Awkward moment? Not at all – we were brainstorming ideas for a campaign that would help connect underprivileged kids with the arts. We were throwing around some strong emotional ideas and they obviously were hitting home. We knew we were on the right track. And, not to worry, she did this with a smile.

Not every brainstorming session will reduce a room full of grown-ups to reach apologetically for a tissue. But IF they do then you know you’re getting to the good stuff, the gold. So, to help you get to the gold, here are a three tips for your next brainstorming session:

1. Have an agenda and stick to it (kind of)
You have to give some direction to the room because, strategically, you want to finish the meeting with something useable. That can best be achieved with an agenda. Discussion may wander, and that’s ok, but rein it in accordingly so people stay focused and time is used effectively.

2. Bring samples
People feed of the creativity of others. Bring some strong emotional samples to help get the ball rolling and break the ice.

3. Invite a mix of people
Experiment with different people in the room. Different departments, different backgrounds, different skill sets. Brainstorming is all about pulling in things you wouldn’t have thought of on your own. You can’t do that if everyone is like you.

Oh, and have a box of tissues handy. Hopefully, you’ll need it.

What do you think makes for great brainstorming? Please share in the comments below!

Shouldn’t I be part of the Moe-ment too?

Such is the power of Movember, a newcomer to the nonprofit landscape that has generated a windfall for the battle against prostate cancer. Yet even with Movember’s success in growing awareness and raising money to fight this disease, there have been snickers of disapproval from some in the nonprofit world. Why?

Nonprofits ought to know that no industry, including the nonprofit sector, is immune to innovation. Those who don’t approve likely feel threatened as their jobs, and their charities, are feeling the pressure of aging donors and a decline in giving. In contrast, Movember’s success seems to advocate a departure from the way that non-profits have traditionally extended their brands into the lives of donors.

Using a combination of social media, PR, and some good old fashioned humour (this may be the most pun-filled marketing campaign since the launch of Viagra), Movember taps the power of tribalism, segmentation, and great story telling that literally ‘grows’ from the constituent base. It co-opts the donor, rather than trying to win them over with emotional appeals and direct asks, leaving traditional nonprofits looking over their shoulders, wondering if there is an upstart charity about to walk in to their space and shake things up. Where once November was a time for fundraisers to be squirrelled away putting the final touches on their Christmas campaigns, it is now interrupted by Movember’s cattle call for dudes everywhere to enlist in the fight in keeping prostates cancer-free.

For now though it’s February and razors continue to keep the Movember army at bay. In the fall the Moes will be back. Stronger. More determined than ever.

I’ve already set a reminder in my calendar. This year, I won’t be the odd Moe out.

But when there is SO MUCH data, it’s possible to get overwhelmed. What insights do I use, and when? How can I turn facts and figures into outcomes and return on investment? After staring at spreadsheets and graphs all day, you may find yourself wanting a pint or two.

In fact, imagine there’s a new face at your local pub. When you meet someone new, the first instinct is usually to establish common ground. Where have you lived, who do you know, what are your interests? Then, once you find that golden nugget of common ground (“What?! You love Battlestar Gallactica too?), you start to build a foundation for friendship based on similar interests or history.

Think of BIG DATA as that unfamiliar face at your regular watering hole. While it’s important to understand the overall story of your data, since that provides the framework for any insights, it’s difficult to act on such giant and sometimes abstract information. Instead, look at one or two relevant results (against the framework of the overall story of course), and integrate those insights into your marketing.

To illustrate, think of an imaginary nonprofit organization. They’ve just gone through a massive data audit and have a very good idea of who their donors are, giving history, propensity to donate in the future, retention and attrition rates etc. They also know that 75% of donors who give a gift for the first time never give again. That’s the framework, the overall story.

Now, let’s say they also discover that a small group of donors who were acquired in 2010 through a small pilot project have a much lower attrition rate. In fact, it looks like only 25% of those donors never gave again. That’s a 300% increase in retention! What was different about this group? Ahh yes, they targeted people who had interacted with the nonprofit before (signed up for a newsletter, came to an event, volunteered, etc.), but had never previously given funds.

Therefore, that nonprofit could reasonably deduce that when a donor has been involved in more than one channel of interaction, retention goes way up! That insight could then lead to a number of tactics:

• They could invest in creating more volunteer opportunities and actively communicate them to donors.

• Or they could try acquiring donors by getting them to sign up for a newsletter, then converting to cash donation.

• Or they could create a donor exclusive event for a particular group to try to increase retention.

That one nugget of information produces a wealth of possibilities for acquisition, conversion, retention – you name it! Just like using the information we have about our drinking buddies to build on an initial meeting. It can lead to new friends, better friends, or moving out of the friend-zone into a long term relationship.

