Pow! Right Between The Eyes! Andy Nulman's Blog About Surprise

Free Advice: Getting What You Paid For

I am often asked for free advice.

People sometimes even listen to my response.

On an even rarer basis, I am pleased with what comes out of my mouth. 

Well, thrice last week, the incredible happened.  People asked, they listened, and I liked. 

Here's what was said:

1)  To the question of "How do I know if this project will burn out my team?", I responded with this equation:

Size of Project x Capacity of Your Team
                Size of Your Team

If the answer is greater than 1, then you are in Burnout territory;
If it's less than 1, you can breathe a bit.

2)  To the question "Should I hire an internal P.R. team for my project, or outsource it?", I spouted this somewhat off-color ditty:

"In-house always beats outhouse.
It's better to work with those
who actually give a shit
rather than just take one."

3)  And finally, when asked for a definition of shameless self-promotion, I came up with this newly-coined term:

Masturpaytion

Confucius I may not be, but hey...at least they got their money's worth.

Pay Attention--Attention Pays!

As a follow up to yesterday's post, let's dig a bit deeper to fully understand why the proliferation of recognition for the power of Surprise, straight from the mouths of three brilliant Web 2.0 gurus, Max Levchin (co-founder of PayPal and current CEO of social network widget factory SLIDE), Chris Anderson (author of the book and creator of the concept The Long Tail) and Seth Godin (well, you know who).

Levchin believes that the future of advertising relies less on how many people see/hear an ad, but how "engaged" consumers are with them.  As he says:

"The metrics for success
are going to shift away from
who can provide the most reach
toward who is paid the most attention."

Meanwhile, Anderson's next great debatable theory (as discussed here a few weeks ago) is the rise of giving things away, to be solidified in his next book "Free."  As Brandweek puts it in a short piece on the author/thinker:

"Free's argument is that
in the digital age,
it's more important to get attention than immediate payoff."

The last word goes to Godin, who in commenting on Anderson's theory said that:

"Attention is a valuable asset
that used to be a commodity."

Who is paid the most attention will rely heavily on how one generates the most attention...the all-important catalyst best left in the capable hands of Surprise marketers.  Generating attention is our raison d'etre.

Yeah, I know there ain't too many of us around.

Yet.

Apple A Surprise Target

In delivering the crucial continuum of Surprise, few companies do it as well as Apple.  Thanks to Steve Jobs and his continually challenged cohorts, the value of the strategy that's been touted here at Surprise Central for years is starting to be appreciated by the mainstream business press.

To wit, this from the cover story on Apple in the most recent Wired magazine:

"Part of the joy of being an Apple customer...the Surprises that Santa Steve brings at Macworld Expo every January."

One example does not a trend make, though.  Which is why I was equally delighted to read the following about Target in Fortune, which outlined the company's deep commitment to the flow of Surprise:

"To encourage, or rather ensure, a steady stream of bold new ideas, managers with a proven record of hits must duke it out for portions of their budgets every year. 

"So although the events team won a big chunk of the 2007 pie with its idea for a holographic fashion show, it had to come up with something equally compelling if it wanted funding this year. 

"This helped generate such out-there ideas as a temporary store floating in the Hudson river or and a vertical fashion show where acrobats 'walked' down the side of a building. 

"That element of Surprise, it turns out, has been part of Target's DNA for some time."

Any company can pull of some sort of one-off "stunt."  But real corporate longevity (Target, as Target, has been around 46 years), customer loyalty and buzz with a long trail of zzz's, comes when the company maintains the consistent delight of Surprise.

Clutter Cutter

So, last week I end with a great Surprise quote, this week I begin with one.

But this one's a little more esoteric and heady, so put on those thinking caps.  It comes from Gavin Potter a.k.a Just A Guy In A Garage), a brilliant British consultant who is now working towards his PhD in Machine Learning (I learned about him the old-fashioned way, reading about his quest to win the Netflix Prize in Wired).  His words of wisdom:

"The 20th century was about sorting out supply.
"The 21st is going to be about sorting out demand."

What's the Surprise relevance?  Well, as per the Wired piece, "The Internet makes everything available, but mere availability is meaningless if the products remain unknown to potential buyers."

