For the best live news coverage, tune to…

Twitter.

Hundreds of court observations in the trial of Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich are being tweeted by qualified journalists inside a packed courtroom in downtown Chicago. What makes this significant is the notion of live news coverage, statement by statement, conveyed by a cross section of conservative and highly opinionated journalists all funneled into one easy-to-follow source, a Twitter page.  Not only is this convenient to read on one page, but it also provides a very unique perspective from a mix of correspondents and opinion makers both local and national. And since they don’t all work for the same organization, the opinions and comments are truly reflective of that individual’s observations rather than the slant of their employer.

Here’s a brief list of today’s correspondents:

The dynamics of Twitter is what makes this trial coverage so intriguing. You have journalists reporting the story live as it happens (#blagojevich), and you have Blagojevich himself tweeting, though he is not as current (#GovernorRod).

What I have learned from today’s Tweets is that Blago will be on the stand for two hours today expected to provide more rambling about his life. The observers note that this rambling will open the door for the prosecution to pursue all manner of incidents not otherwise allowed under the trial’s rules of engagement.

It’s not new for Twitter to be considered a news source at times, no different than a rumor heard on the street. But the notion that it has become a delivery vehicle to provide credible live news coverage does make it appealing. They might consider a new tagline: “Twitter. All the live news that fits within 140 characters, we print.”

Tags: #governorrod, blagojevich, blagojevich trial, CBD, Colman Brohan Davis, news

The ethics of product claims

My friend Tom Vierhile of Datamonitor spoke about global food trends this month at Supply Side East, and   mentioned that 2 out of 50 new products introduced in 2010 claimed “no HFCS” on the labels.  Whether science bears out that HFCS is or isn’t an ingredient of concern is not my area of expertise … but the marketers have certainly grabbed on to (and perhaps fueled) consumer sentiment in a big way.

CPG marketers have also jumped on the low/lower sodium bandwagon.  Packaged Facts states that the U.S. market for products with these claims was approximately $21.8 billion in 2009, about 3% of the total food/beverage sales.  Not a niche consumer segment any more but a big opportunity for main-stream buyers.

Which is why the Campbell Soup company has found itself in hot water for the “25% less sodium than regular Continue reading

Tags: advertising, CBD, creative insights, ingredients, Lori Colman, Retail, transparency

Excerpt from the New White Paper… The Customer Imperative: Why the Energy Industry Must Embrace the Customer to Survive

With any drastic market shift, the old ways of doing business can quickly become obsolete. This has never been more evident than in today’s energy sector, particularly in highly competitive markets.

Deregulation in any form means a shift from being focused, often exclusively, on regulators and legislators, to becoming customer-centric. This is a dramatic departure for almost any organization facing deregulation, and has proven particularly difficult for those in the energy industry. Even utilities in regulated markets need to adopt more customer-focused initiatives as consumers are increasingly mindful of alternative power sources and envious of their peers who boast of living off the grid.

Leading change and making the transformation brings with it a degree of difficulty often unprecedented. However, the upside is tremendous. There is significant opportunity in understanding customer needs, attitudes and drivers, and then harnessing this information to create relationships that yield more value and longevity. This is not really a choice. Taking action to adapt these realities is the only viable option, as many companies in other deregulated industries have learned. Any and all energy utilities or providers have to make these changes.

Through information presented here, you’ll learn more about why becoming customer-centric is an imperative and what you need to make your corporate change efforts highly successful. You’ll gain insights from our national research study that reveals exactly what customers today think about their utility provider, and how they compare it to other services that help run their homes and contribute to their lifestyle. You’ll be exposed to new views on energy and how they have a direct correlation to the quality of life of today’s consumer. You’ll learn about the dangers of “received wisdom—” the things that people assume are true, but may not be. You’ll also gain lessons learned from companies in other deregulated industries and in markets that have undergone rapid change. A few were utter failures, but many have thrived and their stories are both relevant and inspiring.

We will show how the energy companies are getting it wrong. The progress of smart meters epitomizes the kinds of mistakes that many are making. From its very name to the lack of communication regarding customer benefits, the industry is failing and turning what should be as great an advancement tool as the DVR was for cable companies into a distrusted negative. We will show how this can be reversed by being sensitive to customer perspectives and how other new technology and services can be successfully used to enhance profitability and loyalty.

Most importantly, you will be armed with the steps you need to take and the tools you can use to build marketing strategies for your organization that will differentiate you, more closely align your products and services with what is relevant in today’s marketplace, and endear you to customers in a way that will continually drive profitable growth.

Colman Brohan Davis is grateful to the experts that contributed to the insights and strategies presented here, starting with Richard Guha, President of Max Brand Equity and former President, Reliant Energy. Richard is a pioneer and the architect of many of these initiatives. From telecom to cable, energy to healthcare, he is unmatched in his understanding of how organizations in industries experiencing discontinuity should go to market.

Continue reading

Tags: CBD, cbdmarketing, Colman Brohan Davis, deregulated industries, energy marketing, energy suppliers, Max Brand Equity, Reliant Energy, Richard Guha, utility companies, utility suppliers

2011 U.S. Electricity Consumer Survey Results

Electric utilities and retail suppliers are just starting to realize that a more customer-centric approach can help them build a stronger and more differentiated organization. Indeed, the customer-centric evolution can’t come soon enough. CBD took the pulse of the average U.S. residential electricity consumer with a national survey in March 2011.

Our major findings indicate that consumers want more from providers…a lot more. Continue reading

Tags: electricity, energy industry research, energy marketing, residential electricity consumer, retail suppliers, utilities, utility companies, utility suppliers

Fun With QR Codes

Tags: bar code scan, QR, QR codes

Why Your E-newsletter Isn’t Being Read.

Now that millions of business executives read e-mail on their Blackberry, iPhone or Android smartphone you should be concerned about how you are communicating with them. They’re using those smartphones to primarily access e-mail, in addition to the other productivity tools that make them reliant on the mobile device.

So, if you are sending e-newsletters that are designed like web pages – heavy graphics and content that requires a long load – then all that effort you put forth in strategy, design and content development just got wasted because it’s not readable. And similar to websites that suffer that same fate, smartphone users no longer tolerate that inconvenience and immediately delete or opt-out of future communication. Ouch! Not what you had intended.

How CBD accommodated the dilemma of delivering an appealing e-newsletter design to both desktop and smartphone was to avoid the trap of filling the monitor with images, links and content. Ron Kohudic, CBD’s Interactive Creative Director, designs e-newsletters around e-mail best practices that accommodate both desktop monitors and mobile small screens. He focuses on limiting the design elements to accentuate readability. Ron uses a one-column frame for text with links. The header image is sized proportional to the text column. And he has eliminated unnecessary navigation elements. This has allowed message scalability by our ESP to accommodate the confines of the small screen on mobile devices. This scalability permits readable font sizes on mobile while protecting the integrity of the original format, assuring a pleasant experience for desktop readers as well. If you would like to see an example of this on your smartphone, please provide me with your email address and we’ll include you on our next e-newsletter.

So, what does your e-newsletter look like on a smartphone? You might want to check it out.

Tags: e-mail, e-newsletters, Mobile Marketing, smartphone