A Direct Marketing Agency - Helping Brands Acquire and Retain Customers

Vacant airwaves between broadcast channels, also known as white space, are gaining a lot of attention. The white space has been untouched for years serving as a buffer zone between channels. The technology industry has been trying to get a hold of the white space as an alternative to deliver or enhance broadband and other wireless services. According to eweek, technology experts believe it could work without interfering television signals.

The project came to a halt last year when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) tested Microsoft's equipment capabilities of detecting TV broadcast or wireless microphone signals. The FCC continues to test the potential of white space, as the battle between technology and broadcasters continues on how the white space should be used. Starting in 2009 the white space will be obsolete, since there will not be a need for it when analog television converts to digital.

So, what does this have to do with marketing? If the white space is developed as an alternative broadband service it has the potential to reach a wider target audience. It will expand the capabilities of reaching people that may not have high speed Internet access because they live in a rural community. Larry Page, co-founder of Google, stated, "If we have 10% better connectivity in the U.S., we get 10% more revenue in the U.S."

Recently, I have been reading the book "The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How To Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing & Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly" by David Meerman Scott. The book contains valuable information about how the Internet has changed the way we communicate with each other, businesses, and current and potential customers. Scott states, "Prior to the Web, organizations had only two significant choices to attract attention: buy expensive advertising or get third-party ink from the media. But the Web has changed the rules. Organizations that understand the new rules of marketing and PR develop relationships directly with consumers like you and me." His book highlights the following New Rules of Marketing and PR:

• Marketing is more than just advertising.
• PR is for more than just a mainstream media audience.
• You are what you publish.
• People want authenticity, not spin.
• People want participation, not propaganda.
• Instead of causing one-way interruption, marketing is about delivering content at just the precise moment your audience needs it.
• Marketers must shift their thinking from mainstream marketing to the masses to a strategy of reaching vast numbers of underserved audiences via the Web.
• PR is not about your boss seeing your company on TV. It's about your buyers seeing your company on the Web.
• Marketing is not about your agency winning awards. It's about your organization winning business.
• The Internet has made public relations public again, after years of almost exclusive focus on media.
• Companies must drive people into the purchasing process with great online content.
• Blogs, podcasts, e-books, news releases, and other forms of online content let organizations communicate directly with buyers in a form they appreciate.
• On the Web, the lines between marketing and PR have blurred.

The book focuses on demonstrating and outlining case studies of how to leverage the potential of Web-based communications by speaking directly with customers and buyers. One of the points he makes about Web-based communications is that visitors to a Web site do not want to be bombarded with slogans or other advertising material, but they want information, interaction, and choice.

Today, the majority of people read newspapers online, send text messages and e-mails—and opt out of receiving direct mail or traditional newspapers.

However, research shows that print is still a preferred medium for consumers and business executives. Print has continued to be the top-ranked performer in advertising and marketing campaigns. Research has also shown that people do read or skim their direct mail if it relates to them. According to the USPS 2006 study, 80% of people read or skim their direct mail. And the DMA 2007 Response Rate reported that catalogs and direct mail generate the second- and third-highest response rates. Personalized color print ranked the highest among printed materials.

Online consumers who receive printed catalogs are twice as likely to purchase online from retailers, compared to those who don't receive printed catalogs, according to the 2007 USPS study. Furthermore, the 2007 Ipsos US survey stated that 67% of the online population is driven by offline messages to learn more about companies' services and products.

A 2007 survey by Doremus and the Financial Times found that 59% of senior executives trust printed magazines, journals, and newspapers over online sources, and 60% rely on print for in-depth analysis.

DMNews states that even in the Internet age print remains a powerful, dynamic medium.

The growing awareness of individuals' and organizations' footprint on the environment has increased eco-friendly business practices. Marketers are feeling the impact of doing their part to protect and improve our environment. Direct mail is one of the leading causes of the tree reduction due to the mass amount of paper used to produce mail.

• One ton of virgin uncoated offset paper requires three tons of wood (24 trees).
• Manufacturing one ton of papers uses 38 million BTUs of energy, emits 5,960 pounds of greenhouse gases, uses more than 19,000 gallons of water, and produces 2,300 pounds of solid waste. (Environmental Defense Fund's Paper Calculator)

DMNews suggests that by targeting consumers better, using hygiene list, and respecting consumers' mail preferences marketers can make a difference. Using FSC-certified recycled paper and soy-based inks is another method of decreasing direct mail's impact on the environment. Diverting to more marketing online is another solution; multichannel marketers can reduce acquisition, retention costs, and redirect savings into other channels.

An example of an organization going green is Jockey, which recently mailed its first catalog that contained only 44 pages printed on recycled paper and used environmentally-sound inks.

By being conscious of the amount of resources used for direct mail we can reduce pressure on forests, cut energy use and change emissions, use less water, reduce pollution, and produce less waste.

DMNews believes that "as marketers look to be more eco-friendly, there are many things to consider. While cutting down on paper production certainly will help save resources, it is not always black and white. The best way for marketers to both "go green" and reach consumers is by using relevant channels."

Variable data printing (VDP), also known as one-to-one marketing, print on demand, or personalized printing, contains elements such as text, graphics, and images that can be changed from one printed piece to the next without stopping or slowing down the printing process, and using information from a database or external file. VDP is a type of printing in which documents are created from a combination of variable text and images that are taken from records in a database that is used for direct marketing, customer relationship management (CRM), and advertising. With widespread adoption of customer relationship management (CRM) and one-to-one marketing, the demand for such services continues to grow.

Extant empirical research using customer data for CRM and one-to-one marketing tends to have an engineering emphasis, and focuses on developing analysis techniques to implement CRM and one-to-one marketing optimally. CRM has become a buzzword to maximize ROI from customer-based strategy. Marketers are realizing that loyalty in customers is an important asset for companies. This technique is a direct outgrowth of digital printing that uses databases and digital print devices to create high-quality, full color documents that look and feel comparable to conventional offset printing.

