Everything Must Change: 10 New Rules for Marketers to Live By

Yesterday’s inauguration of Barack Obama as our 44th president signals a clear change for our country and the world. The inauguration is no stand-alone catalyst, but takes place within the context of a complete upheaval of our worldview as we knew it. Amid the crushing reality of failed banks, over-speculated real estate, a crippled financial system, reduced consumer confidence and mounting job losses, a new reality has emerged for businesses and consumers. Depleted natural resources and irrefutable evidence of green house effect are forcing people and nations worldwide to find alternative and renewable energy resources while simultaneously preserving the natural resources that remain. Democrats hold majority seats in both chambers of Congress setting the stage for domestic and geo-political landscape to undergo a major policy overhaul effecting finance, transportation, education, housing, energy and much more. Moreover, all of this change is taking shape within the context of a global explosion of mass, social and personal communication mediums that only serve to accelerate the exchange of information and hence the pace of change.

Within the context of the dizzying array of changes and conflicts underfoot, I have come to the conclusion, regardless of your industry focus, specialization or geography, that many of our assumptions about “what works” or “this is the way we’ve always done things” must be challenged. Hence, a new set of rules—and opportunities-- are emerging for those marketers paying attention and ready to challenge long held assumptions. Here are 10 new rules for marketers to live by:

Change #1) Authenticity Rules: On one level, it’s absurd to even have to make this statement, but with so many consumers burned by the false promises offered by real estate speculators, “sure thing” investments and overly-leveraged CDOs, marketers can no longer assume that customers will be content to sit back and lap up whatever gruel is being served up. These ill-conceived business practices have undermined consumer trust. The anecdote: Be real. Be authentic. Brands that do so will be rewarded with customers who are engaged and therefore have the potential for loyalty. See Hyundai’s latest efforts to build trust. In the age of disintermediation, what could be more valuable than loyal customers?

Change #2) Born to Serve: A faltering economy brings with it the seeds of increased empathy and desire to help others. Look no further than the thousands of service programs spawned in honor of MLK Day to get a glimpse of the emotional power and deep satisfaction derived from service. Non-profits should pay close attention: rather than gnashing of teeth about big donors snapping their purses shut, they might do well to follow the example of candidate Obama and tap into the much broader donor base that awaits them through effective use of social medial and networking. Witness the groundbreaking work of Beth Kanter and the example she is leading with in using social networks to drive donor contributions in the non-profit sector.

Rule #3) Surviving not thriving: Multiple sectors of our society will shift from aspirational consumerism to survival mode. This will be especially true for boomers, seniors and millennial’s who have no secondary education (of which 50% of the population can be counted). Post-war education modality in the US (i.e. educate kids to reach the minimum standard or lowest common denominator) combined with the evaporation of high-wage/low-skill blue collar employment opportunities leaves many ill equipped to tackle the complexity of competing in the context of a global economy. Marketers that offer education, re-training and skills advancement are in line to make significant gains (and most likely will have government programs to assist in funding re-training efforts). Simultaneously, these same consumers, and those who by necessity re-trench their spending habits, will continue to purchase “indispensable goods” (e.g.: consumables, alcohol, energy, and most forms of entertainment) even while in survival mode. Marketers that appeal to thrift, while maintaining dignity, will come out ahead.

Change #4) The road to riches has been re-defined: As a college grad in the 80’s the path many of my college friends took to the road to riches was Wall Street and the financial markets. Certainly some found fame and fortune. More importantly, however, it was the “promise” of riches that led them and their considerable talents to the financial sector and away from other creative, and potentially profitable, endeavors. What’s an out of work securities analyst to do? (Hopefully lots!) But more importantly, this fact gives rise to the promise that rather than draining our talent pool to create yet another generation of financial and legal experts that fueled the explosive growth-- and over-speculation-- of the US stock market, what should emerge are large numbers of graduates—as well as mid-career make-overs—applying their talents to real businesses—ones that generate real jobs, real products and real promise to our economy. Marketers and businesses that identify this trend should be in line for a serious talent upgrade and leverage these skilled workers to new standards in innovation and performance for the respective industries.

Rule #5) Retail Re-Invention: The rules of creative destruction are already taking hold. Over expansion (Starbucks, Circuit City), tired/irrelevant concepts (Sears, Sharper Image), non-distinguishable brands (Macy’s, Kmart) better buckle up and get ready to take your medicine. The winners will continue to provide relevance, access and resonate with the needs and lifestyles of today’s consumers and most importantly be vigilant to avoid the irrelevance syndrome: striving be everything to everybody (often at the demand of Wall Street not smart marketers) can often equate to becoming nothing to no one.

Rule #6) Price trumps all: Consumers want more for less. Period. Marketers who deliver will grow share in a down market. Consumers: See McDonald’s “More Hoity, Less Toity” coffee campaign; Subway “five dollar foot long” spots; Staples, and Sprint.

