What You Can Learn from the Leno Shuffle

January 11, 2010

Jay Leno hosted daily nighttime talk show, The Tonight Show for 17 years. Like previous hosts before him, he retired and passed the torch on to a successor, Conan O’Brien. There was however, a twist. Leno was not going to retire to a life of leisure and golf but to a nightly hour long variety show that would air 1 1/2 hours before his “old show.”  NBC thought that Leno’s new show was a bold move that would change the 10 pm viewing hour instead a mere 4 months into the new show, it is being pulled.

The latest news is that Leno’s show will be revamped as a half hour show that will air at 11:35 pm, and The Tonight Show will move to 12:05.  I have a feeling that someone at NBC will be in the job market very soon.

The Leno/Tonight Show saga is not unlike what happens in corporations. Fresh talent and new leadership is brought in but the old regime does not step aside to let them build their audience. NBC falsely assumed that the popular Leno could usher in a new format in the final primetime hour. The network would have a much cheaper show to produce and would leverage Leno’s brand to win viewers. Poor Conan O’Brien never had the opportunity to rise or fall on his own merits. He was given the spotlight and then left to meander in the shadow of the former host.

Passing the torch cannot be a half-hearted move. You must make the change and stand by it allowing the new team  to make the “show” their own. They may fail as they find their way but you guarantee their failure when you hamstring them from having their moment to try.

When it’s time to step aside, pass the torch graciously and then get out of the way. The new team will not do things in the same way or make the same decisions, but isn’t that the point? A great leader not only knows when to step up but when to step down.

Have you ever had to pass the torch? Was it difficult to hand over the reins?

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Merry Christmas!

December 24, 2009

Well, the week whizzed by and today is Christmas Eve. Yes, I’m still in denial but did not want to miss the opportunity to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas! I hope that your holiday is filled with love and laughter. If you are taking a break until year end, I wish you much peace and joy and a wonderful new beginning.

I am so blessed this year to have had an opportunity to connect with so many wonderful people online. For each person who has dropped by, subscribed, commented, debated, laughed, tweeted and Facebooked with me – thank you from the bottom of my heart. I treasure your every contribution and appreciate you. I hope that you receive the very best gifts this season of love, peace and joy!

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Posts I loved this week:

Brad Shorr makes merry

Joanna Young let’s it snow

Who is your patient zero?

Santa Master Project Manager

Match(.com) Your Way to a New Job

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Why Pretty Good May Be Really Good for Your Business

December 7, 2009

In a post on Monday Brad Shorr demonstrated how understated marketing is better received than grandiose claims. The example he used was a large sign that advertised Really Good Jerky. You can read his full post here.

As Brad pointed out, had the sign said “World’s Best” it may not have been as memorable, but the simplicity of the message made it more authentic.

For the past several days, I have thought about that post in relation to my own personal brand. I am much more comfortable with describing myself as a “pretty good writer” or “really good marketer.” Ironically, the descriptions that do not make me cringe, defy the rules of writing to kill unnecessary adverbs.

The corporate marketer would be encouraged to use “best in class” or “best in region.” The sales person would simply go for “World’s Greatest!” I have been both but shy away from those trade tendencies when it becomes personal.

Yet, the language that breaks the rules of all the disciplines I’ve worked in is ironically the most comfortable. If it is comfortable for me to use, it will undoubtedly resonate with my “right people.”

In our race to dominate our niche and stake our claim on the mountain, we may revert to language that is robust and powerful. Yet that very language may cause our target audience to mistrust our message and us.

There are however, exceptions. If you have earned the title share it. If you are a bestselling author, or the world’s leading expert on gene therapy, you would be a fool not to use it in your marketing.

If you business provides life saving or mission critical services, “pretty good” won’t cut it. No one wants a fairly good surgeon, a pretty safe airplane or a lab that gets it right most of the time. The nature of your business has a great deal to do with the language you choose to promote it.

For many of us though, really good is more than good enough.

Do you prefer simple claims or the more powerful “best” claims? Does your preference vary depending on what is being advertised?

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The World’s Not Small It’s Just Sliced Really Thin

October 26, 2009

We often remark how much smaller the world has become.  Technology has facilitated our ability to seamlessly connect with people around the globe. Social media has added a new depth to this ability by allowing us to connect around common points of interests.

Yet, while the world seems small, it is vast and largely unexplored.

Only a small percentage of the world’s  population travels with regularity around the globe. It is both impractical and cost prohibitive for most people, but is the not the primary reason for the limitation. We are creatures of habit. We may venture out of our comfort zones on occasion but even the adventurer follows a predictable pattern.

