Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 314

The Power Of Direct Relationships

The one with the direct relationship wins.

As a customer, who would you prefer to share your personal information with in exchange for a discount or some value-add from a brand? Is it directly with the brand or with an online social network? It's a little tricky to answer that question, isn't it? On one hand, we're happy when retailers that we like provide us with discounts and bonuses because we're valued customers and, on the other hand, we're willfully sharing (some might argue over-sharing) so much information via social media that we're simply more comfortable there.

So, who wins?

From the news item, Share And Share, But Not Alike, featured in MediaPost's Research Brief today: "According to the e-tailing group and MyBuys, in a joint online survey, consumers are more comfortable sharing data with retailers than they are with social networks, especially if it enhances the shopping experience. The majority of survey respondents (55%) responded that they are 'mostly willing' to provide shopping preferences to trusted retailers in exchange for an enhanced shopping experience... In contrast, 52% of consumers responded that they are "much more concerned" or "somewhat more concerned" about sharing the same data on social networks."

Direct relationships are everything.

It's one of the main focuses of my next business book, CTRL ALT DEL (out in May 2013). It's something that I have been actively blogging about since 2010. It's something that most brands have yet to understand, embrace and deep-dive into. As more and more people connect to share their lives and more via social media, these hubs, channels and platforms act as a disintermediation of the relationship that brands have with their customers. Think about it this way: if your customer is following your brand on Twitter, who has the direct relationship with them? You or Twitter? It's not semantics... this is important stuff.

When you walk away.

When you walk away from Twitter, Google, LinkedIn, YouTube or whatever, your data and connections do not come with you. They're still there (and so are your consumers). They may not be connected to you anymore, but they're still connected in these channels. Don't you want to take them with you? Shouldn't you be allowed to take them with you? Data portability and a unified/portable avatar are deep conversation points in their own regard, but what matters most is not the data or your avatar. What matters most is the relationship with the people you are connected to.

Own the relationship.

Data can be skewed and who knows if the online survey above is one hundred percent accurate or truly indicative of our current business environment. What is, abundantly, clear is that you - as the business owner and brand steward - must engage, connect and own the direct relationship with your consumer. My personal take is that the online survey above is a little off. People are, generally, more concerned about sharing data on social networks because of security lapses, bad moves in terms of handling the data, the desire for these brands to pass that information over to third-parties and a general fear that the mass media reporting on these issues have caused. Oh yeah... one more thing: the greed of marketers.

The greed of marketers.

Consumer data is chum at the fish farm for marketers. One little piece of it and they start flying and flopping all over one another to get at it. This can be amazing for consumers (when done well) and terribly bad for consumers (when malicious marketers dive in). For my dollar, this is less about where people are sharing their data and much more about their concerns of what brands are doing with their data. There is probably less concern that a retailer will do anything more than give a consumer related offers than with social media - or anywhere else online - because of practices like retargeting, cookies and behavioral targeting. As long as those tactics deliver better results than standard run of network advertising, marketers will think that it provides better results when - in reality - it's probably freaking out consumers much more than anyone cares to admit.

When you control the direct relationship, you control the bond and sanctity of where this data flows. 

In short, consumers would prefer the devil they know versus the devil they don't know. The opportunity is to turn that devilish relationship into a divine one. As with everything, it's something that requires a strong strategy, patience and dedicated resources to get it right. The brands that do this well are the brands that wind up surprising and delighting customers. The brands that abuse it are the ones who are complaining that their social media advertising isn't all that effective.

What's your take? 

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Pop Goes The Social Media Bubble

Is there a social media bubble? Did it pop just like the dot-com bubble back in 2000?

In a word: no. CNN would have you believe otherwise. Just take a look at the news item published today, Pop went the social media bubble. Now what? The CNN Money theory goes like this: "How quickly things have changed. It was just a year ago that Silicon Valley was gripped by an are-we-or-are-we-not in a bubble debate. Many of the Valley's brightest lights took the latter position, rejecting out of hand the notion that a bubble was at hand. These were all real companies, they insisted, with soaring revenue and healthy profits. There were no Pets.coms or Webvans this time around. Perhaps. But now, with Groupon (GRPN), Facebook (FB) and Zynga (ZNGA) alone accounting for tens of billions in losses to investors, it's a different story.... Of course, even bloodied, none of these companies is going out of business. Social media is hardly dead. What's dead is the world's wild infatuation with all things social. That change alone could have profound implications."

