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[L/M NET] Tim Kastelle > The Secret to Social Success

(L/M NET: the blogged experience & expertise of some of the best minds in Business Innovation, Brand Engagement, Communication Agility:
Tom - Tim - Konstantin - Helge - Drew - Charles - Anthony - Adrian)

 

It’s getting hard to keep up with all the different social tools that are flying at us every day.  We constantly hear things like:

“If you’re not on Pinterest you’re in big trouble.”

or

“Blogging is dead.”

It seems like people are putting a lot of effort into trying to figure out which tools they should use, and how they should use them.  What’s the best way to deal with all of this us? I’ve been repeatedly hit in the face with the answer to this recently from my network, which teaches me a lot.

So here is the secret to social success:

Connect with people.

Simple, isn’t it.  It doesn’t matter what tools you use – and if you spend too much time worrying about tools, you’ll forget to use them to do the one thing that matters – connecting. 
Connecting Ideas is the Fundamental Creative Act in Innovation.  You have to connect ideas to ideas to innovate, and you have to connect people to your ideas to get them to spread.  It’s all about connection.

Earlier, I told you about the best social media strategy of all time:

Do awesome work.

That takes care of the connecting ideas to ideas part.  Then, to get them to spread, you need to connect the ideas to people.  And that means that you have to connect with people – that is the core purpose of all of these social tools.

Connections create value – that is the core message of Nilofer Merchant in her book 11 Rules for Creating Value in the #SocialEra. Here is one of my favourite quotes from the book:

We want innovation, but without experiencing failure. We want to embrace the new, but without risk. We want to act fast and fluid, but to maintain tight controls. We want to empower everyone, but retain decision rights for ourselves. We want to experiment, but we also want predictability. We want to be flexible to customer input, but remain ruthlessly efficient. We want to adapt, but we fear the death of familiarity.

This is why it’s hard to go from being an 800-pound gorilla to a herd of nimble gazelles; an organization goes from being a centralized institution that competes through overpowering strength and scale to a set of relationships or interrelationships. Gazelles thrive and win by how they share power with one another. And, as a result, they can act fast, fluid, and flexible. For organizations, this is key to winning in the marketplace.

As organisations, we win through connections. The same is true for people.

Here is Shane Mac from his book Stop With the BS:

All these apps, gadgets, buildings—everything for that matter—they don’t make me smile and think about how much I love what I do. The people I know do. It is the people and my relationships with them that really matter. Done. Simple as that. All we have in life are relationships, so we better start spending more time building new ones and rebuilding old ones. Build bridges, Re-build bridges, never Burn Bridges.

It’s the relationships that matter. Hugh MacLeod nails it in his latest book Freedom is Blogging in Your Underwear:

…all the internet is, as Doc Searls said, is a bunch of protocols that “allow us to get along.” Protocols allow us to talk to each other. The stuff in the middle, the stuff that separates us, the stuff that directly makes use of these protocols – hosting companies, web sites, blogging platforms, microblogging platforms, etc. – matter far less.

You’re on one end of the wire. Just think about who’s on the other end of the wire, and what you can do for them. Worry less about the wire. Worry less about the shiny objects in the middle.

Just worry about MAKING your own stuff, and the rest of the internet will look after itself.

So there is your two-step guide to social success.

Do awesome work.

and

Connect with people.

 The problem is that while these steps might sound simple, they’re not.  They take a lot of effort.  That’s what makes the shiny new objects so seductive – they look like shortcuts.

Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts.  That’s why it’s still remarkable when you do awesome work and connect with people.

I know that I still have a long way to go myself.  But now that we’ve connected, maybe we can do some of this awesome work together.

 

(ralf says:

So true. Even obvious.

Nevertheless almost nobody gets the elegance of that simple truth. One has to do it to really feel the difference.

And that seems to be very difficult, as we observe at almost every instant in these social (media) times, corporate people cannot connect, cannot talk to each other, do not trust each other, cannot cooperate, collaborate, co-innovate.)
 

Tim is a lecturer at The University of Queensland Business School. He researches, writes, teaches and consults on topics relating to effective innovation management, with an emphasis on studying innovation networks. He blogs at The Innovation Leadership Network. Twitter: @timkastelle

Chris Anderson: ‘Maker’ Movement is Next Industrial Revolution

Please listen to Chris:

"Basically, the Maker movement is what happens when the Web meets the real world. It’s the combination of the Web’s innovation model with a new generation of computer-controlled desktop manufacturing tools that have a democratising impact, much like the PC and the Internet did a generation ago.

