The NSSF Marketing Communications Symposium was developed to put industry and agency minds together to discuss topics that are, or could have dramatic effects on the shooting sports industry. Creating an environment to exchange ideas pertaining to these topics was the goal of this first meeting. Participating were marketing communication representatives from a Who’s-Who list of shooting sports manufacturers and marketing communications agencies specializing in the outdoor sports industry.

What was learned at this first meeting? NSSF plans and goals on a variety of sponsored activities and initiatives were presented. Feedback from the participants indicated to NSSF that they are heading in the right direction. NSSF realizes these ideas can’t occur in a vacuum and this first marketing symposium was an excellent way of keeping the line of communications open with their members. NSSF understands that listening is the secret to securing a positive future for shooting sports.

About NSSF - The National Shooting Sports Foundation is the trade association for the firearms industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of more than 5,500 manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers. For more information, log on to www.nssf.org.

Although the complete results of the competition are not published, Team Smith & Wesson was the Industry Division champion, while the pro team from Hornady took top honors in the Open Division. As participants departed from the range, old friends said their goodbyes and added their challenges for next year. Although a location has not been announced for the 2011 Masters, it is certain the success of the 2010 festivities will set expectations even higher for an exciting 2011 rematch.

Here’s a few ideas to help you frame your planning process.

• Are you doing or have you recently done a situational analysis to help you identify where you are, what’s changed, and what’s new? If you haven’t gone through the process in the past 12 months, you might want to do that. It can establish a baseline from which you can spring forward.
• Are you taking a hard look at how you’re spending your marketing budget…and what’s working? There are more tools available than ever before to help you evaluate where you’re getting results.
• Will you take a strategic approach this year? That means defining your objectives, identifying the strategies you’re going to implement and then detailing specifically how you’re going to get it done (execution of your plan).
• Are you considering every possible avenue to promote your business, products and services? Everything works. It’s just a matter of deciding what works best for you.
• Are you trying anything new this year? Have you included an online marketing component and do you have a strategy for what you’re trying to accomplish? Companies are getting tremendous response to online activities. Make sure you include this in your budget.
• Are you at least maintaining your marketing budget? This is not the time to cut back. We’re not out of the woods yet from an economic perspective so make sure you keep investing to keep customers and attract new ones.

If you would like some help this year getting your plan put together and really making it hum (versus ho hum), we would like to visit with you. Our marketing specialists utilize a proven process called Discovery, which can help you see where you are from an outside view and identify strategic marketing initiatives that can help you get where you want to go. For more information on Discovery, visit our web site at www.ecallis.com/discovery.

What kind of year are you planning for 2011?

Consider this:  in June, 2010, Android-based phones were being activated through wireless carriers at a rate of 160,000 per day, according to Google (developers of the Android platform). In its first three days, Apple sold 1.7 million iPhone 4s. Yet for now, Blackberrys still hold a larger market share than either Androids or iPhones.

Marketers follow crowds, and this smartphone-carrying crowd (over 45 million in the U.S. as of February 2010, and no doubt significantly more today) has quickly become a force.

From a marketer’s point of view, smartphones present a wealth of opportunity to interact with (and provide value to) customers. The power of connecting with customers right when they need you and right where they are just can’t be overlooked. This opportunity isn’t lost on technology-savvy marketers.

Hotel chains have deployed mobile-friendly websites and smartphone apps so their clients can check availabilities and then make or change reservations from their phone. Restaurants and pubs are encouraging the use of social meet-up tools like FourSquare by providing discounts to users who “check in” to their location (and thus bring their friends in) the most often.

B2Bs and businesses selling products or services that are less social by nature will also find great marketing opportunities via smartphones. These companies often use contextual ads that can be displayed on Google’s web-based Gmail. Then there are the barcode-like QR codes that can be distributed on business cards or flyers. When consumers scan the codes with their smartphone cameras, they may be directed to a website or provided with downloadable marketing or tech documents.

Smartphone marketing is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. But any organization that considers their digital marketing to be key to their marketing plan should gain at least a basic understanding of this quickly growing market, so they’ll be ready to put this new technology/communications tool to work.