Hopefully your “BIG DATA” will end up helping your nonprofit (or for-profit) make intelligent day to day decisions and you can end up getting a drinking buddy – err – donor, for life!

Kirk Marketing is growing and we’re seeking an experienced project manager to join our expanding project team.

Working out of our Richmond, BC office you will provide dedicated support to Account Directors with the technical planning and execution of direct marketing and print projects. Your expertise in print and direct mail will be critical to driving your outstanding service – both to external and internal clients. As the ideas candidate, you will be process driven and thrive in a fast past, results driven environment.

Major Responsibilities…

• Maintain up to date knowledge of Kirk’s services (creative, strategy, data analytics and programming, laser, press printing, digital printing and production), postal administrations and industry trends

• Build relationships with customers, suppliers, partners and production team
• Support Account Directors in closing and on-boarding new clients and projects
• Understand and communicate client quality expectations
• Define and develop project scope, goals and deliverables
• Coordinate all necessary resources to meet client timelines and requirements
• Track project deliverables, monitor and report on progress, and manage changes to achieve deliverables
• Anticipate and solve problems and provide constructive solutions
• Ensure that all project goals and client expectations are met and exceeded, while maintaining ongoing communication with the Account Directors

As the ideal candidate you will…

• Have a 2-year marketing or communications certificate
• Have a minimum of 3 years experience in customer service, inside sales, production coordinator or sales coordinator – preferably within the printing or direct marketing industry.
• Have experience with printing or direct mail
• Possess a sound understanding of marketing & advertising principles
• Possess postal administration knowledge
• Be a relationship builder
• Work efficiently and adapt as you go
• Be a team player with a fantastic attitude & a sense of humor
• Push yourself for continuous improvement

To apply for this position, please forward your resume and cover letter to info@kirkmarketing.com.

But are copycat marketing efforts ever enough?

If all you do is imitate, the best case scenario is that you will be included with a slew of others who “are doing alright.” You’ll never come out on top, but you’ll never be alone either. Some people are okay with safety in numbers and prefer to make decisions with a herd mentality. Mediocrity suits them just fine.

But where would the world be today without a little (okay, a lot) of creativity?

Cars, computers, submarines, airplanes, television all have three things in common. One – they are a part of our everyday modern life. Two – they account for billions of dollars in industry. And three – important and influential people of their day thought these ideas would go nowhere. Take these (in hindsight almost laughable) quotes for example:

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” – IBM Chairman 1943

“The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty – a fad.” – The president of the MIchigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford’s lawyer, Horace Rackham, not to invest in the Ford Motor.

“Television won’t last because people will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.” – Darryl Zanuck, movie producer, 20th Century Fox, 1946.

Home computers, cars, and television would NOT be around today if it weren’t for people who agreed with Jerry Garcia’s words, “Don’t be the best of the best, be the only one who does what you do.”

Your new and creative idea might actually be crazy. It might also be brilliant. If we conscribe our actions by the definitions of the day, we are forever accepting the status quo. Mediocrity over greatness; conformity over innovation.

If you are looking to win but always follow what your competitors are doing, you will be blessed with mediocrity.

And that is definitely crazy.

Often it’s because the other players at the table are treating the newbie the same as they would a more experienced player. The newbie is likely only playing to one or two of the three keys elements (your cards, the table’s cards, the players). The experienced players’ strategic moves – slowly building the pot, over-betting (trying to bully the newbie out), checking when a choice card flops on the turn – won’t have the same effect on the newbie as it would on someone who thinks with experience. When the newbie reads the play incompletely, they may stay in longer than an experienced player, and experience more “river” wins than other players.

So, there is actually a time when getting “good” at poker works against you. You lose the newbie “luck” but aren’t quite experienced enough to grasp all three elements of strategy completely. By getting better you are, in effect, getting worse.

And that’s just like direct marketing. Retail stores that have never done direct mail get small marketing “wins” once in a while. Maybe their grassroots efforts in the community are doing well to generate foot traffic. But it’s not scalable. There’s only so many “river” wins a beginner can get before the other players catch on.

When a retail store starts to test into direct mail – trying addressed Admail versus Unaddressed Admail, adding a digital component, creating a loyalty program – their marketing costs will start to go up without an immediate payoff. These programs take time to build momentum. The store may have a negative return on investment for the first few campaigns. Just like when a player starts to evolve in poker, it gets worse before it gets better.

