Cause marketing: Consider the merits

Today on the van Schouwen Associates Facebook page, we linked to a Harvard Business Review article by Tony Schwartz. We liked the article because it touched down at the intersection of business and personal... and thus touched a nerve. The article is Turning 60: The Twelve Most Important Lessons I've Learned So Far, and one of the lessons was "Add more value in the world than you're using up."

Which brings us to cause marketing. Cause marketing meets at the intersection of doing good business and, well... doing good.

Wikipedia describes cause marketing as " involving the cooperative efforts of a 'for profit' business and a non-profit organization for mutual benefit." You see cause marketing everywhere: think pink ribbons on nearly every product imaginable, to support breast cancer awareness. But many companies are involved in less prominent efforts as well.

At its best, cause marketing is a win-win. Cause marketing should benefit the philanthropic cause and the company.

It should be sincere and well-intentioned. Efforts to exploit a cause tend to become transparent and to backfire. Pink ribbons come to mind again – but this time, they are on a bucket of KFC, not exactly a food high on the breast cancer prevention list. Both company and non-profit cause need to commit to a mutually beneficial team effort, and to agree on what that means.

It should be relevant to the company's offerings and mission. vSA client Excel Dryer provides an excellent example, putting its muscle (and its energy efficient, resource-saving high-speed hand dryers) into causes that matter, including The Green Schoolhouse Series, which is building environmentally sustainable Green Schoolhouses at Title I, low-income public schools.

It should be a cause that the company's prospects, customers and stakeholders can appreciate, not resent. After all, this is marketing. Choosing to cause market for a hot-button issue? First think of the old adage "don't talk sex, politics or religion at the dinner table" and consider who's at your table, marketing-wise.

Cause marketing requires commitment. Are you ready for a serious marketing program? Just as you should not get a puppy unless you are prepared to love a dog... well, you get it. Prepare to be involved for a reasonable period of time and to commit appropriate resources to your cause marketing program.

Cause marketing has its proponents (it works! it benefits company and cause!) and its detractors (it's self serving!). Follow the guidelines above and plan your approach carefully, and you are likely to become an advocate.

 

 

Take the night off - and read about thinking

A book that nudges you into thinking in a whole different way... in this case, about thinking itself ... is a great way to get those synapses firing.

Treat yourself to an evening (or two) with Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman; the preceding link goes to a review I particularly liked, so I'm not going to attempt to improve on it here. A friend recommended Thinking, Fast and Slow via Facebook, saying it caused a "paradigm shift" in his own thinking. I am particularly taken by the concept of the systematic mistakes and non-logical thought processes to which most of us succumb. Just one example: Test subjects are more likely to opt for surgery if told that the “survival” rate is 90 percent, rather than that the mortality rate is 10 percent. Mind you, not all of us fall for this one – but as you read, I imagine you'll find yourself nodding ruefully at times!

Kahneman explores the strengths and (more important) the limitations of heuristics (experience-based techniques for problem solving) and reveals some of the limitations on our "System 1" or "nearly automatic" thinking. While it is imperative not to have to rethink everything from the ground up, it became apparent to me as I read that taking care not to over-assume and speed to resolution on problems might serve a purpose professionally and personally.

I'd enjoy hearing your take. Me? I'm questioning my snap assumptions... that is, when I remember to take the time to do so.

We can't look away...

... so we might as well learn something.

Who said it best at the Florida Republican debate this week? Was it Ron Paul, who when asked about his opponents' investments, said, "That subject really doesn't interest me a whole lot"? Or Rick Santorum, stating that Newt Gingrich consulted with industry and Mitt Romney made a fortune. "Leave it alone. Focus on the issues"?

Whether you like Paul and Santorum or hold them in low esteem, they are right in this case.

The many instances during which Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich snarl and sneer at one another as the race heats up waste the public's time... but are also a good lesson for any business marketer. B2B marketers can typically assume that their prospects are reasonably intelligent at the least, very busy and probably stressed. B2B prospects tend to resent having their time wasted. (Does that sound like you and me as we follow the Republican hopefuls?)

