Great Minds...Share

Leadership comes with a fundamental responsibility – to help guide the next generation of great minds. We take this responsibility quite seriously, and it’s easy to find examples of our commitment within our many employees and across our various offices.

We have practicing university faculty, countless industry association members, professional organization leaders, alumni supporters, volunteers, mentors – you get the idea.

With such an inherent dedication to shaping tomorrow’s leaders, it was pretty much impossible for ND&P Chief Creative Officer John Griessmayer to turn down an opportunity to corrupt (make that GUIDE) future advertising creative professionals.

AD2 Roanoke, an affiliate of the American Advertising Federation, is a non-profit organization of advertising professionals aged 32 and younger. So when they asked John for an interview focusing on “Career ADvice,” he jumped.

Amidst pearls of wisdom such as “nobody wants to see your charcoal drawings from art class” and “something can always be smarter, quicker or simpler,” John describes a dream collaboration team that includes the likes of a sarcastic talking cat, Paul Bunyan, a fry cook, a genetic hybrid of Peyton Manning and Derek Jeter, and a robot Heather Locklear.

Let’s just say John’s irreverent sense of humor hides a diabolic creative mastermind, and we’re glad he’s on our side.

For more words of wisdom, check out the full article series: http://bit.ly/bXcPjY  

(- Shaun Amanda)

Radio Still a Healthy Choice

Within the rapidly expanding list of communication channels and media vehicles, radio advertising is still a viable option for health care companies. Indeed, one could argue the benefits of radio still make it one of the preferred choices, especially for health care messaging.

As a recognized health care marketing expert, Susan Dubuque of ND&P helped several industry notables outline the benefits of radio in the current issue of Healthcare Marketing Report.

Some key points:

• Ratings measurability (thanks to passive electronic people meters)
• Excellent for cross-promotion (directing consumers to Websites, etc.)
• Supportive of other media (message reinforcement)

For more of Susan’s insights, and actual creative examples, read the full January 2010 article: “Its Demise Was Exaggerated: Radio Advertising Is Still Effective.”

(-Shaun Amanda)

Hotels Warm Guests (using Hotel Staff)

Here’s a hotel trend I’ll be keeping my eye on, if for no other reason than I find it rather odd. --Ok, it totally creeps me out. For those who weren’t aware, Britain has been facing some freakishly cold weather lately. And working with a sleep specialist, some UK Holiday Inn hotels have opted to try out human bed warmers in order to increase guest comfort.

Warm-blooded staffers will apparently crawl into your hotel bed before you are ready to catch some shut-eye, and sit there, warming the sheets, so you can crawl into a nice cozy bed. These self-aware heating units are wearing what looks like head-to-toe white hazmat suits. A quote from the article about this special gear: “The bed warmers toasting suits were specially designed to maximise sheet heating efficiency.”

I’d be more concerned about cooties, myself. I’m one of those travelers who pull back the bedspread before I sit on the bed, and I often wonder how many others have used that pillow before me. I can’t imagine inviting MORE strangers in, even if they do hop out before I hop in.

Three UK hotels will be offering the complimentary five-minute service this week.

It’s an interesting offering, and I suspect it’s been added to do more than just combat the cold. As the hotel industry worldwide starts to flatten/starts to recover (depending on who you talk to), human bed warmers would certainly stir up some buzz. And as creepy as it sounds, I do secretly wonder if I’d be tempted to order the service. Just so I could say I did.  (- Shaun Amanda)

 Full article: http://bit.ly/5LFrOR

Judging the State of Healthcare Marketing

As one of 10 respected industry experts called on to judge the national 2009 HealthLeaders Media Marketing Awards, Susan Dubuque was recently given an inside perspective on the big picture of current healthcare marketing efforts.

Recognizing work in several categories each year, the awards essentially gave judges a unique vantage point to survey and/or confirm industry marketing trends. Granted, it’s not a necessarily a new perspective for Susan, who has been working with ND&P healthcare clients across the country for more than 20 years.

Quoted in a related article for HealthLeaders Magazine, Susan reinforced the importance of results in marketing efforts:

“Accountability and measuring results are more important than ever, and healthcare marketing professionals are getting better at documenting outcomes of their efforts.”

ROI, budget-economizing and collaboration were some of the key areas noted by fellow judges. Read the full article, and more of Susan’s insights:

http://bit.ly/judginghealthcare

Three Trends to Watch for Travel & Hospitality Marketers

2009 was a tough year for the travel and hospitality industry, like many other industries. But let’s learn some lessons from the events of 2009 and apply them in 2010 to better position hospitality organizations. Three events from the past year will be very important to travel marketers in the coming year.

1. Real time, all the time.

The web moves in real time. As more and more people use and rely upon social networks like Twitter and Facebook they are getting used to the era of ‘information now’. And recent changes in Google search bring real time events to the masses. For example, typing in “snow Virginia” in Google brings up results which are actually useful – a weather report and Twitter reports from skiers at Wintergreen and Massanutten. 

What does this mean for travel and hospitality marketers?  It means that your monthly emails or quarterly newsletters are going to be perceived as quaint at best.  In 2010 you’ll need to make sure you have something relevant to say and say it fast. 

      2.  Shifting trust.

In 2009 many brands witnessed a distinct decline in consumer trust. Some of this was brought about by the recession and some due to the fact that many of the nation’s biggest institutions failed. Now, for the first time in years, smaller and ‘local’ organizations have an opportunity to make inroads with consumer trust and compete against the big boys.

What does this mean for travel and hospitality marketers? Go back to the mission of your organization and review the language and terminology you are using to ensure it is communicating your brand values effectively. Make 2010 the year of the local or small hospitality organization triumphing over the larger regional and national players by playing off the grass-roots and ‘shop local’ appeal that is presently resonating with consumers in many product and service categories.

       3.  Influencers need attention.

Thanks to the growth and prevalence of social media in 2009, we’ve seen more and more user generated content in advertising, but now more brands than ever are turning to this method as a way of encouraging customer engagement. Going back to a Forrester study from 2007 on Engagement Marketing, it was noted that “a person who contributes content, such as a product review or a video of the product in use, may be far more valuable than the average purchaser.”

Nowhere is the influencer more important than to travel and hospitality organizations. So what does all this mean for these organizations? Travel marketers need to track individuals who influence others to book travel. For example, a person who may have never stayed at or visited your destination but always rates and reviews what she books can be just as valuable as someone who books a lot of business with your destination — her reviews might influence 100 other people to book. Tracking only guests and visitors misses this significant element of influence. In fact, don’t be surprised to see reward programs giving out points and miles just for taking part.