Before the COVID-19 pandemic started, I was getting up at 5 a.m. That was a specific 2020 goal I’d set as a result of reading the book “The Miracle Morning.” Taking the first hour of your day and giving it to yourself—it sets the foundation for the rest of the day. I’d wake up, meditate for 10 minutes, exercise and read the Bible. I’d write some thoughts and visualize the kind of day I wanted to have, and I was crushing it. Well, then COVID hit. I started waking up at 7 a.m., and I had no more miracle morning. It was just a miracle to be in a pandemic, getting some sleep and waking up to figure out Zoom again. 

Now I’ve found a bit more of a balance between the two. I’m getting enough sleep, I’m getting some mindfulness, starting the day grounded and getting the body moving. That’s my new morning routine, and it feels like it’ll stick— like I’m on the other side of this and it’s something I can maintain. And I’m not waking up looking too crazy. 

I’ll start the workday with a bit of breakfast—something light—and I start looking at my email offline so that I don’t get distracted by messages coming in. I just sit down and see what’s come in overnight before my first meeting, and then it’s “go.” I call it professional CrossFit. My workout day is whatever that calendar says. And my mental agility? I’m hitting PRs (personal records). I feel like every day is a new PR. 

What’s your typical breakfast?

I’ve been doing a couple eggs, some avocado (like bacon, it’s its own food group) and some salad. I’m trying to eat more vegetables throughout the day. 

What are some of your favorite news sources to read or listen to?

I first skim my push alerts in the morning, everything from Hollywood Reporter to The Wall Street Journal. Then brushing my teeth, I listen to NPR’s “Up First.” And getting dressed, usually Joyce Meyer’s “Enjoying Everyday Life.” 

How do you wind down after the workday?

I’ve become a bit of a walking bully. I’ve cajoled my friends into walking under the guise of catching up. I’ve learned I need air and movement out of the house—once the day’s over, I’m mentally fatigued but have all this adrenaline going.

Do you have any favorite Frito-Lay snacks? 

I love the Lay’s Crispy Taco chips; they taste just like a crispy beef taco. And I like Lay’s Flamin’ Hot Dill Pickle— I like complex flavor, so this one has heat but the brightness of dill.

Illustration by Eugene Smith.

The post 15 Minutes of Your Time: Sadira Furlow appeared first on ���������.

By Emily Fay, VP of special events, and Mandy Arola, secretary and strategy

We were ready for an exciting March 2020 with several chapter events scheduled, including our Thought Leader Luncheon with MarketingProfs Chief Content Officer Ann Handley. But that month became memorable for other reasons: In the wee hours of March 3, a tornado struck Nashville. And just as we were beginning to recover from the devastation in our community, we were hit with a global pandemic. 

As we entered lockdown and installed Zoom and Google Hangouts, we knew that ��������� Nashville had a unique opportunity to serve our local marketing community and work through the new challenges we were facing together. 

In April 2020, we launched the Wednesday’s Tactical Focus (WTF!) program, a series of free virtual lunchtime roundtable sessions hosted by our marketing maven board members. We held this eight-week series on Zoom and limited registration to 20 people for each session to ensure everyone could participate in the conversation. The 45-minute events were discussions, not presentations. Participants shared knowledge and learned from one another, plus it was a great way to keep our marketing community connected and engaged during a time when most of us only left the house to get groceries. 

Throughout the series, we covered how and what to communicate to clients and employees, how to maintain productivity without micromanaging in a virtual office, how to pivot marketing strategies to optimize digital options and how to address business development and client retention. 

Nearly all eight sessions sold out and many included a waitlist. Attendees were particularly pleased with the program’s convenience, the opportunity to network and the chance to learn how other industries and organizations were adjusting to the pandemic. 

As we start the new ��������� year, we’re exploring ideas and topics to bring Wednesday’s Tactical Focus back once a month so we can continue to connect Nashville marketers virtually and spark conversation. 

By Esther Elkouss, career development and networking programs chair

On March 25, ��������� New York was set to launch an event series to help marketers hunt for their next job opportunity. Due to the lightning-fast spread of the coronavirus, we quickly pivoted toward virtual events. 

Our half-day Marketing Career Bootcamp turned into a three-day virtual event on May 27, June 3 and June 10. Top recruiters and career experts led each session and more than 500 people learned how to , and . Each week, ��������� New York ran two simultaneous sessions and attendees selected one based on their experience level. Those who attended at least two sessions received a complimentary consultation with a career coach. 

In three months, almost 46 million Americans lost their jobs due to the coronavirus-induced shutdown. Given these unprecedented circumstances, ��������� New York decided to launch a second career development program called to help job-seekers learn new skills and build relationships. 

This five-week program, held July 7 to Aug. 11, provided 30 campers with the support and tools needed to leverage their professional strengths, gain confidence during their job search and become top candidates. In addition, they got support from the other campers through a buddy program and virtual happy hours filled with icebreakers and team-building activities. 

By popular request, the ��������� New York Summer Camp Class of 2020 will participate in “Let’s Grow Together,” an ongoing training series. This group of campers will continue to meet twice a month to share their expertise with the group, develop professional skills and build a strong network. 