Rule #7) Color Me A Rainbow: Look no further than the election of Barack Obama (and photos of his extended family) along with Hillary Clinton’s historic campaign to see that the role models most Americans identify with are no longer white or male. Yet it astounds me how many marketers still rely on the visual clichés of white dad, white mom and fluffy dog when promoting their brands. Get over it! Marketers that reflect and authentically engage with the unique cultural identities that are now represented in post-millennial America will win the hearts, minds and wallets of consumers.

Rule #8) Competition is global: Forget the old idea of looking within your borders for your competition. Your competition- especially for knowledge workers—is literally worldwide. As was exhaustively documented by Thomas Freidman, the world is indeed flat and the implications have changed the rules—forever. At a recent technology industry event I attended, I had the privilege to meet a very polished business development representative for a product engineering firm based in India who is competing quite successfully and winning computer programming work among America’s top corporate giants. Fortunately just a few feet away another engineering professional was sharing stories how his eight person team of US engineers are creating new products for major corporations and charging competitive rates while securely ensconced in their offices in downtown Seattle. Too many marketers have fallen prey to the notion that American companies can only win when we compete on price. But this overlooks the greatest asset we still hold as a nation: Innovation. The salesman from India is selling services TO innovative American companies; therefore let’s make innovation our greatest export. Think IBM, Boeing, Google. Innovation is our value play and is never traded on price alone.

Rule #9) Green is not a slogan: The auto industry made the mistake relegating the development of green products to a marketing slogan they could simply tag to a vehicle. Toyota got it right and was rewarded with market dominance. IBM is also getting it right with their current “making a difference” campaign. Being green is not a marketing initiative, but rather must be an integral part of the entire manufacturing and product cycle strategy – from womb to tomb. Green must be authentic. Green must be real. Products that disingenuously play the green card risk irrelevance at best, elimination at worse.

Rule #10) It’s not always about the money: Seemingly a contradiction to the other changes above, but as consumers comes to terms with the flawed assumption that having a job equals security, and the fallibility in relying on money for “emotional security” they will begin to place greater trust in brands, people and institutions (esp. faith communities and wellness organizations) who reward them not with dollars and cents, but with a sense of renewal, prosperity and health. Marketers would do well do invest in brands that deliver on these essential, yet often overlooked, human needs.

Summary: Challenge all the assumptions: A broad statement I realize, but I would recommend marketers look hard at your brand and every pending promotion with new eyes and think through the implications of all the changes underfoot and ask yourself these questions: Is the brand/product/service still relevant? To whom? Are we targeting the right customer? How has the customer changed/been impacted by recent events? This is not to suggest we should be paralyzed, but quite the opposite: succinct analysis and reflection should provide insight for new opportunities to grow loyalty among customers and the resulting revenues that come with increased loyalty.

Extra credit:

Resurgence of micro-businesses and temporary workers: When the going gets tough the tough get going. Whether food services, work for hire, housekeeping, temp accountants, field sales workers, network marketing, etc. as economies tighten the workforce will be forced to become increasingly entrepreneurial and will set out on their own. This change will probably first show up as a reduction in the number of unemployment claims. While fewer folks will be on the dole, they will not be finding full time work, just merely making it up as they go along. Marketers would do well to equip and train these workforce wannabes.

Forget venture funding; find an angel: For a period of time venture capital firms enjoyed a prestigious role in the ecosystem of founding and building great companies. However, the entire premise of venture funding—invest a relatively small amount to get an outsized return-- is completely broken. Due to the fact that too few companies deliver outsized returns, instead of seeing dividend checks, limited partners in VC funds are getting capital calls. Exposing portfolios to ever-greater risks for LPs has become intolerable and therefore capital raises for VCs impossible. With most major corporations in belt tightening mode for the next 2-3 years, there will be few opportunities for M&A exits and even fewer exits via IPO. Therefore, unless a venture backed company is cash flow positive during its Series A, start-up entrepreneurs should start polishing up their resumes and not waste time trying to secure B round funding. The alternative: Angel investors with long time horizons look more attractive than ever.

Darkness lurks: As jobs tighten and survival becomes paramount, we will see more crimes of opportunity. Brands and marketers focused on protecting assets – real and imaginary—will see uptake in demand for their products and services.

Please add your comments or feedback below.

Advertising Thought Leaders Technology Forecast 2009

Last night MITEF hosted a dinner program where thought leaders in advertising and technology shared their views on how the future of advertising will be shaped by technology.  The evening's program concluded with the panelists providing a succinct forecast for 2009 and beyond. You can view the following short video clip to hear their predictions:

Other top takeaways included:

• The winners will be brands that are willing to give up some degree of control to the customers they serve and want to engage.

• Consumers no longer wait for news therefore technology deliver advertising to consumers at the same moment news is breaking

• Tapping local advertiser dollars online: technology must evolve to capture local advertisers. Of 20MM local advertisers in the US; only 1MM advertise online.

• Metrics must evolve to from clicks to measuring actions: Did this action result in furthering the transaction. A local Seattle start-up, Visible Technologies, is one of the companies making progress in this area.

• Focus on prioritizing value not technology: brand strategy and attributes should drive the technology and media selected and should align with the brand values.

• As consumers have more access to information, advertising must be relevant and authentic. Personalization and profiling is key.

