The FORUM Effect

Benchmarking research

When you are ready to embark on a communications effort, don't forget to initiate benchmarking research in advance of messages entering the marketplace.  Advertisers will always reach the end of a campaign and wonder whether or not it achieved results.  Many marketers are only concerned about sales ROI.  That viewpoint is short-sighted.  There are many important metrics to assess beyond simply sales.  Are prospects more aware than they were before?  Is their perception more favorable than it was prior to messaging?  Many metrics could be relevant.  The best way to determine efficacy is to have a good vision of where consumer perspective was before the campaign began.  Either set aside funds to procure data prior to the campaign start or possibly work with a vendor to fill that need for you as added value.  When the campaign has concluded, execute the study again and find out how much the needle moved and in which direction.  Make sure you have a good handle on whether or not your important investment paid positive dividends.

Thoughtfully consider target behaviors

One important part of determining productive media contact points in which to invest potentially limited resources is understanding consumer media behaviors. Remember that behaviors aren't always static. For example, as we enter late Spring approaching summer months, it might be logical to assume that radio and outdoor become more productive media connection points with consumer targets. Take a step back though in your consideration.  Environmental influences like higher gas prices may very well take many consumers away from what seem like logical contact points.  Consumers escaping high gas prices in their cars may take mass transportation.  Such decisions have the potential to lower radio listening and move outdoor tactics from expressway bulletins to transit posters.  Make sure you are well inside of your consumers shoes, their current shoes, to identify the best contact points at which to place a message.

Starting with the newbies goes a long way!

In my article, "Teaching Members is the Business of Associations," I referred to the New Investor Seminar that we offer to those interested in investing in the car wash industry.  This has paid off in dividends, in not only ensuring that the new operators coming in to the market are armed and prepared to make good business decisions, but have also helped weed out those operators who weren't ready to  make such a big commitment.  Teaching the "newbies" to the industry how to be good at what they do is a great strategy to not only help to continue to professionalize the industry (such as in the International Carwash Association's case), but to also engage a new crop of association members.  By educating them early and really showing them the value proposition of being a member of the association, they will realize that they can't afford to NOT be a member. 

Value in added value

There may be a few readers out there who are a bit skeptical of what can be obtained from vendors beyond the cash purchase of advertising inventory.  In the Forum article, I suggested asking for no-charge units or added value merchandising.  To give you an idea of how this can pay dividends, I can report on a client budget I am just finishing up on this week.  We requested both no-charge units and merchandising as a buy requirement.  On both counts, our vendor partners have stepped up to the plate in partnership.  The buy we have recommended to the client includes fully 10% more like units provided at absolutely no charge.  In addition, we have procured added value marketing elements ranging from mailing list availability to custom events cumulatively totaling more than 15% the cash value of the buy.  Combined, both areas generated 25% more value for the investment than if we had not negotiated accordingly.  The moral of the story, ASK VENDORS FOR ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS to your advertising buy.  You may be surprised how much you can receive.

Generational Numerology

What's your generational number?  By that, I mean:  When did you come to America?  Are you a first, second or third generation American?  While my grandparents (who were first-generation) focused on stability and a pot roast dinner, my siblings and I tend to pine for fulfillment and an iced mocha frappuccino.  After writing "The Hows and Whys of Gen Y,"  it occurred to me that our Generational DNA is a product of more than just our birth order and physical age.  One of my best friends, a first generation American from Poland (Gen X/Y cusp), also happens to be a full-fledged "meat and potatoes" stability over fulfillment kind of guy like my grandpa.  True, I generalize (and he texts), but his place in the generational schema is significantly influenced by the length of his family's roots in America.  His family tree is still branching out while mine is overflowing with fruit (I mean that in a kind way). His urge to work and make cash greatly exceeds the interest I have in, say, writing articles about generational differences.  Is this simply a rip-off of the Moslovian hierarchy—or is there something to this generational pyramid?  Any thoughts?

May Digital FORUM is Now Available

The May digital issue of FORUM magazine is available on-line with the Signature Story featuring the Marine Manufacturers Association.

Welcome Additional May Blogger

Please Welcome Mariana Toscas, of IREM Headquarters to discuss her article

Retaining the Generation Y Employee: The Hows and Whys of Housing Ys

Meetings & The Marketplace

When I spoke with Bill Grusich of Hinton & Grusich for this article I expected a greater sense of recession depression in the meetings business.  I was intrigued by his comment that the first impact for the hospitality folks is the drop in corporate travel/meeting business.  As he notes, the for-profit folks see their business slipping and begin to whack away at expenses, and one of those are their meetings. And they now have the option of doing their sales and management meetings on the Internet. Associations, on the other hand, are major venues for education and networking for their members -- even those who are corporate types.  So that segment of the meeting market will hold its own in the face of a slow economy. Association meeting planners may be able to use the corporate meeting decline to their advantage in working with the hotel/resort folks to create more cost conscious events as the properties work to keep their room blocks full.  And it's clear (see the Gen-Y article) that more and more we are looking for high value events -- I want a solid ROI for my time and my dollars.

Since we did the interview, the airlines have had to respond to the oil price surge making travel costs an even greater concern.  So what is happening with your meetings this year and how are you responding?   Let's share the solutions.

Experimenting is half the fun!

It's challenging in today's day and age to find the right mix of delivery options for our association's education.  It seems as though every day there is something new saturating the market - be it a new form of social networking, gaming, webinars etc. How can you stay on top of technology, but make sure your members will be comfortable with understanding and more importantly using it?  It's so important to know your audience, know their likes and dislikes and more importantly, how they learn.  Thinking outside the box is important for every association to do to stay fresh and focused, and being experimental is part of the value that we as staff contribute to our organizations every day.  Be sure to always evaluate, learn from what your members are telling you, and have fun with what's out there! What fun new technologies are you experimenting with in your associations and how are they working?

Linking added value to target understanding

One tidbit that occurred to me after composing my piece for Forum was that vendors can also be approached to conduct small pieces of target research as a value added offering.  Many times, vendors will have standard reader surveys or on-going consumer panels that they might make available to advertisers to ask one or a few questions.  If there are key target understanding needs you might still have, asking the vendor to include a few questions might turn up interesting information for you.