I was included in a nice article from the people at a little publication called Forbes. I am pretty proud to have been included here and hope you will give it a read because if you do you will see that I my opportunity in front of their audience to declare myself a wonderful lover.

Welcome Back!

If you have been paying attention to this here blog you’ve probably realized that every post is a living testament to my brilliance with a couple of tips on how to be like me. I wish I could say it was by design but honestly I have a really hard time writing about anyone else but me and my genius, but in the interest of keeping things spicy around here I am going to every once in a while talk up someone else and let them know I am impressed.

So here goes.

American Poet Laureate Jennifer Lopez, JLo for short once declared that Her Love Don’t Cost a Thing…and like JLo, I am pretty…and brand loyal (making me pretty brand loyal) but the list of brands I am unwavering for is a small as is hers I imagine. Now that I think of it I am the Herb Tarlek of Brand Loyalty since the brands I am crazy about fall under shoes and belts and underwear, hers are Fiat and other things from around the block. But enough about her, lets make this about me. You probably already know my allegiance in shoes is with Nike but i’ve never spoken about the fact that I only wear JON WYE belts and have so for over a decade.  I have been a fan of Jon since a friend introduced me to his stuff but recently he did something really amazing that is worth sharing.

A while back I was scanning The Facebook looking for old friends who have picture folders labeled Halloween and I saw the above picture.

A keychain is the last thing I needed and honestly would have probably just given it to someone but for $2 I wanted to support Jon because I love what he does and he has always been cool to me in the past with hand written thank you’s, pre-emtive offer to replace something when we suspected the item wasn’t what it should have been and other such things that make him a good guy.

SO with all that in mind I order a keychain and much to my surprise I got an email from him (might have been automated but it didn’t seem it) minutes after placing my order letting me know that the keychain offer was really a clever rouse to reward super fans for being awesome and I was actually getting shipped a new belt (Valued around $70) and I just had to email him back saying if I wanted something bold or tame.

After the excitement wore off I started analyzing this and it dawned on me that he got me, and 19 others to PAY MONEY to self identify as super fans.

When I consult or speak at conferences  about startup marketing I always say it is so important to know your first 100 fans. Lean on them and make them happy and the comments I always get back are “How do we find them? How much will it cost to identify them?” And I always say “You need to want to do it and on top of that you need to be a little creative. Use things like Dead Inventory so people can experience your product and tell people about it”

…and that is why this idea is really amazing.

This is the part of the post where I usually list a bunch of reasons why or how this idea came to be but since I didn’t create this idea (but will probably borrow it one day) I figured it only fair that Jon gets to tell you about the genesis himself….oh and when he’s done you should go check out his stuff.

“About 6 years ago I had key-chains made that were going to act as hang tags for the belts.  I was not as savvy with my funds as I am now and I convinced myself that this, this key-chain hang-tag, was going to be what completed the aesthetic of the belt.  THIS was going to make customers say, ‘oh yeah, this is a real professional product.’  Turns out I was just blowing money, adding more headache, and what customers really wanted was a top notch belt.  Any of the other frills were just that.  So I put more money into the refinement of the belt.  About a year ago I came across a few lost cases of these key-chains hidden in my workshop, which (pops collar) is no longer in my parents garage.  My first thought was, young Jon Wye, you really knew how blow some money on stupid stuff.  Then Jeff (my cohort) and I started waxing on some ideas.  We weren’t about to throw them out but wanted to do something positive with them.  Very quickly we knew it had to be something that was going to show appreciation for our long time customers; people that have been with us so long that they would really appreciate a key chain and all the years that have gone into the company.  So, we decided if some fan out there was crazy enough to spend $2 on a rubber keychain then they must really like us and there’s a big chance they have been rocking us for years.  But selling a key-chain for $2 is just commerce and doesn’t show our customer appreciation.  We decided that for the first 20 customers to order a key-chain, with no expectation of a deal, we would send them a free belt.   It took a little bit to get rid of the stock we set aside because we didn’t advertise, except for facebook.  We wanted people to find it naturally.  So once an order came in for a belt we fired off an e-mail to each customer.  It started like this, “YOU BOUGHT A KEYCHAIN FOR $2?  How silly?!?!?  Not really.  Amazing choice.  If you bought a keychain it means you really like our brand and what we are doing.  For your loyalty we offer you a free random belt!”  We then asked they tell no one and keep our secret.  And it gave me a chance to really connect with the people that rock my little brand the hardest and who have really seen us grow.  In the beginning we made amazing belts, but now they are unbeatable!”

