The Message Electric

Sometimes the past isn't behind you...and sometimes that's a good thing.

2011-02-10T16:24:00.000-08:00

The Green Bay Packers are the "home team" where I come from. As you might imagine, I'm relatively pleased by recent events. The Packers won the Super Bowl...their 13th Championship in franchise history-the most in the NFL...the Chicago Bears are in second place with 9, and it drops off significantly after that.

Now...I'm not much of a sports "fan" in any traditional sense. I don't follow Wisconsin's other sports teams very closely, the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA, or MLB's Milwaukee Brewers...

(though the Football Badgers of the University of Wisconsin are of recent interest lately as their soon-to-be-famous Center, Peter Konz is a former next-door neighbor...I can say I knew him when...he weighed about a third of what he does now. He's as fine a person as a player, and that's what we like around these parts...)

However, the Green Bay Packers are a different story...in fact their story goes far beyond the recent memory of sports fans who will forever associate uber-Quarterback Brett Favre with Green Bay after his 17 seasons playing for

the Packers. In fact, if Aaron Rodgers (who has been the starting QB for Green Bay for three seasons now) stays healthy, he very well could eclipse Favre's performance records if the way he's starting is any indication...and then the intriguing story will be how in the world the NFL team in the smallest market in the league put two QB's with this kind of talent back-to-back.

However, as much as the sports media likes to keep re-hashing the Quarterback questions in Green Bay (though frankly Rodgers answered any questions I had long ago...), the story of the Green Bay Packers and the reason for their global fan-base goes far beyond any two players...or any ten players.

After a friend who I work with in Boston had watched the Super Bowl and we had communicated several times during and after the game, he found a segment from Rachel Maddox' show on MSNBC. Now...this isn't a political conversation, and my friend doesn't really have a taste for MSNBC's commentators anyway... so don't stop reading just yet. She gives a pretty decent thumbnail of what the Packers are about and where they came from...

The Packers have a history. When I watch the players move back to the locker rooms after practice during training camp and I

watch all the school children gather to walk with the players, and to offer the players their bikes to ride back to the locker room as they walk along side...those kids are just beaming with pride, and the players seem to think the kid is more important than any sense of their personal image as they sometimes ride bikes intended for human sizes...and genders that create some interesting combinations.

You might note Punter Tim Masthay riding the stylish little pink number in the left most of the four panels and Donald Driver riding a much littler...little number on the right.

(Four panel image courtesy of The Packer Page, Overhead Image courtesy of the blog Trigg Pack...thank you Mike)

Find me another franchise where parents would even allow their elementary school age children to go hang around an NFL facility with NFL players without supervision... Certainly other teams have good people playing for them, but seeing this kind of mass of NFL players getting on children's bicycles and riding them, however awkwardly, knowing that photos are being taken constantly? (Some of course are just too big of course...a player like Chad Clifton might walk with a particular child and chat on the way vs simply crushing their bicycle by attempting to ride it...)

These players jump into the stands because they know how their fans feel about them, win or lose. It's not based on their performance, it's based on who they are.

It's an interesting notion really. In our world of results and execution, efficiency and focus, how many of your customers like WHO you are as well as WHAT you sell? There will be times when you encounter a situation that reduces your performance for any particular customer on any given day...is your relationship with your customers based on what you've done for them lately?

I have several clients I do business with that I simply take pride in being associated with...a construction company that diverted incredible resources to the site of a domestic terror bombing attack...and were able to do so because their customers understood them, liked who they are as a company, and any resulting delays on their construction projects were acceptable as they would expect this construction company to do nothing less than what it did, facing the circumstances at hand.

I try to prove myself to my clients by advising them as to what is in their best interests, even when it may mean changing a project so less revenue comes to me. It's a long term/short term thing. In the short term I can cash the check from a project where the work I did was substantial...in the long term, if the client would have solved their problem more effectively with an approach that cost less, or doesn't involve me at all in some cases, then the solution I provided may under perform in some way. At worst I lose the client and at best, I lose credibility the next time I need to advise the client to do something that they may not agree with, but that I think will serve them best. It's not about being "Pollyanna-ish", it's about what sort of customer relationships you want to have.

In this period of no-nonsense cost-effectiveness and austerity, you might consider what sort of history you have...perhaps it's the story of who you are and maybe it should be told.

Maybe the fact that the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl after an entire season where their ranks were decimated by injuries and that they even "snuck" into the playoffs with a very mediocre record and a must-win game on the last weekend of the regular season and were considered underdogs almost universally throughout the playoffs isn't what makes them a success with their market...their fan base. Maybe it's that so many of them come to the smallest market in the NFL and play outdoors (Lambeau Field is almost famously NOT a dome) in a cold-weather state and play for a team that can't be sold or moved...maybe it's that they confidently jump into the stands with their fans who fill the seats of that outdoor stadium whether it's 80 degrees or 8 below zero...maybe it's bigger than the players OR the fans alone... Maybe it's the relationship built between them.

Maybe who you are is as important as the number you write with that "sharpened pencil" we all have to resort to these days. And maybe, even if you miss out on some of that work where how sharp the pencil was is the sole criteria...maybe you start some new relationships that will be much longer-term because you can show that you have a soul.

Maybe we can all be lucky enough to have customers who support us in ways beyond paying our invoices...but we need to offer them something beyond invoices first.

TimK

I want the speed of thought...but no faster than that please.

2011-01-27T21:36:00.000-08:00

Let me start by saying that I am a Green Bay Packer fan. Not one that has shown up to get on the bandwagon, but one from birth by virtue of my Wisconsin roots.

So...when I say that I wish to step in and speak up for a Chicago Bear, you know that an injustice that cuts to the very root of our society has obviously occurred.

By now, if you have any interest in football at all, you've probably gotten wind of at least some portion of the Jay Cutler "Is he tough enough?" controversy. Cutler was hit in the leg and left the NFC Championship game against the Bear's mortal enemy Green Bay Packers and the speculation regarding the possible alternative reasons for his departure while all his limbs remained visibly attached and all his blood and vital organs still inside his skin, started before he was all the way to the sideline.

Am I a fan of Jay Cutler's? Well...I wasn't...he's a Chicago Bear for crying out loud.

However, I am a staunch supporter of the underdog...and this guy has been skewered by his peers, pundits, and fans for leaving a football game with what turned out to be a torn MCL (Medial Collateral Ligament). The Chicago Bear center actually said he observed how unstable Cutler's knee was when he was walking to the huddle during the one offensive possession he attempted in the second half of the game.

Twitter was alive with thoughtful input from professional NFL players almost immediately. Among the players (who's season had ended as only the top four teams were playing last weekend...everyone else was done or eliminated) offering opinions was Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman, Darnell Dockett, who postulated that Cutler better wait until he's showered, dressed and gone before he comes in the locker room after that game if he (Dockett) was on Cutler's team that day. Classy. Was he implying he would have somehow physically harmed Cutler?

Bears "fans" burned Cutler's jersey outside the stadium. Also classy.

Twitter was buzzing and most of the harshest and most arbitrary comments came from fellow NFL players. One ex-player who has been known for his constant, if not always insightful oration even during his playing career, Deion Sanders now has a platform on the NFL network. He's been using it to profess how he and others have played injured in important (and unimportant) games and how Jay Cutler "appears" to have "tapped out".

How "tough" is Jay Cutler? He has missed one game since becoming a starter in Denver his rookie year...and after playing the 2007 season and losing nearly 30 pounds with it undiagnosed, he discovered that he had type 1 diabetes which he's played with ever since. As John Madden points out, "...(that's) every day for 24 hours.

Zack Follett of the Detroit Lions can say that he's glad he has Matt Stafford as a quarterback over Jay Cutler...but then Stafford was out most of the season and Detroit retired at the end of the regular season again this year (in last place in the NFC North) while the Bears won the North Division and went on to play for the NFC Championship with Cutler at the helm.

Michael David Smith at NBC Sports Pro Football Talk writes of another journalist's interaction with Cutler in the locker room after the game when he turned away and bit his lip and had his eyes get a little glossy when he was told of the helpful feedback of his fellow NFL players... He notes that "Cutler has a long way to go to rebuild his reputation. And crying in the locker room isn't the way to do that."

I guess Twitter isn't the only thing that runs faster than our own intellect...blogging has become a bit hasty too.

Cutler's been sacked 138 times in his career and kept coming back...this year to the NFC Championships...gets injured...and a tear wells up not for any of that, but because his own have turned on him. How tough do you have to be to just "shake off" what must feel like betrayal?

The title of the post says it...we've reached the point where we communicate faster than we think, and instead of it being limited to personal contact with our spouse, we can now just add Twitter and prove to large portions of the global population that we're a buffoon in seconds. In the case of professional football players past and present, this opportunity is apparently too tempting to pass up. The instant availability of images and information we have created keeps us connected to world events like never before. The capabilities of smart phones and fast internet links means we can now respond even before the event in question has made it past our reptilian brain...and we respond before we even consider what we don't know. Human beings are far better at developing the technical systems to react faster than we are at developing the skills to react wisely.

Bottom line? Just because you now have the ability to share the first thing that comes into your head with the world doesn't mean that you should.

As a fan, I was hoping Jay Cutler would be on the losing side of the NFC Championship game...not of a ridiculous armchair trial of his peers.

TimK

2010...Moving, teaching, but not blogging

2010-11-27T10:55:00.000-08:00

With my business relocating, my Adobe training really becoming heavy with the release of CS5, and various other distractions, tME has been getting neglected I'm afraid.

As I head into 2011, I am refocusing on my blogs and writing in general...so the Message Electric will once again, have some new messages...

Stay tuned.

In the meantime, take a look at one of my favorite web sites, TED.com

Chris Anderson talks about video on the web is powering world innovation...

TimK

Bucking Society's Stereotypes in Your Message: Part 2/Case 1

2010-01-10T17:25:00.000-08:00

Last week I started a conversation about using society's stereotypes in messaging.

Dictionary.com defines the term "stereotype" as: A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image.

I would add to the end: "...that is recognizable (if not truly believed) by a very large portion of society"

Working with that basic meaning, you can appreciate that stereotypes are typically inaccurate, demeaning, divisive, unproductive, even cruel...and a real time saver when you are communicating with maximum efficiency.

In the first post on this topic, I outlined 5 cases that allow the discussion some context.

Case 1 refers to using the impression of being "green" that many companies use in their promotion.

Stereotype summary:

Typically Applied to:
Company itself (the marketer)

Typical Direct Effect on Product Quality/Features:
None

Perceived Portrayal:
Positive

Receptive Audience:
General, Non-Gender specific, Global

Purpose:
Portray an organization's principles in a way that increases sales through a customer's sense of social responsibility and philosophical kinship as an augmentation (or sometimes even a replacement) for making the case on a product's merits alone.

Certainly, the idea of being environmentally responsible is laudable and worthwhile (as I've said, I have no intention of starting a climate change discussion...virtually anyone can likely agree that belching smoke into the air or dumping garbage in the river is a bad idea).

Many customers weigh ecological responsibility heavily in their buying decisions. National (USA) television commercials have aired for Subaru featuring the ecology of their US-based manufacturing plant and one oil company featured employees who are assigned to researching alternate non-fossil fuels, and Frito Lay has a rather high-profile solar panel to power a particular Sun Chips billboard...messages asking the customer or investor to patronize or support organizations as much on their principles as their product.

