Word-of-Mouth Marketing (Trend Watch)

There's a new wind blowing through the marketing arena. You will be hearing more about Word of Mouth Marketing.

It really is nothing new. People have been telling their friends about good (and bad) commercial experiences since Eve told Adam about the forbidden fruit.

What's different about this new wind is the intentionality of the approach. There's even a Word of Mouth Marketing conference sponsored by the WOMMA - Word of Mouth Marketing Association.

Seems like someone is finally trying to control the organic path that WOM messages follow. My advice is to keep an ear open for dialog about WOM. The same way you paid attention to noise about the "World Wide Web" and "One-to-One" marketing a few years back. This is going to grow for a while and the things we learn as a result will change the way we tell stories about our products and services.

For a good discussion thread on WOM, visit John Moore's Brand Autopsy blog.

Question: Is this a different thing? Or, a thing done differently?

Wisdom from the plains of Texas

True story -

I was the brand new marketing director for an association of 350+ retail stores and very excited about the comprehensive Christmas advertising campaign I had developed. Each store as going to be able to select elements that were "perfect" for their market and we had gathered a significant amount of co-op money from vendors.

After mailing out information packets to all the stores, my customer service team sat poised by the phones anticipating the flood of calls we were going to receive as store operators placed their orders for Christmas advertising.

As you can probably surmise, there were very few calls. I was flabbergasted and decided to call a few stores to make sure the mailings had arrived.

It only took one call - to a store in Brazos Valley, Texas - to teach me a lesson I've never forgotten and try to pass along as often as I can.

The store manager affirmed that he had received the package and had actually tried to figure it out. Unfortunately, the matrix of choices and options I had developed were far too confusing for anyone to understand, despite the fact that I had even designed the material with color charts and graphs.

In his best Texas drawl, the guy in Brazos Valley said, "Jim, this might be a great program but confusion is the mother of indecision and I cain't make a decision if I cain't understand what Ah'm supposed to be deciding."

It really was a good program, but he was passing up a couple thousand dollars worth of free advertising because I had made the decision too complex.

Suggestion: Bring someone from outside your company, someone who knows nothing about what you're trying to accomplish, and ask them to make decisions based on your material. Watch them try to negotiate your website, decipher your deal flyers or understand your discount schedule.

YOU may know how to read your stuff, but that doesn't matter because YOU do not shop at your store. What you think doesn't matter - it's the customer's indecision that's killing you.

Question: Can you think of examples where a good product or service suffered because the explanation or sales pitch was too confusing?

Tell me this is a fake, PLEASE

Ben and Jackie at Church of the Consumer open the door to a sad commentary on customer relations.

Read this and try to decide if it's really a fake conversation.

Tell me something I don't know

I was watching the Chris Matthews Show on Sunday morning and heard something he does each week, but this time from a different perspective.

Chris ends his program each week by asking his panel to "tell me something I don't already know."

Tough assignment. Matthews is one of the sharpest guys on TV and there probably isn't much he doesn't already know.

Washington politics is a group sport and there isn't much an insider like Matthews hasn't heard. However, the members of his panel were in a position to give their host a different spin on the prevailing conventional wisdom of the day and offering a fresh perspective brings something of value to the table.

What he should say each week is, "give me a fresh perspective on something I already know."

Suggestion: Greet your management team at this week's meeting with the request for them to give you a different spin on something you already know.

While you're going around the room, pay attention to those who tell you what they think you want to hear and to those who give you genuinely valuable fresh perspectives. Doing so might help you increase profits by eliminating people who aren't contributing something you don't already have.

Weekend Bonus

Because I live close enough to Yosemite to make it up and back in a day, I drove up the day Glacier Point Road was opened and snapped a few photos. Thought you might enjoy this view of Nevada Falls in full roar. Have a great weekend.


Most browsers will allow you to click and enlarge the picture.

Good weekend chuckle

This post from an author in Australia is a real hoot - I laughed all the way through.

Enjoy

And it wouldn't be anywhere near as funny were it not unfortunately true.

I am NOT kidding

While reviewing some meeting notes with a pro bono client, I came across something that caused me to LOL (laugh out loud).

The organization desperately needs to update some service offerings and programs but doing so will slaughter some very well-established sacred cows. From just about everyone’s perspective the changes are critical and without them the organization will be doomed to fail within the space of just a few years as constituent levels continue a steady decline.

One member of the leadership team is highly invested in maintaining the status quo; having successfully blocked every attempt to implement new ideas. It was this individual whose comment during the meeting was packed with ironic hilarity.