Oh, and if you are wondering, this is the belt that was sent to me.

Don’t let anyone tell you an idea isn’t good. Several times in my career I have had ideas good enough to be fired for and when that happens you either do them and ask for forgiveness later or you hold on to them and never stop looking for the place to share the idea with people. I have done both. Today’s post is a little different because not only is it to remind you how wonderful I am but also to show why you should never let a great idea die or get cast aside.

Several years ago I interviewed for my dream job as senior marketing person at one of the larger entertainment studios in the world. After several interviews I was asked to pitch some ideas to get some attention for one of their publishing properties and presented two ideas I loved. First idea was implemented three years later resulting in several millions of dollars for them (it was a new regime so I am not saying they stole the idea but it was nice to see my idea validated and for the record any super smart person would have noticed this line extension, I just noticed it 3 years earlier then their smartest people) and the second was a series of Live Art Shows in 6 cities that were hosting a complimentary event where local artists would paint their interpretations of iconic characters owned by this studio in real time to music at a charity event where all the works of art would be photographed with the end result of creating an amazing coffee table book (ties to publishing) collecting all the art created as well as the spectacle of the actual event with the fancy people attending etc.  Each event had charity component donating money raised to a local literacy programs (more ties to publishing) and after the actual splashy event the gallery would keep the works up for a limited time so schools and other groups could attend and see the finished pieces and people could purchase them.

Long Story short I didn’t get the job, didn’t get to execute the idea I was in love with resulting in me falling to my knees looking up to the moon with tears in my eyes screaming “WHHHHHYYYYYYY?”

Don’t feel bad. I ended up OK.

Fast Forward 5 years and I am launching Urbandig.com into the New York Market. For those keeping score, Urbandig is the company I linked to in the last post regarding the Peta Protest Stunt. Anyway in case you’ve forgotten, Urbandig was an ios app full of “Off the beaten path” tours in selected cities with the brand promise of showing you things you probably didn’t know existed. Tours featured Street Art, Cougar Bars, Dive Bars, Vinyl Record Shops, Vintage Clothing and lots of interesting Food places.

Each city’s content in the app was unique so each city launch had to be as well and decided for NYC I would finally execute an art party (minus the coffee table book follow through) because NYC sees a lot of startup events but few have ever seen a spectacle similar to this…and I am happy to say it was a huge success…and I’ll tell you why after you look at a few pictures.

Here is why:

1- It stuck to the Brand Promise of opening up experiences you might not have known existed.

2- Paired the event with my personal birthday day party allowing me to seed a small portion of the room with people who love me.

3- Word got out quickly that this was the event of the night to be at and there was a 40+ person line up outside with the result of instant credibility as something new and interesting while also getting people to download and try the app out of FOMO (fear of missing out).

4- Selected the date to co-inside with the New York City Comic Con so I could get the amazing Jim Mahfood to paint as well as bring artist friends to ensure the spectacle would actually be a spectacle. Working with Jim was a key element to making this great as he invited all the artists and vetted the DJ. He is as much responsible for this evening being memorable as anyone else. [Lesson: Work with great people and let them do what makes them great.]

5- By making each launch different but still relevant to the core message you open up opportunities to tell the previous stories of other city launches, further building the myth of Urbandig.

6- I was offered a job as a full time party promoter for the event space we held this in and get emails every 6 months from the owner asking me to do another.

6- This event should have cost about $10k but was pulled off for under $1500 and a whole lot of bartering….but that is a story for another time.