There are four different levels of how content can be customized within a document, according to Maverick Print:

1. Static: One size fits all marketing message that is mass produced, with the same message for every customer, regardless of their relationship or profitability to a company.
2. Personalized: Each customer's name and address will appear on document to attract attention, but the marketing message is static and exactly the same for every customer.
3. Versioned: Segmented versions of a document are created to meet the needs of different groups. The customer base is segmented according to demographic or other attributes. For example, investors can be segmented by age, long-term goals, or geography. Customized content is then delivered that best addresses the needs of each particular segment.
4. Fully Customized (Ultimate Application of Direct Marketing): Each document's content is fully customized to be highly relevant and custom-tailored to a specific individual. A full color document is dynamically composed, and everything in the document can be varied (layout, text, and image) depending on the customer.

Variable data printing is growing in today's industry. According to a 2006 Trend Watch report on Adobe VDP resource center, "thirty-seven percent of graphic arts firms (printers and trade shops) produce some sort of VDP jobs in-house — up from 28% one year ago. Also, 18% of digital printers say their volume of full-color VDP jobs with 13-plus fields has increased a little — a five-fold increase from one year ago."

XMPie, Inc.offers a new innovative software that is enhancing the use of VDP and marketing databases for one-to-one communication with consumers. XMPie's software has increased the use and capabilities of marketers to produce VDP. The increase of integration of marketing communications and loyalty programs is partially due to the use of XMPie by marketers.

Through my research on the growing use of database marketing and XMPie (a leading provider of software for cross media and variable data one-to-one marketing), I found these five emerging trends in database marketing:

1. Multi-channel support for touch points. Today's marketing databases integrate call centers, websites, direct response television, lead management, and affinity activities. The marketing database now shapes a customer's user experience across interactive or real-time touch points.
2. Monitoring for event-based activities. With the help of frequent updates and filtering, you can search for meaningful activity in a database to drive your relationship marketing. Searching for changes in a customer account, large purchases or returns allows companies to trigger a personal call offering additional services. Or industries can launch an event-based campaign to react to trigger events, such as the purchase of nursery items (which suggests that the buyer is about to become a parent) or the establishment of a wedding registry.
3. Profitability segmentation. Typically, databases marketers have segmented by response, building models to identify the best candidates for their products. By moving beyond revenue segmentation, profitability segmentation helps industries target those who are most likely to be profitable. By predicting profitability, they can better determine how much to invest in communications.
4. Increased emphasis on data hygiene/integration. Now that more disparate data can be merged into a central repository, industries are likely to see conflicts or discrepancies among the data. Data conflicts cause you to not only lose data, which is costly, but also the confidence of both the database users and customers. To address this challenge, there is greater emphasis on capturing, correcting, and maintaining accurate data.
5. Affordable prospect database environments. Once cost prohibitive, prospect databases are now affordable and provide a rather rapid return on investment. Lower costs of hardware and software have increased competition in outsourced services, and enhanced processing capabilities, helping marketers expand their database marketing capabilities. The affordable prospect database is no longer emerging, it is a reality.

A prosumer is a customer who is invited to participate in the creation of products that increases customer engagement and is a part of mass collaboration. Starbucks' new social network community, mystarbucksidea.com, is an example of incorporating the prosumer trend into a marketing program.

The site allows consumers to share their ideas, view other ideas and vote on them, and view ideas in action. Starbucks' new social network is a part of their brand kickoff of new customer outreach and reward initiatives for this year.

Starbucks customers who register for the Starbucks prepaid or credit card online will be eligible for several benefits. Some of the benefits include free coffee refills, free extras like flavored syrup or soy milk, and two hours of free Wi-Fi per store visit. They are calling their new program an ongoing rewards program and not a loyalty program. They consider their new program different than traditional loyalty programs because customers receive immediate benefits, rather than collecting points for future benefits.

Engaging customers in product innovations is becoming an increasingly important part of business and social networks is a popular way for prosumers to contribute their ideas. It will be interesting to see how Starbucks' brand kickoff will change their brand and customer relationship.

"Today, ideas and innovations are increasingly coming from outside company walls and web-based virtual talent pools are stepping in to fill the need," stated Dob Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams. Tapscott and Williams are the authors of Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything and are known for coining the term ideagora in their book. An ideagora is a place where businesses come to sell their IPs (Intellectual Property) or find solutions to their problems, or, as Tapscott & Williams put it, "solutions in search of questions and questions in need of solutions."

The growing marketplace for ideas, innovations, and uniquely qualified minds is changing the long-standing rules of innovation and talent management. Companies seeking solutions can tap into the insights of hundreds of thousands of enterprising scientists through ideagora without having to employ everybody full time. This shift is changing the way Corporate America invents and develops products and services.

An example of a company using the ideagora concept to redevelop their brand and technology used in their product is Dell. Dell recently launched their Ideastorm site ( http://www.dellideastorm.com/ ), where consumers can suggest ideas for Dell and vote on whether to demote or promote an idea. InnoCentive and TopCoder are also examples of ideagoras companies that offer access to a wealth of new ideas.

Tapscott and Williams concluded the chapter on ideagora by stating, "Companies that don't source a growing proportion of new product and service ideas from outside their walls will find themselves unable to sustain the level of growth, agility, responsiveness, global savvy, or creativity they require to compete in today's environment."

Mobile phones are one of the fastest growing channels in digital marketing. A recent article in DMNews stated that if a company incorporates e-mail into its multi-channel marketing program, then mobile marketing is a logical next step for the company.

E-mail marketing is directly applicable to mobile by using text messaging to send messages to consumers. Forrester Research reported that nearly 40% of all US mobile users send text messages. Mobile marketing is an opportunity for marketers to reach their customers with a timely and personable message.

Tips for developing a mobile marketing text messaging campaign are:

• Be concise. Use 160 characters or fewer.
• Be respectful of your customer's permission and privacy.
• Be sure the message has value to the consumer.

DMNews concluded its article by stating, "Mobile isn't a strategy – it's an emerging channel for message delivery."

