I wrote recently about Google’s efforts to provide the whole product in my article Y is for You: Google's Alphebet and Personal Branding. I learned recently that one of the founding father’s pioneered some of these strategies himself: Ben Franklin
Ben wanted to be a printer. His biographer (Isaacson) talks about the lengths to which he went to procure a printing press from Europe. He wanted to own a communication machine.
He started printing things for his friends and customers.
So, to use the machine, he started a newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette. If one flyer was good, then having a weekly or daily publication was even better. Those who wouldn’t afford to print a flyer, could afford an advertisement in a larger publication.
He printed books. The most popular book was the Bible. But most people only bought one of those in their lifetime, so how could he get people to want to buy a book every year. He started the Poor Richard’s Almanac which would have repeat customers every year.
Then he began to think bigger. He wanted people to read his books and magazines, but many people were far sighted and had trouble reading. So he invented bifocals.
He noticed that in the cold New England winters, people weren’t reading as much, so he invented the Franklin Stove.
He wanted to broaden his distribution channel to allow people outside of Philadelphia or the region to read his books and publications. So, he championed the US Postal System.
And realizing that it was inefficient to print things in Philly and move them around the country, he franchised and shipped the plates to a friend in the Carolinas so she (yes, she) could build a business serving that community.
A man with Ben’s broad curiosities and diverse background pursued these and many other ideas in service of his main themes and principles. What are your main themes and principles that are worthy of the height of your creativity, enthusiasm and focus?
Jennifer was listed in the "People on the Move" section of the February 26, 2016 edition of Portland Business Journal.
My son just finished up his junior high basketball season and watching him and his patient and passionate coaching staff, I made the following observation: the game isn’t won or lost just by the skill of the players or even by the teamwork of the individuals, but also by the momentum or pace of the game. Even in professional sports, in leagues like the NBA or FIFA, games are often won or lost for reasons that have little to do with player capability, and everything to do with player performance, which has a context on the court or field, and in the minds of the players. Just like anything, there is a balance between speed, quality, and scope and in sport, as in business, pace can account for a lot.
Sometimes you must speed up. When the other team needs time to set up their play or you want the kids to keep the head in the game, I observed how useful it can be to speed up the game play. To pass the ball more. To run a play quickly to take the other team off-guard. Our local college football team, the University of Oregon Ducks, made a strategy in the last few years of the “hurry up offense,” which played the athleticism of the team and could effectively wear out opponents by not giving them time to rest or set-up.
Staying ahead of the competition requires some hurry up offense in business as well. Sometimes the spoils go to the company that is first to market with an innovation, who out maneuvers their competitors in devising winning channel programs, or who establishes a new category, positioning their products as the benchmark to which other offerings are compared. Although the idea of a “first mover advantage” is often-overstated (as market pioneering is a high-risk strategy), there is something to be said about being first to do things well. Marvin Lieberman and Steven Blank have both written that what is often attributed as a “first mover advantage” is often a “fast follower” advantage instead. In any case, it requires a speed and responsiveness to take advantage of market shifts, technology changes, and customer insights to deliver sustainable advantage.
Sometimes you should slow down. My son’s coach would often counsel the boys to slow the game down when their play because too erratic or error-filled. Sometimes they’d let the game get the best of them and make simple mistakes. Just slowing down the game, improved their ball handling, their passing, and their shooting percentages.
Sometimes this is true in business as well. As a person with a well-developed sense of urgency, I want to rush into new ideas or start experiments without all the information. Sometimes this works well, but often if you take a moment to bring other team mates on board, to plan for contingencies, or to research alternatives, you can arrive at a better outcome. “As fast as possible, as slow as necessary” can be a much better approach.
Momentum affects your perception of the outcome. Of course, “momentum” is a physics concept describing the ability of an object to continue moving because of its mass and velocity. But in sport, psychological momentum is the effect that preceding events have on the perception of the probability of winning or losing. Sports commentators will often comment on momentum changes in a game and credit momentum with changes of energy or confidence. A team on a “hot streak” will inevitably win the game, it seems. Teams that are on the losing end of a change of momentum, can appear to do nothing right.