7- The art was so good that the gallery we hosted the event in kept them (since each wood board weighed 150 lbs and I couldn’t drag them out) and made hardwood floors out of the pieces further adding to the story and the spectacle of the myth.

Sometimes the timing may be wrong for an idea or the brand is a bad fit but it a great idea is always a great idea. When you get them make sure you write them down because one day everything will make sense and you will create a memorable experience..because that is all anyone really asks for in life.

I’ve helped or have been responsible for launching a bunch of products and startups in my career so I think I have earned the right to say I am really good at this stuff.

I wrote a while ago about how I hired people to pretend to be PETA so they could picket/protest our company launch event to get a lot of attention.  I love that example because it’s clever and different but what do you do when you are launching something for a more conservative brand. How do you get attention and create excitement when homeless protesters are off the table?

Thanks for asking.

The answer is simple; you smash your competition with a sledgehammer and invite your customers to do the same!

Many years ago when I was launching Zipcar (a car sharing service that allows people to rent cars by the hour with all the gas paid for) in Toronto I needed a stunt to get people to know we had launched, capture some media attention, get our members involved in some way and send a message to the ladies of Toronto that I knew my way around physical destruction cementing my bad boy image.

The solution I came up with was to buy half the parking spots in a street level outdoor parking lot next to the sidewalk (way easier and quicker then street permits) of a highly trafficked business pedestrian area and drop two gas guzzling cars purchased for under $300 from a junk yard (spray painted in company colors) with lots of signage inviting people to “Take a Swing at the High Price of Gas!” and for a small donation (of any amount they wish) they got 2 mins to do whatever they wanted to the gas guzzling cars.

Sounds simple and brilliant.

It was, here’s why:

1- The core message of Zipcar was/is that car sharing is an alternative to car ownership (the costs involved as well as contributing to pollution etc) so by giving people (Customers got invited personally and random people were drawn in from the walking traffic. Nobody was planted) the opportunity to mentally and physically destroy the status quo is a concept people are not going to forget it very soon.

2- This was a photo worthy spectacle that people talked about in person and on Social Media. Many people grabbed photos of themselves hitting the cars or just the demolished vehicles but whatever photo they desired there was lots of branding/messaging on the cars to be shared with the photos and the stories to be told with the photos.

3- People got to vent frustration verbally and physically about a pain point. (the high price of gas) as well as/or live out a fantasy of destroying a car with a sledgehammer.

4- It was safe. No one will be offended by saying Gas is too expensive, no direct competitors were mentioned or even hinted at and no one is going to pass up a chance to do something “criminal” that is in a safe environment and completely allowed.

5- It created a memory and when you are trying to introduce something into a new market or something different that may require a behavior change you need to be memorable and credible…and this was both.

6- It had a small charity component that allowed us to donate some money to a local organization, the very cool people at Rethink Breast Cancer.

All of these things combined resulted in a surge of media, a lot of signups and a conversation starter for us and the people involved. All in all it was a success. I know this  because while I forgot all about it (I am a very busy person)  I was reminded of this stunt recently by an email from someone who participated and still tells the story of the day and maybe my far too pale legs.

If you get nothing else from this post please remember this: Conservative doesn’t have to be boring. You can stimulate imagination without antagonizing people or making them feel uncomfortable…but uncomfortable is funnier, to me at least.

So what have you done lately that was memorable?

Welcome Back! 

Now that the small talk is out of the way lets jump into this weeks story.

I am a better networker than you…and probably a better lover too but thanks to my generosity and good mood (and my desire to get my own TV show) I am going to give you a few secrets to help to make you better at both.

I call this week’s entry “Did I ever tell you about the time….Ala Peanut Butter Sandwiches Edition”

I am of the belief that every time I leave my house there is the possibility I could meet someone that may help me in my job or career. History has shown me that you never know who will sit next to you on a plane or tap your foot under a bathroom stall in a Minneapolis Airport. Random stuff happens all the time but not all opportunities are random and when you know ahead of time, like a conference or a cocktail party you need a plan to be memorable over all the other people in the room because if you think about it, life really is just about being remembered.

