Bulletin

Advertising and Marketing Division
Spring 2003
Editor Kristine Spanier,
Carmichael Lynch

Contents A Message from the Co-Chairs A Message from the Co-Chairs Elect Researching Brand Stories Information Overload: Après Le Deluge A Look Inside…Jennifer Guberman Doing Our Part Our Favorite Resources A View from Inside the Task Force: An Interview with Holly Bussey Vendor News Bulletin Submissions

A Message from the Co-Chairs

Gwen Loeffler & Stephen Fleming

If you have not already registered for the June conference, don’t delay! Our division is presenting a number of high-quality programs that you won’t want to miss.

Check out the full line-up at:
http://www.sla.org/division/dam/events/2003programs.html

Be sure to join us for the Division’s Open House being sponsored by Mintel on Monday, June 9, from 6:30 – 8:00 pm. We will welcome and introduce new members, recognize contributions made by existing members and raffle off special prizes.

We also hope that you will join us for the Business Luncheon on Tuesday, June 10. We have reserved the Rialto Room at Remi Restaurant, an elegant, fun establishment just down the block from the Hilton.  It’s a time to socialize, attend to division business and savor the three-course lunch provided by chef Francesco Antonucci. Click here to see the menu.

With the re-branding of SLA this year, our professional image is high in everyone’s mind.  Because of this, we expect an especially large turn-out for “Ad Lib: The Advertised Librarian” on Tuesday, June 10, a lively, multimedia presentation analyzing how librarians have been portrayed in ads.

The Advertising Library Tours on Thursday, June 12 are also filling up fast, so be sure to RSVP ASAP if you’d like to join us. Call 212-210-3983.  NOTE: You must be registered for the conference before you can be put on the list.

Finally, Division members are encouraged to attend the board meetings on Sunday, June 9, and Wednesday, June 11. If you are interested in participating more in Division activities, or wish to learn more about leadership opportunities, this is your chance! You can find out more about all of the Division’s leadership positions on our website at: http://www.sla.org/division/dam/members/officers.html

We have enjoyed serving as Co-Chairs this year. We have met so many of our colleagues and forged many new friendships. At the conference in June, we will pass the reigns over to Jen Hahs and Betsy Hoza who will lead the division and organize programs for next year’s conference in Nashville. We encourage anyone interested in becoming Chair for the 2005 term to contact us. The annual conference will be held in Toronto in 2005, and in Baltimore in 2006.

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A Message from the Co-Chairs Elect

Jen Hahs and Betsy Hoza

Nashville Needs You!

We’ve been plugging away at finalizing program planning for the 2004 SLA Conference in Nashville.

Speakers are currently lined up for:

• "Best of the Web for Advertising & Marketing"
• "Archiving an Agency. How Old is Your Agency?"
• "How to Analyze Data and Add Value to Your Information"

We are still looking for speakers for the following program ideas:

• "Targeting that Niche Consumer Information / Media Tools Unveiled"
• "Don't be an Island! Partner Up for Success"
• "Jingles and Trademark Issues"

If you’d like more information on any of these program ideas or would like to suggest an alternate topic, please contact Jen Hahs at jhahs@martinwilliams.com.

See you in NYC!

Researching Brand Stories

Sara Stein
Knowledge Management Specialist
The Bates Group, New York

“Can you get me a list of products with brand stories?”

This question was recently posed to the Bates Knowledge Management Department. A reference interview clarified the request: The patron wanted to know about products with packaging that provides biographical or historical details about the brand or its inventor. It turned out that the requester was researching ideas for a liquor brand, was particularly interested in grocery products, and needed the information in three days.

I immediately sized up the question as one in which conventional research resources and methods would probably be less effective than . . . well . . . just looking around. Life experience led me to believe that grocery products carrying the maker’s name would be more likely to have stories. In fact, the first thing I did was to search my pantry and refrigerator for products. I also posted the question to the DAM listserv—which netted me about a half-dozen helpful suggestions. Later on, I sought inspiration in the aisles of neighborhood stores.

What I found was not what I expected. Celeste pizza boxes, for example, do not carry a story (although the Celeste website has information about Mama Celeste). Nor did the cartons of Celestial Seasonings tea or Ben & Jerry’s ice cream I checked. And Paul Newman’s products carry stories, all right, but they’re tongue-in-cheek tales meant to amuse, not inform—a variation that hadn’t occurred to me. Moreover, a DAM member’s mention of a whiskey brand led me to check out beer and alcohol—a category I hadn’t initially considered but which yielded numerous finds.

