June Dershewitz has been a web analyst for almost as long as that has been something to be. Currently a member of the leadership team at Semphonic, a top web analytics consultancy, June is a passionate advocate for the field of web analytics as well as a thoughtful and informed adviser on how best to pursue a career in it. An involved member of the web analytics community, June was an early instigator of "Web Analytics Wednesday" and is currently running for a seat on the Board of Directors of the Web Analytics Association.
For this podcast, I spoke with June - the first interviewee to ask me, "You do know that I grew up on a goat farm, right?" - about careers in web analytics, the changes she's seen in the field, and avoiding the "report monkey trap." I invite you to listen in on our conversation. You can do so by clicking on the Flash device below. You are also welcome to download an mp3 of this interview by "right-clicking" ("control-clicking," Mac-wise) on this link. Finally, this and other Talent Blog Podcasts are always available on iTunes.
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A few highlights of the interview can be found at the following time coordinates:
02:36 - "Web Analytics" is really about "people"
06:28 - "The technology has changed quite a bit - THANK GOD!"
08:43 - Omniture, Visual Sciences HBX, WebTrends, and the limits of Google Analytics
10:47 - Analysis starts with thinking about your goals
12:25 - Things to consider when hiring a web analyst
13:21 - Avoiding the "report monkey trap"
14:59 - Going from "what people are doing" to "why they are doing it"
17:00 - The value of using staffing firms to get project-based contract work
20:12 - Advice for people just starting out in web analytics
21:13 - The origin of "Web Analytics Wednesday"
23:06 - A WAA campaign pitch: Vote for June!
24:53 - "It's important that every company has someone on staff who owns web analytics"
26:03 - Happily employed (and unemployed) as a contractor
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Ever since I spoke to Erik Hauser last year I've been looking for an opportunity to speak with him again. He's optimistic, he's infectiously enthusiastic, and he has a lot to say on a lot of different topics almost any hour of the day or night (as anyone who follows the Experiential Marketing Forum knows).
Long story short, I asked him if I could interview him for this here podcast, and he amicably agreed. Rather than asking him to define "experiential marketing" for the umpteenth time, I thought instead it would be more illuminating to talk about emotionally connecting with brands, using experiential marketing techniques when searching for a job, and, of course, Gene Simmons. So that's what we did.
I invite you to listen in on our conversation. You can do so by clicking on the Flash device below. You are also welcome to download an mp3 of this interview by "right-clicking" ("control-clicking," Mac-wise) on this link. Finally, this and other Talent Blog Podcasts are always available on iTunes. Heck, you can even subscribe to our podcast there!
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A few highlights of the interview can be found at the following time coordinates:
00:59 - Gene Simmons: The Genius
05:19 - You need a 3rd Party to serve as "Keeper of the Brand"
10:04 - You want to raise demand? Decrease the supply! (From Hydrox to Polaroid)
12:01 - The "outside perspective"
14:45 - The EMF: How moderating discussions increases their value
16:08 - Keys to nurturing a vital online community
20:05 - "Experiential" is a methodology, not a tactic
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In Part 1 of our podcast interview with James Intriligator, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Wales in Bangor, we talked about branding, loyalty, and consumer psychology.
In Part 2, we discuss personae and customer motivation, different neuormarketing approaches, and how understanding the brain can help us make more effective commercials (among other things, of course).
Listen in on our conversation by clicking on the Flash device below. You are also welcome to download an mp3 of this interview by "right-clicking" ("control-clicking," Mac-wise) on this link. You can also check out this and other Talent Blog Podcasts on iTunes. Heck, you can even subscribe to our podcast there!
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A few highlights of the interview can be found at the following time coordinates:
01:50 - How to Get the Most out of Focus Groups
03:52 - Aunt Sally and the Straw Man
05:03 - Customer Motivation: Dreams and Aspirations (not just Fears, Uncertainties, and Doubts)
09:59 - Marketing and Branding from a Strategic, Artistic Perspective
11:55 - "There are a lot of good things you can do with marketing"
13:39 - Defining "Neuromarketing"
15:16 - Pros and Cons of Different Neuromarketing Approaches
17:15 - "If someone wants to pursue marketing from a neuromarketing perspective..."
20:44 - The Classic Mistake that Most Ads Make
21:58 - Another Classic Mistake
24:16 - Segment the Emotional and Attentional Aspects of Your Campaigns
Image Courtesy of Looking Glass.
The other day an SEM specialist told me, "Marketing is a hard science."
She said it, at least in part, ironically. "Marketing? A science? Come on! What's next? Fishing?"
