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The Geography of Marketing: The Global Marketplace

0 comments By Chad Thiele Filed in Advertising, brand, branding, business, JWT, market research, target marketing, technology, trends Tagged with advertising, brand, branding, business, JWT, market research, target marketing, technology, trends March 3rd, 2013 @ 3:00 pm

As technology advances, it is becoming easier for people to connect with other people around the globe.

Rapid advancements in technology are also opening up new markets to businesses that wouldn’t have even dreamed of selling their products and services internationally just a few years ago.

Although international marketing is not my area of expertise, I believe that it is going to become more important for businesses of all sizes in the very near future. With this in mind, I have begun to do some research on the topic.

In the early stages of the process, three things are already becoming clear. 1) The quality of the product or service is becoming more important as businesses compete with other businesses that are located anywhere on the planet. 2) Marketing campaigns need to be tailored to appeal to individual markets and cultural differences need to be recognized. 3) It is becoming increasingly more important for businesses to do the research to identify what the previous two items on my list actually mean to the business and its potential customers (i.e., how do individual markets define quality and what factors influence how effective a marketing campaign will be when it is used to target potential customers living in other parts of the world.)

Globalization Does Not Imply Homogenization

In an article in the September 15, 2010 issue of the American Marketing Association’s Marketing News, Nigel Hollis, Executive Vice President and Chief Global Analyst at Millward Brown Inc., states, “Culture—the history, beliefs, customs, habits and values of a group of people—determines the ways in which we respond to the world around us, including the brands we buy. Local culture helps establish our values and priorities. It determines our taste for food, aesthetic preferences and communication.”

“Increasingly, however, people everywhere are exposed to foreign cultures through commerce, travel and media,” Hollis continues. “But just how strong is the influence of this global culture when compared to the local cultures in which we are born and raised? While the global culture grows increasingly prominent, my research suggests that the influence of local culture still is very important to brand success.”

Hollis goes on to point out that for brands with global aspirations, the influence of local culture can present significant problems. The combination of product formulations, positioning and communications strategy that made the brand successful in one part of the world may need to be adjusted to build a connection with consumers in new markets. Of these, Hollis feels that communication is probably the most susceptible to the influence of culture.

He also warns that the days of big brands gaining huge market share just by introducing their products and services to new markets are over.

According to Hollis, “It used to be that multinationals could launch a brand into a developing economy conﬁdent that their product would be better and more desirable than the local competition. Increasingly, this expectation is unwarranted. With product superiority no longer guaranteed, brands must compete for hearts as well as minds—and to win someone’s heart, you must engage him on his own terms and in his own language. Foreign brands increasingly will need to blend into local cultures if they are to become successful.”

He also points out that the Internet may, in fact, strengthen the connection that consumers have to their local culture.

“People in countries as diverse as China, Turkey and Brazil evince a strong desire to maintain their local culture,” writes Hollis. “In the future, they may celebrate their own cultural identities by choosing local foods, goods and entertainment over Western alternatives. And far from promoting a global village, the Internet actually may be promoting hundreds of local ones. The success of local Internet brands such as search engine Baidu in China and social network Mixi in Japan—as well as the growing trend toward local language blogging—suggests that far from undermining local culture, the Internet instead may be empowering it.”

The Middle East & North Africa Region

A recent report that was released by JWT MENA, titled “JWT MENA: 8 Trends for 2013,” provides insights about the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Interestingly, the report appears to verify that Nigel Hollis was indeed correct, at least for this particular part of the world.

According to the JWT report, “‘Arabification’ is definitely back. Whereas in the past, Arabs have looked to the West for inspiration, today, the region in entirety is looking inwards, supporting entrepreneurialism and its own national best interest. Rather than wallow in negativity, Millennials are optimistically looking forward and up, with a resilience and resourcefulness in addressing adversity. Consumer Confidence is up +6 points in KSA and +5 points in Egypt vs. 2011, shaping the ME of tomorrow, which will be pioneered by the dawn of ‘great brands from the Middle East’ as opposed to ‘great Middle Eastern brands’, towards self-sustainable individuals and economies.”

The report goes on to point out that about nine in 10 MENA adults agree with the statement, “I prefer products from my country over Western products if they are of better quality,” and a similar percentage agree with the statement, “I prefer products from my country over Western products if they are ‘unique.’” Furthermore, about three quarters of MENA adults agree with the statement, “I prefer products from my country over Western products if they are cheaper.”

The report concludes that, “At the end of the day, people are not just buying national brands, they’re buying a great brand and that’s the most important thing.”

If your business is marketing its products or services to consumers living in the Middle East or North Africa, I’d suggest reading this report. It provides great insights about the Middle East and North Africa, including interesting case studies from brands that have been successful in this region.

Final Thoughts

It is my belief that advancements in technology, including the increased reliance on the Internet, will make International marketing even more important in the near future.

However, while the Internet gives businesses the opportunity to sell their products and services to markets that they wouldn’t have even dreamed of just a few years ago, just introducing a product or service to a new market is not enough.

In order to be successful, brands may need to adjust everything from the communications strategy to the product itself, in order to appeal to consumers in other parts of the world.

