Roger Halligan's blog

The Value of Crowdsourcing - The Old Fashioned Way

May
09
I'm sure most of you are aware of crowdsourcing and how it is used to gain collective intelligence or much needed funding. Many of you are also probably familiar with some of the more publicized crowdsourcing success stories:
 
Nine of the world's top 10 brands use crowdsourcing and companies like Dell and Starbucks use it on a regular basis to solicit new ideas on how to push their businesses forward. Many of our clients also use it successfully for a variety of purposes.  
 
However, what made me stop and ponder about crowdsourcing recently is that shortly after discussing a crowdsourcing strategy with one of my clients, I received an email reminder about an upcoming meeting of the CEO group I have belonged to for more than 10 years. Called the Synergy Group (Syners for short - not necessarily because of our activities at the meetings), we are a group of CEOs from MarCom agencies of all sizes around the country. We meet twice a year to discuss how we can drive our businesses and help our clients improve theirs. 
 
My wife calls it my therapy group as we share success stories and challenges and get into details and discussions that we don't have with anyone else - even our spouses and business advisors. We also share client success stories and discuss new technologies and techniques that are very invaluable in keeping us at the cutting edge. I can honestly say I have gained more good ideas that have benefited both our clients and us than I can count on both hands. 
 
We even wrote a MarCom book using crowdsourcing techniques with the other 50 agency members called “Secret of Agency Owners: Our Best Marketing Advice”  (Please let us know if you would like a copy). I'm proud to say that my submission was selected as the first chapter. It dawned on me as I read the details for our upcoming meeting in New York City that these Syner meetings were also crowdsourcing - just with a smaller crowd and a much more focused group.
 
I guess the point of this blog is that crowdsourcing can take many shapes and forms and can be extremely valuable, or not, regardless of how big your crowd is.
 
What has been your experience with crowdsourcing?
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Industry Round-Up Newsletters - The Subtle Success Strategy

May
03
One of the most effective but often overlooked marketing tools available to communications professionals is the simple "industry round-up" newsletter that aggregates interesting news items from leading business publications and shares them via a provocative headline, a brief synopsis and a direct link back to the source. We always present these e-newsletters to our target audiences as "valuable industry intelligence you can use to perform your job more effectively."
 
Of course, you also want to include a couple news items on your product or service that link back to your website and provide an incentive for taking a specific action. For example, you might run a news item based on an article that appeared in a major trade publication about your product or conference and link it back to your website where they can read more about it and get a discount for linking to a special landing page.
 
We have used this technique for a variety of our clients and have gained tremendous success in terms of increased web traffic, leads and sales. We always call the e-newsletter "MarketPlace Monitor" and there are several reasons they are so successful:
 
  • The brief news items are valuable to your target audiences as they deal with interesting and timely industry issues - it is not the regular sales pitch they are used to getting from you. Recipients can quickly scan the newsletter and see what stories they want to learn more about and then click to read the entire article. They don't have to read through e-mail text or be put-off by a blatant sales pitch.
  • You establish and/or reinforce your relationship with the key industry trade editors as they want their stories and publications to get more exposure and their publishers want more web traffic to their sites. This "content-sharing" partnership can be very valuable when you are approaching them about publishing your articles or exploring new marketing opportunities. 
  • You build a loyal base of customers and prospective customers as they look forward to receiving timely industry intelligence on a regular basis.   
  • You capture their contact information that you can use for a variety of other marketing purposes.
  • You reinforce your position as an industry leader by serving as the aggregator/content creator of valuable industry intelligence.
  • You can track and measure the ROI of the newsletter by directing readers to a designated landing page with a special offer.  
  • Content is still king in marketing and most professionals are hungry for good information they can use in their jobs. These newsletters are truly the epitome of valuable content marketing. 
We've had some clients asks us if an RSS feed would serve the same purpose and our response is always "No".  RSS feeds based on keyword searches are becoming so ubiquitous on websites these days that they I believe they are becoming passe'. Many people don't pay much attention to them - I know I don't.  However, when most people receive an email from a trusted source that features news items from the leading publications in their industry, they will read it.
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The Rewarding Multidimensional World of MarCom Pros

Apr
19
One of the great things about being a MarCom Pro in an agency is the opportunity to work with a number of clients who cover a wide range of different industries. As we’re sure you would agree, we enjoy all of the work we do as it helps our clients achieve their goals. However, it is especially nice when one of the projects you are working on addresses such a timely and critical topic.
 
We are fortunate to be working with client who has two conferences that are taking place next month that address the very critical topics of terrorists attacks (I.e. recent Boston marathon tragedy), school shootings and national security. Our client, 1105 Media produces - FOSE which is the largest, most comprehensive event serving the government technology community and GovSec, the market-leading forum for those responsible for securing our homeland against 21st century threats from terrorist attacks to natural disasters and other security threats.
 
