Relevant Engagement

Does "Social Media" mean something to your organization?

I'm curious as this topic gains traction (which it has) I'll certainly engage you all more frequently.

My Dad

I haven't posted anything for more than a month.  My dad passed away unexpectedly and it rocked my world.  It is impossible to explain.  For those of you with kids all I can relate the passing of a parent is to say: witnessing the birth of your children is the highest of the highs, viewing your parent in the ER after he has passed is the lowest of the lows.

This post is tangential from the objective of the site but it's important to me to share the eulogy I gave at his memorial service.

On April 14, 1940, Lee Irving Pickering was born into this world a child with an innate mission dedicated to living a full life.
Part chronological, part tribute, part shared memories, I need to take this time to share with you my feelings about the greatest person I have ever known, my dad.

My dad was a giant of a man, not only in stature but also in deeds. 

One of his most endearing attributes was the humble and unselfish nature of his being.  For us, his deeds went largely unspoken.  He dedicated his life to helping people and accomplished so much that it is hard to conceive that one person did all that he did. I’m ashamed to admit that only now am I starting to learn the full extent of the impact his actions had on all of us attending here today.  I’m positive that was his plan: because for my mother, my brother, my sister, our wife’s, husband’s, grandchildren, and me, my dad was always focused on us.

When I set out to write this, the word Dedicated, flashed in my mind.  The word and the concept completely captured my dad’s approach to life.
As a dedicated husband, my dad set the standard.
Since their marriage in 1964 my parents have always been by each other’s side.  He was always one to bring home flowers or grow a garden full: especially roses.  He never said this to me, but as a busy husband and father, I know that a small gesture such as a flower is a huge message of love and thanks for being a supportive partner. 

He and I would talk about the proverbial “work/life” balance occasionally and this message always came through the loudest, family first: especially the love and support of your wife. 

This may come as a shock to some but during my teenage years, I was a handful.  One evening I was upset with my mom and I let her have it in front of my dad.  I was totally out of line but I was too young and stupid to know any better at the time.  Anyway, after my outburst, in the blink of an eye, he was in my face and made it perfectly clear that he brought me into this world and just as quickly could take me out of this world if I ever disrespected my mom in that way again.  Believe me when I say this…..nothing that night was more frightening than a 6’7” man staring straight into your eyes standing up for the woman he loved.  
He cherished my mother.

As a dedicated father, my dad was my idol.
My dad was head of the household, although he knew; my mother actually ran the asylum.  If you ever visited our home it definitely was considered “user friendly.”  He made sure we always had what we needed and much more.
Today most parents attempt to buy their relationship with their children: not my dad, he built a relationship with us by participating in our lives.

He attended everything we were involved in:  magic shows, lemonade stands, digging holes in the backyard to make swimming pools in the mud, band, sports, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and much more.  During his retirement he was never home as his love to participate with his grandchildren kept him constantly busy driving from California to Smithville to Lee’s Summit.

Two personal attributes I want to reflect on a little deeper today was his sense of humor and his thirst to learn.
His ability to be funny in professional settings to down right silly with his grandchildren was magical.  The odds of my dad making a funny face with one of the grandchildren where very high and usually we were lucky enough to get a picture.  He never got upset when he would fall asleep and I would cover his face with a magic marker.

One of my fondest memories when I was a kid was at the dinner table one night.  With my brother and sister I call it, “the chainsaw and the meat.”  One night, my mom prepares a brisket; unfortunately the meat had been in the oven a little too long probably because my dad was working late.  As we started to eat, it became apparent that the common dinner knife was no match for the meat.  Instead of getting a steak knife my father took his knife pretended to pull the cord and made chainsaw noises as he proceeded to cut his meat.  We all laughed till it hurt.

When it came to learning, my dad examined everything with a level of curiosity usually seen in a child.  Everything was fascinating to him.  He had a thirst for learning that could not be quenched. The depth of any subject that he could go on and on about was amazing and if he didn’t know about it you can bet Barnes & Noble would be getting a visit from my dad. 

