Here’s a surprise, I bet. A recent survey reported by ubergizmo.com showed that 37% of teenagers in the U.S. intend to pick up an iPhone in the coming half year – at least that’s what Piper Jaffray managed to extract from 4,500 teens he surveyed. Out of that figure, 17% of them already own an iPhone, and while the desire or hope of picking one up doesn’t mean it will automatically translate to a confirmed iPhone sale, it just goes to show how popular and far reaching Apple’s magical handset is. Apart from that, around 22% of polled teens say that their household already own at least one tablet – and who’s guessing against Apple’s iPad being the top draw here as well, since the iPad comprised of more than 80% of tablets last year?
Will QR Codes be the new convergence link between web, print, audio and video?
QR Code for www.youredge.org
For the past year I’ve been reading the online version of the, “Morning Calm,” the U.S. Army’s weekly newspaper in Korea. I’ve been doing this after reconnecting with an old friend who now works as a civilian employee of the Army in that country.
Last week I was thrilled to see an article about “2D bar codes” that brought my thinking about marketing and promotion quite a step forward. Dan Thompson, Public Affairs Chief for the U.S. Army garrison in Seoul wrote that he had been considering ways to put what are known as QR Codes to use in communicating since noticing their widespread use while working in Germany and, now, in Asia. That article helped me make a critical connection in my thinking.
“QR” is short for “quick response.” It’s a square filled with information that can be scaled to just about any size and read by any smart phone loaded with a free QR Reader app. I understand that many ‘droid phones come equipped with a native QR reader called ‘ZXing.’
The QR Code is a Japanese invention that was originally intended as a tracking system for auto parts and is one of several standard codes developed around the world for inventory tracking.
As I see it, this little square is a total connection between different forms of media. Click – scan the square on a poster and be taken to a video. Click – scan the square on the video and be taken to the website. Click – scan the square on the website and be taken to a mobile coupon which can be used at the point of purchase. It’s a beautiful thing!
Not that new, just not at critical mass
This method of connecting to others isn’t exactly new. As Dan Thompson noted, it has been used for years in other parts of the world. But for those of us here in the U.S. where, until just recently, we mostly wanted to use our cell phones only for making phone calls or text messaging, has yet to gain a lot of traction. Search the web a little and you’ll begin to get a sense that things are changing fast.
Codes are beginning to show up in printed media and on packaging on supermarket shelves (yesterday I saw one on a package of lettuce.) In human time it will be a blink of an eye before we see these squares everywhere. They don’t need to take up a lot of space, either. They can be big or they can be small. It doesn’t matter to the reading software. And codes can be generated for free on tons of websites. It seems all too simple, really.
Imagine the uses
The video below, from YouTube, shows crowds of young people scanning coded posters in a busy subway station. My guess is that it may have been an early promotion of the concept. Frankly, I find the BIG codes in the middle of the posters to be a bad case of “device over de-message.”
Done right, though, it’s an incredible opportunity to get the consumer involved in the transaction. Advertising? Brand building? Education? It seems a perfect way to walk someone over what I’ve come to call the ‘Marketing Bridge,’ from unawareness…to awareness…to comprehension…to conviction (agreement)… to action. -gb
No matter how they look at it, retailers in the hardware/home goods/lawn & garden categories may face a different competitive environment this year.
Lowe’s yesterday announced plans to eliminate 1,700 middle-management jobs in stores and add 8,000 to 10,000 weekend sales positions to improve staffing at the chain’s busiest time of the week. The change takes effect this Saturday.
Lowe’s is cutting managers responsible for store operations, sales and administration while creating a new assistant store manager position. These managers will oversee such merchandise categories as paint, hardware and flooring.
Some shoppers remain reluctant to spend on household improvements amid sinking home prices and mounting foreclosures. The part-time weekend staff will try to get customers to buy more. This reads like middle managers weren’t driving incremental sales.
Lowe’s had about 239,000 employees as of Jan. 29, 2010, compared with Home Depot’s 317,000. Profit growth at Lowe’s trailed Home Depot’’ last quarter, and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, project that trend to repeat this period, with an increase of 40 percent at Home Depot and 17 percent at Lowe’s.
As store openings have slowed, controlling labor expenses has helped Lowe’s improve gross profit margin. The company’s margin widened to 35.05 percent in the third quarter ended Oct. 29 from 34.20 percent a year earlier, helped by the hiring of more part-time seasonal workers and using employees instead of outside contractors for plumbing and electrical repairs in stores. In the same quarter, Home Depot’s margin, the percentage of sales remaining after subtracting the cost of goods sold, improved to 34.3 percent from 34 percent a year earlier. – gb
If you were asked to name three top marketing pioneers, the Grateful Dead probably wouldn’t be on the tip of your tongue. But as David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan explain in their new book, “Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History” (Wiley, August 2010), the Grateful Dead actually created many digital age marketing strategies, such as viral marketing, social networking, giving away products or services, and asking for input from customers.
Here are 5 tips on how the Dead’s marketing savvy can be used in today’s business world:
1. Carve out your own landscape. Rather than focusing on the business model du jour—selling albums—the Grateful Dead focused on generating revenue from live concerts, and in doing so created a fan “experience” that was unlike any other.
2. Mix up your marketing department. Scott and Halligan suggest you organize your marketing team in this way: You want someone responsible for “getting found,” someone responsible for “converting” the folks who are getting pulled in, and someone responsible for “analyzing” the numbers and helping you make better decisions.
3. Experiment. The Grateful Dead played more than 2,300 concerts, and each one was unique due to their improvisational style. Says Halligan, “You should be doing at least five times more experiments than you likely are doing today. In terms of marketing, this could mean starting a blog, freeing your employees to Tweet or write posts for your blog, or leaving comments on others’ blogs.”
