Brugal Rum created free road signs where none existed to help Dominicans find their way around the island AND remind them of the brand wherever they went.

Last Friday, I sent out this tweet about ExpenseASteak.com:

CFOs face flood of flawless faux receipts http://pic.gd/7ab1a9; ExpenseASteak.com vies for guerrilla site of 2009 http://bit.ly/IsLY3

Today’s AdAge article on ExpenseASteak.com by Bob Garfield reminded me of both the brilliance and limitations of Twitter. While Tweets are timely treats, they simply can’t deliver the whole meal. My tweet tried to call attention to both the ethical issues and the sublime cleverness of Expense A Steak.com and did neither very well. And since I don’t have a lot of time at the moment, I’m going to borrow a few of the highlights from Garfield’s review.

Just in case you haven’t visited the site for yourself, here’s how Garfield described it:

Go to expenseasteak.com and fill in the obscenely large amount of your Maloney & Porcelli meal. Out will come a PDF of receipts for exactly that amount — innocuous (and extremely realistic) proof of purchases for taxis, panini lunches, office supplies, business books and so on. Accounting doesn’t ask why you’ve bought $700 worth of anti-static floor mats and toner? That’s their problem

And here’s Garfield’s appraisal of the stunt:

We LOVE this thing. It is brilliant. It is charming. It is hilarious. In short, it is brothermucking genius.

And here’s Garfield’s acknowledgment of the potential ethical dilemma of putting highly realistic looking phony expense reports into the hands of meat lovers and vegetarians alike:

All right, granted, the 61,000 phony receipts downloaded over the first four days might suggest the stunt is actually being slightly “abused” for a touch of “fraud” by a few tens of thousands of bad-apple “thieves.” But, c’mon. Expense-a-Steak apps don’t defraud corporations. People defraud corporations. In the meantime, Maloney & Porcelli is suddenly on the lips of those who hitherto could remember only Smith & Wollensky, preempting its major competitor into a corner. Because how to top expenseasteak.com?

From my perspective, ExpenseASteak.com is a rather clever and potentially degenerate example of Marketing as Service. It is unquestionably relevant both to the economic times and the restaurant brand it supports. It is remarkably entertaining–be sure to print out your own receipt and read some of the clever details baked into them. It also delivers the basic service of creating fake expense reports which is humorous until people actually turn them in at which time it becomes a nightmare for CFOs–proving once again that “everything is funny until it happens to you.”

Which begs the question: will companies send Maloney & Porcelli the bill when false expense reports are actually filed using their cute little app? Or will consumers sue Maloney & Porcelli when they lose their jobs after submitting false expense reports? Hopefully none of this will happen but stunts like this can go bad–just ask Toyota who is getting sued because of a Matrix prank campaign that according to AdAge terrified one consumer. Evidently, she missed the joke. Just in case someone misses the expense joke, I hope that Walrus, the NYC-based agency that created the site, carries as much liability insurance as we do!

Ran into a neighbor this morning who asked me about my blog. I had to admit that for a variety of reasons I’d been neglecting it. Perhaps the biggest reason is that I simply haven’t seen any interesting example of Marketing as Service, that is until today!

American Express, one of the true believers in this approach, is at it again, this time providing exclusive experiences during New York’s Fashion Week, including a fashion show by Phillip Lim.  This is a text book case on how to do Marketing as Service as reported by MediaPost:

The exclusive cardmember-only consumer show by Lim will be hosted by André Leon Talley, editor at large for Vogue magazine, and Linda Fargo, senior vice president, fashion office and store presentation for Bergdorf Goodman.

The event will provide cardmembers with access to the coveted floor seats. Along with Lim, the evening’s hosts will open the event by offering expert insights from their respective designer, editorial and retail perspectives on a selection of 3.1 phillip lim looks currently available at retail

In addition to this one-time event, AmEx is extending exclusive access to fashion experts:

…including Project Runway’s Tim Gunn — to speak directly with cardmembers. Throughout this week, Platinum Card and Gold Card members will be given an up-close view of the runway shows from the Jonathan Adler-designed American Express Skybox under the Tents at Bryant Park, where they will meet with designers and industry experts who will help translate the looks they are seeing on the runway into their personal style.

By Invitation Only experiences provide an even deeper look into the world of fashion via coordinated meet-and-greets with elite insiders, a behind-the-scenes tour of the Tents at Bryant Park and hair and makeup touch-ups done by industry professionals who work backstage with the designers and models throughout the week.

Wisely, AmEx is also showing its commitment to the fashion industry:

American Express will donate proceeds from the sale of event invitations as part of its $250,000 donation to the Council of Fashion Designers of America/Vogue Fashion Fund, a program (of the council) to help emerging American designers succeed in the business of fashion by providing ongoing support.

Reinforcing their commitment to personalized VIP service, cardmembers can also avail themselves to American Express concierge who will be in the lobby throughout Fashion Week:

The concierge can provide cardmembers with access to highly coveted reservations at a selection of New York’s restaurants across all five boroughs, as well as transportation and additional hospitality needs.

And for customers who simply can’t make it to NYC, AmEx is posting videos of the show online exclusively for cardmembers.  This will also significantly extend the life of this service.

Frankly my dear readers, it would be hard to design an example of Marketing as Service any better than this.

Providing free rides is not exactly a new idea even in the alcoholic beverage arena–Captain Morgan’s has been helping out party goers for a couple of years in select markets. So MillerLite’s decision to support the Kentucky Derby with free rides is hardly big news:

Thank you for visiting the Miller Lite Free Rides™ web site. The Miller Lite Free Rides program is a collaborative effort between transit systems, community organizations, law enforcement agencies, civic organizations and others to help keep our streets safe and prevent drunk driving on major holidays and throughout the year.

Take advantage of a safe transportation alternative during your Derby Eve celebration on May 1st. Miller Lite Free Rides will provide evening service to many popular destinations, including the Derby Eve Jam concert on the waterfront, restaurants, bars, local family events and neighborhood celebrations.

