What makes this commercial so great?  Well, “The Force,” features a little kit who is dressed like Darth Vadar to tries to work the Force on the family dog, the washing machine, and a doll. As the powerful Star Wars music plays in the background, the Force doesn't seem to be working.  So, the kid tries again on his dad's Passat as it's being parked in the driveway.  And, it works! (Little does he know that his dad is using his key to remote control the car.)

Watching this makes me proud to be a Volkwagen owner.  The ad combines a favorite movie with a car I like and it brings a smile to my face.  Great job!

   

My big take away of the morning though came from his answer to a question about how he coaches his players on a day-to-day basis towards a championship. McDonnell said that when he was a player at the Citadel, he met with his head coach one-on-one about three times total.  While that was effective 20 years ago, it's not now.  Today's students are in the Age of Information.  This means that they are constantly getting information from TV, the Internet, their phones, etc. and that they need to get constant feedback on that.  As marketers, marketing to our audience is really the same thing.  We can't control the information that our audience is receiving from all of the places/ways they receive it.  But, if we don't participate in the stream of information, we risk losing their attention or getting our message to them at all.  Knowing your customer means knowing how they get their information and make their decisions and being there.

And, now for the Wisdom of Will Smith.  I wouldn't want to be between him and his goal, would you?

Knox’s presentation was titled "Brand Manager 2.0" and it focused on managing a brand and digital marketing from a big brand perspective.  He quoted the American Marketing Association when he explained that marketing has changed more over the last three to five years than in decades before that. How do we marketers survive and thrive.  Well, in five easy steps:

1. Become a marketing technopologist - this is from a WSJ article which originally coined the term that describes a person at the intersection of anthropoligist, technologist, and marketer.

2. Try purpose-inspired brand building - as Know explained many of the products that have been marketed over the last 20 years have focused on upgrading products to better, faster, cheaper, whiter, brighter, etc.  Companies that are standing out from the pack and doing the right thing include those like Nike who is "bringing inspirational innovation to every athlete" and (a favorite of mine) LEGO who is "providing fuel for children's imaginations."

3. Practice consumer collaboration - if you think about it, the most successful companies stay close to their customers.  Knox gave the example of how Starbucks is running "My Starbucks Idea" to gather feedback from their customers.

4. Facilitate conversations and community - Knox's example here was a site created by P&G called "Man of the House" that focused on the men who are shopping and taking care of kids who were not only P&G customers but who appreciated talking with other guys like themselves and who don't want want to be marketed to like the lady of the house.

5.  Get to know the everywhere shopper marketer - marketers need to understand that the "digital revolution" is all about customer empowerment.  Every product review, recommendation, piece of signage, and ad is helping customers make decisions.  To ignore that this is happening can be a waste of your marketing budget and efforts.

Special thanks to Jason Falls for organizing it and to Kix.com, the Kentucky Indiana Exchange, an online community that presents a new opportunity for growing, retaining and attracting talent in the Wired65 region for their sponsorship of the event.

The book begins with his tales of early entrepreneurial ventures like his worm farm.  It takes him through Harvard University and his first experience with crowdsourcing at exam time.  And, it goes through his startup success that lead to running the Internet incubator that lead him to becoming the CEO of Zappos.

Zappos gained fame for growing to be > $ 1 billion in about ten years which lead to Amazon.com buying Zappos for $940 million in a stock and cash deal in June, 2009.  But, it's the core values that really set the company apart from most others.  The company culture is a competitive advantage.

Zappos' Core Values Make Them Unique (and Super Successful!)

The company publishes a "Culture Book" annually that is made up of contributions from employees. All employees that are hired for their corporate office, regardless of position, are required to undergo a 4-week customer loyalty training course, which includes at least 2 weeks of talking on the phone with customers in the call center at full salary. 

After a week of training, the new employees are offered $2,000 to leave the company immediately if they think that it's not for them. This is to make sure that employees are there because they love of the job and not the money.

As Anthony Robbins writes in the "Praise for Delivering Happiness" section, "When you focus on increasing the happiness of your employees, colleagues, vendors, and customers, you not only increase your own happiness, but you chances for success."

My Favorite Insight

Page 209 lists the "Top 10 Ways to Instill Customer Service into Your Company".  Sure, making customer service a priority for the whole company is key as is empowering your customer service reps.  But my favorite insight is #6 - "Don't hide you 1-800 number.  It's a message not just to your customers, but to your employees as well."  This just hit me as so profound because I've noticed how hard it is to find a number to call someone at a company when you have a problem.  Take for example, when I was in Quicken the other day and I accidentally deleted my checking account.  At that "Yikes!  Somebody please help me!" moment, I didn't want to read FAQs to find the answer to my problem online, I wanted to talk to somebody...and quickly!  After combing the site, I couldn't find a phone number, but I did finally find live chat and someone was able to help me quickly.  While my problem got solved, I did resent that as a Quicken customer for the last 10 years, they didn't think enough of me to make it easy for me to call them with a problem.  The Zappos folks have it right.

