The pizza is ordered; the beer is ‘’fridged’ and the couch is awaiting its owner. All that needs to happen is to tune into CBS, when the unthinkable happens: There is nothing there.

This was the reality of the Verizon FiOS subscriber over this past weekend in Central Pennsylvania, and with DirectTV (although with different networks) in places like Miami and Boston. The reason was the ongoing fee negotiation between carriers and providers to broadcast.  And while we do have an opinion on how these negotiations have gone, that isn’t what this post is about.

This post is about what we are paid to think about: What the Public Wants.

Too often, a company’s Marketing Department (or agency) is required to confer with their legal department on a campaign or a message. Rarely is the shoe on the other foot, but in this case, it should have been. If an organization like ours were consulted, we would have made it clear that beyond the ratings juggernaut a game like that would be, the perception immediately becomes that neither side is willing to take a step back from the conflict in order to do right by its customers. Whether it was a 48-hour extension or an accelerated timeline to get the deal in order, the absolute last case scenario should have been a blackout.

Some make the argument that the public doesn’t have the inalienable right to expect to watch a football game, but the public has a funny way of determining what they expect (and an even funnier way of retribution against those that take away what they expect). Companies can take that moral and philosophical stance of “business is business” argument, but shouldn’t do so without considering the repercussions. Viewers aren’t inanimate objects. They’re people.

We conclude with this thought. A company like Verizon or DirectTV could explain its actions by discussing how it’s working to improve stock prices and, in turn, help the stockholder. That’s a great Monday morning answer, but on a cold, Pennsylvania Saturday night in January, the average stockholder just wants to watch the game.

—-

Direct Choice Inc. is a full-service direct marketing agency that has worked with national and regional brands in a wide variety of vertical markets. In addition to this blog, you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

However, when we leave the office and go home, talk with our family, go out to dinner with our friends, and perhaps bring up the topic of social media, the Google+ question is often met with a different response:

“Ugh, another social media site? I still haven’t uploaded myvacation pictures to Facebook or canceled my mySpace account.”

In December, we posted on our Twitter page something that we deemed to potentially be the statistic of 2012…if it happens: Google+ will grow to 400 million users by the end of 2012 (right now, it still remains our Prediction of the Year).

The reason it is an amazing statistic / prediction is because as of the end of December, Google+ had 62 million users which−while a tremendous accomplishment −still leaves them well behind the more established social media sites (and as for social media traffic, Google+ was barely over 1% as of the end of last year).

So, the story is over, right? Wrong. Despite having to increase six-fold, we aren’t counting Google+ out yet because, to date, they have already done a number of things right:

• They made the capability to create a page temporarily exclusive.
• They added the ability to create Brand Pages at a perfect time after enough individual pages were created.
• They have gotten celebrity buy-in.
• They have integrated their platform with other media. 

And, perhaps most importantly, they have integrated the other Google products as well. As VentureBeat put it in a recent article:

“…One major strategic move has helped Google achieve steady growth: Google+ has been slowly integrated with other Google mobile and web applications, starting with Google Reader’s integration back in October. Now, you’ll find G+ features in Gmail, Google Apps, Blogger and more.”

However, the next step is up to us: The Public. Those of a certain demographic and / job description have created their pages already because that is how they stay plugged in. However, the people that will determine Google+’s true success are those that were forced or guilted into creating a Facebook page in the first place. People that check their page almost by accident if they are in front of their computer and don’t care if their Facebook URL is customized. If Google+ converts these people into joining, then it has a chance at 400 million in 360 more days.

Working with clients in various industry sectors, we have been asked the Google+ question a lot since its launch over the summer, specifically as it relates to Facebook or LinkedIn Company Pages. We know what our answer is, but we want to hear from you first.

—-

Direct Choice Inc. is a full-service direct marketing agency that has worked with national and regional brands in a wide variety of vertical markets. In addition to this blog, you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

There are plenty of sides to examine as wall-to-wall news coverage has taken place for much of the year, but our focus today will be on the role of social media.

Barack Obama’s Presidential campaign of 2008 represented the premier example of  how to use social media to gain traction and momentum in creating a popular, robust, grassroots-without-the-grass-or-roots campaign online. However, it was the best example four years ago because it was almost the only example four years ago, and those in the social media industry believed that with nearly half a decade to develop and hone a social media strategy, today’s candidates would be fully ready to embrace the medium.

So who has done it best thus far?

In a recent study by consultancy Sociagility, the organization analyzed popularity, receptiveness, interaction, network and trust of candidates and their communications platforms, and determined that Texas Congressman Ron Paul is the apparent leader among the Republican candidates when it comes to effectively using social media channels (former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich finished in second place). This is not a surprise because Congressman Paul’s unique, against-the-grain messaging resonates with people (both positively and negatively), causing it to be easy to react to and comment on.

