Retail Marketing

Local Online Marketing Works - Take it from Groupon

Friday, August 27, 2010 by Betsie Richardson

Being in the business of local advertising, we at Balihoo are often asked by our small business owner clients about how to utilize local internet marketing. They hear buzz that their customers are overwhelmingly adopting online media. But the internet appears to our business owners as, well, the world wide web - rather daunting, and they don't know where to start.

Our retail store owners in particular spent much of their local marketing efforts in the past few decades hanging coupons on doors and running inserts in the local newspaper. This method simply doesn't cut it in today's fragmented consumer marketplace.

Online advertising is a great way to market on a tight budget and reach a targeted demographic. Google Paid Search (pay-per-click) and SEO efforts should be top on any local business marketer's list. Then consider what your local media outlets offer on their online properties.

Groupon's online display campaign in the NYTimes.com illustrates a great example of local targeting through online news sites. Admittedly, I was reading an article about Snooki, but my shame aside, Groupon's ad on "Boise's Best / Up to 90% Off / Get Today's Special" caught my eye, and I found myself adding to their click through rate. The special today happens to be laser hair removal at a high end spa in Boise. Well targeted at me - a young female professional reading the Fashion & Style section of the NYTimes.com.

Groupon is averaging 500,000 new subscribers a week. After they ran an $11 million promo for Gap, they gained 750,000 subscribers (see Advertising Age's article).

What to learn from Groupon's online marketing:

Identify your target demographic and only buy top-rated pages against that audience
Keep your message concise and easy to read (the less words the better)
Focus the message on the call-to-action
Leverage the measurability of online advertising - track your results closely and optimize as you see upward/downward trends

Are you a franchise owner looking for guidance with local store marketing? Check out Balihoo's white paper.

The New Definition of 'Locally Owned and Operated'

Monday, August 23, 2010 by Kallen Hayes

What does it mean to be locally owned and operated? I found myself asking this question when I stepped into Tully’s Coffee the other week and noticed that exact phrase written on one of their gift cards. The card itself caught my attention because it had a beautiful picture of Boise on it (a smart local store marketing tactic). What really got me thinking was their use of ‘locally owned and operated’. I’ve always thought of Tully’s as a chain coffee shop, whereas ‘locally owned and operated’ makes me think of an individual, independently-run store. I'm positive the Tully’s on 8th and Broad in downtown Boise isn’t the only Tully’s coffee shop in the world and I know the company's corporate headquarters aren't located here in Boise. So does my favorite coffee shop (with great tasting lattes) really qualify as local? The question has been raised by other Balihooers and undoubtedly brings to mind the arguments of our era's epic battle between the 'big box' businesses and the local ma and pop shops. Though, with the growing trend toward franchise and chain businesses and the continual blurring of the line between local ownership and corporate control, has the meaning of locally owned and operated evolved?

According to my research, there are a variety of opinions on the definition of "locally owned," but most tend to agree that it describes a business owned in majority by local residents who are largely free to make their own local advertising, operational, and legal decisions. On the International Franchise Association's website, they promote the notion that all franchise companies are ‘local’ and are merely supported by their parent companies to facilitate and accelerate the steps to achieve their own business development goals. In fact, the IFA’s tagline, 'Franchising: Building local businesses, one opportunity at a time' clearly states their intention to foster and support healthy communities.

I would argue that the time has come for a significant shift in what consumers consider to be a ‘local’ business. With today's advanced technology and improved production, distribution, and shipping standards, it makes sense for small business owners to maximize their investments by leveraging resources available through franchise organizations and co-op memberships. In order to help these small business thrive in this new competitive landscape, we as consumers should adjust our 'us versus them' mentality to embrace the new era of national organizations. Sure, to some extent, there will be an inevitable loss of local history and charm as chain brands replace many of the old and cherished business names with which we've grown up. But we cannot deny that market forces will prevail in the end. The concept of economies of scale tells us again and again that pooling resources and knowledge will always create a smarter business model.

To look at it from a more personal perspective, it's only fair to admire and appreciate a local resident with the entrepreneurial spirit and drive to start their own business, employ local workers and sponsor local events. Further, they may be every bit as committed to contributing to the health and future of their community through their local store marketing efforts as the individually owned local store owners whose businesses have survived against the big-box retailers. With that in mind, Tully's Coffee and the other franchise and chain stores with local owners dedicated to serving their customers and investing in their communities are every bit as deserving of the locally owned and operated recognition.

Local Internet Marketing: Ready for Back-to-School?

Wednesday, August 4, 2010 by Marcie Blagden-Ellison

As a local business owner or distributor with local advertising needs, you’re probably more than a little familiar with circulars (i.e. those advertising inserts that are always falling out of your newspaper). If you've used circular advertising in the past, you've probably wondered how many of your own ads are falling out of the papers - only to go unseen by your target consumer...

What if your circular was digitally buzzing around the internet's most popular social networks and landing in front of your local customers?

Today, with the newspaper industry struggling to attract ad dollars and our society's flat-out addiction to the internet, it's fitting that new circular-specific applications are hitting social networks. ShopLocal just launched (yesterday) a new set of applications that enable retailers with local advertising needs to add circulars and ads to Facebook pages (already being implemented by JCPenny, Office Depot, CVS, etc.). In addition, on Monday Microsft Advertising introduced a new localized interactive circulars experience (added to MSN Local Edition) that allows past and potential customers to "grab" savings as they need them.

Perfect timing considering a recent Burst Media survey indicates that the internet will be a key shopping tool for back-to-school shoppers. With just under half (48.9%) of survey takers reporting that they'll go online to research a product/service for the school year and 47.1% of them acknowledging that they're influenced by online ads geared toward the back-to-school season - it's a pivotal time to make sure that your products/services are easy to find online (assuming your target audience falls in this bucket).

While ShopLocal and Microsoft's new tools are currently being utilized primarily by retailers, there is no reason that such functionality couldn't and shouldn't also be provided to a brand's distributors and resellers and/or to a chain's franchisees. While we wait for this application to appear....(*glances hopefully at the Balihoo product/development team (who have already developed some awesome social networking functionality)*) you can get ready by getting your Facebook page setup and connecting with your past or potential local customers.

