It's the links I love, my friend

Some good, good from the past couple days.

Understanding the 1% rule: Motivations - Church of the Customer
Here's just a jumping off point from the upcoming book release from CotC, beginning to explain the basic motivation behind joining the one percent club, complete with an apt comparison to Hollister motorcycle gangs.  Why is it so great to be a one percenter, be it a motorcycle gang or a digg voter?  You guessed it...the community.

Brand Affinity Through Stories + Experience - Logic + Emotion
David Armano creates another  argument for the removal of silos, this time between Experience People and Storytellers.  The best brands, and the most effective campaigns are born out of both storytelling and the user experience, and when the two are working together, on strategy, that's where the magic happens. (see attached graphic)

Connectedness, Not Content - NoahBrier.com
The medium is the message...The reason the internet changed the world isn't necessarily just because we can watch video or download music, it's because of the easy connections it makes. 

We can't leave innovation up to our users - Creating Passionate Users
Ah, Kathy, always with the great posts.  Sometimes it's up to the creators to revolutionize, to create markets where before they didn't exist.  Then, it's up to us to listen and improve from there...

Tune In Saturdays

This weeks featured artist, The Polyphonic Spree. 

To see a Spree show is the equivalent of going to a music revival.  Children, grandpas, hipsters and teeny-boppers alike can be found scattered throughout the crowd, with beaming smiles on their face.  The music and bouncy demeanor make this the most infectiously happy band I've ever seen.

The Polyphonic Spree was born of the ashes of Tripping Daisy, one of the more popular experimental bands to come out of Dallas.  The Spree features the frontman, drummer, and bassist from Daisy, as well as a cast of roughly 20 - that's right, 20, two-zero, other musicians,  The amazing mass of performers create a magnificent pop symphony that have landed them opening slots for the likes of David Bowie, and later this year, Matisyahu. 

Even with big name recognition, and heavy touring, the band has flown mostly under the radar with their first two releases, "The Beginning Stages of" and "Together We're Heavy," as well as the score to Mike Mills' coming-of-age movie, "Thumbsucker."  The newest release, "The Fragile Army" has basically been recorded, and, although no release date has been set, should be coming out in the coming months.

Although their home page is being renovated to prepare for the new release, you can go the back route to the old one here, where you can listen to full songs from "TWH" (starting with "Hold Me Now," which is truly a gem).  Their MySpace page features a couple tunes from Thumbsucker. 

Below is a video Michel Gondry did for them after their appearance on the "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" soundtrack.

Also, I think it's fair to say this band seems way bigger than I'd usually talk about here, but they are a band still finding their place, and still without a major voice on the music scene.  Enjoy!

It's the links I love, my friend

And here's me, taking a page out of Mack's Viral Community handbook, and doing a little roundup of my own.  There's just such a great network of great minds out there right now, I'd hate for anyone to miss out.  And, with that...

Social Networking: Lessons from Overseas - Chaos Scenerio
A social networking site not a slave to the advertisers?   Cyworld's kicking ass by finding a business model that makes money without annoying interstitials. 

Elements of Customer Experience - Experience Planner
The EP's on a quest to understand and describe customer experience.

Theory is good.  Theory being put into action and proven is better - The Viral Garden
Mack is a communal badass, and has been tracking Universal Pictures' amazingly smart, money-saving, time-efficient move to involve the blogging community in the marketing of Miami Vice.  Thousands of engaged eyeballs later, Universal will surely be exclaiming, "Thank you sir, May I have another?!?!"  Kudos to Mack and Chris over at Movie Marketing Madness.

Fix Me. Save Me. Don't Let Me Break - CK's Blog
CK's about doing what every good marketer should, keeping her ear to the ground.  If you haven't checked out her blog, yet, you probably can't read.

10 Habits of Highly Annoying Agency Humans - Advergirl
I love me some advergirl.  She accurately describes the people that making our working lives even more workier.  And yes, I know, workier is not a word.

The Underground Blogosphere - Micro Persuasion
A-Lister Steve Rubel describes the phenomenon of bloggers shilling blogs to other blogs through email. It's the blogging equivalent of Behind the Music.  I must say, I have a little trouble doing it.  I'll admit, I've sent a couple links, but literally, that means two.  I sent one to Godin, and one to Jaffe, and then I felt like a blog whore and went into a shame spiral.  Anybody else feel this way, too?  I just feel so dorky trying to send a link of something I wrote.

Read 'em up!

The Fix is In 3

(3) A Bad Case of Monetary Balls-lessness.
Commissions continually shrink, as agencies get squeezedtighter for every dollar. That’s right, no more first-class, limos and Cristal for you. These commoditized agencies can do nothing but beg, because why wouldn’t a client go to the lowest bidder if an agency doesn’t offer them something someone else can’t? It’s a vicious cycle of lowering, and whimpering, further lowering, and louder whimpering.

