Where Does Trust Fall in the Four Ps of Marketing?

I’ve finally dribbled through “Buffet: The Marketing of an American Capitalist”, and ironically, the most thought-altering thing I’ve learned has not been directly about investing. It was the  value proposition in trust.

Warren Buffet made a mistake investing in a well known firm, Salomon Partners. The firm had had a great run, becoming the one of the exclusive Treasury trading partners and competing with the likes of Meryl Lynch, when one bad apple spoiled the barrel. The trader in charge of bidding on Treasury bonds successfully cornered the market by making illegal bids, some in the names of Salomon’s customers. John Gutfriend, the much feared CEO at the time, had neglected to disclose the illegal activity to the Fed.

Once discovered, the case blew up, and as trust in Salomon disappeared down a sink hole, and customers dried up. Investment banking is an industry built almost entirely in trust. Companies trusted Salomon to pull together investors and provide capital. Clients trusted Salomon to obtain the securities they desired at the best price. Salomon would have gone under right away if Warren Buffet hadn’t stepped in to infuse the firm with what it had lost: Trust.

Trust is stronger than faith: It’s built from experience. Trust is knowing your doubles partner will hit that perfect serve in the lefthand corner every time. Trust is knowing the phonecall to your mom or dad will always reveal the answer. Trust is opening the fridge knowing your roommate didn’t finish off your beer. Trust in China is knowing those Korean noodles are clean and safe to eat. Trust is that brilliant coworker that always solves the problem.

A brand is an insurance seal on your favorite product, the Brooks Brother’s shirts that don’t shrink, the bottle of Tide that never fades your sundresses, the Teflon coated pans that eggs fall smoothly off of. In the Four Ps of marketing, branding falls both in product and promotion. Tony the Tiger promised the same sugary goodness every morning, in the same way Batman promised the same daring rescue at the end of each 30 minutes – with commercials – program.

Building trust for a brand means can mean providing awesome customer service, every time, like Zappos. It can be a slow process, taking years like the bakery next door. Trust can come from a base of brand advocates, as Salesforce used at nationwide conferences. You can build off trust in another brand, as Facebook built its user base off college brands. A brand can also be inextricably tied to a trust in a single person, as Apple was with Jobs or Berkshire is with Buffet.

For social media, your followers trust your personal brand to deliver similar content, in a consistent voice. It’s said to gain followers 90% of your tweets should not defer from your “brand”. Different networks offer consistent types of content: Pinterest has beautiful travel photos and recipes; Instagram offers angles on views you missed and styles that will make you cooler; Spotify always has different bands and playlists with artists you forgot about. Even Google Plus has found a following with gamers and other subsets that want to talk all day, every day about some obscure topic.

So what’s the value of trust? Procter and Gamble once calculated a lifelong Kleenex customer as being worth $600. Today P&G deals with Tide thieves who retail stolen bottles for half the price, so coveted is the brand that promises to make Kmart jumpers smell as special as Crewcuts. Trust lost can destroy a politician’s career, a marriage, a brokerage firm, an imported brand, a livestock industry.

Maybe the true value of trust can be measured in time: the seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, decades you spent experiencing the same mouthfuls of frosted flakes, loads of laundry, fried eggs, crisp shirts and restful nights knowing your money was safe in the bank.

8 Reasons GenZ is Kicking GenY’s Bieber at Social Mediaing

As a marketing manager overseeing over 300 Facebook pages with an audience of 17-23 year olds, there is one thing that keeps me up at night: What if Facebook disappeared?
I’m sleeping easier after Social Media Week, where a poll done of AU and GWU students by the American University Social Media Club, and Peter Corbett of iStrategy Labs, both independently confirmed to this bleary-eyed community manager that Facebook isn’t going anywhere. In fact, most believe Zuckerberg and my generation are going to live a nice happy life growing old together.

