I saw this post on Social Media Today and thought it was worth sharing. While I’m not the most active person on Twitter, I have been successful in avoiding 9 of the 10 mistakes that Mike Johansson lists. Which one do you think I make? How does your Twitter use rate on Johansson’s list?

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10 newbie Twitter mistakes made by businesses

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I had the privilege of discussing the issue of character with Doug Brooks, CEO of Brinker International, the parent company of Chili’s, On the Border and Maggiano’s restaurants. Our agency has the honor of working with Doug’s team on a variety of interactive projects, including the recent relaunch of Chilis.com. The conversation was prompted by my attendance at the annual gala for Limbs for Life, a fundraiser for an organization that provides artificial limbs for those who would otherwise be without, for which Doug serves as both a board member and the event co-chair.

I had heard the story about how he had lost a leg from a jogging accident in 1998 and was inspired by both his courage and his sense of responsibility to help others through this foundation. I asked him about the importance of character in being an effective leader in both the for-profit and not-for-profit worlds. He is quite passionate about the subject and shared some of his thoughts and the wisdom he gained from his mentors.

On Respect: “My first job was as a dishwasher in a fried chicken restaurant when I was 13. I had two managers, Mike and Bob, whose different styles made quite an impression on me at an early age. Mike would look me in the eye, call me by name and say things like ‘Doug, nice job on the dishes today.’ On the other hand,  Bob would yell across the kitchen, ‘Hey you, you missed a spot.’ That experience has stuck with me for over 40 years. I learned a lot about respect: If you give it, you’ll get it.”

“I once heard Herb Kelleher, founder of Southwest Airlines, put it this way, ‘You have to respect every job in the company and the person in it.’”

On Courtesy: “Norman Brinker, our founder, used to say, ‘It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.’”

On Honesty: “It is important for me to give my team members honest feedback because I care. I’m on their side and I want them to be better.”

On Leaders: “We once had Lou Holtz, former head coach of Notre Dame football, talk to a group of Chili’s managers. He said there were three questions he expected that all of his players should be able to answer about him as their leader. Can I trust you? Do you care about me? Do you want to win (do you share my goals)?”

On Courage: “When I lost my leg in 1998, I had to decide if it was going to be an excuse to feel sorry for myself. Some things you just can’t control. Lack of character leads to excuses.”

On being a role model: “The way I behave sets the tone.”

One other attribute that Doug did not talk about was humility. He doesn’t like to talk about himself and rarely grants interviews. But Doug is a humble leader, and that has endeared him even more to those who have gotten to know him. Count me as one of the fortunate ones!

This is the first interview in this series. If you know of other leaders of character who are worth following, please let me know. I’d like to get their insights as well.

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Leaders of Character: Doug Brooks, Chairman and CEO of Brinker International

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Bernie Madoff. Stanford Financial. Enron. Tiger Woods. Governor Mark Sanford. Unfortunately the list goes on and on. People and companies who lost their moral compass.

Leaders of high character are desperately needed today. Employees want to follow leaders of character. Customers want to buy from companies and brands of character. They want honesty, not half-truths. They seek integrity, not situational ethics. They want to be treated with respect, not abused or ignored.

Recently I participated in an awards program sponsored by The First Tee of Greater Austin, an organization that I co-founded and that I’m privileged to chair. The Nine Core Values Awards were presented to members of our community who represented one of the nine core values we try to teach and model for the youth in the program. These values are honesty, integrity, responsibility, courtesy, respect, sportsmanship, perseverance, confidence and judgment. If these values are worthy to model for our kids, they are also worthy to model for our teams. As I look at companies today that are embroiled in public relations nightmares, I’d argue it is because they failed on one of these nine values.

Marketing leaders, who in many cases are their companies’ chief brand ambassadors, must be people of character if their brands are going to be. Character is one of the few things that can be assessed in a binary way. We either live with integrity or we don’t. We treat all people with courtesy or we don’t. We act responsibly or we don’t. These are high standards to live up to, but these are the standards that distinguish a great leader from the pack. How are we doing?

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Attributes of an effective marketing leader, part 8: character

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That was the question posed on LinkedIn this week and I had to respond. Here is my response.

1. Be remarkable and you build your brand.
2. Lose your integrity and you destroy it.

Of course, this begs my follow-up question: Which is harder: being remarkable or acting with integrity?

