MIRRORMIRROR

Would you buy from you

Fulfilling the dream

so who are you really

rework

INSIDE

Published by

Engaging Marketing Minds Vol 2 Issue 5 Fall 2012

p 10

p 14

p 15

lsquo

bull Sharpen your understanding of the different generations cohorts

bull Rethink calls-to-action against what really motivates your audience

bull Receive a personalized Generational Marketing Guide

bull Understand accessible and affordable technology options that allow

you to segment and personalize your messages for maximum impact

bull Learn how a panel of local marketing professionals successfully target

multiple generations

bull Experience a live simulated production cycle of a highly successful

integrated marketing campaign

Talkinrsquo About My Generation Discover the best messaging media and offers to engage your multigenerational audiences

Todayrsquos marketers face a generational landscape never more varied or pronounced Therersquos no ldquoone size fi ts allrdquo strategy Attend Finelinersquos premier 2012 event to under-stand the generational drivers and learn how local mar-keting mavens are successfully tackling their challenges

Through interactive exercises panel discussions and a live simulation of an integrated marketing project yoursquoll be inspired and prepared to elevate your marketing to the next level You will

To register

LearnFinelinePGcom317-872-4490 (228)infoFinelinePrintingGroupcom

Dr Carol Hagans Wroblewski

Dr Wroblewski is a licensed psychologist who has over 25 years of experience as a university adminis-trator educator speaker consultant and therapist She is nationally renowned for her expertise and highly engaging presentations on a number of issues principally the multi-gener-ational workplace Over the past 13 years she has worked increasingly on a consulting basis with employers and organizations in the private sector national sororities and higher education community to inform how the different generations impact the workplace and how we can better communicate in the corporate and business environment

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

when October 24 2012

900am-1130am

where Fineline Printing Group

fee $4995

lsquo

3

Fineline Printing Group ndash connect bull Fall 2012

Richardrsquos Letter

PublisherFineline Printing Group

Managing EditorJill Wangler

Art DirectionLeah Hahn

connect is published bimonthly by Fineline Printing Group copyright 2012 All rights reserved

For more information contact8773347687FinelinePrintingGroupcom

But as new tricks pop up and become popu-lar time quickly eliminates those types of advan-tages Great marketers have great empathy for the markets they serve They are not married to tools they are married to the segment

Despite the devotion to a market the best of the best also have great humility In other words they donrsquot take themselves too seriously and can make an honest assessment of how theyrsquore doing

Every once in awhile itrsquos fun to step outside of our businesses to get a little perspective We get so absorbed in our everyday actions that we seldomly take time to determine if wersquore on the right path As Steven Covey author of The 7 Hab-its of Highly Effective People said ldquoManagersfocus on making progress while leaders climb the tree and determine if we are heading in the right direction

Finelinersquos advantage is based on understand-ing your world and the things that you hold dear We must become a part of your community and be completely sincere in our approach And we must be able to look in the mirror and see our-selves through your eyes

Our cover article ldquoMirror Mirrorrdquo shares some fantastic ideas about analyzing the customer experience and using that insight to better serve

Reflect

CONTENTS

Great marketers are ldquoextraordinarilyrdquo focused on their clients They have an innate abili-ty to defer to their customers while keeping their default thinking pattern market-based It is also said that great marketing is rooted in the mastery of marketing tools and the magic

of finely tuned metrics your clients Our second feature ldquoFulfilling the Dreamrdquo discusses how selecting partners in this climate has changed and how critical it is to align yourself with like-minded organizations

Finelinersquos connect magazine is written to in-form marketers and make them more effective in their professional careers To improve our quest to be highly relevant and anticipated please tell us what you think of this publication Simply go to bitlyPGjAZX to take this two-minute survey

You can also unsubscribe andor subscribe others to connect Responding also enters your company into a drawing to win a $250 credit on your next order with Fineline

Respectfully

Finelinersquos advantage is based on understanding your world and the things that you hold dear

03 Richardrsquos LetterReflect

04 Marketing Insights

06 Mirror MirrorWould you buy from you

10 Fulfi lling the DreamKeys to win-win outsourcing

14 So who are you reallyThis eight-question quiz will show you what a big deal you are

15 Book RecommendationRework

Richard Miller

Richard MillerPresident amp Owner

4

Fall 2012 bull connect ndash Fineline Printing Group

marketing insights

the average number of minutes users spent accessing Facebook via a smartphone in the united states in march compared with 391 minutes who accessed it via computer according to comscorersquos recent mobile metrix 20 report The next-most popular services according to the report were check-in services Foursquare with 146 minutes microblogging service twitter with 114 minutes and blogging-service Tumblr with 68 minutes

in case you were wondering email still is the main weapon in the arsenal of todayrsquos marketers According to an online study by Chief Marketer almost four in five marketing professionals (78 percent) use email outreach in their digital marketing campaigns a far greater rate of adoption

than other online-marketing tactics Email newsletters were the No 2 tactic (59 percent) followed closely by a social network presence (58 percent)

The survey also asked marketers whether they used ldquonicherdquo or ldquosecondaryrdquo interactive marketing

tools Almost three in 10 said they incorporated webinars (the most popular secondary feature used) The fastest-adopted niche tool was the social app used by 20 percent Interestingly branded games also showed some promise with 13 percent reporting they used the strategy

