Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 238

Be An Advocate For Your Consumer

Who doesn't want their brand to be more likeable?

Ultimately, we are in service of other people. This makes a lot of marketing skeptics shake their collective heads in disbelief, but it is true. It is how I feel. I joined Twist Image back in 2002 for two reasons. First, I wanted to help brands better connect with consumers, because I felt like technology could enable a whole lot more than simple and mind-numbing thirty second television commercials. Two, I saw myself in the service of helping people find what they both needed and wanted. Yes, it was about being an advocate for consumers to connect more authentically to the products and services in their lives. Some might laugh and dismiss this as some weird kind of higher calling, but technology was (and continues to) offer something more... something better... something new.

It's a long road.

What I realized - very early on - is that if there is a short cut, a way to get things done faster, cheaper or easier, most marketers will make a run at it. Sometimes, it works out magnificently well. Most of the time, it's a complete flop. I take marketing very seriously. I see the role of marketing (and, more importantly, marketers) as being the professionals who mediate the relationship between the brand and the audience. People - for the most part - have very basic and human needs. Corporations - on the other hand - are driven by things like public markets, profits and other concepts that often don't align to the natural human condition.   

Marketing for human beings.

I'm often asked why I fell so head over heels in love in social media. The truth is that it was much less about the technology, sharing and publishing, and much more about the fact that brands could have (if they wanted) real interactions between real human beings. Back in 2002, this was always the first concept that I would discuss during a presentation. It was a simple black and white slide, with bold copy that read: "Real Interactions Between Real Human Beings." We're pushing well past a decade from that slide deck, and I don't feel like we've come all that far. While these platforms and channel enable brands to create a myriad of media, content and opportunities to engage, it still feels like we're doing little more than advertising to the masses.

What if we reversed it?

Apple made some interesting announcements today. Some will speculate that it was all about screen size, others might argue that it's all about mobile wallets. Some might even question whether Apple has a right to take over our wrists. As I watched the event stream across my screens, I realized that it was truly an event. A marketing event. Through and through. Apple is an anomaly. We like to read business books about how they think (both the company and the people behind it). We like to speculate as to what best practices we can glean from them to steal and make our own, but we often forget that Apple doesn't use advertising to do anything else but support the greater brand story. Apple creates these things (some physical, some digital) that have the marketing baked into it. They know how to touch people - in a very human way (which, if you think about it, is fascinating considering it's a technology company). They don't use ads to shout. In a world where everyone (not just brands, but people like you and I) are gunning for everyone else's attention, Apple (and, maybe the future of advertising) is doing something very basic that lies at the core of great marketing. Apple (and the big lesson for marketers) thinks about how to make their products and services more universally useful (in a world that is becoming ever-more globalized), simple (which, as we often say, is one of the most complex things to do) and - perhaps most importantly - human. When we think like humans, we think less about attention and more about adding value without the clutter. When we think like humans, we start communicating to people with the same level of respect as we would hope that someone would have in talking to us. When we think like humans, we start worrying less about getting them to sign on the line that is dotted and much more about ways to make them feel connected, cared for and wanting to do business with us. Ultimately, technology is doing nothing new to marketing. It's just enabling us to be more human. The tragedy is that a lot of marketers are using technology to make it all less human. That makes it feel like we're moving in the wrong direction. What if we stopped looking for brand advocates and started spending more time being advocates for our consumers?

What kind of business would that look like?

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Tomorrow Apple Sets The Table For Mobile, Wearables And Beyond

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:

Tomorrow Apple is looking for a big day. What can we expect? New iPhones? A wearable technology? Some else?

The world awaits as innovation takes center stage.

If celebrities can get their nude photos hacked and made public, do we all need to be afraid?

Vice started off an alternative newspaper in Montreal. It then became a magazine. They moved to New York City and now they're worth billions of dollars.

Is Vice the future of media?

What did they do so right that so many other massive media players missed?

Listen here...