Broadcast your current sale to local customers! Offer a unique discount to Fans! Just get involved with your local customers online by providing them with value (savings, information, entertainment, etc.) - you won't be sorry!

Got great customer service? Flaunt it!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010 by Kallen Hayes

A few days ago I encountered what struck me as a very unique online banner ad for Zappos.com. It was an image of a charming customer service representative with a speech bubble that read 'Happy to help 24/7". How interesting, I thought, that the message of the advertisement was focused not on Zappos' wonderful selection of shoes, their speedy (free!) delivery, or even their multitude of other clothing and home goods offered for sale on their website, but rather on their customer service! I figured it was not just a standalone banner ad that I had stumbled upon. I knew there had to be a good sized campaign going on with more of these charming puppets promoting Zappos famous customer service and quirky (er... charismatic) employees.

Perhaps I've been living in a cave for the last few months to not have already seen this retail marketing campaign on any other media outlets. After just a little bit of investigating, I learned the campaign, developed by Mullen, currently spans TV, print, and online video, and has already garnered quite a bit of attention for its trailblazing focus on the company's customer service department. The ads center around phone calls made by Mullen employees posing as actual customers making unusual (and rather hilarious) requests. The puppets fielding the phone calls are modeled off of real-life Zappos employees. Their responses to the requests are authentic -- the employees didn't know the calls were pranks. (I can't help but make a comical comparison to the Crank Yankers episodes).

The campaign is clearly taking the lead in a recent trend to bring customer service out from the dark cubicles of off-shore office buildings and onto the center stage of integrated marketing plans. Customer service has for too long been considered a cost center for companies, and hasn't received the attention and promotion it deserves. As service departments improve, it makes sense that this aspect of a business would naturally become a bragging point to attract new customers. Ann All supports this idea in her article, Customer Service: a Selling Point for Those That Get It Right. She says customer service as subject matter for sales and marketing is smart because great customer service is an excellent differentiator from the masses of other companies who've neglected that department.

As more customer interactions move to the online platform, companies are beginning to realize that their online presence --be it their website, their online chat services or their local internet marketing-- must convey the empathy and personalities of the people behind the technology. For Zappos, even their tagline 'Powered by Service' aims to draw the attention away from their highly advanced warehousing and shipping technology to the actual people manning their phones, executing orders, and happily on call to serve their customers.

I know for a fact that our company, Balihoo, is making great strides to reach out to our current and prospective customers to understand their wants and needs in order to continue moving forward as a customer-centric company. We want to design our local marketing software as an easy to use self-service portal while at the same time providing fantastic customer service to our end users seeking technical support or professional help with their media planning strategy.

Kudos to Zappos for being one of the first companies to embrace the new age of customer service and to step out with a memorable and entertaining campaign that rightfully gives tribute to its valued customer service agents. From the ads' featured customer interactions it's clear that the contagious energy and joyful attitude of the Zappos employees is easily perceived through every phone call and live chat conversation with their customers. As the bar for customer service continues to rise, I think Zappos is a clear front runner in the game.

Marketing Software Tools Continue to Impress PART DEUX: Chasing Your Consumer

Monday, June 28, 2010 by Alex Fascilla

I'm exasperated as I reach the top of the 4th floor stairwell and jump-kick the steel bar that stretches across the fire door, gaining entry to a long hall. I'm sprinting now, the noise coming from the pounding of my feet hitting the end of the hall and bouncing back at the speed of sound, echoing throughout. I take a sharp left down an adjacent hall, immediately noticing a large window at the other end, stretching to the floor. "Should I Die Hard-it and dive through the double-pane glass, hoping to land atop the building below? Or do I Master-Key-Guy-Off-The-Matrix 2-it and duck into any one of the rooms I'm passing now at a rate of two per second, instantly launching me to a new corner of the earth?"

Neither, see, because I'm only figuratively escaping the pursuer. I know, boring.

In all actuality, last week, while scanning Eastbay for footwear that's a little less enclosed (flops) than what I've currently got, I 'picked up a tail' as they say in every cop movie ever made. Spending approximately three minutes looking at a particularly interesting pair was my first mistake. Unfortunately, this totally harmless activity gave the re-marketing 'parasite' enough time to 'latch on'. I know this because for the next three days a good 80% of the websites I visited featured multiple Eastbay ads--and not just any old banner ad, but a banner ad featuring the exact shoe I was looking at! Perhaps the most remarkable thing, however, was that this was on everything from big sites like MSN.com, all the way to little local news sites like KATV.com.

As I blogged in early March via an article in MediaBuyerPlanner, this re-marketing technology enables retailers to serve future ads on other sites to try enticing buyers that browsed but didn't buy into returning to remind them what they've left behind. The article pointed to how underutilized this marketing software tool really is. Well, I'm here to tell you, while parasitic, this technology is both ingenious, effective, and quickly becoming less than underutilized. How do I know they're effective? Well, allow me to finish the story...

...Being old-fashioned concerning chase scenes, I quickly choose the former, ripping my jacket off as I sprint and swinging it around my body to cover my torso and head as I punch through the curiously easy-to-shatter window. The jacket floats down into the alley below as I miss my landing, hitting the edge of the building's top, dangling with both arms fully extended, fingers curled around the lip of the stone that caps the building's waist-high wall. Kicking my feet against the edge of the building, I pull myself up and over onto roof and collapse with a grunt. I look up to realize I'm surrounded by goons. With guns. Caught.

That's right, I know re-marketing is effective because what really happened is I clicked on the damn banner ad the third day and bought the damn shoes hook-line-and-sinker. [To get the ads to go away? or because I wanted them? Hmmm...]

Nice work, Eastbay--retail marketing at its best. I can't wait for others to adopt this technology. I'm sure they can't either!

For more information on cool marketing software tools, download Balihoo's whitepaper here.

