a word on marketing

Resolve...

To come to a definite or earnest decision about; to separate into constituent or elementary parts; to reduce by breaking up or disintegration; to convert or transform.

The primary definition of resolve is the one we know most.  We determine to do something.  Whether or not we actually do it is another story.  Many a resolution fall victim to time and apathy.

But, the other definitions are the intriguing ones - the concepts that, if embraced, could actually change our lives or businesses.  The latin word resolver means to unfasten, loosen or release.  While we might ordinarily think of resolve as a bringing-together, it is really a taking-apart.  In chemistry, this is a process of separating a racemic mixture into its optically active constituents.  Literally a dis-integration.

For us, this means that to come up with a new path forward, we must first destroy the old one.  This is what Clayton Christensen calls disruptive innovation.  Peter Drucker famously said that "every organization has to prepare for the abandonment of what it does."  And so do we, don't we?

The final part of the definition of resolve is about transformation. Whitney Johnson wrote a terrific piece about dreams in today's HBR Blog.  That's right, dreams.  Her point is that unless we know where we're going (person or company), we can't possibly keep our resolutions.  First, we need to envision who we want to be...the destination.  Great advice for the new year.

Henry David Thoreau said “if you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost – that is where
they should be.  Now, put the foundations under them.”  What do your castles look like - at home or work?  If you don't know, you might have to dis-assemble the current structure to see what pieces you have to work with.  Sometimes life is like a puzzle we have to solve.  Or, one might say re-solve. 

Here's to a most constructive 2013.  I plan to Think Big.  You?

  

Move

To pass from one place to another; to prompt, actuate or impel some action;  to arouse or excite.

Remember the old Dire Straits tune Money for Nothing?  Great video and worth a watch.  And who could forget those lyrics? 

We gotta install microwave ovens
Custom kitchen deliveries
We gotta move these refrigerators
We gotta move these colour TV's

The song's about how most people perceive the life of a rock n' roll star to be a cakewalk.  Meanwhile, most people have to make a "real" living.  Regular folks, like you and me, have to pick things up...and we have to sell stuff.  That's what the word "move" means in regards to refrigerators and colour TV's.  To sell.

In about two weeks, Dan Pink's latest book, called To Sell is Human, will be released.  And you have to read this book.  I was fortunate enough to receive a preview copy and couldn't put it down.  Dan sold me on his premise and now I'm trying to sell you. Or I should say "move."  Because that's just it.  Whether or not we have "sales" in our title or job description, we are all "movers" by necessity.  In almost everything we do, we are asking people to exchange their attention, time, effort or money for something we have.  We are trying to move when we ask a co-worker to sponsor a project...or encourage our kids to brush their teeth.

Since we're all in sales, does that mean we have to be like the cigar-smoking guy pictured in the Dire Straits clip, wear a plaid jacket or stretch the truth?  No.  In fact, the most effective way to sell, or move, is to embody some special traits Pink calls Attunement, Buoyancy and Clarity.  The dreaded "closing the sale" becomes Pitch, Improvise and Serve.  Dan pulls from research and personal interviews, as he did in A Whole New Mind and Drive, to create an updated framework for an art as old as time. 

Intrigued by Dan's points, I pulled 10 books about sales down from my own bookshelf to compare approaches.  One I paged through is a 1993 book by Hal Becker, called Can I Have 5 Minutes of Your Time.  In 1976, at age 22, Hal was the Xerox Corporation's top salesperson - out of 11,000.  Some of his observations were spooky in their similarity to what I had just read in To Sell is Human.  Be enthusiastic, be ethical, be outgoing (extroverted) - but not too outgoing.  Listen and have empathy.  "Whatever your job or business...you are selling."  The other books I browsed echoed these same principles.  We are humans selling to humans. To the extent we can connect with them, understand their needs and help them find solutions to their challenges, we have a good chance of moving them.

I had no idea where the Hal Becker book had come from.  Then, as I turned the last page, a letter fell out onto my desk.  It was a letter from Hal, dated June 22, 1993.  The letter was addressed to the CEO of my former company, a large public holding company.  I then realized I must have picked the book up at our office when a stack of old books was left out for anyone to take.  Hal had sent the letter to our CEO, along with the book, and no doubt followed up to inquire about the sales training his company then offered...and still does.  I searched "Hal Becker" and was surprised to see his business address was in a neighboring town.  I saw an email address, clicked on it, wrote Hal a note and asked if I could buy him a cup of coffee.  5 minutes later he emailed me back and suggested I reach out to him mid-January.  Of course, following Mr. Becker's own advice and the coaching of countless other successful movers, I put a note in my calendar for January 15th to get back to Hal.  And I will.

