Casual Fridays

Continuing with “Celebrity Day” on Casual Fridays…

There’s a lot of criticism and curiosity swirling around Tom Cruise and his abrupt change in public image. I’m no armchair publicist, so I won’t try to give my advice on what Tom should/should not be doing. Who knows, maybe teenny-bopper love and couch jumping are celebrity status symbols now.

With his previous publicist, Cruise was fairly sheltered. Interviews were select and so were the questions. In the vacuum of personal knowledge, Tom Cruise was identified more by the characters he played, than by his own personality.

Now, with his sister as his publicist, Cruise is opening up the curtain to give us a glimpse of his personal beliefs and passions. He has been gushingly open about his relationship with 26 year-old Katie Holmes, jumping on couches and performing Will Ferrell-like cheerleading drills during talk show interviews. He then jumps all over Matt Lauer discussing psychiatry and mood-altering prescriptions on the Today Show.

What effect did this have? War of the Worlds was still a box office hit and Cruise is in the spotlight for better or worse. We’ll have to wait and see the longterm effects of Tom Cruise’s latest publicity circuit, but for now the public is confused as to whether they should hang on to their previous perception of Cruise or accept the new one he’s presenting.

What do we learn?

1. Letting your performance speak for you, instead of your words, can be powerful.

2. When you change that tune and your voice begins to center around what is important to YOU, it can confuse people.

3. Changing from a professional image to a personal image is dangerous, but may have upside

Remember #3 if you’re thinking of adding a blog to your company website. Blogging is personal. Do you want customers to see that side of you? If your answer is no, maybe you’ve got some internal issues to work out.

OK, I’ll admit that I’m an Apple fan. Having a background in graphics, I have been hooked on Apple products since I was introduced to them in college. I’m used to hearing how the sky is falling and Apple is hanging on by a thread. That’s why I’m so happy to see this news, this news, and this news. Apple sold over 650,000 computers in the first half of the year, approximately two-thirds being PC users. This placed Apple as the fourth leading personal computer seller in the nation, above IBM. Apple saw the biggest year-to-year jump of any major U.S. manufacturer.

Now, I wouldn’t go so far as to say Paul Nixon was right in assessing this as Apple’s tipping point, but he’s looking more accurate than some pessimistic analysts that downplayed the combination of the iPod with Apple’s introduction of the Mac Mini. Apple has ceased to give sales figures for product families, so we do not know the sales figures for the Mac Minis. But, so far it looks like it has been a good move for Apple.

So Chicken Little, where are you?

Speaking of David and Goliath, A.M.D. is fighting a big battle with Intel who is dominating the PC processor market. The New York Times featured a story (free registration required) on the epic battle so far. A.M.D. placed full page ads in several national newspapers in order to get their story out.

Clearly A.M.D. was hoping to gain public support. But David Kroll, a spokesman for A.M.D. who worked on the campaign, said the main goal was simply to place A.M.D. in the public consciousness.

“Many people aren’t even aware of A.M.D. outside of the technology space, so we felt like we needed to do something extra,” Mr. Kroll said. “We saw it as a way to get our word out unfiltered.”

OK, this maybe isn’t a bad start. So, how does A.M.D. reinforce theses ads? They ask readers of the ads to go to a page on A.M.D.’s website, www.amd.com/breakfree. Once readers land on that page, they’re greeeted by a letter from A.M.D.’s Prez/CEO Hector Ruiz. Makes sense. The letter states that Intel’s practices have harmed A.M.D., A.M.D.’s partners, A.M.D.’s customers, and… oh yeah, some consumers as well. Wait, who’s reading this? I thought we were talking about relevence to the public here, but consumers are mentioned almost as an afterthought. Not only do you have to search for references to consumers (it’s mostly about A.M.D. and large corporate buyers), then Ruiz recommends that people read their “48 page, detailed complaint. 48 page? DETAILED? Hold me back! I can’t wait to get my hands on that tempting piece of rapturous literature! Ugh. Who’s going to read that, besides lawyers?

So, what do I do now? They leave me with this hearty call to action:

To share your thoughts about innovation and fair and open competition with us, please e-mail breakfree@amd.com.

What? No blog? No forum? Heck, I can’t even find that “brilliant” ad that they spent an ungodly amount of money placing in the national pubs (and how much would it cost to put it on their website?). Just send an email to an ambiguous address of an unknown person, or persons, who may totally disregard any comments or stories that I may toil over expending my energies and time upon? Uh, no thanks. By the way, why don’t I get Hector’s email address? Guess he’s too busy talking to other execs and those big corporate buyers to deal with me. It sends the message that he really doesn’t care about consumers like me. So why should we care about him, A.M.D. or their plight with Intel? I have no reason to care, because even though they had the perfect opportunity to do so… they didn’t give me one.

A.M.D. made one critical mistake (that lead to many mistakes) in this David vs. Goliath battle. They thought they were David. Wrong! The consumer is.

