Tweeting the Big Event

We're going social for the Super Bowl! Not so much to comment on the game itself – though I'm struggling with being regional and rooting for Kurt Warner while feeling some Steelers nostalgia after meeting Terry Bradshaw at NADA. Rather, we'll be using Twitter to tweet on the Super Bowl advertising highs and lows in real time. So if you're already a follower, be sure to have your laptop or mobile handy for WA play-by-play. If you're not a follower yet, you can do so now. We will definitely have a post-game analysis here on the blog and may even toss something up during halftime.

Chicken or Egg?

I am by no means the first to point this out. Just Google new pepsi logo obama. After all of the recent chatter on the blogosphere, things got kicked up a notch today when Advertising Age reported that Pepsi actually got cornered on this yesterday at their pre-Super Bowl press-conference. Know what they said? Obama copied us! LOL. I really have no answers or insight here ... Hard to tell which came first. I mean Pepsi obviously came first but did the Obama campaign really base their mark on a soda logo? And just because Pepsi's new TV campaign is decidedly "up with people" are they really ripping off Barry O? Sometimes things in the public sphere tend to mirror each other organically. Dunno. What do you think?

How Not to Work a Trade Show Booth

As you can see from our posts throughout the last four days we learned a lot at NADA. This gathering produces great ideas applicable to the dealership business and to any business working to stay ahead during these challenging times and we can't wait to continue sharing these thoughts with you.

But there's one post I haven't written yet that was on my mind for most of the show. I wanted to wait until I had a moment to compose my thoughts. NADA is a huge show — one of the nation's larger trade shows actually. As a former frequent exhibitor myself, I am fascinated by the trade show world. I've always said you can bleed a lot of money at a trade show but the marketer in me still feels that, if done correctly, they can make a brand come to life. Since I mostly wear the marketer's hat now, I am often focused on creating brand experiences at a booth through careful integration of design, messaging, marketing, and sales.

There's one aspect that often gets overlooked: how the booth is worked by the staff. Let me preface what I am about to say with my understanding that this is a tough time for both the auto industry and the many vendors that support it. Trade shows are expensive and must demonstrate ROI (usually through the leads they produce) if they want to remain a part of the media mix. However, this quest for accountability and leads cannot come at the expense of attacking trade show attendees. Yes, I said attacking.

What did I see? As Dean and I walked the expo hall floor we were mauled and accosted by anything we made eye contact with. We had booth babes (show workers hired less for their extensive product expertise and more for their physical attributes) and every other imaginable incarnation of an old-timey huckster/carnival barker aggressively pushing their wares — even when irrelevant — to anything that would hove into their fields of vision. While taking the risk of actually talking to someone at a relevant booth (more on relevancy later) I literally saw a booth worker leap from his booth in front of an unsuspecting victim. Here is another conversation I heard:

Trade Show Huckster – HUCK for brevity's sake – walks out of booth, intercepting uninterested ATTENDEE and begins following them down the aisle walking several booths away from their own booth.

HUCK: Have you heard of company XYZ?!?

ATTENDEE: Well ... no ...

HUCK: Do you want to learn more about what we do at company XYZ?!?

ATTENDEE: Not really ...

Huck thrusts a stack of brochures at ATTENDEE.

HUCK: Here 'ya go! Take these home and read 'em and then you'll know!!

Both continue on their separate paths, shaking heads in exasperation.

Let me say again, I am not being dramatic. What I saw can objectively be described as attacks, leaping, accosting, etc. As a trade show attendee and a fellow marketer I have two responses to this. As an attendee, due to this behavior, I started avoiding eye contact with the booth workers and their booths. As a marketer, this leaves a pang in my stomach. Because of an aggressive booth employee folks aren't looking at my both much less stopping at it.

Notice in the above vignette I observe both the attendee and the huckster walking away in exasperation. I fully recognize that at a booth you can't sit quietly back like a priest waiting to take a confession. You have to work it a bit but it needs to be relevant to the prospect in order to produce a real lead rather than junk leads to show (fake) ROI. There's truly something to be said for quantity vs. quality when it comes to trade show leads.