I would argue that there have been two major industrial revolutions, with the third one emerging now. The first industrial evolution was about mechanisation; replacing muscle power with machine power and amplifying human productivity by letting machines do the work. The second industrial revolution was arguably the computer revolution. But it wasn’t the invention of computers. It was their democratisation; putting them in the hands of everybody with the PC and the Internet that unleashed a huge amount of talent, energy and creativity which was transformative. The third industrial revolution is just a combination of the first two: it’s the Web revolution meets manufacturing.

The reason that this is even more transformative than the Web is simply that the world of physical stuff is bigger than the world of digital stuff. The manufacturing economy is much bigger than the information economy. And if those same social forces that transformed the world through the Web can be applied to physical goods, you would see tremendous social impact."

How this will happen? - Part I:

"What you’re seeing now is that physical stuff is starting to look more like virtual stuff. The same way that Mark Zuckerberg could invent Facebook in his dormroom, the next Mark Zuckerberg can now invent a physical product, prototype it, and press another couple of buttons to put it into production right from his or her dormroom or home.

Because design now begins as a digital file, it begins to take on the dynamics of the Web. It starts to be sharable. You can build collaborative communities around it. You can send it to local machines, like a printer, to be made in units of one, or send it to [cloud manufacturing services] to be made in the thousands. And you have places like Kickstarter that can generate the funding. So now it starts to look like the Web. It starts to act like the Web. It starts to feel as easy to engage in as the Web. Atoms begin to act more like bits." - Chris Anderson

Via businessoffashion.

How this will happen? - Part II:

Just have a look at my 3D-Printer post: This Machine will Change the World . - No, this is not exaggerated!

Please take a few minutes and reflect what might happen to your products, markets, business model.

[L/M NET] Tom Fishburne > marketing strategy

(L/M NET: the blogged experience & expertise of some of the best minds in Business Innovation, Brand Engagement, Communication Agility:
Tom - Tim - Konstantin - Helge - Drew - Charles - Anthony - Adrian)

 

A marketing campaign is only as strong as the strategy that drives it. Yet sometimes we treat marketing strategy as an afterthought. This often comes across in the creative brief process. Marketers copy and paste old creative briefs or parrot benefit statements without getting to the heart of why our brands or products are meaningfully unique.

In an ad shoot, we often hear someone say, “we’ll fix it in post-production”. This usually happens when there’s been a mistake, but not severe enough to reshoot the scene. Yet we learn the hard way that there’s only so much that we can actually fix in post-production. Our source footage limits how much we can do later. It’s often worth the extra effort of reshooting the scene to make sure we get it right.

Similarly, advertising can’t fix a bad marketing strategy. Agency creatives work with the material they have. The better the source material, the better the ideas. Garbage in, garbage out.

Creative briefs should be incendiary. Marketers should invest upfront to creative briefs that truly inspire. That investment will more than pay off in the creative work.

(Marketoonist Monday: I’m giving away one signed print of this week’s cartoon. Just share an insightful comment to this week’s post by 5:00 PST on Monday. I’ll pick one comment. Thanks!)

(ralf says:
Seeing tv or print ads sometimes makes me think, that those guys from the agency and the marketing team just forgot about the marketing strategy behind it. Otherwise I could not explain the missing solutions, benefits, and relevance within the average ad.

Another reason might be that marketing pros are just advertising pros these days, because marketing lost the other three P (Place, Product, Price) to other departments judged to be more successful that marketing.)

Tom is cartoonist and founder of Marketoonist, helping organizations communicate with cartoons. He draws from 16yrs of marketing, most recently as Marketing VP at method. He speaks about innovation, creativity, and marketing, using cartoons to visualize. @tomfishburne

Nur Loser müssen werben [@wiwo, rs]

Mein Post in unserer Wirtschaftswoche-Kolumne:

"Nur Loser müssen werben - Harte Worte, aber die Reklamerealität dort draußen spricht eine ähnlich deutliche Sprache wie die von der aktuellen McKinsey-Studie nachgewiesene 'Ahnungslosigkeit des Marketings'."

"Haben Sie sich schon einmal gefragt, warum Sie soviel Werbung sehen? Ob das seine Richtigkeit haben kann? Ob da vielleicht irgendetwas nicht stimmt? Nein? Dann lassen Sie uns den Finger in einige kleine Wunden legen.

Also: Haben Sie sich schon gefragt,

... warum Sie erstens so oft zweitens die gleichen Spots sehen?

...

...warum Sie über Branchen hinweg die immer gleichen prominenten Werbegesichter sehen?

...

...warum Werbung immer aggressiver auf Abverkauf, Preis und Rabatt setzt?

...

... warum Werbung umso lauter schreit, je weniger sie zu sagen hat?

...

Fazit ... oder Haben Sie sich schon einmal gefragt, warum Werbung immer noch versucht, das Grundrauschen quantitativ zu durchdringen?

