The power of media and communications unleashed

A Grain Of Rice
by Darlene Zagata

In the wonderful world of technology the debate of morals and ethics wages on. The newest topic in the spotlight is a chip which can be inserted under the skin of an individual's hand. The company manufacturing the chip says that it is the size of a grain of rice and would be invisible and cause no discomfort to the recipient.

Arguments in favor of the chip claim that it would be a positive addition to both the medical and law enforcement communities. The manufacturers of the chip state that used as a tracking device the chip would aid law enforcement officials in locating kidnap victims. On the medical front, the chip would be able to track patients with Alzheimers disease who have wandered away from their homes or secure areas. It would also be able to assist in emergency care for those who suffer from most health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and epilepsy. The miniscule device would contain all pertinent information needed such as the person's medical history, allergies, medication and personal information such as name, address, phone number and age which would be invaluable in getting the person immediate and proper care and to identify a patient and contact family members.

This may sound like a heaven sent solution to many crime and health problems but some religionists may beg to differ, relating the chip to the mark of the beast described in the Bible's book of Revelation. It is not just the religionists who raise issues about the chip but many others are skeptical over the actual function of the device as well. Concerns are being raised over the repercussions the chip could have in the long run. Though the manufacturers claim the chip would have no lasting side effects, it has yet to be FDA approved. In fact, once that stamp of approval has been given, the chip will rapidly begin to make it's mark (pardon the pun) on society.

Despite the religious and other obvious concerns, there are many individuals who are eager to purchase this latest piece of hardware. Like the newest car or appliance, they want to be the first on the block to possess it. The question is whether the chip will be in their possession or will they be in the chip's possession. Although the actual price for this device may or may not yet have been determined (sources differ on this), some sources have hinted at a figure of around two-hundred dollars. At that price, the chip becomes readily accessible to those who are eager to participate in this new technology. Once purchased, the chip may be taken to the recipient's family doctor for implantation. The proceedure is said to be done in the doctor's office where the chip is then inserted beneath the skin through a needle with relative speed and ease.

A large concern for many is the lack of privacy. The makers of the chip have even stated that the device could track a person's every movement. Another concern is that the use of the device will become mandatory at some time in the future, although advocates of the chip claim that this is just sheer nonsense and plain paranoia. They reassure us that the use of the device is strictly voluntary and will remain so. But can they really make such a claim with absolute certainity? We have seen examples of how power can corrupt and what could happen if technology falls into the wrong hands. Once again we are left with unanswered questions as to the road our future will take as the debate begins to heat over the latest technological advancement.

Is this miniscule device a savior of sorts or is it the mark of the beast? For now, we can only debate and pray that this technology will be used for the benefit of humankind, not to it's detriment.

Darlene Zagata may be contacted at http://pages.ivillage.com/celia721/ darlene31487@yahoo.com. Click here to view more of their articles.

Darlene Zagata is a freelance writer and mother of four children. Her work has appeared in several electronic and print publications. Darlene is the Managing Editor of RITRO.com and she co-authors a column with her son at RaisingASon.com. She is also a Review Editor for MyShelf.com and an Editorial Reviewer for The Writer's Room Magazine. Her book of poetry "Aftertaste" is available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. Her first book of fiction, "The Choosing" is currently in the process of publication.

The benefits of a positive endorsement by the media can hardly be understated. Customers turn to the media to learn about solutions, and to help choose between potential offerings. Many prospective customers do not look beyond these endorsements and buy on the basis of their credibility. There is little question that “Two Thumbs Up” sells movies and a “5-star” rating sells hotel rooms. One PC-clone manufacturer told the author that their PC Magazine Editors Choice Award added about $5-million to their bottom line.

A positive media review can dramatically boost your sales and marketing results in two significant ways:

You get publicity that you would otherwise have to purchase. This publicity increases the awareness of your offering in the marketplace and exposes you to more potential customers.

A third-party endorsement adds credibility to your offering in a way that no self-serving advertisement can. This endorsement adds to the value of your brand and builds your prestige, giving you a competitive advantage. This prestige may also justify a price premium, increasing your profits. The Promise of Successful Branding is covered in Marketing Promotion Planning and Strategy.

