We arrived at 7:45 p.m. on a Sunday night, and it was immediately obvious that we had just missed the maelstrom. The dining room was absolutely trashed, like a frat party had been held there. Every table was piled high with dirty dishes, glasses and cutlery; the floor was covered with wadded napkins and pieces of food. Even tables on the patio were covered in trash.

Clearly the staff was completely overwhelmed. There were just three employees working, one at the cash register and two at the grill. And people continued to pour in through the door after us. It’s little wonder the staff felt compelled to keep taking orders and cooking food.

I asked the woman at the cash register for a cloth so I could clean a table. She was quite flustered and replied that I shouldn’t have to do it, that she would do it for me. But she never did.

So my husband returned to the cash register and asked to speak with the manager, who was cooking at the grill. The manager wouldn’t stop his work long enough to come out from behind the grill and speak with my husband, so Mark literally yelled from the counter to the back, “YOUR RESTAURANT IS FILTHY, YOU SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED, AND WE NEED SOMEONE TO CLEAN A TABLE FOR US!”

The manager shrugged his shoulders at us — like too bad, so sad, nothing he could do. Then he turned back around and continued cooking food.

We should have walked out. Or at least had our food packaged to go. But it was late and our daughter was starving, so I relocated someone else’s dirty dishes, pulled out the baby wipes I carry everywhere in my purse and cleaned off a table for us.

While we ate, my husband and I discussed what the manager should have done, given the circumstances. And what he should have done was focus on longer-term business goals — building a positive brand image, ensuring customer loyalty — rather than the shorter-term business goal of cooking a pasta bowl.

The manager should have locked the door — or told incoming customers there would be a delay. Then he should have suspended grill operations long enough to deploy his entire team into the dining room to clean tables and sweep floors.

It would have taken the whole crew five, 10 minutes max, to clean that dining room. Then it would be ready for new diners and those of us already eating would have seen that a clean and pleasant dining experience was important to this manager.

He then could have passed out “free appetizer” coupons to anyone inconvenienced by his managerial decision, perhaps ensuring that people would return.

Since we eat at this restaurant frequently, I know ours was an aberrant experience. But imagine a patron visiting for the first time, walking into that filthy restaurant and encountering harried and disengaged employees. Chances are that chain lost a potential customer for life.

But the manager wasn’t thinking about brand image or customer loyalty; he was thinking only about having to cook the next bowl of pasta. He allowed a temporary business pressure to take priority over permanent business needs. And that was a mistake.

It’s easy for daily “tyranny of the urgent” to pull our attention away from longer-term goals of building a positive brand image or ensuring customer loyalty, whether we’re in food service or marketing communications. We must be vigilant so we don’t let that happen.

The thing is, there isn’t really one big thing. And most of what I’ve seen has been either very broad for marketing in general, or heavily focused on business-to-consumer marketing.

So what’s a business-to-business marketer to do when it comes to planning ahead for 2016?

Well, I’ve been doing this a long time, and here are thoughts I have that are relevant to the clients I work with.

Content marketing: This has been a buzzword for a while, but now it’s a bona fide strategy. If you aren’t doing content marketing, you’re probably falling in search rankings and seeing analytics for web and email efforts dropping.

Everyone’s big problem, however, is getting content produced. Marketers must generate original, substantive content to keep the audience interested and to demonstrate knowledge and expertise.

Social: Speaking of social media, many b-t-b companies are still a little gun-shy, but I think they’ll step out more in the coming year. No longer just a trend, social platforms have become valuable and effective ways to connect with individuals and to push out information.

Lead generation vs. engagement: We all know the sales funnel; you can draw it in your sleep. But these days, what happens inside the funnel is of equal concern to marketers than simply feeding it. Refer back to above comments about content marketing and social media, and be sure you’re connecting on an individual level. Hmm – might direct mail be an option? I’ve been waiting for it to make a comeback…

Trade shows: This is the most polarizing topic of the year. Corporate marketing folks either love or hate trade shows. The expense is an issue, but you must consider if your absence would be noticed and misinterpreted. Companies are going 50/50 on trade shows for 2016, and overall are allocating a smaller budget toward this line item.

Advertising: Corporate marketers still can’t agree on advertising. Some love it and put budgets in place for both branding and service-line advertising. Others are skeptical of the ROI and grudgingly approve small budgets to keep their logo out there. And some shy away from it completely. My recommendation is to try some new things, mix it up a bit with a new medium, a new campaign, or a new outlet. Do your research to make smart choices, but don’t be afraid to put your company out there.

