A common failure among organizations is to forget all of the touch points one’s members or clients have with their brand, and the opportunity the organization has to capitalize on those engagement opportunities. What does that mean for today’s marketing and communications professionals? As we continue to be bombarded with millions of competing marketing messages, it’s important that your organization successfully breaks through the clutter. Here’s how you can make your organization’s marketing stand out:
Take inventory: Evaluate those communication vehicles already in place. Include magazines, newsletters, e-mail newsletters, annual reports, e-mails, Web site, direct mail, event promotions, advertising, telemarketing efforts and sales materials in your assessment—and be willing to discontinue those that aren’t working.
Revisit your logo: Is your logo representative of your organization’s mission and culture? If not, it might be time to consider investing in a new logo to reflect your brand more effectively.
Be consistent with print and online products: Make sure that all of your print and digital media products share a common design template. This includes the use of fonts, sizes, headers and overall aesthetic.
Create a style guide: If your organization does not already have one in place, author a rulebook of standards for editorial and design work.
Police your communications: Assign a member of your team to be responsible for monitoring all outgoing company communications to ensure that your organization’s guidelines are applied before the messaging goes out the door.
It’s been a while since I’ve made an “audio post” to a blog (I’m more “video” these days). However, some recent blog posts and Twitter comments by Patrick Ruffini inspired me to dust-off the Skype account and Audio Hijack software and give him a call. In 2004 Ruffini had the very Web 1.0 title “webmaster” for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign. Despite the title, he ushered in some very Web 2.0 features and approaches to the site — and the campaign. Over 30,000 off-line “meetup-like” volunteer gatherings were organized on the site and over 5,000 websites and weblogs hosted the badges and widgets (remember, this was in 2004) that Ruffini’s team developed using RSS and XML. After the election, he ran the Inauguration website and later had a two-year stint as eCampaign Director for the GOP.
After the jump, read more and listen to the interview.
I can say on the front end that copyright law is one of those necessary evils for the publishing industry. Necessary — it gives writers, artists and others the financial incentive to create works, allowing them the rights to the money made from their writing, their photographs, their illustrations. An evil — it’s complex, and most freelancers and publishers would likely agree that Congress ignores copyright law for years on end, then addresses it from a less informed viewpoint than most of us would prefer.
Copyright law is one of those issues that really makes me wish for a benevolent dictator, despite my love otherwise for our imperfect democracy. In my opinion, far too much copyright law is decided in the courtroom, admittedly for lack of any reasonable alternative.
(Fair warning: I’ll still be talking about copyright law after the jump….)
“The Internet is an increasingly effective weapon in your arsenal of communication tools,” said public relations guru Molly Cate at a recent Nashville American Marketing Association meeting on the topic of e-Campaigns. Cate and Kristen Hayner shared tips on how to maximize Web publicity and navigate communication plans online, especially if your business is ever faced with a crisis. Here’s a list of their online communications Do’s and Don’ts:
Do:
Don’t:
We at Hammock don’t specialize in crisis communication, but we do have expertise in the social media tools—or ammunition—that the speakers endorsed. We share the same thought: Whether you are an association who wants to communicate more directly with your members, or a company who wants to engage their customers, it’s time to hop online, get connected and join the conversation.
I had a chance to catch the last 20 minutes of Rex’s “marketing track” presentation at Tuesday’s FOLIO Show in New York. (I hid in to the back to avoid notice; at last year’s FOLIO conference, Rex had a ball embarrassing Shannon and me.) In his session, “Managing a Creative Services Operation: From Ad Creation to Custom Publishing,” Rex zeroed in on strategic ways custom publishers can partner with clients to publish content that truly fulfills an organization’s mission. Whether that’s creating a blog that adds value to a magazine for an influential association, or creating inventive content that subtly and effectively promotes the goals of an esteemed genealogical society, custom publishers make it their business to make a client’s goals their own.
Rex also got some great questions from the crowd. My favorite: “How much time do you spend writing your blog every day?” Yea, no comment from me.
P.S. It was impressive to see all of Hammock’s magazines, Web sites and blogs onscreen–seeing them at somewhat of a distance reminds me why we should feel really proud of what we do.
