Community and Marketing

Marketing Your Ideas - Politics

2008-02-14T21:05:00.001-08:00

I think that Malcolm Gladwell would agree that having a few influential people on your side in a political race can do a lot for you. Some musicians took a speech made by Obama and turned it into a music video. I am not a political supporter of Obama, but this is a great video and this video may be one of the best examples from this election of marketing your ideas and building a community feeling around an idea. That is what people are looking for. It doesn't matter that he doesn't explain how his going to do what he says he wants to do, only that offers the hope that it can happen. That is what people are looking for. Tie hope into your marketing and people are yours.

Kaiser - Get Real pt. 2

2008-02-01T16:14:00.001-08:00

I thought I'd post a follow-up image to my post on Kaiser Permanente's marketing campaign on the busboards in Orange County.

CSULB Restroom Community

2008-01-31T18:12:00.001-08:00

I visited Cal State Long Beach today and had to use the restroom. It was an interesting experience for two reasons. In the restrooms, at least in the Student Union Building, they had placed chalk boards in each stall.

The stall I used had nothing written on it's board, but after looking in the other stalls, I quickly learned the purpose. People wrote notes to each other, put riddles, built upon other people's ideas and jokes. I'm sure the original purpose was to get rid of graffiti, but it actually ended up building a community atmosphere. While I was in there, I heard multiple people laughing and even writing responses.

Here are some of my favorites I found at the urinals.

But, by far, one of the most exciting things of the visit to the restrooms was that I finally got to use a Dyson Airblade which I had read so much about.

Here she is, it was actually a very good hand dryer. I was impressed.

Consider the Negative

2007-12-29T14:02:00.001-08:00

Today I listened to a radio interview of Harvey Mansfield, author of Manliness, in which he calls for a turn from the feminization of our society to more manly men. Without getting into the arguments surrounding this issue, I thought that it was interesting how it didn't seem to matter what Dr. Mansfield wrote or believed, it's what he said that influenced the radio listeners. He may have laid out very logical arguments for some of his points, but because he occasionally made comments which he did not provide the logic for and which, on the surface, seemed extremely controversial, that was what people repeated and held on to. If you have an idea that some people will disagree with, it would do you well to sit down and consider what their arguments against you are going to be. Then come up with your answers to them. This isn't just marketing. This is good business practice in every aspect. If you were to go to a potential investor and they present you with a question or concern that you had not considered, you will look very bad. If you haven't considered what the arguments against you are, there would be no way someone would hand over their money to you. If you hadn't considered what he arguments against your ideas are, an audio interview will certainly bring them out and you'll be stumbling for answers, giving the appearance of someone who isn't sure. If you have considered the arguments and can give your reasoning for continuing anyways, then your confidence will be felt by those that are listening to you.

Focus

2007-12-25T21:33:00.001-08:00

I really liked Scott Young's example of the power of focus as he discussed the importance to not set too many goals this next year.

"How long would it take to set a piece of paper on fire in midday sun? The paper could stay there for hundreds of years and never catch fire because the heat never reaches a critical threshold. But if you put a magnifying glass, the paper can start to singe in just a few minutes."

The sun has intense power and when focused, it can certainly light things up. But if you spread out that power, nothing catches on fire. So, don't spread the power that you have over to large of an area. Set a fire and move on to the next area. (I am not advocating starting fires, it's an analogy for creating change in your life and increasing your desire to do things.)

Good luck this next year. You're a great person.

Referral Based Business

2007-11-20T10:20:00.000-08:00

Duct Tape Marketing had a great short video clip on how to build a referral based business. It helped me with some ideas that I had not considered.

