Four links that will make you rethink #2

by Fabrice Calando on May 17, 2013

Four links that will make you rethink

Today again, I thought I would share with you four “must read” articles that will make you rethink — rethink marketing, rethink business, rethink work and rethink life. I read a lot of great content online. I share a lot of it on LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+, but today I’ll share four that I think are particularly amazing. They’re not necessarily articles that are related to marketing, business, work and life, but you can apply it to those areas.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did

  • [Rethink Marketing] Lead up: Are you happy with your customers? How are your projects? What about the last campaign’s results? Why is that? Is the customer difficult? Maybe the project manager didn’t cut it? The campaign didn’t work as well because the email marketing tool didn’t do what you wanted it to do? It might be time to lead up. “In many ways, we get the bosses and clients we deserve. If they’re holding you back, change them.” I think marketers often spend way too much time complaining and not enough leading, changing and making.
  • [Rethink Business] Facebook is about to launch a huge play in “big data” analytics. I’ve been thinking a lot about Facebook recently. I’m not sure why exactly. I’ve actually been spending a lot less time there and more on LinkedIn and Twitter. But the company fascinates me. How could it not, 1 billion users sharing some personal information without always realizing it. During my University days one of my marketing professors said about McDonald’s — “basically what they’re telling their customers is this: ‘you’ll come in, wait in line for food, eat it in uncomfortable chairs and then clear your own table.’ If you told anyone this was your plan for a restaurant, they’d tell you you were crazy.” That’s exactly what Facebook has done. “We’ll give you a place where you can share and interact with your Friends and favourite brands 24 hours a day and in exchange we get all your information…more than you can imagine.” Right now, “[m]ost ordinary Facebook users don’t realize how ambitious these plans are. If you bought something with a credit or debit card in the last couple of years, you’re probably in Facebook’s data pool right now.” They’re betting that there’s a clear, important and valuable connection between impressions and purchases. I think business can learn something about setting down a path that, on paper, makes no sense.
  • [Rethink Work] Barron’s: Facebook is still overvalued: Let’s stick with Facebook for a bit. According to the financial newspaper Barron’s, Facebook stock is still overvalued despite recent gains. At the time the article was written, Facebook was trading at more than 75 times its earnings (compare that to Google which trades at 20 times), this despite warnings that some of its ad revenues might drop. And that’s exactly the problem “Facebook seems more focused on barraging subscribers with ads to meet Street profit expectations.” They compare that with Google’s initiatives — they’ve been “investing in a range of products, from YouTube, self-driving cars, interactive eye wear, maps and Android software.” I’m not sure if it’s a fair comparison considering Google is 14 years old, but it does pose an interesting question: is it better to be a one trick pony with a laser focused drive or kind of play in different sandboxes to apply and integrate learnings? Is it even an either/or type of situation?
  • [Rethink Life] Meditation produces opposite effect of “fight or flight”: I’ve been meditating semi regularly since my meditation challenge (part of my Hack Your Life Project). Yes it does reduce anxiety and stress. But did you know it can actually change your gene activity? “Specifically, genes associated with energy metabolism, mitochondrial function, insulin secretion, and telomere maintenance are turned on, while those involved in inflammation are turned off.” That’s pretty much the opposite of the “fight or flight” mechanism. In more scientific terms, “[p]eople who practice simple meditation aren’t ‘just relaxing,’ explained the study’s senior author, Dr. Herbert Benson. Instead, they’re experiencing ‘a specific genomic response that counteracts the harmful genomic effects of stress’.” I’m guessing that means meditation not only helps you deal with daily stress by helping you focus your attention, it physiologically helps you deal with it.

What are you reading right now?

(Photo credit: David Sifry)

Enhanced by Zemanta

{ 0 comments }

When online and offline become one

by Fabrice Calando on May 14, 2013

Online and offline integration

I’ve been thinking about Facebook these past few days. It’s become clear what they’re gambling their future on the integration of online and offline behavior  That integration isn’t new — anything from Google Glass to the Up bracelet to the Internet of things and even your mobile phone are just that that. Facebook’s push though is a gamble.

