This week  Bryan Adams performed in Brisbane  as part of his ‘Bare Bones’ tour.

For some of the show, Bryan was accompanied by the excellent Gary Briet  on piano. Mostly though, it was just Bryan – his guitar and wonderfully distinctive voice. As the show’s title signified:  ‘Bare Bones’.  And it was great.

In this age of powerful amplification systems, it was terrific to discover that Bryan didn’t need a band to fill out his music.  The combined power of his voice,  songs and lyrics filled the theatre just by themselves.

It caused me to think about the basics – marketing’s own ‘bare bones’. 

What is ‘Bare Bones’ marketing?

Many companies try to amplify their message without sufficiently considering what they’re really offering and the customer problems their product is  solving.

By not focusing on this the ‘bare bones’, companies waste money trying to amplify  messages for  fundamentally flawed products,  products which are really no different to competitors, or which fail to solve customer problems in a unique and compelling way.

By getting back to basics – the ‘bare bones’ –  focusing on the customer first and shaping their products to suit,  companies create the soundest foundation for their marketing.

When they do amplify their message,  the results will be more powerful.  The power comes not from the amplifcation – but rather the focus on the core – the customer and a product which solves a customer problem.

Pure. Powerful.  Rather like an Adams acoustic set.

Do you practice ‘bare bones’ marketing?

Bare bones marketing – 3 key questions:

1. Who is your customer?
2. What are the key customer problems your product solves?
3. How does your product solve these differently, in a more compelling way, to your competitors?

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One Dream. One Goal. It’s A Kind of Magic.

What were you doing in 1991?

According to Wikipedia it was the year that grunge music made its breakthrough. Tragically, it was also the year that Eric Clapton’s son fell from an apartment 53 floors up, leading Clapton to write  ‘Tears in Heaven’. And 1991 was  the year that Freddie Mercury passed away.

The Web was born

For lovers of technology, it was a year to be celebrated, as August 6, 1991  heralded the birth of the world’s first website. Read more about physicist and website creator, Tim Berners-Lee in the Wired article here.

It’s hard to imagine life now without the Web.   Yet despite 2 billion users, a  significant percentage of businesses are still without websites and give little attention to their online marketing strategy.

Connect with customers

This can be rectified by thinking about your customer. The Web, particularly Web 2.0 and its interactivity, has made connecting with your customer so easy.

So put yourself in their shoes. Think about:

• How do your customers find you?

Do they go online? Read something about you? Find you via word of mouth? (now very much possible on online)

• Where do they go to learn  more information about you?

Ask your customers about their behaviour. It’s highly likely they will be searching online about your product category, a competitor or your own business. Comscore has reported more than 113 billion searches in one month alone globally – almost one third of these in the Asia Pacific region.  In February this year, they reported there were 11.9 million unique Australian searchers, conducting more than  1.3 billion searches.

• How can you as a business make it easier for them to do this?

Your business needs to be where your customers are. If your customers are searching online – then you need to be there too.

How?

1. Get a website
2. Focus your content on your customers – their needs and the problems your product or service solves for them
3. Share content that is of interest and value to them.

Remember  - it’s not about you. It’s about your customer.

And finally …

Can you make your products/services available for purchase online?

Since the 1990′s –  we’ve grown increasingly confident about shopping online.  In Australia, recent research shows that online retail will grow to $36.8 billion by 2013. So think about transacting online.

Go on, insert some magic into your marketing. Place your customer at the heart of your marketing efforts and take a look at your online marketing strategy.

Happy Birthday World Wide Web. What you’ve made possible is truly ‘a kind of magic’.

**And a very Happy Birthday to Mr Connect Gen - Iggy Pintado who fittingly shares his birthday week with the World Wide Web. Happy Birthday Iggy!**

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Awesome is always scary. The vast chasm between really good and extraordinary is filled with fear.  If you push yourself to the extent that you’re deeply uncomfortable, you’ll be fine; if you’re comfortable, you’re not pushing hard enough.”

- Ben Malbon, Google Creative Lab in Independence of Thought, Marketing Quotes 2011 by Valeria Maltoni.

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There is a wealth of marketing information  to be found online.  However in a time poor world, sometimes a recommendation or two can assist focus in finding the best gems.

So here is one.

One of my favourite marketing bloggers and authors is Valeria Maltoni. Valeria is a marketing strategist and speaker.  With more than 20 years experience – ten of which have been online, she’s held senior marketing roles, executing growth strategies at global fortune 500, mid-sized businesses and small start up companies in five industries. Valeria’s  blog, Conversation Agent, is consistently ranked amongst the top 30 marketing blogs in the world on AdAge Power 150.

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Personally, I  find her  capacity to continually produce valuable, thought provoking and  in-depth marketing articles and presentations, awesome.

So if you haven’t read any of Valeria’s posts – here are just three recent favourites.

How Content Rules
Independence of Thought – Marketing Quotes 2011
When Women Continue to be edited out

Enjoy!  (and molto grazie Valeria)

Spotted this the other day.

What a great idea. Convenient, value for money dvd rentals.

The machine is from Oovie, a company founded six years ago and part of the Hoyts Group.  Oovie has more than 250 machines on the East coast states in Australia and expanding.

According to their company profile – they’ve rented over two million DVD’s to over 300,000 customers!