The Fix:
First, you start by owning your inner snowflake. Obviously, there are aspects of any agency that are similar, but you must indulge in your individuality to demand the most dollars.

With our own fees, and commissions that are based solely on the price tag of ad buys, not performance, we’ve painted ourselves into an all-or-nothing corner. Either you perform immediately or you’re fired. This black and white proposition doesn’t allow much time for growth, and these days more than ever, long-term, growth-based relationships are much more important than short-term cash grabs.

It’s time to find measurements that work for both the clients and the agency, and base the income off these benchmarks.  An agency doing its job is an agency getting paid.  Period.

If we can’t stand behind our product, then how can we possibly expect our clients to stand behind us?

photo from flickr.

Cuban Gets Hee-Haw'd!

Mark Cuban, savior of Dallas basketball (seriously, I remember going to Mavs games back in the early 90’s…it sucked) and all-around techie guru, has turned to the masses to find a solution to his movie marketing problem.  His issues are two-fold, spending too much to build an audience, and requiring them to pay too much when they get there. 

It's a bit of a tough assignment because I don't think the problem can be fixed by introducing a new tactic or two.  It's all about considering the consumer a partner in the experience, not just a benefactor of an experience created for them.  With that said, here are a few tactics. :)

(1) Get the movie to the places people want to watch.
Local coffee shops, bars, clubs, whatever, are always looking for ways of drawing in the public, and the public is tired of theaters gouging them at the concession stand, just because they think they can.  Allow these businesses who have the space, to also roll the feature.  Rent a projector, a screen, and the movie for a fee that makes sense to that location.

• The establishment wins because they draw people in.
• The people win because they can go to a place where they feel more comfortable, might be able to smoke, drink, eat a reasonably priced meal, etc.

(2) Do whatever it takes to make the audience comfortable the movie won't be shit.
Although a trailer has its place, it's time to move to the taster.  Allow consumers to view 30 or 45 minutes of the movie for free.  Give them time to get to know the characters, to get engaged with the story, and then charge to see the second half.  If you present a crap movie, of course, you'll get a crap response, but make something worth watching, and you're much more likely to have a customer happy to pay your price.  Show these tasters anywhere you can, streams on the internet, late-night television (cheap for you and DVR friendly), before baseball games, whatever.  Give people a chance to become involved with the story.

(3) Monetize in other places.
Product placement can be a valuable resource, but doesn't necessarily offer any immediate payoff.  Create a virtual store of ALL the items in the movie.  Clothes, furniture, kitchenware, cars, whatever, and build affiliate programs to get a cut of the return.  They buy through you, and everyone wins.

(4) Allow your biggest fans to become engorged in the movie.
Start blogging from the beginning.  Show early cuts of scenes and interview your actors from day one.  Make them accessible throughout the shoot, not just on press day.  Release scenes for download so fans can create their own mash-ups, and become a part of the movie.  Give movie communities as much access as you possibly can.  (Mack knows a thing or two about this). Open a continuing dialogue.

Those are just a few of the literally thousands of things Mark could be doing to change the industry. Screening parties, pricing-to-the-occasion, flop passes, loyalty programs, selling the extras immediately after the feature, and on and on and on….

Eric Frenchman also has a few ideas.

The Fix is In 2

(2) Lack of Meaningful Partnership

Ad agencies are now largely message factories, rather than absolute partners.

This relationship is really just an extension of old-school, silo’d thinking, and part of a “not my job” mentality that consumes narrow-minded managers.  Marketing is not only messaging, and advertising agencies who see traditional executions as their primary responsibility will be part of the slew that will fail, have failed, or are in the process of failing.

The Fix:

Agencies will become full partners, examining all the characteristics that move consumers. Yes, messaging will still be a part of the job, but the traditional definition of messaging will fade away.

Messaging will become literal. No longer will it be just the advertisements we have placed, but all the things our clients communicate, in any form or fashion.  That means customer service, operational issues, all the way down to the number of plies on the toilet paper. We will be image auditors, ensuring a consistent, fulfilling customer experience at all levels, encounters and interactions.

Now more than ever, advertising is about ensuring a remarkable product experience, and making those experiences relatable, not differentiation through mass marketing of homogeneous crap.

photo by R80o via flickr.

Oceanographer was his name-o

It's Saturday again, and that means a little more underground for your listening pleasure.

Oceanographer, a New York via Denton quintet, is reminiscent of a more down-tempo The Sea and Cake, and is texturally similar to The Postal Service.  Their music is probably most often described as simply pretty.  It's atmospheric and sad, folky, and uplifting. 

