Latino voting trends

Hispanic involvement in this country's presidential election speaks out through undeniable numbers.

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Cross-Cultural Trends for International Business

Globalization, the expansion of intercontinental trade, technological advances car insurance cover the increase in the number of companies dealing on the international stage have brought about a dramatic change in the frequency, context and means by which persons from different cultural backgrounds interact.

Cross cultural solutions to international business demands are increasingly being viewed as a valid and necessary method in enhancing communication and interaction in and between companies, between companies and clients and between colleagues.
Cross cultural consultancies are involved in aiding companies to find solutions to the challenges cross cultural differences carry.

International and national businesses are ultimately the result of persons. As with incompatible software, if persons are running on different cultural coding, problems can occur. Cross cultural consultancies therefore concentrate their efforts on interpersonal communication.

Different cultures and cultural backgrounds between a highly diverse staff base brings with it obstacles, challenges and difficulties. Cross cultural differences manifest in general areas such as in behaviour, tax debt relief norms, values, expressions, group mechanics and non-verbal communication. These cross cultural differences then follow on through to high level areas such as management styles, corporate culture, marketing, HR and PR.

In order to overcome potential pitfalls, specialist attention is required in the form of a cross cultural consultant. As one would approach a doctor for a medical diagnosis or an accountant to examine finances, cross cultural consultants offer the expertise, experience and know-how to diagnose problems and provide solutions to interpersonal cultural differences.

Within companies there are many facets in which cultural differences manifest. Some key areas which cross cultural consultants deal with include, but are not exclusive to, the following:

Cross Cultural HR: HR covers a wide range of business critical areas that need cross cultural analysis. Consultants may offer advice on a number of areas including recruitment, relocation, international assignments, staff retention and training programmes.

Cross Cultural Team-Building: in order to have a well functioning business unit within a business, communication is critical. Cross cultural consultants will provide tools and methods to promote staff integration, reduce cross cultural online student loan consolidation and build team spirit. that is essentially done through highlighting differences and building on strengths to ensure they are used positively.

Cross Cultural Synergy: international mergers, acquisitions and joint-ventures require persons from different cultural backgrounds to harmonise in order to succeed. Cross cultural consultants counsel on group mechanics, communication styles, norms, values and integration processes.

Cross Cultural Awareness Training: working with colleagues, clients or clients from different cultural backgrounds, with different religions, values and etiquettes can occasionally lead to problems. Cross cultural awareness training is usually a generic introduction into a culture, country, region or religion. The aim is to equip the trainee with the adequate knowledge to deal comfortably with persons from different cultures, avoiding misunderstandings and mistakes.

Cross Cultural Training for Expatriate industrial injury staff that travel overseas need to comprehend the cultural basics of the car donate country or region. Knowledge of the countrys history, culture, laws, traditions, business practices and social etiquettes all assist to minimise the impact of culture shock and hence smooth their transition overseas.

Cross Cultural Negotiations: equipped with their knowledge of the two or more cultures that can be meeting around the negotiation table, a cross cultural consultant advises on areas such as negotiation strategies, styles, planning, closure and etiquette in order to increase the chance of a successful outcome, free from misunderstandings, suspicions and general cross cultural communication breakdown.

Cross Cultural PR Consultancy: brand image, public relations and advertising are all areas companies must be careful of when moving out of the national context. Tastes and values change dramatically from continent to continent. It is crucial to comprehend whether the brand name, image or advertising campaign is culturally applicable in the target country. Cross cultural consultants examine words, images, pictures, colours and symbols to ensure they fit well with the target culture.

Cross Cultural Language Training: Language training is an area where little investment is made by companies, but where the business advantages are great. Linguistic knowledge goes a long way in bridging cultural gaps and smoothing lines of communication. Cross cultural consultancies provide language training to business staff, moulding their learning to the business environment in which they work.

In conclusion, clearly the role and expertise of cross cultural communication consultants is important for todays international business. The potential pitfalls cross cultural differences present to companies are extensive. In essence a cross cultural consultants primary objective is integration. that integration, between colleagues, clients and clients is crucial for business success. Equipped with experience, knowledge and above all objectivity, a cross cultural consultant creates bridges of understanding and opens lines of communication.

Thinking Trends

They may come and go but fundamentally, I suspect trends are here to stay. The world changes as we blink and in those changes we define and are defined. At least that’s what I gather from the experts who seek out a living predicting these mirrors of society. Take Elle Magazine’s own Dion Chang as a case in point. According to him, the current fashion – which most South African women boldly ignore – is volume; enveloping fabric that turns you into a cup cake. This is a reflection of society’s disenchantment with technology and the reflexive need to seek warmth and home-comforts. Naturally interior decorators manifest the same trend in shaggy rugs, warm wood and cork floors and tactile fabrics such as velvet.

My interest lies in how do you predict these fickle seasons that can mean the difference between backing the right commodity and turning a buck or being bankrupt and out of luck? Just two years ago everyone on the stock market was cocky and wearing a set of horns, now the look of the eyes of refugees haunts those weathering the prime-mortgage crisis and it doesn’t take Warren Buffet to tell you things changed very quickly and few expected it.

