by Scott Howard | Dec 20, 2016 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
Recently I shared the story of the death of the newspaper industry. It was a combination of a personal story and an article about the financial health and business model of the newspapers that has attempted to stay alive by adapted to our technology driven world. Click here to read it if you care. 
Today, I have more on the Evolution of Traditional Media, and this time it’s about TV. An article published by Mediapost says the Future of TV is Now. (Actually since the article came out 4 weeks ago, I should say the Future of TV was 4 weeks ago.)
I’ve talked about the splintering of audiences numerous times over the years and yet some in the broadcasting world are attempting to hang on to the old models. In Fort Wayne, Indiana we saw an out with the old and in with the new kids shift occur on a couple of the TV stations that shuffled their news departments so much during 2016 that no one knows who’s where, but more importantly does anyone care?
I am officially older than dirt, I guess but now I’m old enough that my gray hair is age appropriate, unlike 30 years ago. But back to the subject of television and our viewing habits. Here’s a few quotes:
The evolution of TV and video habits has meant that traditional user groups, such as the TV Couch Traditionalists, have shrunk by more than 30% since 2010, in favor of user groups such as the Mobility Centric and Screen Shifters.
Who are these groups? TV Couch Traditionalists would have been me as a kid in the 70’s. You watch what’s on when it comes on. You watch in the living room or family room. ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS were the ONLY networks. That expanded over the years with Cable TV, but that cable kept you sitting on the couch.
Mobility Centric and Screen Shifters sprung up when the technology was developed to watch what I want from nearly any source when ever I want.
But beyond these labels, here’s a few more tidbits:
Since 2012, the average consumer has increased their viewing on mobile devices by 4 hours a week, while their fixed screen viewing has declined by 2.5 hours a week. This means that today they spend an extra 1.5 hours watching TV and video than they did 4 years ago.
So traditional tv viewership has dropped by 2.5 hours a week. That’s tough news for broadcast television stations. And if you are advertising on traditional TV, the available audience to see your message continues to shrink. Sure we watch more video but not on the old boob tube as my Dad referred to the tv.
The viewing traditions of TV and media consumers are clearly changing, with the media industry introducing new types of content and formats. Just as the preferences for how to watch TV and video content are changing, so is when and through which screen the content is viewed.
The article points out generational differences comparing those 35 and under to the rest of us and while there are always exceptions, my advice is if you want to reach the millennial generation with your advertising messages, you probably ought to skip traditional TV and look at other online digital and video platforms. Notable exceptions might be certain live sports events, but I can watch those on my laptop, so never mind.
Want help on figuring out the advertising, marketing and media landscape and options that would work best for you? Contact me.
by Scott Howard | Dec 14, 2016 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
Awhile ago an article about Baby Boomers and Advertising arrived in my email and I saved a portion to share today with a disclaimer…
This advice applies to all generations and the real question you and I need to answer is, Is Your Business Trustworthy?
10 Ways To Build Boomers’ Trust
1. Make a long-term commitment. While Boomers represent the largest share of consumers for a vast majority of products and services, too often their loyalty is taken for granted. In today’s ultra-competitive world, brands need to maintain a constant presence in consumers’ lives not just to develop new customers, but also to protect existing ones.
2. Provide visibility and validity. Representing Boomers’ lives, priorities and interests in marketing efforts validates their existence, and develops a strong mental connection between them and your brand.
3. Express gratitude. Consumers expect to be rewarded for their loyalty through purchase frequency savings programs, but brands that really stand out take it a step further with additional messaging that simply thanks customers for their business and offers to better meet their needs. Airlines do a great job of this.
4. Treat your employees well. Being good to your employees conveys that your company cares about more than profits. Costco has become known for paying decent wages, providing good health benefits, embracing equality, and promoting from within. Such benefits have resulted in high employee loyalty and good press for the brand.
