Category Archives: Product Management

Don’t Forget the Change

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People are rarely, if ever, satisfied.

We’re not satisfied with fast food customer service, politicians, football officials, nor the price of gas.

Most of all, we’re not satisfied with ourselves. Not with our weight, our salaries, our homes and cars. We’re not satisfied with the time we have for exercise, for fun, for friendships and family.

And we’re ready to change.

What does your product do to change me? How does your store, church, firm, agency, book, movie, music, PowerPoint preso, shoe, gym… help me make the changes I so badly desire?

I think most don’t help us change.  I think too often, they simply manage to help us maintain the status quo.

Is that enough?

Why make a Purple Cow…

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Blue Sheep
… when you can simply advertise with Blue Sheep?

I think Blue Sheep is a great example of the mindset of most advertisers and marketers today. The effort to be different is focused almost exclusively on the promotion. Meanwhile, their positioning (brand), product, pricing, placement (distribution), and people are unremarkable.

This is Flash-in-the-pan thinking. It’s not sustainable. Customers may try you once, but you haven’t done anything to make them loyal fans. You haven’t done anything encouraging them to refer their friends.

So, what to do you have to do? Make more Blue Sheep, which isn’t easy. Remember, you’re dealing with a fairly unremarkable product.

With a Purple Cow, your product is remarkable. Therefore, it makes it easier to draw remarkable people as employees.

It’s easier to get remarkable distribution (i.e. ecclectic shops or simply higher demand).

You almost automatically create remarkable positioning.

You will likely have more leverage for pricing toward better margins.

Remarkable promotion becomes much easier, more natural. You simply tell the story.

So, you have a choice: Purple Cow or Blue Sheep. Which is it for you?

(hat tip: Ernie Schenck)

Not an Odd Statement

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What’s more valuable than a product to sell? How about a person who’ll buy?

While explaining the blockbuster success of Broadway’s upcoming Odd Couple, Seth Godin makes a not so odd statement.

The lesson is that the new marketing makes it a lot easier to make products for your customers (instead of having to run around finding customers for your products.)

How many of us have had this wrong the whole time?

A Thoroughly Enjoyable Autopsy

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Starbucks Tribal Knowledge graphic
johnmoore of Brand Autopsy was gracious enough to pay a visit to us business marketers in Tulsa at this month’s Business Marketing Association meeting. Speaking on Starbucks Tribal Knowledge (Business and Marketing Lessons Learned from Working Inside Starbucks), johnmoore gave a great presentation and left everybody wanting more.

One of my favorite nuggets within the presentation was Starbucks (unwritten) Code of Marketing Authenticity:
1. Be genuine and authentic.
2. Always say who you are, not who you aren’t (we don’t do this, we don’t do that).
3. Deliver on all promises made
4. Respect people’s intelligence. (even provide mental stimulation)
5. Never forsake the company’s heritage and personality for a short term gain. (i.e. no Starbucks combo meal)

John drew a great group of people and held their rapt attention the entire time. Although I had watched the Starbucks Tribal Knowledge presentation online, there’s nothing like the real thing.

Afterwards, I was lucky enough to continue the discussion with johnmoore at a local Starbucks (go figure) and pow-wow on a few topics… almost to the point of John missing his flight. Not being a frequent patron of Starbucks, I was unsure what to order. I had enjoyed a few mochas in the past, but figured there might be something better suited for my tastes. John recommended something that ended up being an excellent drink (what the heck was that thing John?). It will probably start putting a little dent in my monthly budget. By the way, all of this hullabaloo about John knowing the inner workings of Starbucks and he didn’t even finagle free drinks for us. Some inside expert!

All-in-all, Wednesday was wonderful. By the end of the day, I had gained a greater appreciation for Starbucks marketing philosophies, their product, their experience, and the very pleasant johnmoore who delivered on all promises made (see #3 above).

Everyone was captivated by what johnmoore shared
Everyone was captivated by what johnmoore shared

John drew a great group.
John drew a great group.

