Aligning Social Purpose Goals with Business Goals

Let's Get Hunger Under Control

2011-04-11T08:49:00.000-07:00

We are fortunate to be working with one of Ohio's most respected non-profits - Mid-Ohio Foodbank. Its been a humbling experience thus far, as we have done a lot of research on the issue of hunger in Ohio and across our country. So please read about hunger, particularly how it affects children (below) and help the Mid-Ohio Foodbank, or the foodbank in your community, to get hunger under control in our state.

Someone You Know is Experiencing Food Insecurity

Food insecurity is essentially the politically correct way to describe hunger. The USDA defines food insecurity as follows:

“Limited or uncertain access to nutritious, safe foods necessary to lead a healthy lifestyle; households that experience food insecurity have reduced quality or variety of meals and may have irregular food intake.”

In Ohio, one of six people is at risk of hunger. This is a staggering statistic. It means someone in your neighborhood is suffering from hunger - a child in your kid’s class, a co-worker, a family at your church, a kid on your soccer team, the family down the street. It’s such a private problem for the ones suffering – who wants to publicly admit to needing help with providing food to your family? But it’s such a profound problem in our society, one that we all need to take responsibility for by helping our neighbors.

Children Who Are Hungry
As shocking as the hunger statistic is for Ohio, the number of children who are facing food insecurity is even more troubling. More than one in five children in the U.S. is at risk of hunger according to Feeding America. 1 in 5!

Children experiencing food insecurity also experience a multitude of other issues.

Problems in Learning
Lower math achievement and other achievement gains in kindergarteners
Lower math and reading gains from kindergarten to third grade
Lower arithmetic scores
Problems with Health
Poorer overall health of children – more stomach aches, headaches, and colds among children
Higher numbers of chronic health conditions in children
Higher hospitalization rates of young children
Lower physical function in children ages 3 to 8
Iron deficiency anemia in young children

Problems with Social Skills
Children aren’t as social if they’re hungry
More anxiety and depression in school‐age children

We need to do better for our children! Kids should not suffer from hunger.

How You and Your Foodbanks Help

There are twelve (12) major Feeding America food banks in Ohio. These food banks act as distributors of food to thousands of food agencies across our state – pantries, soup kitchens, other feeding sites, etc. The food banks are able to provide services due to the generosity of the food industry, federal & state governments and the general community (both businesses and individuals). The Mid-Ohio Foodbank distributes food to over 500 agencies throughout Central and Eastern Ohio. They are able to provide 51,000 meals each day through their partner agencies.

But generosity is the operative word…we simply cannot make the kind of impact necessary without the help of people within the community. So please show your support by visiting www.1of6.org to make a donation to Mid-Ohio Foodbank’s Operation Feed campaign. If you don’t live in the Central or Eastern Ohio areas, visit www.FeedingAmerica.org and click on “Find a Food Bank” to find the organization that services your area.

It’s time we got hunger under control.

Did Chrysler's Super Bowl Spot Do Well for Detroit?

2011-02-08T10:17:00.000-08:00

Did Chrysler's Super Bowl ad do well for the city of Detroit? On the surface, it seems like it did. But I wonder whether the message of the spot is aligned appropriately with Detroit's rebuilding effort.

I love Detroit. I spent almost 12-years in Metro-Detroit. I represent a minority of people that actually think the city is pretty great. For me, it was the first major city I had lived in. It was the first time I was settled in a city that had professional sports, good theater options, diverse cultures, top-notch music concerts, terrific festivals, etc. Having grown up in Columbus - which has evolved to become quite a phenomenal city in-and-of itself - we just didn't have the kinds of options that bigger cities had. Of-course, that's all changed for Columbus, but during the 70s and 80s, Columbus was a small town trying to find its niche.

While Chrysler's "Imported from Detroit" spot grabbed at the emotional strings within me and millions of others, from what I know about Detroit and how it's dealing with today's economic turmoil, I believe the spot was mis-aligned with the message that the city is trying to project. Sure, the filming was great, and it shined a positive light on a city that has been more-often-than-not exposed as a city of blight. But I wonder whether people noticed the lack of consistency between what Chrysler expressed in its spot, and what the goals of the city are.

Detroit doesn't want to be the Motor City. It wants the automobile to be a part of its personality, but it doesn't want to be defined as the Motor City anymore. As the spot begins, the city has been "through hell and back", and that's largely due to its reliance on the automotive industry. Today, Detroit is trying to position itself as something else - the alternative energy capital of America, a creative hotbed, Midwest's cultural center, Hockeytown...the list goes on.

