Category: New Marketing Thinking

Steven Johnson: ‘Eureka moments are very, very rare’

Just as I am increasingly suspicious of brain storming – so I am increasingly suspicious of marketers who rant about ‘outside of the box’ and ‘blue sky thinking’. Just as creativity is often over emphasised in marketing communications, so the wacky march to bleeding edge ideas that often seem like the dance of the desparate. This is the theme of a great piece by Steven Johnson where he points out the dangers of searching for that ‘eureka’ moment. Surely the most popular buzzword ever from the history of greek mathematics? The most successful marketers and entrepreneurs that I have met do not confuse random ideas and guesses and sudden insights – with being a smart operator. Sure, you need a spark and you need to do find ways of doing things better – but this is only part of the story.Equally, good marketing partnerships are less about schmoozing and wild promises and more about establishing the right foundations, clear direction, refining a prospect list and being clear about what you can offer that will benefit the other party.

Media news, UK and world media comment and analysis | Media …

via Steven Johnson: ‘Eureka moments are very, very rare’.

Why Content And Commerce Is A Marriage Made In Heaven

A great piece by Robert Andrews on how brands and retailers are increasingly banking their marketing and product development budgets on content. The clothes brand Net-a-Porter receives a staggering 3 million people visiting their site and devouring articles, blogs and videos.  Whilst traditional media needs to reinvent its own revenue streams – entrepreneurial brands are increasingly becoming media businesses.

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via Why Content And Commerce Is A Marriage Made In Heaven.

What Media Can Learn From IBM’s Turnaround

A great article by Simon Waldman (LoveFilm) on how IBM reinvented itself, from a business that was selling lots of hardware in the declining mainframe market – to one that now makes 84% of its revenue from software & services – $8Bn. How did they do it? (1) Rethink everything, (2) don’t kill but reinvent the core business, (3)find a big adjacency (or the thing that is near to your business…) – and,(4)innovate at the edges.

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via What Media Companies Can Learn From IBM’s Turnaround.

News of the World moves behind paywall

News International’s move to monetising the access to content continues. And now, News Of The World puts up a paywall.With so many free news services available this is another brave move. But as iPad and Android slate devices  start moving from early adopters to the mainstream – the divide between paywall, subscriptions and apps – will become blurred.

Media news, UK and world media comment and analysis | Media …

via News of the World moves behind paywall.

Accidentally Brilliant

It was said that Napoleon wanted his generals to the be the luckiest ones – not necessarily the smartest. In the same way, not all great business innovations need to be the result of brilliant research, dedicated marketing and canny logistics. Sometimes it may be just an accident as Kevin Roberts points out below.

KR Connect

via Accidentally Brilliant.

Human Beings Make Such Difficult Customers.

Serving and understanding customers, acquiring and retaining them is more difficult than ever. And yet we then build systems and employ people who do not make that any easier..

According to Sainsburys 70% of consumers at 4.00pm in the afternoon – do not even know what they are going to eat that evening.  Strange isn’t it? Last week I was lucky enough to attend a great session at Henley Management School where Prof. Moira Clark outlined some of the latest thinking on customer management. Serving and understanding them is more difficult than ever – and yet marketers then build systems and employ people who do not make that task any easier…

Continue reading “Human Beings Make Such Difficult Customers.”

Trying to Be Something You’re Not: Works for Drag Queens, not for Google

Great article that reinforces the importance of one of my favourite F-Words: FOCUS. This TechCrunch piece explains how YAHOO lost its way – trying to be something they’re not. And casts an interesting question about whether Google should really try to be a Facebook or Twitter style social media business. One of the first lessons a marketer learns is the danger of brand dilution and over extension. Focus is the key. Or as a great TV producer once put it, to make it clear to me – ” its deciding what we DO NOT DO and WHAT WE ARE NOT that makes our brand”

Great article by TechCrunch..

via Trying to Be Something You’re Not: Works for Drag Queens, not for Google.

Professionals, amateurs and the great unwashed

An interesting piece by Seth Godin re professionalism. It is certainly a word that is over used and perhaps not often understood. The best explanation I ever learnt was to compare your approach to work with that of a professional in times of challenge. An airline pilot with alarms going and lights flashing. A surgeon realising the ops not going well. Your lawyer, about to make his final defence statement when you’ve been falsely accused of rape. How would you like those people to behave? Personally I’d want those people to be calm, well organised, with a good plan in place, someone who communicates and motivates the people around them and is well skilled in their craft. What you don’t want is someone who is moody, sloppy, ego centric, not really in the zone and at the races. It reminds me of the story I heard the Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger – a manager of legendary detail and focus. He tells the story of the young aspiring pianist telling the maestro ” Wow. I’d give up everything to be able to play like you”. And the maestro replies – ” I have”

via Professionals, amateurs and the great unwashed.

Business Myth #1. Is Brainstorming Really Any Good?

According to Professor Richard Wiseman – one the of the most brilliant and widely quoted of UK psychology writers – sceptic and debunker of pseudo-science nonsense (and a brilliant illusionist too by the way) – the foundations of brainstorming are shaky ones, to say the least

We’ve all been there: The plastic cups. The marker pens with more squeak than ink. That white board with the shadowy phrases of  projects long forgotten, still ghostly visible. The sticky notes. The giant pads of paper. Blu-tak. So, is brainstorming really any good? Professor Richard Wiseman thinks maybe not..

Continue reading “Business Myth #1. Is Brainstorming Really Any Good?”