Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 362

The Value Of Utilitarianism Marketing

It's a cluttered world. It's an even more cluttered Marketing world.

Brands still think it's all about the pomp and circumstance. It is... and it isn't. No one (especially me) is going to deny that a well-executed Superbowl ad gets attention, gets a brand noticed and results in lift (sales, brand awareness, whatever). No one is going to deny that a well-played experiential marketing event builds buzz and gets attention. There are many online media properties that have very convincing data to back-up the purchase of a homepage takeover ad. Making noise can create noise in the marketplace.

The challenge comes when you shift over to the newer digital marketing platforms.

It's obvious that just having a Facebook page, YouTube channel, Twitter feed or whatever can get a brand to accumulate followers and friends at a fast and furious pace. Consumers like feeling that they're a part of an inner circle or the first to know something. Brands are great at dangling those carrots in front of consumers who are willing to click a "like" or "follow" button. It can be a dangerous game of diminishing returns. All marketing initiatives face the reality of fatigue - it happens in direct marketing, it happens in email marketing and it's going to happen in Social Media (it's probably already happened). People get tired (pretty quickly) of the same old, same old.

Give them utility or give them death.

The rise of Utilitarianism Marketing is not something we see talked about as much as we should. When something out of the marketing department doesn't have a huge splash around it or a billboard in Times Square for the senior management team to point at, it tends to get yawns. The yawns happen because the numbers don't look the same when benchmarked against traditional mass media or other forms of advertising. Actually giving consumers something valuable seems counterintuitive to most marketing departments because they equate "value" with "cost" and the last thing a marketer wants to do is give something that costs them more money to less people than the heat they are getting from their traditional advertising.

The truth is that great Utilitarianism Marketing doesn't have to cost more. It just has to be useful.

Last year, I was in a business meeting where the idea for an iPhone app came up. It was a smart idea (you know, the kind of idea that you wish you had thought of). The Chief Marketing Officer smiled during the presentation, put his hand up to ask a question, removed the glasses from his eyes and placed them on his notebook, folded his hands, leaned forward and said, "it's genius... but can we put our four key brand messages in there as well, because if we don't force people to look at them, what's the point of this app?"

The point is this: if you give something to people that they actually want to use.... no, need to use, they will love you and be loyal to you forever.

It seems simple enough, doesn't it? Something that is useful to a consumer... truly useful... without a sales pitch... without in-your-face marketing messaging is the next generation of marketing. People are smart. They'll figure it out. They'll think to themselves, "I can't live without this app... I can't believe Brand X just gave it to me... how cool is that?

Utilitarianism Marketing is already working.

Two brands that are leveraging the notion of Utilitarianism Marketing are Charmin and Nationwide. They are both mobile apps. Charmin launched Sit Or Squat - an application that leverages the location-based services of your mobile device to tell you where the nearest (and cleanest) bathroom is. Consumers can also add their favorites or rate the ones they have just used (as a frequent traveler, this app holds a coveted position on my home screen). The Nationwide Mobile App is for people who were just in a car accident. It's a useful step-by-step program that walks consumers through everything from collecting and exchanging accident information to taking pictures of the accident scene, recording the location and it even has a flashlight in case it happens at night. It's not an ad. It's not push Marketing. It's Utilitarianism Marketing.

Why don't more brands make themselves more useful?

Tags:

advertising

brand

brand lift

brand messaging

charmin

chief marketing officer

cmo

digital marketing

direct marketing

email marketing

experiential marketing

facebook

iphone

location based services

loyalty

marketing

marketing department

mass media

mobile

mobile app

nationwide

nationwide mobile app

online media

push marketing

sit or squat

social media

superbowl ad

takeover ad

twitter

utilitarianism marketing

youtube

All Apologies

What else should I be? All apologies.

Sony is going to have a very long haul over the next long while. The company has been under fire due to a data breach that affected 77 million accounts on their PlayStation Network. You can read the full details about this breach (that included information like personal data, email addresses, birth dates, logons, passwords and potentially credit card information) right here: USA Today - Experts: PlayStation breach one of largest ever. Without a doubt, the crisis communication, public relations and marketing teams are mobilized and (hopefully) working around the clock to figure out what the situation is and how to best communicate this information to the world.

Social Media actually makes communications a whole lot trickier.

