When Brands start doing this I hope people remember who did it first.

*Please Note* I have launched a new home for my blog at http://saul.is/ I will keep cross posting here for a little while but please update your bookmarks or click on the link an subscribe to the new rss feed.

So I hope you have noticed the new look here at Saul.is (and I will write about that in the next blog post) but there is something pretty special that you may have not noticed yet…and I expect to be copied.

The thing that is so special, imho, is the url. Ya see I went with a “.is” extention (from Iceland if you are keeping score) so I could create blog posts like this one with the url www.saul.is/a-genius or even better full pages of this site that are as clear as day to what they are like www.saul.is/speaking (for my speaking career) or www.saul.is/consulting (for my side projects) and I have plans to add hundreds of pages of things that will entertain and amaze.

Pretty clever huh? Now imagine what a big brand could do with this? www.wwe.is/protecting-the-environment or www.bmw.is/the-ultimate-driving-machine or even www.coke.is/it The possibilites are endless and with the number of .com’s getting almost impossible to find I would not be surprised if this becomes more popular…so please just remember where you saw it first!

How to Create Offline Word of Mouth Marketing.

I am lucky because I get invited to speak at conferences all over North America. I speak on a couple topics (Entrepreneurship, Customer Service, and Social Media) but my favorite is always creating Word of Mouth Marketing. Here is a little talk I gave at the Word of Mouth SuperGenius Conference brought to you by the good folks at Gaspedal.

How to Create Offline Word of Mouth -- presented by Saul Colt from GasPedal on Vimeo.

If you found this interesting you can do one of three things.

1- Tell a friend or post it somewhere.

2- Invite me to speak somewhere...you won't be disappointed!

3- Buy a ticket to the next SuperGenius conference in New York City in July and hear me deliver a brand new talk (since I can't do this one again) about creating "WOM With No Budget!"

7 ways to make an impact at an event like SXSW

It has been a long time since I did a good ole' fashioned "Look how smart I am" blog post so I figured this was as good as time as any. Regular readers to this here blog know that a few weeks ago I spent a week in Austin, TX for SXSW Interactive but not many people know what I actually did there. Hopefully if you attended the event you know since this post is sort of a step by step explanation of how I got the word of Thoora.com out to the people attending the conference but for those not there I have put together this 7 ways to make an impact at a conference. This won't work for everything but hopefully this gets you thinking a little differently towards how to promote a brand at an event.

#1 Custom Thoora Newspapers - Every great shopping mall has a large anchor store like a Macy's or whatever and developing a plan to stunt an event is no different. You need something that is large and interesting followed by a lot of little things that connect people's minds back to your big thing. Our big endeavor this year was creating fully customized newspapers based on the top ten stories of the day (gathered from Thoora.com) including a full page of original comic strips each day as well as an ad for the speaking panel I hosted (see #5). When I say these were custom I mean it. Every evening (starting around 2am) we created a completely new paper that got printed in the morning so they could be distributed that same day/evening...and by delivered I mean our team slid them under the doors of every hotel (in the sxsw area) we could before getting kicked out and told not to come back. Yes at last count we were warned by 6 hotels but that was cool because the fact that we were warned and removed became part of the story of our stunt.

#2 Uniform (and the ever important Shoes) - The best lessons I learned from Joey Ramone and Pee Wee Herman are that people respect a uniform.

For SXSW I wore the same thing for the entire week. Sure I had multiples so I didn't offend people fragrance wise but it was important that every photo that was taken of me and any casual glance from someone in the hallway counted as a brand touch (different from a bad touch) because as a new brand I was looking to build awareness as well as get the point across that I am with a new company and let my wardrobe act as a silent salesperson for Thoora....also it didn't hurt that my uniform was awesome!

#3 Canadian Breakfast - 11% of all attendees of SXSW were Canadian. On top of that 61% of all stats are made up. Made up numbers aside there are a lot of Canadians attending this event so we decided to host a little breakfast full of Maple Syrup and beaver jokes. The purpose of the breakfast really was just to do something nice and to get together with friends and make some new ones in the name of our flag but it was also an inexpensive way to make some people feel special and deliver a new reason for conversation around our brand and what we are doing at Thoora.com

#4 Hand to Hand Combat - The phrase "hand-to-hand" indicates unarmed combat but I like to think of it as advanced networking. You can do all sorts of stunts and cool things but if you don't follow up with a conversation or let people attach a face to something your stunts will lack the final piece of the equation. Going to SXSW is "the" single most fun thing I do all year because I get to do stuff like I am writing about as well as see friends but on top of all of that I make it my goal to speak to EVERY single person at the conference. I admit this isn't possible but I do want every person touched by my presence in some way and I work tirelessly to accomplish this.

