InnovationCreation

This last May I wrote about my experiences with Starbucks' "Get more of what you love with a Starbucks Card" campaign (my post). I believe they have gotten this straightened out now. When I order a soy mocha, I don't need to remind the barista that my card is registered and they don't have to figure out how to process the card. Order, converse with barista, pay, done.

However, there is one part of this campaign that does still irks me ... This campaign is not accepted at all Starbucks. Huh? What do you mean not all Starbucks? Aren't all Starbucks alike? No and here's the rub.

There are Starbucks that are what I call "company" stores. They are Startbucks stores owned and operated by Starbucks. These stores are in the vast majority that people see. Then there are those that are "fake" Starbucks. They look, taste, and smell like any other Starbucks. Except they don't have to accept all the same promotional campaigns that Starbucks as a corporation is running. For example, the Starbucks in the Indianapolis Airport or the Starbucks in the Las Vegas Convention Center are not "real" Starbucks.

True, the employees dress and act like Starbucks employees. They have the same products and marketing material. They both even take the Starbucks store card! But that airport or convention center Starbucks do not participate in the "Get more of what you love with a Starbucks Card" campaign. I don't know why and I really do not care. What irks me is that Starbucks has me so trained on their brand that when that brand fails me I feel miffed, let down, abandoned.

Abandoned? Ok, this may sound a bit harsh. But those "fake" Starbucks are ruining the Starbucks brand: I have come to expect a certain level of service, consistency, process, and taste with what I order (tall decafe soy mocha, extra hot). I am a regular. That regularity is reinforced with my Starbucks card and my actions to register it (registering it gets me free soy milk, knocking off $0.40 each drink). When that regularity is disrupted then that causes me to feel like I have been cut off, shown to the door, not part of the culture. When I order a tall decafe soy mocha, I expect to have the price of the soy removed. And when that does not happen I will, on the next order, now have to monitor the drink making process. This requires my time and attention that I really would prefer to spend elsewhere.

So if you are thinking about brands and how to allow those brands to be licensed out / franchised, insure the plan includes education of the impact of drifting from that brand and what could happen to the revenue. Don't make licensing / franchising your brand result in a flesh burn for your customers.

Labels: coffee, culture, information, marketing, product, risk, starbucks, trends

In 1992 I discovered a game called Capitalist Pig, a Mac based business simulation. It was simple in its approach yet still allowed for discovery of running a business. Beside the software, the designers included a funny and yet practical book with business terms explained through selling lemonade. It told the story of starting a company whose initial core product is lemonade and expanded to talking about franchising, hiring employees, and competition.

I was reminded of this book this morning when I was on my way home from IUPUI. On the corner of Barn Hill and Michigan, a group of summer students from the IUPUI Center For Young Children (CYC) (ages 5 to 7) were waving a banner and shouting "Free Lemonade! Free Lemonade!". I recognized the teacher, Mr. Patrick, and pulled up to see what was up. The kids were on a campus field trip to "sell lemonade". However, their tactic was to give the lemonade away and ask for donations for kids programs! According to my son (he attends summer camp at IUPUI CYC) they raised about $190 today!

This is an interesting connection; Yesterday I spent time with some friends in the Smaller Indiana Indy Business Book Club discussing Smaller Indiana's role in the community. One of the questions on Pat Coyle's mind is if Smaller Indiana might be better as a non-profit entity or as a full speed, for profit business. The really interesting dialog was what Smaller Indiana is doing today: groups of people are meeting, going to events together, putting on events, having coffee, etc. The people within Smaller Indiana are pulling together for common activities, interested in helping others, and seeking to make a living (make money).

The connection from Capitalist Pig, to IUPUI CYC kids giving away lemonade to make money, to Smaller Indiana? Smaller Indiana is "giving away" the pipes (lemonade) to connect people and conversations. These people happen to be a pool of people that non-profits like to engage for community good (looking for volunteers, donations, ideas, and action : the donation). Smaller Indiana is a conduit to these engaged people. Non-profits need to invest in Smaller Indiana because the "pipes" of conversations, ideas, and actions is leading to community good.

Another angle to think about: for non-profits to engage a marketing or PR firm to create messages and marketing campaigns to engage people would cost more than if the pipes of conversations were put in place for free and have community people utilize them. Something to think about.

Labels: innovation, iupui, kids, lemonade, marketing

I am getting a taste of push marketing from my 8 month old and 7 year old sons! Yes, my sons are practicing the art of marketing... Funny way to think about it but it's true. My youngest will jump up and down in his saucer when he is happy (providing me a message that says "I am happy right now"). Later he will perhaps change marketing messages and start to whine a bit, telling me to start getting that food lined up or else.

My 7 year old son also is practicing the art of marketing. He does have the advantage of fine tuning his message with actual words I can understand. They can be direct ("may I please have desert?") or subtle (he gets all his toys out on the floor to imply he is going to play right now even though he really should be putting things away). Other times he co-brands his message ("Mommy said I could have a snack").

My favorite youth marketing technique is the shout / scream method. This is when the original message is not well received so the message is modified and delivered in a high volume, sometimes over some distance ("DADDY.... DADDY..... CAN I GET MY TOYS OUT OF TOY JAIL??? DADDY!!!!" delivered from the top of the stairway) When that high volume shouting does not work the tone of the message is modified almost instantaneously ("I AM GETTING MAD IF YOU DON'T GET MY TOYS OUT OF TOY JAIL!!!"). Then the message is combined with some good old fashioned meeting time ("DADDY" as he stomps downstairs and grabs my hand and drags me over to the toy jail (top of the fridge for those that are interested) and then hangs on my hand while continuing verbal message "I WANT THAT TOY BACK!").

