Oh no….the American Marketing Association Has Done It Again!

The American Marketing Association has released a new definition of marketing, a mere three-plus years after their last one!
Supposedly to reflect marketing’s broader role in society the new definition reads:

Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients,partners and society at large.

One of the most important changes to the AMA’s new definition of marketing is that marketing is presented as a broader activity,states Nancy Costopulos,CMO of the American Marketing Association.Marketing is no longer a function — it is an educational process.

I think the folks who need educating on this is the AMA. This definition has the inherent look and feel of a committee decision trying to please too many self-interested members. I shudder at the thought that this will now be the official definition of marketing in books and taught in universities across the USA as AMA claims.

And what’s the value to society at large that comes from marketing bubble gum, handguns, child pornography, religious fanaticism, Japanese whaling expeditions in the name of science, and xenophobia? Whether the AMA likes it or not the proponents of all these use marketing processes and techniques.

I wonder which set of institutions are now part and parcel of the definition of marketing. Only those who join the AMA? Every organization that has customers is engaged in marketing. My motto: if it touches the customer, it’s a marketing issue. You don’t need to be an intitution, or use one, to engage in marketing.

The last time AMA came up with a new definition of marketing was way back in 2004! That definition read:

Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating , communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.

At least the 2004 changes were a huge improvement on the previous one (created in 1985) which read: marketing is the process of planning and executing conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of goods, ideas and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals.

If the AMA felt a need to improve on its three-year old definition, I would have personally recommended the following:

Marketing is an organization-wide function, activity and set of process to create and keep good customers by creating, communicating, and deliverying value to customers to the benefit of its customers, the organization and its stakeholders.

Now that’s a definition that wouldn’t need updating and amending any time soon.

10 New Rules of Branding

I came across the following list of so-called new rules of branding in a recent issue of Marketing magazine here in Australia. The list was developed by the folks at www.BrandingStrategyInsider.com.

Personally, I’d say the list is more valuable as a set of new considerations to be taken into account for marketing strategy, not just branding. But that’s just my opinion!

Anyway, here’s the list:

1. Brands that influence culture sell more; culture is the new catalyst for growth.

2. A brand with no point of view has no point; full-flavor branding is in, vanilla is out.

3. Today’s consumer is leading from the front; this is the most well-informed generation to have ever walked the planet.

4. Customize wherever and whenever you can.

5. Forget the transaction, just give me an experience.

6. Deliver clarity at point of purchase; be obsessive about presentation.

7. You are only as good as your weakest link; do you know where you’re vulnerable?

8. Social responsibility is no longer an option; what’s your cause, what’s your contribution?

9. Pulse, pace and passion really make a difference; has your heartbeat been checked recently?

10. Innovation is the new boardroom favorite.

Can’t say I agree with all of these….but it’s a good way to start a dialogue. Any comments?

Marketing Wisdom 2008 now available from MarketingSherpa

The sixth annual edition of the eclectic and interesting Marketing Wisdom report from MarketingSherpa is now available as a free PDF download at http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.html?ident=30298. 

The report features dozens of real-life test campaign lessons and tips, and has been collated from 101 stories and submissions submitted by MarketingSherpa’s readers. The topics cover just about every aspect of marketing – advertising, B2B, B2C, customer service, direct mail, email, lead generation, search – and such hot topics as landing page and website design, mobile marketing and Web 2.0.

I have all six of these annual reports and refer to them frequently. And while you are at their site, I also highly recommend signing up for the free MarketingSherpa weekly newsletter. It’s one of the best in the business.

Brand Oprah Starts OWN Network

Oprah Winfrey – the brand and the person – has announced plans to create and launch a new cable TV channel called The Oprah Winfrey Network in conjunction with Discovery Communications.

To be known as OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, Oprah will reportedly be the creative force behind this channel and she will have full editorial control. In her words, Oprah intends to launch a cable channel with “mindful” content as instead of the “mindless” drivel that dominates today.

The announcement comes at an interesting time for Brand Oprah, as she is currently receiving heavy criticism in some parts of the USA for her support of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. The backlash started soon after she started showing up on the campaign trail with Obama and is summed up by the following post from one angry woman on Oprah’s web site under the heading Oprah is a traitor:

“I cannot believe that women all over this country are not up in arms over Oprah’s backing of Obama. For the first time we actually have a shot a putting a woman in the White House and Oprah backs the black MAN. She’s choosing her race over her gender.”

