they watch programs called up from ABC or ESPN.  The test begins this fall in Cox's Orange County, Calif. system.  It will not initially impact programs recorded by DVR, where viewers will still be able to fast-forward through ads.

But if you want to watch Desperate Housewives or Grey's Anatomy from a week or so ago, and you order it through VOD -- which you pay extra for -- you will forced to watch the ads.  ABC is reportedly looking to do more deals with cable operators, except the goal is to have the fast-forward disabled on commercials in programs that are also recorded by DVR.

I'm trying to look at this from two hats -- that of a marketer who pays lots of money to get an ad on a widely-viewed show, and that of a consumer who pays extra for the convenience of DVR or VOD.

I think I'm leaning more toward the consumer hat.  Yes, we get TV programming -- from the networks at least -- for free.  The model, which we as viewers have accepted, is that in order to get the programs we watch the commercials.

Now the new technologies are adding some complicated wrinkles to the time-tested model.  For an extra charge, we can get the convenience of DVR or VOD, so we can watch a show at our convenience.  It also, fortunately for viewers, comes with the ability to skip through commercials.

We know that advertisers are deperately trying to come up with ways to get ads seen despite the new gadgets -- product placement within programming, ads that flow seamlessly from the programming, just to name a couple.  Or why not have a brief commercial pod at the start of VOD programs that you can't zip through, instead of disabling fast-forward for ads within the program.  A lot of highly-paid network and ad execs are trying to figure out workable solutions.

But to force us -- after we've paid a premium -- to watch ads is not my idea of a workable solution.  The advertisers, nets and cable operators are taking something away from us that they've been touting loudly over the past few years. 

It makes me think of how I felt, and still do, when I pay $10 to see a movie in the theater, and then have to sit in the darkened theater where I'm essentially forced to watch 15 or 20 minutes of ads.  I wouldn't mind the ads if the movie ticket price was discounted.  I'd say, that's the price I pay, willingly, to get a significant break.  But jeez -- $10 plus a bunch of ads?!!

I hope cable subscribers in Orange County throw a fit and complain loudly.  Otherwise, we'll all soon be paying extra to see shows, while being force-fed the commercials along with the programming. 

Frankly, I resent it.

I just may have to get my old VCR out of the attic and get it ready to roll again.