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Hello all, my name is Wendy Miller.  I am the VP of Corporate Relations for KMG.  I wanted to write to you regarding an event I attended Friday night at De Paul’s Digital Cinema Theater (yes there’s a theater in the basement of 14 E. Jackson…who knew?).  The event was put on by De Paul’s CDM (College of Computing and Digital Media) and the guest of honor was Jim Mc Kairnes, SVP of Development and Strategic Planning at CBS/Paramount.  I was very interested in attending this event given the fact that I spent the last 12 years working as a television producer in Los Angeles.  While listening to Mr. Mc Kairnes speak, it reminded me of how the current landscape of television affects us as marketers and advertisers.

For years, Mr. Mc Kairnes served as the SVP of Program Planning and Scheduling at CBS.  Translation, he developed the strategy involved in scheduling CBS’s primetime programming.  Strategizing an effective primetime line up used to be key to having a competitive advantage over the “other” networks.  However, according to Mc Kairnes, the networks are now implementing less programming strategy and  airing less compelling television as cable channels continue to poach viewers and further fragment the television audience.  The highest viewed primetime shows on network television today wouldn’t even make it into the top 10 in 1970. The “appointment viewing” primetime network audience has only been further depleted with the help of TiVo, Hulu and more.  

We can now make our own TV schedules rather than being dictated the terms of our television viewing habits by the networks.  Mr. Mc Kairnes then polled the audience, “if I asked you your four favorite television shows, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell me WHEN they’re on”.  Sadly, he was right.   For Mr. Mc Kairnes, this is the sign of the times and what made the obsolescence of his  programming/scheduling job at CBS an impending reality.  We no longer race home and flip on the set so as to not miss our 7pm show.  As marketers and advertisers, this should concern us.  Doesn’t it seem like we’ve only recently honed our craft of finding our audience and figuring out which shows they’re watching?  Now that we’ve found our television audience, are they even watching in real time or do they TiVo and then ad zap or just go to YouTube?  Will this chase to get through to our target audience ever end? Is appointment viewing really dead?  According to Mr. Mc Kairnes,  unless the major networks can  figure out how to better monetize alternate platforms (i.e.-the internet and DVR) that don’t currently bring in the ad dollars a primetime show can, then networks need to get their big primetime audiences back.

As the new VP of Development at CBS/Paramount, Mr.  Mc Kairnes’ answer to this conundrum is quite simple, get good story and strong characters back into network television.  Personally, I couldn’t agree more. We can’t solely place the blame on cable and technology for poaching network viewers. In my humble opinion, it might be time to get back to making more scripted television and give cheap train wreck TV a curtain call.  Much of the” reality” genre must go.  ABC, CBS, NBC and Rupert, you need to give viewers better reasons to watch television and therefore advertisers better reasons to spend,  because Patti Blagojevich in the jungle just ain’t gonna cut it.  But the question remains, do you think the networks can bring quality appointment viewing back?  Can they give people a reason to switch the set on at 7 and take a program in, ads and all?  I really hope I’m not the only one who thinks that the future of great television could come from great writers and not from some nut ball that owns a life size jiffy pop balloon and names his kid Falcon.

One of the great things about my role in Kellstadt Marketing Group is that I get to work with so many incredibly talented people in developing content to serve the broader marketing community at DePaul. I am amazed, almost on a daily basis, by the caliber of conversations and e-mails that cross my path. And in the last several months, I have realized that we are blessed with not only an incredibly bright and motivated board, but also a wealth of members looking to become more engaged.

Given KMG's resources, much of our responsibility as a group falls into two areas: programming—giving members the opportunity to come together—and dialogue—creating an environment where people feel comfortable sharing their opinions and pushing one another on their ideas.

The board seeks to offer innovative events and gatherings that expand on classroom experience and provide exposure to concepts that are just now being fully understood. Our upcoming partnership with Professor Rosario is one such example. The discipline of multicultural marketing is rather new in many organizations and companies have been slow to adapt their processes to fully benefit from the shifts seen in the U.S. demographic profile.

As an early proponent of multicultural education in marketing, Professor Rosario brings a wealth of insight into the classroom. It is our hope that this event will be the first of several steps in igniting this dialogue in the greater Kellstadt marketing community.