Everything I've been told is that you can learn to sell.  Sure, there are a few natural tendencies, but you can become much more effective.  The skill even applies to attracting the opposite sex, according to Hal Becker.  And that reminds me of another song from around 1990, this one a bit racier, but still to our main point.  So take action.  Make things happen.  Bust A Move.

--Dave

 

authority...

The power or right to control;  an expert in a particular field.

Think of the word authority.  Now look at the what the first six letters spell:  author.  Noticing that connection the other day got me thinking.

The word authority is from latin auctoritas, with auctor meaning author, leader, master.  When we write something (and if what we write is correct or inspirational) we become a go-to person on that topic.  When we are authors, we become leaders.  Or at least we have that potential.

Over the years, the word authority has evolved to have a negative connotation, too.  Take a look at any dictionary.  The first listed definition of the word refers to power and control - not authorship or expertise.  Somewhere along the way, authors took liberties with their influence.  They took control...in the halls of government, justice, religion and even business.  Rather than acting as a source of insight, they began to dictate ideas.  Perhaps the words they wrote helped accomplish those ends.  Many for good.  Others not so much.

What could the concept of authority mean to you, or me?  Perhaps a lot, especially if we think about those first six letters of the word and how to use them constructively.  I've noticed that most people have an area of passionate interest (or even mild interest) that places them far ahead of most everyone else in understanding that aspect of the world.  We're experts in classical music, woodworking, snowboarding, trees, statistical analysis and geneology.  The list is endless.  As we get older, we gain more understanding and perspective, but not necessarily more confidence.  Most people don't know....how much they know.

What I'm suggesting is that you can be an authority on something.  You probably are already.  Why not write about what interests you and share that knowledge?  In business, this could be a guide to creating a marketing plan or the process manual for a chemical lab.  Outside of work, it could be about a hobby or your family.  Nothing is stopping you from becoming an author. 

In a broader sense, our companies have the potential to become "the authority" in a given field...via research, innovation, service and branding.  Being considered an authority - rather than simply one of the pack - creates an engine for success, allowing better pricing, margins, sales leads and recruiting.  And how does a company gain that position?  Of course, superior products are critical.  But so is thought leadership.  Writing.  The company as an author.  We can write our own stories.

When we seek power for power itself, we often fail - in marketing and in life.  But, when we communicate authentically...we become viewed as leaders...as companies and as individuals.  Find the author first;  authority just may follow.  

And don't worry, your first piece doesn't have to be the Declaration of Independence.  But thanks to that document, you're free to write just about anything you want.

--Dave    

Physics...

The science that deals with matter, energy, motion and force.

I came across a fun TED talk recently, by Dan Cobley, about the parallels between physics and marketing.  Dan's a marketing director at Google and very cleverly relates 4 principles of physics to marketing and branding.

First, Acceleration = Force/Mass.  The more mass something has, the more force required to move it.  The bigger the brand, the more time and money required to change its perception. (Or bad PR can do it for free...see #3 below.)

Next is Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle.  You remember that one, right?  I'm sure you recognized the equation above. It says that at the quantum level, it's impossible to distinguish between a wave and a particle because as soon as you observe it, the actual observation changes it.  This is also known as the observer effect.  Ever been in a focus group?  Everyone eats healthy, right?  Well, that's what they tell you. 

Third, is the concept that Observation Can't Prove Anything, only disprove.  Many theories are not technically proven, it's just that nobody has failed to disprove them.  But, all it takes is one observation not consistent with the theory and wham, it's all over for that theory.  Same goes for brands who have built their reputations over generations.  Nothing is iron clad.  One bad event and a brand can be tarnished beyond repair.  How is BP's brand image bouncing back?

Finally, there's the concept that all systems are in an Increasing State of Entropy.  In other words, things are coming apart.  Cobley cites the democratization of brands in that the internet now allows consumers to influence brand trajectory.  A brand is no longer controlled by a brand manager in a company.  We own it.  He believes this loss of control is a good thing if companies learn to embrace it and work with it, harnessing the power of the people.

