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Archives for 2009

Off the Wall! Three Irresistible Ideas


Oogst 1000

Serendipity has led me to several items that are just so interesting I have to share.  One actually has practical application, another is a cautionary tale—and the third is an inspiration.

Let’s start with the inspiration, since that’s connected with today’s eye-catching illustration.  Yes!  It’s a completely serious design for a “self-sufficient farm, restaurant, hotel and amusement park for 1,000 people per day.”  In the Oogst 1000 Wonderland:

  • Everything is linked by technology to create a self-sustainable system.
  • All food for the restaurant comes from the farm.
  • Visitors can learn about sustainable agriculture while they vacation.

The idea comes from Dutch design firm Tjep, and it’s part of a series that includes a house/farm that will provide one person with everything they need to live: greenhouse-grown food, solar and wind energy, and a completely self-contained oxygen atmosphere.

Relevance for the corporate website?  Surprise your visitors, at least occasionally.  Don’t just rely on “Careers page” stereotypes.  Add some imagination.

The second item is more practical, although application in the recruiting sector looks to be still in the future.  Mingle 360 has introduced a really fun and useful concept/product/service that let’s people use a gadget to exchange/capture information.  The “MingleStick” is just a little bigger than a typical memory stick, and as of now, it’s mainly for use at events, such as tradeshows and conventions.  Attendees use the MingleStick to click each other instead of exchanging business cards, and back home, they can see/store/organize their captured information in Mingle Manager.

There’s also social networking integration with Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  And exhibitors can use a desktop MingleStation receiver that ties lead retrieval into the total package.

Some of my favorite career experiences have been associated with the tradeshow industry—and as a veteran on both sides of the aisle, I just see Mingle as a great idea. The current business model seems geared toward very large events (1000+), but it appears there would be a natural potential for use in more specialized settings, such as job fairs and career events.  I’ve asked the company for additional information (including some ideas about cost-effectiveness) and will provide more Mingle info in a subsequent post.

The final idea is really only half-irresistible, but that was too long to explain in the post title.  Mine Magazine, a personalized/customized print/online delivery platform from Time, Inc., got decidedly mixed reviews in its early outings.  A few folks liked it much more than they expected to, while others really didn’t—and (as far as I know) there’s no telling yet whether the project will progress, morph, or die.  But there is something important to consider about the attempt itself.  That being:

Everyone recognizes that the whole process of information delivery is changing fast.  Some of the familiar methods taken for granted in the past (print newspapers, for example, and broadcast television) are going to change radically in the future, while  some of the newer formats we rely on today (like the website!) are already losing their effectiveness.  So every smart company is looking for ways to change ahead of the curve, rather than falling behind.

The conventional corporate website is beginning to take on a “vintage” look–and nowhere is that more apparent than in the Careers sector.  What’s the plan at your company for the evolution of web presence?

2010 is just around the corner . . .

Adobe – Losing Brand Focus or Extending the Brand Wisely

adobe creative suiteThis week, Adobe announced it is acquiring Omniture for $1.8 billion.  Adobe is a brand known for making graphic and web design software products.  Omniture is known for making web analytics tools.  Adobe claims the acquisition will allow designers, developers and online marketers to have an integrated workflow from design all the way to tracking results.  The Adobe press release even alludes to Adobe software including “optimization capabilities embedded in the creation tools.”

What do you think?  Has Adobe lost brand focus with the Omniture acquisition or is this an intelligent extension of the brand?

It seems like a big stretch to me.  If I were an Adobe stockholder, I’d really need to be sold on this acquisition, and not because financial analysts are suggesting that Adobe spent almost twice as much for Omniture as they should have.  My questions about this acquisition are related more closely to the fundamental roles and personalities of people who use design software and people who use metrics tools.  These are two very different user groups — the left-brained vs. the right-brained, and I think most members of these two groups are very happy where they are and want nothing to do with the “other side”.  I can’t think of many designers who would jump up and down enthusiastically at the thought of integrating analytics tools into their workflows.

