Posts Tagged ‘marketing’

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Swiss Chalet Answers My Call

You may recall in my last entry, I bemoaned the fact that marketers in the quick service restaurant category rarely allow talent in to actually taste the product on camera. That’s right, rarely does one see a person actually taking a hearty bite into the very product that is being advertised. Why? Likely for fear that a small piece of food might get stuck to a cheek and that”messy” incident would turn potential customers off.

Enter Swiss Chalet.

In their latest TV effort now running in major markets, the product is pork ribs. After the requisite beauty shots and copy that trumpets the quality of said ribs, the spot ends on the heroes  – a youngish couple enjoying the product. In this case, the woman takes a big bite and leaves a smear of BBQ sauce the size of Texas on her cheek. Her dining partner tries – but cannot bring himself – to point out the “embarrassing” faux pas. She, on the other hand, has no problem pointing out a similar sauce issue on his cheek, albeit much smaller in size.

My point? A little reality makes the spot deliciously charming.

Posted: July 8, 2011 by jhuckle | View Comments
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Not Everyone

Playing Angry Birds on a Blackberry, courtesy of @tanlines

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I read an awesome article by Tracy Gold called What I learned About Social Media from Angry Birds. What made the piece so good was the different approach; I read social media-related articles every day and it’s all starting to blend together as more and more people chime in. What Ms Gold managed to do was broach the subject using a hook that everyone could understand.

Well, almost everyone.

When I suggested to my business partner that he should read the article, his first question was: “What are Angry Birds?”

“Seriously!?” I asked, befuddled. It turns out he’s never heard of the game. Despite it being the number one game on iTunes for months, despite it being available for iPhone, Android and even desktop computers, despite it even getting air time on television; he’d never heard of it. This whole conversation reminded of Mitch Joel’s Market of One blog post where he eloquently discusses the idea that you “can’t please all of the people all of the time.”

Indeed you can’t. And that’s something, we as marketers, are up against all the time. Do you sacrifice one market for another or do you lower the bar so far you alienate the others? Questions that will garner different answers depending on the client and the circumstance.

All I know is that my partner is in the market for a new mobile device and he’s been contemplating a smartphone. Now that he’s aware of Angry Birds he’s just a step away from late night battles against the pigs.

Posted: January 27, 2011 by mcharbonneau | View Comments
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Back to Work

Welcome to 2011! Don’t worry, this isn’t one of the posts that predicts what 2011 will bring to the world of marketing; there are enough of those already if you care to look. We at One On One are, however, looking forward to more and better integration between the worlds digital and traditional marketing and I, for one, will keenly be watching the continued growth of mobile. We’re also curious to see what new technologies and features will pop up this year. Already, Quora is making a lot of waves in the Twittersphere with pundits tripping all over themselves to claim whether or not it’s the next Twitter or Facebook.

The gang here is also looking forward to seeing how marketers will come up with creative and innovative ways of connecting with their customers. Why just yesterday I saw a great little SMS campaign from Starbucks where they send you text message reminders (provided you sign up) to take advantage of their half-price tea latte promo. Clever stuff!

Anyhow, let’s get back to work and make this a great 2011!

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Posted: January 7, 2011 by mcharbonneau | View Comments
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Enough About ROI Already!

Since One On One ventured into the digital landscape these past couple of years, we’ve had numerous clients ask how they could move their own brands into the space. Inevitably, the question of “is it worth it?” always crops up.

It’s understandable to be wary of something new; after all, we all have businesses to manage and failure is a good motivator to keep things as they are. Lately, there’s been a big push to uncover the ROI of digital marketing. If you read as many blogs as I do, you’ll find daily postings looking for or touting “tried and true” ways to deliver ROI. My question is, are you toiling as much over the ROI of your newspaper campaigns?

It’s All The Same (but Different)

Look, digital marketing is still marketing. Talking to a client on Facebook can be similar to talking to them through a radio spot. The difference? One approach can be more conversational. Note, I said can be, not is. That approach is up to you. The exciting thing is, we have more choice and more ways to engage our audience. It behooves us to try them out.

The Good and the Bad Sides of Measurement

What gets a lot of people excited is how measurable everything can be. Facebook insights, Google analytics, Twitter stats. Each serves to give you a better picture of who you’re interacting with and what these people are doing. But, you can get lost in a sea of measurement and none of it will actually tell you what to do next. That’s where your marketing savvy comes in. And frankly, that’s where the hard work comes in too. Is Twitter perfect for all businesses? Absolutely not. Is Facebook great for some? Without a doubt. Will Search work for you? It depends.


Conversation on Twitter

So What About that ROI?

Let me ask you this: what’s the ROI of a golf game with a client? Can you effectively say those 9 or 18 holes resulted in the sale of x-more widgets? How about those newspaper ads? You got your message in front of 2 million potential customers, but did they see the ad? Did they remember it? Did they act? What’s the ROI of that newspaper ad?

I can’t tell you what the ROI of Twitter is but I do know this.
It can work very well.

I’m the Marketing Director for a local, not-for profit cinema—a pro-bono client for One On One—which has no budget for any traditional marketing. Instead, I try everything I can to communicate with our customers–Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, e-News, and a slew of other technologies. Do all of them work? Some better than others. But they all require work, and patience and time.

A few days ago I tweeted what was playing at the cinema that evening—this is just one of the ways we let people know what’s happening. One of our followers replied that she was excited to see a particular documentary. I tweeted back, hoping she enjoy the show and suggesting she bring a friend to this important documentary. She later replied she had “persuaded” a couple of friends to tag along.

How’s that for ROI?

Posted: December 14, 2010 by mcharbonneau | View Comments
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Making the Switch





One of the constants you’ll come across in dealing with Facebook, from a business perspective at least, is that it’s always changing. And perhaps that’s a good thing. It keeps you from becoming complacent and on top of your social environment. The downside? You spend a lot of time trying to keep up with the tech side of things instead of simply dealing with your customer base.

One of our clients, a not-for-profit organization, has made very good use of Facebook since it’s inception in 2007. The number of members in its Facebook group has steadily grown although that number has settled at the 1,500 mark in the past year. But since then, Facebook has introduce the Fan Page, offering businesses more ways to track and interact with their “fans.” And so the idea of switching from a Group to a Page has been lingering for quite some time. But at what cost? You can’t simply switch from one to the other and bring all your members along; you need to start from scratch. Back at zero.

Of course, we’re don’t expect all 1,500 Group members to migrate to the Page. So how do you make the transition and bring along as many as possible? You start by talking with them honestly and point out what’s in it for them; more info, better interaction, contests and whatever other benefit you offer. Then you look at the other ways in which to reach them, and others; we’ve made tremendous use of this client’s Twitter account, weekly e-newsletter and website. And finally, consider an incentive, something worthwhile to compensate your members for making the effort to switch over and keep in touch with your brand. After all, would you expect any less?

Posted: November 16, 2010 by mcharbonneau | View Comments
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