When another team member suggested the organization might run a 6-month test to “see how people respond to the idea” this guy says – and I am NOT kidding, “I don’t want to try anything new, because if it works, we’ll never go back to the old way.”

Read it again.

And you thought your group was the only one with problems like this!

Innovate by moving backward

As this Wired News piece by Chris Kohler suggests, there are times when the most innovative thing you can do is to reach back for something that was popular and bring it to market with a fresh coat of paint.

Suggestion: Read the article to your management team, then open the discussion up to talk about other products or services that earned new popularity after being off-the-shelf for a while.

The goal is to end up considering which of your old ideas could be successfully revived.

Retro Gamers Unite

The Class of 2009 has arrived

Because my daughter is one of them, I am focused with greater interest than usual to this annual list from Beloit College.

As you read the list, consider this:

If your company wants to keep up with the Class of 2009, you will need to "do a different thing OR do things differently."

Lookin' for fun, and feelin' groovy*

I am fascinated by the premise of In Praise of Slowness from Carl Honoré.

Published in the spring of 2004, In Praise of Slowness presents arguments and case histories to support the idea that "many of us live in fast forward - and pay a heavy price for it. Our work, health and relationships suffer. Over-stimulated, over-scheduled and overwrought, we struggle to relax, to enjoy things properly, to spend time with family and friends."

Honoré explores evidence of a world-wide movement focused on the deceleration of life. But it's not some return-to-the-sixties concept where we all give up cars and check email by candle light. "Being slow," explains the author, "means living better in the hectic modern world by striking a balance between fast and slow."

Read more . . .



* - 59th Street Bridge Song -- Paul Simon

Carpé Mañana

As someone who spends a considerable amount of his time in the future, I've always had a problem with the Latin phrase Carpé Diém.

I actually like the idea of "seizing" the day, but doing so can lead to a reactionary and shortsighted approach. Taken at face value, "Seize the Day" could be translated into "Grab Whatever Comes Along."

So, I was pleased this week to hear a university president encourage incoming freshmen students to Carpé Mañana - seize tomorrow.

Suggestion: Decide before today, what you will do today. When your organization is faced with a difficult situation that demands a quick decision, it is very helpful to rely on pre-established core values with which everyone agrees.

The five values I use in my practice are, in order of importance:

Integrity - I will always tell you the truth
Excellence - I will always make you look good
Value - I will always add something to the equation
Fun - God promises an "abundant life" and I intend to live one
Profits - It has to be profitable for both of us

Using this matrix to filter decisions helps me keep things in perspective.

Help Wanted: Ignorance a Plus

If your company maintains the noble policy of "promoting from inside" you might consider the breeding ground this is for sacred cows and status quo thinking.

Openings on your team should be viewed as opportunities to introduce new ideas; folks who have been around long enough to earn a promotion might be too eager to show they know how to do things "the company way."

In fact, you may even give bonus points to a candidate who is nonetheless competent yet carries a healthy helping of ignorance about your company or industry. Qualified people with experience in areas not normally associated with your industry can bring excitingly foolish perspectives to the table.

Let's hear it for the applicant who lists "ignorance" as one of his or her core competencies.

Smart things Einstein said, other than that E-equals bit

I was paging though Einstein for Dummies this week and learned something useful about the famous scientist; he was more than a brilliant physicist. From a very early age, Einstein was a card-carrying member of the Fool's Box.

Dr. Carlos I Calle, who research the book for John Wiley, found a high school French paper by Einstein, in which he wrote, "A happy man is too comfortable with the present to think much about the future." He was advocating the value of dissatisfaction while still in his teens.

Einstein didn't fit in. He clashed with teachers and fellow students. His political views got him in trouble with the German government of the late nineteenth century. Yet, he and Isaac Newton are arguably the two greatest minds in the history of humankind, according to Calle.

Can you imagine how useless Einstein's intellect would have been had he not challenged the status quo; had he not felt compelled to say foolish things and follow foolhardy scientific paths?

Not everyone who resists "the way we've always done it" is going to turn the universe on its ear, but only those who tap out their own rhythm will even have half a chance of making a real difference.

Suggestion: The next time someone makes a statement of "fact" regarding a long-held tradition or assumption, take the opportunity to ask - gently - "why?"