As Nigel Hollis states at the end of his article in the AMA’s Marketing News, “Successful global brands will embrace the diversity of individuals, communities and cultures around the world, rather than seeking to impose one-size-fits-all templates irrespective of local needs and desires.”

Photo credits: stevecadman and Staeiou on Flickr.

Chad Thiele

Marketing analyst and strategist, freelance writer, content curator, applied sociologist, and a proud UW-Madison alumnus. My goal is to help businesses achieve their marketing objectives and business goals while gaining additional experience in the exciting world of digital marketing. I'm currently looking for my next career challenge. Please feel free to contact me anytime at: chadjthiele@gmail.com.

The Geography of Marketing: Staying Connected

2 comments By Chad Thiele Filed in app, apps, business, market research, mobile, podcast, podcasts, retail, technology, trends Tagged with app, apps, business, market research, mobile, podcast, podcasts, retail, technology, trends February 25th, 2013 @ 3:00 pm

The number of people who own smartphones worldwide continues to rise. Therefore, mobile marketing is becoming more important for businesses around the globe.

While the technology that is used in mobile devices has improved markedly in recent years, there are still issues that marketers need to be aware of that can influence the overall effectiveness of their mobile marketing campaigns.

In episode #436 of UNTETHER.tv, Rob Woodbridge interviewed Jasmeet Sethi, Regional Head of Consumer Insights for Ericsson ConsumerLab in India.

In a blog post introducing the episode, Woodbridge explains that Sethi believes the greatest challenge he faces is understanding the user experience for consumers in emerging markets.

“Forget your perceptions of UI/UX if you are thinking of swipes or “pull to refresh” or tap and hold, user experience to Jasmeet means something altogether more fundamental,” writes Woodbridge. “We take for granted the almost pervasive access to high speed wireless data we have at our fingertips but, as you know, in certain parts of emerging countries that doesn’t exist. This is a critical first step in understanding how to build for these markets – if your app or mobile service requires an always-on connection to the stream, it will not work in much of India. This, and many other basic usability requirements, could do irreparable damage to great brands and limit success in these huge markets.”

Back in the United States of America

While having limited access to an always-on data connection and slow download speeds are definitely going to be problems in emerging markets, these issues are also problems for marketers here in the United States. Therefore, the lessons that Woodbridge and Sethi are trying to teach marketers around the world are also valuable to those marketers who are trying to reach U.S. consumers.

According to a report that was released last year by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, 77% of adult mobile Internet users in the United States said that they experience “slow download speeds that prevent things from loading as quickly as you would like them to” at least occasionally. In fact, nearly half (46%) of adult U.S. mobile Internet users reported that they experience this problem at least once a week. (Note: Data from this study was also reported in an article written by Amy Gahran on CNN.com in August of 2012.)

An even simpler way to illustrate this problem is to go to the maps that show the 3G and 4G coverage areas for any mobile network operator in the United States.

According the current coverage map for Verizon Wireless, Verizon 4G LTE is available in 480 cities and covers 87% of the U.S. population. However, there are still many areas of the country that still don’t have access to Verizon’s 4G network. In fact, there are major areas on the map where 3G coverage isn’t available. While these areas aren’t places where many people live, they might be places where people travel to. Either way, they are locations where mobile marketing might not be the best option at this point in time.

It should be noted that there are many places around the country, including in the metro areas of Atlanta and Minneapolis/St. Paul, where I have experienced regular data connection problems when I used my 3G smartphone. This includes outdoor spaces, as well as in malls and major retail stores.

In episode 6 of the Digital Dive Podcast, co-hosts Emily Binder and Melanie Touchstone talk about connection issues that they encountered in the metro Atlanta area when vendors used their mobile devices to accept mobile payments with apps like Square or LevelUp. In episode 7, they arrive at the conclusion that the problem is fixed when vendors are connected to a 4G network. Therefore, 4G might be the solution that marketers and entrepreneurs are looking for.

However, keep in mind, that although 4G LTE is available in most urban areas, not everyone has upgraded to a 4G-enabled mobile device.

Therefore, if your mobile marketing campaign requires an always-on data connection, it is highly recommended that you test to make sure that consumers can connect using various types of mobile devices in the geographical areas where the campaign will be running, and definitely test to make sure that they can connect using a 3G network. In fact, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to test at different times of the day using different mobile devices before implementing your mobile marketing campaign. Then, continue to test the data connection availability and download speeds from time to time while the mobile marketing campaign is running.

Final Thoughts

As Woodbridge and Sethi point out in the post introducing episode #436 of UNTETHER.tv, data connection issues and slow download speeds can limit the success of mobile marketing campaigns and possibly cause irreparable damage to great brands.

Although they were talking about marketing to consumers in India and other emerging markets, similar issues are still problems in many parts of the United States.

While having a 4G connection might solve many of these problems, 4G is not available everywhere. And, even in places where it is available, many consumers won’t be able to access it because they haven’t upgraded to a 4G-enabled mobile device.

Therefore, before your business implements a mobile marketing campaign that requires an always-on data connection, it would be a good idea to test the data connection availability and download speeds in the geographical areas where the campaign will be running using a variety of mobile devices during different times of the day. And, definitely make sure that consumers can connect using a mobile device on a 3G network. Furthermore, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to test the data connection availability and download speeds from time to time while the mobile marketing campaign is running.

