Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 236

Lies My Brand Told Me

I got my iPhone 6. How about you?

To be honest, I was surprised that I got it. I've been a customer of my mobile wireless carrier since cellular service was first introduced. That means that I am both old and loyal. The week before last, I went on to their website to reserve an iPhone 6 and was told that I am number 1300 (or something) in the cue, and that they will notify me when the device is ready to be picked up in-store. Imagine my surprise to have received that call on the day that the device launched. I was so taken aback (meaning, I had my day planned out) that I waited until the next day to go and retrieve my sweet precious.

That's when things got funky.

I felt terrible for the sales associates there, because the phones were all there and ready to be picked up, but the online system to initiate the phones was down. Amazingly, the sales associates were calm, cool and collected as more and more frustrated customers came into the store - and were able to see and touch their newly launched iPhone 6's - but could not get them activated. Instead of letting the ill feelings fester, I made the executive decision to come back in a few days, once things had settled down. My sales rep told me to call the company's customer service line later in the day, to see if the system is working. Once the system was up, I was invited to come back any time. Instead of heading home, I decided to grab some lunch and do some reading nearby. A few hours later, I went back to the store to touch base and see if things had come online. I was told that the system was working. Victory! Or not. It turns out that the system was only working for new accounts, but because I was transferring my devices, that part of the system was still down. I went home. Defeated. Towards the end of the day, I called the customer service number. After waiting on hold for a small eternity (I needed to shave after), the customer service rep told me that the system was "down for scheduled maintenance." 

LIARS!

Let's say you owned this company, would you do a day- long scheduled maintenance on your entire system... on the day after the launch of the iPhone... and a busy Saturday? Insanity. Lies. More lies. This is where most brands fall down. They lose all trust. They lose all credibility. All the rep had to say is this: "Sir, I can appreciate how excited you are to get started with your iPhone 6... you are not alone. Our systems are overwhelmed and as soon as it is back online, we will notify you by text." In fact, the can even leave out that whole "sir" part. Just give it to me straight.

Be honest.

The average consumer holds little to no trust for their mobile carrier. It's like the cable company. Too much fine print. The plans are complex. They over-charge for roaming and everything has some kind of random fee attached to it. How is lying a reasonable strategy in this day and age? Will consumers be less angry, upset or disappointed if the truth gets out that the systems are overwhelmed, because so many iPhones were sold? Let's go back to the beginning of the story: I was already in shock that my phone was available to me on launch day and that an actual human being from this organization called me to let me know. They offered a great experience in store, even though the system was down. They were both empathetic and apologetic. I wound up feeling worse for the people working in the store, because of the way that the other customers were treating them. Then, that phone call. A lie. A brush off. And, the worst part: making me feel like I'm stupid.

When brands tell lies, they cut deep. Nobody like to feel stupid... or that they're being treated like they are.

Tags:

brand

cable company

cellular

cellular service

customer service

customer service number

customer service rep

iphone

iphone 6

mobile

mobile carrier

online system

retail experience

roaming fees

sales associate

wireless

wireless carrier

Was The iPhone 6 Worth The Wait? Is It All About iOS 8?

Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio broadcasting out of Montreal (home base). It's not a long segment - about 5 to 10 minutes every week - about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly to SoundCloud, if you're interested in hearing more of me blathering away. I'm really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up on listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry and Heather B. morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed:

Google Zeitgeist and why it's a great event (even though it's private and invite-only).

The power of Bill Clinton as an amazing orator (regardless of how you feel about his politics).

Apple's new iPhone busted all kinds of records.

If you're an Apple customer, consider upgrading to iOS 8.

What you should do before downloading Apple's iOS 8 via Mashable.

How to use iOS 8, the complete guide via cnet.

Apple won't unlock iOS 8 phones for the police. Ever.

Home Depot had a credit card hacker attack that was worse than Target.

App of the week: Hyperlapse by Instagram.

Listen here...