By Nadege Mohr, VP of career development

Searching for a job is hard work even in the best of times, which is why getting career development resources into the hands of our members is more important than ever. We want members to know they are not alone—a community of marketing professionals is here to help. 

A month into the pandemic, ��������� Puget Sound Career Development partnered with Mindy Blakeslee, director for marketing and product practice at staffing agency , and career coach Rebecca Adler to provide mindset and recruiting tips for job-seekers. Our free April webinar, “Navigating Your Job Search During Uncertainty,” was well-attended and well-received by members and non-members alike. “Most helpful were the tips on supporting my well-being and managing expectations,” one attendee said. 

��������� Puget Sound’s provides professional learning and career advancement opportunities for all members. Our mission is to excite and empower all marketing professionals on their journey to expand what and who they know so they can ultimately create their best career and life. We host quarterly workshops, events and discussions to help members along their marketing career journey—whether a recent grad looking for their next opportunity, or a professional pivoting from a current position. 

For any chapter seeking to innovate with new programming, we would recommend developing a robust strategic plan that includes a clear vision, priorities and goals to offer professional development, job searching, career coaching, mentoring, and leadership and development. This also includes surveying and interviewing members to better understand what is preventing them from achieving their career goals. Your chapter can then prioritize key areas of focus to build a program that helps members overcome barriers to get them to the next stage of their professional journey. 

The post Pandemic Updates From ��������� Chapters appeared first on ���������.

Respondents:

• , associate manager of marketing and media recruitment, Russell Tobin

• , director of recruitment strategy, Madison Wells

• , recruitment consultant, Adaptive Digital

Given the pandemic, are companies more likely to consider remote candidates for a position? Or are they hiring with the mindset that business will eventually return to “normal” and prioritize hiring based on a candidate’s geographic location? 

Jess Forman: In my experience over the past few months, more companies have been opening up to the idea of having a chunk of their workforce remote. Some companies are still adamant about having candidates be in the office post-COVID, though. It depends on the company and what the job duties are. I do think that candidates living near the office will have a leg up, but that doesn’t mean someone remote isn’t a better, more qualified person for the job. It can’t hurt to apply—every company has a different goal and different idea of what will work for them. 

Beth Wilson: We have seen mixed results when it comes to organizations being dedicated to long-term virtual workforces. There are certainly more virtual opportunities than in the past; however, most of our clients prioritize local candidates that can eventually be in the office. We predict that a majority of companies will be more flexible with in-office expectations, with only a select number of organizations fully transitioning to a 100% virtual workforce once the pandemic abates. Additionally, candidates that are required to relocate will be afforded a much longer time period to execute the move. 

Candidates looking for virtual opportunities are encouraged to thoughtfully assess a company’s commitment to having a virtual workforce to predict if relocating will be an eventual requirement to gain access to other opportunities within the organization. For example, ask how much of the workforce is virtual, what long-term career planning options for virtual employees are available and if relocating in the future will increase opportunities. 

David Abbott: From what I’ve seen, clients are more open to hiring candidates with the understanding that they will onboard remotely, but most of my clients still want candidates to eventually come back into the office when it’s safe to do so. 

What’s the most important non-marketing-related skill you look for in an applicant? 

JF: When I look at someone’s resume, the first thing I tend to notice is how it’s written and how they have chosen to describe their experience. It’s a skill to explain your experience in detail without being too drawn out or adding too much information. How someone puts together their resume can say a lot about them, which is why it’s important that you take the time to only focus on the relevant experiences that you bring to the table, and then describe those things in detail using data points. Companies won’t know if you were successful in your role unless you back it up with numbers. 

BW: Communication and self-awareness—the ability to effectively communicate your candidate narrative and how you might fulfill the responsibilities of the role for which you are being considered—is imperative to stand out as an applicant. Candidates with self and business awareness also understand where their skillset might not match exactly; it is impressive when a candidate is able to communicate that understanding as well as how they can learn or acquire the skills needed to perform the job. Candidates who can communicate what they have done and what they want to do, articulate an understanding of the role for which they are being considered and why the job is interesting to them will stand out against their peers who might have the same skills on paper. 

DA: The most important non-marketing-related skill that I look for when speaking with applicants is the ability to convey an idea clearly and concisely. 

As someone pursuing a career in marketing research and consumer insights, what skills should an applicant pursuing a career in those fields have upon graduation? 

JF: I think the best way for a graduate to land the right role is to plan out internships that will give you real-life experience in the industry, but also take some continuing education courses online. Adding those experiences to your resume will show hiring managers that you are clear on what you want to do in your career, which will help you to stand out among the crowd. 

DA: It’s important for marketing research applicants to have experience with analytics programs such as Google Analytics and Excel. Having any internship or freelance experience working with data analytics is a big plus. 

As a recent marketing graduate, what are some of the most interesting things I can do to develop a personal brand? 

JF: You could create a blog discussing different marketing tactics you have used, post on LinkedIn or even start a social community discussing various marketing topics. I know this may seem scary, but you can’t build a brand if you aren’t getting your name out there. Coca-Cola built its brand off advertising—you need to do the same. Use social media to your advantage. 