Whether momentum actually affects the outcome or simply the mindset of the players (causing them to get flustered or make simple mistakes) can be debated and has been the topic of articles in the Journal of Sports Behavior, Perceptual and Motor Skills, Journal of Applied Sports Psychology, and Cognitive Psychology, to name a few. The consensus appears to be that the concept of a “hot hand” is a fallacy. In fact, a study conducted by Jonathan Koehler and Caryn Conley and published in the Journal of Sports and Exercise Psychology sought to find evidence of sequential dependency across shots and in general they found that no shooter they studied had significantly more runs that would have been predicted by chance. Yet, there is a perception among fans and players alike that momentum can change the confidence of the players and the energy of the game.
The same is true in a business context. If a sales person is rejected three times in a row, they are a bit less confident the fourth time. If a marketing team perceives that the customer has launched a winning innovation, they can begin to doubt their strategies and might pre-maturely abandon what would have been a better approach long-term. Companies with strong brands can leverage their reputation to a string of successes which are made easier by their valuable brand or history of innovation, but it hardly guarantees product success. If the scale of the risks matches the appetite and capabilities of the company, nothing in a business context is truly final or fatal. If you treat your customers with respect, you nearly always have time to course correct and make changes. But only if the leadership keeps their problem-solving wits about them and applies what they have learned in failure to their next opportunity for the win. No company has a “hot hand” forever. And no company is a chronic loser, if they are taking advantage of the learnings along the way. And they remember the things that are within their control and seek to maximize their choices along the way.
I have spent my career in technology, where the pace of change and innovation is high. This has illustrated to me vividly the importance of controlling the pace of the game you are playing. Going quickly when the circumstances allow. Slowing down with the circumstances warrant. And keeping your head in the game, in good times and in bad. And with great teamwork and customer engagement, the record can show great results!
This article was posted on LinkedIn Pulse.
“We must shift from an asset business to an audience business.” – AdNews, November 2nd, 2015
Advertising networks, like those with ad spots or billboard locations to sell, have long been an inventory business. More inventory (thus, the invention of the 22 minute TV show) and higher value inventory (ie, Times Square billboard) has been the recipe for growth. But in today’s multi-channel world with mobile and multi-tasking consumers, it may be less about inventory than it is about audiences. They may be able to quantify how many people walk through Picadilly Circus each day or would pump gas at a particular gas station during a particular month, but those aren’t audiences. Those are statistics.
“Feedback…it’s the breakfast of champions” – Dharmesh Shah
On February 13th, Jennifer was honored by her alma mater, Warner Pacific College, as the distinguished alumni of the year for professional achievement. The award was given by Dr. Andrea Cook.
Jennifer was interviewed by rAVe at the Integrated Systems Europe tradeshow.
Jennifer was quoted in a press release announcing Planar's new PlanarView™ Visualization App.
At the end of the day, when the final numbers are tallied and the results are analyzed, it is all business. And it's all people. It is both.
Every morning I unlock my computer with the keystrokes that I used to use to reboot it in case of terminal errors. CTRL-ALT-DEL were the keystrokes of triage and now they are “hello.” Maybe it’s a sad commentary on our world where “that was a disaster, let’s try again” is how we greet the day or maybe it is Microsoft’s way of reminding the computers that if they get sentient and go Terminator on humanity, we still remember how to do a hard reboot. In fact, we’ve been practicing every day.
At the end of the day, when the final numbers are tallied and the results are analyzed, it is all relationships.
“Do one thing every day that scares you.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
Much has been written in professional and personal development circles about the importance of doing things that scare you. Tackling projects that take you out of your comfort zones. Roles that challenge you to grow. This has been the justification for exhilarating thrills like climbing Mt. Everest or life-changing moves like leaving an abusive relationship or embarking on a new career.