5. Give back. Customers like knowing that their spending allows them to participate in doing social good. In a world where Wells Fargo exploited its consumer base for its own good, companies that do social good will stand out. Companies with strong corporate social responsibility efforts are also a hit with Millennials.
6. Keep good company. Ad networks may be cost-efficient, but they can’t guarantee delivery of your message in an environment that enhances messaging. Leveraging media environments that consumers already trust can provide the unexpressed endorsement of an advertiser.
7. Provide knowledge and transparency online. While an ad can generate awareness, it is no longer enough to drive sale. Among Boomers who use the Internet, 90% conduct research online before making purchase decisions. Make it easy for these consumers to find and learn about your brand online by providing dedicated URLs in advertising, and maximizing the effectiveness of search strategies.
8. Develop strong customer service. The importance of strong phone and online chat customer service can’t be overstated, particularly for serious purchase decisions (e.g. investments, healthcare). Older consumers may first want to gather information independently, but once they are ready to contact a company, they expect to be greeted by a knowledgeable, friendly, helpful person who provides an easy learning and/or buying experience.
9. Develop online communities. There’s safety in numbers. Online communities can serve as brand ambassadors and provide Boomers with the confidence that purchasing a product or service is a good investment.
10. Generate good press. Even the best advertising can’t match the value of independent editorial coverage by reputable media outlets. This is a well-established tactic that is more relevant than ever in the age of mistrust.
The no-shortcuts way to build trust: Justified or not, marketing has played a significant role in the age of mistrust. Brands that want to stand out from the rest must prioritize integrity, part of which means treating the relationship with Boomers with the respect it deserves. There’s no silver bullet solution. Brands simply need to walk the walk.
This snippet was from an article shared by Mediapost.
by Scott Howard | Nov 14, 2016 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
This is week 3 of 5 weeks, I am sharing the 5 most shared articles I’ve published in the past 12 months. This is from the end of August:
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Lifetime Value of a customer. It’s something that most new business people don’t grasp because they are focused on the weekly and monthly cost of doing business.
(I worked with one fellow a few years ago when we were both employed by an e-commerce business that would watch the online sales volume by the hour. That’s a little obsessive unless you also look at the big picture.)
And it’s the Big Picture that focuses on the Lifetime Value of a customer.
The example I presented was my own experience with a local coffee shop. I may be a $3 cup of coffee, or a $10 food and drink transaction, but my Lifetime Value is thousands of dollars. You can see how I did the math here.
After I published that article, a former colleague of mine, Peter Presnal wrote to me with his comments:
The late, great Peter Drucker said a business has one purpose: to create a customer. What you’re talking about, Scott Howard, is that customer’s value over time (aka Lifetime Value). It seems to me the only real way to evaluate the effectiveness of an advertising or marketing initiative is how many customers the initiative generates and their value OVER TIME. If it cost, say, $2000 in advertising to get you to show up at your coffee shop the first time, and the shop operated on, say, a 50% gross margin, and even if you were the only customer who got popped then that was a successful campaign…it at this point is a 150% ROI. The problem, as you and I both know, most small business owners would say that a campaign that only popped one person failed…but because that’s only because they themselves failed to look at the value of the customer OVER TIME.
Peter Presnal (click on his head to fed his ego and his tummy)
Thanks Peter.
Peter and I crossed paths a lifetime ago when I worked for WMUZ in Detroit which is where I began my journey into the advertising and marketing world. I stayed with WMUZ for 7 and a half years.
Peter has been there over 23 years and has his own website that I invite you to check out at http://socraticduck.com/
by Scott Howard | Oct 24, 2016 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
Do different generations consume and respond to marketing messages differently?
It’s a question that deserves examining and the big question, Is There A Generation Gap In Marketing?
On one hand, I am not typical of my generation and on the other, I fit in perfectly.
I’m a child of the 60’s and 70’s. My kids are children of the 80’s and 90’s. I sometimes forget about the generational differences because I forget either how old I really am or how young they (and their peers) really are.
