May 10, 2011 | Branding, Change, Marketing, Social Media
Branding and brand marketing has always been about finding customers for a product, a “build it and they will come” approach. But life, and the world has changed from just 20 years ago.
I remember the day I saw my first fax, an astonishing tool, but I have not used one in 10 years. At that time I worked for a large company, and the “Boss” got anxious if he could not walk down the corridor and talk at (deliberate grammatical error there) anyone he wanted to, at any time, without the risk of anyone either contradicting him, or not doing as they were told.
Now.. That boss is as relevant as a dinosaur, the world of marketing is all about the individual, “find a customer, and build what they want!” It is products for customers, and the tools of the last 20 years have made the middlemen of previous generations, that command and control boss I had, the advertising agencies, promotional consultants, creepy blokes from universities who you just knew could never have sold a box of matches to a freezing man, irrelevant. The difference is the e-tools that have emerged over the last 20 years, transparency, and the flexibility and opportunity they bring is brings is king, although most institutions hate it, as they survive by hiding things.
When everyone can be a publisher of news, books, photos, ideas, the barrier to entry of needing a printing press is gone, all it takes is $600 for a computer and connection, and if you are really skint, go to the local public library and publish for free.
Morgan Spurlock has made his point in several independent films very differently, he now does it again, by selling naming rights to his TED talk, as he says, probably the only time it will happen. Worth a look.
May 8, 2011 | Innovation, Social Media
Does the technology that enables stuff to be done come before the creativity to figure out what to do with it, or does the creativity drive the innovation in technology. Who really knows, and it probably does not really matter, fact is that they feed off each other.
The iPad started a revolution that not only spawned a host of imitators, but a new industry, “Apps” which will turn over 10 billion this year, from a standing start 2 years ago. Just astonishing, but the innovation has only just started.
Publishing has been changed forever by the web, although many publishing companies have still to come to terms with this, but if ever the current e-book revolution we are now used to was not a death knell for traditional publishing, this one is, demonstrated in this short TED video by Mike Matas
May 5, 2011 | Leadership, Management
Most of us tacitly understand that winning leadership styles differ depending on circumstances, that the bloke who was great at starting a business, and getting it running is not necessarily the one to lead it into maturity.
Most commentators on leadership have watched the comings and goings of Steve Jobs at Apple, and seen the relationship between success and the near death experience that occurred concurrent with his presence, and have at least read Andy Goves’s analysis in “Only the paranoid survive”.
The literature on leadership focuses on what Ben Horowitz calls “times of peace” but the “times of war” are what kills us.
Bens short post on Wartime CEO/Peacetime CEO sets the context of leadership in war and peace, I particularly like the comparison:
“Peacetime CEO sets big, hairy audacious goals. Wartime CEO is too busy fighting the enemy to read management books written by consultants who have never managed a fruit stand”, which is just so true!
May 4, 2011 | Communication, Customers, Marketing, Small business, Social Media
The technical solutions emerging are fantastic, but how often do you see the technology get in the way of genuine interaction with a customer?.
Like any tool, the tech-tools of the 21st century are only as good as their users, and if their users are technology obsessed, as many seem to be, so what? How does that add value to the consumer?
The great opportunity is to use the tools to become customer obsessed, and genuinely deliver value and benefit to customers by intimately engaging with them and their needs.
It takes effort, and the right culture to support the effort, but “micro-marketing” to consumers, meeting their individual needs via the tech tools will become the driver of success in the future.
May 3, 2011 | Marketing, Social Media, Strategy
A friend works for the local council who have banned the use of social media, “Just a time-waster” is the view.
Here’s the thing, I thought local councils were there to serve the community, to reflect the way they think, work, bring up their families and play in the manner in which their rates are used to provide services. How can they do that efficiently when they do not communicate in the way their constituency communicates? How can they connect and engage?.
Social networking is not primarily about sales, or brand building, or communicating widely, it is about relationships.
Successful relationships can lead to those other things, they can be a useful outcome, but if you make them the objective, the relationship will not build, and it is the relationships that evolve into sales and brand preference.
Social networking is more P2P, (person to person) than B2B or B2C, and as in any relationship, you need to put in before you can take out.
