Five Nuts to Watch in 2010

You may think I'm nuts for this post, and I am. I am really excited about it! I am excited because I think it strongly demonstrates how important associations are in the advocacy campaigns for their members. Over the years I have had the opportunity to be a member of some benign and some really valuable and strong organizations.

Advocating for the rights and interests of its constituency should be an association's top mission, but often, sadly the top spot often falls to other more self serving purposes for existence. I love this piece because it clearly illustrates how a smart group with strong research was able to lobby for national credibility and awareness without having to spend millions of dollars on another "milk mustache" campaign.

Nuts of all types have had their ups and downs as far as the American diet is concerned. They lost ground in low-fat diets of the past millennium, their carbohydrates were scorned by the Atkins diet and nuts were further scarred by the Peanut Corp. of America salmonella contamination early this year.

But they keep bouncing back. Why? Because nuts are excellent sources of protein, minerals, monounsaturated fats and other nutrients, and they’re good for the heart. And consumers increasingly are getting those messages.

Nuts in 2003 received the FDA’s first qualified health claim for a food: “Scientific evidence suggests but does not prove that eating 1.5 ounces per day of most nuts, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease.” The FDA announcement was in response to a petition from the International Tree Nut Council’s (INC) Nutrition Research & Education Foundation.

“More than 30 studies have shown that including nuts in the diet can reduce the risk of heart disease regardless of the individual nut studied,” said Guy Johnson, at the time nutrition consultant to INC and author of the INC health claim petition. In addition to being good sources of unsaturated fats, which have been shown to lower blood cholesterol levels, most nuts contain a variety of other potential cardio-protective components such as vitamin E, selenium, magnesium, copper, potassium, betasitosterol and omega-3 fatty acids.

Five healthy nuts to watch (and include in your formulations) in the new year:

•Almonds: Just a quarter cup of almonds contains nearly 25 percent of the recommended daily value of magnesium, plus significant amounts of potassium, manganese, copper, the antioxidants vitamin E and selenium, and calcium. In fact, a quarter cup of almonds has almost as much calcium as a quarter cup of milk. They also make for a healthy colon. A study found that animals (which were exposed to a colon-cancer-causing agent) given whole almonds had fewer signs of colon cancer than animals given almond oil or no almonds. Researchers suspect the benefit may be due to almonds’ high fiber content. And because 70 percent of the fat they contain is the healthy monounsaturated variety, they are believed to believed to lower cholesterol.

•Walnuts: Full of healthy omega-3 fatty acids, which have been found to protect the heart, walnuts may promote better cognitive function and provide anti-inflammatory benefits for asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, eczema and psoriasis. And their antioxidant compound ellagic acid is known to fight cancer and support the immune system.

•Cashews: Not just bar or party food, cashews are gaining formulation respect because they are lower in fat than most nuts, and 65 percent of this fat is unsaturated fatty acids. Of this, 90 percent is oleic acid, the heart-healthy fat found in olive oil. They’re also good sources of copper, magnesium, zinc, iron and biotin.

•Pecans: Another nut with significant proof that it lowers cholesterol. Clinical research studies evaluating the impact of pecans on serum cholesterol have found pecans can significantly help lower blood cholesterol when consumed as part of a heart-healthy diet, according to the National Pecan Shellers Assn. They also an excellent source of 19 vitamins and minerals including vitamins E and A, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, copper, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, several B vitamins and zinc.

•Macadamia Nuts: While having some of the highest levels of calories (200 per serving) and total fat (22g), they’re also the highest in monounsaturated fat. Macadamias are high in protein, fiber, potassium and magnesium. And since most come from Hawaii, they have cachet.Source: The Next Wave: Wellness Food Trends for 2010

Freakin' Genius Marketing Speaks to the North American Meat Processors Association

March 20th, while many of you were still nicely tucked in your beds, I was en route to give a General Session presentation to an estimated 200 attendees at the North American Meat Processors Conference at The Drake in Chicago.

While NAMP had originally engaged me to give a general presentation on Marketing in Mean Times (a presentation I have given to a number of Associations previously) I found that while doing my research to customize the presentation,their needs were much more far reaching and indeed quite specific to one topic many industries face. So, I put my nose to the grindstone and researched and wrote a presentation about Breaking out of the Commodity Box from a strategic perspective.

The presentation was an overwhelming success and just under 50% of the audience also attended our (with the help of Peter Lineal, FGM Partner) afternoon workshop, where specific tactical insights were bantered about for about an hour in a more informal setting.

NAMP is a fantastic association and supports its dedicated member base with strong strategic programs and right-on-point tactical efforts to grow their constituent's business. I am honored to have been a guest speaker at their conference and am even more excited to have been able to provide insightful information on establishing unique selling propositions in an industry known historically to be hinged on price, price and price.

I am thrilled to welcome several new clients to the list of fine businesses we at Freakin' Genius Marketing work with as a result of our presentation at this conference!

Is your Direct Mail Being Read?

55% open something from a brand or company that they know
51% open it if it's personally addressed to them
50% open it if it's a product or service they already have interest in
39% open it if they can see it contains a free sample or a voucher
27% open it if it's a local business or event
21% open it because it's competition
15% open it if it's fun and interesting packaging
10% open it if it looks funny or silly
6% open it if they like the design or find the envelope attractive
3% open it if they like the color
12% open it for a variety of miscellaneous reasons
Source: CCB for MAP 2008- Research

The best question to ask yourself is, have you tried testing different direct mail strategies and tactics in search of the greatest percentage of opens and responses? If not, you are wasting a lot of money on direct mail that is not working for you. ROI, it's the name of the game!

An example of Why Facebook is good for Business!

