We mentioned our new MarketingeCourses.com website in passing last week. Now it’s time to go into a little more detail.

These eCourses are focussed on the challenges facing marketers as we head into the second decade of the new millennium. From that website, we’ll be bringing you a series of eCourses for marketers trained in traditional advertising and marketing methods, who know a little about new generation marketing tools and techniques – but not enough.

The first eCourse in the series, somewhat inevitably, is about Social Media Marketing, easily today’s hottest topic for marketers (both locally and globally).

Course S-1: Social Media

This is a seven-week eCourse providing a comprehensive introduction to Social Media Marketing, from the Basics to detailed instructions on how to build and run a Social Media programme.

This eCourse is conducted on a web-based e-learning software platform, enabling course participants to proceed at their own pace, accessing materials online. This particular eCourse provides content in a variety of multimedia forms, including videos, slideshows, flash-based presentations and PDF files. No special software is required to participate.

Course lessons are released weekly, for participants to access in accordance with their own timetables. Interaction with the course tutor is enabled through the platform software tools (with telephone backup if required).

TIMING
The first eCourse in the 2010 series starts on Wednesday April 7, with the delivery to participants of the Introduction and Lesson One. New lessons will be delivered weekly on Wednesdays.

COURSE CREATION AND TUTORING
This course has been created and will be tutored by Michael Carney.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
Any Marketing, Advertising, PR or Communications professionals (whether client-side or supplier-side) who, while they may have a fair knowledge of what social media options are out there, don’t know how to use them effectively (and have a perfectly reasonable fear of doing the wrong thing in a very public arena).

WHAT YOU SHOULD LEARN AS A RESULT OF THE COURSE:

• The principles of effective marketing in social media
• Which social networks are strongest, who uses them and how to sign up
• What social media can do for your (or your clients’) business
• How to build a social media programme (you’ll start constructing your own during the course)
• The best tools and techniques for monitoring social networks
• How to really understand and engage with the consumer
• How to create relevant, informative, killer content for your social media programme
• How to define and measure meaningful numbers to determine the success (or otherwise) of your social media activities
• Answering those questions that (if you’re not prepared) could kill your career
• How to watch for, and adapt to, the Next Big Thing in Social Media (whatever that is)

COURSE CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION:
WHY SOCIAL MEDIA SILENCE IS DEADLY
In which we put Social Media in context in the modern world; discuss the reality that the medium is a runaway success (regardless of whether marketers choose to participate or not); deal with marketers’ biggest fears about the medium; and discuss the key principles of effective marketing in social media.

LESSON ONE: THE BASICS
I’VE JUST ARRIVED FROM OUTER SPACE. TELL ME ABOUT THESE “SOCIAL NETWORKS”.
For those a little fuzzy on the basics: we introduce the concept of social networks; talk about the main players; give special recognition to Facebook and review its latest numbers and offerings; look at what else is out there (including the newest, Google Buzz); show you how to check out and claim your digital identity at key online sites and services; and (if you’re not already there) invite you to sign yourself up to the primary social sites.

LESSON TWO: SOCIAL MEDIA AND YOU
I’M AFRAID OF INTRUDING IN SOCIAL MEDIA – ALL THOSE CONSUMERS WILL TRASH MY BRAND
Social Media and Marketers: are we there yet? We review the importance of social media for brands; ask the eight key questions of vital importance to marketers wanting to join this social media party; consider how to choose which social media to support (sorry, you can’t do it all, at least not on post-recession-sized budgets and resources); look at what sort of social media personality you should adopt to flourish in the new environment; and look at the benefits, the pitfalls and the barriers when it comes to social media marketing. Applying those last attributes to your own business will be your assignment from Lesson Two.

LESSON THREE: BUILDING THE PLAN
ENOUGH TALK ALREADY, LET’S START BUILDING SOMETHING
So far, we’ve examined the principles of social media. Now it’s time to put those into practice and start building your own social media programme. This topic will occupy us for most of the lesson, as we cover the six key elements of a strategy framework. Your homework will involve turning that framework into a provisional plan.

