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The Honey Pot
by Dan Kurani
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Copyright 2009 by Dan Kurani. All rights reserved.
Published by Kurani Multimedia, Inc., Red Bank, New Jersey
Visit Dan online at http://www.kurani.com
No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or
disseminated, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any
information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter
invented, without written permission from the author or publisher.Requests for permission to excerpt or quote this work should be
made to the author directly via email ([email protected]).
This work is based wholly upon the opinions of its author. Neither
the publisher nor the author make any representations or
warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of this
book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties. The
viewpoints expressed in this book may not be suitable for yourbusiness and no part of this book should be viewed as specific
business advice or strategy recommendations. Neither the publisher
nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or other types of
damages. Readers must use their own judgment when evaluating or
executing any business or marketing strategy.
Although software, technology vendors and websites may
occasionally be mentioned, this book offers no explicit or exclusive
endorsements. Names and dates have been altered in some of the
anecdotal accounts contained within this work to protect the
privacy of those involved.
ISBN 978-0-9800051-1-0
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Contents
Acknowledgements ....................................................... 6Dedication ..................................................................... 8Introduction .................................................................. 9Like Bees to Honey.............................................................................9Building Buzz ....................................................................................11The Sweet Spot ................................................................................. 12
About This Book............................................................................... 14Chapter 1 The Honey Pot Strategy............................... 17
Whats in Your Ecosystem?.............................................................. 18Chapter 2 The Media Landscape ................................ 20Ubiquitous Infrastructure................................................................ 21Connected Fragmentation ...............................................................23Online Experience for Offline Media...............................................32Disintermediation and Democratization.........................................33Semantic Tools .................................................................................35
A Shift Towards Creating Value.......................................................40Accountable Relationships...............................................................42 Chapter 3 How a Honey Pot Works .............................47First Things First..............................................................................47Distilling the Value...........................................................................50Living It ............................................................................................53The Power of Core Value..................................................................54Chapter 4 How to Sweeten the Pot ..............................56Cultivating a Honey Pot ...................................................................58Brand Promise and User Experience...............................................59How to Grow an Ecosystem.............................................................64Ecosystem Tactics and Synapses .....................................................64
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Communication Strategies...............................................................87Content and Contact Strategies .......................................................92Conversion Strategies ......................................................................96Performance Tracking and Metrics .................................................97Balancing the Budget .....................................................................100Chapter 5 Where This May Lead................................102Integrated Consumption................................................................103Shifting Logistics............................................................................ 105Renewed Focus on Intellectual Property.......................................109Glossary ...................................................................... 112Index........................................................................... 116
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Acknowledgements
Colleagues and confidants: Hillary Bressler of .Com Marketing a
great friend and web original, Tom Sullivan of Princeton Partners,Michael Parker of Gravitate Design, Stephanie Agresta, a social
guru, Walter Chip Craig, Josh Goldman, Sal Magnone, a truefuturist, the St. Jacques crew, Dave Einzig of Industry Connect, and
Valon Sopi of BoldUnderline.
People and firms bringing talent and a solid reputation to the Red
Bank, NJ area: Thomas McGee and Gregg OKeefe strong UX
design from MediaHive, Bill Meyers and Alex Shanley ofDefinedLogic, an enterprise-level web development shop, andDomenick Cilea of Springboard, a PR agency that gets the web.
Help with the book: Jeffrey Ginsberg for editing, Barbara Clement
for the Organization, Greg Marta for the sanity check.
Team members Id like to thank: Matt Holloway for always hitting a
visual on the head, Joe Falcone for his unrelenting effort, MikeMelli for smart solutions, and Alan Mazzan for his commitment toexcellence.
Out of a few hundred clients and over a thousand consulting
engagements a few standout as particularly influential: Ed
Grzeszczak of foryourgarage, David Edell of CCA, Amram Shapiro
and Louise Firth Campbell of Book of Odds, Patrick Seehafer of
Nike, Karen Verelley of DFA, Mike Boneillo and Scott Rasmussen of
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Rasmussen Reports , Cathy Peterson and Doug Weeks of Primus,
John Caplan of Ford Models, Jules Garner of PointRoll, MichaelJager of JDK design, Brian Ribeiro, of mspire group, and Bob
Joudanin at RJ Consulting.
Author Influences: Seth Godin, Chris Anderson, Malcom Gladwell,
Guy Kawasaki, and Jeff Howe.
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Dedication
To my wife, Danielle, and 3 children, Kai, Max, and Tate thankyou in every way conceivable
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Introduction
The Honey Potis about a shift in marketing. Its an approach
based on extending brand value to attract and retain customers
naturally, by giving them something theywantinstead of justbombarding them with advertising.
This approach is rooted in the interactive, but Honey Pot thinking
could very well change the way you approach marketing in
general, because this strategy leverages changes that have been
taking place all across the media landscape.
Your brand lives in that landscape. A world of ubiquitousinfrastructure and multi-channel media convergence, where thedistinction between online and offline have blurred and the old
rules of advertising and marketing have morphed into something
new. The Honey Pot is a way to leverage that connected
landscape.
Like Bees to Honey
Since 2001, the number of wired Americans has risen sharply.Three out of four have easy access to the Internet, two out of three
via high-speed connections. As cheaper smartphones and
netbooks proliferate, the community enjoying constant access
only grows.
Last year, a Harris Interactive poll found that 95% of the
American public characterized access to the web as very
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important or important. A number of those polled even said
theyd rather give up sex than lose their Internet access!
Whether the Internet is truly an acceptable substitute for sex isquestionable. But theres no question the webs a sociable place.
The number of Americans who maintain a profile on a social
networking sitemore than quadrupled in the past three years
according toInternet Retailer. Nielsen Online estimates the
amount of time users spend updating their status on socialnetworks nearly doubled in the past year.
Theres been even more velocity in the growth of blogs,
tumbleblogs and microblogging. Thanks to camera phones and
mobile apps allowing bloggers to post from pretty much
anywhere, citizen journalists are everywhere. News of a major
world event, celebrity misfortune or political scandal may reachyou by tweet before it hits the wire services.
You may be more likely to see television commercials whentheyre shown on sites like Hulu than when they were first
broadcast on network television and you Tivod past them.
The digerati can speculate on the resale value of MySpace and
debate whether Twitter has indeed led us to Web 3.0 withsemantic predictive filtering, but whats undeniable is that tools
like these have permeated our lives.
The fact that Rupert Murdochs plans for MySpace or Biz Stones
pronouncements about Twitter are breathlessly reported, not only
in industry blogs, but also in traditional media outlets like The
Wall Street Journaland TheNew York Times tells yousomethingthat social networks, blogging and microblogging are
all squarely in the mainstream. Of course, we knew that the first
time someone re-tweeted Oprah. But if you need more proof, just
look at how many column-inches of print media are now devoted
to promoting their own blogs, websites and social media profiles.
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Traditional media isnt trying to compete with new media; its
trying to incorporate it in an attempt to stay relevant. Clearlysome major cultural shifts are under way.
Businesses that want to stay competitive know they have to dive
into this roiling stew of new media, old media, social media and
social messaging because their customers are always on and more
connected than ever.
Building Buzz
Bottom line, marketers now face more challenges than ever. How
you advertise your products and services, how you get media
coverage, how you create brand awareness have all changed
radically in recent years.
Lots of new technologies have come into play, of course, but thats
only half the story. The other half is that a new kind of consumer
has evolved one with high expectations shaped by their always
on lives, their exposure to new media tactics and their own
embrace of social media. One study points out that youngerconsumers are more heavily influenced by recommendations fromfriends and trusted sources than brand strength compared to
other age groups.
