Who’s driving your bus?

What bus you ask? Why the Brand Bus, of course. When we sign on as a client’s marketing partner, we tell them that one of our goals is to help them unleash their own mindpower. It’s kind of like the relationship you have with, say, your doctor or tax accountant. You hire them to give you expert advice but ultimately it’s up to you to eat your veggies and spend wisely.

It’s the same with us. We’re expert marketers, and although we do draw the map and typically ride in the front seat, we don’t want to be the ones driving. Your brand belongs to you. And this week we’d like to give our very first Driver’s Seat Award to the Augsburg College Auggies for getting behind the wheel and putting the pedal to the metal.

Kelly and I visited the downtown Minneapolis campus last week and were as proud as Georgia peaches to find that the campus community is living and breathing its brand. Ask anyone on campus what it means to be and Auggie and they’ll have an answer based on their own experience and passion for the place (Imagine how that works with prospective families and donors!)

Take a quick photo tour of how admissions, student life, physical plant, and campus planning are all driving in the same direction.

Share this article | Permalink | No comments

Posted by Lisa Jordan on July 31, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Filed under: Brain Candy for Wisdom
Tags: branding, university communications

Kermit was right.

Kermit was right: It’s not easy being green. So you have to admire (and envy?) those folks who are leading the green charge. Up the road at Emory, shuttle buses use 100 percent alternative fuel derived from cooking oil in the university’s cafeteria and hospital. Wow. Spelman College, is opening up the first “green” residential facility at a historically black college to have LEED certification. Georgia Tech is increasing its sustainability programs in five key areas: green cleaning, recycling, sustainable food, green services and landscape and design management.

It’s not just happening here in (boy, is it ever!) Hotlanta, though. In South Carolina, Furman U and Southern Living have teamed up to build a 3,400-square-foot sustainability center for students & professors to study how the green materials perform over time. As a bonus, the solar panels on the home, which are expected to produce 35 kilowatts of energy per hour, will provide surplus power to the entire campus. How smart is that?

At Berea College in Kentucky, there’s an entire Ecovillage that includes such “green design” elements as passive solar heating, photovoltaic panels and wind-powered electrical generators. There’s even an on-site treatment of waste that converts sewage to “swimmable”-quality water (go ahead, take the plunge!).

Not only are these institutions being good to the planet, but they’re also “living their values” in exactly the way that great brands should. If any of you reading this came to Mindpower’s Truth or Dare presentations at one of the various ACAC conferences this spring/summer, you know that students today are looking for the “authentic” in everything – from what they buy to where they enroll.

As defined in Pine & Gilmore’s latest book, Authenticity, people tend to view as authentic that which is natural, original, exceptional, referential, and/or influential. By going (and showing) green, these colleges are hitting most – or all – of these axioms.

I’d call that a win, win, win. Not only are these institutions benefiting from their decision in areas of lower costs, more efficient lifestyles, and the obvious media attention… but they’re making a big, positive impression on prospective students and families, too.

How can your institution become more environmentally friendly? Here are a few smart ideas to get you thinking:

- Buy only recycled content paper and copying double-sided (particularly in your computer/printing labs)
- Use efficient lighting systems to save energy
- Start a free bike-sharing program
- Upgrade facilities
- Develop recycling programs (if you haven’t already)
- Change practices in your institution’s cafeteria (i.e., offer trays by-request-only to cut down on water use, choose the most bio-friendly take-out containers/cups, etc.)
- Buy alternative energy or hybrid vehicles for university vehicles
- Remodel with green materials such as using low-Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) paint
- Conserve water with low-flow toilets and faucet aerators.

If you have your own examples of green practices from your institution, let me know!

Share this article | Permalink | 3 comments

Posted by Lisa Jordan on July 20, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Filed under: Brain Candy for Wisdom
Tags: green design, green marketing, higher-ed, recycling

Fake sports leads to real bucks.

The business of online fantasy sports is a crowded marketplace. And the competition is well, big; Yahoo, Fox Sports, Sportsline.com, EA Sports etc. It’s no coincidence that they have the backing of powerful media machines, considering fantasy sports is a close to $2 billion-a-year business. The average fantasy participant spends almost $500 a year playing, not to mention the millions of page views made available to advertisers to a nicely targeted marketplace.

