Working with our clients we help them best differentiate the disciplines with the following definitions. Albeit, they are not complete in their briefness but they are a clear point of differentiation with which to start a discussion.

• Branding is the development and management of the proprietary visual, emotional, rational, and cultural image that one associates with a company, product or service.

• Marketing is the strategic actions that take place in order to communicate your brand to the marketplace.

In this article Unilever makes it very clear their intentions of moving forward after a decade of numbers crunching.

Unilever outlines ‘more magic, less logic’ fresh marketing philosophy
by Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith, 25 October 2011, 8:30am

Unilever is to undertake a fundamental change in approach to its marketing through the implementation of a fresh ‘More magic, less logic’ company philosophy.

Marc Mathieu: Unilever’s senior VP marketing encouraging marketers to take risks

The FMCG brand-owner wants to shake up its numbers-led marketing strategy to reward marketers who are prepared to take risks and back creative ideas.

At a recent global briefing, principally featuring Unilever’s brand teams worldwide, along with roster agencies, senior marketers Keith Weed and Marc Mathieu outlined a 10-year plan. Providing that the company subsequently learned from its mistakes, they believe this would ‘enable marketers to fail’, where previously they have been ‘scared’ to do so.

Mathieu, Unilever’s senior vice-president of marketing, emphasised the need to diverge from what one source described as an ‘unthinking adherence to quantitative market research at the risk of losing some of the creative spark that leads to great creative ideas’.

The change is understood to move Unilever away from the type of model used by rival Procter & Gamble.

Mathieu, a former senior marketer at Coca-Cola, took up his role at Unilever in April. His appointment completed an overhaul of the marketing team by Weed, Unilever’s chief marketing and communications officer.

In October of 1994 three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland, while shooting a documentary … A year later their footage was found …

The Blair Witch Project was considered to be the best-ever social media campaigns, cost $22,000 to make the film and generated $249 million worldwide. Not a bad ROI.

Forbes list of the 20 best-ever social media campaigns:

1. “The Blair Witch Project”
2. Blendtec: ill It Blend?
3. Old Spice: “Smell Like a Man, Man.”
4. Burger King: “Subservient Chicken”
5. Pepsi Refresh
6. VW: “Fun Theory”
7. OfficeMax: “Elf Yourself”
8. Evian: “Roller Babies
9. Ikea: “Facebook Showroom”
10. Hotmail
11. Whopper Sacrifice
12. Target: “Bullseye Gives”
13. Vitaminwater
14. Smirnoff: “Tea Par-tay”
15. The Dark Knight: Why So Serious?
16. Quicksilver: “Dynamic Surfing”
17. Cadbury: Gorilla
18. BMW: “1 Series Graffit Contest”
19. Bing/Farmville
20. CareerBuilder: Monk-e-Mail

Read Victoria Taylor’s Forbes article, “The Best-Ever Social Media Campaigns” and “Forbes: In Pictures: Best-Ever Social Media Campaigns”

Also thanks to http://fuelingnewbusiness.com for posting the original article.

We meet with our clients and discuss social business media being manifested in mobile websites. Of course, now, the more acceptable term is “online marketing.” Forget the word “social” or “media” for that matter, it apparently sends the wrong message. Many clients listen intently and then back burner the medium. Not out of fear; they’re just not what you would call early adopters. They are more the sideline spectators, for now.

However, there are a few that say, “I am willing to try something new, tell me how this could work for us.” We cherish this response, knowing that in the case of “mobile media,” it WILL work for them. Here’s an example.

We recently began a project for MASSEY FERGUSON, the agricultural machinery company owned by AGCO. MASSEY FERGUSON needed to engineer a campaign for the launch or their revolutionary and industry-game-changer Windrower. In hope of creating viral buzz in the marketplace, we chose to use mobile media to track, and add value to, the potential consumer and to extend the brand beyond its current reach. Consider this, 43% of farmers use smartphones*, after all they don’t work behind a desk. They are in the field where wireless technology is their connection to the world. Yes, they are a savvy bunch – tracking commodity markets, grain trades, and monitoring the weather.

So, we thought, let’s tap in to their mobile world and give them something to chat about. We worked with mobile marketing company mobilezen, to design an effective mobile strategy incorporating text messaging and a mobile website.

Beginning in June 2011, MASSEY FERGUSON, was rolling 12 prototypes of the new state-of-the-art, completely re-engineered Tier IV Windrower off the assembly line. While the new Windrowers were waiting on flatbeds to be shipped around the country to key dealers for previews, we had them wrapped with a large custom fit red tarp. On the outside of the tarp, in large bold white letters read: Curious? “Text Curious to 99699.”