#5 Community Panel - I have been very fortunate to speak at SXSW every year I have attended. This year I hosted a panel on Community Management: The Future Skills You Will Need" I was joined by Sarah Prevette (Sprouter.com), Justin Thorp (AddThis.com), Amber Naslund (Radian6), Seamus Condron (formerly of MediaBistro) and Andres Glusman (Meetup.com) and dare I say we had a great discussion. The room was packed, so much so that people were turned away, and the lucky ones that did get a seat were not only treated to over an hour of interesting information but everyone was given a the very same Thoora.com (see #2) t-shirt I wore during the talk on their way out.

#6 #PepsiRefresh - Sometimes when I am telling a joke I like to take people on a long journey that doesn't always deliver the impact at the punch line that it would if you just took the direct route. I know this and still do it because I am maybe not looking for an immediate laugh but something a little bigger. This is the quickest way to explain why when asked what the HashTag for the Community Management Panel (see #5) I chose it to be #pepsirefresh. Funny right? OK so here are the real reasons I did it.

• It made people scratch their head and ask why I did it and that resulted in 5 extra seconds of thinking about what possible connection there was between Thoora and Pepsi (and thinking about Thoora at all)
• There was a HUGE screen in the Pepsi Booth (at the entrance of the conference center) showing all mentions of the Pepsi Refresh project and this was my way of bringing our panel outside of our room and allowing the people downstairs to follow it as well.
• It is funny to me (here is the delayed punch line) to think that when Pepsi's PR agency reports back to Pepsi on all their twitter mentions there will be 100+ about our panel, our panelists and of course Thoora and through confusion they will be exposed to a new brand.
• Finally, I think the Pepsi Refresh project is a great initiative. I admire Bonin Bough (one of the people behind it) and this gave me a reason to be able to include it in my wrap up email post.

#7 Open your bedroom to strangers - I always say the best way to deliver a message is through a good old fashioned kidnapping! Well society and the police disagree so the next best thing is to allow people to willingly stay with you. Through a series of events I was asked if someone from a major media outlet could stay with me for a night. After weighing the opportunity of getting Thoora on this outlet to the chance of me being brutally killed in my sleep, I said yes. Well long story short I had a gentleman stay with me for a night, didn't die but much to my surprise the stranger I let stay with me wasn't the person who was supposed to be there. Yes, I had the wrong total stranger in my room.

Why am I telling you this?

To be honest...I'm telling everyone :)

Please note that all the photo's in this post were taken from other people who felt the impact of these events and were not staged in any way...except the business card pict. That one was staged but I assure you that no business cards were harmed in the taking of the picture.

Great News!! You Don't Need to "Engage" Customers Anymore!!!

I am writing this post from the world famous Roger Smith Hotel in NYC and the only reason I mention this is so you realize at the beginning that I was not in attendance at the event I am referencing in this post and as well I would like to say that even though I am using an example by @unmarketing I would like to say that if you read the post you will see I am not starting up with him but attempting to show another point of view to his comment in the effort to demonstrate this is an ever evolving space with the need for some fresh eyes. I should also mention that I don't know Scott except for on Twitter and haven't met him in real life so this may not be fair but I am in no way attacking him. I am sure Scott is a nice guy and he is only in the post because he inspired it...and as always, these opinions are mine and mine alone. What I am saying is that not even my mom wants to be associated with some of nonsense.

Last night as part of Social Media Week in Toronto, Scott Stratten spoke on the subject of Social Media at The Refresh Events gathering. I can't comment on the event or Scott's ability as a speaker because I wasn't there but I did see some of the tweets that came out from it and one specifically caught my eye.

This is a bold statement and one that I don't agree with.

Sure conventional Social Media wisdom says you need to respond to every comment and engage your community but since there is nothing really conventional about Social Media there can't really be conventional wisdom...or to phrase it differently, there can't be any hard and fast rules because every situation is different.

Under certain circunstances I advise companies not to engage their customers because there is no one on the team who has the correct personality/passion/disposition to do this sort of stuff. Communications is about comfort and confidence and if you don't have that person on your team you should not be putting people in a position to fail because that is just not fair.

BUT <---- I made that all caps because here comes the part that makes me look really smart and I wanted you to notice.

Even without true engagement you can still make a noticeable difference in customer care and activate customers to become more loyal and tweet about their level of satisfactions by simply listening super closely to their needs and make the necessary (if any) changes...then once the changes are made you let your customers notice on their own and let them draw their own conclusions to how or why the product or service is suddenly better. People are smart and they will notice your work.

How do I know this?

