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Find Value Not Price… 3 Steps How

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Peter Klinge

Find Value Not Price… 3 Steps How…

I came across an April 22 AdAge story about how companies are working to redefine value. The examples cited involve challenges at Procter & Gamble, Ford and Wendy’s.

A couple points as to why connecting with consumers is so difficult an issue for marketers:

1) Marketers allowed price to become so foremost in consumers’ minds that LOW price is how they define value;

2) Consumer consideration of Value is more complex. It’s a combination of convenience, solution, and timing to address a need or desire. Often this is NOT rational.

Marketers through promotional gimmicks, cash incentives and a lack of consumer insight presumed too much about cost/price vs. cost/benefit to value. The recession became a handy substitute for doing the strategic thinking and questioning of what’s essential.

You end up rewarding current customers for the wrong thing, e.g save money, for an issue they never had.

An example is T Mobile. I’ve been a long time T- Mobile customer; more than 10 years. They recently switched to an all service for one price program that requires no contract.

Very appealing to most everyone except the people most loyal to them. As a long time customer I get nothing extra for my loyalty.

In fact the new service program offers exactly the same thing to me and to someone who just signs up today with no T- Mobile history. So to them a long term loyal customer deserves nothing special.

The main message of the T- Mobile’s service offer is… We don’t expect loyalty and we have the lowest service price of all of the carriers.

This lack of differentiation among customer segments offers price reduction to loyal customers where price was not a consideration. This results in a company taking profitability from the most loyal customers to subsidize acquisition of new customers whose tendency is to switch on the basis of price. In the process nothing is done to enhance the loyal customer relationship.

The lack of analysis around customer differentiation is a problem across many industries. Even with the online sites and technology tools available to provide offers to specific customer targets, marketers fail to differentiate.

For example, I hear about deal sites providing dining customers with attractive coupons for meals. The owners of one I frequent tell me that the patrons come in with the coupon on their return visits. So rather than provide an offer for new customer trial, there’s a heavy portion of the discounts being applied by loyal repeat customers. There’s no profit left for the business.

The U.S. automotive industry practically destroyed itself from the 90’s to 2008 when they trained car buyers to wait for rebates, and other financial gimmicks before buying a car. Features and benefits regarding the quality or other attributes of the car are buried under the weight of promotional clutter about price discounts.

Here are 3 Steps to market value over price:

Understand who your customers really are. What are their needs and desires? Current consumption, shopping and buying patterns? How do they respond and interact with your product?
Define value relative to benefits. For example, attributes such as convenience, quality, satisfaction can well position and differentiate to address the customer segments defined in point #1.
Promote based on adding a point of value to your customer. For example, new packaging; add a relevant offer to the original product. Avoid “lower price” announcements. It screams brand product loser. Stay relevant in your promotion relative to the core of the product’s value proposition.

The linked Ad Age article provides good examples on how companies redefine value. You’ll find a brief on:

P&G Tide Pods Repackaging
Chobani Greek yogurt product quality
Ford Motor’s hands free communications systems

Three categories and multiple cases of successful efforts to redefine value.

You’ll find other posts related to business ideas a company can use to help growth on our blog.

Peter Klinge and his firm KLINGE associates works with companies to help them fulfill their desired growth potential. We offer interim executive roles, board advisory, and project services.

Posted in Advertising, Brand Marketing, Client Case Studies, Sales Management, Social Media | Tagged accountability, Ad Age, Advertising, auto, brand, branding, business, Chobani, consumer, customer, differentiation, Ford, Greek Yogurt, marketing, P&G, segments, strategy, value proposition | Leave a comment

Lessons of Experience- Interview of Entrepreneurs and Startups by Capital Network Magazine

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Peter Klinge

Lessons of Experience- Interview of Entrepreneurs and Start Ups

This story features Peter Klinge and his companies, and offers perspectives on his experience in serving and growing business.

Peter is a senior marketing and general management executive with significant experience in business development, product and services marketing, and key account management growth. Among his various business interests Peter holds board, advisory and interim CXO roles. At present he’s a director, CMO & board adviser for Providence Companies, an international finance and trading company focused in developing and emerging markets.

Read full interview here…

Posted in CEO and C-suite, Client Case Studies, Management Leadership, Team Organizational Development | Tagged brand, business, CEO, Compaq, globalization, IBM, Intel, international, Lexmark, management, Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, Providence Companies, revenue, strategy, vision | Leave a comment

Take Action on Lean In- Here’s what Sheryl Sandberg should do…

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Peter Klinge

Peter Klinge, Jr.

Take Action on Lean In… Here’s What Sheryl Sandberg should do. A review on Ms. Sandberg’s book and what we need to think about. Thoughts on what she should do.

I commend Ms. Sandberg’s courage with her writing partner to address gender issues- women emphasis- on reaching higher attainment in leadership positions.

She correctly identifies the social history and evolution in educational achievement for women. The statistics indicate higher levels of education among women than men yet women are woefully underrepresented in leadership relative to a 50/50 population notion e.g. a 50/50 split at c-suite positions of F 500 companies.

