Truth in Advertising? Since When?

Campbell's Soup Co. was

charged with deception

when it placed marbles

in the bottom of a soup

bowl so ingredients

would rise to the surface.

If it looks too good to be true, then... In ancient Rome, the Latin expression caveat emptor, "Let the buyer beware," warned buyers of unscrupulous sellers. It remains a good dictum today.

Deceptive advertising, whether from altered images and/or simulations, infomercials, misleading statements, outrageous claims, and questionable testimonials -have a long history in the US.

There are legendary stories about ad campaigns that used mock-ups rather than real products to simulate the way products work. When some of these practices came to the attention of the public, some people called them "deceptive advertising," and the authorities stepped in. Nowadays, the Photoshop phenomena is the primary tool to enhance a product.

Digitally Enhanced Images Getting Attention from Authorities.
In the US and the UK, authorities are taking issue with cosmetic ads that they deem are misleading. Print ads for CoverGirl mascara, fronted by spokes model Taylor Swift, have been banned by the U.S.'s watchdog National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus Claims (mercifully abbreviated to NAD) for making unsubstantiated claims. According to the NAD, the mascara ads made claims that couldn't be proven. What's more, fine print beneath Swift's picture states "lashes enhanced in post production."

This is the first major beauty ad to be banned in the United States, though such measures are less rare in the United Kingdom and Europe, where media-watch groups have adopted particularly aggressive anti-Photoshop stances.

For a quick view on how Photoshop is used in cosmetic advertising, check out the video called Evolution below from Dove that shows how Photoshopping is applied to a model.

P&G had the grace to pull the ad when it got caught, but it's a slippery slope between artistic enhancement and government regulation. 

When asked whether this was a de facto ban on Photoshop, NAD director Andrea Levine stated, "You can't use a photograph to demonstrate how a cosmetic will look after it is applied to a woman's face and then - in the mice type - have a disclosure that says 'okay, not really.'" Mice type! We like this lady.

In the UK, Christy Turlington and Julia Roberts retouched ads banned.

Julia Roberts and Christy Turlington are two very beautiful women. But in order to sell its foundation, L’Oreal may have made some itty bitty adjustments to their faces.

That’s a no-no, according to Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority, who has banned two ads of the lovely ladies that were airbrushed to an extent that they claim misleads customers. This will come as a shock to anyone familiar with makeup ads.

Member of Parliament Jo Swinson first alerted the campaign watchdog to Lancome's two-page ad showing Roberts as shot by Mario Testino and a spot for Maybelline's "Eraser" foundation featuring Turlington.

Swinson added, "Excessive airbrushing and digital manipulation techniques have become the norm, but both Christy Turlington and Julia Roberts are naturally beautiful women who don't need retouching to look great. This ban sends a powerful message to advertisers -- let's get back to reality,"

Did you know: There's truth in ice cream advertising.
In the old days of TV ads, many tricks were used: motor oil over roasts to make them look better, airbrushed automobiles, razors that could shave the sand off a piece of sandpaper, mashed potatoes in place of ice cream - and so much more.

A classic example include Campbell's Soups ads (1968); in order to show the abundance of vegetable and noodles in the soup, the ads were shot after placing clear marbles in the bottom of the bowls, helping the vegetables stay near the top and show up clearly in the ads. They got busted by the FTC for false advertising.

It's true that food stylists - those who arrange and photograph food for those tempting photos you see in ads and in restaurants - sometimes create ingenious concoctions to stand in for the real thing under the hot lights of the studio.

Mashed potatoes are still substituted for ice cream. So are recipes involving shortening and confectioners sugar. But when it comes to photos used in advertising, the Federal Trade Commission has deemed that real ice cream must be used in ice cream ads. However, if the ads are for the ice cream cone or a hot fudge topping, a phony ice cream concoction can be used.

Sources:
1. Sarah Anne Hughes, "CoverGirl Ad Featuring Taylor Swift Nixed Over 'Enhanced' Eyelashes," The Washington Post, December 22, 2011
2. Charlotte Cowles, "Taylor Swift's CoverGirl Mascara Ad Banned," New York Magazine, December 20, 2011
3. Jim Edwards, "US Moves Toward Banning Photoshop in Cosmetic Ads," Business Insider, December 16, 2011
4. Turkey Hill Team, "Did You Know: There's Truth in Ice Cream Advertising," Icecream Journal, March 11, 2009
5. William M. O'Barr, "Ethics and Adverising," Advertising & Society Review, 2007
6. Hilary Moss, "Julia Roberts & Christy Turlington L'Oreal Ads Banned in UK," The Huffington Post, July 27, 2011
7. Colleen Nika, "Taylor Swift's Mascara Ad Discontinued, 'Vogue' Cover Confirmed," Rolling Stone Magazine, December 21, 2011

Brand Identity: Who's Watching The Store?

