Great ideas don't come easy but you can get better if you practice.
We have all been there. You are watching the TV, surfing the web or out shopping and see a product or a campaign that strikes you. "What a great idea," you remark to yourself. This thing came out of nowhere and fully captivated you or even better made you purchase it.
How did it evolve? Was it years of careful research, design and testing? Perhaps to bring it to market, but I doubt it started that way. Most times it begins with a problem that some clever person identifies and then with a little creativity and combined with personal experience a germ of an idea is born.
I think of the new kids toy phenomenon Webkins. This is a remarkably simple concept that has been staring at us since the web was born. Someone said to themselves, "hey, if we sell something at retail, like a cute stuffed animal and put a unique tag on it so the buyer would have access to a personal animated web community, we can connect offline and online and own that customer 24/7/365 and better yet it can spread virally throughout kids social networks around the country." Webkins has the guts to follow that brilliant concept through and today most kids have them at home (mine have about 12).
For me ideas don't just jump out. As a father of three, owner of a business, co-chairman of a non profit organization and avid cyclist my free time is precious and my mind is usually very clouded with the multitude of tasks happening simultaneously. This is the story for most of us.
Normally I am pretty creative when I can get the quiet time to think. So what I do is make time, and for me, the best way to do that is during a workout. On my off days from cycling, I like to run. I get about 1-1.5 hours of solid "me time" and it is amazingly stimulating. The thoughts that stream through my head while out running come out like someone has opened the flood gates. If I am running in the morning I mostly think about business related matters and after work it's usually family or personal. Either way, you let your brain loose and wonderful thoughts come streaming. Keep in mind there are two things that can trip you up: 1. The iPod - if you want to get the most of your brain don't bring the iPod. 2. The intensity of the workout - Pain has a way of getting in the way of good thoughts sometimes, but you can harness the after effects of a tough workout during your cool down phase. After you are done going hard, just slow down, enjoy the accomplishment, the onset of endorphins and some stimulating free thinking time.
Great ideas are inside each of us. Make time to think about whatever is important to you. Make it without distraction and most importantly make it fun. If you do this you will not only be more productive in your life and work, but you may even come up with the next Webkin. - JR
Aug 31, 2007
Generating great ideas
Aug 29, 2007
For a big brand what does "buzz" get you?
Big brands don't need "buzz" from their marketing; they need revenue.
This promotion by World Wrestling Entertainment (press release below) is very clever, but what did it really accomplish? Where are the results? How many new paid subscriptions or event tickets did they sell?
We agree that it is important to be concious about brand building and image, but a big brand like WWE has enough buzz. We like to see WOM promotions (even better central WOM strategies), which deliver specific business metrics - the only way to judge success.
You would never present your marketing plan to your CEO by saying that we are going to grow sales by creating "buzz". As you enter planning season consider integrating a comprehensive WOM program within your overall marketing strategy, which focuses on the key value drivers within your business. It should be very well received. - JR
WWE(R) Names Its 'Biggest Fan' Through Successful Viral Video ContestWednesday August 29, 4:46 pm ET
STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--World Wrestling Entertainment® and Ziddio's "Are You WWE's Biggest Fan?" contest culminated on Friday evening in New York City, as lifelong WWE fanatic Mike Timpson of Los Angeles, Calif., beat out thousands of other contestants on his way to being crowned WWE's "Biggest Fan."
This summer, "Are You WWE's Biggest Fan?" -- a contest hosted by WWE and Comcast's user-generated site, Ziddio -- asked WWE fans around the country to submit videos to http://www.ziddio.com/, showcasing why they believe they are WWE's 'Biggest Fan.' Fans turned out in full force to display their passion for the WWE brand, making "Biggest Fan" one of Ziddio's more popular contests to date.
To celebrate the crowning of WWE's Biggest Fan, WWE 24/7 and its affiliate partners will be giving away a free month of the subscription video on demand service in September to new subscribers as the service showcases the video created by Timpson as well as the videos from the other contest finalists.
"We were truly impressed with the passion of the WWE fans and their excitement shown through their videos and the sheer number of entries in the contest," said Elizabeth Schimel, Senior Vice President, Entertainment, Comcast Interactive Media. "This was one of the most successful promotions we have done to date."
The video contest culminated during SummerSlam® weekend at a special red carpet event in New York City's Times Square. Fifteen contest finalists from around the country were flown in by WWE to have their videos voted on by a special panel of WWE Superstar judges, including Stone Cold Steve Austin®, John Cena®, and Batista(TM). Three thousand fans traveled to Times Square to be a part of the event, with more than 1,000 of them packing into the Spotlight Live venue.
The excitement was palpable as the judges conferred, eventually crowning lifelong fanatic Timpson as "WWE's Biggest Fan." Timpson's video creatively and comically showcased the effect to which 30 years of WWE entertainment has influenced him at home, at work and throughout his daily life. As grand prize winner, Timpson took home $25,000 and a specially-made WWE Biggest Fan Championship belt. All of the finalists were on hand at Continental Airlines Arena Sunday night for SummerSlam.
The contest buzz spread across the internet with contestants creating campaigns on MySpace and Facebook to encourage their friends, family and supporters to endorse their videos on Ziddio.com in their quest to be crowned the WWE biggest fan. Locally, fan videos entries were promoted on local TV news, radio and daily newspapers that produced feature pieces on their hometown viral video stars.
"These user-generated videos were the kind that marketers dream about - unique content that brings out the essence of a brand and generates buzz, which this certainly did for Ziddio and WWE," said Peter Clifford, WWE Senior Vice President of Affiliate Sales and Marketing. "We never cease to be amazed at the loyalty for the WWE brand displayed by our fans, and this contest format truly brought this to life in a compelling way."
Making the Connection
It's frightening to hear from clients about how little or infrequently they connect with their customers. This is not just a select group of companies I am talking about; these are ones with millions if not billions of dollars in marketing budgets. If they do communicate, it is merely passive via an email newsletter or at best a staged event. And of course it is done one way en masse with no personal message what so ever.
You want to know the real reason? This is a quote from a client prospect we were pitching not too long ago: “No, I don’t think we can do that. It will require a lot of work and time”. It’s true and it unfortunately captures much of what is wrong with corporate America today. We left the meeting shaking our heads in disbelief.
Yes, maintaining relationships with customers is hard and it does take time. You need to have a long term strategy, constantly updated plan and more importantly a commitment by the entire company. It has to be part of your culture. Change is hard, but communicating is not.
No longer do we need to depend upon expensive direct mail and in person visits to interact with customers. There are infinite electronic tools at our fingertips, which we can cleverly use to track customer behavior, send messages, extend rewards and solicit feedback. Companies we work with take advantage of some of these tools, but far too often they are done as one-off promotions with no overarching plan.
Think about it another way – via the customer. She leases a $50,000 car and the first thing she receives is a bill from the leasing company. Then she gets a call at around dinner time a couple weeks later from an offshore survey company asking about her experience at the dealership. Months later she may get their company magazine and assorted direct mail promotions. Of course when her lease is about to expire, the auto maker begins to get real friendly sending discount offers and upgrade promotions on a weekly basis. This person was recently my wife and she had no problem moving her business away from the original dealer. She went to different very prominent foreign brand and guess what happened? . . .the exact same experience.
Hearing these stories makes me cringe, because I know the marketing folks really want to change, but the corporate culture where they work usually gets in the way. - JR