So why then am I writing about it? Well, simply as a reminder that Marketing as Service requires just as much consistency, commitment and creativity as other marketing approaches in order to cut through.  A one-day free ride program is hardly a sincere commitment to public safety.  Because free rides have been done so often they can’t really expect much PR or points for creativity.  I’m not saying Miller is wrong for doing this just that they should be careful not to offer it up as a meaningful pro-social activity.  Now if this is the beginning of year-long program to offer free rides at major sporting events then let me know and I’ll buy a couple of six packs and toast to their health (at home, safe, far from a car!)

I recently completed a brilliant (says me) speech on Cause Marketing that was recorded for release later this year. In the course of my research, I found a number examples of cause marketing that are worth sharing in bite sized blog chunks.

Brita has found a highly relevant cause with its Filter for Good program. While transparently self-serving, this program promotes the environmentally friendly case against drinking bottled water. The Filter For Good.com website encourages consumers to “pledge” to drink less bottled water, noting that one Brita pitcher filter can effectively replace as many as 300 standard 16.9-ounce bottles.  (Feel free to take “the pledge” like I did–it’s a quick and does make you think about buying less bottled water.)

On the site you can find out about all the layers of the program, including the recent Brita Climate Ride and The College FilterForGood Eco-Challenge, that solicited eco-friendly ideas from universities and from which Brita was so overwhelmed by good proposals that they elected to fund 5 of them.   The relevance of this effort is irrefutable, providing Brita a pure and simple way to do well by doing good

This example shows how Marketing for Good and Marketing as Service can overlap, as the cause is the service. From where I sit, its all good.

Another example of Marketing as Service is rolling out in Motown this weekend as Captain Morgan does his best to make sure Final Four revelers don’t end up falling off the plank. Gawker described the annoucement as the “best press release ever.” Here’s what fellow Renegade Steph Isaacs reported about the program:

In an effort to curtail people from getting in their cars after celebrating in the host city of the Final Four this weekend, Captain Morgan will be offering The Captain’s Caravan as March Madness takes over the city of Detroit. The Caravan will be there to make sure that those in the area for the big event are staying safe while having a good time. While in Motor City The Captain’s Morganettes will offer free shuttle service dropping off adult consumers at hotels in the downtown area. The Captain’s Caravan includes two 20-passenger shuttles and one 56-passenger bus that will be available from 2:00PM to Midnight, April 3rd, 4th and 5th. Marketing As Service disguised as an escort service, or vice versa?!

This is certainly not the first time The Captain has mixed in a “drink responsibly” service into its overall campaign. Last year, they ran a “Don’t Go Overboard” sweepstakes in Canada (grand prize was pizza and taxi service for a year) and offered a late night shuttle service in a few markets in the US. They also aired the commercial below which features two “happy” gents finagling a ride home with a pizza delivery guy.

With all these efforts, The Captain is certainly driving home their commitment to responsible partying and performing a genuine service to those who might otherwise forget to do so.

Love this example of Marketing as Service by KFC as reported by Louisville Business Journal:

Yum Brands Inc. subsidiary KFC has offered its services to Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government to fill the city’s potholes.

Hiring a road crew for its “pilot infrastructure renewal program,” the restaurant chain has pledged to conduct street repairs, which would include the message “Re-Freshed by KFC” stenciled in temporary street chalk.

As part of the marketing effort, KFC randomly will choose four other U.S. cities whose mayors describe to the company their cities’ needs for street repairs, according to a news release.

“Budgets are tight for cities across the country, and finding funding for needed road repairs is a continuing challenge,” Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson said in the release. “It’s great to have a concerned corporation like KFC create innovative private/public partnerships like this pothole refresh program.”

So, KFC fixes the pothole and then spray paints a logo on the fresh asphalt. And to increase the news value, they hire an actor who looks like Colonel Sanders to do the spray painting. Talk about leaving your mark on the road less traveled! While this has little to do with “finger lickin’ good chicken,” KFC certainly drives away from this with lots of good press and good will.

P&G keeps finding fresh ways to serve its customers. This one was spotted by a fellow Renegade (thanks Steph):

Procter & Gamble’s Charmin has partnered with SitOrSquat, a Web site that allows picky pottygoers to identify the cleanest (or dirtiest) toilets around. The application is available for download on most BlackBerrys and iPhones. Users enter their target city and state, and a host of available toilets—(some “sit” or “squat”)—pop up.

Since I’m on an airplane writing this, I can’t actually give this app a trial run but it seems like the Charmin team is definitely on a roll (keep in mind these are the same folks that brought you sparkling clean potties in Times Square.) They are certainly giving Scotts a run for their money. Some might say I’m piling it on just to make a point. Or that I’m trying to squeeze every last pun out of this meager offering. And of course, to them I say, plunge ahead, Marketing as Service in any form, is never number two in my book.

American Express has been committed to the notion of Marketing as Service for a long long time and their programs have been featured in this blog (many, many times). This commitment continues even in the current economy as reported by fellow Renegade, Trip Hunter:

Yesterday at the B-B breakfast I saw Marcella Shinder, the VP of Brand Strategy for Open from American Express speak about their marketing efforts during these troubled times. Aside from the fact that she was the only optimist of the group, what appealed to me most was how Open is using Marketing as Service to deepen their relationship with their customers. Marci explained that their mission is to provide tangible ways to help small business manage and grow that are appropriate to the times.

Sounds like a bunch of marketing speak until you visit openforum.com, a social networking/resource site designed to facilitate information sharing among small business owners. Besides the wealth of information that many small business sites have, Open Forum seems to go a step farther by creating a robust social network where members can engage with the best small business bloggers, or join forums concentrated around their topic of choice.

Seems like a good time to me to be charged about Marketing as Service. Assuming small businesses continue to use this service and find ways to survive now, surely they will be that much more loyal to American Express when its time to thrive.

When I first started playing with Twitter a few months ago, it seemed like the biggest waste of time since the invention of Chia pets. I simply couldn’t understand why anyone would want to track the inane utterances of the geeky-inclined or could find the time to share their own “every little moment” with a flock of clearly under-worked followers. Boy was I wrong.

