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Google To Generate Electricity?

By
Steve Poppe
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0

Here’s a wacky thought: As the processing power of computing and mobile devices increases and the price of those devices come down, and as cloud computing reduces the cost of software, it won’t be long before the most expensive part of information technology is electricity. Even now, many huge data centers are being located nearer electric plants to reduce the transmission costs. See where I’m going with this?

As Google gobble, gobble, gobbles its way into our lives in more and more day parts (I love Google, btw), it shouldn’t be long before it invests some of its advertising related war chest in energy generation.  I’ve read where they are investing in alternate energy sources (Offshore wind, was it?) and for that I applaud them.  Google’s mission to put “the world’s information one click away” is a tight mission.  As they expand that mission in all directions, is electricity and the next energy technology (bio-atteries?) on the flight plan? We will see.  Peace.

 

Authenticity. Hacks and Hackers.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

I was reading a thread in The Brand Strategy Discussion Group on LinkedIn this morning and it touched a nerve.  The post was entitled “How do you define brand authenticity?”

Whenever I’m in a meeting and hear someone go on about “authenticity” or “transparency” it is usually surrounded by a bunch of other marko-babble and I know we’re in for a long hour.

Some people in the discussion group define authenticity as the core values of a brand, suggesting that keeping to those values is what moves brands forward and closer to consumers. With these people I agree. But others talk about being truthful and not manipulating consumers with salesmanship.

The fact that the word authenticity tag clouds (verb) so high in marketing blogs suggests our business is infested with prevaricators. And hawkers.  I don’t necessarily agree. I do believe the business has way too many hacks and not enough hackers. And with the economy opening the flood gates to interns and youthful social media posters, who are all nice people but  probably never raelly sold anything in their lives, it is a cause for concern. Brands are organic things. They are not tofu-like inaminates to be dressed up daily in costume. Peace.

Yahoo. A Portal and Pages Strategy.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

Carol Bartz was let go yesterday and not a moment too soon.  A smart lady out of her element – she, a good enterprise tech blocker and tackler – Ms. Bartz in the near term will be replaced by an army of herself.  An army of bankers and financial advisors that will chase the numbers — chase and plot the lines of business.  An army that will evaluate global growth, sales, competitors whiles using Wall Street formulas to predict market capitalization.  Not one Carol, 20 Carols.  And while this is happening the call will go out to high level search firms and tech recruiters.  The board of directors, headed by adman Roy Bostock, will do some trail covering and soul searching and become a story in and of itself. This is how we do-oo it.

But what needs to be done here, as well, is a brand audit and a brand plan. A brand plan is an operating principle guided by consumer needs…delivered in the form of the product experience, marketing and messaging. People think a brand plan is about messaging alone and they are wrong.   

All the financial work the numbers consultants will do is important. The CEO hire is important, but what Yahoo IS and what Yahoo DOES (for consumers) is more important. This is called the Is-Does.  Right now Yahoo IS a Portal. And what it DOES is serve web pages.  Yahoo wants to be an innovative content company, but hasn’t delivered.  If consumers can’t pass the Is-Does test, it’s a fail.  Right now Yahoo’s Is is weak. And the Does doesn’t.

My prediction:  in 12 months there will be a new CEO, a new logo, a new campaign (Yahoo would be smart to keep ad shop Goodby), and no brand plan.  Brand diaspora, brand diffusion is what kills great companies.  Stop the madness. Peace!

McAfee Advertising, Way Asleep.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

So is the brand pronounced Mac-a-fee or Mih-Caffee.  (Hoe-gaarden or Who-Garden?) One of a brand’s first challenges is to make sure the name is pronounced correctly.  McAfee is a killer PC protection software product, which, if I’m not mistaken. is #1 or 2 in the marketplace.  It was purchased earlier this year by Intel.   I’m a 3-license custy and couldn’t be happier.

