In today’s world of penny-pinchers, it’s not too uncommon to spend Sunday afternoons with your family cutting coupons instead of swiping your credit card at high-end department stores. From families to business owners, everyone is looking to save a few bucks.

Most people don’t need to be reminded that we’re in a recession. The media does a great job of supplying daily reminders. And if the media weren’t enough, many have experienced the recession’s effects firsthand, whether standing in long lines at the unemployment office or trading in gas-guzzling trucks in favor of fewer gas station trips. Although the events surrounding the economic crisis have largely affected society, many people – including me – have thought, “Is it really that bad?”

Yes, it is that bad, but it could be a lot worse. During the Great Depression, one of the longest, most devastating events in history, the world experienced hardships way beyond what we’re seeing today:

• Named after President Herbert Hoover, “Hoovervilles,” or shantytowns were all too common. So were “Hoover stew,” food served in soup kitchens, “Hoover blankets,” newspapers used as blankets, and “Hoover wagons,” broken cars pulled by mules.
• In early 1933, the unemployment rate peaked at 25 percent, leaving one out of four Americans without a job.
• It is estimated that nearly 50 percent of children living during the Great Depression did not have adequate food, shelter or medical care.
• After the initial stock market crash, New York’s financial district saw a rise in suicides. It’s said that hotel clerks began asking new guests if they needed a room for sleeping…or jumping.
• In the mountain communities of Appalachia, families were reduced to a basic diet of dandelions and berries. Some children were so hungry, they chewed on their own hands.

Compared to the Great Depression, we’re doing all right. Steve Krodman agrees. In “The Dog Food Economic Index,” Krodman puts a positive spin on the economy using something extraordinarily unexpected: dog food.

The Krodman Dog-Food Index argues that we’ll be in a depression when people stop buying dog food.

For now, grocery stores have aisles devoted to nothing more than dog food. What’s more, many pet owners aren’t simply buying regular dog food…they’re investing in fancy-pants dog food that doesn’t contain genetically modified organisms, is grain-free and is made of grass-fed buffalo. Hey…you get the point.

Krodman makes one final statement: “When the economy gets really bad, not only do we no longer buy food for dogs, we start buying dogs for food.”

Now that’s a recession.

During this time when using social media for marketing seems to be all the rage, it’s sometimes easy to forget e-mail marketing. Email marketing typically takes a backseat to social networking. Nielson stats say that people have been spending less time using e-mail and more time on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. With this knowledge, it would be easy to discontinue use of e-mail marketing altogether. However, e-mail will not be lost.

According to an eConsultancy study, almost half of the 1,400 U.S. consumers surveyed (42 percent to be exact) said they prefer to receive ads to their e-mails, versus the 4 percent who desire to get ads from social media.

Many  marketers see the opportunity in not choosing one marketing medium over the other, but utilizing all together for maximum benefit. E-mail marketing has turned more social, with new “social CRM” tools that combine all platforms effectively. Below are a few examples that integrate social media and e-mail marketing in attempt to achieve higher profitability.

Constant Contact: gives companies access to manage social networking via e-mail. Constant Contact acquired Nutshellmail in May, which offers an array of plug-ins for various sites. One such plug-in gives the opportunity to set up e-newsletters on Facebook.

Rapportive: provides information to Gmail and Google Apps users about company information for their contacts. Some other products generate similar information, such as Xobni (which connects with Blackberrys) and Microsoft Outlook Connector.

MailChimp: an e-mail newsletter program that will soon integrate Facebook “like” buttons to specific campaigns. It also analyzes if this eventually led to a sale, which gives marketers more specific and direct responses to campaigns.

Let’s face it: going green is here to stay.

Most have joined the eco-bandwagon, somehow incorporating green living into their ultra busy lives. Whether it’s a simple change like composting or an extreme decision like installing solar panels on their roofs, people are obsessed with reducing their carbon footprint. Unlike most fads, green living has been incorporated into everything from music to packaging to cars. What’s not to love about organic food packaged in a recycled box, an electric car or using recycled energy from the sun to power a house? There are millions of products out there devoted to giving new life to any endeavor. You don’t have an excuse not to go green.

