Thursday, November 13, 2008

JIMC 2009

The launch event for the Journal of Integrated Marketing Communications was held this week at Northwestern. Guests included the IMC Committee of the Association of National Adverstisers (ANA). The event produced the 19th issue of the JIMC first published in 1991 at Northwestern in the Medill School and the IMC Department. The JIMC is the volunteer work of 30% of the class (about 25 graduate students) who attract "blind reviewed" article abstracts (we don't identify the author so we are only influenced by the quality of the ideas), edit them with the author, raise $20,000 for the printing, layout and distribution of 3500 issues to business leaders, alumni, faculty, new students and others. What an extraordinary effort by the graduate students (in their spare time). My objective in starting the JIMC was to demonstrate the thought leadership of the school and its students. Much like the law reviews produced by students and faculty at the leading law schools, this publication fits the mold of offering new and leading ideas to our fields.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Post Election WLS-TV ABC Chicago

Nov. 5 2008 The election went as predicted (though I was to be the eunuch professor to offer a balanced view). I had noted that Obama might secure 322 Electoral votes He may finally received 338. The first item on the President-elect agenda (following the hosting of very succesful, modest and important event on election eve. will be the appointment of the Chief of Staff. Other early appointments are likely to be Treasury. I expressed a concern that Obama might take from Chicago and Illinois all the leading Democrate. It would be up to the State's leaders to be sure that Chicago and Illinois do not fall back into a political muck that embarasses the President-elect now and in the future. The Republican Party will clearly need new leadership; new specific goals and plans. John McCain give a noble concession speech and Obama reciprocated.

WLS-TV ABC TV Chicago

Nov. 10 2008. This a.m. they wanted to know about the visit of President-elect Obama to the White House and his next appointments after surprise Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff (opposites must attract). The topic with President George Bush would be "the economy, the economy, the economy and the war". No curtains would be measured but the civil and legal transfer of office would be commenced. Some concerns that Obama might be making the same mistakes that Bush made by appointing Clinton appointees just as Bush appointed his father's appointees. "Change" was promised. The cast of characters reads like the current House, Senate and Clinton cabinet. The most important (after Chief of Staff) is Treasury Secretary with Robert Rubin 70, Larry Summer 52, Timothy Geithner 47, Paul Volker 81 and Laura Tyson. (most, except Volker, with Clinton credentials). It is clearly a global post with global credentials demanded. Both business and political/policy experience may be demanded due to the financial crises. Each nominee should be vetted for their reputation since their credibility will be part of their proclamations. Connections to the current Wall Street debacle need to be examined since any distraction will harm the nation and White House. While "deliberate haste" is crucial; business leaders and political/policy leaders must stand for high values. As I have noted, business leaders might as well consider themselves political candidates for public office.
Will Obama make the appointment before Thanksgiving (the earliest ever) or just before the end of the year?

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Comments on Olympics and IMC

Essay for Sports/Business publication

Some enjoy sports marketing in two flavors. In 2008 the “sport” of Presidential elections was in full swing and worth watching for lessons in marketing and communications for my students at Northwestern University. . The other 2008 major and equally expensive sporting event worth watching and learning from is or are the 2008 World Olympics.

Over many centuries, the ancient and even the modern Olympics have demonstrated the dedication of individuals, governments, organizations, corporations and nations to the serious and valued marketing of the Games. As in political campaigns you will notice that the use of every possible tactic in marketing was employed with most incorporating an integrated strategy to fully gain audience, stakeholder and customer allegiance. The Olympics are a great show of fully developed product, corporate and national branding.

Some of the lessons of Olympic marketing (especially for those of you who cannot afford to be an official sponsor) that I have shared with my students and audiences include low cost but high dedication strategies and tactics (hopefully you can use the ideas for the 2012 Olympics in London and the 2016 Olympics we expect to be in Chicago).

