The Most Revolutionary Consumer Product to Date?

XBox Project Natal

I'm in the market for a new game console.  I'd never really been a gamer, but I played my fair share of Zaxon, Techmo Bowl and Qbert and growing up.  Two years ago, I bought a used Xbox from a friend a and while the sports games are entertaining, I was kind of disappointed with the resolution & image quality of the games which got me thinking about an upgrade.

A few of my friends have PS3s and have been suggesting that I get one so that we can play games online together.   I'd heard of this new infrared sensor type game console about a year ago and thought I should check into when it's going to be released before buying anything.

I am absolutely blown away by this....As a marketer, think about the possiblities that exist in our future.  This Project Natal and the devices that come after it (location services) will undoubtedly change how future consumers shop....for everything.

The Art of Marketing Presentation Summary

I had the pleasure of attending an incredible conference monday put on by The Art of....Marketing.


I took detailed notes from all the speakers, which are too lengthy to include on this email but I've posted them by speaker (see below). Where possible, I've linked most of the references to the acutal videos, commercials, photos, websites and articles that the speakers spoke about. It's difficult to summarize an entire days worth of knowledge into one email, but I'd like to try and pass along my take home message from the conference.

We are living in the future. Brands that don't adapt to this will go extinct and to be competitive, you have to be able to fascinate your audience. I've often thought the best example of this is the Sony Walkman. When I was growing up, the Sony Walkman was the dominant portable music device. Sony owned the market and should have developed the iPOD, but they didn't. In light Sir Ken Robinsons talk, I believe it's because Sony didn't foster an environment of creativity in their organization and didnt learn to communicate with their customers.

This digital revolution isn't over, rather it's just begun. For marketers, the best time to start figuring out this new world is now. Ironically, we can do this by going back to old values. Get involved and contribute to your (online) community. Be respectful of customers...they're interested in more than just the latest sale price or financing offer. We can no longer use mass media exclusively to pound our own agenda. We have to invite conversation and communitcate on the platforms that buyers are using ie. twitter, facebook, Yelp, blogs, review sites. Our brand is no longer what we say it is, its what Google say it is....The truth always wins.

The internet gives each person and business the opportunity to become their own 'channel' with the same distribution scale as any major media outlet. As consumers, our opinions matter and our opinions can be amplified. As marketers, we will not have to make a choice between the old ie. Radio & new, but rather find a way to make the new media work in with with the old.

The bottom line is that marketing today is what it's always been about...communication.    More specifically its not just how many we communicate with, but who communicate with.



We adapt to this new world with a few simple principles.

1. Do an intellectual audit of our own companies - what do people know?

2. Promote creativity - how should we interact with customers?

3. Encourage Innovation - how do we apply & reward creative solutions?

4. Get involved - sign up for twitter, facebook. See what it's all about and learn the new marketing language.

5. Learn how to make change - rider direction, motivate the element, shape the path

6. Get excited! - it make you more fascinating, and fascinating wins

Leading a Culture of Innovation by Sir Ken Robinson: presentation notes from The Art of Marketing

• Las Vegas has no reason for being there except for one thing...the power of imagination
• Imagination has the power to bring into mind things that aren't there or seem possible
• with imagination, you can anticipate the future and if you can anticipate the future then you can help influence it
• creativity is not the same as imagination
• creativity means you have to cdo something...it's applied imagination
• innovation is simply putting good ideas into practice
• in the 50's & 60's the world was different.  If you worked hard, went to school, got a college education, then you would have a job for life.  At that time formal education was a guarantee for success [not anymore]
• cultures evolve.  For those born around World War I, the world was very different then [as it is now]
• because of imagination we are in a constant state of revolution. 
• this revolution is now moving at a faster rate than it has ever moved before
• to make sense of this revolution, we have to think differently about ourselves.  Those who are in "their element" love what they do, have a natural knack for something
• being good at something isn't reason enough to do it, it's about having a feeling for it
• most organizations have a narrow vision of the talent around them
• we need to have different strategies to manage and inspire...imaginative possibilities
• Sir Ken's work is to promote higher levels of creativity in an organization and which leads organizations to become systematically innovative
• you can teach people to be more creative
• creativity is the process of having original ideas with value.  It's a process, not an event.  It's material...people love the material ie. painters love ink, dancers love movement.  It's also about critical judgement
• The way that Radio, TV & the Internet transformed culture, social media is now too
• Creative people are everywhere.  Anything that involves intelligence can be creative.  Creativity can be promoted
• This revolution is not over.  Its just begun
• Today, computers have the brain equivalent to that of a cricket.  In 10 years, they will have the brain of a 6 month old baby.  At some point we'll reach singularity, whereby infomation systems will merge with our own minds

