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Last week over 3,000 people gathered to discuss the current, the future, the potential, the challenges, the opportunities, the successes, the failures, the tools, the strategies, the methods, the people, the power, and the beauty of social media and social media marketing.  Here are the Social Media Marketing World 2016 top 20 takeaways from Guy Kawasaki, Gary Vaynerchuk, Brian Solis, Bryan Kramer, Mitch Joel, Dorie Clark, Mark Schaefer, Jay Baer, and more.

Social Media Marketing World 2016 Takeaways Curated by Denise Lee Yohn from Denise Yohn

Thanks to:

the awesome speakers who inspired and challenged me Social Media Examiner for putting on a first class event the cool friends, new and old, that I met at #SMMW16 designfeed.io which made it a snap to put this slideshow together & Peg Fitzpatrick for recommending the site

other slideshows you might be interested in:

Top 10 Quotes from Extraordinary Experiences

7 Influential Insights — Quotables from National Speakers Association Conference INFLUENCE 2015

What Great Brands Do — Quotables from Bestselling Book by Denise Lee Yohn

Building Brands by Creating Content

The post social media marketing world 2016 top 20 takeaways appeared first on Denise Lee Yohn.

It has been quite some time since I last posted an interview. Although the posts have slowed down I have continued interviewing people on a regular basis. Of course this means I have numerous interviews backlogged. In fact so much so that some of the people I have interviewed have moved onto new roles at new companies since the time of the interview.

Greg Van Bastelaar is somebody I met at Rifflandia in Victoria while participating at a music industry panel. At the time Greg was marketing Director of Deezer Music Canada. After speaking with Greg I was immediately interested in interviewing him for the podcast. He has a lot of experience in the music industry ranging from working for FACTOR (The Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent On Recording) and seeing artists get funded for records to becoming the marketing director for the European streaming service Deezer Music.

“Greg Van Bastelaar’s career began in 2001 by studying Recorded Music Production at The Trebas Institute Of Toronto. It was there that he met world-renowned Songwriter/Producer Justin Gray. A relationship was struck and his time at Big Boom Entertainment resulted in a phenomenal experience working directly in the creation of music. 2006 brought an exciting opportunity with Warner Music Canada, working directly under the General Manager of Warner Chappell Music Canada. During this time, Greg’s knowledge of the industry grew considerably and a wealth of industry contacts were added to his network. Greg eventually jumped at the chance to work for The Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent On Recordings (FACTOR). This environment plugged him into the main-line of the Canadian music industry, allowing him to further develop key relationships as well as to directly help the industry thrive as a whole.”

Greg  is a big sports fan as well as music fan. I have always been intrigued with the overlap in fan behaviour and their impact on performance in the music and sports world. Speaking with Greg gave me a chance to cover this topic and get his opinion on the subject.

Enjoy!

Aaron Bethune.

Music Specialist. Creative Collaborator. Author. Musicpreneur.

www.playitloudmusic.com  www.abovethenoise.ca  www.musicpreneur.ca  www.aaronbethune.com

To listen to the interview click here.

During the Zenvolution press event at Computex 2016, ASUS Chairman Jonney Shih took the stage to unveil the first ASUS robot, Zenbo.

Zenbo is a friendly and capable home robot designed to provide assistance, entertainment, and companionship to families and meant to address the needs of each family member. With a full range of capabilities, including the ability to move independently and understand spoken commands, Zenbo can assist in the home and interacting with him is easy and fun.

By Dr Rob John, Visiting Senior Fellow, National University of Singapore Business School, and Advisory Board Member, The Conference Board Initiative on Corporate Philanthropy During our research study to understand how philanthropy in Asia is innovating, we were particularly intrigued by the arrival of giving circles—people or groups getting together to give.  In a previous […]

In preparing for a talk to a group of customer contact center managers, I’ve come to the conclusion that customer service ain’t what it used to be.  There is a brand of new customer service in play today.

Time was, customer service was a post-purchase business function aimed at fixing customers problems.  The ultimate goal was service recovery — that is, correcting a problem well enough that the customer would be satisfied and return to purchase again.