Prior to the Internet, my dad’s office in our old house was a warehouse of information in the form of magazines, books, tapes and anything else that could hold information.  By the time my parents moved out of the house on Jarboe, his office was literally as dense and complex as an English labyrinth.  We had to pull a construction sized dumpster up to the window directly under his office just to empty the room.  It pained him to see all that information go into the trash as he always worried that one day he would need to reference something in one of the books or magazines. 

He purchased computers and created a local area network in our house……in 1982!!!!

He always listened with a great eagerness to learn.  He was fascinated with his children and grandchildren’s experiences and how different they were than when he was growing up.

As a dedicated physician, in my eyes, my dad had no equal.
He entered the University of Missouri, School of Medicine, and completed the degree of M.D. in 1967.  He interned (children’s and adult medicine) and completed a residency in internal medicine by 1971 at Menorah Medical Center, Children’s Mercy Hospital, and the University of  Kansas Hospital.  During his residency, he was the cofounder/physician of the Westport Free Health Clinic, now the Kansas City Free Health Clinic, and later served on its Founder’s Committee.  Drafted during Vietnam, he entered military service in 1971, and served three years in Germany as a Major, US Medical Corp.  He joined Midwest Medical Clinics and later the Jacomo Primary Care.  He remained in Independence as a practicing physician for 27 years serving on the staffs of Independence Regional Health Center, and St. Mary’s/Blue Springs Hospital.  He served on the Board of Trustees of Independence Regional Hospital for eleven years, was President of the Medical Staff, and Chairman of the Credentials Committee and the Medical Informatics Committee for many years, and was instrumental in authoring their medical staff credentialing system.  He helped implement into practice one of the first computerized medical offices in Missouri in 1994, and retired from practice in September of 2001.

As a dedicated friend, my dad was there, always ready to listen or lend a helping hand.
Over the past few days the flood of sympathy and fond recollections you shared with us about my dad has been overwhelming. 
Words like: friend, wonderful man, my second dad, great listener, mentor, compassionate and on and on and on.
My Dad first…he was also a tremendous friend.  He was always willing to listen in a non-judgmental way and always pass on advice that was worthy of consideration or action.

For his birthday I had this indescribable urge to purchase my dad a Kindle (a sophisticated electronic book created by Amazon).  The idea of books, magazines and newspapers all delivered through wireless Internet access anywhere directly to a machine that could instantaneously update information was the ultimate fantasy to him.  During the same week, he had been helping me sort through my frustrations, trials and tribulations at work around helping people understand very complex business issues. 

I’d like to read the very last email he sent me: Geoff, thank you again for your Birthday thoughtfulness.  Gee, I never thought I would have a Kindle.  I was pleased to see you had one but what a nice birthday to see I am getting one too!  My birthday this year was to pass on without much celebration on my part – Wrong.  This is a classy piece of equipment and the best adult birthday gift I know of.
About work, the hard thing to remember when you are a change agent is that the same pattern exists each time you promote change.  It makes you intolerant to different people who follow the previous path that others took, and results in your own impatience.  The great payoff is when you get the ah-has from folks when they "get it".  That gets about as good as your wife's apple pie. I love you. Dad    

As a dedicated human being, he loved to get involved and make a difference.  A friend of his once said, “Heaven sent…a great human being and doctor.  He was just the right person at the right time.   Not afraid to get his hands wet.”

You know time is the only thing in this world that is not a commodity to any of us, and time was the one thing my dad was willing to give away freely without asking for anything in return.

Whether it was the Westport Free Clinic, which at the time was a decision considered to be a tremendous risk to his professional career.  The warnings went unheeded, he got involved, not afraid to get his hands wet.  Today, the clinic he and a courageous few believed in is now one of the largest free health care clinics in the country.  Against serious pressure he made a decision based solely on what was right not on what other people thought about himself. 