While this discussion really isn't designed to endorse or debunk these uses of a stereotypical association, any stereotype can be misleading of course.

Subaru's claim was that their plant in Lafayette, Indiana had achieved 'Zero Landfill Status'. The first automotive plant on the planet to do so...a claim both substantial and verified by several independent sources. The effect on the product really isn't direct...I suspect you can manufacturer low quality cars with zero landfill contribution. However, Subaru's self-proclaimed market tends to be sporty, outdoor active people who have use for the utility of Subaru's four-wheel drive wagons and sport utility vehicles as a part of their lifestyle. Taking care of the environment makes a logical parallel and likely speaks to this market effectively.

The ExxonMobil environment/ecology message has some context that make it different. First, most consumers have been oscillating through cycles of indifference and frustration with the prices of gasoline and heating oil as well as several high profile ecological disasters over the past few decades, and recent reporting period mega-profits from several of the world's largest petroleum companies (of which ExxonMobil is the largest) haven't helped the public image of these businesses.

Unlike the Subaru message, ExxonMobil's television message (link here to the ad campaign) is light on details that would demonstrate quantitative proof of the ecological commitment of the company, which remains a frequent target of criticism from environmental advocate groups to this day.

Frito-Lay has taken the ecological corporate citizen role and linked it very closely to one of their products...Sun Chips

One of the more high-profile manifestations of this commitment is a solar-powered billboard to advertise their featured product. Even their irony is apparently...delicious. With the current attention to the declining nutritional state of the US population's diet, Frito-Lay has diverted conversation away from nutrition to the environment.

Are these stereotypes harmful? Misleading? Inaccurate? Those are discussions for other blogs.

In the context of how effective the stereotype of the "green" corporate citizen message is in the United States, we can look to a survey released in late 2008 done by The Climate Group. While consumer trends seem to indicate an increasing concern for environmental corporate citizenship, 65% of Americans surveyed could not name one brand they believed was taking a leadership position on "tackling climate change." It has to be frustrating to tell people what they want to hear while they apparently, aren't listening.

Subjective Summary:

In theory, presenting your business as a "green" company concerned with the planet's ecology should elevate public opinion of your business and it's role as a corporate citizen. Whether accurate or not, vague or specific, it appears that utilizing this particular stereotype to position your company's public image to the general population appears, at least anecdotally, to be an uphill battle.

TimK

Junta 42 2010 Predictions Now in eBook Form

2010-01-06T08:56:00.001-08:00

It wasn't enough for Joe Pulizzi to commit our predictions to potentially embarrassing posterity on his blog... Now Zmags.com has created an eBook for those of you who would like to take them with you.

Check it out here.

TimK

Bucking Society's Stereotypes in Your Message: Part One

2010-01-04T07:31:00.000-08:00

When it comes to persuasive communication, there are often tough choices to be made.

Often some of the most effective communication and design utilizes cultural trends and norms to help convey the message.

You might consider the "green" undertones in more and more corporate messaging and marketing activities as various cultures become more aware of the consequences of resource depletion around the world.

...or you could focus on some of American society's less lofty stereotypes such as the sophistication level of football fans portrayed on mainstream beer advertisements during nationally televised (U.S.) football games.

Case 1: The green message takes a page from some of the world's more redeeming personal values, and is a topic of conversation around the world currently. (I have no interest in starting a climate change debate here...cutting down on pollution and landfill volume is a good goal regardless of the science to which you subscribe)

Case 2: The message which portrays American NFL fans in ways ranging from blindly loyal myopic fanatics to relatively unaware, yet jovial buffoons seems to resonate with the intended audience even though most members of that audience would be offended to be assessed this way in almost any other social situation.

Sometimes the effectiveness of thes strategies are puzzling.

In my career, I've both ridden societal stereotypes and bucked them.

Case 3: I had a Taiwanese software firm as a client some years ago and they had a challenging message. they made a sophisticated product that made a complex task easy. They made a video editing and DVD authoring package that could be used by non-professionals in that area. Basically the intended message was that you could edit video and author a DVD without being highly trained in either area. The challenge was that this message had to travel internationally cross-culture.

Case 4: I also have a law firm client who advertises to garner personal injury cases. I happen to know this group and I know that they buck society's "ambulance-chaser" stereotypes about PI lawyers. They're the real deal...professional, concerned, and they take their profession and their client's cases seriously. So how do I reach their audience as effectively as possible, yet stay counter to society's impressions of personal injury attorneys, and even to the superficial messages of competing law firms that simply feed those impressions?

Case 5: And...most recently I started working with a client who is in high technology retail who has been in business with their current brand since the 70's. That was when their logo was designed as well. It was extremely contemporary at the moment of design, taking advantage of and paying homage to the visual design trends of the 1970s, but it was so "in the moment" that now, even people who weren't born until the 80s see it and think it reminds them of shag carpeting and the "Keep On Truckin" thumbs-up/foot-forward guy... This client's brand is well known as it's been relatively stable since the 70s, so how do you break free of the design to advance the image of the company (the logo said "high tech" in 1974...) and update without scuttling 40 years of established brand strength?

If the intent is to buck the stereotype, the challenge is how to do it while making the messaging as clear as possible when stereotypes used to establish association can save lots of time... Think of handing someone an object and having to tell them that "It's a gift" vs. wrapping it in giftwrap and putting a bow on it. They probably don't receive their mail or their drycleaning in that manner. It's obviously a gift, no verbalization necessary.

Over the next couple weeks, I'll be talking more about these examples...maybe you'll have input as well.

Happy 2010.

TimK

Junta 42's 2010 Predictions

2009-12-15T19:05:00.000-08:00

Outside the temps are below zero, and a foot of snow fell this week...and I have to keep picking up the Kris Kringle door hanging thing-a-ma-bob that my wife annually hangs on our front door during the windiest season of the year...

It can only mean one thing. It's time for next year's predictions.

Junta 42 has some really interesting predictions across the content marketing spectrum...and I even took a swing at one this year. We'll see how I do...

TimK

The Innovator's DNA...from Harvard Business Review

2009-11-26T09:24:00.000-08:00

Innovation is broken down to "Five Discovery Skills" based on research summarized in the December issue of the Harvard Business Review.

Even though the HBR website has a preview of the article, CNN.com let the cat out of the bag by summarizing the conclusion:

1. Associating: The ability to connect seemingly unrelated questions, problems or ideas from different fields.

2. Questioning: Innovators constantly ask questions that challenge the common wisdom. They ask "why?", "why not?" and "what if?"

3. Observing: Discovery-driven executives scrutinize common phenomena, particularly the behavior of potential customers.

4. Experimenting: Innovative entrepreneurs actively try out new ideas by creating prototypes and launching pilots.

5. Networking: innovators go out of their way to meet people with different ideas and perspectives.

How do you fit this description? What skills do you already have that may be suppressed in your current environment?

Also in the same issue of HBR, "How Open Innovation Can Help You Cope in Lean Times".

TimK

...Speaking of Luggage and Condiments: Changing your contract with your customers

2009-11-21T16:58:00.000-08:00

My son and I visited a local (somewhat better than) fast food restaurant. Burgers, fries, sandwiches, all the usual fare available at a somewhat higher quality level than a low end national burger joint.

Some of the menu and pricing has changed a bit since our little economic downturn over the last year. Hamburgers and cheeseburgers are less than a buck one day a week to tempt those who are watching their pennies, of course the soda dispenser bank has moved back behind the counter to prevent them from getting free refills...

I ordered a haddock sandwich and my son ordered a cheeseburger. The cool thing about ordering a sandwich at this restaurant is that they don't finalize the order until you've told them exactly what you want on it. I always order lettuce and tartar sauce on a fish sandwich. There was two differences this time. 1. There was a charge for the lettuce and; 2. There was no lettuce. (The picture in the post is for reference only and is neither the specific sandwich in question, or the configuration.)

Normally I would not have made much notice of such minor deviations in a fast food restaurant, but since they specifically added on a charge for the lettuce, I decided they owed me my shredded leafy vegetable sandwich garnish, and I made a very rare (for me) return to the counter.

If the Invisible is Visible...it's available to trip over.

To the point...how have you changed your deliverables in the recent times? Have you started to charge for services that used to be embedded? Have you started to inventory value-adds that used to be assumed? Are you ready to be held accountable for it? A service furnished without note or invoice is a bonus that is largely liberated from specific expectation, but one specified in the invoice comes with a clear transaction. If it's a line item on the bill, it better be delivered on time and come with a warranty.

What are you delivering to your customers?

Recently I had two trips booked back-to-back. I had a performance automotive client that I was shooting for at a race track in California, and the day after I returned from that trip I was to leave for Boston for a documentary I'm involved with on the other side of the country.

On my return from the California trip, I was delayed in Salt Lake City, stranded in Minneapolis, forced to rent a car and drive home so I could make the plane out the next day...which required I pack a new suitcase with new clothes because the airline had separated me from my luggage... When I arrived at Boston Logan, the new suitcase with the new clothes was nowhere to be found... At one point in late October, Northwest Airlines had all of my clothes and two of my suitcases from two different trips lost simultaneously...after charging me for carrying the bags...something that airlines have all started to do. (...and the first suitcase was finally returned after about four days so damaged that it would no longer close.)

As travelers, is it now time to demand that we get a refund if an airline that will hold a flight on the ground if you miss the plane to get your bag off due to security reasons, seems willing to put you on the same plane without your bag because there are no real consequences?

If you've decided to call out (or invoice for) the invisible to make sure your customer recognizes value, make sure you're ready to recognize the revised expectations that goes along with that recognition.

If you charge for, or even just call out lettuce on my sandwich or luggage in the cargo bay...it's a product...and thus it's a promise.

TimK

Power Point...hints and tips

2009-11-16T17:27:00.000-08:00

PPTAlchemy is a site I recently stumbled on when searching for any reference on making more effective power point presentations.

Lately, I've been exposed yet again to the fact that most people simply don't have much of a feel for using Power Point (or visuals in general) effectively within a presentation. You'll notice I said within the presentation, not to create a presentation.

Power Point should help you to keep some broad points in front of your audience through the use of text, charts, graphs, and visual material. It is not the presentation...if it was, you'd simply email it and not bother showing up in person.

Here are my personal top 5 Power Point presentation tips:

1. DO NOT READ THE SLIDE! Intentionally leave out some information in your presentation slides if you have to so that YOU can add the important details. It simply makes you look like you have nothing else to say and it is tedious. A paragraph of text is not something your audience can remember anyway. Leave behind a brochure with the prose...a PPT slide with a block of prose is utterly ineffective.

2. Less text on more slides. Your audience should really be focusing on your current point anyway...make a slide for each bullet if you have to. And no, the snazzy effects to 'reveal' each bullet on your list of 8 aren't helping your audience focus. A list of 8 points, even with a reveal, needs to stay up while you talk through the whole list. Change slides more often, keep the audience more engaged and keep the focus cued to your current point.

3. Leave the special effects to Hollywood. As tempting as it might be to employ the moving transitions and added effects that Power Point has to offer, text or slides that spin, tumble, or otherwise athletically appears is distracting and it rarely looks as 'high end' as the presenter hopes it does.