Technorati has been slammed following the terrorist attacks in London. Topline functions seem to be operational, maybe a little sluggish at times. More specific searches, especially watchlist services, are nearly unusable.

It reminds me of the difficulty I had pulling up CNN.com on 9/11. I ended up watching BBC’s online coverage of the attacks in NY instead. CNN wasn’t the only website with overwhelming online traffic issues as you can see from Google’s homepage on that day:

It seems the collision of the growing popularity of blogs and a world-changing event have created a similar issue for Technorati. The online news onslaught on 9/11 may have been the catalyst for Google’s launch of Google News. It will be interesting to see if this event prompts an evolution of Technorati as well.

Yesterday I was able to use Technorati to search for information on the London bombings. I was amazed by how much information had already been compiled, like these images on Flickr. As fascinating as the technology advances and repercussions are, the tragedy of this event overshadows any ponderings. Being an Oklahoman through the OKC bombing and an American through the 9/11 attacks, my thoughts and prayers are with those so deeply hurt by these atrocities.

My wife called me the other day and, as I occasionally do, I answered her call as I would one from a customer. “Hello, this is Dustin.” I said. I have caller ID, so I usually know it is her before I answer and I will just greet her with “Hey.” But for some reason she likes the professional greeting. This puzzled me for a while as I wondered why she would want to be treated just like anyone else. Then it hit me that she doesn’t hear me greet customers and vendors on the phone. To her the professional greeting is different, not the same. It’s easy to understand if I consider things from her perspective.

Therein lies an issue that many companies and organizations face. We view consistency as repetition. What we repeat hundreds of times a day may be just one touch point for a customer. That one phone call, that one greeting at the register, that one email, that one delivery which we repeat over and over again is just “one” to the customer. This becomes an issue when we start to get tired of consistency. We start to think, “If I’m sick of this, the customers probably are too.” So, we change the way we greet our customers, we change our slogan, we change our advertising, we change our logo. Chances are though, your customers haven’t even had a chance to pick up on a pattern yet. Just as they start to understand your brand, the carpet is yanked out from underneath them and they start all over.

But sometimes we need to do things differently in order to stand out from the crowd, sometimes circumstances require a unique response or employees aren’t comfortable with the “standard way” of doing things. This is where understanding your brand is helpful. By knowing your core values as an organization, you can respond to circumstances or perform your duties in a more authentic way without damaging the corporate brand. You find ways to do the same thing differently. But change should not be just for the sake of change. In validating the need for change, make sure you consider things from the customer’s perspective.

In reading Creating Customer Evangelists by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba, I came across a statement with which I agreed and disagreed.

Marketers often refer to “increasing brand loyalty” as a factor in increasing sales. But does this terminology really make sense? A company and its logo are inanimate. The notion that people are loyal to brands may make some sense for consumer products that have little differentiation: think Evian versus Pellegrino. But, in general, people are loyal to people. Any business in which human beings are involved in selling or delivering a product or service has the ability to significantly influence customer experiences, thereby engendering loyalty.

YES: “…people are loyal to people.”
NO: the implication that brands and people are mutually exclusive.

This strikes at the very heart of why I started The People Brand. People are an integral element of your brand. Management, employees, customers, and the public all play a part in shaping your brand. When I say the name “Levi’s” a brand automatically comes to mind. You don’t just think about the logo or the style of clothing, you remember the people who sold those jeans to you and other people who wear them. This means that part of the Levi’s brand is out of the company’s control. They have released it to retailers and customers, but that’s a topic for another day.

I don’t think that Ben and Jackie are completely ignorant of this, I just think they may have a narrower view of branding than I do. Also, they may be oversimplifying the message in order to clearly communicate. Unfortunately, it is statements like this that have damaged branding’s brand. As companies have focused on a narrow definition of branding (logo, design, advertising), they have lost focus of the heart of their brand… the people.

A lot of smaller companies like to position themselves as being in a David vs. Goliath conflict with their larger competitors. We like to think that people want to root for the little guy. We also like to imply that in the end, we will stand over the fallen giant as we relish in our victory. We’re wrong.

The mistake that smaller companies make is identifying themselves as David. If you’re a smaller company, let me tell you right now, “You are not David!” To understand why I say that, let’s go to the source.

The battle of David and Goliath was actually the result of a larger battle between the Israelites and the Palestines. Both armies were encamped as the Philistines sent out Goliath as their champion. Goliath challenged the Israelites to send out their champion who would fight him as a representative of their army. There was a small problem, Goliath was about nine feet tall. He was a giant. So, no one from the Israeli army wanted to accept the challenge. Enter David, who was visiting the army camp to bring supplies to his brothers. David wasn’t even an official member of the army. Seeing the giant ridicule the Israelites and their God, David is incensed. He then volunteers to fight Goliath. Saul, king of Israel, offers his armor to David but he is not comfortable wearing it. David then goes out, without armor, and selects five smooth stones from the river as he approaches the Philistine. Goliath taunts the young shepherd, but David holds his ground and his faith in the God of Israel. As the giant approaches to attack, David runs toward him and pulls out a stone. He places it in a sling and hurls it at Goliath. The stone sinks into the Philistine’s head, killing him.