They may be influenced by all kinds of digital/print/broadcast
media, including your carefully planned media buys, but these are
not passive consumers. Theyre participants. Theyll give brand
loyalty when its deserved, but they demand a two-wayconversation in order to build a relationship with the brands that
are important to them.
A new kind of marketer has emerged as well. Ten or fifteen years
ago, a marketing officer might have spoken vaguely about wanting
to add an online component as an adjunct channel. Acommittee would hire a consultant. Theyd produce a nice static,
text-heavy, brochureware website and the web address would
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get added to everyones business cards. End of story. Even worse,
the marketing director would take a stack of brochures and handthem to the webmaster and walk out.
Now, the internet has become a companys primary mechanism
for two-way communication a real conversation with
consumers. Now, its the first place marketers commit budget
because its the first place consumers look for information. Even
as fewer people read print ads or watch commercials on networktelevision, more people are searching for products and services
online. Theyre reading crowd-sourced reviews, and theyre
paying attention to the recommendations of powerful onlineinfluencers.
So the average marketing officer today is not only working
feverishly to make that old brochureware site more engaging andmore interactive, but also trying to juggle a dozen other very
different kinds of online channels, all hooked into an increasingly
complex online ecosystem where marketing and media overlap
and most of the old rules have been thrown out window.
The industry has gone through profound changes, and, as thefounding partner of an interactive agency, Ive had a ringside seat
for most of the fun.
The game really began to change at the turn of the millennium,
with the rise of search marketing. Then the pace of change
accelerated once again as social media moved into themainstream. Now we are in the midst of another surge, as
semantic technologies spread.
The Sweet Spot
In the past few years weve grown used to hearing one respected
consumer brand, after another, announce decisions to focusalmost exclusively on digital. Advertising spending, or adspend,
on print collateral had already been declining. Adspend in both
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print and broadcast media followed suit, as tightened budgets
were reallocated to digital.
Why? Search marketing, social media, semantic technology allof these promise to help a brand achieve greater impact with less
investment. Brands making the switch expect to realize significant
cost savings and achieve greater reach, too.
The big question is, can the social-semantic web deliver on that
promise? I believe the answer is yes. There is potential for morebrand loyalty and much greater return on investment (ROI) in the
long run, but only if the brands making this change also embracecertain core principles that are critical to success in the current
media landscape.
The Honey Potis really about embracing those principles things
like alignment, authenticity and value and using them to build arich online ecosystem that can attract customers the way a pot of
honey attracts bees. If done properly, the honey pot may even
start to feed its own growth.
The reason why a Honey Pot strategy can work so well right now
is that value matters more than ever. Were in a long-tail world,
where niche products and services proliferate, the voices ofindividual consumers are louder, and the impact of those voices
more wide-reaching than you can imagine. But if you can win over
your core constituency by providing real value the sweetest
honey the customers will find their way to you.
Take a look around at whats happening in the advertising andmedia landscape and youll see why it may be time to change the
way you think about marketing. Its no longer about mass
marketing, and may not even be about one to one marketing.
Today think one to niche marketing as a way to reach your core.
Id be the first to admit that a Honey Pot strategy wont work for
every business. For those companies that have a compelling core,
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however, this kind of approach can provide better ROI over time.
The principles behind the Honey Pot can help you build strongbrand identity, attract new prospects and forge lasting
relationships with customers.
About This Book
What I hope you find here is encouragement to adopt a morevalue-driven approach to marketing. In more practical terms,
what youll discover as you thumb through this book are musings
about achieving brand alignment, communicating authenticity,
starting a conversation with your customers and offering them
real value all the essentials of a Honey Pot strategy.
These musings are organized in five sections:
Chapter 1 explains what a Honey Pot is and why value-based, pull strategies are so attractive.
Chapter 2 surveys the media context, highlighting keytrends that call for a value-based response.
Chapter 3 examines the principles that make a Honey Potstrategy succeed.
Chapter 4 describes tactics that can sweeten your HoneyPot and add more brand value.
Chapter 5 looks at the big picture and speculates aboutwhere Honey Pot thinking may take you.
Special Terminology
As you read, you may encounter a few unfamiliar phrases. Online
ecosystem and user experience are the most important of these.
An online ecosystem is somewhat analogous to a carbon footprintin the sense that it can serve as a measure of accumulated impact.
But its digital impact were talking about. Your own personal
online ecosystem, for example, comprises all the evidence of your
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online life, including your public profiles as well as your
connections and activities. The more active and connected youare, the larger your digital footprint.
Companies and specific brands have online ecosystems, too. The
larger the ecosystem, the higher the visibility and the more likely
they are to be found by customers. Thats why so much of the
advice in this book is about ways to enrich and expand your
online ecosystem.
Whatever it is youre marketing, its more important than ever to
recognize that an online ecosystem forms naturally around yourbrand and its audience. Thats true whether youre paying
attention to it or not. Implementing a Honey Pot strategy can help
really leverage that online ecosystem.
User experience sometimes refers to experiencing a specificdigital environment (such as navigating a website or reading an
email.) It also refers to the entire brand experience. How your
target audience experiences your brand is the end result of all thetouch points, both online and offline.
One fundamental assumption I make is that user experience must
reinforce brand identity. Another is that its important to deliveran engaging user experience throughout the different components
of your online ecosystem (at least, those that are under your
control).
You may notice that I use the terms digital, interactive, online,
and web almost interchangeably. This is because the originaldistinctions are no longer meaningful.
I also refer to members of the public as users whether they are
website visitors, consumers, target audiences, customers or
prospects. This is due in part to my having a digital orientation,
but it also underscores my belief that you must offer your public
something useful and valuable.
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Other special terminology you may encounter here is explained in
the glossary at the end of this book.
What You Wont Find in This Book
You wont find any checklists or simple rules here. There is no
standard formula for building a Honey Pot of your own because,
by definition, its something that needs to grow out of an
understanding of your brand and the culture it serves.
How to Use This BookYou can use this book however you like, of course. Feel free to
read the chapters in sequence, from beginning to end. Or act like
a honeybee. Flit around and dip into anything that looks
interesting.
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Chapter 1
The Honey Pot Strategy
A Honey Pot strategy can pretty much be summed up in two
words: create value. Strip away the advertising gimmicks and
old-fashioned marketing ploys. Instead of trying to message more,more loudly or more insistently, just focus on creating value. If
your product is sound and you communicate honestly, you will
naturally develop a deep connection with your audience.
Consider this: what if you had something so rich and sweet andirresistible that it would simply pull people in? What if it would
not just attract new prospects, but also entice them to come backagain and again and tell all their friends? Your online ecosystem
can be an irresistible Honey Pot that pulls people in. All you need
to do is start building brand value and communicating honestly.
First, shift your attention away from advertising. Stop
bombarding people indiscriminately with unwanted, disruptive
and frequently irrelevant messaging. Instead, invest in buildingvalue: create something that is so useful, informative and maybe
even entertaining, that your customers and new prospects
naturally gravitate toward you.
Offer a unique solution to a particularly difficult problem while
remaining closely aligned to your brand message. Its best to stay
focused on a very specific need or sensibility your target market
has. In other words, offer something your audience will want,
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need or enjoy. Thats Honey Pot value. It will attract exactly the
kind of qualified traffic you want the kind that comes to youalready interested, engaged and ready to act.
