Living in a 140 Character World

Cell phone ownership has remained steady over the past year, but a Pew Internet Study reported in FMQB: reports that consumers are taking more advantage of everything today’s “super phones” can do:

• 60% of American adults are now wireless internet users
• 33% of adults use their phone to play music (up from 21 % in  2009)
• 20% have used their phone to watch a video
• 15% have posted a photo or video online with their phone
• 11% have purchased a product using their phone

You may be tempted to invert the numbers and say … yes but 89% have not purchased anything using a phone …

Resistance is futile.

Look for those numbers to soar – similar to e-commerce numbers when consumers began to realize that it is safe to buy stuff from Amazon, Zappos and E-Bay.

What does this mean for your brand?

In the 140 Character World, consumers have a gadget - practically attached to their hip – that is an open channel to your brand.

11% are buying today … will you be ready when that number jumps to 30, 60 and beyond?

Are you a cell phone transformer?

Whenever I hear a business owner or top manager say they have a  Social Media Strategy, I always ask them for a quick description.

In almost every case, their answer is “Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc.”

I follow-up with … those are the best tactics:  but what is your strategy?

It ends there.

I know I am beating a dead horse – and have probably written about this too many times:  but I can’t believe that it remains the #1 answer I hear – even a year later.  Good thing there is no drinking game based on hearing that answer or I’d be three sheets to the wind by noon!

** It should be noted that many of my interactions with biz owners and managers is due to an inquiry to my services as a marketing guru … and that today I’ve been reading about the origins of expressions**

These same biz people don’t surf their own social media sites and only get involved when someone rips them with a negative status update.  It’s like they are just going through the motions because of some fad.

Their sincere ignorance is your strategic advantage.

To them, and to many big advertising firms, social Media is the Rodney Dangerfield of marketing.  They have an intern or some “young person who understands this stuff” update their social media sites, while they focus their time and effort on TV or billboards or direct mail (real marketing!).

I would tell them don’t bother with social media.

Social media is about dialog.  You have the opportunity to forge an on-going dialog with the consumer … one they will appreciate and reward with continued patronage.

They don’t want to talk to an intern:  they want the decision maker.

As for tactics?  It doesn’t matter what you use or if you invent your own.  It’s not how you talk to your customer, it’s what you are saying … and how the are responding.

One savvy biz owner I met decided to have regular open houses with great incentives for their best customers to attend at least a few times per year.  This is a small biz in which the principles spend time talking IN PERSON to their best customers.

Imaging asking your best customers – IN PERSON – how they are doing?  In other words … allowing them to update their status FACE-TO-FACE

Would I recommend that this biz use some modern tactics – you bet.  But their IN-PERSON social media strategy is leaps and bounds above so many other transparent ones.

And their interns just serve cookies.

I was thinking about this business while reading an interesting piece from iMedia Connection:  Is a Social Media Bubble Ready To Burst?

In the piece, Michael Estrin discusses:

• Due to misguided beliefs, agencies and brands place more social responsibility in the hands of interns than they should
• Some critics claim brands are overvaluing their “friends”
• The question of whether there’s a social media bubble depends on how you’re using social media

For sure – My colleagues who open their business up a few times a year for their best customers, are not worrying about any bursting bubbles, negative status updates or Twitter being over capacity.

They’ve got a strategy … one that will out-live any potential fads or bubbles.

Fabulous piece in Open Forum on what makes a great small business.

It lists 9 traits:

1. They are about more than money
2. They are fun
3. They are creative
4. They are led by a charismatic entrepreneur
5. They have a great team
6. They experiment and innovate
7. They risk failure
8. They work hard and play hard
9. They strive to be the best

It’s a worthwhile read as each point is detailed.

Funny … this describes very few big public companies.

Ahh the razzing.

You’d think I had said it.

My friends and family know that I lived for 10 years in SE Wisconsin … and boast about the area like I was born there (was not).

Then comes Peggy West – the Milwaukee County Supervisor who doesn’t know Arizona borders Mexico.

Okay … now the ignorant, “Cheesehead” stereotype seems harder to defend.

What troubles me isn’t West’s lack of Geography, it’s yet another example of …

Irrelevant government.

This fault I will lay on my beloved Wisconsin to excess.

Milwaukee County has serious issues … schools in disarray, infrastructure in decay, pension scandals, much of the tax base moving to Waukesha or Ozaukee Counties, etc.

