Welcome to the DBC Marketing Blog

Here we’ll be documenting and discussing all things DBC marketing related. 

 

Michigan Marketing Educator’s Presentation 2010

Last week I had the honor of giving a keynote talk to the MME conference in Mount Pleasant Michigan. The event brought together over a 100 High-school and Collegiate marketers educators for a two days of idea sharing and workshops.

The conference theme was “Pay it Forward” which fit quite well with my talk on “social media” and how marketing teachers can help prepare their students for future careers.

Below are my slides from the event. Although it is missing a lot of “the meat” the slides give an outline of my thoughts on what great marketing is today, and how that relates to social media.

If you have any questions/comments on the slides please leave them below. I’d especially love to hear from any of the brilliant teachers that were in attendance that day!

What will the future of education look like?

Check out Salman Kahn in the youtube video below.

He is a former hedge fund analyst turned non-profit educator who has created thousands of educational lectures for the world to see.

From calculus to complex financial derivatives this is just another example of how the digital world will continue to disrupt institutions that have long stood at the center of our society and culture.

What is the future of education when all the world’s knowledge is free at the click of the button?

note I don’t think this will replace teachers and schools, but we will have to re-think what role education plays in our lives, and how we can improve it.

If you don’t want to watch the video check out his article in Fortune.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

Attention Marketers

The world has changed.

“The car isn’t a faster horse, and the e-mail isn’t a more efficient fax” – Seth Godin

Do you find yourself trying to play the new game of “social media” with the old rules of marketing?

If so you are setting yourself and your brand up for failure.

There is a new way to market products and build brands, but it probably has very little to do with what you’ve been doing the past 30 years.

People are sick of marketing and get better and better at tuning it out everyday.

Marketing in 2010 is about leadership and less and less about what people used to think of as marketing.

This means there is a huge opportunity for individuals and brands to succeed by going out of their comfort zone and leading with a new paradigm of marketing.

But are you really ready to take that kind of risk? Most people aren’t…

But for those of you looking to carve out a path in the world of 2010 marketing you may want to think about the new paradigm of marketing.

I have witnessed these five pillars that make up success in the post-marketing era.

Feel free to continue plugging your eyes, or open up your eyes to the future of marketing:

• Authenticity
• Community
• Helpfulness
• Entertainment
• Inspiration

Are you still trying to send the fastest fax or are you blazing a new trail for your industry?

Ever Wonder Why I Show Up in Your News Feed?

If you just saw this message on Facebook, you’re probably not alone in wondering. “Why does this guy (or girl) always show up in my News Feed?”

How come I never see anything from my friend from second grade, but the girl I friended last week keeps showing up?

If you’re curious, stick around. This post will give you a quick rundown of how this happens (no technical jargon, I promise)

Facebook’s News Feed is based on a system they call “Edgerank”.

Edgerank is an algorithm that tallies all of your activities on Facebook.

Similar to Google’s search algorithm (whose goal is to give you the most relevant search information); Facebook’s goal is to provide you with the most relevant Friend information.

Think about it, the more interested you are in the people that show up in your News feed, the more often you are going to check back throughout the day to stay informed, entertained, or just because you have nothing better to do.

Facebook wants you to spend more of your day on their site than any other spot on the web.

As you know, more users + more time spent within Facebook.com = more advertising revenue. (and less for Google)

So here’s how Edgerank works:

Affinity score + weight – time decay = the guy that won’t get out of your news feed

Facebook assigns edge points each time you interact with someone in your network. An example of an interaction would be adding someone as a friend. By interacting with someone’s profile they receive a point assigned to their affinity score.

Each point is also given a weight depending on the interaction.

“Liking” someone’s status update doesn’t carry as much weight as making a comment. Again, writing on someone’s wall is a higher weight than when you make a comment.

And if you find yourself creeping through tons of photo albums…. yeah, Facebook counts those clicks too.

Over time these clicks lose some of their weight as your recent activity takes precedent.

Although the exact details of this formula are not published by Facebook, these are the general principles that make up your daily news feed.

Of course if someone is clouding up your Facebook feed you can always hide them 🙂

And if you’re one of those people who complains about the dumb stuff people post on Facebook, well… now ya know.