Like so many things in life, appreciation for something only arrives after diving in head first. Critics of Twitter are simply modern-day Windys who are “always window shopping but never stopping to buy.” And sure enough, after about a month of sitting on the sidelines, I jumped into the game and have been fascinated, entertained and enlightened by practically every spare minute I have given over to Twitter.

The only downside I can find is that relentless Twittering has just about killed this blog (which may or may not be such a bad thing!) While I might post 2-5 times a day on Twitter in a matter of seconds, posts here require significant time for research, writing and editing. But more importantly, I find myself reading a lot more and writing a lot less. Each good Twitter post one reads (and yes there is a lot of worthless tripe to sift through even if you are as ruthless as I am about who you follow) is like opening a door to a new room of knowledge. That new room requires careful study and inevitably opens up yet another train of thought worth pursuing. Further evidence that Jim Collins’ mentor was right when he said “it is more important to be interested than interesting.”

Just in the last few weeks, consider these outcomes as a result of tweeting:

• Recruiting–I found two qualified candidates for a client by tweeting about a Social Media Director job opening. This effort was aided by the fact that my tweets are also automatically posted as updates on my Facebook, LinkedIn and Plaxo pages.
• Preparing–Discovering that a prospective client was also a Twitterer, it was very easy to get up to speed on the key category influencers based on the folks the client followed. Time will tell if that insight will help close the sale but it sure won’t hurt.
• Connecting–Finishing a good book on Social Media, I started to follow the author via Twitter. From there I was able to open a dialog with the author, which is almost unimaginable via blogging.
• Breaking news–Moments after the US Air flight hit the Hudson, tweets directed me to live video feeds as well as the best news coverage and photos. While following this story as it broke wasn’t necessarily that important, it did open my eyes to the likelihood that there will be stories of extraordinary personal relevance that I’ll learn about and be able to act upon faster because of Twitter.

So yes, suddenly I find myself proselytizing about Twitter and practically ignoring this blog. Of course, I take some comfort in the fact that this blog always has fresh content as a result of adding a Twitter box to upper right corner! And in another post sometime soon (don’t hold your breath), I will be to explain how Twitter is yet another way marketers can deliver Marketing as Service to customers, prospects and influencers.

There are a number of service companies out there that are loathe to give away free content, content for which their customers pay big money. This concern is understandable but nonetheless surprising given all that has been written on the value of free (see great Wired Mag article). In my discussion with one client facing this dilemma recently, I offered up a quick story:

• Just back from a week of sun and fun in Florida this Sunday, my wife and I had a craving for lox and bagels. Of course, this meant visiting Sable’s (2nd Ave/78th) which we think is the best in the city. One of the reasons that we are so loyal is that while you are waiting in line for your bagel they always offer up a free taste of something and yesterday it was their amazing lobster salad. A generous gesture indeed given that their lobster salad goes for more than $20 a pound but oh the loyalty it buys. And of course, don’t forget the word of mouth this little freebie generates.

Now my client wasn’t exactly bowled over by this story so I started to think of a few other examples of when a mere taste became a tasty marketing dish:

• Hale & Hearty Soup offers petite samples every day of every one of their soups. And of course, I always take a sample even if I know in advance which soup I’m going to order just because I can. By the way, I probably average two of their soups a week!
• Crest gave out free samples of one of their new line extensions on a recent JetBlue flight. Trying the new version was a no brainer and reminded me that Crest is my favorite brand for good reason. They also made a potential convert out of my teenage son who simply loved the idea of getting something free.

In each of these examples, marketers gave me something of value for free in exchange for my time, my attention, my loyalty and or my word of mouth. This is the very essence of Marketing as Service. Doing something for your customers and prospects is simply more persuasive than saying something about what you’re going to do for them. I’m not saying to give away the store but surely a small taste will open up their mouths and their wallets in a big way.

Buried in holiday e-greetings, I’m finding myself deleting all but a random few. Why? Because the few that I do bother to click on are either self-serving drivel or simply banal. Like yours, my time is precious. If you are going to send a holiday ecard, make sure it is worthwhile. Better yet, send it in November or January when yours won’t be lost in a sea of sameness.

Of course, the same holds true for any kind of marketing. Zig when others zag. And ideally make sure your zig is a service of some kind. If it is, undoubtedly your target will be so grateful they’ll share it with all the friends and look forward to your communications in the months and year’s ahead. Elf Yourself zigged big time and in its third year was sent around a whopping 57 million times. On the odd chance that you didn’t get one, click here to see the one I created starring Pinky.

Finally, I did want to share an email I got from NYS Governor Patterson. It just seemed spot on. Happy Holidays to all. D

My Fellow New Yorkers,

As you read this, I am now returning from visiting our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Germany.

It is a tremendous honor to spend time with our servicemen and women, especially the many that I have met from New York. Each and every solider who I have had the pleasure of meeting embodies the very best traditions of America: a commitment to one another, a commitment to service, and an understanding about the necessity of shared sacrifice.

I am also asking New Yorkers back home to do much of the same. If there was ever a time to work together to make the best of a difficult situation, it is now.

During this holiday season we are reminded that it is the people we spend our important moments with that count the most, not the gifts that we receive. And it is not necessarily how we, as a people, react to the good times, but how we take on our challenges during the tough times, that defines us as a state, and as a nation.

That spirit of commitment is what binds us together, it is why we join with friends and family to celebrate the holiday season, and it is why we optimistically look forward to each New Year. The holiday season is, first and foremost, a time to renew our commitment to one another.

The choices that we make together right now are not easy, but they are necessary. The challenging times that we are facing make it even more important that we come together this holiday season and that we recommit ourselves to our shared values and our shared bond as New Yorkers.

I hope that you are able to spend some time this holiday season with those closest to you, and if you are able, please find some time to support a charitable organization in your community.

I wish every one of you a happy and safe holiday season.

