I can’t believe it’s Week 9 already. Wow! I hope 10 was good enough for everyone. I sure enjoyed it. I’d like to say thank you to those that commented or simply read my musings. I wish number 11 (who ever that may be) all the best and look forward to reading your posts.

This being my last blog post, I started thinking about blogs: whether or not they work and are they a good investment for brands. Why does the IMC blog exist? Does it do a good job marketing the program? Is it a valuable feature for students in the program to stay connected and learn? I found a ClickZ article that ponders the question of the value of blogs and how to measure their impact.

Corporate blogs are popular these days. Google, Yahoo, General Motors and Sun Microsystems all have company blogs. Microsoft has official blogs and employee blogs. More and more smaller companies are starting to use the medium to raise their profile and some even hope it will generate sales. At my company we created and run a blog for our client Turkey Hill Dairy and it have generated a lot of interest.

How do you assess the impact of a brand blog? Do we even need to measure for results? Running a blog requires a minimal investment and the community it creates provides a lot qualitative feedback. If you do want a more definitive measurement there are several approaches available including monitoring trackbacks and comments or monitoring the news for certain keywords. There are several ways to do this. Google Alerts and Technorati offer free solutions. Software like Cymfony and New Media Strategies charge a fee to captures keyword mentions across all online media. But even free techniques require a time investment.

Of course you could measure tradition measures like unique users and hits, but they don’t tell the whole story. Another option is to apply qualitative benchmarking, like conducting brand attitude surveys, or implement a scoring system that rates every press comment or incoming link over an extended time period. Other marketers have used random pop up surveys asking for feedback. There really isn’t a standard and some marketers use a combination of these methods, but I many use none. Instead they are relying on a general sense of whether their blog is working or not.

What does everyone think? Are blogs worth the time and effort it takes to monitor them? What about this blog? Should we be measuring them?

Well, that’s enough seriousness. As a David Letterman fan I thought I would leave you with a Top Ten list ?

The Top Ten Things I learned While Writing the IMC Blog:

10. Time is relative. Nine weeks in class feels a lot slower than nine writing a blog.
9. There’s a difference between taking grad school seriously and being too serious about it.
8. The IMC virtual community is pretty darn real with a lot of real nice people.
7. This program is very convenient unless you’ve been inconveniently placed in a hotel with unreliable wireless! (That’s happening now!)
6. After 15 years of writing in an advertising style I can write academically.
5. Investigation is good, but leave room for instinct.
4. I can enjoy time with friends and family when I let myself be less than perfect.
3. Embracing my WVUness starts with a hat and grows with a basketball tournament.
2. The diverse backgrounds of the IMC students make enriching and insightful debates.

And the number one thing I learned while writing the IMC Blog,
1. No matter how big the hurdles you may face, never give up. Take it from a Philadelphia Eagles fan!

So I guess this is it. So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye!

My wife and I had a rare night without the kids. After working in the yard all afternoon we decided to see a movie at an old 1940’s theater near our house. Tickets are only $3 and the food is reasonable. The movie happened to be Knowing starring Nicolas Cage. It is an end of the world sci-fi thriller with many references from John’s accounts in Revelation, except Hollywood’s version has the rapture being conducted by aliens via spaceships.

Cage plays an MIT professor struggling with the “randomness” versus “determinism” question. Is it purely random that the Earth happens to be the exact distance from the Sun that it needs to be in order for life to grow and thrive here? Or is it a sign of some sort of deeper, grander design? Cage’s son gets a paper with numbers written 50 years earlier predicting all the major disasters in the world including the end of time. As marketers we conduct research to try and know what consumers want and will do. Except we want to predict success not disaster.

For my book report in IMC 612, I read Jonah Lehrer’s How We Decide, which analyzes the latest discoveries of neuroscience and psychology to help us understand how we make decisions. Many marketing decisions are based on Rational Choice Theory –people make decisions by multiplying the probability of getting what they want by the amount of pleasure (utility) that getting it will bring. But this theory isn’t accurate.

