Jason Skinner, Chief Marketing Officer
True North Custom Media

Jason has more than a decade of experience in strategic marketing and custom media, having served as an editor and publisher for more than 200 unique titles serving the healthcare, finance, nonprofit, and other vertical industries. Prior to joining True North, Jason worked as managing editor in the publishing division at HealthSouth Corporation. Jason is a member of the Custom Content Council, Magazine Publishers of America, and Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in journalism from the University of Alabama.

Q&A

What is the background on the evolution of True North Custom Media?
True North was originally established as a marketing group in 1988, and the company restructured in June 1998 to focus entirely on 100-percent custom publishing. The company has grown from its beginnings as a local advertising and graphic design firm to a leader in the evolving custom media industry and a founding member of the Custom Content Council. Today, True North is a fully integrated media company, providing branded content programs across multiple marketing and communication platforms. From 100-percent custom publications and annual reports to dynamic websites, e-newsletters, video solutions, mobile applications, and other marketing and communication resources, True North delivers relevant, engaging content that connects financial institutions to their clients, communities, and other target audiences.

How has TNCM made a commitment to marketing transformation and best practice development nationally or globally?
True North is committed to leveraging technology, data analytics, and research to inform and measure a fully integrated marketing strategy for each of our clients. Our mission statement is "We are your best resource," which reflects our commitment to serving as a strategic marketing partner for our clients in healthcare, finance, and other industries.

How has the company embraced digital marketing channels, tools, and technologies to further the effectiveness of marketing efforts for clients?
We have developed several innovative solutions that illustrate our commitment to delivering relevant, engaging marketing strategies and driving return in investment. This includes an analytics and predictive modeling platform that leverages deep market research and data from multiple sources to inform marketing strategy, as well as a content ecosystem that incorporates advanced targeting and personalization techniques to deliver content in preferred print and digital channels.

What do you see as the biggest challenges and opportunities for growth in established and emerging markets?
The technology adoption curve will always be a challenge, but we are working with clients to educate them on the benefits of connecting with their consumers through their most preferred channels and formats.

With regard to financial marketing and responding to the financial crisis, what are some ways you work to help clients deliver content and communications to different customer segments? How do you target those customers?
As a media and marketing company that specializes in custom content, we employ advanced research, segmentation, and targeting strategies to ensure the messaging and channels are the most relevant and engaging for each respective audience. This involves a collaborative effort with each client to define the readership, researching to glean perception and preferences, and delivering content that will resonate based on each reader's unique needs, interests, and motivations.

What process did you go through to determine what new formats and media types would be embraced and valued by your financial clients' customers?
We conduct extensive market research to determine new formats and media types. This includes deep analysis of channel preferences, current and prospective customer perception, and other insights that inform a marketing strategy.

How do you track and rate the performance of content and communication in this area?
Along with the typical calls to action, dedicated URLs, and other feedback mechanisms incorporated within each client's custom media and marketing program, we employ a test and control methodology that allows us to measure the downstream effect on revenue, perception, and other metrics.

David Burgos, Vice President, Millward Brown

David Burgos is head of Millward Brown’s Multicultural Practice, co-chair of the Advertising Research Foundation’s People Forum, and co-author of Marketing to the New Majority: Strategies for a Diverse World (Palgrave Macmillan, August 2011).

ETHNIC TARGETED MARKETING: DO WE REALLY NEED IT?
To target or not to target? That is the question marketers often ask themselves when trying to reach out to an ethnically diverse population. Should I develop a separate strategy for each of the segments that comprise my market, or would having a universal approach be sufficient? What elements of my marketing mix should I focus on if I decide to follow a targeted route? Will the potential results of a targeted initiative be worth the investment needed to implement it?