I'd like to add one more to Dan's list:  what goes up, must come down.  Newton's Theory of Gravitation.  Sometimes trends, companies, products and brands seem to skyrocket like a baseball heading out of the park.  But gravity - or the reality of the markets, tastes and success - have a way of acting upon those objects of our desire.  There is an inevitable peak and fall.  Not if, but when.  It's how companies handle those changes that defines whether they can keep things aloft and send them back up again.  Sometimes they can.  Often they can't.

So, what can we take away from a comparison of physics to marketing?  We don't revolve around companies...brands should assume they revolve around customers.  Observation is important, but not always accurate.  Nothing is forever.  And, things can change fast - maybe even at the speed of light. 

Relatively speaking, of course.     

 

 

 

 

 

Choice...

An act or instance of selecting;  an alternative.



Like many words, the word choice has roots in Old French, specifically the verb choisir, which actually means to perceive.  I've always had a tough time with choice.  I vividly remember when I was about 5 years old, my mother offered me a whole candy bar...the holy grail of kid-dom.  I just had to choose which one I wanted.  Milky Way or 3 Muskateers?  I weighed the options in my head, but couldn't decide.  I took so long I got the threat of neither.  I'm sure I did choose, but I remember to this day how choosing one of them meant giving up the other. I just couldn't give up the other.

Fast-forward to the real-world candy store.  Yes, it's the world of making things and selling them.  It's the world we're all in every day because we need to make a living.  If only our choices were as black and white as my candy bar example.  I find trade-offs especially challenging in B2B marketing.

If my mother had been particularly wise on that day (instead of worn out as I'm guessing - hence the bribe), she might taught me a lesson I've had to learn the hard way in business.  She would have offered to split the candy bars and given me some of each.  I would have jumped on it immediately!  The best of both worlds!  Ah, but alas, it's a cruel world. She would have given me a bit of each, but the bits would not been a half of each so the two parts would have been less than the whole I could have had if I had made a tough choice.

Here's the point.  It's so tempting for us to sell to anyone who wants to buy what we offer.  We perform market studies and, low and behold, there's a lot of opportunity in segments we don't yet serve.  So we build it into our strategic plans to go after those segments...and the next one...and the next one.  Before we know it, we're targeting ALL the segments.  That's our focus...EVERYTHING.  And guess what happens when try to be all things to all people?  Our image is watered down, our message is hazy, and our differentiated advantage vanishes into thin air.  We're left with good sales (not great) spread out over lots of places.  Overall market share might not be bad, but it seems stuck in the mud.  Then we wonder...what if we'd stayed concentrated on a few key segments?  Would big share and margins in those segments add up today to more than "fair" share and margins in lots of segments?  Could we have had a whole candy bar?  Possibly.  Maybe even probably.

So, the next time you consider how hard (and how much money to spend) to pursue an account, line of business, industry segment or even country....just stop and think about the candy bar choice.  Going after something different while holding on to what you have is really hard...but maybe you could pull it off.  Or, maybe you'll decide to go deeper into the business you know best.  What do you perceive?  It's clear that choices aren't easy.  But making the right ones can be very sweet.

Chew on that for a few minutes,

Dave

Fray

A fight, battle or skirmish;  a noisy quarrel or brawl.

Fray is a word that's been around a long time.  The Middle English word frai, from about 1200, was the likely origin.  Over the years, it has meant fight, or even fright.  Perhaps there's a fine line there.  Or cause and effect.  Currently, the word brings to mind mud - like the photo above - and specifically, the slinging of mud.

I speak, of course, of political campaigning.  Maybe it's me, but I don't remember campaigns being quite so negative or quite so focused on unimportant non-issues, particularly in a time when issues are all-important.  Maybe I have selective memory.

I don't raise the issue of politics to take sides.  I raise it as a marketer who is dumbfounded by poor marketing.  As brilliant as some political marketing has been in the past, I now see new lows and wonder why.  Are candidates locked in a terminal tit-for-tat that began as defense, not offense? Does anyone realize the value of stopping the cycle?  An NPR story cites a study by George Washington University that questions the effectiveness of attack ads, showing that while they may be more memorable, they are not likely to change minds or improve voter turnout.

