At this time of year, when marketers bombard customers with cries to choose their brand for holiday shopping ("50% off Holiday Special!" "Gift Cards for the Whole Family!" "Last Chance for Free Shipping - Guaranteed by Christmas!"), it's understandable why some might confuse our holidays - the "holy days" for our families, churches, communities, and societies - as days invented by marketers to buy and sell and make a buck.
And so, it's nice to see marketers who seem to remember that Christmas, Hanukkah, and our other December holidays are meant as times of giving, of gratitude, of love, of humility, of rejoicing in what our Creator has done for us.
In that spirit of giving, MINI Canada extended some holiday cheer to otherwise frazzled shoppers in this recent marketing campaign:
At shopping malls in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, ad agency Taxi 2 tied three-foot red helium balloons announcing "Your Mini Is Here" to all of the MINI Coopers in the parking lot, helping MINI-owners to easily find their vehicles by quickly scanning the lot.
This stunt achieved three things:
(1) It drew attention to the MINI brand. MINI-owner or not, if you shopped at (or drove past) one of those malls on those days, you noticed bright red balloons plastered with the MINI brand, proudly celebrating each MINI.
(2) It honored each current MINI customer. Marketers sometimes spend so much time and energy attracting new customers that they neglect their current customers. MINI flipped that on its head by lending an unexpected helping hand to each current MINI customer at the mall, and rewarding their MINI-ownership.
(3) It brought joy and laughter to all observers. For the MINI-owners, other mall patrons, passers-by, and us watching the video online, this zany surprise relieved the stress of shopping - or of everyday life - with a few laughs and good-natured merriment.
Bravo to MINI. If a company is going to invest marketing dollars on a PR campaign to raise brand awareness and sales, they may as well invest in a campaign that raises people's spirits also.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Advice from an Alzheimer's patient
One of the best pieces of marketing advice I've ever received came from a woman with Alzheimer's disease.
At one point during my college years, I spent a morning volunteering at an Alzheimer's care facility, visiting with the residents. One elderly lady there - we'll call her Lois - was particularly engaging. We chatted for the better part of an hour. She told me (several times) about growing up in the 1940s, about her husband and kids and grandkids, and about a blanket she was knitting.
She asked me, too, about my life - about my family, my college major, and my career plans. Upon hearing that I was a business major and planned to start a marketing career, Lois became very serious and offered me a piece of advice from her experience. She told me, "Pay attention to the details. The details make the difference. The details are what counts."
Of course, it wasn't until much later that I realized that her words were ones of wisdom, not just the babblings of a senile woman.
The details. That final bit of wordsmithing that changes the tone of an email from demanding to friendly. The watchful eye that prevents lapses in continuity during filming. The slight design tweak that makes a package easier to open.
Sending a handwritten note after an introductory meeting with a new client. Providing scented lotion in the ladies' restroom. Walking a visitor to his destination, rather than saying, "down the hall, up the stairs, fifth door on the left."
The university admissions counselor who delivers acceptance packets to local students in person. The auto mechanic who tops off the vehicle's fluids for free while it's in for other maintenance. The barista who signs her name to each customer's to-go cup.
Any organization is expected to perform their core business correctly. Meet the customer's needs, and they will be satisfied. But it is these additional bits of attention and courtesy that turn a satisfied customer into a delighted customer. That turn an average experience into an exceptional one. That turn a casual shopper into a brand evangelist. That turn a good company into a great one.
Pay attention to the details. The details make the difference. The details are what counts.
At one point during my college years, I spent a morning volunteering at an Alzheimer's care facility, visiting with the residents. One elderly lady there - we'll call her Lois - was particularly engaging. We chatted for the better part of an hour. She told me (several times) about growing up in the 1940s, about her husband and kids and grandkids, and about a blanket she was knitting.
She asked me, too, about my life - about my family, my college major, and my career plans. Upon hearing that I was a business major and planned to start a marketing career, Lois became very serious and offered me a piece of advice from her experience. She told me, "Pay attention to the details. The details make the difference. The details are what counts."
Of course, it wasn't until much later that I realized that her words were ones of wisdom, not just the babblings of a senile woman.
The details. That final bit of wordsmithing that changes the tone of an email from demanding to friendly. The watchful eye that prevents lapses in continuity during filming. The slight design tweak that makes a package easier to open.
Sending a handwritten note after an introductory meeting with a new client. Providing scented lotion in the ladies' restroom. Walking a visitor to his destination, rather than saying, "down the hall, up the stairs, fifth door on the left."
The university admissions counselor who delivers acceptance packets to local students in person. The auto mechanic who tops off the vehicle's fluids for free while it's in for other maintenance. The barista who signs her name to each customer's to-go cup.
Any organization is expected to perform their core business correctly. Meet the customer's needs, and they will be satisfied. But it is these additional bits of attention and courtesy that turn a satisfied customer into a delighted customer. That turn an average experience into an exceptional one. That turn a casual shopper into a brand evangelist. That turn a good company into a great one.
Pay attention to the details. The details make the difference. The details are what counts.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Tis the Season to be Jolly
This morning marked the first snowfall of the season for Abilene, Texas. In honor of this momentous occasion (and not only momentous, but momentary - the snow will be completely melted any moment now, although we appreciate it while it lasts), here are a few fun holiday campaigns to warm up your week:
(1) Hot or Not Snowmen - Target Brands, Inc. presents hotornotsnowmen.com - a collection of photos of the world's most eligible snow-bachelors, and invites viewers to rate each one as "Hot" or "Not". (Bringing back junior high memories, anyone?) Once you've rated one snowman, the next photo appears, providing potential hours of snowman-viewing cheer. A sidebar allows you to share the site with your friends on social media, or to check out Target's Weekly Ad for brand savings.
(2) Santa Yoda - The LEGO Group is promoting its LEGO Star Wars collection with a starfighter-load of holiday-themed fun at the legosantayoda.com microsite, hosted by none other than the jolly Jedi master himself. Visitors can share holiday video e-greetings starring their favorite LEGO Star Wars characters (my favorite involves carolers interrupting a quiet evening at Vader's house), upload photos for the LEGO® holiday scene contest, and add to their own LEGO Star Wars holiday wish list. For every e-card shared, LEGO will donate one new LEGO toy to the U.S. Marine Corps' Toys for Tots program.
(3) NoiseTrade - NoiseTrade.com isn't specifically holiday-focused, per se, but as a purveyor of free, legal music, it naturally has Christmas albums at the top of the list this month. NoiseTrade enables musicians to build their fan base by providing their albums free to consumers. This free marketing model draws many artists who are just starting out, but also features a few more well-known bands, such as Thousand Foot Krutch. If you want to break up the Christmas music with something mellow and folksy, check out my friends Josh Powell & The Great Train Robbery, who just released their free EP last week.
The thing I love about all three of these sites is how they share a bit of cheer (Internet fun, videos and contests, music) with customers, for free. Their first step at building relationships is to give. Certainly, giving entails risk - your recipient might never return your love. Your customers might feast on your free content, and never return the goodwill by purchasing anything.
But it might also lead the way to a beautiful friendship, with customers who think you're fun, kind, decent, and generous, and who are eager to support you and to introduce you to their friends for years to come.
(1) Hot or Not Snowmen - Target Brands, Inc. presents hotornotsnowmen.com - a collection of photos of the world's most eligible snow-bachelors, and invites viewers to rate each one as "Hot" or "Not". (Bringing back junior high memories, anyone?) Once you've rated one snowman, the next photo appears, providing potential hours of snowman-viewing cheer. A sidebar allows you to share the site with your friends on social media, or to check out Target's Weekly Ad for brand savings.
(2) Santa Yoda - The LEGO Group is promoting its LEGO Star Wars collection with a starfighter-load of holiday-themed fun at the legosantayoda.com microsite, hosted by none other than the jolly Jedi master himself. Visitors can share holiday video e-greetings starring their favorite LEGO Star Wars characters (my favorite involves carolers interrupting a quiet evening at Vader's house), upload photos for the LEGO® holiday scene contest, and add to their own LEGO Star Wars holiday wish list. For every e-card shared, LEGO will donate one new LEGO toy to the U.S. Marine Corps' Toys for Tots program.