After voicing my frustration I started waiting to see if anyone was doing it right. That's when I had the following conversation ...

Nice Booth Guy – NBG for brevity – stands at his booth as NICK walks by ...

NBG: Are you interested in online marketing ?

NICK: Why, yes I am ...

NBG: Let me tell you a bit about about what we do ...

NBG gives a true elevator speech — approx. 2 minutes then closes with ...

NBG: ... now sir I know you're busy today. We have a demo here but if you'd like I can call you later and we can go through it over the phone. Can I swipe your card?
NICK: I'd love it if we could do it later. I am going to give you my business card because that has better information to reach me at and I want to make sure I hear from you.

And ... SCENE. That was a great introductory brand experience. You can break down this successful interaction from the point of view of the exhibitor and the attendee:

• The attendee made a good connection and had an experience that was non-threatening and relevant.
  
• The exhibitor got a lead — a real lead not just a swiped card – and presented his brand as approachable and understanding of customers' time.
  

You see, I chose the word interaction above because both sides got something out of it. That's what a trade show is supposed to be – an interaction. Communion between the brand and the consumer at its most basic level. That's why — when done correctly with careful planning on all fronts — a trade show can be an impressive and effective marketing tool.

All in the Family

Okay so Dean and I may have been the last ones to notice this but when we were at a Toyota/Lexus/Scion event this weekend at the House of Blues in New Orleans we observed an impressive feat of branding. Or, rather, inter-brand branding. As we sat back and enjoyed the mixture of great music and food, we looked up on the closed-circuit TV screens and noticed that the loop they had running featured the Toyota, Lexus, and Scion logos flipping between each other. This loop offered a seamless horizontal flip from one logo to the next and that's when we both saw it — all three of these very different logos are all based on the same basic oval shape (look at the outlines above). The result? When they run together they seem like logical parts of a machine that contribute to a total brand picture and yet 99% of the time — when viewed on their own — all retain the unique characteristics of their brand (they also make up the letters of their brand name — T, L, & S). Way to keep it all in the family, Toyota.

Probably the best remark someone shared with me on this front was the casual yet insightful observation that this kind of total brand synergy is not all that common and couldn't be achieved if you set all of the GM logos up next to one another ...

A Young Mind

Henry Ford once said, "Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young." Like Henry, the 25,000 car dealers here at NADA are here to keep their minds young – which is even more important as we face new media and an economy more challenging than ever.

It's not just the dealers, though. If you look at the habits of successful people, we all know that they are lifelong learners. On Saturday Ford CEO Alan Mulally addressed the group and talked about his career change a couple years ago when he joined Ford after a storied career at Boening. Airplanes he knew; cars not so much the CEO humbly said. So what did he do? It's pretty simple. He called up some of his dealers and went to work on the showroom floor selling cars. I say simple but I think that this is a pretty impressive and humbling act and shows that Alan is at least working at keeping his mind young.

I also had the privilege of sitting next to measurement genius J. David Power, founder of JD Power and Associates, at a session. Was he giving the seminar? No. At 77 Mr. Power was sitting down with open ears and mind to hear someone talk about measuring ROI in the age of new media.

Do you work to keep your mind young?

Radio Free No More

Today at an NADA session on online media I caught some news from the presenter with insider info as it was breaking (or very shortly there after). Pandora – the online jukebox that grew out of the Music Genome project – will now be adding in-stream ads to their content. You can read the complete story at WIRED.

The folks at Pandora didn't come to this decision lightly. This is just their latest attempt to monetize their site, no doubt brought on with renewed urgency by the troubled economy (Pandora recently let staff go). Personally, I'd thought that they'd had some recent flashes of ad brilliance with well-executed portal takeovers by Dos Equis and Apple. However, it seems that this combined with their display ads have failed at moving the needle significantly thus the addition of the in-stream ads which takes away one of Pandora's unique selling points (for $36 you can subscribe to their premium service which remains ad-free).

What do you think of this? Does this reduce what used to be unique online radio to ... well, radio radio? Are their other ways to monetize a website other than just placing ads on it?