The real beauty of this is that you can feel good about what it is
youre doing. Every day youre creating more value for your
customers and prospects, not just stealing their time or alienating
them with unwanted ads. Instead, youre always seeking to be
more relevant to their specific needs. Youre asking, What can Ido to make your life easier? What can I do to make your life more
fun? What can I do to solve the most annoying problem you
have?
When marketers shift from thinking about how to steal your time
to thinking about how to improve your life well, that changes
everything. And thats what the Honey Pot strategy is all about.Its a fundamental shift in the way we approach marketing
through attraction.
Many businesses see the value in this new strategy, but dont fullygrasp that they can implement it to make this new form of
relationship marketing work for them. They need to define exactlywhat their Honey Pot can be.
Whats in Your Ecosystem?
You probably already have an online ecosystem of sorts. What
does it say about the health of your brand? And whats there to
attract and engage your market?
Unless youve intentionally tried to remain under the radar and
even startups trying to keep the lid on things have a hard time
doing that these days the fact is you probably already have an
online ecosystem.
The centerpiece of your ecosystem is likely to be your website. But
your digital trail shouldnt begin and end there. Youve also got
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press releases and various newsletters youve created. Perhaps
you and your colleagues have made the news on occasion. Youreprobably in a variety of online directory listings. Your products
may appear on review sites. Members of your staff may be activein social and professional networking communities, leaving tracks
back to you. They may be blogging or commenting on other
peoples blogs. They may be microblogging. Or maybe youve got
some banner campaigns running somewhere. There are backissues of your trade publications where youve been featured. Your
suppliers and distributors may have sites that link back to you.
Get the picture? Theres a whole network out there thats formedaround you. Whether intentionally or not, youve been building a
platform for value creation.
If youre like most companies, you havent used that platform tobuild real value in your brand or even seen it for the resource it
could be. Its potential remains untapped. However, if you really
invested in building value in selected areas of your ecosystem, it
could become your Honey Pot.
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Chapter 2
The Media Landscape
The subject of this book is not media or market trends, but rather
the idea that the best way to grow your brands online ecosystem
and enhance your marketing efforts is by creating value. However, its helpful to begin by surveying major trends.
Advertising, media and consumer markets have gone through
profound changes in recent years, and those changes are some of
the most compelling reasons to consider a value-based Honey Pot
strategy.
Marketers need to stay nimble and on top of the trends becausethe media landscape is always evolving. Some of the trends that
have emerged in the past decade are real game-changers.
Ubiquitous infrastructure, continuous information flow, the
fragmentation of media and markets; the emerging influence of
the individual, even in the midst of increasing collaboration and
connection; patterns of integrated consumption and mediaconvergence; and a new generation of semantic tools. These are
just a few of the trends that are changing the media landscape.
The players best positioned for success in this changing media
landscape include:
Owners of original ideas and unique intellectual property
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Businesses that know their core, listen to their niche,remain agile, and invest in areas that improve value
Niche communities with critical mass
Neutral parties that facilitate collaboration and interaction Tribal leaders or influencers Individuals with targeted ideas and the discipline to
execute
Those who may face challenges in this new environment include
marketers of homogenized, one-size-fits-all, mass-market
products and middle market players, such as retailers and
distributors.
Ubiquitous Infrastructure
The reality of life today is that we are always on, always
connected. The technology infrastructure that unites us allows for
a continuous flow of information that we, both, consume and
feed. This information flow gets deeper and faster all the time.
This is the result of many factors:
The digital medium itself Improved publishing tools Hunger for information Search technology Accurate measurement and anlytics Easy tools to slice and dice information Mobile access Social connections Citizen journalists pushing information in blogs,
tumblelogs and microblogs
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Microapplications, such as iPhone apps Infotainment vehicles like Yahoo Buzz, Daily Motion and
others Integrated consumption and media convergence
Interesting stories and news of product launches are allcommunicated almost instantaneously. This means that if you
have something of great value, it can catch on quickly. Conversely,
bad products will fail just as quickly. Word gets around faster
than ever, and the value you offer matters more than ever. Not
just because were always on.
The jury is still out on how being always on will affecthumankind in the long run, but the speed of information flow
certainly isnt slowing down.
At 6pm, I bought tickets from Fandango on my iPhone
immediately upon seeing a billboard ad for a new movie. I was
hungry and my phone told me I was within minutes of eight
different restaurants, three of them chain eateries Id liked before.If my iPhone had triangulated my position just an hour earlier,
while we were still driving west, it could have offered me a coupon
for Jersey Mikes subs and then we would have been able to
bypass the whole family discussion about where to eat.
Within hours of Oprah introducing a new book club selection, it
can be number 1 on Amazon and hit 5 million books in print. But
before she is even done with the 5-minute segment, I can havealready downloaded the audio book on iTunes and be listening to
it. I may have even already tweeted it. And during the couplemoments I spent waiting for the book to transfer to my iPod, I
realized the release date of this book was just two weeks ago. How
long would market penetration have taken in the past?
Are you keeping up?
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Connected Fragmentation
The intense connection made possible by the Internet is precisely
what has led to such extreme fragmentation of mass markets andmass media. Were now in the age of the niche.
The central paradox of all this connectedness is that it has
resulted in a kind of connected fragmentation. While the Internetcan bring everybody together, it also allows us to break apart into
smaller and smaller tribes. And even fragmentation of individual
identity, allowing us to belong to several different tribes at once.
Some of the most profound changes impacting media and
markets relate to this connected fragmentation. Because of our
ability to connect with obscure niche groups, to purchase highlyunique product from anyone, anywhere in the world, people are
gravitating toward the fringes.
Brand dilution combined with access to on-demand
manufacturing has sped the process. In the past, there was a
discernable cycle: a fringe product, once it proved it wasnt just ashort-lived fad, would gain enough traction to move into themainstream and become part of the mass market. Now, however,
the fringes wont be the new mass because volume wont exist to
create that mass market; demand will be spread out over a larger
and larger number of unique niche products. In theory, the
market will continue to divide itself into smaller and smaller
slices, in an attempt to increase relevancy, until it becomes
unsustainable (i.e., unprofitable). The increased ability of nimblemanufacturers to produce on demand may, in fact, be double-
edged. Mass marketed products may only be viable if they haveuniquely differentiating customizable options.
Niche Markets, Niche Media, Nimble Manufacturing
Not only does the web allow individuals to connect with other
individuals who share similar even impossibly unusual
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interests, but it also allows marketers to identify those individuals
as members of a specific niche market and, more importantly,connect with them.
This is not just because marketers have more data than ever and
thus can find those niche markets, but its also that marketers can
now offer niche markets a product that suits them thanks to more
and more nimble manufacturing practices. Were not just seeing
more fragmented niche markets, but more fragmented SKUs aswell.
As a result of media fragmentation, its taking businesses longerto find places to spend their advertising budget. Despite the
continued reduction in share many traditional channels like
network television continue to charge more and get away with it.
The death of mass advertising might be near, if not for the sheeramount of capital that has no other place to go yet.
Once a clear path to fragmented communities is laid, advertisers
will realize the unbelievable conversion rates that can be had bytargeting so precisely. (This is not about vertical ad networks, for
they are still sliced too thick.) The cost will rise for onlineadvertising based on the volume of viewers in precisely targeted
niche communities. This will suck capital out of less effective
scattershot mass advertising. That means the most rewarding
time to play is now. At least until publishers figure out how to drilldown to the levels possible. The moment that happens the upside
will vanish.
