A while ago I wrote a post asking the question, “who is really in charge of your marketing?” My intent was to highlight the marketing impact (for better or worse) of the rank and file staffers who come face-to-face with customers.

Recently however, I have noticed something truly fascinating that I believe may very well change marketing forever.  And it forces me to revisit this same issue of who’s in charge of marketing.

This time I would ask you to consider the role of your customer in the marketing equation.  No… I’m not talking about generating referrals.  I’m actually talking about the customer as the deciding and active force in an organization’s marketing.
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It’s difficult in the marketing world to define marketing principles that are truly more than mere theories…

But the Eureka! Ranch has managed to do it.  Over the last decade, it has compiled and analyzed thousands of client cases related to the introduction of new product/service concepts and new marketing messaging for existing products/services.

This research has produced and quantitatively validated a number of well-proven and very practical conclusions for marketers of all types.

One of the key principles that emerged from this research dispels a dangerous marketing myth and therefore needs never-ending reinforcement. And it applies consistently across industries and consumer/business segments.

I’m referring to the critical importance of communicating what the Eureka! Ranch folks call your “overt benefit.”
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If you haven’t taken a moment to appreciate the work that Unilever is doing with its Dove Self Esteem Fund and related campaign, you’re missing something truly special in the world of marketing. What’s more, you’re missing a great example of the new face of powerful, authentic marketing… infusing emotion and meaning into what could easily be a big, boring brand.

The campaign is supported in large part by a number of brilliantly composed, thought provoking, debate inspiring videos created by Ogilvy & Mather Toronto. If you haven’t seen “Evolution,” you need to take a moment and watch it right now.

This Dove self esteem campaign is worthy of serious study and reflection, but there are three aspects of it that I want to call your attention to right now.
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I have just completed a three-month study testing the effectiveness of SEO and Google Adwords against radio advertising in generating quote requests for a consumer insurance product.  The test was contained to a market area of one city and surrounding areas.

The local radio budget was $13,000/month, and the campaign ran for approximately three months on three stations selected by the company’s ad agency as being representative of the target demographic. To allow the radio a fair chance to establish frequency, I began tracking the search marketing comparison at the start of the second month of radio advertising and am reporting on exactly two months of radio results data ($26,000 invested over the two months – not counting the cost of producing the ad).

The Adwords budget for the same local market increased over the period of the study from approximately $400/month to approximately $750/month. And the total SEO budget was approximately $2,000/month.
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