1. Prepare your “Unofficial Olympic Strategy” to work exactly with your existing marketing and corporate strategies. Link the timing, energy and messaging to the Olympic cycle.
2. Do not use ambush marketing or other unethical and illegal uses of the Olympic rings and values, but instead simply link your own sprit of business dedication and to the Olympic spirit and history.
3. Consider your loyal current customers, employees and other stakeholders with opportunities to reach out to new customers.
4. Celebrate the Olympics in your business location, make a contribution to the American effort, donate product to Olympic training or even sporting events for the very young aspirants in your parks and school. Connect to local or regional Olympic contenders and finalists in your market. Consider hosting events to celebrate the Olympics at your business. Offer tickets to the Olympics or offer Olympic linked prizes.
5. In other words, link your business to the values, spirit and activities of the Olympics in a way that celebrates your support for the athletes, the audiences and the concept of the Olympics.

Despite my affinity to the Olympics and to people of China, I did not realize that I would find myself carrying the Olympic Torch in Lijiang China to “live the dream.” As a guest of Olympic and Torch sponsors Samsung Electronics, I was generously invited to the far western province of China and the city of Lijiang to join with over 33,000 global citizens running in hundreds of cities this year to carry the Olympic Torch. When I returned to Chicago and wanted to extend my experience in carrying the Torch, I literally passed that Torch to my students and my business audiences. In June I brought home the Torch to Northwestern (don’t worry; it is the flame that we pass along). The metaphor of the Torch has been one of the longest existing brand representations in civilization.

And with the Torch and symbol of the flame, I brought to my family, students, colleagues and audiences another example of the brilliance of the human mind to create and perpetuate brand symbols of ideas, people and products that can even last centuries.

Two major marketing IMC events in 2008

Preview of JIMC (Journal of Integrated Marketing Communications publisher’s essay for Fall 2008
As this Journal goes to press, this is a spectacular year for anyone with an ounce or metric measure of interest in communications. It is in this year that I I have pointed my students, colleagues and audiences in the direction of two significant global events. Each event was widely open to both professionals, diverse and general audiences. Each event was also free; only requiring the commitment of time and some intellectual energy to watch and learn.

The first event that caught my personal and professional attention was the U.S. Presidential election campaign for 2008. Naturally, it started many months before but, as a fan and an academic author on political communications, I welcome the political season.

This year, I heard questions from the press regarding the early horserace; in the most contested party primary in recent history. With a presentation slide entitled “We call them Hillary, Barack, Fred, Mitt, John 1 and John 2, etc. (if you are searching for last names you can feel the pain of the candidates who did not establish their identities). From a more contemporary IMC point of view, the election offered some of the most interesting signs of a constantly evolving form of IMC and communications.

Political campaigns have long represented the most strategic use of every communication tool available. This year’s election added some new ways to link with audiences With a more intensive use of the internet, to not only raise funds (2004) or build an information site (2000) but, in 2008, to connect directly with voter and other highly relevant “communities.”


Politically-oriented, and IMC educated graduate student, Jesse Greenberg and I found that the Obama campaign built one of the earliest and most voter-oriented sites. The Obama Web site included twice as many links as Hillary’s did to other on-line communities. These communities were based on race, sexual preference, religion, age and other unifying concerns about which people gather to have conversations, including those about politics. The links between sites, in a Facebook fashion, created a new sense of community, and implied a form of mutual endorsement. Even John McCain “got it” when, post primary, he re-launched his website with a spectacular demonstration of reaching out to more than the proverbial “base.”

Greenberg and I argue that the opportunity for access to the candidates, via the tools of Web 2.0, enables a more open and progressive form of political access. This access offers voters a greater connection to the candidates’ ideas and actions. In our minds, the leverage of Web 2.0 technologies marks a new contribution the democratic process. This is an important departure from the historical form of access , which had only been available to the wealthiest and most generous donors. You know the rest of the story.