In my publication production graduate course the objective of the class is to design a GCMupdate. The GCMupdate is a newsletter that highlights new trends in the printing industry, news in the Graphic Communication Management (GCM) program at UW-Stout, and information about UW-Stout. The GCMupdate is published each semester and sent to potential students, high schools, and printing industry organizations. My class has decided to base our publication on going green in the printing industry. Going green has become an increasingly popular trend among organizations.

Current actions that the printing industries are taking for going eco-friendly are:

• Soy-based Inks: Benefits of soy-based inks are they spread 15% further than petroleum-based inks, release less than one-fifth of the amount of VOC's (volatile organic compounds) compared to petroleum-based inks, and reduces paper waste-lowering the overall paper cost for the job
• Recycled Paper: Paper can be made out fibers, such as; cotton, kenaf, hemp, denim, old paper money and banana peels. Even though recycled paper is a great help to the environment it is usually still more expensive than non-recycled papers

SGP Partnership is an organization that helps printers develop sustainable green printing. SGP Partnership's goal is to define sustainable green printing and identify steps that help the printing industry to establish manufacturing practices and products that are more environmentally sustainable. To learn more going green checkout their web site, http://www.sgppartnership.org.

57% of men plan on doing their Valentine's Day shopping online compared to 39% of women shopping online. According to DoubleClick Performics recent survey, consumers are going online to get gift ideas, compare prices, find deals, find a specific product or find a place to shop. DoubleClick Performics states, "Retailers should understand the potential link between online research and in-store purchases. No matter where consumers intend to make their purchases, online is proving to be a springboard and a key influencer for much of consumers' purchase activities." There were three key reasons why consumers are choosing to shop online: better selection, less expensive, and better quality. Popular online gifts for Valentine's Day are travel packages, electronics, books, music, and DVDs. Traditional Valentine's Day presents; such as flowers and candy will most likely be purchased offline.

CBS Mobile team is working with Loopt, a social network service, to develop a mobile advertising campaign customized for a person's location. According to the New York Times, "the ads will appear on two Web sites that are tailored for mobile devices, CBS Mobile News and CBS Mobile Sports." CBS Mobile's goal is to make it easier for advertisers to target their promotions at consumers more precisely based on the consumers' location at stores and restaurants. Loopt's G.P.S.-based technology tracks mobile carriers' location.

"Communications companies abroad have only recently begun to test whether customers are receptive to getting ads based on their location, but there is a growing belief among advertisers and marketers that Americans will embrace this type of advertising, as long as it is useful and not intrusive," acclaimed New York Times' recent article "In CBS Test, Mobile Ads Find Users."

Cyraic Roeding of CBS Mobile, stated, "The key to mobile ads is to add value."

"Consumers are savvy enough to expect advertising, but they have to be relevant," according to Angela Steele, a director at Starcom USA.

It is estimated that by the end of 2008 as many as 50 million mobile phones will be equipped to receive location ads in the United States.

Beyond green to transparent, beautiful food, and the sounds of products are among some of the consumer trends in 2008 according to Brand Strategy Magazine.

• Beyond Green to Transparent: As more and more companies develop eco-friendly products as part of their brand, consumers are going to start becoming skeptical if products are truly eco-friendly. Consumers will start to demand proof that a product is eco-friendly and not just a gimmick to attract consumers to an organization's products.
• Beautiful Food: Health and wellness has been an ongoing trend and more consumers are readily accepting that food is the source of true beauty and that food can be beautiful.
• The Sound of Products: The "Snap, Crackle & Pop" cereal is an example of the influence and association that sound can have on consumers. Greeting cards that have sound are another example of using sound in products. Greeting cards have demonstrated the potential for consumers to move into a new level of auditory association. An innovative trend in 2008 is for products to incorporate digital media in their packaging and programming. Consumers will start to seek out digital sound that will create new levels of emotional and sensory associations with sounds that provide information about the product.

Web personalization is defined as the act of dynamically customizing a Web page based on user attributes; such as, geographic location, depth of visit, time on site, or language. According to the Aberdeen 2007 Group Study, only 17% of companies are using personalization. The Aberdeen 2007 study also found that Web personalization was one of the leading analytics in 2007. Web personalization has the potential to take e-mail marketing one step further by using analytics to target audiences effectively. According to DMNews, by combining information with data and past purchasing behavior marketers are equipped to create a relevant experience for consumers through e-mail. An example of using Web personalization to improve e-mail marketing campaigns would be targeting consumers based on their past-purchase behaviors and sending e-mail promotions that would complement those product choices.

88% of retailers increased their e-mail frequency during the holiday season, according to a recent article published by DMNews. The Email Experience Council's recent e-mail research found that from November 10 to December 21 retailers sent an average of 3.3 e-mails a week compared to 1.9 e-mails during the pre-holiday season. Some retailers sent as many as 5 e-mails a week during the 2007 holiday season. The Email Experience Council found that retailers increased their e-mail volumes by 45% during the holiday season.

Many retailers increased their e-mail frequency during the holiday season because of the weak economy and they were under pressure to increase sales. The Email Experience Council stated that, "Email is a very inexpensive and effective way of driving sales."

Ovation's recent B2B email marketing research found that 16% of B2B Web sites contained email sign up that was located on their home pages or under their professional, business, products, and services links. The research also indicated that 56% responded within in 24 hours of email registration with a thank you or welcome email and 40% of B2B retailers sent emails more than once a week. Compared to MarketingSherpa's Email Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007 that indicated that 9.1% of B2B marketers sent emails more than once a week, 12.6% sent emails once per week, 27.7% sent emails 2-3 times per month, 41.5% sent emails once per month, and 9.10% sent once per quarter or less. Zones, 4imprint, Northern Tool, and Dell are among some of the B2B retailers that use email marketing. In one month Zones sent 11 emails, 4imprint sent 8 emails, Northern Tool sent 7 emails and Dell sent 7 emails.