There are many ways you can win from a review, even if you are not the editor's first choice.

You can win if you can extract a favorable quote from the review. You may use these quotes to strengthen the credibility of your advertising.

You also win by the fact that your product and brand has been exposed to a wider audience. Name recognition plays a big part in product selection and prospects often cannot recall where they came across the brand they recognize.

You can even “turn lemons into lemonade” if you know how to respond to a negative review.

There are some negative aspects to a review-based promotion strategy. Unlike a paid advertisement where you control the message and the timing of its delivery, a review is somewhat out of your control. To some extent you take a risk when you submit your product or service for review. You risk an unfavorable review and unfavorable publicity.

If you do badly, there is the possibility of lost sales. Also a competitor may proactively use a negative review against you. These, however, are not the most critical reasons for holding off on a review-based promotion strategy.

Most reviews are positive and neutral, not patently negative. And most competitors will not want to lend credibility to your offering by even mentioning you. Also the reach of any given medium is limited. Not every customer reads every magazine. Learn why many people overestimate the effectiveness of their media in Marketing Promotion Planning and Strategy.

There are however, circumstances when a positive review can also hurt your business and seriously diminish your ability to get a return on your promotional investment. Learn about these common circumstances in Marketing Promotion Planning and Strategy.

Once you decide to pursue a review-based strategy, here are 10 tactics that can increase your changes of winning.

10 Tactics for Winning Product Reviews

(without changing your offering or cheating)