The Pie Looks Different Now

At NADA today, Dean and I attended a session about media planning with special emphasis on new media and the current economic downturn. One of my favorite metaphors for how to look at this particular issue is to think of your total spend as a pie, with various media making up each piece.

There used to be just a few slices of pie – print ads, radio, TV, and maybe outdoor – but over the years the media has multiplied. We've added different pieces – direct marketing, online, social media – and further sliced our pie.

Given the current economic climate, businesses small and large can no longer slice their pie as many different ways. And the pieces that we have need to work for us. As we look at this, we need to pare down our pieces of media pie to only those few things that work for us. In order to do this, however, we need to remember the classic Peter Drucker quote: "You can't manage what you don't measure."

Does your media pie look different? Consider that each week the average adult spends about 4 hours reading the newspaper and/or magazines, watches TV for 16 hours, listens to 19 hours of radio and spends nearly 33 hours online.

Your pie should look different now.

Off to the Big Easy

As I mentioned last week, today Dean and I are leaving for the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention and Expo in New Orleans. Our very first client is an auto dealer and we serve several others in the industry as well (I say is because we have the very rare honor in the advertising business to say that we still have our first client). NADA has always provided exceptional workshops and an expo hall that is second to none.

Throughout the expo we will be reporting back on best practices and trade show goings on from this very big event. We do this not just for the benefit of our friends in the auto industry but for everyone. The news and lessons here are often ones we apply to clients across industries. Plus, as Dean said earlier, "If there was ever a year to go to NADA ..." With the economic downturn, industry struggles, Toyota overtaking GM, and keynotes from Ford's Alan Mulally and two former US presidents, this year should provide a great industry snapshot at a critical time as well as new media vendors looking to offer tools to a sector that needs new tools now more than ever.

More from the trade show floor ...

Anyone Can Be Remarkable

Every business has a story to tell.

Those are the words that first pop up on our agency's website because at our very core that's what we believe. Not only does every business have a story to tell but every business has the opportunity to be remarkable. But this isn't always easy. How many of us have read a Seth Godin book or an inspiring blog post about telling your businesses' remarkable story to the world only to be told by those we answer to "that's all good and well but the [INSERT PERCEIVED BORING INDUSTRY HERE] business isn't like that. We aren't Nike or Apple or Starbucks ..."?

Case in point – many falsely think that banking or the finance industry is sterile and unremarkable. More so now given the sobering news of the day. In fact, many are using the marketplace's need for stability as a reason for sanding out any pointed edges of creativity. (How many big bank CEO's have we seen on TV reassuring recently?) And yet there are those who persevere and tell their story. And sometimes it gets picked up.

Yesterday as I was listening to NPR's Morning Edition, one of their short 0:30-second point-of-interest stories struck me. It briefly told the story of First State Bank in rural Norton, Kansas — a bank with a seemingly unremarkable name that has a wealth of remarkability. You see, First State Bank has a one-of-a-kind portrait collection of all of the losers from every presidential election from Thomas Jefferson to Kansas' own Bob Dole. And how did the bank celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama on Tuesday? By adding his opponent John McCain to their collection.

That's it. That's all I know about First State Bank in Norton. But if I were told that I had to be a resident of Norton, I might learn over time that there was an older or more prestigious bank in town but I wouldn't have bothered to look because I know the folks at First care about being fun and remarkable with their work. And in times like these especially, it's nice to be around people who care and enjoy their work.

Every business has a story to tell. Every business has the opportunity to be remarkable. But like all opportunities, it only comes to life when someone steps up and takes action on an idea. And that is a very brave thing to do.

Social Networking Via One Steak Burrito w/Pico

Check out this photo that I snapped while in line at Panchero's a few minutes ago. Too often people create the obligatory Facebook fan page or start Twittering for their business and then totally forget to promote this new channel across their consumer touchpoints because they assume that friends and fans will automatically flock to connect with them. Of course, adding the little social buttons to your website is a start but your network will grow even faster – especially if your business is retail in nature – if you literally put this announcement between your customer and their burrito. Maximize places where your customers already are.

