The NFL Goes Global

This past Sunday (October 28), the NFL played its first regular season game outside of North America in London, England at Wembley Stadium. The game sold out in just a few hours to fill the 90,000 seats, and in the span of only three days, they had a half million ticket requests. Props go out to the NFL for this wildly successful move and one that’s sure to build a stronger global brand. And they did it the right way, by actually going global to do so.

Many of our clients are moving toward, or have already embraced, globalization. But it takes more than declaring yourself a global company or having a smattering of international customers. It takes the level of effort shown by the NFL in actually going global, immersing your company or brand in other cultures and letting global customers learn about you and embrace you on their own turf.

What Does It Really Mean to Be ‘Family Friendly’?

As a career mom, I always ask one thing when I interview for a new position: “Do you consider yourself a family-friendly company, and if so, why?”

I nearly always hear the same response: “Yes, we do. We have an excellent family medical package.” Or, “Of course. Many of our employees have children.”

However, once I’m in company, family friendliness is M.I.A.

Companies must understand that, more than ever, their recruits are looking for a family-friendly employer. And these days, that definition means much more than a good benefits package, as a recent Wall Street Journal column points out. Professionals are demanding the flexibility to balance work and family life. As competition increases for talented job candidates, family-friendly options are no longer a choice but a necessity for your business to succeed.

Scheibel Halaska, which was recently named a Family-Friendly Employer by Metroparent Magazine, has understood this reality from the firm’s inception. Mary Scheibel, the firm’s principal, started the company because she needed balance between work and her family.

Over a decade later, one reason SH has achieved success is because of its commitment to employees and their families. Just as a family works as a team, so do the employees at Scheibel Halaska. The firm’s team approach allows employees to achieve that balance between work and family.

Promoting your company as a family-friendly employer can help you recruit top talent. But you can’t just say you’re family-friendly; any employer can do that. As SH understands, you have to practice family friendliness consistently, and you have to do it as a team.

Building a Name in Blogging—without Your Own Blog

Having a web presence is critical. And lately, more and more companies are even taking the time to create their own corporate blogs. But starting and maintaining a successful blog is a substantial undertaking requiring a lot of time and commitment. A blog must feature engaging posts on compelling topics—consistently.

If your organization doesn’t have the resources to do justice to your own blog, there’s another way to build an online presence: contributing to other blogs. In Milwaukee, we have BizBlog, a blog updated daily as part of the The Small Business Times. Check out how John Scheibel, our CEO, is increasing Scheibel Halaska’s presence on the web.

Everything’s going “green.” What’s it mean?

“Green” is growing. In one week’s time, I got a marketing magazine that dedicated an entire issue to “green.” A printer sent me a direct marketing piece announcing that they now use all “green” materials. A client began work on a “green” product line. I’m sure you can add your own examples to this list.

Just a fad? I don’t think so. Cynical marketers can no longer dismiss the green demographic as a bunch of “tree-huggers.” Not when Wal-Mart is making a big push into the organic market. Consumers are turning toward organic foods, recycled packaging, hybrid cars and other more environmentally sound products.

What’s next?
Maybe it’s the B2B marketplace, where things are moving a little more slowly, but they are moving. Manufacturers of all shapes and sizes are beginning to look for ways they can go greener.

Some B2B companies are moving a lot faster toward products, services and marketing that emphasize a more eco-friendly approach. But according to this article in the aforementioned green issue of Deliver magazine, marketing your green initiatives comes with the risk that you’ll overshadow your brand and the other compelling aspects of your product or service. There’s also a chance that your audience will be skeptical of your efforts, as has been the case with Wal-Mart.

Does that mean you should shelve your green efforts?
Hardly. Just don’t be, um, green about them. You’ve got to know what you’re doing. And you’d better actually be doing something—not just talking about being green. Most importantly, keep an eye on your brand strategy. It takes careful thought to strike the right balance between the new positives of your environmentally conscious initiatives and the more traditional benefits of your products or services—the stuff that hooked your customers in the first place.

Your best green initiatives will be backed by your actions. They’ll be just one part of your marketing message. And they’ll complement, rather than overshadow, the essence of your brand.

I’d like to hear about your green efforts, and how you’re sharing them with the marketplace. So tell me, how’s going green going for you?

Stay True to Your Brand in Everything You Do

In the Internet Age, Keeping Promises Has Never Been More Important

Fifteen years ago, during my education in Total Quality Management, I was taught that satisfied customers generally tell two to four others that they’re satisfied, while dissatisfied customers tell, on average, seven others that they’re dissatisfied.