At the risk of sounding like an ad for Oovie – for customers –  Oovie provides:

Convenience: located in an easily accessible, retail space and  available 24/7.

Value : Cheaper than itunes and regular dvd hires (if you are good and return on time!)  And according to their Facebook page – on the first Wednesday of very month you can rent a DVD free.

Choice: all latest releases provided.

Great technology induced innovation.

Shaping products to suit customers’ behaviour and needs is integral to  sound marketing strategy. Harnessing the technology makes this  even more exciting.

How are you harnessing the technology in your own marketing strategy to provide convenience, value and choice to your customers?

Related posts:

Soft is Hard – Our Whole New Mind
Five Benefits of Being Design (Customer) Focused
Innovation and Marketing
Innovate Don’t Imitate

Oovie at our local.

We’ve written before about the importance of real time marketing: the need for businesses to listen to online discussions of their brand or sector, and to respond accordingly in real-time.

Real-time marketing is a concept that one of our favourite authors and marketing strategists, David Meerman Scott, focuses upon in his most recent best-selling book ‘Real Time Marketing & PR’.

A colleague, Jen Frahm, has just experienced a great example of this and blogged about it. Read Jen’s post here.

The situation concerned Jen’s dear friends, Matt and Renae,  whose wedding and honeymoon plans were thrown into disarray early last week, after the tour operator went bust. Matt and Renae also stood to lose $10,000. They were due to marry in three weeks, and had originally planned an overseas wedding but following the devastating floods and cyclone, they changed their plans to support Queensland tourism.

The story has a happy ending thanks to Jen’s efforts and those of Whitsundays Online and Whitsundays based Marriage Celebrant, Susan Batty. News on the accommodation is just coming through from Hamilton Island. Fingers crossed.

These companies were listening and agile in their response.

As Jen says in her post,  for businesses:

It is never too early to set up listening platforms (searches, software etc) for keywords in your industry. Even if you are not sure how to engage at this stage, and what content to include, get listening.”

Good luck Matt and Renae. Best wishes for a beautiful wedding. Good on you Jen.

Related posts

Marketing’s Rules
For good – social media and the power of real-time connection
A Real-Time Rap

The cricket – or at least The Ashes – is over for another series. Whilst the result was rather sad for Australia, but gleeful for England, a highlight of the final test was its third day when the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) turned pink  in support of The McGrath Foundation. It was also a great example of the outcomes made possible by a strong integrated marketing effort.

The McGrath Foundation raises money to place Breast Care nurses in communities across Australia and increases breast awareness in young Australian women.  The Foundation was re-launched in 2005 by Glenn McGrath, one of the sport’s most highly regarded champions and his wife Jane, after Jane received the support of a breast cancer nurse during treatment for secondary cancer.

Following their experience, the McGraths believed that every Australian woman diagnosed with breast cancer should benefit from the support of a specialist breast care nurse who help women navigate the terrifying experience of breast cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery.

The McGrath Foundation now funds 61 breast cancer care nurses around Australia, supporting 6500 families.

Traditionally Ladies Day, the third day of the final Ashes test was renamed Jane McGrath Day in 2009, in honour of Jane, who passed away in the previous year after a long battle with cancer.

The Jane McGrath Day – Integrated Cause Marketing

The integrated mix of activities which harnessed public support and assured significant publicity included:

• television and radio coverage in connection with broadcast principals
• sponsorship and further donations from organisations such as Vodafone
• a pink High Tea event attended by survivors, nurses, dignitaries and celebrities
• promotions such as a pigeon race (‘pigeon’ is reportedly Glenn McGrath’s nickname).  Each pigeon represented one cricket commentator
• a volunteer team who sold bandanas and collected donations around the ground
• the ultimate visual – a sea of pink (Jane’s favourite colour), created by  many of the SCG’s 40,000 attendees wearing something of that colour on the day
• updates  provided on the Foundation’s website and in real time on their Twitter page.

The results

$360,000 was raised in the first four days of the test, bringing the total raised over the last three years to more than $1 million. 50,000 bandanas were sold.

Generosity transcends cricketing rivalry

And the English have proved that they not only can play cricket!  Their dedicated fans – affectionately known as The Barmy Army -  raised more than $3000 for the Foundation and provided support throughout the series, holding a series of Pink Days around the country.

Good on them!

Are you integrating more than one element in your marketing and promotional efforts? Why not take inspiration from this fantastic example.

More information can be found at: The McGrath Foundation

Follow the McGrath Foundation on Twitter @McGrathFdn and Facebook.

I’ve been a fan of David Meerman Scott since reading The New Rules of Marketing & PR a couple of years ago, just after establishing my business.

The New Rules of Marketing & PR is packed with practical tips and advice about how to harness our 21^st century technology and implement effective and lasting marketing campaigns according to the new rules.   It’s been  an invaluable resource.

The New Rules of Marketing & PR remained on the Business Week bestseller list for six months and has since been published in 25 languages – from Bulgarian to Vietnamese.

Since New Rules, David has written World Wide Rave and this Summer, with Brian Halligan, co authored Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History. (Our blog post here)

I was fortunate enough to participate in a workshop run by David in September last year when he last visited Australia.  (Thanks Jen Frahm).

As a self described  “recovering VP of marketing”, David  has led the charge into marketing’s new realms.

So yes – I’m a fan.

