The New Marketing - Networking

With advanced technology, it seems like people are spending more and more time alone.  Why get out of your PJs if you can sit in front of your computer and instantly access anyone or anything you want?  Skype, Facetime, IM, there are many ways to connect with other both verbally and visually but something is missing.  Call me old fashion but there's something to be said for meeting people face-to-face.

This coming weekend I'll be attending a conference focuses on Internet Marketing.  It's a relatively small conference but has some of the best and brightest in the industry presenting and attending.  Personally I'm looking forward to meeting people face-to-face and getting to know them.  By having this connection, it enriches the virtual connections that we'll make long after the conference via email, phone, Skype, etc.

What would happen without physical limits?
I always asked myself what would be missing if we never made the effort to meet people face to face. Specifically, what if we never went to meetings, conferences, dinners, meet and greets, etc.?  For me, the answer is "I don't want to know."  Something would definitely be missing if one day we decided to focus on leveraging the technology alone and eliminate live interactions.

One example of this is the paperback book.  Today I read just about everything on my computer, ipad, or smartphone... but still love picking up a real book.  In some ways, it makes me appreciate something I used to take for granted - and I enjoy it even more.  It's my belief that human interaction works much the same way.  Although we may be less dependent upon this interaction, it's appreciated none-the-less. It does require an effort though.  If you want to get out and know people, you literally need to go out.  A Google Hangout can't replace real life connections!

What are you doing to connect?
For many of us, connecting in a new environment has it's challenges.  I for one am not the best in new situations where I don't have established connections. But I push myself anyway - and I'm always glad I do.  I know that meeting new people in your niche can be challenging but the good news is that everyone has something in common.  This is half the marketing battle.

As a next step, seek out real-life interactions you can engage in.  Local meet-ups, conferences, events.  There are plenty of opportunities out there to step outside your comfort zone and build some meaningful relationships.  I encourage you to find one event that interests you and sign up to attend.  Here are some strategies you can use to make the event more enjoyable:

1.  Bring a friend.  Things are a lot less anxiety-provoking when you have someone with you that you're already comfortable with.

2.  Bring business cards.  Don't get caught off guard.  Bring plenty of business cards if you plan to network and establish new relationships.

3.  Don't wait for someone to speak to you.  In order to get the most from your event, take initiative.  Don't be a wallflower.  Introduce yourself and ask about the other person, "where are you from?" "what do you do".

4.  Follow up.  Make the most of your marketing investment.  Follow up with the people you meet - connect on Google Plus and LinkedIn.

By taking initiative and meeting people face-to-face, you can start to develop long lasting connections that serve you well in the future.  You may even have a good time and enjoy the interactions you have.  The key is to start small and build up.  Over time, you'll become more comfortable with networking.

Brand Update : Cinthol says Alive is Awesome

It is very easy to kill a brand or weaken its positioning. Ignore it, reduce investment and within no time, the brand will fade away from consumer's mind. But to bring a brand from obscurity to stardom is a Herculean task. 

Cinthol is one such iconic brand which now has the daunting task of bringing the old glory back. The neglected 60 year old brand from Godrej's stable saw some activity in 2008 when the brand was re-packaged and Hrithik Roshan was introduced to endorse the brand.  The brand also saw a new tagline " Don't Stop" . Some hope was restored about the brand's future. But alas, the enthusiasm was temporary and the campaign died down. For the last couple of years, the brand went again into slumber except for some sporadic campaigns.

Now with much hope, the brand owners have decided  ONCE AGAIN to reposition Cinthol. The brand will be launching the new campaign soon .

Watch the new ad here : Cinthol campaign

The brand has hit upon a new idea " Being Alive is Awesome ". The ad is targeted at the younger consumers who wants to live their life to the fullest and the brand has tried to squeeze itself in the entire scheme of things. In a sense, the tagline represents the brand essence of  a very active lifestyle. But the question is did the brand used the earlier positioning of  " Don't Stop" to the maximum ? These frequent changes in the tagline and the positioning has affected this brand by confusing the consumers with different messages and brand promises. 

I feel that in the new campaign , the brand is trying little too hard to relate to the new generation. For a brand like Cinthol, it need to resist from trying hard to convince. The lyrics and the singing ( rather screaming) gives me a feeling that the brand is desperate to connect to the new generation consumers. That desperation is sadly visible in the campaign. For example the term awesome is a very visible  and obvious attempt to show that the brand is young. But why try hard ? 