In early 2006, On Leaping from Airplanes was released. Mostly, it's a melancholy work, but also eager and optimistic. I recommend you head over to MySpace and start with "Stations."  You'll be hooked.

MySpace
Home

Side Note:  I'm going to see Midlake and Robert Gomez tonight.  Midlake's first widely distributed US release (The Trials of Van Occupanther) comes out on Tuesday.  Look out, It's THE album of 2006. 

Deep Discouting is a Way of Life

If you're not careful, deep discounting can become a way of life.  Mediocre and dying companies rely on deep discounting like a co-dependent lover, continually getting beat up when they should have just walked away.  In an all out price war, no one wins.  Not you, because you just lose profits, and not the consumer, because they lose in quality.

Before you get caught up in some vicious price war, you might want to consider a couple things.

How much better would the product experience get if, instead of discounting, you redirected that money into making it exceptional?

Let's face it, sometimes you have a dying product, and to move it, you have to discount.  If you don't feel that way about your product, how else do you raise demand?  By surprising the customer with an experience they didn't expect.  That means remarkable customer service.  That means serving steak when everyone else is hocking peanuts.  It means giving treatment that consumers deserve, and at a reasonable price. 

Instead of giving the customer a lesser product for less dollars, give them an amazing experience that they can't forget, and they can't help but share.

Have you made the product experience valuable enough so that the customer not only feels like it's worth more, but might even be willing to pay more for it?

The word "value" may be overused, but intrinsically, value can't be.  Marketability is found in a product that someone is willing to pay more for than you charge because of the way it makes them feel, not necessarily based on the cost of production.  Your company's life expectancy lies with providing consumers with real satisfaction in buying a product that's right for them.  Help confirm their good decision.

Return of the Saturday Special

After spending last Saturday popping more pain pills than blogging, my Saturday special returns, featuring some of the best music that you probably have yet to hear, but I think would work beautifully in the marketing world.

I first heard about Denton's Robert Gomez through a couple of his other bands, Norte de Havana and Rob G and the Latin Pimps.  Both obviously latin music, tinged with jazz and pop, especially in the case of The Latin Pimps.

Robert Gomez as a solo artist is a total departure.  Low-key and intuitive, like a mellow Beck, Gomez quietly makes music that meanders, but surprises.  In his latest album, Etherville, he creates songs that are as perfect for Sunday afternoons as they are for candle lit dinners.

Norah Jones also makes an appearance in the album, lending harmonies to "Happiness Today". 

A new song from Rob G's upcoming record "Brand New Towns" is up on his myspace page.  If this is any indication of what we can expect, we should all be very excited.

Etherville is available on ITunes.

MySpace.
Home.

And now, it's time to build a website

My company website needs an upgrade.  Bad.  We've talked and talked and now it's time for action.

I'll give you a sneak peek into my side of the conversation.  These are the things we should be striving for when we get to building...

+Wear our personality on our sleeve.  Our business is seldom based on the work alone.  It's based on relationships and compatibility.  Don't sign up clients and then give them surprises.  In other words, don't sell neck ties and deliver cargo shorts.

+Stand for something.  An attempt to stand for the same things any potential client stands for would be a fool's errand.  Have a point of view, Be ferocious with our convictions and seek out clients on a similar plane.  Or better yet, make it easy for clients with similar beliefs to find us.

+Take the opportunity to build our brand.  Do what we should do, build a website that is only a part of a larger marketing mix.  Stay on message, and expand past home base. 

+Let our employees join the conversation.  Don't make this a top-down exercise.  A company is built upon the needs, desires, opinions, insights of the entire staff.  Give them a piece of the action through blogs, podcasts and community involvement.

+Don't be a business drone.  You can find a thousand agencies that will work to increase business efficiencies, ignore the status quo, push the envelope, and think outside the box.  Don't bullshit.  Find what makes us different and revel in it.

+Build buzz from the ground up.  Get involved with the community.  Don't recruit by accepting resumes.  Recruit by joining and assisting in learning and creation.  Open the dialogue and obsess about talent.

+Create utility for our current clients. How can technology make both of our lives easier?  How can we partner, discuss, collaborate with the most ease?  How can this website make our conversation easy?

+Design with simplicity and usability.  F THE FLASH INTO. 

And for repetitions sake, I'll say again the most important thing we can do for ourselves and our clients, find what makes us different and better and revel in it.  And talk to the people that we are different and better for, and revel with them.

There you go.  Sorry if I've gone list-a-rific lately.  But, I'm turning into a big fan of the list lately.  I'll try to mix it up a bit in the future.

Happy Friday!