The second event still lingers in your short-term memory: The 2008 Olympics held in China. China has become one of my favorite countries. Over the past five years I have travelled frequently (enough so that I don’t have to pay the airlines’ profit center mistake of extra bag charges when I fly) to teach at a half dozen Chinese MBA programs including Sun Yat-sen, Jinan, Xiamen, Nanjing, Hunan, and Hangzhou Universities. I have rooted for the American Olympic heroes (what else could you call these dedicated men and women, who employ greater discipline than any of us?). Based on a series of talks in China that my colleague Bobby Calder and my friend, the former Governor of Wisconsin, Scott McCallum, I was already telling my audiences to watch the Olympics. Our work at Northwestern allowed us to teach a lesson for business to use IMC in extraordinary ways including building and protecting product, corporate and national brands.
The Olympics demonstrate the dedication of individuals, corporations and nations to the serious and valued marketing of the Games. Again, every possible tactic in marketing was employed; with most incorporating an integrated strategy to fully gain audience, stakeholder and customer allegiance. What a great show of fully-developed branding.

Despite my affinity to the brand and people of China, I did not realize that I would find myself carrying the Olympic Torch in Lijiang China, “One World, One Dream.” In June I brought home the Torch to Northwestern (don’t worry; it is the flame that we pass along). And with the flame, I brought to my family, students, colleagues and audiences another example of the brilliance of the human mind to create and perpetuate brand symbols of ideas, people and products that can even last centuries. Long live free elections, the Olympics and IMC!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

"Fat American comes to Lijiang" My favorite headline

I wasn't happy with the title that showed up in China. This was not the title for the original article in the Chicago Tribune. Still it reminds me to stay fit.


Fat American comes to Lijiang
Lijiang, China
Flag of China
Monday, Jun 09, 2008 23:07

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Good to see the Olympic sponsors getting some leverage with their marketing.



www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-olympictorchjun10,0,3796738.story
chicagotribune.com
Northwestern professor to carry university name during run with Olympic torch in China

By Jodi S. Cohen

Tribune reporter

7:22 PM CDT, June 9, 2008

As a Northwestern University communications professor, Clarke Caywood knows something about effective marketing.

So when he carries the Olympic torch Tuesday in China, he isn't going to miss an opportunity to promote the Northwestern brand. Though Olympic officials rejected his idea to hold a Medill School of Journalism banner, Caywood still plans to carry something with the Northwestern name.

He also plans to use the experience as a marketing opportunity when he returns to the United States, perhaps by starting his classes and corporate lectures with pictures of him running with the torch.

"What professor wouldn't like Olympic background music when they open their lectures?" said Caywood, who teaches in the integrated marketing communications program.

"When I give talks to industry and professional organizations, I will certainly put some of this in there as a metaphor for high achievement," he said from Lijiang, China.

Caywood, who has been a visiting professor at several Chinese universities, was invited to be a torchbearer by Samsung Corp., one of the relay sponsors. There will be more than 2,300 torchbearers during the flame's remaining 41/2-month journey to the August Olympics in Beijing, according to Samsung.

The relay has not been the "Journey of Harmony" that Chinese officials envisioned. In San Francisco, London, Paris and elsewhere, the relay was marked by pro-Tibet demonstrations and protests over China's human rights record. The relay also was suspended to mourn China's earthquake victims.

Caywood views the protests as a shrewd communications technique.

"The people involved with the Tibetan issue have a right to find an ongoing event and try to use it as a way to get their story told," he said. "In marketing, we sometimes recommend that, a co-branding."

Northwestern professor Tom Collinger, chairman of integrated marketing communications, said the school has been developing relationships with Chinese universities and businesses. Twenty students are working at companies there this summer, he said, and about 50 percent of the program's students are international, many from Asian countries.

While in China last week, Caywood lectured for the fifth time at Sun Yat-sen University, speaking to the business school's graduate students about crisis and risk management. He also participated in a seminar on building environmental awareness.

Collinger said Caywood has been instrumental in developing Medill's programs in public and media relations, and crisis communications.

"He has really been very much the leader of that area of our curricula," Collinger said.

