A Manifesto for Brands Who Care
In the world of marketing, thereâs a lot of noise. A cacophony of messages, all vying for attention, all claiming to be the best, the biggest, the most innovative. A million messages a day, competing to distract you and rob you of your productivity. A pop-up ad, push notification, text⊠âdoes your vehicle have an extended warrantyâ? Amidst this noise, itâs easy for brands to lose their way, to forget what they stand for, to lose sight of their mission in a race for clicks and attention At MKTNG, we believe in a different approach. We believe in the power of purpose, the strength of conviction. We believe that the brands that truly matter are the ones that care – about their mission, organization, community, and world. The Power of Caring Weâve been on a journey. As an integrated marketing agency based in Californiaâs capital, Sacramento, our company exists at the epicenter of a number of major societal issues. Power generation, transportation, insurance & financial services, forest management, homelessness, and various populations who have experienced trauma, Sacramento is a hub of thought leadership, policy, activism, innovation, action, and in some ways a laboratory for many of these issues. This proximity has brought us into contact with a diverse array of clients, each with unique missions and visions. Weâve learned something profound. The most rewarding results, the most impactful campaigns, the most resonant messages – they all come from working with clients who care. Clients who care deeply about their mission, are passionate about their organization, and are committed to making a difference. Clients who donât phone it in. Sometimes, this caring takes the form of an altruistic mission that betters the community or the environment. Sometimes, itâs simply about caring for their brand, nurturing it, growing it, protecting it, for the betterment of their staff and to best service their customers. But always, at its core, itâs about caring. For Brands Who Care This is why weâve adopted the tagline âFor Brands Who Careâ. Because we believe that money is not an empowering vision. We believe that a brand that cares about more than just profits is a brand that inspires loyalty, fosters community, and makes a real difference in the world. And THAT is what we find motivating. This declaration is more than just a tagline. Itâs a commitment. A commitment to our clients that we will work tirelessly to help them achieve their goals. A commitment to our team that we will foster an environment that values passion, creativity, and work that is rewarding. A commitment to ourselves that we will remain true to our mission of helping brands that care. The Future is Caring As we look to the future, we are excited. Excited about the opportunities that lie ahead. Excited about the chance to work with new clients who share our belief in the power of caring. Excited about the impact we can make. At MKTNG, we care. We care about our clients, our work, and the impact we can have on our communities. We are excited to work with brands who share this vision. We believe caring is a generative act that fosters caring by others. Like a contagious smile, caring gives birth to more caring. We are excited to be ambassadors of bringing greater care into the world. Because at the end of the day, we believe that the brands who care are the brands that matter. The brands that stand for something. The brands that make a difference. The brands that, amidst the noise, ring out clear and true. This is MKTNG. For Brands Who Care.
SVP FastPitch – Congrats to The Alliance
What an incredible night! In 2023 I joined Social Venture Partners Sacramento where I also volunteered as a coach for this year’s Fast Pitch. Social Venture Partners is a philanthropic network that helps those out to do good, do better â bringing together donors, nonprofits and social enterprises so we can make a greater collective impact. Each year SVP hosts Fast Pitch, a Shark Tank-seque event where nonprofits make a pitch for funding. Fast Pitch is a capacity building program that invites 18 nonprofits to learn how to pitch their nonprofit to high-value donors. It is not a time, treasure, talent pitch, itâs a direct ask for funding. Participants are ushered through a process where they learn how to present their organization, success stories, innovations and their benefit to the community in under three minutes. There are practice sessions, coaching sessions, and rounds of feedback. A limited number of nonprofits are selected to participate in an in-person pitch to a room full of philanthropists, and judges. I was honored to be paired with Mary Towne of Elevate Public Relations to coach The Alliance. Founder and CEO, Tiffany Loeffler embodies the mission of this organization, and could not be more articulate or charming. We like to work with Brands Who Care, and The Alliance was a perfect fit. The Alliance is a network of agencies, nonprofits , community members, businesses and churches working together to protect kids and strengthen families. Over a six week period, and after many iterations, the Alliance was chosen as one of eight non-profits to present at Fast Pitch at the Sofia. At the conclusion of Fast Pitch, The Alliance was honored with FIRST PLACE for their pitch! An incredible pay off for months of hard work. The Alliance is an inspiring organization that is a model for nonprofit collaboration. I can not wait to see what comes next for them! Huge thanks to Brad Squires for his invitation to join SVP, and for his work as Executive Director. Also, to Jay Thomas for his leadership in the development and training for the Fast Pitch coaching process. We will definitely be making a return in 2024!
