Influential Marketing Blog

Simplicity: Plain Language & The Red Button That Reinvented Your Memories

NOTE: This is an excerpt from Chapter 7 of my new book Likeonomics all about Simplicity, the 4th principle of Likeonomics. I hope you enjoy it!

Annetta Cheek is a 25-year veteran of the federal government who now runs a nonprofit called the Center for Plain Language. There has never been a more important time for the Center to exist. ‘‘When you’re supposed to be a democracy, and people don’t even understand what government is doing, that’s a problem,’’ Cheek says. This is not just an American problem either.

All across the world, people are wasting countless hours dealing with bureaucracy and complexity on every level. In 2010, the Hong Kong–based group Political and Economic Risk Consultancy surveyed more than 1,300 business executives in 12 Asian countries. In the results, India was named for having a bureaucratic system that was ‘‘one of the most stifling in the world.’’ The report cited a strong correlation between an inefficient bureaucracy and high corruption rates. Sweden, in contrast, enjoys very low corruption and has been credited as being one of the first cultures to recognize the power of natural language. Way back in 1713, King Charles XII of Sweden dictated this ordinance:

His Majesty the King requires that the Royal Chancellery in all written
documents endeavour to write in clear, plain Swedish and not to use, as
far as possible, foreign words.

Today, more than half of all Swedish government authorities are involved in plain language projects. The Swedish government has a linguist in the Cabinet Office, and a division whose responsibility is to review government documents and ensure natural language is used before allowing them to be distributed widely. In other governments across the world, there is a lot of support for the plain language movement, as well.

Recently in the United States, the government passed the Plain Writing Act of 2010, which requires all federal government agencies to use plain language in every covered document and train federal workers on how to use plain language. A year later, when the Center for Plain Language announced the winners of their annual ClearMark award for plain language, the IRS was the unlikely choice as Grand Prize winner.

The Myth of Good Complexity

When it comes to most government organizations, hardly anyone wants more complexity in documents. Typically when you end up with bills featuring thousands of pages of content, it is usually because large armies of people worked on writing them, or because no one took the time to make them succinct and clear.

In other words, the reason for complexity in government typically comes down to either inefficiency or laziness. In business, however, there can be the real possibility that some complexity exists because it is seen to be valuable in some misguided way. Brands launch more product extensions because they think consumers want more choice. Lawyers add 30-page disclaimers and terms and conditions in an effort to shield the company from some unforeseen liability or potential lawsuits. Airlines are notorious for having dozens of different flight ‘‘fare codes’’ so they can offer varying rates to different types of travelers based on when they book and other factors.

Unfortunately I have sat in plenty of meetings with very smart business people who argue passionately to keep the complexity in their business because they believe they need to have it. Here are a few of the arguments they usually use:

1. Our business is inherently complex.
2. Our customers are smart and they get it.
3. We need the complexity in order to make money.
4. It would be impossible to get the right people to agree to simplify.

No matter how forceful the arguments, ‘‘good complexity’’ in most forms usually turns out to be a myth. There are probably certain situations today where complexity may not be causing any serious problems . . . yet. As the consumer electronics industry has been learning for the past decade, the problem is that just because complexity isn’t killing you right now, that doesn’t mean it never will.

Gadget Confusion

A few months ago, I searched on Amazon to find a new Blu-Ray player and found 335 different models. When I went that same day to check the price of a mobile phone I had seen several months ago, I found that it was no longer offered and there was a brand new, barely distinguishable model available in its place.

If you purchased a digital camera just six months ago, chances are if you walked into an electronics retailer they would no longer offer it for sale.

TVs have become so complicated now that many manufacturers of high-end sets recommend you pay several hundred dollars (on top of buying the TV) for a ‘‘calibration service’’ just to make sure all of the settings are optimized for your TV once you get it home.

This constant complexity leads to gadget confusion, where competing products differ only slightly and consumers end up bewildered and frustrated. In response to the growing epidemic of gadget confusion, some retailers have created full ‘‘Geek Squads’’ of internal technical experts who can make house calls and help to set up or explain technology. In addition, a startup called Decide.com launched in 2011, and has already partnered with Consumer Reports to offer a tool that helps shoppers decide whether they should buy a gadget now or wait until the next upgraded replacement comes out.

One of the most interesting types of products to examine in this evolution of complexity is one that has managed to escape the trend of increasing complexity, and instead, offer products that are getting simpler and simpler: the handheld video camera. When Sony launched the first consumer handheld video camera in the early 1980s, it was so bulky that it was designed to rest on your shoulder in order to be ‘‘portable.’’ The technology quickly evolved, though, and over the next 20 years, Sony and their competitors focused on two big priorities:

1. Make the video camera smaller.
2. Keep the recording quality as good as possible.

The products were still generally difficult to use, requiring you to wade through a user manual to learn how to use all the right buttons and features, but it was seen as a necessary evil.

The bigger problem was that consumers were all building up a vast but nearly useless library of video on tapes or data cards. After forcing some immediate family or unfortunate friends to watch those videos right away, they would be stuck on a shelf or in a drawer waiting for the day when you would finally return to edit them. The day usually never came.

Then, in 2007, a single product changed everything.

Flipping the Video Camera Market

A small startup named Pure Digital had first launched a product the year before called the ‘‘Pure Digital Point & Shoot’’ video camcorder, which was exclusively available at CVS pharmacies. It was a one-time use video camera designed to enable you to record video and then bring it back to your local CVS to have it turned into a DVD.

