Category: Marketing (Page 9 of 25)

social3i Launches – The next great adventure

July 6, 2010 / Andy Boyer

A friend of mine recently commented that they never quite understand what I do for a living, but it always seems cool. I couldn’t agree more.

Whether it be building batting cages and selling corporate ticket packages in minor league baseball, writing press releases and guiding customers on the top of a ski resort, working for a future Senator and selling the idea of audio and video on the internet, assisting professional athletes and their families raise money for charities, aiding venture backed startups with Go-To-Market campaigns, or most recently, helping guide a social media and community management agency go from 2 to 35 employees, the two common threads have always been challenge and fun.

So July 2010 marks the start of the next great adventure – social3i Consulting. Xavier Jimenez and I will team up for the 3rd time now, taking what we’ve learned from our last few years working with the largest social media team in the region, and reshaping it to a more focused, strategic, and consultative presence that can work for exemplary brands, where size doesn’t matter.

Our old colleagues at SCG continue do fantastic work in the realm of community management, and we wish them continued success as they drive forward. But the focus of social3i will be different. We’re going to be doing more classic strategic consulting, and lots of team building, training and development. Rather than execute long-term tactics and serving the role of outsourced engagement and analytics, we’re going to use a data driven approach to deliver Insight, Ideas and Influence (hence, the 3i) to clients tasked with building their own in house programs. We believe our past experience building these types of teams and our history of working with some of the largest technology brands, positions us well to solve huge social marketing problems for brands that we’re excited to help out. Plus, we’re going to be able to join forces with some folks down in the Bay Area who I’ve been hoping to work with for years. It’s too early to talk about now, but it will add a neat new angle to typical marketing analysis.

Like every new venture, I’m sure we’ll have our share of hiccups and bugs along the way. But it’s an exciting time and I hope you’ll come find us and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. We’ll look like a bunch of clowns if we only have 4 followers, so if you read this blog, consider following social3i in these social channels the tax you need to pay for all the free content you’ve gotten over the years 🙂

Thanks again to the SCG team for what has been a fun couple of years. But I’m not sure I could ask for a more exciting way to open up the 2nd half of 2010 than launching social3i.

Carol Bartz Talks Leadership at UW

May 21, 2010 / Andy Boyer

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone with a tougher executive position than Carol Bartz. As the CEO of Yahoo, she had to step into the shoes of the Founder, fix the mess he caused with the board, figure out what her company actually “does” these days, and then decide how to compete in ecosystems dominated by Google, Microsoft and the sports and entertainment giants. So when I heard the UW Foster School of Business was bringing her into town for their “Redefining Leadership” series, it was a can’t miss opportunity.

First impression – I was shocked and pleased by how personable and affable she is. It was a fairly conservative environment – a large auditorium and a moderator doing Q+A – but she was candid and downright funny. The moderator did not take us through much of a story arc in his line of questions, so rather than recap the event in paragraph form, here are a few bullets that stood out.

On teamwork:

(paraphrase) Business schools put too much emphasis on “teamwork.” Individuals have different goals, even within a team. It’s unnatural to think that in a team setting, you can all be motivated by the same thing. Learn teamwork on a sports field instead.

On Corporate Strategy vs Executing on Tactics:

It’s tempting to go into a firestorm and put your head down, and ignore what the road looks like outside the fire. 3,4, or 5 year plans never work. In fact, any plan that you had in December is now wrong. But there are always people in a company who love thinking long term about what the company should be doing down the road.

You need to build your business so that 70-80% is stable and going to be consistent, but that 20-30% can change and be changed to adapt quickly to what is happening around you.

Thinking is a skill. Understand when you have someone who is good at it.

On Joining Yahoo:

Yahoo had been working with tons of data, but hadn’t actually made any real decisions for a while. She needed to make a couple of decisions quickly to shake people up. She also found that people were hungry for interaction, or even communication, from the executive level.

In her first 5 weeks, Bartz held 45 minute conversations with staff members, and always ended the conversation with, “Who else should I be talking to?” From this, a clear pattern of thought leaders and key influencers developed, which didn’t necessarily map to an org chart. The standout members at Yahoo were recognized by multiple people she talked to.

The Yahoo Ad campaign was meant as much for the staff as more the consumers. She needed to show the staff that Yahoo was relevant, and being on national TV helped that.

On Change:

Fail. Fast. Forward. You have to try new things. If you aren’t ever failing, you aren’t innovating. But make sure you can fail quickly, so you can change course and try the next thing. Always be looking forward. Don’t dwell on the failures, and don’t penalize people. Take the learnings to the next test.

