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Hollow words or pregnant words. You choose.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

I was reading the paper this morning on president Obama’s state of the union speech and realized the word “politics” has become a dirty word. “We can get things done so long as politics don’t get in the way,” the speech suggested. When issues are “politicized” there is gridlock.   (I suspect this isn’t too different from the word “religious” or “beliefs” in the Middle East.) In the U.S. the word “diplomacy” is not a dirty word. It still suggests gridlock but in a more positive fashion. Using tools to work together. Compromising. Give and take. The word diplomacy is more leader-friendly. I once read that America Indian chiefs were not the greatest warriors but the ones whose decisions were most likely to help the tribe. (A learning moment when I lost my fraternity election.)

Words are important. How the meaning of a word evolves is also important. Very important. When words are used as weapons, take note. That’s why brand planners make a living listening. Contextualizing. Truly hearing. There are hollow words. Words that mean the opposite, e.g., transparent, return on investment. And there are pregnant words, words layered with meaning — ready to be unleashed. The latter is where we play. Seek them out and let them sell. Peace.

 

 

Amazon or Netflix?

By
Steve Poppe
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0

I’ve paid a good deal of attention to two digital technology brands over the years, both of which are being double-tapped by the media: AOL and Yahoo!.  These tech icons have long been under financial pressures and lost tech cred.  They’ve peaked and are constantly searching for ways to reinvigorate. It wasn’t always like this. They were once killer brands.

Today, when I look at two ascendant brands, Netflix and Amazon, I see similarities with AOL and Yahoo on the way up. But history tells us it won’t always be that way. Great leaders need to see beyond today, into the future, and that’s what Jeff Bezos and Reed Hastings are doing. So let’s take stock of Netflix and Amazon. Both are currently in the content business. Both are trying to be the next Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Both have creeped their vision toward the light of the video camera and red carpet. If we fast forward 10 years, which of this two juggernauts will be the winner? Wanna guess?

Here’s my guess. Netflix is more agile and focused. Amazon is a deeper thinker, willing to place more bets and lose more money. I’m thinking ten years out Amazon will be the winner. The journey will be fun.. Have you a guess? Peace.

 

Is-Does, Idea Number 1.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

Next week I am participating in a small business panel sponsored by Teachers Federal Credit Union entitled “30 Marketing Ideas in 6o Minutes.” Panelists are from a number of marketing disciplines, mine is branding. My first tip will be the “Is-Does.” What a company is and what a company does. To find a company Is-Does look at the About section of their website or boiler plate on press releases. One of the biggest obstacles to great branding is a poor or vacuous Is-Does.

Here’s an example from a company called Express Scripts:

Express Scripts, Inc. is one of the nation’s leading full-service pharmacy benefit management (“PBM”) companies. The Company coordinates the distribution of outpatient pharmaceuticals through a combination of benefit management services, including retail drug card programs, Home Delivery services, formulary management programs and other clinical management programs. We also distribute a full range of injectible biopharmaceutical products directly to patients or their physicians, and provide extensive cost-management and patient-care services. We provide these types of services for clients that include health maintenance organizations, health insurers, employers, union-sponsored benefit plans, third-party administrators, workers’ compensation and governmental health programs.

Do you think anyone knows what a pharmacy benefits management company is? This “Is” is a show stopper. It’s hard to tell the target. Consumers? Businesses? Both? Good thing they are one of the nation’s leading companies.

You would think small companies wouldn’t have this problem. You would be wrong. Get the Is-Does right and you have a chance at getting the brand right. Peace.  

Elon-ovation?

By
Steve Poppe
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0

I don’t know enough about hydrogen cars to state that the pursuit of the technology is brilliant or silly. I do know that when Elon Musk calls hydrogen powered cars “silly” from a podium a podium at the Detroit Car Show, it feels like business as usual. For Detroit. Mr. Musk is nothing if not an innovator. Innovators get to make business decisions. That’s fine. But how dare Mr. Musk pooh-pooh a competing technology — a competing transportation innovation.  It smacks of protectionism.

In addition to the silly comment, Mr. Musk offered this “If you are going to pick an energy storage mechanism, hydrogen is a dumb one.”  More than most people, he should know the “idea to have an idea is often better than the idea itself.” Belittling innovation is not something I would expect from the CEO of Tesla. (Also the CEO of SpaceX.)

So let’s all keep innovating our way to fatter asses and bloated arteries and put a car on every keychain. Doh! Peace.

A few shekels for Ed Tech.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

A couple of years ago I was bitten by the education bug. After spending time learning about ed tech and the ways it was being used to help students learn, I came to the conclusion that proper pedagogy is a fundamental to educational improvement; also, that no two students are alike in terms of their learning ability, attention levels and motivation. (Something I’ve applied to marketing and branding, but that’s a story for another time.)

Technology is a huge enabler of learning, once we get the pedagogy right. And so, I was quite please to read in yesterday’s NYT that venture capitalists are investing heavily in education. And where there’s money, there is innovation. I have a deck from a couple of years ago, the first bullet is which reads something to the effect that “there has been very little in the way of innovation in K12 education over the past 50 years. Chalkboard –> film projector–> overhead slides–>interactive whiteboard.

