Avoid The Fate Of The Milkman - A Marketing Lesson

Consumers Are Embracing New Ways To Consume

By David Miranda

Many years ago, unless you owned a cow, the only way one could buy milk was through the reliable milkman. If you were tracking milk sales, you just added up all the milk sold by the nation's milkmen. Over the years, if you were a milk delivery company, you may have become alarmed as milk sales, as measured by the milkman channel, began to dramatically erode year after year. As a milk delivery company, you may have been forced to lay off milkmen. You might have come to the conclusion that milk was rapidly becoming unpopular with the American consumer. It may have indicated its high time to get out of the milk production business.

We all know this is not what happened. The milkman distribution channel was to milk what the airplane was to the train. Milk, simply found different and better distribution channels - the corner convenience store, grocery chains, gas stations, WalMart, etc. In fact, there is more milk sold today than ever before. Great for milk, bad for milkmen.

The same can be said today in a number of industries. Take, movies, for example, were once only distributed at studio-owned single screen theaters. Enter the multi-plex, VCR, DVR, CD player, Blockbuster, Netflix, the Internet, HBO, and mobile devices. The single screen, studio-owned theater is long gone but the distribution of movie content today continues to expand exponentially across many platforms.

Another example is travel. Not long ago if you wanted to book travel you would call your local travel agent. Now travel agents are going the way of the milkman with more and more consumers utilizing the Internet. More travel is sold today than ever before, but less and less through travel agents.

There are many more examples of businesses and institutions vulnerable to the fate of the milkman including classified ads, yellow pages, journalism, politics, retailing, and real estate just to name a few.

Here is the lesson learned - avoid the fate of the milkman with your brand. Marketing and distribution channels are morphing as are media consumption patterns among consumers. Marketers must understand the need to extend their brands to emerging media and channels or suffer the fate of the milkman.

In Advertising, If The Ad Doesn't Work, Change The Ad

Don't Throw Good Money At Ads That Don't Produce

By David Miranda

Year after year, when consumers are asked to rank the best Super Bowl ads of all time, they put the Mean Joe Green Coke commercial at the top of the list. (View ad) We've all seen it countless times.

Few people are aware, however, that this beloved commercial only ran one time. Yes, just once. Why? Well, according to Sergio Zyman, who was Coke's SVP of Marketing who both approved and pulled the ad, it did not produce results. It did not sell more Coke.

There is a lesson to be learned here. More often than not, advertising that does not produce continues to be funded by brands in hopes, it seems, that it eventually will. The rationale is "we've spent all this money on creative and media, so we have to see this through."

Wrong. Dead wrong.

Do you keep frequenting the same restaurant if the food and service is bad? Do you keep investing in stocks that don't generate returns? Do you keep pouring water in a bucket that has a hole in it? Of course not. Then why continue to run advertising that doesn't produce?

Then what is an advertiser to do? Here are few suggestions.

1. Admit, that despite the best of planning, creativity, and intentions, sometimes things don't work.
2. Change the ad.
3. Get all the contributors together - research, brand managers, agency execs - and do a CSI-worthy post mortem. How did we miss the mark? Do we tweak or go back to the drawing boards?
4. Get new creative out there
5. Brush yourself off and get back in the game.
6. If it works, spend more media on it. If it doesn't, well, you know what to do.

Advertising that doesn't work should be euthanized not put on life support. The health of the brand is at stake.

Blogging, Vlogging, and Flogging - Communitizing The World

The New Global Digital "Soap Box" - Power To The People

By David Miranda

The famous Robert Bulwer-Lytton quote, "The pen is mightier that the sword" needs to be updated for today's digital world. With all due respect to the author, how about "the internet is mightier than the pen which is mightier than the sword."?

From cave drawings, to drumbeats, to smoke signals, to stone tablets, to papyrus, to sheepskins, to the printing press, to the telegraph, to radio, to motion pictures, to television -the human race has relentless sought a better means of communications. Today, the internet has provided connected citizens of the world with the greatest soap box in the history of mankind.