Branding Community
Every movement needs an icon, a flag, a symbol that unifies the members of their movement. These symbols can serve many purposes. They can serve a catalyst for stirring up fervor and rallying members, as is the case with many flags. For icons, which is relative to note, have their root in religious paintings of one or two portraits or a religious scene. Icons now most commonly serve as the symbols that provide direction as well as pertain to identity that we interact with on mobile devices. Icons have become a secondary shorthand for a brand. These are all important considerations for branding and identity. With every brand comes the possibility that you help create something more, that around the brand forms a community of passionate advocates. When this happens, your brand (and along with it your logo) becomes a symbol. This is when your brand becomes an icon, a symbol of the community, a common experience or perspective. We saw this occur earlier this year in February. It was actually about a year ago when I volunteered our team to develop the brand for an unheard of arts project, Art Hotel. The development of the logo did not take long, but we did go through a handful of concepts with the M5Arts team. The result was something actually quite simple and figurative, including an outline of the building used in the project. Art Hotel took off in a big way. The arts experience was sold out, covered by all of the regionâs media and became a symbol of Sacramentoâs burgeoning arts scene. Suddenly the artwork was on tee-shirts, hoodies and all over the news. Our little brand had become a symbol that represented the work of the M5Arts team, the 130 artists that worked on the project, their many donors and the broader community that experienced Art Hotel during its short 10 day run. Earlier this month we unveiled a new logo representing the next M5Arts project, ArtStreet, at a Kickstarter fundraising launch party. We agreed with the M5Arts team, that this next project should carry with it a similar visual language as Art Hotel. After beginning with some basic concepts, some feedback from the team and some art direction from my youngest daughter (thanks Kayla!), we ended up with an image we are pretty excited about. However, the brand is not ours. It no longer even belongs to M5Arts. It belongs to the community of people for whom the Art Hotel project meant something about their city and the artists who live here. For these people we hope that the new graphic comes to mean something once they have had the opportunity to experience ArtStreet. If M5Arts succeeds at catching lightning in a bottle twice, just maybe our humble logo will become another hit. Disclaimer: I am a member of the M5Arts team as well as a board member of their fiduciary agent nonprofit, DBA Arts. MKTNG has donated design and PR services to the Art Hotel and ArtStreet projects.
A Big Day For All of Us
Next Tuesday is a big day. A big day for us, and you too, even if you donât know it. The first Tuesday in May. As it has been for the past two years, and from here on out, let it be known as the Big Day of Giving. Next Tuesday, tens of thousands of normal, everyday people will answer the call to become exceptional contributors to our community, by donating to one of 570 regional nonprofits. MKTNG is proud to be participating in the Big Day of Giving, having helped plan and deliver basic training for participating nonprofits in January, and by managing social media for the campaign ahead of and during the Big Day of Giving. We also coordinated with the Sacramento Business Journal to host a nonprofit focused Connectionopolis prior to the Big Day. Organized by the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, the Big Day of Giving is a somewhat self explanatory campaign, to activate the citizens of our four county region as philanthropists. The campaign is a 24 hour giving marathon from midnight to midnight on May 3rd. Over the past two years this campaign has raised nearly 9 million dollars from over 30,000 donors in the region! The goal of the campaign this year is to raise 6 million dollars. How can you (or your company) participate? Donate money Donate time â find a non-profit hosting an event, or participating in the halftime celebration at Caesar Chavez Park, and ask to lend a hand. Match employee donations â Last year and this year, MKTNG has matched employee donations on the Big Day of Giving, up to $100 per employee. Advocate for the Big Day by changing your profile photo on Facebook or Twitter HERE. Share about your favorite charity on social media- Sharing is caring, but nothing beats cold hard CASH! Make a donation and challenge your network to meet or beat your donation.