Is it a bubble? Did it pop?

When people ask me if this is a bubble, I am quick to answer "no," based solely on this quote by Simon Khalaf of Flurry from March 2012: "In 1999, there were 38 million broadband Internet users worldwide. Today, there are 1.2 billion people getting broadband Internet access on their phones." What this quote demonstrates is that back in 2000 there was no market big enough to support the valuations that were taking place. The difference between then and now is that we have a valuable and viable marketplace for those who get it right (just ask LinkedIn if the social media bubble has popped... or Salesforce, for that matter). Social media is a phrase that seems like a catch-all. Last time I checked, Groupon was a daily-deal retail business, Facebook was an online social network and Zynga was a gaming company. Saying that they are all "social media" and, because their stocks are not performing, that it is endemic of a social media collapse is silly, if not laughable.

Everything is social.

Look at some of the most traditional businesses that have made social media, social business and social interactions core to their marketing and development. Are they all tanking? Almost every single company (B2B and B2C) is looking for more and more ways to become more social (and we're not just talking about chasing likes on Facebook or followers on Twitter). They're doing their best to connect - in a more personal and direct way - with their consumers and their peers. If we lump this all into one big bubble, we're not only completely missing the point, but we're dismissing the greedy investors who are doing everything they can to gamble and prospect on businesses that they simply don't understand.

What is happening?

When investors speculate, they're not always right. Don't believe me? Take a look at how your investment portfolio has been doing. Take a look at the housing crisis. These people are supposed to be the best of the best and, at the end of the year, we're all happy if we got a two percent return on our money. Think about that. It's two percent more than doing nothing and your money is in the hands of those who are supposed to be the experts. Facebook has been grappling with a clear definition of monetization forever. Groupon may have lost favor with their consumers and there could be some fatigue due to the daily deluge of anybody and everybody jumping on the "deal of the day" craze (Groupon didn't have much in the way of unique intellectual property or capital). As for Zynga, you're only as good as your last game.

Don't blame social media. Blame your business model.

When you're connected to one of your close friends on Facebook, how open are you to targeted advertising? How inclined will you be to read a sponsored story from a brand? What will all of this look like as more and more people connect on Facebook through their smartphones? Will it be the same kind of advertising? Facebook needs to find what Google uncovered in their AdWords model. I think they will, but being a public company leaves little room for experimentation. New business models take time. Just because a company starts, attracts tens of millions of users who are fervent about it and everybody is excited, it doesn't mean that these same users will be open to advertising, paying for this service or anything else. It simply means that they like a service.

What comes next?

Companies need time. Lots of time. They need to understand what this sudden rush of millions of connected people want to do. From that, they need to better understand how the money flows. For my dollar, I'd like to see companies like Facebook, Zynga and Groupon take the time they need to get beyond the hype of how many people are connected and talking about them, and into the stuff that matters: how do you create something that people will, happily, pay for? Within that framework, they should be able to better uncover what happens when there is fatigue, stagnation and even a need to rethink the product. The problem is that when you're a public company, you're doing this all in public - for all to see.

Sometimes it ain't that pretty, but you can't blame it on social media.

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Are You In The Business of Awesome?

It's hard to be great in business today.

It's not that businesses don't try, it's that their every waking move is now being recorded in text, images, audio and video and being published live for the world to read via social media in real time. Who would have thought that 140 characters on Twitter could do so much damage to the character of a brand? In a world where close to one billion people are connected on Facebook, we have to start asking the very difficult question: does any of this even make a difference any more? The mass media used to jump on stories of people being wronged by a brand. Look no further than Dave Carroll. The Halifax-based musician wrote a song and created a YouTube viral video sensation with United Breaks Guitars in 2008 after his guitar was busted during a trip on United Airlines. With over twelve million views on YouTube, the incident became not only a public relations nightmare for United Airlines, but according to Wikipedia, "The Times newspaper reported that within 4 days of the video being posted online, United Airline's stock price fell 10%, costing stockholders about $180 million in value."