To be fair to the brand, it is a smart idea for the brand to go back to the classic form factor and  packaging.  The classic Cinthol comes in the rectangular bathing bar form while the variants came in the usual  soap form with rounded edges. The brand had earlier retained the traditional paper wrapper to the Classic Cinthol and used the common plastic pack for the variants. Here in the new avatar, the brand uses the  rectangular bar form in all the variants and the packaging is also same as that of Classic Cinthol soap. The form factor can give the brand a unique identity.

Alive is Awesome as a positioning platform makes sense. I hope that in subsequent campaigns, the brand will take this concept to a higher level. Sadly the experience so far suggest that after the initial spurt, the brand has a tendency to go to hibernation. And when it rises again, then there will be a new agency and a new positioning. 

Related Brand

Cinthol

Why Does a Click Matter: Conversion Optimization

The most important information that you can take from your website is the Conversion optimization rate. It is all about taking the traffic that comes to your site and converting them into solid customers. It can be difficult to understand at first, and you may feel that a lot of useless information is provided but the truth is that it is necessary information for helping your website to succeed.

It can be confusing to try and understand the difference between SEO and CO, but there is a very distinct difference. SEO is the type of marketing that is done in order to drive traffic to your site. Traffic is important for the more people that come to your site the more likely you are to get a customer. CO is the concentration of taking that traffic and converting them into customers.

Guests are people that are sent to your website by referral, PPC, organic search engine listing, or by searching directly for your company. A guest is someone that just comes by the site and maybe checks out a couple of things, but does not commit to purchasing. These guests are very common, and while it is great to have a decent amount of guests it is much better to have customers, and this is when CO comes into play.  The most important part of CO is trying to find the niche the will help convert your guests into customers.


There are several questions that you will need to answer in order to help concentrate your efforts in the right area:
--How often does a guest decide to purchase?
--Where did that guest come from or was referred from?
--Was the cost for the marketing worth the amount of referrals or traffic?
--Where did the guests go and visit once they accessed your site?
--What were the guests viewing when they left your site and did not become a customer?

It may seem like these could be rather easy questions to answer, but the truth is that a lot of companies that fail in their internet marketing campaigns are often ignoring the answers to these questions. There are specific reasons for why it is important to take your time and weigh all of your options when it comes to internet marketing and here are a few examples:

Example 1:
Most companies do not start from scratch with their marketing plans. They tend to take a look at what their competitors have done and build on their successes while trying to avoid their failures. You may notice that just because you choose to try and duplicate a competitor’s successful marketing it may not always work out the same for your company.

A lot of internet marketing has to do with trial and error. Most companies start out with casting a large net to try and catch as many fishes as possible. Then once they have a solid stock of fishes take a look at your strategy and begin to narrow down your tactics so you only attract the most attractive fish. The reasoning behind these tactics is simple. You first want to help build a name for your company, and then once you have a solid set of traffic concentrate on getting those people to purchase from your company.

Example 2:
It is important to keep an eye on where the most solid traffic is coming from and how to make those people customers. A certain type of marketing, such as referrals, could seem like a great way to bring in traffic. The only problem is that just because a lot of traffic comes from that area does not mean that it is quality traffic that you are receiving.

You will want to concentrate your efforts on an area where you not only receive a lot of traffic, but you also receive a lot of traffic that will turn into customers. It may seem expensive to invest in pay per click advertising, but when you look at the numbers if you receive a great deal of traffic that converts into customers than it is probably a smart decision to keep it.

Example 3:
Track all traffic. It is very easy to think that you should focus all of your effort into one category, such as organic listing. The only problem is that you may receive a decent amount of business from PPC advertising as well. Then you will want to weigh out the cost versus benefit ratio. PPC advertising is something you have to pay for every single time someone comes to your site. Take the amount of money you spend and compare it to the amount of money that you make off of those customers. More is not always better, if you are spending more money than you are making then it is probably a better idea to concentrate your efforts somewhere else.

The bottom line is that if you are trying to make a successful business online than it is important to look at the entire picture and not just the little bits and pieces that catch your attention.

Guest post provided by DiscoverTec CEO Donny Lamey. DiscoverTec is a web design, web development and web hosting solution company located in Jacksonville, Florida.

Brand Update : Tata Safari and the Art of Laziness

I always loved Tata Safari. Despite the bad reviews, nagging product issues, this brand was always an aspiration for me ( yet to be fulfilled). The brand which was one of the first SUVs in India had something in it which attracted people like me. And as reports validate, there are die-hard Safari fans who cling to their brand despite frequent visits to the workshop.

Sometimes we look at certain products and say ' What a Potential Wasted'. Alas, looking at Safari, I am forced to think about a wasted potential. 

