Are You Marketing (and Living) Your Mission?

Over at AdAge, there’s an interesting look at the trend in mission-based marketing among consumer brands.

Big names like Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Wal-Mart are putting a lot of emphasis on taglines and catchphrases that sound like they’re right out of a lofty mission statement.

Think Wal-Mart’s “Save money. Live better.” That’s a pretty dramatic and emotional turn from the old “Always low prices.” More importantly, the audience seems to be internal as much as external.

Guess it’s a sign of the times. In the recession, employees need to know they’re working for something more meaningful—helping people “live better”—than just providing cheap merchandise. Seems to be working at least OK for Wal-Mart lately.

Yes, a tagline tied to a mission can pack a pretty powerful punch. But a note of caution: If you’re going to engage in mission marketing, then it’s more critical than ever to follow through with the mission you’re promoting. You’ve got to live that brand promise.

Otherwise, it’s just an empty slogan. And your customers, and your employees, will see right through it.

Key Considerations for Your Company Facebook Page

Should your business be on facebook?

Yes. With more than 300 million users across all demographics, you shouldn’t ignore this channel.

However, what you do with your facebook page is a different matter. Many companies may be unsure how to proceed in this huge but still evolving arena.

Maybe start by consulting this helpful primer on facebook pages for small businesses in The New York Times (sign-in required). There are some good links to other resources there, so by all means, read the article when you have time (away from facebook).

In the meantime, some key takeaways:

• Start with strategy. Yes, you should be on facebook. No, you should not be aimlessly wasting time. However, there’s a learning curve involved. So identify objectives, and start experimenting now with ways to achieve them.
• Show, don’t sell. People use facebook to interact, not to buy things. They’re interested in the personality of your business, so give them that experience on your page—not a bunch of pushy hype.
• Stay up to date. Regular doses of current and relevant news, events and commentary keep visitors returning.
• Don’t expect too much. Since facebook is about relationships, and relationships take time to develop, maintaining a great page won’t do your salespeople’s job for them.
  

The Recovery Is Ramping Up. What about Your Marketing?

Feeling a little more optimistic lately?

If so, it’s not without cause. Numerous signs suggest that the economy is continuing to emerge from recession:

• Although we’ve topped 10 percent unemployment, new claims for jobless benefits are down.
• Retail sales are picking up.
• Productivity is hitting new highs.
  

If you have some other tales of the upswing to point out, please join the conversation at Positive Breakthroughs, a LinkedIn group promoting good economic news.

In the meantime, you should be thinking about how you’ll take advantage of new growth opportunities as they arise. After all, there will be no shortage of companies vying for new business in the coming months.

How are you going to set yourself and your company apart from the fray?

It doesn’t have to mean big spending. As AdAge points out, positioning yourself as a thought leader is a smart, cost-effective way to differentiate yourself and increase your visibility. Whatever niche you’re in, now is the time to demonstrate your expertise through relevant social networks, in the trade publications and on the blogs.

You can start by commenting right here. ;)

New CNN Site Did Your Web Design Homework

CNN.com, the country’s highest-traffic network news site, went live this week with a redesign that’s worth further study.

Not sure if it’s as “beautiful” and “visually arresting” as the CNN folks claim, but it definitely has a greater emphasis on images, video and easily digestible, modular content. Adweek says there’s a lot more interactive, social functionality, as well.

The redesign reflects an important step in CNN’s transition—from just an online iteration of a TV network, toward a distinct news site that takes advantage of the web’s unique capabilities. But good as the new site is, it isn’t by any stretch revolutionary. CNN’s really just following the lead of non-mainstream news sites such as The Daily Beast and Newser.

The difference? CNN is a big organization backed by an even larger corporate parent, Time Warner. The changes they’ve made are almost certainly driven and justified by thorough research. They’ve looked carefully at what the audience wants: a more custom user experience and greater involvement with the content. These results appear to validate the savvy design and social aspects of those alternative news sites.

That’s why it’s a good idea for all of us to pay attention. The new CNN shows that social functionality, quick-read convenience and interactive communication are now mainstream must-haves on the web.

OK, so your site won’t make Alexa’s top 500 anytime soon, but you can still benefit by deploying some of the best practices of those that do.

Lucky 7? Microsoft Marketing Better with New Windows

Jaded techies around the world are grudgingly admitting that, whaddya know, Windows 7 is actually pretty good. 

It’s not at all clear whether the launch can help Microsoft fully recover from the expensive failures of Vista. But the strong initial buzz suggests they’re doing a lot more things right this time around.

 Things like:

n      Much closer collaboration with PC makers in developing the new product

n      Going for a more evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, advancement

n      Emphasizing Windows 7’s user-inspired improvements

 

The customer focus is also carried through in a push for “launch parties” at users’ houses (which was noticed in the marketplace at least enough to spur its own parody video). And there’s a nice, cohesive theme going throughout, around the number 7. Read a fairly glowing overview of all the moves over at Business Week.

Looks like the MS team has determined that, if they’re going to get a cynical, stingy public to buy in this time around, they’d better involve those customers from the start, give them a product they’re looking for and tell them about it every way they can.

The result is that, for once, Microsoft seems to be setting a good marketing example.

The French, and Other Snags in Your Global Marketing Efforts

Oh, those French. So proud, so self-serious. They can’t let a fun and fitting new term like cloud computing just be.

They have to come up with their own, uniquely French name for it. The Wall Street Journal takes a quizzical look at this process as it’s carried out by France's General Commission of Terminology and Neology.

The article is worth a read as a caution for all current and aspiring global marketers out there about the many pitfalls of communicating in overseas markets.

The French may be more forceful in their defiance of “outsider” words. But they’re hardly the only ones. Truth is, every culture is quick to dismiss anything that doesn’t sound native. They won’t look too kindly on your brand if you don’t blend in.

Google translator won’t cut it. A decent translation service won’t necessarily, either. After all, you have to do more than just speak the language; you have to work to become part of the culture, to understand and respond to what customers care about and the way they think in each market.

Chances are you can’t accomplish it with your own resources alone (unless you’re, say, Coca-Cola). More likely, you’ll get through to your audiences overseas by leveraging strategic partnerships with firms in those markets. They become the keepers of your brand in far-flung places. Who knows, you might even work with them by using cloud computing.

Southwest Brand Gets a Good Rap

Here's a little Friday uplift ...

It’s nothing new or groundbreaking to point out that Southwest Airlines has a great brand. But then again, maybe you haven’t seen Southwest’s rapping flight attendant:



Further proof that no company owns a more fully realized, thoroughly entertaining brand than Southwest. It makes a nice complement to the playful "Grab Your Bag, It's On" campaign they've got going.

And for David Holmes, it's made for his 15-plus minutes of fame--at the company's shareholders meeting, in the Wall Street Journal, even on Oprah and Leno.

Meanwhile, to Southwest's credit, they've appeared to be hands-off throughout. Blogs and news stories routinely attribute the origins of the phenomenon to recordings by passengers with cell phone cameras, not by anyone at Southwest posting and/or spreading the video. That's a key lesson for any aspiring viral marketers out there: it's got to at least look spontaneous.

Since Southwest and its people have been consistently supporting the company's well-grounded (or should we say "high-flying") brand for years, this video is easily assumed to be authentic. Either way, it's fun to watch on a Friday afternoon.