Marobella's Branding SoapBox

Dell on Twitter

Via 25 Letters In The Alphabet , I read about how Dell is using Twitter to announce promotions, outlet deals, new campaigns and special pricing. I think is a great use of new technology for retail marketing. Imagine all the trees that are killed every Sunday with the preprints retailers are placing in the paper, with more than 90% of them ending up as birdcage liner. Using this new type of opt-in medium, retailers are able to target people that truly care about their message. And, they not only just announce deals, they have call-in specials only or point you to another part of the web to learn more. I really love the Twitter Coupons. Brilliant.

Will People Continue To Spend?

According to "How America Shops," a bi-annual shopper study by retail marketing consultancy WSL Strategic Retail, New York, 65% of consumers in the $40,000-$75,000 income group said they are watching what they spend on other things since they cannot control gas prices and mortgage payments.

65% seems awfully low to me within this income demographic. I am not in this income demo and I can say that I will be watching what I spend on. My spending is much more deliberate with more infrequent moments of splurging (though it still happens). I believe that people will still spend on life's luxuries, whatever that may be to that person. To me, it might be a watch - to someone else it might be a better brand of beer or Starbucks vs. Cafeteria coffee. My theory is that people do not want to feel defeated. They  want to feel in control even if they can't control oil prices or the credit crisis. Hopefully, the spending won't get America deeper in credit debt as a result.

Observations Of A Twitter Newbie.

Admittedly, I was a little apprehensive to step into the Twitterdome and become aTwitterati. But this past week I've been on vacation and had a chance to tool around with a variety of applications that I normally would be too pressed to step into. I felt it was time for me to succumb and start my Twitter experience. Many of the best minds in the business were spending time sharing insights, comments, ideas and thoughts - I felt like I was missing out. So, I signed up and @marobella was born. Since starting, people like Greg Verdino, Charlene Li, David Armano, Jason Falls, Ann Handley, Paul Isakson, Joseph Jaffe, Robert Scoble and Barack Obama are following me. Pretty cool. Some of these people I've met and some I haven't.

Here are some of my observations, including areas where I felt I was myopic in my thinking about Twitter:

1. It isn't about telling people what you are doing every second of the day. It is for more than voyeuristic satisfaction. Sure, people do add small items that they are doing or is on their mind, but for the most part it is more conversational than that.

2. It is an incredibly welcoming community. When I logged in for the first time, I was met with a rousing welcome. It was pretty cool. I felt connected to a group of people larger than myself or my current sphere of influence. I feel like I've been in a rut lately with learning new things, giving back and contributing to the community - I actually feel fulfilled that I've shared some good thoughts and also taken some out at the same time.

3. I've had a hard time explaining to my wife that Twitter is not a porn chat room. Think about it, the word Twitter to someone that has no visibility into our world.

4. One of the ancillary reasons why I wanted to start on Twitter was to find the value it could create for our brand partners. To help think of ways brands can leverage the buzz/chatter to their benefit. I have seen a few brands/people do a nice job of that, but am still searching for the Holy Grail Idea.

5. Balancing my time and finding the right time to stay a part of the conversation. Between managing Wirestone, being a Dad and Husband and trying to get to the gym, yardwork etc. Twitter seems like one more thing I have to remember to be disciplined about.

Well, it has only been a few days but I am happy that I jumped into this community. I hope that I don't over stay my welcome.

What Would Eckhart Tolle say about iPhones, Twitter & BlackBerry's?

I have finally figured out what has been bothering me about my lovely new iPhone and my recent foray into Twitterland. My wife has been reading Eckhart Tolle's book A New Earth and watching Oprah's new webcast featuring Mr. Tolle every Monday night. One of the premises in the book is about being totally present in the moment and finding stillness in your mind. It is where creativity comes from.  Jon Steele also writes about crushing your BlackBerry in his book The Perfect Pitch because it sucks your attention and doesnt allow you to be present in the moment of thinking and creativity.

About 9 months ago, I decided to move away from BlackBerry Pearl and go to a more standard RAZR2. Admittedly, it was liberating that I wasn't checking email every 5 minutes or looking at my phone while my daughter was tugging at my shirt or wanting me to watch her new dance moves. I think I was more present in the moments of my daily life. I'm told there was an office pool on how long it would take me to go back to a productivity phone. Well, it took me 9-months to succumb to the shiny new 16gb iPhone. Man, do I love this thing.

