Time vacuum or brain excercise?

. . . you decide.

I've been playing this multiplayer online version of boggle on and off (mostly on) for months now and it still hasn't lost it's lustre.

Be warned--addiction may result.

New domain: obviousness.net

So I�ve gone and taken the plunge. I�ve dropped a whole 20 bucks or so and purchased a real, honest-to-goodness domain name for this blog.

You can now find your way here by typing www.obviousness.net into your address bar.

Feel free to congratulate me as many times as you wish.

Links for June 27, 2006

• Dave Jay Rosen has posted a beautiful piece called The People Formerly Known as the Audience. (via David Weinberger). Best quote: "A highly centralized media system had connected people 'up' to big social agencies and centers of power but not 'across' to each other. Now the horizontal flow, citizen-to-citizen, is as real and consequential as the vertical one."
  
  
  
• The Financial Times quote a speech by Mark Tutssel, worldwide chief creative officer at ad agency Leo Burnett, in which he asserts that YouTube�s reach in the US now exceeds that of MTV. Wow, talk about a passing torch. Best quote: 'Marketers must learn to let go of the control they think they have over their brand.... Once consumers have interacted with brands they will not go back to being shouted at by marketers."
  
  
  
• If you�re tired of writing your own technorati tags, try this handy tag generator.

Tags:youtube, media2.0, tags, technorati, media, marketing

The Apple paradox

Apple employees are not allowed to blog.

According to Doc Searls an Apple staffer revealed as much at Bloggercon recently. Doc has this to say about his discovery.

I still believe there is an inverse relationship between the premium companies place on branding and their willingness to tolerate (much less depend on) blogging employees.

I agree completely. Employee blogs and a tightly controlled brand message don�t really mix.

In most cases my advice would be to loosen the screws, surrender control and get over it. In other words, let your employees blog. But in this case, I'm not so sure.

In this case, you need to factor in the Apple Paradox.

Consider it for a minute. Apple break the new rules of engagement all over the place, yet somehow it's okay with most of us. They sue bloggers. The make bold anti-DRM statements and then turn around embrace DRM. They gleefully flip the Beatles the bird.

The Beatles! Everybody loves the Beatles!

And yet even the most die-hard of the digerati--anti-DRM zealots, champions of transparency and openness--are happy to fire up their MacBook or upgrade to the latest iPod without thinking twice.

Same goes for Beatles fans.

Same goes for me.

If that's not a paradox, I don't know what is. It doesn't make sense on the face of it, but there it is.

So how do they get away with it?

Simple--they've created the sexiest brand in the history of the universe. And it just keeps getting sexier.

In an era where most brands are stumbling badly and losing their lustre in the eyes of web-empowered customers, where the very concept of a tightly controlled brand message is being assualted on all fronts, Apple are not only bucking the trend; they're turning it on its head.

My theory: I think that one day we'll look back on the Apple of today as something like traditional branding's last hurrah. The pinnacle. The last, best, most thorough execution of the tightly controlled uber-brand model we will ever see.

I mean, let's face it. They're good. From promise to delivery--from marketing, to product to design, to packaging and beyond--they have evolved into a remarkably consistent machine.

They've got it down to a science. Except in their hands it's become an art. And ask anyone, art is nearly impossible to duplicate.

So sure, go ahead. Look on and marvel. Enjoy your iPod, I know I do.

But unless you've reached the lofty heights of Apple, I still believe that you're much, much, much better off giving up on the dream of the perfect uber-brand and letting those employees have their blogs.

Tags: bloggercon, doc_searls, apple, branding, marketing, blogs, employee_blogs, blogging

Delta airlines screws over the wrong videoblogger

The good folks at the Consumerist have posted on this already, but damn, this deserves as much as link love as possible. Nothing beats a good example of customer power that is also funny as hell.



the show with zefrank



Tags: vlogging, videoblogging, customer_service, delta, delta_airlines, zefrank, customer_power

You rule!

Hey!

Did you see who Business 2.0 put in the number one slot on their new list of 50 people who matter?

It's you!

No really. It's you.

No kidding!

Well done!

It's like I'm always telling you: You're good enough. Smart enough. And doggone it, people like you.