Get Out of My Facebook!
Says German Merck to U.S. Merck.

German drug maker Merck KGaA has threatened legal action after it said it lost its Facebook page to rival Merck & Co. in the U.S.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, German Merck said its Facebook page has been "misappropriated," adding that it wasn't clear how that happened, nor who was at fault.

The November 21st filing reflects the growing importance of social networks as marketing tools, with companies willing to go to court to safeguard their perceived rights on these networks.



Click to enlarge

 The Merck Facebook page contained information on Merck & Co. Inc. (Whitehouse Station, New Jersey), which is described as "a global healthcare leader working to help the world be well". The site is said to be intended only for residents of the U.S. and its territories. On Sept. 16, it carried a post welcoming users to "Merck's official Facebook page!"

German Merck said that it entered into an agreement with Facebook for the exclusive use of the Web page in March of last year, but in October 11 this year, Merck KGaA discovered that it no longer had administrative rights to the page, which was filled with content related to Merck & Co.

Who's Watching the Store?

The two Mercks became separate companies under the Treaty of Versailles, each owning rights to the Merck trademark in different geographic areas, as part of Germany's reparations after World War I.

Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world by both market capitalization and revenue. Merck KGaA (EMD Chemicals in the U.S. and Canada), also known as “German Merck” and “Merck Darmstadt”, is the world's oldest operating chemical and pharmaceutical company. According to Hoovers.com, U.S. Merck outpaces German Merck by over 4x in sales volume (2010 sales = $4,598B versus $1,231B, respectively).

Confusing? Perhaps. But it points to the very serious issue of protecting brands, trademarks, and a company's goodwill and reputation - and keeping a keen eye to defend the store.

For many, brand theft, rather than piracy, is the biggest intellectual property risk. Brand theft occurs where one party establishes a brand but another party acquires rights to the brand (in bad faith). Not all trademark disputes are brand theft — many involve disputes between parties all acting in good faith, but cases of brand theft are those where people abuse trademark laws. Brand theft can make a legitimate brand owner essentially an infringer in using its own brand and is all the more dangerous because it is done through perfectly legal means. The costs of fighting brand theft are high, so the best defense is to reduce the risk of it happening.

In this case, no one at German Merck was keeping an eye on the store. Just look at the time frame: German Merck establishes its Facebook page in March 2010; U.S. Merck somehow gains administrative rights to the page and repopulates in September 2011, but German Merck does not notice until October 2011, and then finally sues in November 2011.

We can all learn from the mistakes made here. In particular, the top 5 social media pitfalls to avoid:

1. Not Investing Adequate Time: A common mistake is underestimating the amount of time a successful Facebook strategy entails. Many social media consultants report seeing a pervasive “set it and forget it” mentality among small businesses - apparently the case here between the two Merck's.
2. Broadcasting: Ask any social marketing consultant what the number-one "no-no" is on Facebook, and he’ll likely tell you it’s “broadcasting” your messages instead of providing fans with relevant content and engaging on an continual basis.
3. Being Boring or Predictable: When they’re thinking about marketing, some business owners forget that Facebook is a social place where people share things they find funny, interesting or useful with their friends. Think about what kind of content your fans would actually want to share when planning your posts.
4. Failing to Learn about Facebook Mechanics and Tools: Since Facebook is a relatively new medium, some businesses have yet to explore all its functionality and they’re missing out on creating an optimal brand experience.
5. Violating Facebook's Terms: Not only is it critical to know how Facebook works and what tools are available, it’s also important to know the rules of the road — something that many businesses miss.

Update (11/29/11):
Facebook Takes Fall For Merck vs. Merck
This week Facebook said that it ‘made a mistake’ in letting Merck & Co take over a page on the social networking website from Merck KGaA.

The social media behemoth, which unwrapped plans for an initial public offering today, essentially told the two companies to work it out, calling its assignment of the URL to the US firm "an administrative error."

