Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 285

The Inferior Brand

Not everyone works for Apple. Not everyone has a brand like Google.

In fact, the vast majority of us probably don't work for the superstar brand in our industry. Sure, there are challenger brands, startups and more that have the potential to find their niche, build a market and be the quintessential contender, but there is a very real reality that most people don't like to face: your brand may, in fact, be inferior. Sure, there are countless sales people who will pinch and moan when their numbers aren't rolling in (this isn't who we are talking about). There are, in fact, many brands that are simply inferior to their competition and - to this day - they're doing everything they can to maintain (or grow) marketshare.   

It's hardly any fun, but it is reality.

We all want to believe - desperately - in the companies that we represent, but I would be lying if I told you that I wasn't asked for counsel - on a frequent basis - about how to market what these individuals would call "the unmarketable." So, before you quit the gig, ask to be transferred to another brand or give up entirely, here are some things to consider about dealing with an inferior brand:

The truth. In many instances, the brand is just poorly positioned and the brand perspective is tarnished. This is something very fixable (it's not easy, but it is doable). If the brand is truly broken, take a look at senior management. Are they delusional? Pragmatic? Visionary? Have candid conversations and figure out what the truth is. Is there a roadmap to upgrade the brand or is the plan to drive it into the ground. Here's why: while the product or service may be flawed, if you believe in the management and their will (and action) to change, it may be a good idea to stick around and see it through. If the truth is that the senior most executives don't care and are milking the company for all it's worth, you will have to make a decision based on your own, personal values... which is, usually, a pretty easy thing to do.

The position. Is the brand fishing in the wrong sea? This happens more often than you might imagine. Many brand can't connect who they want to be with who they truly are. This disconnect can be adjusted. Speak to clients who actually use (maybe even love) whatever it is that you're selling. Ask them why? Identify their industry. Target this industry more aggressively. Figure out which other markets are similar and build a story around it. You would be surprised how often an inferior brand in one market can become a more valuable brand in a secondary or niche market.

The location. We live in a globally connected community, there is no doubt about it. From the plumber down the corner to the multi-national home hardware store, a bad review is a bad review in a world of blogs, online social networks, and social media. It's hard to hide. Still, maybe the brand needs to adjust and figure out a better location to sell. I've seen marketing agencies known for one thing in North America, turn around by hiring a senior creative lead in Europe, open an office there and suddenly they went from a tired direct marketing shop to being a global leader in creative advertising. So yes, think about the digitization of your brand, but try to find a new home for it before putting it out to pastor.

The belief. It's hard to market and sell something that people don't believe in. So, ask yourself: what is there to believe in? Is there a certain industry? Location? Functionality? Value-added service? Anything that you can sink your teeth into? What is the one thing that your inferior brand actually does better than someone else? If you can't identify that, spend some time with your team and dig deep. Make a list. Check it twice. If there truly is nothing to believe in, it may be time to move on, but there's usually something in there that everyone can hang their hat on. It may not be the sexiest thing, but a truth is always better than sexy.

The narrative. How do you tell and sell the story? Most assume that the brand narrative is set in stone. It isn't. We live in a world where brands can come to life - in text, images, audio and video (instantly and for free to the world online). Too many brands have no idea how to create, nurture and share a strong brand narrative. They are trapped in the dogma of their website copy, brochures and tradeshow floor banter. If you can figure out a newer (and better) brand narrative, the brand could find a second life. It will also be a happier life.

The show. That website copy, brochure and tradeshow banter may not be able to save an inferior brand, but make no mistake about it: having the right tools can sometimes make all of the difference in the world. Note, this isn't about marketing and advertising that embellishes or lies (those days are done... or should be gone). Having the proper materials that reflect the new truth, the new position, the new location, the new belief and the new narrative will - without question - pull everything together. It will help your peers better understand how to sell the brand, and it will help your customers better understand why the best brands may not always be the best solutions.

The truth shall set you free...

Everybody wants their brand to be the belle of the ball. It's not always the reality. Many people (it maybe you) are working for inferior brands. It's on us, dear marketers, to turn that story around. To fix the product, price, promotion and place to tell the right story for the brand. It may not be the prettiest story, and it may be slow going, but if there's a future for these brands, it will be us who must Sheppard the cause.

What's your take? How would you market an inferior brand? Do you just give up?