As the machines were being moved all over the country to their temporary destinations, the large red tarps moved through the heartland, stirring up a viral buzz and speculation on industry chat sites. Once arriving at their destination, some remained covered and strategically positioned on the side of the road.

Pictures were posted of the red tarp-covered machinery and the industry started to buzz in speculation. What were they saying? “Has anyone heard anything about a new Hesston Windrower?” … “A friend sent me a picture of a tarp covered Windrower that said text “Curious” to 99699…” “…Spill the beans…”

Those “curious” enough, and there were thousands, used their smartphone to text “Curious” to 99699. They instantly received a text message reply containing a link to a mobile TextSite, containing teaser tidbits about the next best thing in hay.

We even tantalized our marketing brethren by feeding bits of information into the market through strategic channels before the launch of the program. We told the story in loose terms of what was coming, without revealing the company or the product.

Industry speculators immediately went to work to pull together as many facts as possible, even putting one AGCO professional on the spot. During a large trade show in Tulare early in the year in front of an audience of 750+ marketing, media and industry professionals, a speaker asked if there was anybody in the audience from AGCO or MASSEY FERGUSON. A representative was present. The speaker asked if the representative could confirm the coming promotion of the red tarp concept and their use of mobile media – the representative did exactly what she needed to by responding, “I can neither confirm or deny that it exists.”

Does mobile media work?

In 90 days, 3500+ mobile website views opted in to learn more, see videos and testimonials and 19% of them even filled out an online questionnaire right on their phone. The average time spent on the site (with the brand) is 3 minutes 45 seconds. When was the last time you had your customer’s attention for an additional 3:45 to listen to you talk about your product or service? People who have come in contact with the original red tarps, which are moving down the road on a flatbed somewhere in the American heartland, are sharing the mobile TextSite across the US and into Canada.

Interested in learning more? Text Curious To 99699.

* Reported by Agriculture.com

MASSEY FERGUSON, mobilezen, The Crafton Group, AGCO

Could corporations be so myopic in their thinking that they truly do not understand the full scope of what a CMO has to offer?

Let’s change how others think: In the C-Suite, marketing is perceived as an intangible. It is hard to wrap up marketing as an asset in a neat spreadsheet; marketing requires nimble thinking and the ability to recognized opportunity in a split second. How is that reflected as a tangible line item of value? An accountable and progressive CMO will have or needs to have a battery of metrics that can be set in place in order to allow the rest of the team a linear understanding of our non-linear world. And the CMO must have a good relationship with the CFO, more than the others, because the CFO translates every aspect of the company into the great common denominators of value and profit; you need to be speaking the same language. It’s up to you, the CMO, to migrate a mindset of skeptics.

Let’s change who we are: Today, the CMO needs to be as much a savvy businessperson as a brilliant generator of ideas and a wizard in human resource management. Companies like Berkshire Hathaway understand the value of a sharp marketing mind. BH is making an effort to have marketing represented in the executive suite of every company they own. Why? Because the ability for a company to change and innovate needs to come from the minds of people whom live for change and strive to innovate. And who better than for a CMO to aid in leading an organization to greener pastures. Be the visionary your company needs.

Let’s not change our goal: We as CMO’s make it our goal to support the CEO’s vision of utopia. We are harnessed with vision, creativity and business savvy that can be utilized 24/7 in support of the CEO. As the company embarks on this journey you as the CMO charted, never lose sight of the CEO’s ultimate objective. Companies need to understand this endeavor will have its bumps and challenges, so leave it to the CMO to take the risk and afford the company the rewards.

Ray Bouléy

All to often, “The Big Idea” can get lost in its delivery because most clients are thinking tactically when they should be considering how “The Big Idea” relates to the marketing strategy and their goals. While they are trying to relate to what you are expressing they are thinking creatively but in a tactical way. As a marketing expert, you need to be aware of this vital fact and be sure you make relevance to their specific business objectives throughout your presentation of “The Big Idea.”

In the event you miscommunicate and loose the direct link you are working to establish in the mind of the client between “The Big Idea” and how they are thinking, you will relegate yourself to being only the “Idea Guy” with little understanding of relevance and application. Worse yet, “The Big Idea” will never see the light of day – here you loose. But most importantly, the client will loose because they will fall back into their comfort zone of only thinking of tactics and in return ask your team to deliver items, not a strategy. At this point you and your company become nothing more than a commodity. There are a lot of great tactical people out their in the world but very few great originators and communicators of “The Big Idea.”

