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Reap What You New: A Futurist’s Guide to Anticipating and Leading Change

24 May 2010

On May 18, BMA- Minnesota was pleased to have global trends analyst, Cecily Sommers, Founder and President of The Push Institute provide a guide to anticipating and leading change.

 

Here are some presentation highlights
  1. Crisis is the result of unanticipated change
  2. Change literacy /permanent present; remembering, yet envisioning the future
  3. Need to be both global and hyper local at the same time
  4. Know; study, new, explore, do, execute
  5. Pour and stir; constantly add new information to make change and choices
  6. Four forces of change are constant and predictable: resources, technology, demographics and government.
To view the presentation slides visit the chapter's recent event's page.
 

Following the program was a small group workshop for BMA members. This was a great format to be able to discuss in detail how one begins to take the tools provided and put them to good use. Where does one begin to try and change how we receive and process information to ensure we do not miss opportunities and reach our potential? We need to find ways to “create purpose daily” and allow ourselves time to think freely and without restriction. Analyze less and “DO” more!

 

- Camila Drahn

24 May 2010 @ 13:24 | Eva Keiser

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A Perilous Pitfall of Promotion

2 May 2010

I found myself dumbfounded today.
 A brilliant young woman I’ve had the privilege of getting to know through a volunteer organization, a woman I respect and one I’d hire in a heartbeat, given the right opportunity alignment, posted a status update on Facebook that knocked my socks off. This woman works in a marketing capacity. I believe she has a marketing degree. Yet, she thought it was “bull” that she couldn’t take advantage of a Mother’s Day promotion, even though she is not herself a mother.
 I read her status update five times before I commented. I tried to point out, gently, that as long as the company sponsoring the promo has clear definitions. on eligibility, and terms and conditions of the promotion that are enforced fairly, she just isn’t eligible.
That’s just the way it is.
While I believe my answer was both accurate and appropriate, it wasn’t satisfying.
I felt it was missing something.
And I think the something may be this:
Every promotion that reaches out to one specific customer segment, runs the risk of alienating a different customer segment.
I was on the flip side of this equation a few years back.
Spending way too much of my disposable income at one major retailer, they had mailed out a special “two day” offer, letting me receive an additional 30 – 50% discount off ANYTHING in the store (exceptions noted) during this time frame.
I would have loved to go on a shopping spree, but found myself scheduled to be out of town those two special days.
I went to the local retail outlet and talked with the store manager, pointing out how much I would likely spend, if they’d just allow me to use the coupon on a different two day period.
You guessed it. I got nowhere. Her hands were tied. The rules and regulations were clear – it was a quarter-end traffic generating special. I’d just have to miss it.
I wasn’t happy. I’ve probably shopped there significantly less since this experience. But I understood the rules and they couldn’t change the rules for me.
So fellow marketers – what’s the answer?
I suspect that all the energy that goes into establishing a promo offer is rarely buffered with the “who are we going to alienate” discussion.
But after today’s incident, reminding me of my personal experience, it’s going to become a documented part of our promotion development going forward.
Would appreciate learning how other marketers have dealt with this.
Thanks!

Jane Rodmyre Payfer, Chief Marketing Officer, Ergotron

2 May 2010 @ 18:53 | Jane Payfer

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BMA Web Seminar - May 11

27 April 2010

"Balancing Brand and Demand: Measures and Methodologies for an Economy in Transition"

Bookmark and Share Groundbreaking Brand/Demand Study by Stein Rogan + Partners Reveals How Marketers and Agencies Are Balancing Brand- and Demand-Centric Efforts Amid a Challenging and Changing Economy.
 
While marketers and agencies both advocate careful calibration when it comes to balancing brand and demand, the economy clearly swung the brand/demand pendulum toward demand creation. However, in 2010, that pendulum is starting to swing back - if tenatively.
 