Facebook and Ford Explore(r) New Product Launch Marketing Tactics

Friday, June 11, 2010 by Alex Fascilla

If you've been alive the past two months (which, you have, if you're reading this--also, if you've only been alive two months but you're reading this, congratulations, you're the smartest baby in the world) I guarantee you've seen at least one ad in Kia's New Sorento campaign--the damn thing spans magazines, television, social media, online, and includes a "The Official Mid-Size Sport Utility Vehicle of the NBA" sponsorship--even as sponsorships continue to become more ridiculous in their specificity like, "ULINE: The Official Contractor-Grade Staple Gun of the WNBA". Seriously, how many other staple gun manufacturers were clamoring for that distinction? [Answer: they weren't, I made that up.]

As far as the social media component of the (I'm assuming) successful--and I forgot to add earlier, giant-toy-themed--Sorento campaign is concerned, Kia has a Sorento-specific Facebook Fan Page (of which, as a Sorento owner myself, I am a fan... alright, who cares if I own the '04 model? I can still like the new one--especially its gas mileage, which infuriated me when it was first posted: 26 mpg. My '04 seriously gets fifteen. Fifteen. Miles. Per. Gallon. 15 MPG! I didn't realize when I bought it that it came with an invisible 22-foot trailer) as well as a Sorento-specific Tweets via Kia's Twitter feed. These two mediums are great, but I first discovered the new Kia via TV and later Wired Magazine. It wasn't until I saw these and then the Facebook page that I became a Fan.

So how effective would their product launch marketing have been if Kia had decided to forgo the traditional mediums--and even *GASP!*, a major car show like the Detroit Auto Show--and rely solely on the Facebook marketing? You'd think not as much. Who would ever gamble on that kind of strategy, though? Interestingly enough, our own Ford Motor Company. As Marketing VOX recently reported, Ford plans to roll out the new Explorer--yeah, you know, like the most famous SUV of all time--on just Facebook alone.

That's correct, one of America's largest and most storied corporations--a pillar in our nation's industry--is fully embracing the power of social media to market one of their flagship products. Many (presumably, large traditional media-buying agencies) are questioning the decision, especially considering Ford isn't even going to announce the new Explorer at any auto shows. If you ask me, this is exactly why Ford is head-and-shoulders above GM and Chrysler (who?) in the domestic car-manufacturing race:

They're religious about collecting customer feedback, they experiment with alternative mediums (see: Fiesta Movement), they embrace unique designs and, in doing so, they connect with buyers, especially younger ones, on many levels. And it's those younger buyers that will be the key to their continued success. Ford should be lauded for this new Facebook strategy. Why? You mean besides the fact that they're a [serious] multi-billion-dollar corporation not afraid to take risks on unproven social media retail marketing tactics? Because it will probably work for them. And if it works for them (Ford of all companies!), expect others to follow suit.

{Insert clever conclusion here}

For more information on product launch marketing and other marketing methods, please download our Local Franchise Marketing Playbook here.

Childhood, Co-Op Marketing, and Perception Versus Reality

Friday, June 11, 2010 by Phil Bear

Childhood. For most, it is a time that you can look back at the wonderful memories you experienced with family and friends. The hardest part of your day was having to go to school, generally that lasted only 3/4 of the year. No job, no responsibility, and adults had all of the answers. Or so you thought.

As we gradually transform from children into adults, we start to realize that parents don't have everything figured out. They are faking it with their confidence and authority over us. (Those tricky adults!) I am constantly reminded of this bamboozling the more I do research on co-op marketing.

Co-op is an essential piece to a brand's retail marketing puzzle. It's the grappling hook in a ninja's arsenal. Brands know this, and because they know this, they have a co-op marketing program. The thing is: a lot of brands don't know what they are doing when it comes executing effective local co-op marketing.

Companies I research and talk to repeatedly tell me that they have no clear vision on how to execute co-op advertising. They are aware of the elements that make up co-op marketing, but putting them together and making them work is where things get rough.

Essentially there are two parts that make up brand's co-op marketing strategy: digital asset management, and co-op administration.

Digital Asset Management is the online warehouse where a brand stores all of its marketing material. Dealers and distributors can go in and access this material, usually in the form of some kind of ad builder software, and order co-opted brand advertisements.
Co-Op Administration is how the brand tracks and administers subsidies for dealers and distributors who use their brand. This can range from imputing the information into a spreadsheet, to website devoted entirely to tracking subsidies. Depending on a brand's particular system, dealers and distributors may have to wait for up to six months to get approved for reimbursement. Ouch.

Because these two aspects are not generally integrated into a single solution within a company's local marketing strategy, there is huge potential for a lose/lose situation here.

Take this example:

Local dealer Manfred Winthrop accesses marketing material from the brand's online ad builder.
Manfred creates his own ad, and executes. Believing he has complied with the brand's messaging, sends the ad to the brand to get a co-op reimbursement
The brand finally gets to Manfred's request a few months later, and doesn't like the look of the advertisement. His request for co op reimbursement is denied.
Manfred is frustrated, and stops using the brand in his advertising, costing him potential customers.
The brand loses its local advertising, and potential customers.
Lose/Lose

Balihoo can solve this massive problem in one integrated co-op marketing solution. We have introduced an innovative software and services solution that bridges the gap between digital asset management and co op administration - streamlining the entire process into one user friendly web portal. Imagine if Mr. Winthrop could access pre-approved brand marketing material and immediately receive the subsidy for the local advertising plan - all while giving the brand complete visibility into his marketing efforts. That's a win/win. That's Balihoo.

Spend hours on Facebook? How's your wallet?

Tuesday, June 8, 2010 by Marcie Blagden-Ellison

With new research indicating that heavy Facebook and Twitter users tend to spend more money on the web than non-users, having a social network presence has never been more valuable for your overall media planning strategy. And the vast majority of online retailers have apparently recognized it - 9 out of 10 are planning on having a Facebook presence by the end of 2010 (Source).

This comScore study, indicates that the more time a person spends on Facebook, the more money he or she also spends online. Twitter users also tend to spend more dollars online (but not in direct correlation with their level of use).

Appealing to a huge number of Gen Y and Xers with their disposable incomes (see this post for more information on this demographic) and increasingly gaining older users, social networking is no longer dominated by tweens and teens with less power over their financial purchases.

