We thought it would be interesting to talk to a few golfers about Tiger Woods and his current situation…especially as it relates to a lucrative Nike contract. So we went to the Longview Golf Centre with a camera and a list of questions. This video is what a few golfers said about the situation. We’d love to hear your thoughts.
What would you do if you were the Marketing Director of Nike Golf?
You Google childhood obesity and the first image that comes up contains your logo. You can just imagine the blame every viewer of this photo places on McDonald’s. Is it McDonald’s fault? It is if they do nothing about it.
To McDonald’s credit they have taken some initiative by offering healthful substitutes to the french fries it offers in Happy Meals and if you happen to have your laptop with internet access while you’re ordering, you can get nutritional data for the meal you select.
By the way, did you know a Big Mac, large fry and a medium Cokes comes in at over 1200 calories?
I suppose that by doing more they would be admitting what is patently obvious to everyone else and that is that their food…along with nearly every other fast food restaurant….can make you obese if you eat too much.
Yet they miss an opportunity to do well by doing good. If they would provide people with encouragement to make good choices from their menu, they’d find people making more good choices from their menu. I’m guessing that the profit margin on a box of lettuce is at least as good as the Big Mac.
Imagine, if they conducted a social marketing campaign that encouraged parents to fight childhood obesity by bringing their children to McDonald’s and serving up fruit burgers. Then they would actually change the eating habits of a generation and firmly plant themselves and their franchisees at the forefront of the new way. Their profits soar, stockholders are happy and the government stays off their back.
Just a thought.
The time of silo interactive activities is over. The time for integrated interactive strategies is now.
Integrated interactive planning is about producing measurable results for less. This economy demands the reinvention of your marketing plan. Most companies can no longer rely on a fat media budget to drive business. Now is the time to look differently at your interactive strategy because it may provide a way for you get through this recession and come out stronger on the other side.
The first thing you have to do is forget about silos and remember that all of your interactive, traditional and non-traditional marketing activities must work together.
The first thing to do is to realize that your web site is the most efficient sales tool/retail location you have. It’s open 24/7, you don’t have to feed it, clothe it, move it, pay it(much), or insure it. It won’t call in sick, argue with you or goof off on the computer. That’s why we’ve put it in the center of the Interactive Integration Wheel.
Second, forget about silos. Forget about branding being separate from web development. Forget about search being separate from online media. Instead, consider how they all can fit together. Duh? Maybe it seems like I’m pointing out the obvious, but we see all too many marketers who keep everything separate.
Specialists often find it difficult to think about the interaction all the different marketing activities that go into a successful integrated plan and prefer to work only in their comfort zone. So, the danger is that one activity will receive more attention than another, creating an imbalanced marketing plan. It would be like spending 90 percent of the budget on a beautiful website and only 10 percent driving people to it….or vice versa.
Third, think of every circle outside the hub as being a hub of its own wheel. For instance, social networking would be surrounded by Facebook, Myspace, twitter, YouTube, blogs and a few hundred others. It’s kind of like a never ending galaxy of opportunity and much of it is in the economy of free except for the labor required to make it happen.
Fourth, some activities on the wheel are one way communications and some encourage a dialog with your customers or sales force. Dialog that makes or saves money should receive top priority. Customer service is a prime example. You can provide customer service online with FAQs, chats, e-mails and as a last resort, phone support. If you’re successful in supporting your customer without a phone call, you’ll save money and return more to the bottom line. The best part is you can document the ROI. If you have a call center, imagine the savings if you could cut 10 percent of the cost of phone support. Think you could find something else to do with that money?
Fifth, somethings won’t fit. Just as some media won’t fit your target audience, some interactive activities won’t fit your marketing needs. For instance, if you’re marketing to teens, twitter is not a good choice. Myspace might be. On the same hand, don’t discount an activity until you’ve thought about it.
The more you want to prove ROI, the more attractive integrated interactive strategies become. You can see the results. Your CEO can see the results. And you can soften the blow of a draconian budget cut by redirecting a little of the money into a highly effective arena.
We’ll be the first to admit that on the surface, integrated interactive strategies can look a little intimidating. But there’s gold here. If you’re interested we’d love to talk to you about how we can move your business forward with a comprehensive interactive plan. Not just a website, not just an e-mail campaign, but an overall plan of attack to make your marketing budget more effective.
Okay, if you’ll lose your job, cut. If parts of your marketing plan are ineffective, we should talk. But the path to being a marketing hero leads us to have courage in these stressful times. If you do have to cut you budget, we have a way to help you do that and salvage effectiveness. We call it Budget 2.0. It’s a planning session that turns marketing plans upside down and looks for breakthroughs. We’d love to take you through it. Give me a call at (515) 244-4456 or e-mail me.
