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Based on all the recent news, what percentage of marketing executives do you think would be expecting to work with lower marketing budgets next year? 100 percent? 90 percent?

This year’s Top Marketing Trends for 2009, a survey of the members of the Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG) conducted by Anderson Analytics, says that, in fact, only 50 percent of marketers will be working with lower budgets. And three quarters of those surveyed think that R&D and use of market research will either stay the same or increase.

Dig a little deeper into the numbers and you can see that the recession is clearly having an impact. Forty-four percent of those surveyed are either reducing staff or not filling open positions, and the availability of credit is the marketing buzz word or trend with the biggest increase in terms of its importance.

The focus is very much on the basics. The most important concepts: customer satisfaction, customer retention, marketing ROI, and brand loyalty. At the same time, the buzz words that these executives are most tired of hearing about are: Web 2.0, social networking, and social media.

The mood is perhaps best summarized in this quote from an open-ended response: “In this economy, too many people are trying to shrink their way to success—cutting faster than the next person. I think it’s critical to go on offense while the competition is hiding. Finding inexpensive ways to gain competitive advantage and grow share is critical to longer term success when the economy starts to recover.”

Full survey results are at: www.mengonline.com/visitors/newsroom

About MENG
MENG is an networking community of senior level marketing professionals. I’ve been a member for the last four years. To learn more, visit www.MENGonline.com.

From Brand Mix

It is said that true character emerges in the toughest times. The impeccable service rendered by the employees of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower in Mumbai during the recent devastating events that occurred there is a great example of the true character of the Taj brand.

The staff put their own lives at risk, going above and beyond, and delivered life-saving service. The guests that came back to the Taj the day it reopened had one common feeling: that Taj gave much more to its guests than was owed. The customers returned willingly to show their support.

There are lessons to be learned from this leader in the hospitality arena.

Service is about the people who deliver it. A brand’s passion shines through its passionate people. Passionate staff are a magnet for loyal customers. The people of Taj—on the frontline and those behind the scenes—demonstrated true passion through their unyielding service to the guests. They earned their trust and loyalty and their service was highly commended and rewarded.

Embody the brand promise at all times. The Taj brand stands for remarkable service and hospitality. The priceless service rendered by loyal employees in the face of the worst kind of adversity has earned the Taj brand an unblemished reputation.

Aim for a speedy recovery. Accept setbacks and demonstrate the courage to combat it. In one month, the Taj reopened its doors to guests. There are a few discreet signs of damage tucked away within its walls but what speaks loud and clear is their will to be undefeated.

In the words of Harry Beckwith: “Sacrifice is the cement of human relationships. Nothing bonds someone to you more” (The Invisible Touch, 2000). The seeds of customer loyalty are sown in sacrifice. Through their personal sacrifice the employees of the Taj earned the brand levels of loyalty that no marketing program can match.

What makes digital content go viral? In a year during which both a truly awesome presidential election and truly awful financial crisis held sway, there was no dearth of online video, both reality and parody. Some of it people watched and passed along with abandon. Some they just watched and abandoned. As a perpetual student of digital behavior, it’s fascinating for me to see what strikes a common chord and goes on to make the viral hit list, and what just dies on the online vine. From a marketing point of view, in many cases the most virally catchy stuff is the result of brilliant creative thinking and execution. Not expensive, mind you, just strategically innovative, like the Burger King Flame campaign aimed at adolescent-minded guys for whom the idea of a meat-scented body spray is pretty sizzling. Keeping the creative bar high in the contest for online eyeballs is definitely one way to assure your content will catch on. The other, I have to admit, is just plain luck. In many cases, dumb luck. Take a look at our colleagues at Sterling Cooper, and you’ll see what I mean. (In the meantime, if I were you, I’d opt for brilliant creative.)