“We have removed the vanity URL,” said Facebook's Andrew Noyes, manager, public policy communications. “Facebook.com/Merck will be unavailable unless and until the two companies mutually agree that one can use it.” Either company, he added, is welcome to create a new username or vanity URL for themselves.

“We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused,” the Mr. Noyes added.

Click to enlarge



Apparently, an agreement has been worked out. Earlier today, the following posting was made by U.S. Merck on Facebook.



Click to enlarge

Later, this was replaced by a new Facebook page by German Merck (albeit with dated information; again - who's watching the store!). 

Merck KGaA said the loss of the Facebook page deprived it of an ‘important marketing device’, and would continue to look into the matter, but was happy with Facebook’s apology.



Sources:
1. Facebook.com/Merck and "Facebook.com/Search"
2. Neetha Mahadevan and Sten Stovall, "German Merck to U.S. Merck: Get Out of My Facebook," The Wall Street Journal, November 25, 2011
3. John Ribeiro, "Germany's Merck Wants Facebook Page Back," PC World, November 25, 2011
4. Leyl Master Black, "Top 5 Facebook Marketing Mistakes Small Businesses Make," Mashable, April 2, 2011
5. Company Results: Merck; Hoovers.com
6. "Merck and Merck Look to Settle Facebook Naming Dispute," InPharm.com, November 29, 2011
7. Matthew Arnold, "Merck v. Merck Facebook fracas a "tempest in a teapot" says US firm," Medical Marketing & Media, November 29, 2011

Loose Lips Sink Ships

loose lips sink ships.
by ~Kyogre-Kaiba

What's a Company's Biggest Security Risk?  You!!

Employees don't mean to be the primary entry point for hackers. But they are.

According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, we are the weakest links.

Hacking attacks against companies are growing bigger and bolder—witness a string of high-profile breaches this year at Sony Corp., Citigroup Inc. and others.

But gone are the days when hackers would simply find holes in corporate networks to steal valuable data. Large companies have grown wise to the threat of hacking, and have spent the past 30 years hardening the perimeters of their networks with upgraded technology.

These days, criminals aren't just hacking networks. They're hacking us, the employees.

"The security gap is end users," says Kevin Mandia, chief executive of security firm Mandiant Corp. The majority of corporate security breaches his firm is currently investigating involve hackers who gained access to company networks by exploiting well-intentioned employees.

Consider what happened in March at EMC Corp.'s RSA security unit, the maker of computer login devices used by thousands of other companies. A hacker sent emails to two small groups of employees that looked innocent enough, including a spreadsheet titled "2011 Recruitment plan." The message was so convincing that one employee retrieved it from the "junk mail" folder and then opened the attachment. Doing so introduced a virus inside RSA's network that eventually gave the hacker access to sensitive company data and enabled later attacks against RSA's customers.

Employees have more opportunities than ever to compromise company information. We not only screw up by clicking on emails from hackers that download viruses, letting them bypass corporate firewalls. We also open a Pandora's Box of security problems by circumventing company tech-support rules and doing work with personal gadgets and consumer-grade online services like Web email and cloud storage services.

Closing these holes is proving very difficult, security experts say. But companies keep fighting. To stop potentially dangerous employee habits, they're testing new tools to keep track of what's happening on their networks and rolling out employee education programs.

Sources:
1. Geoffery A. Fowler, "What's a Company's Biggest Security Risk? You.", The Wall Street Journal, September 26, 2011

The Art of Getting Attention

Pushing the Envelope for Consumer Attention: Guerrilla Advertising 2
Today's successful advertising campaign has evolved well beyond the simple television product spot or the full page fashion spread – formulas we're sometimes so familiar with they almost disappear.

As pointed out in Guerrilla Advertising: Unconventional Brand Communication, Gavin Lucas illustrated that current marketing tools span all mediums and are so artfully crafted for their target audience, it's difficult to sort out what is advertising and what is not. 

The concept of guerrilla marketing (the term was coined and defined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his book Guerrilla Marketing) was invented as an unconventional system of promotions that relies on time, energy and imagination rather than a big marketing budget.

The Lucas book – yellow, shiny and nicely designed – took a creative tweak and a guerrilla marketing clue when published in Japan in 2008. The hardback cover extended beyond the pages of the book to include cut-out carrier-bag style handles.