• Mobile offers 16BB untapped ad units (i.e. # of calls made per day) and will be monetized. This compares to 11BB ad units served per month by Google.

• Saavy users requires authenticity: 65% of teens have created and/or uploaded content to the Web therefore brands have to be authentic.

• Give consumers an experience that they will remember: When designing your website, don't ask yourself what cool new technology we can deploy, but rather, what is the experience you want your customer to have and remember. The experience that is consistent with the brand wins the customer.

• Get people to stop saying no to advertising: Behavioral advertising boasts that their ads see an 8x improvement in click thrus as compared to traditional display ads. While impressive, displays ads only see a .01% of traffic click through so in essence behavioral advertising realizes a .08% average CTR. That's a lot of people saying "no" to the advertising and this can only be improved through relevance. Technology that can aggregate geo, profile, timeliness, preferences and permission will win consumers.

• Branding is about doing a few things -- and being recognized for it-- really, really well. Get your customers and employees to be your story tellers and be ready to engage.

Mining the Zeitgeist

Marketers interested in taking the pulse of consumers would be wise to keep tabs of Google Zeitgeist. Check out the top keyword "global movers" in 2008:

Fastest Rising (global)

1. Sarah Palin

2. Beijing 2008

3. facebook login

4. tuenti

5. heath ledger

6. obama

7. nasza klasa

8. wer kennt wen

9. euro 2008

10. jonas  brothers

One quick observation:

Social networks (still) rule: If there was any doubt that 2008 (as well as 2007) was the year of social networks, 4 of the top 10 keywords (fb, tuenti (spain), nasza klasa (poland), wer kennt wen (germany) give evidence of consumers continued interest in connecting, creating and lurking in social networks.

For the US market, Google draws out some specific subsets (economy, farewells, who) of interest however I find the greatest value for marketers is to dissect meaning and opportunity from "how to" and  "what is":

How to: What is:

1. draw 1. love

2. kiss 2. life

3. write 3. java

4. cook 4. sap

5. tie 5. rss

6. hack 6. scientology

7. run 7. autism

8. cite 8. lupus

9. paint 9. 3g

10. spell 10. art

Given the uncertainty in the economy, is it any wonder consumers are interested in pursuing more simple pursuits (draw, write, cook, paint) and looking for love never seems to go out of style.

I also find it interesting, that the dark side of a down economy rears it's head when "hack"ing is a top pre-occupation of web surfers. Hopefully, these are IT geeks working to close security loopholes in their networks and not an army of saboteurs about to unleash evil code on us all.

And perhaps, for surfers wanting to know more about "life" marketers can shine a light of meaning and purpose to help these folks come out from the virtual world and into the world of the living. 

We can only hope.

Please share your insights/observations.

Thought Leaders on the Future of Advertising - Jan 14th

I've served as a volunteer with MIT Enterprise Forum to identify and select panelists for this event. Whether you are a Media Buyer, Agency Creative Director or Marketing Manager, the companies and thought leaders on this panel should be of great interest. Hope to see you on the 14th.

Register today: http://www.mitwa.org

See you there!

Mark

======

MITEF Technology Forecast: Successful Advertising in 2009 and Beyond
Location : Hyatt Regency
900 Bellevue Way NE
Bellevue, WA 98004
Date & Time : January 14, 2009 - 5:00pm - 8:30pm

MITEF Technology Forecast: Successful Advertising in 2009 and Beyond

Fortunes will be won and lost through the advertising and marketing decisions that individuals and companies make in the coming year. An explosion of content, advertising platforms, and display mediums--along with rapidly evolving trends like social networking and interactive multimedia consumer experiences--have made the process of managing advertising, marketing, and branding more complex than ever before.

Join us Wednesday, January 14, as the MIT Enterprise Forum of the Northwest hosts a dynamic and thought-provoking dinner event featuring a panel of forward-thinking executives. Come gain insights and actionable perspective on current and future advertising and marketing technologies, and how they will change the face of marketing and branding.

Our panelists for this event will be:

· Stephen Meade, CEO, Cenoplex
· Wil Merritt, CEO, Zooppa.com
· Blake Park, Vice President, Group Director of Strategy & Insights, Wunderman
· Lynn Parker, Partner, Parker lePla

The event will be moderated by innovation strategist Peter Balbus, Managing Director at Pragmaxis, LLC. Peter is an MIT grad and for several years led the MIT Enterprise Forum Chicago. The panel discussion will focus on key issues framed by audience input, as we delve into questions of keen interest to anyone involved in advertising, marketing, and branding including:

* How are emerging mobile technologies – including location-based services -- changing the world of customer outreach?
* What are micro-ads, and how are they changing the face (or sound) of advertising?
* How can emerging advertising technologies be harnessed to build brand awareness and brand equity in markets increasingly becoming micro-segmented and commoditized?
* Where are media buyers – and venture capitalists – putting their money today?
* In the midst of an economic slump, which advertising technologies and techniques can best help you gain traction in 2009 and beyond?

This event is an absolute MUST SEE for media buyers, agency creatives, marketing and brand managers, business strategists, corporate executives, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and the services providers who support them.