Governor David A. Paterson

I visited a client last week who had six copies of David Meerman Scott’s The New Rules of Marketing & PR on his desk. He has made it required reading for his staff so of course, I ordered two copies on Amazon, one for me and one for my staff (okay, so I’m cheap!). When the books arrived, I added it to my growing stack of B2B books I “planned” to read. The truth is that I loath biz books especially ones on marketing. Of the 100 or more I felt compelled to buy, I’ve started half and finished two. Frankly, I get more out of historical fiction and it doesn’t put me to sleep as fast (currently reading The Physician, an epic circa 1000 AD.)

But then I got sick and used some of my down time to start Scott’s New Rules. Before I knew it, I was half way through and determined to finish it. While much of it was familiar (after all, we do a lot with social media at Renegade) the book was crammed with fresh case histories and useful links. It was also an ode to the concept of Marketing as Service. Whether reaching out to the press or Twittering, creating podcasts or blog posts, Scott prescribes creating “thoughtful content.” Says Scott:

Do not write about your company and your products. Thought leadership content is designed to solve buyer problems or answer questions and to show that you and your organization are smart and worth doing business with.

Or in other words, create something of value by providing genuine utility instead of mere messaging. Scott’s book aggregates a number of cost-effective ways to deliver Marketing as Service with enthusiastic zeal encouraging marketers “to jump in and see what you can do.” Here. Here.

If Joan Rivers were to ask, “Can we talk?” My response might be, “Later Joan, I’m trying to keep up.” The truth is that those of us in “new media” are faced with a Sisyphean challenge, the harder we try to stay informed, the less we can actually get done. Recognizing this challenge, HP has served up Tabbloid that Ed Reilly spotted as a great example of Marketing as Service:

 

HP has created a wonderful service called Tabbloid that aggregates all your rss feeds into a daily newspaper of sorts that is e-mailed to you as a pdf. It’s a simple service, but something I have been looking for for a while. I think it is a good first step in the right direction. I’d like to see a .pdf version I can view on-line where the links work, and I can still click and browse to get more info. An opportunity to customize the design a bit would be totally rad too.

On this strong recommendation, I created my own Tabbloid (see for yourself) from 5 RSS feeds and the first edition was a whopping 25 pages! Hopefully, subsequent issues won’t be so voluminous BUT I can’t help wondering if HP is hoping I’ll print them out on my Officejet Pro K550 which would be good for them but not so good for the trees I consumed. While this is no threat to Google Reader (or other RSS aggregators) especially without the live link functionality Ed suggests, for those who prefer to read their news on paper, Tabbloid may just ink the deal for you.

When advertising no longer talks at you but actually does something for you, then it becomes a service. Samsung places charging stations in airports and road warriors get the fuel they need to carry on the battle. The longer the program runs, the longer everybody wins. Samsung gets meaningful exposure, airports get happier travelers and consumers come to recognize Samsung as a helpful & reliable “mobile” resource. The exchange of value is crystal clear.

That’s why I’m only lukewarm about a new program from Kraft as reported by MediaPost:

In the Windy City this month, frozen commuters and holiday shoppers will be treated to heated bus shelters and samples of Stove Top’s new Quick Cups instant stuffing, courtesy of Kraft Foods.

 

“Stove Top Stuffing is all about warming up families with hot, delicious meals when the temperatures drop,” said brand manager Ellen Thompson in a release, “and we wanted a stand-out way to demonstrate this to consumers this holiday season.”

This is a thin a commitment to Marketing as Service as you will find. Only 10 bus shelters are being heated and only in Chicago. 49 other markets will just see bus shelter ads. So really, this is a insincere stunt that Kraft hopes will inspire lots of PR. And perhaps it will (which may be enough for them.)

Imagine for a moment Kraft committed to bus shelters in cold cities the way Samsung has to airport terminals. Commuters would be thanking Kraft by the bus load and telling all their friends how the kind folks from Glenview warmed them up on a frigid morning. Cities would be competing to get the Kraft bus shelter program as a way of encouraging and rewarding the use of public transportation.

Okay, maybe I’m dreaming but I’d bet on this approach versus 49 markets worth of bus shelter posters that get the cold shoulder treatment from ad-weary consumers. Marketing as Service has the potential to transform the way consumers interact with and perceive your brand. And to quote one genius at self-promotion, “that’s hot.”

Service comes in all shapes in sizes. Friday when I called Verizon to tell them that the Blackberry Storm they just sold me had more bugs than entomology section at the Natural History Museum, they couldn’t have been more helpful. As I explained that the camera had a funny way of going on when you were trying to type an email, they listened politely, told me how to send it back and helped reset my old phone. So even though I was disappointed with the equipment, I couldn’t fault Verizon. Their service is simply stellar and assuming I can find a satisfactory phone, I’ll end up renewing my subscription with them.

That’s service as service. Before you should even think about Marketing as Service, you better have your service basics in order. One such company is UPS. Their service is consistently excellent, something you used to really appreciate when you had enough money to buy a lot of last minute gifts. But, what’s a smart shipper to do when new gift purchases are expected to be down in the dumps?

Duh! Encourage regifting. That’s right, regifting. Send you friends the stuff you never used but for some reason couldn’t part with. Actually, I’m only half joking. UPS has set up a mildly amusing website called UPS Regifter.com that allows you to choose from a series of wonderfully tacky gifts that you can then email to a friend. (Thanks to MediaPost for delivering the head’s up about this one.) I elected to use the Facebook application and sent my assistant a Hawaiian dancer (doll), which she will no doubt appreciate.

While the concept is funnier to talk about than it is to play with, I give kudos to UPS for trying to deliver some levity in this otherwise bleak holiday season. And who knows, UPS may actually get some extra shipping biz out of it as people identify some real “regifts” they can pass along.

One thing is for sure, these are challenging times… to find a fresh headline. Here are two I found on pages 9 & 10 in the first section of the WSJ today:

• In these challenging times…
• In a challenging economy…

That said, we know business is bad because even Santa’s can’t find work. The WSJ reported on this as a national problem a couple of weeks ago and the New York Post noted “It’s a Lost Clause” in the city as well.