Which brings me to the second area of emphasis I mentioned above: dialogue. This is where our membership comes in and helps carry KMG to the next level. My hope is that the conversations initiated during programs transition to the next venue, be it at Exchequer following an event, on our LinkedIn discussion board or even in a Tweet of just 140 characters or less. The challenge we issue to our members is to help us keep the conversation going.

As marketers, we are fortunate to exist in a very social industry. Our jobs require us to foster connections between an offering and a community or strengthen the existing affinities between that offering and its community of users—the same task charged to KMG. My hope is that our members feel a sense of ownership in KMG and that this affiliation provides a jolt of intrigue when their smart phones buzz, knowing they have access to a group of smart, talented individuals willing to share their insight into an industry where, frankly, ideas are as good as the rigor with which they are challenged and refined.

Thanks go out to everyone who has shared their insight with me over the last several months. You have, above all, proved to me that we have the opportunity to be part of something in KMG that is much more than the sum of its parts, provided we take advantage of the opportunities for collaboration and dialogue that surround us.

I saw an article recently in AdAge referring to Serena Williams' disgraceful outburst during the US Open Women's singles semi final and was disappointed although not at all surprised with their summary.

I’m sure you all know about the incident I’m referring to but for those of you who don’t here’s the short version: during the tennis match Serena was called for a foot fault and her reaction, aimed at the line judge, was this; 

"I swear to God I'm f*ing going to take this f*ing ball and shove it down your f*ing throat, you hear that?".

She subsequently suffered a point deduction and lost the match to eventual tournament winner; Kim Clijsters. Thankfully, Serena did not carry out her threat of asphyxiating a professional line judge and was fined $10,000 (boohoo for the multi-millionaire).

As a role model to millions and company spokeswoman worth millions this outburst will clearly have a negative impact on her brand image but according to the advertising pros it won’t be negative enough to drop her from her money making labels. This behaviour has been correctly described as disgraceful by everyone, and, after Serena made a quick statement trying to excuse the behaviour, followed by a public apology the next day to the line judge, the crowd, her fans etc it seems this apology was widely accepted by her corporate backers. Her brand equity remains intact as far as they’re concerned and her sponsorship and clothes line will continue to make her vast sums of money despite her foul mouthed threat.

Advertising world - have you no shame?

Fair enough that this may have been a one off but this is where it really got my goat - Nike and Kraft actually sent out statements of support! Some marketing professionals think an opportunity to market new lines of products, those aimed at calming or relaxing the consumer, may come out of it (think Brett Favre’s indecision at Sears). However, I'm confused, if I wear Nike and eat Oreos should I shout violent threats to people who I happen to disagree with then relax with a nice hot bath? Obviously I'm exaggerating here but kids are extremely impressionable and constantly see famous people getting away with murder (figuratively of course, except, perhaps, that one guy…).

Phelps got into some trouble with his corporate sponsors when a picture of him smoking a bong was released soon after the Beijing Olympics but, like with Serena, too much money goes into and comes out of sponsoring such high profile and successful athletes. At the end of the day Nike, Kraft and her other sponsors know that Serena is too good to drop, she’ll be winning tournaments left, right and centre for at least the next 5 years at this rate and if they don’t sponsor her, someone else will.

Integrity is cheap but it often proves to be less of a lucrative money maker (see the Wall Street Journal for more information on how lacking in integrity affects your bottom-line in the short run…) there are many exceptions to this rule (thank you Roger Federer) but there are many examples of rich and successful people who just can’t seem to hold that arrogance in yet continue to reap the financial benefits of living in the public eye. Perhaps, for Serena, being branded as the Kanye West of the sports world is punishment enough…

To read the AdAge article in full click here.

I happen to live across the street from a building that has a bright purple door. One night last weekend I was walking the dog and passed as several neighbors were coming home. Standing outside the doorway, they were kind of at a loss; the purple door had been painted a shade of off-white. One of them wondered aloud "Now how am I going to find my house?" For some reason, I felt a certain disappointment too. Over the last week, something wasn't quite right without that purple door. Then I woke up this morning and took a look out the bedroom window -- the purple door was back! I was legitimately excited. About the paint color of... a... door. The whole process got me thinking about the marketing power of personality as I went about my morning routine.