Thatrsquos what he said hellipldquo Yoursquore not getting all the TV time so you have to create your own story Social media gives me a chance to do thatrdquo

ndash Little known US swimmer Ricky Berens on how boosting his social presence on sites such as Twitter and Facebook helped him secure sponsorship deals with BMW Got Chocolate Milk and TYR

Social media goes around the worldAre we the center of the social media universe Be careful how you answer that

question According to a recent report by eMarketer the rising state of social network usage is shifting away from mature markets such as North America and

Western Europe and into markets like Latin America the Middle East Africa Eastern Europe and Asia-Pacific The report ndash ldquoSocial Media in the Marketing Mix Managing Global Expansionrdquo ndash projected that North Americarsquos growth rate which was 95 percent in 2011 will fall to 4 percent by 2014 By contrast the Middle East and Africa together experienced a 339 percent increase in social network users in 2011 while Asia-Pacif-icrsquos user population grew by 275 percent Both regions will see double-digit percentage increases through 2014 In emerging social networking countries such as India and Indonesia the report stated brands can use what theyrsquove learned in their home regions to create smarter and more effective social media marketing programs tailored to local usage patterns (think accessing social networks via smartphones or feature phones)

Marketers ndash start your emailshellip

From the ongoing analysis of the similarities and differences between B2B and B2C practices comes the latest from customer experience management software company Satmetrix According to the ldquoWorldwide Social Media Studyrdquo B2C companies track and follow up social leads 53 percent of the time whereas B2B companies do it only 27 percent of the time For B2C companies an additional 25 percent only tracked while 4 percent only followed up Nearly 47 percent of B2B companies neither tracked nor followed up Of those companies that have a system in place for tracking and following up Satmetrix found that the most popular process companies have a dedicated team that monitored and responded to customer feedback (48 percent in North America)

Tracking social media leads ndash B2C 1 B2B 0

The fastest-adopted niche tool was the social app used by 20 percent

followed closely by a social network presence (58 percent) From the ongoing analysis of the similarities

experience management software company Satmetrix According to the ldquoWorldwide Social

time whereas B2B companies do it only 27 percent of the time For B2C companies an additional 25 percent only tracked while 4 percent only followed up Nearly 47 percent

a system in place for tracking and following

5

Fineline Printing Group ndash connect bull Fall 2012

marketing insights

With a little help from their friendsCustomer intelligence solutions provider Market Force had an idea Ask 12000 consumers in the United States and the United Kingdom how they engage industries such as retail restaurant travel entertainment and financial businesses via social media sites Interestingly 81 percent of US respondents said that posts from their friends ndash and not posts from a brand itself ndash directly influenced their purchasing decision The finding supports an early study by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council and Lithium which showed that 80 percent of respondents ldquotried new things based on friendsrsquo suggestionsrdquo

Thatrsquos what he said

the percent of marketers who plan to increase the number of automated campaigns they will run this year according to ldquoautomation redefining marketingrsquos game Planrdquo a recent survey by marketing automation company silverpop and Forrester research the study also showed that 83 percent believe marketing automation will increase process efficiency the study was based on an online survey of 155 marketing executives conducted in January and February

ldquo Facebook has so much power online that they have the ability to buy something at a low price and then make it go high by directing traffic accordingly Sociologically this is called the Matthew effect where the rich get richer and the poor get poorerrdquo

ndash Jonathan Zittrain a professor at Harvard Law School and a co-founder of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society on how the social media site has the opportunity to create its own future

Stats Figures Resources When you see a white paper you want your readers to think cred-ibility One of the keys to writing a great white paper is to include lots of quality content So before getting started the Content Marketing Institute offers advice on how you can gather

information yoursquoll need to suit your purposes For the complete article written by blogger and director of immittcopy Mitt Ray visit wwwcontentmarketinginstitutecom2012064-tips-for-fantastic-white-paper-content

ways you can create relevant white paper content

no 1 ask the exPertsMany people jump straight into researching con-tent themselves and then conduct interviews Speak to the experts first Ask the marketing experts product developers and subject matter experts what resources you should review Find out about their competitors Ask them what marketing materials theyrsquore using Ask about the subjectrsquos most popular and trusted news resources etc This will make it easy to identify opportunities provide ideas and meet unmet needs in your white paper content After you read everything interview your experts again This will help clarify any questions and give you information that can help you dig deeper into the subject

No 2 head to a white PaPer distribution service

Popular white paper distribution services like CNET and Trade Pub can help you widen your field of research and learn more about the market topics audience and competition Pour through all the citations in the white pa-pers you read and list resources that might be a good fit

no 3 Find the best oF whatrsquos available on these services

Many of these services have loads of white papers With some white paper distribution services you can view papers by popularity Therersquos a strong chance these papers achieved their popularity

because they were well written and contained the most useful information available Because some white paper service users rate their white papers on usefulness you can find strong examples of what potential readers want in a quality white paper Check the name of the company andor author who created the highly rated papers and look for reputation credibility etc

no 4 get additional helP From the search engines

Search the subject and related keywords on your favorite search engine This will help you find the basics about the topic and help you prepare for your interviews After the initial in-terviews conduct a more thorough search on white papers and more advanced content