Magnetic imaging of the brain has revealed that what we “think” is driven by emotions. Every feeling is a summary of data – a visceral response to information we don’t have the cognitive capacity to access. While our conscious brain is focused outside, our unconscious is processing millions of pieces of data from all of our past experiences. Patterns are found and translated into vivid emotions giving us access to subliminal calculations our conscious brain could never handle. That is why even though we can’t think (conscious mind) fast enough to hit a baseball, we still do. In a split second, subconscious data from past experience is translated into a feeling that the pitch is good.

Not only do we have little understanding of what people know, but it gets worse when we ask them about it. Consumer Reports asked food experts to blindly sample jams. A University of Virginia psychologist recreated the test with students and their preferences closely match the experts. But when he repeated the experiment asking another group to explain why they preferred one brand over the other the second group preferred the worst tasting jam. The thinking warped their judgment.

A similar experiment asked students to choose between posters. Ninety-five percent of the non-thinking group chose fine art over a kitty poster and none regretted their decision. The second group was asked to explain their decision and half choose the kitty poster, but 75 percent regretted that decision. How many studies have been skewed asking people to explain their preferences as opposed to going with their guts or first thoughts? The way they would act/react in the real life situation.

Focus group results also can be skewed. TV network executives have learned that people tend to prefer the familiar. New shows that test best remind people of shows that are already popular (impulsive emotions). On the other hand, shows that are unique and different that may perform well in reality or over the long term don’t test well. Friends did not test well, nor did the famous Avis “We try harder” advertising campaign because they were different, yet their differences are what made them successful.

If there is one thing we all must know it is that a dollar is a dollar right? Wrong. MIT business professors organized a sealed-bid auction for Boston Celtics tickets. Half were told to pay cash; the others were told to use credit. The average credit card bid was twice as high as the average cash bid. Buying with cash makes your wallet literally lighter, but credit cards make loss abstract, so you don’t feel it.

“The madman is the man who has lost everything except his reason.” G.K. Chesterton. We are not rational beings. Emotions are a part of every decision we make. Can we ever truly know what consumers think? This may help explain why, despite marketers using research, only 10 percent of new products are successful.

As marketers we get numbers predicting the future, but do we really know what they are telling us? They are not perfect. Surveys and statistics and focus groups are just foggy, twisted views of reality. In the end we need to use our own brains and experiences and emotions to interpret what we see. At some point you need to step out and believe.

Keith

Has anyone read George Orwell’s 1984, watched Big Brother on CBS, or see the famous Apple Macintosh Super Bowl commercial 1984? (Its relevant I swear!) They all have the same theme: Some big creepy company or government is watching you, taking away your freedom.

Two things this week made me think of this topic. First, we started working on our group project for IMC 612. We have to create a diary and a detailed log of all our activities for two days. Talk about getting connected. I’m not sure I’m ready to look at an itemized list of my activities let alone share them with an entire class. Second, this past week in my Morality Law & Advertising class we talked about the Internet and the controversy over behavioral targeting. Has everyone heard of it?

Online behavioral advertising involves sending ads to an individual Internet user that are geared toward his or her interests, as gleaned from studying that person’s Web habits. You have a thing for Mexican Wrestling Films; suddenly everywhere you go on the Internet you see ads for Mexican Wrestling Films. Companies like NebuAd have tested this technology on many ISPs and some companies like Embarq didn’t e-mail its customers about the trial. Embarq buried it in a 5,240 word privacy policy on its website.

But don’t worry, the Federal Trade Commission will protect you right? At a hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee last July, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Lydia Parnes said, the FTC is cautiously optimistic that the privacy issues raised by online behavioral advertising can be effectively addressed through meaningful, enforceable self regulation.” In other words, they have no idea what’s going on and how to keep up with the changing technology. So we’re on our own, hoping the people creating the surveillance software will find the moral fortitude to regulate themselves. That reminds me of the Sharks from Finding Nemo trying to convince themselves they didn’t like to eat fish. “Here’s Brucey!” Sen. Byron Dorgan (D., N.D.), who chaired the hearing said, “I don’t have the foggiest idea who’s tracking me. There are so many unanswered questions.”

Another thing I’ve got students questioning in class is a new technology being used in the old medium of outdoor advertising. Start up companies like Quividi are equipping billboards with tiny cameras that use software to analyze facial features to judge a person’s gender and age. So far the companies are not using race, but they say that they can and will soon. The goal is to tailor a digital display to the person standing in front of it — to show one ad to a middle-aged white woman, and a different one to a teenage Asian boy. How far will this go? Cameras installed in the ads above urinals?