Web two point naught

"BBC Microcomputer" image courtesy of the DigiBarn Computer Museum

This BBC podcast is a decent overview of Web 2.0 / Digitial Democratization from a media and business perspective. Highlights include some great Jeff Jarvis rants and host Peter Day repeatedly pronouncing it "web two point naught" in his great BBC accent.

Six years after the dot-com bubble burst companies are falling over themselves to get involved with the next big thing on the internet. They call it Web 2.0.

It's transforming the internet into a powerful new communications medium and it's leaching power away from the old information providers in the press and broadcasting and handing it to a new democracy of bloggers and communicators now numbered in millions.

Peter Day asks where it's all leading to and how established businesses will cope with this vital change in the media landscape.

Tags: bbc, web20, web2.0, jeff_jarvis, buzzmachine, digital_democratization, podcasts, media, marketing

There are some buses you just can�t afford to miss

Whenever something new comes along--a new approach to an old problem, a new technology, a new way of thinking, whatever--businesses that are a little slow on the uptake risk "missing the bus".

In other words--if they don't see the value in the new thing, whatever it is, they miss their opportunity to reap the benefits early on.

Oh well. Too bad. Back to business as usual. We'll manage. Maybe we'll catch the next one.

But here's the thing. There are some buses you can't afford to miss. In fact, there are some buses that will actually turn around and run you down if you ignore them the first time they go by.

Before I strain this metaphor any further, let me get to my point:

Some trends cannot be ignored. And digital democratization is most definitely one of them.

I raise this point, because I believe that a great many businesses are either ignoring a lot of it, more likely, making the mistake of thinking they have a choice about whether to hop on this particular bus or not.

It's something we may or may not look into depending on the potential ROI.

Okay, sure, but how do you measure it?

I was surprised to hear statements and questions like this from the floor at the Mesh conference last month, where the audience was mostly populated by folks who should know better.

I don't mean to sound condescending, honest. I work in a marketing department. I know the drill. I know where these questions are coming from.

But ultimately, none of that matters. The world is changing. It's not waiting for a green light from your evaluation committee. It doesn't need your CEO�s approval. It's happening. Like it or not.

In other words, it's time to hop on the bus or risk being flattened in the very near future.

Tags: digital_democratization, trends, mesh06, marketing, marketingroi, roi, measurement, metrics

Digital democratization

So I was jotting down some notes for what I thought would be a fairly short post when I wrote this phrase:

The current social and cultural shift that's being powered by the web.

My next though was "Isn't that a little vague?".

So then I launched into an explanation and before long the original point I was trying to make was left far behind. I had digressed beyond the point of no return.

All of this made me realize that I need a new buzzword.

A sort of meta-buzzword, actually. There are already lots and lots of buzzwords floating around that refer to part of (here I go again) the current social and cultural shift that's being powered by the web that I'm trying to get at.

User-generated
Consumer-generated
Web 2.0
Architecture of participation
Social networks
Social computing (if you read Forrester, anyhow)
Citizen journalism
The democratization of media

But there's nothing quite as all-encompassing enough. Nothing I can just slip into the middle of this sentence to save myself typing the current social and cultural shift that's being powered by the web . . . and confusing people in the process.

So let me attempt to clarify. Here's the idea that this new buzzword should encapsulate:

The Internet is all about people. It's a place for people to connect with each other, to express themselves, to create and to share. More and more people are coming online every day and once they get there they're joining in and expressing themselves. And all of this connecting and participating is giving people more power. Power based on more access to information, more choice, more outlets for expression. Power based on good old-fashioned strength in numbers. This is fundamentally a social and cultural phenomenon, but it's having an impact on all elements of business, including marketing.

. . . And you thought the current social and cultural shift that's being powered by the web was too wordy.

So clearly I'm in desperate need of a nice bit of shorthand that expresses all of this. So desperate, in fact, that I've decided to take a bold step in my evolution as a blogger and attempt to coin a buzzword of my own.

A little ambitious, I'll admit, but screw it. Here goes:

DIGITAL DEMOCRATIZATION

Does it roll off the tongue? Maybe not, but heck, I'm new at this. In fact, I'm really hoping that someone has a better suggestion.

So do you?

Tags: user-generated consumer-generated web2.0 participation social_networks citizen_journalism democratization marketing buzzwords trends

Links for June 15, 2006

• Steve Rubel points to a Comscore Media Metrix report on the rapid growth of online social networks.
  
