Is it too early to think about your December holiday cards?

It’s late summer, which means that vacations are over and kids have returned to school. It also means that most companies are creating their 2011 budgets and planning for large expenditures, such as, new hires, tradeshows, event sponsorships, social media, etc. But, before 2011 begins, what about thanking your existing customers for their business as well as wishing your potential and existing customers a happy holiday season?

Due to the current economy, there are probably few companies that will invest in large-scale print projects including fancy cards, calendars, and other unique gifts. But, you really don’t need to spend a lot of money to send holiday greetings. All that is necessary is a good plan, a sense of philanthropy, and some basic technology.

If you wish to contribute to a charity, make a donation. Many charities have lost significant amounts of funding due to the economy, so any and all donations will be welcome. Once you make a donation, send either a printed card or an e-card to your customers with a message along the lines of: We appreciate your business, and in your honor, we made a donation to XYZ Charity. We wish you a happy and healthy holiday season.

Of course, you may also wish to send customized e-greetings via email. You can segment your database by prospective customers, current customers, and repeat customers. You may also wish to segment the e-greetings by industry, customer size, revenue size, etc. The sky’s the limit in terms of how you customize your e-holiday greetings, but remember that segmentation is the name of the game.

Above all, remember that the recipients of your greetings will appreciate whatever you send. They will not miss the $50 gift basket of stale cookies or rotten fruit. The bottom line is that, during the holiday season, people just want to be remembered and thanked for their business.

So, have you started your planning yet? If not, time to get started.

What Is the Most Overlooked Element of Your Company's Brand Marketing Strategy?

How often do you think about all elements of your corporate marketing? Can you list them? Your list may include many or all of the following elements: annual marketing plans, brand identity including logo/tagline and letterhead, annual reports, newsletters, all collateral especially direct mail and print ads, radio and/or television ads depending on the size of your company and budget, email marketing, blog posts, social media (at a minimum, a presence on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube), brochures, event sponsorships, tradeshows, seminars, webinars, videos, strategic partnerships, promotional goodies, proposal templates, presentation templates, mailing lists, website design and maintenance, professional association dues, public relations/media outreach/advertorials, strategic partnerships, co-branding initiatives, and software renewal fees. But, there is something clearly missing, and it touches every employee, every vendor, and every customer everyday. Still stumped? The answer is the universal email signature.

Think back to your first day on the job. On an employee’s first day, he/she receives an employee manual and a tour of the company, and is assigned a desk, computer, and phone. Then the role of human resources is done for 90 days. But, shouldn’t there be a discussion about corporate marketing, which is actually a discussion about brand consistency and the role of every employee as a brand advocate? You can be sure that all Apple employees receive some form of what I call “brand advocate training.”

There should be a discussion presented by the HR Department about the corporate mission and brand consistency. Of course, the ideal situation would be for the Marketing Department to hold a one-hour brand marketing overview for all new employees, but depending on the size of your company and the size of your marketing team, this may not be feasible, but all of us in the marketing arena can dream. Back to the issue at hand, the discussion should focus on the need for brand consistency, which means that emails sent from all departments should look the same.

There should be no flowers as wallpaper, no rock musicians plastered behind the email message, and no size 4 font. The consistency will ensure that all emails sent by the company look the same, which reinforces brand identity or the company. A good universal email signature contains the following information in the same font and the same font size:

Employee’s Name

Employee’s Title

Name of Company – include tagline if appropriate

Address for Company

Telephone (Direct)

Telephone (Main)

Fax

Email

Website URL

Social Media Links – if applicable

Promotion for Company Event – if applicable

Testimonial for Company – if applicable

There are some final considerations. A logo image may not be recommended since it may not appear as intended due to email servers. In today’s electronic age, some companies do not include their mailing address in email signatures, based on the URL to the corporate website. Some social media links may be more appropriate than others, so carefully consider which should be included as part of the company’s email signature. Do not use link shorteners because some may be considered spam, and your customized URL may be part of your brand marketing. If a large tradeshow or other event is coming up, it might be beneficial to include on all employees’ emails, however, it is essential to remove it from the email signature immediately following the event.

