Jim talks Oscars, t-shirts, and four rules for knowing when to measure metrics.
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Sometimes my podcast is a packed information source that includes a rant, and sometimes it’s a rant that happens to contains a few valuable nuggets. As always, the goal is to entertain and inform.
First up in the podcast is an Oscars rant about bad speeches.
What they do wrong
- Utter shock
How the heck are they in utter shock? It seems as if they are not shocked that they won, but as if surprised their name was called at all. It’s as if they were a contestant on the Price is Right!
My problem is, you KNOW you have a 1 in 5 chance of winning! You’ve known this for a month! Why the utter shock?
Today I question the spread of social media to every last place on earth.
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Hey everybody… big announcement on the podcast today.
To be honest, I’m not *quite* ready to make it. There are still details to iron out, marketing aspects I want to finalize, and just so many other things i want to do before I’m ready.
But today on the podcast, I wing it. Why? Three reasons:
1) Right before heading home to record the podcast, I met up with Wired’s NY Bureau Chief, John Abell. When I mentioned it to him, he said “Just write it… my new goal for my personal blog is 15 MINUTES. Sure, I may go back and make some edits later, but I don’t agonize over it anymore… I put down the best thoughts I can in 15 minutes and roll with it.”
2) My friend John Murch, who replied to a long, hand-wringing dilemma e-mail over a fairly big decision I sent him last last week with just four letters: JFDI. You can substitute the F for what you want, but loosely translated, it’s Just Freaking Do It.
3) It’s the entrepreneur’s way. I’m Type A. I’m an extreme perfectionist. I want to wait and wait until everything is just right before moving forward. In fact, that’s why it took nearly 3 months to get this podcast off the ground… I wanted the name perfect, I wanted the sound perfect, I wanted the icon perfect. But that’s never the case. So better to get it out there at 80 or 90%, vs not getting it out there at all.
So as you might have guessed from the title, the announcement is:
I got a book deal.
When I started this blog and podcast nearly three years ago, I ran it by one of the Executive VPs here at the office, Dan Shar, to make sure it was appealing to the Wired audience, I didn’t offend anyone, there weren’t any sales or advertiser conflicts, etc. After 3-4 weeks, he said, everything is fine, just use your best judgment and push it live without me.
Passing thoughts were that a lot of commercials must have paid big money royalties to songwriters, including Kenny G, Elton John, David Bowie, Jay Z, Eminem, and the theme from Star Wars. I guess on the big stage, you want a music that people know.
I thought Bridgestone and Audi and Teleflora hit their mark, Best Buy tried a little too hard, the beer commercials were about par for the course, and the ad exec that suggested the “Pepsi Max can to the groin” should be fired. You know his defense was. “C’mon… can to the groin always works.” Sadly, he’s kinda right.
And by far the one that stopped me in my tracks was Chrysler’s Eminem spot. Beautifully shot, held your attention, and made you think. Am I going to go buy a Chrysler? Let’s say the chances of that rose from never, not a chance…. to less than 3%.
Today I rekindle my love affair with Levi’s, examining their marketing along the way.
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Hey everybody. I have a fun idea for the show this week… I get a little personal, I tell a few stories, I get a little into fashion trends, but as usual tie it all into some marketing. The topic is Levi’s Jeans. Let’s break it down into four acts.
Act 1 – The Corduroy Years (1980s)
Let me set the scene. Picture a young Jim Hopkinson in 1980, just 11 years old, in the middle-class suburbs 15 miles south of Boston. Probably in sixth grade, through junior high and then into high school. This is a very impressionable time as a young adult, when peer pressure is at its highest and every piece of clothing, haircut, and friendship is scrutinized.
Let me be clear. There was one – and only one – pair of acceptable pants to be worn. Levi’s cords. There really was no other option. Your dresser was filled with identical Levi’s cords… a black pair, a brown pair, a tan pair, a white pair, a navy pair, and a maroon pair.
The problem was, Levi’s were relatively expensive. I want to say they started around $14 and might have been as high as $22 in some stores. The problem is that parents knew they could buy a pair of Lee Jeans or – god forbid – Toughskins that were going for $9.99. Myself and a few other comedians have made the connection in adulthood, that looking back it cost our parents about $5 to make us go from the object of bully beatings for wearing Wranglers, to being completely accepted and wearing Levi’s.
Today I interview the amazing Rana Sobhany, and we talk about her new book and how to market iPhone and iPad apps.
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Trying to keep up with Rana Sobhany is sort of like trying to gather up a handful of ball bearings after you’ve dropped them down a steep hill. While wearing mittens. And rollerblades. We were introduced at the opening party of the 2007 Wired Store, and since then there are many words I’ve used to describe her:
- Friend
- Former podcast guest (Episode 38)
- Guest speaker in my NYU class
- Entrepreneur
- Former tennis star
- iPad DJ
- World Traveler
- Speaker
And now Author.
And in fact, fellow author. In the podcast I do a quick reveal that I have signed a book deal and will be developing my own iPad app. But more on that in a future episode.
In this super fun and energetic podcast, we focus the first part on how she got the book deal, and the rest answering specific answers to the question: How do I market my iPhone or iPad app?
The ideal customer is not only one that keeps coming back, but that buys more expensive items over time.
Is Apple the best in history?
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We are winding down the end of the year, just a few podcasts left to go. As we hit the holidays,
I bet there are a lot of Apple products on people’s lists:
- I’ve been predicting all year that the iPad is going to be the #1 tech gift of the season (along with the Kindle)
- iPod music players are always in demand
- The laptop elite will be lusting for the Macbook Air
- Digital entertainment geeks might long for the $99 Apple TV
Did the November cover of WIRED Magazine get removed by Facebook due to inappropriate content? We still don’t know for sure.
