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November 28, 2004

Funding Releases: When to Pull the Trigger

"PR builds brands. Advertising maintains them."

Given their limited resources and early stage, most venture backed start-ups try to heed this sage advice from Laura Ries. They recognize that PR is the most practical way to help them get on the map, get noticed and even to stoke up the moral of their teams. Start ups, even those so smart about product releases can be a bit simplistic when it comes to PR: i.e. PR = press, press = news, news = press relases, a press release of something important to me = news, press releases = good PR.

This especially comes into play when deciding when, if, how to announce an event very important to them - their funding. As a start up CEO or marketing person, when you read daily announcements in Venture Wire of other companies getting funded, it can be really, really tempting to let the world know that you made it too, especially after going through all those annoying pitches and due diligence.

But just because you got funded, even from the best VC in the world ;-), doesn't mean that annoucing it is going to do you any good. I know we are always harping on putting the strategy horse before the tactics cart, but without a clear overall strategy, a sound press plan, and the right timing, a premature announcement could have the opposite of the desired impact. So here are some things to consider before making the vaunted funding announcement:

• The value of stealth. This is the play we most often recommend to start ups - and for good reason. Few resources, few defenses, the need for time. And stealth means stealth - staying under the radar is inconsistent with proactive press. Before you lift your head above the radar, make sure you are ready. Ready for the attention, for the customers, the competitors, the criticism. Be sure you know which play you will be moving to next. Remember, your funding is news just between you and your funder, and it really can stay that way until you both chose otherwise.
• Keeping your goals in mind. If you really are ready to decloak make sure you know what are you trying to accomplish. Who is the target of your PR? Is it other investors? Can you get to them otherwise? Is it prospects? Where do they get their news? Potential partners? Same question? Will you be there? Is it potential recruits? Same question. Competitors, market entrants? What are you trying to signal to them? Are you aiming high enough? Do you have what it takes to get there?
• The difference between annoucement and coverage. Given all the questions above, is the announcement of your funding enough to accomplish any of these goals? Frankly, not usually. Sure you will likely get a mention in the daily issue of Venture Wire, but does that reach any of your important constituents? Does simply saying that you got funding mean much to anyone else? Does a simple press release mean that you will get covered at all by the press? No. While writing a great press release is a great excercise in getting your positioning and messaging down, the press is unlikely to use any of the quotes in it even if they feel like covering your story.
• Three legs to the early coverage stool. If in fact you are going to go out, you ought to make sure that what you get is good. I have a long standing bias that you ought to keep your powder dry until you can do a really great "launch". And that one piece of news alone is not enough to really get started. It is usually best to have three. Funding is fine as one of them but not enough. If you really want to look substantial, to generate interest and look promising, you ought to have three different announcements in one. How about signing a referencable customer or partner who will be quoted? How about hiring a recognized industry big wig? Even the news of releasing your first product, even a beta can work if you have a few other stools.
• Making the most out of what you get. In addition to making sure you have three legs to your stool, make sure you have warmed up the press you intend to target. Make sure you get noticed enough (see this post on press releases and search engine optimization)
• Keeping it going. And make sure you think about both the short term press and the long leads. It's great to have three legs but if you want to be more than a flash in the pan you have to have a plan to keep the momentum or at least perceived momentum going. Build a plan for the proof you will need to support this momentum and to grow your status over time. This will make all the news you later try to get easier.
• Dealing with the Unforseen. The story you want to write is not always the same one that the press wants to write. Remember this. Coverage comes with risk. That is why it is better to be proactive than reactive. No matter how tight lipped you and your VC, there may be leaks. Local press is especially pushy to find out what's going on. But no comment can still be a fine response. An unsubstantiated leak most often will not blow your cover for when you launch later. Whatever the case, make sure you really do your rude Q&A and rehearse.

Posted by johnza at 10:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 25, 2004

Amazon List

Well, the book is slipping back as things normally do post launch, but the history is still pretty amazing given how much we've not pushed. These are roughly the Saturday morning of every week. Since Amazon updates hourly, there is going to be fluctuation:

Week	Marketing Rank	Business Rank	All Books
1	1	24	199
2	15	78	2,049
3	5	62	1,045
4	2	49	#511
5	18	100+	3,302
6	26	100+	11,278

So we had a peak at Week 4 and are slipping back now in volume. I can't tell if this is because of the holiday season so other books are coming up or is this natural. In any case interesting to ask how the Christmas season will do.