LESSON FOUR: MONITORING
DON’T SAY A THING. JUST LISTEN FIRST (EVEN FOR JUST 10 MINUTES A DAY), THEN THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE HEARING. MAYBE THEN YOU CAN TALK.
We know you want to get your teeth into Social Media fast, but you need to start by just listening. And yes, you can do it for just ten minutes a day (if you’re very focussed). In this lesson, we show you where and how to listen (and where to find the mostly-free tools to do so); what to listen for; who to listen to (identifying opinion leaders); and we talk about how things can go wrong and how to react to problems when they arise. Your homework will involve listening, listening, listening.

LESSON FIVE: ENGAGEMENT
WILL CONSUMERS REALLY ENGAGE WITH ME AND MY BRAND, OR WILL THEY JUST BE POLITE? (IF THEY THINK YOU’RE ANNOYING OR INTRUSIVE, DON’T WORRY, THEY’LL TELL YOU)
Like most marketing, social media starts with a clear understanding of consumers: who they are (by whatever metrics available) and what they need and want. Social media marketing works the same way, but even more so. In this lesson we dig ever more deeply into understanding the audience; at this point you’ll be adjusting the plan you assembled a couple of lessons ago, to take account of your new knowledge.

LESSON SIX: CREATING KILLER CONTENT
TELL ME STUFF THAT’S REALLY INTERESTING – AND STOP SELLING AT ME, THIS ISN’T A USED CAR LOT
None of what we’ve covered so far is of any use if your contribution to the online conversation is merely self-serving and sales-oriented. In this lesson we cover the sort of content that is essential in social media, and how you can build it into relevant, informative, compelling content. Your homework will require you to create such content for your business.

LESSON SEVEN: METRICS AND ROI:
OVERCOMING THOSE QUESTIONS THAT KILL MARKETING CAREERS
Social Media in its early stages avoided those awkward issues about Return on Investment and whether it really delivered value for the time and money involved. Now times are tougher, the budgets are tighter and CFOs are asking the hard questions. In this lessons we look at the metrics that are nice to have but more importantly at the ones that matter. We also identify strategies you can follow to develop useful, meaningful measures that satisfy the C-suite. You can guess what your homework is.

CONCLUSION:
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE, AND WHO’S DRIVING?
Social Media (it seemed) arrived faster than a speeding bullet. What’s next for the medium, how do you tell, and what can you do to prepare? We look at the trends and offer some advice.

————————

INVESTMENT
This seven-part eCourse is available for $297.

However we are making a special EARLY BIRD OFFER available for just $197, for bookings and payment received before 5pm WEDNESDAY 31 MARCH, so if you are interested we recommend you book right away.

To book and pay by credit card (via secure provider PayPal), simply click here:

BOOK NOW

Tags: ecourse, learning, social media, social media marketing, training

Here’s our round-up, in no particular order, of many of the microtrends that will impact on us as the year winds through. What are microtrends? According to Mark Penn and E. Kinney Zalesne, co-authors of the book “Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow’s Big Changes“, they’re the smaller trends that go unnoticed or even ignored. But even if they impact on just one percent of the population, that can be enough to create new markets for a business, spark a social movement or even produce political change.

So what’s ahead in 2010? These are some of the microtrends we’re seeing out there:

Recession Rage
We’re tired of the economic downturn and fed up with scrimping and saving. We’ve already cut back on buying takeaway food, eating out in cafes and restaurants, going to shows/events and buying our lunches regularly. Even lattes have become a luxury for more than a third of us. We have to save, but we’re only human — every so often, we’re just going to lash out and spend on something, regardless of whether it’s rational or not.

Surprising Resilience
Tough times still here in 2010? Okay then, if we’ve got to survive, we’ll get back into home cooking, meal planning and even budgeting — or at least microwaving our way through the economic turmoil.

Recovery Guilt
When the times are a lot more golden, we’re (probably) going to be more frugal, save more — and absolutely going to look for more bargains. We’re totally planning to live more within our means. But (don’t tell anyone) two-thirds of us admit there’s a possibility we just may go back to our old spending habits.