As usual what often prompts these articles are a series of events that are unrelated but build on one another and this month the topic was Millennials.
Can you count the 4 generations?
My media habits have changed but so have nearly everyone’s due to technology changes.
The dominance of traditional mass media that reached huge percentages of the population at the same time is gone. The traditional mass media consisted of broadcast TV networks that you would watch without having to pay a cable or internet or data fee for (namely ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS & Fox); Local radio stations (Fort Wayne had no more than 10 and only 3 or 4 dominate stations), and the daily newspapers.
First came the internet revolution and then the smartphone revolution and now we truly live in a different world.
Instead of only being able to reach a mass audience with your message, you can also reach a very targeted audience with your message.
Instead of having to choose from two TV shows that are on at the same time on different channels, I can watch them when I want, where I want and on whatever device I want.
Forget about reading the printed newspaper. I get my news, even my local newspaper news online.
Radio for me is still a pleasure to listen to, but the number of stations I have available is now close to 30 and if I had satellite radio in my car, my choices would be in the hundreds. All new vehicles sold in the last few years have offered internet options to replace my radio and on the same token, my favorite radio stations have made themselves available for me to listen to online where ever I go.
The phone book was replaced by Google and I could go on and on, but I risk sounding like an old fogey.
I don’t want to go back to the old days. Instead I want to help people of the older generations adapt to the marketing options that are now available and at the same time, help the younger generations understand the timeless marketing principles that apply no matter what the advances are now and in the future with advertising delivery methods.
At one of the meetings I was at that inspired this article, there was a young man who was a little too passionate about digital media and overselling it to the detriment of traditional media. Because I work in both, I plan on meeting with him to see what’s what. I hope to expand his thinking, not to sell him on the traditional media, but to help him understand the limitations of all media and R.O.I. measurement.
It is true that there is a Generation Gap in Marketing. Take a look at some numbers from a report I read about Small and Medium Business marketing:
In order to better understand SMBs current marketing strategies, Magisto surveyed 500 U.S. based small and medium sized businesses about their digital/mobile marketing strategies and tactics. Key findings in the report continue.
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Millennials spend 58% of their marketing budget on digital media; Baby boomers spend only 14% of their marketing budget on digital media, making millennials 3X more likely than baby boomers to spend the majority of their media budget on digital advertising
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Nearly half 41% of millennials spend the bulk of their marketing budget on mobile media. Less than 10% of baby boomers rely on the same media
and from that same report:
According to eMarketer, 2017 will be the first year in history that digital media ad spending surpasses television ad spending.
When I was in my late 20’s and 30’s the marketing world was also changing and everyone of us, no matter what our generation or age, need to be fully aware of how these changes can impact your business.
Want help figuring all this out? Contact me.
by Scott Howard | Sep 22, 2016 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard
A great article from Mediapost that I read this week was about Baby Boomers defying certain stereotypes, especially when it comes to tech and online activity.
Numbers show that Baby Boomers are a valuable customer that you can reach online
Since 1/2 of WOWO radio’s huge audience is the Baby Boomer generation, it makes sense to share this with you and as WOWO is my radio station that I work for and it also helps explain what I shared earlier regarding Why Does A Radio Guy Also Sell Digital Marketing Solutions.
Here’s a few highlights:
- Of the many misconceptions about baby boomers, perhaps the one most perilous to marketers today is that those in the demographic aren’t tech savvy. In fact, according to a 2016 Boston Consulting Group survey, boomers’ top 20 favorite brands include Amazon, Apple, Dell, HP, LG, Samsung and Sony. In my own personal experience as a Boomer, I use Amazon weekly and have bought products from Dell, HP, LG and Samsung. (Sorry Apple & Sony).
