I have to say, I love Groupon. And I love a good deal. I’ve tried restaurants and services that I didn’t know existed, and now have a few new favorites in the Indianapolis area. This of course, got me thinking, is group buying something that would work for any of my clients?

• First, here’s a little background if you aren’t familiar with the service:
• Your business comes up with a deal to offer customers
• The group buying service emails and promotes your deal for one day on their website, email newsletter, social networks, etc.
• Customers have 1 day to purchase your coupons and are encouraged to share this great deal with their friends
• Customers purchase the coupon
• The group buying service sends you a check

So, is it right for you? Well, there are mixed reviews out there. Business that have tried it seem to either love it or hate it. And of course success depends on your business. Here are a few items I’ve learned and things to consider:

• LivingSocial, another group buying site is gaining momentum fast on Groupon. While there are about 10 companies (and growing) offering this service, these are the 2 main players.
• Typically, when using one of these services, you will take home approximately 25% of the retail price, factoring your discount and Groupon’s cut of the sales. So, it is best when the cost of your product/service is less than 25% of your retail price, unless you are willing to invest dollars, in hopefully repeat business.
• Users of these services tend to be more educated, young, working full time, and more women. Does this fit your target audience?
• Can you handle a possibly sharp increase in customers? Do you have excess capacity? There are more small business horror stories out there to count, when they just didn’t have the resources to honor all the coupons.
• A sharp discount could damage your brand. Do you think that is a risk for your business?
• How many people in your area already know about your brand? How many purchasing the coupon do you think are already customers?
• A study out of Rice University said that 42% of businesses that have run Groupons wouldn’t do so again. Not a great statistic.
• A very positive finding out of Rice University was that a significant number of customers (50%) who took the online coupon ended up purchasing more than just that item. Even better was that 31% of those customers who took the coupon ended up coming back later to buy again at full price.

So, I’m curious. Is group buying a service you have considered for your business? Do you use it as a consumer? How has it effected your buying habits?

According to Pantone, the recognized authority on color trends for everything from paint, consumer products to home décor and fashion, recently announced the 2011 Pantone color of the year; a cheery shade of pink they’ve named “honeysuckle.” Now my question is, how do you determine the color of the year when it’s only February? Is it just personal preference or is there a set criteria?

According to a recent article in Home & Garden the selection process was more complex than picking something appealing from the Pantone Color Chart. Leatrice Eiseman, the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute and founder of the Eiseman Center for Color Information and Training, and staff consider current events, psychology, economics, consumer behavior, and the arts before making their selection: “We look around not only at what’s happening in fashion and entertainment, but at the public’s response to what’s happening in the news and the socioeconomic issues of today. With so much going on and people still very concerned with losing their jobs, we chose a color we felt would be energy-provoking and uplifting,” the color expert said.

You can read more about this dynamic reddish hue, the psychology behind it and the impact it may have on our lives, design and fashion at the Pantone website.

Sad to say, this Typography issue of Communication Arts has been sitting on the corner of my desk for almost two weeks now, status is still unread. If I took the time, I’m sure it holds inspiration, possibly could learn something or even just provide a minute of career related relaxation in a hectic day. Are there things you would love to do, just can’t find the time? I promise to sit down and look at this by the end of the day, well, how about week… Errr, lets make that I promise I’ll sit down and look at this, sometime. Until then, continue to sit there and look pretty, Communication Arts.

If you haven’t seen the new CarMax commercial featured during the Super Bowl, you simply won’t get the headline to my Blog post. Watch it here:

While CarMax uses the commercial to highlight customer service, I see it from a slightly different angle in support of the term “full service.” You know what I mean . . . you’ve been out there when it was snowing, cold and the icy wind was blowing while digging in your car’s change holder and console trying to find 4 quarters to stick into the air compressor at the gas station to put air into that pesky front tire that always seems to be low. Gas stations used to be called service stations. That was when full service meant full service with attendants pumping your gas, checking your oil, washing your windows and filling your window washer fluid. You never had to get out of your car! Not today. Good luck finding a gas station with a squeegee and some actual washer fluid by the pumps so you can wash your windows.

I believe in the full service model. Willow‘s business model was build on it. But much like the service station, our industry has moved away from the full service model. As a matter of fact, many tell me that the term alone is outdated, unfashionable and old school. I’m not buying it. I believe that fully integrated, or to use that old school term, full service agencies have to be the way forward for our industry. Having been in the business for 25 plus years and owned Willow for 19 years, I have seen a movement of firms to focus on narrow areas of specialization while we’ve continued to focus on integration and a full service offering. It seems only common sense that an integrated approach to marketing will be more effective and also more cost effective. You save on the duplication of creative effort, not to mention the risk of fragmented communications. And, we find our clients respect and appreciate the ability to one stop shop. It’s simply more effective for them to find the experience and talent they need under one roof.

Willow will continue to buck these so called trends. We will be committed to our roots and focus on being a full-service marketing firm offering our clients integrated resources to achieve their marketing goals. And no, we’re not trying to steal your engine.

What do you think? Is full-service marketing gone the way of the Service Station?

Remember that age-old question “where do you see yourself in five years?” Love it or hate it, it’s important to occasionally ask yourself – where am I going?

Thinking about where you want to go forces you to examine your current position, what your goals are and even what outside influences could impact you in the future. But instead of considering career goals and climbing the corporate ladder, consider for a moment where our industry is going.

Where do you see the marketing industry in five years? What about ten? What will ads and commercials look like? Will we be ruled by online media or still holding tightly to our print origins? How will outside influences, like the growing take-over of social media, impact our industry? Just exactly where are we going?