Znetlady: Modern Media

Look Sideways to Innovate

Wouldn’t it be nice to always be ahead of the curve? To be the first mover? To be able to come up with that great new idea; or to create a whole new market or category?

Observing what is happening outside – outside your industry, outside your country and beyond this moment in time – yes, outside your comfort zone – is the key. Finding innovation isn’t difficult. Turning your head is all it takes.

Most organizations are harmfully myopic. They are focused on their industry, their product lines and their direct competition, diligently tasking managers with thorough SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) to find new market space. The fundamental problem with this is that it forces organizations to spend valuable resources focusing on meeting competitors rather than finding true innovation or new market space. And this tends to generate only incremental improvements in cost structures, features or quality. So, what happens in this traditional scenario is your strategies end up converging with those of your competition, squeezing the space even further and preventing you from seeing real opportunity. You become reactive rather than innovative.

Innovating requires just a small shift in focus. We call it “looking sideways.” Once you get the hang of it, your challenge will be to limit yourself to what you can do best.

Looking sideways is so essential because we live in a global “replacement economy,” one in which victory belongs to the consumer. Experiences substitute for products. Services substitute for products. Products within one industry or country are substitutes in another. Products substitute for experiences. You do it everyday…a nice dinner and a movie or that new cell phone?; remodel the bedroom closet or take a vacation this weekend?; hire a bookkeeper or learn Quickbooks?

To find innovation in a replacement economy, you must look through the metaphorical vertical walls that stand between industries, geography or time.

Examples are the best way of explaining the looking sideways concept. Let’s look at a few.

Take the example of Motorola and clothing. Yes, two industries that you would not think of as competitive or even complimentary. But Motorola looked beyond the vertical wall of the electronics industry and has teamed up with Benton, a snowboarding outfitter to manufacture Bluetooth-enabled snow jackets, snowboard helmets and eyewear. Being on the slopes no longer means being without your music or being out of touch. It provides wireless convenience in using cell phones, MP3 players or other devices while all bundled up against the cold. And, bigger yet maybe are the social aspects of communication between people and their devices. A new category is born: wireless clothing – and a new socializing concept already dubbed “toothing.”

You don’t have to be a multi-national to go international. My example for looking beyond geography is very close to home and is on a small scale. We were searching for a new webcasting technology in order to offer our clients next-generation corporate communications technology. We decided not to develop it ourselves, and the U.S. market is crowded with competitors who follow each other’s feature set and who focus on the technology rather than a communications solution. We looked beyond geography and found the partner we were looking for in Finland. While looking for a new “product” we also found a new client: we now manage their U.S. webcasting operations and distribution, and are helping them to market their products and services in North America.

Looking sideways across the time boundary isn’t about predicting the future, but rather about observing trends. Most of us adjust to trends by evolution – as events that affect our businesses unfold, we move with the trend, keeping pace with developments. Real innovation comes from observing a trend and then looking beyond today to the value it might deliver tomorrow.

nTag found innovation this way. The use of RFID (radio frequency identification) came into the mainstream business news when Wal-Mart adopted the standard for inventory control and required all suppliers to embed these small identification tags into every item Wal-Mart purchased. It provides a more cost-effective way to track inventory and tap into its inventory networks. Hmmm. Smart objects that broadcast inventory information about themselves? nTag looked at the potential value the trend will have in the near and near-distant future. They applied it to interactive name tags into which event attendee information is embedded and that “talk” to other name tags in the room. It helps attendees at events, conventions and meetings network more effectively; it captures lead information and streamlines polls and surveys during the event; and helps event coordinators track and report event details, among many other things. It reduces some of the frustrations, cost and inefficiencies of attending and organizing events. Old products will be made new, and entire markets will grow up around this trend. nTag has already positioned itself as a first-mover.

There are certainly many other vertical barriers that keep us from looking sideways, but industry, geography and time are easy verticals to identify and work with as you brainstorm for opportunities. There are lots of examples all around you of breakout ideas. Gather a few and identify the barriers they made permeable. Begin to really observe what’s happening outside. You’ll find new thinking and new space between the walls.

PR is dead. Long live MC.

PR is dead. It’s officially over. Shel Holtz is disturbed by the obvious perception of PR in comments posted to Jay Rosen’s blog about the Ketcham debacle. Shel eloquently poses the questions in his post whether there needs to be a clear distinction between “product” PR and "corporate affairs" PR - and asks for ideas on how the industry will police itself and what work must be done to repair its image.

