Book Review - The Riddle: Where Ideas Come From and How to Have Better Ones

When I think of innovation, companies from the information age such as Apple, Google, IDEO and Alibaba come to mind. These companies regularly push the innovation envelope with great success.

How these companies innovate seems to be quite different. For example, as an outsider looking in, it appears that Apple is very structured and methodical in how it approaches innovation; always adhering to its core vision of delivering products that are useful, affordable and easy-to-use. It's almost as if you can envision Steve Jobs pontificating and driving innovation throughout the hallowed halls of Apple. Contrast that with Google where they appear to approach innovation as a random, ad hoc activity hoping that, among other activities, the 20% "personal time" all Google employees enjoy will result in innovations that the company will benefit from. Needless to say, both approaches have resulted in countless WOW products that left potential competitors dumbfounded and contemplating, "Why didn't we think of that?"

As successful as these companies have been in getting new ideas to market, there have been instances where each company has come up short on the innovation front. For example, when Google struck its mega-deal to advertise on MySpace, the company would have been wise to embrace the "five whys" from Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota and considered the father of the Japanese industrial revolution. The first "why" should have been: "Why do people spend time on a social network?" Going through this process, the company would have quickly realized that people active in an online community are very different from those doing search. Armed with this knowledge, I believe Google would have implemented an ad strategy with a delivery and presentation method that aligned better to how users engage social networks. For Apple, you only have to conjure up thoughts of the failed PDA, Newton, when considering innovations gone awry.

At the other end of the innovation spectrum, companies such as AOL, CA and BMC Software come to mind in that they have seemingly lost the ability to innovate organically. Innovations from these companies tend to come in the form of an acquisition or some other external activity. I'm not sure what causes this. My guess is that they simply don't foster an innovation-centric culture, or it could be that the leaders of these companies are unable to look past the next fiscal quarter as part of their decision making process.

Regardless of where your company sits along the innovation continuum, The Riddle: Where Ideas Come From and How to Have Better Ones by Andrew Razeghi is a worthwhile read. The book uses real-world examples to demystify how innovation takes place and serves up a blueprint for creating and processing ideas. It also identifies five precursors -- curiosity, constraints, connections, conventions, and codes -- needed to create an environment that fosters and supports innovation as essential underpinning for success. Throughout the book, Razeghi enumerates actionable steps that can be implemented to increase any organizations' odds of being more innovative. It's the type of book that you will find yourself going back to regularly to keep your innovation skills honed.

For marketers tasked with thinking outside-the-box for the next marketing strategy, campaign, or promotion, Razeghi's book will give you a game plan with practical insights into how ideas are created as well as steps that can be employed to enable you and your team with ideas that are both controllable and repeatable.

For those interested, another worthwhile read to help stimulate creative thought is Edward de Bono's, Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step.

Technorati Tags: innovation,creativity,apple,google,ideo,alibaba

Marketing Management - Don't Wait Nine Months to Get Back to a Customer

For those who regularly read my blog, you'll love this. Last July I posted an entry about the importance of making your company accessible. In the posting, I mentioned that the only means of contacting Motorola about a piece of software I was interested in buying and downloading from its website was via an online form.

I reflected that a month after submitting the form I had yet to receive a reply. Well, you'll be happy to know that on March 31 -- nine months after submitting the online form -- I finally received a one line response from Motorola. I kid you not. What's worse was there was no acknowledgement of any delay.

Contrast that experience with one I had recently with another well-known consumer electronics provider, Bose. I've had a Bose SoundDock for about three years. I'm thinking about trading in my fourth generation Apple iPod for an iPod Touch. On a Saturday morning I dialed the toll free number that was easy to locate on the company's website. Ryan in Bose's technical support group picked up on the first ring. He explained to me that because Apple now has so many varieties of iPod, Bose has created a universal adapter for its SoundDock so it will work with any type of iPod. He was more than happy to send me the adapter at no charge. Bose has a customer for life. The next time I'm in the need of a quality sound product, you can bet that I will not stray from the Bose brand.