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How To Support A Community

Episode #360 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

Nilofer Merchant is probably one of the the more fascinating people you can connect with online (and in person). Over the years she has become a close friend (after a very kind introduction from Tara Hunt). Nilofer is a bestselling business author (The New How and 11 Rules For Creating Value In The Social Era), a corporate director and a great speaker on business and innovation. Most recently, she delivered a very compelling TED Talk on the power of walking meetings (which has close to 350,000 views and counting). She is also a regular contributor Harvard Business Review. In this episode, we discuss  what it takes to support an author and a community in a world where the media is everyone and the choices are abundant. How do you find that signal through the noise and - more importantly - how do you make that connection stick? 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 #360.

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Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #154

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:

Sell your data to save the economy and your future - BBC . "This counter-intuitive argument, sent my way by Ian Rae, comes from Jaron Lanier, someone who should know about the future. As a pioneer of computing, and a bunch of other things, he's a scruffy renaissance man who understands what tomorrow holds better than most. In this essay, he warns that 'those with the best computers can simply calculate wealth and power away from ordinary people.' Well worth the time." (Alistair for Hugh).

Google Has A Trojan Horse To Disrupt TV: Really, Really Big Data - ReadWriteWeb . "Really, Really Big Data: Now that Lanier has scared you, here's John Paul Titlow on RWW talking about why he thinks Google can own the video business. It got me thinking enough to post a response ( Why Google Could Blockbuster Netflix ). Whether it's the long tail of content, new forms of interaction, or simply the knowledge gleaned from a billion viewers and a million creators, something's gotta give. Feels like publishing circa Kindle ." (Alistair for Mitch).

How the internet is using us all - The Times Literary Supplement . "Against the ideology of the Internet, from Jaron Lanier and Evgeny Morozov." (Hugh for Alistair).

Lone Star Statements - The Morning News . "Mitch has just published a new book ( CTRL ALT Delete ), and all of the reviews I've seen have been glowing. But, there are sure to be a few brickbats too. This collection of bad Amazon reviews of some great books will give any writer solace when they turn to read their own (sometimes not so nice) reviews." (Hugh for Mitch).

Elon Musk Has Plans For A New, Magical Form Of Transportation Called The 'Hyperloop' - Business Insider . "Perhaps Steve Jobs had a dynamism and personal brand that trumped the deeper thinking that is Elon Musk . I was watching the D11 interview with Tim Cook this week, and I was wondering if anyone will ever be able to replace Steve Jobs at Apple ? This line of thinking inevitably leads to the question: who will be the next Steve Jobs? Many people think that it is either Jack Dorsey ( Twitter and Square ) or Elon Musk ( PayPal , Tesla Motors , SpaceX ). When you read an article like this (A hyperloop? A form of new long distance transportation? A way to get from New York to San Francisco in less than 30 minutes?), the only thing you should be asking yourself is this: how can we better support the way that Elon Musk thinks and how do we encourage more people to be like Elon Musk? Because the world needs more big thinking like this and not another kind of iPhone ." (Mitch for Alistair). 

After 16 Years of Agency Life, Copywriter's First Solo Ad Is an Instant Hit - AdFreak . "Long time agency guy leaves the big agency world and heads out on his own. On his own doesn't mean starting a boutique agency... it literally means, by himself. His first ad is this billboard. It got attention. Reddit   kind of attention . Now, the Dallas-based creative is getting national attention for his work. There are so many sub-stories here that are worthy of your attention. From how one person can now build global attention around a local brand through strong creative to our ever-present fascination with billboard advertising. It ultimately shores up to one thought: great advertising - no matter how traditional - still works because it gets attention (and that's, exactly, what a billboard is supposed to do)." (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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alistair croll

amazon

amazon reviews

apple

bbc

bitcurrent

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john paul titlow

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year one labs

All Things Digital

If you're looking to geek out on digital media, the Web and future of business then go grab some popcorn, a drink and hit the bathroom. I'll wait for you...

OK, you're back? This week was the famed All Things D event, D11, and it looks to have been an incredible experience following are some of the more interesting presentations. Like I said, pack a lunch because there is a lot of goodness to follow...

Mary Meeker at D11: Full Session...

Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook) at D11: Full Session...

Tim Cook (Apple) at D11: Full Session...

Dick Costolo (Twitter) at D11: Full Session...

Elon Musk (Tesla Motors) at D11: Full Session...

Oseary, Braun and Carter at D11: Full Session...

Tons of fascinating things to watch. Enjoy!