Finally, if your business plans to offer mobile payment options using Square, LevelUp or some other similar service, it is probably a good idea to make sure that your business is connected to a 4G network. It is also a good idea to test to make sure that everything is running smoothly before you use the service to process transactions during peak sales hours.

Photo credits: LGEPR and ETC@USC on Flickr.

Chad Thiele

The Geography of Marketing: Media Consumption Habits

0 comments By Chad Thiele Filed in market research, mobile, target marketing, technology, trends Tagged with market research, mobile, target marketing, technology, trends February 18th, 2013 @ 8:00 am

The location and the size of the city that people live in tends to influence what sources they turn to for local news and information. This is something that marketers need to be aware of when deciding how best to reach their target audience.

In a blog post that I wrote last year, I pointed out that use of the latest advancements in technology tends to vary based on the location and the size of the community that consumers live in. At the time, my analysis was based on knowledge that I had obtained by traveling and living in various communities.

Since then, a report was published that verified many of my observations. (I want to thank Jason Konopinski for pointing out this study in a recent blog post that he wrote.)

The study was conducted in January 2011 by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism and Internet & American Life Project, in partnership with the Knight Foundation. The study explains that while most U.S. adults keep track of what is happening in their local communities, the local news ecosystem is complex.

According to the authors of report, “The results indicate that from large urban areas to rural communities, Americans often report similarly high levels of interest in news in general, in local news and information, and in national and international news. Moreover, similar percentages of adults report following the specific local topics asked about, regardless of the type of community in which they live.”

“Still, community differences do emerge in the number and variety of local news sources used, as well as the degree of “local news participation” and mobile news consumption,” the authors of the study continue. “Many of the differences in local news consumption emerging from these data reflect the varying demographic composition of different community types in the U.S.”

Important Differences Based on Location and Community Size

The report highlights some of the differences in local news consumption habits based on location and community size. Here are some of the findings reported in the study:

Urban consumers obtain local news and information from a wide range of sources, including Internet searches, Twitter, blogs and the websites of local TV stations and newspapers. They also are more likely to obtain news via their mobile devices than consumers in small cities/towns or rural areas.

Suburban consumers tend to rely on local radio for news and information more than consumers in urban, small town/city, and rural areas. (The authors of the report say that this is possibly a result of relatively longer commute times.) These consumers are also the most likely to use a mobile device to obtain local news and information.

Consumers living in small towns/cities tend to rely on tradition media sources such as television and newspapers for local news and information. In fact, the study found that when compared to consumers living in communities of different sizes, consumers living in small towns/cities are the most likely to worry about what would happen if their local newspaper no longer existed. It is also important to note that these consumers are less likely to use the Internet and/or email or have a cell phone than consumers in larger communities.

Rural consumers use the fewest sources of media to obtain local news and information (average 3.3 local news sources per week, tied with small town/city consumers.) They are also the most likely to only rely on traditional news sources. Therefore, it is not surprising that they are the least likely to obtain local news and information via a mobile device, when compared to consumers living in larger communities.

Some of these variations can be explained by the demographics of the consumers living in each type of community. However, as the study points out, some consumers may not obtain local news and information via the specific media sources because it is just not an option for them.

Final Thoughts

The study that was released by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism and Internet & American Life Project, in partnership with the Knight Foundation, is an excellent resource for marketers.

As I pointed out in my blog post last year, use of different technological advancements, including social networking sites, tends to vary based on the size and location of the community that consumers live in.

As the Pew Research Center’s report points out, the size and location of the community also plays a role in whether or not consumers rely on a wide range of media sources for local news and information.

This data again points to the fact that marketers need to make adjustments in their marketing campaigns in order to reach their customers and prospects where they are, not where the business thinks they should be.

In the end, because media consumption habits are different based on the location and the size of the community, specific marketing campaigns that work in one place might not be as effective in a different part of the country.

Photo credits: ChrisYunker and Gerry Dincher on Flickr.

Chad Thiele

A Look at the Aging of America From a Retail Perspective

0 comments By Chad Thiele Filed in Advertising, app, case study, market research, mobile, Package, Packaging, retail, shopping, target marketing, technology, trends Tagged with advertising, app, case study, market research, mobile, package, packaging, retail, shopping, target marketing, technology, trends January 31st, 2013 @ 3:00 pm

Andy Rooney once said, “It’s paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn’t appeal to anyone.”

This could be partially due to the fact that either through design or disregard, the products and services that brands offer tend to cater to younger consumers.

However, as times goes on, older consumers are going to be harder and harder to ignore.

As the baby boomers reach retirement age, the number of older consumers continues to grow. (It is worth noting that there will be more older consumers in the near future because there were higher birth rates from 1946 to 1964 and because older consumers who reach the age of 65 are projected to live longer lives in the future.)

While brands do intentionally target different consumers when they advertise their products or services, there are also some decisions that brands are making that may unintentionally exclude older consumers from making a purchase.