Her thinking runs amok in an effort to define too many absolutes about career progress. She doesn’t seem to Take Action herself within a powerful company. Instead she sets up a foundation and a website to talk about issues.

Unfortunately, and I don’t have an answer to this, this whole topic of gender workplace equality of opportunity is very gray. Why?

First: We no longer just have the issue of women or race, but all kinds of gender identity, multi-cultural, and language needs to address in workplace diversity. Then there’s industry variation, and business cycles. So it’s not just about women, but everyone.

Second: Not even a fraction of 1% of people can ever be a CEO of any company much less a F500. Irrespective of gender 99+% never can or will ever be a CEO…period. Think Occupy Wall Street if you wish… But life deals different hands with all kinds of choices. I don’t necessarily believe there are intractable institutional career impediments to anyone and don’t trust the women statistics she frequently cites as Ah Ha revelations… There’s the problem now we can fix it.

Third: Few of us go through Harvard with a future cabinet secretary as a faculty adviser who then helps you land a DC White House job, then you get to interview with the CEO of Google, have him convince you to take a job that you don’t have any engineering background or much management experience for, and then get recruited as COO pre-IPO to Facebook by its founders.

The you can do it if you simply work hard and Lean In falls flat if you think about it.

But that’s life! Why the proportions fall as they do as Ms. Sandberg indicates is unclear to her. She makes explicit suggestions as to people and reasons involved. For example, women aren’t approaching their career with enough confidence and assertiveness; men need to become better partners in support of women; and implicitly companies and our institutions need to do more.

I admit there’s something to the numbers but qualitatively there’s aspects and gaps in the analysis I cannot account for; and I defy anyone else to. I believe we should all have opportunities and choices towards whatever pursuits we wish but I’m not sure a 50/50 target is ever the desired outcome for many of us. What is ideal in a progressive, multicultural society? Who really knows?

BUT as a practical matter here’s a business plan I would encourage Ms. Sandberg to pursue that can move towards a goal. Straight out of her B-school scholarship create the business case she professes with defined action items, and ROI metrics. Here’s how:

Don’t just talk Act! Become CEO of Facebook, encourage Mark Zuckerberg to step into chair, CTO or product role. I think just because he’s a founder does not mean he should be the CEO of a public company. The IPO was a disaster and hurt untold numbers of retail investors. The kind of problem Occupy Wall Streeters should be yelling about.
1. CEO Sandberg can demonstrate her leadership capabilities;
2. Balance the C-Suite people representations however she sees fit;
3. Lean In from the front rather than from the soap box.
Put a $100MM or more into a Harvard Institute– Call the Mission 50/50 Gender Equality for C-Level Achievement
1. Encourage enrollment on 50/50 basis for as many students possible, perhaps skew higher to women to have a hedge against attrition, that fast tracks women into plum positions with Larry, Robert, Eric, Hillary and their many celebrated power friends;
2. Create a business lab that simulates the business environment and add practical skills to students;
3. Build in women the confidence in leadership skills they need and in men the supportive partner skills they need;
4. Equalize the field by giving practically anyone who applies the Harvard network effect for the bounty of opportunity the association provides.

If Ms. Sandberg believes in her ideas, then put them to work. Her Lean In .org and foundation seems more like a non profit community group of limited practical value rather than a real business game changer. It feels like something many women, fewer men, would chair for weekly luncheons.

I credit Ms. Sandberg with high intelligence, talent, and ability but ask her to lead rather than talk about her convictions as if she’s campaigning for office. We have enough politicians talking about the 21st c Great Society notion without an ability to actually do anything. She can greatly affect business change as a current operating executive at a major company.

Ms. Sandberg, Take Action don’t just lean in…!

Peter Klinge is a leader for small to mid size companies. We focus on helping companies achieve their desired growth potential.

Posted in CEO and C-suite, Client Case Studies, Global Business, Management Leadership, Social Media, Team Organizational Development | Tagged business, C-suite, CEO, critical questions, critical success factors, critical thinking, Facebook, globalization, Google, strategy | Leave a comment

Greatest Business Rivalries & Why They Are Important to Innovation…

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Peter Klinge

By Peter Klinge, Jr.

Greatest Business Rivalries & Why They are Important to Innovation… Inspired by the March, 2013 Fortune story here’s why competitive rivalries are important.

Focus the mission of the organization on the highest priorities;
Highlight weaknesses and needs to bolster competencies;
Forces a team to be creative; develop new ideas and approaches to outflank the competition;
Benefits the general market customer in finding choices in product improvements, pricing, and solution alternatives.

