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Groove Move

Groove has decided to move our illustrious blog, GrooveLab, to WordPress.

To our thousands of loyal readers, we hope you'll join us there, and subscribe to the new blog feed as soon as we set up said feed. We also hope you'll enjoy the cleaner interface, improved filterability, and the fact that I just invented a word, filterability.

For now, going to the old blog page on Typepad automatically redirects you to the new one on WordPress. So all you have to do is bookmark the new page when you land there, and you'll be all set.

See you on the other side.

What Happened to Originality?

Amazon started selling the Kindle a few years ago and made a few videos to show its features. This is the opening screen.

Today I saw a TV spot for a new e-reader on the market, Barnes & Noble's nook. Here's a still from their spot:

Now, if you were introducing a new product that was very much like an established one, and wanted to tell people why yours was better, or different, why in the world would you do this? Wouldn't you want every one of your very expensive 30 seconds to showcase your product in an original light?   sigh...

Love Your Brand

It pains me to watch newspapers go out of business. I have a soft spot for the written word on paper, delivered daily. As an undergraduate, I dreamed of being a writer. My journalism professor gave me a shot. That shot turned into the most-read column in the university paper, four years running. I took great pride in being a columnist. Truth be told, I loved it. Every Thursday, I loved walking along the student union, watching as folks eagerly turned to "Rod's Thoughts" (the name of the column). I even considered it as a career path, but moving to Bakersfield to make just above the poverty line was too much for a 22-year-old who craved the city lights along the Bay and the allure of global travel at a big-time marketing agency (that has sense faded, in a been-there-done-that sort of way).

It's pretty much a certainty newspapers will not exist in the coming years. If they'd focused on their brand much sooner, and changed their business model as well, newspapers would've had a better shot at staying relevant in the digital age. Newspaper brands had a bond with readers; a trusting relationship. People depended on them to deliver objective, nonpartisan news. They paid no attention to the relationship they had cultivated for decades with their loyal readers. They made no attempt at transferring that bond from ink and paper to digital. The loyal fans of their brand would've followed. Newspaper forgot the business they were in, which was not a distribution model, but rather a relationship model. People follow people. This is why cable news outlets are led by personalities. We're a relationship economy. Always have been, always will be.

Had newspapers taken their brand seriously, had they cultivated their core loyalists, sustained the relationship with each one, had they brought them into the fold, had they delivered a quality product via digital and not gotten caught up in the ink/paper/distribution model, they would've survived. Let's hope at lest a few do.

Let this be a warning to any organization: take your brand for granted and people will leave you.

Feeding Your Head

I spent last Friday getting fed. It was exhilarating to hear intelligent people speak about the economy, innovation, management, the state of government, and sustainability. Groove 11 was an exclusive sponsor of the annual Chief Executive Council meeting. Mark Hurd, CEO of HP, spoke, as did Reid Hoffman, founder and chairmen of LinkedIn. Many others shared amazing insights as well.

Coming away from this day, I was once again reminded how important it is to continuously learn; to put yourself in environments that may be slightly outside your comfort zone. Stretching is the only way. In today's economy, standing still is a sure way to get run over. The person or organization that is not learning won't compete effectively. Mark Hurd spoke about how at HP being the best is the benchmark. Anything short of that is not acceptable. He's spot-on. Excellence is a learned behavior. Over the weekend, I renewed my subscription to The Harvard Business Review, after a one-year hiatus. My head will not go without feeding.

The Event Business Needs to Lean Forward

Last week I attended the 8^th annual Event Marketing Summit in Chicago. It was good to see former colleagues and get a first-hand look at how the event industry is managing the worst recession since the 1930s. As expected, the big boys – George P. Johnson, TBA Global, Momentum, and Jack Morton – are fine. Revenue is down 20%-30%, but they’ve stayed close to their clients and are creating and executing decent programs. The big takeaway: virtual. Every program has an online and offline element. It’s much more than a microsite or twitter feeds; for the most part it's Facebook. In some cases, gaming has taken on a role, primarily with internal training programs. Cisco GSX global sales meeting moved to a 100% virtual platform and won the prestigious Grand X award (agency: George P. Johnson).