Marketing may not yet be a hard, or even soft, science. Nevertheless, scientists are indeed taking a hard look at marketing and beginning to paint a very interesting picture of how and why marketing actually works IN THE BRAIN.
James Intriligator is one such scientist. Having received his doctorate in psychology from Harvard for work on "attention," James did a stint as a consultant to the automotive industry, among others, before assuming a post in the Center for Neuroscience and Consumer Psychology at the University of Wales, Bangor.
I've known James for many years and decided to call him up when I wanted to get a handle this "neuromarketing" thing. He was kind enough to walk me through this emerging field as well as his own findings regarding brand loyalty (Hint: It kind of makes you act like a crazy person!), segmentation, and literally getting inside the customer's brain.
I invite you to listen in on our conversation. I think you'll find the discussion illuminating and, at times, even entertaining. (Where else will you hear people talk about "brand build-up," "brand flossing," and "brandectomies"?) I had a lot of questions for James and he had a lot of answers. For this reason, I've split the interview into two parts.
You can check out Part 1 right here by clicking on the Flash device below:
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You are also welcome to download an mp3 of this interview by "right-clicking" ("control-clicking," Mac-wise) on this link, or check out this and all other Talent Blog Podcasts on iTunes.
A few highlights of the interview can be found at the following time coordinates:
02:35 - How Brands Build Up in Brains
04:06 - Ways to Quantify Brand Loyalty
05:06 - Brand Loyalty, Brand Familiarity, and the Attentional Blink
06:45 - Dealing with Excess Brand Build-Up
08:13 - How to Forge a Robust Representation of the Brand (in the Brain)
10:27 - What Counts as an "Experience" in "Experiential Marketing"?
11:40 - Problems with Product Placement
13:23 - Brand Loyalty and Brain Damage
17:43 - A Brand Is the Net Sum of All Experiences You've Had with a Product/Company
19:22 - The Web as a Branding Medium
23:09 - Segmenting the Brand
26:09 - The One Rule that Fits All Branding and Marketing Activity
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Ron Leland of Real Life Brand Architecture is an architect by training, a surfer by vocation, and happens to be the president of the Orange County Chapter of the AIGA. He's an enthusiastic, reflective, and interesting guy who has worked with a broad range of clients including mutual fund companies, wineries, and jazz prodigies like Matt Savage.
I had the chance to record an interview with Ron towards the end of last year but fate conspired against my posting the interview until now. It was worth the wait. Please listen in on our conversation as Ron talks about the power of architectural metaphors when communicating with design clients, his sometimes serpentine career path, and getting inspired to go to the next level.
You can check out the interview right here by clicking on the Flash device below:
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You are also welcome to download an mp3 of this interview by "right-clicking" ("control-clicking," Mac-wise) on this link, or check out this and all other Talent Blog Podcasts on iTunes.
A few highlights of the interview can be found at the following time coordinates:
00:46 - Defining the word "brand"
02:36 - The power of architectural metaphors
03:50 - Brand architecture in practice: A case study from the film industry
07:07 - The need for a flexible brand development process
09:00 - Branding challenges when a company reaches the age of 130
11:33 - Measuring brand success: "Clear $30 million in 45 days"
15:47 - Branding a jazz prodigy
19:20 - High-end designer homes, surf club newsletters, and "real estate propaganda"
21:42 - What's interesting about design conferences
22:26 - Getting the most out of the AIGA (Hint: It involves giving!)
26:00 - The outsider's perspective and the dangers of "techno-speak"
30:19 - "Oh my gosh, I've got stuff to learn"
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Debbie Weil is a corporate blogging and social media consultant who literally wrote the book on corporate blogging, which she aptly entitled, The Corporate Blogging Book. I had the good fortune of interviewing her the other day on the three "don'ts" of corporate blogging (don't focus on the technology; don't outsource the writing; don't overestimate the amount of work it will require), journalistic standards and blogger credibility, and the revolution in corporate communications.
I invite you to listen in on our conversation. You can do so by clicking on the device pictured below or by clicking on this link here. You may also download the mp3 by "right-clicking" ("control-clicking," Mac-wise) on that link, or check out this and all other Talent Blog Podcasts on iTunes.
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A few highlights of the podcast can be found at the following time coordinates:
01:43 - How to become an "expert"
03:31 - It's not easy to do a really good corporate blog
08:50 - Top 3 Dont's of Corporate Blogging
11:38 - Think of a blog as a next generation website
15:53 - Manufacturing authenticity
21:38 - A collection of intersecting communities
23:10 - The first step is always to listen
25:05 - You can't start blogging until you're in a different mindset
28:02 - Can you make a career in blogging? (Answer: Probably not)
Image Courtesy of hyku.