He dedicated hours helping children learn mathematics at Red Bridge, Indian Creek and other elementary schools around Kansas City. 
Most people plan a retirement to relax after a stressful career.  Not my Dad, he volunteered as a Court Appointed Special Advocate where he represented families, specifically children that could not represent themselves.  The cases he was assigned would have made an ordinary man crumple under from human cruelty and the suffering.  I recall several of the cases and candidly they were so severe and distasteful I could not even fathom the level of commitment and passion it took for him to keep showing up and doing his job.  For the people he represented, my dad, was the only link to safety and the possibility of a normal life. 

Finally, I must mention the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas City and my dad’s steadfast commitment to their efforts.  The efforts of Native Sons to preserve the history of Kansas City were very important to him.

Though I am a member I’ve yet to attend a function or meeting due to my weekly work commutes to St. Louis and my desire to be with my wife and kids on the weekends when I’m home.  I felt guilty that I haven’t attended anything and would frequently share my feelings with my dad.  As eager as he was for me to attend, not once, did he pressure me into anything other than keeping my focus on the care of my wife and kids. 

We did come to an unspoken compromise: during my commutes I would call him and we would discuss strategies on building, maintaining and promoting the Native Sons Website.  He strongly believed that the Website is a platform that will help carrier an organization so vital to the historical preservation of Kansas City into the future. 
As a dedicated man of honesty he was totally grounded.

My dad knew that nothing is certain in a man’s life except his own mortality.  That may sound like a morose or harsh view of life.  For me, I feel that it is quite the opposite, because if you acknowledge that single concept as truth and you don’t take advantage of the day and live your life to the fullest then you’re a fool because there may not be a tomorrow.

For my dad, he loved life and being an active participant in it.  There were times when he was as blunt as a hammer with us – especially about medical issues or concerns – to him medical honesty was reality, truth and required.  I’m quite certain I’m a certified hypochondriac because of his thoroughness in describing any malady I had and what could potentially be the spectrum of causes. 
When I was young, I didn’t get his direct truthfulness.  It made no sense and sometimes just flat out scared me.  As a parent, I get what he was doing.  The truth is, sometimes the simple direct truth is the greatest gift you can give your child.

That’s it… that’s how my dad lived his life.  Dedicated to his wife, his children, his grandchildren, his profession, his fellow man and his community.

Knowing him, he’d be too humble to say it, so I will on his behalf: celebrate your life everyday, live a full, loving and joyful life because one day it will end and your deeds and actions will be your legacy in this world and your ticket to everlasting eternity in heaven with Jesus Christ.

On April 27, 2009 Dr. Lee Irving Pickering departed from this world a man who had lived life to the fullest: his service here on Earth complete.

Please keep my dad and our family in your prayers and thank you from the bottom of our heart for your generosity and support over the past week.

God bless you all for coming and participating with my dad one last time. 

Letting go of the eyeballs

Eyeballs is about as meaningful to marketers today as they are tasty.

CMO Simon Clift delivered a message at the Ad Age conference last week that resonated with me to the core of my genetic markup.

"Brands aren't simply brands anymore. They are the center of a maelstrom of social and political dialogue made possible by digital media," said Unilever Chief Marketing Officer Simon Clift, who warned that marketers who do not recognize that -- and adapt their marketing -- are in grave peril.  "No matter how big your advertising spending, small groups of consumers on a tiny budget might hijack the conversation," he said. "So this internet thing is much bigger and more interesting than just finding successors to TV advertising."

Reading excerpts from the conference it was clear that Mr. Clift is fully aware of the environment in the marketing world today and basically outlined a cautionary tale to those in the audience (and beyond) that are thinking and acting differently.  According to Ad Age, his address did much to define an internet-driven sea change that's put consumers in control and at times threatened to overwhelm marketers and their agencies, who -- despite frequent protestations to the contrary -- are still rather partial to the idea that they define their brands.

I can't believe this is still being discussed but it is.  In my youth I discussed this very issue when the whole Mento's/Dt. Coke viral video went wild.  Doesn't fit our brand personality. 

Again, reported by Ad Age, Mr. Clift added: "brands are now becoming conversation factors where academics, celebrities, experts and key opinion formers discuss functional, emotional and, more interestingly, social concerns," and "of course, the conversation is no longer one way or 30 seconds. ... You may want to talk about sport and just doing it, and the consumer raises the uncomfortable question of sweatshops."