Eco-friendly living isn’t just to enhance your personal life. In today’s economy, companies need more substantial initiatives that both explain their business objectives perfectly and connect with a broader audience – one that will notice green practices. Well, businesses are in luck. Tradeshows have gone green…in a big way.

In the music industry, band tours have continued to be eco-unfriendly because of the amount of energy and resources needed to transport entourages cross-country. Tradeshows – thankfully – are starting to encourage responsible practices as they pertain to the event.Think about what goes into exhibiting at and attending one of these events:

Materials for booths and supporting graphics are shipped across the country.
Business executives may fly first class, stay in expensive hotels and eat extravagant meals.
Thousands of promotional items are ordered and given away at tradeshows – most of which are thrown away once attendees return home.
Brochures and business cards are printed on expensive paper.

This all adds up to a ridiculous amount of energy…and your business may still go unnoticed.

Things have changed. Going green during tradeshows is becoming more common. (And Greenbuild isn’t the only event supporting best eco-friendly practices.) Put a skip in your company’s step by following these eco-friendly suggestions to marketing home products:

• Go digital. You most likely travel with your computer. Utilize it at the tradeshow by pairing with a flat screen TV. Display information about your company, collect e-mail addresses, run contests and gather information. You’ll not only save paper, but your booth goers will have less to haul around.

• Recycle differently. Offer people a way to offset their carbon footprint by strategically placing both a trashcan and a recycling bin at your booth. Your booth will be the talk of the convention, and you may even save a tree or two.

• Eco-section your booth. Devote a section of your booth to environmental education. Outline the ways your company has gone green by offering a fun quiz that engages potential clients.

• Carpooling. Offer carpooling to the friends, family and clients you know will be attending and visiting your booth.

• Biodiesel Fueling Coordination. Work with a production team and drivers to arrange biodiesel fueling from local and sustainable stock.

• Catering. Coordinate eco-friendly food choices, including locally-sourced organic food, green cleaning supplies and more.

• Green Swag. Purchase green giveaways such as grocery store bags, pens made from recycled materials, or even seed packets for gardening. Even if the items get thrown away, they won’t spend years in a landfill.

If your business is practicing sustainability, reinforce it by showcasing green messages at your booth this year. Going green will get your company noticed by painting a brighter picture of your business objectives. Hey…you may even gain a few unexpected clients.

Lessons Learned from an Unforgettable Band

It’s not everyday that marketing efforts are deemed highly successful. Moreover, it’s not often that branding that breaks away from tradition is applauded.

Think about the corporate environment where using the wrong logo is frowned upon and letterhead is used for everything. Although conformational marketing has its merits, creativity is the key to getting any brand noticed. Can the two coexist? Of course! Creativity juxtaposes with strict corporate guidelines all the time. It’s the brands that think way outside of the box that only rarely see success. But when they do, the experience is more than memorable.

The Grateful Dead is one such brand with improvisation translating to more than just their music. From posters and newsletters to album covers and logos, the Grateful Dead did more to spruce up their brand than most, often changing their swag from album to album and even concert to concert. While others bands were sticking to a comfortable norm, the Grateful Dead’s nonchalant attitude and carefree approach to marketing shined, proving that spur-of-the-moment marketing can work.

As marketers, we have a few things to learn from the Dead. Chief among them? Letting go.

Have you ever worked at a place where the branding guide was bigger than a dictionary? Too often companies strictly manage the way logos and even specifically-coded hexadecimal company colors are used. Now, this isn’t a bad thing, but regulations do have the tendency to suppress creativity…leaving companies on the safe side.

Besides their music, unforgettable and interchangeable artwork is what the Grateful Dead is known for. Skulls, dancing bears, skeletons and roses adorned everything from T-shirts to posters, yet the difference was the way they were used. Variations created an excitement about the band that far exceeded anyone’s expectations – even the members themselves. Fans never knew what to expect, but could recognize the Grateful Dead’s branding from a mile away. Using the same elements in different ways put the Dead in a unique and cool place.