That is among the many insights revealed by the first-ever Brand/Demand Study (B/D09). The benchmark study, Titled “Balancing Brand and Demand: Measures and Methodologies for an Economy in Transition,” was conducted by Stein Rogan + Partners, named 2009’s Top Agency of the Year by BtoB Magazine*, in partnership with Forbes and Ziff Davis Enterprise. B/D09 was the first national study of the approaches being utilized by the marketing community in achieving brand-centric and demand-centric marketing goals.
 
The second annual study, B/D10, is being completed in May 2010. Initial data from this study, which provides year over year comparisons, will be previewed during this webinar scheduled.
 
According to Tom Stein, President and Chief Creative Officer for Stein Rogan, “The fact that marketers advocate balancing brand- and demand-centric initiatives – yet are still currently emphasizing demand – is not surprising. What is more surprising is the nearly universal acknowledgement that investing in brand in today’s environment will enable strategic advantage as the economy improves.”
Date/Time:
May 11, 2010
10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. CST

Cost:
BMA Members - No Charge
Non-Members - $99

Registration:
1. Click here to register.
2. Reserve your slot in the web seminar. After registering, a receipt page will open. On this page, click the link asking you to reserve your slot to complete the reservation process.

About the Presenter:
Tom Stein is president and a founding partner of Stein Rogan + Partners. Over the past 23 years, Tom has established Stein Rogan as one of the leading branding, integrated and interactive marketing agencies serving business-to- business, business-to-education and innovative consumer brands. In doing so, he has built the Agency into a multi-faceted practitioner of synchronized, multi-channel marketing for brand leaders and challengers.
 
In 2008, Tom was recognized for his career achievements and inducted into the CEBA Hall of Fame. The CEBA (Creative Excellence in Business Advertising) Hall of Fame was established in 1995 to honor the brilliance of business-to-business advertising.
 
Tom started his career as a copywriter and serves as the Agency’s Chief Creative Officer. As such, he is closely involved with Stein Rogan’s strategic and creative product – and works with all major accounts in the areas of brand vision, brand/creative development and marketing/business results. Born toward the end of the age of “traditional”  advertising and marketing, Stein Rogan under Tom’s guidance helped usher in the digital marketing age more than a decade ago, pioneering integrated offline and online techniques that only now have truly become mainstream.
 
In this regard, Tom has continued to add strategic, creative and tactical capabilities to the Agency, including marketing performance management systems, web 2.0/social network marketing services, automated precision marketing and lead nurturing systems and other capabilities that continue to revolutionize marketing on a global level.
 
In 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 Tom was honored as one of the ten “Who’s Who in B2B Advertising” by BtoB Magazine.
 
In 2005, Stein Rogan achieved one of the highest acknowledgements of excellence in B2B marketing: BtoB’s 2005 Agency of the Year designation. In 2006, Stein Rogan’s work under Tom’s leadership was selected among the top four Business-to-Business Integrated Marketing Success Stories, and Stein Rogan was again ranked among the top “Agencies of the Year” by BtoB Magazine.

27 April 2010 @ 11:38 | Eva Keiser

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How Applying Foresight to Business Decisions Can Change a Company’s Future

26 April 2010

No one can predict the future, but any organization that wants to become and remain successful must be able to understand and anticipate change.

To prepare B2B Marketers to manage long-term thinking in a world that demands delivery today, the Minnesota chapter of the Business Marketing Association (BMA-Minnesota) will host “Reap What You New: A Futurist’s Guide to Anticipating and Leading Change” on May 18, 2010.
 
The session will be led by Cecily Sommers, founder and president of The Push Institute, a non-profit think tank that tracks significant global trends and their implications over the next 5-50 years. A futurist who analyzes global trends, Sommers designs and leads future-directed programs that bring the power of foresight to strategy and innovation. Companies benefiting from Sommers’ strategic foresight include American Express, Best Buy, Motorola and Target.
 
At the event, Sommers will show how major social, economic and environmental events of our time spring from just four constant and predictable forces. Sommers will teach organizations how to harness the power of understanding knowing how change works to predict and invent their own future.
 