Tags:

google]]>

apple

bill clinton

chom 977 fm

chom fm

cnwet

credit card hackers

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ctrl alt delete with mitch joel

digital media

google zeitgeist

guest contributor

heather backman

home depot

hyperlapse

instagram

ios 8

iphone

mashable

montreal radio

morning show

mornings rock with terry and heather b

radio segment

radio station

social media

soundcloud

target

technology

terry dimonte

Mistakes We Make At Work

Episode #428 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

I was walking through a bookstore while awaiting a dinner meeting, and I came across a book titled, Mistakes I Made At Work. Regrets... I've had a few. For the record, I believe that learning comes from setbacks and mistakes. That being said, it is often very difficult for the individual to get over themselves and their mistakes on their path to success. What do you think? How do some of the most successful people get over their mistakes to get to where they really want to be? Jessica Bacal thinks a lot about these questions. She's the director of the Wurtele Center for Work & Life at Smith College, an independent women's college in Massachusetts with students from every state and from sixty countries around the world. The center's programs teach leadership skills, life skills, stress reduction and reflection. Jessica is also a writer for Huffington Post and The New York Times, so she decided to speak with twenty-five influential women to get their reflections on what they learned from some of their biggest mistakes and published the book, Mistakes I Made At Work. Jessica was hesitant to do this podcast with me. It turns out that her father is also my literary agent (I had no knowledge of this until well after I had put in the request to have her as a guest on the show). She was worried that I was just doing this to help out my literary agent. She was wrong :)  Enjoy the conversation...

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast #428.

Tags:

advertising podcast

blog

blogging

brand

business book

business podcast

david usher

digital marketing

facebook

google

huffington post

itunes

jessica bacal

marketing podcast

mistakes I made at work

smith college

the new york times

twitter

wurtele center for work and life at smith college

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #222

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, Solve For Interesting, the author of Complete Web Monitoring, Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks and Lean Analytics), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist's Manifesto) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:

The sci-fi optimist - Nature . " Neal Stephenson has had more of an effect on me than any other writer except perhaps, James Burke . He's brilliant, and unwaveringly tough on himself and others. He's imaginative, but also grounded in reality. And he writes cool books (the term 'avatar', referring to your online persona, was first coined by him in Snow Crash , which in turn inspired Second Life ). Case in point: 'a lot of opposition to global warming and evolution is not about science. The majority of people who identify themselves as global-warming sceptics, for example, do believe it is happening. But they think that admitting that will open the door to excessive regulation by the government.' Here's a Nature interview with him." (Alistair for Hugh).

How neuroscience is being used to spread quackery in business and education - The Conversation . "It's clickbait with an imprimatur of authenticity. Debunking online myths is easy; but when they have the sheen of science, they stick. There's never been a time when more science is cited - and more of it is wrong - than now." (Alistair for Mitch).

Things Come Apart - Todd McLellan . "The stuff inside of things, made into art. Amazing." (Hugh for Alistair).

'Pirouetting guard' breaks decorum to show off dance moves to delighted Buckingham Palace tourists - National Post . "Buckingham Palace guards are famous for doing the exact same thing, every hour, every day for the past, well, anyway for a long time. Here's the guard who decided to mix things up a bit." (Hugh for Mitch).

Forget The Hyperloop: Larry Page Wants Google To Build A Super-Efficient Airport The Rest Of The World Can Copy - Business Insider . "I spent a few days this week in Phoenix attending the always amazing Google Zeitgeist event. I like to think of this private/invitation-only event as TED with a business slant. This year did not disappoint. Google dreams big. You can read this article to better understand just how big. Adam Grant had the chance to interview Larry Page at Zeitgeist. Page talked a little bit about how he would like to tackle driverless airplanes after driverless cars. He believes that with the technology we're seeing for drones, there's no reason why we couldn't create a more efficient form of air transport. After hearing him speak - and reading this article - I think he's on to something." (Mitch for Alistair). 

How U2 became the new Nickelback - The Daily Dot . "If you're eyes were open these past few weeks, it was hard to miss the Apple , U2 and iPhone story. In short: Apple decided to give everyone (for free) a copy of the new U2 album. Sounds great and smart, right? Well, it turns out that it wasn't 'opt-in.' The album 'magically' appeared on everyone's playlist and all you had to do was download it from the cloud. The problem? People didn't want it on their playlists, nor did they want to download it and they felt like Apple intruded on their playlists without permission. Apple retracted and built a webpage to explain to people how to remove U2's latest. Now, everyone is saying that U2 and Apple are both 'out of touch.' Check out this article. It has gotten so bad that they're now comparing U2 to Nickelback (Hugh, admit it, secretly at night you listen to Nickelback, don't you?). My two cents: people are looking a gift horse in the mouth and they love to kill their darlings. U2 did something different. They did it with Apple. The execution could have been better, but this was an interesting idea." (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