Gary Katz is the CEO and founder of Marketing Operations Partners. Gary is a thought leader in the emerging field of marketing operations, a field to which he brings both a keen intellect and a missionary zeal.
I caught up with Gary and recorded this interview with him, which I present for your podcasting enjoyment. In it, he defines "marketing operations," discusses the benefits of this approach as well as the challenges - both organizational and, for lack of a better word, psychological - faced by anyone trying to implement it within their company. Listen to what he's got to say and find out why he refers to marketing operations as a "cosmic universal force."
To get down to the nitty gritty, you can hear the podcast by clicking on the device pictured below:
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You can also download the mp3 by "right-clicking" ("control-clicking," Mac-wise) this link here, or check out all the Talent Blog Podcasts on iTunes.
Highlights of the podcast can be found at the following time coordinates:
00:46 - What is Marketing Operations?
02:12 - What problems should the Marketing Operations approach fix?
05:00 - Marketing vs. Sales: Who's driving?
07:10 - "Sophistication"
10:31 - Ideal metrics
11:25 - Challenges faced by organizations when implementing Marketing Operations
16:30 - MO - A Cosmic, Universal Force
18:37 - Overcoming the challenges
21:40 - Getting C-level support
26:10 - MO: The future of marketing?
29:49 - The missionary sell
Image Courtesy of Pernell.
As part of the follow-up to webcast Aquent sponsored devoted to Seven Key Insights for Global Marketing and Brand Management, I called up Sarah Schuh who is general manager of Aquent's Multilingual Communications offering. Sarah has been working in the marketing translation and localization space for many years now and I thought she could help some of you out there with her experience and insights.
I recorded a podcast with Sarah and in our conversation she made one thing perfectly clear: when it comes to localization, translating copy from one language to the next is actually the easy part. Indeed, the real work happens well before any copy is handed over to the translators. That work involves clarification of your core marketing message, ensuring that this message meaningfully addresses a real audience in the target market, and planning for eventual localization when designing critical marketing instruments such as websites. There's nothing worse than having to add to the cost of translation the cost of redesigning your site to accommodate the expanded text produced by moving from English to, say, German.
To get down to the nitty gritty, you can hear the podcast by clicking on the device pictured below:
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You can also download the mp3 by "right-clicking" ("control-clicking," Mac-wise) this link here, or check out all the Talent Blog Podcasts on iTunes.
Highlights of the podcast can be found at the following time coordinates:
01:08 - Does your target audience even exist in another market?
03:18 - It's not just words: How do your visual elements translate?
05:20 - Take localization into account when creating the original message
07:20 - Define the use of company terminology
10:00 - Plan for expansion of foreign text
12:08 - The investment in planning vs. The cost of getting it wrong
13:33 - What companies should look for in their localization partner
17:35 - The cause of localization disasters
20:39 - Is "success" just the absence of "disaster"?
Image courtesy of mmarchin.
(Note: I had to repost this entry without the Odeo player due to a technical glitch. If I can fix it I will. - Matt)
William Lunderman is VP of Global Strategic Brand Design at Colgate-Palmolive. He's thus far led quite an illustrious career as a designer and design leader for well-known brands like Revlon and iconic brands like Campbell's Soup. I invite you to listen to our conversation. I went into it assuming, somewhat naively, I admit, that globalization was all about localization and tailoring your products and messages to the world's varied environs. While that is certainly part of multi-national marketing execution, this sort of endless variation is not the essence of global brand strategy.
From a strategic standpoint, as I learned, the key is, on the contrary, honing in on the universal need addressed by your brand's promise. The trick then becomes effectively translating that promise into a culturally relevant consumer language. At least that's how I understood the sage words of Mr. William Lunderman when we spoke.
If you would like to hear what I heard, you can download the mp3 by "right-clicking" ("control-clicking," Mac-wise) this link here (of course, if you just click on that link, it will play the file for you), or check out all the Talent Blog Podcasts on iTunes.
Highlights of the podcast can be found at the following time coordinates:
00:50 - What is "Global Strategic Brand Design?"