MKTNG has Updated Their Relationship Status
MKTNG is excited to announce our programming partnership with the Sacramento Business Journal. Launched six years ago as a forum for networking and education, Connectionopolis has provided a wealth of resources to thousands in the business community. For the past five years, Connectionopolis programming has been a partnership with Social Media Club Sacramento, or SMCSAC (also under the direction of MKTNG President and CEO, Scott Eggert). MKTNG will be expanding on the Connectionopolis themes, which previously focused on social media. Programming will include a broader look at best practices and opportunities in marketing for regional organizations, including the latest in social and digital media. Our first event is a look at best practices for nonprofits as we approach the Big Day of Giving, hosted by the Sacramento Region Community Foundation on May 3rd. The upcoming panel, Raising Awareness and Inspiring Donations, hosted at Shriners Hospital on April 20th, will serve as a great opportunity for nonprofits to fine-tune their strategies as they are already in the process of marketing their respective organizations for the Day of Giving. The panel, moderated by Kim Tucker of Impact Foundry, will feature Katie McCleary of 916Ink, Bobby Mann of Front Street Animal Shelter and Lisa Wrightsman of Lady Salamanders (a Street Soccer USA team).
Sacramento PRoud â Notes From My PRSA Talk
Last week I had the honor of being the special guest at the PRSA mixer at Downtown & Vine. During the meeting, I enjoyed the opportunity to meet many of the members as well as a contingent of students from PRSSA Sacramento State and local community colleges, all in attendance. I spent some time cogitating over public relations leading up to the meeting. Admittedly, I was inspired about the future of our city in light of the response to our Art Hotel project. In my time working in PR in Sacramento, we have had our ups and downs. Now, more than ever, I believe there is a bright future for our city, and likewise, those fortunate to work in PR. Whatever sector you represent, government, sports, non-profits, education, technology, the green economy, construction, legal, food and agriculture, the arts or LGBT issues and more, there is a shifting and growing landscape in Sacramento that presents us with an exciting future. As Sacramento continues to evolve, and in many ways lead the nation, each of these sectorsâ stories will be told through the lens of public relations. I hesitate to point out, while we may witness these stories from the mouths, pens or fingers of the media, they will most likely originate from PR professionals. Original reporting by the news media has been suffering for the past few years. News, online and offline, has become an echo chamber. For better or for worse, the news for the foreseeable future belongs to the communications teams with the strongest media relationships – and who craft the best storylines. I was excited to speak with so many students at the PRSA event. Their most common question: what advice do I have for people looking to get ahead in PR? My advice is almost the same no matter what industry a young person finds oneself; Work hard on your relationships – all of them. Cultivate great relationships with the media, peers, mentors, business owners and pretty much everybody else. Business, and certainly public relations, is about people taking your calls and answering your emails. If you cannot forge and maintain positive relationships, you have no business in public relations. Itâs right there in the name! Hone your craft and find an employer that appreciates your contribution. We live in a wonderful and growing city. If you want to be a part of it, you have to show up. I donât mean for work. Too many great PR professionals I know with have spent too long locked in agency offices (or as in-house comm professionals), constantly chasing deadlines. Some agencies donât seem to understand that Good Marketing Comes from Happy Marketers. Employers can show their appreciation in two ways; fair pay, and providing a balanced work environment that fosters civic engagement. Regardless, the future for our industry is bright. We live in a great city thatâs getting better. Get out and enjoy the growth of our region (out in âpublicâ) and play well with others (the ârelationsâ part of the equation) and youâll reap a fair share of our regionâs future.
