Diving into causes, new + traditional marketing & social entrepreneurship

The biggest sponsorship opportunity in the world? & Chinese bloggers

Posted on May 15, 2008 in Geneva, Marketing, Randomness

I was recently in Lausanne, Switzerland (home of the International Olympic Committee) and had the chance to stop by the IOC Olympic museum. The museum was decked out in Chinese Red and sported an impressive Chinese exhibition (scroll down for pictures) as literally billions of people get ready to watch the 2008 Olympics in Beijing–largely via good ‘ole fashion TV.

The Olympics is obviously a HUGE sponsorship opportunity for brands and a windfall for the IOC. In 2004, total IOC revenues topped $4.2 Billion with broadcast rights delivering 53% of total revenues (2.2 Billion). Sponsorship from mega brandslike Coke, Samsung, etc. accounted for $1.5 Billion (34%). The rest of the revenue was driven by ticket sales/licensing agreements. Click here for more details.

Picture taken from IOC website

The World Cup is huge (and only 1 sport!), but it still significantly lags the Olympics in terms of sponsorship revenues…indeed, the Olympics seems to be king of the hill when it comes to world sports sponsorship opportunities.

The 2008 Olympics provide very interesting challenges for sponsoring brands. One one hand it is a tremendous opportunity to be a part of the first ever Olympic showcase in in such an important growth economy. On the other hand, China’s human rights abuses may make it harder for these brands to be seen as socially responsible. Sponsors probably prefer that their brands be associated with the event itself (read Olympic movement) vs the host country. It will be interesting to see how brands associate themselves with China in their ads. I think the IOC museum in Lausanne did a great job at providing an experience which  celebrated China and its progress, while at the same time being very open about the environmental challenges facing the country. Much of their 1st floor exhibition was dedicated to what China is doing (or not doing) about the environment instead of sports–very surprising! I think this is the right way to approach the issue, but it is tricky and sensitive. Here is a great conversation starter on the topic from Harvard online.

One other fun exhibition was a little web 2.0 corner featuring a Chinese blogger who’s blog I unfortunately cannot find (censored?) In any case, here is a link to English speaking blogs about China. China is clearly BIG into blogging…I will save the data for a later post.

Below is a fun picture of me trying to pole vault with Chinese bamboo (pardon the hat head) in the museum. I did use to be a pole vaulter, so this was a familiar pose.

I will be out for a few days, but I will be back to the blogging upon my return!

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Getting the Marketing Mix Right + Online Mix Madness

Posted on May 13, 2008 in Marketing

by s-revenge

Photo Credit: decisions by s~revenge

As media fragmentation continues & more dollars go into online spending globally, the marketing mix is getting more complex. Finding the right mix of TV, print, outdoor, direct mail, online…etc. for brands/products gets harder & harder every day. Once we drill down into online, the mix questions get infinitely more complex. What do we want to do online? Do we want to generate max awareness during this campaign? If so, do we need online media only? Within online media do we need basic banners or more video? Or Advergaming/Widgets instead? What about search, social media, e-CRM, etc.? As Seth Godin noted today in an interesting post:

When choice is limited, I want a generalist…But whenever possible, please bring me a brilliant specialist.

The world needs more brilliant specialists in this brave new online world. Brilliant specialists that understand brand equities/prime prospects and what is right for the brand online.

Yesterday I was also inspired by Seth Godin’s “what do you know” list, so today I started a “what online tool can you use” list. It is by no means exhaustive & partially a riff.  This “topline” list that reflects some of the many routes that spending can be directed against online in any company.

Here goes:

Basic websites, Banner ads, video ads, widgets, advergames, online TV “special formats”, On-line sampling, e-Newsletters, Online Media partnerships, email marketing (everything around CRM online), Search: Organic and paid, Social Media (social networks, forums, blog sponsoship, podcast sponsorship, etc. )

Also, marketers often want to throw in a bit of slick online innovation (something hot off the press) into the mix…now we have a recipe for online mix madness!

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Are Marketers becoming more like Politicians?

Posted on May 11, 2008 in Causes, Marketing

In a recent AdvertisingAge article called: For Unilever, P&G, No Good Deed Is Going Unpunished Jack Neff quotes Howard Rubenstein as saying:

[the] confluence of marketing and politics that shows no signs of abating, with marketers tracking online buzz and other measures of public opinion as doggedly as politicians track polls He goes on to say…high-profile marketers are in the political arena to stay, whether they want to or not.

Indeed, the rise in social responsibility + the rise in social media (& the ability to track it) does seem to = a challenging new world order type mix for companies. As for those working in Brand Management (e.g. people like me who lead R&D, PR, sales, finance, and creative agencies etc.) it becomes more and more critical to surround yourself with fantastic, forward thinking PR/marketing to help navigate these new waters. Certainly, there is little room for error in this brave new world. And even great ideas that drive wonderful causes can easily go wrong as public opinion can now shift on a dime. It is one thing to be able to track the conversation, but an entirely new thing to react quickly once it starts going into an entirely unintended direction. Side Note: I do hope the current raging greenwashing debates do not discourage companies from leveraging “Good” going forward.