Tags:

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alistair croll

apple

bitcurrent

book a futurists manifesto

buckingham palace

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google

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hugh mcguire

human 20

hyperloop

iambik

iphone

james burke

larry page

lean analytics

librivox

link bait

link exchange

link sharing

managing bandwidth

media hacks

national post

nature

neal stephenson

nickelback

pressbooks

second life

snow crash

social media

solve for interesting

ted

the conversation

the daily dot

todd mclellan

u2

year one labs

Your Brand And The Amazing Spiderman

Last week, I went to the Montreal ComicCon.

It was crazy, It wasn't San Diego ComicCon crazy, but it was crazy. Over 50,000 people took part over one weekend. It's a number that I just can't wrap my head around. Why? Growing up, I was a massive comic book (shocked, I am sure). How bad did I have it? I had it bad. One of the best comic book stores in the city, Capitaine Quebec, used to have its main store right around the corner from my dad's pharmacy. The owners of the comic book store knew my dad. They shared a common driveway, they would often grab coffee or a meal at the same diner a few doors down. Most adults would have considered what I was doing - day in and day out - at Capitaine Quebec as loitering, and my parents probably saw it as free babysitting. For me, it was a place to escape, imagine, get inspired... and kill some time.

There are lessons in these comic book pages.

When I first started going to comic book conventions, they were pretty desperate. They were held in random dreary two-star hotels across the downtown part of the city. And, without joke, they were very similar to the comic book store on The Simpsons (right, Jeff Albertson?). Still, these were my people. Yes, I collected comic books (placed them in a bag with cardboard support and stored them in proper conditions... like fine wine), but the most fun I had would be crawling into bed, pulling the covers over my head and letting the pages of a comic book take me away (flashlight held in place between my cheek and shoulder).

Weaving magical stories.

Thumbing through the aisles of comic book boxes at Montreal ComicCon, it's hard not to get both sentimental and reflective. Regardless of how you feel about comic books, imagine the creativity of people like Stan Lee. It's easy to dismiss the story-lines and art, but that would be very foolish. From Wikipedia: "An American billionaire playboy, industrialist, and ingenious engineer, Tony Stark suffers a severe chest injury during a kidnapping in which his captors attempt to force him to build a weapon of mass destruction. He instead creates a powered suit of armor to save his life and escape captivity. He later uses the suit and successive versions to protect the world as Iron Man. Through his corporation, Stark Industries, Stark has created many military weapons, some of which, along with other technological devices of his making, have been integrated into his suit, helping him fight crime. Initially, Iron Man was a vehicle for Stan Lee to explore Cold War themes, particularly the role of American technology and business in the fight against communism. Subsequent re-imaginings of Iron Man have transitioned from Cold War themes to contemporary concerns, such as corporate crime and terrorism." Stan Lee is just one of the many geniuses behind some of the most legendary super heroes. You know, the ones that are killing it at the box office, on TV, in video games, toys, books, t-shirts and beyond. Stan, without knowing it, created this Steve Jobs-like technologist (albeit a super hero too) back in 1963. The creativity and thinking is astounding, considering he came up with the idea in 1963!

What does this have to do with your brand?

When these comic books were created, there was no money. Times were tough. These artists and storytellers would sit, side by side, banging out idea after idea. For every Spider-Man, there were plenty of duds. They kept at it. For years, comic books were dismissed. For years, comic books were at the fringe. Slowly, over time, they became valued (some, even collectible). The ones that withstood the test of time, are the ones with big stories that can evolve over time. These stories have managed to find relevance with each passing generation. Even as the technology evolved from comic book science fiction into reality, there are many characters and titles that have evolved with the times as well. These creators and artists were true visionaries. It makes you wonder why brands don't do their best to embody some of these values. Imagine brands with a story so strong that people would get sentimental and reflective when they use them. It may not be for every brand, but it's still something that every brand can consider.

Great storytelling doesn't take much more than imagination and the desire to see it come to life.