If you're looking for a good business book that will make you look at things a different way in your business, check out Delivering Happiness.  And, if you'd like to meet the author, go see the Delivering Happiness bus when it makes a stop in your town.  I think I'll go see it when it gets to Boston in September

Geolocation Software is Here to Stay

For years, I've heard pitches from entrepreneurs about direct marketing to my cell phone so that as I walk through a mall I can get barraged with coupons from retailers to come inside and shop.  That always sounded like a nightmare to me.  And, something that benefited a retailer and would annoy me. 

With today's geolocation software, smart phone or Internet-connected computers can be identified in terms of a meaningful location like a street address rather then just a set of geographic coordinates.  Using programs like Foursquare becomes more like a game you can play with your friends.  And, it's finally coming around with promotions from firms like Starbucks with $1 off coupons for people who have reached mayor status (those with the most visits to a location.)

Foursquare Offers Analytics for Business

As of March of this year, check-in-based Foursquare has added analytics tools for businesses. A dashboard provides data such as total number of customer check-ins, unique visitors to the site, gender comparisons, and breakdowns by time of day.  And, of course, businesses will be able to shoot out coupons and promotions to Foursquare members as well.  Foursquare users can opt-in to how they'd like to receive this information (through Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

I'm told the cool kids don't hook up their Foursquare account through Twitter or Facebook, but prefer to share information with their Foursquare friends instead.  For security reasons, this could ensure that you're Foursquare location doesn't appear on sites like Please Rob Me who is trying to raise awareness around oversharing of information.  Instead, when you check into your local burger joint on a Friday night, you can see if any of your friends might be there too without advertising that you're not home.

A Chat With Barbara and Jody

The day began with a chat with, Barbara Lynch and Jody Adams, two Boston restaurateurs who once worked together right around the corner at Michela's Restaurant.  When asked where the most creative food was coming from in the Boston area, both answered "Cambridge."  And when asked what was the most important technology affecting the Boston restaurant business, it was a toss up between OpenTable and the Microplane grater.

Social Media Case Study: Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse

Justin Levy of New Media Labs, talked about how after buying into Caminito Argentinean Steakhouse, he  immediately cut the traditional marketing budget by approximately 80% and began implementing a social media strategy that lead to increased sales.  He said that you should think of your blog as your home base and that you should not get hung up on other platforms like Facebook or Twitter.  Always think of what a platform can do for you and use it to your advantage, but remember that your website and your blog belong to you and are your magnet for attracting business.

How Are They Doing It?

There was a great panel made up @eatBoston, b.good restaurants, City Search, Yelp, Upstairs on the Square, Amy Traverso, and Zagat who talked about how they are using social media in action.  Of special interest to me was listening to Mary-Catherine Deibel of Upstairs at the Square (a favorite restaurant of mine) talking about marketing today.  She said that they rarely buy advertising any more.  Instead they depend on "capturing the hearts and the e-mail addresses of their customers" and marketing to them via e-mail and special events.

Geolocation and You

It's fascinating to see the technology of Foursquare and Foodspotting in its nascent stage.  It's amazing to see folks (or perhaps geeks like me) using geolocation technology available through their smart phones to learn more about what's good on food and drinkwise where ever they are.  Already a Foursquare user, I downloaded the Foodspotting app to my iPhone while it was being presented.  Can't wait to start using it in my neighborhood and when I'm on the road.

Thanks, Tyson & team for pulling this event together.  You deserve all of the great praise you're going to get for pulling the foodie community in Boston together for this event.  Bon appetit!

Even though he doesn't have a driver's license, he's a fan of Chevy Camaro's and would be perfect in an ad to promote them.  I can see him in an ad now "When I Grow Up, I Want to Drive A Chevy Camaro."

Great marketing still begins with a great product or service.  If you haven't developed something that somebody wants, then you've got nothing.  The old definition of product management: know your customer, know your market, know your competition, and know your product hasn't changed.  If you haven't developed a product built on that foundation, then what you're doing is potentially taking something to market that no one ever wanted.  Now, it will be cheaper on your marketing budget, if you simply decide to tweet about your product that if you launch it at a major trade show with a splashy TV ad campaign, but it's still a waste of time and money if no one wants what you're selling.

Marketing Today

Marketing today means more analytics for measuring how online programs are working than the guys in Mad Men ever had.  While we get to see immediately how many people have searched on the terms used to describe our products on the website and through press releases, the old print advertisers had to measure effectiveness with product sales figures when they came in.  Marketing today also means repurposing content in multiple ways to get the message out on Twitter, Facebook, blogs, white papers, brochures, and ebooks.  The goal should always be to either build awareness or generate leads by using content to send prospects back to the website for more information.

There is no magic pill for getting your message out to your market.  All the new technology and distribution channels in the world won't help you sell something that no one needs.  Although, if you don't know what you're doing, there are plenty of people out there who would love to sell you a magic pill!

The Christian Science Monitor recently reported on a new way to apply to Tufts University that I found really interesting - the YouTube essay.  Student applicants are able to create a 1-minute video that demonstrates creativity and shows a little more about a student than the 450-word essay.  It doesn't have to be professionally done, just uploaded to the Internet with a URL.  About 1,000 of the 15,000 applicants for Tufts sent one in.  I've inserted my favorite video below.  The rest of the favorites can be found on The Christian Science Monitor site or on YouTube.  To date, one video has pulled in over 55,000 hits!