Removing the buzz of combining virtual with events, the content was flat. There was a lot of “This is how I’ve done it” and not enough on “This is what’s coming next.” This reminded me of something a partner at Groove 11 noted regarding events, “Once an agency gets called, the decision has been made, and it’s time to execute.” This leaves little room for strategy or innovation. It becomes, as a former client used to say, about making sure all the plants are in the right place.

It’s a shame. The event space has the potential to be a powerful force in defining the brand experience. It is, after all, the business of a brand connecting with consumers in real time. Innovation should be paramount. Here are 3 ways to infuse the event space and the agencies with some much-needed “juice.”

Strategy – You must start with strategy. What’s the game changer? The business objective for the event?And how is it connected to the integrated marketing plan? Too often events are still an afterthought, left to explain how execution was flawless. Not interested. Tell me how your strategy affected real change and moved the business forward.

Culture – Move your agencies away from a reactive culture to a proactive one. It’s about the people, stupid. Everything else is a commodity (or will be in a matter of time). The team with the best people wins. Event agencies still tout their “buying power” or “global reach.” They’re important, but ideas that change the game are what matters now. Organizations will hire the brightest people sitting across the table from them, not the name on the side of building.

Technology – It’s your friend. I was taken aback by how many agencies are subcontracting the technology piece. Bring it in house. It will force a culture change, no doubt, but how else can you leap ahead?

In fairness, some agencies are doing the above better than others, but none is hitting all three well. Strategy is expensive, culture is hard, and technology is difficult. I’ll be keeping an eye out for the agency that nails it. My guess is I won’t find it at the 9^th annual Event Marketing Summit.

The Difference Between Individual Contributor, Manager, & Leader

All organizations need strong individual contributors, managers, and most definitely leaders. What’s not articulated is what it takes to be successful in each role. How does one transition between them? Speaking from experience, it doesn’t happen seamlessly. Simply put, “What got you here won’t get you there.” Meaning the skills that made you successful in one role are not the same skills that will make you successful in the next role. I struggled with this early in my career as I was tapped to take on larger roles with little preparation, and have seen others do so as well. It’s an easy trap to fall into, as the rational thought is, “I got promoted due to my successful history. I’ll simply keep doing the same and success will follow.” Nothing could be farther from the truth. The key is to know which skills to take with you and which to leave behind, and most importantly, which new skills to acquire.

Groove sharing, v2

 

 

If I were to tell you that “sharing” was met with fear, confusion, consternation and a scant level of curiosity would that sound familiar? Well, then we share the same experience. Change management is not about cheerleading; at least not solely about cheerleading, so we’ve learned. Everyone said it was a GREAT idea that we start eating our own dog food. Everyone agreed that our value proposition, applauded by our inner circle of clients, employees, and friends, would be embraced by a broader community if we simply got the message into the market. Everyone agreed that we were actually living “sharing” at the client level, enabling our clients' customers to “feel, learn, do or be.” And everyone agreed that “sharing” was a top-three priority for the organization.

 

But that’s where everyone stopped agreeing.

 

So we’re now living another maxim of the organization: slow down to get there faster. We have to slow down to add structure, clarity, directives, and support to our “sharing” program. The Client Services team is creating IP and sharing it through channels like Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, Flickr and such. We’re also joining communities where our clients live and learn.  We’ve identified brand advocates (creators and critics) and brand loyalists (collectors, joiners, and spectators). For the most part we’re learning and listening, all being loyalists, because we really need to understand the environment before we add a voice. Hopefully, as everyone gains confidence over the next few weeks we’ll transition to advocates. Interesting discovery was that “sharing” becomes a personality thing – some will become great advocates and some will play another role as loyalists. Take our technology clients: some folks within the organization advocate innovation, killer apps, and market trends. Others deal with programmer blogs and customer service. Both vital but very different.

