Toys 'R' Us New Year Baby marketing snafu

There is just something about a newborn baby that brings a smile to one's face. Their innocence. Their vunerability. The mere fact that they're cuddly and cute. Even the idea that something mar such a perfect picture is enough boil anyone's blood. Bring in one of the world's largest toy retailers, and you've got the makings of a sordid tale.

Here's the scoop. Toys "R" Us and sibling company, Babies "R" Us, decided to launch a "First Baby of the Year" sweepstakes. The first baby born in 2007 would win a grand prize savings bond worth $25,000. Sounds great, huh. It's the perfect campaign to kick off the new year, add a baby to the picture and you can't miss! The marketing and PR departments must have been drooling. (Sorry, couldn't help myself!)

What could possibly go wrong? Well, the official Babies "R" Us press release calls for "all expectant New Year's moms... with a due date on or around January 1" to register for a chance at the big prize. Problem is the mother of the first baby of the new year was not a legal U.S. citizen. The prize was initially awarded to baby Yuki Lin, who was born at the stroke of midnight at New York Downtown Hospital. After the sweepstakes administrator was informed of baby Yuki's mother's immigration status, the prize was revoked and awarded to another child. Apparently there was a clause in the official rules that the mother must be an American citizen. Hmmm.

Taking candy or anything away from a baby has never been viewed as a wise choice. So, naturally Chinese-American advocates protested loudly. Not that I blame them. It was indeed an utterly stupid move on behalf of Toys "R" Us. Seriously, what the hell were you guys thinking?

After much scathing publicity, the company decided to reverse its moronic decision late Saturday evening. "We love all babies," the company said in a written statement Saturday. "Our sweepstakes was intended to welcome the first baby of 2007 and prepare for its future. We deeply regret that this sweepstakes became a point of controversy." Uh-huh.

Well, better late than never. For more on this, read Toys 'R' Us flip-flops, gives 3 babies New Year prize.

Back to basics...

Well, everyone, we've got a fresh year ahead of us. Are you ready? Time to pull out that marketing plan. I can already hear the groaning. Don't think of your marketing plan as a chore. Think of it as a New Year's list of resolutions for your business. Time to think ahead, chart the course, and charge forward!

Let's start with what a marketing plan is and isn't. A marketing plan is a guide. A map charting the course for your company's future. What it isn't. It isn't a moot exercise. It isn't a book that you drag out once a year for an important meeting and dust off. In short, it is one of your most valuable resources.

First step, review last year's marketing plan. What worked? What didn't? What needs tweaking? Don't worry if you haven't got one. Developing one is a great exercise. It helps you understand where you are in relation to where you need to be, or perhaps where you would like to be.

Second step, prepare to set aside adequate time and staff resources. If there's one thing you want to do when preparing a marketing plan, is doing it right from the start. A good marketing plan will be referred to over and over throughout the course of the year.

Third, make the marketing plan your business Bible. Refer to it often. In fact, pull out your Franklin Planner and enter your marketing goals at regular intervals. Optimally, every six weeks. At the very least, quarterly.

I wish you the very best of luck this year!

Mobile technology goes awry…

If you thought spam text messages were bad, you’re really going to despise this. Some marketers are actually toying with the idea of mobile marketing. That’s right. Straight to your cell phone. Let’s examine, shall we.

First of all, the vast majority of us despise receiving marketing calls at home. We hate online pop-up ads. Why, oh why, would we tolerate direct marketing to our mobile phones? It’s just one more way to annoy your potential target market.

Second, there’s not a whole lot of canvas to work with. Face it, the screen face on mobile phones is fairly small. Short of taking up the entire screen, we’re talking a literal postage stamp. Does your logo translate well that small? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Here’s the scoop. Sprint and Verizon Wireless are going to start placing banner ads on their “decks.” The deck is essentially the mini-home page you land on when accessing the web on your phone. For more info, check out this AdAge article.

I can already tell this is going to be fun!

A quick introduction...

I’ve spent well over a decade working in the ubiquitous realm of marketing and advertising. It definitely takes a wry sense of humor and ninja-like skills to navigate this quirky industry. You’ve got to have a thick skin, a quick wit and the ability to handle daily deadline pressure to survive. And trust me, only the strong survive.

This blog will be my venue to explore whatever catches my fancy or earns my wrath. Together, we’ll explore marketing mindsets, case studies and the like. That said, I hope that we’ll be able to perhaps gain a better understanding of our profession.