Online, the limitations and boundaries are removed and still we confine ourselves to one little part of the globe. The cyberworld is not small it is huge but highly segmented into tiny little pieces.

We find micro communities or tribes based on interests, activities and hobbies and we settle into a comfortable networking community. Our tiny little segment seems big because it’s populated with people from around the globe. We marvel at our ability to connect across cultures, time zones and languages as we join virtual hands to sing “We are the world.”

We venture out from our big, tiny world on occasion but we return back to the familiar with predictable regularity.

I happen to be fond of tribes as a human and marketer, but I am not blind to the downside of tribal affinity. Tribes make it easy to get caught in an echo chamber where perception is mistaken as fact. You can fall into the belief that others understand the language, and share the same beliefs as the tribe.

The tribe can dull your senses and stunt your innovation. Without realizing it your world shrinks to the size of your tribe. You see the same topics discussed, products pushed and methods used by members of the tribe and your mind concludes that this is the way of everyone. Welcome to the echo chamber.

Luckily, there is an easy fix.  Go visit other cultures. You will find that a simple change of internet scenery will expose you to a whole new group of people with their own language, and tribal traditions.

You may find that the change of conversation will spark new ideas and enable you to see your business challenges and triumphs in a new way. You may even find a previously untapped market eager for what you have to offer.

Tribes are good except when they’re not. Get out and see the world, after all online it’s virtually free.

Have you ever found yourself caught in the echo chamber? How did it affect your views and decisions?

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Fruity Marketing Lessons

October 19, 2009

A California grocer recalled several cartons of Del Monte Cantaloupe because it may be contaminated with salmonella. I read  the story and realized I don’t spend much time thinking about Cantaloupe. In fact, I could not have been counted on to tell you Del Monte produced cantaloupe.

Imagine being a brand that fades into the background of consumers’ minds until it is placed front and center by negative news.  I do associate Del Monte with certain fruit but now I will remember they also grow cantaloupe. In the short term, I will also remember the association with salmonella.

When it comes to food, I care about organic, environmentally safe and locally grown. There are brands I associate with my food values but all the others just become fruit in the bins.

Do your consumers care about your brand or are you just one of many choices? Are they turning over the fruit looking for your label or just choosing whatever is convenient? Would it take a problem or bad news for your brand to be visible or do they know and love you now?

I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be the Del Monte of cantaloupe.

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FTC Guidelines on Endorsements and Testimonials

October 7, 2009

The internet is buzzing with the pros and cons of FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, 16 CFR Part 255, Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.  You can read the full text by downloading the PDF .

The revised guides are effective December 1, 2009 – Merry Christmas from the U.S. Government.

While many have focused on the impact on bloggers who do product reviews, the guides cover television, hidden camera endorsements, expert endorsements and much more.

A few things that caught my eye:

“Results not typical” statements are no longer acceptable. The FTC tested the statements and found that the disclaimer was ineffective.  You should report the general results not the outliers.

You can be liable for making false statements, even if you’re reading a script.

We may never see another celebrity endorser. Lesser known working actors can rejoice, because there may be a few more roles for you to play. Celebrity endorsers must disclose a paid relationship whether they are talking about a product on a talk show, on their personal blog or website or in a company sponsored ad.

Advertisers and bloggers are held responsible for misleading statements. Advertisers must train and monitor bloggers doing reviews. Note the text below that follows one of the many detailed examples (Example 5) in the guide:

“In order to limit its potential liability, the advertiser should ensure that the advertising service provides guidance and training to its bloggers concerning the need to ensure that statements they make are truthful and substantiated. The advertiser should also monitor bloggers who are being paid to promote its products and take steps necessary to halt the continued publication of deceptive representations when they are discovered.”

Experts must exercise their expertise in comparing products and offering testimonials. Many information marketers  use testimonials and endorsements from “experts”  in their product advertisements. This too is being held to a new standard:

“…the expert must have concluded that, with respect to those features on which he or she is expert and which are relevant and available to an ordinary consumer, the endorsed product is at least equal overall to the competitors’ products. Moreover, where the net impression created by the endorsement is that the advertised product is superior to other products with respect to any such feature or features, then the expert must in fact have found such superiority.”

The FTC uses very specific examples to point out acceptable actions and those that will be called into question.  If Tiger Woods endorses a golf club, he is held to a different standard because he is a well known celebrity who is associated with golf. A spokesperson doing the same endorsement not associated with golf is held to different standards.

Before reading the guides, I believed the issue to be as simple as disclosing financial relationships.  After reading them, it will impact my actions going forward in providing testimonials and endorsements.

Have you read the guidelines? If so, do you have any concerns or is this a good thing?

By the way, I was not paid to write this post!

