Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 261

What's Bigger Than Big Data?

How's your big data business strategy coming along?

I jokingly tell colleagues in the marketing world, that you can't throw a professional marketer down a flight of stairs these days without the words "big data" tumbling out of their pockets. There's no need to benchmark brands against their competencies with big data because, quite frankly, most brands don't even have a proper definition for what big data means. Plus, even if they did, there are but a small, few brands who have the technical and strategic capabilities to truly benefit from it. On top of that, most brands are still incredibly weak at leveraging their current data sets to improve outcomes in a faster, more efficient, way. Translated: you have brands worrying about big data, when they're still pretty sucky at small data. That doesn't diminish big data's ever-growing importance or its pending dominance, but it does take a lot of the steam out of the shiny bright object syndrome engines that we're all faced with these days. So, while some media pundits dive on big data like it's a Superbowl football, you will also find many people looking to see what's next.

What if what's next is not about bigger sets of data?

What makes big data work is the lack of human intervention. It is the ability for technology to merge data sets normally inaccessible to a human being's capabilities, and run it with a velocity that no human being could ever do. The output of this should be some kind of unique insight or new spin on the information that would be almost unimaginable for a human being to uncover and develop. It takes a massive amount of automation for this technology to be feasible. The question then becomes, what are human beings good for? At this moment in time, human beings should be looking towards real-time opportunities with analytics. No, this isn't about Oreo and their famed Superbowl power outage ad from last year, it's about bringing an entirely new philosophical approach to business outcomes.

Putting big data aside for real-time analytics.  

What do your ad campaigns look like? How are they performing? Most brand marketers get these interesting reports (some quarterly, some monthly, some bi-weekly and some even get them weekly). The question isn't really about when a marketing report is delivered, but much more about what actionable outcomes are done once that report is viewed? The failing state of traditional advertising lies in the fact that once an ad is placed, it's hard to do/know anything about it until long after the effects of it are felt on the economic value it drove to the business (if any). Don't kid yourself, this is one of the main reasons that Google's market cap is currently riding in the $385 billion range. Their advertising business is based on the paradigm that advertising can be both performance-based and optimized in near-real-time. Now, we're starting to see a slew of new marketing solutions-based companies deliver real-time analytics for all forms of digital advertising (including data on retargeting efforts like time-to-conversion and even time-of-conversion). Now, it's less about what you can fix on the next 'go round and much more about how to optimize and create in this real-time environment.

The problem with real-time analytics.

You would think that these types of advancements in marketing measurement would be heralded as the future by marketers (and adopted a lot quicker than their passion for big data). It is when it comes to things like being quoted in the media or taking the podium to present for an industry function, but go ahead and ask the people in the foxholes just how excited brands are about this newly-available opportunity? They're not that excited because it's simply not being done. Massive opportunities lie ahead for advertising. This sudden interest in real-time analytics is not only driving a significant amount of venture capital investment, but it is ushering in the opportunity for brands to make even better (and more informed) decisions. What we're currently faced with is a world where the data is available in real-time, but actions to do anything about it are still very "human."

Making "human" the opportunity.           

We live in a world of real-time bidding for media purchasing, real-time analytics to track performance, visualizations of data through dynamic dashboards and hoards of performance-based marketers shilling paid search optimization along with retargeting as a engine to grow dead email lists. Almost anything seems possible as an engine for marketers to digitize advertising, and make it seem that much more efficient. With that, you might think that the machines are taking over. They very well may be, but the trick is to leverage all of this data, analytics and performance in a way that machines can't. Imagine a world where we take all of this new and amazing information and add the human element into it. To think differently about how to advertise, when to advertise and how to optimize it. We've been heading down this road for close to twenty years, at this point. The technology and data is simply getting faster and easier to understand. Now, it's just waiting on us, the humans, to take action quicker, to iterate, to optimize and to think in real-time, instead of campaigns based on seasonality, yearly quarters and the holiday season.

The data is waiting for your human input.

The above posting is my twice-monthly column for The Huffington Post. I cross-post it here with all the links and tags for your reading pleasure, but you can check out the original version online here:

Huffington Post - What's Bigger Than Big Data?

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Everything That You Plug Into The Wall Will Be Connected To The Internet

Every 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 buys Nest for $3.2 billion and what this means to the future of your home.