As both events, taking place May 13-16 in Washington, DC, address topics that are consistently timely news items, it is incredibly rewarding to be able to leverage that news to align with content that can increase their presence but also provide the public with valuable information. Both events will feature an extensive exhibition floor, a robust conference program as well as inspiring keynotes from notable names among security professionals such as General Stanley McChrystal, Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman and more.
 
If you or any of your clients have anything to do with national or government security, you won’t want to miss out.
 
Click the links below for more information
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Creativity Can Trump Huge Budgets!

Apr
05
What a great evening we had last night!  We attended the BAA REGGIE Awards ceremonies in Chicago where the best marketing campaigns from many of the world's leading brands and top ad agencies were honored for their outstanding creativity. Companies such as McDonald's, Ford, Target, Amazon, Nestle, Taco Bell, MillerCoors, Campbell's Soup and other industry stars won the prestigious Gold REGGIE Award for some incredible marketing campaigns.
 
Many of these companies spent millions of dollars on highly integrated, multi-faceted campaigns that incorporated just about every marketing tool you can imagine - TV campaigns, print ads, social media, couponing, in-store promotion, PR, experiential marketing, etc. Many of these entries were for global campaigns that appeared around the world. However, the big winner of the evening was Arc Worldwide/Leo Burnett USA for the incredible integrated campaign they created for the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. They won four Gold REGGIE's and the Super REGGIE for best overall campaign for a local theater with a budget under $10,000.
 
They accomplished this by creating a highly integrated campaign built around creating a fake copy of one of the world's most famous paintings, "Sunday on La Grand Jatte" by George Seurat, hanging it in the Chicago Art Museum and promoting it digitally, experientially, via social media, a traveling display, and much more. The campaign generated over 8 million media impressions in just 24 hours, and generated the highest number of first-time guests in the theater’s history. The theatrical production being promoted in the campaign was "Sunday in The Park With George", which had to be extended one week to meet ticket demands.
 
The highly successful social media part of the campaign was created by Iris Mobile, our marketing partners. You can learn more about Iris Mobile here.
 
The moral of the story is you don't always have to have huge budgets to create successful, award-winning campaigns - although it helps.
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Marketing March Madness

Mar
28
Leave it to Americans to find a way to turn a college sporting event into a huge revenue generating entity. Every year during the month of March, the “best” 68 teams in college hoops enter into a tournament that causes such hoopla throughout the nation that it is duly branded, “March Madness.”
 
This time of year it seems everyone is tuning in or logging in to see the latest scores or catch the game highlights. Millions of people spend hours and initiate unusual rituals to pick their projected winners.
 
However, March Madness didn’t start out causing so much madness. In fact, from 1908 to 1982, the term “March Madness” was exclusively used to nickname an Illinois' statewide high-school basketball tournament.
 
So what changed this college game, into the billion-dollar industry that we see today? You guessed it, marketing.
 
Robert Walsh and the Seattle Organizing Committee branded the NCAA Tournament celebration while he served as Executive Director of the Final Four Host Committee in 1984. Since then, “March Madness”, has generated yearly increasing revenues of billions of dollars and represent for 80 percent of the NCAA’s total yearly earnings.  
 
March Madness remains one of the most lucrative sports franchises on TV.

According to new research from Kantar Media, the annual three-week hoops tournament is the second biggest postseason sports showcase for advertisers, out-earning the Major League Baseball playoffs and World Series, the National Basketball Association playoffs and Championship Series, and all 35 college football bowl games.

Over the course of its 29th consecutive March Madness tourney, CBS in 2010 took in $613.8 million in ad sales revenue, marking an increase of 4 percent from the prior year’s haul of $588.7 million. Last year’s take nearly surpassed the all-time high set by CBS during the 2008 tourney. Closing out with Kansas’ 75-68 win over Memphis, the 2008 dance brought in a record $643.2 million.
 
Do you believe that March would still be this “mad” in the NCAA if Bob Walsh hadn’t put his brand on it?
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The Power Of Media Testimonials - Sometimes You Just Need To Ask

Mar
21
We recently had the opportunity to compete against other PR agencies for some significant new business from a client that we have worked with for many years.  Among the key advantages we had in pitching the new business was our long-time experience within the industries served by this client and very strong relationships with all the key trade magazine editors.
 
As we started developing our presentation, one of the questions that came up was "Should we ask the editors with whom we've collaborated for an equally long time to share their thoughts on working with us over the years?"  On one hand, you might hesitate to ask anyone for a testimonial about your expertise as it could strain the relationship because you don't know what they might say. This is especially true of editors with whom you are in frequent contact and who don't hesitate to tell it like it is.
 