We are blogging our opinions, perspectives and rants. We are vlogging (video blogs) content starring everyone including friends, family, business colleagues, celebrities, pets, politicians, and cartoon characters. We are flogging (overtly and covertly) products, services, and ourselves for fame and fortune. In short, we are "communitizing" the world with both the interesting and the inane.

It would be fascinating to have had the internet in the time of Shakespeare, Aristotle, Napoleon, or Sigmund Freud. Imagine what the names might have been for their respective blogs, i.e. "Bard For Life"; "It's Greek To Me"; "The French Connection", or "Sex And The Cityfolk".

There is little doubt that the next Shakespeare, Aristotle, Napoleon, or Freud is currently posting articles somewhere in the world as we speak. It could be you.

The opportunity is there. The time is now. Blog, vlog, and flog away.

The world is waiting to hear from you.

Content Noshing - New Marketing In Bits And Bytes

Smaller Portions Needed For Media "Snacking" By A.D.D. Consumers

By David Miranda

Pop culture is consumed today in smaller and smaller "portions" by multi-tasking consumers. They scan print, channel surf the TV and radio, browse the Internet, and sample short videos. They live in a world of sound bites and video clips. In short, consumers have made the "noshing" of content the rule rather than the exception. Sure we still read books and in-depth articles; sit through a movie, sitcom, drama, reality program, sporting event, news program, concert, or Broadway play; but we are spending more and more time media "noshing".

It is this pop culture "noshing" that is driving marketers mad. All these eyeballs represent an exploitable marketing opportunity, but how to exploit it is the big challenge. To date, marketers have tried, in vain, to use old methods to exploit new opportunities.

Take the :30 second ad, once the gold standard of advertising. It was appropriate when content consumption was the hour or half-hour program, but what happens when the programming or content is only one to two minutes, such as the case on YouTube? Do we expect consumers to watch a :30 second ad before or after a one to two minute video? Would you watch a half hour commercial before or after a half hour program on television? Doubt it.

As consumers have embraced media consumption in smaller portions, marketers must adapt with smaller ad portions, as well. Marketers must learn to engage the A.D.D. consumer. Why say in 30 seconds what you can say in 5? Of course, there will be a period of trial and error, but one thing is certain.

Pop culture content noshing is here to stay. Get used to it.

Put out a new media menu with smaller portions.

"Field Of Dreams" Marketing - Build It And They Will Come - NOT!

Hope Is Not A Strategy

By David Miranda

In the classic film, "Field Of Dreams" Kevin Costner's character heard a voice summoning him to "build it and they will come". The "it", of course, was a baseball field in the middle of an Iowa cornfield. The final scene was a dramatic aerial shot of serpentine car headlights as far as the eye could see heading to the field. Hope springs eternal.

In real life, however, hope is not enough. Today businesses build products and offer new services with the hope that customers will come and buy. Hope, however, is not a strategy and, more importantly, without a strategy there is no hope. Sounds reasonable, but, more often that not, schizophrenic marketers still rely on hope when they are strategically bankrupt.

Need some examples? Consider these.

Delta Airlines attempted to launch a discount airline, Song. It brought together really smart people; invested really big dollars; and "hoped" that they had a winner. Not? The music ended and Song was no more.

Speaking of Field Of Dreams, every year, smart people in Hollywood, backed by big money premiere box office flops that leave movie goers wondering "what were they thinking?" Didn't anyone in this "Emperor's New Clothes" scenario say "this is a stinker"? There are too many "stinkers" to name here, but I'm sure you've been the victim of a few. The backers "hoped" they'd be blockbusters.

In the annals of the cola wars, Pepsi marketing executives once "hoped" that the market was ready and eager for Pepsi Clear - Pepsi, just without the color. Go figure. Smart people, big money, clear failure. By the way, Coca-Cola countered with Tab Clear. Same result.