Related articles:

• FTC to Fine Bloggers up to $11,000 for Not Disclosing Payments (mashable.com)
• FTC: Bloggers, celebrities beware! (money.cnn.com)
• FTC to bloggers: Fess up or pay up (news.cnet.com)
• Potential FTC Fines Raise Big Blogging Questions (webpronews.com)

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Crazy Colors, Level Doors and Life Lessons

October 5, 2009

I had a dream this weekend that Joanna Young sold me her house. It was under construction with half finished rooms and much of the roof missing. Somehow I had bought the contraption house and was happily living in it while completing construction.

Joanna came to visit and I showed her around, eventually leading her to the master bedroom. The room had a huge bed, a big screen TV and a tub with a seating area in front of it. We sat on the huge bed, me cross legged and grinning and Joanna prim and proper.

“I hate this bedroom, that’s why I sold the house, ” Joanna stated as she involuntarily shuddered.

“We fixed the door, see it’s level and smooth now,” I said beaming with pride, immune to her criticism.

For a few moments we both sat looking at the neon green door that looked like glowing slime, with two windows on either side painted the same color. Still grinning I looked around the room at dark blue walls and the red seating area in front of the tub.

In the light of day I was both mortified and tickled at the realization that I must have a dormant tacky gene that haunts me in sleep. Once I got past the horror of my color scheme, I reflected on the 5 lessons of the dream.

Lesson #1: I am apparently blissfully happy as long as I have a bed, bathtub, and TV even if the color scheme would make a sane person puke. Scary but true.

Lesson #2: The house did not work for Joanna but I found happiness there. My face beamed with joy surrounded by all my tacky colors and half finished house. When Joanna blatantly stated her dislike, it would have been easy to lose my enthusiasm and agree with someone whose opinion I deeply respect. How often in life do we shy away from doing things a certain way because someone smarter, popular or more successful has spoken against it? We may begin to doubt our judgment or ability to make it work when someone “better” could not.

Lesson #3: The color scheme and much of the house needed work but I was able to celebrate the accomplishment of a level door. It is easy to miss what you have already accomplished when you are sitting in the middle of a half finished house. Take a moment and give yourself a pat on the back for what’s been done. That small task is one less thing on your to-do list.

Lesson #4:  The colors may not make sense to someone else but they are YOUR colors. It’s tempting to stay with safe, proven color schemes. You will blend right in and no one will point and laugh but safe colors are precisely that safe. Own your tacky, putrid, neon colors,let ‘em fly! Those colors are your distinction, they are what makes you unique. I would rather be flying my quirky neon flag than trying to compete with the millions of safe colors in the crayon box.

Lesson #5: Visiting with friends always makes you happy even if you’re visiting in a room that one of you detests.

Are you proudly sporting your unique colors or playing it safe? Why or why not?

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Rip the Veil or Close the Blinds?

September 30, 2009

“On one hand access to more is terrific, more info, more options, more entertainment, more flexibility, fewer gatekeeping restrictions….. on the other hand, access to more is like a train wreck of distasteful and tacky come to town, hell bent on leaving it’s mark and lifting its skirt…a lost weekend of things we just really don’t need to know…but some how…watch anyway…”–Janice Cartier

The conversations around transparency have been rich with examples and thoughtful insights. As Janice Cartier, so colorfully observed, a little too much transparency can make us all blush with shame even as we continue to watch in abject horror.

For some this kind of transparency has become a brand that they have leveraged with success. There are many who put it all on full display, and continue to command attention, while others lose position when we get even a peek behind half closed blinds.

It is clear that there is no universal standard for transparency. We want to pull down the curtain and see the wizard in certain areas and in others we’d rather continue to believe in magic.

In The Transparent Leader, authors Herb Baum and Tammy Kling address transparency in business. They share case studies and successes from companies that developed an “open culture.” Transparency did not equate to “telling it all” but honestly communicating at all levels about issues related to the company. The book acknowledged that business leaders must balance that openness with a certain amount of filtering.

Heather Villa shared how she filters her own open communication:

“I won’t talk about my religious beliefs, my political views, my intimate relationships, or anything else highly controversial or personal. I believe those types of discussions are meant for your immediate family (if not completely personal) and is ‘too much’ transparency.”

Heather is a business owner active in social media. She shares business and personal information but has wisely developed filters for her transparency. In her case, she realizes that too much transparency can be polarizing and may damage current and prospective relationships with customers.

From those in positions of power, we demand a higher standard of excellence. We take joy in the glimpses of transparency but if the blinds are opened too far we lose respect for their position. We like to think of them as “everyman” or “everywoman” but we don’t want them to prove it.