So far I have no idea how the professionals divine the future but I think I’ve found a trend of my own and it concerns the interesting dynamic of people from different racial and economic classes mimicking each other. I have always found it ridiculous how American white kids dress-up and act like gangsters who in turn aspire to the privileges of the super-rich, mostly white, of the world and their elite club. Before, I thought that somehow the class-system, however determined, will start to fade. I’ve had the privilege to meet people from both extremes of the spectrum and have come to the conclusion that all are fundamentally human. There are very rich people who are incredible human beings and then those that I don’t want to share a meal for what they do to their loved-ones. The same applies to very poor people. But what you cannot get past is the privilege that money buys; the best of everything. The latest privilege that the rich seems to have chosen is the privilege to not to mix with the great unwashed – again.

The latest edition of Newsweek is a special edition covering the exploits of the super-rich and I have honestly never been this jealous. According to Newsweek, the elite does not want to shop with us – they arrange private shopping trips after hours, chefs are rented to cook in private dining halls – heaven forbid we step on their Pradas, the profession of the professional butler has experienced an enormous revival and these servants get paid more than a middle manager at a financial company – the list goes on for pages as special editions do.

The question is what is next? Because, at the same time that the rich are closing their circle to mere plebs, for the first time in the history of America, people are starting to question the capitalist ideal of the American Dream. Where once immense wealth was aspired to and admired, many among their populous are starting to resent obscene wealth, especially considering the specialized healthcare that it buys. It seems that Marie-Antoinette has once again ordered the poor to eat cake and they may take her head for it, if they can get past her billion dollar private security force. Yes, Marie-Antoinette is back and in a better position to protect herself and her wealth. Or is she?

My question is why people want access to this club? Surely if no-one wants access there would be no point in being elite? Of course it’s not that simple, wealth perpetuates wealth and yes Marie, we do need to eat in a time when economies are struggling and the individual is not doing well on its own. This is why Schumpeter agreed with Marx that the capitalist system will collapse but for a different reason: capitalism is an economic success but not a social success. In a capitalist world, when things go wrong the poor who is most affected are driven to horrific protests like the French revolution and the recent xenophobic attacks (although there is no justification for the extreme evil committed in the past week). I’m hoping that the real revolution will be found in Thomas Friedman’s new book entitled The Earth is Flat. It entails the empowerment of the individual through technology so that the playing field between the common individual and the large corporations, owned by the elite, is leveled. That would be the true revolution that will stop the ever repeating circle of the rich versus the poor – or at least temper it with a broadening middle class. May this be the end of a trend that has repeated over eons and the beginning of an entirely new trend in the history of the world.

Register.com Small Business Survey Reveals Trends in Web Str

Register.com Small Business Survey Reveals Trends in Web Strategy

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Nine Digital Trends for the Future

Every day a new social network is born and yet another dies. This makes spotting digital trends and tracking them to be challenging at times. However, I have found a system that works really well called Open Files. It was developed by George Stalk at the Boston Consulting Group (an Edelman client). It's become the framework for my latest talk and amusement.

Stalk tracks trends by breaking them down into three distinct buckets - faint signals, a watch list and hallucinations. He talks about this at length in this great podcast (mp3) with the Harvard Business Review. In a nutshell, faint signals are here and now trends with real consumer movement and business models. The watch list is exactly that - new directions that are emerging but may not be ready for primetime. Finally, hallucinations are flashes that, if you squint, they might vanish.

Below is the deck I have been using for my talks. It covers what I am currently tracking in my personal Open Files. I have summarized these below...


Faint Signals
The Cut and Paste Web - I believe (and I could be dead wrong here) that the era of web sites is coming to an end, ushering in an era of web services. To succeed, brands and content producers will need to make sure their content is portable and can go where the people are. Example: the NBA's successful widget program

The Attention Crash - It's a fact that for many of us, the number of inputs we have as individuals has exceeded what we are capable of managing. Those marketers who keep it simple will succeed. Example: Will it Blend.

Digital Curators - Just as there are curators in a museum who can separate art from junk, in the coming years we will see a boom in those who fulfill this role in the digital realm. The media, brands and individuals will all fulfill such a role. Example: American Express' collaboration with Federated Media's small business bloggers.

Super Crunching - The digital space is the most addressable media ever. However, many marketers are not quants. To succeed, marketers will need to use data mining and visualization tools on the front end, as well as in measurement. Example: tools like Google Trends.

Collaboration - The web is not just a communications vehicle but a platform for action and collaboration. Companies and NGOs globally will increasingly identify the shared desired outcomes they have with their audiences and then pursue them together. Example: Brita's Filter for Good (an Edelman Digital program).

Watch List
Living Room 2.0 - The living room may become a focal point for where we engage with social networks. However, there are a gaggle of devices and it's still early days. Examples: Flickr on Apple TV.

Geek Marketers - Some companies are hiring cross-trained experts who are digital anthropologists, grok technology, but also marketing. Example: Jim Kukral.