Is there room in this sports crazed community for more players? We realize that its a reach to match the budgets of the likes of CBS and ESPN. But, like in any market segment,

- if you put together a plan to carve out an untapped niche,

- build a strong authentic brand to help you grow,

- increase your visibility, and

- make it an attractive buy to advertisers

there just might be room for someone new in the highly competitive fantasy sports category.

Of course it will take money, work, and strategic thinking to do all three. But that’s a discussion for a different time, now why don’t you put down that mouse and throw me that make believe ball so I can play some fantasy catch.

Share this article | Permalink | No comments

Posted by Lisa Jordan on July 11, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Filed under: Ramblings
Tags: advertising, marketing, new markets, target markets

Just for the Health of it.

For healthcare systems, the challenges are all too real. The United States’ healthcare costs are increasing at twice the rate of overall inflation. Healthcare consumes over 16 percent of GDP. The cost of healthcare in the U.S. is twice the average of all other industrialized nations. The growing burden of healthcare costs puts U.S. companies at a disadvantage to their foreign competitors. Unhealthy lifestyles and a growing uninsured population will only add to the burden as we move into the future. With all that in mind, is fiscal disaster imminent for healthcare in the United States?

I think not. To help counter these negative trends, healthcare is evolving toward a more patient-centric model. The patient-centric model not only puts the needs of the patient first, but also places more responsibility and accountability on the individual patient. Now, patients are beginning to:

* Research health issues online, including:
- General health information
- Procedures
- Practitioners

* Share health information more freely with system providers.
* Be more proactive regarding their own health and well being.

When the stakes are high, it’s time to get smart.

The proactive, consumer choice market (with virtually unlimited access to providers) has made healthcare one of our most competitive industries. To successfully compete in such an environment, healthcare organizations must demonstrate the following:

* Superior clinical performance
* Differentiated patient experienceInnovative models of care
* Market-making partnerships and alliances
* Technology-enabled advantages
* Differentiated brand identity
* Advanced marketing capabilities

Sound daunting? It can be. That’s why having a smart marketing plan is non-negotiable. When WellStar ( a large health network in Metro Atlanta) adopted the patient-centric model, Mindpower designed a marketing plan based on the beliefs behind that commitment. By putting the patient first, awareness of the WellStar brand increased, along with patient volumes, particularly in the areas of cardiac and cancer care. Ah success!

Tell me a little bit about your healthcare marketing success stories.

Share this article | Permalink | No comments

Posted by Lisa Jordan on July 8, 2008 at 10:14 am
Filed under: Brain Candy for Health
Tags: healthcare marketing, marketing, marketing plan

Viral Marketing, catch it!

“Buzz marketing,” “organic marketing,” “word-of-mouth marketing.” No matter how they name it, marketers (and their clients) love “viral marketing.”

Rest assured, there’s nothing remotely pathological (or even new) about the phenomena. That’s because it’s rooted in everyday human nature. Basically, people will tell others about what they like – and what they don’t like.

“Viral marketing” was first coined in 1996 by Harvard business professor Jeffrey Rayport in an article in Fast Company. It’s come to mean marketing strategies where individuals pass on a marketing message to others. And it’s the use of existing social networks that makes for plenty of exponential growth in awareness (and sales).

Offline, viral marketing is frequently called “word of mouth” marketing. The effectiveness of “word of mouth” was highlighted in a recent study (Edleman Trust Barometer 2007). Survey respondents cited “persons like themselves” as the most trusted source for getting information about a company or a product.

A list of recent “viral marketing” winners includes the movie “The Blair Witch Project” (1999) and Burger King’s “Subservient Chicken” campaign.

The Internet has become a viral marketing “Promised Land.” Social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace) have been popular sites for segmented campaigns. Countless viral campaigns have sprung up on YouTube. But just as common, viral marketing can mean hitting a city’s hottest night spot, where the fine line between hipster lifestyle and product placement is frequently blurred. But no matter which channel you take, viral marketing could be the key for quick (and creative) growth in your company’s brand awareness.

Click here (Word of Mouth Marketing Association) to see some stories on viral marketing.

Share this article | Permalink | No comments

Posted by Lisa Jordan on July 8, 2008 at 10:07 am
Filed under: Ramblings
Tags: internet marketing, marketing, viral marketing