What does everyone else think of this issue? As a marketing person I’m very intrigued about the possibility of micro targeting my banner ads to people already proven to be interested in the category. As a person, I start thinking about getting a generator, living in a cabin and getting off the grid. I don’t consider myself a conspiracy theorist, unless you want to talk about Alpacas (it’s a pyramid scam), but Google just announced they are going ahead with behavioral targeting of their ads. And have you seen the movie epic 2014?

I’m switching to Yahoo while I plan my cabin in the woods.

Keith

In 612 Consumer Behavior this week we are studying group influences on consumer behavior. The subject made me think of this group we are all in called WVU IMC. In particular, we are a virtual community as defined by Hawkins, Mothersbaugh & Best: a community that interacts over time around a topic of interest on the Internet. We do that right?

The textbook’s examples place us next to Saturn owners, scuba divers and Star Trek fans been thinking about this unique relationship for awhile now. From application to graduation we literally do not have to see each other in person. It’s kind of weird. Sometimes you have to ask yourself “Are these people real?” I know we all exchange pictures and the professor’s do introduction videos but there is still a disconnect. On the other hand, I wouldn’t trade the convenience for anything.

My textbook continues saying that many participants in virtual communities lack any ongoing commitment to the group and the lack of face-to-face interaction can remove much of the symbolic and emotional meaning conveyed in real communities. I can relate to that. I’ve struggled to feel a real connection to West Virginia University. (I’m typing this in my Temple Sweatshirt.) It’s hard without being on the real campus. I do feel more of a connection to my undergraduate school Temple University, but that’s not a fair comparison because I’m down on campus once a week teaching and I spent 5 years living there. My wife did buy me a WVU hat that I wear often – especially during the recent basketball tournament. (Both of my teams should have gone further!)

I feel a connection with the other students in the program though. Through our postings you get a sense of who people are by what they choose to talk about. I’ve been pegged as the “Mac guy” because somehow I always manage to weave Apple computer into our weekly topics. I swear it is always relevant! Apple is an innovative, successful company and much more fun to talk about than Microsoft. (That soapbox comes out so easily!) You know what I’m talking about – you learn people’s personalities through conversation – even graded conversation. Has anyone had a class where people have used the Social Forum? I haven’t. I think we’re all too busy, which is why we chose an online program.

Speaking of online programs, I noticed the other day in my Temple email an announcement about how the University’s business school is launching an online MBA. This innovative new program (How long as our program been up and running?) is being billed as “a unique combination of cutting-edge technology, in-person residencies and real-world experiences.” Using headsets and webcams provided by the program, students will interact and participate in real-time weekly lectures by asking questions and answering problems as they would in a traditional classroom session. It also requires three, five day in residences on campus. That’s three weeks of vacation from work and none of it with my family!

Hmm. That does not sound appealing to me. I’m in this online program for its flexibility. “life_integrated” (Great marketing by the way). That is what I love about the design of our program. There are deadlines, but we don’t have to be any one place at a certain time. Headsets and webcams? Do you really get that much more out of it? I’ve done plenty of business presentations trying to use that technology and it is just weird and far from perfect. I’d rather stick with writing, posting and reading to keep my flexibility. While those poor Temple MBA students are stuck in a North Philly classroom, for their vacation, I’ll be sitting on the beach with my Apple laptop working on my next post. Suddenly the disconnect of IMC is making me feel more connected because they understand my needs.

What does everyone else think of our format? At least we don’t all have Avatars in a 3-D computer generated world like Second Life. That would be creepy. Or maybe Rick Bebout is working on it as we speak. : ) I think my first and second life are full, I’ll have to open up a third life if that happens. In the meantime, I hope to see many of you in person at the IMC Weekend. Next week’s blog: How my Apple computer makes life in the IMC program better.

Keith

Have any of you struggled with knowing how to post? I know I did. And I think the IMC program does a good job setting up expectations – they even give us examples!

But I still didn’t get it at first and still struggle sometimes. Why is this?