Post incident.

Carroll is still a musician but also a sought-after public speaker on customer service and the author of the newly published business book, United Breaks Guitars - The Power of One Voice In The Age of Social Media (Hay House, 2012). Yes, his career seems to be growing strong. So, is United Airlines now a decimated brand? Do you think any less of the airline?


Analysts have debated the stock value drop (according to Wikipedia: "...since the video was posted on July 6, the cumulative stock price drop was only 2% (from 3.34 to 3.26). According to UAL's stock prices, the stock started the year at $11.87, but dropped to a low of $3.94 on March 6. On July 2, UAL traded at $3.31 and $4.12 on July 31, growing by 24% for the month. It traded $12.91 by Dec 31, 2009, up 390% since July 2."), while others will simply shrug their shoulders and say, "it's an airline, what did you expect?"

Social media as revenge... and justice for all.

While Carroll and his viral video are only one of a myriad of instances where one disgruntled customer took to social media for revenge or to get a settlement, it has now become commonplace for everyone with a Twitter account to take to social media for personal justice. Some marketing professionals will tell you that this is a good thing, as it keeps brands honest. Others will tell you that in a world where everyone is screaming, it's hard to tell the differences between the boy who cried wolf and those with a legitimate complaint. If you ask those who work on the front lines of these companies, they'll tell you, quite frankly, how tired they are of each and every one of us using the "do you know who I am?" line on them, which has been updated to: "I'm kind of a big deal on Twitter."

I'm kind of a big deal on Twitter.

Scott Stratten is actually one of the people who really is kind of a big deal on Twitter. In 2008, the music industry marketer and national sales training manager, joined Twitter and performed an experiment on himself by covering his office windows with aluminum foil, shutting out the outside world and focusing exclusively on Twitter as his platform to build an audience and recognition. With close to 130,000 followers, Stratten's test proved positive. His first book, UnMarketing -Stop Marketing. Start Engaging (John Wiley & Sons), became a national bestseller before it was released in 2010. It hit the bestsellers list everywhere from the Globe and Mail and National Post to Amazon. It was also named one of the top business books of 2012 by 800 CEO Read. This attention launched his speaking career, and he just published his sophomore effort, The Book Of Business Awesome - How Engaging Your Customers and Employees Can Make Your Business Thrive and The Book of Business UnAwesome - The Cost of Not Listening or Being Great At What You Do (John Wiley & Sons). It's not two books, but rather two-books-in-one (leave it to a whimsical marketer like Stratten to make it a flip book: one side is the awesome part, flip it over and you have the unawesome side).

A market of one.

"Ten years ago, we would look at brands in the grand scheme of things," says Stratten from his home office outside of Toronto. "We would look at the data and be happy if the brand could get customer satisfaction to seventy or eighty percent. The problem is that we are now into the minutia. It's the conversations and stories of the one individual that now spreads to everyone. I don't think that it's right just because DKNY fixes someone's shirt and sends him a better one that it makes them an entirely amazing company. Nor does one bad instance of Southwest Airlines throwing Kevin Smith of a flight make them a bad airline. The challenge is that this is how people now judge brands. It's no longer about what the brand manager does to create a brand perception, and it's much more about me, the big mouth, spreading a story about something that happened to me at your store. It really is the power of one and the story of one that pushes it."

Time for that cold, hard look in the mirror.

So, you will have to take a cold, hard look at your business and decide what customer service looks like in 2012 and moving forward. Is it about the masses and how your business performs at the monetary level, or is much more about the sentiment, feeling and experience that people have - day in and day out - as they tweet, create Facebook status updates, +1, post, share and comment and each and every inch of the customer experience? Either way, brands can't afford to ignore the reality that each and every one of their consumers now has a publishing platform and media outlet to fight back or share the warm and fuzzies, ultimately making it increasingly difficult for any business to get it right, all of the time.

What are you going to do?