Change – Available Now!

With inauguration day fast approaching it seems like everyone is trying to cash in on the act before Tuesday. Some are relevant, such as the endless droves of commemorative Obama plates, coins, magazines, while some struggle a bit trying to force a fit. 

I snapped this photo from my local grocery store. Someone has obviously sold the chain on the limited edition MAKING HISTORY cardboard bookshelf (they somehow manage to reduce MAKING HISTORY to a SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!-like call to action). Just put this baby together and load 'em up with all the Obama books you can find and your store will be on top of all of this "Change fever." The problem? Look at the bottom shelf. They ran out of legit and pulpy Barack books and decided to face up the shelf with some Grishams from the trade paperbacks. Dreams from My Father, The Audacity of Hope, The Partner, The Summons ...

The point? Relevancy counts when you decide to go topical. If you have a relevant way to tie into the news of the day then go ahead. But if you end up stretching your brand's story in a way that doesn't make sense then you look like the rest of the masses trying to cash in on the story du jour. 

The Copywriter's Time Machine

Yesterday, while mourning Ricardo Montalban (KHAAANNNNN!) I happened upon the above spot for the 1975 Chrysler Cordoba. I have to admit, it kept me laughing for about a half hour solid. Not just the fine corinthian leather but the tastefulness of its appearance and Ricardo's winsome look as he reflects on how the Cordoba answers his demands.

But this is where it gets weird. After I stopped laughing, I started thinking. And thinking. The spot stayed with me. Once you get past the campiness (his stylish neckerchief, the buttons on the seats) you realize that the copy is really well written. What's more important is that it makes a statement about the brand that evokes very specific images and aspirations. No small coincidence that it helped Chrysler sell a whole lot of this small car in the mid to late '70s. RIP Ricardo. Now what about Chrysler ...?

On a slightly related note ... a week from today Dean and I arrive in New Orleans for the National Automobile Dealers Association Annual Convention & Expo. We're eager to hear what industry experts have to say. We'll blog from the convention and maybe even snap a few shots from the trade show floor.

Pew - Mom and Dad Are Social Networking!

Sorry - I couldn't resist the headline. From the Pew Research Center ... The share of adult internet users who have a profile on a social networking site has more than quadrupled in the past four years -- from 8% in 2005 to 35% now. Beyond this impressive new figure are several other takeaways such as – personal use of social networking is currently more prevalent than professional use. This tracks pretty closely to the Forrester study from last week. You can read the complete findings of the Pew research here. How many profiles do you maintain and how do you use them?

Why Newspapers Are in Trouble

From my snow drift. I am not a subscriber but get many freebies even though I read it all online and have for some time. I wonder how much longer this strategy will hold up? Overall the free sample marketing strategy is still alive and well but for newspapers the internet killed it for good. Because now it's all free online. 
Seth really said it best earlier today.

In Reference to the Location of the Beef

After a recent Arby's visit, my mind wandered as it's been known to do. I stared off at the packaging in front of me – the instructions to the toy that came with the Kid's Meal. On the backside were about four graphics that made up the fast food giant's core values and mission. Again, this was on the back of the instructions to the Kid's Meal toy. Because — you know as well as I do — kids care greatly about the mission and core values of the companies that provided them with their most recent toy. 

Fast forward a couple of days to a luncheon at one of my favorite new local restaurants — Vesta. At the bottom of their lunch menu, was a short paragraph telling the story of how the restaurant is named for the Roman goddess of hearth and how this was relevant to the dining experience they work to create. 

Some quick takeaways? First, compare the two "missions" — generic stuff like dream big and "make a difference" versus a quirky story involving the gods – and tell me which one you'll remember. Finally, you tell me who really cares more about living a mission by comparing where they chose to display it. On the back of some throw away instructions to a whirlygig that didn't really need instructions in the first place or the page-long, one-sided lunch menu that everyone easily reads all of ...?

Where Does Your Brand Exist?