Prove It
Because consumer confidence worldwide last year took a hit, 2010 will see increased consumer demand for proof – most especially by way of reviews from other consumers. More and more, we’ll look for peer validation before we buy almost anything.

Caution: May Contain Puffery
Cynicism rules as consumers become increasingly skeptical about brands’ health and nutrition claims. “If it’s so healthy, why do they have to try so hard to convince us?”

Local Sourcing
Food retailers and eateries will trumpet the local and hyperlocal origins of many of their products, driven by a combination of marketing spin and a genuine desire to offer sustainable values.

The little global crisis that cried Wolf
We’ve now reached saturation point when it comes to media hyperventilation. Bird flu, Swine flu, global warming? Give us a break. Whenever the next pandemic or potential disaster comes along, we won’t be nearly so willing to dig into our pockets or follow official instructions.

The New Social-ism
2009 saw a tidal wave of new social networking converts, older and less connected than the earlier adopters. These new arrivals, after acclimatising themselves to platforms such as Facebook, will step up the pace in 2010 and start talking amongst themselves more and more, attracting more of their peers and leading to more and richer connections.

Luxury Lite
The good things in life will become a little more affordable in 2010. Conspicuous consumption is long gone, and even the affluent have fallen on harder times thanks to the GFC (“so un-PC to talk about the Global Financial Crisis, dahling”). We’ll make do with the palladium jewellery in 2010, as a sign of solidarity with the nation.

Authenticity Aura
Brand values have suddenly become important. When we consumers have less to spend, we want to invest in things that matter.

Not Quite Live
Television viewing will continue to deliver big ratings in 2010, but it won’t necessarily be live. TiVo and its clones are everywhere; and most of the popular shows on the networks can be watched online. Freed from the tyranny of the televisual timetable, consumers will watch more TV, but when and where they want.

Housebound
The relentless moving from house to house in search of capital gain has been halted by the collapse of the real estate boom. Suddenly homeowners are feeling trapped. Is this really where they want to live for an indefinite period? Is it time to become “house-proud” residents rather than transient tenants? Once financial stability resumes, expect a mix of renovation therapy and/or “must move at any price” impulse selling.

Attention Deficit Diaspora
Too many distractions, too little time. It’s not a new phenomenon, but the pace continues to accelerate. To engage the consumer, first catch his or her attention. Not getting any easier.

Family First
As materialism fades and consumers turn back to basics, family and friends become more important. The social networks are becoming increasing enablers, as are services such as Skype that reduce the cost and effort of keeping in touch. Now we can reach out and touch someone … in realtime.

Comfort
Consumers are looking for safety, simplicity, trust and indulgence, in response to the rising stress and uncertainty of the times. As a result, they tend to gravitate towards either (a) familiar brands from major suppliers; or (b) homegrown offerings with cosy “just-folks-like-us” appeal.

Getting “Off the Grid”
A not-insignificant segment of consumers are looking for ways to become more self sufficient even beyond their spending habits, including household-generated energy, water conservation and purification, self-directed healthcare and private vegetable gardens.

Wandering Eyes
In the best of times, we’re brand-loyal. In the worst of times, not so much. You may have won our hearts back in the day, but wallets speak louder than words right now. Dangle an enticing deal in front of us and we’re anyone’s. Will we be back? Maybe — depends on the appeal of the low-cost alternative.

He’s a Celebrity — Get Him Out of Here
Too many high-profile celebrity failings mean that consumers are tiring of the cult of celebrity. We still have a few heroes left, but those feet of clay are proving highly contagious amongst those we used to worship.

From Trade-Up to Trade-Off
Key food shopper behaviours in the new economy include advance preparation to determine best value, comparing unit prices, limiting purchases of premium products, and moving to store brands for a better price. Impulse purchases are giving way to planning ahead. Who’d have thought?

SO WHAT?
Why do these Micro Trends matter? Because they will collectively colour the spectacles through which consumers view your offerings in 2010. We recommend that you choose a few of the trends that seem most relevant to your product or service, and ask yourself and your colleagues what the implications are for your operation [we should mention that we're available to facilitate such a session on a project basis].
2010. In the movies (specifically, in the sequel to Arthur C Clarke’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”) it was known as “the year we make contact”. Turns out that it’s really “the year we make do”.