  
• Google are readying a PayPal killer, known as GBuy. G�bye Paypal!
  
  
• Brad Berens at iMedia Connection is okay with the term �user generated�, but thinks �consumer-generated� has got to go. I agree.
  
  

Screenshot of new project in the works

I don't often post about personal stuff, but I couldn't resist posting this sneak preview of project I'm working on with my wife.

Well . . . she's doing most of the work, really.

We're very excited with the way this one's shaping up and we're looking forward to its release in late October.

Tags:personal, family

From fizz to buzz

A few days ago, a co-worker sent me a link this video--a demonstration of the results of a chemical reaction that occurs when you mix Mentos candy and Diet Coke.

Update: I've removed the embedded video. It was, like, instantly crashing IE when my wife tried to view the page. To see the video, go here.

Now while I was fascinated and amused, I've got to say I was not particularly inspired to run out and buy either product. In fact, the vision of a similar reaction occurring in my stomach kind of turned me off.

More than anything, the video brought to mind all of the classic urban myths about the many powers of Coke. You know, a t-bone steak will be eaten away by Coke in two days. That sort of thing.

So I guess this all comes back to the old question--is any buzz a good buzz?

In this case the Wall Street Journal have interviewed representatives from both companies, so we actually know what they think.

Keep in mind, the clip above has been seen about 800,000 times, and there are reportedly around 800 less polished demonstrations of this particular chemistry experiment floating around the web.

So do the people in charge of marketing these products see this phenomenon as good news? For Mentos, the answer is a resounding "yes".

"We are tickled pink by it," says Pete Healy, vice president of marketing for the company's U.S. division. The company spends less than $20 million on U.S. advertising annually. He estimates the value of online buzz to be "over $10 million."

But what about Coke?

"It's an entertaining phenomenon," said Coke spokeswoman Susan McDermott. "We would hope people want to drink (Diet Coke) more than try experiments with it." Coke could use some extra buzz right now. Sales volume of Diet Coke in the U.S. was essentially flat last year, as consumers switch from diet sodas to bottled water and other noncarbonated drinks. But McDermott says that the "craziness with Mentos ... doesn't fit with the brand personality" of Diet Coke.

Coke's McDermott raises a few interesting points. On the one hand I agree with here about the less than ideal nature of this particular viral video. Based on my own reaction, I agree that it's probably more flattering to Mentos than to Coke. And far less flattering than, say the BowieChick's famous ode to her Logitech web cam--the best case scenario when it comes to user-created video.



And it also pales in comparison to this popular video of an overenthusiastic kid getting a Nintendo 64 for Christmas, viewed more than 2 million times at YouTube.



So yes, I'm with Ms. McDermott up to a point. But she loses me when she starts talking about maintaining the "brand personality".

Whether shelikes it or not, this video is now one of many things that pop into my head when I hear the words "Diet Coke". In my eyes--and the eyes of 800,000+ other--it most definitely IS part of the brand's personality. The folks at Coke don't need to be happy about it, but they need to accept it. They need to let go of the illusion of control.

Ultimately, it's that lack of control that really sums up the relationship between the user-generated web and brand marketing.

Anybody who's so inclined now has the tools and the platform to create content about your brand. And if that content is interesting enough, many many people are going to see it. And there's nothing you can do about it�except hang on to your sense of humour, resist the urge to call in the lawyers, and make a product worth saying good things about.

Tags: user_generated, youtube, brand, marketing, video,

Too. much. crap.

Good gravy.

This incredibly long list of product tie-ins for the new Disney/Pixar film Cars--which my wife took my 4 year old son and his friends to see today, coincidentally--makes me feel queasy inside.

And it doesn't make me very proud to be a marketer either.

In fact, it kinda makes me want to live in a cabin in the woods and cut myself off from this crazy world entirely.

. . .

But then who would update my blog?

Tags: marketing, materialism, consumerism, marketing_ethics, marketing_kids

Albert Einstein: champion of uncommon common sense

In my recent post on champions of obviousness, I zeroed in on a handful of brilliant bloggers that write a lot about some of my core areas of interest.

As a sort of follow up--and a demonstration that the principles of obviousness apply to life in general beyond the realms of marketing, business etc.--I'd like to nominate Albert Einstein as the all-time champion of challenging the status quo by re-stating the obvious.

