Archive for the ‘Strategy’ Category

In our March 6 entry we defined engagement marketing as a communications technique that enables brands to interact with their customers in meaningful, two-way dialog – when, where, and how the customers want to engage. Great, but what does that mean in real life? Join Tracy Earles, our digital marketing director, as he revisits the topic with a three-minute example of how not to do it.

And in case you’re wondering whether Tracy is a paper dress seamstress in his downtime, no, biking is more his speed. But he’s sitting in front of the Burns’ fashionistas’ entry into the Art Directors Club of Denver’s eighth annual Paper Fashion Show. Our dress took third place.

IDG Research Services says two-thirds of B2B marketers expect to increase their digital spending in 2012. And you? Do you plan to use online platforms to gain greater market share?

Give us 5 to 10 minutes of your time to take the 2012 Digital Marketing Trend Benchmark Study, and Burns Marketing will return the favor. We’ll share the survey results to give you valuable insight into what your peers are doing to shape the evolution of digital marketing.

Take the survey before Friday, February 10 to make sure your opinions are counted. And by participating you’ll be sent a copy of the study results.

Click here to get started.

To continue the QR code discussion started in our October 12 and September 15 posts, here’s another example of how those little black graphics can be used to find creative solutions to business challenges.

The first electric vehicle (EV) charging system on the market to offer customers a simple hands-free, automatic way to charge their EVs, Plugless Power was preparing to exhibit its ground-breaking technology at an industry tradeshow in Europe. The tech company needed to share its story with attendees – and draw attention to its product … which sits under the car, hidden from view. Sounds easy, right? Aye, here’s the rub: tell that story without using any exhibit boards, handouts, or other visual materials. (Yes, the devil’s in the details.)

The Online Fix
The answer was to go online. Burns Marketing helped Plugless Power place conspicuous QR codes in several spots around the booth. Attendees who scanned the codes were transported to a designated landing page on Plugless Power’s mobile site, where they found high-level information and graphics about the proximity charging technology as well as announcements specific to the tradeshow.

Why It Worked

1. Europe and the event site in particular had good mobile coverage.
2. The audience demographic is smartphone-savvy.
3. The scanned QR code went to a landing page designed specifically for the event.

QR codes were scanned, attendees learned about the cordless thing under the EV, and Plugless Power’s creative approach set tongues wagging. That’s what happens when you plug the power of technology into a challenging, nontraditional situation.

QR codes are used to take prospects from an offline experience to an online experience on their smartphones. This specific application model implies certain usage guidelines. We’ve put together a list of our top 10 guidelines to help you give your prospects the best possible experience.

1. QR codes should support your business goals. See our prior post about the taco stand for an example of violating this.

2. Make sure the situation where the QR code appears actually enables your prospects to use it. A QR code on a billboard along a highway makes no sense, but a QR code in a store window or bus stop does.

3. Does your target audience have a smartphone? Smartphone penetration is very low among seniors ages 65 and older, so QR codes don’t make sense for products targeting them.

4. The QR code link should always take prospects to a site that rewards them for the effort of scanning. They took the time to get out their phones, wake them from sleep, open their scanner apps, scan the code, and wait for the browser to open the page. They expect to be rewarded for their time. Provide a uniquely pleasurable experience in the smartphone environment, like a mobile-optimized website or a video with unique content designed for smartphone viewing.

5. Reward scanners with a unique value that’s only available through scanning the code, like an exclusive coupon or a product.

6. Help people avoid unpleasant experiences. A tradeshow attendee may want to learn more about your product, but your booth is mobbed with people. A QR code on a booth wall could enable attendees to learn about your product without entering the booth.

7. QR codes can help extend the reach of your marketing channels. They make print a more valuable medium for an etailer because it reduces the effort required to move a prospect from viewing a printed ad to visiting a website.

8. Short encoded URLs are easier to scan. If a user has to try multiple scanners to capture the code, you will lose them. Ideally, print the short URL right next to the QR code, providing prospects a choice of entering the URL into a browser, photographing the URL for later reference, or scanning the code directly.

9. Provide content on the linked page that rewards prospects for sharing via text, Facebook, or Twitter. If your goal is to get prospects to share, make sure the shared content can be presented equally well on desktops and mobile devices.

10. QR codes can support games and broadcast results. Keep in mind that wherever you host your game, your players will need cell phone coverage.

Do you have a guideline for using QR codes that’s proved successful? Share it with us.