The agency responsible took pictures of people of all age groups and walks of life carrying the book around in fashionable parts of Tokyo, such as Ginza, Aoyama and Shibuya – creating a record of a guerrilla style campaign for the book itself.

Lucas' follow-up book, Guerrilla Advertising 2, published this year, revisits the subject, showing how effective unconventional branding and communication can be since the introduction of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the iPhone.

Lucas also highlights how the sheer definition of advertising is constantly shifting, saying "It is not just impossible to come up with a new advertising formula – it is now completely appropriate."

Gavin Lucas began collecting works to feature in the second volume in 2009. The resulting publication features more than 60 unusual campaigns from around the world, such as a giant inflatable pig stuck between two city buildings (for dental floss), a flash mob of dancers in a train station (for a cellphone service provider), and full-scale, high-resolution prints of museum artwork hung around city streets (for London's National Gallery) – showcasing non-traditional advertising and marketing campaigns from recent years.

A clever campaign illustrated in the book features a German employment website, with posters specifically designed to go on the sides of particular machines. On each poster is an image of a worker in a cramped space delivering the actual product being purchased – a woman with a washboard inside a washing machine, a banker crouched inside an ATM, a musician inside a jukebox, and shown here, a frozen worker squeezing out ice cream. The headline? “Life’s too short for the wrong job.”

It’s not the Mad Men's advertising environment anymore, pretty clearly. Those ads with simple brand messaging, are a fading, nostalgic memory.

Considered to be the first successful guerrilla marketing campaign, the iconoclastic Burma-Shave phenomenom from the 1920s-1930s, gives us a Lessons Learned case study on how to engage and captured public attention.

The new age of ad creative is exciting. As much as we hear about newer and faster technology, it’s interesting and fun to watch the creative revolution that is also underway.

Today's advertising is increasingly about engagement and interactivity - proven by the time tested and ROI validated Burma-Shave campaign phenomenom from generations ago. 
______________________________________________
A look at brand communication in the tech-advanced 21st century, Guerrilla Advertising 2 is a fun read for advertisers and the public alike. The book is available from Laurence King for $40.


Sources:
1. Laurence King Publishing, Guerrilla Advertising 2: More Unconventional Brand Communications
2. Creative Review, "Guerrilla Advertising 2: Call for entries," November 19, 2009
3. Creative Review, "Guerrilla Advertising on the streets of Tokyo," January 28, 2008
4. Visualizer, "Guerrilla Advertising 2 - The Art of Getting Attention," The Wall Street Journal, August 27, 2011

Marketing and the Art of Suggestion

Why 5 for $5 or 10 for $10 Pricing Promotions Work
Pricing promotions for buying more items aren't new, but consumers probably will see more retailers using them - and dangling deals on higher multiples than they used to - in an effort to coax more spending amid higher prices and sluggish sales.

What may have started in the produce aisles, with grocers hawking better prices for those who bought more ears of corn, for instance, remains a popular strategy simply because it works, said pricing expert Stephen Hoch, marketing professor at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

In one experiment, a grocer offered canned goods in three different ways: "79 cents, no limit," "79 cents, limit 4," or "79 cents, limit 12."

When there was no limit, Hoch said, people bought three cans. When the limit was four, people bought an average of 3.6 cans, "and when we said 'Limit 12,' they bought seven."

"The bigger the number, the more people buy," he said.

"It's pretty clear that either people just kind of take the suggestion without thinking about it, or that people are under the impression that you have to buy X amount to get the deal."

In another case study, take a look at two stores advertising specials on cream cheese. At store A, the promotion was for 10 packages for $10. At store B, the promotional product was advertised for $1.29 a package. The fine print says you don't have to buy 10 packages to get the special price. Given those choices, you should shop at Store A to check off your shopping list, right?

Maybe not.

According to John T. Gourville, a professor of marketing at Harvard Business School, you're more likely to buy 10 packages at Store A whether you needed 10 packages or two, whereas at Store B, you would buy only the number of packages you really need.

"Many people buy the amount, or buy in increments, that are advertised - with five for $5, they end up buying five boxes," he told The New York Times. Even if you don't need - and won't use - the cream cheese before its expiration date, you might buy those five or ten packages based on the power of suggestion alone.

