Millenium Marketer

You can laugh, if you see this, and wonder if I think this is the answer to the world’s demand, and any marketer’s problems, but actually it’s just the beginning.
I had to play a guessing game with my manager last night before leaving work.
It’s called Guess the Population. What’s the size of Tokyo? (10 million metropolitan) The size of Japan? (128 million) The size of US? (316 million or twice the size of Japan). I have to admit I had forgotten a lot of those numbers and did not play this game very well, despite the numerous places I have been and numerous people I have met.

Said the manager, “Being a good quant is about understanding populations, when you know the population size, you can estimate the market size.”

I talk a lot about the trends of certain products, often times in the tablet, mobile and hardware device market. But I haven’t said much about how big these markets really are in concrete numbers. It’s even tougher to put those numbers into a context that is understandable, so let’s put this into practice.
So, in the coming weeks, I’ll bring you on a virtual tour of the globe, offering a few key stats on the different places throw in a bit of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. We’ll have some fun.

About the chart itself, if you were to exclude Martians, the world’s population is close to 7 billion. That’s twice the size of population than it was 50 years ago.
That’s a lot of people with pains and needs. That’s market potential, only a percentage of those people own a technology device, which leaves many more who will buy one later, or those who own who will buy again in the future.

I went to a sushi restaurant tonight. Not just any sushi restaurant, but a sushi restaurant where I had gotten a really good deal for $40 off. In fact, because we love sushi, we had bought two coupons. Unfortunately for us, tomorrow is the last day that the deal is valid and we had procrastinated, so we will be losing an opportunity on using the second deal.

Having waited until the last minute, we were competing with many other Living Social coupon customers. In fact, we could not even make a reservation because they were booked up with reservations from other Living Social fans. Not to mention the long line at the door.

The host looked very harried as he tried to balance fulfilling pre-made reservations with drop ins waiting at the door. The staff was stretched thin, and making $40 less per party. Is that a good deal for them? Questionable as to whether they are making any profit off of this venture.

So, if there is anyone that really benefits the most out of these deals, it’s probably the deal making company. If people are by default lazy, they’ll pay for their coupons and then maybe never redeem them. Unless, you just wait until the last minute to compete with other coupon buyers!

Do you buy coupons from Groupon, Daily Deals, LivingSocial or others? Are there deals you regret buying or regret that you did not redeem sooner? What are they?

I saw this on the GetSatisfaction blog. Some of the headlines are non-sensical (in an attempt to be funny) but unfortunately they don’t accurately describe the data below it, so I’ve pointed out a few things for you here.

• One-third of us are likely to create or contribute content to a social network online.
• 9 out of 10 will own a technology device.
• 21% or 1 in 5 are likely to purchase things online.
• In addition, Gen Y is likely to desire a connect to a brand, rather than only buy from brands they recognize.

The last point intrigues me the most. Gen Y will buy from brands that they have a personal and authentic connection. I say, absolutely right! You’ll want to use social media to talk to us about the things we care about, and not about your brand per se.

Case in point: Kristen (on my Brazen Careerist network) said in a conversation that she would only get a tattoo of the Ironman logo if she finished a triathlon. That’s interesting, because that Ironman brand would have a very personal meaning to her. I have another friend that will only buy artisanal, small producer brands because she likes the feeling of contributing to her local economy (think cheese from local Marin county or farmer’s market, etc.). Me, I love Anthropologie for communicating who I aspire to be, a free-spirt, casual, international and creative person :o)

Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love writes that every person has one single word that they live by.
I had to remind myself today that my word is not “marketer.” A little bit shocking given the name of this blog, but marketer suggests a professional or expert.
Have you ever had this experience? You’re so entrenched with reading social media blogs and are so on-trend and steeped in marketing theory, you forget to connect with your actual customers.
At least that’s what was happening to me. So I had to tell myself this.

News flash, ace, your audience is not other professional marketers, it’s people who want to be marketers.

Identifying your Influencers is a Catch Phrase
A couple of years ago, when social media was still growing, I read a lot of catchy buzz phrases through the blogosphere.
Listen to the conversation.
Identify your “influencers.”
Engage or die.
Target your key words and measure your traffic.