But, as an ad rat (a gym rat for ads) I can’t help but see that McAfee needs a marketing boost.  There is an ad in the newspaper today showing the McAfee logo as a superman emblem on a man’s chest. The pithy headline reads SAFE NEVER SLEEPS. A line they give a TM.   Not sure if it qualifies as copy but in small text beneath the line reads (I’ll save you the caps) “Smarter security. Every device, every network, everywhere.”

Classic “we’re here” advertising.   Is it any wonder digital advertising is cutting into traditional ad budgets?  This is some lazy stuff.  I’m not sure I can even type anymore I’m so disappointed. There is no claim here. And no proof.  Only colors, type and photography.  Why does the McAfee marketing dept. bother to get out of bed in the morning?  Are you kidding me?  What’s the idea?

Web Videos.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

There are a couple of different types of videos that marketers put on their websites. Product demonstrations are a common type.  They typically provide an overview of a product’s Is-Does after which they show how to use the product. Sometimes they fall into the tutorial category.  How to properly press coffee, how to use a new mobile application, how to clean your shower grout. 

Another type of web video is educational. It uses visual narrative to help consumers learn more about a product or category so as to make them seem like an authority — and as an authority deserving of special purchase consideration.  Category leaders, the saying goes, educate the market.  

A third type of website video is the infotainment or sales-otainment video. They look good on paper, read and view well on storyboard, and often look beautiful as a finished edited product.  The problem with some of these sales-otainment videos is they are nothing more than a script, a giggle, a product shot and invoice.  Like “we’re here” advertising that does no more than state a product name and where to purchase, these sales-otainment videos are all over the place. The goal of many of these efforts is to “go viral.”  (Wrong goal.)  Big ad agencies are doing them.  Recent film school grads are doing them. High school friends brothers are doing them.  

There is comedy writing and acting. There is directing and producing. There is invoicing and remittance.  But let’s not forget that web videos have to sell. Of course they have to be interesting, but that alone will not work. If research doesn’t indicate predisposition to buy more product after having seen a sales-otainment video, it has failed. Sales-otainment videos need an idea. A selling idea.  Peace!

My Spanking by David Poque.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

David Poque, a technology columnist for The New York Times, is a very interesting character.  He’s a thoughtful, important and market-moving purveyor of what’s hot and what’s not.  Sometimes his columns are a bit like a PC Mag review, but mostly they’re a fun Anthony Bourdain-like travelogue through the tasty streets of technology.

I have seen Mr. Poque on public television and he has a subtle nervousness about him on camera that doesn’t come across in print… so if I were my mother and in an advice-giving mood I suggest he stay in print.  Interestingly, Mr. Poque’s public and private personas are a tad different.  I posted about one of his columns once with a differing point of view and it really rubbed him. (I advocated not providing in-box instructions with new products to save paper.) His angry and personal comment on my blog surprised — telling me there is a bit more to Mr. Pogue than meets the eye.  (A side that might be fun to read outside of the NYT guardrails.)

My prediction:  Mr. Poque will either leave The New York Times within the next 3 years and create his own branded site or AOL will make him an offer he can’t refuse.  Yahoo could, but they have a lazy eye.  Peace.

Image Goals and Brand Plans.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

One of advertising’s roles is to change peoples’ attitudes.  Some might call this image or brand advertising, which is quite different from retail or transactional advertising.  General Motors is really bad at brand advertising.  They try hard and spend money but for some reason it rarely changes attitudes. 

Samsung, using the work of the Arnell Group,  was one of the first corporations to strike me as getting it.  It was back in the 90s when the word Samsung conveyed second tier products, cheap electronics and dollar-store imagery.  Using Peter Arnell’s mind and, I believe, his camera, Samsung displayed its products around NYC on big black, white and gray outdoor posters, alongside sexy human images.  A ripped torso carrying a microwave may sound silly but is was artful.  It burnished then polished the Samsung image.  

Bosch is doing the same today with a product-based image campaign showing off a number of its stylish household appliances. In my mind Bosch was famous for brake shoes and audio products, not refrigerators and dishwashers.  But the print ads I’ve been seeing over the last few months have made me notice how beautifully designed these appliance are.  The consistent advertising tells me they are here to stay and the engineering heritage borrowed from memory compliments the pictures and words.  I would definitely buy a Bosch appliance now. Image.