Well because just about every speaker on the Social Media speaking circuit says some version of "Your customers are talking about you weather you engage or not so you better get in there and engage" (I know because I say it in my presentations) so an assumption can be made by that logic that they will continue to talk about the "new" you and spread the word and by just listening you can still do your brand good and not ask your staff to do something they are not equipped to handle.

What says you?

p.s. This is just one example of "non engagement for fun and profit" and I could list a few more but honestly I am going to save them for a future blog post since I am finding myself too busy to come up with interesting blog content :)

In 2010 I hope you all become a F.O.S!

I had an interesting chat with Krista Neher the other day about some ideas I am playing around with around SXSWi and ways to build the brand and make a huge splash for Thoora.com (for those not paying attention, Thoora is what I am up to now and it is awesome so please check it out) and Krista asked me an great question.

"Are you looking for the attention to go to Thoora.com or to yourself?"

Krista is crazy smart, knows me well and is no nonsense so coming from her this is a perfectly reasonable question. My answer (obviously) was I want the attention to go to Thoora and I want it to live up to it's potential but at the same time I want people to know I helped get to where it is because I have an ego, I want to be the guy known for building brands and communities and also know from experience that girls are attracted to success.

So in an effort to build my own brand a little and get one step closer to fulfilling the dream I spelled out for Jewish Santa I have decided that all year (2010) I will be offering a cool item to people who self identify themselves as a "F.O.S." (Friend of Saul).

For the first part of the year any time I travel (starting with this week to San Francisco) I will have with me two "F.O.S." iPhone cases and to get one all you need to do is be one of the first two people who ask!

Pretty sweet deal huh?

I chose iPhone cases because they were not only cool but it was the one item I could think of that I could put my face on that P.Diddy has ever graced (we are now competing)

These are top notch cases and will protect your phones with the same style and class that I live my life but in the future I see these cases getting you the best tables at restaurants and invites to fly in private jets...but that will still take a little time.

So if you see me at a conference etc make sure you say hi and let me know if you are a Friend of Saul!

The Five Questions you need to answer before starting a business.

So far in my not so short life I have started four companies on my own. Out of the four, two have been pretty successful (in a ridiculously low standards kinda way) and two were pretty forgettable...but having a .500 batting average is pretty good by any ones loose standards and while I don't have all the answers I have learned some things along the way, and I am going to share something with you now.

Coming up with business ideas is easy...I have 100 a day but I may only have 1 or 2 really good ones a week/month and the way you figure out the good from the bad is simple:

Run your idea thought the 5W's

Pretty Simple huh?

Well it is...all you have to do is ask yourself the following.

1. Who - is the product/service for and do they really need it?
2. What - is the product/service and will people pay for it?
3. Where - will people get it and can you scale this distribution channel?
4. When - can you get it to people and will there still be a market at that time?
5. Why - are you doing this? (passion, profit, does it solve a pain for people, ego)

If your idea still holds up after the 5W's then you might actually have something worth spending some time writing a business plan for, if it doesn't (like my idea for a mobile gentleman's club in the back of 18 wheeler trucks) then just move onto the next idea.

Cause ideas are easy, great business's are hard.

Would your company bail a customer out of Jail?

This past summer I celebrated my 20th anniversary of my friendship to my buddy David. I use the term anniversary because we have been fixtures in each others lives for so long people just assumed we are married...and like all marriages we have had good times our ups and downs and there was even a trial separation but throughout the years we have always been there for each other in the great times and more importantly in the hard times.

I am pretty lucky cause I have a lot of people in my life that I consider friends but there are only a few who I would call if (...and some might say when) I was ever arrested...and sure I am kinda using this as a "WHAT IF" but I got to thinking about this because I took a look outside and saw that the world was in an (decided to use the politically correct term) economic downturn. Yes, times are tough but what a lot of people aren't seeing is the enormous opportunity that lies in these times.

If you think about your best friends there are probably a bunch of examples where they went out of their way to make you feel better after something crappy happened...heck if you look for reviews online to something you can always find people talking about the bad more than the good.

The reason for this is that memories are made in bad times...and if you look around we are in exactly that.

Bad Times.

But ya know what happens when you do amazing things for people in bad times they develop undying loyalty and never forget you in the good times.

If you are a customer facing company you should be rubbing your hands together at this amazing opportunity because quite simply, weather you are doing it for good reasons or just being opportunistic right now is the time to make lasting memories.

Instead of cutting marketing budgets you should be showering your customers with unexpected rewards. If there is a way to make your customers lives easier or take a pain out of their lives....DO IT NOW!

A lot has been written about companies that get built and thrive in these economies and that may be because there is less competition or maybe it is just because there is less competition who really care about their customers and would actually bail them out of jail.