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Everbody Writes

Episode #426 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

When everybody is writing, it can be challenging to find good writing (let alone, great writing). Ann Handley is a great writer. Don't believe me? Just start reading her blog. She's had an incredible career, including being the co-founder of ClickZ and she's currently the Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs. When people ask me about what it takes to be great at writing content (online or otherwise), I think of my dear friend, Ann. I was honored to be asked to write a blurb for her just-released book, Everybody Writes. If you're going to be writing anything (from a tweet or blog post to a book of your own), this is the book you want to read, study and leave right next to whatever it is that you will be typing on. If you lead marketing teams, you're going to want to pick up a few copy for those who are responsible for the words as well. Prior to Everybody Writes, she co-authored (with C.C. Chapman), Content Rules. She's also a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine, and a very passionate person about the power and importance of content and words. 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 #426.

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Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #220

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:

Behind The Danger - Burners.Me . "I just came back from two weeks at Burning Man. While there, I got a pretty serious infection in my arm that needed medical treatment. So I learned all about Rampart, the emergency medical services on the Playa. They're run by the Humboldt General Hospital and a team of volunteers. They're amazing. And they work in insanely adverse conditions. I was hoping for a big write-up of how it works -- I had a number of fascinating conversations with drivers, doctors, nurses, and others -- but the best I could find is this post from a couple of years ago. They even have an X-Ray machine. Oh, and it's all free to Playa attendees." (Alistair for Hugh).

Evidence Grows That Online Social Networks Have Insidious Negative Effects - MIT Technology Review . "Common wisdom says, people share the best of their lives online, making others feel inadequate. Alain de Botton covered this in Status Anxiety, and the Internet has multiplied it a hundredfold. Facebook's research suggests that happy sentiment begets happy sentiment, and we know that angry comments on articles makes people dig in to their existing positions and ignore facts that don't agree with them. Now an Italian study of 25,000 people finds that while online networking can have a positive effect, users of social networks have lower social trust of others. They conclude that 'the overall effect of networking on individual welfare is significantly negative.'" (Alistair for Mitch).

On the Origin of Species: The Preservation of Favoured Traces - Ben Fry . "This is pretty amazing: A (whole text) representation of the changes, over six editions, of Charles Darwin 's Origin of the Species ." (Hugh for Alistair).

Heavy Metal Umlaut - Jon Udell . "... Which reminds me of one of the great visualizations of the magic of Wikipedia , Jon Udell 's Heavy Metal Umlaut (which I have probably shared here before, but it's worth checking out again)." (Hugh for Mitch).

Battleship beast: colossal dinosaur skeleton found in southern Patagonia - The Guardian . "A new dinosaur. A massive one. We're talking sixty tons (probably more). Wow. What we think we know about the universe, space... of our planet is probably quite limited. With all of this technology and all of this evolution, we're still just the third rock from the sun, with a very short lifespan in the greater context of the universe. Discoveries like this give me hope for entrepreneurship. After all, if we're able to keep on discovering these massive dinosaurs - that we never knew about before-  and they're right beneath our feet, just imagine what else we must be missing and what has yet to be discovered or created." (Mitch for Alistair).

The Star Wars George Lucas Doesn't Want You To See - The Atlantic . "I remember seeing Star Wars in the movie theater. It changed my life. Even as the newer movie franchise hit the big screen, the opening scene would take me right back to my childhood. Like the smell of hamburgers on a barbeque. It turns out that George Lucas is very much the perfectionist. Over the years, he has been tweaking the original version of Star Wars, as the technology of CGI and sound effects improves. It's been tweaked so many times, that the original version is nearly impossible to find. A group of rabid fans are desperately trying to piece together their own, original, version. It's called 'despecializing' and they're going at it. While that's an interesting story unto itself, it got me thinking about the concept of 'original' in a digital world. If there is no physical version of a movie, TV show, book or magazine, how will anybody ever really know what the original version is? What has been changed and who is doing it? Take it one step further: what if price tags in stores become digital too (they will)... how will you ever know if you're getting a good price versus the price that the store wants you, specifically, to pay at any given moment in time and geography?" (Mitch for Hugh). 

