The Bolin Marketing Blog

Here are my notes from the 2008 Minnespota Housing Summit. Keynote speakers, NAHB Sr Economist, Dr Elliot Eisenberg, MN Senator, Norm Coleman and 9th Dist Fed Reserve Economist Toby Madden.

 

Sen Norm Coleman:

Coleman says the holiday season has him counting and recounting his blessings!

Coleman blames regulators, banks for current woes. Says change in leadership will help no matter who it is. Leadership is about credibility and Obama has it.

Bottom line: 1. Do no harm. 2. Need short term fixes. 3. Need vision. If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there. However, MN is north star state and we will lead nation out of this situation.

 

Pawlenty administration says we need to build consumer confidence.

 

Toby Madden, 9th Dist Fed Reserve:

Derivatives and credit default swaps were the incentives created that built 40,000 homes in MN and each state. Problem is these were not regulated.

2009 9th Dist Fed Reserve forecast:

7% unemployment

-17% housing starts

 

 “Remember all recessions end and expansion happens.” Not worried about the long term because we have good system.

 

NAHB Sr Economist, Dr Elliot Eisenherg:

2009 will be the bottom of the housing market in MN but not in states like FL. In MN, overbuilding of multifamily construction was the issue. Population will save the day. US growing at 3 million people a year. US needs 1.6 to 1.8 million new homes a year. Housing prices largely driven by land prices. Land prices driven by govt regulation. That is why CA, Boston and Seattle are expensive. Regulators need to understand that each action causes an equal and opposite reaction.

 

Builders concerned that credit available but appraisals prohibit equity needed.

 

Recessions last on average 18 months.

 

 

At the American Dietetic Association’s Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo, McDonalds Corporation had a booth. At the booth was a wheel that attendees could spin. On the wheel were a number of McDonalds menu items. Based on the menu item you landed on, you would guess what the calories were. It is one of those type of tradeshow “games” to get attendees to your booth …

However, what the real point of this post is this: McDonalds is a huge corporation with thousands of restaurants in over 100 countries worldwide. They do millions of dollars in sales every quarter. Their market cap is $64B — that is nine zeros! Worldwide, they have over 390,000 employees. It isn’t a company; it is a global powerhouse. A machine.

Despite its sheer size and worldwide dominance, McDonalds Corporation is concerned with talking directly to food and nutrition professionals. I think it illustrates what is happening with healthy living through food and nutrition. A corporation the size of McDonalds wants to establish a presence with food and nutrition professionals. These professionals work directly with patients to help establish eating and nutritional habits for people. It is admirable.

In my years working in marketing in the health care arena, I’ve heard it is restaurants like McDonalds’s fault the majority of Americans are obese. About two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight, and almost one-third are obese, according to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) … we are talking 200,000,000 Americans.

Fast food restaurants like McDonalds are getting into the game. They want to be part of the solution and not be exclusively labeled as part of the problem. McDonalds still has a way to go, but they should be applauded.

I am part of the American Dietetic Association Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo here in Chicago. I am representing Truvia at the Cargill booth. Truvia is an all-natural sweetner made with from the stevia leaf. It is a zero calorie sweetner. It is much sweeter than Sweet ‘N Low and Equal.

The response has been amazing. What is interesting about the show is the large amount of enthusiasm for Truvia. To me, it is a statement to people wanting to live more healthy lives and not sacrificing taste and what they enjoy eating. Thoughts?

Bolinite Marty Moore will be reporting from this ADA conf this week. Look him up if you are attending to see how digial marketing is being leveraged in this space. http://tinyurl.com/58sde9

Bolin presented an integrated online and offline branding campaign to the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) at their spring 2008 Board of Directors Meeting in St. Petersburg. On the digital front, Bolin will create search optimized Remodeler locator sites for each market that will compete with Angies List and Service Magic.

I will be attending the MIMA Summit 2008 at the Depot in downtown Minneapolis, MN.  You can follow some me live at Qik, follow Paul Saarinen and Dane Hartzell on Twitter as well.  See you all at the MIMA Summit 2008.