Some POWerfull advice and the art of Surprise!

Every now and then I will write about my Dad on this here blog. I love my Dad and am lucky because he has imparted a lot of interesting wisdom on me.

One of the two best things he told me that "Jealousy is a wasted emotion and you shouldn't spend your life comparing yourself to others"

Makes perfect sense and it is something I have taken to heart and is really the way I live my life. I am however not 100% free of jealousy because I am a little jealous of my friend Andy Nulman. I could go on and on about his career or his famous friends but the thing I really admire about him are his ideas.

His most recent gem is a brilliant way to promote his new book, POW! Right Between the Eyes: Profiting from the Power of Surprise, that is coming out in a few months.

Ya see he is giving away 200 free copies to anyone with a blog that asks for one!

Knowing Andy as I do I know there is more to this than he is letting on so I encourage anyone who is interested to jump on this offer!

Click here to read the deal right from Andy

I would be all over this myself but was fortunate to read an advanced digital copy. The book is so inspiring and my favorite chapter was the one I wrote all about me. That chapter isn't in the real book but since my copy was digital I took some liberties :)

...and in case you were wondering what the second piece of advice my Dad gave me, it was that cereal is delicious!

WOM + Campaigns = fail and why measurement is killing true WOM marketing!

DISCLAIMER: Just because it is Lindy Dreyer Week here at www.saulcolt.com does not mean she agrees with any of my opinions...in fact I am not sure I make a point in this post and if she had written it there would be better grammar. What I am trying to say is that I am a good kisser and I don’t mind if you pass that on. I love Root Beer and Cream Soda and my favourite sandwich is Grilled Cheese but this isn't about that, it is about Lindy Dreyer and while this is something I have been thinking about for a while this post was inspired by a conversation with her. Sure they are all my own ideas and opinions so please don't hold her responsible for my views :)

Telegraph

Telephone

Tell a Friend

Right there is the genesis of how ideas have spread throughout history.

A few posts ago I wrote about how at a recent WOM conference there was the plenty of chatter around the idea of a Word Of Mouth Campaign and how you can use it to artificially (my word, not there’s) amplify the desire to chat about your product or service. I think I have made it very clear that I am firmly in the camp of WOM needs to be a 365 day a year project (and yes, in 2012 it will be a 366 day a year project….that is the first time I have recycled a joke on this blog but I am doing it to be more green….wow, I just did it again) that is more of a lifestyle then a time limited amplified campaign. I have stated that fact a few times but have never explained why…so here goes.

A while back I was asked to participate in a WOM campaign (run by a super HUGE WOM agency) to launch a new product. The company (and I am not naming any names here) asked me to email them or log into a web site and report every time I used the product, showed anyone, spoke about the product, blogged about the product and they asked that I provide them with the email addresses of all the people I spoke to so they can contact them and see how many times they spoke about my original conversation.

At first glance I thought this wasn’t a big deal cause I actually liked the product and I would be doing all these things anyway (remember that fact…cause it is important later) well except the reporting part, so the first few days passed and I did all the reporting I was required to do and by day three I stopped talking/showing/blogging about the product because the idea of keeping track of all my conversations seemed too much like homework and the concept of Word Of Mouth became WORK of Mouth (another term I think I have created so please credit me and for most people, homework is not something you get excited for and do out of love.

WOM to me is all about love and should always the “prettiest girl or guy in the room”.

Real WOM should be something that is natural and beautiful and trying to measure it down to the decimal point is like trying to grow flowers in a desert. I imagine it is possible and you could do it for a while but can you sustain it and why would you want to?

This seems like as good a place as any to explain that I do think you need to measure your efforts (notice I didn’t say campaign) because there are 1000+ ways to reach people and get them talking and you need to know what aspects of your efforts are connecting with people so you can do more of what is working and less of what isn’t but to ask your users/fans/customers to do anything more than “be happy and let people know” is a great way to turn them off.

Forever!

If your product/service is great and you treat people well the message will spread…and you will know it because you will see more blog posts, Tweets, increased sales, brand awareness, and visits to your site.

People love to talk and with tools like social media more and more people are becoming “influencers”, so give these people what they need to “influence”…and what that is for most people is a great product and an interesting talking point. What you should never give them is a business card with a toll free number and say “call me right after you tell someone about this product” because that is, and I know I am sort of repeating myself, like giving people homework.

So what is my Smartest Man in the World solution to all of this?

I would love to see WOM agencies/companies like Buzz Agent and others who currently offering to run campaigns for big business to morph into a teaching role and start getting companies to understand that THEY [the company looking for the BUZZ] need to change their thinking on WOM and how they can implement WOM departments inside their own marketing departments because no one is going to watch closer and respond quicker to an opportunity then your own employees.