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

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year one labs

What My Podcast Is Not

I can run off at the mouth quite a bit... especially, if you let me.

I like to talk. I like to write. It's what I do. It's not for everyone. If you're reading this, maybe it is for you (who knows). I get a lot of comments about my podcast, Six Pixels of Separation. I publish it weekly. I've been doing it since  2006. Every week. Over four hundred and twenty episodes. I won't be stopping any time soon. I have written about why I podcast before. I'll sum it up for you: I podcast, because it gives me the opportunity to corner someone whose thinking I like and appreciate. I get to ask them the things that I want to ask them. I'm lucky. The popularity of the show, has allowed me to have on some really serious thinkers. And, I appreciate the hour (or so) that we spend together. I publish it for everyone to listen to. I don't edit it. It's the conversation as it went down. I probably get so much more out of it than they do... I probably get more out of it than anyone listening does. I'm fine with that. I've said it before, and I will say it again: it's probably the most important personal development activity that I partake in. Thinking about the person that I am going to speak with, researching the areas of conversation, and then spending the time cracking open the walnut with them keeps me super inspired.

Back to those comments about the podcast.

With all of the positive accolades that the show gets (and I do appreciate them, thank you very much), I've had a couple of people say that I should let the guests talk more or that I spend too much time talking. Maybe I don't make it clear enough, but this isn't radio. The thing that I love the most about podcasting is that it's a new medium that allows us (yes, you and I) to experiment with audio. The problem with podcasting, is that most people only have radio to benchmark it against. I don't want my podcast to sound radio. So, my show is a jam session for business thinking and business thinkers. It's not an interview. It's a conversation. I don't consider the people on the podcast as guests. I consider the people on the podcast someone that I would like to have a conversation with. I don't write down questions. I write down things that I'd like to have a conversation about. If you want to hear these people get asked the same questions about the same things, I am sure there are tons of articles, blog posts, tv shows, radio programs and even other podcasts that people can listen to. I'm doing my best to not have there be a guest and an interviewer. I'm doing my best to inject how I am feeling and thinking, because a conversation should have two sides. A conversation should have differing opinions. A conversation should be the meeting of minds. A conversation should never be someone with a list of questions and somebody answering them.

Markets are conversations.    

That was a seminal line from the seminal book, The Cluetrain Manifesto. I wish I could say that social media really has turned brands around, and that consumers are having conversations with brands, but there's not much of that going on. Yes, there's back and forth. Yes, there's a semblance of engagement. But a real conversation? Something tangible? Something that goes on? Not so much. And still, in all of that, I'd like to think that my podcast is a small embodiment of the sentiment that markets are conversations. So, yes, those comments are valid. I've spent over twenty five years in the marketing and media space. I have an opinion. I have a vision for what I would like to see this industry become. I work tireless in expressing that vision. I do it with the clients at Twist Image. I do it on this blog. I do it on my podcast. I do it the articles I write for Harvard Business Review, Inc. Magazine and Huffington Post. I did it in both of my business books (Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete). I'm going to keep on doing it. I don't have much interest in just being a talking head who asks someone else questions.

Are we cool with that?   

I'm open to criticism. I'm fully aware that giving up an hour - every week - to listen to these conversations is a commitment. I'm ok with it. Learning takes time. Aiming for personal development is a journey. I don't see that sort of stuff happening on Twitter and, personally, I don't feel much substance coming out of people's Facebook feeds. Those channels are great and they serve a real purpose, but there's not real depth. There's no real time to listen... quietly... alone... to think... to take notes... to agree... to disagree... to be inspired... to get mad. That's what my podcast is there for... but it's not ever just another interview.

I hope.

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Please Build A Better Presentation. It Will Help You Build A Better Life.

Are you surprised by some of the presentations that you have been forced to sit through lately?