Today David launches his new book Real Time Marketing & PR How to Instantly Engage Your Market, Connect with Customers, and Create Products that Grow Your Business Now.

My copy has just arrived so I’ll blog more about it once I’ve read it in full. However David has published a terrific e-book as a taste tester. Just click on the image to download.

Some key points contained in it include:

• “The Internet has fundamentally changed the pace of business, compressing time and rewarding speed”
• The need to create a business culture that encourages “speed over sloth.” We live today in a “quick response” world where consumers can receive immediate information or responses from their friends. There’s an expectation to receive the same quick response from companies.

• Real time companies are more successful

David conducted research with the top 100 US companies as listed in the Fortune 500, the annual list from Fortune magazine that ranks by gross revenue of America’s top 500 public corporations.  He sent an email to each of the media relations departments with the question:

“In the last year or two, has the structure of your corporate communications team and/or communications processes changed to embrace the real-time digital era? If so, how?”

David included an email signature with a link to his blog and his Twitter ID for those people who wanted to find out more about him.

David heard back from just 28 of the Fortune 100 companies he approached. Three quarters of these companies couldn’t be contacted  or they failed to reply.

David then conducted a comparison of 2010 stock prices of the companies approached. He found that on average, the publicly traded Fortune 100 companies that responded to his inquiry (those who engaged in real-time communications) beat the S&P 500 stock index while the others on average underperformed the index.

“This is the ROI of real-time engagement.” David says.

Times have changed. Technology has altered both our customers’ behaviour and the tools and processes we, as marketers, need to use to reach them.. The old ways – typically with a mass media ad buy at its heart – no longer apply.  Consumers are wanting (demanding) information when they want it – in real time.  If we’re truly customer centric marketers – we need to respond accordingly.

Real Time Marketing & PR How to Instantly Engage Your Market, Connect with Customers, and Create Products that Grow Your Business Now. promises to show how we can do this.

Quick – I’m off to read the book!

Do you have a real-time story to share? How have you embraced this media?

Related Posts

If you’d like to download David’s ebook: Real-Time How Marketing & PR Speed Drives Measurable Success click here

Here’s a link to David’s launch post: How real time communications drives measurable ROI at Fortune 100 companies

Here’s a link to purchase on Amazon.

David’s other ebooks are available here or here

'The key to my heart' Image:Nina Mathews Photography

To kick start your marketing plan, think about the following three questions. The answers will be key to the design of your marketing strategy.

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1. Who is your customer?

Your ideal customer is profitable, easy to reach and your product makes a significant difference to them.

What do you know about your ideal customer? What are their interests? Which media do they use?

Identify your ideal customer then design your marketing strategy to reach more of them.

2. Which customer problems does your product solve?

Think about your product’s core benefit in terms of the customer problems it solves. Then integrate this  information in your marketing communication.

3. How do you solve these problems differently to competitors?

Why should customers choose your products over other suppliers? Think about what makes your offering different and unique. Then once again communicate this.

A marketing plan contains other elements that will build on the answers to these key questions. What are your answers to these key questions?

Related Posts:

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The Planning Panacea

Ten Tips to a Great Marketing Plan

Vision is the lifeblood of any organization. It is what keeps it moving forward. It provides meaning to the day-to-day challenges and setbacks that make up the rumble and tumble of real life.  -  Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers in Seth Godin’s ‘What Matters Now’.

Image Credit: joka2000. Some rights reserved.

Australian swimmer Geoff Heugill’s successful return to world swimming after losing 45 kilos  has resulted in three medals at the recent Commonwealth games, a personal best time and the prospect of  several sponsorship offers, estimated to be worth millions of dollars.

Stories such as these highlight  the power of  a vision,  creating a plan and  committing to it’s implementation.

They also highlight the value of surrounding yourself with a team to provide support and other skills to ensure the plan is realized.

We’ve posted previously about these themes. Once again, the  lessons and disciplines of sport are directly transferrable to our businesses.  And like Geoff Heugill’s story, they also provide inspiration.

Good on you Geoff!

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• Clearly defined business and marketing objectives

In building relationships with existing customers, attracting new ones and ultimately increasing traffic into their Centres and sales (via frequency and size of spend) – the promotion will be powerful.

• Part of  comprehensive and integrated marketing activity

The promotion is just one aspect of an integrated,  comprehensive marketing program. Other elements include  tv, events, catalogues and e marketing.

• Relevant to target audience

The promotion is perfect for an online, fashion loving demographic. In building relationships with existing and potential customers, Westfield has harnessed  the interactivity of  today’s technology, and engaged customers by inviting them to apply and vote online  for their favourite candidate.

• Tourism Queensland

The Westfield promotion was likely inspired by The Best Job in the World campaign which was devised  to launch the new Islands of the Great Barrier Reef brand to Global Experience Seekers. From 34,000 applicants, Brit Ben Southall won the $150,000, six month role in a campaign which generated media coverage globally exceeding $400 million. Read more here:  Great Job Great Publicity TQ Award Entry

• Nando’s – Fake Sacha Baron Cohen

Nando’s generated buzz last year when a fake Sacha Baron Cohen arrived at the Sydney premiere of Bruno. The fake Bruno was accompanied by models who doused themselves in Nando’s Peri Peri sauce.

What is your potent promotion?

