Can Goliath become David?

Can a large established company start over? As the economy evolves, more and more companies are finding themselves in situations where the model they have been using to become so profitable is literally dropping out from under their feet. For example, Blockbuster once Netflix came along.

It's impossible to see where and when these market trends will change but more companies are trying to gauge for it. But can they really start over or is their too much baggage?

Some larger companies are setting up remote groups that work in different locations and are autonomous from the rest of the organization. The hope is that these groups are free from the traditional company bureaucracy to create something truly creative and new.

The idea is valid, the execution is flawed. When GM decided to take everything they knew and start over, they came up with Saturn. Some people think that it was successful because of customer loyalty and things like that, but overall it is not held up as a huge success.  That's because they weren't a true start-up. They all received paychecks, they all knew they had the backing of the mothership. They were missing some key elements in order to truly be creative. When you take away the panic, and people aren't facing success or failure, you have just eliminated the creativity you need to evolve.

Like it or not, that kill or be kill mentality is necessary for true innovation. There is chaos in start-ups and that is where the innovation lies.  Large companies spend millions of dollars a year to "streamline" or "create efficiencies" around chaos, which makes real innovation impossible.

Avoid the Airport

Traveling through the airport yesterday afternoon I started to think about the "Airport" as a brand.  If you stop and think about it, "The Airport" is a microcosm for what your brand faces in the real marketplace.

There are high-end and low-end brands right next to each other, the owners of each airport have their own way of running things so the customer experience is always different, your luggage gets lost and no one seems to care, the food you eat at the airport (any food) is awful, the bathrooms seem like something out of a refugee camp, the weather can ground you and it's not "their" fault, cab drivers are yelling for you to get in their car, etc...  I hope you get the point.

When people say "I hate airports", they mean the whole package. It's this way because over time a lot of small decisions have been made and the result is a bad stew. No one can pinpoint the cause, but no one likes the taste.

No matter how much you try to manage your brand image, the delivery system that is the airport, makes it a wasted exercise. When brands try to build distribution quickly by using sales networks, independent reps and outside facilities, you may end up as the "Airport". Band-aid after band-aid work for a while, but at some point you have to sit down and say it's time for major surgery.  Your delivery system is the way consumers see your brand and you have no control over 90% of their experience.

As marketers we have to find a way through the clutter,  but working day in and day out in a broken system is futile.  Think of new ways to deliver your message and your product. It's an uphill climb but at some point you have to change what isn't working around you.

Can Social Media Unite Washington

Washington has a problem!!!!! I'm not trying to be the master of the obvious, but they need social media in a bad way.  Not to announce events or upcoming votes, but to listen.

Major brands over the past few years have learned a valuable lesson that they can teach Washington. They have learned that talking at consumers doesn't work anymore.  You have to engage them in a two way conversation and be willing to listen to the good and the bad.  Show them that you are listening and watch them come back.

Washington is stuck and hasn't realized how to listen.  When a politician gets up to say " I think the American people want this," it's misleading.  They can't know what we want unless they start listening.

Both parties are responsible and both have to solve it. In order to do that, they have to learn to listen and social media is the best, real time, way to do that.   Ask brands that have adopted this model, they are stronger and better for having opened themselves to outside opinions.

Good luck, Washington. I hope someone inside the beltway is listening!








 

Diamond on my soles: Ahnu Shoes

Don't you love it when someone says to you, "Nice shoes"? 

Every single time I wear my Ahnu shoes, whether they are sneakers, boots or shoes, I get that great compliment. 

But I shouldn't be surprised - this is the same team that brought us Tsubo. Don't know Tsubo? Well, there you go - Two diamonds to check out! www.ahnu.com and www.tsubo.com

A Diamond in the Rough, with room for cream: Bicycle Coffee Co.

Locally roasted in one, open flame, 20-pound drum, every single pound of this organic, fair-trade, family-farmed coffee is delivered - get this - by bicycle! Yes, Bicycle Coffee pedal their weekly deliveries up the hills of San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley. Even their stand, with propane burners brewing over 500 cups for farmers market shoppers is biked to its destination.

And here's the kicker: their coffee is so good, I'd ride 20 miles for a cup! Not really, but they do make great coffee.

www.bicyclecoffeeco.com

Where's my wallet?

Earlier today Google announced that is releasing Google Wallet. A mobile app that turns your phone in your wallet. It holds your credit cards, your coupons, your plane tickets etc... We all knew this was coming, but is this for real? It will take time to tell, but it should give you a glimpse of the future. The companies that think different, not just big, win. It used to be that the big companies sat in a tall tower and the small guys had to wait their turn in line. Now startups are showing us every month that if you can't compete with what is out there, recreate the market. Even though they are a big company, Google is trying this with Google Wallet. Let's give them credit (pun intended) for being innovative and forward thinking, but I think they could have gone further. Partnering with MasterCard and Chase and the other big guys in a few months doesn't recreate the model, it perpetuates the existing model that is broken. Big banks don't work and people don't trust them, so why jump in bed with them on this project. We all know there are a ton of reasons, but Google is big enough to take on the big banks and they could have used Square or SimpleBank as their partner, giving a leg up to a couple startups. It would have sent a message and given the banks a real competitor who could have encouraged change. If we do use Google Wallet as our day to day payment tool, we don't what it to look like what we have already, we want it to be better. Google should know that, and if you are thinking different

