The iPhone Will Fail: Ries Dismisses Convergence and Takes on Apple

In light of last week's book recommendation, there's an appropriate AdAge article from Al Ries on Why the iPhone Will Fail. The iPhone is the very thing that Ries rails against in The Origin of Brands, so it makes a lot of sense that he takes this position. The only problem is, he's wrong. Here's his argument:

"The hype has been enormous. Apple says its iPhone is "literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone." A stock-market analyst says, "The iPhone has the potential to be even bigger than the iPod."

"I think not. An iPod is a divergence device; an iPhone is a convergence device. There's a big difference between the two.

"In the high-tech world, divergence devices have been spectacular successes. But convergence devices, for the most part, have been spectacular failures."

And all this makes sense for most brands, but Apple is different. Apple has passionate, some may say rabid, fans of their products. This passion is what will make it a success even if its execution isn't flawless. Jonah Bloom offers this counterpoint in his piece Why the iPhone Will Be a Big Success.

"Indeed, anyone who ever uttered the word "brand" in anger, or in a new-business pitch, should wish it success. Companies such as Apple, one of the few that can still create passion beyond logic for its products, remind us that marketing is more than computer science."

That passion is what will carry it to success. Yes, there will be bugs, and complaints, but eventually the tide will turn and we'll see one of the very few instances of successful convergence.

Both Ries and Bloom offer good points to consider in their two pieces, and their point/counterpoint articles are worth checking out in their entirety. I'm curious as to what your thoughts are on the impending iPhone launch. Will these passionate users carry the iPhone to success, or will it, as Ries predicts, be a total flop?

Marketing Book Review: The Origin of Brands

As the recent selection for Marketing Profs book club, there's been a lot of buzz in the marketing community about Al & Laura Ries' The Origin of Brands. Initially skeptical of a book that seemed a bit gimmicky, I quickly came around. Origin of Brands repurposes a theory that's nearly 150 years old and brings it to the present day in a way that illuminates a critcial branding concept in a unique and interesting way.

Using Charles Darwin's theory of divergence as a foundation, Al and Laura Ries argue that the new trend of convergence (cellphones with cameras, and refrigerators with internet) is the complete wrong direction for brands to move. They present, quite successfully, the view that convergence is a loser. Categories of products diverge and the first to that new category is the winner.

I initially found the this book very interesting, but unpractical. Realistically I had to be able to come up with more examples, than they had, of successful convergence. But I couldn't. As I continued to read and, more importantly, reflect on the real world, I found myself in total agreement. Strong brands succeed because they are great at one thing, not pretty good at a couple.

Al and Laura also make a great point about being first to a category. People still believe it is more important to be the best and fight the good fight. Definetely there are some examples where the firsts to categories have faltered, but for the most part, first equals the winner. They gather all the buzz and establish themselves as the leader in the category.

There are many factors that contribute to a successful brand, but I believe these theories should be among them. Definetely recommended reading for any brand manager or business owner. I find myself viewing companies, big and small, through this lens on a daily basis. What causes their brand to succeed or fail? I've found many times it's how they apply these concepts that lead to the result.

The Origin of Brands: How Product Evolution Creates Endless Possibilities for New Brands can be purchased online at Amazon.com.

FOOA 2007 -- Dedicate 20% of Budget to Advertising Innovation

Now that we are in the thick of day two at the Future of Online Advertising conference, certain pieces of advice continue to crop up in the speaker's presentations. The biggest of them all appears to be a push to dedicate between 15-30% of your advertising budget to this new medium and the new creative within it. This message itself isn't so surprising at a Future of Online Advertising conference, but the frequency it comes is.

I believe that all but one of the speakers have made some mention of an amount in this range, but how many corporations are doing this? My guess from our client base, is that it's very few. And from the sounds of other people, they are finding the same. Despite all the press about blogs, Google search, MySpace, Flickr, etc... people are still clinging to old media with a wait and see approach. Meanwhile leaders in various industries are snatching up this opportunity to make a name for themselves in the market, finding these new innovative outlets cheaper and more effective.

Here's a small sample of what some speakers  have said:

Greg Stuart, Author of What Sticks -- "Advertisers should follow the 70/20/10 rule. Dedicate 70% of your efforts to what works, 20% to innovating off of what works, and 10% to something brand new."

Heather Luttrell, President of IndieClick -- "You need to be up to date with these bleeding and leading edge outlets. 20% of your advertising efforts should be focused on these experimental areas."

Carla Hendra, Co-CEO of Ogilvy North America -- "Carve out 15% of your budget for innovation. It used to be that you were afraid of being fired for trying new things. Now you should be afraid to be fired for avoiding these new spaces."

The message is coming out loud and clear. If you aren't experimenting in these areas, you're missing a huge opportunity.

FOOA 2007 -- Soaking in the NYC Atmosphere

With this being my first time in Manhattan and the focus of this conference being advertising, I had to go check out Times Square to soak it all up. Coming from Chicago, I compare Times Square to being in the Chicago Loop crossed with the lights of Las Vegas, and then juiced up on steroids. There are colorful advertisements everywhere and they are all seeking to grab your attention. But are they worth the money?

