The years coming to close and I have gone back to my January pages of this year to cross check if I could manage to close at least two of the five new year resolutions for this year. Since I planned to lose weight I enrolled in a fitness club for a crash course to ensure I live up to my promise. It has been two weeks since I started going there but after a quick two week check I realized I am a regular there but not doing the thread mills but borrowing DVD's from their huge collection
This comes to a very important aspect for any retailer - Cross Sell
Considering marketing spends are down and the cost of sourcing a "good customer" is high - marketers are looking at options to explore cross sell opportunities. Cross sell leads to customer retention which did happen in my case - the terminology may vary from Inbound sourcing to Social or need base marketing the mantra remains the same - catch the customer when he is captive
In my fitness club case the information was key for my repeat visits - this is the most critical element for cross sell too. Information is the key and the front end needs to link up their products info to the customers welcome pack and follow up with them for a closure
The welcome kit in their case was a branded back pack and a t shirt with key messaging for motivating me to take the extra mile to fulfill my new year resolution
Since I am just two weeks away have decided to extend this and keep it as my one of two resolutions for 2010. I wish to do some thing for charity next year - may be a trek to Everest Base camp and this will cross sell my earlier commitment of losing excess fat - till such time I wish to enjoy the lovely weather in Dubai and add on few more kilo calories
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Managing Public Relations
When we had to disengage our PR agency during the same time last year, I was fighting tooth and nail with my manager for the need of a PR agency. Received one line of message from the top man – NO – please handle it
I started from ground zero as PR is always considered as being tricky and any error in external messaging may prove to be fatal for the brand. Over the course of time I managed to come to terms with the reality and worked on a plan to build
I am articulating few learning’s
1)Priority – Media loves to meet the big bosses. Always give priority to the reporters and ensure you follow up the story with them.
2)Key Media List – Thanks to my media buying agency I managed to get the contact list of all media across the country and I started making the database of key media people by calling them and establishing contacts with them.
3) Reporters – treat them like gold. Answer them in a respectful, pleasant tone. Do not make negative comments.
4) Messaging – unlike paid medium we do not have control over press messaging. The reporters always tend to look at the angle at which it would entice readers interest and would skew it – never complain to reporters however, if there is a major deviation on facts please flag it to them
5) Time Lines - Be realistic about the coverage and time lines. As they are subject to editorial deadlines, breaking news and also sensitivity of the topic. Pick up your own copies of your print/articles. Never ask the reporter
6) Read - Spend time reading, and ensure you are up to date on your industries news. And never react to gossips or grapevine
7) Acknowledge – always ensure to thank reporters by sending a personal mail or through a telephone call. This is one of the key differentiator in forging an effective association with media.
I wish to thank my senior management for the faith they have kept in me and also with this opportunity of handling my banks public relations which I am positive will go a very long way in my career
I started from ground zero as PR is always considered as being tricky and any error in external messaging may prove to be fatal for the brand. Over the course of time I managed to come to terms with the reality and worked on a plan to build
I am articulating few learning’s
1)Priority – Media loves to meet the big bosses. Always give priority to the reporters and ensure you follow up the story with them.
2)Key Media List – Thanks to my media buying agency I managed to get the contact list of all media across the country and I started making the database of key media people by calling them and establishing contacts with them.
3) Reporters – treat them like gold. Answer them in a respectful, pleasant tone. Do not make negative comments.
4) Messaging – unlike paid medium we do not have control over press messaging. The reporters always tend to look at the angle at which it would entice readers interest and would skew it – never complain to reporters however, if there is a major deviation on facts please flag it to them
5) Time Lines - Be realistic about the coverage and time lines. As they are subject to editorial deadlines, breaking news and also sensitivity of the topic. Pick up your own copies of your print/articles. Never ask the reporter
6) Read - Spend time reading, and ensure you are up to date on your industries news. And never react to gossips or grapevine
7) Acknowledge – always ensure to thank reporters by sending a personal mail or through a telephone call. This is one of the key differentiator in forging an effective association with media.