You don’t have to have sizeable budget to make promotions work. They just need to be considered, targeted and planned. Sometimes, the simplest activity can effectively increase awareness of your business, engagement with customers and generate incremental sales.

What potent promotion will you undertake? We’d love to hear.

Westfield Hunts a $100,000 Shopping Blogger
Westfield on the Hunt for $100,000 Fashion Blogger
$100,000 to Australia’s best shopper

They're not gone. We're still learning (and enjoying) them. 

(Had to choose this one - from a concert in Denmark)

The Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead is the new book, co-authored by David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan.

David is the best selling author of several titles including The New Rules of Marketing & PR.

Brian is founder of online service and software provider, HubSpot, and author of the super informative Inbound Marketing.

Both are self confessed Deadheads!

Why The Grateful Dead?

The Grateful Dead did things differently. Their approach included a business model based on live concerts not album sales. (They played over 2,300 live concerts from 1965 – 1995, becoming the most popular touring act in rock history). They built genuine relationships with their fans who formed a dedicated community with whom they collaborated to co-create the ‘Deadhead’ lifestyle. They gave away content – encouraging their fans to record their shows and trade tapes.

In so doing, The Grateful Dead applied many marketing techniques championed in business today.

Here are just three “take aways” :

Create your own landscape: create a unique business model

“Products that are highly differentiated can still succeed today, but it’s much harder to win if your business model is the same as your competitors’. .. research your industry in order to build a killer business model. ..break free from the competitive landscape and create a cascade of unique benefits for your customers.”

Which model can you create that is different to your competitors’ and based on the unique ways that you solve your customers’ problems?

Free up your content

The Grateful Dead were pioneers of the ‘freemium’ model. They encouraged concert goers to record their live shows and even established ‘taper sections’ at the concert venues, where fans could set up their equipment for the best sound quality. A huge network traded tapes and built exposure leading to millions of new fans who purchased tickets to shows.

“The Grateful Dead teach us when we free our content, more people hear about our company and eventually do business with us”

What content would be useful to your customers? Think about blogs, videos, ebooks or white papers. Each piece of content is like a “mini magnet that attracts potential customers to your business”.

One of David’s e-books The New Rules of Viral Marketing has been downloaded more than one million times.

Give back

“When a company carefully chooses a particular charity or cause to support and makes it a part of their corporate culture, continuing the commitment over many years, the accrued benefits to both the brand and the recipient charity can be enormous”.

Read more about the band’s generosity and commitment to causes, and the Ronald McDonald House case study here: <Give back to your community.

How  can you  give back to your community  that are consistent with your brand?

These are just three of the marketing lessons. There are many others – but hopefully we’ve whet your appetite to read more! How will you apply these marketing lessons? We’d love to hear.

Related Posts:

Feel like another The Grateful Dead hit?   See and listen to them here:
Deloitte Social Media Rock Stars

History Never Repeats? Not True.

My favourite interview this week was with actor,  writer, documentary maker (and from his twitter list – a cricket fan), Stephen Fry who is currently visiting Australia.  The question about Oscar Wilde  arose  in a discussion of the modern digital world .  I’d previously wondered about Shakespeare and blogging - so was keen to hear more.

Stephen believes that it’s impossible to understand digital technology without a grasp of history. He uses the development of print media as an example of how old ways are replaced and eventually accepted as the new.  In the 18^th century Stephen says there was a new kind of technology as hand presses and printing became increasingly cheaper. The hand presses led to magazines, journalism and political pamphlets with names like “The Rambler”, “The Idler” and “The Tattler” – considered by many people  as trivial and  not “earnest debate”  – similar to the way Twitter is regarded by some today.

So what are the implications of remembering history for those of us currently exploring digital in business and marketing?

Whilst history reflects patterns in  acceptance of innovation: the old eventually replaced by the new which in turn  is superceded; for businesses it is simple.  We just need to focus on our customers, identify what they are doing and respond accordingly.

The statistics show that increasingly people are moving online – using the web to search, purchase or communicate socially. Facebook has just hit 500 million users world wide, Twitter has more than 100 million users.

Businesses should identify where their customers are, and  ensure they have a presence there.   They need to be easily found when their customers search online and if  customers are using social media platforms, engage them by building relationships – not selling.

If you are a business unsure about these platforms – look to your customer first and foremost.

And in respect to  innovation –  as Stephen says –  history shows that frequently the new ways spread, are eventually accepted as the norm and later replaced as “old”.

History it seems, does repeat itself.

Related Links:

Stephen Fry: In Defence of the Modern Digital World (Interview with Mark Colvin from ABC Radio)

Stephen Fry’s Website

Stephen Fry on Twitter

David Hockney’s iPhone passion: In the interview Stephen mentions David Hockney’s iPhone passion.  See more  here – by Lawrence Weschler of The New York Review of Books

David Hockney’s Website

Facebook hits 500m social media by numbers

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Marketing 2.0 impacts and opportunities in a tech savvy world

The Beautiful Benefits of Business Blogging

What is Your Online Marketing Strategy?

The 1-2-3 of Managing Your Social Media – A Beginner’s Guide

In Memory of Netscape – The Transformation of Business Marketing

Some Linkedin Lovin’

Social Media For Good – Businesses Making A Difference Using Social Media 12for12K

Opened by the passionate Minister of Small Business, The Hon Dr Craig Emerson MP, the Summit was a jammed packed day and evening of learning, inspiration and networking.