You also can research the most popular search terms on Adwords and then search those terms on the search engine This will help you see what your audience is searching and who your competitors are

no 5 comPetitorsrsquo content Searches can help you find out more about your competitors After you perform a search check which companies are dominating the search results what services they provide what white papers or other marketing materials they make available etc Using this information you can write a white paper thatrsquos similar to theirs or you can create something different and more innovative on a similar topic

6

Fall 2012 bull connect ndash Fineline Printing Group

MIRRORMIRROR

Would you buy from you

By Michael J Pallerino

7

Fineline Printing Group ndash connect bull Fall 2012

was The mission was something he cared deeply about The critical point is having your people believe in what your brand stands for And itrsquos that belief that makes your message credible and authentic and believable When your people believe they translate that belief to othersrdquo

Dick admits the premise while simple often can derail a brandrsquos efforts So what if a member of your team doesnrsquot believe in the message ldquoThey should update their resumesrdquo he says ldquoIf yoursquore working for a company a brand or in a job that you donrsquot care deeply about then yoursquore just doing a J-O-B I think there are a lot of executives and marketers out there who are pretending

ldquoThey are working in categories and indus-tries where marketing is a functionrdquo he contin-ues ldquoItrsquos a task Their job is to get people to buy something ndash and then buy more of it When you see that out there in the marketplace itrsquos blin-dingly obvious Their message lacks the authen-ticity and creditability needed to be successful It feels like yoursquore being sold somethingrdquo

Roger L Beahm says that while no company believes its employees donrsquot buy into what they are selling it happens ldquoWe marketers sometimes end up working for a company or in an organization or on a prod-uct that we realize we donrsquot believe in or whose values donrsquot align with our ownrdquo says Beahm a professor of the practice in mar-keting and executive director of the Center for Retail Innovation at Wake Forest Univer-sity ldquoItrsquos unfortunate too when it happensrdquo

ldquoLearn from yesterday live for today hope for tomorrow The important thing is not to stop questioningrdquo

ndash Albert Einstein

ldquoWould you buy from yourdquo When you think

about it the question is simple yet ex-

tremely powerful in scope If it came right

down to it would you buy an idea a product or service

your company is selling

Sounds like one of those ldquoduhrdquo questions right Chad Dick doesnrsquot think so His company Eat Big Fish of which he is a partner works with brands around the world on separating the con-tenders from the pretenders if you will when it comes to marketing success Ask him what the secret is for the brands that get it right and hersquoll tell you there isnrsquot any secret at all

People build brands brands donrsquot build themselves To prove his point he likes to share a story about the importance of having your people buy

into what yoursquore doing The story goes like this After making an unannounced visit to the space center in Cape Canaveral in the 1960s President John F Kennedy happened upon a man

outfitted in overallsldquoWhat do you do hererdquo the President asked ldquoI earn a livingrdquo the man replied Kennedy nodded and moved on when he came upon another man dressed in over-

alls He asked the same question ldquoWhat do you do hererdquoldquoI clean away all the rubbishrdquo the man responded The President smiled and continued on Shortly thereafter he came upon a

third man decked out in overalls He repeated the question ldquoSo what do you do hererdquo ldquoIrsquom helping put a man on the moon Mr Presidentrdquo the man replied Chad Dick says the story serves as a textbook case on why it is impor-

tant for every person on your team regardless of where they stand on the corporate ladder to believe in your message ldquoThis man believed that

his purpose was greater than just being a janitorrdquo Dick says ldquoBeing a janitor wasnrsquot how he defined his job Putting a man on the moon

ldquoLearn from yesterday live for today hope for tomorrow The important thing is not to stop questioningrdquo

ldquoWould you buy from yourdquo When you think

about it the question is simple yet ex-

tremely powerful in scope If it came right

down to it would you buy an idea a product or service

your company is selling

Sounds like one of those ldquoduhrdquo questions right Chad Dick doesnrsquot think so His company Eat Big Fish of which he is a partner works with brands around the world on separating the con-tenders from the pretenders if you will when it comes to marketing success Ask him what the secret is for the brands that get it right and hersquoll tell you there isnrsquot any secret at all

People build brands brands donrsquot build themselves To prove his point he likes to share a story about the importance of having your people buy

into what yoursquore doing The story goes like this After making an unannounced visit to the space center in Cape Canaveral in the 1960s President John F Kennedy happened upon a man

outfitted in overallsldquoWhat do you do hererdquo the President asked ldquoI earn a livingrdquo the man replied Kennedy nodded and moved on when he came upon another man dressed in over-

alls He asked the same question ldquoWhat do you do hererdquoldquoI clean away all the rubbishrdquo the man responded The President smiled and continued on Shortly thereafter he came upon a

third man decked out in overalls He repeated the question ldquoSo what do you do hererdquo ldquoIrsquom helping put a man on the moon Mr Presidentrdquo the man replied Chad Dick says the story serves as a textbook case on why it is impor-

tant for every person on your team regardless of where they stand on the corporate ladder to believe in your message ldquoThis man believed that

his purpose was greater than just being a janitorrdquo Dick says ldquoBeing a janitor wasnrsquot how he defined his job Putting a man on the moon

