Popular Articles

Sweet marketing music

Tanner Montague came to town from Seattle having never owned his own music venue before. He’s a musician himself, so he has a pretty good sense of good music, but he also wandered into a crowded music scene filled with concert venues large and small.But the owner of Green Room thinks he found a void in the market. It’s lacking, he says, in places serving between 200 and 500 people, a sweet spot he thinks could be a draw for both some national acts not quite big enough yet for arena gigs and local acts looking for a launching pad.“I felt that size would do well in the city to offer more options,” he says. “My goal was to A, bring another option for national acts but then, B, have a great spot for local bands to start.”Right or wrong, something seems to be working, he says. He’s got a full calendar of concerts booked out several months. How did he, as a newcomer to the market in an industry filled with competition, get the attention of the local concertgoer?

read more
by Andrew Tellijohn
September 2008

Related Article

Real estate

Read more

2-minute meeting

INFORMER

[2-minute meeting]
by Beth Ewen

Sustainable products can lead
to growth, Women@Work
conference speaker says

?Seventy-five percent of how much energy a product uses over its lifetime is determined in the design stage, yet of the 59 design schools in the U.S., only a handful have even an elective on the topic.?

So said Jacquelyn Ottman, president of J. Ottman Consulting Inc., in her kickoff address at the Women@Work conference in May, presented by Minnesota Women in Marketing & Communications.

She advocates sustainable development as a pathway to business growth, and defines sustainable development this way: meeting the needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

?People used to be concerned about price and performance? when it comes to consumer products, she said. ?Now they want to know about raw materials, manufacturing, packaging, marketing, etc.? Ottman said. ?All these concerns are creating opportunities for businesses to address these concerns proactively.?

For example: The U.S. government won?t buy computers unless they?re Energy Star, and the U.S. government is the largest buyer of computers in the world.

Will consumers pay a premium for a green product? ?Yes,? Ottman said, ?if the product will save them money; if it will save the planet; if it?s better for their health; if it tastes better.
?Try to look at all the different reasons why someone would want to buy that product. You may need three different messages to get the maximum share.?

Ottman shares her rules of green marketing. Consumers must be concerned about the issues, feel they can make a difference, believe your claims, feel your product works, afford any premium and feel it?s worth it.

She cited the case of Whirlpool, coming out with the first CFC-free refrigerator several years ago. ?But the product died on the vine.? Why? ?Whirlpool misjudged consumer willingness to pay a 10 percent premium. People didn?t know what CFCs were,? Ottman said.

Ottman cautioned businesses: ?Don?t be a greenwasher. You have to show what you?re doing to reduce your own carbon footprint.

?Because these issues are so important to people, there?s an opportunity to strike a very, very emotional chord with consumers.?

Nifty gifts: Attendees received a cardboard briefcase stuffed with offers, including an issue of Upsize magazine (Upsize was the media sponsor) and, even better to some, an offer for 20 percent off Urban Junket handbags: www.urbanjunket.com (but the offer has since expired.)

Try to make it to: Minnesota Women in Marketing and Communications plans to make the Women@Work conference an annual event, and offers regular programs:  www.mnwc.org. A learning library of conference materials is at www.mnwomenatwork.org


Economist editor keynotes
Hendrickson Institute
confab at Saint Mary?s

A mixed crowd of business highbrows and Jesuit priests packed the Nicollet Island Pavilion in Minneapolis to hear John Micklethwait, editor-in-chief of The Economist, paint his picture of the global economy.

Brother Louis DeThomasis, chancellor of Saint Mary?s University of Minnesota and the event?s host, introduced the topic of globalization, and touched on its effect on the world?s poor. ?It?s serious, we know that,? he said. Saint Mary?s sponsors the Hendrickson Institute for Ethical Leadership, which presented the spring program.
Micklethwait took a 30,000-foot view. ?It?s very easy to get distracted by a topsy-turvy world,? he said. ?It?s easier to be a day trader or a blogger than a CEO or editor. We must try to step back and ask, what is the bigger picture?

