Does success lead to happiness? According to Shawn Achor, Harvard professor and author of  The Happiness
Advantage, the answer is “not really.” I heard him speak recently and his findings indicate that only 10% of a person’s happiness can be predicted by external factors, such as success. The other 90% is based on the lens through which you view your world. If you can answer “yes” to the following three questions you are most likely a happy person:

1. Do you believe that your behavior matters?
2. Do you have a positive social support network?
3. Do you view stress as a challenge?

His findings also indicate that the inverse of the opening statement is true: Happiness leads to success. Without going into the science behind his findings, the correlation between happiness (and the associated positive frame of mind) and success is found in sport, arts and business. And the mind can be retrained in a few months to be happier. He suggests five habits that can permanently alter a person’s “lens” and therefore their happiness and their success.

1. Every day, articulate three things for which you are grateful and why. Make a different list every day. Write them down or share them with someone else.
2. Write in a journal about your most meaningful experience of the day.
3. Exercise for 15 minutes every day in a way that is fun and energetic.
4. Take two minutes each day to stop “doing” and be “quiet.” Just breathe and quit thinking. Some call this meditation, but Achor’s not hung up on technique, just on pausing the hyperactive, over-stimulated mind for a moment.
5. Practice one act of kindness each day. The gestures can be simple things like writing a thank you note, buying someone a cup of coffee or visiting a co-worker’s office to let them know how much you appreciate something they did.

Start with one habit every two weeks and then add another. This process has had more positive impacts on curing depression than medications. And it can transform an office environment in a short period of time.

So what does this have to do with being a marketing leader? If your success is dependent on other people you’ll be much better off if they are happy people. And you can help them become happier people by how you lead them.

Watch the attached video and try some new habits, then let me know what happens. I hope it makes you happy.

This is a post from Marketing Has Changed by John Ellett. Subscribe to my feed.

Why Happiness Leads to Success

nFusion recently sponsored the 2012 Social Summit presented by Bazaarvoice and I had the pleasure of attending the event for the first time. I was struck by how major marketers have embraced the power of user ratings and reviews, not only for helping customers make decisions but for getting feedback on which products may have issues. If you missed the event, videos are now posted at http://summit.bazaarvoice.com/session-videos/.

Bazaarvoice Social Summit 2012, Austin, TX

If you can’t watch all of the videos, these are my three favorite sessions:

1. Information is Beautiful by David McCandless. David is a visual journalist and tells stories by turning data into infographics. His approach got me thinking about how to tell complex stories more simply. Never has the idiom “a picture is worth a thousand words” been more true.

2. Social Data: The Genome of Your Business. This session is a great overview of how social data is being used to improve marketing effectiveness. Presented by several Bazaarvoice executives, this session is a good crash course on what is possible in the world of social commerce.

3. Building Engagement: How to Foster Strong Consumer-Brand Relationships by 3M’s Raj Rao. Can a big company really embrace the possibilities of using social data to be more innovative and responsive? Raj shares how the 3M team taps the power of customer feedback to move the giant company forward.

How is your company turning user ratings, reviews and peer support into competitive advantage for your firm?

This is a post from Marketing Has Changed by John Ellett. Subscribe to my feed.

Highlights from Bazaarvoice’s Social Summit

In the Web 2.0 world, customer experience is the key differentiator between leaders and laggards. While the importance of delivering great experiences for customers is generally understood by most companies, executing well across all customer touch points is a challenge for most. Over the next few month, I’ll be collaborating with Grant Johnson, Chief Marketing Officer of Pegasystems, the leader in Business Process Management (BPM) and software for customer centricity, to facilitate discussions on this topic and explore:

• The role of the CMO in designing and managing desired experiences across all customer touch points and organizational silos
• How companies are addressing this critical issue and some worthy lessons learned
• How technology helps deliver more predictable and profitable customer experiences

Our first events will be in the Washington D.C. area on March 20 (CMO Club event page) and Philadelphia on March 21(CMO Club event page). If you are a marketing leader in either area, please join us for the conversation.

