Tom Martin: Positive Disruption

Three for Thursday - December 24

2009-12-24T07:42:00-06:00

Merry Christmas Eve folks!

Today I've pulled together three cool ideas... but in most cases they are things I've covered before in one shape or form. None-the-less, all three offer cool, interesting ideas to marketers.

As always, love to hear what y'all think of these ideas, this series or even better, tell us all about the cool things you're finding.

Low Cost Short Code Campaigns
Reactee lets you create t-shirts with a custom question on them. Now that in and of itself isn't all that cool but what makes Reactee's shirts different is that they talk back. The shirts tell others to send a unique short code of your choosing to 41411 and within seconds a custom message is texted back to them. Yes, you also control the message. I created one to help promote my NolaDeals idea. You can see the shirt here. The shirt costs $20 a piece but that is a bargain when you think about it because once you have the short code, you can put it on anything. So I can create business cards, signs, stickers, even ads that say, "This [insert medium here] is worth $1,000. Text NolaDeals to 41411 to find out why." and presto, instant Short Code Campaign... for a mere $20. Best of all, the site tracks in-bound requests for the short code so you even get a rudimentary metric dashboard to see if you're getting traction.

Micro-Content Destination Sites
For the last few years I've become more and more convinced that the future of marketing/branding lies in brand supported Micro-Content that is hyper-syndicated across user chosen channels. This approach will lead to deeper consumer-brand conversations vs just more advertising campaigns. But as of today, I don't know that I've seen a lot of these campfire conversations done right (IMHO). Enter ShoeTube. ShoeTube is just what you think it is... a YouTube for shoe lovers. All video, all shoes, all the time. I don't think they are 100% there yet, but getting might close. If I was a shoe company targeting females, or a shoe store, I'd be looking over at this site and trying to find a way to partner. Just saying.

Anti-Sale Marketing
% off sales are retailer crack. Things start slowing down and rather than attack the underlying root problem, retailers resort to sales to drive customers into the store. The problem is that consumers have gotten wise and now the fear of paying more today versus less at some point in the near future when the product goes on sale actually incentivizes some consumers to postpone purchases. Gap Canada is testing an interesting program to help encourage consumers to buy when they want/need vs waiting for sales. With their Sprize program, customers sign up and then their purchases are tracked. If the price on anything they buy drops within 45 days of purchase, the customer receives a credit good towards future purchases at the Gap. Interesting because it gives the customer an excuse not to wait because they are "protected" and Gap wins because the "savings" they give back to the customer can only be spent at the Gap versus just discounting a product and maybe the customer spends their savings with you and maybe they don't. A really smart program I think... wonder if it will ever come to the consumer electronics world? Wouldn't that be grand!

Well that's all for this edition of Three for Thursday folks. Have a safe, happy and merry Christmas. And remember, if you see something cool that we should share with everyone here -- send it to me!!!

I Was Wrong.

2009-12-23T07:48:00-06:00

Have you ever said this... and meant it... in a business environment?

Liberating... isn't it.

As we come to the end of another crazy year and you begin planning for next year, ask yourself if maybe you were wrong about a thing or two. And if you were, go ahead, tell your team, your client or maybe even yourself that maybe you got it wrong and a new thought process, approach, etc is warranted.

I fear that too often companies are slow to change because folks are afraid to admit they were just plain wrong or maybe largely wrong. So instead of just saying it, pulling out a clean slate and figuring out where we'll go from here... they make a series of small, incremental changes. They spend a year or more "tweaking" or "perfecting" their plan...which is really just corporate speak for fixing a broken program.

It's hard to do, especially for those of us with strong egos, but I think you'll find that the liberation and permission it creates to make a 90 degree turn versus the more common slow, gradual change over time will lead to better decisions and better results. I know I did.

So this holiday season, think about giving your brand the most important gift in the world -- better strategy. Take a hard look in the strategic mirror and if anything looks a bit ruffled, attack it and fix it until the picture staring back is one of pure beauty.

photo by Bob.Fornal

Want to get hired? Be Special.

2009-12-22T11:27:01-06:00

It's the end of the school semester and a lot of college graduates are looking for jobs in a really tough market. So I thought I'd share a few thoughts on what might give them an edge.

Three for Thursday - December 17

2009-12-17T07:53:00-06:00

For those of you new to this series... Three For Thursday is where I share three ideas, links, or marketing things that I just think are smart or something we as marketers ought to be paying attention to today. My hope is that you find value in being exposed to the ideas and more importantly, that you'll return the favor and share a few things you found this week via the comments. So here we go.