And, uh, what's one of the best ways to get pro ducts known?  Pow! You got it, kids.

The paper towel brand Bounty is known as the Quicker-Picker-Upper.

That said, based on Potter's quote, I guess we could consider Surprise the Quicker-Clutter-Cutter.

My next call--A.G Lafley at Procter & Gamble...

The Blank Canvas of Marketing Surprise

When it comes to marketing copy, product packaging is a roller coaster ride of supreme extremes.  It can be a drearly, barren wasteland where words go to dry up and die a painful, dehydrating death, or a Dali-like playground where nouns, verbs and adjectives frolic in four dimensions of color and sound.

For marketers, it's an avenue to either impress or depress.  Played correctly, and taken seriously, packages are an underrated blank canvas of selling Surprise. 

Lemme show you what I mean.  Here's some copy from a package of Chocolate Bowl, some high-end chocolate-covered cashews from B.C.'s Brookside Foods. 

(Warning:  DO NOT read if you are about to drive or operate heavy machinery!!)

"Everyone at Brookside is committed to using the finest, wholesome ingredients in the masterful preparation of our delicious delicacies to endure that they can be enjoyed with confidence and satisfaction.  Chocolate Bowl, where goodness comes naturally."

Oy.  Grey and lifeless.  Spewed from the sludge of a rust-belt cliché factory.  And if you think that's bad, check out their hellzapoppin' quality guarantee:

"Our products are produced with a commitment to excellence."

Snore.  Too bad their packaging isn't.

Compare this to the back of the box of Merrick's Spring Fling (can't print it all, but this will give ya an idea):

"Our Spring Fling is a delightful tryst of the senses that pairs a lover of fine foods with an innocent bystander such as our gourmet can entrées and whirls them off into wedded bliss...

"At Merrick, we're suckers for the whole romance thing; maybe it's because we were the last ones asked to the spring dance or were never voted cutest couple.  Whatever the method is that helped shape our soft spot, we are committed to love.

It continues:

"So pack up the red gingham check blanket, a couple of champagne flutes, a lite lunch in your trusty old wooden picnic basket your mom gave you and let's head to the park."

Paints quite the picture doesn't it?  Words indeed do matter.

Uh, and did I mention that Spring Fling is a six-pack sampler of DOG FOOD?

Surprise, indeed!

(Pardon the pun, but my only "beef" with the brilliant Spring Fling package is that it's rife with punctuation mistakes, word omissions and typos...which I've corrected above for a better experience for my faithful FOPs.  But Merrick folks, if you can find the money for copy like this, you can surely spend a couple more bucks on a proofreader.  A human one, preferably...)

Tom Jones Meets Tom Peters

I'm just about to host my first roundtable at the Shop.org Innovation conference, and after listening to people like Andy Sernovitz,  QVC's Bob Myers, Mitch Joel and Carrie Johnson of Forrester Research, I realized that--particularly after such a lemon-sucking holiday season in retail--that "Business As Usual" is a guaranteed route to failure.

In fact, these days, to make a dent on the bottom line AND in consumer's minds, we need to gravitate towards (he says coining a phrase, thank you very much):

"BUSINESS AS UNUSUAL"

Dry Cleaned!

Told you about spending some time with David Suzuki on Monday, and not only did I get to enjoy a truly inspirational lunch with the man, but he managed to solve the hand-drying conundrum that so perplexed me last week.

According to David--and if anyone, HE should know--the lesser of all environmental evils are the paper towels..."primarily because most of them are low-grade paper, and recycled," he explained.

Ahh, another question of the ages solved.  Not to mention a lot less hand-wiping, wear-and-tear on my Nudie jeans.

And now, to search for the meaning of life.

URL-evant?

Okay, so the post title may be a little tough to comprehend, but on Monday, a bus billboard made me question the efficiency--even the purpose--of slapping one's website URL on every marketing touchpoint.

Case in point here was the aforementioned bus ad for a breakfast specialty restaurant in my parts called Chez Cora.  The ad was a simple one, basically pairing the words "Wake Up Montreal!" with Cora's sunshine logo.  That's it.  Nothing else.

