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Synergize

August 6, 2009 By davidebowman Leave a Comment

Habit 6: Synergize6

Synergy is where all of the previous habits come together.  It is the payoff.  To quote Stephen Covey “Synergy is the highest activity in all of life.”  “The essence of synergy is to value the differences.”  By doing so, the human gift of creativity can be levered to produce new and exciting options for the future.

By doing all the work in Habits 1,2, and 3 you develop internal confidence from a life rooted in principle.  This confidence  then allows for respectful interaction with others.  To make this work properly requires habit 4, Think Win / Win and habit 5 Seek First to Understand and then to Be Understood.  You accept that you may have differing views, but that fundamental principles that guide life remain.  Thus it is possible to explore new ideas without fear and insecurity.  You are interdependent.  You are open to the opinions of others.  You understand the value of your perspective, while realizing that “all people see the world, not as it is, but as they are.”  “The person who is truly effective has the humility and reverence to recognize his own perceptual limitations and to apreciate the rich resources available through interaction wiht the hearts and minds of other human beings.”  Covey goes on to state,  has  “When we’re left to our own experiences, we constantly suffer from a shortage of data.”

As humans some of us are very expressive by nature.  Others are very analytical.  Some are highly emotional, and others very logical.  All see the world from different angles.  Leveraging this diversity of views is a critical part of synergy.  Further, it does not stop with personality type.  Every person has experienced different things, has different values, different skills, and different areas of knowledge – each with the potential to bring unique perspective and value to a situation.

Covey then goes on to talk about how synergy works in communication.  It is the idea that when someone disagrees with you, rather than becoming defensive, you say “Good! You see it differently.”  You may not agree with them but you appreciate their perspective.  Even if someone insults you, you choose not to take it personally, but instead to see it as a way to “improve your point of view and to enlarge your perspective.”   Covey says it like this, “If a person of your intelligence and competence and commitment disagrees with me, then there must be something to your disagreement that I don’t understand, and I need to understand it. You have a perspective, a frame of reference I need to look at.”

How does this apply to social media?

Social media is all about synergy.

If you follow Stephen Covey’s quotes in this post as you engage in conversations with people through social media channels, you are truly going to get value out of the experience.  If you are creatively expressing yourself, people are going to disagree with you from time to time.  If you immediately get defensive, you will turn people away.  This is not easy.  Our knee jerk reaction is to hit back when someone hits us.  Not to mention that text on the web tends to read more negatively than is intended quite often.  Thus we can easily overthink a comment or a post written by someone that is at odds with our view of the world.

Realize that it might just be an opportunity for synergy.  It gives you the chance to explore someone else’s view, to broaden your perspective, and ideally through the respectful exchange of ideas, to develop something new.  Sure, sometimes you come across the lame person that just wants to throw “salt in your game.”

Another point – Synergy does not always involve a dispute.  It might just involve finding a great solution.  One great thing about the potential to connect with the world is the potential to tap into that world for answers.  The synergy might take place between totaly strangers who take an interest in answering a question you pose on a blog, forum, podcast or social network.  The collective wisdom of the world is at your fingertips.  Realize that you can engage people to help you.

Tapping into synergistic communication is an invigorating experience.  It is one that you can proactivley create by using social media to express your ideas and explore your creative potential.

“You have a perspective, a frame of reference I need to look at.”  – Well said Mr. Covey.  Well said.

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Isaac Newton and the Future of Marketing

May 14, 2009 By davidebowman Leave a Comment

Last year I wrote this post as part of my ongoing series The Physics of Markeitng.  The post discussed ways that Newton’s Law of Gravity might pertain to marketing.  There were some excellent comments about the post and it has actually led me to think differently about the marketing – past, present, and future.  Particularly, a comment my brother in law Chad, an engineer by trade, made about the formula for gravity itself.

The gravitational force between any two bodies can be described as follows:

F = G*M1*M2/d^2

So the force (F) is linearly proportional to mass but the distance effect is squared. So if you double the distance (d), the force drops to 1/4th. Being close to your customers is more important than being big.

