1st Strategic Marketing Beach Bash
Date: Friday, July 11, 2008
Begins at High Noon and lasts until…there is no reason to stay anymore.
Salisbury Beach in Salisbury, MA (go .3 miles past Salisbury Beach Reservation, turn right on Railroad Street (Whilley's Candy & Ice Cream on corner), then go 0.55 miles to intersection and find a place to park...enter at Public Beach Access #2 and look for Hawaii shirts and smiling faces)

Bring all that you need to enjoy a day at the beach. You should include beach chair, blankets, food, drink, and SUN SCREEN, at the very least.

Don’t forget your “Burning” Question" or “Great” story to share with the group.

Whatever is a ‘Strategic Marketing Beach Bash” you may ask. Magicomm came up with this idea and is organizing this event for three reasons: (1) The second quarter was extremely busy for us and we got the opportunity to work in some new areas and learn new things. It was fun, but many questions were raised as we drove ahead with developing interactive components and strategies of a direct marketing campaign using viral techniques, variable data print, dynamic emails, personalized url’s and variable video’s. We would like to meet others that are working or interested in these areas and technologies that work out of the Boston/Southern New Hampshire. (2) Meeting on a beach, feeling the sand in your toes, and enjoying the warmth of the sun on your body, would not present an enormous burden on any of us, and (3) We all deserve a break from the normal, day to day chaos of work and life. Besides, it’s summer time and most of us work inside all day and only get to look at the sun through of windows, if we have windows at all (We are lucky at Magicomm because we are in an old Mill building, with HUGE windows that look over the Pow Wow River. It’s not so shabby!)

Therefore, we decided to organize such an event for the good of mankind (or should I say “person”kind?). This is a “BYOE” event (Bring Your Own Everything). We are going to set up our beach chairs, blankets, food, drinks, and umbrellas on the beach in Salisbury, MA (http://www.essexheritage.org/sites/salisbury_beach.shtml) . We will be set up near the boardwalk, just outside the reservation beach. Go into town and park near the beach, would provide you the closest parking. If you go into the beach reservation to park, you may have to walk a little way on the beach towards the town center to meet up with us.

Salisbury (http://www.salisburychamber.com/) is on the Atlantic coast between Newburyport, MA and Seabrook, NH. We will be on the beach by noon time. Once we all set up our “best spot”, we can begin our discussions  with you on YOUR (or Ours) burning question. Oops, I forgot to tell you that you had to bring a “burning” question or a great story to share with the group. All topics relating to marketing and media are on the table for discussion. I expect a lot of discussion on personalized communications, integrated marketing, viral marketing, and social media. Of course, leveraging the internet while not completely abandoning the traditional mass media and print will be looked at from all angles.

But, you may ask yourself “What day is it going to be?”. Legitimate question, but that is the tricky part. We are planning to have it sometime the week of July 7th. But, we will not finalize the date until we are SURE that the weather will be good for a superior beach experience. Therefore, we will continue to watch the weather and will make the call when the weather picture becomes clearer. At this time, it appears that the end of the week is going to best the best weather. So keep an eye on our calendar page for the final determination. We will update daily, at least, as we watch The Weather Channel (http://www.weather.com/outlook/events/sports/tenday/USMA0361?from=36hr_topnav_sports). Right now, Friday, July 11th looks like the best day. Definitely not promising for the first of the week.

Looking forward to it and I hope to see you there.

“See” Ya Later,
Rick Littrell

Now is the time to crank up your marketing efforts. The ONLY way to work (which is the key word here) our way out of a down cycle is to increase marketing efforts for your business This will help threefold: (1) You will get more leads into your sales pipeline, (2) You will enhance your relationship with your existing clients, and (3) You will refocus on defining your “REAL” value-add and develop ways to maximize their value in the minds of your audience. Therefore, you will have the opportunity to expand your business into new accounts/.markets or you get more business (share of wallet) from you existing clients. I know that this is all easier said than done, but we all have to try if we want to grow now.

