Welcome to the “Communications” issue of IMARK Now.
In a Q1 2018 survey of member executive interests and concerns, one of the most pressing challenges noted by respondents was “communicating with the next generation of contractor employees.”
It is no wonder. Many business executives have a keen sense that the communications “landscape” is changing at a fast and furious pace.
From our viewpoint, we see one example of this in the online courses that our suppliers build for our popular online university, IMARK University.
When IMARK U launched in 2006, the average length of a learning module was 14 minutes. Today, the average course length is in the 4-minute range. Some video courses are 90 seconds long.
The old adage “a picture tells a thousand words” has never been truer than it is today. For many people, less is more. Brief videos are becoming more prevalent as more people lose the desire (or even the ability) to wade through and comprehend copy intensive messages. The proliferation of texting, tweeting and emojis has resulted in a new shorthand way of communicating, which can be mysterious to many of us.
We don’t contend that the length of an online training module necessarily correlates to the quality of the message. In fact, shortening these modules may improve them. This reflects the nature of communications today. We are bombarded with messages from a plethora of sources. We live in a world of constant distractions. And yet, the need to communicate, tell our stories, share our value and empathize with our customers is as important as ever. The overriding challenge is that we have less time to grab and hold attention and the types of media with which we tell our story or conduct a dialog with customers have exploded in number.
The challenge and opportunity all IMARK members and suppliers face is how to use these tools and communicate effectively in this new environment. New technologies, while daunting to learn and engage, can be used to great effect by companies large and small.
We’d like to direct your attention to several features in this issue of IMARK Now.
Our frequent contributor Susan Bloom talked to leading IMARK member (page 20) and supplier (page 28) executives in articles called “Effective Marketing in a Digital World.” We thank those who participated for sharing their insights.
On page 42, contributor Dorie Clark provides a checklist for more persuasive presentations.
Our Managing Editor Jennifer Kohlhepp wrote about (page 52) the ideas posited in Curt Steinhorst’s best-selling book Can I Have Your Attention? Inspiring Better Work Habits, Focusing Your Team and Getting Stuff Done in the Constantly Connected Workplace.
Also check out the article on page 38 by communications expert Tim Pollard called “O.J. Is Out: What His Trial Taught Us About Making Messages Stick.”
And there’s more. We hope that these thought-provoking and practical articles will help our readers sharpen their communications in our changing world.
ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL SHOWCASE
We are pleased and proud to report that IMARK just concluded a very successful Showcase meeting in Chicago. The IMARK staff would like to thank our members in attendance and recognize and thank the IMARK suppliers and service providers who worked so hard in Chicago.
The manufacturers and service suppliers really outdid themselves. There was an abundance of innovative products and business tools throughout the Showcase arena, which was staffed with knowledgeable representatives eager to help us differentiate our businesses to improve our customer value proposition.
To give you a sense of what went on in Chicago, we’d like to share some vital statistics from the meeting:
- Nearly 1,300 attendees from more than 240 IMARK member companies and 115 manufacturers and service companies were present.
- More than 4,300 one-on-one meetings between member and supplier executives were held in a day-and-a-half.
- More than 500 member and supplier executives participated in networking groups to share best practices and potential solutions to common business challenges.
- More than 200 member employees attended seminars and workshops on topics such as accelerated sales management success, effective executive communications, negotiating skills and profit mastery conducted by Spasigma.
Next year’s Showcase will be held on March 26-28, 2019 at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare and Rosemont