Dropbox also gets a hefty investment pushing the company to a $10 billion in valuation.

A great book by Dave Eggers called, The Circle.

Amazon has patented anticipatory shipping. Yes, they'll send you stuff before your order it (because they know you're going to press that button!).

Thinking about a standing desk.

App of the week: Ikea Hackers (it's not an app, but a great website).

Listen here...

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anticipatory shipping

chom 977 fm

chom fm

credit card

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dave eggers

digital media

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google

guest contributor

heather backman

ikea hackers

montreal radio

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mornings rock with terry and heather b

nest

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social media

soundcloud

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technology

terry dimonte

the circle

A State Of Content Shock

Episode #393 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

Here is the definition of Content Shock from Mark W. Schaefer: "Content Shock is the emerging marketing epoch defined when exponentially increasing volumes of content intersects our limited human capacity to consume it." In short, it's getting more and more expensive and difficult for brands to create content in a world where consumers have a finite time to consume it all. Do you believe in this or do you not? Schaefer presented this theory (something I have blogged about on countless occasions with my own spin) on his Grow Blog earlier this month. That blog post has since generated over 300 comments and tons of diverse feedback. Shel Holtz (famed communications professional and one of the voices behind the long-running podcast, For Immediate Release - The Hobson And Holtz Report) took exception to the theory of Content Shock in a blog post titled, Six Reasons There Will Be No Content Shock. It felt like this could be a very interesting three-way debate. I hope it doesn't disappoint. 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 #393.

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Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #187

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 Economics behind the Everpix Shutdown Decision - Ivan's Research . " Everpix was a photo-sharing site that recently shut its doors. The founders were candid about why they closed shop, going so far as to share all kinds of research that is a goldmine for startups . But this post takes it one step further: a stealthy competitor figured out that the photo sharing business wasn't viable, and used this modeling to sell early, under NDA. This kind of hard-nosed economic analysis is rare in the startup world, which is often characterized by hubris and an ignorance of the realities of business." (Alistair for Hugh, HT to @eoinbrazil).

Some Facts On The Flu - Solve For Interesting . "Canada's gripped by la grippe, and things are bad South of the Border too. So I asked a friend -- who happens to be an infectious disease specialist with a knack for explaining things clearly -- some questions. I'm not really breaking my rule about posting links to my own stuff, since this is an interview with him, but caveat emptor. Know what the first North American Avian Flu death and AIDS have in common? Read on." (Alistair for Mitch, HT to a smart physician; let's call him Dr. F.).

Minimiam: Playful Mini Dramas By Photographers Pierre Javelle And Akiko Ida - Demilked . "Photos of tiny people making their way in the world." (Hugh for Alistair).

The Book Is Not Dead - Daily Infographic . "Will ebooks destroy the paper book? Not anytime soon, says this pundit-defying infographic. All sorts of interesting things to chew over, the key stat: ebook sales appear to be leveling off at about 25% of the market." (Hugh for Mitch).

Why Twitter's Co-Founder Is Asking Brands To Use The Receipt As A Publishing Medium - PSFK . "I spoke this past week at the National Retail Federation 's big show in New York City. There was George W. Bush followed by a lifetime achievement award to Costco co-founder, Jim Sinegal , then me. Weird. I agree. This is such a massive show, that I didn't even realize that Jack Dorsey was also presenting. I'm a huge fan of Dorsey. From Twitter to Square , he is making some inspiring entrepreneurial moves. What I love most about people like Dorsey is when they make statements like the one presented in this article. The receipt is a publishing medium that most retailers are wasting. Wow. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Granted, when I first saw Twitter - after it first launched - I'd be lying if I said I understood what, exactly, it would be good for." (Mitch for Alistair). 

How To Write For A Living - James Altucher . "Have I told you this week how much I am enjoying the writing of James Altucher ? This piece isn't posted on his blog yet (I got it because I subscribe to his free e-newsletter... and I would recommend that you subscribe as well). I get asked this question a lot. Which is funny, considering that I don't actually write for a living (but that's another story and I do understand why people ask me this question). Many other authors have done their best to explain this, but I think Altucher really nails it on this one. You can feel his emotion bleeding through the words. You won't be surprised by his answer: a lot of hard work and dedication." (Mitch for Hugh).