If you look at life, the biggest mistakes are always the things you didn’t do.

Change is a muscle. If you don’t exercise it, you lose the ability to do it, or do it well.

You need to have a good understanding about what in your business needs to stay stable, and what parts can change. Know that your people need to be able to handle that.

You need people who can be interrupted without negative effects.

On Culture:

You have to pick your battles and understand what is really important. Your culture is secondary to having a company that a) Makes Decisions, b) Moves Forward and c) Gets Things Done. You can’t sacrifice any of these things for “company culture.”

On Identying Strong Performers, and Career Development:

Think of a bell curve. It’s really easy to spot the folks on either extreme. Your top performers easily stand out. They volunteer for projects, they are the ones you think of first to solve a problem for you, and they tend to self-select and join in a pack together. So, they are pretty recognizable.

But the harder thing is to find the people with that same potential, and stretch them to turn them into top performers. They may be quieter, or not on the projects that get as much recognition. So it’s important to find these folks and put them in positions where they can become stars. They aren’t the average employees making the most noise – so you need to look hard for the hidden talents and figure out ways to cultivate these quiet ones with potential.

On the other end, you need to be direct and clear with the ones who slow you down. They’ll perform well somewhere, it’s just not necessarily in your company. The worst thing is that the rest of the team knows when an employee is a bad fit. and it makes management look bad when they don’t help them move on to a place where they can be more successful. You do everyone a favor when you cut them loose and help them find a better fit.

Every employee should be involved with sales. Sales is not a dirty world. You simply can never really understand what your company does until you actually try to sell it to someone. Understanding why someone says “no” to you will help you figure out what your company can do better.

On Personal Life vs A Business Life

Yahoo delivers 100 Billion emails a day, and filters out another 600 Billion spam messages. When their servers go down, it’s a big deal. But, Yahoo doesn’t cure cancer. It’s a web site. Your job is probably not curing cancer either. Enjoy yourself, experiment, laugh – don’t pretend you are more important than you are just because you have a boss or client who wants something. Chances are pretty good the world will go on without you completing that one task you are stressing out about.

Don’t add pressure to yourself by thinking about the “would haves, should have or could haves.”

On Developing Employees:

Annual reviews are a waste of time. Yahoo quit doing them. Instead employees and managers are tasked with making sure they have a substantive conversation at least once a quarter.

An annual review is useless because you have an opportunity for feedback, and have to sit on it for 6 months. You wouldn’t wait 6 months to reprimand your puppy for going to the bathroom in the house, why treat a human that way?

Difference Between Succeeding in Technology vs Other Industries:

At the end of the day, business fundamentals are the same no matter what. a) Understand what your customer wants, and deliver it. b) Measure your success and failures. c) Recruit and cultivate talented employees.

Pete Carroll on “How to Run a Social Media Program”

March 9, 2010 / Andy Boyer

(Republished from Spring Creek Group blog.)

It’s not often that you get the chance to sit down with a two-time NCAA National Champion, and current NFL coach, to talk 1-on-1 about business and strategy. And sadly, this was not one of those times. But I did get to share a room with 300 other people to listen to the new chief Seahawk, Pete Carroll, share some wisdom and philosophy about business and coaching.

Carroll’s presentation was not actually entitled, “How to Run a Social Media Campaign.” But with 400,000 Twitter followers, he could probably run an entire event on the matter if he so wished. He spoke about general leadership and business philosophies, but when you peel away the adjectives, they are also extremely sound strategies for a social media program as well. In honor of the 12^thman, here are 12 philosophies I walked away with (and which will likely soon in up in one of our presentation decks).

(Quotes are paraphrases of Carroll’s speech, not necessarily direct quotes, and the photo is from the PSBJ recap.)

1) “I wasn’t ready to be a head coach when I ran the Jets. So it was a mistake to get involved. But when I finally figured it out and was ready for the next role, I knew exactly what I needed to do, and what it would take to put it together.” Social media translation – If you don’t know what you are doing, don’t rush in. Figure out what you need to do, and what it will take to get there. Write everything down, start your program and make refinements along the way. But know what the goals are, and what pieces you need to make them happen.

2) “Look forward to the challenges ahead of you, rather than worry about them.” – If you’ve built out a solid plan, you can anticipate where there may be hurdles. When you are prepared and ready to face difficulties, whether they are organizational, technical, or content centric, you are in the proper mindset to find the right solutions in an efficient manner.

