GOOGLE: Marketing Problem

“What we have is a Serious Marketing Problem”
Larry Page, Founder of GOOGLE…

The geeks are all a gaga! Imagine Larry Page, Top Geek and Guru of Google saying: “We have a serious Marketing problem.” Go on, Google it…you won’t find those words on Larry’s lips, would you?

OMG…Google is God for crying out loud! Omnipotent and Omnipresent, Google is the Top Shelf of Top of Mind Awareness! Larry Page has a Marketing problem? Serious?

No, he doesn’t…YOU do!

Larry’s quote was directed at scientists, but he could have easily been ‘talkin to me, ‘talkin to you, ‘talkin to ANYone who’s trying to sell an idea; market a product; make a buck…

@The American Association for the Advancement of Science last year, Page called scientists “great citizens,” but they needed to become engaged in politics, in business and the media to do more “great things.” Harnessing the full potential of science and technology requires a much better job of Selling of Science to policymakers, to business leaders, and to the public. “Science,” he said, “has a serious Marketing problem.”

Same thing up here on the Tundra, PageBoy… Addressing the “Marketing Problem” for the Nicolet Bank Business Pulse©, CEOs quantified what Page said. When asked how effective their Marketing was at producing Sales, 40% of CEOs said their efforts were ONLY Fair – or Poor: Serious, indeed!

Ideas, products, businesses and science projects are ALL dependent on Marketing, yet 40% of CEOs have a problem?

1.) CEOs are unhappy because it’s difficult to breakthrough to people exposed to SO many Marketing Messages. (85% say they are Very, Moderately or Somewhat Concerned about it.);

2.) CEOs are unhappy about Cost. (82% are either Very, Moderately or Somewhat Concerned about Marketing expense.);

3.) CEOs are unhappy with Marketing’s inability to measure results (76%).

Google “Marketing,” and you’ll get 768,000,000 results in 0.13 seconds. There must be one or two ideas to make a CEO a happy? How can a Serious Problem exist with all that good data out there?

ONE Problem: CEOs in the Nicolet Bank Business Pulse© say their Marketing is: “by Committee.” A Management Team or the CEO is responsible for the overall Marketing strategy in 77% of the companies. 5% have a Marketing Team in house; 2% use their Board of Directors; 9% say, Other…other?

Eight percent use a CMO = OATK* was the Term of Endearment preferred by a former CEO at American Medical Security: AMZ.)

Problem TWO: The average tenure of a CMO/Chief Marketing Officer is 23** months – barely time to make it from The Job Interview-to-The Exit Interview. (CEO Tenure = 55.8 months; CIOs = 52; CFOs = 60.)

23 months offers precious little time for the CMO to accomplish anything before the HR manager gears up for another, high-profile search for another, high-profile temp: a serious Marketing and a serious HR Problem!

Another Serious Problem: Integrating Marketing with Sales: 76% of CEOs are Very, Moderately or Somewhat Concerned (and it’s been that way since Nicolet Bank started collecting data on the subject of Marketing and Sales).

ASIDE TO CEOs: True Integration of Marketing and Sales ONLY occurs inside The Human Resources Department: Since the average tenure of a Sales Executive is about the same as a Marketing Exec, the best opportunity for “integrating” them is either on their way in, or on their way out!

As with the Marketing Strategy, the Marketing Messaging is mostly developed in-house (58%); 9% use an advertising agency exclusively; 33% use a hybrid of in-and-out of house suppliers.

“How well does your ad agency understand the link between Marketing and Sales?” 52% of CEOs said, “They don’t understand it at all.” (Odd, isn’t it, that the average ad agency tenure*** is almost the same as the ‘average Marketing Exec and the ‘average Sales Exec.)

Nineteen percent said their agency Fully gets it; 18% said they, Generally Understand; 5% say they Don’t Really Seem to; 7% are Not Sure. New York Mets CEO Casey Stengel once said: “Can’t anyone here play this game?”

Scientists, CEOs, CMOs all have a Marketing problem: Can’t anyone play this game? Apparently, YES!

Addressing the Marketing Game before the Wisconsin Technology Council, University of Wisconsin Professor Dietram Scheufele, PhD., said this about Page’s Manifesto: “An unfortunate statement because it reinforces a concern scientists have: that they have to ‘spin.’ On the other hand, he’s absolutely right!”

“There are similarities between commercial marketing and how we communicate science. We’re dealing with a public that is not overly informed – or interested. In order to connect, we need systematic research and strategic communication. It’s all about understanding audiences and developing targeted messages based on careful public opinion research.”

Cognitive Misers, Dr. Scheufele called us, and marketing to Cognitive Misers is the real Problem. How do all those Misers out there form opinions about your ideas; your products; your business?