So, what do you include in your universal email signature, and is it consistent with your brand marketing strategy?

YouTube Is Not Just for Funny Videos – It Can Grow Your Business

Of course, you’re well aware that people post all kinds of videos on YouTube – from funny animal videos to other crazy stuff. But, have you thought about how creating a YouTube channel (the term for a YouTube page) can help your business? According to industry experts, people send more videos than emails, so you should consider adding YouTube videos to your marketing mix.

Let’s take Coca-Cola, one of the world’s best-known brands. On its YouTube channel, Coca-Cola provides basic company history, a list of its many brands, and links to other social media sites (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Bebo). But most importantly, Coke’s YouTube page represents another online location for its consumers to come together and share content and feedback. When Coke sponsors a major event, such as the Olympics or the World Cup, its TV commercials appear on its YouTube channel. Consumers comment, and the audience grows. And, those same consumers share the videos on Facebook, Twitter, via email, etc., and in the process, continue the conversation about the brand. What beverage will these consumers remember when at the supermarket or ball park?

Now, let’s take Apple, another well-known brand. On its YouTube channel, it provides company and product updates. Due to the recent “antennae-gate” issue with the newly-launched iPhone 4, this past week’s press conference appears as the featured video. While there are many other video ads on the page, oddly, Apple disabled the ability to add comments to its videos.

According to YouTube’s “most viewed channels” this month, other companies who place a high value on their YouTube channels include Geico, Verizon Wireless, BMW, Blackberry, Universal Pictures, Adidas, Chevrolet, Ford Fiesta, Nike, Xbox, and Disney.

So, as you evaluate the “must-have” components of your marketing plan for the rest of 2010 and beyond, consider the basic tenets of social media and how you can best showcase your product or service to create more conversations with your customers. A YouTube channel may be a cost-effective option.

My YouTube channel is a marketing resource. Check it out here.

What’s up with the Y?

Ever since Brian Williams of NBC-TV announced on his July 12 broadcast that the YMCA has changed its logo to just a “Y,” I have been stewing about the marketing ramifications. As a marketing professional who specializes in brand strategies and corporate identity, I keep asking myself about the reasons for such a dramatic change.

When a company changes its logo, and as a direct result, its brand identity, it is usually due to a new mission, new tagline, or a different corporate direction. Consider Kentucky Fried Chicken back in 1991, when, due to health concerns, it changed its name to KFC to move away from its emphasis on fried food. The company listened to the times, made a change that made sense, didn’t alter its core positioning, and as a result, KFC has continued to grow nationally and internationally.

But, back to the YMCA…who hasn’t or doesn’t refer to the YMCA as the Y? The abbreviated nickname has always been present, and if the management team at the YMCA wished to make a change, then perhaps, the logo should have been redesigned to emphasis a more universal membership. In Brian Williams’ announcement, he said “The YMCA is streamlining and dropping the last three letters of its name.” But, the underlying message or translation is that the YMCA would like to be more welcoming. That is certainly admirable, but a new logo should demonstrate that desire. There are countless designs that could have done a much better job. You can watch Brian’s broadcast here: http://bit.ly/9fYI7k.

Heck, even the Village People from the 1970’s joined the discussion: “We are deeply dismayed by [the] announcement from the YMCA that they feel a name change and a rebranding are in order after 166 years. Some things remain iconic and while we admire the organization for the work they do, we still can't help but wonder Y,” stated the Village People's publicist in an official statement following the announcement.

Remember, while Google alters its logo, which it does often and convincingly, to celebrate a holiday or famous person or invention, the logo retains the core essence of the Google brand. Some clever interpretations of the Google logo can be found online at http://bit.ly/aLh70A. So, my question to the Y is: how did your new logo retain the core essence of your brand while simultaneously adding more dimension to your brand? While you consider your answer, I think I’m going to continue to stew.

The YMCA logo is a registered trademark of the YMCA. Use of the logo here does not imply endorsement of the organization by this site.

What’s Your “Nike Swoosh” (aka, Competitive Advantage)?