Brand Autopsy has a good summary of an AdAge article that talks about the numbers behind these Times Square ads. Last night was a great exercise in cutting through the clutter and this morning I tried to remember which brands stuck with me. Turns out I recall Coca-Cola, ABC News (from the basketball game being broadcast), and the Lion King Musical. But the one that I instantly remembered was the animated screen for Toys R Us, which churned through interactive quizzes about Barbie. Even in the billboard world, interactive advertising is the most effective.

Meanwhile over here at the Future of Online Advertising Conference in Gotham Hall, the atmosphere continues to be very positive. The organizers have done a fantastic job with the speakers brought in, and there's a good mix of people. There's quite a few publishers here looking for ways to maximize revenue on their own sites mixed with advertisers looking for the best practices and how to stay ahead of the curve in their own endeavors.

And Gotham Hall is beautiful. With the large pillars and marble everywhere I feel like important things occur here on a regular basis. Sometime today or tomorrow, I'll post some pictures so you can get a better feel for the show.

FOOA 2007 -- Clickable Video from VideoClix

Though the information from the speakers and sessions has been fantastic, the biggest wows thus far were reserved for a sponsor's presentation. VideoClix is a software package that allows you to take any video you own and make any object within it clickable. I might not have a need for this product, but I was really impressed.

The example, shown at FOOA and pictured above, is a clip from a James Bond film in which you can click on any product in the shot and information on that product will appear along side it. Interested in Bond's BMW? Click on it for more information. How about Bond's sunglasses or his shirt? You can even get a link to purchase the Cessna that flies into the shot. This is something you need to check out, even if you have no use for it. The Bond demo and other ones like it are located here.

It looked relatively simple to put it together, though it was just a two minute demo, so I'm guessing it could be a little more complicated.

VideoClix also offers full statistics on what people click and from what locations they were clicking. And all this data can still be tracked even if forwarded through email.

So the logical question is, what can you do with it? VideoClix's spokesperson said it can be used for educational and commercial purposes as well as some military applications. I can see stretching it into certain areas, but for me the main use would be the fashion industry, like in the swimsuit example, where the viewer may want to purchase the clothes they are seeing. Other than that, I could see the entertainment industry, like in the Lord of the Rings example, to provide some rich content, but not much else.

But maybe I'm wrong. If you've got some ideas of how this could apply to your business I'd love to hear it, and if you want Walker Sands to help you work with it, even better. I'd really like an excuse to play with this software. Used for the right reasons, it seems like it could be extremely powerful.

FOOA 2007 -- Google's New Pricing Model

Kim Malone, Director of AdSense for Google, highlighted the second morning session with her explanation of a new pricing model from Google. Beginning sometime late this year Google will unveil a new Cost Per Action (CPA) pricing model that will charge advertisers when a defined action is taken.

Previously advertisers had two options, Cost Per Impression (CPM) and Cost Per Click (CPC). CPM advertisers pay based on the amount of people that view the page that the ad is presented on. This type of ad is best used for large companies looking to build brand awareness. As the demand for more measurable results and accountability built, Google and others began offering CPC advertising in which the ad needed to be clicked in order to incur a charge. CPA is the logical evolution of this, as the advertisement must drive a specific action such as purchasing an item, in order to create a charge.

Malone described the steps of CPA:

1. Advertisers set the CPA for a specific action such as an item sale.
2. Website owners then choose to feature this ad on their site.
3. User clicks through on an ad and completes required action.
4. Website owner is then paid.

Site owners will be able to add these advertisements by selecting a broad category of ads or by drilling down to a more specific category for their site.

It also sounds like Google will be adding to its options for ad format. Currently their ads can be served in text, display, and video format, but Malone hinted that there's "more coming." Guesses, I'm sure, will be all over the internet, but Malone offered a clue. When asked about targeted video advertisements within online videos, Malone responded, "All I can say is, 'Watch this space.' I'll get shot if I say anything more."

FOOA 2007 -- Focusing on Online Searchers

The Future of Online Advertising (FOOA) is already in full swing and I couldn't be happier to be here. Here's my quick notes on the morning sessions.

Greg Stuart, author of What Sticks led off with a somewhat unflattering opinion state of the advertising industry. His book and this presentation was based on the John Wanamaker quote, "I know half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted, I just don't know what half." After research on 30 brands, and over one billion in ad spend, Stuart discovered that 47% of advertising is still failing.

"Wanamaker said that in 1890. In 100 years we've been able to improve by 3%." Stuart said. "That's not good."

More interesting to me, was Yahoo's VP of Agency Development, Ron Belanger. One of the focuses of his speech centered on better understanding of the search audience.

"One of the interesting things about online search is that we spend alot of time talking about the medium itself." Belanger said. "We haven't focused alot on the people doing the search."