So while Chrysler should be appreciated for its positive depiction of the city, I argue that the company didn't do its homework in aligning it's business goals - to sell cars - with the community's goals - to shed its legacy of being the automotive manufacturing center.

Did Chrysler sit down with the city's economic development staff to understand their vision for the city? Did it meet with the city's chamber of commerce? Did they sit down with the Dan Gilberts and Peter Karmanoses of Detroit to talk about why they felt it was so important to relocate their companies' headquarters in the heart of the city? Did they meet with the ex-automotive suppliers who have now transformed their businesses to make parts for wind turbines instead of cars?

I don't know the answer to this, of-course, but my guess would be "no". Had they done their due diligence, they may have created a spot that was less about manufacturing (check out the shots of workers on the assembly lines) and more about how the the city is striving to be relevant in the 21st Century. The city is looking forward - beyond its automotive legacy. Chrysler would have done well for itself, and the city, had it aligned its message with the goals of the community. Chrysler should certainly position itself as a part of the solution for a town that needs one. It just needs to recognize the goals of the town, and determine how Chrysler fits in with these goals before producing a beautiful commercial.

A little self promotion never hurt anyone...

2009-09-15T19:01:00.001-07:00

OK, so a little self promotion for our firm…

This past month, The Milenthal Group launched a terrific campaign for our client, CareSource. CareSource is a Medicaid care coordination plan – the largest in Ohio, the fourth largest in the nation, with over 765,000 members in Ohio and Michigan. We’ve been working with this client to thrust them onto the national scene as it relates to health care reform. They are a unique company in how they operate and care for members. When our national leadership talks about reducing costs while increasing quality, CareSource is a company that aligns well with this concept.

Anyway, I encourage you to check out a few of the marketing tactics we launched this month. We created a blog – www.ourhealthcaresource.com – as a destination for CareSource to project its points of view relative to health care reform. Please visit the site, feel free to comment on the posts, and definitely sign up for the newsletter and RSS feed.

We’ve also launched several social network platforms to support the blog, so please join/follow:

- Facebook

- LinkedIn

- Twitter

- YouTube

And you can find us on Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, and all the relevant social network sites.

The blog is the centerpiece of the campaign. But it’s supported by:

- Advertising in Roll Call – Washington DC’s premiere political rag

- Event sponsorships through Congressional Quarterly

- Online advertising (banners, links, splash pages, etc.)

- An ONN television program that aired about 1-week ago with Sen. Brown, Rep. Kilroy, Rep. Space, Rep. Sutton, Mary Jo Hudson (Director of Ohio Department of Insurance) and Douglas Lumpkin (Director of ODJFS)

And in mid-October (10/13 to be exact), we are putting on an incredible event in Washington D.C. with Congresspeople that will include a keynote speaker (Sen. Harkin is our likely keynote), a panel discussion and a unique exercise called the Poverty Simulator where attendees will role-play what it’s like to be poor in America. This is a great simulation that CareSource uses often within their organization to help its employees appreciate the hardships that their members go through day in and day out.

Our tagline for CareSource is “Health Care Our Country Can Build On”, and our expectation is that in the coming months, CareSource will be pointed to as an ideal model in this new era of health care that is expected to come to fruition.

This client is the perfect example of “transformational times calling for transformational ways”. And because you are friends and colleagues, I just wanted to share a bit of what we’ve been up to…hope you don’t mind.

Thanks for your support, and remember to visit www.ourhealthcaresource.com.

"Outcomes. Not Outputs." That's Transformation!

2009-07-28T13:49:00.000-07:00

I’m sure this blog entry is going to get some blood boiling by my industry colleagues – who are good friends and smart people. But I can’t help but notice that many PR and lobbying firms out there are still promoting the same old line tactics and outputs for their clients while the world as we know it is transforming.

That’s why The Milenthal Group is so successfully pursuing new business with the mantra “Outcomes. Not Outputs.” So what does this mean?

For PR and lobbying firms, “outputs” are measured by the number of mentions in the paper or the number of legislators visited. It’s an important tactic, but it is just that…a tactic. And it hinges on winning desperate short term battles year to year rather than building solid, long-term success. Granted, many of the businesses or organizations we meet with are consumed with these tangible, short term results – “Get me in Business First.”; “Make sure you get me a meeting...” “Stop this." “Protect me from that.”