Hallucinations
Digital Nomads - A small but growing number of knowledge workers are going independent, traveling the world and working from anywhere. It's conceivable that one day the enterprise will be a lot more virtual than it is today. Example: Anywired.

Data Leaking - An entire new generation of workers that grew up with the web laments that the experience and productivity that the consumer web delivers outpaces what corporate IT can offer. Some are moving their communications to venues like social networks. Example: Silicon Alley Insider reports that Facebook is slowly encroaching on email.

Those are the trends that I am currently tracking in my Open Files. How about yours? What am I missing?

Next 08-Marketing Trends: Open Files

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Large crowds and Obama trademark

The wisdom of the masses. The crowds are in control.

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Largest Candy and Snack Show Drives Sales, Tastes and Trends

The largest candy and snack show in North America, ALL CANDY EXPO(R) 2008 unveils more than 2,000 new confectionery creations and snack sensations, May 20-22 at McCormick Place West Building, Chicago. The annual show presented by the National ConfectionersAssociation (NCA) brings together industry experts and more than 430manufacturers.

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Consumer Purchasing Trend Transitions From Information Age to Recommendation Age

As customer review forums and their social influence increase, business owners should capitalize on this trend.

If you're still talking about how to market in the Information Age, catch yourself--that was so five years ago. We're now in a booming Recommendation Age.

Getting hundreds of search engine results from one keyword loses more of its novelty and efficiency every day as consumers opt for recommendations from real people. Instead of typing "hip sushi, Tampa" into a search engine, consumers are going straight to websites like Citysearch and Yelp, where they can find several customer reviews for restaurants fitting that description. And as social networking websites like Facebook, MySpace, Linkein, YouTube, Second Life automatically import reviews into profiles, the exposure and influence of customer reviews are increasing.

Even consumers still primarily using search engines find customer review pages at the top of their search results. If you really type "hip sushi, Tampa" into a Google search, for instance, you'll see pages of review results before a result that goes directly to a restaurant.

The main reason: Studies, such as one done by Deloitte and Touche in late 2007, are finding that 80 percent of readers' purchasing decisions are influenced by customer reviews. And 70 percent of them say they share business reviews with friends and family online and in their own languages and localization.

"It's critical for companies to respond to this trend because you just don't know what influence that message board or blogger might have if you're not listening and responding," says Toby Bloomberg, president of Bloomberg Marketing and a blogger for Diva Marketing. "If you're not continuing the conversation in a better direction, then people are left to their own conclusions."



Listening to - and interacting with - your customer is a good thing for a company to do. Because, guess what? Everyone else is listening online and asking questions about your brand. Word-of-mouth as an influencing factor ranks highest in every marketing-oriented survey I’ve ever seen. When I worked on the NC Tourism account, all of our research pointed out the power of personal referrals to get family and friends to visit our beautiful state.

The internet and social media have amplified that power and have made it searchable.

 A recent report says that affluent audiences in particular are “listening” very closely to what others have to say online about a company’s customer service. According to MediaPost,

 “as social media usage becomes more ubiquitous, says the summary report, affluent consumers are using social media channels to share their personal customer service experiences and learn about others’ care experiences when making purchase decisions."

 If your organization is going to survive, it must be actively involved in building and monitoring community online. With consumers increasingly using social media to share feedback on their care experiences, it has become increasingly difficult for businesses to ignore or hide from bad experiences. There’s your ROI.

Though turning customers into brand advocates online is still a conundrum for many business owners. The most important thing to do is make a commitment to monitoring online conversations about your business and being proactive and public in your response to those conversations.

Highly reviewed and rock-themed Birds Barbershop of Austin, Texas, did just that when a customer wrote a bad Yelp review about his experience. After finding the review, Birds Barbershop offered him a free haircut the second time around. The same customer then went back on Yelp to graciously report the act of redemption: "Kudos to Bird's for knowing what good customer service is, and for reading Yelp!"

Instead of blatantly encouraging customers to write better reviews for his barbershop, owner Jayson Rapaport prefers letting customers know the staff cares about the feedback.

"What ends up happening is our stylists build relationships with their clients, and they're checking out the reviews to see if they're OK more than I am," Rapaport says.

Businesses also become more conducive to online recommendations when customers feel the business supports a lifestyle they value.

For Seattle-based Theo Chocolates, the only roaster of organic cocoa beans and the first roaster of fair trade certified cocoa beans in the United States, factory tours of its environmentally friendly operations as well as the causes it supports help drive a high amount of positive customer reviews. "Our overall brand draws a lot of traffic because the growth is driven by our commitment to organic and fair trade products," owner Joseph Whinney says, adding that taking a factory tour extends the consumer's understanding of the business.

To make sure your business doesn't fall behind in the Recommendation Age, consider the following tips:
• Make your business part of a lifestyle.
• Let your customers know you respond to customer feedback.

Do not! I repeat, do not! risk your company's reputation by faking reviews.

Are you neglecting your best referral source?

Employee referral programs are not only good for recruiting. Employees can create the best case imaginable when promoting your services and products.

