lead/marke | ralf schwartz

Service Innovation: Learning from NY Taxis

"Starting this Friday, taxis in New York will start offering "group rides." Between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. part of the fleet will run from a predetermined pick-up location to a predetermined drop-off spot. If you're traveling along one of these routes you can hop in with strangers and pay a low, flat fare.

The city's Taxi and Limousine Commission chief Matt Daus explains the rationale:

"The concept really boils down to: Take less money out of passengers' pockets, put more money in drivers' pockets, put less pollution in the air and give passengers more transportation options."

Via good.is.

Take Away:

Think about the possibilities for your brand or business:

How could you help your customers to save money by standardizing some features? How could you make more money by asking less from the individual? Without lowering your service or product performance?

Which 'group rides' could you offer to your consumers? Six packs for tooth paste? Weekly delivery of yoghurt? Monthly subscription of salad, pasta, and sauce?
Car poolings at your local car dealer's? Convertible in summer, SUV in winter times? Car dealers organizing limousine or school bus services for the neighbourhood?

Get some game-changing ideas yourself over the weekend!

Create Values for the Individual, Add Value to the Corporation!

Innovation: Informal Markets am Beispiel eines Stuhles

Auch einen Stuhl, Sofa, Chaiselongue, Sitzecke, kann man 'neu erfinden'. Das Ideal verbindet alles in einem: Flexible Love.

Auch wenn es nur ein Stuhl - oh, wie langweilig - ist, werden hier die neue Unabhängigkeit, Individualität und Ungeduld der Menschen auf eindrucksvolle Weise zu einem neuen Markt weiterentwickelt. Man muß nicht immer auf Apple, iPhone, iPod, iTunes schielen.

"Den 8- und 16-Sitzer könnt ihr euch hier für 199 bzw. 399 Euro bestellen", schreibt ignant. Die Ikea-Generation müßte begeistert sein.

> Welche Märkte hat Ihr letztes Produkt miteinander verschmolzen?

David Wieden: Human Brands, Honest Passion, Good Storytellers, Just Move Me!

Via Anthony Kalamut.

One might think, what the heck is he talking about, but he is just going back to the roots of all this communication, advertising, and marketing: the plain truth, the simplicity, and elegance of it - from an ad guy's perspective.

There is no secret sauce. No art, no rocket science. Just intuition, experience, and common sense.

We do not want to hear that, because this shows our short-comings as brands, brand managers, and agencies. We have to learn to reduce to the max in advertising again: The product, passion, storytelling, delivery.

Brand Engagement: How Ford, Kodak and Best Buy run their Social Media Programs

"Social media can fall anywhere in the range of the selling cycle," said Mr. Monty. "In our case it's on the broader end: awareness and perception. It's more of a branding tool than a sales tool. But on the local level, where the dealer gets involved, that's where it get can work for lead generation and CRM."

Scott Monty, Ford's Global Digital and Multimedia Communications Director

Read more about it at "You're Using Social Media. But Just Who Is Overseeing It All?" - including the three marketing models for social media.

A quite intelligent blend of central and local, branding and lead generation. Might be the future for successful Social Media implementation / direction.

You want to have the best of both worlds!

Engagement: Super Bowl Ads Going Viral

"Welcome to the Viral Video Chart, Super Bowl edition. The week after the big game, all ten slots were taken over by spots that aired during the Super Bowl, racking up 44.7 million combined views and shoving aside some durable online campaigns like Evian's "Roller Skating Babies," Microsoft's Xbox Project Natal and DC Shoes' "Gymkhana Two."
...

"According to Visible Measures, about 20% of all views of Super Bowl spots (18 million) were socially driven, meaning viewers distributing the video on their own through Facebook, blogs and links passed around via Twitter.

Increasingly, advertisers aren't just trying to impress an audience, they need them to participate, too."

Via AdAge.

Brand Engagement: Coke's "Fans First"

View more presentations from iStrategy.

"When the Marketing Becomes the Product"

"The marketing becomes the product and the product becomes the marketing.
Products become invitations to a direct relationship between the participant and the marketing. People become members - not customers."

Another impressive presentation by Helge Tennø. As his basic idea is very similar to the lead/marke philosophy I would like to share a few quotes:

Helge: "... brands aren't product providers, but value providers, something they have always been."
lead/marke: "Places, themes & conversations. Marketing as a service. Virtues & values on top of the product."

Helge: "Marketing has only spent its time distracting our focus from this and done its most to become unwanted."
lead/marke: "Communication is a solution, not a distraction."

Helge: "... creating a new and temporary state of monopoly."
lead/marke: "lead/marke creates reciprocal Monopolistic Moments inspiring the individual to passionately engage with the brand and the corporation."

Please enjoy Helge's presentation:

View more presentations from Helge Tennø.