In my career I’ve been fortunate to be part of great teams for some of the ones mentioned in the Fortune story. The experience informs how the companies I’m engaged with today view competition and innovation. A couple of examples:

Rivalries

Pepsi v Coke— listed on Fortune as the #1 rivalry. As a member of the BBDO advertising team I was steeped in the cultural imperatives and urgency of the ‘cola wars’. It was exciting, fast paced. Lots of Super Bowl event marketing and even a mix of business warfare with real wars. At the time in the early 90’s the U.S. Gulf War I conflict in the Mid East began. Emphasis on the launch of Pepsi’s major Super Bowl campaign You Got the Right One Baby… Uh Huh and major live interactive promotion plan had to be curtailed due to Washington national security concerns. Yes, this really happened…

Pepsi had been challenging Coke dominance, particularly in the U.S., since the 70’s with the taste challenge campaign. It was having an effect on Coke’s supermarket share… where consumers had a choice. By the late 80’s and early 90s Pepsi as a potent trademark brand of Brand Pepsi and now Diet Pepsi the company was upping the rivalry with bold, spirited entertainment campaigns featuring the likes of Michael Jackson, Madonna, Michael J. Fox, Cindy Crawford, and then of course Ray Charles… my baby 🙂

Pepsi and its partners innovated marketing, presented consumer entertaining alternatives. We used the Pepsi Cola Brand trademark platform to tie into PepsiCo’s Frito Lay and restaurant business i.e. Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC. We announced new products and ventures for a wider selection of beverages with Ocean Spray, Lipton, and others.

Were we always successful as in the case of Crystal Pepsi? No, but we were fearless and bold, and we didn’t allow setbacks to hold us back from the next innovation.

IBM v HP- # 8 on the Fortune list. There have been multiple facets to the competition in this space and the dynamic trend shifts driven by the Internet. Changing technology has affected both companies, and many others, over the last 30 years. Thirty years ago both companies began to acknowledge the general office market trend to personal computing versus Big Iron products i.e mainframes, data terminals. Personal computing was initially inspired by Apple. But IBM quickly followed with their own personal computer c 1980, more for protection of the Big Iron business.

However, the PC business led by Wintel, i.e. Microsoft and Intel, began to drive the technology industry in new directions with lots of competitive fields: of course personal computers, printers, desktop software, new operating systems, new ways to buy i.e. buying a computer at retail or direct via Dell.

This period of change has yielded immense creativity in new designs and innovations we could only imagine in 1980. There are corporate rivalries and then there are individual ones such as Gates v Jobs; though many of them are less so than the media would have us believe. Nonetheless, personal competition between leaders can inspire a toughness and relentless drive that improves the market landscape for customer choice.

At different points I’ve been part of IBM, Intel, and various other technology companies.

Where rivalries can and often are counter productive is if:

Company leaders lose sight of their customer understanding;
Benchmark solely against a principal rival and lose sight of broader market shifts, and new opportunities outside the box of the current competitive framework;
Competition can be in 3 threat forms: direct is the most obvious, indirect, and over the horizon competitors who disrupt the market entirely and reorient the game. Examples include Google redefining search at the expense of other Internet services such as Yahoo, AOL.
Rival fatigue in the organization. People get tired then complacent if a company becomes obsessive about one or two rivals. It means some times the team needs to play safe to avoid mistakes, or business becomes too repetitive and shuts down on new ideas;
Avoid personalizing rivalries. True for leadership especially but also insofar as it sets the tone for the entire organization. This gets in the way of clear eyed objectivity and good decision making. Moreover this creates real team anxiety and health problems that will multiply the number of mistakes made from the previous points mentioned.
Forget to ask or indeed suppress critical questions from the executive team or people closest to the front which can provide rigor in how to think about strategic decisions and priorities.

Competitive rivalries can be constructive to sustainable innovation, people engagement, customer loyalty, and profitable revenue. Here are some related subject posts:

Peter Klinge and KLINGE associates helps companies grow to fulfill their desired potential through leadership positions, project and board advisory roles. He and his associates have developed skills, experience and talent based on a background starting in manager through to C-level roles at large and small companies. We learn and continue to learn from doing execution well, and have benefited from the experience– both good and bad :).

Posted in Brand Marketing, CEO and C-suite, Client Case Studies, Management Leadership, Team Organizational Development | Tagged Advertising, brand, branding, C-suite, celebrity, CEO, critical questions, critical success factors, critical thinking, decision making, Google, HP, IBM, Intel, leadership, Microsoft, mission, Pepsi, revenue, sales, teamwork, vision, warfare | Leave a comment

Why is the Sky Blue? Critical Questions that Lead to Better Decisions… Here’s how…

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Peter Klinge

Why is the sky blue? Critical Questions lead to Better Decisions- here’s how to ask them…

Remember the Why is the Sky Blue question? A common childhood question. There are books on Why to help teach and explain to us about many parts of our world. Many of the answers are rote responses, generally accepted responses or even assumptions that get put into our memorization capabilities.

As children we innately question everything around us to help inform our understanding.

As we pass into adulthood and for many who complete educations with advanced degrees we somehow lose the ability to ask questions; particularly good ones.

Society implicitly tells us “we just know”. We jam responses to problem solving with answers based on facts and figures. However, as we try to understand more ambiguous or abstract problems we falter. The solutions or rather rote answers are inadequate.

