Marketers Studio - David Berkowitz's Marketing Blog

2008: A Year for Mobile Marketing

Advertising Age has a hype-busting story today, "Why '08 Isn't Mobile's Year -- Again." Alice Cuneo does a great job exploring five of the major issues for mobile marketing right now, including:

1. Limited reach (relative to the web)
2. Measurement hurdles
3. Complexity of running campaigns, especially ensuring they work on all platforms and devices
4. Mobile marketing being considered in a silo
5. Lack of a "hallelujah moment" for mobile

All are valid, but some are more valid than others. Here's what I submitted as a comment:

This is a great piece to counter some of the hype out there. The problem is we need to stop calling it "the year for mobile" and instead call it "a year for mobile."

Look at search marketing, for example - which was THE year for it? 2002, when AdWords launched? 2005, when it went mainstream? What was SEM's hallelujah moment? We don't need perfect answers to all five of these issues for this to be a pivotal year for mobile marketing - not THE pivotal year, just an important time in its development.

2008 is a year for mobile. There are fantastic case studies out there of successful ways marketers are using the myriad mobile marketing vehicles: SMS, WAP display ads, search, custom landing pages, games, promotions, video, and voice ads (eg ads on FREE-411). Weather.com's mobile site reports 6MM unique visitors a month, which is more unique viewers than most cable TV programs and more readers than most magazines. Toward the end of the football season, there was a three-day period where ESPN reported more visitors to the NFL section of its mobile site than that section of its website.

All five of the obstacles outlined in Ad Age are being tackled. In 2009, they'll be less of a problem than they are today, and 2010 will be better than 2009. All of these years will be "a year for mobile," just as 2006 and 2007 were; we couldn't be where we are today - even if it's not as far as some would have hoped - without the steps that came before.

Rohit Bhargava's Exclusive Interview for "Personality Not Included"

How should a blogger promote a book? With Rohit Bhargava, one way is by turning to his community of fellow bloggers in both a self-serving and altruistic act (which is, at the heart of it, what blogging's all about): he's giving bloggers exclusive interviews and some link love and publicity on his own blog in return for the PR they're giving him. Given how much a fan I've been of Rohit's ever since I first heard him speak at the first Search Insider Summit two years ago, I'm just excited to have one more reason to catch up with him.

Below's the interview, which I had a good time with, and I think you'll appreciate it even if you don't plan on reading the book (I haven't read it yet but will post a review when I do).

One request: if you do enjoy the interview, head to his blog Monday and vote for this blog to win 'best interview'; I love autographed books, and the recognition's always a plus.

The Exclusive Q&A with Rohit Bhargava

DB: You populate your book with a slew of real-world examples [evident from the book's introduction available for download]. What's one that especially fascinated you and tends to be a real eye-opener for people when you share it?

RB: There are two. The first is a story of Manga and the death of Superman that I have in the book which I think is particularly interesting.  The second is Boeing because a lot of people find it unexpected to see a big brand like that used as an example.

DB: How much has writing your blog informed your book and has writing your book informed your blog?

RB: In terms of research and finding great stories to share it has helped a lot.  If you also think of writing as a skill that you need to keep up to date in order to do effectively, it has also helped me because I am used to writing my thoughts quickly.  The one thing it didn't help with that I thought it would have was content.  Aside from my one SMO [social media optimization] post near the end of the book, I really wasn't able to repurpose ANY of my blog content for the book. 

DB: Artists always need to 'kill their babies.' Is there anything you wish you could have included but didn't, whether it's because of the length, the flow, or some other reason why it just didn't work? Why did you wind up axing it?

RB: Of course, how did you know?  There is actually a list of brands that I wanted to get into the book but just couldn't because there wasn't a perfect fit in terms of flow.  A few of those brands include Sun, Threadless and Etsy.  Luckily I will be launching a blog around the book this week called Personality Matters and will likely have a "BIWIM" section (Brands I Wish I Mentioned).

DB: If someone absolutely loves your book, what are the next three books he or she should read to dive deeper, expand their horizons, find other viewpoints, or otherwise make themselves a little smarter?

RB: Great question.  Actually, rather than just provide a short answer, I'd rather point you and your readers to an online bookstore that I created several months ago to benefit DonorsChoose.org (a charity that helps teachers get funds for projects to help their classrooms).  The site is called the Ultimate Marketing Bookstore and is at www.ultimatemarketingbookstore.com. 

DB: What kind of person did you have in mind as the audience when you wrote this book? Who were you writing it for? And, who else would appreciate it even if you weren't initially writing it for them?