Today, new customer service is a critical element of customer experience, woven throughout the customer journey — with the goals of not only restoring the customer with the problem but also differentiating the brand, increasing perceived brand value, and contributing to sales and marketing efforts.

An illuminating summary of this new customer service reality comes from @RandyNasson in a recent piece, The Transition from Customer Service to Strategic Sales. “When it comes to connecting with customers online, a number of multichannel and ecommerce retailers are still stuck in the ‘customer support’ mindset; one that views contact with a customer as a necessary evil rather than an opportunity,” Randy writes.  “Most businesses view customer service as a cost center. .. Making the transition from support to sales requires a strategic mind shift within your organization in which customer engagements are viewed as growth opportunities.”

To embrace these growth opportunities, Randy explains, “This may require agent training or new hires if your current contact center model is based on troubleshooting and rapid resolution rather than customer experience. It may also require broader organizational alignment to facilitate this transition and prevent lack of ownership or internal politics from undermining potential gains.”

@blakemichellem adds that customer service agents must learn soft skills.  In 5 Tips To Scale Soft Skills Training For Your Customer Service Team, Blake writes, “Don’t think for one second your customer service agents aren’t part of the sales process. Every single experience, every single touch point, and every single conversation the customer has with your company—has an impact on how that customer views your company. Every interaction that customer is deciding two things: if they ever want to work with you again, if they would recommend you to anyone else.”  She goes on to provide five tips for hiring and training agents to have “the best people skills on the planet” — it’s a very helpful read.

Another way to facilitate the transition to a more proactive, brand-building approach to customer service is provided by @toister in The Preemptive Acknowledgement.  The “Preemptive Acknowledgement,” Jeff writes, “is the customer service professional’s secret weapon against negative emotions,” and he explains it involves three steps:  “Spot a problem before the customer gets angry.  Acknowledge the situation before the customer complains. Re-focus on a solution.”

Two additional pieces emphasize the multi-dimensional and emotional nature of the new customer service today.  In a HuffPo piece, @rhondasharf encourages companies to be aware fast customer service is not always adequate.  “Speed is not the only way to evaluate efficiency…Customer service matters in efficiency. Attitude, accuracy and empathy matter. Smart systems, processes and deliveries matter.”

And @jeannebliss explains how apologies from companies need to be just as robust.  In We Want You Back – How To Prove It To Your Customers, Jeanne writes, “The speed, content and tone of a company’s apology is crucial in a digitally connected world. Your motivation is to make customers whole — to earn the right to continue the relationship. However, repairing the emotional connection with customers in distress can be costly…Don’t consider the job done until the emotional connection with customers is restored.”

Learn more about modern customer service from brand book bites from “Hug Your Haters”, my write-up and author interview with Jay Baer on his new book.

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Tuesday, June 11, 2013

“On May 8, I spent an evening with a woman who is changing the world. I don’t usually employ dramatic statements, but some people demand hyperbole,” said Robin Clifford Wood after meeting with GPI Founder Cristi Hegranes.

Hegranes was interviewed by Clifford Wood as part of Bangor Daily News’ “Conversations with Maine” series.

Read the interview, titled “Woman’s vision trains, empowers truth-tellers worldwide,” here.

By Alice Korngold, Co-Editor, Giving Thoughts, and author of A Better World, Inc.: How Companies Profit by Solving Global Problems…Where Governments Cannot and Elaine Weidman-Grunewald, Corporate Vice President, Vice President of Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility at Ericsson. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) build upon the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and converge with the […]

In the weeks after the Fed raised interest rates in December, global financial markets trembled and inflation expectations, as measured by the bond market, declined significantly. On February 9, market-based inflation expectation over the next five years fell to just 0.93 percent, the lowest level since the Great Recession. This drop in inflation expectations fueled […]

Why has Tide been a top detergent brand for so long? Why is Heinz Ketchup, popular everywhere, still so particularly popular in Pittsburgh?

Tide has a 40% share of the market and has held this market lead for decades even though it’s more expensive than its competitors. Heinz, launched in Pittsburgh in 1876, has a better share in its hometown than in other cities. Tide and Heinz are just two examples. There are countless other longtime packaged goods market leaders and many other brands that have their best share in their home market* Why?