On Tuesday, Caywood said he expects to run about 200 meters, or about half the length of a standard high school track. Though not a far distance, he said he has worried about getting winded or falling.

"My students will read this and they'll say, 'Clark is OK, but he is a little overweight,' " he said. "At one point, they were talking about running on cobblestone streets, and I thought, 'Oh great, I'll be the guy who falls.' "

Sunday, July 6, 2008

AIESECNOTE

Column for AIESEC June 1, 2008

It might seem like a long time ago, but my lessons from AIESEC have stayed with me for over 40 years. In fact, as a member of the graduate faculty of the Integrated Marketing communications department at Northwestern University (www.medill.northwestern/imc)
I continue to raise internships for my graduate students (over 50 percent are international) in the tradition of AIESEC every year. One difference might be the price (we secure support of $16,500 for each student for 11 weeks), but the spirit of AIESEC reigns in my process. My Olympic experience this summer will also reinforce my AIESEC education and beliefs.

In 1968 the University of Wisconsin-Madison chapter of AIESEC was vital and exciting. The group of UW students was so dedicated to the concept that we worked overtime to find meaningful internships in our small college town (Madison was under 100,000 populations). First Wisconsin Bank, Oscar Mayer and other firms were the corporate exception in a city dominated by the University and Wisconsin state government, but they knew the value of developing new talent in a global environment. At that time, Madison was thought to have more “foreign” cars per capital than other cities. The influence was the strongly global faculty who often came from international schools, conducted international research and brought home a Volvo, Saab, MiniCooper (the original one), MG or even Allard. I drove an Allard, Austin-Healey and TR-3. (It was a bad habit my Dad taught me and has stayed with me to this day (Porsche C4S)).

From foreign cars (the terms is oddly dated) to global students, the leap was comfortable and fun. While I had “won the lottery” that year for raising more internships than my peers; I regrettably was unable to assume my internship in Copenhagen Denmark due to some surgery from poor skiing behavior. Instead, I stayed in my home town of Madison, worked in the PR function of Oscar Mayer and hosted our international AIESEC guests.

It was a great experience. I wish I could remember their names but the Scandinavian group of men and women was excited to be in Madison. Wisconsin still has a great tradition of celebrating its northern European values and traditions. They found their welcome warm. We took them on weekends to local tourist sites (Frank Lloyd Wright’s school Taliesin, Wisconsin Dells (natural rock formations and tacky tourist attractions), the World Circus Museum and more.

The faculty advisors of AIESEC from the School of Commerce also showed their global nature. I particularly remember a backyard event at the home of Management Professor Ed Petersen and his wife Ruthie with Marketing Professor J. Howard Westing and Peg (my future father and mother-in law).

My global halcyon days continue. As I write this I am on my way to Lijiang China by way of Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Bejiing. I will be celebrating my long interest in world issues (not as an athlete) but as a guest of the Olympic Committee, Samsung and China to carry the Olympic Torch for 200 meters. As I carry that torch, I will remember that it was AISEC that gave me my first organizational introduction to a global world. As I run, I plan to carry a memento of my students, family, universities and AIESEC.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

ग्रादुअते क्लास्सेस वर्क ओं वर्ल्ड Hunger

Two classes in the IMC program at Northwestern University in Evanston and in Chicago IL. have accepted a challenge by the management of YUM! Brands to plan the second year program of a hunger prevention week. Last year the company generated 1.5 billion impressions of awareness on the hunger issue around the globe (98 countries). Because of the commitment, dedication scale, they were asked by the UN to "give a voice to hunger and starvation" around the world. The company has clearly developed a program that is not intended to sell product but simply to "save lives". Sad but important statistics such as a child dies of hunger every 5 seconds around the world motivated the top management and over 1 million employees, family and friends of employees of YUM! (including KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Long John Silver, A&W) to join in a volunteer, awareness and donation effort. Inaddition to the $50 million in prepared food donated to the poor and hungery each year; the effort raised an additional $16 million . Additional milllions of dollars in volunteer hours (where employees were paid by the company) contributed to the overall effort. We will conduct research, compare their effort to best practices of reputation programs by companies and not-for-profit organizations, prepare a plan and recommend actions for the company's leader of the effort - Jonathan Blum (Chief Public Affairs Officer). The final work will be done by experienced, educated and trained IMC students by the end of May. While we have had other clients of importance; we have not had a client where our contribution might be considered to driectly save lives! at this scale (with a company with 1 million employees).
Last year we worked on a similar projectd for Aidmatrix. com. We have also had projects for CocaCola, Rhapsody, Harley Davidson, Jeep, Chrysler, Mayer Brown Rowe and Maw (law firm) and other