I have never thought of myself as a risk-taker. I generally had a “big fish, small pond” mindset. I liked to tackle projects that I believed I could do successfully. I have prided myself that my hobbies, my relationships, and my work are not drama-filled. I don’t even like horror movies. Alas, I am missing all the tell-tale signs of a risk taker, so I figured I wasn’t one.
Until now.
I now see that I am just a different type of risk taker and here are three things I am learning about managing risk.
1. Sometimes it’s the stop-watch, not the altimeter which measures the risk
It might not be the altitude of the mountain that is the risk, but the speed at which you are trying to ascend or the number of hills you are climbing at once. When I get overwhelmed or scared, it is generally not because of the enormity of any individual task or commitments I have made. It is rather because I am trying to do them all at once. I scare myself in this way regularly and I know I am not alone. Recognizing that deadlines and commitments, served up simultaneously, adds stress and complexity to otherwise reasonable tasks, is important to acknowledge. Those of us who rush to do more can give ourselves permission to recognize the risk for what it is and pull back or lunge forward as necessary.
2. “But isn’t multi-tasking bad?” is a trick, and surprisingly personal, question
Behavioral scientists say multi-tasking is a fallacy and that this lack of focus costs organizations millions of dollars a year in lost productivity. I respectfully, I don’t believe it. Maybe for some it is a bad thing. Making people work outside their natural work style can certainly backfire, but for me, it’s the only way. Experience has taught me that when I multi-task I accomplish more. I achieve better results. I think more clearly. I make connections between things that lead to new insights. I remain more open to ideas from others. I have certainly had professional failures and disappointments, but throughout I have found that action itself is a source of energy. The busyness isn’t the secret sauce, but it is certainly in the winning recipe for me.
3. Managing risk is about knowing your risk tolerance
You don’t gamble, what you can’t afford to lose. Whether you are analyzing the risk of an investment portfolio or contemplating bold moves in your career, managing risk appropriately requires an appreciation of risk tolerance. My risk tolerance has to do with judging my commitments against my priorities. Despite my multi-tasking ways, or perhaps because of it, I am a big believer in looking at my life in chapters. There is a time and place for everything. The good things need to find more time and space in my schedule and attention, crowding out things of lesser importance or urgency. Avoiding the fallacy that tasks or priorities are permanent or immovable.
Ralph Waldo Emerson summarized it well when he said, “Be true to your own act, and congratulate yourself if you have done something strange and extravagant, and broken the monotony of a decorous age. It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, ‘Always do what you are afraid to do.’” So, you might just scare yourself busy.
This article was published on LinkedIn.
There is the new thing. And the new, new thing. The previously new thing is now not so new (borderline old). There is the new that makes the news. There is the new that is so new it’s stealthily secret. We are obsessed with the new. New is piling up everywhere.
Seth Godin sited a survey in a presentation on which students were asked if they wanted to be a CEO of a global company, president of a non-profit, or the personal assistant to a famous singer or actor. And over 40% of the respondents said “personal assistant.” He described that the role of a personal assistant is close enough to the action to have bragging rights and to be part of the fun, but far enough away as to avoid the responsibility and vulnerability that comes with being in charge.
Are you afraid of responsibility? Do you select roles where you are supporting others, implementing their ideas, or working their priorities? Teamwork is critical and collaboration important, but do you work on teams to avoid personal accountability for the results of your actions? Are you quick to blame others when things are not successful? Are you comfortable and confident enough in your skills and opinions to advocate for them?
As Theodore Roosevelt said in his speech “Citizenship in a Republic” given in France in 1910, “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
See you in the arena!
You might feel unqualified. If you feel that way, consider it a good thing and get set to grow.
It’s in the background. Always on. Always flowing. Taken for granted. Doesn’t need to be mentioned.
Digital marketing is just marketing.
Digital Out of Home (DOOH) advertising is just advertising.
Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality might just be…reality.
