Steve Spencer's Archive
Jun
6
I was listening to NPR on my way home last night, and they were talking about the new logo that had been chosen for the upcoming Olympics. Apparently there is something of an uproar about it. It got me thinking a bit about marketing.
It seems that way too often marketing can be vanilla… attempt to appeal to everyone, or at least not alienate anyone, and then win customers through simple repetition. For those who have an unlimited marketing budget that may be fine. But for those who need to get results with every dollar, repetition of mediocre messaging may not be an option.
The hardest part then, is making the right decision, and coming to grips with who you are not going to appeal to. It’s like the eagle… once it hones in on a rabbit, it does not lament the other rabbit, which it has chosen not to chase. Make sure you are willing, and able to make similar choices with your marketing. If you choose a “hip” new logo and campaign, make sure that the “hip” market you are after is big enough, and make sure you are comfortable with the “non-hip” market that you now might appeal less to. Choose your target wisely, do your homework, and then make part of the discussions around the campaign be identifying who might react poorly, and make sure everyone is on board with the choice.
Posted in Events, Marketing
Jun
5
 You know, it always seems to be the case that those who work in any given industry tend to do the worst at living it themselves… It’s the old story of the cobbler’s children going barefoot because he is so busy making shoes for other people. Likewise, I know a person who does incredible lanscaping work for people. But his yard looks like crap.
So this brings us to the topic of blogs, and specifically Technorati. What are blogs all about? Well, there are lots of answers to that, but one of the most common might be something along the lines of “Candid, timely, information snippets.” Not to mention that search engines like Google love them. Blog on a topic that is happening, and you are very likely to show up on Google’s front page.ÂÂ
In the world of Blogging, there is a key tool: Technorati. Bloggers use technorati extensively to see how certain aspects of their blogs are doing.ÂÂ
Well, technorati has been down most of the day today. Go ahead and search for a reason why. Know what you’ll find? Nothing. I made it a personal goal to really dig into this one, and I found absolutely nothing. I find it odd that a company so integral, and tied into blogging, and its power, doesn’t have a blog that is still up when they are down, that is telling me what is happening. I guess the cobbler is busy making shoes for other kids.
As I have stated before on this blog, you cannot choose not to market. That which you do not conciously do becomes marketing by accident. Unfortunately for Technorati, they have enforced an aspect of their brand today.
Posted in Advertising, Events
Jun
5
Knowledge is power. Or so the saying goes.
But is it really?
If we look to the dictionary we will find power defined as: “ability to do or act; capability of doing or accomplishing something.” This is one among many similar definitions, all of which essentially put power as The Ability To Effect Change.
So the real question is: Does knowledge equal the ability to effect change? I would propose that the answer to this is “no.”
Let’s use Einstein as an example. Clearly a smart guy to say the least, and absolutely powerful as determined by his ability to effect change. But was it knowledge alone that allowed him to be so effective in changing our world? To explore this let’s ask: What if Einstein had kept his knowledge to himself? What if no one heard his message? What if he had died alone, unheard, and brilliant? He would not have changed the world.
As such, I put forth that Knowledge, plus the ability to have your message heard, is power.
The good news? Now, more than ever in history you can be heard. Twitter, Blogs, Podcasts, the web, email, not to mention rapid transit. You can be heard.
So… who is hearing you?
Posted in Advertising, Marketing
Jun
5
I can’t tell you how many time I have talked to companies about various aspects of their marketing strategies, and had them say, “We haven’t really started doing [that kind] of marketing yet.” It might be email, it might be a solid web site, it might be blogs, or social marketing, or any number of other flavors.
I think of this as “Marketing By Accident.” If someone wants to know about you or your product, and they do a search online only to find a crappy website, or no site at all, don’t think for a moment that you are not doing web marketing. Make no mistake about it, you have definitely sent a message about your brand. Everything we do, or don’t do is marketing. If you send an email and it is poorly written, that is your email marketing. If you don’t comment on industry blogs, and have no blog of your own… then you are doing blogging as part of your marketing strategy. Your blog just reads: “we really don’t get it.”
Nothing is more valuable than your brand. Control your brand. Don’t market by accident.
Posted in Advertising, Marketing
Jun
1
There are lots of different types of Marketing, and lots of different kinds of selling. But it seems one of the hardest ones for people to learn is how to be social in a room. Ever seen a person who is just a social butterfly? They walk into a room and are not only comfortable, but they seem to know how to make the people they talk to comfortable as well?
I recently had someone ask me how to build such a skill. So, here’s my advice for a first step: Go into a KFC and order some food. When they get your order wrong (because you KNOW they will), joke around a bit with the person helping you… tell them, “That’s okay, a free piece of cornbread, and we’re all square.”
Your goal here has nothing to do with actually getting any cornbread. Your goals are to 1: Step outside of your comfort zone, and 2: attempt to influence someone and have them feel closer to you for the experience. If you have done this right, the next time you go in, the person not only recognizes you, but is more friendly than before.
Exercises like this can help you turn uncomfortable situations into bonding experiences. This is the first step to representing yourself, and your personal brand, well. Which is the first step to representing your company, and your message well. Practice this one, and you’ll begin to learn how far you can push the envelope… is a drink easier to get than cornbread or fries? You’ll get to where you know how much you can realistically ask for. This is key, because you are subliminally building the skills to know what you can expect from an interaction with another person, and when you are nearing the point of pushing things too far.
But that’s another lesson for another day. For now, spread your wings and enjoy the cornbread 
Posted in Advertising
Jun
1
 For those of you who were not able to attend, there was a wonderful event at the Salt Palace last week. Seth Godin, Marketing Guru, and general simplifier of complex concepts, spoke to a crowd of roughly 400 people to promote his new book, “The Dip” (Which, even as a gold level sponsor of the event, I am still waiting to get my copies of )
You can find a more detailed writeup of the event at the Utah Tech Spotlight.
But I also wanted to take this chance to tease you a bit about another upcoming event we are involved in in Utah: On June 28th there will be a New Media conference including all sorts of exciting names and personalities from the worlds of Blogging, Podcasts, video marketing, social marketing, and every other kind of new way to communicate that you could possibly shake a stick (or even a bunch of sticks) at.
More details to follow. We hope to see you there.
Posted in Events