So why should I still be worried? While my organization’s current student members and alumni, 17 to 30-something will stay by my side as we marry, produce little super Millennials and commit to real estate, the up-and-comers, current high school students to little iPad owners won’t be joining us. And I’m jealous of why.

Researchers in digital think it’s parents who are “scaring” kids away from Facebook. In fact, it’s just that kids today are so much better at social networking than GenY. Teenagers today don’t need a social “network”, but merely social media to interact with their personal networks and consume information.

1. Teens don’t need computers to IM
They can text, use messaging apps, Gchat, call, or tweet at their friends. They love video conversations, which is a more real way of interacting because you get facial and vocal expressions.

2. Mobile apps replace giant social networks
Apps like WhatsUpApp let kids create mini-social networks that are just their group of friends. GoogleGroups is better than Facebook Groups for organizing clubs because you get email on your phone instead of having to log-in.

3. GenZ is obsessed with music
They follow celebrities on Twitter, Youtube and gossip blogs, and even returned to MySpace for music. Youtube and Pandora are great for free music, but they will join Facebook just to be on Spotify. Best of all, Youtube lets them make and share their own music, and iTunes will let aspiring Demi Lovato’s sell their own mp3s.

4. All teens aspire to reality tv
Inundated with reality tv and able to access a web that supershoots nobodies to stardom, their role models range from the Biebs who broke out via Youtube videos to Kim Kardashian, known for doing nothing. Every iPhone’s video camera is a viral video or a musical moment waiting to happen. The paparazzi culture has made celebfans like “#lovatos” and wannabiebs, and Twitter lets them hear the real thoughts of these stars instantly, like they were friends in real life.

5. If there’s no pic, it didn’t happen
They love taking pictures of themselves and everything they see, whether with their mobile computers, on Instagram or with oldschool professional cameras. The web has become a scrapbook for all those #memories and a place to showcase their obvious talents.

6. “You have a voice” => I’m an expert
With all the web in photography and video, not only capturing their artistic sense, YOLO life moments and fashion savvy in Instagrams isn’t enough. They want to share it and show how awesome they are on Pinterest, Youtube, blogs, Tumblr and Twitter.

7. They all have phone and web cams
Finding a camera to shoot a school project used to be tough. With phone and web cams, teens can all make Youtube channels with “expert” advice, SNL digital skits and movies on everything from make-up to doing stupid stunts a la Ashton Kutcher style.

8. Info overload makes everyone ADD
There is so much to choose from, so much being created with everyone having web access and it’s so impossible to consume it all, that the sharper, the shorter, the more in-your-face wow your content is, the better. Buzzfeed and HuffPo have taken hold of this generation’s and our content consumption by being provocative, following celebrities, highlighting social posts like tweets from real people and sharing photos that shock us.

Social Media Etiquette Lesson 1: Twitter

When the internet first began it was an information exchange board and users were as identifiable as patrons to a card catalogue. We came up with psuedonyms even when interacting with friends. You could be tall, sexy, cool, wealthy, conquer castles or even heir to a multi-million dollar inheritance from Ghana. Everytime “AngilO1″ logged in, she felt like she was at a masked ball. Then someone told us to take the masks off. Suddenly the internet was as anonymous as a series of cocktail or networking parties where, if you frequented them enough, you already knew 10% of the people there.

Twitter Friend or Follower?
The difference between a friend and a follower is the level of interest and familiarity. The op ed writer you read each week only cares who you are to the extent you submit questions and share their column with your friends: You’re a fan. Your neighbor who comes and chills on you couch to watch the Packers every Sunday is your friend. The guy you met at the last networking event is an acquaintance, and possibly a connection to more acquaintances. On Twitter, it really does work much the same.

I follow you, you follow me = We are connected.
I follow you, you don’t follow me = I’m a fan, you are awesome.
Neither of us follow eachother, but we chat = We are acquaintances.
I actually know you in real life, and we follow eachother = You are my friend.
We follow eachother and often chat = You are my Twitter buddy.

