2009: New Marketing, Privacy and The Cloud?
The slide -embedded below- is a comprehensive-yet-easy-digestible presentation, sensibly touching upon The Cloud, the hype and misconceptions surrounding it, and the biggest issue the Tech industry will face in 2009: Privacy.
“The Biggest Issue the Tech Industry will face in Two-Oh-Nine is Privacy.”
Nat Torkington from O’Reilly Radar has rounded up a whopping 191 slides on the Future of the Cloud and how this ties together with our online privacy; food for thought as we approach enter The Year of Change…
[Note: Expand the presentation to full-screen so you can read the accompanying notes]
As Social Media reached its Tipping Point in 2008 (judging by the Web 2.0 supercharged, grass-roots powered, landslide victory of Obama in the US Presidential Elections, and the explosive growth of Facebook) claiming that Twitter and RSS feeds will break into the Non-Digerati mainstream in 2009 doesn’t seem to be a farfetched forecast for the New Year -at first sight.
Some other predictions: 2009 will be remembered as The Year Of Privacy, Authenticity, Relevancy (in Marketing), Personal Branding & Change Management. Invoking Trust and investing in Innovation will also be two key cornerstones and challenges on which businesses will have to focus in the coming twelve months. WIRED has an interesting post, zooming in on Six Tech Trends.
Yet, as Seth Godin rightfully points out in one of many brilliant posts this month, backed by the outbreak of the Subprime- & Credit Crunch and the Financial Crisis between August 2007 & September 2008 and the ensuing events; long-term predictions tend to fall flat on their face. Often. And in a very ugly matter actually.
[If you've always wondered how any non-gamer/marketer could have fallen eyes wide shut in the Farce that Second Life inevitably turned out to be (even though it was fairly obvious to gamers that it had "FAIL" written all over its face), see the video directly below.
It perfectly communicates what definitely won't be happening in 2009 or what has obviously already come to pass in the past years, all presented by a "Trend Watcher" preaching otherwise.]
Trends FADS In 2009
Now if there’s one thing -the outcome of- the Obama ’08 Campaign strategy should have proven to Old School Marketers and Agencies, it’s that releasing control over your brand is actually a good thing and even if this casus doesn’t convince them, the word on the streets is that The Crowds seized this “control” ages ago.
Another fact that should have become crystal clear to even the most obstinate of naysayers, is that in 2009, traditional advertising agencies -and newspapers- will have to either sink or swim in order to survive the Interactive Marketing Tidal Wave: The days of the Mass-Media-Interruption-Marketing-Only approach for immeasurable branding purposes are over, as are the days of unaccountability and vaunted effectiveness of artistic-award-winning-yet-incomprehensible advertisements.
In its place we’ll welcome Neo Marketing [jpeg, 69.75 KB (71428 bytes)]
Neo Marketing = Permission Based Marketing, meaning that we’ll only approach people, humans, individuals -and not “target audiences”- with relevant conversations if and when they see fit; taking in their feedback directly, treating it with respect and giving it some order of priority, all the while keeping a sharp eye on Conversion Rates or Task Completion Rates by Primary Purpose, when speaking of the web specifically. Very transparent, results-driven and opt-in actually ;)
Utilizing Neo Marketing is the most effective, consumer-centric way of building and retaining your business/brand in this day and age. A sound investment by any measure.
“Sending one-size-fits-all messages using mass media, as 20th century marketing bibles and preachers would encourage and even declare as The Truth, has now definitely and officially become an unaffordable waste of precious resources, time, effort and money. Time to move on.”
Note: Branding won’t become obsolete any time soon, it’ll actually become a much stronger focus in your communication plan with one key-value to communicate: Trust.
So, the corporation has taken a step down from its pedestal, in order for the consumer to be seated on her rightful throne: Thus the internal process (the rules behind which mediocre employees tend to try to hide behind when running from responsibility) or technical system setbacks -“IT department doesn’t allow me to help you out with this problem, even though you’re not the first client facing it and it’s pretty obvious that we’re the cause”- shall no longer be the driving- or leading force behind the way we operate our company or engage with our customers.
Instead servicing the end-consu -serving people shall become the core mindset around which the constellation of your organization shall revolve, as it always should have been the main focus of your Service Strategy.