Big Idea+Relevance+Strategy+Tactics = Client Success

Ray Bouley, CEO and Founding Partner Next Step…the origin of ideas

You have to wonder why organizations that require 1-3% annual growth want to pick a fight with an organization that has out branded them at every point.

That is a topic for another blog.

The true strength of a brand starts from within the walls of your own organization. Because by definition, a brand is the proprietary visual, emotional, rational and cultural image that you associate with a company, product or service, one should be cognoscente of the fact that this applies to everyone and everything.  Who you are internally is what you become externally.

Here are 10 items you should consider:

1.    How many true brand champions are in and among the ranks of your company? For that matter, how many brand champions do you have in the C-suite?

2.    Does everyone in the organization understand the company’s true objectives? (Being profitable and selling more is a given).

3.    Do all of the divisions understand the value their counterparts bring to the organization? And do they communicate?

4.    Do employees look at each other as a potential resource or as an impediment or worse yet, an adversary?

5.    Do I, hire wisely by looking for people who believe in brand.

6.    Do I, as an executive in this company, promote and foster a culture conducive to developing brand believers or does everyone come to work and think of this place as a job?

7.    Does everybody I work with understand WHY we exist as a company?

8.    Do I understand that the most successful companies are managed as brands?

9.    How often do I use the word “We” and not “I”?

10.  Am I a brand champion?

It is our job as a CMO to help them reach their highest potential.

Make it so.

Ray Bouley

In a time when resources are scarce for many companies, I have found many organizations looking for the perfect solution to marketing and communications, the one source that will lead the consumer to their product or service. Right or wrong this is what companies are thinking. Where as, Social Media is a relatively new venue that allows clients to reach a vertical client base, it should not be considered as the end-all tactic. I fully believe in Social Media as one of many tactics that are necessary when appropriately filtering a brand through the marketplace. What makes Social Media so attractive? It is a fresh idea/medium with a low cost threshold to implement and manage AND companies are looking for new solutions.

Once all the hype over Social Media dies down, it will remain an essential tool in the vast realm of marketing and communications.

Most importantly, we are experiencing a shift in how people communicate and how they share information. Social Media is marketing communications by the people for the people. So, be sure your marketing communications platform looks at the seismic shift in consumer behavior before casting final judgment on the tactic of Social Media.

http://bit.ly/cpEqEo

It concluded with the following:
Word-of-mouth marketing through social networks could emerge as an important tool in the marketer’s arsenal. That will depend on whether marketers can tame the fundamentally unpredictable and serendipitous nature of word of mouth without losing what makes it so valuable in the first place—its authenticity.

The single most important word in the entire paragraph is “authenticity”

Social Media is all-the-buzz, I get that. But if you listen carefully and tune out the buzz you will hear something very important. The voices of the consumer. The marketing and advertising industry could be learning something about the new age of consumers. Consumers have spoken, and will continue to speak. What they have said is, find a better way to communicate with us using less hype and more authenticity. Tell us the core reason why we should buy a product or service from one of your clients.

If the consumer is asking companies to be more authentic then maybe we need to apply our skills as communication professionals and inspire our clients to better understand their “Why”. The real reason a company exists is rarely articulated, or for that matter is rarely known. If a company does not understand their “Why” then how will they ever offer a genuine reason for a consumer to truly believe they are engaged in an authentic relationship.

In our industry we live in a world of intangible and most people in the C-Suite come from backgrounds as contrary to ours as black is to white. As marketing professionals we can sit in a room and develop brilliant strategies, but getting complete by in, that is another question. Where it all falls apart is in our ability to do two things:

1. Communicate with our coworkers in the C-suite in a fashion they are accustom, in a vernacular they can understand, one that is outside the world of abstraction.

2. Build a consensus, a baseline understanding of the brand within the entire organization before moving forward to solve any problems. Many times organizations become so involved with what they do on a day-to-day basis that they forget the core goal or philosophy of the company. It is our job, our responsibility, to keep the entire organization in touch with the brand. We understand brand management that is what we do. While others are doing what they do best, it is our responsibility to manage, defend, and migrate our brand internally before we can ever give flight to the external brand, let alone a migration. Take time to develop a communication bridge with all the people in your company who need to better understand what you do and why you do it. Make sure they see value in what you do by showing them how it brings greater value to what they do. Create an environment of passive collaboration allowing everyone to feel they can contribute and thus obtaining ongoing buy-in from the team.

The more the C-Suite understands the power of what marketing can do for them the more value they will see in the power of you.  After all we are the masters of communications.