Really … Nothing out of the ordinary for a rust-belt area in the throws of the great recession.  But still a lot to deal with.

Yet a county supervisor is again wasting government time talking about something that will in no way effect the lives and lively-hood of her constituents.

The shame is that the only reason this is national news is that she isn’t smarter than a 5th Grader.

So much of government’s time is irrelevant.

Yet WE pay for them to sit around a be irrelevant.

It’s not just Milwaukee county that is wasting it’s citizens tax dollar time.

Remember the California people who were all fired up to boycott Arizona … ’til someone reminded them that Arizona supplies a major portion of ther electricity ?

Whoops.

In New England:

A Woonsocket Rhode Island radio station that carries city meetings allowed citizens to call-in afterwords and comment on the day’s business.

The callers were almost numb in their dis-belief.

Paraphrased Comments:

• Did the meeting ever start?  I didn’t hear any issues being discussed that effect me?
• We have the highest unemployment in the nation … yet no discussion of how our city is helping citizens?  Do they even know?
• At least I know which side of the street I will be able to buy sparklers during the 4th of July parade …

How about we only pay government officials for actual results they garner in bettering the lives of their constituents??

The transparency of the 140 Character World is opening the electorate’s eyes as to just how irrelevant their government can be.

In the old days (10 years ago), people would just tell their friends and neighbors about irrelevant government.

Today … through the majic of YouTube and podcasting, we can experience it all for ourselves.

Just don’t eat a big meal before viewing …

** I do not have an opinion on the Arizona issue. I have not read the law, and therefore wonder how I would pontificate on something I have not read … unlike most of your elected officials. **

Having grown-up in New England, the town meeting was a staple of what it meant to be American.  As a kid I figured every town settled things this way (okay, I never made it to NYC or Atlanta until I was older).

Think of those English Parliament sessions you’ve seen on C-SPAN.

Take out the wigs and British decorum … You’ve got the town meeting.

Now I’m back in New England and wondering …

Does this 18th Century Institution still exist in today’s 140 Character World?

It does … and I followed it all on Twitter.

My town had a huge spending initiative on the docket:  one that had been shot down the 3 previous attempts by the town (or should I say shouted down during the annual meeting).

This time felt different.

In the 3 years since this was on the agenda, the world shrank …

Down to about 140 Characters.

While those against the initiative built a website with their argument and points, those in favor engaged the electorate via 140 Character World tactics (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.).

Those against began to feel the heat … and hyped up the costs and potential risks to the town on their website:  a site that did not allow comments of any kind.  A quick read – and you felt frightened for the future of the town.

Those in favor allowed the electorate to comment openly on their social media platforms … including some expected “scare tactics” from the other side.

Risky?

Hardly.

I would say those against took the bait.

Each attack on the initiative was answered in a thoughtful, appropriate response – by a qualified expert in the field.

• Home values will go down?  Not so, says qualified real estate expert.
• Taxes will be highest in the county?  No even close, says county tax assessor.
• Initiative will drain town funds for road repair and winter maintenance?  Not so, says town selectman who handles budgets.
• Town will be sued by another entity for diverting money into this project?  Not so, says mayor of neighboring town.

The town meeting was still as loud and boisterous as ever … but this time it was just a lot of noise.

The scare tactics had already been neutralized via social media.  For the first time in years, the electorate saw one side of the argument as empty and coming from a bully pulpit.

The town grew 1.8% in population since the last try …

But passed the initiative by a landslide.

So big … a ballot vote was not called by either side (in the town meeting, if a show of hands is a clear majority, no need to waste time voting … gotta get home to watch the Sox …)

Even the most raw, powerful force of democracy – the New England Town Meeting – is evolving in the 140 Character World …

And for the better.

——————————

While my firm works with candidates for office and with cause initiatives - I had nothing to do with this election.

I find it difficult to be friends with the neighbors when I have a stake in a divisive local initiative …

The transparency strategy for those in favor was right on the money, countering the scare, bully tactics.  Had I been the consultant, I might have suggested:

• Encourage dialog among the electorate.  People like to be part of a movement, or cause.  Let them!
• Counter abstract, emotional claims with factual corrections from people with appropriate clout – Assuming you have truth on your side:  If you don’t have truth with you … expect to have this backfire BIG time.
• Allow the other side to draw you into a debate that YOU CAN WIN (we call this “making it a home game”).  Facts beat scare tactics when they are neutralized.  The fact that they started the debate gives you more credibility and weakens their stance.
• Keep the dialog continuous until the polls close (Tweet for rides!)