4. Lose control of your marketing messages. “In building a community, the Grateful Dead were willing to give up a large degree of control over how they were defined and instead hand it to their fans,” explains Halligan. “So let your community define you, rather than trying to dictate what’s said—and how—about your company.”
5. Put fans in the front row and give them free content. Unlike nearly every other band, the Grateful Dead controlled the ticket sales for their concerts, allowing them to announce tours to fans first and treat supporters to the best seats, driving passionate loyalty. They also encouraged concertgoers to record their live shows. “The way to reach your marketplace,” says Halligan, “is to create tons of free content such as blogs, videos, white papers, and e-books.”
For information about the book, call 800.225.5945.
Back in September 2010 I had the opportunity to spend 24 hours as a patient in a local hospital. When my duty nurse noted that she struggled with the way computers are becoming more and more a part of her daily routine, I made the following comment: “I hope you’ll embrace it because it’s going to be growing faster than you can believe. A year from now don’t be surprised if you’re using an (Apple) iPad to keep patient records, look up medications, and tell them what the weather’s going to be like when they leave for home.”
This morning I opened one of my daily eNewsletters to find an article bycontributing editor Sarah Jackson that says just that. In the Fierce MobileHealthcare article, “Tablets Taking Top Billing in Health Care,” Jackson contends that new tablet computers may not replace laptops or PCs in the health care industry but that they will most likely become the “must have” device to help lower potential communications barriers between providers and patients. Jackson goes on to describe how one physician found, “the positives far outweighing the negatives,” when providing bedside care. Physician Kirk Dodson told MedicalTabletPC.com that, “Tablets provide the ideal vehicle, allowing almost continuous face-to-face interaction with patients in a non-obtrusive manner.”
The article continues by saying health care providers surveyed last year prefer the tablet mainly because if its ease of use. And tablets win over PCs, with instant-on screens having created a competitive advantage that laptops will have a hard time matching.
It may be a year or two before tablet computers overcome shortfalls in their ability to run proprietary medical software and issues concerning on-screen keyboards and battery life but these issues will be worked out with amazing speed when markets become clear.
Jackson concludes, “With all that said, the patient preference for tablets may be what carries the day on this one. So for those of you setting your five-year budget, you may need to set aside funds not for a laptop or a tablet, but for a laptop and a tablet.”
Small business owners are increasingly optimistic and plan higher ad spending for 2011, according to numbers from Ad-ology’s 2011 Small Business Marketing Forecast. This is the third year for the study, and in addition to increased optimism about the economy overall and their potential sales for this year, results show 46 percent plan increased ad budgets this year, compared to 29.1 percent who said the same for 2009.
Just like the big guys, small businesses plan to devote increased resources to online marketing, including website development and email. One notable change from last year’s results: Last year’s survey showed 47 percent of these businesses didn’t have a website; that number dropped to 36 percent this year.
The study also shows a big increase in the interest in online video, mobile apps and advertising. Interest in using Facebook, Twitter and other social networks for business also is up considerably.
While projected online spending is up, these businesses also plan increased resources for traditional media types.
Other key findings from the study:
Fifty-six percent of SMB owners project increased sales in 2011; just 39% said that for 2010.
Twenty-two percent say they are frustrated by trying to understand online advertising.
Sixty-four percent report having a website, up nearly 20% from the surprisingly low 53% last year
Fifty percent say they plan to devote more resources to trade shows in 2011.
Approximately 15% say social couponing sites like Groupon and Living Social are beneficial to business.
The increased overall optimism is great, and we and the rest of the ad industry should be happy to hear more news of higher ad budgets. The real take-away is the changing mind-set of the small business owner. They’re becoming more marketing savvy, and clearly interested in leveraging their resources to reaching customers in new ways. This is perfect for us and our TV+Mobile offerings!!!
This article says that Android will outpace Apple’s iphone operating system in 2011 and Samsung’s Android phone will be the most popular. While everyone’s buzzing about Verizon’s new iPhone offering, the ‘droids are moving in fast. I find it hard to imagine that any mobile device could be as friendly, powerful or effective at helping run my life, as my iPhone. ‘Droids, though, run it all: Flash, wmv files, everything. When my contract comes due, I’ll be taking a look.
As a guy who has been working directly with businesses for about 30 years, I can say that it has always been a challenge to create a business relationship and to move on up to “trusted adviser” status. The following survey results provide good advice.
In a recent survey when asked – “If you could give one piece of advice to media sales executives, what would it be?” Business owners replied…
– Figure out what my company does and needs, and try to sell me advertising to reach my customers.
– Come up with a new idea, rather than regurgitating what everyone else keeps saying.
– Explain to me how your advertising will reach my customers or help me to target a new customer base.
– Return calls promptly.
– Research my company and what I do before you call on me.
– Be knowledgeable of online web marketing and social marketing techniques as well as traditional print mediums.
– Don’t think all businesses are the same.
– Do your research and ask questions to get to know our business better so you can offer sensible solutions to our needs.
– Be a professional, not just another pushy salesman.
– You’re in deep sh*t unless you can start showing ROI options rather than experimenting with my money.
Text Messaging (Short Message Service) is huge and, if you think that only the youngsters are using it, the average age of a “texter” is 35. If your company or organization isn’t using it to communicate with clients and stakeholders, you should consider it for 2011. – gb
Still skeptical that you can actually sell goods through social networks? J.C. Penney begs to differ. This month, the company moved its catalog lineup onto Facebook. Paul Chaney writes that Penney’s headfirst dive into social retailing will set a precedent for other companies, meaning that social networking “can no longer be considered an insignificant player in online retail marketing and sales.”