The above post is my twice-monthly column for the Montreal Gazette and Vancouver Sun newspapers called, New Business - Six Pixels of Separation . I cross-post it here with all the links and tags for your reading pleasure. You can also listen to the full conversation that Scott and I had right here: SPOS #318 - How To Be Business Awesome (And UnAwesome) With Scott Stratten.

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How To Be Business Awesome (And UnAwesome)

Episode #318 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

Will businesses ever get it right? Will they ever be able to please all of their customers all of the time. It's doubtful. While social media has put every company on the spot in terms of having to respond and do the right thing, not a day goes by when someone doesn't have a complaint that is blasted on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and beyond. What's a brand to do? On top of that, if we have customers complaining all of the time and everywhere, does it create a level of noise where, ultimately, there is no brand impact because of the sheer volume? It's something that Scott Stratten has been looking at (and taking part in) for some time. He blasted out of the marketing gates by gaining a massive following on Twitter (currently approaching 130,000 loyal followers). He converted that popularity into a best-selling business book, UnMarketing - Stop Marketing. Start Engaging, and a speaking career. More recently, he launched his second book, The Book of Business Awesome / The Book of Business UnAwesome. As with everything Scott does, it involves humor and personal stories of how businesses are getting it right and getting it woefully wrong (you can flip the book upsidedown to choose your awesome or unawesome adventure). Here he is... the guy known as Unmarketing. 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 #318.

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unmarketing

Unbranded Content Marketing

Everyone is all excited about content marketing.

While the tickertape parade and confetti may be over for the excitement about social media in business, there's a cold, harsh reality hitting brands right about now: once you're on social media and making yourself look busy, it's all about the content. I've been a little sour on the fruits of this labor as of late (more on that right here: ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Content). Just yesterday, I saw a well-respected, known and loved brand post this to Facebook: "Like this post if you like contests." Really? Is the spring of fresh ideas that dry?

The trouble with branded content.

I've been thinking a lot about what has been troubling me with the majority of branded content. It's something that is on my mind as I head off in three weeks to Content Marketing World 2012 (being put on by Joe Pulizzi and his team). It's not that the vast majority of content is vapid of any insight. It's not that it's vanilla in its attempt to appeal to the masses. It's not the thinly veiled marketing blather. It's actually, the "branded" part of it. The truth is this: once the content is branded, it may be hard (very, very hard) to make it authentic.

There are some pearls.

Would we, as a marketing industry, say that this is true of every brand? No. The vast majority? It does feel that way. Why? Perhaps too many brands are confusing the power of content marketing with advertorial. There is a distinction and it's a massive one. How valuable would this blog be if all it did was talk about the value and merits of Twist Image as a marketing agency? How valuable would this blog be if all it did was talk about how one marketing service was far superior to another one (and, it just so happens, that this superior service is one that we offer at Twist Image)? In the end, the content is self-serving - which is a world away from content that serves to add value.

The truth (it sometimes hurts).

Does this mean, that to be authentic a brand should promote the services of their competitors? No. Does this mean that a brand should do things that run contrary to their own brand narrative? No. It's a new mindset that the brand will need to find. Instead of constantly looking for content that can be wrapped up in the brand, why not start looking at content within an unbranded mindset?

What does this look like?

Not every post on blog is about digital marketing. It traipses into different areas of conversation like business books, presentation skills, technology, personal development, culture, entertainment and more. As David Weinberger would say, these are small pieces loosely joined that cumulatively reinforce the philosophical DNA of how I think, how our business thinks and the way that we perceive work, in this day and age. If this blog is even somewhat successful, the feeling that you get - as a reader and active participant - is one that is unbranded. It provides value to you - first and foremost - and that value-chain links back into new business for Twist Image somewhere much further down the line. If content was supposed to be a direct response mechanism, it would be direct marketing (no need to call it content marketing).

The trouble is...

