Monthly Archives: June 2014

June 25, 2014 · 8:56 am

Barking Up The Wrong Tree?

Some interesting results came out of a poll by the Gallup folks the other day. They polled American consumers about the influence social media has on their purchasing decisions.   I guess if you hold stock in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or any other public social media company, you’re not a huge fan of the results:

Gallup says 62% of the more than 18,000 U.S. consumers it polled said social media had no influence on their buying decisions. Another 30% said it had some influence. U.S. companies spent $5.1 billion on social-media advertising in 2013, but Gallup says “consumers are highly adept at tuning out brand-related Facebook and Twitter content.”

That’s from the Wall St, Journal report on the study.  Oops?  Is all the time, money, and effort companies are throwing at social media just a massive barking up the wrong tree?  Not really.  In fact, I find that pretty encouraging since it might just get marketers focused on the real role of social as opposed to gross follower counts.  In fact:

“Gallup research shows that consumers are much more likely to turn to friends, family members, and experts when seeking advice about companies, brands, products, or services. Company-sponsored Facebook pages and Twitter feeds have almost no persuasive power.”

I’m sure that’s what the data said.  It’s throwing the baby out with the bath water, however.  Monitoring what and how consumers are talking about with respect to your brand is invaluable.  Giving them the opportunity to reach you directly can’t be a bad thing, can it?  Sure – if social is just a place to broadcast more brand news, sale information, or videos of your TV ads, you’re probably missing the boat.  Analyzing social-media conversations to see what consumers like and don’t like is smart.  Actually, it’s kind of mandatory.

Once again, a focus on the tools (social media) instead of the business is what barking up the wrong tree really means.  Using the social channel to gather information and take action where appropriate is smart business.  You with me?

Leave a comment

Filed under digital media, Helpful Hints

Tagged as , , , ,

June 24, 2014 · 9:13 am

Skills

One of my clients has a few of their summer interns starting this week.

Film poster for Napoleon Dynamite - Copyright ...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If they’re like most of the interns I’ve ever met, they’re eager to start learning about the business world because they feel a bit like Napoleon Dynamite.  While in his case he’s concerned that no girl is ever going to date him, they are concerned that no one will hire them for the same reason:

Napoleon Dynamite: Well, nobody’s going to go out with *me*!
Pedro: Have you asked anybody yet?
Napoleon Dynamite: No, but who would? I don’t even have any good skills.
Pedro: What do you mean?
Napoleon Dynamite: You know, like nunchuku skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills… Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills.

OK, maybe the interns aren’t worried about THOSE skills, but a recent survey by the Econsultancy folks asked about the skills necessary to succeed as a modern marketer.   You can read a summary of the report here.  I found it encouraging because in addition to the specific technical skills the job requires, many top marketers are now emphasizing the “soft” skills I’ve always advocated as being the most important set of requirements in any job.

When respondents to our survey were given a pre-selected list and asked to rate which softer skills were most significant, those that scored most highly as being ‘very important’ included the ability to embrace change, to spot opportunities and adapt strategies quickly, and also being passionate, curious and hungry to learn.

In other words, the “skills” you can’t teach.  It’s not about a high IQ (although that’s not necessarily a bad thing) but about an ability to learn.  Scratch that.  It’s about a candidate having a passion to learn – the ability to be a self-motivated learner.   The key softer skill mentioned most by interviewees was articulation and persuasion but I don’t think you can be either of those two things unless you can ingest and digest the raw information you need to make cogent, coherent arguments.

I’m looking forward to working with the interns and to teaching them some of the technical skills they’ll need as they begin their business lives.  Hopefully their parents and teachers have already done the hard part by nurturing their natural curiosity about the world and getting them to be open to new ideas and information.

Do you have interns working with you this summer?  What skills have they brought?  What are you bringing?

Leave a comment

Filed under Consulting

Tagged as , , , , ,

June 23, 2014 · 10:42 am

Don’t Be Famous

Over the weekend I came across a video of a graduation speech given by comedian Mike Myers. The fact that I watched it at all is a tribute to the concept of social proof. I normally don’t watch graduation speeches unless they’re by someone in whom I have a great interest. While I like many of his films and his SNL work, Mr. Myers normally wouldn’t pass that test. However, it was posted by a guy whose thinking I respect and he said it was worth a few minutes.  I’m posting the video below – it is worth the almost 8 minutes and you can probably skip the first 1:30 if you’re that pressed for time – and then I have a few thoughts.

 

“Legendary” is being known for something that you do and “famous” is just being known.  Being known has become an end in itself, free from the prerequisite of achievement.  Celebrity used to mean being celebrated for something that you did; celebrity has become a devalued currency.

That is brilliant, and a fantastic business lesson for all of us.  We can spend great sums of money becoming famous – getting our brand and company names out there via earned, owned, and paid media. What happens once the customers interact with us, having found us through those channels, is what can make us legendary.   It means we need to pay as much attention to execution as we do to attraction.

Napoleon has been quoted as saying “Fame is fleeting. Obscurity is forever.”  He was advocating for the permanence of obscurity, because it endures, while fame is weak and lasts only a small amount of time.   I think Mr. Myers is getting at the same point.  We can’t build our businesses on making loud noises or the marketing equivalent of screaming “fire” in a theater.  Sure, that gets attention (fame) but we’re in an era when anyone has access to the noisemaking tools (witness the screed!).

We need to build something more substantial if we’re to remain in business for a long time.  We need to become legendary. I’m trying each day – you?

Leave a comment

Filed under Consulting, Helpful Hints

Tagged as , , , ,