Meeting People: Fortune Favors the Bold
Where Twitter becomes interesting  is in meeting people. Twitter, like the internet, began with a smaller group of disconnected people who liked to talk. As it evolved, so did the connections and degrees of separation. Soon it became possible to “meet” someone through one of your connections.

1.) Crashing Twitter Parties

When engaging in a Twitter conversations groups use hashtags to keep in touch and build cohorts of people who waver between cliques and mini social networks. #UsGuys is one great example. When jumping into an #UsGuys channel without introduction, I at first received a not-so-warm welcome: “Who are you?” “Have you participated in #UsGuys before?” @UsGuysmember1 to “@UsGuysmember2 I really hate when people just jump in our feed.” I was not discouraged! I wanted in. I found their chat time the next week and jumped in with the standard Twitter chat hello:

“Hi, I’m Kari! I work in social media, here to chat!”
[Who are you] – [What do you do/want to do] – [What do you want from Us?]
The next week when I was once again jumping into the #UsGuys feed I was again met with some “who’s the stranger” resistance, much as before, but this time I “knew” people in the “group” who were ready to help out.

2.) Being Introduced on Twitter

In a connected world it is possible to “meet” someone through one of your connections on Twitter across the internet. A proper introduction is the same as in real life parties:
“@myfriend, have you met @kariobrien? She is a social media maven!”
[Friend I'm speaking to] [Person I'm introducing] [Fun fact about them]

You may also introduce yourself to someone you’ve met in chat, much like someone you participated in a group conversation with at a party:
“@awesomeperson I loved your comments in #GenYChat! I’m following you now. Where are you from?”
[How do you know them] [Following them shows you want to know them] [Question starts a brief intro conversation]
And flattery never hurts!

3.) Jumping in on a Conversation
At a cocktail party, etiquette says you may “float” over to a group conversating and politely comment on the conversation. You may have to wait for a break before you can introduce yourself, but if you know someone, or they were mentioned by someone you know, it’s easy!

When someone retweeted someone you want to meet: [Hi I'm name] [I loved your comment about]
Entering an ongoing conversation of strangers: [Affirmational statement validating their thoughts] [New fact that will interest them]
Entering an ongoing conversation with a friend and a stranger: [Address the friend] [Make a comment] [CC the new person]
(Alternatively you can ask the friend to introduce you by direct messaging them. “I so want to meet so and so!”)

4.) The Cold Introduction
On Twitter, it’s easy to jump in on any open conversation, but if you go in cold, you may still be met with the “Who are you?” I say; Fortune favors the bold. Just go for it! If you are charming, you can easily disarm stranger-wary Twitterlites, and introduce yourself even to the most popular and important people. We’re all just 140 characters anyways.

Making friends with a big wig: [@BigWig] [Comment about something they tweeted] (Even their lunch! It works!) or
[Round of applause, quote from/for Big Wig] [Ref. @BigWig]
Making friends with an author: [@author] [Compliment about their work] [Insightful comment]
Getting a singer’s attention: [Bold statement with quirky appeal] [Ref @singer]
Introduction to potential employer: [@Employer] [Comment about the industry] [Question calling for their expertise]

In examples where you are trying to make a personal introduction it is better to reference the person’s name. This makes the conversation private from the beginning and it’s clear you are only interested in them. In cases where the person is just so big, they are often approached this way, referencing them with a quirky comment is a way to gain their attention. We are afterall, all on Twitter because we think the things we say are the most interesting and important! So please, validate this.

Next Lesson – Following Up!

Exporting Technology from China: Is It Legal?

Just when China is starting to look promises for foreign companies looking for a higher educated workforce, they go and change their patent laws. As of a few weeks ago, Beijing has decided to issue “compulsory” licenses to domestic companies looking to manufacture patented drugs in China. The changes are said to be “for public health” and is allowed under the WTO for nations where expensive drugs are unaffordable. With a burgeoning middle class, China clearly intends the generic drug licenses for export markets.