A year later, the camera was relaunched as a permanent camera that most industry analysts thought wouldn’t last a month. The video quality wasn’t great. The price point was less than one-third of other video cameras on the market. Even the design of this little product looked like a toy, with just one simple red button at the back and barely any instructions. It was that easy to use.

As founder Jonathan Kaplan would later explain, ‘‘The really successful [products] are ones people never thought they wanted.’’ And Kaplan’s product did have one killer feature aside from its simplicity of use: a built-in USB plug that would allow users to easily plug the camera directly into their computers in order to upload or edit videos easily using the built-in software. What was their big insight?

The most important thing about video wasn’t the picture quality. It was how simple it was to take and how easily you could share it with the people in your life. Realizing that the product’s name would be a vital component, Pure Digital hired a naming company, which developed hundreds of potential names.  The name Kaplan gave to the product, though, was inspired by the keychain to his Audi and how the spring-loaded key would pop out at the touch of a button.

He named the new camera Flip.

This excerpt is from Chapter 7 of Likeonomics, all about Simplicity - the fourth of the TRUST principle that I lay out in the book.  For a longer excerpt, please visit the book website at www.likeonomics.com/excerpt - and if you enjoyed the reading this, please consider buying Likeonomics today!

How To Be A Better Entrepreneur, Friend, Parent, Marketer & Human

NOTE FROM ROHIT: Likeonomics is now AVAILABLE - if you read my previous post and decided to wait to buy it because I asked you to, thank you!!

Please purchase your copy of Likeonomics RIGHT NOW!

About four months ago I was sitting at home during an unseasonably warm evening in late January. It was the night of the State of the Union address, and was feeling that unshakeable mixture of happiness and sadness that happens usually on the last day of an amazing vacation. That day I had just delivered the final manuscript for Likeonomics, but as I read the news online that afternoon I found a story that was still bothering me hours later. 

The media was reporting on comments from politicians delivered in something called a "prebuttal." A prebuttal (as opposed to a rebuttal) is based on the idea that you can talk about all the ways that you disagree with someone before they have even said a word. Welcome to politics in 2012. In fact, welcome to the world itself. 

I have written before about how we are in the midst of a very real believability crisis and to find our ways out of it and build a more trustworthy world will take a new philosophy.  Along the path to writing Likeonomics, I researched (and wrote about) many interesting nuggets from history, such as the moment when Microsoft almost bought Pixar to the moment almost exactly thirty years ago when two guys with a crazy idea started The Weather Channel. From the story of Nelson Mandela in South Africa to the surprising tourism policies of the Bhutanese government, the process of writing the book also took me to some unexpected places.  Ultimately, what I learned was about far more than marketing or even business.

Likeonomics is really a book about how any of us might become better people. How likeability might be the real secret to trust AND success ... and most of all how BEING more human could help any of us be better in every part of our lives.  

This week is launch week for Likeonomics. A chance for me to FINALLY share everything about the book with you. A chance for me to tell you NOT to wait anymore and to go out and buy the book and buy as many copies as you can! 

So every day this week I'll be sharing a different story and exclusive excerpt from the book here. Each day will be from one of the chapters featuring a different principle of Likeonomics:

• Monday - This Post!
• Tuesday - Truth
• Wednesday - Relevance
• Thursday - Unselfishness
• Friday - Simplicity
• Saturday - Timing

My goal is simple. The more I can share about the idea of Likeonomics and offer some value back to you and your daily life, the more likely you are to see what the book is about and perhaps decide to pick up a copy. 

To give you a head start, here is a password free, no-email-required, completely FREE download of the Prologue from Likeonomics, starting with the interwoven stories of a Lard Salesman, an NFL Agent and a YouTube Star: www.likeonomics.com/excerpt  

If your interest is peaked, or even if you are just up for doing something to support me and my efforts this week because you may have found some value in my blog over the years, PLEASE consider buying a copy of Likeonomics RIGHT NOW.  

Not only do I hope it will help you become a better entrepreneur, friend, parent, marketer and human ... but I look forward to sharing some real stories and lessons from the book with you throughout this week to show you exactly how!

 

 

 

How Case Studies Can Set You Up To Fail

My life would be a lot easier if I loved case studies. After all, they are all around me. In our agency, we produce case studies for our most successful work. Clients share case studies of previous work or industry standards with us all the time. In the educational world case studies are plentiful, and the majority of "practical" marketing and business courses are built entirely on using them to teach principles. So why don't I love them like so many of my peers do?

It's not that I don't believe you can learn a lot by studying other industries and other campaigns. But when it is packaged into a typical "case study" format, there are a few common problems that arise:

1. People are often not good at self diagnosing what worked well and what didn't, and case studies are often not written by the same people who executed a strategy either - which results in second hand information.
2. Case studies mostly focus on the positive or successful, but often we learn most from failures. Have you ever seen or written a "case study" on something that failed?  We need to see more case studies of what didn't work so we can learn from failure as well as success.
3. They are often written in a siloed way - looking only at individual channels (such as social or advertising or PR) and missing the broader point of integration and how it contributed heavily to their success in the first place.
4. The core behavioural insight is often missing in reports and case studies (ie - WHY did people respond to a particular message or approach as opposed to simply noting that they DID respond)
5. Results are often be presented in terms of numbers and volume does not necessarily proove effectiveness when it comes to actual impact achieved
6. Real first hand expertise is often missing because case studies may not be written by the person or people with the most direct knowledge of why something worked or didn't.

