Marketing Matters

Archive for May, 2009

I’ll confess that my original title for this post was “It’s Cool, It’s Useful, It Makes Life Simpler – It’s from Microsoft???” Like most people, I’ve done my fair share of Microsoft bashing. After all, I use Vista, so that’s really no surprise. But I have to give credit where credit is due: Bing is really cool, very useful and even pretty.

Haven’t heard of Bing yet? It’s designed to do to Google what Google did to AltaVista  – lay it to waste by making life exponentially easier for the people who use it.

Bing’s introductory video does a good job at making it clear that this is a serious tool designed with the user in mind. That’s great, of course, but for me, though, what stands out the most is the approach Microsoft is taking with its marketing. The thing that impresses me is that it’s so thorough: they employed standard big-brand tactics like issuing a press release and doing a tradeshow launch, but then they created an interesting video that informs you about Bing’s functionality pleasantly in less than 3 minutes, and they make it easy for you to follow their progress on Twitter and Facebook.

As if that weren’t already an exceptional marketing program, they went and did it all really well. The video lets you know exactly why you should care and why we’re all probably going to end up using Bing. It elicits more “oh cool!” and “hey, look at this” reactions than most campaigns. The social media pages have actual information on them. And the site itself is sleek and well-designed.

I want to make it clear that I’m not just swooning for no good reason. I’m swooning for two good reasons: first, Microsoft really rose to the occasion in marketing Bing well. Second, it’s actually good.

To my friends in Redmond, my hat is off to you. Thanks for the pleasant surprise.

As if you need another reason to fast-forward over commercials on TV or ignore them in a magazine, have you noticed how most ad campaigns are increasingly cynical?

Apparently, someone told the major advertising agencies that a brand can only build an audience right now by appealing to our sense of snark. It’s actually gotten so bad that every time I’ve mentioned the subject to friends lately, I get another handful of examples that support the point. Don’t know what I mean? Just look at Old Spice, Super 8 and even Cheetos. Old Spice has no idea what its brand means anymore, Super 8 is shouting at me and Cheetos belongs on an after-school movie about clinical depression. It’s pathetic.

A brand is a promise a company makes about its products to its target audience. It’s supposed to be about a positive sense of emotion and community. If you don’t see something you want to be a part of, why buy that brand and not a competing one? Are we, the audience, really supposed to feel addressed by shouting sarcasm and lost identity?

Enter Cat Stevens.
After 30 years of silence, Cat came back. OK, well, he’s Yusuf Islam now, but his new album, Roadsinger, is out and he’s making rounds on TV (check out his interview with Stephen Colbert here), talking about peace and openness and singing about it, too.

He may have changed his name to Yusuf, but he sounds just like Cat: He’s delivering songs with a message and a point and he rewards listeners with insight and reflection along with memorable melodies that you find yourself singing quietly later.

It’s amazing that he can have such a positive and educational message, encased in a 30 year-old brand, while everyone around him is broadcasting the exact opposite. I don’t think he would have had the same impact a year ago as he does right now. The contrast wouldn’t have been as crass. Most of what we’re hearing these days is louder, more aggressive and more cynical than we’ve ever heard before.

I don’t know if it’s more dispiriting to hear those commercials or to think that that’s what marketers believe resonates now. The only thing I can think to say is, “Yell all you want, advertisers, I’ll just turn up the volume on Roadsinger.”

It’s no secret that, a year ago, I lost my job due to the recession and that’s when I returned to my roots as a consultant. Since I’ve had the opportunity to talk publicly about what it means to lose your job and how to find a new one (on Fox News and on behalf of TheLadders.com, respectively), I’ve thought a lot about how to keep your head above water when you find unemployment has robbed you of your routine, your community of colleagues and your self-confidence.

Here are four suggestions on how to make the best of a bad situation:

Connect with family and friends.
Build your community at home and make time for the people and things you didn’t have enough time for before. Personally, I spent a lot of time with my (now) two year-old son. Nothing takes the edge off your worries like playing with a baby.

Network with every business contact you’ve ever made.
Smart networking is in everyone’s best business interest. You’ve probably gone to great lengths to build up your social media contacts (if you haven’t, do so), but most deals are sealed face to face. Find your Twitter followers, LinkedIn contacts and Facebook friends who live in your area and arrange to meet. Are you a member of an online business group? Arrange for the whole group to get together to meet and put faces to those names. You’ll keep in touch online, but you’ll find the relationships are deeper and more useful once you’ve met in person.

For me, one of the best occasions I’ve had for this has been monthly meetings of Brandhackers. Nothing reminds you of your talents like being in a room full of colleagues, whether you’re a new-found freelancer or just looking to connect.

Create a sense of accomplishment for yourself.
Do all those things you always said you’re going to do but never had time for, be it cleaning out your basement, getting more involved in local politics or unpacking that last box from your most recent move.

I never thought I’d be inclined to fix a roof, but when I realized mine needed fixing, I taught myself how. And since no rain is pouring in at the moment (and it’s raining hard right now), I’m guessing I didn’t do too bad a job.

Learn. They say a wise man knows just how little he knows, so invite someone you consider accomplished to breakfast or lunch and have them tell their story and learn from their successes and failures. You’ll be amazed by how generous people are with their knowledge.

I do this every chance I get. Those conversations have led me to returning to my roots as a consultant as well as to finding new clients. And I’ve learned a lot about people I truly admire at the same time.