Timely Tidbits from Media II Advertising, Public Relations, Sales Promotion

In This Issue:

  • Google Tricks
  • Goals? What Goals?
  • And the Engineers Say:
  • Additional Media II Location
  • Jobs Wanted
  • Bad Headlines
  • Quote of the Month
  • Bumper Sticker of the Month

Google Tricks

Did you know that if you enter a phone number into Google -- it'll tell you who it belongs to, the address and provide a link to a map.

If you enter a tracking number -- it leads right to the freight company (like FedEx)

If you enter a formula -- it figures it out.

If you enter a bar code -- it decodes it.

Goals? What Goals?

A recent survey of company workers commissioned by Franklin Covey found:

  • Only 48% of workers say their firm has a clear strategic direction, and only 37% understand the reason for that direction.

  • 56% of workers say that their organization has not clearly identified its most important goals.

  • 46% of workers don’t understand what they are supposed to do to help their organization reach its goals.

The study points out that there is a serious misalignment between the daily activities of front-line workers and the organization’s goals.  The top priority of every executive and team leader should be to clarify, communicate and assist workers in achieving the organization’s goals.

Need help in communicating your organization’s goals? Ask us.

And the Engineers Say:

Embedded Engineering conducted a study of 4,000 engineers and programmers about how they obtain product information and purchase products. Survey says:

  • 52% pro-actively search for vendors on their own as opposed to passively responding to ads or articles.

  • 95% use Internet search engines with Google being their number 1 choice.

  • Brand image (39%) and community reputation (48%) are more important than technical specifications (13%) for finalizing a purchase decision.

  • 91% find Enewsletters useful (like the one you are reading now), and 50% believe that unsolicited permission-based email ads can be useful.

  • 43% now read printed publications less since the advent of the Internet, but 41% read print just as much.

While this study was conducted on embedded products engineers, it probably isn’t a stretch to say the same results would apply to just about any engineer.

Additional Media II Location

In May, we opened an additional office in Rock Hill, South Carolina to serve clients in the Southeastern US. Heading up that office is Ray Weiss, a veteran of Reliance Electric/Rockwell Automation. Ray offers his many years of marketing communications, marketing, operations and management expertise to help our clients increase the effectiveness of their marketing programs.

Jobs Wanted

A Cleveland-area manufacturer just laid off several folks from its communications department. If you are looking for a writer, artist, marcom manager, etc. for your staff, let us know and we’ll hook you up.

Sales Manager – Strong experience in setting strategies, leading sales organizations and boosting sales in automotive, electronics and business services industries. Ask for a resume.

Bad Headlines

March Planned for Next August

L.A. Voters Approve Urban Renewal by a Landslide

Patient at Death’s Door - Doctors Pull Him Through

Stadium Air Conditioning Fails – Fans Protest

Queen Mary Having Bottom Scraped

Women’s Movement Called Broad-Based

Antique Stripper to Display Wares at Store

Teacher Strikes Idle Kids

Lawyers Give Poor Free Legal Advice

Quote of the Month

Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate; now what's going to happen to us with both a Senate and a House?

-- Will Rogers

Bumper Sticker of the Month

Borrow money from pessimists - they don't expect it back.

The Public Bath?

In ancient times, public baths were places that men of learning and curiosity gathered to exchange ideas. Today those places no longer exist (unless you count hot tubs), so we've tried to adapt the bath's open freewheeling tone into a newsletter. We hope you'll read our Public Bath in just that spirit.

The Public Bath is not "first-thing-on-Monday" reading. Rather, it is more like "fifteen-minutes-till lunch on Friday" or, "on hold" reading. Some material is amusing, some sociological, some newsy and we hope -- all thought-provoking.

We also want to answer your questions and hear your reactions. Have a topic you would like us to explore? Let us know that too. After all, public baths are places for both listening and talking.

About Media II, Inc. – Media II is a full-service marketing communications firm that specializes in serving business-to-business marketers in a wide variety of industries. We offer marketing communications planning, print and email advertising, public relations, sales literature development, graphic design, direct mail, web site development, webcasting, database publishing, and search engine placement services. Like to know more? Visit our web site www.mediaii.com

Media II, Inc. / 34900 Chardon Road / Willoughby Hills, OH 44094 / 440-975-8201 / www.mediaii.com

If you have a topic you would like to see us address or if you would prefer not to receive this newsletter, please let us know. Email roy@mediaii.com
Media II, Inc. – 2778 SOM Center Road – Suite 200 – Willoughby Hills, OH 44094 – V: 440-943-3600 – F: 440-943-3660