This is How We Do
Recently a friend inquired, in very general terms, âhow we do what we doâ as a business owner? In a moment of clarity, I offered the following response:âWe only hire the best talent we can find. We delight our customers. We charge what we are worth. We use technology when ever possible to be efficient, but are careful never to replace human interaction.â Iâve reflected upon this philosophy several times since. These answers still ring true to me, in regards to what our company values. Reflecting on these four values, here are some notes I assembled on each. Hiring the Best Talent The way we value the human touch in the workplace has ebbed and flowed over the last few centuries. In the industrial age, we broke down the delivery of goods and services into individual measurements. We distilled complex manufacturing into individual work units. We took the thinking out of work. Things once crafted by skilled craftspeople were suddenly manufactured. There are several industries that still thrive on this approach to work. But the fact is, professional services industries — accounting, lawyers, marketing, medicine and others — have developed a poor reputation of hiring throngs of free (interns), low cost labor (recent college graduates) or contractors to saddle with the grunt work (research, drafting briefs, auditing, making coffee) of managing client work. Recently there has been a cultural shift in the workforce regarding oneâs attitude toward work. Employees no longer wish to be a cog in the machine. Rather, employees want their work to mean something. They are also increasingly interested in how their contribution affects outcomes. They are tired of micromanagement, and they are simultaneously seeing independence and autonomy while also desiring a collegial and rewarding workplace culture. These are the types of people that we like to hire. Cultivated in their craft, with an eye towards the final product — independent-minded, but not loners. Hiring people that are a strong cultural fit, in addition to being skilled, reaps a valuable reward. Not only is it vital to employee loyalty (which decreases hiring costs), it also fosters stability, which then leads to greater client loyalty. Delight the Customer Customers have no shortage of choice. Providing good service is key to retaining clients. Fear of losing clients however, is uninspiring. Anybody who has ever started a business or changed jobs knows that in addition to making more money, what drives us is a better way of doing things. Whether it be doing things quicker, smarter or perhaps more human, we see market opportunities that we believe we can exploit. One of the the opportunities we are seizing at MKTNG is exceeding expectations and creating delighted customers. Nothing is more rewarding than putting out great work that you are proud of. Delighted customers, much more than just satisfied, are more than return customers. They are friends⊠and they can eventually become family. We Charge What We Are Worth Competing on price in the modern business climate most often results in slashed margins. Narrowing margins do not sustain businesses, especially those focused on talent and delighting customers. Competing primarily on price is a short sighted strategy. Competing in a marketplace that values great ideas, results, and value is a far better place to be. If you find your customers are first and foremost focused on cost, youâre in front of the wrong customers. By seeking out customers that value what we do, high quality work and lasting relationships, we are able to produce greater results over time than we would while working with clients focused on the costs of individual transactions. We use technology whenever possible, to be efficient, but not to replace human interactions. Technology is a powerful tool in business. It has become so pervasive in our lives, and we believe businesses should actually be cautioned where and how they use it. Our company embraces the use of technology. Our client files and our project management software are all in the cloud. This allows our team to be collocated, or geographically dispersed. It allows us to access our entire company through apps on our phones in addition to our laptops. Any coffee shop can become an office at a moment’s notice. Technology keeps us lean and agile, while our competitors are stuck in their offices or to their desks. It reinforces our âout of officeâ culture and facilitates our work in the community. In an effort to save time and money, many companies place technology on the front lines of their business, creating a barrier between their customers. This is where we draw the line. Technology should serve to improve and enhance the customer experience, not hinder it. What makes companies in different industries successful varies. However, in service oriented industries, we see these as somewhat pivotal. What is most critical to your business?