Next week I’ll expand on this with the last in the series, “Attributes of an effective marketing leader.” In the meantime, how would you answer the question I posed?

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What can the Tiger Woods affair(s) teach us about branding?

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In an age of 140-character tweets, 50-slide PowerPoint presentations and multi-pivot tabled Excel spreadsheets, some of the most effective skills marketing leaders need will be analog. Yes, in a digital age it will be imperative that leaders  develop the analog companions to their digital proficiencies.

The first of these skills is story telling. Humans are wired to learn through stories. We connect with people by hearing their experiences and relating to them. We are inspired to overcome obstacles by reading tales of triumph from those who faced adversity but didn’t quit. We are moved to action by watching others do things that touch our hearts.

As a change agent for your company, telling great stories may further your cause faster than just telling people what to do. Share your personal experiences in a way that helps people relate to you and aids in their understanding the concepts you are trying to communicate.

As a marketer, sharing your brand through stories can also be compelling. When I’m asked by someone to “tell me about nFusion,” I have learned the best way to do that is by telling my story. The reasons behind our portfolio of services become more clear. My executive experiences and the issues I wrestled with become a shared experience with the questioner. The frustrations I dealt with are the same ones he or she is dealing with. Explaining our firm through a personal story helps establish our uniqueness and our relevancy.

Having your customers tell their stories is also very powerful. OnStar used to do this nicely. Farmers Insurance is doing it now. Your brand-as-hero message seems much more compelling when it is told by others to whom your audience can relate.

For a quick guide on good story telling, watch the short video above. The key elements apply not just to radio or television, but to your stories as well.

Who have you worked with who leads through stories?

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Analog skills in a digital age, part 1: story telling

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“Time is neutral and does not change things. With courage and initiative, leaders change things.” This quote from Jesse Jackson summarizes the essence of the seventh attribute of effective marketing leaders – initiative.

Leaders don’t wait to be told what needs to be done. They are perpetually dissatisfied with the status quo. They see the same problems others see but can’t sit still while the problem goes unresolved. Inaction is not an option. I’m not sure whether this is a “personality defect” or a learned characteristic, but the attribute is both a blessing and a curse. Either way, people who possess this inner sense of taking the initiative distinguish themselves from most of the population.

Initiators become champions of causes that others want to follow (watch the video on your right for a bit of inspiration on this point). Sometimes this is the person who refuses to be worn down by corporate bureaucracy, inertia and apathy when others have given up. Other times it is the person who steps forward and has an idea that inspires those around him. But most often it is someone who knows that things can be better and decides to take responsibility for doing something about it.

A person’s position may mandate that he or she initiate actions. In a company that is experiencing revenue challenges all eyes are on the CMO to see what changes he or she will initiate. In this case many of the previously discussed attributes, such as vision, insight and courage, will be important in fulfilling the organization’s expectations. Ford’s leaders are handling this well right now. Toyota’s? Not so well!

But frequently initiative comes from someone without an organizational mandate. This brave soul decides that a risk is worth taking and doesn’t care about the question, “Who put you in charge,” and acts because action was needed. He stepped forward because someone had to. She stood up because sitting quietly would not make the situation better. These are the leaders every organization must nurture.

Who on your team is an initiator? How do you support the risks they take? Are you still initiating change the way you used to? If not, what happened? Great marketing leaders emerge from those who take the initiative. Are you one of them?

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Attributes of an effective marketing leader, part 7: initiative

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Today is the annual “Monday Morning Quarterbacking of Super Bowl Commercials” day. And unlike many years, the football game was better than the commercials. The Drew vs. Peyton battle was great. Most of the commercials, not so great.

Here are my picks for Best, Worst, Underrated and “What were they thinking?” commercials.

Best: Snickers. The spot was attention-getting, humorous and most important, a great statement of the company’s brand proposition. I remembered it this morning and I associated the message with something relevant to me as a consumer. Well done, Snickers!

Worst: GoDaddy. The commercials were lame, degrading and have nothing positive to say about the brand. They make me want to do business with the company’s competitors. I know this is consistent with its previous efforts, but surely GoDaddy could do better.

Underrated: Google. I would have never expected that a 30-second demonstration of Google could be engaging, but this was masterfully done. It had the two essential ingredients of great story telling, one action leading to the next and a relevant message (more on this in an upcoming post). It made me feel something, which was quite unexpected. It might not be the highest-rated spot, but there are lessons to be learned from Google’s execution.