With the cost of acquiring a new customer ranging from 5 to 10 times what it costs to keep or upsell new products to an existing customer, it's no wonder that Motorola is on the ropes and trying, without success, to sell its handset business. They simply don't get it. It being the importance of getting back to those pesky customer people about an online software product that has zero distribution cost and -- I would guess -- somewhere in the neighborhood of 80% profit margin. I can't imagine a more dysfunctional organization. Frankly, at this point they would have been better off not getting back to me at all. At least then I would have attributed it to some type of internal glitch.

A relevant footnote worth sharing is that I got rid of the Motorola phone mentioned in my original blog posting almost six months ago. I decided then to go an entirely different direction for my calendar and contact synching needs. Hey Moto, can you here me now?

Technorati Tags: motorola,bose,customer service,marketing management

Strategy - The Big Winner if Microsoft is Successful at Acquiring Yahoo is Google

I understand that Google's public face should voice opposition to Microsoft's bid to acquire Yahoo. But I wouldn't be surprised if Eric Schmidt, Sergey Brin, and Larry Page are high-fiving one another behind closed doors and hoping that the deal happens. I can think of countless reasons why, but two that are blindingly apparent are the resulting culture clash and leveraged innovation quotient, both of which would enable Google to capitalize on the MS/Yahoo marriage.

First of all, if Microsoft is successful at acquiring Yahoo they will have a culture clash of biblical proportion. These companies are at opposite ends of the spectrum on virtually everything from how they innovate to how they make money. It will take years for the two behemoths to effectively integrate -- if full integration is even possible. The clash of cultures would allow Google to cherry-pick top talent from both companies as frustration will rule the day. According to CNET News, Yahoo has been, "bogged down by ineffective group decision-making and a damaging aversion to taking risks" and is now saying that the acquisition bid is disrupting the company even more.

One of the best things that Google has going is its extraordinary ability to innovate. So, while Microsoft and Yahoo are trying to sort out how to play well together in the sandbox, Google can flex and focus its innovation muscle to further distance themselves from the rest of the pack. To that, they should determine what attributes make Yahoo, and for that matter Microsoft, compelling and innovate beyond what both companies offer. For example, I'm a big fan of Yahoo Sports. According to Fast Company, Yahoo Sports has usurped ESPN.com as the go to destination for sports enthusiasts by cultivating 24.1 million unique visitors compared to ESPN.com's 22.2 million in November of 2007. With online ad revenue for sports growing from $548 million to $1.1 billion by 2011 (according to eMarketer), Google could direct innovation and business resources to become a major player in this burgeoning space. They could also develop Google-based approaches toward other business domains such as finance, travel and music to quickly accelerate past the newly merged entity.

That's not to say that Google is not without its own challenges. With eMarketer reporting that paid search is starting to slow as a component of total online advertising in the US, Google needs to think outside-the-box to sustain double-digit growth by embracing a variety of online formats. Recently striking a deal with YuMe is a good beginning, albeit a baby step; since rich media/video is the highest growth sector for online advertising.

From a marketing perspective, Google has been enormously successful using word-of-mouth as its primary means of marketing. However, to fend off a merged MS/Yahoo entity will require that the company rethink how to effectively promote themselves via integrated strategies that cross multiple medias with a consistent and compelling message.

All things considered, if Google stays the innovation course while thinking beyond-the-box for new ways to market and monetize itself in ways other than its dependence on paid search advertising, it could create an insurmountable gap that a merged MS/Yahoo might never close. 

Technorati Tags: Google,Microsoft,Yahoo

Marketing - Targeting Influentials vs. The Masses

I read an interesting article in Fast Company by Clive Thompson titled, "Is The Tipping Point Toast?" The article discusses studies conducted by Duncan Watts that basically dispel the premise of Malcolm Gladwell's best-seller, The Tipping Point, to the point where he suggests that marketers spending north of one billion dollars per year to target Influentials are all but wasting their money. In essence, Watts's research showed little to no correlation between Influentials and burgeoning trends.

