Has "Awareness" Become Big Business?

Wristbands, magnetic ribbons, metal stars – we've all seen them, and some of us have probably even purchased one or more of them. Naturally, the phenomenon starts with only a few sightings and quickly escalates into a ubiquitous trend that may or may not hold the same meaning as when it first began.

In the era of viral marketing, I'm reminded that visibility is the at the core of its strength, and online isn't the only way to get it done. Last year, a man was arrested for positioning a few Lite-brite™ figures around the city of Boston after his installations caused a civil stir of terror proportions. I'm not sure how it hurt or helped awareness of his personal cause, but for other causes deemed more socially appropriate such as the support of our troops or disease awareness, the results are quite clear – if a little fuzzy about how that awareness translates into "support" or "research and/or prevention". But if someone is making a tidy profit on these things, and clearly someone is, is there another more message-oriented cost at the other side of the equation?

Curious about what the metal stars I was seeing hung up on houses everywhere actually meant (if they meant anything at all), I did a little research. Apparently, according to who you ask and where you derive your information, they originated from the Amish barn makers who used them to signify edifices of their manufacture – or a copyright of sorts. Then, during WWII, gold and silver versions were erected in plain sight to signify a family member either currently serving or lost in service to the military respectively. Today, the color signifiers have changed from gold and silver to blue and a gold, with brown added to represent a war veteran. However, it doesn't stop there. Now referred to in some camps as "Amish Barn Stars", some folks simply like the looks of them and have taken to buying them for decoration. In fact, websites such as this one offer them in so many sizes and colors as to boggle the mind, with prices ranging from $12.95 to $139.95.

Good business, unfortunate product hysteria of what seemed a tasteful and traditional tribute, or something else entirely? I'm not really sure. What say you?

Wal-Mart Shops for a New Look

After Wal-Mart's extended run of drowsy revenue results, the company's marketing team has decided to embark on a new marketing campaign, entitled, "Save Money. Live Better." This effectively ends the 19-year run of "Always Low Prices."

The campaign is based upon a recent report that Wal-Mart supposedly saves the average household a sum of $2,330 each year, thus allowing families to take that money saved and improve their lives in another way.

While I, personally, think it's a nice marketing slogan--because it's straightforward and because of its economy of words--I tend to agree with Rob Frankel, who is quoted in the article linked above. If Wal-Mart keeps focusing on price and price only, they shouldn't expect big changes in customers' attitudes towards their company.

From personal experience to stories I hear from friends to the jokes that comedians repeatedly tell, Wal-Mart stores are a mess, selling mostly cheaply made products, with average customer service at best. Now this perception may be completely wrong, but it is still a widespread percpetion... one that is strong enough to keep people from going to the stores, hence declining sales. A new slogan, particularly one that essentially conveys the same message as before, won't change any of that. Improve on the customers' experience in the store, like Target has done as Wal-Mart's competitor or like Wegman's has done for supermarket shoppers, and then Wal-Mart will see improvement. Until then, I'll gladly choose to "Spend MORE. Live BETTER than Better."

Your Guide on How to Reject Telemarketers

A while back in this space, I discussed the frustration of dealing with unruly telemarketers during the work day, most of whom tend to be stockbrokers trawling for new clients.

Since then, I've come across a couple of great ways to handle them:

• Snopes.com looks into a report (which is incorrectly credited to being produced by Andy Rooney) that lists some ideas on how to fluster the telemarketers and credit card mailers of the world. Even though they discredit the tips, I found them to be funny, creative and still may be worth using, if for no other reason than to just try something silly for silly's sake.


• Got someone bugging you for your phone number? Whether it's a telemarketer begging for an associate's cell phone number, or a person you met at a bar that you just want to shake off, or, well, I'll leave other scenarios up to your imagination, send them to the Rejection Hotline!


• Or, simply do a Google search like this one and you'll find no shortage of suggestions on how to handle unwanted callers. (Shared knowledge is great, isn't it!)

Good luck and may all your incoming calls be productive ones!

"Green Marketing 2.0" Analysis

Joel Makower discusses his take on the re-birth of green marketing, after the first round essentially failed in the early-90s. His arguement states that there was a small surge in green marketing but the products that were being marketed as "green" were busts.

On the other hand, today's green products are better and more reliable, much to the delight of environmentalists the world over. Subsequently, the marketing of these products has taken on a new growth explosion. Companies are promoting green products, and consumers are now buying them and talking about them... a great formula for success.

But this now leaves us with the question of-- "What will Green Marketing 3.0 look like?"

The Art of Marketing the Cutting Room Floor

Just this morning I heard a radio commercial promoting the release of a DVD on a popular TV show. One of the selling points was that the DVD included 50 deleted scenes that were not shown on TV before.

Silly question: Why would I want to buy a DVD because it features scenes that weren't good enough for the show?

To me, that's like watching a 20 minute clip of long pop-flies to center field that were just short of a home run. Or going to a restaurant and the waiter brings you the scraps of food that fell on the floor. Or buying a box of pencils where all the erasers fell off.

I think you get the idea.

Stay tuned for our next blog post: "The Best of the Blog Posts that Didn't Make It to BizPizzazz"...

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Sports Marketing and P.R.: When Less May Be More

As you may have read in the previous post by Scott on this here blog we call "BizPizzazz," you would have heard about the amazing stir that David Beckham has kicked up since arriving on Ellis Island (or flying into LAX, whatever the case may have been). Indeed, his flair for football and celebrity status has caught the attention of millions of fans the world over. Good P.R.!

Meanwhile, on the other side of the public relations spectrum, you may have seen just a few instances of news featuring athletes misbehaving. For example:

Mike Vick: his future is now dogged by, well, you can probably surmise by now...

Latrell Sprewell: this NBA star has had numerous run-ins in the past, including his choking-the-coach adventure, but now a federal marshal has seized his $1.5 million yacht after he defaulted on his mortgage.

Adam "Pacman" Jones: he had a bit too much fun in Las Vegas, among other incidents.

Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, et al: juiced or legit?

Rick Tocchet: I bet you probably know what he did by now.

And so on and so forth. And let's not even get started on referees.
Bad P.R.!

So what are sports P.R. pros and marketing moguls to do with all of this negative news? P.R. folks can only apologize and downplay these messy events so often and marketers certainly can't sell and promote these unseemly players. Trying to hold these hot potatoes (read: out of control athletes) makes for a tough job.

Of course, sports marketers can always promote the athletes who are genuinely good players and good guys (Cal Ripken and Michael Jordan come to mind), and that of course is easy to do. And public relations reps can prep athletes when they're young and just entering stardom, and certainly they do indeed do that in various ways to try and prevent future problems from arising.

But when bad news does arise, the best thing anybody can do might just be to do nothing. Because as long as there are fans that are willing to shell out big bucks to watch sports, players will either be able to get away with less than morally-ideal behavior, or the ones that break the law will be swept under the rug and life goes on.

When all else fails, no P.R. might just be the best P.R.