MacKenzie Marketing Group, Inc.

The end of the bound book and the new era of content

lisam@mackenzie-marketing.com (Lisa MacKenzie) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 20:24:00 GMT

Yesterday I downloaded yet another book on my iPad and posted on Twitter that I may never buy another bound book again. Don't get me wrong - I love books, love bookstores (my office is two blocks from the famous Powells [www.powells.com] in Portland which is a daily temptation) and I have a constant battle with overstuffed bookshelves at home and my office.

The book I downloaded was on Web content strategy, Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halvorson, http://www.contentstrategy.com/ and it seemed only appropriate to get this title as a digital book. Within this e-book are links to useful additional resources. With a printed book, I would need both my laptop and the book to fully get the benefit of all this great content. No longer. This book will always be fresh because the links can be updated without buying another copy. Brilliant.

Books will always have the power to take us to new places. Books on my iPad can do so much more.

Improving Your Form

laurend@mackenzie-marketing.com (Lauren Del Mar) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:26:00 GMT

I recently started paddling on a dragon-boat team here in Portland. Being non-competitive by nature, I joined a team of people who are in it as much for the joy of being on the water as for winning. I’m the youngest member of the team and reasonably in shape, so I was doing a wonderful job keeping up with the tempo and duration of our practices. I even got a little over-confident, thinking how lucky this team was to have me.

One particularly rainy, cold day without many teammates at practice, the coach set me straight. She watched me for a few minutes and then proceeded to tell me my stroke needed tweaking. “You’re not doing it right” were her exact words. “You’re young and strong, so you can get away with it, but you’re using twice the energy necessary.” She then walked back to where I sat (not a common or particularly safe practice on these boats) and fixed my posture. I immediately felt the difference.

The point? Businesses do this all the time. Especially the successful ones. Just because you’re lucky and skilled enough to be the best at some particular aspect of your business doesn’t mean you should stop searching for ways to do it better. Complacency is a dangerous habit. Blackberry comes immediately to mind, but there are scores of others examples. Examine how, why and what you’re doing on a regular basis. Perhaps most importantly, keep people around who will tell you when there’s a better way to do things. After all, when the coach fixed my posture, that same amount of energy did twice the work.

The Five-Paragraph Essay Resurfaces

kellys@mackenzie-marketing.com (Kelly Stremel) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:34:00 GMT

The Five-Paragraph-Essay Resurfaces

When learning how to write a five-paragraph-essay in school, we were taught to say what you’re going to say, say it, and then recap what you just said. It sounded redundant. It sounded simplistic. Why spell it out?

Yet these simple rules still hold true in communications.

For clients, tell them what your plan is, deliver it, and recap what the results were. It may be redundant. It may be over communicating. But PR may be just one element your clients are thinking about, and you never want to leave room for them to question what you’re working on. Tell them what you’re gonna do. Do it. Them tell them what you’ve done. There are no surprises. Everyone appreciates knowing what’s going on.

For reporters, tell them what your news or your pitch is, explain why it’s relevant, then follow up and tell them again. It’s harder to be heard these days because there are so many people to listen to. How do you get through?

I try to pre-brief reporters to give them the benefit of time. Then I tell them why my story is interesting, relevant, and timely. Following up is usually part of the equation. For every 20 “not interested” there is a “yes.” And the “not interested” this time around could be a “yes” next time.

And in these hard-to-be-heard times, is it really possible to over-communicate?

Who's watching your channel?

lisam@mackenzie-marketing.com (Lisa MacKenzie) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:34:00 GMT

An acquaintance contacted me a few weeks ago, anxious to get together. The urgency for the meeting seemed odd. We have many connections in common and these related folks urged us to meet, so we did.

This person – accomplished and very lovely – wanted to know if I was aware of issues related to her business. She wanted to know if I was watching her channel.

Maybe she was relieved when I told her that I was not aware of the issues she mentioned. We had a nice chat and that was that. When I left our meeting, I could not help but wonder why she thought her firm’s channel was on my radar. If I am in a position of influence, then her firm had done nothing to get me to tune into their message – or listen to her channel.

Too many companies assume that customers, prospects and influencers are watching their channel. Identifying the right audience – through extensive market research – and fine-tuning the message so that it will create market leadership is what gets people to pay attention to your channel. Most importantly, it takes diligence and consistency to create a channel worth watching.

We get bombarded with invitations to watch far too many channels. Audience targeting, focused messaging, and diligence is the key factor in getting the right audience for your channel.

My friend Twitter

lisam@mackenzie-marketing.com (Lisa MacKenzie) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 16:18:00 GMT

I started Twittering – along with the rest of the MMG team – last year. It was still fairly new and I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

Now I am addicted.

It’s sort of like being a voyeur – I get a glimpse into what people are thinking. It’s also my best news channel. I get great links to blog posts I may never find on my own. Twitter is also a wonderful re-connector. I follow people that I’ve know for years but haven’t seen in ages.