For those who have not read, The Tipping Point, at a high level it runs along the lines of the butterfly effect in that a butterfly's flapping wing represents a small change in the initial condition of the system, which causes a chain of events leading to large-scale phenomena. In Gladwell's case, small numbers of people --Influentials -- who start behaving differently can ultimately ripple outward until critical mass or the "tipping point" is reached. For example, Gladwell reflects how some hip Influentials brought Hush Puppies from the brink of bankruptcy by wearing Hush Puppy shoes in the fashion sensitive Village district in SoHo, New York City. They made Hush Puppies cool and relevant which caught on like wildfire through word-of-mouth to spawn a rebirth of the languishing brand. Within two years, Hush Puppies went from being all but dead to growing a remarkable 5000% without spending anything on advertising.

Gladwell's thesis is that ideas, products, messages, behaviors, etc. gain momentum and ultimately "tip" largely by the actions of three pivotal types of Influentials:
1. Connectors - people who know lots of people and can link those people together
2. Mavens - people who accumulate and pass along knowledge
3. Salesmen - people proficient at the art of persuasion

Watts contends that it takes more then just highly social individuals to "tip" a product or service. His "tipping point" counter is that unless society is ready for change, no amount of encouragement from Influentials will cause something to tip. In fact, he suggests that the greatest way to effect a trend is through good, old-fashioned mass marketing. The article states, "He [Watts] has analyzed email patterns and found that highly connected people are not, in fact, crucial social hubs. He has written computer models of rumor spreading and found that your average slob is just as likely as a well-connected person to start a huge new trend. And last year, Watts demonstrated that even the breakout success of a hot new pop band might be nearly random. Any attempt to engineer success through Influentials, he argues, is almost certainly doomed to failure."

Watts's perspective is encapsulated in the following illustration from the magazine article.

From Targeting Inf...

The way I see it is I don't believe Gladwell said that you should abandon your marketing strategies and campaigns by putting all of your eggs in the Influential's basket. What he does do is enlighten marketers to explore and leverage Influentials as a facet of any integrated marketing strategy. Targeting Influentials is particularly relevant as Web 2.0 continues to gain momentum. Those who used to be able to influence only a few are now able to quickly impact thousands, if not millions, of prospective consumers via blogs, customer reviews, social networks, etc.

Any good marketing program needs to strike a balance across the spectrum of available options. The use of Influentials is just one of many options that should be considered. What's key is understanding the ebbs and tides of your prospective customers and market dynamics then applying those techniques that will drive adoption to the point of "tipping."

Technorati Tags: Tipping Point,Fast Company,Marketing Strategy

Advertising - The Next Big Thing in Online Advertising

I read a post in the Long Tail blog titled, "What does the 'Media Business Model' mean?" that outlines the different ways online media companies generate revenue. Although it appears to be a work in progress post, one omission is "Time on Site" as an emerging media business model. Because everyone in the media biz loves acronyms, let's refer to "Time on Site" as TOS.

TOS advertising got a big boost this past summer when Nielsen//NetRatings announced they are replacing page views with time on site as the primary Web traffic metric. With the widespread adoption of AJAX-based sites and online video, page views as a metric are becoming increasingly less relevant. In Surprise: MSN Has Built the Video Site of the Future, the author, Marshall Kirkpatrick, suggests, "While other sites (like YouTube and MySpace) keep pumping out the page views and trying to figure out how to best run ads - this new MSN Video site has hit on a formula that will likely represent the video portal of the future: AJAX powered video play lists, including recommended videos, that do not require new page loads and are monetized by time-based advertising. You could spend hours watching a play list of videos from a variety of sources on MSN Video without ever loading a new page."

At MyTeamZone, we consider TOS as a key metric to our revenue model. We anticipate using several techniques to leverage TOS as a source of revenue. For example, we plan to use product placement in video training content. We believe that advertisers will find it valuable because their products will be prominently yet discreetly placed in front of a captive audience for extended periods.

You can see this for yourself in the video below. It not only serves up great baseball training, but you are viewing the Under Armour brand for the entire segment.

Now, imagine the video above framed by a discreet border from retailers like The Sports Authority or Dick's Sporting Goods that links the user directly to a landing page with baseball gear from Under Armour.