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

IMC

February 12, 2008
Comments and two questions:
One of the specific challenges of the residency program is to offer to the companies the best set of knowledge and skills of the students. Of course, we are offering bright, educated and most often work experienced students from Northwestern University. However, we also need to offer to the companies a person with a specific set of skills and knowledge (see some of their requirements above). We are building a new list that will include elements of the new "communities, stakehoders and web 2.0" class. For example, the students will know about the running debate on the "wisdom of the crowds" vs. the "culture of experts and their credentials". They will know about new polling methods using automated dialing and success and their use in business (Rasmussenreports.com). They will understand some of the valued uses of Second Life (for training and education) for Electrolux. They will understand about building longer term relationships and stakeholder maps with stakeholders from the work of GE . Healthcare. Tokoni.com has given them experience on understanding how communities can be built around sharing of experiences with discussion with the Founder and Chair of the new firm as well as the start-up experiences of the same person on eBay. In other classes they understand the value of databases, how to construct and analyze them. They know how to use the more advanced elements of SPSS for statistical report generation. From Finance they know about ROI, Break-even, performance ratios, activity based accounting, balance sheets and income statements and more. They certainly understand the key ideas of marketing with a much strong consumer and stakeholder orientation. I need to build this list to include many more specific skills and help to implement strategies. For example in the Spring MPR class with YUM! brands they will know how to use some of the most expensive and productive media and advertising tracking systems for planning and decision-making. What else can I add to this list?
One note I want to add: If you will go the You Tube site that I have attached, you will see what many of the faculty consider to be a terrific self-marketing effort of a student to qualify for a highly competitive internship at the Coca-Cola company. The student shows enormous maturity and creativity to stimulate their interest. What do you think?

IMC

February 10, 2008
This past week I sent out an e-mail letter to a few dozen colleagues who are either the CCO (VP) of Corporate Communications of a corporation with $3 billion in revenue (mostly Fortune 200) or the Sr. officers of a public relations and communications agency with large billings. Some have replied immediately including two very, very large firms. A challenge I face is that most of the U.S. firms do not have the time or inclination to offer international students in marketing and communications visa standing (if they were to employ the student) to stay in the U.S. It may be up to the School to make the argument that this generation of marketing and communications students are as strong as the earlier generations of engineering and science students who were eventually sponsored. However, we do not make it a condition of summer internships to offer a visa (no job has been offered). However, many of the companies may consider placing a the international students (55%) in corporate post in their home country if they have offices there.
The jobs requested from me will demand strong writing and editing skills, strong team skills, planning ability, knowledge of stakeholders, media and PR.
Effective project management is essential and typically involves:
· Learning and analyzing client businesses to determine communications issues
· Developing actionable recommendations
· Building strong client relationships through effective integrated communications
· Participating on multi-disciplinary teams
· Interacting with internal and external resources such as research suppliers, advertising/creative agencies and other corporate resource groups
Other skills include:
Marketplace Insight Integrated Solutions
- Target Market Analysis - Communications Planning
- Needs-Based Segmentation - Marketing Planning and Integration
- Customer Understanding - Brand Building
- Messaging Assessment

Message Generation Execution and Measurement
- Positioning - Program Implementation
- Key Message Development - Communications Measurement
- Creative Strategy - Process Evaluation
- Persuasive Business Writing - Six Sigma/Commercialization