Studies show that current employees can be the number one source of candidate referrals. As a bonus, candidates referred by employees often ramp up to full productivity faster than candidates from other sources.

So how are you taking advantage of this? Do you have a formal employee referral program in place? If not, you should look to develop one. If you do have a program, look for ways to improve it.

Consider your internal marketing. How are you letting employees know about the kinds of candidates you want? How are you getting them excited about making referrals? Do they know what's in it for them?

Look at your incentive structure. How can you get people to refer star performers from their previous workplace, in addition to friends? Is it clear to employees when bonuses are awarded and how much can be earned? Remember that a bonus paid for an employee referral gives you double bang for your buck. At the same time that you're getting a pre-qualified candidate, you're also providing an incentive for the current employee to stick around.


What does you employee referral program do for you? Take a poll and see how others have voted, visit www.head2head.ca.

Whatever Happened To Customer 'Service'?

Do you remember the last time you went into a shop and the person 'serving' raced over to you, greeted you with a lovely smile, heaps of enthusiasm and said, "Welcome to our store, what can I help you with today?" And then listened attentively to wha ...

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You launched your business and now what? This article can help you take your biz off ground.

You know what they say, power is on the numbers. If you want to boost your start up, perhaps you need to start taking serious what people are saying and wanting...Enjoy the article.

Carmen Bracamonte



Foretelling the Future: Online Prediction Markets
Skittish About the Stock Market? Try Trading Election Results Instead

By JOHN STOSSEL and MAXIM LOTT
May 9, 2008 —

Who will win the Democratic nomination? Who will be the next president? When might Britney Spears go back to rehab? And who will be the next "American Idol"?

Don't look for guidance from TV pundits or gossip magazines. Instead, go to the Web site where people are putting their money where their mouths are: Intrade.com.

Intrade is a futures market, just like commodities markets where people make trades betting on the future prices of things like oil, gold and pork bellies. On Intrade, thousands of people bet on the outcomes of current events.

Here's how it works: If you're convinced that Hillary Clinton is headed for the White House, you can log onto Intrade.com and buy shares betting that she'll get the Democratic nomination. Right now, her share price is low, around 10 cents, because many think it's unlikely she'll be nominated. But if things start looking up for Clinton, more people will buy her shares, and the price of each share will rise. If she actually gets the nomination, each share will be worth a dollar and you will have made a hefty return on your investment.

Putting Political Savvy to Good Use

Bethan and her husband, Jonathan, are political junkies. They talk about politics day in and day out, so when they heard about Intrade, they figured that their political knowledge must be worth something.

"When I found out that we could actually trade on politics, it was like 'What? Why have we been investing in stocks all along?'" Bethan said. "I said to my husband, 'We spend three hours a day talking about politics, we should be able to use this to our advantage.'"

In the fall, John McCain's presidential campaign was running out of money and pundits were saying he'd drop out of the race. His share price on Intrade plummeted to less than 5 cents. If McCain somehow got the nomination, those same McCain shares would be worth a dollar. As Bethan and Jonathan watched a Republican debate in September, they saw a "new confidence" in McCain, and an opportunity to make money.

"Everyone was unloading their shares of McCain on Intrade. But we saw something else in the debate," said Bethan.

They decided to bet that McCain would make a comeback, and of course they were right. Today the McCain shares they bought for around 5 cents are worth 19 times that. The value of Bethan and Jonathan's Intrade account has increased by about $250,000, mostly from betting on McCain.

Now Intrade is more than just a place where people win or lose money making bets. It turns out that the share prices on Intrade can be accurate predictors of the future. Intrade attracts a large and diverse crowd of bettors, and because each participant puts their money on the line, they may be more likely to make careful decisions.

As a result of the collective intelligence of more than 77,000 bettors on Intrade, the prices on the site may be a good way to predict the outcome of current events -- more accurate than some polls and pundits.

In 2004, the market odds on Intrade predicted the presidential vote of every state but Alaska. In 2006, the odds correctly indicated the outcome of every Senate race.

The Wisdom of Crowds

James Surowiecki explained why prediction markets are so accurate in his book "The Wisdom of Crowds."

We have heard bad things about crowds. They're uncontrollable and prone to mob psychology. But under certain conditions, Surowiecki argued, crowds can be wise.

"Even though no one person in the crowd knows everything," Surowiecki said, "if the crowd is big enough and it's diverse enough, you just have access to so much more knowledge than you do if you ask one expert or even a really small team of experts."

You can see this on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" When a contestant is stumped, they can call an expert, usually a smart friend, or they can poll the audience.

"The experts, they do pretty well. They get the answers right about two-thirds of the time," Surowiecki said. "But the audience gets the answer right 91 percent of the time."

The wisdom of crowds isn't limited to game show audiences. The Navy learned about this principle 40 years ago when the nuclear attack submarine Scorpion became lost somewhere in the North Atlantic. The search went on fruitlessly until a Navy man named John Craven assembled a large group of people, from deckhands to captains, and asked them many different questions that would help predict the location of the lost submarine. He didn't just ask them what they thought, he asked to them to bet on it.