I think there are several issues at play here:

• The way we post in this program is unnatural. Think of how you and I are used to communicating via email, chat or text. It is basically a written version of a conversation. Especially in the younger generation (I feel old just saying that). They have grown up having conversations by typing online and texting. It is a very casual format.

• In an on-line program we may tend to think of posting as a replacement for in class participation or discussions. But in class students give reactions off the top of their head and merely refer to what they read in the text.

• But a posting is not a paper either. Nobody wants to read 100 additional papers every week. We have enough formal reading between our textbooks, lessons and assigned reading. Posting is supposed to be a discussion – a back and forth between students learning from each other, questioning, pushing, furthering ideas.

So what is a post? I have come to think about posts and responses as mini-conversational papers.

I remember when I first started I was guilty of the causal post. I delivered a series of my “expert” opinions – I’ve been in the business a long time after all! (Boy have I learned a lot!) I’m usually more humble, but it is amazing how arrogance can sneak up on you.

Then after being “educated” by my professor I went to the other extreme. Scared to voice any personal opinions, my posts became slightly reworded copy and pastes of journal or business articles with little or no transition and devoid of personality.

I’ve seen both of these extremes in others as well. Some didn’t even paraphrase and their posts became a series of long quotes. Others continued slightly longer versions of “Great post, I agree with your opinion. Who else agrees?” I’ve been guilty of that also.

But this is how I approach my posts and responses now: I won’t pretend to know it all. In fact, I invite everyone to comment and share your “tricks” to posting.

• I start by forming a personal opinion and think about what story I want to tell. Do I agree or disagree? Is there potential to take it in a new direction?

• I’ll check to see if any of the assigned reading relates to or supports my opinion/story. I’ll also see if I have any work experience that is related to the subject.

• Then I’ll find support starting with Google, looking for business articles or market research. (Sometimes the main findings of those $1,500 market research reports appear in news articles or press releases) I will then jump over to the databases available through WVU’s Library. (LexisNexis, EBSCO Host, etc.)

• What normally happens now is that the research I find doesn’t exactly match the story I want to tell. It takes it in a slightly different direction or even contradicts my assumptions. This is the fun part. It makes the story more interesting.

• Once I’ve got all the research, I fill in the gaps, condensing and rewording as I go, ending up back at the beginning and left usually left with another question.

• Responses follow a similar pattern.

Yes, it takes some time to go through this process and sometimes I feel like I’m taking way too much. I’m trying to get more efficient. I also tend to stick close to the one/four requirements. Once I meet that requirement then I feel free to make more general comments. But maybe I haven’t figured this out yet and I am posing. And sometimes a coffee this big isn’t enough . . .

What does everyone else think? ; )

Keith

Last week I was fortunate enough to attend the International Academy of Business Disciplines (IABD) conference in St. Louis. I was a contributor on a paper that was accepted for their publication and we were invited to present at the conference. As I was flipping through the program searching for other talks we would like to attend I was reminded of a question I’ve had since returning to the academic world – Why do they talk that way?

Has anyone else in the IMC program had this experience? I normally don’t have problems reading and understanding my textbook. I appreciate and enjoy the extra assigned articles. They are normally written by journalists in business publications. They really bring to life the practical aspects of the theories we are studying. Then I sit down, ready to read the stack of assigned academic journal articles. And that’s when I run into that foreign language – Academicese. My eyes glass over, I read and reread the same sentences over and over, I may nod off (we’re all lacking sleep) and struggle to finish. And mostly I feel like ?

Why is this? Almost a year into the program and I still feel like a foreigner. Sure, I’ll sneak big esoteric words into my papers and posts once in a while, but to a much smaller extent. Some words are exactly what they are and can’t be reworded. But that is not what I’m talking about. In general it seems descriptions and phrasing is intentionally overly complicated. Are these words necessary for meaning?