A great example of this is from Andy Sernovitz and his company Gaspedal. They are doing exactly what I am suggesting, ( BTW if you use the code "welovefreshbooks" you will get a $250 discount when you register)

Want to know the secret to getting a referral? Just ask!

One of the most sought after things in marketing (WOM or Traditional) is a genuine referral. People beat them selves up to figure out how to get these treasured acknowledgments when the simplest way to get a referral is to just ask for one.

Yep, that is the scary genius secret.

...and if you need any further proof I would like to offer the court my Exhibit "A"



This is a card I was given at the airport in Washington DC this morning. Cornelius found me a cab and even went the extra step to make sure they took credit cards (something that very few taxi's in DC do) As I was getting in to the cab I was asked to email his boss and tell them I was happy with his service.

I was happy AND I liked the idea of the card so I emailed and blogged about it.

...all because I got good service and was asked to tell folks!

This delicious beverage is brought to you by [Fill in your favorite company here]

I haven't been blogging much in the last month because I have been spending more time in airplanes and airports then in my (I want to say "Wife" because I think it is funny but she will be mad) own bed.

Because of all this travel I have been doing I was particularly interested in a news report that I heard today saying that airlines are doing all sorts of things to combat the high cost of fuel and one of the cutbacks are that a few of the airlines are going to stop giving out snacks and beverages on flights.

Air Travel has for a long time morphed into the "Greyhound in the sky" and is no longer the special experience it once was but to strip away the very last creature comfort is in my opinion a bad idea...especially when there are ways to make this a profit center.

Now I admit this is not a revolutionary idea but why don't the Airlines give better snacks or return to the glory days of full meals and just sell this "experience" to an advertiser.

I can only speak for myself but I wouldn't mind if I was treated to a nice sandwich and a cookie and all I had to do was hear the flight attendant say "This meal is brought to you by Nike" or you could even step it up a bit and give the meals out in a paper box similar to a Happy Meal with some branding on it for a blockbuster film or a show on HBO.

Removing value is easy, lazy and unnecessary. By following this simple step the Airline industry can take a small step into making flying an adventure again.

DownloadSquad.com interviewed me!

I have been a fan of DownloadSquad.com for a while so when Grant and Christina asked me if they could interview me at SXSW I was pretty jazzed.

Here is what came out from our time together!


SXSWi 2008: Freshbooks talks to Download Squad from Download Squad on Vimeo.

10 ways we became an un-official sponsor of SXSW 2008

Please Note* I am re-posting this from the FreshBooks blog as it was originally written for over there but since I wrote it and am proud of it I figured my ever growing and loyal readership may find it interesting as well!

Going to conferences are a fun way to learn things and make friends, but they are still very much work... and when you are in marketing that means leaving people with a positive impression so they will remember you well after the event.

Normally, we would just smile and be friendly; however, there were 7500 people at SXSW Interactive! That's a lot of hands to shake. So, we had a different plan of attack for SXSW Interactive. We opted to do some crazy stuff in order to get some positive attention. After all, SXSW is kind of like Burning Man, but with pants.

Please note, we thought it was so cool that others liked what we did enough to post photos on Flickr, all the photos come from other people's Flickr accounts.

The ten fingers of FreshBooks

1. FreshBooks RoadBurn

We didn't just fly down to Austin like some half-weights. Mike, Sunir, our film producer Eamonn O'Connor, and I rolled into Austin in style all the way from from Future of Web Apps (FOWA) in Miami in our FreshBooks RV, at the tail end of our epic RoadBurn road trip to meet and eat with customers.

2. Schwag Bags



Every person attending the conference receives one of the famous SXSWi "Big Bags" just chock full of magazines, postcards, fortune cookies, stickers, etc. We dropped a postcard in the bag to tell everyone that Ben and Mike were speaking on panels and gave them the wheres and the whens.

3. Panels

We spoke on not one but two big panels during the festival. Ben teamed up with some folks from Pownce, Defensio, Dabble DB, and some little company called Facebook to present on the topic of Developer-Friendly API's and Mike (with me as a last minute addition) spoke about Stories of Failure: Surviving Common Start Up Mistakes. Both panels were very well received and was a great final touch for a lot of people.

4. Street Team



A large number of lucky people were welcomed to the convention center by the FreshBooks Street Team. All week long doors were held open for people coming in with the line "This door was held open by your friends at FreshBooks" and other fun good deeds were performed by the street team. The street team then handed them a phony invoice asking them to pay $1 or to just check out FreshBooks.com, just to prove that no good deed goes unbilled.