So are traditional case studies useless? Not at all, but I think there are much better opportunities for learning in a different way. The most powerful way to learn in many ways is still a face to face experience with a person - and when you couple that with real engaging experts who are actually DOING great things, then you have the type of experience that can really offer the most valuable learning. 

That's why I'm thrilled to announce two events coming up that I've agreed to participate in as a speaker coming up very soon.  Both offer amazing opportunities to go beyond the case study and learn something real and actionable from experts who are actually doing real and amazing work:

WOM Crash Course (Austin - May 10, 2012)

The one thing I know for sure is that Andy Sernovitz knows how to put on a great word of mouth learning event. He and his team remain unromanced by the allure of just focusing on social media ... which means this event is one of those unique moments when you will learn how to ACTUALLY create great word of mouth by using social media along with lots of other tools. From his unique format of having only real practioners present to his unique lunchtime sessions where six authors all show up to simply have conversations (no powerpoints allowed!), attendees always rave about this event. If you want to join us in the great city of Austin, just leave a comment on this post for a 25% off registration discount code - and the first 2 readers to comment will receive 50% off registration!

Corporate Social Media Summit (New York - June 13-14, 2012)

The fact that I have worked with the Useful Social Media events team for the past 3 years and agreed to speak or moderate sessions at multiple events for them is evidence of one thing: this team knows how to put on a great learning event. What sets the Corporate Social Media Summit apart is their laser focus on social media for big brands. If you work at a large organization trying to plan for using social media at an enterprise level, this event is for you. The speakers are all from big brands (just look at the agenda!) and the conference stays far away from any fluff or vendor pitches. In the past, the hallway conversations from attendees learning from one another have been just as powerful. To get a 10% discount on registration, use the code "OGILVY10"

Whether I was participating in both or not - I highly recommend trying to make it to one or both of these events. Hope to see you there!*

*There is also chance that all attendees of one or both events will get free copies of my new book Likeonomics!

The Upside of Being Ordinary And Obvious

How much time do you spend trying to be ordinary or obvious? Probably not a lot. In fact, most marketing people actively avoid talking about the ordinary or obvious qualities of their business. Instead we spend days in creative brainstorms trying to create new messages find that brilliant unique thing that no one else has. We want to use new and sexy social media tools and find a winning creative idea that will get everyone's attention. And we forget the ordinary and obvious stuff.  

But what if the most unique thing about your business was also the most ordinary? Here are a few reasons why the ordinary and obvious side of your business may actually be your biggest asset:

1. Customers have ordinary and obvious requirements. It is easy to think that having an endless list of new product features will appeal to people. The problem is, it is confusing. I recently went shopping to replace a light bulb in my ceiling. The one I bought was the one that said the size most clearly on the box.  
2. The ordinary and obvious are the most important. The number one reason I book any flight has nothing to do with comfort of the seats of what type of food they might offer. I look for a direct flight. Whichever airline I can fly directly to my destination with is the one I choose. Exactly how many airline ads have you seen in the last six months that ever focus entirely on the fact that you can fly directly from point A to point B? I can recall only one - Singapore Airlines promoting their direct NY - Singapore flight.
3. The ordinary and obvious may have its passionate fans. Anyone still using a Blackberry today (and I am one of them) does so just for one reason. It's not the collection of apps (which suck) or for the stunning quality of the screen resolution. No, most are just so familiar with the keyboard that they can't imagine doing work and typing emails on a touch screen. Again, how many Blackberry ads have you seen promoting the quality of the experience of using their keyboard versus slow and inconsistent touch screens? Exactly zero.

I love a good creative idea as much as the next marketing person. The point of the post, though, is that sometimes the most stunningly creative thing you can do is choose to focus on the most obvious and ordinary part of your business. You might be surprised at how effective it can be. 

 

A Marketing Lesson From The Most Depressing Magazine Ever

I'm not really sure when I started getting Reader's Digest delivered to my home, or even if I subscribed to it. I am a sucker for magazines and always have been. So chances are I subscribed thanks to some sort of Grouponesque deal that I found online. Call it a marketing weakness, but if I get a magazine in the mail I can't help opening it. I always flip through - and I look mainly at the advertising.

The problem when I did that looking through Reader's Digest is that I started to get depressed. I mean every other ad is some sort of pharmaceutical reminder of my own mortality. There are vein problems, bone problems, heart problems, memory problems and all kinds of other stuff that will go wrong. And just in case that wasn't depressing enough, there's a full two page spread on how I can buy "government issued gold coins" for only $175 each. I'll stick with my government issued quarters, I think. At least they're only 25 cents each.

Still flipping through the magazine got me thinking about what a missed opportunity this is. Don't older people travel and stay at hotels. Don't they buy DVD players and digital cameras? Aren't they interested in new ways to connect with their friends and family online? Of course they are. But the ads in Reader's Digest are an example of the stereotypical way that many brands approach their marketing.

They assume that people in the older generation are only concerned about health issues, so that is what the majority of the ads focus on. The same thing happens with almost any demographic, younger or older, male or female. When everyone targets their advertising based on a standard demographic like age, they all land in the same place.  It is the single biggest reason why most marketing looks like noise.

In contrast, remember when the Wii first came out? It was the only gaming console that focused on families and moms instead of hard core teenage gamers. They stood out. It is an easy example since they had a game changing product (pun intended!), but the lesson is an important one. There is a real value to thinking outside the demographic. Not to mention it would make Reader's Digest a lot less depressing.