It's a topic that is near and dear to my heart. More importantly, I truly believe that one's professional success will be in direct relation to their ability to present, tell a story and communicate ideas. Yes, the better you are at doing these three things, the more successful you will be. Period. End of sentence. I've seen people who are not that smart and not that talented lead very successful professional careers because they're very apt at delivering a good story. It's not hyperbole. It's not being a promoter, either (I don't consider those types "successful"). You have to have something to tell and you have to have something to sell. Dan Roam has three wildly successful books on how to solve problems and tell stories using visual communications and more modern presentation skills. He's written: The Back Of The Napkin, Blah Blah Blah, and more recently, Show And Tell. As part of the promotion for Show And Tell, Roam spent close to an hour with the folks at Google presenting the concepts from Show And Tell. Guess what the net output of his latest findings reveal? We, as business professionals, don't use enough stories and pictures when we communicate, especially when we make presentations. So, how are you communicating your ideas at work? Does speaking and presenting freak you out? How are you going to be better at handling it?

My recommendation? Watch Dan Roam talk about Show And Tell...

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Everything Is Digital

Digital is everything. Are you listening?

I read the following quote from a recently published Forrester report titled, The Future Of Business Is Digital:

"Business leaders don't think of digital as central to their business because in the past, it hasn't been. But now your customers, your products, your business operations, and your competitors are fundamentally digital. While 74% of business executives say their company has a digital strategy, only 15% believe that their company has the skills and capabilities to execute on that strategy. A piecemeal strategy of bolting on digital channels or methods is no longer sufficient. Instead, you must think of your company as part of a dynamic ecosystem of value that connects digital resources inside and outside the company as needed to compete. You must harness digital technologies, both to deliver a superior customer experience and to drive the agility and operational efficiency you need to stay competitive." 

How digital is your organization?

From a marketing perspective, the ability to do digital advertising seems elementary, at this point. Yes, you can use websites, mobile apps and social media to sell a message (much in the same way that advertisers do with television, radio and print). The bigger shift (and the kind of stuff we have been working on at Twist Image for close to a decade) is helping brands to solve their business challenges by creating digital products and services. This means that a website is (and can be) a whole lot more than a printed brochure brought to life, and it also means that brands can now create and sell digital products alongside their physical goods via e-commerce. Technology, obviously, enables a lot more. Now, you can build a framework of analytics, KPIs and metrics that can be baked into these products and services, long before any of it goes live. What does this mean? You now know things like cost per acquisition and how something is performing live and in the moment. Brands are able to move data from the rear view mirror to the passenger seat. From that, the complexities of the communication layers become apparent. Now, the role of marketing becomes to not only build these digital products and services, to build those KPIs and analytics into them, but then to figure out how to tell, share and connect these assets to an audience. If you're reading this thinking that there's nothing new being written here, ask yourself this: which brands are actually doing this (instead of talking about it or reading about it)?

That is the transformation that most businesses must face in this business of digital. 

Put aside your profession. Look at how you conduct yourself as a consumer. Where do the traditional channels of communications fit? Where do the digital channels and opportunities lie? We live in a world where:

YouTube reaches more US adults aged 18-34 than any cable network.

Social Media has overtaken porn as the number one activity on the Web.

The fastest growing demographic on Twitter is the 55-64 year age bracket.

189 million of Facebook's users are mobile only.

93% of marketers use Social Media for business.

Let's not miss the future.

I must have read the quote at the beginning of this blog post ten times in the past few days (probably more). Every time I read it, I think to myself, "isn't this obvious? Doesn't everybody know this? Haven't we been saying this for over a decade already?" Then, I switch gears, and I think to myself, "isn't it obvious how profoundly amazing it is to be working in the digital marketing space? There is so much opportunity." Businesses are struggling through this phase. It's not going to get any easier. As technology gets easier for consumers to connect with-  and more appliances go from being plugged into the wall to being mobile and connected - it's going to create many more layers of complexity. In this, brands will need to think differently about what it means to be a marketer in a world where the future of business is digital...