Please join us for this educational, entertaining and timely discussion.

Obama Insider Shares Remarkable Images from Election Night

David Katz, a photographer and staffer on the Obama campaign, provides an insider's view of the reactions and emotions on display within Obama's inner circle as the returns came in on election night. These images are in and of themselves remarkable and historically very important.  Other than merchandise being offered through Katz's website, I trust the images are being preserved by the copyright holder or the campaign and made available for licensing/publishing.  A quick search for photographer "David Katz" in the editorial collections at gettyimages.com and corbis.com yielded zero results.

The images are available today on Flickr.

How Photo Buyers Work: 2008 Art Buyer Panel @ PACA

Attending the PACA Conference in NYC this weekend, I took special interest in hearing the current views of four top photo buyers on what they are looking for and how they go about finding it in the hyper connected, deadline driven world of 2008.

Photo Buyer Panel at PACA: L-R: Maggie Hunt, Stock Shop (moderator); Darrell Perry, Wall Street Journal; Jennifer Lim, Bill Smith Group; Marc Sirinsky, Rodale Books; Brian Bobinski, Freelance Designer

Top takeaways:

1) Email/Print still get attention: In spite of the profusion of SEM, online marketing, blogs, social networks, etc, Email AND Print marketing STILL works for this group of professional photo buyers.

2) Metadata spells OPPORTUNITY: Whether how meta data helps buyers find images OR how it helps them to organize projects, generate reports/analysis, picture providers with good meta data will find an increasing demand for images

3) The photo editor/art buyer is your champion: search tools and good websites are important, but ultimately people make the decisions to buy pictures. Help them sell your photos by providing great service, accurate meta data and be responsive when they need you.

Full transcript below:

Art Buyer’s Panel – PACA
New York City, NY
Saturday, October 25, 2008

Q: How do you start looking for images?

Brian Bobinsky: Unless I have just received an email that features an image I really like and have a project I can use it for, I usually start with searches online. I prefer to do my own searches.

Mark Sirinsky: If the project calls for stock, I start online. Looks for new images, new photographers. Will reference in-house database of images. If title has used images sourced internally, typically I will select images from internal DB as the brand has been established.

Jennifer Lim: We start searches online for book publishing clients (textbook). Will search mostly Rights Managed for very specific subjects but increasingly using microstock.

Darrell Perry: Started using 40 – 50 images per day. Hard news wire services 50%; 50% stock. Now we are using 200-300 images per day. Result: we are using more and paying less per image. We are assigning as much as 30%. Subscriptions with hard news vendors (“all you can eat”) takes up 60-70% of pages with stock taking up 10 - 20%. Exceptions are Personal Journal, Health, Home, Weekend Journal that do use more single image stock. Online uses more stock. Online uses a higher % of single image stock – must be clean, iconic. Micro has limited use because of limited meta data and requirement for more breaking news.

Q: When do you turn a project over to a photo researcher at an agency?

MS: Do my own search, but if I have a large set of specs I do reach out to vendors I trust.

BB: Since I align myself so closely to the creative team, I take the specs and send the emails to the contacts I have developed a relationships at the photo agencies we work with. If I do kW searches, typically they return too many images and I trust my vendors to sort the best images and only forward those most relevant to me.

JL: Unless the image request is so obscure or esoteric, we usually do our own research in-house. Typically fulfilling 1000’s of specs per week. We do use Photographer’s Direct and AGpix to source images directly from photographers.

DP: We have specialized email lists (Research Medical, Research Travel) that go to specific vendors, but due to time constraints, unless the return lightboxes immediately, we don’t use them. We’ve added more researchers internally so we do more research ourselves again with the exceptions for Medical, Health and other specialty subjects.

Q: Could stock agencies make this service easier for you?

BB: There are times that I will reach my top 10 sources and ask them to be thinking about themes subjects I anticipate I will need. But most projects, I will be looking and needing things immediately. Reps will be proactive asking about the projects that we did last year and asking whether or not we’ll be re-licensing images (esp for retailers that we do a lot of work for). That is helpful, but for ad agency clients the needs are constantly changing that we can’t anticipate.

MS: Whenever I get a proactive lightbox that is tailored to our “typical” requirements I will definitely review those. Sometimes we see things we really like and buy. Some reps do this routinely and that is helpful. A model agency did the same thing, and we did wind up using not one they sent, but I called and asked to see more talent that we did hire.

JL: At BSS we import meta data of images we license and we search the internal DB to locate images that we may re-use. Metadata searching could be interested. RSS image feeds are helpful.

DP: Every image should be downloaded with meta data. We asked Corbis to do it and they did it. We went to Granger and searched for historical images of the 1929 market crash and a few days later someone emailed me and said “we saw you were searching for images of the crash” and they sent me a lightbox of relevant images that I had not seen. I was impressed as hell and sure enough called them back to use some images.

Q: Have you licensed Creative Common images? What are the advantages? Disadvantages?

DP: Yes, in the past we have found images from Wikipedia. However, because of our authentic news requirements, we have a policy not to do it.