(3) NoiseTrade - NoiseTrade.com isn't specifically holiday-focused, per se, but as a purveyor of free, legal music, it naturally has Christmas albums at the top of the list this month. NoiseTrade enables musicians to build their fan base by providing their albums free to consumers. This free marketing model draws many artists who are just starting out, but also features a few more well-known bands, such as Thousand Foot Krutch. If you want to break up the Christmas music with something mellow and folksy, check out my friends Josh Powell & The Great Train Robbery, who just released their free EP last week.
The thing I love about all three of these sites is how they share a bit of cheer (Internet fun, videos and contests, music) with customers, for free. Their first step at building relationships is to give. Certainly, giving entails risk - your recipient might never return your love. Your customers might feast on your free content, and never return the goodwill by purchasing anything.
But it might also lead the way to a beautiful friendship, with customers who think you're fun, kind, decent, and generous, and who are eager to support you and to introduce you to their friends for years to come.
Friday, November 18, 2011
The Time Traveler's Golf
It seems that Dutch customers aren't the only ones celebrating history with Volkswagen.
Volkswagen UK, in honor of the 35th anniversary of the Golf GTI, has done a little something special to outfit one 2011 Golf:
Not sure if VW engineers studied under Doc Brown, and it appears they may have made some upgrades (their flux capacitor seems to engage well before reaching 88 mph), but regardless, their return to 1976 has certainly taken us back to 1985.
A visit to Facebook.com/VolkswagenUK allows fans to follow the continuing adventures of these time travelers in their VW Golf, as so far they've witnessed other significant events in the history of Volkswagen and the United Kingdom. Fans can follow the time travelers' updates, watch video recordings of their progress, and even listen to the radio stations of days gone by.
Well done, Volkwagen, in connecting your audience to yet another pop culture icon - this time, by outfitting a 2011 vehicle with 1985 technology. We'll be following you as your Golf comes back to the future.
Volkswagen UK, in honor of the 35th anniversary of the Golf GTI, has done a little something special to outfit one 2011 Golf:
Not sure if VW engineers studied under Doc Brown, and it appears they may have made some upgrades (their flux capacitor seems to engage well before reaching 88 mph), but regardless, their return to 1976 has certainly taken us back to 1985.
A visit to Facebook.com/VolkswagenUK allows fans to follow the continuing adventures of these time travelers in their VW Golf, as so far they've witnessed other significant events in the history of Volkswagen and the United Kingdom. Fans can follow the time travelers' updates, watch video recordings of their progress, and even listen to the radio stations of days gone by.
Well done, Volkwagen, in connecting your audience to yet another pop culture icon - this time, by outfitting a 2011 vehicle with 1985 technology. We'll be following you as your Golf comes back to the future.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Giving a Push, Gaining Momentum
Twenty years from now, when a biographer asks UK band Summer Camp to tell the secret of how they gained such fame, the band members might answer that it's all because of make-up.
Not because of anything distinctive about their own make-up, à la KISS, but because of a promotional partnership with UK retailer Boots' cosmetics brand, 17. 17 Cosmetics selected Summer Camp as the first band featured in its latest campaign, which pairs an exclusive song by an up-and-coming band with each of 17's new cosmetic products.
Consumers receive access to the music video for Summer Camp's new single "You Might Get Stuck On Me" by liking 17's Facebook page, which also shares information about the band (an "indie-electro" duo who are "totally inspired by movies like The Breakfast Club and 80s American teen culture"), and offers a free download of the song for those who share the page with their friends.
"You Might Get Stuck On Me" was written by Summer Camp especially for the 17 campaign, and is being co-branded with 17's new Magnetize Nail Polish, which is fitted with a magnet. (Get it?)
The campaign is an example of how helping one b(r)and get started can help build momentum for two brands.
For any new band, one of the biggest challenges is spreading exposure and gaining a following. By partnering with an already-established brand (retailer Boots and their cosmetic line 17), Summer Camp gets its music in front of potentially hundreds of thousands of customers, who might become fans. Boots, in turn, increases its relevancy and "cool-factor" by becoming a music maven who introduces its young customers to the next major artists (giving customers the prestige of being some of the first fans of the next great band, should the band go on to achieve success).
Thus, a little partnership brings worthy content to consumers, and improves brand awareness and reputation for both partners. Sounds like a hit to me.
Not because of anything distinctive about their own make-up, à la KISS, but because of a promotional partnership with UK retailer Boots' cosmetics brand, 17. 17 Cosmetics selected Summer Camp as the first band featured in its latest campaign, which pairs an exclusive song by an up-and-coming band with each of 17's new cosmetic products.
Consumers receive access to the music video for Summer Camp's new single "You Might Get Stuck On Me" by liking 17's Facebook page, which also shares information about the band (an "indie-electro" duo who are "totally inspired by movies like The Breakfast Club and 80s American teen culture"), and offers a free download of the song for those who share the page with their friends.
"You Might Get Stuck On Me" was written by Summer Camp especially for the 17 campaign, and is being co-branded with 17's new Magnetize Nail Polish, which is fitted with a magnet. (Get it?)
The campaign is an example of how helping one b(r)and get started can help build momentum for two brands.
For any new band, one of the biggest challenges is spreading exposure and gaining a following. By partnering with an already-established brand (retailer Boots and their cosmetic line 17), Summer Camp gets its music in front of potentially hundreds of thousands of customers, who might become fans. Boots, in turn, increases its relevancy and "cool-factor" by becoming a music maven who introduces its young customers to the next major artists (giving customers the prestige of being some of the first fans of the next great band, should the band go on to achieve success).
Thus, a little partnership brings worthy content to consumers, and improves brand awareness and reputation for both partners. Sounds like a hit to me.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Showing Honor
A sign of a healthy society is that people show honor where honor is due.
In America, we have special days set aside to honor various groups of people. Presidents. Mothers. Fathers. Fallen heroes. Grandparents. Bosses. Administrative Professionals. Veterans.
Such days are meant as outcroppings of the love and respect that we ought to show one another every day. A healthy society honors individuals continually, not only for what they do, but for who they are.
We honor the President of the United States because he is the leader of our nation, not because we agree or disagree with him.
We honor mothers, fathers, and grandparents because they have paved the way before us, and are given to us to lead, love, nurture, care for, and teach us.
We honor bosses because they lead. We honor administrative professionals because they serve.
We honor veterans and fallen heroes because they committed their lives and their freedom to protect the lives and freedom of others.
We ought similarly to honor all who lead and serve us. Doctors. Sales clerks. Waitresses. Flight attendants. Firefighters. Police officers. Teachers. Coaches. Janitors. Groundskeepers. Coworkers. Classmates. We don't honor them for what they've done or haven't done. We honor them for the position they've taken - the commitment they've made to lead and to serve. We honor them for their natural position as fellow human beings, worthy of dignity and honor. We honor them because we ourselves are men and women of honor.
When we show honor to others, we show ourselves honorable, and we ourselves receive honor. By honoring others, by thanking them, by appreciating them, we empower them to continue to lead and serve us well. We give them a reason to honor us.
Honor improves the way we lead, the way we serve, the way we live.
Happy Veteran's Day. Show honor today.
In America, we have special days set aside to honor various groups of people. Presidents. Mothers. Fathers. Fallen heroes. Grandparents. Bosses. Administrative Professionals. Veterans.
Such days are meant as outcroppings of the love and respect that we ought to show one another every day. A healthy society honors individuals continually, not only for what they do, but for who they are.
We honor the President of the United States because he is the leader of our nation, not because we agree or disagree with him.
We honor mothers, fathers, and grandparents because they have paved the way before us, and are given to us to lead, love, nurture, care for, and teach us.
We honor bosses because they lead. We honor administrative professionals because they serve.
We honor veterans and fallen heroes because they committed their lives and their freedom to protect the lives and freedom of others.
We ought similarly to honor all who lead and serve us. Doctors. Sales clerks. Waitresses. Flight attendants. Firefighters. Police officers. Teachers. Coaches. Janitors. Groundskeepers. Coworkers. Classmates. We don't honor them for what they've done or haven't done. We honor them for the position they've taken - the commitment they've made to lead and to serve. We honor them for their natural position as fellow human beings, worthy of dignity and honor. We honor them because we ourselves are men and women of honor.
When we show honor to others, we show ourselves honorable, and we ourselves receive honor. By honoring others, by thanking them, by appreciating them, we empower them to continue to lead and serve us well. We give them a reason to honor us.
Honor improves the way we lead, the way we serve, the way we live.
Happy Veteran's Day. Show honor today.
Monday, November 7, 2011
When Life Pauses
There are moments when normal life gets put on hold.