Many retail stores opt out at this point. After one or two campaigns or mailer they think, “Nope, direct mail doesn’t work for me.” When this happens it would be like a new poker player trying out a new strategy for one or two games, then quitting poker altogether when they didn’t win the pot.

Ludicrous right?

The payoff happens when the direct mail campaigns start to deliver results. The format and message get refined, the frequency of mailing grows so prospects start to recognize the brand (awareness), and people who responded once, may respond again (that coveted 2nd transaction). Now you’re cooking with fire. Just like the poker player whose practice is starting to legitimately win him good hands.

Suddenly, the experienced players are nodding appreciatively. Yes, that was a good play. Your investment is growing; your strategy is paying off.

Beginner’s luck is fun, but being the champ in Vegas – that’s when winning is really winning.

The irony is that where both fall down is how they define new customer acquisition. At what point does a prospect turn into an active customer?

It seems obvious that a new customer has only a single transaction – their first transaction. It follows that for both for-profit and nonprofit the objective of so-called acquisition campaigns is to generate that first transaction. Once you have a transaction, plunk, you have a new customer, and everything after that goes into the ‘loyalty and retention bucket’.

Right?

Well let’s take a closer look at that bucket, because it turns out it’s full of holes.

In fact, our research shows that from any given new customer cohort, on average only between 10% and 30% of new customers return. Meaning that of the new customers you worked so hard to acquire, typically three quarters of them don’t come back. Ouch. On the other hand, of customers that come back for a 2nd or 3rd transaction, 75%-85% return to become long term customers (see fig 1). Very nice.

Any organization that wants to accelerate growth should rethink acquisition in terms of a series of initial transactions, not just a single transaction. New customer acquisition should only be considered a success when the behaviour justifies the term; i.e., when a first transaction leads to subsequent repeat transactions.

It’s a semantic distinction that complicates new customer acquisition. But believing that acquisition is a one-step process that hangs on a single transaction is clearly an oversimplification that both for-profit and nonprofit organizations need to reject.

• New Addressed Admail Pricing
• Enhancements for Acquisition Admail
• New Unaddressed Admail Pricing
• New Lettermail and Incentive Lettermail Pricing

A complete summary of the changes and accompanying postage rate sheets can be found on the Canada Post website here.

Please consult the Canada Post website for complete details or contact us for help with understanding how these changes may impact your next direct mail project.

Message #1: American Apparel “Hurricane Sandy Sale”

This message, though very much in-line with AA’s controversial advertising, created a proverbial hail storm on social media sites and blogs.
When the American Apparel message was sent out, the true extent of the disaster’s damage was not yet known. The sale name was probably decided based on what was trending on social media sites, or what was top of mind, or what would catch people’s attention. Well it did catch people’s attention, and there were MANY re-tweets of the offending message. I don’t have to tell you that none of them were positive.

Message #2: Birchbox “Potential Delays Due to Power Outage”

Birchbox’s message was warm, relevant, and sensitive to the fact that many people’s lives were literally in pieces. It brought information about why and how people’s orders would be disrupted, and sent well wishes to all those affected by the storm.
The difference is as clear as night and day. Thought AA likely got more press – at what cost? Tweet after tweet spoke of boycott.
How many customers did AA lose? How many did Birchbox retain?
Hurricane Sandy brought out the best in people, and in companies.
Who would you rather support?

The Vancouver advertising world came out in true raincity fashion last night at the Westin Bayshore at the edge of Coal Harbour in Vancouver. The event was to honour Capilano Suspension Bridge Park who were awarded the illustrious title of “Marketer of the Year”.

After about an hour of mingling, enjoying the sights (and sounds), and fun (can you say “video booth?”), the guests took their seats in the banquet hall. Dinner and wine (sponsored by the Proofing Queen) was served, and everyone tucked in while a group of six Mounties took the stage. The Mounties sang and hummed along to a soliloquy about Capilano Suspension Bridge, which by the way, was Vancouver’s FIRST tourist attraction.

When the bridge opened, it was made of wood and rope, and the park charged 10 cents for the priveledge of walking across its extremely dangerous (at the time) length. Over the years the rope was exchanged for steel, prices went up, and tourism went downhill.

Capilano Suspension bridge rose to the occasion. To the loud yells of naysayers – “You can’t build that!” – they built a spectacular new attraction called the Bridge Walk. It went through 12 re-designs before it was built. A concerted marketing effort including heavy PR and outdoor advertising, the campaign managed to increase attendance and revenue for the park during a very turbulent time in the tourism world.

Congratulations to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park!

The BCAMA Marketer of the Year Gala was a great success. The ad world was out in full force, and it was truly a pleasure to be in a room full of Vancouvers latest and greatest. See you all next year!