Iran couldn’t keep the news out. They blacked out the airwaves, banned reporters, jammed the internet, and crushed heads.

But the new tools of technology—the Social Media—prevailed, and the whole world watched and listened as the Iran Thugocracy was revealed.

The information age is here, and there was nowhere to hide. Twitter, cell phones, Blackberry and all the rest put an unyielding spotlight on the evildoers.

The genie was out of the bottle and the tyrants couldn’t stuff it back. Social Media is a tool for freedom. It gave everybody a voice.

The Iranian people were heard, not just because they protested, but because their message was powerful. The message was not about the election: it was about freedom.

There are lessons here for marketers. First is a new definition of “transparency.” Now the beams you send come right back at you, reflecting your warts. No make-up can hide your blemishes, no spins can deflect your misstatements.

Second, the sounds you utter are amplified, and you’re in an echo chamber.
Marketers aren’t on a stage any more; they’re out in the audience.

And third, no matter how new the media, the message is the key.

Social Media gives people a new voice, and it’s virtually free. Freedom of speech can’t be denied, but there’s no guarantee that anyone will listen, or react. Why should the audience give attention, why should they care? The Iranian people had something powerful, interesting, and universal to say: we are oppressed and we demand our rights.

What is the key benefit that a marketer wants to convey? Why should anyone pay attention and care enough to buy their product? Social Media can make new connections, but by itself can’t deliver new customers. The Iranian protesters had a worthwhile cause to communicate, and they did it. What is so important about our product, and how can the new Social Media connect to new users for us?

George Lemmond

Great news. You woke up this morning and a video produced about your brand has over 760,000 views in a 24 hour period. Twitter is a buzz about your brand, your video is being translated in every language imaginable and your brand has truly gone global. You now know what it means when a video goes viral. Congratulations are in order, right?

Wrong!!! See, the problem is this.  All of the hype about your brand is negative. Yes, you read it right, negative. Neither you nor your ad agency produced the buzz. Instead, a couple of employees with a little bit of time and a $150.00 camera made the video about your brand, posted it on You Tube and the world watched.

Think it can not happen to you and your brand? Do you still think social media is a fad or something your kids do for hours on end? This is exactly what Domino’s thought until it happened to them.

Last week, Donino’s Pizza faced a truly trying time when a video was posted on You Tube showing two employees defacing its food. In a 24 hour period, the video went viral and social media sites were a buzz. With 760,000 views on You Tube, it is enough to make any marketing executive shutter.

Another case in point is Aston Martin.  Someone on Twitter decided to set up an account using their name and started tweeting (sending out messages) as Aston Martin.  To make a long story short, the tweets were not all good.  Aston Martin found out their brand was hijacked and contacted Twitter to have the account shut down.  How many tweets did Aston Martin (the hijacked brand) send out?  Enough that people took notice and objected to the comments.

Bottom line:  Social Media has arrived.  Will it have the same look and feel next month, next year or ten years from now? No, it will not.  Social Media will continue to evolve as we will.  These are exciting times to be in the advertising and marketing world as the industry is being turned on its heel.  Change is inevitable; how you handle it is up to you.

What is your plan to protect your brand?  Do you have a process in place for what to do when your brand comes under fire?  Your brand will come under fire.  Will you be prepared when it does?

Take action today and put together a list of the major social media sites and actively monitor these sites.  Google has some great tools that will help you to do this.  Find out who you need to contact at each of these sites and what the process is to have your hijacked brand removed from the site.  How can you leverage the same sites to help you in your campaign?

It is up to you to protect your brand!

Here’s the marketing outrage of the year. The Port Authority of New Jersey and New York has changed the name of the new signature building at the 9/11 terrorist strike from “The Freedom Tower” to “WTC I.”

Why? Because the word “freedom” makes it hard to sell, they say. They are trying to find tenants for the 1776 foot office/monument, and its tough sledding. But the rumor has it that China has popped for about three floors. Did China insist on the change? Why should they object? Are they afraid of the word? Or of the concept?

To me, “WTC I” invokes sad memories. It makes me think of bad, past days. Dark days of heroism, grief, and, yes, terrorists. But “Freedom” is inspirational and looks forward to days of light, progress and joy.

The old Twin Towers were not a raging success. I don’t think their occupancy was ever that great; I don’t know why. Maybe the new building will have a curse on it, and be hard to rent no matter what name it bears. If I were a salesman for the project, I know I’d rather be selling freedom than a tombstone.

There will be a brief chapter in my new textbook called “Courageous Marketing.”  It will cover brands that survived the recession by plowing forward. It will describe  the guts of taking uncertain paths. It will honor those who are single minded, despite pressure to diversify. It will not include the chicken-hearted politically correct sycophants like the Port Authority of New Jersey and New York.