Suffice it to say, Adobe has its work cut out for itself in terms of brand positioning in the future if the company does plan to integrate design and analytics into its existing products.  To many people, they’re like oil and water.  Can Adobe fuse the two mindsets into a coherent package?  Can the subjective creative process marry the objective analysis process?  It remains to be seen if these two opposites attract.  Can Adobe succeed?  What do you think?  At a time when most brands are working toward contraction and strength from focus, is Adobe making the right choice to extend its brand to include a seemingly disjointed product?

Can design and analytics live happily ever after together?

Image: Flickr

Cut on the Bias? Race and (Un)employment . . .


Scissors 1

A recent article on the Workforce Management website points out that job openings in America have decreased by 36% since May of 2008.  There are a lot of obvious consequences related to this fact.  But the article goes on to consider a couple of the less obvious by-products.

The first is concerned with race:

The recession is replicating racial disparities documented in earlier downturns. In June [2009], the official unemployment rate hit 14.7 percent for blacks and 12.2 percent for Hispanics, compared with 8.7 percent for whites.  Racial disparities in the unemployment rates appear across all levels of educational attainment. When employers can generate large numbers of applicants from limited outreach or even a single source, the pool of candidates becomes increasingly homogeneous.

The second is about perception:

“The concept of passive candidates is fiction,” [says John Younger, CEO of recruiting firm Accolo]. “We’re all temporaries. In normal times, if a candidate has been out of work for six months, there might be an assumption that something is wrong with the candidate. Today, there are world-class experts in every function who are not working, but there is still a preference for employed candidates.”

I added the italics in both these quotes to emphasize what I think are important points.  While it might make sense to reduce the volume of applications when there are too few people to review them, the way that’s done can reflect personal and/or institutional biases toward (or away from) particular groups.  Bias can affect choices regardless of intention, and may remain invisible when busy people are just trying to function effectively under challenging circumstances.

Still another problem is surfaced in the Workflow Management article.  Accolo—which is a pretty big operation—aggressively pursues diversity among the applicants it presents to its clients.  However, according to the examples offered by Younger, that isn’t doing much good.  He reports using both broad-reach sites (Monster, Yahoo, Craigslist, etc.) and also niche boards (targeted toward minorities, older candidates, and women) in an attempt to achieve a more diverse candidate pool, yet the percentage of black and Hispanic applicants is still very low.

The article offers no speculation on this point, but I’d be very curious to understand why the groups that are disproportionately unemployed are also the groups that are disproportionately not applying for jobs.  There could be a skewing effect based on the types of jobs being offered in the Accolo examples—but there could also be other factors at work . . .   A higher level of discouragement among minorities?  A higher rate of migration from employment to self-employment?  Subtle disincentives from employers/recruiters?

Obviously, the article raises more questions than it answers.  But I’ll add one more query to the mix:  Are some companies changing their websites and/or their messaging to discourage applicants, and thereby reduce the quantity of candidates to be managed?  I have no idea, but it seems like something worth wondering about.


(Thanks to DrBacchus for the excellent image of scissors “at work.”)

PC Manufacturers Finally Ditch the Gobbledygook

computer storeConsumers everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief, because purchasing a computer just got easier.  After years of focusing marketing messages on the technology that powers desktop computers — messages that average computer users couldn’t easily relate to their own lives — computer manufacturers are taking a page from Apple’s marketing plan and ditching the gobbledygook jargon that did nothing to connect with consumers.

It’s about time.

According to the New York Times, the change of heart comes from the realization that consumers have needs and wants, and speaking down to them in overly-technical language doesn’t make them feel comfortable nor does it show them how the pricey computer they’re considering buying can help them and meet their needs.  Time for a new brand messaging strategy.

Finally.

It remains to be seen if computer manufacturers can truly abandon their rhetoric-spieling ways, but at least there is hope.  Rather than walking into your local Best Buy and being overwhelmed by lengthy lists about processor speeds and the like, consumers might just see lists that explain the stuff they can actually do with the computers on display.

It comes down to one of the first lessons college marketing students learn — marketing messages should communicate benefits not features.