“We have all the tools to publish what happens at every moment in our lives, but we lack the wisdom and experience to edit all that rough draft and make something interesting.”– Jamie Grove

“…airing our dirty laundry to everyone is a little dangerous, and possibly a little over-indulgent.”–Conor

Jamie and Conor aptly point out that exercising a little editing with our transparency is wise. We really don’t have to tell it all. We can tell what is relevant, and even share a little that’s not, but exposing it all can be dangerous and alienating and as Conor noted a little over-indulgent.

Fred Schlegel offered a chilling reality: “Since there really is no way to limit what is public about our lives, we must put in place rules on how the more powerful entities use that info. Sorry to get all George Orwell on ya, but the public info is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Perhaps some believe that they will take charge of the illusion of privacy by ripping down their own veil. I know what’s behind that curtain and I’m determined to hang on to the false illusion of a little mystery for as long as I possibly can.

Does the amount of information shared change your level of respect for a person? Is the boundary the same for everyone or does it depend on other factors?

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The Trend of Transparency

September 28, 2009

Have we pushed the boundaries so far that we have crossed the line from transparency to indecency? On December 23, 2004, President Bush signed the Video Voyeurism Prevention Act of 2004 into law. In less than a decade, we have gone from being outraged by secret videotaping to willingly sharing our own secrets in every available medium.

Between blogs, YouTube and Reality television, nothing is left to the imagination. I don’t know about you but I could live knowing a little less about everyone’s private lives. People date, marry, get pregnant, have children, divorce, fight addictions and illnesses in full view of cameras. The allure of mystery has given way to the fashion of telling it all to everyone and if you’re lucky you may profit from your effort.

“One man’s transparency is another’s humiliation.” –Gerry Adams

This need to “tell all” is not confined to entertainment but has changed how we share information at every level. News reports provide gruesome and unnecessary details about crimes exposing victims and their families to further pain. We demand accountability from the business world but hold ourselves to different standards as customers and employees as we share our perspectives, opinions and ideas without censure.

Don’t get me wrong, this blog and my other social media activities validate that I am an active contributor and participant in new media. I am not a sideline observer but one fully in the echo chamber questioning our use and participation. I applaud the ability to share information, resources, and yes, opinions but openness is not without consequence. Though our current culture seems to suggest otherwise, I still believe that we have responsibility for our words and actions.

Let’s examine it this week. What do you think, have we gone too far or not far enough?

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Creepy Strangers and Bad Sales Tactics

September 21, 2009

In the community where I live, our mail is delivered to a community mailbox, rather than to individual homes. The daily trip to pick up the mail is an opportunity to have small chat with your neighbors. On one recent mail trip, I arrived at the same time as a new neighbor. We exchanged pleasantries as we each went to our boxes to gather mail.

A conveniently placed trash receptacle at the boxes makes it easy to sort your mail and discard unwanted pieces.  I moved toward the receptacle just as she was closing her own box and walking toward the curb. “If you know anyone who needs a babysitter, I live right there,” she said pointing at a corner home. In case I had missed the pointing, she recited the address. A little dumbstruck, I think I must have nodded and smiled and muttered okay. She went on to tell me that she was retired and now cares for children. We bid each other a good day and moved toward home.

She did not introduce herself even after the sales pitch. Should I simply tell friends to show up at her home and trust she was not a serial killer?

In sales and marketing, we have learned that people buy from people that they like and trust. However, those are steps 2 and 3. Before like and trust, there is “know.” This poor woman had skipped right to trust without establishing the basics. Many people commit the same sin daily in their marketing or networking efforts.

On Twitter, people auto DM a sales message upon following. In web copy, companies skip right to “buy now” without a proper introduction. They ask for trust but provide no basis to do so.

Does selling always require relationship? No. When you have the answer to an immediate or urgent need, or there are no other competitors, the sales process is very different. However, even companies with a monopoly will do far better by treating customers as if they have a choice. (Cable and utility companies take note.)

When you skip the all crucial “know” you are sending a message that your potential customers are not important. They are fresh prospects that serve to help you hit your profit margin. Your ideal customer is anyone with the ability to pay. Is that the message you really want to send?

Last week, Joanna Young provided tips on writing with intention and possibility and her tips on pacing and leading is perfect for the sales process:

If you’re writing to open up a sense of possibility in another person, you’ll need to do a little work to take them there. You can’t thrown them straight in.

I like to think of it as walking along a road with someone: you want them to get comfortable with your pace, your rhythm, your presence, before you start to do anything more dramatic.

If you take the time to lead verbally and in writing, rather than rushing head long into the sales process, you will experience better results and create longer-term relationships with your clients.

Do you prefer to get to know a person/company before moving to the sales process? What are triggers that make you feel better about going from stranger to potential customer?

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