Magicomm is doing it by enhancing our web site landing page (if this is the first time you visited, you won’t know this) and we are “beefing” up our demo platforms, interactivity, and high value content such as samples and case studies. We have some pretty good stories that we are going to share. You will see many changes over of the next couple months. It’s a rolling effort, because we have more ideas then resources and we still have to continue to service our existing clients to “keep the lights on.” Additionally, we are evaluating new markets, products, and services that we can “quickly” expand our business with. Opportunities are everywhere, just sometimes they are not out in the open.

It’s easy to cut marketing budgets to save costs. The proof of that thought process is everywhere around us. But maybe we should look at the competitive and economic environment around us to find where growth exists. It does exist, you know. Learn how marketing techniques and tools have changed. The “traditional” ways of marketing are being challenged. The shift is towards leveraging the internet (web site, email, and personalized url’s), integrating the web with print and communicating more relevantly. Databases, personalized communications, social media strategies, and the ability to have measurable results are becoming increasingly important. Real time feedback to our prospects and them having “instant” access to information has high value. Time IS money. Cross media marketing strategies, including use of viral techniques, are coming to the forefront in our marketing thought process. Mass marketing is becoming less important. Finding the right person and communicating with them in the way they want is the game we are in now. The consumer of the information is increasingly able to control the conversation with corporations. It’s becoming more of a “pull” communication process than a push the message out to them process. Deal with this new reality. Don't delay.

The sands are shifting and we cannot deny it! Why would we (The truth is a defense)? It’s summer time and it’s fun to play in the sand and the sun (equating sun with new business opportunities…I wanted to make sure that you got that connection. LOL). It’s more fun trying to grow business than it is trying to cut costs to profitability (or oblivion?). Don’t be a stay at home couch potato when all the fun is outside. Come on in and join the fun. What’s the worse that can happen? Getting a sunburn? That doesn’t seem so bad, now does it?

“See” Ya Later,
Rick

The biggest issue that we ran into during installation was the compaibility with the audio chip (which we needed for the interactive video message) on the mother board and Windows Server 2003 (which is a requirement for installation of a Pageflex Server). After much discussion, research, and "googling" we determined the audio chip and the Windows Server software was not going to play nice with each other. So be it...brought in a Windows XP machine, set up as client to server (which we should have thought of sooner), and viola...Sound was happening on our interaction video messaging component.

Link for this cross media demo will be posted soon, once we complete installing and testing the server (and application) here at Magicomm. I think that you will enjoy the video component.

Final thoughts....Drupa was good, ink jet was everwhere, On demand apps were "cost of doing business", worked with many dedicated people, and learned lots about servers and networks. Got a chance to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. Had several members of the "Wurst" family of meats during my meals. How could I be so lucky? Inquiring minds would like to know...or maybe not.

“See” Ya later,
Rick

Spent most the first two days setting the cross media demo up and practicing with the team assigned to the area. There were a few bumps and bruises along the way and it is finally running like a top this morning. The biggest pain was getting the audio running on the server (which we never did). Had something to do with Windows Server 2003 and the audio chip. Eventually, we brought in a XP machine and used it as the client to run the demo and NOW we can hear the sound of the interactive video message that was included in the demo. That got everyone’s attention. And the VDP posters that we printed from the demo looked great. They all love the demo!

Coming to shows like this is always a pleasure because I get to see many of my old friends and make some new ones. The Agfa booth is across the aisle and got to reconnect with many of my international friends.

The show was slow yesterday (first day of Drupa) and in the ride back to the hotel, the taxi driver was telling me that it appeared the attendance was down, based on his lack of business and the hotels having vacancies, which is very unusual for this show. I guess it indicates the economic times and how the printing industry is coming under pressure from other media. Everyone here is trying to be optimistic, but they all realize the times are changing. Print is getting pressured by other media options and no one expects this to change long term. Print has its place, but it is smaller than it use to be. That’s the reality of the world today.

Got to go and finish morning set up, so….

“See” Ya Later,

Rick

With this many moving parts and different media that is being used, it is challenging to move fast as the revisions to the components are implemented and reviewed with the customer. We have done a pretty good job on this one so far, considering we are working with four companies, including Canon, at four different locations (three countries, and two states in the US) with approximately 15 individuals working on the project. We use a project management product called Basecamp (by 37signals) that has really helped in the communication and organization of the project. It is a web-based platform that includes project management and asset management functionality. This was critical in helping us keep up with everyone’s comments and the ongoing revisions of the various components of the project.

