The two-time Super Bowl champion Quarterback is now being lumped in with the other “bad boys” of NFL Football: Ray Lewis and Jermaine Phillips.

Listen to Dave Sutton’s interview regarding the topic on  937thefanradio  ”Vinnie and Cook”

The latest allegations regarding Ben Roethlisberger’s off-field antics have put the Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro Quarterback on his back and deep in his own territory…

1^st Down: INCOMPLETE PASS. On June 12, 2006, Roethlisberger was involved in a motorcycle accident near the intersection of 10th Street and Second Avenue near downtown Pittsburgh, in which he was not wearing his helmet.  The next day, he released a statement apologizing for concerning friends, family, all his fans, and the Steelers organization, and in which he also stated, “If I ever ride again, it certainly will be with a helmet”.

2^nd Down:  SACKED.  On July 17, 2009, a civil suit was filed in Washoe County, Nevada District Court accusing Roethlisberger of sexually assaulting Andrea McNulty, 31, in June 2008 in his hotel room while he was in Lake Tahoe for a celebrity golf tournament

3^rd Down: SACKED.  On March 5, 2010, it was revealed that police in Milledgeville, Georgia were investigating Roethlisberger for an unrelated sexual assault inside the women’s restroom of a nightclub near the campus of Georgia College & State University.  Roethlisberger (through his attorney) vehemently denies any wrong-doing.  DNA samples will tell the tale of the tape.

It’s 3^rd and long for the Pittsburgh hometown hero… his $2.5 million worth of endorsement deals with the likes of Nike, Dick’s Sporting Goods and PLB Sports hang in the balance.  We’ll be watching closely to see how Ben and the Steelers handle communications with the fans over the next few weeks.  Marketing is all about perception not necessarily reality. Whether Ben is guilty of the allegations or not, he needs to own up to his poor judgment and apologize to the Steelers and his fans for his off-field antics.

What do you think his next move should be?  Hail Mary pass or Punt?

Tags: Build Your Brand, Current Events // Add Comment »

I hope your brand or company’s social media calendar is full!
My colleague, Dave Sutton, recently gave a presentation at Young Presidents Organization (YPO) about this subect. Check out TopRight’s white paper on the Impact of Social Media. Click here

Here are a few highlights:

The Impact of Social Media
In the 1960’s entire families gathered around one TV set, to watch one program, with one sponsoring advertiser…in black and white, complete with snow and intermittent vertical hold problems. Aside from chatting with your neighbor over the backyard fence, that was the extent of “social media” in those days.

Fast forward to the 21st century and there are literally thousands of TV and Internet channels narrowcasting content to every affinity group under the sun. Likewise, there are hundreds of social media channels, from Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to LinkedIn and Plaxo and a wide variety of private social networks.

Today, the most successful businesses learn to mix different messages and different stories in different places, to network and connect with relevance to people across multiple channels and to tailor their value proposition to the specific needs of their target audience. In the near future, your business will be measured on its social media effectiveness – your ability to segment, target, align, reach, engage and manage your reputation across multiple channels in service of building trust and, ultimately, increasing sales and profits.

You need to get ready for a future where tangible, traditional media as we know it is gone, and where every business must stay intimately connected to the virtual heartbeat of its customers or face certain extinction. Its time to stop experimenting and playing with the various social networks…. you need to integrate and measure them as the cornerstone of your marketing strategy.

How does your company use social media?

Tags: Build Your Brand, Gain Customers, Market the Business, Uncategorized // Add Comment »

Red Bull!

The marketers at Red Bull win the gold. .. they’ve managed to create  a giant infomercial at the winter games by aligning the Red Bull brand with the best, most charismatic athletes. Red Bull is the primary sponsor for Lindsay Vonn and Shaun White. The Red Bull logo has been front and center throughout the Olympic coverage.

For example, check out the interview of Shaun White on a recent edition of 60 Minutes. The segment is a 13 minute advertisement for Red Bull.

Red Bull built Shaun White a $500,000 snowboarding superpipe where Shaun can practice and learn new moves. This “pipe” is only accessible by helicopter and only used by Shaun (and the other fellow media he shares this experience with). The pipe is equipped with high-definition video cameras so he can improve his form.  Check it out at www.cbs.com

Are they just lucky or is Red Bull incredibly strategic? Red Bull works hard to partner with athletes who mimic their target consumer. A curling sponsorship of Debbie McCormick would not seem quite as brilliant, now would it?  Seriously, could you find a better athlete to embody the brand promise than Lindsay Vonn while she is sporting her Red Bull cap? With her All-American beauty, high energy and winning zeal, she provides a dose of glitz and glamour for Red Bull.