From Hammock editors Jamie Roberts and Shannon McRae:
In our opinion, New York is the center of the world. During a three-day trip to the Big Apple, we stayed within a city block of some of the week’s biggest news stories: Charles and Camilla attended a MOMA event, the Top of the Rock observation deck opened to the public for the first time in almost 20 years, and the Radio City Music Hall orchestra walked off the job on the opening day of the Christmas Spectacular.
So why were in the center of the universe (other than to eat sushi and take in a show)? We went to attend the 2005 FOLIO show, one of the publishing industry’s leading seminars.
It’s always good to hear about what other people in your industry are doing. And sometimes the best brainstorms come when you’re not in the office. Here’s a top 10 list of what we learned this week (some of which we hope to use in American Spirit and MyBusiness magazines):
1. Some magazines are having great success with online readers’ panels.
2. Creating a summary of stories for designers to read before they begin layout is more helpful than handing them a stack of copy.
3. The editors and designers at Hammock get along a lot better than those at other publications.
4. American Airlines has a tough time getting luggage from Nashville to New York and back again on direct flights.
5. To encourage reader feedback, make sure you consistently remind readers of how to contact you.
6. A magazine is not a community–community is real people connecting…but a magazine can help bring a community together, according to one of our favorite panelists.
7. Encouraging free thinking and regularly recognizing employee contributions is a good way to avoid editorial burnout.
8. Enlist readers to provide content–under certain parameters, of course!
9. Hammock designers do a pretty good job of following the four-point approach to good cover design: Simplicity, Strength, Sizzle and Sophistication. They even win Ozzie awards for their covers.
10. No matter how long you lived in New York, it takes time to harden your feet to pounding the pavement again!
p.s. Is it just us or does the girl in the FOLIO ad look a little like our own Lena Basha?
From Rex Hammock:
Last week, I heard about the impact Katrina had on the publisher and staff of a New Orleans-based magazine and felt Hammock Publishing could reach out and help.
Romney & Charley Richard, publishers of Louisiana Cookin’ Magazine were flooded out of their home and office in New Orleans. (They still haven’t been able to return to either.) They are now living in an RV parked at their daughter’s home in Baton Rouge. Likewise, their staff are all direct victims of the disaster and are now evacuated across five states.
Committed to keeping Louisiana Cookin’ alive, yet consumed with the personal struggles she and her staff are facing, Romney sounded understandably dazed when I spoke with her for the first time last week. I told her that getting out a magazine is something we at Hammock Publishing know how to help her do…and that I know a lot of folks throughout the magazine publishing world will also love to volunteer to help out.
We’ve launched a weblog at KeepCookin.org. Please link to it. Please subscribe to its RSS feed. I know a lot of folks who read this blog are media-types, but we also really want to reach out to food bloggers, as well. Pass the word along to them.
Also, please purchase a subscription to the magazine. It’s a great magazine for folks who enjoy Louisiana cuisine or who have enjoyed the restaurants of New Orleans. Subscribing via the Louisiana Cookin’ website is perhaps the quickest and most-direct way that individuals can help support Romney’s efforts to get back up and running. (That, and advertising, which we discuss on the Keep Cookin’ blog.)
If you’d like more information regarding Keep Cookin’ or would like to volunteer your support, visit KeepCookin.org or e-mail: helpkeepcookin (at) hammock.com
Also, if you’re a blogger, as you make posts about this, please use the tags: magazines, louisianacookin, keepcookin.org
Hot of the presses is Hammock Publishing’s new collaboration with Conferon Global Services: The CGS Guide to Room Block Management. The 64-page resource details the best practices of the industrys leading meeting planning firm, drawing on its collective wisdom of 35 years of experience.
Because successful room block management is one of meeting planners’ toughest challenges, the CGS Guide breaks down the process for veterans and novices alike. The publication gives strategies for compiling group history, selecting a site, determining room counts, creating the proper mix of hotelsall while ensuring that meeting attendees are satisfied and associations remain on firm financial footing.
Hilton Hotels, sponsor of the Guide, shares cover billing with CGS. They will unveil the new publication at this weekend’s annual meeting of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) in Nashville.