For MyTeamZone, we chose Silverlight from Microsoft to render photos and videos. Not only does it offer the highest possible quality viewing experience, but is also gives us several ways to selectively place and manage ads in our video and photo content.

A great case study that demonstrates how product placement was used in online video and tied directly to revenue can be found in the Business 2.0 article titled, "Make Way for Must Stream TV." The article discusses how one of the co-hosts of Revision3's Diggnation was suffering from a bad cold so he drank a cup of Adagio tea instead of a bottle of beer - his normal refreshment for the show. After the show Revision3 struck a deal with the tea manufacturer for a quid pro quo arrangement.

The article states, "The terms: Adagio would put together a special $20 Diggnation 'sampler set' (a teapot, four teas, and a tea guide) to plug during the next show; Revision3 would get a 20 percent cut of any resulting sales. Rose (one of the co-hosts) chose his favorites and mentioned a special URL where viewers could purchase the tea online. A month after the show posted to iTunes, Adagio had rung up $100,000 in Diggnation-linked sales - a 25 percent boost to its average monthly tally."

Some companies that have made a living off page views are upbraiding Neilsen's decision, but I believe they made the right move in light of where the space is moving. Like most shifts, the mechanics for TOS advertising still need to be vetted. It's simply a matter of time before publishers and advertisers sort out the basis for charging for time on site.

Technorati Tags: time on site,msn video,online adversiting,silverlight

My How Things Have Changed

I read a Google blog post by Bo Cowgill titled, The Flow of Information at Googleplex. It discusses Google's use of predictive markets to demonstrate how organizations process information and respond to external events.

It took me back to what feels like eons ago when I was pursuing my Masters degree in Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma. My concentration was quantitative methods and analysis. Along my concentration, I decided on a thesis that consisted of conducting a non-equivalent, control group comparison study. The study examined the impact of implementing a multi-threaded, integrated voter registration awareness campaign at Naval Air Station, Barbers Point, Hawaii compared to another nearby military installation.

At the time of my thesis, I used first-generation software from SPSS to correlate and analyze the data I collected. It's amazing to me how much more difficult and rudimentary it was then when I consider what's available today to conduct similar types of studies.  Seeing the findings from the Google study demonstrate significant advances as evidenced with something as simple as overlaying a heat map distribution over a Googleplex office to see areas where employees made profitable decisions (green) and areas where employees made unprofitable decisions (red) when trading.

Even when I was doing my thesis, I knew that technology would have a massive impact on how we conduct and analyze socioeconomic studies.

Knowing how far things have progressed, I'm anxious to see what lies ahead as technology evolves in areas like neuromarketing and mobility-centric predictive analysis.

Technorati Tags: market analysis,socioeconomics,Google,predictive markets

Marketing Management - Startups 2.0

I read a great article in Wired by Dan Tynan titled, VCs Tell Startups: Don't Show Me the Money (Yet). The article resonated with me as I've experienced first-hand how dramatically different the startup environment is now compared to during the bubble from both a cost to deploy and time to revenue perspective.

For example, while CMO at CommerceQuest, which was acquired by Metastorm, we built an innovative managed service called enableNet. Built during the bubble apex, enableNet provided any-to-any integration over the Internet. It realized significant market traction with the then in vogue Net Market Makers as they all needed some level of integration and connectivity to realize their business objectives. 

We built enableNet to run on IBM mainframes in order to get 99.99999 percent uptime. We housed our mainframes in the newest Internet data centers with the fattest possible pipes. It literally took an army of technicians, developers, system operators, etc. to build, monitor and maintain the system. To top it all off, we were headquartered on the top floor of the newest building in Tampa.

Like a lot of companies during the bubble, we took on significant venture capital to fuel adoption and growth both of which came at breakneck speed. It needed to because the cost to build, deploy and support enableNet required that we monetize it soonest.

Contrast enableNet with MyTeamZone -- a new Web 2.0 venture I'm currently working on. MyTeamZone is a private community where sports teams can easily share information, communicate and coordinate activities.