Word of Mouth on Steroids
An excerpt from my Facebook Friends (3/9/10)

Sherrie: (Status Post) Cheers to NBK bakery team - birthday cake was a huge hit!
14 hours ago · Comment ·LikeUnlike

Juan likes this.

Lynn: What is NBK? I need a cake for Sally's birthday - would love to try someplace new...
5 hours ago

Sherrie: Hey Lynn, NBK is Whole Foods Market, Northbrook. They made me a cake that was super reasonable and had the guests (big & small) raving! I got Chocolate with chocolate buttercream, iced with ganache on top (smooth dark coating over cake). They drew the cutest football, soccer ball, basketball & base ball on it! It rocked.
2 hours ago

Lynn: Ummm, I'll just say YUM!
17 minutes ago

Write a comment...

So whaddya think? You think that anyone who reads this description will think of NBK Whole Foods for their next cake? I do! And that, my friends, is how social media works to grow your business beyond your wildest dreams!

It's not a Monologue! It's a DIALOGUE! Get in on the conversation!

Laughable Litany of Social Media Terms

"ReBuzzThis Wants To Be The TweetMeme Of Google Buzz
Written by Erick Schonfeld on Mar 5, 2010 for TechCrunch

You know how TweetMeme started out trying to be the Techmeme of Twitter before it ventured off plastering its ReTweet buttons on every blog on the Web? Well now there’s a site that just launched today that wants to be the TweetMeme of Google Buzz called ReBuzzThis."

Ok, I gotta ask this. Am I the only one that thinks the litany of made up social media terms sounds like gibberish? Honestly, if the Back to the Future Delorean really existed, do you think that Doc would have any freakin' idea what we were talking about if he read this? Wanna real laugh? Read it out loud! Ok, so I'll take a step back from my seemingly judgemental position to comment constructively.

Retweeting, Rebuzzing, and Tweetmemeing are just sexy terms for reposting. In other words, taking your place in the social media line of passing along the good word on an article, topic or product that made a memorable impression on you. Good or bad, it inspired you enough to share!

It's your responsibility to be a part of the dialogue that fuels social media, especially if you are on the other end of the spectrum hoping that someone will re-post, tweet, or buzz your post.

It's all in the game of good sportsmanship to share and be shared. These tools are simply FANTASTIC as traffic driving SEO machines, but boy...they sure sound ridiculous! Tweet on my friends! May the Buzz be with you!

Email Success: Quantity or Quality?

Should Marketers pick quantity or quality in measuring Email Return-on-Investment?That is the million dollar question.

For a lead-generation email campaign to be a success, business owners must understand that Return-on-Investment (ROI) is the most important metric.

Marketers must first decide if the campaign will be sent to a large list of opt-in email addresses, or a smaller, more targeted list based on previous purchase or request for specific information.

Dealing with larger quantities of email addresses can create challenges because it is difficult to test the campaign on a large list. Every campaign I ever executed started with testing, as I believe testing is integral to success.

If the campaign must be sent to a large list, the subject line and text copy must appeal to a large audience. This isn't so easy to accomplish and still have a strong call to action without sounding promotional and spammy in nature. (Like that? Spammy? I think I just made that up.)

If a marketer can splice and dice the list into a smaller, more targeted email campaign the overall open and click through results will most definitely improve. Another key strategy is to divide the mailing up geographically to test different subject lines based on geographical segmentation.

All that said, I stand behind quality in marketing over quantity any time. As it pertains to ROI, it's all about the goal and the conversion rates of the email that correlate to that goal.

WHAT THE *%$8 IS SMAD?

Social Media Anxiety Disorder! Oh my, is there really such a condition? What kind of credentials must the diagnosing party have to label it as such? Does the sufferer shake and cough when they are tossed offline or only when they have to execute an integrated social media component into a marketing plan?

How many of you have been bucking the trend towards social media usage whether on a personal or a professional basis?

Social media has fast become the only growth media there is…with over 66% of marketers saying they'll be throwing more of their budget into social media, it appears its time is here!

But, does the learning curve with juggling it and all the prospective optimized cross links you can create through it give you the same shakes you suffered during vows to your FIRST spouse? Does the idea of having the public be the conversation starters AND controllers about your brand or product make you consider medical or psychological intervention? Do the viral videos, survey monkeys, quizzes, rating systems, and blog commentaries induce crippling anxiety?

Sounds to me like a clear cut case of SMAD!

To be clear, SMAD is a bit different from what psychiatrists have defined as Social Anxiety Disorder. According to the DSM IV, the guidebook to all things mental, SAD is "a persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations in which the person is exposed to unfamiliar people or to possible scrutiny by others" (eg; "Life").

SMAD, on the other hand, is caused by stress from the pressures of social media: the constant management, requests, writing, invitations, posting, tweeting, commentary, networking, profile writing, page development, and blogging to name a few. If the constant chatter among customers, potential customers, and angry past customers alone is enough to make you run from your office screaming, you are suffering from SMAD.

Now, there are multiple ways to relieve yourself of the acronym, not the least of which is to dig a hole and stick your head in it. But, a more productive manner of coping might start with a strategic plan and some time management techniques.

Social Media is an amazingly responsive and seriously effective way to drive traffic to your website, increase exposure of your brand in and beyond your “marketplace” and create BUZZ about whatever it is you or your company represents.

There is nothing to be fearful about! I repeat, there is nothing to fear! There is moderation meets a keen strategy with conversion goals (goals for how you want to measure your success – based on sales, traffic, comments, tweets, forwarded links, a combination of all of them, etc.)

Freakin’ Genius Marketing are pros at working with you to develop a strategy that integrates into your existing marketing plan so that you can find relief in the ROI you will realize, and kick the SMAD to the curb. Yeah, that’s us…We’re the antidote to SMAD. You’ll find our pricing isn’t a hard pill to swallow either!