SAMBA Blog

The Antidote to Adaptation

Many behavioral experts speak about the trap of adaptation.

Quickly after we achieve things and increase the quality of our lives, we quickly adapt to our new situations, forget what it was like before, and in many ways end up with a net zero gain psychologically.

So what's the antidote?:  Gratitude.

Gratitude forces you to to reflect on what you've gained, and where you've come from.  

So today, give yourself a pat on the back.  Remember all you've achieved this past year.  No need to beat yourself up, there will be plenty of time in 2011 for that.

As far as the rest of 2010 is concerned...enjoy.

What If You Had to Start Over: A Thought Experiment

As 2011 approaches, try out this thought experiment:

Imagine, your business or the entire organization you work for is wiped out (all it's assets, people, processes...everything).  The insurance company gives you enough money to buy back everything, and you're put in charge of rebuilding from scratch.

With the cash in your hand, you have the opportunity to build it anyway you want:  Would you build it the exact same way it was before?

If the answer is no...what would you change?  Why? 

Most people would change at least something.  Some would change everything.  I think this scenario gives people permission to, if just for a moment, disregard the bureaucracy, resistance, fear of failure, and overwhelming nature that organizational change can cause.  

Here's to hoping that 2011, gives you that very same permission.  

 

Frustration first

Frustration can be a great emotion for motivating ourselves to change.

But it's a horrible emotion for doing great work.

So if you're frustrated, congratulations.  That's the first step.  The second step is moving into a slightly more resourceful emotion, like discontent.   From there, try something like passion.  

Once you're in a state of passion...that's when you're really ready to produce.  But it can all start with frustration.

Gimmicks

Gimmicks are shocking/strange/interesting marketing devices clearly implemented for the sole purpose of getting attention.
 
 

They're not ideal.  Like Clay says, better you bake magic into the business, product, or story itself.  Something of value. That's how you get people really talking about you in a meaningful and powerful way.
 
 

But if you can't do that, well then anything is better than a boring business, with nothing to talk about. 
 
 

So if that's the case, sure...resort to gimmicks.

Spider Man on Broadway

Because of the massive financial investment, some experts are forecasting a run of 4 years before the show actually turns profitable.
 
 

But as we all know, all the advertising in the world won't get them there, unless the show itself generates the ever important word of mouth (the lifeblood of any entertainment show).

 

Now, the show is apparently packed with amazing special effects, costly set design, and unprecedented stunts (flying!).  Things clearly that are going to be talked about (and sometimes movies do well with just this)

 

But the problem is 4 years is a long time!  What causes people to gasp in disbelief today...may cause them to yawn from boredom next year.   
 
 

If Spiderman is going to have a chance at long term success, they better hope they have the elements worth talking about that are timeless.  I'm talking about drama, conflict, storytelling, and powerful emotion.
 
 

These are the qualities that if done well will carry the show well past 4 years.  I'm excited to see the show and find out.   If you do, I hope you'll let me know what you think...

On a day like this...

Check your Facebook or Twitter Feed today.

It's hard to find anything but positive messages of kindness, generosity, appreciation, and love.

I think social media serves a lot of purposes...but none greater than the one we see today.

 

A Case for more Gifts

Many think that gift giving ruins the spirit of the holidays.

Not me. It might be the marketer in me but I see it as an amazingly joyous phenomenon. In fact I can't think of many other transactions where both parties benefit so splendidly.

The recipient gets something that they can enjoy, cherish, appreciate. A show of affection from a loved one.

And the giver gets an even greater gift: the privilege of seeing their loved one's reaction when opening it.

My only question is...how can we find more times a year to give gifts? :)

Happy Holidays.

Delicious Dream Come True

I love the experience of eating raw, organic chocolate for breakfast. 

It's satisfying to purchase something that is delicious and adds value to my life. 

Happy Holidays! 

 

Don't wait until New Year's

We're coming up to a dead week for a lot of people.

Being in the thick of the holidays and with New Year's only about a week away, it can be tempting to put off forming and executing on your personal goals until January 1st.

After all that's what the New Year is for isn't it?

WRONG.  January 1st is just another day of the year.  It only has superficial symbolic value but no real value in the context of change.

When you wait until January 1st...the date itself becomes the author of the change...instead of you.  Very little power in that.

Real change happens now.  When you decide on it.  In the moment.  It doesn't discriminate based on the day of the year. 

Do yourself a favor...make your New Year's Resolutions now.  Today.  Go.

Branding with Sound and Smell

We're all familiar with the concept of visual branding, because it's been the norm for so long.  I'm not sure when it began, but when it did, it must've changed everything.  It allows a company to communicate it's values and personality through unique images, colors, typography, and style.  Everything from logos, to corporate colors, to website design.
 
 

For some time now, the game has been changing again.  Recently auditory and olfactory branding have emerged as legitimate and extremely powerful marketing vehicles.  And smart marketers are wasting no time jumping in and putting sound and smell to work for them.

 

This is a huge opportunity for companies to gain a competitive edge.  If you don't know much about this, you should.  This post is a heads up:  You can start here and here.

Salespeople and Customer Service

Companies want great sales people who also deliver great customer service.