 

The rest of the organization is just getting their feet wet. They need structure first. We’re providing the tools and some education. For now they are spectators and that’s fine. Tools are hugely important because jumping on board is hugely intimidating. Sarah Hartshorn at Social Media Today provided solid advice about tools (most of us are using Tweet Deck: http://bit.ly/9JTYGD). Once the structure is in place we're going to provide the space for them to explore, get comfortable, and grow. Then we'll figure out the editorial calendar. For now it's just about comfort... for everyone.

 

More soon.

Secrets of Creating Great Brand Experiences

Recently, the Luxury Marketing Council asked me to share some thoughts about creating great brand experiences. I was eager to oblige. Over years of working with clients, helping them stand out with their authentic voice, certain tenants for creating great experiences have bubbled up. Here is what we have come to learn at Groove 11 as the 11 essentials for creating great experiences.  

1. Lore

Lore is your story. Think about it. Everyone loves to hear to great story. Your story and how you tell is critical to attracting folks to you. Crafting a great lore is all about knowing where you came from, the stories of the people behind your brand and sharing your essence. This means going beyond the facts. It is not about features and benefits. It is about creating magic – magic starts with a story. It’s a story that is distinct. That no one else can own. Know your story. Tell your story. Take a look at Title Nine and Coach and see how great these brands are at creating great lore.

2. Romance

How many times have your heard it said, “Romance the product.” Well once you have a lore, romance is all about getting people to fall in love with you. If you are a destination for example, romance the experience that awaits your guests.  If you sell running shoes, how is the product going to make me feel? Romance means creating an emotional expectation. Romance creates the desire, desire creates anticipation and anticipation sets the stage for experience.

3. Discovery

Discovery is about letting your customers into the process on their terms. It is about literally letting them discover something on their own perhaps something new that they may have not known before. Discovery includes your customers in the process. In travel and destination marketing we hear this all the time – travelers want to discover something new and off the beaten path.  With any brand customers want to accept and explore as if they found it themselves. It only makes the experience richer. You can facilitate that process by leaving room for an authentic experience to unfold by letting discovery occur.

4. Inspiration

This is the part of the talk where I get down on my knees and I beg of you – please move me! Nothing is worse than mediocre marketing. And the problem with most marketing – is that it is simply bland, void of any inspiration. People: You can do so much better. Create an experience that truly inspires.  This can be done with any business or product, believe me. I once had a client in the refrigerated container business – we created inspiring marketing materials by hiring a fashion photographer to shoot containers in a ship yard. We could have bought stock photography but that would have been more of the same. How is your brand inspiring people to feel, learn, do, or be something? If not, why not?  Make it personal. Touch my spirit. Make me feel it. Move me. Inspire me.

5. Occasions

Create occasions for customers to enjoy and experience you – occasions they may not have otherwise considered, but for your suggestion. There are many current examples of marketers who created all new occasions and increased opportunities for brand engagement as a result. A few years ago, W Hotel created “Girls Night Out” Events in a promotion with the USA network and later HBO.  The hosted evenings included a cocktail party, show viewings, manicures, makeup applications, gift bags with host products. Creating these occasions allowed the brand to reach a whole new group of locals and create word of mouth and buzz among women.  Think about suggesting occasions to your community.

6. Know thy audience

Knowing your audience is SUCH an important marketing imperative that it should be considered in the 10 commandments of marketing. How can you begin to create an experience that will resonate unless you really know what makes them tick? Ask yourself what you know about audience.  Do you know who they are? Do you know where they are? What do they care about? What do they know about you? It is only by really knowing audience that you can craft marketing that is relevant and that reaches them through the clutter.