4. Have a graphics professional make some formats and backgrounds for you. This is not that hard. You have product photos, you have company logos...have someone who does graphic layout for a living create some dynamic backgrounds and formats that you can use to build your presentation. The use of some really solid graphics and the straight dissolve transition will look far more sophisticated than using every Power Point transition available.

5. Try to keep video clips and audio clips out of your Power Point presentation. Yes...I know...the options are available, but as I said earlier, Power Point doesn't sync audio with slides very well, and playing back video is something that seems to trip up presenters about 50% of the time I see it used. Media players are commonplace these days and switching out to a media player to play back a video clip will ultimately be less awkward than the unpredictable queue time that Power point can require on various systems.

Have any tips?

Microsoft has a list of 1o 'dos' and 'don'ts'. (Perhaps the first "don't" could be "Don't use verbs and contractions as nouns...and above all not plural nouns."...sheesh)

More power Point Tips from Presentation Magazine.

Power Point tips from A Bit Better Corporation.

Ellen Finkelstein has got lots of tips on her site....and a book of 101 tips, for about $0.15 per tip.

TimK

From the Spectator: Cheap filmmaking technology great for quantity...but quality?

2009-11-15T12:07:00.000-08:00

Toby Young of The Spectator is a film critic who is noticing that the film industry seems to be growing...like strip malls in the un-zoned suburbs.

Read his column here.

The fact that so much capability exists in the hands of so many doesn't mean that talent expands proportionately. As a member of the production industry, I'd have to agree with the majority of what Mr. Young is saying. For some reason, inexpensive equipment has resulted in the impression that one needs no education in the profession to do quality work.

Much like desktop publishing and still photography before, the motion picture industry seems due to continue sorting out the good and bad of newly affordable technical tools...

TimK

October 15-B to B's upcoming webcast on using online video

2009-10-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

Being a professional in the world of media production (primarily video), I find it helpful to understand as much about implementation as I do about production. In fact, without intelligent implementation, it doesn't matter what you spend on video production or the skill level of those who create the material...you'll likely fail.

I typically address implementation first in fact. I recently sat down in a meeting where the client had a concept in mind, with some aspects of the finished project determined. When I had asked them about their intended implementation early in the meeting, they seemed a little frustrated as they were potentially going to hire me to produce what they specified in their minds.

Once the subject was addressed however, several issues surfaced regarding the viability of their envisioned format within the time limits they had allowed for...etc. In the end, it ended up being a good discussion that will likely affect how this client goes about creating and implementing this material.

Online video is an area where those who are getting results are often as befuddled as to what is working as those who are falling short.

B to B Magazine will be offering a webinar on the 15th of October entitled "The Secret to Success with Online Video: A Guide for Getting Started"

An hour's worth of information and it's free to register.

TimK

Content Marketing from Junta42

2009-10-02T05:30:00.000-07:00

(Yes, I know some time has past since my last post here. Late summer consumed me I'm afraid...)

For those of you who are familiar with Joe Pulizzi's Junta42 blog know that he's all about content marketing.

The idea of giving away information to gain prospective customer interaction and name recognition is particularly appealing in technical fields like mine. Joe is well published on the topic of content marketing and he's decided to try some out for himself.

The "Content Marketing Playbook" is available free from Joe's blog in pdf form. It's a nice, concise gut-check on whether or not you're heading in the right direction with your content marketing efforts. A fast analysis of the various vehicles for this type of information to hold them all up "side by side" probably isn't as available as most of us would like.

So...download it. What have you got to lose?

TimK

It's all about the SPORK, people!

2009-07-17T18:27:00.001-07:00

OK...I admit it...every once in a while I stop at Taco Bell and ingest something semi-vile that was assembled on a factory line with caulking guns...

-BONG- Make a run for the restroom...

Tonight I did just that...(not the restroom) and I ordered two Double Decker Tacos (a hard shell that's neat to eat as it's adhered to a soft tortilla with refried beans...) and Pintos N' Cheese. In the drive through, the young lady asked me if I was interested in any sauces and I said yes...hot sauce.

I got back to my office and opened the bag and my two Double Decker Tacos were in there, floating in a veritable sea of packets of hot sauce. (I go to Taco Bell so infrequently, I keep forgetting that they do this.) For my two tacos, I was given not one... not two... not ten...but FOURTEEN packets of hot sauce!

John Suder, the source of our hot sauce package imagery, still has me beat though...he got TWENTY-FIVE packets for one chicken taco.

Then, I notice my Pintos N' Cheese (Does one capitalize "N'" when using a single letter as an entire conjunction?) ...but no tools to eat it with. They saw fit to include enough hot sauce to paint a small bedroom, but no spork. I hope this straw is super duty...

It struck me that we are often just like this in business. We have some distorted idea of what the client considers to be of value based on our own aesthetic.

We work three extra hours on a logo design that's already been approved making refinements the client will never notice-sauce. Then we fail to follow up with a phone call to make sure all is well after the job was concluded-no spork.

The grocery store where I shop has all sorts of incentive programs, I have a frequent saver card and I get printed gas coupons with my receipt and I also get coupons printed on the back of my receipt...that I get to use next time-sauce. However, the grocery store only actually reduces the prices on anything if you buy forty units at a time lately instead of just ditching all the stupid procedures and paper and just pricing the merchandise lower-no spork.

However, let's look at another example. We have a small auto repair shop in our neighborhood in little Neenah, WI called Randy's. It's an old fashioned utilitarian car repair shop...no coffee lounge or internet access...you drop off a broken car and pick it up fixed...no sauce. However, Randy will also tell you when something on your car may not be functioning like the day the car was new, but it's likely an expense that you don't need. I've had more incidents than I can count on two hands where I've been told "Well, sure we could fix that, but it's expensive and it's not affecting the operation or safety of the car if you just drive it that way..."

-Spork!

What are you delivering to your customers? 12 extra packets of hot sauce is not value...

If you need some, call me.

TimK

SyFy? Um....

2009-07-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, so apparently the SciFi Channel has decided that its brand is holding it back... One of the best defined brands in cable television has decided that a brand with a solid definition and a product line with a well-defined market is not a compass, but a barrier to growth.

Apparently changing the brand to "SyFy" will open some new opportunities. I'm guessing the first opportunity will be trying to give the new moniker some meaning. While "SciFi" has been a clear brand that has delivered what some may describe as 'predictable' content, the brand itself had established itself well enough that I had to pause a moment to remember the two words that were condensed to make the logo... "SyFy" is derived from no actual words as far as I can tell.

The press release that gives the explanation behind the changeover to civilians in here. It's a little vague.

In an economy that is under stress, do you go for market penetration with intense effort aimed at a specific niche with clear wants and needs, or do you broaden your approach to capture small pieces of a variety of markets?

In this article at TVweek.com, it's noted that the name SciFi "...has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that..." I guess I'll concede that. However, I have no idea what demographic will look at the logo for "SyFy" and suddenly embrace it where they may have rejected "SciFi". The slogan "Imagine Greater" that will accompany "SyFy" into the television viewing consciousness, doesn't help to define the concept any further than the four letters in the logo.

I think there is a constant temptation in marketing (and particularly in branding exercises), to attempt to preserve as much latitude as possible to account for any peripheral opportunity that comes along.

The trick is how you de-focus, and yet hang on to the customer base you earned because of your focus.

I guess we'll see. Maybe they're completely right. After all, when did we last watch a music video on MTV?

TimK

I want to work for this guy...

2009-07-02T08:53:00.000-07:00

Jeff Killeen from GlobalSpec talks about innovation. If he actually walks his talk, I suspect he has no trouble getting really good people to work for him.

I like the idea of "iterative" products...look at the iPhone and iTouch.

It's worth a look.

Click here to watch the video

TimK

From the Sustainable Marketing Blog: Tactical Marketing

2009-06-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

Recently I've been reading the Sustainable Marketing Blog from Peter Korchnak. Being green and still bringing the right product to the right customer can be done simultaneously it seems.

He recently put up an entry on Tactical Marketing. He mentions how many of our clients ask questions like "Should I have a FaceBook account?" and "Should I be on Twitter?". The struggle to help clients realize the difference between a medium and a message continues...

Meanwhile, I need to buy a birthday present for someone...should I buy some Legos or a nice bottle of Chardonnay?

TimK

Product Marketing...Feature one/Sell many

2009-06-09T06:47:00.000-07:00

I've recently been involved with the production of a "product documentary" of sorts... I'm directing a video that tracks the origins and manufacturing process of a highly specialized, custom-built car. This car's appearance and many of it's systems will be based on an American car originally built and marketed 40 years ago as an affordable performance car for a customer of average means.

However, the new GTO Judge from Big 3 Performance will be a vehicle for a customer of above average means. With the demise of Pontiac imminent, the timing on the arrival of what may be the ultimate Pontiac automobile becomes a more significant event than its creators may have expected.

The car will have a price tag worthy of a completely custom-built automobile, and is a modern super car as much as a historical recreation.

The video we are creating will serve several purposes.

1) The DVD is a product for sale. The storyline will include significant amounts of Pontiac history regarding the 60s and early 70s from former Pontiac marketer, Jim Wangers (whose name is actually on the car itself as Mr. Wangers is himself a very strong 'brand' in the Pontiac enthusiast community). This will appeal to the genaral interest in Pontiac and will likely sell many DVDs by itself.

2) The DVD is a sales aid for the car itself. Of course, the DVD will make a nice opening to start to tell the story of the car to a prospective customer. It's likely that the DVD won't close a six-figure sale of course, but it certainly can be an excellent first look at the car for anyone who is deciding whether they are interested enough in purchasing the car to travel to examine one personally.

3. The DVD is a sales tool for Big 3 Performance. The company does modification work on a variety of cars at varying levels. A customer can be interested in wheels, brakes and a turbo charger all the way up to a completely custom built car like the current GTO Judge project. These customers also represent a wide demographic of ages and interests from the younger, small car 'tuner' group to retired people who collect the cars that they grew up with to automobile owners of extraordinary means with extraordinary requests.

Multiple audiences. Multiple sets of expectations. Multiple distinct age groups with a wide variety of optimal aesthetic.

Everything about the video program including the content, the images, the edit cadence, even the music beds needs to span a wide range of audiences and expectations.

What are your marketing challenges?

Are you ever featuring a product to gain brand credibility, but trying to sell multiple products?...or maybe a different product altogether?

Maybe your client has a prestige product that has a narrow market that ends up being the disproportionate messaging focus relative to sales because the customer base is 'aspirational.' These types of customers will buy an entry-level product from a manufacturer because of the association with the company itself due to the company's high profile reputation in other areas.

When Mercedes-Benz closes a sale for the smallest, least expensive, car they make...they aren't selling it to someone seeking an economy car. Any number of other cars of that size would likely be more economical and cost-effective overall. This person is buying a Mercedes. This is the entry level car to get into the 'club'. At this level, the most important feature of the car for the customer is the obviously recognizable (though scaled-down) body lines and the hood ornament. Mercedes doesn't typically spend a lot of money or time within any given marketing arc on selling their entry level car of course, but the messaging about the superior engineering and luxury of the cars at the top of their product line is what sells the cars at all levels of the product line.