How many people told Stan Lee that his vision for Iron Man - in 1963 - was silly or childish? He was probably told - more than once - that it was downright stupid. Now, in hindsight, it was visionary. Comic books are amazing. They tell stories of struggles and their bold outcomes. If that's not perfectly aligned with business today, I don't know what is. Still think that comics are for kids... or for the fringe audiences? The next time a Comic-Con comes to your town, do yourself a favor: buy a ticket, walk the floor, stop and look at some comic books and think about how these stories got created, why the artists created them and how do they get readers to follow along with every issue for years on end. There are probably more business and marketing lessons in those pages than you could ever imagine.

You will become a true believer.

Tags:

brand

capitaine quebec

comic book

comic book collecting

comic book convention

comic book store

comic books

comiccon

creativity

imagination

iron man

jeff albertson

montreal comiccon

san diego comiccon

science fiction

spiderman

stan lee

stark industries

steve jobs

storytellers

storytelling

super hero

technologist

the simpsons

tony stark

visionary

wikipedia

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #222

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, Solve For Interesting, the author of Complete Web Monitoring, Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks and Lean Analytics), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist's Manifesto) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:

The sci-fi optimist - Nature . " Neal Stephenson has had more of an effect on me than any other writer except perhaps, James Burke . He's brilliant, and unwaveringly tough on himself and others. He's imaginative, but also grounded in reality. And he writes cool books (the term 'avatar', referring to your online persona, was first coined by him in Snow Crash , which in turn inspired Second Life ). Case in point: 'a lot of opposition to global warming and evolution is not about science. The majority of people who identify themselves as global-warming sceptics, for example, do believe it is happening. But they think that admitting that will open the door to excessive regulation by the government.' Here's a Nature interview with him." (Alistair for Hugh).

How neuroscience is being used to spread quackery in business and education - The Conversation . "It's clickbait with an imprimatur of authenticity. Debunking online myths is easy; but when they have the sheen of science, they stick. There's never been a time when more science is cited - and more of it is wrong - than now." (Alistair for Mitch).

Things Come Apart - Todd McLellan . "The stuff inside of things, made into art. Amazing." (Hugh for Alistair).

'Pirouetting guard' breaks decorum to show off dance moves to delighted Buckingham Palace tourists - National Post . "Buckingham Palace guards are famous for doing the exact same thing, every hour, every day for the past, well, anyway for a long time. Here's the guard who decided to mix things up a bit." (Hugh for Mitch).

Forget The Hyperloop: Larry Page Wants Google To Build A Super-Efficient Airport The Rest Of The World Can Copy - Business Insider . "I spent a few days this week in Phoenix attending the always amazing Google Zeitgeist event. I like to think of this private/invitation-only event as TED with a business slant. This year did not disappoint. Google dreams big. You can read this article to better understand just how big. Adam Grant had the chance to interview Larry Page at Zeitgeist. Page talked a little bit about how he would like to tackle driverless airplanes after driverless cars. He believes that with the technology we're seeing for drones, there's no reason why we couldn't create a more efficient form of air transport. After hearing him speak - and reading this article - I think he's on to something." (Mitch for Alistair). 

How U2 became the new Nickelback - The Daily Dot . "If you're eyes were open these past few weeks, it was hard to miss the Apple , U2 and iPhone story. In short: Apple decided to give everyone (for free) a copy of the new U2 album. Sounds great and smart, right? Well, it turns out that it wasn't 'opt-in.' The album 'magically' appeared on everyone's playlist and all you had to do was download it from the cloud. The problem? People didn't want it on their playlists, nor did they want to download it and they felt like Apple intruded on their playlists without permission. Apple retracted and built a webpage to explain to people how to remove U2's latest. Now, everyone is saying that U2 and Apple are both 'out of touch.' Check out this article. It has gotten so bad that they're now comparing U2 to Nickelback (Hugh, admit it, secretly at night you listen to Nickelback, don't you?). My two cents: people are looking a gift horse in the mouth and they love to kill their darlings. U2 did something different. They did it with Apple. The execution could have been better, but this was an interesting idea." (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

Tags:

adam grant

alistair croll

apple

bitcurrent

book a futurists manifesto

buckingham palace

business insider

complete web monitoring

gigaom

google

google zeitgeist

hugh mcguire

human 20

hyperloop

iambik

iphone

james burke

larry page

lean analytics

librivox

link bait

link exchange

link sharing

managing bandwidth

media hacks

national post

nature

neal stephenson

nickelback

pressbooks

second life

snow crash

social media

solve for interesting

ted

the conversation

the daily dot

todd mclellan

u2

year one labs

Enter The Zeitgeist

Welcome to the spirit of the times.

