revolution + research = r2

Iffy ROI - More Popular Than You Think

I'm reading "More Guerrilla Marketing Research" by Robert Kaden, Gerald Linda and Jay Conrad Levinson.

Man, I love it so far. Skipping over the basic overviews, some sections caused me to sharpen my #2 Ticonderoga and do some serious underlying. Like this, from page 46:

It's hard to spend money on research when there is no clear guarantee of a profitable payback. Interesting isn't it though, that spending money to support short-term promotions, circulating additional catalogs or flyers, running a bunch of banner ads, adding to the sales force or tossing a new product or service into the market seems so easy to justify - even when faced with just as iffy a payback.

Love it.

Market Research - Adapt or Die

Bob Kaden, President and Owner of The Kaden Company, recently started a discussion on LinkedIn (in the NGMR Group) by asking “are researchers aggressive enough to have real impact?” He quotes Neeraj Arora of the AC Nielsen Center for Marketing Research:

Marketing research used to be a backroom function, but nowadays the distinctions are blurring between marketing researchers and brand managers. Marketing researchers must have the business savvy of a brand manager and the analytic mind of a researcher. They need to be creative, take risks, spot market trends and pass this information onto CEO.

I agree with with Arora. Traditional marketing research and researchers need to adapt or die. No longer can researchers be content to crunch numbers. We need a new call to action – and a more strategic, bigger picture.

My response:

Perhaps the methodologies and platforms will shape the role.  As research moves into a more organic, dynamic, social media space, how will our industry adapt?

Perhaps the changes will come not from internal brand managers, but from external agencies that change the game plan via social media and other platforms from which they can gather "market research." Perhaps these "hybrid" researchers exist in other capabilities?

Do you think external pressures will help to change the relationship between brand managers and researchers?

What's Going On This Week

According to MediaPost, a Business.com study finds business leaders prefer "passive" social media over those that require more interaction.

From emarketer, digital tools keep Moms connected with their families. More than 40% of Moms wanted technology that would help them be a better Mother.

It's never a good idea to post a photo of your baby smoking a cigarette on Facebook.

Shamable says we're not on Twitter to make friends. They'll call B.S. on you for that one.

Vovici suggests we drop the ageism when it comes to online communities.

And finally, from Tremendous News, 5 Signs That You're Liked On Twitter.

Magical Numbers and Flawed Measurement

In a former life, I analyzed television ratings and demographic trends (you know, the usual: R&F’s, GRP’s, gloriously boring Venn diagrams, etc). Colleagues relied on the information to understand viewership of a given program.  Their need for metrics hardly strayed outside of the framework of key standard quantitative measurements.  Who could blame them? Basic ratings and demographics determined each program’s success or failure.

In fact, the TV and advertising industries have relied on those magical Nielsen numbers for decades. Decades.  Numbers calculated by a monopoly, invented at a time when the average television viewer watched only three channels (four if you count PBS). Though radio analysis started in the 30’s and television analysis in the 50’s, the audience measurement framework hasn’t changed as much as you’d expect since then.

Nielsen bases these standard metrics on flawed methodology and yet in social media and research circles I still hear talk of reach, frequency, GRP’s. As if we can pull social media into the same frame as other measurements. We stick with what we know – but what we know is outdated.

We cannot force social media into imprecise buckets of outdated measurement. 

So, how do we measure it?

• KD Paine says Kill the Zombie Metrics
• Content to Commerce provides 100 ways to Measure Social Media Marketing
• Alexander van Elsas encourages us not to forget about The Human Factor
• Tremendous News drives it home with the importance of The Twitter Avatar
• And finally, Shamable, the no B.S. Social Media Guide says be patient, “Concrete Measurement Will Come.”

I'm of the ABT mindset - Anything But This.

Venn Diagram Photo courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pawelc/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

5 Ways to Help Haiti

Over at Mom Central's The DeBroff DeBrief, Stacy DeBroff outlines five ways our community can help the people of Haiti.  (I donated $10 to the American Red Cross by texting "HAITI" to 90999. It's easy, immediate and desperately needed.)

If you have not yet done so, please consider a donation. Every dollar helps:

The devastating earthquake that hit Haiti has turned exponentially more disastrous as the small island nation remains ill-equipped to handle such a catastrophe. The Haitian people and relief workers need as many donations as possible to handle the devastating aftermath...

Click here to continue to Mom Central's DeBroff DeBrief for 5 ways to immediately donate to any of these crucial causes.