Eric Weber sailing somewhere in the BVI

Tucked away in our fourth-floor office in Centerra is the inimitable Eric Weber, Ph.D., one of the most scientifically gifted minds of northern Colorado. When he’s not working on his breakthrough single-injection sterilization solution for the veterinary market, he’s our business development strategist and life sciences subject area specialist. In other words, all hail our science guy.

For an insider’s look at what fuels his imagination, we lobbed a few critical questions his way.

1. What did you want to be when you grew up?
Rescue swimmer for the Coast Guard. [Fortunately for us the lure of science beat life on the ocean.]

2. What’s your most interesting injury?
Gunshot wound. [Word to the wise: don’t ask to see the scar.]

3. Who’s the funniest person you know?
Rob Bean [Burns Marketing’s colorful interactive director… don’t worry, if you haven’t met him yet, you will].

4. What’s your specialty?
All things science – and sailing in the Caribbean.

5. Who’s the most interesting person you’ve hung out with?
My mother.

6. What’s your favorite outfit?
501s, T-shirt, and cowboy boots.

7. If you had to eat only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Calamari, with peanut butter a close second [hopefully not together].

14. Summer or winter?
Totally summer, but I love to ski.

15.  If you were a kitchen appliance, which one would you be and why?
Garbage disposal. (This should be totally intuitive.)

Now that you’ve gotten to know Dr. Weber, page him with your bioscience and life sciences marketing challenges at 970.203.9656 or send an email to EricW@burnsmarketing.com.

Mobile technology will make you think twice about your customer data.

I recently attended the summer session of Making Digital Work, an intensive two-day seminar series and hands-on learning experience put on by Boulder Digital Works in partnership with University of Colorado. My colleague and I were challenged to consider how digital media is impacting our organization, our customers’ businesses, and how we can better leverage web, mobile, social, and other technologies to move the brands we manage forward.

We were treated to frank, honest, and open conversations from technology-minded executives at Google, Microsoft, and Crispin Porter + Bogusky, among others − social media gurus on the bleeding edge of the medium, agency directors who were restructuring their agencies for a digital future, creative types excited for new canvases to work on, and nonprofit warriors with new ways to reach out to their constituencies. These individuals shared the approaches they used to harness technology to deliver new types of brand experiences.

Boulder Digital Works was unlike anything I have ever attended. We weren’t offered the traditional business tracks that keep us among the people we relate to easily: creatives, interactive folk, project managers, strategists, or executive management. Instead, everyone and everything were purposefully mashed together, and collectively we learned how removing silos helps us create more impactful brand experiences that are more intimate and relevant to our customers.

Since this was a digital conference, there was an ever-present slant to the conversations, challenging our teams to think digitally when facing customer challenges. On one hand, the concepts helped us understand how to uncover new ways to market to customers, but they also helped us appreciate how technology can be a cost-effective way to deliver and measure the impact of our efforts − thereby dialing in the effectiveness and justifying creative thinking. The introduction and elevation of the evolving role of the creative technologist was another topic of discussion. These individuals have the ability to blur the lines between the siloed worlds of programming, design, project management, and strategy. The creative technologist is critical in helping to educate the business of new technology opportunities,  synthesize new technologies into the conversation of customer experience, and facilitate cross-discipline teamwork at an ever-increasing pace.

Exposing the pizza process

One example in particular described how a “digitally thinking” agency leveraged Domino’s Pizza’s internal order management system to create a real-time, socially relevant, mobile customer experience that increased both loyalty and satisfaction. This new brand experience took data that was already being tracked for quality control purposes and made that information available to customers, enabling them to track their pizzas throughout the process. In addition, it gave customers the ability to provide instant feedback to the person who made their pizzas. Since the data and system already existed, the agency just turned the concept on its head to create a new brand connection with customers.

How many of us have similar opportunities to “think digitally” and turn everyday data into rich experiences that draw your customers closer to your brand?

Rob Bean is the senior account director/interactive director at Burns.

Learn more
Making Digital Work (feed): http://makingdigitalwork.posterous.com/
Boulder Digital Works @ CU: http://bdw.colorado.edu/
LinkedIn: Creative technologist group: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2830357&trk=hb_side_g
The Pizza tracker story: http://youtu.be/W5Q2Y2ZQ-4Y

The idea of “more for less” is something I can get behind. “Less for more?” Not so much. But that’s just what HERSHEY’S is asking me to do with its aerated HERSHEY’S Kisses Air Delight*, which hit store shelves this summer.