Some more knowledgeable professionals say some of the developments sketched above will be powered and spurred on by the rise of Enterprise 2.0 (Yup, I’m aware of the “Yet Another Two-Point-Oh Suffix”), and the global economic downturn shall see to it that such (r)evolutionary innovations will come to fruition in the coming year, requiring some serious change-management skills (but also a change of culture and heart for our friends from the “Behind-The-Company-Firewall-Within-The-Current-Software-Platform” IT department, putting the employees needs first in its stead).
[Side note to all skeptics- ("But you lack data backing this thesis") and pessimistic- or conservative detractors out there questioning the coming fall of the current Corporate/Advertising Status Quo:
Please do bear in mind that the Financial Armageddon of 2008 was impossible to foresee by even the savviest and clued up of Economical Analysts anywhere in the world.
Also try to remember that the concepts of Democracy, Freedom and Individualism as we know them today, didn't exist once/not too long ago either, yet they've become more widespread than any medieval Feudalist could have ever feared, the 44th President of The Free World being the crown jewel supporting this thesis reality. And so on, and so on...]
Furthermore, results-driven Contextual Marketing (powered by the Semantic Web) and data backed analyses shall give us unprecedented REAL and actionable insights into customer behavior (only with their consent!) & their TRUE wants, allowing for even better segmentation and targeting.
Social Networks will further position and consolidate themselves as the new market place where we can meet up, connect with, and empower our customers and prospects, hopefully turning them into brand ambassadors. But only when THEY see fit; it’s their territory after all, see.
This year, the challenge for your organization lies in trying to be available for your consumers and prospects whenever and wherever they feel like reaching out to you, or:
“In 2009 Brands need to become truly ubiquitous in their interactions with consumers”
Brands need to become truly ubiquitous: If prospects or clients wish to ask you a customer support question via Twitter or show their brand loyalty by joining your Facebook Group; then please, by all means, let them have it :)
And if there’s a heated debate on a forum about your product, service or your brand in general; don’t hesitate to join in (Think Vodafone‘s WebCare Team). Social Media Tracking tools like Trackur can help you, giving you a dashboard on what the latest talk in e-town is concerning your brand.
To be able to do so, you’ll have to learn to actively participate and interact in those spaces first.
[UPDATE: The Air Force has updated their Social Media Diagram]
Just as “doing a Brand Activation” through TV and Radio in conjunction with print has become the holy trinity for Fortune 500 advertisers in the second half of the 20th century, the post-modern marketer should let go of The Fear of losing control or actually becoming -God forbid- Accountable and add the online platform and all of its interactive channels in the mix as well.
Conclusion: The internet shouldn’t be treated as just another pillar in the marketing mix; it’s a whole New World of communication opportunities next to the Offline world.
The Break Up
We must try harder to convince our peers, decision makers and conservative marketers that the only other option is to face losing out to the competition; remember this crisis is a catalyst for a long overdue change in not only marketing but business acumen as well.
All in all it won’t be an easy ride though: In the end, if your product or service doesn’t manage to live up to your story, then your organization and all of its stakeholders -CEO, shareholders and employees alike- will have to deal with the harsh consequences, now more than ever.
In the coming months, (enterprise sized) brands will have to show their human face to invoke trust and through this process the Personal Brand will have its mainstream breakthrough.
Employers will have to find a way to somehow incorporate this into their Marketing Strategy fast, as their Corporate Brand, as well as their Employer Brand, will benefit from this -if handled in an authentic way: Forrester Sr. Analyst Jeremiah Owyang has a post touching on Personal Branding vs. Corporate Policies, as always carefully and thoroughly approaching it from different perspectives.
And all the above somehow, mostly ties in to that omnipresent “Privacy Issue” that we’ve got to take into account as well, bringing us full-circle to this excellent presentation by Nathan.
Happy New Year :)
[Update 13-01-09: link to NYTimes.com & US Air Force Blog Diagram v2]
Means to an End
“Please understand that I have no problem at all with precision. Precision is great, it’s essential to engineering and to the function of many elements of society. It’s almost impossible to be on time without precision, and quality depends on it. But when we reward people for senseless precision (and punish them randomly for not guessing what we actually meant when we asked a question) then all we’re doing is muddying the waters about what matters and what doesn’t. Is there a difference between the Dow falling 107.4 points and it falling nearly 1%? If not, don’t try to wow me with needless precision please.”