Tags: microtrends, Trends

Sponsorship Under Threat

12 Billion US Dollars — that’s the estimated loss in value that Tiger Woods’ little dalliance with a tree trunk cost his sponsors, according to a study by two US professors from the University of California.

“Our analysis makes clear that while having a celebrity of Tiger Woods’ stature as an endorser has undeniable upside, the downside risk is substantial, too,” said Victor Stango, professor of economics.

Stango and fellow economics professor Christopher Knittel studied the stock market for 13 days after Woods crashed his car outside his Florida home on November 27 last year.

That event, and the subsequent firestorm of publicity surrounding the Tiger’s other activities, cost sponsors plenty — and raised serious questions about the risks as well as the rewards associated with sponsorship for today’s marketers.

Sponsors everywhere are reviewing their commitments. It’s a sign of the times. According to global sponsorship giant IEG, 2009 saw an historic milestone the sponsorship industry would rather not have achieved. For the first time, less money was spent on sponsorship by North American companies than in the prior year. US sponsorship spending shrank 0.6 percent in ’09 to $16.51 billion, representing a loss of $100 million that previously had gone to properties.

The writing’s been on the wall for some time. In January and February 2009, fifty-one percent of respondents to the annual IEG/Performance Research Sponsorship Decision-makers Survey said their companies’ spending on sponsorship fees would decrease in 2009. And slightly less than half of sponsors–47 percent–said they were seeking to get out of some of their current sponsorships even though those deals were not currently up for renewal.

Sponsors are looking for more bangs for their buck — and who can blame them?

A quick quiz. Think of your own favorite event — the one you try to watch or participate in most often. How many sponsors of that event can you name?

Now, for each sponsor you can remember, ask yourself these questions:

1. Apart from the fact that they sponsor this event, what else do you know about them? Has the fact that they sponsored your favourite event affected your view of them? Made you think of them more often? Kept their name and brand in your mind? Have you become “a raving fan” of their product(s)?
2. If you’ve purchased a product or service in their product category in the last twelve months, did you choose their brand? If so, was it (at least in part) because of their sponsorship? If not, why not?
3. Do they use the sponsorship as a means of interacting with you and/or keeping in touch?

In those three areas of questioning, we’ve pretty much encapsulated the core benefits that sponsors should be seeking from sponsorships:

• Brand & Product Awareness
• Direct Sales (or sales influence); or
• Customer Relationship building.

What Do Sponsors Want?
Research in early 2008 (the Eighth Annual IEG/Performance Research Sponsorship Decision-Makers Survey), drawing from 165 sponsorship decision-makers around the world provides some interesting insights into sponsorship.

These are the key findings:

Which category do you expect your company to be more involved with this year (2008)?

* 41% of the respondents cited Sports
* 27% Causes
* 27% Community Events
* 23% Online sponsorship
* 16% Entertainment
* 12% The Arts

And less?

* 26% Entertainment
* 20% Online sponsorship
* 21% The Arts
* 15% Community Events
* 12% Sports
* 10% Causes

How do you typically go about selecting a property to sponsor?

* 75% set strategy and then sought the right property
* 73% were approached directly by property owners.
* 28% received details about a sponsorship property from a sales agency
* 13% consult a sponsorship specialist to determine strategy

What percentage of your marketing budget is spent on sponsorship?

* 43% – 1-10% of the budget
* 26% – 11-20%
* 15% – 21-30%
* 7% – 31-40%
* 7% – 41-50%
* 3% – 51-75% of the budget

On top of the rights fees paid for your sponsorship, what is the ratio as to how much more your company typically spends on leveraging and activation?

* 17% – less than 1 to 1

* 48% – 1 to 1

* 14% – 2 to 1

* 12% – 3 to 1
* 9% – 4 to 1 or more

During the past 12 months, which of the following marketing communication channels have you used to leverage your sponsorship programs?