For business owners with local store marketing needs, maintaining a Facebook presence can help build brand awareness, distribute information, build a sense of community, offer additional customer support and boost sales (both in-house and online). Now there's something to consider while contemplating your local internet marketing strategy.

Will TweetWords Pay Off? Part II

Friday, May 21, 2010 by Alex Fascilla

On April 16th, I wrote a blog that's way better than this one that unveiled Twitter's plan to roll out Promoted Tweets, or "TweetWords" (as I completely uncleverly dubbed them--I thought of a new one right after I posted the blog: "Pay-per-Tweet"...I said new, not better) that would allow advertisers to place ads at the top of Twitter search results.

Keywords would be purchased, searches would be tracked, performance would be measured, and Twitter would become yet another marketing money-maker aesthetically hobbled by advertising... ...So is it working? To be honest, I haven't seen one Promoted Tweet since the program was rolled out. However, that's a sample size of one so I wouldn't trust the data.

To Twitter's delight and contrary to my data above, its Promoted Tweeters have reached people that are searching for normal things like #airfare, or #travel and not #lonelyisland. As MediaBuyerPlanner daily recently reported, both cable channel Bravo! and Virgin America Airlines have both enjoyed early Pay-per-Tweet (use it!) retail marketing success. As the article states, Virgin announced selling out of 50%-off airfare tickets just three hours after posting it as a promoted tweet. Similarly, Bravo! increased impressions to their website by 200,000 after one particularly popular Promoted Tweet.

As a media planner constantly seeking cutting-edge alternative media--especially in the social media arena--for inclusion in media planning strategy, we could have an AdWords circa 2000 situation arising. It's almost *gasp!* better than AdWords; however, considering Twitter's re-tweet** functionality: A tweep sees a Promoted Tweet offer they like, say, a free bacon burger at Carl's Jr. for one-day only, re-tweets it to their followers, and effectively adds exponential (particularly if the re-tweeter has thousands or even millions [@aplusk] of followers) reach to Carl's Jr.'s campaign. Invaluable! Just make sure there aren't any regional restrictions first, guys... BIG mistake.

Currently, Twitter has re-tweet max/cap of 200 and features a very Google-esque keyword bidding system. Get rid of the re-tweet maximum and switch the Promoted Tweet pricing to be performance-based, and Promoted Tweets will quickly become an absolute no-brainer in any advertising media plan.

When Balihoo makes media recommendations to its partners in local advertising, a social media component is always included--it can't be ignored, this is where web 2.0 advertising is headed! I know I was skeptical at first, but with these Promoted Tweets, we've got a local internet marketing sleeping giant about to awake here.

Had to try it. The keywords I bought? 'intelligent', 'strong as an ox', 'black belt', 'powerful core', 'real cool'. The Promoted Tweet? "AlexFascilla: what you've always been searching for". Still waiting on that first lucky lad... er, click.

**Clicking the re-tweet button below another's tweet will post it to your profile as if you had tweeted it yourself

Social Networking Butterflies

Monday, May 10, 2010 by Brian King

Yes... the little butterflies that can build and destroy your brand. An ever-increasing important component to retail marketing. Allow me to share a quick story, or novella if you will:

I happened to be in San Jose for business travel pertaining to Balihoo's Dental Marketing team, which is completely irrelevant to my story and more of a shameless product plug, when I experienced a perfect example of the power of these social networking butterflies.

It was a beautiful Thursday afternoon in downtown San Jose. A nice high pressure system had brought with it a cloudless spring evening with temperatures hovering around 21 degrees Celsius. The anemometer was showing a NE breeze of 5-7 knots. I decided to visit one of my favorite chain restaurants, and perhaps one that might benefit from implementing Balihoo's local marketing automation solution, commonly referred to as Gordon Biersch. Great beer, great food, great atmosphere... really just an all-around great place.

I was by myself (accepting applications for dates - all candidates may apply by commenting on this blog with appropriate contact information) so I decided to sit at the bar. I placed my order and then proceeded to read the newspaper on my handheld Blackberry device via my favorite CNBC app. I noticed the waitstaff continually peering over at me as though I was up to no good. While most who know me know that I only misbehave on weekends - but the waitstaff didn't know me, my intentions or lack thereof. After about 10-12 minutes from the time I placed my order, the Shift Supervisor came up to me and very politely said, "Sir, your food should be right up. We are a bit backed up in the kitchen but please accept our apologies for the delay."

I told her that it was absolutely no worry and went back to reading a CNBC feature story about flesh-eating vultures taking over an abandoned luxury Florida condo complex. Seeing as how I had hardly been waiting, I found her apology a bit peculiar and certainly unnecessary. After putting further thought into it, I put two and two together. To find the restaurant, I used the Bing app on my phone and searched for casual dining restaurants that had the best reviews and were located within .5 miles of my hotel. Just as easily as I found the restaurant from positive reviews, I could have been a social networking butterfly (or moth in the eyes of any restaurant chain marketing department) and write a bad Yelp or Bing review while I was waiting for my food. Wouldn't be the first time someone has done such a thing. For the record: the service was exceptional and I encourage all visiting San Jose to grab a burger and beer there.

Long story short, I'm not sure if restaurants are now training staff to be cognoscente of anyone using their Blackberry, Droid, or iPhone while sitting alone but I have to say that I was damn impressed with the supervisor's awareness of the situation. Kudos to her and the Gordon Biersch organization. Little did they know that I would now write this blog and not only compliment the great Hawaiian Kobe Burger with Garlic Fries, but the even better level of customer service that I experienced.

When building your brand, don't neglect the little things. Marketing goes far beyond the advertisements and promotions you run. It's the little things that add up and allow you to build an army of Social Networking Butterflies and not Social Networking Moths, the ones that you can never seem to swat and when you do, they leave a film of gray dust on your wall, err... I mean brand.

Local Marketing Automation Gains Momentum

Thursday, May 6, 2010 by Shane Vaughan

Taking a moment to step back and survey the forest (instead of focusing on all the trees) sometimes has a sobering effect.