The purple door was a symbol in our neighborhood. You gave directions by it (if you hit the building with the purple door you've gone too far); people said they wanted to live there, they enjoyed its originality, even named their Wi-Fi connections after it. The door brought a certain sense of identity to our little slice of Uptown and when it left, we all felt a little like my neighbor on the sidewalk -- Now how were we going to define our block? For many, the door was a something that bonded us as a community and was something we all had in common; we were able to unite around that door, as inconsequential as that sounds.

It doesn't actually feel like that novel an idea, however, many brands -- maybe in hopes of appealing to as many people as possible -- are hesitant to cultivate and embrace those qualities that might be seen as peculiar. Painting a door purple made a whole block "brand" loyal and that's a small example about how powerful a little dose of personality can be.

So how can you inject that into your brands? Here are three tips I've cribbed from the purple door:

• 1. Don't go too far out of your way to make your product stick out, choose something interesting but don't effect core functionality for the sake of standing out. People love the eccentric but subdued University professor that lives down the block, but the office clown often wears thin after a while. We're not talking about making something totally outlandish; the doorway is purple but, from my views of the interior, the rest is traditional Chicago apartment building. From a functionality standpoint, the offering is no different from the rest of the market's, but the landlords have made a statement with the color of the entryway.
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• 2. If you're too worried about turning some people off by your offering, you'll NEVER be able to turn anyone on. Don't try to be all things to all people. I'm sure there are some people that hate the purple door, but just as many people likely love the building for that same reason. Just as Bachelorette Jillian was never able to fall for the guy who was "too perfect" last season (hey, my girlfriend has the remote on lockdown when that show is on), many people come to find perfection kind of dull. Don't aim for perfect, aim for engaging.
  
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• 3. Understand that people want to wear your brand like a badge, so give them something to be proud of. Some of the first brands that pop in my head (Apple, Google's Gmail, Budweiser, Whole Foods, BMW) have cultivated a group of passionate, loyal fans by understanding that people have a choice about what products they consume and understand that those choices reflect something about them to the outside world. Why pay a premium for a brand? Becuase it can be seen as a reflection of who you are as a person. These brands and others have won their following by telling people exactly who they are, what they stand for and for the most part, people are ready and willing to take sides. How many times have you heard someone say, "I'm a Mac" or "I'm a Bud man." It's no accident. Those companies have spent a lot of time and money not only defining exactly who those people are, but making sure their products best fulfill those people's needs (Mac of course = tech-savvy trendsetter, Bud = the loyal, dependable American man). *Notice that Apple requires a product cue to serve the core customer, whereas Bud's is focused less on the product itself, but rather needs the marketing messaging to remain strongly aligned with who that consumer is. What will be interesting is tracking how faithful the Bud strategy remains with the new input from InBev, whose ownership role in A-B likely deserves it's own blog post down the road.
  

As you look at your products, think about what they offer to the consumer, not just from a functional standpoint but from a psychological one as well. It is in that insight that you might find the subtle, yet ultimately, vital strategy that differentiates your offering from the competitor's. Sometimes, its as easy as painting the door purple.

 Good morning KMG members...

I just wanted to use this opportunity to introduce myself a little to all of our members as the new VP of Digital Media and Technology. Hopefully I'll have the chance to meet all of you at an event or over drinks but until then, this blog post aims to enable you to put a human face behind the tweets and announcements spamming your inbox.

Here we go... My name is Bryn Griffiths, I am from the UK and I was born to Liverpudlian parents in the commuter town of Woking, Surrey (just to the West of Greater London, quite near to Heathrow Airport). I studied History at the University of Liverpool, lived in Changshu, China teaching English for a year then studied Chinese for a year in Beijing. After that I came to DePaul to get my MBA in Entrepreneurship and Finance but finally realised, during my last class, that Marketing was my real passion!

I am also a greenster, so I'm heavily involved in sustainabilty movements and organizations and a HUGE Liverpool Football Club supporter. I blog and tweet here and there, play football (soccer) for the Liverpool FC Supporter's Club I co-founded, I recently ran my first half marathon and, although I have now graduated with my MBA, I am still "in a state of career transition" which is about as much fun as trapping your finger in a door.

I have always been heavily involved in digital or social media as they call it and have been using online technology extensively (though I am still learning html) and I hope that I can bring some alternative thinking to the KMG's online conversation now and in the year to come.

Thank you for reading a little about me, now let us know a little more about you on Facebook, Linked In or Twitter.

