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January 24, 2005

Interview in Marketing News

Below is an excerpt of a recent article in the AMA's publication, Marketing News. The site is members only but the writer Michael Krauss graciously allowed us to excerpt here:

Mktg. Exec offers game-winning biz plays

January 24, 2005
BY MICHAEL KRAUSS

John Zagula gives new reason to view SuperBowl XXXIX. Watch the plays.
I admit it. As a marketer I used to watch the SuperBowl for the commercials. Until Janet Jackson, I’d walk away at halftime. Now my focus will be on play selection.

Credit Zagula [and Rich Tong], the former Microsoft marketing execs[s] and co-author[s] of The Marketing Playbook with my transformation. His new book defines a set of five core plays: the drag race, the platform play, the stealth play, the best of both play and the high-low play...

The plays Zagula [and Tong] outline are a framework road-tested at Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft Corp. They provide a simple but potent approach for defining marketing strategy. While many think of marketing as ads and halftime promotions, Zagula believes it’s the marketing strategies, the plays we choose, that are at the heart of our professional success. He thinks we’ll play the marketing game better if we adopt his playbook. Frankly, I think he’s right....

Zagula credits a talented team for the Microsoft success story. Instead of taking credit, he focuses on what he learned. “I benefited from working with a bunch of highly strategic rather than tactical marketers,” Zagula says.

What Zagula [and Tong] gleaned and incorporated into The Marketing Playbook is a commitment to placing the horse before the cart. “Know the core strategy before you go and spend tons of money on marketing tactics that may never succeed,” Zagula says....

With Zagula in mind, I’m going to watch the Super Bowl to see if I can add a sixth play to his book. Even if I can’t, he’s made the game a whole lot more interesting for us marketers.

Michael Krauss is a partner with Marion Consulting Partners based in Highland Park, Ill., and can be reached at Michael.Krauss@Marionpartners.com or news@ama.org.

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January 21, 2005

Twin Brothers - Viability and Contibution

Yesterday, Rich and I had lunch with a most extraordinary person, Sidney Rittenberg. Calling him a China expert would be a most inaccurate and ungracious understatement of the scope, depth and significance of his experience and of his sagacity. (See his fascinating autobiography, The Man Who Stayed Behind, and also recent stories in the LA Times and New York Times for background.)

Amidst our wide-ranging conversations on business, technology, history and politics, we talked about the importance of culture and values in building great, long lasting companies, about how important it was, not just to be focused on the money but on a real vision of how what you do will make something better and on what kind of people you hire and what motivates them. Sidney then said something that really stuck in my head:

"Yes, the twin brothers of viability and contribution. Unless what you are doing is set up and made to be a viable enterprise, it won't survive. But unless what you are doing makes a real contribution it won't attract people, won't stay vibrant and won't last over the long run"

Great input for any endevour, including starting a company, running an existing one or even managing a government government.

Here's some links to more interesting Sidney Rittenberg material: a good short bio, another book, a transcript of an interesting speach about contemporary China, and an audio of a talk he gave at University of Washington about the Cultural Revolution and its subsequent effects upon Chinese society.

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January 19, 2005

Ta-da Lists - Keeping is simple.

Wow. I am already addicted. This thing is great. Check out the latest from 37 Signals - Ta-Da Lists. Great way to keep the zillion lists you loose all the time in one place, share them with others etc.

Simple is good.

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January 18, 2005

More on Strategy from Liddell Hart

Been reading more from this amazing thinker and writer, including his aptly named book, Strategy.

The book, focused on military strategy, is mostly about the superiority - in terms of economy and likelihood of positive outcome - of the indirect vs. direct approach. What we most of the time refer to as the Stealth Play.

Some good advice for start-ups as well. Sometimes constraints can set you free as in this quote about Napoleon during his Italian campaign:

"The restiction of Bonaparte's freedom of action [because of orders from the Directory and his own limited resources] proved the proverbial blessing in disguise. For by compelling him to delay the pursuit of his dreams, it enabled him, with his enemies' assistance, to adjust his end to his means until the balance of forces had turned far enough to bring his original end within practicable reach."

It really is good to have a strong, inspiring vision, but often it is best not to try to dragrace the others in the market, no matter how great your product, but rather to start smaller, build strength and then assert yourself - witness Google.