Actually, it turns out I've been calculating the marketing category incorrectly, if you go to Marketing general, we are right now #17 on that list, not #26, there is some junk like Biztalk Server Management thrown into marketing for some reason.

And in case you're interesting the hit list for that category looks like:

1. The Tipping Point
2. Purple Cow
3. How to Become a Rainmaker (actually this is a sales book)
4. The Discipline of Market Leaders
5. Marketing Management
6. Trading Up
7. Selling the Invisible
8. Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants
9. Born to Buy
10. Crossing the Chasm
11. Designing Brand Identity
12. The SPIN Selling Fieldbook (ugh, a sales book for sure)
13. Guerrilla Marketing
14. How Customers Think
15. Free Prize Inside
16. Influence: Science and Practice
17. The Marketing Playbook
18. The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing
19. Hey Whipple Squeeze This
20. The Product Managers Handbook

Posted by rich at 11:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

A world without - God forbid - taglines?

Have you noticed lately amidst all the talk of the death of brands, of branding, of brand consultants, of advertising, of sex selling, of even - oh no! - marketing that something else seems to be slipping quietly away?

Remember the days when taglines were essential to sum up what it was all about - the uncola, making it easier, drivers wanted, just do it, the ultimate driving machine, all the news that's fit to print...

Well today we still have things like "Invent" "i'm lovin it" and "it's the cola" but can you think of the taglines for brands like Google, Starbucks or even, that paragon of marcom prowess, Apple? No? Why? Because they don't have taglines, either never did or don't have them anymore.

Interesting. And maybe just plain smart. No tagline, no need to shift one when your businesses changes. Maybe sometimes what you don't say sends just as strong a signal as what you do (i.e. not just search, not just coffee, not just Macs).

Posted by johnza at 10:28 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

November 20, 2004

Critical Acclaim - Summary

It's been great to see the book so well received. Below is a quick summary of the various accolades we have received thusfar:

• The Financial Times said "Zagula and Tong have produced an ingenious and persuasive book that really does break marketing strategies down into five simple but compelling models, or 'plays'... reading this exuberant book is rather like having two young Microsoft geeks sitting next to you, breathlessly explaining how in a few simple steps you might well be able to conquer the world. Their enthusiasm bursts out again and again, often in the form of sporting or other metaphors... Click here for full review.
• Publishers Weekly called it an "engaging primer" with an "illuminating conceptual framework," "wealth of insights, presented in a breezy, down-to-earth style free of management-theory cant, will give marketing managers much useful food for thought." Click here for full review.
• Marketing News says we've "made the game a whole lot more interesting for us marketers." and that "we’ll play the marketing game better if we adopt his playbook."
• Executive Book Summaries highlighted the book as part of their lineup and said that the book's "succinct strategies for building teams, choosing tactics, calculating time horizons and planning the next move while outmaneuvering the competition... [and] conversational tone and relevant experience make it a useful resource." Click here for the full review.
• 800CEOREAD (the number one book seller to CEOs) selected the book as one of it's select recommendations, saying "So if you want to play like the big dogs, here is your Playbook. It's obviously not only a great first read, but also a book that you will return to again and again." For the full review click here.
• Harvard Business School gave a nice summary and review. Noting both our "grand claim" of just five plays but giving us credit for "vivid examples".
• Stanford Business School put us on their recommended reading list, saying "The coaches who designed this playbook tested and perfected their system as marketing executives at Microsoft and as venture capitalists." (Note: Rich is a Stanford alum)
• Software CEO put us tops on their summer reading list, calling the book "one that any software marketer should check out... a surprisingly useful guide to marketing strategy... a down-to-earth approach... refreshingly free of the buzzwords and big-company academic theory that plagues most marketing books."

We were also gratified and humbled by the terrific endorsements we received - from marketing author Al Ries, and execs at Apple, Microsoft, T-Mobile, Mercury Interactive, Waggener Edstrom, Compaq, the Cheskin Group, The Kellogg School, the Richards Group and even Baidu (top search engine in China).

For online and blog reviews and mentions click here and for an ongoing tally of other praise click here, here, here and here.

Posted by johnza at 04:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 19, 2004

Defining the Finish Line

At the Rockies Venture Club talk this week I got a great question from one of the audience. Pondering Dragraces and such, Nigel asked me the marvelous question, "How do you define the finish line?"