One of the best things the band did was to allow and even encourage fans to make bootleg recordings of live concerts. Because each recording provided a unique experience, society became curious, which lead to greater interest and ultimately higher ticket sales. This is similar to a phenomenon happening today: musicians are encouraging fans to download their music for free instead of buying it digitally or in stores because they understand that giving away the experience leads to more interest.

It’s no surprise that the Grateful Dead’s vibrant and colorful approach to marketing earned them a prominent place in American pop culture. Even after the band’s split in 1995, merchandise and records continue to sell like hotcakes. What can this teach you about your marketing? While still maintaining control over your brand, try welcoming new ideas to loosen it up. Add a new color to your log or let customers create videos reflecting their own personal experiences with your company.

Our agency, for example, is working on a “brand” new (get it?) look for our website as we speak. I’ve taken some hints from the Grateful Dead by incorporating slight differences in our logo, color choices and content on the new site…yet it stays true to who we are as marketers of home products and is still recognizable as the K&A brand.

I’d love to hear how others have enhanced their brand by “letting go.” I’m willing to bet a little creative leeway allowed your brand’s personality to sparkle.

Hispanics, as the largest minority in America, have tremendous buying power.  More than a trillion dollars, actually. Many Hispanics love the opportunities that are available in the United States, and embrace a new life they can create. However, marketers must remember that Hispanics also share a sense of pride in their heritage and culture.

Associated Press recently wrote about the rapidly emerging market of Hispanics, which was the focus of one of our White Papers. See how both pieces discuss this expanding group’s attempts to create a new identity as Hispanic-Americans and how marketers struggle with understanding how to sell to them.

The home building industry has taken slow but sure steps towards more responsible building thanks to programs such as LEED for Homes and the NAHB’s Green Building program. Though the installation may be ‘greener’ these days, has the waste stream kept pace? We sat down with Miriam Zimms, LEED AP and Project Manager for waste stream service and consulting firm Kessler Consulting, Inc. to talk about the company’s approach to helping the building industry take the green approach over the landfill.

K&A: Describe the Kessler process – how does the company get involved with the construction industry?

MZ: It can work two ways. We work with local governments throughout Florida and the Southeast who are targeting the construction sector, the generators of C&D debris materials, to increase recycling in their communities. We work in partnership with or for the jurisdiction to target and develop comprehensive program plans for waste prevention targeting the construction community. Second, we work with members of the construction industry. Larger builders who operate in multiple counties may contact us to help them develop a comprehensive C&D recycling plan to comply with the varying requirements of local governments in their market area.

K&A: How does the process vary by region?

MZ: Regions vary in the level of disposal tip fees, the development of local markets for recyclable C&D materials, public recycling goals, recycling technical support to the construction community; all of which have significant influence on C&D recycling rates. Also, state and local government goals for C&D recycling differ by region. Jurisdictions across the nation are adopting a variety of approaches to achieve their C&D recycling goals, including legislation, market incentives, and education and outreach programs.

5 STEPS TO KESSLER’S SUCCESS

The Sarasota County pilot program provided participating builders five means of support:

• A tip fee differential/rebate for source separation of materials
• Job-site staff support
• Education and outreach program
• A database tool to track and measure progress
• Model/case study – peer to peer promotion

Zimms says the biggest challenge to the success of a builder’s recycling program was top-down buy-in into the comprehensive program along with the need for an active construction site superintendent to roll-out the C&D recycling program to contractors. The site supervisors ensure all employees are properly following the waste procedure to account for all recycled-content materials, renewable materials, and certified wood products. Builders also faced contamination and illegal dumping, particularly in the early stages of construction. Proper signage and worker education work to minimize these challenges.

Many say that the sense of smell is the most powerful sense at recalling memories and emotions.  A few months ago, we wrote a blog discussing smell as a current marketing tool and used in new ways to market home products.

Well, it looks like Scent Marketing is being utilized on a much larger scale in North Carolina, where drivers can actually get a whiff of a charcoal and black pepper-scented billboard advertising beef for a local Food Lion grocery store.