Conspicuous in its absence was the company's web address...which got me to thinking--at first--that someone had forgotten it.

But then, upon more profound reflection (all this at a red light, I must add), I figured that what benefit would it have added to this ad?  Was I really going to grab a pen or my BlackBerry and take a note of www.chezcora.com while waiting for the light to change? 

And if by some chance, say I really wanted to visit the company online, today's search engine technology would bring me there, eventually, even if I misspelled the name.

URLs obviously have their place, particularly in "teaser ads" like the one for Moxi in this month's Wired (the  headline reads "Stay Interesting," the subhead says "It'll change the way you look at TV," and then there's the URL moxi.com).  These ads are mere jump points to a more detailed, more compelling web selling experience.

But as time marches on, most URLs will be irrelevant to plain folk, relegated to become background code, kinda like our IP addresses or our DNA structure (or even telephone numbers, many of which are anonymously hidden behind names or nicknames on our SpeedDial lists).  Like a good limo driver, we'll just ask our web devices to take us to our destination.  They'll know the address.

In the tradition of the 1989 Field Of Dreams  maxim of "If you build it, they will come," today's website slogan should be: "If we wanna go somewhere, we'll find it."  Without ever taking note of the URL.

Right now, I'm starving.  I wonder if Chez Cora is still open?

You Can Work Your Ass Off, Or...

After about a dozen keynotes and panels, meetings both scheduled and impromptu, and countless crossfires of bar talk, the wisest words I heard at last week's CTIA conference in San Francisco were uttered by some malcontent as he left the W Hotel and staggered along 3rd Street. 

Don't know who he was talking to, or about, prior...but it mos' def left an indelible impact on his sufferin' psyche.  To wit:

"There is no more
surefire success strategy
than nepotism."

Uh, have a nice week.

Born To Run Meets Stayin' Alive

Just got back from an hour-long jog through the streets of San Francisco.  There are few better ways to truly discover a city than to run though it; the freedom of your feet allows you to explore nooks and crannies unreachable by bikes, let alone cars.

However...

Running through a city at random can also expose you to some, shall we say, "wrong parts of town."  Experienced this in Atlanta, Downtown L.A. and here about 30 minutes ago.  Faithful FOPs may ask:

How does one actually know
they're in a so-called
"wrong part" of town?"

Well, here's the rule of thumb, courtesy of this modern-day marathoner of a Margaret Mead:

If some of society's sketchiest characters
are Surprised to see you in their 'hood
and look at you as if YOU were crazy,
then you know you're in the
"wrong part" of town.

Another public service provided from your friends at Pow!

Minced Meet

Given all that it has done for me and my family (and you too, I'd suspect, since you're reading this), I'm a big fan of the Internet.  I dug 1.0, am still enamored with 2.0, am looking forward to 3.0 and hope to be around when 4.0 pops up.  Perhaps my yet-unborn grandchildren will make a killing--figuratively, not literally, I hope--with 5.0.

That said, I find I learn a lot by reading contrarian viewpoints, so I can't wait to dig into Andrew Keen's new book, The Cult of the Amateur--How Today's Internet is Killing Our Culture (capitals mine).

My namesake hooked me big time, on page 1 for crissakes, when he tells the story of meeting a much overdriven acquaintance who described his current project as "MySpace meets YouTube meets Wikipedia meets Google...on steroids."

Ween's classic reply, which one day may be an epitaph of this century's first decade, was to counter-describe HIS current project, the polemic about the destructive impact of the digital revolution on our culture, economy and values, as:

"Ignorance meets egoism
meets bad taste
meets mob rule.   
On steroids."

So strong was this Pow! that the book nearly fell from my hands.   Looking forward to this Labor Day Weekend, when I have a few hours to spare to take the rest in.

(By the way, with all the above "meeting" going on, could Keen be giving rise to Anti-Social Networking?)

What You Want, Baby I Got It

Whew...

Just flew in from Italy, and boy are my legs tired.

Lots to tell you, but the jet lag and muscle fatigue make even typing a chore. 

So lemme leave the verbal eloquence in the hands of Nassim Nicholas Taleb, whose tome "The Black Swan" made the long flight from Rome much shorter.