5. FreshForce Ones



We had custom Nike Air Force Ones made that we are calling the FreshForce Ones. These shoes are not only in the FreshBooks colors, but they also have FreshBooks written on the heal and the FreshBooks leaf on the bottom of the laces.

6. Hangover Kits



This is one of the things I am most proud of since it is a fun cool item that is so targeted to the spirit of SXSWi. Like ninjas we silently hung a hangover kit on every hotel room door in a few of the "official" hotels associated with SXSWi. This was the only way to get one... unless you bumped into Sunir or myself at one of the parties we attended on the last few nights. Inside these kits were common hangover relief stuff such as Advil, Blistex, Life Savers, Jolt Caffeine Gum, Band Aids, and antacid.

7. Canadian Pancake Breakfast



Growing up I was always told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. We teamed up with Microsoft Canada, Praized, Uni, and the Canadian Consulate Generals in Dallas and Los Angeles to host a pretty amazing pancake breakfast. We had the RV on hand and pancakes for a few hundred. People left full and fulfilled!

8. The FreshBooks RoadBurn RV



The RoadBurn RV was pretty important during that trip but also had an important roll once we reached our destination. For one the RV was an incredible rolling billboard but also acted as a cool way for us to shuttle some of the cool kids from one party to another.

9. Customer dinners



One of the main goals of our RoadBurn trip was to meet as many customers as possible. This goal didn't end once we got to Austin so we hosted two amazingly fun customer dinners (one big one with 30+ at our table and one smaller one) where we got to chat, eat and drink all in the name of invoicing!

10. Parties

There are so many parties going on at the same time during SXSWi that there is no way to say what are the best ones, so you try to go to all of them. Sunir and I attended as many as 5 parties a night. Going to all these parties may sound like a lot of fun, but you have to remember it was still work. Incredibly fun work that involved trying to talk with every person in the room and getting them to know all about FreshBooks but it was still work :)

11. Interweb Idols

I never did learn how to count. We have a new supersekret project called Interweb Idols we started working on at FOWA and SXSW.

Next year

If you want to borrow any of these ideas for yourself, feel free since we are already dreaming up new ideas for next year. After this post, we are certainly going to have to outdo ourselves at SXSW2009. We are thinking ice house!

Selling Ice to Eskimos.....when they least expect it!

As some of you know, I spent a bunch of years in the comic book industry and the biggest problem/complaint I would here from other publishers is that it was hard to get people to notice you....or to get them to try your books instead of the tried and true Spider-Man, Batman books.

I used to spend a bunch of time figuring out solutions to this problem and think I finally have it. (and with a little imagination, this can apply to just about any product or service)

Ya ready?

Sitting down?

Stop trying to sell Comic Books (or whatever) to Comic Book Fans!

Sounds simple huh?

Makes perfect sense...right?

Maybe I should explain.

For years and years I traveled all around North America going from Comic Book Convention to Comic Book Convention and while this was some of the best times I have ever had I realize now that I was wasting my time competing with Batman and the likes. Looking back I would have been better off going to places where comic book people hung out but where I could be the only one there.

This was never more apparent to me then this past week while I was attending SXSW. 7500 tech geeks (of which I am one) in one place. I am willing to bet a bunch like/love comic books and not one publisher in the place. With some clever planning I could have probably converted more people in this environment then I usually did at major comic book convention with 50,000 attendees.

Handing out books (or digital versions) at such a place would probably be a better investment then a major comic book convention because people would see this as something different and would also act as a distraction from all the "work" related stuff they will be getting from others.

....and like I said, this doesn't just apply to comic books. If I was a band and was preforming at SXSW I would get there a week early (during the film and interactive festival) and work that crowd before all the other bands hit town.

I could go on and on with examples of ways to work non-traditional audiences for your products but think it would be best if you came up with them on your own.

Or you could just email me and I will be glad to help!

Bring back Customer Experience to shopping and you will bring back shoppers!

If I believed in luck I would say I have been a pretty lucky guy....but since I think luck is nothing more then probability made personal I will go on record and say that I have had some great opportunities present themselves because of this blog.

One such opportunity came a few months back based on a post I made about department stores and how to make them fun again.. Someone at a super fancy retailer read my ideas and invited me to come in and pitch some fun ideas to them.

All my ideas revolved around creating a "destination" by adding super customer experience.

My ideas were not well received since they lived outside of the comfort zone of these guys and would require a leap of faith and at the end of the pitch the execs asked me if there was anything I like about department stores and I unleashed on a friendly rant about how I love department stores and as a kid thought Macy's in NYC was as close to heaven on earth but nowadays the large store experience is bland and customer service is nothing more then a memory.