On the other hand, we have such strong, long-term relationships with the editors that we felt it wouldn't hurt to ask if they would like to comment on working with us over the years. We made it very clear that we understood if they preferred not to comment and that it would not be a problem.  We also made it clear that if they chose to provide a testimonial, they should feel free to write whatever they wished to say.
 
The response was truly humbling.  We received glowing testimonials from all of the handful of editors to whom we reached out.  They addressed specific strengths and attributes that are very important to clients, and they said it better than we could have written it ourselves. These testimonials were not only a very important part of our new business presentation; we will also use them in new business e-blasts and in future presentations.  
 
Which gets us to the point of this blog - are you using testimonials from the media in your marketing efforts? If you are with a MarCom agency, the benefits are obvious. If you are on the corporate/client side, media testimonials about good community or charitable work your company is doing can be powerful endorsements to your customers.   
 
I know many of us hesitate to ask others for their opinions about the work we are doing - but sometimes it is a good question to ask.
 
Click here to view a selection of our editor testimonials.
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Even 'Shakespeare' Benefits From Mobile Marketing

Mar
13
 
Rich media messaging via mobile devices is one of the most exciting and effective marketing tools available to MarCom Pros.  The following article from Mobile Marketer magazine is based on a case history of how Iris Mobile – a marketing partner of H+A – helped the Chicago Shakespeare Theater generate some very impressive results.
 
Chicago Shakespeare Theater used rich media messaging to engage opted in audience members with a campaign that helped bring a famous painting to life and drive awareness for an upcoming performance.
 
An artfully crafted campaign

The campaign was developed to build awareness for an upcoming production of “Sunday in the Park with George.”
 
To kick off the campaign, the theater group held a live performance by actors from the musical at the Art Institute of Chicago. The actors performed in front of a life-sized replica of the famous painting by George Seurat, "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte," which depicts a variety of people engaged in park activities and is the basis for the musical “Sunday in the Park with George.”
 
The replica was missing key figures from the original work of art and after the performance, the audience was encouraged to join a mobile messaging campaign to discover the secret of the missing characters.  Opted-in audience members received a video explaining how the missing characters in the painting have come to life in Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s new musical and encouraged them to buy tickets to see the performance.
 
The theater group used (RMM) to send opted-in audience members exclusive video content on their mobile devices that could be shared on Twitter and Facebook, driving viral awareness of the upcoming production. More than 14 percent of opted-in users shared the rich content they received on their Facebook page while more than 17 percent agreed to receive future updates from Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
 
“Rich Media Messaging offers the most intimate and direct form of communication when compared to other mobile touch points,” said Cezar Kolodziej, president and CEO of Iris Mobile, Chicago, IL.
 
“The behavior developed by mobile users with mobile messaging is such that we open and read virtually every message, not like email or other channels,” he said.
 
“Now, with the ability to send rich content, any company can push trailers, previews and last-minute announcements to share the latest news with audiences in a visual rich format that is directly delivered to their mobile devices anywhere and anytime.”
 
Are you using mobile marketing?
Posted By Roger Halligan read more

It's That Time Of Year Again!

Mar
08
The ubiquitous awards season is in full swing!  Beginning in mid-January and running through the end of spring, it seems every association and organization in the world is conducting its awards program.  
 
Most people are familiar with the famous Academy Awards and Golden Globe awards programs, but there are numerous other, more obscure, awards we never hear about. There's the Outstanding Pork Producer Award, the Smart Monkey Awards, the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge Awards, and even the awards industry has its own awards!
 
For those of us who are MarCom Pros, there are dozens more awards to choose from.  Many of us are familiar with the ADDY, Effie and the Clio awards, but there are many other national and local MarCom awards most of us have never heard of.  Many of these awards recognize creativity, innovation, engagement and a variety of other outstanding capabilities. 
 
We have been fortunate enough to win several of these industry awards and we always feel very honored that our peers have recognized us for our efforts.  This recognition also underscores our value to our clients, and let's face it - it's a nice ego boost as well!  
 
However, there is one MarCom award that is truly meaningful to the winning organization because it measures what effect it has had on the bottom line.  I'm referring to the REGGIE Awards sponsored by the Brand Activation Association (BAA).  Now in its 30th year, the REGGIE Awards program is renowned for identifying the most outstanding U.S. brand activation campaigns across a variety of marketing categories. The winning campaigns must build brands and ‘make the register ring’, by increasing a brand’s market-share, profits or volume.
 