04:32 - The Emotional Aspect of the Brand
07:41 - Thinking about Consumers on a Universal Level
09:55 - "Children like to play in their food"
10:41 - AXE - as a Brand
12:16 - Kellogg's and "Owning the Morning"
15:13 - Package as "Delivery Mechanism" of Brand Design
17:08 - The Current Consumer Language
19:55 - The Consumer's Perception of "The Best"
24:23 - Brands at Home and Home Brands
28:09 - Why We Move to New Brands
30:22 - Design Careers: When You Move to the Next Level
32:59 - "Obsolete yourself" - On Evolving and Avoiding Extinction
Image courtesy of 00dann.
Jim Sterne, the producer of the eMetrics Summit and the president of the Web Analytics Association, has been talking about the internet and marketing since 1993. Indeed, he was kind enough to talk to me about it just the other day as part of the Talent Blog Podcast. We discussed highlights from the various eMetrics Summits in 2007, how the conference is evolving, and what folks can expect from the summits in 2008. We also talked about changes in the field of web analytics since he and Matt Cutler issued their landmark 2000 white paper, "E-Metrics - Business Metrics for the New Economy."
You may listen to our conversation by clicking on the device below:
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You can also download the mp3 by "right-clicking" ("control-clicking," Mac-wise) this link here, or check out all the Talent Blog Podcasts on iTunes.
Highlights of the podcast can be found at the following time coordinates:
00:45 - 2007 eMetrics Summit Overview
02:50 - Summit Content for 2008: More Mainstream Marketing
04:29 - The Buzz around "Engagement"
06:40 - The Slow Growth of "Standards"
09:29 - Website "Slipperiness"
12:20 - Measuring the Success of the Website Overall
16:39 - The People Component of eMetrics
20:18 - Your Website is Your End of the Conversation: Are You Listening?
23:20 - "Website" Is a Verb
Image courtesy of ohaiyoo.
When I was at PodCamp in Boston a couple weeks ago I finally met David Meerman Scott, whom I'd wanted to interview at the time that we were doing the webcast with Paul Gillin.
David has literally written the book on the "new rules of marketing and PR." I spoke with him about thought leadership strategies, building user personas, and using press releases as a marketing tool. If you have the time, please check out our conversation and let me know what you think.
You can hear the interview by clicking on the device below:
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You can download the mp3 by "right-clicking" ("control-clicking," Mac-wise) this link here, or check out this and other Talent Blog podcasts on iTunes.
Highlights of the podcast can be found at the following time coordinates:
2:14 - Defining "thought leadership"
5:40 - Main challenges to crafting a thought leadership strategy
9:00 - Methods for creating "user personas"
10:53 - The Engineer and the "100 Mothers"
11:30 - "Why don't people do things the right way?"
16:19 - Reading blogs written by your buyer personas
18:00 - The "News Release Strategy"
25:30 - "The media will notice"
Image courtesy of belgianchocolate.
The other day I had the good fortune of speaking with Paige and Gretchen of MommyCast, a popular podcast devoted to moms the world over and one that has been featured everywhere from Variety and USA Today to the BBC and the Wall Street Journal. I asked them about their editorial perspective, what works and what doesn't when companies approach them with sponsorship offers, and why their podcast has been so wildly successful.
If you haven't listened to their podcast, you should. If you'd like to listen in on our conversation you can use this device:
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You can also download this interview by right-clicking (or "control-clicking," Mac-wise) on this link, or access it (along with other Talent Blog Podcast episodes) via iTunes or at Switchpod.
Some points of interest:
2:55 - How moms share information
4:20 - Successful pitch approaches
10:05 - People who don't get podcasting
13:33 - Measuring the impact of a podcast
21:00 - Media kits matter!
Image courtesy of Spiralz.
The other day I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with Peter Rojas, co-founder of Engadget and Joystiq, and formerly editorial director at Gizmodo.
Although our conversation initially focused on the most, and least, successful ways for marketers and PR folk to work with bloggers, we ended up covering a lot of ground including the new Radiohead release, the blurry line between producers and consumers in an era of unlimited digital manipulation, the evolving concept of "nature," and the mass media's "sovereignty over consciousness."
To listen to our conversation, you can use the device pictured here:
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There are some hidden gems in this podcast. Once it's loaded, feel free to fast-forward to the following treasures:
18:42 - On Radiohead's "brilliant, smart, well-played gimmick"
27:09 - Young people and the infinitely manipulable digital world
29:49 - The changing idea of the "natural"
32:38 - On starting the next "YouTube-Facebook-Microsoft-Google"
You can download this episode along with other Talent Blog podcasts from Switchpod
or iTunes.
Image courtesy of edans.