So, you can see why so many small companies enjoy this story. The little guy wins in the end. Problem is, you’re not the little guy. The customer is. In the story, David is not even a member of the Israeli army. He is a volunteer. So why did he fight Goliath? Here’s a few lessons we can learn:

1. It was personal.
David hears Goliath ridicule not only the Israeli army, but David’s God as well. He takes that personally and decides this is a battle he wants to fight. Would he have fought if Goliath had only insulted the army? Maybe, but the insults against David’s God were what truly incited him.

What is your company’s Goliath insulting? Is he merely challenging your company, or is he spitting on your values, your core belief, your cause? A customer isn’t as interested in preserving your company as he is interested in preserving your cause or values. Apple enthusiasts don’t defend the company, they defend “insanely great” products that enable them to attain a higher level of experience than they expect from other PCs and hardware. Southwest Airlines customers don’t defend a company, they defend a customer friendly experience that they don’t believe they’ll get from the other airlines.

I’ve heard that if Starbucks closed its shops, a lot of people would go crazy.
Philip Kotler

If you don’t have a cause, then don’t expect customers to ride up on a white horse to defend you.

2. David wasn’t comfortable in the armor.
Don’t try to make customers wear the same uniform as your employees. Invite them into your camp, but don’t try to make them be like your soldiers. They’re different. They don’t necessarily want monetary compensation, in fact they might be insulted by it. Instead, give them recognition as a champion of your cause. But let them stay in their customer clothes.

3. David used an unorthodox weapon, a slingshot.
Let your customers use what they’re used to using. Most of the time it will be the spoken word in their sphere of influence. Encourage your customers to advocate the cause to their friends and family. The competition may scoff at this, as Goliath scoffed at David. But that arrogance may be what leads to their demise. Find out what your customers are already doing that presents an opportunity. If you ask them to change too much of their lifestyle, then you might lose them as an advocate.

So, don’t forget:

The customer’s the champion.
They’re more interested in your cause than your company.
The bigger they (your competition) are…

Seth Godin has displayed four curves depicting typical product life cycles. He’s asked for names for each. Below, I’ve given my titles, descriptions, and names for each curve:

The Phenom
Unusually talented and charismatic with incredible exposure. But it’s not just hype. There’s substance that allows it to endure.
Names: Michael Jordan/Elvis Presley (I couldn’t choose between these two)

The One Hit Wonder
Either it was all hype and no substance, or just stumbled onto success it wasn’t equipped to sustain.
Name: Vanilla Ice

The Late Bloomer
This curve takes time developing into full potential. It is often ahead of it’s time. Sadly, this curve may die before it is discovered. Then someone else reaps the rewards of its brilliance.
Name: Vincent Van Gogh

The Underachiever
This curve squanders whatever resources it has. It keeps talking about going in different directions, but ends up remaining flat. Often remains stuck in the past.
Name: Uncle Rico (Napoleon Dynamite)

Brian Carol of B2B Lead Generation Blog talks about events in his podcast, How Trigger Events improve Lead Generation. It’s a great example of paying attention to events as I discussed in Marketing Like an Actor - Events.

Brian also gives some great resources for research like Hillsearch toward the end of the podcast. I’ve checked it out and it looks like a marketer’s goldmine of information.

Thanks Brian. You’re an actor and didn’t know it.

Aaron at Confessions of a Brand Evangelist posted about “Word of Weather” today.

No brand has word of mouth like the weather. Everyday, people everywhere are always talking about the weather. Why? What can we learn from “brand weather”?

Talking about the weather is safe. Often times people talk about the weather because it is an easy ice breaker with a stranger or a person you don’t know that well. You have many topics of discussion to choose from, but we all know that people are comfortable talking about the weather. So, we choose to talk about the weather for our comfort and for the comfort of the other person.

It’s a gateway to a conversation. It gives you a feel for the other person’s openess to talk with you. It gives you a small glimpse at their personality. It lets you know if you should engage them further.

Does your company have gateways to conversation? Do you have weather talk? If you’re a local business, do you create conversation about community events? Do you send out a newsletter or email discussing what is effecting those in your target market? Do you create a safe place for the public to experiment with your brand (one of the 5 Es of Branding)? Without weather talk it’s uncomfortable for your salespeople to enter into a conversation because they’re starting cold, without any feeling of a person’s openess to talk or any glimpse of their personality. They’re saying, “How ’bout you and I go back to my place and sign this deal?” And 9 times out of 10, they’re getting slapped in the face or drenched by a drink for being fresh.

Make small talk with your market. Let them see a little bit of who you are, and you’ll be surprised how much you can find out about them as well. Develop gateways to conversations and you’ll find more willingness to consider your proposals.