If You Can Read This You’re Too Young

In his book, “Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping—Updated and Revised for the Internet, the Global Consumer, and Beyond,” (affiliate link) Paco Underhill explains how retail will be transformed in the near future as a result of the aging of the population of the United States. In fact, he devotes a whole chapter to this topic.

According to Underhill, by 2025, we are going to need a whole new world when it comes to retail.

“What’s wrong with this world? For starters, all the words are too damn small,” says Underhill. “See this sentence? How could you? Too damn small. How about the morning paper? Forget it. Too damn small. The directions on your jar of organic herbal laxative? Too. Damn. Small. And you’re not even going to try squinting. (It causes wrinkles.) If you can’t read it, by gum, you just won’t buy it. And if you don’t buy organic herbal laxative, nobody will. And if nobody buys it… well, you see where this is going.”

“Human eyes begin to falter at about age forty, and even healthy ones are usually impaired by their sixties,” Underhill continues. “With age, three main ocular events take place: The lens becomes more rigid and the muscles holding it weaken, meaning you can’t focus on small type; the cornea yellows, which changes how you perceive color; and less light reaches your retina, meaning the world looks a little dimmer than it once did. The issue of visual acuity, already a major one in the marketplace, will become even more critical—not just in some far-off future, but from this moment on.”

Is he making too big of a deal about the eyesight of older consumers? You can decide that for yourself, but first you might want to read some of the examples that Underhill provides as evidence.

“One of our fast-food clients realized that diners over fifty-five were their fastest-growing demographic, despite the fact that the menu boards used type that was almost impossible for older people to see well,” reports Underhill. “The company redesigned the menus using large photos of the food, and even though it meant listing fewer items, sales rose.”

Underhill also points out that, “The main market today for drugstores is older people, and that dependence will only increase. Certainly, of all the words we are required to read in the course of our lives, few are more important than the labels, directions and warnings on drugs, both prescription and over the counter. For instance, we have found that 91 percent of all skin care customers buy only after they’ve read the front label of the box, bottle or jar. Forty-two percent of buyers also read the back of the package. Clearly, reading is crucial to selling skin care and other health and beauty items.”

It is also interesting to note that the type on products that are frequently used by senior citizens (e.g., aspirin, a host of other common analgesics, cold capsules and vitamins) is often smaller than the type on products that are targeted to teenagers.

Can the Problem Be Fixed?

This sounds like an easy enough problem to fix. Just make the type bigger and the problem is solved, right? Not so fast.

You see, part of the problem is that many consumers rely on information in order to make purchase decisions. Therefore, brands need to provide a sufficient amount of information on their packages.

However, on a small box or bottle, there is a limited amount of real estate. Therefore, the choice is to either make the package bigger, provide less information or make the type smaller. It appears that many brands are choosing the third option—to the dismay of older consumers.

In the book, Underhill offers some possible suggestions that might help fix the problem, including package redesigns, better signage in retail stores, increased use of graphics on the labels, and tech solutions including sending additional information to our mobile devices.

In the end, he suggests the correct solution might be a combination of these and other possible fixes.

Final Thoughts

As Paco Underhill points out in his book, the aging of the population of consumers in the United States is going to provide numerous challenges to brands and retailers in the very near future. (These challenges include issues that I haven’t mentioned in this post.)

However, as with any challenge that is presented to the business world, they also provide an opportunity for businesses to profit by stepping up and finding ways to meet the needs of this important demographic.

As Paco Underhill sums it up, “Older shoppers are more important than ever, if only because there are more of them, and they have a lot of money to spend and time to spend it. Their presence will transform how products are sold in the twenty-first century.”

With this in mind, the question is: Is your business ready?

Photo credits: nicubunu.photo and bartsz on Flickr.

Chad Thiele

Seven Things on My Radar for 2013

0 comments By Chad Thiele Filed in Advertising, business, JWT, market research, mobile, public relations, retail, shopping, social media, target marketing, technology, trends Tagged with advertising, business, JWT, market research, mobile, public relations, retail, shopping, social media, target marketing, technology, trends January 4th, 2013 @ 8:00 am

Question: 2013 will be the year of what?

That is the question that many people are currently asking themselves.

In November, iMedia Communications published a blog post that featured 16 business leaders making predictions as to what they think 2013 will be best known for.

In the post, Mark Cuban, an American business magnate and owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, predicted that 2013 will be the year of entrepreneurship. Ian Wolfman, CMO at MEplusYou, predicted that 2013 will be the year of purpose (i.e., brands will do more meaningful things in the world and more advertising dollars will be spent for social good in an effort to earn the trust of consumers.) Furthermore, Alfredo Gangotena, CMO at MasterCard, focused on the changing economic conditions around the world, including new opportunities for business growth in Africa in 2013.

Other experts predicted that we will finally get mobile right in 2013, video will explode, we will be able to achieve better targeting for in-marketing consumers, and that there will be more consolidation and easier technology, among other things.

If that list wasn’t enough to inspire your imagination, I’d suggest checking out the “100 Things to Watch in 2013” list published by JWT Intelligence. This yearly list has some amazing predictions for 2013.