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I received an interesting message from Facebook recently.
First, it was an e-mail to my Yahoo account, which is connected to Facebook. It was so generic that I had to scour it pretty closely to make sure it wasn’t spam. Then a day later, I was greeted with a popup message within Facebook with the same message to makes sure I saw it, forcing me to X out the dialog box to make it disappear. It said the following:
“You uploaded a photo that violates our Terms of Use, and this photo has been removed. Facebook does not allow photos that attack an individual or group, or that contain nudity, drug use, violence, or other violations of the Terms of Use. These policies are designed to ensure Facebook remains a safe, secure and trusted environment for all users, including the many children who use the site.
If you have any questions or concerns, you can visit our FAQ page.”
Wow, Jim, you might be asking. What the heck did you upload?
It’s easy to jump on the latest trends, but do you know when to exit the old ones?
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The tagline of this podcast is “The marketing trends that matter,” which means I’m usually looking forward at what is coming up.
But I read an interesting article in one of Wired’s sister publications, Details Magazine. The story is by David Amsden, and is called: “Introducing the First Dropper: Say so long to the Early Adopter. Today, the most influential guy in the room is the tastemaker who senses when a trend’s 15 minutes are up.”
He describes the First Dropper as someone that not only knows trends — whether it be a hot TV show, what jeans to wear, or the certain type of drink in the certain type of bar — but more importantly, he knows when these trends are overvalued.
Amsden says “Unlike most consumers, the First Dropper seems to be immune to peer pressure and the sway of marketing gurus; he’s propelled instead by an instinctual feel for when a trend has become overvalued. Think of him as a slyly influential arbiter of taste—one who operates as a covert counterweight to his better-known cousin, the Early Adopter.”
With the advent of worldwide blogs, tight social networks, and up to the millisecond trending on Twitter telling you what’s hot, it’s almost easy to be an early adopter. Is there anyone on the planet that does NOT know a month in advance when the latest iPod, iPhone, or Macbook is coming out?
Amsden makes it clear that you shouldn’t mistake the First Dropper with The Hater, who takes pride in never jumping on a new trend.
Don’t even mention your 65″ slimline 3D TV… you’ll get an earful that The Hater hasn’t even owned a TV since 1997.
Here are a few social media, tech, and pop culture items, and where I think they stand. In fact, it’s a little like Wired’s famous Wired/Tired/Expired feature.
Early adopter or safe to stay
Here are the items it’s still safe to jump on
(listen to the podcast for my reasoning on each)
- iPad, Kindle, and other eReaders
- Tumblr
- Twitter
- Facebook (Yes, even though I talked about a potential fall of Facebook)
Gone or ready to be dropped
- iPhone (see the great article by Wired Gadget Lab editor Dylan Tweney, talking about how he’d love a feature phone tethered with an iPad)
- Cable TV
- Untucked shirts and baggy hoodies (here’s a novel idea… why not grow up a bit, add some style, try some clothes that fit)
- Foursquare
- Cupcakes
What does this mean to marketers?
One prominent school of thought is to target these early adopters. After all, they’re dialed in, have influence over purchase decisions, and can help get your product on the radar. If you’ve used them successfully, congratulations.
However, better keep your eyes out for the First Dropper. Because if they start abandoning your product, that could be the sign of things to come.
I have to run, I only have one cupcake left, and I want to tweet about it from my iPad.
For many people, Halloween is the best holiday of the year. Here is what marketers can learn from it.
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Ah yes, Halloween. A time for kids to get cavities from lots of candy, homeowners to be blackmailed for treats, and an excuse for women to be dressed in as revealing outfits as possible. What’s not to love?
But in the real world, if you’re listening to this, you probably have a real job, possibly in digital marketing, and that can be scary!
But never fear, if you pay attention, I’ll give you:
6 marketing lessons you can learn from Halloween:
Lesson 1: Be current
If you’re dressing up as the cast from Madmen, an Avatar Warrior, Justin Bieber, or Lady Gaga, you’re jumping on a pop culture phenom and you’ll be fine.
If you love the Jersey Shore, and identify with Snooki or have the abs to pull off The Situation, by all means this is the year to do it. This is reality TV people, they could be off the air next season or Pauly D could become mayor of Newark. You never know how it’s going to turn out, so jump on it now.
But if your idea of something cool is the cast from Lost, Joker from Batman, Sarah Palin, or a baby-wearing bearded guy from the Hangover, you’re about a year too late. Don’t be that guy.
Same goes for your marketing plan. Are you staying current, watching new trends, and staying ahead of the pack? Or just rehashing your ideas from 2007? Call a brainstorming meeting of your best and brightest, and update your creative.
It’s the talk of the town: iPad. Tablets. eReaders. The future of publishing. Let’s see what the headlines are saying.
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As an employee of one of the world’s largest publishers, Conde Nast, the owner of an iPad, a soon-to-be author assessing my options for digital publishing, and a lover of all things new media, I’ve become obsessed with the eReader evolution.
I’m going to share a little routine with you. Whenever I come across a great article, be it in a newsletter, my daily reading of blogs, through friends, or on Twitter, I hang on to it.
How do I do it?
Very simple. I have a Google Doc spreadsheet bookmarked that I can access instantly from work, from home, or for that matter, anywhere I can get to the internet. It’s a very fast process of opening it up, then pasting in the headline and the link. Done.
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