“It’s a challenging market for any organization,” said Tim Lebens, vice president of membership for BMA-Minnesota. “Anticipating change and opportunities in the future will give company leaders insight into what moves their organization must make today to reach their long-term objectives tomorrow. Through programming and speaker such as Cecily, we are giving members access to cutting edge ideas and strategies that will enable them to keep their companies competitive today and in the future.”
 
Sommers’ presentation will address:
-          How the brain, business and government are wired for the “Permanent Present” and resist change
-          Four constant and predictable forces shaping the future
-          Three dramatic disruptions on the horizon that should be part of every strategic conversation
-          How to manage an innovation portfolio that plans on the far and future, while delivering on the near and now

The event will be held on Tuesday, May 18, 2010, at the Metropolitan Ballroom in Golden Valley, Minn. Registration and breakfast will begin at 7:30 a.m. followed by the program from 8 to 9 a.m. There will be a member’s only networking event will follow immediately from 9 to 9:30 a.m.
 
The cost of the event is $30 for BMA members and $45 for non-members. Attendees can register online at www.bmaminnesota.org through May 16, 2010. There will be a limited number of walk-up registrations also available.
About Cecily Sommers, Futurist:
Cecily Sommers is the founder and president of The Push Institute, a non-profit think tank that tracks the major forces shaping our future and their implications for business, government and non-profit sectors over the next 5-10-25-50 years. A popular speaker at conferences, business schools and retreats across the country, Sommers treats her audience to a guided tour of the future, noting key opportunities and challenges along the way. She is also regularly heard various media outlets, including Public Radio’s All Things Considered, delivering a trend report and analysis in her Future Conversations segment. Sommers is a member of the World Future Society, was named by the Business Journal as one of twenty-five Women to Watch in 2005, and selected as one of Fast Company’s 2007 Fast 50 Reader’s Favorites. 

26 April 2010 @ 16:31 | Eva Keiser

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Walking Naked In Times Square

23 November 2009

BMA-Minnesota’s November featured a presentation entitled “Making Better Marketing Decisions” from Pat LaPointe, Managing Partner at Marketing NPV.  The chapter was truly honored to have someone with Pat\\'s deep expertise speak to our group - despite having lost his luggage on the trip to MSP from Billings, Montana.
 
An avid blogger, LaPointe shared with the chapter one of his recent posts that illuminates further, the value that comes from connecting with stakeholders internally to support the business case for marketing programs.
 
According to LaPointe, Marketing NPV publishes everything they know so check them out. In the meantime, here is a small sample of the insight from LaPointe.  I thought this photo of Time Square\\'s Naked Cowboy was appropriately suited. Enjoy.

 
 
By Pat LaPointe

I was sitting in a 2010 planning meeting recently listening to the marketing team describe their objectives, strategies, and thoughts on tactics they were planning to deploy. Their question to me was “how should we measure the payback on this strategy”?

My response was: “compared to what? Walking naked through Times Square?” I was being asked to evaluate a proposed strategy without any sense of what the alternatives were.

Sure, I can come up with a means of estimating and tracking the ROI on almost anything. But if that ROI comes to 142%, so what? Is there a plan that might get us to 1000% (without just cutting cost and manipulating the formula)?

As I thought back on the hundreds of planning meetings I’ve been in over the last 10 years, it occurred to me that we marketers are not so good at identifying alternative ways of achieving objectives and systematically weighing the options to ensure we’re selecting the paths that best meet the organization’s needs strategically, financially, and otherwise.

On a relative basis, we spend far too much of our time measuring the tactical/executional performance of the things we have decided to do, and far too little measuring the comparative value of things we might decide to do. Scenario planning; options analysis; decision frameworks. You get the idea.