Our industry has had a century of doing things a certain way so I understand the pain of changing, but the issue is, it is time to change or perish. 

I'm excited for my firm because our direction and intent is to help those interested in addressing the market issues head on and succeeding.  Those not interested in success need not contact me.

Are you intimate with 150 or more people?

I read a great descriptor the other day that I believe needs to be included in our standard marketing nomenclature moving forward.

Ambient Intimacy
"Ambient intimacy is about being able to keep in with people with a level of regularity and intimacy that you wouldn't usually have access to, because time and space conspire to make it possible." 

Leisa Reicheit

Leisa's quote can be found within a wonderful presentation provided by David Armano  The Micro-Sociology of Networks.

Basically none of us have time to be intimate with more than five or ten people.  That's just the way our society and culture is today.  However, technology is creating new cultural norms that create behaviors that expand beyond what we as marketers are experiencing for the very first time, e.g, Facebook, Twitter, iPhone, etc.

At the heart of this is the customer and today, the customer is in charge.  They always have been, but today, they have real teeth.  Before, we as marketers had the ability to construct messages and influence perceptions and clients could control their products in addition they felt like they had control of the message around their Brand.  That just isn't the case anymore.

Yesterday: "You can have any color car you want, as long as it's black"

Today: "You can have any color car you want."

I realize you've heard, read and been exposed to the "customer rules" posit ad-nauseum and I apologize for stating it again but it is true and needs to continue to be repeated. 

We live in a world of products/services that are commodities, everything is real-time, expectations of service are high and cost low.

The ability to contain the message is over.  You must find solutions that engage people and build trust. 

The Irrational Customer

What customer is rational?  I'm not suggesting that they are crazy but what I am suggesting is that rational thinking hardly ever is a step in how customers consider your brand.

If you are still approaching brand marketing by using traditional conventions you're using traditional conventions.  No, I didn't make a typo.  Traditional conventions in a world where "digital" causes changes in the marketplace every 90 days that influence customers rational and irrational process of brand engagement doesn't work anymore.

Recently Seth Godin posted a great note, The Rational Marketer (and Their Irrational Customer).

There are all types of tools and methodologies today that claim they can tap into the needs and concerns of customers.  If you've found a firm that can help you succeed, that's great!  If you haven't, our firm can certainly use our proven methodologies to provide a road map to successful engagements.  The tip of our spear is our BrandSmart (TM) program.  I'll discuss more in in future posts.

Recently Seth Godin posted a great note, The Rational Marketer (and Their Irrational Customer).

There are all types of tools and methodologies today that claim they can tap into the needs and concerns of customers.  If you've found a firm that can help you succeed, that's great!  If you haven't, our firm can certainly use our proven methodologies to provide a road map to successful engagements.  The tip of our spear is our BrandSmart (TM) program.  I'll discuss more in in future posts.

New Rules of Marketing (outlined by Unilever)

I have and will continue to call topics "New World Trends" because I believe it takes time for concepts to take hold and acknowledged as truths.

Recently Ad Age published the "New Rules" of marketing.  They were supported/endorsed/discussed in-depth by Unilever CMO Simon Clift recently.

Here they are for your consideration:

1. Listening to consumers is more important than talking at them. As Mr. Clift said, "We may be ahead of our competitors, but we're most definitely behind consumers." The consumer is not a moron, she's the person defining your brand.
   
2. You can't hide the corporation behind the brand anymore -- or even fully separate the two. Even this editor's creaking computer only took 0.13 seconds to show that Philip Morris is owned by Altria Group. Welcome to radical transparency, where bad corporate behavior will damage your brands, and vice versa.
   
3. PR is a primary concern for every CMO and brand manager. If "marketing" and "PR" are not the same department, tear down the wall. Spend time deciding whether PR is underleveraged in your organization.
   