My Husband and I Separated This Weekend

Six months ago, I set-up a joint Facebook page for both my husband (DHR) and I to share.  No, we’re not THAT KIND OF COUPLE.  With most of DHR’s family living variously in the US, Caribbean and UK, I figured it would be a great way for all of us to stay in touch without having to bother with pesky time zones.

And honestly, DHR would have preferred to suck on a couple of old batteries than set up his own page.

At first our shared page reflected my posts, mostly. DHR dabbled. Then suddenly SHAZAAM! My husband developed a full-blown case of Facebook addiction. Compulsively checking our news feed on the sly, posting updates in the middle of the night, wondering aloud WHY, WHY HAS NO ONE COMMENTED ON MY PHOTOS OF YELLOWFIN TUNA? He was out of control. 

We decide the "joint" page no longer worked. DHR needed his own outlet. We separated; he created his own page, I "revamped" the existing one. 

Thinking we were hilariously funny, my husband posted this (and the photo above) on our joint page:

I guess all good things must come to an end. Turns out that Tracey and I are breaking up. Although we had great times together, the time has come for me to get my own facebook page. Look out... friend requests are coming your way.

We crack ourselves up.

24 hours later, however, we were forced to post this on our page:

Thanks to all for your warm wishes. But to be clear, Tracey and I aren't getting divorced. We just broke apart our joint FB page so that we can each have our own.

Apparently, not everyone shares our sense of humor.

Wordless Wednesday

Mom Central's Hiring

All- I am posting a letter penned by our CEO, Stacy DeBroff.  Mom Central is looking to hire senior managers for Boston and New York.  If you think the job description below sounds like you and a bag of chips, or if you think your expertise might be a good fit though not what we've listed below, get in touch!

We're looking to hire senior managers for Mom Central Consulting- a national social media marketing to moms agency - one to open a New York City based office, as well as hire a Senior Manager at our Boston headquarters. I could use any recommendations you have, and would appreciate you sharing this opportunity with anyone in your network who may be interested.

Despite last year's recession, we experienced dramatic growth, including the launch of a Toronto-based team joining our 20 Boston-based staff.

 Last year, we worked with over 150 national brand and agency clients, experienced 25% revenue growth, and expect exponential client growth this year.
 
Here's a brief job description:
 
 Mom Central Consulting seeks to hire an experienced, dynamic Account Supervisor to join our fast-growing national team and lead social media and marketing campaigns with Fortune 500 brands. Ideal candidate will have 6 to 20 years of public relations, agency or marketing experience, preferably in consumer marketing. This person will help us run multiple high-profile national campaigns, lead the strategic direction of individual programs, and coordinate client pitches. Our staff is highly collaborative, energized, and passionate about our work. Salary commensurate with experience.
 
 These full-time positions are based one in the Boston area, and one to open our New York City office. We are also open to part-time consulting from remote locations.
 
 Responsibilities
 
 * Overall management of national marketing and social media campaigns with Fortune 500 brands, working closely with clients.
 
 * Strong interpersonal and communication skills to identify client needs and brainstorm program solutions.
 
 * Develops comprehensive strategic project plans for assigned projects including resource assignments and commitment dates.
 
 * Identifies business development and "add-on" opportunities as they relate to a specific project.
 
 * Manages overall program budgets, as well as manages and mentors junior staff.
 
 Please contact jobs@momcentral.com if interested.
 
 Thanks so much!

Trust or Convenience?*

I've read a lot of blogs, tweets and books about “trust” these days and the idea that only authentic brands trusted by consumers will survive and thrive.

But if consumers demand authenticity and trust, why do we still buy food seasoned with MSG? Or lipstick colored with phthalates? Or baby products known to contain chemical by-products (like formaldehyde)?

If consumers relied on feelings of trust to determine our level of interactions with a particular brand online, why wouldn't we change our everyday behavior offline and instead make a conscious decision to spend our money on products made by companies who we trust won’t poison us, sicken us, fool us, rob us?

What if this new reliance on social media is really about convenience, not trust?  Do I trust Frank at ComcastCares? Or rather, does Frank make my life more convenient?  I say: “Frank, my Comcast connection is down - DO SOMETHING!”  And he does. Except when he doesn’t:

(What happens when Frank no longer answers tweets? Do consumers lose trust in Comcast as a business entity? Or do they move on to another working channel?)

I follow Frank on Twitter because it’s more convenient than picking up the phone and navigating the minefield of customer service.  Perhaps instead, because of the immediacy of social media, we’re developing not relationships of trust but systems of convenience?

*Mostly I wanted to call this post “Cake or Death” but figured only a very small fraction of people who read it would know what the heck I was talking about. Yes, that would be a very small number indeed...