For folks at the university where I work, one of these moments took place last Friday afternoon, when a bus of students and faculty overturned en route to another town for a service project.
The travelers on the bus had intended to spend the weekend at a children's home. Instead, many spent the weekend in hospitals. One spent the weekend at a welcome home party in Heaven.
For those of us who were in our offices, or homes, or dorm rooms when the news broke, life paused for the weekend.
It no longer seemed important that we had to prepare for a big meeting on Monday, or that she needed to make some headway on her term paper, or that they were absorbing the news that their positions would be eliminated within the year, or that he had been planning to go out with his friends that night.
Instead, we started preparing for the drive to the hospital. She gathered with her friends around the TV and their smartphones to watch the incoming updates. They left work early to be with their families. He decided to head to the prayer service instead of the club.
The university's social media channels lit up with prayers, questions, and proffered answers. A little-used "emergency" blog became a flowing newsreel. Local news stations received more 18-to-24-year-old viewers than ever in their history. High school football games paused for a moment of silence. Hostile and critical commenters were nowhere to be heard.
Instead of football, work, entertainment, and rivalries, our attentions became focused on love, family, comfort, mourning, community, life, healing, tenderness.
We've become concerned for students we've never even met. We've postponed important meetings to schedule time for corporate prayer, weeping, and thanksgiving for lives lived and healing begun. We've laid aside differences to offer kindness and compassion toward one another.
Right now, we want to be in communication, and we want to be together. Normal life can wait for a while.
Perhaps it would do us all a bit of good if normal life included more of this unity, communication, and love - without requiring tragedy to remind us of these things.
For folks at the university where I work, one of these moments took place last Friday afternoon, when a bus of students and faculty overturned en route to another town for a service project.
The travelers on the bus had intended to spend the weekend at a children's home. Instead, many spent the weekend in hospitals. One spent the weekend at a welcome home party in Heaven.
For those of us who were in our offices, or homes, or dorm rooms when the news broke, life paused for the weekend.
It no longer seemed important that we had to prepare for a big meeting on Monday, or that she needed to make some headway on her term paper, or that they were absorbing the news that their positions would be eliminated within the year, or that he had been planning to go out with his friends that night.
Instead, we started preparing for the drive to the hospital. She gathered with her friends around the TV and their smartphones to watch the incoming updates. They left work early to be with their families. He decided to head to the prayer service instead of the club.
The university's social media channels lit up with prayers, questions, and proffered answers. A little-used "emergency" blog became a flowing newsreel. Local news stations received more 18-to-24-year-old viewers than ever in their history. High school football games paused for a moment of silence. Hostile and critical commenters were nowhere to be heard.
Instead of football, work, entertainment, and rivalries, our attentions became focused on love, family, comfort, mourning, community, life, healing, tenderness.
We've become concerned for students we've never even met. We've postponed important meetings to schedule time for corporate prayer, weeping, and thanksgiving for lives lived and healing begun. We've laid aside differences to offer kindness and compassion toward one another.
Right now, we want to be in communication, and we want to be together. Normal life can wait for a while.
Perhaps it would do us all a bit of good if normal life included more of this unity, communication, and love - without requiring tragedy to remind us of these things.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Facebook Meets the Sixties
Volkswagen won't be the first auto manufacturer to integrate social media functions into their vehicles.
In the past year GM has added hands-free calling and texting, turn-by-turn navigation, and Facebook features into its OnStar roadside assistance system, allowing drivers to listen to their Facebook news feed, get directions, and respond to text messages via voice command. Prior to that, Ford introduced its Microsoft-powered Sync system, which provides drivers and passengers with hands-free calling and texting, voice-activated music selection, smartphone app connectivity, and GPS navigation.
But Volkswagen might be the first to retrofit these features - or some of them, at least in a manner of speaking - into a classic van or beetle.
One Facebook fan of Volkswagen Nederland will win the title to the Volkswagen "Fanwagen," which will come stocked with a "Feed-O-Matic" Facebook newsfeed printer in the dashboard, a gearshift in the shape of the Facebook "Like" symbol, a license plate displaying one's relationship status, a poke button on the steering wheel, a "Friend Finder" map with one's friends' hometowns plotted on it, a birthday notification system, and privacy settings (Facebook-blue curtains over the windows).
All of Volkswagen Nederland's Facebook fans get to help choose which iconic VW vehicle will come with all these trimmings. As of 8:00am this morning, the van was beating out the beetle with 69% of the votes.
Pretty fun idea from Volkswagen. Not because many consumers will get to enjoy driving a Facebook-connected vehicle (only one will win the Fanwagen, even if the vehicle's features do actually work), but because consumers get to chuckle about this whimsical mix of old and new, and get to vote for their favorite VW classic.
Folks (or "volks") enjoy whimsy, enjoy being connected, and enjoy a little bit of nostalgia. Combining these elements in a social-media campaign can be a great way to create a bit of fun for consumers - and potentially strengthen your fan base.
In the past year GM has added hands-free calling and texting, turn-by-turn navigation, and Facebook features into its OnStar roadside assistance system, allowing drivers to listen to their Facebook news feed, get directions, and respond to text messages via voice command. Prior to that, Ford introduced its Microsoft-powered Sync system, which provides drivers and passengers with hands-free calling and texting, voice-activated music selection, smartphone app connectivity, and GPS navigation.
But Volkswagen might be the first to retrofit these features - or some of them, at least in a manner of speaking - into a classic van or beetle.
One Facebook fan of Volkswagen Nederland will win the title to the Volkswagen "Fanwagen," which will come stocked with a "Feed-O-Matic" Facebook newsfeed printer in the dashboard, a gearshift in the shape of the Facebook "Like" symbol, a license plate displaying one's relationship status, a poke button on the steering wheel, a "Friend Finder" map with one's friends' hometowns plotted on it, a birthday notification system, and privacy settings (Facebook-blue curtains over the windows).
All of Volkswagen Nederland's Facebook fans get to help choose which iconic VW vehicle will come with all these trimmings. As of 8:00am this morning, the van was beating out the beetle with 69% of the votes.
Pretty fun idea from Volkswagen. Not because many consumers will get to enjoy driving a Facebook-connected vehicle (only one will win the Fanwagen, even if the vehicle's features do actually work), but because consumers get to chuckle about this whimsical mix of old and new, and get to vote for their favorite VW classic.
Folks (or "volks") enjoy whimsy, enjoy being connected, and enjoy a little bit of nostalgia. Combining these elements in a social-media campaign can be a great way to create a bit of fun for consumers - and potentially strengthen your fan base.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Who's Your Granny?
"All caps should be knitted by grandmothers."
Or, at least, that's the philosophy of Jérémy Emsellem, founder of Golden Hook, an online purveyor of knitted caps. And so, that's what Golden Hook does - sells caps knitted by real, honest-to-goodness grandmothers.
Jérémy started knitting and selling caps himself when he was a 23-year-old Parisian college student. During a visit to his great-aunt's nursing home, he asked some of his aunt's friends if they would be interested in crocheting hats as a way to occupy their time and earn a little cash. They agreed, and Golden Hook was born.
Golden Hook now employs more than twenty grandmothers (yes, they all have grandchildren - even the youngest, who is 48) to knit and crochet hats made from French wool, merino, mohair, angora, or Egyptian cotton. And these grannies are not just nameless, faceless octogenarians - the ladies post their names, faces and stories on the Golden Hook website, and as part of the ordering process, the customer may select which grandmother he would like to knit his cap. He can even send that granny a personal "thank you" message, or request that she sign her name on the cap's label.
The customer may also customize his cap, choosing between three styles, and selecting the color to be used on each knit row.
(Golden Hook also offers a selection of pre-made, non-customized hats, scarfs, bracelets, and other knit and crocheted accessories, but why be boring?)
What's the draw here? Why are customers interested in knowing who knitted their caps?
Perhaps it's the human element - we enjoy connecting, even in some small way, with other human beings. We like seeing faces and hearing stories. We appreciate reminders that a person is a person, not a number or a machine - perhaps because we, ourselves, prefer being seen by others as a person. We enjoy being known, and so we enjoy knowing.
And so we like it when our server at the restaurant wears a name tag and introduces herself as Jessica. We like it when the barista writes on our to-go coffee cup, "brewed by Bobby." And we like it when we can say that our wool cap was knitted by Michelle, the former hairdresser from Lyon who loves to tango.