Painless Donations
If you're a non-profit, I'm guessing 2009 has been a tough year in the fundraising department. Now, this first idea is a Zehnder Communications creation (for those that are new here, those are the folks that are kind enough to pay me twice a month) and it's an outgrowth of the very successful CampaignForYourCause that we created after Katrina. But the reason I'm including it here today is because I love the simplicity. Dining out makes my life (oh who am I kidding it makes my wife's life) easier. My kids love it because it is different. So if our kids' school hooks up with Burger King in New Orleans, schedules a Benefit night and promotes it, everyone wins. Burger King gets a bit of business on a night they might otherwise be slow, my wife gets a night off from the kitchen and the school gets a bit of money. It's a simple solution to a nagging problem in the QSR industry -- how to squeeze more revenue out of very large, fixed capital expenditures like rent or building costs and a nagging problem in the non-profit world -- how do we raise more money?

Local Deal Sites
This week I found Groupon. They don't have New Orleans yet, but I'm seeing more and more folks playing with this model. You may remember that last summer we played with a similar model at Zehnder when we launched NolaDeals. My hope is that one day we'll find the time to take another stab at that one or that an enterprising person will want to partner with us to launch it again, but in the meantime, sites like Groupon, Woot, Yipit and others are leveraging the power of the Internet to push deals to consumers. The internet brings pricing transparency to every category it touches. But what's interesting about these sites is that they aren't just giving deals -- instead they are letting companies trade volume for discounts. And that is very interesting from a marketing perspective isn't it?

Postcards by Brands
I'm a big fan of GoPostal, I've even blogged about how it's a great tool to use at tradeshows and conferences as a follow up tool that breaks through the clutter. But it costs $1.29 per postcard. So I was really intrigued this week when I found Hippopost. With Hippopost, you can send two free postcards per day for free. The catch is that a brand will sponsor your postcard, so you'll have a little something extra on the card. That's kind of a bummer but I couldn't help but think about how I wanted all my tourism clients to take a hard look at this product. What a wonderful "day after" marketing concept. I haven't talked to the company yet (I just found them yesterday) but I can assure I will be... just too easy of a marketing opp to pass up I think.

That's it for now. Do you have anything interesting that you've found and you'd care to share? Come on, it won't hurt and guess what... you'll likely help a fellow reader discover something that will positively disrupt their thinking... not bad way to pass the day eh???

How Do I Leverage Facebook/Twitter/YouTube/Flickr etc?

2009-12-16T07:52:00-06:00

If I had a nickle for every time I've been asked this question when talking to a client or more often a prospect, well I could easily afford to keep writing this blog more often ;-)

But what I really think is important about this question is that the answer given is what really separates the wheat from the chafe in Social Media Experts or Consultant or whatever the name of the day is today.

You see, I think almost anyone, even the carpetbaggers out there, can learn the platforms. The ins and outs, and speak quite eloquently about how to use the platform. They can all read the same books, slideshare powerpoints and blog posts. But I'm thinking the real winners, the ones who will continue to elevate the social media, digital or even the conversational marketing game will be the creative ones. Those folks that can take that question and truly impress you with the answer. Because when you're trying to decide what to look for in your social media expert, creative execution at the platform level is really important IMHO.

So, to all you brands out there looking for your social media expert -- if you really want to figure out if the so called social media expert sitting across the table from you is truly a social media expert, ask them how they'd leverage Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr or any other platform to grow your brand or your business.

Then sit back and truly listen to the answer. If it is creative -- something that makes you go "ooooohhh" and immediately begin frantically taking notes... hire them. If it sounds like some politician trying to dance around a tough reporter question.. thank them for their time and send them on their way.

That's my two cents on the topic. What about y'all? If you were a brand looking to hire a social media expert, what would you look for? What questions would you ask? What answers would you expect?

Creating a Self Propelled Brand

2009-12-15T07:48:00-06:00

Apple. Honda. Whole Foods. Southwest Airlines.

What do they all have in common? People talk about them without being asked to do so and during the course of normal conversations. These brands have become self-propelled. Consumers have become one of their most important media buys.

Does this mean that these companies can stop their advertising? Can they disband those PR groups and maybe coast on the social media front? No, no and no.

Because excellence in each of those areas coupled with incredible customer experience is what is propelling their brands. Apple is famous for creating so much anticipation and speculation around every product launch. Whole Foods continues to lead the way in grocery (if you can even call them that) innovation and experience. Honda and Southwest routinely use smart advertising to keep their fans engaged and ensure they have a significant share of mind.