I have to say the messages are changing a bit, and I don’t deny that they are true in their own way. The problem is that many bloggers (including myself) have gotten in the habit of repeating these catch phrases. I’ve gotten a bit tired of experts standing on their soap box, because if you are to follow their steps, you may not get your desired result. (A while back, I took some of Chris Brogan‘s advice about blog ideas way too literally. I managed to take some pictures of my neighborhood and post them on Flickr. In hindsight it is funny to me because none of those posts resulted in any of the conversations I desired to initiate.) The point is I started following instead of reaching out to others in diverse contexts.

And, Reciprocation in “Being Social” is Not Equal
Look at Freakonomics on Twitter, how many people do you see Freaknomics following?

The All Stars are few, and the chances that I will collaborate with THEM, are very slim. I may shake hands with an All Start Social Media talking head. It will satisfy that “can I have your autograph, I’m Starstruck” impulse. Still, these are people with already busy lives, families and many other fans to tend to, and I am not writing this blog to impress them.

There are so many more of the RIGHT people who want to have their 5 minutes of fame. So many more who would love to have their say, and who want to talk back.

Truth Is, Real Connections Happen in your Target Community
I met a blogger last week. His name is Will, and he is on a blogger network called Brazen Careerist. He has an awesome blog called Peoplegogy and has been very successful at bringing in guest writers. It is pretty cool, you can see people coming from different backgrounds talking about their lives. He likes to write, and clearly has an interest in social media as a means. I don’t think he pays much attention to the talking heads, the All Stars. He focuses on his audience.

What do you think? Is connecting with your audience hard or easy? How do you initiate conversations about the things they value and want to talk about?

Well, I’ve been out of commission for a while now, so to speak. I got married which quite frankly threw me off schedule in the blogging world.

Well, while I’ve been away and letting the weeds grow on my blog, I’ve been learning a few important lessons about starting an entrepreneurial venture such as hosting your own wedding. As an aside, it’s almost a logistical impossibility to be both the main organizer of the event and the star of the show, so that’s really where the stress comes in. At some point, you just have to let go and allow the work to be delegated elsewhere. (This is also true for managers of small companies, I believe–you can’t be the one doing all the work and running the operations of the business).

On a market level, though, there is one mantra that wedding vendors want you to believe: Vendors know best and they can influence market prices (in other words, drive UP prices) as they please, because the consumer is most likely not going to protest.

It’s too “risky” to pay less, the vendors will say, on the most important day of your life. It’s a special occasion, a once in a lifetime event, pay them what they deserve to make it your special day. (I call this fear marketing, which marketers shouldn’t be allowed to do. The same goes for other everyday products, such as acne: “if you don’t buy our product, you’re going to suffer with acne for the rest of your life!”) It’s inducing fear into you that your wedding will a) be a disaster or b) be the most amazing time in your life because the vendors have ensured that it would be so.

One word for you: ridiculous. First of all, as a consumer, your first defense against this fear mechanism is research. Especially in a recession, I think you can find that there are many creative solutions to the “traditional” wedding vendor. In the end, it’s the people who are there with you that matter more than the decor.

And negotiate where you can, because they will create all sorts of conditions that lean on the side of creating a false monopoly or oligopoly (that is, where all their circle of friends in the wedding business agree on a set price and then relay that false information to you about how much it will really cost!)

On the marketing side, fear marketing is unethical. In fact, it’s not really marketing. It’s a hard sell, and the same sell a real estate agent might make when they say a house on the market will be swiped up fast by someone else, so you better get it now.

My dealings with the wedding industry got me thinking about how people fell for Madoff and for the subprime mortgage scheme. (Not to mention that neither is good for the overall well-being of the community that participates in the economy.)

Maybe, we just have become lazy about thinking critically. There are so many possibilities rather than what the market wants to tell you is the ONLY possibility. Is this because people have become accustomed to following the flock in exchange for more comfort, convenience or some other type of instant gratification? I think it might be, but you can certainly disagree.

What are your thoughts? Who is to blame? The consumer? The marketer?