As a consumer, it seems simple enough: apologize. Let the public know what happened, let the public know how you're going to make things right and let the public know how you're going to ensure that something like this is never going to happen again. As a corporate entity, it's just not that simple. If the company admits fault, it could well put itself in a position where it can have legal action (we're talking multiple lawsuits) taken against it. While there's no saying that the lawsuits won't happen regardless, the way a corporation is structured and the way the legal system works forces a very non-Social Media approach to happen. The only true tactics that the corporation can now take is to mitigate their risk and exposure.

What? Were you expecting openness and transparency?

You see, as much as brands talk about authenticity, transparency and being open, it's a hard thing to do when instances like this transpire. It seems easier (and safer) to stand behind the lawyers and corporate communications professionals. To make matters worse, the USA Today article from above reports that Sony took more than a week to notify the public about the breach. According to one of the security experts interviewed in the article, "The lag of more than a week could have given hackers time to exploit customer data."

Sony cares about their customers.

It's doubtful there was actual malice in this instance. Sony does care about it customers, but it cares about their self-preservation first. The news item reminds me of a story that Jeffrey Gitomer often tells during his public presentations: ask yourself this: if you're with your best customer, who is the most important person in the room? The answer is obvious... your customer, right? Wrong. Gitomer then goes on to say: if you're with the your best customer and one of you has to drop dead, who is the most important person in the room now?

This will be a costly breach.

Trust is hard to gain. Trust is harder to gain when it's already been given and broken. It's going to be a long, hard road for Sony (or any company facing issues like this) to come back from. If they can convince their lawyers and their shareholders to allow them to apologize, explain what happened, compensate those who were damaged by the incident and put in place measures that will ensure this never happens again, they may be ok. If they stumble, if they try to hide the facts, if they start hiding behind those lawyers and senior management mumbo jumbo, Social Media shall set them free (and not in a good way).

Do you think Sony can restore its trust and positive brand image?

Tags:

authenticity

brand image

communications

corporate communications

crisis communication

data breach

hacker

jeffrey gitomer

marketing

openness

playstation network

public relations

social media

sony

transparency

trust

usa today

How To Hire A Marketing Agency

The process of hiring  a Marketing agency feels old... and somewhat broken.

What used to be an experience about finding a true, valuable partner (someone who will sit there with the brand managers in the darkest of nights trying to get the brand just right) has morphed into a vendor/supplier type of relationship. Yes, there are some exceptions, but we live in a world where a Chief Marketing Officer's lifespan is under two years long and it's not a much better track record for the average agency either.

RFQ? RFI? RFP?

As procurement continues to play a more predominant role in the choosing of an agency, and as search consultants become that much more commonplace, there has not been much attention given to the concept of agency search reform. Instead, most experiences and initial outreaches revolve around a request for standard information or a request for a proposal. Both steps are checkbox littered in an attempt to create a balanced playing field for the competing agencies. These documents and exercises may explain how an agency positions itself along with how it thinks both strategically and creatively, but that's only a fraction of what a brand should be looking for.

Fits like a glove.

A lot of the question answering in text form can be removed and discarded (saving a lot of time and energy on both brand and agency side) and replaced if the brand committed itself to three one-hour in-person meetings. Let the agency introduce you to its space, to the people and to the work (and vice-versa). The brand should send a creative brief over and sit in as the agency team reviews the document and discusses initial strategies and areas that might be interesting to explore. I know this is going to sound antiquated, but go for lunch with the agency people or go to an event together. Try to figure out if the culture, people and work is a fit for the brand.

Don't box out of your weight class.

It's not just about size (how many people the agency employs), but I've often seen brands work with agencies that are either too small or too big - in terms of capabilities. There are certain agencies that are good at servicing very big, multi-national brands with steady and ongoing work, there are agencies who are  good at servicing start-ups and small-to-mid-sized businesses, and yes, there are agencies who lie somewhere in between. Brands - like professional fighters - should try to box in their weight class by ensuring that their agency partner not only has the competencies to deliver the final product, but understands the complexities of what it takes for that brand to be successful.

Look for lateral experience.

It's always interesting to see a brand that would like an agency partner that has direct experience in their industry. It's understandable. If an agency has worked with a competitor, odds are that they understand the industry and already have a perspective on what it takes to win. It's safe. The truth is that lateral experience is how to really inject a sense of innovation and newness to the marketing. I once heard an insurance company ask their agency to figure out who is the best at selling insurance online and beat them. My only thought was, "why look at who sells insurance best online, when you can study Amazon - a company that is proven to be one of the best players in selling online... overall." Having lateral experience (worked in another industry but selling to a similar audience) is - without a question one of the easiest ways to breathe new life into a brand's marketing.