Content marketing looks, acts and feels very little like other marketing channels. It's a much slower build and it requires a very specific and tactical skill-set that also looks nothing like the marketing departments that we have seen to date. In fact, they look much like editorial departments, which - historically - have been verboten for the advertising and marketing people to hang out in. Is this going to provide a massive challenge for brands moving forward? Absolutely. The lines have become fuzzy. The content we're seeing being produced and shared through social media is unique - in and of itself - and so to think that we're all going to close our eyes, make a wish and blow for this all to come to fruition is crazy. In fact, it's not uncommon to hear that the content marketing initiatives are being run out of the communications department of companies, and not the marketing department. What does that tell you?

Strategy first.

I'm really looking forward to Content Marketing World 2012. I'm hopeful that people much smarter than me will be able to demonstrate how these strategies are developed and - more importantly - how organizations (both brands and agencies) are being structured to produce content that is branded... but feels completely unbranded to the consumer.

It will be interesting.

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Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #112

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, the author of Complete Web Monitoring and Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks), Hugh McGuire (The Book Oven, LibriVox, iambik, PressBooks, Media Hacks) and I decided that every week or so 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:

Human cycles: history as science - Kurzweil . "Look for patterns in enough places and you'll find them. And three iterations does not make a cycle, so take this with a grain of salt. But according to Peter Turchin , who studies weather patterns, upheavals in human society come at regular intervals. And the next one is due in 2020. Stockpile some canned food and stuff money in your mattresses." (Alistair for Hugh).

Pocketful Of Dough - Gourmet . "Ever wonder how to tip your way into a restaurant? This Gourmet Magazine piece by an intrepid reporter explains what it feels like to jump the queue at some of the world's best tables. Far from feeling slimy or underhanded, he found himself empowered, part of a secret elite. As much a study of restaurant dynamics as good advice. It's a fun read." (Alistair for Mitch).

How Apple and Amazon Security Flaws Led to My Epic Hacking - Wired . "I've been waking up in sweats after reading this. The horror of losing control of my digital life is... horrifying. And then today: my Mac died. People: back things up, and have a sensible security approach to your digital life." (Hugh for Alistair).

Two Weeks of Nothing: Random Thoughts After a Relaxing Vacation - Arjun Basu . "Remember when people blogged, and you knew them, or got to know them online, and they got to know you? I miss those days. This is just a nice old fashioned blog post from my pal, Arjun Basu, about a bunch of stuff he was thinking about during and after an unconnected holiday. Refreshing to read." (Hugh for Mitch).

Before Green Eggs: See The Advertising Work Of Dr. Seuss - Fast Company . "What The Beatles are to music, Dr. Seuss is to children's book. You come to that realization pretty quickly once you have young kids and start reading to them on a nightly basis. Nobody does it better than Dr. Seuss. Period. End of sentence. As you read to your kids, you will marvel not only at his words and art but - and, much more impressively - where his ideas came from. They are not only 'out there,' but they're amazingly clever and warming. In the past while, I've become interested in obscure art and some strange pieces. One of my potential areas of interests was to start picking up some Dr. Seuss prints. After seeing this, it's clear that before buying anything, I should probably read his biography. I had no idea he was in advertising, and I had never seen some of these amazing pieces." (Mitch for Alistair).

The 5 Things People Regret Most Before They Die - Business Insider . "The contents of this news item could be a blog post (or three) unto itself. We get caught up in our daily work and the anxiety that comes with it. So few of us ever really sit and ruminate on our final days. While there's nothing mind-blowingly new on this list, it would probably be wise to print it out and stick it somewhere visible. Thinking about these five regrets on a daily basis could well inspire a change in your moral compass. The majority of us think that we'll go to bed one night and never wake up. That's glamorous, but unlikely. Imagine having years of sitting around and waiting for your final day to arrive (with little to do but wait)? What do you think you will do with that time? What type of regrets do you think you will have? Take a look at this list and have a serious chat with yourself." (Mitch for Hugh... and everybody else).

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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amazon

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arjun basu

bitcurrent

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human 20

iambik

kurweil

librivox

link exchange

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wired

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The Most Amazing Internet Stock Of The Year

What do you think it is?

I'm a huge fan of Business Insider. I can't think of any other media organizations that writes headlines as good as they do (Business Insider, if you're reading this, pay your copywriters handsomely... they're doing everything right). My daily email newsletter from them is always chock full of linkbaity headlines that get me clicking and clicking. This one, from yesterday, was one of them: And The Most Amazing Internet Stock In The Past Year Is... So, who do you think it was? LinkedIn? Apple? eBay? Priceline? Nope... it was AOL.