If we believe the manifesto (the ClueTrain) that started it all - that markets are conversations and you are who people say you are – then PR is spin, public manipulation and devoid of credibility. All those within the industry waving their hands and pointing to the good, the sound and the ethical within the industry and all the explanations about the differences between types of PR aren’t going to change the fact of perceptions. No one outside understands the subtleties that those inside do. You are who people (markets) say you are.

The function of PR is needed – and all those who practice it so brilliantly such that much of its real function is hidden from sight and serves us all, are desperately needed. But listen to the markets and be disturbed at what you hear. These are not “people outside who don’t understand.” These are the very same people PR is trying to engage on issues vital to the organizations which they serve. They are your markets.

It wasn’t the Armstrong Williams/Ketchumgate affair that killed PR. It wasn’t journalists who denigrate it. It wasn’t blogs (but you would certainly think so with all the noise). It wasn’t even the present U.S. administration (although they have brilliantly contributed). No, PR was livin’ large and flying blind. It just hit the wall and it cannot recover.

PR has been dying since the advent of the web. Advertising trumped PR in embracing the Net, new communication tools and the way individuals interact with modern media. Big PR forced out of its midst the content generation who went instead to “new media” agencies or out on their own. PR tried to recoup, and now find themselves somehow nearly synonymous with media relations - maybe because it was familiar and unwanted territory, or maybe because journalists who controlled so much of mass media made it so.

Even though PR firms were those best positioned to take hold of the conversation model they froze in fear and denial. I’ve worked in, around and for many of the major PR agencies (or their holding companies); indeed they have been clients of mine. The mantra is still “control the message” in a world where the message is as fluid as the medium though which it flows.

PR was dead. Ketchum just did the requiem.

So, asks Shel, where do we go from here?

Let “PR” pass from this world peacefully. Don’t try to re-brand it or mange its reputation. The function is needed (even by those who denigrate it) – but the perception has crippled it beyond repair.

Those who are passionate about people and connections and voice and mindshare need to (and will) create a New Practice. A re-birth is the only thing that can happen. What shall it be called? Like all good brand names, it should reflect what it does. Let the good, the sound and the ethical in the industry found a new practice and let them bestow a new name, leaving PR to decompose.

PR is dead. Long live MC (modern conversation).

The Meatrix is Modern Media Perfect

Today is the one-year anniversary of The Meatrix, the most popular Internet advocacy film in history. The film is part of the Sustainable Table project, which is also celebrating today the fact more than 6 million people have viewed it online, that it has been translated into more than a dozen languages and that the film has garnered multiple awards during the last year. It deserves that and more.

My colleague and I “reviewed” the film shortly after its release. It remains an absolutely outstanding example of modern media in action. I’m re-printing that article here with our thoughts on why The Meatrix is “modern media” perfect.

Fresh Eye: Enter the Marketing “Meatrix”

By Linda Zimmer and Gary Goldhammer

If you are reading this to get a quick “fix” for your marketing challenges then stop right now. However, if you are open to thinking, being inspired and learning something about the New Marketing Order, then please read on. So, you can take the blue pill and remain in your artificial marketing dream world, or you can take the red pill and open your mind to countless new possibilities.

Get ready to experience The Meatrix. You will need to take a side trip and go see The Meatrix for the rest of this article to make sense. Go now to www.themeatrix.com, watch the Flash movie, look around, and then come back.

So, what did you think? You probably fall into one of three categories:
o It’s clever, but what’s so great about it?
o It’s an interesting application of activism marketing but isn’t relevant to what I’m doing
o I get it, I’m breathless with excitement, and I’m re-writing my marketing plan

If you find yourself somewhere in or between the first two categories (or are just plain confused) hang with us and read on. Category Three people are free to go – have fun and bring your new marketing plan around for the rest of us to see!

The Meatrix captures the New Marketing Order. It is multi-dimensional, defying categorization by yesterday’s marketing standards. It isn’t just any one thing that makes The Meatrix work, it is the sum total.

Why do we say it is the New Marketing Order? There are many reasons, but here are a few:

1) The message is as fluid as the medium. There is a lot going on in The Meatrix, above and below the surface. The message captures one aspect of the frame of mind concept. It reaches those that are open to it, and passes by those who are not. Depending who you are, your frame of mind, and who made you aware of it, the message could range from a humorous and creative satire or a cute take-off on a pop culture icon, to an intelligent challenge to think about where the food we eat comes from or a serious and urgent call to action.