Click here for a great summary of Liddell Hart's maxims:

• Adjust your end to your means. In determining your object, clear site and cool calculation should prevail. It is folly 'to bite off more than you can chew'
• Keep your object always in mind, while adapting your plan to circumstances. Realize that there are more ways than one of gaining an object, but take heed that every objective should bear on the object.
• And in considering the possible objectives weigh their possibility of attainment with their service to the object if attained - to wander down a side-track is bad, but to reach a dead end is worse.
• Alternate objectives allow you to keep the opportunity of gaining an objective; whereas a single objective, unless the enemy is helplessly inferior, means the certainty that you will not gain it - once the enemy is no longer uncertain as to your aim.
• Ensure that both plan and dispositions are flexible - adoptable to circumstances. Your plan should foresee and provide for the next step in case of success or failure, or partial success.
• Do not shove your weight into a stroke whilst your opponent is on guard - whilst he is well placed to parry or evade it. Hence no commander should launch a real attack upon an enemy in position until satisfied that such a paralysis has developed.
• Do not renew an attack along the same line (or in the same form) after it has once failed. It is even more probable that his success in repulsing you will have strengthened him morally.

In other words: keep your eyes on the prize, but make sure their are achievable prizes along the way; conditions change so be ready to change with them; don't try to beat somebody who is bigger than you are expecting you to challenge them; and if you lose, don't keep banging your head against the wall - learn from the experience and try something else.

Pretty reasonable.

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January 17, 2005

CRMish segmentation of CRM users

Dave of B2Blog wrote an interesting entry on different types of users of CRM software:

• Power-user: One who wants to make the most of the tool they've been given and is willing to explore its capabilities.
• Power-ignorant: Those who use the software, but aren't aware how the software is there to benefit them and make their lives easier.
• Power-less: Those who simply don't understand what to do. Most likely these are field salespeople somehow.
• Power-trip: One who understands the software and its capability but takes short-cuts or does it the old way.

Nice segmentation, seems to apply to just about any category of software. Dave observed this using Goldmine CRM. So here's my opportunity to openly plug an Ignition portfolio company, Entellium, maybe with it more of the power-less and power-ignorant will become power-users or power-trippers.

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Microsoft, Build Hugh a Tricorder

Great dialogue between Hugh of Gaping Void and Robert Scoble about what's missing in Microsoft in both technology and marketing. If you like either to bash or defend Microsoft, you ought to give it a read.

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Love this

Given how many of us feel about our own PCs, wouldn't it fun to bash it a few times and have treats come out?

Via Moleskinerie

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New Blog on Product Management

Here's a new blog on one of the positioins that we find often most important in early stage tech companies, product management. Nice definition of the position. While a critical position, there seems to be a scarcity of great product managers out there - those who combine both creativity and analytics, insight and instinct, objectivity and passion and energy. Here's to the world's great high tech product managers, wherever you are.

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The Physics of Bookselling

An interesting article from physicist Didier Sornette about the physics of book sales and, in my opinion, also the sales of lots of other products. He highlights the importance of "exogenous shocks" such as great reviews from big sources causing spikes in sales, vs. "endogenous shocks" such as positive word of mouth that cause a gradual rise in sales. Kind of traditional product PR (analyst tours, reviews, testimonials) vs. grass roots or guerilla marketing under the radar. Wonder where he thinks blogs fit in?

Given that we had only few exogenous shocks (big name reviews), but a seemingly growing positive word of mouth, it is nice to hear that he thinks the latter generally builds more enduring sales.

From Scott Loftesness and Johnlu.

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January 14, 2005

Open Marketing and Other Positions

Bogle's Blog: Jobster is hiring!

Very cool company of Ignition's is looking. Check it out.

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January 13, 2005

Google: Could I interest you in a light-up umbrella, beach towel, onesie, or maybe you fancy... an information retrieval appliance

Who said Google wasn't trying to take over the world. Fun looking at the google store. Amidst all the logo chotchke here you find their newest entry - The Google enterprise mini, a search appliance for your business. Hmm... Kinda like using Apple branding and simplicity to make just about anything look sexy.

Search engine watch says it's pretty darn good too, even though it, not surprisingly says it still has some security and other kinks. Webfoot loves it because "it's yellow (i see blue), it's fast, and it's Google in a box!"

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Pricing as promotion.

Thinking about going to the blog business summit in seattle. Love their pricing structure. $795 per person or if you are a blogger and post a mention/link on your blog it is $395. Thus, my mention here.

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Next chapter in the search wars: Yahoo Desktop Search

The search dragrace drags on. Here's yahoo's recent entry.

Via Battelle.