So, with the exit of Nebraska to the Big 10 and Colorado to the Pac 10, fans and supporters are wondering if the Big 12 brand will be affected. I think it’s going to be fine….as long as they keep the name.

Some make the argument that you can’t have a Big 12 Conference with just ten teams, but I beg to differ. This issue comes down to brand equity (the value of the brand) and the Big 12 has built a solid brand through successful programs, big-time talent, national TV exposure and effective marketing.  Why throw that equity away and have to build a whole new brand from scratch? What’s the difference if the conference has 10 teams or 12 teams, because it lost no rivalries with the Cornhusker and Buffalo departures, teams will no doubt play a tougher schedule in the major sports,  and conference officials have promised an even greater TV payout.

Hats off to the Big 12 for staying together and showing signs of something even bigger and better! What do you think? Has the brand been tarnished or changed? Should they change the name? It’s most certainly being debated throughout the Midwest.

JoDee Buso, a.k.a “The Gatekeeper”

As a Receptionist/Administrative Assistant, JoDee is our greeter and handler of general administrative services for Callis. She has interaction with most company functions and personnel and all outside companies doing business with the company. Her primary objective is to provide operational stability and a good impression of the company to the public and company personnel.

JoDee is our “Gatekeeper,” meaning you must go through her to get to the rest of us! The phones ring like crazy most days, but JoDee has no problem multi-tasking and answering the phones in a friendly and courteous manner. Her role as a “Gatekeeper” though extends past work to her family and personal life. After a day in the office, JoDee is almost always on the run. She plays a significant role in each of her four grandkids’ lives from football practice to band or dance recitals, and then on to teach bible school. JoDee is always on the move!

Once the warm weather comes, JoDee can barely wait to hook up her camper to the back of her van and head out for a weekend full of outdoor adventures! Along with family and friends, she enjoys swimming, campfires and scavenger hunts. From time to time, she comes back to work the next Monday with sometimes minor, sometimes severe burns from “roughing” it out in the wild.

Beyond her family and camping, JoDee is an active member of her church, enjoys reading whenever she has the opportunity, and traveling to see her siblings. She also jumps at the chance to scrapbook whenever possible. After all, when you are on the move as much as she is, you have to take time-out every once in a while to look back and remember how much fun was had along the way!

So, one lesson we can learn from BP, is if you don’t already have a crisis communications plan in place, there is no better time than now to do one. This example is an extreme case, but crisis can mean any incident that draws negative media coverage and/or interferes with normal business activity. The goal of the crisis communications plan is to establish guidelines for dealing with a variety of situations, and to ensure that staff and communicators are familiar with those procedures and their roles in the event of a crisis. The plan provides policies and procedures for the coordination of communications within the organization, and between the organization and outside agencies such as media, regulatory agencies, customers, suppliers and the public.

From a practical application standpoint, a good crisis communications plan should do the following:

• Define and assign the crisis team, with an internal communications manager to lead.
• Outlines roles and responsibilities of the crisis team.
• Details steps to take in a crisis event by covering as many categories of potential crises as possible with responses for each.
• Indicates who to contact, resources that are available and procedures to follow.
• Provides a strategic plan to deal with media.
• Provides a platform for training, testing and improvement.

A good plan is structured, thorough, updated frequently and clear to those who are responsible for implementing it. Companies hope to never have to use it, but it is a must in any organization. Consider crisis planning as an insurance investment. Failure to address, contain and control a crisis can have negative consequences that may never go away. No company can afford that.

If your organization is ready for a crisis communication plan and is seeking an outside consultant, please contact us today.

Kelli Wofford, a.k.a “Social Butterfly”

As a Business Developer, Kelli is responsible for identifying and communicating with potential customers that could benefit from the use of Callis’ interactive and advertising services. She also provides administrative support within the agency.

Kelli enjoys surrounding herself with her closest friends and family, but she also enjoys meeting new people. She can almost always be found at charity auctions, community events, socials, etc. Every month Kelli attends the local Chamber of Commerce AM Exchange where she looks forward to the opportunity to network with members of the community. One of the most recent community events that she added to her agenda was leading the Callis & Associates’ Relay for Life team.

