Talking about motivation 

What motivates you every morning when you go to "work". Since i go to an office and i understand those specific challenges, I'll speak directly to us. I'm pretty sure job satisfaction is a mega mix of different things and I'll be very surprised if money actually ranks very high up on that list. On a basic level on the maslow hierarchy of needs, after we have satisfied the lowest level of the pyramid, most of us strive to 3rd 4th level 



This is where it gets really tricky as a marketer in any company, how are you in your specific function able to impact the business to a point you feel you belong, am wanted and am esteemed. Unless you get paid as a direct equation of your efforts, most of us get the same pay month in and month out so why would we strive for excellence? If its for the above levels of needs then it's probably very hard to realise if your marketing efforts are not measured and valued in similar company language. Marketers speak about ROI , Finance folks will look at the bottomline, Engineers will look at throughput and Sales folks talk about targets (top line).  It's very hard for any function to achieve company wide recognition unless we are all using the same measures and are speaking the same language. 

So what can we do? Like any new language, the starting point will be to identify use cases or scenarios you can all start practising the words and jargon. Here are some simple steps you can take. 

1. Identify how your activity is being viewed by other functions. Why does the web engineer think it's a total waste of time? Has he/she ever been consulted or has the marketing funnel activity ever been shared? Do they know the impact product changes make on your marketing decisions and vice versa? 

2. Learn about their processes and language. It's easier for you to understand the marketing improvements you can also make so your decisions impact positively on other functions. In the case of finance for example, find out how forecasting can be more accurate from their point of view. It's likely that it will force you to explore a different method of spend tolerance before committing that 6 figure display campaign. 

3. Start talking to each other. This is probably the best thing you can start doing that will impact the way you feel valued. Once meetings happen where you are all talking in a similar language, your contributions and ideas will not impact harder but also be valued much more. 

Song of the week

My FTW rant

Ok, Sorry it's not actually aimed at Feng Tian Wei. I just want to offer my perspective on the whole foreign talent representing Singapore in sports debate. I think everyone is confusing sports with economic success/hitting kpis or some industry where getting the best person to fit the bill is being argued. Since when did winning olympic medals become some approved KPI as a nation? Some people are going on about how it's about a temporary solution, or the best we can do for now. What is the problem in the first place? That we as a nation pride education above sporting excellence for our kids? That's a practical reality, not a problem to be fixed.  Here is my facebook rant in all its glory. And an example of the people i do not understand just below it. I don't want to nitpick or Mr Chan apart cause it seems like a well intended post, but there are so many misplaced assumptions about what i think the nation is actually pissed off about. Again, it's not about winning medals or not, its about WHO we want winning these medals

Sms is dead.. long live data?

It's been a while since my last post and so much has happened globally from a marketing trends perspective, it's impossible to even start summarizing my own reflections. From case studies to general best practices, i was thinking about what best to pen down when i decided to just pick a topic and gnaw away

"Is data turning SMS marketing redundant?" . The disclaimer is i am using Singapore as the market and this only relates to trends here and not some emerging market where mobile data consumption is in its infancy. Over here, with smartphones becoming the norm and applications like Whatsapp dominating the text space, we are seeing less and less reliance on SMS as a communications channel. Similarly, with mobile internet and instant access to sites and content, sending promotional vouchers or using SMS as a redemption channel has also become less common. So, is it still relevant to use SMS as a marketing channel? SMS marketing is fast becoming known as spam marketing and now that mobile internet is widely available, what's next for SMS marketing?

As i often preach, ask 'why?' then ask 'why?' then ask 'why' again. The 'why' establishes the premise for the 'what' and 'how' and 'who'. SMS marketing is about 1 thing, database management.The more things change, the more they remain the same. Data is still an incredible leverage for any business to have. Data is at the heart of facebook's entire advertising strategy. Data is an enabler for targeted sales campaigns and provides many repackaging options. So , in this use case, creating sms opt in exercises like free alerts, free notifications for scores, updates, results etc isn't necessarily redundant. The 'what' isn't nearly as relevant as the eventual 'who' and 'how'. Then comes the other use case, so how about the reselling? Assuming you have this data, who would want to rent it if sms marketing is truly dead? That's what differentiates Spam from Smart. Targeting and re-targeting and making proper sense of the database will be how SMS can still be relevant to the end receiver. It's only spam now because the management and mining of the data is sloppy and irresponsible.

We as a community are on an alerts/notification opt in consensus. Smartphones and apps and Apple have showed the way. So to say that we are no longer a subscription based audience is ridiculous. The question is how do we manage an opt in SMS database or grow it to a point where we can segment, learn and continue to serve correct alerts for brands to engage with? There are many ways to skin a cat as a famous ex marketer once told me, and there are many ways still to establish gateways of engagement. I hope SMS marketers start to think responsibly about how best to grow a sustainable and relevant business.