..."

 

Bitte die gesamte Kolumne lesen.

> alle Wirtschaftswoche-Kolumnen von Thomas Koch und mir

 

[L/M NET] Tom Fishburne > disaster marketing

(L/M NET: the blogged experience & expertise of some of the best minds in Business Innovation, Brand Engagement, Communication Agility:
Tom - Tim - Konstantin - Helge - Drew - Charles - Anthony - Adrian)

 

Marketers often try to tap what’s happening in the news. The reasoning is that if they can take over water cooler conversations, their brand message will travel that much faster.

Yet many brands misfired last week during Hurricane Sandy. In an attempt to capitalize on the storm news, they outraged consumers with self-serving and insensitive promotions.

Gap used the #Sandy Twitter hashtag to promote shopping on Gap.com and asked customers to check in on its “Frankenstorm Apolocalypse – Hurricane Sandy” Foursquare. American Apparel targeted customers in the nine stricken states who were “bored” at home. Here’s a collection of The 9 Biggest Brand Fails Exploiting Hurricane Sandy, including Urban Outfitters and Jonathan Adler.


Yet other brands rose to the occasion. Duracell and Tide (both P&G brands) found ways to help those in need, generating a tremendous amount of goodwill while doing a good thing. Duracell sent charging stations to Lower Manhattan to charge people’s mobile phones and devices. Tide provided free laundry services on a mobile truck equipped with 32 washers and dryers.


The difference in these two approaches comes down to brand purpose. Many brands don’t have a clear understanding of “why” they exist in consumers’ lives. The American Apparel CEO unapologetically justified their self-serving Sandy Sale by saying “what you want to do in these events is keep the wheels of commerce going”.

Duracell and Tide, in contrast, found ways to deepen the impact they make on consumers’ lives. “Tide has learned that the little things – like clean clothes – can make a big difference to those who have lost the comforts of home.”

How brands act during a disaster like Hurricane Sandy is a litmus test for meaningful brands. Brands with a purpose stand for more than just a 20% off promotion or free shipping. They stand for their consumers.

 

(ralf says:
I have to comment this great observation and conclusion with 2 of my German posts:
1. Liebe Werbung, sag mir Warum,
2. Lieber CEO, sag mir Warum.)
 

Tom is cartoonist and founder of Marketoonist, helping organizations communicate with cartoons. He draws from 16yrs of marketing, most recently as Marketing VP at method. He speaks about innovation, creativity, and marketing, using cartoons to visualize. @tomfishburne

Learn from Iman, @karliekloss and @cocorocha: "Veni Vidi Tweeti - I came, I saw, I tweeted"

Today I posted a picture of Karlie at 'this message is too wide to fit your screen', when I stumbled upon Coco's post.

Now the powers of social media are praised from a corner where you would not have expected it: Iman, fashion legend and wife of David Bowie.

I would like to quote her here, just in case you still did not start your engagement in social media, as a company, brand or individual.

Please read between the lines of Iman's words, too, dear brands, magazines, newspapers, telcos, car manufacturers, content industries, galleries, musicians, poets, artists, et al. Here you find everything you need to know - if you have the heart and eyes to see.

"Very kind and wise words from fashion legend Iman on Refinery29.

Do you think supermodel means the same thing today, as it did when you first became famous? 

“No, First of all, I think the only sacred ground that’s left for models is the runway. If the celebrities could figure out a way to get on the runway, they would. But they don’t have the bodies for it. Models have lost everything else. They’ve lost the beauty accounts, the covers. But the thing that’s also a shame is that they don’t have a voice. 

“But social media, like especially the way Coco Rocha is doing it — that’s where you can actually create your own content and your own voice. And young models have to stop being treated like hangers for hire and take control of that. Because they can. Trust me, young girls and boys who are out there in their teens who want to be in this industry whether as a designer, a makeup artist, or a stylist, they aren’t looking at Kim Kardashian, they are looking at Karlie Kloss. 

“It’s that connection to fans that models don’t have to be given, now. They can have a voice. They can video blog. They can Tweet. They can create. And that’s what they really should do.” - Via Coco Rocha's tumblr.

Please read -and reflect- Iman's words. The first happens, if mediocrity and celebrities, ie. the boulevard takes over your profession, if efficiency meets greed, if impact meets arbitrariness. If adaptation is the new innovation. If quantities are the new quality. If time is money and not pure luxury.

And the latter may be your salvation. Pick your heros well. Find your voice. Find meaning. Outgrow Yourself, Inspire the World!

“But social media, ... that’s where you can actually create your own content and your own voice.

"... they aren’t looking at Kim Kardashian, they are looking at Karlie Kloss."

"They can create. And that’s what they really should do."

