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Posts Tagged ‘Strategic Planning’

Catch up with our Client Services Veep

By Elizabeth Hansen, May 18, 2012

There’s never a dull moment or a repetitive day for Jodi Duncan, Vice President of Client Services in our Fargo office. And that’s just the way she likes it.

“I spend a good portion of my day problem-solving with clients and with employees. I love the variety in my job, which includes writing strategy and proposals, visiting with clients, analyzing data and making recommendations, plus working on different internal management and planning projects,” Jodi explains.

The best part? “I have a rock-solid team that I swear has dedicated themselves to trying to make me look good!”

Jodi admits: “I am addicted to work. I love it and I think about it all the time. I have the perfect job for me, since there’s always something going on, always some crazy deadline and lots of excitement.”

Lights, camera, backstage

Away from office, the excitement continues. Jodi and her husband have two very involved teenage daughters. One is active in high school theatre and music; the other is a track and cross-country runner. Away from the theatre, track, cross-country courses and school, the girls and their friends hang out at their preferred venue: Jodi’s home. She says with a smile: “We have teenagers at our house all the time!”

Jodi's daughter, McKenzie, as Tracy Turnblad, center stage in Hairspray.

“Theatre is a whole new world for me and I love every second of it! Parent involvement and support is critical to the arts and it’s thrilling to watch our daughter and her friends grow as artists and performers,” Jodi says. “We believe that all kids need to be involved in something. It helps them stay out of trouble and teaches them valuable life lessons. Too many parents leave the participation to others. They miss out on some incredible experiences with their children.”

Jodi's daughter, Allison (in the Team Ian t-shirt), on the go.

Speaking of experiences with kids, Jodi does run with their other daughter. Jodi recalls: “The first race I ran with her, after about half a mile, I said ‘you go ahead.’ She finished the race about 15 minutes before I did!”

Jodi and Allison, ready for a race.

Lace ‘em up (at 5:08 a.m.)

To add focus to her days, Jodi’s personal activity is running. “Running helps me clear my mind,” she says. “I run almost every morning at 5:08 a.m. It keeps me stress-free, and my family and co-workers notice if I skip a run. They’ll say: ‘Apparently you need to go for a run,’ which is a good indication that I’m acting crabby or stressed.”

Leg warmers to running shoes

“I run with one of my friends,” Jodi says. “We actually taught aerobics together for more than 20 years. Then, she talked me into running a half marathon. She loves to race, and I love to train, so we are a pretty good team. For our first half marathon, the weather was horrible, cold and windy, and we suffered through it together and were elated when we finished. It was such a rush. Since then, we’ve run many races. Last year, during a half marathon, we got separated at about 10 miles, met up when we finished and were pretty much non-emotional,” Jodi says with her wry smile.

“It’s easy to get complacent. You need to keep things interesting and push yourself to new levels.” Well put, veep. Well put.

Connect with Jodi on LinkedIn

Additional Questions

What’s your dream job? This

Which job would you not want to have? Working outside in extreme hot or extreme cold.

What was your first job? Cooking hotdogs at my dad’s car auctions

What did it teach you? That I HATE boiled hotdogs

What is one thing you’d be willing to practice for an hour a day? Golf. I’m really bad at it.

What’s the best advice you ever got? Don’t cry at work. My dad went to great lengths to teach me this lesson!

What sound do you love? Kids loud voices in the middle of the night in our family room. I have a great appreciation for knowing where my teenagers are.

What scent do you love? Citrus

Posted in Flint Communications, Flint Direct, Flint Group, Flint Interactive, HatlingFlint, SimmonsFlint, WestmorelandFlint | Comments

Tags: employee spotlight, fargo advertising agency, Flint Communications, Flint Group, Strategic Planning

Capturing the buzz of communications—and organic farming

By Elizabeth Hansen, December 16, 2011

Harnessing the latest buzz is smart marketing, and we have the Queen Bee.