Read the article here:

http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/food-trends/billboard-north-carolina-aroma/

For those who say that social media is a fad might want to rethink their viewpoint the next time they sell their home.

LinkedIn has partnered with Rofo.com to create a real estate portal on LinkedIn, steering the real estate industry into social media.  The app will be called “Real Estate Pro,” and can be used by any agent with a LinkedIn profile.

“Real Estate Pro” displays residential and commercial listings and recently finished deals, but also posts market data within an agent’s local area.  Launched on the 23^rd, “Real Estate Pro” creates a localized marketplace for brokers, and updates directly on the profile page of the user.

View the video below to see more about how this new app works.

LEED homes are at the cutting edge of green home development, and now Habitat for Humanity is getting in on the action. The Habitat for Humanity covering the Greater Indianapolis area just launched a six-week build of a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified home on Wednesday. Located on the 1300 block of Ninth Street, this new endeavor will be Habitat’s first platinum-standard LEED house. This new project will include products such as “25-year asphalt shingles, compact fluorescent light bulbs, a tankless water heater, and a solar-powered attic fan.”

Energy efficient products are used in Habitat for Humanity builds because all Habitat homes meet at least the gold-standard requirements as set by the U.S. Green Building Council. This means that all Habitat homes have received between 75 and 89 points (based on a 100 point scale) also set by the USGBC. But this new platinum-standard home has raised the bar, earning 90 points or more. Its future owner, Lori Pye, did not specifically set out to live in a green home, but claimed, “I picked my three favorite, and then I just happened to pick that one (the LEED house).” Lori will enjoy her new home come September 3^rd when she officially moves in and becomes an active member in the ever-growing green campaign.

For more information, visit http://www.indystar.com/article/20100722/LOCAL18/7220414/Habitat-for-Humanity-takes-green-to-new-level

In a fit of clarity and logic, the EPA will delay enforcement of a rule requiring contractors to take additional precautions when renovating houses where children could be exposed to lead dust from old paint until Oct. 1. Although the Senate passed a much-needed delay of the $37,500-per-day-per-incident fine, there are still more onerous points to the lead paint debate to hash out.

The NAHB said the delay will give contractors and remodelers much-needed time to get the training to meet the stricter requirements. “EPA listened to our concerns and did the right thing,” said NAHB Chairman and Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Builder Bob Jones.

So that’s a bit of good news. Outcry and pressure from the industry worked. Now that we have breathing room on the enforcement side perhaps we can take a look at some of the recent changes to the lead paint rules. One aspect of the bill that has been getting some attention is the proposed Renovator Rule. If enacted, the latest EPA-backed revision will require laboratory-level dust clearance for many small jobs, at a cost of hundreds of dollars per job. Worse yet, the proposal also makes it illegal to use most of the HEPA vacuuming systems recently purchased for this EXACT purpose.

We’re not ones to say that lead paint isn’t dangerous or that the legislation isn’t necessary. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 30,000 children in the United States tested positive for lead poisoning in 2007. That is unacceptable.  But as of May of this year there were 212 training providers with 10,000 courses offered, and more than 230,000 renovators had already been trained.  However, we don’t need to look very hard to tell the number of teachers available have been far too few to make a dent in the numbers of contractors who can potentially work on pre-1978 homes — including roofers, plumbers, painters and general contractors.

As of April 22, any person being paid to work in a home built before 1978 must be certified. Homes built after 1978 do not have lead paint in them. A provision in lead paint rules has allowed owners of older homes to opt-out of the lead-safe work practices mandated by the rule if no children under six or pregnant women resided in their home. That came to an end on July 6^th.

The rule also requires contractors to post informational signs, use work-area containment measures and waste handling/cleanup measures. Work practices such as open-flame burning of lead based paint are banned (not that you’d want to do that anyway, right?) and limits machine sanding or grinding. The rule applies to projects in all states that do not already administer a similar EPA-authorized Renovation Rule.

http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/regulation.htm