Critical thinking, just as in childhood, helps us to propose questions, ideas, or hypotheses to problems we cannot find an immediate answer to. Further, it helps us to make better decisions. Here’s a couple exercises to consider:

The To Do List: Do you have a daily or weekly list of items you’re suppose to do? What % of the tasks do you actually complete in the period you assigned?

Permit me to offer another perspective on the To Do List.

Have you considered Why you have the list in the 1st place? What if you asked … what purpose does this list serve? What do I want to achieve that’s most important and satisfying that will feel like a real accomplishment and something of value?

Then build a list of critical questions:

What needs to be achieved? What is the most to least important?
How can you contribute to the more important achievement or need?
What resources are necessary? Who do you need to collaborate with or gain an assist?

Staff meetings: Why do you dutifully, solemnly gather once/week for 1 to 2 hours @ 8am to review just another form of the To Do List… the Status Report

Instead review with key members of your team

What is important to the company?
What are the key initiatives?
Why and with whom do we need to meet?
Do we need consistent feedback on key issues and who do we need to involve?
Is the staff meeting replacing more productive work gatherings? Is it serving any of the above questions or needs?

Julio Garreaud is a friend and business coach. This is the link to his firm

http://www.thehumanarchitect.com/

Julio recently hosted a workshop that I attended. The agenda was to get the group to consider different levels of thinking. I believe his 4 levels of thinking are useful in developing a better approach to critical thinking skills that lead to better and more 360 type constructive questioning. Here are the 4 with a brief description:

Evaluative thinking- informed judgment of value, merit, worth
Reflection thinking

What worked
What didn’t
Parts to improve

Prediction thinking
- Ability to use experiences, events in order to create a new reality, different environment or conversation

Levels of thinking
- Low level- regurgitating memorized facts
- High level ask people to contemplate, analyze, synthesize, and develop findings and conclusions for future decisions

We then explored a series of examples to help us think more deeply about a variety of thoughts, decisions and issues. As you’ll see there’s a question tree as one question intertwines to discovery of others to gain varied perspectives on the idea:

What makes for a great decision? Evaluate opportunity? What are the factors to influence/help make a decision? Question examples to help arrive at a good decision:
- What’s most important or tied to purpose; essential interests; values?
- What are the desired outcomes to a decision?
- What are the available resources and relationships to inform?
- What are the various alternatives?
- Julio examples: Who will benefit from a great decision? What are costs of bad decision? When are great decisions made? How to measure a great decision?

How define a company’s culture?
- What do people, customers, community, other stakeholders think?
How do you define a great leader?
- What are his/her ability to ask good questions; ability to listen?
- What are his/her communication skills?

In leadership and in teams it’s best not to assume we know a solution until we’ve turned over a few questions. Think more critically by asking more critical questions.

This stimulates more innovative and higher level thinking that refreshes historic perspectives on previous ideas. Some new and better ideas will emerge, perspectives will be shared, contributions are made from across the organization, and yes there are better decisions.

Peter Klinge, Jr., founded his firm to help companies achieve their desired growth potential. He serves in interim C-level positions, and board advisory and project roles.

Posted in CEO and C-suite, communications, Critical Questions, Critical Thinking, Decision making, Management Leadership, Team Organizational Development | Tagged C-suite, CEO, critical questions, critical success factors, critical thinking, decision making, leadership, management, teamwork | 1 Comment

Effective Leaders Know Communication- the GM story- Here’s How to Do Better

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Peter Klinge

Effective Leaders Know How to Tell a Good Story- GM could not. Here’s How to be a Better Leader Through Communication Skills

Reading a Fortune review of Ed Whitacre’s new book, American Turnaround, I was intrigued by the story of General Motor’s management communications challenges and the inability to organize information to tell a story that results in good leadership, organization, and action.

To refresh your memory, in 2009 GM was at the height of crisis. The company was mired and bankrupt. Ed Whitacre who had no automotive industry experience ( he’s a long time AT&T executive) stepped in as chairman and soon after he became the interim CEO.

The company’s executive team, practically GM lifers, could not make heads or tails of what the issues were and how to resolve. The CEO that Whitacre and the board replaced couldn’t change his approach to how to organize priorities, even after repeated coaching by Chairman Whitacre.

Mr. Whitacre explains that when he got there he stated to the GM CEO that he needed to:

Get employees reengaged;
Communicate a clear and compelling vision;
Organize his business to be able to execute from points 1,2.

Mr. Whitacre discovered that the CEO had no organizational chart. He got rid of it but had 15 to 20 direct reports. He was tracking details of the business and executive communication in his head.

This proved to be an impossible approach to managing the organization or to communicate the business status to the board.

After several months it was clear to Mr. Whitacre and the board that the CEO was incapable of telling a concise, descriptive story about the present and future of GM.

He simply could not communicate. The GM culture appeared to survive, chaotically, on complexity and detail. This very approach by design ensured that no one outside of the company could possibly understand how GM worked…or failed in this case.