In addition to the pollies  (the Hon Leader of the Opposition presented an energetic address  which aimed to be ‘non political, non partisan!’),  the morning commenced with a conversation with Australia’s top public servants about the regulations that affect small business.  Included on the panel was ASIC Chairman, Tony D’Aloisio and the Australian Tax Commissioner, Michael D’Ascenzo. This was the second time I’d heard Michael  speak – and he continues to strike me as a very marketing oriented Commissioner – with his focus upon putting the “taxpayers and the community at the heart of the ATO’s thinking. “

Ben White, Director Optus Strategy and Corporate Development highlighted the real value of the national broadband network. However, for me the morning’s highlight was  the Kochie’s Business Builders’ (KBB) Panel Session: “Red Hot Sales, Marketing and Social Media Strategies”.  Passion abounded.

Some of the great insights from the panelists included those from Dell’s US social media executive, Richard Binhammer who said:

“Share the passion for your business and connect,” he said. “The reddest, hottest thing about social media is that in fact it allows you to connect more strongly, in a real way.”

Richard encouraged businesses to share the good news stories.

Telstra Business Award winning entrepreneur Valerie Khoo, founder of the Sydney Writers’ Centre, is passionate about leveraging technology to build business.  She urged businesses to collect contact information via their websites, then communicate with customers in the way promised.  Valerie also encouraged businesses to consider social media – particularly blogs and Facebook – to engage with customers.  She advised businesses to not be deterred by the time required for this medium.

“You’re in total control of how much time you spend,” she said.

The afternoon featured some streamed workshops.

In the ‘Small is Beautiful session’, Robert Gerrish, founder of Flying Solo, Australia’s micro business community with more than 25,000 members, discussed the findings of ‘Understanding Micro Business’, a comprehensive survey of over 1,300 business owners and stated:

“The more we work the happier we are.”

In the same session, small business consultant and KBB marketing guru, Linda Hailey reminded:

“Passion is what makes you beautiful.”

The “Truly Tech Savvy’ was one of the most popular sessions, highlighting the increased consciousness amongst business owners of the opportunities created by technology.

The workshop ‘Cash is still king’ explored cash flow management techniques small business can use to drive revenue and improve debtor management and provided some invaluable advice.  Angela McDonald, Director of  Optimum Recoveries spoke of the value of obtaining credit checks for clients and your own business, whilst Chartered Accountant, Susan Milicevic of Aspire Consulting emphasized  the importance of having a Cash Flow plan.

The program’s other significant recurring theme was price.

Julia Bickerstaff, Owner of The Business Bakery and KBB finance expert urged to price strongly and confidently.

‘You can’t win by being cheap” she said. “Talk price early and talk price often.”

Julia suggested:

“Position away from price – be different, special, unique.  Make yourself different.”

Linda Hailey agreed:

“Think positive. Don’t chase the volume,  chase the value.  Don’t discount – value add.” Linda said.

Michael Derin, Managing Director of Azure Group summed up:

“Small business is about the customer. Surround yourself with clients who appreciate and will pay you for what you do. Value yourself as a small business owner,” he said.

According to Mike O’Hagen, Founder and Owner of Mini Movers, a company with more than 500 employees and $30 million annual turnover, the outlook for small business looks good.

“In 30 years of business there have never been so many opportunities,” Mike said.

The Summit concluded with a dinner which featured several inspirational small business success stories. My favourites  included Leanne Faulkner, Founder of Billie Goat Soap which after only  five years  has been named as Supplier of the Year to Myer.  A beautifully produced  and packaged product – you can feel the passion in its making.

Also inspiring was John Sharpe, Managing Director of Riverlife, an innovative company based in Brisbane, dedicated to providing “dynamic, fun and heart pumping adventure experiences”  which embrace Brisbane’s culture and history.

Roseanne Anderson, Founder of another success story, Cyber Hair,  reiterated the now familiar theme:

“My business is my passion.”  she said.

We departed with new contacts, knowledge, inspiration and renewed passion – matched only perhaps by David Koch’s amazing energy still evident at 11pm after his 3 am start!

Thanks COSBOA, PinStripe Media and all sponsors and supporters for a great event.

Related references:

The Sydney Writers’ Centre

Flying Solo

Download it here: Remember-the-Customer

What do you think?

Updated:
Further response: Mark Cameron: Twitter ain’t Twaddle in BRW 15 July 2010

Related Posts:
Deloitte. Social Media Rock Stars
Social Media at Deloitte Australia (Webinknow Blog)

Image: Salvatore Vuono, FreeDigitalPhotos.net

For businesses, blogs engage  customers, share information, feedback and most importantly, build relationships.  The following provide more information:

The Beautiful Business Benefits of Blogging and The Best Damn Marketing Tool

Blogs are  also a great source of information  to your business.

I recently asked several esteemed colleagues to name their favourite blogs. Their responses with my own favourites are listed below.

Valeria Maltoni, Brand Strategist – Conversation Agent

Valeria Maltoni built one of the first online communities associated with Fast Company magazine.  A brand strategist with 20 years of real world corporate experience, 10 of which online, she’s worked with Fortune 500 and small start up companies in 5 industries. She specializes in taking companies to what’s next in their business cycle through marketing communciations, customer dialogue and brand advocacy.