A few weeks ago I realized that we hadn't made an announcement recently regarding all of the new customers that had been joining Balihoo. I decided to focus on just our wins in 2010 - and as I developed the list, I was astounded at its depth and breadth. I built the press release associated with this announcement, and it quickly became apparent that it was going to be overwhelming to include all of our great new customers.

So, to those that were unable to be included because of space (or because of confidentiality reasons) please know that you're still incredibly important to us.

Without further delay - here's the announcement from today:

Boise, ID (May 6, 2010) – Balihoo (www.balihoo.com), the premier provider of Local Marketing Automation technology and services to national brands with local marketing needs, continues to gain traction with national brands representing a diverse range of industries. During the first quarter of 2010, Balihoo solidified multiple partnerships with leading national brands that have local marketing needs – representing everything from dog care to delicatessens, home fixtures to auto maintenance.

Now leveraging the Balihoo platform to empower thousands of franchisees and resellers are national brands including Specialized Bicycles, Kohler Co., ProTect Painters, Oil Can Henry’s, Mattress Firm, Dogtopia, Gandolfo’s, Granite Transformations, TSS Photography and Verlo.

“Our new partners understand the power and influence of targeted local marketing and believe in Balihoo’s ability to help drive demand – and ROI,” said Pete Gombert, Balihoo’s CEO. “Our local marketing automation solution will empower the franchisees and resellers for each of these leading brands to deliver effective and customized marketing campaigns that resonate with their local customers.”

Gombert continued, “This flood of well-respected organizations, along with Balihoo’s acknowledgement by Gartner as a “Cool Vendor” in the marketing landscape, is a clear indication that Local Marketing Automation is becoming a key strategic differentiator for national brands.”

Clients that have recently partnered with Balihoo include:

Specialized Bicycles

Specialized Bicycles was founded in 1974 by riders for riders. Headquartered in Morgan Hill, California, with global distribution, the company focuses on making everyone’s time on a bike better by delivering functional and technically advanced equipment that provides a performance benefit. In their quest to provide a superior dealer experience through their exclusive IBD channel, Specialized is utilizing Balihoo to ensure alignment of local dealer marketing to the national Tour De France promotional launch.

Kohler Co.

Kohler Co. is one of America’s oldest and largest privately-held companies and is a global leader in the manufacture of kitchen and bath products, engines and power systems, furniture and decorative tile, and hospitality and real estate including world championship golf resorts in Kohler, Wisconsin, and St Andrews, Scotland.

ProTect Painters

ProTect Painters is a member of Service Brands International, a privately held, multi-concept franchise system with worldwide headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan. ProTect Painters has become one of the largest painting companies because they have the experience to handle all painting needs, both exterior and interior. ProTect Painters is using Balihoo to provide a completely outsourced local marketing solution to their franchisees nationwide.

Oil Can Henry’s

Oil Can Henry’s makes vehicle maintenance quick, convenient – and even a little fun at their service centers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington. They selected Balihoo to ensure their franchise system is marketing and communicating in a common voice by putting a local marketing automation platform in place that will consolidate all local marketing activities.

Mattress Firm

Mattress Firm is one of the nation’s leading specialty mattress retailers, offering a broad selection of both traditional and specialty mattresses from leading manufacturers, including Tempur-Pedic, Sealy, Simmons, Stearns & Foster, Sleep to Live and Serta. Founded in 1986, Mattress Firm's purpose is to improve lives one night at a time. While Mattress Firm had been utilizing a traditional ad builder system for several years, they called upon Balihoo to develop a comprehensive Local Marketing Automation platform capable of enabling their franchisees with the ability to easily execute local marketing efforts.

Dogtopia

Dogtopia has a clear mission to be the premier provider of the highest quality dog care in the United States, and continues to experience promising growth driven by quality service and leadership. Balihoo and Dogtopia share a passion for making the franchisee successful and are working hard to provide the marketing tools and planning needed to execute and grow in the local marketplace. Solid media planning, customizable creative and excellent support services are being utilized to make every promotion and campaign “paw-rific”.

Gandolfo’s New York Delicatessen

Dan Pool discovered Gandolfo's New York Delicatessen in Salt Lake City, Utah. It took one bite into a Gandolfo's sandwich for Pool to invest and ultimately become owner and CEO. Founded in 1989 by New York native Craig Gandolph, Gandolfo's New York delicatessen is the nation's only "authentic" franchised delicatessen. Gandolfo's has spent the last twenty years spreading the love of authentic New York delis across the country by providing the freshest deli meats and vegetables on top of its selection of homemade breads. Balihoo has developed an end-to-end email marketing platform that offers Gandolfo’s franchisees with everything they need to quickly and easily communicate with their local customers in a manner that it is 100% in concert with the national brand.

Granite Transformations

With U.S. offices based in Miramar, Fla., Granite Transformations, a division of Trend USA, has facilities and showrooms around the world offering new and exciting alternatives to traditional countertops, backsplashes, floors and more. They have teamed with Balihoo to provide franchise owners with an integrated marketing platform that gives them creative flexibility, email functionality, media planning services and cost savings through economies of scale. Granite Transformations was looking for an easy-to-use and cost-efficient solution for their franchisees and Balihoo delivered.

TSS Photography

TSS Photography has been the leader in youth sports, school and event photography for over 25 years. They specialize in team picture days, sports photography, school photography, special events and tournament photos. They plan to utilize Balihoo technology to maximize promotional campaigns, retention programs and lead communication. Customizable creative templates paired with customer management systems will allow them to accomplish these goals. With additional services and tools, Balihoo offers their franchise owners the resources they need both currently and with future growth.

Verlo

Headquartered in Fort Atkinson, Wis., Verlo Mattress Factory Stores is the nation's largest Craftsman-Direct® mattress retailer. Offering the only franchise opportunity in the $8 billion-a-year sleep specialty industry, Verlo Mattress Factory Stores was selected as one of the 100 companies to be featured in the 2009 (3rd) Edition of Bond's Top 100 franchises, competing with over 3,000 active North American franchise systems. Balihoo has supplied Verlo with a consolidated marketing solution that will dramatically improve system-wide visibility into overall marketing spend.