So here are a few things I have done (and feel free to copy but if you do you need to send me $5 in the mail)

I prefer to network with a partner because I can be funnier and more comfortable if I have someone I know but that isn’t always possible so a tactic I have used many times is to hire Magicians. There is no better ice breaker than close up magic and if you entertain people it gets them to drop their guard and welcome your product/service pitch. In Vegas a few years back I was lucky to hire Steven Best to be my networking partner. His name is appropriate since all the other magicians I’ve worked with have been poor substitutes.  So much so that once I had to fire someone half way through an event because he kept hiding cards in his underwear and asking the people I was trying to meet to “go get the card”.

That never happened with Steven. The thing that made him so great was that besides being a nice guy he understood that the goal of the night was to make people remember me and he had a great solution. I would find someone to chat up and would say Hi. From there I would introduce him we would do a Penn & Teller like bit where I did all the talking (including a pitch) and he entertained. He would do trick or two  and when he was done he would take one of my business cars (that were soaked in gasoline) and light it on fire,  let it burn for 10 seconds and shake it till the flame was out.  Somehow the card was in perfect (unburned) condition and he would give it to whoever we were chatting up. Needless to say we were the talk of the conference and people were seeking us out to see the trick and get a business card.

If magicians aren’t your thing you can always use mimes.

I hired a mime to keep me company at SXSW one year. Same idea as above, offer something so cool that people won’t mind hearing your pitch and not just wanting to get your card to follow up but actually desiring to follow up and speak again. There was no fire with Tharpo (my mime friend) so in its absence we had to get more creative. I would walk up to groups of people chatting and I would politely interrupt them all and ask if I could ask the group a question. From there I would go into a story about how I recently found out I had a brother, and while overjoyed by the news there is one problem (at this point he would jump into view from his hiding spot and start miming a box) “I don’t speak Mime and he doesn’t speak at all”.  I would ask if they would help me translate, most said yes and we would then go through a version of mime charades where he would pantomime our product with others guessing the key parts and me filling in any of the holes of the pitch.

Both of these ideas resulted in instant recollection when doing follow ups and closing a lot of new customers…oh yeah, during the event we had an opportunity to be on CNN and, I let Tharpo speak on my behalf with the result of the interviewer doing the pitch for me.

So why is this stuff brilliant?

I am a bit insulted I need to explain this but if I must…basically if people are excited to be pitched your product/idea and are so excited by the experience that they tell their friends to stop what they are doing so they can hear you pitch them then you sorta won.

Same thing goes for your companies marketing…so what have you done lately that was memorable?

Welcome Back! Last post I told you the story about pulling off a night maneuver to acquire a silent sales force while at Zipcar. I have a slew of more Zipcar stories and will get back to them soon but with conference season coming I want to share a few stories that revolve around making a boring keynote presentation something that will get people to carry you out of the room on their shoulders singing “for he’s a jolly good fellow”

I call this weeks entry “Did I ever tell you about the time…Harlem Globetrotters edition”

I get to speak at a lot of conferences and I think the reason is that I am handsome and smart but putting the obvious aside for a moment I think the main reason I get asked so often is that I make every talk an experience and I do this because most conference speakers are boring and I am not like most conference speakers.

Before I get to my examples that will impress you greatly its worth it to mention that while I purposely try to sabotage my own talks I never mess with the actual content. There is a great line in the TV show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip that goes “Content may be king but Distribution pays Content’s Mortgage”. I think about the content and how its delivered so if you hire me to speak the audience gets a great talk with lots of learning and inspiration but what they also get is something they will tell their friends about because chances are its something they don’t see everyday.

Some of the stunts I have pulled range from safe to ridiculous.

A few years ago I hired a high school basketball team to come onstage with me half way through my talk wearing Harlem Globetrotters shirts and do the Globetrotter weave with me in the middle.

I’ve hired a man to heckle me and engage in a fight during a talk and while this would be funny enough on its own the fight was actually scripted and we were screaming at each other with the lessons of the talk so if you paid attention you still would learn things in and we entertained.