For those of you who can’t make it, I’d welcome your feedback by taking a short survey (about 5 minutes). Just click on this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Customer_Experiences. The findings of our research with be made available after PegaWorld in June.

In the meantime,  I will periodically post some of our early insights here for your review and comment.

This is a post from Marketing Has Changed by John Ellett. Subscribe to my feed.

The Role of CMO in Designing Customer Experiences

Football season has finally come to a stirring close and while many marketers are weighing in on this year’s Superbowl ads, all that football reminded me of an analogy that I believe is no longer a good one. Sports analogies have been with us since man started competing, and we’ve used those analogies to express business concepts in ways that might make them more easily understood to people who aren’t familiar with a particular business. In that light, football used to be a good analogy for how sales and marketing worked together, especially in BtoB markets.

See if this sounds familiar. Marketing is the quarterback. It calls the play (the marketing program) and passes the ball (a qualified prospect) to the wide receiver (sales) who carries the ball across the goal line (closes the deal). Roles are clear and expectations have been set.

The problem with this analogy is the prospect is a passive object that is acted upon. It implies that the sales and marketing team is actually in total control. But we know that in today’s world the opposite is true. When McKinsey released the Customer Decision Journey report in 2009, it codified what many marketers already knew: Customers don’t behave in a linear way purely in response to stimulus from marketers. Yet many marketers have not changed the way they plan to engage their potential and current customers. Content marketing, social media marketing, content syndication and user-generated ratings and reviews are increasingly critical components of the marketing mix. Yet these activities are understaffed and underfunded in many organizations.

I recently heard someone describe marketing in today’s world as a pinball game. While you can influence where the customer might go in her journey, you can’t control it or completely predict it. It seems a closer analogy than football to marketing reality, but this too has its limitations.

This post is an open call for nominations for the best sports, or non-sports, analogy that will describe sales and marketing in 2012. Feel free to add your suggestion in the comments section or contact me directly. A steak dinner awaits the best nomination!

This is a post from Marketing Has Changed by John Ellett. Subscribe to my feed.

Why Marketing Is No Longer Like Football

I originally posted this piece on Forbes, but it bears revisiting.

I was a bit surprised by a stat that esteemed industry analyst Mary Meeker recently shared. While print media represents only 8% of consumer time spent, it accounts for 27% of marketers’ media spending. Mobile media, on the other hand, represents 8% of consumer time, yet only .5% of marketers’ media spending. Why the disparity?

Image via CrunchBase

I believe there are three reasons:

1. Mobile advertising has yet to show scalable reach that has a demonstrable ROI. The reach of print advertising is clearly known, and the way consumers interact with print ads has been well researched for decades. Understanding mobile ad engagement is still developing, which has led to less than successful attempts to apply PC Web banner advertising principles to this nascent medium.
2. Buying highly targeted premium inventory has not been easy for agencies to do in the mobile ad world. It is easy in the print and online world, but early mobile ad networks that brought some scale to the table also placed advertisers’ messages in environments where they did not want them to be.
3. Creating ads for smartphones is different than creating them for print ads or online banners. Most agencies have not created them nor have they been asked to. This problem plagued online advertising 15 years ago until firms like PointRoll made the “rich media” ad unit easier to produce.

These issues are going to go away soon. According to Jason Young, former CEO of Ziff-Davis and now CEO of Crisp Media, “The infrastructure for buying quality mobile ad placements and creating engaging mobile ad is getting significantly better.” And he is staking his future on it. Last week, Smart Media Devices, a year-old venture that provides advertisers with scalable and targeted access to high-quality mobile-accessible content, merged with Crisp Media, a pioneering platform for rich-media mobile ad creation. Mr. Young will lead the combined companies.

“The mobile ad market is at the critical stage where premium brands are wanting to play significantly,” said Young. “Yet because barriers to buy still exist, the premium market demands an integrated set of solutions optimized for its unique needs.  We hope to be a catalyst for the industry, by bringing together an unrivaled combination of platform, products and services.”

So as the inhibitors to rolling out mobile campaigns begin to diminish, look for savvy marketers to begin aggressively testing new ways to engage their markets via smartphones.

