Archive for April, 2008

Mmmm…Free Content

Published by
brian
April 20, 2008 in Brands Who Get It. 3 Comments

I’m excited to begin using my year-long free subscription to Britannica’s Online Encyclopedia. They’ve recently launched a digital presence aimed at drawing people into their content. By using their blog, widgets, free subscriptions, updates via Twitter, & soliciting contributor feedback, they are seeking out people who are actively engaged in reading & publishing online content.

Britannica is giving you many options for choosing, aggregating, displaying, & consuming their content. This flexibility allows them to display their brand to a wide audience. Online publishers looking to add valuable & trusted content to their site will benefit from the instant recognition of Britannica.

It has been a long time since I have used actual books to do research (not counting the standard text books in high school & college). I can vividly picture slaving over World Book & Britannica during the mid 80s to early 90s; this was one of the few ways to get accurate information in bulk about a great many things. From my late college years until now, though, I have relied almost exclusively on getting the information I seek online. Unfortunately for libraries & encyclopedias, so does just about everyone else in the world.

Companies like Britannica & Sports Illustrated are starting to understand that simply pushing their content to people the same way they did 20 years ago doesn’t cut it. They have both been somewhat irrelevant in terms of perceived worth. I haven’t subscribed to SI in over 10 years; I get ESPN the Magazine instead. Those who have read both will know why. Similarly, I visit ESPN.com more frequently & for longer periods of time than SI.com. I even pay for an ESPN Insider subscription; for $4 a month I get the magazine & access to content I find interesting or insightful.

Recently, SI has literally opened up its vault. You can now access any article, story, etc. from any issue, ever. Do you know how many sports blogs there are? Lots of opinion, but coming up with something truly unique on a regular basis is difficult. Sports fans love nostalgia; smart publishers will take advantage of this. SI.com will benefit from an increasingly engaging web presence.

One brand, Britannica, I had completely forgotten about. The other, Sports Illustrated, had become a commodity. I will now incorporate them into my regular media production & consumption routines. Once antiquated brands have now given themselves a chance to re-engage a lost audience while, more importantly, appealing to new ones.

Counterintuitive Decision Making

Published by
brian
April 19, 2008 in Interactive Marketing. 0 Comments

Diagnosis: ROIrage

I did not coin this, but I wish I did because it is clever (thanks Matt). I think he was inspired by Logic + Emotion’s Top Ten Made Up Words of Web 3.0. If you’re not getting it; ROIrage is return-on-investment (ROI) combined with rage…get it? Kinda like ‘roid rage. Ok, maybe not so clever. BUT, it wonderfully illustrates a reaction, maybe more accurately a behavior, which is detrimental to the growth of interactive advertising. I’m not saying this medium’s growth will cease & begin to decline, but it is going to be more painful than it needs to be.

John Wanamaker once said, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” Well Mr. Wanamaker, God rest your soul, you would be a pig in shit in today’s digital advertising world. While it is still a challenge for any online business to reach all potential customers, the manner in which the cost to find & acquire them is measured has become more sophisticated. The importance of an immediate return-on-investment has reached dizzying new heights; I looked down once & almost threw up…& I am in no way scared of heights.

Seriously, I get it. Risk tolerance is low in these difficult economic times. With increased scrutiny & limited resources making everyone’s life a bit more stressful, I can empathize. It may feel like the weight of the digital world is resting on your shoulders. The good news is that it does not have to be so. The bad news is that, while you’re doing your best Atlas imitation, opportunities are flying by completely unnoticed.

You think you’re seeing the future, but you’re simply repeating the same routine. The insanity needs to end.

Have some faith. I love numbers; I could sit & play with data all day because it makes a lot of sense to me. This has given me some perspective in viewing victories in numbers alone. Don’t mistake a series of short-term gains as the pathway to long-term success. I swear we know what we’re doing & it will ultimately lead to fantastic gains for your business that will make you look like a freaking genius. You can thank us later; immediate gratification is not necessary. The chance to advance your brand through creative thinking, smart planning & beautiful execution is all we require.

Now if you will excuse me, I must return to spreadsheets & numbers. Pivot tables & projections, subtotals & sum functions; sowing the seeds of greatness.