Google made some news last week when they updated the design of their favicon for the second time in a year. The old one, which replaced the former capital 'G' less than a year ago, is on the left while the new, technicolor favicon is on the right. (For those of you who don't know what a favicon is - it's the 16 x 16-pixel icon associated with your website or webpage that appears to the left of your URL in most browsers' windows and bookmark pages.) 

This got me thinking - like my recent Pepsi post - not so much about the change itself but rather about what this means on a larger scale. (For the record ... while it may not be as readable as either of its predecessors, I'm OK with the new favicon mostly because the coloring adds a bit of the playfulness back into their at-times sparse brand as they look to scaling it across new media  platforms.) The new favicon reminded me of an article I read about the Pepsi brand update – specifically about the hard costs tied to the update. The new Pepsi logo design alone cost millions with additional millions anticipated to execute the revision across all brand touchpoints. Think of it for just a sec and imagine the costs: point-of-purchase displays, distributor signage, huge ballpark ads ... Oof.

My point is that when you consider this compared to updating the Google favicon – which in the end costs next to nothing – it reminds you that we are moving into/have already arrived in a very different era of branding. You have to ask yourself, where does your brand exist? In the case of Google, they exist almost exclusively online (as an AdWords advertiser I actually got a flyer from Google last fall - I keep it locked in a vault). Their portal accented by their favicon is their brand so of course the ramifications of any seemingly minor update are under intense scrutiny. To summarize:

Brand Touchpoints 

Old world -- store signage, yellow page ads, billboards, point-of-purchase, collateral, etc.

New world -- website w/favicon, online ads, search, iPhone app icons, Facebook fan pages, etc.

To be sure, this transition is not complete and the old world touchpoints won't go away entirely but the process has most certainly begun as we see an online-only Google take its place next to tried-and-true brands like Pepsi in consumers' hearts and minds. 

Where does your brand exist? Are your new world touchpoints as strong as your old world touchpoints?

P.S. Props to Brand New for the side-by-side favicons above. They are a great blog by Under Consideration about corporate brand and identity work.

To Assume Makes ...

... Well, you know the rest. Just a quick post via Tom Peters regarding a USA Today story citing a recent study by Forrester Research revealing that "Older folks like Wii, PCs, and cellphones too." Definitely worth your time to read. One highlight that jumps out is that those over 55 are more active in online finance, shopping, and entertainment than those under 55.

Now how many times have you thought recently that the older generation isn't consuming tech tools like their younger counterparts? And these assumptions definitely work both ways. I've heard many peers of a more ... er, more advanced age ... state that online "mostly targets younger people." Remember this study and try not to make as many assumptions on media consumption in the New Year.

Plotting a New Course

Recently Advertising Age reported that the Boy Scouts of America are undertaking a relaunch and update of their venerable 100-year old brand to bring them into the 21st Century and help boost sagging numbers. As an Eagle Scout and devoted parent of a Cub Scout, I am committed to this organization and that is also why, as an advertising professional, I couldn't agree more with this move more. Now they haven't let leak what they are doing as far as execution goes but we we have some ideas of our own.

It all comes down to the technology that has come to define us. Are the Boy Scouts going to embrace technology and reposition their brand around it – essentially becoming the "Tech Scouts of America"? Or do they embody the other piece that you need to add to help shape a truly well-rounded child – running, hiking, exploring, civic responsibility. My Spidey sense tells me someone might try to pitch the former to produce quick results but I think the real opportunity for long-term brand traction is in the latter. All of the things that Scouting stands for are more relevant than ever now. In reality – as we so often find — the raw material for a great brand is already there. It just needs to be packaged more effectively.

The Boy Scouts are a great example of a brand that has let some weeds grow over it but more importantly they are addressing the issue. What are other examples of brands in need of a makeover? Is yours ...? 

The Role of Positioning in an Economic Downturn

If you were Harley Davidson in this economy you might think that you'd have a problem, right? You make high-end bikes that are expensive and could be seen by some as an expendable purchase given the current climate. Well, Harley has headed this off at the pass with their new TV/online campaign (above) that you've no doubt seen this past week.