The last century of marketing was largely about mass.  Limited media channels and constraints regarding information and communication made mass a great approach.  Get big by buying up the media channels for your product, drawing customers in through your sheer mass.  Proximity was secondary.

In the future, I believe that marketing will be much more about proximity than about mass.  Technology plays a large part in this shift.  With fragmented media,  a million channels of distribution, an empowered and consumer driven world, google search, mobile devices, blogs, social networks, and other shifts in how we consume and distribute information, mass is just not as easy as it once was.  However, proximity has never been easier.  People will tell you what they want, when they want it, and often will do so for free.  Now a business can more easily than ever engage with people, know the value they deliver, make friends, and get closer to their customers.

Just as with Newton’s theory, proximity is truly more powerful than mass when it comes to word of mouth advertising.  If you operate in close proximity  to your customers – listening to them and meeting their needs in new and creative ways – you will generate positive word of mouth and grow exponentially.  This costs nothing and yields better results than any form of advertising known to man.  (Except perhaps Richard Simmons / Gene Simmons.  They are of another universe.)

Does this mean big brands and mass advertising methods will be gone?  No, mass will remain part of the equation, but it will be approached with a different mindset.  It will become secondary to proximity.  Mass is more difficult to achieve, and attraction or gravity almost impossible to sustain without proximity.  So as you approach your marketing, think not about how do I “get the word out” to get customers to gravitate to your business, but more about “how do I get and stay closer to my customers and the citizens whom I would like to become my customers.”

Realize though that proximity has implications.  You are going to have to listen to your customers.  You may be forced to actually change your business – and not just your logo -  as a result of moving toward proximity.  If you are up close and personal, customers are going to be able to see through any trickery, so be authentic.  (Keep it real YO!)

Seek to help people, understand people, and listen to people. This is all much different from the Mass approach of just be bigger and louder.  It is also better than that approach in my opinion.   To get gravity, start with a focus on proximity.

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In One Word

January 9, 2009 By davidebowman 1 Comment

inonewordOn a recent shopping trip to the mall, I was walking past store after store thinking to myself “If I had to use one word to describe (insert name of retail store) what would it be.  For some, it was easy to do.  For others, not so much.

From a marketing standpoint, this was an excercise in positioning.  How well does a particular brand own an idea or concept in the mind of the consumer.    What, if anything, does that company symbolize?  Try this the next time you are driving past a shopping center or office park.  Look at the logo and think of the one word that comes to mind.  What do you think of when you see Sears? JC Penney’s?  Limited? Starbucks? Coca-Cola? Pepsi? Fed-Ex? UPS?  Target?  Walmart? Taco Bell? Chipotle?  Whole Foods? If someone is with you, ask them to do the same?  Compare notes and see how your perceptions align.

Now if you are really daring, by daring I mean smart, ask them to describe your business in one word.  Can they do it at all?  Do they have any idea what you or your company represents?  Do they know what your position in the marketplace is?  Probably not.

Next ask yourself, do you have one? What does your company symbolize? Can you tell them in one word?  Three?  Five?  Seven?  This is a fun excercise, and also very useful in establishing a proper identity for your company.  Feeling really daring, again by daring I mean smart?  Ask people on the web, friends and strangers, to do this.  Use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, create a google form, put a post on a blog, whatever – ask them and see what happens.

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More Blood…

December 17, 2008 By davidebowman Leave a Comment

more bloodNot all blood is the same.  Yes blood is red and carries oxygen throughout your body, but blood has different characteristics or types.  As a result, there are sometimes issues with compatability.  Your blood may or may not be able to function properly in another human being, depending on your respective blood types.  There are over 30 types of human blood systems, going far beyond the familiar A,B,and O & +- nomenclature taught to us in high school anatomy class.  Blood type is important.