DA: Finding a specialty that you’re interested in early on in your career can be really useful. Focus on making connections in a particular industry and learn that vertical inside and out. 

What channels do you use to source candidates aside from LinkedIn? 

JF:

• Indeed: This is more targeted than LinkedIn because I know for a fact that whoever posted their resume is looking for a job. 

• Referrals: Referrals are typically strong candidates. This gives you a reference on the candidate, especially if the person referring them is or was a coworker, rather than a family member or friend. 

• Applicant tracking system: A lot of companies have some sort of ATS where they store resumes they receive, especially on the agency side—our ATS is the holy grail of resumes. If I were applying to jobs, I’d make sure every relevant staffing agency has a copy of my resume on file. We can search our entire database using keywords to find relevant resumes for the roles we are filling—which is another reason to make sure your resume has tons of important keywords that will help to describe your experience. 

BW: We have tapped into a variety of sources: other job boards (Indeed, Dice, icrunchdata, CPGJobs), networking events (WiRE, conferences), referrals from our contacts in the industry, GitHub searches and more. LinkedIn is certainly a top source, so having an up-to-date and compelling LinkedIn profile is the first place to start for candidates. 

The post Ask the Recruiter: Fall 2020 appeared first on ���������.

What Is DEI Retention?

Adjusting hiring procedures with an eye toward diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is a great first step toward greater workforce representation. But the journey will conclude early if new, diverse hires are making a quick exit from the company when the work environment fails to support them or turns hostile. 

The reason for leaving may not be overt. In late 2019, The Center for Talent Innovation (now Coqual) found that only , compared to 44% of white employees. Plus, 19% of Black employees don’t see someone of their own race making it to a management-level position, compared to 3% of white employees. The center also found that one in three Black employees intended to leave their current job within two years as compared to roughly one in four white employees. 

DEI retention issues can manifest on day one of a person’s employment. For example, onboarding policies might not take into account what it’s like to be the only person of a race or ethnicity in the office, or employees might not yet know what constitutes a microaggression. Perhaps senior leaders haven’t enacted any tangible DEI initiatives after sending a press release in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Lisa Ong, an executive coach specializing in DEI who runs the consultancy , likens it to planting seeds in the sand, expecting them to thrive. 

“You’ve got to look at your soil,” she says. “What are you doing to prepare the soil for all this amazing talent you’re bringing in? Otherwise, you’re going to start blaming the seed when they fail, and I think you need to look at the farmer.” 

Even though a company may have the best of intentions, the secret to retention through a DEI lens, Ong says, is to avoid placing undo pressure on the new employee to succeed in a vacuum: Do the work before they start. 

Why Is It Important?

A diverse and inclusive workforce benefits productivity and ROI, but it also contributes to a happy and healthy work environment. Catalyst, a non-profit that works with companies on issues related to inclusion and gender disparity, surveyed 2,100 employees in 2019 and , 35% of work engagement and 20% of intent to stay at the organization. 

But the pandemic may be impacting a company’s ability to focus on DEI engagement. and found that DEI-related postings declined almost 70%—double the rate of overall job posts—between March and June. In the wake of George Floyd’s death, that number rebounded 55% between June and July—which, while promising, is still at a level , according to Glassdoor. With fewer such positions available or filled, the less likely a company is to have someone on staff to help with DEI efforts. 

Donald Thompson, co-founder of the DEI training and certification agency , says that potential hires of color will research where a company stands on the principles of DEI. But even if an organization is still in the early stages of increasing representation in its staff, Thompson says that inviting a new hire of color into the company-wide conversation on the topic can entice talent to stay for the long haul. 

“You don’t have to be apologetic about where you are: Talk to new employees about where you’re headed, what you’re doing, what suggestions they may have—bring them into the fold,” Thompson says. “The reason this employee elected to give your organization a shot—after looking at a website that might not show inclusion in the employee base—[is because] they still love the opportunity. The pay was fair and the opportunity for advancement was something they were excited about.” 

Laying the Groundwork

A strong retention plan begins with a supportive onboarding. Before the new employee has their first day, take them to lunch. Ong suggests that the manager share a bit about themselves that extends beyond where they went to school or where they live. They can then ask the new employee to do the same, demonstrating a sincere interest in the candidate’s full range of experiences, not just surface-level facts that could be pulled from LinkedIn. 

Words from senior leadership can have a profound effect at this time. Ong once worked with a client who said the deciding factor in taking a new job, despite the company’s lack of diversity, was when the CEO reached out personally for a 15-minute call, conveying genuine excitement about the distinct perspective and skillset they would be bringing to the company. The connection reinforced that the new hire would maintain a direct line to management. 

Ong also suggests immediately ingratiating new hires with the rest of the team. “Roll out the red carpet; treat them like they’re the CEO’s kid,” she says. Set up a few lunches and coffee meetings with employees with whom they will be working closely. Ensure the new hire knows exactly who supports and oversees their projects and pair them with colleagues at their same level who can clear up important logistical concerns. This step is of paramount importance during COVID, as many new employees aren’t able to casually connect with colleagues in an office setting. 