Swatting Flies or Moving Trash Cans

I was recently asked what "overnight change" I would suggest for a potential client trying to navigate the future. Here is part of my answer:

There are two types of change - revolutionary and evolutionary. Your question refers to revolutionary change, which is typically a painful process. Rapid - "overnight" - change is often the result of a reaction to something in the environment. Revolutions always create collateral damage and often leave new problems in their wake. Consider, for example, the situation in Iraq following the overnight change in their leadership. Old problem gone, new problems in its place.

Evolutionary change, on the other hand, allows time to work through issues and mitigate damage to the environment. This approach to change is typically focused on the "root cause" of the situation you are looking to alter. Revolutionary change is focused on the "how" while evolutionary change deals with the "why."

If you are at a picnic and the table is plagued by pesky flies, you can spray poison which kills the flies but ruins the food, or you can look around for the trash can that is a breeding ground and remove it to another area of the park. Poison or Reposition. Both eliminate the flies. One allows you to continue enjoying your food.

Suggestion: Make certain the change you are getting ready "spray" on your situation doesn't ruin your picnic. Ask your management team: "Are we swatting flies or do we need to look deeper and remove the breeding ground?"

Pro-actively seeking reactionary responses

I ran across this idea at Jon Strande's Business Evolutionist.

The author suggests that a customer's response to your message is a "reaction" and provides some tips for doing what you must to cause the reaction you desire.

Sounds intelligently "foolish" to me. Read more about the Reaction Economy.

TV does a "thing differently"

When approaching the need to change, an organization - or in this case, an industry - can either "do a different thing or do a thing differently."

I call this Thing One & Thing Two.

Faced with a future that has many more people getting entertainment elsewhere, visionaries at the TV networks are experimenting with the concpet of feeding audio-only versions of their programming to iPods and other listening devices.

According to Wired News: In the history of broadcasting, this is all highly unusual. The conventional wisdom is that TV without pictures is a big waste of bandwidth. "It's like being in a conversation with three or four people but you can't hear one of them," said Tom Taylor, editor of the Inside Radio industry journal.

Suggestion: Read the Wired News piece then ask your staff, "Is this a new thing or a thing done differently?

It's not MY car, it's OUR car

I am intrigued by TV commercials for the Kia Sportage, particularly one named Key Toss. Perhaps you've seen it: a woman tosses the keys to her Sportage out the window, where they are caught by a man in a business suit who drives the car for a while and then tosses the keys to a guy with a guitar, who tosses them to a waitress, who tosses them to a dog-walker on the beach. . . you get the picture.

The spot's only copy is the words to a song, "Start having a great life." This isn't about "owning" a car. No one in the commercial seems to give a second thought to the way "ownership" of the car is tossed from one person to the next.

Who ever is doing these commercials really has a handle on post-modern sensitivity.

Warning: If there's no one on your staff who thinks and breathes post-modern culture, you are in for a rough ride. To quote an old friend who still resonates with me, "the times, they are a-changin'."

Seth Godin does it again -

This guy is amazing. The creator of Purple Cows and Free Prizes has a new book coming in 8 weeks and his approach to marketing is truly remarkable - but then you shouldn't expect anything less.

Check this out.

Worth your time

You might spend some time at Brand Autopsy, a pleasantly iconoclastic anthology of news and thought related to corporate image management.

I was especially interested in this piece on the Kool-Aid Point.

Losing is Reality

In Richard Linklater's Bad News Bears remake, the team of misfits led by Billy Bob Thorton do not win the ultimate championship game. (Sorry if that spills the beans for you).

In a TIME interview (July 18), Linklater says he wasn't surprized when kids and parents watching advance runs of the film differed in their reaction to the final outcome. Kids liked the ending. Parents did not.

Kids are apparently more tuned in to reality than their folks. According to Linklater, "Most of us are losers most of the time." OUCH.

The point is - don't ever assume you know how your audience is going to respond. Linklater had a hunch what kids wanted, but he took the time to get "ground truth" and test the ending against his assumptions.

Suggestion: Take your executive team to watch Bad News Bears then stop at Starbucks, order fancy drinks and ask this question: "Where have our assumptions not lined up with reality, and how can we avoid that in the future?"

Running barefoot at Nike

Folks in Nike's "Innovation Kitchen" have developed their latest generation of running shoe by suggesting that serious athletes should train with their feet au naturel. Interviews with track coaches exposed the practice of running barefoot during training and the Kitchen went to work trying to emulate the way feet work when they aren't wrapped in nylon and rubber.

Hats off to the fools at Nike for suggesting that wearing shoes might actually hinder serious athletic pursuits. It's that kind of heresy that leads to truly different ideas.

