The Rise of the Personal Assistant

May 14, 2012 Leave a comment

Entrepreneur, CEO and computer scientist Andy Hickl wrote a great piece for Tech Crunch yesterday about the rise of this notion of personal assistants as a means for helping us to make the most out of our lives.  I love the piece because Andy blows the doors off of our conventional understanding of what duties a digital personal assistant might perform.

One school of thought says that assistants should be all about delegation. I pass tasks downstream, and in doing so, I reclaim my time and energy. I think that several companies will achieve big things doing just that.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. What about an assistant that doesn’t take things off my plate — but rather, wants to put things on it? What about an assistant that guides me down paths less traveled? What about an assistant that aspires to help me be a better version of myself? What about having a colleague instead of a secretary? A mentor instead of a student?

What would it mean to have a rewarding, mutual relationship with a computer — not in a GTD sense, per se — but rather in my private life? A relationship that was based on mutual admiration, a high level of trust, and a secret handshake? We need a corollary to the notion of an assistant. I like having an assistant. But I want a companion too.

With a companion, you’ll have to give more to get more, too. It’s more of a partnership, and a true love. A companion is an emotionally evolved species. Better put, a companion actually aspires to help me be a better human, and lead a better human life. A companion is about more than just finding me an ATM, conducting a web search, or deleting a calendar entry. It’s about achieving goals, and revealing truths.

Andy says we’re seeing the convergence of three major trends that are making this technologically possible and socially desirable.

The Transparent Self

First, these apps will require a lot of data about us to become effective and useful in our lives.  We need to let them in and then be convinced that continuing to share personal information with them is providing us with tangible value.  Andy points out that location-based apps may have the best headstart in this area, as they ask for a type of data that we’re freely willing to give up, and that can be used to make a ton of accurate predictions about who we are, what we do, and (ultimately) what we’ll want/need.

The Aspirational Self

The next step is about creating enough value to garner continued use.  A lot of this begins with the idea of The Quantified Self, the act of being able to measure habits and behaviors as a means of self-improvement and discovery.  The Feltron Report, Jambone Up and Nike’s recently launched Fuel Band are all great examples.  But, Andy points out that they rely (to varying degrees) on game mechanics.  Whereas, when you receive a recommendation from a trusted source, you don’t have to be “gamed” because there’s a sense of established trust and mutual understanding.  It’s what we have with our significant others and close friends.  And this is where the opportunity lies: in creating trusted “companions” that make our limited time on earth richer.

The Clued-In Self

Staying with this idea of the companion, the difference they have from assistants is that companions (or think of them as good friends) say “Hey.  I saw this awesome new thing.  You gotta go try it with me now!”.  Whereas assistants (think: Siri) are reactive.  They do what you tell them to do, but operate exclusively within the purview of your own awareness and knowledge.  The second piece to this goes back to the always-on mentality.  The idea that our desires, interests and needs are always changing, requires a companion that is always listening, re-evaluating and adapting.

Overall, an awesome series of trends and an even better framework for thinking about the future of brands as utilities…and eventually companions. Rock on, Andy.

 

Filed under Behavior, Culture, Design, Strategy

A Look Into Wolff Olins’ “Game Changers Report”

April 3, 2012 Leave a comment

Wolff Olins recently published what they’re calling the Game Changers report, an examination of the defining characteristics of today’s high-growth businesses.  When the work was done, the firm pinpointed (5) behaviors or traits embodied by these revolutionary brands. I’m in strong agreement with everything outlined in the report and wanted to take some time to summarize and build (as I often do) on the thinking of others.

Leading With Purpose

High growth businesses are not just commercially, but socially-focused as well.  They understand that to be successful in this transparent world, you must be enmeshed in the lifestyle and culture of your customers.  Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives are not enough, and actually undermine this point all together.  It’s about establishing a strong sense of purpose that ties back to why your business exists in the first place.

To build on this, Nike’s might sound like, “If you have a body, you’re an athlete and Nike exists to build happier, healthier, more fully-supported human beings, through the development of products and communities that put people and planet in balance.”  The company’s GreenXchange, N7 Fund, and Nike Foundation are all examples of this purpose being put into action.