2) Understands the nuances of the individual’s interaction with modern media. The Meatrix is more than a cute movie or a niche website. The sum total of The Meatrix medium itself is fluid – it is advertising, story, editorial, website, movie, report, instruction, directory, announcement, reference and involvement. It invites quick review or active browsing. It encourages engagement but doesn’t demand it.

3) Focuses on an idea worth spreading instead of pay-for-play. It serves up what our audiences are hungry for – real knowledge, real connection and real voice. Whether you agree with the premise you have to admire how well the entire strategy and tactics have been implemented. Yes, this is an activist marketing campaign, but part of its general appeal is that it speaks clearly about an idea and it teaches something about that idea. It doesn’t shout, it isn’t in-your-face and it offers multiple levels of engagement.

4) Acknowledges that today’s consumers hold the market power – not the mass media, marketers, or legislators. Consumers belong to multiple networks, have multiple identities and participate in multiple communities; demographics are nearly meaningless. Consumers find the truth or do business in the time it takes to type a keyword into a search engine or open an e-mail from a friend. They are connected to everyone and they decide to pass your message along or to kill it. Today’s consumers have a penchant for searching out information and have infinite ways to find it and to share it.

5) It is buzz-worthy. The Meatrix is beautifully and cleverly executed to cause buzz (we bet you’re going to share it with someone else before the day is out). It a connection point. People take action because they believe in something enough to share it (even momentarily), they want to be a connector in their networks, or because they hope to make difference. The Meatrix offers it all.

6) It is practical, useful and immediate. You want the rest of The Meatrix story, so you take the suggested non-threatening next step – you click. And there in front of you is something local, immediate, useful and practical. Additional resources invite browsing, engagement and curiosity. The SustainableTable site is a “micro-site” created specifically for the audience who will move to the next step in the “relationship.” And the script of the Meatrix is available for download – a perfect condiment for those of us who want to digest the messages in a different format or study the project further.

The Meatrix was the result of a grant in which the creator, Free Range Graphics (www.freerangegraphics.com), invited hundreds of non-profit organizations to apply for a free Flash animation. Free Range could only pick one for the grant, but think about what they learned about their potential client base and what their potential customer learned about Free Range Graphics. And for those who worked hard to apply for the grant, Free Range put down their best thinking and created an Internet activism guide for all their applicants. That’s better than a coupon and very fresh-baked.

Study this example and let its multi-layers stimulate thinking about your own marketing strategies. Pick a project. Measure it against the criteria here. Don’t be afraid to enter the marketing Meatrix.

Apologies, TRC

Shel, sorry you took my post as a "bad review." It was not intended that way. I was merely thinking out loud. Thanks for your comments. Best of luck on your project!

The Red Couch: Blog or Die. Another View

I read the entire The Red Couch blog over this past very wet California weekend with great interest and applauding them all the while. We need a good guide for business about blogs.

One thing has been rattling around in my head since reading it. If we are to be very honest about TRC – the goal is to sell books (a very good thing), thus the controversial, albeit passionate, statements of “blog or die”/“blog or be wiped out of existence” is understandable. As we’ve learned from our present administration, fear sells. But that approach is the very same hyperbole we find in much of PR today, yes?

Those of us who were web evangelists when the Web-as-we-know-it-today was born told the corporate world the same thing – be on the web or die. And, what happened? The corporate cosmos rushed to the web and implemented it - badly. And they still do for the most part. But, I’m not aware of any business that really did die by not getting on the web – but many did by doing it badly.

The blogosphere is delivering the same message - as loudly and as passionately, only more so because there are more of us now than there was 10 years ago. Will the shouting and fear-instilling hyperbole again force the corporate cosmos to rush to implement blogs in self-defense – and therefore once again do it badly? None of us, or them, would be happy with that result.

The issue is organizations need to understand the connected world and how people live in it, shape it and expand it. They don’t. They just don’t. Because they don’t live here yet. It is still largely foreign soil to them. So, if we really insist on them being here and if we are going to welcome them in, we need to teach not preach. We need to be teaching Business how blogging is yet another part of everyone being connected and what the deeper implications are behind blogs in order for them to be able to use them effectively - and to be able give us what we want from them. We need to give context to blogs, not simply blog success stories. A business book must help Business understand that context, not just the tactics. I hope the TRC evolves into a book more about teaching than about stating a case and demanding.

