Alberta Business Marketing

I’m a 23 year old, first year advertising student. Young people tend to imagine themselves as revolutionaries, and can be possessed by a charisma that leads them to believe they can quickly, and boldly, change the world. As a result, I know that much of what I am about to say will sound big and insane. I’m going to say it anyway, though, because this is part of the process.

Being young, I have little context of the present vs. the past, and I don’t know how things use to operate, other than what I learned from movies and TV. It seems to me, though, that this is an exciting time in the field of advertisement; partly because of the internet, partly because people are discovering the glory of being shameless, and partly because everything is so pretty now. From where I’m standing, right here in 2011, this is what I am excited about, and it’s why I got into advertising: the end of mass marketing.

I would always tell my friends that all those types of ads people hate, and hate publically – junk mail, pop-up ads, infomercials – people like me hate them too. They’re annoying, lame, and obvious. I hate getting junk mail. I didn’t get some sudden appreciation for the stuff when I started getting into this field. It works, and these companies make money, but there are so many horrible things in this culture that make money that it’s not even a selling point to me. Nobody really notices junk mail, billboards, posters, commercials, or radio advertisements. When we do, it's because we’ve been tricked. The whole idea of a jingle, a catchy slogan, or a provocation, is that it sticks in your head against your will, growing and taking you over – like a cancer.

I am an advocate for alternative advertising techniques: crowd-sourced, focused, multimedia, dynamic, new campaigns. Ads that are smart. Ads that entice you, reward you, and interact with you in a way that maybe even art cannot. You don’t need to spend millions of dollars to yell at everyone at once; you’re using a harpoon rather than a huge net. The ad world is an industry with all the money, the research, and the potential to create things we had never seen before and now there exists the technology to monitor the success of campaigns in real time. Ads can become the main event. Ads can be anything. There are so many new, weird ways we can make real concepts that act as sexy, provocative doors that people want to walk through, rather than catchy gimmicks that jump in your face. And then, in this future, it will work so well nobody will even use junk mail, or pop up ads, or infomercials or commercials. And then it will move onto something even more bizarre and fresh and exciting.

If I look 15 years into the future, I want to be shocked at what I am looking at. I would love it to be unrecognizable. And I can say this because I’m not attached to anything right now. I have no livelihood to protect, and all I want to do is matter. I believe it’s going to become very easy to be groundbreaking very soon. I didn’t get into advertising because I like direct marketing and mass marketing, similarly, a doctor doesn’t get into medicine because he likes disease.

I’m saying we push advertising to its most curious extremes. I’m saying that I’m young and naive enough to think we can cause a paradigm shift and I don’t think I’m wrong.

Nick Rayner

Tags: Get it off your chest
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Do you remember the days when innovation was a big part of most major companies? You think about 3M, Xerox, IBM, GE, Disney as leaders in that field whether it applied to products, services and/or marketing.

Today when I think of innovation I think about companies such as Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook and others. Yes, it just happens to be coincidence they are all on the Fast Company Top 50 Innovation list also.

But I wondered why many other large scale companies don't have such an emphasis on innovation anymore. You hear about lots of companies that "value innovation" and want to "be innovative". I can't recall how many times my friends told me the CEOs of their companies boldly proclaim to their staff "We need to be like Apple" during employee meetings.

Recently at an alumni reception from my alma matter, I chatted with a venture capitalist and it was her view that companies no longer invest in innovation because of cost. Plain and simple. Due to short-term financial pressure, organizations focus on quarterly results, therefore they can no longer "afford the luxury of internal innovation". She further stated "It would be naive to think shareholders would not freak out if guys in white lab coats were allowed to run around concocting ideas that didn't generate immediate ROI". It was her view that larger corporations perceived acquiring start-ups (and the innovations they bring) much more cost-effective than to build them in-house.

She pointed to the example of Google despite its own roots as a start-up as they now have acquired many firms over the years.

But what about here in Canada? Last time I checked Google was based in Mountain View. Indeed it appears large corporations in Canada are also acquiring smaller companies from a strategic perspective and have been doing so for quite some time. Whether it be Torstar or Transcontinental. So the trend certainly doesn't appear to be declining. However one could argue that some corporations are looking further towards the long term such as the case of Rogers Ventures which specializes in investing in technology start-ups right here in Canada.