Don't ask for credentials.

Asking to see an agencies' work is almost as bad as asking for their website URL. There's nothing that a Google search box can't tell you about an agency - from their work to awards to community recognition and beyond. If a generic online search can't generate enough information to tell you the kind of work the agency does and the media attention generated from it, you may be best served looking for another agency. Great marketing work gets attention and that attention is usually indexed in the major search engines.

There is a better way.

It's important to remember that a marketing agency is a service-based industry. An agency is only as successful as the work it accomplishes for its clients. That work is rarely created in silos or by one, specific, individual. It's a team effort. The trick in choosing the right marketing agency partner is to find the right team to join your team (and that's why you're hiring them in the first place). You have to be confident that the relationship is as strong as the work and that the agency is truly acting on your behalf - as a partner (and not as a supplier). Mistakes and hiccups will happen regardless (if you didn't have an agency to blame for the mistakes, odds are you would be blaming one of your employees), so be willing - up-front - to acknowledge and work with your agency partner to correct the path. At the end of the day, both the brand and agency don't succeed when both companies are not firing on all pistons.

Yes, there is a better way. 

There's the old sales adage that, "all things being equal, people buy from those they know, like and trust. All things being unequal, people still buy from those they know, like and trust." Choosing an agency partner is quite similar: work with a team that you like and trust... and a team that you have a keen interest in getting to know as well.

What do you think?

Tags:

agency partner

agency review

agency search consultant

agency search reform

amazon

brand

brand manager

brand marketing

chief marketing officer

cmo

creative brief

creativity

credentials

culture

google

innovation

lateral experience

marketing agency

media attention

online search

procurement

rfi

rfp

search box

strategy

Do The Work!

Wearing a suit and tie was never my thing.

In fact, I can remember being in my late teens and swearing that I would wear nothing but jeans in my professional life (my personal rage against the corporate machine). Some dreams die-hard. While I succumbed to the standard business attire for a while (I'm back to jeans now), it wasn't until reading Richard Florida's 2004 best-selling business book, The Rise Of The Creative Class, when the concept struck me: a professional has little to with a university designation or cut of cloth one wears. A true professional is someone who shows up to the job everyday and turns it into the work that they were meant to do. A true professional thinks not about being another cog in the business machine, but focuses on delivering solutions and ideas that add true value to the company and the industry that it serves. Being a professional was much more about combining the notions of a hard work ethic with a spirit of creativity. This spirit was no longer just for creative vocations either. It wasn't about artists, authors and musicians anymore. Engineers, architects, scientists, lawyers and bankers have been morphing and evolving (as Florida theorized) to a place where the companies that prosper the most are the ones that engender the highest levels of creativity.

We would not have Google , Facebook or Twitter were this evolution not a current reality.

The problem in matching the creative class with the working class is that creativity doesn't keep office hours. Ideas can strike at any moment (and they often do at the most inopportune times). Over the past decade, these forces have begun to collide with business in ways in which we could have never imagined. A year before The Rise Of The Creative Class was published, Steven Pressfield released, The War Of Art - one of the most powerful books for creative types in need of breaking through the moments of doubt, blockage and procrastination. Pressfield introduced the concept of the "Resistance" (with a capital "R"). The famed author of The Legend Of Bagger Vance, many other best-selling pieces of fiction and screenplay writer for Above The Law, Freejack and others recognized that "it's not the writing part that's hard. What's hard is sitting down to write. What keeps us from sitting down is Resistance," as he described in The War Of Art.

Do The Work!

Last week, Pressfield released his latest non-fiction book, Do The Work!, which is the second release on Seth Godin's new book publishing imprint, The Domino Project (powered by Amazon). The book (clocking it at under one hundred pages) reads more like a manifesto than a piece of non-fiction. In Do The Work!, Pressfield continues to chop away at the "Resistance" and weaves one of the best business books I've read in a long while.

This book will leave you - and your business - with no other choice but to get down to doing the work! (as the title implies).    

