26. August 2009 by admin.

Pop Quiz!What do these people have in common?

·         Mariel Hemingway -Author & Actress

·         Peter Falt of BMW Group Designworks USA

·         Greg Owsley of New Belgium Brewing (Fat Tire beer)

·         Adam Werbach of Saatchi & Saatchi S

·         Joe Green founder of Facebook Causes.com

Multiple Choice Answers:

1.       They all drink Fat Tire

2.       They all drive BMW’s

3.       They all target LOHAS

The correct answer is number 3 (of course).  

Greg, Mariel, Peter, Adam and Joe were among the 60+ speakers at the LOHAS 13 Forum which took place last month in Colorado. This forum attracted business leaders from all industries and over 300 companies to network, share best practices and invigorate eco-entrepreneurship. If your business is built around renewable energy, earth friendly products, “functional” food, “green” buildings and homes, ecotourism, wellness, or any kind of “green” services in general – you should know about LOHAS.

What or rather who are LOHAS you might ask!

As a follow up to my last post on “green marketers”, I am happy to share with you information about LOHAS—one of the niche market to target as an eco-conscious company.

The information hereunder is an edited extract from the website www.lohas.com.

LOHAS is an acronym for Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability, a market segment focused on health and fitness, the environment, personal development, sustainable living, and social justice.

Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) describes an estimated $209 billion U.S. marketplace for goods and services focused on health, the environment, social justice, personal development and sustainable living. Approximately 19% percent of the adults in the U.S., or 41 million people, are currently considered LOHAS Consumers (based on surveys of the U.S. adult population estimated at 215 million.) Despite the size of this niche, their power as a consumer market remains virtually untapped.

LOHAS consumers, sometimes referred to as Lohasians, are interested in products covering a range of market sectors and sub-sectors, including: Green building supplies, socially responsible investing and “green stocks”, alternative healthcare, organic clothing and food, personal development media, yoga and other fitness products, eco-tourism and more. LOHAS companies practice “responsible capitalism” by providing goods and services using economic and environmentally sustainable business practices. 

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8. July 2009 by admin.

I have been doing some reading and research to learn more about how eco-conscious companies are incorporating and translating their values and mission into their marketing efforts. It has been an eye-opening exercise as I discovered the fine line “green marketers” have to walk in order to be relevant, credible and compelling to an increasingly skeptical public.

Andrew Shapiro, CEO of GreenOrder is quoted “We are hearing more and more that consumers and activists are pointing out the irony that a company may spend twice as much promoting a green achievement as they did on the achievement itself…an effective message is not always one that’s marketed with the most dollars.” (“Strategies for the Green Economy” by Joel Makower.) Shapiro points out that “it is critical for a company to align its sustainability initiatives with its core business objective and growth trajectory….(so that) it can leverage and use sustainability as a source of value creation as opposed to simply something that is a marker of good citizenship.”

So I have decided to look for best practices by small companies in the category of “green marketing” and share them with you as I discover them in hopes of inspiring and maybe igniting new ideas for your own business.

As a typical entrepreneur, Jeff Lebesch started New Belgium Brewing Co. in his basement….his wife Kim Jordan was New Belgium’s first bottler, sales rep, distributor, marketer and financial planner.

Jeff and Kim have grown their company to be one of the most respected in their industry for not only the quality of their product but also for its progressive environmental and workplace practices. It only takes a few seconds when visiting their website (http://www.newbelgium.com) to “get” their story. The culture and core values of the company are impregnated throughout. Notably the “sustainability” page outlines their commitment to the cause and lists specific actions they have or will implement in this pursuit, including Sustainable Eventing & Actionable Advocacy. These are green marketing best practices:

Sustainable Eventing

We try to minimize the environmental impact of our events at every turn. Our philanthropic bike festival, Tour de Fat, celebrates bicycling as a viable form of alternative transport. A solar-powered stage provides sound for the day, beer is served in compostable cups and our overall waste stream diversion rate is better than 85%. Tour de Fat

Actionable Advocacy

We’re members of 1% For the Planet, which means that, through donations and fund-raisers, 1% of our revenue goes to environmental non-profits.

Team Wonderbike, our bicycle commuter advocacy program, has more than 10,000 members who have pledged to offset more than eight million car miles by riding their bikes more over the next twelve months.

Public speaking/education: Because we make and sell beer, people are interested in our story. We’ve been very successful while being values-driven, and we strive to be a business role model.