When your customers interact with your organization, do they feel like they are interacting with people, or with machines? Even in the most automated industry, can you find ways to foster that human connection? To help your customer feel that she is a person, and that a person is serving her?
Or, at least, that's the philosophy of Jérémy Emsellem, founder of Golden Hook, an online purveyor of knitted caps. And so, that's what Golden Hook does - sells caps knitted by real, honest-to-goodness grandmothers.
Jérémy started knitting and selling caps himself when he was a 23-year-old Parisian college student. During a visit to his great-aunt's nursing home, he asked some of his aunt's friends if they would be interested in crocheting hats as a way to occupy their time and earn a little cash. They agreed, and Golden Hook was born.
Golden Hook now employs more than twenty grandmothers (yes, they all have grandchildren - even the youngest, who is 48) to knit and crochet hats made from French wool, merino, mohair, angora, or Egyptian cotton. And these grannies are not just nameless, faceless octogenarians - the ladies post their names, faces and stories on the Golden Hook website, and as part of the ordering process, the customer may select which grandmother he would like to knit his cap. He can even send that granny a personal "thank you" message, or request that she sign her name on the cap's label.
The customer may also customize his cap, choosing between three styles, and selecting the color to be used on each knit row.
(Golden Hook also offers a selection of pre-made, non-customized hats, scarfs, bracelets, and other knit and crocheted accessories, but why be boring?)
What's the draw here? Why are customers interested in knowing who knitted their caps?
Perhaps it's the human element - we enjoy connecting, even in some small way, with other human beings. We like seeing faces and hearing stories. We appreciate reminders that a person is a person, not a number or a machine - perhaps because we, ourselves, prefer being seen by others as a person. We enjoy being known, and so we enjoy knowing.
And so we like it when our server at the restaurant wears a name tag and introduces herself as Jessica. We like it when the barista writes on our to-go coffee cup, "brewed by Bobby." And we like it when we can say that our wool cap was knitted by Michelle, the former hairdresser from Lyon who loves to tango.
When your customers interact with your organization, do they feel like they are interacting with people, or with machines? Even in the most automated industry, can you find ways to foster that human connection? To help your customer feel that she is a person, and that a person is serving her?
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Making It Easy for Our Online Consumers
The "Science of Sharing" study surveyed more than 3000 consumers in the US and the UK, and analyzed their behavior in researching 12 brand categories - spanning "High Involvement," or higher-priced, more complex, less frequently purchased goods, and "Low Involvement," or lower-priced, less complicated, more frequently purchased goods - over three types of online channels: "earned" (review sites, news articles, blogs, etc.), "owned" (brand's website and social media profiles), and "search" (both paid and organic).
The results grouped consumers into "high sharers" and "low sharers".
"High sharers" actively contribute content to online communities, and are more likely to be younger, to be brand-loyal, to own multiple Internet-connected devices, and to research low-involvement products. These consumers account for 20% of the population.
"Low sharers" are more passive consumers of content; they are more likely to be older, to place more value on quality than brand image, to be more willing to change brands, to research high-involvement products, and to purchased products they have researched. These consumers account for 80% of the population.
The study found that "high sharers" are three times more likely to recommend a product than "low sharers".
And are consumers influenced by the recommendations of these high sharers? That depends (as you might expect) on the product category.
For "High Involvement" products, online consumers are more likely to be influenced by the brand's web site, review sites, and search. For "Low Involvement" brands, social networking sites are more influential. (See fuller results from the study at bynd.com)
So what does this mean for marketers?
- We need to make it easy for consumers to find out about us online. This starts with identifying which channels are most relevant to our customers - based on their preferences and our product category - and ensuring that their experience with our brand on those channels is superb. When they visit our website, consumers should be able to find the information they're looking for, easily, in a visually pleasing, understandable, and transparent manner. When they want to interact with us on social media, we need to be responsive, friendly, and open. When they search for our brand, our SEM/SEO should be such that they find the relevant content they want from us. How do we know what customers want on each of these channels? We ask them.
- We need to make it easy for sharers and reviewers to speak well of us. This starts at the most basic level - our products and services. Do our products provide quality to our consumers? Are they meeting consumers' needs in the best possible manner? Do we serve our customers well? Do customers feel happy after they've shopped in our store, or interacted with us, or used our product? Are our products and services designed with the customer in mind, instead of with us in mind? Do we exceed their expectations? We have to get these things right before we have a right to be recommended.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Who's in the Spotlight?
If you want to host a good party, don't spend the entire evening talking about yourself.
This is a fairly intuitive piece of social etiquette, isn't it? The quickest way to lose a person's interest is to spend an entire conversation focused on you.
On the contrary, a good conversationalist listens. He inquires about the other person. He finds ways to allow his conversation partner to open up about her life, rather than focusing completely on his own. And especially if he's a good host, he'll find ways to place attention on his conversation partner - to bestow praise on her - rather on himself.
This leaves a better impression than any amount of self-promotion.
Some marketers, however, seem to leave their social sense at the door when they come to work. They seem to want their brand to dominate every conversation they have with customers - to use every possible minute to talk about themselves.
What an obnoxious way to bore customers.
Instead, other marketers find ways to shift the focus to the customers. Good marketers (and good salespeople) have been doing this for years - taking time to inquire about and discover an individual customer's needs before recommending a solution; proactively gathering customer feedback; listening to customers as they talk about their experiences and frustrations.
And marketers seem to be relearning their manners more and more as they engage the social sphere online.
Brands are learning to use Twitter to not only promote themselves, but to listen to customers. Some, like TOMS, for one, barely talk about themselves at all on Twitter; they focus primarily on listening and responding.
Brands are learning to use Facebook to put customers in the spotlight, rather than themselves. They invite customers to post photos and comments - and receive recognition - surrounding a common theme or topic, as with Dunkin' Donuts recent "Chance for STARDDOM" contest. (Facebook fans were invited to post photos of themselves and an explanation of what makes them the biggest Dunkin' Donuts coffee fan. Other Facebook viewers vote to select the winner.)
And some brands use social media to help them kick it old school, hosting actual, real-live, in-the-flesh events. Frontier Texas!, an interactive history museum in Abilene, Texas, is using Facebook to garner entries for its "Miss Frontier Texas" scholarship competition - a chance for young women (a segment of their customers) to receive scholarship dollars by completing tasks formerly required on the wild frontier.
So, marketers, how are you treating your customers in your conversations? If your brand were hosting a party, would anyone come? And more tellingly, would anyone stay?
This is a fairly intuitive piece of social etiquette, isn't it? The quickest way to lose a person's interest is to spend an entire conversation focused on you.
On the contrary, a good conversationalist listens. He inquires about the other person. He finds ways to allow his conversation partner to open up about her life, rather than focusing completely on his own. And especially if he's a good host, he'll find ways to place attention on his conversation partner - to bestow praise on her - rather on himself.
This leaves a better impression than any amount of self-promotion.
Some marketers, however, seem to leave their social sense at the door when they come to work. They seem to want their brand to dominate every conversation they have with customers - to use every possible minute to talk about themselves.
What an obnoxious way to bore customers.
Instead, other marketers find ways to shift the focus to the customers. Good marketers (and good salespeople) have been doing this for years - taking time to inquire about and discover an individual customer's needs before recommending a solution; proactively gathering customer feedback; listening to customers as they talk about their experiences and frustrations.
And marketers seem to be relearning their manners more and more as they engage the social sphere online.
Brands are learning to use Twitter to not only promote themselves, but to listen to customers. Some, like TOMS, for one, barely talk about themselves at all on Twitter; they focus primarily on listening and responding.
Brands are learning to use Facebook to put customers in the spotlight, rather than themselves. They invite customers to post photos and comments - and receive recognition - surrounding a common theme or topic, as with Dunkin' Donuts recent "Chance for STARDDOM" contest. (Facebook fans were invited to post photos of themselves and an explanation of what makes them the biggest Dunkin' Donuts coffee fan. Other Facebook viewers vote to select the winner.)
And some brands use social media to help them kick it old school, hosting actual, real-live, in-the-flesh events. Frontier Texas!, an interactive history museum in Abilene, Texas, is using Facebook to garner entries for its "Miss Frontier Texas" scholarship competition - a chance for young women (a segment of their customers) to receive scholarship dollars by completing tasks formerly required on the wild frontier.
So, marketers, how are you treating your customers in your conversations? If your brand were hosting a party, would anyone come? And more tellingly, would anyone stay?