For hardware, we use off-the-shelf, rack mounted, 1U Dell servers running Windows server operating system. Using the .NET framework, a good portion of our application logic comes from third party controls and libraries that are either open source or are very inexpensive to license. We've even outsourced some of our development to an offshore team.  For deployment, we currently co-lease a rack in an Internet data center. We use Google Analytics to monitor traffic and usage patterns. Finally, we are operating out of a very modest office with a hodgepodge of furnishings.

I'm not at liberty to disclose how much was spent on enableNet or MyTeamZone. However, I can say that from a development and infrastructure perspective enableNet was over 20 times more expensive to build, deploy, maintain and market than what we are experiencing with MyTeamZone.

Now, looking at the differences of the bubble period versus today from a marketing perspective, I managed multi-million dollar budgets while at CommerceQuest. A large portion of those budgets was directed towards SEO and SEM, which, for the most part, were provided by outside agencies. It often took months at a significant cost to promote our products to the first page of the various search engines.

At MyTeamZone, in less than two weeks and using a couple of hours of an internal resource, we are currently on the first page of Google's organic results in position six out of 22+ million results for our key search term -- free team websites.

Granted at CommerceQuest we had more products that needed to be optimized across the search engines using a variety of terms, it still demonstrates just how dramatically things have changed as Web 2.0 and the new way of getting started gain momentum.

Because we've been able to get MyTeamZone to market at a fraction of the cost of enableNet, we can stay laser focused on creating a great user experience. We know we will be able to monetize the business if we create user experience that is sticky and allows for viral growth.  To that end, we spend a considerable amount of time understanding existing and emerging ways to monetize the business so that once we realize critical mass, we'll be able to capitalize on it. We've looked at traditional Web methods like CPC and CPM advertising as well as more obscure methods such as product placement in our professional online training videos as potential sources of revenue. 

As it was during the bubble, certain attributes like agility and perseverance makes working at a startup exciting. To be successful still requires passion, commitment, courage, sacrifice and, quite frankly, a whole lot of luck.  However, the means of getting your product or service to market has been dramatically compressed on both a cost and time basis. Be mindful of this as you consider your next venture.

Technorati Tags: startups,web 2.0,marketing management

Book Review - Founders At Work: Stories of Startup's Early Days

Having spent a considerable portion of my career in startup and early stage companies, I'm often told, "You should write a book about what you've experienced and learned." I may do that at some point, but until then I encourage you to read, Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston. It's a series of interviews with founders from several well-known companies, some of which include Adobe, Apple, Flickr, PayPal and Yahoo!.

The book provides candid, eye-opening accounts from those who were in the trenches when these industry heavyweights were just cutting their teeth -- trying to figure out how to make an impact and change the world. It's a great read for those with a startup bug or those with an entrepreneurial spirit.

One epiphany that becomes apparent when you read the book is that almost always an initial vision or product idea is recast to fit an evolving market paradigm. To that, I think it goes without saying that agility and perseverance are two key -- if not critical -- attributes of any successful startup.

The only narrative I would add to the book is that startups are not for the faint of heart. In a startup environment you will be called upon to push the very limits of what your mind and body can endure. In addition, although you join a startup because of a particular skill or trait, you quickly find out that to succeed means performing a myriad of roles. One minute you're crafting a go-to-market strategy, the next you're hand soldering a 40 lead, quad flat-pack under a stereo-zoom microscope.

I recall the first startup I worked at in northern Virginia. We were on the hook to deliver six prototype, next generation pen-based computers to secure a $4.5M contract with GE Turbine Systems. Everything needed to be done, from debugging the system BIOS and using machine files to hand-mold the plastic housings to creating a User's Guide.

A normal day in a startup typically eclipses those of more established companies. However, during the 45 days leading up to this particular deliverable, the core team of eight was working, on average, 18 hours each day including weekends. In fact, I recall working 38 hours non-stop as we honed in on the finish line. Most nights we slept on our office floors while breakfast, lunch, and dinner were brought in. Every couple of days we would go home long enough to catch a quick nap, shower and shave. It was physically and mentally grueling.