I leave on a plane on Monday (Memorial Day in the US, which has caused a little stress at home as you can imagine) for Germany and we are still updating the files. But, this final frenzy is the FUN PART! This is where you see it all come together and the fruits of your labor are exposed. It’s glorious when the vision becomes a reality! It’s a little scary at the same time, because you end up getting feedback and then you think of how it can be improved, but you have to control your natural impulse to keep changing things. It’s only software, how hard can it be? When you hear that phase, a cold chill should run up your spine if you are the project manager, because you are now entering the “Never Ending Valley of Change”, which can kill a project. Now is the time to wrap it up, confirm that you have a solid technical structure, and that the creative direction has fulfilled the promise of the experience. Now the true test of a campaign/project is revealed. It’s sink or swim time!

Have to leave now to finish my pre-trip routine and review the project for a final time before I get on the plane. If you at are Drupa, stop by the Canon booth at the Cross Media Station and check out what we designed. We hope that you will enjoy the experience and will let us know your thoughts. There’s always opportunity to improve it…After all, it’s only software, how hard can it be?

Well first I'd like to note that if you're in the business of blogging to make money then your probably in the wrong business. I only say this because I believe blogging is more about helping other people than helping yourself. If your blogging strictly for money, the quality of your content will go down over time and you will begin a counterproductive spiral ultimately resulting in your blog being labeled as spam. So rather than think about the money, think about all the lost souls you will save with your life changing content".

Okay, so now on to the part where you make money.

Turning readers into leads

The first and most natural way you're company will benefit from maintaining a blog is through legitimate business sales. Through your blog, the masses will begin to recognize the sincerity and worth of you business thus becoming more likely to do business with you.  Before purchasing a product or using a service, people tend to research by asking friends and family, looking on search engines and reading blogs. By maintaining a blog you can help control your company's message and possibly stimulate positive conversation around your company's brand".

Advertisements and Affiliate Links

Google's adwords is probably the most popular advertising medium on the web because of it's ease of use and, well to be honest, Google seems pretty trustworthy. There are also plenty of other niche specific and cross-media advertising solutions if you look in the right places. A few to get you started could be; Text Link Ads, BlogAds, DoubleClick,  Adbrite , Clicksor , TextAds , Fastclick .

It is recommended that if you plan to advertise on your blog that you do it from day one. The thought process is people are more likely to become used to seeing the ads. If you wait until you grow a following and then start to advertise, it is more likely users will become irritated.

Affiliates links are another easy way to make some money off of your blog and you can choose what links you think suit your site the best. Amazon and Clickbank  are two of the more popular sites however there are plenty other services to choose from.

Paid Reviews and Paid Blogging

If you company is blogging about a specific industry there is always the possibility of being approached to blog about a specific product or service. Likewise, another company might hire you to guest post on their blog if they feel they might benefit from your input. There are sites like Bloggers for Hire among others that can help facilitate the paid blogging job search.

When all is said and done, remember not to make it about the money, CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT, and everything else will fall into place around it.

UPDATE: Go here for 101 other ideas

My cut on this GREAT bit of information confirms that we are in a galactic shift where growth is in the new media and away from the traditional mass media. We all have to think differently when developing a strategy to help a company grow. No big surprise there, when you consider that we have been told for several years now, that the messaging which marketing services companies and ad agencies are developing for their clients’ needs to be more relevant and targeted. Using databases driving the messaging has become the new craft in our industry. Communicating to fewer, while providing more value is key!

More changes in thinking are required to succeed. Considering the impact of social media (such as blogs and social networks) is growing, corporations need to accept the loss of control of medium used for delivering the message. Not just focusing on selling their wares and making the message one directional. If what they are presenting to me is of no interest, I not only throw it away, but I discard it quicker the next time I see their name on something that is sent to me (whether it is email or print…won’t matter). They don’t know me and don’t care to understand what my interests are. They are more interested in pushing their products on me, as opposed to understanding how they can add value to my life. This creates a situation that forces marketing services companies to build bi-direction communications strategies. Pushing information to their target markets is not good enough anymore, the information must be relevant and an avenue for direct response becomes more important in developing trust and a relationship with the consumer.

