by Scott Howard | Aug 29, 2017 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
Lessons from Hurricane Harvey and Seth Godin that every business owner must learn.
Sunday morning, after reading a few social media updates on Hurricane Harvey and checking the news sites, I was relieved to see that the friends I have in or near the path of the storm are doing okay. Others are not so lucky.
Continue to keep those people in your prayers and thoughts as this storm will touch many, many lives.
As I was catching up on emails from the past couple of days, a new one from Seth Godin arrived that has some parallel concepts that I want to share with you.
The concepts are about preparing for or anticipating disasters. Some are out of our control, while others we have more control than we realize.
Regarding the hurricane, there is nothing humanly possible that could have prevented the storm. However there were warnings, days ahead of the storms arrival. During those days, people had choices to make. Stay put or leave where the basic choices.
What to do with your stuff was another. Some people have the ability to leave and take their stuff, others at the opposite end, were stranded and lost everything. Nearly everyone was somewhere in between due to choices they made. Choices that they made years earlier or in the days and hours before the storm hit.
“Gone, In An Instant, All Gone”, was the reaction from someone who decided to ride the storm out only to see everything get swept away but managed to stay safe. They decided to rely on insurance to rebuild their lives.
Seth’s article talks about the power of Word Of Mouth and your business reputation that can also be, “Gone, In An Instant, All Gone”, under toxic circumstances. And those circumstances in many cases are preventable.
Quoting Seth:
Anyone who has done the math will tell you that word of mouth is the most efficient way to gain trust, spread the word and grow.
And yet…
It only takes a moment to destroy. Only a few sentences, a heartless broken promise, a lack of empathy, and it’s gone. Not only that, but the lost connection can easily lead to lawsuits.
Doctor, the surgery seems to have gone wrong!
It’s not my fault. I did a perfect job. Tough luck.
Architect, the floor is sagging, the beams were put in the wrong direction!
I don’t care. There’s a three-year statute of limitations, and even then, it wasn’t my job to ensure that the work met the plans.
Airline, my two-year-old can’t sit in a row by herself, and the agent on the phone said you’d work it so we could sit together!
It’s not my fault. If you don’t want to get on the plane, don’t get on the plane.
We’ve seen how these scenarios have gone viral because of the power of the social side of the internet. Everyone has a voice. Word of mouth can spread like a devastating hurricane. It can destroy your business.
But like the weather forecasters who were able to tell people to prepare before the storm hit, I’m here to help you recognize the warning signs that too many business people either don’t see or they choose to ignore. 
Here’s more from Seth:
In all three cases, there are significant operational barriers to magically fixing the problem. But that’s not where the breakdown happened. It happened because a human being decided to not care. Not care and not express anything that felt like caring.
A human being, perhaps intimidated by lawyers, or tired after a hard day, or the victim of a bureaucracy (all valid reasons) then made the stupid decision to not care.
Ms/Mr business owner: advertising and marketing can not fix your business if you have policies in place that are making it difficult for customers to be your customer.
Often, it’s not a viral social media post that drives people away. It is more like a slow leaky tire. A slow dripping faucet. Something not irritating to you perhaps but something that takes away from your business success.
If it is a policy, then change it. Empower your people to override the “set in stone, no exceptions” policy when it makes sense to show that you really care about your customers.
If it is a person that has a bad attitude, move them to a position that will improve their attitude. Not everyone should be on the front lines interacting with your customers.
And if all else fails, have the courage to “un-hire” that person. As one friend of mine puts it, “we’re going to allow them to pursue excellence elsewhere.”
One last bit of wisdom from Seth’s article:
It turns out that while people like to have their problems fixed, what they most want is to be seen and to be cared about.
Of course you should use these fraught moments to reinforce connections and build word of mouth. Of course you should realize that in fact people like us get asked to recommend airlines and doctors and architects all the time, but now, we will never ever recommend you to anyone, in fact, we’ll go out of our way to keep people from choosing you.