And when our friend Rick Turoczy got the big spread in the Oregonian last Sunday thousands more certainly signed up.

Like all social media, it has a big downside. There is too much of it. I can’t following thousands of people and get anything out of the relationship. And the technology is not perfect. Scalability is a big issues and users have to be very patient.

Lessons learned from Twitter? Like all good communications, it is best when it is focused.

You can follow me on Twitter and see what I am up to.

Awards make us all smile

lisam@mackenzie-marketing.com (Lisa MacKenzie) — Thu, 29 May 2008 21:38:00 GMT

I used to think that awards were silly – the only way I thought we needed to be judged was by our clients’ success. I still think that is true, but not completely. Being judged by a panel of our peers is important. It keeps us on our toes.

Getting another award this week – a Communicator Award for our Ad campaign for Vigilan – is a big reason to celebrate. We knew it was a winner well before this because our client told us. Vigilan’s business has really taken off and we’re pretty happy to be a part of that success.

Big Kudos go to Jeni Cantley and Haley Lewis for the great design and concept. Another statue is on its way to join the others on the table!

Putting on a show

lisam@mackenzie-marketing.com (Lisa MacKenzie) — Thu, 29 May 2008 21:22:00 GMT

Seth Godin – marketing consultant and author – just blogged todayabout the art of the putting on a show. In marketing he says, “…even if you're a professional marketer, if your show is cynical or manipulative, it's going to fall apart on you. Even Marlon Brando couldn't live the show all the time if he didn't believe it.”

Scott McClellan, the former White House press secretary, now author, is a perfect example of the marketer whose show fell apart. By taking the job as White House press secretary, he took on the role of communicating public policy. He didn’t believe in the message that he was delivering. It fell apart on him.

Godin further explains that “The difference between a professional and a naive marketer is that the professional can put on a different show in her next job, or for her next brand. Al Yageneh (The Soup Nazi), on the other hand, can only sell soup.”

I’ve sold software to consumers and professionals, consumer electronics, professional services, politicians and non-profits and most recently trail running shoes. Scott, on the other hand, has sold policy and I’m not sure he can sell any of that now.

Drucker is marketing's friend

lisam@mackenzie-marketing.com (Lisa MacKenzie) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 02:31:00 GMT

“The business enterprise has two—and only two—basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business."

This Peter Drucker quote has been well distributed and certainly is a favorite of most marketers. It is especially poignant as we all face what is certainly an economic slow down and quite possible a recession. All marketers worry that budgets will be sliced, jobs will be eliminated and more will be expected.

If this statement by Drucker is true – and embraced – then what do we have to worry about? Plenty. Most companies and CEOs don’t see marketing as their primary strategic weapon in a down economy. They typically add more sales people and decrease marketing.

I’ve worked through plenty of slow economies and recessions. Next time I have that anticipated meeting with the CEO regarding budget, I am bringing my friend Drucker with me.

Resolution or none -- Thoughts for the New Year

lisam@mackenzie-marketing.com (Lisa MacKenzie) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 12:12:00 GMT

It seems that I have hit the point of giving up on resolutions. Personally and professionally, resolutions are just a good opportunity for disappointment.

That said, I am a big fan of an ongoing commitment to improvement. So this year, my list is:

Read more
Blog more
Run more
Be grateful

I am reading more thanks to my new passion for Twitter, which is leading me to interesting new sites and blogs.

As for running, I am trying despite my lousy stamina and learning to be a trail runner.

But mostly, I am grateful for our clients that are leading us into 2008. They are creating products that will change the footwear industry, improve our Web experience, protect our identities, benefit the Oregon economy, and shape the assisted living industry.

We're off to a great 2008 and I can't wait to see what is still ahead.

Pet peeves

lisam@mackenzie-marketing.com (Lisa MacKenzie) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:45:00 GMT

I have a lot of pet peeves. The small ones are the random use of bullets and lack of parallel structure. Marketing is all about communication and if you can’t frame your point, then what is the point?

But there is a bigger issue. My biggest pet peeve is lack of leadership. In my book, this is the leading cause of company failure.

Company executives may blame lack of success on the product or the market, or even worse, the marketing department. But hey buddy, the real issue is lack of leadership.

Real leaders provide clear direction. But more importantly, leaders admit when they don’t know the right direction and work like hell with their exec team to create and stick to a plan of action.

Leadership isn’t about ego. Leadership is about getting people to take action.

There is a great dialogue in the movie, “The American President,” when the President, played by Michael Douglas is having a debate with his staffer, Lewis Rothschild played by Michael J Fox

Lewis: “…in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand.”

President Andrew Shepherd: “ Lewis, we've had presidents who were beloved, who couldn't find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight. People don't drink the sand because they're thirsty. They drink the sand because they don't know the difference.”

Thanks President Shepherd. Great leaders are great communicators.