"He took all those bets, and put 'em all together, and what he finished with was this kind of map of the ocean floor," Surowiecki said. "And on this map there was this one spot where his team said, 'This is where we think the submarine is most likely to be.' It wasn't anywhere near where the Navy had been looking & and they found it."

The submarine was just 220 yards away from where the bets said it would be.

More recently, officials in the Department of Defense wanted to use the same principle to set up a market that would predict where and when the next terrorist attack would take place, but when the news broke there was an enormous backlash.

"The idea of a federal betting parlor on atrocities of terrorism is ridiculous and it's grotesque," Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said at the time.

The Department of Defense quickly backed away from the idea and Surowiecki thought that was a mistake.

"These are potentially tremendously useful tools for improving our national security," he said. "It's much more egregious not to use them than to use them."

John Delaney, the founder of Intrade, pointed out that his Web site's data, which predicts the likelihood of such things as earthquakes and bird flu outbreaks, still proves a very powerful predictive tool for a wide range of people.

"The Intrade market data is used by the Navy, it's used by the Federal Reserve, it's used by 50 or 100 universities," he said. "All of these people see a benefit to Intrade and a benefit to the Intrade market data, but still there's confusion as to how -- how your government would treat Intrade."

Delaney has headquartered Intrade in Ireland, and he's hesitant to expand his business into America because our government has passed laws against Internet gambling.

"I've been told I don't look good in an orange jumpsuit," Delaney said jokingly.

Bethan and Jonathan said they're pretty sure that what they're doing is legal, but the law is vague. They understand why prediction markets might have a negative connotation.

"It sounds dirty," Bethan said. "It's politics and money. & It's very taboo."

ABC News contacted the U.S. Department of Justice, but it did not provide a clear answer as to whether Intrade or its users are breaking the law.

Predictions for the Future

Want to know what the markets are saying now? Barack Obama is heavily favored to win the Democratic nomination on Intrade. A share costs 90 cents, indicating a 90 percent chance of winning.

Clinton is trading for just 10 cents. And even though the Illinois senator hasn't won the nomination yet, the crowds on Intrade think Obama has a better chance of winning the presidency than McCain: 56 cents to 38.

Prediction markets have information on much more than politics. On Tradesports.com , another online prediction market, the Boston Celtics are nearly tied with the Los Angeles Lakers to win the NBA championship this year. The Celtics are trading at 30 cents, and the Lakers are at 32.

Over at the Hollywood Stock Exchange, the crowds are saying that "Iron Man" will make the most money of any movie in its opening weeks this year: $286 million. The newest "Indiana Jones" movie is expected to make just under that amount.

You may disagree with these predictions, but odds are that the crowd is right.

As for Bethan and Jonathan, they'll be voting for Obama in November, but on Intrade.com they'll be putting their money on McCain.

Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

Should Obama be concerned?

The overwhelming number of women supporting Clinton in West Virginia yesterday, an indicator of saving votes for Obama if Clinton leaves the race?

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A book worth to browse

"Wisdom of the Crowds"

Surowiecki first developed his ideas for Wisdom of Crowds in his “Financial Page” column of The New Yorker. Many critics found his premise to be an interesting twist on the long held notion that Americans generally question the masses and eschew groupthink. “A socialist might draw some optimistic conclusions from all of this,” wrote The New York Times. “But Surowiecki’s framework is decidedly capitalist.” Some reviewers felt that the academic language and business speak decreased the impact of the argument. Still, it’s a thought-provoking, timely book: the TV studio audience of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire guesses correctly 91 percent of the time, compared to “experts” who guess only 65 percent correctly. Keep up the good work, comrades.
Bookmark Magazines

Numbers get attention, but emotions create actions

Last year I wrote about a picture being worth more than a statistic in drive people to act. At the time, I was referring to a point Carl Bialik (the Wall Street Journal’s The Numbers Guy was making about a picture of a single child driving more donation than a statement of fact that millions were staving.

Richard Edelman raises a similar point in the section of his post from Davos about what consumers will pay for green products. Professor Ariely of MIT explained why consumers won’t spend more than they are (which isn’t much) to buy a green product because they don’t have “an identifiable victim.” In other words, like pictures of single starving children driving more donations than the fact that many are starting, the emotion of seeing one person that is a victim of environmental damage can do more to drive consumer action than the numbers that quantify how much damage is done.

Both numbers and human stories have a place. A number is the fact that proves a story true (x acres of rainforest have been destroyed and displaced X people). But it is the single person’s story or picture that provide the emotional impact which allows people to absorb that number and understand it’s significance. With a number, people don’t have the emotion impact needed to act. With the story or picture, people don’t have the quantitative impact needed to know how much they should act. With both, you can see substantial action.

Study on Business Impact of Social Responsibility

Public relations professionals are always watching the reputation impact of ethical business as part of corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs. A new study covered by the Wall Street Journal (Does Being Ethical Pay) shows how we can better quantify the brand reputation impact CSR programs.

