Read more about : (matching categories Word of Mouth Magic ) Posted by Bolaji Oyejide,May 6th, 2009
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Traditional marketing was built around crowds.
Building a middle-of-the-road product that would appeal to the largest possible number of people. Putting the product in as many channels as possible.
And yelling as loudly as possible about the product.
To whomever would listen.
Procter & Gamble pioneered a new type of marketing -
Targeting its audiences through soap operas and other innovative means of outreach.
But mass marketing was still the medium. It was still a behemoth of a company, having a one-way monologue with its audience.
The difference between a crowd and a tribe is in the connection.
Read more about : (matching categories Word of Mouth Magic ) Posted byBolaji Oyejide,March 28th, 2009
“Tiffany’s sells the box, not the jewelry. Are you selling the Tiffany’s box (scarce), or the Tiffany’s jewelry (common)?
You have to decide if you want to sell the story and emotions, or the features and logic.”
– Seth Godin
The point here is this. Whatever widgets you make… there are a thousand other businesses that can duplicate them.
That can make them a little better.
Or less good. But cheaper.
Competing on features is a hamster wheel. You’ll forever be running from your shadow. Trying to outdo leapfrog the competition that just leapfrogged you.
Not that you shouldn’t have good features. Tiffany jewelry is top-notch, of course.
But once you have the right feature set to meet your customers’ needs… focus on the story. Better yet - determine what the story should be BEFORE YOU BUILD THE PRODUCT.
As we make our way through these uncharted recession waters, the temptation will be to compete on price. To provide more service, work more hours, give more and more features.
Don’t.
Go back to the essence of why you are serving this particular customer.
The Blue Sweater is the inspiring personal memoir of a woman who has spent her life on a quest to understand global poverty and to find powerful new ways of tackling it.
From her first stumbling efforts as a young idealist venturing forth in Africa to the creation of the trailblazing organization she runs today, Jacqueline Novogratz brings us a series of insightful stories and unforgettable characters.
From women dancing in a Nairobi slum, to unwed mothers starting a bakery, to courageous survivors of the Rwandan genocide, to entrepreneurs building services for the poor against impossible odds.
She shows, in ways both hilarious and heartbreaking, how traditional charity often fails, but how a new form of philanthropic investing called “patient capital” can help make people self-sufficient and change millions of lives.
More than just an auto-biography or a how-to guide to tackling poverty, this book challenges us to grant dignity to the poor and to rethink our engagement with the world.
I plan to review Jacqueline’s book, as poverty eradication is of huge interest to me.
Questions and Actions:
What’s the latest idea worth spreading that you’ve come across?
Who’s opinion matters more - close friends, twitter friends, bloggers, or Oprah?
Now here’s the key: You may think your niche is too small. That’s conventional wisdom.
And conventional wisdom is most often, wrong. It just takes most of us forever to catch up to that reality.
In case you don’t know, Seth Godin is the leading marketing author these days. He’s writes one major Marketing book every year. And is the founder of Squidoo.
I have learned volumes from being involved in his pre book launch social networking group, Triiibes.com… I’ll be sharing a lot of what I learned with you all in the coming weeks.
See page 31: Awon Boys Club. See page 199: United States of Assimilation.
Read more about : (matching categories Word of Mouth Magic ) Posted byBolaji Oyejide,October 14th, 2008
What’s your frame of reference?
People naturally compare any new thing they see to something familiar.
For example: After years of languishing on the fringes of obscurity, for example, Apple’s Mac computers have vaulted to new heights, with these comparison ads.
But don’t assume that Seth is suggesting you make incremental improvements.
While a buzzworthy product must be to understand, use, and explain…
A buzzworthy product must also be remarkable.
Now there’s a challenge.
Be different.
But have a familiar narrative.
Don’t tell me: “My product is like the [frame of reference], but with more X, better Y, and greater Z.”
(Yawn.)