50 SXSW 2012 Panels Worth Getting Excited About

Here's a sad fact about SXSW - at any given time there are at least 16 other talks, events or meetups that you could be attending besides the one that you do make it to.  That's assuming you even make it to any events at all.  But whether you are ambitiously aiming to make it to a long list of events, or not going to SXSW at all ... the fact is that the range of talks offers a really interesting spotlight into trends and insights for anyone working in a digital or business role today. 

Some are good world changing ideas, and others are the worst kind of introspective navel gazing crap you would expect from a big interactive conference filled with people who spend way too much time idolizing one another. To help bring attention to some gems amidst the noise, here is my list of great panels happening at SXSW this year. I know I won't make all of them, but these are the ones I'm really excited about and highly recommend. In case you're interested, check out my full virtual schedule for SXSW, including other events outside of panels here.

Also, here are a few places where you'll be able to see me for sure in case you're going and would like to meet up:

1. MEETUP - The "Get Ready For SXSW" Meetup For 1st & 5th Timers (And Anyone In Between) - (Friday, Mar 9th at 3pm) Co-hosted with Charles Duhigg, Author of The Power of Habit (currently #12 in Books on Amazon).
2. PANEL - How To Be Strategically Unlikeable Online (Monday, Mar 12th at 9:30am) - my talk at SXSW, which will be the biggest panel at SXSW thanks to a big surprise we'll be unveiling on stage.

Friday, March 9

1. OMG Your RFP Is Killing Me (2:00pm) - As someone who has suffered through trying to respond to more poorly written, confusing and contradictory RFPs than I care to admit, I am thankful for this panel.  Anyone working in a consulting or agency role should be too.
2. The Accidental Creative (4:00pm) - A session I am looking forward to from a book I really enjoyed. The biggest takeaway from me about what it takes to be continually creative ... fill your brain with knowledge from outside your industry, and let your mind make the connections itself.
3. Why Happiness Is the New Currency (5:00pm) - This is a topic that is seeing more attention from multiple places these days - which is a great thing since most of us don't spend enough time understanding what really will make us happy and how to get there. The cure to rising social media jealousy?  Find a better metric for happiness.

Saturday, March 10

1. Digital Vertigo (9:30am) - A sneak peek at the new book from Andrew Keen (author of Cult of the Amateur - a great commentary on the downside of social media). This is a preview of his latest book Digital Vertigo - and someone who has managed to piss off as many "social media gurus" as he has is worth a listen ... even if you might not agree with his point of view.
2. Crowdsourcing a Revolution: Can We Fix Healthcare? (11:00am) - One of the most exciting things about SXSW this year for me is how so many panels on the topic of healthcare are now integrated into the main program at the event. This is one of the first, and looks to be one of the best that I highly recommend checking out.
3. The Power of Fear in Networked Publics (11:00am) - A great session from Microsoft researcher Danah Boyd on how fear is such a pervasive part of our culture and how it impacts our behaviour.  I imagine this session will give me lots to think about in terms the positives and negatives of using fear as a motivator for anything.
4. The Complexity Curve: How to Design for Simplicity (11:00am) - The title says it all for this one - if you do any design for anyone, you should go to this talk.
5. Likeable Social Media (11:30am) - A talk from my good friend and fellow believer in the power of likeability, Dave Kerpen. Highly recommended.
6. Not Just Tech Support: Online in India (12:30pm) - India is finally emerging from beyond the outsourcing reputation, and this panel is one that I'm really excited about attending because of how it is one of the few panels focusing on India and its role in the the future of business and social media.
7. Catch Me If You Can: Frank Abagnale 10 Years Later (3:30pm) - I am a fan of this movie, and intrigued to hear what Frank Abagnale is doing today.  Beyond that draw, he seems like a super interesting guy and one worth listening to tell the story of his life.
8. The Curators and the Curated (3:30pm) - A great session on a really popular and important topic, this is part of the Future of Journalism track that I hope to spend some time attending at SXSW.  Plus the speaker list including David Carr, Maria Popova and Noah Brier are all worth listening to.
9. Not Your Mommy's Blog: The Evolution of Dad Blogs (3:30pm) - If you are a Dad working in marketing, it is easy to feel ignored because everything seems so focused on the moms.  Sure, they make most of the decisions and buy most of the stuff - but we matter too, don't we?  Dad bloggers get the short end of the stick when it comes to visibility and attention too.  And in case that's not enough of a reason to attend this session, you might just find out that Dad's can be a good target market to sell your stuff to as well.
10. FOMO: How Can Brands Tap into Fears of Missing Out (3:30pm) - I have read plenty of great insights from Ann Mack at JWT in the past, so to see her giving a session like this was enough reason to put it on my short list.  The FOMO trend is one that definitely matters when it comes to consumer behaviour in an age when everyone shares everything they are doing ... especially at SXSW.
11. Priming Audiences for a Truly Social Olympic Games (5:00pm) - I am surprised that there are so few sessions devoted to Olympics considering it is coming up in just a few months, but this one promises to be a great sneak peek at some of the very cool social engagement programs that will be coming during the London Games in August.
12. The View from Inside Rainn Wilson's Brainstem (5:00pm) - Um, Rainn Wilson - Dwight from The Office and author of the amazing SoulPancake book ... do you really need more of a reason?
13. Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think (5:00pm) - I had the chance to get an advance copy of Peter Diamandis' new book that this talk is based on, and it will be worth attending.  Even though he is up against Rainn Wilson, definitely try to check this out.
14. Beg, Borrow, Bribe: Startups in Emerging Markets (5:00pm) - A great and important session from G Kofi Annan on emerging markets and startup culture.  The insights in this session will be super useful if you do any work in this area, or care about how to support more innovation and entrepreneurship in emerging markets.
15. Enterprise Social Media: Five Emerging Trends (5:00pm) - A super relevant session from two leaders at IBM about trends in enterprise social media.  This will likely be very applicable if you do any work with social media and driving its strategic use and adoption in large enterprise cultures.