• Be selective about the publications and reviews you choose to enter. While the term “free publicity” is often used to describe editorial coverage, this term is a little misleading. Preparing and tracking product used for review purposes is often quite time consuming. Also, if you have an expensive product, you may not be able to afford to have units circulating for review. This is especially the case where reviewers do not return the product or damage it. So before you get started, consider your ability to do the job right. Sometimes no review is better than a poor review.
  Some reviews give you publicity but not an endorsement. Many publications do not express an opinion, so their reviews tend to be bland, listing product features and a few pros and cons.
  Consider also, the medium's ability to generate sales of your offering. If you have to choose which media to work with, evaluate them as if you were about to advertise. For example, a full feature in a small-audience newsletter may not be as valuable as a paragraph in a major publication. Also, people buy only when they have an interest in your product, so a small circulation publication that directly addresses your target audience may produce more sales than a large circulation publication that does not. Refer to The Mathematics of Effective Media selection in Marketing Promotion Planning and Strategy for more information and a useful calculator.
• Before you enter a review, know what the reviewers are looking for. Know what excites them and what irritates them about the products they review. While many reviews are highly structured and pseudo-scientific, reviewers are people and they have perceptions that will affect the review. Learn who the reviewers or product testers are and who the writers are. If the review is technical in nature, it is possible that the tester and the writer will not be the same person.
  If the reviewer and the writer's names are not published, the PR manager can ask for this information. The advertising manager may, however, be more successful getting the information from her contacts. You should also read both previous reviews in the publication, and previous articles by the writers. This will give you a flavor of what the hot buttons are.
• Appoint a cross-functional review team. This team typically includes a product manager, a PR manager and a technical expert. It might also include the product designers. Because reviews can be so valuable and damaging, this team should not only have a plan, but also the ability to execute it. They need to be able to short-circuit any internal bureaucracy that would make the company appear unresponsive to the press.
• Choose the right product for the review criteria. Knowing what the reviewers are looking for, helps you choose the product that is most likely to do well in the particular review. For example, a Porsche is not likely to do well in a review of compact cars even though it is a physically small car. It could lose on price and the number of passengers it can carry if these were criteria for the review. It may win on performance, but not many people buy compact cars for performance.
  Remember to choose a product you wish to sell at the time the review is published. Some reviews can take months from the time you submit your product to the time the story hits the streets. Creating demand for a product that will be obsolete on the publication date will not be very useful.
• Test the exact product or service you plan to submit before you submit it. Even if your failure rate is one per 10,000, this is not the time for that one faulty unit to show up. If you offer a service, make sure it is being delivered well. You don't want the reviewer to test your responsiveness at a time when you are short staffed or the rookie is manning the phones.
  Have a back-up product tested and ready to ship immediately if a problem occurs or if the original one gets damaged in transit.
• Provide all the components the reviewer needs to properly set up your product for testing. Don't frustrate the reviewer by making them hunt for connecting cables, screws and tools. Also, you want to make sure all these components work as expected. If a customer would not normally get all these components, you can package them in an identifiable “Reviewer's Pack”.
• Provide all the instructions and benchmark data the reviewer needs to set up and satisfactorily test the product. Point out the key features of your product. The benchmarks tell them what they should expect. If they don't see the expected results they can call for help, or at least make sure they configured the test correctly. If a customer would not normally get all this information, you can package it in an identifiable “Reviewer's Pack” along with the product and other components. You might also want to include a special reviewer support telephone number so they get fast competent help if they need it.
  Many reviews have been lost because the reviewer set up the product incorrectly so it performed poorly. The reviewer did not know what the product was capable of and therefore accepted the results without question.
• Follow up with the tester shortly after the deadline for receipt of products. Your objectives are to:
  Make sure the product was delivered
  Make sure the product gets configured correctly
  Highlight key features
  Find out when the product will be written up for the article.
  If it is a technical test, have the support expert and the product manager call, not the PR manager.
• Follow up with the writer when she is writing the article. Remember the writer is looking for a story, not a set of benchmarks. Offer a list of reference customers who the writer can interview for the story. Of course, you should pre-screen these references. You can also offer photos and to set up executive interviews. Talking with the writer allows you to put test results into perspective for them and allows you to highlight key features that may not be part of the standard test criteria. You may even suggest a “side bar” article on the technology, customers or trends.
  A word to the wise on pricing tactics: The writer may ask about your price or you may have to provide a price as part of a qualifying questionnaire. A product can have many prices including the manufacturers recommended list price, the “street price” (what consumers pay) and discounted/sale prices. Which price should you use in the review? If your list price is relatively high and you submit this price for review, you could lose the review based on a perception of poor value for money. If you submit a discounted price or any price at the lowest end of your range, you increase the perception of good value for money. However if the consumer cannot find the product at that price, they may continue to shop around without making a purchase. The best price to quote is close to street price, but erring on the high side. Customers will either find the price they read about, or a lower price that exceeds their expectations. They will feel they found a bargain.
• Thank everyone involved. A simple note or phone call is enough. It is inappropriate to send gifts to the reviewers.

If you do not win, and no mismanagement was involved by the publication, don't get mad at the publication and don't threaten to “pull your advertisements”. Remember there will likely be another review soon. If you have a legitimate beef and the publication wants to make amends, suggest they write an independent story about your offering, not necessarily a retraction. A new positive story that you can use as a sales tool is far more valuable than a “correction” in the small print of some future issue.

Summary
Positive reviews by the media can dramatically boost your promotion results. There are however, circumstances when they can hurt your business.

Do

Do have a marketing plan and strategy.
Do understand the resources required and be selective.
Do understand the review criteria.
Do appoint a cross-functional review team to manage the review.
Do choose the right product for review.
Do test the exact product or service before you submit it for review.
Do provide all the necessary instructions and performance benchmarks.
Do follow up with the tester.
Do follow up with the writer.
Do thank everyone involved.

Don't

Don't offer products that will not be available at the time of publication.
Don't take unnecessary chances. Reviews must be managed.
Don't undermine your street price.
Don't threaten to “pull your advertising.”
Don't offer gifts to the reviewers.

David Lamont, MarketingSage.net may be contacted at http://marketingsage.net dkatt@marketingsage.net. Click here to view more of their articles.
MarketingSage helps businesses increase revenue, launch new products, generate publicity, and establish new sales channels by providing the additional brainpower, bandwidth, IT sales experience, tools and contacts. Their mini-course on marketing tactics is available FREE by email.