So who volunteers for the job of brand pollster? There might be some positions opening up soon… :-)

Check out this good post from What Do you Stand For? commenting on the AdAge article:

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Asking hard questions on the weekend…

Posted on May 10, 2008 in Causes, Randomness

There are many things that we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up. –Oscar Wilde

Closets full of clothes and basements full of stuff…but we still buy more & lag when it comes to giving. Oscar Wilde’s quote made me laugh…and then think. So as a follow-up to my “sufficiency” article a couple of days ago, I am asking myself a couple of hard questions on giving this weekend.

One hard thing to reconcile as a marketer is balancing the need for growth with sustainability. Consumer spending makes our economy move and we definitely depend on it more than ever. But over-spending is an epidemic in the US (click here for the numbers). How can we give more when we are in over our heads in debt? One way to reign in all of the spending (read greed) would be to see a surge in lifestyle change combined with giving. On the giving side, according to Intelligent Giving the avg. person from the US gives roughly 2.0% of their income to charity. This is anemic, but when compared to Brits (1.0%) and the French (0.1%) Americans seem quite generous. There are encouraging signs of an upsurge in philanthropy and giving over the past few years as influential celebs like Bono and Bill Clinton have made it a focus. Bill and Melinda Gates have demonstrated amazing examples of giving.

Maybe we should shift our mindset the next time someone comes up and asks for a donation…all to often our response is: I don’t have the cash, so I better not. But if we are honest this lack of cash has not stopped us from over-spending when a purchase is for us & benefits our own world. Indeed, we don’t let the fact that we “just don’t have the cash” stop us from upgrading our lifestyle though we may not have the means…so we need to ask ourselves if acquisition and upgrading does, in fact, = our life (wouldn’t this be sad). I am challenging myself to get more creative & find bigger ways to give…even when “I don’t have the cash.”

Note: Andy Stanley influenced the closing paragraph.


Here is a good recent blog post on the state of philanthropy from tactical philanthropy

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Are you sufficient with your spending…??

Posted on May 8, 2008 in Marketing

One question we hear in the brand management world all the time: Are you plans sufficient? Follow-on questions go like this…Can you reach the goals for your brand with this level of spending? Will you win the necessary share of hearts, minds and markets? Is it enough? Do you have enough? What is competition spending? Is your spend mix right?

It is a constant battle of spending levels. There are formulas, matrices, etc. Set the goal high enough and you may get more. Set the bar low enough and you may get less. A battle of bar graphs & %’s.

But as we all know, numbers are only part of the answer. What is behind those numbers? Are your sales coming more from discounting & promos? Are you replacing premium sales with discount sales? What is happening with our customers, brands, products & channels?

Here is a question we can ask ourselves for the weekend. Are we sufficient with our body, mind, soul & relationship development? What is lagging? Are there black holes behind our own “personal numbers”?

Here is a good link from Tim talking about compounding your time…food for thought.

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Top 20 business gurus

Posted on May 7, 2008 in Marketing

I saw an interesting post over on John Moore’s Brand autopsy highlighting the Wall Street Journal’s top 20 business guru list. While many on the list were no surprise to me, I guess I was a bit taken back when I saw Gary Hamel at #1. I read some of his material back in business school, but since then I have not really followed him. I did a quick search to see if he has a blog, but I could not find anything too recent from him in the blogosphere…interesting.

The list is apparently based on online mentions, academic citatitions, and LexisNexis. Have a look at the full list below.

From WSJ via Brand Autopsy

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New Social Network for Causes: Make the Difference Network

Posted on May 5, 2008 in Causes

I just saw a new social network for causes called Make the Difference Network. The aim of the network is to leverage social networks to help non-profits extend their message. MTDN leverages celebrity influencers in a big way. There is even a celebrity tab across the top toolbar…MTDN was co-founded by a celebrity as well–actress Jessica Biel.

I will try to check out the site more. It will be interesting to watch how the team swings into action to promote the site.

If you want the full back story on how the site really came to fruition, check out Kent McBride.net Kent seems to be very well-versed in the online “how to” marketing world.

Great to see even more celebs out there promoting good cause stuff!

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Friendly challenge to Tom Peters…In Search of Eco-Boomers

Posted on May 4, 2008 in Causes, Randomness

As Boomer consumers head into retirement everyone knows they are going to present a huge market opportunity. In a recent blog post called I Do Love you Lee…BUT, Tom Peters noted:

“We (BOOMERS) are the fastest growing, the biggest, the wealthiest, the boldest, the most (yes) ambitious, the most experimental & exploratory, the most different, the most indulgent, the most difficult & demanding, the most service & experience obsessed, the most vigorous, (the least vigorous,) the most health conscious, the most female, the most profoundly important commercial market in the history of the world—and we will be the Center of your universe for the next twenty-five years. We have arrived!”