"These are the forms of self-sabotage that we as artists and entrepreneurs inflict upon ourselves," said Pressfield in an interview last week. "There is something that keeps our muse from communicating and inspiring us with ideas. This Resistance also keeps us from reaching towards those higher realms. In contemporary North American society, we live in this feel good world where evil or the devil doesn't exist, well in my world of trying to fill a blank page with something of value, there is definitely a malignant force at play. It's like The Terminator or Alien and it's trying to stop us from doing our work. Anyone who has done any type of creative work knows this.... It's a part of the human condition. I am a big believer in The Muse, so when you sit down each day at your craft and nothing comes, you should know that maybe on the third or fifth day, The Muse looking down at you will say, 'you know, this person is for real. They are committed and I am going to give them something... something good.' That intent and focus of intention is a mysterious and powerful thing that creates its own gravitational pull. That kind of focus and duration does create a magnetic field that draws good things into it. It doesn't make sense, it's counterintuitive, you can't prove it, but it works."

It's serious business.

Before thinking that Pressfield is nothing more than a hippie in artist's clothing, the former Marine (who has also written five historical novels about warfare) simply applies the warrior code he learned from his early days of boot camp indoctrination to the work that he was meant to do. In the end, Pressfield is quick to identify that it's not really a creative exercise to get the important work done, but a blue-collar work ethic of showing up everyday and punching the clock - no matter what - that makes great stuff happen. The irony is not lost on him.

So, what are you waiting for? Get to it (read the book and start doing the work!).

The above posting 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, but you can check out the original versions online here:

Montreal Gazette - A blue-collar work ethic makes great stuff happen .

Vancouver Sun - yet to be published.

Bonus: my entire audio conversation with Steven Pressfield will be published this coming Sunday (May 1st, 2011) as episode #251 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast. Make sure to download it and listen to it then.

Tags:

above the law

alien

amazon

blue collar work ethic

book publishing

business book

business column

communications

creativity

do the work

entrepreneur

facebook

freejack

google

human condition

inspiration

manifesto

marine

montreal gazette

muse

newspaper column

podcast

postmedia

resistance

richard florida

seth godin

steven pressfield

the domino project

the legend of bagger vance

the rise of the creative class

the terminator

the war of art

twitter

vancouver sun

warfare

warrior code

working class

250 Podcasts

Episode #250 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

I've never been one for acknowledging anniversaries in the digital channels (things like x amount of blog posts, podcasts or how many followers I have on Twitter). To be honest, I'm not even sure that having 250 episodes of a Podcast is all that big of a deal or something worth noting (I'm not keeping count - just having fun having weekly conversations about Marketing with some of the smartest people on the planet). Thankfully, Mark W. Schaefer over at Grow thought it was something worthy of mentioning and came up with the idea of interviewing me for this 250th episode. Admittedly, I was hesitant at first, but figured it could be fun to have the tables turned or to turn this episode a little upside down. Mark has become a good friend over the past while (and we have yet to meet in our "protein forms"!). It was a fun chat all about Marketing and the revolution that has taken place with some thoughts on the evolution as it continues to change. I hope you don't find this episode too narcissistic (it was not the intention). 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 #250.

Tags:

advertising

bite size edits

blog

blogging

blue sky factory

book oven

cast of dads

cc chapman

chris brogan

christopher s penn

digital dads

digital marketing

facebook

facebook group

grow

hugh mcguire

in over your head

itunes

julien smith

librivox

managing the gray

mark w schaefer

marketing

marketing over coffee

media hacks

new marketing labs

online social network

podcast

podcasting

pressbooks

six pixels of separation

social media 101

social media marketing

strategy

the tao of twitter

trust agents

twist image

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #44

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:

The US swallowed these cups of tea to justify its imperial aims - Guardian UK . "A sad lesson in how insular, and eager to believe in the power of individuals we've become. The Guardian's Madeline Bunting sees Greg Mortenson's role as 'the gentle giant of a man who stumbles into exotic and dangerous locations of which he knows little, and makes friends' -- a comforting view of America abroad as well-intentioned and welcoming. Ouch." (Alistair for Hugh).

Academy Award Winning Movie Trailer - YouTube . "So meta. That is all." (Alistair for Mitch).

