Observations-Engagements

Why Groupon is a perfectly Chicago company

It’s hard not to read about Groupon, currently the most mediafied of Chicago companies. It’s got a What’s Hot tab on TechCrunch. It’s national burger weekend deals made Crain’s and other media, and it’s one of several pre-IPO companies cited as examples of a new tech bubble. Groupon brings a lot of tech start-up luster to Chicago.

All that attention–along with discussing innovation at last week’s MIT Enterprise Forum Chicago Whiteboard Challenge and reading Malcom Gladwell’s May 16 New Yorker piece on the story of creativity and innovation at Apple Computer and Xerox PARC–got me thinking about Groupon and its Chicago location.

Chicago is not technology like Silicon Valley or Boston. There is not the mass of high tech here out there. The mass of innovation in Chicago spans a much wider range of industries, as shown by winners of the Chicago Innovation Awards, now in their 10th year.

Chicago is manufacturing (food, healthcare, drugs), finance (economic thought and trading products), and media-entertainment (Oprah and improvisational comedy).

And retailing.

It’s retailing and advertising I think of when I think of Groupon.

Like Chicago retailer innovators Sears, Wards, and Spiegel, Groupon is a retail sales organization. Like old catalogs of those retailers, Groupon relies on a clever copywriting style for its pitches (not without its critics). It also relies on a savvy sales force (akin to buyers) to source and sell local deals. It’s a direct-response sales organization using email rather than postal mail.

Where else would Groupon be? Not the technology garages of Silicon Valley but the old Wards warehouse in Chicago. As Gladwell suggests with innovation, the new Chicago spirit of progress is a new incarnation of the old.

Tags: economics, innovation, marketing, writing

Research and articles that have caught my attention this past week.

Atari Computer Concepts

Very cool photos of product concepts c. 1981.

Differentiating Your Company’s IT Services Menu

Thoughtful discussion of  ”trusted relationships” as the differentiating factor in IT services (and other professional) firms, from Ben Bradley of MaconRaine.

SMB Marketers Segment Emails by Preference, Behavior

Email marketing research on trends for small and medium businesses.

Does social media generate leads?

Reasonable and realistic assessments of Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook for business lead generation.

Social media strategies that work

Report on research from MarketingProfs.

Tags: computers, marketing, social networking

My firm, Canright Communications, uses a monthly email newsletter and a weekly email to stay in contact with our network of clients and prospects. The monthly newsletter is topical, and the weekly email covers the Canright Calendar, a listing of  Chicago networking events.

Read about how it works and get details on our network contact program in “A Comprehensive Network Contact Program,” in the Canright Communications blog.

As you may know from the email newsletters and bulletins you receive from us, we’ve been working on creative ways to keep in touch with our network of customers, prospects, and suppliers through email newsletters and email marketing.

It’s the best way we know to keep a name in front of people, so they remember you when they need your services, know the full range of services you offer, and understand the value you provide.

Tags: Canright Communications, marketing, networking

Which financial conference would you attend? One is advertised with a program that looks like the stereotypical dull financial speakers and another makes its executives seem like stars. Read about a tale of two conferences in the Canright Communications Content Comments blog.

Tags: marketing

I had a call on our social media strategy and tactics today with Dean DeLisle, CEO of social media and sales consultancy ForwardProgress. We were talking about LinkedIn and using it to help generate the holy grail of sales: in bound leads. Good solid inbound leads.

Read how Dean helped the shoemakers rewrite their LinkedIn profiles in “Juice Up Your LinkedIn Summary,” in the Canright Communications Writer’s Blog.

Tags: Canright Communications, marketing

Acquire, convert, retain. All of the activities of online marketing take place within these three basic phases, as Tim Ash explains in his book Landing Page Optimization: The Definitive Guide to Testing and Tuning for Conversions.

Read about how each phase works in “The Three Phases of Online Marketing,” in the Canright Communications Onlines blog.

Tags: marketing

Social media marketing takes the next step in 2010, from the next new thing to a powertool in the integrated marketer’s toolbox, for both business-to-business and consumer marketing, as reported last week in major marketing and technology media articles and blog posts.

Optimism, accountability, social media top trends

BtoB Magazine reports “cautious optimism,” especially over ad budget increases, and the “integration of social media as a marketing tool” as top trends in 2010.

Study Finds Marketers Embracing Social Media Marketing In A Big Way

TechCrunch reports on an Alterian study showing that “66 percent of respondents will be investing in social media marketing (SMM) in 2010.”

2010: Marketers Get Serious About Social Media

Forbes columnist Jeremiah Owyang opines that “senior marketers must have a plan for social marketing” as consumer adoption grows and CMOs get organized around social media–”get over the cool factor” and relate to customers.

The New Social Gurus

Adweek reports that “big brands are on the hunt for help in figuring out their approaches to connecting with consumers on Facebook, providing service on Twitter and instituting internal social media guidelines.” Are the new experts up to the task?

Spending on custom content expected to increase this year

BtoB Magazine reports on an Junta42 study showing that spending on “custom content,” the lifeblood of social media marketing, is set to increase in 2010, with marketers surveyed planning to allocate some 33% of their overall budget to custom content.

Tags: economics, marketing

At the start of the new year, I set my strategies and goals and plan my tactics on how to achieve them. This year, I am positioning my marketing communications firm on content marketing: the use of relevant and educational content to engage an audience and generate interest in an organization and its mission.

Read how about white papers as content marketing tools that generate leads in “Content Marketing Strategy, White Paper Tactics,” in the Canright Communications blog.

Tags: Canright Communications, marketing