8

Fall 2012 bull connect ndash Fineline Printing Group

Mirror Mirror

Beahm says marketers can end up conflicted and be forced into making tough choices ldquoDo I simply do my job and gut it out until I get transferred to another brand or do I ask for a different assignment or look for a new company to work for Experience shows there are a few people who intentionally try to position an inferior product or service as superior but social media has helped short-en the length of time it now takes consumers to become enlightenedrdquo

Marketing on the edge ndash and then someEat Big Fish is a consulting firm that focuses on challenger behavior and thinking ie brands that arenrsquot afraid to challenge the mar-ket leaders These brands tend to use unconventional approaches to bridge the gap between marketing resources and ambitions They also employ people who passionately believe in the message and authenticity of the brand

Take Kulula Airlines an Eat Big Fish client If its competitors fol-low a conventional approach to marketing the South African airline does the opposite ndash and isnrsquot bashful about letting everybody know it What else would you expect from an airline whose flight attendants make in flight announcements such as ldquoYour seat cushions can be used for flotation and in the event of an emergency water landing please paddle to shore and take them with our complimentsrdquo Or when customers call the airlines they may receive the following message as they are put on hold ldquoMe Tarzan you on holdrdquo

Kulularsquos rise to this unique ndash and some say bril-

liant ndash approach to marketing came to light during its highly publicized battle with

the international governing body of soccer Fifa dur-ing the 2010 World Cup in Johannesburg South Africa Ku-

lula was forced to pull a tongue-in-cheek advertising campaign on travel to South Africa after Fifa complained it infringed on its

trademark during the Cup It all started with an ad on kululacom that described the air-

line as the ldquoUnofficial National Carrier of the You-Know-Whatrdquo The ad showed pictures of stadiums vuvuzelas (those plastic horns that make those unusual sounds that drive viewers crazy) and national flags The term ldquoYou-Know-Whatrdquo was just one of the ways Kulula danced around not being an official sponsor of one of the worldrsquos biggest events

While Fifa never told Kulula they couldnrsquot use pieces that ap-peared in the ad such as soccer balls the word South Africa the Cape Town stadium the national flag or vuvuzelas using a combi-nation of each Fifa said was a form of ldquoambush marketingrdquo Fifa claimed the advertisement breached South African law ldquoby seeking to gain a promotional benefit for the Kulula brand by creating an un-authorized association with the 2010 Fifa World Cuprdquo

After pulling the advertisement Kulula decided that enough was enough and created a new ad that read ldquoNot Next Year Not Last Year But Somewhere in Betweenrdquo referring to 2010 in a way that seemed to mock FIFArsquos approach to any marketing that associated a company with the World Cup or South Africa The ad was illustrated

step 1 listen Let customers tell you about their experience Donrsquot assume anything Probe What do they like about the experience What donrsquot they like about it How would they change it if it was in their power to do so Note Listening is not observing (see Step No 2) Make ldquolisteningrdquo the priority even before you ldquolookrdquo

step 2 observe Watch the customer experience Confirm what you heard them say in Step No 1 Most people look first or look and listen at the same time Unfortunately as people who live in a visual world wersquore too suscep-tible to what Rosser Reeves called ldquovampire videordquo (ie the things we are looking at suck strength away from what we can hear for confir-mation of this just ask people who are visually impaired) Only AFTER yoursquove put your ears to work should you engage your eyes

ways to enhance the customer experience

ldquoThe critical point is having your people believe in what your brand stands for When your people believe they translate that belief to others rdquo

ndash Chad Dick Partner Eat Big Fish

believing in what you sell and being able to properly position your brand means putting yourself in your customersrsquo shoes Itrsquos a strategy that works if you are

willing to give it a realistic chance Roger L Beahm profes-sor of the practice in marketing and executive director of the Center for Retail Innovation at Wake Forest University offers six steps every marketer can take to make the process work

9

Fineline Printing Group ndash connect bull Fall 2012

with golf tees which looked eerily reminiscent to a certain plastic trumpet but was labeled ldquoDefinitely definitely a golf teerdquo The page was bordered by two hanging pieces of cloth that were labeled ldquoCol-orful beach towel Flagrdquo Toward the bottom of the page was a pair of what appeared to be soccer cleats but no studs Next to it the ad said ldquoNo theyrsquore running shoesrdquo

And dominating the middle of the page was a structure that at first glance looked like a football stadium But because Kulula was told it couldnrsquot use the Cape Town Stadium the structure was labeled the ldquoStorms River suspension bridgerdquo

ldquoItrsquos about taking a risk and believing in that riskrdquo Dick says

Heidi Brauer marketing director of Kulula Airlines says the key to being different is doing it not saying it ldquoYou have to be brave you all have to be brave You canrsquot be brave solo The marketing department alone canrsquot be brave You have to have a strong team of people And they have to be authentic You canrsquot pretend If you do people will see through you in a heartbeat You have to have amazing people [They] have to be willing to go the extra mile and know how to challenge themselvesrdquo

Mirror mirror on the wall hellipIf yoursquore willing to ask yourself the question ldquoWould you buy from yourdquo yoursquore willing to look into the mirror Yoursquore willing see if you ndash and your people ndash are aligned with the message your brand wants to convey Experts call it living your customersrsquo experience ndash seeing what they see and how they feel