Called it.

Not really. I didn't call it. I didn't invest in AOL. And, if you click over to the Business Insider article, you can see the nice organic jumps and strides AOL made this year. That being said, I've been a massive fan of AOL since Tim Armstrong took over as CEO and Chairman in 2009. I'm not saying this because I'm a contributor to The Huffington Post (which AOL bought in 2011 for over $300 million) or because I have any kind of personal relationship with Tim Armstrong (I don't). I'm saying this because I believe that Armstrong, Arianna Huffington and everyone else at AOL is building an interesting canopy of online properties that are diverse enough to give them a unique position in the new media landscape.

Breaking the rules.

I don't think that AOL is necessarily breaking any new rules. I think they are, fundamentally, applying a very traditional media strategy to the Internet. They are buying and building properties, creating compelling editorial, building audiences and selling advertising on top of it all. There are sprinkles of newer thinking (like when The Huffington Post launched their GPS For The Soul app) and I'm hopeful that they can leverage everything they have with The Huffington Post coupled with their acquisition of Patch to crack the code on local (and hyper-local) content. There will be challenges in monetizing their current strategy as the world becomes increasingly more smartphone and tablet enabled. Advertising on these devices is still nascent and the formula doesn't seem to be as effective as it is when compared to Internet advertising. So, this will be no cake walk, but - to date - I've been a big fan.

It's what other media properties wished they had done.

You have to figure that The New York Times would love to have been the ones to have these types of properties that AOL now has in their portfolio. And let's not kid ourselves, it's not just The New York Times. Look at any kind of traditional publisher or broadcaster from newspaper, magazine, television and radio (there was a reason that Time Warner merged under the name AOL Time Warner in 2000 - even though that deal went south for a plethora of reasons). AOL now covers a lot of digital space when it comes to content. They've come a long way from the days of inundating your mailbox with CD Roms.

It says something.

It says something about how we see the Internet. I'm sure if you surveyed some of the smartest people in Internet land, few of them would have guessed that AOL had performed this well. We keep our preconceived notions with us. We think that businesses (especially, big businesses) can't change. AOL isn't perfect (I'm quite certain the comments below will be laced with commentary about AOL and their mishaps). I'm sure AOL is no golden child. AOL still has a ways to go until they have a war-chest of cash like Apple. The point is that it's quickly becoming an interesting company (again) - especially in a world where we hold quality content in such high regard.

It's one to watch...whether you own the stock or not.

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patch

priceline

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television

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tim armstrong

time warner

traditional media

Job Snobbery

Does the title on your business card define you?

Alain De Botton is probably as close as we'll get in today's society to a true modern philosopher. I was first turned on to his thinking when Julien Smith (Trust Agents and The Flinch) left me a copy of his seminal book, The Pleasures And Sorrows Of Work. As someone who has always pursued that which was of interest to me, I am constantly bewildered by people who are miserable at work, or feel like they deserve something more (without doing much about it for themselves). At a young age, I realized that work - for the vast major of the population - is soul crushing. Thankfully, I learned this lesson long before I entered the workforce and set myself up so that I would not be in that position (as much as possible).

First world problems.

Realizing that these are first word problems, in this Big Think video clip (and, by the way, if you don't subscribe to the Big Think video channel, you really should), De Botton looks at the true value of what we, as individuals, are worth. Both in terms of how we perceive ourselves and how we see others. It's amazing how enlightening this short two-minute clip is. How often do you find yourself being asked, "so, what do you do for a living?" It happens often enough and, as much as I try to rehearse and be prepared for that exact moment, I always feel like whatever I say has - in a small or big way - diminished what I'm truly all about. Don't you always feels judged by your answer or what it says on your business card?

We shouldn't, but we do. Sadly. Watch this...

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alain de botton

big think

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Marketing Is Dead

It's a great blog headline that will get a lot of attention, right?