...and the present is very digital as well. Still, it feels like most brands are working very analog.

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How To Suck As A Brand (With Grace)

There are two trains of thought when it comes to brutal brands:

They're so bad that they don't even know it.

They have to work quite hard at being that bad.

This may surprise you:

In my experience, it's mostly brands that fall into the latter selection from above. It's true. Whether it's structural, management-based or legacy team members, I'm often dumbfounded when I come across organizations that really struggle to get out of their own way to get the job done (well). When it comes to marketing departments, the problems usually arise from individuals who feel that their own desire to put a unique stamp on the work takes priority over ensuring that the brand is preserved and improved post their departure. You don't need to review any data points to substantiate this claim. Great brands always outlast the individuals who serve them. And, even as the lifetime of the Chief Marketing Officer is improving from it's twenty-four month lifespan - brands (even bad ones) typically outlast the CMO. So, if you have to work extra hard at being that bad, what kind of business do you really have?

How do you feel about the airlines?

In 2014, you would think - in a world of social media - that it's simply impossible to be a misery of a brand. You would be wrong. When I ask people, anecdotally, about brands they despise the most, it's usually an airline that comes top of mind. As a Super Elite frequent flyer, I can understand why. It's easy to be hard on a business that is both complex, and at the mercy of many other hands (weather, government, etc...). No, I'm not doing a complimentary upgrade of all airlines to business class, but I also see how the airlines are often (wrongly) accused, just because of things like bad weather, stupid government regulations and consumers who simply don't understand that taking a plane is not the same thing as dumping your luggage into the trunk of your car and driving off. With that, the Irish airline, Ryanair, has a dubious reputation.

Let's not make nice.

This is a brand that has done a bunch of crazy things to keep the costs low (but the extra fees high). Don't believe me? Just Google them. As pointed out today in The Economist: "Ryanair's customer service is second to all. It once charged a family €300 ($393) to print out five online boarding passes, after they had been unable to do so at their hotel (for good measure, Michael O'Leary, the airline's boss, publicly described them as 'stupid' when they complained). Its policing of the size of carry-on bags was once so ferocious it had to deny that check-in staff were given a bonus for each passenger they caught packing an extra centimetre -- guilty flyers were charged £50 ($83) to check luggage into the hold. And Mr O'Leary once described the airline's complaints procedure thus: 'You're not getting a refund so f**k off. We don't want to hear your sob stories. What part of 'no refund' don't you understand?'"

So... Umm... Yeah... That Bad.

You might argue that these are the types of things one should expect if we want to grab a flight for a couple of pounds. You should expect to pay for the extras (even if that means paying to use the bathroom). So, how are they still in business? For all of the haters (and media pundits like me who are quick to point out, laugh at and share their stories), there are plenty of people who don't expect much, because they didn't pay much. Simply arriving at the destination (even with delays) is well worth it. How much so? According to the article, Forgive And Forget, it is second only to Lufthansa in Europe when measured by passenger numbers. Yes, it's 2014 and being that bad of a brand has been a successful business model.

Living the brand.

Whether you love Ryanair or not, is not important. Ryanair has been living their brand for a very long time (whether we respect them, as marketers, or not). According to this article, things are about to change... and this is where it's getting really interesting. As Ryanair attempts to attract more business travelers, it has not only implemented more lenient policies and created more flexible options (premium seating, priority boarding, flexible tickets and more), but is attempting to change the overall corporate culture. This is where the rub lies. The airline has been known - for so long - for their cheap and miserable service that consumers don't feel like they trust a nicer and fresher attitude. Trust is a funny thing, isn't it? Consumers are fine shelling over money with extremely low expectations, but when the brand suddenly shifts and offers low prices with a kinder service, consumers are having a hard time adjusting.

It's beyond marketing.

Changing culture is hard. Changing attitudes is hard. Ryanair did a great job of making people miserable by offering them cheap flights and not much more. Now, as it attempts to move up market, consumers are struggling to embrace the brand. You have to give this airline credit: consumers knew where they stood with the brand. Now, consumers are questioning the true motives of this airline being nice, and are trying to figure out what it's up to.