China’s MNC licensing and operating regulations aim to keep the export-to-import ratio high, block foreigners from marketing competing products in China, and develop the Chinese economy into a global competitor. Although Chinese IP laws have become increasingly reliable with a few major cases such as the WTO U.S. versus China win on movie licenses, the tech industry continues to struggle. Apple is facing a lawsuit over its iPad trademark while Chinese phone manufacturers are warned of impending suits thanks to their rapidly expanding Andriod export market.

合作项目: Right to Produce

A common model for foreign companies has been a 合作项目, hezuo xiangmu, sharing-the-work mutually: “是指专利权人将其所拥有的专利技术许可他人实施的行为”; “The law allows says the licensor allows the licensee to exploit the patent”, exploit meaning implement or carryout the patent. These are often manufacturing agreements and the foreign company retains protection for its patents. These type of relationships are tricky because the intellectual property transferred has been very difficult to protect, and Chinese courts historically sided with domestic companies in order to facilitate domestic development.

WOFE: Right to a Factory

In order to protect technology, beginning in the eighties some companies chose to set up WOFEs, wholly owned foreign enterprises, located in SPZs, special economic zones. SPZs can offer lower taxes and local government investment in infrastructure. WOFEs can only take advantage of Chinese labor for manufacturing and are not allowed to sell their products in the Chinese market. Protecting intellectual property is easier in a WOFE, because not only is there complete sharing of patented technology with a Chinese firm, but the MNC can keep tabs on exactly who else may have access to technology, such as suppliers and temporary workers.

合资企业: Right to Sell

When looking to sell products domestically, foreign companies found the easiest entry was through 合资企业, “hezi qiye”, joint ventures or “mutual earnings enterprises”. Most original ventures were with a 国有企业, guoyou qiye, state-owned enterprise. In a Communist country, all companies were state-owned. In modern times privately owned Chinese companies not only exist, but are doing extremely well. Joint ventures with any Chinese companies usually allow 51%+ ownership by the foreign firm, and contracts may stipulate the foreign enterprise is allowed managerial control.

As the Chinese name implies, 合资企业 financial gains are shared based on the percent ownership, but what about the intellectual gains from products developed in China? In a joint venture, the enterprise which is established is a new company. Board members represent both the Chinese and the foreign company. Intellectual property developed by the enterprise belong to the newly created Chinese-based company, and joint venture contracts with the companies may span decades, effectively tying the foreign company to the Chinese firm.

Conversely, in recent years foreign companies are feeling less attractive to Chinese entities, and more of a short-term partner. The change is coming as China comes into itself and has begun to think of itself as a global competitor. The joint ventures which once helped Chinese the government through 国有企业 share profits from foreign businesses operating in China, now are consider a training process for Chinese companies looking to acquire technology and go global. Companies entering these type of relationships first should register IP with Beijing.

R&D: Right to Innovate

In order to win over the Chinese government, many MNCs have created R&D centers in China. L’Oreal, Seimens and Merck are a few. The Chinese government often builds R&D centers with the latest infrastructure, design and telecommunications systems to cater to foreign MNCs. The trade-off is giving the foreign MNC access to domestic markets while giving educated Chinese workers experience in high technology and science industries.

Right to Remunerations?

What began as a show of good will, has turned into a battle for rights to the innovations coming out of developed R&D centers. According to article 20 of Chinese patent law, a Chinese entity or individual looking to file a patent abroad must first file in China. China’s patent laws are a first-come-first-serve basis and do not require proof of invention. Although an R&D center may be a WOFE, as long as it is on PRC soil, it is subject to the PRC’s patent law.

The Chinese government assumes a right of the Chinese entity to any improvements made, meaning any contractual or joint-work done in China allows the Chinese counterpart to claim IP rights, equity, profit-sharing or some other ownership of any invention done by them. This rule even applies to Chinese citizens employed by a foreign firm!

