Marketing Fishbowl - Musings From a Marketing Guy

Viral 101: Apples Says "Yes"

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 03:43:00 +0000

The story currently spreading like wildfire comes from American icon Apple. Apparently, someone got way ahead of himself and purchased an iPad 2 without consulting his wife. And we all know the perils of not reaching consensus with our significant other before making major decisions.

As fate would have it, Apple allows folks to return merchandise. On his comment card in the space to tell Apple why he was returning the device he wrote, “My wife said, ‘No.’”

Imagine his surprise a couple days later when he received a mysterious package from Apple. In it was a brand new iPad 2 with a card from Apple that said simply, “Apple says, ’Yes!’”

It reminds of the classic Nordstrom story where an elderly woman went to her local store to return a set of used tire chains. In Nordstrom’s famous form that stresses customer service above everything else, the service manager gladly took the chains and refunded her money. What makes this so historic? Nordstrom does not sell tire chains! Never has.

These are examples of customer engagements from which legends are borne. They tend to be epic in nature and generate extraordinary viral buzz that create customers for life. As a marketer, there is very little I can think of that has a greater impact than that.

What have you done today to delight a customer and make them a customer for life for your business?

The Quest for Simple

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 23:42:00 +0000

I’m always amazed at how difficult we marketers try to make things. Instead of getting to the most concise, easily consumable messaging, go to market strategy, marketing plan, etc., we attempt to turn what we do into a game of one-upmanship where the winner is the one who can take what should be very simple and build it up with countless layers of complexity. It’s almost as if we believe our value to marketing is directly proportional to how complex we can make something.

I found a great animation that illustrates this point.

Ironically the most brilliant people I’ve met throughout my career are those who do the opposite by taking complex issues or ideas and breaking them down into easily consumable chunks. To me, that is what we as marketers should always strive for.

Getting to Simple

When you feel a discussion spiraling out of control, it’s important that you step back and look at what you’re trying to accomplish from your consumer’s point of view, because ultimately everything you do is intended to somehow impact your existing or prospective customers. I know this is often much easier said than done, but if you can be the voice of reason it will pay dividends.

The most important attribute to consider when taking consumers into mind are the emotional triggers that drive their buying decision, brand affinity, or sentiment (i.e., psychographics). Knowing the attributes that relate to personality, values, attitudes, interests, or lifestyles provide the best basis from which to steer your discussion. This becomes a bit more difficult when dealing with B2B marketing, but ultimately those decision makers, influencers and stakeholders have a blended set of psychographic variables that canvass their collective personalities. And, just like B2C, business buyers always start with a problem, want, or need as they start down the path to buying your product or service.

Especially today when our target consumers are overwhelmed with stimuli from a plethora of touch points, it’s critical that everything you do resonates in the most basic way that can be easily digested and ignites that spark to your brand, product or service. Success means that you keep the pursuit of simple at the forefront of everything you do from mapping the internal process to accomplish a desired outcome to succinctly getting your message to its intended consumers.

Be a Champion of Change

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 01:56:00 +0000

I recently read an interesting blog posting on Fast Company titled: Better Business Through Changing Behavior. Although the theme of the blog was how companies such as the US Postal Service and Schindler Elevator Corporation changed their customers’ behavior to drive major innovations, I think it speaks to the need for us as marketers to heed his major point summarized in the following quote: “I don't think there's a shortage of remarkable ideas. I think your business has plenty of great opportunities to do great things. Nope, what's missing isn't the ideas. It's the will to execute them.” In other words, we need to recognize that change is needed and have the courage and conviction to drive required change.

One of the struggles that I often see marketing organizations face is the belief that what worked in the past will work unabated today and in the future. All too often I see organizations spend heavily on traditional marketing mediums such as trade shows and print media while all but ignoring social media or other contemporary market touch points. Long story very short, the pace and plethora of touch points that prospective customers face where they can be exposed to your brand/message overwhelmingly suggests that you rethink how to engage and build relationships.

For example, some time ago I did some work for a leading sports protection attire company. They had an e-commerce engine, but their online sales languished. They asked me to help create a multi-touch program based primarily on Search Engine Marketing (SEM) to remedy their situation. It’s worth noting that one major challenge I faced was that their CEO would not allow me to use the company’s name in SEM since he committed to his distributors that he would not. Even without using their name, the program I devised was quickly able to have a major impact. The results were amazing; in less than three months they realized a 225% increase in order volume and a 198% increase in online sales. In this situation, an old-school CEO embraced change resulting in a dramatic change to his business and profits.

Although the basis of an article I recently had published in SecurityWeek focused on driving change in security organizations, I think the slightly reworded summary fits here as well:

Any decision to make sweeping changes should be given serious consideration. This is not something that should be taken lightly. However, if the signs suggest that it’s the best course, then don’t delay. Waiting will just lead to languishing frustration and a suboptimal [marketing function] that ultimately keeps you [behind your competitors].

We only have to again look back to the wisdom of Einstein who stated: “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction.” Change in [marketing direction] takes courage and vision. You have to admit that things could be better and be willing to take it upon yourself to set a new course for your business.

If you’re struggling with how to drive change in your business, there’s a great book by Chip Heath and Dan Heath titled, SWITCH: How To Change Things When Change It Hard. It delivers a series of pragmatic and innovative techniques that you can leverage to drive change in any organization.

Amazing things can be accomplished should you dare to drive change. Sticking with the status quo will untimely cost you opportunities and real revenue.

The Leadership Conundrum

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 00:50:00 +0000

Like most people, throughout my career I've worked for leaders that span the spectrum from poor to great. I've also had the opportunity to lead teams ranging from a few to several hundred. In a nutshell, I've found that great leaders inspire, motivate and foster an honest dialogue with their team to get results. Great leaders also lead without giving the appearance that it's in any way forced; it comes off as a natural extension of their personality. What follows reflects some of my observations and insights gained from my own efforts to lead and be led broken up into the following two categories: common mistakes and traits of inspirational leaders.

Common Mistakes

For the common mistakes, it's important to note that these are not character flaws such as being incompetent, inept, corrupt, insular, etc. but rather mistakes born from the best of intentions that, in most cases, are easily remedied.

One of the most common mistakes I've seen is the belief that individual success is tantamount to being a good leader. Just because you've had success at selling or crafting and flawlessly executing an integrated marketing campaign does not make you a good leader. About the only thing it does is make you good at what you've done. In fact, one of the quickest ways to lose your team's respect is to think you need to be a different person because you're now in a leadership position.

Another common mistake I've witnessed is the tendency to manage up instead of down. I've seen this all too often where managers spend an inordinate amount of time making sure their superiors are attended to. Successful leaders understand that if the people they lead are given the tools and attention they need to succeed, their team's successes will increase and their superiors will realize greater yields and a much higher likelihood that the business objectives will be met.

And finally, the third most common mistake of poor leaders is that they try to appease everyone. It's impractical to think that you can satisfy everyone's needs. In fact, doing so you'll often find has the opposite of the desired outcome in that you'll end up with a highly aggravated and malcontent team. Being an effective leader is not a popularity contest.

Traits of Inspirational Leaders

The following traits, I've found, have been the most endearing of leaders at the "great" end of the spectrum. I realize that this is not an exhaustive list, but simply my view of what it takes to be an effective leader. I also believe that these traits would apply whether you’re leading a team of two or 2,000.

