Instagram Hangs Itself

Instagram's fame as THE
photo-sharing app is in jeopardy.

Instagram released its new terms of service overnight, and the backlash has been swift and sharp.  No one knows yet how this will play out, but many Instagram users are threatening to leave the service.

So what happened?  Their updated terms of service state that "you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you."  Ouch!

If the debate gets any hotter, there could be government intervention or a law suit, which would hurt the company even more that user abandonment!

Instagram's response, so far, has been to say that this was a move taken to better integrate with its parent company, Facebook, which already does this a little.  I've seen ads that list profile photos and names of my friends as "Likers" of other pages that I should also, apparently, like.

The Marketing Take-away
This is a two-edged sword for marketers, because we LOVE to use customer data for our own purposes, and photos are part of that.  But with the severe infringement on people's personal information and images could cause consumers to lose confidence in companies that use this type of information to sell products or services.

My advice to marketers and companies?  Wait it out and see what happens before making the move to use people's Instagram photos and metadata to marketing anything?

Now tell me: what do YOU think about Instagram's new terms of service?

-MJP

Man of Steel hits 10 MILLION VIEWS!!!

When I was a kid, I absolutely LOVE getting to the theater early enough to catch all the previews!  Now, I just watch them all on YouTube.  The most recent one was the second trailer for Man of Steel, the Chris-Nolan-produced Superman reboot.

Nolan-branded entertainment is popular right now, thanks to his recently-completed Batman trilogy.  This latest Superman movie trailer got to 10 MILLION views in just three days, which points to an excellent opening next June.  I know I'll be going; will you?

Click "Read More" to view the trailer and continue reading!

Hugo Chavez and Cancer Treatment

Hello, everyone.  It's been a while, but I'm back!  It's been a couple of busy months, and my new goal is to write a new post once a week...we'll see if that happens...

Anyway, the topic for today is: Hugo Chavez and his cancer treatment fiasco, which has blown up in the past 60 minutes, or so.  Since he last

Never say "No" to Panda!

I'll admit that I'm ignorant of different languages, so I have NO IDEA what language they're speaking in these videos; the subtitles help, but aren't necessary, really. The moral of these commercials: buy Panda brand foods because you never want to make a panda mad; they'll make you pay for it!

Click "Read More" to watch the video.

Is the Twitter logo change a good thing?

The answer, quite frankly, is NO!  Yes, they may be wanting to convey upward movement, and psychologically, that's probably a good move; the old bird seemed to be flying horizontally.  The problem is that the new bird looks like a clip art graphic, which, for a major Internet brand, is probably a step in the wrong direction.  The old logo, with its little tuft of hair, was more personal.  Click below to see the picture!

A successful viral video

I haven't listened to the radio in a long time; mostly, I've just been listening to books non-stop.  Also, I'm not extremely active on Twitter, so I totally missed out on this gem of a music video.  It's unique, the song's catchy...and the marketing implications of this video are amazing!  Read my full post to view the video, too!

Making money through "charitable contributions"

Seth Harwood's Latest
Print Release

Check out this link: http://kck.st/piYHWd.  It'll take you to a page where one of my favorite authors, Seth Harwood, is raising money to help fund an independent book release.  While it might not be ideal for all situations, it seems to be a viable new way to get some initial funding through, what is essentially, charitable giving.  It's actually a genius idea to offer people the chance to be listed as a contributor IN THE BOOK if you send some cash his way.

Apple Goes Solar

Schematic for one of Apple's filed patents.

Apple recently filed for two patents in the area of solar power, and they have three more in the works (http://gigaom.com/cleantech/how-apple-could-revolutionize-solar/).  If they get these patents, and even if they don't, what could this mean for Apple devices going forward?  All I can say is: WOW!

You already know you can download music DIRECTLY to your iPod, so the only need for the computer is to CHARGE the device and act as a backup for your entire music library.  Imagine if your iPod could be powered by the sun; that would mean no more charging via the computer.

So, other than for backing up your database...wait a minute.  Look at this: http://www.apple.com/icloud/what-is.html.  Well, now that's taken care of, too.  It seems to me that Apple just disconnected me from wires, completely.  How cool is THAT?!

The Marketing Take-away: Unplugged is a HUGE marketing plus!
iCloud and solar power could put Apple's devices in a league all their own, and this super-huge added value is marketing GOLD!  To no longer need a cord at all - to be truly portable - is a strategic advantage that can't currently be matched by anyone.

How Could Customer-focused Marketing Hurt Your Brand?

Click here to go to a BrandAid from Killian Branding.  It brought up interesting downsides to being a customer-focused company.  In an age where customer-centric activities are expected of all businesses, claims of being focused on customers' needs change from competitive advantage to liability.

Unfortunately for many companies, they still tout their love of customers as their main strength.  If you think about it, though, who DOESN'T love their customers?  Buyers of your products are who keep the doors open; without them, you would have no business.  So, of course, you love them to pieces.  It's a give!

On what, then, should companies focus their attentions?  The article states some interesting statistics that help put it in perspective.  For instance, if a company experiences 6% growth each year with it's current customer base, it will double its business in 12 years.  That's not bad, but, especially for companies with high growth potential, that could be increased dramatically by focusing efforts on gaining new loyal customers.  That's right: NEW customers!

Remember the old adage: it's more expensive to gain a new customer that to cultivate an existing one.  Does this new focus mean the adage isn't true anymore?  No, of course not!  It's still cheaper to keep existing clients. That means that less time and energy has to be spent to keep them happy.  Now, what can you do with the extra time?  Get NEW customers!