In order to file for a patent abroad, the foreign firm must then go through the Chinese patenting procedure. The process begins with finding a Chinese patent agent to represent you, then obtaining the right to file a patent claim. According to article 10: An assignment, by a Chinese entity or individual, of the patent application right, or of the patent right, to a foreigner must be approved by the competent authorities designated by the State Council. This process can test a company’s guanxi, or political connections, and may subject it to bribery requests.

Once patent filings are made, the Chinese patent bureau will investigate the claim in a similar way as the U.S. government does – however the patent will be liable to Chinese export-import laws which regulate technology and industries considered advantageous or unique to China. The laws also take into account technology such as computer security, which may be considered a domestic threat if exported to foreign countries.

If the patent is approved, the Chinese employees working on the development may still claim royalities or payouts for their work. MNCs employing Chinese workers need to stipulate in contracts that the rights to patent filings and any work done under their employment belongs to the foreign MNC’s parent company. A compromise may be joint patent ownership in China and full ownership abroad.

From the Madtown: I Stand With Walker

Tonight Scott Walker is the winner of a state he already won the right to run. They are saying its a test for the country, the “stirring of something on a domestic level” and a warning for Obama. While the pundits speculate about the 62 million, (by some estimates 34 million Republican, 4 million Democrat, the rest special interests), which lambbasted the state the last months, I can’t help but wonder: Have any of these people ever been to Wisconsin?

Do they know it’s mostly Catholic and Lutheran, and yet prochoice? Do they understand the thick accent derived from German and Scandanavian settlers which still influences the socialist ideals? Do they know it’s one of the most literate states in the country? Or the fattest? Do they know that La Crosse is a place, not a sport, and jorts never went out of style..the rest of the country merely came back in? Do they understand, to a Wisconsin voter, politics are the most fun since football season is over?

Last fall as the nation turned its attention on my hometown, I hoped they would see what I saw: The liberal, diverse, highly educated (most PhDs per capita), Best City to Live In several years running capital city. Madison’s economy is a town similar to my new home, Washingon, D.C. It runs on the government, a handful of insurance companies and the internet and tech fueled startups like ShopBop and Epic, which employ the bright, hard-working and conscientious graduates the UW turns out every year.

It’s a smart city. Which is why I was shocked in horror to watch last fall as a bunch of out-of-towners drove tractors around the capital, and my little brother and sister’s high school classes poured into the Rotunda to cheer in red and white sweatshirts along side my former classmates. But then that’s Wisconsin. We’re the only state that owns our own football team: This is not a sit back and watch the t.v. ads kind of voter.

Is this a state which reflects the country? I’d like to think this country’s population is half as passionate, as well-informed and half as loyal as the average Wisconsinite. This is a state of people who will paint their faces blue or red or green, (my Catholic gradeschool voted for Ralph Nader one year), but never gets drunk on anything except beer. Political affiliations are an identity, and supporting some cause, any cause, is a favorite past-time in a state with 3 seasons of winter, but every mind is always independent.

If you ask an 18 year old Wisconsinite why they voted for Walker, or against, beyond the tears and jeers, you will hear a logic as crisp and as clean as the air on a January morning in Eau Claire, (where Obama once said he’d create green jobs). In the satirical outfits worn by college students and postgrads, (some of them my friends – see Where’s Waldo), you’ll find ideological statements that hit too close to reality. No, there was no way Democrats could outspend Republicans in Wisconsin.

In this heated liberal seat like Madison, my mother said it was bad enough you couldn’t put a Walker sign on your front lawn for fear of retaliation. The teachers had taken the fight into the classrooms, (National Honors schools, some of the best public schools in the country). And yet, when you drove into the cornfields just beyond the Beltline, spreading between Madison and Milwaukee, and down to Janesville where the oldest GM plant still operates, there were the “I’m with Walker signs”.