The TED conference is my personal escape pod. I've been attending that conference since the last one that was held in Monterey (2008). Someone once described it as "gymnastic for the brains." That description always makes me smile, but for those who attend it, they know that it is about so much more. The TED conference affects me at the cellular level. I'm not being overly dramatic. When was the last time that you attended a conference that you thought about on a daily basis? I think about the event, speakers and people I connect with over there on a daily basis. No joke. There is one other event that holds that same, special place in my heart, and it is: Google Zeitgeist. Google Zeitgeist is a private event (only five hundred attendees that are, primarily, Google's best partners). There are no sales pitches and little-to-no hallway chatter about what Google can do to grow your business. Google positions this conference as a "thank you." I'm not sure how it happens, but they are very gracious to invite me to be an attendee. I've been going for years, and I can best describe the content as, "TED with more of a business twist."

Google Zeitgeist happened this week.

I flew to Phoenix (via Chicago) this past Sunday night and stayed until the end of it (Tuesday after lunch). My head is still spinning (and it's not from the 100+ degree weather). I'm always leery of sharing anything about the event in my social channels (granted, I do post some pictures to Facebook and Instagram), because I'm doing my best to be present in the moment. To take notes. To even spend some time alone with my thoughts. To think about what I learned, and how to apply it to the business of Twist Image, to our clients... and to myself. I feel, somewhat, silly even trying to write about it post-event. It's all mush right now, as it stews around and slow cooks between my earholes. Because it's a private/invite-only event, I'm also cautious to share anything online that was supposed to stay "in the room." (afterall, I do want to be invited back ;).

Let's share some Google Zeitgeist.

I subscribe to the Zeitgeist Minds YouTube channel, where they often post the talks from previous events. Just now, I noticed a whole bunch of this week's presentations were already posted online. So, the first thing you should do, is to subscribe to the Google Zeitgeist Minds YouTube Channel. The next thing you should do, is watch the following sessions that really inspired me.

Here's just a little tickle of Google Zeitgeist:

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conference

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This Ain't No Ice Bucket Challenge. Please Read.

Here's a simple truth about me: I don't like asking you for anything.

I don't. I don't like asking you to share my content. I don't like asking you to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or whatever. I don't like asking for help, in general. It's a fault. I'm not perfect. With that, I love sharing, helping and making myself as readily available to as many people as possible. I publish this blog, the podcast, my two books (Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete), articles in Harvard Business Review, Huffington Post and Inc. Magazine  and more, because I want people to think differently about their business and their marketing. I don't take for granted the amazing opportunity that social media has brought, in terms of taking an individual's thinking and being able to share it with the world in such an instant and real-time fashion.

Well, I need your help. I'm asking for your help.

I don't know about you, but I've had another crazy year of people that I know and love getting some form of cancer. Many didn't make it, but here's a deeply, personal story: It was beautiful and perfect sunny day on August 25th, 2010. I was flying from Montreal to Toronto for a business pitch. I was happy with life - family, business and community were all going along great. I remember looking out of the plane window into the clear blue horizon and thinking, "life is good. I am very lucky." I was looking forward to landing because I was about to call my best friend to let him know that my family was expecting a new baby. I've known this person for my whole life. I can't remember them not being a part of my life or a friend. He was the first call outside of my immediate family with the good news. He always is. When the flight landed, I received a phone call from him. I was smiling to myself thinking, "this is perfect! He's calling me!"

That's when my world collapsed.

He told me that his beautiful, young daughter, Leah (who was five years old), had cancer... leukemia. How could that be? A few weeks prior she was at my kid's birthday party, laughing, playing... perfect. Now... leukemia? It was - without a question - one of the hardest moments in my life... trying to understand and take in what my best friend was telling me about his daughter... who I would treat as my own daughter in terms of love and care. I went into a tailspin.