The market is chaotic this year. I suspect the softening business market will make it difficult to match students, but I know that we will match students to excellent projects. Watch this space for more information on residencies.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Medill

Every year for the past 20 a number of faculty with industry and government experience and deep affiliations have generated paid internships (we call them residencies due to their graduate level assignments) for our 80+ graduate students. I have raised approximately 400 paid residencies for my students. While it is a tough and lengthy process (from January to May each year) I enjoy the increased student contact and discussions with corporate officers. The students show remarkable level of skills, work experience and new knowledge from practical classes at NU in the traditional fields of public relations, advertising, marketing, direct marketing and research. We educate and train students to first be "business men and women" then "experts and leaders on the use of communications to solve strategic business and organizational issues". Finally, they are knowledgable at a leading edge level to "integrate" the communications, strategies, policies and tactics of the firm to strengthen the organization's brand with consumer and other stakeholders. The use the latest media tracking systems such as VMS, Biz360 and other sophisticated computer generated data tracking of experts, journalists, topics and more in print, broadcast and radio. They also (under our leadership) know SPSS statistics packages, Second Life and other newer media. Many of these skills are needed by modern corporations.

We place students in individual residencies in the U.S. and overseas (Shanghai) team projects for 11 weeks during the summer. The companies pay the tuition for individual residencies ($11,500 in 2008) and some living support for out of town firms. The faculty are involved in defining the challenging nature of the assignment, being in contact with the students and visting each student during the summer.

We have worked with hundreds of firms including most of the Fortune 200 and many of the next Fortune 200 (emerging start-ups and Web 2.0 companies. Many of the firms have offered full-time positions to our students when they graduate each December. Just this week I received a Blackberry note from a Fortune 10 CCO (Chief Communications Officer) within 1 hour of my sending him a note to request a "public affairs" oriented student for the summer. I always have a number of students who have worked on Capitol Hill (Washington D.C.) and will qualify for his needs. I begin the more detailed process by finding out more details about the work of the firm and the specific talent needs for the project.

This process has several more stages to go that I will share with readers of Tokoni.com (By the way, Tokoni leaders will be speaking in my new class on "Communities, Stakeholders and Web 2.0" this next week). More to come.

February 10, 2008

This past week I sent out an e-mail letter to a few dozen colleagues who are either the CCO (VP) of Corporate Communications of a corporation with $3 billion in revenue (mostly Fortune 200) or the Sr. officers of a public relations and communications agency with large billings. Some have replied immediately including two very, very large firms. A challenge I face is that most of the U.S. firms do not have the time or inclination to offer international students in marketing and communications visa standing (if they were to employ the student) to stay in the U.S. It may be up to the School to make the argument that this generation of marketing and communications students are as strong as the earlier generations of engineering and science students who were eventually sponsored. However, we do not make it a condition of summer internships to offer a visa (no job has been offered). However, many of the companies may consider placing a the international students (55%) in corporate post in their home country if they have offices there.

The jobs requested from me will demand strong writing and editing skills, strong team skills, planning ability, knowledge of stakeholders, media and PR.

Effective project management is essential and typically involves:

· Learning and analyzing client businesses to determine communications issues

· Developing actionable recommendations

· Building strong client relationships through effective integrated communications

· Participating on multi-disciplinary teams

· Interacting with internal and external resources such as research suppliers, advertising/creative agencies and other corporate resource groups

Other skills include:

Marketplace Insight Integrated Solutions

- Target Market Analysis - Communications Planning

- Needs-Based Segmentation - Marketing Planning and Integration

- Customer Understanding - Brand Building

- Messaging Assessment



Message Generation Execution and Measurement

- Positioning - Program Implementation

- Key Message Development - Communications Measurement

- Creative Strategy - Process Evaluation

- Persuasive Business Writing - Six Sigma/Commercialization

The market is chaotic this year. I suspect the softening business market will make it difficult to match students, but I know that we will match students to excellent projects. Watch this space for more information on residencies.