Maybe because it's the holidays and a lot of folks are about to spend a lot of time at Christmas parties, family events and office parties talking to lots of other folks, I'm thinking a lot about self propelled brands. I've given a couple of simple examples above but really, how does a brand become self propelled? It seems to me this would be nirvana for any company-- becoming a self propelled brand. But what companies have succeeded and more importantly, I'm wondering if there are any examples of companies that have tried and failed? Those would be great case studies of learning.

So I guess this post is really more of an invitation to you to participate via the comments in what I think is going to become a more important conversation in 2010 and beyond. So, what'cha got people?

Three For Thursday - December 10

2009-12-10T07:04:00-06:00

Google Goggles are incredible. They basically wash you in data with almost no effort from you the consumer. Just think if you had this on your phone when you're in a foreign city or just exploring your own.

Here is a cool tool to make my life easier. For those Saints playoff games tailgates we'll have to fund, I'm planning to use ChipIn so that all my friends can just charge their portion of the tailgate. No checks to deposit, everyone gets a paper trial and I just move the money once -- from my Paypal to my Bank Account.The widget can be put on any web page, takes all of 2 minutes to set up and is a wonderful tool for non-profits to utilize for fundraising drives.

And another great fundraising find is DoGiggy. These guys have a cool central mission and goal at DoJiggy®.They want to provide non-profit and community organizations the most advanced web-based nonprofit software necessary to manage and improve online fundraising and event management at the most cost effective price points possible. No excessive transaction fees, technical support fees, set-up fees or costly add-ons. Just simple, effective, easy to use fundraising software.I've used their stuff for a non-profit golf tourney and it really did make life much eaiser.

So go forth and play. Then report your thoughts back here. And if you find anything you think I'd like to write up here, please let me know. Thanks!

What Santa Claus Taught Me About Branding

2009-12-09T14:13:46-06:00

This morning my 2 year old wanted me to “read daddy, read.”

He handed me one of his favorite books (cover picture to the left) and as I was leaving for yet another trip, I welcomed the opportunity to spend a few minutes with him before I left for the airport.

I took the book and began to read. As I hit the second page, there was a passage and picture of Noah’s arc. At the top of the arc was Noah (seen in the center of the book cover on the left) and without prompting my son remarked, “Santa Claus.”

I thought maybe a commercial had appeared on the TV or something but in fact one had not.

I asked him where he saw Santa Claus and sure enough, he pointed to Noah. It took me a minute but then I got it. Noah has a big white beard. Just like Santa Claus.

So while Santa Claus may be synonymous with red coats, Ho Ho Ho and chimneys, we cannot forget that even the smallest, often overlooked detail of a brand’s visual image (or sound and smell for that reason) can become the primary reminder of the brand.

Yet another important reminder from one who is far more observant than me.

You Can't Buy Customers. You Have To Earn Them.

2009-12-08T07:42:00-06:00

Warning: this is an unfinished post. A thought I'm still thinking through and I'm hoping you can help me frame it.

Last night on a plane ride home from Chicago, I was reading Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone, by Mitch Joel (amazon link) and he ended one of his chapters with "You can't by community. You have to earn it." He's right with respect to community and I think in today's world, he'd be right with respect to customers too - hence the title of today's post.

As I look around it seems to me that consumers are getting increasingly fed up with poor products and poor service. They're no longer willing to accept substandard as acceptable. And they're taking steps to remove the substandard from their lives.

Why?

Maybe because it seems like today any great idea or service can be copied in days not months or years. And a good idea can be morphed and improved upon even quicker. With how easy information flows over the internet consumers are more quickly made aware of new options.

And it seems to me that today poor products and services fail faster. It used to be that it was hard for an upset consumer to share their story with more than a handful of friends/family/co-workers. Therefore, they had to be really upset or have a real bone to pick with a company before they'd invest the time necessary to give a company pause. But with today's social media networks, any consumer (not just social media experts) can tell the world about a substandard experience. And best of all, the world will listen. And then tell their friends.

No, I'm thinking the days of being able to just carpet bomb the consumer into believing that yours was the best or maybe only real solution are over. Sure there are other tricks to buy consumers. Just look at the wireless phone service space. Want an iPhone? You're stuck with AT&T, whether you like it or not. But even there, I think you'll one day see change that will mean wireless phone service companies will have to earn their customers loyalty each and every day -- just like the rest of us.

Anyone see this from another angle? A counter point or maybe something to add a bit more depth to this thought. Would love to hear.