But the real reason you should extend yourself in these moments when it all falls apart is that this is how you will measure yourself over time. What did you do when you had a chance to connect and to care?
I call this the disaster recovery operation. All people screw up. It’s how we handle those times that make a difference between, “Gone, In An Instant, All Gone” and “New and Improved”.
Are you ready?
P.S.
Right after I wrote this story while sitting in my favorite coffee shop I glanced up and saw a line of 20+ people waiting to place their orders. This could have gone incredibly wrong as coffee shops are not known for speedy service. But what caught my attention was the barista who called out to the customers waiting, thanking them for stopping in and asking them how their day was going. While it didn’t make the line move faster, it helped the people waiting feel valued. To quote her, “I want to give a special shout out to all of you who are patiently waiting in line. You are the ones that make this a great place every day.”
by Scott Howard | Aug 2, 2017 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
Today, I’m going to talk to you from my generational perspective and I have one question for you:
Do You Want Our Money?
I am a young Baby Boomer. I am also a WOWO Radio Listener.
And I work for WOWO in the advertising sales department. That means I am the dude you can talk to about buying advertising for your company on WOWO. You can email me directly at my work email. It’s Scott@WOWO.com
But the rest of this piece is about me and my generation, the Baby Boomers. I just read an article from Mediapost that says that too many businesses are losing out because they are ignoring the Baby Boomer Generation with their advertising.
As a member of that age group and one that also deals with requests from advertising agencies, I totally agree.
First of all, let me set the stage with some facts from the Mediapost article and elsewhere. 
The Boomer markets (those between 53 and 71 years of age) are comprised of approximately 78 million customers.
That is the biggest demographic group (age wise) in this country. It’s also the group that is spending the big bucks that younger generations wish they had to spend.
According to a Pew survey, Boomers are outspending every other affluent category by $1 trillion per year. It was predicted that annual spending would exceed $4.6 trillion per year by 2015, and it has. The aging Boomer customer is today’s target population and, even more so, tomorrow’s.
The Mediapost article talks about the digital disconnect:
Seventy percent of all Baby Boomers surf online. It’s estimated that those 50 and up spend more than $7 billion every year in online purchases. Several media surveys discovered that approximately 17% of all those surveyed in the 45 and over age groups believe that online advertising is intended for them.
Look at those numbers for a second. 70% of all of us Baby Boomers surf online. That includes the retired ones, by the way. But less than 20%, the number I quoted is only 17% of Boomers believe online advertising is intended for them. 
This is a wake up call to anyone under the age of 50 who is responsible for advertising and marketing. I don’t care if you run your own business, your parents business or work for an advertising agency… you need to pay attention and understand there are a whole helluva lot of people over 50 that can make you successful if you simply invite them to spend money with you instead of ignoring us.
A few more quotes from the Mediapost article:
Be willing to change your frame of reference (paradigm shift). Don’t let “Boomer customer myopia” interfere with an intelligent approach to improving Boomer customer satisfaction.
In other words, the first step is recognizing the opportunity that I’m talking about and be willing to adjust your marketing tactics to invite Baby Boomers to spend their money with you. 
Avoid using the age of target markets as the determining factor… Use your knowledge of life stage changes to determine your approach to service and marketing communications improvement.
I’m going to share with you what they mean regarding Life Stages in a second. But first a couple of words on how I can help you.
In the digital world, I have been advising companies for the past dozen years on how to improve their ability to be found with some basic Search Engine Optimization practices that remain relevant. I even stepped away from the radio world a couple of times to work full time in the web and social media worlds.
Today, along with connecting you with Baby Boomers via WOWO radio, I also have some proven digital marketing solutions that I can offer through the Federated Digital Solutions division of Federated Media. I saw proven because I have the data to show the results and we can talk about how to create a custom digital solution for your company if that is appropriate.
And then there is the mighty 1190 WOWO radio. Now over 90 years old as an AM radio station with one of the biggest audiences in Northeast Indiana including Fort Wayne, Allen County and surrounding counties for miles and miles, stretching into Ohio and Michigan.