In negotiations class in business school, you learn how powerful suggestion can be when it comes to numbers and the subconscious recognition of value, so much so that the person who throws out the first number is seen to be at a disadvantage.

Advertising group pricing works the same way by setting a subconscious quantity benchmark. Five loaves of bread for $10? "I'll just get three," the shopper thinks, when in fact they only meant to buy one or two loaves.

It's all about the persuasive art of suggestion.

Sources:
1. Janet Cho, "Why Grocers like 10 for $10 and Other Multiple Promotions," The Plain Dealer, July 24, 2011
2. Sarah Gilbert, "Why 10 for $10 at the Grocery Store Might Bust Your Budget," Walletpop.com, July 22, 2011
3. Stephanie Clifford, "Making 5 for $5 a Bigger Draw Than One for $1," The New York Times, July 18, 2011

Lessons in Crisis Communications

Costly Missteps
As faulty brakes and data breaches plaster the headlines, people are starting to question crisis management, especially the PR practitioners behind it.

A classic example is the Toyota safety recall in 2009 over "runaway" vehicles due to stuck accellerator pedals. The issue launched a public relations nightmare for the iconic brand.

The company's initial approach of denying, minimizing and mitigating the problem only fanned the fires and created an environment where it was vilified by the American press and the government.

Details usually unworthy of public attention, such as internal memos disagreeing over public relations strategy, became smoking guns that convinced the press and the public that Toyota vehicles had electronic problems causing the situation — and that the company was hiding this from the public.

President Akio Toyoda, grandson of the founder, was MIA for weeks after the storm began. The company appeared less than forthcoming about critical safety issues, risking the trust of its customers world-wide, and contributing to a downward spiral of product sales.

Remaining Silent on Security Breaches
They make the news on a regular basis: incidents in which a company or a government agency's security is breached, leading to a loss of information, personal records, or other data.

There are many ways to measure the size or cost of a security breach. Some result in the loss of millions of data records, some affect millions of people, and some wind up costing the affected businesses a lot of money — and worst, their reputation. 

The recent hacker attack on the Sony PlayStation network provides a case study in crisis communications; consider the news headlines devoted to the data breach of over 100 million user records. This never-ending saga is a reminder that in today's networked world, there is an increased demand for open, honest, rapid, and ongoing communications. Failure to do so will result in lost brand equity and customers.

Given the fact that Sony is a multi billion dollar corporation, I’d venture a bold guess that it actually had a crisis communication plan stored away, collecting virtual dust on a server somewhere.  And I’m certain that remaining silent was not part of it.

Public Pressure for Disclosure Rising
The natural-gas industry, bowing to public concern over contaminated water sources, has agreed to disclose more information about the chemicals it uses in the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," as it's called.

Texas recently signed into law that will require companies to make public the chemicals they use on every hydraulic fracturing job in the state. Texas' law is significant because oil and gas drilling is a key industry in the state and the industry vocally supported the measure.

Until recently, much of the industry opposed providing detailed information about its chemicals, arguing that they are trade secrets. But in recent months, as drilling opponents have accused companies of secrecy, many industry leaders have come to view that position as untenable.

"I think the one thing hopefully that we all learned is you can't just say, 'Take our word for it,'" said Matt Pitzarella, a spokesman for gas producer Range Resources Corp.

-------

Public relations nightmares can come in varying degrees of severity — from a negative review on Yelp to a national or international scandal. As a business, it pays to be prepared for anything. The most important thing about surviving a public relations crisis is planning ahead.

The QR Code Invasion

 

Click here to see the complete 
graphic representation of QR code data
as designed by JumpStart and posted by Mashable

Physical and Digital Worlds Collide with QR Codes

We love infographics. But what are these crazy looking things that are showing up in more and more places? A confused crossword puzzle? A psychedelic postage stamp? A bar code gone wild?

This is how a QR code, or Quick Response code, may appear to some people. You may have noticed these black-and-white squares showing up in restaurants or in pages of magazines. Thanks to our growing addiction to our smart phones, you'll likely be seeing more of them.

How do QR codes work? A person with a cellphone with a QR enabled code-reader application takes a picture of a QR code. The app will recognize the code and automatically open the link, video or image in the phone's browser.

When you take a picture of the QR code you'll be brought to the specific cellphone-optimized web page that the company's web marketer wants you to see — usually where you'll find special promotional content. 