In it, he spouts the words of wisdom that all marketers should heed as we go about our daily challenge to develop long-lasting relationships with our customers:

"It is my great hope someday to see science and decision-makers rediscover what the ancients have always known, namely that our highest currency is RESPECT."

Roll that one around your cranial areas for a while and start your week off right. 

Where There's Smoke...There's Money

From what I've noticed after three days along Italy's highways, bi-ways and backroads, smokers are not content merely polluting the air we breathe, but the roads we travel as well. Not that this is a scientific study, but from a cyclist's point-of-view, about 85% of all roadside rubbish has been cigarette packs...obviously tossed out of cars as they whiz by.

So this got me thinking--why not impose a deposit on cigarette packs like they have on beer and soft-drink bottles?  A buck or Euro a pack and perhaps puffers will think twice about adding to roadway blight..."perhaps" being the operative word.

Even if not, a per-pack deposit can at least give rise to a clean-up campaign led by enterprising micro-entrepreneurs, who could've picked up an easy couple grand had they simply followed my route yesterday.

Either way, it's a win-win.

And another public service provided by Surprise Central!   

The view on the side of Italy's roads...

Line Of The Festival

Well, I'm back at work at Airborne (hence the return of all things BOLD and COLOR). 

Just For Laughs is over, the final All-Star Gala went off without a hitch (including a touching tribute to my late friend Richard Jeni), but I can't stop thinking of what has to be the line of the event, delivered by hulking security enforcer Al "Fluffy" Schwartz.

Following the aforementioned, shriek-inducing performances by kazoo-player Amy G (who is perhaps the most beautiful woman working a comedy stage) and SpyMonkey, who cavorted about in the buff, Schwartz shook his head and slowly uttered:

"In a perfect world, Amy G would be in SpyMonkey."

The Age Of Conversation...Starts Today

Screw Harry Potter and his Deadly Hollows!

The REAL big buzz in the publishing world belongs to The Age of Conversation , a collaborative effort dreamed up and meticulously guided by Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton.  It comes out today, but last night there were midnight bashes in online bookstores throughout the world, with kids and adults alike dressing up as their favorite The Age of Conversation contributor, munching on Alpha-Bits cereal (the official foodstuff of the AOC) and downing unprecedented amounts of smart drinks.

I could ramble about what it's all about and how it all came together, but Drew and Gavin have done such a phenomenal job of that with a blog, I would be adding nothing but babble.

Here's what I will say about the project, though:

1) Even more important than the book's subject matter is its soul.  This is a book with a heart; ALL proceeds from ALL book sales will be donated to Variety, the Children's Charity.  And there are three ways to buy 'em, ensuring that all along the reading spectrum --from the digital downloader to the hardcover hoarder-- can buy the book in their fave format via Lulu.com.  Here are the more-than-reasonable prices:

• The e-book--$9.99  ($7.99 going to charity)
• The Paperback--$16.95 ($8.10 to charity)
• The Hardcover--$29.99 ($8.55 to charity)

2) This is no cliché or butt-kissing--I am TRULY honored to be part of the project.  I worked like a looney to be eloquent and relevant in my piece, entitled "How to be LOUD!"

3) And why did I work so hard?  'Cuz I had at least be as good as this group of prestigious peers, who all deserve a round of applause for gathering thoughts and banging the drums to raise the level of support and donations for The Age Of Conversation.  Check 'em all out:

Gavin Heaton
Drew McLellan
CK
Valeria Maltoni
Emily Reed
Katie Chatfield
Greg Verdino
Mack Collier
Lewis Green
Sacrum
Ann Handley
Mike Sansone
Paul McEnany
Roger von Oech
Anna Farmery
David Armano
Bob Glaza
Mark Goren
Matt Dickman
Scott Monty
Richard Huntington
Cam Beck
David Reich
Luc Debaisieux
Sean Howard
Tim Jackson
Patrick Schaber
Roberta Rosenberg
Uwe Hook
Tony D. Clark
Todd Andrlik
Toby Bloomberg
Steve Woodruff
Steve Bannister
Steve Roesler
Stanley Johnson
Spike Jones
Nathan Snell
Simon Payn
Ryan Rasmussen
Ron Shevlin
Roger Anderson
Robert Hruzek
Rishi Desai
Phil Gerbyshak
Peter Corbett
Pete Deutschman
Nick Rice
Nick Wright
Michael Morton
Mark Earls
Mark Blair
Mario Vellandi
Lori Magno
Kristin Gorski
Kris Hoet
G.Kofi Annan
Kimberly Dawn Wells
Karl Long
Julie Fleischer
Jordan Behan
John La Grou
Joe Raasch
Jim Kukral
Jessica Hagy
Janet Green
Jamey Shiels
Dr. Graham Hill
Gia Facchini
Geert Desager
Gaurav Mishra
Gary Schoeniger
Gareth Kay
Faris Yakob
Emily Clasper
Ed Cotton
Dustin Jacobsen
Tom Clifford
David Polinchock
David Koopmans
David Brazeal
David Berkowitz
Carolyn Manning
Craig Wilson
Cord Silverstein
Connie Reece
Colin McKay
Chris Newlan
Chris Corrigan
Cedric Giorgi
Brian Reich
Becky Carroll
Arun Rajagopal
Andy Nulman
Amy Jussel
AJ James
Kim Klaver
Sandy Renshaw
Susan Bird
Ryan Barrett
Troy Worman
S. Neil Vineberg

So what are you waiting for?  Buy the book!

Here's How

The renowned Thomas L. Friedman, he of The World Is Flat fame, wrote another excellent editorial in last week's New York Times (here for you for free from the Pasadena Star News). 

In it, he talked about the ramifications of our reputations now that the democratization of broadcasting has rendered us cellophane-transparent.  More importantly, he introduced How, a new book by Dov Seidman, the CEO of business ethics specialists LRN.  To quote Friedman:

"In this transparent world, 'how' you live your life and 'how' you conduct your business matters more than ever, because so many people can now see into what you do, and tell so many other people about it on their own without any editor.

"To win now, he (Seidman) argues, you have to turn these new conditions to your advantage."

Pardon the pun, but "how" do you do that?

Well, to paraphrase the expression "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king," in a world where everyone knows everything about you...change what they know about you.  Or, in other words...

Surprise them.

The same information that's available to them is also available to you.  Do your homework, and come to the same conclusions about yourself that others will come to of you.

Then mix 'em up. 

It's like throwing a fastball when they're expecting a curve. 

Confounding expectations can be the greatest advantage of them all.

Destroying Tradition

Smartest thing anyone in marketing has said all week, from Lisa Klauser, VP Brand Building at Unilever  U.S.:

“What we used to call
the nontraditional media—
online and instore—
is now becoming
the traditional”

It all changes.  Faster than ever.  Today's special is tomorrow's so what.

Wanna stay special?  As I've said so many times, keep looking for new extremes.

And new traditions.

Saving Bonds

Saul Colt is brilliant. 

In a majestic blog post this week, Saul (the guy at left) solved the dilemma facing Major League Baseball as Barry Bonds (the guy at right) prepares to pass Hank Aaron's all-time home run hitting record.

The way I see it, Bud Selig should bow down at Saul's feet for this easy way out. 

Hammerin' Hank should take him out for dinner for maintaining his dignity, and baseball fans the world over should thank him profusely every time they sing Take Me Out To The Ball Game.

Next stop Saul, the middle east!

If you haven't already clicked over to read it, do so now!

The King Of Truth

One of the ancillary benefits of doing The Power Within speeches in Ottawa and Vancouver back in March was meeting Gary King, who works with Tony Robbins. 

An acclaimed speaker in his own right, Gary's motivational take is a unique one. A la Jim Carrey in "Liar Liar" a near-death experience has left him incapable of telling a lie (hmmm...I guess that means that he really DID like my shirt), so Gary has made it his calling to spread the word on The Power Of Truth.

One of the great evenings I spent this year was in the company of Gary and W Mitchell (another unique speaker, believe me), where he told us of his 24-Hour Truth Challenge; "Your life, health and peace of mind will never be the same," he promised.