From BrandDigital

In the midst of the dark clouds of 2008, one of the most positive untold stories of 2008 is how Corporate Citizenship has become an important part of senior suite thinking. Even with the all of the challenges faced by companies across the board, corporate citizenship continues to gain momentum. New studies, most recently from The Economist Intelligence Unit, are showing that leading companies continue to see the value and most of them recognize that “business sustainability depends on effective corporate citizenship.” Innovative companies have already taken the lead and are reaping the benefits.

To see where this is going, a good place to start might be a quick look at GE. Recall that when CEO Jeff Immelt succeeded the legendary Jack Welsh, GE was in the midst of combating negative publicity over PCBs. Taking a completely different approach from his predecessor, Immelt took ownership of the problem and went about resolving it. He went on to refocus GE to go beyond solving problems it had created and launched the visionary ecomagination brand in May of 2005. At the time, it was perceived as a marketing adventure. Since then, GE has taking the mandate seriously and has used ecomagination as a touchstone to become a leading corporate citizen.

But this is not the old citizenship program. The mandate from the top is to identify opportunities to drive business while being a good corporate citizen. The program was considered ambitious with a goal of $20 billion in revenues by 2010. The results are impressive and have exceeded expectations. Today the ecomagination brand touches 60 products that deliver superior financial and environmental performance. This US$17 billion in revenues (2007) is small part of the company’s overall business. Its greater impact may be in serving to lead the company, giving it a new direction. Focus from ecomagination is credited with making GE a leader in wind turbines with $12 billion in sales.

One thing surveys seem to agree on is that in 2009 we can expect to see more companies recognizing that corporate citizenship is a necessary part of doing business; customers, employees, and investors are recognizing that good companies do better and have begun to consider other qualities beyond the bottom line that make a company succeed. It may also be the year that CSR / sustainability / citizenship shakes the old notion that good is a gift. As companies like GE have shown, corporate citizenship is a way to create competitive advantage.

2008 was a year when mistrust and bad news seemed to be ruling the day. With a new adminsitration in Washington, and an era of unquestioned growth ending, the good news may well be a return to core values. For companies with insight to align corporate citizenship with their business values, there may be a silver lining.

The final part of the SOTB three-parter on virals. Today’s six picks are viral marketing campaigns. Where the virals from part one and part two came from the world of advertising, today’s selections have their roots in promotion. The list includes games, interactive “build-your-own” cards or videos, and microsites where people can share stories.

As you might expect of these more promotion-oriented campaigns, they generally have more of a call-to-action than the ads already featured although that call-to-action is sometimes limited to clicking onto a link or spending time on a microsite. Making the connection between the viral idea, the brand, and a consumer action that might sooner or later drive business is a challenge that even these campaigns on the “best of” lists don’t quite manage to achieve.

The blue star (*) is for virals that made it into my (heavily-defended) inbox.

My favorite of these six: Vibe Verses

Vibe Verses

Why? Because of the strong connection between the competition and the brand plus the metrics which show that it was successful.

Bonus: A link to the new Burger King Fire Meets Desire site for their incredible new body spray: “The scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat.” Selling like hotcakes!

Part two of an SOTB three-parter on virals. Today’s six are what I’m classifying as YouTube-style ads. These are ads that take their cues from YouTube or other online channels, contrasting with the ads from part one (posted on Saturday) which are essentially modified TV ads. There are a couple of spoofs on the list as well as a couple of ads that directly mimic typical YouTube product reviews.

By embracing the medium more actively, these ads get a head start over those from part one, at least in terms of audience receptivity. And it’s probably no coincidence that the top picks from my “best-of” list sources come from this batch. These ads also have more of a call-to-action point about them than the first group although not that strong in all cases.

The blue star (*) is for virals that made it into my (heavily-defended) inbox.

My favorite of these six: Printing’s Alive

Partly because here I can actually see the data that proves that the ad worked but also just for the sheer bravado of the printing-loving printer.

Next up: Viral marketing campaigns

Audi is a great brand. Friends and colleagues who drive Audis love them for the entirety of the brand experience—from the way the car performs, to the way it looks, to what it says about them as auto aficionados.