The Harvard Business Review had a blog post today titled, Marketing Is Dead, written by Bill Lee. Beyond the irony that Lee used a traditional marketing tactic (solid copywriting) to illicit a stream of actions that have made this link incredibly popular (thus debunking his own thesis), once again we're in a world where definitions and explanations get confused. If I can understand what Lee is saying (and it's not very clear), it sounds like he is saying that traditional advertising is dead (as we have known it to date). This is what the article says: "Traditional marketing - including advertising, public relations, branding and corporate communications - is dead. Many people in traditional marketing roles and organizations may not realize they're operating within a dead paradigm. But they are. The evidence is clear." To add some clarity, marketing isn't dead - according to Lee - but advertising is dead. For the record, that's not a semantic error. Marketing (which encompasses everything from product, price, place and promotion) is not only alive and well... it's core to a business' success. In short marketing isn't dead. Marketing is everything.

On death and dying...

It's less of a red herring and much more of a chicken little to make the claim that marketing is dead. In fact, I would tell Mr. Lee, the Harvard Business Review, and anyone else who asks that advertising (as we have known it to date) is not dying. In fact, it's not on life-support, it's not sick, and it probably doesn't even have the sniffles. Does that mean that social media and digital media has not disrupted the model or added new layers and opportunities? Of course it has. Does it mean that newer components like community management, engaging influencers, building social capital with customers, and engaging with consumers in more collaborative ways (the four core pillars that Lee argues have put the death knell on traditional marketing) hasn't changed the game? Of course it has.

Not all brands are social. Not all companies need it.

I'm not raging against the machine because I think that traditional advertising offers more opportunity than any of the solutions that Lee prescribes. I am saying that advertising - as a way of informing the masses about a product or service - is not only relevant, it will continue to be an integral component of all strategic marketing campaigns. In short: everything is "with" not "instead of."

Who cares about breakfast cereal?

You are a consumer packaged goods giant. You sell 48 different kinds of cereal. One of your bran-based cereals is coming out with a new flavor (maybe it has less sugar in it, maybe you're adding dried blueberries to the mix). How are you going to inform the mass populous about it? Community managers going everywhere and anywhere on Facebook that health nuts hang out? You're going to get customers super-interested in liking and friending your brand because they spend five bucks a month on a box of cereal? You're going to engage customers and have them crowdsource the next update to your 300-year-old product?

Who are we kidding?

Does anyone care that much about their breakfast cereal? Advertising is a catalyst to inform. There are other angles (direct response, engagement, brand narrative, etc...), but it still acts as an amazing (and cost-effective) way to tell the masses that you have something new to say. We may not like the ads that the brand puts out there. We may not like the repetition or placement of where some of these messages appear, but don't kid yourself into thinking that advertising is no longer a powerful way for a brand to buy their way into the zeitgeist.

More choices and a lack of scarcity doesn't change that.

Beyond the four areas that the Harvard Business Review blog post outlines as the "next generation" of marketing services, we can't forget that the more media choices we create (and we've been creating it by the tonnage) reduces the scarcity (or value) of an ad. That part is, without question, a reality. Advertising was a scarcity model and we live in a world where ads can (and do) go everywhere. That being said, there is still scarcity (there are only so many slots available if you want to buy an ad on the Super Bowl or the homepage of The Huffington Post). Is the value still there? Has the value model changed? Without a doubt. Still, if you want to inform a large audience about your brand, advertising is still very much alive (as is marketing, thank you very much). Saying that marketing is dead is like saying that product development is dead and that branding is dead. It may get a lot of clicks, but there's no substance or truth behind it.

What do you think? Is marketing dead?

Tags:

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A Better Waze To Handle Traffic

Israeli drivers are insane.

This isn't a scientific fact, but rather a commonly held belief with the rest of the world (and, by some Israelis). This small strip of land in the Middle East is notorious for edgy drivers who will honk you to get moving long before the light even turns green. On a recent trip, I found myself late at night heading from Caesarea to Tel Aviv. Giving my family member the address for the apartment where I was staying, I just figured he would pump the directions into his GPS. Instead, he pulled out his Android device, launched the app Waze (also available for iPhone), entered the address and off we went. Knowing that the price of GPS apps from companies like Garmin and TomTom run in the $40 to $70 dollar range, I was shocked to hear that Waze was completely free (much like Google Maps) and offers turn-by-turn GPS functionality with a fascinating twist.