Of course, Oprah has built her personal reputation – and that of Brand Oprah – by showcasing empathy with women’s issues and offering a continuous stream of redemption, hope and motivation through her TV show; O, the Oprah magazine, her satellite radio show Oprah & Friends. Plus, her multimedia production company Harpo Productions produces the widely watched Dr. Phil show.

Hence, the backlash from female supporters of Hillary Clinton, Obama’s main Democratic opponent in the current election season, should have easily been anticipated, pre-empted and mooted. That it wasn’t – and still hasn’t – may or may not tarnish Brand Oprah, depending on how divisive the gender/race issue becomes in the remaining months of the primary campaign. Of course, should Clinton and Obama run as a joint Democratic ticket against a Republican foe in the presidential election in November, Oprah might find herself sitting pretty in support of both a black candidate and a female one.

Chances are, of course, that all will be forgiven after the election and Brand Oprah will continue to rise and shine across the globe. And OWN just may be the launch pad for the brand’s new trajectory across both race and gender. 

According to the press announcement on the new cable venture with Discovery, OWN will target “women, men and their families with a purpose and a passion to celebrate life, to inspire and entertain, empowering viewers around the world to live their best lives.”

With a mission statement like that, there is no doubt the Brand Oprah fully understands the power of branding. As they often say on her show:  you go girl!

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L.L. Bean Tops Retailer Customer Service List

L.L. Bean has jumped to the #1 position in customer satisfaction in the USA, according to the third annual National Retail Federation Foundation/American Express Customer Service Survey.

Ranked third last year, L.L. Bean shot past both Amazon and Nordstrom to take the top position. The company was judged the best across all retail formats and is the only “old school” retailer ranked in the top five this year. The other top five included Internet retailing giants Zappos.com in second, followed by Amazon.com in third, Overstock.com in fourth and Newegg.com in fifth.

The survey was conducted amongst 8,877 consumers in September and asked “which retailer delivers the best customer service?”

“Good customer service starts and ends with how the customer feels about their experience with a retailer,” states NRF Foundation Vice President Kathy Mance. “Retailers are especially challenged because of the multiple touch points that exist between the customer and their brand, but these companies have shown that great customer service does exist.”

I would suggest that rising customer expectations is another challenge for retailers, since four of the top ten from last year’s survey (Boscov’s, Kohl’s, REI and Macy’s) have fallen off this year’s list entirely. As we have often written, customers have too many choices to put up with failed or falling service.

One of my favorite quotes is that “life is too short to drink bad wine.” I would also suggest that “life is too short/precious/busy to put up with poor service.”

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Online holiday season shopping posts record $29 billion

Consumers spent over US$29 billion in online e-commerce holiday season shopping over the last two months of 2007, according to figures released by comScore (www.comscore.com). According to comScore this is a 19% gain over the US$24.6 billion spent online during the 2006 holiday spending spree.

The two heaviest spending days were Monday December 10th (US$881 million) and Tuesday December 11th ($819 million).

Video games, consoles and accessories were tracked as the fastest growing online retail category, with an increase of 129% over 2006, driven mostly by popular consoles like the Nintendo Wii and the Sony Playstation, plus games like Halo 3, the Simpsons and NBA 2008.

Furniture, appliances and equipment as a category was up 67% while event ticket sales during this period rose 24% and consumer electronics were up 23%.

These figures should certainly make the credit card industry happy, since the great majority of all retail e-commerce transactions are charged to a credit or debit card account.

The NBA Launches In China

It is not often that I get to write about two of my most passionate interests at the same time, but an announcement yesterday has given me an opportunity to write about both basketball and marketing in the same article.

Four Chinese companies and global sports broadcaster ESPN (owned by the Walt Disney Company) are investing US$253 million for an 11% stake in the newly formed Chinese subsidiary of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

This is huge.

Not only in terms of the dollar value, which values NBA China at about US$2.3 billion for a subsidiary company with little or no current revenues. But also in terms of what this means for the global sporting world, sponsorship opportunities, and marketing in general.

It is also huge for the NBA brand, one of the best sporting brands globally and one that has yet to suffer from the drugs scandal and player misbehavior taints of several other major professional sports.

NBA China has the right to create teams in China and will own all broadcasting rights and merchandising rights. It reportedly will also have the right to retain partial ownership in the teams created in China.

The NBA has never been secret about its long-held desire to turn this North American professional league into a global franchise. But previous to this announcement its efforts have been limited to a handful of exhibition matches played in Europe, Asia and Latin America, plus the obligatory global broadcasting of regular season games through ESPN and of its annual All-Star weekend classic and its year-end playoff series.

Interestingly, the league currently has about three dozen international players performing on its 30 teams, making it one of the most “internationalized