- …contrary to stereotypes, aging doesn’t cause us to lose long-term memory. Instead, the change is a reduction in memory recall. For marketers, repetition is an effective way to ensure messages are properly processed and later recalled. This is why the Custom Audience Targeting with Digital Display Ads I offer works well, just like the ads I air on WOWO for my advertising partners.
- In fact, a study by visual engagement analytics firm Sticky found that baby boomers engage with digital ads significantly longer than do millennials. Again, this explains the success I’ve seen with my advertising partners who are inviting older adults to their websites.
Want to know more? Let’s talk.
by Scott Howard | Sep 12, 2016 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo Sales Tips, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
Too often I see so called marketing experts who are trying to game the system and push some technology that they claim will beat the pants off everyone else and blah, blah, blah…
What I look for when I see this stuff is are they also taking into consideration the human factor? Or more accurately, the Human Relationship Factor? It’s something I preach all the time.
Last week this article from Mediapost arrived in my email which gives a few tips, especially when the buyers are age 50+:
People Make All Purchase Decisions
In a recent article, “All purchase decisions are made by people” Gavin Finn,CEO of Kaon Interactivewrote, “While data science and analytics have become an essential element of every modern marketing arsenal, it is wise to remember that people make all purchase decisions.”
He goes on to say, “Even in business purchases, the individual decision-makers are subject to the same strengths and weaknesses as consumers. Neuroscientists have proven that every decision has an element of emotion to it . . . In fact, many behavioral scientists believe that the primary decision drivers are mainly emotional.”
When marketing to Baby Boomer’s (52 to 70 years of age), focusing on product features and benefits often results in a losing strategy, especially early on in the process. As shown above, research has shown that consumers’ final decisions are not the direct product of the reasoning process; in fact, as we age emotions drive us even more in our purchase decisions. The reasoning process will confirm their decision, but it doesn’t start there.
Although all of us have basic human values and motivators that drive us, we manifest them differently as we move through the spring, summer, fall, and winter of life. Selling to Baby Boomer customers is different primarily because of this shift how we manifest values and motivators.
Our human need for identity, relationships, purpose, gaining knowledge and growth, rejuvenation and recreation are always with us. However, as we age, we focus more on having meaningful life experiences compared to our younger selves that concentrate on gaining material goods. As such, it’s in your best interest to determine and communicate how your brand, product or service provides a gateway to meaningful life experiences.
Sales professionals should begin a sales presentation by first developing a relationship.
1. Understand you’re in an emotionally charged environment and take the time to practice focused listening. Salespeople often speak to the customer in a very staccato fashion. They immediately start talking about their product/service’s features and benefits without trying to build the relationship first. This approach is not usually practical, because as we get older, we become more resistant to absolute guarantees or propositions than when we were younger.
2. Never rush the Boomer customer or patronize them. The older we get, we more easily recognize and the more we reject being patronized. Marketers and sales professionals should allow the consumer to pull wanted information; not push it at them.
3. Deliver objective information at a slow-to-moderate pace. Avoid jumping around on the issue. Maintain a steady equilibrium as you speak. Ask many open-ended questions that start the customer talking.
4. Be vulnerable, honest and open about who you are. The more honest you are, the better your chances are of developing a good solid bond in the relationship. Show sincere empathy and reduce your reliance on sales charts and other tools, and take more time to understand the Boomer’s needs and wants.
5. Saying less is more in many instances especially in the early stages of communicating. Let the consumer use his or her imagination to interpret your communications. Be prepared to provide more detail as requested.
Challenge your current sales approach and gain a better understanding of the physical as well as behavioral changes of aging consumers. Remember that as we age, we can’t hear, or taste or see as well, and if your sales approach, product information or environment isn’t user-friendly to these consumers; you’re often wasting your time.
The American historian Daniel J. Boorstin once said: “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.” In other words, what stops you from knowing the truth is acknowledging a false truth as the truth. If you think you have the truth, but don’t, you stop seeking it. Keep seeking the truth.
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