Brands in the U.S. have been dealing with this issue for some time already, but the fact that the country is on the verge of becoming a nation of minorities adds a sense of urgency to the matter. They must win ethnic segments to stay relevant and grow in a multicultural American environment. Unfortunately, there is no absolute answer to this dilemma because the situation each brand faces is different. However, here are some important guidelines that can help you successfully navigate today’s multicultural marketplace:

1. Don’t be an ignorer. Virtually all US marketers acknowledge the importance of ethnic segments. However, many still believe multicultural marketing is not for them. Some believe this because they feel their product category is a commodity; others assume ethnic consumers are just not interested or can’t afford their offering. Quite often, these assumptions are based on stereotypes. So whether you represent a luxury brand or a product in a category with little differentiation, it is important to understand the relationship ethnic consumers have with your brand. They are an integral part of today’s new mainstream, so you still need them to stay relevant in the future.
   
   
2. Try to find the right balance between customization and standardization. Similar to international marketing, brands operating in a multicultural marketplace have to find the right balance between customization and standardization. Going too far in one direction can mean efficiencies are lost. Going too far in the opposite direction can cause your proposition to become less relevant to consumers. Unlike the international discipline, however, the fact that multicultural marketing deals with diverse people coexisting in the same place poses unique opportunities and challenges. While a multicultural marketplace does favor the development of cross-cultural strategies for example, marketers should be careful because what they do for one group is likely to impact the other segments. Consumers do not live in ethnic versus general market worlds.
   
   
3. Incorporate the ethnic perspective in your brand’s foundational research. It is common for brands to develop their marketing strategies based on the needs of non-Hispanic whites (i.e., the general market) and then try to adapt these programs to the nuances of ethnic segments. Incorporating the ethnic perspective at the foundational level has proven to be more effective and efficient. You can determine early on whether and to what extent a targeted approach is needed. Often a tweak in your advertising will be all you need to make it culturally relevant, but sometimes more profound actions are required, whether it is around your brand positioning, distribution strategies, pricing structure, or even product development.
   
   
4. Engage your audience in a culturally intelligent way that avoids forcing the ethnic factor. Plenty of data shows that targeted advertising is likely to do better than non-targeted communication among ethnic consumers. However, targeted advertising does not guarantee success. To be successful, targeted ads still have to meet the basic principles of any advertising campaign. The problem is that we often focus so much on the cultural aspect of communication that we forget about those principles. Remember that race or ethnicity is just one of many factors that define consumers as human beings, and is certainly not always the most relevant. Practice discretion in how and when you use it—a process that I call “intelligent targeting” in my book, Marketing to the New Majority. Consumers notice forced cultural elements and react negatively to them.
   
   
5. Do not minimize the role of culture to casting. Cultural relevance is not synonymous with having diverse casting in advertising. In fact, consumers are likely to reject a “one-of-each” approach as being unrealistic. Include imagery that mirrors the degree of multiculturalism found in your particular target audience. Dial up diversity and cultural cues if the goal is to attract more ethnic consumers, but always make sure your casting selection flows nicely within the story.
   
   
6. Do not limit your conversation with ethnic consumers to ethnic media. Ethnic consumers are exposed to both targeted and mainstream media. Undeniably ethnic media favors the use of targeted messages and provides a culturally relevant context for your communication. However, mainstream media also offers interesting opportunities within the context of the new mainstream. A concern marketers face with regard to the use of mainstream media to target ethnic segments is that the message can alienate their mainstream consumers. The risk of this happening is actually low. Non-Hispanic whites don’t necessarily view so-called ethnic communications as being geared toward someone other than themselves, even if they feature an all-ethnic casting or cultural cues from other racial or ethnic groups.
   
   
7. Continuously assess how both your targeted and non-targeted strategies are doing among ethnic segments. It is a best practice to always look at how different ethnic segments perceive your marketing campaigns, even if they are not specifically targeted to them. Brands have faced damaging situations for not doing so. A recent example is Nivea’s “Give a Damn” campaign. When you assess the ROI of your programs, consider not only the money needed to develop targeted approaches (spending perspective), but also the money you would be losing if you hadn’t implemented them.

Harvey Chimoff

Harvey Chimoff defines and develops marketing capabilities in changing environments, particularly for marketing organizations in transition. He is a pragmatic go-to-market strategist and planner who delivers real implementation in B2B and B2C operations. Contact him at www.marketingworldblog.com.