Listen to those girls - and Enjoy!

brandPoem (no.129) of the Week

All Brands Should Make Themselves a Poster out of That - to never Forget!

(Just in case you do not care, you should read this, please: RED BULL STRATOS SHATTERS RECORDS - AND TRADITIONAL NOTIONS OF MARKETING. Or that: Red Bull und die Moral der Geschichten. Or that: Kommentar: Felix Baumgartner und der deutsche Michel.)

Via brandpoems - a leadmarke project
> "Dear Brand, .. Outgrow Yourself, Inspire the World!"

[L/M NET] Tom Fishburne > Six Types of Advertisements

(L/M NET: the blogged experience & expertise of some of the best minds in Innovation, Brand Engagement, Communication Agility:
Tom - Tim - Konstantin - Helge - Drew - Charles - Anthony - Adrian)

 

Facebook debuted its first ad campaign ten days ago to celebrate its one billion user milestone. The ad has been ridiculed and parodied for it’s confusing and overwrought story centered on the message, “Chairs are like Facebook”. It’s one of the more inadvertently hilarious pieces of marketing communication I’ve seen.

Popout

My favorite spoof so far is arelikefacebook.com, a site that lets you pick random words to automatically generate a Facebook ad.

It is ironic that the poster brand for social would lead with such a self-indulgent advertisement. The spot is expensively produced by the director of Babel and obviously shot in several different countries. It tries to tug at the heart strings and completely misses the mark. After chairs, the spot moves on to the cosmos: “The universe. It is vast. And dark. And makes us wonder if we are alone.”

Many brands take themselves too seriously, particularly in emotional advertising. The Facebook ad is a reminder to marketers not to be so full of ourselves.

Google Chrome faced a similar challenge as Facebook. It needed to bring emotion to technology and communicate how they transform the lives of their audiences. But rather than abstract tedious analogies, Google shared stories.
Popout

(Marketoonist Monday: I’m giving away one signed print of this week’s cartoon. Just share an insightful comment to this week’s post by 5:00 PST on Monday. I’ll pick one comment. Thanks!)

 

(ralf says:
Brands -ie. their managers- often get overwhelmed by what they achieved. But THEY didn't. And if they talk to much about themselves they did not understand WHAT happened.

Just let me quote this:

The brand isn't a value in itself. It just creates value.)

Tom is cartoonist and founder of Marketoonist, helping organizations communicate with cartoons. He draws from 16yrs of marketing, most recently as Marketing VP at method. He speaks about innovation, creativity, and marketing, using cartoons to visualize. @tomfishburne

[L/M NET] Tom Fishburne > cannibalize

(L/M NET: the blogged experience & expertise of some of the best minds in Innovation, Brand Engagement, Communication Agility:
Tom - Tim - Konstantin - Helge - Drew - Charles - Anthony - Adrian)

 

“If you don’t cannibalize yourself, someone else will,” Steve Jobs famously said.

Cannibalization risk is a major factor in evaluating innovation. No product is 100% incremental so we have to decide whether new products will more than offset the sales loss of what’s already on the shelf. What’s often left out of the equation though is the risk of our current products becoming obsolete no matter what we do.

Kodak invented the first digital camera in 1975, over a decade before the first high-resolution digital camera was on the market. At the time, the Kodak film business was highly popular and profitable. This was two years after Paul Simon sang “Mamma don’t take my Kodachrome away”. Why would Kodak ever want to jeopardize that cash cow?

In the thirty plus years after inventing the first digital camera, Kodak resisted the shift from analog to digital at every turn. That strategy culminated in Kodak’s Chapter 11 filing earlier this year.

Apple has always preached creative destruction. Imagine the cannibalization analysis to launch the first iPhone when you have a phenomenally successful iPod already in the market. But that decision kept Apple ahead of the game.

Ultimately we can’t treat any of our products as sacred because our competitors surely won’t. If we want our products to succeed, sometimes we have to risk sacrificing them.

(Marketoonist Monday: I’m giving away one signed print of this week’s cartoon. Just share an insightful comment to this week’s post by 5:00 PST on Monday. I’ll pick one comment. Thanks!)

 

(ralf says: 

So the biggest challenges to change and progress as a society are the ubiquituous monopolies all over the world, desperately trying to keep the status quo alive. Trying to fence of emerging competitors who challenge the already obsolete business models of the market dinosaurs.

 We need courage again in our businesses. We cannot wait for Apple to blow all our markets barriers away.

We need markets which outgrow themselves.)

Tom is cartoonist and founder of Marketoonist, helping organizations communicate with cartoons. He draws from 16yrs of marketing, most recently as Marketing VP at method. He speaks about innovation, creativity, and marketing, using cartoons to visualize. @tomfishburne