The importance of this up-front effort isn’t just in getting to better strategies, but in building further credibility throughout the organization. Finance, sales, and operations all see marketing investments as inherently risky due to A) the size of the expenditures; and B) the uncertain nature of the returns as compared to many of the things those other functions tend to spend money on. Impressing them with our thorough exploration of the landscape of options goes a long way to demonstrating that we’re considered risk (albeit implicitly) in our recommendations, and have done all the necessary homework to arrive at a reasonable conclusion. NOT necessarily producing a 50 page deck, but rather simply stating which alternatives were considered, what the decision framework was, and how the ultimate selection was made. (This also builds trust through transparency).

From a measurement perspective, we can then consider the relative potential value of doing A versus B versus C, and in the process raise the level of confidence that we are spending the company’s money wisely. We can then turn our attention to measuring the quality of the execution of the chosen path with confidence that we’re not just randomly measuring the trees while wandering in the forest.

I’m not sure how many businesses might get a high ROI on walking naked through Times Square, but imagining that option certainly helps fuel creativity and underscores the importance of measuring strategic relevance, not just tactical performance.

Got any good stories about wandering naked?

23 November 2009 @ 19:22 | Eva Keiser

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Power of People: Toro’s Perspective on multi-dimensional relationships

2 November 2009

On October 28, BMA-Minnesota was very fortunate to have one of Minnesota’s leading brands — The Toro Company — take us “behind the curtain” to get a glimpse of the secret to their success.

Michael Happe, V.P. and General Manager of Toro’s Commercial Division, shared how Toro leverages the breadth and depth of the company’s industry relationships that drive innovation and customer loyalty. As a follow-up to his presentation, Happe graciously agreed to bring the discussion to the B2B Backroom blog.

Every company understands that “people” are one of the key ingredients to their ability to succeed in their marketplace. Most companies refer to their people as their most valuable resources, but employees are only one of the relationship dimensions (i.e. groups of people) that impact the decisions that get made in the marketplace. 

At Toro, we might argue that the collective strength of your relationships with Employees, Channel Partners, Customers, Vendors, Industry Experts, Media, and other groups vis-a-vie your competition is strongly correlated to your ability to innovate, to command a price premium and to maintain high levels of customer loyalty.  We believe that it is these strong relationships that have allowed The Toro Company to build and hold high market share positions in most of our served markets.  Moreover, strong relationships have a less tangible, yet equally important impact in terms of word-of-mouth advocacy for future sales.

Multi-dimensional relationships are critical to every businesses success, but few companies take a strategic or methodical approach to how their investments in both time and money are deployed in support of ongoing relationship development.

By analyzing who the primary decision makers are for your business and by mapping out who they listen to when making their purchase decisions, you can quickly see where relevant relationships need to be funded, nurtured, and measured.  As the strength and breadth of these relationships grow over time, so – too – will your business successes (assuming that you’re selling a good, high quality product or service).  You will have deeper customer insight, learn about trends and key issues faster, and be better positioned for every sale!

For many businesses, it is very difficult to justify spending valuable marketing resources on the many buyer groups that have a direct influence on your sale.  It is even more challenging to fund initiatives with groups of people who may never purchase your product, yet, it is often these indirect relationships that have the most impact on, and credibility with, the buyers.

Strong relationships do not happen over night.  The multi-dimensional relationship business model must always be active to build a strong “social network” of advocates that touch your customers.  With that said, this investment is, perhaps, the most difficult thing for any competitor to replicate.  In short, healthy multi-dimensional relationships can be the biggest barrier to entry that you or your customers face!  Easy to say, hard to do!

Based on our experience, we would certainly encourage other companies (other than our competitors) to take investment in these multi-dimensional relationships seriously.  Start with your own organization and build an environment of mutual respect.  Invest first in the relationships that are most closely coupled to your customers and continue to extend your relationship reach (social network) to other key influencers.  Invest both time and money in these relationships.  Any competitor can write a check to sponsor some advocacy group but only the market leader will invest both money and their time (and passion) into long term relationships that will continue to pay dividends for years to come.

Michael Happe
V.P. and General Manager - Commercial Division
Toro Company

2 November 2009 @ 10:02 | Eva Keiser

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