Why I disagree with the Writers' Guild Strike

2007-11-14T13:17:00.001-08:00

You know, the media seems to be sympathizing with the Writers Guild strike, but I just want to offer a different perspective. There is a simple reason that the writers are not entitled to any royalties from web downloads. You see, they didn't contribute to the work. In the production of any product, there are different stages of production. People are paid based on work performed at that stage of production. Look at the picture below. This is a very rudimentary picture and can be applied to any business.You can see, writers are paid for the work performed in the writing stage. Relate this to the production of a physical object you might see around your office. The desk that you're computer is sitting on. If someone puts the screws into the desk, they should be paid. If someone then comes along and paints the desk, the screw person can't say, "Well, are you going to pay me for that?" Your response would be, "You didn't paint it, why should I pay you?" "Well, the painter couldn't have painted it unless I had put the screws in, right?" "True, but I already paid you for that."

Now, if the screw person had actually performed more work as a result of the painter, like having to remove the screws and replace them after the painter was finished, it would be a different story. If the screw person had done anything to add value at that stage of production, it would be a different story. But he/she didn't. No more value was added then what they have already been paid for. Or, I'm sure writers think of themselves as the engine. If someone puts an engine in a car, the car has increased value. If a dealer comes along and sets up a lot and buys the car with the engine and begins to sell it at a higher price because the lot is easier for people to get to and there's better customer service, can engine builder come back and demand more money? No. Absolutely not. They've already been compensated for their work. This is the exact same scenario as say, the writers at The Office on NBC. Yes, they are the engine that makes the end product possible. But they've been compensated for their work at a rate that they agreed to. They would be completely justified in asking for more money at that stage, the writing stage, of production if they feel they are under-compensated. However, just because NBC comes along, takes the product and creates an awesome distribution around it and adds value, does not mean that the writers can retroactively demand more money or demand a portion of the value that NBC has added to it (I'm using NBC because I believe they are the best example of adding value by their online marketing).The work done to distribute through a new source is done by NBC, not by the writers. See below.

Oh, but what about the other royalties that are being paid out? Isn't it fair that if actors are getting royalties, the writers should to? And what about the writers getting royalties from DVD production? Shouldn't they get royalties from web downloads too? Well, if the purpose of royalties was to compensate for earlier stages of work, then yes. But it isn't. Even royalties have the purpose of compensating for current work at that stage. You see, big name actors actually add value at the point of distribution to the consumers. Mainstream Americans will go to the rental store and say, "Oh, Tom Hanks is in this. Let's rent it." If Tom Hanks has recently done something bad, people will go to the store and say, "Oh, Tom Hanks is in this. I'll pass." Thus, big name actors have an interest in maintaining their public image if they are receiving royalties. You see, the value that they are adding at that stage of distribution is being people that attract the consumers to the end product. You can see this example in Mission Impossible 3. Tom Cruise had had a year of being very weird. He had ranted and raved on Oprah's couch and had a child with a young girl. People thought he was weird. Mission Impossible 3, which many believe to be the best of the Mission Impossibles, didn't do as well. A lot of critics believe it's because of Tom Cruise's actions and lifestyle. You see, he took value away from the end product by not behaving. If an actor can take value away at that stage, they can certainly add it and should be compensated for that value.

Now, there may be some people out there who will say, "Oh, Ocean's 13 was written by Brian Koppelman. I loved how he wrote in Runaway Jury, I think I'll get this." There will be some individuals, but not Mainstream America. The value just isn't being added by the writers during the stage of distribution. And so, the writers should not be compensated at that stage. Yes, some writers receive royalties for some forms of distribution. This does not make sense and those royalties should be converted in higher pay at the beginning stages of production, when they're actually adding the value. I'm not saying writers aren't valuable. I believe they should demand more money because I think that they are in many cases more talented than the actors. But they can't demand royalties. That would be paying them for something they aren't doing. They can demand more money at the beginning stages or find a way to add value at the point of distribution. As of right now, the value just isn't being added and so they should not be compensated for it. The solution isn't royalties, it's higher pay at the beginning. This is plain economics. You get paid for what you do, not what NBC or any other distributor does with your content after you've sold it to them.