For now, you need to work site by site and section by section on
push advertising efforts in the interactive space. But prior to
undertaking those types of light seeding efforts, you should first
invest in building up your online ecosystem so that youll get themost value possible from the capital you deploy. Thats the
underlying message of the Honey Pot, really: the best way to deal
with the diminishing returns of push advertising is to enhance
your online ecosystem so that it supports a pull strategy.
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Just think what you can do to actually improve your product with
that leftover capital you no longer waste on mass advertising.
Collective Conversation, Individual Voices
The internet has given us new ways to connect with others and to
have collective conversations. But heres another paradox: its also
truly empowered the individual voices and producers. The
individuals perspective can be delivered quickly, cheaply andeffectively thanks to an infrastructure thats leveled the playing
field so much even the smallest players can compete.
Even people with limited technical knowledge are able to express
themselves and increase their visibility online using tools like:
Blogs Tumble logs Microblogs Personal websites Podcasting/Vodcasting Commenting, rating and ranking Social news sites Social networking sites Social bookmarking Review and opinion sites Wish list and intention sites Collectives Video sites
Every one of us can have a voice online. Individuals can set up amedia outlet all by themselves, if they want. And sometimes a
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lone voice can be louder than the biggest advertising budget.
Think about what happens when a top 100 reviewer on Amazonshares a particularly disappointing experience with a product.
Individual opinion whether delivered in comments, ratings,
blogposts, or tweets can have real potency, but theres also a
weight to the aggregate of individual voices. Note the impact of
the accumulated opinions voiced on forums like Yelp, Epinions
and The Consumerist. This collective voice is different from massmedia. Think about the effect of reading a succession of blow-by-
blow accounts of an event from multiple citizen journalists. Each
individual account takes on more importance when it correlateswith other accounts. The power is in the hands of the crowd, and
every member of the crowd has a digital megaphone.
The Internet provides any individual with a worldwide podium ora soapbox for expression and exposure. This makes it a great time
for start-ups, creativity and new connections, but a perilous time
for the mass media behemoths that can no longer force-feed
homogenized products and messages to the masses.
Individual Fingerprints
The new demographics are simple: everyone is as unique as a
snowflake or a fingerprint. Were seeing the end of broad-brush
demographic profiling. Forget simply advertising cereal to anyfemale-head-of-household-middle-income-25-to-45. Most of
your adspend will be wasted on people who never eat breakfast or
who ignore your billboards entirely.
But suppose you are a small specialty foods manufacturer trying
to market a new cereal. It may be true theres not enough value in
that untargeted mass advertising. However, it may be worth yourwhile to join the community at the PostPunkKitchen or run a
promotion on the MrBreakfast site. And if youre thoughtful about
the information you provide on your site, you can easily connect
with the customer or social influencer whos searching for
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breakfast cereal ingredient labels online. Offer that searcher your
clean-label information, information about childrens nutrition,and maybe some coupons and recipes. Sign her up to be part of
your online rewards program. Soon shell be happy to tell youwhat she buys, how often, when, where, and why. Oh yeah, and
youll also discover shes a vegetarian with two preteen
stepchildren who really want you to use more eco-friendly
packaging.
Consumers are able to communicate their own individual
identities today, while revealing their interests and behaviors
making it easier to identify and connect with those whose valuesalign with yours. And markets can actually identify and connect
with you when your values align with their interests. So there isan opportunity now to focus on solving problems on almost a
unique personal fingerprint level. Thats why the hot new
demographic is not an age group, an income level or a zip code.
Its hardly a group at all.
Say you live in the Pacific Northwest and you like to run in flip-flops when its raining and the temperatures just below 65
degrees, but still above 38 degrees. I have no doubt that with just
a little Digging, you could find other people who also like to run in
the rain in flip-flops when its cool, but not too cold. You can find
each other online and create your own little community. Soon,you may create a running sandal company of your own or an
existing running sandal company will find you, by matching
certain points of your online fingerprints.
Marketers can find niche markets for their products and they can
make niche products to suit these markets. Even if you arent
going to sell five million units of running sandals, isnt there a wayto sell a half million or even a quarter million units and have a
good, profitable niche? You might even be able to develop a
similar product thats just right for groups of golf sandal lovers
and fishing sandal lovers and any number of other niche markets
who will be incredibly loyal to your specialized products. More
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and more companies are going to be asking themselves how they
can take advantage of niche markets and incorporate real timefeedback into their product lifecycle development
So these personal fingerprints have a lot to do with how marketers
can connect products directly to smaller and smaller subcultures.
Theres also an interesting corollary to the uniquely personal ID:
the personal profile.
Centralization of Identity
First, mass markets fragmented into many, smaller nichemarkets. Then, those niche markets fragmented into individual
fingerprints. Now each social influencer has their own identity
and their own personal fingerprint online reflecting their personal
interests and behaviors. And we have the tracking mechanismsand behavioral analysis techniques to use that unique fingerprint.
Another phenomenon thats closely related to the new
demographics of individual identity: the centralization of identityin personal profiles. Although theres a lot of loud pushback from
privacy advocates on this, your personal profile is becoming moreand more like an online ID.
Its not quite centralized yet. Your medical profiles are over here
and your social profile is over there, while your friend profiles,
work status and personal status are somewhere else entirely. But,
while this data might exist in separate places for a while, it seemsinevitable that your disparate profile information will start to
coalesce at some point soon. Were already seeing some of that
with Facebook Connect.
Should we be afraid of our online identities destroying our offline
privacy? In the short term, we should continue to be vigilant, butbe open to selective changes. Whatever happens, fears about
privacy issues will eventually be more than outweighed by the
benefit because theres a better understanding of the user. As
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marketers we dont really want to reach somebody whos not
going to be interested in our product. Understanding theconsumer better means we wont end up serving them messages
they dont want or need. What an improvement!
This could still be many years away, but when it happens its
going to change the environment. We arent going to need to see a
lot of messages that we dont care about because its a waste of
money for the marketer, the advertiser and the company. Plus, itcreates a negative impression for the consumer.
On the flipside, when centralized profiles are available, well beable to get things that are much more relevant to us. This can be
based not only on interest, but also on timing. Say its dinnertime
and youre driving by a Quiznos. An advertiser knows which chain
you like and also knows youre likely to have three kids in the car.Voila! you get an electronic coupon for buy three subs, get one
free sent to you in real time. Of course there would likely be an
incentive for you to forward to your friends or neighbors.
Tie together the interest level and the timing, and you actually
have a stronger messaging system because more relevantmessaging means fewer irrelevant interruptions.
People talk about how invasive that might be. But, at this point, I
feel pretty invaded by the billboards that are all along the
highway, too. Id rather see that billboard come down and have a
much more relevant message come to me personally via text.
Individual Influencers and Individual Producers
One more interesting development not only do the phenomena
of fragmentation and the trend towards customization together
lead to almost individualized markets, but this new reality alsoinvites other kinds of individualization. Namely, the emergence of
highly effective social influencers given voice by new media and
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the resurgence of individual producers making highly unique
items in a modern-day twist on artisanship.
Individual consumers can sometimes have impact on a brandsimply by posting a scathing review in the right place at the right
time, but singular reviews or rants tend to be ignored or
discounted unless the writer has established credibility in their
online life.
Some pundits who noted the increasing importance of individualinfluencers over the past few years have dubbed it
micropersuasion. Media consumers adopted a steady diet ofblogs, social networks and discussion boards leaving a lovely
digital trail detailing likes/dislikes and interests in their wake.
They also came to be influenced by the guides in these new media
venues: moderators and administrators who acted as theguardians of groups, forums and message boards; bloggers
elevated to demigod status within their own little tribes thanks to
highly specialized search engines (think Technorati, for example);
and the stars of social networks who garner more friends orfollowers than the rest of the crowd, who get more feed
subscribers, or who exert more authority through more (or more
powerful) interactions with the community.