Coke and Pepsi have beaten up on each other for years. With few gains made on either side.
Then Red Bull swooped into the market and created an entire new category.
Familiar doesn’t have to mean incremental.
If you’re creating something memorable, you’re not building in features that people ask for.
You’re 3 steps ahead of that phase.
You’re building in benefits that you anticipate people needing. Benefits they haven’t expressed yet.
Example: Walkman vs iPod. Bad frame of reference.
It’s why using a Walkman as a frame of reference for an iPod is inadequate.
A better frame of reference for an iPod would be… “a portable home theater for your ear drums.”
That’s because it’s not just music.
It’s virtually unlimited music.
Plus podcasts, audio books, and subscriptions to audio content you find appealing.
Oh. And plus recommendations of other audio content you may like.
The sky’s the limit.
Walkman?
Ha. Not even close.
Example: Ning.com vs Tree house. Good frame of reference.
The web site Ning.com is described as “creating your own Facebook”.
Is better than:
“Ning is a do-it-yourself social networking application builder, that allows you to create membership web sites. Ning provides rich features like personal profiles, blogs, discussion forums, video posting, what-you-see-is-what-you-get editing, and others.”
You want a frame of reference to things usually unrelated to your product category. So an even better frame of reference for Ning would be:
“Ning is like an instant virtual tree house. For your favorite people.”
So - provide a familiar frame of reference. But don’t use that as a reason to be “Like the competition, only better.” Be remarkable. But easy to relate to.
Better isn’t buzz-worthy.
Better doesn’t generate word-of-mouth.
Better is the new boring.
Instead, make your frame of reference an oxymoron.
And watch the whisper campaign about your product bloom.
Read more about : (matching categories Word of Mouth Magic ) Posted byBolaji Oyejide,September 8th, 2008
How many of you remember Cracker Jacks?
I heard on the radio yesterday that Cracker Jack free prizes have become collector’s items. With some going for THOUSANDS of dollars!!
In the bestseller Free Prize Inside, author Seth Godin suggests that today’s companies can’t afford difficult and risky technological innovation. These complex projects are notorious for being late, over-budget, and short on meeting promised deliverables. The Return On Investment (ROI) falls short.
He also suggests that you can’t afford to spend HUGE amounts on advertising. Again, the ROI doesn’t justify the expense.
The solution? Seth says you can profit all day long with CHEAP INNOVATIONS that have a significant ROI. He calls this the FREE PRIZE INSIDE.
According to Seth a FREE PRIZE is a secondary product benefit so remarkable, that it drives word-of-mouth, and drives sales. Invest in these, instead of running huge media buys, or huge IT projects.
So you already have a product you’re proud of. How do you create a FREE PRIZE inside? Something secondary that will be so remarkable, it will drive word-of-mouth, and sales?
Some of Seth’s examples include:
FedEx truck mailing slots (drop your mail into any parked FedEx truck you see!)
As you can see, none of these are terribly complex or expensive for the company to implement. But by observing customers, finding out what they could use, you can build a cheap free prize inside.
The beauty of these soft, cheap innovations is that if they don’t work, you haven’t spent a lot of money! Scrap the idea, and try another one.
So. Go buy a box of Cracker Jacks. Reminisce on your childhood. And let that inspire you to create your first free prize inside.
Thanks for reading this blog in its entirety! To show our gratitude, here are some free prizes inside!
Did you know:
My favorite hidden track of all time, Lauryn Hill’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” on the 1999 MisEducation of Lauryn Hill, was nominated for a Grammy.
First time that ever happened with a hidden track. How’s that for a free prize inside?
Note: Seth Godin’s book, Free Prize inside, was sold in what looked like a mini-cereal box.
Bolaji Oyejide,March 28th, 2009
How many of you remember Cracker Jacks?
The solution? Seth says you can profit all day long with CHEAP INNOVATIONS that have a significant ROI. He calls this the FREE PRIZE INSIDE.
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