For more information on how Balihoo can help companies translate national strategies into local execution, download Balihoo's Local Marketing Automation Whitepaper and Integrated Co-op Marketing Whitepaper.

'Local' is In

Wednesday, May 5, 2010 by Kevin Donaldson

Its interesting that as we all grow our on-line networks ever larger, there is a real world movement back to a local communities. This week I came across a nice article in Yes! magazine entitled 'A New Deal for Local Economies', that discussed the new interest in 'Local'. Locally owned, locally produced ... local is definitely 'in'.

Balihoo is a big believer in local, and in fact we base our entire local marketing automation business on this movement. It is way more than a trend, but a movement that is building for the long term. To support this, the article threw out some interesting facts:

There are now 5274 active farmers markets in the united states, and half have been started in the last decade.
Some 400 new independent book stores have opened in the past 4 years (although I would be willing to bet that most of them are also selling through amazon marketplace:)
Most students graduating from pharmacy school report that they would rather open their own drugstore than work for a chain
Last April as Virgin Mega-stores prepared to shutter its last US location more than a thousand independent music stores where mobbed for the second annual Record store day - a celebration of independent record stores that drew hundreds of thousands of people into local stores, became one of the top search terms on Google and triggered a 16 point upswing in album sales
Driving is down in the US over the last 2 years while data from metro regions show that homes located within walking distance of local business's held value better than isolated suburbs
Local business alliances have now formed in over 130 cities and collectively count some 30,000 business's as members

However, the article goes on to blast larger brands and national chains from trying to take advantage of this movement through unscrupulous local marketing strategy. Examples sited include a marketing campaign by Hellmann's Mayonnaise owned by food giant Unilever called "Eat Real, Eat Local" or Frito-Lay using local farmers pitching potato chips as local food.

While these brand may be taking far too much liberty with their local advertising, its important to understand that just because a brand name can be found across the country doesn't mean its not local. For instance most franchises are locally owned and operated by neighbors in your community. Just because there are national ads on TV doesn't mean they aren't local.

For instance a Quiznos franchise that gets food supplied from a national distributor is no different than the local record store that gets CD's supplied by distributors for major labels. They sponsor local kids sports team, and events just as much as any other local business's do.

While it may be hard to always distinguish stores owned by the corporation vs those with local owners - all one has to do is ask before you pass judgment. I am all for eating/buying local but just remember that just because a retail outlet is a chain, doesn't mean it isn't local.

AdMongo - Teaching Tweens about Advertising and Marketing

Tuesday, April 27, 2010 by Marcie Blagden-Ellison

The FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection has developed a program to help tweens (4th through 6th grade) better understand marketing. The idea is that if they understand how advertising works, they can make better, more informed choices when they shop or when they ask their parents to buy specific brand items. The program is built around a website called Admongo that offers tween users an "ad-ucation" via a game that uses mock products that resemble others they might find in the real world.

“Advertising is all around you,” the homepage states and encourages youngsters to always ask three questions: “Who is responsible for the ad? What is the ad actually saying? What does the ad want me to do?”

C. Lee Peeler, president and chief executive of the National Advertising Review Council, explained to the New York Times that the bureau’s effort will “teach kids how to swim in the ocean of advertising,” and yet takes “a straightforward approach that does not go a step further and demonize advertising.”

The belief that youngsters ought to be given additional tools to assist them in deciphering sales pitches has gained support as local advertising, retail marketing and franchise marketing have ramped up their use of internet marketing, and in particular, social media.

It seems to me that by in large, children, tweens and teens are far more aware of advertising today then I was when I was their age. As media consumption has skyrocketed (across all demographics) I think further education regarding advertising can only be beneficial - and not just to our youth but to national brands and franchise marketing professionals. Kids are changing and so should the advertisements and messages that are tailored for them.

Will Tweet-Words Pay Off? Advertisers are Betting Their Nest Eggs On It

Friday, April 16, 2010 by Alex Fascilla

One of my favorite Twitter features, besides its thank-God-they-capped-it 140 character per tweet limit (nothing is worse than a Facebook update that blurs the lines between a tweet and a bona fide blog--Mom, if you're reading this, you're guilty of status-blogs) is its search function. You can never go wrong when searching for trending topics with hashtags like #letsbehonest, #somethingaintright, or, my personal favorte, #nowthatsghetto (as in: "Captain Crunch and tap water... #nowthatsghetto") Hey, even if it lacks a certain sophistication, pop culture can be comically perceptive...

After sites like YouTube and [dinosaur] MySpace sold for hundreds of millions of dollars with no clear plan to capiatalize on their every-person-on-earth traffic count figures, it was only a matter of time before people started pointing the finger at Twitter: "How you gonna make money?" Or, even better: "#somethingaintright about the fact u can't make money.. whens it gonna happen?" Of course, Twitter could respond to these inquisitive folks with "#letsbehonest, we're not entirely sure" But, Twitter, perhaps sensing these questions would begin rolling in at exponential rates as they continued to exist pennilessly in a very profit-hungry world (a lá YouTube), unveiled a plan for revenue generation: paid search.

So... will your Twitter searches for things like #theresnothinglike be hijacked a bit by paid search results? Alas, yes, they will; but hey, that's something we're used to, right? I mean, you've used Google within the past 13 years haven't you? And it's actually not results but rather result. A single paid ad will appear at the top of tweets on your searched topic. As MediaBuyerPlanner recently reported, Starbucks is the first advertiser to jump on board with
what Twitter is calling 'Promoted Tweets' by bidding on particular keywords they wager Tweeps will search for. [Hint: It's technically very similar to Google's ad words and the basis for my unoriginal blog title]

It remains to be seen whether a tactic like this can produce results in the context of a social media platform as unique as Twitter. The biggest question, as the article indicates, is whether or not Promoted Tweets will be any more effective for Starbucks then their regular tweets that speak directly to their followers.