Red Bull Hat

That said, what if Lindsay Vonn hadn’t won? What if the rain had stopped and Lindsay had less time for her shin to heal?  Sometimes marketers are just lucky AND good.

It appears the results are paying off. According to Hoovers, Red Bull has about a 70% market share and sells over a billion cans in more than 100 countries every year. They grew 22% in 2009.

Finally, check out Red Bull’s site at www.redbull.com  - specifically the Holy ShX* area. Like Shaun White, the marketers at Red Bull are not afraid to take a few risks!

Shaun White

Red Bull definitely knows how to pick the winners… and then activate their sponsorship dollars for winning results.  They are definitely getting more out of their sponsorship dollars than the big name Olympic Sponsors (not naming names). All the bells and whistles—and no cow bells (thank goodness)!

Tell us which company you think is doing a good job with their Olympic sponsorships…

Tags: Build Your Brand, Current Events, Gain Customers, Optimize ROMI // 3 Comments »

Come Visit the TopRight Team at the Aprimo Summit and learn Mucho MaaS! Located adjacent to registration.

MaaS

Tags: EMM // Add Comment »

Y’all need help rustling up better marketing results?
Need to lasso more leads?

Time to dust off your old strategy and wrangle new ideas at Aprimo’s global user conference.

Educate, stimulate, motivate and celebrate with us in San Antonio:

• Get hands-on training from Aprimo subject experts
• Hear the best ideas from the best B2B and B2C marketers
• Learn how to deliver increased visibility on marketing spend, results and value
• Discover how your peers are helping their sales teams succeed
• Take action with the social media and integrated marketing trends shared by industry experts

300 MARKETERS. 50 EXPERTS. 3 DAYS.

Don’t Miss It!

San Antonio, Texas  - February 15-17 2010

Tags: EMM, Partners, Power the Marketing Machine // Add Comment »

TopRight Extends its EMM Solution Capability

TopRight announced today that Aprimo® Inc., a global provider of on-demand marketing software solutions, has selected TopRight, LLC as the first Aprimo Marketing Studio™ Field Partner to help drive successful implementation and seamless delivery of Aprimo Marketing Studio solutions to prospective clients.

TopRight, already a Certified Aprimo Business Partner for the Aprimo Enterprise platform, has expanded its EMM Solution Delivery Team to include a complete array of services specific to Aprimo Marketing Studio™.

In today’s environment, marketers are increasingly demanding the SaaS (Software as a Service) approach that Aprimo Marketing Studio offers, but often continue to face process and organizational challenges that can adversely affect Marketing Studio’s potential.  As an official Marketing Studio Field Partner, TopRight distills 15 years of experience in helping clients improve marketing operations into a structured, fast-paced approach that enables organizations to realize the amazing benefits of Marketing Studio within a matter of weeks.

“Marketing Studio offers clients the perfect blend of functionality they need now and into the future”, said Dave Sutton, TopRight Founder and Managing Partner.  “The trick is to empower organizations to implement quickly so they can immediately begin capturing the competitive advantage that Marketing Studio promises, while simultaneously laying the foundation for future expansion in a self-sufficient manner.  TopRight is unique in its broad level of experience:  our team brings marketing and solution experts.”

“We’re excited that TopRight has chosen to pursue opportunities with Aprimo Marketing Studio”, said Rob McLaughlin, co-founder of Aprimo and General Manager of Marketing Studio.

TopRight has worked toward improving the efficiency of marketing operations and increasing the effectiveness of marketing programs both as both practitioners and consultants.  Dave Sutton is co-author of Enterprise Marketing Management: The New Science of Marketing, published in 2003.  The book outlined a breakthrough strategic marketing approach based on a fact-based, scientific model.  TopRight’s EMM Team, led by Francisco Ruiz, has successfully implemented Aprimo solutions across a number of industries since 2003.

