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Leadership

I Have THE Answer

Every marketing company has the answer. But, solutions to marketing problems aren’t simple 2+2=4 answers.

Solutions to marketing problems can be like learning acting—Sanford Meisner, one of the greatest acting teachers of the 20th century, would sometimes expel students from his class, not because they were bad actors and didn’t have a chance in the field, but because he knew he wasn’t the right teacher for them.

Solutions to marketing problems can be like purchasing a suit—there’s a world of difference between the look of a suit worn right off the rack and one tailored to and individual’s specifications. Great solutions to marketing problems involve a combination of finding an approach that can be sold into your company and at the same time adapting whatever approach is used to the needs of the organization.

Yet, most companies do neither. Almost every company I’ve worked with has binders of studies from different firms that are cookie-cutter in approach, often with clever “custom-tailored” names that describe different demographic groups that they never implement. I often wonder how much time was wasted in naming the groups rather than solving the problems that they were hired to solve, like why customers choose them over their competitors and what they can do to amplify the relationship. And on top of that, these marketing firms think their solution will work for every company.

Finding an approach that works

So, what qualities make a marketing approach successful and, more importantly, useable?

First, establish a foundation you can build a unique house on for your customers instead of already-finished houses where the only options are different floors, windows, and doors. You need an approach, a belief system, to solving marketing problems without having a preconceived notion about what the answer should be or what form it should take.

Second, understand the organization’s world. Is your approach something that the client’s organization can actually use? Sometimes, the nature of an organization and its beliefs, right or wrong, about how an organization should work may preclude your type of solution. Don’t be afraid to tell them no.

Third, given the organization’s approach, what possible forms can your solution take? You need to provide the results in a box the organization is comfortable playing in.

Finally, never be satisfied. I remember a series of science articles that built up a case for the mechanism behind the union of a sperm and an egg. Paper after paper built up “proof” for the mechanism, which assumed two specific chemicals were on one of the compounds. Everything seemed sure, until one group of scientists ran the compound through a mass spectrometer, a device that assists in determining the composition of the compound, and discovered that neither of the chemicals was present.

Most marketers would have been content to stop at the first study that seemed to prove the point. Few would have made it into the second or third study. I doubt any would have made it as far as the scientists did.

Leaving room for doubt

Marketers would do well to model themselves after scientists and listen to one of the greatest mind of the 20th century, the Nobel-prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman:

The scientist has a lot of experience with ignorance and doubt and uncertainty, and this experience is of very great importance, I think. When a scientist doesn’t know the answer to a problem, he is ignorant. When he has a hunch as to what the result is, he is uncertain. And when he is pretty darned sure of what the result is going to be, he is in some doubt. We have found it of paramount importance that in order to progress we must recognize the ignorance and leave room for doubt. Scientific knowledge is a body of statements of varying degrees of certainty—some most unsure, some nearly sure, none absolutely certain.

All four criteria for developing effective marketing solutions could really be reduced to this: never be sure that one answer is the only answer, or even the right one; don’t be afraid to doubt yourself; don’t be afraid to move away from the tried and “true”; and never lose your curiosity.

The ultimate goals of business should never change. But business doesn’t operate in a bubble and the solutions will need to change over time. Finding a solid foundation that works inside your organization will give you a place to start from that, with ingenuity and hard work, will always assist in leading you where you need to go.

Remain curious: don’t settle for the answer of today. Settle for the search of tomorrow’s solution. Let your foundation be your guide, without letting it determine your destination.

November 11, 2008 by

Surprisafy Them!

Last night I gazed into my psychic crystal ball and discovered a popular trend: creating new names, words, and phrases to describe things that we already have words to describe. It’s as if the old words have lost their meaning and we need to give them a hip-hoperation to imbue them with a new sense of relevancy.

But do we really need to create new words?
Or, do we just need to reacquaint ourselves with things we already know? I’m going with the latter.

But, wait! Before you freak out and say we really do need to give marketing terminology some Shakespearization, let me just say, “Don’t have a Purple Cow man!” No seriously, don’t.

After all, what is a Purple Cow? A way to surprise our customers, stop them in their tracks, and make them notice. We all loved surprises as children, but as adults, we’ve become desensitized—few things make us jump up and shout, “Hip hip horray!”