Planning: Finally, evaluate marketing goals and activities more often. The duration of a marketing plan has been shrinking each year. We used to plan out for 12-18 months. That dropped to 12 months, and then to six months. These days, quarterly action plans are popular. But don’t just look at your budgets quarterly, look at goals and activities to see if they’re moving you in the right direction.

Questions you might ask every three months include:

• How have things changed inside my sales funnel?
• Are my prospects engaging with me? How?
• What are my competitors doing better/differently than me?
• Am I meeting my short-term goals and also making steps toward my long- term goals?

Almost every break out time slot had a speaker sharing insights and ideas for email campaigns. There were also a few really great content marketing sessions. I made note of a lot of great tips: some we implement already and a few we can’t wait to explore.

Emails are being read first on mobile devices. Now, this obviously depends on your industry, and individual results may vary, but by and large, people are reading email, especially outside the hours of 8am-5pm, on their mobile devices. That being said…

(Michael Barber)

• Emails should be glance-able
• No scrolling left to right
• Large calls to action (thumbs are bigger than mouse pointers)
• Large font, too – at least 16pt

(Justine Jordan)

• Remove “Click here.” People do not “click” with their thumb
• Personalize your emails – they perform better to the tune of +26% open rates
• Send emails based on birthdays, purchase history, or any other data you have

And if you need any inspiration for emails, check out reallygoodemails.com.

The show hasn’t changed all that much over the years – lots of very smart people talking about cutting-edge drug development and manufacturing processes, students looking for a big career break, companies big and small talking about their capabilities, new equipment and building expansions.

I’m a true believer in integrated marketing – using a range of tactics to communicate with your audience and meet your goals. But I also acknowledge that tactics have a way of cycling through. Whether they are effective or not tends to change over time.

So what about the industry trade show? Where it is in that cycle?

This year at AAPS, we definitely saw a smaller representation of companies in the exhibit hall. Companies had a smaller presence – firms who previously had HUGE booths in the 40×40+ range had downsized to 20×20 or even 10×20. Companies had fewer giveaways and contests. And some firms who had a decent-sized presence in past years weren’t exhibiting at all.

But on the flip side, some firms with smaller booths added more value to their presence. They had special events at their booths, offered premium food and beverage during cocktail hour (which, FYI, begins at 3 p.m. in trade-show land) and some even hired entertainment (break dancers!)

Break dancers at AAPS!

A video posted by Sinclair & Co. (@sinclair_co) on Nov 11, 2015 at 1:08pm PST

Many people wondered aloud to me if it was worth it to come to the show and exhibit. Does spending all that money really result in a more prosperous bottom line? Do you get new clients? Close deals? The discussion was especially relevant because the number of attendees was down, as well. With fewer attendees and exhibitors, how could this be a good expenditure in a tight budget year?

But then something happened. The networking began. Hands started shaking, business cards were exchanged, the buzz of conversation took over the exhibit hall.

By my last day at the show, I’d talked to a LOT of folks. And we all agreed that even though the quantity seemed to be down – from the number of attendees to the number and size of the exhibitors – the quality of the show was still up where it needed to be. Yes, meetings were had, deals struck and connections made.

So, as an integrated marketing tactic, the industry trade show – at least this one – is still a viable option. While many hope that future years will see attendance climb back up, no one seemed willing to skip it entirely. And even if their presence will be on a smaller scale, everyone I talked to planned to return.

So if you’re in the contract pharmaceutical and manufacturing industry, I guess I’ll see you next year at AAPS!

I’m sure there are those of you who still use this stuff often, but I’ve managed to get mine down to once or twice a year.

Who still has a “box” sitting around to use with the Spray Mount? And special scissors, rulers and xacto knives that are already caked with sticky?

The digital world has made it easier to present concepts than ever before, but sometimes you still have to do a good old fashioned mock-up for the client. Brochures, mailers and other printed pieces need to be held and felt and worked with to be sure they’re right before production. What holds these mock-ups together? Spray Mount.

I had a coordinator once who learned the hard way not to use this stuff near her desk. All her pens, her calculator, stapler and papers were sticky for weeks.

And if you had to spray it more than once or twice (Lets do mock-ups of all four versions of the tri-fold pocket folder!) you were treated to a toxic cloud that would hang in the air for the rest of the day.

Also, sticky fingers.

If you finish this blog post with one nugget of advice, I hope it’s this: be authentic. Twitter itself suggests that the best tweets share meaningful moments — big and small. People follow companies (for a variety of reasons, including) to get a look behind the curtain, and see who you really are and what you’re all about.