In a recent post, I equated the customer to blood – the sustaining source of life to a company.  It is important to realize that just as there are blood types, there are customer types as well.  Different people seek different benefits from a business.  Some may desire low price.  Others may care deeply about selection or service quality.  While some may care more about quality, image, or speed.  For most it is probably a unique combination of several factors.  What is important to understand is that not everyone is going to be the right type of blood for your business.  That does not mean you should dismiss people or treat them poorly if they are not your “ideal customer,” but rather to acknowledge that you can’t please everyone.  Choose a blood type that fits well with your body (business), and that is available in sufficient supply to sustain life.

If there are 50 competitors vying to be the “low price leader,” you may want to focus on innovative new products, amazing customer service, or fast delivery instead of trying to be the 51st low price leader.  The people seeking low price will not be impressed with you, but they are not the right type of blood for you either.  Low price is incompatible with what your body needs to live.  Ask people what they want.  Find out what type of blood flows through the veins of your best customers, adjust your approach accordingly, and seek out others like them to provide you with more blood as your organization grows.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type

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The Physics of Marketing – Hooke’s Law

May 18, 2008 By davidebowman Leave a Comment

SUSPENDERSScientist, Physicist, Mathematician and all around genius Robert Hooke lived in the mid 1600’s.  Much of his work revolved around his law of elasticity, which stated that elastic materials stretch in proportion to the force applied to them.  Some materials are more elastic than others.  Understanding this principle allowed for sailors to measure longitude, architects to design amazing structures, people to use pocket watches, and bungee jumpers to… well… to jump of bridges and survive.  In short, strain causes stress, and certain materials respond differently to stress.

At risk of sounding redundant from last week’s post, I think this again illustrates the importance of treating different customers differently.  Choose your best customers and design your products, services, and your customer experiences to capitalize on their common elastic principles.  Give your best customers more of what they want, and work on giving value up front in exchange for bringing them back again and again.  Give to get.  Give more, get more, find new ways to give more and on and on.

Bear in mind, different materials have different elastic principles.  Some are highly elastic, and others not at all.  Consumers are the same.  Find the right group, and then do something amazing for them.

What is your interpretation of Hooke’s Law as it pertains to marketing?  Please further the discussion by sharing your thoughts in the form of a comment.

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The Physics of Marketing – Conservation of Energy

May 3, 2008 By davidebowman 2 Comments

This week’s Physics of Marketing post is about energy. It is clear when someone has energy and more clear when they lack it. Starbuck’s has made a fortune on regularly selling me cups full of energy in the form of caffeine laden black coffee.

Energy takes many forms, and is probably best thought of in terms of change or motion. Both are forms of kinetic energy. Potential energy is less intuitive, but equally important. It is the boulder at the top of the hill, which if nudged would descend with tremendous momentum, crushing anything in its path. While at rest, it is potential energy.

Conservation of Energy means that energy is neither created or destroyed, but rather that it simply is transferred from one form to another. There is a finite amount of energy, but seemingly infinite manifestations of that amount. Energy is the E in Einstein’s famous E=mc2.. Energy is a fundamental part of the universe, and again is neither created nor destroyed.

So, how does the conservation of energy relate to marketing?

Immediately I was drawn to the idea of the interaction between a company and the consumer. The product or service offering of a company is designed to address some unfulfilled need of the consumer. “Wouldn’t it be great if that were bigger, faster, better, cheaper, more, easier, smarter, less, …” You get the gist. The consumer chooses if the need is important enough to act upon, and if so, can choose to seek help from a particular company. This all represents potential energy. The goal of marketing is to convert this into kinetic energy – initially this is a sale. But it does not end there.

If the initial sale goes well, there is a good chance that more of the consumer’s potential energy is converted to kinetic energy. This may take the form of repeat business. If things go exceptionally well, the consumer may choose to actively participate in the conversion process by spreading the word to friends and family. This positive word of mouth can deliver more kinetic energy. This should ultimately result in cash for the company – potential energy. At which point, the company might choose to invest in future innovation – potential energy.

