Rohit Bhargava's Blog, page 93

The Norwegian Art of Strategic Waiting

Choosing not to preserve a 1000 year old Viking ship doesn’t really surprise anyone in Norway.

For Americans who are used to their own country putting mere 75 year old documents behind bullet proof glass, though, nothing could be more confusing than the longstanding debate about the fate of the Oseberg ship – a remarkably well preserved 1200 year old Viking ship unearthed from a burial site in Norway in the early 20th century.

I have been spending this week in Norway for a series of events and...

The Most Authentic Movie Marketing Campaign Ever?

It’s hard to imagine a movie trailer without “The Voice.” You can probably hear it in your head right now. Usually “The Voice” starts with the same three words: “in a world …” There are few marketing campaigns as well scripted as movie marketing. Though the timing and strategy may vary slightly, the trailer is the most typical marketing method used to showcase the best parts of a movie to try and convince you to come to see it. The other common tactic is to grab random quotes from reviewers a...

Culpa Marketing: How To Win By Publicizing Screw Ups

There is nothing more powerful than a genuine heartfelt apology. At least, that’s what JCPenney is hoping based on a new ad the brand just released today featuring an apology to customers for recent changes and a promise to start listening more:

The ad is a marked departure from the Apple-style “we’ll tell you what you really want” strategy employed by former CEO (and longtime Apple exec) Ron Johnson (here’s my take on why that didn’t work). Will this rapid apology and departure from the past...

How To Earn Respect … By Giving Up

Today was a big day for the Netherlands. Back in January, the Dutch Queen Beatrix decided to abdicate her throne to pave the way for the next generation of loyalty to take over. Today was her final day as queen, as her son Willem-Alexander became the new King and youngest monarch in Europe. As it turns out, Dutch royalty have a long tradition of abdication and handing over the loyal reins to their next generations. In most cases, the rulers are beloved when they do finally step down.

This is t...

How Bracelets & Intuition Offer 3 Keys To Using Big Data Successfully

Imagine if Buzz Lightyear walked up to you and wished you Happy Birthday at a Disney Park. Or if a smart app could predict when you might be hungry based on your last meal, and proactively send you an alert with a coupon to a restaurant you happened to be walking past.

This vision of a nearly sentient and automated marketing world (dramatically visualized in the film Minority Report) is one of the future scenarios that increasingly data-centric organizations of all sizes imagine these days.

Whe...

How Dyson’s Winning Strategy Depends On Who They DON’T Hire

The “Ballbarrow” was never really a product destined for greatness.

Replacing a wheel in a traditional wheelbarrow with a ball hardly qualifies as a groundbreaking technological innovation. But it does solve a problem. Great inventions usually do. And when James Dyson first created and produced his Ballbarrow, it was a hit with gardeners seeking an alternative that wouldn’t leave wheel shaped trenches in their garden. The problem with the Ballbarrow was that it was too easy to copy … and compe...

10 Smart Ways TurboTax Helps Users Suffer Less

TurboTax is like the financial equivalent of anesthesiabefore a surgery … you know you are about to do something painful, but at least you can suffer a bit less. Yesterday was tax day in America, and for millions of users of the most popular tax software – it was a little easier to get this necessary chore out of the way thanks to TurboTax.

Aside from helping with taxes, though, the consistently optimized user interface offers plenty of interesting lessons for anyone who builds or manages thei...

Why Simplicity Saved Apple, But Couldn’t Save JCPenney

Simplicity always wins.

If there is one lesson the modern business world teaches us, it is that complexity kills and simplicity wins. Apple, Flip Camera, Twitter, Uber, Walmart — all are examples of companies that owe their success at least in part to their ability to simplify a service or product to an extreme level. I have written often about how the business world loves simplicity, though it is often portrayed as difficult to get right … particularly for smart people.

For example, there is a...

7 Ways Millionaire Self Help Gurus Make More Money Than Social Media Experts

Last week no one cared what my Twitter name was – and I was thrilled about that. At dozens of social media centric events, the Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn or Pinterest question has become the de facto proof of purchase. People write their Twitter names on their nametags. They try desperately to distill their own social credibility into a virtual chest tattoo. Like many others, I’ve lost my patience for that.

Being social media famous just doesn’t mean that much anymore.

On April 3rd in San...

Aziz Ansari’s Simple 30 Second Marketing Trick

Aziz Ansari wasn’t planning to stick around after his show for photos. Most of the people in the packed theater in Washington DC where I saw him perform his Buried Alive Comedy Tour last week probably weren’t expecting that anyway.

Despite social media breaking down virtual barriers to conversations with unreachable people (and Aziz has plenty of them with more than 2 million Twitter followers), in real life – most people understand a level of unapproachability in our celebrities. Aziz can’t g...