Debbie Morrison, who is based in our St. Cloud office, strategizes proven communications for a broad range of clients. Away from the office, she and her husband Jim live on and operate Sapsucker Farms, their Minnesota-based certified organic farm, which includes 12 bee hives, chickens, sugar maple trees, a vegetable garden and an apple orchard. She also contributes to the Simple Good and Tasty blog.

Sweet rewards

You know the colleagues who bring the best treats to the office? That’s Debbie.

Her passion for organic agriculture yields sweet results, especially honey and organic maple syrup. Besides our offices and homes, Sapsucker Farms products are enjoyed all over the world. Debbie ships anywhere: Just order here.

Debbie’s syrup in Jerusalem

Accidental farmers

“We got into organic farming accidentally,” Debbie explains. “We bought 172 acres of land near Mora, Minn., in 1997, then built our house and moved in 2000. Our original goal was to restore the land to natural habitat. We started by restoring 40 acres of hayfields into native prairie. All of the prairie flowers inspired me to start beekeeping. A friend from Vermont saw our maple trees and suggested we tap them, so we did. Then we planted the organic apple orchard, which is 60 trees in 30 varieties, and I started learning about organic agriculture. The chickens were added last year. We’ve been certified organic since 2006.”

Jim and Debbie during maple syrup harvest

Do you know where your food comes from?

Watch how Debbie bottles Sapsucker Farms pure, organic maple syrup:

At the office, Debbie is, as she describes, “Director of Strategy and Lots of Other Stuff.” She consults and strategizes for various clients and industries, in part lending experience she gained while working for large Minneapolis-based agencies earlier in her career.

Get to know a Flintster: Q + A with Debbie

How does your passion outside of work fuel your career?
My passion for the farm stimulates my thinking in so many ways. Farming requires constant problem-solving, strategizing, creating, building, and continually forcing me to push beyond my boundaries and work outside my comfort zones. All of this helps me be a much more creative thinker, strategizer, analyzer, problem-solver, and leader in the work place.

What do you do on a typical night or weekend?
It depends on the season. This time of year, our farm chores are feeding, watering the chickens and collecting eggs, plus filling our outside wood boiler twice per day with firewood. In the summer, we feed and water the chickens, and collect all of the fresh, organic free-range eggs – about one dozen a day. On weekends, we inspect the 12 bee hives, weed the garden, cut firewood and basically spend about 12 hours per day of hard labor on the farm. We get dirty, get sore muscles and go to bed exhausted every night. And we love every minute of it. Autumn is harvest time and hunting season. I do as much as I can after work and indulge in both on the weekends. In the spring, during the maple syrup season (usually starting in March), after work I go out into the woods to collect sap, then on the weekends the sap is boiled to perfection to create maple syrup. Also in the spring, I start vegetable seeds in our greenhouse for the garden.

What’s your dream job?
I have it already: I’m an organic farmer.

What was your first job?
In the kitchen at a nursing home, where I served food in the dining room and washed dishes.

What is one thing you’d be willing to practice for an hour a day?
Target shooting with a bow, pistol or rifle.

What’s the best advice you ever got?
Empower the people who work with you and for you.

What sound do you love?
Frogs croaking, especially spring peepers in our pond.

What scent do you love?
The sweet scent of honey inside the honeybee hives.

Making a difference

“Obviously, I’m passionate about growing and producing fresh, safe, organic food, reading and learning everything I can about the food industry, agriculture, and organic practices.

“The earth is in peril, and needs help. By being a good steward of the earth’s resources, I believe I am making a difference,” Debbie says.

A bit more about bees

“Our farm is USDA certified organic, certified by MOSA. Organic certification is a LOT of work, with lots of paperwork, but it’s worth the effort. The only thing that is NOT certified organic is the honey. While I do manage the bees organically, it is nearly impossible to have honey certified organic here in the lower 48 states. The reason why is because bees will forage up to four miles away, and if there are any conventional farm fields, golf courses or other landscapes that have been sprayed or planted with GMOs within that radius, a beekeeper cannot prevent the bees from foraging in those areas,” Debbie says.