So, what’s a savvy marketer to do, scramble for a new approach to reflect the times or stick with a tried and true Marketing as Service experience? I know, I know–my bias is showing. Sue me.

Great Marketing as Service programs age nicely and become more cost effective with time. Witness the BankCab which is in its sixth year of driving loyalty to HSBC. So you can imagine my relief when I heard on the radio this morning that the Charmin bathrooms are coming back to Times Square for their third in-stall-ment! P&G is clearly on a roll with this program which reaches thousands in a true time of need.

And speaking of third-timers, I’m even more excited to report about ElfYourself 3.0 which is a shoe-in for the viral hall of fame. This JibJab creation, is just the kind of silly service that will bring holiday cheer to all who seek it and will keep Office Max top-of-mind even in these challenging times. Click here to see my silly creation.

Hopefully, my bad puns haven’t distracted you from the main point–find a service that your prospects and customers truly appreciate and run with it until you’re certain its time to find a new one.

Zurich Financial is taking a service, or should I say a zervice approach with its recent Z-booths at airports. Here’s what the New York Times reported about it (thanks to Theresa for spotting):

Speaking of airports, for travelers rushing through the London Heathrow or Frankfurt airports this week with a dead mobile phone or a missing hotel reservation, there may be a place to turn. Look for booths marked with a big blue “Z” in the international departures areas. The stands are help points set up by Zurich Financial Services. They will offer free Internet access, cellphone and laptop charge-ups and other assistance for travelers, including cleaning materials to deal with spilled coffee and information about travel destinations, the company says. One thing they will not offer is insurance, Zurich’s usual line of business.

Why is Zurich getting involved in the kinds of things that airlines used to do for their passengers? The stands are part of a new marketing campaign aimed at “focusing on customers when it really matters,” said Arun Sinha, head of marketing at Zurich Financial. Market research has shown that fewer than 15 percent of consumers trusted any insurance brand, he said. “This is not about hard sell,” Mr. Sinha said. “This is more about trying to build consideration and favorability for the brand.”

Delivering genuine value to people in a time of need is sure way of making friends for the long haul. I sure hope it zerves them well.

To be effective, Marketing of Service needs to a genuine commitment versus a one-off stunt. While few marketers will have the perseverance to make it 108 years like Michelin with its peripatetic guides, I suspect they can make it longer than a weekend like the recent painfully misguided “free taxi” effort by Tylenol.

Thanks to Jason Wurtzel for spotting these when they first arrived in the city on November 3rd. Not knowing anything about the program at that moment, I neglected to post Jason’s shots (see below) or to feel any sense of flattery since these were another attempt to copy the HSBC BankCab, which I might add is in its sixth year of driving loyalty to The World’s Local Bank.

Still on the case, Jason then forwarded this snippet about the cabs on The Gothamist:

The Tylenol (global?) “Warming Taxis” will take you anywhere in Manhattan, today through Sunday, from noon to 8 p.m. Your best shot of catching one is heading to a CVS at 630 Lexington, 540 Amsterdam, 272 8th or 307 6th Avenues and waiting for a stranger in a white car to offer you a lift and some Tylenol.

One weekend? Is that really supposed to heat up our feelings about Tylenol? As the Renegade behind the BankCab, that just plain hurts. It wasn’t even a cold weekend by November standards so the warming part fell flat. J&J, a usually savvy marketer, should know better than to treat Marketing as Service as a Band-Aid or perhaps they got ripped off by an unlicensed guerrilla practitioner.

At The CMO Club Summit today, I moderated a discussion among 35+ CMOs about social media. It was really a lively conversation representing the range of experiences of these CMOs. The group divided into three segments, from novices to making their way to “kicking butt and taking names.” David Spark provides a quick overview of the discussion on TheCMOClub site (yes, the very same social network that Renegade helped create!) but I thought add some more detail given the broad interest in the topic.

Introduction to Social Media
Here’s the definition of social media marketing from Frog Design’s blog that I used to start the discussion:

Social media marketing is all marketing that utilizes the social graph of both marketer and audience (in fact, the interesting thing is that they can be one and the same) to facilitate and cultivate a conversation. Social marketing is whenever more than two individuals collaborate online or offline for content generation and distribution. Social marketers harness the viral power of social networks in order to grow both the frequency and the reach of conversations exponentially. They know how to feed the social orbit with content that catalyzes conversations. And they understand that an “architecture of participation,” that lets employees be marketers, has become paramount for turning brands into live brands.

Social Media Numbers (or why CMO’s should care)

• 62% of consumers actively seek out and read customer reviews prior to purchase
• 82% of consumers found reading reviews better than researching a product in-store
• 60% of Americans use social media
• 59% interact with companies via social media; 25% do so once a week or more
• 93% of those that use SM believe companies should too
• 56% feel stronger connection to companies that they interact with via SMcompanies should use social networks to solve my problems
• 43% believe companies should use social networks to solve my problems
• 41% believe companies should solicit feedback on their products/services
• 37% want more ways to interact with companies

Renegade also created a Social Media IQ test for these CMO’s at CMOquiz.com which may be of interest.

Add this one to your lexicon of “new” marketing approaches–”purpose-based marketing.” Somewhere between Marketing for Good and Marketing as Service, this one is being touted by former P&G CMO Jim Stengel which helps explain why it was prominently featured in last week’s Wall St. Journal:

Starting Monday, the 25-year P&G veteran is opening Jim Stengel LLC, which will try to persuade companies to buy into a newfangled way of selling. It’s called “purpose-based marketing,” which Mr. Stengel says is about defining what a company does — beyond making money — and how it can make its customers’ lives better.