So what does this all have to do with marketers? In Business Week a few years ago it was proposed that marketers bear some responsibility for this trend of lack of successful innovation in companies. Marketers you ask? Yes. The premise is based on three criteria.

(1) Successful innovations need more than a great idea. Indeed great ideas are a dime a dozen but execution is what really matters. Too many marketers only view their job as coming up with the idea. The execution rests with someone else be it in production, IT, distribution and/or sales. The biggest reason for this? Plausible deniability. If the concept fails marketers can point the finger at someone else.

(2) A lack of talent. Some people are great at generating ideas. Others are great at the execution of them. Very rarely are there enough people within large corporations that are talented at both. Or they are not being brought together at the right time to achieve a common goal.

(3) Fatalism. Marketers go into new initiatives (half-heartedly) expecting it to fail. So when they do there is no major surprise. Then the finger gets pointed at the executive suite for lack of support, resources or other departments for creating roadblocks or fighting over turf.

I'm not sure I totally agree entirely with all of these criteria but it certainly gives one pause as a marketer. In my experience the challenge for marketers/innovators is that it's harder in a larger corporate environment than a start-up one to be innovative - unless there is a specific culture that fosters and embraces innovation. One where employees are encouraged to contribute new ideas but are also recognized for them via both extrinsic and intrinsic motivators.

Lastly, it becomes important that an over-emphasis on short-term performance is not at the expense of long-term success. Perhaps then we just might see more colleagues at large companies wearing white lab coats again.

Sulemaan Ahmed

Tags: Get it off your chest, Integration, Research, Strategy, technology, This and That
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They say confession is good for the soul. So I’ll be honest with you. This blog post is overdue. I’m talking ‘overdue’ in the major library fine kind of way.

My friend Mitch wrote a book called ‘Six Pixels of Separation’. It’s about how everyone is connected online and how you can connect your business to everyone. It launched last year (hence the overdue part) when he graciously gave me a free copy without asking for anything in return. I volunteered to write a review. Now that it’s available in paperback I figured it was time.

I understand some of you might be thinking, “Well you’re friends with the guy and he gave you a free copy of his book so any review you write will be all sunshine, rainbows and lollipops.”

Indeed, I am supportive of my friends but to be anything but honest in my assessment where readers are giving me the benefit of their time would be wrong. Still skeptical? I figured if I’m going to recommend to others to buy the book reading a free copy isn’t enough. So I purchased an eBook version for my Kindle as it’s nice to have it handy as a reference point. I also gave a copy of this book to a friend as a gift.

But beyond that, here are 6 more reasons why I think it’s worth buying.

1. The author has contributed tons of great content about digital marketing and social media – for free - through his blog, podcast and speaking events over the years. You have to figure if someone can consistently produce good content over time, they must be able to write a half-decent book, right? I also figure it’s only right to support someone after enjoying their work over years. It’s akin to watching a street busker for an hour and walking away when the hat goes around for donations after the performance.

2. The way that the author has written the book, anyone can pick it up and read it. Often a common complaint about books dealing with the digital, marketing or social media world is that they require a thesaurus (or rather wikipedia) to get through them. Not here. Whether you are brand-new to the digital world or a grizzled veteran, it’s a good read. And you don’t have to work in a large corporation to benefit from it. Budding entrepreneurs or small business owners should read it also, especially when they don’t have huge marketing budgets or manpower at their disposal and must make every resource count.

3. I sometimes have difficulty watching people give advice but not following it themselves. Having known Mitch since he was recording podcast episode #6 of Six Pixels of Separation (he’s now on episode #227) I've seen how he has practiced much of the advice he gives in his book. This coming from a guy who I first met and thought he was some bald extra off the set of Men in Black. Whether it’s being involved in the online community and helping others (i.e. pay it forward) that is very much what the author has practiced on a consistent basis and continues to do so.

4. The author requires that the reader views things with a different angle. Don’t focus on the ‘what’ (i.e. What are we doing on Facebook?) but more so the ‘why’ (i.e. Why should we be on Facebook?) Another point that stuck with me was that “digital marketing is about being slow”. Say what? That sounds like the exact opposite of what one would think, right? His hypotheses behind that point is rather sound actually.

