Survive or Thrive

 

I heard again this week from the owner of a startup business: "We are all just trying to survive."

 

The survival mentality is not just an epidemic of doubt. It is based on real incomes, real balance sheets, and real losses of lifestyle, savings, relationships, and an era that has now passed.

 

I know survival well. I know the focus it can bring, as well as the anxiety. We can blame it on the banks, the regulators, the politicians, or our culture. But we all share responsibility for what has been done and left undone.

 

The truth is, we can't go back to the way it was. It is like a relationship outgrown, a pair of pants that does not fit. Our spending, our irresponsibility, our dependence on the "dependable" – we were all collectively agreeing to live within a delusion. Now, people and buyers are evaluating purchases differently, not just based on ROI or return-on-enjoyment.

 

So, for marketers to think right now that the problem is only consumer or business spending is naïve. The economy has changed, but the world has changed with it. The old techniques may not work in the future as they did in the past.

 

Your books may not be thriving, but this is a time for thrivability to emerge. For business, this starts with evaluating your relationships with employees and customers, and with the local and global community. You may not offer a 10% raise this year, but you can counter the survival energy by focusing on people and questioning everything you have been doing.

 

Adaptive Branding

My interview posted with Liz Strauss last week got me thinking about the branding exercises I've been through over the past 10 years with companies large and small. It's often a painful process, taking months and costing thousands of dollars. The dialogue is always provoking because identity is at stake – who we work for reflects who we are. The process of deciding what a brand represents calls forth all sorts of tangled conflicts and opinions.

Personal branding is no different. While historically we have decided to "show a face" based on what is expected or needed, with greater availability of information there is a natural pull towards transparency and authenticity. Brands cannot manufacture an identity. People cannot as easily pretend to be something they are not. It is what it is.

There are a few insights I have gained from Liz that extend to corporate branding:

1. Customers, not marketers, determine your brand's identity

Liz encourages individuals to, "Ask people what they see when they are looking at you." This is listening in a nutshell. Whether you're a B2B organization or B2C, you have to continue to both passively collect insights – eavesdropping – and actively ask your customers, "Who are we?" "What do we do for you?" The willingness to be open to what's being said is no longer a position of weakness, but rather a position of adaptive strength.

2. Test and continually be willing to adapt your brand

Avoid the temptation to "be whatever the largest group wants you to be." There are limits, and being part of the dialogue requires a willingness to "put yourself out there," as Liz says. Beth Kanter and Allison Fine refer to the ability to adjust and experiment in real time as "micro-planning." There are many marketers who would rather invest in the concrete effort of determining a brand's identity. The fluidity of a changing market – it is people! – makes these investments not only more costly, but the story can quickly become obsolete. The ongoing attention of listening and micro-planning requires a commitment and rethinking traditional marketing strategies.

3. Care about something outside of profits

Every brand intersects in some way with culture. This may be complex when we're talking about international brands, but part of "putting a stake in the ground" and "telling your story" is determining how you can add value to the culture(s) in which you are embedded. For a local restaurant, this may be giving food to the local pantry. For a publisher, this may mean donating books. I love the work that GlobalGiving is doing with brands in this regard, helping them determine where they may most authentically contribute to global needs and causes. This is not only the right thing to do, it wins and retains customers.

Product Salespeople, Danger on the Horizon

Image by misterbisson via Flickr

If you are selling products, start looking for a new job or maybe a new career. Let's think about this . . .

I did a consulting project quite a few years ago for World Book Encyclopedia. The question being, "How do we compete with Encarta?" (This was pre-Wikipedia). What has happened to the encyclopedia salesperson? The vacuum salesperson? The Avon lady?

Avon, Amway, and the other MLM's still are doing ok, but it's partly because the independent representatives have embraced the Internet, either as direct channels or for lead generation. Relationships and technology allow these businesses to grow.

But there are limitations to the relationship when a salesperson is providing a product or category of products. In the past, the value of this relationship was based on the buyer having direct access to the best information and price. The salesperson was the purveyor of industry knowledge, product-related data, and an advocate in negotiating costs.