If you want to find a company that does this as well as anyone else take a look at Procter amp Gamble the little candle and soap company started in Cincinnati in 1837 and grew into one of the worldrsquos largest consumer pack-age companies From Ivory bar soap to the Swiffer and the Gain business the PampG product portfolio is littered with products their customers needed

ldquoThey are good at listening observing and innovating based on their customersrsquo experiencesrdquo Wake Forest Universityrsquos Beahm says ldquoThere arenrsquot many others that I would say do as good a job at thisrdquo

The best way to understand the customer experience is to be the customer ldquoGo through the same process your target audience wouldrdquo

Beahm says ldquoWersquore all customers for some products and services Role playing works even when yoursquore not the prime prospect While itrsquos not always going to be possible itrsquos often easier than we think We may just need to do it in the privacy of our own homesrdquo

Beahm says that gathering customer feedback is a combination of quan-titative (would you mind filling out this questionnaire for me please) and qualitative (please tell me about your experience) analysis Questionnaires can help benchmark changes in attitude or behavior while qualitative research

allows you to probe areas and maximize learning Because both approaches have inherent negatives you can use both to overcome the negatives

So how do most marketers fare at this process Beahm says it de-pends on size and culture ldquoOf course larger marketers tend to do a better job (but itrsquos dangerous to generalize) Most marketers would rather invest their money in areas that work against generating sales (working dollars) rather than gathering feedback (non-working dollars) But gathering cus-tomer feedback is like buying insurance You may not need it but some-times yoursquore awfully glad you bought it I recommend to my students and my consulting clients that they get as much feedback as they can affordrdquo

Once marketers get feedback they must act on it ldquoWhy gather infor-mation if yoursquore not going to use itrdquo Beahm says ldquoIt wastes customersrsquo time and it wastes your time Feedback is not only a precious commodity but itrsquos a valuable tool It doesnrsquot do anyone any good if you leave the tool you need in the tool bag Let customer feedback drive innovation Innovation can change the futurerdquo

step 3 innovate Look for ways of to enhance the customer experience and not just by overcoming negatives Explore ways of building on positives too It is not just about solving problems Itrsquos about making things better for the customer And because the marketplace is changing that may be on shelf or online

step 4 Prioritize While you inevitably will identify multiple opportunities you need to focus on the ones that will net you the biggest improvements (and resultant sales) In a word ldquofocusrdquo Strategic improvements are better than tactical ones (remember eliminating ANY negative is stra-tegic) Substantive ones add more customer value than cosmetic ones

step 5 test amp expand Once yoursquove decided to introduce an innovation donrsquot assume it will fix a problem right away Irsquom always mind-ful of Newtonrsquos Third Law of Motion ldquoFor every action there is an equal and opposite reactionrdquo Somewhere someonersquos not going to like change If some consumers like it others wonrsquot If consumers like it retailers wonrsquot If retailers like it sales managers wonrsquot Beta-test whenever and wherever you can Phase 1 rollouts should be considered test markets ldquoGut metersrdquo are great but therersquos no substitute for quantitative research

step 6 repeat steps no 1 through no 4

Once yoursquove rolled out the innovation or improvement listen to the customer share his experience again Did you accomplish your objective What new negatives might have emerged

ldquo You have to be brave you all have to be brave You canrsquot be brave solo The marketing department alone canrsquot be brave You have to have a strong team of peoplerdquo

ndash Heidi Brauer Marketing Director Kulula Airlines

Fall 2012 bull connect ndash Fineline Printing Group

10

Keys to win-win outsourcingBy Lorrie Bryan

Fulfi lling the Dream

Fineline Printing Group ndash connect bull Fall 2012

11

T hese words by legendary professor and management

consultant Peter Drucker in the latendash1980s launched a new

business model and started a stampede into the unchartered

frontier of outsourcing Three decades later more than half (63

percent) of all businesses in the United States outsource one or

more processes to a third party Nearly $6 trillion in services are

outsourced annually in the United States but much of that is little

more than a scramble to ldquoshift the mess for lessrdquo

The rush to find someone who can do it faster better and cheaper can result in lower costs and higher productivity But if you outsource your marketing services in 2012 the same way com-panies purchased commodities like paper goods 50 years ago you may get ldquofaster and cheaperrdquo but not necessarily ldquobetterrdquo

Microsoftrsquos outsourcing innovationLarge companies often navigate the new frontier less efficiently than more nimble small compa-nies They plod along shifting a cumbersome mess from one shoulder to another until theyrsquore buried by a system that was supposed to make things better

But look at Microsoft Corp ndash one of the giants In 2006 Microsoft decided that its major global finance processes and operations needed a major revamp Why Its global system had be-come a patchwork of inefficient and disjointed processes For example Microsoft determined that it was using 77000 active procurement vendors and its finance operations devoted 370000 hours annually to simply producing reports It also discovered that its procurement and finance operations didnrsquot have any processes that were considered ldquobest practicerdquo

Senior management at Microsoft a company distinguished by its innovative culture deter-mined that outsourcing would help improve quality and cost structures But Microsoft wanted to find a better model and go beyond the conventional notion of outsourcing ldquoMicrosoftrsquos vision was to shift the focus from transactional accounting to a more strategic approach that would leverage business insight It also wanted to achieve consistency and standardization worldwiderdquo says Kate Vitasek an esteemed faculty member at University of Tennesseersquos Center for Executive Education Vitasek led an extensive study of outsourcing practices