But If you hire people for sales positions, and you pay them like salespeople, incent them like salespeople, treat them like salespeople, call them sales people you can't be surprised if the customer service part suffers.

That requires a completely different type of compensation, motivation, a different type of language, and completely different type of organization.   

It's not clear you can have both without some sort of compromise.

Work is dividing.

On one side is work that is complex, ambiguous, and requires an artistic approach.

On the other side is work that is mundane, regimented, unambiguous, and straight out of the factory. You just need to show up.

The assembly line jobs require little imagination. You just have to work faster and cheaper. You might not think your line of work falls into this category but you might be surprised, even if you do have a graduate degree.

Emotional labor demands better and different, not faster and cheaper.

And the gap is getting bigger. This will have a profound effect on society.

Good Timing

Kids intuitively seem to know the very best time to ask their parents for something.  (Catch 'em while they're weak!).  They wait patiently until the perfect moment, and they spring into action.

But often times in the workplace it's easy to underestimate the role of timing. 

Whether it's asking for a raise, trying to change the status quo, or making your push to become a partner...don't just consider the "how".  Think about the "when" too.  Sometimes it can make all the difference. 

Everything that can be measured...

Now that almost everyone is on board with Social Media, it'll be treated with the same level of scrutiny as other channels for marketing. Television gets measured, even if imprecisely. Radio gets measure, despite the difficulty. Direct mail gets measured precisely because it is precise. Google search ads lend themselves to very targeted measurement.

You've got your work cut out for you if you don't know how to prove ROI. As a marketer, you no longer have to spend most of your time convincing everyone else in your organization that social media is a serious and permanent part of the landscape. You asked for it. Now you have to deliver.

Great Events

I think we need to approach events, like directors approach movies.  Movies are incredibly well orchestrated, from start to finish, every emotion that the audience feels on purpose. 

Directors create suspense, pay attention to drama, create mystery, and most importantly create scenes worth talking about.

When you attend corporate events, or conferences sometimes you get the feeling the organizer is trying to create something simply worth surviving.  

The reason movies work so well is because they're entertainment.  People like to be entertained.  No matter what type of event you're holding, it's important to realize your first job is to entertain.

 

Social Profiling

It's still early in the game for social marketing. Facebook is less than 10 years old. Twitter is even younger. What's tomorrow's new new thing to make waves in social? Who knows?

But one thing is clear in this early stage. Profiles don't work well yet. We're just not that into filling out what is essentially a form about our interests in various categories. An overwhelming majority of us put in a few tidbits first thing during the registration process but we've never added to it since. A tiny minority of us constantly update and curate our profile page as if it were a Japanese Tea Garden. The rest of us could care less. That doesn't mean our profiles are dirty ghettos, they're just minimalist studios with nothing for a marketer to go on.

If you're a social marketer, you have got to have patience. Profiles and feeds will get richer and more revealing. But in the meantime, you've got to figure out your own ways to build a deep relationship with your customers and prospects. Don't get lazy buying ads targeting profile "interests" that barely reflect who we really are.

Discount Shopping

My friend is a marketer by profession but in his spare time he likes buying expensive things online at discount prices. He just bought a pair of very expensive pants at a 10% discount online. Great find.

But what is he actually buying? If it was just an article of clothing to keep his legs warm he paid way too much whether he got a huge discount or not. As marketers we understand that people buy for a feeling. And the buying experience usually plays a big part.

Now I love bargain shopping as much as the next person but maybe sometimes we need to engage in the buying process that optimizes the experience, the feeling, the one the marketer intended. Walk into the store whose name is the same as the one on the product, have a salesperson put on a show for you, hand them your credit card knowing you're paying full price, have them put it in a fancy store bag and walk home holding the bag proudly for all to see.

Some may call this hogwash...but marketers need to believe. Otherwise what the heck are we doing.

Not Easy

I discovered just now that blogging everyday or every other day as is the case here is much easier when you have lots of posts in the queue ready to go rather than to actually have to write one per day. It is so hard to schedule productivity. You never know when inspiration or a decent idea comes to the front of the mind.

Creative bursts come along and that usually lends enough material for several posts. Write them now!

Conflicts often brings us closer

It's usually only in superficial relationships where arguments don't happen.  In fact, if you look at your very closest, deepest ones, you might realize these are the people you have skirmishes with the most.
 
 

Yet  often with our coworkers and colleagues, especially those above us, we try to avoid conflict.  We may refrain from dissent or challenging their authority for fear of putting strain on the relationship.  But relationships are like building muscle:  you must literally tear muscle fibers, in order for them to repair and grow stronger.  

The good thing is you don't have to seek out conflict (and you shouldn't).  People naturally have different opinions and worldviews...conflict arises on it's own...what you need to do is stop intentionally avoiding it.  

Billy Joel vs. Bruce Springsteen

When Billy Joel writes an album, he struggles to squeeze out 10 or 11 songs, but once he's done...they're brilliant and he's done.

When Bruce Springsteen writes an album, he's trained himself to write 100 songs, picks the handful that he deems album worthy, then discards the rest.

Some of us are like Billy, but I think the rest of us would be best served doing things like the Boss.  It's an almost no fail way to create art that is truly our very best.