* 80% Traditional Advertising
* 77% Public Relations
* 71% Internal Communications
* 69% Hospitality
* 63% Internal Tie-Ins
* 62% Direct Marketing
* 60% Sampling On-Site
* 50% Business to Business
* 47% Sales Promotion Offers

In past years, less than 5% of effort was spent on Contests, Discounts, Displays, EMarketing, Experiential Activation or Promotional Giveaways

What do you consider the most valuable benefits to your organisation?

* 64% Category Exclusivity
* 54% On-Site Signage
* 45% Broadcast Ad opportunity
* 43% ID in property collateral materials
* 41% Title of Proprietary Area
* 39% Sponsor ID in Property’s Media Buy
* 38% presence on property website
* 36% Access to Property’s Database
* 31% right to use propertyy marks/logos
* 23% Access to Property-provided research

Which of the following do you typically analyze when making your sponsorship decision?

* 92% Demographics
* 82% Attendance
* 73% Fan passion/affinity
* 50% What your competition sponsors
* 49% Psychographics
* 49% Growth trends in property category
* 42% Interest in the property amongst trade/dealers
* 36% TV Ratings

The above data gives some useful insights if you’re planning to get involved in sponsorship. But (especially if you’re being constantly approached for sponsorship dollars) you may need more. We’ve created a tool to help you reach some useful and meaningful conclusions about prospective sponsorship proposals. We’ve even given it a snappy name:

Sponsorship Evaluation Checklist

This Checklist will lead you through the process of evaluating potential sponsorships, whether for sports, arts, cause-related, online or community-interest properties.

Here’s a sampling of the issues you need to consider as part of any sponsorship assessment:

* Alignment of brand values
* Audience reach
* Sponsorship levels
* Consumer profiling?
* Trends
* Competitors
* Trade interest
* Sponsorship elements to consider
* Affordability
* Leveraging opportunities
* Visibility
* Hospitality
* Media coverage
* Rights on offer
* Credentials
* Post-Event Evaluation

The Checklist provides a step by step rundown of the items you need to consider if you’re serious about sponsorship. It’s not fancy, but it’s comprehensive.

If it’s relevant to you, the Sponsorship Evaluation Checklist (provided as a download in PDF format) is available for $47+tax. Click on this link for credit card ordering via PayPal and instant fulfilment via eJunkie.

PS Would the Checklist have helped Tiger’s sponsors? Well one of our very first questions on the Checklist asks “Would being associated with this sponsorship send the right messages and encourage consumers to become more rabidly enthusiastic about your brand?” Clearly Accenture, AT&T and now Gatorade have asked the same question, which has led to rather public unsponsoring. But it looks like nobody (with the possible exception of Tiger’s mobile phone company) could have seen this one coming.

Tags: sponsorship evaluation, what sponsors want

We never thought we’d see the day. Wal-Mart, the global giant that’s kinda the hero to many of our leading chain retailers, has cut too deep and is opting for a bit of TLC instead.

Bloomberg takes up the story:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s biggest retailer, is bringing back some products it had removed from shelves last year as shoppers turn to competitors for a wider selection of merchandise.

The company met with suppliers about reinstating items to keep customers from going to other stores, said Leon Nicholas, a director at consulting firm Kantar Retail who has spoken with manufacturers about the move.

Wal-Mart is returning some health and beauty supplies, cereal, pet treats, soda and laundry detergent, Nicholas said. The retailer said last month its U.S. stores recorded a drop in sales and had a “slight decrease” in customer traffic in the quarter that ended in January.

Last year, Wal-Mart reduced the number of merchandise varieties, known as stock keeping units, or SKUs, sold in the U.S. in categories such as laundry detergent and bedding. U.S. stores cut inventories by 7.6 percent while increasing sales by 1.1 percent.

Now Wal-Mart is telling suppliers it cut too much in some areas and wants to bring some items back. The retailer is noticing that consumers are visiting other stores and no longer going to Wal-Mart for everything they buy.