Take hard decisions and set clear goals - The reason you're in a leadership position is because decisions have to be made and objectives need to be met. If you're constantly flip-flopping or second guessing decisions then your team and your business will suffer. Make sure your team understands what's required of them and why those objectives are relevant.
Learn to listen and listen well - Great leaders are attentive and effective listeners. When you're with them they make you feel like you have their undivided attention. Trust me when I say that people know when you're not listening to them. This is exasperated when you're looking over that person's shoulder for someone else to talk to.
Take responsibility and deflect praise - In any organization things go well and things go badly. When something bad happens, you need to take responsibility. Understand what happened and be prepared to set a course correction, but whatever you do, don't throw your people under the bus. Equally important is that when things go right, distribute praise to those involved even if you were instrumental in creating the triumph.
Understand the different leadership styles and when to use them - I'm fortunate to have received the bulk of my leadership training when I was in the Navy. Rightfully so, like all the armed services, the Navy invests heavily in nurturing leaders. I learned early on that there are basically six leadership styles (visionary, coaching, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, and commanding). Through training, I learned that my default style is coaching and how to best leverage my style to get results. I also learned that you need to seamlessly move between styles as circumstances dictate. For example, if a crisis breaks and quick, rapid successive decisions are required to succeed, then you need to switch to the commanding style.
Be confident and credible - Nothing rattles people more than a leader who lacks confidence. Along with portraying confidence is the need to be credible. You are the authority in whatever function you've been tasked to lead. You're not expected to know the answer to everything, but you should be able to use your experience and intuition to determine the best path to take.
Learn to get mad then get over it - Without fail someone is going to do something that will make your blood boil. You have every right to be angry. That's human nature. However, don't let that anger consume you. Also, once you've had a chance to process what happened, be sure to sit down with that individual so both of you can get past what happened and keep your relationship healthy.
Be prepared to lead - By definition leadership implies that you lead. But leading means that you take bold decisions; that you make mistakes; that you're accountable and responsible for things to get done. Your team looks to you for guidance and to lead. Equally important is to lead by example. It's not enough to simply say what needs to be done. You need to demonstrate a willingness and acumen to do what needs to be done.
Be approachable - Part of being a great leader is being a great teacher. If you're not approachable or spending time with your team then how can they be expected to excel? Put yourself in a position where you can be approached and be prepared to take the time to work through whatever is required to enable your team to win. Along this line, make it as comfortable as you can when someone from your team comes to you for guidance. Making them feel comfortable will allow for a candid dialogue.
Praise in public and admonish in private - When someone does something good be sure to openly praise and acknowledge it. In addition to telling the person be sure to document it. Nothing makes someone's day more than seeing an email with their chain of command copied for something they did well. Likewise, when someone on your team does something wrong, find a private room to discuss it and make sure they understand what they did wrong.

Unfortunately, there's no magic wand that you can wave or secret sauce that you can feed someone to make them a better leader. Becoming a great leader takes hard work. The good news is that leadership skills can be learned. But like being an alcoholic, you have to admit that you have a problem. You have to accept that your leadership skills need work. Once you acknowledge that and are willing to learn how to better lead, you're well on your way.

I've found that training is an effective way to learn how to become a better leader. Also, find a mentor with great leadership skills. Between the two you should be able to avoid common mistakes and get the most out of your team. Beyond training and working with a mentor, there are countless books on the topic to help keep your leadership skills honed.

Creating an Online Community

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:15:00 +0000

I was recently interviewed by David Stark for his weekly radio show Stark Marketer that is broadcast on Radio Sandy Springs.

In this hour-long session, we outlined the mechanics of creating an online community. More specifically, we discussed at length the building blocks to establish, support and grow a community of like-minded folks around a specific theme in this case around the best-selling security book, Hacking Exposed.

To listen to the recorded version of the broadcast click here then scroll down to the 3/27/10 broadcast and click on the Listen button.

Measure, Measure, then Measure Some More

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:59:00 +0000

For those of you who regularly read my blog, you may recall a posting in which I railed on Honda for running a full page branding ad in TIME Magazine. At the time the economy was in relatively good shape. Even so, it did not make sense to me why Honda would run very expensive print ads that did not point readers to a URL from which Honda could enhance the overall customer experience as well as provide a means to measure the ad's effectiveness.

Fast forward to today. In the BusinessWeek article, "Best Global Brands: Gutsy marketers spend into the teeth of a recession. Several of BusinessWeek's 100 Best Global Brands are doing exactly that," author Burt Helm reflects, "History shows that a recession can be an auspicious time to invest in a brand. Some of the most successful brand campaigns in the past six decades began during economically challenged years."

I understand the importance of building brand regardless of economic conditions. The BusinessWeek article drives a good point home in that those companies able to sustain brand efforts will pull out of the downturn in a better position than those that retrench. I won't argue that. However, the big difference between past economically distressed times and today is that we readily have the means to measure the success of our brand building campaigns.

There are several marketing automation, CRM and analytics tools that enable you to measure the impact of your brand campaigns. What's important is that your campaigns present the means to trigger those tools and allow measurement to take place. In addition, these tools deliver the ability to nurture opportunities generated from the campaigns.

Even with an abundance of tools, I'm surprised at how often I come across companies that are not measuring the impact of their marketing programs -- brand or otherwise.

To net it out, as you contemplate where and how to spend your marketing dollars, make sure you have the means and ability to measure the impact of the spend. Being able to measure the success of your programs and activities will give you much needed ammunition when looking for additional budget to sustain your efforts.

Technorati Tags: Branding,Marketing Measurement,Marketing Tools

Marketing Myths that can Kill a Business; Myth #5 - We don't need live chat on our website

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 17:22:00 +0000

Myth

Web content alone is all we need for visitors to take a decision about purchasing our products or services.

Truth

You've undoubtedly invested heavily to get visitors to come to your website. Have you ever wondered why they just abruptly leave?

From my own experience, I'm constantly looking for ways to fill holes in my marketing programs or exploring better ways to accomplish my marketing objectives. Like most business professionals, I look at time as something I can't afford to waste. I use the Web as the go-to place to satisfy my curiosity. When I get to a site that I think aligns with what I need and I don't find what I'm looking for within a couple of clicks/minutes, I'm gone. What's worse is I likely won't be back. The same is true whether I'm doing marketing related research or if I'm looking for a new car insurance provider or thinking about refinancing my home.

The outcome is dramatically different if the site I'm visiting has live chat. I have no qualms about clicking on live chat to get quick answers to what I'm struggling to find from the static web pages. In almost every instance it starts me down the process of taking a decision to purchase goods or services.

It's also important to note that embedding live chat on your website is easy and inexpensive.

Need More?

After conducting in-depth interviews with large US-based financial institutions using live chat across multiple lines of business, Forrester Consulting found that the organization’s most mature deployments for sales and service achieved the following:

Increased incremental online conversion rates and average order size - The chat-assisted application completion rate was 138% higher than self service. In addition to saving and closing otherwise lost customers, interactive chat increased the average dollar value of transactions.
305% ROI from proactive sales chat with a payback period of 6 months - The three-year risk-adjusted ROI of proactive chat for sales-focused activities was 305%.
Reduced customer service costs and increased customer satisfaction - Chat enabled the organization to deflect service inquiries from more costly channels: 59% of chats would have otherwise resulted in a customer service call; 9% in email; and 13% of chats would have otherwise resulted in a branch visit. Customer service chats also had a high first-contact resolution rate resulting in increased customer satisfaction.
120% ROI from customer service chat with a payback period of 6 months - Forrester Consulting found that service-focused chat generated a three-year risk-adjusted ROI of 120% with a payback period of 6 months. Because the reference organization implemented chat for two distinct functions (sales and customer service) and maintained separate cost and benefit data for the two areas, this study analyzed sales- and service-focused chat separately.

Simple Rules to Follow

When adding live chat to your website, be sure to follow some simple rules:

1. Make the chat button/link apparent and place it in a prominent location - This should be obvious, but I'm often surprised at how good companies are at hiding the live chat button.

2. Create a library of standard responses - Since you have a good idea of the types of questions from past experiences, create a library of standard responses that can be readily used. Extend your library as you start to see trends in the types of questions asked. Regularly refresh the library as the questions and responses will evolve over time.

3. Use proactive chat - The major live chat vendors have a proactive chat option that opens a chat dialog box after certain thresholds are achieved such as time on site, number of pages visited, specific pages visited, etc.

4. Customize the chat experience to reflect your brand - Be sure to maintain your brand aesthetics with your live chat. The major live chat vendors offer extensive customization.

5. Align chat availability with visitor traffic - Again, this should be obvious, but take the time to analyze your site traffic to know when visitors are most active.

6. Follow-up as needed - Live chat becomes almost useless if you commit to doing something then not do it. If you tell someone during a chat session that you'll have an account manager follow-up with them, or that you will send them a proposal, etc. then do it.

When engaging visitors, focus first on making a connection with them. Keep the dialog in context of what the visitor is looking for by asking clarifying questions about their needs and craft relevant responses. As you understand their needs, you can take them down the path of becoming a customer.

Live chat gives you the opportunity to transition your visitor from reading static web pages into a conversation between two people. Chat can be the key that moves them from visitor to prospect to customer.

If your website is the portal from which you promote and/or sell your products or services, I strongly recommend you offer live chat. Having it will drive top-line growth at a nominal cost.