In business, as in life, it is great to set goals and to celebrate when you pass a goal line. But despite what we say about dragraces, is there really a "finish" line, where you are done. I certainly hope not. In business as in life, it seems to me that if you ever really think you're finished then you are stagnant, in for trouble. I don't want to be done until I'm dead, and even then???

Which leads to this week's first quote from one of my favorite poets:

"and death i think is no parenthesis"
- e. e. cummings

And (as another event commenter pointed out) for those who might not be quite as goal/dialectic motivated here's another more Taoist quote that makes a similar point about not believing in the end point as the point:

"There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way"
- Wayne Dyer

(wow, marketing as philosophy, must be getting tired or old or both)

Posted by johnza at 09:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Nice Review from a Different NorthWest

From ITNorthwest (not the Pacific Northwest, the NorthWest of Ireland), a blog for tech entreprenuers in that area, Fergus writes nice things about the book:

• "an easy read, with plenty of practical insights"
• "The campaign worksheet template is really useful - it helps you think through what your business is all about."
• "well worth the money - and its on the ITNorthWest recommended list of reading"

Thanks man. Glad you liked it.

Posted by johnza at 01:56 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

November 17, 2004

STP

Was recently talking with a friend of mine, Russ Stockdale (very smart guy, big brain, big heart) and we got on the topic of positioning. And he reminding me of something - STP.

I am kind of a broken record about putting the positioning horsebefore the messaging and media cart. Well he reminded me that in many circustances you aren't even ready to do your positioning. That in fact very often you really need to understand your base value proposition before you figure out how to position it relative to the alternatives.

The old S T P - Segment, Target, Position:

• Step one - segment the market into group that actually could actually find value from what you have
• Step two - target one of those segments and make yourself most relevant to them
• Step three - position your value to this target as superior in some important way relative to the competitors.

OK, maybe this is Marketing 101 but hey, it is still useful to remember, especially with early companies or technology innovations in search of the right place to go. And by the way, while refreshing my memory on STP I did find this cool site called Marketing Teacher (great for those of us who never tire of Marketing 101). Check it out.

Posted by johnza at 05:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 16, 2004

TypePad: Hosted Weblog Service. Serena was asking about the best way to get a weblog, I think that's probably a couple of tools that are really easy:

• Typepad. This is a very easy to use set of tools. I actually use the big brother Movable Type.
• Blogger.com. This is totally free and if you are experimenting a good way to look at it.

Posted by rich at 12:50 PM | TrackBack

Talking with Serena

Was talking with Serena today about the rental business. It is interesting to see how the rental for flatware and other party rentals work. She told me that if you can get someone to rent something four times, you can get a full payback.

Its interesting to see how in Seattle there are folks like AA rentals, but you can't rent speciality items for events and parties.

There is an existing competitor called Choice Linens that does similar things. It will be interesting to see if Serena can find a way around this.

Posted by rich at 12:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Marketing Sherpa November 18

Rich will be at the San Francisco Marketing Sherpa event. The focus will be on the ABCs and understanding the market. We'll cover the second sections of the book in addition to the five plays, so it should be a fun interactive session.

Posted by rich at 10:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Rockies Venture Club - November 18

John will be giving a talk at on the Playbook, venture investing and start-up strategy. The talk will be held on Thursday, November 18, 2004, at 11:00 AM, at the Denver Marriott. For more details click here.

Posted by johnza at 10:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Colorado BMA November 17

John will be at the Colorado BMA event. It will be a one hour seminar and then one hour of interactive questions/cases. Should be fun. It's on Wednesday, November 17, from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM. Click here for more details.

Posted by rich at 09:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 13, 2004

Financial Times Book Review - Full Text

Instructions from the side of the pitch
By Stefan Stern
Published: November 11 2004 02:00

American football is one of the most intricate, subtle games in the world, a fact sometimes obscured by the violence and apparent mayhem unfolding on the pitch. There is order in this chaos, and the shots are being called by the coach.

Whether the coach adopts the cool, inscrutable demeanour of the Dallas Cowboys' Tom Landry (in charge between 1960 and 1988), or the less restrained emotionalism of the Chicago Bears' Mike Ditka (1982-92), every good coach has a playbook, a guide to the ingenious or simple "plays"
(manoeuvres) he wants the team to carry out.