What’s Easy

It’s easier to write a mass e-mail than to write an individualized message.

It’s easier to walk by your co-worker in the morning and not say hi.

It’s easier to do nothing, rather than something.

Most people like to do what’s easy.

That’s why its so valuable to do something that’s not.

What GDP Doesn’t Count

In this TED Talk Chip Conley shares some priceless business advice from his years of experience running a hotel chain.

Although I recommend you watching the video, I will try to summarize some of his main points here.

1. What gets counted gets fixed

2. The things that are most important to humans can’t be easily counted

3. GDP isn’t the holy grail of prosperity measurements

Expanding on the last point, I have provided a list from the video via Bobby Kennedy (and with a few modifications from me)

“GDP measures everything in short, except for what makes life worthwhile.”

GDP Counts:

• Air pollution
• Cigarette advertising
• Ambulance rides
• Locks for our doors
• Jails for the people who break them
• Destruction of our forests
• Loss of natural wonder in urban sprawl
• Napalm and other weapons of destruction
• Armored police cars to stop riots
• Sales of guns and knives
• TV and other forms of toxic media
• Divorce and criminal attorneys

What GDP doesn’t count

• The health of our children
• Quality of their education
• Joy of their play
• Beauty of our poetry
• Strength of our marriages
• Intelligence of our public debate
• Integrity of our public affairs
• Our courage, wisdom, and compassion
• The closeness of our relationships

What do you guys think?

Is our economy doing poorly in light of the GDP numbers, or because “the numbers” are the only things businesses have been focusing on?

What should I be when I grow up?

What should I be when I grow up must be the biggest myth we fool our children with.

Sure there’s Santa, the Boogie Man and the Tooth Fairy, but those are mostly harmless. The biggest myth is the most harmful. It leaves students with unrealistic expectations and doesn’t help them focus on what truly matters.

I first remember being asked the age old question in second grade and about every year after that until I was in college. Of course by the time you are in college you HAVE to know what you want to do when you grow up… right?

There is always an aura of awkwardness when someone says “I’m an English major” and then someone replies “so…what are you going to do with that?”

In order to avoid this we begin to make up answers to make ourselves feel better.

What better way to fight a myth than with another myth?

“I think I want to be an investment banker, a consultant, or a brand manager”.

Or maybe you take the easy way out and just say you want to do what one of your parents does. “My dad’s a lawyer I guess Law School sounds cool?”

Please tell me, what exactly is the day-to-day role of an investment banker, consultant or lawyer? You probably have no clue.

Now I’m not saying we shouldn’t prepare students for careers, quite the opposite in fact. What I’m suggesting is that we stop focusing on the “what do I want to be” myth and focus on the things that actually matter.

1. Your strengths (what are you naturally good at)

2. Your interests (what things you like to do)

3. And your actions today.

The truth is your strengths, your interests, and what you do today matter in order to get to where you want to be tomorrow. Five year plans? Hah.

The world is changing so fast the jobs that are here today probably won’t be in 20 years. (or they won’t be recognizable in their current form)

The truth is there is never a day when you finally “grow up”.

Ask any successful or interesting person you know this question and they will probably tell you they still don’t know what they want to be when they grow up.

Your career path is something that unfolds everyday. The important thing is to not focus on hollow titles or job descriptions, but instead focus on what your natural talents are.

For example – I love helping others, coming up with new ideas and solving problems.

Figure out what you have to do today to put yourself in a better position to utilize your strengths and pursue your passions tomorrow.

The career path is a series of steps on a ladder. With each new step comes a new level of understanding that may have been hidden on the rung before.

Take one step today and you’ll be what you want to be tomorrow. Remember, you can own your career path.

So.. what do you want to be when you grow up?

The “Unspoken” Cause of Failure

This post is the first in a series of Monday book summaries.

I’ve been fortunate to read a lot of great books in my life. Every Monday I will be putting out summaries, takeaways, and critiques of today’s top business books.

Last Tuesday I promised this on Twitter… “I’m not going to finish another book until a review one online for you all. Read too much shared too little.” 8:29 PM June 1st via Echofon

Now it’s time to execute, which ironically is the title of the amazing business book by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan.