Without an image transactions are fleeting.  Understand your brand — its past and present. Decide where you want to go and make that part of your brand plan.  Toss out overused words like “innovation” and “remarkable” and “engagement.” Get in touch with your image goal and build a brand plan.  Sales will follow. Peace.

PS.  Image can be built using new digital media.  In fact, it can be build much faster. But it has to be “on plan” and focused.

Kleiner on Clean Tech.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

There was an article yesterday in The Wall Street Journal suggesting that until recently, Kleiner, Perkins, Caufiled & Byers took a siesta on investing in tech companies while placing bets on clean tech.  So post-nap, after having missed a number of cool tech start-ups, they hired Mary Meeker a great mind, data organizer and trend reported to help them earn some new stripes in the VC area which they kind of invented.  Kleiner is still interested in clean tech but The Journal reports they’re refocusing on the tech sector in a hearty way.

If clean tech was easy it wouldn’t be worth investing in.  Please, please John Doerr, give “clean” your best.  Find exciting new energy engineers. Find algae chemists. Optical engineers. And biologists with the vision to help us plot the way.  We’ve only got a million more years on this planet and your investments in clean energy will make a difference.  Making money is cyclical, history is not.  Stay the course my Kleiner brothers and sisters!  Clean us up. Peace!

Humor.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

I have a presentation on Fast Twitch Media and Twitch Point Planning that asks the question are our brains evolving bigger or smaller?  Larger, posited Timothy White back in the 80s when I asked a question about evolution during a John’s Hopkins symposium, but I’m not so sure.

As software takes over decision making for us, it seems we have to think less. That is, unless we’re deciding which GPS to use — the Garmin or the Android phone app. (They are not perfectly in synch! Oh my.)

One of the things coders and engineers cannot do very well is humor.  It’s not that they are genetically indisposed to humor, but humor can’t be programmed. There is no algorithm. And therein lies the value of the creative mind.  

Humor is a wonderful tool in society and well valued in content creation that surrounds marketing.  I still giggle each time the BBDO/ATT “flash mob gone wrong” ad appears, though it is wearing out. Humor gets noticed and it disarms.  It is an elixir that helps a sales message get consumed. Branded utility is the rage these days in mobile apps, but soon that utility will become commoditized and we will need to smile as we tweak our media and our apps.  Might as well begin now; add a spoonful of humor to your digital selling and see what happens. Peace!

Watch to Learn.

By
Steve Poppe
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0

There is something to be said for the ability to observe consumers.  Interviewing is a great and not over-rated technique but consumers don’t always tell the truth. Good interviewers get to the truth directly or indirectly but observation of  behavior doesn’t lie.

I was thinking about this and the bank category the other day.  How does one create a great brand plan, then marketing plan for a bank?  On Long Island, over the last couple of years a lot of car dealerships have been torn down.  Oddly, the lots upon which they sat now house banks. More banks?  How to differentiate?  I wondered if I were to sit in a bank and observe for a couple of days what I would learn. If a poker player can see tells, why can’t brand planner?  

I would watch the eyes of customers as they enter. Watch their hands. Note expressions. As they spoke to bank reps are they falsely smiling and nervous? Do they look at the clock a lot. Check their cell phones too much. Are they emotional? Proud? Deflated?  When they talk about certain subjects do they tick?  Rub their hands together? Look away? You get the picture. Pairing the behavior with the topic would be quite telling. And provide strong fodder for marketing design.

While with a web start-up that boasted no initial desire for formal usability testing (don’t get me started) I did it myself.  Fascinating. Just watching how Millennials navigated around the pages to learn the apps was invaluable. I was able to articulate three types of first user experience (FUE) behavior. Could the users have explained it to me? Doubt it.  My cultural anthropology teachers and Margaret Mead were right. Observation is a special, special information gathering tool. Peace!

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