Some of the Things That I Will Be Watching in 2013

I don’t have access to the same information that the business leaders that I mentioned earlier in this post have. Therefore, I am not going to make a prediction as to what I think 2013 will be best known for.

While I can’t say what 2013 will be best known for, I can provide a list of some of the things that I plan to study and monitor in the next 12 months. That list includes:

1) Rapid Advancements in Technology

We all know how fast technology has changed the world that we live in, in just the past decade. Think about what the world will be like next year, then think about the remarkable changes in technology that we will witness in the next 10, 20, or 30 years. In order to stay ahead of the curve, I think that it is important for businesses to pay attention to what futurists like Raymond Kurzweil predict the world will be like, and make sure that they have the products and services that will meet consumers’ demands when the time comes.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Google recently hired Kurzweil to be the Director of Engineering. Sure, the real reason for the hire is because Kurzweil has decades of machine learning experience, but there are other reasons for having a brilliant futurist on staff (i.e., making sure the competition doesn’t have the same level of access to all the knowledge that he has in that head of his.)

There are other reasons to be thinking about the future of technology from a business standpoint. For further insight, look at number 11, 20, 27, 43, 52, 65, and 70 on the JWT Intelligence “100 Things to Watch in 2013” list.

2) Mobile (User Experience and Marketing)

According to comScore, “123.3 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones (53 percent mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in November 2012, up 6 percent since August.” (This doesn’t include the increase that we will most likely see after the numbers are in after the holiday gift-giving season. Also, keep in mind, this number doesn’t include tablet computer usage.)

Therefore, it is not surprising that many experts predict that mobile will play an increasing role in consumers’ purchase decisions in the future. Therefore, it would be extremely ignorant to ignore this important technology.

From a business standpoint, it will not only be important to monitor how consumers are using their mobile devices in their day-to-day lives, but it will also be important that consumers can easily find the brand’s products or services wherever they are looking, including when they are using their smartphones or tablet computers. And, when they do find the brand’s products or services online, it will be equally important that the information that they find is user friendly and optimized for the mobile device that they are using.

3) Mobile Payments

Mobile devices will not only change the way that consumers find and do research on products or services, they will also play an increasing role in how consumers actually purchase these products and services. In fact, according to a post on the Intuit GoPayment Blog, a recent Jupiter Research study estimated that, by 2017, one out of every 25 retail transactions worldwide will be completed with a mobile device.

Therefore, it is important that businesses start getting comfortable with this technology now, while the technology is still new and they have the luxury of time to experiment and make adjustments, as necessary. If businesses wait until a majority of their customers become comfortable with the technology, they might end up losing sales to competitors that have taken the time to experiment and perfect the transaction process.

4) Mobile-Influenced Merchandising

As an increasing number of people use mobile devices to gather information as they shop in brick-and-mortar stores, it is inevitably going to change the way that consumers interact with products in the real world. Retailers are going to want to do everything that they can to prevent what some experts call “showrooming.” Finding ways to get consumers to buy from the current store that they are in is going to become a top priority. Among other things, this might lead to more price-match guarantees to increase sales. There is also a possibility that consumers’ shopping behaviors will be altered in ways that we haven’t even thought of as a result of consumers having a mobile device in their hand while they shop. It is for this reason that I will be watching merchandising trends in 2013.

5) Privacy Issues

Changes in all sorts of technology, from Facebook to facial recognition technology, will have consumers worrying whether or not their personally identifiable information (PII) is getting into the wrong hands. In this environment, even the perception of a privacy issue can have a huge impact on whether or not consumers trust the brand, which can ultimately have an effect on the bottom line.

6) The Evolution of Marketing and Public Relations

It is important that businesses monitor changes in the marketing and public relations world. Each new technology that is introduced brings with it new challenges. Therefore, it is important to understand what is working for other companies and adapt that into your marketing plan, if possible. It is also important to try new things, test, and make changes when necessary. However, as Mark Schaefer points out in a recent blog post, one of the best ways to cope with the changes that marketers are facing today is to view technological change through the lens of marketing fundamentals. That way you can more easily weed out the stuff that most likely won’t work. In other words, a solid understanding of the fundamentals of marketing and public relations will still be the foundation for success.

7) Emerging Markets

Alfredo Gangotena’s comment in the post that I mentioned earlier really got me thinking about the possibilities that are available in emerging markets. Therefore, I plan to add this to my to-do list of topics to study in 2013.

Conclusion

These are just some of the things that I will be watching in 2013.

It is important to note that a change in technology could have a huge impact on all the other things mentioned on my list.

So now that you have my list, my question to you is: what is on your radar in 2013?

Photo credit: Official U.S. Navy Imagery on Flickr.

Chad Thiele

Why Marketers and Public Relations Professionals Should Be Concerned About Internet Security

0 comments By Chad Thiele Filed in public relations, technology, trends Tagged with public relations, technology, trends October 11th, 2012 @ 8:00 am

We’ve all seen films where the main character needs to get access to another person’s computer files, so he or she asks a computer whiz for help.

In the movies, said computer whiz often resorts to brute-force cracking (i.e., systematically checking all the possible passwords or cryptographic keys until the correct one is found that allows them to gain access to the information.)