Effective leadership is most often complemented by high communication skills. Here are steps to help understand how to be more effective:

Make the complex simple;
Tell a story to layout the main points of the broader plan with sufficient supporting details;
Establish priorities and critical success factors for action;
Make clear who does what and their accountability;
Use examples, imagery, and analogies to spark imagination and to reinforce main themes through storytelling for the audience.

Communicate concisely, factually in a narrative that explains a position, and reasons to go forward. This elicits understanding, inspires confidence, and demonstrates a mastery of the facts.

On the last point for emphasis it’s not that details and facts are unimportant. They are…

But mastery of such details and confidence in leadership is derived from the leader understanding the priority of the most urgent needs and actions. He separates the priority actions from secondary issues and communicates only the main points.

The style of leadership and communication is what motivates organizations to achieve great goals. I’ve observed a broad personality mix of leaders who are quite effective. There is not a CEO type in terms of personality attributes relating to communications ability.

Peter Klinge, Jr. founded his firm to help companies achieve their desired growth potential. The firm provides interim executive, project and advisory support.

Posted in CEO and C-suite, Client Case Studies, communications, Global Business, Management Leadership, Team Organizational Development | Tagged accountability, C-suite, CEO, critical success factors, leadership, management, mission, planning, revenue, teamwork, vision | 1 Comment

How to Align ‘Why’ to Growth Outcomes

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Peter Klinge

By Peter Klinge, Jr. of KLINGE associates

The following outlines principles for how to Align the Why of your business to Growth Outcomes.

Informed by experience this shows how to develop strategy and a plan that is aligned with a company’s leadership and organization to achieve higher levels of business success.

I recently led workshops for C-level executives and owners from early stage to established mid market companies. I noted the consistent level of uncertainty about the Why, What and How in their business. I credit Simon Sinek’s 2009 book Start With Why to get me thinking again about the simplicity of leadership and communication around the central idea of a business purpose.

Most executive/owners are heads down working hard on their business. Typically, they are good at ticking off how good their people are, and the company’s financial performance.

Ask why their business exists, and they’ll talk about what they sell… mmm?

There’s nothing special about selling something- everybody does. At some point the company loses how they describe and communicate Why they are in business and what sustains them and their people.

The business becomes uninspired and stale. Products and services are unremarkable. Sales people become confused about how to present the company. Sales sag and profits fall. People become a cost.

The reasons are many as to why leaders lose the sense of a company’s purpose. Much of this is affected by changing marketplace and economic dynamics. Part of this is that questions related to Why, Vision, Mission, even goal setting, appear to be an abstraction. Many of these business leaders are so occupied in the daily operational tactics that it seems a luxury of time and resources to look up and envision even the next several months.

However, it is essential to be able to communicate to people: employees, customers, and other stakeholders the Why or Purpose of your business. That is if you want them to follow your leadership and deliver consistent performance.

Here are some ideas we worked on in a series of workshops that offer a framework and concrete help that we’ll review in three sections. The Exhibit A Graphic below helps to illustrate these principles:

First>

All Businesses Exist for a Reason. They started for a reason, and it wasn’t about selling something. Often the reason was fueled by a passion, the desire to solve a serious problem, or by observation of a market need. The corollaries to this are:

A business Only continues to exist and Thrive if they maintain a Reason to continue;
They are consistently Asking and are Able to Answer Why or Purpose.

Take as an exercise an observation of companies you might admire, or those you once admired that have faltered. Consider what made them great, and why others seemed to fall away. Look beyond the numbers to consider what they say and deliver through their people, and what is reflected in their offerings.

2nd>

Why or Purpose is the outline of the company’s strategy and plan. I describe this as a balance between:

Vision & Pragmatism: the road you set for the general direction balanced with milestones to stay on the path along the way.
Organizational balance that is to embrace point 1 via Leadership and Teamwork is necessary to drive execution of the plan.

If a company cannot articulate point 1 and communicate concisely and effectively to address the organization, then little progress will be made. The ability to define the strategy in this way creates:

Clarity
Focus
Progress
Roles

This approach to strategy and planning can help the organization more effectively to execute.

3rd >

This leads to the third and final concept of the framework: Alignment of Why/Strategy to desired Business Outcomes. For illustration purposes we’ll address Sustainable Revenue as an outcome:

Value Proposition– of what a company has to offer is derived from the clarity of the Vision;
Ideal Customer– helps focus efforts on who is right as well as not right for what the company offers;
Success Factors, i.e., the few that will drive the business;
Accountability track progress and align roles back to Leadership and Teamwork to meet performance expectations.

There are certainly outcomes besides Revenue to which these principles will apply equally well. These might include outcomes for product, distribution, customer service levels or people development, preparation for business transitions and events, etc.

Exhibit A below shows how these principles interrelate and help you organize your strategy to outcomes with priorities for execution.

Summary points:

Define Why You Exist So that you maintain a Purpose
Align to a Strategy & Plan
Tie to Defined Business Outcomes
Remain Consistent to Why and question this periodically to adjust the organization’s thinking

Why Do You Need to Worry About Social Media Privacy with Google, FB, LinkedIn and Why Don’t These Companies Care if You Do?