Guess they didn’t need me, huh?

But I’ve gotta still give it up for our forefathers … the town meeting lives in the 140 Character World.  Still loud and boisterous … but with a much more informed electorate.

Are you in a career, or following your calling?

Interesting question posed by Zappos founder and CEO Tony Hsieh (pronounced SHEY) in his new book:  Delivering Happiness, A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose.

As a connoisseur of marketing books, I was surprised at the simplicity of Hsieh’s text while at the same time impressed with his storytelling capability.  He makes no apology for his style – letting me know up front that there was no ghost writer and very little editing in the project … both a refreshing change inside a crowed category.

If you liked Jim Collin’s Good to Great, this is a worth-while follow-up.  While Collins analyzes success from the outside weeding through mounds of research and analysis, Hsieh’s story is personal and told from the inside.  It feels part biographical and part motivational:  but the storyline that began with a worm farm, weaves its way through a 256 million dollar sale of LinkExchange and culminates with the 1.2 billion dollar merger of Zappos with Amazon.

Written in the first person, Hsieh’s adventures can feel like Jack Baur saving a world on the brink of destruction time and time again:  but isn’t that what “big picture” leaders do?  They are the architects:  driven by a natural – sometimes insatiable – curiosity that allows them to see systems, methods and paradigms that others skip right over.

Envision, create and believe in your own universe

- A favorite line from the book credited to a random stranger talking with Hsieh at a party.

The driving business point behind the book is that people aren’t your most valuable asset:

Culture is your most valuable asset.

Hsieh feels that it doesn’t matter what the culture entails – but more important that it fosters a “shared vision” among everyone from the receptionist, to sales reps, those on the factory floor, and especially the executives.

Refreshing?

If you’re looking for another business “how-to,” this is not that.  Happiness is more of a story with lessons to be weaned from within.  A few I extrapolated for my own business endeavors:

• Always keep employees/vendors/partners in the loop
• Set high, reachable goals (most of the time you’re going to come close anyway – might as well come close to a much higher goal)
• As a company, don’t outsource your core competency (a tenet that has damaged my life-long industry of radio almost to the brink)
• Once you have a culture, invest in it.  The culture needs to be a priority.  It needs to be a cause, not a result.

The last lesson was personal for me – having worked for an employee owned company for years:  only to see it go public – and the culture disappear almost overnight.

I found some insightful 140 Character World lessons – all that resonate with the projects we take-on at Zeal ME.  A few:

• Begin by rethinking marketing … from shouting at consumers to building a customer experience.
• Stop spending time trying to build buzz around your brand … instead opt for building trust through engagement.
• Do away with scripts (ie. radio liners), and let your customer service reps be REAL.
• Define your core values and share them with customers, employees, vendors – anybody who will log in and read them.

Hsieh’s company Zappos is the model for all of these lessons:  from creating random acts of WOW, to having pictures of Zappos employees show up when logging into their system … it’s all about the Zappos culture.

The Zappos culture is customer service:  That  is the brand.

The employees know it – and live it.

This is the kind of brand that has outgrown Ries and Trout’s Positioning of the 1990’s.  In this case – if you have to say it, you don’t have it.

There is not battle for the mind when you’re living it 100%.

Refreshing?  I’ll say.

Hsieh notes:

When people say they dread going to work on Monday morning, it is because they know they are leaving a piece of themselves at home

Imagine if the airlines, or cable TV franchise or even the DMV could make passion and purpose a priority?

Okay … probably not going to happen at the DMV in my lifetime …

I have shared the book with a few colleagues who were less impressed.  But they are more left-brained thinkers – and very successful at what they do.  They like books with action plans, bullet points and copious charts.

There aren’t answers and charts in Hsieh’s book ala Good to Great – but that is the charm.  I find something invigorating about having to find the answers myself.

You could skip the whole biographical part and still get the vibe from LinkExchange and Zappos … but simple storytelling is very disarming … and knowing the back story paints the full picture in your mind.