-MJP

Steve Jobs had nice hair

This is Steve Jobs in January of 1984 as he introduced the world to the Macintosh computer. In his usual style, he let the images and sounds speak for themselves. Apple events have always been interesting marketing opportunities for the company; their mix of humor and technology have trained more than one generation of geeks what to expect from their computers. Enjoy!

Minor Leauge Player Falls into Marketing Gold!

Recently, a minor league outfielder facilitated a triple play with his head. His quick reaction and cool execution, despite what must have been a decent headache, could be used to promote the team and help his career. The key will be to market the incident properly.

A unique brand move for J.K. Rowling

Whether or not you like Harry Potter, you have to admit that this is an interesting move for the story's creator, J.K. Rowling.  She's created a new site for the world of Harry Potter, unveiled the week of June 19th, 2011.



The video reveals that it will be an interactive experience, but it's still REALLY vague as to what exactly will be going on there.  Leading up to the announcement, there were speculations as to what would be on www.pottermore.com.  It remains to be seen whether or not this brand strategy will pay off for Rowling.  In terms of e-book sales, it should be great, at least!


-MJP

"Bright" Idea

When I saw this picture, it made me smile.  So often, a great idea starts with a question.  If the brilliant insight works, then you get…"dollar sign"?  There's something wrong with this flowchart...

A Helpful Reminder

I like email lists, sometimes, and have been known to sign up for A LOT of them.  Most get forwarded directly into folders so that they don't clutter my inbox, but there are a few that stay in front of my eyes.  One of my favorites is the BrandAid from Killian Branding, a marketing firm in Chicago.

Logos through the Ages, Part 3

"Fall into the Gap!"

That's the most recent Gap slogan I can remember, and I think that was a WHILE ago.  To the right was their new logo for a week back in October.  It's not a bad logo, but it's SO different than the look of their older logo.

Logos through the Ages, Part 2

Starbucks' logo changes through the years

Thinking back to the first time I bought a drink at Starbucks, the only logo I can remember is the 1992 version, and I honestly never knew that it was a double tail mermaid.  Since it was from Seattle, I figured it was a nautical theme of some kind, but

Logos through the Ages, Part 1

My friend, Buck McMurray, wrote a blog post about the power of brands to touch people on an emotional level, to make them a part of the brand's "tribe."  Click on the title of this post to be re-directed to his blog.

He brought up "logo" creation and its effect on people, which got me thinking about how brand logos change over time to reflect the attitudes of consumers at a given point in time.  I looked it up online, and the examples below shocked me at how much these iconic brands had changed over the years.

Axis and Allies: Part 2

Just to reiterate, this isn't just about a method (ie tactic) that can be used to strike the target market at its core. It's a process that must be followed to achieve maximum marketing effectiveness.

All of your research will lead you to: the INSIGHT. This insight is the key to your campaign; it's the nugget of truth that glows white hot at the center of the marketing plan. An insight is a universal truth that all your customers share as an intrinsic value that they see in your product or service.

It's your Axis and Allies battle cry that trumpets your cause and helps you win the day. Find that insight, and you've found the key to the marketing kingdom.

The insight is what helps to guide and develop the direction of the next step: the strategy.

Axis and Allies: Part 1

I've grown up during this revolution of marketing and was a witness to the insanity long before I learned to embrace it as a marketer. When asking for marketing advice, people often receive answers full of great, tactiacal methods to get messages out to target audiences. Those have their place, but then you need to bring them all together and decide how to use them for YOUR OWN purposes. One method will almost always be the wrong answer.

Before you can market to ANYONE you need to have a strategic view of the situation. I knew someone who called it the "40,000-foot view." It's almost like playing a game of Chess, except that it's more complicated than that; maybe "Axis and Allies." You set up your pieces strategically, putting everything where you think it should be in order to get the biggest ROI.

The first part is, of course, researching to find the target you want. It can be a micro-target (niche) if you want to focus on a smaller group, or you can broaden your efforts to aim at a slightly larger group. It's up to you, but make sure the research gives you the information you need to make a correct targeting decision.

Along with that, make sure you also find out where your decided-upon target gets information. That way, you can then decide the next step: strategy.

Comments on Chaotics - Part 1

Philip Kotler, the marketing “expert” everyone seems to look to for inspiration, has written yet another book to garner praise for stating the obvious. This one, entitled, Chaotics: The Business of Managing and Marketing in The Age of Turbulence, centers around two forces that are driving the rapid changes in business today: globalization and technology.

In my opinion, this book is about five years too late, and will only be useful to C-level executives that have their heads so far up their own, or their CEOs’, rear ends that they can’t see what’s been developing over the past half decade.

These ideas can also be helpful, I suppose, to people who are new to the work force and have no clue how to form their own thoughts based on their surroundings.

I haven’t read the book yet – I probably won’t read it anyway – but from the interview Mr. Kotler gave in Deliver magazine, he seems confused. In the first part of the interview, he states that Chaotics isn’t about the current recession, but instead about the previously mentioned two forces (technology and globalization) that have increased the speed at which circumstances change in the current business environment. Then, in the very next question, he mentions technology again, but includes three MORE forces that can affect a company: social change, legal change and economic change. That’s now a total of FIVE forces that must be monitored.

In answering the next question, Kotler talks about Chaotics’ description of the current recessionary economics and how customers are responding to it. I hate to say it, but this story is nothing new. Since the great depression, there have been 12 recessions. In each one, people have responded by buying lower priced items, postponing big-ticket purchases and spending less on things like fuel and eating out. Customers’ reactions to tough times can really be boiled down to ONE thing: looking for ways to SAVE MONEY.