Suggestion: Do you reap the benefits of a Fool's Box in your organization? Perhaps it's time to look for a group of people who can consider heresies and challenge the status quo without fear of retribution or consequence.

When was the last time your company "ran barefoot."

Three Cheers!!! for the pessimists

I'm having a good time re-reading Seth Godin’s Free Prize Inside and had to chuckle at the twist he uses to define those people in every organization who will never support a new idea. Seth says these folks must be optimists because they think things just can't get any better than they already are.

These steadfast naysayers typically lack the ability to imagine anything different so we really can't call them "optimists" - but let's play along with Seth for a moment.

IF a pessimist is someone who is unhappy with the status quo - give us more pessimists.

IF pessimism is the power that drives a quest for different ideas - every company should appoint a Vice President of Corporate Pessimism.

"Blessed are the pessimists, for they shall change the world."

Setting up a Syndication Link

Popular demand is calling me to set-up the FoolsBox with a syndication link so others can distribute the content.

The FoolsBox should support RSS and ATOM feeds. Let me know if you have trouble. I use NetNewsWire and it seems to work fine.

Some RSS readers will work fine with the basic URL -

http://foolsbox.blogspot.com

.
Others will require the more functional URL -

http://foolsbox.blogspot.com/atom.xml

TiVO Beats the F-Fwd Button

"We're trying to allow viewers to get the best out of their viewing experience," said David Courtney as he announced a new feature on TiVO that will display an advertiser's brand on the screen as viewers fast-forward through the commercials.

The new feature will also allow viewers to press a button that takes them deeper into the advertiser's product information - like a "right click" on their computer mouse.

This is a tremendous example of the new paradox faced by business leaders in the 21st century. Unlike the old "third alternative" approach where both sides to an dilemma give a little to reach compromise - this solution gives advertisers and viewers what they want.

Advertisers win. Viewers win. TiVO wins.

Discussion: Look at some recent compromise decisions in company and discuss solutions that would have provided a 100% "win" for both sides.

Daddy, Can we get a Penguin?

Here we go.

Get ready for a rash of copy-cat efforts looking to play "me too" with the success of Warner Independent's March of the Penguins.

For those hoping to cash in on penguin-madness, keep in mind this film is not about penguins. It's a LOVE STORY, wonderfully shot and delightfully told by Morgan Freeman. Those adorable penguins are merely the packaging around the story.

When examining a popular product or service it's critical we get beyond the packaging to determine what it is the customer REALLY wants.

Suggestion: Take your management team to see March of the Penguins, then ask this question: Are people buying our most popular product or service because of the "penguin" or is there a deeper reason they're choosing us?

Can fools build bridges?

My brother John reminded me of the infamous character from San Francisco history known as Emperor Norton. This guy was a dreamer and probably a bit crazy, but he's widely credited with some great ideas that shaped San Francisco into the uniquely wonderful city it is today.

One of his most noted bits of "foolishness" was to suggest spanning the Golden Gate with a bridge. Keep in mind he died in 1880, about 50 years before construction on the Golden Gate Bridge was started.

So, my brother asked, "Can fools build bridges?"
"Define a bridge," I replied.
"A bridge," he said, "is something that takes us from one place to another across an otherwise unpassable divide."

Fools are people who speak the truth in unusual ways. They are people who help us look at things differently by asking the "foolish" questions no one else can or will.

By taking us from one place (the present) and transporting us to another place (the future), fools certainly can and do build bridges.

Stuck by their own sword

I was visiting with a client this morning and came across a great example of "death by success."

This company is a category killer in their industry with about 80% market share and incredible brand awareness. Problem is - they are SO successful at what they do, that no one will allow them to make changes
necessary for continued success in the future. If they keep doing what they're doing, they will not be around in 10 years, maybe less.

I encouraged them to set up a Fool's Box with the assignment of looking
for ways to build a successful future by dismantling their successful present.

Stay tuned - and in the meantime, ask yourself these questions:

1 - Is there something our company does that is really good but might be a hindrance to success in the future?
2 - Do we pay too much attention to the present, at the expense of the future?

Atkins Empire on the Rocks

News item - Atkins Nutritionals, the food products company spawned by Robert Atkins low-card diet revolution, has filed bankruptcy. Seems as though popularity of the nothing-but-meat-cheese-and-eggs regimen has diminished dramatically in recent months.

What happened? How might the people at Atkins better positioned their company to ride this out?
Were they victims of their own success?