It's a branding approach used successfully time and time again.

What's your 'premium' product? What is your 'base' product? How can you achieve the top-down branding that American automotive manufacturers have been attempting to use to create 20% of domestic retail sales (with varying success admittedly) for decades?

TimK

Creative Cow Podcast Featuring...Me

2009-05-26T06:36:00.000-07:00

As many of you may know, I spend lots of time on the forums at creativecow.net. In the production world, it's one of the top destinations for information on technical topics as well as issues of business and marketing within the industry.

I was interviewed recently by Franklin McMahon for a podcast focusing on marketing a creative production business... I do a lot of (obviously intentional for intellectual effect) 'um'-ing and 'ah'-ing, but overall I think I may have spit out something valuable...

If you're interested...find it here.

TimK

Pontiac and the 800 pound footnote in the room...

2009-05-06T17:10:00.000-07:00

As most of us know by now, the Pontiac division of General Motors is being shut down as part of the car manufacturer's efforts to slim down in the face of rather distressing economic times.

I've recently become involved in a project that has introduced me to the segment of the population that one would consider Pontiac enthusiasts. Like any car brand or model, the Pontiac image and product line has fans. Many of these fans were earned by the brand in the 60's and early 70's as the well-known Pontiac GTO reset the weight-to-horsepower ratio and ushered in the era of the muscle car.

I also had the opportunity to meet Jim Wangers, a long time American car marketing wizard who figured prominently into Pontiac's 1960's/70's success. He has some comments on the demise of Pontiac here.

In the face of the swan song of the brand, you might think that GM would make an effort to give the brand a decent going away party...the website might focus on loyal customers and fond memories. Loyalty program discounts might move a few units in the last model year. (...they've got a discount program for members of the military and credit unions, you'd think they could throw the faithful a bone, wouldn't you?) A customer relations effort to anoint "Pontiac Certified Service Centers" might make someone a bit less hesitant to lay down some cash for a dead brand walking...

But no. To even find any information on the Pontiac Home Page, for a time you used to go to the bottom of the page and click on the "Pontiac Announcement" button, which resulted in a popup (which most web browsers are set to block of course), which chronicled the valiant but futile efforts to save the brand. That's gone now, replaced by a "Re-invention at GM" button and a reassuring "Standing behind our customers" button leading you to warranty information. Meanwhile, the "Total Confidence. Another Stunning Feature." graphic with a shiny Pontiac-badged Holden-designed G8, has been replaced with a 0% financing offer.

If you were GM, how would you handle this communication? It's likely that many people who don't know how to enable popups on their web browser, won't be able to find any evidence on the Pontiac website that Pontiac is going away (or at least that anyone at Pontiac knows this.) They'll find lots of product information and a very nice user interface that will guide them through specifications and finding a dealership, but very little evidence that the company itself is facing the biggest news they'll ever have with any resolve.

This is not the first or the last company we'll see fall through this economic downturn...so how do you handle it? Do you live in denial and try to simply sell with a brave face until the end? ...or do you look at what you've done, where you've been, and embrace the customers that have stood by you and focus on the value in the product in its last hours...and switch the lights off with pride?

How about some TV spots featuring Pontiac mechanics who will be there to take care of the customer? How about some aggressive feature upsells?...some commemorative models?...Why shouldn't Pontiac dealers be having classic Pontiac carshows at their dealerships until the very end?

The fact that Pontiac is going away may be the very best reason to buy one...but somebody at GM will have to face the awful truth before they can actually capitalize on it.

Hopefully they're not following the "How to shut down Oldsmobile" model...

TimK

Blogging...Not that new after all

2009-04-03T05:39:00.000-07:00

CBS News Sunday Morning (one of the finer pieces of mood and time-savvy television programming ever produced IMHO) looks at the 'BLOG' and whether or not it's as new and innovative as most of us think...

Watch CBS Videos Online

TimK

Find a Fresh Value Story

2009-03-26T08:25:00.000-07:00

I was recently involved in some marketing conversations with a large craft brewer in the Midwestern region of the

United States

and I started to do some thinking about premium brands in a price-pinched market. Craft beer simply can’t be produced for the same unit cost that commercial mega-batch beers can be. The ingredients are more diverse and typically of a very specific quality. (Poster Image courtesy of The Beer Wench)

A craft brewer works in smaller batches than one of the massive commercial brewers, so even the most mundane of these ingredients can’t be purchased at the same quantity pricing.

So…specialty beers will likely be stuck at a higher shelf price point than your run-of-the-mill “macro-brews” (term coined by Miller in one of my favorite cheeky beer ad campaigns ever, check the concept out on Slate.com) as the cost-cutting mindset of everyone in nearly every market segment entrenches itself.

Craft brewers may have to trim costs and pricing in these times, but they’ll never be able to compete with the ability of the Miller Coors and Anheuser Busch global conglomerates to survive for long periods of low profitability, not to mention that mass-market brands are starting their discounting from an already lower per-unit cost structure and price point if it becomes a race to the bottom…

(As I proceed through this scenario, I feel compelled to recognize one caveat: This is an example that I’m constructing for a thinking exercise. Obviously, the group of customers that are legitimately “in play” between mass-market beers and specialty beers does not represent 100% of the specialty beer customer base.)

So, maybe you think that the craft brewer is doomed to lose a pricing war they can’t avoid. Maybe you think that no self-respecting beer aficionado would stoop to buying mass-produced brands. Whether you believe the consumer will fight or switch, economic pressures will affect sales numbers as even if the customer doesn’t jump brands, they may well decrease their quantity of consumption.

BUT…what if the craft brew WAS the economic choice? What if that specialty beer WAS the “back to basics” option in this tough economic time? What if there was a value story that gave specialty beer the cost/value competitive edge?

“Well…” you start to respond to me mockingly, “I suppose that could happen if there were no other beers in that market space.”

Precisely.

The Relativity of Value…Expand your idea of what encompasses your 'market'.

Let’s take an alternative approach to the basic “product-based” market here for a moment.

How does the consumer ‘think’ about beer? In what part of their life does it play a part? Most people consume beer, wine and cocktails in social and recreational situations. These days, social situations can be harder and harder to come by as an evening ‘out’ is often the first thing on the family budget chopping block.

So…what if an evening at home with friends and a home-prepared meal was the cost-effective alternative? Have you footed the bill for 4-8 adults to go to the movies lately? An evening at home with the stylish accent of a premium beer to make the evening something out of the ordinary suddenly moves the micro brew from an expensive beer, to a really affordable luxury that one can enjoy with friends.

Back to basics…home, friends, conversation (who actually ‘catches up’ with their friends during a movie?)
Affordable…relative to dining out or visiting a night club, or going to a movie
Still Premium…the luxury you can afford, something special for friends, etc.

Suddenly the craft beer keeps its image as a premium product, yet has a lever to pry out more market share from a general public who is becoming entrenched in a 'back to basics' mindset. This concept also looks 'outside the tent' somewhat to capture mind share of new customers who might be trying to maintain a level of social interaction with friends even as their disposable income erodes .

This principle is not restricted to the beer, or even the food and beverage industry…you can apply it to nearly any market. What problem does your product or service solve for your customers?

Value stories can become so nuanced that they lose leverage when you pit yourself against similar offerings. Fighting with your product/service competitors for share of an established market segment is expensive and it ends up being a game of inches. Bringing new customers to the market segment by thinking creatively and repackaging your offering could be the big play that sets you apart.

This can happen in reverse as well. Encyclopedia Britannica evaluated its competition as other printed book sets with inferior content and sales forces. Encyclopedia Britannica wasn't planning on a non-knowledge-publisher marketplace player like Microsoft, using some mediocre content from Funk and Wagnalls to seize the market from their dignified, vastly superior 3,000 dollar product with a 50 dollar CD-ROM. The way the customer interacted with the content in the past was the only visualization of the future Britannica had. Microsoft may not have been the world leader in knowledge and research, but they envisioned the way that consumers would interact with the product in the near future, and they simply exploited fresh thinking...and wrote a new value story.

What’s your value story? Maybe it’s time to rethink who’s reading it…

TimK

Add Value…or Subtract Price?

2009-03-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine and I were having a conversation a few days ago about business. The typical stuff “Things are slow for me, are they slow for you?” “Yup, me too…”, etc, etc.

He’s a manufacturer’s rep and he said that in the past he had always just ramped up his efforts when sales were off a bit and just made it up with some hustle (the good kind of hustle BTW). So he was making some extra follow up calls to some of his existing clients…and he had one say “Yes, come to think of it, we do have a project…when can we meet?” Needless to say he met with them at his first opportunity.

When he got there, the “project” was not a new product line or innovation of an existing one. It was a cost cutting exercise where they called my friend in to simply say that times were tough and ask him how they could get him to cut his price…

Now keep in mind that most clients have reasons for the specifications used in purchasing… quantities, quality, delivery schedule, etc. They usually won’t ask “How can we change our buying habits to optimize our costs?” or “Would you experience any savings you could pass on to us if we accepted one more half a point defective in each lot?” They’ll say “In order to keep our business, we need everything you’ve been giving us, but we need to show the purchasing VP a 3 point cost savings projected for next period, or we’re going back out for bid…”

If you haven’t had this conversation either as vendor (or as customer) yet…you will.

Customers are talking about cutting costs. Business customers are examining every standing contract they have, suppliers are trying to preserve what margins are left in the name of survival, and everyone is cutting employment as thin as they can while the general population is once again discovering price-shopping at the grocery store because even the ones that still have jobs are not necessarily confident that they’ll keep them.

What is confusing to me is that most of us continue seeking to “add value” to differentiate ourselves when corporate customers and consumers seem to continue to show us that they are shopping price.

The trick these days seems to be that everyone is looking at every transaction BUT the sale when they speak of adding value...

My "Personal Brand" value-add...

Adding value to the "customer relationship" (not the transaction) is here...basically better tracking for 'CRM' which is usually focused on the 'CM' and not so much the 'R' as I see most of the guidance on this topic...

Fast Company warns executives about not necessarily adding value to a conversation by simply opening their mouth...good advice for all of us really...

IT departments who are integral to a business strategy need to add value to their information...

Try to Google "Add Value" youself and see what you come up with. Other than Wikipedia's take on the generic term and some history...

...there isn't much overall, customer-focused thinking on the concept of "value-added" that's very current.

Wal Mart doesn’t draw consumers because of high quality products displayed in uncluttered aisles… Amazon doesn’t sell so many books because their very utilitarian website is more pleasant to visit than your local, comfy chairs and coffee shop-equipped Barnes and Noble. Hotwire.com won’t even tell you what hotel you’ve chosen for 40.00/night until you hit the irreversible “buy” button. Regardless of what box they check on surveys, are these customers really shopping for value?

So how do those of us who sell expertise function in this competitive, yet seemingly duplicitous market environment? Do we continue to demonstrate the inherent value in our product/service over our competition, or do we simply cut our price?

How have you addressed this problem? Has it worked?

...and how do we actually make sure that we deliver as much value as possible to the customer?

…to be continued.

TimK

When everything is in focus...nothing is.