Technorati Tags: live chat,marketing myths,demand generation,customer experience

Book Review - The Breakthrough Company: How Everyday Companies Become Extraordinary Performers

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 18:22:00 +0000

Breakthrough Company

Having worked at companies that have managed to break through in their respective industry as well as at companies that have made it to the gate just to get turned away, I found Keith McFarland's book, "The Breakthrough Company," a great read. It allowed me to reflect on my own experiences in context to better understand why certain companies successfully made the transition while others stalled or atrophied.

At a high level, the book is the culmination of research conducted by McFarland and his associates of more than 7,000 of America's fastest growing private and public companies. It succinctly describes the characteristics of mid-sized entrepreneurial companies that break through to become, "significant, lasting, and difference-making organizations." It also rightfully cautions, "that there are no permanent breakthrough companies - only companies that engage in practices leading to long-term success. And just as it's possible for an everyday company to achieve breakthrough performance, it's equally possible for a breakthrough company to, without realizing it, fall back into life as an everyday firm." To that, from my own experiences, I agree with McFarland's summarizing premise that, "breakthrough is a journey, not a destination."

The book is filled with valuable tidbits that will have you rethinking everything from how to craft and manage your corporate strategy to how to recruit and motivate employees. However, one takeaway that really resonated with me came from the responses to McFarland's question at the end of each interview: "As you look to the future, what worries you?" According to McFarland, nine times out of ten the response went something like this: "The greatest challenge will be to maintain and nurture those organizational qualities that have allowed our company to succeed in the first place."

If you're an entrepreneur struggling to understand why the light at the end of the tunnel never seems glow any brighter, then read this book.

For those that have read, "Good to Great," by Jim Collins, think of, "The Breakthrough Company," as "Good to Great" for small to mid-sized businesses. If you haven't read "Good to Great" then read "The Breakthrough Company" first. It delivers an excellent foundation to better appreciate how companies break through and ultimately become great.

Technorati Tags: The Breakthrough Company,Keith McFarland,Good to Great,Jim Collins

Strategy - Why Companies of Every Size Should Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:39:00 +0000

I'm amazed at how often I come across companies, both large and small, that don't have a corporate blog. You would think that, by now, every company would be on the blog bandwagon, but that's not the case. For those on the fence about starting a blog think of it like this: If the playing field between you and your competitors is level, having a corporate blog will more than likely give you the edge to win more business. It's that simple. This is especially true during tough economic times as blogs carry next to no cost other than the time it takes to keep them current.

There are countless reasons why blogs are a necessary component of any business, but here are some of the more popular reasons:

1. They keep your customer's engaged and humanize your company. This can't be stressed strongly enough. Having regular blog posts puts a face on your company that people appreciate in a socio-economic environment seemingly devoid of direct interaction.

2. They make you appear contemporary and relevant. This is especially true when the topics of your blog discuss current issues of the industry or market that you serve.

3. They enable instant feedback. The comment function of blogs allow customers to give you immediate feedback on business and industry topics. The feedback allows you to refine your message, goods and services. It also enables you to get your hands around a potential issue early.

4. They help give you visibility and enable potential customers to more readily find you. Search engine crawlers are always looking for new content. Having regular blog posts results in your material getting indexed more often, taking you higher in organic search results, making it easier for potential customers to find you.

5. They are a great networking tool. Virtually every business has or needs a network that need to be kept aware of what's going on in your industry and your company. Blogs allow you to regularly reach hundreds -- if not thousands -- of existing and potential customers without regard for time and geographical differences. Used as a networking tool blogs are a great time saver when reaching out to your network.

6. They offer a virtually free way of getting your message out and creating buzz about your company. I realize I mentioned this earlier, but it's worth repeating. We all know that times are tough right now. Marketing budgets are getting slashed left and right. Blogging can create demand for your goods or services, keep your pipeline of prospective customers warm, and position you as a thought leader in your industry. That's an extraordinary amount of value for something that's all but free to get up and running.

Okay, now that you're committed to getting a corporate blog up and running, what follows are some blogging mistakes to avoid from Christopher Barger, manager of GM's FastLane, considered one of the more successful corporate blogs. He recently provided MarketingSherpa with ten common blogging mistakes and how to avoid them. They are as follows:

Mistake #1. Treating the blog like a channel for corporate messaging

Barger says that the greatest value of a blog is in the dialogue with readers. Successful blog posts generate reader comments. And readers generally don't respond well to corporate messaging.

"If all you're doing is restating a press release in first person or giving them news they can already get somewhere else, you've given them nothing," Barger says.

FastLane has fought becoming a channel for routine corporate messaging throughout its three-year existence. The blog became a victim of its own success, says Barger. It's popularity had people thinking of it as another place for corporate communication instead of for meaningful dialogue with readers.

To avoid this mistake:

-Encourage posts that don't resemble press releases.

-Pay attention to the comments readers post. If you see a recurring topic, find an expert within the company to address it in a blog post.

-If you want to blog about a new product, have the engineer or someone who has used the product write about it.

Mistake #2. Rushing to respond to negative feedback

When responding to reader comments, sooner is not always better. No matter how direct or honest your intentions are for a corporate blog, there will always be readers who don't want to hear what you have to say. Some people will read a blog just to poke holes through everything you say.

To avoid this mistake:

Be patient. Be prudent. Hold off responding to a negative comment for a few hours – other readers might correct the original post for you. The audience tends to police itself, says Barger. "They will see people who are reflexively critical or dismissive and they'll dismiss them right back," he says.

Mistake #3. Fearing the critics

Don't fear constructive criticism. Your audience will respect that, and you should, too. "For anyone afraid of starting a blog for fear they're giving their critics a place to go after them, I would argue that does happen, but you have to give your audience credit for being smarter than that," says Barger.

To avoid this mistake:

Respond to them if need be by keeping in mind that negative comments bring a positive aspect along with them – they allow you to become aware of your audience's opinions. Those same comments could be happening at happy hour or at dinner tables instead.

Mistake #4. Ghostwriting blog posts

Barger's team does not ghostwrite posts for employees or executives at GM. The blog could lose its transparency – one of those trust-building, relationship-building elements.

To avoid this mistake:

Put a byline on each post. Each FastLane post has a byline and the title of the person who wrote it.

"If you're trying to personify or humanize the organization, having a byline helps contribute to that," Barger says. It helps readers understand that each writer has a different perspective and personality. It enables them to address the writer on a more personal level.

Mistake #5. Giving blog writers the impression that once a post is written, it's done

Finding blog writers is a challenge in itself, Barger says. So, it's important to tell them up front what the task requires. The best bloggers read and respond to comments. They start to adapt readers' perspectives for future posts.

To avoid this mistake:

Make it clear to blog writers that filing a post is not the end of the road. They may have to respond to comments.

Mistake #6. Relying on writers who are too corporate

Often, the higher up the chain of command, the more corporate people tend to sound. They can't help it, Barger says. Their writing voice sounds like it would on television. It's formal. "That's not what this medium is for," he says.

To avoid this mistake:

FastLane engages mostly mid-level salaried employees or execs at the vice president or director level to write blog posts. (Note: GM's Vice Chairman Bob Lutz is an exception. Lutz is known for his "straight talk" and personal tone, which is perfect for the blog.)

Mistake #7. Not establishing blog rules

Every corporate blog should have some basic rules of conduct: Acceptable topics, taboos, etc. Tell the bloggers beforehand what the rules so everyone can follow them.

To avoid this mistake:

Blog rules can be summed up in three words: "Don't be stupid," says Barger. To clarify, don't write anything you wouldn't write in an email to someone outside the company.

"At the end of the day, you have to decide whether you trust your employees, and I would argue if you don't, you have much bigger problems than just the existence of a blog," he says.

Mistake #8. Posting infrequently

Posting frequently is a basic rule of blogging. How often to post is determined by the company. But rule of thumb: Not less than twice per week. This is particularly challenging for corporate blogs because it's often difficult to get people to commit to blog posting on a regular basis, Barger says.

The consequence of not posting regularly is loss of readership; people will stop checking the blog if they don't see new posts.

To avoid this mistake:

Try to get at least eight people within your company to commit to blogging. If each person posts once per month, that equals two posts per week if you give them deadlines on specific days.