RB: My main audience as I was writing it was a combination of Entrepreneurs, marketers, people working in large corporations (but not the boss), executives, and agency people.  Other audiences that I think could get something great out of the book are people who are running their own businesses but don't consider themselves either marketers or businesspeople (eg - a dentist or a lawyer).

Thanks, Rohit.

Check his blog Monday to vote on your favorite interview (quite a few of my favorite bloggers are taking part, so it won't be an easy choice for me).

Would You Follow This Person on Twitter?

One of the great democratizing forces on Twitter is getting a concise look at the stats someone's followers and who he or she is following. When you're not sure who a person is immediately, there are some heuristics you can use to figure out if they're worth following.

A dead giveaway is when someone's following a ton of people and few are following back. It's okay if there's a decent disparity - a 2:1 follower:followed ratio is perfectly normal. Yet once you start getting into 3:1 or definitely 4:1 territory, something appears off.

Would you ever follow a Twitter user with these stats?:

That's 12.5:1 follower:followed. Sure enough, the messages reeked of twitter spam. Is there any scenario where you've followed someone with numbers like this?

An aside: I'm trying to get into Twitter more these days; follow me and (assuming you're not a spammer, psychopath, or former governor) I'll follow you back.

Only in NY: Sandwich #9

The Spitzer, Eisenberg's, 5th Avenue between 22nd and 23rd Sts

Accidentally Branding Accidental Branding: Book Review

One time, I was reading Accidental Branding on the subway and two twenty-ish European women sitting by me paused to check out the book. "It's an interesting title," said the brunette.

The next day I was at UPS and a 30-something mother entered with her three-year-old. She asked to see the book, as it turned out she had Thanksgiving dinner with the author.

Later, I went to The Art of Shaving. This wasn't so accidental, as the company is prominently featured in the book as one of seven "accidental brands," which means it fits three criteria, according to author David Vinjamuri:

1. It was created by someone not trained in marketing.
2. The creator must experience the problem the brand solved (eg the co-founder of Art of Shaving experienced nasty razor burn).
3. The individual must control the brand for at least 10 years.

I was so captivated by the story of Shaving founders Myriam Zaoui and Eric Malka and so troubled over my own inability to get a decent shave that, as I was finishing the book, I took the subway to the nearest Art of Shaving store on East 62nd Street, the original store they opened. As the book hadn't been released yet, the store manager Angelo wasn't aware of it, but he was excited to glance at the chapter featuring his store. Fifteen minutes later, I learned enough from Angelo to attempt to try a new way of shaving at home, spending more than I ever have in my life on skin care products in the process.

Now, that has much more to do with the brand than the book, but it also gets to what makes the book so compelling. Vinjamuri tells seven stories of accidental brands: J. Peterman, craigslist, Clif Bar, The Art of Shaving, Columbia Sportswear, Baby Einstein, and Burt's Bees. Perhaps more than any individual brand's story, I'll remember the storytelling. Each story's told with affection, and the tone shifts ever so slightly for each one, from the wilderness of Peterman to the trailblazing Clif Bar to the high class shaving to the bucolic Burt's Bees.

And then again, I'm just falling for a trap. The brand's founders are the stars of nearly every page of the book, and their personalities, as captured by Vinjamuri, shoot of this magnetism.

This is not a how-to book. Yes, there is some advice up front to tie it all together, six characteristics of accidental brands and their creators. While that's necessary in a business book and the book would feel lacking without it, one can understand why he puts it up front and keeps the afterward brief. You get your formal education out of the way, and then you get to really learn from experience - the experience of the accidental branders.

Entrepreneurs will find the most inspiration here, as will most in the marketing field. The storytelling merits an even wider audience.

You won't need this to complete your MBA or successfully run a marketing department, but you may well find some added inspiration to keep doing what you're doing, or perhaps pursue a passion of yours with more zeal than you've had before.

Google's Mobile Discovery Engine

Here's today's column, with more discussion at MediaPost. It's the second in a row that addresses mobile, and you can expect more on the way. If you're doing anything interesting in the mobile space, send a line, whether or not it's directly connected to mobile search.

Google, I'm convinced, is not in the search business after all. It's in the business of screwing up my column predictions.

Last week, I concluded, "In 2011, mobile search spending may only represent 5% of search spending, but that in turn may be the 5% that matters most for those consumers." So what does Google do? It launches a mobile discovery engine.

