A company not active in social media will have a hard time addressing a crisis like HP did. During the peak of the holiday selling season, the social sphere was abuzz with links to a YouTube video, titled “HP Computers are Racist.” The genesis of the video was a motion detector on an HP Web cam that could not acknowledge a black face.

HP responded to negative posts at myriad social media sites within a few hours. It extinguished the flame with an apology, an explanation of the technology and the fact it was working on the glitch. “The fact that HP had a social media strategy balanced the Google search sphere at a critical time when people were shopping and comparing for their holiday purchase,” says Rodney Mason, CMO, Moosylvania <http://www.moosylvania.com/> .

It’s not hard to realize that HP avoided losing a lot of sales by taking action rather than standing by and letting the crisis smear company’s name.

Read Full Article

Interesting to see mobile was not mentioned in this article with all the early success CPG brands are finding with their mobile initiatives.
 
A Deloitte survey in November found 19% of Americans noting they would use their mobile devices for shopping during the holiday season. The number for 18 to 29 year olds was more than double at 39%.  Phones were reported to be used to find store locations, obtain coupons and sales information and research products and prices. One-quarter of all who planned to use their phones to shop reported they would make purchases on the devices.
 
Additionally, according to “User View Wave VII” from BIA/Kelsey and ConStat the overwhelming majority of US Internet users research online to find local products and services.
 
The most common online tool is search. Given smart phone penetration reaching almost 1/3 of all phones in the US, which will eclipse computers when it does, mobile search - especially Organic Search, alone is and should be an important "Shopper Marketing Tool."
 
Additionally, Gartner, a leading think tank for the technology industry recently forecast that within three years, world wide, smart phones will be the #1 way people access the web.
 
Right now consumers are picking up their e-mail and social media messages on their phones.  They’re using Google and search engines for more information on their phones too.  For many, mobile is the low cost entry to the internet vs. a computer and broadband service.
 
GPS, Bluetooth and other self-identifying, opt-in technologies already have the ability for one-to-one communication and are being used in “Shopper Marketing Programs” around the world, which should make mobile, at the very least, a tremendous and significant "Shopper Marketing Tool."
 
We cover the emerging trends changing the marketing landscape today and over the next 10 years.  Mobile is our top pick.  We also have a special on-line engine, The Moose Tracker, that is updated weekly with top mobile and social media programs from around the world.  All are available free on site under "Insights

Read Full Article

What if lower calorie brands used social media to educate students and their parental figures about the impact lower calorie drink options can make in improving their overall wellness now and down the road?

It could move advocates to action, create a movement and make for a valued "give-back" to society, so many consumers, (especially moms with kids in the home and Gen Y), and brands long for.

We cover the importance of giving back to appeal to both moms and Gen Y in special reports covering both important audiences, available free on our site under Insights.

Read Full Article

Moose was abuzz last week when a local TV crew showed up unannounced to interview Tyler Davis, one of our Account Coordinators. They were doing a story on PleaseRobMe.com, which you can check out here.

So after all the watercooler talk and feisty comments on KSDK's website, we invited Tyler to write a response...

My recent run in with KSDK as the “Potential Target” on their “Please Rob Me” story was rather eye opening. Not because I learned that they were able to track me down and find out where I worked. Rather I was more surprised at the lack of information they chose to report on social media sites such as Twitter and Foursquare. Instead, they focused on scare-tactics.

PleaseRobMe.com, which is basically a Twitter search for all Foursquare posts, states their goal is “. . . to raise some awareness on this issue [online privacy] and have people think about how they use services like Foursquare, Brightkite, Google Buzz etc.”

Foursquare, the newest and emerging social media, allows consumers to check in at certain locations, ping it across their social networks and earn points in the meantime. (It’s a little more complicated than that but those are the basics). 

So because of Foursquare’s nature, KSDK reported that PleaseRobMe.com is “A new website [that] lets potential crooks know when you’re not at home.” However, as the website states, this is not the case. Rather it is an over exaggerated way to raise awareness.

I agree completely with PleaseRobMe.com’s mission and believe that in the social media world, you have to be aware of what information you offer up. You need to keep your personal information private. That’s why I don’t publish my address or phone number on my social networks. That’s also why, when KSDK showed up at Moosylvania with a microphone in my face, they were unable to clearly identify my correct home address.

Sure if you dig hard enough online, you can find public records with my address attached. But that doesn’t mean when I check in on Foursquare that my roommates aren’t home or my alarm isn’t set or my dog isn’t hungry for human flesh.

New to St. Louis, I personally joined Foursquare to learn more about the city. I am able to see where my friends have been or check in and invite them to join me. Truly, it’s an online network that allows me to be social. 