And once again, Seth Godin is hitting the nail on the head again, read the whole post here.
E-mailing Brand Equity or Inversed Strategy?
There’s an interesting e-mailing debate on the Signal vs. Noise blog. Now I mostly agree with some of the business philosophy of mister Fried and co., and I’ve got a deep respect for what they’ve achieved and the way they did it, but the idea of trying out new e-mail designs First before applying a design overhaul to the website based thereon is inane.
Though I can sympathize with the “Process-Breaking-Possible-Mind-Freeing” idea behind the post, there are two obvious pitfalls Jamie (the author) is unaware of, both stemming from a misguided thought pattern.
1. Conversion and Marketing Strategy
The author is putting Form over Function, Tactic above Strategy and Outcome before Process.
There’s a good reason why
“…emails have their conceptual birth in another medium altogether: a Catalog, an Advertisement, or the Website.”
And why
“The concept and strategy was already finalized before it goes to (the web designer). At that point it was all about production.”
Please read the whole 37Signals post and the discussion here for some more context.
Strategy ultimately leads to Production and not the other way around, for all the obvious reasons.
That being said, let’s try to break down the raison d’être of E-mail Marketing once more, starting off with a fundamental question: Strategy and communication plan aside,
Why send out an e-mailing in the first place?
Your sending out an e-mailing to stimulate your reader base to take action (on your website), be it either:
- Reading the latest news (gaining you the required eyeballs for advertising revenue);
- Signing up for a service;
- Filling in a survey;
- Updating their profile (both offering more accurate targeting = opportunity to add more relevancy);
- Buying a product;
- Booking a ticket or
- Simply just showing your appreciation for them being such loyal customers…
Whatever your primary motives may be, you’re mainly sending out that mail to communicate to your (potential) customers in order to generate higher conversion rates.
Make them click! That’s your core Sub-Goal*.
Your sole priority lies there, design details such as shadow and rounded corners are superfluous and should be geared towards supporting you in reaching that goal, not detract from it. Your main objective is not to go against all logical and proven processes by designing a fancy e-mail template as a way of alpha-testing a possible future website redesign.
It’s the message and the call-to-actions therein that count, and though it doesn’t hurt to have a neatly designed mailing, it’s a waste of your efforts if you spend too much time on art instead of investing it in sensible e-Copywriting. In other words: “Substance Over Style, please m’am”.
The only exception here is when you’re Crowdsourcing your website re-design and have a dedicated address list of people that are aching to be part of the drive testing(process) or if your regular subscribers have given you Permission to do so. If such is the case, don’t forget to add a feedback button in there as well…
This approach allows you to obtain valuable feedback because people are consciously paying attention to the careful alterations you make to your template, whereas in all other cases some people are bound to take notice of the gradual changes somewhere down the line and probably think you don’t have a clue about what your doing…
[* Note that I said "sub goal" deliberately, because an e-mailing is a part of your communication plan and thus should support your overall Marketing Strategy. Seeing a pattern here?]
2. Consistent Authentic Branding
The second pitfall was correctly pointed out by a comment in the thread from none other than Seth Godin himself. 37Signals has a reputation of having a very unique and dare I say intimate bond with their customers/users.
Part of their reputation, appeal and charm lies in the passionate and practical way they look at how to improve a business process and how to get rid of excess weight, so to speak. And more often than not, the sluggish corporate way of doing business is at the receiving end of their rants and riffs.
Unless your target audience is expecting it from you, suddenly adding a standard Corporate styled e-mailing in the communication mix isn’t going to strengthen that relationship. On the contrary; you’re actually running a huge risk of erecting an invisible wall between yourself and your clientele.
Other than that, this operation could turn out to be a “me-too” approach for 37Signals: Since they’d be stopping with communicating in a personal (and their very own Getting Real) way, the receivers might unconsciously end up getting a change of attitude towards them; leading to a loss of sympathy over time, which ultimately leads to less loyalty and brand connection. Stay authentic, be consistent.