B2B email marketing is not as common or popular as B2C email marketing, but 42.4% of marketers have indicated the impact of B2B email marketing is increasing slowly and 35.6% indicated the impact of email is increasing significantly. MarketingSherpa's Email Marketing Benchmark Guide also found that 58% of B2B organizations stated that impact of B2B email marketing is increasing.

Video is increasingly becoming a popular form of media found on the Web. PR professionals are starting to take advantage of this new trend by incorporating video into their PR campaigns. Some organizations are beginning to use video news releases instead of the traditional written format because it has the ability to bypass the press and go directly to the consumer. News releases are the number one resource of providing information to the public and can be easily access on the Web. New releases can be viewed on Google News, Yahoo!, blogs and several other sources available on the Internet.

DMNews recently stated that a new trend in PR is to go directly to the consumer, and video news releases have the ability to be routed straight to the consumer. General Motors is an organization that has been developing video news releases to launch new products, safety or environmental news, and chairman's reports. Mike Meyerand, director of broadcast communications at GM stated, "Video news releases now count for 10% of all the company's news releases." Video news releases are primary used on the Web at Google, Yahoo!, YouTube, and other video sharing sites. This new trend is an effective tool for PR because consumers no longer have to rely on broadcasters on T.V. or radio to tell them news, but have the ability to access the news at their own convenience on the Web.

Microsoft recently launched the next generation of Windows Live that will help address the growing significance of social media with social and sharing tools. Microsoft conducted a study of consumer social networking behavior, Windows Live Social Media Opportunities November 2007, which indicated that social media tools are valuable to consumers and is an opportunity for marketers to increase their relationships with consumers. Their study also indicated that 67% of online consumers would like to have an all-in-one service to access online information that would be accessible through a username and password. According to DMNews, "Microsoft Live is aimed at addressing the need for an all-in-one service. The Windows Live Mail application lets users cross access information across various Web based e-mail accounts such as AOL or Gmail accounts. It also includes social assets, such as messaging with video sharing and voice over IP capabilities, as well as photo sharing, blogging, and event planning tools."

Social networks are becoming an increasingly popular tool for companies because they engage customers, attract prospects and create peer-to-peer business communities. In a recent survey by DMNews about how b-to-b decision makers view social media tools, such as wikis, online communities and blogs, found that social media…

- Made consumers lives more efficient
- Made for a more informed purchasing decision
- Provided access to objective feedback
- Made the purchase process more efficient
- Trusted most for company's purchasing decisions
- Offers the ability to converse with peers

Social networking has become an important part of the business world because it opens the lines of communication between the consumer and retailer, and has the potential to improve brand loyalty and increase sales. The reason why social networks are successful is because they focus on target audiences and establish a relationship with that audience. They also have the ability to convert prospect consumers within the community to loyal consumers because customers answer questions and describe their own experiences, according to DMNews' article "B-to-B marketers start socializing." Social networks are also a cost effective marketing tool because "companies can save money by getting customers to support one another instead of getting help from a call center," explained Kirk Robinson, VP of North American channel marketing.

The development of the iPhone and increasing popularity of mobile devices is an opportunity for growth in e-business. E-business marketers now have the ability to launch successful mobile marketing campaigns. According to a recent study, there are 203 million cellphone subscribers and 80% of cellphones have advance capabilities like mobile video (Cuneo, 2006). The Wireless Intelligence Report stated that by the end of 2007 there will be 3 billion mobile connections worldwide (Rozen & Keefe, 2007). Mobile marketing will have an impact on the marketing industry because it is different than other media. Mobile marketing puts the consumer in control and has been considered a pull in the industry (Cuneo, 2006). Mobile marketing offers all types of new opportunities for organizations involved in e-business, e-commerce and m-commerce.

The adoption of mobile marketing begins with understanding an organization's culture, brand, target audience, technology and type of mobile marketing that will be implemented. According to Jack Felsheim, Marketing Director at Ovation Marketing, there are 4 factors to consider when an organization is considering rather or not to launch a mobile campaign. The 4 factors to consider are:

1. Selling: Will the organization be able to sell the idea of mobile marketing to their customers and prove that mobile marketing will work for their company?

2. Insight: What drove the organization to believe that something in the mobile marketing is different and will work for marketing their service or product?

3. Strategy: What is the organization's ability to put the product close to a situation that triggers the consumer to purchase and seek services?

4. Execution: What is the organization's capability to create a multi-channel marketing campaign that is successful? Mobile marketing is not a strategy or an idea, but another tool for multi-channel marketing.

To learn more about implementing mobile marketing click here to view my research.

References:
Cuneo, A. Z., & Neff, J. (2006). P&G tries out mobile-marketing. Advertising Age, 77(25), 2.
Rozen, D., & Keefe, M. (2007). Mobilizing companies: Activating campaigns. Whitepaper by: Carlson Mobile, 1-7.

A recent DM News article stated, "consumer magazines have been noticing the "it" factor of mobile marketing. This is really new consumer behavior, says Sopia Stuart, director of Hearst Mobile. Sometimes I feel like it is déjà vu because the same conversations are taking place when we heard about the Internet; it's the Internet in your pocket" (Bell, 2007, p.10). 40% of brands have developed text messaging as part of their mobile marketing and 18% have created multimedia-messaging (MMS) campaigns. "By 2008, 89% of global brands will use text and multimedia-messaging to reach their audiences. Nearly one-third will spend in excess of 10 percent of their marketing budgets on this medium. In five years, over half of all global brands (52%) expect to spend between 5% and 25% of their marketing budget on mobile marketing" (Rozen & Keefe, 2007, p.2). According to MarketingSherpa, "47.9% of consumer marketers are tracking mobile marketing as a potential tactic, and 13.8% will definitely conduct a full mobile campaign or test this year" (Interview: How to Execute, 2007).

Click here to view my research on mobile marketing.