Now it's your turn: in the comment section below pick one thing that you saw this week that inspired you and share it.

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akiko ida

alistair croll

bitcurrent

book

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iambik

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pierre javelle

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year one labs

What A Three Billion Dollar Company Looks Like

Who is Tony Fadell?

He has had many successes. Prior to January 14th, 2003 most people knew Fadell as the person that Apple called in 2001 to help design a MP3 player that would work with their iTunes platform, because the company felt that most of the other players on the market were too complicated. Of course, this became the first version of the iPod. He left Apple in 2008 but re-emerged on the tech scene in 2010 as the co-founder of Nest. Nest Thermostat is the connected thermostat for the home. Late last year, the company also launched Nest Protect, which is a connected smoke detector. Both devices have helped usher in The Internet of Things. A world where all appliances and devices are connected to the Internet, controllable through a smartphone or tablet, and able to leverage that connection to make your home (or work) environment that much more efficient. But, the story doesn't end there. Nest rocked the world last week when it was acquired by Google for over three billion dollars (not a typo). After three years of being in business.

3 Billion Dollars... how did Tony Fadell do it?

Kevin Rose (co-founder of Digg and now at Google Ventures) sat down with Fadell at the Google Ventures CEO Summit and recorded this in-depth conversation with him (which was recorded prior to the acquisition by Google) for his always-fascinating Foundation podcast.

Here is their conversation...

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tony fadell

Change Your Marketing. Change Your Brain.

Don't stop advertising. Don't stop marketing.

Let's agree to stop the madness. Do a quick search online for the "death of marketing and advertising," and you will be shocked at the level of discourse out there. It has become so heated that an entirely new group of people called, Growth Hacker Marketers, seem to be the pinup dolls for a new way to build customers, loyalty and push sales (while calling for an end to the advertisers). These people claim to be hybrids of engineers, strategists and analytics specialists who are leveraging digital channels to build customer profiles with technology, but without any of the traditional avenues. In the end, it's all buzzwords and jargon. For the most part, we live and breathe in an era when it has never been easier to find out just how big of an audience your product or service can have. The idea here isn't to stop advertising; it's to start marketing in a more powerful and effective way.

First, do you know the difference between marketing and advertising?

The two terms are not inter-changeable. Marketing is the function of business that is (still) best summed up by understanding the Four Ps of your business (and, you would know these if you ever took a Marketing 101 course in college). Namely: Product, Price, Promotion, Place.

What is your product/service (and how is it unique in the marketplace/to the industry that you serve)?

How much does your product/service cost (and how is it priced to be competitive or unique in the marketplace)?

Where will your product/service be placed in the marketplace (how will it be positioned both in its physical state and in the mental awareness of your customer)?

How will you promote it? What will you do to get the marketplace to pay attention to whatever it is that you're selling.

It's plain to see, isn't it?

Advertising is but a small sub-set of marketing. It acts as one of many levers within the promotion quadrant of the Four Ps. In fact, marketing - when done right - solves your fundamental business challenge: how do you get people to buy whatever it is that you are selling and tell others about how great it is. The problem is that people have been confusing and inter-changing the words "marketing" and "advertising" for so long, that when people think of either as a function for business, they think of expensive television ads or running a promotion in the local newspaper.

Marketing is everybody's business. Marketing is your business.

Small, medium (and yes, even large) businesses will often complain that they don't have the time experience or passion for marketing. They would prefer to leave it to "the creatives." Nothing could be further from the truth.

Change your marketing. Change your brain.

Starting today, you can make the choice to embrace the fact that the vast majority of your consumers have a digital-first posture. When they are faced with an issue that a business can solve, they grab their smartphones, head to a search box, tweet, update their Facebook status with a question or whatever. Where are you in this equation? It's a fair (and difficult) question to answer. A small mindshift away from perceiving advertising as the main thrusters of engine power for your marketing (like, how many "likes" do you have on Facebook?) towards this idea of simply being present, active and engaged  (like, how many people on Twitter have you helped today?) is one small way to understand just how powerful marketing has become in the past few years alone.

Why marketing?