Tom also goes on to say that pretty much everybody is doing a horrible job serving the boomer consumer. In his words:

Here is my current report card on the market’s (manufacturers, retailers, designers, marketers, product and service developers) effort to understand and encompass and exploit this Incredible-Humongous Expanding Market Opportunity:
Awful.
Dumb.
Disgraceful.
Insane.
Stupid.
Pitiful.
Embarrassing

So, OK Tom the gauntlet is thrown. You have issued a challenge. Agreed, companies do need to wake up a bit more to this huge opportunity, though ironically many of the companies you are referring to are themselves probably run by Boomers.

I would argue that in fact many big companies do work very hard to understand consumers. A recent book by A.G. Lafley (P&G’s CEO) outlines the “Consumer i Read More »

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How to get an English speaking corporate marketing job in Europe + Weekend

Posted on May 3, 2008 in Geneva, Randomness

Over the past few years I have had several people ask me how to find & get a corporate job in Europe. So I thought I would put up a couple of ideas and see if the post sparks more questions. If it does, I may do a follow-up.

First, it is funny how the grass is always greener on the other side. I have met several Europeans who also dream of working corporately in the USA. Indeed, there are advantages and disadvantages to both scenarios.

Generalized advantages of working in Corporate Europe:

1. 30+ days of vacation (in several countries) from the start + more paid public holidays: A recent OECD survey showed that Americans typically put in 1877 hours vs 1562 per year in France. OUCH!
2. Getting paid in Euros/Pounds/Swiss Francs: As the dollar continues to weaken, making anything but dollars becomes more attractive (maybe this will turn around as the Bush administration moves out)
3. Generally more job security (not as much churn/burn) though this can have a dark side as the labor pool tends to be more rigid.

Generalized advantages of Corporate US:

1. Lower taxes vs European countries (Generally speaking, though tax rates are coming down in some countries)
2. BIG upside if you can make it to director/VP or above (US executives tend to earn way more than their European counterparts)
3. Stock option packages offered earlier in career: Not 100% sure about this one as I don’t have the data, but from qualitatitvely talking with others and reading a couple of different articles this seems correct.

So, it does depend a bit on what you value more. Do you want to spend a few years potentially earning less, but having significantly more vacation days early in your career? I do read about more and more 20/30 somethings opting out of this more extreme US corporate version of the “deferred life plan” (working for 30+ years and then retiring to see the world). Tim Ferriss writes eloquently about this trend in 4 hour work week.

There is definitely no magic formula…one of the biggest challenges is obviously language. ‘Targeting the UK is your easist bet as there are no language barriers and there are plenty of US firms who have set up Pan-European operations there. Only drawback for the UK is the island location somewhat restricts your ability to do quick trips across several different countries (if that is your reason for spending a few years working in Europe). So, if you are looking to work on the continent my biggest tip would be to target multinational Pan-European headquarter locations. Pan-European organizations tend to leverage English as a common language and they offer fertile soil for your search…especially if you applying from abroad. There are really good specialist English speaking professional sites popping up every day. One that is particularly good for Genevan Jobs (and jobs across all of Switzerland/Europe) is jobsingeneva.com. There are also great expat sites like expatica that offer tremendous amounts of country info and job listings in English. Of course, Monster and other job sites also have international job boards where you can begin your search as well.

If you have already sent through several applications with no luck, you may want to consider extending your education in Europe. Top US MBA programs now have European campuses. I have talked with several people who have done a semester abroad, learned the local “ropes” (and language) and then gained internships. Via the internship they were able to demonstrate their value and so they were offered full-time jobs. This is certainly the longer road, however, you probably have a bigger advantage if you are already living within the country where you want to work. Plus, you can use the semester abroad as a “trial run” to see if you really want to work in Europe. Europe is very diverse and work cultures vary from country to country.

I have been in Europe for 10 years now. I enjoy working here, but I do have different reasons for staying (wife is European). The good news for current job seekers is that there are opportunities in English popping up everyday as the world continues to rapidly globalize.

Hope this helps a bit. These are just a few of my thoughts on the subject and of course I do have more tips. If you want to extend the discussion, send over an email (see the about me page for details) or leave a comment. I always like hearing about the experiences of others!

WEEKEND is here in Geneva. We are off to Annecy which is a small, cute city on a lake in France.

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Facebook saves? Tapestries of Hope & Micro interactions

Posted on May 1, 2008 in Causes

When Michaelene Risley, the producer/director of Tapestries of Hope was facing the prospect of jail time in Zimbabwe for attempting to produce a documentary about the rape and sexual abuse of small girls, a member of their facebook group called Silent Bravery - Women of Africa contacted a CIA friend who had the connections to get her out. Amazing how micro interactions across social networks can make such a difference. These little connections can really do big things. Check out this great post by David Armano on the brave new world we live in today. Michaelene and her team are continuing to use all the levers of social media to raise awareness for this very worthy cause…I found out about them while listening to this Stanford podcast. You can also check out their blog .

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