John Zagula and Richard Tong have taken this concept of the playbook and applied it to the less athletic (but occasionally equally chaotic) world of marketing. The authors are both veterans of Microsoft's muscular marketing campaigns of the past 15 years. Now set up in a Seattle-based venture capital firm called Ignition Partners, they have decided to share their insights with the rest of the world.

And reading this exuberant book is rather like having two young Microsoft geeks sitting next to you, breathlessly explaining how in a few simple steps you might well be able to conquer the world. Their enthusiasm bursts out again and again, often in the form of sporting or other metaphors.

Stealthy marketing moves are "quarterback sneaks" - the quarterback being the key playmaker in an American football team. Market conditions may be tough, and "no one wants to punt from the 70 yard line against massive head winds". When taking on a tough competitor, remember: "You can wave a flag in front of a bull, but you'd better make sure you know what to do when he charges." And so on.

But this highly energetic style should not put you off. Zagula and Tong have produced an ingenious and persuasive book that really does break marketing strategies down into five simple but compelling models, or "plays".

The first play is the "drag race" - a powerful head-to-head battle against a chosen competitor. This is the approach Microsoft Word took to defeat WordPerfect (remember that?), and which Visa took to knock lumps out of American Express. When Avis car rental started telling the world that "we try harder" than Hertz, that was a kind of drag race play too.

This is the most direct, simplest and potentially most violent marketing play. You have to be pretty sure of your prospects before you "put the pedal to the metal". "A drag race is a spectator sport," the authors say. "The fans are looking for blood. Give it to them. The play is all about taking direct aim at your opponent."

The second play is the "platform play". This involves ignoring the competition, focusing instead on becoming a platform from which a whole sector can win too. "Successful companies that have stayed successful have almost always found ways to intertwine their success more deeply with the success of the whole industry," the authors say. "They do not let short-term greed cloud their vision. They focus more on long-term greed - it's a lot healthier and more durable." Intel, with all its PC and software partners, is a classic platform player.

The third play is the "stealth play", almost the opposite of the drag race. Find a niche where you can grow and peacefully co-exist with larger rivals until you can challenge them openly. Enterprise Rent-A-Car chose not to "duke it out with the heavyweights" (sport again), but built its strengths in home-town America. McDonald's has been undermined, not by another giant burger company, but by smaller, alternative rivals who have nibbled away at its position from different segments of the market (Taco Bell, World Wraps, Starbucks).

The fourth play is the "best of both play" - the Third Way offering, splitting the difference between the high and low ends of the market. Toyota's Lexus is the supreme example of this.

The fifth play is the "high-low" play. The opposite of "best of both", this involves offering an elite product and a "value" one, killing the middle market. Sheraton Hotels' premium and Four Points economy offerings are an example of this. Tesco supermarket's "Finest" and "Value" brands are another.

These plays, intriguing as they are, provide half the material in the book. The second half is taken up with a thorough but less original analysis of market gaps, with advice on how to judge what sort of playing field you are on and what sort of team and campaign approach you will need to adopt.

The authors remain enthused and energetic throughout. But, as they themselves conclude, only by putting plays into practice will you find out how smart you really are. Markets, customers and competitors all change. You will have to be adaptive and agile to make your plays work in the real world.

Or, as the Dallas Cowboys' Landry once said, doubtless with his trademark "snap-brim" hat still firmly pressed on his head: "Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan."

Posted by johnza at 04:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 11, 2004

Financial Times Book Review: "A guide to calling the shots"

Just got this book review in today by Stefan Stern from the Financial Times of London. The headline from the print edition is "A guide to calling the shots: Stefan Stern is persuaded by two Microsoft veterans' reduction of marketing to five simple 'plays'" For the full online edition of the review, click here or here. Below are some highlights:

• "Zagula and Tong have produced an ingenious and persuasive book that really does break marketing strategies down into five simple but compelling models, or "plays".
• "And reading this exuberant book is rather like having two young Microsoft geeks sitting next to you, breathlessly explaining how in a few simple steps you might well be able to conquer the world. Their enthusiasm bursts out again and again, often in the form of sporting or other metaphors."
• "The authors remain enthused and energetic throughout. But, as they themselves conclude, only by putting plays into practice will you find out how smart you really are. Markets, customers and competitors all change. You will have to be adaptive and agile to make your plays work in the real world."
• "John Zagula and Richard Tong have taken this concept of the playbook and applied it to the less athletic (but occasionally equally chaotic) world of marketing. The authors are both veterans of Microsoft's muscular marketing campaigns of the past 15 years. Now set up in a Seattle-based venture capital firm called Ignition Partners, they have decided to share their insights with the rest of the world."