Mistake #9. Going against your comment policy

Like a blog policy for writers, every corporate blog needs a comment policy for readers. This policy protects the company's credibility should it choose not to approve a comment for a reason stated in the guideline. The important thing is not to violate your own policy.

To avoid this mistake:

Be consistent with the comment policy. For example, GM tells readers that posts relating to car ownership issues are forwarded to customer service rather than posted on the blog. Inconsistency can ruin a blog's credibility.

Mistake #10. Editing, hiding, or taking a post down when you make a mistake

Someone will screw up at some point. A writer will post something inaccurate. Links will go unchecked. A reader will take offense. Don't try to hide it.

To avoid this mistake:

"If you mess up, say so rather than trying to hide it or edit something out or take it down," says Barger. "People are forgiving of mistakes if you say, 'Well, we screwed up here. Sorry. We'll try to do better next time.'"

For those interested, BusinessWeek wrote an article in 2005 titled, "Blogs Will Change Your Business," that is a very worthwhile read. The article was revised and updated in June 2008. The revised article transcends blogs to discuss the growing number of social media tools such as YouTube, Twitter, Wikipedia, LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace.

So, why wait any longer. Start blogging today. You'll be glad you did.

Technorati Tags: blogging,social media,fastlane

Marketing Myths that can Kill a Business; Myth # 4 - We need a huge media relations event to launch our Company

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:43:00 +0000

Myth

Startups often feel the need to spend big dollars for a magnanimous splash event to rally the industry behind their incarnation of the "next big thing."

Truth

While having a meaningful impact at launch is important, what will impress editors, analysts and pundits even more is demonstrating success over time. Often referred to as "rolling thunder," you are much better off and will have a much higher ROI on your PR spend by regularly pulsing the market with worthwhile announcements than spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a launch event.

When you're ready to launch, have a plan in place that stages announcements for the next three, six and twelve months. Make sure that you focus those announcements on those issues that your audience will find relevant such as key customer wins, new strategic partnerships, surpassing meaningful company milestones, etc.

Just so you know, several of today's most talked about companies including Apple, Google and Microsoft did not have a formal launch per se. The media traction for those companies came from staying dogged with PR pursuits over time.

So, before you commit to spending a huge portion of your newly minted investor dollars on a launch event, spend the time to think through how to get the most bang for the buck over the long haul.

Technorati Tags: media relations,marketing myths

Strategy - Niche Social Networks

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 16:19:00 +0000

While perusing the blogosphere a couple of days ago, I came across a specialized social network targeted at book lovers titled, Shelfari. According to Shelfari's website, the company introduces readers to a global community of book lovers and encourage them to share their literary inclinations and passions with peers, friends, and total strangers (for now). As an avid reader, I joined and started adding my literary interests. Although I'm just getting started, I like that I can share my tastes with others and I hope I can glean new books to read based on like-minded individuals.

With general interest social network providers such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo addressing the needs of the masses, I believe that niche social networks such as Shelfari and the venture I am currently working at TeamZoneSports, a private social network for sports teams, represent the next big wave in social networking.

According to the Business Week article, "Social Networks Go Niche," published in March 2007, "...some users and potential users have grown wary about exposing themselves to so many people [using open social networks such as MySpace and Facebooks]. Some users would rather connect with people with whom they share common interests, such as hobbies or professional associations, other than knowing somebody who knows somebody who is listed as a MySpace friend." I place myself firmly in this category. I would much rather connect with those who I have a real association or relationship with as opposed to the randomness inherent with open social networks.

From a monetization perspective, the same article suggests that advertisers are willing to pay a hefty premium to have their ads display on niche social networks over those that target the masses. It reflects that advertisers pay double digit CPMs to display on niched social networks compared to the sub-$1 CPM range of broad-based social networks.

In January 2008, the social networking news source, Mashable, reflected, "According to eMarketer, last year advertisers spent $920 million on advertising within social networks - and of that amount, 8.2 percent went to niche networks. This year it is estimated that spending will increase to $2.1 billion, and the take for smaller networks will rise to 10%. This is due to what is perceived as an improved return on investment for an advertiser's marketing dollar through secondary social channels." So, both the size of the advertising pie increases as well as the share of the pie for niche social network providers.

All that said, I've added my Shelfari Bookshelf to this blog. You can check it out by scrolling down the page until you see the bookshelf in the sidebar on the left side of the page. Clicking on the logo at the top of the bookshelf will take you to my Shelfari bookshelf page where you can view my entire library.

Technorati Tags: niche social networks,specialized social networks,shelfari,teamzonesports

Advertising - Two Great New Tools for Media Planners and Buyers

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:21:00 +0000

As a marketing professional who incorporates on-line as a major component of an integrated marketing strategy, two recently announced services from Google, Google Trends and Google Ad Planner, have already demonstrated great utility.

About a month ago, Google announced Google Trends. Google Trends gives media planners and buyers historical data for terms used in search. For me, this has already become an invaluable tool as I can better time my sports-centric campaigns and community development efforts around a particular sport based on when consumers are likely to be searching for that sport. Most recently at TeamZoneSports, I noticed the number of people searching for baseball and softball taper off. Google Trends reflected that characteristic as well as enlightened me to the fact that golf traffic peaks over the summer months and that football and soccer traffic start to increase July and sustain heavy search traffic through the fall months.

From Google Trends

Three weeks ago Google announced Google Ad Planner. According to Google, Google Ad Planner, "is a free media planning tool that can help you identify websites your audience is likely to visit so you can make better-informed advertising decisions.

With Google Ad Planner, you can:

Define audiences by demographics and interests.
Search for websites relevant to your audience.
Access aggregated statistics on the number of unique visitors, page views, and other data for millions of websites from over 40 countries.
Create lists of websites where you'd like to advertise and store them in a media plan.
Generate aggregated website statistics for your media plan."

I've only just started to use Google Ad Planner as access is permitted only via invitation from Google. What I've seen so far shows great potential. Using the sports example reflected earlier, starting with baseball at mlb.com you are able to quickly drill down to see associated sites along with site traffic, demographics, sample search terms that would land you there, etc. then create a media plan that targets those sites that your prospects are most likely to visit.

For budget conscience marketing organizations, Google has assembled a suite of services that should be seriously considered. When you consolidate the functionality of Google Trends and Google Ad Planner with Google Adwords and Google Analytics, you are able to enjoy a comprehensive, rich media planning, implementation and analysis portfolio unrivaled in the market today. Granted there are point products/services available from other providers that offer deeper functionality, but when you consider the cost to use Google's media tools (i.e., free), that they tend to be easy to use, and are available from a single provider, you will be hard-pressed to find something elsewhere with the same value-added capabilities.

I'm anxious to see what new products or services Google delivers as they fuse recently-acquired Double-Click capabilities and other innovations into their total media offering.

Since timing and location of ads are critical dimensions to a successful marketing campaign, these two new services from Google add great value for taking on-line decisions. With them, Google continues to cement my confidence as my on-line end-to-end media partner.

Technorati Tags: google ad planner,google trends,google analytics,google adwords

Go To Market - The GA Checklist

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 20:54:00 +0000

I read an interesting article in Fast Company by Made to Stick co-authors Dan and Chip Heath titled, "The Heroic Checklist." The gist of the article is that, although considered mundane, having a checklist can ensure essential tasks are properly completed in repeatable processes. The anchor anecdote from the article reflects how hospitals in Michigan use a checklist to make certain that intensive-care units adhere to a five-step checklist when inserting intravenous lines into patients. Implementing the checklist has saved Michigan hospitals an estimated $175 Million in complications associated with infections from improperly inserted lines and is credited with saving over 1,500 lives.

I've always been a big believer in using checklists to facilitate the completion of repetitive tasks as well as make certain that task participants and key stakeholders understand what's required of them and when. One checklist in particular that comes to mind that I used extensively while CMO of CommerceQuest is the GA Checklist. For those unfamiliar with the acronym "GA," it stands for Generally Available and describes a software product that is ready for market.   

My multi-page GA Checklist covered every go-to-market requirement from pricing/packaging/promotion to media/analyst relations and sales training. It was a great tool as we regularly released new products as well as major revisions to existing products. At any given time, I estimate we were preparing 2-3 products for market, making the GA Checklist an invaluable tool. You can check out the GA Checklist by clicking on the following:

From GA Checklist

It's important to note that checklists need to evolve. Although my GA Checklist worked well during my tenure at CommerceQuest, it would have to be updated to meet contemporary go-to-market requirements such as digital distribution, social media outreach, and several other current marketing facets.