One talk at the conference was about “Punctuated Casual Textures: A Rejoiner.” I spent a good five or ten minutes reviewing the title and description trying to figure out what it was about. Eventually I gave up and attended a talk I at least understood “Transforming yourself into a more valuable organizational member.” Days later spending more time with that talk and after consulting my dictionary, I’ve translated that original talk into “Emphasis Caused By Distinctive Characteristics.” By studying the symposium descriptions more carefully I believe the “Rejoiner” part is about joining together reviewers’ suggestions to the author’s theories proposed in previous articles. Yet the description says that their “Rejoiner” argues that those “joined” suggestions reflect a “cross level fallacy.” Are you following me? (I’m not). After failing to locate the original journal article on EBSCO Host I’ve given up for now. Instead, I decided to conduct a non-scientific survey of top business academic journals and put together a fictional journal article title of esoteric terms:
Reflections on the Pros and Cons of Explorative, Effectual Empirics Implications Frameworks for Fuzzy Models in Interfirm Relational Drivers of Disciplinary Systemic Bias in Internationalizing Nascent Fields with Affective Need Knowledge Utilization of Tertiary Followership and Contextual, Contingency Relationships Punctuated by Cross Level Fallacies, Boundary Objects and Regression Analysis: A Rejoiner.

I know I am not being fair by stringing them all together, but it does make a point. I’ve spent a career simplifying and explaining: “translating” a client’s complicated industry jargon into something understandable and appealing to their target. So who is the target in these academic journals? Who is translating their insight and knowledge to the business person? Besides advancing education, shouldn’t business and communication schools be leading the way in advancing business and communication practices? Are we just talking to ourselves? Is that okay?

What are the best selling business books doing? A recent Fast Company article reported the results of a study that applied standard reading-level assessment formulas to some of the most popular management texts. Fish! and Good to Great both tested at an 8th grade level with Who Moved My Cheese? testing at a 7th grade level. Am I missing something? I searched the Internet to see if there are official reading levels above “College Level (13)” and could not find a reference to a “Masters Degree” or “Ph.D. reading level.”

So what does this all mean? I don’t know. I guess that leaves us graduate students stuck in the middle. Somedays I feel squeezed and other days I feel pulled. What’s your view on pedagogy, I mean style of teaching?

Thanks, Keith

Last Friday and Saturday I went with my 8 year old son Jack and Boy Scout Troop 304 to the Battleship New Jersey. It is the largest, most decorated battleship in our country’s history serving in WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East from 1942 until 1991. First, I would like to honor all who have served in our military. Thank you!

BB62 was built at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, and launched December 7, 1942 (a year to the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor). She was the last great battleship to be built. The next two were started, but never completed. In our 6 hour tour spread over two days, my son and I barely scratched the surface of the significance and brilliance of this masterpiece of war. The lessons to be learned are numerous. In over 50 years of service the Navy knew what to keep the same and what to change.

For example, up until her decommissioning in 1991 they were still using the WWII era analog computer to aim her massive 16-inch guns – it was that accurate! The gunner would hand dial in nine different variables including wind speed and distance. With a range of 23 miles they could not see if they hit their target due to the curvature of the earth. So they would launch floatplanes from the deck who’s pilots would radio back adjustments to the crew.

Some things did change over the years. They removed many of the guns on the deck that were good at shooting down Japanese Zeros with propellers, but became obsolete with the invention of jets. They added Gatling guns that are especially good at shooting down oncoming missiles. And in the 1980’s Tomahawk missiles were added with a range of 870 Nautical miles. (From Camden, NJ where we were docked we could hit Detroit or Miami). The Navy kept what worked but also added innovation. The battleship metaphor for a brand. Coca-Cola comes to mind. Despite being founded in 1886, the brand has managed to remain “Delicious and Refreshing,” a theme they have used to drive the brand since the beginning.

The presence of the Battleship New Jersey during Vietnam, the North Vietnamese refused to participate in the “Peace Talks” until the New Jersey had been called off. Like a battleship the presence of a brand can wield a lot of power. I learned in Brand Equity Management (IMC 613), Coca-Cola is estimated to be worth $67 billion, while tangible assets (buildings, equipment, etc.) are only worth $25 million.

In Audience Insight (IMC 612) we choose a book in the consumer behavior field to read and write a book report about by week five. I chose a book that just published that talks about neuroscience and psychology. Being on a school bus with a sleeping son and a Battleship isolated from the NCAA tournament by 17-inch armament, I was able to spend some time with this book. Neuroscience has presented us with a very different way to think about our brain and how we make decisions.