The reason I am talking about this now is because I got an email from the exec today asking me to suggest stores that "get" customer experience since they want to learn from it.

The store I told them to study was GoodFoot. I know I slurp shoe companies a lot on this blog and I know this post lacks the punch it could have if I had pictures to accompany it but as someone who loves to shop and pays attention to what people do with their marketing I think GoodFoot is the best there is at Customer Experience.

Walking into the store is a new experience every time because they change the look of the place monthly....and by change the look I am not talking about just the window dressing but they change the place inside and out (including the wallpaper) on a monthly basis.....and by wallpaper I am talking about fully custom graphic walls that are closer to a "wrapped" car then a store wall.

This is a store that knows the product is top notch but it there is a bunch of competition so instead of competing on price and product they are setting themselves apart by creating a destination store that people will come to check out and talk about even if they are not shopping......just like I am now.

-saul

Huge companies who think small...are companies who think smart!

There is a good chance this post will go completely un noticed.

Between SuperBowl chatter and Sarah Silverman getting it on with Matt Damon I know people are distracted but this has been on my mind for a few days and figured I would get it down on paper.....er computer screen.

With all the news going on about Microsoft and Yahoo....and Google and Yahoo....and well Yahoo just not preforming as well as they should/could I found it interesting to read an article a few days ago about a HUGE company that has been successful by thinking small.

The Company....much to my surprise was Nike.

Yes I know I shill for them all the time and I don't do it because I want them to acknowledge me with free stuff (but truth be told I would love some free stuff ) but I do connect with the company and is one of the few brands I am absolutely (blindly) loyal too.

Anyway the article spoke about how when Nike CEO Mark G. Parker took over Nike in 2005, the first thing he did was shuffle departments by the sport and not the product. So basically there would no longer be a huge "catch all" department for shoes and instead there would be a bunch of shoe departments focusing on each sport ie:Basketball shoes, Baseball shoes, Jogging shoes etc etc.

Each department became small business and were expected to laser focused on their specialty.

This strategy is fascinating since it will and has allowed Nike to put faces to the departments. I tell anyone who will listen that companies need personality and personalities. With smaller, approachable departments you can hire/steal away people who are authentic in their fields...something Nike did with their Skateboard division. Skateboarders (for the most part) are not going to hop on the bandwagon of some faceless corporation...but they did because Nike filled up their boardroom with people from the Skateboard industry and raked in over $200mm in sales from the Nike Skate division.

I love small companies that choose to be great instead of getting big and faceless but if you have to get big (and sometimes it just happens) I think it is great to see people keeping the "stay small" approach...because it works!

-Saul

p.s. If you are looking for an example of Nike injecting some personality into their work you need to look no further then these shoes. In case you can't tell these are Evil Knievel tribute shoes...That my friends is cool!

How Warner Brothers should "market" the New Batman film after Heath Ledger's passing...

There is a lot of chatter on the ole' interweb about Heath Ledger's death and how it will play into how Warner Brothers can and will market the upcoming Batman film THE DARK NIGHT.

No two opinions are the same and everywhere you look people are taking steps to remove Joker references from promotional materials.

I have thought a bunch about this because I have made it my mission to solve this little quandary.......and I have.

The solution is simple......do nothing.

Yep. Treat the character of the Joker exactly as he is, a fictional character. Now before you get all in a tizzy let me explain. Yes I think it is sad that Heath Ledger is dead but at the same time I would hate to see the vision of this film changed because they are afraid to use his image in a movie poster. At this point there is nothing WB can do to bring Heath back from the dead so whatever was planned should continue. Treat the Joker as the Joker and not the person who played him.

The type of people who are going to see this ONLY because it is his last film will still see it so there is no need to play into them or their wishes. So instead of pandering why not create some movie marketing magic and just keep on keeping on.

Before Ledger's passing this film was on track with some really innovative marketing campaigns. I say keep them coming and if it fits to use the Joker then use the Joker. Movies are about magic and for this movie not to become a carnival sideshow WB needs to keep with the Magic so that people want to see this film so they can be taken to another place and time......and not a memorial service.

Marketing Stunts...This one is better then any little gimmick!

A couple of guys who I respect a great deal have been discussing gimmicks and stunts in your marketing plans.

Seth Godin thinks that if you provide an added value to the customer then it no longer is a gimmick and becomes something worthwhile.

and

Andy Sernovitz wrote about how "all the gimmicks in the world aren't going to make lasting impact if the whole company isn't worth talking about. Some of the greatest word of mouth successes are silly stunts, but so are most of the biggest failures"

I have been thinking a lot about this since I am planning a huge event/spectacle where I and few others from work , including the CEO, are driving half way across the United States (from FOWA in Miami, FL to SXSW in Austin, TX)in an RV to promote the FreshBooks service while at the same time we will be attempting to meet up with as many customers as we can so we can share a meal or a coffee with them and gain valuable insight into why our customers love as us much as they do.