In the new/social media world, its clear that individuals can
become hugely influential, taking center stage either by the sheervolume of their actions or by building trust when they
demonstrate their knowledge and expertise.
There are even specialized services to help you identify the
individual influencers in specific niche communities so you can
start the delicate dance of engaging with them. These individuals
have, in effect, created personal brands of such power thatmarketers feel the need to court them or at least, wish they could.
In some tribes, the strongest influencers are notoriously
independent. Those with an analytics orientation may even look
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for key metrics, such as who has the most incoming links or
incoming traffic thanks to their feed subscribers.
Individual producers exert a special kind of influence. As mass-market goods become less attractive, niche products take on more
cachet. The individuals who create those products become stars of
a sort. Theyre no longer anonymous designers or crafters because
online audiences can connect with them directly.
Consumer Vigilantes and Revolt
Advertising agencies used to think they could shape brandidentity, but one of the truly democratizing effects of new/social
media is that advertisers no longer control the playing field and
the truth will come out. A brand will be seen for what it is,
eventually. (Of course this is only good news for some of us.)
When consumers in the online space question the truth of a
brand, it can quickly become a revolt. This often happens in
response to a change maybe a change in the privacy policy or achange in the business model that could threaten the neutrality
of the community. Within moments masses of users bandtogether gathering steam and fury. They threaten to jump ship or
manipulate results until the culprit relents.
In two high-profile examples, when Facebook and Digg made
moves that affected the crowd, they were swamped with user
discontent and organized attempts to make the companiesacquiesce.
To Facebooks chagrin, more than a quarter of a million users
revolted when they made announced their intention to
automatically post user activity with Beacon. In an attempt to
build monetization into their model, Facebook merged useractivity, like adding a friend, with purchases on external sites and
showed them in a consolidated list. Further, they allowed
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advertisers to target specific user behavior and market directly to
it.
With publicly announced calls for patience by the CEO and someadjustments that gave users more control, the backlash relented,
but not before some damage was done to the Facebook is like us
image. And, in the end, even though it did spark some privacy
concerns, users eventually found that the connection of activity,
likes and wants through a list of behavior actually helped themfind the things they needed and make new and deeper
connections.
Digg got a taste of crowd revolt when word buzzed around that
the there was editorial weighting going on in what many
perceived to be the worlds most democratic news aggregator.
Most of the community associated with Digg, as well as industrymedia outlets like Wired, voiced their disapproval.
Whether there was actual editorial weighting or not, the fact that
the founders Diggs and a steady group of Diggers always seemedto be associated with the stories bubbling to the top gave the
community at large enough ammunition to cry foul. The storyeventually faded and most observers later speculated that the
algorithm was tweaked to find middle ground for all sides.
Online Experience for Offline Media
One of the most striking characteristics of the media landscape
today is its connectedness. Newspapers, magazines, radio,broadcast and cable television even movie studios and record
labels all use interactive channels to stay connected with their
audiences.
Every major broadcast player now has an online presence and
every one of them tries to drive their offline audiences to it. Itsnot just about traffic. Although theres often a cost per thousand,
or CPM, component that still represents a fairly minor return
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when compared to airtime. Its really about relationship
marketing continuing the conversation with the audience andstrengthening the connection. These media outlets have
essentially become brands that use multiple online and offlinechannels to reach their markets. Effectively, theyve moved
toward a brand model something thats based on customer
solutions rather than specific types of content platforms.
The more that print or broadcast media use both online andoffline channels, the more they elevate their brand over their
native media platform. Courageous media outlets there are
reaching for iPhone apps and mobile video. The best adapters areproviding an interactive online user experience that connects with
the offline customer experience and enriching the overallexperience of the brand. For their sake, we can only hope they
havent waited too long.
Disintermediation and Democratization
New media encourage direct engagement and provide few
barriers to entry. The combination has been somewhat explosive.
Because they can make direct contact with the source, users now
feel encouraged to so, bypassing middlemen and distributors
whenever possible. This disintermediation puts more of the
burden on companies in many respects, because consumers not
only expect to get valuable information from manufacturer
websites, but they also expect to have conversations directly with
manufacturers.
Honoring expectations and engaging in conversation can
strengthen your relationships with customers. Moreover, this
connection with users can enhance your product development.When you encourage that kind of interaction, youre hearing the
voice of the customer loud and clear. Theyre not just telling you
what they want, theyre often telling you exactly what you need to
do to improve your product offerings.
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The fact that ubiquitous infrastructure is equally available to all
without major capital investment is also leading to greaterdemocratization. Individual producers running sole
proprietorships can compete with large companies to servicesmall, niche markets in search of unique products. Citizen
journalists with smartphones or netbooks can scoop professional
journalists backed by major publications and service bureaus. In
fact, media professionals are increasingly cast as middlemen, andbypassed.
There is also something inherently democratic about phenomena
like peer production and crowd-sourcing. That leveling effect isparticularly evident now that weve seen sites replete with user-
generated content usurping the place of traditional media.
In this new age of the individual, the playing field is level. Anyperson or entity can produce an amazing product, service or piece
of unique content. If it fills a real need, it can spread like wildfire
overnight. In some cases, without spending even a penny of
marketing budget.
Democracy equals opportunity because everyone has a completelyindependent vote. Anyone or anything that is viable in the eyes of
enough people becomes viable. In a true democracy, no one can
cry about foul play or barriers to entry since everyone has a
chance. Certainly there are factors that play into the likelihood ofsuccess, such as intelligence, talent, skills and relevance.
However, this is about as level as the playing field can get.
Democratization of content also reflects those independent votes.
The content that is the most preferred gets the most exposure.
The method of determining what is viewed varies, but its usually
based on user rankings, number of views and links to the content.
What makes this even more interesting is that content has the
ability to transcend planes. For example, its easy to see that the
most viewed videos on YouTube and especially the ones most
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often identified as favorites (favorited), move to the forefront
and therefore get more exposure. However, those same videos arelikely spreading along through other channels (including email)
that arent as readily tracked. Its also important to note thatalthough there is some advantage to being a first mover, reset
rankings, fair algorithms and user-controlled timeframes allow
for content to enter the marketplace. If users find the content
valuable, whether for entertainment, education, or any reasonwhatsoever, it has the ability to go viral through widespread
exposure.
Today, anyone can become a hit an individual, a small companyor a large company. For those that provide a compelling core
value, the world can open up faster than ever. But for those whohave counted on traditional barriers to entry such as large
capital investments to maintain their monopolistic mojo, a new
game is afoot.
This new, democratic environment has resulted in two striking
developments: Customers have always had more credibility with their
peers than you when talking about your brand, and now
their voices are just as loud as yours.
Customers expect more from your brand now. Forget yourmonologue. They want dialog. They have grown to expectit because they get that level of interaction everywhere
else. They require a relationship with your brand.
Semantic Tools
A new ability to reveal intent promises new opportunities.
There are many definitions of the semantic web. Fundamentally,
it means the ability to take the syntax of conversations and dataand the timing of that data, and draw actionable insight from it.
This insight into intent and relevance can be used to improve
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peoples lives by helping them to collaborate, quickly find
information they really want and receive marketing informationthey may actually find interesting.