Layer on top of the coolness of this phone with the fact I am trying to participate in the conversation happening on places like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other places - it is now sucking the NOW from my life. I find myself checking, checking, checking my numerous email accounts, writing Tweets and editing my status on Facebook. It takes great discipline to not check the thing every 2-seconds. Trying to keep up has me wondering how some of the people on Twitter and other places maintain their work lives and their famiy lives while fueling the conversation. It is admirable, indeed.

So, while we are working hard to fuel dialogue and expand our circles of influence in our virtual world, I fear we might be missing the most important moments that are right in front of us due to these new devices and applications. Let's not forget to turn our devices off and spend focused time with our friends, families and children. Or, more importantly, lets not forget to sharpen our saws and take time for ourselves.

Contributing My Voice To Age Of Conversation II

I am happy to report that I will be part of writing the sequel to the Age of Conversation that was a collaborative effort of book-writing based around a common topic. The effort is led by Drew McLellan of the McLellan Marketing Group in Iowa. The common theme this year is Why Don't People Get It? Yes, a seemingly cynical topic and should be interesting to hear the authors vent and offer perspectives on why people don't get it. What IT actually is will be open to some interpretation and will make for interesting reading.

Sears Needed A Hard Hitting Campaign. They Swung and Missed.

I'm pretty hard on Sears. They say you're hardest on the ones you love. I've had a place in my heart for Sears since I was a rug rat running aroung in my green Toughskins. And, through the years I've had the good fortune to try and put my mark on the Sears' brand having worked on the account for a few years when I moved to Chicago. When they hired Richard Gerstein, I had high-hopes that the brand would realize they would need to do more than run 50M circulars every Sunday to connect with consumers. I would cheer the brand on to connect with the latent Sears-lover in me and the millions of other Generation X'ers out there that now have disposable income and families on which to spend our money.

The latest effort from Sears does not make it in my eyes. The Reimagine You campaign that recently launched (while at the same time The Sears Book campaign is still running) is soft. It asks me to do something that I can't imagine me or many others doing - admit that there is something wrong with me or my life and to reimagine it. I think a better campaign would have been, Reimagine Us. Come back, take another look - we're the same Sears you remember and more. The Sears Book idea started to go there and I quite liked it. In fact, they turned the preprint they spend a few hundred million dollars on each year and turned it into a utilitarian tool rather than birdcage liner.

I think this might have been their last shot. With the economy in the tank and consumers starting to focus their purchases on a few, trusted stores - I think Sears is going to get cut off the shopping trip list.

This really bums me out. Maybe the store will take the lone shape of Sears.com, which is an awesome site with great features and the portal to all the great brands for which we love Sears. Or, it is time to change the name, gasp! Hey, with all the money they are spending on soft marketing campaigns - START OVER.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

Shouldn't there be a Dear CMO letter for agencies, too?

Just curious.

http://www.dearagency.com/

Paying More For A Better Experience

I'm mobile blogging from a poolside VIP cabana that is air conditioned, replete with a wet bar, comfortable couches, chairs and a fridge. We have finger snapping access to a full bar, restaurant and other amenities. Sound like I'm poolside at the Nikki Beach Club in South Beach? Nope, I'm sitting poolside at America's largest indoor Waterpark, The Wilderness Resort in the Wisconsin Dells. I'm sitting on one of those couches behind a virtually soundproof sliding glass door allowing us to eat our lunch in peace away from the screaming masses in the wavepool.

We arrived poolside at exactly the time it opened and all the free tables were already taken by the thousands of other spring breaking families. Man, did we make the right call in reserving one of these things ahead of time.

I applaud the owners of this resort foe finding a new way to create some incremental value beyond the hotel and price of admission. There are 18 cabanas at this pool that run about $200 for the day. Creating an incremental $3600 per day plus the bar and food tab is a great money maker.

Even in this economy, people will pay for a better experience. The theory of Trading Up has never been more prevalent than now.

Paying More For A Bette

Omaha Stalkers

This past Christmas, I thought I would be a good son and buy my pops a nice cadre of tasty steaks from Omaha Steaks. He has since told me that he enjoyed them immensely. While he may have possibly had a case of heartburn or maybe even added a few extra calories from eating steaks - I have the hangover of a stalker on my hands.

My home phone rings no less than 5x per day with the nice folks in Omaha, India trying to tell me steaks. I have told them not to call anymore that I have had my fill of the Omaha Stalkers and would appreciate them not calling my home anymore. Nope, it seems they really have some steaks to sell so they continue to ring my home at all hours, usually right before dinner when, I guess, I am hungriest and would be most inclined to have defenses low and succumb to their waterboarding tactics over the phone.
Please stop calling me. Uncle. Uncle. Uncle. There I said it.