Bryn

Reading up on the interesting perspective in branding that Jonathan Salem Baskin brings to campus as the keynote speaker for Trademarked, our first event of the new quarter, I can’t help but to think about how it applies to the Kellstadt Marketing Group. Now entering its second year of existence, branding the group is something of a priority. KMG’s first year was a runaway success in the eyes of most people I’ve talked to and our goal is to make sure that as many people involved in marketing at Kellstadt (students, alums, faculty, etc.) feel that this group brings something valuable to campus every time we come together.

As a marketing student, of course, success in the above endeavor appears to be a branding concern. Simple. Get the Kellstadt Marketing Group name and logo out in front of as many interested parties as possible, tout your product, say a few magic words and – voila – you now have scores of members, the ability to put on bigger and better events, diversify your offerings and grow even bigger. Easy, right? At least that is kind of the layman’s view of marketing. And while we in the industry might know better, it is a perspective we help perpetuate by buying into the hype. It is this thinking that Baskin seeks to expose in his book. "Branding," the buzzword marketers call upon when they need to take a product from drab to fab, isn’t that simple any longer – if, in fact it ever was.

One of the most salient (salientest?) concepts prompted by Baskin’s book, “Branding Only Works on Cattle” (Amazon) is that consumers require far more from a brand in order to be motivated to action. Whereas once upon a time you might have been able to sell your brand of sugary corn flakes with only the help of an orange tiger and catchy tag line, today’s consumer requires a product to say “They’rrrre great sources of your daily fiber!” than, simply, “They’rrrre Great!” People require a greater level of detail and a clearly defined value proposition to get them to splurge on anything more than awareness.

There is an attitude baked into marketing culture that awareness equals success. An industry shorthand for advertising's ability to influence perception that has perhaps lost some of its original nuance with age. Baskin uses Burger King’s “King” ads as examples of a campaign that undoubtedly boosted awareness (like the creepy “King” character or not), but likely didn’t really get anyone to go out of their way for a Whopper when craving a fast food burger no matter how hip/edgy/odd you thought the creative was.

Fact is, with a group like ours “branding” has much less to do with awareness and much more to do with engagement. The Kellstadt Marketing Group brand will be successful if the quality of our experience is superlative for each and every member. We are successful if we can deliver on our group’s promises, providing valuable resources for Kellstadt marketing students and alumni, growing the opportunities for our members to interact in more meaningful, marketing-centric ways and contributing to more inclusive culture of marketing at DePaul.

These points hit at the core of Baskin’s thesis on the “futility” of branding in today’s world. Awareness is no longer enough in a market of unlimited choice. Your branding efforts have to cut to the quick and tell people exactly how your product or offering will benefit their lives. For a growing group like KMG, it means that our resources need to be spent reinforcing our value proposition, ensuring members come away with the feeling that their involvement with the group was a valuable use of their time. The metric that measures that will ultimately be the best judge of our brand’s success.

Hello everyone! Welcome to the Kellstadt Marketing Group blog!

I hope you can tell as you look around our site, that we have been busy getting the wheels turning once again after powering down a bit following an incredibly successful Marketing Symposium last April. (Which, by the way, won Student Life’s Loop Campus Event of the Year!) We are making every effort to make our portals valuable resources for KMG members; from providing food for thought on this here blog, relaying interesting marketing-related Tweets and laying the groundwork for group discussion on Facebook, it is my hope that the group continues its trajectory as an outlet for Kellstadt students with a passion for marketing.

This of course is also to promise that we remain very much committed to bringing the most interesting speakers and salient marketing events to campus. The KMG team is just now putting the finishing touches on our fall kick off event. I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but we’re super excited to make the announcement in the coming days. Thanks go out to those who took the time to take our membership survey this July; your feedback has given us some great direction for the coming year.

Over the next week or so, the KMG leadership team will be introducing themselves by way of the blog. I am currently employed as a media planner at Starcom Worldwide and have a background in strategic communications and sports media/marketing. I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of content I contribute to this site will be on advertising, media and building better brands.

At Kellstadt, I am putting the finishing touches on an MBA in Marketing Strategy & Planning. While I am happy to be on the back nine in regard to classwork, I am more than thrilled to say the last few marketing courses I’ve taken have been among the best parts of my Kellstadt experience. And now that we’re all empowered -- in part -- to help build and reinforce this growing community of marketers at DePaul, I can’t help but to be really optimistic about what’s yet to come.