Kaiser - Get Real

2007-11-01T11:11:00.001-07:00

Busboards across Orange County have been displaying ads from Kaiser Permanente saying things like "Dance Partner First, Patient Second" and showing a woman and man dancing around the floor. This implies that Kaiser first cares about you as a person. We all know that most ads, especially for corporations, are created without any connection to what actually happens in the company. They're just marketing. Some group sitting around a table saying, "What can we do to make the customers feel like they're cared about?" Or even worse, some outside company sitting around a table and saying, "What can we do to make Kaiser's customers feel like they're cared about. But this one seems particularly disconnected because we all know that no doctor, let alone the HMO cares more about their customers as dance partners then as patients. We just know that isn't true. Say it all you want, anyone that has been to an HMO knows it just isn't true. But on top of that, do we even want that to be true? If you're choosing a doctor or health insurance plan, do you want the doctor that talks to you about your dance class or do you want the doctor that knows what they're doing and is competent as a doctor? Well, every study indicates that we want the doctor that asks us about our dance class. You might have expected me to say the opposite, but the reality is, that we want the doctor that cares about us and treats us like a real person. We want the good bedside manners. Kaiser or Kaiser's ad agency read those same studies. But ah, here's where they went wrong. Yes, we want that doctor. But no, we don't want those ads. We don't go to a doctor because the company tells us that they're doctors are really nice. We go to the doctor because other patients tell us that they're really nice. We want a doctor that advertises how competent s/he is and why s/he's a good doctor and then we want to find out from others that they are really nice, or even find out for ourselves. We're not going to choose a doctor simply based on them being nice unless the basis is already set that they are actually a good and competent doctor. There's a baseline that you have to meet before we start caring about you being nice. There is a place for marketing how friendly your doctors are. That can be inside of the office, once the people are already there. That can be after a massive campaign that establishes the credibility of your doctors. You have to meet our baseline first. Don't just create ads based on the same studies that we're reading. Actually be a good doctor and have good bedside manners. You can't create that on a busboard.

Customer Service = Customer Love Fest

2007-10-19T09:02:00.001-07:00

Zappos Customer Service Brings Tears

"When I came home this last time, I had an email from Zappos asking about the shoes, since they hadn’t received them. I was just back and not ready to deal with that, so I replied that my mom had died but that I’d send the shoes as soon as I could. They emailed back that they had arranged with UPS to pick up the shoes, so I wouldn’t have to take the time to do it myself. I was so touched. That’s going against corporate policy.

Yesterday, when I came home from town, a florist delivery man was just leaving. It was a beautiful arrangement in a basket with white lilies and roses and carnations. Big and lush and fragrant. I opened the card, and it was from Zappos. I burst into tears. I’m a sucker for kindness, and if that isn’t one of the nicest things I’ve ever had happen to me, I don’t know what is."

Blog Action Day

2007-10-17T08:43:00.001-07:00

(I somehow forgot to post this on Oct 15.) Today is Blog Action Day. Bloggers the world over are blogging about the environment. I am currently reading, Cool It. This is a must-read. Cool It takes a look at the information contained in An Inconvenient Truth. It doesn't approach the matter from a right wing view, rather it approaches it from a reasonable view. The author says that global warming is occurring and we are most likely advancing the effects. So, what are some reasonable ways to handle this problem. That is the basis of the book. It does not make sense to spend a lot of money, as we currently are. In fact, many of the attempts to go green are actually hurting the environment much more than helping. It has basically become a for-profit business surrounding a hollywood created pandemonium. There are things to do that can help and that should be done, but they fly in the face of what is currently being pushed. For example, if we are really worried about the polar bear population in the artic, we should not worry about 3 or 4 polar bears that were drowned during a windstorm (which was somehow interpreted by Gore to show that water levels are rising) but instead focus on the forty bears that are hunted each year. If we are worried about greenhouse emissions, we shouldn't spend thousands extra on a hybrid vehicle (which the production of causes much more contaminants than the production of a normal vehicle) but buy a regular vehicle and invest the money in fighting hunger so that other countries can get to the point where they can worry about their greenhouse gases rather than eating. You see, nothing the US does is really going to make a big difference. The problem is going to be the development of China and India and other places like that. These are places where many people don't care at all and are just going to do what is cheapest. Our vehicles are now more fuel efficient, along with all of our appliances. If we can help those economies get to the point of being able to buy those things and even progress the technology further, we will do much more to help reduce greenhouse gases than if we spent our money on expensive but unrealistic programs here. You just have to say, "What will really make a difference?" And think of it from an economic perspective.