It’s so short-sighted for clients to wait until it’s too late to start with these desperate tactics, rather than first honing in on the power and centrality of what they are trying to sell or advocate. Why in earth’s name do most entities wait until the train is leaving the station before they set the context of how the stakeholder should think of us? Always too late----and way too often a dollar short.

Aiming at permanent outcomes, however, is quite a bit different. Permanent outcomes are achieved through strategic planning, brand development, message platforms, forming and amplifying your points-of-view around a topic or issue that makes the ultimate goal an affirmation of your capability---- not a Hail Mary pass to stop something or avoid it.

Outcomes are measured by achieving permanent goals – like becoming the voice for Ohio health and wellness…or positioning your company for a new era of health care…or teaching the state that alternatives to oil can be produced right here in Ohio…or that Ohio agriculture offers multi-faceted opportunities to feed the world and sustain energy independence. We see that clients that are open to the idea of achieving long term outcomes are typically in a transformational stage…they are rebranding themselves, positioning themselves for the birth of a new industry or a new attitude or a new arena to play in.

A press release in the newspaper or a sit down with a legislator or a DVR-deleted TV ad may be part of what we do, but they are now only a small component of what works in today’s world. To achieve ultimate outcomes, we turn our efforts to transformational marketing approaches – provocative blogging, coalition building, social network marketing, experiential marketing, custom television shows, etc. We understand that in these transformation times, clients need transformational packaging and transformational communications systems. Success to our clients means being positioned as a “new” organization driving a point of view as the dust swirls…and then standing atop the heap once the dust of change has settled.

The world has reset itself, friends. Are you going to reset with it or pretend you can recover the past?

Jon Milenthal is vice president of The Milenthal Group – a strategic marketing firm focused on helping "game changers" transition from ideation to commercialization, or from public unawareness to mass movement by helping develop their missions, create brands, establish persuasive selling propositions and find a powerful voice in today's new ideology and new economy.

4 Tips to Cure Tone Deafness

2009-06-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

“Tone Deaf”: Another new post-recession word invention that means “out of touch with the public environment in which one operates.”

The latest example of “tone deaf” materialized last week when key business leaders tried to engineer a public “bailout” (another post-recession word) for our financially ailing hockey team.

As a result, it appears to me that corporate, civic, and political leaders need a little basic PR counsel on how to shake “tone deafness”. I hope a few of these suggestions help:

1) Remove the words “shareholder value” from your public lexicon.

I, of course, realize that a company’s growth is dependent on a positive shareholder attitude. I also realize that many every day citizens are, in fact, shareholders – although they are totally oblivious to that. When the public hears the words “shareholder value”, to them it means the CEO and the CEO’s buddies on the board. So simply put, stop shoving “shareholder value” in the face of the customer, taxpayer, and public; and, start realizing for the foreseeable future that the taxpayers and the public (one in the same) are going to be your primary tone setters.

2) Show sincerity in your public statements.

The age of “spin” is certainly on the rocks. The public sees demagoguery for what it is – your prepackaged bullshit. Let me give you an example: People can disagree with Ted Strickland on a wide variety of issues, but I guarantee you he will still get more than his fair share of affection and votes. Why? Because he is sincere in his comments and the bulk of every day people truly believe that he cares about them and their families. So why can’t you cast off your way too overly prepackaged statements and just talk to people straight, even if it’s bad news? People will love you for it.

3) Put yourself in the customer’s (public’s/taxpayer’s) shoes.

It’s bad enough that the income gap between upper management and every day working families is “tone deaf”, but is the CEO world so ‘tone deaf’ that you can’t at least take a brief moment each time that you make a decision to think about, act upon, and speak with some sincere empathy on how it’s going to affect the bulk of your public environment?

4) Stop allowing lawyers to control your communication strategy.

I’m not oblivious to important legal input, but when my clients and contemporaries allow lawyers to package how to talk about things, I fearfully think about the movie Transformers where, in this case, perfectly capable, bright, feeling human beings are convinced to speak as if they on a planet all their own. And that’s the way the public sees them.

You might note that none of these “tone aware” suggestions will cost you a dime. What makes them even more doable is that they are just common sense.

Be sincere, honest, and truly empathetic when dealing with every day people, and you’ll be surprised how well people accept your point of view.

David Milenthal is CEO and founder of The Milenthal Group – a strategic marketing firm focused on helping "game changers" transition from ideation to commercialization, or from public unawareness to mass movement by helping develop their missions, create brands, establish persuasive selling propositions and find a powerful voice in today's new ideology and new economy.