“We are also expanding the farm considerably in 2012. We will be putting out 1,000 taps for maple syrup, and have opened up a new one-acre field for vegetable growing. Plus we have qualified for an NRCS (USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service) grant to add a high tunnel for vegetable growing. It will be 30’ x 100’ and will extend our growing season. Also in 2012, we will start a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) offering subscriptions to people in our local area,” she explains.

Find Debbie and Sapsucker Farms on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the Simple Good and Tasty blog.

Pssst! Look for just one blog post next week. It will appear on Wednesday, with a little holiday love from us.

Posted in Flint Communications, Flint Direct, Flint Group, Flint Interactive, HatlingFlint, SimmonsFlint, WestmorelandFlint | Comments

Tags: certified organic farm mn, flint group about us, flint group staff member, HatlingFlint, organic apples mn, organic eggs mn, organic maple syrup mn, passion, pure maple syrup mn, sapsucker farms, sapsucker farms apples, sapsucker farms eggs, sapsucker farms honey, sapsucker farms maple syrup, St Cloud agency staff, staff members, Strategic Planning

4 Lead Generation Tips for Increasing Franchise Sales

By Elizabeth Hansen, December 14, 2010

How do you find the right prospects for your franchise opportunity? Without broker fees? And in this tough economic climate?

Our own John Nelson, Marketing Strategist, just published this article in Sales Force Branding. Read on:

You want someone with a suitable profile and adequate liquid assets. Here are four steps to successfully find good prospects for your franchise opportunities. These tips also work for other lead-generation situations.

Understand your prospect – This is a critical first step, despite the costs of research and fact-finding. And it’s too often overlooked. Many owners and executives believe they already “know” their ideal candidate, but data tells the truth and fills in the details. Look at demographic, psychographic, lifestyle, and online and offline behavior to create an accurate, comprehensive view of your prospect. The more you know about your prospect upfront, the more likely you are to make a sale – and save time, money and resources along the way.
Create a nonlinear strategy – Gone are the days of the classic sales funnel. Now you use multiple channels and data points to track your prospect. To be competitive in today’s franchise market, leverage insight by listening, data collecting and monitoring your prospect’s behavior. Pay attention to your prospect and build data driven strategy across appropriate marketing channels. Build a strong relationship from initial contact to engagement to conversion.
Connect and stay connected –Use your research to determine the marketing channels where your prospects hang out, and then be there. I recommend strategies that involve web, email, direct mail, mobile, social media and calls centers because these are tactics that can be easily monitored for ROI. In addition to the channels you need to create a dynamic conversation that anticipates their needs and engages them through their decision making process. This will make your prospect gain confidence in you and your company and allow you to be prepared for any questions that may arise. Ultimately, these actions drive connectivity to you and dramatically impact your prospect’s buying decisions.
Leverage your information – Continually monitor, track and respond to the data collected through your marketing efforts. Develop a program that tags, tracks and reports on the effectiveness of each campaign across all channels. Monitoring your campaigns gives you real-time insights on how to adjust strategies to optimize your marketing dollars and drive a higher ROI.

What’s worked for you? Do you have a successful franchise-locating story? Any tips to share on finding viable franchisees for your operation? We’d love the hear about it.

About John: He’s a Marketing Strategist for the Flint Group, which has helped franchises in many sectors grow and profit for 35+ years. Prior to his current role, he was Director of Marketing for The Alternative Board®, a Denver based business coaching franchise. Flint Group is also a proud member of the International Franchise Association. Follow John on Twitter or Join John on LinkedIn.

Posted in Flint Direct, Flint Group, SimmonsFlint | Comments

Tags: brand management, Business, franchise prospects, franchise sales, franchising, SimmonsFlint, Strategic Planning

Marketing Planning – The Customer Speaks First

By Colin N. Clarke, November 22, 2010

Customer Listening3 I’ve had the good fortune of collaborating with the folks from Street Smart Strategic Planning recently. It’s provided a refreshing perspective on the value and raw power of the customer’s voice in marketing planning.