2009-02-25T15:47:00.000-08:00

Lately, I must confess that the economy has been affecting my portfolio of work. I work in various areas of the country and I happened to have a fair amount of my Q1 2009 bookings on the USA's west coast-California. Well...that all went away in about one 72 hour period in early November. It cleared my December, January, and most of February's schedule for the most part.

So, what does one do? I have colleagues local and distant all suddenly scouring the countryside for work in the area of media production.

I'm a director with some credentials, so I'm a bit more marketable than some perhaps. I've worked in a variety of projects including work with interactive video back in the mid-1980's, when there were only a handful of us even doing that sort of work...television spots, motivational video, live television, even live corporate staged shows with tractor-trailers full of technical gear.

I have a post production suite as well, and I've worked on television and independent film editing and even visual effects work in HD and 2K...which gives me a slight leg up for those types of opportunities.

I also do some audio post production work and have edited a series of audio spots over the last year and a half when colleagues have required it, so there's something I could market as a service on top of everything else.

After a 20+ year career of working primarily on media production for corporate messaging in marketing and advertising, I spent the better part of last year as the Chief Product Officer of a visual effects software company, so product development and marketing are also areas of experience for me.

The technical writing required for the software company was no problem. The technical topics I've worked with in past productions range from medical to mechanical to chemical. As a published author and technical editor for a well-known publishing house, as well as author of a couple dozen industry articles in print and web form, I have enough experience to be a very credible writer even discounting my scripting experience.

I also do a fair bit of training in my field...anything from seminars to product tours to widely distributed training DVDs.

All this doesn't count that I spend a significant portion of my time advising and assisting various industry manufacturers of production and post production software and hardware on technical and user interface issues (including the company that manufacturers the Digital Cinema Camera used in the shooting the majority of the 'Best Picture' winner at the 81st Academy Awards several days back...). My technical blog is at www.timkolbtech.com for anyone not able to sleep...

So...all that would make a pretty good sales brochure wouldn't it?

Uh...no.

As it turns out, quite the opposite. I've had a long run with word of mouth as my main sales tool, but that is no longer enough. When I was referred to someone, I was typically recommended by someone the customer trusted and I simply supplied the service required, no matter which of the previously mentioned areas of expertise it fit into.

Now, I need to define myself as a product.

Unfortunately my recent efforts to "package" myself have left me struggling with the fact that I'm the equivalent one of those Rube Goldbergian, Cat-in-the-Hat machines with tentacles coming out everywhere doing every manner of thing from stripping paint to scrubbing windows to righting the little castle in the bottom of the goldfish bowl. Would you order one of those from a catalog? Would you even entertain the idea that it could do all those things competently?

Hardly.

Unfortunately, in tough economic times many of us are tempted to to diversify to make sure we don't miss any opportunities. We branch out thinking there might be revenue hiding off in the bushes of a peripheral product or service to our own. If you've been really centered on packaging in your marketing business, you might be dabbling in print ad design and buying suddenly as it's a good way to keep those graphic artists working and it gives the sales staff other services they can sell. Maybe you have made your living as a tool distributor and you get a chance to branch out into...patio furniture. You can certainly offer both to larger hardware stores, so it seems like a good idea...right?

But let's pause a moment...

There's a photographic concept that applies here. It's called depth of field.

Most of us who shoot photographs or film or video try to restrict focus to the object in the frame we want you to focus on.

The next time you're watching a feature film you might observe how the cinematographer tells you where to look in a crowded dinner party by changing focus from one person to another. Often, this is a difficult thing to accomplish in the same way with many video cameras with zoom lenses because (due to optical factors that I could bore you so profoundly with that your mother would yawn...remember? Technical?) everything is relatively in focus. Unlike a 35mm still camera or a digital or film camera using a 'prime lens' which has a very shallow depth of field. Look at the picture on the top where everything in the picture is in focus...3 feet from the camera, 35 feet from the camera...all razor sharp. Do you know where to look to get the visual message? This is why so many videos contain more closeup shots than feature films do...since you can't sort composition elements with focus, you have to crop the image tight to the primary subject.

When everything is in focus...nothing is... A large, detailed, and uniformly sharp image demonstrates the hazards of too many points of emphasis.

Is your business focused? Is the picture clear for your potential customers?

Now, more than ever...it's time for all of us to check our focus.

It's absolutely critical to you telling your story.

TimK

Obsolescence, attack the ground already won

2009-02-14T17:04:00.001-08:00

Well...I have to face reality. I need to buy a completely new operating system for my computers. What's so bad about that you ask? Well...the old operating system (Windows XP) took some time to get the bugs worked out...and it seems pretty solid.

(You may ask why I don't have a Macintosh...well, I work with those too and every so often when you upgrade an application, you need to change operating systems there too. This isn’t so much about what computer might be better or worse…)

So...back to this on a marketing basis. Why would Microsoft replace operating systems that (at least for most non-media production types) work reasonably well, with new operating systems (the Vista family) that now demand a new learning curve and are very likely a dependability step backwards?

Because Microsoft cannibalizes their own markets.

Why in the world would a company want to cannibalize their own markets?

...because they know that if they don't…someone else will.

In the computer industry, it's less an issue of philosophy and more of a matter of keeping your software and hardware current with everyone else's. In my case, I need the added capability of the newest software and the newest hardware, so I keep on moving forward.

It was just a few years ago that I got the name of a gentleman that was interested in old computers...in this case, Macintoshes...and I loaded up his minivan with several Power Macs with proprietary video editing hardware, SCSI hard drive assemblies, and assorted other equipment. I didn't sell it...I got lucky that he was interested in this equipment and I didn't have to pay him to haul away what was literally in excess of $100,000 USD worth of equipment when it was purchased 5-7 years before that. The computers weren't worn to the point of not working, they were simply no longer powerful enough to be cost-effective, and the older versions of software that the computers could run were no longer supported by the manufacturers.

Computer hardware and software manufacturers constantly create new products that displace the products they may have sold less than a year ago and as they move forward, they have to drop support for older products. Adobe updates their professional media production software (for video, web, and print production) every 18 months roughly and they officially only support one version back from current release. Most users of the software find themselves upgrading before they're completely comfortable with the version they have, and they find themselves to be officially unsupported in 36 months should they decide not to upgrade.

In my case, Microsoft displaced Windows XP Professional, which runs most of my workstations, with the Vista family of operating systems. Software manufacturers design software that can only be fully realized by using the new operating system, computer manufacturers create computers that can accommodate the requirements of new software, and the process just continues...

Do you think your business will never change?

In 1980, who would have predicted that the fourth largest phone company in the United States as of 2008 would be...Comcast, who would also happen to be the countries largest cable television provider...after being ranked #3 and buying out the largest cable provider in the country in 2001...

...which was AT&T's cable unit (remember American Telephone and Telegraph Company?).

Of course, in 1980 Apple computer introduced the Apple III...4 years before the first Macintosh even showed up. Do you think they were planning on going into the music distribution, personal music device and mobile phone manufacturing business from the beginning?

Markets will always change...it's what you do with it that counts...

AT&T is now the second largest wireless phone service provider in the United States. As wireless phones become a more and more popular mode of personal communication and they ultimately displace land line phones (like they did pay phones...), AT&T is a player in the technology that will likely obsolete the voice communication infrastructure of hard lines that the corporate predecessors of AT&T (for the most part) originally built. AT&T is also the sole service provider for a particularly popular cellular phone and mobile device made by that certain computer company that is the namesake of a fruit...

What service or product do you provide that may become obsolete, or change significantly? Are you participating in the technologies or innovations that will overtake your current products? Are you being honest with yourself about the real, likely life cycle of your current product line?

Influences for changes come from any number of factors. Who would have predicted that retail music CDs would be destined to be replaced by raw data that people store on their computers in just a little more than 20 years when they were introduced in 1982? Most would have likely anticipated some other media component to replace the CD in the existing retail distribution system as opposed to a completely different customer/distributor relationship like iTunes turning it all on its head…

While most consumers like the newer plasma and LCD flat panel displays for television viewing, cathode ray tube (CRT) television monitors aren't being phased out because they're no longer cool. A growing list of countries has made it impractical to market CRTs because of disposal requirements due to pollution problems with the heavy metals involved in CRT manufacturing. Many of the time-tested manufacturers in this space are struggling to keep up as new manufacturers who are optimized for LCD or Plasma panel manufacturing continue to take marketshare from those companies still in the process of switching over from manufacturing CRTs. Just go to your area TV/appliance super store and count the flat panels that are made by manufacturers like Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba and Sharp…then note how many manufacturers you’ve never heard of in this market before…Vizio, Dynex, LG, Initial, Norcent, Naxa…the list goes on. What if the dominant players in the marketplace had been working on cannibalizing their own existing CRT market with new technology? They didn’t…others did.

This phenomenon will continue to touch almost all conceivable businesses. The strained world economy will press innovation, not stifle it.

You may compete very well against other players in your market for the time being, but are you competing with your own products and services? Eventually all markets evolve, yet for some reason, providers that supply the market rarely do. Apple is a cel phone manufacturer now…what if the coffee-drinking public decides that Starbuck’s prices are simply too high? Do they have a backup plan?

… who better to take marketshare away from your current products and services than you?

TimK

Survey says: Not all research is created equal

2009-02-07T12:45:00.000-08:00

As we all continue to wade deeper into the economic jungle, hoping to encounter someone who can point out the tiger traps (as well as ensure that is the only location of any hungry tigers), we look to the various forms of media we have that are business-related in general and industry-specific to impart wisdom.

A great deal of prognostication seems to draw heavily on survey results.

On January 6th, I received one of several enewsletters from BtoBonline that I subscribe to and it had a headline linking me to this short article:

Survey: Interactive video marketing to gain wide adoption this year

It certainly seems interesting...particularly with my personal skillset in video production. Of course, once you start to look closer, there are a few indicators that this information might be a touch too focused to be widely useful.

First, the survey was conducted by PermissionTV... Online video is their business and while it's not a sin to survey your own industry, the likelihood that the material is principally marketing is high. The likelihood that they would release survey analysis that would indicate their industry is struggling with survival during the years of our economic discontent... is slim.

Second, it was an online survey. Online surveys about a person's potential to do things online are sort of like handing out customer feedback forms in an Irish Pub and trying to extrapolate some sweeping conclusion about macro dining trends..." (78% of restaurant diners surveyed ordered the corned beef and cabbage...and through some statistical aberration, 142% drank beer.)

Third, the sample was of "senior marketing and media executives"... Marketing executives have broad responsibilities and have a series of budgets and the power to move resources among them..."media executives" most likely deal with media specifically. No data appears as to the real scope of responsibilities of the executives responding. Suddenly 'online video' counts as a likely higher percentage of their focus as wide swaths of marketing activity in their company falls outside their authority.

When you combine this with the figure that "67% (of survey respondents) identified online video as the primary 'focus' of their 2009 digital campaigns", you start to see where this is going...

Out of 400 executives who are willing to fill out an online survey (because they likely work online frequently), some unnamed fraction of which focus on media specifically, all of whom have made it at least onto a contact list with a particular internet video marketing company, 67% have identified that, within their already existing 2009 digital campaign plans of undetermined scope and value, online video will be a 'focus.'

...and out of that came the headline "Interactive video marketing to gain wide adoption this year."