The site, google.com/m/lcb, was discovered by ZDNet's Garett Rogers and then covered on Adam Broitman's blog. It's perhaps most comparable to Yahoo circa the mid-‘90s, with a link-populated directory about certain topics, and all the topics here being local areas (a commenter on ZDNet noted that "lcb" likely stands for "location-based"). Even without mobile Internet access, you can try out Google LCB on the Web at the above link, where it functions like the mobile version.

The idea behind LCB is to make it as easy as possible to drill down by browsing without fumbling on a keypad. No matter how well Apple and others improve phones' usability (I'm generally pleased with the mini slide-out QWERTY keyboard on my Samsung i760), typing on a full-size keyboard will always be faster. It's going to be a long time before the Millennials who are growing up texting will completely overtake the mobile market; we in the 25-and-up crowd aren't dying off just yet, and we're still paying most of the Millennials' phone bills.

8 Ways Job Hunters Can Use LinkedIn's Company Profiles

One of the best job hunting resources just launched on LinkedIn: company profiles (thanks to the LinkedIn blog and Jeremiah for the heads up). It tells you so much information about potential employers that it can make your job research so much more productive. Here are seven ways to do it.

1. Check out the parent or subsidiary company, if applicable. Understand where a company fits in within the corporate hierarchy. Research them, and pay attention to similarities and differences. Consider applying to one of the other companies if it's a better fit, if you know someone better at another, or for any other reason.


2. See where people go before and after. It's not a perfect sample, as this only represents what people declare in LinkedIn, but the sample size is tremendous for many industries now. You can also see if you have friends at one of these other companies to see if they have any thoughts on why people are going to or from there, and you can also try to understand why there's a connection (eg an agency may be feeding lots of talent to a major publisher they do business with, or many of the people who came from another agency actually arrived via an acquisition).


3. Research the top locations. Would you be willing to relocate? If so, they may have different needs in different offices, or they may be trying to relocate some of their existing staff already. Use your flexibility as another asset.


4. View the popular profiles and Google them. They may be influential in the company or the industry, so whether or not you interview with them, you'll gain points dropping names that you saw them quoted, speaking at an event, or doing a drunken holiday party dance on YouTube.


5. View the common job titles. If you're open to such a position, whether or not they're hiring, it means there are more likely to be openings in that area.


6. Did you go to any of the top schools they hire from? Run an advanced search to see which people went there just in case you can meet them, name drop, or make a reference to a college sports team rivalry.
   
7. Consider employees' ages, median tenure, and common job titles, but the LinkedIn sample size, age of the company, and industry can all be major factors influencing this. Other suggestions on this list are more universal.


8. For singles, check out the gender split and median age. If they're young and disproportionately your preferred gender for dating, consider the job perks. If you're into younger women, consider a career in PR where you can choose from Burson-Marsteller (65% female, average age 29), Weber Shandwick (64%, 29), Porter Novelli (67%, 31), Edelman (65%, 29), Fleishman-Hillard (65%, 30), Hill & Knowlton (63%, 30), or Ogilvy PR (65%, 30).

Two postscripts:

1. If you're considering new opportunities, send your resume my way at dberkowitz [at] 360i [dot] com as 360i (my employer, albeit unaffiliated with this blog) is always looking for the best folks in the business to join in a number of roles. The fact that you're reading this blog means you must be brilliant, or you have brilliant friends who forwarded this to you. See our openings in New York and Atlanta.


2. Now that all of 360i's senior management will see this post in the news alerts, I'll note publicly I'm not using LinkedIn in any of the ways described above, though the company pages do fascinate me for corporate stalking.

Personalizing Politics with Logobama

I know I'm not the first one to cover it, but I love Logobama, where people can take ownership of the iconic Obama logo. Truly anyone can make their own design...

Color Coding: Crayon Video from Sesame Street on YouTube

Noah Brier posted a link (not a full post) to a memorable Sesame Street video now on YouTube that shows how crayons are made. There's something about it that made it one of the most memorable clips I saw on TV as a kid.

I'll also share two thoughts that I noted on Noah's blog:

1. There were a few steps there done manually that have to be automated by now. Would we even see people in today's version?
2. I'm SO relieved they never did a similar segment on bacon.

A Lesson from Garfield: Kill Your Protagonist

Courtesy of the print edition of Entertainment Weekly (yes, print media has its value - it's just not as easily sharable) comes a brilliant experiment: Garfield Minus Garfield.

Here's how it's described:

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb.

I've included a couple favorites below, but there are dozens of examples, and it's updated regularly. It's also the best use I've seen of Tumblr (the Twitter / Jaiku / Pownce microblogging service).