Since Plato our society has been in love with rationality at the expense of emotion. Philosophers dreamed of an utopian world where human beans made completely rational decisions while controlling their misleading emotions. But as we study the inner workings of our brain, scientists have discovered our emotions play an important part in all our decisions. In fact, a lot of times the reason we make right decisions is that our emotions serve as a short cut summation of all our learning and experience. This gives us an immediate gut reaction (emotion) on whether a decision is right or wrong.

In the early morning of February 24, 1991 as Marines invaded Kuwait; a Lieutenant Commander was monitoring his radar when one blip on his screen felt wrong. It looked exactly like the other blips he’d been watching for months returning from bombing runs. But his split-second decision to shoot down that particular blip took out a missile saving a battleship and hundreds of lives! His unconscious mind made connections between hundreds of previous real and simulated experiences and translated the knowledge into a gut feeling. The emotional mind made sense of something the rational mind could not perceive or explain.

A recent article in Advertising Age spoke about rational versus emotional advertising. Are rational arguments or emotional engagement more effective? In writing their new book “Brand Immortality,” the authors analyzed 880 case studies from the U.K.’s Institute of Practitioners in Advertising Effectiveness Awards. The result? They were able to show that emotional campaigns are almost twice as likely to generate large profit gains over rational ones. I think there needs to be a balance, but we have seemed to favor rationality without completely understanding the impact of emotion.

What did I learned sleeping on a battleship? Spend time with your family, no matter how busy you are. If it isn’t broke don’t replace it, but don’t forget to add Tomahawk missiles. And if you don’t have a floatplane to predict advertising effectiveness, try neuroscience.

Keith

I usually run during lunch and the other day I was especially looking forward to it because it was a beautiful, sunny day. But there was one problem: I forgot my running clothes and was stuck in the office. Fortunately while sitting at my desk sulking and getting grouchy my wife called and in the midst of my whining she suggested that I go for a walk. What a revelation! For some reason, that idea had never occurred to me. What reason?

In between longings for fresh air I had been trying to write headlines for a Turkey Hill FSI when I found a quotation by noted trend spotter, Faith Popcorn. She said, “The trouble in corporate America is that too many people with too much power live in a box (their home), then travel the same road every day to another box (their office).” In predicting human behavior she has recently upgraded the trend she had previously identified as “cocooning” to “uber-cocooning” to signify the increased emphasis on home (box #1). According to her survey, almost 3 in 4 consumers say they spend “a good deal of time at home.” Popcorn says that’s because they “view home as the safe haven from the increasingly threatening outside world.”

How many of us look for inspiration inside a box instead of life itself? Instead of walking outside, I check my live Doppler radar widget. I search for photos online (someone else’s view of the world) rather than go take my own. Instead of walking down the hall to talk to someone, I send an email. It’s easier and faster. Wii Fit has created virtual exercise. And we all know reality TV is far from reality. This all reminds me of an experience I had when we lived in Baltimore. I went to an Eagles preseason game against the Ravens at their new stadium. The state-of-the-art big stadium screens were mesmerizing. So mesmerizing, in fact, that I kept watching the live plays on the big screen instead of looking at the field. I had to keep reminding myself, “You’re here at the game, watch the real players!”

That’s when I decided to break out of the office (box #2) and take my wife’s advice. I took a walk and was amazed by what I saw. Our office is in an old renovated bank in the valley between Capital Hill, where the PA State Capitol is located, and Allison Hill, which happens to be one of Harrisburg’s tougher city neighborhoods. Connecting these two sections of the city (right behind our office) is the State Street Bridge). Also known as Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Bridge, it is a beautiful 1,312-foot arch bridge that spans the railroads tracks, PA Route 230 and Paxton Creek. As you get closer you realize how elaborate it is for a bridge. In fact, it is more like a monument. Two 145-foot tall and 16-foot wide pylons flank the western end of the bridge. The keystone on each arch is a unique carving. I discovered later on Wikipedia (I know, I know but this is the blog not a posting) that each carving is a weapon that was developed during World War I. The bridge is a monument! Although never built, plans included a museum under the western end of the bridge. I’ve lived here almost my whole life and never took the time to notice this amazing work of art right in front or should I say behind me.

