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It’s an old one that I rediscovered in the archives. Time to publish.
Killing Them Softly: America is not a country, it’s just a Business
It just seemed right, timely and very ‘People Firsty’.
brad pitt People First video youtube archive.pf.businessAs I often do, when my response is more detailed than a throw away - writing this ‘response’ post here - and dropping the link into the comments on the post.
In this case this is the link to the original post.
I really would have liked to have seen Digi.Me disassociate itself from the idea that ‘Data is the New Oil’ - since it perpetuates the thinking that data - like oil - is a resource that is ready and waiting to be mined.
In the physical world - the extractive industries are rapidly trying to redefine themselves - and separate their values from what they do. In other words, to be in the extractive industries in 2020 is NOT GOOD, so why would we perpetuate that thinking in a relatively new industry, like data management, data is all about ‘extraction’. New metaphors are needed.
I talk about data connection - as a better way of working, rather than data collection. This ideas, I think fits right in with DigiMe/Consent App thinking.
When Hunby first coined the phrase in 2006, it was a very different world (though in many ways not that different, so shame on him), but in this new, more ethical world of data management that (IMO), Digi.Me leads - to reference the expression without ‘slapping it down’ I find sad.
One of my longer pieces on the topic in BizCatalyst
A shorter reference in my newsletter
In both I push for thinking of ‘Data as Energy’ … vibrating, pulsating, forever chnaging, continually morphing, constantly switching between two very different forms, hard to contain, but for all of that - eminently controllable - if we approach with care.
I keep talking about this all over the place. The topic even pops up from time to time on the IIW list. Me? I am in the ‘energy’ camp, meanwhile, Jim Pasquale talks about ‘Nitrogen’ (I think that was the gas reference he used). Either way - the conversation tries to push the thinking away from the idea that data is the new oil.
Why energy you might ask?
”If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.”
Nikola Tesla
Do I care whether you reference it as energy? Well of course I do, why else would I write this? But that analogy needs to work for you. What I do really care about is that Digi.me doesn’t fall into old thinking, old metaphors.
Just #MyTwoCents
↩️ people.firstI wrote this in response to someone asking a question in a group I belong to. As always with long detailed responses, capturing it here so that I can find it again.
The conventional mindset of “marketing runs events that generate leads which are then converted to sales” is what will destroy the world.
My focus is something I call People First. And as you can see from these graphics …. I disagree with your customers … scroll down to see why.
My Speciality Is Generality
Cloud Hopping - It’s What I Do
Charge For Value
This is important, because if what these people are saying is right - then we are all doomed. In fact there are some very good books out there explaining exactly why the generalist is - and needs to be - very much on the rise.
But, lets; get to the point at hand.
In the late 80s, I was basically my company’s ‘puppeteer’ of marketing across Europe and was doing ‘crazy’ stuff like running theater shows, sponsoring ocean going yachts, building an funding an independent user group that was TRULY independent - not under our control, funding art programs, supporting charities and causes with product and support, delivering a ‘newsletter’ that was actually designed as a coffee table book (ie - so big and gorgeous and expensive that nobody threw it away. Etc etc
Conventional marketing (in the US) said I was wrong - as they ran feature focussed product advertising in all the right magazine with totally the wrong message.
… and then in 1990 - they asked me to move to California.
“First They Ignore You, Then They Laugh at You, Then They Attack You, Then You Win”
My gut is you are dealing with old school people OR new inexperienced people.
Separately - no matter WHAT they say about leads, lead attribution is one of a companies biggest problems. They THINK they have it nailed BUT just because you have data - doesn’t make it right.
”A politician relies on data much as a drunk relies on a lamppost - more for support than illumination.”
Go back ‘100 years’ and consider ‘AIDA’ - and the ever-growing number of alternatives that have appeared since. NEVER has a single piece of marketing taken a customer on the entire journey.
The current Omni channel world provides the illusion of RoI. But the fact is that channel attribution is close to impossible.
How do they know that someone listened to a presentation at one of your events, went home - looked up the company on the web - thought - yes - VERY interesting - filled in the contact form and pressed send.
At their end, they have a ‘web lead’ - and that will be argued over by the social marketing person and the web marketing person - as to which of them the lead should be attributed to. The truth of the attribution doesn’t even enter into their thinking. You aren’t even in their mix!
“Half my advertising budget is wasted - I just don’t know which half”.
John Wanamaker(a long long time ago).
… and sadly even more true today - because uninformed non data savvy people are looking at data and not questioning it. Not validating it. Accepting it
”Computer Say No.”
To do that, you have to know what you are doing! (See the politician/drunk quote above.) Oh wait - its worse, because informed very data savvy people are looking at data and using it to support their argument.