I am truly excited to see someone as prominent as Mr. Stengel endorse what for traditional marketers like P&G would have been considered a radical approach just a couple of years ago:

The well-known adman maintains that the idea of “purpose” isn’t just the latest cooked-up marketing-speak. He says dozens of companies and brands have used this approach. He points to P&G’s Pampers brand, which several years ago decided it had a higher purpose: helping moms develop healthy, happy babies, rather than just keeping babies’ bottoms dry.

So I write this open letter:

Dear Mr. Stengel:

If you have a spare minute, we should talk. I’ve been gathering cases that support your thesis for the last 4 years and have no doubt what you say is true. More importantly, while having a purpose-based strategy provides a solid foundation, you still need an agency that can create a transformative 360° experience–an agency like Renegade.

Finally, as a fellow punster, I love the title of your upcoming book, Packaged Good, and can’t wait to read it.

Cheers,

Drew

CEO, Renegade

Marketing as Service can be delivered in all shapes and sizes. Recently my assistant Kirsten spotted an example in a direct mail package from Queue Associates, a specialist in configuring Microsoft Dynamics (ERB & CRM) solutions for agencies. This particular mailer was about the only DM piece that made it through her rigorous screening process since last year’s jumbo holiday gift basket that must have been misdirected from Senator Steven’s office.

This package caught her eye because it contained useful stuff and information she thought I’d appreciate and she was right. I travel a fair amount and like everyone else, struggle to keep up with the security rules. This package not only contained the latest guidelines for carry-ons, but also it included a pouch with 4 empty plastic containers (see picture below.) With such handy largess, I simply felt obliged to read the letter which also didn’t disappoint:

You’ve heard the saying, “its not the destination that counts; its the journey.”

We’re sending you this TSA-approved carry-on pounch, along with time-saving tips for getting through security at airports, to make yournext journey easier. It’s our way of saying “thank you” for taking time to consider another journey–the one that takes your agency to successful outcomes and higher profits.

The letter goes on to explain what Queue Associates does and suggests that I call them or visit a website for more information. Unfortunately, that’s where the fun ended because before I could learn anything more about them online, they wanted me to fill out a log-in form. [Come to think of it, that's kind of ironic for a company that already had my mailing info and is selling CRM solutions--couldn't they have generated customized URLs that recognized me immediately?]

I also think they could have carried the travel theme to the landing page/microsite, offering even more content and thereby continuing to earn my gratitude and trust. Marketing as Service works best when it is genuine commitment (think 108 years of the Michelin Guide) versus a one-off teaser. So, Queue gets an A+ for a DM piece that was rich with value and C- for not carrying it through it the final destination!

All that said, I wouldn’t be surprised if this mailer proved to be a trip well taken for Queue.

Lest you think Marketing as Service is this idealistic notion that is tough to execute, consider this simple but brilliant example from SmartCar. SmartCar, that tiniest of autos with a six-month waiting list, has lined up deep parking discounts for its New York customers. Here are the details as reported by MediaPost:

The company has negotiated a deal with New York City parking system Meyers Parking to get steep discounts for owners of the Smart ForTwo car, a super-short two-seater.

Owners of the 106-inch-long vehicle get a 50% discount off daily and monthly posted parking rates at any of six Meyers Parking facilities in New York City.

“Meyers actually reached out to us and our customers for this deal. We hope other privately–and publicly–owned facilities move in this direction. It just makes sense that a car half the size of a traditional vehicle should receive a parking discount: The car takes up less space.”

Brilliant, indeed. The service reinforces a major benefit of owning a SmartCar (i.e. easy to park) and costs SmartCar nothing. The garage also wins since they might pick up a few new customers. And of course, the SmartCar prospect has one more good reason to buy, knowing that the total cost of ownership will be even smaller.

This must be self-serving week since I’m about to share another example of Marketing as Service as executed by Renegade. I’d be embarrassed except for the fact that this is a highly effective program and the services provided are outrageously target-appropriate. The client in this case is Ubisoft, who asked us to generate excitement about the upcoming release of their WWII action video game, Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway.

We kicked things off last weekend at a video gaming convention in Seattle called PAX where we set up a WWII vintage “recruiting station.” Volunteers could get their choice of a HELL CUT, a military style buzz-cut with the word HELL emblazoned on the back of their head, or a stylish air-brushed tattoo (about 550 opted for the tats).

In exchange for a free copy of the game, over 150 ‘recruits’ volunteered for a HELL CUT including several members of the media. One reporter from Game Spot, a leading industry site, featured his HELL CUT experience as the lead story in this video:

Happily for our client, the Recruiting Station was the hit of the show. The line for HELL CUTS extended outside the convention hall and was at times three hours long. Another 450 recruits received their vintage Hells Highway tattoos (see photo below.)

The services provided, buzz cuts and tattoos, may seem unappealing to you, but our gamer target though it was “the most unusual booth at PAX this year” covering the Hell’s Highway Recruiting Station extensivly on blog after blog: GameVortex, PSXGames, Kotaku, The Exploding Barrel, ThePlatformnation, GameSpot, N4G, Boards.1up, Sarcastic Gamer, Gamertell, NerdFellowship, GameTrailer, YouTube, ArsTechnica and more.

Bottom line–want some buzz, try giving away a buzz cut. Its a service that cuts through putting in this case, Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway at the head of the class.

There’s a second act to this guerrilla/viral program but I’ll write about that separately. If you want to discover it for yourself, visit: enlist4hell.com.

Perhaps my bias towards Marketing as Service is a generational thing. A recently published study from TV Land (okay, I know they aren’t exactly the benchmark of research excellence) noted that baby boomers more than other groups are looking for substance over sizzle in both products and the ads that tout them.  Here’s a quick overview of the findings from the Center for Media Research:

Boomers will consider new brands if the product or service is more useful, functional and provide the most benefit/value. Unlike Millennials and Gen Xers they are less likely to be influenced by the notion that the brand is more prestigious or the latest style. They are not afraid to change for something they feel will improve their lives, notes the report.

Ninety-one percent of people in their 40s and 50s want the brand to provide more value versus 83% of Gen X and Millennials. The study found that Boomers are less interested in “teaser” ads that create a mood but do not offer much in terms of substance, though more likely to enjoy ads with humor than their younger cohorts.

