#41: B2B Kardashian Brands, trusting the news, attribution's biggest problem, and doing better at Billabong
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In this edition (#41) of the World's Best Newsletter...
1. Being Heard in a World of B2B Kardashian Brands
2. The most and least trusted brands in news
3. Is attribution enough?
4. RunMarketing Awards
5. Educating Poets and Playwrights About Advertising
6. Billabong, do better.
7. Quote of the week “She was not fragile like a flower…”
1. Being Heard in a World of B2B Kardashian Brands
I’m fascinated by the concept of authority, leadership, and attention. Who do we listen to? What catches people's (limited) attention? Who shapes their opinions and informs their point of view?
Years ago I was at the MFA in Boston checking out photographer Mario Testino's exhibit "In Your Face." It was hall after hall of massive, life-size portraits of models and celebrities.
Each looked like a glossy magazine cover.
Up the stairs in another wing, more of Testino's work was on display. In very chaste and proper fashion, portraits of the British Royal family were available to peruse.
Notably, this famous image of Princess Diana.
I was with a friend who remarked, "I wish America had a royal family..."
I turned to them and said "We do. They're in the first exhibit."
This interaction has always stayed with me, and it was the inspiration for a new article this week: "Being Heard in a World of B2B Kardashian Brands." In it, I chat through my POV on the evolution of what "PR" means in 2017 for B2B. To compete for attention with "Kardashian brands," like Google, and Slack, make sure the world knows you’re an ascending brand.
Take a look.
2. The most and least trusted brands in news
Related to the notion of imparting authority and generating attention, I found this University of Missouri study fascinating, "Trusting News Project Report 2017."
I'd love to see someone do this for trade industries. MarTech, InfoSec, etc. Maybe I'll do it - anyone want to partner?
3. Is attribution enough?
Only 7.1 percent of marketers are truly satisfied with their organization’s marketing attribution efforts, according to a new economic trend report from the Data & Marketing Association (DMA) and the Winterberry Group.
From my work with client Allocadia, I read and write a lot about the world of marketing ROI. Next week in NYC VP of Marketing Sam Melnick is speaking alongside Anna Alexander of Pitney Bowes in a session titled "Are You Measuring What Matters? The Big Difference Between Attribution & Strategic ROI."
Here's Sam's POV in an article last week in Chief Marketer:
Strategic ROI is a more top down approach, he says, where an organization looks at their returns from investments and what they’re getting from these expenditures. Attribution, on the other hand, typically looks from the bottom up, determining what activities will get the credit for what results.
“Attribution isn’t wrong, but it isn’t enough. It’s great for a field marketing manager who is day to day in the weeds and wants to know what is working,” says Melnick. “Strategic ROI is more for a head of marketing that needs to know what should be in their portfolio for their overall marketing mix to meet the business objectives.”
4. RunMarketing Awards
Hey, speaking of Allocadia, we just launched a fun awards program for anyone who's got a penchant for measurement and can exhibit stewardship of their marketing budgets.
They're called the "#RunMarketing" awards, celebrating those who can run the business of marketing.
Know someone? Want to brag about your own efforts? Apply now. Deadline is September 1, 2017.
5. Educating Poets and Playwrights About Advertising
I love this program from NY agency Droga5, aiming to make advertising/marketing more accessible to people who may not have otherwise landed in the industry.
It's an education initiative entirely volunteer-led by the agency's employees, and is described as a "mini version of a portfolio school."
Imagine if every agency gave back in this way? Especially in MarTech, academic institutions tend to fall a bit behind the necessary curriculum. How could they keep up?
This would be a fascinating solution to the talent gap if we saw more of it across the space. Justin Gray and his team at LeadMD are making great strides with Six Bricks focused on digital marketing career skills.
Event organizers - what if something like this was part of your agenda?
6. Billabong, do better.
Pardon the french, but please peruse another eye-roll of a marketing move (this time on Billabong's website) perpetuating the "men are athletic and women are sex toys" narrative.
As author Karen Knowlton says:
"Man as subject, shredding waves. Woman as object, back arched and head dropped back for ultimate titillating effect on the viewer. This doesn’t even pretend to be an image of a woman having fun on the beach, actually enjoying her beautiful body in the perfect swimsuit. It’s just straight objectification.
Here women, this is what we think of you. Welcome to our site."
Sigh.
7. Quote of the week
On word choice...
"She was not fragile like a flower; she was fragile like a bomb."
Boom, baby.
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Have a fantastic week, and thanks for reading.
Best,
Katie