Before I get too excited and start running through the streets shouting, “Eureka!” and rush off writing a book called Unwrapping The Present, double entendre included, let us step back and look at our old friend: surprise.

You enter an auditorium and take your seat. You listen to a discussion with a popular author about his latest book. You feel it relates to you. You can see how his advice can improve your life. You gain a positive outlook. Suddenly, you’re told to reach under the seat. You pull out a pair of keys and are told they’re to your new car. But you’re not the only one—everyone else in the audience has keys. Everyone’s getting a new car. You’ve just been the recipient of a surprise gift from Oprah Winfrey.

Oprah truly understands surprise: it’s not just about doing something shocking and unexpected; it’s about doing some shocking and unexpected that is intricately related to the business. It’s the same formula that makes great movies with twist endings work—right until the end of The Usual Suspects you don’t suspect that Roger Kint is Keyser Söze, but when he switches his walk and you realize how he fabricated the story, it all makes sense in the context of everything that came before it.

From the focus of the shows to the Oprah Book Club to the Angel Network, the foundation of Oprah’s business is helping people better their lives and giving to others. By making a huge act of giving unexpected, Oprah takes full advantage of the power of surprise.

So before you read the next cleverly-titled New York Times bestselling marketing book that has already toppled over the tipping point, think about what you already know, how it can be applied to your business, and how you can give it new life and make your customers smile.

October 15, 2008 by

Calling All Business Leaders: Sell In, Not Out

Know Thyself

The first cardinal rule of becoming a therapist is Know Thyself.

Therapists-in-training will spend countless hours in the classroom learning fundamental theories of the mind and will spend years under supervised practice learning how to master the art of therapy.

Yet entering in one’s own personal therapy is not even highly encouraged in most graduate school programs.

When sitting with a client for the first time, novice therapists quickly learn the experiential realities of being ”stuck,” and how easy it is for one’s personal issues to muddy the therapeutic waters.

When therapists ask their clients to do the difficult task of going inward and facing the shadows that lurk in their psyches, the question first asked is whether they are willing to embark on this journey themselves?

The question can be applied to many different scenarios:

  • Would you become a violin teacher if you first didn’t master the art of violin playing?
  • Can you tell others what it’s like to climb Mount Everest when you’ve never done so yourself?
  • Can you teach others to practice compassion if you have difficulty practicing it yourself?

You simply can’t. You need to go through the hard work of mastering (or working towards mastery of) a craft before you teach it to the world. You need to wholeheartedly believe in your approach before you attempt to sell it to the masses.

In business, companies pride themselves on selling products that embody higher values like freedom and happiness, yet they turn a blind eye to the values they’re promoting, or rather not promoting, within their own organizations.

Sell In, Not Out

Through selling in, businesses embrace a global vision the entire company can be passionate about. Values pervade every aspect of the business, not only those that reach the consumer, but those that are felt at the deepest levels of the organization.

If brands cannot rally their own troops, how could they be able to rally their customers in support of their products?

When companies pride themselves on taking care of their customers at all costs, but treat their employees worse than their estranged brother-in-law, the misalignment quickly erodes confidence within the organization.

What differentiates Cult Brands and allows them to stand apart from the masses is their holistic approach to business.

Heather McIlhany, online marketing manager for DVD-by-mail shop Netflix, explained, “There’s an inverse relationship between how often a company talks about its values and how much those values are actually reflected in the workplace.”

Netflix understands that a great company earns the respect of its customers and its employees by promising certain values—like commitment, loyalty, and freedom—that they work hard to uphold. An operation without this synergistic balance loses its footing and ultimately, its sense of trust.

Like Netflix, Wal-Mart is another business that wholeheartedly practices what it preaches. The late CEO Sam Walton, built his empire on the “Always Low Prices” philosophy, a vision not only intended for the consumer.

Even when Wal-Mart made Walton a very wealthy man, he insisted on driving his beat-up old pickup truck instead of upgrading to a luxury vehicle, and sharing budget hotel rooms while on business instead of checking into a private suite at the Four Seasons.

His no-frills, frugal lifestyle continues to influence Wal-Mart’s culture. Years after Walton’s death, you’ll still spot top executives flying coach and checking into economy hotels together.

