2 Percent Creativity

It was during our weekly sales meeting this morning, that I directed our team to this great post on one our favorite blogs - Church of the Customer. The subject of customer evangelism is little understood by most businesses today and yet it is truly right in front of us each day, when we interact with our best customers.

I asked a simple question of our team today. What are the top three reasons our customers buy from us (we build web applications for real estate agents). Well, the responses were on the table very quickly. “Our search engine postings,” said one, “the quality of our leads,” said another and “our great marketing package,” said a third. They were all correct, but they were also all wrong. Here’s why…

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Here’s one that is 2% marketing to say the least. The folks at iBelieve have taken their devotion to the Apple iPod to what might be the most targeted marketing I have seen in a long time. First, you have to have an iPod Shuffle. Not an iPod standard, mini or Nano. Secondly, you must feel comfortable wearing your religious convictions on your chest. Finally, you have to believe!

Link: devoted1.com.

It was just a few weeks ago that we commented on a famous quote by Mr. Drucker, “the aim of marketing is to make selling superflous.” Well, this afternoon, we hear that at 95 years of age, Peter Drucker has past away.

As the article in the Financial Times says, he didn’t particularly appreciate the title of ‘guru’, however, that’s what he was and is to the generation of managers and marketers who grew up under his words of wisdom.

Sometime last week, I received an email from a friend with a link to this wonderful and famous tv commercial that appeared several years ago. I remembered the initial campaign and yet there were tears in my eyes once again. Some things are classics and this is quite possibly, as the subject line in my friend’s email asked, “The Best Commercial Ever?”

Forget about which OS you prefer and put all system biases aside, this is storytelling that captures the heart of what is possible for your brand. In a competitive world where there is always someone who is bigger than you, where there is a lot of noise, where the customer is still not being served, you can still find a way to tell your story. You just have to Think Different.

Listen to the spot very carefully, do you recognize the narrator? The words he speaks and his delivery, makes the story powerful and trustworthy. There’s a lot that goes into ‘telling’ your story.

It is probably ranks right up there with the pursuit of the fountain of youth. If only someone could articulate the exact methodolgy for improving your personal creativity, or write ‘the’ How-to Book on tapping the stream of consciousness that is creative thinking, they would be very rich indeed.

Last night, I had the opportunity to attend my son’s (age 10) choir concert. They have been practicing for months. Well, the kids were awesome (proud Dad viewpoint notwithstanding ;-). The highlight of the evening however, wasn’t just the kids, it was the concert by the professionals — the Vancouver Chamber Choir. A very talented group of 20 men and women who sing with an incredible display of power and grace. As I sat there watching and listening, I was immediately struct by the thought, “I need to do this more often”.

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Today, I got the email. It was an invitation of sorts. One that I had been hoping for since earlier this month. It’s something new, very Web 2.0 as JJeffryes would say and very hush, hush. I have been sworn to secrecy as we take it for a test drive and check out what’s under the hood. What I can tell you is this - I am liking what I see.

It reminds one of the days when you first heard the hash of your modem connecting to Compuserve and then Netscape and viewing art from the Louvre on a grey background. It’s fun again. We’ll let you in on it as soon as we can.

The major reason why word-of-mouth hasn’t taken off is not because marketers lack the metrics to measure it. It’s because most products, services, and businesses simply aren’t worth talking about.

OUCH! The above quote from Brand Autopsy’s post on Measuring Word-of-Mouth, should be like a dagger to heart of every marketer. Why? Because it is so true.

The buzz is all about word-of-mouth these days and that is as it should be, however as the folks at BA lament, the focus needs to be on delivering products and services that are worth talking about, not just the metrics. In addition, I’m thinking when we do get down to the measuring, that we might need two buzz meters. One for the good kind of WOM and one for the not so good.

Link: Brand Autopsy: Measuring Word-of-Mouth.