Friday, October 21, 2011
Boys or Men?
A recent article in Marketing News, the monthly magazine of the American Marketing Association, reveals a blight in modern-day marketing efforts: the blight of stereotyping men.
Author Christine Birkner points out that most marketing campaigns are aimed at women, under the assumption that women are the primary purchasers of most consumer goods for a household. Among marketing campaigns targeted at men, she observes, many play on clichéd views of men as beer-drinking, ESPN-watching, buddy-bonding "frat boys."
Perhaps men do enjoy these things - beer, sports, time with "the guys" - and perhaps they need these activities in their lives. But that's not all of who they are, and marketers shouldn't treat them as if it were.
Birkner quotes Ken Wong - a brand consultant, and a man - who reports that "87% of men think that being a father is an important if not defining part of who they are." These men are fathers, providers, leaders - invested in being men of character, courage, wisdom, and strength for their children.
Birkner quotes researcher Paul Jacobs, who found that "one-third of men are single and one-fifth live alone," and that these men are "über-shoppers...buying cars and groceries and hardware" and all the other products in their lives. They want information to help them make good purchasing decisions and steward their money well, based on their lifestyles and needs.
And she quotes Robert Passikoff, head of a New York-based brand research firm, who posits that "there was a time when sex sold to men, but now...what sex does is get attention. There's a big difference between attention and liking and real marketing engagement."
If marketers want to make a meaningful impression on male consumers, we need to appeal to more than just the "beer, sex, and sports" side of men. That's a small segment of their lives - albeit fun and healthy segment, when it remains just a segment.
For real, deep connections and lasting brand loyalty - to be a company who "gets" men - marketers ought to be appealing to all of who a man is: a husband, a father, a son, a friend. A worker, a director. A lover, a gentleman. A thinker, a doer, a leader, an imaginer. An adventurer, a warrior, a provider, a hero.
Marketers today would never presume to treat women uni-dimensionally as just cute, sweet homemakers, and nothing more. We would call that sexist and foolish. Marketers approach women in all their roles - wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, employees, leaders, cheerleaders, coaches, fixers, movers, shakers. Why don't we apply that common wisdom elsewhere, and extend the same courtesy to our male consumers?
Author Christine Birkner points out that most marketing campaigns are aimed at women, under the assumption that women are the primary purchasers of most consumer goods for a household. Among marketing campaigns targeted at men, she observes, many play on clichéd views of men as beer-drinking, ESPN-watching, buddy-bonding "frat boys."
Perhaps men do enjoy these things - beer, sports, time with "the guys" - and perhaps they need these activities in their lives. But that's not all of who they are, and marketers shouldn't treat them as if it were.
Birkner quotes Ken Wong - a brand consultant, and a man - who reports that "87% of men think that being a father is an important if not defining part of who they are." These men are fathers, providers, leaders - invested in being men of character, courage, wisdom, and strength for their children.
Birkner quotes researcher Paul Jacobs, who found that "one-third of men are single and one-fifth live alone," and that these men are "über-shoppers...buying cars and groceries and hardware" and all the other products in their lives. They want information to help them make good purchasing decisions and steward their money well, based on their lifestyles and needs.
And she quotes Robert Passikoff, head of a New York-based brand research firm, who posits that "there was a time when sex sold to men, but now...what sex does is get attention. There's a big difference between attention and liking and real marketing engagement."
If marketers want to make a meaningful impression on male consumers, we need to appeal to more than just the "beer, sex, and sports" side of men. That's a small segment of their lives - albeit fun and healthy segment, when it remains just a segment.
For real, deep connections and lasting brand loyalty - to be a company who "gets" men - marketers ought to be appealing to all of who a man is: a husband, a father, a son, a friend. A worker, a director. A lover, a gentleman. A thinker, a doer, a leader, an imaginer. An adventurer, a warrior, a provider, a hero.
Marketers today would never presume to treat women uni-dimensionally as just cute, sweet homemakers, and nothing more. We would call that sexist and foolish. Marketers approach women in all their roles - wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, employees, leaders, cheerleaders, coaches, fixers, movers, shakers. Why don't we apply that common wisdom elsewhere, and extend the same courtesy to our male consumers?
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Gettin' Jiggy Wit JELL-O
We've known for years that JELL-O is alive...
...what we didn't know is that it can dance:
Yes, JELL-O fans, the day you didn't know you were waiting for has arrived. What Forrest Gump called "some kind of fruit company" and another kind of "fruit-y company" have made it possible for you to watch a JELL-O cube dance to your music.
The free JELL-O Jiggle-It app on Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch analyzes the beats-per-minute (BPM) and energy level of any song it hears, and adjusts the moves of its JELL-O cube to match. Users can build a playlist for their JELL-O straight from their iTunes library on their device, or they can point the device's microphone toward any other set of speakers to pick up some outside tunes.
Users can also choose the flavor of their JELL-O dancer, and can swipe their finger during the dance to add and combine different dance moves.
So why would Kraft Foods spend time building a free app about, well, dancing JELL-O, of all things?
Perhaps to reinforce the JELL-O brand in the minds of consumers.
Perhaps to remind us how fun it is to watch - and eat - JELL-O.
Perhaps simply because it sounded fun.
Perhaps all of the above.
Isn't this why we marketers do everything we do? To create enjoyable - fun, relaxing, stress-free, exhilarating, or other types of pleasurable - experiences for our customers?
Fundamentally, of course, we must ensure that the use of our products and services is enjoyable. And then, if we can also provide enjoyment outside of the product experience, we have an opportunity to indicate to customers how much enjoyment they'll have when they do use our product.
Marketers, have fun with what you do. And make sure your customers have fun, too.
...what we didn't know is that it can dance:
Yes, JELL-O fans, the day you didn't know you were waiting for has arrived. What Forrest Gump called "some kind of fruit company" and another kind of "fruit-y company" have made it possible for you to watch a JELL-O cube dance to your music.
The free JELL-O Jiggle-It app on Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch analyzes the beats-per-minute (BPM) and energy level of any song it hears, and adjusts the moves of its JELL-O cube to match. Users can build a playlist for their JELL-O straight from their iTunes library on their device, or they can point the device's microphone toward any other set of speakers to pick up some outside tunes.
Users can also choose the flavor of their JELL-O dancer, and can swipe their finger during the dance to add and combine different dance moves.
So why would Kraft Foods spend time building a free app about, well, dancing JELL-O, of all things?
Perhaps to reinforce the JELL-O brand in the minds of consumers.
Perhaps to remind us how fun it is to watch - and eat - JELL-O.
Perhaps simply because it sounded fun.
Perhaps all of the above.
Isn't this why we marketers do everything we do? To create enjoyable - fun, relaxing, stress-free, exhilarating, or other types of pleasurable - experiences for our customers?
Fundamentally, of course, we must ensure that the use of our products and services is enjoyable. And then, if we can also provide enjoyment outside of the product experience, we have an opportunity to indicate to customers how much enjoyment they'll have when they do use our product.
Marketers, have fun with what you do. And make sure your customers have fun, too.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Captured by Free
It started with a tweet:
Perhaps because I really like Phil Wickham's music and wanted a chance at a free CD, or perhaps because I was just curious to see what the giveaway was about, I clicked the link.
It took me to a blog post at FreeCCM.com, where I learned that all subscribers to FreeCCM's email newsletter will be entered in a drawing to win one of 50 CDs from some of the top Christian artists. This was my first introduction to FreeCCM, self-styled as "your source for free & legal Christian music downloads."
Perhaps because I was impressed with Phil's and FreeCCM's marketing moves, or perhaps because someone had slipped giddy-teenage-fangirl pills into my breakfast that morning and I really, really wanted a shot at a free CD, I decided to subscribe.
The contest winners won't be selected until October 20, so I haven't received my "you won a free CD!" email yet, but I did receive the obligatory subscription confirmation email, and, within four hours, a second email from FreeCCM, proclaiming "Stream The New Albums From Shane & Shane And Phil Wickham And Download A Free Song!"
Apparently, once a week FreeCCM posts a free download of a track from a popular Christian artist. All one has to do is create a free account on FreeCCM.com, and voilà! one is permitted to download as many of these weekly free tracks as one desires. The site also posts YouTube interviews with each of these artists. And sometimes, as with this Shane & Shane/Phil Wickham email, also posts streaming versions of full albums, with encouragement to readers that "If you like what you hear, be sure to support these guys by picking up your copy of the album at your store of choice, and don’t leave without downloading a free song from each below!"