It makes no sense.

Leah's courage throughout this nightmare is what pulled everyone through - family and friends. If there were ever a definition for the word "survivor" it is Leah. After a lengthy and hard battle, she is - thankfully - in remission and back home where she belongs: with her family and friends. She is happily in remission.

She's lucky, but many, many people are not this lucky.

Now, it's our turn to make a difference. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada's Light The Night Walk is a night to pay tribute and bring hope to all those affected by blood cancer. On October 18th, I will be joining thousands of people walking in twilight carrying illuminated balloons to fight this dreaded disease for the fourth year in a row. I'm doing this as a part of Leah's team. I'll be walking with Leah and her family.

I'm asking you to do one thing for me.

I do my best to put out six blog posts and one audio podcast every week. This makes it close to four thousand entries over the years. In a perfect world, I'd prefer to not ask for help (those who know me, personally, can attest that I struggle with asking for help). In all instances, I try to make the ask something that has more value to the person actually taking action. Meaning, I prefer when the value of the ask is balanced not towards the person asking, but to those who participate. I'm confident that over the past decade, I have offered up countless pieces that added value to your work (at least, I hope I have!). This isn't about me raising money. It's about our kids and the randomness and cruelty that is leukemia and because none of us are safe. Leah got leukemia with no family history of the problem. Nothing. Now, Leah (who is in remission) will have to deal with this for the rest of her life. Other families aren't even granted that luxury.

Please help.

I set a goal of $5000 to raise from friends and family. The truth is that I would love to crack the $10,000 mark. I do realize that times are tough and many of us are watching our wallets just a little bit closer than we usually have, but please consider giving something. I know that a lot of you probably took part in the #IceBucketChallenge (as I did). But, you know the saying, "every dollar counts." If over the years, any of my content has struck a chord with you, made you smile, made you see your business world in a different way, I hope that you will consider this ask as the "tip jar" for my thoughts.

If you can find it in your heart to give, please do so right here: Light The Night Walk.

How about a little giver's gain?

As a "thank you," here's what I am offering:

Whoever donates the most money gets me for a one-hour get together. It can be via Skype, phone or in-person (meaning, if you're in Montreal or if I happen to be travelling to wherever it is that you live). It will be a social meeting, but you can feel free to ask me anything. Lunch is on me. I'll also include a signed copy of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete.

Whoever comes in next will get a signed copy of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, plus a business book bundle that will include three great new books that just came out. Namely: Unselling by Scott Stratten and Alison Kramer, How The World Sees You By Sally Hogshead and The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau.

I will also do a random draw and give away five sets of two "special" tickets to The Art Of... event of your choice. This is just the tickets, so you will have to handle travel, accommodations, etc...

Now, it's your turn. Please help out. Please help me spread the good word. Thank you.

My friend - who is Leah's father - wrote the following song and performed it. This should add some more context to my ask...

Tags:

alison kramer

blog

blood cancer

business

business book

business book bundle

cancer

chris guillebeau

ctrl alt delete

dream your dream

facebook

harvard business review

how the world sees you

huffington post

ice bucket challenge

inc magazine

instagram

leah helper

leukemia

light the night

light the night walk

linkedin

marketing

podcast

sally hogshead

scott stratten

six pixels of separation

skype

social media

the art of

the art of leadership

the art of marketing

the happiness of pursuit

the leukemia and lymphoma society of canada

twitter

unselling

How To Make Your Content Move. Think Like Jerry Seinfeld.

After you watch the video at the end of the post, you will think differently about your content. Promise.

Have you had a chance to check out Jerry Seinfeld's wildly successful online series called, Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee? It's great. Let's start there. The premise is simple: Seinfeld chooses a fellow comedian that he admires and he asks them out for a coffee and conversation. In the show, Seinfeld (a car fanatic) chooses a car that best represents his guest, picks them up, they go for a drive and then they extend their conversation over coffee. You not only get some great (and hilarious) moments, but you're able to better understand how these entertainers think, what makes them tick and what they find funny. It's very human. It's very real. People flock to it, not just because it's Seinfeld and another celebrity, but because it's a peek behind the curtain. It's less about what any one celebrity is promoting and much more about their careers and their creative process. Fascinating stuff.

What does this have to do with your content? Everything.