This all comes at a time when Twitter really started unlocking its potential in the retail marketing, franchise marketing, and product launch marketing (when news of the iPad dropped, some of the most hilarious tweets I'd ever read surfaced, including one from a woman asking "do you think they'll eventually make an #iPad with wings?" ...Get it? Pretty sure Sarah Silverman tweeted that...) space--tweets concerning one-day freebies like Denny's Free Grand Slam Breakfast promotion have paid off big. Or did they? Measuring Twitter's impact, from tweet, to tweep acting on that tweet, has been understandably difficult. Obviously, these Promoted Tweets should offer something a bit more measurable. In the meantime, we'll get used to yet another one of our beloved 'free' sites entering a cocoon of profit analysts and emerging with a thin, almost undetectable layer of advertising... Damn, and I JUST knocked those translucent ribbons of fluff at the bottom of all my YouTube videos off my #thingsihate list!

FYI:
Tweet = a Twitter status update
Trending Topics = terms that are the most-tweeted about for that day
Hashtags = the # that prefaces a popular term and helps it to "trend"
Tweeps = twitter-ers or twitter peeps

Nike just does it better

Monday, April 12, 2010 by Megan Heath

Unless you're new to Earth, recently thawed from a cryogenic slumber, or a harried Balihoo employee with limited social interaction, you've probably heard of Tiger Woods. You've probably also been bombarded of late by the relentless coverage of Tiger's personal and professional dealings. And whether you know or care an iota about the Masters and its gravity, you almost certainly know that Tiger returned to professional golf in last week's tournament.

In advance of Thursday's first round, Tiger's most prominent sponsor, Nike Golf, took the public by surprise with a stark acknowledgment of all that lead to that moment. Their television ad, featuring voice-over from Tiger's late father and mentor, is contrastingly bare in imagery and complex in meaning. Viewers are brought uncomfortably close - physically and emotionally - to Tiger and his apparent remorse. The ad has been met with predictably strong, if mixed, reviews.

If Tiger was a polarizing figure before, he's surely pitched a wedge into a new echelon of
public opinion now (pun reluctantly intended). Love golf or hate it, most everyone has an opinion about Tiger Woods these days - and that opinion may have nothing at all to do with golf itself. Even if much of the response is negative, the recent media frenzy has ensured that he is a topic of conversation, even among those who couldn't care less about his career.

Enter Nike, a smart and confident retailer with considerable marketing swagger. When other prominent sponsors - well within their rights - chose to walk away from Tiger, Nike opted to remain. When Tiger selected the Masters to make his much-anticipated return, Nike made another bold choice: to recognize the issue, establish their position, and engage the public. Rather than remain silent and wait for questions or criticism, Nike went on the offensive; they chose the context for the inevitable conversation.

Those Nike folks are no dummies. With so much of the world watching, the timing was ideal to capitalize on their relationship with Tiger; the critical component, and biggest risk, would be the message. The key was for Nike to distinguish their endorsement of Tiger from an endorsement of his actions; this commercial quietly accomplishes exactly that.

Fan or critic, odds are that you'll have an emotional reaction to this campaign. The public's general approval or disapproval of the ad, or of Tiger himself, is largely irrelevant in comparison to their viewership, their discussion, their Tweets, and their dialog in response. It's a risk many advertisers would shun, and in fact many did; Nike manages to pull it off beautifully.

As advertisers, we should all show Nike's poise in the face of possibility. A strong, well-defined brand will push the limits without sacrificing themselves or risking their audience. Remember, Nike isn't out to make you like Tiger - they're out to make sure you keep talking about him. And as you talk, kindly conjure their flickering logo in the back of your mind.

Different Industries - Similar Local Marketing Issues

Friday, April 9, 2010 by Jill Coles

As a Program Manager at Balihoo, I have been exposed to diverse franchises, with very similar local advertising challenges. In the past two months, I have grown to know and love a national mattress brand, a kitchen and bath brand, a kidney dialysis brand, and a retail sandwich shop brand, all of which have selected Balihoo as their local marketing software provider. What do all of these brands have in common? More than you think.

They are all nationally recognized as leaders in their field. They have realized the need to provide a higher level of sophistication and assistance in local advertising to their franchisees. They recognized the fact that planning and launching an advertising campaign a the local level can be a painful, expensive and lengthy undertaking for a local store/center/showroom owner.

Enter Balihoo. We may not be the only franchise marketing software out there, but for these brands, we were the company of choice.

Giving franchisees the resources that they need to be successful in local advertising, co-op advertising, local media buying and media planning is a huge value-add provided by a national brand. We hope to see more of it!

Co-op Advertising Programs - Why is Reseller Adoption Important?

Thursday, April 8, 2010 by Shane Vaughan

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm currently writing a whitepaper on reseller adoption of co-op advertising programs. I promised to post regular updates, so here's the next piece:

Why is Reseller Adoption Important?

Every co-op advertising program should have a suite of KPI’s (key performance indicators) used to track the overall effectiveness of the program, with return-on-investment being the ultimate measure. However, reseller adoption is often left off of this list – which leads into the old business axiom, “If it’s not measured, you can’t improve it”. Which begs the question: Why is reseller adoption so important to your co-op program?

1. Reseller adoption percentage is the ultimate measure for the “friendliness” of your program. At a macro level it is an indicator of a multitude of measures including:

· Reseller awareness of your program

· Commitment of your salesforce to the program

· Creative and financial flexibility within the program

· Ease-of-use of the program

2. A co-op advertising program likely represents a significant financial and resource investment. A low adoption rate means that these investments are not being effectively leveraged across the entirety of your reseller network.

3. Co-op advertising programs with low adoption rates are typically slanted to better serve larger retailers, often ignoring smaller, independent resellers. As channel consolidation continues (especially in retail and technology channels) it’s going to become increasingly important to build-out smaller channel partners to mitigate the risk of “having all your eggs in one basket”.

As you can see, measuring and improving the adoption rate of your co-op advertising program can have a significant impact on your business. Next, I'll look at key issues that hinder adoption and explore how a product manufacturer can address these issues to have a positive impact on their reseller adoption.

While I'm working on finishing up this white paper, check out our other co-op advertising whitepaper: Integrated Co-op Marketing.