Next week is the eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit in Washington, DC, at which Aquent's own James Gardner will be presenting on the subject of "Successful Career Management Strategies for Web Analytics Professionals." Jim Sterne, the summit's organizer, created a fairly informative, and informal, video about it that I encourage you to check out if you want to get a feel for what to expect if you attend.
Among the several luminaries who will appear at the summit is Eric T. Peterson of Web Analytics Demystified fame. I had a chance to speak with Eric about the summit and why it is a must-attend event for anyone in the web analytics game. Along the way he also shed some light on Microsoft's Project Gatineau as well as the ways that web analytics have changed since the summit began seven years ago.
To hear our conversation, you can use this handy Flash device provided by Odeo:
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You may also download it, along with any other Talent Blog podcasts, here at iTunes.
(PS. If iTunes hasn't gotten the updated feed yet, you can also find the podcasts here.)
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In this third and final installment of our podcast mini-series, we speak with Carol Burke, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications at AMN Healthcare. Carol discusses how she makes sure that her team is using the marketing channels most preferred by AMN's constituents and what she does to create marketing content with a life beyond marketing.
You may listen to Episode 3 here:
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You can download this podcast by "right clicking" ("control clicking" on the Mac) this link, Episode 3 MP3, or check out The Talent Blog Podcast feed.
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In this episode, I speak with Jim Hauptman, Creative Director and Managing Editor at LL Bean. Jim addresses the complexities of "multi-channel" marketing, an approach that seeks to leverage the specific advantages of diverse channels, as opposed to "multiple channel" marketing, which tends to push the same message or content through many channels. He also reveals how winter camping off-sites can lead to great marketing insights.
Listen to Episode 2 here:
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You can download this podcast by "right clicking" ("control clicking" on the Mac) this link, Episode 2 MP3, or check out The Talent Blog Podcast feed.
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In conjunction with the webcast we're presenting today, I interviewed a few folks we work with and asked them how they coordinate their marketing messages and programs across a variety of media from print to web and beyond. I then created a three episode podcast mini-series of these interviews.
In this episode Dave Harrell, the Director of Advertising at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, talks about some of the grassroots, infotainment marketing efforts that his group has undertaken recently. In doing so, he also discusses the processes they follow to keep messages and branding consistent from channel to channel and audience to audience.
You can listen to Episode 1 here:
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You can download this podcast by "right clicking" ("control clicking" on the Mac) this link, Episode 1 MP3, or check out The Talent Blog Podcast feed.
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A few months back I created and posted a podcast here on producing successful creative briefs. Now I've returned to the podcasting arena with another podcast on the tensions between Marketing and Finance.
As you can hear for yourself, I initiated the conversation by asking if there is in actual fact a tension between marketing and finance. Mark Anderson, CFO of Granite City Electric Supply Company, responded, "If you define 'tension,' as 'people coming after each other with hatchets,' then yes, there is tension."
While there was no actual bloodshed during the conversation, it became clear that the tension is very real, has several causes, and is somewhat entrenched. The good news is, the tension can be resolved and the two functions can work together productively.
In addition to Mr. Anderson, I was joined for this discussion by: Peter DeLegge, publisher of Marketing Today; Professor Bob Taggart of Boston College's Carroll School of Management; and, Nina Eigerman, President of Aquent Consulting.
The basic message of this podcast, which echoes the work of MarketingNPV's Pat LaPointe, is that Marketing and Finance are best served when they collaborate to create a common set of metrics and a shared understanding of their respective goals and cultures.
To hear how our panelists articulated this message you can do one of two things.
click to continue...
Following last week's AMA webcast, Successful Creative Briefs: Linking Business Objectives and Creative Strategies, sponsored by Aquent, we convened a virtual roundtable to continue the discussion of best practices in producing effective creative briefs. Our panelists were:
Andy Epstein - Director of Graphic Design and Print Production at BMS Studio, the in-house design agency at Bristol-Myers Squibb
David Haskell - Senior Writer at Digitas, a leading interactive and direct marketing agency
Michael Hunter - Marketing Director for Whirlpool's KitchenAid brand
Sheri L. Koetting - Principal/co-founder of MSLK, an award-winning graphic design agency
I moderated the discussion, which lasted a little over half an hour. For your listening convenience, I split the entire thing into three parts as noted below.
Part 1 - Best Practices: Thoughts on Putting Together Great Creative Briefs
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Part 2 - What Creative Briefs Can (and Can't) Do
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Part 3: Using Creative Briefs to Manage the Creative Development Process
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To download this section, go here.
Thanks for listening. Please feel free to share all comments and criticisms with me, Matthew Grant!