In retail, Ralph Lauren is using QR codes to direct their buyers to a website for taking clothing orders directly from their phones. A recent issue of Wired magazine included an ad by watchmaker Tag Heuer that contained a QR code that led users to images of its latest collection. Magazine ads are using QR codes to promote everything from hair-care products to sheepskin boots to diamonds.

Another retail example is the use of QR codes on billboards. Since Calvin Klein's controversial billboards are often met with requests for censorship, the company decided to censor itself for the Calvin Klein Jeans Fall 2010 campaign. 

Calvin Klein Jeans replaced three of its billboards — two in downtown New York and one on Sunset Boulevard in LA — not with another racy montage of scantily clad models, but with a bright red QR code under the words “Get It Uncensored.”

Passersby used their smart phones to snap a picture, pulled up an exclusive, racy and uncensored 40-second commercial featuring (relatively) busty model Lara Stone and a quartet of male models. After the spot plays, viewers can then share the code with their Facebook and Twitter networks. (see the commercial below)  



QR codes are increasingly appearing in advertisements as a way to increase engagement with consumers. Although already common in Japan (where they were originally invented), they do not appear in many advertisements in that country — much less take up an entire billboard.


A few fun facts from the invasion:

• 52% of mobile users have seen or heard of QR codes; of those, 28% have scanned one.
• iPhone users scan by far the most, at 68% (versus 26% of Android users and 4% of Blackberry users).
• QR code scanning rose a whopping 1,200% from July to December 2010.
• Starbucks started a scavenger hunt in partnership with Lady Gaga this week —"SRCH by Starbucks featuring Lady Gaga," as the initiative is called. When customers scan QR codes on in-store banners, magnetic chalkboards and posters, they'll see the first of many clues in the coffee retailer's seven-round scavenger hunt. Both Gaga and Starbucks will benefit — Gaga in album sales and exposure, and Starbucks in netting the allegiance of Gaga's almighty Little Monsters.

Sources:

1. Umike Pidaparthy, "Marketers Embracing QR Codes, For Better Or Worse," CNN, March 28, 2011

2. Katie Hintz-Zambrano, "Calvin Klein QR Code Billboards Mask Racy Ads - But You Can 'Get It Uncensored'," Stylelist, July 13, 2010.

3. Jolie O'Dell, "Who's Really Scanning All Those QR Codes?" Mashable, March 4, 2011
4. Jennifer Van Grove, "Starbucks & Lady Gaga Team Up On Scavenger Hunt," Mashable, May 19, 2011

Email Is Dead! Long Live Email!

How Email Marketing Helps Build Relationships and Increase Sales

Many social media gurus claim that email has had its day and it is now time to move over and let social media have the spotlight.

Let’s get right to it: Email is far from dead. If anything, it has proven more relevant and valuable to those in marketing and sales trying to establish and nurture a customer relationship. If you are in sales, you may have noticed nine out of ten calls go straight to voicemail.

MarketingSherpa -- possibly the best known brand for marketing research and email  -- has just released their 2011 Email Benchmark Report that disputes email marketing is dead. The executive summary alone is worth the visit.

Among the key findings from MarketingSherpa: The most significant challenge marketers face with email is not spam, or subject line length, or time of day to email, but creating highly relevant content in both the B2C (business to consumer) and B2B (business to business) channels. The most effective content strategy is segmenting email campaigns based on behavior. Over 65% stated that highly relevant content is the key to success and it is the greatest challenge to find and create that content.





Click to view and
download the excerpt



According to the report, “Today, 78% rate the use of email to “increase sales revenue” very important.” However, it is important to note that revenue isn’t the only goal: 90% stated that email is effective or somewhat effective for increasing website traffic and building brand awareness.

The report also states, “Email isn’t limited to top line objectives. The objective rated as very important second most often is improving customer relations/retention. Email is the communications channel of choice for customers and prospects who wish to be kept informed.” Despite the growth in social media, marketers are still spending on email marketing. The two marketing approaches work well together and will become further integrated over time.

 
 Mailchimp publishes great comparison and benchmark reports right on its blog and site. You can learn about rank by industry, by business size, how to segment your list, and comparing subject lines. The subject line research shows “best open rates” and “worst open rates.” Resources include:

● Email Marketing Benchmarks by Industry

● Email Marketing Benchmarks by Business Size

● Effects of List Segmentation on Email Marketing Stats

● Email Marketing Subject Line Comparison

Mailchimp gives you good home grown advice and candor in their research section. “So what's our advice for email subject lines? This is going to sound "stupid simple" to a lot of people, but here goes: Your subject line should (drum roll please): Describe the subject of your email. Yep, that's it.”

