Football season has finally come to a stirring close and while many marketers are weighing in on this year’s Superbowl ads, all that football reminded me of an analogy that I believe is no longer a good one. Sports analogies have been with us since man started competing, and we’ve used those analogies to express business concepts in ways that might make them more easily understood to people who aren’t familiar with a particular business. In that light, football used to be a good analogy for how sales and marketing worked together, especially in BtoB markets.

See if this sounds familiar. Marketing is the quarterback. It calls the play (the marketing program) and passes the ball (a qualified prospect) to the wide receiver (sales) who carries the ball across the goal line (closes the deal). Roles are clear and expectations have been set.

The problem with this analogy is the prospect is a passive object that is acted upon. It implies that the sales and marketing team is actually in total control. But we know that in today’s world the opposite is true. When McKinsey released the Customer Decision Journey report in 2009, it codified what many marketers already knew: Customers don’t behave in a linear way purely in response to stimulus from marketers. Yet many marketers have not changed the way they plan to engage their potential and current customers. Content marketing, social media marketing, content syndication and user-generated ratings and reviews are increasingly critical components of the marketing mix. Yet these activities are understaffed and underfunded in many organizations.

I recently heard someone describe marketing in today’s world as a pinball game. While you can influence where the customer might go in her journey, you can’t control it or completely predict it. It seems a closer analogy than football to marketing reality, but this too has its limitations.

This post is an open call for nominations for the best sports, or non-sports, analogy that will describe sales and marketing in 2012. Feel free to add your suggestion in the comments section or contact me directly. A steak dinner awaits the best nomination!

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Why Marketing Is No Longer Like Football

I originally posted this piece on Forbes, but it bears revisiting.

I was a bit surprised by a stat that esteemed industry analyst Mary Meeker recently shared. While print media represents only 8% of consumer time spent, it accounts for 27% of marketers’ media spending. Mobile media, on the other hand, represents 8% of consumer time, yet only .5% of marketers’ media spending. Why the disparity?

Image via CrunchBase

I believe there are three reasons:

1. Mobile advertising has yet to show scalable reach that has a demonstrable ROI. The reach of print advertising is clearly known, and the way consumers interact with print ads has been well researched for decades. Understanding mobile ad engagement is still developing, which has led to less than successful attempts to apply PC Web banner advertising principles to this nascent medium.
2. Buying highly targeted premium inventory has not been easy for agencies to do in the mobile ad world. It is easy in the print and online world, but early mobile ad networks that brought some scale to the table also placed advertisers’ messages in environments where they did not want them to be.
3. Creating ads for smartphones is different than creating them for print ads or online banners. Most agencies have not created them nor have they been asked to. This problem plagued online advertising 15 years ago until firms like PointRoll made the “rich media” ad unit easier to produce.

These issues are going to go away soon. According to Jason Young, former CEO of Ziff-Davis and now CEO of Crisp Media, “The infrastructure for buying quality mobile ad placements and creating engaging mobile ad is getting significantly better.” And he is staking his future on it. Last week, Smart Media Devices, a year-old venture that provides advertisers with scalable and targeted access to high-quality mobile-accessible content, merged with Crisp Media, a pioneering platform for rich-media mobile ad creation. Mr. Young will lead the combined companies.

“The mobile ad market is at the critical stage where premium brands are wanting to play significantly,” said Young. “Yet because barriers to buy still exist, the premium market demands an integrated set of solutions optimized for its unique needs.  We hope to be a catalyst for the industry, by bringing together an unrivaled combination of platform, products and services.”

So as the inhibitors to rolling out mobile campaigns begin to diminish, look for savvy marketers to begin aggressively testing new ways to engage their markets via smartphones.

Mobile ads for Amex, Audi and Sherlock Holmes 2 recently appeared on my smartphone. Any mobile ads caught your attention recently?

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Why Marketers May Finally Get on the Mobile Advertising Boat

I just got back from a two-day trip to the Bay Area and began to reflect on how different things were compared to a trip just a few years ago. Despite Alec Baldwin’s rants about post-911 travel, many with which I agree, I want to focus on the wonders of post-smartphone travel.

Here are some things that would have been quite a hassle five years ago.