The problem

Facebook’s problem, so to speak, has been to generate revenues in line with expectations. Granted the ads bring in quite a bit of cash, but it’s well below the potential of a billion users. But in all honesty, I don’t think Mark is losing any sleep over this.

What he might be losing sleep over is this. The site was originally built as that — a website. Facebook’s challenges started appearing with the arrival of the first iPhones and iPads. Facebook was always about connecting with Friends, acquaintances and to some extent brands that we liked when we weren’t with them. And the social networking site still has a stronghold on that I think. But what does Facebook mean when you and I are up-and-about; when we’re at work or shopping or having dinner. I don’t need Facebook to interact with Starbucks’ Page if I’m standing in line waiting for my latte.

The gamble

So Facebook decided to gamble. It partnered with data vendors Datalogix, Epsilon, Acxiom and BlueKai. In a nutshell, those companies provide advertisers with customer segments like “soda drinkers” or “cat lovers” based on offline purchases. In other words, if you go to a pet store and purchase cat food on a regular basis with your credit card or swipe your Airmiles card each time — you’re tagged as a “cat lover.”

Facebook’s partnership is presumably to allow advertisers to target “cat lovers” while on Facebook, even if you don’t “Like” any cat-related Pages or Groups. For example, let’s say there’s a customer segment called “electronics lovers.” Best Buy could place ads in those users feed and ultimately match that back with offline purchases. They could even send specific discounts to that group as they enter a Best Buy store.

We know social interactions favour purchases, the gamble is in knowing if these ads will move the needle enough.

Another layer

Rumours that Facebook is trying to attempt to purchase Waze — the social GPS application — is further indication that the site wants to merge data from online behavior with that of offline behaviour. If this were to happen, it would presumably mean that Facebook would know if I pass not too far from a Best Buy each day on my way to work and yet again hit me up with an ad.

It’s nothing new

As I mentioned, this fusion of offline and online is nothing new. Other sites like LinkedIn have been bridging the online/offline gap since the beginning. If I’m in HR, I can see how many candidates I’ve recruited through LinkedIn. Ultimately Facebook is trying to contextualize it’s ads beyond the behavior on it’s site or network — think Minority Report.

(Photo credit: Conor Odle)

Enhanced by Zemanta

{ 0 comments }

Four links that will make you rethink

by Fabrice Calando on May 10, 2013

Four links that will make you rethink

Today I thought I would share with you four “must read” articles that will make you rethink — rethink marketing, rethink business, rethink work and rethink life. I read a lot of great content online. I share some of it on LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+, but today I’ll share four that I think are particularly amazing. They’re not necessarily articles that are related to marketing, business, work and life, but you can apply it to those areas.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did:

  • [Rethink Marketing] Use Sales Linguistics to Structure Winning Presentations: Marketers spend a lot of time presenting to clients, small crowds or big auditoriums. We present to clients, colleagues, bosses and peers. Why? To sell our ideas. This article helps you understand how to structure your presentations to get your point across. Learn about Situational Dominance, Behaviour Interruption, Commands, Foreground and Background Suggestions.
  • [Rethink Business] Homegrown Retailers Falling Behind as Canadians Embrace E-Commerce: The Globe and Mail article outlines how some Canadian retailers have fallen behind…way behind their American counterparts when it comes to E-Commerce. As Canadians are getting more comfortable with purchasing online, their loyalty to Canadian brands and businesses is suffering. They are heading south of the border (virtually that is) to do their shopping despite the higher shipping and custom fees. This articles highlights the consequences of ignoring the digital space for too long. At some point you just won’t be able to catch-up. I hope it’s a lesson for all; digital is here to stay (it’s 2013, I don’t think I should have to say this).
  • [Rethink Work] AP Twitter Hack Causes Panic on Wall Street and Sends Down Plunging: This article fits in each category. On Tuesday April 23rd the Associated Press’s Twitter account got hacked and announced an explosion in the White House. Wall Street freaked out. The Dow plunged 143 points. Did you feel it? Probably not, the losses were quickly recovered. So what’s the big story here? The reason the Dow plunged so fast is that increasingly Wall Street is guided by algorithms that scour news sources like Twitter, analyse sentiment and trade stocks accordingly. The algorithms read “explosion at the White House, President Obama injured.” which means sell, sell, sell. Limited human intervention needed. Of course they’ll rectify and the algorithms will get “smarter.” But think about this… How easily can your work be replaced by an algorithm? Trading stocks seems like a complicated process of analysis and evaluation, but if you break it down enough, computers can do it (and get tricked, just like their human counterparts). I’m not saying it’s good or bad, I’m just saying…think about it. We are still at the early phases of an increasingly complex digitalized and robotized world. Like it or not, it’s happening. Fascinating question.
  • [Rethink Life] The Secret Workings of the World’s Central Bankers: Let’s stick to the world of finance. This radio interview highlights some of the workings of the world’s top Central Bankers. Their mandate is to keep world economies stable and predictable. They’re currently printing tons of money and at the same time keeping interests incredibly low. In a way wiping out the savings of a generation who was told to “save their money.” My aim here isn’t to be all doomy and gloomy, but it’s to say this — how much influence do you think you have over your future? While it’s impossible to have complete control, I know that; but in a world that’s becoming increasingly complex (in large part due to digitization and robotization…see previous link), the answer has somehow been to simplify. Don’t wait for a saviour.

What links would you like to share?

(Photo credit: David Sifry)

Enhanced by Zemanta

{ 0 comments }

Marketing goals

April 29, 2013

We were talking about goals in this week’s newsletter and it got me thinking about marketing goals. I think marketers need to get a whole lot better at goal setting. Let me explain. There are four items that I think can be improved… Meaningful goals; clear definitions; team buy-in; and expertise. Meaningful goals or lack thereof are [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

How to achieve personal branding excellence

April 24, 2013

Do you follow the O.P.E.N. Routine? I’ve known Chris Craft for a little while now. We met on Twitter, but never really had the chance to speak so I’m happy to have had the great opportunity to interview him about his new book — O.P.E.N Routine. The book is about personal branding and its 4 [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

One reason you’re failing to achieve your goals

April 16, 2013

The answer’s got to be out there. It just hasn’t been found yet. There are more information sources than ever — TV, radio, tweets, posts, newsletters, status updates, picture, videos, school, work, meetings, projects, Amazon… More information, same amount of time and attention. The instinct is to catch up on all of it — the [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

The best marketing books

April 9, 2013

“A really incredible book — even if its subject matter has nothing to do with your situation — can help you understand your life and circumstances more clearly.” — Ayana Mathis Blogs, newsletters and podcasts shed light on marketing practices, books stand on their own. They allow the author to dive into a subject and [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

How to use LinkedIn to market yourself | Marketing Mondays

April 1, 2013

A short detour Every so often Peter Aceto, CEO of ING Direct Canada, pops-in to see his Customer Service Department. He takes the opportunity to get on the phone with ING customers and help them out. It allows him to learn about the needs of his clients and give them what they’re looking for. In [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

What is content marketing really about?

March 29, 2013

A little background first, yes? Marketing has been going through a (not so) subtle shift. You see, it used to be about us and the companies and firms that we worked for. More sales, more leads, more prospects, more brand recognition. At some point, a shift started and it became about them — the prospects [...]

1 comment Read the full article →

A rock n’ roll story

March 21, 2013

I don’t think anyone is destined for greatness. Everyone has the potential for it, we’re just not destined for it. As Oprah says: What I know for sure is this: You are built not to shrink down to less, but to blossom into more. To be splendid. To be more extraordinary. To use every moment [...]

0 comments Read the full article →