Today, Hsieh is a successful speaker.  He makes 3 points about public speaking that mirror what we teach radio talent and talk show hosts:

1. Be Passionate
2. Tell Personal Stories
3. Be Real

All successful talk show talent, from Oprah, to Rush Limbaugh to Howard Stern, are passionate, personal and real.  That makes the consumer want to connect with them.  They make the consumer feel something.

As for our own happiness … seems like most of us are terrible at predicting what will truly make us happy

Please … not another lottery winner, turned curmudgeon story!!!

Like the talk show hosts, or Zappos employees or the flight attendants at Southwest:  that calling that makes us great seems to drive happiness:  and if done correctly:  profit.

I’ll bet those unhappy lottery winners would trade the cash for a calling.

*** NOTE:  I received an advanced copy of this book by the publisher for review purposes.  The publisher asked for honest comments, feedback and opinion.  That is what was offered here **

This year my family is moving out past the “exurbs” to a true New England small town.  Too small to offer a choice in cable TV providers (yet) … although one always can choose satellite TV.

The only cable option is a national company – universally known for terrible service.

I know first hand from a previous marketing relationship with them in another state.  It was impossible to start a dialog with their customers due to an almost hostile relationship.

The company told us they had fixed the issues – and that is why we landed the marketing contract.

Now I will get to see on my own.  What follows is a diary of my interaction with this company as my cable/internet/phone provider in my new residence.

This piece will be updated with new information as it happens … but not be re-posted as new.  I will Tweet when updates are added:

• MAY 26: I called the regional office to ask about specials for new service.  They had several – including one bundle at a very reasonable price that included a substantial gift card to a national store chain as long as I signed a 2 year commitment.  I agreed.  We chose a date for installation (June 18) and they gave me a 2 hour window when the tech would show up.  Then the rep transferred me to a 3rd party verification service (basically a computerized voice reading me the terms … and recording me saying “yes” afterwards).  I finished and the automated voice thanked me and said it was okay to hang-up.  I wrote down the terms and price quoted.
• JUNE 2:  I got an automated call asking me to call the main office to fix an issue with my order.  When I called, the live person said I had not completed the 3rd party verification.  I had – and was even told so by the computerized voice.  But okay … I can do it again.  She put me on hold for 2 minutes and 15 seconds (yes, I’m timing because of my diary) then the same automated voice as last time took me through the points.  I said “yes” to all and was again thanked and told I could hang-up.  Time of automated call:  1 minute 55 seconds.
• JUNE 15:  I just learned that my possessions will arrive a day late in Massachusetts (I should be blogging about moving companies … except nobody expects to have  a good experience with them!)  .  I needed to call and reschedule my install so I have a TV, computer and phone to test.  Talked with a friendly customer service rep:  He made the change and cancelled my former appointment.  The rep gave me the day and time I requested – I am reschedule for Monday June 21 between 1 and 3pm.  The agent assured me the former appointment was cancelled, and the new one was all set.
• JUNE 17: I got an automated call from the company confirming the appointment tomorrow … except I had cancelled.  I followed the instructions on the call – pressing “3″ to cancel the appointment.  An hour later I got the same call … asking to confirm the appointment tomorrow.  Again, I pressed “3″ to cancel and this time it said I would be directed to an agent.  That never happened as the connection was lost.  I sure hope some poor tech guy doesn’t drive all the way down from Worcester for nothing.
• JUNE 18: I guess they got my message … nobody showed up.
• JUNE 20: I got an automated message confirming my appointment tomorrow.  I acknowledged by pressing 1.
• JUNE 21: I got an automated call in the morning giving me a one hour window in which the technician would be at our home.  He showed up within that hour, was very helpful and even ran an extra line out onto the porch so we could watch ballgames out there in the evening.  I was hesitant about drilling through our hard-wood floors to have the internet run into the study (that’s what I call a small entryway).  He asked if we were going to go wireless and I said yes for the laptops – but could not on the desktop as it wasn’t WI-FI compatible.  No problem he says … he had a WI-FI adapter that he ran into a USB port.  He exceeded my expectations that day.

This was unique for me to experience a product that my company had a difficult time marketing a few years ago.

This brand’s name meant CRAP to people looking for cable TV and my firm’s problem was that our client refused to believe it – saying they had changed.

They may have changed (we didn’t know) … but reputation is a hard thing to change.

Especially with pages and pages of complaints – all archived in the 140 Character World.