Traditional print is not the only way and surely (Don’t call me Shirley!) using mass communication techniques (newspaper, radio, and tv) must not be the only strategy going forward. Using an integrated direct communications cross media strategy (now that is a mouth full) to establish a conversation (more touches equals higher response) will provide better results AND provide for increased customer satisfaction. It only makes sense to think this way, doesn’t it?

This is why marketing jobs are growing, because there are more options and companies are looking for answers. The "new" kids (whether it is veterans looking for new adventures (like me) or new college graduates) entering the marketplace "get it" and those that have this line of thinking are finding opportunities. Those whose only answer to a company’s marketing strategy is "run more ads" are going to be the losers and they will find out of the market quickly. It’s much more that developing "pretty pictures" and getting more eyeballs…SOOOOO MUCH MORE!

"See" Ya later,

Rick

First let me introduce you to the elephant in the room that is Social Media. The internet has changed the way we communicate from emails to IMs but within that last couple of years we've started to see communities of people emerge from the interweb. These communities encourage a whole new train of thought as to how we interact and ultimately trust each other. Social Media marketing involves giving back to the community in hopes that people will ultimately look to you for answers to industry specific questions.  Now there are a couple of ways to accomplish this.

First there are Social Networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Plaxo where anyone can join an online community and immediately connect to thousands if not millions of other users. Within these communities you'll tend to see alot of guerilla marketing and spamming while people try and make their brand known. The successful social media marketers are the ones who only give positive feedback to other people's questions and ultimately become a resource to the community. Its all about establishing yourself and your company as leaders and experts within your field.

Another popular approach is through Social Bookmarking sites. These dynamic directories of information change based on the general consensus of the greater population. To have your company, or blog post, featured on the front page of one of these sites is guaranteed traffic in your companies direction.

Now both of these social media marketing approaches work on their own however there is one key component missing that helps retain your online following, your blog. A blog is pretty much an online journal where you are putting out information into the web. There are popular blog directories and indexing sites that will take your blogs RSS feed and share it with the rest of the world. The great thing about RSS feeds is that they are cross media ready. They allow for people to easily subscribe to your blog so they can view it with their favorite feed aggregator, wethere it be online, on their desktop, or on their phone. Over time you will see your subscriber base grow and as a result more business opportunities will begin to unfold.

Now the key thing about blogging it to be sure you are putting out quality, on topic, content and that you post regularly. This may seem like quite a chore but in reality it should only take up a half hour of your day.

One concern many companies have about blogging is how to control unwanted comments on their blog. Well, ultimately you can delete these entries however i would consider addressing them. This could be a great opportunity to clear the air on a touchy topic within your industry.

What you are doing is putting a face to your company. Your giving your company an existence that can act and react and it will give your business the human touch that social media revolves around.

Please feel free to comment, rant or complain and I'll be glad to converse with you :)

We’re told that people don’t read anymore. Not just marketing messages but emails, newsletters, brochures, even books. And while I think it’s a shame we don’t take the time to read books anymore, I don’t think there’s anything lost by cutting out some of the words in the rest of printed material. For one thing it will make us use our imagination more. We have to use graphics, color, and textual placement to draw the eye and the interest of the people we want to attract. Each word has to be carefully thought out to eke out the most meaning. We’ll have to be more clever, more funny, more obvious or more subtle. It will require more writing talent to make up for fewer words. Quality versus quantity.

And search engines would be happier too if we fine-tuned our copywriting to be more precise. SEO experts are telling us now it’s not so much the META tags, it’s the copy that should contain the keywords. Maybe as a result of thinking before we write we’ll improve our vocabulary. Maybe improve our minds. And when we’re smarter – maybe we’ll read more books. And won’t that be great?

Within the last couple months, I have noticed numerous articles that lead me to believe the world of marketing is rapidly changing with the use of various media that are integrated together for a common corporate cause. Using a multi-touch, cross media approach will be the dominant strategy used and integrating social networks into the mix will add a dynamic that can't be matched by other media. The evidence is everywhere…

Well it seems as if there are multiple cross-media technologies emerging from the web to help engage, interact and even entertain the user, therefore increasing conversions. We've seen how XMPie can personalize images with its powerful VDP engine, but what if the user could change their name at runtime? Furthermore, what if the users name wasn't in an image, but in a short movie? This is the future of PURLs and will be a hit in the social media world.