Now, buyers in retail or B2B can increasingly get this information online – either through portals, conversation forums, reviews, and vendor sites. We all know how prevalent RFP's and RFQ's have become. "Vendor management" continues its online expansion through facilitating education, bidding, and communication to take place directly with the manufacturer or distributor. The value of the B2B salesperson's job will continue to erode as analysts and product managers provide the needed information directly to prospects or through a site.

If you're looking to buy a car, who are you going to trust? Your online peers or a guy on the lot? The Internet offers more information, both in quantity and reliability, in order to make decisions. This has been true in the B2C arena for a few years. Now, it's becoming more commonplace in B2B as well.

How could World Book compete with Encarta? Relationships were the primary conclusion. But if there's limited time or basis for a relationship, you're going to be paid less or nothing.

Mark My Words

Image via Wikipedia

My professional roots are in publishing. Much of my life has been spent around ink, paper, and the printing press. I am anchored by words. Though I may someday be a Kindlefan, I will always defend the beauty of fingering pages, of dog ears, and of discovering what's on the next page, even when I have not searched for it.

Many of my heroes are journalists and writers. So, it is painful to watch the unraveling of an industry that has been essential to not only my personal growth, but the growth and protection of democracy and freedom. I don't know what's going to happen, but if I had to guess, these themes will continue to be important:

1. Independent writers vs. Network writers vs. Employed writers

Who will make the money? Who will be free to write from their own point of view? If you think the line between blogger and journalist is blurring, wait until we have hundreds of talented people competing for attention apart from their mastheads.

2. Micropayments

We can continue to believe the advertising/subscription mix is the only model until a solid third option emerges. I place my bet on micropayments, not in the form of readers paying dollars to authors, but in aggregated currency exchanges. We're not ready yet, but it's coming.

3. The Value of Research, Contacts, and Eloquence

Content and writing are not the same. Information comes cheap. Thoughtful, exclusive, and/or well-crafted pieces will demand something more. Let's hope.

Socializing the Web

I hate cliches, and jargon, and any expression that loses meaning in its frequency of use, or alienates certain people who are not "in the know." "Social Media" and the "Social Web" fall into this category. I like what iCrossing Social Media Analyst, Alisa Leonard-Hansen writes, "Social media" is not a "space" or "there" or "channel." There is simply the Web which has evolved and which has intrinsic social qualities to it."

We can simply talk about the web. Why is the web becoming socialized?

Markets form around key three principles, according to authors Alan Moore and Tomi T Ahonen

• Knowledge or information exchange
  

• Commerce
  

• Entertainment

If you take these three principles and add a fourth, Connection, these are the reasons people spend time online. People connect, learn, shop, and are entertained.

A misconception about Social Media is that the cultural and business transformations are limited primarily to the "Connection" principle. While Facebook, LinkedIn, and social networking tools do allow people to connect with peers and brands where there is an affiliation, the social extent of the web continues to creep beyond social networking.

The socialized web increasingly encompasses all principles of market formation.

Knowledge Exchange

For example, I am a user of ChaCha, a service which allows me to voice or text any question. The question is then routed to a knowledgeable Guide in that subject area or geography. Rather than being patient with the mobile web, I can get an answer from a credible human being in less than a minute. I've used ChaCha to find a breakfast spot in Stevensville, Michigan, confirm that rabbits are nocturnal (they're not, they're crepuscular), and settle countless arguments in bars and automobiles. Social bookmarking, wikis, and forums such as Wikipedia, Yahoo! Answers, Delicious, Edmunds.com, and Beer Advocate all perform the same function. I am trusting people – whether it be a crowd or a "local" – to provide the knowledge I need.

This represents a cultural shift from trust in a few authoritative sources, to trust in thousands of peers. Search engines reflect this shift, as they continue to adjust their algorithms to incorporate recency, recommendations, and user generated content rather than focusing on the most authoritative sites.

Commerce

The social nature of brick-and-mortar shopping continues to pervade the web. Live chat and ratings and reviews were the first mainstream social additions to online shopping. Now, retailers are recognizing that there is more to the shopping experience than usability, availability of information, and efficiency.

