PMA Blog - The Integrated Marketing and Marketing Law Blog

We've moved!

The blog, not the office (thank goodness!).

We've relaunched this blog over here with a renewed focus on our Centers of Excellence.  All the content that you found here has been moved. We'll have a newly burned RSS feed link for you shortly. 

In the meantime, what I can tell you is that there will be some great content from our CoEs (Experiential, Shopper, Digital, Marketing Law, Entertainment, Promotions Fundamentals) as well as from the following section leaders:

• Centra Marketing (experiential marketing)
• Winston & Strawn LLP (marketing & promotion law)
• Yahoo! (digital)

If you're interested in having your company be a section leader, contact Rob Fields at rfields [at] pmalink [dot] org.

Again, join us on the new PMA Centers of Excellence blog here.

A month of insights delivered right to your desk

It's no news that travel budgets have been cut to the bone.  But you still need insights and access to marketing thought leaders, right?  PMA's got you covered with our February Webinar series.

As ever, our Webinars are FREE to PMA members.  Regardless, everyone who attends will get access to insights from pros on the front-lines of their respective disciplines.  And, you'll get a copy of the presentation, so that you can share the learning and perspectives with your colleagues.

So, mark your calendars for the following dates.  PMA Webinars start at 2:00PM EST and last for one (1) hour.

• February 5 - SEO/SEM for Integrated Marketing
  Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) are important aspects of any marketing campaign, but are often misunderstood. This Webinar will provide an overview of each tactic and provide insights on how best to get started with these tactics... (Read more)

• February 10 - Mobile (wireless) Marketing
  In a tight economy, driving higher consumer engagement and changing behavior in favor of a brand is the name of the game. Few channels can do this as well as mobile. In this informative session, Augme Mobile's Anthony Iacovone will give you a new, more effective way to look at mobile...(Read more)

• February 18 - Building a Green/CSR Agenda to Grow Sales, Share and Equity
  Gain insight into the fast-evolving world of corporate social responsibility, sustainability and green marketing with a discussion of how marketers across industries can enhance their company's performance with a smart CSR strategy. This webinar is a hands-on discussion of how to craft an effective CSR agenda for your company that ties sustainability goals with business objectives...(Read more)

Check out our Webinars page for the schedule for March and beyond.

PMA Seminar: Metrics of Marketing Accountability--February 4

It goes without saying that you and your organization are probably interested in some or all of the following critical areas:

   1.  Evaluating advertising and promotion strategies including TV, radio, print, outdoor and digital marketing.
   2. Developing formulas for short-term and long-term equity.
   3. Understanding the ROI of shopper marketing and why it is always better than trade promotion.
   4. Measuring the long-term value of a customer, and understanding the metrics of loyalty marketing
   5. Measuring the ROI of event marketing and why it is frequently a part of award-winning campaigns.

If so, consider joining Rick Abens and Neal Heffernan for a full day, hands-on seminar on metrics and marketing accountability.  In addition to being our VP of Research, Rick is also the Director of Advanced Analytics at ConAgra Foods.  Neal, SVP and General Manager of PDI/Knowledge Networks, is an expert across many advanced research methodologies, including new product forecasting, in-market testing, price and promotion, marketing mix, and market structure.  Prior joining PDI, he was an SVP at Information Resources, Inc. (IRI).

Attendance is limited to 40 people.  Readers of this blog who are not yet PMA members can use code "MABLOG" and take $120 off the registration fee.

Additional link:

• Metrics of Marketing Accountability page

Major Media In The Shopping Aisle

Upping marketing effectiveness in the store, "the last place where mass marketing exists."

There’s an extensive article on in-store media that was just released by Strategy+Business magazine.  The article points out that most of the in-store marketing vehicles—video ads, TV networks and smart carts, for example—are limited in the availability.  In order for them to gain mass reach, the whole marketing ecosystem—which includes brands, agencies, media and technology companies—has to address some important challenges:

• Determine the best mix of content and technology that makes the experience valuable for consumers.
• Better and more standardized metrics must be agreed upon.
• Better integration on in-store advertising with other in-store promotions, display activities and national media efforts.