I wish to thank my senior management for the faith they have kept in me and also with this opportunity of handling my banks public relations which I am positive will go a very long way in my career
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Sports Sponsorships
Sports sponsorship which integrates advertising, promotions, public relations and sales to reach and touch consumers started somewhere between 1970’s to 1980’s in the United States. I was fortunate to have worked with few sponsorship associations on the ground as a marketing contact for a financial institution and thought of articulating most of my learning’s through this avenue Considering that marketing is always a thank less job it is critical to have a robust plan and gear the team to excel in expectations both within and outside the institution.
We need to look at sponsorship in three phases. Phase 1 being the pre event phase, Phase 2 is during the event and Phase 3 being the post event engagement and wrap up
Phase 1 – Pre Event
1) Art of negotiation: It is very important to know the entitlement of the sponsorship. If it is main or title sponsor the effort in changing the name of the sports event and ensuring our brands presence is indeed herculean. But then what matters most for all publicity is the titles name which gets registered through communication exercises during the build up and during the event 2) Documentation: The preparation for marketing the event normally should start at least five months prior to the event and should have a dedicated team who also handles this event in addition to their day job. Regular updates to senior management on the progress is critical and the best is to have a activity based tracker with clear time lines and responsibilities. Plan your work and Work your plan it is so critical to stick to the tracker.
3) Focus on benefits: If the sponsorship is cascaded from the top which normally is always a case try not to un-sell it. Look at it from a macro perspective to the institution. There are several messages which the brand wishes to communicate through event or sports sponsorships. It may vary from supporting to a cause to supporting players to demonstrating commitment of presence in a specific country or region.
4) Stake holder meeting: It is very important to get to meet all the key stake holders within the institution to map their expectations to the sponsorship. Most of the times it may not be favorable in such avenues it helps to meet their teams to decipher their business objectives which will aid in tying up all the loose ends to write a communication brief
5) Budgets: This is the most difficult part being at the clients end. It is very important to sell the idea of running a cohesive and consistent messaging parallel to the sports event before and during the event to leverage on sponsorships. Always ensure to plan for extra pair of hands as support staff, for food & beverages, check on any VVIP guests who may land in to your stand/kiosk and seek advice on any preferred menu coupled with the regular marketing communications costs within the environment
6) Communication brief: The most difficult job for any marketer to draft a communication brief which would ensure it sells. It is always ideal to look out for specialized agencies which excel in sports communication. The best hook to convince your management is to focus on the sponsorship money and also the proposed marketing budget coupled with business expectations and negotiate your way to invite for a agency pitch. This is never a happy situation for the existing agency but it helps to communicate it upfront and also getting your senior management assure them that the ongoing or future projects will be business as usual with the incumbent agency.
7) Key Proposition: it is always easy to get carried away on propositions. Think out of the box and use clever messaging to integrate the sport with the DNA of your brand. Advertising must sell and it is so critical to map business expectations in the brief. Almost any sport delivers on winning, camaraderie and integrity which in most of the cases is one of the core values of any brand.
8) Internal Stake holders: The biggest critiques for marketing are within. Always factor in internal customer engagement to the sponsorship and work on a calendar to connect to them on list of activities or just a heads up communiqué.