I received a link through Twitter for a website about a TV Show on FX and I was amazed at what they had done. Here is the PURL someone made for me. This type of PURL has both a viral marketing factor to it and a huge fun component. Everyone wants to be the star of their own movie and show it off to all of their friends. Personalized video could very well be a key component in the future of PURLs as VDP in images becomes all too familiar.

Another key component will be the "on demand" factor. General URL's are limited in how they perform once you leave the realm of your database. So how do you appeal to the masses with personalized landing pages? Well, why not have the website change at runtime. Here's something my own company put together. Basically I wanted the user to be able to interact with the flash movie in real time from outside of the movie via the web-form. Using JavaScript, I was able to insert the users name into the newspaper at runtime and it's had an amazing response. Using this method there are endless possibilities to creating unique personalized experiences where everyone has their own PURL.

People need a break from their everyday activities and these fun side trackers give them this opportunity and not only will these methods produce higher responses, but they're great for PR. So the future is about Interactivity and Engagement, have fun!

When thinking about want do I do for my first blog, I wandered into reviewing my career (or is it my life?) experiences and how I got to this place and time. I think that I am going to share some of it with you, so that you can have a better understanding of how my thoughts have been influenced and developed over these many years. Let me start with high school and that you through my initial years of getting my education and starting my first job in the industry. Then I will get to my point...Which I am sure that you will be ready for!

 When I graduated high school in the summer of '70, I "knew" that I wanted to be an engineer like my grandfather. Seemed like it was the family thing to do and it would be fun designing and building "stuff". And I decided going away to college would be an even better thing. So, I decided to go to engineering school at Southern Methodist University. I was way over my head very quickly and decided it was better to spend my time playing pool and cards while learning the finer points of night life in Dallas. Fun times, but my grades suffered. In the summer of 1971, after my first year at college, I got my draft number...#1! The only thing that I won, had to be the first slot in the military draft during a time of war (Vietnam). I didn't like anything about that so I joined the Air Force to take back control of my life. Little did I know that I would never get control of my life, at least this far into it. The USAF guaranteed me that I would get into electronics and that would reduce the changes of me to going the war zone.

 I ended up working on air-to-ground nukes...30 feet long, range of 600 miles and only used for in case of "the s&#t hitting the fan". It was during this time that I got the "tech bug" while I was working on the nukes, troubleshooting them and maintaining them. Fun stuff as long as I didn't think about their purpose. And the military gave me a focus and discipline that I needed at that time. Being told what to do is a good thing some times! I was in the Air Force 3 years, 2 months, and 24 days...Not that I was counting or anything.

Now I had to decide what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. What a load of crap, asking an 24 year old that question. I still don't know to this day, but I do know one thing...I'm having fun at what I am doing now!

Anyway, I wanted to be an architecture. I wanted to design and build cool buildings. So, I decided that I wanted to go to the University of Kentucky (Yes, I do bleed blue!), because they had a good architecture program there. There was one problem and that was they only accepted new students to the program in the fall semester and I got out of the Air Force in October, which was too late. Then plan B would have to be go to Eastern Kentucky University (20 miles south in Richmond, KY) to take their Industrial Technology program and all the credits would transfer when the time comes.

That is where I was introduce to graphic arts...made my own business cards, shot and developed my own pictures, silk screen t-shirts and other fun printing stuff. I was hooked, but still focused on becoming an architect. Took the entry exam with over 200 others for entry in the upcoming Fall session. I scored in the top 15...BUT, they only accepted 9! I now had to wait another year before trying again. I'm getting too old to wait (a ripe old age of 24!). I have to decide Plan C. What else would I like to do? I remember sitting in my living room and looking around me. Printed "stuff" everywhere. Newspaper, magazines, wall paper, napkins, t-shirts, and the list went on and on. There's so much opportunity, I just have to make the decision to enter the "graphic arts" trade and see where it took me.