In one fell swoop they re-galvanize their brand evangelists (click through to YouTube and you can see the user comments where someone posts that they'll have to "pry my current sportster keys from my cold dead hands") and fire up folks on the fence with their "Guarantee Made of Iron." They clearly acknowledge the current state of affairs but firmly position the Harley Davidson Sportster as one of the only sure things left in the economy and, moreover, a good investment. They even go so far as to position the brand and what it stands for as one of the building blocks of our freedom. Wow. Well done HD.

See how major brands like Harley and Walmart are talking about the economy without literally talking about the economy? More than overt crisis messaging, what's called for now is good, old-fashioned Ries & Trout positioning in a way that is relevant to the revised priorities of the day.

What are some other examples – good or bad - that you've seen of positioning for the current economy?

An Entrepreneur Looks at 60

Today Dean Westergaard turns 60. Over 27 years ago and with just a handful of clients, Dean started Westergaard Advertising in the home I grew up in. Several years back, he wrote some copy describing one of our clients as a business that was quietly doing things very well. I think you could say the same thing about the writer. Here's to Deano — small business-owner, entrepreneur, ad man, copywriter, media buyer, Nile Kinnick historian, Brewer/Packer/Hawkeye fan, card-carrying Leinie Lodge member, "old building and loan pal," grandpa, and dad — happy 60th, old man.

Top 5 Westerblog Posts: 2005-2009

Okay ... so most people do a "Top 10" but we had a pretty dry period there for a while so I feel that the best way to give a clear and accurate picture of our most popular posts (by traffic - thanks Google Analytics) is to start with a simple list of five. So in the spirit of looking forward to 2009 and looking back, here are our top five posts:

1. I'm Nick Westergaard and I Approve This Blog Post
2. Is That Crap Under My Windshield Wiper or Guerilla Marketing?
3. The Swing Marketing Advertised
4. The Monster That Ate the Trade Show
5. Sprinkles the Wonder Dog

Cheers to Chris Brogan for the idea. He observed when he put his list together – using "linked to" as a rating instrument for the posts – that numbered posts got a lot of attention. Hence I shrewdly chose to do a look back/best of list and number the blog title to test that out.

What do you think? What would you like to see more of in 2009? Cast your vote now using the quick poll in the sidebar to the right.

Brand New Year

It's a new year and now that the champagne bottles have been tossed out and the confetti has been cleaned up, we have a lot to do. The economy is in shambles, industries from Wall Street to Main Street are faltering — some with government assistance but most without. We need new strategies to right our course nationally and for our businesses because the old ones just won't work any more. 

At Westergaard Advertising, we have one prediction for the New Year — brands will be bigger than ever. This may sound like a simple overstatement of the obvious but think about it. In a troubled economy you can only lead on price for so long — someone can always go lower and you cannot compete with that, especially when we don't know where the basement is. Where you can establish an edge is in the intangible ...

At the end of the day, it comes back to who your business is. Who your brand is and what kind of equity you've built up. In times of crisis there are two paths for your brand to save the day. 

1. Your brand is impeccable, has always been impeccable, and most of your customers will stick with you through rough times. 
2. You have neglected your brand. Your name doesn't mean much or as much as it used to. 

If you are in the first group,  you don't necessarily have it made. If you are in the second group, all is not lost but you must immediately perform a branding course correction. You must take as many resources as you can muster and put them behind your brand. And I'm not merely talking about a new logo or website but rather taking every decision you make as an opportunity to build brand equity. Do customers come into your business to pick something up? How could you go that extra mile and generate buzz and a positive brand experience? Is there something you could do that would leave your customer obligated to tell all of their friends about your business? 

These are the kind of brand stories you need to cultivate. Even if you are in the first group with an impeccable brand, things are in flux now and you musn't loose site of your brand's state in the ever changing public sphere. Reach out to your customers and wrap them in your brand. Remind them why you are remarkable. 

In short, build your brand in the new year. Keep it at the center of your mission. Put as many dollars toward it as you can spare — think of it as an investment your business' most crucial asset. But there's also a lot you can do that won't cost a dime. Talk to your team. Get their ideas on how to build bulletproof brand loyalty in 2009.  And, most of all, Happy New Year.