What makes the Reggie Awards truly meaningful and coveted is the benefit of going beyond simple bragging rights and providing exposure that show up at the cash registers (hence the REGGIE name). The winners of the Gold, Silver or Bronze awards receive extensive publicity in the trade and business media and are featured on the electronic billboards in NY’s Times Square. The top REGGIE winners become eligible to be considered for a Globe Award, a global competition among more than 25 participating countries honoring the world's best marketing communications programs. 
 
Every year, the list of REGGIE winners reads like a "Who's Who" of the world's leading brands - Coca Cola, McDonald's, American Express, Disney, Kleenex, Ford, Dupont, Pepsi, Nestle and many others.  However, winners also include smaller brands that are doing some very innovative marketing.  
 
So from now on, when I think of MarCom awards that are truly meaningful, I'll think of the REGGIE awards.  Not just because BAA is our client, but also because it truly measures the ROI of the marketing efforts.
 
Just out of curiosity, what do you think of award programs and how many do you enter?
Posted By Roger Halligan read more

Who Will Be The ‘Real Winners’ Of The 2013 Academy Awards?

Feb
22

Did you ever think about what makes a film truly successful? Is success measured by the amount of box office ticket sales? Is it the amount of award nominations it receives? Is it the amount of awards brought home, or is it the net profit it turns.

Success must be measured with a very contradictious eye. It is a commonly shared belief that more often than not, critically acclaimed films are box office busts. With exception of movies like Lord of the Rings and Titanic, the foremost complaint was that the Academy Awards ignore box office hits to instead focus on prestige pictures that relatively few people see. That was until 2012.

This year, seven of the nine ‘Best Picture’ nominees did not have huge marketing budgets compared to the expensive blockbusters, but still did very well at the box office.  Movies like Argo, the Iranian hostage film that is set to gross over $140 million. Even with the uncertainty of audiences’ acceptance of musicals, Les Miserables is set to clear $150 million.

Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained also joined this list grossing $165 million along with Lincoln"($90 million), Zero Dark Thirty (soon to reach $100 million), and Life of Pi ($115 million in the United States and a remarkable $670 million worldwide). Even Oscar nominated films such as Beasts of the Southern Wild and Amour made a profit. Although the last two films mentioned will make approximately $12 million and $11 million respectively, they were extremely cheap to make and profit will soar pass budget.  For example, ‘Beasts’ returned 12 times what the film cost to make.

So, what caused the change in the box office success of smaller budgeted films? Could it be that moviegoers are beginning to appreciate more artistic movies or that marketing people are getting more effective? Perhaps it is a combination of both?

One theory of the recent success of these expressive films is that producers are tapping into more strategic, multi-faceted marketing campaigns that are similar in style but more cost effective than those of the big-budget campaigns used to promote blockbusters.  Let’s also hope it means peoples’ taste in good movies is getting more sophisticated.

The artistic movies may not always be able to compete with blockbuster films featuring explosions, killings, and scantily clad actors, but at least for one year, they are in the running.

Who are your picks to win Oscars?

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The Dreaded RFP .....

Feb
08
..... Can Actually Be A Good Thing
 
There are few things an agency dreads more than getting the ubiquitous Request For Proposal (RFP). This usually means that your team will spend countless hours doing some great work to compete against who-knows-how-many other agencies for business that may not even truly be "in play." You never know if another agency is already wired-in and the company is just going through the motions with an RFP.  Or, if the current agency is the overwhelming favorite and it is just company policy to go out for an RFP every so often.
 
And if you are among the lucky half a dozen or so selected to make a presentation, it is many more hours of work with a slightly better chance of winning the business.  That's assuming it is even truly "in play" to begin with.
 
In other words, RFP's usually require a great deal of work in a very short period of time with little chance of winning.  That's why many agencies, including ours, normally won't reply to them.  
 
However, when you get an RFP from a long-time client for an expanded piece of business, you definitely pay attention.  That's what happened to us recently when a client decided to significantly expand their PR and Social Media programs and put it out for RFP.  After getting over the initial surprise and then feeling grateful we were included, we realized there are several benefits to us and the client for participating in this exercise.
 
From the client's point of view:
  • They gain some new ideas and perspectives 
  • They can compare their current agencies strengths and weaknesses against other agencies
  • They get a realistic look at what fees and costs truly are
  • They need to do some strategic thinking when putting the RFP together
  • It makes the current agency do some new strategic thinking
From the agency's perspective:
  • It motivates them to sharpen their thinking and take some new perspectives
  • It motivates them to analyze the relationship and see where things need to be improved
  • It may clarify to the client that the agency has been underpaid and the budgets too low
  • It allows them to showcase their accomplishments and unveil some innovative new ideas
  • Ideally, it also reinforces that they already have the best agency 
So when it comes to RFPs from existing clients, I guess the answer to the question "What is worse than getting the dreaded RFP" would be "Not getting it!"
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