The climate these days is to decry the greedy capitalists. The ones who make profits on the backs of the needy unfortunates. But they’re the ones who take risks for freedom, the brave people who aren’t afraid to step up with pride and say, “This is what I stand for. Want a piece of it?”

George Lemmond

Be careful what you tweet!  Twitter has been around for the last three years or so and has become all the rage with the Internet 2.0 crowd.  One thing that I caution my clients about when they go onto twitter is this: Make darn sure you UNDERSTAND that anything you write can and will come back to bite you in your ass…so be very, very, very, very careful what you tweet about.  For some strange reason many people think that because a few tweets a day are good, a tweet a minute must be better.  Or because I have a thought right now, I must share it with the world.   Not so says I.  DO NOT tweet, just because you think you need to.

This  Tweet came back to bite the person from Ketchum (New York office) who made some disparaging  remarks about the city of Memphis the morning before he presented on digital media to the worldwide communications group at FedEx (150+) people. A Fed Ex employee found it, was offended by it (as well they should be) and responded as such. But wait, it gets better…they also copied the FedEx Coporate Vice President, Directors and all management of FedEx’s communication department AND the chain of command at Ketchum.

The tweet:

What not to say when your client is FedEx

The employee response:

Mr. Andrews,

If I interpret your post correctly, these are your comments about Memphis a few hours after arriving in the global headquarters city of one of your key and lucrative clients, and the home of arguably one of the most important entrepreneurs in the history of business, FedEx founder Fred Smith.

Many of my peers and I feel this is inappropriate. We do not know the total millions of dollars FedEx Corporation pays Ketchum annually for the valuable and important work your company does for us around the globe. We are confident however, it is enough to expect a greater level of respect and awareness from someone in your position as a vice president at a major global player in your industry. A hazard of social networking is people will read what you write.

Not knowing exactly what prompted your comments, I will admit the area around our airport is a bit of an eyesore, not without crime, prostitution, commercial decay, and a few potholes. But there is a major political, community, religious, and business effort underway, that includes FedEx, to transform that area. We’re hopeful that over time, our city will have a better “face” to present to visitors.

James, everyone participating in today’s event, including those in the auditorium with you this morning, just received their first paycheck of 2009 containing a 5% pay cut… which we wholeheartedly support because it continued the tradition established by Mr. Smith of doing whatever it takes to protect jobs.

Considering that we just entered the second year of a U.S. recession, and we are experiencing significant business loss due to the global economic downturn, many of my peers and I question the expense of paying Ketchum to produce the video open for today’s event; work that could have been achieved by internal, award-winning professionals with decades of experience in television production.

Additionally Mr. Andrews, with all due respect, to continue the context of your post; true confession: many of my peers and I don’t see much relevance between your presentation this morning and the work we do in Employee Communications.

Wow!!!

Did I say content was king??????  You have the power to the information highway, what you do with it is up to you.  What you tweet about, will be held against you.

By the way, this happened in January.  Not only is it still being discussed at the major social media events (like the one last month at Kennesaw State), but it is also still being written about.  I know I always say there is no such thing as bad press, but I might have to rethink that!

Bottom line:  No mater what you think about the social media space , it is here to stay.  So, learn how to  use it to your advantage and create something good.

Scott T. Dunn

In the musical “Oklahoma” a guy went to Kansas City and declared that everything’s up-to-date there. “They’ve gone as fer as they can go,” he sang. “I counted twenty gas buggies goin’ by themselves— when I put my eye into a bell telephone, a strange woman started into talk—You can turn the radiator on whenever you want some heat..What next? What next?”

So, have we “gone as fer as we can go? Should we close the patent office because everything has been invented?

Fast forward a hundred years from 1909 A Wharton School nationwide survey says that the most innovative advances in just the past thirty years are—no surprises—-

The internet

PCs and Laptops

Cell phones

Email

It’s hard to imagine that communication and information can go much farther. It seems to me that we are nearly to a point where–

All information is available everywhere,

right now,

free,

and everybody is connected!

Maybe we’ll have chips implanted at birth that will think for you and enable you to transmit your thoughts without talking or writing. And the symphony hall will reside in your inner ear.

Progress doesn’t ratchet back. It’s different than trends, where most of them fall and reverse through their own weight. We’ll never go back to no cell phones; they’ll be replaced with something better. Technological progress will be incremental, until a great leap forward will shatter the status quo.

By 2039 we’ll look back on 2009 as a dark, barely literate year. Cancer may be cured, energy solved with nuclear fusion, poverty gone. Maybe, I hope, we’ll finally be out of debt and enjoying the cool of the evening, wondering what climate change was all about.