Never has there been a more important time for a business to embrace marketing. Primarily, because the gatekeepers (the media owners) are all but gone. Paid media is no longer the only way for a brand to build a business, and now all businesses can have a direct relationship with their consumers. As scary as this may be, in a world where most businesses struggle to find the time to just go about their day-to-day operations, the opportunities are boundless. Brands must be eager to embrace this digital-fist posture of this new consumer and be equally excited about the privilege of having such a direct relationship with these customers.  There is a new brand journey through marketing that is happening right now, and it could not be more exciting. From wearable technology and cloud computing to Instagram businesses and the continued importance of data and analytics. This intersection of technology, media and consumerism continues to shift and evolve.  But first, you have to change your mindset. This isn't about advertising anymore. It's about understanding these new marketplaces and what it takes to connect with these highly connected, untethered and empowered consumers. This is the type of thinking that will change your mindset from "what am I spending all of this money on?" to "how can I better connect with my customers and potential clients?"

Are you convinced? Are you ready to reboot your marketing?

The above posting is my twice-monthly column for Inc. Magazine called Reboot: Marketing . I cross-post it here with all the links and tags for your reading pleasure, but you can check out the original version online here:

Inc. Magazine - Change Your Marketing. Change Your Brain.

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Reboot: Marketing With Inc. Magazine

WARNING: Self-promotional blog post ahead...

I am excited to announce that starting tomorrow, I will be a regular contributor to Inc. Magazine with the launch of my twice-monthly column, Reboot: Marketing. The column will focus on how technology and marketing is working harder than ever to make businesses better (and what entrepreneurs need to know to capitalize on it!). As usual, I will be posting the unfiltered, unedited version here on Six Pixels of Separation once Inc. Magazine's final version gets published. The version on this blog will also include all of my regular slew of links, tags, etc...

Why would I write for Inc. Magazine?

In simple terms: content distribution strategy (more on that here: The Failing State Of Content Marketing). Every week, I blog six times plus the Six Pixels Podcast on Sunday. My current thoughts are that this content should not just be shackled to my own platforms, but to extend the thinking into as many interesting and unique corners of the publishing world as possible. I will continue to be a regular contributor to The Huffington Post (look for my newest column next week) and I will be shifting my contributions to Harvard Business Review to a monthly format. All of those pieces will be posted here as well (in their original format).

But wait... there's more!

With that, I am equally excited to be announcing that I will have an upcoming monthly column in Strategy Magazine (it will be published in the third week of every month). The focus of that column will be innovation in marketing. With all of that, my weekly Monday morning radio hit on CHOM 977 FM's Mornings Rock With Terry And Heather B will continue on. Will there be other business books? Yes! More speaking engagements? Yes! Other new and interesting ways of sharing this content in new and interesting venues? Just wait until you see what will be happening in the coming months.

Too much content?

People complain that there is too much content. I am guilty of this from time to time. Still, I believe deeply in these digital channels and the ability for an individual to share their thinking with the world. I'm also a firm believer that so long as the content adds value to people's lives, then it is a worthy pursuit. This is an exciting time for brands, publishers and marketers. But, I have another thought: I don't believe that everything that I create should be consumed, shared and loved by everyone (I wish more brands would think like this as well). You don't have to listen to all of my podcasts to derive value. Individuals can pop in and out. That's great too (in fact, it's my expectation that this will happen). Too many brands (and individuals) are on the drug of "more." Thinking, hoping and praying that every new tweet gets a few more retweets or moments of engagement than their last. That is not the true spirit of creating a legacy of content. This blog post may not be of value to you. I'm hoping that the next one (or the one after that) will.

Until then... let's Reboot: Marketing.

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Let's Face The Cold Hard Truth About Talent

I started taking electric bass lessons.

I used to play electric bass quite a bit (even studied it in a post-secondary environment). I worked very hard at it. I had private lessons, would attend jam sessions, played in a couple of bands and a whole lot more. At around the same time, I became much more interested in writing and managed to finagle a career as a freelance music journalist. I spent a whole lot of time interviewing lots of rock stars (hundreds... maybe even thousands... over the years). No joke. In 1989, my first assignment was interviewing Tommy Lee from Motley Crue (I jokingly tell people that my entire career has been downhill from there). Was I any good at playing the electric bass? I was. Was going to be the next Jaco Pastorius or Stanley Clarke? Maybe if I just practiced harder?