Birth of a Brand

Where do brands come from? They come from inside and the good ones remain authentic. Branding is Non-fIction, ok it isn't always true, but the ones you remember and believe in are real. They have stories that have to be true because no one could make them up. Take Teton Gravity Research (TGR for you skiers). Here were a couple of brothers from Cape Cod that worked on commercial fishing boats in Alaska, saved up their money, moved to Jackson Hole, WY and started filming their friends skiing. Now 15 plus years later, they are on top of the outdoor industry with more traffic to their website then many other outdoor brands. They got there by living the brand. They hiked the mountains, they skied the cliffs and sacrificed other things in their life to do it. When they tell you about great places to ski, you should listen because they have skied a lot of places. When they recommend a jacket, listen, they probably wore that jacket for two weeks of outdoor camping last season and they know it works. When you look at your brand, are you passionate, are you the target demo or are you just faking it. If your passion isn't real, if you don't live the brand, people will know. Take the time to sit down and understand who uses your brand and why. Are they your age, are they younger, are they older. What do they say about you on Twitter? Do they tell their friends about you or not? Brands come from inside of all of us. What is your brand and how are you going to live it?

Pinball Marketing

Bowling vs. Pinball: The evolution of Marketing

Ten years ago, in the marketing age of Bowling, we controlled our game; We saw the target, we planned our approach, our pace, our arc, our spin. And if your plans and short-term goals were all met in this one-directional game, you would have achieved a substantial amount of success.

Today, those pins hurl the ball back at you.
Reaction is the name of the game in today's age of marketing Pinball. As your message makes its way through the spring-loaded bumpers of social media, you find yourself hoping that you actually make some noise and that your message doesn't come back at you in an unexpected, and perhaps unplayable, manner. You quickly realize that you have to poise yourself for something that is both defensive and artful. There are opportunities and bonus points for sending your message to seemingly unreachable areas. There are also traps and multiple balls in play when you activate certain triggers. How do you analyze and optimize that? You don't, at least not in the moment. The point is, you rack up more points the more those social media bumpers bounce your ball between them. And all you can do is react to their energy. 


The one-directional game is over, social media can react.  The beauty about the new game is that it pays you back the more you play.  Get your message into the game and let the social world bounce it around.

Pick the Niche

Whether you are managing a brand, looking for a job or running a small local charity, you have to find your niche and tell a story.  The past few years have outlined this trend and people seem to be putting it into practice and seeing great results.

Brands that are so hyper focused are constantly polled by consumers as more believable. That doesn't mean you can't expand your focus down the road, but you have to be authentic and specialize in one area before you can attempt another.  A prime example of this is Keen shoes.  When they started, they were focused on the outdoor segment.  They made shoes for hiking and sandals that were great for camping. Now they make trail running shoes, biking sandals and a series of bags that work with the outdoor lifestyle. Although they have expanded their base, those areas make sense for their target consumer.  If they started making baseball bats tomorrow, consumers wouldn't believe it.  It's too far from their core.

When you live in a niche, you own it, you set the rules.  Kiva.com started something that was needed but didn't really exist.  They created a way for people around the world to help a person or village get a cow or a goat or seed for their farm.  Their online micro-lending model is so simple, that it's almost unbelieveable.  However, the more you research it, the more believable and amazing it is.  And what closes the deal is when you hear that, to date, they still have not had one default on a loan.

Pick your niche, commit to it, live it and the loyalty you will see from customers will validate your efforts.

Move past the Idea

At each stage of business, there is a goal that needs to be reached before setting another goal.  In talking to various businesses, especially small start-ups, I find something in common with many of them.  THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY DON'T KNOW.

It takes so much time and effort to start a business that while building it, you don't have time to look over the fence.  What I tell companies I work with is that the idea is not the value.  It is the total sum of the parts. You need a great idea, but you also need the right team, the right sales plan, the right growth strategy etc... All of them are equally important and the same amount of effort has to be given to each area for you to be successful

If you spend all the time on the idea and think people will find you, you are wrong.  You have to build your brand as you go.  Connect with people and put yourself out there for people to see and comment on.  That immediate feedback will help you focus your efforts.

When all the pieces are combined, that is when the magic happens.  Be ready to admit what you don't know and reach out to people who specialize in the areas you don't understand so it creates a well oiled machine.

It's Not Free

I recently had the experience to work with a company that emphasized a point that has always struck a chord with me.  They spent over a year paying to develop new technology, file patents and build other sides of the business.  When it came to selling their new product, the sales strategy was non-existant.  They thought they would just walk out the door and hire 40 commission sales reps to tell their story and generate sales.  That is short cited.  You might get a few sales, but you aren't building a brand.

How can you spend time, money and energy building a business and not have a concrete sales plan?  The other problem is that people who are not in sales/marketing, think a monkey can do it.  It's a science and those of us in the field have allowed it to be commoditized.  Lawyers charge you to have a chat, PR professionals start the clock at the beginning of the meeting and web developers don't start writing code until a check arrives. Why are you expected to work for free?

With the advent of social media, you have all been given a second chance.  Social media highlights the science of marketing and sales.  It also merges the two disciplines together like never before. Many people don't understand how it works,  just that it does.  Don't give it away.  It is our job to stress to our partners that all the pieces of the process are equally as important.  With the dramatic changes in marketing over the past few years, the leverage is back in your hands.  Use the tools you have and make sure to tell them "it's not free".