Mobile ads for Amex, Audi and Sherlock Holmes 2 recently appeared on my smartphone. Any mobile ads caught your attention recently?

This is a post from Marketing Has Changed by John Ellett. Subscribe to my feed.

Why Marketers May Finally Get on the Mobile Advertising Boat

I just got back from a two-day trip to the Bay Area and began to reflect on how different things were compared to a trip just a few years ago. Despite Alec Baldwin’s rants about post-911 travel, many with which I agree, I want to focus on the wonders of post-smartphone travel.

Here are some things that would have been quite a hassle five years ago.

1. Checking e-mail: Once I landed I was able to see my latest e-mail, including a confirmation of plans for the lunch meeting that was still tentative when I took off in the morning.
2. Finding a good restaurant: I was planning to celebrate the new job of a friend and potential client at a nice restaurant near his new office. With the help of Yelp I found a great steakhouse in a convenient location. Using OpenTable I secured a guaranteed reservation in just a few clicks.
3. Navigating to the restaurant: Rental car maps just don’t have the level of detail and advice you need sometimes. But Google Maps directed me right to the venue.
4. Video chatting with my son over coffee: Johnny happened to be in Delhi, India on the start of his two-week adventure. Using Facetime, I could see his expressions as he described his first impressions of a city on the opposite side of the globe.
5. Working out with music: After coffee I got enough motivation to hit the hotel’s fitness center. With the help of Pandora I had the upbeat tunes I needed to get moving.
6. Reconnecting with a former client: Using LinkedIn Mobile I realized a former client had a new job in New York, my destination for the following week. We reconnected and began discussing plans to catch up while I was in Manhattan.
7. Planning my next trip: Realizing that CES is only a month away, I hopped on the Southwest Airlines app and found convenient flights to book before the often sold-out direct flights were gone.
8. Sharing an interesting article: A former colleague posted a link to an interesting article on LinkedIn. I thought it was worth sharing so I tweeted it to about 1,000 of my connections.
9. Ordering wine for Christmas dinner: I got an e-mail from Lot 18, a “flash sales” site for nice wines, featuring a limited availability Cab that would pair nicely with our traditional prime rib roast. A few clicks later, using the company’s mobile-optimized website, a couple of bottles were on the way.

Why do I share such ordinary activities with you? Not because smartphones have made these activities so simple that they are not worth talking about. But because, as marketers, you need to be thinking more aggressively about how to interact with your prospects and customers through their mobile devices. Almost 10% of consumers’ media time is spent on smartphones, yet less than 1% of media budgets are spent there. And the way we interact on smartphones is different from the way we interact when we’re online via a PC. It’s time to integrate mobile behavior into all your programs.

Need help? Give me a call from your smartphone!

This is a post from Marketing Has Changed by John Ellett. Subscribe to my feed.

How My Smartphone Has Changed My Life on the Road (and Why You Should Care)

Here is my annual Thanksgiving week reflection on what I am so thankful for:

1. A family that is healthy enough and resourceful enough to act on our travel wanderlust.
2. Old friends who encourage me and new friends who challenge me. You know who you are!
3. CMOs who are generous enough with their time to tell me their stories and let me share them with others.
4. 20 new inspiring members of the nFusion team. Your energy and enthusiasm are contagious.
5. 30 team members who, through thick and thin, have kept the faith, lived our values and inspired our clients with your work.
6. Clients who trust us and tell me “you have a great team.”
7. The end of economy-induced paralysis. Times aren’t great, but at least they are stable again.
8. Showtime and USA Network for renewing my faith that quality television is still possible.
9. A golf coach who will still work with me even after his better players have success on the PGA tour.
10. The next generation of The First Tee Austin leadership that is carrying the torch and impacting the lives of kids in Austin.
11. As a digital “immigrant,” finally feeling comfortable in my new “country.”

What are you thankful for?

This is a post from Marketing Has Changed by John Ellett. Subscribe to my feed.

11 Things I’m Thankful for in 2011

(I originally posted this on Forbes.com CMO Network in early October.)