Once the job begins in earnest, ensure that access to management and regular check-ins continue. Ong suggests starting a weekly schedule of meetings where managers can reinforce a company’s openness to change and course-correct any concerns that may arise. 

But most importantly, get them working. “When I’ve gone to work and I’ve been the only [person of color] in the room—I’m not thinking about that 100% of the day,” Thompson says. “I’m trying to do a good job. I’m trying to be thought of well by my boss and my manager. It’s equally as important in those first handful of assignments that the team supports them well. … Everybody feels better when they’re doing work that’s appreciated and matters.” 

Small Changes Along the Way

That’s not to say issues will never arise. Folks at the company may have little to no experience working with people who look nothing like them and have different life experiences. They may be unaware that the language they use can be construed as offensive, or that certain behaviors can be interpreted as microaggressions. 

Odds are, Ong says, the offending party has no idea their words are causing others distress and will rectify the issue immediately. She encourages managers to tackle these issues right away to reduce the likelihood that this employee might unintentionally hurt someone else. Approach the conversation from a place of empathy, not malice. 

If the issue extends beyond the scope of what a manager can handle, don’t be afraid to ask for help in addressing conflicts related to DEI. Thompson emphasizes this as an opportune time to bring in outside professionals and learn how to conduct difficult conversations about race in the workplace and establish a common language around diversity—topics such as what true equity looks like and what constitutes a microaggression. 

It’s impossible to mitigate every issue and there may come a time when the new hire expresses frustration with the company and is ready to leave. Before declaring DEI retention initiatives a failure, Thompson invites managers to investigate further. “It’s very important in those moments to learn why,” he says “They’re usually things you can handle quickly, things that are long term and then some things that are baggage from the past that you can’t really do anything about. You’ve got to understand the difference in those three buckets and work accordingly.” 

Take care of any short-term issues right away. If the problem is something that has existed long term or it’s rooted in a negative experience from a new hire’s previous job, Thompson recommends once again inviting the employee in on constructing a solution, even if the issue has nothing to do with DEI. 

Thompson shares this language to use: “Here are some of the things that are examples of where the company is today,” he says. “Here are some of the initiatives of where we’re trying to go in the future. And depending on your tolerance level, you can find a new home, or you can be a part of helping us get there.” 

The post How DEI Efforts Lead to Better Employee Retention appeared first on ���������.

When pineapples were introduced to a wide American audience at the turn of the century, home cooks weren’t quite sure what to do with the prickly, bulbous fruit. In a savvy marketing move, James Dole—the Pineapple King himself—offered recipes to curious homemakers interested in adding the exotic food to their menus. 

In their earliest forms, branded recipes helped to introduce Americans to a food product and provided suggestions for how to use it. Christina Ward, author of “American Advertising Cookbooks: How Corporations Taught Us to Love Bananas, Spam, and Jell-O,” references Rumford Baking Powder as an early example: “Leavening was something that people were rigging up at home,” she says. “When you have the introduction of baking powder in the 1870s, it had to include a recipe to teach people how to use it.” 

One of the best ways to reach the home cook was through women’s magazines. Marty Ordman, communications director at Dole Packaged Foods, says Dole frequently ran its recipes in the so-called Seven Sisters magazines—publications aimed at homemakers that included McCall’s, Woman’s Day and Better Homes and Gardens. Not only were these food products being introduced to the target audience, but the magazines were purveyors of an idyllic American lifestyle. If a Hellman’s-branded recipe for chicken salad was good enough for the pages of Good Housekeeping, it was certainly appropriate for the family picnic table. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic has driven a renewed interest in home cooking, stay-at-home kitchen crusaders are likely revisiting these classic, simple recipes. Ward says ghost nostalgia—a sentimentality for an era in which some consumers never lived—during the pandemic may help explain the longing for beloved brands and recipes. “You have this ideal, a perfection that never existed that was a ‘Leave It to Beaver’-ness—a perfect society, a perfect time when everybody was happy,” she says. “A lot of the branding of that time period and the ’60s [and] ’70s and these foods represent that perfect family, that ideal situation. People are [now] looking to recreate that for themselves and bring themselves some comfort.” 

Cooking at home is on the rise and has propelled —a trend that began before the pandemic. Branded recipes shine here, too. Companies don’t want to put consumers off by presenting complex, multi-step cooking projects; just about anyone should find the branded recipe doable, otherwise they won’t purchase the star ingredient. 

We’re sure you’ve heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so to celebrate and our program, here’s a recipe to make a nutritious breakfast at home.

— Dole Packaged Foods (@DoleSunshine)

And as consumers have reached for tried-and-true brands while doing their pandemic grocery shopping, they’re also likely to look to the brand for recipe inspiration. 

Looking for some recipe inspo for that Dole Organic you just bought? Try making these Buffalo Bites with Chicken & Pineapple. Simple and tasty, the whole fam is sure to love it!