Herbert Kelleher, beloved founder and former chairman of Southwest Airlines, is perhaps the ultimate champion of selling in.

Unlike the bureaucratic mindsets of some CEOs, Kelleher purposely chose to inhabit a windowless interior office at Southwest’s corporate headquarters. He explains, “I’m trying to set a good example that it doesn’t matter where your office is, it’s where your mind is that should be important.”

In Kelleher’s view, physical space is meaningless. “It’s the space between your ears that should be the important thing.”

It’s the Southwest attitude that trickles down from the company’s leaders, in a cascading effect that inspires the employees, and ultimately the customers.

Kelleher remarked, “You have to treat your employees like customers. When you treat them right, then they will treat your outside customers right. That has been a powerful competitive weapon for us.”

In fact, the perfect pitch for ‘Selling In’ can be found in Southwest’s Mission Statement for their employees: “Above all, employees will be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share externally with every Southwest customer.”

How consistent are the values in your organization? Do you talk a good talk about promoting higher values with your consumers, but won’t walk the walk with your employees? Take an honest look within and ask yourself: Am I selling in, or out?

September 23, 2008 by

What Has To Die?

Almost every company is doing something they shouldn’t be. Nothing akin to the deceptive practices of Enron, but something that in someway hurts or dilutes the value of the brand.

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple he encountered more products than Shiva could juggle. In Inside Steve’s Brain, Leander Kahney reports that during a 1998 World Wide Developers Conference, Jobs commented, “I started to ask people, now why would I recommend a 3400 over a 4400? When should somebody jump up to a 6500, but not a 7300? And after three weeks, I couldn’t figure this out. If I couldn’t figure this out…how could our customers figure this out?”

Frustrated, Jobs simplified their line into four products on a grid: consumer/professional and portable/desktop. It was so simple anyone could understand it. Not only did it lower the barrier to entry into the Apple family, it reinforced Jobs’ vision of simplicity, which is at the heart of the Apple brand.

Your impediment may be some product that doesn’t fit your brand, some advertisement that doesn’t speak to the heart of your customers, or customer service that doesn’t reflect your brand’s values. It’s anything that mars your brand’s ultimate vision and hinders you from clearly telling your story to the world. Simply, it dilutes your brand’s power.

As the theatre director and Pulitzer-prize-winning writer David Mamet would say: if a chair onstage doesn’t contribute to the story, (pause) get rid of the fucking chair.

Figuring out which chair doesn’t belong on your stage begins with defining your brand’s ultimate vision. And, your ultimate vision must take into account what your best customers—your Brand Lovers—love about your brand.

Once you’ve defined your ultimate vision, ask yourself, “What has to die for us to get there?”

September 16, 2008 by

Humor in the Workplace

Ah, laughter, the timeless elixir for the soul.

Passengers, taking a Southwest Airlines flight for the first time, are graciously taken aback by the flight crew’s lighthearted sense of humor. Compared to other commercial airlines whose stewards and stewardesses are dressed to the nines, with perfectly coiffed hair and plastic attitudes to match, Southwest stripped their crew of these pretensions and brought them back down to earth.

The flight crew traded in their business skirts, high heels, and pantyhose for khaki pants, polo shirts, and sneakers. At Southwest, comfort prevails over fashion. Along with this radical wardrobe change came a laid-back attitude, a great sense of humor, and a genuine smile that radiates, “Hey, I really love my job!” The fun-loving spirit that wafts through Southwests’ cabins is truly infectious. Bleary-eyed passengers who have come to equate air travel with their worst living nightmare have to fight hard not to smile when disembarking from a Southwest flight.

Immediately after take off, the pilot’s voice is heard through the overhead speaker: “Bear with me folks, this is my first time.” Chuckles are heard throughout the cabin. In reviewing the safety procedures, a flight attendant instructs, “In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will descend from the ceiling. Stop screaming, grab the mask, and pull it over your face. If you have a small child traveling with you, secure your mask before assisting with theirs. If you are traveling with two small children, decide now which one you love more.”

The laughter continues. When the plane has landed, a flight attendant warns, “Please use caution when opening the overhead compartments, as shift happens.”