Is this a significant paradigm shift? Consumers, now growing more and more accustomed to the Long Tail appeal of the infinitely deep shelves that line the Internet, voting with their feet? Or is it (heaven forbid) that consumers really are brand-loyal, at least to some extent?

It’s a fact of recession life that consumers tend to stick with the brands they know. When there’s not much money around, they want to be certain it’s well spent — and one of the ways to do that is to stay with the familar, the reliable product experience they’ve enjoyed in the past.

Alas, we do fear that the current change of behaviour by the Bentonville behemoth is just a momentary blip in the ongoing struggle between Good and, well, Good-but-in-a-different-way. Until Weta Digital can invent some real-world version of “the shelves that came out of nowhere in the first Matrix film and were filled with absolutely everything”, we’re stuck with a retail environment where longevity instore is based on the “what have you done for me lately” model.

Other news out of the US is decidedly less bullish on the notion of SKU rollback.

According to STORES magazine, efforts aimed at optimizing SKU assortments are in the works at numerous supermarket chains.

SUPERVALU CEO Craig Herkert recently told analysts that the company plans to edit the selection in some categories by as much as 25 percent. The focus is on reducing package sizes rather than entire brands or lines of product, yet in the categories that have already been “optimized,” some brands have been eliminated completely. Herkert says SUPERVALU’s goal is to “increase holding power for our best-selling items and add space for SUPERVALU’s owned brands.”

Industry watchers are convinced that Kroger is also in the middle of an aggressive SKU-optimization process. Though Kroger executives decline to provide specifics, it is widely known that the chain eliminated 30 percent of the SKUs in the breakfast cereal category about 18 months ago. Execs have been largely pleased with results; only one item originally cut from the mix was reinstated.

Trimming assortments obviously frees up shelf space for more economical ["profitable"] in-house brands. Experts believe that the surge in private-label goods experienced by most supermarket retailers over the last 12 months can be attributed in large part to the economy, though the trend has been building for years.

When the nation hit economic low tide, consumers who had heretofore resisted private label began trying items out of necessity. What many shoppers discovered was that the store offering was often as good as the branded product, but cost less. And some private-label products – Safeway’s organics line, for example – are so strong that they have emerged as “brands” in their own right.

As the quest to improve assortment optimization progresses, questions are being raised as to whether shoppers will continue to purchase private-label goods as the economy improves. There is no simple answer. In some categories – like paper towels or plastic wrap, where there is little perceived difference – experts believe private-label sales will remain strong. In categories like ice cream, where the store brand may have achieved a lift as a result of price, the jury is still out.

One consumer trend that Bob Phibbs, known as the Retail Doctor, insists has staying power is the desire for fewer choices. “The brand model that calls for more and more line extensions doesn’t seem to be working,” he says. “There must be 25 versions of Crest and Colgate on the shelf, and if you stand and watch shoppers, most of them are so overwhelmed that they just reach for the old standby.

“In fact,” he continues, “research shows that 63 percent of shoppers are the type of personality that wants to buy the same thing they bought last time … The challenge for the retailer is to whittle down the choices in such a way that it’s meaningful for their unique customer. That doesn’t have to be bad news for brands, but it does mean that if a supplier wants to win space on the shelf, they need to deliver a product that’s going to hit it out of the park.”

Taking Out Your Own Knife
We rather like the notion offered up by Bob Byrne of management consultants A.T. Kearney New York. He believes that marketers should open up their own veins and make the necessary incisions themselves. Here are his ten insights into the delicate art of DIY SKU Surgery:

1. Start with the consumer, not with you.
Redefine what your consumer values, wants, buys, uses—and work backward from there. Although most initial line and SKU decisions are based on rich consumer understanding, they tend to be unilateral and narrow. What have all of these individual decisions done to the overall portfolio and the consumer’s interaction with it?

2. SKU complexity is a hidden consumer tax.
Complexity costs are not a burden on the manufacturer. In reality, these costs are passed on to the consumer, as a kind of nVAT (non-Value Added Tax). You may have 50 variations of shampoo, but 80 percent of your consumers are buying just 10 of them—all priced 7-8 percent too high.