Vitasek says that Microsoftrsquos light-bulb moment was to shift the emphasis to business insight rather than lowest-price bean counting ldquoThe company determined it needed an unconventional approach that was not simply about outsourcing work but about outsourcing a transformation of the work by achieving desired outcomes and by changing its definition of winning to create a mutually beneficial win-win mentality It also needed a partner it would share that vision with over the long term one with a vested interest in achieving that win-win mindsetrdquo

In the end Microsoft essentially recreated its outsourcing culture and devised a game-chang-ing strategy that garnered numerous industry awards and saved millions of dollars and hours of duplicity and aggravation And its outsourcing partner Accenture has a future revenue stream as part of a long-term contract that most service providers would envy

Vested outsourcingIn studying the Microsoft-Accenture deal and other successful outsourcing partnerships the UT research team learned that successful deals were governed by an unwritten set of rules that is fundamentally different from conventional outsourcing approaches

ldquoMost of todayrsquos outsourcing contracts are still very much transaction based that is pay-ment is exchanged for a unit of activity or a head countrdquo Vitasek says ldquoIf the service provider

ldquo Do what you do best and outsource the resthelliprdquo

12

Fall 2012 bull connect ndash Fineline Printing Group

Fulfilling the Dream

makes significant improvements in productivity it is simply bad business because that progress drives reductions in its own revenue and profit Microsoft challenged traditional transaction-based thinking and was able to achieve amazing success by craft-ing a long-term vested relationship where Accenture was highly incentivized to make investments to drive innovations for themrdquo

The result Both achieved improved economic benefits ndash a true win-win

The UT researchers call this innovative approach ldquovested out-sourcingrdquo ndash the company thatrsquos outsourcing and the service provider are vested in one anotherrsquos success Together both parties develop a shared vision and mutually defined ldquodesired outcomesrdquo Desired out-comes can come in many forms reduced costs improved services or increased market share Often service providers make significant in-vestments in processes technologies and capabilities that will achieve the desired outcomes thus creating value for the client

In exchange the outsourcing company commits to allow the out-source provider to earn additional profit ndash above and beyond industry average profits for the service area ndash for achieving this incremental value delivered by achieving the desired outcomes Additionally the company thatrsquos outsourcing commits to providing a certain level of business ndash of-ten in the form of a long-term contract or minimum volume guarantees ndash for the outsource provider

5 rules of vested outsourcingThe UT team funded by one of the countryrsquos largest outsourcers the US Air Force observed that the most successful companies move beyond ldquowhatrsquos in it for me thinkingrdquo (WIIFM) to a ldquowhatrsquos in it for werdquo (WIIFW) phi-losophy The shared goal is to create value together by unlocking a greater opportunity than currently is realized by either party rather than maximizing the size for any

one player (eg lower costs at the expense of the outsource providerrsquos profits) Vitasek notes that the rules of vested outsourcing are easily applicable

to the outsourcing of marketing services and that many business mod-els are evolving in this direction Joel Kessel of Kessel Communications a strategic communications and PR firm says he considers most of his outsourcing relationships to be more like collaborative partnerships than traditional buyer-supplier associations

ldquoMy business model is somewhat uniquerdquo Kessel says ldquoCompanies outsource to me then I supplement expertise as needed to other PR and communications strategists and professionals that I have relationships with to build my team for each individual project But everyone involved is aligned and focused on the big picture rather than on individual tactical componentsrdquo

From their mountain of research the UT team distilled the follow-ing five rules of vested outsourcing essentially a roadmap for innovators like Kessel who want to better navigate this expanding frontier The Wall Street Journalrsquos MarketWatch named vested outsourcing as one of six ways small businesses can save money

1 Focus on outcome not transactions

Agreements are based on achiev-ing results ndash not on the service pro-vider performing tasks and getting paid for transactions ldquoYou must first determine what your desired outcome is and then that deter-mines what specific transactions or activities are necessaryrdquo Kessel says ldquoOtherwise you are spinning your wheelsrdquo

ldquoWe are much more focused on transformation than transac-tionsrdquo adds Thad DeVassie of Ratchet Strategy + Communica-tions a communication consul-tant and one of Kesselrsquos frequent strategic partners ldquoOften a cli-ent will come to us for a specific implementation but once we pin-point and discuss the outcome that they are hoping to achieve often they realize that to achieve that outcome may require a whole different implementation strategyrdquo

2 Focus on what not howldquoWhy would you outsource to ex-perts and then tell them how to do the jobrdquo Vitasek asks ldquoMake sure you focus on the what and donrsquot dictate how the service provider should do the workrdquo

DeVassie says it helps if the cli-ent approaches the challenge with an open mind ldquoThey are much more open to change if they come to us with a problem and havenrsquot already predetermined the full so-lution When clients are open to weighing our expertise and how we can help them achieve success they begin to see us as partners in the work and not just vendorsrdquo

3 clearly define measureable and desirable outcomes

Determine what you are trying to achieve Focus on your overall goals and objectives rather than individual activities ldquoWhen a cli-ent comes to me I ask a lot of

questions ndash what are you trying to accomplish why are you try-ing to go this route ndash and really try and figure out what issues and challenges they are facingrdquo Kes-sel says ldquoThen I bring in the right partners to make up a focused team to accomplish the goals that we identifyrdquo

