Fifth Estate Best Practices and Democracy's Open Salon Blog

Are you Rich Enough for Republican Budget Cuts?

Tue, 5 Apr 2011 18:04:13 -0400

In hard economic times, people look for enjoyable distractions. A game-like tactic should be deployed through a handheld card chart wheel, or an app for cells and computers. Street promoter volunteers from legislative offices would approach people and ask, "Are you Rich Enough for a Republican Budget Cut?"

Input your income and then determine how the Republican shutdown would affect you and your communities through pop up graphs that adjust for needed services and jobs against the GOP budget.

Facts would reveal how feasible the plan is in comparison with the President's budget proposal.

The conflict over the President's 2012 fiscal budget is as prominent in the minds of citizens as the background noise of any mid-term election. Even the 16 million unemployed people in the US are un-engaged as they search for jobs.

Those that are employed are deeply involved in basic activities of maintaining their quality of life. The aftermath of the Bush Administration left people stressed out and even traumatized by the horrors of unnecessary wars, the embarrassingly poor responses to national emergencies and the dark days on Wall Street.

The truth hurts, but it's time to re-engage over the budget proposals.

Saving the 2012 Oscars with a Latte Lottery!

Sat, 2 Apr 2011 01:04:34 -0400

The Oscars have traditionally been an at-home and decidedly insular at-home experience. Next year’s experience will be public.

Whether best actor film, best picture, and other categories (divided onto separate cards), customers can fill out a Oscars Latte Lottery card with proof of purchase and will keep a copy of the coded card that will be collected and dropped into secure barrels for 10 days. The drawing will end 12 midnight, on the day before the Academy Awards.

The cards will be scanned daily and the results will be publicized in the 10 days leading up to the ceremony. Results will also be publicized during the Oscars ceremony. The number of winners will be announced on the 1/2 hour commercial blocks via an on air snipe For names of winners, viewers will be directed to the official Academy Award website, to social media platforms and to a mobile app. The game will culminate with grand prize winners at the end of the show.

Two demographic targets will be Baby Boomers and Millennials that frequent coffee shops for a dynamic marketing alignment for consumer purchases and attention. Strategic partners will be coffee shops, ABC, Hulu, and local community theaters for low cost viewings of the ceremony.

Coffee shops have become the new daytime lounge or library where both target segments gather for downtime, socializing or to work on their computers throughout the day. Some coffee shops like Saxby’s have wide screen televisions. Coffee shops play radio. The Oscars Latte Lottery campaign will include mass media’s drive time radio ads, and television spots to reach Baby Boomer coffee shop frequenters. The intent is to drive the Baby Boomers to the Academy Awards website to sign up for email blasts about the status on how many people are choosing what in the game.

Because most coffee shops are closed during the Oscar ceremony, either keep the open or move the event to community theaters where the gamers can pay a nominal fee to meet and watch the ceremony on the wide screen with incentives offered to keep people entertained enough to monitor the game to the end of the show.

A NYT Pay-wall with Privileges for Academia

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:03:18 -0400

The New York Times (NYT) had surveyed its most valuable readers as to the proper pay scale and received favorable responses before reaching a decision to charge online readers through a pay-wall. Some newspapers said that getting just 5 to 10 percent of their readers to pay would constitute a viable increase to working budgets.

Among loyal readers that have expressed support for the New York Times paywall are college and university educators. To quantify two main categories, there are some 300,000 full professors and associate professors in the US, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. One in 10 new subscriptions from these educators would represent an additional $15 million in annual revenue. This could pay for what the NYT invested in the program in less than three years. There is revenue growth potential if this segment is targeted through specific strategies.

Respondents overwhelmingly expressed a need to be able to access the latest objective, in depth, fact-checked reporting and analysis on a variety of subjects. Those who reside elsewhere even expressed a duty to support the metered paywall due to the elevated status of New York City in the global community.

Educators in the university journalism arena are prime targets for the new system because many agree with the transition from free digital content to a fee-based service and with a paywall as a good business model. “My first reaction is that it's about time," said Edward Wasserman, the Knight Professor of Journalism Ethics at Washington and Lee University. http://bit.ly/gcmMTm

But membership should include privileges. Capturing these loyal consumers would mean including co-sponsored networking events, special access to editors and web based editorial pages. Bring democracy to a pay-wall by having educators pass what they learn onto the student body.