Since Adults 40-59 tend to make purchasing decisions informed by what products and/or services will make life easier for them, it follows that the advertising that resonates with them is the kind that explains the products’ capabilities and describes why the product is superior, concludes the report.

Since there are about 78 million boomers hangin’ around (hopefully for many more decades), ensuring that your marketing appeals to them is not a dumb idea. Especially since its not all that complicated. Simply think about how you can make your marketing (and your products) more useful to boomers and they will respond by being useful customers.

Love what Häagen-Dazs did to generate a little buzz about their ice cream this summer–it’s a great example of how Marketing for Good and Marketing as Service can overlap. The program which was written up quite succinctly in Brandweek:

The Challenge: Ice cream stalwart Häagen-Dazs was feeling the pinch when honeybees started inexplicably disappearing, since 30 of the brand’s 73 flavors use honey to contribute to their flavor. Strawberry just isn’t strawberry without some honey, really. So the brand decided to adopt the issue of the shrinking bee population by launching a multiplatform campaign, via Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco. The effort is designed to raise public awareness of this honeybee deficit.

The Plan: A two-minute video called “Bee-Boy dance crew drops dead” was introduced in July. It features a dance crew in bee outfits, doing a “bee dance” to an instrumental hip-hop track, complete with DJ, also in a black and yellow bee outfit. It was disseminated to bloggers who tended to embrace social causes and youth efforts and was introduced in chat sites as well. After all of the dancers disappear, the viewer is directed to the helpthehoneybees.com site. The Feed Company, Los Angeles, handled the viral video aspect of the campaign.

The Results: The video generated more than 2 million views in two weeks and drew over 3,500 comments on YouTube. More than 150 blogs featured the video and it was part of over 11,000 Web forum discussion sessions. The video maintains a 4 1/2 star rating on YouTube.

Both the video and the website are nicely done. What I particularly like is The Bee Book which is both entertaining and educational for kids and adults alike. Kudos to Goodby for delivering genuine value to consumers rather than just reminding us how great Häagen-Dazs tastes.

This article appeared on iMediaConnection on July 7, 2008.

Check out these simple ways to convert prospects into customers and then into card-carrying brand evangelists.

#1. Consider marketing as service

Brand experiences, whether physical or virtual, if done correctly can convert prospects into customers and then customers into card-carrying brand evangelists. These experiences are by definition interactive, encouraging dialogue and ideally an intimate and unforgettable dance between brand and consumer. Here are four thoughts on how to turn your brand experiences into dances of a lifetime.

When brands create experiences that provide a real service, magical things happen. Because “marketing as service” provides a real value, the brand pulls customers and prospects into it, rather than pushing a message at them. This natural engagement deepens relationships with existing customers, forms strong bonds with new ones and helps generate favorable word of mouth.

Charmin showed its get-up-and-go when it installed restrooms in Times Square, providing welcome relief for more than a half million holiday tourists. The service was unexpected, memorable, relevant and good clean fun. Samsung has electrified road warriors by installing mobile device charging stations in five major U.S. airports. Given the annoying paucity of outlets in terminals, this service is pumping up Samsung’s image as a friend indeed to the mobile world.

#2. It all starts with an insight — even chotchkes!

In order to cut through effectively, the experience must derive from a sound strategic insight relevant to the brand. While handing out fun premiums might drive traffic, it rarely builds brand loyalty unless it extends the conversation and reinforces what the brand stands for. When my company’s client, Panasonic, wanted to engage action sports enthusiasts, they needed an insight that gave them permission to “hang” with this otherwise skeptical crowd. The insight they found was that capturing and sharing tricks was an inherent part of the action sports lifestyle. Since Panasonic made the video and still cameras that captured the tricks, and the TVs to see them on, they had a legitimate reason to “Share the Air” with this community.

Panasonic’s Share the Air program featured a camera loaner program at each of the five stops of the AST Dew Tour. With the swipe of a driver’s license, attendees got their hands on a new video or digital still camera to record the cool tricks that they saw during the day’s competition. And to make the experience memorable, participants could take a Panasonic-branded SD card home containing all of their pictures. The Share the Air microsite kept the experience alive, allowing attendees to blog with their favorite athletes on a daily basis, and deliver incentives to purchase Panasonic products at local dealers. All of these elements combined to make Panasonic a brand of choice among action sports enthusiasts.

#3. Extend the experience seamlessly

Ideally, an event will accomplish a variety of goals beyond informing and engaging an audience and generating buzz/PR. One essential function of an event is to drive prospects and customers to a complimentary online experience. Not only will this help amortize the high cost-per-touch of an event, but also it will lead to a long-term customer relationship by extending the experience.

In a perfect world, a single agency should have the capabilities to execute these complimentary event and online experiences. This approach is the most cost effective and ensures consistency of look and tonality across all channels of communication.

#4. Measure, measure and measure again

The goal should always be to cut through the first time. To accomplish this, metrics for success must be established upfront. Marketers need to set benchmarks via pre-event research to compare with post-event data.

In addition to tracking event attendance; time with brand and perceptual changes and sell-in and sell-through, consider adding Net Promoter Score to your measurement arsenal. NPS is a simple and reliable way to measure the likelihood of someone recommending your brand to a friend (i.e., word of mouth). Since NPS can be measured online as well, it will also help you understand if your online experience is as strong as the offline one.

Additional online metrics, including unique visitors, time-on-site, pre/post NPS and online commerce data (if relevant), will help complete the tally, ensuring you know which elements should be cut and which cut through.

It’s truly exciting to see how cutting edge marketers like Nike are running with Marketing as Service. Here’s a brief from MediaPost on the efforts by Nike 6.0 to support action sports enthusiasts with a branded community on Loop’d:

Members of the Nike 6.0 community can create profiles, share photos of themselves in the midst of skating, biking or surfing, and compete for commercial sponsorships. They can also interact with all of the other communities within San Diego-based Loop’d Network, including the Monster Army and the PacSun Team.