This could easily be seen as a stunt but I hope most recognize that the intention is to treat our passionate customers to a cool experience that most companies just wouldn't bother doing....this is the value and why we are worth talking about.

I will keep you posted on this as it gets closer but in the meantime I hope when this is all over that Seth Godin and Andy Sernovitz acknowledge that this was one gimmick that cut through and could only be called a marketing success!

-saul

Pimping Aint Easy....but they know a little something about Marketing

I admire Pimps.....or well I guess I admire the lifestyle. I am not for hitting girls or forced confinement or really anything that pimping stands for but I do like the fact that they can proudly wear "Gators" and drink from Blinged out cups......oh ya and I think they invented the "first taste free" style of marketing.

First Taste Free in a nutshell is the same as try "before you buy" but since we are talking about drugs and Pimping I will respect their terminology and use First Taste Free.

Not sure why but I started thinking about other places to apply this besides street corners but I did and I came up what I think is a good one.

It may have been because I was in the Hospital over the holidays or just the fact I am a little obsessive about the concept of "marketing to people who can't go anywhere" (Prisoners, Shut Ins and the like) but started to wonder why a Television manufacturer (like Sony, LG, Phillips, Sharp etc etc) doesn't offer, as a donation, to replace all those ridiculous 12" televisions in a patients room with flat screens in exchange for a big sign saying "These TV's were donated by Sony"or whoever. The Goal is to expose people to these TV's, with a First Taste Free, and hope that they will run out and buy one after they leave the Hospital since they probably got used to the set and since prices are dropping on them.....and lets not forget that even if sales from Hospital attendees doesn't soar the TV MFG will get a tonne of great PR and can probably count on that exposure helping move some sets and creating good will with the Hospital going community.

And since we are on the topic there is no reason why there shouldn't/couldn't also be PS2's or 3's with these sets to make the stay a faster one. If you're admitted to the Hospital it is rarely for less then two or more days and once you are there you are looking for anything to do to pass the time. If I was the guy/gal in the hospital bed with all these cool distractions I would definitely be appreciative if not brand loyal for a long time afterwards.....even if the guy who hooks up the TV isn't wearing "Green and Gold...The Green is for the Money and the Gold is for the Honey"

-saul

p.s. I fully understand this would be an expensive proposition but the risk would probably pay for itself quickly and the amount of people you would touch in the 10-15 years your product would be showcased would be unimaginable.......also it would be a great place to send all your refurbished sets!

Creating Demand for a product by telling kids to stay in school!

Mr. T is a smart guy. Not only did he know that school is important (cause he kept telling me) but he also new that there is no room for jibba jabba in a conversation.

So why is Mr. T making me think about demand generation?

Honestly?

He isn't but like the late Lou Rawls, It is better to have Mr. T and not need him then not have Mr. T and need him.

Anyway, now that I have that out of my system I can talk about what this post is really about.......product demand.

What happens if you have the absolute best product on the shelves and no one cares?

Wanna know?

The answer is not much....not much sales...not much profit and not much interest.

So how do you create demand?

Well there are bunches of good ways that have worked time and time again but that is not what this post is about........this post is about an idea I had on how to create demand a brand new way!

Parents all around the world use incentives to get their kids to co-operate and "listen". I know this because I am one of them.....and it got me thinking if this could be "productized" and I think it can.

So here is my idea on how to create demand for a teen/tween oriented middle to high end consumer item......make it a school based incentive. Think about this. What if there was a cell phone or ipod/mp3 player that could only be purchased after you meet a school related goal (Attendance or Grades etc). Students would be exposed to your messaging all year or for an extended time creating more then demand but desire! In simple terms you are letting the school market your product directly to the target market the same way they would a school trip and at the same time this strategy is guaranteed to get major media attention. Your company will be thought of as a community builder since you will be rewarding students for their hard work and while the “exclusive” product will not be available to the general public your other products will!

Sure some people will object to this and see this as crass commercialism but if you could work out a beneficial partnership where the school benefits with something (books/uniforms/trips/whatever a school needs) you could create a slow buzz for a product while also giving an exclusive “coolness” to something that would otherwise just be another product in a category.

Sure there is risk to this but I see this as a calculated risk with a HUGE reward.....kinda like casing a leprechaun.....or a guy who wear 30 lbs of gold around his neck!

-saul