9) Timing : The timing of the communication campaign is critical as there may be resistance from the organizers themselves who are emotional about their equity. The time for customer recruitment and on board experience needs to be factored in if the promotion is hinged on giving away tickets based on consumption
10) Publicity: it is very important to control the publicity to the sponsorship as future brand trackers are hinged on the coverage the brand gets to derive from this association. The best is to integrate PR to your team and work closely with themPhase
2 – During the event
1) On ground Kiosk: No matter how much planning one gets in this somehow seems to be a last minute hiccup project. Make sure the contractor inspects the site/location weeks before and all elements like sun light, possibility of rain, sand storm etc., are factored in while designing the kiosk/stand and there is enough storage facilities for marketing collaterals
2) Protocol: Always ensure you have staff or help in hand who would look at meeter/greeter of senior management visiting the stand or the event. If you can get a list of senior delegates visiting your stand based on the protocol ensure you get the necessary give aways. It is important to remember the best onboard experience is recalled always
3) Schedule of events: Always get the activity schedule from the organizers and ensure to communicate this to your internal customers and also to all senior management. Make sure you retain a copy with you as the project in charge you are always on the guard
4) Distribution of tickets: Perhaps the most tricky area of any event sponsorship. It is very important to get senior management buy in on ticket distribution and also ensuring a robust ticket disbursement process. As a marketing contact you are not only expected to promote it externally but also ensure that your area of seats are not empty during the sports event
5) Television Cameras: This is of great significance. It is very important to get few archive televised matches to see how the camera is angled and how they cover players and the stands. If it is in open area like Golf where the players are in motion then the emphasis is always on the angle at which they capture the players. “A” Board placement along with any banners of the brand is of utmost importance.
6) Plan for contingency: Always ensure you have a vehicle parked at your disposal at all times during the event. You never know what you require in the last minute
7) Meet the press: though this is always your PR managers remit it is important to meet press and encourage them to visit your stand or your hospitality. It is so critical that press sees the efforts your institution has put in this event and this would aid in getting coverage
8) Media Planning: clever media planning including outdoor locations across the venue and also at the airport does increase your brands profile during the event. Spend optimum but ensure you dominate the space. Play hard with your planning and buying team
9) Key elements on measuring Return on Investment: The numerous times press speak about your brand, press mentions, TV Coverage’s and scheduled interviews coupled with your own marketing efforts ensure
10) Briefings: Always have briefing sessions with the entire team if possible twice a day to ensure things are as planned. Technology helps but it is better to carry a walkie talkie too. This will also cut on telephone bills and you may not be sitting across your finance manager explaining each call post the event
Phase 3 – Post event wrap up
1) External : Make sure you budget for at least one last burst of adverting thanking all your patrons and customers during the event
2) Internal: Budget in any rewards based on HR policies to the team which worked on the project and also few mementos
3) Event Report: Before you get on to that next project always ensure to document all the learning’s and significant reminder points to management and also to your team which will be a handy referral for the coming yearWe managed to win an award as the best marketing campaign in financial category for that event and I am sure following these learning’s would be quite helpful to most of you
Good Luck
We need to look at sponsorship in three phases. Phase 1 being the pre event phase, Phase 2 is during the event and Phase 3 being the post event engagement and wrap up
Phase 1 – Pre Event
1) Art of negotiation: It is very important to know the entitlement of the sponsorship. If it is main or title sponsor the effort in changing the name of the sports event and ensuring our brands presence is indeed herculean. But then what matters most for all publicity is the titles name which gets registered through communication exercises during the build up and during the event 2) Documentation: The preparation for marketing the event normally should start at least five months prior to the event and should have a dedicated team who also handles this event in addition to their day job. Regular updates to senior management on the progress is critical and the best is to have a activity based tracker with clear time lines and responsibilities. Plan your work and Work your plan it is so critical to stick to the tracker.
3) Focus on benefits: If the sponsorship is cascaded from the top which normally is always a case try not to un-sell it. Look at it from a macro perspective to the institution. There are several messages which the brand wishes to communicate through event or sports sponsorships. It may vary from supporting to a cause to supporting players to demonstrating commitment of presence in a specific country or region.
4) Stake holder meeting: It is very important to get to meet all the key stake holders within the institution to map their expectations to the sponsorship. Most of the times it may not be favorable in such avenues it helps to meet their teams to decipher their business objectives which will aid in tying up all the loose ends to write a communication brief
5) Budgets: This is the most difficult part being at the clients end. It is very important to sell the idea of running a cohesive and consistent messaging parallel to the sports event before and during the event to leverage on sponsorships. Always ensure to plan for extra pair of hands as support staff, for food & beverages, check on any VVIP guests who may land in to your stand/kiosk and seek advice on any preferred menu coupled with the regular marketing communications costs within the environment
6) Communication brief: The most difficult job for any marketer to draft a communication brief which would ensure it sells. It is always ideal to look out for specialized agencies which excel in sports communication. The best hook to convince your management is to focus on the sponsorship money and also the proposed marketing budget coupled with business expectations and negotiate your way to invite for a agency pitch. This is never a happy situation for the existing agency but it helps to communicate it upfront and also getting your senior management assure them that the ongoing or future projects will be business as usual with the incumbent agency.