You do the math. Such a model could be used for professionals in many industries and offer great opportunities for boosting the bottom line.

How About a New Taco Bell Marketing Campaign?

Mon, 7 Mar 2011 01:03:51 -0500

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That was the response that Taco Bell offered a a week ago after a class action lawsuit asserted that its beef taco recipe is fillers and only 33% beef (a violation of USDA standards). Parent company, Yum! Brand, fought back by announcing its somewhat unappetizing-sounding beef taco recipe: 88 percent beef, silicon dioxide, anti-dusting agents, spices, and all. The media ate Taco Bell for lunch. Still, the company did not offer to change the recipe.

The recent controversy was relatively unknown until Taco Bell publicized it. Perhaps the company was resorted to a crisis strategy befitting P.T. Barnum’s quote, "I don't care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right." If this is also a promotional strategy, is it effective? A 2009 Yale University study on consumer behavior showed that when fast food calorie and nutritional information are posted, people ignore it. Given this data, a strategic plan of listening to what consumers say could help the Taco Bell brand rise above it all.

I was curious as to how college students reacted, so I conducted a mini survey at Bucks County Community College (BCCC) to find out whether Taco Bell’s beef taco controversy really mattered. Of the 25 students surveyed, 17 eat the beef tacos; twelve had heard of the controversy.

Sixteen respondents expressed loyalty to the brand because: Beef tacos “taste good,” they “enjoy” it and the food is “cheap.” One student said he was fine as long as no one died. One said she would never eat at Taco Bell again.

Going forward, a new social media public survey campaign using a twist on the slogan, “Yo Quiero Taco Bell” to “Que Quiere a Taco Bell?” The theme in English-- “What would you like to order at Taco Bell?,” could stimulate purchase intent, grow product demand and satisfy business and communications goals. The majority of student consumers expressed that Taco Bell’s image could be refreshed through deals-- coupons, a promotional lottery, .99 cent sales and even free beef tacos. Nostalgia-related responses included requests for a return the “10 pack for $10” of 20 years ago; yearnings for the long discontinued chaco tacos (dessert waffles) and for the chihuahua of yesteryear. One said that listing ingredients on the wrappers (as Burger King does) would help.

How about a contest? One winning product per month would be offered across those region’s franchises to enhance word-of-mouth, emotional benefits and the post-purchase experience.

Blacks At NASCAR Means Marketing Integration? Not so Fast.

Sat, 5 Feb 2011 10:02:15 -0500

At TheBuzzBin, Toni Carey examines new campaigns where Intel is signing the front man of the Black Eyed Peas, Vibe Magazine will sponsor a NASCAR driver and the HuffPo is partnering with BET.

http://bit.ly/fxHU2A

Wonderful. Brands are recognizing the buying power of minority consumers which I wrote about this my blog, Fifth Estate, Best Practices and Democracy in 2010.

The new projects targeted to blacks involving companies focused on technology, legacy media and online journalism that are, so far, efforts to attract this minority group in segregated campaign blocks. Perhaps now these brands can fully integrate their offices as well, including upper management with the same percentages that are represented in the population. This used to be required by the FCC for broadcast businesses. Walk the halls of most corporate brand in America today and you will not see the same racial representations as there are in the U.S. Census.

The best way for brands to reach minorities effectively are to have them more fully represented as paid employees. There is no better way to develop clear strategies and insights about people than that. Why? Because "minorities" can accurately assess all populations as well as those in the "majority".

In reality, it is blacks that are the most assimilated segment of the population, having historically been forced to shed of any familial reference to their original cultures. They are fully American and have critically influenced American language, (think "OK"), the southern slang (which came out of an African patois and British English), music, science, food, sports, politics and more. In spite of hundreds of thousands of minorities that are graduating with skills to compete, they are not the first to be hired.

Imagine companies with 54% "minority employees". How's that for banishing stereotypes!

There is lots of value in all so called "minority groups" in America and it is great to read about businesses that are on a positive path towards inclusion.