I went back in the office refreshed and with renewed energy. Yesterday, if I had been working on a project for the State Street Bridge I probably would have gone to flickr instead of walking two blocks to the bridge itself! So back to my original question, do we have to follow Faith Popcorn’s consumer behavior trend? Is it time we all came out of our cocoons? There’s something to be said for being in and observing the real world outside our boxes even if they are widescreen. I found an Internet campaign that tells us to do the opposite of “uber-cocooning”: Dentyne. Make face time.

“People are spending more and more time online, and less and less time face to face, together,” says Craig Marcus, the executive creative director at McCann Erickson who orchestrated the campaign. “We’re not saying technology is bad. It’s great, but there are still some things it lacks—it can’t replicate what happens when people are in front of each other. Certain things can’t happen online through social networking? All we’re saying is be with other people.” And to reinforce this, the site is set to log you off the website after 3 minutes.

So, I think I’ve spent enough time online now. I’m going to skip my weather widget and step outside. I encourage you to do the same. There’s a whole world around us that we pass everyday, but don’t really see. You’ll still get your postings and paper done. In fact, it may even give you a fresh perspective. Why didn’t I think of going for a walk? I was stuck in a box. Stuck in my routine. Don’t get stuck. Bono in his new song Unknown Caller tells us to “Restart, reboot yourself, you’re free to go.”

It’s spring. Who knows, maybe the stock market will start coming up like the daffodils my four year old keeps picking.

As I sat down to start working on next week’s post, I truly am at a loss for words. Saturday four of my co-workers were headed to Florida for a week of fun at Phillies training camp when their luggage started coming off the roof of the car. They pulled off the highway to retrieve it and a car struck them. Two are okay, one is in intensive care, but our web developer died on the scene. He was a 30-year-old father of two kids under five.

While nothing compares to losing a father, this has made me think about how our country has gone through a lot of loss in recent years. On 9/11 we lost thousands of lives and our sense of security. Since then we’ve lost thousands of soldiers in both Iraq and Afghanistan. And with the recent economic downturn we’ve lost our financial security. Every day people are losing their houses, their jobs, and their retirement income. It’s no wonder people are turning away form material things and towards relationships and faith.

So as I start IMC 612 Consumer Behavior this week, I am struggling to find meaning in selling material things. “Consumer” seems like such a cold and impersonal term. Each consumer is a real person with feelings, families and dreams. Economists tell us we need to spend our way out of the recession. If so, then advertising plays an important role. But as marketers is it possible for us to play an even larger, more meaningful role in the recovery?

I have some brave suggestions for marketers in this economic climate:

1. Donate a portion of your advertising budget for the year toward a charity that helps families that have lost their homes and jobs. Use PR and PSA’s to elicit support and/or matching funds.
2. Keep your traditional plan, but create a program to donate 10 percent of total sales for the year to that same charity. This would promote spending while still benefiting families in need.
3. Empower employees in your organization to make unique contributions to the needs of their local communities. This grassroots approach would change lives on a more personal level, doing good while creating lasting relationships.

Is there any basis to my suggestions? Would they work? Since I am in Consumer Behavior I offer this March 10th New York Times as evidence that they may. Far from a scientific study it does give insight into the consumer mindset.

And as my textbook tells me, applying consumer behavior to marketing programs is more of an art than a science. Here are some highlights:

• Even those with a regular income are reassessing their spending habits, perhaps for the long term.
• Maxine Frankel, said, “I feel much more satisfied with the things money can’t buy, like the well-being of my family. I’m just not seeking happiness from material things anymore.”
• Carol Morgan, said she felt a responsibility to cut needless spending. “I see it as the right thing, as the moral thing to do.” She also hopes to increase her charitable giving.
• Economists point out that the Great Depression created a generation of cautious savers. The longer the downturn this time, the more likely it is to change financial habits permanently.
• Tracy Johnson, a researcher says, “If you just give people the opportunity to buy more, you’re not matching up to where their minds are.”
• Juliet B. Schor, an economist said consumers’ focus may have shifted, she said, from striving to catch up to those above them to contemplating the fates of those below them.

Are these suggestions crazy or just crazy enough to work?

I apologize for the somber post this week and promise next week will be more lighthearted and fun.