This ties closely to what Umair Haque discusses in his recent ebook, Betterness, specifically, the evolution from Visions to Ambitions as a means of transcending merely striving to increase returns for shareholders.

Thinking of Customers As Users

The fragmentation of communication channels has created an opportunity for brands to move beyond broadcasting to their customers and instead begin engaging in a dialogue with them.  This has powerful implications in that it enables brands to create products and services that are more useful in the lives of customers.

A great example of this, shared in the study, comes from the branchless banking service, M-Pesa, which noticed that people in developing countries lacked traditional banking systems and were trading cell phone minutes as a means of fostering transactions.  The brand decided to create a mobile phone-based banking system that allows users to pay bills, transfer money, and buy products all via the system.  Simply put, the brand is building their business model around creating a useful service, rather than a revenue stream.

The question we must always be asking as brand strategists is how can we add greater value to the lives of our users.  This extends past what they’re buying from us, and instead starts to look at what they’re capable of achieving as a result.

Being In A State Of Perpetual Beta

At a time when innovation is happening at more and more rapid rates, it’s crucial to look at R&D in new ways.  Google was one of the first with their now infamous 20% rule; by enacting this, they created a corporate culture that was less constrained and free from the need to roll out products that were already ‘perfect’.

In fact, the accelerating rate of innovation means none of us really know what ‘perfect’ looks like in our respective industries at all.  We need consumers and real-life use to help us figure that out, and Google has always been comfortable with this fact.

What’s key is for businesses to create cultures with the right conditions for experimentation.  This means encouraging employees to take risks and supporting them to continue doing so even as they fail…again, and again.  It’s also important to keep in mind that this doesn’t just apply to R&D in the traditional sense, but to the processes, habits and ways of doing things that departments solidify as ‘the way’ after a period of time.

Experimentation needs to be a constant practice, and it must be led by the values established in section 1, Leading With Purpose.  Companies who take this to heart will find that their employees attain the intrinsic fulfillment that traditional bonuses and incentives can never truly deliver.

Live Without Walls

In the old world, it was all about establishing and maintaining a competitive advantage.  Innovation and intellectual property were heavily guarded.  However, the fragmentation of the marketplace and its available communication channels as well as the pace of technological innovation have taken what was a closed system and completely opened it up.

Intelligent brands have a firm understanding of what they do well, but aren’t afraid to partner with others to achieve larger goals, creating entirely new markets supported by more comprehensive services.  The collaboration between Nike and Apple on Nike+ is still one of the most groundbreaking examples out there.  But, brands like (RED) built a philanthropic business model solely based on the notion of collaboration and partnership.  Today they’ve helped raise millions together with brands like Starbucks, Gap, Dell, Apple and more.

Perhaps the best line in Wolff Olin’s report is this: “…the brands that will have the greatest impact on all our lives are those that see themselves not as citadels that need defending, but as causes that need joining.”

Game Changing brands will develop an always growing ecosystem of collaborators that allow them to create value in new ways.  Again, we’re moving from closed systems to open ones, simply because achieving our maximum potential depends on it.

Change The Game

In the past, organizations succeeded by pursing a single business strategy with unwavering confidence.  But, today a new type of growth potential is taking shape.  Game Changing companies are exploring new sectors, revenue streams, and markets with an admirable conviction.  To reinforce this, a PWC Global CEO Survey found that over half of U.S. CEO’s strongly agree that creating new business models is now a priority for their company’s innovation portfolios.

LEGO is perhaps the most startling example presented in the study.  In 2003, the brand was a beloved, but dated toy block manufacturer.  Ten years later, they’re posting nearly a billion dollars in pre-tax profits, made possible through expansion into sectors like video gaming, theme parks, retail stores, clothing and even business consultancy.  And if that wasn’t enough, they’re harnessing the power of co-creation with consumers through sites like CUUSOO and DesignByMe.