One of the things I always tell my copywriting clients (and I mention it in my book, Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps, too) is that no one cares about you.  They care about what your product or services can do for them, how it can help make their lives better, and how it can make their lives easier.  The last thing they want to hear is how great you think you are because of all the behind-the-scenes stuff that you think makes you wonderful.  They really don’t care.  But tell them how all those things can help them, and you boost your chances of building a relationship and closing sales exponentially.

Don’t just tell them — show them.

Image: Flickr

From the Inbox: Tips for Great Tweets, plus a Serious Subject


at-sign

Two items found in my email recently are definitely worth passing along.

First:  Using Twitter for Employment Branding? 15 Things Recruiters Can Tweet About . . . is a concise, creative checklist of ways to make Twitter make sense as a recruiting tool.  Tweeting career advice, sharing interview examples, announcing offers and new hires, posting event photos-real-life ideas and information that will make your Twitterstream actually interesting!

The post is so perfect that I won’t try to summarize here.  Instead I’ll just suggest you print it out, laminate it, and keep it in plain sight at all times.  Even if you don’t tweet, these suggestions can be utilized in a variety of other ways to enrich HR communications.

While you’re at it, check out some other smart advice from the same author (Jessica Lee, a Senior Employment Manager for APCO Worldwide), such as Social Media Won’t Do a Thing for Your Employment Brand if Your Brand Simply Sucks. Partly I just like the title, but the post is also a good reminder that realism is often the first casualty of social-media enthusiasm.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is an item from the Workforce Management website:  Employers Grapple with Rise in Workplace Suicides.  According to this important article, “there was a 28 percent increase in the number of suicides committed in the workplace last year–251–compared with the prior year, according to a census by the U.S. Department of Labor released in August.”

Note that 251 is the number of suicides actually committed in the workplace.   That doesn’t include the much greater number of employees who take their lives elsewhere.  The piece goes on to explore some reasons behind this trend, and provides some advice, along with links to related discussions.  Again, I won’t summarize–but I urge you to read the article.

What does workplace suicide have to do with recruiting in general, and with the corporate website in particular?  Here’s one connection:

Positive corporate values, a supportive workplace culture, respect for life/work balance, and a constructive approach to diversity are intangible benefits that improve the employee experience and should be highlighted on the website, just like tangible benefits such as health insurance and 401Ks.  In addition, the availability of Employee Assistance Programs and mental health coverage are valuable assets that enhance the employer brand.

Most people don’t join a company expecting to experience a life crisis–but they would like to know that if or when they do, they can expect help and not harm from their employer.  When a prospect evaluates a company, that’s one of the assurances he or she seeks, even if not consciously.


The 80-20 Rules Applies to Coupons Too

couponsAccording to a new study by Nielsen Homescan, the classic 80-20 rule applies to coupon usage, too.  Findings from the study show that 81% of coupons used in the United States during the first six months of 2009 were redeemed by just 19% of U.S. households.

Taking those results a step further, the study found that the top 10% of coupon users (called ‘coupon enthusiasts’) redeemed 62% of manufacturers’ coupons during the study period.

Coupon usage is on the rise with no signs of slowing down, and non-food coupon use is rising twice as fast as food coupon use :

  • Q4 2008: coupon use rose by 10%
  • Q1 2009: coupon use increased by 17%
  • Q2 2009: coupon use jumped by 33%

The interesting thing for marketers to take away from this study is the trend in increased coupon use isn’t likely to go away anytime soon.  In fact, even as the economy recovers, consumers who have gotten into the habit of using coupons during the recession, are likely to continue the habit when their financial situations looks brighter.

However, if companies only use coupons to boost product trials, they’re missing out on a lot of opportunity.  With 20% of consumers using 80% of coupons, they’re certainly a worthwhile audience to target with repeat purchase coupons.  In fact, they might not be a difficult audience to lure to your brand if they have access to your coupons.

And what about the 80% who only use coupons on occasion?  Again, they represent an opportunity.  The right offers in the right people’s hands could make all the difference in the world.  But you won’t know until you try.

Are you using coupons to market your brand and products?  Your competitors might be.  Can you afford not to?

Image: Flickr