Ask the public …

• They are tired of partisan politics … yet vote out moderates
• They want Coke to be sweeter … yet revolt when they change the formula
• They ask for more variety on the radio … yet tune out when stations add more songs

Think it’s hard to ask the public what they want now … ask them to project what they would want in the future …

• An all news channel … no thanks (in 1980)
• Nationwide coffee bar chain… nope (1984)
• Nationwide singing competition … yawn (2000)

This is the danger in asking the public to devise your strategy.  The public (or critical mass as we marketers call them) does not really exist.  

That entity that marketers covet is a statistic:  a baited marketing trap.

I once sat through a research presentation which concluded that a trendy new radio format would be no threat to our heritage brand if a competitor decided to go there.

They did … and debuted at #1 in the market with the format.  It took us a year to claw our way back into the race.

I had a colleague who encountered a similar situation except his research told him the new format would clean his clock.  They struck first – moved into the new format, and watched the station fade from the top to the bottom of the ratings.

In BOTH situations:

• The conclusion was indisputable
• The research firms were reputable
• It would be hard for anyone to ignore such obvious results.

The challenge of heritage media and marketing … is the opportunity for the 140 Character World.

We’re less about critical mass, and more about passionate fans.

While traditional research builds a core by eliminating negatives, we having a on-going conversation with like-minded consumers of our brands.

We learn what they like about us … then PLAY TO OUR STRENGTHS.

The trap is catering to the MASSES … and letting them water down what we do.

The escape is letting the consumers that count be part of the conversation and spice up what we do.

Lando Calrissian would be proud.

I was hanging out with a bunch of people younger than me.

Seems easier and easier to do these days …

While having lunch, it struck me that several of them bought bottled water as a beverage.  This in spite of the fact that the restaurant would offer you a free cup to capture water from a giant cooler at the end of the counter.

Me:  Free cup all the way.

Yet among this group of 20- something people, none were into buying music.  They were unabashed file sharers.

• Water: the most plentiful resource on the planet … $1.59 for a bottle … no problem.
• Music: $1.00 for a legal download:  no thanks.

Were they thieves?

Hardly.

One person who ordered a diet soda even asked at the counter if re-fills were free … and was willing to pay for another if they were not.

So why won’t they pay for music?

I don’t have the answer.  My group was small and hardly interested in talking about something so trivial.

But they did agree that buying swag and concert tickets was cool … one even bragged about paying over a hundred dollars for good seats once.

Those of us who grew up saving money to buy records … only to have to buy the same CD’s a few years later for a whole lot more money will probably never understand.

The track has real value to us.  Heck, I just sold a bunch of my old CD’s at a yard sale and made good $$ … all to people my age or older.

It’s probably time for the music industry to stop wondering WHY … and start wondering HOW …

As in HOW to we make money from the generation that is about to become the important consumer.

As each year progresses …  I am guessing it will likely be less about the sale of pre-recorded music … and that the smart artists won’t bother giving most of their profits to record labels.

The CD is Hillbilly Bone. Some of the tracks:

• Hillbilly Bone
• Can’t Afford To Love You
• Kiss My Country Ass

Yet inside the music biz, this is a revolutionary release.  Not because of the content .. because of a potential new music industry standard being set.

Only in country music can hillbillies be revolutionary!

What makes the release unique is that it is a 6 track album:  Well short of the standard 10 to 15 tracks on most albums.

This is more than the over-used “six-pack” play on words.

Here is Blake:

“I think it’ll be how I do it until albums don’t exist anymore, which honestly I don’t think is that far away.  I don’t care how people buy music as long as they are interested enough to buy it.  And of course, Nashville’s gotta find a way to capitalize on that.”

To those of us living in the real world – not much revolutionary talk here.

We all wonder why CD’s have 4-5 tracks we like, and a bunch that we just skip over. But the music industry won’t go there.

Why the 12 song average?

Because it used to be 6 songs per side on a standard LP record.  No reason to change that, right?

It’s also the way they have justified the $15 price for CD’s before Walmart slapped ‘em down to $10.

Hillbilly Bone is a really good country album.  How cool that it’s not cluttered up with a bunch of album tracks that nobody wants – and that the artist won’t even play in concert.  I think the term used was filler tracks.

Filler is waste in the 140 Character World.

Waste is not cool.

Cool that Blake sees this.

BTW:  All About Tonight is the next album:  the title track is great.