Have I already mentioned that the suggested Inversed Strategy approach isn’t conversion centred?
When I’m subscribing to a newsletter I expect (nay, want!) a clean and simple, (mobile device friendly!) swiftly-loading mail in my inbox, communicating a focused, relevant and -in this particular case- personal message. That’s the way I got charmed by & connected with your brand in the first place.
It’d be a waste to ruin the expectations and experience of your target audience and clients by giving in to a (misguided) personal desire for creative freedom.
If it’s more creative freedom you want, it’d be much wiser to start thinking about rearranging your career, instead of rearranging a proven process or something as fragile as your E-mailing Brand Equity.
Video: For internal use only. Please do not duplicate (UPDATE)
Seth Godin points to this brilliant video:
[The original video was removed form YouTube, so I've updated the link/vid. - Anibal]
Er is nog een lange weg te gaan, enjoy the ride!
Het is weer een roerige en vooral ook leerzame week geweest.
Voor de meeste mensen is het blijkbaar moeilijk om, ook na verloop van tijd, dichtbij de kern van de zaak te blijven, dat geldt al voor middelgrote organisaties, laat staan als je leiding geeft aan een conglomeraat of daar deel van uitmaakt (#AardVanHetBeestje?).
Dit komt deels door de waan van de dag, deels door gewenning, maar vooral ook door een stuk geestelijke luiheid; het is immers makkelijker om met de grote stroom mee te gaan, dan kritisch te blijven, te analyseren wat de werkelijke potentiële toegevoegde waarde van bepaalde ontwikkelingen zijn om vervolgens de discussie en uitdagingen fris aan te gaan. Iedere dag weer.
Dat is ook geen sinecure, het is gewoonweg het aard van het beestje: We lijden allemaal in meer of mindere mate aan beroepsdeformatie en in touch blijven met de werkelijke behoeftes van je doelgroep is uiteindelijk de grootste uitdaging waar je als professional tegen aan loopt.
Echter het moment waarop je naar buiten toe gaat communiceren dat een marktontwikkeling -welke dus per definitie gedreven is door vraag- niet voldoende winstgevend zou zijn en dat je liever zou hebben dat de consument dieper in de buidel zou tasten voor jouw (verouderde) productlijn, is het moment waarop niet een opkomende, onbekende nightmare competitor of een welbekende concullega, maar je eigen spiegelbeeld je grootste onoverwinnelijke vijand is.
Onderstaand enkele citaten uit een nieuwsbericht, lees het gehele verhaal op webwereld.nl:
“Fabrikanten als Fujitsu zijn verontrust over de wildgroei aan Eee PC-achtige netbooks. Waar fabrikanten als HP en Dell inspelen op de hype, maken anderen zich zorgen over de marges.”…
…”We staan niet buitenspel omdat we lui zijn. We staan buitenspel omdat, zelfs al wordt deze markt ‘booming’, het ons niet genoeg zal opleveren”, denkt Paul Moore, directeur van de mobiele tak van Fujitsu. “Het gaat om producten met weinig tot geen marge.”
De verwachting is dat er komende jaren tientallen miljoenen mini-notebooks, oftewel netbooks, verkocht zullen worden. Toch is de lage prijs van de apparaten reden tot zorg, zeker al omdat de marges in de computerindustrie erg klein te noemen zijn.”…
…”Analisten menen ondertussen dat de nieuwe lichting computers vooral de grote spelers in de industrie zullen raken, zoals Microsoft, Intel, HP en Dell. Lange tijd was namelijk het beeld dat consumenten vooral op krachtige machines met een breed scala aan functies zaten te wachten. Analist J.P. Gownder van Forrester Research krijgt vaak dezelfde vraag gesteld: “Grote fabrikanten vragen zich af hoe ze kunnen concurreren met netbooks terwijl ze eigenlijk pc’s willen verkopen die veel meer geld moeten kosten.”…
Bron: webwereld.nl
De opmerking door Paul Moore van Fujitsu is fout om ontzettend veel redenen, maar wat mij grotere zorgen baart (toegegeven, ik lig er niet wakker van, maar het noopte mij wel tot het tikken van dit stukje proza) is dat het nota bene een top executive van het bedrijf is die dit naar buiten brengt: Een verkeerd signaal naar je potentiële klanten, zakelijke partners, je medewerkers en in dit geval je aandeelhouders. En ook een klap in het gezicht van PR, Marketing en product development, om maar een aantal betrokkenen te noemen.