Wow. We are flattered. Of course you have to read the book yourself to form your own opinion. We look forward to hearing what you think.

Posted by johnza at 02:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 10, 2004

What is Marketing Anyway?

Brand Mantra hightlights and comments on the previous and revised AMA definitions of marketing.

• Old: "Marketing is the process of planning and executing conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of goods, ideas and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals."
• New: "Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders."
  While I agree with Brand Mantra that the new definition allows for a bigger role for marketing (and God knows that it can feel pretty low down the totem pole in a tech company), I guess both definitions leave me a little cold and not very energized. Function, process, organization, those are all part of it I guess but they sure seem passive in the way they are worded. They seem like they are waiting for corporate management to give authority for the process, organization and functions.

This is an age old question and one that has continued come up in all our talks. Hell, to me marketing IS business. Why not be presumptive about it? Other than actually making the stuff marketing is what brings in the money, in the short and long run. That includes all forms of communications and relationships, and of course, without value there would not be sales for too long. But I’m on a simplicity kick. A friend said, marketing is what you do – the course you set, decisions you make and actions you take - to make sure sales happen, both in the short and the long term. How’s that?

Posted by johnza at 10:14 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 09, 2004

First Ever Podcast

I love audio books, listen to them in the car all the time. And now, I can listen to, well, myself?

Well still, it's pretty cool. We're the first ever podcast on 800CEORead. Check it out... 800-CEO-READ PODCASTS: The Marketing Playbook by John Zagula and Richard Tong

Will be interesting where this whole podcasting phenomenon goes. (Here's an Engadget overview, Fun to be a little part of it.

Posted by johnza at 09:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Portland Power Breakfast - November 11

On November 11, we will be at the Portland Power Breakfast. It's 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. at The Benson Hotel's Mayfair Room on 309 SW Broadway in Portland, Oregon. Should be very interactive. Looking forward to it.

Posted by johnza at 03:56 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 08, 2004

The King is Dead, Long Live the King

Pheedo’s post on Blogging as Serial Killer got me thinking that creative destruction is alive and well and what is rising from the PR, advertising, media grave are not Zombies but more challenged and hopefully challenging offering for media and message consumers. (See also article in Economist about how sex isn’t selling anymore – people are too burned out. Whether blogging itself or other more direct, ongoing and engaging media, people are turning to them and away from the same old.)

Posted by johnza at 08:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Quote of the week - Simplicity

Great set of articles from the recent Economist Technology quarterly, starting out with a great quote from Confucius: “Life is simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”
Here are some highlights from these articles:

• The ABCs of complexity in the enterprise: 66% of all IT projects either fail outright or take much longer to install than expected because of their complexity; average firm's computer networks are down for an unplanned 175 hours a year; 15 years ago firms were spending 75% of their IT budget on new hardware and software and 25% on fixing the systems that they already had; now that ratio has been reversed—70-80% of IT spending goes on fixing things rather than buying new systems.... Customers no longer demand “hot” technologies, but instead want “cold” technologies, such as integration software, that help them stitch together and simplify the fancy systems they bought during the boom years.
• A huge gap exists between what consumers want and what vendors would like to sell them.
• And few technologies pass the Mom Test where they are simple enough for mom to use

Simplicity seems to be the new buzzword in the blogsphere as well. With good reason. So what's the answer? Several threads recently talk about simplicity in software and where it’s headed, where it might be coming from and what might happen in the process of trying to get there, alot highlight the promise of Web Services but the jury is far from in.