I decided to start numbering these.
There is a lot of talk about self-branding, but I have to say that anyone who makes a career out of being a self-marketer should get an ego check.
That includes Guy Kawasaki for making this very typically cryptic, eccentric comment recorded at the Wall Street Journal in regards to promotions on Twitter: “If I do it, it’s clever marketing. If it’s done to me, it’s spam”

But, it is also true that part of Guy Kawasaki’s persona is that of an author and an artist. Also, what he says about Twitter is very true. We like to hear ourselves talk.

In any case, anyone who chooses a career as first a “self-marketer” and second of some other profession should consider taking lessons in modesty. I think.

I’m working on yet another post on networking and job-hunting, so stay tuned.

Some very strange things have been bubbling up in my mind since re-reading Jostein Gaardner’s Sophie’s World and listening to NPR on the weekend.

If you don’t know Sophie’s World, it’s a book that tells a story about philosophy and questins whether humans really exist or if we just are cheating ourselves into thinking that we do.

You might wonder what this has to do with being a marketer. I have recently come to the conclusion that lot of a person’s consciousness nowadays has to do with being a consumer. Living in one of the richest countries of the world, we are trained from birth to be consumers.

You could even go as far as saying that we are brainwashed into overconsumption. It becomes a mindless habit and it doesn’t matter whether you may have lots of money or a little money in the bank, a lot of marketing has created us into impulsive, needy little consumers that enjoy and crave the thrill of buying.

Why do we choose one soap brand over another? Probably because you’ve seen some kind of promotions about it, seen the brand being advertised during your favorite sports game or you have a friend who has talked about the benefits of the brand.

There comes a point when we must realize that actually our needs are imagined needs dictated to us by advertising, the news, our friends (viral marketing)…all these things have been put into place to increase our level of consumption. And better yet for marketers is the consumer’s propensity to buy on impulse.

Starbucks is the paramount example of the impulse buy phenomenon. You could go in for a simple cup of coffee, but that may not be enough. Why not have your milk steamed for $2 extra and while you’re at it, add in some syrup so you don’t have to add sugar yourself? And on top of that, pack on some more calories with a piece of Reduced Fat Cinnamon Coffee Cake.

After all, Starbucks is just there to make sure that you get your usual cup of joe so that you can be more productive that day.

(But they don’t tell you that they make an incremental profit off of you because your $3.20 latte is priced just right so that you won’t think twice about buying one every day and at the end of the day, those baristas aren’t really treated as well as they say they are, because it’s still the corporate guys who make the big bucks.)

Of course, I use Starbucks as an example because they have done a phenomenal job of marketing to their target audience. I just question more whether the regular consumer really wants that Latte or they start to buy them, simply because Starbucks has become an integral part of their regular everyday life routine.

I am a marketer so it is funny for me to be so cynical, but recently, with the recession, people losing their homes, and all sorts of problems with debt, I’ve been really considering what I see and hear more closely.

So, while shrewd marketers out there are pushing your buttons to get you to make the impulse buy, think first, then act.

Do you really believe in what you are buying?
Was it a calculated, planned purchase? Do you really need yet another item to decorate your living room and add to your collection?

Because while the media is telling you that you need what you buy, it’s questionable that those items that you buy define who you are.

Once you get out there networking, it’s possible to get a random call from someone that you may have met. Or, you may be in the reverse situation where you are making the cold calls yourself.
The ideal situation is to never make cold calls because you’ve become prepared enough so that your network will support you.

But, if it happens that you do make a cold call, make sure you have a reason to call. For example, you could following up to an event where you first met, checking in after a few months of having met someone, being referred by a friend who recommended to call, and so on.

Otherwise, you are placed in a bad situation with very little leverage and all the power is in the hands of the person who has just received your call.

The goal is never to call someone that you don’t know well for a favor. I don’t claim to be an expert on this subject but I’ve definitely had my personal triumphs and challenges in doing this very thing. It does take a few very bad “sales-y” calls to get better understanding of how to do this, so don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

I think it’s best to take cues from a badly prepared cold call. A woman that I had met maybe about two or three years ago calls me today.

I do have great empathy for cold callers, but I saw many blunders, which I will name Common Mistakes of the Amateur Cold Caller.

