Focus on Big Questions: The Answers Don’t Change Easily
If I had to live my life again, I’d make the same mistakes, only sooner.
—Tallulah Bankhead
Dear readers and friends, crowd around. Having you join our luncheon once again is an unmistakable pleasure. The fundamental qualities about Ms. Bankhead, she knew, did not change over time. The fundamentals of building your business don’t change over time, either. I’ve invited new friends and old to share their fresh perspectives today. I hope you’ll enjoy getting to know them—leave them a comment, and come on back to share your thoughts around the Maximum Customer Experience Round Table!
If you are here reading, dear reader, you are not an average person. As readers of blogs we forget, sometimes, that plenty of folks are not as Internet-savvy as we are. So the big question is just how much has the Internet changed the way the average person lives? My favorite pollsters at Pew Internet bring you Daily Internet Activities, 2000–2009. Take note when you glance over it: the chart doesn’t even bother to show past 60%.
A little fun and games with your big questions? At Fast Company, Joel Rubinson says the rules of branding have changed, in The New Rules of Brand Competition. He led me on to the fascinating game at brand tags, where their definition of a brand, however a company may try to influence it, is the same as it ever was—“… a brand exists entirely in people’s heads. Therefore, a brand is whatever they say it is.” I agree completely.
How can you convince executives to buy from you if you haven’t laid the proper foundation? The more things change, the more they stay the same. Check out the Fundamentals of BtoB Marketing—Then and Now from Tim Berry at Planning, Startups, Stories for a fun reminder.
“Does creativity make a difference?” One big question that’s a lot harder to argue over after you’ve seen this video brilliantly make the case: Ebay Wicked Sick BMX, aka The Wicked Sick Project – by the creative team at George Patterson Y&R. Hat tip to Nigel Corbett for pointing this one out.
Thanks, as always, for the pleasure of your company and your commentary. Let’s do lunch again soon.
Love ‘em? Hate ‘em? Learn something fantastic as you clicked around? Think I missed the best one of the week? Have your say in the comments—you know you want to!
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
If you’re going to write, don’t pretend to write down. It’s going to be the best you can do, and it’s the fact that it’s the best you can do that kills you.
—Dorothy Parker
Last time, Mrs. Erickson and the Vision Circle (that’s you) entertained:
Laugh! Cry! Real-Life Stories of Customer Experience
Craving dessert? Click here to see all the posts in the Round Table series, along with other great recommended reading from MCE!
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18 July 2009, 11:04 am
LOL – Rad to the Power of Sick!
I noticed one of the comments say something like “Ha, let’s see you sell a broom for $80″ and it occurred to me that what you are selling is just as important. Not “what it does” necessarily, but “what it is”.
For example, this wasn’t a bike they were selling, it was a BMX bike. You’re going to get a lot of cachet right there with the right group. I’ll bet that using the exact same verbage for a red Schwinn wouldn’t get you the same bidding war.
Of course you could say that’s not the point, you’d use different verbage, and you’d be right. I’m just saying some things are easier to sell (BMX bikes, the Slap Chop, Save the Whales) than others (Schwinns, $20 garlic press, Save Britney’s Career).
And that’s part of the creativity — knowing what to sell.
BTW, how “organic” do you think all this was? Seems they were pretty linked in and likely generated their own buzz. Which is great in itself — that’s what they do and that’s why they are around — but I have a feeling that the whole “viral” aspect is a little harder to achieve for the average ebayer…
You also have to take some points off for the whole lying thing too. I’m not talking about the “girls got pregnant watching me” schtick, but the whole illusion that they actually used this bike and now were selling it. Sure, create a story. Shouldn’t there be some lick of truth to it though?
(Huh, I seem to be talking myself out of this whole concept. Loved it at first…)
~Graham
18 July 2009, 12:49 pm
Graham,
Last, first—yes, I’m rather fond of truth… yet when Glenmorangie (insert whatever product…) tells me their whisky is smooth drinking and honeyed, I don’t wonder (or care) whether the person who wrote that has drunk it… is it the homey nature of the ebay auction? Hm, hm.
Re: the cachet of the product—sure. Samba blog said something related about picking the right business this week (*digs for link* —How to Start a Business That Works), but I think the important thing to remember is that the exact same item, same (potential) cachet, sold for virtually nothing to them the week before.
And whether it was organic or not? I’d love to see a behind-the-scenes look at this behind-the-scenes look at creativity to know more about that. I suspect semi-organic (they lit the matches, other folks fanned the flames)… which is a big part of what we in business are supposed to be using blogs and other social media for.
Lots of good lessons in a tiny, funny video. Glad it made you think as much as it did me!
Regards,
Kelly
21 July 2009, 2:50 am
Interesting how the Daily Internet Activities talks about buying products but not services – it shows rating and researching services, but not buying. I wonder if that was a purposeful exclusion…
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome’s last blog post…Beating the Odds: The Bloggess Interview
21 July 2009, 7:20 am
Alex,
That’s an interesting point. I wonder if it’s because services have too variable a sales funnel (sometimes just making a contact online, not directly purchasing…)?
Even though I usually report some of the stats here so we’ll all remember how the other more-than-half lives, those folks at Pew Internet never fail to blow my mind with these stats. Good stuff there!
Until later,
Kelly