• Emergic notes Adam Bosworth’s recent post on Software as a Service “Most of the value today is coming from the community, the reputation, the access to information and goods and services, and the media itself. This ineluctable fact coupled with the driving forces of much faster evolution in response to the natural selection of market needs, much cheaper and easier and more simple user interface, and much better ability to know what can be done better for the customer are all combining. Services will be the dominant model.
• Beyond VC highlights the same post and summarizes why it’s the model of the future: “it’s easier to sell, it’s easier to install, cheaper to support, easier to integrate, cheaper to build, “While I am not suggesting that every product will evolve this way, it is clear that simplicity rules. The ASP model is certainly one way of accomplishing simplicity.” Big promises, really worthy of driving forward and motivating an industry, but a tall order nonetheless, especially for existing big vendors.
• Scott Loftness takes note of the same post but poses some questions: “First, the question of revenue ramp. No question that building sustaining recurring revenue streams results in highly valued businesses at the end. But it requires patient investors who are comfortable with the slope of the revenue curve… Second, the target environment has to presume broadband to deliver a decent consumer experiencce. That's increasingly less of an issue -- but has to be thought out… It's also important to note that some companies can do both. Intuit's Quickbooks on the Web comes to mind as a great example of taking packaged software and delivering it in a very high quality way as an ASP…What Sixapart is doing with Movable Type and TypePad is another.”
• And friend, John Ludwig highlights these and a whole number of posts that reinforce simplicity. Of note is Jon Udell’s post that reminds us that simplication and simplicity are not the same thing. In pursuit of simplicity we have to avoid traps like trying to cram everything into one device or service because less is supposedly more.

Holy Grail? Like we’ve said before, Best of both promises may not always be fulfilled but progress toward the goal can drive real evolution. Link to the best of both plays.

Posted by johnza at 07:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Market Leadership, Thought Leadership and Blog Addiction

The recent post from David Young is another example of how smart marketing people are really digesting the importance of blogs as a not just a new medium but as part of a new marketing strategy. One that inherently forces creativity to the fore. We have long believed that capturing the mantel of thought leadership is key to gaining market momentum (especially if it is coupled with approachable, practical offereing(s)). Blogs are a great way to keep the process of creating and communicating that thought leadership alive.

Posted by johnza at 07:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Bug with IE 6.0

Deep Green Crystals: How do I comment?. You may hit this bug if you use IE 6.0. You have to goto Tools/Internet Options/Privacy click on Sites... button and enter this site's URL as well as typekey.com to allow cookies. Worry about this, its an IE 6 problem. Or flip to Firefox.

Posted by rich at 07:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 06, 2004

Amazon Rank

I remain very surprised by the position of the book. This is one strange title. It seems to be growing not shrinking in rank

Week 1. No 1 in marketing (#24 in business, #199 overall for against all 250K or so books)
Week 2. No 15 in marketing (#2,049 overall)
Week 3. No 5 in marketing (#1,045 overall)
Week 4. No 2 in marketing (#3 in marketing and sales, #49 in business, #511 overall)

As I said last week, our experience in selling popularity is that you have a spike and then a long tail and then hopefully you start getting word of mouth.

Now the most interesting data is actually sell-through of the book. Amazon doesn't tell you how many books they've sold of your book in a given month. We do have some proxy in that we get statistics for our site. One thing we hadn't quite anticipated was the effect of the $25 free shipping on Amazon. It looks like 50% of our sales include another book. I'm guessing most people (like me) are being upsold to a $25 average order.

And the person who order the Grateful Dead in addition, I just love whoever that is.

_Final note, is anyone having trouble on this site entering comments. I hear Typekey is busted. Let me know if that's a problem via email to Rich AT marketingplaybook.com

Posted by rich at 04:30 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

November 04, 2004

Taking Goals for Granted

Outside the auditorium of our talk today at Northwest Entreprenuer University, I has a very interesting discussion with someone. An old collegue of Rich's had read the book and had a very intriguing bone to pick.

He noted that throughout the whole book and the whole concept fo the playbook, we were, in fact, assumptive about the goals of the reader. At one point we talk about how strategy is important because winning is important and you generally need a strategy to win.

We also, at least in several of the plays and with our Sun Tzu warfare quotations, imply that there winning means someone else has to lose, that you beat someone in a dragrace, that you squeeze someone between a high and low and that you surpass others with your best of both.

He rightly pointed out that this seemed to contradict one of the core principles of the playbook - that you shouldn't take things for granted. That we in fact were taking for granted the notion that people wanted to be competitive, that "winning" was their goal vs. something else.

This is intriguing. Looking back at real life and all the situations we have faced, with partners, investors, customers etc., somewhere along the line the central role of competition became so deeply ingrained in us - competition for dollars, for employees, for attention, for mindshare, for time - that we take for granted that it makes sense to define goals with this context in mind. But this actually is presumptive for a bunch of people - like my sister and other friends in non profits or other less obviously competitive markets.