Why does this matter and how can we use this debate in our lives?  Most of us aren't politicians or create political ads.  But, most of us do sell or market goods or services.  Every day.  And, unless we're working for a monopoly, we all have competitors.  So, every day, we get to choose how we acknowledge our competition, right?  Prospects ask us about competitors all the time.  We write emails and web copy all the time.  We talk with people in meetings and even at parties.  What do we say?  Do we criticize and belittle our competitors in order to boost our own offerings?  Or, do we take the high road and focus on our own strengths and vision?

When was the last time you were passionate about a brand whose mission was to trash the competition?  Apple showed a clever comparison by personifying the PC, but that was in good fun.  What if all of Apple's marketing had been focused on technical criticism of PC performance and functionality.  Not too inspiring. Their brilliance came in the articulation of their own vibe, which millions upon millions wanted to adopt.

How about bringing our politics - and our marketing - out of the mud?  It's called staying above the fray and it used to be the classy thing to do.  At least if you had anything of value to say or sell.  And by the way, you might be familiar with a popular band called The Fray.  One of their songs has a lyric that may well apply to the next couple of months:  "this may be a long night."  The tune's title is "Fair Fight."  Give it a listen.  Though my hunch is the fairest type of fight is to not have one at all.

Keep it positive, 

Dave

 

 

 

 

Smile

A pleased, kind, or amused facial expression, typically with the corners of the mouth turned up and the front teeth exposed.

We've all heard about the 17 muscles it takes to smile compared to the 43 it takes to frown.  But much more important is the desire to smile.  The will to do it.  That comes from the muscle in your chest (your heart) and the twisted bunch of gray matter in your head (your brain).

On the other hand, I've read that the physical act of smiling can actually make you happy and create chemical changes similar to the emotions that cause smiling.  So, I guess if you're sad, try smiling.

The photo above is, of course, Missy Franklin, the gold-medal swimmer from the USA.  This 17-year-old has won our hearts with her smile as much as her swimming.  She's happy and that makes us happy.  We've seen some pretty serious athletes and we respect their toughness and determination, but when someone can win - and smile while doing it - that's pretty special.

As marketers, we have a chance to smile - or not smile - every single day in everything we do.  The copy we write can be dry and descriptive.  Or, the words we use can give it an up-beat tone.  When we talk on the phone, we can be serious.  Or, even though the other person can't see us, we can smile anyway.  In person, we can get right down to business.  Or, we can maintain the same level of intensity, but smile in the process. 

Smiling can even make you live longer!  Consider the TED video by Ron Gutman where he explains the Hidden Power of Smiling.

Are you in marketing, sales or any kind of business where you need people to take your call or call you back?  Try smiling.  It works.  According to this very fun viral video from the USA Swim Team, at the very least they'll Call You Maybe.

Have a great day!

Dave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fashion

A prevailing custom or style of dress, etiquette or socializing;  manner; way; mode.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak to about 150 students in the Fashion Fundamentals class at Kent State University's Fashion School, one of the nation's top-ranked programs.  Anyone who knows me well might predict the topic.  5 words I tend to repeat over and over.  5 words it took me many years to truly grasp.  5 words I still seek to understand further:  marketing is everything we do.

Of course, those words apply to every business we know.  For example, I met Paul Matsen, Chief Marketing Officer for the Cleveland Clinic earlier this week.  He explained how every employee is considered a caregiver and that every month the leadership team meets with different areas of the organization to make sure everyone understands the customer experience expected.  In fact, this morning I read that nurses there this week helped a couple conduct a wedding ceremony in the hospital because the father of the bride had unexpected bipass surgery.  I'll bet that's not in anyone's job description. 

When I thought about how those 5 words apply to the world of fashion, I wondered if there's more opportunity out there.  Obvious brands like Ralph Lauren have created strong brand images and expanded via licensing into many areas of the home.  But what brands literally help form a buyer's personality or lifestyle?  Maybe responsible brands like Tom's Shoes that donates a pair of shoes for every pair you buy?  Other examples?  What more could fashion brands do to provide a more complete customer experience, like Starbucks, Apple or the Cleveland Clinic?