— Dole Tweets (@DoleTweets)

Advertisement

“One of our flagship historical items, canned pineapple, which lasts a long time in the pantry—it just makes sense for a stay-at-home situation where you don’t want to make as many trips to the grocery store,” says Julie Pierrat, senior manager of consumer services and test kitchens at Dole. “We have really seen an uptick in our business overall. With that, consumers are calling us to get ideas on how to use [the items]. They’ll ask to be run through the steps of a specific recipe, or they’ll ask for more recipes: ‘I’ve got this can of pineapple slices in the pantry, what else can I make besides upside-down cake?’” 

When consumers trust the brand, they’re more likely to trust the recipe— and that hand-in-hand pairing often means that a home cook isn’t willing to make substitutions with another brand that could undermine a successful dish. Pierrat says this happens notably with special occasion meals. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dole Packaged Foods (@dolesunshine) on Nov 16, 2019 at 6:02am PST

“Many of the specialists that work in my department have stories where pineapple upside-down cake or angel lush cake are part of every Easter or Thanksgiving celebration, and they would only accept using Dole,” she says. “With an occasion that’s that important, it’s really critical that you make sure you’re using the best brands. They’ve relied on us for their special occasion for generations.” 

Consider the classic green bean casserole: Although many families likely attribute the recipe to their own grandmother, it was actually invented by Dorcas Reilly in 1955. , Reilly was working at Campbell Soup’s test kitchen where she was tasked with creating a recipe that would appear in The Associated Press. The recipe had to include Campbell’s mushroom soup and green beans, along with other ingredients that any home cook would have on hand. Thus, the Thanksgiving staple was forged. 

The trust that flows between brand, recipe and home cook continues unabated. Where it began with recipes printed in magazines and branded cookbooks (Pierrat says Dole still receives requests for such booklets), it’s moved onto social media and YouTube videos. Online food network Tasty, owned by Buzzfeed, has produced recipe videos sponsored by brands such as and . Companies also partner with cooking influencers and other trusted food brands. That Campbell’s green bean casserole? It’s not complete without French’s Original Crispy Fried Onions on top. 

As brands move into new formats for sharing their recipes, they’re also keeping pace with food trends. Pierrat says Dole is developing new recipes for health-conscious consumers (smoothies and salads, for example) or updating older recipes to include less sugar. 

“We have a long history and legacy of recipes and product usage and balancing those generational family recipes with what today’s consumer is looking for,” Ordman says. 

Whether from grandma’s worn index cards, snipped from the Sunday circular or saved as a screenshot from Instagram, branded recipes continue to provide home cooks with the reassurance they crave in any era. 

The post The Resurgence of Branded Recipes for Home Cooks appeared first on ���������.

Marketers are increasingly skeptical of advertising creativity as they face an economic recession and revenue pressure due to COVID-19. discusses why decreasing investments is a mistake and how marketers can maximize ROI from advertising creativity. 

Our research team finds robust empirical evidence that advertising creativity has significant positive effects on consumer responses, with no indication that this effect is becoming less (or more) effective over time. However, any judgments of creativity are subjective and contextual. Our team demonstrates that in order to be effective, advertising creativity should be thought about as a bipartite construct comprising both originality and appropriateness, and consumers (rather than experts or award shows) should be used to judge it. 

We also find contexts in which advertising creativity is more impactful: 

• First, advertising creativity has a stronger effect on attitudinal outcomes than memory outcomes. This suggests that the value of creativity is derived less from its ability to cut through clutter and increase memory and more from the positive signals that it sends. 

• Second, we find that effects are stronger for high-involvement contexts. For marketers, this challenges the established view of advertising as a tool for gaining attention and suggests that creativity is especially valuable in contexts where consumers are likely to process advertising, such as for products they find important or in media contexts that consumers voluntarily seek out (for example, branded content on social media or a webpage). 

• Third, we find that it has marginally stronger effects for unfamiliar compared to familiar brands. By investing, unfamiliar brands can increase the value of their advertising to consumers. This suggests that advertising creativity is especially valuable when establishing a new brand in the market.

Our findings also explain why advertising creativity has positive effects. More specifically, we find that creative ads are more liked, more processed and signal that the brand has put effort into them. These three mechanisms jointly lead to positive consumer response. However, liking is mostly tied to originality whereas signaling requires appropriateness. By investing in bipartite advertising creativity, marketers can therefore increase the chance that their ads will be liked, processed and interpreted as signals of what the brand has to offer. Although marketers who focus on originality can expect positive effects due to affect transfer, they will miss out on the potential effects of signaling and appropriateness. 

Taken together, the results give marketers evidence of the value of advertising creativity. When investing in creativity, marketers should focus on both originality and appropriateness. The effects of advertising creativity as a marketing signal are especially important to consider because they offer the strongest explanation for the effects. Advertising creativity can produce effects by way of the signals it sends rather than the specific message it conveys. Signals are especially important in situations where there is information asymmetry between marketers and customers. This is arguably the case for unfamiliar brands and high-involvement products, but also in other situations where the decision-making process is complex, such as B2B, business-to-government and recruitment contexts. Although beyond the scope of the present study, recent research suggests that the effect of advertising signals extends beyond consumers to other stakeholders, such as employees and investors. 

The post When and How Advertising Creativity Works appeared first on ���������.

By Simon J. Blanchard, Tatiana L. Dyachenko and Keri L. Kettle

“,” Journal of Marketing Research, 57 (October 2020). 

