Monthly Archives: July 2015

July 10, 2015 · 11:42 am

Gout, Seriously

It’s Foodie Friday, and this week’s topic is the very serious business of the very serious food magazines. I was reminded of this by something Eater.com does every so often, which is to publish the cover of a mock foodie rag called Gout. You can see the covers here and here. While it may look like a legit food magazine, with article titles such as “Summer! It literally comprises 1/4 of every year but we’re going to explain all the food as if you’ve never previously considered grilling burgers before!” it clearly isn’t.

One of the articles – “Vodka – it’s cool again!!! (unrelatedly, Grey Goose bought the back cover ad)” points to the problem we’ve talked about numerous times here on the screed.  It’s reinforced with the “An editor we’re trying really hard to turn into a celebrity writes about his trip to Uruguay as if it weren’t fully comped”.  When ad and edit become indistinguishable and readers begin to wonder if what they’re reading is a version of the truth someone is paying for you to see, we have a problem.  As an aside, this isn’t just an issue with food magazines – I’ve never much believed equipment reviews in golf magazines since I’ve never seen a bad review of anything.  Funny how that works when 90% of your revenue is from equipment companies…

But that rant isn’t my point today.  What Eater has done here is something we all need to do a lot more often: poke fun at ourselves.  After all, unless we really are brain surgeons, EMT’s, firefighters or a few other professions, it’s not as if what most of us do is life or death.  In fact, I’ve often said that the best part of my job is that if I screw up, nobody dies.

Business is hard.  It can be horrible sometimes.  It is very serious most of the time. Because of that, every so often we all need to do what Eater has done – recognize the silly stuff inherent in our industry, and laugh.  Honestly, while a great meal may leave you happy and satisfied, a good laugh is better for your health.

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July 9, 2015 · 12:06 pm

Two Feet In Front

I had a bunch of meetings in New York yesterday. NYC in summer is filled with tourists (as it is most of the rest of the year) and they’re pretty easy to spot. They are usually found standing still in the middle of the sidewalk, rocks in the midst of the rushing human stream. They’re something you learn to dodge as a native by, as we used to say in hockey, not skating with your head down.

Unfortunately, fewer people seem to do that these days. I witnessed a collision when a native, immersed in their smartphone, ran smack into a tourist taking a picture of the Chrysler Building. That’s become the norm too – people walking the streets in full stride while staring into a 4-inch screen. It made me think of how we tend to do the same thing in business.

Too many business people run their businesses staring at what’s two feet in front of them while ignoring the impediment that’s a hundred feet ahead. They don’t take evasive action because they’re unaware that there is a problem approaching. Instead, they’re way too involved in the present and not in looking ahead.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m as guilty as the next person with respect to checking my mobile device every time it beeps.  I try, however, to step to the side while I read and respond.  When I’m walking, I’m doing so with my head up and my focus is well in front of me.  I do the same in business, both my own and my clients’.  What is happening NOW is important but it’s critical not to get too focused on what’s going on right in front of you while missing out on what’s coming up.

Your business needs to skate with its head up.  You never know when the path that was clear the last time you looked has become obstructed.  Bumping into something you didn’t see can be expensive – the person’s phone crashed to the ground yesterday.  Deal with the immediate situation – read your mail, answer your texts –  but recognize that there is a rapidly changing world outside of your two-foot gaze.  Make sense?

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July 7, 2015 · 9:18 am

Not Actionable Or Not Able?

Marketing Executives Network Group

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We discuss the need to measure the results of what you’re doing here on the screed fairly often.  As you’ve probably figured out by now, I’m a big believer in applying data to decision-making, especially after decisions are taken and tactics are deployed.  As it turns out, my views about that part are fairly typical within the marketing community.

In a survey of marketing executives, The Conference Board and the Marketing Executives Networking Group found 75% of the respondents in agreement with the statement that “A primary responsibility of marketing professionals is to generate data-driven insights about prospects and customers, and then create a brand or sales story based on those insights.”   I especially like that language because it is inherently customer focused.

Two other findings, however, disturbed me quite a bit.  Only 39% agreed with the statement that “Most information available from monitoring social media is not actionable” 56% agreed that “Most of the members of my marketing team are not as skilled in the use of digital marketing as they need to be.”   Those two statements are probably related and let’s think about why.

First, if you’re having trouble taking action on your social analytics, maybe you’re measuring the wrong thing.  I totally agree that “likes” is a useless number, but using conversion pixels to measure assisted conversions from social media can provide a wealth of information about how your customers come to buy.  Maybe you’re not doing sentiment analysis (that’s not baked into the standard analytics packages but readily available). You should be. Putting aside sentiment, we can focus on trending topics among your user base as well as feedback on your brands and those of your competitor.  Those are all highly actionable data points.

With respect to the second point.  If your team is lacking in some critical skill, whether it’s digital marketing, writing, or sandbox, your job as a leader is to help them improve that skill until it meets the organization’s needs.  If not getting them training is a “resource issue”, think about what it’s costing you in missed opportunities.  Flip that to the positive:  if you’re getting good results now, how much better would they be if you could agree with the statement on your team’s abilities?  Maybe that’s why the data doesn’t seem to be actionable.  Is it “not actionable” or are you just not able?

If the results of the survey resonate with you, get some help to improve your results.  I’d love to be that help but there are lots of qualified people who understand how to help your company live up to the promise that digital holds. I don’t think that dismissing it as “not actionable” is the answer.  Do you?

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