Sunday, March 11

1. Can Gaming Make the World Better? (9:30am) - Gaming is definitely a hot topic, but the quality of the speakers on this panel makes it a must see on my list, and it should be on yours as well.
2. The State of Social Marketing (9:30am) - Another session with a great list of organizations represented, including Eloqua, Jess3, The Next Web and Unified.  I've heard almost all these speakers or know them personally, and this should be a great panel.
3. Food Trucks Share Social Media Tips (9:30am) - A perfect topic for a panel in Austin, food trucks sit perfectly at the intersection of so many hot topics in social media today ... dining and reviews, geolocation and mobility, and experiential marketing.  The insights in this session should be applicable to a wide range of businesses and industries. 
4. Friending Pharma: Patients, Industry & New Media (9:30am) - Another healthcare session worth checking out, and one of the only ones to even mention Pharma in the title.   
5. Pitching Start Ups to Ad Agencies and Clients (9:30am) - The main reason this one is on my list is because I am one of those agency guys heading to SXSW and open to being pitched by startups. One of the biggest reasons I return year after year is because it is one of the few events where I can get some face to face time with people doing interesting things with startups.  
6. Socializing the Presidency: Digital Politics 2012 (9:30am) - There are lots of political panels happening at SXSW this year thanks to it also being an election year. This one stood out to me because of the quality of the speakers - Christina Bellantoni from PBS, Craig from Craigslist, Heather Smith from Rock the Vote and Maria Teresa Kumar from Voto Latino. Check out this panel to help get ready for what will be the most social media enabled election in history.  
7. Mother Goose Got Punked: Next Gen Visual Stories (11:00am) - Not only do I love the fact that this storytelling session focuses on nonprofits, but the majority of the speakers are photographers and videographers themselves - which means that this should be a highly practical and informative session for anyone in the nonprofit world looking to get better at telling engaging stories.  
8. Discoverability and the New World of Book PR (11:00am) - Having met or heard a few of the speakers on this panel before, anyone considering writing a launching a book should put this panel on your list.  Not only should get a lot from the discussion, but the Q&A should offer a great discussion and some highly useful tips to take away.  
9. The Science of Habits: Why We Do What We Do (11:00am) - This is the official session for Charles Duhigg, who will be co-hosting a meetup with me on Friday.  In case you don't make it to our meetup, or even if you do, I highly recommend seeing Charles talk about his amazing book in person.  
10. FILM - Decoding Deepak (World Premiere - 11:00am) - This is the only film that made my list (in case you forgot, SXSW is also a huge film festival!).  It is the world premiere of a highly engaging film from Gotham Chopra, Deepak Chopra's son.  I have corresponded with him in the past and seen the trailer for the film (which you can also watch here) and it is pretty amazing. For anyone who has admired Deepak Chopra from afar, or ever considered what it would be like to be the kid of a famous person ... this movie brilliantly deconstructs the experience. 
11. How Brain Science Turns Browsers into Buyers (11:00am) - I have read several of the books from the speakers at this session and just having AK Pradeep (author of The Buying Brain) and Roger Dooley (author of Brainfluence) - two of the leading minds in studying how our brains control the buying decisions we make - is enough to make this panel worth attending. For anyone who has a website or business to optimize based on real research from leading researchers studying the brain, this session should blow your mind (um, pun intended).   
12. Open Art, Open Audiences: The Edinburgh Festivals (12:30pm) - The Edinburgh Festival is one that I have admired from afar for some time and always thought about making it to. This session should be an entertaining chance to go behind the scenes.  
13. How We Do It in Brazil (12:30pm) - Once again SXSW is very thin on panels with a global focus, but this is one that made my list. It's focus is doing business in Brazil, which should matter for many businesses because of the size of the country and economy, but also because it will be hosting the Olympics in 2016 and the FIFA World Cup in 2014.  
14. Everybody's a Bloody Entrepreneur! Or Are They? (12:30pm) - It doesn't take much these days to call yourself an entrepreneur, and this panel focuses on the good and bad of that.  It is enough to make this panel interesting, but also love that it is a panel full of successful female entrepreneurs, but that the focus of the session isn't on women in business or women in tech. We often pay too much attention to that, and not enough to the credentials and expertise of the speakers themselves. This is a session filled with four super successful entrepreneurs. Period.
15. The Payment Revolution is Coming: Welcome to Interchange Zero (12:45pm) - Telling you to go to a keynote talk doesn't really offer much - they all should be good. But this one with Scvngr founder Seth Priebatsch is on such an important topic that it really is a can't miss session. The future of money, digital wallets and virtual currency all are hot topics this year. I can't make every session about those, but this is one that I plan to be at.
16. What the Internet Finds Funny: Creating & Covering Humor Online (3:30pm) - The powerful role the humor in marketing and advertising can take in actually punching through and being effective.  The only reason I think we don't see more sessions on this is because of how pitifully bad most marketers are at it.  
17. Reprogram Your Yard, Then Eat It (3:30pm) - This is not on my list for any social media or professional learning, but instead because I'm just so interested in the idea. Can I learn to grow my own food, get over my own mental barriers and actually make myself healthier in the process?  If there is any talk on the list that should immediately be turned into a DVD and made required viewing for at least half of America, this would be it. 
18. Digital Immortals: Preserving Life Beyond Death (5:00pm) - This was a hot topic last year and seems to have died down a bit since then, but is no less relevant as a trend or important topic that we should all pay attention to.  For anyone who has wondered what happens to your Facebook page after you pass away, and all the other issues around "digital death" - this panel should be a good one.
19. PostSecret + BLUEBRAIN: A Multimedia Presentation (6:30pm) - If Frank Warren were showing up somewhere to read random entries from Wikipedia, I'd probably show up ... and pay good money for a ticket too.  In this session, the creator of PostSecret will go interactive and do something new and different with his amazing content.  If you don't have this on your list to attend, you need to add it.

