Geoff Linton

Geoff is Vice President of Inbox Marketer which is a full service e-marketing agency and technology company that specializes in permission email marketing, mobile/social marketing and monetizing online communities. Geoff works closely with clients such as AT&T, Johnson & Johnson and Petro Canada to help them create unified e-messaging across various addressable media. Inbox Marketer was recently recognized as one of the Profit 100 fastest growing companies in Canada.

Through 20 years of industry experience, Geoff has practical experience in strategic planning, database marketing, automated marketing solutions, contact treatment and marketing measurement. In the 1990's Geoff also spent several years at Air Miles/Loyalty Group as an Associate Director where he worked with numerous clients on enhancing their database marketing programs.

Geoff is also a Professor at Conestoga College in Kitchener/Waterloo, where he teaches strategy, direct marketing and internet courses. As part of his teaching he researches emerging media trends and works closely with the Professor's Academy of the DMA and the Digital Marketing Council of the CMA. Geoff holds both a P. Eng and MBA from Queens University.

Marketers Need to Reflect and Change

More on the CMA National Convention held last week in Toronto.

A few speakers highlighted the challenges that marketers are facing in the new decade:
-The 2009 consumer recession triggered significant job losses in marketing;
-Marketing is under siege; and
-Marketing budgets were cut but are starting to rebound in 2010.

Ken Wong from Queen’s University outlined two key challenges:

1. Marketing has a perception problem - Ken bluntly told the audience that research indicates that Senior Execs don’t value marketing. Marketers are perceived as “margin sucking maggotts’. They are seen as cost centers that don’t like to measure. But the key to “C-Suite” credibility is proving that marketing is a profit (or margin) driver.

2. Focusing on the tactics rather than strategy - marketers often change tactics randomly which Ken calls “schizophrenic” marketing. Changing tactics confuses customers and dilutes the impact on strategy. Companies need to build their marketing strategies around their overall business strategy and stay focused on key outcomes (not blindly chasing market share).

On a positive note, those marketers who can correlate their marketing efforts to generating profits will win big. Marketers just need to think more broadly in a business perspective and less narrowly about your business model and how you can manage customer segments and profitably change customer behavior. Profits will follow.

Geoff Linton

What it Takes to be the Best Digital Campaign: Speedy’s Road Trip

At the November 2009 CMA Awards, Alka-Seltzer won a Gold Medal for the top digital campaign. It’s an impressive comeback from a mature brand (75 years old) which was experiencing tough competition from rivals Pepto-Bismol and Tums. The root problem was that Alka-Seltzer was losing relevance with their key audience of 25-35 males (who often over-eat and over-drink). Alka-Seltzer needed to reposition itself as a more fun and relevant brand.
The strategy was to leverage online marketing to breakthrough and recapture the male market.

A mass media approach would have been too expensive and less targeted. Research indicated that the core target segment spent more time online than watching TV. The big creative idea was an online reality event called the “The Great American Road Trip”. Alka-Seltzer hired an internet comedy/music duo (Rhett and Link) to travel across the United States and report on various events and gastronomic delights. Their unique music videos were posted on You Tube and went viral with 2 million views. The brand mascot “Speedy” (a 60’s retro icon) was their trusted road companion in their 1970’s Gremlin! Their quest for the classic road trip experience and good times took them across the US. Talk about product placement and brand involvement packed in a fun campaign (relevant to the target audience). Alka -Seltzer extended the program to banners, blogs, microsite and of course social media.

The microsite also provided other value added offers such as: bumper stickers (Honk if you Eat), interactive games (Where’s Speedy) and recipes. Alka-Seltzer also created ongoing content assets . Their “City Guides” will provide unique city tips for the tourists, business travelers for years to come.

The traditional direct marketing rule of thumb states that the success of a campaign is 40% targeting, 30% offer, 20% creative and 10% timing. The campaign was a big win on all the factors.

The proof of success is ultimately in the results. For less than $250,000 they obtained unbelievable PR but also strong website engagement with 2 million views, with an average 8 page views per visitor (4 minutes 15 secs). Their 21 YouTube webisodes (2-4minutes each) were a big hit. One of the biggest spinoff benefits is that the “Classic American Road Trip” also attracted significant local and national media coverage in the US. The dynamic duo was interviewed on CNN, late night talk shows and numerous local news broadcasts. More importantly they received mention on blogs and targeted male websites such as sportsillustrated.com, CollegeHumor.com and VH1.com. Overall the campaign generated millions of dollars in PR media exposure.

Creating a top campaign takes: focusing on a clear business problem, a bit of research, knowing your target segments, finding what resonates, a great creative idea to link the program, and an integrated marketing communications (IMC) plan.

Geoff Linton