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Peter Klinge

Why do you need to worry about social media privacy with Google, FB, LinkedIn and why don’t these companies care if you do?

You shared my personal photo with who on FB? Oh just 40,000 Twitter followers.

Oh the Irony

Ad Age in December reported that Randi Zuckerberg, sister of you know who of Facebook fame… was upset when a photo of her and Mark that she posted on her FB page ended up being sent around the Twitterverse.

This is why you need to worry about social media privacy. Here’s what to consider and what you can do about your social media services.

First the situation:

Even the founders of Facebook don’t know what to think about privacy.
Google’s top executive per WSJ, 1/3/13 that users of ANY Google service will be required to use Google+. In its competition with Facebook, Google is concluding it needs to protect and monetize its user base and the personal data they leverage for commerce.
WSJ reported on 1/5/12 the controversy over the estate of loved ones whose digital legacy is left on Facebook, Twitter, etc. but the heirs don’t necessarily have control of the deceased’s page or content.

How many social media users thought they would never have to pay for the services these media companies provide? Either directly via subscriptions or indirectly via targeted behavior user data for advertising and solicitations. This latter point, re: data, is the most subtle one that all users need to be more wary of.

Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram, Google, and LinkedIn have or will be changing their privacy policies to allow for uses of the personal information they have on their users.

Those privacy policy polls, the terms and conditions acceptances, and permission for use check boxes? Well you better NOT just check the box. READ the fine print. You’re likely giving up your privacy and commercial rights.

Instagram in December tried to pass one through to its users that essentially said that the company had copyright permission to use your photos. How they would use the photos was unclear. But the implication was that if you use their service then they had the rights to make money over how you’re using it, including your most personal photos.

Instagram received a major PR backlash and user complaints but in the end the effect will be the same. The company is offering users a service, and they can determine the rules and conditions of use.

Frankly, if anyone does post personal information or images on these public social networks, then how personal are they… and are we simply fools for continuing to use the services the way we do?

In my case, the gmail and LinkedIn services I enjoy using are of concern. I minimally engage with Facebook and Twitter. I’ll need to rethink how I use or if I continue to use these services as they continue to make changes.

Is it just a coincidence that concurrent with social media user growth we’re also hearing and seeing more information about identity theft services?

What to do…?

DON’T be passive about your online services. Read the company policies, and make a decision whether to opt in or not;
BE careful about public disclosures of sensitive information about yourself, family, friends and business associates.
APPLY in person conversational etiquette. If you’re in the room with someone or a group of people, what would you consider appropriate to say or not say in the room?
CONSIDER what you’re really using social media for, e.g., staying connected with high school alumni, business associates, customers, etc., and consider message and context of want you to share.
NOTHING is FREE. IF you pay nothing for your social media your fooling yourself if you believe there’s no consequence. You’re only saving on the dollar cost. YOUR information will be used for commercial purposes whether you provide actual consent or not. IF you agree to a company’s privacy policy and terms and conditions of use, you’re agreeing to using their service under those terms.
CONSIDER the VALUE of a service to you. There are already premium subscriptions available to users that provide more options to the “free” basic service. I predict if not already available, very soon users will be able to pay a fee to NOT have their information used or limit use thereof…

Years ago as the Internet consumer marketplace began to take off there was much talk about the frictionless economy, i.e., increasingly greater levels of productivity due to technology that will continue to drive costs down and even to zero.

The truth is this was never true. The technology infrastructure and the thousands of servers needed cost money, energy costs money, and of course physical goods need to be moved around.

As a user of social media consider that these companies which provide users with some wonderful services are a business. Then consider how they will make money to remain in business. Think about this and then you’ll realize this becomes about you, the user, and what you’re willing to PAY for access to that service.

You pay for cable or satellite, your mobile phone service? Add social media to the budget.

We all have to pay some time. BUT that’s NOT so bad if based on informed consent you understand, and you are willing and decide to accept the terms of use based on what the social media company offers.

While this post addresses the user perspective meanwhile all these challenges are a conundrum for the business and investment community. Confidence in these types of companies is shaken. See NYT story at related link

Social Media View at the Intersection of Marketing & Privacy

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Peter Klinge

Social Media View at the Intersection of Marketing & Privacy. Online Expert Lee Gientke contributes his thoughts on this complicated issue.

One of the things that the internet has been able to do is reduce or in some cases eliminate any upfront cost for a consumer to utilize a service. Just think about how awesome and value additive Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and a zillion other websites are!

And the best part of it is that despite the huge cost of providing these services, most consumers think they pay nothing to use them. Notice, I said almost nothing. The true cost is the elimination of real privacy. These companies know more about you than you know about you just by your online habits and with persistent cookies, they are tracking every move you make online.