I hired a black woman to sit in chair on stage. Why is this a stunt? Well I was speaking at a conference that got criticized that there were no women or people of colour speaking at the conference so I fixed that and got a lot of people talking because I never referenced the woman on stage but half way through people figured out the stunt and it was applauded. I know this wasn’t a solution to the actual situation but it was a statement.

I have hired a woman (do you see a theme here) to accuse me of fathering her baby and asking for a paternity test during the Q&A portion of my talk. Why? Because it is funny.

I usually start my talks with a personal story and every now and then it is a tale of molestation.

I have had woman throw panties on stage during talks but this wasn’t pre-arranged.

More than once I have gotten a phone call during a talk and occasionally I will stop my talk to chat for a few minutes…and once during the talk with the heckler I had him call me once he was removed so we could finish our fight.

One of my favorites was the time I had my mom on the screen via Skype during my talk so she can keep telling me I’m smart and doing a good job.

…and of course there was the time I had 5 people planted in the audience to rush the stage and carry me off singing “For he’s a jolly good fellow”.

So why is this stuff important?

Because if people don’t remember your talk then what is the point of doing it?

Same thing goes for your companies marketing…so what have you done lately that was memorable?

So if you read my last post you already know that I have a new job. Happy to report that it’s pretty awesome and I am happy. Part of my role is to continue to be doing all the incredible things that will get people excited, talking and help grow amazing startup companies and brands that I am working on but the main difference is I won’t be as front and center as I used to be but rather doing these things from behind the curtain like the wizard in that movie with Michael Jackson, Diana Ross and of course Nipsey Russell. I am ok with that but in an effort to stay relevant and attractive to the opposite sex I have decided to post once a week an amazing idea that I have either done or want to do so that I stay top of mind with the goal that when I walk into a room people whisper under their breath “There goes the smartest man in the world” or “There goes the greatest living creative marketing person ever”. If that is too much I would also accept “I think I need to change my pants”

So without any further modest buildup I now bring you a new feature I am calling “Did I ever tell you about the time…”

Many years ago I worked for a little company called Zipcar. You may have heard of them since they are now a publically traded company boasting that they are the largest car sharing service around. My role at Zipcar was simple. I was the first international employee and was given the task of launching and growing the Canadian market with very little budget.

I live for these kind of challenges and am pretty good with solving them.

In the beginning one of the many marketing things we did was to pass out postcards promoting Zipcar through street teams. This was very effective because our teams were made up of awesome people but with limited resources we could only cover a one or two small parts of the city at a time and this became a problem since in my eyes we weren’t maximizing the opportunity.

So to recap.

Problem: How do you scale something that is working when you don’t have the people resources to do so?

Solution: or at least my solution, and be prepared to be amazed!

All throughout the city of Toronto there are newspaper style boxes offering free catalogs and marketing collateral for things like real estate or cars for sale and these boxes are chained to the free alternative and other daily newspaper boxes. They are always in high traffic areas (usually next to public transit) and actually quite used as far as emptied often.

I wanted my own box. (something I’ve said more than once in my life)

Since I didn’t know where to get one made or could even afford one I did the next best thing and dressed in black from head to toe and unchained all the unused Learning Annex boxes (The Learning Annex wasn’t operating in town any longer or at the least had abandoned their boxes), threw them in my unmarked suv with the plates removed (I watch a lot of movies) and brought all the boxes back to my lair for their transformation, and by transformation I mean they got painted Zipcar green with a very attractive Zipcar sticker on them with a printed sticker saying Amazing offer insidie!.

Once the paint was dried they were returned back to the street and re-chained to all the other boxes but now stocked with Zipcar marketing collateral all with a unique promo code on them to track the effectiveness of the boxes.