References:
Bell, L. (2007, October 15). Magazine ads expand onto mobile Web. DMNews, 10.
Rozen, D., & Keefe, M. (2007). Mobilizing companies: Activating campaigns. Whitepaper by: Carlson Mobile, 1-7.
Interview: How to execute a mobile marketing campaign - 10 rollout tactics (2007, May 15). Retrieved October 23, 2007, from MarketingSherpa: Practical Case Studies & Know-How.

Articles about new mobile marketing strategies and new innovative technologies of mobile devices are continually being featured in the daily news. The most recent article I read was about T-Mobile's new phone, Shadow, in DMNews. The Shadow offers the same functionality as the iPhone with additional features, such as; scroll wheel and voice-dialing features. The major difference between the iPhone and Shadow is the price difference. The Shadow sells for $149.99 with a two-year contract compared to the iPhone's price of $399.

Michelle Webb, an employee at T-Mobile stated, "We look at the Shadow as a phone-first device to provide fun, easy and rich communications." In the new Shadow TV ad campaign the phone is positioned as the "The Official Phone of Fun" that will make communications easier.

T-Mobile's development of a phone comparable to the iPhone is expected to have an impact on mobile marketing because more and more consumers will have multi-interface phones that offer options to view the Web, video, text message and pictures.

To view more information on the Shadow click here.

I am currently taking an Information and Communication Technologies in Organizations course for graduate school that focuses on implementing growing trends in industries and solving current technical problems in organizations. One of our assignments was to write a research paper about a growing trend in e-business, e-commerce or e-learning, and the implementation process for the trend within an organization. My paper, Mobile Marketing: Implementing a Growing Trend, focuses in on the development of m-commerce in e-business. One valuable resource I found was a white paper from Carlson Mobile. The white paper was about mobilizing companies and activating campaigns, and the three rules they have found to mobilize businesses. The theme throughout the white paper was not "Mobile Marketing", but "Marketing Mobilization."

Rule #1 to Mobilizing Businesses - Integrate across Channels: "Using more than one channel to get, keep and grow your customer base is essential to successful marketing campaigns. Each channel has characteristics that are unique, with successful multi-channel solutions deploying different combinations of messages and channels at different points in the "conversation with customers"' (Rozen & Keefe, 2007). Carlson Mobile found 4 key components to focus on when examining that adoption as part of mobile marketing for a brand…

• Why they communicate: Define the brand's goals and know why they are choosing to incorporate mobile in to their multi-channel marketing campaign.
• What they communicate: Know what the brand will be communicating, some organizations send new product announcements, discounts, or service reminders.
• Who they communicate to: Most mobile users are younger generations; organization should consider what information is going to valuable to the younger audiences.
• When they communicate: The key to a successful mobile campaign is knowing when to hit key customers at the right time.

The other rules include: Beyond Marketing: Mobile Operations and Drive trusted relationships; Drive Sales.

"Rather than wait on the sidelines as competitors reap the benefits of using mobile within a multi-channel mix to acquire, deepen and enhance relationships, brands need to mobilize. Make it personal. Make it relevant. Make it mobile (Rozen & Keefe, 2007)."

Source: Rozen, D., & Keefe, M. (2007). Mobilizing companies; Activating campaigns.

In a recent DMNews article, Holiday Lessons: Use e-mail to create urgency, they discuss how to gain new customers and create relationships during the holiday season. The upcoming holiday season creates a mutually agreed-upon deadline for everyone because consumers know by the end of December they'll need to purchase gifts for their friends and families.

E-mail marketing and other marketing campaigns have the potential to boost your holiday sales through creating a deadline driven event. Developing a deadline driven event creates a sense of urgency for consumers and identifies your industry's seasonal offers. Examples of potential deadlines for industries are trade shows, partner events, conferences, and special travel offers. If there are no existing deadlines within your industry create an artificial deadline, like a free trial or a huge sale.

One way to increase customer loyalty and gain new customers is through e-mail marketing campaigns. E-mail marketing has the potential for existing subscribers to forward your holiday e-mails to friends, which then creates the potential for a new consumer looking for holiday gift ideas. Key components to remember for a holiday e-mail marketing campaign are welcome e-mails, invitations to newsletter subscriptions, and ask about their interests. The holiday season is a great opportunity to create an on-going e-mail relationship with consumers.

DMNews states, "One advantage of the holiday season is its inherent association with fun – the shopping activity itself has become an event. Think beyond coupons – use contests, trivia and prizes as ways to keep people engaged. Financial planners might create a quiz to test subscribers' knowledge of the markets – pitting them against each other in a playful, yet educational, competition. This reinforces the company's expertise, while highlighting the customer's need for the service."

Developing fun and innovative ideas as part of your holiday season marketing campaign is an excellent way to build relationships with current customers and attract new customers.

In my grad school class that I am currently taking one of our assignments was to read the McKinsey Global survey on how companies are marketing online. I found the article very interesting, especially the section about the latest trends. The survey was taken by marketing executives from around the world. Executives indicated that they were using digital tools, such as e-mail and informational Web sites less frequently, and implementing new possibilities including wikis and virtual worlds. Respondents show a lot of interest in the interactive and collaborative technologies that are emerging.

Emerging trends found in the survey are:

Blogs: online journals or diaries hosted on a Web site.

Online games: include both games played on dedicated game consoles that can be networked and massively multiplayer games.

Podcasts: audio or video recordings – multimedia form of a blog.

Social networks: allow members of specific sites to learn about other members' skills, talents, knowledge, or preferences

Virtual Worlds: such as Second Life, are highly social, three-dimensional online environments shaped by users.

Web services: software systems that make it easier for different systems to communicate with each other automatically to pass information or conduct transactions.

Widgets: programs that allow access from users' desktops to Web-based content.

Wikis: such as Wikipedia, systems for collaborative publishing.

65% of the respondents stated that advertising online is extremely important and expect by 2010 that they will be getting 10 percent or more of their sales from online channels.