MAKE STRATEGIC CHANGES FROM POSITION OF STRENGTH, NOT WEAKNESS

Why do leaders and companies seemingly wait until crises occur before making the tough go-to-market and organizational structure decisions needed to ensure healthy sales and profit generation?

I break no new ground by reminding you that the best time to make changes is when your company is doing well and can adjust to the change rationale and ramifications in a positive environment. It just doesn’t seem to work this way, though. Perhaps no action is seen as being easier or safer, even though it’s the calm before the storm in many cases. A famous advertising tag line for FRAM® oil filters sums it up best: "You can pay me now or pay me later."

Cal Baseball Example
In September 2010, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau announced that the number of varsity sports would be reduced from 29 to 24 at the end of the 2010-2011 academic year: baseball, women’s lacrosse, and men’s and women’s gymnastics were identified for discontinuation. The reason was to reduce costs, as the university said the “steps [would] generate an estimated $4 million in direct and indirect cost reductions for Cal Athletics beginning in the next fiscal year, while limiting future growth in expenses.” Director of Athletics Sandy Barbour added, “Clearly, this is a painful outcome after months of deliberation, analysis, and the examination of every viable alternative.”

Sound familiar, corporate warriors? Fortunately, this story has a happy ending along with an important lesson, as the baseball program has new life.

University officials announced on April 8 that $9 million of the $10 million required to support the team for the next 7 to 10 years had been raised, with the expectation that the remaining funds would be attained. The school said the “team’s supporters have not only raised significant one-time funding, but are also working closely with the university to develop a strategic plan to raise significant additional annual resources, beginning with the 2011−’12 season. This strategic plan will focus on improved game-day revenues, as well as additional annual gift and special event revenue. The plan being developed also calls for a substantial increase in the sport’s permanent endowment, seeded by some of the gifts already raised.” 

Learn to Re-imagine Before Crisis Strikes
The marketing and fundraising campaign included a Save Cal Baseball website and Facebook page. Those tactics were to be expected, but the core idea was much deeper and more strategic: it would be a campaign to re-imagine and re-engineer the operating model and revenue-generating capabilities of the school’s baseball team.

Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Hannah Karp detailed some of the changes, including the installation of lights at the baseball field to help increase game attendance and revenues. She explained that other new ideas, such as ”voluntarily limiting scholarships, selling naming rights to the diamond, offering electronic game-day programs for smartphones, and even squaring off against major-league teams,” were under consideration. And the role of the baseball coach was expanded to include fundraising and marketing duties.

Think about the lessons for your company. The underlying go-to-market strategy for Cal baseball—university funding of the operating budget—was no longer viable. Barbour talked about how everyone learned ”important lessons that will serve us well in the future” and ”the degree to which we need to rely on private philanthropy.”

The painful truth is that Cal should have gone down the re-engineering path sooner instead of announcing the baseball shutdown. However, in this case, it’s possible that the crisis was, in fact, the reason for the program’s salvation. Maybe raising $10 million couldn’t have been done any other way. Regardless, at your company, don’t expect to be as fortunate. Take action before allowing a deteriorating situation to go too far.

By the way, as of May 16, the Cal baseball team was rated number 25 in the country, and special fundraising has saved the other sports as well.

Embrace Reality
Former Kodak CMO Jeffrey Hayzlett has written an engaging book on business health. In encouraging fashion, he declares, “If you are willing to look at what’s working and what isn’t—and take the necessary steps to fix things, no matter how drastic, difficult, or different they may be—you can succeed…Remarkable opportunities exist for any company willing to change the way it works—or change back to the way it once worked.”

Headline for Leaders
Don’t wait for crisis to make the strategic changes your company needs to ensure growth and prosperity. The best time to take action is when the company is doing well and can process the change rationale and ramifications from a position of strength. Remember the FRAM advertising tagline and make your payment now. Paying later usually costs a lot more and is very painful for all involved.