Even if the computer system did not lock them out or require other security measures, this method would still take a considerable amount of time to gain access, particularly if the user who they were trying to obtain the information from chose a long enough password.

However, in the real world, most hackers aren’t trying to get into one person’s account—instead they want access to any account that can get their hands on. Money is money and it doesn’t matter who they steal from. Therefore, they can use other methods of gaining access to a customer’s account that exploit weaknesses in information technology security systems and take far less time.

So why should marketers and public relations professionals be concerned about this? This is a job for the Information Technology department, right?

It is true that most marketers and public relations professionals (me included) don’t completely understand the technical details regarding these issues. However, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be thinking about them. After all, our customers care about the security of their data, therefore marketers and public relations professionals should care, too.

Moore’s Law

According to Wikipedia, “Moore’s law is the observation that over the history of computing hardware, the number of transistors on integrated circuits doubles approximately every two years. The period often quoted as “18 months” is due to Intel executive David House, who predicted that period for a doubling in chip performance (being a combination of the effect of more transistors and their being faster).”

The end result is that we gain access to much faster computer processing speeds and increased memory capacity in a relatively short amount of time.

This is great for most areas of business, but could be a huge challenge for information technology security experts.

It’s Not Too Early to Be Thinking About 2018

As computer processing speeds increase, it is going to take less time for hackers to do a lot of malicious things to a computer system, including gaining access to a user’s personally identifiable information (PII), financial accounts or spreading nasty computer viruses and malware.

In an article posted on Technology Review, titled “Faster Computation Will Damage the Internet’s Integrity,” Glenn Fleishman explains that the end is near for a cryptographic routine that is used to protect the integrity of secure Web transactions, stored passwords, and hundreds of other purposes because computer processing speeds are increasing at rates predicted by Moore’s law.

Fleishman points out, “By 2018, writes Intel’s Jesse Walker on a mailing list devoted to this form of cryptographic protection, a criminal organization could easily afford the cost of, in essence, forging the signature on critical security documents using commodity computing hardware. By 2021, he says, an academic group could afford to own or rent the necessary processing time.”

The article points out the technical details of the problem, many of which are beyond my area of expertise.

However, from a business standpoint, what is clear is that businesses need to act on this to protect themselves from future threats, both from an information technology and a marketing and public relations standpoint.

From an information technology standpoint, businesses need to address this problem to make sure that their customers’ data is secure. If their customers’ data is not secure, it can be a nightmare not only for the information technology department, but also for the legal and public relations departments, as well.

However, even if the problem is addressed before it’s too late, the marketing and public relations departments will still need to make sure that their customers are aware that all of the online transactions that they perform with the company are secure.

You see, if people are already talking about this issue now, there is a good chance that more major news sources will pick up on the story later on, when it really becomes an issue.

Conclusion

The issue that Glenn Fleishman pointed out in his article is important for businesses to be aware of so that they can monitor, plan and take corrective actions from an information technology standpoint.

And, this is only the tip of the iceberg.

As the computational power of computers increases, there are going to be many more issues like this.

It’s also important to remember that this is not just a concern for the information technology department.

It is also important that the marketing and public relations teams stay on top of these issues, because the mainstream media is most likely going to be talking about it, particularly when it really becomes an issue that has an immediate effect on the public.

By having a plan in place ahead of time, the marketing and public relations teams will know how to respond to customers’ concerns before they arise.

If the business is more prepared than the competition, it can help them gain a valuable competitive advantage that might lead to additional business opportunities, and maybe more important, prevent the loss of current customers.

Photo credit: quinn.anya on Flickr.

Chad Thiele

Only Half the Story: Instagram Now Has More Daily Active Users on Mobile Than Twitter

0 comments By Chad Thiele Filed in Advertising, app, apps, BLSG, Inbound marketing, Instagram, mobile, public relations, social media, technology, trends, Twitter Tagged with advertising, app, apps, BLSG, Inbound marketing, Instagram, mobile, public relations, social media, technology, trends, Twitter September 30th, 2012 @ 7:00 pm

You may have read the Mashable article that reported that Instagram now has more daily active users on mobile than Twitter.

Yes, it’s true, according to comScore Instagram had 7.3 million daily mobile users in August, compared to 6.9 million for Twitter.

However, Twitter enthusiasts need not worry at all. After all, the numbers that were reported by comScore are only based on mobile users and many of Twitter’s users access the site via its website on their PC.

In fact, according to eBizMBA Inc., as of September 2012, Twitter is the 9^th most popular website.

Furthermore, I think it’s misleading to compare Twitter and Instagram, because they are two very different types of social networking sites. In fact, even though Facebook now owns Instagram, Instagram and Twitter currently have a very symbiotic relationship. That is, many Instagram users use Twitter to share their photos with other people in their network—particularly those who aren’t using Instagram. This benefits both Twitter, as its users can share additional content, and Instagram, as its users can have their photos reach a larger audience.

Therefore, the fact that Instagram has more daily active users on mobile than Twitter is only half the story.

In fact, I don’t think that it’s a story at all.

In the end, Twitter is still a great place to for advertisers to focus when trying to generate buzz about their products or services. As I plan to point out in the next post, this is particularly true when used in conjunction with some other event or as a part of a larger marketing or public relations campaign.