"But I'm in the wireless business," I protested.  "I don't know if I could do 24 minutes of truth!"

Well, I tried it (albeit over a weekend).  And--truth be told--it was actually kinda fun.  Granted, there's a fine line between saying everything you're thinking and telling the truth, but the result was liberating.

...AND educational as per generating Surprise.  This was an additional, unexpected benefit.

In marketing, consumers have become incredibly skeptical after years of dealing with untruths in all shapes and sizes. Their levels of trust have been worn down and their callouses of cynicism have hardened to carbon.  They are expecting the lie, and are hunkering down to deal with it. Just about every time.

Just think of the supreme  Pow! you can generate just by telling the simple truth.   Arguments are suddenly deflated, negativity is flushed away, and the path to dealing with the problem or the situation has been exponentially widened.  Imagine how much better your headspace would be, and how you'd be able to make alternative plans, if the airline explained why your flight was delayed...if the taxi driver admitted he was lost...if the waiter confessed he forgot to put in your order...if the blogger said he couldn't think of a fourth example to round out this paragraph.

A lie is something you deal with alone.  As Gary says, "There is no such thing as an inconsequential lie."  Each one starts a domino effect that ripples wide and long.

The truth is something you deal with with others. 

And in the relationship called marketing, you NEED others to deal with.

Gary King...you are indeed one.

 

Sharing The Love

The Pow! goes upscale today, folks.  Got this in the Surprise Central inbox first thing this morning:

I saw your post on The Black Swan.

You might enjoy this interview I did with Taleb:
http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2007/04/taleb_on_black.html

Feel free to share it with your readers.

Russ

Russell Roberts
Professor of Economics
J. Fish and Lillian F. Smith Distinguished Scholar
at the Mercatus Center
Department of Economics 
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA. 22030

As my conversations with distinguished Economics Professors are few and far between, I am honored to share his conversation with Nassim Nicholas Taleb with you.

Thanks Professor Roberts.  And now, enjoy, listen and learn...

Theory 9--Theory Why

People ask "Why?" all the time.

Sometimes--perhaps not often enough--there is no "Why."

"Just 'cuz" may be the only reason.

"Because" doesn't always have to be followed with explanation.

Sometimes "Because" is strong enough to stand on its own.

In generating Surprise,

BECAUSE IS THE NEW WHY

Why do I say that?

Because.

The Formula

This from Linda Tischler's article on Northwestern U's Essentials of Industrial Design class in Fast Company.  In it, Linda profiles design guru Mark Dziersk, who teaches his students about the innovation process behind great products.

His parting words to his class as they pick up an assignment can be considered the mantra for Pow!, the formula for great Surprise.  So simple, but so true, and worth repeating ad nausem:

"Remember:
Creativity plus risk
gets you the grade"

And not just in class.  In business.  In life.  Everywhere.

 

Idol's Secret Formula

This from an article about (oy...) American Idol in Time Magazine:

PEOPLE LIKE TO BE SURPRISED
BY WHAT THEY ALREADY KNOW

Idol has figured out the challenge of mass entertainment: how to please an audience that craves novelty but rarely rewards the jarringly new.

The New Old is the aesthetic of mass-market America...The ideal Idol performance--a hip hop Sweet Home Alabama, a beatboxed Time Of The Season--mashes up old and new, letting viewers feel cool in their squareness.

In other words, as has been said here many times before, and foist upon by FOPs ad nauseum:

"The audience isn't as hip
as you think they are...
or want them to be."

and

"Everything new is old again."

Best. Opening. Line. Ever.

Kudos to Power Corporation Executive Vice President John Rae.

He had the unenviable task of not only following three raucous hours of Tony Robbins at today's Power Within event in Montreal, but being the "corporate guy" having to introduce keynote speaker Billl Clinton.

As boardroom conservative as one gets, the grey-on-grey John surveyed the huge room, cleared his throat, set his laser-beam eyes on the crowd, and said with steadfast conviction:

"After seeing you jump up and down so wildly during the last speech, all I could think was 'They need a Valium'.

"Well..." he continued, "I'm it."