JL: It’s in our best interest to support photographers and agencies. We don’t use CC.

BB: We need to work with reputable suppliers. When it comes to general market advertising, the clients simply cannot take the risk and need to be able to contact the copyright holder and hold them accountable if there is a question or issue arises.

Q: What % of images do you use online v print?

DP: We use 50% more images online than in print

BB: Every license we purchase covers print and online.

JL: (Gave demo of in-house system used at BSG to capture image meta data, track images, vendor type (esp those with preferred rate plans), gender type, project status. This information is available to clients to review and generate reports: Photo credit reports, licensing, budget/cost per project, and more. Has web interface for internal/external users to access. Certain publishers have quotas to achieve: volume, micro, gender and the system automates all of the reporting. Having accurate meta data live with the image is vital to making this system work and remain automated.

Q: How fresh do images need to be? When is an image to old to be used?

BB: I am typically looking for current/contemporary images (esp with people), probably 18 months is about the life of an image.

JL: If historical we can use anything. If the images include children

MS: For sports and fitness, about a year is average life we would see. For garden/house titles, life-span can be longer, but on average one to two years.

DP: We get in trouble from our readers if we publish image that are dated. Usually we have a two year window but try and buy pictures shot in the last 6 months.

Q: Do you use preferred vendors?

DP: We use our contract vendors first (top 5 or 6)

BB: No preference. Our criteria is to find images that are current relevant. I use the top 5 but then I’ll also send specs to off the wall sources to find things that are fresh.

MS: If it the right image, we’ll pay for it. We do have some preferred vendors, and we do use them more (mostly because of our previous purchase history), but we do use the niche agencies to find fresh images.

JL: It swings the other way too, we have a “do not use list’

MS: A horror story: Working with a high profile agency on an important project on deadline for exclusive images after hours. The rep complained that she was missing her yoga class and the total lack of professionalism almost caused the agency to lose the job. A reminder when we ask you to go over board for us, remember that we as photo editors are the ones going to bat and advocating for photographers and agencies. If we ask you to go the extra mile, it’s because we are too so please remember that.

Q: How important is exclusivity?

JL: We don’t need exclusives for interior textbook uses

DP: we don’t need exclusive, except if it is important to our brand then we will just shoot.

MS: For covers we will ask if an image has been used on a cover. If it has been used, we may still use it, but it’s good to know.

BB: If exclusivity is important, especially for

Q: If WSJ hires a photographer, are rights exclusive for WSJ or all NewsCorp brands?

DP: Currently when we shoot, the rights are one time non-exclusive for WSJ properties only. Not Dow Jones, not NewsCorp. In the future that may change, but when and how I’m not sure.
Q: What’s most important to you in selecting images?

BB: Believeability. I get promo cards from a medical stock house that have an over-reliance on special effects. I will never use those images. In contrast, there is a food photographer who sent me a card of a beautiful image of a pastrami sandwich and I wanted to eat the card, it looked that good. That’s the kind of images that I like. I’ll also see photographers where it was obvious that they had access to a group of models and a good location and while the overall quality is acceptable, often it looks like “stock” and I’ll be less inclined to use.

Q: From a journalistic perspective, do you have challenges using non-news images?

DP: We have come under criticism for using non-news images in our Personal Journal which is more of a magazine look and the images are used more as illustration rather than hard news. I simply can’t hire a photographer to shoot a guy with a laptop for $4000. If I did, I’d have photographers lining up around the block. I can’t do that and I won’t. I use the images I want to use from the agencies we have agreements with.

Q: Do you look at emails sent by agencies that you don’t know?

BB: Yes, I look at all emails.

MS: We have some unique email system issues, but yes, I always look at the emails I receive. If it is a photographer I know, I may not open it, but generally I will look at all talent and agencies that send me new work.

JL: If it is an agency I am aware of, honestly I don’t always look at the emails, but if it is a new agency I am more likely to open it and read.

Do you demand copyright buyouts for licenses? Do you require rights for third parties? (increasingly licenses requests and purchase orders are including this language)

BB: We’ll ask for unlimited rights not buyouts. But the clients ask for it because they don’t want the hassles and complications of re-licensing. I don’t agree with it, but the account side promises these rights to a clients and then I’m put in a compromised position because I respect the rights of photographers, but unfortunately I get put in a “take it or leave it” position. Sometimes it’s a lack of education—clients doesn’t really need buyout just unlimited usage- but will insist on it simply because they don’t want the complication of tracking rights.

DP: Some clients are willfully ignorant. They don’t want to know, they just want to use the image.

BB: A 25-minute video of the corporate history include album cover art, promo posters and other copyrighted material. I asked where the video would be used and was told it would only see limited use at a trade show. I cleared the rights with a few agencies and photographers. I left for vacation and when I returned I learned that the video was being broadcast on a jumbotron in Times Square. I contacted the SVP Account Manager and let them know of the legal risk the client was under. The response I got was until someone files a cease and desist, they were going to keep using the video. While the client did not respond to the legal risk, I was troubled by the ethical implications of using artists’ work without permission and ultimately that is what troubled me.