Words can't describe the sensation we all felt when I dispatched one of our system engineers to deliver the six prototypes -- a full day before they were due. Our minds and bodies were literally numb from the relentless days and hours committed to completing this task. However, the exhilaration from having accomplished so much against very heavy odds elevated us to cloud nine. We opened a bottle of champagne at about 4:00 AM. By the time the rest of the employees started to make their way into the office we were well on our way to a drunken bliss. Mission accomplished.

Another important attribute of startups is that there is no formula or script you can follow that will guarantee success. To be successful requires passion, commitment, courage, sacrifice and, quite frankly, a whole lot of luck. It's a take no prisoners, get it done at any cost environment where you tend to be cash poor and vision rich. The normal rules of business rarely apply. You learn and adapt as you go.

The first week we embarked on the Herculean task above fell during the middle of summer. At about 2:00 AM one morning, I looked up from what I was doing to see one of our engineers standing there in his underwear. It was probably north of 90 degrees in our offices. We knew then there was no way we could be successful in those conditions. Since our landlord was unwilling to have the air conditioning remain on after 7:00 PM, we took matters into our own hands. We located the building control room, picked the lock and figured out how to turn the AC on while we worked through the night. We were careful to go back to the control room every morning at about 5:00 to turn it off.

In closing, what makes startups truly exciting is that words like "can't" and "process" are all but banned from the corporate vernacular. Fueled largely by adrenalin and passion, it's a purpose driven environment where the odds are stacked against you. To survive, you must do everything humanly possible as both an individual contributor as well as part of a team.

Technorati Tags: founders at work,startups,early stage companies

User Experience - Heed The Ten Demandments

While perusing the Blogosphere to research a recent posting, I came across The Ten Demandments by Kelly Mooney and Laura Bergheim. In essence, the Ten Demandments are common sense dictums to adhere to when engaging existing or potential customers. The irony of the Ten Demandments is that I can't imagine any company saying that they don't subscribe to them. However, I'm amazed at how often we encounter situations where companies don't practice what they preach.

The one thing I would add from a cursory review of the Ten Demandments (reflected below) is I believe they are weighted. For example, if you don't strongly commit to "Earn my trust" (Demandment #1) as an essential operational tenet then the others become mute.  As such, certain Demandments carry a heavier weight then others.

From a personal perspective, it's been over eight years since I've set foot in a Kinko's (now FedEx Kinko's).  Historically, the reason I embraced their services was because they were open long hours (Demandment #6) and allowed me to engage their services using their equipment (Demandment #4). However, the three to four times I used them they treated me with indifference and demonstrated what can only be described as gross ineptitude.  Because they violated Demandments #1 and #3, I will likely never use them again.

A classic skit from Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show succinctly reflects how I believe Kinko's treated me the few times I used their services.

Drum roll please... Mooney and Bergheim's Ten Demandments are:

1. Earn my trust... This is about respect, integrity, advocacy, and quality. Forget all the others if you can't master this one.
2. Inspire me... Craft meaningful emotional connections with your consumers through immersive experiences, motivating messages and relevant philanthropy. Inspirational brands transcend their own products and services become greater than the sum of their parts.
3. Make it easy... Simplicity, speed and usefulness are the keys to consumer ease. Don't confuse complexity with progress. The best things in life are often the easiest.
4. Put me in charge... Consumers expect choices and control, particularly from service organizations that can enable self-paced self-service. Put consumers in the driver's seat or they'll peel out of your parking lot without a second thought.
5. Guide me... Too much white noise, too little context - that's the problem. So filter the chaos with expert advice, education and information. And stand shoulder-to-shoulder with your consumers as they move through the decision-making process and beyond.
6. 24/7... anytime, anywhere access... that's the ticket in this 'round the clock world. 9-5 hours won't cut it for consumers who expect companies to be there for them all the time, no matter the channel.
7. Get to know me... You can't win consumer loyalty without understanding what consumers want. Listen, learn and study up on their real lives, don't just dive into the data pool, to get to know your consumers in a whole new light.
8. Exceed my expectations... Even demanding consumers can be wowed, so woo them by over-delivering through uncommon courtesies, surprising services and go-the-extra-mile efforts that show you really care.
9. Reward me... Treat your consumers like the VIPs they are to you - acknowledge and build their loyalty by rewarding them with points programs, privileged access or other winning ways.
10. Stay with me... Relationships are built not in a day, but in a lifetime, so stay with your consumers if you want them to stay with you. Deliver on post-purchase promises, stay in touch in meaningful ways, and evolve your brand to meet your consumers' evolving needs over time.