What friends and colleagues, along with thousands of people I don’t know, don’t love about Audi is the company’s recent digital branding campaign, the Audi A4 Driving Challenge. It is not only not challenging, but it’s also not reflective in any way of the aforementioned Audi brand experience. In fact, gamers who download the application from iTunes to play on their iPod Touch see it as a poorly disguised attempt to advertise to them in the digital space. Unfortunately, the net take-away from reviews of the game is not just a bashing of the application, but a bashing of the brand. Ouch.

While it was smart of Audi to include digital in an overall branding strategy (essential in this day and age), the company should have made sure that, like everything else it does, its recent branding app delivered on the brand’s promise. One of the challenges of playing in the online space is determining how to get involved in a way that’s relevant to the brand and in keeping with what people already think about it. If Audi’s game was less of an “advergame” and more an active demonstration of its cars’ performance on challenging roadways, it would have served the company better.

The good thing about the digital space is that if something isn’t working you can take it off and move on to something else. I suggest that Audi take its current game off-road and get online with something that drives home what a great brand it is.

From BrandDigital

What counts as a good viral campaign? Is it just a question of circulation and buzz? Or should we be asking for a little more? A little more, I think. Here’s my own evaluation criteria:

1) Popularity: Did it actually go viral and create buzz?
2) Watchability/Engagement: Did it hold attention and engage the audience?
3) Branding: Was it on-brand and did it enhance the brand’s relevance and differentiation? Or—setting the bar a little lower—do you even remember the brand?
4) Call to action: Did it influence or support sales?

This three-part (yeah!) SOTB year-end special edition takes a look at the 2008 viral campaigns that have risen to the top of “best-of” lists. Most of the ads on these lists are enjoyable to watch but many are not so strong in terms of branding and especially call to action.

This first set of six campaigns are what I’m classifying as “high production quality” spots. These are ads that use online as another media channel making some adjustments for content (focus on watchability) and length (not restricting themselves to the 30 second format). The challenge for all these spots is that the single-minded pursuit of entertainment tends to crowd out everything else. “Great ad.” “Which brand?” “No idea.”

The blue star (*) is for virals that actually made it into my (heavily-defended) inbox.

Viral ads (high production):
1. Extreme Street Football *: Electronic Arts. Football/soccer from Brazil as never seen before.
2. Adam and Eve *: Centraal Beheer Insurance company ad featuring Adam and a disappointed Eve that was banned from TV before becoming an online hit.
3. Doghouse *: JCPenney’s ad about men being thrown into the doghouse for giving their significant others bad gifts. Generating big holiday buzz and a lot of blog commentary (reviews here [critical] and here [positive]).
4. Penguins: The BBC’s iPlayer service was launched with this video of a colony of Adelie Penguins flying thousands of miles across Antarctica to the Amazon Rainforest. It later released a viral video showing how it faked the footage.
5. Take it to the next level: Nike’s Guy Ritchie-directed tale of a teenage football/soccer star.
6. SFW XXX Party Invitation: Diesel’s naughty montage of 1980s porn films, supposedly SFW (safe-for-work) but that may depend on where you work.

My favorite of these six: Penguins (BBC)

For me, the best combination of popularity, watchability, brand consistency, and call to action. Also, in the tradition of April Fool’s jokes for the BBC that goes all the way back to Panorama’s famous spaghetti trees.

Next up: YouTube-style ads and then viral marketing

Sources:
1) Top 10 viral ads of the year: Organ Grinder Blog @ The Guardian
2) Top 10 Virals of 2008: Campaign
3) Top 100 funniest virals of 2008 The Sun’s Funny Ad Clips
4) Viral Hall of Fame: Marketing Sherpa’s 2008 list via “The Browser”
5) ViralBlog: Viral Ideas. Trends. Inspiration

From Brand Mix

Last week I left the cold NYC air for the relief of a conference in a much warmer climate. I arrived with two layers less, eager to learn, and curious about the renovation and rebranding the hotel venue had just undergone.