Conversely, if the sale goes poorly, the conversion of energy from potential to kinetic follows a different path. If the experience is mediocre, most of the potential energy will likely remain unconverted, or will be converted by another provider. The consumer goes away, and the transaction is a one-time experience. If things go very poorly, large amounts of potential energy will be converted – this time to the detriment of the company. An angry consumer in the digital age can spread negative word of mouth far, wide, and fast. In instances where others share a similar negative experience, the result for the company can be devastating. . Consumers will move to competitors, and the company will struggle to survive.
According to Abraham Maslow, all people have needs. These needs constantly change form but always remain present. Thus energy is always present in the marketplace. Marketing seeks out potential energy. Great marketing maximizes its conversion to kinetic energy, and then back to potential energy again.

What do you think? Draw your analogy between Conservation of Energy and Marketing. Join the conversation and leave your comments.

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The Physics of Marketing – Newton’s Law of Gravitation

April 25, 2008 By davidebowman 9 Comments

Sir Isaac Newton makes his second appearance in this series with his Law of Gravitation. Perhaps one of the most widely known principles of science is gravity. I say this knowing that while most people could probably not explain gravity very well, just about everyone understands the idea. This was Newton’s blockbuster idea. It explained ocean tides, comets, and even led to the discovery of Neptune.
So what is Newton’s Law of Gravitation about? Well, here goes…
Newton basically asserted that “every object in the universe attracts every other object along a line of the centres of the objects, proportional to each object’s mass and inversely proportional to the square of the distances between the objects.” This theory served to explain much of the earlier work of Kepler in one concise theory. While Newton’s Law of Gravitation was later proven not to apply to all objects (black holes and situations with extremely high gravity) by Einstein, his work is a foundational part of modern scientific thought.

So in my feeble mind it seems that Mass and Distance are the keys here. Now how to take these ideas and put them in the context of Marketing?

Because people are not always rational, I am not sure you can apply an equation to human behavior with much precision, but I definitely think that there are parallels to be drawn. Here is my first take. Think about customers. Big brands get big attention. People know Coke. People buy Coke. Coke is massive. Coke has pull.

So how do little brands stand a chance of getting some “pull” with customers. The answer lies in proximity – the other part of Newton’s Theory. Small companies must get close to the customer in order to stand any chance of survival. They can actually use this to thrive and exert considerable influence if properly executed. Would a proper analogy be the impact of the relatively tiny moon on the Earth’s tides as opposed to the sun’s impact on them? (I ask because I am not a scientist) The moon has huge pull on the Earth’s oceans, and impacts the tides because of proximity. Certainly it has far less Mass than the giant sun. Still it is close. So, continuing my example in the world of soda pop, (using both terms to be user friendly) Jones Soda has done a great job of being “the moon.” They decided to get close to consumers – actually putting photographs of them on their packaging. This has allowed them to build a loyal following of consumers who are engaged with their products. They conduct events that are designed to be built around the consumer as well. They have done a masterful job of utilizing this principle to create growth.

Here is the rub for most companies. How to maintain that proximity. Starbucks is feeling this pain, Jones is probably going through it as well. As you gain more mass, it is actually more difficult to remain close to the consumer. The proximity or closeness to individual consumers tends to suffer as companies experience growth. The distance increases, and they exert less pull. In summary the moon becomes more like the sun, just not nearly as big. Thus the advantage it enjoyed thanks to proximity is destroyed. Jones becomes more like Coke, but without the Mass to sustain the gravity.

Wonder why your favorite brand “sold out?” Well because they were faced with this dilemma. How to stay close and simultaneously get big. How to maintain or increase pull? “Selling out” is just a natural part of that. People inevitable pick Coke, because it carries a lot of weight. It has mass – and thus gravity. It pulls people back. To sustain that mass Coke invests in Mass media, mass distribution, mass exposure. It must sell a lot of soda pop to sustain that mass and gravity. This is why small companies don’t need superbowl ads to thrive. They need super customer service.

Marketing in my mind is all about the customer. You can have gravity through mass or proximity. You might be able to get both, but often you have to choose. There is no “right choice” but recognize that with that choice comes the implications of gravity. Growth for growth sake – more mass – might not always be the answer.

Alright, so that is my take on Marketing and Newton’s Law of Gravitation. What do you think? How does Newton apply to the modern world of Marketing? Please enlighten the world with your thoughts.

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