Could it be everything Bill Gammell learned about marketing, he learned from watching Seinfeld? Maybe not everything ... but he did learn some smart marketing lessons from Jerry, Elaine, George, Kramer, and the Cougar 9000.
Consider Bill's e-book worthwhile (and fun) weekend reading.
Brandon Fritz, of Kolbrener, has compiled a list of major branding terms in a super-creative "Periodic Table." Click below ...
Yeah I know ... lots of chatter about Employee-Generated Media (EGM) on the blog recently. There just happens to be a rash of instances lately. Here's another interesting example from QVC. (Yes, the home shopping channel.)
QVC recently launched an ad campaign centered around trying to own the letter "Q."
QVC is putting a lot of energy behind their customer-facing campaign to own the letter "Q" ... a new, bolder logo ... lots of stylish billboards ... an overhauled website. All this activity is focusing on the QUALITY aspect of hyping the QVC experience of Quality, Value, and Convenience.
Turns out this focus on owning the letter Q began as an internal marketing initiative in June 2006. All 13,000 QVC employees were given a logo t-shirt and given the challenge of getting the most spectacular product placement. The winning employee would get $10,000.
I'm not a fan of doing gimmicky stunts to capture customer attention. As a marketer, I much prefer to garner customer intention more than capture customer attention.
However, this Product Placement employee contest from QVC is a fun idea to tap into the creativity and ingenuity of employees. According to the New York Times, one QVC t-shirt wearing employee had their picture taken with Donovan McNabb, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, and that picture found its way on the Eagle's website.
QVC employee Peter Fey, brother of writer/actress Tina Fey, had his famous sister plug the t-shirt and QVC during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. (Watch the Tina Fey/QVC video clip here.)
The winning QVC t-shirt product placement came from an employee who organized a belly flop contest for an autism charity. Each contestant wore the QVC t-shirt and a local TV station did a live stand-up from the event.
Fun stuff. I hope more companies entrust and encourage their employees to do similar things.
In the preceding post I mentioned how accounting firms are using Employee-Generated Media (EGM) in the form of short videos to help recruit new employees.
How about this instance of EGM … the just-published HOW STARBUCKS SAVED MY LIFE.
Michael Gates Gill, a former ad-exec, dropped out of the corporate rat race and found happiness while working a $10.50/hr job as a Starbucks Barista. Michael chronicles his self-discovery story in HOW STARBUCKS SAVED MY LIFE. (Read an excerpt here.)
It’ll be interesting to see how (or if) Starbucks embraces this book as an act of “employee-generated media.” Having a book on the market extolling the virtues and values of a company treating its employees well can only help in the recruitment of new employees.
On a side-note … Gill’s Starbucks story is remarkable, but not isolated. There are numerous stories of corporate refugees finding solace as a Starbucks Barista. I recall one such corporate refugee parlaying her Starbucks Barista job into being a Starbucks Zone Marketing Director.
At the Building Better Restaurants blog, Jeffrey Summers gives 10 reasons why restaurants must take a sledgehammer to their host stands. (It's a good list.) I love reason #10 ... "Because you don’t have one at your house when you host people there!" >> READ MORE
While I love the contrarian thinking behind this idea, is it realistic for a restaurant not to have a hosting stand? Will restaurant guests know where to go and what to do if they don't see a hosting stand?
As restaurant guests, we've been conditioned to walk up to the hosting stand in order to get seated. Hosting stations are common, expected, and essentially sacred cows in the restaurant world. Which, of course, makes them ripe for reinvention.
So ... what ideas do you have for reinventing the restaurant hosting stand? How can a restaurant create an environment where the Host can host without the barrier of a clunky hosting station? Maybe you've seen a restaurant solve for this. If so, please share what you've seen.
NOTE | All links are from the Wall Street Journal’s special weekend section titled, THE JOURNAL REPORT ...
ONE | Think Big
David Aaker, brand management luminary, writes in the Wall Street Journal that for businesses to gain market share, they need to stop “… trying to influence what brand people buy.” Instead, Aaker says businesses “… should be focusing on what people buy.” Aaker is basically saying for businesses to gain meaningful market share, they need to bring truly innovative products to market that create new product categories and sub-categories. >> MORE
Kevin Carroll is a dynamic speaker, inspiring author, and social change agent. At the In-HOWse Designer Conference (Austin, TX), Kevin closed the three-day affair with a playful presentation that included this money quote ...