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Recent web/blog book reviews

Here's the most recent roundup of mentions of our book for those interested:

• 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".
• Jobster [Ignition portfolio company] said "Truly a must read for any business strategist. I must admit that at first I was a bit skeptical of the abc's xyz's 123's and the 5 plays ... but truth is, this stuff works. Jobster doesn't just believe in the Marketing Playbook, we're living it."
• Hey, we somehow got ourselves in the Forbes Book Club.
• We're on the required reading list for CRMIndustry.com.
• Fuer unsere deutsch-sprechenden Freunden, hier ist ein "Review" in die "Financial Times Deutschland" (a complete, German language transcript of our financial times review)
• Agile Business Books calls the book “An easy-to-apply book that will be enormously helpful to marketers in every industry and leaders in every size company.”
• Rocket Readings called it one of the best two business books of 2004, "They keep it simple, straight forward, and no not easy, since this involves very hard work to get it right! Easy, fast read, that I will reread a few times."
• Gill Bates (sic) on the Start Up Junkies Forum recommends it.
• Members of the small business forum put it in their highly recommended list.
• It found its way into the Northwest Indiana Times.
• And my favorite, is the nice mention in the Auto Field Guide, "“If you accept that the folks at Microsoft probably know a thing or googolplex about marketing, and given that marketing is essential for moving products and even ideas within and without any organization, then it might be worthwhile for you to spend some time with The Marketing Playbook.” Wow, a googolplex. Cool.

For a summary of all the reviews and stuff click here.

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Hughtrain on Change This

Just can't recommend this enough. Manefestos should shake you up. Think that is a hard thing to do in the topic of marketing, but Hugh sure does. Nice to see it in PDF.

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Nice interview

Really fun chat with Mark Ramsey of Mercury Radio. What a great area. Thanks for the time Mark!

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Retrospections and Resolutions

Alright, alright, it's a little late in the year already for this (been spending a lot more time with my kids and day job than blogging lately). But a friend of mine was recently asked to provide some 2005 predictions for the press so I thought it would be fun as I dive back into blog to list some of the looks back and look forward I ran across.

• Wizards of Ads kicked off the new year with Thoughts to think in 2005 and a quote that really should be my personal theme "You've heard that before you die, your whole life flashes before your eyes? This is true. It's called living." Indeed, 2004 was so full of action - election, book, new fund, blogging - that too much of what really matters in life passed by. Hopefully not this year!
• Emergic has a great overview of top tech trends of 2004 in two parts. I personally resonnate most with simplicity. I see the trade-off between simplicity and power as one that moved in right direction in the enterprise with more hosted, simple models but not yet in the home. Can't wait to see more.
• The Unofficial Google weblog recounts a nice little almanac for what was a truly big Google year.
• Tom has a list of search engine marketing resolutions wonder if anyone will keep them
• Decker has his own roundup of 2005 trends and predictions.
• Don the Idea Guy, points us to NYT's year in ideas.
• Todd gives his own year in review.
• Kirsten "nudges" wise women to nudge other women entreprenuers with their own business pledge for 2005. Go!
• She also has her own trend-spotting summary.
• Media Guerilla highlights his 2005 thoughts about the role blogging will play in media.
• Alain shares his marketing thoughts for 2005. Very good stuff, not really just marketing, good solid business advice!
• Ben at Church of the Customer has 10 resolutions, I like them all but particulary, "somehow change the world" we should all have that attitude, in whatever humble way we can.
• TJ highlights the San Jose Merc's news predictions. Allof them sound like they kind of happened, huh.
• Battelle has 17 predictions for 2005, around search and stuff. I like them and I like that he is honest about his own prospects. Will be interested to stay tuned.
• Frogblog highlights a BBC story on the 100 things we didnt know last year. Really, really fascinating - like the fact that "George W Bush got the highest number of votes for president of any candidate in US history, in November 2004....John Kerry got the second highest number."

For me 2004 was blur and 2005 started out with a reminder of the power of nature and of human kindness. There are enough predictions and resolutions above so my resolutions I will keep to myself.

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January 08, 2005

CES: In praise of simplicity and in mourning for the lack of it

Rich and I just got back from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. And boy are we tired. Not from staying out incredibly late (which we will not confirm or deny), but from the truly dizzying array of stuff that we were baraged by at the show.

CNET has a guide to their favorite gadgets that they call "the next big thing." But frankly if there was a next big thing there we just couldn't find it, maybe it was covered up by all the confusing, varied interfaces and supposedly "converged" thingamabobs that no one could figure out how to use.

Seriously, Rich is much more of a gadget freak than me, but amongst either...

• the huge array of boxes that somehow stored all your movies, pictures, audio and computing wirelessly, or
• the phones that did music and photos and messaging and email, or * the game consoles that are also PDAs and heart monitors and remote controls, or even
• the auotomotive dvd, dvr, mp3 player, gprs navigational systems...

even he just couldn't seem to find anything that really seemed worth the effort.