In a nutshell: Accommodating customers’ preferences for proximity to others—or the lack thereof— will be key as people begin to venture out to concerts and movies. The authors have developed a model that helps event operators determine optimal seating choices for eventgoers, using data from people who purchased tickets as well as those who did not. 

Practitioner takeaways: Event operators should collect data beyond purchased ticket logs and include consumers who did not purchase. Managers can use fitted, individual-level parameters and an optimization model to make more effective seat-level availability decisions. 

By Verena Schoenmueller, Oded Netzer and Florian Stahl 

“,” Journal of Marketing Research, 57 (October 2020). 

In a nutshell: Consumer online reviews commonly clump at the positive end of the rating scale, with a few reviews in the midrange and some at the negative end— surprising, considering they represent crowdsourced preferences of a large body of heterogeneous consumers, which often results in a normal distribution. Such skewed ratings reduce the informativeness of reviews. 

Practitioner takeaways: Platforms on which people review a large number of products have less polarity than when people review only selected products; therefore, the number of reviews the reviewer has written on the platform can serve as a signal of how informative a review is. Firms should encourage good reviewers to write more. 

By Jung Seek Kim

“,” Journal of International Marketing, 28 (forthcoming in December). 

In a nutshell: The author looks at 35 years’ worth of national advertising expenditures across 59 countries and finds that cultural traits can account for advertising sensitivity differences according to business cycles. Sensitivity is lower in long-term-oriented and high-uncertainty-avoidant countries and is unrelated to individualism. However, power distance is unassociated with cyclical sensitivity, and masculinity and indulgence reduce it. 

Practitioner takeaways: Marketing managers are under growing pressure to engage in speedy, cyclical adjustment to their advertising spending over economic contractions and expansions. However, it’s wise to consider all stakeholders: To increase an advertising budget during an economic downturn, marketing executives should address mental programming of their managers, collaborators and investors of diverse cultural backgrounds as well as meticulously assess organizational constraints and resources. 

By Francesca Valsesia, Davide Proserpio and Joseph C. Nunes 

“,” Journal of Marketing Research, 57 (forthcoming in December 2020). 

In a nutshell: Firms are increasingly using micro-influencers because famous influencers have become prohibitively expensive. But what makes a good micro-influencer? The authors find that for two influencers who have similar amounts of followers, the one who follows fewer accounts is perceived more favorably. 

Practitioner takeaways: Famous influencers are outside many firms’ budgets, but micro-influencers can work well, too. When deciding among influencers, choose those who don’t follow as many people. Potential customers tend to see micro-influencers who follow fewer accounts as more authoritative, autonomous and trustworthy. 

By Jessica Vredenburg, Sommer Kapitan, Amanda Spry and Joya A. Kemper 

“” Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 39 (October 2020). 

In a nutshell: Companies are struggling with whether to take a stand in today’s politically charged environment, and no one wants to come off as inauthentic. The authors create a typology of brand activism to determine how and when a brand engaging with a sociopolitical cause is likely to be viewed as authentic. 

Practitioner takeaways: Firms that frequently use activist messaging, are highly involved with the sociopolitical cause and tout explicit prosocial brand purpose and values are positioned well to be considered authentic. In contrast, firms that do not have these characteristics are likely to be viewed as deceptive or opportunistic— in other words, engaging in woke-washing. 

The post Research Roundup: Fall 2020 appeared first on ���������.

Cause marketing campaigns during the pandemic can exponentially increase consumers’ fondness for a brand. In June, the marketing and PR agency Zeno Group released its “,” which surveyed more than 8,000 consumers in eight countries and found that people were four times as likely to purchase from a brand if they perceived it promoted strong morals and ran cause marketing campaigns that aligned with those values. The same consumers said they were 4.5 times as likely to recommend that brand to family and friends, and six times as likely to support that brand during difficult times. 

Numerous cause marketing campaigns have run since the early days of the pandemic. The Microsoft video game “Halo 5” offered a $10 in-game purchase of rare items, with . And shoe brand Altra donated 10% of net proceeds of Escalante 2 sneaker purchases from May 1-3 to COVID-19 relief efforts—which were then matched by parent company VF’s charitable arm. 

But how cause marketing campaigns are run, specifically how a brand presents the campaign’s ultimate financial goal, can make or break the effort. A new study from the University of Miami found that setting total donation goals too high, or presenting the target number in the wrong way, can hurt consumer perception more than not running the campaign at all. 

The paper, , discovered that setting a reasonable and attainable minimum donation threshold for an entire cause marketing campaign encourages consumer giving—either through monetary donations or the purchase of products from which a percentage is donated to the cause—and reinforces the idea that consumer dollars have a sizable impact on the campaign’s success. Additionally, consumers viewed companies more favorably because they felt that money raised beyond the set minimum goal would not only be donated to the cause, but the extra funding would also then be matched by the company. 

Framing and promoting the campaign goal as a maximum donation amount—wording the ask as wanting to raise or match “up to” a particular amount—caused consumers to think of a company less favorably. The implication is that the campaign, and by proxy a company’s generosity, ends once the maximum is reached. 