Never mind that the only spot in the article that 'interactive' shows up is in the headline...the story specifically says 'online video'. The web is full of relatively passive video viewing experiences.

Never mind that 268 (67% of 400) executives who make a vague commitment to a 'focus' within a wide variety of activities makes "wide adoption" sort of a questionable conclusion. How large is the potential market?

Of course, most of us know that the general population seems to be fascinated by research about themselves...who they'll elect for public office 6 months from now, what merchandise will be most sought after in some future holiday season, etc...

However, as marketers we HAVE to be watchful of trends and make sure our clients and products are positioned properly as we plan for a long haul over bad road. Not all surveys or surveyors (including BtoB, by the way, who got chosen in this case as an example...) are bad of course. in fact, NONE of them are bad...

...as long as you take at LEAST as much time to analyze the premise as you do the results.

TimK

Joseph Pine tells us "What Consumers Really Want"

2009-01-27T08:11:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the delay in posting...I've been on assignment and unable to update on tME.

One of my favorite sites on the web is www.ted.com

Joseph Pine (BIO) gave an interesting talk in 2004 (yes...5 years ago) on the evolution of the marketplace from Commodities to Goods, Goods to Services, and Services to Experiences.

It's interesting how some of this adds to (at least from my perspective) the 'belief' conversation in some earlier blog posts here at tME.

(Do You Have to Believe? PART 1, PART 2)

As the economy continues its collapse and the treasure consumers part with to trade for your product/service becomes more and more dear at a lower and lower level, think about your product or service and whether or not you're on the Real/Fake chart used in the presentation.

Low pricepoint no longer allows you to be detached...

Income is no longer 'disposable' at any level for a large portion of the population...

Time to engage your customer...

TimK

Sales 2.0: Buying from an 'Expert'

2009-01-15T09:23:00.000-08:00

The site Sales 2.0 has a large collection of articles and blogs online. A variety of opinions are expressed.

This one focuses on being an expert.

I have to admit I'm not particularly warm to the whole concept of a "new" system of sales as I've always believed that being an expert on your product made you an adept problem-solver for your client...using your product. (...and smart enough to know when your product line doesn't contain an answer for that problem, and you have an opportunity to back away before a disappointed customer is a result.)

So...a little more sales than messaging on this entry. We all still have to sell something at the end of the day.

TimK

Alternate Sources of Wisdom: The American Meteorological Society talks about challenges in communicating.

2009-01-09T07:49:00.000-08:00

So we're all trying to reach customers...understand their needs...get our message to penetrate the noise while the general population spends their day fleeing the relentless assault of sensory content from every direction...

What if your job was to communicate with the public to save their lives? THEN your message would get through, right? WRONG.

The American Meteorological Society can't seem to get people to care about the issues that will affect their lives and safety... it's hard to hold out much hope for those of us selling soda or athletic shoes.

Check out their take on communicating with the public. (Runs about an hour, stream or download)

...from one of my favorite content sites on the web, The Research Channel.

TimK

Do You HAVE to “Believe?” Part 2

2009-01-03T20:25:00.000-08:00

To read ‘Believe’ Part 1 first, click here…

So…do you have to believe? For part 2 of our 2009 kickoff topic, we'll look in a place you might least expect to see customer ‘faith’ in evidence…

Does Ron Popeil actually use GLH Hair Thickener Spray? Does he walk around with a Pocket Fisherman attached to his belt, prepared for that spontaneous opportunity to pull dinner from the depths?

Ronco has made and marketed inexpensive, unique products for quite some time now. We all make fun of the entire iconic “o-Matic” product line by adding our own spontaneous variations…(living in the upper Midwest recently made me wish for a shovel-o-matic of late) and the groundbreaking “Inside-The-Egg-Scrambler” is an amusing thing to watch.

However, the Pocket Fisherman and the GLH Hair product are completely different products from a customer standpoint when we look at what’s at stake, and I find it interesting that Ronco markets them both so similarly.

The Pocket Fisherman

I don’t know what percentage of Pocket Fishermen ever sold are still functional, and Ron P. swears he uses the product on his two fishing boats (both named after the product appropriately enough). The Ronco PF is an entertaining concept that may make the idea of fishing ‘equipment’ a bit more ‘accessible’ to infrequent fisherpersons. However, does anyone think they’ll actually be able to land a reasonably large Northern Pike, or a trophy Bass with a device that looks like a descendent of a retractable measuring tape more than a fishing rod?

Spin casting reels that cost many times the price of a Pocket Fisherman get tangled and stop functioning without warning, necessitating tedious attention and annoying cessation of the act of ‘fishing’. What do you think someone does with a Pocket Fisherman when the line tangles inside the reel or the mechanism becomes jammed? It cost 15 bucks (30 for two), the same as a music CD or a computer mouse and probably less than many effective fishing lures. In the USA, many people put items of much greater value out for refuse pickup because the hassle of trying to sell it to someone who could use it is simply too time-consuming.

The Pocket Fisherman ends up being disposable and I’d be willing to bet that Ronco comes out just fine with the low selling price as the implied value probably makes warranty claims a clear improbability.

GLH (Great Looking Hair)

The GLH (Great Looking Hair) System on the other hand has a completely different impact on the purchaser. The very idea that someone would seriously consider a product that spray paints your head to ‘hide’ thinning hair takes some giant leaps of faith that can only come from a sense of intense perceived need (or, I would say, “desperation”) and an intense ‘belief’ or at least ‘hope’.

Thinning hair on men or women can seriously affect the self esteem of a person in the United States, with its particularly shallow culture. An entire industry is built around achieving eternal youth and physical perfection with wrinkle creams, laser treatments for varicose veins, and pills that give a 50 year old man physical virility similar to when they were 15 years old and were infatuated with their math teacher…to name a few.

When a person buys a Pocket Fisherman, influence with the opposite sex is typically not at risk (if you’re smart anyway). While there is some risk of being laughed at by other fisherman, it’s nothing like the dreaded anticipation of humiliation through being rejected by a person due to your appearance. While the Ronco GLH product may not be plastic surgery in price or results, the hope and expectations the customer has for it are probably not proportional to the price.

Failure...may be not really surprising...or could be really humiliating.

Aspirations for the Pocket Fisherman? Probably not quite as meaningful to someone’s self-esteem as GLH, and a complete failure of the PF to deliver would likely be a shallow and temporary disappointment. GLH on the other hand, will be bought by people who are probably not looking at it as their first option on the list, and are likely desperate for a solution. Failure of the product to perform is almost guaranteed to be personally humiliating.

In an approach that can only be characterized as 'surreal', these two products have similar pricing and similar marketing approaches (they are in the same product list on Ronco’s website with GLH being located between the not-so-closely-related 'Dial-O-Matic' and the 'Inside-The-Egg-Scrambler), but no two products could be more different.

Which product is most similar to what you sell? Does it affect how a person completes a task, or how they feel about themselves?

Does your customer have to ‘believe’?

Do you?

-TimK

Do you HAVE to "Believe?"

2009-01-02T09:41:00.000-08:00

"We don't smoke that s**t. We just sell it. We reserve the right to smoke for the young, the poor, the black and the stupid."

-R J Reynolds executive,
June 1992

Bob Lutz, the Vice Chairman for Product Development at General Motors enthusiastically introduced the battery powered Chevrolet Volt electric car at multiple auto shows, yet is said to have said that global warming is a “…total “crock of s**t” at a private lunch. (He later said that dependency on petroleum was why he is enthusiastic about the Volt.)

In the recent United States Presidential Election cycle, Candidate John McCain declared that “the fundamentals of this economy are strong” on the morning of September 15,2008 …the day the Dow dropped 500 points. The financial collapse continued for Q4 2008. Even those who supported him observed that no matter what John McCain said after that point to clarify or modify his apparent position, he couldn’t win back those who had decided he was out of touch.

“No audience will ever be able to take more than ten minutes of animation.” is an often recalled quote from an unnamed Walt Disney executive who was considering the viability of a new long form animation project entitled “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

(side note: oddly ‘dwarfs’ and ‘dwarves’ are both acceptable plural forms of ‘dwarf’)

"I think if you know what you believe; it makes it a lot easier to answer questions. I can't answer your question."

-George W Bush,
Reynoldsburg, Ohio, Oct. 4, 2000

(I've always wanted to hear this quote in context as I suspect GWB was legitimately saying that he didn't know what to believe about the matter involved due perhaps to mixed information... However, using any quote from the 43^rd President of the United States to demonstrate obvious incongruity will be a cottage industry for some time I suspect. Yogi Berra finally has real competition.)

So…you have a product. You’ve developed it to solve a problem or deliver an obvious benefit that you can illustrate to your target demographic successfully. You have one caveat. You may not whole-heartedly believe that the premise you have for offering your product or service is real or legitimate.

Up until now, most would say that discretion is the better part of valor…or maybe that keeping your mouth shut is the better part of achieving revenue targets.

The interesting point to ponder is whether or not it matters to customers if you walk your talk or not. The product or service delivers on its promises. So…what’s the big deal if the executives at the company who developed the product/service would never actually use it themselves?

Do you have to believe?

As the economy of the entire globe strains the ability of the affluent to maintain their lifestyle, and the truly poor to simply survive, less money will be spent on all manner of stuff. As you scramble with your competitors for crumbs of the shrinking market, what do you think will separate similar products offered by externally similar-seeming organizations?

Does the customer 'believe'?

The last generation had a respect for authority…the President, the Clergy, Teachers, Police Officers, large established business and brands, etc, etc… This generation has instant information on the incompetence and dishonesty that exists in a disproportionately large fraction of people in authority or power.

Material trappings of success play a much less significant role in perceptions of people in power these days. Expensive clothes and cars are no longer strictly signs of success, but also reasons to be suspicious of a person’s motives, sincerity, or even intelligence (conspicuous consumption is so 2002) in the upside down world of entertainment personalities.

These days leaders emerge from setting an example and product messages are most credible when they come from sources outside the manufacturer or seller's control, and sometimes the message has better legs if it doesn't even directly focus on the product. (see also "...the meat is the fragrance", December 19, 2008 tME post.)

Why would a person buy a computer from a company that has an indisputably small marketshare? Because Steve Jobs and Co. can relate their vision and you feel included.

Why would a person pay a premium price for a vehicle that is smaller than what they have now with less driving range? Because the planet depends on everyone doing their part with lifestyle changes like driving small, hybrid and electric cars.

Why would a television show with no sex, no violence, a very repetitive and predictable plot from week to week, and relatively little comedy relief (or promotion for that matter) that focuses on people performing carpentry and painting, break the Nielson Top 20 in it’s second season? Because ABC's “Extreme Home Makeover” takes people who need a happy ending…and gives them one.

Do you have to believe? I suspect your customers are seeking something to believe in... I guess you have to decide if you need a place in their wallet, their head, or their heart (or all three).

Is this idea equally applicable in every situation…?

Part 2 tomorrow…

TimK

What IS Marketing...Part Two

2008-12-24T08:53:00.000-08:00

The First Part of 'What IS Marketing' is here.

Harvard Business School's emeritus professor of marketing Theodore C. Levitt had a statement about marketing from his article “Marketing Myopia” that I think encompasses what marketing needs to be in 2009. (Even though it was first published in 1960)

“…view the entire business process as consisting of a tightly integrated effort to discover, create, arouse, and satisfy customer needs.”