It's a tough talk to have.

I haven't played the bass in over twenty years. I'm beyond rusty. It's frustrating. On top of that, I've spent a lot of time watching what contemporary bassists are doing, and I am amazed at just how much progress has been made with the instrument. Have you ever heard of Michael Manring? Watch what he can do with the electric bass...

It's beautiful, isn't it?

I've been watching a lot of videos like this over the past few months, as my interest in the electric bass continues to grow. Personally, I find that it is opening up many different creative roads for me, and just thinking about the language of music has been inspiring (not a bad thing). I was thinking back to the time when I decided that I didn't want to pursue a career as a professional musician because the calling of a life in media was far more interesting. The truth is that I also wasn't that talented with the electric bass. I was good. I could play. But, I clearly didn't have the "secret sauce." It also became apparent to me recently (after watching several interviews with these stellar musicians) that they, themselves, were unable to communicate where their talent comes from. They all seem to chalk it up to practice and hard work. I don't believe them.

Malcolm Gladwell is wrong.

In his bestselling business book, Outliers, Gladwell points to the now-famous notion that anybody whose work/art that we appreciate in the world has put in the hard work to master it. The 10,000 hour rule (as it has become known). I'm not so sure. Here's my take-away: if you practice the electric bass really hard (let's call is 10,000 hours), my guess is that the vast majority of people will know how to play the electric bass very well, but very few of them will be true bass players. You can practice writing for 10,000 hours, and my guess is that the vast majority of people will be better at writing, but very few of them will be true writers. The same goes for painting, photography... and maybe even the work that you do?

There are those who can play the bass and then there are bass players. Those that have a gift for it.

It's a tough concept to wrap one's head around, but it's true. The real experts seem to be the ones who put in their 10,000 hours BUT they also have some semblance of a gift/knack/aptitude for it. Of course, there are varying levels of skills and people's opinions as to who is great at something is relative. That's fine. This isn't a negative concept, either. I'd hate for anybody to think that this blog post is intended to deflate your tires or make anyone feel like they're not great at the work that they're doing. Talent is not always something that can be developed with a simple application of a little elbow grease. Talent is usually something that shines when one individual taps into something that they actually have an aptitude for and can then nurture it to their advantage.

What do you think? Can everyone be a bass player or will most people simply know how to play bass?

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Is It Safer To Use Your Credit Card Online Than At A Store?

Every 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's integration of Google+ into Gmail to allow consumers to send messages to people without knowing their email address.

What the future of email could look like (hint: more social communications).

Major retailers like Target and Neiman Marcus have suffered major credit card security breaches.

How safe is your money? A better question might be: what is your money?

App of the week: Jelly.

Listen here...

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chom fm

credit card

credit card security breach

ctrl alt delete

ctrl alt delete with mitch joel

digital media

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future of email

gmail

google

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heather backman

jelly

montreal radio

morning show

mornings rock with terry and heather b

neiman marcus

radio segment

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social communication

social media

soundcloud

target

technology

terry dimonte

A New Era Of Marketing Has Arrived In The Age Of Context

Episode #392 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

When it comes to technology evangelism, it's hard not to think about people like Shel Israel and Robert Scoble. Together, these two co-authored the book, Naked Conversations - How Blogs Are Changing The Way Businesses Talk With Customers, back in 2006. The book was prescient, and was key in helping brands to better understand the power of blogs and how to actually implement a lot of the thinking that came out of The Cluetrain Manifesto (widely regarded as the starting point of social media). Today, these two journalists, bloggers, authors, tweeters, online publishers (and more) are back with their second book that they've done together titled, Age Of Context - Mobile, Sensors, Data And The Future Of Privacy. The Internet is no longer just a more interactive screen than television. It is everywhere. Technology is moving from screens to devices and that's going to change everything. From connected dishwashers to being able to monitor every nuance of our personal health in real-time. These are both interesting times and confusing times. The Age Of Context breaks down these movements, what they mean and why businesses (and individuals) need to start paying attention to them. 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 #392.

Tags:

advertising podcast

age of context

blog

blogging

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business book

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david usher

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naked conversations

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robert scoble

shel israel

social media

the cluetrain manifesto

twitter

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