Make us feel special

2007-10-12T11:15:00.001-07:00

I know it's been awhile since Apple announced that it would give a $100 credit to the iPhone early adopters after deciding to drop it's price so quickly. I've been meaning to mention what a great marketing opportunity this would have been for Apple. I've read elsewhere that some marketers were suggesting a commemorative T-shirt or something that would have made the early adopters feel and look special. Giving $100 when someone just lost $200 is a nice gesture, but still leaves a bad taste in their mouths. When you're in such a situation, where there is very little you can do to reverse the situation, try finding a way to turn the negative into a positive. Those early adopters didn't care so much about the $200. They were willing to spend it. I mean, anyone willing to spend a lot of money on a new piece of equipment like that is doing it because the love the brand and want to set themselves apart. So, help them meet that goal. A t-shirt with a gift certificate would have left a completely different feeling afterwards. Now imagine that customer wearing a shirt that says, "I was one of the first" or something like that. That's feeling special.

Dunder-Mifflin Infinity

2007-09-28T08:09:00.001-07:00

During last night's premiere of The Office, which I blogged about yesterday for their internet marketing strategy, there was a one-time brief commercial saying, "If you want to open your own branch of Dunder-Mifflin (the fictional paper company) go to NBC.com. NBC has set up a fantasy office, much like fantasy football league. You can hire employees, which are real people, there is some sort of measuring system because there are shrute bucks up there, and there will be video and photo postings available. To most people, this would seem childish, but to office fanatics, this is awesome. What an incredible marketing idea. Absolutely amazing. You know that my friends which were all over for the premiere instantly went on and started signing up. We then started emailing each other our codes so that we can all work in the same office. We don't even know how the game is played or what happens, but it's worth a look.

The Office

2007-09-27T16:03:00.001-07:00

Tonight is the season premiere of The Office. Few shows have done more with internet marketing than this one. Usually, during the summer, everyone watches reruns and then a small few get excited for the premiere. But <a href="http://www.nbc.com/The_Office">The Office</a> posted about 15 webclips with video interviews showing what all of the characters were doing during the summer. You see, The Office wasn't about to let it's fan base go months without hearing from them. No wonder The Office won the People's Voice award from <a href="http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php?season=11">the Webbys</a>.

McDonalds Flags at Half Staff

2007-09-11T10:41:00.000-07:00

I was driving by a McDonalds about ten minutes ago and saw that their flag was lowered to half staff. I was impressed and appreciate that token. An act like that, without fanfare, does more for changing the public's attitude towards a corporation than typical marketing efforts. Lesson: Be a corporation of integrity. It will show through.

Just so you know, there are lots of businesses showing acts of patriotism today. The reason I chose to highlight McDonald's is that after certain books and movies came out, a lot of people have associated McDonald's with corporate greed, not caring about the well-being of their customers. That may be true or it may not, but when I saw the flag at half staff, I had positive emotions run through me. That is what I'm trying to post on.

Blog Action Day

2007-09-05T13:42:00.000-07:00

We have here a great example of community effort and marketing. Blog Action Day is an effort to get many bloggers to blog about the environment all on the same day. The intention, aside from simply increasing awareness, is also to have a day when everyone converses regarding the topic. Everyone knows that bloggers are very good conversationalists. To have a day devoted to a topic by bloggers is the same as having who knows how many ad campaigns running on television, radio, and print. Not only surrounding Blog Action Day, but about environmental issues in general, the marketing has been genius. It is now to the point that people feel like they have to be involved in environmental issues and even marketing them for the environmental advocates. Even Google has felt the need. Getting giants like Google behind a cause is better advertising than anyone can pay for. Making them feel like they have to participate because of how they'll be seen in the market if they don't is the goal of a lot of marketers.