I Think I Found an Oasis

2009-04-02T09:09:00.000-07:00

I think I visited an oasis last week. I attended a conference at Babson College – the Babson Entrepreneurial Energy Expo – where I sat on a panel discussion about marketing for new energy companies. A friend/colleague of mine thought my participation would be productive. So I accepted the invitation as a business development opportunity. But when it was all said and done, I think I found an oasis.

Why? Because this conference, with its professionalism, insight, attendance and high-profile speakers, was organized entirely by Babson students studying to be entrepreneurs in the cleantech space! From concept to execution, the whole event was student driven. I remember my college days – and organizing a conference was the furthest thing I was interested in doing.

Since this conference was put on by students – and attended by many, as well – it possessed this sense of innocence and purity that we frankly don’t see much of in today’s business world. For a brief time, I was removed from the negativity of our current economic problems. I was no longer reminded at every turn of all the strife and greed and finger-pointing our world is enduring today.

I sat with several MBA students during our VIP dinner, and talked with them about the business environment, and their aspirations. I joked with one young man about taking a job with our firm – “We’ll pay you $20,000 a year!” I jarred – my first salary out of college, by the way.

“That’s OK,” he said. “It’s not the money that I’m interested in. It’s the cause. If I focus on the cause, the money will come.” Maybe he didn’t get my humor, but boy was I floored by his response!

These kids (20-somethings are kids to me, now) are so passionate about just making a difference, that they have put all their trust in success behind it. One woman got up during the dinner and announced that she was not studying to be in the cleantech field. “I want to be a preschool teacher, but I want to learn about how to promote a clean environment so I can pass that knowledge and practice onto the children I hope to teach.” I sure hope my kids get her as a teacher one day.

I’ve done a lot of research and reading on generational differences throughout my career – Baby boomers flipping society on its head; Gen X being molded by divorce and two working parents. Generation Y has been coined the “next great generation” because of their ability to look past people’s differences to find what makes us all similar. This generation has such a sense of optimism and compassion for humanity.

And for a brief period, I got to visit their little oasis outside Boston. It gave me a glimpse of how the ideals of our next generation of leaders will lead. I think all will be good.

Jon Milenthal is vice president of The Milenthal Group – a strategic marketing firm focused on helping "game changers" transition from ideation to commercialization, or from public unawareness to mass movement by helping develop their missions, create brands, establish persuasive selling propositions and find a powerful voice in today's new ideology and new economy.

...And What About Your Marketing Plan?

2009-03-02T08:54:00.000-08:00

I spent last week in San Francisco at the CleanTech Group conference. For those of you not familiar with this company, CleanTech is a trade organization for the innovative companies in the cleantech and new energy space, and the venture capital companies that focus their investment dollars on this industry. It was a great experience, and I was encouraged that many attendees were actually optimistic about where our country is going, as opposed to all the negativity that we read day in and day out in the news.

But what still frustrates me when attending these events is the lack of focus on how these innovators plan to market their products or services. All these companies get an opportunity to present their inventions to investors – and many of the inventions are quite impressive. But when they end their presentations, I’m left wondering, “And what about your marketing plan?”

Even at an early stage, you “game changers” need to be outward with your brands. You need to communicate your points-of-view, be controversial if your product is disruptive to current technologies, establish a language that gets at the core of what you stand for and how you benefit the end user. You need to be intimate with your target audience(s), know what motivates them, and communicate in a way that is persuasive and profound.

We have a client that is at an early stage of development – striving to find funding, working to commercialize its solutions, providing research and development to progress the overall industry in which the company operates. Our client has a strong point-of-view that is counter to many of the experts in the field. We’re helping him amplify his voice through a new website, blogging, LinkedIn groups, op-ed pieces and introducing him to influencers with purse strings. This client understands the benefits of creating a brand now in an effort to be a thought-leader in the industry.

The majority of people I met at the conference commended our company for entering the space. And they all agree that smart marketing is essential to making bigger strides. I just hope it wasn’t optimistic rhetoric, and that they actually move on developing that marketing plan. Maybe next time I attend, I’ll say after these presentations, “…and what a great marketing program to actually generate sales!”

Jon Milenthal is vice president of The Milenthal Group – a strategic marketing firm focused on helping "game changers" transition from ideation to commercialization, or from public unawareness to mass movement by helping develop their missions, create brands, establish persuasive selling propositions and find a powerful voice in today's new ideology and new economy.