Q: Do you expect to pay more for print or online?

BB: I would expect to pay more for online rights. Print is limited in terms of print run of who is going to see. Web is virtually unlimited. But web is still the red-headed stepchild; even media companies don’t know how to charge for web (v. print) and measure it, so

DP: The web for us (WSJ) is working. The viewers are paying for it. However, while they are still innovating. The paper is actually a loss-leader to drive people to the web. We differentiate ourselves as an institutional investor newsletter and that’s what people are paying for.
Q: Do you read printed marketing materials from photographers/agencies?

DP: Yes, I definitely review and keep postcards. Especially locations because often I am looking for photographers in specific locations. What I don’t appreciate is random phone calls or meetings.

BB: I look at the printed material just like the electronic email receive. I don’t file it goes up on the wall. When I get an printed piece and then also receive and email, I also tells me the individual knows what they are doing.

MS: Email is a good place to start. I usually don’t respond, but that’s not that the point. It’s just to get me to look at the work. I will keep promo photo cards. For assignment photographers, I do like to look at (portfolio) books. We have 150 books we are printing each year. Looking at a portfolio really helps us to circulate the work to art directors – many of whom are old school and like looking at print. Don’t like cold calls, but I understand the need to follow-up after sending a book, but don’t pester us.

For more buyer intelligence, see my post from the Chicago ASMP Buyer Roundtable in March 2008.

Google Chrome May Put the Shine on Adware

Reading Walt Mossberg's review of Google's newly announced Chrome browser he does all the expected feature and speed comparisons between Chrome, IE, and Firefox. But no where does he mention the very real possibility that the primary motivation for Google to compete in the browser wars is to serve more of it's highly profitable ads in an ever more targeted way to consumers that "opt in" to download the Google browser.

Check out Google Chrome's privacy policy provided before and during on install, and you'll find some language that while seemingly benign requires the user to "agree" and gives Google the right to track personal information through the use of the browser. Eg:

Section: Information Google receives when you use Google Chrome
"When you type URLs or queries in the address bar, the letters you type are sent to Google so the Suggest feature can automatically recommend terms or URLs you may be looking for. If you choose to share usage statistics with Google and you accept a suggested query or URL, Google Chrome will send that information to Google as well." -- okay so not only will Google re-direct you to a page which it is not illogical to conclude will be optimized to show ads that yield the highest return to Google when clicked, but Google will also do you the favor of "sharing usage statistics" which again only help Google optimize yeild for ads served and insure bid prices that advertisers pay continue to rise.

Section: Uses
"Information that Google receives when you use Google Chrome is processed in order to operate and improve Google Chrome and other Google services." The "Google receives" link is broken in this text so I have no idea what they plan on "receiving" nor does Google explain "processed." Again, on the surface benign, but surely Google did not include this language for filler. The implication is that Google is recieving information about your browser (i.e. the pages you view, the cookies you store, downloads from websites, etc.) and is "processing" the information to optimize the ads it delivers to the browser.

In fairness, Google provides links to opt-out of these "features". Throughout the copy Google provides links to "disable this feature" and refers to "incognito mode" allowing you to disable stored history of pages viewed on your machine.

However, given the foggy policy statements referenced above, Chrome looks and smells a lot like adware. This is not a bad thing, but for heavens sake, I would hope Google would not perpetuate the sins of the past and at least be candid about their objective: Google wants to create a product that delivers more targeted and relevant ads that benefits advertisers and consumers alike. Yes, consumers can benefit from this approach, but only if there is full disclosure and consent. The murky language above leaves lots to doubt.

Dismiss me as paranoid, but why else would Google enter the browser wars? Are they really motivated to grow market share for yet another browser--that ostensibly replicates most, if not all of the features already available in IE and Firefox?

I think not.

Apple Gives Back

Was delighted to see Apple offer free full length video and audio downloads of Barak Obama's acceptance speech at Thursday night's Democratic National Convention in Denver. Great move by Apple to use it's market leadership to not only make a buck, but to promote the spread of democracy.

Viral Loop using Slide.com

Enjoyed this article from Andrew Chen regarding creating the Viral Loop. Slide.com was offered as an example and in about 2 minutes i had it set up and embedded in this blog:

[ Note: On 1/8/09, I removed the slide.com referenced above as it was slowing down page load for my blog. You can see the slide.com show here: ]

Let's see what happens....

Where We Get the Music Matters

Bud's Jazz Records closed last Tuesday. With great sadness we said goodbye to an icon of Seattle's music scene. It was at Bud's where in 1988 I purchased my first Wes Montgomery (Live at the Vanguard with Wynton Kelly); and did a deep dive into Donald Byrd, Gerry Mulligan, Horace Silver, Stan Getz, Dextor Gordon and so many other jazz greats.

I recall fondly the music piped out of the subterranean windows, spilling out onto the sidewalk above calling me to descend Bud's steep stairwell to discover the music. Often, as happened on Bud's last day of operation, I would purchase whatever Bud was spinning-- his taste was always impeccable (last week it was Jay Thomas, Live at Tula's 2002). And the best part, is that each time I play those discs, it transports me back to the very moment of discovery at Bud's surrounded by mountains of vinyl and jewel cases each one holding the promise of a special musical journey that I longed to take.