Communities connected to transactional sites have slowly become more commonplace, giving buyers the chance to dynamically discuss products and services, share favorites and best practices, and connect around professional and lifestyle issues. A Networked Insights client, Netshops, has recently added a community and shared browsing to some of its 230+ stores.

As users become more comfortable with tools such as Me.dium, Browzmi, or Skabble, and eTailers become more at ease with community interactions, the web will become a virtual shopping mall where people shop with friends and discuss products as they are looking at them. The technology for meeting people, getting quick feedback, sharing opinions, and spending time with friends and colleagues while making buying decisions is already there.

Entertainment

In September, more people saw the Saturday Night Live skit of Tina Fey as Sarah Palin online than watched on TV. No one doubts the success of music, video, gaming, and pornography as online entertainment. Viewership and membership increase, while the social elements make the entertainment more communal and less isolated.

Adding HTML markup to YouTube videos allowed for sharing. Mashups, comments, and video responses make online video a unique form of discourse. Gaming sites such as Dress Up Challenge and I'm in Like with You are equally social and competitive. Last.fm is as much about discovering people as it is music.

At midnight as a restless twelve year old, my choices were to listen to Depeche Mode on cassette, watch MTV, or call a friend. Now, anyone can connect at any time with someone else who shares the same interests.

What does this mean for companies?

Corporate marketing and advertising has been about control: controlling the information (marketing communications), controlling the transaction (merchandising & operations), controlling the experience (branding), and controlling the relationships (customer service). With the socialized web, the power structures have shifted.

People can and will find ways to connect with one another – in gathering knowledge, in shopping, and in seeking entertainment. It is very difficult for companies to not only allow, but to promote these activities within the context of their brand. PR execs, merchants, marketers, and customer support representatives become listeners and matchmakers rather than mouthpieces.

On a weekly basis, I listen to companies express fear at the notion of opening up their closed sites. Brands that "get" social media are not only opening their doors and windows to fresh air, but have little choice but to accept the bugs, stench of garbage in the alley, and gusts of wind. As a marketer, wouldn't you rather know what people are actually saying? Customers recognize that companies are comprised of human beings that have personalities. They don't expect perfection. They are becoming less satisfied with the hyper-sterilized, unnatural gleam of the controlled experience. They want to roam, explore, and look under the rug. They want to connect with people. Those who feel comfortable will tell their friends, and be back again and again. Losing control can mean gaining loyal customers.

The web has evolved. And the social qualities of this evolution have the potential to help consumer and company alike.

Do you want your experience with companies to be humanized?

Invigorated by Intercourse

The 17^th Century English poet Joseph Addison wrote, "From social intercourse are derived some of the highest enjoyments of life; where there is a free interchange of sentiments the mind acquires new ideas, and by frequent exercise of its powers, the understanding gains fresh vigor."

We may now refer to intercourse as discourse, and interchange as exchange, but his words seem relevant over 300 years later. Technology has changed. Human needs and behavior have not. We are all still looking to grow, learn, and connect with others who share our "sentiment." The public square is now available in my living room.

It was just over two years ago that I was initiated into the world that is now labeled social media. As a consultant and advisor on the business value of blogs, social networking, and interpersonal technology, I immersed myself in the people, tools, and strategies that loosely comprise the social elements of web 2.0.

But I have a confession to make . . . I have not been practicing what I preach. In technographic terminology, I was a critic not a creator. While I was telling companies that social media is participatory by nature, my participation was limited to talking, reading, and critiquing. I was learning by proxy instead of learning through involvement.

I chose the name Interchanges for this blog because it represents two equally important qualities of interpersonal technology.

First, an interchange is mutual giving and receiving. Interchanging is reciprocation, intermingling; an exchange. My participation is just this: stepping more fully into social intercourse to give back and receive more. The notion that I need to keep all my best ideas to myself is counter to the open source world we live in.

Second, we are entering change. The enter-change is vast and extends far beyond the current concept of social media. The relational world of people and businesses will evolve, face new challenges, and benefit due to the socialized web. By contributing, I am no longer on the sidelines as an analyst. I'm in the game.