As a marketer on the other hand, I use social media to explore and understand how consumers interact with it. In fact, both Bravo TV and Pepsi have recently joined forces with Foursquare to offer up specific check-ins and badges to consumers. Having this knowledge and understanding emerging media makes me a better marketer.

Since the KSDK airing, I haven’t shied away from Foursquare. Rather, I’ve embraced it. As of right now, I’m the mayor of Moosylvania. (How many entry-level account coordinators can say they’re mayor of their company?)

I encourage everyone to check actually check out Foursquare. Hopefully, the KSDK article piqued your interest instead of scared you away. If you do want to learn more, I suggest starting with this article from Mashable or this one from AdAge. 
 

Our CMO talks about some of the challenges CPGs face agianst private lavels as a response to an Ad Age article. The article focuses on how and why CPG marketers vow to boost spending.

It has come to the point for CPGs, that the retailers they sell to have become their biggest competitors.

One thing CPGs have over private labels (at least for now) is reaching and engaging with customers on a personal level with big marketing budgets.

Read the full article here:

http://adage.com/article?article_id=142188

We were thrilled to discover the book "The Design of Business," as it eloquently summarized the important and necessary steps to maintain a competitive advantage through innovation.

Great design is more than the extraordinary composition of creative elements; it is a process of originating and developing long term goals and solutions from insights and a carefully constructed strategy, all with measurable results.

As the market continues to shift from awareness to relationship driven marketing, design in every sense of the word is the key to differentiation.

Read Full Article

Retailers are significantly growing private label shelf space and share by leaving only the strongest CGP brands to pull in traffic, then trumping the CPG efforts with increasing price differentials between CPGs and private labels.

So, who wins and who loses with this scenario?

• Private label manufacturers continue to grow with little to no investment cost beyond expanding their manufacturing bases and associated costs with fulfilling new orders.
• Consumers get better prices, less selection and arguably lower quality.
• CPG companies are left with the privilege of funding a long term strategic shift that ultimately leads to overall category compression. Even if they win, their vitality in the category has to be questioned.
• Retailers get simplified shelf sets that lead to lower overall costs and better margins. But under a hyper compressed version of this model in the US, only Walmart wins. Here's why;
  

If a CPG wins a category "jump ball" because they spend more money on marketing to drive customers to a retailer's shelf, cut their margins in exchange for greater volume, and then find themselves sitting on the shelf as the only name brand next to a private label, with more "jump balls" on the horizon, over time the effort isn't worth the spend.

What's a CPG company to do when it's category is under the microscope with a major retailer?

The logical solution is to pick and choose their best retail customers and retool their models based on profits vs. share and volume.
The millions of dollars that must be spent to maintain a retail client, with the on-going chance of getting d-listed, can be better spent growing profitable businesses elsewhere.

As this trend continues, CPG companies will have more lessons under their belt and will begin to pick and choose the battles they have the highest probability of winning. In a perfect retail scenario many categories will become exclusively private label and CPG brand margins will be squashed.But if that continues as a trend over the long haul in the US, Walmart wins all the business away from other retailers, because other retailers cannot compete against their volume and purchasing power.

What other differentiators are out there that a retailer can use to survive against Walmart?

Quality, Selection, Service, Location and Technology.

Smart retailers are now considering the overall health of their shelf set and partnering with brands to solve their biggest challenges. Those that don't, and simply follow the private label, price compression model are signing themselves up for a challenge they cannot win, unless they can trump Walmart on service, location and technology.

Read Full Article

Moosylvania would like to congratulate Costa Farms on their award-winning booth at the 2010 Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition (TPIE). As the most extensive marketplace for tropical plants, the 2010 TPIE was the perfect environment for Costa Farms to show their true colors.
 
The challenge Moosylvania received from Costa Farms was to develop a unique and compelling display booth for the 2010 show. The final concept “The Evolution Of Time” highlighted the range of offerings Costa Farms offers their consumers. Moosylvania concepted, designed and executed the tradeshow booth which recreated some of the dramatic and interesting time periods, from prehistoric palms to futuristic Aqualok, that gave birth to the popular plants of today.

In keeping with our digital focus, Moosylvania integrated social networking via Costa Farm's Twitter account to provide live updates to educate consumers, attendees of the show and employees throughout the show.  

 Go to the Direct News Site

Download PDF

Moosylvania releases the fourth XL Marketing Trends Report - Organic SEO. The report explains organic search and gives strategies for improving a website's rank in search engines.

Read more about our report in Yahoo! Finance: Click Here