Along the way, I learned that brand stories could mean anything from one-liners on Jack Daniel’s to a fairly detailed paragraph on Famous Amos cookie packages.

The list that follows is by no means definitive or exhaustive; it does, however, give a very general idea of what’s out there:

• Absolut vodka

• Anchor Steam beer

• Dos Equis beer

• He’Brew, the Chosen Beer

• Mike’s Hard Lemonade (most information is on the six-packs, brief copy on the bottles)

• Coors beer

• Jack Daniel’s whiskey

• Tom’s of Maine (selected products only)

• Famous Amos cookies

• Newman’s Own (various products, such as salad dressings)

• Morningstar Farms garden burgers and other products
  RW Knudsen juices

• Garden of Eatin’ chips

Plus: I never did see these products mentioned by others:

• Miss Vickie's kettle-cooked potato chips

• Smart Food Popcorn

My thanks to those responding to the posting: Karen K. Trimberger, Jo‑Ann McQuillan, Nigel Oxbow, Donna Gay, and Patricia Petruga.

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Information Overload: Après Le Deluge

Senior Information Specialist and Division member Carole Goldstein authored the April Consumer Trends Report published by Ketchum’s Global Research Network. According to the Ketchum website, “The report explores the myriad information sources bombarding consumers around the world and provides a look at trends and their implications for communicators specializing in the following public relations practices: brand marketing, food & nutrition, healthcare, technology, corporate and workplace communications.” You can read Carole’s report at: http://www.ketchum.com/DisplayWebPage/0,1003,1901,00.html

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A Look Inside…Magnet Communications with Jennifer Guberman, Director, Information Services

by Kristine Spanier

Please tell us a little about your background.

I have a BA from Brown in American Civilization and my MILS is from Pratt.

I grew up in extremely rural New Hampshire, but moved to the big city right after college.  My first library job was at age 12, when I volunteered at the Keene Public Library, just so I could help out.  I later took an actual paid job as a shelver at the Keene Public Library.  I worked in Interlibrary Loan at Brown for four years, and that is when I discovered I really wanted to be in research and information science.  I worked as a freelance photo researcher on Broadway shows until I took a full-time job at the Corbis archives. I left Corbis to go work at Forbes in their Information Center and began my journey into information science.

How did you get to Magnet?

I was at Kratz and Jensen when it was acquired to become part of Magnet.  I joined K&J when I decided I wanted to work more with computers, and I started out as a Tech Analyst.  I quickly worked up to being the Manager of Information Services and then developed an Information Center there.  When we became part of Magnet, I joined the Information Centers of the other companies that formed Magnet.

What kind of company is it?

Magnet Communications is a full-service public relations and communications firm.  We do everything from straight PR to branding to research!

Who are some of your big clients or what industries does Magnet mostly do work for?

Magnet really covers the gamut of industries.  We have clients in technology, wines& spirits, beauty, telecommunications, financial services, and healthcare - as well as many others.  Some of our larger clients include IBM, Bombay Sapphire, Nortel Networks, JVC, Ameritrade, and Johnson & Johnson.

How big is the information center? How many information workers are there?

We're now three people in two locations.  I work out of New York with our Research Analyst, and our Senior Technical Analyst works out of Oregon.  We are almost entirely an electronic information center.

What sort of research do you provide?

We provide everything from secondary research to assistance with primary research.  We do a lot of research to support new business, but we also do research to support our clients.  We provide competitive intelligence, company backgrounders, statistics - you name it.  We work on surveys and focus groups, too.

Who do you service in the company?

We service mostly the account staff, but we often service the clients directly and do client work.

What resources do you typically use?

We rely heavily on Factiva, Lexis-Nexis and Hoover's for paid services.  We also rely heavily on the Internet.

What web sites do you find yourself going back to again and again?

We are so dependent on Google that one of our researchers was unable to access it for a day, and she was so lost she switched computers!  I love Google News for getting my news in the morning, especially when I am trying to track certain topics or clients. I think Google Images is the best Image search engine on the Web. I also really love Statistical Resources on the Web (www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html) for finding statistical data.  OneLook.com is always my dictionary.  I love the way it links to many different dictionaries on the Web.  Finally, for quotations, I love Quoteland.com.

Do you have any favorite print resources?

I think all my favorite print resources are available electronically now, either on the Internet or on CD-ROM!  It's hard to believe.

How do you deliver your results?

Almost 100% electronically.  Our users like to receive results over e-mail.  We also service eight offices so that's often necessary.

Do all of your requests come in over e-mail? How do you handle the reference interview?