Here are a few easy-to-implement tips to get you started and to keep in mind as you grow your Twitter base.

What is it they say about pictures?
Tweets with images result in more engagement whether you measure Retweets, Favorites or Replies. You have a limited number of characters to work with. Including an image uses a finite number of those characters, but you know what they say: A picture is worth a thousand words.

First is better than third.
Even if you’re tweeting as a company and not an individual, use first person language. Say “we,” not the name of the company. Never include your own handle in a tweet. Twitter is all about conversation. If your Twitter account seems boring and sterile, your company may seem that way, too.

Oreo is a great example of a lighthearted and personable Twitter account.

Be a tease.
Twitter is practically designed to help you be coy; take advantage. 140 characters are all you have to intrigue people and entice them to click on your content. While teasing your information, also be clear with your wording as people are more likely to click on your link if they know what to expect.

Tweet around.
If you tweet around your industry and about the things that you find interesting, it’s likely that your followers might also find it interesting, even if it’s not directly related to your products or services. Not every tweet is going to close a sale or gain a new follower. You’re trying to promote conversation and engage with your followers.

For example, Nike has built a very successful and recognizable brand. Some of their tweets are about the fitness industry without pushing anything they sell. In the example below, they do include their tagline as a hashtag, but this tweet doesn’t tell you anything about their products.

Peak time.
Have you picked up on any trends in engagement among your followers? Do you get more retweets or mentions on certain days of the week or even at certain times of the day? Pay attention to engagement by day and time and see if you pick up a pattern. (By the way, you should also be checking out your Twitter Analytics for other great stats on your account!) For B2B companies, we typically see peak engagement on weekdays after 11am ET, and it’s pretty quiet between 8pm and 9am ET as well as on the weekend.

#ButNotTooMany
Hashtags are a great way to extend your reach. You probably have a goal to increase the number of your followers, and an easy way to reach potential followers is to include hashtags in your tweets. Be sure to search and include hashtags that already have a strong presence. New, custom hashtags can also be included in your next campaign to promote conversation and engagement.

And remember, one or two hashtags per tweet is ideal. Any more than that, and well…

More than 50 years after pop singer Brenda Lee warbled her deep lament for hurting someone’s feelings, public apologies are more abundant than ever before.

Indeed, so many apologies now hurl forth daily from politicians, celebrities, CEOS, celebrities, coaches and other public figures that there is at least one website devoted to critiquing the practice. (Spend some time surfing SorryWatch, because nothing beats hilarious and educational.)

Yet despite the plethora of public apologies — Time magazine compiled a list of the 10 best apologies ever, including one from Plato — people still don’t apologize very well. So here’s a primer on apologies. A good one contains these elements:

• Take responsibility. You did something wrong, otherwise you wouldn’t need to apologize, right? So embrace your failure with “I really screwed up,” and not “Mistakes were made.” Mistakes don’t fall from the sky and randomly hit people.

• Be sincere and empathetic. If someone is suffering thanks to your mistake, you should feel guilty about that. Ashamed, even. Make sure your words say as much.

• Acknowledge consequences. Your mistake didn’t occur inside a vacuum. It triggered negative repercussions that caused difficulty and inconvenience for someone else. You need to recognize that.

• No excuses, no conditional language. Do not even with the “I’m sorry if…” Qualifying language like “I’m sorry if” has no place in a good apology. Likewise, there is never a good excuse for why you made a mistake. Does being drunk, or losing your job, or staying awake for three days bouncing a crying baby, or maintaining a vigil by a dying relative’s bed make your mistake any less onerous for the person suffering its consequences? No. No, it does not. Excuses undermine the value of your apology.That being said, you owe it to yourself and your victim to understand how your mistake occurred. Exactly what happened? And what steps are you taking to ensure it doesn’t happen again? The answers to those questions will drive your personal or professional growth.

• Make amends. You should offer a mitigation plan with your apology: “Here’s how I hope to fix this…” If you have no idea how to mitigate your mistake, have the courtesy to ask, “How might I make this up to you?” As the folks at SorryWatch so eloquently state, the point of an apology is to make someone feel better. You make someone feel better by trying to remedy your error. You do not make someone feel better by trying to promote yourself, save your business or limit liability.

A recent example of a public apology offered correctly comes from Levi Pettit, a University of Oklahoma student featured in an undercover video that went viral online. He was shown leading his fraternity brothers in singing a song that used a racial epithet, referenced lynching and boasted that the house would never admit black students.