From a marketer’s perspective, until recently, they’ve only known you as a number and as a member of a meme, which is valuable but the holy grail is knowing you as Peter Klinge or Lee Gientke so they can show you highly relevant ads based on your past and present usage. The best story I’ve seen recently is how Target was able to figure out a woman was pregnant before she told anyone else yet they were able to deliver coupons for prenatal stuff so she would get in the habit of shopping at target for the really valuable things like diapers and other post natal stuff. The original article is re: shopping habits is here.

The things a consumer and business should know are:

1) Privacy online doesn’t exist any more — period. Any misbehavior or deviance is recorded for anyone to access if you are the right person so don’t be doing anything that might make your mom blush.

2) The only method to protect your data is to not go online. Most marketers and large companies like Google use persistent cookies that track your every move online. Their privacy policies clearly state they are all recording your moves and what they do with your data is none of your business. The only way to not be tracked is to not use that service, which is increasingly hard. Imagine a day without using Google?

3) Paid services won’t fly because of the scale necessary. Think about Facebook for a moment. The only reason Facebook works is because everyone is on it and using it. Imagine a social network without anyone on it – that’s what Facebook would be if they charged even a small fee. They also know that the data they have is more valuable than any fee they’d ever be able to collect. I’m sure someone has done some of the research and published it but talking about what each user is worth to Facebook on an annual basis would be an interesting fact. I think for Google it was in the hundreds of dollars…

For more on this topic go to Why Do You Need to Worry About Social Media Privacy…? by Peter Klinge

Posted in Advertising, Consumer Marketing, Retail, Social Media | Tagged Advertising, branding, consumer, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, marketing, online, social media, strategy, Target, Twitter | 2 Comments