Almost all requests come over e-mail, but we do have the occasional phone call or walk-up.  Most people have a researcher they prefer to use, and they e-mail that person directly, but we have an e-mail list that we're all on so that we see all the requests as they come in.

Since it's very hard to conduct a reference interview over e-mail, I encourage the researchers to pick up the phone and call someone if the request isn't crystal clear.  We've all definitely done research before and found out it wasn't what people wanted, of course, so now we're much better about asking questions of people BEFORE we start!

Do you follow up on the requests after you've turned over your search?

Yes, that's one of the requirements of the researchers in the process.  They are expected to follow up two to three days later to find out if the information was helpful.  We keep a chart to tell us how often we're contributing in a helpful fashion to the people here.  I think it's important to follow up to make sure that the person's needs have been met.  Sometimes we haven't delivered what the person needs, but they don't want to come back to let us know, and it isn't until we go to them that we find out that.

Do you offer any value-added services like analysis of the search results?

Yes, analysis is expected on every request.  We have gotten extremely positive feedback since we implemented that procedure.  While it was not uncommon before to give people a stack of articles, we now give them the articles accompanied by a summary that highlights what the person needed to know.  I think this is also a crucial service we need to provide as information professionals.  It gives our work  value beyond a data dump.  I am often asked why "anyone" can't do research.  I always explain that we're trained do it faster and better, but also that we can provide a much higher level of analysis that gives people exactly what they need.

What's a recent interesting request that you can share with us? How did you find the answer?

One interesting question we had recently involved how many people ate restaurant food at home (take-out, basically) and if that number had changed in the last year.  It was hard, but we went right to the National Restaurant Association.  They not only had some great information on their site, they are always so helpful when you call.

How long have you been a member of SLA and DAM?

SLA - three years
DAM - one year

What do you gain through your membership?

I learn so much.  I love the listserv, and the people who are also members.

Thanks to Jennifer for participating in this month’s “A Look Inside.” If you’d like to be profiled in an upcoming edition of the DAM bulletin, please contact Kristine Spanier at kspanier@clynch.com.

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Doing Our Part

by Gwen Loeffler

The renaming and rebranding of the Special Libraries Association has been a major topic for discussion on many discussion lists and at Chapter meetings. The entire April edition of Information Outlook (http://www.sla.org/pubs/serial/io/2003/apr03/index.html),  SLA members only, was dedicated to issues surrounding the potential adoption of a new name. While Division member Holly Bussey has play a vital role in the Branding Task Force, the Division as a whole has not participated in the process in a significant way.

In March, we changed all that. Division member Chris Olson approached me with an idea to offer up our unique knowledge and understanding of naming and branding strategies through the establishment of an annotated bibliography that would be available to all SLA members. Chris created a special list for the site, and Division members recommended additional sources. And on March 5^th, The Branding Resource was born http://www.sla.org/division/dam/resources/branding.html. The Division website received more than 3,000 hits on that date alone. Today, the resource contains links and references to articles, white papers, case studies and much more.

The Branding Resource has been recognized as a valuable tool for information on rebranding and renaming strategies within the association and from the outside. Incoming SLA President, Cindy Hill, wrote to express her appreciation of the Resource. “I just wanted to let you – and your division – know how excited I am to see this type of resource developed for the current association-wide branding discussion and for the possible future uses. I really appreciate this synergistic partnering in our association as it’s an excellent example of tapping into each other’s strengths, knowledge and passion.”

And in the April issue of The Best of the Business Web, a monthly e-newsletter published by FindSVP, The Branding Resource was singled out as one of the best business research sites. They recommended that individuals “consider this source when you are involved in a branding or naming project and need to quickly get up to speed on how to go about the process.”

Thank you to Chris Olson for conceiving of the Resource, and to everyone who contributed additional citations and links.

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Our Favorite Resources

From The Best of the Business Web eLetter, April 2003

SITE:    Branding Resource List

URL:     http://makeashorterlink.com/?N2C312F34

CATEGORY:    ADVERTISING AND MARKETING

PURPOSE:    A collection of resources and recommended readings on naming and branding strategies. Resources identified include books, articles and papers, Web sites and case studies.

FEE/FREE:    FREE

SOURCE CHECK:    This page was created by information and marketing consultant Chris Olson of Chris Olson & Associates (http://www.chrisolson.com,) and published by the Advertising and Marketing Division of the Special Libraries Association (SLA). SLA is the professional association of business librarians and other information professionals.

OUR VIEW:    The appealing thing about this collection is having Chris Olson's annotations, which she appends to many of the resources she identifies. Consider this source when you are involved in a branding or naming project and need to quickly get up to speed on how to go about the process.