Common Mistakes of the Amateur Cold Caller
Caller: Hello Clara, we met a while ago and I was wondering if you were looking for health insurance?
Me: No, I am not looking for that right now, thanks.
Caller: Oh, how about tax-deferred investments?
[Already we are off to a bad start because this appears to me like a telemarketing call.]
Me: Excuse me, where did you get my number from?
Caller: Oh we met at a mixer a while back, but I don’t remember which one. I have your business card here from the Monterey Institute, your graduate school.
[And it appears that since she received my card, it was randomly selected from the deck without any further investigation. She hadn’t written down the name of the mixer, either. I happen to have quite an extensive LinkedIn profile.]
Me: Well that must have been a while ago then.
[Here, I am wondering to myself, why did she not call me two years ago when I first gave her the business card? It has gone through several iterations and companies since then. We would have had a better chance to get to know each other about two years ago.]
Caller: Yes, well it was at some mixer.
Me: Um, OK. [Since she doesn’t know which one it is, I find it hard to make a human connection with her. At this point, she switches from being a potential acquaintance to being another Telemarketer.]
[[Awkward silence.]]
Caller: Oh, so you graduated, congratulations!
Me: Thanks.
[Note that one word answers aren’t a very good sign. I just don’t know what to say.]
Caller: So where are you working now?
[Apparently, this may be an attempt to acquire further lead ideas from me.]
Me: Um….[long pause—I’m thinking about how I would rather not disclose any information about my life at this point.]
I’m very sorry, but I don’t believe that to be your business. Thanks for calling.
[Also, under the circumstances, since she is now a Telemarketer and not a potential friend, this appears to be a very intrusive thing to ask. Thus the call ends as it was fairly unproductive.]

Read more about the anatomy of a cold call below.
Continue reading

I’m preettty involved in other stuff right now since this is the week before President’s Day weekend, so I’ll leave you with one thought about brands and shopping. Just because one brand is hotter than the other (and more expensive) doesn’t mean that it is better.

Case in point: The Creative Zen Stone vs. the iPod Shuffle.
$19.99 vs. $49.99
The Zen happens to have an FM radio and have the same form factor but it’s $30 bucks cheaper. It’s classic marketing.

The takeaway:
Marketers, ramp up your brand = ramp up your revenue.
Those who have products labelled as market followers have faith in your product, ramp up the product volume and find innovative ways to capture those laggards who are less likely to jump at the chance to buy a new product the day launch day hits.

In these economic times, it’s a good time to establish thought leadership for yourself or as a representative of your company. With a variety of social media tools available, it’s not too difficult to do and you’re sure to make a few friends along the way to grow your network of support.

So, how do you do this? Recently, I wrote about brand advocacy, how you can develop a list of your brand attributes and test it. So let’s take this one step further: where can you create brand perceptions and stories so that others will remember you?

The social media channels are obvious and well-known places, but are you using them?

LinkedIn Groups
LinkedIn recently built in discussions into the Groups functionality (previously, it was only a badge of affiliation) and this is an easy way to do some ad-hoc networking. Try asking some thought-provoking or interesting questions that will catch the attention and interest of the group. For example, “What are your organization strategies?”–a topic broad enough to cover any profession, and people are always looking for ideas to be more efficient themselves.

Twitter
A lot of people are stumped at how to use Twitter. At first, you may announce that you are going to lunch or what you’re eating for lunch, but after a while, that isn’t so interesting since most people head off to lunch daily and often.

But when you start asking interesting questions (see above) or comment on things that interest you and relate to how you want to be remembered. A slip up or two is fine, shows that you’re human. Also the great thing is when you can find opportunities to help others. That is great thought leadership.

Facebook
Yes, you really can’t hide not even on Facebook. Sure, you can show a more personal side but just remember Big Brother is watching you!

It ain’t easy…
Thought leadership is the practice of learning and helping others, and knowing when to show your best talents! Sounds easy? It isn’t, and with some practice, you’ll find the best strategies for you.

PR Agencies, too, will benefit from thought leadership and are more likely to rise above the rest in these times.

If you have been really strong in this area, what do you think contributes to your success? Or what would you like to do to build thought leadership?