To be honest I first read this book in college and didn’t get much out of it. It wasn’t until a year later when I got my first “real job” when I began to re-read and appreciate the importance of this book.

Below are my key takeaways from Execution.

“Execution is the great unaddressed issue in the business world today. Its absence is the single biggest obstacle to success and the cause of most of the disappointments that are mistakenly attributed to other causes.”

What is Execution?

Execution is a systematic process of rigorously discussing “how’s and what’s” in your organization.

Execution is not only about questioning, but more importantly ensuring  accountability and tenaciously following through.

In the most basic form execution means exposing reality and acting on it.

This wasn’t a principle I learned in business school. But during my years of consulting experience I found out that most companies don’t face reality very well. It turns out this is one of the major reasons teams fail to execute.

Although this may sound like common sense (most business principles are) when people, politics, and organizational culture aren’t aligned, businesses can rarely solve problems they are faced with.

How can you execute when you don’t  know what is truly happening within your organization and marketplace?

That’s where leadership comes in…

Leading for execution is not rocket science.

The main requirement is that you as a leader have to be deeply and passionately engaged in your organization adn be honest about its realities with others and yourself.

Leaders should bring weaknesses to light and rally their people to correct them.

Execution is not a program of the month. A leader who says, “Okay, now we’re going to execute for a change” is merely launching another fad of the month, with no staying power. As my former sales trainer and good friend John Hall says, “Talk is cheap.”

Two ways you can check for Execution in your company

#1 Pay attention to what the Dialogue looks like in your organization.

Dialogue is the core of culture and the basic unit of work. How people talk to each other absolutely determines how well the organization will function.

Is the dialogue stilted, politicized, fragmented, and butt-covering, or is it candid and reality-based?

If it’s the former (as it is with many companies) reality will never come to the surface. If it is to be the latter, the leader must be on the playing field with the rest of the team, practicing it consistently.

#2 Check employee engagement in meetings.

Do people sit passively watching PowerPoint presentations? Do they ask questions, and is there a true debate?

People engaged in meetings ask “execution-style” questions, search out reality, and reach specific and practical conclusions. Accountability is also discussed openly and agreed upon by those responsible.

Perspectives should be heard, even if they disagree or are temporarily uncomfortable to hear. You need input from team members and this will help them take ownership of the project’s success.

Although I love John Hall’s advice, I’d like to amend it just a bit for this article.

“Talk is cheap, but dialogue is priceless”.

Do you see execution problems in your teams? What do you think of the summary?

Would love to hear your thoughts!

Why do A students have C filled lives?

In school conforming gets you an A.

In life, conforming gets you lots of C’s.

How could that be?

Let me explain…

In school you receive A’s for doing exactly what the teacher says. You’re rewarded for fitting in, following directions and not making a ruckus in class. Do these things and you’ll receive an A.

Unfortunately lots of A students settle for C jobs.

Follow directions, do whatever your boss says, and you’ll live a life full of C’s. C stands for things like cubicle, cog, and complacency.

It’s easy to settle for C’s in real life. It’s the equivalent to A you used to receive in school. People stay in “C” jobs they hate, long after they’ve outgrown the opportunity.

“I should be happy I even have a job”, is something I often hear from discouraged employees.

True you should always be grateful, but being grateful should never be an excuse for staying in a job that’s not bringing out the best in you.

Most people don’t believe there are better opportunities out there. In reality there are endless opportunities out there in the world.

You just have to hustle to get there.

Your dream job is available right now, what are you doing to stand out from everyone else?

What kind of relationships are you forming? How are you adding value to the world?

In school you aren’t rewarded for having the most friends, asking tough questions of the teacher, or making everyone laugh in class. These things are actually punished, yet they may be some of the most important skills in life.

It’s a new game with a new set of rules folks.

If you are in a C job, please know that you don’t have to settle.

But, if you want an A level job you will have to hustle.

What have you done today to get one step closer to your dream job?

I challenge you to do one thing today, and then leave it in the comments below. I’ll do the same 🙂