Valeria’s blog Conversation Agent is ranked among the top 25 marketing blogs in the world on AdAgePower 150 (and is one of our favourites!).  Read more about Valeria Maltoni here.

Valeria Maltoni’s favourite blogs (for SME’s):

Jennifer Frahm, Jennifer Frahm Collaborations

1. How can we market our products with limited resources?

Resources are always limited for businesses regardless of size, necessitating careful allocation of expenditure for the best possible return. How to market with limited resources?

Read: Clever Cost Effective Marketing Strategy

Why is implementation so important? Picasso said:  Action is the key to foundational success‘. Plans must be implemented or they remain just plans.

Read more in: Marketing Strategy – Just Try It

2. Why blog?

Web 2.0 has facilitated interactivity never before possible. Blogs (or weblogs) have several benefits for business. Read more here:

The Beautiful Business Benefits of Blogging

To Blog or Not to Blog

3.  Why social media?

90% of your sales will come from word of mouth or digital promotion by 2011. How do you change whatyou’re doing today to be ready for that? - Seth Godin, April 20, 2009

Social media has become a powerful additional communications channel for building relationships with customers. Managing Social Media is as easy as 1-2-3!

Read more:   The 1-2-3 of Managing Your Social Media

4. What’s branding?

A brand is often thought of as a mark or distinguishing element – the company identifier, almost like a personal signature. However this is just one aspect.

A brand represents everything your organization offers.

Read more about branding here:

Your Brand So Much More than Your Logo

Branding Values Vibe & Synchronicity

Romancing The Brand (A discussion of Lovemarks – much loved and respected brands)

5. Can you recommend a great marketing book?

Of course!

Rework by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson

I highly recommend this book written by the two founders of 37 Signals – a trailblazing software company. Rework so nicely complements Seth Godin’s Linchpin and contains the same no nonsense ‘just do it!’ attitude of Tom Peter’s. You can read it in one afternoon and will be inspired afterwards to tackle your best work!

More about Rework here. Rework is available for purchase  here

What is your most important marketing question?

Established as a site where anyone can upload and share their videos with the world,YouTube today is a thriving community, attracting more than two billion views daily – nearly double the prime-time audience of all three major U.S. television networks combined.

YouTube has become an increasingly important marketing tool to build customer relationships. It’s also a great resource for businesses.

Here are five of our favourite YouTube videos which we hope you find both interesting and useful.

Tom Peters: On Reading For Success

Tom reminds us that a key to success is reading. Staying informed and developing analytical skills are essential in business today.

“Read wide, read long, read deep” Tom says.

David Meerman Scott: Five Questions

Best selling author, David Meerman Scott, asks five questions at workshops across the world and finds the responses to be remarkably similar, highlighting The New Rules of Marketing & PR

Seth Godin & Tom Peters: On Blogging

Seth and Tom provide their thoughts about the value of blogging. Blogging since 2004, Tom concludes: “It’s the best damn marketing tool I’ve ever had … and it’s free.”

Elizabeth Gilbert: Creativity

Best selling author of ‘Eat Pray Love’, Elizabeth Gilbert, provides inspirational insights into creativity.

The Real Meaning of Success: Deepak Chopra

Providing a service that is needed .. having fun along the way ..these are just a couple of Deepak Chopra’s thoughts about the real meaning of success.  The Real Meaning of Success

Harnessing You Tube

This article provides some great tips to get the most from YouTube.

Top 10 You Tube Tips for Small Businesses

What’s your favourite YouTube?

Update:

Just posted – read (and see) David Meerman Scott in his post: Online Video Rocks As A Global Marketing Channel.

Lovemarks. ‘We will always LOVE you.’

Trademarks were products that learned to crawl; brands are trademarks that learnt to walk upright. What’s next in the evolutionary chain? Lovemarks: brands that soar. How to give them wings?  There’s nothing as elevating as love.” - Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi

I’ve recently become romantically involved!  Not with a person (I’m very happily married) but with an idea. It’s called Lovemarks, and it’s the the work of Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi.

Much is  written about branding.   It’s everything a company does, represented  by the ‘name, term, sign, symbol or combination thereof ‘,  identifying and differentiating  products and services.  Lovemarks takes this concept so much further.

What are Lovemarks?

According to Roberts: “Lovemarks are those brands built on respect which make emotional connections and suffused with the most powerful emotion of all – love.”

Connecting with customers emotionally and forging long term relationships with them will amount to increased business.

As Kevin says: “ It’s the ultimate premium profit generator . … it’s about selling more at higher prices more frequently to more people because you have exclusive relationships with them based not only on trust and respect, but on that most powerful of emotions – Love.”

The Love/Respect Quadrant

Since 2000, Kevin has been using the ‘Love Respect’ quadrant , a perceptual map positioning  Fads, Products, Brands and Lovemarks according to their levels of Love and Respect.

Fads are depicted as high love and low respect; Products – low love, low respect; whilst Brands fall into the ‘low love, high respect’ quadrant and Lovemarks: ‘ high love, high respect’ .

What Makes a Lovemark?

The characteristics of  a Lovemark can be correlated to those of  an enduring personal love. The relationship is between the brand and the customer.

For me, great personal love is underpinned not only by respect, but also care, commitment, interest to the success of the other person and trust.