The article also looks at where the dollars for in-store media will be coming from.  Interestingly it notes:

The growth in in-store advertising does not represent a zero-sum game; it often signifies an expansion in the overall pie.

As it relates to promotions and analytics, the article points out the following:

Promotional spending in the U.S. by companies in consumer packaged goods, entertainment, sporting goods, consumer electronics, and home improvement totals roughly $300 billion annually. But the in-store media of choice are still circulars, coupon dispensers, customized displays, and product packaging. There is enormous opportunity to further enhance the effectiveness of these vehicles through in-store advertising formats.

Read the full article at Strategy + Business

PMA's 2009 Call for Papers

 

I'm pleased to kickoff our Call for Papers that's being done in conjunction with our Annual Integrated Marketing Conference, March 10-11, 2009.

Honestly, I took a lot of inspiration from The Age of Conversation projects.  So, it's really more of a call for articles: Our goal is to provide a platform where pros and can talk to pros on the current and future state of integrated marketing.  Think about what your peers need to hear, and how you can give it to them in 400 - 1,000 words.  The articles will be distributed to the 400 or so attendees at our conference and will be available on the PMA site.  Not sure yet whether these will be packaged up as a book, but the possibility is there.  We'll make a decision when we see what kind of submissions we get.

So, do you have a valuable perspective to offer?  We'd love to hear it.

A quick conference aside: It's coming along nicely.  We already have speaking commitments from CMOs from Kimberly-Clark and Harley-Davidson; the SVP of Integrated Marketing from Kraft; the VP of Marketing from Nokia; as well as C-level executives from Digitas, Naked, Mindshare, The Vidal Partnership, Enfatico and Catapult, to name only a few.

Ready to get started on your article? Click here to see a more detailed overview, submission guidelines, other suggested topic areas and information on deadlines.

Additional Links:

• 2009 PMA Annual Integrated Marketing Conference
• 2009 Call for Papers

Ping me at rfields [at] pmalink [dot] org with any questions.

Kabak's Law Poetry Moment

As has been the tradition for the past couple of years, our Chief Legal Officer Ed Kabak, a deft wordsmith in his own right, opened Day 2 of the PMA Marketing Law Conference with a poem that summed up the past year in marketing law.  Here it is for your reading pleasure:

The Year In Review
(c) 2008 by E. M. Kabak

It was the year of Obama
The stock market crash
The year that many lost a lot of their cash
The year of appeals in text message suits
If  the court waits much longer
The technology will be moot
“Twas the year the industry was sent a big chill
An overdrafted Cal sweepstakes bill
Which threatened  what some thought was cardinal sin
For the names of sweeps customers , you’d have to optin
But with the assistance of the PMA
That doleful provision at last went away
A PMA product placement, perchance do I see?
In the middle of this poem sayeth FCC
That’s right- some comments on proposed rule-making
Would give embedded advertising a rather stiff shaking
But the 1st amendment- wardrobe malfunction
Trumped the indecency connection and junction
The FCC change lacked “reasoned analysis”
A breast may have moved
but its thought was in paralysis
and yet we wait, baited breath, hearts beating
for nine tired robes to rule on expletives fleeting
Social network operators found a new friend
AG Cuomo who said some things must end
More safeguards needed against predators sexual
Pictures- content- pornography textual
The Government protects kids when they’re online
How we wish our 401ks were as fine
There were changes in gift cards and dormancy charges
Expiry dates, cash balances and largess

Making "hyperchange" concrete

 

I came across this video on the Edelman Digital blog, and it really helps make real this vague notion of "change" that we're all living and working through.  It's well worth your five-minutes to watch.

Here's one memorable line: "If you're 1 in a million in China, that means there are 1,300 people just like you."