PINK is for girls
This is what I thought when I was in the third grade. For a brief period in junior high, hot pink was all the rage, and I was in with both feet. Today, I love pink. Iâm actually wearing a pale shade of it as I write this post. I enjoy wearing a variety of vibrant colors. Being colorful is bold, and also has an influence on arousal and memory. Thatâs besides the point however. For those of you who think pink is for girls, Iâm okay with that, but we may disagree on just what that means. Letâs begin with the psychology of color. Whenever you begin thinking about a brand and a logo, color is top of mind. We often associate blue with business – think IBM and Microsoft. Red and yellow is owned by the fast food trade. Red is known for being bold, and purple is regal and inspires confidence. The problem with this, however, is that the psychology of color is a trailing indicator of what a color has meant over a preceding period of time. It does not represent the evolving perspective toward color or, in the case of pink, what it means to be a woman. Our idea of womanhood has changed. I know mine has changed since the third grade. Society’s view and portrayal of women has changed. As a father of two young women, I embrace the nature of women as strong and independent. We have seen an evolution in how brands approach women. An obvious example would be the Dove campaign. However, I am thinking of a couple more nuanced examples. These recent ad campaigns are a fitting indication of how society and, as a result, advertising is taking note of femininityâs new identity: Take the #LikeAGirl campaign from Always that recasts how young girls perceive their own physical capabilities. Or, another favorite of mine is ballerina Misty Copeland for Under Armour, definitely redefining your notion of strength and femininity. When we began working on the branding for MKTNG, we discussed with our creative team that we wanted our logo to reflect professionalism, but we also wanted it to exude innovation and fresh ideas. We were excited when they presented us with two color concepts with bold and fresh colors. The most appealing to us was the bright pink that we ended up choosing for the logo you see today. We were enamored with the color and the energy it brought to our logo. Sometimes a symbol changes or evolves. Pink represents femininity still, sure, but the symbol of femininity itself is evolving. Pink is fresh, it exudes love and passion. It is also growing to mean strength and innovation. The notion that pink = women = delicate is no longer the prevailing impression. Rather, itâs refreshing, modern, and confident. In many cases, femininity now represents strength. We hope that daring to use it in our branding conveys that weâre not afraid to make an impression, and that weâre confident that weâll make an impression on our target market, brands that wish to make a unique impressions, as opposed to appealing to everyone. When representing yourself, in business or otherwise, we believe itâs important to be at once authentic and confident. Whatever that means for your particular brand, we encourage you to strive to meet that intersection, and have the courage to challenge convention.
Just What You Need
Thereâs something to be said for saying only what needs to be said. When we started MKTNG we knew the world didnât need another typical agency that can âdo it allâ⊠we decided to focus on just whatâs needed. A part of launching a new company is building on, or taking away from, existing business models. In our case we were bound and determined to strip away as much as possible, and to focus on a workplace culture that is as rewarding as it is productive. This thought leads us to a couple of questions. What is necessary and what is wasteful? What contributes to an organizationâs culture and what dampens morale and creativity? Personally, I have long felt that the California Milk Advisory Board has it right, âgood milk comes from happy cowsâ*. In fact, I think that this pertains to each of us in our respective workplaces. Over the past decade major employers have begun to alter the work environment of employees to maximize employee satisfaction, hence the communal open office and work-from-home benefits that have proliferated. For us, we keep our focus on that âgood marketing comes from happy marketersâ. We believe; There is something about a finished product that shines when it has been imbued with the passion and ethos of its creators. There is something about the finished product when it reflects the culture on the inside. There is something about the finished products origin story that gives it integrity. ORIGINS MATTER In Sacramento we believe in this wholeheartedly, when it comes to our food, origins matter. We are surrounded by much of the worldâs best food. Where our food is grown matters and how it is produced has a significant impact on the taste. So much so, we even concern ourselves with the quality of life of the farmers and their communities. This is the essence of the âFarm to Forkâ movement. It differentiates Sacramento from anywhere else in our nation because it truly matters where our food comes from, the soil it is borne in, the water and nutrients it is fed, who grew it and how it arrived on our table. OUR ROOTS GO DEEP When I started MKTNG, I felt as though the roots of our company matters. The ecosystem surrounding our productivity and creativity seeps into our final product. Sacramento is a fertile environment rich with innovators, hackers, makers, designers, coders, ideators and more. New ideas are encouraged and risks rewarded. Birthing a company in this environment makes a difference. We have stripped away what we donât need. We partner with people who get us, and who we can do something for in return â reciprocity is an important value in a professional community. At /MKTNG we produce things unlike any other agency. We believe that how we work keeps us more than competitive. We believe that how we work produces better results. We have discarded what was unnecessary for a modern agency and we have adapted the tools and workflow of a digital start-up. We have adopted a flat management structure to become more flexible. Our infrastructure is our people and creativity is our intellectual property. We are agile and adaptable, we are lean. This frees our team to focus on results and solutions that matter. JUST WHAT YOU NEED *At no time during the reading of this post should any MKTNG employees or partners be compared to cows.