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twitter

CTRL ALT Delete Live

Interested in coming to hear more about CTRL ALT Delete ?

Don't panic, I will shortly be returning to our regularly scheduled barrage of blog content, but many people have asked about my upcoming speaking events. The vast majority of them are private, corporate events, but here are just a few places where you come and help me celebrate the launch of my second book, CTRL ALT Delete:

June 4th, 2013 - The Future Of Marketing - CMA 2013 National Convention . This event takes place in Toronto, Ontario at the Metro Convention Centre. I will be handling the opening keynote and sharing the stage with the likes of Seth Godin, Biz Stone, Austin Kleon (Steal LIke An Artist), Jonah Berger (Contagious) Charles Duhigg (The Power Of Habit), David Usher and many more.

June 6th, 2013 - Salesforce Marketing Cloud Webinar . At 2:00 pm, I will be giving a free webinar (yes, you can take part from anywhere in the world) for the good people at Salesforce Marketing Cloud. Just click here to register.

June 12th, 2013 - Ideas @ Rotman Speaker Series . At 8:00 am, I will be in conversation with Amber Mac about all things CTRL ALT Delete. This event will be held at Desautels Hall (2nd floor, South Building) at the Rotman School of Management in Toronto, Ontario. The cost is $31 per person and it includes a copy of CTRL ALT Delete along with some muffins and coffee.

June 12th, 2013 - ExactTarget - Connect Global Tour . This event takes place in Toronto at the Metro Convention Centre. I will be doing the closing keynote along with a book signing and moderating a CMO panel.

If you're looking for a speaker or to host a CTRL ALT Delete book launch event for your company or your clients, please do let me know (you can email: mitch@twistimage.com ).

I hope to see you soon!

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The Accidental Marketer

Sometimes, the biggest lessons in marketing come from the strangest places.

Selling a book is a lot of hard work. That's the lesson I'm re-learning right now as CTRL ALT Delete enters into its second week of sales (re-learning, because I went through this in 2009 when launching the book, Six Pixels of Separation). Working up to the launch of the business book on May 21st, 2013, all of the plans were in place. The work we were doing at Twist Image to build the digital experience, the public relations, communications and marketing all coordinated with my publisher, Grand Central Publishing and much more. There was a long list of marketing collateral that included everything from building that digital experience, to writing a traditional press release, to planning some book launches (some public, some private) to creating contests and more. Leading up to the book launch, it felt kind of chaotic and in looking back, it all seems to have come together around the digital experience, which has been getting rave reviews by everyone who plays along with it.

Then, something happened.

In watching all of the feedback surrounding the CTRL ALT Delete digital experience, I thought it would be fun to strip out some of the statistics, add in some new ones, and put them into a simple PowerPoint deck that I could upload to SlideShare. Candidly, it was easy to do, got pulled together in a couple of hours and was posted to SlideShare on May 26th with the title, 25+ Mind Blowing Stats About Business Today - CTRL ALT Delete. As of this writing, that deck has been viewed over 45,000 times, and it is still going. Within a few hours, SlideShare had chosen it as one of their top presentations of the day. That's not bad for a piece of content to promote a business book.

This is not about me... this is about you.

Everyone at Twist Image is pleasantly surprised by the success of this initiative, because it wasn't the one we would have pegged to be this successful... and that's the lesson. You have to try things. You have to tinker with a campaign. You have to keep at it. You have to iterate. You have to try different channels. You have keep at it. Too many marketers still work with the, "set it and forget it," mindset. It would have been easy for us to hand out bellyrubs and lollipops in the boardroom after reading all of the feedback on the book's website. We weren't done. We're still not done. Some of the biggest successes of your marketing may come from a strange corner of your campaign. Don't let that go. Don't let it slip. Was it accidental that we knew the content would work well in a SlideShare setting? No. Was it accidental that it became one of the highlights of this campaign considering the myriad of initiatives that we've undertaken to date? Absolutely.

Isn't that part of the beauty and magic of marketing?

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The Billion Dollar Branding Play

What is Yahoo going to do with Tumblr? What is Tumblr going to become with Yahoo?

Those seem to be the billion dollar questions, these days. After it was announced that Yahoo would be acquiring Tumblr for a little over a billion dollars, the online channels (and traditional media outlets) went crazy in an "Instagram just got bought by Facebook for a billion dollars" kind of way. And, while the discourse continues, we're now hearing rumors about a few other billion (or close to it) dollar acquisitions that could be right around the corner as Waze deliberates between Google or Facebook and Yahoo could also be looking to pick up Hulu. The money is flowing, but will the revenue follow?

