WMG Interactive

Chris Rock, Tiger Woods and Advertising

The comedian Chris Rock once said that men are as loyal as their options.  It was a funny bit that made people laugh several years ago and it has been recently rehashed with the whole Tiger Woods saga that is unfolding before his adoring public.  The premise of the joke is that men are only loyal to a woman until a better one comes along.  Crude, but still funny.

Think about Rock's statement in terms of your driver recruitment advertising.  When I started in the trucking industry, I was in charge of a $2,000,000 annual budget that was spent entirely in print media.  Today, that same carrier spends $150,000 annually with very little assigned to print media and they are getting better results.  They were as loyal as they could be to the newsprint media until something better came along - and that is okay.

The "better option" that came along was the Internet.  My former employer is not the only one taking notice of the better option...take a look at any one of the current monthly trade magazines...they're paper thin (no pun intended).  The fact is that you can now get far better recognition, coverage, and customer service from the recruitment websites as opposed to the recruitment books.  So, why is it still so much more expensive to place a print ad as compared to a digital one?  As Chris Rock would say, some folks are mired in their current relationship and haven't discovered the better option yet.

Let go of the Blanket

Charles M. Schulz created a lovable character named Linus in his Peanuts cartoons that everyone could associate with as he refused to ever let go of his security blanket.  Not only did Linus always cling to his blanket, he often used it as a weapon or defense mechanism that would allow him to justify carrying it around.  I doubt that Schulz was looking into the soul of trucking executives when he designed Linus, but there sure are some similarities. 

In my scenario, the blanket is print advertising and Linus-like Recruiting Managers cling to it as if it may protect them and take them to a happier time when they could run a Sunday newspaper ad for $150 and the phones would ring off the hook on Monday.  Even Linus realizes that those days are gone and it's time to let go of the blanket.

I recently had two different clients that called our office to run a spot newspaper ad for immediate needs in specific locations.  After pricing the ads (both of which were approximately $400), I showed them how to use their vendor Internet sites to use databases to reach out to drivers domiciled in the specific areas.  Both clients were able to find enough qualified applicants that neither needed to run the newspaper advertising.  They were able to fully utilize advertising they had already paid for to solve a hiring issue without incurring additional costs.  They were able to let go of the blanket.

Don't let an advertising agency forget that they are supposed to be part of the team to create solutions - not invoices.  We all remember happier financial times and cling to the past at times but sometimes you've just go to let go.

Drivers are in a new world....are you?

Recruiting is making a comeback - slow though it may be, and you're going to need to hire drivers again soon.  While you've been gone, the driver has gone through a change.  A big change.  Online recruiting has officially taken over.  It's a new comparison shopper, magazine, billboard and radio broadcast all rolled into one.  You can chat or phone in a heartbeat.  It's fast and it's accurate and any driver can check out any carrier any time of the day or night any day of the week.  The Internet has taken a firm hold as the logical option for drivers and carriers who are looking for the maximum return on their advertising investment.  There may never be a full "recovery" per se, but you're either going to have to revise what you're doing or watch it pass you by.  That's reality.

Let me give you a little insight to today's driver.

• He's online checking out your website and your competitor's website.
• He's socializing, telling everyone what's happening in his world.
• He's tweeting, Facebooking, and Linked-In-ing. Social media has arrived!
• He's blogging about his experiences with you and your organization, for all the world to read.
• He's Googling - not picking up a "truck book".
• He's texting just as much if not more than CB-ing.
• He's Wi-Fi-ing in his truck, at the truck stop, at the shipper, and even at home.
• He's researching his career options after midnight.  Thousands of them are.
• He expects great service when asking questions, and does not want to wait for them.
• He can compare your company to another in a matter of seconds on any reputable recruiting site.
• He can come to work TODAY if you can get him approved.
• While you are qualifying him, he is qualifying you, and is probably talking to another carrier.

As you ponder these statements, and make the subsequent excuses about how they don't pertain to your organization; I hope you also think about how you'll answer and respond to them.  Recruiting is indeed making a comeback, but not the way it was.  Don't take my word for it - ask any daily newspaper.

So, are you prepared for the comeback?  Will the new driver go to work for you or your competition?

The Week That Was.

It's hard to believethat the Summer is already slowly coming to an end.  The proof is that I'm getting ready to go to the Great American Truck Show in Dallas next week, and the Cubs are slowly falling back in the baseball pennant race.  Both events have become end of summer traditions for me.  But before moving on to Dallas, we need to take a look at what news was generated in the world of driver-recruitment advertising this week.

"Exciting" is not a word used to describe trucking media very often, but the recent move by Randall-Reilly Publishing to outbid Target Media Partners for the exclusive rights to Pilot / Flying J truck stops has at least made the business "interesting" lately.  The barrage of weekly press releases are almost comical now, with each being very careful not to come right out and say, "We're better than them," but using every opportunity to imply it.  My favorite line from this week's Target Media Partners press release?  "Unlike Wall Street owned truck stop chains, Ambest stops are family owned and operated businesses and take pride in having the finest locations along the best routes, with great products and friendly service.  Truly they are America’s Best Truck Stops and Service Centers."  Classic.  Shame on those Wall Street folks for taking advantage of us by not having pride or the best locations or friendly service.

What is the best truck stop?  I certainly have no idea and am positive that you would get ten different answers if you asked ten different drivers, so all this "we've got exclusive rights to Truck Stop X" is all worthless unless the product you're selling provides the customer with a positive return on their investment.  So, other than the fact that it doesn't mean anything, it is great reading and quite entertaining in the meanwhile.

I hope you had a great week, and look forward to seeing everyone in Dallas.  Travel safe!