Social Media Marketing- 10 Keys for the Present and Future

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Peter Klinge

by David Mitchell, Interactive Consulting

“Social Media” has become a catch all buzz word for both the latest interactive technological advances and burgeoning forms of social interactions made possible by those advances. Over the past five plus years more and more companies have jumped on seeking to harness the power of social media to support their business development. The question for some is “How can we more effectively incorporate these channels for our business interests?” The question for others is “What’s next? What’s the next wave of advancement?” The key for realizing present opportunities and for catching the next wave of advance is focusing first not on the technology itself, but on goals of the business and the potential of existing and evolving models of interaction. Having been involved in web development since the mid 1990’s I’ve observed two major pitfalls that distinguish the leaders from the late or inadequate adopters: 1) the focus on technology itself rather than the core business goals in an environment of advancement; 2) the wrong people driving and directing the adoption of technology. Internet development has sometimes been understood in successive waves. A superficial approach to “social media” at this juncture means a firm is catching the wake rather than the next wave of progress in the digital realm. The vital key to realizing current and coming waves of technology is to first identify the relational and transactional breakthrough the advance represents and second, to connect that to key opportunities in your specific business and industry. Notably also, there are a myriad of social business initiatives worth exploring and learning from across the board. Below we have offered ten keys for evaluating and maximizing your business’ position in the social media space both in the present and in anticipation of the future. Ten keys for the present and future: Engage at the Executive Level: Don’t relegate the strategic discussion of social media to the marketing department, but consider it carefully at the executive level. Likewise, don’t delegate the decisions as to the technical platforms for delivery solely to the IT department, but consider these decisions comprehensively at the executive level. Additionally, carefully evaluate the “voice” being expressed through various channels and make sure it authentically and effectively represents your brand identity and supports your goals. Whatever you are doing, do well. The biggest issue with many companies is a lack of commitment to see through their strategies. Is your social media presence static or dynamic? Is it constantly being refreshed. Is your staff trained and encouraged to participate? Are you seeking to broaden your reach actively? Some business owners question the Return On Investment (ROI) of such activities. That’s a valid and broader concern. But an equally important concern is what image you are projecting with a stagnant or out-of-date presence. It’s a straightforward as implementing basic approaches such as having all your staff “like” posts or other online elements. Social Scoring. Social networks are a critical business asset and should be valued. Some companies are now evaluating customers based not on traditional benchmarks such as income, but rather on “influence” as defined by the strength of their social connections. Social media scoring is an up and coming trend. (Examples: http://klout.com/home and http://empireavenue.com/). Consider identifying, cultivating, and rewarding key influencers both internally and externally as you refine your social marketing strategy. Focus on enhancing business value. Don’t focus simply on the “brands” of social media (such as Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, etc.), but rather focus on the key interactive models that are available / emerging and connect those to your core business goals. With this in mind, labor to establish social solutions that target and offer specific business value and let that drive adoption and strategy. Physical Applications and Proximity Focus. Connect the physical to the virtual. An emerging trend is where interactive tools and applications are connected to the real-time, real world. Examples include: http://gowalla.com/, a social travel guide that makes it easy to keep up with friends, share photos, highlight your favorite places and discover the world around you all in real time. http://soundcloud.com/: a platform that puts sound at the heart of communities, websites and even apps and is the catalyst for social interaction and networking. Think about your own offerings and consider how a real-time connection could enhance your customers’ relationships with your company either with the constitution of the actual product or service or communities of knowledge / practice associated with your product or service. Review emerging applications on smart phones for inspiration. Additionally, posting signage encouraging participation in your social initiatives is a simple, but effective measure.1 Integrate Your Data. Connect all of your databases of people, prospects, etc. into a unified target for your social media strategy. At a recent social media conference there was a discussion of how in some larger organizations the various databases of prospects, customers, stakeholders, etc. were completely un-related and there was a lack of a unified social media and communication planning. This lack of coordination impeded the impact. Integrate Your Delivery and Analysis. Look for technologies / products to integrate your reaches via email marketing, social media, etc. A number of companies are offering this type of integrated approach to maximize impact and centralize control and evaluation. Dave Parker, one of the founders of OneAccord is helping to launch Bundled.com (http://www.bundled.com/) which offers this type of service. Other services include Constant Contact (http://www.constantcontact.com) and Sprout Social (http://sproutsocial.com/signup/start/pro). Keep your strategies and content fresh and diversify. A Gartner survey2 shows some social media fatigue among early adopters. “31 percent of Aspirers [younger, more mobile, brand-conscious consumers] indicated that they were getting bored with their social network.”3 Content must be kept fresh, creative, and condensed for easy digestion for short attention spans. Communicate and Brand Yourself on Multiple Channels. Anticipate multiple information hubs, modes of collaboration and modes of communication. People are increasingly using mobile devices to access information, communicate, collaborate, etc. Trends are showing that social media contexts are taking on a significant portion (20%)4 of what was traditionally handled via email. Businesses should consider holistically all of these channels and tools as part of their virtual presence and identity, rather than focusing unduly on just their web site for instance. Because of their immense size and presence, businesses should explore and build upon Facebook and Twitter key business presences. See a comprehensive list of third party business aps associated with Facebook (http://www.focus.com/fyi/facebook-marketing-toolbox-100-tools-and-tips-tap-facebook/) and Twitter at http://www.simplyzesty.com/social-media/the-most-comprehensive-twitter-app-list-youll-ever-need/ Evaluate and Plan. Evaluate your social media strategy and use the right tools for the right messaging. It is important to identify who you are targeting and how to cultivate real relationships versus “thin”5 relationships that aren’t substantive. From a basic perspective, below are some key ways to think about your communication strategies: Facebook: Research shows that people’s expectation of this media is general information on what is current. Twitter: Research shows that people expect the information to be explicit about current offerings or happenings and do not wish for extraneous. E-Newsletter: This media tends to support an emotional connection to the company.6 To take it a step further, there are tools to evaluate where you are and where you want to go. One tool developed by Forester research offers you the ability to analyze your position and prospects in the social space. It helps you analyze when, how and where your clients are using the Internet.: http://www.forrester.com/empowered/tool_consumer.html Another broader grid was created as part of an article in the Harvard Business Review entitled What’s Your Social Media Strategy. 7 The authors break down strategic engagement in four categories: predictive practitioner, creative experimenter, social media champion, and social media transformer. They offer a useful quiz as well to evaluate and determine one’s own quadrant in their schema. Conclusion Social media is a dynamic way to advance business interests through intelligence gathering, promotion, and customer engagement. It is critical that businesses engage this trend at the top level to ensure that the strategies and tactics are united, integrated, authentic and on point to meet overall business objectives. The approaches mentioned above will help your company both better realize present and future opportunities. For more related topic articles see Peter Klinge, Why Do You Need to Worry About Social Media Privacy…? Lee Gientke, Social Media View @ the Intersection of Marketing & Privacy 1The presentation at The Next Web Conference in Amsterdam by Robert Scoble helped inspire and inform this topic. Additionally the blog article by TNW, The Future of Social Media. 2 Gartner Survey Highlights Consumer Fatigue with Social Media, August, 2011 – http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1766814 3 Gartner Survey Highlights Consumer Fatigue with Social Media, August, 2011 – http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1766814 4 Gartner Reveals Five Social Media Predictions for 2010 and Beyond http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1293114 5 The Social Media Bubble, Havard Business Review, Umair Haque, March, 2010 http://blogs.hbr.org/haque/2010/03/the_social_media_bubble.html 6 Nielsen Norman Group Report, Email Newsletter Usability, Executive Summary 7 What’s Your Social Media Strategy, H. James Wilson, PJ Guinan, Salvatore Parise, and Bruce D. Weinberg, Harvard Business Review, July, 2011 David Mitchell, is owner and creative director for Interactive Consulting, a Spokane, Washington firm focusing on emerging interactive technologies, marketing and creative services. Since 1998, David has worked with local and regional firms helping them to develop their web-based strategies and presence and has provided a plethora of design services and products (print, identity, web, exhibit, presentation). David specializes in electronic communications and his firm has been a value added reseller for Constant Contact since 2002. Contact: davidm@futureinteractive.com

Posted in Advertising, Brand Marketing, Consumer Marketing, Social Media | Tagged brand, branding, marketing, metrics, online, social media | 1 Comment

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