Yes, Have Some

Published by
brian
April 14, 2008 in Link Dump. 1 Comment

I’m taking the lazy route & won’t actually publish anything.  But, here’s a bit of what I’ve found interesting lately…

  • My (Rental) Shore House -- me & 3 friends filling 10 spots in the span of 2 weeks with people we’ve just met because most of our other friends are married or lame.  Currently a major pain in the ass, but looking to be the beginning of a fun summer.  Communication channels used -- friends, Craig’s List, email, text messages, mobile phone calls, Facebook, MySpace, & shots.
  • The Power of Laziness - someday I will get into how much I love simple, easy things
  • Should Comments Be Portable?
  • Jose Reyes was OUT!
  • Information traveling Wiki-fast
  • Max Kellerman in a hip-hop video with his late brother, Sam
  • Following Zappos CEO, Tony, on Twitter
  • Trends in Youth & Mobile Marketing -- so relevant as I am delivering, to a client on Monday, an intergrated online media recommendation to a Tween retail categroy leader.  I will be reading this on the plane ride.
  • The Broken Conversation
  • Nice try, jerk -- let’s just get the fact that I’m a Yankees fan out there (Phillies 1st, of course)
  • Miley Cyrus: See You Again remix -- Don’t judge me; I’m merely sharing.  You’d be amazed at how many drunk tools and mid-20s to mid-30s women go nuts when this song is played.  They know the words, too!  The power of observation should not be limited to work or crossing streets.  What, exactly, does it mean when women, 10 -- 20 years older than Billy Ray’s daughter, are rocking out to the artist formerly known as Hannah Montana?
  • AND, just in case you forgot about The Pentaverate

 

Creadibility

Published by
brian
April 6, 2008 in Misc.. 2 Comments

Or should I call it creditivity? Unsure what I’m talking about? I am merely combining credibility & creativity for the purpose of this discussion & certainly not trying to invent any kind of catchy jargon.

Matt McDonald published a quick & thought-provoking post last week. There is no shortage of voiced opinion within the digital realm. Combined with the numerous methods available to aggregate, view & share content, you basically get a lot of words thrown in your general direction all day, every day. It’s a challenge to digest everything let alone decipher it. Depending on your tolerance level, it can be quite difficult to accomplish either.

Let’s take a look at the definitions of both. As you can see, the two are certainly not co-dependent.

  • Creativity: the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination.
  • Credibility: the quality, capability, or power to elicit belief.

If you are to believe that no ideas are truly original, potentially skewing one’s perception of creativity, then the argument can be made that more emphasis should be placed on credibility. When applied to business, leaders are looking for ideas that can make a positive impact with measured results. What is the likeliness an idea morphs into a tangible & valuable product or service?

This type of approach can handcuff the decision-making process. If you are not willing to take risks with creativity, is it possible to be innovative? How, then, would you achieve credible creativity?

Both have their own mutual exclusivity, but combined are more powerful. It’s a dizzying, circular argument; I am merely expressing my opinion. What’s yours?

Strategy vs. Tactics

Published by
brian
April 6, 2008 in Education. 4 Comments

Significant time is spent crafting, implementing, measuring, & adjusting these two.  Suprisingly, even more time is spent debating what a strategy or tactic is.  The interest of clearly distinguishing the two, but showing how they are interdependent is the inspiration for this post.  I feel it is important to also enter plans, objectives, & goals into the conversation.

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. – Sun Tzu (Chinese General, circa 500 BC)

Separating the Two: Strategy & tactics are often confused although both play integral parts in achieving predetermined objectives & goals.  They are relative & should not be in conflict.  It is vital to have agreed-upon objectives & goals prior to developing the strategy & the tactics that will drive it.  The right strategy makes any tactic work better & puts less pressure on executing your tactics perfectly.

Plan: The combination of objectives, strategies & tactics.

  • Specific articulation of how the tactics will support the strategies that will achieve the objectives in time.
  • The rationale that supports this course of action.

Objective: Something toward which effort is directed; an aim, goal, or end of action.

Goal: The end toward which effort is directed.

Strategy: Derived from ancient Greek word strategos, meaning general.  It was originally the art of the general or the art of preparing troops for battle, thus the art & science of what.

  • Strategy is an overall or long term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal, which may involve complex patterns of individual tactics.
  • Many strategies may be employed to reach a goal/ objective.

Tactics: Derived from ancient Greek word taktihos, meaning fit for arranging or maneuvering.  It referred to the art of moving forces in battle, thus the art & science of how.

  • Tactics are the actual means used to reach a goal, a method employed to help achieve a certain goal; a set of actions taken to fulfill a strategy.

Example

  • Objective: RadioShack wants to be the #1 shopping site for mobile phones.
  • Strategies: Increase visibility online, keep Radioshack top-of-mind.  Educate consumers.
  • Tactics: Secure more media inventory on major portals & other high-trafficked sites (using both branding & direct response), maintain top placement on search terms commonly used during the beginning of the purchase cycle, offer affiliates better commissions to secure higher placement, utilize email marketing to increase repeat purchases, connect with the customer through social media channels.

If this was previously unclear, hopefully it has provided some insight.  If this was nothing new to you, hopefully you learned more about Sun Tzu…or something.

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