5. I’m a big fan of lists. Top 10 things to do on holiday. Top 10 places to visit in the world. Top 10 pet tricks. You get the point. The author also provides very useful lists throughout his book such as ‘The 5 C’s on Entrepreneurship 2.0’ or ‘Six Free Tools You Should be Using Right now’. Now naturally Mitch could list tons of points but he focuses on a few key ones that are digestible and actionable for the reader. Enough to get traction but not so many as to get overwhelmed.

6. The author has always been a big proponent around the concept of personal branding. One quote that stands out in the book is from Chris Anderson (Editor of Wired Magazine and author of The Long Tail and Free) “Your brand is not what you say it is, it’s what Google says it is.” That is pretty poignant. But Mitch challenges the reader to reflect on that point but also explains how to go about building and maintaining a personal brand. And he then relates why that has everything to do with building a business.

I must admit that I could have written about a lot a more but thankfully the book wasn't called 60 Pixels of Separation so I'll stop here. I've had the blessing of working in the publishing industry and I don't hesitate for a second in recommending this book to you. It's definitely worth the read.

*Note: If you want to see Mitch speak about his book and happen to be in the Toronto area on November 15, 2010 – check out The Art of Management. He is speaking there along with a couple of other people you may have heard of before.

Tags: Get it off your chest, social media, Strategy, This and That
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According to veteran arts journalist Bob Mersereau, who recently compiled The Top 100 Canadian Singles for his book of the same name, baby boomers’ music dominated most of the top 100 songs. He polled 800 critics, celebrities, industry leaders, and music fans of all ages and the results all leaned heavily on boomer classics such as The Guess Who, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot and Anne Murray. According to the 49-year-old music writer, it’s a common phenomenon, with a downloading culture that renders release dates irrelevant and TV shows such as Glee and movie soundtracks such as Iron Man 2 reviving classic rock tunes for a new generation.

Younger colleagues of mine, some of whom are half my age, adore the same music I listened to during my younger days because they grew up listening to their parents’ favourite music before having any preferences of their own. Although one might agree that music written in the past three decades might have been more inspiring than what’s being played on the radio or TV or iTunes nowadays, I cannot but agree with Joel Rubinoff of the Waterloo Region Record that we have to support and recognize some of the current younger songwriters and musicians. Apart from Alanis Morissette and Feist who were given their due recognitions, newcomers like Drake, K’naan, Nikkii Yanofsky were neglected.

I often go out of the way to support younger musicians because while oldies are great, we need to encourage the next generation of recording artists to break barriers and be innovative. That’s why the Rolling Stones probably have the same share of my leisure time as Amy Winehouse, Joss Stone, Sophie Milman, Black Eyed Peas and Robbie Williams. They are not necessarily Canadians all the time, and some of them are not even that young. But if we baby boomers were not open to new song-writing and new genres of music, this world would be a very boring place!

Lina Ko

Tags: Get it off your chest
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When Stanley Pollitt and Stephen King created the notion of "planning" back in the 1960's, they began the journey to what is now a very discombobulated discipline.

Let's have a look at the first description of account planning - "The account planner is that member of the agency's team who is the expert, through background, training, experience, and attitudes, at working with information and getting it used - not just marketing research but all the information available to help solve a client's advertising problems." - Stanley Pollitt

In the 1990's, Jay Chiat evolved the definition of planning to add a splash of creativity and flare, yet still remaining true to the discipline.

Fast forward to 2010. This is where I face a split opinion.

Many agencies are not familiar with the discipline of planning and try to create a role to fill an unfulfilled need. This role usually includes a planning title; created with little or no knowledge of what planning actually is. This direction dilutes the discipline of planning and builds confusion both internally and with the client. We now have client planning, creative planning, research planning, just plain planning, strategist, account planning strategist and most recently, digital planning or digital strategist. I'm sure I've left out a plethora of others.

On the other hand, It's my personal belief that a good account planner can be all of the above as long as the consumer is at the core root. It's all a matter of managing expectations with the employer/employee and client. Good planners have the ability to bridge together their understanding of the consumer and how they relate to the client's brand and visa versa. Because communication channels continuously multiply, it is crucial for planners to stay ahead of how consumers are engaging with brands.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic.

Jennifer Morozowich

Tags: Get it off your chest, Strategy
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