4 optimize pricing model incentives for the best costservice tradeoffs

Vitasek says the pricing model is one of the hardest things to get right ldquoUse the incentives to transform the work ndash sometimes with cost-plus or sometimes fixed-price but always with an incentive built in Vested outsourcing does not guarantee higher profits for service providers ndashtheyrsquore taking a calculated risk But it does provide them with the au-tonomy and authority to make stra-tegic investments in their processes that can generate a greater ROI for

them over time perhaps more than a conventional cost-plus or fixed-price contract might produce over the same periodrdquo

5 governance structure should provide insight not merely oversight

Some companies outsource with poorly defined requirements and few or no performance metrics or service level agreements Oth-ers go to the other extreme with small armies micromanaging the outsource providers

The structure that gov-erns an outsource agreement should provide both parties with real knowledge of how opera-tions are developing and improv-ing and of potential challenges As Vitasek says ldquoContracts may be static but out-sourcing is dynamicrdquo

did Y ou know

The Wall Street Journalrsquos MarketWatch named Vested Out-sourcing as one of six ways small

businesses can save money

should provide both parties with real knowledge of how opera-tions are developing and improv-ing and of potential challenges As Vitasek says ldquoContracts may be static but out-sourcing is dynamicrdquo

13

Is vested outsourcing for everyone Vitasek says no ldquoIf you are outsourc-ing something that is truly a commodity then there is limited potential for a vested deal There really needs to be an opportunity to create value And there needs to be compatibility and trustrdquo

Vitasek and her colleagues at UT developed a ldquoCompatibility and Trust Assessmentrdquo that examines five dimensions to evaluate the po-tential for a vested outsourcing fit

1 innovation Is the service provider just going to show up and do things the way theyrsquove al-ways been done or will there be a creative and outcomendashoriented result Kessel says he nurtures in-novation by bringing in team members that have different perspectives and areas of ex-pertise ldquoThrough the course of our discussions we come up with some pretty cre-ative and innovative ways to solve problemsrdquo

2 TeAM oRieNTATioN Can the service provider work on behalf of the team and as a member of a team ldquoYou really have to have the clientrsquos goals first and fore-most and you are going to

get there with a team ap-proachrdquo Kessel says ldquoYou are part of that bigger picturerdquo

Angela Walton-Nelson assistant VP and print pro-duction manager at Sun-Trust Banks says that cost quality and product offering are not the single-most im-portant factors when select-ing vendor partners

ldquoWe look for suppliers that will be true extensions of our team This part-nership role allows them to share our vision drive our message and help us achieve our company goals When a supplier is treated as a partner it allows them to provide better customer service bring ideas and provide solutions versus just selling a productrdquo

3 communication Good communication is critical Kessel says one of the most important things people must understand about outsourcing is that you must have clear com-munication about goals ldquoYou need to clearly com-municate what your goals are and why they are im-portant to both your internal team and your outsource team That is going to miti-gate a lot of challengesrdquo

4 trust Is there a foundation of mutual trust and transpar-ency Kessel advises you must have trust but that it takes time ldquoTherersquos a lot of trust that has to be earned and gained to have this

level of strategic partner-ship Because there is trust among my team members we are able to have great debates and discussions and ask the tough ques-tionshellipand thatrsquos where we get to the true innovationrdquo

Says Vitasek ldquoTrust does take time to develop but if the other four di-mensions are securely in place then the trust will come in timerdquo

5 Focus Is the service providerrsquos focus on short-term gains or long-term goals It is important for all parties to be in sync Vi-tasek says ldquoThe more long-term your thinking is the more opportunity there is for a vested relationshiprdquo

Vitasekrsquos advice for marketing executives look-ing to outsource to mar-keting services providers is to first make sure that it is a good fit She suggests spending more time on your RFP (request for pro-posal) process and start to build the relationship then

ldquoInvest in the time to get to know your partner on the front end You will have greater success if you are compatible and philosophi-cally aligned Hire someone who is a good fit If they are not a good fit it doesnrsquot matter how capable they are If you donrsquot work well together there is less op-portunity to create value and innovationrdquo

Finding a good outsourcing partner

ldquoWhy would you outsource to experts and then tell them how to do the job Make sure you focus on the what and donrsquot dictate

how the service provider should do the workrdquo ndash Kate Vitasek Esteemed Faculty Member University of Tennesseersquos Center for Executive Education

SELL THE MAILROOMldquoIf clerical maintenance and support work are done by an outside independent contractor it can offer opportunities respect and visibility As employees of a college managers of student

dining will never be anything but subordinates In an independent catering company they can rise to be VP in charge of feeding the students in a dozen schools they might

even become CEOs of their firms Of course there is a price for unbundling If large numbers of people cease to be employees of the organization for

which they actually work there are bound to be substantial social re-percussionsrdquo ndashPeter Drucker from ldquoSell the Mailroomrdquo his game-

changing The Wall Street Journal article on outsourcing

Fineline Printing Group ndash connect bull Fall 2012

ldquoWhy would you outsource to experts and then tell them how to do the job Make sure you focus on the what and donrsquot dictate

ndash Kate Vitasek Esteemed Faculty Member University of Tennesseersquos Center for Executive Education

ldquoIf clerical maintenance and support work are done by an outside independent contractor it ldquoIf clerical maintenance and support work are done by an outside independent contractor it can offer opportunities respect and visibility As employees of a college managers of student can offer opportunities respect and visibility As employees of a college managers of student

dining will never be anything but subordinates In an independent catering company they dining will never be anything but subordinates In an independent catering company they can rise to be VP in charge of feeding the students in a dozen schools they might can rise to be VP in charge of feeding the students in a dozen schools they might

even become CEOs of their firms Of course there is a price for unbundling even become CEOs of their firms Of course there is a price for unbundling If large numbers of people cease to be employees of the organization for