Redefining Genius

• A study was done to examine our rate of learning.  It did so by starting to redefining what a genius is, then test a large group of children early in life and then retest the same group as they grew older.
• if we were to redefine genius from a high IQ score to that of a person with a high capacity of Divergent Thinking (the ability to see multiple options to a single problem) ie. how many uses can you think of for a paperclip?  This study found that...
• 98% of 3-5 year olds were considered genius
• by the time these kids were between 8-10 years old, 32% were
• and by the time they were between 13-15 years old, only 10% were
• in a similar study of 25+ year olds, only 2% of adults are considered Genius by this divergent thinking methodology

Promoting Creativity is a 3 phase process

1. Personal

• people with ideas
• everyone should explore their own talents and invest in them

2. Group

• Manage and facilitate teams
• find connections between teams and disciplines

3. Culture

• foster a culture of originality
• make it a habit & create the habitat for creativity
• eliminate the creativity spoiler

How are you creative?  What brings you alive?

• in Math Phd defenses, Doctors of Math evaluate a defense based on 2 criteria.  1. creativity 2. Beauty of the solution. 
• just as in nature, beauty is an informal test of truth
• intelligence is fantastically diverse

How are you intelligent? Have you done an audit on your company's intelligence?

• By most accounts, Death Valley is dead. 
• seeds of possibility exist right below the surface and when conditions are right, life abounds. 
• However, if conditions are not right, life protects itself hidden away from view

Anais Nin -“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom”

Brand New World by Max Lenderman: presentation notes from the Art of Marketing

• Feel the consumer pulse. 
• trust is at an all time low for both public and private sectors.  consumers want honesty
• http://www.experiencethemessage.com/
• If the world were made of 100 people...57 would be asian, 21 european, 8 african, 5 north american, 12 would speak mandarin as their 1st language, 7 would speak english as their 1st language, 70 would be non-christrian, 70 don't read, 1 owns a computer
• consumers are price conscious & brand atheistic
• he studied how marketing was done in BRIC nations ie. Brazil, Russia, India, China

4 key themes emerged in marketing to BRIC nations

1. Experience

• 300 million Indians are in the middle class, soon to be 580million
• most gage their ascention into the middle class with the purchase of a cell phone. [I made it when...]
• there are approximately 7 million new cell phone activations per month in India
• in a market as competitive as that, how do you stay ahead?
• Nokia has created mobile vans to travel out into the rural communities not serviced by TV or Radio.  These vans convert into a stage whereby bollywood type performances relay the message about how great cell phones are and what you can do with them.  This has become the #1 way for Nokia to communicate its message
• in north amercia, event marketing is huge.  Creating branded experiences and events are proven to dramatically increase the purchase decision and word of mouth
• ie.  At a time when approval for the war in Iraq is at an all time low and the job description includes the possibility of death, how is it that the army is able to surpass their recruitment objectives? click here to see the virtual army experience .  they've got these in malls, amusement parks and mobile locations all around the US
• Confusious say... tell me an i will forget, show me an i may remember, involve me and I will understand
• ie. Camp Jeep  Jeep owners have involvement in the brand experience and can share that experience with other users

2. Authenticity

• anything can be copied except for experiences ie. watches, purses, phones, cars made in china
• experiences are the driver for authenticity ie. apple store, genius bar
• The Apple Store is the fastest growing brand concept store since GAP 20 years ago
• how can it be fake if real people use and recommend their product
• pop up store is a new trend in retail.  it's the brand as a living store so you know its real

3. Big Think

• Rustam Tariko is a russian Oligarch [big time businessman] who started Russian Standard Vodka
• when it launched, Russians were dying from drinking watered down rubbing alcohol labelled as vodka
• Rustam chose to position his vodka as the highest quality
• then the government decided alcoholism was a problem and banned the liquor industry from advertising
• Rustam wanted to maintain his branding efforts so in response, he opened the Russian Standard Bank.
• Rustam used the same logo, type set, font size and imagery as if he were still advertising vodka
• Russian Standard Bank became the largest bank in Russia
• Other examples of Big Think 7-11 changed to Kwik E Mart for The Simpsons Movie and sold Duff Beer, Bounty opened make a masterpiece stores, Mountain Dew sold game fuel when Halo 3 launched