Now we have a new class of education-minded developers creating software tools, real time testing and assessment devices, and course-specific learning modalities the likes of which we’ve never seen. Too cool for school!

And I love that there is a goal for all of this innovation. Not the goal of ad revenue and eyeballs. Not the goal of creating friends or sharing pictures. The goal is to improve learning — the most human of traits. ‘bout time. Peace.  

Let’s Rid Twitter of the Effluvia.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

One of the criteria I use for deciding whether to follow someone on Twitter is the degree to which they post original content. If they tend to repost or point to others’ content I tend to stay away. In other words, I favor Posters over Pasters. For me, Twitter reflects a person, place or thing’s personality. Capturing passions, sentiments, humorous moments, or likes and dislikes in 140 characters, is a wonderful way to experience people.

Done poorly, Twitter is a bunch of people pointing to other people’s stuff. It may be well-meaning but it’s still curation. Any time I look at someone’s feed and see numbers, as in “7 rules for…” or “the 4 best places…,” I know I am in Paster land. Pasters think they are making us smarter. Pasters think they are helping us with our careers. Pasters think we’ll buy their pasta because we’re “friends.” Nuh uh.

Twitter is the fastest way to get to know someone. Bar none. (Great HR people know this.) But not if that someone is pasting other’s content. That’s effluvia. Peace.

Coke and the Tech Sector.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

Sales of Coca-Cola’s flagship product, the carbonated sugary drink we know a Coke, dropped 3.5% last quarter; proof you can’t go against a cultural tide of healthier living and expect sales to hold forever. Coke’s parent has been doing a great job of diversifying its portfolio the last 10 years by adding juices, milk-based protein drinks, waters and energy drinks. Even with the tide receding for flagship Coke, earnings have been surprisingly okay. Looks like that is not the case anymore.

If you follow the tech sector as I do, you will know that product innovation can completely change markets is 3-5 years. The beverage sector has lots of innovations, according to Beverage Digest, but they are really incremental. Coconut water, craft beer, energy concoctions, and cold pressed juices are nice ways of redistributing marketing wealth, but haven’t fueled the big ass innovations we’ve seen in tech.

Coke needs to think differently. I’ve posted before about how they need to send R&D people into the jungles in search of the next cola nut…something with healthy properties. But Coke also needs to think about pricing and delivery. Why 12 oz. cans? Why cans and bottles? Why not explode the price point for a six pack? How about an annual subscription fee? Coke’s head is so tied up in its bottler arrangements, distribution networks, store detailers, fountain business it can’t think like an agile start-up. Sure they can buy 49% of the next Honest Tea, but can they be the next SnapChat.

My bet is they can. But not if they follow the innovation courses of GM or the financial industry. Follow the tech paradigm. Peace.  

Solution Selling with a Positive Spin.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

A lot of my hours at What’s The Idea? involve networking and business development. When not being paid for brand and marketing consultation, I’m on the lookout for brand and marketing opportunities to share with prospects. Business development can be a dirty word from the prospect’s viewpoint, however. It has to be meaningful, not salesy. 

Ten plus years ago someone published a sales book about “solution selling,” a technique whereby a salesperson meets a prospect and asks about their “pain points.” This is supposed to fast track the sellers approach. Done well it has worked. Done poorly, it’s like asking a patient “How’s your cancer?”

Consultants in the brand business use a promotion called the “communications audit,” where they go into a company and look at the totality of communications. When arrayed, they then point out all the contradictions, mistakes, inconsistencies and meaningless flah-flah-flah – hoping to embarrass the business into an engagement. I’m thinking of a promotion which is the obverse of the communications audit. Perhaps I’ll call it a “marketing high points audit.” Rather than all negative, I’ll only identify the things done well. Proponents of political advertising may disagree with the approach but then I’m not looking to get elected. I’m looking to create meaningful dialogue.

Tink about it (as my Norwegian aunt might say).

 

 

 

Category Experience Can Be Bull Shite.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

I can count on 10,000 fingers the number of times I’ve come across hiring scenarios where people are looking for category experience. Steeped, repetitive, ingrained category experience is drawing the life out of innovation. That’s why the web and app-based tech sector is so vibrant. It’s only a few years old.

I have a really smart friend with lots of marketing muscle who owns a consulting business. She is employing a team of business development “hunters” to grow business by targeting certain categories: healthcare, tech, automotive, etc.

But what if she took a different tack? What if she looked at the business problem from the perspective of prospects? What if the hunters were organized not by business category, but by growth category? For instance, companies growing by 100% a year, companies growing by double digits, companies growing by single digits. Or how about companies holding at zero growth, or losing revenue by double digits?

Then allow the hunters to devise strategies tailored to these segments. The marketing tactics for the high growth companies are immensely different than those of no growth companies. The strategies for single-digit growers differ broadly for single digit losers.

The fact that a company is in a category presents neither a problem or an opportunity, so why do marketing consultants roll that way? Revenue growth and the speed of revenue growth are what companies need to learn about and affect. Freshies.

 

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