Pettit didn’t just say he was sorry. He went a step further, meeting with leaders within his local black community to apologize personally and to begin volunteering on racial justice issues. His actions conveyed sincere regret, as well as his desire to learn from his mistake and apply his understanding to some larger societal good. And when Pettit finally went public with his apology, he was flanked by the very people he had hurt with his actions.
 

• Finally, move on. After you’ve apologized, made amends and learned from your mistake, dust off your hands and move on. Languishing in the painful past just hurts everyone involved more.

This is a photo of an ad proof from 1998.

Magellan Laboratories was the client (now a part of Catalent). And this ad was most likely sent in to Pharmaceutical Technology or BioPharm – both pharma industry pubs that have been around for more than a few years.

Back then the art director would work up the files for the ad and send them in to a print house that would create a proof. Markups were marked on transparency taped over the proof, and we looked with painstaking detail at the colors, coverage and layout. Because exactly what was in the proof, was exactly what would be printed in the magazine.

After multiple proofing rounds, including client approvals and sign-offs, we would ship the final via FedEx to the publication for printing.

Each individual ad took weeks to get right, and that was AFTER the copy and layout direction were already planned out. We typically worked about three months out – meaning that since this ad proof is dated 4/29/98, it probably would run in the July or August issue.

It’s fun to go back and look through the archives some times. It’s also fun to remember how different things were only a few years ago. The advertising world has changed, but the basics of good strategy, design and writing will always be the constants.

Since we’ve been out of the blogging game for a little while, we thought we’d say hello again.

A couple of years back, we launched Sinclairity to offer our unique perspectives on marketing, branding and the day-to-day insights and experiences we have along the way.

Well, we’re still at it. Only today, things are more fast-paced than ever. Every minute of the day, people all over the world are busy creating things.

At Sinclair & Co. we’re working to help our clients gain attention for their products and services. And even though the delivery mechanisms have changed, the base that we build good marketing on is still the same: well thought-out strategy and engaging creative.

We look forward to sharing our insights with you!

Emily Almasy

Professionally
This year marked my twelfth year working with one of my favorite clients – Metrics. And it was a great year for them, one that I’m happy to have been a part of!

Personally
If you know me at all, you know that Pete and I embarked on a home renovation in January. Well, I’m proud to say that we made it through – still married – and have completed 98% of our planned work. It was a huge undertaking, but one I would do again, now that I know what its like to have a bigger kitchen and new bathrooms!

Shelley Bainter

Professionally
In 2012 we worked on several projects that I really enjoyed, but I have to pick one of our biggest digital marketing projects of 2012: Renovating Metrics’ website. It was a great experience to create for them a website that captures the company’s and its employees’ personality, while giving a lot of organized information to their web visitors.

Personally
I finished my first marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon on Oct. 28 in 4:18:44. Receiving cheers and support from US Marines while running through the nation’s capital was an incredible experience. I’ve run somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,250 miles this year!

Candice Hogan

Professionally
As a college graduate in 2008, at the start of the downward spiral known as the US economy, there weren’t too many options for jobs. You took what you could get and were happy with a job. Since then, through a few jobs, I’ve learned more about what I’m good at, what kind of work I want to do and the type of environment I want to work in. And this year I feel like I’m doing the work I’m good at and like to do, in the environment that facilitates the best version of my working self. I think this is what it looks like when your job grows up, into a career.

Personally
Anyone that’s known me for the past year probably knows I’ve been planning my wedding. Getting engaged at the top of the Rockefeller Center Building in NYC has to be one of my favorite memories of 2012 and planning our March 2013 wedding has been a lot of fun. But planning a wedding is also a lot of work and I’m really proud of the way things are coming together.

Karen Sinclair

Professionally
I continue to be amazed at the longevity of both our client relationships and of my wonderful coworkers at Sinclair & Co. This year marked the twelfth year of supporting pharmaceutical development and manufacturing client Metrics, which has celebrated its own big news this year, as well as launched a new website that we created and developed for them. Inside the agency, which I’ve steered for 24 years, I’m proud of the seasoned, smart, talented, and most of all, FUN individuals I get to work with everyday. Collectively, the five of us have more than 50 years working within Sinclair & Co. We have a great team.

Personally
I helped initiate, organize and execute a multigenerational Sinclair family reunion in November in Southern Pines. We traced the paths of our ancestors through the Sandhills of North Carolina, visiting old home places, schools, churches and long lost cemeteries, and in the process rediscovered that tie that holds us all together…the love and memory of our late grandmother and the good humor we were all fortunate to be blessed with. Of course, no Sinclair gathering is complete without good food, good wine and lots and lots of laughter.