Granted, my GA checklist was not going to save lives, but it did ensure that all our bases were covered as products were readied for market. It also allowed me to get in front of potential issues before they could derail an otherwise effective go-to-market campaign.

In an environment where we are called on to do more with less in constantly compressed time frames, creating checklists will ensure the highest likelihood of the desired outcome. So, although you may hear some grumbling from employees when you task them with following a well thought-out checklist, stand your ground. Doing so will ensure you avoid blind spots and increase the likelihood of a successful outcome.

Technorati Tags: go to market,checklist,marketing

Book Review - The Riddle: Where Ideas Come From and How to Have Better Ones

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0000

When I think of innovation, companies from the information age such as Apple, Google, IDEO and Alibaba come to mind. These companies regularly push the innovation envelope with great success.

How these companies innovate seems to be quite different. For example, as an outsider looking in, it appears that Apple is very structured and methodical in how it approaches innovation; always adhering to its core vision of delivering products that are useful, affordable and easy-to-use. It's almost as if you can envision Steve Jobs pontificating and driving innovation throughout the hallowed halls of Apple. Contrast that with Google where they appear to approach innovation as a random, ad hoc activity hoping that, among other activities, the 20% "personal time" all Google employees enjoy will result in innovations that the company will benefit from. Needless to say, both approaches have resulted in countless WOW products that left potential competitors dumbfounded and contemplating, "Why didn't we think of that?"

As successful as these companies have been in getting new ideas to market, there have been instances where each company has come up short on the innovation front. For example, when Google struck its mega-deal to advertise on MySpace, the company would have been wise to embrace the "five whys" from Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota and considered the father of the Japanese industrial revolution. The first "why" should have been: "Why do people spend time on a social network?" Going through this process, the company would have quickly realized that people active in an online community are very different from those doing search. Armed with this knowledge, I believe Google would have implemented an ad strategy with a delivery and presentation method that aligned better to how users engage social networks. For Apple, you only have to conjure up thoughts of the failed PDA, Newton, when considering innovations gone awry.

At the other end of the innovation spectrum, companies such as AOL, CA and BMC Software come to mind in that they have seemingly lost the ability to innovate organically. Innovations from these companies tend to come in the form of an acquisition or some other external activity. I'm not sure what causes this. My guess is that they simply don't foster an innovation-centric culture, or it could be that the leaders of these companies are unable to look past the next fiscal quarter as part of their decision making process.

Regardless of where your company sits along the innovation continuum, The Riddle: Where Ideas Come From and How to Have Better Ones by Andrew Razeghi is a worthwhile read. The book uses real-world examples to demystify how innovation takes place and serves up a blueprint for creating and processing ideas. It also identifies five precursors -- curiosity, constraints, connections, conventions, and codes -- needed to create an environment that fosters and supports innovation as essential underpinning for success. Throughout the book, Razeghi enumerates actionable steps that can be implemented to increase any organizations' odds of being more innovative. It's the type of book that you will find yourself going back to regularly to keep your innovation skills honed.

For marketers tasked with thinking outside-the-box for the next marketing strategy, campaign, or promotion, Razeghi's book will give you a game plan with practical insights into how ideas are created as well as steps that can be employed to enable you and your team with ideas that are both controllable and repeatable.

For those interested, another worthwhile read to help stimulate creative thought is Edward de Bono's, Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step.

Technorati Tags: innovation,creativity,apple,google,ideo,alibaba

Marketing Management - Don't Wait Nine Months to Get Back to a Customer

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 21:53:00 +0000

For those who regularly read my blog, you'll love this. Last July I posted an entry about the importance of making your company accessible. In the posting, I mentioned that the only means of contacting Motorola about a piece of software I was interested in buying and downloading from its website was via an online form.

I reflected that a month after submitting the form I had yet to receive a reply. Well, you'll be happy to know that on March 31 -- nine months after submitting the online form -- I finally received a one line response from Motorola. I kid you not. What's worse was there was no acknowledgement of any delay.

Contrast that experience with one I had recently with another well-known consumer electronics provider, Bose. I've had a Bose SoundDock for about three years. I'm thinking about trading in my fourth generation Apple iPod for an iPod Touch. On a Saturday morning I dialed the toll free number that was easy to locate on the company's website. Ryan in Bose's technical support group picked up on the first ring. He explained to me that because Apple now has so many varieties of iPod, Bose has created a universal adapter for its SoundDock so it will work with any type of iPod. He was more than happy to send me the adapter at no charge. Bose has a customer for life. The next time I'm in the need of a quality sound product, you can bet that I will not stray from the Bose brand.

With the cost of acquiring a new customer ranging from 5 to 10 times what it costs to keep or upsell new products to an existing customer, it's no wonder that Motorola is on the ropes and trying, without success, to sell its handset business. They simply don't get it. It being the importance of getting back to those pesky customer people about an online software product that has zero distribution cost and -- I would guess -- somewhere in the neighborhood of 80% profit margin. I can't imagine a more dysfunctional organization. Frankly, at this point they would have been better off not getting back to me at all. At least then I would have attributed it to some type of internal glitch.

A relevant footnote worth sharing is that I got rid of the Motorola phone mentioned in my original blog posting almost six months ago. I decided then to go an entirely different direction for my calendar and contact synching needs. Hey Moto, can you here me now?

Technorati Tags: motorola,bose,customer service,marketing management

Strategy - The Big Winner if Microsoft is Successful at Acquiring Yahoo is Google

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:17:00 +0000

I understand that Google's public face should voice opposition to Microsoft's bid to acquire Yahoo. But I wouldn't be surprised if Eric Schmidt, Sergey Brin, and Larry Page are high-fiving one another behind closed doors and hoping that the deal happens. I can think of countless reasons why, but two that are blindingly apparent are the resulting culture clash and leveraged innovation quotient, both of which would enable Google to capitalize on the MS/Yahoo marriage.

First of all, if Microsoft is successful at acquiring Yahoo they will have a culture clash of biblical proportion. These companies are at opposite ends of the spectrum on virtually everything from how they innovate to how they make money. It will take years for the two behemoths to effectively integrate -- if full integration is even possible. The clash of cultures would allow Google to cherry-pick top talent from both companies as frustration will rule the day. According to CNET News, Yahoo has been, "bogged down by ineffective group decision-making and a damaging aversion to taking risks" and is now saying that the acquisition bid is disrupting the company even more.

One of the best things that Google has going is its extraordinary ability to innovate. So, while Microsoft and Yahoo are trying to sort out how to play well together in the sandbox, Google can flex and focus its innovation muscle to further distance themselves from the rest of the pack. To that, they should determine what attributes make Yahoo, and for that matter Microsoft, compelling and innovate beyond what both companies offer. For example, I'm a big fan of Yahoo Sports. According to Fast Company, Yahoo Sports has usurped ESPN.com as the go to destination for sports enthusiasts by cultivating 24.1 million unique visitors compared to ESPN.com's 22.2 million in November of 2007. With online ad revenue for sports growing from $548 million to $1.1 billion by 2011 (according to eMarketer), Google could direct innovation and business resources to become a major player in this burgeoning space. They could also develop Google-based approaches toward other business domains such as finance, travel and music to quickly accelerate past the newly merged entity.

That's not to say that Google is not without its own challenges. With eMarketer reporting that paid search is starting to slow as a component of total online advertising in the US, Google needs to think outside-the-box to sustain double-digit growth by embracing a variety of online formats. Recently striking a deal with YuMe is a good beginning, albeit a baby step; since rich media/video is the highest growth sector for online advertising.

From a marketing perspective, Google has been enormously successful using word-of-mouth as its primary means of marketing. However, to fend off a merged MS/Yahoo entity will require that the company rethink how to effectively promote themselves via integrated strategies that cross multiple medias with a consistent and compelling message.

All things considered, if Google stays the innovation course while thinking beyond-the-box for new ways to market and monetize itself in ways other than its dependence on paid search advertising, it could create an insurmountable gap that a merged MS/Yahoo might never close.

