Millenium Marketer

What is it like in your city?
I live in Silicon Valley and it is a little bit crazy. I don’t know if there are other places like this in the world, because my other point of reference is Wales where people end the day at 4 or 5 and go straight to the pub. I know they are nothing like this. But then Hong Kong and Tokyo are a bit crazy too, and not like this. Silicon Valley’s word is Geeky. There are girl geeks here too.

Silicon Valley is like a mad scientist’s haven, everyone here is obsessed with creating or funding a new innovation or providing a service (PR, consulting, accounting, coffee houses, entrepreneur launchpads) that is the oil to keep innovation engine running.  There are engineers who spend their days dreaming of owning their own start-ups, lots of  emerging companies who want to make it big. It’s the only place I know where is possible to meet entrepreneurs as young as Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook, or even younger, like Mark Levie at Box.net. If you’re not working in these companies, you’re writing about them in VentureBeat, TechCrunch or ValleyWag.

We have a ton of venture capital companies here: Sequoia Capital, Garage Technology Ventures, GRP Ventures, Elevation Ventures (where Bono of U2 is a Managing Director). It’s so real that I have shaken hands with Kawasaki once at a movie theater event, met wild eyed Levie briefly, and yes, worked at hi-tech PR firm supporting an emerging VC funding start-up. I have friends who own tech start-ups, dodged the Google IPO or have experienced a start-up acquisition. It’s that real.

Housing prices can go as far as the millions, in my area, the average housing price is $2,343, 246.  Renting is cheaper than buying, a concept that profoundly confuses my Taiwanese family abroad.

It’s practically Darwinian the way we are filtering out folks who aren’t necessarily interested in this innovation madness and all this blinding brilliance. To stand out, it appears that you have to either attend Stanford to shortly quit like Page and Brin, get an MBA, learn a technical skill like Photoshop or javascript, OR tweet like mad  @SocialMediaClub.

New products start with E, like the WD e-Book or i as in iPod and iPhone.

It’s the only place I know where people will turn down an impromptu invitation to dinner because they are on leave from Google to work their side hustle, or promise to teach you to be rich. Unless, your obsession IS food and you’re cooking the latest celebrity chef dinner.

If you live in Silicon Valley, is there something else you would add?

Is it like this elsewhere?  What drives the engine of young professionals in your city?

When choosing the name of your brand, it’s important that you know its character better than your consumers, especially in a world that is increasingly international. In business, a brand can make or break your business, no matter how good the product. (As was the case with the Chevy Nova in Latin America, as “No Va” means “No go.” Who would want to buy a car like that?)

That said, as being very much Taiwanese American, I couldn’t help but rant when I came across a few words in Mandarin while watching an episode of Top Chef.
Often, when a chef is talking about their experience in the competition, their name will come up on screen with their restaurant name.
Angelo Sosa, Xie Xie.

[I should also couch this in terms of while I can absolutely respect Mr Sosa for trying to cook and win. I respect the trials and travails of what it takes to make food that people love. This is not a personal analysis or a stab at Sosa, but rather an attempt at constructive criticism of his brand. I have never tried the food, so no complaints there.]

The bottom line:
1) Create intentional positive associations for your brand.
2) Do your research: if you are going to stray away from what you know, make sure you become absolutely wrapped up in the character of the brand you want to create.
3) Be real: the story that you make can and should in many ways embody its owners.
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Today was one of many days that I have taken Caltrain, the SF Bay Area commuter train that runs along the Peninsula.

Caltrain used to have a courtesy policy. The policy stated that cell phones were not allowed on trains, among other things, and the bike car is reserved for bikers only. I learned today that they have since rescinded these rules because it became a political issue. Boy, as of today, I found out just how much of a political issue it really is.
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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?

Between a bottle of Heinz Ketchup and Safeway Ketchup of the same volume, the only difference is the price. The number of ingredients are the same.

Between a bottle of Safeway Ketchup and Safeway Organics Ketchup, the difference is in the number of ingredients. Safeway Organics Ketchup only contains Tomato Concentrate, Sugar, Salt, Onion Powder and Spices, all of which are organic.

Both Heinz and regular Safeway ketchup have 10 ingredients and both contain corn syrup. (I hate corn syrup.)

