Archive for December, 2008
U.S. Agriculture buzz in a word: Vilsack
December has brought more attention to U.S. agriculture and how the industry is reacting to some of the hottest topics at the forefront of daily news.
Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, an aggressive campaigner for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton before his state’s caucuses in January, has been named U.S. Agriculture Secretary by President-elect Barack Obama. (If his name sounds familiar, in 2004 Vilsack was one of three finalists to be John Kerry’s running-mate. He also campaigned for president himself, but dropped out of the race in February 2007. His unusual stance included cutting subsidies for commodity crops and putting those dollars towards environmental improvements, such as bio-fuel production plants and wind farms.)
Vilsack has been reputed to be an advocate for young farmers and has a defined view on our nation’s place within global agriculture. As a big supporter of renewable energy, he has been a key supporter of Iowa’s ethanol industry, helping to establish the state as the nation’s largest producer of corn.
Q: Where do you think Vilsack will take U.S. Agriculture and will this appointment be a good thing? Very interested in others’ thoughts here.
On other fronts…
Consumer Satisfaction Survey – Cyber Monday
Thought this was interesting. Just released from Shop.org.
Happy marketing!
Shop.org surveyed more than 250k people between Black Friday and Cyber Monday and here’s what we found:
- Online customer satisfaction is down year over year, but only slightly, and not quite as much as expected.
- Perhaps more interesting, satisfaction was actually higher on Cyber Monday than it was at any point in November, a reversal of the recent trend of satisfaction that is lower on Cyber Monday than in previous weeks.
Causes need PR the most
In the past month, I’ve been to board meetings for three different not-for-profit organizations—two large and one grass-roots. Very serious affairs. Regardless of size, not-for-profits are worried about giving at all levels: Individual, corporate and foundation. This puts plans and programs in flux. In this environment, it’s easy to view PR activities as non-priority spending. I argue the opposite.
PR is probably the most cost effective way to make sure your group’s message reaches a broader audience of friends and donor partners. Find some great stories about your work, make them personal with a human face and get those stories pitched and placed.
Now more than ever, the community needs to know you are steady, strong and out in the world helping as you always have been. PR can can help your group connect with donors and weather this economic storm, not succumb to it.
Research shows labels count—as much as price
Lori Colman, Co-CEO and “foodie” wants to know: Are you scared or prepared?
It really is a whole new world out there for companies anywhere along the “food chain” … from the grower all the way to the consumer. As sector expert Chris Chleboun mentioned, consumers are demanding much more accountability from the companies they buy from, and nothing hits closer to home than food.
Is affordable solar energy closer than we realize?
Renewable energy continues to remain in the headlines as it not only can help mitigate global warming but it can also create jobs in a struggling economy. But this seeming strong and emerging industry does face certain hurdles. The lack of available credit/financing even to companies in this high potential industry is issue number one. Then of course there is the ability to take these products mainstream. The issue specifically is whether the cost of renewable energy will become affordable enough for the general population. The solar industry says yes to overcoming the latter of the two problems.
2008: A Love/Hate Relationship with the “Unexpected”
As marketers, we love the unexpected. And nothing thrills us more than “disruption”. Then along came 2008. Suddenly being disrupted and experiencing the unexpected was completely void of any of the delight we associate with those terms.
It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. Back in January several economic panels forecast the market would end the year up over 12,700. And though 35% of of leading economists thought we’d experience a recession, it would be shallow and short-lived. In fact, prospects for the second half of the year were downright rosy. Liquidity was predicted to rebound. And growth would chug along at 1-2%.
Of course, we all know what happened. Subprime mortgages. Credit derivatives. Billion dollar bailouts. All unexpected.
Enough already. It’s time we marketers reclaim what is rightfully ours and take back the true meaning of unexpected. 2009 represents the perfect opportunity to do it. Here are four notable “disruptions” you can implement that will have an immediate and delightful business impact.
