Fans only
Blogs that toot their own horns can get a little tiresome. But this article in American Way was so flattering (and you might be flying on the wrong airline this week) that I thought you’d want a pointer. Sorry. Thanks. Whatever.
Marketing in the car business
Ford’s North American marketing chief, Cisco Codina, quoted in today’s Times, "There will always be early adapters…"
Actually, Cisco, the folks you mean to be talking about are "early adopters." And the distinction is critical and demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of what’s happening. An adapter is someone who is able to deal with changing conditions. This sort of person isn’t ruffled by a new policy or an environmental change. Let’s hope that penguins are good adapters.
Adopters, on the other hand, seek out change, want the new stuff. They like it. Big companies with power are used to a person adapting when they exercise their will. Small, nimble companies look for adopters.
On to BMW. Helmut Panke, CEO of BMW, said this week, "We should not try to educate or teach the customer about what he or she wants." Oh.
“We wish Google didn’t exist”
That was the phrase that got my attention.
I was talking to an exec at a 1999 new media company… one of those anchor tenants on the web, a big content website. She said something that, in retrospect was obvious, but so shocking it made me sit up straight.
"Google doesn’t help us at all. It would be great if they went away."
It’s so easy to count on search, depend on search and assume for search that most people don’t realize how the dynamic has changed. If you’ve got a portal or a big store of content, Google is, probably, not built into your DNA.
If there’s no search engine and you need a recipe or a pot, you visit cooking.com and they find you the best match on their site. And it goes beyond web companies. If there’s no search engine and you need to buy coffee, you go to Starbucks.com, right? Leaders in every field had no reason to invent for search… it’s not good for them.
In fact, most market leaders still have web sites, not web pages. A website is a place, a sticky collection/connection of web pages with a search field. A website is a place you want people to "check back often and see what’s new" and where people are either in or out.
I’ve gotten a bunch of invitations to feature my RSS feed on other people’s sites lately. At first, it feels a little weird… my content on your site. But then, once I get past issues re endorsement etc., it makes perfect sense. Because search and RSS have exploded the web. (Tip to David Weinberger, twice in one day).
It’s no longer an organic web filled with organisms or even a molecular one. It’s atomic. Each page on its own, each RSS drip its own entity.
The punchline is that you can wish all you want, it’s not going to make search go away.
Wishing is not much of a business strategy, and the realists among us will probably focus on three things:
- turn your website inside out as fast as you can. That means RSS everywhere–in and out. And it means encouraging your readers to flip the funnel.
- continue integrating your pages into your site, but prepared to do a better job of integrating your pages into the web.
- remember that every single page is now a landing page. "First time here?" is going to be answered yes more often than not in an atomic world.
What hasn’t changed is an imperative to get active, explicit permission from one-time visitors to have an ongoing dialogue. A dialogue that is anticipated, personal and relevant, and that leads to turning those strangers into friends… so that one day, they become customers.
Another blog for your list
John Dodds has been sending me interesting emails forever. Now he’s got a blog, here’s a post: Make Marketing History: Who needs storecards?. John points out to me that eye tracking is nothing new and that Jacob Nielsen and others have been talking about it for a while. Duly noted. My post below was more of a poke for those that have missed out than an aha!
The butt brush
Paco Underhill, who is the world’s greatest expert on shopping, made millions for Macy’s and other stores by videotaping how people shop. Reviewing the tapes, he discovered, for example, that women will stop shopping for ties if the racks are too close to the aisle and people bump into them. Moving the racks made sales skyrocket.
Now, Etre is doing the same thing with websites. Watch the video here: Eye Tracking – Etre.
One very cool site
Even if Springwise hadn’t volunteered to run Big Moo ads as a public service, I’d be telling you about how many neat ideas are sprinkled around this site. Almost too good to share: Springwise: Fresh, fast, food.
The world as it is
Two things marketers do:
1. Do the work necessary to be sure that your perception of the world is similar to the world as it is.
2. Create the stories (and the experiences to back them up) that change the world as it is.
Most marketers fail at #1. By focusing on what they want, or by having a selfish view of things, they miss the reality of what the world believes.
And that can cause us to miss #2. Your story has to be grounded in the worldview of your intended audience.
Tips that may come in handy one day
Here’s one from: How To Be A Successful Evil Overlord.
I will not fly into a rage and kill a messenger who brings me bad news just to illustrate how evil I really am. Good messengers are hard to come by.
One smart kid
A precocious 11 year old down the street was talking fashion and marketing with me today.
First quote, "Why does anyone worry about what fashion their pajamas are? I mean, it’s not like anyone else sees them?"
Second, "Everyone is buying one of those new minivans, because they come with a DVD player. It’s not a car, it’s a moving home home theatre."
Couldn’t have said it better. Real insight about the human condition and what makes marketing work.
The Latest in Advertising Technology – Gizmodo
Santiago Velásquez Martínez sends us to this new ad technology approach: The Latest in Advertising Technology – Gizmodo.
My question is: who are the ads for? The other sheep?