Where does good come from? - Boston Globe . "One of the mysteries of the theory of evolution is where altruism comes from: if every individual is driven genetically to propagate its own genes, why do individuals (people, ants, antelopes) sometimes sacrifice themselves for the good of others? The legendary evolutionary biologist, E.O. Wilson, is making waves at age 80 with what, in the science world, is an extraordinary about-face: the dominant theory is that altruism comes from the desire to protect kin, who share genetic heritage. E.O. Wilson claims that theory doesn't cut it, but rather there is an evolutionary push to protect the group - regardless of specific kin/genetic attachments. I pick this out because what might seem 'obvious' to the world at large is often a hot point of contention in science - as the mathematics must always catch up with the theories, and if it doesn't, then theories don't tend to stand. This one seems to have math behind it too." (Hugh for Alistair).

Amazon's $23,698,655.93 book about flies - It Is Not Junk . "One of the most contentious issues in publishing is how to price books and ebooks. Is $9.99 too high or too low? How about $23 million for a book? Here's a case of algorithmic pricing on Amazon gone haywire." (Hugh for Mitch).

NASA finds Earth-size planets in habitable zone - Digital Trends . "I love the Web because I am constantly finding fascinating news items this one. In the same breath, I'm completely frustrated with traditional mass media . Do you think this is a big deal? Not to ruin this very worthy read, but NASA 's Kepler Mission has discovered 'its first Earth-size planet candidates and its first candidates in the habitable zone, a region where liquid water could exist on a planet's surface.' Kind of a big deal, no? Instead our news is littered with how Snooki lost some weight or The Royal Wedding. Really?" (Mitch for Alistair).

What Books Will Become - The Technium . "What is a book? It's a debate that Hugh and I will never tire of. It's a question that I often think about it and it's something that Hugh is constantly trying to develop upon. Well, it's also something that Kevin Kelly (co-founder of Wired Magazine and the recently published business book, What Technology Wants ) has thought about too. Not only is this long Blog post worth reading, so too are the fifty-plus comments that go along with it. Is it the format of a cover and pages? Is it the content and chapters? What makes something a book? Read on to find out what Kelly thinks." (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

altruism

amazon

bitcurrent

bite-sized edits

blog

book

book publishing

boston globe

business book

complete web monitoring

digital trends

ebook

eo wilson

gigaom

great links

greg mortenson

guardian uk

hugh mcguire

human 20

kepler mission

kevin kelly

librivox

link

linkbait

madeline bunting

managing bandwidth

mass media

mathematics

media hacks

movie trailer

nasa

pressbooks

rednod

science

the book oven

the guardian

the technium

theory of evolution

what technology wants

wired magazine

year one labs

youtube

6 Documentaries To Get Your Creative Marketing Juices Flowing

Creative inspiration can come from anywhere.

For the past long while, my most creative inspiration has come from watching documentaries. There are six, in particular, that really stick out in my mind, and here they are in alphabetical order...

- Art & Copy. "It reveals the work and wisdom of some of the most influential advertising creatives of our time - people who've profoundly impacted our culture, yet are virtually unknown outside their industry." This movie will inspire you in many ways. The truth is that most advertising sucks for the same reason that most art sucks: it's hard to make it great. Those that do make it great deserve all of the accolades and prosperity.

- Classic Albums - U2 - The Joshua Tree. I was never a huge U2 fan, but this documentary tuned me into one. This movie peeks behind the scenes to show a band that was truly trying to create something that would both fascinate and captivate. The true beauty (as you'll see) lies in the subtly of how this record was written, produced, recorded and performed. If you can bring this type of commitment to your work, you're bound to be famous too.

- Helvetica. "A feature-length independent film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which recently celebrated its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives." It's a fascinating documentary about people with a passion for something that seems so innocuous, but that is actually a critical part of modern design and how we operate.

- Objectified. "A feature-length documentary about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them. It's a look at the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets." Take a second to think about this: everything from the tip of your shoelaces to the house you live in was designed and manufactured by us, people. We're an amazing species and our fascination with creating things is highlighted in this amazing film.

- Secret Origin - The Story of DC Comics. "Behind the amazing tales of legendary super heroes is the equally amazing story of the company that told them. So many heroes, so many stories to tell--stories of DC Comics' 75 years of challenges, creativity and triumph." Whether you like comic books or not, the story of how this art form was created and the struggles it had (and continues to have) will make you look at Superman in a very different light.