I really believe that some form of competition is good and healthy and essential. If you can't think of it you need to invent it to keep things interesting, challenging and moving forward. But that said, it may take doing an even higher level ABC assessment to get people to accept the notion of competition as an important element between where they are now and where they want to be - in what ever way they choose to define winning (i.e. rather than crushing the competition, making people happier, improving lives, discovering something important).

Great feedback and stimulating discussion. Thanks, John

Posted by johnza at 09:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Entrepreneur University - Seattle November 4

We (along with Guy Kawasaki, Mark Vadon of Blue Nile, and others) will be giving a talk at Entrepreneur University on November 4, 2004 in Seattle. See the NW Entrepreneur Network for more. Should be fun.

Posted by johnza at 08:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Music to my own ears?

Kinda fun. Did a short radio interview on the book, on venture, and on business in general with W3W3. Listen to it here.

Posted by johnza at 08:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 02, 2004

Jack Covert Selects The Marketing Playbook

We were one of five books Jack of 800CEOREAD selected this month to recommend. It was a very nice review. Among other things he said, "So if you want to play like the big dogs, here is your Playbook. It's obviously not only a great first read, but also a book that you will return to again and again." We are honored, Jack runs a very cool service, dedicated to books for business people. Click here for the full review. Also check out the book too.

Other books on this month's list were:
* Think Like Your Customer, by Bill Stinnett
* The Little Stuff Matters Most, by Bernie Brillstein
* Faith and Fortune, by Marc Gunther, and
* Nightly Business Report Presents Lasting Leadership, by Mukul Pandya and Robbie Shell

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Brandweek Q&A

Had a good chat with the folks at Brandweek about the book and other marketing and venture topics. Actually made me sound rather intelligent. For the full transcript click here.

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Headphones.com - Deep vs. Broad Again

In our continuing quest for examples of deep and cool vs. broad and big, another set of sites/services hits the radar. Headphones.com is a great site. If you want to find the right set of headphones for your needs this is the place. Aside from truly intelligent assessments and comparison tools, they have great service. Same is true for their sisters, headsets.com and conferencers.com. Sometimes really niche = focused on areas where you really know what you're talking about. Compare that to BestBuy.

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November 01, 2004

More nice book mentions/reviews

Here are some of the latest (not yet on the top of the search engines) mentions and reviews of the book.

• The folks at, ahem, Antiventurecapital, put us on thier recommended reading list, saying that the book "should quickly become a classic marketing manual." (despite it's title, it's a very interesting site for start-ups)
• StartupJunkies (another site rich with resources for start-ups) called us a "must read"
• David Straker, of Changing Minds (a very cool site about persuation we wrote about before), who's also a consultant and former marketer at Hewlett Packard, wrote a very nice review. He called it a "delightfully fresh book born out of hard-bitten experience"
• Our blog friend at Radio Marketing Nexus, also highlighted the book launch - thanks Mark!
• Finally, a really nice review from a former collegue Shiraz Cupala (who really saved my b_tt several times in getting some early online marketing going). He is too flatttering and gives us way too much credit but really appreciate what he has to say. Thanks Shiraz.

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Broad vs. Deep - Ebay vs. Copart

Been thinking a lot about the role of target or specialized offerings vs. big general purpose brands - especially on the web. Everyone talks about the models of the web creating universal portals and market places, but what about also making wierd, out of the way specialized things really bloom?

Recently I wrote about Doug Mockett which is a great example of a niche play vs. Home Depot that really took off because of the web.

Today I want to highlight another, Copart. Copart is also an auction site but it is for cars and car parts. The twist, it's based on junk yards and salvage shops. Sexy, huh? Not quite EBay, but hey, at a $1.7B market cap, it's not bad for junk yards.

They stuck to their customer and supplier set, built a strong network made it easy for these low brow businesses to make money by tapping into the power of the web and to each other. They built a whole set of tools to do this like thier partfinder and in the end they built a highly specialized EBay like marketplace for those who really need to connect to these suppliers and vice versa. This is a great example of a platform play where partners and customers connect in a virtuous cycle of an "ecosystem" powered by the platform in the center. Not bad for something out of Sanford and Son.

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