Yes, I will be participating in Blog Action Day. No, it will not be the same way everyone else is.

Follow the Logic

2007-09-05T13:05:00.000-07:00

I've seen two bumper stickers in the past few days that made me think about the logic they were using. They read something to the effect of "Don't breed or buy while shelter pets die." There are various bumper stickers around with similar slogans. I find this logic interesting because those sporting these stickers are either trying to decrease the demand for bred pets, increase the demand for sheltered pets, or both. I would assume that the attempt is to increase demand for shelter pets. It is most likely produced by animal rights activists or shelters hoping that people will get their pets from a shelter rather than going to the pet store. But they threw breeding in there also. That is what makes this interesting. If you were just trying to increase demand for shelter pets, you could easily leave it at "Don't buy while shelter pets die." But by including breeding, they are implying it is wrong to supply while there is obviously a demand.

From an economic perspective, do they assume that shelter pets and bred pets are substitute goods. Pefectly, I believe that means that if the supply of bred pets decreases, rather than having a price increase, buyers will instead turn to shelter pets. The reason the price will not increase is that demand and supply are still meeting at the same price. As supply drops, so does demand, but demand for shelter pets increases. We all know that this is not the case. As the supply of bred pets decreases and they become harder to find, the price will go up. This will turn some people away from bed pets to shelter pets, thus having the effect that bumper sticker sponsors are hoping for. But only in the short run, because pretty soon, those with pets will realize that the price has gone up and will start breeding in order to make more money. Maybe by then people will have become accustomed to getting pets at shelters or hearing about others who got pets at shelters, and so demand for shelter pets will remain constant or not be so dramatically affected as it was before. But, without a doubt, there are many that do not consider the two, bred pets and shelter pets, substitute goods. So, those that are breeding are simply meeting a market demand. But by including "Don't breed" in the bumper sticker, the creators are villianizing the act of breeding, the act of meeting a market demand. Not only should you not buy a pet, but they shouldn't even be bred as long as there are perfectly good, substitute goods sitting in a shelter somewhere. To put this in perspective, the logic is that the producer, meeting market demand is part of the culprit. I am not disagreeing or agreeing, simply pointing out that they are in fact making a political statement, maybe without realizing it. Because if this logic follows, then tobacco companies are wrong, not for false advertising, but for producing cigarettes. McDonald's is bad, not because they try and hide the nutritional facts, but because they actually produce food that is bad for you. To take it to the extreme (I'm just trying to follow the logic), a parent is wrong for having a child as long as any child is up for adoption in poor circumstances (maybe some what accept this logic if the children in orphanages were actually being put to sleep as a result of the overcrowding). Even if American children are fairly well taken care of, children in orphanages abroad are much worse off and I would not be surprised to learn that many perish as a result of the conditions. So, following the logic, are parents of American babies wrong for having children? Or are the two groups of children, your own offspring and potential adoptees, not substitute goods (sorry for referring to children as goods)?

If you follow the logic, those placing bumper stickers on cars reading "Don't breed or buy while shelter pets die" should be arguing in favor of mandatory birth control until the world's orphanages are empty. Just a thought.

Online/Offline Marketing

2007-08-29T14:03:00.001-07:00

I am always amazed when store chains operate their website as a separate store, completely unrelated to the brick and mortar. Not utilizing your website as a means of marketing for your brick and mortar seems like a waste. This happened to me one time while attempting to purchase something at CompUSA. I spoke with the sales person about something I had read on their website about a product that they carried and he stopped me to make sure that I understood that the website was a completely separate entity and had nothing to do with the store. Different products, possibly even different prices. That changed things. It just doesn't make much sense to operate like that.