A Lovemark brand shares these qualities in its customer relationships.   Our brands become Lovemarks when we inject this type of love into what we do.

The Transition to Lovemarks

Commitment to customer satisfaction, constantly striving to innovate and shape our services to our customer needs and communicating in a way which resonates with customers,  combine to demonstrate a brand’s love for its customers.

The vigour with which this is done could be called passion –  described by Tom Peters as  ‘enthusiastic fixation’ (or ‘obsession’). Perhaps Lovemark brands are enthusiastically fixated upon the care and satisfaction of customers. The passion and care of our brands is matched only by the passion and care of our customers. Perhaps it is passion reflected by a brand’s energy  and commitment to consistency which keeps the customer love light burning.

And like any great love, perhaps this feeling cannot be forced. To be true, love must be mutual – only shared if both parties are interested in partaking.

7 Questions: How to Romance Your Brand & Transform to a Lovemark

Assess the following. Ask your customers their perceptions – as it will be their perceptions which ultimately transforms your brand into a Lovemark.

• How much love goes into your brand? Are you nurturing it, committed to it’s growth and success?
• How much do you care about satisfying your customers?
• Are you passionate about shaping your products/services to  your customers needs?
• Are you looking for new ways to satisfy your customers’ needs – enhancing your customer relationships?
• Do you care as much about your brand as you do of our customers?
• Are you committed to the long term welfare of your customers?
• If you answered yes, to all of the above – do you communicate this passion and commitment to your customers in a way that connects with them?

Are Lovemarks Linchpins?

In Seth Godin’s terminology, perhaps Lovemarks are Linchpins – indispensable brands that delight and challenge; that are passionate, believe in themselves, are honest, trustworthy and most importantly, connect with their customers.

Favourite Lovemarks

Here are the Top 200 Lovemarks. (Vegemite is #26!)

Amongst my favourites, is anything by Baz Lurhmann for the consistency, passion and care in creation and nurture.

As Nicole Kidman sings “How wonderful life is with you in the world”. Perhaps, that’s how we feel about Lovemarks.

What do you think?

Further Information & Official Websites:

The Story Behind Lovemarks
Lovemarks The Future Beyond Brands

Related Posts

Your Brand: So Much More Than Your Logo

Branding Values Vibe & Synchronicity

Branding Innovate don’t Imitate

The problem with communication … is the illusion that it has been accomplished.”

George Bernard Shaw

From Metroactive.com - 'A Talking Heads album cover that never was' by Anita Kunz

In our recent post Business Communication. It’s A Little BIG Thing. It’s Everything. we talked of  David Meerman Scott’s research into ‘gobbledygook’ – those frequently used but meaningless, nonsensical words.

In conjunction with Hubspot, David has created a Gobbledygook Grader, which evaluates written content (press release, brochure copy, etc.) checking for use of gobbledygook, jargon, cliches and over-used, hype-filled words. Run your content through the grader and you’ll receive a grade together with a full report.

It’s a great tool to check and eliminate  those words and phrases which have crept into our communication –  the ‘gobbledygook’ which holds little meaning for our intended audience.   The site also provides some handy links to other useful resources.

As we’ve said before (but it’s worth repeating): simple and clear business communication –  is  a little BIG thing. It’s everything. (Thanks Tom Peters!)

Related Links and Posts

The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott and The Little BIG Things by Tom Peters are available here.

David Meerman’s Scott Gobbledyook Manifesto is available for download here.

Business Marketing Insight: Peter Drucker 100 years On

5 Benefits of Being Design (Customer) Focused

This post really started out as a re-post of the snippet we featured nearly a year ago.  In it,  Seth Godin and Tom Peters talk of the personal and business benefits of blogging;   the formulation and expression of thoughts enabling conversations.  If you missed it –  here it is again:

Why Blog?

If you are contemplating a blog for your business – the following post details some other benefits.

It is likely your customers are reading and participating in  blogs. For business, blogging is  a means of engaging your customers, sharing information and feedback, and most importantly, building relationships.

In his best selling book,  The New Rules of Marketing & PR, marketing strategist, author and conference speaker,  David Meerman Scott describes blogging as ‘his front door’ and ‘his most important marketing and PR tool’.

Debbie Weil, corporate blogging expert, and author of the bestselling The Corporate Blogging Book says blogging, as part of social media marketing:

…creates long-term value  for your customers that ultimately drives sales.’

Great Corporate Blogs

The following are just a few examples of engaging corporate blogs:

McDonalds (Open Discussion Blog)

Richard Edelman (Edelman PR)

Alan Meckler (Web Media Brands) (A summary of his microblogs)

Bob Parsons (Go Daddy) (A video blog)

How to Blog?

Blogging can be integrated into your business’s marketing communication strategy. Establish objectives, confirm your target audience then put together a blogging plan setting out potential topics, information to share and frequency of posts. The tone of your blog should reflect the personality of your company/brand.

To assist, Debbie  shares two excellent e-books which you can download here: 7 Blog Tips and Beginner’s Guide To Business Blogging

If you are looking for tips and information about any aspect of blogging Problogger provides an absolute wealth of information. Problogger is fellow Aussie Darren Rowse who has been blogging since 2001. His site is dedicated to helping other bloggers learn the skills of blogging, share their own experiences and promote the blogging medium and contains more than 3500 articles, tips, tutorials and case studies.