In case you haven’t heard of them, these little treats are the epitome of a marketing challenge. No doubt some executive was looking for a way to trim costs to fatten up the profit margin. “Eureka! We’ll add air, and then sell smaller packages for the same price as the traditional packages.” (Can you hear Dr. Evil cackling?)

Situations in which I might pay extra for air:
• When climbing Mt. Everest
• During a deep-sea diving expedition
• While flying (And I might even pay more if you could strip the airplane-food scent from it.)

Paying extra for gourmet air holes in my chocolate? Oh hell no.

Sure, aerated Kisses are creamy and chewy, and if they fell from the sky I’d probably eat them. But as an astute paying customer, I want my chocolate full fat, full flavor, and maximum density.

If I want air, I’ll chew with my mouth open.

*Disclaimer: Joellen only bought these because she had a coupon.

QR codes are the latest, greatest buzzworthy technology tool for marketers. The little squares are turning up in all kinds of traditional marketing channels: in print, on bus stops, at tradeshows and conferences, in store windows, and many other places. But like many new technologies, it appears that many are using them just because they’re cool, and are forgetting underlying marketing fundamentals.

The goal of the QR code is to take the prospective customer from an offline impression to an online experience. What a great concept! If properly implemented, it can lead to deeper engagement and lasting relationships with the customer. But if marketers get blinded by the technology and forget the marketing fundamentals, what happens?

The taco cart vendor on our local pedestrian mall has a QR code on his cart. Our city is a very tech-savvy, start-up crazy town where everyone seems to have a smartphone, so a QR code seems like just the ticket for engaging customers. In his case, if you scan it (it took me several attempts, over multiple days with multiple scanners in different lighting conditions, to finally capture it, but that’s a topic for another post), you are taken to his website. He says the intent is to enable customers to bookmark his website so they can check his ever-changing daily menu before they walk down to the cart.

But if you think through that logic, doesn’t that give customers an excuse NOT to visit his cart if his daily offerings aren’t exactly what they want? Is that really the best way to engage customers?

Wouldn’t he rather prospective customers come to his cart so he can engage them in person? In that way, he could hear what they really want, allowing him to improve his offerings over time. More importantly, he would have the chance to talk them into trying something he has today, potentially broadening their product interest and allowing him to sell his current inventory. The taco vendor is missing all of this valuable customer interaction because he thinks he’s providing convenience through the use of a cool, techy QR code.

When using any new marketing tools, like websites when they were new a couple of decades ago, webinars 10 years ago, or lead nurturing systems now, marketers can’t afford to lose sight of marketing fundamentals when considering their place in the marketing mix. Otherwise, that new tool could have an effect that’s exactly opposite of what the marketer intended.

Mobile phones – particularly smartphones – have become indispensable assets for both personal and business productivity. Just think about what you grab when you walk out the door – keys, wallet, phone.

Of course, that means mobile devices offer a valuable and important channel for delivering content. And they continue to grow more relevant. Within the next five years, more people are expected to connect to the Internet via mobile devices than desktops.

As you prepare your organization to venture into the mobile space, you’ll want to take these tips into consideration:

1. Understand the mobile medium and plan accordingly.
The experience of viewing a website through a mobile device is different than looking at that same site on a desktop computer. Yes, screens are smaller, and each mobile device is sized differently and supports various browsers. That means navigation should be clear, easy-to-use, and feature large buttons. Content must be optimized for fast downloads.

2. Pare down your site map to provide only the content that’s most important to your customer.
By definition a mobile user is on the go. They don’t need everything your main website provides. Chances are they’re looking for important contact information or details on lead products and service offerings. You may also want to include breaking news, timed offers, or aggregated social media content. Also, include a link for the full website – just in case people want to view more information.

3. Don’t reinvent the wheel.
Take a look at your competitors and other companies that serve your customers. What services, content, and links are they providing? Identify ways to differentiate your company from others.

4. Safeguard your brand.
Your overall look and feel, as well as your language and brand identity should remain consistent with other materials and channels you use today.

5. Monitor your mobile website with analytics.
Doing so will help you understand how people are using the content you provided – and allow you to make adjustments.

If you’re ready to reach your customers with mobile marketing, give us a call at 970.203.9656. Our mobile experts will help you find a mobile strategy that works.

Before we pass any judgment, let’s be honest. Naming a company or product is exceptionally, extraordinarily difficult. It’s an emotional decision with many important stakeholders. To succeed, you need a proven, step-by-step process that allows everyone to get excited about a great end result.

So with that being said, consider the Doculex example. We at Burns Marketing would strongly advise against naming your new company anything that sounds even remotely like a leading laxative. And we mean anything.