The article outlines a study to see if and how consumers reward ethical behavior in terms of pricing power. Will they pay a price premium for high ethical standards? How much do they punish low standards. You can read the results of the study here. When doing so, keep in mind three takeaways from this article and research.

1. People will pay a premium for ethical behavior. This is critical for public relations teams to consider in making recommendations. Are we recommending a CSR program that will have a positive impact on the brand in the eyes of consumers? If so, a study such as this one can quantify that impact of a CSR driven reputation program.

2. Consumers may severely punish companies when unethical behavior is uncovered. The study shows that consumers may penalize companies even more for unethical behavior than they reward them for ethical behavior. In other words, defensive CSR may be even more important and profitable. So even if your CEO is not a huge CSR fan, there may be an opportunity to quantify the cost of skipping a CSR audit and potentially facing consumer wrath should unethical behavior get out.

3. High ethical standards (CSR programs) need to be clearly communicated. This is a key learning is implied in the article but not clearly articulated. In the study, consumers were well aware of when a company engaged in ethical behavior and rewarded them for it. In the real world, you can’t expect consumers to find out about good or bad behavior, CSR programs and ethical standards; consumer must be told. Companies often have a strong focus on upholding the highest ethical standards but don’t clearly communicate how these standards are implemented in a way that affects their customers.

This last learning means there is a potentially huge opportunity for companies to uncover substantial hidden value in their brand in a way that translates into a clear financial impact. The opportunity for public relations professionals is to use CSR audits to determine where communicating high ethical standards will enhance the brand reputation in a way that has a quantifiable financial impact. In other words, make sure there is no bad behavior then do a better job of communicating relevant good behavior, and customers will buy more and pay more.

Other posts of interest:

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts show how being environmentally friendly is just good business
http://www.fortexgroup.com/blog/2008/05/01/kohlberg-kravis-roberts-makes-a-serious-reputation-move-with-the-environmental-defense-fund/

CSR as risk management
http://www.fortexgroup.com/blog/2008/01/21/csr-as-risk-management/

Is Obama's Brand on track for the big win?

Senator Obama, please go back to the BOOK.

From the marketing perspective, Obama needs to grow his brand by broadening its appeal beyond his core without jeopardizing his brand equity.

Considering that people have only one vote, of course, so you can't exactly "increase volume" among a particular voter segment once you've hit your maximum share, as it appears Obama has. However, there very likely is a good-sized group of voters currently in the Clinton camp who could be convinced to switch allegiances. Brand switching can and does happen even in the most well established categories when there's a highly motivating reason driving it. One of the most motivating things a brand can do is identify an area of dissatisfaction; a serious need or problem where neither competitor is currently offering an adequate solution. Marketers call this "white space." Bring a solution to market that taps into this area of opportunity and a brand will see its competitors' customers defect.

Two areas of dissatisfaction? This one's not hard: It's the economy (stupid!) issue number 1 and, of course, it's Healthcare. Now obviously there's at least some concern overlap within the Obama and Clinton target groups when it comes to these issues. But think of it as a different way to segment the market; they've got this sort of psychographic/demographic segmentation going on right now, so let's divvy up the voting population based on the policy issue of primary concern to them.

We'd bet that if Obama did a bit of research, he'd find there are many proclaimed Clinton voters who are not very happy with her past track record or policy position on Iraq and would be open to jumping ship to Obama if he appealed to them with a "solution." He could approach it much like a brand's line extension, keeping his original emotional positioning and extending it to a specific issue. How about: "The Economy: Change We Can Believe In?" He stays uplifting; he's invoking the "change" positioning that's been so powerful; but he's focused on the issue on which a big group is going to make a decision.

Sen. Obama, if you want to win this thing, don't mess around with political marketing as usual. Stay true to your positioning strategy, extend your brand in a way that motivates switching and, whatever you do, don't go negative (though we're sure it's tempting). That's some marketing advice you can believe in.

High Net Worth Executives proven to be luxury consumers

A-list American business executives are extremely receptive to media and advertising, per the U.S. Business Elite Study conducted by Ipsos MediaCT, New York.

Fifty-five percent of top execs are willing to buy a product based on an Internet ad. TV ads are also influential as 43.2% of the 2,390 respondents said they made a purchase based on a TV spot. Magazines (41.7%), newspapers (36.9%) and radio (17.9%) followed.

These finding are eye-opening considering the "huge dollar volumes" involved in these decisions, said Hugh White, vp of Ipsos MediaCT. "They are making decisions for their companies. At home they are buying what we expect: high-end cars, expensive vacations, LCD TVs."

The "Business Elite" are defined as executives with 250-plus employees. The average respondent is 52, has a salary of $400,000 and a net worth of $1.7 million. They were interviewed online and via the mail between February and July of last year.

This highly desirable audience is still into old media. Eighty-eight percent read the most recent issue of a print publication, 70% watched a network TV channel the day prior and 59% watched cable. They are consuming digital media in greater quantities, as well. During the prior month, 70% received a daily e-mail alert/newsletter, 49% watched broadband video, 31% read a blog and 23% downloaded a podcast.