“That can be demotivating for people, especially for people who are inherently interested in the particular cause,” says Michael Tsiros, chair of the marketing department at the Miami Herbert Business School and the study’s co-author. He explains that if brands set the goal too high, consumers will opt not to donate, assuming their contribution wouldn’t mean much in the long run. 

Tsiros’s advice is to adopt an incremental approach. Set an achievable minimum donation goal amount for the entire campaign, which can later be raised by demonstrating gratitude for the donations that have come in thus far. Ask consumers for enough money to cover something tangible, such as a meal for a hungry family or supplies for a school on a tight budget, so they feel they’re an active participant in the cause. And no matter how successful the cause marketing campaign, always express and reinforce gratitude to customers. 

Set Your Target

The financial scope of a cause marketing campaign is computed based on company size, annual budget, industry and level of consumer brand awareness. 

Those who have run previous cause marketing campaigns have the luxury of reviewing data and applying lessons learned to their current campaign. Newcomers to the cause marketing world can home in on an appropriate and achievable donation range by soliciting feedback from stakeholders. 

Caglar Irmak, associate professor of marketing at the Miami Herbert Business School and study co-author, recommends conducting a survey of approximately 100 customers to gauge how much they would be willing to donate and what factors might drive them to do so. Company executives should be consulted to determine how much the company would like to ultimately contribute based on donation matching, then reverse engineer a minimum total amount from there. 

Determining the length of the campaign goes a long way in setting minimums. “You can construct more reasonable high and low amounts by limiting or constraining the event,” Tsiros says. 

Amanda Lehner, senior strategist and co-owner of the cause marketing agency , strongly recommends offering donation matching—which she calls “table stakes.” The gesture is no longer viewed as going above and beyond, she says. In the minds of consumers, it’s a given. 

Lehner further suggests erring on the side of lower minimums and shorter campaigns for brands undertaking their first cause marketing campaign. “There are supervisors, or people at the top, that’ll say a million [dollars] because they want you to work as if you’re trying to raise a million, knowing you will never get it,” she says. “That is a management tactic I am not a fan of. I like to set goals that are high, where everyone has to work super hard, of course, but you can reach it. … [The donors] need to feel like they’re contributing to you reaching the goal. It has to feel aspirational, but it has to also feel attainable.” 

Irmak offers another strategy: running a campaign that pulls a percentage of sales toward a cause—10% of every sale is donated to a nonprofit, for example. This tactic encourages participation because of how the donation is built into a purchase. 

Lehner says a big driver of donations is often when the ask comes from a friend or peer, rather than the company itself. “[Find] someone that is a huge influence, an ambassador, that has a network of people [to whom to] make the ask,” she says. 

Further encourage donors by asking for a specific amount of money rather than leaving dollar amounts open for the donor to choose. Younger generations, Lehner has found, appreciate a harder sell: Here’s why we need you, here’s where your money will go and here’s what we as a brand have done in the past. 

For example, Lehner ran a cause marketing campaign with Save the Children: A $50 donation bought a kit for a health worker to use in a developing nation on young patients. Donors knew exactly how their dollars were being put to use and understood that less than $50 wasn’t enough to make a meaningful impact. 

Extending the Campaign

Lower minimums are likely to be achieved quickly, and marketers can opt to extend the campaign with the appropriate announcement. But Irmak cautions that continuing the campaign with a new, higher goal, or running a repeat campaign with a higher minimum, can make consumers wonder why the goal wasn’t more ambitious in the first place. 

Lay the groundwork for the new campaign goal with an email to customers just before crossing the minimum donation threshold, particularly if the rate of donations starts to slow. Tsiros advises encouraging consumers by telling them how close the brand is to achieving the goal and let them know their contributions continue to be important. “People get motivated; they want to take you through and complete it,” he says. “You have to show that there is support, progress and the goal is reachable.” He explains that sending the communication too early can make people feel disinterested or unmotivated to give again. 

One of the best incentives for giving is to increase the matching percentage. Lehner once ran a cause marketing campaign that benefitted the New York Public Library, during which they captured attention and increased urgency by offering triple matching by the donating brands within a particular time frame. 

Cause marketing initiatives can take multiple campaigns to stick in the minds of consumers. “For someone to open their wallet,” Lehner says, “it takes years of telling them your story and showing them your impact.” 

The post Charitable Campaigns with High Dollar Goals Are Causes for Concern appeared first on ���������.

Goal

Animals’ fight or flight instincts can lead to some surprising responses. For many Americans at the start of the pandemic, their fear led to a maddening rush to stock up on toilet paper. 

Cottonelle and other toilet paper companies watched their products fly off shelves. Whereas normally a brand would be thrilled to see such high demand for its goods, this trend was concerning. Consumers were hoarding the product, meaning many didn’t have access to their preferred brand or any toilet paper at all. 

Cottonelle had three problems to solve: Reassure consumers there was enough toilet paper for everyone, encourage hoarders to share their extra stock with neighbors and step up and do something extra for those affected by COVID-19. Working with FCB Chicago, its agency of record, Cottonelle developed its #ShareASquare campaign. 