Co-Op Advertising - Make it Easy

Thursday, April 1, 2010 by Shane Vaughan

Co-op Advertising is defined by About.com as:

"A system by which ad costs are divided between two or more parties. Usually, such programs are offered by manufacturers to their wholesalers or retailers, as a means of encouraging those parties to advertise the product."

The fundamental assumption here is that both parties (manufacturer and retailer) are getting value out of the Co-op advertising program.

Many manufacturers make the incorrect assumption that simply providing dollars to their co-op advertising program is enough of a value to the local marketing organization. This is not the case - if those dollars are difficult to access, painful to use and a hassle to collect, the retailer will, best case scenario, just not use your program - at worst case, they'll use a competitors co-op advertising program and drive demand for their products.

Advice: put yourselves in the shoes of your retailer. It's 7:30 on a Sunday night and you need to get your marketing set for the next quarter. How would you handle it? Does your co-op advertising program make it easy for this reseller?

Here's a screen shot from our application that demonstrates a few key points

Some key takeaways:

Note that you're looking at a browser screen. Put your program on the web to give your resellers anytime access

The second key thing to note is in the pricing. You'll see that because this reseller chosen a qualifying template, he's receiving his 30% co-op advertising allotment immediately. This is huge for him.

Is your system this easy?

Check out our Integrated Co-op Marketing Whitepaper to learn more about developing a killer co-op advertising program.

Ever Heard of a Burma Shave?

Thursday, March 11, 2010 by Tiffany Schrenk

One of the main objectives in local advertising is brand awareness and name recognition. In order to accomplish this retailers need to find a way in which they can stand out from the crowd. It is a constant challenge to understand your audience and what message is going to reach them. In most instances this requires serious creativity.

Burma Shave is one such retailer that thought outside the normal advertising boundaries employing a nontraditional campaign for their time and subsequently enjoyed great success.
Burma Shave was a brand of brush-less shaving cream introduced to the public in 1925. The company's product touted ingredients, "from the Malay Peninsula and Burma".
Unfortunately, after their release sales were sparse and demand was

low for many months. This struggle spurred the launch of their famous advertising sign program that aided in massive sales growth and success for many years after.
These sign campaigns consisted of six consecutive small signs posted along highways all over the United States. The signs were spaced for sequential reading by passing motorists. The last sign of course being the name of the product. The clever rhymes drew a lot of attention, so popular in fact that some people drove just a little further to see what would be next. (Like... A peach/ Looks good/ With lots of fuzz/ But man's no peach/ and never wuz/ Burma Shave or I've read/ These signs/ Since just a kid/ Now that I shave/ I'm glad I did/ Burma Shave). These signs were so impactful for their time that to this day if local advertisers request consecutive outdoor billboards or need smaller signs for placement around their location many production reps will refer to the signs themselves as Burma Shaves. Or for example a politician in Canada coined the term "Burma Shaving" when he stood at the end of six campaign signs waving at motorist during their morning drive.

The best way to reach your audience may not be the most obvious. Shaving cream has absolutely nothing to do with driving, highways, or the open road but Burma Shave made it work and to this day is one of the better examples of brand awareness. Each local marketing strategy may change per region but the challenge of attracting customers remains the same. Thinking outside the traditional local marketing and media vehicles can really pay off... it did for Burma Shave!

Whether Regifting or Remarketing, Marketing Software Tools Continue to Impress

Friday, March 5, 2010 by Alex Fascilla

Now that we're well out of the holiday season, it's time to take a few minutes--or hours, if your 'haul' was like one of those kids' from the TV show my Super Sweet Sixteen--and conduct inventory on the gifts you received. "Alright," you say to your gifts, "which ones of you is a re-gift, and which ones of you will I treasure for years to come?" It should be a pretty simple task. The Blu-Ray you received probably isn't in this particular pile but rather long been set up in your entertainment center--shrugging apologetically at the progressive-scan DVD player as it was being switched out--while the Hillshire Farms Summer Sausage Sampler Pack is firmly established among this group of misfits, collecting dust since the morning of December 25th, when its brick-patterned wrapping paper was apprehensively removed.

The worst among these is the 'ween-gift--the gift that leaves you on-the-fence about whether to hold or fold. This might be the basket of wine cheeses you can someday see yourself sampling at a spring picnic (heh, yeah riiiiight...), or, conversely, giving to your fiancée's aunt to save yourself some coin when faced with buying a gift for someone who, one, you don't know anything about, and two, don't necessarily care about. These are the gifts that take the longest to relegate to 're-gift' status. Eventually however, your logical side overtakes any romantic vision you had and a re-gift is born. As an aside, please join me in listening to (sorry, copyright laws prevent me from saying watching) perhaps the most hilarious example of a re-gift attempt of all time (at bottom):

So where am I going with all this 're' talk? Well, what if I told you it is possible to 'remarket' or 'retarget'? According to a recent article in MediaBuyerPlanner, advertisers are severely under-utilizing this relatively new retail marketing feature. This is how it works: suppose you go to backcountry.com and find a new pair of Smith sunglasses you want. You add them to your cart, enter your shipping address, and even go as far as to enter the first 4 digits of your credit card before deciding, "I don't want to buy this. This is impulsive." You close the browser window, close your wallet, and take a quick walk, shaken up by your close-call with impulse (your walk invariably leads you outside where you immediately squint at how bright the sun is...).

If Backcountry wanted that business back, it could entice your return by utilizing 'remarketing'--or serving their ads on other sites you visit to constantly remind you of "what you could have had**". As it turns out, many advertisers do have access to this remarketing feature, but as the article reports, only about 31% of them actually use it. A staggeringly low amount given some remarketing efforts have boosted ad response as high as 400%.

Why not turn this into a co-operative marketing solution? I can see these online retailers that have similarly been 'doorbell ditched' swapping impressions on each other's sites, banding together to recover lost sales. Any hey, even if they don't pursue the co-op advertising route, it's painfully obvious retailers need to make remarketing/retargeting a part of any media planning strategy they follow. Good luck ducking those impulses now!

**Thank God my ex-girlfriend doesn't have access to this technology.

Breadmaker sound bite Will Ferrell sound bites