Technorati Tags: Google,Microsoft,Yahoo

Marketing - Targeting Influentials vs. The Masses

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 13:56:00 +0000

I read an interesting article in Fast Company by Clive Thompson titled, "Is The Tipping Point Toast?" The article discusses studies conducted by Duncan Watts that basically dispel the premise of Malcolm Gladwell's best-seller, The Tipping Point, to the point where he suggests that marketers spending north of one billion dollars per year to target Influentials are all but wasting their money. In essence, Watts's research showed little to no correlation between Influentials and burgeoning trends.

For those who have not read, The Tipping Point, at a high level it runs along the lines of the butterfly effect in that a butterfly's flapping wing represents a small change in the initial condition of the system, which causes a chain of events leading to large-scale phenomena. In Gladwell's case, small numbers of people --Influentials -- who start behaving differently can ultimately ripple outward until critical mass or the "tipping point" is reached. For example, Gladwell reflects how some hip Influentials brought Hush Puppies from the brink of bankruptcy by wearing Hush Puppy shoes in the fashion sensitive Village district in SoHo, New York City. They made Hush Puppies cool and relevant which caught on like wildfire through word-of-mouth to spawn a rebirth of the languishing brand. Within two years, Hush Puppies went from being all but dead to growing a remarkable 5000% without spending anything on advertising.

Gladwell's thesis is that ideas, products, messages, behaviors, etc. gain momentum and ultimately "tip" largely by the actions of three pivotal types of Influentials:
1. Connectors - people who know lots of people and can link those people together
2. Mavens - people who accumulate and pass along knowledge
3. Salesmen - people proficient at the art of persuasion

Watts contends that it takes more then just highly social individuals to "tip" a product or service. His "tipping point" counter is that unless society is ready for change, no amount of encouragement from Influentials will cause something to tip. In fact, he suggests that the greatest way to effect a trend is through good, old-fashioned mass marketing. The article states, "He [Watts] has analyzed email patterns and found that highly connected people are not, in fact, crucial social hubs. He has written computer models of rumor spreading and found that your average slob is just as likely as a well-connected person to start a huge new trend. And last year, Watts demonstrated that even the breakout success of a hot new pop band might be nearly random. Any attempt to engineer success through Influentials, he argues, is almost certainly doomed to failure."

Watts's perspective is encapsulated in the following illustration from the magazine article.

From Targeting Inf...

The way I see it is I don't believe Gladwell said that you should abandon your marketing strategies and campaigns by putting all of your eggs in the Influential's basket. What he does do is enlighten marketers to explore and leverage Influentials as a facet of any integrated marketing strategy. Targeting Influentials is particularly relevant as Web 2.0 continues to gain momentum. Those who used to be able to influence only a few are now able to quickly impact thousands, if not millions, of prospective consumers via blogs, customer reviews, social networks, etc.

Any good marketing program needs to strike a balance across the spectrum of available options. The use of Influentials is just one of many options that should be considered. What's key is understanding the ebbs and tides of your prospective customers and market dynamics then applying those techniques that will drive adoption to the point of "tipping."

Technorati Tags: Tipping Point,Fast Company,Marketing Strategy

Advertising - The Next Big Thing in Online Advertising

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 18:47:00 +0000

I read a post in the Long Tail blog titled, "What does the 'Media Business Model' mean?" that outlines the different ways online media companies generate revenue. Although it appears to be a work in progress post, one omission is "Time on Site" as an emerging media business model. Because everyone in the media biz loves acronyms, let's refer to "Time on Site" as TOS.

TOS advertising got a big boost this past summer when Nielsen//NetRatings announced they are replacing page views with time on site as the primary Web traffic metric. With the widespread adoption of AJAX-based sites and online video, page views as a metric are becoming increasingly less relevant. In Surprise: MSN Has Built the Video Site of the Future, the author, Marshall Kirkpatrick, suggests, "While other sites (like YouTube and MySpace) keep pumping out the page views and trying to figure out how to best run ads - this new MSN Video site has hit on a formula that will likely represent the video portal of the future: AJAX powered video play lists, including recommended videos, that do not require new page loads and are monetized by time-based advertising. You could spend hours watching a play list of videos from a variety of sources on MSN Video without ever loading a new page."

At MyTeamZone, we consider TOS as a key metric to our revenue model. We anticipate using several techniques to leverage TOS as a source of revenue. For example, we plan to use product placement in video training content. We believe that advertisers will find it valuable because their products will be prominently yet discreetly placed in front of a captive audience for extended periods.

You can see this for yourself in the video below. It not only serves up great baseball training, but you are viewing the Under Armour brand for the entire segment.

Now, imagine the video above framed by a discreet border from retailers like The Sports Authority or Dick's Sporting Goods that links the user directly to a landing page with baseball gear from Under Armour.

For MyTeamZone, we chose Silverlight from Microsoft to render photos and videos. Not only does it offer the highest possible quality viewing experience, but is also gives us several ways to selectively place and manage ads in our video and photo content.

A great case study that demonstrates how product placement was used in online video and tied directly to revenue can be found in the Business 2.0 article titled, "Make Way for Must Stream TV." The article discusses how one of the co-hosts of Revision3's Diggnation was suffering from a bad cold so he drank a cup of Adagio tea instead of a bottle of beer - his normal refreshment for the show. After the show Revision3 struck a deal with the tea manufacturer for a quid pro quo arrangement.

The article states, "The terms: Adagio would put together a special $20 Diggnation 'sampler set' (a teapot, four teas, and a tea guide) to plug during the next show; Revision3 would get a 20 percent cut of any resulting sales. Rose (one of the co-hosts) chose his favorites and mentioned a special URL where viewers could purchase the tea online. A month after the show posted to iTunes, Adagio had rung up $100,000 in Diggnation-linked sales - a 25 percent boost to its average monthly tally."

Some companies that have made a living off page views are upbraiding Neilsen's decision, but I believe they made the right move in light of where the space is moving. Like most shifts, the mechanics for TOS advertising still need to be vetted. It's simply a matter of time before publishers and advertisers sort out the basis for charging for time on site.

Technorati Tags: time on site,msn video,online adversiting,silverlight

My How Things Have Changed

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 20:12:00 +0000

I read a Google blog post by Bo Cowgill titled, The Flow of Information at Googleplex. It discusses Google's use of predictive markets to demonstrate how organizations process information and respond to external events.

It took me back to what feels like eons ago when I was pursuing my Masters degree in Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma. My concentration was quantitative methods and analysis. Along my concentration, I decided on a thesis that consisted of conducting a non-equivalent, control group comparison study. The study examined the impact of implementing a multi-threaded, integrated voter registration awareness campaign at Naval Air Station, Barbers Point, Hawaii compared to another nearby military installation.

At the time of my thesis, I used first-generation software from SPSS to correlate and analyze the data I collected. It's amazing to me how much more difficult and rudimentary it was then when I consider what's available today to conduct similar types of studies. Seeing the findings from the Google study demonstrate significant advances as evidenced with something as simple as overlaying a heat map distribution over a Googleplex office to see areas where employees made profitable decisions (green) and areas where employees made unprofitable decisions (red) when trading.

Even when I was doing my thesis, I knew that technology would have a massive impact on how we conduct and analyze socioeconomic studies.

Knowing how far things have progressed, I'm anxious to see what lies ahead as technology evolves in areas like neuromarketing and mobility-centric predictive analysis.

Technorati Tags: market analysis,socioeconomics,Google,predictive markets

Marketing Management - Startups 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 20:44:00 +0000

I read a great article in Wired by Dan Tynan titled, VCs Tell Startups: Don't Show Me the Money (Yet). The article resonated with me as I've experienced first-hand how dramatically different the startup environment is now compared to during the bubble from both a cost to deploy and time to revenue perspective.

For example, while CMO at CommerceQuest, which was acquired by Metastorm, we built an innovative managed service called enableNet. Built during the bubble apex, enableNet provided any-to-any integration over the Internet. It realized significant market traction with the then in vogue Net Market Makers as they all needed some level of integration and connectivity to realize their business objectives.

We built enableNet to run on IBM mainframes in order to get 99.99999 percent uptime. We housed our mainframes in the newest Internet data centers with the fattest possible pipes. It literally took an army of technicians, developers, system operators, etc. to build, monitor and maintain the system. To top it all off, we were headquartered on the top floor of the newest building in Tampa.

Like a lot of companies during the bubble, we took on significant venture capital to fuel adoption and growth both of which came at breakneck speed. It needed to because the cost to build, deploy and support enableNet required that we monetize it soonest.