Many companies barge into their marketing efforts believing they know what the customer wants to hear and how s/he wants to reached. Business people often LIVE in their industry category and know the business inside and out but overlook the fact they are not the customer (although they might try to tell you they are).

Most businesses tend to zero in on tangible differentiation – features and benefits, as a means to try and convince customers to buy. But “bigger, better, faster and more” can only carry a business so far – it becomes too easy for competitors to match features or price. The challenge is to uncover a truer differentiation that will resonate more closely with the customer’s desires. And this is where the voice of the customer comes to life and demonstrates its power in marketing planning.

By undertaking the right kind of customer investigation, businesses can begin to discover more emotional routes to the customer. Look at how customers view themselves when they use the product: What image do they project or portray? Do they like what they see? Discovering what appeals to the customer beyond basic product specifications provides tremendous insight. Customer ListeningA

Another area to explore is a customer’s perceived utility or benefit of using a product. Too often marketers get so wrapped up in describing the product itself that customer benefit is overlooked. One basic means to begin discovery is to simply ask the customer: “What would your life be like if you no longer had access to product X?” Now we can begin to explore the deeper benefit to the customer.

The folks at Street Smart approach these three areas as MIND, HEART and SOUL. In general terms MIND refers to product attributes, HEART to emotional appeal, and SOUL to product use and utility. Many marketers forge ahead with their planning completely aiming at the rational MIND and wonder why campaigns fall flat in a short period of time. In order to find deeper success marketers must tap into the power of the customer’s voice, listen, and begin to understand what motivates purchase behavior. Only by listening to the customer first will a marketer begin to successfully integrate messages that appeal to the MIND, HEART and SOUL.

Ask the customer what’s important instead of guessing what you think they want to hear. What you discover will return huge benefits to your marketing planning process.

Dr. Colin N. Clarke is a senior strategist for Flint Group. Follow him on Twitter @colinnclarke or on Facebook at Facebook.com/cnclarke

Posted in AadlandFlint, Flint Communications, Flint Group, HatlingFlint, SimmonsFlint, WestmorelandFlint | Comments

Tags: customer research, customer voice, listening, marketing planning, Strategic Planning, Street Smart

6 Steps to Engage Your Sales Channel in Marketing Programs

By Jodi Duncan, October 8, 2010

Why is it that it’s easy to get your top dealers or sales people to participate in good programs? I guess that’s what makes them your top dealers!

Okay, maybe “easy” is a bit of an exaggeration but after working with a number of different sales channels in various industries and markets, there seems to be a common theme. The top 20 percent consistently do the right things. Sometimes it takes some convincing, some coaxing, but if you have good, solid rationale and the right tools, it’s not so difficult to get that bunch to come along. Ultimately, the magic bullet is compelling marketing pieces that effectively tell YOUR story and are pieces that SELL product. Get that top 20 percent on-board and then focus on the next group which will take some additional work.

There are some tricks to increasing dealer participation in marketing programs. We spend a lot of time understanding the industries that dealers or sales representatives are in so that when we call them to visit about different marketing techniques, they know they are speaking with someone who has knowledge about who they are and what they are trying to do. That is definitely one of the benefits of employing a call center that can work with your sales channel as an extension of your marketing department.

What we have learned is that when dealing with a sales channel, just like pretty much anything else in communications – you need to apply numerous outreach techniques. When we recruit dealers to participate in a direct marketing program, for example, we recommend sending out intro information kits that are in attention grabbing boxes containing information about the program. Typically we follow that with phone calls to the dealer to talk more specifically about the programs and about their particular needs or area. The insight that they offer during these conversations absolutely is used to influence materials for programs. Often we will offer a webinar for dealers to attend along with territory managers where they can see the program in action and ask questions. And, when appropriate, we present the program in person at dealer or sales channel meetings.

Time and again we find that the best dealers or sales people gravitate towards these common-sense programs and want the details prior to signing up. Showing them actual completed pieces and quantifiable results is extremely helpful to getting them on-board. And the calls and ongoing dialog are critical to keeping them on track.