Fast-forward to the Internet Age. The avenues for an unhappy customer’s message to spread—and spread quickly—are much more plentiful. You’ve got to keep your promises, or you risk word getting around on the World Wide Web.

The record-keeper for our company’s 401(k) Plan might have done well to consider this new reality before they let our employees down. I won’t go into the specifics here, but let’s just say Associates in Excellence didn’t live up to its name.

My antennae begin wiggling whenever I confront a business that uses superlatives in their name—excellence, premier, perfect, etc. Definitions of “excellence” vary person to person. Therefore, in order for Associates in Excellence to be consistently “excellent,” every one of their products, services, transactions and interactions need to meet not only my definition of “excellence,” but everyone else’s, too. Absent that, they will not be “excellent”; they will disappoint.

If you’d like further details on the substandard service we experienced from Associates in, ahem, “Excellence,” I’d be happy to share them with you over email.

Do You Uphold Your Brand?

Take a moment to contemplate what your name stands for. What is YOUR brand promise? Compare that to what your every-day interactions demonstrate. Do they support the promise? At Scheibel Halaska, we believe powerful brands are always built from the inside out. Any inconsistency between what you say and how you act betrays your brand and, ultimately, your success.

To Increase the Power of Your PR, Try Multitasking

Does the following describe your PR plan? Send out a press release, hope someone runs it. If it runs, hope someone reads it.

If so, you’re missing out on numerous opportunities to expand the impact of your good news. In today’s communications arena, a broadening mix of new technology, traditional and non-traditional media and social networking is opening new avenues to reach and engage your target audiences.

One of our manufacturing clients has taken the lead in getting more productivity out of their PR. As part of a strategic initiative to integrate PR coverage into other marketing activities, they’re making their PR coverage multitask as content in a customer e-newsletter campaign, and with great results.

And our client doesn’t stop there. One win begets many more, in a chain reaction of PR productivity. It starts with the initial press coverage—an interview, byline article or news announcement (that’s one communications method). That gets turned around and used in an e-newsletter (that’s two). That e-newsletter is then aligned with the sales force through an e-mail sent out from the VP of sales explaining how to leverage this coverage in their sales efforts (we’re at three now). The newsletter may be posted on the company’s web site (do I hear four?). With a focus on informative, helpful content, the e-newsletter potentially becomes a pass- along, or viral, communications vehicle (that’s five). If done right, the content can even lead to word-of-mouth discussion around the customer’s office (six) and may open the door to future marketing communication uses down the road.

The point is, a PR campaign has great potential beyond the published, aired or posted initial coverage. Technology opens the doors to get more out of your budget dollars, increase brand awareness and further position your company as an expert in your industry.

Next time you see your company’s name in print, online or on the airwaves, don’t just clip it and forget it. Make it multitask for you. Get it out there any way you can for your customers and prospects to absorb.

4 Key Trends in Lead Generation: How Will You Adapt?

Marketing Sherpa is a storehouse of always valuable, sometimes surprising business marketing knowledge. For example, I recently sat in on a Sherpa webinar showcasing some fascinating new research findings on “B2B Marketing Lead Generation, Nurturing & Conversion Stats & Tactics.”

The presentation was loaded with interesting tidbits:

“Marketing to a growing number of people involved in the buying process” is today’s biggest marketing challenge. More and more, we’re all marketing and selling to a “committee.” We’re struggling to appeal to and gain consensus among all the members at once.

Target audiences demand instant satisfaction. If you don’t make it available with a mouse click, they’re not interested. They don’t want to fill out your form and wait for you to mail them a whitepaper. This suggests that, in lead generation at the very least, whitepapers are outdated.

From a tactical perspective, the old meets the new. Telemarketing is still effective if done properly. At the same time, webinar traffic is increasing daily (case study: the Marketing Sherpa presentation discussed here).

Perhaps the most interesting finding:
80% of decision makers said THEY FOUND their key vendor(s), not the other way around.

As a marketing communications professional, I at first winced at this last revelation. Despite our best marketing communications, public relations and sales efforts, our customers are taking the credit for finding us—instead of us finding them!

But maybe it’s better that customers think that way, because then it means we’re doing our jobs without intruding. What’s important is that we get through to customers, one way or another.

The underlying lesson? It’s more important than ever that you know where your targets look for information. Industry publications, the Internet, trade shows ... You need to be there, where and when they’re searching. Just as important, you need to seize every contact opportunity by sharing a compelling, memorable message about why your target audiences should choose you over the competition.

If you’re not there in front of customer and prospects, sharing your powerful message, your competitors are likely to be.