Song of the day

We are young by FUN feat Janelle Monae

Why Apps why?

There is an App for everything. But does everything need to be "App-ed?" Over the past year, Apps have dominated the innovation conversation amongst many creative planners, branding/product managers and marketing professionals worldwide. We see Apps that range from the integrated ( sales -force mobile) to the redundant ones (paragon app anyone?).

I can see the value proposition, hell i even preached about it for a good 12 months. The intrinsic value of getting one's service offering to reside as branded content in someone's phone is an amazing property to have. Now, in case you're wondering, i'm not jumping off the app bandwagon by any chance, i just think the wagon is currently filled with alot of lemons and very few winners. This boils down to 2 main fails, A lack of strategic understanding and too many assumptions.

What's your favorite branded app? Keeping to a local context, do you even have any branded apps living in your iPhone/BB/Android powered handset? ( I've excluded Nokia as the Ovi store isn't productive enough to be considered) Chances are the only ones would be readers such as Straits Times/ Today or some utility app developed by the government. Even those fail to hit the mark as the apps don't offer anything more than a good mobile site could have provided.

Brands need to identify their main proposition, examine what the iPhone or BB can do and create an original service that makes the app valuable. Do i want to read the papers on the go? Yes. Why should i read it on an app? Wouldn't a STOMP app make more sense than the Straits Times ( where the full story isn't even available on the app)? Users in real time could easily publish/report stories they see with geo location information and quick pictures. Stomp contributors could use the app on a functional level and Stomp readers could get their latest MRT grope in real time.

There are many more examples where apps are created without any reason to exist. Most times, it's either a duplication or meaningless. What happens then is a quick delete or relegation to page 20 of an iPhone. This brings us to measurement, downloads is a terrible way to measure apps as no one knows what happens to the app after. Unless there is regular interaction with some login or submission, most marketers have no idea. Kinda like direct mail marketing, yes it's 100% delivery , but it could also be 100% delivery from postbox to bin.

Let's not get carried away just because we think we can win awards with these apps or even because "everyone and everything has been app-ed". As with most good marketing strategy planning sessions, keep asking why? Then ask why again.

Song of the day

"Don't tell me that its over" by Amy Macdonald

Hot Buffalo wings and Purple Cows

I read Seth Godin's "Purple Cow" again last week and it's pretty amazing how every different read yields a unique and different response. (Kinda like Willy Wonka's varied flavored candy).I found myself thinking more and more about how true some of his observations were. The basic idea is simple enough, your brand/product needs to be outstanding amongst a sea of mediocrity. ( Thus a "purple" cow) Seth's adaptation is that it might not matter what the difference really is, as long as it is.

Be the first, the hippest , the largest, the smallest, the most hard to find and so on. I started to think about our very own local Sunset Grill with it's legendary Buffalo Wings. ( I've gone up to heat level 17 and i have the scars to prove it)
Now, for those who have been there, you'll know what i am talking about. For those who have not , let me summarize it briefly.

The location is inaccessible , the decor is just run down ( i don't care what anyone says, it's not "rustic") and the food is very mediocre and priced on the high side. So why do throngs of fans and super fans continue to make the pilgrimage to torture their taste buds and murder their bowels? The answer is in the heat. The challenge it presents to anyone who prides themselves as a hot head.

But how do you explain the other multitude of customers who think KFC hot n spicy really is hot n spicy? Why would they make their way down for a plate of level 1 cowardice?

WOM marketing is the holy grail of viral marketing in my opinion. Whether you hate or love Sunset Grill's wings, everyone has an opinion and is not afraid to express it. This to me is the secret recipe behind Sunset's cash register ringing in the dollars.
Everyone, whether heat lovers or not has heard the tale of Sunset's grill from someone they know. This influencer has somehow piqued enough interest for his audience to give it a go. In the words of Paris Hilton, "That's Hot!"

WOM marketing can only be manufactured/conjured when you as a business owner are not afraid to relinquish control over what the word is. I often get into conversations with clients who demand a very fixed outcome based on a specific message. I usually have a hard time convincing them that it won't work unless the word is the truth. Apologies for the religious context but in this instance, the "word" in WOM marketing should never be treated like an ad copy.

Whether you are selling hot wings or branding the next massage chair, your product/service is the WORD. What makes it different from anyone else ( the Purple Cow) are the letters that form the word but ultimately, your WORD will be determined by your customers and if it's a good one, it will make its way to your sales/targets.

Song of the day

Let it be me by Ray LaMontagne