There on the front lawns in an America as idealistic as a BP commercial, Wisconsin voters were loyal to their governor. Just like they were loyal to Tommy Thompson, Republican, and in Tammy Baldwin, Democrat and openly gay, and to Paul Ryan, Republican and antiwar. Because the funny thing about a state that tried to recall their governor, they’re a pretty loyal bunch.

Scott Walker did what he believed was best for the people of Wisconsin. He balanced the budget, decreased unemployment, and protected the majority of the state in a time of economic uncertainty. He didn’t win on womens rights, or social issues, or individual privacy, or gun rights, or domestic security, or foreign policy, or social welfare programs. He didn’t win as a Republican governor; He won as the governor of Wisconsin.

Obama and that rich guy Mitt Romney? That’s a whole other game.

From my Facebook

Tom -
A victory for taxpayers across Wisconsin and America! Thanks to all the volunteers who helped make this historic victory possible!

Amanda -
Guess I won’t be taking my teaching career back to Wisco for a while…

Michael – shared a link.
Misinformed USA: Why average Americans vote for Republicans

Christopher -
Yet another day in Wisconsin history that makes me so happy I no longer live there.

Sarah -
Yay! Proud to be a Wisconsinite!

Rachael -
today was a good day because i got my first hire, pretty little liars returned, and i realized how smart my decision was to move to chicago. =)

Newman -
Its times like these I just retreat more into myself.

Kristin V. -
Learned 2 “important” things today: 1. The Turtle Lake mascot is not a turtle but rather a “Laker” and is a picture of an anchor (very disappointing). 2. it is legal to throw anything out your window in this part of the state.

Kyle -
I’m moving to the moon.

Annie -
Wisconsin will live to fight another day. Tomorrow is my last day before finals with the freshmen. Even if my state doesn’t respect what I do, my students have.

Kristen E. -
miller park with my favs!!

My favorite:

Mona -
BREAKING: Madison, Wisconsin Voter Turnout Over 100% http://t.co/XrJ2Silh

How to Time Travel on Web: 2 Research Tips

A lot of what I’ve done at various jobs involves research, and most research today is done through the web. In science and business, knowing where you have been is critical for knowing where you are going. Scientists read hundreds of “old” papers to find methods and discoveries they can use to plan their own experiment. These papers in a way are “case studies”. Business analysts use financial, distribution, product cycle, interest rates and loads of other data when looking at company, making a deal or solving a problem.

Social media analysts use some old data to create new business proposals, but mostly they want “new” data: the latest information and technologies available. On occasion however, to illustrate the evolution of the web, I’ve used this amazing tool, “The Way Back Machine“, which allows you to see archived snapshots of your website. This is a picture from the front page of my blog, a year ago:

Try it yourself!

The second tip I’m proffering up is a simple variation on a Google Search. I choose daily topics for my community’s Twitter handle. Today’s topic was “Chimeras”, as from the recently created chimeric monkeys. (Chimeras are organisms with multiple genomes, different DNA.)

The search was unfruitful thanks to Google’s recent algorithm changes which give greater weight to newer content. (A reason one should blog on one’s company website, and often.) The results I was receiving were for the monkeys or a successful hockey game from yesterday. Search for chimeric:

Search for chimera:

In order to eliminate the cute little baby Rhesus monkeys, I used Google’s time period search. I started in 2000 because information in in DNA research over ten years old doesn’t have much significance with modern discoveries and changing technology. I picked a month ago as the end date, although even last week would have been far enough to clear the viral monkey story.

The results were exactly what I was hoping for, no more big black monkey baby eyes looked back at me imploring the necessity of a future of hybrid creatures. Now I could browse articles which topped the news in another time, a simpler time, like January 2011.

And this is how I stumbled upon….HUMAN CHIMERAS!!!

What are you researching? What you like to discover? Happy hunting!

US-Chinese Trade Deficit Infograph

My first attempt at an infograph.

“Missing Women”: China’s Greatest Challenge

In 2004 NBC reported on the rising social problem in China:

The male surplus progressively rose to 111 in 1990, 116 in 2000, and is now is120 boys for each 100 girls at the present time, according to a Chinese think-tank report.