I recently walked into a Target and was interested in their marketing campaign for Back to School. The posters hanging from the ceiling read "Back to looking smart" or "Back to friends" or "Back to favorite subjects." It was an interesting campaign, seemingly trying to highlight everything positive about school, while not actually mentioning it. Interesting tactic. I wonder how it worked out for them. So, I thought I'd check out their site and see how they were marketing their Back to School campaign there. Much to my surprise, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. There was a link in the upper left that mentioned getting the necessities for your dorm room. At first I thought that there was nothing else. Then I found that they do have the campaign on the website, the fifth link down on the left, after all of the "New This Week" stuff and that link is in red, somewhat highlighting it. You click on that and you find a page that I would have expected on the home page. (Note: LinkChecker found over 500 links on Target's home page. I didn't see that many, but there are some AJAX menus that contain lots of links which I didn't personally count. Aside from those menus, there are easily over 100 links on the front page.) After some googling, I found a little game that Target had designed for kids to play with their Back to School products. I don't know how you'd get to it from the home page, but it's there. So, why would Target not highlight their in store marketing on their homepage?

Possible reasons:
1. They have found that a completely different demographic uses the website than those that enter the store. This is possible. Maybe the only people shopping at target.com are buying office supplies and don't have kids and so would not be interested in the Back to School sale. Maybe they've found that those shopping for Back to School items do not visit websites, but go straight to stores or that online marketing does not influence back to school purchases. Who knows. But that's one possible reason.

2. They have a separate online marketing department and the online marketing department has different goals and different benchmarks they are reaching for. This would mean that the marketing department for in-store comes up with the "Back to friends" campaign but it isn't a joint effort with the online department and so they try and get the online department to highlight it after the fact. The online department probably says, "We'll give you a link on the home page." The in store marketing department complains that this isn't enough and the online department says, "Fine, we'll highlight the link on the home page. We'll make it red. Are you happy?" This is because the online department has been working out with precise measurement where to place things and how to increase pageviews and get users to follow-through to other pages and eventually convert to sales. It isn't that the in-store department has bad ideas, they just weren't a part of the planning and so now they're expected to change things for someone else's campaign.

3. Kids are the real shoppers of back to school merchandise and big signs in the store make them excited. Parents really don't care about the advertising, they just want to get this over with and get their kids back in school. The kids don't care whether the advertising shows up on the website. (This could be the demographics issue).

These are all possible. I would lean towards number two. That's sad because it's avoidable and there could actually be some great work done if the two departments worked together.

Your partner makes the difference

2007-08-23T09:04:00.001-07:00

It is no surprise that MTV recently announced it would be closing it's online music store, URGE. Why was MTV's store not able to capture a significant portion of the online music market? Of all entities, surely you would think that MTV would. Is iTunes just too big and powerful? I don't think so. I think that MTV's URGE had it wrong from the beginning, as soon as they decided to partner with Microsoft in the endeavor.

MTV's logic- The majority of people run Windows and have Windows Media Player. If we partner with Microsoft and put a little link in Windows Media Player so that people can go directly from that program and buy music, we will be huge. Everyone will see it, everyone will click on it and go there.

Why this logic does not work- MTV forgot something incredibly important: Microsoft's reputation in music downloads. While it's true that just about everyone has Windows Media Player, if you have ever used Windows Media Player to rip a CD, then you know the reputation that I'm talking about. It took me one CD to decide that I would never use Windows Media Player for my music organization again. The restrictions that were put on my music were ridiculous. It was my music, from a CD that I had purchased, and yet I basically could not use it. Couldn't even play it in many cases. Now, after all of that, if I see a link to a store in Windows Media Player, there is no way that I am going to trust it and buy anything from it. My first thoughts are, "Yeah right, buy from this store so that I can pay all of this money and then not even be able to play it on my other computer, move it to my MP3 player, or move it to my laptop." I really hope that Microsoft has actually fixed some of those problems since the last time I ripped a CD. I hope this still isn't the problem. But anytime a company drastically goes against a customer's expectations, they have years ahead of them of fixing that reputation they have created.