Safeway Organics Ketchup has less ingredients and yet it costs $1.00 more than Safeway Regular Ketchup.

So, Heinz should probably start making Organic Ketchup and charge $1.00 more than their regular ketchup brand.

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.

AIG executives have been the source of much public anger lately for accepting $165 million in bonuses from government money, which has now spurred a new bill passed to ensure that at least 90% of the money from these bonuses will be given back to the government.

But, you have to wonder if it were you, given the recession and the reduced value of cash in today’s recession, would you take the money?

Taking this money and awarding bonuses is saying, “Thank you Uncle Sam for the free money–now we’re going to spend it like millionaires right in yo face!”

Which is, ironically, a similar attitude individuals have taken to $600 per taxpayer stimulus package last year. It was not spent towards the cause for which it was created.

Uncle Sam is going to have to ignore any accusations about over-regulation and come up with more pro-active string-attached laws when offering up money to support drowning companies that don’t know how to manage themselves.

That would have been the more responsible thing to do rather than blame companies like AIG for spending stimulus money in any way they see fit.

That doesn’t mean that I think AIG should have given out bonuses though. It was an imprudent thing to do, and management needs to wake up and smell the recession.

This morning, Obama was elected into office. Some studies suggest that presidents age while in office. Just check out some pictures of presidents who have aged during their term.

Bogus? I’ll let you be the judge.

Wa-ka-me
A sea vegetable said to have high levels of thiamine, calcium, iodine and niacin. Allegedly prevents wrinkles.

Although the media says that Obama enjoys playing basketball and keeps physically fit, it wouldn’t hurt for our freshly inaugurated president to try something new, especially in anticipation of those photos four-years-later. Some recipes suggest wakame with avocado, garlic and no salt for an extra kick, a boost of immunity and necessary fatty acids.

Jump on the wave of the new raw foods diet, Mr 44th President.

If you’re reading this blog, there’s a high chance that you are in marketing or interested in marketing.
I could give you some kind of inspiring speech about why you should vote, but I think at this point it’s really blatantly obvious. The country has been in really bad shape in the last 8 years ever since September 11, 2001. We need change.

I voted and this is the first year that I will actually have an “I Voted” sticker on and want everyone to know about it.

Since marketing is about promotions, increasing demand for a cause, there is no better way I can think of than to say, hey you, go vote. And if you have, you’ve joined the inner circle this year. Your fellow US citizens will thank you.

If you want to share, you can do so in the comments. I don’t care about who you voted for, really. We are a country of individualists and to the first amendment, to each his own opinion.

If there are two problems that I can’t stand, it is the environmental crisis and human crisis that many are facing worldwide on so many complex levels. It affects everyone spanning North America, South America to Asia. That is why we as individuals and businesses are more responsible as ever for doing what we can to drive change in ways that may not have been thought possible.

Recently, I went up to Redwood Shores Cinemas to see a “rockumentary” that was being considered by the UN, titled “Call + Response.” (Find the movie in your area here.)

I will argue that art can inspire business ideas. In other words, if you’re not familiar with any of these issues and you are an entrepreneur looking for a cause or a new problem to solve, this movie could be one springboard for you. (It hasn’t been too long ago since the SoCap08 Conference.)

We need solutions to one of the most massive and overwhelming problems out there. None of us would want these kinds of things to happen to our children. So, if you have a business that is attempting to address problems in human trafficking or unjust supply chain, I would like to know about it.

Of course, human trafficking is not a new issue. You can never be sure if the piece of clothing you are wearing was made by a slave who works in small, confined space and forced or coerced into labor. That’s why we need transparency in the supply chain, and clarity to truly run businesses that have triple the value and a strong, humane bottom line.

Imagine, if there was a small way to buy these children an education. Send them a tutor and buy their time so that they may open their eyes to more possibility. A strong education to become better critical thinkers and why not social and environmental stewards as well?

Here are a just a few links to known (non-profit) organizations that deal with these issues, listed as resources for potential entrepreneurs and if you know of others please add them:

• Invisible Children
• End Human Trafficking
• ECPAT International

[Reposted to: TriplePundit.com]