In their press release, Sociagility dubbed the Iowa Caucuses (and subsequent primaries) as the first ‘social’ Presidential primaries, insinuating a linkage between social media chatter and its ability to be used to conduct straw polling.

As a marketing organization, we believe social media is an amazing equalizer for some candidates, especially those that have less money in their war chest,  Through these channels – FREE channels – candidates can easily communicate to their base and swing voters on events and messages without the need for an ad-buy or editorial board meeting. However, using it as an accurate polling mechanism is a bit beyond the medium’s means thus far. Where social media’s weak point lies is its ability to judge true engagement beyond the computer screen. Is the person writing, responding, reacting, etc. on social media actually going to visit their voting precinct?

Social media will continue to be a huge influencer in this and future campaigns, but to put unproven reliance on it and labeling it as anything other than a powerful tool to use in the full body of campaign outreach is dangerous at this point.

—-

Direct Choice Inc. is a full-service direct marketing agency that has worked with national and regional brands in a wide variety of vertical markets. In addition to this blog, you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. 2011 WAS a very good year from a direct marketing perspective. As it turned out, the year was filled with hunches confirmed, tests proven and insights gleaned….regardless of the client.

As experts in the industry, the Direct Choice Staff has decided to share their thoughts on  the most significant lessons learned in 2011 from their perspective:

The Direct Choice Family

• Karin: I would say, stick with what works. My clients have been tasked with saving money, and can’t afford to put a wrong  foot forward. We took our controls, made them even stronger and strengthened the branding aspects to support the retail level, and then off we went. Our programs have been pulling hard for several years, and thank goodness, they did even better this year.
• Nick R.: Qualifying the lead pays off. It was the client’s prospect list, so we used messaging to deliver a serious lead, instead of a so-so one. We delivered more sales than the current control, which is what really matters.
• Anne: Creative matters. I say it every year, but this year it was REALLY important.
• Mike: “Couldn’t have said it better than Anne.”
• Christine: At a time when budgets are tight, we are making it work! Drilling down on the data is yielding some incredible results. We customized our messaging and went back out there to a tightly targeted file, speaking to them about what we knew really resonated with them. I would say that in any marketplace a 24% response rate is extraordinary…but at this time and in this economy, it is truly amazing.
• Nick L.: Tuning in to the budgets for each client. I know it sounds really boring, but in this kind of year, that’s where the victories are. That and reinvention. It’s a time to review where you are at, where you are going, and set up a different navigation path.
• Scott: Innovation that can bring down cost per lead has been the name of the game. Whether that’s reducing paper, implementing a digital communications build-out, and looking at every communication contact for its efficacy…it’s been critical.
• Beth: There are no sacred cows. In 2011 and into 2012, everything has been up for taking a second hard look.

These are all wise words to take into 2012, and if you follow this blog, we will have many more to share throughout the year. What were your lessons learned?

—-

Direct Choice Inc. is a full-service direct marketing agency that has worked with national and regional brands in a wide variety of vertical markets. In addition to this blog, you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

So, as long as your brand is resonant, your image is clear and competitively delineated, your website and your materials carry forth all those brand characteristics,…then you are assured of success, right?

Wrong……Brand-schmand (I know, spoken like a true marketer, you might say).

The truth is they are both necessary. While marketing is all about the P’s (Product, Place, Price, Promotion), branding exists in a more esoteric universe.

• Marketing separates; brand unifies.
• Marketing is about segmenting a big group of people, and targeting them with the proper market mix. Branding preaches the unifying element that combines.

In general, branding assures that a product stands for the same thing to a15 year- old kid and a 50 year-old plumber.

If true prospect marketing had its own way, Coca Cola, for example, would have to create a marketing mix for each segment or demographic – teens, ‘tweens, kids, oldies, etc. But, because Coca Cola is at the end of the day a brand and not a product, it preaches the singular message that “Coke is the real thing,” and that one message brings us to one platform & one positioning….from Alaska to Australia.

But how would we prospect most cost-effectively for Coke? Ah. That is the province of the marketer. One retail chain owner recently came up empty-handed after spending a ton on TV advertising to drive traffic into his stores. After an initial surge, his stores were empty. Under siege from shareholders, he came to us at Direct Choice to do, as he put it, the “boots on the ground stuff” to get his outlets busy.

As lead generators, we knew it wasn’t all about his brand. It was about smart micro-targeting in the neighborhoods, leveraging online tactics, special offers and incentives, and buzz in the local markets. Most of all, it was really about knowing who his customers are—and therefore who his best prospects really were.

His branding work had been done. Then it was up to us to make it pay off. Branding and Marketing working in harmony.

—-

Direct Choice Inc. is a full-service direct marketing agency that has worked with national and regional brands in a wide variety of vertical markets. In addition to this blog, you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.