These are the steps we consistently follow when engaging a channel:

Understand the industry and the key elements to the marketing programs they are being asked to participate in.
Ensure you have quantifiable results to refer to.
Introduce programs at sales meetings followed by easy to follow brochures explaining the program details.
Offer webinars allowing dealers or sales people to ask questions about the program.
Encourage participation by offering special incentives for dealers to sign-up.
Continuously follow-up and incorporate dealer feedback into the program.

Basically, you want programs that map to the sales channels’ goals. It’s really all about making it easy for them to tell your story in a way that helps them move product.

Posted in Flint Direct, Flint Group | Comments

Tags: Communications Strategy, Direct marketing, Marketing, Strategic Planning

It’s All About Asking Why

By Alan Josephson, August 16, 2010

Every couple months I remind myself to watch this video. I use it to help refresh my thinking and be inspired about the work I do. I hope the video has the same effect on you and helps you ask the question why.

Simon Sinek has developed an inspirational leadership philosophy called the “Golden Circle.” The video below is from a conference he spoke at in 2009 where he explains the Golden Circle in depth. The basic premise is that in today’s world, people tend to come at problems or develop products with a tactical approach, or just telling us “what” they are selling. Simon shows us some relevant examples from throughout history, from The Wright Brothers to TiVo. I highly encourage you to watch the 18-minute video and then think about the why in everything that you are involved in.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the video.

Posted in AadlandFlint, WestmorelandFlint | Comments

Tags: Flint Group, Simon Sinek, Strategic Planning, WestmorelandFlint

Praxis Strategy Group Initiative focuses on “living wage jobs” for Central Oregon

By Dave Roby, May 28, 2010

The non-profit group Deschutes Economic Alliance held a conference Monday at the Oxford Hotel in Bend. They introduced an initiative to develop a county wide plan attracting living wage jobs to Central Oregon. They’ve hired a company, Praxis Strategy Group to help research what needs to be done to create more jobs here.

Dr. Delore Zimmerman

President of Praxis, Delore Zimmerman said, “We are working with the Deschutes Economic Alliance in identifying some very focused areas where we can concentrate on how to make a difference here in the local economy.”

Praxis helps brings jobs to communities and regions by utilizing BEST PRACTICES and coordinating collaboration between business, government and universities. Based in Grand Forks, ND, Praxis has offices in Fargo, ND, Los Angeles, CA and Praxis Africa in Accra, Ghana. A local group of business people are funding the study.

Praxis Strategy Group is a partner with the Flint Group

Posted in AadlandFlint, Flint Communications, Flint Group, HatlingFlint, SimmonsFlint, WestmorelandFlint | Comments

Tags: delore zimmerman, Economic Development, Flint Communications, Flint Group, joel kotkin, Media Productions, Praxis Strategy Group, Red River Valley Research Corridor, Strategic Planning

Join the Red River Valley Research Corridor for Cleantech Open Competition Briefings

By Dave Roby, April 11, 2010

RRVRC Hosts Cleantech Open Briefing Meetings

April 19-20, 2010

Bismarck and Fargo, ND

Cleantech Open is a national business competition and entrepreneur program for the cleantech industry.

Are you interested in the cleantech industry?
Do you want to meet other professionals within the region’s cleantech community?
Are you an entrepreneur seeking direction or funding?
Are you participating in the Cleantech Open?Join us on April 19 or 20, for a light meal and the opportunity to network with key professionals within the cleantech industry. Come hear from Cleantech Open organizers and Alumnus about:

the latest updates from the Cleantech Open
further detail as to how local cleantech start-ups can participate in the Cleantech Open
various mentoring and volunteer opportunities

Fargo, ND Luncheon Briefing

Monday, April 19, Noon – 1:30 PM
NDSU Alumni Center
1241 North University Drive
Fargo, ND 58102

Register for Fargo event.