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A View from Inside the Task Force: An Interview with Holly Bussey

As you have heard, members of the Special Libraries Association will have the opportunity to vote on a new name for the association during the Annual Conference in June. The Branding Task Force has spent years studying the potential affects of rebranding and renaming the association and has presented its findings and recommendations.

To gain additional insight, the Advertising & Marketing Division has invited Holly Bussey, a member of the Task Force and long-time Division member, to share her thoughts on the project. Holly has been a member of the Division since 1984. She was Chair of the Division from 1989-1990, and Bulletin Editor from 1992-1993. In 2000, she was presented with our Award of Merit recognizing her many achievements and contributions to the Division. Holly is currently Account Services Manager at EBSCO Information Services where her responsibilities range from quality management and problem solutions to new product and new business development. Holly was Vice President, Manager of Information at NW Ayer Advertising in New York City where she provided value-added information and developed a global information network used to coordinate new business efforts.

You are currently a member of the Branding Task Force, but discussions about the rebranding of the association started long before the Task Force was established in 2000. When did it all begin, and what role did you and the Division play?

A long time ago (mid-late 1980’s) and in a place far away, several members of the Ad/Marketing Division presented a MEDIA PLAN. It was in the late 80’s.  The presenters included Gretchen Reed, Hollace Rutkowski and myself but many in the Division were involved with the concepts presented. At that time we discussed why a positive image, public relations, good branding, and positioning SLA as a proactive organization, was key to the survival of SLA and its members. The plan was ambitious and thought provoking…maybe a little ahead of its time.  There are members who still remember this initiative and are pleased to see it’s coming to fruition.  Time, as the Buddhist would say, is not relevant, movement and the now is what matters, so here we are!

What happened after your initial presentation to the Board? 

What evolved into the PR Committee for SLA became part of the response. Initially there was a concerted effort to bring a more professional level of PR to the SLA organization. Our presentation was ambitious and cost money.  At the time, the Board and the general membership had other more pressing issues to resolve.  Some steps and an initial strategic plan were developed with stages that could be implemented as time went on. It wasn’t the sweeping change we wanted to see, but we were all relatively ‘new’ in the organization and working with the system was not our strongest point.  Since that time, others have taken the gauntlet and the Media Plan has evolved and grown and is relevant to the time and situation of the current SLA.

Why did interest in the initiative wane?

I don’t think the initiative interest lessened, rather other issues became more important. It’s like a priority list for new product development. Every organization has a limited number of resources (R&D) and there is a constant examination of how to best allocate the limited funds to achieve return.  For SLA, the return was not clearly visible in the 80’s as it is today.  The Ad/Marketing folks were ahead of the curve for what SLA in general needed to do at the time.  This is not a criticism, but rather, we’re all part of a journey and are at different stops in the journey. Organizations are living organisms and grow when they are ready.

What rekindled the interest in the project in the late 90s that led to the formation of the Branding Task Force?

Susan DiMattia took the initiative to look at SLA and create task forces to study all aspects of the organization. Branding was but one task force.  Her idea was to truly begin to re-position SLA for the next millennium. Each one examined their area and reported their findings in a timely manner. There were five task forces:

1. Branding—established to consider official adoption of a new name for the association;

2. Conference Planning Structure—to evaluate and consider conference planning and SLA staff role;

3. Membership—to develop a membership strategy recommendation especially aimed at students;

4. Partnerships—to develop a rationale and action items for creating strategic partnerships;

5. Task Force to Simplify Association Unit Structure—to review the SLA organization and recommend changes to eliminate unnecessary administrative tasks.

All of these task forces reported back at the Annual conference in 2001.  Only the Branding Task Force was asked to continue to assist in moving forward what became a clear initiative for SLA.  There are specific links to each task force on the SLA website that members can refer to if they are interested in more information. Visit http://www.sla.org/content/memberonly/taskforces/index.cfm

Can you give us a summary of the efforts the Task Force has made with this branding issue?

The task force was comprised of members who had experience in advertising, public relations, marketing, strategic planning. Our first task was to gather a list of companies together responsible for branding. We then created an RFP and recommended one company to the Board after careful evaluation.  We collaborated with this firm as our initial impressions of them were that they were cognizant of “where we were coming from” and more importantly where we wanted to go. However, even the initial suggestions produced  indicated a gap in understanding which we felt could not be bridged.  We began the journey with them, gleaned information, and we continued on our way without them. From that point on, the task force took the information and continued the branding process as well as keeping members informed.   More information on the whole process can be read about in the FAQ on the SLA website.

