Archive for March, 2010

There was an e-marketer named Sam
Who didn’t know “opt-out” = SPAM.
His customers rebelled
And his goods didn’t sell
And now there’s nothing left of his brand.

We were all so excited when the Russian market opened up.  Then after a few containers of Levis and Marlboros set sail, it seems like the party was over.

The Chinese people will soon be buying a lot of stuff.  I’m just worried it won’t be American stuff.  Much of what they need they can make themselves, for less. Some would say, if we are becoming a service economy, we don’t need to make anything anymore.

I would argue, if we want play in a global economy anchored by China, we need to make something — specifically, the one thing we know how to make better than anyone in the world — brands. But not American brands. We need to make Chinese brands. Things Chinese people want to buy because they represent being Chinese.

That means understanding the needs and motivations of people unlike ourselves — which doesn’t come naturally to most Americans.  But it does to American marketers.

Felix Hoenikker, the world-famous scientist in Kurt Vonnegut’s “Cat’s Cradle,” shirks his duties as “father of the atom bomb” because of…turtles.

You see, Felix had a tank of pet turtles in his laboratory, and he just couldn’t tear himself away from them. Playing with turtles was such a big draw for his attention that the Manhattan Project staff removed them from the lab so he could focus on work.

Applying that metaphor to the real world, let’s examine some of the turtles in today’s marketing tank: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, blogging.

I’m not proposing these things are not valid work. It’s just that, in a 3.0 world, the foundations of a business relationship system lay elsewhere, and are more important than ever…

• Understanding the company value proposition  —before blogging about it
• Attending to customer service — before setting up a Twitter channel for it
• Making products truly great — before setting up FaceBook fan pages for them

It’s worth remembering that turtles can be dangerous; if you’re not careful, you might get bitten.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get back to Mafia Wars…

One of the great things about starting Dangerous Kitchen is the opportunity to reinvent our methods and approaches to marketing. Today I’m rethinking the creative brief.

The template I use is a compilation of ideas from some truly great strategists and creative directors. I like it because it’s tight: just 5 questions.

1. Who are we talking to?
2. What do they currently think?
3. What do we want them to think?
4. Why should they believe it?
5. How is the message being delivered?

But it has a major flaw, specifically question 3, What do we want them to think? This could imply that the creative should change the consumer’s mind. That’s not only impossible, it’s . . . well, dangerous. It is the marketing equivalent of arguing with your customer.

For example, I suspect people will continue to think Toyotas are more reliable than Fords — despite the recalls. And the 30 years of “Quality is job one” advertising won’t help Ford usurp that spot. Ford stands for found on road dead and fix or repair daily because Ford argued with consumers — telling them their perception of poor quality was wrong.

Here’s my fix, and I welcome your feedback. Our job is not to change what people think; it’s to ask them to think something new. In other words . . .

3. What would we like them to think — that they haven’t already thought of?

If the message is remotely plausible, they might just believe it.

Like this: Tell me the company that makes powerful Mustangs and F-150 trucks also makes the most powerful hybrids? I’ll buy that.

Welcome to the kitchen.

There’s not much to this post.

It’s a simple test to make sure our engines are purring, the windscreen is clear and the seats are comfy yet firm.

Enjoy the ride.

- The Management