To encourage sustainable transportation, every employee gets a custom cruiser bike after one-year of employment.

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6. July 2009 by admin.

The most frequently asked questions at all the Social Media Marketing seminars and presentations I have attended is: “How can my company have a presence in the social networking sites without risking employees misrepresenting or tarnishing the brand by sending and posting the ”wrong” messages?”

Paula Bergs, Manager of Emerging Media at Southwest Airlines share how her company is successfully rising over that challenge in this interview with Mike Volpe, VP of Inbound Marketing.

“Southwest is a fantastic example of a company that does not limit its social media activity and community engagement, regardless of the company’s large size. At Southwest, the Emerging Media team manages the company’s social media presence. Each person owns a particular channel and decides how they can best vocalize Southwest’s messaging to fit the channel.”

Please click on this link to see the interview: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/4803/Managing-Social-Media-and-Encouraging-Employee-Individuality-with-Southwest-Airlines.aspx

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28. May 2009 by admin.

Here is how to win the heart and the trust of your investors, CEO and CFO…

First make sure that your marketing strategy is aligned with your top line business goals – this seems elementary but it is seldom accomplished - especially when Marketing does not have a seat in the C-suite.

Next, it is essential to develop your marketing plan with measurable tactics to show how your marketing investment will directly contribute to revenue growth. Yes, that means managing your marketing campaigns as a revenue contributor (if not generator) – and not as an expense line item. And yes, that also means creating cross-departmental synergy between Sales, Operations, Revenue Management, and Marketing. 

By measuring and monitoring the performance of your marketing tactics, you will be able to do more of what works and fix what does not. In doing so you will improve your return on each marketing dollar spent (RMOI).

Consequently, when you improve your RMOI, meaning that your campaigns are getting more effective by producing better results with the same initial investment, then you will be able to spend less to achieve your goals. Or, you could choose to grow demand with the same initial investment. Either way, you will directly increase your bottom line!

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28. May 2009 by admin.

How much should you spend on marketing?

If this is a question that you’ve been pondering – you are not alone. This is the most frequent question I have had to answer as a corporate marketing executive in my past life and as a marketing consultant today.  Large established companies as much as small start-ups struggle with how much to allocate to their marketing budget year after year.

The good news is…if you are asking the question, then you are one step in the right direction – which is planning to have a marketing budget in the first place! The bad news is that there is no silver bullet formula. Marketing is a craft that involves too many variables to be able to have a simple solution for a complex problem such as budgeting. Nonetheless, there are some accepted standards and time-tested best practices that offer useful guidance in determining how much you should spend on marketing, namely: budgeting based on percentage of revenues. Several criteria will affect the make-up of your marketing budget and should be evaluated. These include; the industry in which you operate, your revenue model, profit margin, cost per acquisition (differentiate new leads versus clients), and current stage of your product/service life cycle.

Budgeting Based on Percentage of Revenues

As a rule of thumb it is recommended to budget about 5% of gross revenue to marketing. However, it is important to recognize that there are different standards for every type of business. 

Small businesses usually need to budget more of their revenue to marketing, about 7-8%, and start-ups must budget up to 10% or more.

Your industry also plays a big role in determining your marketing budget. For example retailers generally allocate 1% to 5% of gross revenues to marketing, liquor 5.5% to 7.5%, packaged goods 4% to 10%, and most professional services firms 4% to 10%.  It is a good idea to research what the marketing-to-sales ratio typically is in your industry.

You should also take into consideration your revenue model and profit margins. Volume-driven companies tend to spend a small percentage of sales on marketing conversely; margin-driven companies often need to invest a larger percentage of sales on marketing. For example, where a discount retailer may spend only 0.4% of sales on marketing, a specialty retailer will spend 5%.

If you are a start-up, you will need to allocate a higher percentage of projected revenues to your marketing efforts than mature companies. Take into account the initial cost of developing your marketing material and launching your business. As a start-up you will need to invest more into generating awareness and capturing leads to fill your pipeline than established companies that already have marketing momentum in place.

It is also worth noting that you can budget tactical campaigns in a very scientific manner as long as your marketing plan is soundly aligned with your sales goals and if you can satisfy two conditions: 1) you have some historical data to calculate conversion ratios at each stage of the purchase/sale cycle, 2) you know how much you are willing to invest per new customer acquisition based on the average lifetime value of your customers.  Assuming you have these givens, your budgeting becomes a simple arithmetic exercise.

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27. April 2009 by admin.