Tailor-Made Brand Engagement Starts with a Blank Piece of Paper

"I truly love selling social media. I visit my clients with a blank piece of paper, and I let the inspiration flow, asking lots of open questions and delving deeply into the business needs. I don’t talk technology at that first meeting, it’s not allowed!  The best specialists, such as FreshNetworks, design and build inspiring solutions with exactly the right ingredients …. to bake the Perfect Cake!"

By fresh networks.

Lang lebe die Komplexität!

Vor wenigen Tagen schrieb ich beim werbeblogger:

Lang lebe die Komplexität!

Das ideale Produkt, die ideale Marke entsteht aus einer Geisteshaltung, einer grundsätzlichen Philosophie, einer Vision. Diese Vision manifestiert sich in einem Produkt, einem Service.

Die Botschaft durchdringt zuallererst das Unternehmen
...

Der Mitarbeiter ist erster Botschafter der Marke
...

Dialog optimiert die Komplexität der Marke
...

Komplexität dient der Identität
...

Die Identität dient der Individualität
...

Traditionelle Kommunikation wird Störenfried
...

Lang lebe die Komplexität!

Es gibt keinen Grund, Komplexität in der Markenkommunikation zu fürchten. Sie ist eine Chance. Nutzen wir sie. ...

... bitte beim werbeblogger lesen ...

Wieden & Kennedy and Coke Copy Cats?

Momentan macht ein Spot die Runde, der platt kopiert worden sein soll. Ich will weder Schuldige suchen noch Schuld zuweisen, finde nur die Ähnlichkeit der Szenen auch sehr frappierend (bitte auch die Musik beachten).

"When we created the Coca-Cola 'Sleepwalker' commercial we and our agency were unaware of this other ad," Coca-Cola representative Susan Stribling wrote in an email. "Now that we've seen the ad, we think both commercials are equally entertaining. While the two share a few common elements, any similarities are coincidental and unintended."

Da der Coke-Spot knapp eine Minute lang ist, hat alleine die Ausstrahlung beim Super Bowl ca. 6 Millionen gekostet!

Eine schöne Gegenüberstellung der beiden Spots durch adrants:

Der Coke-Spot vom Super Bowl 2010:

Der Yotvata-Spot, 2002:

Nachtrag 17. Februar
Habe die Fehler verbessert, die sich (wie ich gerade bemerkte) eingeschlichen hatten: es macht nämlich weder Sinn, Wieden in Lautschrift zu schreiben noch Yotvata wie YouTube beginnen zu lassen.

Buy 'Ramen Noodle', 'French Toast', and 'Tortilla' Chocolate via Amazon

From the website of Komforte Chockolates:

"We saw that the chocolate industry was driving upscale and more sophisticated with every season. What was of more interest to us was doing chocolate that had fun, interesting ingredients with a "comfort" feel to them that a kid, a teenager and an adult could all understand and enjoy."

I do not want to say that the above is a unique proposition - but I like the ingredient idea. And: Where do you buy such a great chocolate "carefully crafted in the United States of America"?
At Amazon, of course!

And I like the modern design, differentiating itself from the rich and luxurious layouts of the premium brands, socializing with a reduced googlish web design, reduced, straight forward, young - adding to the 'comfort' and 'joy' proposition.

Via youmightfindyourself.

The 'Zen of Minimalism' for Your Brand and Your Social Media Communication

A few days ago I recommended the mnmlist blog - due to its potential learnings for leadership to concentrate on the relevant by reducing to the max.

My last remark there was: "Write down the true essentials for your job, brand, success. Reduce to them.
It will be difficult - but also worthwhile!"

But what do the few lines of 'less' really mean for a brand or Social Media communication itself? Before I give you an idea, please read the lines first:

"mnmlist : less

Stop buying unnecessary things.
Toss half your stuff, learn contentedness.
Reduce half again.

List 4 essential things in your life,
stop doing non-essential things.
Do these essentials first each day, clear distractions
focus on each moment.

Let go of attachment to doing, having more.
Fall in love with less."

Inhaling the above directly brings to life the minimalism philosophy of Steve Jobs and Apple or Dieter Rams and Braun. But also the idea of concentrating on 1 feature the product perfects its mastership in to quantum leap ahead of competition - like search in terms of Google.

Transforming the above into the brand or product calls for:

- Stop being a 'unnecessary' 'non-essential' thing

Add value and virtue. Add relevance. Understand the necessities, needs and - most critical - the wants of the individuals building your market.

Become best in class. Have a distinctive feature which makes you irreplacable. Forget about price and rebates, add quality. Respond to the new independence, individuality and impatience of the people.
Deliver uniqueness to become the essential thing.

Don't think about the next taste flanker, but perfect your core value incarnation.
Become a solution.

- 'Fall in love with less'

Do not think about 'less' just within the product. Reduce to the max - ie. concentrate on the truly relevant - in consumer service and experience, in distribution and advertising, in every production and logistics process, in everything you do, think, and communicate.

Transforming the above into communication / Social Media calls for:

- Stop communicating 'unnecessary things'

What differentiates your brand, product or service from competition? Ideally it's the product's performance, not your commercial.
Stop communicating different messages in different media - unless you have a really good reason.