All of this underscores the importance of creativity in the workplace, as well as being open to experimentation (discussed earlier).  Most important, again, is that the value-creative behavior that Wolff Olins identifies must ladder up to a brand’s purpose (section 1) – why it exists in the marketplace.  This is the cornerstone of developing new competencies.

Brands should make it their goal to develop one new revenue stream each year based on the over-arching brand purpose and values.

Overall, a great study that defines, supports and provides examples for five of the most crucial trends affecting innovation among brands.  If, somehow, this wasn’t enough detail, head on over to Wolff Olins for the full download.

[Image via Thomas Hawk]

Filed under Brands, Business, Marketing, Strategy

How Brands Can Tell Great Stories

March 19, 2012 Leave a comment

So, I just watched a keynote presentation from Greg Owsley, former marketing chief for the fabled New Belgium Brewery. The talk he gave was at The Statewide Sustainability Roundtable in Colorado Springs last November, and focuses on what he calls the “6 R’s of Storied Social Change Marketing.”

Essentially, they represent a set of guidelines that will help marketers tell more compelling stories through their campaigns. I’ve embedded the videos from his talk, but have written this post as a succinct summary that adds a few thoughts of my own on the subject of storytelling as brand marketing, specifically because I think it supports my stance that marketers need to be building more human brands.

 

 

Greg’s first point, which is one of his best, is that brands (especially big ones) get tied to the idea of selling these big ideals, like “Freedom” or “Empowerment.” But, in reality, these are often ineffective because they’re extremely conceptual making them difficult for people grasp and relate to their own lives. Furthermore, we all have different definitions and associations for words like “Freedom” and “Empowerment.” What brands must do, instead, is tell specific and compelling stories, containing the following elements:

  • Roots: must have a foundation built on key “truths”
  • Relevancy: must express the facts in a compelling manner – one that grips the intended audience
  • Reverb: must latch the relevancy to a greater social tension or cultural myth
  • Remarkable: the message and its imagery must stand out, by being remarkable, memorable, provocative and disruptive
  • Rally Cry: there must be a call to action that gives the subject an objective
  • Ripple: must integrate marketing streams to create a supportive or additive framework for the campaign or story

I love everything Greg is saying here and think that he uses great case studies to illustrate his point. However, there’s some elements that, perhaps lie a little bit deeper, that brands can gain tremendous benefit from understanding how to incorporate into their storytelling and identity formation.

First, because brands focus on crafting these highly polished stories and identities for themselves, they don’t connect with people because they don’t feel human or real. This goes back to my notion of building more human brands.  Humans are incredibly multidimensional, experiencing varying states and levels of emotion on a minute-by-minute basis of every day. This state of constant emotional flux defines our lives, yet brands avoid it like the plague, instead, trying to tell stories that are overly-polished, fit and clean. Except the problem is that these don’t connect with consumers, because our wiring tells us, very clearly, that they’re manufactured.

Instead brands need to be turning to elements of paradox, creative tension, conflict and even unknowing as a means to develop their identities and tell their stories, because it’s how people experience the world. Just think of how many times you feel ‘conflicted’ throughout the day? Yet brands rarely incorporate elements like this into their stories.

To use Apple as an example, which I hate doing, they have taken the notion of ‘unknowing’ and incorporated it brilliantly into their identity. On a practical level, no one ever knows anything about their products until the day they’re released. This unknowing creates tremendous enthusiasm and anticipation, just like a great writer does with the climax of their story. On a more subtle level, this secrecy and unknowing allows us to form our own beliefs about how the brand’s products will impact our lives. Suddenly, Apple becomes more things to more people – in many cases a gateway to connect with one’s own inner child by enabling creative pursuits.

In any case, these messier components of unique human experience – conflict, unknowing, tension, paradox, etc. are the meat for great stories, and brands would be wise to leverage them in this convoluted marketplace as a means of authentically connecting with their customers.

Big thanks to Steve Wilton for sending me these talks and engaging in a stimulating conversation about the ideas!

