Tom Asacker

New article - Authenticity Schmauthentcity!

"I was in love with the West Indies and I liked the authenticity with which Trinidad was presented, but the critics could have cared less." - Katherine Dunham, African-American modern dance innovator

Do you think her audience cared?  Is the marketplace interested in authenticity?  And what exactly is authenticity any way? 

You can find out my thoughts by reading, Authenticity Schmauthenticity! I guess the title gives it away.

Please let me know your thoughts by posting a comment below.

William Bernbach on ideas

"An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it."

Here's a magical piece of advertising.  Check it out.  It utilizes three media (a temporary website, viral email and the telephone) to entice people to a fourth medium (television) to consume the advertised product (the season premiere of Criss Angel's MindFreak on A&E). 

Why do I consider it magical, when so much advertising is pure dirt?  Because it incorporates the four factors that all great advertising must possess today to engage audiences and move product: It's interesting, relevant, valuable, and diffusible. 

Interesting - Is it captivating? Does it stop us and pull us in?  Unlike most tedious, intrusive advertising, Angel's promotion is original and compelling.  It occupies the mind and creates immersion, while most advertising is trying to create a mere impression.

Relevant - What does the ad "tell" us about the product, and how does it do it?  The best advertising attracts us to the advertised product by creatively arousing our desire for the emotional payoff of owning or consuming it; think iPod's dark silhouetted characters dancing against bright-colored backgrounds.  It is not overt; we intuit the feeling of owning an iPod.

The Angel ad creates an ideal expectation by doing precisely what Greg Stielstra recommends in his book, Pyro Marketing: Give "people an experience with your product or service.  If you want them to laugh, don’t tell them you’re funny; tell them a joke."

Valuable - What value does the ad provide to its audience?  That's a strange sounding question, isn't it?  Shouldn't the value of an advertisement pass simply to the advertiser (increased sales)?  Not any longer.  Today there must be mutual benefit. With so much stimulus vying for our limited attention, we'll only trade it for something of value; something that provides entertainment, learning, social currency or meaning.  Angel's ad is entertaining, and it allows the viewer to pass it along to his or her friend and gain a bit of social capital. 

Diffusible - Is the ad designed to be spreadable?  Word-of-mouth is a critical component given our highly fragmented media environment.  It is simply cost prohibitive or even impossible to reach a large percentage of the marketplace through advertising alone.  The Angel ad is a perfect example of viral advertising. It gives the viewer something to share via email (a surprise), and something to talk about with family and friends (how did he do that?).  It's also fast, fun, easy to share and easy to understand.

So that's it.  Follow the example of Criss Angel and start turning your marketing ideas from dust into magic!

Donald Sull on why good companies go bad

"Many leading companies plummet from the pinnacle of success to the depths of failure when market conditions change.  Because they’re paralyzed? To the contrary, because they engage in too much activity - activity of the wrong kind. Success breeds active inertia, and active inertia breeds failure."

A head down, plow ahead mentality is deadly in a rapidly changing marketplace.  You may believe you know what's happening around you, but like driving the same road to work every day, you've simply become hypnotized by your extremely narrow short term interest and point of view.

Take a look at this video for a stunning example.  Then think about what you need to do to shake up the status quo way of thinking in your organization.
 

Analyst Bob Mann, of R.W. Mann & Co., on management

"JetBlue has reached the size that it really requires operational management. It doesn't just require inspirational management."

Mann's comment came on the heels of JetBlue's announcement yesterday that they had replaced founder David Neeleman as CEO.  I found Mann's remark strange: operational management vs. inspirational management.  That's an interesting dichotomy. I would have remarked that JetBlue requires leadership, but that may not have gone over as well.  What's the difference between leadership and management? Blog that question and you'll receive hundreds of comments, including pithy ones like, "Managers do things right, while leaders do the right thing."

I've been (and still am) an innovator, like David.  I've also been a manager, schooled at the famed G.E. Crotonville training center. I've also spent a short amount of time as a leader.  My experience tells me that there is a big difference between the three, especially in a fast evolving and complex marketplace like today's.  Leaders, first and foremost, must chart the course through the shifting seas. Yes, inspiring the weary crew is important, but it means little if you slam into a rock.  And I can think of nothing more inspiring than clearly articulating how you intend to navigate the treacherous waters.