Here are a few choice quotes that demonstrate this talent in action:

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."

"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."

Links for June 7

• Jason Fried has sparked a lively discussion with an interesting theory about the motivation behind Google Spreadsheet, Calendar etc.
  
  
• There�s an interesting feature story in Wired on what they�re calling �Crowdsourcing� -- the phenomenon of businesses using the web to tap enthusiastic amateurs for help on everything from marketing to R&D.
  
  
• Innovative online retailer and personal fave Etsy.com bags some financing with help from Flickr and Delicious founders. (via Waxy)
  
  
  

The importance of obviousness

"Obviousness: As Plain As The Nose On Your Face"


crosseyed by BeardPapa

This is why I love Tom Peters:

"Stating the obvious" is how I've spent much of the last quarter century ("people are important"). Fact is, there's little more important than stating the obvious�over and over.

So here I go again:

The problem is rarely the problem. The response to the problem is usually the problem. (Think Watergate and Martha Stewart.)

Ta-da: So work proactively and assiduously on that response�remembering, to state the obvious, that ... perception is all there is!�

What I love is not so much the point he makes--although it's a good one--as the reason he gives for making it: obviousness.

When I started this blog, stating the obvious was my mission--thus the name.

My goal was to cut through the "we've just always done it that way" mindset with pure, simple, beautiful common sense. (Not necessarily of my own devising, mind you. I don't claim any magic common-sense powers. Just a firm belief that many things are done the way they are out of habit and complacency and there's almost always a better, simpler, more obvious path to take.)

It's still something I try to focus on, but maybe not enough. And maybe that should change.

For the time being, though, let me keep the fires of obviousness burning by introducing you to just a few more of the many folks (besides Tom) who continue to inspire me down this path. Let's call them gurus of common sense, champions of the obvious . . .

Kathy Sierra

Example: "Conversational writing kicks formal writing's ass�"

Jason Fried and the folks at 37Signals

Example: "It's better to make half a product than to make a half-assed product" (From Getting Real)

Seth Godin

Example: "Selling to people who actually want to hear from you is more effective than interrupting strangers who don't."

Am I leaving anyone out? Of course I am.

This is an extremely limited selection. And these people write a lot about things this blog focuses on, ie. writing and marketing. There are many more champions of the obvious, and many more areas of life than can benefit from a little uncommon common sense.

Can you think of some more? Why not leave a comment?

Tags: common_sense, wisdom, seth_godin, kathy_sierra, tom_peters

Snakes on a plane, U2 style

Time for a little levity . . .

This guy does an amazing imitation of Bono singing about Sam Jackson and Snakes on a Plane.





Tags: snakesonaplane, funny,

Fast Company on the business impact of social networks

Anya Kamenetz has put together a nice summary in the new Fast Company of the ongoing collision between the business world and social networks.

Her emphasis on the business impact of what's happening online sets this piece apart from most articles on the subject, even though the conclusion is, well, inconclusive. In fact, the bottom line reminded me a lot of what Steve Rubel had to say at Mesh--this stuff is all really, really new.

'"We're honestly at the very very beginning of this," says Vision Critical's Smith, of the use of social networks. "This community concept is just going to grow and expand." That expansion will be driven not just by the technology but also by the various causes of the people who use it. The new Web, after all,lets us create value just by doing what comes naturally: speaking up.'

An interesting aside: Kamenetz interviewed not one but two Vancouver-based companies for the piece: Vision Critical and Social Signal.

Tags: social networks, social software, vancouver

Birth of a pinko

Tara has posted a very honest, very generous account of the Riya story from her perspective.

For readers of her blog and those of us that are following the evolution of pinko marketing, most of the underlying ideas and principles are familiar, but this post brings them to life in two important ways:

• A) It tells us the story of their origin -- Tara moves to the valley, a little starry-eyed and not so sure of herself, but soon finds her footing as her ideas begin to crystallize and, better yet, bear fruit. It's like finding out how Spiderman became Spiderman . . . irresistible.
  
  
• B) It shows how theory becomes practice --Rules, principles and tactics look good on paper, but things get messier when you try to put them into practice in the real world. Tara's recounting of her conflicts and struggles as part of a young, ambitious company shed lots of new light on the way of the Pinko.

. . . great reading.

Tags: marketing, pinko, pinkomarketing