Je hoeft slechts enkele fora, blogs en communities af te struinen om te zien hoe keihard ze worden afgestraft voor deze denkwijze:
“Ik zie het probleem ook niet, consumenten zijn er toch niet om fabrikanten rijk te maken? Omgekeerd, fabrikanten moeten maken waar de consument om vraagt. Steeds meer en steeds sneller zitten we thuis (ik dan) niet op te wachten….”
“…gisteren werd in de Bart Smit folder de EEE ook voor het zelfde bedrag aangeboden (mini laptops bij een speelgoed winkel, hoe komen ze op het idee ;-)”
Je hoeft het niet met de commentaren eens te zijn, echter bedenk wel; dit is je doelgroep en dit zijn ook de influentials; de spreekwoordelijke whizzkid of jaap op de hoek die je PC voor je fixt als ‘ie weer eens vastgelopen is. De IT-managers en developers zitten er ook tussen en zij hebben ook een aardig brokje in de pap te brokkelen als het om de aanschaf van nieuw apparatuur gaat.
We leven niet meer in de laatste kwart van de 20ste eeuw waarin dikke marges werden gedraaid en de consument braaf zijn geveinsde aandacht en geld schonk. De muziek en entertainment industrie hebben dit al ondervonden, en beginnen zich langzaam hierop aan te passen.
De technologie sector staat aan de vooravond van alweer een grote evolutie; de transitie van desktop software naar relatief goedkopere online diensten in the cloud en de verzadiging van de desktop- en OS markt, twee feiten:
- Bedrijven zijn niet massaal overgestapt op Vista, zelfs al schijnt Server 2008 daadwerkelijk voordelen te bieden in een netwerkomgeving.
- De doorsnee consument heeft geen behoefte aan een nog snellere PC, immers voor tekstverwerken, mailen, chatten, sociaal netwerken en af en toe een film downloaden heb je geen zwaardere specs nodig. Het punt is bereikt waarop je hen -de grote massa- geen meerwaarde meer kunt bieden door nog breder, sneller en mooier te verkopen. Dat business/groeimodel heeft z’n beste tijd gehad. Deal with it.
Zelfs bij Microsoft begint dat besef te dagen en dus zijn zij bezig, om zo goed en kwaad als het gaat zichzelf om te vormen van een dozenschuiver naar een online dienstverlener.
Echter naar je eigen klanten en de markt toe toe zonder blikken of blozen communiceren dat ze liegen over hun eigen ervaringen met Vista d.m.v. een half miljard kostende advertentiecampagne (zenden!) is daarbij dan niet echt efficiënt, immers dat geld had je in verbeteringen van je OS en de compatibiliteit daarvan moeten steken, waardoor de kwaliteit van je product vanzelf wel komt bovendrijven in het publieke debat. De degens kruisen met je afnemers, gebruikers en prospects is op z’n minst een vrij onintelligente tactiek te noemen.
Maar ook de hardwarebouwers beginnen de veranderingen nu ook te voelen, zeker nu deze toch wel cyclische sector de dreigende recessie in de nek voelt hijgen, wat dus betekent dat je nu meer dan ooit continu innovatief moet zijn (Lees hier meer over de Intel System On A Chip).
Niet alleen in de producten die je aanbiedt, maar vooral ook in je bedrijfsvoering- en strategie. Hardware die uitpuilt van de voorgeïnstalleerde software en overbodige features is iets uit het nabije verleden.
We gaan onherroepelijk naar een thin-client wereld toe en ook de productie kosten voor dat soort producten zullen steeds sneller dalen, mede door de synergie en convergentie in diezelfde branche.
Dus als je een hardware fabrikant bent zul je in ieder geval meer units af dienen te zetten tegen een lagere prijs (inzetten op volume) en (meer) innovatieve producten op de markt moeten brengen maar vooral… diensten gaan aanbieden; anders gezegd niet op één paard wedden en last but not least een hogere percentage van je winst teruglaten vloeien in R&D en strategie.