Photo credit: eldh on Flickr.

Chad Thiele

Is Twitter Destined to Fail or Did It Find a Creneau?

0 comments By Chad Thiele Filed in Facebook, Inbound marketing, SEO, social media, target marketing, technology, trends, Twitter Tagged with Facebook, Inbound marketing, SEO, social media, target marketing, technology, trends, Twitter June 17th, 2012 @ 8:00 am

People are always trying to assess the future of various social networking sites.

For businesses, this type of assessment is needed from time to time, because businesses don’t want to invest heavily in a particular social networking site only to see it close its doors.

Therefore, it’s not surprising that HubSpot is holding a debate about the future of Twitter on Friday, June 22, 2012, at 12 P.M. EST.

The debate will feature Kipp Bodnar, Inbound Marketing Manager at HubSpot and co-author of “The B2B Social Media Book” (affiliate link) and Laura Fitton, Inbound Marketing Evangelist at HubSpot and lead author of “Twitter for Dummies.” (affiliate link)

Mr. Bodnar predicts that “Twitter is slowly coming to an end.” On the other hand, Ms. Fitton “couldn’t disagree more.”

Personally, I agree with Ms. Fitton, but it will be interesting to hear what they both have to say during the debate.

Finding a Creneau

I’m currently reading, “Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind,” (affiliate link) by Al Ries and Jack Trout.

In the book, the authors point out that the French have a rather useful marketing expression, “Cherchez le creneau.” The English translation: “Look for the hole.”

The authors suggest that it is difficult (if not impossible) for a brand with a small share of the market to take on the established leader by competing head-to-head.

Instead, they suggest, “Cherchez le creneau and then fill it.”

Facebook Vs. Twitter

In the social media world, with over 900 million monthly active users, Facebook is clearly the established leader.

Using the logic put forth by Ries and Trout in their book, it doesn’t make sense for another social network to try to take on Facebook by offering a similar product. However, in my opinion, that is exactly what Google+ is trying to do.

Twitter, on the other hand, with its approximately 100 million users, offers users a social network that is very different from Facebook. Instead of using a complicated formula similar to Facebook’s EdgeRank to determine who sees a post, pages and a timeline that are filled with a lot of other distractions, and a plethora of other features, Twitter focuses on speed, simplicity, and brevity.

In fact, what makes Twitter unique is brevity. That is, given the fact that posts can only be 140 characters long, it forces the person who posts the message to get to the point.

Furthermore, Twitter is great for skimming through a lot of posts quickly to see if there is something that you might want to learn more about by clicking on the link, if there is one. This is not as easy to do with Facebook.

Therefore, it’s not surprising that according to a MarketingVox study, 40% of active Twitter users don’t actually tweet. They are using Twitter as a resource for information.

And, as Tom Webster points out in his blog post, titled “Why Twitter Is Bigger Than You Think,” the way that Twitter is set up makes it easy for traditional media outlets to use the site as a source for their news stories.

Bigger Is Not Always Better

The HubSpot blog post that introduces Friday’s debate points out that while Twitter came out only two years after Facebook, it hasn’t grown as fast.

I’d argue that this might not be a bad thing.

Often when a site gets so big that everyone is using it, it loses its appeal to a certain subset of the population. Twitter offers people an alternative to Facebook.

Furthermore, while users might use Facebook to connect with certain people, they might choose to also use Twitter to connect with a different subset of their network. This allows them to post things without sharing everything with everyone in their network. (I know that you can accomplish this by changing the post settings in Facebook, but sometimes it’s just easier to post to another network and not have to worry about it.)

Twitter for Business

Twitter is not going to be useful for every business.

As with all social networking sites, Twitter is going to be the most beneficial to your business if your customers and prospects are using it. Therefore, the future of Twitter might not matter to you if your customers and prospects don’t use the site.

Keep in mind, however, what you tweet does have a chance of showing up when your customers and prospects do a search on Google or any other search engine. This is just something to think about.

Final Thoughts

It is important for businesses that use social media for marketing purposes to keep up with trends and assess the health of each social networking site that they use to connect with customers and prospects.

Therefore, it might helpful to watch the debate that is being held by HubSpot on Friday.

Going into the debate, my feeling is that Twitter will be around for a long time, even if it only serves a small subset of the population.

Social networking sites can’t be everything to everyone.

As I pointed out in this post, I think that the fact that not everyone is using Twitter can actually work to its advantage.

In other words, I definitely think that Twitter has found a creneau and filled it.

Chad Thiele

Smartphones Are Changing Lives

2 comments By Chad Thiele Filed in market research, mobile, technology, trends Tagged with market research, mobile, technology, trends April 25th, 2012 @ 11:00 pm

Apple reported sales figures on Tuesday that made a lot of investors very happy.

According to The New York Times, “The company reported Tuesday that soaring sales of the iPhone, especially in China, helped Apple nearly double its profit in the company’s fiscal second quarter.”

The article also reports, “Apple said it sold 35.1 million iPhones in the quarter, an 88 percent increase from the period a year ago.”