Last Thursday David Oates from Stalwart Communications and I gave a presentation at the American Marketing Association educational breakfast in San Diego. Our talked focused on lead generation and also covered the full scope of the typical purchasing cycle–we addressed the following issues:

• How to allocate your marketing budget to maximize return on investment (ROI)
• How to fill your pipeline with qualified prospects
• How to do your own PR
• How to leverage the Internet
• How to turn prospects into profitable customers
• How to build customer loyalty and increase revenue/client ratio

I am delighted to share some of the enthusiastic feedback we received from attendees…

“Great presentation - it really helped me to think about what we are doing in our business and how we can be more creative in reaching our audience.”  Kerry - DuPont Building Innovations 

“I enjoyed the presentation and really appreciate your suggestions and thoughts after the presentation. I look forward to using the steps you outlined as a resource and guide for our efforts.” Bryan - College of Business Administration, San Diego State University 

“Thank you for your presentation, it was really interesting and appreciated!”  Steve - Site Tuneups

“Alexandra’s presentation for the AMA breakfast was timely and practical.  We privileged to have a member like her active with our chapter.” Reb Risty, President American Marketing Association, San Diego Chapter

If you missed the presentation and would like some information on any of these topics, please do not hesitate to contact me at Alexandra@ORCAmarketing.com

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27. April 2009 by admin.

If you are wondering how to make social media work for your B-to-B  market, I urge you to read the attached article by Josh Bernoff from Forrester Research. Why B-to-B Ought To Love Social Media

Josh offers clear examples and discusses best practices on how to create a social media strategy adapted for your unique B-to-B needs. He also points out one golden rule, which echoes my previous blog “Be Nice or Leave”:

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22. April 2009 by admin.

Today is Earth Day - a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment. Earth Day was initially founded by Gaylord Nelson in 1970, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin. According to Santa Barbara Community Environmental Council, Nelson’s wake up call happened along our coast:

So ironic as it may seems, on this Earth Day I wanted to share with you my passion for the ocean and with that a message from The Ocean Conservancy;

“… it’s time to look beneath the surface to see where the health of our planet really begins.  It’s time to recognize the source that sustains us day to day with the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe…to discover that all living things are connected to the ocean. It’s time to understand that going green starts with living blue…”

For more information on The Ocean Conservancy visit www.oceanconservancy.org.

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6. April 2009 by admin.

More companies are betting on the buying power of women to offset the current economic crisis—that is what the Economist reported last month in its article entitled “Hello, girls”.  http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13278440

I found the article only somewhat interesting–but it made reference to a relatively new market research company that solely focuses on female consumers, SheSpeaks. I love a good idea when I see one and this is a great one…their concept is just brilliant in my opinion.  I mean – they even made a movie out if this, a HUGELY successful movie (see title of this blog).

Given that female consumers, who comprise just over 50% of the US population, account for more than 80% of discretionary purchases, along with the known fact that we (women) are generally more brand loyal, targeting women should be a no brainer, right? Wrong! Women are complex beings and every marketers wish they had the key to break their code!  The problem is women are definitely not from Mars…and yet, most creative directors and CMO’s are!

SheSpeaks is attempting to bridge that gap by offering marketers a way to reach women consumers, collect precious feedback, and initiate word of mouth marketing.  I have not tried their services – but it sure seems like they are doing it right.

Here is their value proposition to female consumers – simply brilliant!

 “SheSpeaks gives you many ways to have a say, including… testing products to inspire the companies who created them, writing your opinions on our blogs and discussion boards, creating your own product reviews, or getting expert advice on a range of topics to keep you in-the-know. “

Sign up to test-drive new products in exchange for your honest opinions and reviews at SheSpeaks. http://www.shespeaks.com/howitworks;jsessionid=4C2E3C099FCC639747C695D3FEC87F88

Back to “Hello, girls”, here are some interesting ways in which two companies mentioned in the article are launching new marketing strategies to appeal to women. Oh I love the attention we’re getting though

OfficeMax, “Life is beautiful. Work can be too.” …

To speak more directly to women, the retailer is also promoting more fashionable, sophisticated products — think brightly hued notebooks with black-lace patterns — and making changes to its marketing materials. “Women are the primary purchaser of office supplies. These are big decisions that are being made by women,” said Mr. Thacker (VP Marketing), who noted that women purchase $44.5 billion in office supplies per year. “This is a total repositioning of the company to realign with a customer that has not been addressed.”