A lot has been written about consumer-centric marketing in recent years. The desire to provide relevant content and position the brand in the context of that value. Seth Godin’s permission marketing principles. The move to personalization. The emotional attachment that brands should create for their customers. Across all communication channels and at every customer touch point.
Today’s empowered consumer doesn’t just want to be educated. They don’t just want to be engaged. Frankly, they want to be super heroes. They want to be the heroes of their own story and the brands they choose reinforce this perspective. They want to call a car whenever they need it, like the Batmobile, and the adoption of Uber and Lyft is evidence that the on-demand concept is appealing. They want to have their whims indulged. They want their news personalized and curated. They want to keep up with friends of their choosing.
As marketers we have a responsibility to build the customer experience into the core of our company’s DNAs and into every medium or channel through which we communicate. So, how can customers be granted super powers in our marketing?
First and foremost, today’s buyers must remain in control. Our terms of service, privacy policies, product quality, production practices, and priorities must align with what customers want. We start with our integrity when building trust. I know that many customers might relinquish control without a second thought, but it’s our job not to let them do themselves harm.
Secondly, we create opportunities for customers to have power on a scale that they couldn’t have without us. Today’s savvy consumers are impressed with nothing less than super human strength and the ability to fly. They want to see their name on a can of Coca-Cola. We help them place a message on a personalized M&M. We can put their picture on a billboard in Times Square. We can put a mark on the world. One that is unique to them.
This can be part of the product or service we are selling or it can it be something we do in our marketing. The distinction between the two is blurring and so is the customer’s experience of the brand across all the touchpoints, so marketing has a leadership responsibility. For instance, the new iPhone camera takes beautiful, high resolution photos and video. Why not build on the out-of-home ad campaign we have seen where photographs from iPhone users are printed on subway signs and billboards with the caption “taken with an iPhone” by creating a YouTube/Vimeo/Flickr style platform for sharing videos and photos taken with iPhones and have those images featured on the Apple site, social media, and digital billboards and in homes as an Apple TV screen saver?
Next, we can connect customers visibly within the community. We can give them something to brag about and some connection to their idols and friends. It starts with sharing features, but goes beyond that. We as market leading brands need to make our consumer constituents heros among their peers. We can provide customers street credibility or expand their influence. It’s the Apple sticker in the Macintosh boxes on Volkswagens across the country or the look of a teenager wearing Beats headphones by Dr. Dre around his neck. I see this as a gap in store and airline loyalty programs. Members with elite status aren’t given rewards that are visible to the community of other shoppers or guests that undoubtedly share other circles of influence.
It is also a limitation with the nearly ubiquitous category of hybrid cars. Imagine hybrid cars connected with a gamification system that allows one driver to compete with others for fuel efficiency. Similar to how FitBit users can track steps on a leader board. Imagine how many more fuel efficient cars would be sold with this kind of gamification?
Consumer fashion brands do this well by offering sponsorships or free product to highly influential individuals, but could that scale to something that other brands could do even if they don’t have a celebrity endorsement program or a full-scale newsroom? I imagine so, if we were creative in our marketing.
Lastly, we can give customers a mission. As marketers, we give our customers an opportunity to be involved in greater causes and the power to benefit others with their super powers. This is what Whole Foods has done with the wooden nickels for “bring your own bag” rewards or Starbucks involvement in (Red). You could allow customers to donate a perks to non-profits of their choice. Loyal customers could be allowed to pick charitable giving campaigns from their favorite brands. Customers could donate their photos from their Hawaii vacation to be featured in the advertising or on the website of the visitor’s bureau for the State. At Planar Systems we recently offered our customers and employees an opportunity to participate in a fun run in Portland, to benefit a local alternative high school. This example of the “do well, by doing good” approach which is growing in importance and influence among our customers.
With a purposeful emphasis on integrity, giving users power, community connections, and missional marketing, we can transform our customers into the super heroes that will not only show us loyalty, but will attract others to us.
This article was published on Frost & Sullivan's Digital Marketing e-Bulletin.