This is another indication that, if they haven’t already, businesses should start developing a strategy to reach consumers via their smartphones. Those that don’t find way to connect with consumers via their smartphones risk losing out on a lot of potential sales.

Smartphone Ownership in the United States

A recently released study that was conducted by Arbitron and Edison Research sheds light on mobile phone usage among Americans age 12 and older. (Note: The study was conducted from January 20, 2012 to February 19, 2012.)

At the time the study was conducted, 44% of Americans age 12 and older owned a smartphone, up 42% in just one year.

The Impact of Owning a Smartphone

According to the study, smartphone owners are more likely to use their mobile phones several times per day or more for many different functions than their counterparts who own non-smartphone cell phones. (Surprisingly, smartphone users are even more likely to use their mobile phones several times per day or more for making and receiving calls than non-smartphone cell phone users.)

I’d speculate that usage of mobile phones for various functions is higher among smartphone users than it is among non-smartphone cell phone users due, in part, to the fact that early adopters of smartphones would most likely also be early adopters of other technologies that utilize the features that can be accessed on a mobile device. The fact that it costs a lot more to own a smartphone also probably influences the way consumers use their mobile phones.

Of course, some of the differences can be explained by the fact that smartphones, by definition, allow users to do a lot more things with greater ease than non-smartphone cell phones do.

With that said, it’s not surprising that of the digital devices/platforms that were asked about in the study, Apple iPhones and Android smartphones were the most likely to have a big impact on people’s lives.

People Are Attached to Their Smartphones

Overall, 60% of smartphone owners reported that their mobile device is always within arm’s length, and another 31% reported that they have their smartphone with them most of the time. In comparison, only 44% of non-smartphone cell phone users reported that they always have their cell phone with them, and another 33% said that they have their non-smartphone cell phone nearby most of the time.

Final Thoughts

The number of people who own smartphones continues to rise.

This is not surprising, given the fact that consumers can do so many cool things with their smartphones. So many things that many people who own smartphones report that these devices have had a big impact on the way that they live their life.

In fact, smartphones have become such an important part of the way that some Americans live their life that they always have their smartphone within reach.

Given the fact that so many consumers rely so heavily on their smartphones, don’t you think it sounds ridiculous for a company to say that investing in mobile marketing isn’t worth the effort?

Photo credit: renatomitra on Flickr.

Chad Thiele

Insights From the SHRM 2011 Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement Survey Report

2 comments By Chad Thiele Filed in employees, Human resource management, trends Tagged with employees, Human resource management, trends January 24th, 2012 @ 11:00 pm

According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) 2011 Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement report, 83% of U.S. employees were at least somewhat satisfied with their jobs in 2011.

While the percentage of employees who are satisfied with their jobs has been trending downward since 2009, the percentage of satisfied employees reported in 2011 was still slightly higher than the percentages that were reported from 2002 to 2008.

However, this doesn’t mean that companies can rest on their laurels.

In fact, as I pointed out in the last post, maintaining high levels of employee job satisfaction may be more important for companies now than it was in the past.

Aspects of Job Satisfaction Most Important to Employees

The SHRM study found that the aspects of job satisfaction that were most important to U.S. employees in 2011 included: Job security, opportunities to use skills and abilities, the organization’s financial stability, relationship with their immediate supervisor, compensation/pay, benefits, communication between employees and senior management and the work itself.

Given the recent economic conditions, it’s not surprising that job security and the organization’s financial stability were among the aspects of job satisfaction that were most important to U.S. employees in 2011.

It’s also not surprising that compensation/pay and benefits ranked high on this list since they have been among the most important job satisfaction contributors for many years. However, at 53%, the percentage of U.S. employees who said that benefits were very important was lower in 2011 than it has been recent years.

In contrast, the percentage of U.S. employees who said that opportunities to use skills/abilities is a very important aspect of job satisfaction has been trending upward in recent years.

Employee Job Satisfaction Levels

Knowing what aspects are most important to employees is only half of the equation.

You also need to know how satisfied employees are with each aspect and then compare that to their respective importance level.

Aspects that are very important to employees but rank low on employee satisfaction are the aspects that companies should take a look at and try to improve on in the future, if possible.

According to the SHRM study, less than three of 10 U.S. employees reported being very satisfied with their organization’s financial stability, job security, benefits, communication between employees and senior management, and compensation in 2011. And, if you recall, these were all among the most important aspects of employee job satisfaction.

Final Thoughts

As the SHRM report points out, there are many factors that influence employee job satisfaction and engagement, including restructuring, demographic makeup of the organization, change in management, economic change, political change, global change and many others.

While companies have no control over some of these factors, there are things that they can do to mitigate the negative effects that they have on employee morale.

The SHRM report suggests that HR professionals help their organizations cultivate a culture that promotes employee engagement and job satisfaction through policies and practices, training line managers to better communicate their company’s mission and vision, and involving line managers in the organization’s strategic planning.

It is also suggested that organizations conduct their own employee satisfaction and engagement surveys to measure how well they are doing and then benchmark their results against other companies of a similar size within their industry.

I’d suggest checking out the SHRM report in its entirety, as it is filled with other valuable insights and information that can help your company make better decisions in the future.

Photo credit: seanhagen on Flickr.