Suppose youre in the digital photography business and are
specifically interested in people who only use Leica cameras. If
you drill down further into that demographic, theres bound to be
a certain mindset and personality type that tends to like that
camera. Semantic tools could give this particular niche market theability to make deals in a group fashion. For instance, they might
save money by buying equipment at a quantity discount and
having it all shipped to a location where they agree to meet up say, at an upcoming Leica convention.
Tapping into intent also allows you to message people more
effectively using GPS data on mobile phones to tie their areas ofinterest to their geographic area at any given moment. Semantic
tools let you deduce interests based on the syntax of their
conversations and their online behavior.
This all creates a powerful foundation for giving people what they
want, when they want it.
Revealed Intention
The first intent shown by Internet users came in the form of user
searches. But search data initially had no time frame, level of
desire, or other information associated with it except for thefollowing activity by the user. For instance, if the user made a
purchase after a search, we could deduce their level of desire was
high and their place in the sales cycle was deep. We then looked
back at the information theyd entered in the search box and
cross-referenced it with their subsequent activity. This allowed usto figure out that searching for specific multi-keyword phrases led
to faster and higher conversions, and that singular, generic terms
led to browsing-based activity, and so on.
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But logical assumptions about what we would do, given certain
search terminology, just werent enough to change the market. Ithad a temporary positive impact on marketing ROI. But, as weve
grown able to figure out expected conversions to an even moreprecise degree, the positive spread or differential is
decreasing, and, its pretty likely that as the level of certainty
increases with a particular tactic, the cost will go up.
So how do we move to more explicit exposure of intention? Howdo we move to effective collaboration banding together to
achieve a specific goal, for example, whether its to save money,
create a product, or harness processing power to solve complexcomputational problems? And how far away are we from this
capability?
People made a major step toward collaboration with more explicitexpression of intention as a natural extension of our activity in
online communities. Simply, by telling friends and coworkers in
our own circle our intentions whether it was to buy a home or a
car, go on vacation, or whatever we automatically includedqualifiers that arent needed in search. Maybe Ive revealed that
Ill be renting a bungalow in Tahiti in three weeks and I am
nervous about sun exposure because I burn really easily.
In a normal search scenario I might type in best sun block,
which would trigger vaguely relevant ads to be sent my way. Butby tapping into the semantics of the conversations Im having
with the people in my circle, an advertiser might be able to
introduce something totally new an intelligent suggestion thatactually improves my experience. Maybe its an offer for a long-
brimmed hat or reduced-cost tanning sessions. Maybe its tanning
sessions at a local establishment two weeks from now since theyknow Ill want to be building my base tan right before I go.
With the outcry of privacy invasion at Facebook, it was clear that
users arent yet completely comfortable with the announcement of
their previous activity or future intentions unless theyre given the
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opportunity to confirm them. In the case of Twitter, users detail
practically every move they make, but again, it is pushed by themdirectly as opposed to their cell phone mapping back GPS
coordinates or taking random pictures against their will.
However slowly, users are starting to come around to more
explicit expressed intention and some non-controlled
manipulation of how those intentions are displayed. Even in the
Facebook example, users are actually connecting with morefriends, new causes and useful applications because of the listing
of user actions.
Connection and Collaboration
When we truly become effective at the gathering of intention,
natural collaboration will ensue. Unfortunately, we cant get thereuntil we get past some initial resistance. Once people begin to see
the positive effects of their intentions being exposed, I believe
well see widespread acceptance. At that point, we can deal with
other obstacles and risks, such as people not knowing what theywant or changing their minds.
Once we can develop a unifying force that either consolidates
(simplifies and cross-references) data or creates fixed data points
(such as an interest in product X, at cost Y, within Z weeks) to
express intention, we can then match effectively and aggregateintention among individuals to do things like group buys or
matching people to causes whether its for a charity walk or for
building a company.
In fact, we are already seeing non-profits benefiting from badges
on Facebook and LinkedIn profiles. Given the number of people
within my network who match some aspect of my digitalfingerprint, it isnt surprising that quite a few of them have
charities that are of interest to me.
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I dont mean to make it sound like were on a path to socialism
when it comes to collaboration. Have faith that the motivatedforces of commerce within our networks and communities will
always be looking for ways to profit. Furthermore, increasinglysophisticated algorithms will allow those willing to expend greater
effort to take a bigger share of the pie. This could lead to a more
pure and efficient form of capitalism, essentially shifting the value
of relationships to the value the relationship produces.
I do think that collaboration will be the next great frontier on the
web. The amount of collective power that can be harnessed by
social networks to achieve goals is astonishing. Think aboutsaving money with group buys, cloud computing to solve medical
problems, conducting joint product development or even simplyfinding a way to pass on a lineage of storytelling. Wikis and other
tools have given us the ability to crowd-source all types of
information as well as new opportunities to work together toward
a common good.
At first we saw groups of individuals who were already connectedin the offline world embracing online tools as a way to collaborate
on a business presentation, a school project or community
initiative. But soon it was clear that simply having the means to
collaborate could itself create connection and community.
For years, intent existed in our own minds but generally wentunspoken, except perhaps with close friends and spouses. On the
web we find that by expressing our intent we are fulfilled. Were
able to connect with products or services or communities thatmeet our needs. This gratification probably explains why early
technology investments focused so heavily on search results. But
imagine a world where people express their desires proactivelyprior to making a decision. Although were still in an early stage,
its exciting.
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A Shift Towards Creating Value
Some marketers like to bemoan the decline of brand loyalty. But
how can you expect loyalty unless youre providing real value toyour customers? Especially when the value becomes more and
more transparent with the proliferation of information and
distribution through new communication tools.
Theres no logical reason for somebody to be loyal to a brand. The
brand is there to provide a product or service and get paid
something in exchange. Whether the price is $5, $500 or $5
million, theres a value exchange involved.
If theyre acting logically, customers will be loyal as long as theres
a compelling exchange for the price. The challenge arises whenthe value is no longer compelling enough or there are equal
alternatives. Just because somebody always used Tide detergent
in the past does not necessarily mean they always need to use
Tide. Consumers know that there are alternatives and there will
always be more alternatives.
Niche products have less to fear from alternatives, however, andthis is important. More niche products and more SKUs mean a
longer tail economy one that serves the customer in a different
way. This changes a basic dynamic.
It no longer makes sense to spend so much on brand marketing.
Just raising the recognition of your brand and reinforcing the
perception of your brand wont increase brand loyalty. The way toincrease brand loyalty is to have the best product, solve the
problem in the best possible way and provide the best value
exchange for that user who fits your core value based on their
unique needs.
In the most basic terms, the old way of brand marketing was anexposure model thatpushedmessaging on people. Brand value
and trust used to be proxy for real information. But with the
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Internet, users were suddenly able topullthe world to themselves
on their own terms. This means more than empowerment foraudiences, although thats certainly part of it. It also means that a
good deal of consumer intent that had been hidden is nowexposed. Simply by stating their interests through the
navigation of category selections, through consumption patterns,
and via search consumers revealed a wealth of data to
advertisers. Not just what they were looking for, but also how theylooked for it.
Although search certainly helped accelerate the shift, this change
actually began as soon as consumers were able to express choicein a dense enough market to perpetuate that activity meaning
they got what they were looking for, and not just because they hada tool to do it. Then, with search, consumers were not only able to
find the things they were looking for, but also the things they
didnt know they wanted. Even mistaken searches opened new
horizons.
The world hasnt changed totally; you still must have a compellingproduct that fills a need in order to thrive. But what is
fundamentally different is this: people are now telling you exactly
what they want and need.
Moreover, in the current landscape consumers draw out pertinent
value whether thats a product, content or a connection. Theychoose. Therefore, unique value is paramount.