- Stop talking about 'non-essential things'

Communicate the product, its values & virtues. Do not riddle your target groups but communicate the benefit in clarity, context and wisdom. Understand the communication zen of the iPod or iPhone commercials.

Do you really need celebrities? Or ist your product the hero?

- Do not 'distract' people

Engage with the individual, become a service instead of a nuisance. Don't talk about all the things you will change in the future. Do it now. Show and demonstrate it to the people. Actions speak louder than words. Prove you already are a solution - not a lip service.

- 'Focus on each Moment'

Forget about campaigns, waving and pulsing, etc. be there when the consumer needs you.

Transcend the traditional monologue. Become a dialog. Respect people. Talk and listen to them at eye level. Become a medium. Deliver content the people love. Deliver content they interact with, engage with, and share. Create Monopolistic Moments. Every moment! Be around. Be a spark for them. Leave a mark!

Becoming 'less' reduces clutter around yourself, helps to become heard through the clutter outside, clarifies and contextualizes your value & virtue, sharpens your voice and image, makes you more efficient and effective, optimizes your distinction and relevance.

Outgrow Yourself, Inspire the World!

UPDATE

Feb, 12th > "Motorola Splits Into Two Companies, But That Just Means They'll Be More Streamlined And Focused", Gizmodo.

Innovation: Von Damien Hirst lernen

"Strategische Innovationen sprengen etablierte Industrien, erklärt Anderson, und das ist genau das, was Hirst gemacht hat."
...
"Am Beispiel von Hirst wollen Anderson, Kupp und Reckheinrich ihre Seminar-Teilnehmer vor allem für einen typischen und fatalen Fehler von Managern sensibilisieren: Sich ausschließlich auf die Analyse etablierter Märkte und Geschäftsmodelle zu konzentrieren und neue, radikal andere Wege zu vergessen."
...
"Es geht darum, zu lernen, wie man über den Tellerrand hinausblickt“, sagt Holger Ernst, Innovationsforscher an der Wissenschaftlichen Hochschule für Unternehmensführung in Vallendar."

Via handelsblatt. Mehr zum Thema auch auf leadmarke.de!

Brand Engagement: Social Media RoI

"ROI assessments are based on the simplistic formula of benefits minus costs to calculate the return on your investment. But simple is not always smart, and most if not all the of the benefits in such calculations are by nature predictive. In other words they are guesses, and in my experience, almost always overly optimistic -- and fatuous guesses at that.

There is a cost to any new system, and there is also always a return (sometimes a good one, sometimes bad, often a bit of both) from the system. Far better and more honest I believe to just build a valid business case that details these costs and potential returns, and utilize more concrete and verifiable calculations such as TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) or CDB (Cost of Doing Business). That way you have a business case that details the investment and what you hope and expect to achieve as a result, and at least have a business case based on facts. One that when it strays into the predictive (as it must at times) is clear about its limitations and values."

Via socialmediatoday.

> Siehe auch meinen Artikel im werbeblogger: "Der Social Media RoI oder Wehret den frühen Währungen!".

Neuromarketing: Hype oder Hoffnung?

"So einfach, wie es uns populärwissenschaftliche Trendstudien nahebringen wollen, ist es leider noch nicht. Nicht alle Prozesse der Werbewirkung, allen voran die Emotionen und ihr Zusammenspiel mit rationalen Entscheidungsprozessen, werden von den Neurowissenschaften bereits heute gut genug verstanden, um tatsächlich „revolutionäre“ Einsichten für das Marketing zu gewinnen."

Via Gründerszene.

Engagement: How different Age Groups, Gadget Owners Use the Internet

Click to view large.

Die Relevanz des bodenständig Analogen für den Erfolg der Marke

Beim werbeblogger veröffentlichte ich vor einigen Tagen diesen Text:

"Viel lesen wir über Social Media, über die Wichtigkeit der richtigen Kommunikationsstrategie, das optimale Vorgehen bei PR-technischen Krisen. Lesen von den Fallstricken des Digitalen und den wertvollen Mitgliedschaften in Communities wie Facebook und Netzwerken wie Twitter.

Werbliche Kommunikation ist wichtig, unbestritten. Ein wenig, so scheint es mir, vergessen wir in diesem ganzen Spiel die Realität des Konsumenten, vergessen die Realität des Produktes, die Realität der Marke, des Handels und des Unternehmens.

Das Produkt ist der wahre Held!

Sein Nutzen und seine Relevanz für den Konsumenten entscheidet – nicht die Werbung, nicht Kommunikation oder Social Media." ...

... bitte beim werbeblogger weiterlesen ...

Der virale Faktor: Produkt. Markt. Dialog.

LSD2010 - der virale Faktor von Martin Oetting, TRND from thlang on Vimeo.
Via Martin Oetting.

Building the Nexus One: Concept & Design

via gizmodo.

Graphik: "State of the Internet 2009"

via psfk.