MTV lost the online music store battle because they partnered with a bad reputation company. They looked at it from the perspective of marketers and not users. Fatal flaw. No surprise, someone is getting it right. And of all those someones that could get it right, I am actually surprised that it was Walmart.

Sinking Industries

2007-08-20T09:06:00.001-07:00

I had a conversation with a young guy the other day who is interested in getting into Music Production. He says that the one drawback is that it's a shrinking industry. Musicians are not caring as much anymore about the production of the music and are doing it on their own in garages with laptops. He then went on to talk about the problems facing the music industry as a whole. Not only does he not download music illegally, but he won't buy music as digital downloads at all because the album isn't just the music, but the cover art, the credits, and everything that goes with it is all part of the album. He laments the shrinking industry and realizes that it is getting more and more difficult to find stores that sell albums specifically, let alone vinyls. Right now he has to drive more than half an hour to get to the nearest place. So, naturally, my first question was "Why do you want to get into an industry that is shrinking with a very real end in sight?" I didn't ask that. I knew the reason. He loves it. He talks about the good old days when people were trying to break into their first album and all of that good stuff. He is actually a musician, planning on making an album out of someone's garage one day. So, the question that I really asked was, "Why do you think that people aren't demanding the high quality recording and other benefits of professional music production?" His response was that they were not as well educated on the subject as they should be. Some people might be bothered by the implied arrogance. I wasn't. That is a perfectly valid problem that an industry might face. Many industries have to educate their market. So, next question, "What are you going to do or what should these record labels do to fix this?" He didn't have an answer. That is the part that I do not understand. Everything was perfectly valid, even if I disagreed, until I realized that he was planning to get into an industry that he knew was sinking, without any idea of how he was going to secure things, how he was going to fix them. Why would anyone get into that situation without a plan? How can you possibly tie yourself to a sinking ship and just hope that the market winds start to blow the other direction? Everyone knows that technology is changing the way many industries work. If you are planning to enter one of those industries, be a part of the solution.

Noonhat - Meet new people

2007-08-15T10:38:00.001-07:00

A true community approach to broadening your social circle, meeting new people, networking, and not wasting time, Noonhat connects you with people in your geographic area so that you can meet for lunch and conversation. Meetings involve two or more people, so it isn't creepy one on one (I'd be okay with that, but I understand others not being). I thinkm that this is one of the greatest ideas to have come out recently. Ferrazzi would be proud.

New Blog - Same Stuff

2007-08-12T10:52:00.001-07:00

I have decided to move all content related to marketing and community to this blog rather than writing about those topics at the Peer Help Groups Blog. Mainly because at Peer Help Groups, we sometimes cover topics that people looking for marketing content would not be interested in and those Peer Help Group members looking for content on addiction recovery and LDS topics are probably not as interested in marketing. So, from now on, the content will be separated. I hope that this helps people find what they're looking for.

TV Proof Ad (7/20/07)

2007-08-11T21:02:00.001-07:00

A toy maker in Canada produced an ad that was not able to be skipped by Tivo (source), "to the elation of anxious network-estranged advertisers...it may only be a matter of time before advertisers can ease comfortably back into ad-supported viewing models." Just to have our definitions correct, when Tivo speaks of Tivo-proof ads, what they mean is that advertisers should make their ads so good that the viewer does not want to skip the ad. Unless I'm misunderstanding, it appears that this Tivo-proof ad is actually embedded with a signal that does not allow it to be skipped. That is what advertisers are so excited over. The viewers that do not want to watch their ads, that want to fast forward through them, now are going to be forced to sit there and watch them. I don't know about you, but if I was an advertiser, I would not be elated. You have just completely separated yourself from your audience and ensured a negative experience while viewing your ad. Imagine thousands of viewers watching Tivo, skipping to where they want, seeing your ad come on and not being able to fast forward. While your ad is singing some jingle in the background, the viewers are sitting there thinking every negative thought they can conjure. And you're elated. It seems like someone is missing the point.