Outcome:

While this was probably close to 8 years ago and my memory is fuzzy on exact metrics the boxes (collectively – there were 5 of them) brought in about half the amount of new members as the street team, were used in media photo opportunities and created a different impression as to the size and credibility of this new brand to the area. The street team was always more effective because nothing replaces the human interaction but it was a very low cost passive sales team

that created extra marketing touches while at the same time allowing myself to live out a bad sitcom premise for two nights. Also its probably important to notice that no one at the ole’ head office knew about this or it probably would never had happened.

As you can see this is a pretty small idea with a big impact. What ideas have you done lately to make an impact?

When I look at my Google analytics I can see that the blog posts that get the most engagement and traffic are the ones when I announce that I am leaving or have left my current job.

People really seem to love that stuff so in an effort to give the people what they want and become a better more widely read blogger who gets traffic and such I am going to give the readers what they want, but before I can I need to actually write about getting a job and that’s the point of this particular post.

So without any further pre-amble I am pretty jazzed to announce that I have joined the Toronto based Innovation Firm Kinetic Cafe as member of the core Innovation team working with Kinetic Café’s existing clients (Microsoft, LG, KFC, Pizza Hut and Huffington Post) as well as leading the Kinetic Startups program focusing on incubating and investing in upcoming startups.

For those not in the know, Kinetic Café is a Toronto-based innovation consulting firm focused on helping forward-thinking enterprises & disruptive startups challenge convention, imagine new possibilities & successfully bring meaningful products, services & experiences to the market that meet the needs of today’s connected consumer through world-class strategy & design capabilities with the deep technology & production expertise needed, in-house to bring ideas to life from concept to reality.

But even better than all that fancy talk I can honestly say I am excited to do some cool stuff here.

So if you are a Startup and would like to chat about working with me, or a big brand who would like to be taken to the next level of incredible please check out the Kinetic Cafe website and drop us a line…and tell ‘em Large Marge sent ya!

Here is a nice Long Form interview I did a few months ago for the Suprpod Blog. I like how it came out except since I did it by voice and not typing it out there are a few moments where I go in all sorts of Directions.

Some of the things discussed in the interview are Word Of Mouth Marketing, Superheroes, Books, Marketing Advice, Career Advice and a story or two about Mad Magazine.

Let me know what you think!

I am a big fan of Kickstarter Campaigns for a few reasons. 1- I kinda dig being able to help people follow their dreams and passion, and 2-A lot of the stuff I support really speaks to me and doesn’t always translate to a critical mass idea that could/should/would find funding without people like me. So basically, I wouldn’t get to see some really cool stuff that I selfishly want to consume.

Case in point, the last few things I’ve backed are a Documentary about The Amazing Randi, A documentary on the history and early days of Mad Magazine and a Documentary on Improve Everywhere.

I like Documentaries.

Thing is, I had to really think about what I’ve supported recently because in the case of films you usually don’t get to see what you’ve supported for 12 to 18 months after you’ve given your money. That’s completely understandable since they money is going to begin or complete the project in question but what happens is that these projects loose all the good will and excitement around them in the eyes of the people who supported them and in my case I forget all together about my backing and in a strange way loose all interest and anticipation.

Sure there are email updates in between but no one is going to tell friends about email updates.

To fix this Kickstarters should think more about what can they include in the incentives that happen right away, build community and fans so that there is conversation the whole time or at least some of the time leading up to the finishing of the project because if I keep giving money to back projects and lose the excitement around them or just forget about them I will lose my desire to continue to back projects.

A great example of keeping the excitement going is Flatlight. They had an assortment of incentives that all included their product but also had a few that really stood out. [Flatlight is a credit card sized flastlight that you keep in your wallet].

As part of their incentive offering they had a “First Date/Horror Movie” package that included a scary mask with a flatlight. That is the sort of thing that people will talk about it…heck I’m talking about it. I assume that the mask could be sent early to get people excited about the experience and make the wait for the rest of the incentive less of an issue.

If people take more thought in the “immediate gratification” element of their Kickstarter campaigns people this format as a whole will create more excitement and in my opinion people will more likely back more projects and feel as if they are really apart of a revolution instead of being surprised when something actually arrives that they forgot all about.