Are we asking the right questions?

Like Instagram, Tumblr has no immediate and clear revenue model (the company reportedly made about $13 million in 2012 with an estimated $100 million for 2013 in advertising revenue). The rumors - in a post-acquisition world - are around everything from how Tumblr will have to deal with the significant amount of blogs that are porn, adult content related or copyright violations to the opportunity and potential for native advertising (if anyone can agree on a legitimate definition of what that means). Others think that this play by Yahoo was to buy a younger demographic, whose only encounter with Yahoo may have happened when they had to use their parent's computer and opened up a Web browser. Suffice it to say, that we may well be asking the wrong questions.

Could it be a question of brand over revenue?

When Samsung was fined close to one billion dollars and forced to pay Apple damages after a patent infringement trial in August of 2012, there were some interesting discussions online about what this all meant. The jury found that critical features of the Samsung smartphones and tablets design were copied from Apple's iPhone and iPad. The jury backed Apple's claim against the South Korean firm, but there's something bigger - that when placed in context makes this all seem meaningless. At the time, Samsung was the biggest maker of smartphones in the world and the biggest of the Android smartphones as well. A billion dollar fine seems like a low-cost of entry to become number one in that industry, doesn't it? And, that's without considering that the fine could have been a lot less or the jury ruling could have gone in another direction.

The true Face(book) of Instagram.

Similarly, prior to Facebook's acquisition of the social mobile photo sharing app, Instagram, the world's largest online social network was grappling with the mobile revolution. Facebook was built for the Web and in 2011, their mobile experience was a tough sell. With photo sharing being one of the largest components of the Facebook user's experience, the company could not allow a small startup like Instagram to grab that much market share in the mobile space as the consumer's habits were rapidly evolving. As Facebook raced to update their platform and develop a more comprehensive and responsive mobile experience, the acquisition of Instagram gave them a significant position in the mobile sphere. Consider this: half of Facebook's page traffic now comes from mobile. Who knows if Facebook could have proven their mobile snuff without buying Instagram. Was that billion dollar acquisition about the potential revenue of Instagram or about building the perception and future of the Facebook brand? It's hard to argue that Facebook doesn't understand mobile today... and this shift happened in under two years. Who says it takes a long time to turn a big ship?

The future of Tumblr isn't Yahoo.

Back in February of 2011, The Huffington Post sold to AOL for $315 million. That seems like old news, but out of all of these acquisitions, it could be the best example of what Tumblr will become. AOL had many properties, but were still widely known as an Internet Service Provider by most, and the jokes about CD Roms and "you've got mail" were hard to shed. Between the acquisition of The Huffington Post, new leadership, the purchase of TechCrunch and the realignment of some of their other digital properties, The Huffington Post became the catalyst that moved the AOL brand from CDs and mail to a modern day publisher. If Yahoo can acquire sites like Tumblr and Hulu while pushing beyond their history of being a Web portal, spending a billion dollars on a platform like Tumblr and/or Hulu could well be the cheapest way for a company of that size and magnitude to not only save itself, but rebuild its brand reputation as a leader in the digital world. Any revenue from that billion dollars that they can recoup from the Tumblr or Hulu platform, could well just be gravy in the grand scheme of things.

What's your take?

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 - Yahoo's Billion Dollar Bet on Tumblr .

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25+ Mind Blowing Stats About Business Today

The idea of rebooting seems to be scaring a lot of people.

While my new book, CTRL ALT Delete, came out only one week ago, I have been privileged to be getting a lot of media attention. In every interview, it seems like people are taking an anxious, nervous and worried approach to the concept. It's partly my fault. The subtitle of CTRL ALT Delete is: "Reboot Your Business. Reboot Your Life. Your Future Depends On It." I can see why that might scare some people, but here's the honest truth: CTRL ALT Delete is a book about possibility and opportunity. It's a book that will (hopefully) empower you to be better (and, yes, happier) about the work that you do... or the work that you could be doing.

What choice do you have?