Google will soon be introducing the Google phone or GPhone; their goal of the new phone is very different than Apple's iPhone. The New York Times stated that Google wants to extend its dominance of online advertising to the mobile Internet, a small market that is expected to grow rapidly. Google's goal is to have wireless carriers and mobile phone makers offer phones based on their new software. Google is developing mobile versions of its current applications that will go beyond the mobile search and map software it offers today. The new application may include a Web browser to run on cell phones.

Google's intention of GPhone is not to create a rival with the iPhone, but to develop software that will be an alternative to Microsoft's Windows Mobile and other operating systems. Google's success with the GPhone will depend on its ability to sign deals with wireless carriers that distribute hundreds of millions of phones each year and often control what software and services run on them.

Some analysts say there are no guarantees that Google will be able to replicate its online success in the mobile world.

Google is expected to unveil its mobile phone efforts later this year; it should be interesting to see what they have developed and what the software will offer.

Welcome e-mails have a significantly higher open rate than regular e-mails sent to customers. Yet, only 72% of major online retailers sent out welcome e-mails. According to the director of strategic services at Premiere Global Services welcome e-mails should set the tone of a program and the expectations of the recipient from an aesthetics and content standpoint. Properly executed welcome e-mail messages actually create anticipation in the recipient for the next message.

"There has been a tremendous increase in the adoption of welcome e-mails this year," stated Jeanniey Mullen, executive director of e-mail at OgilvyOne Worldwide. Welcome e-mails are a good method to start a relationship with a customer. If marketers wait more than 24 hours to send their first e-mail to customers, the probability of response drops dramatically. According to Ovation's 2007 User Study only 49% of retailers sent their first e-mail in 24 hours.

DM News has reported that 98% of retailers' welcome e-mails contain a link to their shopping site, 33% contain store location information, and 14% contain links to a catalog sign up. Other valuable information included is discounts, rewards or incentives. Most welcome e-mails are being sent in HTML with fewer graphics compared to text.

Failure to send an e-mail after registration will increase the chance that customers will unsubscribe to e-mails.

Through Ovation's recent retail e-mail marketing research we found that retailers are sending an average of 4 e-mails a month and 33% send e-mails weekly. While reading an article in DMNews about Zappos, Keds, and SimplySoles' e-mail marketing strategy I found it very interesting to compare their strategy to the results we were seeing from our research. Zappos, Keds, and SimplySoles believe in building personal relationships through e-mails and in the philosophy of customer loyalty programs instead of focusing on marketing.

Tony Hseih, CEO of Zappos.com stated, "Sending an e-mail everyday would increase sales, but in the long term, it will make customers get annoyed with your brand and ignore you. So that's why we only send out twice a month and let customers opt in." Zappos sends out two different types of emails to their customers, a general email that contains information about new styles and brands, and a proactive consumer email that includes updates on specific brands or specific sizes.

Keds sends a couple e-mails a month, depending on new products and current marketing campaigns. Keds believes that targeting consumers by age, location, and pervious purchase behavior increases conversions and open rates. Another factor that contributes to Keds' open rates is targeting their customers by age, they have found that teens respond to a specific dollar amount off of a purchase and older customers find a percentage-off offering more valuable. Through Keds' e-mail marketing research they have found that e-mails sent to existing customers have a 25% to 40% open rate compare to its prospect customer list.

Kassie Rempel, owner/founder of SimplySoles stated, "We try to be very selective with how many e-mails we send to our customers. I've registered for a lot of retailers' e-mails and you'd be surprised how many e-mails they have send out. My philosophy is to only send e-mails when we are proud of something, and that are personalized around our business so that it's not just a forced effort." Through SimplySoles' e-mail signup process they determine what type of catalogs to send to specific customers. One question that SimplySoles asks customers when signing up for e-mail is their annual shoe budget, which aids in measuring which of the four catalogs a year a customer will receive.

I believe that Zappos, Keds, and SimplySoles have a great e-mail marketing philosophy that understands their customers and generates sales.

Latization is the process of embracing Latino values, trends, and behaviors that are affecting the U.S. The goal of Latization is to fuse Latino and North America's lifestyles together. By embracing Latino's values, styles, and languages the U.S. will be enriching both cultures. The growth of the Hispanic population is transforming the U.S. in ways that will build a stronger work ethic, sensitivity to diversity, and recognition of family values. The U.S is the fourth largest Spanish speaking country in the world; by 2010 the projected Hispanic population is 56 million. Therefore, it is important that we start to implement the Hispanic culture in our marketing strategies.

Through research I have been doing on the Hispanic market I found some great advice and information:

• Work with professionals who truly know the Hispanic market.
• Understanding their culture's customs and values will help target them in your marketing campaign.
• It is important to recognize the differences in their culture: physical contact, appearance and brands name are important part of their society, personal space tends to be closer, they are more spiritual, and made in the U.S means high quality.
• According Hispanic Fact Pack the top 5 Hispanic magazines and web sites are People en Espanol, Latina, Selecciones, TV y Novelas, Vandidades , Univision.com, Yahoo Telemundo.com, Starmedia.com, MSNLation.com, and Batanga.com. These magazines and web sites are good sources for targeting Hispanics.
• Advertisers are spending millions of dollars marketing to Hispanics through networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. According to Joseph Anthony, CEO of Vital Marketing, the increasing popularity of Hispanics online indicate the need for entertainment and networking sites tailored to that group.

Hispanics are the largest growing population in the United States and will control $926 billion in total disposable income in 2007. It is important that retailers and advertisers pay close attention to the Hispanic market and start targeting them in their marketing. Joseph Anthony, CEO of Vital Marketing stated, "Minorities now constitute a significant market across all domains – from apparel to electronics to beer. As a booming group, minorities now set the pace at which trends are developed. With this social influence and undeniable buying power, this market must be addressed directly."

Directors of Public Relation's highest goal use to be getting a story mentioned on the cover of the Wall Street Journal or The New York Times, but now the most powerful place to be seen is on the front page of any search engine. Search engines are considered the new front page of PR. According to James Clark, partner at Room214, an Internet marketing and PR firm, keywords should be at the heart of every marketing program and it is impossible to have a successful PR program that doesn't pay attention to keywords. While reading a case study from MarketingSherpa I found 4 steps for adding keywords to a PR campaign.