3) “We all win sometimes. But if you want to win forever, you figure out why you are winning.” –It’s not just that anyone can get lucky, it’s that everyone will get lucky at some point. If you rest on a few wins without figuring out what exactly got you that bump in traffic or spike in friends, you’ll only be successful until the next company (possibly a competitor) gets their stroke of luck.

4) “Winners battle for a competitive edge in everything they do. Find those who want to do things better than other people, and you all will achieve greater things. Fight, scratch and claw to find a better way.” –Don’t just pick an employee or agency because they are convenient or easy. Pick those with drive and passion to be better than others, and your campaigns will reflect that more so than someone who just wants to get a check. Simply doing something because, ‘it’s how we’re used to doing it’ is not acceptable for a social media or marketing program. Do what it takes to make something special happen.

5) “Accomplishment is one thing, but it’s more important to understand how someone feels about that accomplishment.” –A line on a resume or a completed project only gets you so far. Understanding whether the person thinks they could have done better, and how they’d do it over, is a better predictor of who is going to execute a quality campaign for you, and how your campaign is going to evolve over time.

6) “Find the folks that other people are listening to. Make an impact on them first, then the rest is easier.” –Identify your influencers. But don’t try to sell them garbage. Carroll used the word “impact” which is key. Be “impactful” to those who matter the most, and you’ll get their support.

7) “3 or 4 people in a crowd out of 15,000 can change a community.” –Carroll’s program to fight gang violence had a monetary return. It cost about $100k to support each of these 3 or 4 influencers. Each gang-related death costs the city $1 Million in legal fees. So for every death Carroll’s group prevents, the city avoids having to pay out $1 Million. Social media may not lead to direct sales, but can you determine if it is preventing additional costs on expensive PR efforts later?

8) “Do things better than anyone else has ever done before, in all the things you choose to do.” — You don’t have to do everything, but if you are going to do it, don’t just do it well, shoot to do it better than everyone else. Basically, “mediocrity” not “failure” is the enemy of “excellence.”

9) “Know your philosophy. If you can’t articulate your own philosophy in 25 words or less, how do you expect anyone who works for you or around you to explain it to others?” –Your social media program needs a vision and a voice, and it needs to be articulated to everyone in your company.

10) “John Wooden had his own way of doing things that were unique. He could draw on people from all walks of life, because they could all focus on his unique way.” –Your brand needs its own unique identity, philosophy and vision if you want people to be drawn to it. If you do things out of a standardized process or playbook, you only cater to those people who agree with that playbook. If you do your own thing, you can draw everyone who believes in the vision.

11) “Empower yourself to do everything you can do, in the areas you control. Don’t worry about the things you can’t.” –Don’t stress about whether people will say something negative. You control the product you develop, the price you sell it for, and the way you promote it. You control how you respond to your customers and how you cater to their needs. Focus on that, and don’t waste energy on the other stuff.

12) “Evaluate, Address areas of concern, and fill the holes.” –This goes to the Spring Creek Group philosophy of 1) Analyze Data, 2) Develop a Strategic Plan, and 3) Engage the Community. Take a good hard look at what you have, figure out the best course of action, and then be relentless in fulfilling those needs.

You can follow Carroll on Twitter at @PeteCarroll. Also, a full-length video of his speech can be found on the Seahawks web site.

Syndicated Post – What Channel is Your Phone Turned To?

March 3, 2010 / Andy Boyer

(Sorry guys – too much to do and too little time. And since I’m spending more time now posting on the Spring Creek Group blog, my guess is that I’ll be reposting some content that I write over there…such as this article.)

What Channel is Your Phone Turned To?

There was a time when you used your remote to change the channel. Now more and more often, the remote and channel are the same device.

Pew Research released a report that claims 33 percent of cell phone owners now access news on their cell phones. So we’ve finally figured out what the people who aren’t Facebooking or texting are doing with their phones – they’re reading the New York Times or Perez Hilton.

The Pew report discusses, “two significant technological trends that have influenced news consumption behavior: First, the advent of social media like social networking sites and blogs has helped the news become a social experience in fresh ways for consumers. People use their social networks and social networking technology to filter, assess and react to news. Second, the ascent of mobile connectivity via smart phones has turned news gathering and news awareness into an anytime, anywhere affair for a segment of avid news watchers.”

Younger cell phone owners are more likely to look for news on their phones than from Katie Couric. In fact, according to the report, about 43 percent of those under 50 said they are mobile news consumers. And social media plays a big part, as more than 80 percent of respondents get or receive news via e-mailed links. But as Breitbart points out in their analysis of the report, the more things change, the more they stay the same. People’s #1 one concern is still the weather (72 percent), followed by current events (68 percent).

