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Marketing Sherpa post on Sequoia Capital Presentation
Posted by
Matt Kucharski on October 31, 2008 at
9:29 AM
Interesting article from Marketing Sherpa on a major venture capitalist advising companies NOT to cut marketing during the economic downturn. Music to my ears...
Full article is below in case you don't want to link...
SherpaBlog: Sequoia Capital Advises CEOs to Rely on Marketing to Survive Downturn
By Anne Holland, Founder
The heads of Sequoia Capital gave a CEO-only presentation on Oct. 7 that I can describe only as the 'PowerPoint of doom'. The cover slide even had a tombstone on it.
Last week, private equity firms (e.g., Benchmark Capital) and other major investors (e.g., Ron Conway) followed suit, sending a flurry of doom-laden advisory emails to hundreds of CEOs.
Even if your company is not dependent on venture funding or on the stock market, the fallout will probably affect you. Nothing spreads faster than fear.
Unfortunately, aside from the direct marketing industry, typical CEOs have a knee-jerk reaction when they're scared. They slash marketing.
The good news, according to CEOs who attended Sequoia's presentation, is that the firm touted marketing as absolutely critical to *surviving* this recession and even coming out stronger on the other end. Sequoia's critical action items to beat the recession reportedly included:
-> Nail your sales and marketing positioning so it's as customer-driven and high-impact as possible.
-> Go on the offensive against the competition. They're in pain, too, and it's easier to beat them when they're down.
-> Ramp up PR and marketing communications aggressively.
-> Improve measurements company-wide so you know what to cut and what to invest more in.
My advice? The most important action you can take to save your department right now is to assume control. Instead of waiting for your CEO to tell you how big the cuts need to be, be proactive. Show that you are a leader who can be counted on in the tough times ahead. Your marketing plan for fourth quarter should include:
1. Capital preservation
Even if you're budgeted to spend money, find ways to hoard it. Show the CEO where you can cut costs and control spending, especially by bargaining with vendors and media. Do what you can to preserve headcount, although you may end up outsourcing some positions. Recessionary marketing tactics are usually staff-power intensive.
2. Measurement
You desperately need more data that ties marketing activity to the bottom line. You need to know what to cut and what to increase. In B2B, lead qualification and scoring is now your top priority. In consumer marketing, devise better ways to measure the campaigns and tactics that:
- cost the most overall (e.g., video ads)
- can be done on a shoestring using staff time instead of outside vendors (e.g., word-of-mouth campaigns)
3. PR Research
Build an in-house list of every possible media outlet, especially non-traditional ones, such as Facebook groups, email newsletters published by related brands, and the blogosphere. Keep notes on each one's predilections and PR possibilities.
4. Market Research
You don't have the ad dollars to throw new creative against the wall and see what sticks. Base creative decisions on targeted research including internal site search terms (i.e., terms people use when they visit your site), surveys of your opt-in email list, A/B offer tests on PPC search, etc.
Also, consider using low-cost webinar formats to conduct focus groups. It's not perfect, but it's a lot cheaper than flying around and renting facilities. Just make sure that a true research expert devises the questions and analyzes the results. In short, invest in smart people instead of costly campaigns.
During the bust of 2001, I used to think of marketers as 'Buffy the Vampire Slayers'. Other departments may think that we are dumb cheerleaders, but we are often the only ones who can save the victim. It's time to get your Buffy on!
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Padilla friend Joe Epley wins major PRSA achievement award
Posted by
Matt Kucharski on October 31, 2008 at
8:53 AM
Nice accolade for our fellow Worldcom Group founding partner Joe Epley. This is from the Bulldog Reporter's daily briefing this week.
Issue Date: Daily 'Dog - October 29, 2008
Epley Receives Gold Anvil Award, PRSA's Highest Honor
Joe S. Epley, an icon of Charlotte, N.C., business and the so-called "godfather" of modern public relations in Russia, received the Public Relations Society of America 2007 Gold Anvil Award, the highest individual honor, at the Society's 2008 International Conference in Detroit.
"Joe Epley has distinguished himself over many years as a sophisticated, visionary ethical professional who has been an inspirational leader of PRSA," said PRSA Chair and CEO Jeffrey Julin, APR. "He is a credit to the profession and to this organization in every respect, and he is a worthy recipient of this honor."
Julin presented the prestigious Gold Anvil Award to Epley during the International Conference. First awarded in 1948, the Gold Anvil commemorates a lifetime of service by an individual whose work significantly advanced the profession and set high standards for those engaged in the practice of public relations.
Epley, now semi-retired in the Blue Ridge Mountains community, Tryon, N.C., headed Epley Associates, Inc., for 27 years. The full-service firm represented a variety of clients ranging from Fortune 100 companies to local not-for-profits, many of them clients for more than two decades. He also was founding partner in Worldcom Public Relations Group, a network of independent firms that grew to include businesses in 35 countries.
"Joe Epley has made a great impact in all aspects of the public relations field and has been an exemplary professional. We're proud to recognize his great contributions to our profession by awarding him the 2008 Gold Anvil Award," said Sherry Goldman, 2008 PRSA Honors and Awards Committee chair and president of the New York-based Goldman Communications Group.
"It is both a thrill and a humbling experience to be selected by your peers for such a high honor," said Epley. "I can't think of a better way to cap one's career. It makes me feel that I have made a difference. But I also have had many colleagues who worked with me, guided me, supported me and gave me the opportunities to make that difference."
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We tease to please . . . Headlines writ with wit and search engine marketing magnetism
Posted by
Bob Brin on October 22, 2008 at
10:43 AM
Thanks to Andy Goldman-Gray, V.P. of marketing at the Greater Twin Cities United Way who sent this praise to a very important woman in these bloggers' lives, whose initials are C.E.O.
By the way, you have the best blog headlines on your website. They tease perfectly!
It's a daily challenge -- do we write headlines that are clever or headlines that cleaver their way into the first page of Google results? Online headline writing is part art and part search engineering. We strive for a balance, like the headline above in which I wedged the words "headlines" and "search engine marketing." But I stopped short of something like "How to write headlines for blogs" (although I snuck it into the body copy just there). In other words, while we do try to attract the search engines, we also want to attract the reader into the the lead paragraph. Wit isn't everything, either. If your headline's so cute it doesn't leave a clue about the content, the reader won't be enticed.
The Soul of Body Copy
It doesn't stop at the headline or lead sentence either. Think of online readers as treasure hunters and your job is to leave little gems along the way that deliver value and entice them to read on. Those gems should be informative, engaging and bite-sized. Keep the reader moving with subheads, bullets, captions and more. That's why I choke on the idea of "chunky" writing. Think nuggets instead. Good prose is as important as the information it carries because it reflects back quality and character.
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