Here's a great interview of the marketing VP at Nokia that provides credible evidence to the bright future of new media and word of mouth marketing. Not only does this interview shed light on the huge potential power that new media offers, it also stresses that in order to utilize such grassroots efforts, a company has to offer real quality, otherwise the whole effort will backfire. This is one of the beautiful things for all of us about this new era of customer led marketing.

While new media is exciting, we here at RisingLine feel it's important not to lose balance and forget that other marketing channels still have an important role to play. It's encouraging to see that a progressive company like Nokia feels the same. It seems there are a lot of advertising agencies that totally discredit new media and grassroots marketing and the few grassroots marketing firms out there can lean to the extreme in their admonition to ditch advertising completely. While the answer as to the advertising/grassroots mix will be different for every business, as a general principle each business needs to plan their comprehensive marketing strategy with careful consideration of both.

To get you started on some fresh multichannel marketing strategy, check out the latest issue of Practical Ecommerce.

Labels: Customer-Evangelism, New-Media-Marketing

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Posted by Douglas Case @ 11/30/2006 04:54:00 PM | 2 comments

About a year ago, a handful of rabid Boise State fans, myself included, came together to help our beloved Broncos expand the athletic program via a grassroots effort. The idea originated from the perspective that the university seemed to be reaching out only to white-collar executive types for fundraising and support while the blue-collar average joe fan, like me, was being ignored.

Our committee was formed via an online message board at BroncoCountry.com, a site mainly for the hardcore blue-blooded fan, mainly with the aim to help the athletic department raise funds to expand Bronco Stadium. In our first couple of sessions, we tried to formulate a plan to approach the university to demonstrate 1) we had a legitimate aim to assist rather than scam them, 2) that we were organized and motivated, 3) our innovative ideas for fund raising, and 4) that we were willing to play within their rules.

After about 4 weeks, our group was able to schedule a meeting with the Bronco Athletic Association and the Bronco Athletic Department and we were absolutely blown away by how well our ideas were received. As it turns out, the officials were trying to build an existing electronic funds transfer program (EFT) called HorsePower that was created with the sole purpose of allowing individuals to contribute small funds on a monthly basis to help with summer scholarships for student athletes, facilities maintenance, equipment purchases, Title IX compliance, and other issues pertaining to Bronco Athletics.

After a very productive initial meeting, our small group reconvened and came back with an official agenda and Boise State gave us the green light to head up the promotion of the HorsePower program. The win-win for both sides is that Boise State could now focus their dedicated internal fundraising efforts on corporate sponsorships while HorsePower would be marketed toward the face painted, blue-collar, end zone seated fanatic who would be thrilled to contribute 10 to 20 hard earned bucks per week to his/her beloved Broncos.

Currently, we’re preparing to develop a brochure to distribute at local retail establishments within the greater Boise area. In addition, our committee will propose a referral program for HorsePower and other incentive packages to encourage participation in the EFT program. Also, if you’re a Bronco fan living in Boise, please be sure to ask your local retailer if they have any information on the HorsePower program and if they say no, ask them to contact me for more information – Email Erik.

In all, I am thrilled that Boise State took a chance with our small group of non-university affiliated fans. Since the program is still in its infancy, our grassroots efforts are tough to measure. However, this example should provide a great case study for institutions looking to mobilize a ground level group of advocates.

To conclude, I have personally witnessed the results of grassroots marketing and I'm more than confident the HorsePower program will become a resounding fundraising success. If your company is struggling with creating brand appeal and fostering growth, perhaps it's time to explore your existing core of advocate customers. Our small group of Bronco fans congregated via an online forum, imagine if your passionate customers could do the same...

Labels: Customer-Evangelism

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Posted by Erik Jon Warila @ 11/22/2006 10:56:00 AM | 0 comments

Do you want to grow your business without expensive advertising? Would you like to utilize an easy strategy to turn your best customers into your best salespeople? Are you tired of attracting poorly qualified prospects that waste your valuable time?

OK, enough of these silly rhetorical questions....any business owner or executive who just read these questions has just gone through a brief period of euphoric fantasy followed quickly by a sick feeling in their gut...knowing that it's just too good to be true. I'm here to tell you though that the positive answers to these questions are not only true they are more than likely the way in which your business is really growing now.

Here's some reality therapy:

• People don't believe advertising.
• People are sick of advertising.
• Unless you spend very big bucks, your advertising may be sending many a negative message about your company.
• The awareness your advertising creates may not convert prospects to high-value life time clients.

We're all bombarded by thousands of advertising messages each day. How many do you remember from yesterday? A more important question: Of those you remember for how many will you become a customer? For example take Geico insurance, sure we all remember their funny ads, but how many of us actually buy from them? Not many. About 7 out of every 100 auto insurance buyers.

In my 15+ year sales career I've learned that one principle is by far the powerful: people buy from those they know and trust. Like many of the most profound concepts in life, this truth is simple and intuitive yet ignored by a vast majority of sales and marketing "experts". I sat through a couple hours of stereotypical sales training recently in which the instructor counseled, "If you can't be a good actor then you can't sell." No wonder sales people have such a bad reputation! Do I really want to be sold something from someone who is acting (i.e. lying)...why should I expect that my customers want to get an acting job when they read my marketing collateral or meet my salespeople?

Traditional advertising and sales are almost always based on acting...whether through outright fake sentiment or through some entertainment gimmick like Geico does. It's so established that advertiser embellish the truth on a regular basis that we've invented the special legal word—"puffing". It doesn't sound so bad as "lying" but means the same thing. Take a look around at the advertising or packages closest to you this moment and notice how we've become desensitized to the "puffing" of advertising...do you really believe that spaghetti on the shelf is "America's Favorite Pasta"? No you don't. That's why you will typically buy it on price or otherwise only when you have credible insight into it having superior quality.

So it's really no wonder that most people instinctively don't believe either salespeople or advertising. So back to our principle, people do buy from the exact opposite of advertising and sales...they buy from sources that they know and trust. I'm sure for anyone whose familiar with RisingLine you already know the answer to advertising and sales people but we'll have to wait for my next post to conclude.

Labels: New-Media-Marketing

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Posted by Douglas Case @ 11/13/2006 09:50:00 AM | 0 comments

As I continue to peruse the Internet for great blogs, I came across one today which in my opinion epitomizes a successful blogging strategy. Annie's Homegrown products is promoted by Bernie's Blog, a social advocate Web site that is specifically targeted toward an emotionally engaged audience of progressive liberal folks. As a fairly conservative guy, I may not agree with the content on the site, but I can certainly appreciate the way this organization has used a polarizing approach in order to appeal to folks that are interested in their products.

For those of you who have read my blogs on a regular basis, you probably have noticed that one of my pet peeves is a blog which has nothing to do with the customer or their interests. The quickest way to alienate a reader is to write about things that don't interest them ... things like your corporate picnic or your strategic initiative for the year. Please understand, the actual subject matter is irrelevant, but customer interest is key.

Going back to Bernie's blog, pay attention to the content and it's easy to see how the writer(s) has masterfully leveraged connecting the product to the emotional sensitivities of their target audience. I would venture to say that in 8 of 10 cases, the typical Annie's shopper relates to this content and most likely visits the site on a regular basis.

Labels: Blogging, Customer-Evangelism, New-Media-Marketing

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Posted by Erik Jon Warila @ 11/06/2006 02:28:00 PM | 1 comments