Filed under Brands, Business, Culture, Marketing, Media, Strategy

From Business to Betterness

March 15, 2012 2 Comments

Just finished reading Umair Haque’s new ebook, Betterness and I’m thoroughly inspired.  Anyone working in business whether it be small, independent shop or massive multi-national corporation, could benefit from hearing about the shift in thinking that Haque advocates.

The economist turned humanist argues that our current capitalist system is in need of a substantial overhaul, a paradigm shift as he puts it.  He argues that our economy is at a point of diminishing returns, specifically in regards to the value, jobs, income, net worth and overall fulfillment it returns to the people and communities that fuel it.

Instead, Haque believes that businesses have a greater potential to live up to, namely, one built on maximizing human potential through the generation of real Wealth.  Haque calls this evolution “Betterness.”

Where Business says, “I’ll offer you a product or service in exchange for your currency.”  Betterness says, “Through the act of exchange, I’ll ignite your human potential.  You will become better – fitter, smarter, closer, wiser, tougher, humbler, truer, wealthier in terms that add up to a life meaningfully well lived.”

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Filed under Brands, Business, Culture, Marketing, Strategy

Key Tech Trends for 2012

January 12, 2012 Leave a comment

frog design published a nice piece two days ago on their blog, compiling the thoughts of many of their top creatives, strategists and executives regarding key technology trends for the coming year.  Few firms have the credibility right now of frog, so I encourage you to head on over and read the post in it’s entirety.  A few of the trends they identified stand out as being particularly salient for businesses and agencies, across a variety of specialties, so I’ll summarize and build-on a few here.

Many theorists speculated that our sense of “Place” would diminish in significance with the rise of digital technologies, however, as many of the trends tip toe around, “Place” has never been more important. Cities are obviously in vogue (perhaps permanently) and our digital devices make unlocking their ultimate potential more accessible than ever. Innovations that expand the connection between our digital device and the physical space will continue to grow faster than we can imagine.

As Ficklin, Tuttle and Richardson attest, the computing experience will continue to become more personal or “human” as it were.  The obvious developments from 2011, as they identify were Apple’s Siri and Ford’s Microsoft Sync, both imperfect in many ways but no less, important steps in the development of a more sensitive interaction between human and computer.

One trend of particular interest, is Thomas Sutton’s identification of the Quantified Self.  Made possible by data aggregation platforms that will couple information from technologies like Nike+ and Jawbone’s Up band, providing users with a more integrated understanding of things like their overall health, in this case, further enabling insights and suggestions that are more and more specific, nuanced and in turn useful.

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Filed under Business, Design, Marketing, Strategy

A Word On Presenting Your Ideas

November 30, 2011 Leave a comment

During a pitch yesterday to a prospective client, it dawned on me how crucial it is to present ideas or opinions in a) compelling, b) organized and c) digestible ways.  All too often we come up with great solutions, that fall flat when our enthusiasm prevents us from sharing them in a logical and emotionally-compelling fashion.

While, an entire book could be written on this topic (and many have, including the hugely popular Made To Stick, by the Heath Brothers, which I haven’t read) this is a blog and so I’ll share a quick series of questions that will help to organize how you present ideas in the future.  But, in reality, it’s not any more complicated than this.

  1. What’s the insight, reality, or problem that your solution or idea is addressing? This will prepare the listener for what they’re about to hear, while providing the reasoning and background behind your thinking.
  2. What’s the idea? This should be a short, emotionally-charged summary that takes no more than a few sentences.  People’s attention spans are short, so this explanation should follow suit.
  3. How will it work? This is where you can dive a little deeper into not just the ‘how’ behind implementing or bringing the idea to life, but also expand on some of the details regarding what the idea or solution actually is.  It’s never a good idea to go into too much depth during your initial explanation, where the purpose is to generate excitement and create a sense of possibility.  Instead, if possible, address the nuances and finer details here.
  4. What will the result be? After expounding on the details, it’s always a good idea to bring your listener back to the end result or that sense of possibility.  In my case, at a marketing agency, it’s often about the potential that an idea holds for the brand on a larger scale.

