Breaking through the noise to launch a new brand in today’s marketplace requires harnessing traditional marketing techniques as well as the unexpected. Reaching users online is relatively straightforward, but building emotional connections, staying relevant and delivering value is considerably more challenging. Hear from Kirsten Ward, Director of Digital Advertising, Microsoft as she discusses the challenges faced and innovation by Microsoft to build the Bing brand and steadily gain market share from Google and Yahoo.

Digital CMO Series: Bing – Building a New Brand in the Digital Age.

If your hair stylist gave you $10 every time you sent one of your friends her way, you might be more tempted to tell all of your buddies what a fabulous stylist she was — or you might even try to make new friends to refer.

This clever method of customer acquisition is a form of word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing known as a referral program. While such programs have been used for decades by not-for-profit organizations like PBS, similar customer referral programs have also become increasingly popular with companies in a wide range of industries, from financial services and automobiles to newspapers and hotels. Christophe Van den Bulte, a professor of marketing at Wharton, describes customer referral programs as an effective way to attract higher quality customers. “They are an old idea that’s getting more traction these days,” he notes, “and we now have solid evidence of their financial benefits.”

via ‘Turning Social Capital into Economic Capital’: Straight Talk about Word-of-mouth Marketing – Knowledge@Wharton.

In Your Shoes

We have launched the very first insurance industry customer centric online video site and that to in record time! Check out the video’s on In Your Shoes and feel free to leave your comments. If you do enter the In Your Shoes contest and win please feel free to let them know you were refered to the site by Gavin Lobo – Brand Marketing.

With approx. 87% of Canada’s online population on or using social networking sites it is becoming rather imperative that your company has an online social networking strategy. This strategy should include but is not limited to:

- Social Network (SN) groups/communities

- SN advertising

- SN & Blog integration

- SN search strategies

- SN research and evaluation

- SN co-branded promotions

- A SN resource dedicated to managing all of the above

- Company blog content and link management

Your brand is being discussed in groups and social communities online and you need a marketing/brand advocate to manage and monitor these interactions while providing senior management with weekly or monthly reports. With such a large online population using social networks you will have (or will soon have!) geographic and psychographic data to target new or existing segments online to grow or retain customers. Your advertising can be a lot more targeted and in doing so drive better results. I also believe SN is an integral part of online customer service and soon if not already you will find a more of your customer interaction occurring within social networks.

Stay ahead of the curve and start integrating social networking marketers into your organization or expect to be left behind.

Soon after we signed up for the Do Not Call List late last year we have been received a ton of unsolicited direct marketing calls. They are not live person calls but taped machine playbacks.

We now get approximately one call a week, where in the past we got maybe one call a month. The globeandmail.com article definitely points to abuse of the registry and the lack of any policing of it.

Given how easy it seems for abusers to buy the list, I call the registry a total failure. I hope the folks responsible for the registry are working hard to secure it.

globeandmail.com – Fraudsters abusing do-not-call list

Need to save on household items then go to the following site to get coupons mailed to you: http://www.save.ca

I have used them many times and have never been spammed with other direct marketing mail…

Mr. Lobo

This guy needs to re-think his drive + marketing message cause his current drive does not speak well about his business – “Executive Touch”limo services nor does his marketing message…

The line about “Personal Services” makes the company sound more like a escort service for cars and less an exclusive limo service!

And business owners wonder why they don’t get business or attract the wrong type of business.

I wish them luck and some marketing wisdom…

Mr. Lobo

I signed up for the Rogers Personal TV VIP Program and I was told I would receive a VIP card that would give me various discounts (i.e. At the Rogers Video store etc…).

Well it’s been 6 months now and I have yet to receive that VIP card. When I ask for a discount at Rogers Video they graciously tell me that I need a VIP card.

Blurb off the Rogers Web Page:

Get 10% off all regularly-priced purchases and rentals in-store and regularly-priced purchases online at rogers.com/video (excludes game hardware). Plus, take advantage of the additional VIP electronic monthly coupons at rogers.com/vipoffer.

The marketing blurb above clearly says that not only do I get 10% off I get monthly coupons that give me additional percentages off – I call this disconnected bull-crap.

The funny thing is that I Mr. Lobo the Rogers customer has realized that Rogers has discontinued the VIP card process and now sends out’s VIP video coupons every month (So I am led to believe by the Rogers Rep I have spoken with) via email.

Somebody needs to tell their Video stores that this has happened and bring to light the disconnect within their VIP program.

Which leads me to the question: Why am I not on their computer system as a VIP customer (Wireless, Video, Phone etc. all should share the same profile or this is a waste of CRM effort)?

Rogers bill’s me on a “one bill” format and yet my customer data profile is all over the bloody place.

Long Live The Grill

Mr. Lobo

This is exactly what Marketing Managers today are saying every time they send out SPAM Direct Mail and clog mailboxes.

Above is a picture of the recycling box on a Friday evening in my condo. As you can see it’s filled with Direct Mail pieces sent out today.

I never fail to receive at least one or two DM pieces a month that try and sell me products or services I already have…

Here’s an old idea how about you check your DM lists against your billing data before you send me MORE DM… Better still save that money and use it as incentives on me your existing customer!!! Maybe I’ll buy more products and services from you…

Will They Ever Learn???

Mr. Lobo

Cream
Originally uploaded by Mr.Lobo.

I had a boss who used hand cream (Vaseline – Intensive Care) every time he went into a meeting with a vendor. He did this diligently and even got late for meetings just creaming up his hands!

Ok so I admit my former boss may have had a problem with hand cream! But it does look like more men are using facial/body care products to groom themselves with. Skin care for men is becoming a business to be IN presently.

Bath and Body Care Recipes for Men

Marketing to Men

Behind Every Good Man is a Great Product