Als je servertechnologie levert, waarom dan niet meteen de hosting en SaaS erbij? Als een webwinkel het kan, dan zou jouw organisatie als de platformontwikkelaar en dus de specialist bij uitstek(!) al helemaal autoriteit en dus marktaandeel moeten kunnen vergaren. Als je zelf de vakkennis niet in huis hebt of op korte termijn kan verkrijgen door opleidingen, sluit dan deals met partijen die dat wel kunnen. Denk buiten het geijkte straatje, maar wel in dezelfde richting als je core-business.
Mocht je een producent zijn die het moet hebben van shrink-wrapped producten (denk dozen sjouwen, denk MS Office), dan zul je je inderdaad moeten richten op innovatie, op autonome groei in Virtualisatie, en eventueel op het aangaan van strategische allianties of zelfs overnames op het gebied van Online diensten.
Dat laatste staat of valt echter met de ondersteuning en passie van de ontwikkelaars en de gebruikers; passie kun je niet kopen, loyaliteit en gebruikerservaring ook niet.
Dus uiteindelijk komen we op de inmiddels aloude bekende mantra’s: People are your biggest asset en de klant is koning, maar meer nog jouw ambassadeur: Alleen door eerst een innovatieve product of dienst aan te bieden en je doelgroep vervolgens proactief en authentiek te benaderen om toestemming van ze te krijgen om met hen te communiceren, kun je ze meerwaarde gaan bieden. Hierdoor kun je je met de consument binden en zul je je kunnen gaan onderscheiden van de concurrentie.
Zoals altijd zullen mensen zowel intern als extern je grootste kapitaal vormen en moeten zij dus het uitgangspunt zijn van jouw strategie. Uiteindelijk zijn degenen die zich het beste weten aan te passen de uiteindelijke winnaars.
Winstmarges volgen dan vanzelf wel.
Sony’s Presentation Was Perfect, My Post Wasn’t (Mea Culpa)
Received some much appreciated feedback on my post about the Sony E3 presentation video on Gametrailers.com and felt that I had to clarify a few things.
Indeed it’s not THE best presentation ever, the presenter certainly wasn’t being authentic, but insiders have gotten used to that from Sony :)
The point I was trying to make is that within the context that it was presented in – i.e. the E3 Game event, the Game Industry and its followers- it was a perfect presentation. But you’d have to know the shared history to appreciate its meaning and impact. For everyone else it was superfluous, but I challenge any gaming outsider to keep track of the specialist press, blogs and the community for their reaction on this event, odds are Sony created the perfect buzz…
So no, I’m not urging anyone to use LitteBigPlanet on PlayStation 3 to present the annual revenue results to the board of directors and stakeholders, or to convince your client that this new radically improved product really has to be advertised using Guerilla Marketing around a Nine Inch Nails concert in Hong Kong.
Dare to be creative and purpose driven; if Powerpoint fits in with your target and the message, than that’s fine, but thinking outside the box and implementing it in a thoughtful way can work very enlightening for you and your audience.
For more on how to keep a focused and clean presentation, check out two recent riffs by Seth Godin here and here.
[As for me: This column is meant to be a learning ground for me too, so next time I'll refrain from only posting a link, slide or video and instead add a little clarification on the why and the what. Speaking of which, I seem to be having some technical issues with this site and the RSS, if anything went bogey let me know. Thanks a bundle.]
People first, Product second
Please read this post on Seth’s blog first: The statesman, the lawyer and the marketer, or: how Seth Godin is hitting the nail on the head yet again and probably much to the chagrin of most conservative CEO’s, marketers and organizations.
His latest article represents, I believe, the fundamental challenge that awaits marketers and organizations here and across the Big Pond in the coming time. The problem here is, as Seth noticed in concluding his article, how to get your organization, CEO and shareholders behind this way of thinking, because in all honesty though it’s not a radical new philosophy on how to run a business and sell your product, it’s still not common practice.
The proof is in the pudding as they say, so my bet is as follows; should one or two leading companies or upcoming start-ups prove to successfully harness this mindset on how to run a business and manage marketing as a whole, others will have no choice but to start taking notice in order to be able to compete.
Unless of course we’re both wrong and marketers would rather be (or stay) lawyers…