The best pitches, regardless of how planned or even informal they may be, will simultaneously strive to appeal to the listener’s emotional and rational minds.  And, don’t be mistaken, this format doesn’t just apply to presenting ideas in the traditional corporate sense.  They can be used when asking for a raise at work, making a statement at a PTA meeting, or just trying to convince someone of your point of view.

Filed under Business, Ideas, Marketing, Strategy

LivePhish.com: A Case Study in Building Community

November 6, 2011 Leave a comment

Most don’t know this, but Phish has one of the most active and passionate communities of fans, not just among bands, but also brands in the world.  How did it all begin? Jam bands, dating back to the Grateful Dead have always been defined by the constantly changing and unpredictable nature of their live performances.  Simply put, it wasn’t the records they periodically produced, it was going to see them live that made these bands and the genre what it is today.  A mainstay of this culture involved fans recording live shows and sharing them with friends, a practice that has been going on for decades.

In the 80s, these individuals became known as “Tapers.”  An entire subculture emerged of people who traveled to concerts to record them, share them and trade them with friends.  Naturally, this made a deeper analysis of each performance possible, while generating social groups that revolved around this discovery and learning process.  Eventually, this ability to more attentively listen to and discuss the music of these bands coupled with the always evolving nature of their performances, grew into a more rabid and loyal fan base.

So, after looking at this history, one that many brands would salivate at the prospect of having as their roots, musicians and bands in more mainstream genres still don’t seem to understand the power that experience holds in developing active online communities of fans. So, I chose the band Phish to show how these powerful sub-cultures harnessed by a sound digital strategy has been turned into not just a revenue source, but a means of constantly fueling support and loyalty for the music itself.

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Filed under Brands, Business, Marketing, Media, Strategy, Uncategorized

A Thought on Brands and Culture

November 3, 2011 Leave a comment

I read Grant McCracken’s latest Harvard Business Review article, called Cool and the Corporation.  Insightful and thought-provoking as always from Grant.

In a nutshell, Grant explains how brands are now in the business of making culture, by creating meaning and experiences among other things for their customers.  However, brands are often unable to create culture without pulling from existing ideas, aesthetics, music, sensibilities, trends, styles, etc.  In short, they have to borrow to build.  The new VW “punch buggy” ad from Deutsche/LA is an example of a brand paying homage to the culture from which it has borrowed from (read his post first hand for more on the details).  In short, creativity comes from others creativity and VW/Deutsche is, as Grant says, acknowledging their debt to those that came before them.  The progression then is from a “cool hunter” model where brands steal culture to the “rebroadcast” model which is more about borrowing and paying homage.

So, this article got me thinking, why is this change occurring?  Is it something about brands themselves or the progression of our culture that’s creating this seemingly conscientious transition?  The answer, I think, lies in the fact that brands must become more transparent about acknowledging their influences as a means to more effectively tell their story to consumers.  The VW ad is a very small example, akin to hitting a single into right field in my opinion.

So, what’s the home run look like?

My first thought (usually my best), went to the Reebok Classics Collective, also dubbed “We R Classic.”  It’s essentially a site dedicated to short interviews, documentaries and performances from musicians, artists and dancers regarding the process and untold stories behind their work.  More than that, it’s a fantastic example of a brand not only acknowledging the culture that its based upon, but also creating something that actively contributes, builds upon or gives back to that culture.  But, again, it’s really a means of drawing connections between themselves and consumers who share a passion for these same pieces of culture.

Filed under Brands, Culture, Strategy

What Steve Jobs Knew About Philosophy, Business and Life

October 10, 2011 Leave a comment

I wasn’t going to write a Steve Jobs post, but here we are.

Between Friday and today, adWeek has published two really insightful posts about Apple’s philosophy, approach to business and the marketing of that business. I’d just like to pull a key pieces for all the agency folks and entrepreneurs out there to keep in mind.

First, Jobs knew that the best way to move culture forward was to create superior products. Not just products that seemed superior, or undercut the competitor on price, but products that allowed (and continue to allow) us to be the people we aspire to be.  That was the truth that Apple sold and it’s the reason you continue to purchase from them.