“It’s unrealistic to expect people to sift through masses of information to draw up a reasoned conclusion,” Scheufele said. “We are mostly Cognitive Misers – drawing upon a minimum amount of information. What is crucial is how an issue is ‘framed’ – the context in which it is communicated and how it fits with peoples’ pre-existing thinking. Understanding these aspects is crucial to effective science communication.” Science – and your business, too!

The Harvard Business Review recently tackled The Marketing Problem: “Marketing is in ferment as traditional advertising declines in efficacy. With buyers increasingly savvy, how can companies resist relentless commodification and distinguish themselves from rivals?”

Authors Francesca Golfetto and David Muzursky framed an approach Scheufele might favor for Misers: Emphasizing expertise in the business, as distinct from the quality of one’s product. “Competence-based Marketing is especially persuasive in business-to-business relationships that involve hard-to-access goods or follow-on services.”

The problem with Harvard, however, is that Quantifying Competence generally takes longer than the average CMO’s tenure. What other strategy will CEOs use to attract all us Cognitive Misers in 2009?

54% will use Word of Mouth/Testimonials
16% will use Advertising
15% will use PR
11% will use their Website
5% don’t have a Primary Strategy

Sixty-two percent of CEOs in the Nicolet Bank Business Pulse© are B2B Marketeers; 17% are Business-to-Customer; 22% are both B2B-and-B2C. CEOs say Direct Mail (34%) is the best way; The Web (26%) is next best.

CEOs are going to use their websites Much More (31%) or Somewhat More (35%) in 2009. Direct Mail will be Much More (9%) or Somewhat More (32%). No other medium comes close 2those2.

Regarding all the new, 2.0 Web Stuff: 12% of CEOs Fully Understand it and how it works; 88% aren’t there yet! Those who do understand are using, Peer-to-Peer Networking (41%), Webcasting (26%), and Social Networking (23%).

For 2009, CEOs are planning to use More, or Somewhat More – with Peer-to-Peer (+41%) and Social Networking (+30%) The Top Two. CEOs like 2.0 because it’s trackable; it’s easier to reach specific audiences; it attracts attention and, CEOs are confident 2.0 is where their Marketing Problem will be solved.

“They’re talking about it,” said Patrick Hopkins, CEO of Imaginasium – an advertising agency headquartered on The Tundra. “They want to do this, and they want to do that but before we talk tactics, we talk about their Marketing Problem – and what they’re trying to achieve. Then, we talk about tactics and how 2.0 can solve the problem – or not.”

Other Marketing ‘Seers see the same. “Nicolet Data reflects what we’re seeing,” said Lance Peroutka, CEO of Element Creative, “and the interest is growing.”

Element Creative is no stranger to 2.0. Several of its high profile clients have been on it for years. “2.0 functionality has been built into web browsers since, well, forever,” said the 30-something CEO. “If a client’s product lends itself to 2.0; if the target audience is on 2.0, then we’re on it with them.”

CONCLUSION: For next year anyway, CEOs will have many more tools and much more talent to throw at the challenge of reaching, connecting and selling to Cognitive Misers. They can now concentrate on: The Serious HR Problem of recruiting the right person to fix The Serious Marketing Problem.

*OATK=One Ass to Kick: Ron Weyers, former CEO of Employers Health Insurance (NYSE: HUM) and American Medical Security (NYSE: AMZ) coined the acronym OATK (at least we those of us who were Ron’s OATKs at one time or another believed he coined it – and believed he MEANT I, toot). OATK was Ron’s ‘Code for Person in Charge. Ron detested work by Committees, Groups, Teams, Boards…he didn’t like sitting around the corporate campfire singing Kumbaya, either. He wanted to know WHO’s in charge; WHO’s responsible; WHO do I talk to when something’s screwed up! Committees could run for cover; OATKs could not! Just another reason why HUM and AMZ were SO successful.

** A Spencer Stuart Survey
*** AdAge Magazine

The Nicolet Bank Business Pulse© is a Quarterly Study of CEOs and Business Owners Up on the Tundra. It is designed and implemented by IntellectualMarketing, LLC. Participants include: 28% in manufacturing; 25% in services; 18% retail trade; 4% wholesale trade; 6%finance, real estate, insurance; 5% in transportation, communications, utilities; 9% in other industries. 21% have fewer than 6 employees; 28% have 6-25; 19% have 26-50; 13% 51-100; 12% 101-250; 4% 251-500; 2% 501-1,000; 1% have 1,001 or more.

A Serious Marketing Problem was developed with data gathered in June, 2008. Questions: Dr. David G. Wegge (920) 217-7738; [email protected]