Bismarck, ND Breakfast Briefing

Tuesday, April 20, 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM
Radisson Hotel Bismarck
605 East Broadway
Bismarck, ND 58501

Find out more about Cleantech Open, visit CleanTechOpen.com

ND Cleantech Open Partners

Dr. Delore Zimmerman, President and CEO of Praxis Strategy Group in Grand Forks and Fargo, N.D. with affiliate offices in Los Angeles and Sacramento, California and Accra, Ghana, West Africa, has served as the Coordinator of the Red River Valley Research Corridor since 2004. Praxis has been awarded 9 Small Business Innovation Research Awards.

Praxis Strategy Group is a partner with the Flint Group

Posted in Flint Communications, Flint Group, SimmonsFlint | Comments

Tags: Cleantech Open, delore zimmerman, Economic Development, Flint Communications, Flint Group, INNOVATE ND, joel kotkin, Marketplace of Ideas, Media Productions, NDSU Research Technology Park, Praxis Strategy Group, Red River Valley Research Corridor, Senator Byron Dorgan, SimmonsFlint, Strategic Planning

Achieving more through the agency-client relationship

By Jodi Duncan, December 10, 2009

I have had the benefit of being on both sides of the agency/client relationship: many years as the client, and now many years on the agency side. Both are good places to be for different reasons.

Both have different rewards and different challenges.

Now, as a strategic planner, I get to explain why a campaign falls short sometimes, or why it just flat-out didn’t work. And on occasion a client will air his or her frustrations – the same frustrations that I, myself, had on the client-side.

photo by emmyboop on Flickr

Here’s what I’ve learned as a client and as an agency professional:

Stick to a plan
When things don’t work out as planned, it’s usually because the plan wasn’t followed.

A communications plan is usually designed as an aggregate. Each part plays an important role to achieve a desired result. When the plan becomes an à la carte menu… that’s when things go wrong.

If you want the best results, follow the plan as it was intended or change your expectations.

That said… a plan should be revisited frequently. It should adapt throughout the life of a campaign, based on any number of factors. But if you make alterations because of budget or some other reason, be sure and rework the entire plan – so it adequately reflects the budget and resets objectives.

Work as a team
When I was a client, I had many questions about why our agency couldn’t follow our very specific, very brilliant direction (or so we thought). This is a common complaint from folks who work with agencies. I suspect we have a client or two that wonders the same thing about us.

Further complicating this issue is that most of the time, there’s not a black and white answer to many of the questions you might have as a client.

Is it really going to matter if we make the URL a little larger?
Do we have to include an offer?
Will it ruin the piece if the logo is on the left instead of right?
Does the message make sense if we remove this word or that word?

They seem like simple questions with easy answers. Some of them are. Some of them aren’t. Some of them are topics of great debate.

Most often, the answer is maybe. Maybe it will matter. Maybe it will ruin the piece. Maybe the message won’t make sense. Maybe it changes the tone.

I think clients would be surprised by how much consideration and debate goes into these questions behind the scenes. We take all kinds of information into account. We think it through and make a recommendation. If we can go back to solid research, results and facts, we will. But honestly, communications and people change quickly. What worked yesterday may not be the right solution today.

So my advice, from one client to another, from one agency insider to another, is this: listen to each other. The best solution will likely be informed by all sides, with each offering their own specific expertise.

Communicate to the audience
After you’ve listened to each other, think about your audience. Consider what this will mean to them. It’s easier said than done. Most often, it’s perspective that gets in the way of great work:

The client’s perspective
The writer’s perspective
The planner’s perspective
The designer’s perspective
The board’s perspective
The boss’s perspective

Well… you get the idea. Too often, the audience’s perspective is left out.

In the end, here’s what we really need to focus on:

What works?
What will reach the audience?
What will get the desired response?

Focus on the big picture
The last thing either anyone wants – agency or client – is to get so wrapped up with being right, that both miss out. A solid agency-client relationship is built on mutual respect, and the ability to make each other better.

Posted in Flint Communications, Flint Group | Comments

Tags: Advertising, Communications Strategy, Marketing, Strategic Planning