So, FreeCCM and these partner artists are offering me:
- a chance to win a free CD (on occasion)
- "exclusive" interviews with the artists
- a free track weekly, which I can download and play on my iPod forever
- a free stream of a few full albums, to which I can listen online as many times as I desire
And then they give me a simple, humble encouragement to support the artists I like by following the iTunes link and actually purchasing their albums.
They are giving me so much free stuff that, if I like these artists enough to want to receive and listen to their free music, then I feel compelled to thank them and support them and actually purchase their albums, not just be content with taking them for free.
And so, in an industry consumed (and perhaps with justifiable reasons) with the protection of their intellectual property rights, in which customers are frequently reminded that it is wrong to download and share music without receiving permission and giving payment, and in which the most "free" music that most artists provide is a 90-second preview of songs in the iTunes Store, these artists are, with complete goodwill, warmly and wholeheartedly giving me access to loads of free music.
And, since they seem to place no limit on the number of times a person can listen to the web-stream, nor on the number of free weekly tracks a person can download, these artists must know that people could take advantage of the system. People could simply listen to the freebies forever, without once offering thanks by purchasing an album or merchandise.
But the artists offer this free stuff anyway.
And, quite possibly, earn more fans, and more loyal customers, and more album purchases, and more concert revenues, than the majority of the artists who keep their wares so heavily guarded.
We could stand to learn from artists like Shane & Shane and Phil Wickham. In most cases, it pays to be generous.
Perhaps because I really like Phil Wickham's music and wanted a chance at a free CD, or perhaps because I was just curious to see what the giveaway was about, I clicked the link.
It took me to a blog post at FreeCCM.com, where I learned that all subscribers to FreeCCM's email newsletter will be entered in a drawing to win one of 50 CDs from some of the top Christian artists. This was my first introduction to FreeCCM, self-styled as "your source for free & legal Christian music downloads."
Perhaps because I was impressed with Phil's and FreeCCM's marketing moves, or perhaps because someone had slipped giddy-teenage-fangirl pills into my breakfast that morning and I really, really wanted a shot at a free CD, I decided to subscribe.
The contest winners won't be selected until October 20, so I haven't received my "you won a free CD!" email yet, but I did receive the obligatory subscription confirmation email, and, within four hours, a second email from FreeCCM, proclaiming "Stream The New Albums From Shane & Shane And Phil Wickham And Download A Free Song!"
Apparently, once a week FreeCCM posts a free download of a track from a popular Christian artist. All one has to do is create a free account on FreeCCM.com, and voilà! one is permitted to download as many of these weekly free tracks as one desires. The site also posts YouTube interviews with each of these artists. And sometimes, as with this Shane & Shane/Phil Wickham email, also posts streaming versions of full albums, with encouragement to readers that "If you like what you hear, be sure to support these guys by picking up your copy of the album at your store of choice, and don’t leave without downloading a free song from each below!"
So, FreeCCM and these partner artists are offering me:
- a chance to win a free CD (on occasion)
- "exclusive" interviews with the artists
- a free track weekly, which I can download and play on my iPod forever
- a free stream of a few full albums, to which I can listen online as many times as I desire
And then they give me a simple, humble encouragement to support the artists I like by following the iTunes link and actually purchasing their albums.
They are giving me so much free stuff that, if I like these artists enough to want to receive and listen to their free music, then I feel compelled to thank them and support them and actually purchase their albums, not just be content with taking them for free.
And so, in an industry consumed (and perhaps with justifiable reasons) with the protection of their intellectual property rights, in which customers are frequently reminded that it is wrong to download and share music without receiving permission and giving payment, and in which the most "free" music that most artists provide is a 90-second preview of songs in the iTunes Store, these artists are, with complete goodwill, warmly and wholeheartedly giving me access to loads of free music.
And, since they seem to place no limit on the number of times a person can listen to the web-stream, nor on the number of free weekly tracks a person can download, these artists must know that people could take advantage of the system. People could simply listen to the freebies forever, without once offering thanks by purchasing an album or merchandise.
But the artists offer this free stuff anyway.
And, quite possibly, earn more fans, and more loyal customers, and more album purchases, and more concert revenues, than the majority of the artists who keep their wares so heavily guarded.
We could stand to learn from artists like Shane & Shane and Phil Wickham. In most cases, it pays to be generous.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
What's in a Deal?
A wise man once told me that "a good deal is only a good deal if it's a good deal for both parties." In marketing, as with other business functions, this proverb holds true.
Good marketing must provide something of value - a good deal - to both the customer and the organization. If a marketing strategy only results in the organization making a buck at the expense of the customer, it isn't good marketing. If a marketing strategy provides an exceptional discount to the customer, but fails to result in a lasting and profitable relationship for the organization, it isn't good marketing.
Recently some friends and I stopped at a local SUBWAY restaurant to pick up some subs for a picnic in the park. SUBWAY was advertising this month as "ANYtober" - during October, customers can purchase any regular footlong sub for only $5.
Now, in one sitting I can only eat a 6" sub. So on a typical night at SUBWAY I would have purchased a 6" turkey breast sub for $3.50. But that evening I could purchase a footlong turkey breast sub - a double-portion of food - for only $1.50 more. I couldn't eat that double-portion of food that night, but I could save half of my footlong in the fridge for another meal, thereby getting two meals for only $5.
Two meals at SUBWAY for the price of one at another store? That was a good deal to me.
SUBWAY would get a good deal out of the bargain, too. They would procure a $5 purchase from a customer who would ordinarily have only spent $3.50 in their store. Throughout the month of October, SUBWAY has the opportunity for hundreds more similar up-sales from other customers who might usually only purchase a 6" sub.
SUBWAY's "ANYtober" is good marketing. It provides SUBWAY the opportunity for increased per-customer sales, and potentially increased traffic, as customers choose SUBWAY more frequently over other restaurant options this month in order to take advantage of the discount.
And it enables customers to save money on food they would have purchased somewhere anyway.
Are your marketing efforts providing a good deal to both you and your customers? If not, it isn't good marketing.
Good marketing must provide something of value - a good deal - to both the customer and the organization. If a marketing strategy only results in the organization making a buck at the expense of the customer, it isn't good marketing. If a marketing strategy provides an exceptional discount to the customer, but fails to result in a lasting and profitable relationship for the organization, it isn't good marketing.
Recently some friends and I stopped at a local SUBWAY restaurant to pick up some subs for a picnic in the park. SUBWAY was advertising this month as "ANYtober" - during October, customers can purchase any regular footlong sub for only $5.
Now, in one sitting I can only eat a 6" sub. So on a typical night at SUBWAY I would have purchased a 6" turkey breast sub for $3.50. But that evening I could purchase a footlong turkey breast sub - a double-portion of food - for only $1.50 more. I couldn't eat that double-portion of food that night, but I could save half of my footlong in the fridge for another meal, thereby getting two meals for only $5.
Two meals at SUBWAY for the price of one at another store? That was a good deal to me.
SUBWAY would get a good deal out of the bargain, too. They would procure a $5 purchase from a customer who would ordinarily have only spent $3.50 in their store. Throughout the month of October, SUBWAY has the opportunity for hundreds more similar up-sales from other customers who might usually only purchase a 6" sub.
SUBWAY's "ANYtober" is good marketing. It provides SUBWAY the opportunity for increased per-customer sales, and potentially increased traffic, as customers choose SUBWAY more frequently over other restaurant options this month in order to take advantage of the discount.
And it enables customers to save money on food they would have purchased somewhere anyway.
Are your marketing efforts providing a good deal to both you and your customers? If not, it isn't good marketing.
Friday, October 7, 2011
In Memoriam
Within the past 40 hours, virtually every notable business publication, technology blog, and news outlet has offered a tribute to the late Steve Jobs.
From a brief four sentences on the Apple landing page,
to a five-page biography by Wired,
to Forbes' speculations about the next rising tech star,
everyone has something to say in credit to the Apple founder who revolutionized the way the world approaches computing, music, telecommunication, and publication.
For all his quirks and flaws, Steve Jobs is a man honored for his vision, creativity and passion for beautiful design and a seamless user experience.
My prayer for Steve Jobs is - regardless of accomplishments and failures, strengths and weaknesses, friends and enemies, wealth and poverty - that when he left this planet, he was satisfied with life.