NOW WE GET TO THE POINT...Times have changed again. My journey is changing again. Print is still an important part of the "communications food chain", but there are many more options to use then ever before. Each new media offers a different experience that is uniquely for the individual. No longer are we limited by mere physical restraints. Our reach can go worldwide in nanoseconds. It's a remarkable thought that you can linger on for awhile. The roll of print has changed and the communication streams can now "time shift" and "space shift". No longer is time and location a limitation (for the most part). Those that recognize that there will never again be "just one way to communicate" will come out ahead. Print IS part of Cross Media food chain and we need to learn to change our communications style based on how the recipient wants to receive the information. Print is Cross Media and Cross Media is Print...I like that thought.

Bottom Line...Print services have changed. It now includes other media creation and manufacturing processes. Video, Audio, Web Pages, Flash animations, and email...The options are widening and the requirements to support multiple design and production flows is increasingly important for a companies success. Therefore...Are you going to be a printer in the future OR a communications company? Your decision could make the difference between growth or...Need I say more?

"See" Ya Later,

Rick Littrell

The most basic Variable Data Printing is just putting a different name on each piece.  But it can get really exciting when you start adding images and text that change depending on the market segments and building the text right into the images. The customer becomes part of the message.  

And when you use Variable Data Printing as part of a multi-touch campaign then you have a look and feel that crosses from snail mail to email to the web - all personalized. The customer sees the consistency and feels they're being guided step-by-step through the process to getting something they need.

Lets say I get a new dog. I go to Town Hall to register the little guy. Say it's a border collie. Some weeks later I get a postcard in the mail congratulating me on my new friend and the postcard has a great picture of a border collie. The postcard refers me to a web site to buy ID tags and when I open the site - wow - border collies all over the place.  While I'm there I see they also sell dog beds, dog food dishes, even return address labels with - yup - border collies.  See how it's all specific to me, to what I'm interested in?  And while they sold me the dog tags, they also sold me a dog dish (up-sell) and those cute address labels (cross-sell). So how did this start? When I registered the dog I had to indicate the breed, age, sex, and my home address.  The Town Hall sells all that dog registration info in a database to someone who sells "dog stuff".  They segment the market by breed and change their graphics and text accordingly.  

So, Variable Data Printing allows you to send each prospect an individualized mail piece with a unique message and offer.  And it allows you to be more relevant! And maybe keep your message from  hitting the recycle bin so fast.  

First off, people believe that flash is SEO unfriendly. Let me clarify, it's flash developers who make their flash SEO unfriendly. Their are multiple ways to make entire websites in flash and Search engines can and will index them accordingly. One way of doing this is by using Geoff Stearns' swfObject javascript. You just link to the main javascript file in the page head, and then call the function at the point on the page where you want your Flash movie to replace the default content. It makes it so users who don't have Flash never even have to know that they're missing something. Of course you have to make sure you have the content both on your site and in the flash movie.

Another method is by just loading the content from a separate XML. Voila, now Google can index your site.

So here is my extra two cents about the future of flash. I believe developers need to start using flash to its full interactive capabilities. By engaging the user you are more likely to entertain their presence on your site for longer and increase the productivity of your site. This can be done with interactive calendars, appointment booking systems, forums and blogging tools, Content Management Systems and whatever else your mind can conceive. The idea is to take everyday tools in life or software on your desktop and make them accessible online from anywhere via your website.

Another method of engagement, and sometimes a little harder to pull off, is personalization. Maybe a non intrusive way of using flash to make the website "Theirs". This is is being used more and more in the marketing world and can open many doors to client/company relations. For example you can display text dynamically in your flash movie according to the date/time, the users location, or even their name. You could take it farther if somehow you could get information about the user before they even came to your site. Maybe you had them fill out a discrete form on one page to access private content, then on another page the possibilities are endless.

I guess people have been doing these things for awhile i just believe they haven't been done right or creative enough. Engage your user and give your site functionality. Surprise them with what your site can do that others cant. PUSH FLASH TO ITS LIMITS. I don't mean kill the users CPU. I mean be clever. Their was a pretty cool book put out awhile ago by O-Reilly called Flash Hacks that kind of gave me a glimpse into how flash can be manipulated to do cooler things. If you haven't already, also look into AMFPHP, SWFObject and SWFAddress. All will make your flash experience 10 times better.

So that's all i have to say about that for now. Ill be the guy with the personalized flash logo.