1. Create a list of keywords: Improve your keywords by brainstorming a list of terms that describes your services and do research on the most popular terms used in your internal site search box by visitors. Check services, such as wordtracker.com, to discover how competitive your prospective keywords are.
2. Use keywords religiously in your press releases: Press releases get an automatic SEO boost when they're distributed through any of the major wires. Your site may not come up on the first page of Google, but your press release might get top ranking. When writing press releases use keywords in the headline and the first 50 words of the release.
3. Include keyword-loaded links in your distributed content: If your links contain keywords on your website than it is more likely to appear on the first page of any search engine. For example a link that contains detail; such as,"click here for widget x100 data" is more likely to increase the chance of your site being on a front page of a search engine than "click here for more information."
4. Train your spokespeople to use them in interviews: Companies should have ten keywords that a spokesperson uses during interviews because it increases the chances that the interview will show up on a search.

We've entered an era of online video that is likely to transform e-mail marketing. According to a June 2007 comScore report more than three-quarters of the US online population are actively visiting web sites, such as YouTube, featuring videos. YouTube accounts for more than 10 percent of all Internet traffic. The growing popularity of online videos is an excellent opportunity for e-mail marketers to connect more strongly with their customers. German automaker BMW and women's fashion retailer Lane Bryant are examples of companies that are doing an excellent job of getting video in their e-mail campaign. Both companies have used prominent graphic prompts in recent e-mail campaigns, motivating recipients to click through to landing pages in order to view a video. In both cases, the videos and delivery methods were well received, without being obtrusive or non-compliant with current e-mail best practices. A popular method for placing videos in e-mails is by using a click-to-view link which directs viewers to an external landing page that plays the video. This allows the customer to decide whether they want to open it or not. DM News states, "the best video content includes tangible calls to action, such as "learn more" or "get 10 percent off now." And since video is viral in nature, smart marketers are also adding a "send to a friend" button because, at the end of the day, it's always "cooler" to have a friend forward you a video than a company."

Julian Scott, Responsys creative director, states, "Video e-mails may be in their infancy, but they're here to stay. In a few years time, it will be second nature for consumers to click a link to watch a video of a product before they buy it. So, why not start tapping the power of the future today?"

We have found that the average amount of emails sent to consumers from retailers is four a month through our retail website research that we are currently conducting. A month ago we registered an email account with 87 retailers through their web site. 82% of the retailers have responded to our request by sending emails confirming, welcoming, thanking, and promoting sales. This past month we have been tracking how often retailers send us emails and what information is contained in the email. Coldwater Creek has been the leading email sender, with a total of 15 emails that have been sent. The subjects of the emails vary from "$25 off ends tonight…don't miss out" to " just added…90 fabulous new looks." Their email marketing strategy is keeping their customers up to date on sales, outlet discounts, and new product information. Among the retailers that have responded to our email request, Eddie Bauer has maintained a consistent visual appearance and an affective pattern to their email marketing strategy. Eddie Bauer has sent us eight emails during the past month, which is a great median between the average amount sent and the 15 emails we have received from Coldwater Creek. After signing up to be a part of Eddie Bauer's email, we received a welcome email with a special offer of 20% of your next purchase of $75. The other emails we received continue to promote special offers that create business to consumer relationships. Retailers are sending an average of four emails a month; however, from the 87 retailers we have been analyzing, we have found that the number of email sent can vary from one to 15 a month.

We believe that four to eight emails a month would be a sufficient amount sent to consumers. When consumers sign up to be a part of retailers' email list, we recommend having options on how many emails a consumer would like to receive a month. For example, when signing up with Coldwater Creek there was an option to receive an email once a month or weekly. This is a great idea because customers can acknowledge how many emails they would like to receive and won't feel that they are being bombarded with emails.

Through our research on marketing principles on retail websites we have found some interesting statistics regarding email sign up on home pages. We have visited 100 retailers' websites and 81 of the sites have email sign up on their home page. We registered an email account with the 81 sites that had email subscriptions and have found that only 50.62% of the retailers have sent us an email back. The majority of the emails that we have received are welcome, confirmation, or thank you for registering text emails. 54% of the emails have been text compared to html. Emails that have caught our attention feature special offers; such as, free shipping, 15% off your next purchase, $10 off a $50 order, and several other deals. This is a great marketing tool to create business to consumer relationships and to increase traffic to your website. As we continue to progress with our research we have already received second and third emails from retailers. Each retailer has their own email marking strategy, through our research we will be able to compare the different approaches retailers use to attract customers.

An example of an effective home page email sign up is Coldwater Creek. Last Thursday we signed up to be apart of their email list and we have already received four emails from them. We received a welcome email the day we signed up with a special offer of free shipping and an additional three other emails with deals.

Recently I was reading HVACRBUSINESS magazine when I came across tips that can make customers more comfortable when interacting with a company's site.

1. Registration: Require new users to register. The magazine suggested not doing this immediately when a customer opens a web site because it puts a barrier between the company and customer. The recommendation is for the company to ask for a name and e-mail address but not require it until a later time.
2. Avoid Long URLs: Have an easy convention for URLS that a customer could repeat to a friend or over the phone.
3. Searching Web Sites: If a web site does not have a searching tool make sure to has a sufficient site map. If a site goes deeper than one level it is best to have a search box.
4. Communication with Customers: Don't limit a "Contact Us" link to an e-mail sent directly to the company. Have a number where a customer can call the company to contact an employee directly.
5. E-mail Addresses as Usernames: Let customers use their e-mail address as their username because they can easily remember that. If they can not use their e-mail address it is hard for them to remember their username.
6. E-Mails with Signatures: If a customer receives an email from a company there should be a signature on the bottom of the e-mail with contact information. This will increase the communication between the company and customer.
7. Support Multiple Browsers: Your web site should be able to support Macintosh, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explore and other Windows browsers in order for it to satisfy all customers' browser preferences.