Listeners can also listen to WOWO locally on 107.5 FM and online via their favorite apps or the WOWO.com website.
But here’s what you need to know about connecting your business with Baby Boomers via WOWO radio.
It’s a no-brainer. Ever since I started with WOWO in 2013, the weekly total local audience according to the ratings service has been over 100,000 listeners.
There are a couple other stations in town that have over 100,000 weekly listeners but they have a significant number of kids that make that total add up to 100,000.
WOWO’s listenership according to the ratings is 99% grown-ups. Adults age 25 and older who buy stuff.
Half of those adults are Baby Boomers like me. 
By comparison, 2nd most listened to radio station by Baby Boomers less than half the number of listeners. If you want to know why this is important, take a look or listen to last week’s advertising nugget about reach and frequency. WOWO actually reaches more Baby Boomers than any other Fort Wayne radio station, by an over 2 to 1 margin.
Just recently I was negotiating with a media buyer that wants to buy advertising that will reach 25 to 54 year olds. That is a popular sweet spot in a lot of advertising agency mindsets. And sure that may have been the correct sweet spot to target a couple decades ago when Baby Boomers were that age, it’s very limiting thinking now as I have just demonstrated.
Before I wrap this up, I want to expand on why companies need to consider Lifestyles not just age demographics.
I’m 57. 
A good friend of mine, Kelly is also 57. His daughter is heading off to her 1st year of college right this very moment.
My wife and I have 5 kids from our previous marriages and 9 grandkids. While Kelly’s daughter is starting her college days at Indiana University, our oldest grandkid is starting his college days at Purdue University. Our youngest kid is 29 with three boys.
Yes, Kelley and his wife and me and my wife are all Baby Boomers but with very different lifestyles going on.
I also tend to have a wide spread of ages in my friendship circle. The oldest is 18 years older than me. I also hang out with those that are 30 years younger than me.
It’s not just the age, but the lifestyle that you need to pay attention to when planning your advertising.
I’ve done enough talking, I want to hear from you as I ask once again on behalf of myself and the other 78 million Baby Boomers, “Do you want our money?”
by Scott Howard | Jul 30, 2017 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, ScLoHo's Media
Television viewing habits continue to shift. Have your advertising expenditures shifted too? It’s time to examine the trends for your business.
200 Channels and there is nothing on
The TV shift is real in 2017 and will only continue in the years ahead. Television viewing habits have been changing for years and as consumers, we really don’t care how we get our video content.
But for businesses that have relied on television advertising to be the lifeblood of their business, they may find themselves on life support unless they wake up and make some changes.
Saturday night my wife and I were taking care of 3 young ones, grandkids ages 8 months to 4 years old.
The parents are around 30 years old. Neither watch local television. Disney Junior is the channel of choice when the boys are up. When the parents get to watch the TV in the family room, they are selecting something from Netflix.
Saturday night after the boys went to sleep, my wife and I were flipping through the line up and finally settled on HGTV for a little while, not because we wanted to watch it, but because of all the options that were coming up, it was the most viewable. No offensive language in case we were visited by the grandkids coming downstairs for a snack and nothing that required an investment of uninterrupted time like a movie.
Granted my wife and I are Baby Boomers and we grew up with local television and later cable networks, but the past few years the networks decided that Friday and Saturday nights were not worth programming and they usually fill the prime time hours with reruns or fluff.
I’ve got a story I wrote about Baby Boomers, media and marketing coming up in a couple of days that talks about how to effectively reach us and invite us to spend our money with you and it has some information from Mediapost that should be eye-opening.
Right now, I have another Mediapost article in front of me that has some disturbing news for the television industry and if you are spending money advertising on TV, read on…
It’s titled: Good News, Bad News For TV, Video And Advertisers
The author went beyond the short term, headline grabbing information and dug through 3 years of data and here’s what he wrote:
Good News for Traditional TV – Adults spend more than five times as much time watching traditional TV than watching video on all other screens combined. Those under 25 spend about twice as much time with traditional TV than with other screens.