4. Cause marketing isn't about philanthropy, it's about "enlightened self-interest," as Mr. Clift puts it. That doesn't mean it doesn't count. Don't be ashamed of your profit motive, because great branding and doing good are increasingly one and the same.
   
5. Social media is not a strategy. You need to understand it, and you'll need to deploy it as a tactic. But remember that the social graph just makes it even more important that you have a good product. Put another way: The volume and quality of your earned media will be directly proportional to the impact and quality of your product and ideas.

Ad Age: Unilever CMO Simon Clift: Author Jack Neff: Published April 13, 2009

You're not the boss of me

We've all been trained to think that we have control over our brand and our brand voice.  Yesterday, that may have been somewhat true.  Access to information and two way dialogues was limited in comparison to the present.  Today, in a networked society, the ability to have total control, to contain a message, is gone.

A quote by Peter Drucker, "Quality in a product or service is not what the supplier puts in. It is what the customer gets out and is willing to pay for. A product is not quality because it is hard to make and costs a lot of money, as manufacturers typically believe. This is incompetence. Customers pay only for what is of use to them and gives them value. Nothing else constitutes quality." creates a correlation that, to me, is a concept at the heart of what needs to be considered from here on out.

NWT: Nothing else constitutes quality but the perception of value in the customers mind and that perception cannot and will not be influenced by an advertisers efforts to control the message in a networked society.  Success comes through relationships and relevance.

LOOK OVER HERE......Hi, my name is results!

Before you start reading, I want to go on record and state, every channel has a place and a purpose, including television.  I'm an advocate of TV.  Who am I kidding, I'm a junkie.  I love it as a marketer and as a consumer.  That said, TV versus X, Y, Z. has got to stop.  We are wasting our time discussing a one "versus" the other.  No media channel has killed another channel (with the exception of the phone, it did pretty much decimate the telegraph).

Channel and content consumption are very complex discussions that require more time than one blog post. 

Today, the Center for Media Research and the Council for Research Excellence (CRE) released there findings on Video Consumer Mapping (VCM).  The title of the release, TV Still Occupies Two Thirds of Adult Screen Time. 

Three topics ran through my mind when reading the release study:

I. Kaizen

Marketing is about continuous improvement.  Solutions are no longer static activities that can be passively planned, placed, and reflected upon.  Everyone seems to be looking for "the algorithm" that taps into the consumers brain and rains money down on them.  Stop looking, doesn't exist.  The New World Trend is harsh: marketing folks can't phone it in anymore.  Commissions on media are gone.  Expected results are in.  We have to work for our money.

II.  Old News/Tired Thinking/Move On Please

For me this discussion is tired.  It reminds me of the Newspaper industry in the late 90's arguing about their dominance over the Internet (I could go on but I'm not into kicking and beating a field of dead horses).  The focus of discussion needs to shift from time spent to relevance of engagement.  Change is hard.  As I have previously discussed, in hard times and confronted with change, you cling to what you know.  The industry knows TV.  Case in point: Mike Bloxham, director of insight and research for Ball State's CMD, observes that "What differentiates this study... (is that) it's not a study about TV or the Web or any other medium... it's about how, where, how often and for how long consumers are exposed to all media... the observational method is the only real way to achieve accurate and reliable results."  One question Mr. Bloxham: Why does the findings and the article start out by saying "TV still occupies two thirds of adult screen time...." if the study wasn't about TV?

III.  Focus On The Gold

It's time to get off of thinking about Awareness only and only through the channel of Television.  I don't even know what that means anymore.  I have a flat screen portal on my wall that delivers video for Networks, but it also delivers telephony and Internet, I have a laptop (I work on it, I watch TV and I listen to iTunes), Pandora (is that radio), I have an iPhone (at night I watch TV on it so as to not disturb my wife).  FOCUS has huge implications for all primarily around the "Awareness" measurement and phase of the customer life-cycle.  Awareness was ad agencies and content producer's bread and butter for over 100 years.  That has changed and the large players are clinging on for dear life.  To grow, you have to let go.  If you're not changing, your dead.  Moving forward, the goal of a marketer or agency must be holistic solutions that create engagement, not just "got a problem? let's do TV." 