I Hate the Word "INFRASTRUCTURE"

2009-01-21T13:01:00.000-08:00

Why? Because words really do matter.

My perception of “infrastructure” is that it is so basic and so present and so uninspiring. No question it’s vitally important to employ people to fix our network of roads and highways, bridges and sewers. Lots of short term work for lots of people. But is investing so much of our Federal stimulus money in “infrastructure” really stimulus? If we are going to truly stimulate the economy in a more permanent way, then I would choose to invest in “RESURGENCE”. That’s a word that inspires us to invest in bringing us back and moving us forward with great energy, entrepreneurship, and incenting activity in the new economy.

Under that mind set, “infrastructure” projects would be the completing of the broadband network, further systemizing higher education, linking our port authorities to build a state-of-the art distribution system, building public-private partnerships with investors who want to help us diversify our enormous number of auto parts and auto supply businesses. Those are the platforms of a “resurgent” economy that will lift us up competitively. It will be a crying shame if we seek and take all that money from the Feds just to repair what we were versus invest in what we can be. Whether it be health care, education, or the economy, we need to “build” the next generation of who we can be, and resist trying to shore up what we were and obviously cannot be again.

Yes, our leaders will certainly hear the clamoring and feel the pressure to save the jobs or invest in industry ideas that are at or near death. But we should hearken to the new tone our President has set; a new tone of sincerity, candor, and the blunt truth - a new tone our Governor has embraced as well. So, we cannot pretend that we can return to the old way and the old industries. We can’t keep writing new chapters to an old story about us being leaders of the Industrial Revolution. This crisis brings to us opportunity. If we are smart in appealing to the Feds to help us build the future, the Midwest region can attract more than our share of funds, including dollars from the private sector to help us retain and attract the leaders of this next economic revolution.

David Milenthal is CEO and founder of The Milenthal Group – a strategic marketing firm focused on helping "game changers" transition from ideation to commercialization, or from public unawareness to mass movement by helping develop their missions, create brands, establish persuasive selling propositions and find a powerful voice in today's new ideology and new economy.

Obama's New Energy Economy Can Help Midwest

2008-12-21T17:43:00.000-08:00

During this past Presidential Campaign, I was part of a group called “CleanTech for Obama” which developed an impressive network of individuals throughout the country, especially in the 15 battleground states. Our focus was to promote Obama’s new energy economy agenda and illustrate the need for building green jobs. Now, as President-Elect Obama creates his administrative team, it is clear that the new energy economy continues to be a priority for the future.

Leaders from the “CleanTech for Obama” gathered in San Francisco this past week to discuss the possibility of forming an organization to build on the network from the campaign. I was flattered to be invited to participate in this meeting. It was a very impressive group of individuals whose expertise range from venture funding to policy development to grassroots organizing and environmental advocacy. Even with differing personal agendas, the members of the group came to a very important consensus - the urgency to create a future that leads with green collar jobs, builds energy solutions companies, creates energy security, and supports energy efficiencies.

The epicenter of energy activity has been focused on states like California and Oregon where environmental issue are part of every day life. But now with the auto crisis these past couple of months, it becomes more apparent that the spotlight needs to shift and widen to include the Midwest. There is now more significance to the notion of converting our industries into green businesses and green collar jobs as well as a driving force for the economic transformation of this region. We need to be at the forefront of encouraging creative innovations that will support the auto industry’s transition period. And, we can utilize these new skills for broader energy solutions throughout our region and our country as a whole.

I was one of only a few people of the Midwest at the meeting in San Francisco, so I feel compelled to help bring the new green environmental message and initiatives to this part of our country—the heart of it all.

Bonnie Milenthal is a partner of The Milenthal Group – a strategic marketing firm focused on helping "game changers" transition from ideation to commercialization, or from public unawareness to mass movement by helping develop their missions, create brands, establish persuasive selling propositions and find a powerful voice in today's new ideology and new economy.

Branding the Need May Be Your First Step

2008-12-09T07:45:00.000-08:00

As you may know, The Milenthal Group, in addition to continuing its dedication to public initiatives marketing, is also providing marketing services to the new energy industry. And I’ve noticed an interesting trend recently as our company continues working with energy solutions clients. While we are striving to help these clients create brands around their products or services, we are finding it is even more critical to “brand the need” first. These clients need to create the space first – or shift the mindset of the audience - before delving into branding their own company’s solutions.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised with this revelation…the new energy industry is very much in its infancy despite the profound and persistent need our nation has rallied around this past year. It’s apparent that energy-related companies need to first show why they are in the game to begin with…what problem, barrier or challenge is in the marketplace that was the original impetus for the innovation. Revealing or defining that problem or challenge, in many cases, is the first strategic step toward building our client’s brand.