Now imagine what you are doing with your customers / potential customers and your messages. Are you shouting? Have you dragged your potential customers around by the hand and told them what to do? Are you saying please? Did you even offer the opportunity to ask why? Have you been doing this time and time again and getting so response? Have you felt ignored?

The best kid marketing tactics are when they come up and say things that are totally unsolicited, spontaneous, and in the end not really asking for anything but saying thank you ("Daddy, thanks for the Indiana Jones Lego set, I really love it..." ... "Will you play with me?") OK, they sometimes tack on a request that is sometimes hard to turn down :) So say "thank you" in a simple way to your future customers.

Some great starting points to learn:

• Chris Brogan "Five Tools I Use for Listening"
• Seth Godin "Useless marketing"
• Chris Penn "The Most Effective Marketing A Non-Profit Can Do Is Build The Database"

Don't be a 1 year old!

Labels: marketing

It is way better to get a "Yes" or a "No" from a client or customer than it is to get a maybe. I personally have been on both sides of this and understand the issue of making a decision and trying to avoid risk.

In my current roll I am helping bring new ways to make information sharable and available via podcasts (SwineCast being an example). This is a "new" way to share stories; "new" in the sense that technology (sharing of content via RSS feeds, time shifted conversations via podcasts) is making it easier to produce a show and share it widely.

So when I heard (I use Audible to listen to books) this bit from Seth Godin's Small is the New Big about getting people to say yes or no, not maybe, I was all behind what he shared. It is better to get a yes or a no than a maybe. Think about those times when you suggested an idea and a "decision" maker said "maybe". Think about those times when you asked someone out and they responded with a "maybe" answer ("I'm busy this week" or "I have a lot of things to do").

Here is the short clip (about 10 min) from Small is the New Big that talks about one of Seth's sales people working to get a senior leader to step forward and make a decision.

So step up, be bold, get out there, make a decision!

Double click Play button below to listen to audio on line.



To download an MP3 version to your desktop, right click on link below and save to your local computer.
Short Seth Godin: "Small is the New Big" audio clip.

Labels: marketing, risk, startup

This is one of those books I got via Audible.com. I listened to the whole book and a few items I found interesting. However, it is one of those books that repeats the formula of identifying a target trend and produces a bunch of statistics with stories that sometimes require deeper absorption. The repeating of the formula made some of the sections drone on a bit too much for me. Fortunately I was driving or running and could tune in or out as needed.

This is where the physical book comes in handy (the handy local public library helps ere!). With the book you can quickly scan/re-scan the stats on some area of interest.

This book is quickly becoming dated because many of the trends in the books are moving forward or passing away (there is a whole section on home buying pre-sub prime loan collapse...). However, I think the best value this book shows that one can learn about trends and understand how they can be used to modify their products, life style, or investments.

Update, I forgot to add, look at Springwise's newsletter of global trend spotters. This extends your ability to spot trends by tapping others spotting!

http://www.springwise.com/ideas/index.html

Labels: book, development, marketing, trends

At the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana I had a quick conversation with the ladies driving the Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile. After the quick video (below) I learned about mobile marketing and the massive brand the Weiner Mobile maintains.

Click To Play

Labels: ffa, marketing, mobile marketing, oscar mayer

During Gnomedex 2007, Justin, from Justin TV, was calm but he did show a bit of quick on the spot thinking with respect to advertising. After Justin talked about how he got to this point in time and the tech equipment origins, he sat for a bit and then asked if anyone was interested in having their logo/company name on his hat. He proceeded to auction the bit of white space starting at $5. How he handled that was a great bit of self promotion and hucspaugh (sp? bold, direct, brave, daring). The bid finally ended at $750 and Justin committing to wearing the hat with the ad for the rest of the month. Amazing.

b5media won the auction...

Labels: gnomedex, innovation, marketing, thinking, tv

I am working on some "social networks" projects and "viral" like projects. I quoted these words because what I am really working on is getting people together around a specific idea/product and keeping them engaged over time. Some of what I am working on is old fashioned marketing and PR linked with newer tools to spread the word quicker and get some sense of how the word spreads.


Check out Forward Track & HBR Idea Cast podast w/ Duncan Watts about viral marketing.

Labels: idea virus, innovation, marketing, viral

Seeking innovation. Is it one of those things that when you see it you know that is it? Sounds like the definition that some people use about porn, bad societal behavior, bad movies, etc. :)

I have heard people define innovation as taking an idea and actually getting that idea implemented. Other define innovation as doing something new or unusual. Some have suggested innovation is seeing/recognizing the patterns, putting them together, and taking advantage of them.

The use of the word "innovation" is invoked by people in speeches but rarely do the people say what was "innovative".

Innovation reminds me of the use of AI (artificial intelligence) in the late 1980's. Everything that was cool was labeled AI. Hypertext systems were AI, high-end workstations were AI, AI was everywhere! Then there was the disillusionment of AI (the AI bubble burst) and things that were AI went covert. Companies went out of their way not to mention AI in their products. People had burned out on the term so the rest of us did not want to be associated with AI. (Editors note: AI is very prominent now in may applications; we just don't know it because the marketing types don't hype AI, instead use terms like "intelligent", "smart", and "software agents").

There is a desire to use the word innovation to sound better than things really are. So what is "true innovation"?

Labels: history, hype, innovation, marketing