Archive for November 3rd, 2009

The intensity factor …

November 3, 2009

Ken’s Take: Marketers talk about the “top box” effect when evaluating customer loyalty. A repeated finding: only customers who are “very satisfied” are likely to stay loyal — not those who are simply “satisfied”.  In all customer surveys (and political polls) keep your eye on the folks who are “very” …

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Excerpted from WSJ: In Vote, Watch the Intensity Factor, Nov. 3, 2009

Polls can measure many things, but one thing they have a hard time getting at is intensity: Yes, people will tell a pollster whom they prefer in a campaign, but do they feel so strongly about their choice that they’ll actually go out to vote?

Only elections can answer the intensity question.

Last year, Barack Obama and his Democrats owned the intensity factor. Lately it has seemed to lie with the Republicans.

Anger is a great motivator, and there’s plenty of anger on the GOP side over Democratic plans for health care and government spending.

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Heading into Tuesday, the intensity factor takes on a quite different form in each of the big races:

New Jersey: A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday shows Mr. Christie ahead of Gov. Corzine, 42% to 40%, with 12% for Mr. Daggett. Perhaps more important, it shows the extent of the two major candidates’ unpopularity. Some 40% of those surveyed said they had an unfavorable view of Mr. Christie, and a whopping 53% had an unfavorable view of Gov. Corzine.

Virginia: The polls suggest a dispirited Democratic base and a fired-up Republican one. A poll shows 94% of Republicans planning to vote for their candidate, compared with 85% of Democrats planning to vote for their’s.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125718836927523405.html?mod=WSJ_hps_MIDDLEFifthNews

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Another Example: Healthcare Reform

Discord is all but certain if ObamaCare in anything like its present form is enacted.

A majority, or at least a large plurality, of Americans oppose it.

Their opposition is raw and intense, as we’ve learned from the spate of contentious town-hall meetings held by Democratic members of Congress last summer.

A Washington Post/ABC News poll of Oct. 19 confirmed the obvious: Far more Americans “strongly” oppose ObamaCare (36%) than “strongly” support it (26%).

Excerpted from WSJ :Major Congressional Reforms Demand Bipartisan Support, Nov. 2, 2009
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703932904574511263515975366.html

Posted in Customer Satisfaction - Loyalty, Polls & Surveys | Leave a Comment »

The MBA road to riches … well, maybe for some.

November 3, 2009

Key Takeaway: MBA students hoping their degree will lead to a fat salary right out of school should think again. While career management profiles make them giddy over the fact that the average student makes nearly $100,000, the harsh truth is that few will be rolling in this much dough.

Furthermore, that “prestige” that goes along with your school won’t make much of a difference unless it falls at the very top of the list, and those students will have a slight advantage their entire careers.  Hmmm ….

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Excerpted from BusinessWeek “MBA Pay: Riches for Some, Not All” by Anne VanderMey, September 28, 2009

Every incoming student has heard rags-to-riches tales of that gilded certification leading to giant paychecks and even bigger bonuses. But how often do these MBA fairy tales actually come true? According to new research: not as often as you think.

The averages usually reported by schools tell prospective students only part of the story. And numbers outside the averages or ranges can be hard to come by, leaving students to play an uncomfortable guessing game in the shadow of student loans.

Less sunnily, there’s a stark pay divide between graduates from top schools and the average MBA graduate, with the average MBA making only slightly more than half what grads from top programs do starting out. Even more sobering, the vast majority of MBAs—bearing degrees from schools of all stripes, good, bad, and indifferent—will not earn more than $75,000, and only about 4% will exceed the $150,000 mark.

According to PayScale, graduates from the Top 10 programs will make nearly twice as much as the typical MBA. And that pay advantage wears off fast after the Top 10, says Al Lee, PayScale’s director of quantitative analysis. “Outside of the Top 20 [ranked schools], you’re under six figures,” he says. Even worse news for students at lower-ranked programs: “By the time you get out of the Top 30 you’re talking just a small premium over the average school,” Lee says.

“When I’m showing a short list of candidates for a COO role, there’s an automatic quick glance to the education section of everybody’s CV,” he says. Work experience still trumps all, but he says he’s seen cases where degrees from top schools have tipped certain job candidates over the edge. Plus, hiring a Harvard graduate is usually viewed as a safe bet, Travis says, invoking the old maxim, “Executives normally don’t get fired for hiring IBM.”

No matter how you look at it, the fantastic notion of a diploma being an express ticket to a big company’s corner office is probably just that—fantasy.

Edit by JMZ

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Full Article
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/sep2009/bs20090928_592028.htm

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Posted in Education - Academics, MBA Degree | Leave a Comment »

That TV show on obesity … well, it sold a ton of ads.

November 3, 2009

TakeAway:  There’s emerging evidence that consumers pay more attention to advertisements that speak to their specific interests. 

So, broadcasters, inspired by this finding, are rearranging their programs and leveraging this cause-based program line-up to lure advertisement dollars.

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Excerpted from WSJ, “NBC Universal Tees Up Cause-Related Shows,” By Suzanne Vranica, October 19, 2009

With ad spending still in the doldrums, NBCU has won some extra business by offering marketers the chance to hitch their products to programs promoting a cause, health, or social issue.

NBCU is creating issue programs across its broadcast, cable and online properties … and is touting these issue packages as a way for marketers to better target ads and product placements.

Advertisers and media buyers say choosing programs with a unifying theme, and airing ads based on that theme, lets them better direct their advertising to consumers interested in a particular topic and helps get viewers to pay closer attention to ads … 

NBCU’s latest issue: health and wellness, with a focus on obesity …

This issue allows NBCU to piggyback on one of the few areas of marketing that has continued to grow despite the weak economy. Spending on cause sponsorships in the U.S. is expected to increase 3.1% this year to $1.57 billion … and is expected to grow faster than sports and arts sponsorships …

President of NBCU Women & Lifestyle Entertainment Networks, says the company has gotten “significant incremental” revenue from its health, environmental and women’s packages “heading toward” $100 million, on top of what it gets from the ordinary sale of ad time … The ad packages benefit NBCU because attracting ad revenue is a perennial problem for its broadcast network NBC … but NBC has had to make compromises to woo advertisers, such as being more open to working marketer’s brands into its shows and putting its stars in their ads …

Edit by TJS

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Full Article
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704112904574477872926288910.html#mod=todays_us_marketplace

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Posted in CSR - Cause Mktg | 1 Comment »