The lesson seems obvious: you really have to live the brand (even when you're not a very good brand).

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michael oleary

ryanair

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the economist

The Imperative Of Hope

How are you feeling these days?

Facebook is a fascinating social experiment. Post Robin Williams, I feel a steady stream of people dealing with anxiety and depression coming forward to tell their story. As stigmatized as this may still be in our society, I often wonder who among us doesn't have some form of anxiety and depression about something at some point in their lives? Most of us dull it via things like drinking or drugs, and simply think that we're just numbing the stress of the day. Still, sharing their stories - in real time - becomes part of a bigger story. It becomes a digital legacy. A story that can be seen and tracked forever by whomever for whatever reason.

Thinking about our kids' kids.

Imagine what the next generation is going to see? Think about the diary-like narrative that all of us will leave for them to see, hear and read. I often think about the Six Pixels of Separation blog, then the podcast and then my Facebook and Twitter feed. It's a moment by moment - blow by blow - of what I'm thinking, doing and taking part in. I'll often forget when something took place, and I'm able to hop over to Instagram and find a photo that captured the moment. It's got the date, time and even who else liked it and commented on it. We're the most documented generation ever... And most of us didn't even have to conquer another people to have our stories told. Amazing. It turns out that George Orwell's 1984 was wrong. It's not (just) the government... it us... we're documenting everything and letting everyone be a part of it.

Back to hope.

With these stories come emotions. We can often tell when people are struggling, and we can see the emotional pendulum that is life swinging in the opposite direction. Some people are very forthcoming with their decisions. Others attempt to veil their emotions, while often making it easy to read between the lines. I read a lot of these posts - some very personal, while others are pieces of business content that are veiled with a lack of optimism. In find myself - quite often - murmuring beneath my breath "don't give up hope." There are moments when it feels like people are simply too negative and can't see the other side.

We've all been there.

There's a reason that the saying, "this too shall pass" has become so popular. It is imperative to always have hope. To always find - within yourself - the power to really think about your capabilities, and what you bring to the world. It's not all bad... And it's not all good. People searching only for happiness are going to lead a very sad life. We have many emotions and chasing only one, is going to lead to an even darker life. Don't believe me? Fine. Read the book, The Happiness Trap, and you will definitely have a better grasp as to why it's so imperative to have hope.

The need to have hope.

The need to have hope is more important than the need to win or the need to be happy. Hope means knowing - even in the darkest of times - that there's something else around the corner. Sweat it out. Stress it out. Whatever it takes. It's imperative to always be hopeful.

It's worth it. You're worth it. Whether you're sharing how you feel or hiding it from the world.

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Laughing All The Way To The Bank With James Altucher

 Episode #425 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

I got a strange email from James Altucher a while back. It was all about stand-up comedy. He was following my blog (which, kind of made me want to tidy the place up a little bit after knowing that), and he could tell that I am both a fan of standup comedy, and a student of the mechanics behind it. I love everything from how comedians develop jokes, to their biographies to documentaries about the art form, and even watching/listening to them being interviewed (yes, big fan of both Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee and Marc Maron's WTF Podcast). If you don't know James, he is a trader, investor, writer, and entrepreneur. His bio is an impressive one. He's an investor in Buddy Media (which sold to Salesforce.com for about $800 million) as well as bitly. His latest book is called, The Power Of No, and it's a great read. Also, if you're not following his blog, The Altucher Confidential, you don't know what you're missing. James and I begun a dialogue about how important understanding standup comedy can be for business success. And, after several email exchanges and back and forths, I convinced him to come on the show to discuss just how important standup comedy can be for business success. The point is that neither of us are comedians (we wouldn't even claim to be funny), but understanding and appreciating standup comedy is probably something that everyone in business should study, because we both feel that it was an important factor in our professional journeys. 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 #425.

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