Business marketers must recognize that shedding light, not heat, will best propel their agendas forward. The B2B equivalent of serious discussions about federal spending, tax reform and foreign policy is communication that responds to the very real concerns of constituents – such as facility managers contrasting retrofit opportunities with those of building anew and companies assessing how best to adhere to safety regulations while increasing manufacturing productivity. That's meaningful, similar to hearing the candidates go into detail about what types of economic reform will stimulate this still sluggish economy... and why.

Less productive in B2B marketing campaigns? Simply stating that you are better than the competition, relying on the ability to outspend the competition – or touting the features and benefits of your offerings without specifying exactly why your prospect will find them useful or superior to competitive offerings. (Okay, in fairness to 2012 presidential campaign politics, the men left standing in this primary do attempt to speak in substance, but their sniping – including Gingrich's increasingly strident insistence that Romney is a "liar" – tends to drown out the important discourse the public needs to hear.)

We'll be listening... not just to the primary but to the full presidential campaign, and (here at vSA) to our business clients, many of us hopeful that whatever the nation decides, in 2013 we'll be having a serious conversation about what needs to be done to keep the U.S. strong and smart... and then seeing serious action to make it happen.

After all the campaign marketing we've heard so far and will continue to hear, citizens (like customers) deserve to see promises kept. This is true in politics, and true in business. Every constituency is best served when we demand and deliver authentic communication about issues that matter... and then follow through on promises made.

 

Refresh, update and manage your website: It's easier than ever

Nearly every one of our clients voices this one goal at some point: to make its website a vibrant, up-to-date representation of the organization's offerings, vision and brand. The good news is that it is getting easier every day to do just that, even for companies with not-so-expansive marketing budgets and limited staff time and technical know-how.

There are several increasingly popular development platforms that allow companies and organizations to be nimble and to easily take advantage of useful capabilities including generation of e-news bulletins, and creation of charts/tables, surveys, event calendars, and a whole lot more.

One of the website development platforms van Schouwen Associates increasingly uses for clients who want broad capabilities and simpler self-management of their sites is WordPress. It is an especially good choice for any website the client would like to update in-house without needing a trained Web developer for everyday changes.

Optimally, the development process itself involves using Web development pros: In our case, van Schouwen Associates builds the site (planning, design, writing, programming, installation of tools/plug-ins, and often some admin training for the client). If the client desires, we then hand over the keys – and assure the client that we're here anytime they want support or to further expand their site's capabilities and scope.

Will WordPress be a good platform option for your next website?

• As of August 2011, open-source WordPress powered 22% of all new websites. According to BuiltWith (a firm that monitors internet technology trends) WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) on the internet. It's not just for blogs anymore!

• Open source means frequent updates - so your site can stay up-to-date and browser compatible.

• WordPress provides design templates, but developers can go well beyond these, and a WordPress site can be elegant and highly customized. It does not have to scream "I am WordPress." At all.

• The site can integrate any of a multitude of custom plug-ins to expand its functionality... from events calendars, survey capabilities, table and graph development, and email/newsletter delivery to... well, you name it.

• Non-web developers will enjoy the WYSIWYG editing previews (what you see is what you get); including WordPress’ image upload and editing capabilities – scale, crop, rotate... done.

WordPress is certainly not the only such tool to facilitate ease of website management – but it is one great option to explore. If you'd like to talk with us about your website and related communication needs, we would enjoy discussing this and other development options to create a strong, dynamic and ultimately successful website.

 

The problem with bank marketing

Why is most bank marketing so dull?

There are several reasons.

The best marketing differentiates: Banking is heavily regulated, so most banks offer pretty much the same services and products. And that shows in conventional bank marketing.

The law of supply and demand influences the level of excitement any company can generate: How many banks are within a five mile radius of your business or home? How many more can you access and utilize on the Web? So much for being the only game in town.

Marketing for which you could swap out one company's name and replace it with another's is lame. But banks do it every single day, because it is genuinely hard to say something unique.

It doesn't have to be this way. Here are tips for better bank marketing in 2012...

•Speaking the truth about what people and businesses are facing, what they need and what really matters in their banking relationships can indeed help.

