Monday, July 29, 2013

Product form and function in the comfort of your hand

Products come in various shapes and sizes. A product that exemplifies the perfect marriage of form and function is the perennial writing instrument, the pen.

I suppose I'm a bit of a pen aficionado (a rollerballer, to be exact). If you do enough writing and note-taking as I do, you'll know what it's like to have the perfect pen fall beautifully into your hand; the smooth flow of the ink as it hits the paper, never skipping a beat, as if you're magically guided through every stroke. When you have the perfect pen, you'll swear as if you can write for eternity!


Another key aspect is the pen's design. Let's take the German brand Lamy, for example. It's evident that Lamy approaches their designs with a great deal of consideration. Just take a look at some of their product designers and creations. Like architecture, it is through Lamy's product features that they tangibly convey the competence of their brand. Though a smaller scale, a great deal of thought and effort goes into designing pens.

Let's not forget the other features and attributes of a pen. There's the type and quality of materials used--aluminum, acrylic, wood, plastic, resin, perhaps a combination thereof? Disposable or refillable? If you're into fountain pens, you'll have nib sizes to contend with. The list goes on.

What's your pen of choice? Do you have a favorite brand?

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Successful social selling is only about one thing...your customers

In today's social web, I still see companies using social channels to push their products (and often push them very hard). That's because they still view social media as a traditional marketing and advertising channel, where it's commonplace to try to get people to buy their stuff.

Social media is fascinating because for it to be successful, you need engaging, relevant content round-the-clock. It's true that traditional media also needs engaging and relevant content, but you can get away with being sales-y and "pushing" your stuff to people. That's because most traditional media is a one-way conversation. I equate a one-way conversation to a company that's hot and ready to sell when their customers aren't ready to buy.

If companies truly cared about their customers, they'd first take a step back; then they'd listen and take their customers' feedback into consideration (perhaps even action). By doing so, they'll have a healthy, two-way dialogue; and avoid lecturing customers about why they should buy their stuff. This two-way dialogue helps to create a one-to-one relationship with their customers, an ingredient that's necessary to survive in today's social web. From that relationship comes trust and loyalty, the very tenets that make a brand truly successful.

Like most simple concepts (yes, it is a simple concept), it involves some work to implement, and needs time to percolate. But diligence will pay off.

Unless companies like to hear themselves talk, I don't recommend they have one-way conversations in the social web--because they'll only have a captive audience of one--themselves. And that won't be terribly productive.

Have you come across any companies having one-way conversations out in the social web? Who are they and how can they turn their conversations into healthy, two-way dialogues?

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Don't dismiss the value of content and messaging

Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase, "The medium is the message." In media theory, he proposed that the subject of focus should be the media's characteristics--not the content it carries--as it is those characteristics that influence how society perceives the message.

I won't get into a sociological dissection of Professor McLuhan's theory. I do feel that medium and message are important. You must factor both while conveying a message and trying to solicit a response from your target audience. 

I'd like to focus on the "message" portion for a moment, however.

While attending RampUp 2013, I had a discussion with the CTO of an ad platform company. This bloke was sharp, highly-technical and knew his stuff. After our initial introductions, we landed on the topic of messaging.

Off the gates, he (CTO) seemed to dismiss the value of content and messaging; and instead, placed more importance on the product's technology attributes.

I begged to differ. 

A company's product (technical or otherwise) is only as good as how it's conveyed and understood by its customers (users). True, product development is important, but I can almost guarantee that successful companies also understand the importance of identifying a market for that product or service; which, by the way, will need some content or messaging crafted around it. Moreover, the message must not only be clear and concise, but also targeted. It's a balance that content and messaging developers work hard at in order to engage and deliver results. 

At the end of our discussion, I feel we were both more educated; he (hopefully) on the importance of content and messaging, and me on the opportunity to further bridge the gap between IT and marketing.

Do you have a similar IT vs. marketing story or experience? Let's hear about it.

Friday, July 5, 2013

Extraordinary Entrepreneurs Partially Ignore the Experts

Reading and learning often puts me in a quandary. One expert says one thing, while another negates the other expert by saying something just the opposite. Who should I believe?


When it comes to entrepreneurship (and navigating one's career), Reid Hoffmann and Ben Casnocha hit the nail on the head in their book, The Start-Up of You...

"Books and speeches and articles on entrepreneurship proclaim to impart the top rules of the trade. The irony is that the extraordinary entrepreneurs tend to challenge the rules and partially ignore the experts--they come up with their own principles, their own rules of thumb. After all, the way you achieve differentiation in the market is by not doing what everyone else is doing."


True, being experts themselves, one can certainly partially ignore Mr. Hoffmann and Mr. Casnocha. I personally wouldn't given their achievements (and high-caliber book endorsements). Instead, I recommend you read the book. It's a quick read and you may just get inspired (like me).

Do you have a favorite motivational/inspiring book? Join the discussion on Linkedin.