Monday, March 12

1. MY PANEL: How to Be Strategically Unlikeable Online (9:30am) - This is my panel, so obviously I'm biased ... but I'm planning something unexpected and it should be a lot of fun, and educational too.  I hope you do show up, and in case you are planning on it, here's a page where you can RSVP to attend.
2. Branded Documentary: Cause Marketing's Best Media? (11:00am) - Ever since the success of Inconvenient Truth, this has surely been a hot topic for nonprofits - so I love the idea for this session.
3. Invention & Inspiration: Building a Better World (11:00am) - If you care about innovation at all, seeing Dean Kamen has to be on your short list.  His bio describes him as a "prolific inventor who has been compared to Edison."  In his case, it isn't just ego or exaggeration.
4. Shut Up & Draw: A Non-Artist Way to Think Visually (11:00am) - Dan Roam and Sunni Brown in one panel session? There's only one word for that ... WOW.  This panel needs to be on your short list because both of them are amazing people and talented communicators as well. This will be an amazing session.
5. HOW: Why HOW We Do Anything Means Everything (11:30am) - I loved Dov Seidman's book and his important message about "corporate virtue" is an important one for any business to hear.  This is a book reading that should be worth the time to see.  
6. The Business of Kevin Smith (12:30pm) - As a media pioneer, Kevin Smith has launched plenty of firsts in the film and entertainment industry. His view of the world is one that I can't wait to listen to.
7. #140conf @ SXSW 2012 (3:30pm) - Jeff Pulver is a master community builder - which is why every one of his #140 events are such a hit. He is running an abbreviated version of one of his events at SXSW, and one that you should try to make it to - especially if you have never made it to one of his #140 events before.
8. Africa, Tech & Women: The New Faces of Development (5:00pm) - This panel brings together several under represented topics into one - which alone makes it interesting enough to make my list. 
9. Timing is Everything: How to Maximize Your PR (5:00pm) - I have long believed in the power of timing to make marketing and PR more effective. In fact, it is a topic I devote an entire chapter to in my upcoming book. This will be a great session and reminder that if you haven't got the right timing, you're just preparing for failure.  
10. En/Forced Femme: Sex Workers and Social Media (6:30pm) - A topic that we don't see enough conversation about is the role of social media in enabling forced sex workers. This should be an interesting session on the topic from a sex worker who will have a unique point of view. I love that this is part of the scheduling at SXSW.

Tuesday, March 13

1. I May "Like" You, but I'm Not in Like with You (9:30am) - There's been a lot of conversation lately about how much a "Like" on Facebook really matters. In many cases it doesn't. This panel should bring that conversation up in a timely way.
2. China: Creators and Consumers of the Future (9:30am) - There are many panels this year on China - and this one looked like one of the most promising because of its dual focus on creation and consumption coming from China.  If I make it to one panel focused on China, this should be it.
3. Who Needs a Fashion Cycle? I've Got Social Media (11:00am) - A great panel focused on the intersection of fashion and digital tools.  Social shopping will be part of this and is a hot topic for the coming year. 
4. Philanthropy for Everyone: Community Grantmaking (11:00am) - Some of the biggest crowdsourcing examples today are in the community grantmaking space, so I really like the idea of bringing microlending to smaller regional areas - including Detroit. This session should offer some great discussion about the next phase of Community Grantmaking.
5. The Future of Work and the Free Radical (12:30pm) - How we work is changing, where we work isn't. This great panel should offer a new look at how the future of work will be dramatically different primarily because the things that matter to the work force are dramatically changing.
6. Social Media & Young Children: Our Kids' Futures (3:30pm) - Now that my older son is 7 years old, he is starting to use the computer by himself ... which is a freak out moment for me because I know all the crazy stuff online.  As he gets older and starts using social media, I'm sure I will start to panic even more - so this session is super relevant for me, but also for anyone who has young kids today.  
7. Digital Debauchery with Anthony Bourdain (3:30pm) - I wish I was still going to be in Austin to be able to attend this one, because I love the viewpoint that Anthony Bourdain has offered through his travel shows.  He not only goes to interesting places, but he the best kind of adventurer, who doesn't need to dive off cliffs or climb into a cave with spiders to show us all the wierd and wonderful things that our world already has in it.

Of course there are probably a bunch of great panels that I missed.  In case you happen to be leading one, or have one that you're particularly excited about - feel free to add it in the comments.  And in case you didn't already realize, I only included the panels and talks during the Interactive part of the festival!