1. Checking e-mail: Once I landed I was able to see my latest e-mail, including a confirmation of plans for the lunch meeting that was still tentative when I took off in the morning.
2. Finding a good restaurant: I was planning to celebrate the new job of a friend and potential client at a nice restaurant near his new office. With the help of Yelp I found a great steakhouse in a convenient location. Using OpenTable I secured a guaranteed reservation in just a few clicks.
3. Navigating to the restaurant: Rental car maps just don’t have the level of detail and advice you need sometimes. But Google Maps directed me right to the venue.
4. Video chatting with my son over coffee: Johnny happened to be in Delhi, India on the start of his two-week adventure. Using Facetime, I could see his expressions as he described his first impressions of a city on the opposite side of the globe.
5. Working out with music: After coffee I got enough motivation to hit the hotel’s fitness center. With the help of Pandora I had the upbeat tunes I needed to get moving.
6. Reconnecting with a former client: Using LinkedIn Mobile I realized a former client had a new job in New York, my destination for the following week. We reconnected and began discussing plans to catch up while I was in Manhattan.
7. Planning my next trip: Realizing that CES is only a month away, I hopped on the Southwest Airlines app and found convenient flights to book before the often sold-out direct flights were gone.
8. Sharing an interesting article: A former colleague posted a link to an interesting article on LinkedIn. I thought it was worth sharing so I tweeted it to about 1,000 of my connections.
9. Ordering wine for Christmas dinner: I got an e-mail from Lot 18, a “flash sales” site for nice wines, featuring a limited availability Cab that would pair nicely with our traditional prime rib roast. A few clicks later, using the company’s mobile-optimized website, a couple of bottles were on the way.

Why do I share such ordinary activities with you? Not because smartphones have made these activities so simple that they are not worth talking about. But because, as marketers, you need to be thinking more aggressively about how to interact with your prospects and customers through their mobile devices. Almost 10% of consumers’ media time is spent on smartphones, yet less than 1% of media budgets are spent there. And the way we interact on smartphones is different from the way we interact when we’re online via a PC. It’s time to integrate mobile behavior into all your programs.

Need help? Give me a call from your smartphone!

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How My Smartphone Has Changed My Life on the Road (and Why You Should Care)

Here is my annual Thanksgiving week reflection on what I am so thankful for:

1. A family that is healthy enough and resourceful enough to act on our travel wanderlust.
2. Old friends who encourage me and new friends who challenge me. You know who you are!
3. CMOs who are generous enough with their time to tell me their stories and let me share them with others.
4. 20 new inspiring members of the nFusion team. Your energy and enthusiasm are contagious.
5. 30 team members who, through thick and thin, have kept the faith, lived our values and inspired our clients with your work.
6. Clients who trust us and tell me “you have a great team.”
7. The end of economy-induced paralysis. Times aren’t great, but at least they are stable again.
8. Showtime and USA Network for renewing my faith that quality television is still possible.
9. A golf coach who will still work with me even after his better players have success on the PGA tour.
10. The next generation of The First Tee Austin leadership that is carrying the torch and impacting the lives of kids in Austin.
11. As a digital “immigrant,” finally feeling comfortable in my new “country.”

What are you thankful for?

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11 Things I’m Thankful for in 2011

Last week I visited with Jack Pan, EVP of Marketing for Summit Entertainment, the producers of the highly popular Twilight movie series. The vampire characters in these movies have generated a passionate following among young women. The official Facebook page for The Twilight Saga alone has 20 million fans and there are millions of others following other related fan sites (an Italian language fan site has more than 21 million fans!).

I asked Jack for his perspective on how Summit built such a large, passionate fan base. He simply said that the stories connect with a genuine human emotion and that the movies always deliver what the fans expect. While I had expected an answer that revealed the secret magic of vampires or some unique social media strategy, what I got was an answer that can be applied by all marketers. First understand the emotion that your brand or product connects to, be it love, fear, joy or something else. Second, consistently deliver an experience that delights the audience and makes them want to return.

This is much easier to say than it is to do. Yet I see many marketers who are focused on building their social media connections and don’t take this simple formula into account. They get focused on the tactics of driving bigger numbers and spend little time understanding why fans really like them or follow them. Without this understanding the ongoing interaction through social media could easily miss the mark, and instead of deepening the relationship could marginalize it.