…translation?

In my opinion, we could translate this to “Business IS Marketing.”

As we’ve touched on in earlier posts, Apple isn’t a computer company anymore…they aren’t a phone manufacturer, or a music distributor. They’re all of these things…and none of these things. Apple’s most important skill is determining consumer desires and meeting them. They didn’t make the first computer, and the Macintosh wasn’t even the first Apple computer…and the object-oriented interface and mouse device that the public attributes to the Macintosh was actually invented by Xerox years earlier. What Apple did was put it all together in the right package at the right time. The Macintosh wasn’t an epiphany, it was the result of a focus on customer frustrations with early computer offerings that were a barrier to wider adoption.

Levitt’s insights in “Marketing Myopia” also include a focus on Henry Ford. He reminds us Ford is often lauded for the wrong invention. Most would say he invented the assembly line…and would go on to say how that resulted in a 500 dollar car and a very successful businessman. However, the Ford insight that came first was that he could sell a lot of cars if the price were 500 dollars. The obstacle was nobody knew how you could possibly make a car that inexpensively. The assembly line was a means to an end, a problem solved on the way to creating the thrifty, single color, basic transportation called the Ford Model T. The car was not a happy byproduct of the invention of a process.

The USA Today newspaper wasn’t created by somebody who thought that lots of pictures and simplistic takes on the news laid out among large blocks of color was better journalism than, or even a content level rival to the New York Times or The Wall Street Journal. It was created as a less print-dense and more visually striking newspaper that the television generation wouldn’t find intimidating. It was the recognition of a need followed by a solution.

How is your business structured? When I started in video production, I gathered some equipment and staff and took the process I was familiar with…and went out looking for an end result I could then produce. I was 23 years old and frankly, I have no idea how I made that work…fortunately I did.

On the other hand, how many businesses are started in this way?

The most successful businesspeople I’ve ever met did not come to their position through involvement of the process of their business’s production. How many Detroit automaker CEOs have ever stood on an assembly line? Yet for some reason, entrepeneurs like myself usually start a business related to a process we have mastered and we so often lose sight of the fact that fulfilling a market need is what ultimately makes a business successful.

These needs are not only age demographic and geographically specific, they are chronologically specific. Last night at a gathering of friends, an interesting point was presented in conversation about business and markets and customer behavior…

In the 50s and 60s, large supermarkets on the outskirts of towns in the United States started to put the neighborhood grocer out of business. The cost differential was pennies and often the cost of public transportation away from and back to the center of town may have dictated that one make a substantial purchase to make the slightly lower costs worth the trip. Suddenly in the last ten years, the neighborhood store is back and they are charging premium prices for convenience…the convenience of picking up some groceries at the same place you buy the gas for your car, or just a small store built in the suburbs.

Nobody would have thought to expand a gas station’s small building to something as non-automobile related as packaged food and produce in the 60s as you were a fuel jobber, not a grocery store…that was a different business.

In the end it’s not a different business…it’s all bringing a customer a compelling array of products at a pricepoint and convenience level that makes sense for them. In the 60’s you got your tires put on your car at a service station, where you bought gas. It was the car fuel and maintenance business. Today, you may get tires and have them installed at the same store you buy bulk food, clothing, general merchandise…then pick up some pizzas for dinner at the gas station/convenience store on the way home. Economic environments play a role in determining priorities, in this case whether American's time or money is the premium concern.

Who is your customer? What do they want? What else could you offer them?

Expertise in process is becoming second-tier…Apple iPhones and iTouches are built in a factory somewhere that builds electronic stuff under contract.

The manufacturer is no longer the brand.

Look beyond your own process for market opportunities.

You may be surprised what you find…

TimK

So...What exactly IS 'marketing' anyway?

2008-12-20T18:29:00.000-08:00

I decided to take a look around and see if I could learn just what the world defined 'marketing' to be...

American Marketing Assoc. 2004 definition of marketing:

“Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.”

As of December 17^th, 2007 it was changed to:

“Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”

I find the change of nearly a year ago interesting as it seems to suddenly recognize that businesses have constituencies beyond customers and owners… But in terms of today’s expectations, is the value for all those parties in the “offerings?”

Wikipedia starts out their marketing article with:

“Marketing is a business term referring to the promotion of products, advertising, pricing, distribution channels, and branding.

How interesting that Wikipedia includes the term “branding” but the American Marketing Association does not…

Susan Ward at About.com says:

"Marketing is the process of interesting potential customers and clients in your products and/or services.

The key word in this marketing definition is "process"; marketing involves researching, promoting, selling, and distributing your products or services.

It's a huge topic, which is why there are tomes written on marketing, and why you can take a four-year marketing degree. But essentially marketing involves everything you do to get your potential customers and your product or service together."

I like the final summary of this one… It sort of says marketing is “creating the opportunity” for a sale. Though earlier it does say that sales is a component of the (marketing) process… Also, a subtle but significant note here; notice the order of the process list…’selling’ comes before ‘distributing’ in a list that appears to be at least conceptually chronological. Definitely more of a nod to an Amazon/Dell business vs a traditional bricks and mortar retail business. (However, I may be reading into it excessively.)

KnowThis.com (the self-titled “knowledge source for marketing since 1998")

“Marketing consists of the strategies and tactics used to identify, create and maintain satisfying relationships with customers that result in value for both the customer and the marketer.”

I like this one…it’s simple and to the point. Relationships that create value. I still find myself seeking something a bit bigger in scope…

Business Dictionary.com says:

(Marketing is the) “Management process through which goods and services move from concept to the customer.”

As a philosophy, it is based on thinking about the business in terms of customer needs and their satisfaction. As a practice, it consists in coordination of four elements called 4P's:

(1) identification, selection, and development of a Product,

(2) determination of its Price,

(3) selection of a distribution channel to reach the customer's Place, and

(4) development and implementation of a Promotional strategy."

Good steps…everyone likes step by step instructions. They go on to say…

"Marketing differs from selling because (in the words of Harvard Business School's emeritus professor of marketing Theodore C. Levitt) "Selling concerns itself with the tricks and techniques of getting people to exchange their cash for your product. It is not concerned with the values that the exchange is all about. And it does not, as marketing invariably does...

...view the entire business process as consisting of a tightly integrated effort to discover, create, arouse, and satisfy customer needs.”

After all that, it finally surfaces...and in a quote from Theodore C. Levitt.

Theodore C. Levitt, who passed in 2006 at 81 years of age, could just as easily be writing about 2008 as the world of the late 1950’s, which is why his article, “Marketing Myopia” (pdf) which initially ran in the July/August 1960 edition of the Harvard Business Review was reprinted in 1975, and again in 2004. He was visionary and known as a creative and compelling teacher as well as someone who contributed heavily to the current philosophies surrounding marketing.

I’ve added that phrase with attribution to the right margin as I think it deserves a permanent place here at The Message Electric.

Next up: What does this definition of marketing mean to you, your business and your customers?

TimK

The Medium is The Message...and the meat is the fragrance

2008-12-19T04:56:00.000-08:00

In the USA, President Lyndon Johnson declared a "war on poverty."

The World Trade Center...was announced as a new building project.

The Rolling Stones release their...debut album.

Marshall McLuhan said "The Medium is The Message"...it was 1964.

(I found an explanation of what McLuhan meant here. Maybe I'm not very smart, but I'm not sure I followed this particular explanation.)

So...what made me think about this quote in what is nearly 2009? ...it was uttered so far back that the problem with television wasn't that people didn't have cable...it was that many television owners still didn't have color.

...Flame.

"The scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat."
-Burger King official description

I had heard about this, but this morning I heard it on NPR... National Public Radio's sense of humor tends to be underestimated in my opinion. But then...the sublime is often so.

But, I digress.... So what to make of this fragrance released by a fast food chain that, from the description, is likely something that most will potentially find...odious?

Why would said fast food chain create a website with multiple motion screensavers including one where "The King" (which I have always found creepy in a Westworld sort of way) is sitting on a bear rug, apparently nude, beckoning come hither to the viewer?

(I left the room with that one on full screen on my computer at a moment when I knew my wife would be walking past... Now I'm in for a therapy bill.)

Why?

Because we're talking about it, that's why. You can't even really buy advertising on NPR...but Burger King made it into a newscast for what is simply a whimsical side trip in message to get you to think about the brand. The medium is completely outside of their conventional consumer engagement. You can't even find a reference to a hint of "Flame" on the Burger King corporate site. The conventional consumer engagement right now is the product-focused "Whopper Virgin" campaign which does not manifest itself well in the television spots in my opinion, but is linked on the home page to a more complete documentary on the topic, which is actually a smart piece of brand content, frankly.

(...and on television, the "Whopper Virgin" campaign...an interesting effort with a culturally loaded name...NEEDS to link the lengthy documentary to be effective. Looking at the difference in perception of the two messages if you have seen both, neither, or only one of these messages in their complete manifestation on the web is an interesting discussion as well.)

Forget the medium being the message...the message is no longer the message in the sense McLuhan's contemporaries likely framed it.

Burger King isn't starting a fragrance division...they could potentially sell 300,000 or a million, $4.00 US bottles of nasty grill smell (or whatever it actually is) and I'm sure they'll still not make up the cost of the entire program from the gross net margin on the actual hard good.

So...after all that...it'll be an amazing success.

...because every time you think about that image of the vacant, amusement park faux happy, smiling king head...you're not thinking about McDonald's. McDonald's throws the golden arches on a red background up for 5 seconds and your brain is registering "Big Mac and Fries." A message is no longer necessary for McD's as a fair portion of the world's population is trained Pavlovian-style as to how to react to certain brands from sensory contact alone...

Burger King has a disadvantage because what was a bit of a point of difference 20 years ago (the grilling of hamburgers vs. frying) is no longer a defining factor in a marketplace with so many similar players and really subtle variations. They're almost part of McDonald's wake in a sea of convenient, inexpensive restaurant messages.

No more...there IS no "Sonic Eau de Cologne," I see no evidence of a "Parfum' de Queen of Dairy"...no "Carl's Jr. Eau de Toilette." (The last one open to some misinterpretation in certain circles methinks...).

Burger King has a message space where they are alone. That space is one where their obvious goal is simply to be entertaining and supply us with one of this year's affordable gag gift ideas, complete with a million dollar back-story, but they're alone. The list of fast food chains with enough unmitigated gall to make fun of their entire corporate persona is exactly one name long at the moment.

(The Whopper Virgin documentary might have more viral success had they created a more humorous take on it and raised the entertainment value. I appreciate it as a director as it's a very 'Nat Geo' approach showing logistics, etc... It's very well done. However, most people are interested more in seeing the two guys who were making faces of disgust when they saw the hamburgers and were backing up... Far more amusing.)

It's the definition of a viral message. 'Flame' is spreading under it's own power. The ultimate dichotomy in today's environment of consumer noise is that consumers seem to have developed a resistance auto-response to branding messages, and indeed most sales messaging...

...unless it's messaging they spread themselves.

Messages with legs have the potential to run away on you... Are you willing to turn some fugitive content loose and see where it goes?

TimK

Apple announces its last year exhibiting at...Macworld?