Isn't that something we all wish for? Live your life so that in the end, you will be truly satisfied.
From a brief four sentences on the Apple landing page,
to a five-page biography by Wired,
to Forbes' speculations about the next rising tech star,
everyone has something to say in credit to the Apple founder who revolutionized the way the world approaches computing, music, telecommunication, and publication.
For all his quirks and flaws, Steve Jobs is a man honored for his vision, creativity and passion for beautiful design and a seamless user experience.
My prayer for Steve Jobs is - regardless of accomplishments and failures, strengths and weaknesses, friends and enemies, wealth and poverty - that when he left this planet, he was satisfied with life.
Isn't that something we all wish for? Live your life so that in the end, you will be truly satisfied.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Love Your Customer As Yourself
Nearly every religion in the world endorses a version of the Golden Rule, known most commonly in English as "do unto others as you would have them do unto you," (stated by Jesus of Nazareth in Matthew 7:12).
Confucius stated it as, "Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself." (Analects XV.24)
Buddha said, "Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." (Udanavarga 5:18)
And the Hebrew Torah reads, "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Leviticus 19:18)
What happens to marketers who apply this Rule in their work? Who act based on the customer's point of view, rather than their own? Who evaluate ideas on the basis of how they would feel if they were the customer? Who consider how they themselves like to be treated (or serviced, or communicated to) as customers? Who value the customer's interests above their own?
I would venture to say that these marketers are better able to meet the customers' needs, and better able to make a connection with consumers. And thus they enjoy stronger customer loyalty and stronger sales.
Why? Because they continually do unto the customer as they would have others do unto them.
Love your customer as yourself.
Confucius stated it as, "Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself." (Analects XV.24)
Buddha said, "Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." (Udanavarga 5:18)
And the Hebrew Torah reads, "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Leviticus 19:18)
What happens to marketers who apply this Rule in their work? Who act based on the customer's point of view, rather than their own? Who evaluate ideas on the basis of how they would feel if they were the customer? Who consider how they themselves like to be treated (or serviced, or communicated to) as customers? Who value the customer's interests above their own?
I would venture to say that these marketers are better able to meet the customers' needs, and better able to make a connection with consumers. And thus they enjoy stronger customer loyalty and stronger sales.
Why? Because they continually do unto the customer as they would have others do unto them.
Love your customer as yourself.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Marketing: The 3,500-Pound Weapon
On my first day of driver's education, my instructor gave me one word of warning: "Haley, remember, you're in the driver's seat of a 3,500-pound weapon."
He said this to teach me a respect for the vehicle I was driving. I needed to recognize that an automobile is not a toy, but a very large, very powerful tool. This tool could be very useful to me. But if I used that tool improperly, someone could be hurt - or even killed.
Marketers use a set of tools with similar potential for much usefulness or much harm. The design we choose for our products; the pricing model we set; the sources of our supplies and labor; our manufacturing processes and distribution channels; the way we communicate with customers; the messages we send; the language we use; the values we promote - all of these things can be beneficial for identifying the needs of customers and delivering products that serve their needs.
However, when used wrongly, marketing tools can also do much damage - causing an organization to hurt or lose customers, lose marketshare, or hurt its reputation.
So how do marketers use their tools dangerously? Let's take some examples from driving school.
Tools become weapons when their drivers:
(1) Stop paying attention. When a driver stops noticing what is going on around her, she is driving dangerously. She is at risk of ignoring a lane change, missing a traffic signal, or failing to stop for the brake lights in front of her. When a marketer stops observing her organization's position in the market and the movements of customers and competitors around her, she similarly impedes her ability to respond to changes, or even to continue moving in the right direction.
(2) Move too fast for the conditions. A driver moves too fast when his speed prevents him from maintaining control of his vehicle and adjusting safely to unexpected changes along the road. Driving too fast can occur out of recklessness (i.e. cruising well over the speed limit just to see "how fast this baby can go") or failure to pay attention to warning signs (i.e. a speed limit sign, or the start of a rain shower). Marketers must use appropriate timing, and pace their actions based on the market conditions and their own capacity.
(3) Fail to yield the right-of-way. Car accidents are often caused by the failure of one driver to yield appropriately to the other, as when a driver runs a red light, or pulls out in front of another driver. Similarly, a marketer fails to yield the right of way when she fails to yield to the customer's needs and opinions instead of her own. When the marketer forgets that the customer comes first, crashes (or clashes) happen.
Remember, marketers, you have plenty of tools at your disposal - tools that are powerful. Tools that are 3,500-pound weapons. Use them respectfully and responsibly to bring benefit - not harm - to your organization, your customers, and your world.
He said this to teach me a respect for the vehicle I was driving. I needed to recognize that an automobile is not a toy, but a very large, very powerful tool. This tool could be very useful to me. But if I used that tool improperly, someone could be hurt - or even killed.
Marketers use a set of tools with similar potential for much usefulness or much harm. The design we choose for our products; the pricing model we set; the sources of our supplies and labor; our manufacturing processes and distribution channels; the way we communicate with customers; the messages we send; the language we use; the values we promote - all of these things can be beneficial for identifying the needs of customers and delivering products that serve their needs.
However, when used wrongly, marketing tools can also do much damage - causing an organization to hurt or lose customers, lose marketshare, or hurt its reputation.
So how do marketers use their tools dangerously? Let's take some examples from driving school.
Tools become weapons when their drivers:
(1) Stop paying attention. When a driver stops noticing what is going on around her, she is driving dangerously. She is at risk of ignoring a lane change, missing a traffic signal, or failing to stop for the brake lights in front of her. When a marketer stops observing her organization's position in the market and the movements of customers and competitors around her, she similarly impedes her ability to respond to changes, or even to continue moving in the right direction.
(2) Move too fast for the conditions. A driver moves too fast when his speed prevents him from maintaining control of his vehicle and adjusting safely to unexpected changes along the road. Driving too fast can occur out of recklessness (i.e. cruising well over the speed limit just to see "how fast this baby can go") or failure to pay attention to warning signs (i.e. a speed limit sign, or the start of a rain shower). Marketers must use appropriate timing, and pace their actions based on the market conditions and their own capacity.
(3) Fail to yield the right-of-way. Car accidents are often caused by the failure of one driver to yield appropriately to the other, as when a driver runs a red light, or pulls out in front of another driver. Similarly, a marketer fails to yield the right of way when she fails to yield to the customer's needs and opinions instead of her own. When the marketer forgets that the customer comes first, crashes (or clashes) happen.
Remember, marketers, you have plenty of tools at your disposal - tools that are powerful. Tools that are 3,500-pound weapons. Use them respectfully and responsibly to bring benefit - not harm - to your organization, your customers, and your world.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Reaching "Young" Adults
On a flight earlier this week, I sat next to a lady who offered to share with me one of her recently purchased fashion magazines - a genre of publication I don't usually find worthwhile to read. However, I accepted her offer, and spent part of our time airborne browsing through photos of overpriced clothing, interviews with up-and-coming celebrities, and reviews of new television shows, movies and books.
One of these reviews provided some interesting commentary on 21st-century American culture. It discussed a new reality show - one of several, I know - about a few sets of young married couples. These particular couples use expletives to show affection for their newborns, are more likely to play video games than watch the news, and, at thirty years old, exhibit parenting styles closer to those they watch now on Teen Mom than to those they grew up watching on Full House.
The show reflects - albeit in a somewhat extreme fashion - a cultural shift toward lingering "youthfulness" into a person's twenties and thirties.
In the mid-20th century, western society perceived a young person as an "adult" when he or she graduated high school (and usually entered the full-time workforce, got married, and started a family) around age 18.
In the early-21st century, this transition to adulthood has been delayed. Young people now tend to report that they don't feel like "adults" until age 25 or 26. Studies indicate that contributing factors include the proclivity of Generations X and Y to pursue college and graduate school; to switch career paths early; and to get married later.
(For more on this phenomenon, see studies such as these.)
So, how do marketers respond to this emerging set of "early adults" (as distinct from adolescents and full adults) and the tendency even of middle-aged adults to continue to enjoy youthful activities?
A few have opted to appeal to the fun, youthful side of our adults, while recognizing and applauding their adult responsibilites, such as...
...raising a family...
(see more on the Toyota Sienna at youtube.com/sienna)
...and maintaining digestive health.
(see more on FiberOne's "magic" brownies at fiberone.com/magicbrownie)
Has your organization adopted any means of simultaneously appealing to the youthfulness and the responsibility of 21st-century adults?
