Many people think of Silverpop as a self-service marketing tools provider. And while most of our customers are self-service, we have a large number of high profile full-service clients as well. And, when we do work with clients on a full-service basis, we do it as well or better than anyone in the world.

I had the distinct honor last week of meeting the CEO of American Honda Motor Co., Tetsuo Iwamura, as he presented me and my colleagues at Silverpop with Honda's esteemed Premier Partner Award. From more than 1,000 eligible vendors, ranging from parts suppliers to firms that transport cars to dealers, Silverpop was recognized as one of the top partners for Honda here in the United States. And, it wasn’t until I attended the ceremony itself and saw a string of high-level execs, including the CEO himself, praise the work of Silverpop and a select set of other vendors, that I finally realized that their teams value Silverpop as much as our teams value Honda.

The heart of a truly great partnership is not measured solely by yesterday's deliverable or tomorrow's project plans, but also by the character and passion each party brings toward making the partnership successful. The marketing team at Honda has been tremendous to work with, and their support has been critical as we've worked together to evolve and grow the Honda email marketing programs over the years. Additionally, my deep gratitude goes to my colleagues at Silverpop who work with Honda, and to those who make the tools and services behind the scenes—you guys should take a short breather and pat each other on the back for a job well done.

Posted by at 5:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I bet you never thought you'd hear Twitter being compared unfavorably to voice mail … Think again.

SayNow, a free phone service that connects celebrities and their fans through voice mail, offers its customers something they say they don't get from Twitter—an experience that feels intimate and authentic.

You can read more in this New York Times article by reporter Brooks Barnes. In short, the service works by giving stars a personal phone number that they can publicize on their Web site, for example. SayNow's customers—mostly teenagers—can then call and listen to recorded messages of stars directly motivating or urging them to take an action. Callers can also leave voice messages of their own, which may be shared on the SayNow Web site. According to SayNow, the service is averaging about 10 million fan calls a month—double the number over this time last year.

Voice mail may seem old-fashioned compared to newer online social media. But once again, the key to great marketing is not the medium; it's the message.

Posted by at 1:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you’ve heard rumblings emanating from Maine and been caught by surprise, you're not alone. Nobody noticed when a new privacy law intended to protect teens from predatory marketers sailed through that state's legislature amidst a flurry of bills earlier this year. But now various groups and trade associations say the privacy law goes too far, and are working frantically to stop the measure before it goes into effect on September 12.

In a nutshell, the law, titled "An Act to Prevent Predatory Marketing Practices against Minors," states that teenagers can't give their personal or health information to marketers if they're under 18 without their parents' consent. It also bars marketers from selling or transferring the information if it individually identifies the minors, or will be used to market to them.

At first, it sounds like a great idea. We should definitely be protecting our children online. But this has created a huge uproar for a lot of reasons. First, the federal government has already enacted a law called the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which addresses many of these concerns. But it only applies to children under age 13. The Maine legislation seeks to impose restrictions on the collection of personal information from teens up to age 18.

The new law also requires marketers to obtain verifiable parental consent before they can gather information from minors. But how do you stop a determined teen from faking parental approval? Nevertheless, marketers can be held liable for damages in the courts by both the state and by private individuals.

The law is being challenged in court by several groups on First Amendment, interstate commerce and other grounds. The measure is unconstitutional, the plaintiffs say, because it violates teens' rights to free speech and prevents them from registering and receiving information about beneficial health care products and services. A coalition of Internet companies including AOL and Yahoo are also challenging the measure. They contend that the restrictions are so onerous that teens may not even be allowed to register at their Web sites.

So, very interesting stuff. From my reading, it appears the law has implications and consequences far beyond its original intention of protecting teens. Even the Maine attorney general said last Friday that the law is so poorly designed that her office will not enforce it.

I think the bottom line is, as we move forward trying to protect ourselves and our children from the Wild, Wild West of the Internet, it's going to be a whole lot harder than any of us want to believe.

You can read more about this issue in this Portland Press Herald article, and at MediaPost here, and here.

Posted by at 5:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)