Three for Thursday - December 3

2009-12-03T07:46:00-06:00

It's been a good week for cool things as a lot of them have found their way to my in-box. Maybe it was luck, or maybe it's because my newest Social Media client is a local restaurant group, but all of these ideas are ones that local businesses can use to drive more revenue.

Local Twitter Monitoring Tool
Mack Collier pointed me to Monitter. It's a web based, geo-targeted Twitter search tool that makes it really easy to search for keywords people are tweeting within a certain geographic area. He's got a great write up of the tool, so rather than blather on and repeat what he said, do yourself a favor and pop over to his post to read all about it. If you're a local business or a big company that sells at the local level, this is a pretty cool tool that could easily help you make more money.

Local Direct Mail is Alive
About a year or so ago I stumbled across Matter and signed up to see what it was all about. It was very cool. The idea was, you signed up, gave them a bit of information about you and then they sent you a box of matter -- real things from real companies. I really liked the idea, especially as it applies to local companies that rely on consumers within a specific geographic zone for business. Sort of a Valpak on steroids. The problem -- it was a UK only effort, still can't believe they sent me a box across the pond. But I figured it was only a matter (pun intended) of time before the idea showed up here in the USA. Seems someone at UPS must either be reading this blog ;-) or they too saw the Springwise post because now UPS is testing something similar with their Direct-to-Door service. The service delivers a small, custom-designed UPS Direct to Door Pak to consumers in select ZIP codes who were already receiving another package via UPS. Inside the package are samples from companies.

This is an interesting twist on the Matter model. Because UPS is already going to these homes and the Paks are not addressed to anyone, the carry cost is pretty light. On the downside, the brands don't really know who is getting their samples, but the do know what zip code and address got Paks, so for the local restaurant that wants to send a sample of a signature cookie or maybe a promotional item to folks that live within 5 miles of their store -- this works great. Personally, to make the idea really powerful, I think there needs to be more demographic targeting involved, but it's a great and interesting first step by UPS.

Mobile Payments
We live in an increasingly cashless world -- it's all plastic these days. So I've been really interested in the mobile credit card processing arena. While it isn't hard for companies to set up merchant accounts and get swipe machines, it is hard for local artists, non-profit groups (think your local PTA) to do the same. More importantly, when you look at the pop-up store trend, especially now at holidays, the ability to set up a "store" anywhere with little to no lead time or infrastructure (think mobile cart set up in a parking lot of a major mall for instance) is very hard in a cashless world unless you can somehow process payments via a mobile device. There have been other apps like the ProcessAway, which I think it only works on iPhones, but these apps require you to manually enter the credit card number. This takes time and is bound to result in mistyping and frustration. Enter Square. There are two things I really like about Square. First, it uses a card swipe reader that attaches to the 3.5 mic input jack that all phones have. This means no typing and if you process a credit card as a swipe vs typing in the numbers you usually get a better processing rate. Second, and as a consumer I love this one, I can register with Square and they'll affix my photo to my credit card. So when the business swipes my card, a visual confirmation screen appears, which pretty much ensures zero fraud -- which I have to think will prompt Visa, Mastercard, etc to give Square users a better processing rate due to lower fraud.

To me this kind of an app is a game changer. Now the local restaurant that wants to create some buzz can set up the equivalent of a lemonade stand and sell samples or take-out plates anywhere, anytime. So imagine you're at that local strip center of great shops this Christmas. You know the one that has not a single restaurant in it? You're starving but there are more discounts to be had. Out of the corner of your eye, you spy a small food cart from a restaurant you've heard about but never tried. You walk up and are informed it is in fact from that restaurant and today they've been invited by the strip center to serve light shopper friendly lunches. For just $5.00 USD you can choose from one of three hand held lunches. You of course are thrilled as the food looks great and you're starving so you buy two (of course you're shopping with a friend) lunches a soda and with tax you owe $12.50. You hand the vendor your credit card, he processes using Square and presto, the restaurant made a few bucks, exposed you to their food (which you love by the way) and the strip center just figured out how to add a virtually unlimited number of restaurants to their center even though they are 100% leased. Pretty cool eh?

So that's it for this Thursday's edition of Three for Thursday. What'cha think? Good stuff? Oh, and don't forget, if you see anything you think I'd like to cover here, be sure to email it to me. The link to my email is under my picture on the sidebar. And if you liked this Three for Thursday, there is an easy way to ensure you get each and every edition -- subscribe via RSS or eMail using the handy dandy links at the top of this blog. See ya next week.