“What were they thinking?” Dove. After several years and millions of dollars positioning Dove as a beauty brand for women, now they want to launch Dove for Men. I’m usually less critical of brand extensions than Al Ries, but this one is a dangerous gamble for Dove. Surely, a new brand optimized for men could have achieved its goal of reaching a new market with much less downside for the company’s core business.

If you want to see how the Ad Meter scored all the Super Bowl ads, click here for the USA Today coverage. It turns out that the Ad Meter and I agree on the Best and the Worst commercial. But what do you think? What are your Best and Worst picks for Super Bowl 2010?

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Super Bowl: Commercials overshadowed by football

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This Sunday is the big annual event for television advertising, the Super Bowl. Many people tune in more for the commercials than for the game itself. And many of the spots will make a positive impact for their marketers. But looking beyond the “most liked” ratings is particularly important.

This commercial is a classic case. I remember watching “Cat Herders” during a past Super Bowl and laughed out loud. It received great reviews and very high “scores.” The problem was no one remembered who the ad was for. In terms of brand recall I’ve heard that it scored at the bottom.

So as you watch the big game this weekend keep an eye out for the brands that do great advertising and the ones that move the ball forward for their brands. Then join the Monday debate on who did both.

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Super Bowl: When “great” ads can be poor marketing

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You can’t watch television today without seeing Verizon touting that its map is better than AT&T’s. Or AT&T rebutting with how much better its 3G network is. If you’ve read a major magazine lately you have probably seen GM compare its models to its leading competitors. Is this explicit comparative advertising a sound strategy? Based on my experience, I would say, yes, but with some caveats.

In the early ’90s, while at Dell, I was involved in starting a price war in the PC category. The advertising that supported the strategy was an explicit comparison of similarly featured Dell and Compaq products along with their respective list prices. Dell cost usually 30% – 50% less and the campaign caused quite a stir in the industry. It also caught the attention of buyers and helped the company grow from $500 million to $3 billion in a few years. It worked for Dell and it seems to be working for Verizon.

If you are considering this approach, I believe there are four things to keep in mind:

1. Be the champion of the customer: The foundation of this approach should be based on how the comparison benefits the customer. Poor executions turn into shouting matches between competitors. Good ones endear the brand to the customers for whom they are fighting.
2. Compare relevant and important information: Make sure the point of comparison really matters to customers. Southwest does this well with its bags fly free campaign. But I’ve also seen tech companies compare features that are low on the priority list for buyers and the brand comes off as a grouchy engineer trying to prove a meaningless point.
3. Take the edge off with humor: Some of the best comparative campaigns use humor to make their punch seem less offensive but still get the point across. The Mac v. PC guy campaign did this really well for a while. Verizon and Southwest are doing it well now. Chevy’s use of Howie Long? I’m not so sure.
4. Let your customers make the case: This approach can be most effective, especially in the digital world. Reaching in-market buyers with content from fellow buyers can make a compelling case. Make sure it is authentic and not contrived or it will backfire.

So what are your favorite examples of great or awful comparative campaigns?

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Is comparative advertising a good strategy?

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I read an article in The New York Times this morning, For Super Bowl XLIV Advertisers, Synergy Is the Name of the Game, that got me a bit irritated. The premise of the article, and a view that I subscribe to, is that marketers must think beyond the 30-second TV spot and incorporate all digital forms of customer engagement appropriately.

However, this comment caught my attention: “That’s the way you have to go to market now,” said Kathy O’Brien, vice president for personal care at the Unilever United States office in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. “The Super Bowl is an element of a complete, 360-degree campaign.” I started to cheer, but that was premature. She followed her statement with the following: “During the Super Bowl, we’re going to use Twitter to engage the audience in real time by reaching out to people Tweeting,” she added, “and urging them to watch our commercial again.”

Give me a break! Is this what marketers mean by 360-degree campaigns? Using Twitter to encourage re-watching a TV spot? You have to be kidding! Clearly, companies are still struggling to plan coherent, integrated customer-engagement programs.

I have several thoughts on the subject, which I’ll be sharing over the next few months. But first, I’d like to know what you think the root cause of this problem is. Why is this still so hard? Send me your thoughts.

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What is a 360-degree campaign?

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