What has been the greatest challenge faced by the Task Force in its 2+ years?

Wow, this is purely one woman’s opinion, but I think many on the task force would agree. One of the biggest challenges was that people reacted initially from their gut….a purely emotional response. The task force really struggled to have people gain information and evaluate objectively…taking the emotion out of it. Without full information, there initially was a spread of false information.  It caused a lot of negative feelings and angst and truly dismayed some members.

Again, this is my opinion, but I was surprised at how angry members reacted to change. SLA, to me, has always been comprised of visionary thinkers. Indeed, our profession (at least my understanding of it) is one that is constantly exposed to new ideas and new concepts.  How we incorporate changes, how we do our work, and our impact on our parent organizations are our strongest assets. After the initial shock, we, as a task force, discussed how to help people move from an emotional place to one of looking at the issue with a more open mind.

How did the Task Force narrow down the list of possible names to just two?

Not a simple answer, again, the FAQ addresses much of the timeline of the process.  In a nutshell, it’s been a long and well-thought-out process that was part scientific (based on good marketing polling skills) and part artistry (to be flexible to re-work as we went along based on input). We constantly communicated with members, and those interested in our profession (via surveymonkey, reports at meetings, presentations) The task force constantly worked, polled, surveyed, and discussed with members for three years.  We started off with a long list asking for input. Then, based on each subsequent polling and feedback, whittled it down.  The list actually ebbed and flowed in size several times as membership responses and suggestions were received and included in the process.   We then re-worked the list, re-polled and with the results, came up with two names most suited for taking a vote.

Since the presentation of the Task Force’s findings and recommendations at the Winter Meeting, many Association members have voiced their opinions and concerns. How has the Task Force responded to their comments?

We’ve tried to address questions and concerns in the FAQ, which has been added to regularly based on membership questions.  Stephen Abram, our current task force chair, is scheduling a series of five international conference calls for all time zones to accommodate additional questions.  He’s also working on a PowerPoint presentation with his voice-over for placement on the website.  Stephen and other task force members (yours truly included) are visiting or have visited many chapters talking directly to them and will continue to do so over the next few months.

The task force has made every effort to communicate with the membership at large.  We’ve set forth a clear process and shared with membership each step of the way. There’s been no attempt to hide anything over these past three years.  I may sound a bit defensive with that last statement, but we’ve been ‘accused’ of not communicating and frankly, that just isn’t the case.  We have documentary evidence to the contrary.  It’s just a bit hurtful to be accused by peers when we are a group of volunteers who are trying our best to serve their Association.

Can you predict what lies ahead for the association if a new name is decided upon at the Annual Conference in June?

No, I don’t think it’s appropriate to predict.  The task force has made our recommendation and we need to see how the members vote. Whatever the outcome, we hope this is the end of the debate, and we all get behind the name -- whatever it is -- and move on. We’ve been talking about this for a LONG time. We’ve now gone through the process and it’s time to make a decision. Once the decision is made, we need to move on as a unified group and not lose site of the prize---advancing our profession.

Members can find more information on the findings and recommendations of the Branding Task Force on their website at http://www.sla.org/content/SLA/assocbrand/index.cfm. The Advertising & Marketing Division has also assembled a list of readings that members can use to make a more informed choice about a new name. Our list can be found on The Branding Resource at http://www.sla.org/division/dam/resources/branding.html.

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Vendor News

Dialog: Change in Indexing Policy in Business & Industry Database

For any of you who relied on the individual consumer group terms in B&I (file 9) such as Hispanic Market or Baby Boomer Market, as of Jan 2003 these terms are no longer being applied. 

They are being replaced by a broader term - Target Markets.

Here's a quick search tip for making sure you get all the hits you need.

On Dialog

S (affluent()market or target( )markets)/de and (affluent or upscale or luxury)/ti

S (African( )american or target( )markets)/de and (African()American? or blacks)/ti

S (Hispanic( )market or target( )markets)/de and (hispanic? or latino or spanish()speaking)/ti

For a complete list of these search hints contact Tesse Santoro at Dialog.  tesse.santoro@dialog.com. Thanks to Julie Zilavy of the 4A's for catching this one.

Bulletin Submissions

We are always looking for submissions from our division. We publish the bulletin four times a year, so send in your articles and ideas and anything else you’d like to see in print, and it will be published in our next bulletin. I’m particularly looking for someone to interview for our next “A Look Inside” – if you’d like to have your library and your job profiled, please contact me. And please keep sending me your favorite resources. We’d like to grow this into a usable database for us all to benefit from. Questions? Call or write, 612.334.6031 or kspanier@clynch.com.