So, if this is where things are going, what does it mean for you and your business?  I'd love to hear some feedback.

This week: 30th Annual PMA Marketing Law Conference

I'm actually looking forward to hitting Chicago this week for our Marketing Law Conference.  I'm not engaging in hyperbole when I say that this is the biggest and best in class, thanks to the work of our Chief Legal Officer Ed Kabak and the Legal & Government Affairs Center of Excellence.  Once again, we're expecting over 500 attendees who will be treated to keynotes from some heavyweights in the world of marketing and regulatory law, such as:

• William E. Kovacic, Esq., Chairman, Federal Trade Commission
• Deborah Taylor Tate, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission
• Mark Kroese, General Manager, Microsoft Advertising Business Group

Additionally, over the course of the two days, we're also teeing up:

• 90+ Speakers
• 40 Sessions, including new ones on Green Marketing; Crisis Management; Regulatory Issues; and Mobile Marketing, to name a few
• 16 Roundtables
• The Industry's Best Networking
• Invaluable Takeaways Including:
  • 1,000+ page conference workbook and desk reference for your library
  • The revised 2009 PMA Promotion Marketing Law & Forms Guide / CD Rom
  • The best hands on legal and practical marketing guidance

There's still time to register, so maybe we'll see you in Chicago!

Additional link:

• 30th Annual PMA Marketing Law Conference

The customizable, viral video

 

No matter who you choose to vote for next week, you simply have to appreciate the overall smartness of this video by MoveOn.  It's customizable so that your friend's name appears in the video, thereby making them the nonvoter who is the subject of this "news" report.  Think of some applications that this type of video might have that would benefit your organization.  Could it be a tool for your sales teams?  Could it be a way to accelerate new products being picked up by your retail partners?

Click here to send it to a few friends.

Hat tip to Guy Kawasaki for the heads-up.

50-60% Off?

In a low-sales era, what's a hit?  That's the question posed by NY Daily News music writer Jim Farber.

Granted, the music industry has been suffering steep sales declines long before the current economic meltdown.  He points out that

there has been a steady downturn in total sales for the top five albums in each year of this decade, ranging from a high of 22.3 million in 2001 to an '08 figure that will struggle to reach 10 million.

The rest of the article is his proposal for, as he says, "redefining success in our new age of austerity."  To do so, he suggests the following redefinitions:

• "Blockbuster": 2million units & up (equivalent of 5MM+ in 2000)
• "Smash": 1MM + (3MM in 2000)
• "Hit": 500K+ (1MM in 2000)

Jim's question is specifically focused on the music industry, but I think there's a worthwhile discussion for those of us in other industries and businesses, as well. 

What he's really saying is that the music industry's definition of success just got whacked by 50-60+%!  What if that were (is) your industry, i.e., packaged goods, consumer electronics, etc.?  Clearly, that has serious implications across the board, and numbers may well vary across industries and categories.  But if everyone takes this kind of hatchet to their assumptions and predictions, it's easy to see the nasty (and chilling implications) this has for your business. It goes beyond one marketing campaign or even a set of campaigns. You and your C-suite executives must start (or have probably already started) asking questions like:

• What's my revenue and profit forecast, and what does that mean for the long-term health and viability of my business?
• Do we have to revisit our assumptions about size of our market?  What were our assumptions about the existence of the market in the first place, i.e., is this particular product or service something that would only flourish in good or relatively stable times?
• Does the current economy favor our competition based on their price-to-value proposition?
• How do we continue delivering value?  What does "value" really mean for my customers and clients?

I could go on, but you get the idea.

But I'm not trying to be a doomsayer here.  The best way to deal with this downturn is to keep it real and honest.  So, if we haven't already, we all need to be doing some serious scenario and contingency planning.  It also means that there needs to be some smart, new offerings in the pipeline that meet the direct needs of your customers.

So, marketers, what happens to your businesses when/if you assume your best case is 50-60% less that what you're used to?

Additional link:

• Jim Farber's original article