The following illustrates at a high-level the paradigm all markets face.  Money is generated on the back end of the life-cycle however most resources are focused on the front-end of the life-cycle and primarily one one channel - TV.   

As an ex media director I can here the debate now:

TV=Awareness=Eyeballs=Sales.  Consider the following equation and tell me if you still agree.

Marketing Budget: $1,000,000

Solution: Television

100,000 Adults 25-54 (Reached/Exposed), CPM $10, Customer Engagement & Impact: Unknown (Unless this was a completely pristine test where the advertiser has never run advertising).  If previous marketing efforts in a market and on the particular brand's product or service has been executed and someone wants to challenge my statement that you can definitively prove the impact give me a call I'd love to chat.  314-255-5333.

Solution: Social Media

78,600,000 Adults (Reached/Exposed), CPM $.013, Customer Engagement: 765,000, or fewer than 1%, visited an advertiser page on MySpace, though roughly half who did (358,000) visited the advertiser's website (there it is - those are the people that matter - they have a reason for engaging the brand - if the interaction creates a relevant engagement they will not only provide cash flow but they will be your best advertsing channel money can buy, Impact: Package-Goods Brand Earns $1.28 Million in Sales From $1 Million Social-Media Campaign

Do you still agree with only thinking about TV=Awareness=Eyeballs=Sales?

I realize this is one example and it is a bit extreme but hopefully you get my point.

There is also the debate about the halo effect of Awareness on Consideration/Preference, Conversion, and Retention/Loyalty.  I understand the argument and support to a point.  Greater attention to allocation strategies are absolutely necessary in order to provide a solution that generates better results for clients.

If anything the picture should look like more like this:

NWT

Scale and Understanding

I've often wondered why expansion of marketing efforts to include a digital element has been such a challenge over the past fifteen years.

I've come to a conclusion and have listed some of my thoughts below, this list is by no means exhaustive (and this is completely my opinion so I could be wrong).  My goal for this post is to share what I'm seeing/experiencing which in turns ignites a dialogue about how to resolve some of these challenges.

Scale and Understanding

Scale

1. The options are limitless
2. The knowledge to grasp the limitless options is not possible for any one person
3. The footprint and measurement activities of digital strategies (in comparison to traditional marketing efforts) feels small to most marketers.  There's the key: feels small.  Retail clients of mine have argued for years that they need "eyeballs."  I've counseled them to shift their focus away from an channel strategy that is basically one way and turn their attention to the smaller percent that has a much greater opportunity for their brand to create an emotional connection with the customer.  Time and again we were able to prove out this approach and just today findings were released by Ad Age provides a great case study of the ROI of Social Media on a consumer packaged good.

Understanding

1. In times of stress (and we are in a time of stress right now to be certain) people instinctively rely on what they know - typically authoritative marketing positions are still primarily occupied by people that don't or cannot grasp the concept and default to what they know.
2. There is still a reluctance by the majority of marketers to concede that their consumer plays a much larger role in actually defining their brand.  This is such a large paradigm shift some refuse to believe it exist.  I'm sad for these people.
3. Technically speaking, implementing digital initiatives are far more complex than most can even comprehend.  Needless to say, a Website is not PowerPoint.  Moving an image from one corner to another on a Website is not as simple as it is in PowerPoint..  In addition, the elements an agency must touch and guarantee a certain level of quality assurance is far greater than traditional channels.  Below is a crude visual of what I mean.

NWT: What is NWT?

NWT = New World Trend

As a point of reference throughout my postings I will refer to a topic within a post as what I'm defining as a New World Trend.

What is a New World Trend?  In my mind and experience the new world hit my reality back in 1997.  Like all things new, trends take some time to take hold.  The surprising thing to me is that this "trend" has taken more than 12 years.  Not that I'm anything special (because I'm not) but the obvious benefits to business were too hard for me to ignore and they are too hard for businesses to ignore today.

Thankfully, we seem to be coming over to the other side of this "trend" knowledge chasm. 

Be on the look out for the label NWT.