Bad News For Traditional TV – Two years ago, adults spent 10 times as much time, while those under 25 spent four times as much time with traditional TV. The gap between traditional TV and video on all other screens has been cut in half over the past two years — and continues to narrowing dramatically. This is also the first time I can recall when traditional TV viewing was lower in the first quarter than the fourth quarter of the same season.
In summary:
- the big screen is still watched more more than our small screens (phones, tablets and laptops).
- the drop in viewership of traditional TV, both cable and local has accelerated faster than nearly any other advertising medium in history in just the past two years. I can not think of any other advertising medium that has had a 90% decrease that survived.
- the future is not very bright for traditional TV. While the quotes above mention the under 25 year olds, I also know that the 25 to 40 year olds are following that same pattern of ignoring the TV networks, especially the local channels as I’ve witnessed in my own family.
Here’s more from the Mediapost story:
-
Good News For Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime
-
Good News For Mobile Video
-
Bad News For TV Advertisers – DVR and time-shifted viewing remains solid, particularly among traditional TV’s main audience —viewers 35+. But live viewing, which is the only way advertisers can know who is exposed to their commercials, is declining sharply, particularly among younger viewers.
Now where I live, in a conservative city in the midwest, Fort Wayne, Indiana, change is a little slower than on the east or west coasts of our country. That may be why business are continuing to use the local television stations, even when they have challenges with justifying their return on investment.
I met with a local business owner recently that told me he spent over $50,000 for two years advertising on of our more popular local TV stations and could only track one job, worth a few hundred bucks from that expenditure.
You probably noticed changes in your viewing habits over the recent past. I noticed a few years ago when the Emmy awards were featuring more and more programs that were not on ABC, CBS, FOX or NBC and that evolved to shows that were not even on cable. Netflix, Hulu and Amazon received 125 nominations for the next awards. ABC, CBS & NBC together only have 115.
UPDATE: After I wrote and published this article, a couple more articles arrived in my email.
The young adults time spent watching TV is dropping fast.
You will find more statistics at Statista
So what are they watching? Take a look.
You will find more statistics at Statista
The viewership habits have been changing for some time. Pretty soon the businesses that advertise on traditional TV will also change. Because the TV Shift is Real.
by Scott Howard | Jul 5, 2017 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
Last month a couple of research articles about marketing to different generations hit my inbox. One was talking about generational differences and the other was talking about similarities.
So the title of this update, Everyone Needs A Little Love is based on what I read along with what I’ve learned and observed in my 57 years and how to apply it to your marketing.
I admit that I could write volumes about this but I’ll just hit a couple of highlights right now.
I’m also going to share some personal stuff too.
Can you count the 4 generations?
I belong to the generation known as Baby Boomers. That’s the classification of people born between 1946 and 1964 when the population exploded after World War 2 and the Korean Conflict. Our parent’s celebrated by having sex which led to having kids. Birth control was more limited back then.
The next generation is known as Generation X which is currently age 38 to 52 or so. This includes kids of the oldest Baby Boomers.
Then you’ve got the children of the younger Baby Boomers, known as Millennials. All of my kids and step-kids are in this group aged 22 to 37.
Now we have a name for the youngest generation, Centennials (consumers under the age of 21).
My grandkids are Centennials ranging in age from 18 years to 6 months. The youngest isn’t making purchasing decisions yet but he’s a consumer who is an influencer of his parents!
As a business owner or marketing person, you need to tailor your advertising to appeal to the people you want to invite to spend money with you. This includes both the message and the delivery vehicle.
Before I dig into some of the differences, let’s talk about what all generations have in common.
Everyone, no matter how young or how old, want to trust.
They want to trust that the money they spend will give them what ever it is that you are promoting.
If you are selling gluten-free food, they want to trust that your food is free of gluten.
If you are selling stylish clothing online, they want to trust that when their order arrives, it will be exactly as you said online.