The Never-Ending Race

While researching last week's post about the majestic Sony Bravia giveaway, I came across a number of passionate gaming bloggers all asking the same question:

Who will win the videogame race:
Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo?

Being the bold prognosticator I'm reputed to be, let me answer with certainty: 

None of the above.

The very nature of a race implies a set distance and established finish line.  Find me one of those in the marketing game.  Sure there are quarterly numbers to hit, annual projections, campaign objectives and measurable metrics, but despite all these milestones in the road, as Journey sang, "The Wheel in the Sky Keeps on Turning."

Today's loser is tomorrow's winner is the next day's "where are they now?"

For better or for worse, we're on a never-ending treadmill, and as the scenery changes all around us, we still have to face forward and keep running. This is why Surprise is so important, so imperative.  Other than disruptive innovation, it's the only way to take two steps to your competition's one.

Staying in the game, and not breathing too hard while doing it, is the real win.

Free Advice (Marketing's New Ps)

Drew McLellan of the eponymously-named McLellan Marketing (and his Drew's Marketing Minute blog) tosses this challenge my way:

Hey Andy,
I'm working on a project that I'd sure like your help with.  You might have seen my post about putting together a free e-book for college grads about to descend upon agencies, marketing departments and publishing entities. I thought it would be cool if we could all offer a piece of advice or a success (or failure) story that might encourage the kids (ouch...I hate calling a 22 year old that!) who have the passion for business to keep chasing that elusive first job.

Well-timed, Drew.  Earlier this month, in what has become a regular, once-a-semester occurrence, I gave a speech to McGill University's BCom students about how to get a job in a "non-traditional industry" (their quotes, not mine). 

The reason I keep being invited back is that there is no course in how to gun for a gig (nor one on "How to Study" either, but that's a whole other bone to pick), and my outrageous ramblings seem to have struck a chord.  What I say is rather unconventional and contrarian (now THERE'S a Surprise!), and while it goes on for 90 minutes, the advice can be distilled down into the following, which can be labeled:

The Three Ps of Marketing Jobs
(Finding 'Em, That Is...)

PATRONAGE

A dirty word in politics, but a valued shortcut in business.  Years ago, I created a TV series for CBC in Canada called "Getting Job One," and for it, we interviewed dozens of job-seeking students. All of 'em eschewed going to their relatives or friends for help with stinky disdain; they were gonna get their first job themselves, goddamit, even if it killed them! Well young'uns, the most valuable asset in business is your contact list, and at this stage of your careers, yours subsists primarily of those close to you.  There is no shame in depending on others for an "in" to get you a job; you'll be depending on others for the rest of your working days to keep it.

PROSTITUTION

Perhaps the best tactic of them all. By offering yourself up to a prospective employer for free, to do anything--everything!--you are showing confidence in yourself, your abilities and your potential to fit in with the company.  Some have softened the blow of this term with the euphemisms "Intern" or "Volunteer," but  make no bones about it--you know what you want, and this is how you'll get it.  And when I say "do anything," I really mean "anything"--wash cars, walk dogs, separate trash from recycling.  Trust me, perform well for free and when that paying gig opens up, where do you think they'll look first--that pile of resumés...or the guy or gal bustin' butt down the hall?

PRÉSUMÉS

And speaking about resumés, throw yours away.  It ain't worth squat.  Unless you've started a business or two, or worked in the field, in the eyes of most marketing job-offerers, you ain't done nothing.  Worse still, unlike law, medicine, science, architecture and the like, in the marketing game, your marks don't count for much. So instead of listing your classes, interests, school activities and other rather irrelevant things you've done, on a resumé, market YOURSELF with a document I call a Presumé, in which you convince your prospective employer  what YOU WILL DO for him or her.  This will show forward-thinking, creativity and salesmanship...three factors crucial for success in marketing.

There you go Drew.  Hope this helps...and doesn't get you into too much trouble!

Theory 7--How To Sell Art (or Anything Else) Better

As most FOPs know, I collect contemporary art.  I love being around it, and buy way too much of it. 

But even though I enjoy spending an inordinate amount of time in galleries, something has always bugged me about the way art is sold.  No matter how nicely you're treated, an intimidation factor always seems to creep into the process.  You're not just buying a painting or sculpture...you are (now say this with me out loud) "purr-chass-ink a whork of ahhht."  Phew...that's a mouthful.