John Cook from Seattle’s own TechFlash found it worthwhile to mention that, “The authors of the study write that news has become omnipresent and people’s relationship to news is becoming portable, personalized and participatory.”

I think John is right when he focuses on the fact that news (and other information) is omnipresent. The “news cycle,” so to speak, is no longer valid. The classic product launch is a thing of the past. Making a big splash with a marketing or ad campaign is not effective unless there is credibility in the claim, and you can prove that the message is sustainable over time. There’s an effect in which every marketing action has an equal and opposite reaction. The more you promise, the more upset the crowd will be if you don’t deliver.

So how is this affecting the way news is being delivered?

“In one way it’s uplifting that over 60 percent of people using their phones for news are logging on to check current events. That goes against the passive news consumer we’ve heard about in TV for years,” says Cale Ramaker, an anchor at WOFL-TV in Orlando. “On the other hand it means all news outlets, in any median, need to refocus on not only delivering the news in multi-formats – but do it with an emphasis for the right now consumer.”

Cale’s point is valid. We now have more sources of information, more editors of the information, but also more opportunities to make critical decisions on whether the information is tainted. And seventy two percent of the survey’s respondents said that “most news sources today are biased in their coverage.” If the “objective” sources are biased, then the marketing sources are unbelievably easy to see through.

So at the end of the day, information continues to flow, and people can find it whenever and wherever they are. In fact, even if a marketing team lands an article with Kara Swisher, we may not read it there. We may get it via a friend’s Facebook post or Tweet while waiting for the bus.

New Ad Report – TV $ Down, Social Media $ Up

February 9, 2010 / Andy Boyer

You always have to take these kind of reports with a grain of salt, but Mediapost reports on a new Forrester Research/Association of National Advertisers survey, based on responses from 104 U.S. advertisers in 21 industries, including Cisco Systems, GlaxoSmithKline, ING, Kraft, Marriott, State Farm and Clorox. All told, they represent nearly $14 billion in media budgets.

Here are some highlights from the report, which kind of illustrates how many irrational people there are making marketing decisions:

TV marketers plan to spend 41% of their media budgets on television in 2010 — the same level as a year ago. (However, this is down from the 58% level of two years ago.)
BUT…62% percent of companies say TV ads have become less effective in the past two years due to increased advertising clutter.

So, even though 62% of the marketers admit TV ads are less effective than before, they are going to spend the same amount as last year. Read: “Buying TV is easy, and I like hanging out with ad agency folks on sound stages.”

More insight:

Virtually all advertisers believe the TV industry needs new audience metrics beyond reach and frequency; 82% of respondents would be interested in ratings for individual commercials.
BUT…While 78% are interested in targeting consumers more precisely, only 59% would be willing to pay a premium for it.

So, advertisers admit the TV spot is hard to measure. But no one wants to give up any of their media buy to improve targeting capabilities. Read: “Buying TV is easy, and I can blame the product guys if the ads aren’t working.”

80% of advertisers say future branded entertainment deals will grow. And in 2010, 38% say they will spend more on branded entertainment as an alternative to the 30-second commercial.
19% say the 30-second spot will be dead in 10 years, down from 28% a year ago.

So, advertisers want to move away from 30 second spots and into branded entertainment. But these same people think the 30 second spot will live forever.

Now the good stuff:

Social media, Web advertising and search are stealing budgets from TV and other media. Of those surveyed, 77% said they would be moving TV dollars to social media this year; 73% plan to shift money to online advertising, and 59% will be spending more on search-engine marketing and 46% on e-mail marketing. Other non-TV traditional media doesn’t seem to be part of this trend. Only 15% said they plan to increase spending in traditional media such as radio, outdoor, magazines or newspapers.

Advertisers want targeting (online advertising, email and SEM). They want stronger engagement (Social). And they don’t see much future potential in radio, outdoor, etc… The question is, do they expect lower CPM’s in these channels in comparison to TV? If they want to shift budgets to mediums where they can get a direct measurement of success, why don’t they want to force TV to do a better job of measuring?

There’s an obvious part of this survey that is missing, which illustrates how there’s still a knowledge chasm. No one asked how many of these companies are going to integrate their social and online campaigns with a TV buy. It’s obvious TV is still needed – at least for the largest 104 advertisers – to drive awareness and brand. But it’s not an either/or. These guys have the chance to use the 30 second spot to drive branded entertainment deals online, and capitalize on an engaged social audience. For me, how these 104 companies are going to integrate those campaigns is the really interesting question.

Category: Marketing (Page 9 of 25)

Carol Bartz Talks Leadership at UW

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