Back to Kansas City. What innovative changes can small businesses do to survive the recession of 2009 (plus?) so their heirs will have the chance to be rich and proud in 2039

Here’s a starter list:

Assume survival, rather than slow death.

Concentrate on the essence of your brand, not the add-ons.

Advertise loudly and wisely.

Nourish relationships, one at a time.

Pick and groom your successor.

Watch your market change, then change faster.

The visitor in the musical found that

“They went an’ built a sky scraper seven stories tall

About as high as a building orta grow.

Everything’s like a dream in Kansas City

It’s better than a magic lantern show.”

Change happens. Recessions happen. If you want, good times and a magic lantern are about to happen.

George Lemmond

Ok, ok, ok, I get it.  We are in the midst of one of the biggest recessions in the last 20 plus years, according to the media.  Everyday I look at my RSS feeds, my google page or the news.  It is all doom and gloom.  Personally, I am tired of it and believe now is the best time to be in and grow a small business. Yes, I know fear sells and yes I know media companies are in it to make money, but come on people.  Give me a break.  Can’t I have just a little bit of good news sprinkled in with the doom and gloom?

As someone who is participating in the American Dream via entreprenuership, I am always looking for ways to improve, stengthen and grow my business.  So instead of focusing on the doom and gloom, I am focusing on the positives.  The positives of a good recession for a small business owner, in my mind, are as follows:

1)  Invest in your infrasturcture.

• Small businesses by nature are set up to run lean and mean.  We do not have access to millions and millions of dollars from ponzi/hocus pocus fianancing, so we must be practical with our resources.  In good times this means sales reps don’t want to “waste their time with us” and in down times we can pick up equipment for pennies on the dollar.  Now is the time to purchase the equipment you want but could never justify the cost.  If you are buying used equipment, MAKE SURE you purchase a service contract.  You will sleep better at night.

2)  Invest in your people.

• Let’s face it.  The most important thing in any business is your client base. Right after that, it is your people.  Now is the perfect time to not only train your people, but also recruit new employes.  The recession will end and when it does, are your people better, the same or worse for the experience?  How many jobs can one employee perform and are they fully trained on that new piece of equipment?  Are they cross-trained in two to three other positions?  What were your biggest employee headaches over the last few years?  Now is the time to solve them.  Recruit, recruit, recruit.  The best hires I have ever made were people that took six months to a year to recruit.  Now is the best time to find new employees so you do not have to make knee jerk reactions when you do have to hire.  Most everyone will at least sit down for a cup of coffee and start a conversation.  Call all the people who did not want to talk to you for the last two years and meet with them.  You will be amazed at what you find out about a person…like are they really worth all the hype?

3) Invest in your customers.

• This is THE most important thing that any small business can do.  What can you do, right here right now, to strengthen a relationship with one of your customers?  Find something in your business that you can use to help them.  It does not necessarily have to be a product or service that is fee based.  A tremendous value add you can provide is education.  What is happening in your industry that will affect your customers?  Take the time now to build trust and help your clients prepare for the future.  Note, I did not say this is a sales call for you to peddle your wares.

4) Build NEW alliances.

• Stop reading this blog, pick up the phone right now and call someone.  Anyone.  Build a new relationship with someone outside of your current network.  You are on every social media sight known to man, so pick up the phone and put a voice to that face.  The more people who know you, the easier it is for them to refer you.

This “recession” will end.  What you do right now right here, today will pave the road for your success in the future.

TAKE ACTION NOW!

A lot of people say that retailing, as we know it, is dead. Why go to a store when you can compare and shop on the internet, get it paid for and delivered without leaving home?

Despite its growth and acceptance, internet sales are still less than five percent of all purchases. I predict it will never reach fifteen percent? Why? Because people need to shop. They need to get out and connect with the world,

In my experience at Target I saw nine reasons why people came into our stores. Do you fit any of these?

1. They want to be in a crowd. It’s somewhere to go, to be with human beings.  They can’t stand to be alone. They need sporting events, restaurants, or just walking through the city.

2. The opposite—to be alone. In other words, to be lost in a crowd. When they get stressed out they relax by shopping. Somehow they recharge their batteries there. They can still be anonymous while making human contact.

3. They want companionship. They come in pairs. “Hey, let’s get together—we can go shopping!” Some couples develop strong bonds—they are facing the world as a team.

4. They want to see what’s new. It’s a better way to be with it and not rely on what they read in the paper or see on TV.

5. They need a challenge. It’s a competitive sport. Compulsive shoppers are very competitive. They can sniff out a bargain from a hundred yards away.  They bag their stuff as trophies, and come home victorious.