Digital, omnichannel programs supposedly fixed this, it did not - because there still is no way to accurately account for ‘channel attribution’. The optics presented inside corporations will of course say quite the 0pposite - “my channel delivered 53% of all of the leads - imagine what could be done if you increased my budget” kind of arguments.
And to fix that - along came customer journeys - kind of - kind of - because IMHO they often miss the point completely … but that is altogether another story.
“My most important work is hunting down the very best stories of successful technology deployments in the construction sector.”
YES - STORIES … or Case Studies as they used to be called!
Where conventional marketing will say “the focus should be on the company and product features and benefits.”
SEE ABOVE - BUT NO - WRONG. TOTALLY WRONG.
Where conventional marketing says “we can’t measure the success of sponsoring your events if we don’t have a list of leads”, I say that the people the come to my events don’t want you to know who they are! 36% of my event last week opted out of sharing their details with presenters.
Why on earth would you share YOUR list with a company? THAT is YOURS and VERY VALUABLE.
No idea what you are charging for presentation - or what you want for sponsorship - BUT - the way I would be doing this is building a parallel business that allows those companies to have CTAs in a regular email that YOU send to all. IF that customer clicks on THEIR CTA - it will come through to them - and that is a CLEAR signal that they want to talk - i.e. a warm lead … not a cold one - sorry but listening to a presentation and getting a follow up lead email is at best a cold lead. REAL OLD SCHOOL THINKING.
This way you hold the power - your email list. You hand NOTHING over to ANYBODY.
Mailchimp - and bundles of other alternatives have what you need. Not sure with a 1000 email list there is that much segmentation you can do to have meaning. But the sentiment is right.
↩️ observationsSomeone posted into a Facebook group about the trepidation they had when they first started posting. It resonated.
This is a bit of a ramble - sorry, but I just wanted to get out of the brain onto … paper?
I registered my first domain in 1999, and probably pushed my first words into the ether a few minutes later. Never looked back - and sure - definitely, at times there is trepidation. Here’s the thing - forget like buttons and smileys - I do it for me. It has to be for me - its pretty clear that most of what I write is unread.
Someone once asked Ernest Hemingway how to be a writer. “Start writing’ said Hemingway. That’s what we do.
Did that same person ask Papa how to get published? Get read?
Not sure!
If anybody really agrees with you and lets you know - or disagrees - and lets you know - then we have the start of a conversation. (Ignoring idiot disagreements and trolls for the moment). And THAT is powerful. THAT is what starts to change the world.
I have a friend in the US who is a published author (Wiley) , one book … though countless in drawers and drives and even (sadly) containers. He is a wise man and on occasions ponders whether the stories he writes are really stories if only he has read them? (channeling fallen trees in a forest that nobody hears?). My point back is that lots of people journal - privately - it clears their minds. Those journals exist. They are real.
I journal (as in privately), but most of what I write spreads into too many domains for my own good.
I doubt very much if much of what I write is read. I write for me. I like it when someone digs something out of one of my sites and asks me a question but the writing remains essentially a public journal. (Excluding FB, since there is no real / meaningful way to pull stuff out once it has gone in.) If I want something to be part of ‘the canon’ - I also publish to one of my own sites - like I will do with this one so even when FB loses it - and pushed it down the ranking - I will still be able to find it and so will others.
All of this to say you and I don’t know each other - but I do enjoy what you write and thankyou for that, in particular …
”When I notice some feeling to post, especially a strong feeling, then I examine it against my principles, my values, my self-knowledge and my knowledge of others. I ask myself what is my motivation to post. What’s my agenda, what’s my game?”
I am with you, I probably do the same - but it is almost unconscious now. I know not to engage with people about COVID and TRUMP, so I don’t. If you look, you will find my thoughts - but away from places that people are likely to read them. 😄 But all else, I’m ready. Let’s talk.
Professional-Creator
We are either teaching our children to be creators… or we’re throwing them off a cliff.
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managing-complex-change
Brought to my attention by Stuart Robbins, who went on to write ….
It is known as the Knoster Model for Complex Behavioral Change (circa 2000). For those who would like to know more, search for Timothy Knoster. In sum, Knoster identifies the 5 key elements needed for any Change Management initiative to be successful, and the relative symptoms caused if/when one element is missing.
Stuart Robbins
Interesting. I went of looking further and found an even better image (see below) that adds context to the steps and happy smiling emojis that reflect the expected feelings! :-)
The keen observers amongst you will also spot a different order and an extra step - but the principle holds. (The principle being - as Stuart said in his original message to me … (I paraphrase) … how much information can be packed into a single image (doffing hat to E. Tufte.)
John Philpin
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