4. Goodness

• in some major cities ie. Sao Paulo, billboard advertising is outlawed.  The government felt that the Billboards were to visual pollution that exhaust is to air pollution
• Nedbank did some good with theirs. Their Power to the People billboard campaign had solar panels on top of the billboard which supplied power to the villages & communities below it
• other examples are Charmin's Potty Party Bathroom experience in times square, Tide Loads of Hope Laundry service

Crush it by Gary Vanerchuk: presentation notes from The Art of Marketing

• Gary Started WineLibrary.com and wine library TV
• grew to over $60million dollar business.  He's 33.
• from '95-'03 he spent over $4.5 million in marketing (annually?)
• from '03 to now he spends about $25,000 (annually?)
• Liquor laws prohibited mass distribution so he started trying to build his own brand
• push marketing - pound the message with traditional media
• Pull Marketing - Social media.  it's about caring.  You cant buy friends & relationships in online communities.  Your content has to be relevant
• Content is King.  But Marketing is the Queen that steers the ship
• Big Box marketing approach is rapidly changing
• Those businesses that go back to "small town values" will win.  In the small towns as a business owner, you've got to hustle, care and understand that people appreciate the bakers dozen price point
• online relationships are just as real as in person ones
• he has 850,000 twitter followers
• the web is just a baby.  it's only been 15 years since we even had such a thing as email.  Youtube is only 5 years old
• Virtual Currency:  Facebook Credits ,  Foursquare
• brands will have to care because word of mouth is now on steroids
• the truth is undefeated.  doing the right thing is never wrong
• if you're trying to reach consumers, you need to have a facebook fan page
• look at other companies that didn't adapt.  Zagat is getting killed by Yelp.
• you need to understand this stuff, play with it, taste it.  get on twitter and facebook and experience these new platforms of communication
• respect the customer
• be socially engaged 24/7.  get committed to it. seek out and engage conversations.  give authenitc non-salesy answers.  You don't need to convince people this is important...find the ones who already believe it is.

Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel: presentation notes from The Art of Marketing

• After months of sailing Cortez & his crew finally arrived in the new world.  His crew asked "how long are we going to stay here for?".  Cortez waited for everything to be unloaded from the ships...then burned them
• How do we get forward moving today?
• CTRL, ALT, DEL - time to reboot
• -50% people who clicked on banners since 2007 (comscore)
• under 8% of online users click through.  There are over 2 billion online users
• this is not a talk about the future.  its about the present.  we are living in the future ie. snaptell, red laser, google goggles, yelp  
• video is king
• media is becoming untethered ie. iPAD
• the question is not when is the web going to take over traditional media, the question should be WHEN IS THE INTERNET GOING TO BE AS PERVASIVE AS ELECTRICITY?
• Apple sold 2,000,000 iPADS in 60 days
• we live in the most branded generation ever
• there are more grandparents on facebook than high school students (readwriteweb - July 7,2009)
• 88% of canadians are on facebook
• Eckhart Walther from Yahoo! says "it's about doing, sharing, socializing, collaborating & most of all, creating"
• Facebook is like your very own "channel" (Think in terms of CBC, NBC, CNN...it is scaleable)
• 81% of online holiday shoppers read online customer reviews (neilson online - Dec 2008)
• Bazaarvoice proves that if you let people open up, you will win.  They have 150 billion impression reviews.  The average review is 4.3/5.  A negative review converts to sale more effectively than a positive review
• with the internet, people are having real conversations between real people
• these conversations are important because they are distributable and scaleable
• the internet isn't about the number of people you can get your message to, but who sees it
• same with Facebook.  It's not the number of 'friends' you have but WHO your friends are that matters
• mass media helps but you need permission for entry.  online allows communication with no barrier to entry
• 1/2 of youtube.com's audience is over 34 (marketingvox)
• the average Canadian watches 15+ hours of youtube video per week.  The average TV commercial is 30 seconds.  The average youtube video is 4 minutes
• Top 3 search engines? 1. Google 2. Youtube 3. Twitter
• Every day on Google, 20% of the searches have never been done before.
• your marketing has to change because of how we connect with one another
• BUT, if your IT consultant says to cancel all your advertising and move everything online...fire him
• the biggest change in this new world is amplification.  Consumers have always had the ability to choose to buy or not and tell their friends if they liked a product or service or not.  The word of mouth is now amplified
• Your brand is no longer what you say it is.  It's what Google says it is.
• Bounce Rates are important metrics to measure your website 'stickyness'  if the bounce rate is really fast it's "i came, I puked, I left"
• identify the pages on your site that have the most traffic and evaluate how the user interface is
• the best value of a brand is in its community
• Digital Darwinism 'we were on facebook & twitter, but it doesn't work'.  The problem is because you're not engaging.  What are you doing to add value? 
• you need to build a community before you launch a product