Everything seemed to promise conversion but at the price of super complicated user interfaces, unsure connectivity and integration with the stuff you already have and at little clear compelling, life changing benefit. Personally I liked the display of stuff that took out stains and pressed clothes more easily. At least set-up was just putting in the batteries, the buttons made sense, and I knew what was supposed to happen when I pressed them.

There were more "things" at this show than any other I have been too. But what we saw most was what was not was there. It was striking that when I woke up in a haze the next morning trying to sort through what it all meant, that the USA today highlighted the same problem - "Incompatible tech confuses consumers." I think they really got it right. Outside of the iPod and the growing array of stuff that plugs nicely into it or enhances the experience around it, there was very, very little in the way of two things - simplicity or standards.

Without these two things it all continues to sound nice but end up being little more than expensive toys for hyper enthusiasts. Toys that are not likely to last, not likely to work together and not likely to get used by very many people. It was a testimony to the valuable role of industry leadership that makes it safer and easier for others to fall in line. When IBM, Intel and Microsoft first pushed forward the Wintel standards, boy what a differnce show like Comdex showed. Yes there was some lack of freedom but there was clarity and consistency for consumers and safety for lots of vendors to draft behind. And it was not just technology, it was the means of doing business. There really just did not seem to be any such platform emerging today in the consumer space.

In parallel the most striking thing was the lack of simplicity. In the search to cram more and more varied functionality into every kind of device, it really seemed that vendors forgot the real needs of mainstream users. The need to have things be obvious and clear. If you can't easily figure out how to do the terrific new thing then what use is it? In theory it seems great to have all kinds of content and applications on your phone or TV, but just try to really implement it. Wow. What a pain?

But really it is no wonder that everything is so complicated, without some kind of standards and standard bearers, folks are having to focus too much on bringing all kinds of parts and functions together and not just in plugging into the platform and making something witin it that really would appeal. Boy, I miss the time when even Microsoft's slogan was "Making it easier" and this kind of thinking was the guiding light of the industry. Will be looking for the next generation of leadership to emerge somewhere - from refreshed industry giants, new upstarts, coalitions of players, someone. Wonder what the forcing function will be for a new standard bearer to come to the fore?

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January 01, 2005

Campaign for Real Beauty

Cosmetics and fashion, I have to admit are categories that have always baffled me, especially from the standpoint of true product and competitive differentiation. I know I have no fashion sense at all so I never felt up to commenting or judging most campaigns in these categories. But over the holidays my wife pointed out a new campaign that I plain old admire.

Amidst all the talk of even presidential candidates using Botox to look youthful, in one of many striking and beautifully photographed ads "Wrinkled vs. Wonderful", Dove does not specifically promote Dove soap, but challenges us to think differently about our definition of what is beautiful in Women. The "Campaign for Real Beauty" plays prominently on their website and states its mission clearly: to make women feel beautiful everyday by widening today's stereotypical view of beauty and inspiring women to take great care of themselves.

The campaign has even generated a lot of attention on the blogsphere:

• Wonderbranding points the campaign out as one reflects "the needs and values of real women" and that other companies in the category can learn from.
• Big Fat Blog's entry generated a string of "Right On" commentary.
• A romance novelist (think plunging necklines), even endorsed the campaign passionately, saying "It has been years since I bought Dove products, but as a result of this, I'm doing all I can to help support them. I know that their campaign is a marketing tool, but I believe it is also going to help a lot of women learn to accept themselves as who they are. For that reason, I applaud the genius who came up with this idea!"
• Conversely, Greedy Girl, although intrigued thinks these kind of campaigns backfire, "In my experience, women tend to respond best to pictures of attractive, natural looking women - not overweight or unattractive women. Female consumers may claim otherwise, but their money doesn’t follow those claims...Effective advertising is about making people envision a positive future for themselve, not about making them look in a mirror under fluorescent lights." Also noting that even Dove may bea bit skeptical of the effectiveness of using older less "perfect models". In an ad for Dove shampoo the models may not be blonde but they thin and gorgeous.

Regardless of how sincere their intentions (of course this is a marketing campaign), it seems to me to be breaking through. My wife found it refreshing and so did many other women over 20 I know. She made the observation that perhaps Dove really understands where their target has moved. Dove has been around as a brand for a long time, young people may not think it's cool anyway so turning to the getting older audience may make a lot of sense.

Anyway I like it. I think it is provokotive and breakthrough (just be careful Dove, if your target gets devoted to this campaign and more loyal to the brand because of it, don't turn around and revert to worshiping the standard stereotype or you will be branded traitors instead).

[note: after this post on July 19, 2005, NPR did a great radio show about this campaign, for more click here]

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