Personal disclaimer – I visited the OfficeMax website and looked for their circulars…I am not feeling the love just yet…you got the right idea Mr. Thacker, let’s hope the execution will follow.

Frito-Lay, “Only in a woman’s World”…

“Marking the launch of Frito-Lay’s first comprehensive effort to reach women and grounded in the spirit of sisterhood, “Only in a Woman’s World” explores what’s top of mind with women today through light-hearted, comical videos, comic strips and interactive online content. Through its multimedia campaign, Frito-Lay is rolling out a portfolio of products developed specifically with women in mind.”

“Our efforts to connect with women are holistic – from the products we develop, to the packaging, to where women find them in-store, and to the way we talk about the products,” explains Gannon Jones, vice president, marketing, Frito-Lay North America. “We are developing a dialogue with women about relevant issues. Not just on food guilt, but topics like beauty, exercise and self esteem to show women they are not alone in these feelings and we can be okay with them.”

Ultimately, in marketing as in any other discipline, there is no silver bullet. Each campaign should be carefully planned, tested, and refined to hit the target’s soft spot. Women are in many ways more different than alike. The myth that we make our purchasing decision based on emotional impulse rather than rational evaluations is exaggerated and dangerously misleading. Men and women are both guilty of that myth to some extent, but take my word for it; it will take more than slapping on some pretty colors on your product to make women buy it. The product fundamentals, including functionality, quality and price, have to meet a certain competitive threshold and the value proposition has to be relevant– once that is accomplished then sure, make it pink and I will be happy.

PS: Harley riders tell their stories…

In a previous blog I wrote about the power of storytelling…motorcycle industry’s icon, Harley Davidson, has create a website specifically for its women riders and are using storytelling in a very personal format—perfectly positioned for women. See http://www.harley-davidson.com/EX/KNO/WOME/en/storiesf.asp?locale=en_US&bmLocale=en_US&HDCWPSession=BYlcJXlY4T8t7ghsqvBvqQPYX8mTJQm23Dc2zKdLmJLG2HRGvTZs!-1597079316!1753878253

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17. March 2009 by admin.

The Obama Administration announced yesterday, March 16, a stimulus plan for small business. Good to hear that the government is finally recognizing the 25.8 million small businesses in the U.S. and doing something to support entrepreneurs and capitalism!

The plan’s primary goal is to facilitate loans for start-ups and small businesses, namely: 1) reduce lending fees, 2) increase government guarantees on a portion of Small Business Administration loans up to 90%, 3) inject $15 billion into banks to thaw the credit market and boost lending to small businesses.

It looks like the plan is set up to eliminate borrower’s fees only until the end of the year – so don’t miss out!

I lifted a couple pertinent Q&A regarding specifics of the plan from the FAQ on Recovery Act by the U.S. Small Business Administration which I attached herein for your review. 

• Which loans are affected by the fee elimination and higher guarantees?

Beginning this week, the SBA will temporarily raise guarantees and eliminate fees for borrowers on certain of its 7(a) loans. 7(a) loans, which are partially guaranteed by the SBA, are issued by a bank to a small business to support its operations.

Additionally, the SBA has temporarily eliminated fees for borrowers and third party lenders on its 504 Certified Development Company Loans. These loans offer growing small businesses long-term, fixed-rate financing for major fixed assets, such as land, buildings and machinery and equipment.

• Is the elimination of borrower fees permanent and retroactive?

The temporary fee eliminations for 7(a) loans support an overall program level of $8.7 billion, while the temporary fee eliminations for 504 loans support an overall program level of $3.6 billion. Depending on loan volume in these programs, the SBA estimates that it will be able to eliminate these fees on loans approved through approximately December 31, 2009.

Fee eliminations will be retroactive for all eligible loans approved on or after Feb. 17, 2009. 

• Can I go to any lender in my area to take advantage of these new programs?

Only lenders who have been approved to participate in SBA lending programs can assist you with an SBA-guaranteed loan. Contact your local SBA District Office to obtain a list of approved participants in your area. Follow this link to locate the District Office nearest you: http://www.sba.gov/localresources/index.html.

Along with easing access to capital, the administration’s Small Business Plan calls for the elimination of all capital gains taxes on small and start-up businesses and for a Health Tax Credit that will provide a refundable credit of up to 50 percent on premiums paid by small businesses on behalf of their employees. 

The official release is also attached herein for your review; Obama Biden Plan for Small Business 

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