Wake Forest Sets Date for Farrell Hall's Official Debut

Photo: jaffeholden.com

Wake Forest University students are already enjoying the school's newest building: Farrell Hall.

Outsiders will get a chance to check out the state-of-the-art facility on Nov. 1, according to a notice I received late yesterday.

I'm very interested in this. When I ran the business school's official blog, I was among the first people to report on plans for the then-unnamed project. (It beceme Farrell Hall after the late Mike Farrell pledged a huge sum to assure its construction.)

My report was in April 2010. At that time, Dean Steve Reinemund pledged a fall 2013 opening even though he had raised just half of the funds. Needless to say, he met both the fund-raising and construction goals.

It will be interesting to witness what the Winston-Salem, N.C., school did to improve education (and leisure) at its business school. (The groundbreaking was held in April 2011.)

Photo: www.flick.com

Based on information from the school, the building is a 130,000-square-foot facility that cost about $55 million. There's space for 1,300 students, including 18 classrooms and offices for 170 faculty and staff. A full-service cafeteria meets a need that had long gone unmet at the business school.

School administrators seem particularly proud of the 400-seat auditorium that was funded by the Broyhill Family Foundation. They are already showcasing the venue, hosting retired P&G CEO Bob McDonald last week (here is a video of his talk so you can see the auditorium).

Students can lounge in the spacious Founders Living Room, and there's outdoor space to mingle when the weather cooperates.

Which Famous Economist Can You Relate With?

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Need something to do for, say, 20 minutes or so? You can take a short quiz and find out which famous economist you agree with the most.

The University of Chicago's Booth School of Business runs the IGM Economic Experts Panel, which includes economic blogs and regular polls that involve well-known economists such as Eric Maskin, Raj Chetty and Austan Goolsbee.

The poll covers a wide range of public policy issues in an effort to either reach consensus or stir up debate among the economists.

Chris Said, a fellow at Insight Data, crafted a 105-question quiz that mimics the economist polling. You take some time, answer the questions and - voila - you can find your ideological soul mate (in a sense).

Curious? Click here to take the quiz and find your economic theory doppelganger, then feel free to share your results in the comments section below.

Google Goes Old-School with Snail Mail Advertising

Image: www.thinkprogress.org

I just received a form letter from Google (GOOG), one of the biggest beneficiaries of Web advertising, encouraging me to make better use of its online advertising services.

I found it quite ironic that the online juggernaut spent money on snail mail in an effort to get me to "give it a go," as the mailer exhorts. (After all, this blog is part of the Google suite of online services). 

Adding to the humor, Google is offering its AdSense clients a promotion that provides a $100 advertising credit to people who spend $25. Google is actually discounting a service in hopes of luring more business. (Its a very traditional marketing gimmick for a tech firm.)

Google, you are becoming so old-fashioned and traditional in your advanced age.

"You might be surprised at the number of people who are searching Google for exactly what you have to offer," Brett Willms, a member of the company's AdWords team, wrote in a form letter included with my offer.

I am moderately surprised at Willms' assertion about Google search. More importantly, I am significantly surprised that Google is kicking it old school with snail mail, a form letter and a promotional campaign for online advertising.

I am far from naive; Google must advertise to drum up business and spread the word about new products and services. In fact, the company was among the 50-biggest advertisers last year, with a projected budget of $340 million, according to Ad Age. That represented a roughly 66% spike from 2011. The company reportedly spent just $56 million in 2010.

The bulk of Google's spending involved online ads, though television spots made up roughly one-third of its marketing expenditures in 2011, according to Kanter Media. Beyond that, its typical ad strategy has featured newspaper and magazine ads. So mailers seem atypical.

So what does this all mean? One could assume that postal delivery is poised for a comeback now that the powerhouse such as Google is making use of traditional mailers. I find that highly unlikely.

Maybe this was the only way they could reach me? Nope. Google clearly has my email ... they probably know everything there is to know about me.

I would surmise that Google is getting to a saturation point in terms of its online reach, particularly as it pertains to marketing AdSense. A company can only send so many online messages, or display pop-up boxes, before they turn someone off to the product or service. 

My best guess is that online ad spending is slowing down for some reason. Google warns about advertising's cyclical nature in quarterly regulatory filings. So this postal campaign could be another attempt to mine revenue with a more traditional form of marketing.

A mailer is a more passive way of pitching a product, meaning it isn't as "in your face" as a pop-up ad. That is the major head-scratcher for me. Why is Google employing an antiquated form of communication to market to a web-savvy customer? And why are they sending out letters, when a hefty percentage are likely to end up in the bottom of a recycling bin?

Farmers Adapt to Circumvent Government Regs

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The Associated Press put out an informative article on farmers who have abandoned the "organic" label after the Department of Agriculture decided to regulate the industry a decade ago. More than 700 farms across 47 states have formed a confederation of sort and now called their produce "certified naturally grown."

In many ways, this is a study in branding, marketing and legal loopholes because most of the farms are using the exact same growing methods that were employed when they promoted products as organic.

Scrapping the organic label is saving farmers from added record-keeping requirements and fees that can equal up to 6% of a farm's gross sales.

Other farmers told the AP that the pricing premium for growing "organic" produce justifies paying the fee to the government.

The Stigma of Executive Coaching

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A recent study from Stanford University has found that few CEOs actually receive external leadership advice, reinforcing long-held concerns about a "stigma" associated with executive coaching for those in the corner office.

The study, conducted by the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Miles Group and Stanford's Rock Center for Corporate Governance, discovered that roughly two-thirds of CEOs do not receive leadership advice or coaching from outside consultants. Half of the more than 200 respondents did not receive any outside mentoring.

"Given how vitally important it is for the CEO to be getting the best possible counsel ... it's concerning that so many of them are 'going it alone,'" Stephen Miles, CEO of the Miles Group, said in a press release announcing the study's results. "Even the best-of-the-best CEOs have their blind spots."

More than 75% of the CEOs who do receive coaching said it was his or her idea to seek outside assistance. And those who receive coaching assistance rarely, if ever, divulge to co-workers or board members that they have received help.

Several areas were mainstays among CEOs who sought out leadership advice: delegation, conflict management, mentoring and team building. Conversely, few leaders asked for assistance in areas such as empathy and persuasion/motivational skills.