Jon Burg's Future Visions

rinse and repeat - sustainabile WOM

Most loving relationships kick off with a WOW phase.

20 years of marriage later, the WOW is now deeper, more real, more permanent.  But it isn't the viral "tell all my friends about him/her" WOW of infatuation, it is the deeply embedded wow of a meaningful relationship. 

Newlyweds talk about their spouses in glowing terms to anyone who will listen.  Most people who have been married for a lifetime don't shout their love from the rooftops, yet it exists deeply in their hearts.  What does this tell us about relationships, and how does this impact marketing?

Think about your marketing efforts.  Where is your loyalty play?  How do you encourage WOM among a loyal and familiar audience?  Is it possible to have your cake (loyalty) and eat it to (gain WOM from this group in an ongoing manner)?

Can brands deliver sustainable WOW?  Can a relationship become one of enamor, respect or awe in a sustainable fashion?  Can a brand constantly over-deliver, constantly WOW the customer, without the WOW become a yawn?  Sure, you can refresh your creative, but can a relationship built on WOW alone be sustainable?

Or is a sustainable relationship about initial WOW and consistent follow through on every occasional WOW moment - that special night out, that amazing vacation, that special gift just because?

Kudos to Brandon Schauer for bringing up the subject in the beautiful presentation embedded below (after the jump). For a quick summary, check out Whitney's bullet list.

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the mother of all innovation (re-edited)

Image via WikipediaThey say that necessity is the mother of all invention.

(later edit, kudos to Paula) But is necessity the mother of all innovation?
 

Not necessarily.

I would suggest that necessity is neither the mother of all invention, nor is it the mother of innovation.  Let's take a two pronged approach.

1. Innovation often presents solutions to problems we never knew we had.  To invent is to create something new. 
2. Necessity drives solution finding, not innovation nor invention.

Solutions need not be groundbreaking to be useful. The answer to your challenge may not be in new technologies, but in making progress by moving backwards to identify an end game solution.

For example, take the situation with Hezbollah.

In an effort to jam Hezbollah's field communications, Israel jams Hezbollah's cell phones.  For most enemies, this would present a technical problem, to be solved by a technologist.

A technologist may look to create a new type of radio, a stronger cell transmission, or another form of wireless communication.

Hezbollah's solution?  Going back to physical wired communications, laying fiber lines for all communications in the field.

Sometimes the toughest technical challenges can be overcome by gaining context.  Hezbollah understood their unique situation, and made the tactical decision to use their home territory to their advantage, laying cables where Israeli and Lebanese troops do not want to go - into Hezbollah controlled territory. 

I try to avoid politics, but to me this is more than politics. 

Here's to hoping that the good guys win.

Discovery Channel : brilliance or desperation?

Image via WikipediaBattle at Kruger is a You Tube phenomenon. 

And now, the Discovery channel is here to pick this entire video to pieces.

Is this desperation?  Have the folks at the Discovery Channel given up on original ideation, resorting to expert commentary on user generated content?

Or is Discovery Channel brilliantly tapping into a relevant social phenom? 

If you were Discovery Channel, what would you do?

My Analysis

• The Battle at Kruger was a hit in social media, generating over 31 million views.
• The Discovery Channel audience enjoys this content genre.
• Much of The Discovery Channel audience may have already seen this video.
• However, never before have any of the above mentioned audiences (YouTube and Discovery Channel audiences) viewed this video through the lens of an expert commentary.
• Discovery Channel is therefor delivering their unique branded message to two audiences:
  • Discovery Channel enthusiasts
  • Viral video viewers who were enthralled by this remarkable video.

Yes, this is a smart move by the Discovery Channel. 

Let's hope they can capitalize on their value proposition (expert analysis) with this fresh content. 

Let's hope they are smart enough to tease segments of their expert commentary on YouTube (linked back to the original video), driving back to a Discovery Channel experience while providing value to the You Tube audience.

But that's just what I think.  How about you?

Discovery Channel Teaser Video

links for 2008-05-09

• advergirl: PRSA and Social Media
  GREAT presentation on social media. We cannot say it enough - and everyone has a unique perspective or twist. It's social, it's here. Now let's deal with it.
• Saying No | chrisbrogan.com
  Saying no (thank you) is a difficult thing to do, particularly for overachievers and early adopters. But you need to prioritize. And that's when you start saying no. And this is why my blogging has slowed down.

sad but true? or do we need some perspective?

Image via WikipediaThe other day, I heard this joke.

How do you get a client to leave an agency?

Roll a shiny nickel down the sidewalk.

Hohoho. (sarcastic laughter followed by awkward silence)

• Firstly, clients are not dumb.  Nor are they naive.
  

• Secondly, agencies (and unagencies) are just as at fault here as their clients. 

Shiny Nickels are nothing new, and they aren't going away.  We just need to learn to put on sunglasses.

Raise your hand if you remember AOL chatrooms.  Now tell me how different they are than Twitter.  Now tell me Twitter is a fad that is going to fade away.  Sure, we may access the platform in new ways, but the platforms, and their users, don't disappear.  They shift.

Think about it.
    Twhirl is to Twitter as AIM is to AOL Chatrooms.

Twhirl and Twitter may not be the future, but they aren't dead.  Just because it is shiny, doesn't make it unsustainable (for at least a few years).  Just because it is shiny, doesn't mean that it is useless. 

If you don't look at your life through the filter of common sense, everything will look skewed.  However, put on the shades of reality and allocate your budgets accordingly, and you will be set for life.

If you believe in every pitch you hear, you're going to end up falling flat on your face, very, very quickly.
If you stop believing in the value of the startup, you shouldn't be in media.

NewsCorp was once an emerging business.
Google still is in many ways still a startup.
Facebook is a startup.

Don't chase the all the shiny nickels. 
But avoid them at your own peril.

taking some time to read and enjoy

So life's been crazy.  Passover in Israel, meeting with technology partners in the AM, working remotely in the afternoon and evening,  and now back to work and playing catchup.  My wife and son finally came back this morning.  FYI - Seeing your wife and baby after 4 days across the world from each other is the best feeling in the world!  Seriously, having your 9 month old jump into your arms is an amazing feeling.  Wouldn't trade it for the world.

But with all the hullaballoo, I haven't had time to read.  And I feel like I'm blogging blind.  Blogging is a conversation.  If all you do is write, you aren't participating in social media, you're just talking.  So I'm off to read. 

Here's to a great weekend, filled with unpacking, getting a haircut, going to a lecture by one of my favorite speakers, spending some quality time with my family, and finally purchasing that new computer I've been talking about.  When your laptop HD starts clicking, you know the time has come.  Now if only I could get all my old data off that old beast, my life would be much easier.  Any ideas?