Eight Theories That Don’t Work (at least not completely)

1. Product superiority: Tide works better, smells fantastic. Heinz is thicker, has a secret formula. No doubt that actual product quality plays a role but it doesn’t explain why Heinz does better in Pittsburgh than anywhere else. Blind taste and use tests often show no significant difference between brands. Other factors are in play.

2. Buy Local: Local people support local brands and local brands support the local economy. Seems logical for Heinz which has always been active in a fiercely loyal community but it doesn’t explain why, for example, Milwaukee’s Miller Beer has always done so well in Chicago. (But maybe that’s, in part, because it’s at least not St Louis’ Anheuser-Busch.)

Consumer-Based Theories

3. Mother Knows Best/Habit: This can be a factor. Buying Tide/ Heinz may be for some a tradition passed down in the family from generation to generation. Buying products with this heritage is both reassuring and familiar and gives you one less thing to think about when you are at the store.

4. Conditioning: After a while, people get used to certain aspects of products that may be technically quite similar. The taste of Heinz, the smell of Tide, the thickness, the packaging, the color.

Competition-Based Theories

Then there are theories that speak to the power and advantage that a leader enjoys and can leverage:

5. Distribution advantages: Market leaders become retailers’ category captains influencing what gets on the shelf and benefit from being able to justify more skus than anyone else. Tide’s “wall of orange” crowds out everyone else at the point of purchase.

6. Fixed Costs: Many of the costs of doing business as a CPG company are fixed. Trade ads, for example. These can be absorbed with much less P&L impact by Tide than by smaller players giving Tide a continuing margin advantage that it can either bank or spend on other marketing activities.

7. Brand Equity/Marketing Investment: One place that they can spend those extra dollars is building up brand equity and connecting the brand to the important category drivers. Years of marketing spending build a strong brand foundation that’s difficult to undermine.

8. Competitors Are Followers: In large part, competitors have not tried or been able to disrupt the category by coming up with big enough product innovations.

This phenomenon is more pronounced in CPG products than in other categories. Being one-time leaders hasn’t helped retailers like A&P, Sears and Kmart. It’s not helped Yahoo!, aol or many others in the technology sector either.

Perhaps that’s because CPG products differentiate more by their identity than by physical factors? If consumers can’t differentiate between products (at least not in blind tests), they need to rely on other factors to make their decisions.

So, Can Anything Dislodge A Package Goods Market Leader? Yes, If:

1. The Leader Falls Sleep At The Wheel: The #1 brand is well protected from the competition for the reasons described above. And usually such brands have time to recover even if they make a series of missteps (New Coke?). But protracted neglect and no marketing investment may give challenger brands at least an opportunity.

2. Big Market Changes Happen That Disrupt The Model: Typically, the pace of change in CPG is relatively slow compared to other categories (like consumer electronics) and there’s less chance of a leader being caught completely unawares of new trends. Changing demographics (e.g. the rising influence of the Hispanic consumer, preference for healthier, natural foods) can have an effect and certainly creates opportunities for brands that previously were considered niche to become more mainstream (e.g. Nescafe Clasico).

3. Category Reinvention: What business is Heinz in? Just ketchup? All condiments? BBQ vs. other meal choices? In the end, the biggest danger for market leaders like Heinz may come from the declining relevance of their categories. If ketchup becomes a less important part of the American dining experience, Heinz will suffer even it stays the leader. And, today, all packaged goods are suffering from the center-aisle problem with fresh alternatives on the perimeter gaining ground.

Bottom Line: If you are a #1 brand in a CPG category, congratulations. You are in a strong competitive position for all sorts of reasons. Unfortunately, you’ve still got plenty to worry about. Retailers are scaling back shelf space for packaged goods to give more room to fresh products and, at the same time, they are launching own-label brands that are becoming more and more of a threat. That’s where the real battle is these days.

* Current share in markets of origin for brands launched back in the late 1800s and early 1900s is 12 percentage points higher than their national share. Source: Brand history, geography and the persistence of brand shares by Bart J. Bronnenberg Tilburg University, Sanjay K. Dhar University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Jean-Pierre H. Dubé, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

The Blake Project Can Help: Measure The Equity Of Your CPG Brand

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