New marketing concept emerging ... in display advertising from Europe - To distribute your ad message, bundle it with a free service. For example, a French advertiser gave the city of Rennes (choked with traffic) hundreds of bicycles and 25 bike stations for free public use. The public gets use of a bike at no cost, the City gets reduced traffic congestion, and advertisers get modest display ads on each bike. Win, Win, Win. Another advertiser gave a town bus shelters for the right to post display ads there. In each case the free public service was the vehicle for making the message public. Hmmm...What can you do with that little nugget? Source: NPR's Market Place, 1/26/99

~~~Modernizing the Trojan Horse ... Speaking of bundling, what if the free public service (see "New concept" above) generates strategic business information? Blane, Canada Ltd. is working with a utility and a national association to develop a new approach to gathering key accounts' insights using the same concept. More on stealth marketing later.

~~~A classic difference ... between what product sales training courses offer and economic development professionals need to know. "In product sales, there is absolutely no need for the seller to inquire about or understand the company's strategic objectives for the purchase. For the company, it is an economic or technical decision. Decision authority is pushed down to the lowest possible level. A site selection decision, on the other hand, is a strategic corporate move. Decision authority is pulled toward the top. The consequence of a misstep will be seen at the highest level. Lesson? Economic development sales professionals must explore corporate strategic issues; product salesmen have no such requirement. The line of inquiry pursued by a development professional will always be vastly different. "Maximizing Results! Advanced Marketing and Complex Sales" a course by Eric Canada, 630.462.9222, ecanada@ix.netcom.com

~~~"I just caught up with the Marketing Letter (1/99), and I take issue with one bit of advice. Avoid humor?  Might as well suggest, 'Avoid oxygen.' There is plenty of humor which touches the universal soul and builds bridges rather than barriers. It's called the truth and it's almost always humorous. And if you tell the truth about yourself rather than someone else, it's genuine and heartfelt and people appreciate it. The key is being yourself and letting whatever is humorous flow from that. I think the advice should have been, 'Avoid jokes.'"  Source: Joe Reagan, KY.  Excellent point Joe.

~~~International search engines ... If you are trying to search for web sites outside of North America, try the following index of search engines by country: http://www.skiftel.ru/~alphabet/sbycntry.html Source: Bruce P. A. Dienes

~~~Web site organization ... The most effective web sites are organized by issue or product category, rather than by organizational chart.  The best home pages are those that offer visitors a simple-to-follow table of contents, not a hierarchy of abstract titles. Source: NetAction Notes, 1/26/99.

~~~The best way ... we have found to evaluate the effectiveness of a web site is to create a storyboard of the site. Even if your web builder creates one, do your own and compare them. The comparison should raise many questions. But, more often than not, storyboarding is an important step, frequently by-passed.

~~~"Great newsletter!  I really liked this one ... and particularly liked your advice on using the local library/librarian to help in our ED efforts.  We just recently discovered this in our own community..." Carol Marchbanks

~~~"If you can't distinguish ... your company (community) from its competitors by its convenient location or your product's unique attributes, then the rest is salesmanship. ...the foundation of sales effectiveness: the ability to reach people who can help you make the sale." Harvey Mackay, "Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty."

~~~It's amazing ... what knowledge can be gained by going to the stock quotes page of Yahoo, or a similar portal, and reading the message boards. If you have a publicly traded company in your community, a message board can provide amazingly accurate advance knowledge of expansions, acquisitions, layoffs, etc. It is a great tool to stay ahead of the game! Source: Perry Varnadoe, OH

~~~"People and advertising ... seem subject to certain laws of the universe that are impervious to change. I believe that a knowledge of these laws is the secret to finding yourself in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing in the right way." The Wizard of Ads: Turning Words into Magic and Dreamers into Millionaires. Roy H. Williams, Bard Press, (c) 1998.   ^^^^ extremely well written for a business book.

~~~Merger barrage to continue ... New customers, new markets, increased market share, cost advantages, quick access to R&D, and global reach are only a few of the reasons driving companies to hook up in mergers and acquisitions. Merger activity is only one of the issues explored to help predict "value" and "risk" for local employers with Blane, Canada Ltd.'s newly released business retention software, Synchronist Business Information System^®. 630.462.9220 or ecanada@ix.netcom.com

~~~Demographic data ... We have said before that census data is worse than no data. An alternative is to use one of the commercial demographic services. They provide critical demographic data and maps for a fee. These services are recognized by the private sector as the most reliable, up to date, and accepted source for demographic numbers.

~~~"The moment ... you focus on protecting what you have instead of what you can become, the spiral of death begins." anon.

~~~Basic research ... Should economic development professionals be concerned about the lack of basic R&D in the profession? One of our frustrations with the profession over the years has been the lack of basic R&D in economic development. Much of this hinges on the lack of funding. We estimate that over 85% of our industry's research dollars are devoted to applied research (SWOT analysis, target industries, economic impact study, etc.) Clients say "think out of the box", then require "specified" outputs, crushing any potential for novel solutions. Associations talk, but can't act.  In the end, the advancement of the economic development industry suffers.

What do you think? Does economic development need basic R&D? If yes, how should it be funded? If not, do we hide behind the argument that like any business venture, if the proponent wants it badly enough, he/she will find the resources? Then, are professionals and organizations willing to pay market value for results? It's a tough sell. Comments?