For those of you who are regular Twitter users, you have likely received the “Fail Whale” numerous times while accessing Twitter.com. The “Fail Whale” is a page Twitter users are directed to when there is an outage on the site. It consists of a giant white whale being hoisted into the air by eight red birds. At the top of the page text reads, “Twitter is over capacity. Please wait a moment and try again. For more information, check out Twitter Status.” The Twitter servers can become overloaded at times and this is when outages occur.
Recently, the “Fail Whale” has been appearing frequently. On Friday, June 11, the Twitter engineering blog (http://engineering.twitter.com/) posted an entry regarding the abundance of “Fail Whales”, and cited issues such as the lack of properly monitoring the internal network and adding two new high-bandwidth components to the same segment on their internal network, which caused site outages.
Others suggest the increase in Twitter outages is due to the introduction of their advertising model. For example, on June 16, Twitter launched “Promoted Trends” which appear in the “Trending” section of the site. This new method of advertising is an extension of the “Promoted Tweets,” which launched earlier this year. With numerous new additions to the site, it is likely users will continue to see more of the “Fail Whale” until all of the kinks are worked out.
If you do receive the “Fail Whale” and want to know why, Twitter has a status website (http://status.twitter.com/) where users can go to find out more information. If Twitter is performing maintenance, they will list it on this site along with any errors users may be encountering. They also list the error rate for the site and if it is high for the day.
One thing to remember is that Twitter has been very cautious of its users while adding in paid advertising to their model. Rather than allowing advertisers to display distracting and sometimes cluttered ads to the site they are working to bring in revenue without disrupting the user’s experience.
Approximately 100 sales and marketing executives from 32 national building-products manufacturers recently gathered at the NCAA Hall of Champions in Indianapolis for Miller Brooks’ 2010 Marketing to the Architect and Design Community Symposium. In its second year, the event once again provided an excellent opportunity for these sales and marketing executives to “engage, interact and connect with architects and designers.”
Through speaker presentations and a panel discussion, attendees learned about new trends and technology currently impacting the architecture and design industry, as well as best practices for cultivating stronger, more mutually beneficial relationships between manufacturers and design professionals.
Presentations from industry leaders
Three speakers, who know this industry firsthand, shared their insight:
The objectives of custom home designers often differ from those of custom homebuilders. Combining this knowledge with understanding and respect will build trust and result in more successful projects.
She encouraged marketing representatives to work toward a better understanding of their custom home architect customers and their specific needs. The result? You’ll build a more solid relationship.
Relationships breed business. “If you’re just coming to their office to sell to them, they will see right through you.”
Keynote speaker Rex Miller, founding member of the Mindshift Consortium — a building and design industry think tank — and author of The Commercial Real Estate Revolutionpresented “Mindshift: A New Way To Look at a New Problem”:
Today’s digital culture is being driven by technologically savvy young minds. Miller encouraged audience members to embrace the ideas of younger employees and incorporate the new trends – such as social media and Building Information Modeling (BIM) – into their companies’ business models.
Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) is a growing trend intended to minimize the waste of time, materials and labor. Project teams organize themselves before the project, selecting teammates based on talent and ability to cooperate, instead of low bids. The architects, designers and contractors work together as a unit — not as individuals — and share risks together. Project design and coordination using BIM is the tool that makes this operational style possible. “BIM helps the trades to interact better on projects and produce better results.”
And Alex Oliver, CEO and founding partner of Los Angeles digital media firm Igloo Studios:
Some monumental digital design tools have been developed in the past 30 years, from AutoCAD® to Revit® and Google® SketchUp, over the past 30 years.
Now? 3-D digital modeling software is seeing huge growth. For example, approximately 1.3 million unique, new applications of Google SketchUp pop up every week online.
Each tool has its merits for designers, and they should use the tool that is the best fit for the project. “There’s more than one software solution, and there’s more than one set of tools,” Oliver said. “Users of Revit don’t just use Revit. Users of Google SketchUp don’t just use Google SketchUp. There’s interaction between all of these programs.”
An interactive panel discussion
Moderated by Conroy and featuring Miller and Oliver, the panel included a diverse group of architects and interior designers:
Panel members fielded questions from audience members, delivered both by text message and microphone, about issues affecting the relationships between architects and the marketing and sales departments of manufacturing companies. What issues generated the most discussion?
Reaction to New Digital Technology — many of today’s veteran architects have embraced digital modeling but still sometimes prefer to receive physical product samples from manufacturers. This provides them something tangible to present to clients.
Trade shows — Trade shows are still important to architects, as they allow them to see new products up-close and speak with manufacturer representatives face-to-face.