You very easily recognize Nike’s swoosh with its message and tagline, “Just do it.” That statement embodies the company’s mission and lifestyle – to name just a few sports: golf, basketball, jogging – above all, an active lifestyle. During Nike’s existence, it has embraced its competition and surpassed each and every one of them in terms of brand recognition and revenues. Who even remembers Nike’s competitors: Fila, Keds, LA Gear, Puma, and Vans? What about your business: do you have a competitive advantage, and is it articulated to all employees?

Answers to these questions will assist you as you build your business from concept stage into a mature company. A competitive advantage that is clearly articulated by top management allows all employees to understand the product or service. They will be able to answer questions, they will be able to improve customer interactions, and they will become an extension of your brand.

Consider Disney theme park employees, or in Disney-speak, cast members. Based on their actions, demeanors, or uniforms (or in Disney-speak, costumes), they understand their mission: to provide a quality guest experience. The cast member employees embody the Disney brand, and that is their most important competitive advantage.

So, what is your competitive advantage? If you cannot express it easily, perhaps, you should go back to the drawing board.

The Nike logo is a registered trademark of Nike. Use of the logo here does not imply endorsement of the organization by this site.

Post-Transaction Marketing: Does Your Company Do It?

You may not recognize it by its name, but you definitely experience it. Once you purchase something from either an online or bricks and mortar store (for example, Amazon or Sears or Staples), and you have provided an email address, you will receive emails with “recommended” items to purchase that may correspond to your initial purchase. For example, if you purchased a book by John Grisham on Amazon, you would receive emails listing other books by John Grisham or other legal thrillers.

This is post-transaction marketing – and it leads to increased revenues if the customer does, indeed, purchase the recommended products. According to the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, the most successful companies in post-transaction marketing during the last ten years are:
• 1-800-Flowers.com
• Expedia/Hotels.com
• Fandango
• FTD
• Hotwire
• MovieTickets.com
• Orbitz
• Priceline
• Shutterfly
• Travelocity
• US Airways

The repeat items comprising the list are flowers, movie tickets, and travel. Therefore, people are repeat buyers of these items. The emails that they receive from these websites and/or companies recommend products or services that are appealing, have a reasonable cost, have acceptable delivery time frames, and most importantly, have demonstrated a familiarity and level of service that the customers appreciate.

So, what about your company? Is post-transaction marketing part of your annual marketing strategy? Can it lead to increased revenues with limited upfront time and automated emails over the long term? Many businesses discuss ways to reach their customers, but post-transaction marketing offers an inexpensive option – especially since everyone welcomes recommendations. So, try it.

How can the ATM impact your business?

You may or may not have heard that an important inventor died recently. While this passing did not make news around the world, this inventor’s innovation made a world-wide impact and transformed the entire banking industry. The inventor was John Shepherd-Barron from Scotland, and his invention was the automated teller machine (ATM). During the 1960’s, Shepherd-Barron created the ATM because he was frustrated that he could not cash a check when his bank was closed. Today, there are more than 1.7 million ATM’s worldwide, according to the ATM Industry Association.

Think back to the pre-ATM world. In order to get cash, people had to walk into banks and wait in line – not out of choice, but out of necessity. There were no machines at supermarkets, airports, sporting events, or movie theater lobbies. In order to cash checks, make deposits, and change currency denominations, face-to-face interactions were necessary inside a bank.

But, today, thanks to Shepherd-Barron, the ATM has transformed the entire banking experience. Simple tasks, such as, deposits, withdrawals, and even postage stamp purchases, can all be completed in a matter of seconds at external bank ATM’s, stand-alone ATM’s scattered at a myriad of locations from gas stations to shopping malls to airports, etc., or while seated in your car at drive-thru ATM’s.

There is no doubt that many in the banking industry were not as exuberant about the invention of the ATM as customers were. But today, there are still customers in banks, and there are still “live” tellers. While some may have predicted the death of banking, the ATM has become an important aspect of the overall banking experience.

Now, consider your company and your industry. How can you create a product or service with the potential to transform your industry? Despite naysayers, there are always improvements that have yet to be developed, and customers are always eager to embrace improvements. So, at your next brainstorming session, think about the ATM, and maybe, your company will introduce this century’s greatest invention.