On weekends, Kelli enjoys going to the Lake of the Ozarks and jet skiing, boating, and of course, relaxing while getting a tan! She also loves to entertain. However, she fesses up that she isn’t the world’s best cook. If you ever attend a function that is organized by Kelli, please be sure to bring along plenty of enthusiasm. This bubbly blonde often gets over-excited, but disappointed when others don’t share her excitement.

Reading is one outlet that Kelli uses to unwind after a long day. She is a self-diagnosed Twilight fanatic. She has read all the books and even has a “Team Edward” shirt that she proudly wears to the movie theatre! If you happen to see Kelli out and about, please make sure to say hi - that is if she doesn’t approach you first!

Stay tuned as next week we will dish on another face of Callis. Hint: This Receptionist is our “Gatekeeper”.

Over the eight years that Callis & Associates has participated in the Relay for Life, the team has hosted themed dinners for the community to raise funds. This year, I helped organize 3 different dinners, which brought together friends and family to enjoy a home-cooked meal, while fighting cancer. We were also fortunate to have a beautiful homemade quilt and a set of 4 St. Louis Cardinal tickets to raffle off.

This experience has truly had an impact on me. Throughout the months leading up to the Relay, we worked hard as a team, and not only did we exceed our fundraising goal, but we came together as a team to benefit the community.

The Relay for Life event itself is an all-evening (12 hours to be exact) activity that starts at 6:00 pm and goes until the sun rises at 6:00 am. Being outside, awake, and walking the track the entire night can take a lot out of you, and that’s the point. Experiencing the Relay is meant to reflect the life of a cancer patient. Cancer does not sleep so neither do the participants. The 12 hours symbolize the journey a patient takes through the light and darkness of the day and night, experiencing the physical effects, emotions, and mental state.

Overall, it felt good to be there walking the track with friends and cancer survivors, while we are making a difference in the world. The survivors at the event had a special t-shirt, and on the back it said, “Happy Birthday is our victory song.” I find that so true. The more we can participate in cancer research, the more birthdays we all can celebrate. Thank you again to my Callis Team for making my first Relay such a success.

Many dedicated volunteers worked tirelessly to secure donations of food, drinks, party favors, door prizes and a facility, to make it a very special evening for their guests. Donned in black and white attire, volunteers served dinner while musicians played for the diners’ entertainment.

We enjoyed a delicious meal of brisket, potatoes, carrots, salad and, of course, a birthday cake. You see, the American Cancer Society’s latest campaign is “Celebrating a world with more birthdays.” And, you can’t have a birthday cake without a rendition of “Happy Birthday,” sung to all the survivors in attendance.

I’ll admit, it seemed a little corny when they began singing that old, familiar tune, but as I sat there the reality set in that so many of us in the room had nearly had our birthdays stolen from us by cancer. I couldn’t help but tear up a little to think that the birth of my first child, due this fall, was almost not a reality - one more birthday cancer could have stolen.

As dinner came to a close, a fellow cancer survivor shared her story, followed by a captivating video about the American Cancer Society. Even though I’d been participating in the Relay For Life for eight years, I learned many interesting facts that night.

For instance, in 1939, fifteen well-known doctors and business leaders in New York City founded the American Society for the Control of Cancer. At that time cancer claimed 75,000 lives a year in the United States alone. In fact, only 1 out of 10 people diagnosed with cancer survived. Their mission: to educate the public about cancer and take away the stigma from discussing the “C” word.

Later, around 1945, Mary Lasker got involved. This remarkable woman, an art historian and designer, took interest in the society. She and her husband, millionaire advertising executive Albert Lasker, along with their friends, bankrolled money for medical research. She convinced the society that, in addition to education, money needed to be allocated to research. And, that long name had to change. The American Society for the Control of Cancer became the American Cancer Society.

Years later, with many advances in cancer treatment and education, 1 out of 2 people diagnosed with cancer survive.

I’m happy to say I’m one of them.

At Callis & Associates, we’re living our mission statement, “…to have significance in our community, our industry and our world,” by participating in the Pettis County Relay For Life.

It just goes to show what can happen when people get involved. Find a cause. Support it. Fundraising is tiring, tedious work, but it can change lives. And it may just change your own.