3. A “segment of one” is so 1980s.
Do consumers value variety? Certainly not the way brand managers do. The record is clear: more choice seldom results in more sales, and may even cause shoppers to simply walk away from the shelf.

4. Define your target SKU portfolio by which SKUs are necessary, not by which are unnecessary.
Reverse your thinking: Focus on necessary SKUs. Then use research on consumer preferences and switching behavior to design an optimal product portfolio based on what consumers really want, not what you can produce most efficiently.

5. Cutting the tail (bottom 30 percent of SKUs) is easy—and fruitless.
Many SKUs end up as consumer or business “mistakes” that fragment volume for unnecessary or outdated reasons. But these mistakes are not just the low-volume SKUs!

So forget about eliminating just the easy 30 percent and instead focus on eliminating unnecessary medium- and high-volume SKUs. Imagine taking your highest-volume SKU in a category—24-oz. white—and replacing it with two SKUs—20- and 28-oz. white. Both would probably be pretty good sellers, but they’d be fragmented into two mid-sized SKUs. Wouldn’t you prefer to (re)-consolidate into a single Power SKU?

6. SKU optimization is a tool, not an objective.
This is a huge trap. Is reducing SKUs 20, 30 or 40 percent good? Is it bad? In truth, it’s neither: It’s just something to do. What are you aiming for?

7. The best objective for an SKU optimization effort is growth, not cost reduction.
A large body of evidence shows SKU reduction can be a growth initiative.

How? Start with out-of-stocks. Most leading brands are out of stock at retail 4-6 percent of the time. But the SKUs that are out of stock are not the slow movers; they are the Power SKUs. Simplify the line. Simplify the shelf set. Reduce out of stocks, and grow volume.

8. An effort for SKU optimization should be led by marketing and sales, not by finance and operations.
If you’re starting with the consumer, you need to start with your departments that are closest to the consumer. So rather than running a supply-chain initiative, put marketing and sales in charge. Give them an opportunity to clean out and re-fashion the portfolio. (And give them very big targets.)

9. Use the same discipline and marketing rigor in de-listing SKUs that you used in launching them.
When a company introduces a new line, an enormous effort ensures that customers switch from competitors’ products and don’t cannibalize sister brands by using special introductory pricing, coupons, advertising, sweepstakes, etc.

Now, what happens when a product or SKU is de-listed? Nothing. Why shouldn’t the same discipline and energy expended in fattening the portfolio be expended to get it into shape?

10. SKU optimization should not be a company-only initiative—include your retail partners and share the benefits with them.
Retailers will also reap benefits—better shelf alignment, lower out of stocks, rationalized promotion calendars, and improved inventory turns. It only makes sense to include retail partners in your thinking about SKU optimization.

Marketers as surgical partners rather than patients? Rather like the notion.

Tags: retail, sku optimisation, wal-mart

It’s been predicted for some years that voice calls would steadily move towards mobile, while fixed lines would become the stuff of data. Now at least the first part of those predictions is becoming reality. According to Joel Rubinson of the US Advertising Research Foundation:

The most recent CDC NHIS survey found that 23% of all US households are cell phone only (that number doubles to 46% for households comprised of those aged 25-29) and another 15% have landlines but are cell phone primary. We are changing the way we connect. Landlines have become less important than cell phones and for many, talk is becoming a less important method of communication than text and social media updates.

The  Media Ratings Council has said that media research must have a solution for this, implying that landline-only research can no longer be equated with probability sampling.  Nielsen,  Arbitron, and Knowledge Networks have all switched to addressed-based sampling methods to restore probability sampling properties.

What are the implications, for other than researchers and telesales teams? One significant societal change is the evolution of the telephone into a one-person communication device rather than for the household, leading to a loss of status for those without mobile devices. And, since mobile phone numbers are typically not listed in directories, we’ll become harder to find as individuals and as families.

Tags: landlines, mobile phones

In the 2010 Digital Outlook from the Society of Digital Agencies,  Steve Slivka, Co-Founder, Creative Director, and Patrick Berry, Co-Founder, Director of Tools and Methods, Colossal Squid, gave us The Top Ten Reasons Your Company Is Not Ready for Social Media. They’re too good not to repeat here.