6. They need to pamper themselves. They need to spend in order to affirm their beauty and worth. It’s an award they bestow on their egos. It makes them feel better than a workout at the gym.

7. They need to dream. They need to see how the upper class lives. They envy wealth. Women try on stuff that there’s no way they can buy.

8. They need to brag. These are the worst kind. They have to show how smart and rich they are.

9. They need something. Duh. This applies mostly to men. Shopping is a problem for them to be solved—go out and find it, shoot it, and bring it home.

My Dad hated shopping: he waited in the car for Mom and smoked his pipe.  My daughter was told by her mother, “Clean your room or I’ll make you go shop with your father!”

Of course people will switch from one reason to another, day to day. Sometimes from store to store.

But can you imagine what it would be like if there were no shopping?  How else could you satisfy the basic need to be connected?

George Lemmond

One of ways stores and companies try to find their strongest positioning is by asking people what they want. And of course that’s good. But they should look hard at the results of their research.

As I said earlier, you can’t wish a position, you have to earn it.

Many studies confirm that “Service” is what customers want, so OK, says the store or a manufacturer, we’ll say that’s what we give. But “Under-service” and “No

If your selected position is “Service,” it will fail. Call us and we’ll find a better one for

The promise of service is fraught with danger, embodied with every employee, tested with every encounter. The worst sin of marketers is to not deliver what is promised. If they fall short, they have broken a trusted relationship.

I can think of two companies that could proclaim good service as their claim to fame: Nordstrom and Ritz-Carlton. ? They deliver it every day. It is part of their culture. Can you think of any more?

So until a company is known for its service and they live it, they should talk about something else.

“Lowest Price” is also a losing positioning. There can only be one lowest price player in every category. Wal*Mart owns that game. If you go that route, be ready to get undercut.

The same is “Value.” That word is worthless, the king of vagueness.

I’m certainly not saying that “Service” is bad; it should be pursued and treasured.
Once a company delivers it, unbroken, for about five years, then it could be shouted from the roof.

I was with an ad agency that had a hotel client. We sold them a “Service” strategy and created a campaign, “If it’s not your mother, it must be us.” Their service was
lousier than their positioning.

“Service” is a cop out. It’s like trying to invoke motherhood. “When your argument is weak, shout louder,” said the debate coach. You must think smarter. We can do better.

George Lemmond

The keepers of Dr. Pepper’s brand flame blew it.

They pledged a free can of their soda for every American if a new album—

“Chinese Democracy” by Axl Rose”— would be released by the end of the year. They didn’t think that would happen, but it did. So Dr. Pepper told their fans to go to their website within 24 hours for a coupon redeemable for their treat.

But the site crashed, and customers tell of being blocked for four hours from the site and from a customer service phone line.

The album’s lawyers sent on irate letter to the soft drink maker, complaining about its “appalling failure to make good on a promise it made to the American public.”

Dr, Pepper broke the most important rule of branding: ALWAYS DELIVER!

After I worry enough, then I should err on the side of victory.

George Lemmond

Does WalMart force thousands of small stores out of business? Or do their customers do it for them? The lesson is that you can’t compete with the big guys on price and variety when you don’t have a big box or big bucks.

The internet makes things even tougher for the small ones because comparison is so easy.

Here’s a story about a little guy. His name is John Lamb and he runs “Bagel Boys,” right next to a Starbucks in the Atlanta suburbs. Here’s why he is successful, and this is a template for anyone who wants to survive and prevail:

He has a great distinctive product. He worked for a big bagel chain for years, so he knows all their secrets. He knows how to make a better product even though it costs more.

He knows his market. Location is key. He chose a high traffic spot right next to a Starbucks! He stole some of their customers, and he’s proud of the comparison and the choice. The moral—don’t hide it, flaunt it!

He knows his customers and how to serve them. He calls most of them by their name, and they say, “Hi, John.” His presence is there.

He lives his business. It’s personal. The “Bagel Boys” are literally his boys. Life sized pictures of his adorable sons are the art works of his décor. It depicts them joyfully turning dough into bagels.

He sticks to his guns. He sells tasty sandwiches and salads, but he closes shop at 3:00.
“Nobody eats bagels for dinner,” he says. If Burger King wants to stay open ‘till 2 AM, that’s their problem. “I have a life after work. I want to go home with my boys.”

He knows where he’s going. I’d bet his formula works. He’s looking for a second location, and possibly franchising is in the future. But I can’t see him trading his life for a position as a corporate executive.

He has the secret. He works hard, and he smiles. “I love this business,” says John Lamb.

George Lemmond