This brand was launched full five years before the launch of Scorpio and see where these two brands are now . Scorpio redefined the SUV market but Safari is still on the sidelines.

And till now the brand has not learned its lessons.

When was the last time you saw a Tata Safari Advertisement and said WoW. When was the last time the product was upgraded ?

It seems that Tata Motors suddenly lost its marketing acumen. More worrying is that the company has lost interest in investing on this ageing brand. According to news reports, Tata Motors is planning to launch the much  spruced up version of Tata Safari branded as Safari Storme later this year. But going by the fate of Aria, I don't give much hope to the new launch because suddenly Tata Motors seems to lose interest in brand building. 

Tata Safari lost one of the most opportune moments in its lifecycle. Indian consumers were shifting towards diesel models, markets were indicating potential of smaller SUV and new price points were opening up in the SUV market. But Safari was blind to all these. To my surprise, it did not even acknowledged the presence of new competing brands like Duster, Xylo, Evalia or even Scorpio. The brand was in a perfect blindness. 

There was no product improvement or campaigns for the brand in these times except for some dull discount ads by the dealers. 

To my utter disappoinment, Tata Safari is now an example of Myopic Marketing wasting a potential to build an iconic brand. 

Related Brand

Tata Safari

Brand Update : Design. It Matters for Xylys

Xylys,  the premium watch brand from Titan is on a repositioning mode again. The brand has been toying with many positioning platforms seems to have zeroed in on Design as its major USP. Having said that, Design was always the USP for Xylys but it took many positioning experiments for the brand to state the obvious.

Xylys also has a new brand ambassador in Farhan Akthar- the famous bollywood director and actor.

The brand is running a new television campaign featuring the celebrity and the new positioning theme. Xylys also has a new tagline " Design. it matters " emphasizing on the new positioning. The new tagline is far far better than the earlier one " It possesses You ". The brand in a way changed the focus from the user to the product.

Watch the new ad here : Xylys

The ad although nicely made does not have any WoW factor in it because the style of execution of a narrative has been used by many brands before. 

The brand has hit upon a pretty decent positioning platform which gives it enough firepower to build its image. Design is a powerful term and the brand must live its promise through its products. Unlike many words like Style, Elegance etc, Design is a term that encompasses all facets of a product. It is the sum total of all features, attributes, benefits of an offering. And as the brand says, Design matters very much in this era. Hope that the brand sticks to this positioning and make the best out of this good idea.

Related brand

Xylys : It possesses You

Google Fiber: The Next Change in Marketing Technology

Techcrunch recently featured an article that mentions the test Google has been running on a limited scale with Google Fiber.  The first time I read about Google entry into the cable market, I got a knot in my stomach.  Personally it's a little too "big brother" for me, but the fact that they are able to transmit data almost 100 times faster than what we have now was pretty exciting to say the least.  Now the coverage has moved from speed and clarity to programming.

The most recent article from Techcrunch says, "When Google first announced the details of its Kansas City fiber rollout, one of the knocks against it was that its channel lineup was a little thin. While it had struck deals to bring video subscribers more than 116 channels, at the time of its announcement, it was missing some notable channels — stuff like ESPN, Disney, AMC, TBS, TNT, and HBO.

Today, Google announced it has also added content from Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting. The Turner deal will provide channels like Boomerang, Cartoon Network, CNN, CNN en Español, CNN International, HLN, hTV, infinito, TBS, TCM: Turner Classic Movies, TNT, and truTV. That brings Google almost on the same playing field with other distributors.  Currently Google is charging one hundred and twenty bucks a month for TV and 1Gbps broadband which is inline with other offerings."

This shift, in my opinion means a couple of things.  The first is that the fiber itself, and the fact that you'll be able to stream shows, movies, data, etc. extremely fast is no longer the marketing objective.  Rather, Google is going after a greater share of eyeballs offline.  Think about it.  If they have your attention for advertising online and offline, they not only generate billions more, but they own the consumer.

I don't know about you but this type of strategy makes me uncomfortable.  Knowing that data and other types of zeros and ones can be transmitted faster and in greater quantity is enough for impatient individuals like myself.  However, taking a greater share of my time - at work or play - is purely one sided.

If Google wants to own more of my time, they need to provide something of value.  Will they learn my viewing habits and skip commercials?  I think not.  Unfortunately its still all about the advertising.  What do you think?  Will marketing change based on this type of enhancement or are we just seeing more of the same?