The Paley Center For Media hosts some pretty impressive events, and this one is a doozy. Jerry Seinfeld sits down (for over an hour!) to discuss Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee with David Letterman (crazy, right?). You will have to pay close attention, but there are tons of nuggets that are completely transferable to any brand thinking about content marketing and how to tell stories that work and inspire when most people are watching them graze by on their mobile devices. Just Seinfeld's theory on how his show had to "move" in this new world, is worth the price of admission alone. You will be tempted to simply click the play button below and be entertained. Don't do this. Grab a pen and a notebook or fire up your Evernote and take notes. There's gold in here, Jerry, gold!

Jerry Seinfeld And David Letter - The Paley Center for Media.

(also, if you want to hear more about understanding the dynamics of comedy, success and telling better stories, take a listen to my conversation with James Altucher : SPOS #425 - Laughing All The Way To The Bank With James Altucher )

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Don't Make Me Hate You

Marketers often think they're being smart. Most of the time, we're being very stupid.

When you visit your big box electronics retailer, it's hard to make headway on which TV to buy. Over the years, television manufacturers have - somewhat - overcome this hurdle by covering corners of the TV with a removable sticker. These stickers highlight everything from resolution, to types of cable inputs to other kinds of smart features that the screens have built into them (like Netflix, etc...). This way, it's much easier for the consumer to recognize the subtle nuances between prices and sizes, and what they're getting when faced with a wall of screens that all look similar in size and function. This is smart marketing. It's actually become increasingly better over the years, as most of these stickers have become somewhat standardized to make the shopping process have a little less friction. These floor demos and their stickers are a great example of how television manufacturers have overcome the challenge of mis-informed sales associates coupled with the ability for a consumer to make distinctions between the choices at a glance.

But then, again, marketers can also do some very dumb stuff.

I found myself with an extended flight delay (it happens) and I was waiting in an airport lounge (airline, lounge and location won't be mentioned). With everything happening in the news and a crazier-than-usual travel schedule, I opted to sit in front of the TV airing CNN while checking my email, eating some snacks that I have no business eating, and catching up on how much chaos there is going on in our world today. It seemed to be a fairly new and large-ish flat screen TV that had the feature-riddled sticker still on it. It made me laugh. I wondered why the people who had installed the screen couldn't even be bothered to remove the sticker that is solely used for the purpose of comparing it to others while on a showroom floor. As I approached the screen to remove it (someone has to do it!), it disappeared. I thought I was on Candid Camera. Is this a joke? I went over to the bar, grabbed some more pretzels and water and sat back down in my seat. The sticker reappeared. I had been on the road. I was very tired. I rubbed my eyes. The sticker was still there.

Can you guess what happened next?

It turns out that this TV manufacturer had created a digital version of this "sticker" that appears quite often (every couple of seconds or so) on this, specific, TV. It's obviously there as some kind of promotion/sponsorship with the airline to have frequent travelers marvel at all of the features that this screen possesses. But it doesn't. It's annoying. And, as I got more and more annoyed by this digital sticker - either blocking the full screen experience or continually popping in and out of the regularly scheduled programming - I started to hate this brand. With a passion. Now, let's be honest: I'm a marketing nerd, so these types of silly antics are probably more noticeable to me than the average consumer, but it's still an interruption, it adds friction to the TV viewing experience and... it's simply not good.

The thing about hate.

Hate is a strong word. Most consumers probably wouldn't say that they hate it. It's more subliminal. It's annoying. It festers. It lies there... somewhere... in their back of their brains. We all know that life is full of experiences. Some great. Some bad. Some that last forever. Some that are fleeting. The brand's imperative is to ensure that - with every interaction - they are getting consumers to invest in them (and not divest of them). I'm much more aware of marketing than the average bear. I see moments like this as a great opportunity to engage. No one wants to be in an airport lounge. They're simply there trying to get a break from one hectic moment to another. If you were a brand thinking about marketing within that environment, you may want to think more about the state of the consumer's mindset (and less about what you're trying to scream at them). Brands need to look for ways to add peace, serenity and comfort, instead of intrusion, annoyance and confusion. It's not just airport lounges, either. It's everywhere. From Instagram and Facebook to television ads and beyond.

Don't make me hate you.

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