7) Key Proposition: it is always easy to get carried away on propositions. Think out of the box and use clever messaging to integrate the sport with the DNA of your brand. Advertising must sell and it is so critical to map business expectations in the brief. Almost any sport delivers on winning, camaraderie and integrity which in most of the cases is one of the core values of any brand.
8) Internal Stake holders: The biggest critiques for marketing are within. Always factor in internal customer engagement to the sponsorship and work on a calendar to connect to them on list of activities or just a heads up communiqué.
9) Timing : The timing of the communication campaign is critical as there may be resistance from the organizers themselves who are emotional about their equity. The time for customer recruitment and on board experience needs to be factored in if the promotion is hinged on giving away tickets based on consumption
10) Publicity: it is very important to control the publicity to the sponsorship as future brand trackers are hinged on the coverage the brand gets to derive from this association. The best is to integrate PR to your team and work closely with themPhase
2 – During the event
1) On ground Kiosk: No matter how much planning one gets in this somehow seems to be a last minute hiccup project. Make sure the contractor inspects the site/location weeks before and all elements like sun light, possibility of rain, sand storm etc., are factored in while designing the kiosk/stand and there is enough storage facilities for marketing collaterals
2) Protocol: Always ensure you have staff or help in hand who would look at meeter/greeter of senior management visiting the stand or the event. If you can get a list of senior delegates visiting your stand based on the protocol ensure you get the necessary give aways. It is important to remember the best onboard experience is recalled always
3) Schedule of events: Always get the activity schedule from the organizers and ensure to communicate this to your internal customers and also to all senior management. Make sure you retain a copy with you as the project in charge you are always on the guard
4) Distribution of tickets: Perhaps the most tricky area of any event sponsorship. It is very important to get senior management buy in on ticket distribution and also ensuring a robust ticket disbursement process. As a marketing contact you are not only expected to promote it externally but also ensure that your area of seats are not empty during the sports event
5) Television Cameras: This is of great significance. It is very important to get few archive televised matches to see how the camera is angled and how they cover players and the stands. If it is in open area like Golf where the players are in motion then the emphasis is always on the angle at which they capture the players. “A” Board placement along with any banners of the brand is of utmost importance.
6) Plan for contingency: Always ensure you have a vehicle parked at your disposal at all times during the event. You never know what you require in the last minute
7) Meet the press: though this is always your PR managers remit it is important to meet press and encourage them to visit your stand or your hospitality. It is so critical that press sees the efforts your institution has put in this event and this would aid in getting coverage
8) Media Planning: clever media planning including outdoor locations across the venue and also at the airport does increase your brands profile during the event. Spend optimum but ensure you dominate the space. Play hard with your planning and buying team
9) Key elements on measuring Return on Investment: The numerous times press speak about your brand, press mentions, TV Coverage’s and scheduled interviews coupled with your own marketing efforts ensure
10) Briefings: Always have briefing sessions with the entire team if possible twice a day to ensure things are as planned. Technology helps but it is better to carry a walkie talkie too. This will also cut on telephone bills and you may not be sitting across your finance manager explaining each call post the event
Phase 3 – Post event wrap up
1) External : Make sure you budget for at least one last burst of adverting thanking all your patrons and customers during the event
2) Internal: Budget in any rewards based on HR policies to the team which worked on the project and also few mementos
3) Event Report: Before you get on to that next project always ensure to document all the learning’s and significant reminder points to management and also to your team which will be a handy referral for the coming yearWe managed to win an award as the best marketing campaign in financial category for that event and I am sure following these learning’s would be quite helpful to most of you
Good Luck
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Internal Communications
Employees have more to do with the success of a brand as most of today's employees are well educated, have higher expectations on the brand they work for. Considering the work place of today which is longer work hours, greater work stress and the recent addition of redundancies, a robust internal engagement plan is critical for the long term success of any brand.