In the meantime my thoughts and prayers go out to my co-workers and their families. When I was at a loss for words these were the only words I could find:

“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those who are crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 34:18

I wish they all would have made it to Clearwater

Keith

Hi. My name is Keith Quesenberry and I am honored to be the 10th student blogger of the IMC program. I would like to thank Professor Chad Mezera for giving me this opportunity. If you think about it 10 is a special number — a milestone. People celebrate 10-year anniversaries, 10-year reunions and 10 is a perfect score in many sports and scales. Ten is a lot to live up to.

DeSean Jackson is number 10 on the Philadelphia Eagles. Only one season and he has become one of my favorite players on the team. A second-round pick wide receiver, DeSean just completed one of the finest performances by a rookie receiver in Eagles history.

Then there’s Number 10 Downing Street. The site of the official office of the Prime Minister of England. Winston Churchill emerged from Number 10’s famous door holding up the “V” sign for “Victory” in 1943. 10 Downing Street also has importance because I’m a huge James Bond fan.

And one of the best soccer players of all time is Brazilian player Pelé who wore, you guessed it, the number 10. Between 1956 and 1974, Pele scored a total of 1,220 goals — not unlike hitting an average of 70 home runs every year for a decade and a half. He made such an impression on the sport that to this day only the best players wear the 10 on their teams.

Of course there’s the movie 10 staring Dudley Moore and Bo Derek. I don’t have much to say about that one and I’ll spare you the photo.

As we head into the late Spring Term, I’m looking forward to 612 Audience Insight with Professor Bennett. I am just fishing up IMC 613 Brand Equity Management with Professor Girardi. I have also taken 611 Marketing Research & Analysis with Dr. Gao. And last fall I started out the program in Intro with Professor Andersen. All my professors have been top notch and the curriculum so far has been very good. The people, technology and flexibly have been amazing. And I truly am applying what I learn to my current job. But I am growing weary and looking forward to a break. We’ll get there together and hopefully my wife and I will get to meet some of you in person at the IMC weekend. This is where I currently spend too much time.

Before I get back to my final 613 paper, I’ll tell you a little about myself. I am an associate creative director at an integrated advertising and marketing agency in Harrisburg, PA. I live here with my wife Kristin and our three children Ellie, Jack and Katie (ages 10, 8 and 3). Getting married right after college, my wife and I lived in Atlanta, Baltimore and Washington, DC before returning to Central PA to be near family five years ago. Here are my kids on a weekend trip to Lewes, Delaware.

I have a B.A. in Journalism/Advertising from Temple University in Philadelphia and a degree in Copywriting from The Portfolio Center in Atlanta. I have spent most of my career on the creative side of the business. I’ve worked at both small advertising agencies and large ones such as BBDO and Arnold on a wide variety of brands from Choice Hotels and the Baltimore Ravens to ExxonMobil and Delta Airlines.

In addition to working full time, and wrestling with my three kids I am teaching an undergraduate advertising class at Temple University. Because of this I get to spend four hours each week on the PA Turnpike. I have 27 very good students. The class is writing intensive, so as I’m writing IMC papers each week I’m grading papers at the same time.

When I’m not doing all those other things, I like to run. (Usually over lunch along the Susquehanna River.)

My most recent marathon was Baltimore this past fall. Although my slowest time (grad school really cuts into your training) it was the most meaningful because I raised money for Cure International. Enough to pay for 6 clubfoot operations. Kids that couldn’t walk can now run! An orthopedic surgeon in my church stared Cure in 1996 and now they have hospitals in eleven countries around the world. Here’s the entire family at the race. I couldn’t have done it without them!

Unlike Anne, our very first blogger, I’m afraid to try and add up the time I spend on the program in a week. I don’t think seeing how little time I have left for sleep would be good for my mental health. And unlike some of the previous blogers I have no plans or goals for this posting. (Professor Mezera’s jaw just dropped) I do promise however some insights and ideas relevant to our experience as IMC graduate students, the subject of Integrated Marketing Communication and IMC 612. That’s why we’re all here, right? (Okay maybe I do have a plan) But I want to keep it loose, maybe a little fun. We have enough serious reading in our classes! Thank you to the 9 blogers who have gone before me. I will try my best to live up to 10. And to keep up with tradition you’re invited to “Ask Keith questions.”