From the monthly archives:

August 2010

Don’t believe the hype

by nick on August 25, 2010

A product, service or brand that’s being raved about is all well and good until you try it out for the first time. With mountains of people talking so wildly about something, you’ve naturally put it in the remarkable box. But what happens when it’s not remarkable; when it’s only OK; when it doesn’t blow your mind?

Apple has this hype problem. Mac lovers sermonise so wildly about using them instead of PCs anyone taking one out of the box for the first time almost expects a Mac to do the work for them – or at least perform it by telepathy. I met a Mac newbie this week and they were seriously underwhelmed by their box-fresh MacBook Pro, “It’s not as special as everyone bangs on about, is it?”

Buy an iPad this weekend and see if it lives up to your undoubtedly weighty expectation. (What do you mean it doesn’t change nappies?)

Word of mouth is the pinnacle of marketing – until, that is, when it sets the bar too high. Then it leads to disappointment and a distrust of the next ‘big thing’ and marketing in general.

Photo credit: Mashable

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Decloaking dinosaurs

by nick on August 21, 2010

I met someone this week that thinks they were burgled because they tweeted that they were away from home (i.e. London, when their location says Brighton). Such scare stories are only more likely as location-based services begin to make traction.

Foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite, Loopt, Yelp etc are still in their relevant infancies but with Facebook launching Places and smartphone take-up sky rocketing, these services/games are going to thrive. They’re not there yet simply because the reason for broadcasting isn’t compelling enough.

Somewhat negatively for a social media darling, Chris Brogan wrote recently, “I’m just not always keen on decloaking for social-only reasons.” I wouldn’t if I was him either; with 146,000 Twitter followers he’s going to be mobbed and spammed big time.

Users are struggling to find a real value in location at the moment but with generation Y willing to publish everything about themselves, I can’t imagine decloaking and revealing location being a worry for them. It’s more likely the opposite as they ‘like’ and ‘check in’ at bars, cafes, clubs, shops and places all over world.

As usual, John Battelle voices the clearest business connect, “…location aware services are not yet a cultural habit, in particular ambient ones. But it won’t be long before we assume that our public presence is, in effect, a search, one for which we will expect a response from any number of potential respondents.”

There are some clever early adopters though. Example: Daily Candy will point you to ‘current local happenings like designer sales, spa deals, and underground concerts,’ as you travel around New York, but we’ve not really seen anything yet.

So marketers will create places pages inside Facebook and scramble to offer you discounts to broadcast you’re in the cinema, coffee shop or wine bar. And, inevitably, the privacy debate will become mainstream news (read ACLU’s concerns).

Location is marketing’s unconquered frontier (and privacy the debate to come). But not for much longer.

Photo credit: Kerryvaugan

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Holiday is with a small ‘h’

by nick on August 14, 2010

The world of Formula 1 is taking an enforced break for two weeks as part of a cost cutting exercise.

Speaking of the break, Ferrari team manager, Stefano Domenicali said, “We will be on holiday, but that does not mean our brains will stop working. Maybe one can even find fresh inspiration when outside the normal working environment and I expect this time to be a fertile one for ideas, which when all is said and done, are what make the difference.”

Isn’t that par for the course with most of us?

Reading novels on a sun lounger, assembling that garden shed, hiking up that mountain pass and scuba diving are all great stress relievers but they’re also a brilliant way to reinvigorate ideas and solutions.

I’m sure you’re thinking the same way, but is it unfair to expect likewise of your team? Clearly, it’s expected at Scuderia Ferrari.

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Confidence is catchy

by nick on August 7, 2010

I love meeting confident people. I don’t mean business networking arrogance; I’m talking about those who’ve really done something special. They stand that bit straighter, their heads that bit higher, with brighter eyes, and more alive faces.

Athletes have that confident look. So do military folks.

I recently met an ex-Marine commando who’d successfully led a Navy/Marine team to summit Everest and came back down rescuing another team’s casualty and won a Queen’s bravery award in the process. He exuded so much confidence it was like looking at the Ready Brek kid.

Unfortunately you can’t pick it up off a shelf in the supermarket, you have to earn it. The good news is that it can be earned in a small team SME every bit as much as it can from base camp on Everest. Team leader means the same in both all capacities.

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