"Informed intelligence is what they trade in," said Milton Pedraza, president and CEO of The Luxury Institute, New York. "They need to know who is acquiring who and doing what in what part of the world. They have BlackBerrys, you name it; they are connected."

More than half (51.2%) visited a Web site because of an ad, 47.2% did so because of a magazine ad, followed by 43,3% led by TV.

"Decision makers who are targeted correctly will click through," said Pedraza. "Luxury firms should advertise online more."

Business elite aren't afraid to spend. Almost 43% take $3,000-plus per person vacations, and a quarter own vacation homes and jewelry in excess of $5,000. About 14% have a watch worth more than $3,000.

"They are drawn to high-quality and well-branded products and services, both for business and personal use," said White.

As customer review venues and their influence increase, business owners should capitalize on this trend.

If you're still talking about how to market in the Information Age, catch yourself--that was so five years ago. We're now in a booming Recommendation Age.

Getting hundreds of search engine results from one keyword loses more of its novelty and efficiency every day as consumers opt for recommendations from real people. Instead of typing "hip sushi, Portland" into a search engine, consumers are going straight to websites like Citysearch and Yelp, where they can find several customer reviews for restaurants fitting that description. And as social networking websites like Facebook and Mixx automatically import reviews into profiles, the exposure and influence of customer reviews are increasing.

Even consumers still primarily using search engines find customer review pages at the top of their search results. If you really type "hip sushi, Portland" into a Google search, for instance, you'll see pages of review results before a result that goes directly to a restaurant.

The main reason: Studies, such as one done by Deloitte and Touche in late 2007, are finding that 80 percent of readers' purchasing decisions are influenced by customer reviews. And 70 percent of them say they share business reviews with friends and family online.

"It's critical for companies to respond to this trend because you just don't know what influence that message board or blogger might have if you're not listening and responding," says Toby Bloomberg, president of Bloomberg Marketing and a blogger for Diva Marketing. "If you're not continuing the conversation in a better direction, then people are left to their own conclusions."

Though turning customers into brand advocates online is still a conundrum for many business owners, Bloomberg says the most important thing to do is make a commitment to monitoring online conversations about your business and being proactive and public in your response to those conversations.

Highly reviewed and rock-themed Birds Barbershop of Austin, Texas, did just that when a customer wrote a bad Yelp review about his experience.

After finding the review, Birds Barbershop offered him a free haircut the second time around. The same customer then went back on Yelp to graciously report the act of redemption: "Kudos to Bird's for knowing what good customer service is, and for reading Yelp!"

Instead of blatantly encouraging customers to write better reviews for his barbershop, owner Jayson Rapaport prefers letting customers know the staff cares about the feedback.

"What ends up happening is our stylists build relationships with their clients, and they're checking out the reviews to see if they're OK more than I am," Rapaport says.

Businesses also become more conducive to online recommendations when customers feel the business supports a lifestyle they value.

Food Fight Grocery, for instance, is one of the most highly reviewed businesses of foodies in Portland, Oregon, because of the political activism its vegan owners encourage. The home page of the store's website even opts for a news and events blog over advertising its plethora of vegan products.

But Emiko Badillo, who owns the store with her husband, Chad Miller, says she doesn't look at Yelp or their reputation online.

"I think people still appreciate that we're casual and that we're really putting our own personalities into the business," Badillo says. "We run this business mainly for the activism side of it and to inform people about veganism."

For Seattle-based Theo Chocolates, the only roaster of organic cocoa beans and the first roaster of fair trade certified cocoa beans in the United States, factory tours of its environmentally friendly operations as well as the causes it supports help drive a high amount of positive customer reviews.

"Our overall brand draws a lot of traffic because the growth is driven by our commitment to organic and fair trade products," owner Joseph Whinney says, adding that taking a factory tour extends the consumer's understanding of the business.

Uhm...To make sure your business doesn't fall behind in the Recommendation Age, consider the following tips:

• Make your business part of a lifestyle.
  
• Let your customers know you respond to customer feedback.
  
• Don't risk your company's reputation by faking reviews.
  

Is there any value in Social Media?

As DJ Francis pointed out in his THINKing guest posting, many marketers are having a hard time coming to grips with what - if any - ROI comes from social media involvement. PR people, as our sister site points out, understand that it’s all about dialogue.

Listening to - and interacting with - your customer is a good thing for a company to do. Because, guess what? Everyone else is listening online and asking questions about your brand. Word-of-mouth as an influencing factor ranks highest in every marketing-oriented survey I’ve ever seen. When I worked on the NC Tourism account, all of our research pointed out the power of personal referrals to get family and friends to visit our beautiful state. The internet and social media have amplified that power and have made it searchable.

A recent report says that affluent audiences in particular are “listening” very closely to what others have to say online about a company’s customer service. According to MediaPost,

"As social media usage becomes more ubiquitous, says the summary report, affluent consumers are using social media channels to share their personal customer service experiences and learn about others’ care experiences when making purchase decisions."