The shortage of women is creating a “huge societal issue,” warned U.N. resident coordinator Khalid Malik earlier this year.

“In eight to 10 years, we will have something like 40 to 60 million missing women,” he said, adding that it will have “enormous implications” for China’s prostitution industry and human trafficking.

A new problem is emerging in human trafficking as women are being literally “kidnapped” and “sold” to men without wives. One report actually blames the families.

This has put a premium on baby boys, while baby girls are often sold off as couples try for a male heir.

Coming At Your Life: 2012 Social Media Trends

This article is written with thanks to the marketers on my Marketing Word Twitter list who keep forging ahead with bigger ideas for the biggest companies, and my teenie bopper siblings, who’s tech savvy reminds me I’m only a few steps ahead of the pack.

What’s In:

1. Augmented reality!!!

2010 was the “Year of Social Media”. 2011 was the “Year of Mobile”. 2012, budgets holding, will be the “Year of AR”. This will be the year the offline and online finally blend. PS: Don’t bother with what they say at SXSW. Last year’s predictions from the festival failed to come to fruition. (Namely, QR barcodes). Look at what’s fun/cool. That’s your trend.

2. Social commerce

This is going to happen for three reasons: One, the ability to track customers and spending via the web is increasingly available to smaller businesses through social networks (Google, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare), and software like Sharepoint, Salesforce, Bottlenose, etc,. Two, customers like recommendations from friends. We trust our social network more because we know they care about our happiness, rather than just about making a sale. Three, it’s a successful model as proven by Amazon.

3. Accountability for spending

For the same reason social commerce is becoming easier for businesses, ROI tracking using these softwares is making it easier to justify or debunk spending on social media. Where businesses once employed sales people, they will now be able to hold their web salesteams to quotas and directly attribute spending to revenue increases.

4. Mobile payments

Starbucks is doing it, therefore everyone must. Mobile payments are actually an easy replacement for those annoying retain cards everyone has. With access to your phones, retailers can offer special discounts targeted just to you. They can build a relationship with their customers by always be there. And, Oh, the data, the data. Eventually, retailers and companies will find this a way to save money on debit card processing fees and, truthfully, service associates. It also eliminates some theft risk for merchants.

5. Data analysis

As one hedgefund analyst, turned computer teacher, turned web entrepreneur explained, “If you can do data, you can do anything”. In the science community I manage, I hear the best minds constantly discussing the power of data, and the current challenge in more data than can be efficiently analyzed. I love the above video because of this line, Science is the N-U-Ar-T…data make the data pay. The best software programs and companies like IBM are tackling this challenge. In 2012 and for the next couple years, data analysis jobs will be highly in demand. According to Glassdoor, after processing data from salary postings across the nation, they average $55,000, the same as a finance salary.

6. Streaming television

Amazon’s $75 a year Prime is going to kill it across the board. With the problem of highspeed internet more or less solved, customers will stop wrestling with cable companies offering superfluous channels and horrific service. [Funny story.] The entire social media internet movement was about consumer power. American marketing has a consistent trend to more individualized choice. Streaming video answers this, as Napster did a long time ago, but with a revenue model. And yes, Netflix will pave a path to Hades for the Postal Service and any other company which requires you to leave your home or lick sticky squares of paper.

7. Interactive advertising

Part of AR, interactive advertising covers both the “online” and “offline”. In one of those ironic misspends, a liquid paper company actually came up with the interactive ad story above allowing users to interact with bear. Much like the seldom used DVD “choose your ending” concept, this ad gives users choice in content and engages them with the ad. More fun interactive ads will emerge in the real world, such as the Pedigree Puppy bill board above. One idea I had was if DC’s Ann Taylor bustop ads allowed you to “try-on” the product as you stood there. This technology does exist.