A couple other macro questions I am asking myself as I observe TRC’s work and their very interesting process…

Passion and authority are needed for a good blog – and a good book. Does the fact that the TRC book is being developed via the input of those so close to blogging affect both the passion and authority of the individual authors? What I mean is, by incorporating the views or content (even indirectly) of all of us out here in the blogosphere, does it water down the authors’ own unique point of view – and therefore their own unique passion? And, if the book is a compilation of contributions from those participating in the TRC, is the TRC “authority” its own or does the TRC become a report from the blogosphere?

And, is the TRC’s book about the passion the authors have for the process, i.e, blogging a book, or is it about the message/content the book must contain in order teach its readers? Both are equally valid.

Maybe the authors can write a second book and give us insights into the answers to those questions after they have moved through this process. I wish them great gobs of luck and a huge amount of fun in pursuing the subject and their goal.

Trend Watch: Hypertag(ing)

"Hypertag" will very soon become a medium instead of a product. Nope, I'm not referring to some kind of HTML tag. I'm talking about the system developed by Hypertag, a UK-based company, that allows your mobile phone to collect information or content from objects simply by pointing your phone at it.

You probably figured out a while ago that your mobile phone can transfer contact information by simply pointing its infrared port at another phone's port. Fast and easy and so convenient. Well, just expand the idea of "another phone" to posters, advertisements, artworks, products, logos... and, expand the concept of "contact information" to include words, pictures, ringtones, music, a reminder, game, logo.... That's Hypertag. A system that allows your phone to read from and download information stored in a tag embedded in or near anything.

London's Underground used the technology as part of their Safe Travel at Night campaign during the holidays to assist travelers in avoiding trouble and especially to reduce the incidents of assaults by unlicensed minicab drivers. By pointing their phone at marked signs and posters, travelers were given the information they needed to get home safely. They were especially helpful in the Underground because Hypertag works outside the mobile phone network.

But more exciting is the use of Hypertags in museums. Here's a quote from Hypertag's web site on the future of museum guides:

"Small electronic Tags are fixed beside objects, into signs and behind paper or clear plastic. When visitors are interested in an exhibit, they click a button on the handheld computer and images and text instantly appear on the screen (perhaps with audio commentary or video). They can then link to further web-based information if they wish, or keep lists of bookmarks to extend the learning experience back home or into the classroom."

Well, the future is here. Brooklyn Museum launched PocketMuseum Digital Guide October 22, 2004. This December certain portions of the Museum's collections database will be available via PocketMuseum and audio & video and visitor-to-visitor discussions are coming soon.

Soon, Hypertags will turn everything into an interactive object. But, for a simple concept of mobile phone as content provider, check out the [murmer] project in Toronto, Canada.

Where to Find the Customer Service Human

Nothing makes me want to run screaming to my blog faster than an encounter with those elusive "customer service" units of nearly every consumer company I'm unfortuante enough to have to deal with. After nearly every encounter I just have this absolutely overwhelming desire to extract some kind -any kind- of revenge. And, just like they hope, I avoid customer service at all costs. Why don't they save us all time and just admit they just don't offer "customer service?"

Today, the New York Times published a story by Katie Hafner, The Hunt for a Human, detailing similar telephone odysseys into the ugly depths of customer service. Apparently I'm not alone, as the story sites the top dislike of customer service is not finding a human. And, as a responsible reporter, Ms. Hafner gives us the reasons why companies increasingly remove us from customer service. Reasons range from Amazon removing their customer service number from their web site ("because customers really do appreciate our self-service features") to companies complaining of too many mis-directed requests.

I'll resist the urge to ask Amazon why they removed their phone number if so many people were really using and "appreciating" all those self-service features. That unpublished number is 800-201-7575, by the way. And those companies complaining of mis-directed requests? How about analyzing them and coming up with a strategy to effeciently help your customer get to the right place??

But, I bury the lead. Ms. Hafner has given us a gem: the web address to a consumer handbook containing hundreds of U.S. corporation's customer service numbers and email addresses. It is published by the General Services Administration of the U.S. government: pueblo.gsa.gov/crh/corpormain.shtml.

Ahhhh. I feel so much better.