If you are, well you can fill in the blank… Trust is a must for all of us. When I married my wife we both made that commitment because we trusted each other. My 6 month old grandson lets me rock him to sleep in my arms because he trusts me.
No matter what, be trustworthy. Got it? Cool.
Now here’s a couple of noteworthy items from one of the research papers I read from Mediapost:
- CENTENNIALS: The Experience GenerationThis youngest group of shoppers wants authentic brand experiences across all channels, and values quality over price or convenience. As digital natives, Centennials (consumers under the age of 21) don’t engage in the traditional customer service channels (such as phone or email), but they still expect personalized interactions with brands that understand their needs.
- MILLENNIALS: Brand LoyalistsMillennials (ages 22 to 37) stick with the companies they know and trust, demonstrating the most brand loyalty of all the generations. This means they are most open to marketing messages – assuming their interactions are personalized, brands stay true to their promises and their customer loyalty is rewarded.
- GENERATION X: Bargain HuntersOften considered the forgotten generation, Generation X (ages 38 to 52) is full of deal seekers. They want good buys on quality products, and they expect a convenient path to purchase. This group of consumers is most likely to be influenced by price and cares less about brand loyalty than other generations.
- BABY BOOMERS: Price-Savvy ShoppersPrefer brands that offer wide selections at discounted prices. Not motivated by loyalty programs or unique brand experiences, this generation wants to see a variety of well-priced products that meet their immediate needs.
There are other insights in the article that you can read at this link.
But before we wrap this up, I’m going to share with you some insight that either contradicts or complements the Mediapost article.
I’m a young Baby Boomer. I have lived through each of these life stages. A lot of the descriptions about the habits of the generations I just mentioned aren’t really characteristics of the generations. They are really descriptions of the habits nearly everyone goes through as they progress from one stage of life to the next.
So those consumers under age 21, every generation in their youth was looking for authentic experiences. You wanted to be part of the cool crowd, have friends, find love and experience real life.
Next comes life after college, reality hits, relationships become families and you want to find good and services, sometimes known as brands that you trusted and you developed your own loyalties to those things.
As the kids become teenagers and the family finances are pulled in all different directions, we really started looking for good bargains so we could afford it all. Instead of bragging about how much we paid for something when we were teens, we now bragged about how little we paid and the deal we got.
Now as we become empty nesters, different circumstances influence our shopping habits. Some have extra money to spend, some are on limited incomes. Some are supporting their kids or grandkids, while others have money tucked away in retirement accounts. The term Mediapost used, Price-Savy doesn’t mean cheap. It means experienced and hopefully not gullible.
And one last time the key to all these people of all generations and life stages is trust. Not a manufactured trust, but a genuine and earned trust. Are you and your business up for that?
I wrote this article and recorded the podcast version last week and since then, this article about generational myth busting was published on Medium.com: Worried that your Millennial employees are Going to Quit on You? Read this. http://bit.ly/2u24TNk
Want help and guidance on how to apply these to your business? Contact me.
by Scott Howard | May 25, 2017 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
I was reading an article from Mediapost that mentioned that baby boomers who are becoming senior citizens are not what you might expect. To illustrate their point they pointed out that at age 63, Christie Brinkley could be considered a “senior”.
She is a Baby Boomer and she was featured along with her two daughters in the 2017 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.
Since a big chunk of the WOWO radio listening audience is the Baby Boomer generation, I ask this question:
Does Christie Brinkley Listen to WOWO Radio?
My answer is defiantly not. Well maybe, but not likely.
Since she doesn’t hang out in the midwest and I’ve never heard her call the Pat Miller Program to express her views on, well anything, if she listens, we are not aware that Christie Brinkley is a WOWO Radio listener.
However, over the years I have found many women who will confess to me that they are a WOWO Radio listener and they think that they are a out-numbered.
On one hand, yes, there are more guys than gals that listen to WOWO’s news talk radio format, but not by much. If you were to take 10 typical WOWO listeners and put them in a room, and these 10 represented the WOWO audience, you would have 6 men and 4 women.