Contrast enableNet with MyTeamZone -- a new Web 2.0 venture I'm currently working on. MyTeamZone is a private community where sports teams can easily share information, communicate and coordinate activities.

For hardware, we use off-the-shelf, rack mounted, 1U Dell servers running Windows server operating system. Using the .NET framework, a good portion of our application logic comes from third party controls and libraries that are either open source or are very inexpensive to license. We've even outsourced some of our development to an offshore team. For deployment, we currently co-lease a rack in an Internet data center. We use Google Analytics to monitor traffic and usage patterns. Finally, we are operating out of a very modest office with a hodgepodge of furnishings.

I'm not at liberty to disclose how much was spent on enableNet or MyTeamZone. However, I can say that from a development and infrastructure perspective enableNet was over 20 times more expensive to build, deploy, maintain and market than what we are experiencing with MyTeamZone.

Now, looking at the differences of the bubble period versus today from a marketing perspective, I managed multi-million dollar budgets while at CommerceQuest. A large portion of those budgets was directed towards SEO and SEM, which, for the most part, were provided by outside agencies. It often took months at a significant cost to promote our products to the first page of the various search engines.

At MyTeamZone, in less than two weeks and using a couple of hours of an internal resource, we are currently on the first page of Google's organic results in position six out of 22+ million results for our key search term -- free team websites.

Granted at CommerceQuest we had more products that needed to be optimized across the search engines using a variety of terms, it still demonstrates just how dramatically things have changed as Web 2.0 and the new way of getting started gain momentum.

Because we've been able to get MyTeamZone to market at a fraction of the cost of enableNet, we can stay laser focused on creating a great user experience. We know we will be able to monetize the business if we create user experience that is sticky and allows for viral growth. To that end, we spend a considerable amount of time understanding existing and emerging ways to monetize the business so that once we realize critical mass, we'll be able to capitalize on it. We've looked at traditional Web methods like CPC and CPM advertising as well as more obscure methods such as product placement in our professional online training videos as potential sources of revenue.

As it was during the bubble, certain attributes like agility and perseverance makes working at a startup exciting. To be successful still requires passion, commitment, courage, sacrifice and, quite frankly, a whole lot of luck. However, the means of getting your product or service to market has been dramatically compressed on both a cost and time basis. Be mindful of this as you consider your next venture.

Technorati Tags: startups,web 2.0,marketing management

Book Review - Founders At Work: Stories of Startup's Early Days

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 16:38:00 +0000

Having spent a considerable portion of my career in startup and early stage companies, I'm often told, "You should write a book about what you've experienced and learned." I may do that at some point, but until then I encourage you to read, Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston. It's a series of interviews with founders from several well-known companies, some of which include Adobe, Apple, Flickr, PayPal and Yahoo!.

The book provides candid, eye-opening accounts from those who were in the trenches when these industry heavyweights were just cutting their teeth -- trying to figure out how to make an impact and change the world. It's a great read for those with a startup bug or those with an entrepreneurial spirit.

One epiphany that becomes apparent when you read the book is that almost always an initial vision or product idea is recast to fit an evolving market paradigm. To that, I think it goes without saying that agility and perseverance are two key -- if not critical -- attributes of any successful startup.

The only narrative I would add to the book is that startups are not for the faint of heart. In a startup environment you will be called upon to push the very limits of what your mind and body can endure. In addition, although you join a startup because of a particular skill or trait, you quickly find out that to succeed means performing a myriad of roles. One minute you're crafting a go-to-market strategy, the next you're hand soldering a 40 lead, quad flat-pack under a stereo-zoom microscope.

I recall the first startup I worked at in northern Virginia. We were on the hook to deliver six prototype, next generation pen-based computers to secure a $4.5M contract with GE Turbine Systems. Everything needed to be done, from debugging the system BIOS and using machine files to hand-mold the plastic housings to creating a User's Guide.

A normal day in a startup typically eclipses those of more established companies. However, during the 45 days leading up to this particular deliverable, the core team of eight was working, on average, 18 hours each day including weekends. In fact, I recall working 38 hours non-stop as we honed in on the finish line. Most nights we slept on our office floors while breakfast, lunch, and dinner were brought in. Every couple of days we would go home long enough to catch a quick nap, shower and shave. It was physically and mentally grueling.

Words can't describe the sensation we all felt when I dispatched one of our system engineers to deliver the six prototypes -- a full day before they were due. Our minds and bodies were literally numb from the relentless days and hours committed to completing this task. However, the exhilaration from having accomplished so much against very heavy odds elevated us to cloud nine. We opened a bottle of champagne at about 4:00 AM. By the time the rest of the employees started to make their way into the office we were well on our way to a drunken bliss. Mission accomplished.

Another important attribute of startups is that there is no formula or script you can follow that will guarantee success. To be successful requires passion, commitment, courage, sacrifice and, quite frankly, a whole lot of luck. It's a take no prisoners, get it done at any cost environment where you tend to be cash poor and vision rich. The normal rules of business rarely apply. You learn and adapt as you go.

The first week we embarked on the Herculean task above fell during the middle of summer. At about 2:00 AM one morning, I looked up from what I was doing to see one of our engineers standing there in his underwear. It was probably north of 90 degrees in our offices. We knew then there was no way we could be successful in those conditions. Since our landlord was unwilling to have the air conditioning remain on after 7:00 PM, we took matters into our own hands. We located the building control room, picked the lock and figured out how to turn the AC on while we worked through the night. We were careful to go back to the control room every morning at about 5:00 to turn it off.

In closing, what makes startups truly exciting is that words like "can't" and "process" are all but banned from the corporate vernacular. Fueled largely by adrenalin and passion, it's a purpose driven environment where the odds are stacked against you. To survive, you must do everything humanly possible as both an individual contributor as well as part of a team.

Technorati Tags: founders at work,startups,early stage companies

User Experience - Heed The Ten Demandments

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 14:18:00 +0000

While perusing the Blogosphere to research a recent posting, I came across The Ten Demandments by Kelly Mooney and Laura Bergheim. In essence, the Ten Demandments are common sense dictums to adhere to when engaging existing or potential customers. The irony of the Ten Demandments is that I can't imagine any company saying that they don't subscribe to them. However, I'm amazed at how often we encounter situations where companies don't practice what they preach.

The one thing I would add from a cursory review of the Ten Demandments (reflected below) is I believe they are weighted. For example, if you don't strongly commit to "Earn my trust" (Demandment #1) as an essential operational tenet then the others become mute. As such, certain Demandments carry a heavier weight then others.

From a personal perspective, it's been over eight years since I've set foot in a Kinko's (now FedEx Kinko's). Historically, the reason I embraced their services was because they were open long hours (Demandment #6) and allowed me to engage their services using their equipment (Demandment #4). However, the three to four times I used them they treated me with indifference and demonstrated what can only be described as gross ineptitude. Because they violated Demandments #1 and #3, I will likely never use them again.

A classic skit from Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show succinctly reflects how I believe Kinko's treated me the few times I used their services.

Drum roll please... Mooney and Bergheim's Ten Demandments are:

Earn my trust... This is about respect, integrity, advocacy, and quality. Forget all the others if you can't master this one.
Inspire me... Craft meaningful emotional connections with your consumers through immersive experiences, motivating messages and relevant philanthropy. Inspirational brands transcend their own products and services become greater than the sum of their parts.
Make it easy... Simplicity, speed and usefulness are the keys to consumer ease. Don't confuse complexity with progress. The best things in life are often the easiest.
Put me in charge... Consumers expect choices and control, particularly from service organizations that can enable self-paced self-service. Put consumers in the driver's seat or they'll peel out of your parking lot without a second thought.
Guide me... Too much white noise, too little context - that's the problem. So filter the chaos with expert advice, education and information. And stand shoulder-to-shoulder with your consumers as they move through the decision-making process and beyond.
24/7... anytime, anywhere access... that's the ticket in this 'round the clock world. 9-5 hours won't cut it for consumers who expect companies to be there for them all the time, no matter the channel.
Get to know me... You can't win consumer loyalty without understanding what consumers want. Listen, learn and study up on their real lives, don't just dive into the data pool, to get to know your consumers in a whole new light.
Exceed my expectations... Even demanding consumers can be wowed, so woo them by over-delivering through uncommon courtesies, surprising services and go-the-extra-mile efforts that show you really care.
Reward me... Treat your consumers like the VIPs they are to you - acknowledge and build their loyalty by rewarding them with points programs, privileged access or other winning ways.
Stay with me... Relationships are built not in a day, but in a lifetime, so stay with your consumers if you want them to stay with you. Deliver on post-purchase promises, stay in touch in meaningful ways, and evolve your brand to meet your consumers' evolving needs over time.