Whether you own all or part of the marketing function, you need to infuse the Ten Demandments into your ongoing marketing efforts. Something as simple as regularly reaching out to your customers with personalized messages using their preferred media and frequency will stand to delight them for years to come.

Technorati Tags: ten demandments,comedy central,chappelle's show

Marketing Management - Servicing Markets of One

To stand out in an economy where it seems like everything is being commoditized, marketers need to build and deploy strategies that embrace markets of one. Sometimes referred to as mass customization or one-to-one marketing, markets of one is the systematic tailoring of messaging as well as products and services to meet the unique needs of individual customers. In the book Markets of One, editors Jim Gilmore and Joe Pine reflect in the introduction, "It's a paradigm shift away from the one-size-fits-all way managers have thought about markets over the past century -- today, every individual customer is a market of one." The convergence of several drivers such as mobility, digital distribution, content consolidation and data mining have primed the pump to fully exploit this concept. 

I've seen the effects of this play out in a new venture that I am working on called MyTeamZone -- a private community where teams share all types of information, coordinate activities and easily communicate with one another. Something as simple as sending personalized e-mail invitations to join MyTeamZone that takes invitees to a personalized landing page has resulted in virtually every invitee joining. A sample of a personalized landing page is as follows:

In addition, every day we consider mechanisms that we can employ to understand the unique needs of MyTeamZone members and what we can do to align their user experience with those needs. For example, we are working on technology that steers specific video training content to members based on profile settings, personal interests, past views, etc.

Contrast MyTeamZone with a Holiday wishes email I received from a vendor trying to get my business. Keeping in mind that I've had discussions and exchanged several e-mails with this vendor, without any salutation the e-mail starts, "Thanks for another great year and hopefully this e-mail finds you safe and happy during this holiday season..." I receive countless solicitations for my business. The odds of me using this vendor are pretty slim if he can't even manage to spend a couple of minutes to personalize a Holiday greeting e-mail.  The way I look at it is if he won't take a couple of minutes now, how can I expect him to give me the proper time and attention when I might need it most?

Granted the MyTeamZone and vendor Holiday greeting comparison is simplistic. However, I think it speaks volumes to the merits of reaching constituents with personalized information.

A great example of delivering a sophisticated personalized content model is Pandora - a website based on the Music Genome Project. From a song title or artist, Pandora considers some 400 attributes like melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocals and lyrics to build a personalized online radio station resulting in a unique music experience. Users provide direct feedback via a thumbs up or down on individual songs, which Pandora takes into account for future selections.

Pandora's roughly seven million subscribers are testimony to the value inherent in serving up personalized content as musical tastes represent an intimate expression of who you are. However, one significant challenge that Pandora faces is that they rely largely on musicologists to analyze and categorize the music used to shape custom radio stations.

In the not so distant future, I envision Pandora-like functionality aggregated across the spectrum of personal interests and tastes to serve up a plethora of highly personalized content to the device of your choosing.

For those interested, there are several good books that can help you understand, frame and launch strategies that target markets of one, some of which include:

- The Long Tail by Chris Anderson

- Markets of One by Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore

- The Experience Economy by Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore

- Customer.com by Patricia Seybold

For marketing pros, spend the time and effort required to understand what is available to enable you to personalize content, products and services for your consumers.  The more you understand your consumer's needs and deliver personalized content based on expressed interests or behavior, the more likely your product or service will be embraced.

markets of one,mass customization,one-to-one marketing,myteamzone,pandora