Architect-Manufacturer Relationships – Manufacturer representatives should get to know their architect customers better in order to help them do their jobs and educate them on the uses and benefits of a particular product.
Time Is Money — Architects are very busy, so manufacturer representatives must make efficient use of this time during sales calls.
Setting Ground Rules —Architects need to set ground rules with manufacturer representatives, letting them know what it takes to get their products specified.
Response from attendees
So, was the symposium useful? What did attendees have to say when it was done?
Amy Lee, marketing manager for CertainTeed Gypsum‘s group: “The symposium provided useful information, not only about how to market to and communicate most effectively with architects, but also about current trends in the architectural field. We learned from the speakers and the panel what’s most important to architects, what kind of information they need from us, how they want to get it and when they want to get it.”
Mark Johnson, director of sales and marketing education for KraftMaid® Cabinetry: “This event offered incredible learning in a very short period of time — I really appreciated how these top-notch people made such good use of our time. If the architects share what their needs are, as they did at this event, hopefully the marketers will listen.”
How audience segmentation can get you through a recession
Very few industries are recession-proof, and the commercial laundry market is no exception – though it seemed like it at one time. After having recently returned from the Maytag Commercial Laundry annual distributor meeting in Orlando, I have a better appreciation for market conditions within these segments and for the way Maytag’s trust in its distribution partners has helped it weather the economic storm.
The formerly recession-resistant commercial laundry market
Market conditions within the coin store, multi-housing and on-premises laundry segments were all tough in 2009. While this may not seem like surprising news, during previous challenging economic times, coin-store owners could count on this as a recession-resistant business. Last year was different. In an unusual pattern, Hispanic populations shrank within urban markets due to lack of jobs, and a tight credit market reduced new store openings.
Multi-housing and on-premises laundry were both affected by the liquidity crisis as well. While the replacement-product market remained strong, the prognosis for commercial development in 2010 and the next few years remains cloudy.
Yet despite all the doom and gloom of market conditions, many of the Maytag Commercial Laundry distributors reported 30-, 40-, and even 60-percent revenue increases across market segments. Once again, those prepared for changing market conditions can leverage these times to gain market share from others who are frozen in place.
So, how did they do it?
Craft messaging based on your audiences’ current needs
To prepare for the challenging year, Maytag and its distribution partners focused their messaging on decreasing energy costs through purchasing high-efficiency equipment.
By properly segmenting its audiences, Maytag was able to understand the audiences’ needs and clearly communicate the key brand benefits that were most timely in 2009. It crafted motivating offers and delivered messaging that drove business owners to think of long-term benefits versus short-term gains.
Nearly every company can adopt a strategy like this and benefit, and it works in times of great prosperity, too.
Your primer for marketing success in challenging times:
Segment your audience
Develop key messaging by audience
Motivate by needs-based messaging
Does your audience segmentation line up with your key-messaging matrix? What survival strategies have you adopted in the last few years?
BtoB Magazine‘s current cover story features the top agencies in the country for B-to-B business — and Miller Brooks made the list! Thanks to our clients for helping us get there.
Should you have a dedicated office strategy for using your Gen-Y employees?
I ran across this article on Friday on the Marketing Profs Daily Fix blog and thought it provided an interesting perspective — one that might be worth considering differently.
What are the first words that pop into your head when someone says Gen Y? Go-getter, enthusiastic, tech-oriented? Entitled was more than likely among the more colorful adjectives. Those ‘My Kid is an an Honor Roll Superstar’ bumper stickers really went to our heads.
So, why should you want Gen Y on your marketing or public relations teams? Besides the obvious need for molding, educating, engaging and reverse mentoring, Gen Yers bring unique perspective to the table; those willing to research and learn know how to network and revitalize campaigns.
Check out the rest of the article at the link above. What do you think? Do you have a conscious strategy in your office for using the strengths of your Gen-Y colleagues? Should you?
When two people who don’t know each other send you the same video in the same week, it’s got to be touching on something interesting.
The video was updated last year, so some of the stats are already out of date (Facebook would now be the world’s third largest country) — but that only makes it more staggering to consider.
Sit back, enjoy, and prepare to be amazed — if you aren’t one of the 1 million+ people who’ve already seen this. (Though I think it’s worth watching again.)
Would Mr. Pollock have been able to survive today’s “office politics” and summon his talent at will?
Was he really the creative genius of his generation, or just some lucky schlub with a lousy temper and a propensity for booze, who simply stumbled upon creative brilliance?
Considering Pollock’s qualifications
Paul Jackson Pollock, an American painter, became a major influence in the abstract expressionist movement of the 1940s and throughout his brief, but brilliant, painting career. A reclusive artist, an alcoholic, and known in most circles to have a volatile personality, Pollock was not born to greatness. Yet still, an unflinching dedication to the exploration of his craft perpetuated Pollock to achieve creative brilliance on the world’s stage.