I was doing some research recently and from the data I have access to, more women age 40 and older in the Fort Wayne area listen to WOWO than any other radio station. When I look at Baby Boomer women, WOWO has twice as many Christie Brinkley types compared to the other Fort Wayne radio stations.
Let’s circle back to that Mediapost article that mentioned Christie Brinkley.
Quoting here:
Christie Brinkley, who at 63 appeared in this year’s 2017 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue rocking a bikini alongside her daughters—all the proof you need that 60 can be confident, sexy and in the spotlight.
Brinkley said, “In a country that’s very ageist, people love to put you in little boxes. Women feel very limited by their numbers. On a personal level, I thought, if I can pull this off, I think it will help redefine those numbers and remove some of the fear of aging.”
At 60 and beyond, Boomers continue to be a dynamic and powerful consumer segment. They may not be considered young, but their youthful energy has them constantly on the lookout for new and improved products and services that help them achieve the active, full lives after 60 that previous generations could only have imagined.
Here’s a couple of take-aways from the Mediapost article that you can apply to the women and perhaps men who listen to WOWO radio:
1. They represent a large and growing consumer market
At 37 million and growing, Americans in their 60’s have been the fastest-growing age group since the turn of the century.
2. They have big spending power
The average net worth for 60-somethings is significantly greater than it is for Americans in their 20s (by 99%), 30s (+67%), 40s (+27%), and 50s (+13%).
Nearly half (40%) of today’s 60-somethings are still working.
On top of that, many 60-somethings are choosing to forego leaving a large inheritance and instead are opting to spend on experiences they can share with their children and grandchildren in the moment.
3. They’re not slowing down
Today’s 60-somethings know they’ve still got it. Their mindset is characterized by a steadfast belief in their abilities, a desire to learn and try new things, and wanting to raise the bar on what’s possible at this life stage.
They understand the need to care for their health differently than when they were younger, so they pay more attention to their diets, stay informed about advances in healthcare, use supplements and prescription drugs when needed, and take fitness seriously.
4. They embrace technology that matters
80% of 60 – 69 year olds are online, and nearly 8 in 10 of those online use smartphones.
They are leading the charge for devices and services that make their homes more secure and efficient. Next up is technology that will help them monitor and manage their health.
5. They’re a big influence on their adult children.
More than previous generations, Boomers and their adult children like, trust, and go to each other for advice.
When I listen to WOWO radio, I hear ads for home improvement, luxury automobiles, financial products and other big buck items that Baby Boomers are spending their money on.
Want to know more about how to invite WOWO listeners to spend money with you? Contact me.
by Scott Howard | May 16, 2017 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, ScLoHo's Media, ScLoHo's Web World, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
Yesterday I was reading an article from MarketingCharts.com so you don’t have to, no, really I do enjoy looking at this kind of stuff and pulling out some of the highlights.
It relates to an upcoming podcast episode and article I wrote that will be debuting in a couple days, too.
Here’s the highlights:
- We are spending more time with “Media” than ever before. Over 12 hours a day. Technically this would have been impossible a few years ago, but not now. Which brings us to the second highlight:
- Multi-tasking is in full swing and for media that means watching more than one screen at the same time. Those smartphones are being used by more and more of us instead of staring at the TV screen like zombies when the commercials come on.
- Print Media is shrinking. Not just the number of pages or the number of readers, but the time spent reading newspapers and magazines by each person is dropping. Over the last 5 years, each of us who still read print spend 15 minutes less every day.
- Radio listening, according to the report is steady. More on this in a second.
- Time spent with Digital media continues to grow. No surprise to any of us right?
Those last two items, Radio and Digital are the two areas that I work in and can help you craft an effective plan to use radio and digital to grow your business. Want to know more? Ask me. Also check out this weeks Genuine ScLoHo Media & Marketing Podcast episode Thursday on this website. Here’s a link.
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