This week we lost one of the true marketing geniuses of our lifetime. For much of my professional career (IBM PC, Dell, Power Computing) I competed against Apple. While Steve Jobs was the chief executive officer there was no doubt he was also the chief marketing officer as well.

Image by anredchinn via Flickr

There are three things that he and Apple did better than anyone and I’ve tried to put them into practice whenever possible.

1. Make things easy for customers: Apple has been legendary for its focus on “ease of use,” and the company has pioneered many great products with this mission in mind. But making products and services easy for customers to have a great experience should not be limited to technology firms. Banks, hospitals, insurance companies, auto makers and airlines could learn this lesson from Steve.

2. Develop “whole products”: For years Apple was criticized for the “closed” system approach it used for its Macintosh computers. By controlling the hardware, operating system and many of the peripherals, Apple made the Mac easy to use, but also much more expensive. This ultimately limited the market share for the Mac. However, this whole product philosophy was critical to the success of the iPod. Steve not only envisioned a highly portable music device, he pioneered a new and fair pricing model for music that was made available through the iStore. The music could easily be managed through iTunes, and this combination of iPod, iTunes and iStore transformed how we buy and listen to music. It also reignited the Apple brand and paved the way for the highly successful iPhone and iPad.

3. Create a beloved brand: Few brands have as many passionate fans as Apple. This brand fanaticism has been a result of not only lessons #1 and #2 but also the consistency with which the company communicates. Every touch-point in a consumer’s experience has been executed with the same visual identity and simplicity. From product packaging and advertising to the website and retail stores, the Apple brand has been clearly and consistently delivered. Steve would have it no other way.

While we mourn the loss of a real pioneer, let’s be grateful that Steve Jobs had the vision and courage to show us all how marketing could be done. For me that will be his enduring legacy.

This is a post from Marketing Has Changed by John Ellett. Subscribe to my feed.

Marketing Legacy of Steve Jobs

Yesterday Google announced the acquisition of Motorola Mobility, which was a big surprise for most of us. For more details on this news there’s a good summary on Mashable.

I had dinner with the CMO of Motorola Mobility, Bill Ogle, several months ago at the CMO Council Summit. Among the things we discussed was the possibility of the then recent spin-off from Motorola eventually being acquired. Neither of us had Google on the short list of potential acquirers. But why does this news matter to other marketers?

Take it as another big signal that the smart phone is rapidly becoming THE computing device that will impact how consumers and business decision-makers interact with information and entertainment. According to Pew Internet Research, 25% of smart phone users primarily access the Web from their phones and 23% of adults go online from their phones regularly.

This current adoption pattern has accelerated the need for companies to mobilize their websites. We’re currently helping marketers ranging from restaurants to technology companies deliver a better user experience to smart phone users. Yes, there are many more uses of mobile devices in the marketing mix (text messaging, QR codes and apps to name a few), but if you haven’t prioritized making your website a good experience for mobile users, you may be frustrating a quarter of your visitors.

Want an opinion on how your website is performing for mobile users? Drop me a note or leave a comment here.

This is a post from Marketing Has Changed by John Ellett. Subscribe to my feed.

Google buys Motorola Mobility. So why should marketers care?

There has been a lot of “ink” this week about Google+. Is it the next big thing? Is it just another social network? Did Google finally get something new right? All common questions. My answers are “Not sure yet,” “Not exactly” and “Looks like it.”

So here are three things marketers should do next week:

1. Learn more about it. Chris Brogan wrote a nice post “10 Things CMOs Need To Know About Google+”.  Start by reading it.

2. Set up your profile. Nothing helps you get a better understanding of a new tool than using it. Go to plus.google.com to get started. If you need an invite, let me know and I’ll send you one.

3. Add +1 to you website. It will make it easier for people to share your content and improve your SEO results. Not sure how to do it? Click here for details from Google.

So what is your take on Google+? Will it be the next big thing? Is it just another social network to manage? Did they actually get this one right?

This is a post from Marketing Has Changed by John Ellett. Subscribe to my feed.

3 things marketers should do next week about Google+