•Researching customer and non-customer needs and impressions of your bank is well worth your while.

•Having the nerve to confront your competitors' missteps (charging for debit card use is a great example) is worth considering. Their mistake... your benefit.

•Being upfront and out-front about what actually differentiates your bank matters. To go a step farther, make some changes that DO differentiate your bank. Stay open late! Offer personal and private banking. Help customers avoid fees. Provide out-of-the box products - it IS possible even within the bounds of this regulatory climate.

•Focus your messaging more than ever before. Katelyn and Justin, age 26 and newly living together have different wants and needs than Esther, 69 and on her own for the first time ever. Or John, saving for his daughter's education and hos own retirement... while paying two mortgages. Or Charlene, striving to grow her software development start-up. These differences call you to use micro-marketing including new methods of interactive and social media outreach to speak WITH your prospects and customers in an authentic voice. And to hear what they have to say as well.

•Newspaper ads and stuffers may be fun, but are not the way most new customers will be won. Not anymore. See above.

•Use your online banking portal to cross-market, but don't go overboard. When people want to pay a bill online and are deluged with less-than-relevant pop-up ads or in-portal "personal" emails that turn out to be globally issued sales messages, they turn off.

•Most of all, banks must SERVE a new world. Sorry to bring this up, but banks, especially large ones, have lost the public's trust and need to regain it. Walk the walk, providing the services customers need and the honesty they deserve. Then talk about what you do - and your customers and influentials will too.

 

Good news. Good to see.

[caption id="attachment_1311" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Northeast Treaters transforms 35,000 square feet of roof into a solar photovoltaic power plant."][/caption]

We're accustomed to absorbing discouraging news in the national and regional press. Teeth-gnashing politics, tear-gassed protesters, sex abuse scandals, devastating storms... we need to know.

News for trend trackers

But there is more to the news than imminent doom. There's problem solving. van Schouwen Associates' team provides client media relations, so our relationship with the news involves dealing with the nuts-and-bolts (and electrons and microchips, etc.) of business trends and challenges. When a company engineers a way to deal with a business or environmental challenge or harness an opportunity, talking about it in the press helps effect change.

This time, a client is harnessing sunshine.

We're working with client Northeast Treaters, which has good news stemming from a forward-thinking project. Belchertown, MA-based Northeast Treaters has developed a 35,000 square-foot solar photovoltaic plant that generates 80 percent of the electricity used by the company. It was built by local and regional workers, with materials from the region and the U.S.

Local green jobs, local green energy.

Last week's open house to celebrate the solar endeavor drew customers, influentials and the media. The press so far has done the project justice, and we extend our appreciation to Springfield, MA NBC affiliate -Channel 22, Springfield, MA CBS affiliate Channel 3 and The Republican (among others who will create a story about the project) for taking the effort to highlight how one company can make a difference in the local economy and to the environment by putting action behind its commitment to both.

Isn't it great to see good news for a change?

SEO bugaboo

[caption id="attachment_1289" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Icon from the AMC show MadMen"][/caption]

You might be surprised. You've worked on your company's SEO and are feeling pretty good. (Or moderately good.)

But hang on a minute... you may be missing something.

Take our own firm's experience as an example. Differentiating a marketing firm in a few words (e.g. search terms) can be surprisingly difficult. Standing out in online search engines from the four zillion competitors within Western Massachusetts (even just greater Springfield) is an ongoing, albeit fun, project.

One reason? The search terms people use to search for a firm like ours are not always words vSA would first or ideally use to describe itself. In MadMen days, a firm like van Schouwen Associates was almost always called an advertising agency. Despite the fact that now vSA provides value through more holistic business-to-business (B2B) strategic marketing including interactive, public relations, media relations and a whole host of other stuff that is more effective than ads alone, we find that many prospects still type in the search term "advertising agency" or "ad agency" when they Google. Even though they don't want 20th century-style straight-up advertising, but instead maybe a grassroots communications program, or eblasts or consulting. Even though they may be searching for what vSA does.

Do you know what search terms your missing prospects are typing in – and then finding your competitor? There are many tools you can use to find out – or, hey, just ask your "advertising agency"!