2008-12-17T06:52:00.000-08:00

Hmmmm...

In the professional broadcast/production business, the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) tradeshow has grown to be the year's peak immersive gear/content sales experience.

But alas, tradeshows are expensive to participate in...and the trend is for companies in all fields to really ask whether or not the ROI is present for tradeshow exhibition, or even just whether or not the scale at which they've been exhibiting is necessary.

But it's rare that you see a company drop out of a tradeshow that was established around it's product line. Apple's decision to make this the last Macworld they'll be participating in is noted in this press release. Steve Jobs won't even be giving the keynote.

There is no doubt that many will question this move (Apple computer enthusiasts are debating the decision viciously), just as they did when Apple did not exhibit at NAB this last year with their 'pro apps' product line (Final Cut Pro for professional video editing, Motion for animated graphics, etc), which usually created a perennial traffic hotspot on the show floor.

As a production professional, I wondered aloud about Apple's interest in continuing its support for the professional video/film production post marketplace. It is an awful lot of research and development for the revenue they derive from it relative to iPods and iTouches... I still do wonder about Apple's plans as now they are pulling their participation in the tradeshow established to feature their computer platform.

However, I suspect that Apple's sales figures may indicate that tradeshows are simply cost and visibility and don't really have a clear impact on sales and the computer product lines will continue indefinitely. Let's hope so.

The Takeaway

This brings up an interesting overall point. What are your product lines? What is the isolated marketing/revenue/margin for each product line? What's the most profitable product? The least? Which products are in growth categories? Which are traditional and stagnant, or even fading?

Apple's bread and butter is no longer computers. They are a consumer products company. (notice the picture I chose for the lead in this entry...not a Mac) The rent gets paid by iStuff. As really sweet as the computers Apple makes are, they bring far fewer dollars to the bottom line than personal devices like iPhones, iPods, iTouches, and even iTunes...

So...why invest in tradeshows and expensive physical presence at various events? Apple stores are everywhere already furnishing a far more engaging experience for someone who actually wants to buy something than the overwhelming sensory overload of today's tradeshow environments. For pro Apple computer users (primarily in the media/print industries) , buying a computer isn't really a consultative transaction in most cases anymore. They know what it is they need, and interaction with a salesperson isn't on the short list in many cases.

So...what's you're most productive product? What if you marshaled your marketing resources to really propel those products richest in opportunity, and left your less dynamic products (even products that may be, for the moment, the base of your revenue) simply exist for those customers who need them and know where to find them?

What if the best product you've got in the quiver isn't really a clean messaging fit with the rest of your product line? What if it doesn't even fit with the image of the company? (Think about Apple still running under 'Apple Computer'...their core consumer product line doesn't even fit.) What if it was a whimsical side project and was never designed to be a permanent or dominant component in your ongoing business?

Reinventing a business is a difficult thing, and it can be scary. However, the speed of the development/evolution of our target markets demand we constantly evolve with them. No matter what you make or who your customers are, their needs are different than they were 6 months or a year ago.

How have you changed what you're offering them?

TimK

Google University

2008-12-16T06:30:00.001-08:00

For any of us continually working to improve our effectiveness on the web, Google has a resource set they call Google University.

The tuition may be the best value in education going...it's free.

Free training always has a positive ROI.

TimK

The Word of Mouth Manual Vol 2

2008-12-16T06:23:00.000-08:00

The Word of Mouth Manual, Volume 2 by Dave Balter is available online as a PDF (legitimately of course).

The Word of Mouth Manual Volume 2 PDF

It may not be motion media...but word of mouth is an area where so few of us have complete command, I thought the information was helpful to all of us as multi-faceted communicators.

TimK

More Viral for the Holidays...JC Penney's 'Doghouse'

2008-12-15T15:55:00.000-08:00

JC Penney has created a video visualization of what happens to men who buy their significant others the wrong gift...

Amusing and without even a company affiliation until the last title card.

Controversial? Perhaps. Materialism probably isn't the best trend to be pushing right now... Men might be offended if most of us wouldn't be the FIRST to say we really don't know what we're doing when buying the women in our lives gifts.

Wired has some thoughts and has some pro/con as well...

TimK

GM's Viral Video Efforts

2008-12-14T20:32:00.000-08:00

While GM's viral video was posted nearly a month ago (watch it here), the issue seems eternally new...or maybe just eternal.

While I think that GM shows us a good way to use video (or at least a presentation that is video-like) for corporate messaging... Gregory Markel of Infuse Creative gave Fox News a critique of GM's efforts on November 18th and pointed out where this effort left some potential unrealized.

...and also misstepped.

Some good points here, and some solid takeaways for your company's viral video marketing efforts.

TimK

More 2009 Predictions, from the CEO of the Strategic News Service

2008-12-14T20:04:00.000-08:00

Mark Anderson is the founder and CEO of the Strategic News Service, the self described "most accurate predictive newsletter covering the computing and communications industries."

This article with his predictions for 2009, notes a "10 year, publicly graded, accuracy rate of his predictions (of) over 90%."

He makes several specific predictions and wraps up with a claim that in 2009 “our psychology will improve, even if our circumstances will get worse.”

I don't know about you, but I'm considering re-negotiating for better circumstances with continuing mental unbalance...

Give and take.

TimK

BMW-web.tv, some of my favorite motion content deployment

2008-12-12T20:45:00.000-08:00

BMW does a fantastic job with their BMW-web.tv (as you see, they indicate it's in beta).

This is a great example of using video as content on a number of levels.

The clip marked 'design' has Adrian Van Hooydonk, the Head of Design for BMW reveals how he thinks about the 7 series... (pictured)

Is it an exciting pitch? No, not really. No skidding tires, nothing is on fire, no obscure actor portraying a BMW-enabled superhero**, just a quiet presentation of the strategy of the design of the car.

(**...though I have to say the BMW films were almost too fun...'Beat the Devil' was my favorite...Gary Oldman, James Brown, Marilyn Manson...pleasantly warped...but I digress.)

Consumers have lots of places to get exciting pitches. Is it exciting to actually feel like you're "getting into the head" (ever so slightly) of the guy who signs off on the design of BMW automoblies? Yes!

It's interesting because it's different than the way a prospective BMW customer is engaged in print or passive media advertising.

Consumers enjoy feeling smart and empowered, and when they can find content that adds knowledge or insight, they see that as value. Engaging customers by educating them into choosing your product...imagine that.

What are you thinking right now? What if your customers and clients were in on it?

TimK

The Wizard of Ads tells us what to expect in 2009...

2008-12-12T11:30:00.000-08:00

Roy H. Williams, The Wizard of Ads has some thoughts on 2009...

It's not all bad. (...unless of course you're GM or Circuit City.)

The December 8th Monday Morning Memo

TimK

Meet the customer where they are...

2008-12-12T10:52:00.000-08:00

Many times, the hyperbole and hyperprolific growth of new, faster media can distract you from really examining where your customers live. The other day I was having a conversation that dredged up this old story from 10+ years ago...

Mike Syverson, my partner at the time had visited a client with a shipping store/copy service/mailbox business. Apparently a TV ad rep had stopped by and had planted the idea that what this businessperson needed to yield more service engagements with his customers was television advertising. We were one of the production companies he was referred to for creating the ad. Upon sitting down with this store owner and asking relatively few questions, we determined that his goal wasn't to grow explosively...it was to get his current mailbox customers to use his other services.

It seems odd to me that an experienced (or even inexperienced, but somewhat intelligent...or not even really intelligent...you get the idea) ad time salesperson wouldn't have asked the questions necessary to get this information. Maybe they did and simply didn't really digest it. Anyway, the bottom line is that this business owner (who obviously hadn't really thought this through for himself) had his target audience coming to his location already. Why in the world would this small business person want to waste a pile of precious financial resources on broadcasting to a television market of hundreds of thousands of people?

We recommended he create some special incentives for his mailbox clients...coupons that could be simply placed on each mailbox so the customer would have to look right at it when they retrieved their mail, some signage with special promotions for postal box customers in the area of the boxes...all which he could make in his store for almost no cost and relatively little time investment. We turned this customer away because we had a hammer and he did not, in fact, have a nail.

As advertising customers, it's important to trust the facts of the situation, and as advertising content providers we need to be brutally honest with ourselves when we may not hold the answer to the prospective client's problem. As hard as turning away a client can be in a down economy, spending a client's money and failing to get the needed result is far worse.

Huge, bold leaps in advertising are epic adventures to be sure (if you want the life expectancy of an adventurer), but the mundane task of meeting the customer in their location, mindset and point of reference to the world is still what makes marketers successful.

(Yawn)

TimK

Free WiFi across the US? The discussion continues...

2008-12-12T09:27:00.000-08:00

I came across an interesting bit at fastcompany.com today...

"Bush Condemns Free National WiFi..."

This will be an interesting issue to watch...but I think that blanket WiFi coverage is on its way, one way or another. Anyone who's ever had to mess around with Boingo in an airport layover knows that the cel connection on your iPhone or smart phone is more effective, even with the tortoise-like connection. Even slow and free WiFi makes our day a little brighter when we encounter it.

This happens to be an opinion column so take it for what it is, but from a long term advertising marketshare point of view, I can't help thinking that terrestrial broadcasters really do need some kind of a plan to move forward and introduce some sort of interactivity (if not increased connectivity), or the internet and its ability to allow a programmer and a viewer to be asynchronous will simply keep carving into the overworked, overscheduled viewing population's discretionary time.

...and I can't check my bank balance in a Picture-In-Picture when I'm watching a program on TNT...

TimK

More to come...

2008-12-11T13:29:00.000-08:00

"I sing the Body electric
The armies of those I love engirth me, and I engirth them;
They will not let me off till i go with them, respond to them,
And discorrupt them, and charge them full with the charge of the Soul."

-Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

...of course the poem "The Body Electric" goes on to be a lot more "body" and less "electric."

The collection that "The Body Electric" was part of, "Leaves of Grass" is said to have been a pun in its day. Publishing slang of the time referred to works considered to be of minor value as 'grass' and 'leaves' referred to pages...and the entire collection was considered a touch racy for the time ("filth" was mentioned several times in the reactions of many...), and it earned Whitman a dismissal from his job at the department of the interior.

I've always found this opening section of "I Sing the Body Electric" interesting. The name of the blog is obviously drawn from this classically bawdy and uniquely American poem. Think about the 'armies' of television viewers, internet surfers, iPhone and iPod users, and SmartPhone aficionados we now try to reach and engage with various messages embedded in moving images. The interactivity ('engirthing' in both directions if you will...and you might not...) of web messages can add a two-way, multi-event dimension to customer reception of our messaging...and our targeting.

...and how today's connectivity such as email and instant messaging on the web, cel phones with texting, voicemail (and even email alerts whilst we do our personal business in the powder room...) "...will not let (us) off til (we) go with them, respond to them" also seems to hold double meaning with an angle for us today.

As far as discorrupting is concerned...I'll leave that line to the eye of the beholder when it comes to each message, but "...charge(ing) them with the full charge of the Soul" would be a pretty awesome quote from a client referring to how your media motivated customers, wouldn't it?

OK...on that note, I'll be creating and seeking content that helps us all make our moving images more effective messages...and I'll share that with you.

Thanks for visiting.

TimK