Insights on Today’s Marketing Issues

Last week we covered the issue that in today’s hands-free digital world, consumers are making voice commands rather than text-based searches. We stated that today’s content is critically important, especially in a more conversational tone − the way people talk with friends.

As consumers, we’re switching toward a hands-free digital world. Most mobile devices now being released are equipped with the latest Artificial Intelligence technology allowing us to make searches with voice rather than typing them in

Reports have surface that Whole Foods has terminated their in-house corporate marketing department and staffed up regional offices to be closer to the action at retail. This move comes as dozens of marketing executives have left this year already due to cultural differences with new owner Amazon.

Nothing has given most of us in the agency world greater pleasure this year than watching Dos Equis go down in flames. They had struck it rich with the “Most Interesting Man in the World” campaign − reports are that it tripled their sales during its initial run − but the incompetent marketing professionals, just like the ones at L.L. Bean that we talked about last week, destroyed it.

L.L. Bean has eliminated its beloved lifetime return policy on its famous boots. The company said that the guarantee had grown too costly. Now it’s going to discover that ending it could cost even more. It’s getting expensive, although Bean charged a premium for its boots, because people are abusing the policy, as people are wont to do, and taking advantage of a successful business. Even usually trustworthy individuals are looking to scam businesses today.

Have you watched Lifetime Network’s “Married at First Sight?” If you’re unfamiliar, the premise is singles yearning for a life-long partnership agree to a provocative proposal and get legally married to a stranger the moment they first meet. The couples don’t meet until they walk down the aisle and see each other face-to-face, for the first time, at the altar. No courtship, no romance, just like the days of pre-arranged weddings between families, usually with a shotgun involved.

We see a ton of confusion on this issue when meeting with prospective clients, so we thought we would attempt to clean it up here. A “brand” is an expression of the core values of a company, or even an individual, like a politician. A brand reveals the fundamental reason for its existence, and how it differs from others in the category, and the experience you will enjoy when using this product.

A recent article in Forbes addressed this issue on time management in a study they did showing how little of their salespeople’s time is spent in actual selling. Here is the bottom line: Sales reps are only spending one-third of their time selling. This just can’t happen. Creative people create, production people produce, and sales people sell. That’s the way I was trained and educated.

Amazon and others are willing to pay less-than-happy employees to quit the company. Employees who accept what’s called “The Offer” by Amazon agree to not work for the organization again. The reported buyout is $5,000 to go away and not come back. In California, I’m told that everyone gets two weeks paid severance. So employees, or former employees, take any job, work for a month, if they can last that long, get fired, and then take two weeks off with full pay. Then repeat the process somewhere else. This is insane to me.

71% of American consumers think ads are more intrusive than they were just three years ago, with 79% saying they’re appearing in more places. The majority of domestic marketers are missing opportunities to enhance their brand’s effectiveness by up to 57%, as less than half of tested campaigns (46%) use multichannel strategies according to recent research. 98% of marketers said their efforts are integrated and well understood across channels, but just 58% of consumers agreed. So you see the problem.