He established what’s known today as the “drip technique”: a process of pouring and/or dripping resin-based liquefied paints onto a flat surface, then manipulating the mixture with a stick rather than brush. This technique is widely considered the origin of the term “action painting.”
Pollock’s ingenuity and brilliance quite literally turned the art community upside-down and opened the door to an entirely new method of creating art — as well as viewing it.
Pollock: good candidate for an art director?
Well, we can certainly say that his work inspired our world with creativity and vision. And for what it’s worth, I believe Pollock was the real deal creatively.
If Mr. Pollock were alive today and in search of an Art Director position, I would gladly hire him. Beyond the personal flaws (and yes, we all have a few), his raw talent and unbridled tenacity to push design and technique beyond the norm are attributes that any good Art Director should possess. A willingness to go out into the ether and explore the unexplored is more than daunting, and Pollock did so with both passion and grace.
I believe that if we can understand and capture even a Lilliputian portion of Pollock’s spirit (sans some of his more obvious flaws), it would enlighten and help us all to reach that elusive greatness dwelling deep within.
Do you agree?
Fodder for our next conversation, copywriting: William Faulkner and Jack Kerouac – bloated windbags or advertising prodigies?
Let’s face it: life is a balancing act. I have been in marketing for over 12 years, and I became a mom almost five years ago. When I did, I realized that my worlds would often collide. And I can honestly say that being both a mom and an account supervisor have made me a stronger, more well-rounded person.
On the surface, these roles may seem completely different – but through the years, I’ve found that you can draw parallels between the two worlds. Here are my top seven.
1. Communication
Mom: When I can, I prep my son for what is about to happen. I tell him the sequence of events, so he knows what to expect. Setting expectations has saved us from many, many meltdowns, and it has helped him become a more mature, trusting person.
Account Supervisor: Working with clients to set and meet expectations is a key part of my job. Maintaining that open line of communication will always help to promote a successful client-agency relationship.
2. Diagnosis
Mom: Illness is a regular part of life when you have a child. Determining exactly what is wrong and how it should be treated, on the other hand, can be very difficult.
Account Supervisor: Clients come to me with a variety of issues. How can we drive more traffic to our website? Sales are down – what can we do? The first stage in diagnosis is logging the symptoms so we can understand the problem. Then we can prescribe a strong marketing remedy that supports the original objectives and solves the problem.
3. Negotiation
Mom: Ah, the parent-child battles. You may have dessert only if you eat your vegetables first.
Account Supervisor: Wouldn’t it be great if balancing deadlines with client needs could be solved with a bowl of ice cream? “If we don’t get the edits until Tuesday night, we won’t be able to have the piece printed for you on Wednesday morning. But if we get final art out on Friday, we can certainly deliver!” (Item 1 on this list, communication, also applies here. Then again, good communication applies to nearly every situation!)
4. Compassion
Mom: What is a mom for but to kiss those boo-boos and make it all better? Compassionate parenting also means helping him cope when he learns that not everything in this world is fair.
Account Supervisor: So many of my clients have gone through difficult times over the years, both in their personal and their professional lives. A compassionate, objective ear is invaluable when they realize that not everything in the business world is fair.
5. Patience
Mom: [Sigh] Patience has to be one of the more difficult challenges of being a parent. “Stop running in the house!” I remind myself that 4-year-old boys have an endless amount of energy, and thank goodness he isn’t just sitting on the couch. (Learning deep-breathing techniques doesn’t hurt.)
Account Supervisor: “Why don’t they just do what we think is right?” Patience is a must-have while you help clients navigate the (often new or unknown) world of marketing. And sometimes, you find that their way actually was the right way after all!
6. Organization
Mom: Without organization, I would be a total mess. My mental to-do list is never-ending and always changing. First, I will get him dressed, then let the dog out, then pack his backpack, and I need to make him a doctor appointment… Establishing order and routine when I can makes all of us happier in the end.
Account Supervisor: If projects aren’t organized, it is guaranteed that chaos will ensue. And that strategy you worked so hard to establish will soon disappear.
7. Fun
Mom: This is 100% the best part of parenting. Yes, let’s play another round of Candyland!
Account Supervisor: We are all in marketing for a reason, right? The fun stuff is why I love my job!
Sure, both positions have their own unique set of challenges. But isn’t that what keeps things interesting?
What parallels between roles do you find in your own life? And how have you used those skills to make your personal or professional life more enjoyable?
September 3, 2010—Are you ready for some football?