How MindValley Is Building the Next TED (Only More Useful)

This morning I watched an amazing TED video of flying robots that can operate autonomously and collaborate with each other at the same time. It is exciting technology ... just the kind of thing you would expect to come out of a TED event. As I write this, the video (and its big finish where the robots play a song together) is rapidly going viral online, and I have to admit I love watching things like this. The only problem is, I'm not sure what I can do with this mind blowing example except to share it with friends. It is great to get me thinking about the world, but not immediately easy to apply to my daily life. 

Earlier today on stage at the Underground Online Seminar 8, Vishen Lakhiani had a collaborative idea of his own to unveil. In a conference room filled with over 500 online entrepreneurs - many of whom have made their entire fortunes selling advice online - his announcement was unexpected, to say the least. As Co-Founder and CEO of a company named MindValley that publishes personal growth products, Vishen fit right in with the group of internet business owners packed into the crowded Crystal City hotel ballroom just a few minutes outside Washington DC. 

His company MindValley has a bold mission to help help people achieve their dreams through offering them the tools and resources to inspire them to get there. The products the company has launched are among the most popular and best selling in the personal development space. The company has won multiple awards as an amazing place to work, takes their entire 75 person staff on an annual retreat to an exotic island, and works with speakers and visionaries in many different industries.

When Vishen took the stage, he talked about a common problem that any online entrepreneur will recognize - that great ideas are quickly and shamelessly stolen and copied. For MindValley, that meant that everything from copywriting to the design templates were being ripped off by their competitors and used to get results for themselves. Instead of getting angry, or speed dialing his lawyers (as other entrepreneurs might do), Vishen and his team embraced the copycats. And then they made a big promise.

Starting today, MindValley will be one of the first companies to be completely devoted to sharing everything about their business in an open source model. This means every template, every meeting, every spreadsheet about how they run their business will be shared online. The website www.mindvalleyinsights.com just went live about 8 hours ago, and the site is filled with videos, written articles, advice and tips. The site promises a treasure chest of information on everything from hiring and retaining great people to effective branding. 

Why would they release all this material for free? Unlike many others, the motivation isn't what I often call "karmic kickback" - a term that describes people who only do something for the expectation of some future return of positive karma. Instead, it is part of a bigger world view that Vishen and his entire team share.  He often speaks about "why happiness is the new productivity." The more you learn about MindValley, the most this announcement feels like the perfect fit for their mission of touching 500 million lives through their content by the year 2050.

In the months to come, it will be interesting to see how MindValley Insights evolves. For now, I highly recommend bookmarking the site and returning often to consume the great content there. It will help you hire better people to create a stronger business and find more happiness and fulfillment. Not to mention we'll need all the free advice and insights we can get just in case those autonomous collaborating robots finally figure out the nuclear launch codes ... 

I Like You, But Not That Way: How Retailers Lose & Win Back Customers

"3D Catalog" is a phrase you will see in a few articles about the retail industry these days. Unfortunately, it's not a cool new interactive augmented reality thing. This is a term that describes the fears of many real life retailers who are afraid of becoming a place where consumers just go to touch and feel products that they will eventually buy from Amazon or another discounted online store. There are plenty of reasons why this is an understandable fear.

Right now the most viewed and popular blog post on Forbes.com is titled "Why Best Buy Is Going Out Of Business, Gradually." In it, author Larry Downes argues that Best Buy is managing to deliver on none of the things like knowledgeable staff or better showrooms which could make them a destination worth visiting. Instead, he argues, it is a retailer of last resort or a place where you just go to see products that you will eventually buy elsewhere.

Borders Books went into bankruptcy over the past year, and one of the contributing factors was they had more browsers than buyers walking through their stores. This past Black Friday retail season, online sales were a higher overall percentage of consumer spending than ever before - and this has been the trend for the last several years.

The whole situation might remind you of a mismatched relationship, where one person just wants to be friends while the other wants more than that.  Those situations never end well. Best Buy wants to marry your wallet, but instead they are getting dumped after a one night stand. It is a sad story, with some fairly clear reasons for why it happens over and over:

1. There is better interactive product information online - with all of the online product demos, 3D product shots and direct information from manufacturers - you can often get the best information about particular products and the ability to comparison shop online.
2. Online reviews are highly influential - there is a reason that more than 80% of all consumers read online reviews before making purchase decisions. We trust in the opinions of others, even if we don't know them personally - and these online reviews are a huge factor in closing a sale, or losing a customer.
3. Retailers can't match lower prices available online - the most logical and common argument is that you can just get any product for cheaper online because the online retailers have much lower overhead to cover because of not having a physical store.

So how can retailers survive this pressure and avoid becoming nothing more than a real life catalogs fueling the sales of their online rivals? It comes down to understanding the three areas where a real life presence still matters, and trying to sit at the intersection of all three. When I think about the real life stores that I have gone to in order to buy a product that I could have purchased online, it was for one of three reasons:

1. Ease - the store was close to me, or the product was large (like a snow blower) and therefore the online channel was too risky or inconvenient and I went to my local store instead.
2. Relationship - I had a personal relationship with a person at my local store and therefore had built up trust in them and the experience that they offered me.  As a result, I continued to go there despite having other options to purchase online.
3. Expertise - In some cases, you just need to speak to someone who knows what they are talking about. Earlier this year when I went to buy a new tent and sleeping bag for a camping trip with my son, I went into the local store to speak to someone who knew our area and could provide useful advice on what to get.