Belanger went on to describe what Yahoo! considers Consumer 2.0 looks like. These people are:

• Overworked and Overwhelmed -- So there's less and less time to engage them.
• Addicted to Leisure -- So though they don't have time to listen to your message, they are finding ways to entertain themselves. Belanger quoted that Americans dedicate only 2% of income to saving and more than 8% to leisure activities.
• Information Junkies -- More and more information is created everyday, and they want access to all of it.
• Master Hypertaskers -- Marketers need to know that consumers are rarely focused on one item. When watching TV, Belanger made the claim that most people are doing something else in tandem. Whether its checking email, eating or in some cases sleeping, you don't have their attention.
• Community Participants -- Consumers are increasingly passionate about brands and will let people know about this through their blogs and online forums. "Marketers need to tie into this passion and invite them into the fold to be more effective." Belanger said.

Keep these factors in mind before your next ad placement. Belanger had tons of other beneficial information, including a case study on user generated content and the effectiveness of the simple text ads on the side of search. Turns out both work pretty well.

Google Visibility – Moving Up the Rankings

So you’ve got your personal Google landing page, now what? With a good landing page, you now face a standard Search Engine Optimization (SEO) project. Companies pay thousands of dollars to execute these projects, and with the rising importance of personal rankings, so are many individuals. Here are four tips to move up the rankings without breaking the bank.

Know Your Competition – Be Unique

Your first step, and one you’ve already done, is to type your name into Google. Find out who you’re competing against. Maybe your unique name already tops Google. Or maybe your name is Abraham Lincoln or George Clooney and you’re in a bit of trouble. More than likely, you’re somewhere in between, but it’s a good exercise to undertake so you know just how much effort you’ll need to put into the next steps.

Yes, having a unique name helps, as the Google visibility article points out, but even those competing with dead presidents and current Hollywood stars can still be found on Google.

Gain Link Love – Build Your Content

Part of the way Google determines your importance is by how many other sites point to you. Here’s a good real world example that explains this. If you hear from one person that a movie is “must see” you might go but it’s not a guarantee. If 100 people gave the film a thumbs up, you’re going to give more credibility to that claim. Google is the same way. And just like you would more heavily weight your trusted friend’s recommendation, Google more heavily weights its friends like CNN.com, nytimes.com, etc…

In order to climb the rankings you need to get online recommendations in the form of links to your landing page. How do you do this? Many ways.

Write an article for a trade mag or local paper that contains on online component. Participate with local groups or charities that can link back to your site. Do something newsworthy. Participate in the social network by adding content to your landing page or joining additional networks. But by far the best way to build this link love is with blogs.

Enter the Blogosphere

Writing a blog gives content to index, which Google loves. If your posts are good enough, you’ll attract other bloggers who will then link to you. Even without writing your own, it’s important to read other’s blogs and leave comments (good insightful ones of course). Often times you can make your name listed in the comments link back to your landing page.

Seriously, you need to dive in. If you don’t believe me I’ll let Mack Collier of The Viral Garden prove my point with his post about Blogging’s Little Secret.

“Here's my advice for parents that are wanting to ensure their child has Google-power; Pick the name you want for your kiddo, and have them blog. Google absolutely loves blogs. This was a completely unexpected, and delightful result from my blogging. I checked the Google search results for my name the day I started my blogging adventure, back in September of 2005. At that time, there were 450 search results for my name, and very few were me, and they were buried on the 3rd or 4th page. In other words, to Google, and anyone that wanted to test my Google-power, I was invisible.

Today? Over 47,000 Google search results for 'Mack Collier'. And yes, almost all of that extra number has come from my blogging.”

Consider Your Audience – Optimize for Keywords

Even if your name is Abraham Lincoln, you’re still perfectly Googlable. More than likely if you can’t be found with a simple name search; your searcher will begin adding modifiers to their search. That’s what you’ll need to focus on.

Consider who will be searching for you and what words they’ll be using. Know your audience. For me I wanted potential employers and business partners to be able to find Mike Santoro Marketing, and Mike Santoro PR. Other people might want to have long lost classmates find them, at which point they’ll need to optimize for their school name. Each keyword you use needs to be included on your landing page, and in the subjects you connect back to it.

Have I done a fantastic job? Eh, I’d probably give myself a C+. If you want to find me, you definitely can, but I’m by no means dominating the search. Like most people, I know what to do, but just don’t have the time to do it.  I should be writing more articles, soliciting links, actively commenting on the blogs I read, but I don’t do enough.

Just like we tell our clients, SEO is an ongoing project and something that should always be monitored. My advice is to grab the low hanging fruit and become Google visible. Anything more is up to you.

Have more tips for gaining Google visibility? Leave them in the comments along with links back to your landing page.

Future of Online Advertising Conference Notes

The Future of Online Advertising conference is being held this Thursday and Friday in New York City, and I'll be there. Walker Sands has been kind enough to underwrite a portion of the trip, making my prescence there possible. Similar to what I did back in September for the Gartner CRM conference, I'll be attempting to live blog the conference for those who can't attend. Hopefully you, readers, should get some good info without having to make the trip.

There appears to be some pretty good speakers from Google, Yahoo! Digg, Feedburner, and Microsoft, as well as a number of strong panelists for some best practices discussions. Starting on Thursday, check back for frequent updates on what's happening and notes on some of the best sessions. If you have any specific questions you want answered, post those in the comments and I'll do my best to get them answered.