8. Political socialnetworking

It’s 2012. Duh. And vote for Ron Paul if you care about retiring, increasing your salary or your children living in a world power versus a failed state. That’s my 2cents.

9. Meetups

As I sat in a Madison, WI Panera I evesdropped on a sales manager explaining their strategy to one of her staff. “I want you to go see each of your contacts at least once a month. I can’t tell you how many studies have shown the more you see someone the more you like them. Once a month equals twelve times a year! If they see you twelve times a year, they will like you.” Most MeetUps are once a month, building relationships over time through the power of oxcytocin, the bonding hormone you will see me write about a lot a lot.

As we become more immersed in technology, we will continue to long for the more human, more real connections through face-to-face interactions. This is exhibited by Facetime and G-chat, the move toward a more realistic conversational experience. Remember, language developed in the last phases of our evolution. We can’t escape the millenia of evolution behind that which required hormonal and body language communication. This is the power of MeetUps.

*The picture above is of a “Couchsurfing” MeetUp in Hong Kong. MeetUps are becoming huge internationally, especially in countries where community and networks are even stronger than the U.S.

Eat Cheese or Die: Building Brand Fans

Locked out of the bathroom where my sister is layering on makeup, her friend and I are bonding by blasting Youtube videos on my Mac: “The Coastie Song” (238,000 views), “The Sconnie Song” (94,000 views), “Minnesota Gurls” (1,828,000), “Teach Me How to Bucky” (1,822,000 views). We assert “bubblers” are a very natural thing to call a drinking fountain, and roll our eyes at those “‘Sotans” who just don’t get it…I mean, duck, duck, grey goose? That’s just plain wrong.

The episode reminds me of my summer in New York as a PR intern, hopping to networking hours looking for opportunities and my Sex and The City fourpack. At one event I met a girl who had studied at UW Madison and found myself bonding over the disheartening lack of batterfried cheese on the island, or 6+ blond men with haythrowing shoulders. We inevitably made a pilgrimage to Mad River, the Upper East Side oasis for the wasting waistlines of Badger alumni holding onto that experience that had bound them all: Buckying in the bleachers as they cheered on the best of the Big 10.

Outsiders speak of “fans” or “cults”, as in the Cult of Mac, but marketing insiders understand one of the most powerful branding motivations is the desire to belong. Whenever we meet someone new we are looking for commonalities which will allow us to build a bond. Without these, instinct says the outsider is “competition”, for resources, mates, space, the spotlight. If we find those commonalities however, we recognize them as part of our pack. This can as simple as a shared experience.

I’ve used this example before, a reference to the Mad Men Kodak scene, where character Draper describes the “potency of nostagia”, a “reminder of a place we ache to return”. Recently, beer companies have been moving away from the funny, booby, wacky ads towards experiential ads. These ads showcase the great times friends are having together and add in the beer almost subtly, as if to say “Just a reminder, our beer was there too.” The brand becomes part of the pack.

Another example are the 4G phone commercials showing moments captured and shared through instant downloads. Scenes include stealing the other football teams mascot, buying a cake for a coworker who just announced they were leaving and a flashmob. They take fun, real experiences from life and make the product a participant in the experience. The viewer connects the goodtime feelings with the brand.

Eat Cheese or Die was almost the slogan for Wisconsin. The “Dairy State”, or “Land of Lakes” was once “America’s Bread Basket”, an agricultural state which had been leveled of trees by immigrant farmers and turned into fields of wheat. Later the uneven land was filled with dairy farms and a council was put together to “rebrand” with a catchy slogan which would convey the state’s value add.

Needless to say, “Eat Cheese or Die” was not chosen to represent the state’s brand. Somehow the council didn’t think the image of the goodhearted Midwestern dairy farmer using Old World cheese making artisanry would appeal to national consumers under duress. Sitting on a barstool on the Upper East Side of Manhattan however, I have no doubt there are a few red and white-blooded top business school grads who would raise a Honey Kugel to their brand “Eat Cheese or Die”.