If your organization is going to survive, it must be actively involved in building and monitoring community online. Says Lynda Kate Smith, vice president, Care Business, Nuance Enterprise Division,

“With consumers increasingly using social media to share feedback on their care experiences, it has become increasingly difficult for businesses to ignore or hide from bad experiences.”

There’s your ROI.

Jumping into Bandwagons

It always surprises me how many marketing people jump on trends and become "instant evangelists" for the new thing--whether it's blogging, podcasting, or SEO copywriting--mainly it seems because it is new.

They so want to believe that their beloved gimmick is the "holy grail" or marketing...the silver bullet...despite the fact that such has never been found--and, I am convinced, never will be.

I'm of a different school--the "show me" school. And in marketing that means showing me that a new tool or trendy technique has proven track record of generating a positive ROI.

Until that happens for a new marketing technique...whether it's blogging or something else...I can't see getting excited about it. Why would you?

It does seem to me that the people who are quick to embrace the "next big thing" --even though it is far from certain to be so--are mainly the consultants who want to peddle advice on that marketing method to unwary clients.

So the consultants make money whether it works or not. But clients lose big time when it produces zilch in results.

Right?

Always look for the consultant who can really walk the talk and negotiate, negotiate, negotiate until you get purple.

Know What Makes Your Audience Tick

Most customers weigh both emotions and logic when making a purchase, but the extent of influence each factor has on their decision can vary greatly. Consumers aren't entirely impulsive, but they aren't solely calculating either. Explore the emotional concerns of your target market through market research. Understand the emotional appeal of your brand, and communicate it to your market. What emotions does your brand elicit? Are these the emotions appealing to your audience?

Keep in mind that the emotional attitudes of consumers toward the same product can vary greatly by age group, gender, culture, socioeconomic status, etc. Consider a sports car, which may convey thrills to a teenager but danger to an elderly adult.


Today's skeptical, time-pressed generation needs a prompting that instantly encourages them to give your brand a try. A truly strong brand name should at least hint at emotional gratification. If your brand name doesn't convey its emotional essence, consider adding a tagline. Use words that show emotion. For example, if you ran a spa, you might apply words like "love," "satisfy" or "indulge." Again, ensure that the words you use are appropriate for your audience.

Using pod-cast to help branding efforts

A podcast is a show or episode you listen to on your computer or your MP3 player (which doesn't have to be an iPod). You subscribe to podcasts topics of interest through RSS.

CNN, the Wall Street Journal and many other media websites, as well as social networking sites who make content available in a podcast format. Ask your competitors who may be rolling out podcast content and capturing brand-building audience and building loyal traffic to their website or blog.

KnowledgeStorm survey of 3900 IT and business professionals suggests:

B2B technology buyers are listening to podcasts for business interests, specifically technology-oriented topics, according to the study findings. Respondents are listening to podcasts for personal and business interests - 65% responded that they listen for both personal and business interests. Furthermore, these respondents are listening to podcasts on technology specific topics - 72% claimed that they have downloaded or listened to podcasts on technology topics on more than one occasion. Twenty-three percent do so "frequently."

The study also revealed that B2B technology buyers want research content, such as white papers and analyst reports, delivered as podcasts. Nearly 60% of respondents said that information on business or technology topics, currently delivered as white papers or analyst reports, would be more interesting as podcasts. Fifty-five percent of respondents would be more likely to consume white papers and analyst reports if they were delivered as podcasts.

"Fifty-seven percent of the frequent podcast users stated their biggest challenge with podcasts is the scarcity of interesting content. That represents real opportunity for savvy marketers."

Why is Branding and how important is it to a multiculti-market strategy?

The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a "name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers.

Therefore it makes sense to understand that branding is not about getting your target market to choose you over the competition, but it is about getting your prospects to see you as the only one that provides a solution to their problem.

The objectives that a good brand will achieve include:

• Delivers the message clearly
  
• Confirms your credibility
  
• Connects your target prospects emotionally
  
• Motivates the buyer
  
• Concretes User Loyalty
  
• To succeed in branding you must understand the needs and wants of your customers and prospects.
  

You do this by integrating your brand strategies through your company at every point of public contact.

Your brand resides within the hearts and minds of customers, clients, and prospects.  It is the sum total of their experiences and perceptions, some of which you can influence, and some that you cannot.

A strong brand is invaluable as the battle for customers intensifies day by day. It's important to spend time investing in researching, defining, and building your brand. After all your brand is the source of a promise to your consumer. It's a foundational piece in your marketing communication and one you do not want to be without.

If you are among the many marketers still trying to figure out a game plan for your multicultural marketing initiatives, you better act fast.   The growth of minorities markets is substantial, their buying power is even greater , and is happening now.  The continued growth and affluence of the U.S. minority markets challenge marketers to find the most effective ways to achieve brand loyalty.  "The one-size fits all" approach that have worked more homogeneous groups must be abandoned given diversity and complexity of the multicultural marketplace. Breakthroughs with these groups will hinge on creating relevant, meaningful customer experience with their brands that engage their audiences' hearts and minds.

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