As part of the launch, Nike 6.0 has rolled out a mashup campaign, allowing Loop’d members to mix and match their favorite videos, sports clips, photos and Nike-supplied content. The mashups, powered by Mixercast, can be ported to member profiles on other social networks like MySpace and Facebook.

Having worked with Panasonic for the last 4 years targeting the actions sport community, I can assure you that Nike’s approach is far more effective than traditional advertising which this target is particularly skilled at tuning out. In fact, advertising is typically seen as “too corporate” and the athletes on ads are always at risk of “selling out.” Engaging this target requires proving that you not only understand their needs but also are a relevant part of their community. You can’t do this overnight and “posers” need not apply. Nike has learned this lesson the hard way and only recently has gained traction with skate boarders by inviting them into the design process. Enabling this group to “commune” online will further enhance Nike’s credibility since actions, especially in the actions sports world, speak louder than words.

On occasion, I’ve noted the differences between “service as service” and Marketing as Service but a recent article in AdAge obliges me to revisit this topic. The article “How Apple is Blurring the Line Between Marketing and Service” does a great job chronicling how Apple has really stepped up its customer service at its Apple Stores via orange-shirted “concierges.” The author, Pete Blackshaw of Nielsen Online Digital Strategic Services, notes:

Whether explicitly acknowledged or not, there’s an unmistakable “service is marketing” mantra pervading every aspect of the Apple Store. And that’s something every brand, even those not as shiny as Apple’s, can learn from. The opportunity to solve problems, find solutions and even address “the darn thing doesn’t work” emotional pain-points all lead to a higher impact-marketing and sales proposition. While not every marketer has a Steve Jobs-inspired vision, every consumer-facing company has problems that can be converted into opportunities to inspire loyalty.

First, let me attest to the fact that Apple is indeed stepping up its service and this is a good thing. A recent visit to the Genius Bar with my son and his MacBook that was missing a “K” key, was resolved with astonishing speed and at no cost. That kind of service helps you overlook the fact that your first iPods died prematurely and that the K key probably shouldn’t have fallen off in the first place. That kind of service makes you confident that Mac products will remain a good investment for years to come. That kind of service inspires people to become brand evangelists and even write about that brand on their blog;-)

So, is Apple’s stepped up concierge program Service as Service or Marketing as Service? Well, drum roll please, its actually a progression from one to the other. The notion of Service as Service is that every company should aim for a high degree of customer satisfaction when & where service is required. This means answering 800#’s quickly, fielding questions competently and aiming for “first visit resolution” nine out of ten times. Apple’s Genius Bar is a pristine example of Service as Service. When the service goes above and beyond the industry norms and extends outside the store to become a truly branded experience then we’re talking Marketing as Service. In his article, Blackshaw identifies this outbound effort:

In the case of the “service concierges,” they are not waiting for problems. They assume you arrive at the Apple Store looking specifically for something, and in most cases they are right. And even if serendipity is your cup of tea, they’ll help you navigate that experience as well. What’s important about this front line is not just the help these employees provide, but the halo of service they create. They are there if you need them, a reality that brings more confidence to the overall shopping experience.

With the Conceirge program in place, Apple is also smart to promote thier upgraded level of service to its faithful customers like yours truly (see email below that I received TODAY!). This is great example of how Marketing as Service and traditional messaging can dovetail–create the service and then push it out as “news customers can use.” With all of this, Apple and its customers win–happy customers begets great word of mouth, great word of mouth begets more new customers, better service means those customers remain customers and so forth. SO, while service can be marketing, it is important to remember that without good service you probably shouldn’t bother marketing.

In Jonah Bloom’s editorial on Marketing as Service (MAS), he challenged a couple of marketers including AT&T and Citi to “make their marketing useful” and offered up a couple of examples which he thought would provide utility for New Yorkers. To some readers, both examples sounded like acts of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) thus muddying the waters a bit between CSR and MAS. Without getting too academic, let me try to clarify the similarities and differences between these two important marketing constructs.

CSR is generally sponsored by a corporate entity (P&G sustainability goals ) while MAS is typically developed for a specific product or service (Charmin’s portable potties). While both CSR and MAS are meant to generate good will, CSR typically focuses on servicing society (Nike’s Live Strong donations) while MAS serves a particular target segment (Nike+ microsite & events to support runners). CSR is often trumpeted via traditional advertising; MAS is a substitute for traditional advertising. CSR strategy briefs rarely talk in terms of driving sales; MAS strategy briefs are almost always about driving sales.All that said, there are times when CSR is delivered via MAS and MAS has elements of CSR which is why the two are easily confused. A recent TAAN blog post by Peter Gerritsen provides further clarification:

Most all of us know about Cause Marketing. Doing good, and connecting the client with the beneficial efforts on behalf of the well-meaning cause. Admirable, and worthwhile. Often delivering results for both the cause and the client.A new term (at least to me) is “Marketing as Service” or “Marketing with Meaning” — providing a useful service to the public/prospect/customer as a element of the marketing effort. There have always been some fabulous “promotions” that are directly tied to the marketers product. This is going a step further — Actually being USEFUL to the audience. Instead of promoting a product, buying media time and space to advertise, holding a special event with sponsorships, this is about giving directly to the audience something of value to them and adhering the marketer’s brand to this value. There are a number of great examples that should give you a starting point in considering this opportunity for your clients. This could be a great leveraging vehicle in drawing you closer to your client, beyond the commodity ad work we all perform. (Now, I know you don’t look as your work as a commodity. So, don’t go crazy over my lumping you in with the rest of the ad agencies. But ….)

Bottom line: Marketing as Service is all about the how — how a marketer communicates with its target. Instead of talking about a particular product or service, MAS provides something the target can actually use and, in a sense, its medium becomes the message. Corporate Social Responsibility is all about the why — why a marketer is doing something for a particular cause or social issue. Instead of talking about a particular product or service, CSR hopes to generate a halo of good will over a company via pro-social messaging. Any questions?