14

Fall 2012 bull connect ndash Fineline Printing Group

14columnist

Cesar Millan ndash The Dog Whisperer Duane Chapman ndash Dog the Bounty Hunter Bill Nye ndash The Science Guy

While dog training bounty hunting and science might be worthy industries few would have ever thought theyrsquod be breeding grounds for some of todayrsquos unlikeliest celebrities But such is the case when we live in a world where the media is plugged in and turned on 247 365 days a year

Being an industry expert is easier than ever these days but perhaps you feel a little ldquoindustry envyrdquo when it comes to your field Believe me no field is too big or too small to brand yourself as the go-to expert

Do you think New Hudson Mich is too isolated to be a hot spot for experts and celebrities Think gardening is too insignificant a subject to own as the go-to expert Jerry Baker would disagree Known as ldquoThe Flower Expertrdquo Baker has carved an enviable niche for himself that stretches far beyond the Finger Lakes His radio show ldquoOn the Garden Linerdquo is syndi-cated nationwide and his gardening specials have been televised on ldquoPBSrdquo

So how did Baker Millan Chapman and Nye do itSimple They answered the following eight questions to determine

whether their expertise could support the kind of career celebrities are made of

So who are you reallyThis eight-question quiz will show you what a big deal you are By Marsha Friedman

Believe me no field is too big or too small to brand yourself

as the go-to

expert

Marsha Friedman a 22-year veteran of the public relations industry is CEO of EMSI Public Relations (wwwemsincorporatedcom) a national firm that provides PR strategy and publicity

services to corporations entertainers authors and professional firms She also is co-host of ldquoThe News and Experts Radio Show with Alex and Marshardquo which airs on SiriusXM Channel 131 on Saturdays at 5 pm (EST)

Question no 1 does what i do have value We all like to think what we do is valuable not just to us but to the world at large Every job has value We just have to determine exactly what ours is

QuesTioN No 2 do i love what i do Celebrities experts pundits gurus those go-to people in any field absolutely love what they do Chances are if yoursquore reading this you do too

Question no 3 do i love talking to people about what i do Celebrities are natural talkers not because they like to hear themselves speak but because they just canrsquot help but share their enthusiasm with other people

Question no 4 do i wish more people could do what i do Experts in every field naturally believe their field is ldquotherdquo field They want everyone to share their love of gardening dogs accounting flying etc

Question no 5 do i have an intense desire to reach a bigger audience We all want to go a little further reach a little more and do it a little faster but experts in their fields really enjoy dominating a larger playing field each year theyrsquore in the game

Question no 6 do i know my passion inside and out One thing that always amazes me about my clients is how well they know their business Experts arenrsquot called that because they ldquokinda sortardquo know what theyrsquore talking about When you know your field yoursquore ready willing and most importantly able to ldquoCelebritize Yourselfrdquo

Question no 7 do i want more credibility through books cds interviews and moreModern experts recognize they must become ldquocelebritiesrdquo to get the recognition and credibility they deserve They view this as a natural progression of their industry expertise

Question no 8 do i want to learn more by teaching more Every expert Irsquove ever met written about helped publicize or interviewed has been a natural-born teacher People with expertise want to share it and do so willingly In teaching others about what they do they learn even more about themselves their audience and their industry

15

Fineline Printing Group ndash connect bull Fall 2012

book recommendation

Rework Authored by Jason Fried amp David Heinemeier Hansson

Does this sound like your traditional busi-ness book Well Rework is anything but tradi-tional In fact it punches tradition in the gut The ideas bantered around in this best-selling book are refreshing straightforward and quite honestly a bit difficult to grasp

But if yoursquore truly interested in succeeding in business pick up a copy today

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hans-son are the co-founders of 37signals a trail-blazing software company that produces prod-ucts used by millions of people around the world Widely recognized as disruptive leaders and inspirational thought leaders they have written a ldquosmack-you-in-the-facerdquo book that runs completely against age-old advice and tra-ditions yet doesnrsquot take itself too seriously

Fried and Heinemeier said that Rework is a book for hardcore entrepreneurs small business owners and people stuck in day jobs they hate

A quick read Rework is a jolt to our system of meaningless meetings conference calls and policies that dominate the corporate world Our new economy demands new leadership and a break from the mundane Thatrsquos why Rework is different It makes you think differently

The bookrsquos design grabs your attention while its ideas hold your attention Based on the fact that it provides a decent antidote to all the demotivating process and bureau-cracy that plagues business Connect highly recommends Rework

L earning from your mistakes is overrated Planning is just guessing Fire all the workaholics Under do your competition Emulate drug dealers

ldquoReworkrdquo is a jolt to our system of meaningless meetings conference calls and policies that dominate the corporate world

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