Technology Burner Technology Burner

Am I an a**hole?

I think Seth Godin outlined Marketing's Catch 22 best in his book The Purple Cow - (and I am paraphrasing here) - when times are tough the tendency is to conserve capital vs. when times are good the tendency is to not be aggressive.

As marketers we are so often faced with the dilemma of having to cut advertising in times of economic softness. But here is some real data that you can use to illustrate why that is a bad idea.

McGraw-Hill Research study of over 600 Businesses found that:

Americans hate to lose a war, period. In one view, the dying automotive industry is a war that we think we’re losing. I don’t believe we’re losing anything, I believe we’re progressing. Jobs moving overseas always sounds ominous, but people always ignore that we’re creating new jobs right here in this nation that have never been heard before.

Having worked in Software as a Service over the last decade, much of its popularity comes from a company not having to work through its IT department. “As long as you don’t have to talk to our IT guys!“, is a mantra that I hear often, “They’re busy!“.

Each request is made through the internal process and subsequently met with 482 reasons why it can’t be done. Ironically, these are the same guys that really get annoyed when you look external for the solution!

Hat tip to McGee’s Musings where I found the failure video. Thanks for inspiring this post!

Rarely do I meet a successful person that hasn’t had some disastrous failures behind them. Over the years, I’ve learned to measure my success differently than most. I’m successful because I’ve got 2 fantastic children who I’m incredibly proud of and who are already showing potential well beyond my achievements at half my age.

The Internet has eliminated the barriers of geography, cost and time. Social tools like blogs and social networking sites are helping crowds form around very discrete topics.

But what is missing from these crowds are leaders. Like any social network that you may join you have those that join and just lurk, those that maybe make a comment or contribute but then you have those who stand up, take some initiative and lead! And that’s what these social networks really need is more leaders!

The Internet has eliminated the barriers of geography, cost and time. Social tools like blogs and social networking sites are helping crowds form around very discrete topics.

But what is missing from these crowds are leaders. Like any social network that you may join you have those that join and just lurk, those that maybe make a comment or contribute but then you have those who stand up, take some initiative and lead! And that’s what these social networks really need is more leaders!

I’m watching the news today and there’s a lot of talk about the skewed view of politics and how each candidate has been presented and investigated. Mass media is still playing a huge role in the election as well, as we see millions of dollars being thrown into television advertising. It’s a filthy election and one that I’ll be happy to see the end of soon.

This book is a daring challenge to the business community. Gone are the top-down, command and control messages that held sway through the 20th Century. In are a raft of new techniques that start with listening, responding and action that set the scene for a continuing and evolving dialog about brands, experience, business and community.

Tony Blair former Prime Minister of Great Brittan’s Q&A session at the World Business Forum

On the topic of Crisis Management

Tony Blair former Prime Minister of Great Brittan’s Q&A session at the World Business Forum

On the topic of Crisis Management

Jim Collins author of Built to Last and Good to Great’s speech at the World Business Forum

Good is the mortal enemy of great – I been curious to understand what systematically makes companies great. We now have over 6000 years of corporate data to compare what’s different.

Jim Collins author of Built to Last and Good to Great’s speech at the World Business Forum

Good is the mortal enemy of great – I been curious to understand what systematically makes companies great. We now have over 6000 years of corporate data to compare what’s different.

Colin Powell gave a short speech over lunch at the World Business Forum

He relayed a story about two Captains in the Army he had the pleasure to lead as a means of highlighting the importance of Situational Leadership.

Colin Powell gave a short speech over lunch at the World Business Forum

He relayed a story about two Captains in the Army he had the pleasure to lead as a means of highlighting the importance of Situational Leadership.