Whether you own all or part of the marketing function, you need to infuse the Ten Demandments into your ongoing marketing efforts. Something as simple as regularly reaching out to your customers with personalized messages using their preferred media and frequency will stand to delight them for years to come.

Technorati Tags: ten demandments,comedy central,chappelle's show

Marketing Management - Servicing Markets of One

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 19:02:00 +0000

To stand out in an economy where it seems like everything is being commoditized, marketers need to build and deploy strategies that embrace markets of one. Sometimes referred to as mass customization or one-to-one marketing, markets of one is the systematic tailoring of messaging as well as products and services to meet the unique needs of individual customers. In the book Markets of One, editors Jim Gilmore and Joe Pine reflect in the introduction, "It's a paradigm shift away from the one-size-fits-all way managers have thought about markets over the past century -- today, every individual customer is a market of one." The convergence of several drivers such as mobility, digital distribution, content consolidation and data mining have primed the pump to fully exploit this concept.

I've seen the effects of this play out in a new venture that I am working on called MyTeamZone -- a private community where teams share all types of information, coordinate activities and easily communicate with one another. Something as simple as sending personalized e-mail invitations to join MyTeamZone that takes invitees to a personalized landing page has resulted in virtually every invitee joining. A sample of a personalized landing page is as follows:

In addition, every day we consider mechanisms that we can employ to understand the unique needs of MyTeamZone members and what we can do to align their user experience with those needs. For example, we are working on technology that steers specific video training content to members based on profile settings, personal interests, past views, etc.

Contrast MyTeamZone with a Holiday wishes email I received from a vendor trying to get my business. Keeping in mind that I've had discussions and exchanged several e-mails with this vendor, without any salutation the e-mail starts, "Thanks for another great year and hopefully this e-mail finds you safe and happy during this holiday season..." I receive countless solicitations for my business. The odds of me using this vendor are pretty slim if he can't even manage to spend a couple of minutes to personalize a Holiday greeting e-mail. The way I look at it is if he won't take a couple of minutes now, how can I expect him to give me the proper time and attention when I might need it most?

Granted the MyTeamZone and vendor Holiday greeting comparison is simplistic. However, I think it speaks volumes to the merits of reaching constituents with personalized information.

A great example of delivering a sophisticated personalized content model is Pandora - a website based on the Music Genome Project. From a song title or artist, Pandora considers some 400 attributes like melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocals and lyrics to build a personalized online radio station resulting in a unique music experience. Users provide direct feedback via a thumbs up or down on individual songs, which Pandora takes into account for future selections.

Pandora's roughly seven million subscribers are testimony to the value inherent in serving up personalized content as musical tastes represent an intimate expression of who you are. However, one significant challenge that Pandora faces is that they rely largely on musicologists to analyze and categorize the music used to shape custom radio stations.

In the not so distant future, I envision Pandora-like functionality aggregated across the spectrum of personal interests and tastes to serve up a plethora of highly personalized content to the device of your choosing.

For those interested, there are several good books that can help you understand, frame and launch strategies that target markets of one, some of which include:

- The Long Tail by Chris Anderson

- Markets of One by Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore

- The Experience Economy by Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore

- Customer.com by Patricia Seybold

For marketing pros, spend the time and effort required to understand what is available to enable you to personalize content, products and services for your consumers. The more you understand your consumer's needs and deliver personalized content based on expressed interests or behavior, the more likely your product or service will be embraced.

markets of one,mass customization,one-to-one marketing,myteamzone,pandora

Brand Management - Did Pavlov Break the Brand Code?

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 05:55:00 +0000

I read an interesting article in Fast Company titled, Just Say No. In the article, author Rob Walker suggests that, like brand loyalty, brand managers need to contemplate and understand brand bigotry. He states, "Marketers pay a lot of attention to brand loyalty and cultdom and devotion. But what about its opposite number -- the brands you simply refuse to consider consuming?"

I contend that brand bigotry is, in most cases, tied to good, old-fashioned Pavlovian Behavior Modification or -- by today's vernacular -- user experience. Although I don't have any empirical data at my fingertips to support my premise, I do have several life experiences that suggest conditioning as the key to my brand bigotry.

The couple of times that I have purchased Nike sneakers the heel did not fit right. Each time I ended up abandoning the shoe long before it wore out because of the ill-fitting heel. Contrast that with my experience with athletic footwear from Converse and Adidas. In both cases the footwear fit fine and was a quality product resulting in favorable brand association. So, when I go out to buy my next pair of sneakers, it's not worth the $100 or so to try Nike again. Yes, I'm a Nike brand bigot.

Contrast that with hockey skates. In the past ten years I have purchased three pairs of CCM hockey skates (one roller and two ice). I am getting ready to buy a new pair for ice hockey. I have no doubt that I will purchase CCM again, because, at $300 a pair, it's too risky to try Bauer/Nike, Mission, or any other skate manufacturer. Yes, I'm a brand bigot of any brand other than CCM.

For automobiles, I have owned GM cars and rented countless others. With those that I owned and rented, I was amazed at how poor the quality was and how it appeared to me that making the driver comfortable was an afterthought. To that end, I recall a WSJ article back in the late '80s that described in detail how Ford was making great strides on the quality front and Chrysler was taking the lead in innovative design. At the very end of this lengthy article, the author stated something like: "You all must be wondering about GM. Well, GM's motto is no more ugly cars." That about sums up my experience and impression of GM's brand. I've even gotten to the point where I will look for rental agencies that feature non-GM cars. Yes, I'm a GM brand bigot.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. My brand bigotry stems from direct experience (i.e., conditioning) with specific brands.

Like brand loyalty, brand managers need to understand what tools are available to help them measure and grapple with brand bigotry. This is where the community and interactive nature of Web 2.0 can have a huge impact. By employing contemporary mechanisms that reach out to consumers, bigots and loyalists alike, brand managers can formulate strategies that are able to sustain loyalty while converting bigots. For example, if I were to see compelling evidence in blogs from people I trust and have a lot in common with, I'm fairly certain that my bigotry could be swayed.

brand management,brand bigotry,fast company

Promotion - Pioneer Scores an F for Their Latest TV Spot

noreply@blogger.com (Gary Davis) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 17:46:00 +0000

So I'm watching my Cowboy's nail-biting win against the Buffalo Bills with my daughter on Monday Night Football when a commercial starts with what can only be described as a series of mouth/teeth transitions that culminate in a mouth encompassing the iris of an eye. In the final 1-2 seconds of the ad you see the Pioneer name with a flat-panel television. I thought to myself, "What an odd ad." My daughter even commented how strange it was. She went as far as asking, without my prompting, if I was going to blog about it. To give you an idea of how removed the brand was from the ad, until I had a chance to research the spot I thought it was a Panasonic ad because all I caught was that it was from a company whose first letter was a P.

Here is the ad to give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

What is Pioneer thinking? First of all, you would think that ever since the Infinity automobile launch debacle where you never saw the car in the TV ad that agencies/companies would be sure to build a strong link between their product and the audience. Second, I'm sure they spent a mint producing the ad. In addition, the last time I checked on what it cost to run a 30 second national spot on ESPN MNF it was in the $200K neighborhood. With that kind of money at risk, you would think they would have fully vetted the piece before taking it national.

I find it equally ironic that Pioneer, and Panasonic for that matter, compete in a highly commoditized market when it comes to consumer products like televisions and stereos. However, when poking around both websites to see if I could locate the TV ad, I was amazed at how removed both sites were from anything Web 2.0-centric. It's almost like they don't understand the value of directly engaging consumers in a meaningful way or the social aspects inherent in today's web user.

I love great creative as much as anyone, but if Pioneer is striving for brand loyalty with consumers they need to ensure that their ads build a strong correlation between the two. They must also fully embrace Web 2.0 as part of their strategic marketing efforts.

Pioneer, Panasonic,Monday Night Football,ESPN,Web 2.0