What kind of future do you want for yourself, your family, your community and your industry? Many people have been impressed with the digital experience that our team at Twist Image created to turn people on to CTRL ALT Delete. In an effort to push the story further and provide some more proof points about just how much business has changed, you can now take a look at the following presentation, which is a bunch of stats and interesting news bits that should raise an eyebrow (or two). I'm hopeful that you will find value in this information and that you pass it on to others who think that this stuff is either hyperbole or a gross mis-understatement as to just how much the foundations of business has changed... and how much more of that change is going to happen in the next little while.

Here are 25+ Mind Blowing Stats About Business Today:

25+ Mind Blowing Stats About Business Today - CTRL ALT Delete from mitchjoel

If you are so inclined, you can find out more about CTRL ALT Delete right here: CTRL ALT Delete. Reboot Your Business. Reboot Your Life. Your Future Depends On It. Today Is The Day.

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Believable Marketing

Episode #359 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

I have known Tom Asacker for close to a decade. How smart is he? Whenever someone attempts to define what a brand truly is or what branding means, his name comes to mind. Yes, that powerful. One of his earlier books, A Clear Eye For Branding, is still a regular read for me when I feel like branding is becoming something fuzzy, once again. His most recent book, The Business Of Belief, is another smart, short book that is deep and long in wisdom. Tom Peters called this book, "profound," and Seth Godin called it, "a little book with a big idea." For my dollar, Tom writes passionately and intelligently about business, branding and marketing. I'm thrilled he agreed to come on to the show. 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 #359.

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the business of belief

tom asacker

tom peters

twitter

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #153

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:

Here's What Law Enforcement Can Recover From A Seized iPhone - Forbes . "A week ago I had a chat with A Friend Who Should Know About Such Things about the ways investigators can get into your email. Some are deceptively simple (using Gmail , authorize another account to receive mails on your behalf). But the phone in your pocket is a recording device of previously unthinkable power, and it's seldom more than a meter from your body. In this Forbes piece, Andy Greenberg looks at what a treasure trove your phone is." (Alistair for Hugh).

Giorgio Moroder DJS In New York - Dazed Digital . "Daft Punk is everywhere. They, and pretty much everyone else, owe their lives to a man named Giorgio Moroder. Born in 1940, he's behind everything from Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love' to the annoying catchy 'Neverending Story' to Harold Faltermeyer. And yes, he's collaborated with Daft Punk. All of this attention seems to have brought him out of hiding, and this is a live set he just played--at 73. Listen and be schooled." (Alistair for Mitch).

What's the shrewdest, smartest maneuver you've ever seen in business? - Quora . "How Dow Chemical won the battle for the bromine market, in the US and Europe." (Hugh for Alistair).

The Steve Jobs emails that show how to win a hard-nosed negotiation - Quartz . "Apple's Steve Jobs and James Murdoch, a top guy at News Corp negotiate terms for getting HarperCollins ebooks into Apple's iBooks. Steve Jobs wins." (Hugh for Mitch).

Taxes on some wealthy French top 100 pct of income: paper - Reuters . "I'm all about helping our fellow citizens. I take no issue with paying taxes for services and the like. Still, it's incredibly frustrating to think that over fifty percent of what we earn gets taxed (sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less). Then, whatever you're left with and spend is taxed an additional 15%(ish). We're all basically working for the man. This article is a jaw-dropper. Yes, there are some people in France that were taxed for one hundred percent of their income. How is that even possible? Read on..." (Mitch for Alistair).

The One-Person Product - Marco.org . "Now that Yahoo bought tumblr for over one billion dollars, we'll all start using this as an example of modern business (while Facebook and Instagram get down to figuring out their businesses). Now before Google (or Facebook) grab up Waze for over a billion dollars ( which is about to happen ), everyone wants to know the true story of David Karp and how this 26 year-old did it. Marco Arment (one of the original people at tumblr and current creator of Instapaper ) weaves an amazing tale. If ever there was a piece that should be read by anyone thinking of starting a business, this could well be the one." (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.

Tags:

alistair croll

andy greenberg

apple

bitcurrent

book a futurists manifesto

complete web monitoring

daft punk

david karp

dazed digital

dj

dow chemical

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facebook

forbes

gigaom

giorgio moroder

gmail

google

harold faltermeyer

harpercollins

hugh mcguire

human 20

iambik

ibooks

instagram

instapaper

james murdoch

librivox

link bait

link exchange

link sharing

managing bandwidth

marco arment

media hacks

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pressbooks

quartz

quora

reuters

social media

solve for interesting

steve jobs

timblr

twitter

waze

yahoo

year one labs