Binding the challenge with the company’s brand takes time and strategy. We have recommended to our clients a number of steps toward achieving this goal:

1) You must have intimate insights into your target audience. What drives their decision-making? How are they defining your space? Where are the opportunities to shift the mindset or behavior? What audience perceptions can you point to and say, “this perception is inaccurate...the facts actually point toward a different set of issues and solutions”? Primary research like one-on-one interviews with people from your target audience can help get at these answers.

2) You need a deep understanding of the industry and your competitors from a messaging perspective. If inaccurate perceptions are permeating the industry, you need to reveal where these ideas are being generated. How do others go to market and how they are defining the need? Who is currently controlling the conversation? Where are the inaccuracies? How does your product or solution address the real issues or barriers? Secondary research typically reveals these insights.

3) Take control of the conversation. It's essential to project your point-of-view regarding the market needs or issues. This can be done in a number of ways – through public relations, creating a blog, commenting on other’s blogs that are relevant or counter to your point of view, responding to articles in newspapers and magazines, finding speaking engagements at conventions or events.

4) Deliver a marketing approach that equates the issue to your branded solution – “The problem is X, and Company A has always known that…which is why Company A developed this proven solution to solve X.” Ongoing gauging of your audience or industry influencers via tracking research can help you realize whether your point-of-view is having an impact in shifting perceptions.

I like that our clients have to “brand the need” first. It makes it possible to position our clients as the leaders of that particular industry if they are branding the need first. We can actually make our client’s brand synonymous with the market need. So when a potential customer thinks about the general problem, our client’s brand is directly linked to the solution. It certainly makes it harder for a competitor to poke holes in your solution if you’re the one that defined the problem accurately to begin with.

Jon Milenthal is vice president of The Milenthal Group – a strategic marketing firm focused on helping "game changers" transition from ideation to commercialization, or from public unawareness to mass movement by helping develop their missions, create brands, establish persuasive selling propositions and find a powerful voice in today's new ideology and new economy.

Social Networking – Changing the game of word-of-mouth

2008-11-10T08:21:00.000-08:00

The Holy Grail for any brand is to attain positive word-of-mouth buzz from its constituents. Through all of my schooling and experience as a marketer, word-of-mouth has been deemed the pinnacle of any marketing strategy.

In the years before the Internet, word-of-mouth was a difficult marketing ploy to initiate and manage. However, today, digital social networking has absolutely made the integration of a word-of-mouth strategy attainable. With the advent of such Internet sites like LinkedIn or Facebook, and the incorporation of comment bulletin boards and product rankings tools in virtually every e-commerce site, integrating social networking into your marketing plan has never been easier…and it’s actually become a critical means to accomplishing your marketing objectives.

Barack Obama showed the world how powerful social networking is to creating a movement. By the end of his campaign, Obama had almost 3-million Facebook “friends”. He put millions of dollars into online advertising, and he raised millions online at $10 or $20 at a time…all through social networking and online platforms. Now, we look to this new way of campaigning to transcend to a new way of governing, where Obama will continue to leverage – and grow – his vast network to gain public opinion around his initiatives.

As I strategize around my clients’ own challenges, I am constantly looking at how social networking can help achieve the goals of game changers. A LinkedIn group around your point-of-view is an excellent way to pull people into the conversation, and deliver your message. Creating a blog and commenting on blogs are ideal ways to make a presence, and showcase your credibility. Allowing site visitors to comment or rank your products and services provides you with valuable feedback, and a customer lead you can follow-up with later. Your goal is to create a following for your brand…a movement of people that will advocate for you, talk about you, pull others into the conversation for you, and ideally purchase from you.

There is no stronger vehicle than social networking – word-of-mouth. If you haven’t considered how it works into your marketing plans, then you’re missing a huge opportunity to deliver your message and create a passionate following.

Jon Milenthal is vice president of The Milenthal Group – a strategic marketing firm focused on helping "game changers" transition from ideation to commercialization, or from public unawareness to mass movement by helping develop their missions, create brands, establish persuasive selling propositions and find a powerful voice in today's new ideology and new economy.
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