Category Archives: Reality checks

August 2, 2012 · 10:20 am

Another Marketing Disconnect

Orwell’s 1984is (or used to be) required reading

1984-1140031

(Photo credit: beachblogger42)

in many high schools and maybe that’s what triggered the findings of a study I’d like to share today.  As you’ll recall, in Orwell’s Oceania, there is no privacy.  Most people’s apartments are equipped with two-way telescreens, so that they may be watched or listened to at any time. Similar telescreens are found at workstations and in public places, along with hidden microphones.  Maybe this notion of having one’s privacy disappear lingers in the back of our minds from having read the book.  We could have a long chat at this point about how the non-fictionalized world in which we live is approaching this but I’d like to focus on some research instead.

The folks at Berkeley have released a study on mobile phones and privacy.  I’ll let them tell you what they found:

We found that Americans overwhelmingly consider information stored on their mobile phones to be private — at least as private as information stored on their home computers. They also overwhelmingly reject several types of data collection and use drawn from current business practices. Specifically, large majorities reject the collection of contact lists stored on the phone for the purposes of tailoring social network “friend” suggestions and providing coupons, the collection of location data for tailoring ads, and the use of wireless contact information for telemarketing, even where there is a business relationship between the consumer and merchant.

Respondents evinced strong support for substantial limitations on the retention of wireless phone usage data. Respondents also thought that some prior court oversight is appropriate when police seek to search a wireless phone when arresting an individual.

The Media Post summary of the specific data shows how civilians (proles?) really do NOT want app makers and marketers crossing over the privacy line:

Eighty-one percent of cell phone owners surveyed by UC Berkeley said they either “definitely” or “probably” wouldn’t allow an app to collect a contact list in order to suggest more friends. An even greater proportion, 93%, said they definitely or probably wouldn’t allow an app to collect friends’ contact information in order to offer them coupons.  The study also found that people aren’t thrilled with the prospect of location-based ads. A staggering 92% of survey respondents said they either definitely or probably wouldn’t allow a cell phone provider to use their location to tailor ads to them.

We as marketers see convenience in suggesting friends or tailoring messages.  Our customers see an invasion of privacy.  That’s a pretty big disconnect.  Where do you stand?

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August 1, 2012 · 8:31 am

Jerry Is 70

Happy Birthday Jerry Garcia, wherever you are!

Jerry Garcia in 1969

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you’ve spent any time here on the screed you’re probably aware that I’m a Deadhead. I’ve written about them a lot and I often find business thoughts inspired by their music and their business practices. Besides liking their music, I have a real appreciation of their acumen as business people. Marketing Secrets Of The Grateful Dead is a must-read for anyone who is trying to understand the marketing paradigm these days and Jerry, despite his reluctance to say so, was the leader of the band. In fact, in their own words:

I’m gonna sing you a hundred verses in ragtime
I know this song it ain’t never gonna end
I’m gonna march you up and down the local county line
Take you to the leader of the band

Jerry had his struggles with drugs and food, so much so that they killed him at age 53.  While the band continues on in various forms, it’s not the same without him and the remaining band members would be the first to tell you that.

Since this is a business blog, let me interject a business thought.  I’m sure when the Dead started making music in 1965 they didn’t think that we’d be listening to recordings of their live shows almost half a century later.  Nevertheless, recordings of shows from the late 60’s all the way through 1995 when Jerry passed are a staple on their own Sirius XM channel and the band continues to release CD’s of them.  The fact that they took the time to assure high quality recordings would be placed in an archive long before they were a huge act shows that they appreciated what they were creating.  How many other bands have/need an archivist or have their own collection at a university?  You might know they also allowed fans to tape their shows, going so far as to set up a special “tapers” area to encourage it.  In tech terms, they created huge redundancy of their product in case their own system of soundboard recording ever failed.

The business point is this.  While many businesses find themselves pivoting – altering their business plan to suit changing tastes or market conditions – you can’t assume that what you’re doing today will be gone tomorrow.  The Dead changed their sound and styles over the years – Shakedown Street‘s disco beat is very different from Dark Star’s spacey vibe – but their core appreciation for their product and their fans never changed.  The Dead on a bad night are really awful and those recordings are out there, often issued by the band.  They’re far outweighed by the good nights and the great nights trump them all.  That transparency and looking at their work through their fans’ eyes is long-term thinking regardless of today’s product.

Jerry was far from a saint.  He died in drug rehab with a couple of failed marriages and shaky finances.  He’s also the most recorded guitarist in history, with 2,200 Dead shows, 1,000 side project shows, and other studio work totaling some 15,000 hours of playing preserved for our enjoyment.  So Happy Birthday, Jerry, and thanks for the gifts.

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July 16, 2012 · 9:55 am

Why Is Wrong In Life OK In Business?

I had something else planned for today’s screed but after getting through the newspapers over the weekend I changed my mind. I don’t know if it’s struck you as it has me but I’m really surprised how many business stories are about willful acts of corruption and greed. One could, in fact, make the argument that much of the economic crisis in which nearly every country finds itself has at its root exactly that cause. Is there anyone left who thinks the housing bubble and mortgage crisis was an accident?

Let me give you a few examples, just from yesterday’s newspaper:

Goldman Sachs and the $580 Million Black Hole – a story of how Goldman may have negligently mismanaged a company’s sale and sold it to con men:

With Goldman Sachs on the job, the corporate takeover of Dragon Systems in an all-stock deal went terribly wrong. Goldman collected millions of dollars in fees — and the Bakers lost everything when Lernout & Hauspie was revealed to be a spectacular fraud.

Then there is the LIBOR case:

Authorities around the globe are examining whether financial firms manipulated interest rates before and after the financial crisis to improve their profits and deflect scrutiny about their health.

Big pharma?

Earlier this month, the Justice Department announced a settlement with the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline. The company had, among a host of criminal actions, helped publish falsified data in a medical journal, failed to report the dangers of a drug and used “favors” like trips to Jamaica to persuade doctors to use its medications for unapproved — and unproven — purposes on children.

Think it’s only financial business that’s affected?

The head of Germany’s football league has called on Sepp Blatter to resign over the FIFA bribery scandal.  Reinhard Rauball told Germany’s Welt Online that Blatter should step down as soon as possible so that FIFA can make a fresh start.

Maybe I’m just an old hippie from a distant time, but this stuff is just wrong.  Simple, right?  You could explain right and wrong to a child fairly easily.  So why does that go out the window when there’s “business” involved?  What’s really scary to me is that no one has gone to jail for any of this stuff – companies have paid fines but no individual has been held accountable (and we all know it’s not just one person).

I’m willing to bet that no matter on which side of the political spectrum you fall we can agree that stealing, bribery, bid rigging, and selling drugs you know aren’t safe isn’t right.  What we can do about it is to call it what it is – bad, maybe criminal behavior – and not stand for it.  Don’t do business with people who permit individuals to behave this way.  I almost wrote companies” there but corporations are legal entities, not people.  It won’t get better until somebody is held accountable in a very public way and jailed.   We as a society and community of business people must demonstrate that competing hard and winning are OK, but not at any cost.  After all, every sport has a rulebook and certain actions will get you penalized or kicked out of the game.  Why not business?

Are you as frustrated as I am?

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