- Transcendent Man - The Life And Ideas of Ray Kurzweil. "The compelling feature-length documentary film, by director Barry Ptolemy, chronicles the life and controversial ideas of luminary Ray Kurzweil. For more than three decades, inventor, futures, and New York Times best-selling author Ray Kurzweil has been one of the most respected and provocative advocates of the role of technology in our future." Imagine being able to upload your memories and conscience to a place that allows you to stay alive forever (without the need for your physical body). If that sounds too crazy, how about a moment in the not-to-distant-future where humans and technology become one... and the technology part is smarter than us? Mind-blowing stuff? You have to watch this documentary.

What documentaries have sparked your creative juices?

Tags:

advertising creative

art

art and copy

classic albums

comic books

creative inspiration

creativity

culture

dc comics

documentary

fonts

graphic design

helvetica

manufactured objects

marketing

new york times

objectified

ray kurzweil

secret origin

superman

the joshua tree

transcendent man

typeface

typography

u2

What Do You Call This Thing?

I'm at a loss for words.

Years ago, my business partners and I at Twist Image decided to define the work we do as "Digital Marketing." The thought was, so long as a brand is leveraging technology to either develop or deploy their marketing (or both), this would be our blank canvass... our playground... the space we played in. Our contemporaries would call their work, "eMarketing," "online advertising" or "interactive marketing" (and I'm sure there are other iterations). All of those felt fairly limiting to me (they still do). While some of those descriptors still work, "digital marketing" still feels right in my bones (and, what works for us, may not work for you... I'm fine with that, and you should be too).

But, things are changing.

In my Blog posts, I'll often turn a phrase like, "what's happening online is [fill in the blanks]." Lately, anytime I'm about to type out that kind of sentence, I freeze. Online? Social Media? The Web? Let's face it, that's only one-third of the equation at this point. We have the Web, we have mobile and we now have touch (think iPad), and while these platforms are all digital, all online (in one way, shape or form), they are very different. So, if a brand is "online" and doing great things with "Social Media" they could very well have zero mobile presence and nothing useful happening on tablets.

Online does not equal "The Web."

I don't think the Web is dead (as Wired Magazine wrote in their cover story: The Web Is Dead. Long Live The Internet), but it's changing at a rapid pace (much faster than most people recognize). The Web as we know it is becoming less important as more and more people turn to mobile, tablets and apps. It's going to force the core technology to change and it's already impacting everything from usability and user experience to how brands can best connect.

We don't need another word this.

"Digital Marketing" still works fine, but the concept of "going online" is beginning to show its age. That - in and of itself - is an interesting concept to ponder. Who goes online anymore? We're connected: our mobiles are connected, decent wireless connectivity is becoming more and more pervasive, 3G and 4G networks continue to expand and we're at the point where fast connectivity everywhere is just around the corner (you can practically taste it). The bigger thought is around convergence. Will these digital platforms - Web, mobile and touch - converge to the point where a screen is a screen is a screen? Will this quickly cause TV and paper to become just another screen as well? Does it all just become one screen? Something non-physical? Will it all just be content and connectivity that can be projected on to anything or anyone, anywhere? While my feet are comfortably planted in being a Presentist, I still can't help but imagine what Digital Marketing will look like in the not-to-distant future, what my role will be and what brands will be doing. On top of that, what will traditional Marketing look and feel like in these platforms?

Trying to name the future is difficult. Imagining it is a lot of fun.

Tags:

3g

4g

apps

blog

brand

convergence

digital marketing

digital platforms

emarketing

interactive marketing

ipad

marketing

mobile

online

online advertising

presentist

screen

social media

tablet

technology

touch

traditional marketing

twist image

usability

user experience

web

wired magazine

wireless connectivity

Defensive Branding

Should brands respond to all negative comments?

The common held response to a question like that is usually a stern and obvious, "yes!" In theory, it makes perfect sense. In practice, what do you think is really going on? From a customer relationship management standpoint, it's clear that every complaint can best be viewed as an opportunity for a brand to connect to a customer (my often trotted-out line of "real interactions between real human beings" comes to mind... again). The theorists will also push that every complaint is a blessing too. Still, in boardrooms and in hallway conversations at conferences, the brand managers will let you know that not all customers are created equally and neither are their complaints.

Fair or not... it is what it is.