One of these reviews provided some interesting commentary on 21st-century American culture. It discussed a new reality show - one of several, I know - about a few sets of young married couples. These particular couples use expletives to show affection for their newborns, are more likely to play video games than watch the news, and, at thirty years old, exhibit parenting styles closer to those they watch now on Teen Mom than to those they grew up watching on Full House.
The show reflects - albeit in a somewhat extreme fashion - a cultural shift toward lingering "youthfulness" into a person's twenties and thirties.
In the mid-20th century, western society perceived a young person as an "adult" when he or she graduated high school (and usually entered the full-time workforce, got married, and started a family) around age 18.
In the early-21st century, this transition to adulthood has been delayed. Young people now tend to report that they don't feel like "adults" until age 25 or 26. Studies indicate that contributing factors include the proclivity of Generations X and Y to pursue college and graduate school; to switch career paths early; and to get married later.
(For more on this phenomenon, see studies such as these.)
So, how do marketers respond to this emerging set of "early adults" (as distinct from adolescents and full adults) and the tendency even of middle-aged adults to continue to enjoy youthful activities?
A few have opted to appeal to the fun, youthful side of our adults, while recognizing and applauding their adult responsibilites, such as...
...raising a family...
(see more on the Toyota Sienna at youtube.com/sienna)
...and maintaining digestive health.
(see more on FiberOne's "magic" brownies at fiberone.com/magicbrownie)
Has your organization adopted any means of simultaneously appealing to the youthfulness and the responsibility of 21st-century adults?
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Managing Busyness
I've concluded that if too much busyness is what drove me to regrettably stop blogging and stop reading a year ago, then perhaps I can use all the help I can get in learning how to better manage busyness.
I've been trying to glean wisdom from authors and mentors about managing busyness, and in the process, a few thoughts have surfaced in my mind:
An Inc.com article from yesterday offered me some good insight about this last point. Please enjoy the wisdom from this brief conversation between Inc.com writer Marla Tabaka and author Peter Bregman: "Mastering Distraction in 18 Minutes"
I've been trying to glean wisdom from authors and mentors about managing busyness, and in the process, a few thoughts have surfaced in my mind:
- Busyness in itself isn't a bad thing, provided that it doesn't rule our lives. As with everything else in life, busyness needs boundaries. Healthy human beings know how to be productive and to make the most of their time, but they also know how to rest, enjoy life, be at peace, and build relationships with those they care about. They give equal importance to both busyness and stillness. They manage their busyness; their busyness doesn't manage them.
- We ought to be busy about the right things. Highly motivated and highly competent people, perhaps most of all, seem prone to pursue too many things at once - because they see that those things are good ideas, because they believe that no one else will do those things correctly if they themselves don't, or because they fear missing a good opportunity. But not every good idea is the right idea to pursue. Healthy human beings know how to say "no" to some good ideas in order to say "yes" to the right ideas.
An Inc.com article from yesterday offered me some good insight about this last point. Please enjoy the wisdom from this brief conversation between Inc.com writer Marla Tabaka and author Peter Bregman: "Mastering Distraction in 18 Minutes"
Monday, September 26, 2011
Ideas. And the Return of Haley's Marketing Blog.
Dear readers,
It's been a long time - a year, in fact - since I last wrote to you of any ideas surfacing in this young, developing marketer's head.
After a year's hiatus, I now return. I look forward to sharing with you some of the things I've learned over the past year, and many more things that I will continue to learn as I recommence exploring marketing ideas with you.
For now, let me share just one thing I've learned during my break from blogging - the reason for my return:
When we stop growing, we start dying.
I'd heard this adage before, and thought it applied mainly to biology: when a creature stops growing (for humans, around age eighteen), it slowly starts to die. I didn't realize how much this maxim applied professionally.
When we as professionals stop learning and observing and growing, our ability to contribute and improve and add value in our profession starts to die.
Business professionals must keep growing and learning if we're going to keep contributing value. When we stop learning from new ideas, and start relying on our old thoughts and ideas and ways of doing things, we stop being effective and relevant in the work we do.
I stopped blogging last September because I felt that the busyness of life was causing my blog to suffer, and that it would be better to step away from blogging until I could reduce the busyness and more fully devote my attention to searching out and writing about fresh ideas in marketing. I thought this decision would help me to stay sane (or at least, get enough sleep at night), be happier, and improve the quality of my work all around.
I was wrong.
Quite the opposite happened, actually. For when I stopped blogging, I stopped reading the marketing journals and magazines that inspired my blog posts. When I stopped reading, I stopped learning. When I stopped learning, I stopped discovering fresh ideas to apply to my work. When I stopped discovering fresh ideas, I stopped contributing as much to my organization, and stopped feeling as happy at work.
This year has reminded me how important it is to keep learning. In their book The Idea Hunter: How to Find the Best Ideas and Make Them Happen, Andy Boynton and Bill Fischer emphasize that successful professionals continuously and intentionally "hunt" for ideas: they observe, they ask questions, they take a deep interest in diverse subjects and people, and they immerse themselves in the ideas of others. They "sell" the best hour of their day to themselves for the purpose of learning, searching out, and discovering ideas.
It makes sense. We can't make something out of nothing. Everything - whether an organism, an automobile, or a manufacturing plant - requires inputs in order to produce outputs. If I'm to produce new ideas that will improve the quality of our products, the efficiency of our processes, or the way we serve customers, then I must first - and continually - take in ideas from the world around me.
And so I've returned to blogging, partially to continue serving you with ideas, but mostly for selfish reasons: I want to start generating ideas again, and blogging is my impetus to read, observe, and receive the inspiration that will let my ideas start flowing again.
I encourage you to join me in searching out ideas. Ideas that will serve your industry, your organization, and your customers. And as a result, your career.
It's good to be back.
Cheers,
Haley
It's been a long time - a year, in fact - since I last wrote to you of any ideas surfacing in this young, developing marketer's head.
After a year's hiatus, I now return. I look forward to sharing with you some of the things I've learned over the past year, and many more things that I will continue to learn as I recommence exploring marketing ideas with you.
For now, let me share just one thing I've learned during my break from blogging - the reason for my return:
When we stop growing, we start dying.
I'd heard this adage before, and thought it applied mainly to biology: when a creature stops growing (for humans, around age eighteen), it slowly starts to die. I didn't realize how much this maxim applied professionally.
When we as professionals stop learning and observing and growing, our ability to contribute and improve and add value in our profession starts to die.
Business professionals must keep growing and learning if we're going to keep contributing value. When we stop learning from new ideas, and start relying on our old thoughts and ideas and ways of doing things, we stop being effective and relevant in the work we do.
I stopped blogging last September because I felt that the busyness of life was causing my blog to suffer, and that it would be better to step away from blogging until I could reduce the busyness and more fully devote my attention to searching out and writing about fresh ideas in marketing. I thought this decision would help me to stay sane (or at least, get enough sleep at night), be happier, and improve the quality of my work all around.
I was wrong.
Quite the opposite happened, actually. For when I stopped blogging, I stopped reading the marketing journals and magazines that inspired my blog posts. When I stopped reading, I stopped learning. When I stopped learning, I stopped discovering fresh ideas to apply to my work. When I stopped discovering fresh ideas, I stopped contributing as much to my organization, and stopped feeling as happy at work.
This year has reminded me how important it is to keep learning. In their book The Idea Hunter: How to Find the Best Ideas and Make Them Happen, Andy Boynton and Bill Fischer emphasize that successful professionals continuously and intentionally "hunt" for ideas: they observe, they ask questions, they take a deep interest in diverse subjects and people, and they immerse themselves in the ideas of others. They "sell" the best hour of their day to themselves for the purpose of learning, searching out, and discovering ideas.
It makes sense. We can't make something out of nothing. Everything - whether an organism, an automobile, or a manufacturing plant - requires inputs in order to produce outputs. If I'm to produce new ideas that will improve the quality of our products, the efficiency of our processes, or the way we serve customers, then I must first - and continually - take in ideas from the world around me.
And so I've returned to blogging, partially to continue serving you with ideas, but mostly for selfish reasons: I want to start generating ideas again, and blogging is my impetus to read, observe, and receive the inspiration that will let my ideas start flowing again.
I encourage you to join me in searching out ideas. Ideas that will serve your industry, your organization, and your customers. And as a result, your career.
It's good to be back.
Cheers,
Haley
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