how to manage in this new world?
1. accept it
2. it goes with.  not instead of traditional media
3. dont write cheques with digital media you cant cash.  it's about honesty
4. open up. let the community share, create
5. attitude, not age related
6. Ask Why? not what.  It's not what are we doing, it's why is this better alighned with our business objectives

• if you have the right message, and you tell the right people, your story will spread....check this free hugs video out,  over 59 million views and counting

Fascinate by Sally Hogshead: presentation notes from the Art of Marketing

• When competition increases, the more essential fascination becomes.  Since most often, the most fascinating option wins
• 100 years ago we had 20 minute attention spans.  Today we have an attention span of 9 seconds...which is that of a goldfish
• Sally's Website
• free book download here
• So how do unusual things break through the clutter?
• fascinating things don't speak to everybody.  The create an immediate reaction and are polarizing
• there are 7 triggers to fascination 1. Power 2. Lust 3. Mystique 4. Prestige 5. Alarm 6. Vice 7. Trust
• imagine these 7 triggers are chemicals in a chemistry set. 
• Every fascinating brand has their own unique potion
• Fedex - high on Alarm & Trust
• Kraft foods - high on Lust & Trust
• Rachael Ray - high on Lust & Trust
• Angelina Jolie - high on Lust, Mystique, Alarm, Vice
• KMart - low levels for all triggers
• Fascination is different from marketing.  It's irrational, instintive, innate, irrestistable. 
• you don't control fascination, it controls you ie. Jagermeister is one of the fastest growing brands of all time and yet has a very low budget, but an extremely high fascination level
• In relation to Facebook, they did a survey to find out what status updates are fascinating...and get passed on...they end up being the ones with high amounts of trigger elements
• In your own marketing, messages are fascinating are like facebook status updates...they're more likely to be passed on.  This is important since it's not just about trying to reach your network, but your network's network. 
• In otherwords, its not about how many people you reach, but who.
• when you become your most fascinating, you are at your most inspiring
• take Sally's test to find your {F}Score. 

I got an {F}Score high in Lust & Mystique, low on Alarm.  If you know me, I 'd love to hear your opinion if this is accurate

Switch Presentation Notes by Chip Heath @ The Art of Marketing

- here is a link to another presentation by Chip


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs9NbxJHV-w


The following are the notes I took from Chip's presentation

• how do we change things when change is hard?
• there is an struggle between emotional and analytical motivators that can be explained by the elephant and rider analogy http://www.anecdote.com.au/archives/2010/01/the_mahout_the.html
• when it comes to change, we need to align the rider (analytical) and the elephant (emotional)
• to make change There are 3 components 1. we must give direction to the rider. 2. create motivation for the elephant. 3. Shape the Path these two will travel

Rider Direction

• The rider loves to analyze problems, however focusing on non-productive problems and paralyze the rider & elephant. While the analysis may be valid, it can be T.B.U...true, but useless
• the key to productive analysis is to find bright spots in any situation, analyze why those bright spots exist and replicate the strategies that let to the bright spot
• ie. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/41/sternin.html

Motivate the Elephant

• how do you make people care about your product/issue?
• ie. Dont mess with Texas campaign.
• road litter in Texas was primarily caused by 18-30 year old truck drivers that the state affectionately called "Bubba"
• the don't mess with Texas campaign was designed to speak to Bubba using the celebrities he recognized & respected as Texans such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Willie Nelson etc
• in the 1st year aluminum can litter was down 25% and in 5 years it was down by 75%
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Mess_with_Texas
• to make change you need to grow the elephant

Shape the Path

• focus on people rather than the situation. In other words, if you tweak the environment the people operate in, you're more likely to effect change than by expecting people to adapt to your environment
• ie. Amazon - "buy now with 1 Click" is a registered trademark.
• ie. Playtex - most women wear the wrong bra size. Playtex put ads in magazines like "O" with encouragement that women can calculate their right bra size in 2 easy steps. Most people now don't have measuring tapes handy so the ad included a tear away measuring tape
• 100 calorie food packs - available for calorie counting consumers everywhere

7 Insights into the Consumer Mind

After seeing my favorite commercial last night during the hockey game http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE&feature=related I wondered why am I so affected by this series of commercials? More importantly, why have I switched my soap brand loyalty and started buying Old Spice?