“At its core, the #ShareASquare program was inspired by our consumers,” says Ada Zavala, senior brand manager for Cottonelle. “We understood the additional stress on people to locate Cottonelle products in stores and online. While we were working tirelessly to address the increased demand, we noticed people reaching out to share our products with those in need in their own communities and wanted to celebrate those acts of kindness.”

Great satisfaction comes from sharing with others.
Please don’t hoard the toilet paper.
{Sound On}

— Joy Bella (@joybellabella)

Action

The common refrain from brands at the beginning of the pandemic was to reassure their audience that they were “here” for consumers. But as anyone who’s been trapped in a public restroom with an empty roll knows, words don’t mean much when you really just need some two-ply. For Cottonelle to say it would be there for consumers, that meant reassuring shoppers it could refill shelves. But the company also had to encourage people to help one another in the interim. 

In its own effort to do more, Cottonelle started by donating $1 million and 1 million rolls of toilet paper to the United Way Worldwide COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund. To integrate this work with highlighting customers’ good deeds, Cottonelle donated an additional $1, up to $100,000, from March 25 through June 1 anytime a social media user posted their own toilet paper outreach efforts tagged with #ShareASquare. 

FCB wanted the campaign to include a striking visual component that would catch social media users’ attention. Lisa Bright, executive vice president and executive creative director at FCB, says the team working on the campaign was inspired by square photos and videos typically used on Instagram, and they noticed how a simple white square could also represent a square of toilet paper. 

that reassured consumers that Cottonelle was working hard to restock shelves, that it donated funds to the United Way, and it implored Americans to do their part and share excess supplies with those who needed it. 

The integrated campaign included television, paid media, earned media, influencers and social media. Late night TV host Jimmy Kimmel dedicated part of his monologue one evening to the effort and announced his own donation to United Way. To sustain the momentum, Zavala says Cottonelle’s social team actively searched for and elevated examples of toilet paper sharing throughout the campaign. The United Way, which has a long relationship with Cottonelle parent company Kimberly-Clark, worked closely with Cottonelle to distribute marketing materials so recipients could share news of their donation across social and earned media channels. 

Results

In total, Cottonelle donated $1.3 million and 1 million toilet paper rolls to United Way’s recovery fund over the course of the campaign, marking its largest single donation in the brand’s history. More than 6,000 people engaged with the #ShareASquare hashtag on social media during the campaign. 

“We enjoyed seeing all the instances of toilet paper sharing, of course, but seeing the ways people found to safely share, like porch drop-offs, not only showcased people’s kindness, but their creativity,” Zavala says. “We also circulated the challenge internally at Kimberly-Clark and encouraged employees to participate, which became a way to build our own community while we were all safe at home.” 

The social media posts generated by consumers were rather clever. A search of the hashtag on Twitter includes a photo of a neighbor dressed as the Easter bunny dropping off a package of Cottonelle, a video of dogs passing rolls of toilet paper to one another and a photo of a birthday cake in the shape of a toilet paper roll. There were also a number of references to the episode of “Seinfeld” when Elaine Benes’ next-door bathroom stallmate told her she “didn’t have a square to spare.” 

“Because it was so social-first and there was a very clear call to action to it, [the campaign] definitely saw a lot of engagement,” Bright says. She also attributes some of the campaign’s success to Americans simply wanting an actionable way to help others. “[The campaign helped] to instill this behavior—and at a time when I think everyone felt a little helpless. It was nice to see people step up and do it in a way that then gave them meaning.” 

It also helped boost consumer perception of the Cottonelle brand. 

“We took a negative and turned it into a positive,” Bright says. “Especially in a time where there wasn’t a lot of positive going on, Cottonelle could have been seen in a really negative light for not being around on shelves. This helped to put back a positive lens on Cottonelle through consumers’ eyes in a powerful and meaningful way.” 

Photos courtesy of Cottonelle.

The post Cottonelle Helps Consumers Roll with COVID-19 Challenges appeared first on ���������.

Coca-Cola launched its “Share a Coke” campaign in Australia in 2011, eventually rolling it out to more than 80 countries across the world. The core component of the campaign was a reworking of its labels, which read “Share a Coke with…” and a person’s name. When the campaign came to the U.S. in 2014, Coca-Cola saw its largest-ever year-over-year growth for the 20-ounce package: more than 19%.

In the world of social sharing, personalized packaging hits a nerve. The #ShareACoke hashtag has been used 653,000 times on Instagram, featuring people (and animals) posing next to bottles and cans with their names. The #CareOf hashtag, used by vitamin company Care/Of, pulls up more than 12,000 customer photos of their personalized vitamin packages.

found that 66% of packaging professionals said personalized packaging is something they were currently implementing into their offerings or were considering. The survey also found that 89% said they believe this trend would increase during the next two to three years.

The 2018 survey respondents also identified the core benefits of personalized packaging, including increased consumer engagement (87.9%) and brand awareness (86.1%). It also found that 63.7% of respondents said personalized packaging increases sales and 52.8% said personalization projects have a positive impact on consumer loyalty.

, the global personalized packaging market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.1% between 2017 and 2025.

The post The Anatomy of Personalized Packaging appeared first on ���������.