The new AT&T has recently announced that Cingular, the nation's leading mobile phone company, will change it name to AT&T abandoning the Cingular brand. This decision was made even though AT&T once had its own mobile phone offering that suffered from poor customer service, low customer retention and its ultimate demise. They "hope" for better results this time. Smart people, big money, smart decision? The new AT&T hopes for the best.

Before smart people like yourself put big money behind a big dream, first make sure you have a solid strategic foundation.

If you are hearing voices, take this advice.

Before you start "clearing the cornfield", have a clear strategy.

Revenue - Still The Only Way To Keep Score

The Only Statistic That Counts For Marketers Is Money

By David Miranda

A client, who had just been appointed the new senior marketing executive of a mid-sized company, asked me to attend an internal marketing meeting where the results of a recently completed marketing campaign would be presented. The meeting was scheduled for one hour including four presenters each representing a specific discipline. The first presenter, representing the interactive component, paged through an impressive powerpoint including various charts and graphs. As the last slide appeared, he summarized as follows:

"We generated a lot of eyeballs with this campaign, but we are disappointed with the number of impressions and although the click through rate is quite high considering the overall site traffic and limited number of page views; we are happy with the response rates that have contributed to our conversion rate exceeding our campaign targets. Any questions?"

All eyes focused on my client, their new boss. After a pregnant pause, he asked, "How much revenue did this initiative contribute to our fourth quarter results? Isn't that what's really important?" "Yes sir, it is, but I'm not sure I can answer that question.", was the response. No sooner had the boss asked his question, the other presenters quickly reviewed their own presentations in anticipation of the same question. They were right, although no one could answer to the boss' satisfaction. I could tell he wanted to make a point and he did. He concluded the meeting with sound advice, "we are here to make money and money is how we keep score. From now on, let me know what the score is."

In marketing, we have devised many performance metrics, particularly in recent years. There are the eyeballs, impressions, site traffic, unique visitors, and page views. Then there are the "rates", as in click through, click-to-call, conversion, response, and recall to name a few. Too many times, marketers like to demonstrate their professional acuity with lingo-laced jibberish. The only metric that counts, however, is revenue, money, moolah.

Straight talk must be the official language of the marketing department regardless of the individual specialty. Does the advertising, promotions, direct mail, or interactive initiatives contribute to the brand's revenue objectives? If so, how much? If not, why? Impressions, eyeballs, etc. are irrelevant if revenue targets are not achieved. If your hometown team played an important game, what is the first question you ask? Of course, "What was the score?" If the person you asked said "we completed 10 of 20 passes and rushed for 230 yards"; you would say, "who cares about passing and rushing, what was the score? Did we win or not?"

Revenue is the only statistic that matters in marketing. It's the only way to keep score on who wins and who loses.

Owning the NOW - The Impatient State Of America

Today's Consumer Mantra - If You Don't Want My Business, I'll Take It Elsewhere

By David Miranda

A recent AP-Ipsos Poll reinforced what we are all well aware of in our daily lives - we have become an impatient nation. The poll concludes that impatient Americans are more demanding.

• 50% said that they refuse to return to businesses that made them wait too long


• 60% said that they can usually wait no more than 15 minutes in line before losing their cool


• 54% said that they can wait no longer than 5 minutes on hold before losing their patience

"If you ask the typical person, do you feel more time-poor or money-poor, the answer almost always is time-poor," says Paco Underhill, an authority on what draws and drives away shoppers.

Marketers should recognize a key lesson here - competitive advantage lies in reducing the gap between a consumer wanting and a consumer getting what, when, and where he or she wants.

Are you investing marketing dollars in attracting consumers only to have them put on hold, stand in line, search for a sales person, navigate an un-user friendly web site, etc.? Do you have a churn to competitors who are capitalizing by satisfying your impatient patrons better and quicker?

Successful marketers will be the ones who own the "NOW" with consumers by being hyper-sensitive to their valuable time.