Marketing WTF? - Playing Dress-Up is Not Just for Halloween
Wednesday, October 31st, 2007
Can you believe this is at a trade show and not Halloween? That’s right, at this year’s DreamForce, salesforce.com’s annual user conference, ReachForce found a fun way to stand out from all the other booths. The theme was Let’s Make a Deal. You can see Monty Hall in the center with his wacky contestants around. The theme definitely worked and gained a lot of attention for ReachForce and their debut software product, Insight. One lesson learned though was that some people had a hard time having an intelligent conversation with Fred Flintstone. If you try to get noticed at your next event with costumes, choose wisely who will wear them.
Marketing WTF? - Say Hello to Mr. Happy Crack
Thursday, October 25th, 2007
Yep, you heard me, Mr. Happy Crack. The clever folks at Crack Team USA Inc. in St. Louis have managed to make a successful viral video campaign for their concrete repair business. According to the Wall Street Journal Independent Street blog:
“The video doesn’t preach, it’s not blatantly advertorial (at least in the beginning), it emphasizes brand over product and you might watch it even if you’re not in the market to get a crack repaired. Though chances are good that, next time you do, you’ll think of this company first.”
Check it out at:
http://blogs.wsj.com/independentstreet/2007/10/17/cracking-youtube-marketing-even-if-youre-boring/
What if Google’s Interface Were Optimized for Google SEO?
Thursday, October 18th, 2007Found this truly ironic interactive experience posted on Digg yesterday. It basically gives visitors a glimpse of what the famously clean Google user interface would look like if Google were to optimize it for its own search engine. Enjoy.
http://www.meangene.com/google/design_for_google.html
Tokyo Fall
Friday, October 12th, 2007Submitted by John Siberell, Marketing Manager, SuperFlow Technologies
I was invited to travel to Tokyo and meet with the man who was Toyota’s minister of housing.
He was the chief “bud” for lining up and building homes for the corporate executives at the company. Each bigwig there got housing along with their employment at Toyota. I was there to help some associates sell the idea of building American neighborhoods and “stick” built (2X4) homes for a new development Toyota was preparing to build. (You see, the Japanese go Gonzo over American stuff….Harleys, cowboys, 50’s cars and American homes and architecture…believe it!) I was working with an architectural firm from Minneapolis with whom the car maker was interested in partnering with.
After sipping on tea and having completed cordialities, we started our very formal meeting in the top of the Toyota Corporate headquarters. After about 20 minutes of fact finding conversation from both sides, I asked Mr.housing minister, through his interpreter, if our design firm could prepare a proposal for him and send it over for he and his staff to review.
In amazement we watched him look down at the table, ponder for a moment, slowly push his chair back and stand up. He bowed. Said nothing and walked out of the boardroom. Just that fast.
I looked at our interpreter, and at the Toyota interpreter then at my associates in puzzlement. The corporate interpreter said the meeting was over and thanked us for coming. We were in the elevator just as fast as she could bow and say goodbye.
While plummeting downward from the top floors, we stood all silent…stupefied actually. I looked at everyone in the elevator and asked, “What did I do?!”
Our personal interpreter said that he would share with us at the bar what had happened. Great.
It turned out that I had put the housing minister on the spot. By asking him my question, he was unable to answer it without total disgracing himself in front of us and his staff. You see, I had asked him a question that he would ultimately have to take to his subordinates to discuss before it could be answered. So, he was now in a shameful position because he could not answer properly. The only way he could deal with the situation was leave! Meeting over.
So, in retrospect dealing with the Japanese takes careful study and planning on how one is going to go into a meeting and what you are going to say. Much coaching and roll playing needs to take place with a national (not American) Japanese business person. Japanese mores and local social customs will make or break the process.
Take your time to read up and ask questions on how to successfully deal with any foreign business person. They do not know what a New York minute is….
Anti-virus Software Company Unleashes a Viral Marketing Pandemic
Thursday, October 4th, 2007Take a look at this wonderfully cheesy YouTube video from Symantec, the makers of Norton Anti-virus software.
Their web site is even better http://www.nortonfighter.com/.
Marketing WTF? - I See Dead People – In My Database
Tuesday, September 18th, 2007Every B2B Marketer has struggled with the problem of bad data. As it turns out, even companies in the business of selling database technology have the same issues. One such company’s Marketing Programs group attempted a direct mail database cleanup project using the old Return to Sender trick. They were quickly inundated with stacks of returned direct mailers. In fact, they had so many returned that they had to hire a team of temps to remove all of the bad records from their marketing database. They even found one stamped “Recipient Deceased”.
Talk about hitting the wrong target market.
When Sales Guys Try to Market
Wednesday, September 12th, 2007OK readers of The B2B Lead, we know you all have one of these stories so send ‘em my way. There’s nothing we enjoy more than a good laugh at bad Marketing ideas submitted by Sales. Just to be fair, we’d also like to hear how Marketers have derailed Sales Deals with poorly timed promotions.
This just in from a colleague: Brace yourself–I got an email from Sales asking for a campaign to promote the “visibility” our product using get this: if you aren’t using Product X you’re “legally blind.” Maybe we could include a pair of dark sunglasses? WTF!!?!!!
The B2B Lead Blog Marketing WTF? - Wild and Wacky B2B Marketing Ideas
Friday, August 24th, 2007In today’s Marketing WTF?, we highlight a campaign that raised the hackles of the folks at PETA. Mike Rosenfelt, Executive Vice President of MessageOne, is never one to shy away from the outrageous in an effort to generate buzz. In an odd ploy to illustrate how unexpected factors—such as a goat chewing through your fiber conduit– can take down your email system, he brought a live goat onto the trade show floor at the International Legal Technology Association show. The next year he one-upped himself by bringing alligators and pythons. The connection? The alligators had eaten the goat, or so they said. Live animals have now been banned, so we are all on pins and needles to see what Rosenfelt will think of next. As he said, they only banned live animals…
Share your News of the Weird with The B2B Lead blog.
Marketing WTF? - Know Thy Customer
Tuesday, August 21st, 2007A reader of The B2B Lead Blog reports a B2B Marketer, who will go unnamed, recently confessed to a rather embarrassing and costly blunder that was a clear result of breaking the first commandment of Sales and Marketing – Know Thy Customer. Apparently, the newbie Marketer sent a very expensive Selling to VITO direct mailer to a UPS executive in a Fed Ex envelope. Doh!
Have any other embarrassing or costly mistakes to share with readers of The B2B Lead Blog? Submit a Post!
Welcome To ReachForce Blog
Wednesday, August 1st, 2007ReachForce is the worldwide provider of OnDemand Data Solutions for CRM – Driving Marketing initiatives and Sales effectiveness. ReachForce Solutions are designed to quickly highlight target market ‘sweet spots’ based on customer wins and sales funnel analysis as well as identify the right decision making unit based on their role in the organization, not just their title. By enabling marketing and sales teams to focus their demand generation efforts on the right role-based decision makers in the right target companies for their products or services, ReachForce data is increasing demand generation effectiveness and accelerating sales cycles. ReachForce customers have increased results by 20 to 30 times for every dollar spent on marketing and sales initiatives – maximizing the value of CRM investments.