Consumers now create their own vacation experiences rather than
relying on vacation packages. They research product intensely and
know prices high and low before making an offer. They can
connect with people like themselves immediately whenever they
want to, even if theyve never met anyone like themselves before.And they consume niche lifestyle/mindset-related entertainment
such as heavy.com, vbs.tv, and surfline.com.
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How does a marketer deal with this? By offering something
uniquely compelling that builds upon the core value of the goodsor services offered. Give consumers a reason to engage with your
brand.
Of course, while you want your online presence to be attractive
and pull people in, you should always make sure that the
incentive is related to your companys core value in some way.
You also want to be sure not to get too caught up in technology fortechnologys sake. If it doesnt help a user in the lifestyle where
your brand lives, dont offer it. In todays market, alienating even
one person can throw a monkey wrench into your efforts because its so easy for that one individual voice to make itself
heard.
And one more thing you always want to ask yourself whetheryour product is good enough. Because the best way to achieve
marketing success today is not to trump your competitors ad
strategy its simply to provide a better product. Your customers
will spread the word for you.
Accountable Relationships
One of the most significant changes that the spread of web
culture has imposed on advertising and marketing is greater
accountability. The availability of metrics has had a huge impact
on business relationships, and its also allowed for some direct
partnerships to develop that might not have happened in the past.
In the same way that the web allows consumers to find
manufacturers directly, cutting out the middleman, it also allows
would-be advertisers to bypass media buyers and partner with
publishers directly. So we now see manufacturers connecting withniche publications that directly cater to the audience that would
consume their product. Theyre bypassing the standard
advertising relationship, which is often CPM-driven.
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Online publishers who truly own a niche audience, can track
visitor behavior precisely, providing an asset that can be leveragedwith advertisers. Niche publishers, in fact, have the ability to
prove they can help advertisers get into deeper relationships withaudiences. So instead of spending time simply trying to sell more
advertising on a CPM basis, they can focus instead on creating
opportunities to advertise products or services that are directly
relevant to their readership and thus get a much higher effectiveCPM.
Because its tracked, the risk is driven down to limited tests.
Advertisers can know exactly what worked and even a fair amountabout whom it worked on. Theres more direct and more accurate
feedback than there was from old advertising models, too.
The infamous quote by John Wannamaker, "Half the money Ispend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which
half.", may becoming obsolete. But the accountability inherent in
the new, metrics-driven model changes that. It allows advertisers
to shift some risk back to the publishers risk that publishers arewilling to take on when the metrics justify it.
The new dynamic can actually get better product in front of
consumer markets and also level the playing field for companies
with better products. They can now reach markets with much
lower upfront marketing expenditures.
A whole new era of deal-making has begun, primarily because ofthe accountability that metrics bring and because deeper analytics
give the ability to break things down to such a granular level. But
publishers and advertisers will need to align more closely while
walking the tightrope. Collaborative efforts mean that businesses
become more intertwined and depend on each other for success.
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Fundamentals
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, however, it might be
good to take a quick time-out and go over some of the
fundamentals that underlie online advertising deal structures.
There is a difference in which party publisher or advertiser
bears more of the risk when deals are based on CPA (cost per
action) versus CPM (cost per thousand). At the end of the day,
putting an advertiser with a great product or service together with
a publisher whos got highly targeted and receptive readers is a
win-win for both parties. But there are different approaches to
financially aligning and balancing publisher risk with advertiserreward and vice versa.
With CPM models, cost is typically based on how tight the
demographic is, the behavior of that demographic, and the
available inventory. Unless were talking about a fairly largecampaign or a campaign with a particularly motivated publisher,
its typically the responsibility of the advertiser to provide
appropriate creative (direct response, branding, or a blend). In aCPM deal, fees are paid regardless of the performance of thecampaign; therefore the risk is primarily on the advertiser.
Typically, this results in the lowest long-term effective cost for the
advertiser. But thats something that can only be determined if
the advertiser has solid metrics with conversion data.
Often, if a publisher isnt getting the conversions expected at a
CPA level, they may fall back on a CPM or a CPC (cost per click)arrangement with the advertiser. They may be doing this for cash
flow reasons, due to an unexpectedly long sales cycle with your
product or service. But if youre an advertiser whos allocated a
fairly reasonable budget for threshold marketing cost, be wary of
doing a CPM or CPC deal instead of CPA. You may be advertising
in the wrong venue or using the wrong medium or the publishermay not be providing proper placement, or maybe your
product/service just isnt critical to the audience at this point.
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Further, its wise to thoroughly evaluate any agreements that
include touch point controls to ensure that delivery is consistentwith your intended brand experience. Remember, these customer
experience touch points are associated with you.
Regardless of the level of risk and time required to set it up, a CPA
is a partnership that can yield great results for both parties,
especially if you dont have a strong ecosystem or content strategy
of your own (and thus cant generate the kind of traffic you needorganically.)
If you have an opportunity to do a CPA deal, dont just jump at itthinking, Hey, we are only paying for results. Even if you have
already done your homework and know your threshold cost per
acquisition, you could still get stuck with a long term contract that
forces you to pay $100 per customer, for example, when you havebeen getting them for $20 using a CPM approach across all of
your networks. Equally costly, CPA does typically carry a higher
opportunity cost, so you expend more internal resources,
technology costs, and mind space to get a deal implemented.
Upfront risk is calculated into a CPA and CPC. It may not be thebest option if you have stellar metrics. Once you have a solid set of
performance metrics from multiple publishers, ad types and
creative you should consider whether moving away from CPA or
CPC toward a CPM approach that will get you the best ROI simplybecause when you take on the risk, you get the benefit.
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brand dynamic is always there unless your business is completely
commoditized.
By commoditization, I mean that theres absolutely no qualitativedifference between you and any of your competitors. Its all about
who can offer the lowest price. A higher quality product or a more
convenient location or superior customer service none of those
things make a difference because your customers are completely
driven by price.
If you are purely a commodity player, then you had better be
selling something relatively scarce. Otherwise, youre going tohave to find some point of differentiation and fast. That
differentiation is what allows you to market your products or
services, and what distinguishes you from the competition. It goes
right to the core of your value proposition.
Cultivating a rich, sweet Honey Pot requires three things: brand
alignment, authenticity and a compelling core value. But in order
to pursue a strategy that leverages authentic brand value, first youneed to build authentic brand value. And that means you have to
be able to do three basic things:
identify your core value develop a brand experience that embodies your core foster a culture that aligns with your core
These are the necessary prerequisites. Without them, a Honey Pot
even if its well executed just wont work for you.
Identifying Your Core Value
Not everyone can easily articulate his or her companys value
proposition. But if youve stayed in business for any length of
time, its a good bet you have one. Theres probably something
youre doing right whether by accident, by instinct or by plan.
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The trick is recognizing what your core value is so that you can
put together a strategy that really leverages your value. There issimply no way to succeed with a Honey Pot strategy if you truly
cant discern your core value.
So what is it that you do particularly well? What is it that you offer
that no one else does? What unique problem have you solved that
no one else even recognized? What is your story?
Communicating Your Brand Identity
Face it, mood boards are some of the best props to come out ofdesign studios. But your brand is more than a mood board or a
list of attributes. Its more than your logo or tagline, and it is
definitely more than all the agency conversations youve had
about how to communicate your brand.
Brand is something intangible, but nonetheless powerful. It is, in
a sense, the real essence of your product or service a set of
associations based on the publics interactions with your product.
