Marketers Studio - David Berkowitz's Marketing Blog

How Do Brands View Vendor Pitches?

Digiday has a fantastic post this week featuring Brian Maynard, director of marketing for Jenn-Air at Whirlpool, on what he thinks of vendors pitching him all the time. It seems like every single vendor knows how to find him:

I can tell you that every day, every single day, I receive somewhere between 50-75 touches from someone wanting to sell me something. I get phone calls, emails; they even mail me letters. Of the 50-75, I maybe get to look at 25. They all say the same thing: “Can I get 30 minutes of your time?” If I did 10, I would not have time to do my job.

That sums up the challenge with the proliferation of vendors, especially since, as he notes, most aren't doing their homework. 

My job's a little different from his. I have to look at every single pitch - even if it's a smaller number of pitches than he gets daily. I try to meet with as many as I can. But as someone who is looking out for my 450 colleagues and dozens of clients, I have to be judicious and wind up with little tolerance for vendors who are unprofessionally pushy, lazy, or tone deaf. 

One of my biggest pet peeves lately: when a pitch isn't relevant for me and I tell someone in sales who exactly at my agency they should reach out to, and then they keep responding to me either to try the pitch again or complain that a colleague isn't getting back to them. If a colleague isn't getting back to them, that's because of their pitch, not me, and it only makes me think less of them. Often, I'll put a note in their contact file that they whine and waste my time.

Read the rest of the post at Digiday. Again, it's a great interview.

Startup Outlook 6 Live with 5 Great Video Technology Companies

360i's Startup Outlook is back for October, this time focusing on companies changing how we watch video and use it for marketing: Broadcast for Friends from Ustream, SundaySky, Tout, Viddy and VideoGenie.

Read and download the report directly here, sign up for updates at StartupOutlook.com, and catch a detailed recap on 360i's blog. 

Watch the Video Version of This Blog, via Wibbitz

Okay, it's not Star Wars. But it's compelling enough in terms of technology, with Wibbitz creating a video edition of any site or RSS feed. Play the video below. Presumably this prototype will keep getting better and thus more useful. As of now, there are already a number of ways to customize the video, including several music options. It reminds me a bit of SundaySky, featured in 360i's latest Startup Outlook report, which turns any feed of data into video - in that case, for marketing purposes.

Celebrate My Birthday by Feeding Thousands of People in Need

I don't believe I've ever referenced my birthday here on this blog during my birthday proper, but this year I'm trying something a little different. 

Last year, in thanks to the hundreds of birthday well wishers on Facebook and elsewhere, I expressed my gratitude by making a donation to the Food Bank of New York City. It's an especially fitting cause for those who know me, as I've spent most of my life in our near NYC, and I've enjoyed quite a few memorably sumptuous feasts (follow my Foodspotting updates for proof). Yet there are way too many people whose version of food spotting is making sure they can spot enough food around the house (or lack of house thereof) for themselves and their families to function throughout the day. 

This year, I'm embracing the whole social media concept. Food Bank of New York City now offers a virtual food drive, and you can visit my own page there to join me in a birthday celebration. Just $1 provides 5 meals for people in need.

To be totally clear, I'm touched by any birthday wishes in their own right; it means a lot to be surrounded physically and virtually by so many thoughtful people. And if you have other ways you prefer to support others, keep doing what you're doing. But if you do want to join me in making this birthday even more meaningful for others, even if it's all of a few bucks to cover a gallon of milk, then I know there are a lot of other people who will be very thankful for what we do together.

Here's one other way you can feel better about this: I always vet charities through Charity Navigator, which provides objective ratings of non-profits. Food Bank for New York City scores four stars out of four - the highest rating, with the vast majority of funds going to its programs rather than administrative and fundraising expenses. 

Thanks for at least checking this out, and reading all this. If you wind up taking part in this personal, social experiment, all the better.

The 11 Minute Version of "The Honest Truth about Dishonesty"

Dan Ariely, one of my favorite authors and social scientists, just shared an 11-minute animated video of his talk on his book "The Honest Truth about Dishonesty." 

I love that the video gets into an especially salient point for consumers, marketers, and mobile commerce: 

If you think about it, we're becoming a cashless society. We're becoming a society with a higher distance between us and the consequences of our actions - credit cards, electronic wallets, mortgage backed securities, stock options... Could it be that s the distance increases, people can be dishonest but at the moment don't think of themselves as doing anything dishonest?

I really like the idea that if you pay with Square, for example, you can walk into a Starbucks and have it automatically deduct what you owe without you ever taking your phone out of your pocket (assuming you opted in beforehand). To me, that allows one to have a more personal relationship with the people working there, as it's no longer complicated by the financial transaction. But as Ariely notes, this distance from tangible forms of payment could have adverse consequences as well.

Watch the video below, and read Ariely's blog at danariely.com.

Just a Thought: Humility

Christopher Nolan is an Irish poet and author who suffered from dystonia, though he managed to defy odds and get his voice - and incomparable style - shared with the world. 

In his autobiography Under the Eye of the Clock (written as a novel), my favorite moment was a brief thought on humility. He was a high school aged student meeting a headmaster, and he said to the headmaster:

"You are very humble to care about me." 

What's the Challenge with Mobile Social Media Marketing?

I've got a post this week in Digiday on mobile social media:

Mobile social media is like the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup of marketing: two great tastes that are even better together. Social media is all about communication, and mobile devices are designed around facilitating communication. Now, try to think of great mobile social marketing campaigns. How quickly do any come to mind? There seems to be a large-scale disconnect between mobile marketing and social media marketing, even though the two together sit at this sweet spot of an intersection of two of the fastest-growing marketing channels. 

There are 3 reasons offered for what's proving challenging:

1. Mobile and social are hard to define
2. There aren't clear owners of mobile and social
3. Technologies and publishers underserve marketers

Read the full article on Digiday for more, and let me know what you think.

An Alternative to Klout Scores When Hiring and Seeking

TechCrunch just 'outed' Salesforce for using a Klout score as a "desired skill" for a community manager (bold comments in parentheses are from Drew Olanoff at TechCrunch): 

Desired Skills:
- Knowledge and use of social media/social networks considered an asset (Of course, good thinking!)
- Ability to work independently and as a part of a team (Definitely. Smart ask.)
- Experience with Radian6, video, photography considered an asset(This is pretty smart to ask for.)
- Klout Score of 35 or higher (I’m sorry, WHAT?)

I completely agree with Drew, even for community managers. They're rarely being hired to reach out to their own audiences.

If you're looking to be a community manager though, or have any kind of role that at least partially involves crafting a brand's voice, you do need to know how to use social media, and you need to be able to communicate effectively. That's why there's one piece of advice I like to give to those looking to enter the social media field or build on what they're doing:

Develop your voice - somewhere.

That doesn't mean actively having a presence on every social and content site. It's about finding something that moves you and a means to sharing something about it on an ongoing basis. It's about being able to be consistent with something, investing in at least one platform or community rather than just testing it out (though it's great to test out as much as possible too). It could be a blog, Twitter, a photo or video sharing site, a forum, Tumblr, Slideshare... something. Show you have a voice. Show you care about something. A voice is more important than an audience, most of the time. And that's not something you can game.