Tags: Build Your Brand, Current Events, EMM, Power the Marketing Machine // Add Comment »

Announcing Expanded Role for Jo Ann Herold

TopRight is pleased to announce the promotion of Jo Ann Herold to Chief Marketing Officer.  According to Dave Sutton, Managing Partner of TopRight, “Jo Ann brings a unique blend of brand building, strategic thinking, creativity and insights to TopRight.  Jo Ann has been a key part of TopRight’s recent success and we are thrilled to promote her into this important role.”

Ms. Herold joined TopRight in August 2009. Prior to TopRight, she was the CMO, VP of Marketing at The HoneyBaked Ham Company.  According to Jo Ann Herold, “I am thrilled to be a part of TopRight’s growth and part of this impressive team.”.

Herold received an undergraduate degree from MS State University and an MBA in International Business from Mercer University in Atlanta.  She is an Adjunct Professor at GA State University and Mercer University teaching marketing courses.  She is also a member of the Georgia State Marketing Roundtable.  Her work has received numerous accolades and she has been awarded two AMY Awards, a Mercury Award for radio advertising, a Phoenix Award from Shirley Franklin, a Silver Effie for advertising effectiveness and was a finalist for the Catalog of the Year award by Catalog Age.  She leads the public relations for the Druid Hills Tour of Homes, and is on the Board of the Atlanta Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.

Tags: Build Your Brand, Current Events // Add Comment »

CES just ended; the Detroit Auto show is going on now…    What new products will improve our lives incrementally?  Which ones will dramatically shift the way we live?   My short list in the honorable mention category is:

1. 3-D TVs.    I guess they’re no longer the product of ‘the future’
2. Tablet Computers.  I’ve had one for three years and tested the first prototypes in 1999.  Welcome to the club
3. Electric cars
4. Google’s Nexus One phone

In our office, though, there is a clear winner, and the brilliant ThinkGeek gadgeteurs win because they sell products that used to be limited to daydreamers and do-it-poorly-yourselfers.  For example- the Tauntaun sleeping bag, the dog leash digital camera, and the throwing star coat hook.             Our winner:  The Interactive T-Shirt.

A typical Friday 'Smoke on the Water' Jam Session

Tags: Create New Products, Product Review // Add Comment »

Guinness is going bold with a new ad slogan: “Fortune favors the bold”.  Their latest ad campaign features a bartender sliding a fresh glass of Guinness beer down a bar.  The glass slides off the end of the bar, out the window and starts sliding through the city streets and offices.  At last, the pint arrives into the hands of a bold employee who is in the process of negotiating his team’s salary with his new boss.  The ad closes with a celebratory toast between the team of employees.

The tough state of the economy is one of the motivations behind this bold new campaign.  Although it’s a challenging time for many consumers, Guinness is trying to generate a feeling that ‘we’re going to come through this’ combined with a recognition that people are going to need to make some bold moves along the way.  Turns out that Guinness is doing a great job tapping into consumer sentiment.  Thanks to the campaign, the brand is holding strong compared to the rest of imported beer category, which was down 9 percent overall in 2009.

What are you drinking these days?

Tags: Build Your Brand, Gain Customers, Market the Business, Win Your Category, Win at Retail // Add Comment »

Before                  After

Allergan is using an aging child-actor/pseudo-celebrity who some people may vaguely remember for her better-known movies including Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon to promote the prescription drug Latisse.

Latisse is a prescription drug currently promoted by spokesmodel Brooke Shields – the drug is applied to the base of eyelashes to generate longer lashes. Latisse keeps hairs in their growth phase, producing longer, darker and thicker eyelashes.  Latisse is a lower concentration of the drug Lumigan and the average cost of it is $130 (while Latisse is about 3/4 of that).   Latisse eyelash lengthening is not permanent, and possible side-effects include discoloration of the eye or eyelid, or damage to the eye.

In my opinion, what we really need from Big Pharma is a drug that will keep child actors in their “growth phase” producing longer more meaningful careers… rather than slipping into shameless, hollow, drug-shilling careers.   Next Up?:  Danny Bonaduce of Partridge Family-fame pitching for new Irritable Bowel Syndrome drug Lontronex, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline. I guess what goes around comes around…

Please let us know how you make decisions on your health and prescription drug choices…

1. Clearly stated benefits/side effects
2. Doctor recommendations
3. Patient testimonials
4. Celebrity identification

Tags: Build Your Brand, Create New Products, Market the Business, Product Review // Add Comment »