Internet Advertising Widens the Gap in July

"You cannot manage what you do not measure" is a mantra that was preached to me repeatedly in my early days of trucking at Heartland Express.  As much as I may have dreaded hearing it daily then, it is a mantra that I say repeatedly today.  The July 2009 numbers are in and it will come as no surprise that Internet advertising is widening the gap on print media as it pertains to contacts, cost per contact, and cost per hire. 

What may come as a surprise is that for the first time ever, some Internet sites outperformed their print media magazine counterparts in phone calls!  For years I've said that Internet recruiting would never fully replace print advertisement recruiting, and even used the example of how television and radio continue to co-exist long after "experts" claimed that TV would mean the demise of radio.  Now, I'm not so sure.

We've been able to decrease our overall client base's print media advertising 70% (some have eliminated it altogether) as compared to last year and have increased productivity at the same time.  Sure, you can point a finger to the economy, and that has surely had some influence, but we were doing this before the economic downfall of late.  The $2,500 that you used to have to spend to generate 200 phone calls for your Recruiters can now be done through a $500 spend on a reputable website.  I'm not throwing darts here....I have the proof.  Contact me, I'll go over it with you.

 

State of the Union (so to speak) in Trucking Media.

The business niche of driver-recruitment publishing has seen numerous changes over the past thirty days, and you almost need a separate publication to keep up with what is going on in the publication world.  So, short of doing that, I'll do my best to lay it all out there and see what we can make of it.

Flying J and Pilot Truck Stops recently announced a merger that will supposedly help bring Flying J back from the chapter 11 bankruptcy filings that took place in December 2008.  Before the merger announcement, Randall-Reilly Publishing's Truck Stops Express Division announced that it had secured exclusive distribution rights for it's network in both these truck stops.  This move by Randall-Reilly adds 509 truck stops to its distribution network, which now boasts "more than 1,000" locations, according to a recent press release.  The eight magazines that Randall-Reilly distributes to these truck stops each month?  Hang on to your hat and try to keep up - here goes.  Truckers News, NextTruck, Best Driver Jobs, Big Rig Owner, Changing Lanes, Owner-Operator/Company Driver, and RPM for Truckers. Whew.

On the other end of this spectrum was Target Media Partners, who lost the distribution rights for both Flying J and Pilot as a result of the Randall-Reilly deal.  However, in a statement released by Target Media Partners, they have "added hundreds of full service locations and increased 1,200 other locations off the main freeways, giving advertisers access to over 2,300 truck stops twice per month."  Sound confusing?  It is.  In addition to the "other locations" mentioned in the release, Target Media Partners will be distributed in Travel Centers of America, WILCO Hess, and Roady's Truck Stops.  They deliver nine magazines to these stops, including The Trucker, Trucker's Connection, Trucking 2000, Independent Contractor, ITJ, Down Time, Truck Job Seekers, Team Drivers, and On the Road Sportsman.

RAMP Publishing, who utilizes Randall-Reilly's Truck Stops Express to distribute their publications, OTR and Pro Trucker has announced some changes of their own.  According to Publisher Andy Shefsky, RAMP will suspend operations of OTR and Pro Trucker during the fourth quarter of 2009 while they introduce their new publication, Driver HEALTH to the market. Currently, the plan at RAMP is to reintroduce OTR and Pro Trucker back to the market in January 2010.

So, what does it all mean?  The three big players in the "trucking book" game have all three made some substantial changes that may or may not lead to more and bigger changes.  It wouldn't be beyond the realm of possibilities to think that Randall-Reilly and/or Target Media Partners may consolidate some of their respective publications, or stop publishing one or two altogether.  Down-sizing certainly seems to be the trend in today's economy.  Time will tell and we will keep you informed as we monitor these situations.

Mergers and acquisitions are not limited to print media, as Bruce Martin, President of Layover.com, recently announced the acquisition of Truck.net.  These are two pretty big players in the market, and it could lead to a trend of other acquisitions as the Internet continues to make huge gains in market share when it comes to driver recruitment advertising.  Again, we'll keep you informed as information becomes available.

Thanks for reading, hope to see you soon!

So, I'm a blogger. Now what?

I'm lucky to have brilliant people that work here.  They tell me what I should be doing and how I should be doing it.  The latest "must do" project for the President of the Company?  This blog.

I'll be completely honest in admitting that I've never been a fan of blogs or bloggers in general (not that I ever took the time to know one), but still.  For some reason, I associate blogs with politics and I tend not to get to involved in politics.  I've served on my local city council and even as Mayor, and I can tell you from personal experience that blogging about politics would be almost as much of a waste of time as serving in political office itself.

So, politics is out.  I doubt the world really cares what I do from day to day or how my kids are performing in their various sporting ventures or any other countless things I see people blog about, as they may relate to me.  So the question remains...what WILL I blog about?  I'm told that if I lay down brilliant prose about our Company and what we do, clients will be stepping over each other to ask for our services.  I don't know if that's true or not, but it's better than politics.  Thanks for taking the time to read the introductory and inaugural blog in a promising series of blogs that promises to be equally as mundane, although more and more brilliant every time!

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ALL AT THE SAME TIME

WMG Interactive specializes in Internet marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and Web site design. We know that when it comes to the Web, expectations are higher than ever. That’s why it’s so important to connect with professional drivers on the Web. We specialize in helping our clients leverage their Web sites to increase productivity and expand their reach. We know how to help our clients succeed using Google AdWords, banner advertising, pay-per-click advertising, and social media marketing as part of a comprehensive Internet Marketing Plan. Our goal is to create a sophisticated Web presence that connects with potential applicants and compels them to call your organization.