10. You want to know everything about your consumer. Now.
Answer this – would you like to know everything possible about the 15 people that presently visit your site, or a little bit less about a lot more people discussing your brand? Social media is like dog food. Bite-sized chunks over time. Also, if you are going to create your own community, be prepared to drive to it (more on this later).
POV: Investing in social media requires a leap of faith. It’s about making your brand relevant within the space versus shoving traffic down through the purchase funnel. It can be about that, but not until you’ve shown some value and built some trust. Key performance indicators lie not in Google Analytics but in social media monitoring tools like Radian 6 and others. Much can be learned by listening to organic conversations.

9. Facebook isn’t big enough.
You want to build and own your own branded proprietary social media network. Congratulations. Starting your own business is an exciting and challenging gambit.
POV: Be prepared to provide wares for this value exchange proposition including compelling content, moderation, tips and other helpful stuff. Car dealers advertise for people to visit their lot. So will you. Online media drivers, including rich media advertising, Facebook apps, and other promotions will make your new business a success.

8. You are not staffed for social media.
If social media is your brand interacting with consumers at a micro level, you better be ready to participate. It goes beyond Tweeting about spectacular holiday sales. Social community demands moderation to stimulate discussions, respond to comments and create an open, genuine dialog with your consumers. Yes, dialogue means talking back. A LOT. More harm than good can be done by hosting a party, then slipping out the back door to catch a movie once the guests have arrived. Content creation within branded networks or mainstream avenues, including Facebook, requires production time and dollars.
POV: Account for dedicated and motivated additional staffing who can speak in the appropriate brand voice.

7. Social Media cuts across verticals in your organization.
Can your company draw from resources across the entire company to respond to customer or PR needs? In real-time? Everyday? That’s a lot of silos to work across. Don’t count on Bob from accounting or Jean from legal to help out on conversing to your 18-24 demo.
POV: For real-time social initiatives to succeed, you need an advocate within your organization that is a key decision maker, and has a Batphone to key stakeholders. They are the champion for your content. And you’ll need to pick up that Batphone from time-to-time.

6. Real-time means like – NOW.
Social media requires real-time responses that cannot be forecasted. If you have a smashing success on your hands then congratulations; you now have an even worse “predicament.” More people, more hardware, more analysis, more internal meetings, more funds requirements. Well – can’t get any worse, right. Guess again. You’ll now need to do battle with … (#5 below).
POV: You need trained moderators who can speak in a genuine voice on the brand. “For real” genuinely. It’s okay to post, “I don’t know.” Be for real. Have a conversation with the customer.

5. Procurement will freak.
“You need extra funds approved for what project by when?” “Aren’t Facebook and Twitter free?” Chances are if you must expand scope to build on timely conversations your procurement department (tag teaming with legal) might not accelerate this process. Plan accordingly, whatever that means.
POV: Pick up the Batphone for this one.

4. Click to Purchase.
Retailers are happiest when they are selling things. You’ll have a hard time justifying all that social media cash without an omnipresent click-through to purchase.
POV: There’s no need to divert traffic to your site if they can purchase within the social media space.

3. You can’t own the Internet®.
We just knew legal would make another appearance. You’re so excited about owning the ideas that come from your community that you need to let it foster and grow. Let go of your perceived intellectual property rights in favor of participation and trust. Consider tangible and intangible incentives for compensating community contributors for their ideas.
POV: Conversation comes from the exchange of ideas. Ideas come from people. You cannot own the Internet. Sorry.

2. “Advertising Honesty” is not honesty.
We’re talking “honesty honesty.”
POV: Don’t be afraid of negative dialogue. It’s an opportunity to be responsive and be a good listener. Score points and reinforce brand values with your customers. It’s about people.

1. Be worth it.
Be useful. Be engaging. Be worth their time. You may end up even being helpful.
POV: With all the chatter across the digital spectrum your customers will come back to you if you’re truly helpful. Value exchange.