Positivity Effect – Age (7/18/07)

2007-08-11T21:01:00.001-07:00

Apparently, as you get older, you are increasing able to recognize more positive emotions in other people. In fact, you start to only recognize the positive emotions and ignore the negative. The studies don't effectively show whether this is due to experience or an actual change in our brain, but either way, that's a change that I would not mind happening a little bit sooner. Luckily, it doesn't seem like someone that I have to wait until I'm older to start working on. I can probably make it happen now.

Greatest Enemies (7/17/07)

2007-08-11T21:00:00.002-07:00

Liberals may not want to read, though I think they should. The greatest enemies within any organization come from within its own members. It is typically the disgruntled members that provide ammunition to those outside who are looking for things that are wrong. The same is true of our great nation. We have many disgruntled members more than willing to provide ammunition to those outside. Most countries call it treason. We call it free speech. And we will gladly send our young men and women to risk their lives to protect that right of the disgruntled members.

It would, however, be very unfortunate if the rest of the world based their view of America on the movies that make headlines.

Movies I don't understand why anyone would want to see:
No End in Sight
Sicko
Fahrenheit 911

When Fahrenheit 911 came out, I was in a very conservative place but surrounded by friends who thought that it was conservative because people weren't thinking for themselves and following their parents political views because, obviously, if anyone did think for themselves they wouldn't be conservative. They were usually surprised when I would tell them that I watched the majority of Fahrenheith 9/11 and laughed at the allegations. I would confront the logic, or lack thereof, used in most of the arguments and my friends would have nothing to say. Mainly because they had not thought about it either. That's how it typically goes. The ones that are claiming to be free-thinkers are the least likely to actually be thinking for themselves. I do try and see it from others' perspectives. I understand some of the problems people have with the Iraq war. I understand some of the problems people have with the Bush Administration. I don't agree with them, but I try and understand them. What I absolutely do not understand is someone's desire to become a bigger part of the problem rather than proactively think of solutions. I don't care what organization you're a part of, I don't understand complaining for the sake of complaining.

Marketing Twist – Give while drinking(7/17/07)

2007-08-11T21:00:00.001-07:00

A small group of recent, private academy graduates is going to take a very simple product and hope to be successful on the unique marketing edge alone. They are going to sell bottled water in which a percentage of the proceeds is donated to a certain charity. The charities that receive the donations are different depending on the label that you purchase. The three labels that will be released soon are Give Life (malnourished children), Give Hope (breast cancer), and Give Love (environmental protection). The marketing tactic would seem to appeal to the targeted demographic. News Story

Other examples of products that were in essence no different than their competitors at the core except for specific marketing like this would include: ArcLight Cinemas in Los Angeles, El Capitan Theatre, possibly Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream (even though many purchase the ice cream for the unique taste and flavors, not for the social marketing), Home Depot (as compared to Lowe's or other home improvement warehouses, Home Depot sets itself apart as a socially engaged corporation), and any other business that takes a general experience and makes it different by targeting a specific group through marketing and experience. The core products in each of those businesses does not have to change, for example ArcLight and El Capitan show the same movies you can see at a regular theatre. Home Depot sells basically the same tools that you can buy elsewhere. Ben and Jerry's probably doesn't belong in that list, because you really can't get their ice cream flavors anywhere else, but you get the point. I no longer go to theatres that don't provide stadium seating. I thought those theatre were so nice when they first started popping up. Now, it's expected. People pay premium for an experience. Learn to give them an experience while using your product or receiving your service and they'll pay double. Teach them that they need that experience and nothing else will do.

*Update: Another product that came to my attention was Tom's Shoes.