Maybe Deborah Linke has the answer.  Her full-time gig is selling and marketing her husband Harold's bronze sculptures, and her theory, while developed for her better half, actually works Surprisingly well as a saving grace for the entire art world. She says:

"People fall in love with these pieces.
It's more like an adoption than a sale."

A Pow! moment to hang on your wall. 

While I've heard of people coming into galleries with a few million bucks and filling a home's empty spaces as if they were making a grocery order, most people do indeed "fall in love" with the pieces they buy.  It's like picking out a puppy at the SPCA; something special catches your eye, touches your heart, and becomes a part of your home and your life. 

That said, the art world needs to jump on this and make the purchase process more like adding a member to your family than like buying a mutual fund, people would be more comfortable with it and thus...

Lemme take this one step further.  I like to meet the artists I buy from (check out this earlier post about Patrick Hughes, or the picture below of my family and I with Steve Kaufman at the Masters Gallery in Vail after we bought his portrait of Andy Warhol).  To me, it adds value to the art and more importantly, provides great stories that will bring the piece alive for years to come. 

While, for geographic reasons, a face-to-face visit isn't always possible, why not a quick phone call?  A hand-written note?  Really now, on any given day, how many pieces does even today's most popular artist sell?  Imagine the value-add (and the additional sales) that would come with a personal thank you from the creator him-or-herself?  And if people are laying down $25,000 or more for a print from Sol LeWit or Damien Hirst or Chuck Close, I think they deserve a little personal touch point.

Lemme take this one step further.  I never met an art collector who doesn't want to meet other collectors, show off their stuff, learn about new artists, etc.  Yet the aspects of "community," the driving force behind Web 2.0 (and its multi-billion-dollar babies like Google, YouTube, MySpace and the like), are sadly missing from the gaggle of galleries.  Over and above the "adoption" process, give the "new families" a place to congregate and compare, be it virtual or physical.  Kinda like a dog run or a play group...but with better coffee.

And the more I think of it, perhaps Deborah's "Adoption" doctrine can be layered upon just about any relatively upscale retail sector.   

Touch the heart, feed the head...and you'll make it easier to open the wallet.

Compound Interest

Dr. Richard Bruno responded to last week's post about Friends, Family and Fools by sending along the complete PowerPoint he uses during his "How To" VC speeches.  Of particular interest was his "Bizplans-to-Bucks" timeline. In essence, Dr. Bruno takes entrepreneurs down this path:

• 1,000 Business Plans Are Written
• 150 Are Moderately Credible
• 50 Are Interesting To Read
• 20 Undergo Due Diligence
• 5 Get Funded
• 1 Makes Money

The big Surprise here is not that only one makes money; the big Surprise is the qualifier of "Interesting To Read" as a crucial criteria.  Many times, as entrepreneurs try to appeal to their corporate audience, their brilliant ideas are sanded down and neutered by VC-speak. 

But like anyone else (remember my Everyone's a Kid in Disneyland theory?), Venture Capitalists are susceptible to the right Pow! 

And as Dr. Bruno points out, it may be the difference between being considered for funding...or ending up in the recycling bin.

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(A great personal story here.  When Garner and I put together our first business plan for Airborne, in one of the slides, I wrote that he and I were professionals with "pristine reputations."

"Pristine?" he said.  "You don't use the word 'pristine' in a VC pitch!  They'll laugh us out of their offices!"

I gave in on a number of points, as Garner was way better versed in the way of VCs than I, but I held my ground on "pristine."

Cut to presentation day, and the VCs are sitting like statues as we plow through our presentation.

Then comes the fateful slide.

"Pristine!" Suddenly, the mannequins came to life.  "Now there's a word you don't see too often!"

All of a sudden, the guys were animated and discussing the meaning of "pristine."  This led to questions about our past, and to hypothetical situations and projections of the business-to-be. 

I looked over at Garner, who had a huge smile on his face, and gave me what soon came to be known as his trademark "life is strange" shoulder shrug.  We were back in the game...)