The students I met at Kent State were a bright, motivated and engaged group.  They'll soon be leaders in design houses, clothing labels and retailers around the world.  I encouraged them to think beyond their individual roles and help move their future organizations toward more meaningful customer connections.  How can they do it?  By employing a few other words I tend to repeat:  empathize.  exercise.  energize.

Empathize:  truly care about the customers in your target market.  Consider every detail of their process and contact with the brand.  Try to walk in their shoes, whether they be Fendi or Florsheim.

Exercise:  this is the process of taking in the customer insight and developing products (and services) to engage, delight and surprise them.  It also refers to the need for practice and repetition.  Like Gladwell tells us, we might need more than 10,000 hours to become an all-star.  Better get started now.

Energize:  take what you've done and shout about to the world - or at least to the target market.  Be proud to promote.  Don't be ashamed to evangelize.  You're not forcing anyone to buy anything - you're actually doing folks a favor by informing them about your offering.

When we internalize the "marketing is everything we do" philosophy, we can't lose.  Believe me, considering our own brand identity, caring about customers and thinking about every detail of the experience...that's an approach that's never going out of style.

See you on the runway,

Dave

Tacky...

Not tasteful or fashionable; dowdy.

When I was in college, I had a great advertising class at Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern.  I wrote a paper comparing art and advertising.  I thought it was pretty good.  I can't remember the particulars, but I'm sure I argued there is artistic value to ads.  Admit it, some are downright beautiful.  Think print ads from Absolut.  Worthy of a gallery, right?

Will digital advertising destroy any sense of artistic value in advertising?  The reason I've wondered is obvious.  We're assaulted on a daily basis with thousands of flashy, ugly words and images.  True, some get our attention and sell stuff.  Sometimes a lot of stuff.  Reminds me of the days of direct mail.  But can digital ads be both beautiful and effective?

Josh Quittner is the editorial director at Flipboard.  If you're not familiar with Flipboard, you should be.  Then you'll be addicted to it like I am.  Flipboard is an iPad magazine that curates social media and magazine content and renders it into gorgeous magazine-like pages.  There's a great Advertising Age article today in which Quittner, who comes from the traditional magazine world, claims Flipboard is fighting a "war of good taste" with digital advertisers.  They often turn down ads because they're unappealing.  Really.  Quittner envisions smarter, better digital ads with content users want to consume as an inner-magazine with photos and video content of its own.  Thinking about a new car?  Why wouldn't you follow a fun link about the new Beetle?

An old 1788 definition of tacky has it as "sticky; an act of attaching temporarily."  Now bring that forward to our time, to websites and to our desire for visitors to linger, click through and stay for a while.  In that sense, we actually do want our digital ads to be tacky.  They just need to look nice, too.

--Dave

Inflection...

 

Modulation of the voice; a bend or angle; the point at which a concave line turns convex or vice versa.

When we hear someone's voice change, we often sense a difference.  It could be a shift to happiness, seriousness, anger or curiosity.  But sometimes, when it's very subtle, we might not notice this shift in tone.  Good listeners pick up on these things.

As marketers we need to be good listeners as well, don't we?  If we could hook customers into devices that detect changes in tone, we'd be all set.  Instead we have to actually talk to people who buy (and don't buy) whatever we're selling.  We have to ask questions and listen to the answers.  Some companies don't like talking with customers.  It's not conversation they dislike, it's the response required.  Change is uncomfortable.

In a business, as sales begin to flatten out, there are two directions the graph can go: back up...or down.  If sales go down, there's no inflection point, just the top of a hill.  If we can coax sales back up again, there is an inflection point...just as the curve changes.  All of us seek that point.  Or more specifically, we seek the strategies that create that point.

I got the idea for this word from Amy Fulford, who operates a boutique consulting firm called Enlight. Amy's not the first person to use the term inflection point in relation to business strategy.  But Amy's very particular about words.  She also talks about provocation and conviction, not to mention humility and grace.  These are words we don't often hear in business.  But we may need a little more of all these to inspire change.

Without change, there's no inflection point.  Without change, there's a downward slide.  You might ask and you might even listen, but without responsive action and change, there's probably no growth.  Change is not an admission that what we've done in the past was somehow wrong.  It's just a realization of what's required in the future.

What will it take to create an inflection point in your world?  Sometimes a change in tone captures attention.  If nobody hears you, try speaking a little louder.

--Dave