Last week there was an article in the New York Times about cellphones becoming the next top priority for media executives. I found the article very interesting because it made me wonder what advertising will be like in the future. We currently use email marketing to promote our products and brands; will there be marketing via cell phones that has the same capabilities? Soon consumers will be able to watch T.V., read the news and interact with magazines while using their cellphones. How will this influence advertising?

Last Friday Apple introduced their new iPhone, which focuses on media consumption. George Kliavkoff, chief digital officer of NBC Universal, stated "I'm sure it will have an effect on the consumer market because the designs that Apple introduces and the functionality always seems to be replicated by other consumer technology companies," Soon AT&T and Verizon won't be calling themselves cellphone companies, but media companies. Verizon has already begun marketing themselves as a media company through their most recent ad campaign that promotes their V Cast Video services on phones that says, in part: "Your T.V. is ringing." Nielsen, a longtime monitor of television consumption, has become one of the most respected sources of gathering data about cell phone use – tracking consumers' phone calling, mobile web surfing, video viewing, and just about everything else. Nielsen believes that the boundary between telecom and media is blurring quickly.

In the future media executives would like more comprehensive tracking technologies from Nielsen. "Any technology that increases measurement across any platform, including mobile, is of great interest to use," Mr. Kliavkoff of NBC said. "It helps our advertisers appreciate the full value they're getting."

On Friday, June 29^th the iPhone will be on-sale through AT&T Wireless. AT&T is expecting a huge amount of traffic to their stores due to their new product. Industry analysts and executives are unsure how much AT&T will benefit from the iPhone and the affects it will have on their competition with Verizon, Sprint Nextel and other wireless carriers. The new iPhone will change consumers' expectations of what type of mobile phones should be offered through wireless companies.

Chetan Sharma, a wireless industry consultant, stated the shift will be like the one caused by the Razr from Motorola, the once wildly popular phone that became the first phone that people regularly asked for by name. The iPhone's popularity is a testimony to the power of Apple's brand name and reputation. Due to the fact that Apple is a powerful brand customers are willing to give the new phone a chance as they did when the iPod first became popular. According to Apple's chief executive, Steven P. Jobs, Apple expects to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008. A market research firm, M:Metrics, found that 64% of American mobile phone users had heard of the iPhone and 14% will be interested in purchasing the new product. These statistics are testimony to how powerful AT&T and Apple's iPhone marketing campaign has been.

The iPhone has the potential to shift AT&T's whole brand and its launch is bigger than any of AT&T's other products. AT&T has been greatly focused on their marketing techniques for the new phone because it has the potential to bring in more subscribers. AT&T is excited about the potential to increase their customers because their share of new monthly wireless subscribers has fallen steadily over the last year. AT&T is currently losing 1.7% of their subscribers each month compared to Verizon who is losing 1.1%.

To accommodate the expected demand for the iPhone AT&T has hired about 1,900 workers for their stores across the country. Glenn Lurie, president for national distribution of AT&T's wireless group stated, "This is going to drive a tremendous amount of traffic and energy to our stores. It'll help our growth not just in iPhones but in our overall business."

It should be interesting to hear if AT&T's launch on Friday is successful and if it will increase their customers. This is an excellent opportunity for AT&T to improve their brand and have a new position in the wireless carrier network.

While flipping through a Target Marketing magazine I came across an interesting article discussing how great brands remain great. The article "Great Brands Never Rest" contains six not-so-secret steps to a strong brand. The six steps the article highlights that will guarantee your brand never rests are:

Step #1: Know Your Position: First determine who your top three competitors are and then try to understand their brand strategies (strengths and weaknesses). Evaluate your brand by comparing the competitors' strategies. Do you have a clear position? Are you making it easy for your customers to "get" you? Then ask yourself the following questions about your brand and leading competitors' brands: What would make a customer, with several other choices, pick one over the others to do business with? Where are each brand's channel strengths? How clear is this to the customer? To complete this step successfully, spend time as a team looking at your brand through both a competitive and customer lens.

Step #2: Know Your Customers' Positions: In order to continually maintain the growth of your brand you need to thoroughly understand who your customers are. Ask yourself the following questions to determine your customers' positions: What is it you know for sure about your customers' lives? What would you like to know? How are you going to find out? Who will keep track and synthesize this information so that it is at the core of every brand decision?

Step #3: Share Your Position: Remember it is important that your employees know your organization's and customers' position. If employees know about your brand and your customers they will be able to relay this information to anyone they meet. Employees are the face, the voice and the "experience" of your brand to your customers. An example of organizations putting Step #3 into action are Cabela's employees wearing and using their outdoor gear in order for them to understand the customer side of their business.

Step #4: Stay Focused on Your Position : Don't take your brand strengths for granted or your competitors' weaknesses for granted! Remember to always stay alert, curious and know what your brand's growing edge is. Big and small companies often lose their way and struggle to make a comeback. Big companies that are currently trying to refocus their brand and establish a new reputation are Blockbuster, who lost a significant part of its audience to the convenience of Netflix. Blockbuster might not have lost their way if they would have remained focused on their brand position.

Step #5: Leverage Your Position : When leveraging your position look at your brand heritage. Are you using your company's story to the fullest potential? Many companies underutilize their heritage. L.L Bean is an excellent example of an organization using their heritage to leverage their brand position by incorporating one detail at a time since 1912. L.L Bean has been an outdoor specialist for years that matches its brand promises to its actions. Every connection, every detail, is a chance for them to connect people outdoors. Their leverage position is that they have guaranteed outstanding products and customer service since 1912 and are not about to change any of their promises.

Step #6: Delight and Reward Those Customers Who Support Your Position: Communicate a sincere appreciation to your customers that have chosen to do business with you by saying a heartfelt "thank you." Sam Walton founded Wal-Mart with the belief that "There is only one boss. The customer. And she can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending her money somewhere else."

Great Brands Never Rest! Don't forget that brands are disciplined, focused and action-oriented.