"Call centers are traditionally commodity businesses with very low margins, high turnover, and low morale. We're the complete opposite. We have profits that are four to five times higher than other call center companies. And we have a fraction of the normal attrition."
As Paul says in the above quote, call centers are a commodity business where pay is low and turnover is high. Yet Beryl has managed to grow with zest and zeal that belies the fact it is a commodified business. Beryl has grown to become a $25-million dollar with over 300 employees.
Since it competes in a margin-challenged industry, Beryl can’t afford to pay its employees more than its competitors. According to a Dallas Morning News article, a new Beryl call center employee makes no more than $22k. An experienced Beryl call center employee may make as much as $35k.
In the same article, Paul explains instead of paying employees more per hour, Beryl spends “hundreds of thousands of dollars a year” to make the workplace more fun and enjoyable. They throw parties for employees, take field trips during the day, conduct a murder mystery game that has employees spending weeks solving whodunit.
And Paul, the CEO, finds new ways to humiliate himself in front of employees. At one company party he might be dressed up as a matador roller skating around the gala. Or he could take on all comers in a game of one-on-one basketball during the NCAA March Madness Tournament.
You can learn all about Paul’s management philosophy and business beliefs in his recently published book, WHY IS EVERYONE SMILING? Bo Burlingham, of "Small Giants" fame, wrote the foreword to the book and he gushes about the special company culture at Beryl.
One of Paul’s key management practices is “Employees should always expect fun just around the corner.” Below are ten practices Paul believes can ensure that fun is just around the corner for employees. You’d be wise to read them and act upon them. (You’d also be wise to read Paul’s book.) Enjoy…
Give Employees a Voice
We have the Better Beryl Bureau, a group of 15 co-workers from all facets of the organization responsible for enhancing our culture.Pay them Fairly
Money is not the only source of motivation, but the lack of a fair pay structure can quickly lead to dissension.Recognize and Reward
Leaders must personally let people know that they appreciate them. Peer-to-peer recognition is equally valuable. We encourage peer recognition certificates and hold quarterly drawings for winners who receive cash prizes.Offer Opportunities for Advancement
Look first within the ranks when a position becomes available. Provide opportunities for training and mentoring to help people grow personally and professionally.Support Out-of-the-Box Semantics
Our HR department is the ‘Department of Great People and Fun, and its director is the ‘Queen of Fun and Laughter.’”Infiltrate the Workplace with Fun
Look for opportunities to celebrate and make them festive.Walk the Walk
If you're having a down day, don't let it show. If you can't disguise your feelings, stay home. Just as laughter is contagious, so is a frown.Send a Handwritten Note
It's even more appreciated today than it was two decades ago.Let Down your Guard.
Don't be afraid to sit in the dunk tank during a family picnic or don a costume in a celebration.Open your Heart
We have created a formal program so that co-workers can inform us about events in their lives or the lives of their peers, and we find appropriate ways to be there for them when they need us.SOURCE: Dallas Morning News article | Sept. 4, 2007
Tom Fishburne gets it. His marketing-minded comics are piercingly poignant. Especially this one:
Haven’t you wondered where the UPC barcodes we see in products come from? I have and thanks to Kelly Spors of the Wall Street Journal, I now know the process for getting a UPC Code. [ARTICLE LINK]
Universal Product Codes (UPC) are given out by GS1, a nonprofit group responsible for setting standards for international commerce. A company must pay $750 to join GS1 and then an annual maintenance fee of at least $150. Once a company joins GS1, they are given a unique identification code and barcode(s) for use on their portfolio of products. (You can fill out a GS1 membership form online here.)
Kelly gives small businesses a smart tip to getting a UPC on the cheap. Buyabarcode.com resells discarded/unused UPC barcodes from less than $100. A small business doesn’t have to join the GS1 in order to get a UPC barcode. However, the drawback to this route is that most major retailers require their product suppliers to have their own company-specific ID code. But if you only sell to independent retailers or through your own means, using a discarded/unused UPC identification number will work just fine.
And now we all know how to get a UPC barcode.
As a marketingologist with the Brand Autopsy Marketing Practice, I give companies “Second Opinions” about the business and marketing activities they are currently doing or considering doing.
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