This needs more of a back-story: for decades brands dealt with complaints in a private manner. If things got out of hand, the local newspaper might show up on their doorstep. If the brand was big enough and the complaint matched, they could have wound up on 60 Minutes. None of those scenarios were ideal and the negative word of mouth was powerful. We can probably all recount instances of a local restaurant that never succeeded because of poor service. Things have changed. Social Media has brought brands - kicking and screaming - into a world where they must defend their values (on a daily basis) in many different spaces (Blogs and YouTube to customer review sites and Twitter). Some are coping with this change and encourage the back and forth with their customers, while many other brands either sit on the sidelines or spend their days placing their feet firmly in their collective mouths as they stumble through the process of customer service in a live and real-time world where everyone can witness how the stories unfold. Trust me, regardless of the brand they would much prefer if Social Media went away tomorrow so that they can go back to the good old days of spinning the story, controlling the message and resolving matters privately.

Defensive branding can be dangerous.

Defining the brand experience must evolve with these times. Great brands can no longer be defined as the ones who have a pristine record. More often than not, some of the better brand stories come out of scenarios where the brand is at fault and it's their redemption that turns the tide (ever-so-slightly). We often prop up case studies of bloodied and beaten brands who have returned to glory as if we were writing a script for the next Rocky movie. Who doesn't love a great tale of comeback? But, as Marketers, we have to be careful.

It's all about the brand posture. 

Entering Social Media with a defensive posture ("we're here to respond to all complaints!" or "we're here to ensure that if someone says something negative about us, we're listening!") immediately puts brands on the defensive, and if that's the posture they create in these digital spaces, that too shall be how their consumers, fans and potential clients engage with them. Undoubtedly, the best brands are the ones that can resolve an issue quickly and effectively, but it's also true that the brands who make the biggest strides spend even more time (in fact, in the multiples) creating positive branding experiences (valuable content, smart applications, engaging opportunities, etc...). It seems obvious, but we don't see enough of this.

Yes, brands should do their best to respond to the negative, but they should do even more to not be perceived as being in a constant state of defensive branding. It's exhausting. For the customers and the brand.

Tags:

60 minutes

brand manager

brand story

branding

customer complaint

customer relationship management

customer review sites

customer service

defensive branding

digital spaces

marketing case study

media theorist

negative comments

newspaper

real-time web

rocky

social media blog

twitter

word of mouth

youtube

The Chirping Sound Of Crickets

Nothings happen unless you take action.

There is no overnight success stories. Getting an audience, creating engagement and turning that into a semblance of a community is not just about killer content, a Twitter feed or a well-designed Blog. Success may feel like it comes fast for some, but it's usually the result of frequency and consistency layered thickly on top of the quality of content that is being published.

How often and how much?

Who knows? Seth Godin posts daily and sometimes, it's just a couple of lines (but it's always something that makes you think). Chris Brogan will sometimes post multiple times a day and his post are filled with actionable bullet points that will help you jump right into action. Avinash Kaushik will give you two thousand word Blog posts filled with gold ever week or so.

Then, there are the others...

I'm privy to some pretty interesting conversations about Social Media and Digital Marketing. I'm amazed by how surprised many marketing professionals are by the lack of audience that they have when it comes to their Blogs or Twitter feed. The truth is that they are very quick to take stabs at the people who have results and much less inclined to take a serious look at themselves. No matter how great your content is, it's never going to be deeply rooted in people's minds if you don't publish more frequently and with a higher sense of consistency.

If you don't care... no one else will care.

Most people Blog and tweet when time permits. Do you know how to translate that? Let me do that for you: it's just not that important to you. Well, if it's just not that important to you, what makes you think it will have any meaning or importance to the people reading it? When that happens to the content producer (and the stress that comes along with it), what usually winds up happening next is a bunch of forced or rushed posts that don't really add to, contribute to or evolve the thinking.

Publishing is still publishing.

I often Blog about how the more successful Marketers in Social Media treat everything that much more like a publisher than a Marketer. That same thought is valuable here: if you're Blogging or tweeting is sporadic and lacks relevance, frequency and consistency, it's probably being accepted by the public more like Marketing fodder and less like credible content. Embracing a publishing mindset is a critical part of what equates to eventual success. Yes, it's commitment. No, it's not easy. Yes, there are moments when you'll question the very reason to keep at it. No, there are no shortcuts.

....Unless you like the chirping sound of crickets... which also means you shouldn't dump on those who have all of the attention.

Tags:

audience

avinash kaushik

blog

blogging

chris brogan

content

digital marketing

engagement

marketing professional

online community

publishing

seth godin

social media

twitter