There were plenty of questions about Starbucks Tribal Knowledge afterward.
There were plenty of questions about Starbucks Tribal Knowledge afterward.

Jones Soda

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Thanks to Erica, who pointed out Jones Soda. I knew they accepted submitted photos to use on their product packaging. I didn’t think of them as one that might receive submissions via their website.

Unlike Taco Bell (see Talking Sauce) and Dentyne, Jones Soda has set up galleries of their many labels. What I also love is Jones Soda didn’t just set up a submission form. They also created a gallery through which viewers can peruse the submitted photos and vote for their favorites.

Jones Soda does a good job of keeping their store presence and online presence consistent. They’ve taken their website and created a place where customers can connect, collaborate, and create community.

Maybe Taco Bell and Dentyne will follow suit.

Integrated Marketing or an Integrated Company?

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Ernie Mosteller talks about the silver bullet of advertising.

Integrated agencies have sort of the right idea. Problem is, what they’re integrating is the web and traditional media. By my count, now that’s five ways to deliver an advertising message: TV, print, radio, outdoor, web.

I’ve come to the same conclusion, and Ernie does a great job of encapsulating the problem. I think he’s onto something with a solution as well.

There is a silver bullet, though.
It’s the same bullet that’s always been silver: a great idea.

Notice I didn’t say, “concept.” I could have, but in advertising, “concept” implies a medium. In today’s world, a great idea crosses all boundaries, all media, and infects every part of a business’ face to the public. Delivery method is part of the idea – but not the idea itself.

Problem is, I think this still falls short. I don’t think we should just address the business’ “face” to the public. Companies need more than just a pretty face in order to succeed. The business needs to be addressed from the front door to the back office. And most agencies are not getting it done.

The 3 Rs of Business

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Not the 3 Rs of education (reading, writing, and arithmetic). How are two of those “R”s anyway?

The 3 Rs of business.

R&D
HR
and PR

These should be the fundamentals of any business.

R&D
“Never ‘ally’ with a ‘vendor’ not in the Top Decile of their industry on R & D spending!”
Tom Peters

Research and development is the heart and soul of a business. This is where the remarkable are set apart from the also-rans. R&D shouldn’t just focus on the product itself, but should focus on what is REALLY being sold. Customer experience. This includes the product, the package, the purchase process, the customer support, the storefront, the showroom, etc. Without this, your business has no soul. It’s an empty shell.

HR
“Hiring people is an art, not a science, and resumes can’t tell you whether someone will fit into a company’s culture.”
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, May, 1998 issue of Entrepreneur

What is your process in hiring employees? What is your effort to keep them? Stop interviewing prospective employees to find out what they CAN do.
1) Start finding out what they LOVE to do. Find out what drives them and motivates them. Find out if they are PASSIONATE about your product, service, customers, market, and/or industry.
2) Then EQUIP them. Train them to serve. They should know the heart of your company. They should know what makes it “tick.”
3) Then REWARD them for taking risks. Not just for safe successes.

HR is the embodiment of your company. It creates and sustains the hands and feet, eyes and ears of your business.

PR
… to this day, most institutions still look upon public relations as their ‘trumpet’ and not their ‘hearing aid.’ It’s got to be both.
Peter Drucker

PR doesn’t stand for Press Release, it stands for PUBLIC RELATIONS. It doesn’t mean just getting a front cover story in the business section. PR is the spirit of your company. It is the expression of everything within your business (product, people, mission, values, etc.) and how you absorb influences outside your business (customers, crises, competition, market shifts, etc.). PR is communication. It is speaking AND hearing. It also speaks through more than words (advertising), it’s through your body language and your inactions as well. Without PR, no one will ever accurately know the heart and soul of your business and your business will never accurately know the heart and soul of it’s customers.

The 3 Rs are the Heart, Body, and Spirit of your business. Have you looked at your business holistically? Is it a shell? Two-thirds or one-third of what it should be?