A Healthy, Happy Workplace

It’s well known that a healthy workplace boosts morale, lowers turnover, decreases abseentism, and increases productivity. When workplaces are plagued by negative energy, backstabbing antics, and gossipmongers, people turn into the lost school children of Lord of the Flies, forced to fend for themselves in a cruel, competitive, and unforgiving world.

Southwest knows that humor is not incompatible with competition, however. After all, the airline has remained consistently profitable even in a post 9/11 era. Yet they intuitively understand the power of humor and its ability to ease stressful situations, build rapport and cohesiveness, and soften the most hardened lines of communication.

Who did they inherit the funny genes from? Who else, but the zany, jolly good fellow by the name of Herb Kelleher? As founder and former chairman of Southwest, Kelleher’s off-the-wall antics successfully established the mood for the company’s quirky culture. In one famously outrageous incident, in 1992, Kelleher and Kurt Herwald, chairman of Stevens Aviation went head-to head in an arm-wrestling competition over the rights to a slogan. Stevens Aviation was using their “Plane Smart” catchphrase for a year before Southwest inadvertently infringed on their rights with its “Just Plane Smart” campaign. The dual, scheduled for high noon, would proclaim one winner. Kelleher lost the match, but in a spirit of good will, Herwald granted Southwest permission for continued use of the tagline.

Kelleher gets the true power of humor. He knows it can disarm his competitors, dissolve hurt feelings, and mollify potentially litigious situation. He also knows that humor can ease customer frustrations and create positive associations that last.

To turn the farcical factor up a notch, for Halloween, you’ll even see Kelleher dressed as Dr. McDreamy of Gray’s Anatomy fame, and chief executive Gary Kelly dressed up as Edna Turnblad, the hefty housewife from the musical “Hairspray.”

Robert Half International, an executive recruitment firm, surveyed 492 professionals and found that 97% felt it is important for managers to have a sense of humor. Max Messmer, chief executive of Robert Half explained, “Managers who can laugh at themselves or difficult situations are often seen as more approachable and in touch with the challenges their teams face.”

It’s no doubt that Kelleher and Kelly are in touch with their people, and it’s this particular attitude that Southwest looks for in potential hires.

Ginger Hardage, Southwest’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications, explained, “What we try to show in our public relations and our advertising is the Southwest attitude. When we hire people, we look for that particular attitude.” A candidate on a job interview might be asked a question about the last time he or she used humor to pacify a tense situation. Hardage also recalls a time when a group of pilots showed up wearing traditional suits, but were told that only candidates wearing gym shorts would be interviewed that day. Sounds like a joke? To Southwest, humor is serious business. The pilots who changed into gym shorts got hired; the others went home. Hardage stated, “If people tend to be serious, stuffy and can’t laugh at themselves, then they probably won’t work out at Southwest.”

Punch Line the Bottom Line

Chris Robert, assistant professor of management at the University of Missouri-Columbia’s Robert J. Trulaske Sr. College of Business, studied the effects of humor in the workplace. With humor and positive emotions going hand-in-hand, there was also a strong correlation between positive emotions and workplace performance. Robert explains, “That’s where employee retention comes into it. If you have positive emotions about your job, you’re less likely to quit. And maybe part of that is because of the fun you’re having in the break room. You might get a better job offer, but it will take more to draw you away when you like where you work and you like the people you work with.”

Yet humor does more than create a happy workplace that increases productivity. Robert found that the use of humor is associated with two highly prized values: intelligence and creativity. He explains that humor traces its impact to incongruity. A joke is funny because two seemingly disparate things are connected in a way that makes them compatible. It parallels the process of creativity where ideas converge in a unique manner. With creativity flowing through the pipelines, innovation flourishes and businesses take on new heights.

When humor infuses the workplace, it becomes a breeding ground for happiness, productivity, creativity, and innovation. When employees are feeling positive, the customers catch onto the spirit and get the best ride of their lives.

In the words of Kelleher, the chief jester himself, “Humor rubs off on people. We don’t hire people to be funny, but we want them to keep their individuality, which makes them feel better about work and, in turn, makes them happier and more productive.”

So loosen up and let the laughter begin.

September 15, 2008 by