7. Make it personal

When talking about creating great experiences, consider that experiences are intrinsically personal - driven by emotion, logic, vision, perspective, common sense. Making the experience personal, taps into these basic human emotions to create something unforgettable. It is these personal experiences that drive and enable lasting relationships. From the little touches – the handwritten thank you card, the gift bag, remembering my name and what I like to drink to allowing a rewards program or guest services based on my preferences. Make it personal and you have me for life.

8. Paint a picture

A picture paints a thousand words. Throughout your marketing, paint a picture through words, visual and demonstrations of an experience they can see themselves in. Get them to imagination themselves interacting with you. Show them how it can happen. Disney for example has a current campaign featuring parents going online and realizing they can afford to make their dream family vacation happen for their entire family. The commercial paints a picture of how you too can make it happen. Help them see themselves there and facilitate the next step in the process.

9. Reach out to segments

Segment marketing all about leveraging  powerful niches within the general market. Such groups include Women, LGBT, Hispanic, you get the idea.  Kimpton Hotels has successfully supplemented the success of its “In Touch” loyalty rewards program by running specials for its LGBT customers. This segment contributes multiple millions of  dollars a year in extra revenue to Kimpton nationwide. Segment marketing – by gender, culture, ethnicity and more - can create great loyalty, and lift Think about where the opportunities in the market exist and what segments match the persona of your brand.

10. Share it

Once you have a story, get it out there, evangelize it. Share your story and get others sharing it with you. Design a sharing strategy – whether it is word of mouth or social media leveraging happy customers and getting them to share their experiences about YOU. It is demonstrated that referrals and word of mouth actually has much more impact and believability than other forms of marketing. Incent your customers to share their stories.

11. Measure it 

And finally we have the 11^th tenant of creating great experiences, measurement. So many times meaningful measurement is neglected. And when the CFO asks for real ROI marketers are left with anecdotal evidence.  You can benchmark at the outset of campaigns and you should design measurements – however simplified into the program. One of the most basic things to do is to ask and record  how people are finding out about you. Ask questions after sale like “How are doing? What’s working? What’s not working? Why or why not? Would you share your experience with others? How is this experience better/worse than others?” Having measurement in place is key to adjusting strategies and refining again and again. This can be for a year over year campaign or optimizing on the fly. Measurement creates efficiency and helps hone and prove marketing success. And it improves the discipline of instinctual marketers.

The Art of Conversation

Good conversation is hard. Dialogue, by definition, is a process of giving and receiving. In the old-media world of monologue communication, brands didn’t see the need to spend much time on the listening end of the conversation. It was one-way tell people stuff. Feedback was what an angry customer gave you, if they could find your customer service number. Or took the time to write you a letter. It was easy to ignore that angry (and clearly misguided) costumer, and turn your attention to acquiring a new customer, simply turn up the volume on the monologue tell people stuff side.

Today, everyone is a publisher. Finding your customer service number is not important. As a matter a fact, it doesn't matter. Every customer is equipped with a bullhorn and a network of folks who listen and likely value what they say. Your brand better as well. Your brand must be good at the "Art of Conversation.” Particularly the part about listening and receiving feedback, you're going to get it, so you better be in a dialogue.

How do you do that? You accept that your brand is co-owned by the folks who use it (this is the new reality). By doing so, you bring your customers into the fold of your organization. They are an extension, and a very important on at that. Your culture must change to be in tune with your customer like never before. You treat your customers with respect, it’s a different respect than in the past, you treat them with peer-to-peer respect. You listen more than tell. See, funny thing about customers (people), if they feel respected and listened to, they’re incredibly loyal. Loyalty leads to advocacy, and that is where marketing thrives. Your customer will lead your brand into new customer’s hands, much more so if they feel kinship w/ your brand, ownership of your brand.

At Groove 11, we have a passion for building brand relationships. All relationships are built on conversations, and good conversations, as a core element, have robust dialogue. You want your brand to be part of a dialogue that moves product. That begins by listening. Please listen to your customers actively and often. Your brand and bottom line will thank you.