Which brands are engaging with you in a way that reflects a solid understanding of your human nature and your experience expectations? Anyone doing it as well as the vampires?

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What can marketers learn from vampires?

I’m sitting in the Samsung Blogger Lounge on day two of the annual SXSW Interactive conference. By the size of the crowds, the event looks to be more popular than ever. And by the ticker on the interactive wall, there have already been over 60,000 tweets using the hashtag #SXSWi. Keeping up with what’s happening could be a full-time job! There are more ideas being presented here than anyone could implement in a decade.

Which is why I am hosting a panel on Sunday morning, “Getting your breakthrough creative idea approved by decision makers.” It won’t do attendees any good to go home full of ideas only to be stifled by corporate inertia. Marketing execs from Chili’s, Dell and Disney Pictures will share their insights on getting to “yes.”

Join us if you are in Austin. If not, stay tuned for highlights in upcoming posts.

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SXSW Interactive is in full swing!

1.      To be able to walk and golf again and for the health care professionals who made it possible

2.      All the CMOs and marketing leaders who have graciously shared their time and wisdom with me as input for my upcoming book

3.      For Terri and three decades of fun together

4.      The inspiring team members at nFusion who have persevered through a challenging economy to create inspiring work for our clients

5.      For our clients who continue to trust us to help them achieve their goals

6.      For our founding fathers who framed a system of government that is adaptable and responsive, even with all its flaws

7.      For the entertainers who made me laugh, the pundits who made me think and the everyday heroes who gave me hope

8.      For getting paid to do work that I enjoy and with people I admire

9.      For the volunteers and supporters who continue to enhance the lives of young people in Austin, Texas and Juticulpa, Honduras

10.   Coach Reese, for putting a big smile on my brother’s face when he needed it most

11.   For the family weddings that extended my extended family in positive ways

12.   For my sons, nieces and nephews who are following their hearts and making a difference in their worlds

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12 things I am thankful for in 2010

Sean Burke (@sean_burke), CMO of GE Healthcare IT, shared his insights on marketing with me recently. As we talked about how to build a high performance marketing organization, he shared some of the work GE has done on the subject. Beth Comstock, CMO of GE, also shared these ideas in a recent Harvard Business Review article, Unleashing the Power of Marketing. You can also hear an interview with Beth at http://blogs.hbr.org/ideacast/2010/09/remaking-marketing-at-ge.html.

According to Sean, GE believes there are four characteristics of an effective marketer.

1. Innovator: Someone who is constantly looking for new ways to improve a product or a marketing program.

2. Instigator: A person who is willing to challenge the status quo and be an agent of change.

3. Integrator: A leader who connects the cross-functional members needed to execute new programs.

4. Implementer: Someone who takes responsibility for getting things done.

A GE success story highlighted in the HBR article is the development of jet engines for Very Light Jets, a category of aircraft that did not exist several years ago. By listening to aviators and pioneers of the “air taxi” service, GE marketers identified an opportunity to develop a new class of jet engine that would support this new segment of the aviation industry. In the process they have become the leader in this new and growing market.

How do you stack up against GE’s four characteristics? Who do you know that represents all of these and has had success as a result? We’d like to hear about them.

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What four characteristics do great marketers need? See what GE believes.

This question was posed on AdAge.com and the results of respondents reflect what we are hearing in our conversations with clients. The top response was Social Media (60%) and second was Optimization and Tracking (19%). Finishing with less than 10% each were Creative Innovation, Agency Structure and Publishing Economics.

Of the social marketing options available, the most visible and somewhat controversial right now is Facebook. To get a better handle on the value marketers are seeing by integrating Facebook into their marketing mix we are conducting a poll and invite you to participate. The results will be shared at the SMX Conference in Seattle on June 9 and sent to all respondents after that.  Please take three minutes to share your experience by taking the survey at http://bit.ly/ajniij.

I appreciate your feedback and hope the results will be informative to you.

This is a post from Marketing Has Changed by John Ellett. Subscribe to my feed.

What’s the most important digital marketing discussion in 2010?

A fun and informative presentation by social media consultant Mack Collier. I thought it was worth sharing.

This is a post from Marketing Has Changed by John Ellett. Subscribe to my feed.

Think Like a Rockstar: How to Build Fans and Community Around Your Social Media Efforts!