I was dropped off at the semi-circular driveway and felt like a star when the bell boy was slick enough to pick up on my last name from my luggage tag, and said, “Welcome Ms. Romero.” I followed him through the club-like lobby to the check-in area, and with room key in hand I was on the elevator within ten minutes of arriving. “Well, that was quick,” I said to myself. 

As far as swanky hotel rooms go, this was one was up there; the art work was modern and sleek, the trimmings black, and the Mac computer an unnecessary plus. So I started to unpack. After hanging up the requisite dresses for the warmer climate, I went to place some cardigans in a cabinet. And there it was, TA-DA…the dude before me left his stuff. How do I know it was a guy, you ask? Because it was dirty boxers and socks! Ick!!! Yuck! Really?

Talk about a great brand experience gone wrong. Way wrong! For the remainder of my stay, it didn’t matter how amazing the view of the beach was, how delicious the mojitos were, or even how expensive the coffee was at the coffee shop. I found dingy boxers and socks in my room! And that is the story I tell everyone who asks me, “OMG! You stayed at HOTEL X! How was it?” Me: “It was great, but the grossest thing happened…”

Lesson learned: Don’t underestimate the value of a brand experience; from start to finish. Ensure that your rebranding isn’t just cosmetic. And more importantly, if you’re brand depends on people to provide the experience, ensure that they’re on brand. What good was my celebrity feeling upon arrival, if it all went to pieces in the privacy of my hotel room?

This same hotel now has plans to expand its footprint. It’s one of the oldest in the city and is looking to make a name for itself elsewhere. But before doing that, I suggest it get its employees engaged and in agreement on how the work they do impacts the overall experience.
 

It happens to all of us right? You are visiting a new country far from home. You are happy to be in a different place, under a different sky. You are searching for authenticity, for the “real thing.” Walking down main street, you look around and hope to find the most genuine shop with a true local flavor. But all you see are Marlboro Classics, Zara, and Benetton. All of a sudden, you are depressed. Is this what it means to have a global village—global standardization? And then you feel guilty. I work for the big brands. I made that happen.

There are two ways to react. One option is to become a fierce anti-consumerism anarchist and join the rebellion against the branding establishment. But I am not so sure that it is the most effective path. The second option is much more exciting. As a branding person, you can be the main ambassador for local brands. You can be the main supporter of the branding beginners.

And there are so many beginners! We just need to be aware of this and make sure that they will be able to compete with the big global brands one day. It is our challenge and it should be our aspiration, too. The clothing industry is an interesting example. Why? It is highly competitive. There is room for many local brands all across the globe. One example is Odel in Sri Lanka, a wonderful story of humble and efficient branding.

Otara’s salvation
Odel’s tale is a fairy tale, the kind of story that we love to hear because it makes us believe in people power. No, it is not only about money. Odel began when Otara Gunewardene started selling clothes to family and friends out of the trunk of her car. Although she stumbled on the fashion retailing industry accidentally, Otara saw the potential for launching a range of stylish clothing aimed at fashion-conscious Sri Lankans and in 1990, she started Odel. Her flagship store, the Odel Warehouse at Dickman’s road (Colombo) revolutionized the concept of department store in Sri Lanka.

In 2004, Odel revealed its new identity based around the theme of “mind, body, and soul,” a concept that well positions Odel to be an international superstore. To support its philosophy, Odel created a foundation committed to the conservation of the environment, a critical issue in Sri Lanka. Odel’s CEO and founder Otara became Sri Lanka’s ambassador for World Animal day. Just like Richard Branson (the founder of Virgin), Otara uses her charisma and personality to express the values of her brand.

Small branding is beautiful
Odel is not unique. Think of Hoalen in France or Noorjehan in Pakistan. What do all these stories tell us? They tell us that consumers are looking for more creativity and authenticity.

Maybe, big brands offering the same products across the globe are wrong.