Based on my experience institutions which have open door policy have managed to create an atmosphere of respect and integrity for all employees. Internal communications should not always be on new sales incentives or new product propositions or organizational wide announcements.
Internal communications is all about evolving a organizational culture which is in sync with the brand. Few of the best internal communication/engagement principles which I have encountered at my work
1) Top Down : Meet the CEO Programme - where the CEO or the business head holds and 'open house' in his office and employees are invited to speak with the CEO/Business Head about any thing - suggestions, complaints, concerns.
2) Employee Publications: Unfortunately most newsletters or internal publications are unexciting. As marketers one key constraint we face is on budgets. Since we are in the last quarter provision it during the annual budgets may reduce the annoyance levels. One observation being printed newsletters have little or no recall value and the OTS ( Opportunity To See) is minimal as employees seldom read them. Few methods of tackling them is a e-newsletter with hyperlinks which would give us more accurate data on the time spent and bundling it with few of our credit card offers which would be exclusive to our staff
3) Market Flash: Often during the all important weekly review meeting, we face awkward moments with sales heads on marketing collaterals and also on competition. A regular market flash update to all front end branch staff - this should be every week - may be on a Monday morning highlighting last weeks competitive activity and their SWOT and analyzing it with our products. This will give greater comfort and confidence to front end as we form a critical means of cascading the knowledge
4) Internal Branding: Launch of a new campaign, or a new product or a new initiative to be shared with staff first prior the release. Though this may not be welcomed by business citing competition - a day prior to the launch may be able get their buy in. This is critical as majority of the concerns being awareness of the product or campaign within the institution. Let them live the customer experience to understand what the customers will be offered
It is critical for senior managers to meet and get to know people who are working for them. Though we live in a technology era , employees want personal contact with the managers. Getting the management buy in will be a cornerstone for effective internal communication programme
Based on my experience institutions which have open door policy have managed to create an atmosphere of respect and integrity for all employees. Internal communications should not always be on new sales incentives or new product propositions or organizational wide announcements.
Internal communications is all about evolving a organizational culture which is in sync with the brand. Few of the best internal communication/engagement principles which I have encountered at my work
1) Top Down : Meet the CEO Programme - where the CEO or the business head holds and 'open house' in his office and employees are invited to speak with the CEO/Business Head about any thing - suggestions, complaints, concerns.
2) Employee Publications: Unfortunately most newsletters or internal publications are unexciting. As marketers one key constraint we face is on budgets. Since we are in the last quarter provision it during the annual budgets may reduce the annoyance levels. One observation being printed newsletters have little or no recall value and the OTS ( Opportunity To See) is minimal as employees seldom read them. Few methods of tackling them is a e-newsletter with hyperlinks which would give us more accurate data on the time spent and bundling it with few of our credit card offers which would be exclusive to our staff
3) Market Flash: Often during the all important weekly review meeting, we face awkward moments with sales heads on marketing collaterals and also on competition. A regular market flash update to all front end branch staff - this should be every week - may be on a Monday morning highlighting last weeks competitive activity and their SWOT and analyzing it with our products. This will give greater comfort and confidence to front end as we form a critical means of cascading the knowledge
4) Internal Branding: Launch of a new campaign, or a new product or a new initiative to be shared with staff first prior the release. Though this may not be welcomed by business citing competition - a day prior to the launch may be able get their buy in. This is critical as majority of the concerns being awareness of the product or campaign within the institution. Let them live the customer experience to understand what the customers will be offered
It is critical for senior managers to meet and get to know people who are working for them. Though we live in a technology era , employees want personal contact with the managers. Getting the management buy in will be a cornerstone for effective internal communication programme
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