I've written it before, and I'll say it again.  The days of rah-rah! as a business strategy are quickly coming to an end. The vapid "go the extra yard," "hit a home run," and "win one for the Gipper," are on their last legs.  We've grown tired of sound bites (see this post). We're looking for leaders with courage and conviction to engage us with plain language, deep thinking, and a clear and precise analysis of how we're going to get from here to there. IMHO, in a complex, shifting environment that requires rapid decision-making, smarts trumps charisma.

Brand Keys president Robert Passikoff on why consumer expectations have leveled off

"Their desires are now based on experience rather than expectation."

Robert Passikoff is undoubtedly a very smart guy.  But for the life of me, I can not untangled the logic of that statement (note: It was published in the April 30, 2007 issue of BrandWeek magazine).  Is he saying that people's expectations are now conditioned by their most recent marketplace experiences? 

And what do their desires have to do with their expectations?  I desire an on-time connection through the Philly airport, but I don't expect it to happen anytime soon.  He also says that consumers "have become more realistic."  Were consumers unrealistic about their brand expectations? And if so, how did they get that way?

Here are two more quotes, pulled from the article, which I believe clarify Passikoff's obscure statement:

"On a number of quality fronts, Passikoff ventured, GM is on equal footing with Toyota - 'but it is not perceived that way and perception is reality.'"

"With the growth of media options, it is harder and harder to establish brand loyalty." - Dell'Aquila

Okay, now I believe I understand what Passikoff was trying to communicate, and it goes like this:

Consumer expectations of brands have lessened due to their less than stellar delivery of promised value, and advertising is having little effect in changing those expectations.

My definition of a brand, and I'm glad to see smart people like Seth Godin picking up on it, is simply this:

A brand is an expectation of someone or something delivering a certain feeling by way of an experience.

Our expectations of brands are created by a combination of factors; e.g. packaging (how something looks and feels), promotion (what we've seen, heard, or read about it), word-of-mouth (what friends have told us), past experience (the feeling we've received from choosing and using it), etc.  Great brands become great because those various factors reinforce our expectation of receiving the desired feeling.

The advertisement creates a feeling, which is reinforced by the packaging and experience. The packaging and experience reinforces the feeling and encourages word-of-mouth and other forms of social currency (e.g. displaying the brand), which reinforces the advertising. And on and on.

The key to brand success is to stay tuned in to consumer's changing desires, create an expectation that your brand can fulfill those unfulfilled desires, and then deliver on that expectation over time.  And don't forget that people's expectations are always changing, based on what they are exposed to in the marketplace.

For example, Southwest Airlines used to be the "low cost airline." Now, they are the airline to choose when you and your bags have to be somewhere on-time.  Wal-Mart used to be "everyday low prices." Now, they are the place to shop for good enough stuff, so you can save time and money to spend on better stuff.

Don't get confused by all of the brand and marketing noise.  It's only going to get louder as the money continues to flow out of mass media.  Instead, get as close as you can to your audience.  Close enough so that you'll only have to whisper to be heard, and so that you'll be able to feel the reaction.

Unknown Rabbi on why the Messiah is coming back on a donkey

"Because the airlines are unreliable."

That's what a wise, elderly traveler at the Philadelphia airport once said to me to brighten up one of my very dark travel days.  I'll never forget it, or him.

I had another dark travel day today. I got off my red eye flight from San Francisco, in Chicago at 5 AM this morning, and quickly checked the status of my connecting flight: canceled. Canceled! Are you ready for the reason?  According to the service representative, the plane had been "birded."  "Birded?"  "Yes, birded.  It was hit by a bird."  A jumbo jet was grounded by a bird.  Unbelievable. I mean I've run into deer with my car and still managed to drive home.

Any way, I just now stumbled into my office, 7 hours late and without my luggage (no one seems to know what flight it took), and was greeted by an email from a recent attendee at one of my presentations.  Here's how it began:

"4 years of college ---- $22,000
Books and supplies ---- $10,000
Realizing your business degree has an expiration date ---- Priceless!"

I'm feeling much better now.  :)

Hey, I have an idea. Let's all do something radical. Let's take a minute out of our very busy lives and brighten up someone else's "mere darkness of being."  Don't be cynical.  Stop and pick up the phone or craft a quick email.  They'll feel better, and so will you.  And in the end, what is really more important than that?