Social media is changing the landscape, that is certain. However, building a relationship, and a potential for a sale, is still the same. You have to nurture and grow a relationship. Email is still alive and kicking. It is the gardener you bring in to keep the yard landscape looking beautiful.

Sources:

1. TJ McCue (American Express Open | Forum), "How Email Marketing Helps Build Relationships and Increase Sales," March 31, 2011
2. MarketingSherpa, http://www.marketingsherpa.com/
3. MailChimps, http://www.mailchimp.com/resources/, http://www.mailchimp.com/resources/research/

Fonts as Fashion

More Than A Pretty Face

If fonts had feelings, this is how Carousel Medium would look. In its new poster series, Fontface, the Gijón, Spain, design firm Atipo created an interesting series of posters dedicated to four type designers.

For this great work they combined facial expressions and black-and-white make-up interpreting Caslon Italic, Clarendon Bold, Helvetica Bold and Carousel Medium.

Click image to enlarge

It was set up by Raúl García del Pomar and Ismael González in the beginning of 2010. After working in other graphic design, web design, and branding studios, the two partners wanted to start a more personal venture.

This new studio allows them to approach projects from different perspectives, freely combine all the disciplines they love, such as typography and type design, photography, illustration, video, and so on. Their project is a series of posters merging the expressiveness of manual gesture and type design in honor of the four outstanding typefaces.

Click image to enlarge

According to an interview with The FontFeed, “The series of posters features four typefaces designed by four outstanding designers. Through the combination of the expressiveness of manual gesture and type design, we made a brief journey through the history of typography.

"We started with an old style roman – the transitional face Caslon (William Caslon, 1725); passing via a slab serif – Clarendon (William Thorrowgood, 1845); a grotesque sans – Helvetica (Max Miedinger & Eduard Hoffmann, 1957); to a fat face didone – Carousel (Gary Gillot, 1966).

"We selected characters that show the main features of each typeface; and, most importantly, functioned well as a mask on the model’s face.”

“We believe that to create without limitations is only truly possible with a self-initiated project, and Fontface is one of them.

"This series of posters allowed us to bring together different disciplines we feel passionate about: typography, painting, photography, and video. Furthermore, we wanted to create a series of posters to decorate our studio.

"This turned out to be more successful than we expected, because we’ve had many reactions from people asking us where to get the posters. Now we are planning to sell them in a limited edition.”

Sources:
1. Atipo (http://www.atipo.es/)
2. Yves Peters, “Atipo Paints Characters on Face For Fontface,” The FontFeed, March 15, 2011
3. Design, "More than a Pretty Face, Time Magazine, April 11, 2011

AP Stylebook Finally Changes "e-mail" to "email"

Antiquated tech terms modified

The AP Stylebook, the de facto style and usage guide for much of the news media, announced today that the abbreviated term for “electronic mail” is losing a hyphen, and with it, a relic of a simpler time when Internet technology needed to be explained very carefully.

The move follows the unveiling of 42 new style guidelines for social media in the 2010 edition of its Stylebook, most notably re-classifying “website” as one word (it had previously suggested “Web site”).

The 2010 entries refer mostly to networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter, standardizing terms such as app, blogs, click-throughs, friend and unfriend, metadata, RSS, search engine optimization, trending, widget and wiki.

Other notable changes included separating out “smart phone” as two words, hyphenating “e-reader,” and allowing fan, friend and follow to be used both as nouns and verbs.

Additionally, the AP defined some acronyms that are commonly used in texting and instant messaging, including ROFL (rolling on floor laughing), BRB (be right back), G2G (good to go), and POS (parents over shoulder).

Today’s news, fittingly enough, was first announced on the AP Stylebook’s Twitter page, where they tweeted: “Language evolves. Today we change AP style from e-mail to email, no hyphen. Our editors will announce it at #ACES2011 today.”

Look for the change to be in effect immediately in the online version of the stylebook and in the 2011 print version.

Source:

AP Stylebook on Twitter, "Stylebook Online reflects the change to "email" today," March 18, 2011