For years the common wisdom held that brand identity was an
image you could carefully craft. It was the impression you wanted
customers to have of what your products or services stood for. Sobrand managers tried to create this idealized identity and then
advertising whizzes tried to persuade customers they wanted or
needed exactly what was promised by the brand. But its
increasingly hard to pull that off.
The days of simply running a catchy campaign for a completelymediocre New and Improved product and then watching its
subsequent meteoric rise are long gone. The reality is that you
have much less control of your brand identity than you might like
to think. Customers now have the ability to talk back moreeasily and more publicly than ever. They wont just talk to you.
Theyll also talk to each other.
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This means the reality behind that carefully crafted brand identity
will be readily apparent. So those who fill a real need, make atotally great product or offer a truly unique service, can grow their
business sometimes very quickly based on word of mouthalone.
Aligning Culture and Core
The notion of seeking cultural alignment with your brand is justas important as recognizing your core and building a strong brand
identity around it. Aside from being something that can drive
innovation, cultural alignment is one of the things that will helpkeep your messaging authentic. As an entity your company needs
to live the brand. The members of your organization need tounderstand your core value and be able to express it.
Dont worry if you think theyre not a particularly expressive
bunch. You can always have a third party help smooth the rough
edges, but you definitely need to make sure everyone in the
organization knows what differentiates you from yourcompetitors. Thats not only your core marketing message; its a
compass for day-to-day business decisions.
Distilling the Value
If you dont have a compelling or differentiated core value,
nothing much in this book really matters. No matter how smart
your tactics are and how well executed they may be, without that
core value a Honey Pot strategy just wont work for you.
A Honey Pot strategy can be a wild success when you have a clear
and compelling core value, but its tough to build an online
ecosystem around nothing other than an empty positioningstatement. The amazing thing is lots of clients come to us with
that compelling core but dont even know they have it. We love
those opportunities when we can help unlock hidden potential.
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My agency, like many others, has one hard and fast rule about
clients: we wont work with companies that lack a solid core valuebecause we believe an online ecosystem can thrive only if it is
built around that core.
Its important to find your core. If youre really lucky, its the story
thats told in the marketing collateral. When its not, the best
thing to do is to strip away all the marketing jargon and see whats
left. What was the spark that started the company? What was thefounders intention? Sometimes when you get back to that, all of
the elements you need to communicate the companys core value
readily bubble to the surface.
Maybe the company founder was a scientist who needed precision
lab equipment to ensure the fewest possible variables in
experiments, so he started making his own because he couldntfind anything on the market that was good enough. Theres the
story behind a major equipment supplier.
Maybe the founder was a baseball player frustrated that hecouldnt bend his pinky when wearing his mitt. He just wanted a
mitt that was a little more supple so he could feel the ball a bitmore. Theres the story behind a sporting goods manufacturer.
Sometimes the core value is at the heart of what drove everything
before there was any profit. Its okay if the founders were looking
for some financial reward, but what was their real motivation?
Were they trying to solve a major problem faced by a loved one?
Were they fascinated by an idea for an invention? The truer thestory, the more it will help you communicate the core. If
somebody was just searching for a dollar, they could have gotten
that dollar any number of ways. So why did they choose this way?
You want to look for the heart so youll be able to decide when
values being added in the right places. Everything you do to build
the online ecosystem should be an enhancement of that core value
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and not just an effort to get more traffic or higher conversion
rates. Those things may result, but they shouldnt be the primaryfocus.
Agencies typically go through some kind of discovery process
with new clients. We try to elicit the business goals. We review
what the positioning statement is and what the messaging has
been to date. We break down the business units into teams, then
we interview, research and summarize. The problem is, the usualdiscovery process doesnt always yield results that are honest.
When an organization has been telling itself a particular story for
a long time, staffers may come to believe it even if its not quitetrue.
Often, you can figure out what the core value really is by finding
the passion in an organization. Thats why we sometimes paymore attention to the intangibles during discovery sessions. When
do the CEOs eyes light up? When do the chief marketing officers
hands start moving enthusiastically? Sometimes the best place to
look isnt even within the organization. What do the companyscustomers have to say about the core value of the company? Are
there feedback mechanisms? Can you intuit anything from
metrics that may have been gathered? Can you put some street
teams out there? Can you make the call to a friend who happens
to be a loyal user of the companys product? Why does she use it?What problem does the product solve for her? Thats another way
to find the heart.
But what happens if there really is no hidden heart? If you cantget down to a core value that you believe in or one that you at
least believe can succeed in the marketplace then you have some
serious work to do.
Figure out how to improve or enhance what youve got. Work with
your R&D folks. Find out whos most closely aligned from a
cultural perspective and work with them to enhance your core
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value. Take responsibility for making that product better, making
that service better and making the real heart come through.
Living ItIn the best companies, the organizational culture aligns with the
core value of the brand. If youve got that heart, then let it show.
Thats authentic value.
Every company has its own back-story and a unique culture. That
uniqueness must be embraced to connect with consumers in the
new media landscape. Its an essential part of establishing your
credibility.
A typical tactic in the past was to go after the mass market with a
brand identity calculated to appeal to the broadest group.Although there are still some opportunities to do that, the middle
is really shrinking. The plays are on the fringes. And to reach
those fringes, you need to speak the right language. If you
understand their needs, niche markets will come to you and can
spread like wildfire.
When your people are aligned with your core value, you havecredibility with your constituency. And, as an organizational
culture, you have passion, energy and clarity of purpose. That
passion and connection to the community are critical.
Say your business is building better bikes. Do you hire biking
enthusiasts or just people who are trying to earn a good living? Doyou attract outdoor enthusiasts? People who are intensely health-conscious? You really should think about this because the mix will
start to affect your product and your customer base at some
point.
If your culture is aligned with your core value then let the
individuals in the organization do their thing naturally. The
people on your team must not only believe in your vision but live
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it themselves so theyll understand how they would want to
interact with your brand. Your team will be speaking the samelanguage as your customers and youll be able to build a more
credible ecosystem. Youll make a natural connection with youraudience. Thats something you just cant fake.
The Power of Core Value
For a number of years the web was ripe with marketing
inefficiencies (read, opportunities.) Some companies were built
on arbitrage plays as affiliates or as product companies filling a
void in niche markets. These companies relied on pockets of low
acquisition costs, maybe a super cheap remnant CPM or
uncontested pay-per-click terms. Although some of theseopportunities still exist, the best categories are taken, and a shift
away from media spend on mass advertising is squeezing out any
differential in converting inventory.
Recently, I helped a client negotiate what I thought would be a
challenging CPA deal because of the price expectation imbalance
illustrated in a volley of emails between our client and a publisher,leading up to the talks. I prepared every data point possible based
on about a half a dozen scenarios, including various combinations
of percentage share of voice, data sharing, ad formats, email
frequency, transaction process and touch-point control. I noticed
the principal representing the publisher becoming a bit agitatedjust as my client started talking about how they had cornered the
market.
This was odd. A bit of frothing (whether real or feigned) might be
typical when the deal numbers are being discussed. But we hadntdiscussed any numbers yet, and the principal of the publisher was
a seasoned deal-maker. Such visible reactions were out of
character.
My client finished a clear articulation of his unique service and
was about to broach the numbers in an attempt to set a realistic
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Chapter 4
How to Sweeten the Pot
How you grow your ecosystem and turn it into a rich, sweet
Honey Pot depends on what the core value of your brand is.
Even though you may engage consultants to actually buildelements of your ecosystem for you, remember that you know your
business, your customers and your core value. Dont be pushed to
do anything that doesnt align with your core brand identity.
Theres no