And if you need help in your writing (don’t we all!), Copyblogger provides a wealth of online copy and content resources.

If Shakespeare had blogged ..

So imagine if Shakespeare had blogged.  Think of  the writing – the sneak previews to poems, plays and sonnets. In spreading his ideas  -  am sure he’d agree with Tom Peters and believe blogging is:  ‘ the best damn marketing tool’ he’s ever had.  What do you think?

The Little BIG Things by Tom Peters, Linchpin by Seth Godin, The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott and  The Corporate Blogging Book by Debbie Weil are  available  here .

Related Posts:

The Beautiful Benefits of Business Blogging

What is Your Online Marketing Strategy?

The 1-2-3 of Managing Your Social Media – A Beginner’s Guide

In Memory of Netscape – The Transformation of Business Marketing

Some Linkedin Lovin’

Social Media For Good – Businesses Making A Difference Using Social Media 12for12K

(‘Words are all we have ..’)

It might seem odd to talk of the Bee Gees and  Tom Peters in the same sentence.   You see, I’m  currently reading (and loving) Tom’s new book  The Little BIG Things! and he has me reflecting upon communication.

Tom’s communication style is straightforward. He uses simple language and presents his thoughts in different typefaces, font sizes and  with lots of exclamation points. (!!!) You feel his passion.

His  communication style not only makes for pleasurable reading but enhances the uptake of his messages. He is adept at the essence of communication – able to share meaning and establish ‘a commonness or oneness of thought’ between himself as the sender and his reader.

As a marketer whose business relies on ensuring shared meaning with my customers and between my customers’ customers, I’ve  become even more conscious recently of avoiding jargon in my communication.  It’s an ongoing process. After all,  what is the point  if we cannot convey what we do, and the benefits of our products/services to our customers? Understanding our buyers’ problems and then communicating how we can solve them in language that is understood is sound marketing strategy.

I was reminded again of this in reading The Little Big Things. In a ‘Special Section’, Tom lists Guru Gaffes (GF) and  Real World (RW) responses. The following is the GF/RW relating to communication:

‘GF:  Imposing words-phrases such as ‘business models’, ‘scalable’, ‘strategic talent management’, ‘customer retention management’ and ‘knowledge management paradigm’.

RW: Most of us try to use everyday language such as ‘the way we make a buck’ (instead of ‘business model’, ‘let’s grow this sucker’ (not ‘is it scalable?’), ‘hire good people and treat ‘em well and give ‘em a chance to shine and thank ‘em for the stuff they do’ (rather than ‘strategic talent management’), ‘bust our asses to keep our customers happy and keep ‘em coming back’ (instead of ‘customer retention management’) and ‘share the stuff you learn with everybody ASAP, don’t hoard it’ (rather than ‘executing a knowledge management paradigm’).

Are you using ‘gobbledygook’?

Another favourite author,  David Meerman Scott , is also passionate about clear communication. David calls it  communication without the ‘gobbledygook’ – those words and phrases which are meaningless and nonsensical.

In 2006,  David  undertook an analysis to see how many of these words are being used. At least one in five of the 388,000 news releases collected over a nine month period contained one of the gobbledygook phrases. Whilst the phrase ‘next generation’ won out as the most frequently used ‘gobbledygook’phrase with 9895 uses, others which were popularly overused included flexible, scalable, cutting edge and groundbreaking.

David updated the research in 2007, and despite a marked increase in the number of releases studied (13%), there was only a slight decline in gobbledygook free items.

You can read David’s posts here and here. To download ‘The Gobbledygook Manifesto‘ just click on the image above. (It’s also available here).

A Gobbledygook Free Zone

In transcending gobbledygook, David advocates ‘communication to convince’: simple language with proof, telling our buyers how we can solve a particular problem.

Conversation Agent, Valeria Maltoni reiterated these thoughts in her recent post Put it Into Plain Words. She includes the TED talk of branding expert Alan Siegel, who urges clear communication via simplicity, transparency and empathy. This he says will  build humanity into our communication. Clarity he concludes should become a national priority.

Not Just Words

Although the Bee Gees claimed that words were all they had – in marketing we have much more. Everything we do provides a message to our buyers –  whether it is the way we present our products, the price we set or where we decide to place our products for sale. The communication extends beyond the  the words we use in promotion.

To design, price and place products/services which solve buyers’ problems and then to convey in simple language how these assist them, is surely effective marketing and good for sales.  To do this though we need to really know and understand our customers and their needs, the media to which they are exposed and the language they use.

Simple is best. In business communication – it’s  a little BIG Thing. Perhaps in business and in life – it’s everything.

What do you think?

5 Steps to RW (GG Free) Business Communication

1. Audit all communications

2. Ask your customers if they understand what you are trying to say

3. Seek to establish meaning

4. Delete all gobbledygook words

5. Replace using the language of your customers

The Little Big Things is available for purchase here.

UPDATE:

WOW!!!! Judging from the fantastic feedback and comments (thank you!) this post has proved topical. Sure enough the following appeared today from Nigel Marsh, Group CEO, Y&R Brands and wonderful, best selling author. (Loved ‘Fat, Forty & Fired!’)  Read Nigel’s post ‘The Nightmare of Complexity’ here.

Here is a link to Nigel’s website to purchase his books.

“Speak to be understood” - Love’s Labour’s Lost (V.ii)

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