GoDaddy Outage: What It Means for Your Business

It's true, Godaddy.com got hacked and millions of sites were impacted.  Based on this article from TechCrunch the issue was noted yesterday morning and many sites hosted by Godaddy were down for most of the day.  An update was posted on their website in the early evening stated they had restored many of their hosting accounts.

According to many customers, sites hosted by major web host and domain registrar GoDaddy are down. According to the official GoDaddy Twitter account the company is aware of the issue and is working to resolve it. Update: customers are complaining that GoDaddy hosted e-mail accounts are down as well, along with GoDaddy phone service and all sites using GoDaddy’s DNS service.

A member of Anonymous known as AnonymousOwn3r is claiming responsibility, and makes it clear this is not an Anonymous collective action.

Godaddy was quick to mention that personal information including payment information and emails on file were not accessed, easing the minds of Godaddy customers who may have been concerned about the breach.

What the GoDaddy Outage Means for Your Business

If you have an account with Godaddy, whether domains or a hosting account (or many hosting accounts), you must realize that no host is immune to hackers.  the lesson to be learned is that taking site backups on a regular basis is essential.  Furthermore, you should diversify your business.

Diversification means that you are not just relying on a single website to generate revenue. This is the benefit of using blogs, forums, and other resources to communicate with both customers and prospects.  Give some thought to what a similar issue would do to your business.  Develop a back-up-plan and strategy for a similar situation.  Don't leave your business website to chance.

Brand Update : Maggi's 2 Minute Mein Khushiyam With BigB

Maggi , which created the noodles category in India has now none other than Amitabh Bachchan as its brand ambassador. The brand is being endorsed by a celebrity for the first time in its history. And Big B is an intriguing choice for a brand which is most patronized by young children.

Maggi holds a commanding position in the Noodles Segment with over 60% market share. Off late, the brand is facing competition from brands like Horlicks, TopRamen Sunfeast Yippie etc. And further the brand is feeling a disconnect with the new generation customers who now have more choices for indulgence other than noodles. Maggi now faces not only brand competition but also industry competition from similar products like Pizzas. Even fast food joints are taking away consumers from the brand. At this point , the brand needs to stay relevant to the consumers since consumers have a wider choice of indulgence.

Maggi's choice of Big B as the brand ambassador is little puzzling. Amitabh Bachchan as a celebrity commands immense respect among the audiences. He is an amazing story teller and has unmatched screen presence and Maggi wants to build more authenticity through his endorsement. The new campaign featuring Big B is an extension of the highly successful Me and Meri Maggi theme where the brand tried to crowdsource stories of customer experience with Maggi. 

The campaign brought back many segments of consumers who moved away from the brand since they have grown up. The brand again brought back focus on itself and its heritage and the USP of 2 minutes. The campaign in a way was the counter strike against the competitor's focus on health and nutrition.

Big B was introduced as a story teller who narrates the various stories supplied by the consumers through the various touchpoints created by the brand. The brand is running a campaign featuring this stories.

Watch the ads Here

The ads focus on the ease of cooking  ( convenience) and the happiness thereby attempting to take the consumer's focus away from the health platform adopted by Horlicks, Sunfeast Yippie etc. Sunfeast has roped in Saina Nehwal as its endorser.

The brand has a new slogan " 2 minute mein Khushiyan " . It is interesting to note that the brand has brought back the 2 minutes proposition after a long time. 

Although Amitabh Bachchan is a master story teller, I find some how a disconnect between the brand and the celebrity. The thought is that  " he is not the right person to endorse the brand". This is despite the fact that he commands respect from across age groups.

Having said that the presence of the powerful celebrity along with the smart collection of real life stories of brand consumption adds a big boost to this brand. The brand exactly needs such a boost at this point of its life cycle. The problem with such heritage brand is that over the period of time, the communication becomes boring. Booster shots like these will again revive the energy levels for the brand to move and face competition head on.

Related brand

Maggi 

How To Get Your Website Ranked #1

Achieving the top ranking for a specific keyword phrase is more challenging then ever - but still possible!  Find out how to reach number one on Google, today's largest search engine.  

Register for my next SEO webinar but act fast, spots are limited.

Powerful SEO Strategies for #1 Rankings
Date:  Thursday, 9/13/2012
Time:  2:00 PM EST

If your website had the number one organic ranking, what would it mean?  Companies and individuals who are at the top of organic search results report increases in traffic, brand awareness, and conversions for both products and services.

Don't miss out.  Attend my next SEO webinar.  Nothing to buy, just great search engine optimization information you can use right away to get your website moving in the right direction.  You shouldn't leave SEO to chance.  Click here to register for this free event.