?When we look back at the last two years the most significant fact will not be the gyrations of the economy,? he said. ?It will be a statistic: For the first time for over a century, half of the income has come from emerging countries.?

The biggest economies now are the United States followed by Germany and Japan. By 2040, they will be China, the United States and India. He pointed out that China and India were the biggest economies, in the 1800s.

?It?s proof that classic liberalism works: free trade, open markets, open minds,? Micklethwait said. ?If this revolution has been an overwhelming good thing for everybody, it?s been particularly good for three groups: chief executives, the rich, and me.? (He showed a chart with circulation doubling in 10 years at The Economist, to laughter.)

?Should we feel happy? Smug? The answer is no. We should feel worried. There?s a perfect storm building.

?What I?m really worried about is the insecurity that globalization is spreading.? And with that he wrapped up his talk, making the audience see why he had warned them at the beginning of his remarks: ?I will deliver a piece of paranoid provocation.?

Honored at the event: Warren and Mary Lynn Staley were the first recipients of the Hendrickson Medal for Ethical Leadership. He is retired chairman of Cargill Inc.; she is a retired schoolteacher and on the board of Opportunity International, a microfinance organization.

Try to make it to: The Hendrickson Institute hosts the Business Owners? Roundtable, monthly discussions of ethical issues affecting business owners: Lindsay McCabe, executive director: 612.728.5219; www.smumn.edu

Divas of Bloomington Civic
Theatre belt tunes to benefit
Breast Cancer Awareness group

The divas of Bloomington Civic Theatre delivered songs from ?Rent,? ?Mame,? ?Wicked? and more in an original show in July to benefit the theater and the Breast Cancer Awareness Association. Spoken pieces were part of the poignant show as well.

Called ?The Breast of Broadway,? the show was the first collaboration of the organizations, and the brainchild of Bonnie Erickson, producer, and Bloomington Civic Theatre board member Cory Johnson, event chairman.

The fundraiser ?was the most significant project I have taken on since I began producing shows for BCT in 2003. As a multiple cancer survivor, this subject is near and dear to my heart,? Erickson wrote in a program note.

?My intention right from the beginning was to put a new face on cancer and how it is viewed. And I hope we are successful in accomplishing that for you,? Erickson continued.

Marketing tip: Johnson hosted a preview party in May on the rooftop bar of the Chambers Hotel to generate interest and ticket sales in the event, a practice he says is common on the coasts but rare in the Twin Cities.

Try to make it to: “Crazy for You? runs through Sept. 14 at Bloomington Civic Theatre: 952.563.8575; www.bloomingtoncivictheatre.org. The Breast Cancer Awareness Association hosts its Seventh Annual Education Conference, Living with Breast Cancer, Oct. 11: 763.548.1306; www.bcaamn.org

Three companies win
honors from Neighborhood
Development Center

Taqueria Los Ocampo took top honors from the Neighborhood Development Center in its annual entrepreneurial awards this spring.

Owned by Armando Ocampo and Liliana Zagal, the Mexican restaurant in Minneapolis and St. Paul has expanded to four locations and posted $2.2 million in revenue in 2007, up from $1.8 million the year before.

Jakeeno?s Pizza and Pasta and Trattoria in Minneapolis won for business growth, with 2007 revenue topping $289,000. They started another location in the Midtown Global Market recently, and expanded to add wholesale grocery there.
Surad Interpreting & Translating Co. in Minneapolis won for community impact, for its service in offering multilingual interpretations and translation service to medical and health care operations.

Try to make it to: The Neighborhood Development Center, in St. Paul, will take nominations for its annual awards later this year, and offers ongoing programs to help entrepreneurs. Its mission is ?building neighborhood economies from within.?: 651.291.2480; www.ndc-mn.org.