GPS only works if we're all actively updating it.

It would be enough if the GPS was simply free and worked. It would be enough if Waze just had the beautiful and simple interface that it has (which includes alternate routing, estimated time of arrival, touch scrolling to get a feel for the area, and much more). What makes Waze unique is the gamification and social aspect of it. The company tagline is "outsmarting traffic, together," and that is - exactly - what this Israeli startup has in mind. As soon as you enter your coordinates, you suddenly see other Waze users all over the map, and these people are actively updating everyone with information about traffic, where police are located (and you can identify them as visible or hidden), accident reports, road hazards, locations of cameras, map issues and even gas prices. Within each category is a limited selection to add a layer of detail. So, for example, if you're interested in notifying everyone of traffic, you can choose moderate, heavy or standstill. If you're a passenger, you can type in a message (typing is blocked for safety reasons) and you can even notify others if it's just in your lane. You can also take a picture (only useful if your smartphone is secured through a holder that is attached to your window). Lastly, Waze - like many new and up coming apps - leverages some for the newer smartphone technology to add depth. In this instance, the smartphone and Waze is also able to let you know how fast you're travelling, so when you select traffic, the app automatically attaches your average speed at that point to the social data.

Context adds major layers of depth to content.

Waze is also able to learn and add context - which makes the app a powerful utility. After driving to work and home a couple of times, I fired up the app after work the other day, and it asked me if I was heading home because it was tracking and learning my habits. It was also able to learn my own, special route home - which was impressive. On top of that, Waze has layers of gamification awarding points and status for how often (and correct) a driver is with their reporting, and for how much distance they travel using Waze. From a commercial standpoint, Waze offers "in the moment" deals in certain geographic regions that include drop-in specials and the like. While the app has yet to have major adoption in North America, watching it work with a near-critical mass in Israel made me stop and wonder why everyone, everywhere doesn't help make the frustration of car travel that much easier by getting on the Waze bandwagon?

Creating greener roads.

As if Waze wasn't interesting enough, Technology Review recently published an article titled, An App That Could Stop Traffic, that looked at Greenway app. Developed by Christian Bruggemaan and two of his friends at University, the 25-year-old is taking the concept of Waze and Google Maps that much further by testing an app that will prevent traffic from occurring in the first place. According to the article: "The app offers users two routes to their destination: a standard shortest one and a traffic-optimized Greenway one, along with the approximate amount of time and fuel it would take to get there using each. If you choose the Greenway path, the app will ping Greenway's server every 30 seconds with your GPS location to determine if the current route is still the best--a decision made based on knowledge about your location and speed and information about other Greenway users on the road. Greenway assumes each street has a certain capacity based on its length, number of lanes, and speed limit, Brüggemann says, and reserves slots for participating drivers, directing cars so a road never reaches maximum capacity. If a jam does occur--which Greenway would detect by looking at your average speed--the app will react by rerouting drivers." Currently, the app is being used and tested in Munich, Germany.

Smarter cities.

These apps are not about outsmarting a speeding ticket or getting somewhere faster. Technology is a tool best suited to help us become better global citizens. The implications of this technology stretches far beyond our ability to get to work on time, and into the realm of sustainability and livability. With more and more people moving to cities (or being born there), we are quickly in need of more resources in much smaller and more compact areas. Waze and Greenway demonstrate that by helping one another through information sharing and leveraging that information through technology, it can make all of us smarter, more effective and better global citizens. That being said, please keep both hands on the wheel at all times and your eyes on the road. None of this works effectively if we're all suddenly not paying attention to the road in front of us and causing more accidents and problems.

What's your take: do you think apps like this are smart or a dangerous distraction?

The above posting is my twice-monthly column for The Huffington Post called, Media Hacker . 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:

The Huffington Post - The App That Turns Traffic into a Game .

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christian bruggemaan

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information sharing

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location based marketing

media hacker

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waze