Perhaps this article can shed some light on these questions and help you make a bigger impact with prospective & existing consumers.



http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/neuromarketing.htm


In traditional marketing, we are told ... "follow the proven formula of compelling headlines, benefits, satisfaction guarantee and a call to action, and your sales will skyrocket." Yet, even top marketers can attest that successful campaigns are a "hit or miss" proposition to find those that generate big sales

"Our unconscious mind -- not our conscious mind -- drives how we respond to ads, brands and products and, ultimately, drives all our buying decisions. Customers don't really know why they buy what they buy, which is why traditional market research fall short."

According to neuroscientists, there are 3 main parts to the brain, each functioning as a brain unto itself. These "three brains" - nestled inside one another -- are as follows.

The "Human" ("New," or outer-most) Brain: Most evolved part of the brain known as the cortex. Responsible for logic, learning, language, conscious thoughts and our personalities.

The "Mammalian" (Middle) Brain: Also known as the limbic system. Deals with our emotions, moods, memory and hormones.

The "Reptilian" (Old) Brain: Also known as the R Complex controls our basic survival functions, such as hunger, breathing, flight-or-fight reactions and staying out of harm's way.

The reptilian, or "old," brain drives your customers' buying decision
To strengthen your brand, loyalty and sales, you must understand your customers' "reptilian hot buttons." A "cortex" message -- such as "Buy my product because it is 20% cheaper" -- doesn't buy customer loyalty. It all comes down to who triggers the first reptilian reaction. That's why Coke, after all these years, continues to dominate the market.

The "Reptilian Brain" and Profits: 7 Critical Insights You Must Know About How and Why Your Customer Buys

1. The old brain is driven by emotions

The more senses you trigger and associate with your products/services, the more you will appeal to your customers' emotions and influence their buying behavior.

2. The old brain "decides" on the basis of the gain vs. pain tradeoff
Marketing guru, Seth Godin illustrates through his Joy/Cash Curve that high value purchases often trigger increasing amounts of buying pain. His solution: add more joy and pleasure to the buying process, such as he did in his work with Lexus. According to Godin, when you make buying pleasurable, you actually reset the customer's "value meter." How are you adding more joy to your buying process?

3. The old brain is highly influenced by beginnings and endings.

In marketing, for your message to be accepted, it is critical to leave a strong first impression -- like a compelling story, a big smile, etc. Also, if a customer has a pleasant or unpleasant experience with your product or company, that most recent experience will influence future purchases more than all other experiences combined. What impression are you leaving with your prospects in the first few seconds or words? How has your last customer contact enhanced or jeopardized repeat sales?

4. The old brain is visually oriented and responds rapidly to images

Enhance and deliver your core marketing message visually -- eg., the design of your product, images in an ad, external packaging, etc. Where can you visually strengthen your brand and emotional connection with customers?

5. The old brain perceives the "pain of buying" in relative, not absolute, terms.

From various posts by Roger Dooley (Neurosciencemarketing.com), key strategies include:
Emphasize "sales" prices (which does not activate pain in the old brain)
Utilize "package" pricing over pricing of individual components (the latter shows greater "pain activity in the old brain)
Series of small "bite-size' investments in place of one large investment (Netflix)

6. The old brain understands only what is tangible, physical and concrete.

To speak to the old brain, you must use tangible "benefits" -- ie., what a customer will see, feel, hear, taste or smell as a result. Eg., a promise of "greater happiness" is gibberish to the old brain. Instead, tell your prospect how he/she will wake up every morning with a smile. Or use metaphors (such as referring to your service as the "Cadillac" offering) to make your benefits more tangible.

7. The old brain's control over buying decisions varies from culture to culture.

Adapt your marketing communications to each culture and what part of their brain drives buying decisions. Use emotional appeal with Americans; use logic with European cultures