Until retailers are able to find the right way to focus on combining these three together into an experience worth having and sharing, they will continue to lose out to the speedier and always available retailers online.

2012 Edition: 15 Marketing and Business Trends That Matter

Let me tell you a little secret.  I look forward to putting together an annual trend report the same way that some people look forward to having Turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. I realize that may sound a bit strange, but ever since I did my first trend recap last year I was hooked.  This year, the process of collecting the trends took all year.  I have a folder on my desk labelled "Trends 2012" and throughout the year I would rip out articles from magazines or printout webpages to save. Last November I started actually writing my trend presentation and finally released it on Slideshare yesterday. 

 

A few things surprised me about the trends this year. Here are a few of the most unexpected things:

1. Only 2 out of 15 trends are based on innovative technology (Trends #10 and #13). Given the prominence of technology in our lives and more and more digital tools, I expected that more of the trends for 2012 would be based entirely on technology innovation. That ended up not being the case as most of the trends focused more on either behaviours or the use of sites and technology that already exist and don't really require much innovation in order to keep growing.
2. Creativity and design are more important than ever. While it would have been too obvious to point this out as a trend on its own, many of the trends that were included in the presentation were highly dependent on encouraging more creativity and delivering great design. Measuring Life, for example, has taken off in part thanks to great product and interface designs. Pointillist Filmmaking or Social Artivism are clearly based on creativity and design. Even Retail Theater, Tagging Reality and Charitable Engagement are all trends that require creative thinking and  strong ability to use design to engage people.
3. People actively seek opportunities to participate, collaborate or experience something. Doing something together came up as a big motivator for many of the trends this year, as Social Loneliness led people to look for more opportunities to have great experiences or be part of something worthwhile. Pointillist Filmmaking, Civic Engagement 2.0 and Retail Theater are all examples where people are seeking the chance to participate in something. Charitable Engagement ChangeSourcing and Co-Curation are other trends where people offer their time and passions to collaborate together on something.

Let me know what you think about these trends with a comment here or on Facebook, or feel free to send me an email at influentialmarketing@gmail.com.  Next week I'll be starting my trend folder to gather stories for 2013 ...

If you would like to get a downloadable version of this presentation, you can find it on my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/rohitmarketingauthor.

Survive The Modern Believability Crisis: Be Meaningful

Last year when I spoke at a TEDx conference on reinventing marketing, I asked what I thought at the time was a relatively innocent question: "how many people in the audience feel that marketing is adding something positive to the world around them?" Of the few hands that went up, the majority came from people in marketing ... underscoring a gulf that has exponentially multipled in the 16 months since that talk. Today people around the world are launching full occupying demonstrations against big corporate brands and new research points to the US as the only country to see trust in all institutions decline from 2010 to 2011.  The bottom line is we are fully into a modern believability crisis.

And it is not just a crisis for marketing people either. When we live in a world where people become skeptical of everything around them and wary of any type of manipulation, we all lose. Society itself becomes a tougher place to interact with others and survive in. People only consume news they agree with, compromise is seen as surrender and the bickering of politicians becomes just a precursor to a similar toxic dissent which may start to invade the rest of our lives and interactions. 

If this seems like a doomsday scenario, the good news is that this week signs of hope emerged from some very unexpected places:

Though certainly colored by politics, Bill Clinton's new book Back To Work was profiled in yesterday's New York Times. In the review, reporter Michiko Kakutani says that Clinton "serves up a succinct common-sense argument for why America needs a strong national government, why both spending cuts and increased tax revenues are necessary for addressing the debt problem."

Also this week, communications agency Havas Media released a global study which showed that "only 20% of brands have a notable positive impact on our sense of wellbeing and quality of life." In the research which polled 50,000 people in 14 countries, they found that "most people would not care if 70% of brands ceased to exist (and in the US alone this number goes up to 82%)."

In a related point, they found that "nearly 85% of consumers worldwide expect companies to become actively involved in solving these issues (an increase of 15% from 2010)." The underlying message of the research is that companies must find a way to stand for more than just the products they make.  The impact they have on the world around them is becoming increasingly important to increasing customer loyalty.

Today I am speaking and participating in BrandsConf, a conference all about how brands can rediscover their humanity. More than two dozen speakers will share their thoughts in short bursts of 5 or 10 minutes each on how to add more humanity to the way that large organizations communicate. It could not have come at a better time. This idea of more human brands is closely related to why companies matter more to people.  Yes, a big part of it is how you choose to do business in the world and whether it is sustainable and responsible.  The other important piece, however, is the people who represent your brand and the human connection they can offer.

The real battle today isn't one of perception ... but one of meaning. In a sense, this is the big problem I am writing a book about how to solve (Likeonomics) - and one that the many speakers today will likely cover. Ultimately solving it will require a new level of organizational vulnerability and commitment for them to be more human and more honest. Honesty creates trust, and trust leads to us changing the culture of business and our culture itself.

I saw this first hand last week at the Opportunity Nation Summit as well, where business, religious, political and media leaders came together to talk about the importance for all of us to create a nation of opportunity for everyone. For too long, as the summit shared, the zip code you are born in determines our future. That shouldn't be the case.  Business has an important role to play in this revolution ... and it isn't to sit back and let the attacks fly.

In a skeptical world where honesty has become the most unexpected thing of all ... making your brand meaningful to your consumer's life comes first from finding a way to tell the truth when you answer the question of whether you are offering anything positive to the world. Being meaningful is the new secret to creating long term brand value.