While I am the first to embrace and indeed celebrate the speed, access and choice that digital music delivery offers, I find it hard to believe I'll have depth of emotional connection and memory to Itunes or Amazon the way I will always have to Bud's Jazz Records.

Would love to hear memories about "your Bud's Jazz"-- I hope everyone has at least one. Post a comment below.

Guerilla's in the Mist

Leaving the office last week, I spied a Jeep Wrangler equipped with a generator and projection system casting a SBUX promo against a brick wall in Pioneer Square in Seattle. The two guys in the Jeep told me they work for a company who does this kind of work up and down the West Coast with "affiliates" in NY and Boston.



Apart from the legality, definitely got my marketing mojo going.

Chillin' with Facebook: Making Meaning

Egged on by several colleagues at Digital Railroad, I recently created a Facebook account. Having dabbled previously with MySpace and Second Life to little effect, I had low expectation for the amount of engagement I would have with the latest social networking craze. Boy, was I wrong.

Not only am I engaged, but I am having F-U-N! And while I certainly do not see as many of my business contacts roaming on Facebook the way we do on LinkedIn, the ones that are there are also having fun and creating opportunities to connect about issues that are of both personal interest (tastes in music, books, games, photos etc) making the interactions we have in our professional lives that much richer.

As humans it has been said we are nothing more than meaning making machines. In our warp speed transactional world where the lines between work, play and family are increasingly blurred, Facebook may very well be the 21st century's answer to help us, if not create, perhaps sustain, deeper connections with those we find empathy and with whom we wish to discover meaning.

That's progress.

In Memory of Anthony Ippolito

June 30, 1927 - November 18, 2007

In Defense of Summer Vacation

Witnessing colleagues growing reluctance to take earned vacation time, I read with great interest a recent article in the WSJ titled, "Vacation Deflation: Breaks Get Shorter" highlighting a growing trend among US workers:

- 35% do not use their annual allotment of earned vacation days
- 14% of full time employees take 2 weeks vacation
- More employees are opting for long weekends and forgoing one week vacations all together
- Dual income households find it harder and harder to coordinate time-off

Whatever pressures today's worker are subject to (leaner workforce, always-on connectivity, internal/external competition, etc), having just returned from a one week vacation, I can tell you unequivocally me, my family and yes, my employer, have all benefited from my brief sabbatical.

Making it a point not to check email, voice mail, cell phone, internet, IM, etc, I was able to truly disconnect from the daily pressures of the job, and focus intently on my vacation goal: rest and relaxation. Having indulged in 9 straight days (yes, I'm counting bookend weekends) of uninterrupted fun, exercise, exploration and reflection I now feel refreshed and re-juvinated and look forward to returning to work and a job I truly love.

While I know my absence required others to pick up some chores and shoulder some decisions that I would normally make, I left the workplace one week ago knowing I had done the same for others earlier this summer. Having earned this "currency" among my peers, I felt no qualms about asking them to now reciprocate.

Not only am I an advocate for the rejuvinating benefits of earned vacation, but I also believe it is important for organizations to expect employees to take a break an d prepare for it. Show me an employee who is "unable" to schedule a week away from the office and I'll show you someone who probably has been ineffective in executing their respective goals/plans for the year and has not invested in an internal peer network and support mechanism that promotes their ability to get some well earned time off.

For managers, if I am unable to leave the workplace for a week, and have confidence that the team I have built/led is able to support the business without me, then I probably haven't done a very good job managing my team the other 349 days of the year.

So, work hard, build some currency with peers and consciously create your support network throughout the year and if you"re lucky, you'll have (at least) a week of fabulous weather and memories that will keep you as pumped as I am about the next 51 weeks.

Can't wait for my next vacation....

Disneyland: Welcome to Marketing 101

The moment you cross the threshold into the Magic Kingdom, you enter a world that is the apex in execution of what marketers refer to as "brand experience." Of course visitors to the park expect to see Walt's vision play out in every piece of gingerbread Victoriana on Main Street; in the elegant simplicity of Alice's tea cup ride; in the bawdy playfulness of his Caribbean Pirates and come to full blossom in the Small World utopia that we all yearn to experience. Yet what is truly remarkable is the combined effect these world famous attractions have when orchestrated in combination with a total brand experience.

While the attractions are plainly visible, what may not be as apparent, but no less essential to every guests' enjoyment of the Disney experience, is the artistry that goes on behind the scenes: the "cast members" (aka Disneyland employees) play their roles to a tee and no operational detail is left to chance. Eg:

- The ice cream shop floor sweeper, who jubilantly informs you, in spite of just having pulled a 24 hour shift, after 35 years of service he measures job satisfaction knowing that whatever task he completes he contributes to making a guest "feel happier than before they entered".

- The actors who patiently play musical chairs with a group of young guests and as each child is eliminated from the round, happily announce that they are "UN-WINNERS!!!" (No one could ever be called a "loser" in Disneyland.)