In short, their unmatched beauty and performance gives you the freedom to become that next greatest version of yourself.  Make no mistake, you aren’t really buying a tablet, you’re buying an unwavering philosophy built on the premise that you have the ability to forge your own path, creating new wonders for the world at large.  You aren’t buying technology, you’re buying a way of living.  Few publicly traded companies could say this about their products.

So, that’s today’s post in a nutshell, with a bit of my personal take, but what about the agency relationship between Jobs and Lee Clow (Creative Director of TBWA)?

The post on Friday, which maybe should have come second, includes a paraphrase from Jobs about Lee Clow’s strength as a Creative Driector:

Clow’s fundamental strength was that he “looks at Apple from his heart,” Jobs said, “and this gives him the ability to see us as we should be, to see us as we have trouble seeing ourselves sometimes. And to remind us who we are when we are tempted by compromise or shortcuts.

I love this as I think it encapsulates the best of what our industry can deliver it’s clients. In this rapidly evolving world, rife with more technology and communication points than we can possibly ever use, it’s never been more important to serve clients as a guiding light that keeps them laser focused on who they are and what they stand for.  Designing campaigns around the best of what our clients can be (or have been) will yield far greater results than planting ourselves firmly in reality.

Here’s to you, Steve (cheesy, dated photo omitted)!

 

Filed under Business, Culture, Marketing, Strategy

Drifters, Drivers and Developers: What Kind Of Worker Are You?

September 22, 2011 1 Comment

So, I’m reading Todd Henry’s, The Accidental Creative, which is a book for anyone who must come up with creative and novel solutions to problems in their field on a never-ending basis.  The challenge we face in this position is the need to constantly be inventive and brilliant, amidst an increasingly distracting and chaotic world.  Henry, in his book identifies many of the problems holding us back from reaching our maximum potential and then proposes a series of principles to live by that will allow us to create effectively amidst the turmoil.

The piece I stumbled upon yesterday, pertains to identifying how you tend to operate or work at you job.  Henry breaks these tendencies into 3 main types, which I’ll describe:

Drifter: this individual goes with the wind, working on whatever they feel like in a given moment.  Easily distracted and operating often in very shallow levels of thought, due to their distraction.  Finishing projects is challenging and are often put off until the last possible moment.  The scattered nature of this type’s work can lack purpose because they are missing a systematic and organized approach.  This isn’t to say these people aren’t productive, it just means there missing some critical components to be maximally effective.

Driver: this person is almost the opposite of the Drifter, as they are overly focused on outcomes.  They naturally break projects down into their smallest component parts, in order to complete the work as effectively as possible.  These individuals are propelled by checking off their to-do lists.  While they are incredibly skilled at reaching their objectives efficiently, their rigid systems for accomplishing work, narrow their focus to a point that causes them to miss key opportunities.  Henry says it best that Drivers “are too microscopically focused on the objective and are often reluctant to redirect their energy when new opportunities emerge in the course of their work.”

Developer: this type contains the best of both the driver and the drifter and represents what we strive for in our creative processes.  The developer is extremely clear on the objectives before undertaking a project, but is capable of pulling back and refining their course as new information and insights become available.  They are able to become hyper-focused at the ground level when it’s time to complete the real ‘work’, but periodically zoom out to higher altitudes to look for new opportunities, insights and areas of synthesis.  Because of their flexibility, Developers, are most likely to experience moments of creative insight.

I found this to be extremely helpful as I often find myself bordering on the Drifter type, checking my Twitter feed, reading blogs, jumping back into actual work, checking my phone.  I very frequently move from one task to the next without any rhyme or reason to the progression.  That being said, it would be reductionistic to say that we are only one type.  Obviously different tasks, challenges and environments will elicit different behaviors, but being aware of these types can help you to become more aware of how your behaviors may be helping or hurting you.

Image via Simple Square blog

Filed under Behavior, Business, Ideas, Strategy

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