- The crews who are constantly emptying trash cans and cleaning the park throughout the day and evening to insure that not a scrap of paper is ever underfoot-- this in a park teeming with nearly 100K visitors daily.

- The ride operators, who after serving 1000's of customers each day, still greet your arrival with an earnest smile and genuine appreciation as if you were the first customer of the day--- and offer a high five to celebrate your successful completion of the ride.

- The waits in line: yes, the eventual long wait in lines are made far more bearable and dare I say, almost entertaining, since most of the featured attractions have waiting areas designed to be part of the ride experience and in fact help to add to the excitement and anticipation as you wait to officially start the ride.

- The Park Photographers strategically stationed in prime photo spots throughout the park, armed with the latest digital camera and strobe set-up, that just "happen to be waiting for you" when you want to capture that memorable group portrait that even the family's photographer (aka Mom or Dad) gets to appear in.

- The photo kiosks that display your action photo "magically" captured while riding the log flume on Splash Mountain and is available for print--with frame or without-- as you come walking out of the ride.

- The snack stands that not only sell cotton candy, soda and ice cream, but also give families the option to buy fresh cut pineapple spears, watermelon and bottled water.

Looking for a lesson in executing on total brand experience that your company can learn from? Just head to Disneyland.

RSS Photo Feeds From Digital Railroad

Photo buyers for a thirst for what's new/now can get images delivered to their desktop in real time as new images are posted from Digital Railroad's 1000+ photographer members. Here is a custom feed I created that delivers just released images of presidential candidates created by DRR member CandidatePhotos.com:

Create your own custom feed available now at Digital Railroad.

What The World Needs Now

Do a Google search for the word "forgiveness" and you'll find 17MM entries. Search for "war"
and you'll see 581MM entries. A ratio of 34:1. "Hate" gets you 236MM hits or 15:1.

Let's begin to even the score.

Practice forgiveness.

Digital SLRs - Obsolesence in the Making

Shopping for a new pro-level camera? You may want to think twice about dropping $5000 for the latest model. Reading updates from PMA it was fascinating to read comments from Michio Kariya, president, CEO and COO of Nikon Corp. where during his keynote address he explained how the life cycle of digital cameras have changed dramatically.

When Nikon released the F3 in 1980 (the then-standard bearer of pro photographers) the company had the benefit of 20 years of development to perfect the product. That camera stayed on the market for 20 years allowing Nikon to reap it's well earned return on investment.

Contrast that product cycle with today's digital SLR: In September 1999, Nikon introduced the Nikon D1, which had a life expectancy of 1.5 years. When introduced the camera had a retail price of $5000 breaking the then $20,000 barrier for a 10+ MPx capture camera. In 2002, the D100 was introduced with many of the same features of the D1 and cost just $2,000; two year later the D70 cost $1,000 and the D40 after that was $599.

Spend wise, grasshopper (or just check eBay first...)

Canon EOS 5D SLR - Fun & Fast!

This past weekend, I got my hands on a new Canon EOS 5D with a fast 24-70mm 2.8 zoom and had a blast taking photos of kids in a local youth soccer league here in Seattle.

If you are looking for a robust set of features in a pro-level camera, yet intuitive in its ease of use, I highly recommend checking out the 5D. After spending about 10 minutes reviewing Canon's quick start instruction booklet, I had a handle on all the many features of this powerful camera. Most importantly, as I was on the sidelines trying to capture fast moving action on the field, the camera's intuitive design and easy to use on board software never got in my way of getting the shots I wanted.

I've included some highlights of the images I captured in my Digital Railroad archive.

Enjoy!

Top Searches in 2006 - Reading the Tea Leaves

What are people searching for online? A quick survey of the top 10 searches in 2006 as reported by MediaPost of the three major search engines reveals the following:

Yahoo:

1. Britney Spears
2. WWE
3. Shakira
4. Jessica Simpson
5. Paris Hilton
6. American Idol
7. Beyonce Knowles
8. Chris Brown
9. Pamela Anderson
10. Lindsay Lohan

MSN

1. Ronaldinho
2. Shakira
3. Paris Hilton
4. Britney Spears
5. Harry Potter
6. Eminem
7. Pamela Anderson
8. Hilary Duff
9. Rebelde
10. Angelina Jolie

Google

1. Bebo
2. Myspace
3. World Cup
4. Metacafe
5. Radioblog
6. Wikipedia
7. Video
8. Rebelde
9. Mininova
10. Wiki

My quick takeaways:

1) Old School Celebrity rules: So much for the long tail, it appears that the head of the tail is dominated by mainstream celebrities who are promoted and financed by mainstream (aka old) media. No Lonely Girl here.

2) Web 2.0 is in the driver's seat: Check out Google's list- Myspace, Metacafe, RadioBlog, Wiki (2x). For marketers this is a clear call to action to sell where communities live.

3) Think Global: Bebo, Ronaldinho, Rebelde- after all, it is the world wide web. These stats remind me that US centric thinking can blind us to opportunities outside our borders.

Merry Christmas and may all your searches be bright!